ALEXANDRE LOPES
EDF 1005
TUESDAYEVENINGS
REFLECTIONPAPER
# 32
WHATHAVE
YOU LEARNED IN THIS CLASS? WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO CHANGE?
I never thought it was going to
bethis much work. I never thought I was going to learn this much
either.Thirty-two reflections and nine quizzes later, my writing skills have
improved,my computer skills are more proficient, my english is much better and
I have alot more general knowledge now than I had when I started taking this
class.
I have always been afraid
ofwriting. To have to write an avarage of three reflections a week was what
Ineeded to let go of that fear. In the beginning, it was difficult. It used
totake me a long time to write just a few lines. Now, it has become a habit.
Isit down and I start to write and, a while later, I am finished. I think
itflows better now, it is easier. I guess it is all a matter of practice and
hardwork.
English is not my
firstlanguage and I was not quite sure I was going to be able to finish this
class.I believe that I have become more fluent, that my command of the language
hasimproved, my spelling and writing in English are a lot better, and the feel
ofthe English language is different too – it is more familiar, somehow.
The reading assignments
andthe reflections and quizzes based on them have enhanced my general
knowledgeimmensely. I feel that I know a lot more about history, culture, and
educationthan ever before.
My use of the
computercomprised of sending and receiving e-mails. I had never used “Word”,
mush less attachedpictures to documents and documents to e-mails. I had never
used “Google”. Evencopy and paste were foreign to me. Today I know all that and
even more. When Iheard, in class, that the course was going to be computer
based I was not happywith the idea. Now I am glad it was. I cannot believe I
have waited this longto get more familiar with technology.
This course has broadened
myhorizons. I feel that I am more capable than I believed I was. It helped me
letgo of silly fears and misconceptions. I feel that I have learned
andaccomplished a lot, and I am very proud of that. I am also very grateful.
I think that I haveperformed
well and taken adavantage of the tools available to me during thecourse of the
term. However, if I could do something different, I would havestarted counting
on my classmates much sooner for the wonderful resources theyare; I waited a
little too long to interact with them. Well, I guess that wasanother lesson to
be learned - better late than never.
.
EDF 1005/ Tuesday night
Ana Varela
Prof. Joseph D. McNair
REFLECTION PAPER#32: WHAT HAVE YOU
LEARNEDIN THIS CLASS. WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO
CHANGE?
In the class introduction to education
Ilearned many things about the beginnings of education as well as the beginning
ofhuman kind. I also learned about the beginning of the universe and the
world.It was a very challenging class for me because I was raised with a very
strongreligious background and after reading and analyzing the scientific
evidencefor the creation of the universe and the creation of human kind. I had
somekind of conflict in my mind. I am a very scientific person and believe in
thescientific evidence but I am also a religious person who was raised
believingin the creation of Adam and Eve. Another important fact that I learned
was theinvention of writing and how that led to the beginning of civilization.
I thinkthat the invention of writing is the most important human invention of
all.Thanks to the invention of writing, many things became possible for
instancepeople started writing about their history and their civilization. Also
peoplestarted a market system that if it wasn’t because of writing it would
have beenimpossible. Another very important thing that I learned was about the
differentapproaches to teaching and learning. As a teacher I am concern with
learningdifferent ways to improve my teaching skills. As I read the articles
about thebehaviorists and the constructivist methods I was able to understand
howchildren learn and how teachers need to help their students get the most out
ofa subject. What I would change about the class, I think the timing. I thinkthat
the work is not too much but the timing in which the work needs to beturned in
is too short. Maybe if instead of two or three papers per week it wasone paper
due as homework and one paper due in class. It was very difficult forme to
complete all the assignment because of my busy schedule plus all theother
obstacles that came into my life while I was taking this course. In conclusionI
will say that the class was very interesting that I learned many things
thathopefully I will be able to apply in my career. I also can say that even
thoughI was late in almost all the assignments, I try my best to get the most
out ofevery article I read and every paper I wrote. I would say that everything
aboutthe class is ok except for the amount of work in such a short time. Maybe
ifthe papers can be broken down into homework and class work then the
studentswill have to finish some papers in class instead of doing them at home.
Annette Estevez
Reflection Paper 32
This class exceeded my expectations and
Iwould not change a thing about it. The way that class lecture and
technologywere integrated was simply genius. I never had a class like this
before. Theamount of material that was on the website was simply incredible. It
would beimpossible to cover that much material in one semester. But with a web
basedclass, whatever the professor does not cover in class, you can read in the
comfortof your home. It also gives the student the opportunity to go over (and
referto) the material whenever they want. This class is time consuming and the
workload is tough to deal with at times. It is all worth it in the end. Aside
fromthe assigned reading material, additional material was available. I found
theadditional articles helpful. If I
didnot understand one article, I had the choice to read another covering the
sametopic. When I entered this class I had the basic knowledge of computers,
but Ileft knowing much more. I thought this class would only cover our
currenteducational system, but boy was I wrong. I learned about Mesopotamian educationas
well as Egyptian and Greek. I learned how important apprenticeship was atthe
time, a child learned by being an apprentice.
I also learned that women were not
valuedand their purpose in life was to master domestic duties. I also learned
thatmany children did not get the education that they deserved because their
parentsdid not have money. Schools were expensive, public education did not
exist. Itruly enjoyed the lessons on Egyptian culture. I also enjoyed reading
about therites of passage of different tribes. Making the transition from
childhood toadulthood was not an easy task for these children. Another topic I
foundinteresting was the invention of writing and how it all began with
pictographsand later cuneiform.
Bridget Glenn
EDF 1005
Prof. McNair
Reflection#32
This class has taught me many
thingsconcerning the concept of education. I learned that education begins at
homeand not necessarily in the classroom. Through enculturation, the mind
learns tomimic and process ideas. By reading about the beginnings of man and
the processby which need began to mold the psychological structure of the human
being, Igained an understanding for why we function the way that we do
today. I also discovered the reason for
theneurological gender differences when it comes to rationalizing.
As we moved on to the Roman Era, I
noticedhow much of the current education system in America is modeled after
that ofthe early Romans. The structure of our current schools system is set up
intosteps just as they had. We have primary school, followed by secondary
school(which, with us, is broken up into junior high school and high school)
and thenthe optional higher education.
Exploring the different theories oflearning
opened me up to the psychology behind teaching and differentapproaches to take.
The history of education in America was much deeper thanI’d ever imagined
before. It really made me appreciate the opportunity that isprovided for us by
equal education.
I really did appreciate the approach
takento learning in this class. The online work motivated me to push for a
betterunderstanding of complicated texts.
ChrisChamblin
10:00a.m.
MWF
Prof.McNair
Reflection#32
What have you learned in this class?
Whatwould you like to change?
At the start of this semester of this
newschool year, I was thinking that this class called Introduction to
educationwas going to be on different aspects of teaching and dealing with
students thatare of different ethnic groups. And once the class began, and all
the workstarted. I thought about dropping at least one of the classes I have
with Prof.McNair. Nonetheless, I decided to keep both of them and pass them.
During thiseducation class we learned bout a lot of different things from
different ethnicgroups to the Roman Empire. I believe that some of the most
interesting thingsthat we learned about were the first hominids and humans, and
then the rites ofpassage were unique and strange because they evolved different
cultures andethnic groups. This class has helped me to stay open to new ideas
of things andquestion every thing about life that should be asked during a life
time. Thisclass has helped me to better understand myself and the aspects of me
that Ineed to improve on.
Aftertaking
this class and the unique style it is taught and presented to theclasses, I
have realized how important and useful the technology that we haveat hand is to
us. By using the computer as the true way of taking the class, ithas improved
my typing and knowledge of the computer. Before this class I neverused the
computer, I did not even know how to email somebody. And now I knowhow to do
that to somebody. The only thing that I would change about the classwould be
the amount of typing that you have to do in the class. At certaintimes at the
end of the class, I have had problems with my wrists and usingthem. I have had
to wear a brace on it. Maybe it is because I am taking two ofyour classes at
the same time. It was a lot of work to do and a lot of tests aswell. This has
to be the hardest semester that I have had so far in college. Ihave done a lot
of typing and reading on the internet. I have never used thecomputer as much as
this in my entire life time put together. If I am able totake another one of
your classes again, I would because I know that I am goingto learn a lot of
information in a short amount of time. And by having all ofthe assignments and
quizzes on the internet to take, it enables use to stayahead at times.
Christopher Oglesby
EDF 1005
December 5,2003
WhenI
first enter this class I knew that it was going to be an interesting
andchallenging course. I knew that I was up to the challenge because I never
backdown from a challenge. From this course I have learned a lot of
information.Some of the information that I learned at first I did not see what
it had to dowith being an educator but as the course went along I began to see
andunderstand. The section of the course that interested me the most was the
weekthat’s we did on the Greek and Greek philosophy. I had heard of the
philosophersSocrates, Aristotle, but I never really knew too much about them.
Aftercompleting the section on the Greek I knew a lot more about them than what
Iknew before. I learned about their different ideas and beliefs, how they
weresimilar and different. It was a very interesting section of the course.
Bytaking
this course I have learned the history being education. I learned howeducation
was developing back when man was first created with the developmentof language.
This was the first major step towards education. Later on came thedevelopment
of writing which was instrumental in education. I have learneddifferent methods
that are used in order to help students to understand andgain knowledge. I have
learned that educating is more than just readingsomething to students and
giving them test. Education is getting the mind ofthe student involved it is
making them think critically in order to come upwith answers.
