ADHD

In today's class, we learned about ADHD. I really enjoyed this class because it is a disorder that I do not know much about and it is usually misdiagnosed. Many people that I talk to, whom I went to school with and are mostly boys, believe that they suffer from ADHD. This is interesting for me because these people were never sent to a pediatrician and checked for it growing up; I don't even think I know anyone I went to school with who were taking medication for ADHD. Many people just assume they have it because they cannot sit still, like to fidget, and stare out the window. I was actually the same way growing up but I was never asked about it because I do not have all the symptoms. Many kids cannot sit still because they are not challenged enough and are bored. Many people need to learn with manipulatives and with their hands, and I am the same way. ADHD is not serious for many people because they have the wrong definition for it; just because one fidgets and cannot sit still does not mean one has ADHD. My "ah hah" moment today was that girls are equally accessible to this disorder as boys, but it is easier to find it in boys. This is why many boys grow up assuming they have it, but if they ever were placed in challenging classes, then they would succeed. We also discussed medication and Ritalin today. I did not know too much about that drug and many parents do not want their kids taking medications at young ages. I learned today that it is okay if some kids really do need it if it substantially increases their focus and performance; it is not harming the kid and should also not be an embarrassment.

Why is it important "to know" your students?

As a teacher, it is very important "to know" the learners in my classroom. My school experience growing up was fairly simple for me because I am a visual learner, and most of my teachers taught specifically for those learners. The only subject I had difficulty with was math. I could not look at a formula and remember it because I could not comprehend how or why it was useful. I would say I am a tactile learner when it comes to math; in order for me to learn and figure out questions, I need manipulatives to strategically understand its concept. I need to visually see it in front of me.  Math was terrifying and I dreaded going to those classes. I could not handle participating in a subject that I did not understand. I do not want my students to experiences these feelings in my classroom. I am creating lesson plans that meet all the different learners in my classroom (auditory, visual, tactile, and kinesthetic), so that all my students are learning what I am teaching. I want my students to know what success feels like; I do not want them to dread my classes. I will be teaching math and science in my practicum and those seem to be the subjects that most students dislike. It will definitely be a challenge for me but I am looking forward to it because I want my students to feel excited when they step inside my classroom. In order for me to achieve this goal, I need "to know" all the different learners in my classroom and meet their individual needs.

Teaching Philosophy

Creativity and Education

Has creativity been pushed out of education?  Yes, I believe it has.  I feel like the problem these days is that kids are pushed out of creativity at a very young age.  We watched Sir Ken Robinson's video on how schools kill creativity and what he said was very true.  Fortunately, we are changing this; we may not see this in our lifetimes, but it is evolving.  Our job as educators is to teach our kids young.  Why are there not many music teachers in elementary schools anymore?  I had one when I attended school in Dubai and thoroughly enjoyed going because I always needed to have that mental break and was comfortable with it.  Most kids between kindergarten and grade two cannot sit at a desk for long periods of time and enjoy music classes because they are fearless.  This is the same for drama, dance, theatre, and art.  Why are most students not being introduced to these classes until middle school?  At this stage in their lives, they have already been educated out of creativity, unless they grew up seeing creativity during extracurricular activities outside of school.  Since these classes are not in many of our schools, we need to incorporate them into our classrooms.  We need to educate them to drive for what they enjoy and want.  Many children do not have a problem with playing sports because children attend physical education classes at the beginning of their schooling.  Have you ever wondered why more students grow up being athletes rather than musicians or actors?  We need to incorporate creativity into our lessons so that our students are not educated out of it.

Why is Inclusive Education Important?

Inclusive education is important because children who have special needs are not at fault and should not be penalized for it.  Many kids grow up wanting to go to school and children with special needs feel the same way.  They do not want to be grouped and to not be included.  Saying that people with special needs must be in seperate classrooms is like separating children by race and gender.  After watching the documentary about Woodlands in New Westminster, all of the survivors wanted to be treated equally.  People with special needs all have the same wishes and goals in life as people without it.  We cannot treat them poorly because they do realize when they are being treated unequally.  It is our job as teachers to include our students in all activities so that everyone is involved and participating together.  That is what we are there for and they should not be discriminated against.  Could you forgive a teacher who treated you like that?

Reflection on Teaching Philosophy

I've never really thought about my "teaching philosophy" until today's activity in class where we had to stand in a circle and explain our philosophy in 60 seconds, then 30 seconds, then 15 seconds, then 5 seconds.  Once we got down to the 5 second mark, we had to come up with our key points to our philosophy.
As mentioned before, I've never thought about it but I've always had values that I've believed in and what I would like my classroom to look like.  The 5 key terms I concluded with were:
-Trust
-Equality
-Friendship
-Life Long Learning
I want my students to trust me.  I could only hope that no matter what my students are enduring in their lives that they can come and talk to me and can trust me with the information they are giving me.  I am a firm believer in expressing your feelings and I would hate to see my students having to go throughout their day to day lives holding so much emotion inside.
I would like equality in my classroom as well and hope that diversity would not single out any of my students.  I would like them to be classified as Miss. Smith's class, not a group of different students having to be in one classroom every day.  No matter what our differences our, we are still one class and we will all work together and become successful.
Friendship is important as well because that means that all of my students will be civil and peaceful with one another.  It may be impossible to have a class full of friends, but all I could hope for is that they could all get along in harmony.  I am a huge believer in group work and if friendship can be seen in the classroom, then group work will be successful and all my students can be happy.
Life long learning is a HUGE philosophy I believe in.  My goal as a teacher is to meet each of my students' individual needs and whatever way possible.  I want my students to know that they will not only be learning in the classroom, but also outside on the playground and off school grounds.  I want my students to love learning and to keep learning for the rest of their lives.

