Who deserves to be included?

In the Rethinking book the author talks about a little girl named Nyla who had some disabilities. Her mother wanted to take her out of the classroon she was in because she did not think that her needs were being met. However, she changed her mind when she overheard another child telling Nyla that she was her best friend. Sometimes adults forget that children can be very accepting of new things because so much is new to them. By keeping children with disabilities or other kinds of special needs separate from typically developing children, they will not know how to deal with people who have such differences.

It may be challenging to have children with specific need in the class because it does pose an extra chllange but there is much to be gained. For instance, a new appreciation for life often arises when working with children who have to work harder at things that we can do on a daily basis. Being prepared and informed before working with children with disabilities is very beneficial.

If there were more training offered on how to work with certin disabiities then maybe there could be more inclusive classroomssss. Children who may have some disabilities still deserve a chance to be included and involved in a classroom with other children. All children deserve a chance to be involved.

Also in the Rethinking book it talks about children who were from migrant families and some of the language barriers that were faced. It would be easier for teachers to say that the children and their families need to able to speak fluent English before entering the program but all children deserve a chance to learn and be a part of a classroom.

The New Possibilities book talked about the struggles that many women had to face on their journey to bettering their lives. They pursuesd their dreams and pressed on even when it would have been easier to give up. Their rocky past gave them strength and experience. Their past may have been dark and filled with many unfortunate experiences but they made it past all of that and are able to provide care and love for the children in their class that they may have not receive growing up.

Even these women deserve a chance to make more of their lives. They deserve just as many opportunities as anyone if not more. No one should ever be doubted or excluded because of their differences or background. Sometimes it is those factors that can create incredible characteristics.

Are we teaching them what is appropriate or available?

In the book Rethinking Early Childhood Education, the author talks about her difficulty with her son not being happy in school due to his reading abilities. First of all some schools feel that it is okay to group children together into different reading level groups. Even if it is not said out loud the children will figure out who is in a higher reading group just by talking with eachother. It is not a good message to children to let them know who is “smarter” than the others even if it is unintentional. Many children may become so discouraged by the fact that they are in the “lower” reading group and may take on that “lesser” role not wanting to even try anymore. I have knew a child who did not receive as many reading stars as her classmates and she broke out into tears telling me that she was not smart. This broke my heart. This was a very discouraging thing to hear from a sweet, curious little girl. Secondly, learning starts out so fun and colorful and then turns into photocopied, often black and white picture books with meaningless stories. Reading should be enjoyable for children. The pictures should capture their attention and the story should spark their imagination. Giving our children curriculum that is not really teaching them but only sound professional is silly. Often, teachers and parents want to see results. They try to find the quickest way to teach children something and may often end up stressing out the children or giving them work that is inappropriate for them.

There was also the instance of the teacher teaching immigrant children. She felt that it was important to teach them their first language before teaching them another language. Children are very capable of learning they just need to be allowed to do it at their own pace. By first learning their native language they will become more confident and learning a new language will be easier.

Teachers need to remember that not all families are alike and there are families who cannot help their children with their homework and those children will probably not be able to get as much out of their work. I have known families where the parents were unable to help their children with their homework and their children really struggled.

To compute or not to compute?

In Rethinking Early Childhood education the author talks about computers and young children. There are many reasons mentioned as to why using such technology at such a young age is really not necessary or appropriate, especially when considering all the other things children could be spending their time on.
When it comes to the classroom I feel that it is more appropriate to not have a computer. They are really fun and I know many children enjoy them but it is not the best learning technique. There is so much a child will miss out on if they are simply staring straight ahead at a screen. Many children go home after school and are baby sat by the television or video games. School is where they should be coming to learn social skills, motor skills and things that cannot be taught by a computer.
There are some things that children can learn from computers but it does not mean they could not learn something equally or more importantly from their teacher, peers or themselves.
Computers are also very expensive and there are many other things that the money could be used for, that will actually end up benefiting the child with whatever it pays for. Art supplies always need to be replenished and the natural ware and tare always requires upkeep and replacement of other toys and equipment. Also if a computer gets bumped and broken it will be an expensive loss, on the other hand a toy truck can get dropped a bunch of times and will still roll on.
One thing the author did not talk about was the potential damage that staring at a screen for so long, at such a close distance, could do to a child’s eyes. Even adults should take breaks from looking at a computer screen to avoid getting dizzy or to re-adjust the eyes.

Why change the norm?

The author of the New Possibilities book shows how experience in teaching outside of her usual element actually ended up benefitting her class for the better. She was able to find a new way to teach her students that were more understandable. If she were to have stayed in her usual manner of teaching both she and her students would have probably not gained as much.
The thing that stuck out to me the most was the section on tests in the Rethinking book. I remember as a child absolutely hating the SAT tests. I always felt dumb after taking one of those tests because I felt like I knew so much but when I took my tests there were many questions that I was unable to answer. I know some kids who would just fill in random dots, not even reading the questions. Everyone learns differently so a basic test given to everyone will not accurately measure their intelligence. Another thing about the standardized tests are that they are timed. As a child I felt very pressured to answer all my questions before the time was up. I would constantly look at the clock to see how much time I had left. Whenever I or another classmate did not finish before the time there was a feeling of disappointment and discouragement.
It is not only standardized test that cause great stress to students, just about any test can do that. What is not always fair is that people remember different things so the test may not contain all the information that one child remembers, but that does not mean that the child did not learn anything. The purpose of tests is to see that the students are learning. There are other ways to find out if a student is learning. Discussions are a great way for everyone to collaborate and talk about the things that they learned or things that they found interesting. If children enjoyed school more they would probably not mind going so much.
Something to think about: How much more fun is school when there are hands on activities and interaction. As we get older it seems that school becomes a bunch of lectures, book-work, tests and quizzes. How could we make adult classes more fun?