This semester really touched me as a person because some of these students have problems which I have never, nor will I have ever, experienced. Erin's entry into their life was a miracle; a miracle which helped them overcome their problems and expect more of themselves because of knowing her. Until I started reading this novel, and entered college, I was unaware that such racism and discrimination existed in this country. Erin had an amazing ability at finding and utilizing the right connections at the right time: it took me three years to discover how necessary and useful networking could be for a teacher. As I enter my final semester here at UMF, I have finally began this process at making connections and have already begun experiencing the aftereffects. I am not sure if I could ever be as successful as Erin, but having a support network in my school and home community will aid me in this mission. As I was reading Erin's story, I began to get really angry with her father for his lack of support on Erin's part and her husband for his apparent disinterest. I suppose that beginning teachers sometimes feel as if they are all alone, but a support network can definitely help them in their struggle.
Erin makes a point of mentioning how difficult it has been for her to approach the parents. I agree with her that this is a very important aspect of teaching, especially for first year teachers who are still in the process of forming and developing their network in the school community and sometimes forget to bother making connections with the parents. I was recently doing research for my educational issue in Education 402 and came across a story which spoke to me about what can happen when teachers forget to talk to the parents. At a school in Shoreham, New York, one teacher decided to try his hand at experiential learning and chose not to have his students use textbooks. Unfortunately, he didn't give the parents any notice of what he was planning, nor did he give them any resources to use should they try to help their children. Thus when one parent went to help her son and noticed he didn't have a textbook she immediately went to the school district to complain. I want to be the type of teacher that communicates with the parents; one such suggestion that Dr. Grace made was to give the textbooks to the parents and I thought that was a relatively good idea.
Every year is a new year, and a new chance to connect with your current and past students. I loved how Erin had her past students Sharaud and Manny help her with the new students; this can be both a powerful experience for those students and for the new students who get the assistance of experience. Past students can be great role models for your current students, and I know that in my own teaching I would go out of my way to incorporate them in my classroom whenever possible. The other powerful experience for students is field trips and hands-on, or experiential, learning. This type of learning helps students realize the practical aspects of mathematics (in other words see how useful math can be in their daily lives). Since a lot of students suffer from math anxiety and see math as useless and difficult, it is extremely important to show them the practical applications and get them to see that math can be helpful in their daily actions. This is exactly what Erin did with her students: she showed them that English has a place in their lives.
Erin makes a point of mentioning how difficult it has been for her to approach the parents. I agree with her that this is a very important aspect of teaching, especially for first year teachers who are still in the process of forming and developing their network in the school community and sometimes forget to bother making connections with the parents. I was recently doing research for my educational issue in Education 402 and came across a story which spoke to me about what can happen when teachers forget to talk to the parents. At a school in Shoreham, New York, one teacher decided to try his hand at experiential learning and chose not to have his students use textbooks. Unfortunately, he didn't give the parents any notice of what he was planning, nor did he give them any resources to use should they try to help their children. Thus when one parent went to help her son and noticed he didn't have a textbook she immediately went to the school district to complain. I want to be the type of teacher that communicates with the parents; one such suggestion that Dr. Grace made was to give the textbooks to the parents and I thought that was a relatively good idea.
Every year is a new year, and a new chance to connect with your current and past students. I loved how Erin had her past students Sharaud and Manny help her with the new students; this can be both a powerful experience for those students and for the new students who get the assistance of experience. Past students can be great role models for your current students, and I know that in my own teaching I would go out of my way to incorporate them in my classroom whenever possible. The other powerful experience for students is field trips and hands-on, or experiential, learning. This type of learning helps students realize the practical aspects of mathematics (in other words see how useful math can be in their daily lives). Since a lot of students suffer from math anxiety and see math as useless and difficult, it is extremely important to show them the practical applications and get them to see that math can be helpful in their daily actions. This is exactly what Erin did with her students: she showed them that English has a place in their lives.
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