Re-Imagined Classroom

For this portion of your portfolio you will return to your Imagined Classroom and work to (re)imagine it in light of the things we have learned in class. You will also include a reflective piece that describes why you made changes (or didn't) to your original classroom description. In addition to being part of your on-line portfolio.

1. Five images (you can take them or they can come from the Internet [provide proper credit]). These images should reflect, in some way, what you imagine your classroom will look like once you are a teacher. Please annotate your images by providing a description of the image and how it relates to your future classroom.

The students will sit in groups. (http://www2.mcsdk12.org/kam21/the%20classroom/desks.JPG)

There will be inspirational posters on the walls. (http://aboveaverage.me/wp-content/blogs.dir/2/files/motivational-posters-3/0079-believe_1920x1200.jpg?8d7c13)

There will be a box where students can submit comments, questions, and concerns. (http://www.challahcrumbs.com/images/questionBox.jpg)

I will have bread, peanut butter, honey, and granola bars for when students need food. (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2298/2274417055_1f824c2388.jpg)

There will be a bookshelf with books that students can check out if they want to learn more about science. (
http://www.teamamericaprops.com/TeamAmerica/TeamAmerica_GarysBookshelf.jpg)

2. Imagine the surrounding in your classroom. What does the room look like? What resources are available for students? How are the resources used during the lesson?

The room is decorated with inspirational posters as well as science ones. It looks organized, and desks are organized into groups.  I also have a bookshelf filled with books that students can read for fun as well as for extra credit. I also have an anonymous concerns and complaints box next to the box where students can turn in assignments.

During the lesson, there are labs. I also want to have a small motivational thought at the beginning of class so that students know that I care about their well-being beyond how they do academically; so whether I use a quote on the wall or just write one on the board, I'll use inspirational thoughts. Students can turn in slips of paper into the concern box after class as well as check out books.

3. Describe the students in your classroom. What are their backgrounds? What are their interests? What are they doing during the lesson?

My students are typical. They are varied in ability, background, culture, interests, and interest level as far as my class is concerned. Honestly, my image of my classroom looks like the classrooms that I went  to high school in. Students are more concerned with socializing than the lesson. A lot of them don't speak English, and they don't necessarily value education. On the other hand, there are students that try really hard to pay attention despite the chaos. They are also interested in TV shows, gossip, and sports. They hate being patronized by teachers, and if you do speak condescendingly, your class turns against you and you can't get anything done. So during the lesson, I hope to incorporate a lot of their interests so that they will feel more inclined to pay attention. For instance, as a physics teacher, I want to take a popular film and apply it to all of the units that we go through.

4. Describe you classroom policies. What are you classroom rules? What is your discipline plan? What are your homework policies?

Besides enforcing school wide rules, the main rule in the classroom will be based on respect. So interrupting, teasing, and ignoring people will be against the rules. The main thing though is fostering an environment that facilitates respect. Disciplinary action will probably be something that I discuss with the class at the beginning of the year, and the consequences are decided on as a class.  I find that when people participate in creating something, they are more likely to uphold it in the future. Since learning is the primary objective, they can always do alternative versions of homework assignments to improve homework grades (the alternative versions will probably come from different textbooks than the ones that the students use) or come in for an oral discussion about the subject matter. Students can work together on homework assignments, but they have to show their own work. Homework can be turned in late up to three weeks after their original due date.

5. Describe a typical lesson you will teach in your classroom. What will you teach? What is the topic? Why did you choose this topic? How will you teach it? What is the main thing you want students to learn during this lesson?

My lesson plans will follow a three day pattern, I think. The first day will be about concepts, the second day with math and problems behind the concepts, and the third day will focus on labs dealing with teh concepts. So if it is about gravity, the first day we will talk about constant acceleration. The second day we will do problems about dropping balls from buildings and calculating speed and such. The third day, we will do a lab dropping balls. The topics will be physics topics since that is what I will teach. I teach it mostly through discussion and hands on activities where students investigate the laws of physics themselves. The main thing that I want my students to learn during this lesson is that acceleration is constant while velocity increases as things fall.

6. Imagine your work as a teacher during this lesson. What are you doing during the lesson?

I am walking around helping with labs and leading discussions. Generally speaking, I encourage students to ask each other questions first, and I follow the flow of discussion that students want as long as it is related to 1)physics, or 2) topics that will help them treat each other and themselves better. While I teach physics, there are many other problems that hinder student learning, so if I can ameliorate those other factors, then I will. I keep an eye out for disrespect among the students; I don't want anyone to be marginalized because of ethnicity, orientation, class, or any other factor.

7. Imagine your students again, what are they doing during the lesson?

They are discussing the topic with me as well as with each other. They are drawing pictures and dropping balls. Some people are goofing off, and if they're off task for too long, then I'll say something to them. Some people will probably be confused or frustrated, in which case, I will ask them if they have any questions.

8. Imagine how you will assess your students' learning and achievement. How will you know they have learned?

I will know that they have learned when I can introduce new situations to them, and then can conceptually tell me what will happen. For instance, I'll ask them what happens when I drop things on the moon versus on the earth; if they can tell me that the objects fall at the same rate, I'll know that they've learned something. I'll mostly use their ability to explain with words, because I understand that the ability to manipulate equations shows more understanding in math than in physics.


Reflection on changes:

The first change I made was omitting any expectations of specialized or advanced technology. I now know that it is unreasonable to expect lab equipment, projectors, or smart phones in my classroom. And if all of my students can't use smart phones, then I shouldn't assign things that require a smart phone; sounds logical, doesn't it? I'll make do with ordinary objects to start with, and then move from there depending on the sort of school that I'm at.

