Reflection #4

Unfortunately stereotyping is something that everyone does. It doesn't matter who you are at some point in your life you have judged a certain individual or group of people based on their appearance, religion, or some other factor. Teachers are human and they are not immune to this. I have seen stereotyping in the classroom and around the school before. One example is that we got a new student a few months ago. The student's father was in the office and covered in tattoos and wearing torn up jeans with a cut off shirt. The student looked close to the same with a crew cut, torn up jeans, and a cut off shirt. Many teachers, including myself, were a little concerned when we saw this and we automatically assumed that the student would be a problem in the classroom. The student didn't stay but for a few days and I only talked to him in athletics. We didn't get a chance to know him but the fact is we were judging him based off of his appearance and we shouldn't have been. I think it is important that we try to not make assumptions about our students. It is important that we pay more attention to the actions of the student rather than making assumptions about them. There is one student who most of the teachers seem to avoid. The student was busted for drugs last semester and most of the teachers seem to assume that this is still an issue for him. I have this student in my athletic period and I have watched him work hard and take his punishment for the offense that he committed. The student has projected nothing to me other than a hard working, respectful young man. And I treat him as any other hard working student who has shown a desire to improve themselves, regardless of past mistakes.

Reflection 3

Reflection 3

I believe in the idea of inclusion. Inclusion means that every student should have equal opportunity to succeed and I believe that this is a good thing. I like the idea of inclusion but putting it into practice is a little bit more difficult. Giving students the exact same opportunities and treating students equally is fair but at the same time there are going to be students who may require special attention. Some students may need extra help with assignments while other students may be advanced enough that they become bored in a standard class. Inclusion also has students with special needs becoming more involved with the regular class. I believe that this is a good thing as well because when a group of kids see that another student is being treated differently then they may respond in a negative way towards that student. Kids have a tendency to seek out those who are different and treat them in a negative way. So again, the idea of inclusion is great (all students given the same opportunity and treated equally) but in reality I believe that it is more beneficial to students to have more personalized plans for each student. In my classroom this semester I have some students who have special needs. I have students who struggle in class and I have some who can answer all the questions, make all A’s on the tests, and seem bored in class. Students who have special needs should be given the help that they need. Students who are advanced should be placed in advanced classes. This is my own personal belief. In class I will walk around to try and help students who may struggle. I modify their homework and their tests. The debate over inclusion is a difficult topic because no answer seems completely right or wrong.

                The No Child Left Behind Act is another difficult topic to discuss. Once again, the idea behind the act is good. The idea of creating a standard test for everyone and then challenging schools to raise those test scores seems like a great idea. But of course there are several issues within this idea. I honestly don’t know if there is a way to completely fix NCLB but I also don’t think it would be wise to completely scrap the whole idea all together. Most teachers that I have met so far complain almost daily about standardized tests. The classes that I am teaching are world history and there is no longer a standardized test for this class. I haven’t had to deal with the preparation for the test that other teachers have had to deal with this semester. In theory having a standardized test is a good way to let educators know where we all stand but in practice, the preparation for the test takes away from the educational experience for the students. Teachers are teaching students just to past the test. I believe that this narrows the abilities of the educators in the classroom. Focusing all of our time and energy on just one test takes away educational opportunities from students.