Cultural Integration

      In education 350 this week, we came up with a mission statement for our class. The mission statement we all decided on states that in education 350, we will become better educators by immersing ourselves in diverse populations in order to better meet the needs of our students by creating a sense of community inside and outside the classroom. I thought this was a great mission statement not only for this class, but continuing as an educator as well. It is so extremely important for educators to realize the impact of the community and culture created in the classroom. We also created goals for our class this week as well. Some of our goals were to learn how to create a class culture, to become confident in embracing all cultures, to learn how to differentiate lessons, and to be aware of biases and keep them from affecting the classroom.
      The classroom mission statement and goals we created relate directly to the North Carolina Teacher Candidate Standards, specifically standard two, element b, which states that "teachers embrace diversity in the school community and in the world." As an educator, I must take this standard very seriously, and strive to meet the goals that my class created that coincide with this standard. My future students deserves to have a teacher that works hard to understand them as a person, which includes their cultural background. They deserve a nurturing school culture, which is included in the goal created by my classmates and I to learn how to properly create a class culture, and also relates to standard two element a of the NCTCS, which states that "teachers provide an environment in which each child has a positive, nurturing relationship with caring adults."
     In relation to education 410, we must not only establish a classroom culture, but integrate the culture of our students into our teaching. "Choosing texts that reflect classroom demographics and following the readings with discussions or reflective writing assignments can provide teachers with powerful information about their students’ hopes, concerns, strengths and life circumstances" (link at the bottom). Integration is all about connections, and although this is typically thought of in relationship to the North Carolina Standard Course of Study (NCSCOS), this tactic can be used to intertwine educational subjects with cultural understanding and acceptance in the classroom. This relates to standard three element c of the NCTCS, which states that "teachers recognize the interconnectedness of content areas/disciplines." This standard goes on to say that "teachers promote global awareness and its relevance to subjects they teach." Integration is a major skill that I must work on in order to prepare for my future classroom. It is vital to make connections for students between subjects in order to help them have a deeper understanding of their learning, but it is also vital that they make connections between their learnings and the cultural diversity found not only in the classroom, but the world they live in. I hope to give my future students a broader outlook on life by integrating cultural understanding into their everyday learning. 

https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/publications/critical-practices-for-antibias-education/classroom-culture

Integration and Assessment

      In education 410, we will be learning about integration and assessment. Integration, as described by ascd.org, "is about making meaningful connections between topics or skills that are usually addressed in different subject areas." Although this seems fairly easy to understand, how to approach integration can mean different things to different educators. For example, some educators think integration involves using a "small unit of study" to integrate subjects, while others push for a "fully integrated day in an entire school" (see link at bottom). I did not realize that there were degrees of integration, and I think that the idea of integrating the entire school day is very interesting and something that educators should consider looking into more. This connects directly with the North Carolina Teacher Candidate Standards (NCTCS), specifically with standard four, which states that "teachers facilitate learning for their students." By integrating subjects, educators are able to connect everything the students are learning, which will help them to see the relevancy of their learning. It will also help them remember what they are learning if they can connect their learning for multiple subjects. In my future classroom, I hope to integrate as often as possible in order to create that connection for my students. I believe that this will make them more attentive to what they are learning as well as help them to remember what they have learned.
     Assessment is also very important in the field of education. Assessment is related to standard five of the NCTCS, which states that "teachers reflect on their practice." Both formative and summative assessments are majorly important for educators to use in order to make sure that students are understanding the material that is being taught. Without assessments, teachers would not know if their teaching strategies were helping students learn. In education 410, I hope to continue to learn about assessment in order to properly gain feedback from my future students.

http://www.ascd.org/publications/curriculum-handbook/425/chapters/Overview.aspx

Culture

      What exactly does the word "culture" mean? This is exactly what we discussed today in education 350. Culture is a very complex word, that can have many different meanings. For example, merriam-webster.com defines culture as "the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group; also: the characteristic features of everyday existence (such as diversions or a way of life) shared by people in a place or time." On the other hand, edutopia.org describes culture in a classroom as "the overall vibe and mood of the room; the things that are valued (or not valued) in that classroom." Even within my education 350 class we created several different definitions of "culture." At the end of the class, we decided that the best way to describe culture is as a growth/development of human characteristics and social norms through the integration of beliefs, values, and traditions based on place and time, shared by a group of people.
       The idea of culture connects directly to the North Carolina Teacher Candidate Standards (NCTCS), specifically standard two, which states that "Teachers establish a respectful environment for a diverse population of students." Without fully knowing what culture is, I cannot, as a teacher, provide the culture in the classroom that my students will need in the future. In order to provide a safe and respectful environment that helps all diversities benefit, I have to understand what culture is and how to create that culture. I believe that creating a nurturing and safe culture in the classroom is essential for student learning. "Positive classroom culture leads to more opportunities for students to positively connect with the content, their peers, and their teacher" (see link at bottom). I believe that the definition my education 350 class came up with is very helpful in understanding the culture of a classroom. In the future, I hope to provide my classroom with values and beliefs based on their education. I want my students to value learning, and I also want them to believe that they are capable of anything. Although these are not the typical ideas we think of when we think of value and belief, I think it can definitely apply to classroom culture. I plan to do this by making my class excited about learning, by always encouraging them, and by never giving up on any student.
      Overall, I believe that learning about culture, and realizing how complex that word truly is helped me to have a better understanding of classroom culture, as well as how to understand the cultures my students come from. I hope to continue to learn more about culture in education 350 in order to benefit my classroom in the future.

https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/5-innovative-ways-create-positive-classroom-culture