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Holly Gibson
College of Western Idaho
Education 204
Carol Billings
Spring 2014

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The students ability to learn is focused on what is called student-centered learning.

Student-centered learning is an approach to education focusing on the interests of the students,
rather than those of others involved in the educational process, such as teachers and
administrators. Teachers are responsible in what is being taught and how it is being taught.
Teachers have guidelines on what they should be teaching the students but there is some
responsibility on the students if they choose to take in what they are being taught and applying it
in their lives. I believe that as children start school they need to be taught how to learn. Being in
school is the first time that they are in a formal classroom school setting. Sitting and being taught
is a difficult task which is why Kindergarten is not a full day every day. To introduce the students
to school they have a full day a few times a week, to get them in the habit of being in school
eight-hours a day. As students move up in each grade the ability for the student to learn
increases.
I believe it is the teachers responsibility in the process to understand this concept and
teach the students in a way that they will have the capacity to learn, grow and understand. For
example if a teacher gives a math problem to a kindergartener on the first day of school and ask
the students to solve the problem, it will not go over well. Because the students have not been in
school and are just learning they do not have the capacity to jump right in. The teachers
responsibility in this process is so very important in how they deliver the message and delivering
the message as well as understanding the needs of the students. That is where the studentcentered learning comes in. Teachers can make incredible differences if they are aware and

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opened to the idea that some students are just not understanding the way they are teaching and
need to change it up.
As a future teacher I want to have a classroom focused around student-centered learning.
I want students to ultimately decide for me what is going well in the classroom and how I am
teaching and if it effective. I want to make sure that students understand a concept before I move
on to a different topic. I want my student to be involved in the learning process. If they are
involved and engaged the students will pay attention more and I personally think they would be
willing to asked question because they are involved. Another major part is that I need to
understand how they learn and work. There is nothing more frustrating as a student than not
understanding what they teacher is teaching because it is not your learning style. To be able to
incorporate all the different learning styles can make such a difference in how the students learn
and succeed.
Whether you think you can or think you can't you are right. (Henry Ford)
The foundations of the Greater Expectations Initiative are twin beliefs that a) many of our
students are achieving less than they should at both secondary and postsecondary levels
and b) that by raising our expectations and support for learning, higher achievement will
result. Extensive research shows that expectations exert powerful influences upon both
student and teacher behavior whether the expectations come from an external source or
are held internally as self-expectations. The Hawthorne effect (in which mere awareness
of being in an experiment brings about improved performance) is one familiar source of
experimental invalidity that acknowledges the ubiquitous power of expectations on
learning and performance.

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Expectations are double-edged swords, raising or lowering student and teacher outcomes
according to the positive or negative nature of the expectations. For Greater Expectations
and other education reform efforts to succeed, a system-wide effort to raise institutional,
faculty, student, and other stakeholder expectations will be necessary (Miller).
This statement is so profound of the effect and influence teachers have on their students lives. I
loved the quote from Henry Ford. Teachers have such a great impact on a students ability to
learn that they do not realize. As teachers we need to have great attitudes about all subjects. Math
is fun. There is a lady in one of my classes and her sons teacher called her and told her that her
son was not getting his math done. She realized that she had influenced him not intentionally but
she had always stated how much she did not like math and that influenced her son to not so his
math. What I am getting at is that if we say you can do it sincerely, they will think that they can
absolutely do it and they will. How a teachers expectations influence students ability to learn is
important. A teacher who has realistic expectations are more likely to influence the students
more than a teacher who does not have real expectations. Teachers are often examples to their
students. The students look up to the teachers like they are the world. If teachers do not have a
great attitude and personality the children may not enjoy that teacher and not want to do anything
in his/her class. This applies to how you treat others the way you want to be treated. Act the way
you want others to act for you.
Educational goals are so important in the schooling world. Goals are what make
education the way it is today. We have goals for each subject that students might learn certain
subjects by certain grades and that they might learn the things that the states have put in place.
This is kind of where the Idaho core standards come in they are goals for each grade and subject
that they might stay up with the rest of the states and students. When a student makes a goal and

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then completes that goal there is nothing more special in the world. They, the students feel like
they have conquered the world. It will allow them to feel more confident about their school
work.
According to the National Education Association,
As early as elementary school, students respond to curricula based partly on what they
experience in their communities.
Studies have consistently found a relationship between academic achievement,
awareness of race and racism, and positive identification with ones own racial group.
One study surveyed Black high school students. Those most likely to graduate and go to
college expressed high awareness of race and racism, and high regard for being Black.
Research shows that students who see their culture represented in the curriculum
get the most out of it.
Cultural assimilation is the process by which a person or a group's language and/or
culture come to resemble those of another group. Cultural pluralism is a term used when smaller
groups within a larger society maintain their unique cultural identities, and their values and
practices are accepted by the wider culture provided they are consistent with the laws and values
of the wider society. As a teacher I want my classroom to be more of a cultural pluralism. People
do not have to change who they are to fit in and they are accepted for who they are. In cultural
assimilation the culture is trying to fit in by changing to resemble the culture where they have
lived or have moved to. The United States is a place where both cultural assimilation and cultural
pluralism occur. We live in a free country where people are free to choose what they do and how
to act but we also want people to do things are way. The American way is normal and if there is a

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person that does something differently we expect them to change not the other way around. If I
were ever to have students from another country and culture in my classroom I would teach my
students to love them. Difference is good and it allows us to think of other places and people. As
a teacher I think that it is most important that I am aware of everything that is going on around
the students. Not only in the community but their families as well. Students need something that
they can relate to. I want them to be aware and proud to be who they are. I plan on teaching
elementary school and as younger kids they are not as aware as the problems that occur do to
ethnicity and what not. Even if I do not have a class that is ethnically diverse, I would like to still
have lessons based on different ethnicities and cultures in a fun but educational way. One way I
can do that is take information form the areas that I am teaching in and share what has happened
in this area, have a history lesson. Showing interest in the students is going to make the biggest
difference. My elementary students I would hope will feel pride that they belong to this group
and they are able to be a part of it and many other cultures.
Something that as a teacher I would like to do when it comes to planning my lesson plans
is to take each of the learning types and make one lesson plan but do it in each of the different
learning styles. This is a lot of work but I feel as I become more experienced as a teacher I will
be able to more easily create lesson plans that everyone can take from. For my delivery I would
like to be able to have each of the learning styles in my lesson plan. Teachers often stick to their
learning style but I want to branch out of that and include everyone so that each student has an
opportunity to learn and grow. Assessments are going to be trial and error for me to find the right
type of assessments for each student that is packed into one assessment. As a teacher assessing
myself is going to be the best way that I am going to be able to help and teach my students. As a
teacher I can look back and see what teaching strategies worked and what did not work.

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Especially my first year of teaching when I am brand new to teaching. There is going to be a lot
of trial and error and I am going to have to assess myself daily as to what needs to be fixed and
improved upon. I am going to ensure that each learner improves from his or her original level of
learning upon entering my classroom by giving assessments frequently on each subject and topic,
like pretest and potest. That is one of the major ways I can see an improvement and I ca see that
they are growing and becoming more knowledgeable. If a student is still struggling with those
tests that is when I will probably have a helper work with the student or contact mom and dad to
see if they would be willing to work with their child on some worksheets with the topic they are
struggling. Even I might help once a week have them stay in for recess and I help them with
whatever they are struggling with.

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Works Cited

Miller, Ross. "Association of American Colleges and Universities, November 2001."

Expectations:. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.greaterexpectations.org/briefing_papers/improvestudentlearning.html>.