89.5
This session something strange happened to our collaborative group. Our group is normally pretty large, but within the group we broke off into smaller groups. now that’s normally what happens, however this session I dealt almost strictly with Bianca, Luis and Jarrett.
The real contribution for creating a significant learning environment is how am I going to take what I’m learning and apply it in my classroom and with my clients? The coursework for this class was great. However the situational factors and the environmental issues affecting learning are the main focus of my contribution. If you watch my video regarding the importance of those worksheets on teachers, you will see why I chose those two worksheets to discuss during my contributions to learning. If you are going to become a teacher and you don’t know your clients you are making a mistake. Your mistake may work in your favor you might happen to get clients who are just like you, same socioeconomic status, same general views, morals and values, etc.
Over my years I’ve seen teachers come and go and come and go and come and go and there was a time when our district was recruiting people from out-of-state. We would sell them on the fact that we are 80 miles from the beach, that the weather is always sunny (it’s burning hot) , in the winter the mountains are filled with snow and are only 30 minutes away, Vegas is only a 3 hour drive, and our area is one of the most affordable places to live in California. Now to a college kid in Wisconsin these are unbelievable selling points, and we got a lot of people to come out from the Midwest. Many have since gone back. Why? The weather is not always nice. Burning hot, very windy and very cold at night. By the way, since it is a desert, it is brown everywhere, not a lot of green. The reason why we are one of the most affordable places to live in California, is because nobody in California wants to live here. The trip to Vegas can be five hours if you wait until Friday night to leave. The snow…well, drought. Finally, just because I included it, we are 80 miles from the beach. However, that 80 miles, depending on the day might take you up to 3 hours to get there. Most importantly, what we failed to tell many of them during the recruiting meetings is that many of the kids that they would be dealing with are going to be so different from anyone that you’ve ever dealt with. Think about the ACES study
This is information that I that I’ve already known, but researching it again just reinforces the fact that I need to make sure that I am doing what is best for my students. The projects are what is best for my students. Look at my UBD template or my 3 column chart explaining to them the causes of poverty especially the early onset of poverty, and how to avoid those things that’s what’s best for my students. For this particular class, my contribution to the learning community will be reflected a little bit more when I return to school because all of those things that I’ve learned, relearned, or reacquainted myself with I can put into action throughout the year.
The Journey 