In a classroom of students from different countries and cultures, there are a lot of paradigms in a small space. This can be a minefield for teachers who aren't ready to understand the differences and give students the benefit of the doubt. That was one of the most important things I heard today, I think. If you don't know if something is offensive or not then you have to give your students the benefit of the doubt. I'm pretty unassuming--even when my mother-in-law says things that most people would take as offensive I'm not. I know that she loves me and isn't trying to hurt my feelings, so I choose to take what she says in the spirit it was given. I think that's a skill that could help me out in my time as a teacher to people of other cultures. If you don't know you're being made fun of or that you should be offended, as long as it doesn't affect your classroom, what's the harm in ignoring it and moving on.
I was a little surprised that Professor Ivers went over the complaints about American students to such a great extent. I guess it helps students maybe alter their behavior, but most likely they will continue to do behaviors that they do subconsciously. I know that I'm a backpack packer. I grew up in a school that was smallish. I had 115 people in my graduating class. The building wasn't some expansive campus that you had to hike across. The time between bell rings was 3 minutes. Three minutes if you were going across the hall was plenty, but if you had to get down the stairs, down the hall, around the center of the school, down another hall and up another set of stairs--it was almost impossible. Not to mention you had all your books in your arms weighing you down because it took too long to go to your locker and backpacks weren't allowed. When the bell rang you left. Some teachers would want you to stay until they were finished, but many people bolted out of the door. When my husband had classes on BYU-I campus he sometimes ran from one side to the other in the ten minutes between classes. I'm not saying it's not rude--it's just something that you learn from trial and error.
I believe in Japanese classrooms they stay in the same room all day and have different teachers come for different subjects. They're never late to class if they're already there.
Anyway, I'm done ranting about that. :/ sorry.
I think as a teacher I will get used to different students with different paradigms which will make it possible to run my classroom smoothly and without causing offense or distractions. I think it will be kind of cool to learn new ways to look at the world through the eyes of my students.
I was a little surprised that Professor Ivers went over the complaints about American students to such a great extent. I guess it helps students maybe alter their behavior, but most likely they will continue to do behaviors that they do subconsciously. I know that I'm a backpack packer. I grew up in a school that was smallish. I had 115 people in my graduating class. The building wasn't some expansive campus that you had to hike across. The time between bell rings was 3 minutes. Three minutes if you were going across the hall was plenty, but if you had to get down the stairs, down the hall, around the center of the school, down another hall and up another set of stairs--it was almost impossible. Not to mention you had all your books in your arms weighing you down because it took too long to go to your locker and backpacks weren't allowed. When the bell rang you left. Some teachers would want you to stay until they were finished, but many people bolted out of the door. When my husband had classes on BYU-I campus he sometimes ran from one side to the other in the ten minutes between classes. I'm not saying it's not rude--it's just something that you learn from trial and error.
I believe in Japanese classrooms they stay in the same room all day and have different teachers come for different subjects. They're never late to class if they're already there.
Anyway, I'm done ranting about that. :/ sorry.
I think as a teacher I will get used to different students with different paradigms which will make it possible to run my classroom smoothly and without causing offense or distractions. I think it will be kind of cool to learn new ways to look at the world through the eyes of my students.
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