Fromthis
class I have learned that as a teacher I am going to have to be involvedin a
lot of reading and studying. This class has helped me develop my mind andopened
it up to accepting new ideas. If I could change something in this courseI would
minimize the amount of information students have to read each week. Iunderstand
that as a teacher we will have to be involved in a lot of reading bywith other
classes it is sometimes difficult to keep up with the reading. Otherthan that
the class was an educational and informative course.
Diana Sanchez
EDF1005
Tuesday night
JmcNair
WHAT I LEARNED IN THIS CLASS
My desired to be a teacher led me to
takethis class not only to acquire knowledge but also to interpret it. Concepts like human evolution,
culturalbehavior, and the beginning of the education through enculturation brought
backmemories from my high school history and sociology classes in which I
learnedtheir basics definitions.
Introductionto Education took me even further in their concepts, letting
me learn andunderstand the newly discoveries and theories that were unknown to
me untilnow. Likewise, I was very
touched bytraditions from others cultures like the Chinese birth tradition “Doing the month”, the
Indian-Pakistanipremarital tradition “The
Mehendi party”,and the initiation rites of the Gikuyupeople narrated on the article “FacingMt. Kenya” which specially surprised me. It is very surprising that education still
using most of its originalmethods that have been implemented since ancient
times like home schooling,apprenticeship, and temple education. Home schooling
for example is seeing today in both Eastern and Westerncountries where children
spend their first years under their parent’ssurveillance. Similarly, children aresent to schools just
after they are five or six years old until their lateteens, showing a perfect
example of apprenticeship today. On the
other hand, there were facts unknownto me like the people who played a notable
role during the establishment of theAmerican system education, which led all
Americans without distinction of raceor religion to have the opportunity to be
educated. Also, philosophical andpsychological theories led me to know and
understand further the human behaviorand mind in the teaching learning process.
Although this class is very interesting, it is also very hard speciallywhen the
student has a family with little children to attend, a job toaccomplish, and
dog (this is my case). I would like to change the reflectionpapers quantity
from 32 to 25, nevertheless, the students need to read everyarticle to complete
the tests. Afterall, I would like to
thank Professor McNair because he is a great teacher. Hehas the patience,
knowledge, wisdom, and good sense of humor to make hisclasses interesting. In
addition he is very human because he listens and givesopportunities when
somebody has problems and also encourage the student to donot give up and keep
going. This was the most important thing I learned fromhim.
Donza Alexander-Turner
EDF 1005
11:00am
Professor J. McNair
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED IN THIS CLASS? WHAT
WOULDYOU LIKE TO CHANGE?
I’ve learned in this class that teachingcan
be a difficult task, but also an enjoyment and good feeling to see and toteach
children. I’ve also learned the roles of education and enculturationtowards the
children. That education is learned in school or receives intraining for a
specific job. Enculturation is what you were taught from family and anywhere
outside theschool. Selective exposure, modeling, reward and punishment,
nurturance andidentification are roles that children go through during their
stage of life.Also in going back into the early history in our life cycle, I’m
very aware nowwhy some people have different beliefs in our history about who
was on earthback then. On that area I have some doubts of what I used to
believe about Adamand Eve. Going on to what I’ve learned in this class about
interesting logicalstories about the Eve theory and the Lucy. There was another
story about the Gikuyupeople and their belief of circumcising a female was
unbelievable. I didn’tthink that was even possible in this world. I’ve enjoyed
the readings of allthe topics that we had to read and that it was an
interesting class. I’velearned how certain cultures have there ways in bringing
up their children andthat it for a fact different from what we do now in the
u.s. I’ve learned thatwriting was established early in our outside country and
that I know howimportant it was for us today. Writing is something we can
preserve what wegain and know from experience and to keep for the future. It
was a sad thing toknow that discrimination wasn’t the only problem we had back
then; it was alsothe poor people and the women who had problems with societies.
In regards tothe people they had to learn what they can from their unwealty
parents. Whilethe rich get all the education that they can get. Another thing
that I’velearned is about Plato and Aristotle. Learning there aspects on life
and howthey become phenomenal in our history. I have a greater understanding
aboutbooker t, Mary Lyon, and Horace Mann. I’ve learn the other forms of teachingand
learning with behaviorist and constructivist, also apperception, unfoldmentand
mental discipline. There were a quite much to learn in this class andthere’s
nothing I wouldn’t of change.
Earl Hackworth / EDf1005 / Tuesday Evening / JMcNair
Reflection Paper#32: Whathave you learned in this Class? What would you like to change?
I have learned a great deal in this class. Ihave learned about the origins and evolution of man in the past 5 millionyears. I have learned about the great ancient civilizations of the Egyptians,the Mesopotamians, the Greeks, and the Romans. I learned of their rulers, theirGods, their places of worship, and their everyday lives. I have learned aboutthe great teachers of the world.
I have studied the education models of theAncients, the Scholatics, theEuropeans of the Renaissance, Colonial America, and modern America.I learned how mental discipline, natural unfoldment,apperception, and behaviorism affected the education that I received in school.We studied Herbart, Pestalozzi,Froebel, and Rosseau, andmany others whom influenced these models and therefore my education.
I also received insight to many cultures as
aresult of this class. I studied several initiation rites from the
ancientEgyptians to the 20th century Gikuyu
tribeof
We learned to surf the web in search ofinformation, and how to find it quickly. We learned to compose our own web pageand track and manage our resource files and how to create our portfolio CD. Webecame computer literate.
As for things I would like to see changed
thelist is much to long to be contained on a single CD. I suppose the one
thingthat I would have liked more than anything else was more discussion during
classespecially during the last several weeks. I would enjoy discussing the
morerecent education models and how they impact education in
Professor McNair
EDF1005
Horacio Anduray
Reflection # XXXI
Reflection # XXXI
In this, my last reflection for this courseI
would like to thank my teacher for being patient and flexible with me, in
hisclass we covered a great deal of topics in the general knowledge category,
atthe beginning we began the course
veryslow, I found my self in my first semester as a college student looking for
theclassroom for EDF 1005, being a new student it was not easy to find the
rightfloor or the right building, I walked for a while and after asking four or
five people for directions I foundthe room or did I, in that room there was an
older gentleman and I asked him ifhis name was Mr. McNair and when he saidno I said may be college is not for
me.
I decided to wait outside of the room tosee
if somebody else in the same course would arrive, and after a while I met
apretty lady name Shona who talked to me and worry me more by asking
questionsabout where our classroom was, luckily our teacher arrived soon after
andguided us to a temporary classroom where we received our course syllabus.
Afterthe teacher explained the course requirements and what was expected from
thestudents, I said to my self I do not understand this very much but if I
observe what people do maybe I canhang in there.
I never expected in this course to
learnabout some anthropology, it was a very interesting subject to me; the
firstreading had the origins of men from evolution, how hominids evolved from
aladder of lesser to more sophisticated antecessors in to modern humans,
laterin the course I learned about the origins of writing, the coming of age
ritualsof people in different parts of the world such as the one that Facing
Mt. Kenyadescribes. The most interesting subject of this course for me was when
theteacher started to read Greek and Roman contributions to humanity, it was
avery rewarding experience to learn about Socrates and his teachings
“anunexamined life it not a life worth living”.
There is something in my opinion that
couldmake this course better, I think a greater amount of time should be
provided toexplore and study with more detail deep subjects such as Egyptology
andphilosophy but this is not the purpose of this course, so I think that this
hasbeen one of the most educative and enlightening classes I ever had.
Karen Gonzalez
Prof. Joseph Mcnair
EDG 2701
M.W.F 9:00-9:50
Reflection Paper # 32: How has this classchanged
the way you think. Have you had a paradigm shift?
Myfirst
day in this class and my impressions were the same as any other classthat I
took. This class is the first class that I have taken that is inaccordance to
my major, which is teaching elementary students. Now, it’stowards the end of
the term and I honestly can say that I have learned a lotthat is of extreme use
in the future for me. I think that it has definitelychanged a lot about my
attitudes towards ethnics or other races beyond mines.Before I use to think
that any other race other than mine was different andtherefore they must not
think the way I do in certain issues. In fact thisclass has taught me that I
should not see that race as a boundary towardsopening thoughts but yet I should
listen and hear what other races/ethnics orother cultures have opinions on
certain things. Even though sometimes I hearother peoples opinions about things
that I have opposite opinions of I shouldalways have an open mind about it. I
think that that is very importantespecially for my future career as an
elementary teacher because I should notlet my beliefs, values or attitudes
intervene with listening to others. I couldlisten to them and have an open mind
about it and without changing my own viewsabout it. I think my professor has
taught me a lot on how I should put aside mybeliefs from my career and face the
fact that if I don’t I will have trouble indealing with students who have
different cultures or beliefs. I think that anillustration that has been kept
in my mind and will still be there is anexample in class where my professor
gave an example of a student who walked inclass late and he started to bow down
repeatedly as pleading for forgivenessand what we as future educators should do
in a situation like that. We have tobe aware of the aspects of their cultures
and also explain about it to otherclassmates. To tell the truth I wouldn’t have
known what to do in a situationlike that if I would not have taken this class
because I would have beenstunned as saying what in the world is this kid doing
but I have to understandthat it is a custom in his culture to ask for
forgiveness in that way and Ialso have to have the right words to explain to a
bunch of kids who have seenwhat he did and make them understand. In the beginning
of this class myprofessor said that at the end of the term he would ask if we
think that we hada paradigm shift, I can honestly say that I have.
