Chapter 2: Respect, Liking, Trust, and Fairness

In chapter two of “Fires in the Bathroom” author Kathleen Cushman brings up the question of how a newly graduated high school teacher differentiates them self from the students that are close in age. She asks us in a rhetorical question how should be go about gaining the respect of our students while still keeping a feeling of comfort in the classroom.

This set of questions popped out at me because I know that I look much younger than I am. This has always made every teaching endeavor I’ve done to this point more challenging because I feel I need to be stricter to gain the respect I feel I deserve. This is one struggle that I will continue to have into my student teaching as well as in my actual teaching career. It gave me hope that I will find a happy medium between being overly strict and going the popular route to gain respect.

Chapter 1: Knowing Students Better

In chapter one of “Fires in the Bathroom” author Kathleen Cushman warns the reader about how students know more than we might expect. In this particular instance she is explaining that our students know if we as teachers are “condescending” towards them right away. She also warns about the kind of repercussions it might have on the particular student saying they could respond in a number of different ways such as “defiance to embarrassment”.

This section jumped out at me initially in the form of “I told you so.” I have coached for five years with my mother who talks to our cheerleaders, who range from eight to fourteen years old, like they are toddlers. I know the girls find this frustrating as well as I do. Learned through coaching, working at a preschool for years, and just as being the oldest of three siblings that children, of whatever age, know more than you expect. When I read this passage it was just confirming something that I have believed for years.

Web 2.0 Educator

After viewing several blogs I have chosen Vicki Davis's blog. This blog was amazing to me. The way it was organized, with all of the different types of post along the side of the main page. This organizational system worked so well! It really made it easy for me to look at different things. In addition to the way the page was organized was the posts themselves. Each one was interesting, some were inspiring (actually most of them were inspiring), and some were informative, but each post had a specific reason for them being made.

I feel like Vicki does not have just one specialty, but if I had to pick one I'd have to say that she knows how to catch your attention. This to me is what the other blogs lacked. I only had to read the first post on her blog and I wanted to look at more, then I found a video that I feel in love with, and had to continue looking. I was hooked.

I feel like she would use any method that worked to help her students most efficiently. I feel like that is why her blog postings really hit me. She really cares about the people who are reading her blog, and most definitely her students. Kids spend so much time on the computer now that any educator who wants to reach their students needs to keep up, and this is how I feel Vicki feels about education and technology.

Type I and Type II Technology

When teachers use Type I technology they are using technology very 2 dimensionally. This type is controlled by the teacher and there is no student participation required for the lesson to continue or go smoothly.

Example 1- Last semester I had a professor that I had twice a week for 2 hours each session. It was a very interesting topic, however, for the two hours straight she would play a slideshow and verbally explain everything. This works fine for a while, but after half an hour of sitting in a dark room listening to a monotoned voice and watching a screen change pictures slowly your attention begins to go elsewhere.

Example 2- I have had classes since middle school where we were required to read articles off computer screens. I feel reading an article off a computer screen, and not having to do anything with the material, simply bores the student and irritates their eyes.

Example 3- In an anthropology class I have taken the teacher would put in movies, 3 out of every 4 days, and leave. Never asking us anything about them, or expecting us to write anything down.

Type II technology is a way for teachers to use technology to get their student involved in their learning. Its a tool that helps in keeping and maintaining their interests throughout the lesson, while still teaching them what you had planned for them to learn.

Example 1- In high school I took a piano class. There were 14 of us in this class and we each had our own piano's attached to mac computers that held a program, as well as a set of ear phones. This was a great tool because we could all be playing at the same time, in completely different lessons, without interrupting each other while getting the maximum amount of playing time.

Example 2- In 7th grade we had a unit in language arts called the Holocaust Unit. Because I went to school in Maine we had the new mac laptops which we did most of our unit on. The laptops enabled my teacher to introduce the subject in such a way that she gave us links that we could explore as she talked giving us something to keep our attention while she was teaching what she needed to.

Example 3-As a senior I apprenticeship in a Middle school English class. Again they had the mac's but they were newer than mine and I learned of a new teaching technique. The teacher I was working with had had her students make a pod cast of themselves speaking in their best Mainah' accent and then present it to the class. This is a fun project of the kids who, like myself, are not crafty, but enjoy doing things other than papers.

My MEL Experience

• Student Teacher Relationships: All throughout school my teachers have been my support system, and sometimes my very good friends. With my teachers I feel like I can relax and feel comfortable and come to them with problems in my schooling and in life. Because of this connection I feel more comfortable in my learning environment.
• Helping Students Succeed: The worst school year of my life was my sophomore year in high school. I started the year off with all honor classes, and learned really quickly that I was no longer at the top of the food chain and all my confidence disappeared. My honors English teacher noticed too. One day she realized that because I thought I was less than my peers I had stopped trying. That day she made me sit in the hall and hand write a paper draft while the other students got it assigned for homework. After class I had to go over it with her- she got my confidence back that day.
• Hands-On: In the very first science classes that I took in middle school that involved labs I felt like a fish out of water. I felt like I never completely understood what was going on, and was really lost the whole time. I never liked labs since.
• Avoid Rewards: My freshman math teacher never gave rewards. For me he didn't need to. I have always been more driven by the idea of making someone proud than of a material object that I could acquire. Well one day before math class I went in to class early for a quick review before a big test. After reviewing everything he looked at me and said "Shila I want perfection," I told him I would try, and he told me flat out that he didn't want me to try just to do it. I got 100's on every test and quiz in his class from then on, and looking back I think it was because I knew he believed in me.
• Connection: In 7th Grade there is a time of year that is called China Connections. This time consists of all classes building a curriculum around Chinese culture. All the teachers worked together to build the unit into a huge group project that gets presented to the parents the the end in an after school event.

Learning Style Inventory Results

This graph is showing that I am mostly a Physical learner, followed closely by aural and social. My graph covers a lot of area leading me to believe that I am comfortable learning in many different ways. However the graph shows that logical learning is my weakness.

I'm still working on text but everything else is fine!