I have entered into the field of education with full knowledge that it can be very challenging but it is my venture to make it gratifying for both my students and myself. A crucial point of “The Woodcarver” is the ability to focus. Once the woodcarver was finished with his work, all credits were taken from him and given to higher powers. Similarly, once I am able to bring the task at hand to the central point of my concentration, then I am bond to astonish many, including myself. I particularly gain wisdom from the fact that “The woodcarver” guarded his spirit and did not expend it on trifles that were not to the point. Burning up energy on issues that have nothing to do with the mission at hand is detrimental to success. Like “The Woodcarver he did not expend it on trifles but prepared himself to accomplish his goal. He purged himself of everything internal as well as external with the exception of the knowledge of why he was cleansing him.
As an Assistant Teacher in a public school, I was assigned to a fifth grade student who was having problems with reading and writing. John came to me late in the school year and his reading abilities were that of a first grader. I became disheartened because I thought it was unfair to me given his situation and the time factor. Instead of immediately think of ways to move him forward, self got in the way and I became overly concerned about what my peers would say about my abilities if John did not advanced. Because I was seeking self praise, I lost sight of the main objective and as a result the child suffered. I was backed into a corner and had no answers or solutions to the problem. It was not until late March, two months later, that I realized that I needed to shift gears. I...
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...carving right away. He prepared himself. He was able to go within and freed himself of all external pressure. This was the woodcarver’s secret. Educators should not look to take the secret of another teacher and get discourage if it does not work for them because what works for one man not necessary work for the other.
Even though the master carver created a masterpiece he too felt the pressure of work. He had to do something to get him to that place where he could prove his worthiness. There is no telling what the prince would have done to him if he did not produce a grand bell stand. Teachers too are faced with the pressure of failing students, poor state tests result or that dread unsatisfactory of the end of the school year. We are crippled with fear while we try to please those we work for and those who turn of stunning work year after year.
Nyla was a student that took a lot of work and effort that would make her successful. Although she did have some limitations such as her communication and transportation, Kissinger made it possible for her to be a special part in the classroom. The students in this school room then grew respect for Nyla and had an open mind of always looking out for others. This story of Holding Nyla was a story that had touched my heart. This is an exact model of what I want to strive for in my future classroom. The main lesson I got from this text was not to focus on the child’s disability and limitations as a student, but utilize the student and as one could see, that had a great impact among her peers and overall environment of the classroom. By the end of this transforming story, Nyla was not the only one feeling praise and importance in this classroom, or not feeling underestimated by her disability, but every child that was in that room felt that as
When I was in the first grade, every week the students did reading board where they sat in the hall outside the class and the teacher told us to read as many words as possible. This reading board created great anxiety and resentment toward my classmates proper spelling and word usage. When I misspoke, or used a word incorrectly, the teacher placed me in a lower reading level than my peers. I was upset because, my friend kept moving up and I was still stuck in first grade reading level. I learned that I had a learning disability, which would be the greatest challenge in my life.
