Blogging a.k.a. "Phlogging" has been an interesting experience for me.  At first I was finding it a bit tedious having to take the extra time out my schedule to post and read other blogs, but now that this is going to be our last posting, there are a variety of bitter sweet feelings that are in the air. Our class postings were insightful and I found that several students and I had a lot in common.  It reminded me of one of my art classes. In a sense, having deadlines to create art was difficult and frustrating at times but when it was all said and done, I was grateful that I had a fire under me to stay on task.  During both processes of "Phlogging" and creating art, I ran into situations where self-reflection and frustration were at the forefront, but in the end, I appreciate both processess.  Online "Phlogging" was a great opportunity for me to engage my fellow classmates, and I really appreciated their comments and suggestions.  I also discovered a couple of blogs that were not necessarily part of our class that have been inspiring and helpful.

Misconceptions and Biases


I think by revealing my biases towards certain individuals it will bring bias to me. I am not interested in contributing to any further negativity that's already out there.  The mere fact of mentioning this will immediately incur biases about me.  I think this assignment to recognize our own personal biases have an incredible amount of validity, but in my case, I don't believe it is anyone's business.  Even saying the way I feel about anyone knowing my business brings further bias upon myself.  It leads to misconceptions and misunderstandings and should only be divulged in a personal one on one matter.  Even to gain trust in another individual to share our personal biases there must be an understanding of how biases have developed due to the paths in life we have taken.  I am increadibly supportive to self-reflecting and self-examination, but I think it should be discussed in private situations.  Just by creating this post I realize that I am probably creating a biased point-of-view about me, but being honest and sharing my feelings about this assignment is also very important to me.



P.S. My original post wasn't published.  Friday was a really hard day for me and I didn't realize till now that it was only saved as a draft. Sorry for any inconveniences this may have caused you for inadequate time for responses.

The National Teacher of the Year Award

      Congratulations to Monika Ann Unwin for winning the The National Teacher of the Year Award. Certainly, Mrs. Unwin has faced a tremendous amount of challenges this past year, but she has proven to be a beaming light among a constant stream of darkness.      "Mrs. Unwin, is the best teacher I ever had.  She helped us kids get better grades and her class was fun." Zach Conner, a sixth-grader at Campton Middle School.  "We went on fun field trips and got to meet different artists from New York."

     Students visited the University of New Mexico and collaborated with new and up-coming artists in the field. "I think it's imperative that students are taught that collaboration happens all the time in a working environments.  Mrs. Unwin is not only teaching our future citizens about art and it's content, but her students are gaining invaluable, essential life skills." Sue Thompson, an Associate Professor of Electronic Arts.  "The students were able to personally engage in new and upcoming advances in electronic arts."  One example her students did for their collaboration was visit UNM's Arts Lab and watch on the Planetarium Full Dome electronically produced artworks.  Students screened 3-D images and animations and were taught the process of creating digital music and images to create art.

     Mrs. Unwin, along with her busy work schedule, offers after school art club where the students engage in various art projects, but are also facilitated with caring instruction with their homework.
"The students were really discouraged about their class.  Fortunately we finally found the right fit." says principal Claudia Whitman.  "The students were really taken back when they discovered their previous art teacher was leaving in the middle of the school year to pursue a career of belly dancing in Bali."    
    The dedication and efforts to win over her students made the job a difficult one: "If I would have let these type of situations affect me, I think that It would've made a huge difference going into this job.  I tried my very best to remain positive on a daily basis and brought humor in my instruction.  I think by my consistancy and positive outlook, I feel like I was finally able to break the ice with my students." Mrs. Unwin reflects, "I feel that by becoming immediately involved with my students eventually I gained their respect.  I knew that I couldn't just come into that situation and "take over".  It had to be a more gradual process, a more organic process."    
     We need more teachers like Mrs. Unwin.  With her pursuit of excellence, she is inspiring and uplifting.  It's no wonder the kids find success in her class.  Her enthusiasm catches on like wild fire and one could tell she truly cares about her students!



This article was pure fiction published by the moderator as practice for future SUCCESS!  All names, with the exception of the moderator have been made up.  This was only a fun example of future endeavors of the moderator.

 

What is the purpose of Education?

 



     The purpose of education for me is transference of knowledge from one individual to another.  The purpose of becoming a teacher for me is to become a nurturing individual that inspires and excites students for a quest in knowledge.  I hope that as a teacher, my influence on students will have a positive impact on their lives and I can influence them to be tenacious and resilient to diversity.  I feel like life has so many obstacles to overcome, if I can instill an understanding of resiliency, maybe students will be able to look back and reflect on how successful or unsuccessful their trails have been for them. I hope that I create an environment that my students are conscientious of how their actions affect the people and environment around them.  I hope that they understand that making mistakes are a part of life and that by realizing what those mistakes are, they will learn to not repeat the same mistakes. 
        I hope that as a teacher I inspire my students to love the arts and use their imagination to create inventive solutions to everyday problems.   My philosophy of teaching comes down to "Learning is a process and not the product."  I am not so much interested about the end of the story; rather, all of the components that make up the story is success for me.  A child that struggles with the learning process has a much more complete understanding of what is being studied, than a student who comes to understand instantly.  My point is, that going through the process of discovery, students stumble upon more questions and more information about that subject.
        I have really enjoyed going to my EDUC2250 class. Each week at the beginning of class we start off with a different ice breaker.  It has made the experience an enjoyable one.  This week’s class was especially fun for me where we role played different characters at a pseudo cocktail party.  The different students I interacted with, took their role very seriously as did I and it turned out to be a fun educational experience.  I would like to incorporate different activities like this in my classroom.  Engaging the students is a huge factor today in education and if we can make it fun for them, then we won half the battle.  ^_T_^

