We keep talking about how we should let each student feel safe in expressing their culture and dive into their imagination. I think this is a great thing and very important. It does allow for them to expand their thinking and creative brains. At the same time, the teacher is able to learn more about them as well as learn things in general. We are just one person too, so if we think that we know everything and know all of the creative aspects/options we are wrong.
An activity in elementary that I will never forget is when we were given a word and asked to draw it on a peice of paper including a picture of a hammer (I don't quite remember why we had to include a drawing of a hammer, but I think there was a good reason). Now my word was the word "TRIP" - There were few of us with the same word. After we were done with our drawings we each had to share it with the whole class. I remember looking at the other "trip" hammers and panicking because I thought I had done it wrong and misunderstood the word. See, my other classmates drew hammers tripping over something, whether it was a rock or whatever, the hammer was falling..
What did I draw, you ask? I drew my hammer standing straight up but the head of the hammer i drew as a car, with luggage on top of it. I interpreted the word "trip" as going on vacation or taking a trip. I remember feeling so embarrassed.. Thankfully, my teacher encouraged me in saying that it was very creative. I guess my question then is, why did I feel embarrassed? Was it because I was the oddball?
I think that has a lot to do with it. We've grown up with thinking that thinking differently is a risk, maybe we find safety in similarity? Is this what is stopping students from being creative and imagining to their fullest? fear? I think maybe.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Home Alone
So in class we were asked to discuss our most memorable or favorite childhood toy. I loved this quesiton because who doesn't like to talk about his or her favorite toy?
My favorite or most memorable childhood toy was my Talk Girl. What is this, you ask? Do you remember watching the Home Alone movies and Maucalay Culkin or Kevin uses a recording device to manipulate his voice to sound lower/older? Now his was called a Talk Boy. I absolutely loved this because it was a fun way to experiment with different sounds and manipulating voices, all in all it was very entertaining and was the cause of much laughter amongst my friends.
The original Talk Boy was grey and black. It very much looked like an electronic, simple basic colors, like in the movie. What colors was the girl version, you ask? PINK and PURPLE. I never really thought too much about why it was pink and purple until the discussion in the classroom. Why was it pink and purple? This got me to think that we do unknowlingly (maybe knowingly) assign gender characterisitcs at a young age. I asked, what if I wanted the grey and black one? What made my parents choose the girly version? I understand that in the title it says 'boy' and 'girl', but still, what if I hated the color pink. Or another quesiton could be to the manufacterers; why choose pink and purple? why not green or blue? It's interesting to think that at some point we all learned what colors 'belonged' to each gender. This idea doesn't only apply to colors but to other things as well.
What would happen if we didn't assign things to certain genders? What if we really pushed raising kids in a more nuetral environment? We are all individuals, aren't we?
My favorite or most memorable childhood toy was my Talk Girl. What is this, you ask? Do you remember watching the Home Alone movies and Maucalay Culkin or Kevin uses a recording device to manipulate his voice to sound lower/older? Now his was called a Talk Boy. I absolutely loved this because it was a fun way to experiment with different sounds and manipulating voices, all in all it was very entertaining and was the cause of much laughter amongst my friends.
The original Talk Boy was grey and black. It very much looked like an electronic, simple basic colors, like in the movie. What colors was the girl version, you ask? PINK and PURPLE. I never really thought too much about why it was pink and purple until the discussion in the classroom. Why was it pink and purple? This got me to think that we do unknowlingly (maybe knowingly) assign gender characterisitcs at a young age. I asked, what if I wanted the grey and black one? What made my parents choose the girly version? I understand that in the title it says 'boy' and 'girl', but still, what if I hated the color pink. Or another quesiton could be to the manufacterers; why choose pink and purple? why not green or blue? It's interesting to think that at some point we all learned what colors 'belonged' to each gender. This idea doesn't only apply to colors but to other things as well.
What would happen if we didn't assign things to certain genders? What if we really pushed raising kids in a more nuetral environment? We are all individuals, aren't we?
Thursday, April 21, 2011
personal experience : race and culture
Talking about the issues of race and culture in the classroom is something that I am very passionate about. I have been learning so much through these last weeks. What does it mean to be a well-rounded teacher that knows how to teach each of his/her students?
That is the question that I have been asking myself these past weeks, how? How do we give each student enough attention when there is only one of me?
I find the issues of race and culture interesting. I grew up having a different culture in the classroom. Because I was born in Michigan, being Korean-American, I felt like I had a totally different culture from one who was born in Korea and an All-American person (whatever that may mean. :) ). I felt like I had a totally different culture, the feeling of not knowing and being unsure is very prominent during my adolescent years. I remember feeling inwardly that I am American, since I was born in Michigan, but because of the way I looked I was always categorized as the "other" or someone different. I didn't really think too much of it, since I did have friends and in all honesty, I think I had a pretty good and positive education experience.
