FIELD II

Personal Theory of Learning Reflection II

As a future educator, I personally think that some of the factors that contribute to effective learning are the recognition of different learning styles that individuals possess, respect for that individuals culture or background and awareness of whether some basic needs of human beings, such as, eating has been met and the emotional well being is in a stable state. It is very wrong for an educator to assume that all students have the same learning abilities. Each student is his or her own person and sees things from a different perspective, depending on how much exposure he has had thorough his or her life. Only when the teacher comes to the realization that every single student has his or her own style of learning, then he can consider his classroom to be on the perfect canvas to draw how successful the class will be. After attending ten plus hours at a local high school and seeing with my own eyes teaching at that level, my views for respecting students learning styles has not changed. It actually reinforced my view in regards to this issue. I saw how cognitively diverse students are and how important it is to keep track of every specific need as a teacher. I had a chance to speak with a student who is fifteen years old and expecting a baby. I immediately picked up by the look on her eyes and realized she is not happy, which led me to believe it is affecting her learning capabilities. As a future teacher, I saw the need to provide her with as much help as I could to make sure she continues to be motivated to continue with her studies. That one specific student had developed her own learning style as a consequence and teachers should respect that. I feel more engaged into wanting to help students succeed. After being exposed to the students

for one week I feel more passionate than before to embark on my teaching journey. I still feel strongly about this, because I was a student who needed help in high school for not speaking the language one hundred percent. Unfortunately, there werent that many programs available to help diverse students with the language. I was stuck in regular classes and I had to overcome the obstacles by myself, the teachers just assumed I was getting the contexts just like the rest of the students. I think my experience has turned me into more of an advocate for respecting students learning styles, which could be applied to everything else not just language barrier. Knowing how cognitively diverse your students are will not only give you the opportunity for better planning your lessons, but will also give the students a positive learning experience by raising their motivation and creativity levels, which are essential tools for learners to possess. Without motivation there is no purpose to want to learn something and without creativity, it becomes more difficult for students to think out of the box. Before attending the high school, I had the notion that the classroom would have the same ambiance as the classrooms at the university where I started my teaching baby steps, and was I in for a reality check. I know that students have different learning styles, but I had forgotten about maturity on the students side. It is still a question to be answer and analyzed, whether I want to teach kids in high schools. I experienced a sense of motherhood inside the classrooms at the high school, something I dont feel at the college level, because everybody seems to be on track. The next contributing factor is for students with different cultural backgrounds to feel respected and not be seen as a group of aliens from another planet, because their families and themselves speak a different language, or because they dress differently or

worship a different God. Educators and the whole school should embrace their differences as well. The school is in charge of instilling empathy in the minds of our future leaders. The schools should provide ongoing training to educators in order to prepare them to handle diverse students. When students feel welcome in a classroom, their guards go down and they feel in a comfortable environment, which makes the learning experience more fructiferous. When students feel unwelcomed and alienated, it makes it difficult for them to focus on learning, because they have to embark on a surviving task to be accepted, by creating a double identity to fit in. The other contributing factor is for educators to be aware if students emotional well-beings are stable and also if they are having a proper nutrition. Students who are depressed, or going through some personal trauma, like parents divorce, the death of a loved one or not having a home can hinder effective learning. Along with this comes the fact that if students are starving, they cant learn. Their brains will not be able to focus, because it will indicate to their bodies the need to be fed, thus distracting the students attention to get food instead of learning. All these factors also contribute to effective teaching as well. As a future educator I would add a few more factors, like being patient, understanding and also welcoming diverse students families to be involved, since many times they are absent because they dont speak English. As I explained above, being aware of students styles of learning is important, but if there is lack of patience from the educator, then it is a recipe for disaster, since effective learning will not occur. The lack of patience from the educator will only indicate to the students that it is the teachers way or the highway and they will fail. With patience also comes understanding. By taking time to know the needs of your students on an individual basis, will help teachers create

better lesson plans and a better learning environment that will take every student into account as supposed to just a handful of students. The aim of an educator should be to help every student succeed; there is no question about it. On the other hand, it is also known that when parents get involved in what goes on with their children in schools, students are more successful. As a future educator, I think it is critical to get to know your students parents. It is a great liaison for teachers and a great benefit for students when parents and teachers are on the same page and know what is going on. If a teacher communicates to the parents that some students are failing, it gives the parents a chance to step in and grab their kids from a falling abyss. I think it is vital for communication to exist between parents and teachers. In fact, it is a vital tool for our world to function. The lack of speaking the dominating language hinders Many times this communication process, and sometimes teachers give up and parents feel apprehended. An educator should find the resources needed to be able to communicate with those parents. In todays world inter-cultural communication is a necessary part of everyday life and it is also crucial for effective teaching and learning in diverse school environments. An educator should always have in mind that we are all humans, regardless of our cognitive, physical and background differences. What does it all translate into? We are all the same and no one student is better than the other. I think educators have the tools to create that type of environment in their classroom and what will come out of it is nothing but great human beings. We want to create leaders who are humble and humanitarian and not the other way around. An aspect of teaching I did not consider when previously describing my theory of learning is the importance of speaking the language you are teaching at

