week 14 monday

Teaching in China (after Korea) I moved to Beijing in August after my contract was over in Korea. I am currently working in a bilingual school as a kindergarten teacher. In some ways, it feels as though it is my first year of teaching. In Korea I was an English teacher at a middle school. As much as I like living in Korea, being an English teacher was not completely fulfilling. People did not really take the job seriously, and there was no room for growth. Life in Beijing is interesting. We have to deal with insane pollution, but otherwise it is quite an exciting city. I am so busy here! Another person from the U of I is on the Education team. Her name is Sunny. Recently a group of elementary education students from U of I visited and observed my class and asked me questions. I believe they are trying to encourage students from the university to come over to China after graduation. It was pretty awesome to be a part of that. Stephanie Nuno, 10. Stephanie Nuno, 10

Mary “I’ll be sharing your kids with you for the next two years.” 3 positive contacts beginning with community showing herself as a person to kids and parents

some ideas about learning (from some important people) People learn better when actively involved. “Let the main object of this, our Didactic, be as follows: To seek and find a method by which teachers may teach less, but learners learn more” (Comenius) Learning requires focused attention and awareness of the importance of what is to be learned. “The true art of memory is the art of attention” (Samuel Johnson) Learning is more efficient with explicit, reasonable goals, and when the learners’ and teacher’s goals connect. “If you don’t know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else” (Laurence J. Peter & Raymond Hull) New knowledge must be connected meaningfully to what is already known. “Thinking means connecting things and stops if they cannot be connected” (G. K. Chesterton)

Unlearning often more difficult than new learning. “It is what we think we know already that often prevents us from learning” (Claude Bernard) Learners need feedback on their learning, early and often, to learn well; to become independent, they need to learn how to give themselves feedback. “Supposing is good, but finding out is better” (Mark Twain) Mastering a skill or a body of knowledge takes great amounts of time and effort. “There are some things that cannot be learned quickly, and time, which is all we have, must be paid heavily for their acquiring” (Earnest Hemingway)

wednesday

I went back to school (again...) after my Master's in C & I. Now I am working on my Master's in Administration and will be done in May. I just love that aspect of education, and I hope to make a difference someday as a school leader. I am enjoying my 4th year of teaching Pre-K. I have been recently thinking about changing grade levels. I want to continue to better myself as an educator, and I can't do that if I am too comfortable. I hope to eventually get my Ph.D in administration. My husband and I continue to travel quite a bit and our next stop is Italy in March. Definitely looking forward to that one! We are looking to starting a family. So, many things to look forward to and adventures to come... Sarah Capiak and I frequently recall our memories from the cohort and 262. Monica Imig is also doing well. We keep in touch still too. Jennifer Ostrowski-Dudek, 08

Elementary student teaching is going well! I had my second observation today, and my supervisor was very impressed with my teaching ability. I give much credit to our ECE program and all the work and field experiences that we have gone through. I truly value my Early Childhood education. I am incredibly prepared for student teaching, even though I have been in the classroom for only 3 weeks! Reassure the new cohorts that, yes, it seems like a lot of work and a lot of hours to put in at this point in their education, but it all pays off. They will feel much more at ease when their elementary student teaching placement rolls around and they jump right into the swing of things! Emily Barber,11

when you look at kids, who do you see? we see kids through the lens of culture, that is, our beliefs about who kids are, who they should be, how they do act and how they should act, what they are capable of and incapable of, and so on who we believe kids are constrains who they can become

seeing the kids 1.in some ways each kid different from all other kids 2.in some ways each kid the same as many other kids 3.in some ways each kid the same as all other kids –our culture and the culture of teaching emphasizes 1. –to see kids in only one way limits them and how you see them