REFLECTION 16 :- GENOCIDE AND ETHNIC CLEANSING

From reading about these atrocities, I have gained a lot of insight of what these issues really are. these issues included genocide which is the destruction of a whole group and ethnic cleansing which is the same these activities has been taking place for many years and has caused a lot of pain and heartache in many hearts, souls and countries. Ethnic cleansing took place in Rwanda, Bosnia and Dafur , three places I never knew existed until I read about it to write this reflection. These places aren’t the best of places but to know that genocide happened there it breaks my heart to know that people would just kill each other because of what they believed in or looked like or what group they belonged to. I definitely would not want to be around when this is happening or even know anyone that this happened to because of how tragic it is. I think that this part of history should never be forgotten so the individuals of today’s society will appreciate their elders more. Not only their elders but also the struggles that they encounter will be appreciated. As an aspiring teacher, I will definitely teach my class about what happened in the past. My reason for this is if you do not know your past you do not have a future, and every child that gets in contact with me has a future one to make this world a better place. Therefore, i will be paving the way for them to have that future. I am in so much distress and disbelief because I did not know the details of what happened I just knew it happened. However, after today I definitely will continue to appreciate what I have gained and what is in store to come. I implore everyone to find out about your past because it will definitely help you to help others. During all this helping, the world will be changing into a better one for you, me and the generations to come. Change what is happening today do not wait for tomorrow.

ASSIGNMENT 1

I am doing my field experience hours at the Miami Dade North Campus Pre-School Lab. It is a very diverse institution. There are teachers and students from every race and culture that is possible to think of. The students are treated with equality and respect and are taught to treat others the same. I love volunteering there because of the attitude and the environment of everyone. The teacher Miss Sherine is a very open-minded individual she is one my many inspirations in becoming a teacher. She definitely recognizes diversity with respect because no child is treated differently and there are whites, blacks and Hispanics in her classroom. She also pays attention to different learning styles because of the way she teaches a few of the children in the classroom. I questioned why and she says it is because they learn differently. I think here she was displaying how people learn and encouraging them to do so. She instructs all her students in the same manner and the environment is the same towards and for everyone. This teacher uses many materials in her classroom and I would consider it diverse. I remember one instance where the children had to make a fruit salad and each child had to bring a fruit from their native culture I think that displays diversity among the children. They then had to work together to make this fruit salad. In doing this activity, Miss Sherine had to provide and accommodate some of the materials that were needed. Since this month is Hispanic month, the children are being taught all about the Hispanics, which include their language, food and dance. For everyday in the month of October, so far they have to say the alphabet in Spanish and count in Spanish. In my opinion, I think that this teacher respects diversity and displays it in every move she makes. I love what she is doing and I hope to be as good as she is.

REFLECTION 15:- THE HOLOCAUST

The holocaust has been a theory before and during World War II. People who say it did not happen really do not have any proof to back their motive or notion. There have been traces of much evidence left in Poland such as concentration camps and survivors just to name two. That proves to show that the holocaust was existent. Art Spiegelman father Vladek Spie one of the main survivors who was drafted in the polish army told his story of his life in Poland in his book “Maus II, A Survivors Tale.” The individuals who claim it did not happen are as heartless and wicked as the people who were doing the damage in the holocaust. It is very impossible to believe that these individuals were mistreated in this manner. Only heartless people would want to hurt people of their kind and then deny that it happened. When thinking about it I get very emotional and distressed over the situation of the fact that thousands of people were killed. I think that every individual should learn about this tragic time in our past so it will not replay in our future. As a teacher in training, I definitely will teach the children in my class about what happened all because of racism. With this, it will encourage them not to be racist and they will try to make this world a better place. If everyone thought like that, I am sure that the holocaust would not have happened. Therefore, it happened already so why deny it when everyone already knows it happened. Why not just try to make it better and influence the younger generation to prevent it from happening again. This ruthless behavior will only make our society a cruel, harsh and a very hard one to live in. I definitely would not like to see this taking place again therefore I am trying my best to live the right way and always be nice to others no matter their age, color, style and/or race. I also believe that it will happen again if we as the people of this earth do not change our style of living.

