Geography

My memories of goegraphy consist of lecture, memorization, and tests.  Very boring!  The box city we are constructing in class is a very good manipulative to use to make geography fun.  Students will want to learn when teachers take a few minutes out of their time to construct lessons that are fun and interesting. 

Advocate

I had an experience in my classroom where I am doing my Field Experience.  A situation arose where a special needs student was in need of an advocate-someone to speak up on his behalf.  He is assigned an aide because of his disability.  But in this situation the aide did something that had a very negative affect on the special needs student and the whole class.  My mentoring teacher became that advocate. Even though she has only been a teacher for under three years she took control of the situation.  She was not afraid to use her voice and speak up on behalf of the students.  Kudos to her!

Critical Voice

After reading the article about critical voice I, like everyone else, became angry.  The teachers in this article seem to have a complete lack of understanding of what it really means to be a teacher.  They just did what they were told, what they had been taught, or what they themselves had experienced when they were in school.  Being a teacher is understanding that all students do not learn the same way.  As teachers, it is our job to meet the individual learning needs of each child.  Sometimes that will involve speaking up to administrators, state officials, or school boards.