reflection

I think that allot of people have a hard time reflecting because it is not something that is really valued or encouraged in today's society. The American Culture is all about go go go and getting things done. We never really seem to take the time to just sit back and think through and reflect how we feel about a particular issue or event that has happened. I think that this is something that our culture could benefit allot from because I think that too often people make rash and rushed decisions without first reflecting on and thinking about how their actions may have certain consequences. I think that reflection to some extent however is different on college campuses because college learning is centered allot upon exploring the deeper meanings of issues. Also, although students are busy with school, that is the only thing that they are busy with (for the most part), unlike the "real world" And college encourages students to think critically about the world around them, in fact I think that is one of the main and central goals of college learning. However when we get out into the "real world" this is not really the case. We are no longer in our college bubble and no longer have discussion groups or profs to guide us to think critically and take the time to reflect. In the work profession (whatever it may be) I think it is rare for companies to encourage their employees sit back and think about life and the beauty of the day. I think that reflection is important in any job, but it is especially important in the teaching profession. Without taking the time to reflect back on a lesson and the day in general how will you discover what you did right and what you could improve upon? So I think that reflection is something that all people should work at and get into the habit of doing. I think however that there is no right or wrong way to reflect, as long as you simply take the time to do so. I will be the first to admit that I have not been the best at staying up to date on my blogging for ed psych... this however does not mean that I do not reflect on what I have learned. I am a very reflective person but I am not the type of person that just loves sitting down and writing. I am a very high energy person with a very low attention span and need to constantly be doing something active and so best time for reflection for me is when I am able to be active. I do some of my best thinking when I am running, biking, hiking, skating or any physical activity were I can let my body be active and free and let my mind wonder to whatever topic it pleases. I actually just got done working out right before I wrote this blog and I think because I just worked our and am now slightly tired (a good, content tired) I am able to more easily concentrate on getting down what I want to say. This may also be because working out gave me a time to think about things and not be distracted. Well that is something to keep in mind, I guess I will save my blogging (and papers for that matter) for after a workout. Although writing down how I feel is not one of my stronger points it doesnt mean that I dont think back on my day. I do however think that written reflection could become a habit and easier the more I do it, like many other things in life. And there is an added bonus of being able to look back at what you have written that cannot be done if you reflect in a way other than writing. 

Passion

We have all had those classes, the ones were you show up, set down.. and I mean really get settled in your seat…. Because the class that is about to start is your zone out time. Yup the next hour of time is yours, to day dream in, to go over the long list of things you have to do tonight or to reflect on the weekend. Way is it this way? Because the teacher of that particular class is so impassionate about their job and their subject that they kill any interest you may have had in the subject. I have definitely experienced teachers like that throughout my schooling days. The teachers that woke up in the morning and had a hum glum attitude, going through the motions, doing the bare minimum to get through the day. It was these teachers that I cannot remember the names of and retained very little from their class, simply because they were so impassionate about what they did. However their were other teachers that made up for these teachers tenfold with all the enthusiasm and energy they brought into the classroom. My junior and senior year of high school I went to the School of Environmental Studies, which is located on the Minnesota Zoo Grounds. I guess the best way to describe the school would be to say that it is a charter school that focuses on environmental topics in a hands on learning style. I have always been fascinated in the natural world and my enthusiasm for the environment increased exponential because of the teachers that I was able to learn from at the School of Environmental Studies. It wasn’t any one teacher in particular, they all impacted me greatly during my two years at the school. Their enthusiasm and passion for the environment was so infectious, and they also taught in a way that made me want to learn more about whichever subject we were working on at the time. They thought of the most creative ways to teach the different subjects in ways that allowed all students to use their different strengths at some point. What I mean by this is that they taught in a way that wasn’t geared towards one particular learning style. And never did they simple stand at the front of the room and lecture at us, instead they got us involved and active in our learning, which really made me interested and excited about the topic. It is because I had these wonderful and enthusiastic teachers that I am an environmental studies major with a concentration in education. I want to inspire and introduce students to the environment in a nontraditional teaching style. I want to show students that learning can be fun and doesn’t have to be something that they feel they are forced to do. I want them to be engaged in their learning rather then seeing school as a time to daydream about thing you would rather be doing.

Authenticity

I really, strongly dislike fake people. I believe that sometimes and in certain situations it is hard to be who you truly are. But that doesn't mean that you should change and be someone that you are not. I know that for myself personally, there are only a few people that I can completely be myself around... with no reservations. However this doesn't mean that around the rest of the population that I put a mask on and am someone completely different, that would be authentic. Rather I just hold back some of my deeper beliefs, opinions, thoughts and feelings. These are not things that I think just anyone can be trusted with or privy too. I try very hard to not change my beliefs or personality to mirror those of the people I am around and I think that if you try to be someone who you aren't people are going to see right through it. I don’t know how you exactly know when a person is being fake, but you just do, they just don’t seem sincere I think that the same mentality should be applied in the teaching profession.
It always got on my nerves when teachers in high school sucked up and tried to be buddy buddy with the "cool kids" in class or tried to act like they were are age. Who are you kidding?? You are an adult so don’t act like you are still in high school. At the same time it might possibly have bugged me even more when teachers didn’t let you know anything about them. The teachers that came to class taught the material and didn’t tell you anything about themselves. These were the teachers that I had alot harder time connecting with and because of this I generally didn’t find the subjects as interesting. Because I did not know the teacher at all I generally didn’t try as hard in their classes, which may sound bad but I think that when I knew a teacher well I worked allot harder because I simply didn’t want to let them down. Kind of hard to let someone down if you didn’t know them at all. So I think that in the cause of authenticity, like in many other things like sweets or junk food it is best to have a happy medium. As a teacher you don’t want to be too fake and turn into someone you aren’t but on the other hand you don’t want to be a robot teacher and not allow your students the opportunity to get to know you at all.