Jennifer Martin
Reflection 32
This semester, EDF1005 and my honors seminar
coursehave been an experience of learning and understanding. It is a process of
longhours on the computer doing homework and not having enough time to finish
orstart on the work of any other courses. These long hours have paid off; I
haveopened my eyes to the visions of those around me, and have come to
realizethat determination can get me anywhere. I came into this class knowing
theexpectations of the professor, so I knew what I was getting myself into
onceagain. This semester was extra
difficultdue to many family problems at home. I found myself struggling just to
get toschool in the morning, trying to find a ride from anyone that I could.
Withthese extra obstacles in my way, they have somehow made me a stronger
person. Ihave had to keep up with my priorities, and sacrifice my social life.
It wasvery tough though, at one point I almost gave up and dropped all of my
classesbecause I just could not take the load with everything that was going on
athome, it was all too overwhelming. However, knowing the strong person that I
amand realizing that I wouldn’t want to go through another semester just
tore-take these classes, I changed my mind. I overcame my obstacles, and
gotthrough this class once again. It has taught me many things in which I
willtake to use outside of the classroom. Life lessons have been taught,
friendshave been made, and many good things will come out of these classes.My schedule thus far has been quite hectic; now I’m
workingand it became even harder for me to focus all of my time on school. I
wastrying to refrain from working as long as possible but I can't anymore; I
haveno money and no car so I really needed a job. It is difficult, but life
iscrazy and draining. I have learned a lot about different things in these
educationclasses so far. I thank you Professor McNair for making this a fun
learningexperience for me. I have associated much of what I have learned about
to whatgoes on in my everyday life and am grateful for my growing knowledge
eventhough it is a strenuous task.
Jeannette Rodriguez
Reflection # 32
I learned…
What did I learn? Well, I learned how to discipline myself
tofinish assignments on my own without having someone hold my hand throughout
thesemester. That allowed me the time
Ineeded to not only finish the assignments for this class but also the
otherclasses I had. I learned to expand
myviews on certain issues and to soak in all different types of information fromdifferent
areas. I learned the Sambianmen are
perverts and that sodomy is illegal. ;o) I learned that sometimesyou’re not
always going to like people who you have to work with but that withtime, they
can grown on you. I learnedthat
sometimes no matter how hard it may be, you have to speak up for yourselfif you
want something done. Although, Inever
really tried to do that in class, I surely did come to the realizationthat if
you want something done, and no one is doing it on their own, you haveto ask
them to. Even though I hadalready taken
my leadership course earlier in my college career, I recognizedthat people are
not psychic and unless you tell them how you feel, they’renever going to
know. I have to try thatsoon.
Inaddition,
I learned that although there are professors who have no idea youexist in their
class, there are a selected few who do.
I realized that all it takes is for theindividual to take time out of
their class period to get to know each studenton an individual basis and that
that alone makes an incredible difference.
I learned that if all you are asked to do isbe on time, then be there on
time. Andif the professor is known to be
a bit tardy, then just try and get there beforehim. I learned that is very possible togrow to
care for people you only meet up with two days a week. I learned that although I was never
reallyexcited about waking up for school that I am in deed going to miss the
thingsthis school allowed me to learn.
If youread this big guy, I want to you to know that I appreciate
everything you didfor me during the two semesters I had the opportunity to
encounter you. You have been a very
influential individualin my life and I would like to thank you for everything
that I learned!
Jessica Petit-Frere
EDF 1005 MWF
Week 14/15
Professor McNair
Reflection Paper #32-What I’ve Learned
I have learned a great deal
ofinformation from taking, Introduction to Education, EDF1005. Although I
haveheard of some of these matters concerning education before in my teacher
aidecourse, I have never been able to get the detailed view of the information.
Myteacher brushed against how education advanced, but he really only spent a
weekon the advances. I was glad that by taking this class I was able to do
that. Ihave learned a lot of background information of the history of education
andhow it has developed.
I never knew about all
thesedifferent teaching techniques before like constructivism and behaviorism.
Iguess I just assumed teachers taught and that is all there was to it. Iappreciate
the fact that now I know there is much more to it. Now I have abetter idea of
which one to use at what times and when they will be mosteffective. Learning
about Egypt and Mesopotamia’s influence on education andthe Books of
Instructions was interesting too. The different traditions I readabout gave me
some kind of connection to other cultures besides my own which Iam sure will
help me deal with future students that I may have. Another thingthat I learned
about was apperception, mental discipline, and natural unfoldment.It is now
easier to intertwine into how a teacher teaches their class.
If there was one thing tochange
it would be the fact that we had to go out on our own to do the hours ofhelping
out a teacher and the fact that about the different philosophers. I amstill not
sure about what Plato and Aristotle’s philosophies were about andthat entire
happiness thing since they are still hard to comprehend. I wouldhave loved to
get more hands-on opportunities especially with young students. Iheard that
Miami-Dade’s North Campus has a center for early care and educationand even
though this is not an early education class, I would have appreciatedworking
with students to introduce me to education.
Kahlil Hunter
December 10, 2003
EDF 1005
Reflection Paper 32
What have you learned in this Class?
Whatwould you like to change?
Cominginto
this course I had no idea of what I was getting myself into. Over thesixteen
weeks of this course I have learned many things that I will take withme beyond
this class and other things that, to be honest, I will forget or havealready
forgotten. I have learned the history of education, why and how it wascreated.
I have learned about some of the most prolific educators and wherethey
originated from. I have learned the history of writing and how schoolsfirst
established. The knowledge that I have acquired is irreplaceable and hadit not
been for this class I know for a fact that I would have never took thetime to
read the articles to know these things. I was never concerned withwhere
education came from to be honest and I know I am not the only student whofelt
this way. However, I think it would be as disrespectful as a spit in theface
for me to say that learning the history of education was a waste of time.In
addition to me having to read more in this course than I have ever read inany
other course, being assigned writing assignments weekly and having
onlinequizzes helped to keep me organized and made me practice time management
in away that I have never had to. The extensive reading has furthered my
vocabularyand has allowed me to become a better and more fluid reader. This
course showsfuture educators how to seek out information as well as prepare us
for thefuture by having us interact with computers, making students more aware
of thechanging technology and preparing them for the future. Going through
thiscourse I wouldn’t change much, the only suggestion I would have would be
tohave students speak more in front of the class so that they get a feel for
speakingin front of the class; then again I guess that was what the community
servicewas for. So I guess I wouldn’t change anything about the course. This
coursehas been tiring but it has showed me a lot of things. At times I felt
bombardedwith work and felt like quitting but I came to realize that as a
teacher I amgoing to get bombarded with a lot more work that this so it was
justpreparation for me so when the time comes I will be prepared. Thanks for
thelesson professor!
Katrina Moncrief
Reflection Paper#32:
Katrina Moncrief
EDF 1005 Tues. Night
What have you learned in this Class? What would you like
tochange?
Thus far in this classthere
is so much that I have learned whether I wanted to or not, simply becauseof our
quizzes and reflection papers. One thing that will always stick in mymind is
Ketty Daley-Lozier
EDF 1005 Tuesday
Prof. McNair
Reflection 32
MyIntroduction
to Education class and Professor McNair was a lot of work. On the first day of class while I
waslistening to the professor tell us of the work that we are about to embark,
mymind went to wondering. I though
tomyself, what have I gotten myself into? The only reason I did not get up and
leave was because of I got himsay. With
all the work we will have todo, “it can be done and I will help you”. I figure
if he is willing to him, then I am willing to work. I have learned things that I can use in
theclassroom and I have managed to put some pieces of things I’ve learned in
myphilology class together will what I’ve learned in this class. Although it was a lot and I do mean a lot ofreading,
I was able to understand the process that got us here. I enjoyed learning about the beginning of
ourhistory to education. From the
languageto writing it was an experience we all should learn about. The difference of culture and what brings usall
together was something that was amazing to me.
Most of all I learned how to create a webpage and burn compact disk; I
really enjoyed that part of the class even thoughI had a hard time. My most challengingpart of the class was the
reading; it was too much. I think if
giving the chance that is what Iwould change.
They all was important soI really don’t know what I would take out.
Overall I wish this class was not ending because I feel that I stillhave a lot
more to learn.
Kevin Pineiro
EDF 1005
Tuesday
J. McNair
EDF1005
EDF1005,
Introduction to Education has been a great class and was not what I
wasexpecting. In this class, I learned a
greatdeal of history and how education helped shape our world today. In the first week, I have to admit, I
foundvery little relevancy when reviewing the curriculum and noting that we
were tostudy hominids. Let me now say
that thiswas very interesting and very relevant. I was able to learn how man
evolved. Not evolution in a physical sense but more from a capacity to learn
andhow this attributed to the rise of the ancient civilizations we read about
orsee in the movies.
Thisclass
really help place many things in perspective.
Kind of the same way a Director’s cut versionof a movie helps one
understand the story better. I was able
to see cultural associations fromthe earliest civilizations to all subsequent
civilizations. Something else I was able
to hone in on anddevelop was my time management as it pertained to the course
work. The course work was laid out very
well andwas clearly outlined. A
specificallyenjoyed having all of the course work available to me on-line as it
allowed meto perform all duties in the class at my own pace.