This is Our House by Michael Rosen

http://vimeo.com/58214461

Check out this virtual children's book that I chose to use as a resource in my diversity class!  No one should be left out :)

Should Religion be taught in Schools?

On Tuesday, August 27th, my group and I did a reflection on religion being taught public schools.  Here's what I wrote for my reflection:


As I reflect on our presentation, I feel as though it went very well.  Our group worked great together and we all brought different ideas that were shared in our presentation.  Due to this topic being so controversial, our group cooperated well with each other and we respected each of our responses to the issue.  I felt as though we did pick an interesting topic and that the class was engaged in what we were discussing.  We used the room well and we all were not standing in a presentation mode; we acted like we were teachers.  Next time, I would like to change how long we used Prezi for our presentation.  It’s difficult for the whole class to be listening to us talk for a long period of time.  I would have preferred more moving around for the rest of the class because it was such a deep topic that never concluded with an answer, so it would have been more beneficial if they were more engaged.  We prepared this presentation quickly, so our Prezi did not look that great.  We should have put more time into learning about how to use Prezi since none of us had ever used it. 

            I feel like I contributed greatly to this presentation.  Because I lived the childhood I did growing up in a Muslim country and attending an American school, I brought a different outlook to the group.  I brought up different scenarios and options that my group had never thought of before and that allowed us to learn from each other.  After this experience, I now know how to be more careful when preparing my lessons as a future teacher.  Religion is an issue that affects everyone so I need to take that into consideration.  I grew up knowing about other religions and never being judgmental about them, but now I have seen how sensitive people can get if religion is being discussed and I had never noticed that before.  I need to really know my students and their parents in order to know if this is a safe topic to teach in my class.  I also learned that I will never teach religion and force it upon a student, and that there is a difference between teaching religion and teaching about religion; that is a boundary I would never want to mix up.  As I was teaching this topic, I noticed that I am now becoming more comfortable with walking around the room instead of standing in one spot.  This was also the first time I could stay up in front of the classroom and feel no nerves; I felt confident in what I was doing.  I felt like the class participated immensely and that our presentation went longer because it was a topic that everyone could discuss and have a say in.  I enjoyed seeing the class be so engaged in what we were talking about.  I learned that group work is important and working together with my colleagues will benefit me in the future.

            I have always believed that religion is a topic that affects every person in society whether they are religious or not; everyone always has a say when discussing this topic.  Growing up in Dubai allowed me to have a connection with this topic because I know so many people who hold different religions, and I also saw a religion practiced and discussed on a daily basis that one would not see much of here in our community.  I learned about religions at a very young age and that allowed me to grow up without being judgmental and prejudice towards other people.  I found this topic difficult because it never concluded with an answer and that there will never be an answer to it.  I find that frustrating because I wish there was a right answer for someone to tell me that it is or is not allowed to be in schools.  Due to this issue being so controversial, it scares me to cross any boundaries as a teacher.  I continue to believe that knowing about religions at a young age is beneficial because then our students can grow up in a world that is not prejudice and accepts each and every one of us.  Unfortunately, this is not the case and I sincerely wish it could be.  I feel like if one is not allowed to embrace ones religion is like not being allowed to embrace one’s sexuality.  I wish I could change this controversial topic and find an answer, but unfortunately I cannot do that alone.  All I can do is try to make sure that each of my students feels like they belong in my classroom and that we can all accept and appreciate what we have to bring to school.   

Overall, the purpose of us becoming teachers is to educate our students.  I definitely believe that holidays should be taught because it is important for our children to know about other holidays that are celebrated all around the world.  Holidays are celebrated due to religious beliefs, so instead of touching into religion, I think that teaching about holidays will be more beneficial and safer.  What do you think?

Welcome to my blog where you will see me grow from a student to a teacher!

As I sit in the computer lab at the University of the Fraser Valley on this rainy August morning (go figure!) I created this blog in my technology and education class.  This is the first blog I have ever created so bear with me here!  On this blog, I will be posting my progress in the Teacher Education Program here at UFV and will record my reflections and experiences as I begin this journey.  So far, we have only been in school for four and a half weeks now and I have learned so much.  I love my cohort and we have been feeling these ups and downs together; of course there have been many more ups than downs!  This is going to be a wild ride so enjoy it with me!