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I believe being a teacher-activist is something that is done practically everyday that they are in the classroom. Teachers are constantly taking care of their students’ needs and making sure that they are getting what they need to be successful. An example of this would be if a teacher notices that one of his or her students is having a hard time reading the board. Although getting the child the correct care is not necessarily the teacher’s job, they should want what’s best for the child and get them the appropriate help. If a teacher notices constant or unusual bruising on a student, the teacher should let the counselor know to assure that the child is in a safe environment. There are many issues that will arise in a classroom. Teachers need to be comfortable and ready to deal with poverty, neglect, abuse, poor health, bullying, depression, and low self esteem. Teachers have more responsibilities than just making sure that the students are learning. Teachers should also be caring and looking out for the students. It might be necessary for a teacher to go out of his or her way and do a home visit or meet with a parent outside of the school walls. Some teachers might go into the community and confront issues such as health care, drugs, physical and sexual abuse, or bullying. Whatever teachers chose to do, they take action, becoming activists for their students. One quote that I really liked from the Rethinking Schools article, Activism is Good Teaching, is, “Teachers and teacher educators need to rely on each other to foster professionalism as activism in our respective settings. Cultivating a socially just and equitable society is as much about our interactions as it is about our actions”. This quote helped me realize how important it is for teachers to watch how they approach an issue.

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I believe collaboration is essential for a classroom to be successful. I am a strong believer in group work if it is done correctly. If students are on task and are staying focused then they are able to take a lot away from collaborating with a small group. Group work helps improve the students’ social and interpersonal skills. Students must communicate effectively, work as a team and demonstrate self-discipline while working collaboratively with their peers. I personally work better when talking with a few students compared to the whole class. I feel more comfortable sharing my opinion with a few of my peers. Students are able to share their ideas and in return, learn from others. This allows students to hear multiple perspectives. Collaboration is not only beneficial for the students, but also for the teachers. The rethinking schools article, Reinventing Schools that Keep Teachers in teaching, said, “When a colleague's husband died suddenly, leaving her a bereft single mother, we reorganized the school so that she co-taught with a close colleague in adjoining rooms with a third adult to give her the time and support needed for a few years”. I loved how this school had this specific teacher collaborate with someone that she was close with to make her more comfortable. Teachers can also learn from each other. Teaching collaboratively provides teachers with the opportunity to exchange ideas. For example, teachers can share lesson-planning ideas, specific classroom activities, or discuss the positive and negative parts of a project for the other educators to learn from.

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I believe community/family is extremely important to the children’s life. They both impact how the students do in school. With this being said, as a future teacher, I need to familiarize myself with my students’ family and the community that they live in. I need to be in contact with my students’ family. For example, If they are not able to make it to parent teacher conference, I need to go out of my way and make an effort to meet up somewhere where they are comfortable. It is important that the parents know what is happening in their children’s life. I need to figure out if any of the students’ guardians do not speak or read English. I should be making it a priority to reach out to every parent. I also need to make it a priority to become familiar with the area that my students live in. This will allow me to connect with them on a deeper level. The rethinking school article, What do You Mean When You Say Urban, states, “To me, urban students come from an environment where they can’t see the value of education. They can’t see why it matters, because everyone that they know, everything that they do, has nothing to do with having an education”. I want my students to understand that education is a great thing. I believe that I can achieve this by showing them how much I truly care. I want to put in the extra effort to connect with them.

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I believe my students will learn best when I  establish a relationship with the children in my classroom. The American Education textbook mentioned mentioned that, “Teachers find their greatest reward in interacting with students”(page, 227). I believe that interacting and building relationships with students is key to successful teaching. It is important for students to know that they are able to trust their teacher. Students may not feel comfortable coming to me with a problem if they feel like they are not able to trust me. I want to get to know each student. I really want my students to know that I truly care about them. I also think that my students will learn best when I provide them with opportunities to work in cooperative groups. Group work allows students to share their ideas with their peers and they also benefit from listening to their peers’ thoughts. I do, however, think that for group work to be successful I will have to have good class management skills. Groups will often get off topic and it is my job to make sure that the students are doing what they are supposed to be doing. I will need to establish and communicate classroom rules. Lastly, I believe that it is important to use a variety of ways to engage students. Everyone has different learning styles and I need to take each and every one of them into consideration. Every student matters.

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I believe students learn best when they understand how important and special each one of them really is. I think that this starts when teachers incorporate their students cultures and backgrounds into the lesson. An example that comes to mind is relating story problems and short stories to the students’ lives. It is so easy to add a familiar name into a story problem or use objects or places that the students can relate to or connect with. Students also learn best when they are learning through experiences. There should regularly be hands on activities happening in the classroom. I don’t want my students to have to sit at their desk all day and listen to me lecture. There should be movement and discussion. I also believe students learn best when they are all giving the same opportunity. There needs to be an equality of opportunity. “In Horace Mann’s vision, schools will ensure that everyone receives an education that will allow them to compete for wealth on equal terms. Life is a competitive race with school being the starting point”(Spring, p. 70). If a student knows that someone else has a better chance of succeeding in school then they will lose their motivation to do their best. However, if students feel like they have the same opportunities as their peers, they will not feel discouraged. I want all of my students to understand that they are capable of so much more than they think. Students learn best when they are motivated to listen and learn.