Ispecifically
enjoyed the sections of the Mesopotamians, the Ancient Greeks andthe Ancient
Romans. As I mentioned in myreflection
paper of the Mesopotamians, I feel this is a part in history thatdoes not get
much attention. And I findthat it is
more intriguing than that of the Egyptians. This class was overall a great experience
andfelt the teacher to be very insightful and was able to help understand
thereadings through his lectures.
Theformat of the class was excellent as it encouraged all students to
help eachother. I would not recommend
changingany part of the class as it was beneficial to me in its current form
and forcedme to learn through reading.
Latoya Blackwood
November 25, 2003
EDG 2701
MWF 9am
How has this class changed the way you
think?Have you had a paradigm shift?
Words cannot fully explain my
feelingstowards this class. It has been
a long,long, long journey but I have overcome. I have seen the
mountaintop. Thisclass has really given
me an awareness of other people as well as mysurroundings. I have found myself tryingto incorporate some
of what I have read into my everyday life.
Making the transition from growing up in acity whether everyone is
family, thinks, talks, and acts alike to a diversecity like Miami, a place
where the city itself is subdivided into mini-islands,has been easier with the
newfound knowledge that I have acquired from thisclass. As I stated earlier, I am moreattentive when
it comes to dealing with someone that is diverse frommyself. I am more tolerant and patientwhen it comes
to dealing with someone when a language or culture barrier isplaced between
us. I keep in my mindwhat it must feel
like to try to communicate in a strange world.
As far as paradigm shifts are concerned,
Iam constantly in a state of shifting. The paradigm that I would say that I am
definitely proud is the factthat I have started AND finished this
class. In the beginning of the
semester, I kept tellingmyself that I couldn’t to all this work as well as 3
other classes thissemester, but I proved myself. It hasbeen my pleasure to write this final
reflection.
April 20, 2003
EDF1005
Reflection#32:
What Have You Learned in Class and What Would you like to Change?
I enjoyed the class very much. ProfessorMcNair
provides a critical and thorough overview of Education. It was obviousthat the
Professor had worked hard upgrading his web site. The automatic linksto both
the articles and to WebCt were extremely helpful and convenient.
Beginning with mans developmental
evolutionand that connection to teaching and learning, all the way to present
dayteaching and learning techniques. The information presented was, at
timesextremely dense, as in the case of the historical analysis of the
pre-moderncivilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt. At times I thought I was in
ananthropology or history class. I didn’t think that it was necessary to go
intodepth about the governmental and societal rise and fall of any of the
assignedempires, Greece and Rome included. In my opinion, a brief synopsis
withemphasis on educational practice alone would have sufficed.
There was such an extensive array
ofarticles, many of which I would have enjoyed reading, yet given our schedule
ofreflections and projects this was impossible. In the end I felt like a
childwho was brought to a candy shop, filled with delicious treats and was only
ableto come away with one or two, because her mother was in a hurry to leave
the store.In addition to this regular and constant task of reading and
reflections, (tenmore this semester) we had not one but two power point
projects assigned andthe memorization of a twenty-line poem. The up side was
that we had fewertests. This worked for me. Even though I complained about the
projects and thepoem, I still felt as if I learned more from those exercises
than from anytest. As the tests were “open book”, so to speak
The experience of putting together
theportfolio was invaluable. This year, as a result of these classes I
havelearned so much about the computer. I think the reflections have also
helped toimprove my writing skills.
Unfortunately, I became a bit
overwhelmedtowards the end, having to complete my responsibilities from last
term and keepup with the work from this term. I spent so much time spinning my
wheels. Thisinternal struggle with my attitude and my commitment, coupled with
other lifesituations, made the last few weeks very difficult, almost battle
like.
All that I have learned will unfold
overtime and with experience. I will miss the Professor.
Maria Cassinelli
Prof. McNair
EDF1005 Tuesday Night
Reflection Paper 32
11/21/2003
Whathave
you learned in this Class. What would youlike to change?
Wow, the questiontruly should be what have I not learned in this class? I have learned anassortment of information. It has been a rocky drive and at times I thought Iwas not going to make it, but what a surprise that here I am finally writingthe last reflection. Taking this class has been like reading an entirecollection of encyclopedias nonstop for weeks. The amount of diverse materialthat I have read about in this class is nothing I have ever dealt with before.I had no recollection of history whatsoever before taking this class. I wasable to regain all the knowledge about the past, in which I am almost certain Ihave learned about before. It was fun and at the same time educational to readabout the beginnings and evolution of the human species. I had forgotten thedimension of history from fossil excavation and collection. All the articlesabout Egypt, Mesopotamia, Rome, Greece, and finally America as a youngster,have taught me a great deal of information. I was amazed to read about theancient civilizations and their instruction methods, their initiation rites,and most importantly their people’s lifestyles. Aside from being amaze, I havebeen shocked and in pain reading about some initiation rites. I was overwhelmedto read about the different gods and the amount of gods the ancientcivilizations had. The sections that I not quite enjoyed were the one on thescholars. The readings were somewhat difficult. The part of the class that Ienjoyed the most was learning, well reading, about the different religions.Religion, as far as I am concern, is the most controversial and talk abouttopic in society today. There are many topics that fit these categories, butnone like religion. I also had an educational time reading about the beginningof education in America. I noticed that America in its beginning did not have astrong educational foundation as the ancient civilizations had in theirbeginnings. This comparison astounded me. Furthermore, the educational systemin America developed, in my opinion, more slowly and with less force than anyother place. Overall, all the material covered in this class was justabsolutely amazing. Although unsure about this early in the semester, it issafe to say that the learning done in this class has been the history andevolution of education. The class covered a vast amount of information startingfrom early primates to today.
There are a few things I
wouldchange about the class. The first thing I would change is the amount of
workthat has to be done. It is too overwhelming and college, in my opinion,
issuppose to be a lot of work in material but not in actual assignment
load.College students have families and jobs and for some of them it is
impossibleto keep up with a class. Another change I would make is to give more
time tocomplete the quizzes. The articles are long and sometimes the quizzes
aretricky, so I would give unlimited time for them. The catch here would be
that,yes, students would have unlimited time to complete a quiz but it can only
beturned in once. Aside from that, I would make sure that the key to the quiz
iscompletely accurate. So many times a question on my quiz was marked wrong
whenin fact the answer was right. The answer key needs to be correct so all
thequizzes get graded effectively. Basically, these three things I would changeabout
the class. It is been a high hill to fall from but thankfully I landedsafely on
land.
Reflection Paper#32: How has this
classchanged the way you think? Have you had a paradigm shift?
HaveI had a paradigm shift? I have learned
that paradigm shifts are to be welcomed.It is ideal to experience a change of
attitude from ignorant to less ignorant, fromuninformed to informed; to have a
larger view of the world and to see otherpeoples and cultures as different but
similar. Yes, I’ve had a paradigm shift.I take pleasure in the fact that I had
an open mind throughout. There was onlyone true area where I felt a little
shaken and that was in the subject ofreligion. This of course is because I am a
casualty of the Catholic faith-fallen from the church and fallen from God in
the traditional sense of notattending Sunday mass. Growing up Catholic is
definitely a unique thing, and Iexperienced a private education in it from
grades one to eight, and it includedreligion as a daily subject. The time has
passed since, and to my credit I havenot become a bum or a dropout drug addict
as those from the faith would like tobelieve happens to you when you lose God.
The truth is, I have never reallylost God, but my concept of the creator has
changed a little over the years.There are many different religions around the
world, and I have acknowledgedthat I have been born into this faith by chance,
and was told to believe in theunreal. By seeing other cultures and their
religions, I have managed to try andbring faith to a sort of universal theme of
spirituality- and follow by thecodes of ethics and decency. Being in this class
asks of you to look at othercultures, and in seeing their differences, you
recognize the similarities toyours. It was a little funny at first to learn of other
culture’s ways of doingthings, particularly the rites of passage in African
tribes. It was shocking,what can I say. I fought the desire to say, “Oh,
they’re crazy” or “That’s justsick”. I quickly acknowledged that my own society
has many traditions andrituals that would seem silly to others. Maybe in the
eyes of the African tribeI am not a complete man for not having passed though
their kind of ceremony. Ican recognize that if I were born there, I’d be
participating in it just aswell, probably finding the experience very “normal”.
Thefinal thought I have is: There is no wrong
or right way to live, so don’t passjudgment on others because they are
different from you. They are more like youthan you can imagine.
Maribel Carvajal
EDF1005
– Tuesday nights
WeekFifteen
– Reflection Paper #32
December9th,
2003
EDF1005turned
out to be something totally different than what I initially thought itmight
be. To my surprise there was quitemore
history and philosophy in its content as it relates to the origins
ofeducational systems. By beginning
withthe physical and mental evolution of man we were able to see how
theenvironment and culture influenced how man behaved and began to developcommunication
skills. While speech was amajor
contributor to the spread of knowledge, it was the initial forms ofwriting from
the great ancient civilizations that provided the greatestmilestone for the
formation of an educational system. With
written history, societies were able tocapture their everyday doings relating
to family life, government, andreligious beliefs. As such, scribesbecame highly regarded
members of society.
