I'm really glad that I volunteered to teach the Sophomore level intro to Education class Schools and Society. The difference between the Sophomores in Schools and Society and the Juniors in my Math and Science Ed class is only one year in time but in terms of teaching and Education it sometimes seems like a lifetime.
While all my Juniors are clearly committed to wanting to teach elementary school my Sophomores have varying degrees of uncertainty which I find wonderful. Some are positive they want to teach, some want to teach but are unsure at which level in the K - 12 spectrum and some are still not sure whether teaching is right for them.
My task is to present them with a variety of learning experiences which will help them come to a decision by the end of the semester. They really need to do this because there are different courses they need to take depending on whether they want elementary or secondary licensure or not an Education major at all.
The other wonderful thing about teaching the course is that I get to revisit many of the Great Educators who were instrumental in the formation of my own ideas and beliefs about teaching; Nel Noddings and her 'caring curriculum', John Dewey and his theory of discovery learning and Lilian Katz and her ideas about the importance of teachers having positive dispositions. I was lucky enough to work with Dr. Katz when I was a graduate student at the University of Illinois.
The pictures above are of my students hard at work in my Math and Science Ed course
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