least ninety percent of the time. I know can see how important it is for students to have a sense of stepping into another world when attending foreign language classes. I didnt consider it before and I bring up the importance of speaking the target language, because it is the responsibility I have as a future educator. If I am going to teach a language it must be spoken continuously throughout the entire period with parenthesis of English to give explanation of terms and grammar and instructions, that would otherwise prove to be a catalyst to the students positive learning. I have selected this particular aspect of teaching because it is not commonly performed in classrooms of foreign languages, due to the overwhelming use of mechanical and direct performances by the students. My observations, have been transforming as a human being as well as a future teacher. Every day of observations I come out with either excitement, discouragement or lack of motivation due to my lack of awareness I had before I embarked on my daily observations. Nonetheless, I would be a waste of a future teacher had I not had the opportunity to get so intimately involved, and I say the word intimate, because I observed someones territory, a classroom that is not my classroom, a classroom that opened the doors to let me in and see what happens behind doors and also a classroom occupied by a group of students who saw me as a stranger first, before they got comfortable with my presence. It was a necessary step for me to experience such observations. As I approach the end of the opportunities I had to observe various classrooms and teachers, I am one hundred percent convinced that teachers ought to recognize the different learning styles of students, and that not two students have the same cognitive

abilities. I am also extremely convinced of the importance of being aware of diverse students, who with no doubt are present in our schools today. It is a fact in todays pluralistic society, and teachers must be prepared to handle diverse students with diverse needs, especially the acceptance of different cultural backgrounds in the classrooms. All students are the same regardless of their cultural backgrounds. They are all human beings, and there are certain things in life that will generate the same type of response, for example, what a person does to survive in a classroom setting where his language is not spoken. An American student will have the same type of reaction diverse students demonstrate in American school, if they were placed in a foreign classroom, where they lacked knowledge of the language. They would have fear, frustration, panic and a high amount of mental stress. With that in mind I think it is easier to understand our immigrant students and offer the help they need. Those types of recognition, different learning styles and acceptance of diverse students are critical to a successful classroom environment. I can already project myself as a future teacher and so far with the knowledge I have gained throughout my studies and life in general, I think I would do a good job understanding the needs of immigrant students and what their families are going through. I simply apply my own personal experience as an immigrant student and remember how difficult it was to get used right away to a new system of life, with a different language, as if to make things more difficult. Being a mother opened up my eyes to the fact that no two kids are cognitive alike, however, until we are exposed constantly, like I have lately, to what really goes on inside schools classrooms, we tend to somehow think that all students who speak the same language in a classroom will just simply understand what is being taught, when the reality is a different story. It was an absolute

reminder for myself, which is now constantly on my mind on a daily basis, eventhough I was aware of it, the feeling is much more different now. I wouldnt say I am at the end, for I have much more to learn, but I consider myself to be half way, which is a great personal accomplishment in terms of the knowledge I have acquired throughout all these years at the University. I am still learning on a day to day basis, I always find things that have to be done much better, or thoughts come to my mind to improve other things, it is an ongoing process, that I feel I will never stop, for dealing with students on a yearly basis is like opening new doors or Pandora boxes every year, to new things and you never know what to expect. The reason I think this way, is because I learned so much during my Field Experience II classroom observations, and that was just three weeks, I can only imagine if I was exposed to it for just one year, a new me would probably come out the other end. I am very conscious of the needs of immigrant students and their families and also very aware of the different learning styles individuals possess. I think those are two good strategies to keep a classroom from falling into an abyss. I feel very comfortable, so far, delivering contextualized lesson plans to the students and understanding the needs of diverse students. I feel comfortable with classroom management, but I still must keep working on improving it, for it is challenging sometimes to keep one hundred percent on track with the lessons, due to typical distractions that are common in classrooms and sometimes making sure everybody is on the same page, which is a challenge, especially when taking into consideration ELL students or students with disabilities. Between now and the time I have completed student teaching, I hope to have a game plan where my time in class is well managed and my lesson plans are delivered exactly how I visualize it and I will work on making sure

the needs of students are also met in my class, by making extra modifications in my lesson plans. My goal is to have all my future students engaged in the context and also respectful of each other, which is a moral conduct, I hope to instill in my students by example.