One thing that I do remember is when we had English assignments or History projects my white classmates would tell me that they got an enormous amount of help from their parents. They were telling me that their parents were able to help them and give them a lot of feedback on their assignments. After hearing this, I felt like things were unfair. I remember feeling a little jealous that their parents were able to help. For me, being a second generation Korean and my parents being a part of the first generation, their English was not that great. This is something that I remember clearly. I thought, only if my teacher knew. I think this is the reason why I felt so appreciated when we had projects to share our cultures and where we came from. It truly brought understanding within the classroom (and fun).
As a teacher, I think that it's important to be open-minded. Open-minded in seeing what is not familiar to you. This is important to me and I want to be familiar with the different cultures and backgrounds of my students. I find that it's crucial to make the effort to understand where your students come from.
That is the question that I have been asking myself these past weeks, how? How do we give each student enough attention when there is only one of me?
I find the issues of race and culture interesting. I grew up having a different culture in the classroom. Because I was born in Michigan, being Korean-American, I felt like I had a totally different culture from one who was born in Korea and an All-American person (whatever that may mean. :) ). I felt like I had a totally different culture, the feeling of not knowing and being unsure is very prominent during my adolescent years. I remember feeling inwardly that I am American, since I was born in Michigan, but because of the way I looked I was always categorized as the "other" or someone different. I didn't really think too much of it, since I did have friends and in all honesty, I think I had a pretty good and positive education experience.
One thing that I do remember is when we had English assignments or History projects my white classmates would tell me that they got an enormous amount of help from their parents. They were telling me that their parents were able to help them and give them a lot of feedback on their assignments. After hearing this, I felt like things were unfair. I remember feeling a little jealous that their parents were able to help. For me, being a second generation Korean and my parents being a part of the first generation, their English was not that great. This is something that I remember clearly. I thought, only if my teacher knew. I think this is the reason why I felt so appreciated when we had projects to share our cultures and where we came from. It truly brought understanding within the classroom (and fun).
As a teacher, I think that it's important to be open-minded. Open-minded in seeing what is not familiar to you. This is important to me and I want to be familiar with the different cultures and backgrounds of my students. I find that it's crucial to make the effort to understand where your students come from.
Monday, April 18, 2011
so many questions
Reading more about different perspectives on teachers has been really interesting, especially after Biklin's article about teaching being a woman's profession and different issues that come with that. I found this really engaging and almost frustrating because I personally didn't look at teaching that way. One of the questions that came to mind was how teaching became just a woman's profession. I understand that it has many similarities to motherhood and nurturing but I find it frustrating that it's assumed to be a "lower" status in the career field.
This leads me to my next question: Do people know what teaching entails? Do they know what teachers do outside of the school hours?
**This really makes me want to share more with others what teaching involves. Now, I am not a teacher yet, so I guess I wouldn't fully be able to educate others on the profession of teaching, but I have a huge desire to share what I already do know. I wonder if people would think differently if they knew what teaching involved. It involves so much more than being the caregivers of their children. Also, there is so much preparation and careful consideration and attention on each child. If they knew this, and knew what teaching really involved, would they think differently? Would teachers be respected more? If the profession started out as mostly men, would it have been different? Would it be a profession that people look at in equality to big name CEO positions? There are so many questions...
This leads me to my next question: Do people know what teaching entails? Do they know what teachers do outside of the school hours?
**This really makes me want to share more with others what teaching involves. Now, I am not a teacher yet, so I guess I wouldn't fully be able to educate others on the profession of teaching, but I have a huge desire to share what I already do know. I wonder if people would think differently if they knew what teaching involved. It involves so much more than being the caregivers of their children. Also, there is so much preparation and careful consideration and attention on each child. If they knew this, and knew what teaching really involved, would they think differently? Would teachers be respected more? If the profession started out as mostly men, would it have been different? Would it be a profession that people look at in equality to big name CEO positions? There are so many questions...
Thursday, April 7, 2011
The Bigger Picture
First of all I am very excited to start this program. I didn't know that I would always become an official teacher. I was always interested in it and had a love for children but didn't really think to make it my career. After this program starting, I am even more excited to learn more and get into the depths of teaching and schooling.
The general underlying fact that I have been learning so far is that there is a much bigger picture in teaching. I find it so easy to assume that teaching is just about sharing facts, lessons and "how to's" with students. I am quickly learning that this is not the case. There is so much more to teaching. There is definitely that bigger picture. It is affecting children and teaching them how to succeed in life. We have so much potential to influence them in positive ways. This is the time where they learn the skills for their future, especially in the social sense. This is so important; we have the responsibility to show children what it means to be an overall good person/citizen. It is quite exciting and honestly a little intimidating, but I am excited to learn!
The general underlying fact that I have been learning so far is that there is a much bigger picture in teaching. I find it so easy to assume that teaching is just about sharing facts, lessons and "how to's" with students. I am quickly learning that this is not the case. There is so much more to teaching. There is definitely that bigger picture. It is affecting children and teaching them how to succeed in life. We have so much potential to influence them in positive ways. This is the time where they learn the skills for their future, especially in the social sense. This is so important; we have the responsibility to show children what it means to be an overall good person/citizen. It is quite exciting and honestly a little intimidating, but I am excited to learn!
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