Where im from...

I am from a being of living off the land and a seed struck by love at first site
I am from the “holy grail” that created my body, gave me a beat, a spirit and then was revealed as an angel under the veil
I am from sandy beaches, iridescent butterflies and tropical rainforest.
I am from rolley polley bugs, rainbow bright, my little pony and big lacy hats.
I am from where the wild things are and where they go to escape to explore their thoughts
I am from an experience of a crumbling wall that gave freedom
I am from a family that was, then wasn’t, then was, then wasn’t then was and the deep experiences that molded me.
I am from emotional experiences that can be heard through my passion of voice that is revealed through harmony.
I am from a rose that bloomed when I woke up to realize that I had wings and was able to fly to experience my dreams.
I am from an ugly duckling that turned into a beautiful swan and learned to love all that came into life.
I am from plants and fairies that surround my genie bottle
I am going places and have the drive to open my mind to any possibilities
I am what I am because of where I have been.
I am far more than what these words can say
I am me

Experience to learn

I love the way Ayers unriddles how to create an environment for learning. As a way of explaining, he uses the analogy of removing one's shoes at the door to leave the city streets behind. In this program, we often discuss that when walking into the classroom, we are to check our stress at the door, and must leave the stress behind, in order to provide a happy environment for our students.

During this week’s readings, I found myself thinking about my favorite book as a child, titled Where the Wild Things Are. This book is one of my all time favorite children’s book because Max used his imagination and created a world where he felt like he belonged. Being in his own element and having a safe feeling, he felt like he was the king of his imaginary world. I believe this is what students should feel like when they walk into a classroom. They should feel like they are in their own element and feel like they are important and their ideas matter. Like Max, children should have access to create a learning environment that is best for them. In order to create such an environment each student needs to be represented in the classroom.

I strongly agree with Ayers' contention that the setting in which children learns should be appealing to not only their interest, but also one that would lead to further exploration of their interest. Students have their different environments where they learn best. For instance, I like to study in my own home where I light candles and have soft music playing. Others like the library and some even go to coffee shops. All students need an environment where they feel like they can express themselves safely.

Ayers mentions that building bridges from what is “known to the not-yet-known” is the base for when learning can start to begin. I like this idea because the life experiences that individuals have are what makes who that person is. Creating an environment based on each student life can make students feel like they belong in the class and they matter. I feel that when students are able to express themselves and use their imagination, anything is possible when it comes to their learning. I agree with Ayers' assertion that when students are able to include their interest in their learning, it will lead to more exploration on that subject, which I have experienced as a student.

Learning is an experience because the more you experience, the more you learn. Ayers' discussion about testing being a way to separate students into losers and winners, is a proposition I somewhat agree with. However, I have always believed that I can take the same test any given day and depending on what was going on in my life or what I was experiencing during that point, is how I will perform on the test.

In addition, I agree with Ayers' opinion that a test is bias to the test taker depending on who is the author of the test. This is why I think that if there is going to be testing, then students should be graded not only on the answers, but on what rationale the students used to come up with the answers. This possibly can allow for accessing the thought process, rather than basing intelligence on whether the right answer was chosen or not.

