Dixon Gerber
McKay Student Ambassador
Elementary Education
Over the last week, I have learned so much in all of my classes. While not all of my classes are for my major, I still learn aspects of being a better teacher through these classes.
Children's Literature:
In my Children's Literature class this week, we discussed the different ways to judge a literary work. It was fascinating to evaluate how personal preference is taken into account. I loved the aspect of children's books where they may be well written but not very engaging. On the contrary, there are plenty of children's books that are very engaging, but not written with correct grammar. The best children's books are those that are well written and engaging. We had the opportunity to analyze 10 different award winning children's books.
One of the books I chose was, "We Are Water Protectors" by Carol Lindstrom and illustrated by Michaela Goade. In this analysis, the aspect of the book that stuck out to me the most was the theme. The theme I found in this book was to protect what you hold sacred. As I think about this theme, I am able to ask myself, "What do I hold sacred and what do I do to protect it?" For me, the things I love the most are what I hold sacred. These include and are not limited to my family, life (specifically of my future students), and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Personally, I would do anything to protect these even if it means putting myself in the line of fire.
TELL 450
In my TELL 450 class this week, we discussed the power of a name. I love this aspect of learning and helping students feel loved and understood. Students' names hold power. As educators, we need to learn and use our students' names. Imagine if you had a teacher that pronounced your name incorrectly every time, despite having told them the correct pronunciation. You might be frustrated and feel unimportant. This is why learning your students' names is so important. One particularly interesting part of class was when our professor talked about naming his children. They wanted their children to have names that held meaning and names that their children would be proud of.
Songwriting 186
Though not an education major class, my songwriting class has taught me a lot. I have been writing music for almost 9 years now, and I'm still learning new things. This is really fun for me because I can recognize that I'm never truly done learning. The aspect of writing music that I have struggled with in the past has been finding things to write about and writing things in a new way. I have a greater appreciation for the world around me and can see things in a new way now. I want to carry this into my classroom to help my students see things in a new light as my professor has helped me to do in this class.
Multicultural Education:
In my multicultural education class, we did an activity that I found very interesting. We wrote one thing that we all had in common. Many of us wrote that we were BYU students, or members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or that we were studying Elementary Education. Then, we wrote another thing we had in common with about 50% of the class followed by another thing that we thought would be unique to us. One student wrote that they were from Alabama and I wrote that I am on the BYU Ultimate Frisbee team.
This activity taught us that we did have things in common while being unique. It also helped us to build connections one with another, building a community of understanding and trust within our class.
Conclusion:
Over all, I learned how important it is to continuously learn and be willing to put in the effort to learn new things. I learned the value of understanding what is important to others, whether it's their name, their culture, or their family. I continue to learn every day, and it is beneficial to me and my growth as a future teacher.
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