Reflection 4.1

Reactions to different kinds of kids

Kids you find it easy to like:
Most of the time the kids that it is easy for me to like are ones that I can talk to easily (don't want to constantly want to fight). They are easy to teach. They have great personalities and they have a good heart.


Kids you find it hard to like:
It is hard to like kids that threaten you. Kids that have major behavioral issues that don't want  help. These kids make it hard because I want to guide them toward a better path. This could cause frustration all around. I have yet to find a kid that I just don't like yet. I have had kids that drive me crazy, but I still like them.

Kids you feel sorry for:
If I am feeling sorry for a kid, I want to help them. I want to get them out of the situation that could be causing them pain. For example, these would be kids that have been abused.

Kids you feel threatened by:
I have yet to feel threatened by a kid. I am assuming it would feel the same as feeling threatened by a young adult . I would have a hard time teaching in that type of an environment and the students around me would have a hard time learning in that type environment. I would be afraid and on edge. I would be more assertive in the classroom. 

Kids you identify with:
I would feel understanding. I would most likely get along with that student most of the time. It would make it easier to teach a student that I could identify with, because I know the reasons for their logic.

Kids you gravitate toward:
I try not to gravitate toward one particular kid. I feel that I need to be myself and kids gravitate toward me. I give them honesty, respect and space. The kids that gravitate toward me are ones that need someone to talk to. I also get kids that have good hearts and that are easy for people to get along with. I don't get the kids that  just want to be mean, bullying, or just hard to get along with.

Kids you feel inadequate around:
I haven't found kids that I feel inadequate around yet.

Kids you probably don't even notice:
I don't know if I have ever not noticed a kid. If I have I would feel really bad.


It would be hard to teach in an environment that was threatening and full of students that were hard to like. It would be hard for students to learn in an environment like this. Even though I will not be able to identify with all of my students, I do have many experiences that will help me understand some of them. It is easy to teach the kids that gravitate toward you. How do you teach the kids that avoid you?

Equity 3.2 reflection/Interview

I interviewed a retired teacher (Jane Eddings) about the changes in education because of the Civil Rights movement. She told me that most of the legal aspects were already enforced and supported when she started teaching. More changes came later during her teaching with gender and disability equity. I asked her if she witnessed any of the changes. She told me that teachers and administrators went through lots of training to recognize discrimination. There was enforcement that came later. She also told me that students that had disabilities were segregated from the rest of the school. There were very few female teachers and administrators and none that she could remember that had disabilities.

Jane worked at Sprague High School for her career. She was there shortly after the school opened in the 70s.

It must have been difficult to be 1 of the few female teachers in the school and to go through major training on discrimination. Especially, when there is a possibility that you may have been discriminated against yourself. She never told me if she was ever discriminated against as being a female teacher. The training had to have opened the eyes of everyone that took the training.  

3 dimensions of achievement as a teacher

Achievements can be unique and personal. It depends how the person views achievement. For me, achievement is my ability to obtain my own goals and the goals that others have set for me. I try to set goals that are within my own reach. I try not to set goals that are too easy, because I want to be challenged. One of my achievements was graduating from college. It took me 8-9 years to obtain my bachelors degree in Biology, but I feel proud that I have earned that degree. The reason it took me so long was because I had to work while going to school. Another achievement that I have kept so far is living in the same house for more than 4 years. In the last 35 years I have lived in at least 17 different houses/apartments. So far I have been in the same house for 8 years and I hope to live in this house for many more years to come. A goal that I have for myself is being a teacher. It has and will continue to be hard work to obtain this goal. Once I am a teacher I know I will continue to set goals for myself so that I can continue to grow and help my students. Another goal that I have is to travel. Traveling will take time and as I am able to save the money I will do it. I want to travel to the states that I have not been to and I want to show my boys different parts of the US. This country has some real beauty and history to it. There are several countries that I want to see (Ireland, Bulgaria, Greece, etc.). I was lucky that I had internal motivation. It made it easier for me to set goals and strive to be better.  

As a teacher, I will set goals for my students to strive to achieve and I will encourage my students to set their own goals. Their goals could be as simple as matching the goals that I set for them or they can go beyond my expectations. They may have a goal to be on time to my class or to beat their last test score.

One of the goals that I will have for my students is to complete all of the assignments that I have assigned. Another goal that I will have for my students is to pass the tests. The goal that I will have for myself is to hand back all work back within a 1 week period. Every student should be able to set their own goals. I am hoping they all will be willing to try to meet the goals that I set for them. If they are unable to meet the goals that I set for them, I hope they feel comfortable to come to me to talk about why and try to figure out a way for them to meet my goals or their goals. 

I do realize that not every student is going to meet the goals that I have set in my classroom. All of my students are not going to be internally motivated. It is my job to help them set goals and find out what is going to make them motivated to learn. By keeping an open line of communication, having a positive attitude, and being honest with my students, hopefully this will be enough to have most of my students feel comfortable to talk to me. By the time they leave my class most of  my students will have achieved something.