Positive Classroom Climate

I usually give my students the same 5 rules, but rules 2-5 are more procedural, and are based on classroom etiquette and flow.  The only rule that really matters to me on a daily basis is "Rule #1: BE RESPECTFUL." There's the adage that "you have to give respect to get it" and this is something that is part of my classroom modus operandi.  I start every school year discussing what respect is, and how I am going to demonstrate respect to my students because it's important for me that my students know that I don't consider myself exempt from our classroom rules.  Even with 12th graders I will ask for verbal responses giving examples of what respect looks like and what disrespect looks like so that everyone clearly knows what's expected of them.

I think addressing behavior at the beginning of the school year by specifically laying out terms is important to creating a classroom culture of respect.  One activity that I find very effective is to give students some say in their classroom culture by having them collaboratively create a mission statement.  Below is an example from a algebraic skills course that I taught earlier this year.  Although I helped with the vocabulary and flow these are the words of my students and clearly lays out their expectations for the class, themselves, and their teacher.  The most important part to me is the "goal" because by having these mission statements posted it serves as a reminder that their actions in class are in service of the goal which they are striving towards.

"We as a class expect to learn skills that will help us to improve our SAT scores and to become more proficient with solving quadratic equations. We do this in hopes that at the end of this course we will be able to pass the course final and improve our SAT scores. Our goal as a class is to succeed in this class, with every member of this class receiving a B or better. In order to do this, we expect that everyone behaves in a mature and responsible manner at all times, and that we receive help from our classmates when needed. We also expect to receive any necessary assistance from Miss Chong to help us from feeling frustrated, and an occasional treat as validation for our hard work. It is also expected that every member of this classroom community treats one another with respect, and avoids any malicious words or actions towards another member of this classroom community."

I care about my students so much that I would stay in every day during lunch and after school with them.  I would make it a point to just chat with them and learn as much about them as possible.  In the beginning I thought having a positive classroom climate meant that I was the popular teacher whose students actually wanted to hang out with them.  However, I learned that this is not always the best way.  I ultimately realized that I was chatting with my students because on some level I was avoiding doing my own "work."  Then I would always be scrambling and pulling late night study sessions when grades were due because I wasn't taking care of such things.  It finally dawned on me that by neglecting my own duties is in some ways doing a disservice to my students.  So I think prioritizing and time management is something that I need to work on to improve my classroom climate.

Addressing cultural differences in the classroom is something that has always been something I'm passionate about because I highly respect others cultures.  I enjoy traveling and living in different places because I personally feel that I learn the most when I'm forced to adapt to another environment and I feel invigorated when I am experiencing this. In terms of cultures in the classroom I have worked in school districts where students are 97% white, and in ones where students are 97% minority, and if I were to be honest working in the predominately upper-middle class white school was easier in terms of classroom management because students were relatively homogeneous so from a cultural standpoint there was hardly any adapting needed on my part.  However, I personally could not see myself teaching in such a school district, and greatly preferred the diverse nature of urban schools.

Of all the videos and articles on race and culture in the classroom from my grad school program, none stood out more to me than the Blue Eyed-Brown Eyed experiment by Jane Elliot. She wanted to teach her 1st graders about racism by having them experience discrimination firsthand.  One of the concepts that she continually reinforced was that differences are an important part of who we are.  Below is a video of her recreated experiment with college students.  My favorite part is when she says, "They are as different on the outside as they are on the inside, and they have the right to be so. People, don't deny differences, accept them, appreciate them, recognize them, and cherish them because they are extremely important."

I hope that by recognizing and appreciating the differences of my students it will help them feel like a validated member of our classroom community. 

Future Trends in Digital Learning

The biggest change in digital learning for the future is all about accessibility.  Right now the education that we provide as teachers is limited to the classroom, but I would love to see technology take education to the next level by allowing students or teachers to be anywhere and still learn a lesson.  I would love to see the day where the "classroom" is essentially a virtual reality that is accessible from anywhere and (nearly) FREE so that those individuals living in rural, war torn, or impoverished countries can have access to this learning.  I think the high costs are the biggest challenge of futuristic educational technology, so I would like to see learning technology accessible for everyone.

My current job consists of taking tourists of private custom tours where we show them the various cultural and historical sites on the island.  I would love to share some of these sites with students but realistically the cost of transporting a class full of students to take a field trip is a pain and not affordable on the day to day. However, I see virtual reality and virtual tours as being a part of education in the future.  I'm a big supporter of experiential education and I think it would be great for a student to able to immerse themselves in different locales around the world as part of their learning because the multi-sensory experience is far more than they'd ever get from a book or video.  To learn about the Great Wall of China while actually walking the Great Wall, or learning about volcanic islands while taking a virtual helicopter tour over an active lava flow all while not physically having to leave home.

It would be a safe and cost free way to try out different experiences.  We could learn to grow crops by virtually doing so, and think of how helpful this will be for drivers ed if students fully experience driving in a real world scenario without the possibility of actually getting hurt.

I'm talking simulations similar to those of the divergent series where students get to experience an alternate reality and truly interact with their environment because it is seemingly real.

Or if anyone is thinking about creating a teleporting machine that would be freaking AWESOME as well!

Personal Learning Goals

Professional Goals

• My professional goal is to become a highly qualified teacher certified in Secondary Social Studies.  I plan to do this by January 2016.  

I will do this by completing the TEACH-NOW program and completing my background check and clinical requirements.  I have already completed two undergraduate degree programs one in History the other in Global Studies, and taken and passed my PRAXIS I, PRAXIS II:Social Studies Content Knowledge, and PRAXIS: PLT 7-12 exams.

• I would like to acquire cross endorsements in Secondary Mathematics and TESOL by March 2016 

I will accomplish this by taking at least 2 upper level math courses to expand and maintain my skills I have already passed my PRAXIS II Exam for Secondary Mathematics: Content Knowledge.  I have also taken Oxford Seminars TESOL course and will study for and take the PRAXIS exam for TESOL by December 2015..  

• I would like to create write at least six culturally responsive units that incorporate project and or/inquiry based learning by the end of my first year as a certified teacher (approximately January 2017).

I am particularly interested in project based learning (my favorite types of lessons as a student) and inquiry based learning because I love to see students who are intrinsically motivated to discover answers to their own questions. Witnessing that natural curiosity and desire to learn in my students is something that I find extremely validating as a teacher.  Also it is my hope that all of my teaching is culturally responsive because I want my students to know I value their unique cultural identity. Curriculum writing is a goal of mine because having well written curriculum to pull from makes the job much easier on a day to day basis, and would help me eliminate a lot of stress.