TWYH 62-103

This section in the book shows Erin moving from a student teacher to a full time teacher at her school. The ending of her student teaching semester shows her bringing her students to meet Steven Speilberg. She gets her students to write a brief story of their lives and brings these letters to the director. He reads them and is moved by the stories. The following academic year, Erin returns to the school as a freshman english teacher. Though her group of students is as rough around the edges as her former students (if not more so), she begins some of the same approaches to understanding her students on a personal level and again she begins to connect.


In this section , i was proud of manny for being accepted to berkly. That was a tremendous feat and truely a feather in Erin's cap. I felt it was innapropriate for Erin to have her students over for a BBQ. Even though she shares a closeness with her students and they need someone to look to for support, i feel this blurs the lines between professional and personal at too high of a level. I also felt this section was presented in an overly cheary, non-realistic fashion. I would like to believe Erin's account, but the cynic in me remains dominant when encountering Erin's sweeping tails of student reform. I did however like Erin's use of Romeo and Juliet in relation to the lives of her students

generations video episode 3

this video dealt mostly with the civil rights movements that took place across america from the 50's through the early 80's. The short, abbreviated version of what took place was that once the brown v board of education decision was reached, members of other discriminated minorities perused their own civil rights. Some of these groups included mexican americans, women, and individuals with handicaps. The video struck a chord with me in that i have seen discrimination against individuals for things such as gender, handicap, and sexual orientation. For me, one of the hardest examples of this came when my father, who is gay, was fired from a job that he held for nearly 10 years when his boss discovered his lifestyle choice. Though this was clearly the case for his being fired, there was not concrete evidence to prove this so his boss was never brought to justice for his act of bigotry . Sadly, this type of discrimination still exists within our school systems. Our job as educators is to see past these foolish prejudices and give all of our students a chance at education

Video PBS - Episode 2 – “The Story of Schools” 1900-1950

Though there were some things in this video that seemed outright foolish to most educators today, what struck me was that many of the issues that were trying to be addressed in the video are the same issues that our school systems struggle to deal with today. For example, though we do not instantly place students who come from different ethnic backgrounds into classes where they are seen as only fit to learn certain trade skills we do still have questions over to the degree of vocational programs in schools and though less blatant, racism is still present in our school. As the book Teach With Your Heart shows us, prejudice is still a major factor in the schools we have today. One of the biggest concerns in the video that is also a huge concern for us today is the issue of what language to speak in school. The video showed a progression towards having more school systems teaching entirely in English, but in today's school systems there is an increase in ESL (English as a Second Language) programs. With our school systems becoming saturated with students who don't speak English, or have limited proficiency, we are turning towards assisting these students with the language barrier to help give more students a good chance at a successful education.

TWYH pages 36-61

This section of reading mostly focuses around Erin taking her class of students to her neighborhood to see the movie Schindler's list. When her students enter her neighborhood they are met with blatant prejudices from the inhabitants of this community. The students take the small mindedness of these individuals in a stoic fashion claiming that they are used to it. The students watch the movie and are respectful while watching the movie and are also quite moved by its contents. This experience powder kegs when the students are interviewed for a newspaper and they report how unwelcome they felt in the presence of Erin's neighbors. Erin receives rude and even threatening responses from many of her neighbors. Positive experiences also came out of the events though as Erin is allowed to introduce her class to the author of Schindler's list and also by allowing her and introduction to Steven Spielberg

This portion of the reading was quite interesting for me. I've really only encountered racism in very few situations and i understand the sense of shock that Erin would feel by bringing her students to her neighborhood and watching as everyone gawked at these kids as though they were some abomination. But what might be more shocking is the steller performance by her students throughout the whole event. For these students, whom others consider to be inferior, to show a reaction that is offended but polite about it is truely something to note. Also, it was impressive to see how involved these students became with the rich experiences of a phenominal movie. One section that really spoke to the change that has been seen in her students was their meeting with Ron. When they understand the horrors that he saw and see that he is telling them that education and hard work is the way out of the ghetto, the students don't look at him like he is telling them lies but rather digest the knowledge that a wise and friendly man is relaying to them. It really shows that through the interaction with Erin these students have developed hope that they can be something more than the environment they live in

