Throughout my readings for my TE 302 class, I have begun to reshape some of my beliefs about teaching and strengthen my existing ideas. The perfect way to describe my ideas of teaching would fall under the pragmatism philosophy (Ornstein, 2000). I believe in problem solving in any learning experience and using the scientific method to solve life problems. As a teacher I would focus my classrooms around students experimenting with different methods and using their own knowledge and skills to grow and learn. I would consider my classroom as an exploration of math and life situations involving math. Each problem would be addressed in new manners opening students’ minds to new processes of gaining information and applying it. I think the true way to learn is to be able to face new problems with many different skills and ideas and adapt them accordingly. Classrooms should be broadening horizons and showing students how to use their own skills to do so.
An important topic in education I have discovered through this class is literacy. It is a tool that without people could not make it anywhere in today’s society. As a teacher, I would be applying literacy in math terms. I have learned that this is a valid concept, and literacy is applicable to all situations not simply English courses. I agree with Lankshear and Knobel when they stress literacy as being a social process and practice. It makes sense that every situation requires literacy in different forms. So, I must look for the best way to teach literacy in math to a wide range of different levels of students. I must discover ways to use my students’ different primary D/discourses and develop them into a secondary D/discourse, which is math in my case (Lankshear, 2003). Math is something that is all together different in language and so forth then any other subject; therefore, I must discover ways to bring math to a level that students will be able to make connections with. Here I think the best way would be to discover first what my students’ background is in math. Every student will have different understandings of math, so I must decide whether to teach defensively or challenge myself (McNeil, 1986). I think defensive teaching is the easy and lazy way out. I think good teachers challenge all students and incorporate all of their students learning abilities into the curriculum. I do not know as of yet exactly how to go about doing this; however, I think students will gain the most from a curriculum that challenges them and builds off their knowledge. After I can get a feel of where my students’ math literacy is, I will need to try different methods of incorporating that into my teaching styles. Literacy is different for every person, so I need to be able to relate all my material in different forms. I think the key is teachers need to be well rounded. I want to understand many different learning patterns and D/discourses, so I can incorporate each one into the classroom.
Even if I can reach every student on their level, I still need ways to motivate them to learn math. The main thing I have gathered from the readings is to help students set goals and fit assignments and lesson plans to meet individual needs (Brophy, 2004). Math is a subject where it is hard to stay motivated if you do not have the skill. Many people feel that math is too hard, so they simply give up. These are students I will have to adjust lesson plans for and help set up realistic goals. For these students, I think a great way to help them would be to allow them see why they are struggling. If they can discover their own mistakes, they will learn how to correct them and look for them on their own. The key to math is evaluating what is working and what is not. Students who struggle need to be able to learn how to problem solve. Success comes from adapting the information you know into a new form to accomplish a new problem. Thus by guiding students to finding their strengths and weaknesses in math, I think I can help students grow to problem solve on their own. Not everyone has to be a math genius, and I would never stress that as a teacher. I simply want to give them skills to do problems on their own and learn to workout solutions. Another type of student I will face will be students who do not feel math is important. For these students I will need to stress fully they do not need to be math geniuses but need to learn the problem solving skills math offers. This is an important job teachers have trying to connect school to real life. I think math is something that connects directly to real life. Math is all about problem solving and learning how to solve different types of real life problems. Everyone uses math in their daily lives without realizing. The idea to help motivate the students who do not see math as important then is to show them how math can be applied to many problems they face in their lives. I need to make math more then simply solving problems from a book. I need to show students processes they can take away from math and provide real life applications. It is all about making math more of an experiment then simply a routine. The process is more important then getting a good enough solution.
Education is something that everyone has different feelings about. So many conflicting goals exist in education that teachers have a tough time focusing on the main importance of helping students grow. I have seen how political the educational system has become (Labaree, 1997). People believe schools are set up to produce productive members of society. The problem is that when teachers focus on performance of their students and simply racking up their credentials, they forget about what I think is the most important part of education, growth and experience. I truly believe education is for giving students the chance to discover who they are and form an identity. They should be encouraged to grow and challenge themselves. Yes, we need productive members of society. However, I think if education focused more on learning processes and individual growth, they would accomplish this goal without so much politics. Who decides what a productive member of society is? Since there is no simple answer to this, it does not make sense to be a set goal. Education is meant to be a good, so to speak, that the students can receive through their own experiences. I think telling someone this is what is expected of you only creates huge problems. No one knows someone else’s potential without testing it. Education is that process of challenging and strengthening of one’s potential. As a teacher, my main focus would be my students own growth.
I can not say exactly how I will accomplish all of my ideas as a teacher. Some of them sound idealistic and way more complicated then I can fathom. I do however know that as a teacher I will always try to create an environment where students are encouraged to experiment with learning. I want to give students a chance to discover that math is not simply out of a book, but a skill that can help them better their lives. I think teachers are meant to guide students to learn what they are capable of doing in life. Passion is something I have for math, which I believe makes me more then ready to teach math. Being an expert is great, but having the desire to pass on the knowledge makes a great teacher. Since math is something that I know does not come easy even to those who are great at it, teaching it will be a challenge. Yet, if I can focus more on the root of mathematical process and problem solving, then I believe I will be successful. Knowledge is knowing that things change and being able to adapt to that change. Math is about adapting knowledge to solve different problems throughout life. As a teacher, I hope that I can give my students the ability to adapt processes they know to grow and change with the world.
Bibliography
Brophy, J. (2004). Motivating Students to Learn (2nd Ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Labaree, D. F. (1997). Public goods, private goods: The American struggle over educational goals. American Educational Research Journal, 34, 39-81.
Lankshear, C., & Knobel, M. (2003). New Literacies. New York: Open University Press.
McNeil, L. M. (1986). Contradictions of Control. Boston: Routledge.
Ornstein, A. C. & Levine, D. U. (2000). Foundations of Education (7th Ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