For the love of caring

I believe it is through the love of wanting to help others that hopeful teachers get into education. I think teachers do have more influence power than they think they do. Although there are so many other factors outside of the school setting which can affect a student emotionally, teachers do have the opportunity to create a positive environment for students. In creating this environment is where I believe students can feel safe and are able to share their thoughts. I know this from my own experience as a student. When I'm able to share my ideas and feel like the questions I ask are important, is when I am able to process information that I am learning, in a more effective way.
I have noticed during my learning process that when my instructors teach with feelings and emotions, it makes me care about what they are teaching because they are passionate about the subject. Having faith and trust in my teacher means that I can feel safe expressing my own ideas about that subject. I came across one of my most memorable teachers during the time I was working on my undergraduate degree. She taught a class titled performance and healing. The course content was based on her own experiences while using performance as a way to deal with pain and loss.
I was a little hesitant at the beginning of this class because for our final projects we were going to have to do a performance for the whole class. Along with feelings of discomfort, I also thought that being able to be vulnerable and perform in front of my peers would be a difficult task. I knew it would take perseverance to talk about painful past experiences. However, throughout the quarter, my instructor was able to create an environment where my peers and I felt safe to express our feelings. We began most of our classes with a meditation session. This allowed the class to bond and to forget about outside forces. I knew that every time I was in that classroom environment, not only my teacher, but also my peers were able to share very painful emotional experiences. Sometimes during class discussions, the class as a whole would be in tears because of the deep discussions about our life experiences. We were able to create our own final presentations with only a few requirements from the instructor. I had noticed that almost every one of my peers went above and beyond in creating their own each individual final project. I as well had put a lot of caring and passion into my work because I felt that my instructor and peers cared about what I had to share.
My instructor was able to create an environment where I felt safe and was able to learn the subject on a deeper level. I often had thought about that type of environment I am going to create as a teacher. I have always seen my classroom with a tree in the corner where students would hang a leaf traced from their hands. I thought of the tree extending halfway throughout the room to inspire imaginative and creative thinking. I feel that the initial impression students should get when walking into a classroom is one that allows them to feel comfortable to share their ideas. As a future teacher, I want to make sure all my students' ideas are heard and respected.
There will always be those students that come into a classroom feeling uncomfortable with sharing as well as those that do feel comfortable sharing. I believe that in some instances, this can be a case where outside forces, such as home environments, is can affect how a student behaves in the classroom. This is why it is very important for teachers to make students feel comfortable enough to be able to speak freely without feeling like they are being judged. As the readings suggested, when children feel like they are not a success, they question their self respect and esteem. I agree that emotions are strongly tied along with teaching because in order to teach, we have to care about both, the audience and the subject we are teaching. When teachers care enough to understand their students, they are allowing students to open up; and therefore, students can learn on a deeper level.

Open mind = endless possibilities

I believe that having a curriculum that is appealing to diversified interests is the best way to spark learning in all students. I know for myself, when I am interested in something, I tend to find out everything there is to know about the subject.

I experienced this type of interest when I had the opportunity to choose what I would do for my final presentation in my performance and healing class. I chose to do a project about how singing is a therapeutic release for me. I’m a very artistic person and instead of writing a paper about my hobby, I chose to do a documentary. I was able to visually show what it was like for me when I sang and also was able to talk about the way singing makes me feel. Being able to be artistic and be involved with the movie making process, while also talking about my hobby, I was able to take away a deeper understanding and realization about what singing was like for me. I feel that having the opportunity to choose what I was studying, enabled me to learn more than what I would have learned with just being told to learn. This was a great experience for me and it’s a lesson that will stay with me forever.

It seems that when students, like myself, are told what to do, we tend to just regurgitate information without thinking or going further into the subject. Since all students learn differently, I believe that it is a must that lessons should have more than one way of being learned. Some students learn from lectures, but I discovered some time ago that when I’m visually able to see what I’m learning or when I’m engaged in an activity, I take more from the lesson than just sitting down and listening. As teachers, we need to be able to engage in all different learning styles, in order for students to learn on a deeper level. Ayers points out that having the motivation could lead to more discoveries in learning. Experiencing the lessons more deeply, one is able to activate all senses and learn more intensely.

I think that when it comes to curriculum, a guide and a few rules are needed, but offering students the opportunity to learn about what interest them could lead to a higher learning. Teachers need to allow for students to have the opportunity to think for themselves so that they can come up with their own problem solving abilities - after all, this is one key point of learning. When students are liberated, they are not only interested in what they are doing, but they are coming up with their own thoughts and problem solving skills that help them make connections that coincide with their life.

Building self confidence

This week´s readings reminded me about positive and negative classroom activities that I have had experienced throughout my school years. I enjoyed thinking about one of my classes where students did an activity which consisted on students going around introducing themselves and trying to find something in common. I believe activities of this type are a good idea for the first week of school because it builds community and confidence within the classroom. In addition, the students feel like they know one another from the stories that are shared.

I believe that the more students get to know one another and build relationships, the more they can share with one another. Building strong relationships between students in the classroom is a must. I know as a student when I feel comfortable with my peers in the classroom, I feel safe to ask questions and to voice my opinion.

