Mid-Term Exam
TE 822 - Iss Culture Classroom & Curric
Summer 2016
Summer 2016
Standard 1: Understanding and commitment to students and their diversity
Thoughtful, accomplished teachers understand and are deeply committed to students as individuals, their diversity, their capacity to learn, and their development as whole persons. Accomplished teachers create learning communities in their classrooms where positive, productive relationships are formed, and differences are respected and embraced.
Thoughtful, accomplished teachers understand and are deeply committed to students as individuals, their diversity, their capacity to learn, and their development as whole persons. Accomplished teachers create learning communities in their classrooms where positive, productive relationships are formed, and differences are respected and embraced.
Commentary
This artifact was created in TE 822: Issues of Culture in Classroom and Curriculum. The course set out to objectify culture in multiple concrete forms. For example, we critically analyzed varying cultures and how they would define childhood, as well as looked at schooling and the associated processes of cultural assimilation and social mobility, and identified the critical relationship developed between schools and home and worked to understand the role culture plays in that process.
Half way through the course, we were assigned our Mid-Term Exam. We were asked to write a fictional letter to “Ray” (a second-generation Mexican-American). In the scenario, Ray says that his father has really been pushing him to try out for the select youth soccer team. His father thinks that he “has his nose in a book” too often and that getting out on the pitch and “letting loose” would be good for his self-esteem. It would “toughen him up” and also help him gain a new group of friends. Ray has reservations about this. He wants to please his father, but on the other hand, he is sometimes intimidated by the buoyant (and loud) atmosphere that happens when his dad watches soccer with his friends. His dad works long hours running his own landscaping business, so finding something that they can both connect over seems really important.
In the letter, I had to get inside Ray’s world and help him think about the situation from a variety of perspectives. This assignment directly challenged me to attend to the “whole child” and their complete development through giving advice and guidance. In the letter I was able to provide tactful and sensitive advice while making clear connections to the course. Instructor feedback also highlighted that I was able to get inside Ray’s world and help him think about it from a variety of perspectives. This artifact clearly provides evidence that I am committed to students as individuals, their diversity, their capacity to learn, and their development as a whole person. I have showcased my ability to provide positive responses to difficult student situations and do so in a way that is respectful and committed to helping them develop a positive identity about their culture.
This artifact was created in TE 822: Issues of Culture in Classroom and Curriculum. The course set out to objectify culture in multiple concrete forms. For example, we critically analyzed varying cultures and how they would define childhood, as well as looked at schooling and the associated processes of cultural assimilation and social mobility, and identified the critical relationship developed between schools and home and worked to understand the role culture plays in that process.
Half way through the course, we were assigned our Mid-Term Exam. We were asked to write a fictional letter to “Ray” (a second-generation Mexican-American). In the scenario, Ray says that his father has really been pushing him to try out for the select youth soccer team. His father thinks that he “has his nose in a book” too often and that getting out on the pitch and “letting loose” would be good for his self-esteem. It would “toughen him up” and also help him gain a new group of friends. Ray has reservations about this. He wants to please his father, but on the other hand, he is sometimes intimidated by the buoyant (and loud) atmosphere that happens when his dad watches soccer with his friends. His dad works long hours running his own landscaping business, so finding something that they can both connect over seems really important.
In the letter, I had to get inside Ray’s world and help him think about the situation from a variety of perspectives. This assignment directly challenged me to attend to the “whole child” and their complete development through giving advice and guidance. In the letter I was able to provide tactful and sensitive advice while making clear connections to the course. Instructor feedback also highlighted that I was able to get inside Ray’s world and help him think about it from a variety of perspectives. This artifact clearly provides evidence that I am committed to students as individuals, their diversity, their capacity to learn, and their development as a whole person. I have showcased my ability to provide positive responses to difficult student situations and do so in a way that is respectful and committed to helping them develop a positive identity about their culture.
