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Statement of Informed Belief

Niki Seabock
Instructor: Carol Billing
EDUC 204: Families, Communities, and Culture
Spring 2013

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Statement of Informed Belief

As a teacher and an educator, we have to have a set of standards and rules to make sure
that we do the best job that we can do. We owe it to our students and to their future to make sure
we do the best job possible. We have to be open to changes and we have to remember that each
student is unique and different. That every student learns in a different way and at a different
speed. It is our duty as educators to make sure that we remember that each student comes from a
different culture, has a different home life, and different environments. As teachers we have to
have ideas on how to address all different types of issues and make sure that we are providing the
best education for each student and whatever their specific needs they have.
All Students Can Learn
Every student is capable of learning, but every child learns at a different speed and in
different ways. One student may be an auditory learner, one may be a kinesthetic learner, and
one may be a visual learner and it is up to the teacher to make sure that they are teaching in a
way that each child is able to retain the information. It is the teachers responsibility to make sure
that they teach to each student as individuals and can change their teaching strategies to fit each
childs different needs for learning. A teacher needs to understand the different types of learning
and make sure that their lesson plans include them all. This will give each child the opportunity
to not only understand the material, but also work on becoming all different types of learners.
When a teacher understands each type of learning style and the pace that each child learns at in
their class they will be able to adapt any of their lesson plans to the childs individual needs and
therefore will be able to teach the child in the best way suited to them. This will make sure that
no child is left behind and that each child is learning in the class.

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To be the best teacher that I can be I am first going to make sure that I understand all the
different styles of learning and techniques to go along with them to help ensure that I fully
understand how best to teach each style. I will then make sure that I mix up the way that I teach
to touch on each type of learning style though out the day. I also feel that it is so important to
know your class and the students in it to ensure that everyone is learning. I will make sure to
have one on one time with each student to make sure that they are grasping all of the things that
we are doing in class. This will also help me to know what speed everyone is at in the class and I
would be flexible to changing assignments a little to better fit the childs needs. I think as a
teacher you really have to know your students, their parents, and be willing to put in the effort to
change what you may have planned to ensure that each child is learning. I also feel that parents
play a big role in a students life and are usually very egger to help their child in any way they
can. I think it is important to meet with parents and let them know what you are seeing at school.
Give them the opportunity to help their child at home in things that you are seeing lacking in the
classroom. We as teachers only spend a couple of hours at school with our kids and sometimes
we need to use other recourses outside of the classroom top better our students education. This
may also include time out of the day to sit one on one with students and maybe tutor or go over
things that you did that day in class. I think the best way to be a great teacher is be open to
change in your lesson plan, know your students, know their parents, and be willing to put in all
the effort it takes to make sure everyone in your class succeeds.
Teacher's Expectations
I feel that it is very important for a teacher to have high, but reachable expectations for
their students. The teachers expectation of their students influences their ability to learn in many
ways. Our book gives us the example of how Mr. Kane thought that science was for boys and not

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for girls and achievement was not expected from the girls, therefore achievement from the girls
did not occur. This is a great example of how a teachers expectation of their students influences
their ability to learn. The girls in Mr. Kanes class did not learn anything about science because
he didnt have any expectation of them to do so. Mr. Kane started out by telling the girls not to
worry about science because it was for boys and by doing that and having no expectation s for
the girls to meet they didnt even want to try. If we want our students to succeed in life we have
to let them know that they are capable of doing so. Without that, most students do not try or do
not try to exceed the expectations that you have set for them. This is why having a high, but
obtainable expectation for your students is so important. If your expectations are too high then
this may also affect your students ability to learn. If your students are always trying and trying
to meet your expectations of them, but are never able to, this may cause your students to become
frustrated and give up. If this happens it is very hard to get your student back on track and trying
their hardest again. It is important to know where each student is at in their learning ability and
to set an appropriate expectation for them. I think it is also important to let your students know
what your expectations for them are so that they are able to work towards meeting them.
Educational goals are the level of educational achievement accepted as reasonable and
desirable for a specific child at a specific time and at a specific rate of speed. The educational
goals are usually set by the teacher or if the student is on an IEP then they are set by the teacher
and other specialists that work with the student. I think that educational goals are important for
the student and the teacher because it gives the student something to work for that is in reach. It
can also help with self esteem because they can see themselves achieving goals and moving past
them onto new and harder goals. They are also very important for the teachers because it give
them a definite thing to work for and a time period to accomplish it by. Not just an overall look

