week 5 - revised T2P from weeks 3 + 4

Revised T2P: If a teacher wants to be an effective teacher, then they must take into account their beliefs and dispositions as well as the beliefs, dispositions, and stage of development of their students, because the student's and teacher's background can directly affect the student's learning and the teacher's instruction. Teachers and students bring many different factors "to the mix." For example, a student can bring outside emotional baggage into the classroom. In my classroom, I could have a student whose parents were getting divorced, which upsets them greatly. Are they going to be interested in learning about metaphors if they are preoccupied with other emotional difficulties? The answer is no; the classroom is not a sealed environment into which nothing enters. Students can have preconceived notions about how they perform as students. If they are told they are bad at math, they will begin to internalize that and then have a negative performance in math class, since they believe they can't do it. My role as a teacher is to support my students and understand where they are coming from, emotionally and mentally. I bring prior beliefs into the classroom and my students do this as well. It is important to be cognizant of each other's backgrounds in order to have a respectful classroom environment.

Revised T2P: If a student feels cared for and respected by a teacher, then they will be a successful learner, because they feel like they are in safe environment where they can express ideas and learn effectively. Nel Noddings's theory states that there must be a relational sense of caring between a student and teacher. A teacher must truly get to know a student and attempt to understand them. William Ayers writes in Teaching Towards Freedom that we must defend our students and be "students of our students." As a teacher, I want to form a connection with my students. Before I entered this program, I was a substitute paraprofessional and teacher. One day my job was to watch an 8 year-old boy who had problems transitioning into every school day. He did not like school and would emotionally shut down, so the school allowed him to read and relax in an empty classroom for around 20 minutes until it was time to go to class. He was a little upset when I met him, but I noticed he was reading a book full of Fox Trot comics, which I enjoy as well. I talked to him about them and soon he warmed up to me, and even showed me a deer skull he had brought in to show his class. It is important for me to find common ground with my students and express interest in them, because then they feel like they matter and that learning has a purpose.