The old push and pull

Community
I believe that classrooms need to be a safe haven where the children and the teacher can come together to create their own safe and nurturing community. I love the idea of closing the door and if you choose, leaving the world outside. When I picture my future classroom, it almost takes on the shape of a nest. I believe that schools need to be an even larger extension of that community and that teachers, administrators, parents and children all need to come together to create the best school and the best learning situation that they possibly can. I believe that the larger community must involve a full circle of support: the teachers and administrators, teachers and teachers, teachers and parents, all of the above and children, and I believe that we all must push each other to be the best at what we do.

Teachers as Learners
I believe that teachers must always work to be learners themselves and expand their knowledge and their approach to teaching. In my mind, one aspect of this very much ties in with Delpit and all of the anti-bias articles we have been reading. Through the reading we have been doing, I have come to more clearly see that being white makes me especially vulnerable to being unaware of issues related to ethnicity and racism. Because I am in the majority and therefore usually fairly comfortable in my daily life, it is very easy to be oblivious to the experience of someone of a different ethnicity or skin color, and I have to work extra hard to make sure that I am always actively pursuing educating myself through reading, speaking to other teachers, listening to parents and especially listening to children so that I can be sensitive to and be a part of these every day issues.

Push and Pull
I believe that a classroom is a place to build up a child’s confidence to the point where she will blunder boldly and explore endlessly. As a teacher, it will be my responsibility to create a culture of respect within my classroom so students can make mistakes freely without fear of shame and embarrassment, but it is also my job to push my students (with scaffolding of course) and expose them to a wide array of subjects and experiences where they will at some points struggle but at some points shine. I think that kids really learn when something is a challenge, and if the end goal is to create a whole room of critical thinkers, then gently pushing seems necessary.