Chapters 3 & 4

3 Very Meaningful Quotes:

"Such teachers are surely aware of the constraints and imperfections of schools. Somehow they see the possibilities more clearly than the impossibilities."

Throughout my high school years, and then into some of college, I saw firsthand how the education system is failing the students. Frustrated that the emphasis was on the superficial (grades, doing only what is asked of us) rather than the intellectual, I often wondered whether I should put my own children through this broken system, or teach them at home myself. However, I always held to my overriding belief that, despite the bad, there is still a lot of good. I decided to become a teacher to be a tool in fixing the system, and that ideal has stuck with me. I have been privy to conversations where the subjects want to condemn the entire system as well as everyone who is a part of it, but I try to choose another route of rising above those impossibilities and seeing education for what it is at its core: giving others the opportunity to achieve their potential.

"They live what they know."

Just like the 10% of an iceberg that sticks out of the water, while the rest of it remains unseen beneath the surface, many of us only apply a small portion of the knowledge we have. As humans, we are filled with experiences and information, so it seems only natural that we would use what we have. The same goes for teachers. In reality however, we tend to use only part (sometimes a very small part) of our rich library. Knowledge is power, yes, but only if that knowledge is used for action. It takes a lot of thought and work to apply the principles we know, but naturally it pushes us to greater heights.

"From the first day of class until the last, environment will quietly but potently form a line of communication from teacher to student, student to student, and student to teacher. Environment will support or deter the student's quest for affirmation, contribution, power, purpose, and challenge in the classroom."

The truthfulness of this quote struck me, just based on my own personal experiences as the student. I was unaware of it during my grade-school years, but realize now that the teachers with whom I connected worked hard to create a safe environment, and the teachers that I didn't value or respect neglected that vital aspect of teaching. A classroom communicates. It either says that students are valuable resources for learning, or that they are just merely there to soak information in. It either welcomes children by engaging their interest, or repels them by focusing on adults. A classroom can have a warm, friendly atmosphere, or it can have a hostile, anxious one, and it is that atmosphere that determines the level of potential the students will reach while in the class. Children are little opportunities walking through the classroom door, and if we as teachers stifle the potential of those opportunities by failing to create a supportive environment, then we are stifling the future of this world.

Sylvia Allen's Visit

Wow, where do I even begin? Sylvia Allen's presentation succeeded in completely convincing me that morning meetings are essential in creating the positive environment I want in my classroom. It takes all the concerns I had for when during my short day I'm going to fit in the good, meaty, character education stuff, and sets them at ease by providing an answer. "In the morning," it tells me, "for 30 minutes each day." And on top of that, it tells me what to do! This idea has compacted all my abstract ideals into a practically tangible ball of 30 grand minutes... what training is more practical than that?! I have had the privilege of seeing morning meetings revolutionize a classroom, in just one week, after I taught my mom, a 6th grade teacher, the concept. She immediately began using morning meetings with her students, and has since converted the rest of her team. She has been amazed to hear what her students say during their morning discussions, and comments everyday on the camaraderie it creates.

Along with the environment is the valuable content-review morning meeting provides. I loved how Sylvia integrated her character education with literature. It creates genuine dialog, which is how critical thinking begins. She truly fosters a participatory classroom during her morning meeting time, which is where her ability to make the biggest difference lies. Students need that authentic learning, and more importantly, children need that trustworthy community. I'm so excited to watch the magic of morning meetings in my own classroom.

Ch. 2: The Role of Students' Needs

On page 22, Tomlinson says, “The truth is, we will never really do all each child needs us to do.” Later on this page she says, “The point is not to entertain guilt. The point is to relentlessly seize the remarkable opportunity of a teacher to shape lives – to do the best we can to ensure that we are better at reaching children today than yesterday, better at it this year than last.”

As a preservice teacher, I have an idea of what my future classroom will look and feel like. I foresee myself as a teacher, with my own class, my own style of teaching, and my own connection with my students. My education has succeeded in filling my brain with incredible ideas and my heart with powerful ideals. As a preservice teacher, my greatest fear is that my visions won't become reality.

What Tomlinson says however, reassures me. He is telling me that what I can control is all I can control. Or in other words, me giving it 100% is what I can do. At the end of the day, if I can say I gave it all the effort and heart that I could, and then learn from the day and be better the next, then I will be working for my ideals. I will not see what I didn't do, but all that I did. Every student may not leave my class at the end of the year a math expert, but they will have felt my influence for good. Because I will have tried.

A Field of Wildflowers

Lets see, how are wildflowers like children? They are unique, interesting, and yes... wild. They are beautiful, hopeful, and a burst of bright color surrounded by intimidating mountains and mature trees. They are precious and fragile, and passers-by want to keep them just exactly as they are. A field of wildflowers is my future class looking back at me.

The question now is, what will I do with my flowers? Will I cause them to die by trampling on their dreams, or by taking away the sunny rays of hope for their future? Or will I nurture my students to see them bloom into different colors and shapes. Each one of them will need different things from me, and I will work as hard as I can to give each what he/she needs. They will all be different, and of course that is what makes them beautiful. After all, the alpine lupine wouldn't be my favorite if there was nothing to which I could compare.