Maya's Classroom

What makes great teaching?

When creating my top 5 list, I chose things that throughout the semester really stuck with me and taught me a lot. Blogging was one of the best things for me that came out of this semester. I felt like blogging was a way for me to be able to share my thoughts on the topics with other classmates and being able to read about their thoughts as well. I think commenting on other people's blogs and having a conversation with them was refreshing because this is an online course so it was nice to "talk" with others in the class.

Another strategy I put on there was the worditout assignment and my process of choosing that one was because of the picture at the end. I am a visual learner so being able to see all the word I chose in various sizes really helped me see the importance behind the words.

The question of "What makes great teaching" includes many things. The past teachers I have had that left a lasting impact on me all had characteristics in common. One thing was that they all connected with their students. Being able to teach kids subject matter is one thing but going above and beyond to make sure every kid is understanding and developing strong relationships with their students is what makes great teaching. I think a lot of great teaching comes from what the students are able to learn before the year is over but also the way of teaching. You can be a very intelligent individual and have the knowledge to teach kids but if you are doing it in a harsh, cold way, kids do not respond positively to that. I remember a quote from a past module that talked about "kids don't learn from people they don't like". This quote really stuck with me and I think highlights that great teaching comes from the relationship with their students and caring about their well-being.

What is worth learning?

racial trauma, violence, discipline frame teaching. teachers avoid teaching Black history, remaining silent. we have to struggle to learn more

For my black out poem, I wanted it to start off with showcasing the violence of the curriculum and how teachers are avoiding certain things in fear of repercussions. I wanted the ending to show that people struggle with trying to learn certain things because school systems and teaching are leaving out crucial information.

When the question is brought up of "What is worth learning?", my immediate response is almost everything. In the article "Texas School District Strikes More Books From Reading Lists", a point is brought up that Texas is continuing to ban more books which contributes to "minimization of the issues that people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals face". When I first heard that states can ban books I was confused as to why they would do that. I didn't get why an author could go through so much work and then have the government declare that no one could read their work. I think reading is one of the best ways to learn things. So much information can be held in between the two covers of a book. One of the quotes I really liked from this article states "How can we expect young people to learn about diversity, if we do not expose them to diverse perspectives in literature?" I think this quote really showcases the harm of banning books and that so many things can be learned from reading them. Back to the question of "What is worth learning?", I think everything is worth learning and everyone should get the chance to do that. We cannot erase the past so we might as well learn from it.

How does gender affect the teaching profession?

A lot of topics arise when you bring up the question of gender and jobs. With any job, some people can argue that one gender fits the role the best. A few years ago, we saw men as businessmen and doctors and women as nurses and teachers. While I think a lot of this thinking has changed, there are still some stereotypes when it comes to job. Something that I found really interesting while reading this week's module came from the podcast on gender and education. It says that "women make up a majority of the education workforce but occupy barely a quarter of top leadership positions". Most people still have an idea that men are at the very top and something can become less in value when it is done by a women. I think when it comes to the leadership positions in education such as a dean of students or a principal, most people would like to see a man because there is a stigma that men are better at being the boss.

Another thing I saw in the module was the question of "Are men discouraged from working as elementary school teachers?". I have seen some male elementary school teachers but every single one of my teachers were female until I got to middle school. I think people see women as more gentle and caring towards little students so they are better fitted to teach elementary school. This combined with the fact that not a lot of men choose to teach elementary can be very discouraging to men. I like to think that these views are becoming more modern and jobs can be for every gender, but I still think there is this unwanted stigma around some of these jobs. I do not believe that gender affects the teaching profession. I think both male and females make wonderful teachers and can teach great kids no matter what the stereotype is.

Do I have the full picture?

I do not think I have the full picture and I don't think a lot of people actually do. In schools, sometimes they only focus on certain points when teaching and that leaves things out for us to learn about. I also think that we are continuously growing and learning things along the way that help us move towards seeing the whole picture.

Something that always sticks with me when I read about a new event is that there are two sides in every story. In history classes we would learn about wars and events that happened in the past but majority of the time these events would be told by the winner. It makes you think about the other side and if the winners were actually telling the truth or spinning it to make them look good. When learning about World War I, we could say we have the full picture on what happened but we weren't taught about what happened to the losers. I think this applies to us in real life that oftentimes we think we have the full picture but in reality we are not seeing both sides.

Just like in Victoria's Tik Tok, she was explaining all the things that she wasn't taught in school about a very significant event. She was not taught about Ruby Bridges in school and it turns out that not a lot of people were. It makes it very apparent that kids cannot get the full picture if schools are constantly leaving things out about important topics because they don't want to talk about it or even feel like that event is not significant. We need to be able to talk about the things that are going on and tell both sides of every story so then kids might be able to actually get a full picture.

The purpose of public schools

What is the Purpose of Schools? Who are marginalized students in schools and what do they need from our school system?

Just like it is stated in the Education Code, the purpose of public schools "is to ensure that all Texas children have access to a quality education" (Sec. 4.001). It is a way to better our children and provide them with necessary things they may need for the future. Most jobs that will provide a large enough salary to live on require the employee to have some sort of education. Schools are there to make this possible and teach kids at a young age basic skills and proper communication techniques. Schools are a stepping stone towards the future.

The marginalized students in schools are mainly the people coming from poorer backgrounds. The area they live in may not have the right resources, teachers, or funds to make a suitable environment for learning. The school system needs to accommodate these students and their arrangements so they do not end up being at fault for something they could not control. Since education plays such a big role in future jobs, a person who went to a fancy private school would have a major advantage then someone who went to a small, underfunded public school. As Michael Cross and Vivian Atinde state in their article, "marginalization can be by virtue of being black, originating from poor families and...includes gender (308). Overall, I think the marginalized students in schools are the ones that come from poor families, minority races and women. While as of today we have come a long way in incorporating and providing a fairly well education for all, sometimes you can still see these other students being pushed aside. I think that having all sorts of kids from different races and backgrounds is a good way to learn about different experiences and cultures so, even though they may seem to be marginalized, I think these students play a big role in school systems.

Why Teach?

Growing up, I always saw my teachers as some of my favorite people in the world. Every school year I was so excited to see my teachers and get to know them. It wasn't until 2nd grade that I really thought about growing up and becoming a teacher. I had such an amazing teacher who was very compassionate and helped all of her students grow more and more everyday. After the school year ended, I still kept in touch with her and her personality and drive to help her students be the best they could be really stayed in my mind. She left such a lasting impact on me that I decided to go into the education field so I can make my students feel the way I did.

In school I was a very shy person in class and when teachers would do things like pull names out of cups or make every person give a presentation, it made me think that if I were a teacher I would do so many things differently. As my school years kept going, I saw a lot of things that can be improved with the school system and every time I saw that, it made me think of my 2nd grade teacher and how much better schools would be if we had about a million of her. My desire to teach comes from wanting to be the teacher that kids still keep in touch with years later because they felt like they had such a fun and educational year.

I want to teach either 1st or 2nd grade because younger kids are still new to the school systems and can be more passionate about learning. The past 3 years I have worked in a child center at a gym and every day the kids say the craziest things and are always teaching me new things so I would love to teach and work with them on a daily basis. The subject I would want to teach would be English as I love to read and write.

This is my 2nd grade teacher who I saw at Disney in 2019