Socail Context Post #10

Blueberries!
By: Louis Schmier

I thought that this article was really interesting. I have had similar experiences in nature. I think that it partly due to the multiple intelligences. I am myself the very best in nature, where ever that may be, I can focus, relax, see things more clearly, become rejuvenated, all in nature, it is my very favorite place. Whether it is in the Mountains or in the coolies, it doesn’t really matter. I think that wherever you can go to find the kind of focus and energy that the author wrote about, you have to go and do it. I like that he brought his experience into something that could be done in a daily way, like a routine. This makes it manageable. I find that when I walk in the early morning and see the sun rise, my day is off to a good start. I think as teachers we each have to find out what works for us, what makes us think about each student for who they are, how we can make a difference, I think we each need to find our own "blueberries"!

I like what he said at the end:

"And we cannot teach those whom we do not know no less than we can teach that which we do not know."





Louis Schmier

Social Context Post # 9

To Be a Teacher
By: Louis Schmier

This was an amazing little article, I pasted my favorite part into this blog, because there is no way that I could articulate what the author included in her anicdode as to what it is to be a teacher. In PSII there is so much fretting about planning the perfect unit, having everything just right, that this article really helped me to just calm down and realize that there is way more to teaching then the subject. I want to be a teacher that makes a difference in the lives of the students, I want them to know that I am human and that I am not perfect and that I am there for them, I think that is what it is all about. When I get out into the practicum I want my students to know that I am there to learn just as much as they are, I always want my students to know that wheather it is my first year or my twentieth year. Read this little piece about teaching, and you to will see why it has made such a difference in my life.

"If you want to be a teacher, you first have to learn how to play hopscotch, learn other children games, learn how to watch a snail crawl, read "Yertle the Turtle", and watch "Bullwinkle". If you want to be a teacher, you have to blow "she loves me, she loves me nots" with a dandilion or pull the indiviudal petals of a daisy, wiggle your toes in the mud and let it ooze through them, stomp in rain puddles, and be humbled by the majesty of a mountain. If you want to be a teacher, you have to fall in love each day. If you want to be a teacher, you have to paddle a canoe, take a hike, or just get out. If you want to be a teacher, you have to fly a kite or throw a frisbee, make sandcastles, love people, and listen intently to the rustle of the leaves or the murmur of the brook or the whisper of the breeze. If you want to be a teacher, you have to dream dreams, play games, talk to the flowers, catch fire flies, admire a weed, walk barefoot in the rain, hold a worm, and see what is yet to be. If you want to be a teacher, you have to think silly thoughts, have a watergun fight, have a pillow fight, swirl a tootsie pop in your mouth, burn sparklers at night, and see in a tree more than a mass of atoms or so many board feet of lumber or something that's in the way. If you want to be a teacher, you have to skip as you walk, laugh at yourself, smile at others, hang loose, always have an eraser handy, concoct an original recipe, and inspire. If you want to be a teacher, you have to fix a bird's broken wing, tweek the neck of a deflating baloon, to zany things, play with a yo-yo, and lose yourself in the quiet scenery to find yourself. If you want to be a teacher, you have to feed the pigeons or squirrels, sing in the shower or tub, smell the flowers, watch a spider spin it's web, play with finger paints, and do a belly flob in a pool. If you want to be a teacher, you have to bring joy into everything, watch in awe a sunset or sunrise, ride on a swing, slide down a slide, bump on a seesaw, and respect even a cockroach as a miracle of life. If you want to be a teacher, you have to ride a bicycle or roller skate or ice skate, and live today. If you want to be a teacher, make all those marvelous feelings and images an intimate part of you and bring them into the classroom with you and share them. If you want to be a teacher, as you have to put aside your formal theories and intellectual constructs and axioms and statistics and charts when you reach out to touch that miracle called the individual human being." Louis Schmier

Socail Context Post #8

ADO A comic Short Story
By: Connie Willis

This article was great to read, I must have not read the part about it being humorous, so when I began to read it I thought, this is interesting, what the heck! Anyways I figured it out by the “Seniors Against Devil Worship” part. The author makes a compelling point as to freedom of speech and censorship through out the writing of this story. Basically this teacher decided to teach Shakespeare but was not allowed because of all the “societies” and “groups” that were against it. The teacher had to run the entire play through a screening system and take out anything that might have offended anyone. One great example of this was the Drapery Defence League who objected the part in the play where Polonius is stabbed because he was hiding behind a drapery panel. By the end of the screening there were two lines left in the play that were acceptable for the general classroom, this is of course after the class had to fill out permission forms to be there. WOW, this is insane!
It’s funny to think that this is where we could be going in education. Are we censoring everything out so that there is nothing left to teach, are we being too sensitive to everyone’s views and needs? I don’t know the answers. Although I do know that the author has a good point and I enjoyed reading this article. Where are we going? Could we end up like this!?!?!?

Social COntext Post # 7
The Workings of class: How Understanding a subtle difference between social classes can premote equality in the classroom and beyond

The article written by Adrie Kusserow talks about the middle and lower class in America. It is interesting that the author points out the hard individualism and the soft individualism of these groups. Hard being the working class and soft being the upper and middle classes. The author examines how these classes treat their children and how these communication differences affect the classroom. It is interesting to hear that there are some major differences in thought between these groups.
I agree to a point with the author about these differences, and maybe they are more evident in the area where the research was being done, Manhattan and Queens. I feel for the most part that there may have been some generalization for each of the groups. I have to think that the way we raise our children has to be a bit more individualistic that just hard or soft. I know many working class people who live in Southern Alberta who have a very soft mentality, and many upper to middle class people who have a very hard mentality. I think you have to look at the individuals. I am not saying that there is not a class difference within the schools I think that there is, but I also think that you can not generalize only on what type of job that you have or where you live, yes that plays into it, but we are individuals here, not just a group.