response to Brianna 4/12/10

Brianna’s point that our own views influence how we treat other people is right on target. As I said in my prompt 4, everyone has a worldview or perspective. Everyone filters their environment through their own cultural lenses or glasses. So our framework is both positive and negative, as Brianna pointed out when she said, “My background will offer both sympathy and challenges to my career as a teacher.” ” I believe she meant empathy when she said sympathy. At any rate, she is right in that as future teachers, our world views will impact our teaching careers both positively and negatively.

She is also right when she says that we bring our expectations to the classroom. We need to watch out for this as well and try to be fair and open minded. We also need to accept what cannot be changed in other people. We need to balance our role as change agents with that of respecting other people’s views.

I know that in my classroom, we face a number of discipline issues. I know how frustrating this can be. We need to learn detachment, that is, the ability to move on both mentally and spiritually. Brianna commented that her teacher had the ability to do this.

Finally, I agree with Brianna that we need to avoid stereotypes and treat everyone equally and fairly. We may need to change our thinking, our attitudes, our speech and even our behavior to be effective teachers.
Offer both sympathy and challenges to my career as a teacher. My background will