Journal 2

Quote from the text/ video	What it means	Deeper thinking
"Everyone has an interest in education."	Everyone is affected by the outcomes of the educational system.	The educational systems around the world will affect and influence the future of our planet in every conceivable manner. The longer societies ignore and propagate systems of education that fail to meet the future demands of its students the more difficult it will be to improve those societies.
"If you are not prepared to be wrong you will never come up with anything original."	If you are not willing to take a chance, to step out on a limb and follow a notion or solidify an abstract idea, in the hopes that it will be what you envision you will continue to produce results that have already been achieved.	At this point, educational systems around the world teach students that in order to be successful every question has a right answer and that this answer must be reached in a certain manner. These systems stifle curiosity and creativity from an early age and often completely kill it by the time the student graduates from the system.
"Somebody else might have put her on medication and told her to calm down."	Not every child that misbehaves in your class needs to be medicated.	Look beyond the "issue" or "problem" and find not only a solution, but a genius. As teachers we often look at the child and the behaviors that they exhibit as a problem or an issue to be dealt with. When what we should do is look at the situation and try to find out what is at the root of the behavior and find ways to mitigate it or better yet use it to facilitate learning in new ways.
"Suddenly Degrees aren't worth anything."	Everyone has a degree so they are becoming common place.	In order to get ahead and be successful it will take more than a piece of paper. It will take the intangibles: creativity, empathy, big picture abilities and synthesis of ideas.

Journal #1

Response #1

At this point in my teaching growth, being a student in my class is like being part of experiment that takes place on a roller coaster. In stating this I am being completely honest. The experiment reference is because as a new teacher I am constantly trying out new things and experimenting with ideas. Well, they are new to me anyways. The students in my class are the most important part of these experiments. Basically, I experiment with different techniques of instruction, differentiation, projects etc. in an attempt to find out what I do best in reaching my students. As far as being on a roller coaster, in the eight weeks of student teaching I had some real ups and downs, as would be expected. Some of the lessons went extremely well, and I could see the energy and enthusiasm for learning that a lesson that is hitting home with the students can bring. Conversely, some of the lessons did not go well and I could see the effects of a lesson that completely missed its mark with my students. Luckily, because I have had masterful professors giving me exceptional resources and guidance, I did not have too many of these lessons. Yet, when I did I was able to reflect on the issues of those lessons and make adjustments. As far as what other ideas I have about what it is like to be a student in my class. I actually asked my classes a very similar question at the end of last semester in a feedback session I had with them. I gave each class an opportunity to tell me what they thought about my class and the lessons I had them do. For the most part they said that class was fun, different, helped them prepare for the test better, more work, and they never knew what I was going to have them do and never knew what silly or goofy thing I was going to say or do (Mostly a reference to the few Raps I wrote and sang for some lessons I am sure). Some of the students said that when I did lecture, which was not that often it was boring and I needed to work on it.