Category Archives: My educational philosophy

Social media.

Social media can be a touchy subject when it comes to the profession of teaching. Everyone undoubtedly these days is on some form of social media whether it be Facebook, twitter, Instagram etc. it has had a very positive impact on the world, and the lives that we live today. There are many great things that we can do with social media and the internet, and now most of us can’t imagine our lives without them. However when it comes to teaching and social media, there can be a dark side to it.

Most children these days also have access to social media and usually are up to date with the latest technology. Personally from experience with my younger siblings, it fascinates me how much more children as young as 7 know about technology compared to me at 17. Children can often end up in a section on social media they are not supposed to be on. For example, they may be watching a video on YouTube and click on one of the suggested videos, which may be completely inappropriate for a child to be watching. This can also come in to effect, especially when a child reaches upper school ages, that they have a tendency to ‘google’ if you like, their teachers. We are all guilty of it. I can recall from being in high school, a group of us searching for some of our teachers on social media although I cannot think if a valid reason as to why we were doing so. Therefore it is our duties as teachers to be very careful with our social media sites and what we are posting on the online world.

The first steps that I feel are crucial when it comes to the profession of teaching and social media, is that we ensure all our profiles are private and only accessible to our friends only. Although it may seem very restrictive, if teaching is truly what we want to do with our lives, then it should be something we should be willing to sacrifice. We need to think twice before posting online, especially if we are teaching within our own community in which we may be friends with any pupils’ parents. A major thing that we need to be careful with is photographs of ourselves that are posted online. Our professionalism also exists the classroom with us when we leave. We need to make sure that no one is uploading or we ourselves are not uploading any type of photo that may get us in any kind of trouble or put our job at risk. With social media, it can have a huge impact on our careers, and it can have multiple consequences if we are not careful, thus we need to be very critical with ourselves and how we portray ourselves on the online world.

This being said I also do think that social media is a great asset to the teaching community. As teachers we can set up separate accounts to engage with our students online, in a fun and engaging way. Social media is something that is constantly developing in the word, and something that is not going to go away, thus we should be engaging with it within a classroom. It is most common that negative connotations spring to mind when speaking about the subject of social media and the teaching profession. Although this is something we need to explore in to and steer more towards the positives and begin to realize the many benefits social media possess to us as teachers.

After doing a bit of research in to social media and the classroom, I came across this video, and I found it really interesting in demonstrating the positives of using social media within a classroom and the benefits children get from using it in their learning.

self-esteem

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Self-esteem is something that in life, makes us who we are. Some people have a really high self-esteem where as others, struggle with their self-esteem. Self-esteem itself, is a person’s own emotional evaluation of their own worth. It is their confidence within themselves and also their attitude towards themselves.

Self-esteem is something that as student teachers, we really need to think about. For us as teachers, we need to make sure we have a lot of self-esteem to portray it to our pupils. We need to be confident in our work and with ourselves to demonstrate a good example to our students. If we can do this then our students will notice and will perhaps begin to see the importance with having a good self-esteem.

Having a healthy self-esteem.

There are many things that having good confidence within yourself has proven to have effect on. For example, people with high self-esteem when going through a bad time in their life, are more likely to come through that stage easier compared to those with a low self-esteem. People with high self-esteem are also more likely to achieve things successfully that they may have felt slightly apprehensive about trying, for example stepping out-with their comfort zone. Having a high self-esteem can also impact a person’s academics, as a person is more likely to do better with their work if they are confident in themselves, compared to someone who is not confident in themselves. This shows the importance of having a healthy self-esteem, and shows us as teachers, how vital it is that we pay attention to children and their self-esteem.

Having a low self-esteem.

It is also proven that having a low self-esteem can cookie_low_self_esteem_2 have an effect on you and the person that you are. People with low self-esteem think badly on themselves and also think that others also think badly of them. This can impact a person dramatically, and can also eventually impact ones health in more serious cases. People with low self-esteem, although maybe not on purpose, are often very negative people. This may only be the case with themselves, and not towards others, however it plays a dramatic part on their life. People with low self-esteem can often find it hard to concentrate on other things such as their school work. With this said, it clearly highlights the importance in our roles as teachers that we pay attention to a child’s self-esteem and that we try and help our students with their self-esteem.