When I received special education services, peers and teachers were bothered. Peers acted diffidently because they knew I was “special”. The reason I used “special” is because to them, I was one of many special students in the school. Teachers looked at me diffidently rather then treating me like one of the other peers. Yes I had a disability, however they did not need to treat me diffidently. Robert was treated different in the story, the narrator was scared at first, he asked stupid questions, although Robert went along with it. Some of my peers and teachers were never supportive, I was known as one of the emotional students, because I was in the Emotional Impairment classroom. Just having that label was difficult to live back. It like how the narrator said “the blind move slowly and never laughed.” (Carver, Cathedral). Peers always thought EI students were unstable and violent, my thoughts as well. In sixth grade, a EI student bit the EI teacher, that is why I thought the same as my peer. Although now I was an EI student and now they thought I was that kid. By junior and senior year, I never was treated diffidently. The teachers and students understood that I was not emotionally impaired, I was just placed there on mistake, which I was. Although, I still had the label, which caused many opportunities to not become available to
Last spring I was part of a tutor agency that provided activities to students from 1st – 6th grade. Such agency main purpose was to give students a set of mathematical problems or English pieces of reading in order for them to have an outstanding outcome on these two subjects at school. During my tutoring sessions I had a 4th grade student named Carolina who had a difficult time keeping focus, understanding the concept, and fully interested. She preferred texting in the middle of our session or making excuses to go to the restroom. I honestly felt helpless for her, and I didn’t know what to do and how to help her raise her grades. I realized that our tutoring sessions weren’t any help for Carolina since her mom showed me her grades which got worse. I finally decided to plan my tutoring session with her ahead of time, so I can make it interesting and more effective for her to learn but in a fun way. I choose to get different colorful cards, markers, and everything that could grave attention. When our session started I used those markers and cards to show her how to solve a mathematical problem by color coding every different step of the problem. Later, I asked her to show me the mathematical process she used in a similar problem by using those colorful cards and markers. Apparently, I make her use all these fun utensils that made the learning process more fun and effective. At the end of our session, I gave Carolina a quiz regarding the content we covered, and she did make a progress. I noticed that for Carolina the use of colors at every different step actually made her learn. Maybe it was due to the strategy that I showed her and the ability for her to remember those steps by associating them with each color which I was amazed an...
Palmer’s theory requires minimal investment of money, but requires time and effort. Palmer’s theory intuitively resonates with teachers whose actions have far reaching effects. Parker (2015c) wrote his words are not his legacy, as they are inert and a legacy is a living thing. He described his legacy as a shared legacy. Ever the teacher, he sees his role as offering ides for others develop visions and make the world a better place. He values the way people have put his words into action in communities, institutions and the larger
In elementary schools, grade levels one through third are usually recommended by teachers, most teachers hold a child back during this time because of the child’s poor reading skills. “Students who are retained in these grades show initial improvement in academics. However, this improvement disappears after two to three years, after which retained students do no better or even slightly worse than similarly achieving students who were promoted.” (Gelpi 2004). However, being held back in early elementary school does not have a major effect on the child’s self-esteem. “The cost of having a student repeat 3rd grade is several times greater than alternatives such as tutoring or small-group interventions, summer schools, or high-quality pre-k.” (Stipek
While growing up and observing my teachers at school, I have learned that it isn’t always an easy job. Teachers do everything they can to teach their students’ academic, social and other formative skills. Plenty of my teachers have to deal with complications, most of them being minor, but it isn’t always an easy job helping children, teens and young adults. As a student myself, I know they can be stubborn, unwilling to learn, aggressive, and irresponsible. Sometimes, they simply don’t care. However, that is a teacher's purpose: to help and shape their students to become better learners, so that they have a clearer understanding regarding a variety of subject matters. Someday, I actually want to become an elementary art teacher, which is why I researched this career. I chose to gather more information of what skills it takes to be a teacher and what you need to do to successfully fulfill this career.
