The Integrative Processing Mode
I.If I could use one image or words to present my experiences in Ed Block, it’s a messy loop (shown in the picture to the left). I didn’t realize that until Nikki was asking me to sum up my experience with one word. And I said “compromise.” From this experience, I not only observed how schools in the U.S. run differently, but I also witnessed my own belief about education and teaching has been changed over this period of time. This was a very special group of passionate educators. Because of them, the whole experience became more than just classes and school visits. It was a room of people trying to solve problems and make an impact on others’ life. Even on those hard days, there was a loving and positive atmosphere among us. Like when some of the student’s lost their voice and seemed exhausted, Nikki asked the question, “Who thinks they made an impact on a child’s life today?” Everyone raised their hand and we realized that’s why we were there. No one seemed as exhausted after that. When I proposed the class motto “Let Love Teach,” almost everyone felt that motto spoke to his/her heart.
II.I was constantly using Christian Science in my own practice of teaching throughout the field trips and internship. I found Christian Science and teaching go hand in hand. Like Mrs. Eddy says, “Love for God and man is the true incentive in both teaching and healing.” Not until the last week before my presentation did this thought suddenly come to me. I believe this message can be applied to anyone. So how can I explain this to a non-Christian Scientist? When I replaced God with his six (expect Love) synonyms, everything I believed in teaching connected to each other. Love for Truth, Spirit, Soul, Life, Mind, Principle is what teaching is all about. I grew up in a Chinese school where there were 62 students in my 6th grade classroom. We were taught to be respectful and obedient since we were very young. So I never experience differentiation and classroom management before Ed Block. My dad always believed that I could be a good teacher, so he sent me to a special teacher training program to be a primary school English teacher. I did not enjoy that experience. As a result, I decided teaching wasn’t my thing. What I experienced was too far from what I thought about education. I decided to be a businesswoman. Ironically, I have been teaching ever since I quit Business School in Singapore. I began teaching Mandarin Chinese all over the world. From all the field trip we went on, I definitely can see my own preferences in schools. I can totally see myself teaching at Soulard and New City school. They are both independent schools and are able to recognize students’ individual needs. I can’t see myself teaching at ARC where medicine is highly used or KIPP where teachers are taught to be certain ways. I took every field trip as an opportunity to form my own beliefs in teaching and education. We talked to the school principals and visiting classrooms. Those are great ways to enhance our experience.
III.I took Character Education, Experiential Education and 21st Century of Learning before I joined Ed Block. Those three courses have been a huge help in my learning. I can immediately tell how character education is being implemented in a school or classroom by looking at the posters on the wall and language used by the teachers. I was able to apply experiential learning in my own lesson plan and to identify what are some of the 21st Century skills being taught in the classroom. The literacy across curriculum course was helpful and I used the jigsaw activity from the course in my classroom.
IV.I definitely felt a little bit uncomfortable when I taught the second lesson “Who is ISIS?” to 7th graders. The lesson was designed to help students to be aware of what is happening in the world and look at current issues from both sides. I didn’t address the learning objective very clearly. That caused some confusions and led the class to go in directions I didn’t expect. After Nikki gave me some advice, I was able to redirect my class, gave clearer instruction and stay on the learning objective throughout the lesson. I am a very spontaneous learner. Often I would assume my students were the same. I have to realized that many people prefer to have more structures in their learning. So I have to be aware of not letting my own learning style define how I teach.
V.From this Ed Block, I really appreciate the hands on learning opportunities and field experience. But I also realize the true learning happens during the reflection afterwards. Sometimes I might neglect the importance of the reflecting process and think the activity itself is the goal. I also found that writing a daily journal was really helpful to look back at my experience and reflect on the big picture at the end. What I will do in the future is to maybe start a blog and write down all my experiences and questions I had throughout the whole experience. Some gaps I still have about teaching are to find the balance between spontaneity and structure in the classroom. Another question is how much freedom is enough freedom in students’ learning? I believe that you learn how to teach from teaching. I plan to look for opportunities to teach and practice what I believe in teaching.
