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SIB Essay
Jacob Doty
EDUC 204
Carol Billing
SIB Paper
11/10/15
Online Fall Semester 2015

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Statement of Informed Beliefs Essay


Every student in every school is unique and there are never two that are identical to each
other. As a future educator I find it exciting to learn how to teach all these different types of
learning styles even though I know that it will be challenging at times. In the following
paragraphs I will discuss my beliefs and how I will implement them into my classroom in the
future. The five sections of this essay are all students can learn, teachers expectations, students
social ecology theory, cultural diversity instruction, and curriculum for all learners.
All Students Can Learn
I believe that a child can learn about anything they want but only need the proper
motivation to do so. Some children may learn faster than others for a variety of reasons but they
can all get to the same place if they work hard enough at it. A teacher has a huge role in the
ability for each child they teach to learn. One teaching style is not going to work for every type
of student so you must get a blend or talk with particular students that are having a tougher time
understanding the material. The teacher is responsible for showing the content in a way that
everyone will be able to understand it. As a teacher you must also believe that every child can
learn and not give up on any of them even if they have given up on themselves. The definition of
self-concept from the book is an individuals perception of his/her identity as distinct from
others and self-esteem is the value one places on his/her identity. From this we get that a
self-concept develops when the attitudes and expectations of significant others with whom one
interacts are incorporated into ones personality, making it possible to regulate ones behavior
accordingly. Ones perceived competence in self-regulations/control is part of ones self-

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esteem. Not every student will have the most stable life out of school but if you can be
consistent in helping them it could be just enough for them not to give up on themselves.
One of the biggest problems that has always been facing teachers is being able to present
their material in a way that everyone in the class will understand it. The best way that I am going
to try and do this is to mix up the way I teach each class. An example of that would maybe one
class do a power point lecture and then the next day have an interactive worksheet. Or combine
the two into one day instead of teaching a new material with the interactive worksheet just
reinforce the material from the power point. My door will always be open as well for questions
if the students do not understand the material. If I see someone struggling in the class I will talk
to them after class and ask if there is anything I can do to help or if there was a certain thing they
were not understanding.
When I have my own classroom to run I want it to be a safe environment. Everyone will
be able to speak their minds without judgment as long as it is not harmful to someone else. I
wont have strict rules until the students prove that they need rules. I want to teach at the high
school level and I believe at that age they know the difference between right and wrong. I will
treat them how they act, if they cant be quite during a test or if they try and cheat then the entire
room will have to sit one seat away from everyone else. My students will all have the same rules
and if one person doesnt cooperate then the entire class will have to deal with the new rule. The
book says the social order of society is communicated to the child largely in the classroom
a setting in which children are evaluated by the teachers comments, report cards, marks
on papers, charts, classmates judgements, and self-judgments. By setting rules that affect
everyone and not just an individual it can show them that their actions in the world will not only
affect you but others as well. I believe it is fair to not give anyone special treatment in a

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classroom and by having the same rules for everybody it can make for a peaceful environment.
And if the student is able to focus on their work rather than wonder why Jonny gets to do this
and I dont then they will be able to learn at a faster rate.
Teachers Expectations
Every student is going to have different life experiences and will come from different
ethnic backgrounds. Some may be similar to others but as a teacher you are going to see a wide
variety of ethnicities. Part of a childs ethnic group can be how they were socialized while
growing up. The book defines socialization as the process by which individuals acquire the
knowledge, skills, and character traits that enable them to participate as effective members
of groups and society. If you are able to acknowledge that each child is socialized differently
from each other and probably different from you it will be easier for you to accept certain
behaviors and build a relationship with your students.
The history of a students life can be hard to acknowledge at times because you may not
know the whole story, especially children that have gone through a lot of hardships. Also
depending on what has happened to a student it can affect them differently depending on how old
they were when it happened. In the book it talks about Elders study and says the study shows
how ecological change over time can have varying impacts on a childs socialization
depending on other variables, such as the age and gender of the child, the existing family
relationships, and the socioeconomic status of the family before the change, thereby
illustrating the multiplicity of variables interacting to affect socialization. The best we can
do as educators is try to be understanding of things that might have happened in a students past
but not to let them use it as a crutch for not achieving academically.

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Now cultural pluralism and cultural assimilation are two completely different
things. Cultural Pluralism is when a group smaller than the majority of society keep their own
unique cultural beliefs and identities and are generally accepted as long as their beliefs do not
affect or break the laws that have been put in place by the mass majority. Cultural Assimilation
on the other hand is when a person or a groups language and/or culture begin to resemble those
of another group. A smaller group gets absorbed by a larger one and the small groups beliefs
tend to get weeded out on accident or on purpose. The book makes a point socialization
requires active involvement: For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we
learn by doing them. We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate
acts, brave by doing brave acts states of character are formed by doing the
corresponding acts. So when it comes to cultural assimilation it can be as simple as when they
smaller group gets absorbed by the larger group there are more people behaving with the values
of the larger group and everyone else adapts and starts doing so as well.
Students Social Ecology Theory
I believe that learning is very important when it comes to a students social
ecology. How or what a student learns can very well lead to how they interact with their peers
and elders. If you are not able to speak in a way that your students truly hear you then you are
not going to be an effective teacher. So with this you have to learn to adapt to make sure that
each child is learning to their full potential. The book has a term called Learning Style which
definition is a consistent pattern of behavior and performance by which an individual
approaches educational experiences. How educators address and respond to the different
learning styles of their students will greatly impact a students educational experience. If you are
successfully able to respond to their learning style the student can then see what works best for

