Reflection 8

In a classroom, there will be various beliefs, ideas, and attitudes. Even if you were to have a classroom with members of the same race, class, religion, sex, etc. you would still have people with opposing beliefs. Its important as a teacher to understand and respect that fact. When people have conventions, they will do anything to defend them, and that includes disrupting your class. People also have different values that are determined by their culture. While many groups of people have the terminal value of getting good grades, their instrumental values many vary extremely; some may feel you should work hard, some that you should simply copy and paste. In a classroom you should set your own values and make sure that the students know that yes good grades are important and the way you go about getting those grades is important as well. When the class is on the same page on what the values of the class are, things should run smoothly.

I think one of the most important things I have learned is that when people have similar values, beliefs and attitudes, things seem to work better. Your students are gonna have many differ cultures that are influenced by and made up of the aforementioned attributes but as a teacher its important that you establish values, attitudes and beliefs for your classroom. When i look back at the most successful classes I've had as a student, those classes are the ones where it felt that we students were in another world. In successful classes you have to create a classroom culture that is conductive to learning. You also have to realize that in ever classroom there is a culture, whether it be good or bad, productive or unproductive. You have to undoubtedly change some of your students beliefs; especially if they had a 'bad teacher'. A student may come to you thinking and believing that learning isn't important or fun but the culture in your classroom should change that. Every student who walks in your class in August should not be the same when they leave in June; if so, you many have to change some of your beliefs because if you have another student like that you want to be able to get through to them so the same thing doesn't happen twice.