Education Reflection Essay

Theories provide the foundation for educational practices, and many of them exist. While I consider my personal theory or philosophy of education to be one that is something of an ever-changing conglomerate of ideas, I realize that some of my guiding principals are directly attributed to well a well established theory.

is capable of doing the work, but he is also more wrapped up in the

As I have before, I want to open this reflection by commenting on how much quality, worthwhile experience I am getting through my time in the middle school classroom. I have observed many different times, and at many different grade levels, but never have I spent as much time as I have this semester with one single teacher and class. I have been able to make genuine connections with the students, and I have witnessed valuable instruction and classroom management from the teacher. Having spent so much time with one single class, I have been given the opportunity to truly see the structure and format of the class in a way that I haven’t been able to in past experiences. The time I am spending in the 5th grade classroom is teaching me invaluable skills, techniques, and methods for making a middle school class run as efficiently as possible.

The ideas I have been considering since starting and college and starting this journey as college freshman has been the idea of not settling for the least and to believe in myself more. This probably sounds like a very basic discovering one has with oneself but it has made an impact on how I believe in myself and how I carry myself in regards to school work and achieving goals. An idea I have been considering is not an easy decision and I know that I won't deciding anytime soon but the idea of furthering my education and actually becoming a practitioner nurse sounds appealing. I don't know yet if I want to fulfill that education after graduation from nursing school but it has been idea that has been been planted in my head by talking to some peers and other nurses that are interested in furthering their education.

God, the Ruler and Creator of every finite and infinite existence in the universe, has called me to a life of love, servitude, and fellowship with other Christians. However, at my age, my walk with Christ is no longer conjoined with decisions made by my parents. The decision of college is entirely mine to make with the benevolent and ever-wise guidance of Christ. By no means is this an easy task, but one ideal has been forthright in my heart-- my education must be Christ-centered.

Going to school lays out the foundation for many aspects in a person’s life. Going to school teaches learning and how that person feels about learning. It promotes socialization and relationships with others. It builds memories that are cherished for a lifetime.

When i first entered this class I didn't know what to expect because our school’s english teachers are so unique in character. I knew for certain that the class was gonna be challenging just because it is an Ap class, but I never expected it to change how i see the world. I have never experienced the type of environment we had as a class in my thirteen year, pre-kinder to eleven grade, of learning. From forming a cult, to engaging in rigourous conversations, to just having moments where we go on off topic and this has brought us closer. I can't forget to mention the fact that we actually learn a few things. Well a lot of important things actually. The course has elevated my English skill in comprehension, writing, speech, and has shifted the way I interact with the world as i search for a deeper meaning because of the influence of the class’ environment.

For this lesson, I attempted to shorten my whole group instructional time and to differentiate the instructions to better engage students in the lesson. Because of this, I learned that it is important to not give students too much information or directions at one time. I saw an improvement in student’s engagement during the whole group instruction. I did not give the students time to lose interest, I kept consistent pacing and made sure to differentiate the instruction to meet the needs of the different types of learners within my class. I also applied a couple different strategies to engage all students during the lesson, even when one student was at the board working through the problem. From this, I learned that learners are going to stay more engaged in the lesson if they have a “task” to complete, rather than waiting for the student at the board to give them the answer.

I started off by asking the students what their names were, then I introduced myself. I had my laptop in front of my lap, I found that very difficult to read the powerpoint to the students. I had to monitor and adjust by holding the laptop up and to the side, so that I was able to read it. After I went through the powerpoint one student informed me that they had not learned about weathering and erosion yet.

“Dad why did you leave everything you had in Egypt to come to America?” I observed as he attempted not to think of a generic response. He responded “education” and after a long pause he explained,“education was what motivated me to come to America.” Further he explained how he believed that America’s educational system, unlike those of many third-world countries, allows choice which furthers to success. He repeatedly stated vaguely that in Egypt that real success does not exist. However, despite his opinion, I am not sure it exists in America either.

Have you ever wondered about the way the education system is carried out in the United States? How about if students from small towns are at a disadvantage? Coming from a small town, my high school was exactly like the typical American high school described by Amanda Ripley, in her book, “The Smartest Kids in the World: And How They Got That Way.” After reading this book and taking careful notes, I now see many relationships between her book and my old high school, which I will describe in this piece. My high School, Wellsboro Area High School, was disorganized, lacking rigor because of many factors, including sports, biased, and lacked teacher confidence. Now, finally in college, I get to reflect on my experience and speak the truth about what I thought while in the education system.

Education is a vital part of our society it is critical, from the early stages of preschool, kindergarten, middle and high school and to those that are pursuing higher learning. We are all in a consistent learning cycle, paying little respect to our present educational structure. All through history, we have been learning in various ways. Since we are in the 21st Century, learning is winding up more digitalized. This is the thing that makes it so vital to be able to get a handle on information for what it's worth and have the capacity to apply it to our regular day to day existences. As we learn, we should likewise comprehend that there are diverse learning styles out there that does not transfer data in a simplistic way. This is the reason, as individuals, we must choose if the way data is passed particularly works for us or not. As Friere states in Pedagogy of the Oppressed, "Education either works as an instrument which is utilized to encourage coordination of the more youthful era into the rationale of the present framework, and achieve similarity or it turns into the act of flexibility. The methods by which men and ladies bargain basically and imaginatively with reality and find how to take an interest in the change of their reality." What does it REALLY mean to gain an education? Does it mean you attended a university and got a degree? Does it mean you can recollect pretty much all that you see or read? As I would like to think, it is not one or the other. Being

When I was younger and in elementary school, I did not care about my grades at all. My parents would try to get me to study and I just did not care anything about it. It wasn’t until I became a little older and realized how important an education is that I started trying to do better. Ban Ki-moon states that “Education promotes equality and lifts people out of poverty. It teaches children to become good citizens. Education is not just for a privileged few, it is for everyone. It is a fundamental human right” (qtd. In Brainy Quote). Devon Brown, in the film The Boys of Baraka, reminds me so much of myself in the way that he saw things in life and the time periods in his life that those views changed. My family has played a major role in encouraging me to succeed in school, they have motivated me to do my best, and taught me the things they think is the most important to helping me to become the best me possible.

Every since the start of high school, I have been following news articles. News about economics, political matters, terrorist movements etc. and it has started to make me see things in a different light. I choose Education Inequality as my research topic because lately I have noticed how much school and education has made an impact on my life. Education has led me down an advanced track for all my classes, it has provided me with an amazing group of intelligent friends that push me to do excel in everything that I do, it has also shown me that I am privileged.

My parents were born in China and immigrated to America around their mid-20 and then a couple of years later they had my sisters and I. My parents did not have a good education and to them, education was everything here in California. They went through numerous hardships and worked numerous jobs that were terrible, unsanitary, and unfair. To them, education was everything for my siblings and I and the way they viewed education was similar to how a functionalist would too. They see only the positive in education and “view education in terms of the benefits and functions” (Major, Education and Religion). I understand where my parent’s viewpoint in education came from because of how tough life was for them, but school was not easy for me. We lived in a very small city called El Monte and it was and still is a very poor city. I always knew we struggled with financial problems, so I saw education as a way out of this “poor” life for my family and me. It may take years to obtain a stable position in society, but from my parent’s influence, I could see that it would be worth it in the end. I have encountered problems in school where I was not exceeding my expectations in specific subjects or I was not getting the grades I needed. A majority of the population in my high school were Hispanics and less than 15% were Asians, including me. The students in my school were not very motivated to learn or even had goals beyond high school.