1. Restate questions and reflect on questions A. When you think about a classroom problem, do you try to see it from different angles? Page 4 When I read this question, my heart was beating fast. It was like someone hitting my head when I was daydreaming. Back to this question, honestly, I did not try to see it from different angles. Actually, I met the same problem when I was teaching Chinese my first year here in America. It was the most unruly class that I had ever witnessed. Students were talking and laughing loudly and they did not listen to me at all even though my co-teacher helped me manage the class. I changed the assigned seats 6 times during the 3 week Chinese session, unfortunately, it did not make any difference. I was so frustrated every day and consulted with my co-teacher to find a solution to this classroom problem. Based on this experience, certainly, both of us were in agreement on an approach for resolution and that was to focus on the students. Our number one action was to control student behavior by setting up rules and routines to control the classroom learning environment. First of all we reassigned students’ seats to place badly behaved students in other seats. Gradually, my co-teacher gave up and I felt isolated, depressed and in search of a method to change this situation. It did not work when I changed the assigned seats, however, it did not work when I changed the curricula as well. I asked several professional teachers, but they were unable to assist me since they had not encountered a situation as bad as this one. Constrainedly, I completed the first session, however many times when I recall this experience, I still do not know what the solution to this problem should have been. That is why when I read this question that I had a strong emotional reaction. Think about different angles? It makes me consider that if I went back to that situation again, what were different angles? At first, I could have examined each students’ personnel situation and motivation which I have mentioned in the beginning, while the second angle would be to evaluate the teachers. I did not think about this angle during the time I was teaching. Actually, before the Chinese session, the 6th grade students already had taken French and Spanish which were taught by my co-teacher who was a novice world-language teacher. She sat up several strict and rigorous rules in the classroom which I thought was okay since I had seen this in China. (I do not want to indicate that my co-teacher’s teaching methods were not good, I want to rethink the situation to contemplate other solutions to our classroom management) My co-teacher did not consider the students as individuals with different responses to learning a new language, for instance, some students are auditory learners and others might be sight learners. She was totally following the curricula designed by the world language department. Seemingly, she did not pay attention to the reaction from students, instead, she just continued to teach, following the prescribed lesson plan. Before I started to teach, she told me she had given up on this class and wished to quickly finish the session. I think if my co-teacher had showed a positive attitude towards to students, what might the situation be? Would my first teaching experience have been a positive one? I regretted that I did not talk to each student after class or outside the classroom. In fact, I did not have the opportunity to interact with any of them individually. If I had known how each was responding or what previous educational experience each student came into the class with, what might the situation be? Also and thirdly, it was the school or the district which I did not consider initially. I think the school did not place much value on the subject of world language and therefore did not evaluate the competency and preparation of world language teachers. B. As a student, could you discern these qualities in your teachers? As a beginning or practicing teacher, can you see these qualities in yourself or in your colleagues? (qualities including open-mindedness, responsibility, and wholeheartedness) Page 13 As I read Deway’s three attitudes about reflective teachers, I was searching for my teachers in my educational lineage. Well, it is difficult to find a teacher who exhibits all three attitudes. However, I could find some teachers who had one or two of each of these three attitudes. Recalling teachers from my past education years,, Dr. Shi who was my undergraduate advisor was a really open-minded teacher. She is knowledgeable and her views are profound and immense. Seemingly, she is very strict and rigorous when she faces her students, and it seems like students can not criticize or argue against her ideas because all the students are awed by the image she presents in the classroom. But one thing altered my opinion of her. It was in my media criticism class, and we were talking about the impact of the media in Taiwan. It was the information that Dr. Shi did not clearly present or the information given was incorrect, and I knew the updated information. Absolutely, I hesitated to correct it, because Dr. Shi would lose face if my information was correct. I do not remember why or who pushed me to correct Dr. Shi, but at least I pointed out the information in the class. Surprisingly, she was not angry, on the contrary, she was happy to listen to me and finally she accepted my information. “An openminded individual listens to and accepts the strengths and weaknesses of his or her own and others’ perspective,” Based on this point, I believe that Dr. Shi is a reflective teacher. When it comes to responsibility, it reminds me of my previous science teacher who is a fan of Peking Opera. He always said “easier said than done”. Well, he did not say much while usually just showed his research results in the class. At the end of class, he usually asked us to discuss the result and answer the question, does it make sense? Actually, I was intrigued to learn about his research since it was related to the course work, and I also believe that he showed a responsibility towards reflective teaching. In addition to wholeheartedness, I think my geography teacher, Mrs. You, is a wholehearted teacher who focuses on teaching and taking action at the same time. As we all know that the environment is deteriorating and when I was in middle school, Mrs. You repeated that human beings should take actions to protect our earth by