Program Standard V In their reflections about their practice, social studies teachers are able to
“I prefer to be honest with my students. Tell them that their language and cultural style is unique and wonderful but that there is a political power game that is also being played, and if they want to be on on that game there are certain games that they too must play (Delpit, 1988, p. 292).” This quote by Lisa Delpit is huge for us as teachers and our reflections of our teaching practice. I want to always make sure that my classroom is based on a social justice approach. Delpit points out that a good way to do this is to is to teach our students the rules of the “culture of power,” as she calls it. Truthfully, Delpit’s theory fits the NCSS strands perfectly. There are certain codes to the social studies that are cross disciplinary and it is our job to help mold model democratic citizens who understand the rules of how to play that game. We should always keep that in mind when reflecting on our lessons and units. Another thing that I want to make sure I’m doing in my classroom when I look back and reflect is that I want to make sure that I am promoting an environment for learning and not just an environment for grades. I lean more toward the theory of Alfie Kohn in his article The Trouble with Rubrics. Kohn actually disagrees with rubrics because he believes that it reinforces the idea of grades where he would ultimately like to rid the classroom of grades in general. Kohn says the reasons that grades are harmful to learning are because they make kids think less deeply, they avoid taking risks in the classroom, and they are less interested in the learning process itself (Kohn, 2006). When reflecting on my units, I want to make sure that the students are retaining information out of interest in the content itself rather than the grade they are receiving. Yes, the grade is the measurement that the schools will use. However, I believe that these things will work themselves out if the students are legitimately learning something in the classroom and engaged. Artifact I is a classroom mosaic that was done by an administrator at Irmo during one of my classes. It is also the same lesson that's classroom agenda is posted as artifact II on Program standard III. It was definitely one of my most enjoyable classes that I have taught during my internships. What I learned from this lesson and the observation that was done is that if I am motivated and enjoying what I am doing, then I'm going to be successful in what I'm doing. The lesson that I learned was that I tried to bring as much rigor into the classroom as possible in that one lesson but knew that I was going to have to try multiple different instructional strategies to keep the students "tuned in." With this in mind, I came up with collaborative group work, pair work, interactive technological work, and even discussion topics within the same class period and unknowingly hit all four D.O.K. levels in one lesson. I was not doing so on purpose and what that told me was when you enjoy what you do and bring positivity and enthusiasm into the classroom, success will follow. I want to make sure that my classroom and the rules that I ask my students to follow are fair and equal. As Pedro Noguera points out, black and latino students are disproportionately disciplined in schools (Noguera, 2008). What Noguera points out is that typically, the kids who are being disciplined the most are the ones who need to be in the classroom learning more than anything else. As educators, our job is to help kids grow and learn. I want to make sure that when I look at my teaching style and my discipline, that I am not taking away the ability for a student to learn by punishing them. Just recently I had to have a talk with one of my basketball players who is a ninth grade kid playing on the JV basketball team. His parents took him away for an entire week during the thanksgiving holiday and he was forced to miss three practices due to the length of their trip. I had to make sure that he understood that he cannot miss practice and still be rewarded by playing in the games when he returned. As much as I wanted to punish him more, I also had to keep in mind that my punishment cannot be so harsh that it interrupts his chance to get better as a player. The same holds true in the classroom. We are the adults in the room and too many times I see teachers just throw their hands up with some students and send them to the hallway or to an administrator and immediately they are getting in the way of the students purpose for being in school in the first place. At Spring Valley High School this year, we saw a similar situation unfold when a student refused to give up her cell phone to the teacher and then refused to leave the classroom. Eventually, the punishment given in no way fit the crime. I want to make sure that my discipline is helping the learner rather than hurting them. Lastly, Artifact II is a reflection from my Internship B during my eighth week at Irmo. At this point of the internship I had begun to see that my teaching philosophy and the relationships that I had build with my students had given me a new sense of individuality in the classroom and also some confidence. I learned that you have to love to lead kids in order to be good at this job. I know that I love teaching, leading, and mentoring kids and I am genuinely invested in their lives and their success and growth. What this reflection points out is that I had begun to see that those teachers who struggled the most were the ones that do not love it and are not sold out to the success of the students but rather there every day because it is their job. Unfortunately, this was obvious to the students and impacts the classroom in a negative way. It is frustrating to see but refreshing knowing that my personality, encouragement, and leadership characteristics make me a perfect match for the classroom.