For me, there are a lot of things I still feel like I do not know because I am such a new teacher. Luckily, I do not have to be an expert about everything all at once. I was glad to be able to learn how to share the burden of teaching my students with others. When I feel unable to handle a situation, I could always employ the help of a counselor, paraprofessional, or other professional to answer their questions. I have never had a paraprofessional in class before, and I was very glad to learn what roles and benefits they provide from the classroom. I have also realized the value of networking with the outside community as a teacher to be able to bring interesting people to my class. For instance, Shelby Ross is such an asset to the Benedictine Education department, and Mrs. Bennett mentioned that there was a guy from the orphan train in Atchison that went around speaking about it. It will be helpful to develop positive relationships with all sorts of interesting people to bring into my classroom. In Wausau, where I will be working, there are a lot of companies that harvest cranberries. Cranberries are unique in that they grow in few places around the world. It would be neat to take my students to see this process and have them learn an interesting form of "expository writing," or following directions, that way.
It was very nice having Chris come along with Shelby to hear his side. His whole attitude and the way he interacted with Shelby showed me another method of relating with students from disheveled backgrounds. I liked seeing how Shelby used "tough-love" tactics with his kids to let them have choices, but using logical consequences. It reminded my of our Love and Logic book in Dr. Osborn's class. I think I would use that technique in class, too. I'm sure I wouldn't be able to get away with as many things as he does, though. :)
I feel sexuality education should be something parents are intricately involved in. I am fairly concerned about whether or not I will have the ability to address sexuality issues or even morality issues in the future. My friend made me aware of a new law signed by every country in the UN, except the United States and Somalia thus far. It was called the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). From what I read, it would give our sovereignty over to a committee in Belgium and would remove all parental rights in public and at home. Many homeschooling groups who chose to homeschool because they wanted to educate on their own terms were concerned about their ability to teach values to their children at all. There was a case in one of the countries where 8 dads were thrown in prison because they refused to let their elementary school-aged children participate in a school sex education play that demonstrated various sex positions. This greatly disturbed me. I think parents should have the right to monitor what and when their children learn about sex. To learn more about this cite and read for yourself, go to www.parentalrights.org. I thought it was really interesting, and I thought I would get the word out because I hadn't heard anything about it. It would be very hard for me to teach a curriculum I thought was harmful to my students or to never be able to guide them toward ANY type of virtue. My philosophy of education is very opposed to this kind of education.
ED460 Personal and Social Well Being is a course taken by college students in education during their student teaching semester. Topics covered include: poverty, child abuse, bullying, drugs, alcohol, and tobacco, counselors' role in school, adolescents and choices, and the use of technology.
You're not an expert at everything? Well, I am! (Just kidding!) I agree that having the assistance of paraprofessionals and counselors will make a great difference in helping us to effectively maneuver at our jobs as new teachers. I also liked what you said about networking, Anica. For instance, putting together a nature day for my group's Schools as Community project seemed easier because my teammates and I had formed relationships with people from organizations we were going to work with, the Boys and Girls Club as well as Girl Scouts. Shelby's talk was certainly an asset to our discussion on foster care. He answered both of the questions I was pondering before I could ask him! Developing positive relationships with other members of the community could spark great guest speakers on specific topics covered in class.
ReplyDeleteI agree with keeping parents involved with sex education if they choose not to do this themselves. The Family Honor program keeps the family at the heart of sex ed. If I remember correctly both the mother and father and their child are encouraged to attend the classes offered at the child's school after school hours. Here is the link if you want to look into it: http://www.familyhonor.org/index.html
ReplyDeleteAs educators it will be a challenge to support the sex education program when it comes into conflict with our moral beliefs.
Chris' presence in class the other day did provide a new dimension to what Shelby was talking about. I also enjoyed seeing the two of them interact, and agree that we are very lucky to have people like Shelby available to us at Benedictine.
Wow, that Convention on the Rights of the Child sounds like an abomination! They have no right to control how children are raised. I suppose they're trying to protect children, but parents should have the right to opt out of sex education done at school. I personally believe that sex education is the responsibility of the parents, who are the primary educators of their children.
ReplyDeleteEllen, the Family Honor program could be a good alternative if parents do not want to teach sex ed at home. I like that it keeps the family very involved. I hope that if all families had a supportive environment where parents explicitly transmitted their values to children, teen pregnancy and promiscuity would decrease.