Panel reflection

The three teachers that were brought in to speak to us were helpful in certain aspects. It was interesting to hear about their first couple years in the classroom and how they had to deal with specific students in certain situations. However, I grew up in the Twin Cities and plan on teaching there when I graduate. I attended public schools for most of my school career, and found that from participating in Ed 115, schools in rural areas are much different than schools in the city. Schools in the cities are much more diverse, and there are more behavioral issues that must be dealt with. These teachers grew up in Decorah, went to Luther, and now teach in Decorah or surrounding areas. It was hard for me to compare what I think my first few years of teaching will be like compared to what theirs were like mainly because I know I will have a more diverse class. Most likely, these teachers did not grow up with much diversity in their schools, and probably do not have much diversity in their own classrooms now. Also, I went to a private high school that provided laptops for each student to use inside and outside of school. We used our computers to take notes, tests, make movies for school projects, and research, etc. Our school was very technologically advanced and I think technology is very important in young children's lives, especially in today's society. I think it would have been more helpful to hear one teacher from a rural area speak and one teacher from the city speak because then we could have compared the two. I know it is hard to get a teacher from the city to come to Decorah for an hour to speak to a class, but I think that would have been more beneficial than having three teachers who grew up in a rural area and now teach in a rural area speak.