Before I started my undergraduate degree at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI), my worldview consisted of a conservative town in Iowa where skipping church was considered unacceptable and diversity meant there were less than ten minority students in a high school of 500. Going into UNI, I decided to stay true to my 19 years of conservative upbringing and not allow myself to become enmeshed in other viewpoints, so I could stay a part of the community I had grown to know so well. This goal slowly dissipated throughout my first semester. Getting involved in the Residence Hall Association, Peer Mentoring, National Residence Hall Honorary, Alpha Delta Pi Sorority, Peer Academic Advisor in Residence and Resident Assistant, I started consistently …show more content…
I identified I was not meeting the students where they were with their learning style. For example, some students really struggled with structuring their ideas and sentences. Together, we used a visual map to plan out the main ideas of their writing. Then as they started to write their paper, I would have them read it out loud, allowing for their sentence structure and transitions to become smooth and natural. It wasn 't until I gave up the idea I had in my head of what "good" writing was, of what the "right" way to do things was, that I was able to truly help my students. I had to learn how to meet people where they …show more content…
This has really been a strength within my job as a resident assistant. I am responsible for helping 52 first year students gain a larger perspective of the world we live in. Like me, many of my residents came to college with helicopter parents and conservative beliefs. When I first started the semester, I was apprehensive to address some of the comments I heard coming from my residents; however, I knew that it was necessary to address through intentional conversations, bulletin boards, and programming. If I hadn’t had people willing to accept me and meet me where I was personally, my worldview would still be very
Most of us write in some form every day, so you would expect that most of us would be well practiced and pretty good at writing. I read and write all the time; I have been taken several college courses and nearly all of them require write of some form. However, before taking this class not only was I not a good writer, I knew I wasn’t a good writer. Now I am not saying that I am ready to write my first novel, but I certainly more confident in turning in my college papers. The content of this course and the style of teaching was incredibly beneficial to me. Throughout this course we had multiple assignments that were aimed to improve us as writers. I am sure that everyone took something different from this course, and I am sure that each student took more from some areas than others; however for me there were three major things that I saw that I benefited from most. Our weekly craft lessons, grammar plan, but most of all, observational learning.
I am currently an English 160 student who is hoping to move on to the next course, which is English 161. I understand the requirements for English 161. It require students to explore a topic in some depth and conduct independent research related to that topic. Conducting research allows students to learn what it is like to participate in academic culture, posing questions about important issues and developing an argument in response to what others have said. It expected students to learn the most valuable skill in college, which is critical thinking. Students have to be able to read challenging readings. Although I still have problems with English, I think I’m qualified to move on.
In this class I have really learned to use a different level of thinking in my papers. Teachers often have complemented my ability to prove a point with the spoken word, but always offer advice when referencing my ability to compel by the written word. My first lesson in Literature was to bring myself down a level. I used to have an opinion, and write it, never citing or backing it up. My teachers taught me to incorporate others opinions into my own, explaining that until there is a credit to my name, no one is concerned about my opinion without someone credible backing it up. I took that knowledge and used it, learning to be an aggressive researcher, never resting until I have exhausted all sources.
I listen to my students. I allow time for their individual impute in what they are learning, and adjust accordingly. I really believe that is why students can be so into the idea of being taught, because they are all encouraged to lead the discussion and projects before them as it relates to the curriculum. I try to learn from my students by listening to their interpretation. I am learning what interest them, and feed off of it in the work that needs to be performed. Work towards a positive social society, with this education does takes place for our students, teachers, and community, all for a better future, one that is full of knowledge and acceptance. What could be any
English has never been my best subject. Reading books can be exciting, but the writing aspect of English can be dreadful. Somehow, however, I passed all my advanced English classes with at least a B, and my teachers always considered me to be “above average.” My impartiality toward English shifted to an indifference near the end of my high school career; my indifference then shifted to appreciation. This appreciation is attributed to American Studies and Honors Writing, the most difficult English classes at Belleville East Township High School. American Studies and Honors Writing have strengthened my writing skills beyond what I believed possible. I still do not believe that I am the best writer, and English may never be my best or favorite
... Another one of the strategies that I have seen quite often is the disrupting student read-aloud. This has happened to me while teaching many times. I honestly most times thought that these children were causing a ruckus and interrupting because they had behavior issues. Now after reading this section I am much more aware that the instances I have encountered could have been just the child not understanding.
