Blog #2

2. On p. 22, Tomlinson talks about how teaching "asks us to do the impossible." To what is she referring? Explain why it's not really possible to "'manage' the students and 'cover' the curriculum." Do you think this is really the case? What does Tomlinson suggest can be done about this? What do you think you will do?

I chose the second response because the concept really appeals to me and some of my fears of being the best teacher I can be. Teaching is so much more than just teaching students curriculum, we are helping to mold little human beings and to help them be the best people they can be. We need to get to know and respect all of the students in our classrooms. It is humbling to realize that "we will never really do all each child needs us to do" although I hope that I will never stop trying to do all that I can. Tomlinson suggests that we never stop trying to do our best at this almost impossible feat. We must always do better than yesterday or better than last year. One of the main reasons I decided to become a teacher is because I truly believe that we don't teach subjects, we teach children. We teach them more that just about reading, writing and mathematics, we teach them about life and how to become successful and happy, and we do it with dignity, patience and love.

I went back through the two chapters and some of the main points that stood out to me were first, in chapter two page19, "because students do differ so greatly, the premise of differentiation is that while students have the same basic needs, those needs will manifest themselves in different ways, depending on the student's gender, culture, general life experiences, talents, interests, learning preferences, affective development, cognitive development, and support systems." Basically children are children and they all come to us with the same needs, but they are all packaged differently. Our students will all need affirmation, contribution, power, purpose and challenge, but the way we deliver this to them will be different with all of them. Just like being a parent and no two children can be brought up with the exact same set of rules. What works with one, quite likely will not work with the others. As a teacher we must recognize the individuality of all our students and do our best to recognize them for their differences and respect what they bring into our classroom.

The second quote I chose to respond to is the header of chapter 3, "The good teacher communicates a deep regard for students' lives, a regard infused with unblinking attention, respect, even awe. An engaged teacher begins with the belief that each student is unique, each the one and only who will ever trod the earth, each worthy of a certain reverence. Regard extends, importantly, to an insistence that students have access to the tools with which to negotiate and transform the world. Love for students just as they are--without any drive or advance toward a future--is false love, enervating and disabling." This is of course pretty deep, but it struck me with awe. If I can truly teach with such passion toward all of my students, they will be all the better because of it, and I too will be a better teacher, after all they do deserve such love.

The last quote that actually really stood out to me is found on page 26, "We would affirm that schools exist to prepare young people to contribute to their world as informed thinkers, thoughtful citizens, and decent human beings--that we are entering a moral contract between ourselves, our students, and our society to contribute in every way possible to those outcomes." What a better place our world would be if this was the way all schools brought up students. I hope that I can do my part to make this happen in my classroom. I know I can't change the world by myself, but I can start with one student at a time and make a difference in their lives.