Learning from Others

 After a few weeks of blogs it is very interesting to go back in and take a look at some of my piers post. Not only is it new subjects and concepts that I had never thought of but it also different point of views on topics I had heard of. I was very beneficial to have this opportunity to learn from others and I think that is a skill that I will find very beneficial as a young teacher one I reach a classroom. 

The first peer that really caught my attention was Reese Taylor's blog on classroom size and how it can truly affect the students in the class. This is a concept that when I read her title I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of it. As I continued to read Reese's article  it only made even more sense than before how a larger classroom can have a negative effect on the students ability to focus due to the larger opportunity for distraction. More of a teachers time is devoted to maintiaing control of the classroom and avoiding the distractions than it is to actual instruction for the students. In her article I was able to find very useful tools that will help me down the road in justifying a need for the proper student to teacher ratio in my classroom so that each of my students get an equal opportunity to succeed. 

The next post that really hit home as being very beneficial was discussing parental involvement by Taylor Murray. I thought that Taylor chose a topic that quite possibly might be the most imortant factor in a students success. As teacher we get to interact students for 7 hours a day at the elementary level and may be lucky to get over an hour at the upper grade levels. That doesn't leave a lot of time to impact their education in the grand scheme of things. However, if parental involvement is strong than those students are getting so much more encouragement to do well and learn. Coming from a rural area I have seen this first hand. My peers who had a better support system and environment at home were the ones who became more successful in the classroom. I truly believe a students out of school environment is the most impactful thing on their life and that's why as teacher we muct try to encourage parental involvement as much as possible. 

James brings up some great points in his article about teacher salaries. I feel like this was a topic I heard a lot growing up. It is hard to say one way or the other on wether or not teachers get fair compensation. Personally I have seen how hard it is to make things work on a two teacher household salary but I have also seen the blessings that come from the benefits and time at home as a teacher. In a whole I think teachers salaries should be bumped up to match the infaltion we are seeing across the country now. But as teacher we also understand our calling and our purpose is so much more than the money.