Prompt:

Using instructor provided materials, students will create an artifact to symbolically represent your ideal image of a learner as it has formed over the course of the semester. A written articulation of the image will be required along with the artifact that demonstrates an understanding of the developmental attributes and diverse learning styles of today’s students.  You should consider carefully if your “ideal” imagine aligns with your “real” imagine.  Is this how you want kids to be or is this how you actually perceive them? What are the implications of a disconnect between our “ideal” and “real” image? What are the negative implications of your image?

Response:

I began the semester thinking about the ideal student I would have in my future classroom. I wrote down on the index card passed out to us on the first day the words: my future students would be young adults excited (and some not excited) about learning. I wrote: they will each had a unique history that will give them a different and unique perspective in my classroom. And I finished with: they will each have talents and goals.

Well for the most part I would not change what I have down, I think that would still be my ideal student. However, not all students are like that image. Certainly they all have unique perspectives, and definitely they are not all excited about learning. But I think I have built a better, more real, image of a learner through taking ED 227.

I would now say a learner is someone who is a curious entity. They have an interesting position in the world that allows them to make meaningful connections about what they are learning to their life. From my experiences in 227, I have come to understand that learning is a messy process, and as such, learners are not “smooth” they don’t always fit together in neat straight lines. Therefore, I would say a learner is rough around the edges and not smoothed over. I think learners work well in groups, and can often fit together to make beautiful things. Yet, left on their own, they can be appreciated for their different and special aspects.

I have come to understand that no two learners are the same, each one fits differently into the context of what is happening in the classroom. They are also trying to find out where they fit in life, with which friends, with what clubs, sports teams, or groups. Although leaners are growing and changing developmentally, they want to find their special place in the world. But fitting is not something that can be forced by the teacher, it is something that is only facilitated by the teacher. By being truly student focused, a teacher does not try to change each student by filing down their edges and “fixing” them. A good teacher will listen carefully to the needs of their student and consider where they fit schematically into the whole. In the same way a child tenderly places the last puzzle piece into the puzzle to fit them cohesively just where they belong.

It is for all of these reasons that my real image of a learner is someone who is like a puzzle piece. They can be tiny with lots of poking edges, or large with many divots. They are unique on their own and lovely in their own way. But when put together they fit into a special place and make up something beautiful.

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