Being the "Other"

Yoga mats are used to lay on and do the poses on.

The poses are all about balance and finding your center

Music was played the whole time. It was soft and soothing music.
It really set the mood.

That symbol above the elephants means OM.  It represents oneness and we all said this in unison at the very end of our session. 

There were plants all over the room. 

Going into the yoga class I was scared for two reasons, one, I hate going to places by myself.  If I ever have to go somewhere by myself I just don't go. And two I have not taken a yoga class before. I had no idea what was going on. When I had looked up the class it said it was a beginning class so I was hoping for a little more guidance than I was given. Each pose had these weird names and the instructor would just go from one to the other like everybody knew what he was talking about.  And for the most part everybody did, but to me it was like a whole different language and so each time he would say a different pose I had to look around to see what everybody else was doing. Being unfamiliar with the terms set me apart from the group, because it did take me longer to figure out what was going on than other. Sometimes he would say things like downward dog and child's pose and I gained some confidence because that was in a language I knew and I could actually do a headstand so I felt pretty cool.
I consider myself a pretty athletic person. I did sports all growing up, but yoga is a different kind of athletic. It is all about balance. At one point they were doing some kind of hand stand and there was no way I was going to be able to do it so I just sat there and watched. One girl thought I needed help so she asked if I wanted a spot and I just laughed to myself and was like no I'm just watching. These people would just go right up into the poses so smoothly like it took them no effort to get up and I was over there struggling to stay balanced and shaking.
When I walked in I felt like everybody could see right through me and knew that I had no idea what I was doing. The racial demographic was white so I didn't feel out of place in that area I just felt out of place in ability. I had this sense that everybody was judging me. But the class got going, nobody seemed to care that I had no idea what I was doing, meaning nobody was making fun of me and laughing. They were actually very helpful, the instructor came over and corrected me and helped to stretch even further and that one girl asking if I wanted a spot. They were all very nice so even though at first I felt uncomfortable and out of place, by the end of the class I wanted to come back with my roommates to do more classes.
So I think that is important to realize as a teacher that there are going to be students in my classroom who feel like they are the "other". I can't get up in the front of my classroom and start naming off all of these mathematical terms and assume everybody knows what I am talking, as this instructor in yoga did. Mathematics is like a whole other language and I need to make sure that I can get everybody on the same page by first explaining the math terms.
When the instructor and the random girl in class asked to help me or came to help me they had done it in a way that didn't make me feel stupid. As teachers, when giving students help or asking questions to the class we cannot make them feel like they are stupid even if it is clear that they have no idea what they are doing. If they feel like we already think they are stupid then they aren't going to try and improve. We need to approach those situations carefully.
Also each student has strengths that we, as teachers, need to recognize and play off of. Using those strengths will make them feel comfortable knowing that they aren't completely the odd ball out and then they hopefully will be more willing to participate in and learn those things that are foreign to them, just like I was when we were doing headstands and downward dog.

Personal Cultural Artifact

https://www.shutterstock.com/search/man+sitting+on+bench?search_source=base_keyword

Something I've noticed ever since I moved up here to Provo is that random strangers will just start talking to you when you are walking down the street or sitting waiting for something and that is just normal.

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/what-love-doesnt-mean

Saying I love you.  Loving and caring for someone is very important to me. For this reason it is not uncommon for me to say I love you to someone other than a family member. I will say to close friends as well. 

http://weknowyourdreams.com/food.html


A party is not a party unless there is food there. In the Mormon culture at any gathering everyone brings a dish to share. It's this idea of community and working together.

http://cliparting.com/free-cell-phone-clipart-19448/

Now a days you can't go anywhere without seeing someone on their phone. It is the primary means of communication. If you don't have a cell phone people look at you like, how do you even talk to people. 

America's favorite pass time.  Sports is one of the biggest ways that people can connect.

Education has always been a very important part of my life and after being accepted to BYU I have valued getting a higher education even more. Higher education means a more successful future.

    

Traditions.  In my family we have many traditions one of which is opening a present on Christmas Eve (which is always PJs). This is something that brings families together and creates memories to look back on.

https://www.etsy.com/search?q=my+redeemer+lives

One symbol of my culture is my testimony of what I believe. Being able to share my testimony with others is so important to my culture, it lets others know where I stand and what I find to be true. 

https://www.lds.org/media-library/images/category/artwork-of-jesus-christ?lang=eng

I believe there is a God. And I believe in my Savior Jesus Christ.  They are much of what I center my life around. Believing in a higher being let's me know that there is so much more to this life than what we can see. I provides hope.

Family is so important to me.  I do not know where I would be without them. They are a foundation and an example of what I am striving for. In my culture family is the most important things and everyday we are learning in growing in order to make our current and future family stronger.

Music. One of my outlets, a way for me express myself. 

Friends.  Much like my family I do not know what I would do without them. They are a support. In my culture I have learned that you become like the 5 people you spend the most time with. People tend to surround themselves with people they things in common with and who are going to help them become better people.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choose_the_right

This is a symbol in my culture to remind us to always choose the right. In a world where so many things are changing and we need to pick sides it is important to stop and think, what is going to be the best decision and what is going to lead the greatest happiness.

A big part of what I believe in is marriage and most importantly in the temple for time and all eternity. Being married in the temple is dream I have had ever since I was little. In my culture we believe in more than, "till death do you part". We believe in forever, and that can only be found in the temple.

There is nothing better than the great outdoors and adventure and staying healthy. There is so much more out there then what is within the four walls of your home.

http://quotesgram.com/believe-in-yourself-quotes/

It has always been hard for me to believe that what I did was good enough or who I am is fine, and so this has become something I tell myself all the time when I am putting myself down and loosing faith.