REFLECTION 14:- PREJUDICE

Prejudice is a popular problem that has been around for centuries. It deals with feelings evoked towards an individual or group. This has to be displayed in a negative manner for it to be considered prejudice. For example, a black family moves into a white neighborhood and all the residents begin to move from that community. That what is displayed is known as prejudice in a racial manner. This problem comes about sometimes because one feels that he or she is superior. Prejudice always brings about conflict and segregation. Sometimes this major issue is seen in the classroom. This is definitely horrific. No individual should be judged by their color, socioeconomic status, friends and/or neighborhood, just to name few, in order to get around to do anything in life especially education. No one should be deprived of education and resources just because of the stated factors. Education is what makes the economy of a country get better and grow. Education is what makes the world what it is today therefore no one should not get one. Reading these articles inspires me to continue being the person I am today, an impartial body that loves and cares for everything on this planet. As a teacher to be, I would never in my years of teaching to come discriminate against any of my students because of any reason at all. Everyone in this world should be treated the same no matter who you are or where you are from. I think I know how prejudice happens now. It starts with a group of individuals believing in one belief. It then continues when this group evokes bad feelings towards others and tries to get other individuals to believe that what they are doing is very correct. During this process a lot of people do get hurt and the persons doing the damage do not care about its effect on others. Therefore, I close by saying “do unto others, as you would have them do unto you.” Never do something to someone that you would not like being done to you.

REFLECTION 13:- SELF-ESTEEM AND SELF-CONCEPT

In the articles "Understanding the Self" (Hamachek) and in Transformation: Creating Context, Part 1 it shows that every person in this world thinks of themselves differently. I thought that the sections on self concept and self-esteem were the most important parts. This is how we as individuals see, think and feel about ourselves. It can be either low or high. Obviously low self-concept and/or esteem are bad and high are good to some extent. Many factors influence how we worth ourselves such as culture, socioeconomic status and our perception of what the ideal self-looks like. Feedback whether good or bad has a great amount of impact on a person. These concepts build you into the kind of individual a child grows up to be. For example, if a child is always told you are horrible, you will become nothing in life this child grows up thinking that they are actually horrible and will be a true failure, thus them not making any goals and work towards nothing. During this process, this child is developing self-concept in a bad way and an extremely low self-esteem. This of course is not encouraged. This article was interesting and encourages me as an aspiring teacher to show always children good deeds. It also teaches me to encourage others because you never know what one kind word can do to an individual. Suggestions and feedbacks are extremely powerful this can break or make a person so always be careful what you say to people especially the young, disabled and the extremely old. The wrong impression is very easy to acquire so I encourage all to try to change someone’s life for the better. Let them think of him or herself as worthy, wanted or any other inspiring word and develop high self concept and high self esteem. Pretend it was you who needed that help and needed just one person in this world to encourage you.

REFLECTION 12:- FREUD

Freud’s work is considered important in today’s world because he did his studies long ago and his name is a household name. Freud is known for is hard work and his excellent explanation on Psychoanalysis. Freud was the first individual to do this research. Because this man had so much evidence to back the work he has done, most individuals believe it is true and important. On the other hand, individuals think it is important but they do not agree with this concept because of reasons such as beliefs, values, attitudes and ones culture. They more than likely think it is important because as a baby you have to grow and go through stages. This is of course the most important portion in a person’s life. Looking at all the articles about this individual, I think he is frankly a cool person. He has interesting facts and many experiments to back his assumptions. He is on the other hand frank about what he has to say. For example, he gets to the point as quickly as possible and never tries to dress it up in no way. He makes you believe that everything is normal and every person in this world has to go through these stages. Freud has a great emphasis on sex when he explained the psycho-developmental stage. To me that was somewhat weird how sex is related to feeding and potty training an infant. After reading these articles, it explained how infants get pleasure from activities we consider minute or possibly gross. Freud explains that from the day you were born until you grow into adulthood you have thoughts of sexual activities. Society teaches children that this is somewhat wrong while he proved that it is natural and acceptable. I think Freud’s theory should be taught in schools because it gives you as an individual an open mind about things that you were possibly taught of as wrong and it may change the world into a better place.

