Standards and Classroom Culture

EDUC350

This week in class we focused on creating our classroom mission statement, our goals, and our classroom norms. We went through this process by discussing as a class and then putting our ideas into one. Our mission statement is, "In EDUC350 we will become better educators through immersing ourselves in diverse populations to better meet the needs of our students by creating a sense of community inside and outside the classroom." I love this mission statement. I really like the fact that we will immerse ourselves into diverse populations by creating a sense of community. I think it is so important that my students feel at home and safe to speak and be themselves in the classroom. To create our classroom norms, we all wrote down something that we did not like that our fellow classmate or professors do. After we got through writing down a list of what we did not like, we were asked to turn these negatives into positives. These positive are what our norms came out to be. We expect each other to be respectful and open-minded and to contribute in all classes. One reason that I loved created norms is because Dr. Clark did not force our classroom norms on us. She allowed her students to create their own norms or rules. I love this, because it makes the students feel a sense of pride and commitment to their own norms, because they created them. The students are also more willing to follow and keep their other classmates accountable if they created the norms themselves. An article on scholastic.com states, "Students are more likely to buy into the rules if they have a hand in creating them" (https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/creating-classroom-rules-together/). I absolutely love this quote. It is so much easier to buy into something when you take part in creating it, rather than it being forced upon you. Having classroom rules and a classroom culture go directly with NCTCS 2, which is "Teachers establish a respectful environment for a diverse population of learners." Teachers have to make sure that all students feel that they are respected in their classroom, and that they are able to speak without worry about being judged or made fun of. I feel like a big subdivision of this one is that teachers should treat their students as individuals. Every student should be treated this way no matter their background, home life, disabilities, or any other difference they may have. In the future, I want to be like Dr. Clark in my classroom. I want to make sure that my students feel like they are able to have a say in my classroom and that they feel at home. I want to make sure that every students feels like they are just as important as the next, and that they feel a sense of community in my classroom.

EDUC410

In EDUC410 we discussed standards. We have all learned about standards in our previous education classes, but there was so many more that I did not even know about! I had no idea about the ISTE Standards and Standards for Information and Technology! There is also the Common Course of Study that has all the content that the students have to know in each grade. The point of looking through all these standards was to show us how many there are, and let me tell you THERE IS ALOT. To accomplish all these standards in one school year you have to use integration. This is when you combine multiple subjects into one lesson plan.

The rest of the class we spent in grade specific groups and we looked up standards in science, math, social studies, and language arts. We had to start creating a lesson plan that connected the standards of all four of these into one lesson. This was really challenging, but we were able to get it accomplished. It was a really good experience and first practice at how we would be using integration in the classroom. I think it is going to be really hard at first to use integration, but as we use it more and more as educators it will get easier. This directly relates to the NCTCS 3, because it is teachers know the content they teach. A subdivision of this is to know the interconnection between grade levels in the Standard Course of Study. This is something that is going to be so beneficial, because you are able to use your time more wisely.

Future Classroom

In my future classroom I want to make sure that my students are able to feel a sense of community. I also want to make sure that they feel safe and respected within my classroom! I also want to be able to use integration in my classroom. I want to make sure I am using my time wisely and making connections where connections can be made! I can't wait to be able to start using these practices within my classroom soon! 

Culture

YAY for new classes! 

Today was my first day in the class Diverse Populations in 21st Century School! I am so excited for what I am going to learn in this class and how I am going to grow as a person. Today was mostly an introductory day, but we got on the topic of what culture is. To me at first I felt like everyone knew what culture was. I thought that culture could be something that is easily defined and something that mostly everyone truly understood already. Today I learned that culture is SO complex. I learned that it is not something that is can be easily defined and what one person thinks culture is could be completely different than the next person. 

What is culture? 

After about 30 minutes of discussion, our class created a definition of what we believe culture is. Our definition is that culture is the growth/development of human characteristics and social norms through the integration of beliefs, values, and traditions based on place and time, shared by a group of people. I love this definition because it really encompasses what I believe culture is. Culture is going to have a huge influence in any classroom! It is directly related to the NCTCS Standard 2, because in order to create a safe learning environment we have to make sure that every child (and the culture that they have) feels safe to speak out and to engage in activities. Every student will have a different cultural experiences and every child will be different, making my future classroom very diverse. I will have to make sure that every single person feels safe within my classroom! 

Future Classroom

While researching the topic of how culture affects the classroom I found a quote from tolerance.org. The article was about teaching with tolerance. The author stated, "To truly engage students, we must reach out to them in ways that are culturally and linguistically responsive and appropriate, and we must examine the cultural assumptions and stereotypes we bring into the classroom that may hinder interconnectedness" (https://www.tolerance.org/culture-classroom). This quote is so awesome to me! It really resonated with me, because it discusses how teachers have the power to hinder progress of students in the classroom based on our own stereotypes. I think that is something that is huge and something that I never want to happen in my future classroom. I want to make sure that every child feels safe, and that I am doing everything I possibly can to make sure that each student is receiving the best education they can possibly receive.

EDUC 410

In our first day of EDUC 410 (Integration and Assessment) we played tag! Now it was not just any specific game of tag, it was called baby blob! How you played was by having one person as "it" first, and that one person tries to tag someone, and once they tag someone they link arms. This creates a giant "blob" and that blob then goes and tries to tag another person. Everyone the blob tags someone, that person becomes apart of the blob. You do this until you have one person left and they are the baby blob! I thought this was such a fun activity to get started with. Once we were back inside, Dr. Clark asked if could connect anything to that game. I immediately thought of germs, because once one person spreads germs it just continues and spirals till the germs have reached as many people as they can. This was one example of how to use integration in the classroom. Although we were simply being active, during the game we were using teamwork and communication skills. Also, we can connect the game to different subjects like health and discuss germs. I thought this was such a great introduction into integration and assessment! This connects to NCTCS 4 and 5, which are teachers facilitate learning for their students and teachers reflect on their practice. To integrate multiple lessons into one really helps with facilitating learning in the classroom. As well as assessment can be apart of teachers reflecting on their practice. A teacher needs to make sure their teaching style is what is working for their students and they can check that by doing assessment. 

It has only been one day in both classes, and I already have learned so much! I already love being in both of these classes, and they have both been so interesting already! I can not wait to see what else I learn during the semester!