Teachers Awesome Power

I just want to talk about the chapter called “A Teacher’s Awesome Power”. This was such an interesting read because we have spent so much time discussing the challenges of teaching. We have talked about the obstacle we as educators have to face. Then we discussed the issues children have faced and how it affects there learning. All this time we have not really mentioned the power difference. Yes, of course we have a controlling and manipulative up line that place limits on teachers. At the same time we are the ones who get to control and manipulate children as we see fit. In a way it is almost disturbing because children have not developed the ability to differentiate the good and the bad. Children have no clue that anything is wrong. A teacher’s power is absolute and unquestioned by little people. A teacher can make or break a student’s reputation just by labeling them or giving them homework that does not challenge them intellectually. There are so many bad teacher that exist in the world today it is truly terrifying. Recently there was a story about a 5 year old who told his parent his teacher was mean to him. Most parents would brush it off and say you’re over reacting. These parents slipped a tape recorder into the child pocket and what they heard was baffling. Not only was the teacher mean she was downright cruel. What 5 year old deserves to be ridiculed in front of an entire class? The answer is none. The real question is how do we prevent this from happening? I am surprised more parents don’t home school at least they can ensure a safe environment for their child to develop in. Of course this is not the case in every classroom, but how can any parent be sure their child is being treated with respect. How many parents even care if their children are being treated with respect in general? In my world I thought teachers are generally caring and I tuned out all of the bad stories, but they do exists. Bad teachers happen to good children. Personally I can recall a few teachers who should have never been teaching in the first place, but somehow they received the awesome power of a teacher and abused it.   

BEDUC427 

Teaching is an ART

Analyzing Metaphor’s for Teachers

Teaching is an art.

Like art teaching is ambiguous and undefined; not every person is meant to be a teacher or an artist. It is a discipline that takes true passion as the driving force. It is something that takes commitment and love. When you start a piece of art you look towards the possible outcome of what it could be. As with teaching when you look at a child you can see all the possibilities, the only limitation is your own. Shaping a child’s life is like shaping a sculpture. You prepare it, feel it’s potential, and mold it into what it needs to be and not what you think it should be. It begins with the simple act of picking up a paint brush or a chisel. With teaching it begins with a child. When De Vinci painted Starry Night he did not anticipate that it would be a piece that would defeat time itself. When you become a teacher the simple act of instilling knowledge into a child’s mind will create generations of timeless art work. Being a teaching is creating art; only the children that come into your life are your medium. This may appear to be an unattainable however if you can’t jump over the moon then you haven’t gone far enough.

This metaphor speaks to me because I am an artist in the technical sense. I enjoy formulating shapes and spaces. I want my art to cross all forms of my life and I believe art can change the way children view the world. The best part of teaching and art is the fact that it is always evolving and never ending. Everyone is constantly improving. For example some paintings look better with age. Some children also improve with age because children’s knowledge can only expand. My goal is to be the artist of knowledge and my form of expression is teaching. 

BEDUC427  

Poverty

A few weeks ago I was a member of a group of people who examined poverty and how it affects children within schools. As a child who experienced poverty first hand I can say that it completely changes the way you view school. Some children are caught up with things that are going on at home. This can hinder their participation in school and their learning. How could it not? All the unknowns are extremely frightening. Where is my next meal going to come from? Will I have a roof over my head when I get home? Will we have power or water? With all those questions going through a child’s mind no wonder they cannot focus on reading for fun.

With that said I feel like I was a slight anomaly. Yes I was homeless at one point, but I had a little sister and we always made the best of the situation. Yes we went hungry, but that made us appreciate every meal we received. I felt the same way about school. Every opportunity I had to go to school I was there. My sister and I use to walk to school so we never had to rely on my mom to take us. We never had a bus we could miss and if we woke up late we still went to school. Early on school because my safe place and I knew it was the answer to not ending up like my mother. Now don’t get me wrong I have a wonderful mother who did the best she could with what she had. To be honest I would not change a signal thing about my childhood. Not only did we climb our way out of poverty, but I have exceeded everyone’s hopes for me. Let’s face when your poor people’s hope for you are pretty low.

 Ultimately, every child deserves to feel safe at school whether they are poor or not. Every child deserves to learn without added pressure. As a future educator I hope to change the way poor children are seen in schools. Every child has value.

BEDUC405       

Where I'm From

Where I’m From

I am from laser guns and Barbie dolls

From ladybugs and elephants

I am from the sledding hill all covered in snow

I am from my grandmother’s

For my name is theirs

I am from Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis at the tender age of seven

From the Michael Jackson disease and dinosaurs in my ears

I am from zombies and shrunken heads

From dead relatives in my closet

I am from “another day another ‘A’”

And “if you don’t drink you don’t get drunk”

I am form the inspirational notes left by a younger me

From Morgan’s, Gibbon’s, Black’s, and Fritze’s

I am from pictures plastered on the walls

From red stuff and green stuff of gelatinous deliciousness

I am from family secrets

From sunflowers and aloe

I am from rotten fruit and un-cleaned clothes

I am from water bottles and leg lamps

And golden fish mobiles

I am from books old and new

From education too

I am from Alaskan scenes

From loud bi-pap machines

I am from the philosophy

Don’t believe what you can’t see

I am my future now and then

I am from the beginning

BEDUC427 

TEACHERS HAVE VALUE AND CHILDREN ARE GIFTS

A quote that really prompted me this week was by Buchmann who wrote "teachers are not social workers  career counselors, or simply adults who care for children..." (531). Teacher are so much more. Society seems to have a hard time understanding that teachers are a child's foundation in life. If we didn't have teachers we wouldn't have social workers, career counselors, or people who do simply care for children. Most of those jobs require a higher level of education. Why do we expect these people to go above and beyond for each individual child that comes through their classroom and yet we don't want to increase their pay or provide them with extended planning time. Why is the profession of teaching debated at being a profession at all? I honestly can't even begin to comprehend these questions.

On a more positive note I really enjoyed thinking about teaching in a different way as presented by Lisa Delpit. She wrote "we must, finally, come to the realization that the children we teach are the gifts we give to the future" (47). Instead of making teaching about our selves and what we can do for the future of the children. This quote is saying that children are the gift and we need to let them shape our future not the other way around. It is amazing to me at how much children know at such early ages these days. Most grasp big concepts like gender differences and racism. I believe that we can use this knowledge in ways that will enhance a child's understanding of themselves and of those around them. Fostering critical thinking at an early age can help a child's ability to build up buffers and make decisions on there own. Not only do we need to create this environment for our children, but we need to remind ourselves of our biases. My hope for the future is that children are less tainted by false information and teachers are viewed as a profession by all.

BEDUC427