Turning Theory into Pratice

Our class conversations and activities have been so helpful for me when trying to digest and make sense of all this new information, while also dealing with personal questions and frustrations. In this class specifically, I am getting so much more out of the material because of the opportunities to apply it to real-world situations that we have been given in class. While it is thought-provoking and interesting to sit around and discuss these theories, I sometimes have difficulty translating them into a classroom situation. By taking the big ideas from our readings and putting them in the context of how we may use them as teachers, we have begun to explore them on another level. This is exciting for me because I learn by doing (as many believe most of us do) and appreciate the chance to explore ideas in a variety of ways.
Everyone in our class has so much to offer in terms of experience and their own personal philosophies and it's beneficial for us to learn from our peers, as well as experienced professionals from the field. I am enjoying gathering all of this new information and processing it as I work to formulate my own teaching philosophies. I think all of us will be better, well-rounded teachers as we are exposed to more new ideas and ways of thinking. We have a great opportunity here to learn from each other and to be exposed to a great number of thinkers and ideas. I only wish that more of the teachers I have worked with had been introduced to these ideas and ways of thinking about education.