REFLECTION 11:- BELIEFS, VALUES AND ATTITUDES

After reading the article Beliefs, Values and Attitudes it made me start to think about the world. It made me realize why everyone is different and there are no two same people in the world. Thinking about it from a teacher’s perspective it shows why every child has a different personality, and how every child learns differently. Beliefs, values and attitudes are in every culture, and in each culture, every person has his or her own belief value and attitude. These factors do change in every situation. It is sometimes changed because of the surroundings you are in or how you feel. This article really explains everything one needs to know about beliefs, values and attitudes. These factors reflect what kind of person you as an individual really are. This explains all the doubted questions or curiosities you will ever have as a young person especially a prospective teacher. This emphasizes that one should accept everyone else’s beliefs, values and attitudes. If everyone in this world should accept each other as they are racism and prejudices will become outdated for us. Teachers should definitely follow by this because it will eliminate fights and quarrels in the classrooms. I think that children fight and call each other names because they do not know the fact that each of them are different and will not agree on everything that is taking place. In conclusion, I think the most important thing that I have learnt is that each person is different. Because of this, they have different views and perspectives on every situation. I believe that every child should be taught this from a tender age and this definitely will make the world an extremely better place. This is an inspiration to the disabled and the able that there can be change for the better and not only for the worst if everyone in this world would accept and believe in the above stated.

REFLECTION 10:- TEACHING FOR INCLUSION

This article really had me. It is so interesting it makes me realize how much I really want to be a teacher. It included strategies that should be used for teaching such as teaching to the individual, getting to know your students from day 1 until, how to have classroom discussions, how to set ground rules, establishing your classroom as a safe zone. Nextly, it included teaching resources such as anecdotes, humor, role-plays and visual aids. It then encouraged group work and debates because it is proven that it opens the minds if children. It then went on to talk about the syllabus, the assignment formats, and the evaluation of students (testing, participation, flexible grading scales and grading criteria). It encourages aspiring teachers to have office hours and that they should not take their personal lives in the classroom. To me it was basically a rule book for teachers and that all activities are centered around the students. It has all the to dos and what not to dos. It opens the eyes of the individuals reading it and makes them know that being a teacher is not an easy task and one should enter the field only because they want to make a difference and no other reason. It teaches us how to establish comfortable environments in the classroom no matter the color, race, language or any other physical aspect of an individual. In conclusion, I think that any individual who has read this article has a changed heart because it gets right to the point and expresses what is needed to be expressed. At this moment, I would not mind waking tomorrow and being a teacher because of how excited and interested I am at present. I would encourage every aspiring teacher to read this and parents too. This would show them how much work is involved with being a teacher and I think society would accept us more for what we do for the leaders of tomorrow rather than finding faults.

REFLECTION 9:- AWARENESS AND CONSCIOUSNESS

Awareness and consciousness has a link in some part. To me, to be aware of a situation you have to conscious about the details of what it entails. Being an aspiring teacher, these two concepts are extremely important because you as the head of the classroom have to be aware of everything that is happening and wants to absorb the situation in order to make it better. As a teacher, you always want to know what is happening in the classroom so your students can be receiving the proper treatment according to their needs. For example, if you are conscious and aware you know when you have to repeat something you have said or when you would have to move a child because of him/her disturbing the class and putting others in jeopardy. Not only in the classroom is this necessary but also in the outside. This is where it is needed, because if you are not careful you will get hurt. For example, if you are not aware and conscious of your surroundings a person can be robbed and/or injured if they are not careful. In the article to me, it implies that awareness and consciousness work hand in hand and once you become that way it is hard for you not to think and work with awareness and consciousness. This skill deals with a lot of mental ability. It requires a lot of brainpower at first but once you get into it, it is extremely easy to manipulate. In conclusion, I think that this article was extremely interesting and a revelation to me. This is so because it showed me that thinking this way gives you a better look at life and most times it is the safest way to go. Therefore, as an aspiring teacher I surely am going to use awareness and consciousness in my classroom to enable the success of the children I will be catering to. I will also implore them to think, talk and teach others to look in that perspective. By doing that, eventually the world will be a better place because everyone is thinking with consciousness and awareness.