This week I worked closely with one of my clients who has some behavioral issues with their teachers. When I first met with this client I noticed immediately they had a hard time focusing and sitting still. After meeting with my field instructor who is licensed as a LCSW, we came to the conclusion that this child is showing symptoms of ADHD. Due to the child’s situation, they’re not able to go in for an appointment to confirm this possibility. Their dad is a single parent and is on disability where he can barely speak which has made it difficult for my client to get an evaluation. While working with my client it was necessary for me to understand where they were coming from and understand how my client’s diversity and difference, which was their potential diagnose of ADHD, characterized and shaped their human experience and how this has influenced the formation of their identity. So, while meeting with my client I encouraged them to be the expert of their own situation by allowing them to explain their own reasoning behind why they were having behavioral issues and what they were struggling
From the very start Helen Williams was controlling and not cooperating with the ideas of Mary King. Before meeting, Helen already created lesson plans even though she knew she was going to be working with another teacher. Instead of discussing and working together, Helen dictated Mary’s role in the classroom as “helping the ones having trouble” which not only divided their relationship, but their class and students as well. Helen and her inflexible ways led her to dismiss Mary’s instructional ideas and initiated an ineffective co-teaching experience. Helen had complete control over the classroom which defeats the purpose of a co-teaching partnership. This dominance and control caused students with disabilities like Jim O’Hara to lose hope and motivation. Jim O’Hara was unable to pass his spelling tests due to his disability. In this setting it was both Mary King’s and Helen Williams’ job to find different techniques to modify and/or accommodate instructional practices for students like Jim to be successful. Due to the lack of communication in their partnership, the adaptations to the curriculum were ineffective because they weren’t on the same page. This is a problem because not only was Jim skipping class, he was also failing English and could potentially lose his scholarship. Mary King’s lack of assertiveness also resulted in this ineffective teaching partnership. When they first met Mary King believed that “Helen had made up her mind and that discussion would be futile so she said nothing”. In order to have an effective teaching partnership, communication is a key component. So by Mary trying to avoid potential conflicts and confrontation it hurt the relationship even more because it was that first day they met that a discussion about their roles, objectives, and goals should have been discussed. They were both unable to put their differences
As I set such a scenario for you, two problems are clearly recognizable. The first lies in the lack of effort I put forth in my early schooling, and the second is that I recognized very early what my parents expectations of me were, though I failed to explore my own subdued expectations. They were bubbling just beneath the surface of my false façade of a student. It was not until my years in college, and my subsequent experience, although it is still in its infant stages, of teaching High School English that I began to appreciate writing and reading as a useful tool rather than a mechanism for keeping a smile on my parents’ faces. When this released enthusiasm became part of my life, the latter of the scenario’s problems quickly solved the former.
“A teacher who establishes rapport with the taught, becomes one with them, learns more from them than he teaches them. He who learns nothing from his disciples is, in my opinion, worthless. Whenever I talk with someone I learn from him. I take from him more than I give him. In this way, a true teacher regards himself as a student of his students. If you will teach your pupils with this attitude, you will benefit much from them.” - Mahatma Gandhi
Growing up, I was always insecure about my academic performances because I was about a year younger than most of my classmates. My reading was underdeveloped, and my teachers were concerned about my ability to read more mature literature. To aid my reading disabilities I was placed in an intermediate class. However, the class did not push me into the level I was expected to be. In other words, they "babied" me and have me read at the "level" I was capable of. So like any other American school, they just push you along to the next grade. It wasn't until I started the fourth grade, and I was shown the power of reading independently. I used my struggles to read, as my motivation to excel in reading.
Not every child learns the same. One may learn by seeing and doing, the other may learn by listening and visualizing. When it came to reading and writing, I didn't fit into any of those categories. I was “tossed to the wolves” when it came to English. I understood what my teachers were teaching me, but when it came time to do it on my own, I just couldn't. The letters on the pages of my book would seem to dance. They would flip and trade places as if they were doing a line dance. I would get so frustrated because I couldn't do everything that my classmates were able to do. As I grew older I was diagnosed dyslexia. When I was told this I felt a huge weight lift off my shoulders because I finally knew what was going on in my own head. I was told that this is just a mental wall, that I needed to work harder than most of my classmates and that an IEP, or individualized education program, would help me.
When I was a child, I neglected to put any effort towards my grades, as I didn’t think much of my education. I would come to class, and goof around with my peers, occasionally I would pay attention when the teacher called my name, but me being the disrespectful, ignorant, brat that I was, I would shrug my shoulders and neglect to respond. My education was so bad that I stayed after for special needs English language Arts tutoring, but I didn’t mind as I saw it as more time to make acquaintances.
When people watch movies such as The Ron Clark Story, they form an image in their head of a teacher willing to do anything and everything for his/her students. In this movie the viewers witness numerous cases of how much effort Mr. Clark puts into the education of his students.