I always want to remember the good times and taking picture is how I do that. There isn't an event that I go to where I won't take a picture. They capture memories.

This isn't necessarily a picture of work, but I have learned from my dad the importance of work and being successful. Without those attributes I believe you won't get very far, which in this culture today is looked down upon. 

Celebrating Holidays/ Birthdays. Some of the things we may do to celebrate different holiday may seem strange to others but what is important is the unity that comes when we do. Going out to buy a Christmas tree may seem pointless to what Christmas truly is, but what is created by going out with the family to pick one and decorating it is much more important. And by celebrating holidays we are able to take time to reflect on the meaning behind them, why we are coming together to celebrate.

http://weheartit.com/entry/group/77173599

The young women's medallion, a symbol of your worthiness and the things that you have accomplished.

After looking at all of my artifacts I realized that a lot of them are based on my religion, but I mean that is understandable considering it is such a big part of my life and what has shaped me.  But this could serve as a handicap in a school setting because not everybody is going to believe the same things I do and that is sometimes hard for me to understand or even approach.  That is a big reason why I came to BYU, because I knew I would be surrounded by a large number of people who had the same beliefs and I wouldn't have to work as hard to try and understand and learn about other cultures. Which is a big problem considering as a teacher I will need to learn to be understanding of other cultures. Although I can not talk about God and that kind of stuff in my classroom, the aspects of hard work and importance for success is something that I can implement in my classroom. My students are going to be expected to give forth their best effort and they will be able to see that hard work will help them learn and become more successful, and that may not mean just getting good grades. Hard work is and attribute that is going to help you go further out in the real world. Being so family oriented may serve as a hindrance in my classroom, because maybe not every one of my students is going to view family in that way and therefore may not have that support that I believe comes from families. But I do also believe that you are never alone, and in my classroom can build that support through the other students in the classroom and I can be a support. Just showing them that I believe in them and will do what I can to help them understand the concepts.

Dream Classroom

What does my classroom look like?
There are somethings in your classroom that you can not control. Like whether you are given a room with windows or what the desks look like.  Things like that you just have work with what you are given. But somethings I can control are what go on the walls, how I arrange the desks, what other outside resources I can bring into the classroom.  My room is not going to be empty, meaning, there will be things on the walls. Sometimes I do feel that the "decorations" put up in classrooms can distract from the learning which is something I want to avoid.  So what goes on my walls will be helpful to the learning and when projects are done those will be displayed.  This will let the students know that I care about what they have done.

Image 1: This picture demonstrates a temporary arrangement for working in groups. I would arrange the desks so that they wouldn't need to be moved every time we wanted to work in groups.

 The desks will be arranged in groups if the classroom space allows for that.  I believe that one of the main ways that students learn is from each other.  Having the desks arranged in groups will allow for the students to work together and collaborate and bounce ideas off of each other.
A big misunderstanding with mathematics is that there is one correct answer and only one way to get that answer, but that is very rarely the case. I am going to have resources in my classroom that will allow the students to work hands on and to help them explore other ways of answer questions. Block, fraction tiles, calculators, mini white boards, etc. will be available in the classroom.

Image 2: Expectations, rules, and policies will be posted so that all students can see them on a daily basis.

Rules, Policies, and Expectations
Students are going to be expected to show up to class and to be present and attentive. Meaning they will be expected to participate in small group and whole class discussions.
Classroom rules: be respectful of others, stay on task, learn from your mistakes, come prepared and ready to participate, and have fun!
If they fail to follow these rules they will get a warning, lose privileges, grades will suffer, and if it becomes a constant thing we will have to talk with parents and/or principal.
I also want to get the students involved in coming up with the rules and expectations of the classroom.  When they feel like what they have to say is being heard and that they are making a contribution then they are going to be more willing to follow those rules.

My Students
My students are going to be from all different backgrounds and they are all going to be welcome.  My vision for my classroom is that it is a safe environment where students from different backgrounds and interests will feel comfortable sharing and participating.  I want it to be place where you see the varsity sports players and the music/arts students, and math enthusiasts are all working together, forgetting about their label in school.

Image 3: I hope to build a safe environment where all students are in the air when I ask a question

Image 4: My students will feel comfortable coming to the board to share their work and teach the class what they discovered.

Me as a Teacher

A day would look like this: the students come in and get started on some kind of warm up to review the stuff they learned the day before or maybe even a week before.  This will be one way for me to assess if they understand was they have already learned. Then we will go over homework. I will have the students come up to the board to show their work and then we will discuss as a class if we agree why or why not.  Then we will get into the lesson.  My lessons for the most part will be task based.  I want my students to be actively learning and not just listening to me lecture for 30-45 min.  So after a little bit of instruction from me they will be given a task where they can work with each other.  Something we may be working on is solving equation by substitution, elimination, or my graphing.  I want them to learn that there is not just one way to solve an equation. There are three different approaches that will give you the same answer which ever way you choose.

Image 5: When I give my students a group assignment that doesn't mean that I am going to be sitting at my desk.  I am going to be walking around to see how they are doing and ask questions to see their thought process.  This will be another way for me to assess where my students are at with understanding. 

Image 1: http://aplacetothrive.blogspot.com/2013/09/classroom-reveal.html
Image 2: http://everybodyisageniusblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/classroom-expectations.html
Image 3: http://msbrownnobullteacher.com/wordpress/talking-out/
Image 4: http://yorkvilleschools.blogspot.com/2012/10/yorkville-high-school-math-thinking-to.html
Image 5: http://www.tbo.com/news/education/hillsborough-art-classes-adopt-common-core-approach-20140309/