A Final Reflection

Throughout this course I have learned much about what Education is and I have also developed my ideas on what I believe Education should be. I have learned all of the ways that there are to teach a student which is helpful in the regard that each student learns differently. This class has been incredibly informative and eye opening into not only the how our state’s curriculum functions but also to the overall state of education of our country. I believe that education is very much like building a house because as Elementary school teachers, we are providing these children with the foundation that they need to build their educational future on. Without us at the helm, guiding them towards the goals that they need to meet before their time with us ends, we are insuring that they will have success in their futures.

The second half of this course, which was the observational component, was far more beneficial to my learning than I thought it would be. It allowed me the opportunity to go and physically see just how a classroom works. I will admit that I was timid when I first thought about having to go and observe these children but after the first time, it was clear that this was where I was meant to be. It was easy to interact with the children and it was an experience that I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world.

I will take many things from this course, but the most important one is the security and peace of mind in knowing that I am on the right career track. It was great getting to know you all through these blogs and through discussions and I wish you all the best of luck with your futures.

The Teachings of Montessori

This week as we were asked to pick one theorist to research and write about their theory of education, I chose to research and write about Doctor Maria Montessori and her theory of education. I chose Dr. Montessori to research first because it is a method of teaching that I had heard of but never truly understood what it was or how it was taught. I also chose to research Montessori because it was the name that stood out to me and one I have heard many times before. So with that in mind, I set out to learn more about the Montessori method of teaching and what it entails.

Maria Montessori was an Italian born educator who sought to develop a method of teaching that was more suited towards modern America. This method of education focuses on independence, giving the children freedom within limits, the technological advances in society, and the psychological developments of the children at this age. This method of teaching is based around human development and an educational approach that is centered around that model. Montessori believed that children placed into what she thought was the ideal environment for their learning, would act spontaneously for optimal development.

The Montessori model of learning varies now but they focus mainly on these four points:

·      Mixed age classrooms with children aged 3-9

·      Student choice of activity from a range of options prepared according to the method.

·      Uninterrupted blocks of work time

·      Time for discovery where the children work with materials rather than with direct instruction.

Montessori believed that with this method, the children would be best developed and that they would also develop the independence necessary to make them functioning humans in society. It is in my opinion that this method of teaching might only benefit children that learn best by seeing the material before them. I do not believe that this method of instruction is the most beneficial to students because not everyone is able to learn without direct instruction and the aid of a teacher.

Resources:

The Montessori Foundation

Are we teaching children properly about the holidays?

When I was in elementary school I can remember learning about both Columbus Day and Thanksgiving through mostly songs and books read to us by the teachers. I think that most teachers skipped over the more historical facts about both of these holidays and instead stuck to what they knew would interest their students. For that reason, truthfully I don’t know all that much about either holiday other than knowing the dates that Columbus landed and the names of the ships he sailed upon. In school both of these holidays seemed more like excuses for the teachers to throw parties, rather than as a proper lesson that we as kids learned and committed to memory. Personally I believe that these holidays are important because we as a country celebrate them. If we are going to celebrate them and give the students time off from school, they should know the reasons why so that they respect those days.

Truthfully for teachers, it shouldn’t be all that difficult to know what to do in regards to teaching their students about Thanksgiving. A simple Google search on that matter brought me to Scholastic.com, which provided both articles about the holiday as well as activities for the children to do. If I were teaching the students about this holiday in particular I would design a lesson plan around some of the activities listed there so that I knew the students were learning something rather than just enjoying the fact that the holiday gets them out of school. One activity that I found particularly interesting was something called a “Virtual Trip to Plymouth Plantation”. Now given, we live close enough that maybe for a field trip this would be suitable but if we wanted to give children across the country the opportunity to take a tour of this plantation where some of the first settlers to this country lived. Most classrooms these days have Smartboards or projectors, so I think this would be a fantastic resource to use.

In any case I found there to be a wide variety of resources out there for teachers to use for helping their students to learn about Thanksgiving in particular. It is my belief that children should walk away from elementary school knowing all that there is on the holidays that our country celebrates, and teaching them while they are this young is a surefire way to make sure it sticks with them.

Resources:

Scholastic

Virtual Tour of Plymouth Plantation

Why Pragmatism?

The idea of having different educational philosophies in teaching is an interesting topic and one that should be explored further. This week the educational philosophy that I chose to look further in depth to was that of pragmatism. Our book says that pragmatism should define the truth and meaning of ideas according to their physical consequences and practical value. Pragmatism is the balance of the realism of science along with the ideals displayed through religion, art, and politics.

My question for the blog this week was the basic question of why pragmatism is the best educational philosophy. The book speaks a great deal about how this philosophy is most often known as the “common sense” philosophy and I believe there is a rather obvious reason for that. This is because it is the philosophy that makes an incredible amount of sense in comparison to the rest of the philosophies that were mentioned in this chapter. Throughout history people have tried to separate religion and the arts from the sciences. However with pragmatism they are both incorporated into each other so that the students have the chance to learn both sides of things. While it is against what I believe to put religion into schools, I think that students could benefit from learning about all of the different religions that exist because it would promote tolerance, which our world so desperately needs.

Pragmatism also promotes the belief that students should be responsible for making decisions so that they may learn of consequence and of how for every action there is a reaction and they need to be aware of that. Pragmatism is incredibly important for that very reason. If children learn that there are different outcomes for each action and decision that they make, they will learn quickly to think out their choices carefully rather than acting rashly. Well-educated children who understand this concept will make for citizens that will be good for our society.

Overall I believe that pragmatism is the most important educational philosophy and that it should be incorporated into every classroom as to benefit the future generation of our world. These children will take what they have learned from pragmatism and apply it to their future, creating a well-balanced and fair world that balances both the arts and the sciences. 

Information found here:

Intellectual Takeout

What is the best way to assist children with developmental disabilities?

As I pondered what question to research for this week, one particular quote from the book stuck out in my mind. That was of "research shows that special needs students appear to do better in regular classrooms than in special education settings, recent surveys indicate that most teachers are still uncomfortable with special education students in their classrooms because they feel that they do not have the proper training to work with students with disabilities" (pg 75.) So after reading that quote over a few times I decided that I would focus this week on what teachers can do to best assist the children in their classroom who may suffer from learning disabilities that keep them from learning at the same pace as the rest of the students. The first thing I happened upon was that some students benefit from a detailed outline of what will be happening that day in class so as a teacher if you have a student with a disability, it may help both you and the student if they know at the beginning of the day what to expect.

The next piece I examined was that of having an aid in the classroom to work specifically with that student throughout the day so that they do not fall behind. I have noticed this in the past when I was in high school there were a few students who had adults helping them with notes and such so that they could make it through the class without falling behind.

The student may also benefit from additional assistance outside of the classroom such as a tutor. If possible it might also benefit the student to have the teacher stay after class with them to go over the things that were learned that day and to give them additional work to help them truly grasp the subject. I believe it is incredibly important to make sure that students with disabilities get the education that they deserve and so that is why I chose to research this for this week’s blog topic.

Information Found Here:

LearningRX