doing a small thing. She encouraged us to reuse the water. For example, after we washed the rice, a reuse the water to flush the toilet. She tried her best to protect the environment, even though most of us thought that it did not make any difference. Yes, it may not work completely, however, it was her enthusiasm that we responded to. I am so surprised that even today her life style has not changed, she rides her bicycle to school, no cars, recycles recyclables, etc. When I read the wholeheartedness, her image came up in my mind quickly. C. If a student comes to you angry with another student or crying and upset, what is your first reaction? What other reactions might you have? Do you ever react differently to students (or to their parents) depending upon their gender, race, or social class background? Page 16 Why I chose this question is because I was frustrated in my first year Chinese teaching. Actually, I encountered this situation in the Chinese session. As I mentioned in the first question, it was a disaster for me. Well, I remembered when I first met the student who was angry with another student, I did not know how to deal with them. I just asked my co-teacher for help and then she took care of the problem and I continued teaching the class. Absolutely, I did not have any experience in conflict resolution and my co teacher who was a novice language teacher also did not have any experience either. Her solution was taking the two kids to the principal’s office. So, in my conscious mind, if this situation happens again, I would take the students to the office. However, because I took several courses and consulted some experienced teachers, I may not just take students to the principal’s office, I would prefer to diffuse the two individuals’ conflict and let them come to my office after class. It is a good opportunity to know my students in a relatively quiet place. I would ask them to discuss their feelings and try to understand what precipitated the conflict. To be honest, I never react differently to students, because I believe that every student deserves to be respected for their positive attributes. When I was a kid, I also hoped that teachers treated me fairly. There is a Chinese saying that goes, judging another person’s feelings by my own. Actually, I do not set up a boundary between students and me, moreover, I do not want to have bias towards students since I do understand the weakness of stereotyping. As a teacher, we cannot judge students at first sight. We need to try to understand them and know them during their school days. Easier said than done! So I have already taken actions. We are one. 2. Address each of Deway’s three attitudes as it relates to you. I think I am an open-minded and a wholehearted person, but I lack the responsibility mentioned by Deway that “involves careful consideration of the consequences to which an action leads”. Why do I think I am open-minded? I am always willing to listen to others’ stories and I always hope that someone could point out my mistakes so that I can change myself if the suggestions or ideas are appropriate or eligible. Actually, sometimes I am not confident, that is why I desire to listen to others. On the other hand, I am very wholehearted since I cannot deal with two problems at the same time, but I wholeheartedly focus on the teaching and how to teach well. Importantly, I want to be a good teacher even a reflective teacher. In fact, I made some mistakes when I was teaching Chinese. For example, I compared SMS students with GMS students. It really hurt students and I felt regretful. As I read in the book, it mentioned that “reflective teachers are fallible teachers” which makes me comfortable, because at least I have opportunities to pursue the goal of being a reflective teacher. What’s more, I believe that teachers are maturing during the time of making mistakes. As far as I know about responsibility, I thought the teachers’ responsibilities are teaching students well and helping student improve. However, if it is in the reflection scale, that it is different. I do not think I did affect my students or help in their intellectual development. Maybe I am not confident since I just taught Chinese students before. What I was doing was giving American students some different aspects of learning Chinese culture and Chinese language. Did I really contribute to their intellectual development or did I really just affect my students’ views towards China, Chinese people, and Chinese culture? I did not have data to prove this answer, but at least it gives me an attitude to learn, to explore. 3. Locate parallels between Jared's educational experiences and any of the reading from the first three weeks. There are some parallels between Jared’s educational experiences and the readings (12 Qualities, The Teaching Behind the Teaching and Becoming a Reflective Teacher Chapter 3). First, Jared remembered the love from his first grade teacher named Mrs. Alisch which is in accordance with “love of kids” in 12 Qualities. Second, Jared drew the funny picture of his English teacher named Mr. Greenwood. Jared was asked to the hall and surprisingly Mr. Greenwood did not blame him instead he commended Jared for his talented drawing. Moreover, Mr. Greenwood kindly recommended him to be a new cartoonist since the school newspaper needed one. Finally, he nicely suggested to him to stop drawing in the class. What a smart and considerate teacher! I think this is a good strategy to solve the classroom problem. Certainly, this strategy is similar to Dr. Marzano’s question “what do I typically do to celebrate success?” It may not be completely the same, while emotionally I prefer to use this strategy in my future classroom, because it is always significant to encourage students to pursue their interests and goals instead of killing off their passions. This idea is also mentioned in Parker Palmer’s book which we read in week two. Obviously, Mr. Greenwood did not kill off Jared’s passion about drawing, and that is why I believe that in modern society teachers are taught to encourage students. Third, Jared shared his story about his important teacher named Mark. Jared was excited to have a drawing book, because it taught him how to draw superheroes, a woman or muscles. However, it was strange that Mr. Mark told him to forget everything he had learned. Jared was confused, as an audience, however, I am not surprised. Distinctly, he was one of teachers who most resembled Abba Felix. "You have a great style. Celebrate your own style. Don't draw the way you're being told to draw. Draw the way you're drawing and keep at it, because you're really good." Mr. Mark said to Jared. Of course, Mr. Mark wanted to clean Jared’s world and certainly he gave Jared opportunities to explore the world independently. Finally, I am moved because of Jared’s history and success. Actually, it is the art which changes his life. Art is powerful! Similarly, teachers are powerful! I believe. 