Itwas
interesting to see how some of the educational practices used in ancientcivilizations
like home-schooling and apprenticeship resemble modern dayinstitutions. With
the Greeks, we saw the foundation of much of westerneducational practices,
established namely by the philosophers Socrates, hisstudent, Plato, and Plato’s
student, Aristotle. The methods they used to drive their teaching focused on
repeatedquestioning in pursuit of “truths” – we see this today in the study
oflaw. TheRomans,
although primarily occupied with conquering, classified education into2
categories, trivium and quadrivium. The first contained grammar, rhetoric,and
dialectic while the second contained arithmetic, geometry, astronomy,
andmusic. Some of these continue to
serveas the basis in elementary educational systems.
Unfortunately,we
were not able to spend too much time in class on early American education
orreview in depth the concepts of modern day psychologists and
philosophers. However, the reading
material was extensiveand provided a good overview of some of the controversies
in the currentstructure of America’s educational system.
Ienjoyed
this class very much and the professor’s attitude and delivery style! I look forward to the next scheduled course.
Becky Santiago
EDG 2701
9am
Prof/ J. McNair
Reflection Paper# 32
WhenI
first started attending this diverse population’s class I thought I had an
openedmind towards different things, situations and new ideas. However, I found that through out the
courseof this semester the class has in fact changed somewhat the way I think. I believe that the information that I havehad
to read and reflect on along with observing and listening to my
classmate’sfeedback and or discussions that took place in the classroom played
a big partof this paradigm shift I believe I have had. For starters I never
really understood the definition of the paradigmshift, and now I know that when
one finds a specific new way of pondering oldproblems are paradigm shifts
itself.
Alongwith
this semester came many changes in my life, some good, some bad and somethat
require time to tell. About two orso
weeks into the course I lost my job leaving me with the stress of bills
anddebts. A little while later I found
outthat a certain special someone in my life may end up not being so special
afterall - that their might not be as much caring and trust as I thought
andbelieved that their was. Both
thingscombined made me feel and at some point still makes me feel like
regardless ofhow much I keep trying and I try and do good In life something
always ends upgoing wrong. But then as I
thoughtthings couldn't get any worse I found out that my parents are moving
away outof state for good. I fell behind
in allof my classes and consoled myself with anger, regret and no will
ofeffort. As days went on and
weeksstarted to come about, it hit me that I was still unemployed, behind in
myclasses and had nothing to show for the time lost. Now It Is towards the end of the semester
andI've found a way of pushing my anger and negative thoughts aside by doing
thebest that I can to catch up. I
occupymyself with volunteering at a near by elementary school a couple of hours
aday, working on assignments I fell behind for all my classes and
workingpart-time for some extra Income until I find myself a stable well paid
reliablejob. I find myself constantly
thinkingof going back In time and erasing all the bad, but then I also think If
thatwas possible then I probably wouldn’t have turned out the way I have, that
Islearning that even though something(s) go wrong there are always ways of goingaround
It and getting through It. Eventhough I
am still behind in my classes, I don't have a stable job, and stillsee my
personal life as a joke. . I am still trying, because I have learned
tobelieve that without trying one wouldn't even have the opportunity to know
Ifthey would have succeeded or not.
Melissa Gomez
Reflection 32
In this class I would have to say that Ilearned
pretty much a bit about everything. I learned about different types ofcultures.
During the first week of the semester we were introduced to theorigins of
formal teaching and learning. We studied the evolution of culturalbehavior. We
also got to focus on prehistoric times and the hominids. Inaddition we learned
about the systems of home schooling and about thephilosophical writings of
Plato and Aristotle. Even though I believed it was abit too much work and
especially in reading I still believe that it was worth atry. In the middle of
the semester I had trouble keeping up but I managed topull through thanks to
Prof. McNair. I really enjoyed this class and I thinkMcNair is a really
excellent and skilled teacher. He really is dedicated to oursuccess in the
future and he is always helping us with anything we need. In conclusion I believe this class taught
mehow to prepare for the future and how to be a bit more organized.
Mostimportant of all it let me to think not to leave everything to the last
minute.If I were to change something from this class I would have been more
preparedand organized especially on time with my assignments. I just wish there
wasn’tso much reading involved. But overall I believe the semester in this
class wasvery good after all.
MERLYN- C-LEWIS
EDF 1005
REFLECTION 32
PROF. MCNAIR
Reflection Paper # 32
Thefirst
day of the class when the professor introduced himself and showed us
thesyllabus on the computer, and introduced us to computers I had second
thoughtsabout taking the course. I said to myself, I cannot do this work it is
too muchto handle, and I don’t know how to use the computer. However, I was
motivatedby my mantra “The river is rough and deep, but I am struggling until I
get tothe other side”.
SinceI
started class I have learned a lot about the Ancient Roman and
Athenianeducation, Rhetoric and the education of the Roman Empire, and also how
thedifferent cultures educated their people. Another thing that I
foundinteresting is the initiation of the boys and girls, and what they had to
gothrough at a young age. One of the most important things is looking back
fromancient to modern times and looking at the advancement in education.
Forexample, we now have the use of Galileo for the kids which measure
theiraptitude. Today we have it in head start and all over, and I’m using it in
myclassroom with the children. I have also learned how to save my work on
thedisk and how to take my quiz online.
WhatI
would change would be the reading which was too much for me, with a full
timejob. I think the reading should be less and putting all the work what we
havedone on a disk to a CD-RW, which is very difficult for me. It would be
morebeneficial if the course was set at a level where everyone is capable
ofunderstanding, especially when it is dealing with computers. Not everyone
iscomputer literate and the level at which we did work was mainly for those
whohave a high literacy of computers, which is above the norm.
Ihave
truly learned a lot in reading the different topics through this course.By
reading about the history gave me a great understanding about the historyand
how it reflects the educational system now. I haven’t seen the use for whatI
have read now, but later on in my ongoing class or when I have
discussionsrelative to the knowledge that I’ve gained, I can always look back
and say Ilearned this from Professor McNair. This class has been a great
experience forme.
Patrice Holt Richardson
EDG 1005 Tuesday
J. McNair
Reflection 32
This has been quite an experience for
me,sometimes it seemed I was stuck in paused but with your encouragement
ProfessorMcNair I made it. From watching and listening to you I am learning
what ittakes to be a good teacher. I can say this because you will see me
again. Allthe qualities that I want to reflect as a teacher I see in you. I’ve
learnedthat being a good teacher takes dedication. You have to enjoy what
you’redoing. The effort you put into your job will reflect in your student’s
attitudetowards learning. You gave each one of your students a chance to
succeed inyour class. Your 15 minute rule was fair; it let every one know that
we had tomake a conscious effort to get to class on time. After writing all
thesereflections at some point in my studies I plan to take a writing class. If
Ihad to change anything it would be the amount of reflections we had to write,
2per week would be sufficient. This class made me a better student and
eventhough my attendance record is not the best due to personal reasons I did
lookforward to coming to class. This class has enlightened me on a personal
andcultural level. You made EDG 1005 an educational journey through time.
I’velearned about various traditions and cultures. Even through some of
thetraditions seemed kind of strange after reading the facts you had to
respectthe other person. Your class has reinforced my belief that you have look
atlife and the world from all angles, not just through a tunnel. Education is
notalways sitting in a classroom or reading a book. Education is about
diversityand each individual and culture has something to contribute to the
learningprocess. Some of us learned things about the history of mankind that
may haverocked our world a little bit, but that’s how life is. Your style of
teachingand your sense of humor made a big difference in the learning process;
therewas never a dull moment. You need to offer a course for teachers dealing
withhow to be a good teacher. Thanks
forteaching me some additional computer and internet skills. By the way thanks
forteaching me about plagiarism. It has been a pleasure taking your class
Ilearned more than I care to express on paper. See you in class next semester.
PriyashaJadoo
EDF 1005
Prof: McNair
What have you learnt from thisclass?
After the first day
ofclasses I could tell that this would have been and interesting class but I
hadno idea that this vast amount of information would have been transmitted to
me.There is no way I could have learned all that I know now in any other
class.The way I think and my perspective of things have changed. After I read
some ofthese articles my heart bled for some of the people who had to bear
unnecessarypains. Later I understood why they did some of the things they do
withoutrebelling against it. I found out it was part of their culture so
theypracticed what was handed down to them by their fore parents. For example
thearticle “Facing Mt. Kenya” really had me thinking, I refused to talk about
thearticle for days because it was gross, nevertheless that’s just my point
ofview. The people of
Rovenia Parmer
EDF1005
Prof. J. McNair
Reflection 32
What I’ve learned in this class: First of all, MENTAL DISCIPLINE. My mind’s muscles have never worked
sohard. This has been a
wonderfullyprosperous task for me. I
reallycompelled me to do my very best.
Theexercising of my mind’s muscles has strengthened my mind. Being that
I amcomputer illiterate, my concept of the computer has changed. I have been challenged to learn andunderstand
better how to make use of it. It has been personally rewarding. The motivation
in which this activity stems from for me, is theincentive that comes with it, A
GOOD GRADE. “As behaviorism centers on students’ efforts to accumulate
knowledge ofthe natural world and on teachers’ effort to transmit it”, I can
truly say,Professor McNair did indeed teach. I really appreciate the teaching
techniqueshe used. When I could not
relate to alesson, he would paraphrase so that I could understand. His compassion gave me the desire topersevere
and to believe that I was capable of doing what I had to do. Althoughchasing
the links in search was tiring, I learned to be more patient. I have increased in knowledge learning
thingsI never could have imagined existed.
