Reflections on My Story
When I was eighteen years old, I moved to America from Iran, a country that was different from America in many ways. Coming from a different race, language, cultural background, religion, and political views I had to deal with many issues. However, I felt it was my choice to be here so I had to work hard and overcome numerous barriers.
As a teacher now, I always share my story with my students. I tell them that as my third language, I learned English when I was eighteen and I struggled through reading thick business and economy textbooks in college. But I also remind them that it is a blessing to come from different race, ethnic background, language because these differences are what make us stronger, resilient and possibly more successful.
Although I consider myself American I still treasure my heritage and race. I speak about Iran's rich culture and history every chance I get. To my surprise there are still many people who don't know much about Iran and the culture!
I agree with you about the importance of teaching kids since early age about critical thinking. There is an organization I follow called Critical thinking and I will forward you the link as soon as I can.
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ReplyDeleteCollaboration, collaboration, collaboration….I think that is the most powerful tool we have. I am absolutely sure that my “thinking alone” is never as good as the thinking of the collective group. Is your collaboration with your colleague a regular practice and planned part of the day at your site? While we often purport to value collaboration, if is not supported by time, resources, and action, it does not really happen. I would be interested to hear about what you learned in your discussion with your colleague
ReplyDeleteAs formal collaboration we have 45 minutes per week in our PLCs which is not enough! This idea of collaboration cross the curriculum is a new idea and so far we have been provided with subs to cover our class while we are observing other teachers.
ReplyDeleteYes indeed time is the critical issue here. My dissertation is about investigating factors that influence a the outcomes of powerful collaboration in math.