A year ago, I took a class called team building and I witnessed the classroom environment change dramatically after doing a team building activity. The class was held for only 3 sessions. The first day of class only a few of the students spoke up when questions were asked and the conversations weren’t very deep. The second class session we all met at a field where we did "team building" activities. At first, we started off doing smaller tasks and as a group, we all began to show what our skills and weaknesses were. At the end of the day, we all had to walk across balancing beams as a team. The smaller tasks lead up to this bigger task and as a group we had bonded and knew each other very well at the end of the day. I noticed that our last class session the environment felt safe. We all felt safe sharing our ideas within the big group.

On a negative note, I do remember some teachers posting our grades up on a bulletin board for everyone to see. I think this could be very detrimental because the students that got good grades would make fun of the students that didn’t get good grades. I was one of those children that didn’t always get good grades. Having everyone see my grades not only made me have unpleasant feelings of self-consciousness, but I also felt like I wasn’t part of the “smart kids”. I think as future teachers, we need to be aware not to single out children like this, but make everyone feel like they are part of the group, regardless of their skill levels in a certain subject.

As a future teacher, I want to include activities that build community and confidence within the classroom. Growing up and going through public schools, I was always the shy kid. In some of my classes, I would often feel like I didn’t want to speak up and I also thought the teachers looked down upon me for this. However, classes that included confidence building activities made it easier for me to share my ideas. I would ask questions and involve myself more with the classroom discussions in the classes where I felt comfortable with my peers. When I was engaged with the discussions, I noticed that my learning was deeper because I was able to experience the dialogue with my peers and teacher.

“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to leave the world a better place; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

I am not a box... I am me

"You were born an original. Don't die a copy." ~John Mason


I believe that a book can’t be judged by the cover nor can a person be defined into one category. In Western culture, we try to portray ourselves as a nation that is a melting pot and welcoming of every race. Our Western culture even has a monument representing freedom and accepting of others.

The Statue of Liberty stands tall in New York, given to us by another country, France. This monument, which represents our “melting pot” has been standing for over a century. Inscribed on the statue is a message that reads, "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" (Emma Lazarus, 1883). If this is what we believe as a country, then why over a century later is our society dealing with issues of prejudice and race? And more importantly, why is it that the new generation of our society being faced with these issues? In order to answer my own questions, I have to think about how these fragile minds are experiencing their each own individual cultures and society.

There seems to be many cultures that intertwine with one another in our society, that makes and individual not one or the other, but a mix of “this and that.” As a child growing up and going through many different school systems around the world, I often had to fill out forms declaring what race I most “associated with”. These questions often had me thinking about what “I” am and how I am a product of not only different races but different cultures that I “associated with”.

My mother is originally from Panama, Central America, while my father is European-American branching from Germany. Although these countries were where my ancestors had come from, I was raised to “associate” with many other different races. When I was very young, my father remarried and my step-family was from El Salvador. Even though Panama and El Salvador are considered in a group as Hispanic countries, they each have their own individual histories and experiences of how they came to be. In my younger years, I would often hear my older step-brother and step-sister complain about being called Mexicans. “What’s the big deal?” I thought. “We all speak Spanish, right? So aren’t we all the same?”

As a young girl not knowing much about life, I was being molded by my surroundings and experiences. Moving around with my military father, I attended many schools. Often these schools were predominantly African-Americans, and so were the schools attended by my older step-sister and step-brother. When I was still a child, they were both coming into their teenage years. How they acted and viewed themselves was highly influenced by their peers in school. I watched their clothing and linguistics change throughout the years, which also affected me as well. I, as a young child was being shaped not only by my older siblings' views, but also by my community, which for me were public school and the media.

When I think back to how I became who I am today, I am flooded with so many different cultures and communities that I have experienced throughout my life. I have come to realize that children may come up with their own ideas and thoughts, but how they confirm whether these ideas are true or false depends on their surroundings and how they experience these demonstrations.

Since our society is made up of many different race and cultures, as the new generation of teachers, we should expect to see this diversity in our classrooms. We know that children learn best when they feel safe and comfortable. I believe that in order for children to feel this way, they have to feel secure in their own skin and feel accepted for who they are in every aspect of their being.

