- Darlene is marginalized the moment she walks into the school. Darlene exhibits signs of sensory overload with her covering her ears and waiting for other students to leave her locker before she opens it. When Jim sees her, he immediately tries to go over to her to try to stop any behavior that he assumes will occur. In this case, Jim is assuming that Darlene cannot act appropriately within the current situation and is already preparing for the worst. This marginalizes her before she even steps into the classroom. Another sign is that she is supposed to wait at the front of the school for an educational assistant to help her go to class. Her peers would then witness her walk to class with an adult which would differentiate her from all the other students. Then in class, Jim and Paula are circulating the classroom as they anticipate an outburst from Darlene. When she explodes, Paula quickly gets Darlene out of the classroom which then all the other students witness that she is treated differently. Both Darlene and the classmates then become ill equipped to deal with the situation because they do not have time to deal with the situation on their own before the teachers get involved. For Darlene to be better integrated with her peers, she needs to be able to feel safe in her own classroom without feeling overcrowded. There needs to be a safe space for Darlene to enter in the classroom when she feels she is getting worked up. I can relate this back to my practicum where there was a student that would get worked up after doing work in class after a long period of time. This student was able to identify when they were feeling overwhelmed and excused themselves outside for a 5 minute break. Ideally, there could be a safe space in the classroom for the student to take place. However, the outside break worked just as well for the student to reset themselves and come back to class ready to work. When a student doesn’t have to leave the classroom with an adult for an extended period of time, they are more likely to be integrated in the classroom and the other students don’t see them as different. For Darlene, it would be better if Jim and Paula had a preventative plan in place instead of reacting to the situation right after she has an outburst.
- This big shift in how teachers are instructing their students has been because of the realization of how students learn. With rote memory learning, students will often remember information for a test or exam only to forget it all a few days later. This type of instruction proves to be a failure for students retaining any information that they have learned. In recent years, teachers have switched to project work and reflective journals because it has become a more effective way for students to learn through their own inquiry. When students are able to create projects that they have interest in and ask their own questions, they are more likely to retain the information they learned because it meant something to them. With reflective journals, students are able to come to conclusions on their own through their personal examinations. It is a very different experience when a teacher is telling students how to think about a certain topic compared to when students are able to write down their own thoughts and discoveries. The new curriculum is also a big reason for this change because teachers now have more freedom to allow their students the opportunity to engage in chosen material that interests them. Student teachers coming from our program and other programs are learning a very different way to engage children then when we went to school so we are bringing these methods into the education system. Another beneficial aspect of reflection and project work in the classroom is that it encompasses so much more of the core competencies than rote learning. Through journal reflections, students are able to develop their communication and critical thinking skills. Additionally, so much of project work is done in groups that students have to learn how to collaborate and interact socially with their peers. Overall, this change has been beneficial for both the students and teachers so the change in instruction has been a critical one.
- First of all, one must be a role model to the person that they are mentoring. A mentor has to be setting an example for their mentee in a way that they can model their actions and behavior. A mentor trains and advises someone so they have to be knowledgeable in the area that they are mentoring in. A mentor has to be willing to help out their mentee with anything at any point but also knows that they don’t just fix things for the mentee. They are coaches that guide their mentees through situations and show them how to solve things on their own so that the mentee can soon stand on their own two feet. It is important that a mentor is kind and supportive. This allows the mentee the mindset that they can go to the mentor with any questions and not face any backlash. A good mentor is one that shows respect to their mentee and is someone that is also respected. Being a mentor is an honor that one receives because they are seen as good enough to show someone else their method of work. However, we see in the case that as a mentor, Kevin does not show Elizabeth the respect she deserves which then probably made her lose all respect she may have had for him. Additionally, a mentor has to be honest when advising their mentee. A good mentor will not hold back their guidance and their critiques of their mentee as longs it is constructive. It is evident in this case that Kevin is a terrible mentor to Elizabeth. When he becomes aware of her new teaching method, he completely disagrees with it and becomes very condescending towards her. It is evident that her method is one that works but he is unable to reflect on his own beliefs and detect the flaws in them. Therefore, a good mentor is also one that can also show growth and is open to learning from their mentee as much as the mentee is learning from them.
