Katelyn Turnbull 9/27/13 ADED Practicum Colloquium

3 During the colloquia, I took the most away from the LGBT and the Service learning topics. Three things that really stuck with me were community, being a supportive teacher, and engaging all students. I found the service learning topic to be very interesting. Dr. Borgerding showed us how community can be incorporated into the classroom. I think that this is such a great way to get students engaged and involved in the material that they are being taught. A lot of students are missing the practically of the material that they are learning. In the LGBT session, I really took away the importance of being a supportive teacher. I think that it is a really cool thing to have a safe space for students. By being welcoming to all students I think that students will trust a teacher more. The common factor between all of the sessions I feel is the importance of engaging all students and treating them equally. No student is the same as another but they are all students. As a teacher, it is my responsibility to engage all of my students and be welcoming to them in anything that they many need. 2 Two things that really made me think were the extravagance of the service learning projects and the various types of LGBT students. The service learning projects are a great idea and I think that if a district can afford to do those types of projects that they should. The only thing that challenged my thinking was where the funding for some

of these projects comes from. The examples that were shown were fairly extravagant. The one example was the math classes and shop classes paired together to build a house. The second thing that really surprised me where the number of types of LGBT students. I never realized how many types of categorizations and sexual preferences there actually are. If I were to choose to make my classroom a safe place I would need to better understand the LBGT community and culture. 1 What I have learned through this colloquium experience can be shown through an old expression that Im sure we have all heard. Treat others as you would like to be treated. By treating students as I would like to be treated there will be a sense of respect in my classroom. By engaging my students I will not be bored in my teaching and they will not be bored in their learning. By welcoming all of my students into my classroom it will automatically create a safe place for all students. By having this colloquium, I am supplied to make my classroom engaging and a welcoming environment.