Post the results of your survey

After looking over the results of my survey I have concluded that taking into account the race and ethnicity of my students is very important because it allows me to get to know them better and shows me where they come from.  I think the place where students are taught refelcts the type of resources they have avaliable and therefore it affects the acheivement gap as well.  As a teacher I feel taking into account different cultures and teaching them to students gives them a chance to connect and relate and make them feel proud of where they come from.  By scrutinizing my results I believe all students deserve equal attention, regardless if they have less parental involvement.  As for ELL students I think having high expectations for them is vital as well as providing challenges for them too.  My results showed me how I really feel we should not only praise students for the right answer but for their effort as well. 

The reason people are uncomfortable
talking about race, is because nobody ever does. It's like the giant pink
elephant in the room that everyone ignores. 
If we ever want to have any kind of permanent change in our society, we
need to start talking about the giant pink elephant.  Student's race and ethnicity is a part of who
they are. While we cannot judge students by it, we must see it in order to know
our students. The gap in achievement is certainly about poverty.  But let's take a look at history and see who
historically has been the poorest? Our nation, implemented a cycle in which
different races of people have less opportunities and less chances to succeed
because of that. Every student should be proud to be what they are, we cannot
teach students all from one view point, because then we are teaching them that
only that one view point is correct, and that is not true.  While it is essential to a child's success to
have parental support, you as a teacher must not give up on the student simply
because their parents are unable or unwilling to participate.   If a
student is struggling with as assignment in English, give them the same
assignment in their native language, or if you cannot give them as much support
as they need to complete the assignment, such as after school study, or one on
one with the teacher.  It is not fair to
the student if you do not challenge them. 
 It is important that your
students believe that you think they can succeed. If we only give students work
we know they can do, then how are they ever going to grow in their learning? If
we never challenge them, how will they ever learn that failure is a part of
life, and it’s not the end of the world? Grouping lower achieving students
with higher achieving students can only benefit both groups.  The higher students are reinforcing their
knowledge by helping the lower achieving students. There needs to be a
foundation before you can build a house. 
This is not to say we should discourage our students from working on
complex issues, we just need to make sure that the foundation is there, or is
developing rapidly.  

After completing the survey, I realized that it is important to take into account the race/ethnicity of my students.  Society is not colorblind.  We still get judge based on how we look or act.  That is why I answered disagree on the first question regarding being color blind.  I do not mean it in a negative way.  It is important for me to view and be aware of my students in order to get to know them and have some in sight of were they may come from.  That is why I agree with question 3 of the survey.  A teachers job is to know about their students and adapt their curriculum to fit the needs of those students.  It is important that students see themselves reflected in the curriculum you teach. My job as a future teacher will be to ensure all of my students can be successful and build that self-esttem for success.  At the end of the day some students will look up to you and you have to be willing to adress race issues that are present. 

I realize from these statements that it is important for me to be an advocate for my students.  I will not think of my students in terms or race or ethnicity when it comes to discrimination or prejudice but I will not be color blind because I believe it is important to recognize the cultural diversity in the classroom and celebrate it.  Encouragement and motivation will help students succeed and it is very important to acknowledge the students persistence. It is important to be aware of student’s ability levels but there needs to be a balance of assignments they can do independently and assignments that challenge them in order for them to learn something new.  Finding and using examples of the cultural, historic and everyday lived experiences of the students is very important because it will make the work meaningful for them and they will be more successful.  By doing these things I am advocating my students’ education and doing as much as I can to help them succeed.

I realize from these statements that it is important for me to be an advocate for my students.  I will not think of my students in terms or race or ethnicity when it comes to discrimination or prejudice but I will not be color blind because I believe it is important to recognize the cultural diversity in the classroom and celebrate it.  Encouragement and motivation will help students succeed and it is very important to acknowledge the students persistence. It is important to be aware of student’s ability levels but there needs to be a balance of assignments they can do independently and assignments that challenge them in order for them to learn something new.  Finding and using examples of the cultural, historic and everyday lived experiences of the students is very important because it will make the work meaningful for them and they will be more successful.  By doing these things I am advocating my students’ education and doing as much as I can to help them succeed.

After reviewing my responses to the survey I was able to see what it means to be an effective teahcer. I was able to recall the importance of embracing every child's uniqueness and individuality inside the classroom. The imprtance of being able to avoid just teaching the subject, which is what many teachers do, but instead teach the student and show him/her the importance of an education. Equality to all mystudents no matter their gender or culture is also very crucial in assuring that all the students are being taught the same material but not necessarily the same way. What I mean by this is that each child learns differently so it would make sense to teach them at the best of their ability but at the same time we must make sure that we are teaching every child the same material.

