Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Oppression & Privelege

Oppression &/or Privelege are encountered on a daily basis by everyone to a certain varying degree.
Right is an expectation that all people in US are born into and should be obligated to under law (Civil Rights).

Definitions:

Oppression:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oppression
Privelege:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privelege
Right:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right

Everyone is guaranteed equal rights under the constitution. Everyone aspires to have privelege. It has been stated that one is either Oppressed or Priveleged. It seems to me that this is a dynamic state. In some instances these states may be reversed depending on the environment.

The classroom should be a place where oppression and privelege have no say. Hard work, determination and behavior are key elements in success.

Resources and access to them is different depending on where the school is located. Money allocation to the schools is also different accordingly.

Everyone needs to take an active role in their education. If schools are not providing resources or information, then parents should take their children on field trips, interviews, and research expeditions. Learning is not confined to schools! Open your own doors and don't take no for an answer!

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Some Blogs I like...

Edutopia is really good and has a lot of different types of information

http://www.edutopia.org/math-and-science-classroom


Instructify has a lot of different competitions for math and science students to participate in.

http://instructify.com/feed/

Students love a challenge... Especially when there are monetary rewards to both students and teachers... :)

http://challenge.gov/

Hyperphysics, Hypermath, Hyperbiology, Hyperchemistry are my favorite educational websites!!! Students do great with these...

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Fundamental Purposes of Education, Schooling, Teaching & Learning

  1. What do you think is the fundamental purpose in education?
  • To cause learning to occur in some way or another.

2. What do you think is the fundamental purpose in schooling?

  • To provide a place or environment for teaching and learning to occur.

3. What, if any, are the differences between education and schooling?

  • An education can be experienced anywhere. Schooling is refering to a specific place where education is administered

4. What do you think is the fundamental purpose in teaching?

  • To enable students to utilize their comprehensive capabilities and nurture this by giving them information and tools needed to learn a certain subject.

5. What do you think is the fundamental purpose in learning?

  • Acquiring knowledge and increasing one's intellectual ability in order to contribute to society.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Personal Education Experiences & Reflection

There are many educational experiences that have contributed to my "Toolbox" of educational tools and guides. This toolbox is pretty big and there is room for a lot more tools...

This list is in no way indicative of all these experiences and are in no certain order but have impacted my outlook on educational philosophy the most.
  1. College Course named "Introduction to Learning Strategies"
  2. T2T Alternative Teaching Program and 3 year Internship License teaching 7th & 8th grade Math, Science & Reading.
  3. NASA & Spaceport America Space Camp Teacher for "Summer of Innovation - Launch to Learn"
  4. International Science Fair Grand Awards Judge - Chemistry
  5. UNM Chemistry job as Research Technician
  6. UNM Biomedical Sciences Program
  7. High School Classes
  8. Tutoring Experiences

I want to teach the way that I would want to be taught. I fall into all three categories of learning styles; auditory, visual & kinesthetic. There should be questions that are provoked during a lesson. People are not born knowing everything. A teacher must be patient and inform students about learning strategies. Students should be enabled. Some students can do this on their own, but most don't realize that they have this capability. I would tell all my students to think of a time when they were trying to teach a younger sibling or a dog something new and to remember how patient you had to be with them. Well... Exercise that same patience with yourself when learning something new so that you don't become frustrated or overwhelmed. There are many great learning strategies, tools and theories out there... Use Them!