4. Think back to your own k-12 experiences, what was the curriculum like when you were a student? Do some digging regarding curriculum where you hope to teach and compare and contrast the two curricula? Consider how you are being taught to think about curriculum and learning in the MU Art Education program, how is it different (or the same) as you were taught? When I recall my k-12 experiences, the curriculum was all exam-based. As you all know that I mentioned in reflection 2, the k-12 education in China is a battle, who wins the game, will have a better future. (This is my bias about the education in China since I experienced through this k-12 journey.) And I did not remember some specific content that I hope to teach or compare in the future. And we do not have visual art in K-12, instead, we do have drawing/painting courses which usually are replaced by main subjects, including Chinese, Math and English before midterm test and final test. The useful curriculum that I could recall was English class in my high school which was a private school. Except for traditional English class which was taught by Chinese people who gained a degree of TESOL in China, we did have an English native speaker being our English movie appreciation teacher. What I remembered was this teacher (Australian) leading us to repeat the lines and we did role playing. Especially, we had competition of English Drama Play in every semester and we had an English corner which would perform so many programs during the events. I think the reason why I still remembered is that this was the only class we did not have exams. The grade was based on the participation and performance. Since the subjects are different (English vs Art), it is difficult to measure the differences and commonalities between the different subjects. However, based on these curricula, I think they are used as enlightening and inspiring students’ ideas and views. Moreover, students are engaged in the processes which improve their main skills and help them have a better understanding towards the subjects. 5. Compose a goal statement, explain why it’s important to you AND for your students. Propose several strategies you might play with to achieve it. A: Create an environment which promotes conceptual thinking I want to create a classroom which is full of thinking, learning and students’ improvement. I believe that the classroom is a pure safe place to gain knowledge. It may involve objectivism, and sometimes subjectivism. However, students at least experience different aspects of the world around them. Strategies: I would prefer to use some strategies to push these processes, for example, inspiring and enlightening students by leading them to think about the world independently instead of giving them the answers directly like Abba Felix did. I would use Marzano’s teaching scale strategies that I did not use in my previous classroom, for example, ask students to examine information for errors or informal fallacies such as faulty logic, attack, weak reference, and misinformation. B: Develop methods to make learning visible. Every student is encouraged to make their thinking and learning visible. Strategies: I would use some strategies that I learned from Livek’s course which are SEE-THINK-WONDER, THINK-PUZZLE-EXPLORE, and HEADLINES. The attached file is the introduction to these strategies that make thinking/learning visible. REFERENCE Reflective Teaching: An Introduction (Reflective Teaching and the Social Conditions of Schooling Series) 2nd Edition, Chapter 1 - 2 PEER RESPONSE 1. Becky: Hi Becky, I am really intrigued about why no one could tell you the curriculum should be? So is it usually created by “teacherself”? I mean is there any one directing you the curriculum or giving you a plan so you could follow it? Since I did not have experience creating curriculum at school, I am so curious about it. My previous teaching Chinese experience, what I had was the coordinator from world-language department who designed the curriculum every lesson. Every language teacher just followed the curriculum and extended the lessons. In addition, your goal, is really important. Sometimes as a teacher, he/she usually is not patient enough. I mean he/she does not notice the importance of patience. Well, I want to keep this in my notebook, so that it could remind me of the importance of patience. Thank you! 2. Hi Amy, see you again in the online course. I admire your solution to address the seat. Well, at my first day class, I usually created the assigned seats by the alphabet using students’ last name. When I recognized the dynamic of class was not good, I started to change the seats. However, I changed the assigned seat many time but it did not work. At this point, I could not try to find the best solution to address the needs of all students. How frustrating it was. Have you ever met the situation that two students who seated far however they wanted to seat together? Will you led them seat together? Or how will you respond to them? In your question 2, I have the same feelings with you. Actually, I noticed schools do not pay attention to world language. I did not know the budget of world-language per school, but I should say I did not get support from school. And, I was a visiting teacher so that I did not advocate for the roles in school reform. However, I admire what you did for budget which is inspiring. In addition, I really enjoy reading your post since you shared a lot your teaching experience which I am lack of right now, because I am currently a full time student. ![]()
3 Comments
Amy R
2/5/2017 10:00:32 am
Jenny,
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Melissa K
2/6/2017 12:32:33 am
Hi Jenny,
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Andrea
2/10/2017 06:06:47 am
"As far as I know about responsibility, I thought the teachers’ responsibilities are teaching students well and helping student improve. "
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