The main thing I got from this survey is the importance of not ignoring race and color. We should not be color blind and just ignore differences. Sometimes teachers put more emphasis on not discriminating instead of learning from our differences. Everyone is different and it is important for students to feel like they can be who they are without having to be made fun of. It is important for a teacher to be culturally aware and sensitive of cultures and traditions students have. The teacher needs to be able to respect and challenge his/her students to be able to talk about different issues openly. The environment of the classroom has to be established as a positive, caring, and respectfull one. Without this no one will even try opening up. One final thing I got from this survey was to have high expectactions for everyone. Race does not matter and neither does language. While we do take these things (personal circusmtances) into consideration, the student should always be expected to achieve his or her best.

After reading back over my results, I realize that recognizing my students as individuals is important to me. It is integral to building a safe, engaging, and respectful classroom community. Part of my teaching philosophy, that I am constinantly building, tearing down, reassesing, and rebuilding is the idea of respecting adn caring for each of my students. It is important that my students know I view them all as competent learners, and that I respect their individual experiences they bring. The students race and ethnicity, which unfortunatly still mroe often than not connects to their poverty level, is an experience they bring with them to the classroom. You cannot ignore as Taylor says, "the pink elephant in the room". I do not want to create a classroom where students feel their unique life experiences and opinions are being ignored or disregarded. I want to open the classroom up as a safe and respectful place where all of their opinions and experiences are important and can me included.

Reviewing the results of my survey, I didn't realize how complacent I was at with my own life and only see the reality of our society at surface level when it comes down to race. Each of these questions focused on a different racial issue for the educational needs. Being exposed to my Asian American lifestyle all my life, I thought I could understand the scope of another person of a different ethnicity, but we perceive things differently. No matter what the case, the students are the most important in our daily paths of growing as future educators. Answering these different questions, I would never want to label and categorize my students based off of their culture or race; my goal is to give equal opportunity because I truly believe every student has something to offer in this world no matter where they grew up or how they were brought up. Talking about race is a very uncomfortable topic because we are just so comfortable with our own race that we fear judgments or miscommunication. My heart goes out to the students who come from broken families or just poor family support. I have been blessed with parents who love me and care about my education that i feel any child deserves a chance to succeed and excel. It could be because of the way I was brought up, but what is most important to me is the life that these kids will choose for their future; no matter what struggles and trials they had faced growing up.

Based on the results of my survey, I realize that I have a
lot of bitterness with the education system. I have seen and experienced unfair
treatment towards minorities that I totally disagree with. I will prevent this
in my classroom, and hopefully in my school by acknowledging the cultural
differences in my future classroom, and speaking with my co-workers about different
ways we can address the issues that our minority students face.

I take my students race or ethnicity into account when it comes to my teaching. I think that all cultures should be implemented into instructional practices. I think that the gap in achievement could be for many different reasons, not just race or poverty. Because of this, I will take into account my students feelings. I will never want my students to be embarrassed to speak in front of others so I will set up my classroom environment to be comfortable so that students do not feel embarrassed. Self-esteem is very important for everyone, but especially in children who are trying to learn. No matter what the parental support is of my students, I will have the same efforts to treat all my students.  I need to know my students and their levels so that they do not have assignments that are too difficult or too hard. The assignment has to be at the appropriate level for the student. This may take my time and planning on my part, but I need to reach each and every student in my class. Sometimes it is beneficial for students of varying levels to work together because it benefits both the higher achieving students because they have to learn to explain their own thinking better, and lower achieving students get to learn from another student. I think that being open to talk about race is important and a lot of good can result from opening discussing it.  Cultural, historic, and everyday experiences of my students are extremely valuable. Teaching and incorporating this into my classroom is extremely valuable.
 

Thinking about this survey, I learned that I want to embrace every race and culture in my classroom. Not only does this create an environment of trust, but I feel it will also create an environment of acceptance. If I can help each student to know what everyone else goes through on a daily basis and how that affects them, I think that they will really see each other in a more accepting way. With that being said, incorporating these cultures, races and experiences into important academic lessons will help students to learn in a more diverse way. They can learn about all aspects of these ideas, and they can do it in a way that relates the ideas to them and the people they share their classroom with every day. I really think that creating this type of environment and embracing students differences instead of ignoring them can help make a community of learners where students and their culture/race/ideas are accepted, valued and applicable to what they learn, and that is what I feel a good teacher strives for.