Background Statement

I was put into school a little young. I had not turned five when I took my test to see how I would do in Kindergarten. I passed the small examination and because my parents, mostly my father, placed importance on education, I was entered at a young age.
I came into my educational experience with high standards from my parents and a healthy dose of self created curiosity. I entered a classroom that let my curiosity run as free as it could. We had a room full of colors and creativity (including such wonders as a bath tub filled with pillows to read in) and under this environment I blossomed. My teachers quickly realized that I was an intelligent, good natured child but that I might not always do things the way that all the other children did.
My first years had little consistency in classroom structure or style of teacher transmission but they did have one thing in common, caring teachers who were willing to have a little patience with me. With these teachers I was able to perform well no matter if classroom was structured seating or desks anywhere they wanted to be. I performed in classes that had the teacher relaying more information to the students and in classes that let the students explore their subject in a more hands on sense. I came to class each day wanting to learn and left each class happy to report to my parents that school was going well for me.
It seemed like my early educational experiences involved teachers who were allowed to teach the class how they saw fit, but that quickly changed for me as I entered our middle school. My experience in education quickly became summed up in rows. Our classes were all lined up in grids or columns. It seemed almost as though the point of this new school environment was to create easily recognizable geometric patterns rather than to foster an environment for learning. The entire class was devoted structure. From the homework assignment sheets that we had to fill out every night and were in fact graded on to the detentions received for talking without raising our hands when talking life became a struggle to create a more organized version of myself.
This was only a partially successful mission for me. Though I understood the material and was placed in our schools gifted and talented program I never quite adhered to my schools ideal notion of an organized student. My backpacks and notebooks were always a mess of papers and my homework, though done correctly, might have a section missing or the order of the information reversed. More than once my report cards had comments along the lines of “bright student, would benefit from more organization”.
I disliked many of my teachers during these years. There were a few shining exceptions but generally I thought my teachers cared more about creating order than about learning or the students. I was never a bad kid but always found myself in just a little bit of trouble mostly just for looking at the classroom differently than my teachers did.
High school was a more enjoyable experience for me. Erskine academy was a school slightly more akin to my elementary school in that our teachers all seemed to run their classes in their own unique ways instead of by all comparing how precisely their class ran. Each class seemed like it’s own small world and with few exceptions the teaching staff showed that they truly did care about the school and the performance of the students. One teacher in particular struck me like a teacher never had before. My English teacher sophomore year, Ryan Nored, was also my theatre director. In both domains he showed an aptitude and passion that absorbed me completely. He also showed that he cared about me beyond the classroom. He was the first teacher who could tell that I needed to get more organized and have me listen. True, I never really did stop being a different type of student (and I doubt I ever will) but I did alter my habits in education because of this fantastic teacher.
I felt like this teacher expected so much from me because he cared about me rather than about making sure his class was run smoothly. When class was over, I could talk to Mr. Nored and his sense of humor and willingness to talk to me about anything made me unable to do anything but like this man. More importantly, I respected him. When I was acting out, he took me aside and rather than playing by the school rules and giving me detention he told me about how he expected better from me and how he never wanted to see that behavior from me again. It impacted me greatly. Of all the good teachers I had experienced never before had one been able to effect me in such a way. Ryan Nored is the reason I want to become a teacher.
My attitude about school had changed slightly over these years. I was no longer in these classes with my main goal being to return home to show my parents how many good grades I had received. I was doing these classes with more personal goals in mind but at times this led to difficulty. When I failed to see the importance of a class to my life or experienced a teacher I did not see eye to eye with my attitude became obstinate at times and apathetic at others. In the end my desire for good grades made me buckle down and produce good grades but at times the little letter I would receive at the end of that class was the only reason I worked. Even this would begin to fade though as over time I would begin to question the importance of grades.
Overall, my experience in my own school system taught me a great deal about being a teacher. I learned that motivators such as a fear of acting out or a pressure to obtain high grades will eventually fail. It seems as though after you receive enough As and Bs the letters all run together into an indecipherable string of alphabet garbage. Eventually students realize that getting a detention will not change your life. They realize that after they serve their hour or so in the school they have left truly unpunished and continue their life like it may as well have been another student stuck in the seat.
Over the course of my education there has been one constant, successful method for student growth, care about the student. This may not have been the goal for my school, but in my opinion, it may as well have been. These teachers that followed this principle were my true concept of what school was. These were the teachers who shaped me and made me realize the joy that could come from teaching. I hope to be this kind of teacher myself. I realize that much in the vein that I am a different type of student I will also be a different type of teacher. I wouldn’t want this any other way. I believe that if I can bring both my passion for the subject as well as a caring persona to the classroom my students will thrive.
One of the principals that this entails is paying attention to the ways in which my students work well. This may require me to pay a closer attention to detail and structure myself more so that my students are aware of the requirements of the class. Knowing this, I can approach my classroom with a genuine attempt to help both myself and my students.

