Embrace Our Differences
I am a student, hear me shout!
My classmates and I are different, inside and out
When you realize our differences, you let us be
Exceptional humans, both them and me
So teach us new ways, we don't learn the same
And that is okay, there's no-one to blame
We are ready to learn and show you we are great!
I hope you bring new ideas to the plate
Above is an original poem I wrote for this assignment. I think that it is so important to embrace students differences, especially in the classroom. When I think back to my elementary school days I remember learning so much, and often getting discouraged when I was not understanding some topics as well as my classmates. At that time our way of learning was very limited, we were basically taught one way to do things and that was it. I know I would go home and ask my parents for help but they would show me the way they learned things in school, which was different from what I was doing . If I remember correctly there seems to be even newer ways nowadays. Would it not be the coolest thing if we taught students all those different methods for something like addition for example, and let them choose which works best for them? That way they are presented with multiple correct methods and have a better chance of understanding at least one of them. In the real world there are many, many ways to go about our jobs, or work, or even life in general, so why limit that in school? We must embrace the diversity in our students, not limit it.
Hi Cat!
ReplyDeleteI love your poem!! It was really well written and I related to your post a lot. I think that it is so important to acknowledge that everyone learns differently and that it is okay. It is so true that it seems as though schools are more focused students learning the "correct" way of learning something instead of actually knowing the material. I find this so unfair because of the fact that students do not all think and learn the same. I think that it is more important to focus on the student understanding the concept and allowing them to explore which learning method works the best for them. I do not think it is right to confine students to one way of learning or doing something. As a future teacher, I definitely want to provide multiple different ways of learning the concept to my students and to encourage their individual learning style, while also encouraging them to grow and try new learning styles.
-Lauren
Hi Lauren! I'm glad you liked my poem, that makes me happy. I agree completely with your response, I think the quote "my way or the highway" fits really well in this scenario. That is what it seems like some teachers are preaching and it is just completely wrong. I too will show multiple ways to do things in my future classroom, I never ever want to make a child feel bad for learning differently. When we introduce multiple methods we are also increasing the probability of them understanding the information!
DeleteHi Cat,
ReplyDeleteI liked the original poem because it gave me a feel about your post before I continued to read the rest of the post. I had also had a difficult times with learning in school because I believed in the learning styles talked about in the TED talk. I had thought that I was a visual learner because I would have a problem with doing video notes or taking notes by hearing because I loved seeing it in writing. The reality it was because I had a problem with spelling because I was taught spelling by seeing and flashcards, which was not the best for long term learning. If I was taught spelling in multiple different ways until I found the correct way for me, I would have learned better. What were some ways that you found to be the correct way for you?
-Krista
Hi Krista! I had the exact same experience in school. I am so thankful most things are done online now because many times I catch myself with typos, but with auto-correct it is never an issue for me. I too learned to spell with flashcards, I vividly remember my mom helping me with them when I was younger. The truth is, it helped to get me started but was not very beneficial for me in the long run. I am so happy that we were presented this information, I am already getting ideas of how I will implement new teaching styles in my future classroom and I hope that other future teachers are too. It is so cool we had the same experience!
DeleteHello!
DeleteGreat poem, it pretty much summed it all up. Now days I notice my family members with kids struggling to help them because they learned things a different way. Being able to see things in different ways would really broaden the Childs mind and way of thinking. They should be able to understand there's many ways to get the same results even if its different methods. This could help them understand things better, and learn to not give up, because there's always another way.