As teachers we need to be careful with a lot of our methods as they may have an impact on a child’s self-esteem and how they value themselves. One of the most important things we as teachers need to look at is our feedback to pupils. We cannot be constantly giving the same pupil the exact same feedback or even giving all the students the same feedback. If we are doing so the pupils will become confused and could start to doubt themselves. Also if we are giving all the children the same feedback they may begin to question whether or not they are doing well or if the teacher ‘is just saying that.’ Also if children are split into set ability groups, we need to be careful with the way we are teaching the two groups. If we begin to teach and act in a superior way with one group, we need to consider how the children in the other group are feeling and how that may impact the way they view themselves. Separate groups for learning can have a huge impact on a child’s self-confidence and can dramatically knock a child’s confidence down. However it also works the other way. It simply would not be fair to children who excel in certain subjects to not have separate groups, as the children may not realise that they are excelling compared to if they are aware of it, they will grow a sort of good confidence in themselves. It is also important that we do not always spend a little extra time with certain students or are constantly picking the same students to answer questions, hand out recourses or to go on messages. Even though these are very simple things, they are things that children will notice, and if they are not one of those kids, then it will have an effect on them and how they view themselves.

Self-esteem overall is something that we as teachers need to value with every child. Every child that we come across will be very different, and we need to be prepared to work with each of these children and be prepared for any challenges that we may be faced with. As teachers, it is vital that we pay attention to each child and try to make an attempt to have a positive impact on each child that we work with self-esteem.

Languages within the classroom

Did gender have an effect on your education as a child?

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Going through primary school, I can not think of any circumstances in which gender played an effect on my education, Although what I do remember form primary school, is that the teachers were often very stereotypical. Anything that involved carrying a heavy item from one place to another, it was always a boy that was chosen to do it, never a girl, as we were seen as too weak to carry things. Then there was tasks that involved responsibility and required the person carrying out the task to be responsible, for example, delivering notes to teachers. This type of task, girls would always be chosen as boys were seen as unreliable, and would not get the job done. Although these are very simple stereotypes, I feel very strongly that we as future teachers, need to try and make an improvement. If we as grown ups are telling children, your too weak for this, you are too unreliable for this, what are they going to think about themselves. It is a very minor issue, however something that needs to be looked at seriously, and changed for the better.

Why am I here?

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So why is it that I am here, studying education at The University of Dundee? I have always been aware of how satisfying teaching is, growing up in a teaching environment. From being at school, to attending my aunties dance classes, five times a week, I was constantly surrounded by teachers. They all seemed so happy at their jobs, and I knew all I wanted to be, was happy. My mum then went on to have my three younger siblings, of whom I was a sort of ‘teacher,’ if you like to them. They followed my every move, done what ever I done, and they looked up to me. It has been such a satisfying experience so far having three younger siblings who look up to me, who think the world of me, and I know that this is a feeling that I never want to go away. From spending time with them, I have began to notice that they are constantly talking about their teachers, as they look up to them as well. Their teacher is the center of their world at times. I started to read some posts online from teachers, to try and get a real feel for the job. All i kept reading was how satisfying the job was, and how incredible it is, to be such a big impact on someones life.

Then came the all important time when I had to start applying for colleges and universities. I knew that i wanted to have a satisfying career, although the one though of ‘am i right for this’ kept going through my mind. I started volunteering at my local dance classes to see if I could experience the real satisfaction from being a teacher that every teacher seems to be raving about – and it happened. I was taking one of the students privately to help her with her dance, and she was continuously beating her self up if she could not remember what move came next. I suggested writing the dance down, or practicing at home. A few weeks later she came running in to the class bursting with joy as she had took my advice, and she done her dance perfectly. I then had that feeling of great satisfaction. It was such an incredible feeling that this young girl had done something I simply suggested she do, and got a great experience from it. From then on, I guess I just knew, and that this is why I am here.

For me, the kind of teacher I want to become, is one just like my primary five teacher. I have never had a teaching experience like the one she gave me. She made such a huge impact on me, and to this day I can still remember her classes. She is still my inspiration in the type of teacher I would like to be. She was outgoing, creative and knew exactly how to relate to children. My whole class loved her, and only know I can understand how good a feeling that must be, having such an impact on so many children’s lifes. I want to be that teacher, who children respect, talk about and are inspired by – the teacher that she was. I know that in ten years time, that if I am even half the teacher she is, I will have succeeded.