I have selected Hope, Influence, and Uncomfortable from our word wall. These words are all words in my vocabulary that I thought I knew the definition of. I originally questioned why such simple words would be up on this wall. It is true that they made it onto the wall because they were subjects that we touched on during these last few weeks, but also because they play a large role in teaching.
I want to say that each word has changed slightly in their definitions. Hope use to be nearly the same thing as luck, but now I found that hope is more of a verb than a noun. Originally I thought hope to be an outcome to be reached for, but it is a verb of hoping. Which then translates through my mind as goal-setting and striving to reach that bar.
Influence, as we know, can be positive or negative, but I have never really heard the word Influence spoken unless it had a negative connotation. As teachers, we will be an influence to our students, and will need to stay away from creating a negative environment. The definition didn’t change, but it made me think a little bit.
Uncomfortable, it is simple to dissect this word into NOT and COMFORTABLE. Like influence, we need to stay away from bringing this into the classroom. However, in most cases we cannot control how a student feels directly, but through discussions and this class I have realized that teachers fill their classrooms with positive energy and indirectly make the students more comfortable. This can be achieved by setting classroom norms and standards early on.
Uncomfortable, Hope, and Influence are all common words, but I am surprised that I have not looked at them from a teaching perspective until this class. These three words impact students in the long run, even if the effects aren’t felt immediately.
For the future I plan on designing a comfortable learning environment that inspires hope and faith for a better tomorrow. I also want to help the students find the hope within themselves. Influence is important and I believe that it comes in to play naturally when in the position of teacher. If done right, students will look to the teacher for guidance and influence. I plan to be there for each and every one of my students.
Thank you for sharing Mason! Hope, influence and uncomfortable are all great words to ponder. I also thought of influence in a negative way prior to our discussion in class and hope to use my future role as an educator to be a positive influence. While I see, and agree with your wanting to make students comfortable, I came away also with a challenge to both make myself uncomfortable and possibly push or stretch students out of their comfort zone too. I know for myself, I have gotten very comfortable in my position and with a certain set of peers. It is a challenge to place myself in uncomfortable places, but just like this class it has helped me learn and grow.