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at things. It gives them the ability to work on one thing at a time and then move past it to new
things once the student has met that goal. This helps the student because they get one on one
time with the teacher and they know exactly what is expected of them. This can also be a great
thing to let parents know about so that they have something to work on with their kids at home.
Educational goals are a great thing to have in the classroom because you know where all of your
kids are academically and where they need to get to and when they need to reach it by.
Educational goals are a great thing to have to help make lesson plans as well. If you have a lot of
students who are working for the same or similar goal it can be very helpful to incorporate it into
the whole classs lesson plan.
Student's Social Ecology Theory
It is very important to remember that every student is different and learns in different
ways. This is due to their ecology or the interactions that the students have with other people
outside of the school system and their environment. According to Bronfenbrenner's bioecological
theory, there are four structures that affect human development. These four structures are their
microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem. The microsystem refers to the
activities and relationships with significant others experienced by a developing person in a
particular small setting such as family, school, peer group, or community. The mesosystem
consists of linkages and interrelationships between two or more of a developing person's
microsystems, such as the family and the school, or the family and the peer group. The
exosystem refers to settings in which children are not active participants, but that affect them in
one of their microsystems. For example, parents' jobs, the city council, or parental social support
networks. The macrosystem consists of the society and subculture to which the developing
person belongs to, with particulars reference to the belief systems, lifestyles, patterns of social

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interactions, and life changes. All of these things play a huge part in the students learning ability
and it is very important as a teacher to remember these things because they have a huge impact
on the child. It is hard to remember that there is more to the way a child or student learns outside
of the classroom, but all of these things play a bigger role in our classrooms than we can imagine
and we have to take all of this into account while we teach.

Cultural Diversity Instruction

The definition of cultural pluralism is mutual appreciation and understanding of
various cultures and coexisting in society of different languages, religious beliefs, and lifestyle.
The definition of cultural assimilation is the process whereby a minority ( subordinate) cultural
group takes on the characteristics of the majority (dominate) cultural group. The difference
between cultural pluralism and cultural assimilation is more about excepting all different kinds
of cultures in society and coexisting with different people from different parts of the world that
speak different languages and that believe different things and that live life differently than we
do. Cultural assimilation is more about taking on those new characteristics of how a different
culture lives, speaks, and their religious belief as your own. It is more about people taking on the
more dominate characteristics than the characteristics that are more dominate in your original
race or culture. As a teacher, I will do my best to try to acknowledge and build on the life
histories and experiences of students' ethnic backgrounds by first off learning about all different
ethnic backgrounds that I am not that familiar with. Then, I will try to bring it into the classroom.
For different holidays I will try to bring as many different holidays into the classroom and do
some original activities done by that ethnic group in the class. I also think that a great way to
bring this into the classroom is to have projects were the students do research on their

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background and dress up in original clothing from their ethnic background and do a presentation
on what they learned. It would be great to do something where the students can make original
food from their ethnic group. I think that the best way to bring different ethnic backgrounds into
the classroom is to make it a fun project that parents can teach their kids about their heritage and
bring their traditions into the classroom.
Curriculum For All Students
As a teacher and educator we have to remember that each student is different. We have to
be willing to be flexible with our lesson plans and be willing to change them according to the
students needs. As an educator I want to try to incorporate as many different learning styles as I
possibly can in my lesson plans. I will also make sure that I have examples for all of the
assignments to show to my students to make sure they understand what I expect of them for each
assignment. I will also be very involved and open to anything the student needs. If they need to
stay after class, email me, or call to ask questions, I will make sure that I am always available for
them to reach me. To ensure that each child improves for his or her original level of learning
upon entering my classroom is I will do testing when the child first comes into the classroom to
see where they are starting off at. I will write goals for them where they need to improve and
make sure that I am updating these goals though out the year. I think that it is important to have
an overall goal for the whole class to meet, but to also remember that each student is very
different and comes into the classroom and a different place in their education. With making
individual goals for each student, I will ensure that each student is improving towards the
classroom goal made for the entire year. It is going to be a lot of hard work, but I think that it is
the best way to ensure a successful year for each student.

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References
Berns, Roberta M. Child, Family, School, Community. 7th ed. Belmont, CA: Thomson Learning
Inc, 2007.