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I believe all of my future students are capable of so much more than they think. All of the students in my future classroom will be unique and different from one another. Although they are all capable of learning, they will each learn differently. No two students will be the same. All of my future students will contribute something special to the classroom. They will all have unique interests and talents. They will learn and grow from each other. My future students will each look different from one another and in many cases come from different backgrounds. As a future urban teacher I expect to have a diverse classroom. Joel Spring states that, “multicultural education is caused by the growth of an international labor market, multinational corporations, the search for better economic and political conditions, and displacement by war” (Spring, p. 179). Each student will have their own story to tell. I want to encourage my students to embrace their background and where they come from. All of my future students will be amazing in their own way.

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I believe the purpose of schooling is to educate children and prepare them for adulthood. A lot of full time jobs require the person to have schooling, whether it’s a college degree or just a high school diploma. School provides children with the knowledge to be successful in life. This starts from a very young age. For example, students begin reading in kindergarten. Reading is a basic skill that I find essential for everyone to have. People are constantly reading. Words are everywhere. People read books, magazines, instructions, recipes, emails, text messages, etc. Basic math schools are also all around us. School teaches us to measure ingredients and count money. Not only does school educate children on math, reading, science, and language, but they also learn social skills. Students learn and grow with their peers and this allows them to develop socially and mentally. Horace Mann believed that it is important for all children in society to attend the same type of school. "The school was to be common to all children. Within the public or common school, children of all religious and social classes were to share in a common education" (Spring, p.14)
Children really do belong in schools. It’s one of the first steps to a successful and satisfying life.

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I believe that teaching is about more than just covering the curriculum, it’s about doing what it takes to give the students what they will truly need to succeed. Teaching is about using equity and not just equality in the classroom. Some students require more guidance and attention. Some students learn differently than others. Teaching is about accommodating everyone’s learning style. However, teaching is also about giving the students an equal opportunity to succeed. In the American Education book, Joel Spring discusses how equality of opportunity would reduce tension in schools and give everyone a fair change in life. This begins with the teachers. I believe that teaching requires flexibility. Not everything will always go as planned. The students won’t always learn something as fast as we expect them to. Teachers might have to go back and review something causing the lesson to slightly change and run short. Teaching effectively will also require classroom management. It will be very difficult to teach a lesson if the students are running around the room and not listening. It is important to teach the students respect and listening skills before teaching from the curriculum. The students will retain more information if they are focused and ready to learn.

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I believe that learning is something that happens all around us. Everyone is constantly learning and growing. Students are not the only people that are meant to learn. Although students learn from teachers, teachers are also learning from their students. Teachers learn the most effective way to teach by watching their students. Children also like to ask questions. We might not always know the answer so we will have to educate ourselves by doing research. The teacher and the students learn together. It’s almost as if the teacher remains a students throughout his or her teaching career. Even the smartest people don’t know everything that there is know. We never stop learning.  I believe that learning can be done in a variety of ways. We can learn through discussions, play, experiments, experiences, technology, questions, and reading. Children not only need a prepared childhood to learn , but they also need a protected childhood. Joel Spring said in the American Education textbook, "protected childhood focuses on the happinesses and well being of the child. In prepared childhood attention is given to the child's future rather than concern about the child's immediate happiness." I also believe that everyone learns differently. No two people are the same. Some people learn from touch and hands on activities while other learn from what they hear. We all prefer different ways of learning. Learning is a lifelong process

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I believe one of my responsibilities as a teacher is to build a strong classroom community where my students feel comfortable enough to share their thoughts and ideas. It is important that my students feel safe and free to be themselves in my classroom. it is also my responsibility to to be a good role model because my students will be watching everything that I do and say. I should make sure I am fulfilling commitments that I make. I don’t want to let my students down. My job as a teacher is to remember that I am there to serve the students in my class and I will do so to the best of my ability with a positive attitude. I will become their advocate to ensure they get everything they need to be successful in the classroom. It is my responsibility to figure out the best way to deliver the content to my students. I will have to take the time to learn the teaching style that works best with each group of students from year to year. Like James Baldwin stated, "The purpose of education, finally, is to create in a person the ability to look at the world for himself, to make his own decisions, to say to himself this is black or this is white, to decide for himself whether there is a God in heaven or not. To ask questions of the universe, and then learn to live with those questions, is the way he achieves his own identity." (p. 2)