Colorful Websites

     In this century the quest for great knowledge, I stumbled upon a couple of websites that may be of assistance to educators.  The broad website: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/teacherbeat/ offers different links to weekly online blogs, resources for open forums, and there is a subscription available.The website is open enough to navigate through without having to subscribe to it.
     Another one I stumbled upon is: http://successfulteaching.blogspot.com/
Pat Hensley, offers different links to useful blogs, museum websites and strategies.  There is also information about the Council for Exceptional Children, great for educators entering Special Education.
    I liked Teacher Leaders Network ( http://teacherleaders.typepad.com/) because they bring up valid issues that are so relevant in our schools today. Directly from their blog: They are about:
" Engaging in daily discussions around practice and policy,
• Collaborating on action research and other projects for improved student learning,
• Sharing their content and pedagogical expertise with pre-service and in-service teachers, and
• Refining their policy insights and contributing their voices to the decisions that affect the students and communities they serve."
      I like the sense of community these websites offer. As educators we are stung with negative factors each day.  I feel like if we are able to discuss and release some of these issues, we can build positive environments in our own lives. 

Resilience is Key!

What is the Fundamental Purpose in Education?
     I think having purpose in what ever you do makes you successful in education.   It is through mimicking and practice that education becomes permanent. Thinking creatively of presenting a subject, education not only functions as a fundamental process, but is welcomed by the students in the learning process.  The fundamental purpose of education is to encompass a resilient spirit that one can grow, in means of diversity.  Therefore schooling is fundamental in growing an individual spiritually, mentally and physically.
     Is there a difference between schooling and education? I think there is a close marriage of the two, combined, borrowing different aspects of one another, school is where you go to be educated. Right?  Besides discoveries that are put before students such a math, science and language arts, there is also the realm of social education.  As a teacher our job is to focus on the content presented to our students, but an emphasis on the social realm has been horribly denied.  I think the fundamental purpose of education is to provide real life situations for our students that they can identify with and carry on with them through out their life.  It is our responsibility to take each individual under our wing and provide them with guidance of our already learned accomplishments.
     Is it up to us as educators to lay stagnant in the content we are providing? Absolutely not!  A fundamental process in learning is passion and purpose for the subject provided.  Positive attitudes and humor is infectious, creating a welcoming and open environment, students let their guard down to envelope enlightenment.  Learning should be a process where one is able to make mistakes, able to examine these mistakes and imprint proper proceedings in their mind.  It is with this tenacious spirit and resilience for discovery that makes learning a successful process.  No matter what obstacles and demands are put before a student, having a resilient personality grows the individual further beyond their counterparts who idle by waiting for success to happen to them.
      I think had I not had the trials put before me, I would have not had to learn the importance of resilience in my own life.  I think that realizing at a young age that learning and recognizing other individuals mistakes, have saved me from repeating the same kind of mistakes.

School of "ROCK"Y reality?

Wow, signing up for school so far has been a rocky adventure.  It seemed like I was riding on a dilapidated carousel running into road blocks and twisting and turning on a crooked avenue. Phew, can I just say, I'm glad that things are beginning to resolve themselves. 

In the reading this week I agree with the point of views of Kohn and Dewey on the psychology of teaching.  One thing that I didn’t agree with so much was the idea of sorting students into different categories like they way Kohn mentioned in his article.  While I may not necessarily agree with his view point, at times the schooling system does feel like a factory of sorts.  Like so many students who struggle with adapting and maintaining with their peers, quite often I see the affects of students who are placed in the wrong piles of “potatoes”. 

            An example of this would be my observations I have experienced in several special education classes I have substituted for in the last five years.  Now, I am by no means the expert of where a student should be placed at academically, but I often find that students who may be lacking or rather not progressing at a “typical” standard are placed along with other students who may be excelling at the subject matter but struggle with social and economic aspects that are largely grouped together. Another aspect of sorting our students on standardized test scores is that there is such a multitude of factors that may influence the way a student tests.  One student may have crapped out on standardized testing, but upon speaking with that student, one would discover that the student has no business in a special education class.  Or rather, a different kind of intervention class should be in place for instance, “How to take, and be successful at standardized testing”.  Well, my intentions are not to sound bitter, they are only to recognize that things are in need of desperate change. 

            In my opinion, I have realized that we have come to a point in our academic society that mediocre work is considered “excellent” work.  An example of this is, just over hearing a conversation between math instructors at our school during our lunch break, a fifty percent on a standardized test was considered “passing”.  Now, interesting as that may seem, one said, “fifty percent doesn’t count when you’re building the Hoover Dam...”.  Now, in seeing this happen in our own school, standards and expectations are affected by external factors.  This brings up the question, will students rise up to what ever expectations we set for them?  Dumbing it down and lowering our expectations of students is a huge disservice to our children.

            Dewey says, “I believe that education, therefore, is a process of living and not a preparation for future living.” Are we preparing our students for a future which grades identifies their very essence?  Upon discovering in my own experience, students who are able to identify with a subject presented, are much more apt in imprinting a permanent experience in their mind.  Dewey suggests that correlating the realities of life in education sparks interest and inquisitive learners as opposed to force fed subjects that students have no interest.  When a student is forced to learn something they are uninterested in, the final outcome is the succeeding at the process of getting the project done, rather than the subject matter presented.  Our responsibility as a teacher is to train the essential basics such as math, sciences and communication, but one other critical aspect as educators are the social aspects of life between individuals.