Teaching with your Heart

Abstract: When Erin (the memoirs main character and author) begins her time as a student teacher, she finds herself in a classroom that could only be described as every teachers greatest dread. Her class is full of students who are both alien and intimidating. They take bets on how quickly they can drive her out of the school. They segregate themselves and appear to disregard any and all of the beliefs that Erin would consider societal or educational norms. She finds a way to get these students to respond to her by investigating what these students care about and trying to show that she understand things such as football as well. By showing to her students that she cares more about the students than about just getting through her teaching experience she begins to see alterations to their willingness in class. By the end of this section, her students are even excited to go on a trip to a holocaust museum. Her students also decide to take her into their world and give her a taste of the world they come from.

Reaction: The description of the events in the first section of this book seems too picture perfect, too black and white to be accurate; however, the principals that are expressed in this section are true and proven. Students will respond to teachers who show that they care about their students. I think that for Erin to come into a classroom such as this and challenge the ideas of a school system (for example to effectively say that her students can learn material that the school believes they can not) is incredibly brave. Though i do question the authenticity of her report of how miraculous the transformation was, i do recognize this as a possible story

Talking About their Generation / Harnessing the Power of the Millennials

Abstact: This series of Articles looks into generational gaps that are present in the school system today. While a small amount of attention is payed to the "silent" generation (those aged roughly from 65-80) the majority of the information focuses on the Boomers, the Gen-xers, and the Millenials. The article gives a general overview of how each of these generations are represented in the school system. The Boomers are (with a few leftovers from the Silent Generation) the older teachers in the school system as well as the majority of the administration. Currently, their influence over the school system has hit it's peak and is now beggining to wane. Gen xers represent the school in two primary ways. They comprise a vast amount of the teacher force in schools and are beggining to gain controll of administrative positions. This age set also impacts the school system by being the parents of todays students. The Millenials are the students we have today. Also, the oldest set of the Millenials (an age group perhaps considered a narrow gap somewhere between the gen xers and the Millenials) are just beggining to make their way into the classroom as teachers. The result is a stacking of generations that may not understand their relation to each other or even many of the truths about the other generations present in the school system. This is because each of these generations are a reaction to the generation before them. The boomers tend to be fonder of their experience as a student and they believe they received a proper education. Another characteristic of this generation is that they believed in a "parent centered" child rearing. That is to say they believed that it was best to take the desires of the parent into consideration than the wants of the child or student. The Gen xers, in response to this mindset, have become more skeptical of the world around them. They tend to question education and see the position of a teacher with less esteem than the Boomers. Individuals from this generation do in fact generally consider themselves individuals and shy away from talking about their generation as a whole. They also tend to be more insistant on a "is this best for the children" approach to decision making. The Millenials are, by contrast, a much more socially oriented generation than either of their predacesors. This group feels comfortable talking about themselves as a generation. They are also warmer about their scholastic experience than the Gen xers. They take their education seriously and think it is cool to recieve high marks. They differ from the Boomers view of education in that though they can appreciate some of the "likes" of their parents such as music and movies, they want their education to be the newest material rather than a retreival of classic knowledge. The Millenials desire a synthesis of the school system and the increasingly present technology explosion.

Reaction: This article shows the importance of remembering who we ourselves are as educators as well as who are the fellow educators around us and who our students are. Many have the perception that the current students are simply mindless, technology obsessed slackers when in fact the truth is that these youth are invested in their education but require a few alterations to traditional education. Because these youth are so inundated with technology, they know how to use it and they know how to use it well. Because of this, and their sense of identification as a generation, these students tend to be more communicative. They also excell in alternative or "e-communication" methods. For these students to perform well, they need a socioculturally structured classroom that uses the technology they are so gifted with to investigate topics that seem relevent and current.

The Culture/ Learning Style Connection Educating for Diversity:

Abstract: This article by Pat Guild seeks to explain patterns between development within a culture and learning styles. The article notes that most experts agree that the culture a student grows up in will have an impact on their strengths in styles of learning as well as their academic success. For example, many agree that students from Mexican backgrounds are more likely to seek out a personal relationship with their teacher and tend to be more inclined to broad concepts rather than specifics. The article points out that though there are general patterns in learning style based on cultural background it can be difficult to find any generalizations that don't contain exceptions to these rules. Because of this, some experts believe that further research into these matters simply contributes to stereotyping the groups it attempts to understand. There are however many who believe that research into cultural learning styles could help tease out the debate about whether nature or nurture plays a greater role in determining how a student will learn.

Reaction: Personally, i do think that investigation into these topics could be used to help understand the relationship between nature and nurture in regard to individual learning. However, I think the impact that this information could have on successful education would be minimal. As the article points out in it's closing moments, there are many students who do well scholastically despite difficulties such as difference in style between the students learning style and the teachers transmission. Though understanding student learning can always be beneficial what we already know seems to have the most weight. We know that students tend to perform best for competent, caring and passionate teachers.