I was able to see that education could be discriminatory, but it is our job as future educators to not discriminate. It is important to instill the idea that everyone can succeed no matter what color, gender, or race they are. I believe the classroom should be a culturally diverse place that promotes an equal learning environment. I also think that we need to master the skill of teaching different students the same material to meet their individual needs. Each student is different in their own way and those needs should be acknowledged in the classroom. While doing so, I would still have that high expectation I expect from every student, no matter who they are or where they come from. 

From
the results, I can see that I want to embrace my students’ race and ethnicity
and make them feel proud of who they are. Also, I think that as a teacher I
should be able to adapt my instructional practice to distinctive cultures in
order fro them to be able to make connections to their own lives. You need to
take into account a lot of different factors and make sure that your students
never feel embarrassed. Furthermore, students who are struggling with English
should not be discouraged of taking on challenging academic assignments. They
should be encouraged to do more assignment that will benefit them in learning a
new language. You need to make sure that students don’t feel overwhelmed but challenged.
Even though, some may put a lot of input, work hard and still not do well in
school; you need to reward them for their hard work because that builds up self-esteem
and brings their motivation up. Effective teachers try to differentiate
learning for students with different needs and they use many approaches to do
so.  I learned that I am open-minded
and my educational practices will help me continue this strategy in future.

Based on the results from the survey, i am able to see that i am open minded about equal opportunities to succeed.  Education should not be based on the race or SES of a person.  However, they are factors that as teachers we need to take into consideration when trying to understand our students.  We have to treat our students as individuals who are all able to succeed no matter what.  academic levels, language, and race should not determine the complexity of the content or task.  All children need to be challenged and motivated.  We must keep in mind that there are many factors affecting the learning development of a student. Therefore, students should be rewarded for their true hardwork and effort.  By doing so, students will learn that it is okay to make mistakes or find somethign challenging.  This will encourage all students to believe in themselves and be more dedicated to school.

Based off my results I realize that I care about my students and where they come from. I know that I will embrace any and every background they come from beacuse different life experiences is what makes true culture. We cant be afraid of what we dont know or what we havent experienced personally because chances are our students have. We have to position ourselves to learn just as much from our students as we expect them to learn from us.

I am not helping my students if I am over looking their race. The gap in the achievement among students of different races is about
poverty, not race. Sometimes this is true, but not always. Teachers should adapt their instructional practice to the distinctive
cultures of African American, Latino, Asian and Native American
students. Yes, it is called differentiated instruction. Not all students are the same. Teachers should not humiliate their students, Calling out on studnets is not efficent. However, we should encourage participation. It makes me want to put more effort into teaching them when students come from homes where educational achievement is not a
high priority. English language learners should be able to get an assignment they can do, if it it more complex then give them your guidance. Self-esteem is very important for students to perform well.Using student's strengths and weakness is very important when making an efficient lesson plan. Not everyone learns the same way! Basic skills is the foundation for learning complex learning. Teachers should embrace other cultures to empower students. It is good to talk about race so we can open our eyes to the real world.
 
Summary: We cannot over look student's race and home roles when making instructional decisions.

I think this exercise was very important after we have talked
about race for many weeks.  I think it is important to evaluate yourself
in your beliefs, and is interesting to see how your opinions have changed over
the course of this class. I think it is very important to discuss race and how
it will affect our classrooms in the future. 
I think it is important to acknowledge race and to embrace every single
one.  Students should be learning about
their own culture as well as the cultures of others.  I enjoyed the survey as it made me really think
about my own feelings and allowed me to put in place everythin gi have recently
learned.

This survery asked the questions that I pretty much expected.  It definitley opened my eyes, to what it means to be an educator.  It also opened my eyes to how race plays a part in the educational system.  Although no one ever really talks about race, we all see it.  I feel that this survey definitely reminds future teachers of their affect on students.  After taking this survey I am reminded that race should not be ignored rather embraced in our classrooms. To say that you don't see race is to say that you don't see the student, and in my opinion that would be one to many students being ignored.

based on my results of the survey i see that color really doesnt matter. i think that every student should be treated equally no matter where they come from and the color of their skin. i think that incorporating culture into the classroom is extremely important and will enlighten any or all prejudices that the students may bring with them to the classroom. sometimes you dont realize that you may be prejudice it may just be something that you are unaware of and something you were brought up to believe. i think that embracing everbodys differences within the classroom is a wonderful way to incorporate it into the classroom. i know that now all students will have the same resources and /or support at home but that is where good teaching is important because having high expectations for your students in the classroom may have more iinfluene on the student then their environment at home. sometimes its the little bit more encouragement they need to succeed!