I am one of four founders of Youth L.E.A.D (Leaders Engaging Across Differences) OKC founded in the spring of 2012. Our mission is to bring our community together no matter, age, religion, sexual orientation, etc. I have grown so much from this program. Before I help create this program I was unknowingly a closed minded person. For instance if I met someone you was an atheist I would assume the worst about that person. Not ever giving myself a chance to get to know that person. In Youth L.E.A.D we take special training from professionals to not only learn but teach how to be open to all diversity in our community that is why this organization is life
I face different perspectives each day since beginning school this semester. I made the decision to return to college after 26 years of justifying why I should not return from only one perspective, my own. Engaging in dual perception keeps me from loading up my backpack and heading home to my comfort zone. I have conversations with people who differ in age, demographic, culture, lifestyle, to name a few. These differences design perspectives as unique as fingerprints. Communication between two people always includes these unique perspectives, having been influenced by distinct values integrated in each person (Wood, 2014). My personal values of loyalty, authenticity, and self-respect have important roles when I choose to view a situation from a different perspective. Their respective roles are to keep me faithful to my beliefs, base decisions on facts, and to honor myself while respecting others. Exploring the origin of my values helps to organize and assign their importance throughout life stages. Personal values create a
As a student at a public university I am exposed to a liberal education system and liberal way of thinking. Social ideas and issues are discussed and approached in an open, tolerant way. Science is seen as the product of natural selection and evolution and in many classes any other theory or opinion is not up for discussion. As a Christian I have chosen to live a lifestyle according to what the Bible teaches. I think and make moral and logical decisions based on what it says and teaches. I find a role strain and conflict between my expectations as a student from an American public university and the lifestyle I have chosen to live and abide by. I find that professors are tolerant and open to certain ideas and not others. I am not one to impose my way of thinking onto a professor or student however I appreciate a holistic tolerance and open mind when discussing scientific theories as used when discussion social
In order to be an effective teacher there needs to be an understanding that we all learn differently, this means that no single teaching strategy is effective for all students/learners all the time. This makes teaching a complex process because you need to understand and meet the requirements of all of your learners. Students learn best when they aren’t asked to simply memorise information but when they form their own understandings of what is being taught. When a student has successfully learnt a new idea they are able to then intergrate this information with their previously learnt information and make sense of it. To be an effective teacher you need to work jointly with students to asses where they are at, be able to give feedback on how the student is going and ensure that they are understanding the lesson (Killen, 2013) According to Lovat and Smith (2003) students learning must result in a change in a student’s understanding of the information being taught. In order to show understanding they must be able to share this information with others and want to learn more (Killen, 2013). In order to have a deeper understanding of what is being taught they need to be aware of the relationship that exists between what they knew previously and the new information that is being learned (Killen, 2013).. Students need to be given goals that they can achieve in order to feel a sense of mastery over their own learning, this gives students motivation that they are able to complete tasks and to keep going.
My RIP companion essay was a complete mess with no structure in the first draft. I believe it was because I had procrastinated to complete both the first drafts for the RIP project and essay. I finished my RIP project then moved on to my companion essay, and the transition was vastly different because in the RIP project I was writing for a different audience than in the companion essay, which was an academic audience. In addition, I forgot that we had been given a prompt with specific instructions and guidelines for the companion essay, which gave the structure for the essay. My professor, Delany-Ullman also points out that “For most essays, you should NOT include your textual evidence in your topic sentence. Your topic sentence should make
Over the course of the semester, I feel that I have grown as a writer in many ways. When I came into the class, there were skills I had that I already excelled at. During my time in class, I have come to improve on those skills even more. Before I took this class I didn’t even realise what I was good at. This is the first class where I felt I received feedback on my writing that helped me to actually review my work in see what areas I lacked in and where I succeeded. Some of the skills I had shocked me as I didn’t think I had those capabilities in me.
During this College Composition course, I came across numerous obstacles and educational involvements. Every factor of this course contributed to my overall learning experience. For starters, we often read out of our textbooks, “The Little Seagull Handbook” and “They Say I Say”. These books helped showcase proper writing techniques. In addition, we would have class discussions that everyone would participate in. This opened my eyes to different viewpoints that could influence my writing. I recall one class we had a debate over a topic and everyone had to choose a side to argue. Then when we wrote argument essays, even though they were on a different topic, it helped me view my topic in different ways. Lastly, the most helpful to my writing was peer review. We were told to read our paper out loud to our partner. Although personally I am quiet and dislike reading out loud, I found this very helpful. Instantly, my partner and I could find grammar mistakes that one may not pick up on while reading silently. Then we could also talk about other possible revisions for my paper. For every paper, we would have conferences with the professor. This was effective as well to have a professional giving corrections and ideas. When we would get back our graded rubrics on the assignments we completed, the instructor would leave comments to
Thought out our lives, we are faced with many different learning experiences. Some of these experiences have made a better impact than others. This can be attributed to everyone’s different multiple intelligences or learning styles. A persons learning style is the method though which they gain information about their environment. As a teacher, it is our responsibility to know these styles, so we can reach each of our students and use all of the necessary methods.
Their teaching is characterized by an intentional competence that enables them to replicate and identify best practice, avoid inferior practice, refine serendipitous practice. Your students thinking about the subject is observable. Trying to tape yourself once a month is a good idea. Over the academic year, focus on some particular behaviors like those mentioned before and look for the possible changes.