GATEways to Teacher Education

This truism has guided my commitment as an educator to be real for my students, more importantly, to know more about their real lives.

One basic strategy I use originated in the elementary classroom with the annual, beginning of the school year, parent meetings. When I taught third grade, I posed the following question in written form to the parents in my room on Open House Night at the beginning of the year. I asked parents to tell me (in writing) what they hoped their child would receive from being in my classroom during the upcoming school year. I encouraged them to list multiple expectations in the order of importance as seen through their eyes as a parent This was invaluable to me in clarifying expectations and helping me understand where parents stood in their view of that particular grade level’s requirements and benchmarks, as well as social and behavioral expectations This valuable information helped me convey to parents a more realistic view of developmentally appropriate academic, social, and emotional expectations for their child during that specific year of school Asking parents for input before the year begins signals that the teacher is open to parent feedback and clarification concerning expectations associated with the school year. Communication between parent and teacher allows time to share and fully explain assignments and activities, enabling parents to see how these expectations are closely linked to the overall learning goals for the year.

I use this same strategy in the college classroom by asking my students during the first class meeting to write down what they hoped to gain from taking my course. Once again, this allows me to align my students’ expectations with my professorial instructional practices. There are times when a student enrolls in a class thinking the course objective will follow a particular direction; however, once I address my students’misconceptions and uncertainties and fully explain the aim of the course, they feel more at ease. I feel a communication strategy that clarifies student concerns and questions empowers all participants in a college class to value the relevance of academic content with their life experiences. This type of clarification also encourages my reflection on assignments, class activities, and fieldwork to accomplish that clear course goal.

Aphrase I often use when explaining assignments is “Let me tell you a story…” I use personal stories and experiences, textbook examples, and even current (or semi-current) news stories to tie the connection between the assignment and the real world. I have found students enjoy hearing real-life experiences, as many can relate and will volunteer their own personal stories or examples, as well.

While explaining the guidelines and rubric for an upcoming assignment on Culture and Diversity, I heard some groans from the students. I decided to pause for a moment and then ask them a simple question, “Do any of you know about Mongolian spots?” No one raised their hand or spoke up to answer, so I proceeded to tell them the story of how I had a young student in my class of Korean descent who had what appeared to be bruises all over his back.At first glance, it would seem as though he had been abused. However, because I did