T2P Week Two

If teachers promote critical thinking in students, as opposed to passively accepting everything they have learned or will learn, then learning will occur because students will uncover their personal opinions and why they have them.

Today in class, I liked how GNA used examples of teachers that use different methods to teach their lessons. I did not like the teacher who was using "Whole Brain Learning," because it reminded me of automatons rather than children. I instantly wondered why there was no portion of video footage that shows the kids actually using and applying the lessons they supposedly learned. However, I did enjoy the example from The Dead Poet's Society because it goes along with my T2P statement concerning critical thinking. Personally, I find it extremely difficult to read pieces of writing critically. I am so used to reading passively and accepting, so I would like to improve upon this before I become a teacher. I would also like to teach my future students how to do this. I think that we are learning how to do this in class as we develop our T2P statements. They cause us to think about particular issues, form an opinion about them, and then back them up with reasoning.
We also drew updated versions of our concept maps and compared and contrasted with the ones we drew on Friday. This gives a visual diagram of what we are learning about learning. It was very difficult for me to participate in this activity on Friday because I simply didn't understand the organization of the map. Today was much better because my group organized the sub-categories of learning a bit better. I think this was a good activity because it shows how our knowledge is ever-changing, and therefore we must change our output to parallel this.
The BB video explained all of the spheres of life that impact a student and a teacher. I liked that we watched this video and learned about the many facets that humans develop over a lifetime. As a (hopefully) future teacher of young adults, I learned a bit about the struggles that students will be enduring while I know them. I am sure that I too will be coming to a better understanding of my "master status" at the same time, and this will naturally affect my view of life. I will try to create an environment that fosters growth for teenagers as they are trying to understand more about themselves. I will do this by not favoring certain passions over others (as was exemplified by schools promoting band over skateboarders). However, I must bear in mind that some facets are off-limits, and I must not overstep my boundaries.
The discussions we had about the articles that we read for our homework mostly helped me understand the pedestal on which teachers stand when it comes to lessons of morality. Our actions and the way we "run" our class greatly impact the students, whether the students, or I, am aware of it or not. However, Hansen (1995) argues that one must not become too preoccupied with being "morally correct" teachers, as this will only lead to failure to uphold every "rule."

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