More than meets the eye

People have always told me that it takes a very special and patient person to be a teacher, and then questioned why I would go to school for so many years to not make any money. I always answered proudly by saying " I rather be happy and feel like I made a difference rather than surounding my self with luxury". I believe that I will find "luxury" in changing the lives of children.

Yes, teachers are underpaid and undervalued, but I wonder why? Most kids in our society attend public schools. They are everywhere and even some families choose where they will raise their family based on how good a school district is and what types of test scores the schools produce. Children spend 5 days out of the week to go to school and are expected to learn what they need to know in a year. And then, they go on to another grade and continue this cycle until they graduate or until they are old enough to decide that they do not want to attend school. Some parents seems to view school as a sort of day care program for when they are at work.

While reading Biklin´s “Can Elementary school teaching be a career?”, I was once more taken by the fact that teachers do not get the recognition they deserve in society. Okay, yes I will admit, going through school as a young kid I thought of teachers in such a negative way. I never thought teachers did anything and did their jobs only because that’s what paid the bills. I was placed in so many different learning environments and have encountered many different teachers as well. I grew up with the allegation that teachers were just there to push the “smart” students and not really pay attention to the “not so smart” students. Growing up falling into the “not so smart” category, I experienced this first-hand. I feel that as a student, I fell through the cracks and was a student that was “left behind”. Living this experience first-hand and knowing that there are other students that feel the same way, it’s no wonder that some teachers are viewed negatively and do not get the recognition they need.

It’s not until I started getting older and became more understanding of the way our society is that I started to see teachers differently. Teachers have not only politics to deal with, but also, many different learning styles that they must engage in order for students to learn what is necessary. While trying to come up with new inventive ways to teach, they are also going against time, because students need to be at a certain skill level by the time the year is over.

I believe that if teachers want the recognition that we deserve, we should strive to make sure that every child coming out of our classroom is packed with the knowledge that they need in order to succeed. This knowledge not only comes from being book smart but also having the confidence to question what they do not know without being penalized for it.

There is a new society of teachers being made right now and in order for us, as a teaching community, to be viewed differently, we have to make the change within our own classrooms. A teacher has about 30 different students in her classroom. So, if a teacher is changing that classroom and the teacher next door is doing the same, and so on, the whole school could be changed and viewed differently, possibly causing a wave effect that would change the schooling system all together. I believe it is up to the new generation of teachers to change society's view. In order for this change to happen, teachers also need to be equipped with the right tools. First off, teachers that get into the field must have the passion and patience to teach. We have to realize that teaching isn’t just rainbows and songs. Many students of different cultures, race, and classes will be coming into our classrooms and each one of those students have different experiences that they come in with. It is up to the teacher to tap into the way their individual minds work in order to reach every student.

In chapter 2 of the book, Ayers discusses how teachers are to see a student for who they are, and not for what skills they bring into the classroom. This was my problem with the school system growing up. Rather than pointing out the skills that I could do well, I was constantly bombarded with the negatives about the skills I could not do well. Ayers also discusses how lesson plans are “one-directional…”. This is valid to me because it seems that most teachers have their lesson plans written out for the year and they are to follow this plan. I agree with Ayers claim because not all lesson plans work for every student or every group. As a student, I know that I learn differently than my peers, and what works for them may not work for me. This doesn’t mean that I am smarter or dumber than my fellow students; it just means that our brains work differently and it is nothing that we can control. I do believe that children should be seen for their strengths rather than their weakness and it is up to the new generation of teachers to make sure that students are seen for who they are and not for what they cannot achieve. Otherwise, we will be failing students if we cannot find ways to reach them.

Although teachers seem to be undervalued and are underpaid, we have to view ourselves as positive influences. As teachers, we get to shape the minds of our future society. We have to view ourselves in a positive light in order for society to see the significance of what teachers do. We have got to push ourselves and all of the students we encounter to be better learners. Teachers and students both can learn from one another. I believe if every single student had a positive view of their teachers that this could possibly change the view that our society has of teachers in a matter of years.

“In learning to know other things, and other minds, we become more intimately acquainted with ourselves, and are to ourselves better worth knowing.”
-Philip Gilbert Hamilton