Secondly, I added the fact that I would have food available to students. As a college student, I know how hard it can be to concentrate when you haven't eaten breakfast, let alone if you're used to deficiencies in food; it's probably even harder when you're younger and aren't as practiced in extended concentration. I don't want to punish students for things that they can't control, so I'll have food available for when they need it.

Thirdly, I'm different when I envision my classroom. I'm more aware of prejudices against minorities, different sexual orientations, and perhaps my subconscious tendencies. I want to be more aware of how I treat boys versus girls, if I try to press gender stereotypes on students, and if I'm more impatient with minority students than white students. At the end of each day, I want to take a half hour or so to review my behavior; I know that I have a long way to go, but I really do want to be a good teacher that treats ALL of my students the way that the deserve to be treated. I think that probably the best thing that this class gave me was a greater awareness for the fact that ALL human beings have prejudices, therefore I can never be done trying to be fair and kind and than I am.

Book Review for "Bad Boys"

If you want to remember that you're a human being capable of intense emotion, read this book. Honestly, I spent a lot of time being angry while reading this book because of the hypocrisy that I saw on all ends.

For one thing, I found the dichotomous standards between black males and other people appalling. In the school itself, the hegemonic culture of the institution conflicted with the life skills that a lot of black male students were learning at home, inflaming the subconscious racism inhibiting student development. The hegemonic culture of the school desired students that completely confirm to middle class white values, clashing with the counter-hegemonic cultures of the poorer black males who were taught to stand up for themselves rather than being submissive. Black male students could not sell candy at school, while other students were ignored while doing the same thing. Black male students in general were "adultized", so their mischeivous acts were percieved with greater condemnation than acts of other students. The author brings up a valid concern that the institution should NOT work against an entire group of its students.

On the other hand, I think the author failed to really acknowledge some of the dichotomies the skew the story slight.Teachers in the school--whether white or black--were condemned for their power plays with students (an unhealthy coping mechanism for dealing with students that test authority), while Mariana Tompkins was portrayed as a victim for the consequence of whipping her seven year old son in the street (I acknowledge that she was worried about him and loves him); Mariana herself kicked her son out at ten years old for a while because she didn't want to deal with his attitude, but she is portrayed more compassionately than teachers who wanted to give up too. All people need to acknowledge weakness; I say all people because racism and prejudice exist everywhere. In my opinion, both teachers and the mother aren't completely wrong or right in this situation, though the author would argue that society and the institution are more to blame than any other factor

This is true to the extent that people form reactions and defenses in response to their environment. Helen, Horace's mother, learned to be "impolite and disruptive" (116) in order to be heard in a society that dismissed her for not having the academic language to express her legitimate needs and concerns. In turn, her son Horace learned to fight back at school because he picked up this. Often, in fundamental attribution error, people believe that bad behavior is a result of innate badness; this is not true! Black male students, especially poor black male students, just come to school with cultural capital for an economy different than the school environment, so to speak, so their behavior is often inappropriate for the school institution as it currently functions. And on the flip side, teachers come to school with preconceived notions about their black male students because of the media and other experiences, and these notions influence their actions which influence their black male students to become the dangerous stereotype that society projects. Because of these pressures, the system fails black male students at an alarming rate.

The chicken or the egg? Which came first? At first, I was trying to understand who was to blame and who was not, but that's too black and white and besides that point; it doesn't matter. We need to all focus on fixing the problem, not just pointing fingers. And despite the fact that I sometimes felt like this point was overlooked, the author does try to acknowledge the complexity of the situation; in the very beginning, she says that she will include the dichotomous information so that we as readers can understand the struggle in reaching a consensus on what is going on and what we should do.

The tendency to demonize people, on either end, prevents us from learning from what this author is trying to teach. All of the stories that seem unbelievable happened with real people; it would be arrogant of me to assume that I'm not capable of these things that aren't right. So thinking about this book from a teacher's point of view, I thought of a few things;

The black male students expressed anger that teachers could have "attitude", but when students responded with attitude, it wasn't ok. One of the students described it this way; “The way they talk to us. Like they yelling up in your face and pointing at you--and you want to do it back and you get in trouble. But they don’t want want that done to them. No! they think they’re it.” (69) This is a trap that if I got really frustrated, I could fall into. So along with respecting my students as human beings, I plan to have a class discussion that establishes rules and consequences as the beginning of the semester--before anyone has acted up--as well as have box where students can submit comments, questions, concerns, and complaints. In one of the videos that we watched in the semester, a Latina student named Amanda was elected as liaison to the school board, and she said that the best thing they did for her was giving her an outlet for her anger. By always giving students a chance to present their view point as well as have a part in class rules, I hope to give them a constructive way to help me teach them better.

Students also turned to trouble-making because they couldn't make a positive reputation within the hegemonic system. They often didn't understand the academic language or receive enough help or attention to learning. So as a teacher, I'm going to try to focus on what exactly my goal to leave the child better than I found him or her. In order to do this, I can't see my students as enemies to be ruled over or controlled with power plays. I need to persuade them to learn rather than use unrighteous dominion. I also need to build on the capital that they do have so that they have the tools to learn my subject.

Because in the end, I have one main conclusion; as a teacher, I need to participate in critical self-reflection so that I can avoid the hypocrisy and unfairness that angers students more than anything else. As long as I'm fair while honoring the student as a person, I shouldn't have to deal with too much true rebellion.