Reflection 4

     This week was great.  I loved going to AF Jr. High to see Jess teach.  He did a wonderful job.  I can tell that he really loves what he does and he loves teaching the kids.  I felt that he had a more relaxed style than Scott but it was effective like Scott's.  Both experiences taught me a lot.  When Jess taught he walked around a lot and he was really hands on.  He was holding something the entire time which was interesting.  I also liked watching how he would handle a large class in a lab.  The lab is completely different from a classroom.  He had to make sure that they were safe and able to complete their projects.  He did a demo and told a lot of stories and jokes to help them understand.  I really enjoyed it.  I really like how the students were able to relate to him as their teacher but still respect him.
     I am still pondering on what I want to teach, but still how do I decide what I want to teach?  I think that these visits are helping me get a good variety of what is out there and what the possibilities are for me.  Jr high seems to have a lot of variety but you can't go deep into one thing.  The kids are still impressionable and easier to inspire as well in jr. high.  I really feel like I get the most eye opening experiences out of visiting schools.  Each one has been great but different in it's own way.  

Reflection 3

This week was great.  I was able to read from the Gong book and to visit Vista Heights Jr. High School and watch Scott Bartholomew teach his class.  He did a wonder job at teaching the class.  He stated with a bell work activity then he moved on to instuction.  He talked about progaming lego robots.  He then turned the class over to their lego robot assignment.  The students were all in groups and had to complete a list of challenges that he had designed.  I really enjoyed walking around and helping the kids out and seeing what they were doing.  Scott also had us pass off kids when they would complete an assignment.  He really challenged the kids to do their best and they seemed to enjoy learning.  At the end of class he played a game with the kids so that they could clean up quickly and wait for the bell.  The FED form was a little confusing and I didn't really get the point of  it but we did it.  I really got a nice idea of what it will feel like to be a teacher.  I can't wait to see how this Jr. High will compare with the one this week. It was a great week.

Reflection 2

     Well to reflect on this last week I finally finished the Wong book.  I really didn't like the book until the end when it started to praise teaching and tell us how much of a difference a good teacher makes.  I liked a lot of the tools he suggested in his book, but I feel that they are more for younger class.
     I recently visited my cousin who is a third grade teacher in Tucson Arizona and asked her if she knew about the Wong book.  She told me that the book was considered the bible for her school and if you haven't read it in a while you were sinning.  I asked her if she had the red and green toilet paper tubes or the triangle stand up for when the students needed help and she said that she didn't.  She does however use the hand signs for when they need a drink or want to go to the bathroom.  If you cross your fingers that means you need to use the bathroom.  In her classroom it works.  The only problem is that some kids can't do it very well and it makes it worse when they have to use the restroom and she related one experience when on child had an accident.
     Also in our conversation she told me about how hard it is to teach a class.  She said that she probably spends more time with these kids than some of their parents which is very sad and a huge responsiblity.  I remember that Geoff said something about how he loves his children's teacher because they spend so much time with them and they teach them morals.  My cousin also expressed how she had a handicapped child in her class and it slows teaching almost everyday.  Teaching is such a big commitment and requires a lot of dedication and patience.
     Something that I thought was an answer to my prayers was when Oaks gave the fireside on Sunday about the twin towers of truth and tolerance.  He said, "75% of college students believed that right and wrong were relative."  This made me feel that I was defiantly in the right major and that what I need to do is teach correct principles of the gospel to everyone that I can.  I can't directly do this by teaching the gospel but I can through my example and through teaching morals and by teaching students how to be good citizens of society.  That is was teaching is all about.  I really feel that this is what is right.

Reflection 1

Well this is my first time reflecting on what we have learned in class, in my reading and how everything has gone so far.  This is also my first blog which is also a fun thing.  Thus far in class we have covered what teaching is and what technology is and how important it is.  I feel that learning is a part of our everyday lives weather we want to learn or not we are always learning.  This made me ponder upon what is a teacher?  I feel that a teacher is someone or something that inspires learning or change in someone’s life.  We have things that teach us all the time.  We first start learning from our parents and then our educators.  In looking around in life we also learn from our environment.  We see people doing something and we imitate it.  We learn from our high tech computers and phones today.  Some of these I admit are not the best ways to learn or examples of teachers, but they do inspire learning in my life. 
In the book we are reading The First Days of School How to be an Effective Teacher I have learned a few things about what the contrast is between an effective teacher and an ineffective teacher is.  I really feel that preparedness is the greatest difference in the two.  I love how they can show statistics that prove how crucial an effective teacher is.  I feel also the in the book they give a lot of helpful tips on how to be a good teacher.  I am also getting a vibe that this is a book parsing teachers trying to get them to feel that they are better and in effect convince them they can be a great teacher.  That teaching is all about how we perceive ourselves.   If we think we are great then we are.  Some say that perception is reality and I feel like this book is trying to create the effective perception in order for us to change and be effective in the classroom. 
I feel that teaching is essential to our lives and especially in the gospel.  The greatest teacher to ever live was of course the Savior, Jesus Christ.  I love thinking Him and of the gospel and how selfless Christ was in teaching it.  He knew how to teach so that everyone could understand and be edified in the gospel.  I love this and I hope that I can teach how the Savior did. 
To sum everything up this week I have mostly thought about what a teacher is and how they have affected my life.