Compassion

Compassion, to me, means that you are able to put yourself in another persons shoes who is going through a tough time or situation and see and better understand what they are going through. With this new understanding and insight comes the desire to help this individual through their hard times. Compassion. It is such a simple and beautiful concept, to try and see the world through another persons eyes in order to try and help them through a difficult time. And yet too often, people fail to have compassion and instead are egocentric or just plain indifferent.Throughout my 20 years of life on this planet I have experienced the different extremes of people on the compassion scale. My hockey coach in high school was and still is one of the most in-compassionate people I know. He took a sport that I loved and made it miserable 95% of the time. If anyone on the team ever made a mistake in practice or a game he responded to the mistake with harsh words, swearing and yelling, instead of explaining what mistake was made and how to handle the situation in a better way if it were to arise again. He was unapproachable and I never went to him about any problem or concerns I had, hell I simply avoided talking with the guy completely whenever possible. I still find it troubling that this man is still a coach even though so many parents and students have reported instances of inappropriate behavior because the administers at my school found it "too much work to find and hire"a new coach. Talk about not having compassion for your students and your job! But anyways that is enough on that negative and unpleasant subject.

Thankfully I have been lucky and blessed enough to have encountered far more compassionate people that have effected and impacted in my life in a positive way. It is hard to pick a single teacher that has shown me compassion and made a difference in my life because, as cliche as it may sound, there have been so many. One example is my first grade teacher, Miss S, who believed in me and worked so hard to help me to learn how to read even when I wanted to give up. She taught me that learning is fun and that hard work and practice will pay off. And it did, eventually, although for awhile I was a very frustrated little girl because reading simply did not come easy to me like it did to some of the other kids. I now love to read however and I owe this to her patience and compassion in seeing that reading is hard for some kids.

Throughout my schooling I have been lucky enough to be taught by many other teachers that have shown me compassion and to share all these experiences would take a novel. I am so thankful to these wonderful men and women, for they taught me much more then simply Math English or Reading. They taught me through both implicit and explicit actions about character, about trust and to never stop wondering or questioning the world. I am still being shown this same compassion and being taught these same lessons here at Luther by many of my professors.I am lucky to have not only compassionate teachers in my life but compassionate friends and family members. It is these people that are compassionate, that make life so much more bearable during the potholes and speed bumps of life. These are the people that make me feel special and know my worth in the world, who pick me up when I am down. I am even appreciative to some extent of my hockey coach and the other indifferent people I have dealt with throughout my life. Because lets face it you have to have some crap in your life in order to fully appreciate the sweet smell of fresh apple pie. Mmmmm. As a member of this world I want to strive to show compassion to others, I dont ever want to be the hockey coach. I would much rather impact peoples lives in a positive way.

Two of my favorite quotes:

How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these. ~George Washington Carver

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. ~Dalai Lama


Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. ~Plato

Respect

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0XAI-PFQcA

R-E-S-P-E-C-T find out what it means to me. R-E-S-P-E-C-T take care, TCB.
Ooooo a little respect

Just like the famous words by Aretha Franklin my educational psychology class also is exploring what the word respect means and whether or not it is something that can be effectively taught in the classroom. But how do I personally define respect? Well the first thing that pops into my head when I hear the word "respect" is that catchy song by Aretha Franklin, which then usually gets stuck in my head. But anyways when I sat down to answer the question "what does respect mean to me," I decided I would take a look at what my dictionary had to say.

Dictionary.com defines respect as:
1. a particular, detail, or point (usually prec. by in ): to differ in some respect.
2. relation or reference: inquiries with respect to a route.
3. esteem for or a sense of the worth or excellence of a person, a personal quality or ability, or something considered as a manifestation of a personal quality or ability: I have great respect for her judgment.

Ok so definitions 1 and 2 don’t exactly work for the context we are using respect in. But definition 3 is getting somewhere. I think this is a pretty good definition, however I personally think that there is much more to respect then just what is described in definition number 3. I believe that respect is something that goes both ways, you have to give to get. This is something that is very important in the classroom. Respect isn’t just something you can have a child look up in the dictionary and then so ok I want you to have this disposition, I want you to always show respect. I think it is something that must be modeled, discussed and explored in the classroom. I think what respect can be boiled down to in the simplest of definitions is “treat people the way you want to be treated.” You must treat the student in a way that you yourself want to be treated in return. I think it is also very important for the teacher to look at the classroom from the students prospective and to ask himself or herself, “ok if I am a student, how would I want to be treated and what ways are the best way for me to learn.” Respect has a huge impact on the classroom, I know that personally if I respected the teacher and they respected me, I was much more driven in that class to do well because I didn’t want to let that teacher down. I knew that they genuinely cared about me as a person and respected me as an individual. On the other hand if I felt that a teacher didn’t respect me personally then I was much less driven in the classroom and didn’t feel that they disserved or would appreciate my hard work or respect.

Just like in the song respect by Aretha Franklin, I believe everyone wants a little respect. And like it says in the song respect is a disposition that means something different to everyone. However I believe the most important thing to remember about respect is that you have to give respect to get it in return and so in turn the best way to teach respect is to demonstrate it as a quality and treat people the way you yourself would like to be treated.