bringing yourself into the classroom

So at the very end of class, someone brought up a question about discussing politics in the classroom and whether teachers should share their political views or not. I had a different experience than the other person. My best history teacher was one that openly shared his political view to the class. He did it in such a way that was still acceptable. He never fully stated what side he supported but we were able to guess it by the end just because of his comments and views on certain topics. However, he made sure to discuss both sides and to give the big picture instead of limiting it to only his side of view. We were able to discuss and debate specific issues (the class was Current Issues) and the majority, if not everyone, felt they could share. It actually turned out that our teacher was in the minority of political veiw compared to the rest of the class. By making sure that he stated and shared each side we were sure to get a more general overview of the topics. I actually had him in both AP US history as well as Current Issues. Both classes, he supported both sides. In US history, his view didn't come up as much because we talked about things in an historical context. However, in Current Issues, it came up much more because we were dealing with issues of today. He never fully came out to state his view though. We asked a couple times and he replied that we could guess his thought on ____ (whatever the topic was) and that he is not going to state it. I think if you discuss politics as well as other views in a context like the one my history teacher did, I think you can bring in your political views. If you do bring in your views, you need to make sure to keep an open mind and to express other views as well instead of limiting your audience to only one side of an argument.

Another issue we talked about today in class was the idea of bring culture and personality into a classroom, espeically if it is a math or science room. I think there is a higher chance to have everyone start at the same level in a room like this because everyone needs to learn the same facts in the same order. Each concept builds on the one previous to it so an educator is able to assume that everyone is at the same level, even if they aren't. It can't hurt to reteach other topics if only some students have learned them and the majority haven't. It just helps to re-inforce them. By starting things at the same level, it presents a chance for people to start with a clean slate. Everyone is now equal, which is a great thing! I hope these ideas that I have actually work out in my classroom when I become an educator.