My current online identity exists but is pretty hard to find. My name is more commonly found under African American  wrestlers and boxers. When I type in UCSD or weebly however, there are about three sites that come up: Two sites about UCSD's Education in Action conference that I presented in two years ago and this weebly website. So far my professional online identity is pretty small, but I am sure this will change in the years to come. I plan on joining LinkedIn as a start. This will help me begin my professional online identity as I will befriend fellow teachers and colleagues in the education field.  

Here is my audacity podcast about what I think my classroom will be like in the year 2020. 

TRANSCRIPT 

In the year 2020, I imagine that my classroom will take the appearance of a collection of rooms. I imagine that my favorite posters will be up on the walls as well as photographs of my loved ones. Artifacts from my home will be present at various locations in the class as well. The same will be for my students. They will have their loved ones posted around the room, as well as artifacts that are dear to them. This will keep all of us motivated and remind us why we are there.

My classroom will be student centered. Each child will have met with me in what I will call a dream meeting. This means that they will have told me what their dreams are, what they wish to one day become in the future and I will have advised them on the certain subjects that will be extremely relevant for them. There will be a dream wall that has images of all the students doing their dream jobs. This will be further motivation for my students in their coursework. I will refer to their future individual goals throughout my teaching so that my curriculum has more of a purpose.

My students will also be responsible for completing their own demonstrations, projects, and understandings of the material that we have learned in class. This will by far be the most interesting aspect of my 2020 classroom. They will be using the latest technology to put on interactive presentations for the class. They will have their own website where they upload their understandings of the lessons to share with fellow students around the world as well. This will cause my students to be global citizens and intellectual contributors as they have conversations with peers from all over the world.

My 2020 classroom will have several visitors as well. There will be local members of the community coming into share their knowledge about the material we are currently learning about. Family members will be invited to teach the class about their customs, careers, and lifestyles. On these days, probably once every month or two, my students will be great hosts, as they will have created the music themselves, prepared the snacks, and arranged the schedules for the presenters.        

In the year 2020, I will be 30 and I am pretty sure that I will rely on my students as much as they will rely on me. For these reasons, my students will know how to run morning meetings, prepare for transitions, and start routines themselves. When people enter my classroom they might be surprised to see my students handling so much with little to no guidance from me. This expectation will be as a result of all of the things I have witnessed children doing in the year 2013 and prior. After seeing what I’ve seen I have no doubt that with the proper scaffolding and support, children can surpass our expectations.

Finally, in my future 2020 classroom, I will see a group of children that truly look out for one another. Not just inside of the classroom but outside of the classroom as well. They will understand each other more than their outside peers because of the conversations that will take place during class time. They will know each others hopes and dreams, they will have shared some of their fears, and they will know why each classmate is unique to the fabric of my classroom. If you were to go up to one of my students and ask, “what does ‘so and so’ bring to this classroom?” they will for sure have an answer.

My 2020 classroom won’t look or feel like a classroom. It will be a room where love, support, learning, and laughter takes place between teacher and students.  

Tentative script

For this post, I'll share the same story that I talked about in class today... Once upon a time at Kimbrough Elementary, I found that I was having trouble with my first grade students standing in line. They would often stand in line, but then argue with one another because someone was not in their correct spot, or someone was cutting in front of someone else, etc etc. 

To solve this problem, I asked my master teacher if I could have a list of the students in line number order so that I could easily check whether students were standing in the right place. She made a copy for me that allowed me to put stars next to students who were standing correctly in line (arms crossed and faces forward) and checks next to students who were not where they should be. The goal was to have a long list of stars on my clipboard by the time we came back to the classroom after our lunch events, recess trips, library times, etc. 

On the first day of use, the clipboard was a HIT! Literally. I went to pick up my students from recess with clipboard in hand. As I walked backwards to continue making stars and observing my students, I was extremely pleased. About six steps in however, I suddenly felt this hard force against the back of my head and back. I dramatically grasped whatever was behind me to keep from completely losing my balance! It took me about 7.5 seconds to realize that I had ran straight into a pole and after my shocked facial expression relaxed in front of my students, the class erupted in laughter (not at the fact that I hit the pole, but because of the terrified look on my face). 

I used this opportunity to playfully reprimand my students for not warning me ahead of time. Then I asked them to show me how I can best use the clipboard while walking with the line. My first graders came up with great ideas. They are experts at having common sense, which is a teacher feature that I absolutely lack. Students explained that I could walk along the side of the line instead of in front, they said that I could switch between walking forward and backward, they even thought of a signal that they could give me whenever they saw that I was in immediate danger while walking. 

I chose this classroom event to talk about because I've found that this happens to be the way that I develop close relationships with my students. Once they see that their teacher needs their help as much as they need mine, we develop a type of partnership in our learning. This partnership is what drives my ability to effectively teach and communicate with my students. They learn how much I value and rely on them way before I expect them to rely on me. This is an aspect of my practice that will always remain throughout my teaching career.