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Soft Spot

After pondering and reviewing my blogs, I came to realize I am very passionate about one certain thing that branch off. Before coming into the course, I thought it was going to learn on a certain and exact way to teach. I was completely wrong. Education 100 was like going to a buffet. I got a little taste of everything and now realize what I am eager to learn more about and practice.

First, after shadowing many different schools, I am all for the I.B. system, or schools like Beachwood Middle School, that go above and beyond standards. Beachwood Middle School is an innovating, different, lives for the students and many more amazing qualities. Even though there is not a distinct thing that separates Beachwood from others schools, it is the atmosphere and teaching that puts the school on top of the mountain. The teachers never just stood in front of the class and made the students take notes. The teachers would move around and have different learning activities. Labs, using their laptops, making documentaries was only a few things of their unique learning style. What I absolutely adored, the teachers had a different way for students to solve problems. They gave the students the answers first and then made them explain how they got the answer in their own words, not just reciting from the textbook. The teachers made the students think on their own. The creative ways of learning is much more retaining then sitting in a desk and your head getting talked off. The students were happy and participated in the lessons. This was a sight I never saw and inspired me. I realized I may want to be a teacher, which I never considered. I want kids to love learning. I don’t want kids to have the negative experience I had.

Second, I realized how much I greatly dislike the banking concept. I never really knew what to call “standard teaching”. This means the teacher talking and a student sitting in their crammed desk while writing. The banking concept does not recognize an individual. A student possess a conscious, rather than using it. Also, the baking concept has the teacher as the dominant figure and have full authority. I think this may have been acceptable 50 years ago, but it will not work in modern day. A teacher should not only teach but learn. Students and teachers should not only teach, but learn at the same time. I firmly believe that the baking concept should be destroyed. It is degrading and for the most part, does not give the students the capability to retain information

Overall, this course has opened my eyes. I could not envision myself other than teaching grades K-3. If I ever would become a teacher, I would want to be that innovating teacher who inspires their students. School should not be a dread to, it should be an important and positive memory in one’s life.