The cultural ritual of Mt Kenya is one example. When the professordiscussed
this in class, I thought to myself, he has got to be kidding…NOT. Iwas so
intrigued by rituals of other cultures till I can now embrace andrespect
indifference. Then there is thestory of
“African Eve.” Although I havealways
thought all people to be equal, but had some physical differences, Inever knew
we are all descendants of an African woman.
As time does bring about change, I was
anindividual that was adamant about not changing with the times. Thanks to Professor McNair’s persistence, Iam
now prepared to except change. I believe this course has prepared me forwhat is
yet to come. As I look at my journey in this class, I can say it hasbeen a
rough yet productive one, and I would encourage future students to hangin
there, because at the end they will find a great reward. EDUCATION at it’s best by one of
thebest.
Sandra L. Coates
EDF 1005
December 1, 2003
Assignment: Reflection Paper #32: What haveyou learned in this Class
(Introduction to Education – EDF 1005 – Tuesdaynights)? What would you like to change?
What have Ilearned
in this class?
As I reflect on this class from thestarting
date of August 27, 2003 to the present,
I recognize that I have learned much fromthis class. I am ashamed to say thatthere was so much
information given which I had no knowledge of at all. I learned about the origins and history
offormal teaching/learning. All of
theinformation relating to the earlier civilizations was new to me. The information about Plato, Aristole,Socrates
– the Greeks and the Romans and their role in education was also newto me and I
am ashamed to say so. Ihad never been
exposed to the different learning techniques Mental Discipline –Learning by
Unfoldment and Apperception. Never even heard of them.
In addition to the academic side, I
havealso learned a “bunch” about this thing you call a “computer.”. Prior to
thisclass, the computer was my worst enemy. I didn’t like it and it certainty
didn’t like me. At least now I have
learned to not be afraidof it. I
attribute this to ProfessorMcNair’s patience with me and his moral support
always encouraging me to“stick with it.” I am also grateful forthose students in the
class who helped me with the computer when I wanted to give up.
When I looked at all the work thatProfessor
McNair obviously put into this class developing his web site with allthose
reading assignments, I was compelled to do these reflections and take every test. He deservesa
“A+” for his work. I appreciateProfessor
McNair’s honesty on the first day of class when he told the classthat this
class would not be hard but there would be “a lot of work” and so if we were not very
wellorganized, he said we may want to reconsider if we wanted to take
thisclass. At the time I didn’t realize
thathe literally meant what he said because I found the class not to be hard
but (‘Lord a mercy’) there was lots
and lotsand lots of work. Much more than
I hadever anticipated.
WhatI
would like to change?
Well, the first thing I would change is theamount
of work required in this class.There is no consideration given thatstudents
have other classes, families, jobs and other responsibilities. I am an avid reader, however I thought wehad
an anormous,amount of reading to do which was sometimes difficult
readingmaterial. Secondly, I would
change thefact that when you take the test on the second and third attempt, a
differenttest comes up. I would like to
see thesame test come up on all three attempts. Thirdly, I would also change
the accuracy level of the WEBCT. Many
times, the answers which I recordedwere correct, however the WEBCT marked the
questions wrong. Then I had to do an
e-mail to the Professorto substantiate my answers. With theamount of research required to find
the answers, I think it is unreasonablethat the WEBCT incorrectly marks the
answer necessitating the student to goback through the readings to tell the
Professor where the answers arefound.
Although, I must admit readingthe required material over again does not
hurt because after reading somethingover and over again you would hope
something will sink in. All in all I am
so thankful to the good Lordfor giving me the opportunity to be in this
class.
Shondra Bennett
EDF 1005
Tuesday Nights
What have you learned in this class?
Whatwould you like to change?
When I enrolled in this class I
expectedeverything to be easy. I thought
tomyself that introduction to education would be about learning the
basics,learning how to teach children, and things of that nature. In this class, I did learn about the basics
andhow to teach children just not the way I anticipated. I honestly thought the way I would learnthese
things would be in a normal textbook. I actually brought “The teach oneteach
all” book out of the bookstore but had to return it the first day of
classbecause I found out that it was not useful. When Professor McNair informed
the entire class that everything would beon the internet I figured that the
class still would not be difficult but itstill challenged me because I did not
own a computer. But what I eventually
learned was that thisclass is extremely challenging. This class challenged me
more than my otherclasses. It took me to
bediscipline. In this class you have
todiscipline because you have to learn to juggle reading the articles,
writingthe reflections, taking the test and class participation. For me that was very hard and I alwaysthought
of myself to be a disciplined person. It probably would have been easier if I
owned a computer but since I didnot I had to spend a lot of hours in the
Computer Lab and away from mydaughter.
But it was worth it because Ifinished the class and proved to myself
that I can do it. In this class I also
learned the principle ofmemorization.
Before this class I wasgood at memorizing facts especially when cramming
for a test. I learned the art of
memorization andspeaking in front of the class.
In highschool I was a dancer in the mind and being nervous was something
I never had aproblem with but speaking in front of the class and reciting a
poem to make itsound and look like I know what I was talking about is another
experience. If I could change anything
about this classit would probably to eliminate some of the articles. Instead of about six or seven it should
bemore like three or four only because each article had other interesting
linksand it is real hard to retain so much information at one time.
Stacey Gonzalez
EDF1005
MWF10-10:50AM
ReflectionPaper
32
Whathave
you learned in this Class? What would you like to change?
The time has come, when all
thework should be in, done correctly and proper. The is very near, and I am so
happy. In this fall semester, I struggled a bit too much with all my
classes,including this one, the Intro to Education. I am taking six class, and
living in Naples, so it’s a hassle to driveall the way down and go back up each
day, I will like to change moving there tobeing with, I will also like to
change slacking off in my classes. Well,
what I learned in this Intro. toeducation class? To tell the truth, Ilearned a lot of cool
facts I didn’t know before. When I first
signed up for this class Ithought it was going to be totally different. I did
not expect to be learning about the early education, and how itstarted or even
about Aristotle or Julius Caesar. But
I’m glad I did learn some interestingfacts about the past, that way when I take
the required American history classI will be ahead, and not think twice of who
Plato is, or how the Roman Empirecollapsed.
As, you read I did learn alot about different things. I alsolearned about what rhetoric is and how
is used in education. Scholasticism was
a very interesting topic aswell. In addition,
three famous peoplewere also spoken about in class, Horace Mann, Mary Lyon, and
Booker T. Washington. An important
factor to learn for any reasonwas learning about success, and how it is used
for all evaluations. However, there was
many interesting subjectstaught and I did learn them, but there is one thing
that kept banging on myhead, “have patience.”
As a student,there was a lot of work, and if you will leave one
reflection paper for anotherday, trust me, it wont be done. I willdo what mostly everyone would do; I
will leave the refection papers for thelast day. At the end of the week I willhave like four papers
to write, and will be in a hurry to turn it in ontime. Another thing I learned in theintro. to
education class, was test taking. The tests were taken in the computer, but you
had to search for theanswer. I learned
to also have patiencefor that, because sometimes I could not find the answers
and getfrustrated. However, there is
always ananswer for everything, so I figured out by typing the question in
Google orYahoo; you will get the answer with an explanation. In conclusion, I had fun when I went toclass,
and the teacher was great, he was funny, nice, and helpful.
Stephanie Gayle
EDF1005
What have you learned in
thisClass? What would you like to
change?
Thereare
so many specific ideas and concepts that we covered in this course and I donot
even know where to begin. This classwas
very exhaustive, yet very informative. I have learned many different theories
and other points of view that Iwould have never realized on my own. Ihave learned more about Socrates and Plato
than I would have everimagined. I have
also learned thebackground of education and its origin. Each time era had
different ways of educating their people.
The Roman’s to the Egyptians had two verydifferent but effective ways of
teaching. We also covered specific time lines in this course from the very
beggingof time all the way to the present day. There were so many great
educators that didn’t even set out to beeducationalists. They just happen to begreat philosophers like
Aristotle. Theylearned what they did and
with that knowledge they passed it on to other peoplewho were thirsting for it
also. Peoplelearn on a daily basis and
depending on what you believe. You may
choose to believe that we werecreated by a more powerful being or evolved from
the primate family. Which ever you
choose to embrace, I think wecan all agree that education has been present from
the very start of time. Education did
not only guide us to today’ssociety, it led us here. In today’sculture we as a community
understand how important a good education is.
On the other hand, I believe that educatorsin general are undervalued
and often over looked as a quintessential element ina student’s education. During one of myvisits to the classroom that
I am helping and observing with, I noticed that itis very different even from
when I was attending school. There are
so many opportunities in theclassroom that some students did not even care
for. Most of the children want to learn
and getknowledge, but some others seem to care less. During this semester, I
tried to draw on the strengths of what I havelearned to have a more effective
teaching strategy. If I could change one
thing about this classit would have to be completing of reflections on a weekly
basis, as I thinkthat I would orally recite this information better than to
type it.
Tahirah Jackson
Prof. McNair
EDF 1005
MWF 10am
“Whathave
you learned in this class? What would you like to change?”
This class was truly a learning experience. First off let me say that I have never in
myentire life felt more overwhelmed. I have learned that teaching is not what
yousee on TV and that there is definitely more than just handing out
assignmentsand having your assistant grades them. Ihave also learned that I am one of the
biggest procrastinators in the
Tammi Rogers
10-10:50 am
Reflection 32 What I learned this semester.
