Today's Students

After reading what the three authors said, I was able to relate some of their material to my students, while the other data had no relation to them at all. In reading Howe and Strauss’s article, his thoughts applied to my students in some ways. For example, in the article it describes how students performance and behavior can be improved through the use of programs, educational websites and much more. With my students, my fellow co-workers and I do the very same to improve the academic performance of our students through after school tutoring programs, educational sites, intervention support, and small reading groups. Also, when both authors speak of students being cooperative team players, rule followers, and accept authority, I quickly thought of my students. Though there will always a few students that will break these rules, a majority of my students fit the categories mentioned above.
On the other hand, there were comments in the article that did not describe my students at all. When Howe and Strauss spoke of children that of different ethnicities and cultures are more likely to face problems such as drugs and violence, I completely disagreed with that. About 95% of my students are of a different ethnicity and yes they do come from low-income families, but that does not mean that they are going to fall into the trap into problems such as that. With the right guidance and support, I believe those students will exceed most expectations that people set out their limitations to be.
In relation to Howe and Strauss, there is another author by the name of Marc Prensky who delivers information that describes and doesn’t relate to my students at all. Prensky describes students as being advanced in the technology world when it comes to computers, video games, and much more. That piece of information hardly describes my students at all. My students are nowhere near to being technology advanced because a majority of them don’t even own a pc at own. The closet thing they have to the Internet is the computer lab at school, which is only used one day a week for each class. My students are not “digital natives” as Prensky mentions in his articles. The only detail that was mentioned that describes my students is the fact that they love playing video games.
Aside from Howe & Strauss and Prensky, Thomas C. Reeves provided some great in depth information about today’s students. His piece described my students quite well. I believe my students behaviors and attitudes are also shaped by their past experiences and their family history. With that, those experiences mold the beliefs and behaviors that my students take part in. As a teacher, I constantly find myself encouraging my students to think positive and try their very best. When reading the paper, I didn’t come across any information that didn’t describe my students.
To sum it all up, I felt that Thomas C. Reeves did the best job of describing my students through a variety of categories when it came to self-esteem issues, the beliefs and behaviors, and the ethnically diverse student population that is out there. All those topics fit my students’ quite well. I enjoyed reading all three pieces. They all provided me with a great depth of knowledge about today’s students!

Reflection

I currently work as a Substitute teacher at Salina Elementary in Dearborn. The school at which I work at is primarily bilingual students. I teach students from Pre-K to third grade. I teach all subjects to these students such as mathematics, science, literacy, etc. Aside from the subbing aspect, I also pull out students that need extra support and assistance through intervention groups in order to push them up to grade level expectations. My students are mostly hands-on and visual learners so they strive to make the most out of their learning experiences and carry that through future encounters. Even though my students may drive me a little crazy, I know that at the end of they day they appreciate what was taught to them!

I have never had the opportunity to use blogs in a classroom, nor have I ever created one; but I'm definitely willing to take full advantage of blog usage and create one of my own. I have always found blogs quite useful and interesting, especially in school classrooms because it gives the teacher an opportunity to post up classroom material as well as enables students the chance to post feedback and comments. Blogs are a great educational tool that I would love to use in my future classroom!