VI. The most significant interaction I had with those 7th graders was a discussion on slavery. We started talking about why slavery was evil and later the students themselves continued the discussion, and the conclusion they had at the end was: if we treat each other differently based on our skin color, family background, what we wear, or our grade, then we are not treating humans equally, just like in slavery. My classroom teacher said he had never heard the children talk like this and he was impressed by how deep their thinking was. He said he had goosebumps listening to their conversation. This experience taught me that our children are already deep, critical thinkers because they are naturally god at asking questions. They are naturally curious and have a natural desire to make connections. I believe that, as a teacher, we need to create an opportunity and give them room to be who they are as thinkers. This experience reaffirmed my belief that education is not a building up of knowledge but an unfoldment of the individual.
II.I was constantly using Christian Science in my own practice of teaching throughout the field trips and internship. I found Christian Science and teaching go hand in hand. Like Mrs. Eddy says, “Love for God and man is the true incentive in both teaching and healing.” Not until the last week before my presentation did this thought suddenly come to me. I believe this message can be applied to anyone. So how can I explain this to a non-Christian Scientist? When I replaced God with his six (expect Love) synonyms, everything I believed in teaching connected to each other. Love for Truth, Spirit, Soul, Life, Mind, Principle is what teaching is all about. I grew up in a Chinese school where there were 62 students in my 6th grade classroom. We were taught to be respectful and obedient since we were very young. So I never experience differentiation and classroom management before Ed Block. My dad always believed that I could be a good teacher, so he sent me to a special teacher training program to be a primary school English teacher. I did not enjoy that experience. As a result, I decided teaching wasn’t my thing. What I experienced was too far from what I thought about education. I decided to be a businesswoman. Ironically, I have been teaching ever since I quit Business School in Singapore. I began teaching Mandarin Chinese all over the world. From all the field trip we went on, I definitely can see my own preferences in schools. I can totally see myself teaching at Soulard and New City school. They are both independent schools and are able to recognize students’ individual needs. I can’t see myself teaching at ARC where medicine is highly used or KIPP where teachers are taught to be certain ways. I took every field trip as an opportunity to form my own beliefs in teaching and education. We talked to the school principals and visiting classrooms. Those are great ways to enhance our experience.
III.I took Character Education, Experiential Education and 21st Century of Learning before I joined Ed Block. Those three courses have been a huge help in my learning. I can immediately tell how character education is being implemented in a school or classroom by looking at the posters on the wall and language used by the teachers. I was able to apply experiential learning in my own lesson plan and to identify what are some of the 21st Century skills being taught in the classroom. The literacy across curriculum course was helpful and I used the jigsaw activity from the course in my classroom.
IV.I definitely felt a little bit uncomfortable when I taught the second lesson “Who is ISIS?” to 7th graders. The lesson was designed to help students to be aware of what is happening in the world and look at current issues from both sides. I didn’t address the learning objective very clearly. That caused some confusions and led the class to go in directions I didn’t expect. After Nikki gave me some advice, I was able to redirect my class, gave clearer instruction and stay on the learning objective throughout the lesson. I am a very spontaneous learner. Often I would assume my students were the same. I have to realized that many people prefer to have more structures in their learning. So I have to be aware of not letting my own learning style define how I teach.
V.From this Ed Block, I really appreciate the hands on learning opportunities and field experience. But I also realize the true learning happens during the reflection afterwards. Sometimes I might neglect the importance of the reflecting process and think the activity itself is the goal. I also found that writing a daily journal was really helpful to look back at my experience and reflect on the big picture at the end. What I will do in the future is to maybe start a blog and write down all my experiences and questions I had throughout the whole experience. Some gaps I still have about teaching are to find the balance between spontaneity and structure in the classroom. Another question is how much freedom is enough freedom in students’ learning? I believe that you learn how to teach from teaching. I plan to look for opportunities to teach and practice what I believe in teaching.
VI. The most significant interaction I had with those 7th graders was a discussion on slavery. We started talking about why slavery was evil and later the students themselves continued the discussion, and the conclusion they had at the end was: if we treat each other differently based on our skin color, family background, what we wear, or our grade, then we are not treating humans equally, just like in slavery. My classroom teacher said he had never heard the children talk like this and he was impressed by how deep their thinking was. He said he had goosebumps listening to their conversation. This experience taught me that our children are already deep, critical thinkers because they are naturally god at asking questions. They are naturally curious and have a natural desire to make connections. I believe that, as a teacher, we need to create an opportunity and give them room to be who they are as thinkers. This experience reaffirmed my belief that education is not a building up of knowledge but an unfoldment of the individual.