During this semester I learned a lot ofthings
that I never knew before. Learning about my past and how education cameabout
was very fun and exciting for me. The theories about Lucy I found
thatinteresting because it helped me to see where humans came from and about.
Withthe Africa eve theory I found it amazing that African eve was the only
woman inher generation whose descendants are still living today, because it’s
beenthousand of years since she was alive I should say. With the initiation
periodI found that amazing how people from Africa, the girls especially to be
able totake that type of pain. When it came to the religion part I all three
religionswhere well interesting and educational, among all the differences they
allserve a purpose and have its own beliefs. Among all the research I did Ibelieve
that the religions share more similarities then differences. ReadingPlato views
on life was interesting and the point he made about if you have noreason or if
you do not have plans in life what’s the point of living. Readingabout the
Greeks and Romans and the other people I found that the Greek godswere more
down to earth then the other gods and the Greek people had morefreedom then the
other people. The schools were stricter then the schools todayand the
expectations of the teachers were much higher then today teachers.Unlike the
Athens boys they were taught at home by their mom or slave untilthey were six
or seven and or until they were thirteen or fourteen then sent toelementary
school. Both girls and boys were taught gymnastics, reading,writing, how to
play games and etc. Overall this was the only semester, well atleast yet that I
have learned about the past and as well as the future. Howeducation came about
and knowing that they have yet found out who discovered oreven came about with
the idea of writing is amazing. Most importantly I learnedthat teaching is the
field that I want to be in and that all the hard work haspaid off. Learning the
background of education and how it was broken down intoenculturation was
interesting. Not everything is taught right off had but thereare some things
that has been past down like a tradition. This semester showedme a lot of
things that I don’t think I would’ve learned on my own.
Yonelsida Genao
EDF 1005
MWF 10:00AM
Reflection 32
In this class I learned a lot.I
learned about the culture, and the beliefs about the Greeks,
Mesopotamians,Egyptians, Babylonians and more. I learned what their different
cultures werelike and what their teaching methods were like. In my opinion I
would like tochange the articles for the
reflectionpapers because they are too long. This class taught me a lot,
including how tobe prepare for the future and how to do a portfolio which I
really enjoyed tolearn. Mr. McNair is a very good instructor who helped me a
lot and also notonly me but helped others students and also gave us support to
do our work. Mr.McNair is a professor that cares and concern about each single
students. Thankyou for that.
Yukai Woods
EDF 1005 Tuesday
Professor McNair
Reflection32
Whatdid
you learn from the class? What would you like to change?
I really enjoyed this class.
Ihave really learned more about ancient cultures than education in America
perse. However, I also understand that education in America have been
piecedtogether from other cultures in the world. Many of the practices we use
such asspeech development, public schools, matriculation system, and a host
offoundational tools and building blocks derive from the ancient
educationalpractices. I have also learned a great deal of historical facts such
as themajor role the Semitic cultures had on the world prior to Egyptian rule.
I havealso learned about the development of religion and it’s influence
andmanipulation for world power. I have also realized the major compromise
thatCatholicism the father of modern day Christianity has made throughout
thecenturies.
I was enlightened when Ilearned
about the history of writing and the development of written language.The
process and implementation was very interesting. I also had an opportunityto
explore what is called the “history of man.” Prior to now I really did
notunderstand some of the concepts and ideologies expressed in the “man came
fromapes” study. I also learned how to become more proficient in computer
usage. Iwas really challenged this class to learn how to use the
effectively.Especially, when I was introduced to frontpage. Prior to this
class, I had noidea how to build a web page and add links.
There are a few things I
wouldchange however. First, I would start the frontpage at the beginning of
classand build on as the class progressed. I think it would have helped me see
whatI was building and developing. I kind of had a since of relief as I
beginfinishing, only to have that shattered by having to put everything
together anddo the frontpage portion. It almost felt like starting over. And I
would havethe test be time friendlier. I would have made the test based on
informationthat did not take that long to search. I would have also made the
testavailable to do in class. That maybe would have put fire under us to come
toclass and complete it immediately. I really did enjoy this class Thank You
fora wonderful learning experience!
Yasmine Louis
Reflection#32
I was fortunate enough to
havethe professor for my first two semesters. In this class I was introduced to
amultitude of people and opinions. I had to do lots of work on the
computer,which was really frightening for me because I was totally computer
illiterate.In the first semester I was very scared, I new to the college
atmosphere and Idid not know what to expect. Then all of a sudden I am loaded
with ton of workfrom professor Mcnair. I was swamped with massive
readings,reflections that were due every Tuesday and Thursday and eighty
questionquizzes; I was pulling my hair out. That’s not to mention the multiple
powerpoint assignments that were due. I had never even heard of power point
before.But I realized one thing I was not alone. He was driving my other
fellowclassmates crazy as well. That is how I met Maria. She was a lost as I was.
Westuck it out together and got through the first semester. The present
semesterwas a little bit more structured. We had topic outlines that had our
work forthe entire semester laid out for us. We knew what we had to read and
the topicof the reflection that we had to do in advance. I did not like that
very much.I enjoyed receiving the topics for reflection during our class period
because Iknew that we were going to talk about it and there would be no
possible way forme to miss the central concepts. I often found myself rereading
things becauseI could not grasp the main idea. The tests were different also.
They were notas long and you could no longer take them an unlimited number of
times. We alsohad a time limit on them as well. I did not enjoy that because we
still had tolook through an exuberant amount of reading material. I was no
longer readingto learn I was strictly looking for test answers. Last semester
we focused ondifferent cultures. We learned a lot about rites of passage and
racism. Thissemester we concentrated on what I personally think was the history
of learningand teaching. I think that in this class I learned to be more
organized with mytime and thoughts. I learned power point and not to freak out
when the computerdoes something strange. I learned that different people do
different things andalthough I might not agree with it, it is important to
recognize it as anaspect of their culture. I also learned to question your
personal beliefs.Learning is something that you do every day and it is something
that isconstant. The more you learn the more you change. Look at me, it used to
taketwo hours to type up a reflection and now I can hammer one out in
forty-fiveminutes. Say what you want but I am proud of that improvement.
Another thingthat I have learned is not to freak out about everything. College
can becomeoverwhelming at times but you have to learn how to relax. Believe it
or notProfessor you taught me a lot; Thanks a bunch.
Tayloria Daniels
EDG 2701
Professor McNair
Reflection 32!
I took a psychology class my first
semesterin college and we spoke about paradigms. The way we discussed it was
nothing like the way Professor McNairdid.
In psychology, we got straight tothe point and all we decided was that a
paradigm shift is when you have achange or belief in something that you didn’t
before. In Diverse Populations aparadigm shift is the same thing but we didn’t
get straight to the point. It took me a
while to actually understandwhat a paradigm shift. I did have aparadigm shift, so much to the
point where I am actually reconsidering mythoughts of being a teacher. This lasttime that I did my community service
I saw the way that the children behavedand I said that they would need teacher
like me to guide them in the rightdirection but I am not sure if I want to go
in that direction of teachinganymore because I can’t deal with a lot of things
that go on in theschools. I said to
myself that I wouldtry it our first before I fully decide not to pursue my
career in education.
I know that in my heart since I was
sevenyears old teaching is all that wanted and more. I am not sure yet but I
know that some of my beliefs changes in someareas as far as the readings are
concerned. Now that the FCAT is effective I want to be the teacher to help
studentpass the FCAT and go on to college, because if feel that it is not right
thatstudents should be held back because they can’t pass a test doesn’t
determinewhether or not they are college material. I want to be the one who
makes adifference in the world and allow
students to have a chance to feel as thoughthey want to be somebody because
this test is really affecting them.
Patrick McMillan
EDF 1005
Reflection 32
In EDF 1005, Introduction to Education,
Ilearned the essence of a technological based class. Professor McNair has provided his
studentswith an abundance of educational tools that we enable to succeed in
futuretechnological ventures, whether educational or professional. The organization of the website makes it easyfor
the student to navigate from listings of assignments to articles
orreadings. The number of assignments
thatwere given in this class has to be by far the most that I have had to
attemptin completing in any single course outside of my undergraduate major of
studyof electrical engineering. Completingthe
assignments were time consuming rather than difficult. Therefore, if you have other
responsibilitiesyou’d better get your priorities in order. Conversely, I
learned a lot from the information that was present in theclass. I learned about education in theancient
civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia. The way in which the scribes trained
was treacherous, but if it werenecessary I would be one the few people that I
know that would complete thetraining. In
my opinion, it wasadmirable to be a scribe.
I learnedabout the great philosophers and theorists in education. In particular mathematics, Pythagoras,
Plato,and Aristotle are amongst the greatest of all philosophers. Studying philosophy and education opens up
aworld of new meaning to life, creativity, and existence. Learning about scribes, the discoveries ofthe
theories that still exist today, and early emphasis on education haschanged my
perspective of my own existence. I learned an exorbitant amount of facts and
truths in EDF 1005; I wishthat I could have retained more of the information
presented in the class. Of the
information presented, I think that Ihad previous exposure to about half of the
material. Unfortunately, I think that I
have onlyretained just a little more than 50 % of the portion of the material
thatremained.
Miranda Spina
EDF1005
Reflection#
32
I do not even know where to begin with
allthat I have learned in this class.
