I am a Progressivist!

Through taking the self assessment test, I have learned that I am a Progressivist. Summarized by the assessment, the Progressivism philosophy states that I am:

"Progressivists believe that education should focus on the child rather than the subject matter. The
students' interests are important, as is integration of thinking, feeling, and doing. Learners should be
active and learn to solve problems by experimenting and reflecting on their experience. Schools
should help students develop personal and social values so that they can become thoughtful,
productive citizens. Because society is always changing, new ideas are important to make the future
better than the past."

My future students are already so important to me. One year learning with me will forever change their life, and that's something I am very passionate about. I want my students to go on and be the best possible self they can be. Everybody has potential. I was a student with a lot of potential in lower level grades, but I never truly realized what my mind was capable of doing. I enjoy learning now, I thoroughly enjoy math. This week I declared my second major as World Cultures and Regions - Spanish. It's a new door opening for me and I'm ready to walk the walk as an Elementary Education and Spanish major(s). It took me 23 years to figure myself out, and what I wanted. Now that I know what I want, I'm ready!

I want my students to have that same moment. Students should learn what they want to learn, and be interested about it. Once you get to college, its on them! They pick what they want, and I believe what helps you make this decision is past experience in lower level grades.

The latter part of the quote "Because society is always changing, new ideas are important to make the future better than the past". Yes! The past is the past, and the future has a ton more in store for all of us. Experiences shape yourself moving forward.







I picked this Pin for Pinterest earlier in this module, not knowing the outcome of the test. Incredible assessment that proves my philosophy on teaching.  I love this quote on many levels. Its a perspective we should all take in. If students are not grasping the material, perhaps it is not them who is at fault? Most likely, our teaching needs reconstruction. The knowledge students learn from teachers sets a base for their future. If they aren't learning, it will be difficult to pick up going forward. Its a good lesson for us all that self reflection is a key element of teaching. Why aren't the students understanding the material? Where do our problems lie?

In addition, we watched a video by Sir Robinson about different philosophies and education. One thing that stuck out in my head while watching was the "If you do well in school, you go to college" and "if you go to college, you get a job". Life isn't like that anymore, that's how it was. In today's day, students are losing focus and are taking jobs right out of school. It's perfectly fine to work after high school, college is sometimes not for all. But having a degree today is huge!
Also grabbing my attention was when he depicted the scene of a child in class wandering off into space, and the board reading "Blah, Blah..". Totally agreeable to the extreme that too many things are getting the way of learning today. Video games, television, iPhones are all walls of learning. Even adults lose focus while driving thinking of their iPhone, its what America is today. How can we instill a need to focus if adults can't either, specifically, their parents?
Different cultures from around the world have different educational systems than us. But at the end of the day, we have one common goal and that's important. I liked the collaboration factor too. We learn a lot from our peers, not just our teachers. Study groups are an outstanding aspect of learning. Everybody see's things differently! Somebody always misses something you have in your notes. Learning from each other is essential.
One thing about education i would change is to integrate more group work. I love group work, I think collaborating with peers is the best thing going, and the fact that at the end of the day the create one combined project or assignment. Ive said it before, and I'll say it again, we learn best through communication with others.