Reflection #4

In my experience, I haven’t seen anything that stands out as much as David’s case in “His name is Michael” but I have seen teachers who rely on the schools systems and, both in others and sometimes myself, witness passive racism. First, we’d all like to think that there are mainly two categories of schools: good schools vs. bad schools. In bad schools, with poor or little equipment and conditioned students that are disruptive and trained to not care, I feel that it would be generally known that the school system would not be the best. For those teachers (good, bad, or otherwise) they’d be somewhat left to their own devices. Ideally, most people would like to choose the good schools, those that are embracing technology, learning styles, the diversity of students. In those schools, the expectation is higher for the school system; we expect it to work and be accurate. In this story, this wasn’t the case. (Logically, I know there are many different types of schools between good and bad, and as the quality rises, so does the expectations.) My second point is passive racism. This isn’t something that is overt or sometimes even a conscious effort; it’s something that happens unintentionally but still wrong. Our society, despite our learning or intentions, tends to make us think certain things about race. One example is I’ve had with close friends of mine is assume that they can speak or understand Spanish based on their race. I may not state this in any obvious way but it is still passive racism. I think one of the best ideas from the story is “I have learned that being a good teacher is as much about rapport and relationships as it is about progressive curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment.” This express that in order to educate and touch student’s lives, we must learn and know them as people first. I encountered a transfer student, ELL during my observations. I was lucky to have a great teacher to observe, she worked on knowing this student as an individual and expected the same level of work effort from him as any other student, though her approach may have been different. During a journal prompt, she saw that he was not working, though she knew he had the ability to. She found a way to motivate him using his own ideas to complete the assignment. This was done my asking him question of his interest.

Reflection #3

I've learned of inclusion in my other courses and I actually got to see it in action during my observations. As I learn more and witness this concept, my option does not change. Inclusion is a great concept and should be utilized in schools. I think it creates a sense of normality for students with special needs; forming a level of equality that I feel is important. I think that as teachers, we should always strive to reach the needs to all our students. That's why we modify and adapt lesson, to ensure that students are learning. We practice techniques of using auditory, visual, and kinesthetic methods to teach information from different perspectives to reach all students. I think the process of inclusion is along those same lines; creating, modifying, and adapting lessons to included students with special need into a normal class room settings. Though these students will need other instructions and possibly one-on-one help, they'll still receive time in a classroom like other students. Unfortunately, I haven't had the opportunity to practice inclusion this semester but I have seen variations of it during my observations. One occasion occurred in an English courses I observed. This particular student would spend the first portion of the class period with his mentor, working one-on-one to complete his lessons. The second portion was spent working on whatever the class was worked on at that time. The first of the two articles I found focuses on creating an enabling environment for inclusion. The ideas of communication and teaching methods stood out to me. I think communication is important inside the classroom. This article states that inclusion students should be able to share their experiences, capabilities, and accomplishments inside the regular classroom. Chidindi, Joseph. "Creating Enabling Environment for Inclusion of Students with Developmental Disabilities." ERIC. N.p., 7 May 2012. Web. 4 Apr. 2013. . The second article I choose discuss the pros and cons of inclusion. I think can be a topic of debate in the offices of many schools; should they create programs of inclusion in their facilities? Overall, I agree with the authors that the advantages of inclusion for all students outweigh the disadvantages. Chidindi, Joseph. "Creating Enabling Environment for Inclusion of Students with Developmental Disabilities." ERIC. N.p., 7 May 2012. Web. 4 Apr. 2013. . P.S. I'm sorry if the formatting is weird, I've done this assignment on my phone :)