Reflection 2

To call myself a teacher, I must connect with my students somehow, which means interacting, relating, and engaging their learning in valuable ways. Given this perspective and focusing on the needs of effective educators, it is necessary to recognize certain theories and topics about human development and learning. Theorists agree children are born with a range of possible intelligence. This range is influenced by biological and environmental factors. Some theorist identify and label stages or age ranges in which children achieve specific development. Other theorist argue that change is gradual. According to Pressley & McCormick (2007), "for educators, it is important to be realistic about what to expect from children of particular ages, but not to be so tied to stage thinking as to ignore inconsistencies with it." (5). Another consideration an educator must keep in mind, is the individuality of the student. Perhaps a comment by my fellow classmate best summarizes this idea, “I think a large part of being a good teacher is taking the time to stop the act of teaching and pay attention to the individual student.”   In Brain Rules, Medina addresses the fact that each student perceives, learns, rationalizes, and remembers information differently because their brains are wired differently. This is a concept I am well aware of as I know each of my three children learn differently and have different strengths and weaknesses. As an educator, I must remember this and become familiar with my students so as to be able to vary instructions and teaching methods to reach all types of learners.

Schooling is a road for students to become successful, responsible members of society. “As a society, we want young people to emerge from school to make social and ethical decisions responsibly"[Pressley, M. & McCormick 2007 p. 74. (Wentzel, 1991a, 1991b, 2003)]. In this way, educators are tasked with interacting with students in ways that create good moral reasoning and to instill an awareness of contemporary world problems and a sense of civic duty among students. Perhaps the greatest but most effectual challenge an educator faces is keeping the students sense of curiosity alive. Medina emphasizes curiosity as a key element in learning and wanting to keep learning. Providing fun, insightful activities, in which a student promotes their own interests and learning, is something I will strive to achieve in my classroom for it will allow me to engage my students in a valuable way and create thinking skills that a student can readily apply outside the classroom.

References

Pressley, M. & McCormick, C.B. (2007). Child and adolescent development for educators. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Medina. J. (2014). Brain rules. Seattle, WA: Pear Press