Firstof all, I have gained a tremendous background now in the history of
educationand educational practices. I
was amazedto see how far we have come from the beginning of time all the way up
tillnow. There are so many techniques
toteaching that I have never even considered before. And then there are those aspects of
teachingthat I have applied to my own methods of running a classroom like at
the dancestudio that I never realized fit into any specific method. I suppose I never really thought
aboutit. For example, I have had my
students thinkabout some experience they have had in their lifetime and then
I’ve presentedsome new form of information to apply to that old
experience. I had no idea that this was
a part ofapperception. I enjoyed
learning aboutthe ancient civilizations because it was fascinating to see all
that they cameup with that we actually took and applied to our own teaching
methods. I almost think ancient peoples
were actuallymore intelligent than we are because they had to learn so much on
their own,whereas a lot of information has been passed down to us throughout thegenerations. All in all, I like how thisclass is set up
and I believe I now have a descent background in the history ofeducation.
There are few things that I
wouldchange. I liked how the reflections
wereset up this semester. The fact that
theywere all laid out for us was nice because if one wanted to get ahead he/she
hadthat opportunity. I was not one of
thosestudents, however, the option was there. I think I would prefer shorter
quizzes. Not like 20 questions per say, but I would rather have two 40 questionquizzes
on a subject then an 80-question quiz. That is a bit overwhelming. Ialso had a little trouble determining which
articles to read because there area ton of them on the sight. I suppose Iam expected to read all of them if
possible, but that is tremendouslydifficult.
If the articles could benarrowed down a little bit more it might help
ease the stress of reading somuch material.
However, I do tend to bevery bad at managing my time, so it can be said
that the problems I had werebrought upon myself, but, for the sake of giving
some input, those are the fewsuggestions I have. Thank you for awonderful two semesters
Professor and I look forward to visiting you in thefuture!
Erica Sivert
MWF 9-950
EDG2701
Reflection: 32
Reflection Paper#32: Howhas this class changed the way you think. Haveyou had a paradigm shift
I feel that this class has greatly changed
theway I think, and the way I view the world. When thinking about what I wanted
to do with my life teaching was one ofthree of my options. I wanted to somehowhave a job that would make
a difference in someone’s life. I had
the options of being a nurse,interpreter, or a teacher. I decidedthat teaching would be the right
career for me. I knew that taking a career as a teacher wasn’t easy, but I also
didn’tknow I would be learning so much about so many different groups and all
theseracial, and prejudice issues. This
classwas a definite need for me, and I think anyone who wants to become
ateacher. A teacher needs to be
openminded when walking in to his or her classroom. They need to come in fully
prepared to deal with all different types ofissues they wouldn’t normally have
to deal with. We need to learn to set
are preferences andprejudice aside and do are job, and teach. This class has
really changed the way I think. It has
made me really think about what Ibelieve in.
It has also opened my mindto what I need to work on. In order forme to be successful teacher I
need to fix me first. I need to know my “self”,and where I belong. Do I think teachingis right for me? Can I do
this? I wasable to answer this question
when taking this class. The answer is
yes. So have I had a paradigm shift
being in thisclass? Yes probably several.
It hasopened my mind, and has let me really evaluate myself, and all
that surroundsme. It has made me
evaluate my friends,my job, and my family.
This class hashelped me understand other cultures better, and the reason
why they do certainacts. I have learned
that diversity iso.k. Learning and
knowing more than onelanguage will be to my benefit. Thelanguage thing is a big problem for me.
The only language I use and primarily know is English. I do know sign language as well which
hasbenefited me in the past, but I still need another language to learn. Before I took this class I was very adamantin
not learning a new language because I felt that since I am in America thereis
no reason why everyone should speak the English language. Why should I conform to learning a
newlanguage because there are so many people in the town or country I have
alwayslived in taken over? I had
suchanimosity when I go somewhere and no one speaks English. Taken the culture diversity class has
reallyopened my perception of the world, and had me realize that if I really
want tofunction better in Florida then I need to learn Spanish. No matter how stubborn I am to not learn
thelanguage, this is not going to change the issue of the language
barrier. Not everyone is going to learn
English forme. There’s no law stating
that theyhave to. So have decided in
January tolearn Spanish. I bought a book
andtapes. My friend and her mom are
goingto tutor me. I have decided that
learnSpanish won’t be such a bad thing after all. I’ll be able to communicate
with people better, and I won’t feel asintimated by people who can speak, as
opposed to not knowing the language atall.
So over all taking culturediversity has made me open minded to what
really is going on in the world, andthat the world wasn’t as perfect as I may
have thought it was. It has taught me to
be a better person, andhas helped me change things in me that I had never seen
before.
Gina Bowden
Prof. McNair
EME2040
April 24, 2003
Transitive reflection
Professor McNair this is going to be the
last reflection for a while; I am moving and I will have to relocate to Port
St. Lucie This has been a heck—[I meant
the other h-word] of a semester. I have
had so many things to come up to challenge my ability to keep focused and I am
really learning to just ignore some sh--.
Ya feel me? I am going to miss
you but somehow I know I will stay in
touch because you will always be a mentor to me [in the physical and
spiritual]. You have taught me a lot and
I know you came into my life at a time
that I was ready to make a transition, or should I say a paradigm shift. It appears I am still carrying excess weight [physically, mentally and
spiritually], I guess I am not as close to my goal as I thought I was. I
have no idea why I am being put in a position to relocate but it appears it has
something to do with freedom, you have to leave the familiar in order to
let go of those crutches of the slave master. You feel me?
I am such a preacher even when I am not trying to be. I have enjoyed EME2040 with you;
it is now apparent to me, I can learn with the right teacher. I learned that this semester too. Today I had doubts about becoming a ‘math’
teacher but as usual your inspirational talk [even when talking to someone
else] let me know I can do all things.
I want to thank you for being in position to help me to get better
emotionally, mentally and spiritually.
Thank you for being a gentle giant—literally and figuratively. It appears I will be attending FAU this fall
if all goes as planned; believe me I am not doing the planning. I wish there was someone in my life
[physically] who could tell me all the decisions that I am making are correct
and that everything was going to turn out right but that’s not
happening—WHY?! I AM a bit afraid,
because once again, I am the decision maker but that’s only because no one else
will make any. The children need a
chance to have a new beginning and I am always for what’s best for them,
somehow I know this will pay huge dividends for me in the long run too. I will e-mail you more as I find out more
about this whole ordeal but pray for me
sir. PLEEEEZE. Much love,
Gina B.
Madelyn Hough
Prof: McNair
Reflection: The last day of classes
Today I started to write about the
firstthing I heard in the news I thought it would be a nice break form the
usualhorror story about my life issues.
Ichanged my mind. I think I will
writeabout how different life is now then it was when we first began
thesemester. There have been so
manychanges for the student population. There have been personal and world
issues that are too big toignore. So
many new things have changedin the world in such a little period of time. One
semester has seemed more like one decade.
If you step back and look at how many newchallenges we have had to face
as a nation besides as a people it has been anincredible ride for the last few
months. I feel like just thinking about all of the issues that have come up
inthis little amount of time is perfect work for a best seller. Student life is already a hot topic. Then when you throw in personal lifefinancial
issues mixed in with a little bit of war and depression you’ve hitthe
jackpot. The funny part about all ofthis
is that with so much to write about there are still people like me who
getwriters block from time to time. Could it be that we are just taking in
toomuch information to understand? Maybe
weare just too sleep deprived. After
awhile it seems no matter how much you learn you can’t unlock your brain to
takeout the goods. Well I know what I’m doing this summer , regrouping! This time will be for me to get more in
tunedwith myself and issues I need to work out for the fall semester. I hope to see you then thanks for everything!
Teresita Cruz
592013146
Reflection#
27? Wow.
We only have a short time left. I
think that I’ve done really well in yourclass.
Considering that I didn’t havetoo much experience with some of the
lessons presented like the Lesson Plans, Ithink I did pretty well. And I know Igot a hang of Excel now. It’s not thathard. I had of course that computerclass recently
and I should have kept the big book.
That book covered everything, even the thingsI never heard of. I knew that I mightregret selling it back but
at the time I hated that class and wanted anyremnants of it to go away.
Of course I didn’t get as much for it aswas
paid but that is usually what happens. It such a crime these school book
vendors. A math book costs so much
these days andthen you sell it and they don’t even give you half back. You need to get a loan just to pay for
yourschool books. And they are so heavy
andthick. A poor student like myself
canget Osteoporosis just by caring those books day in and day out. Unfortunately college doesn’t have
lockerswhere we can keep these books like in high school. I don’t think that we would need
lockersthough especially me who only takes about two classes every semester. That would be pointless. Yet I have seen those poor souls who
takethree or four classes (math, science and even psychology the classes with
theheaviest and most expensive books) lugging around all of them. The Luggage Company must make a fortune
oncollege students who buy those book bags with those wheels on them. Yet my vain sense of fashion (the little oneI
have hidden in my thrift store close) refuses to buy one of those. What anyof
this has to do with class, I don’t know. I was speaking about something about
the class and yet I got sidetracked.
That happens to me sometimes.
Maybe I have short attention span.
Sometimes I am working on one thing and allof a sudden I start on
something else. Is there any way of testing myself to see if I do? Where would I go? What kind of test could I possible take
forsomething like that?