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them and as they get older they have a better chance of being successful because they know what
they have to do in order to get success academically.
Now every student is going to come from a different social background which can play a
part as to how they learn and communicate. No two students are going to communicate the same
way. The book Child, Family, School, Community Socialization and Support goes on to
say Nonverbal behavior is another variation in communication for example eye
contact. Children from Euro-American families are generally taught to look directly at an
adult when being spoken to, while children from Asian American, Latino American,
Caribbean, and southern African American families are generally taught to lower their
eyes. Avoidance of eye contact may be interpreted as disrespect. That example doesnt even
cover the verbal communication differences that different cultures have. They are taught to act
differently in certain situations which can transfer over into the classroom. The book also goes
on to talk about a certain study were family involvement with their childs school greatly
increases the success of the student academically both in school and after. The specific ways that
the study showed worked are when families (1) create a home environment that encourages
learning, (2) express high (but not unrealistic) expectations for their childrens achievement
and future careers, and (3) become involved in their childrens education at school and in
the community, then children from low-socioeconomic-status and culturally diverse
families are enabled to fare comparably to middle-class children. Something as small as just
the parents getting actively involved in their childs schooling can make a huge difference. Even
if the social class of a family is very high active involvement from the parents sets up their child
for success on par with children of higher social classes.
Cultural Diversity Instruction

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Every student is going to have different life experiences and will come from different
ethnic backgrounds. Some may be similar to others but as a teacher you are going to see a wide
variety of ethnicities. Part of a childs ethnic group can be how they were socialized while
growing up. The book defines socialization as the process by which individuals acquire the
knowledge, skills, and character traits that enable them to participate as effective members
of groups and society. If you are able to acknowledge that each child is socialized differently
from each other and probably different from you it will be easier for you to accept certain
behaviors and build a relationship with your students. The history of a students life can be hard
to acknowledge at times because you may not know the whole story, especially children that
have gone through a lot of hardships. Also depending on what has happened to a student it can
affect them differently depending on how old they were when it happened. In the book it talks
about Elders study and says the study shows how ecological change over time can have
varying impacts on a childs socialization depending on other variables, such as the age and
gender of the child, the existing family relationships, and the socioeconomic status of the
family before the change, thereby illustrating the multiplicity of variables interacting to
affect socialization. The best we can do as educators is try to be understanding of things that
might have happened in a students past but not to let them use it as a crutch for not achieving
academically. Now cultural pluralism and cultural assimilation are two completely different
things. Cultural Pluralism is when a group smaller than the majority of society keep their own
unique cultural beliefs and identities and are generally accepted as long as their beliefs do not
affect or break the laws that have been put in place by the mass majority. Cultural Assimilation
on the other hand is when a person or a groups language and/or culture begin to resemble those
of another group. A smaller group gets absorbed by a larger one and the small groups beliefs

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tend to get weeded out on accident or on purpose. The book makes a point socialization
requires active involvement: For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we
learn by doing them. We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate
acts, brave by doing brave acts states of character are formed by doing the
corresponding acts. So when it comes to cultural assimilation it can be as simple as when they
smaller group gets absorbed by the larger group there are more people behaving with the values
of the larger group and everyone else adapts and starts doing so as well.

Curriculum for all Learners


As a teacher I believe that planning, delivery, and assessment all tie together in a way that
you cant have one without the other. If you dont plan your materials then when you try and
deliver it you probably will crash and burn or run out of things to talk about with twenty minutes
left in the class, both of which will lead to ineffective teaching. Also if you dont have a good
way of assessment how do you know if your delivery is getting through to your students in a way
that they are actually learning the material. Assessments can help you gauge on what or if you
need to go back and change your original plan. The book goes on to talk about how preparation
is key in managing a classroom effectively, Kounin (1970) found that students inattentiveness
and misbehavior were often linked to problems of discontinuity in a lesson, which in turn
were linked to inadequate preparation by the teacher. For example a teacher who is giving
instructions on how to do a book report and stops to find some appropriate books in the
closet is likely to have lost the students attention by the time the books are located. This

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example shows how it all ties back into how planning, delivery and assessment are linked
together.
The assessments teachers give students help inform the teacher on how effective their
delivery method has been and if they need to go back and change some things in their
planning. Assessments also help in seeing if you are going through the material to fast or if you
can pick up the pace a little bit. Often times if you do not move fast enough students will end up
becoming bored and loose interest in the class, this in turn leads to them not trying as hard if you
decide to increase the pace you were going at. There are two different types of assessments that
the book describes. The first one is Authentic Assessment which is evaluation based on real
performance, rather than test performance showing mastery of a task. This type of
assessment is beneficial for younger children in kindergarten and first grade as not all of them
have had the same opportunity to learn before they get to the schooling system. Maybe some of
their parents have a lot of books and read to them at night while other children may not even
have an appropriate book inside of their home. The second form of assessments is Standardized
Tests in which an individual is compared to a norm on scientifically selected items. Many of
these tests are required by the no child left behind act of 2001 and focus in reading, writing,
math, and science from elementary school until graduation from high school.
As an educator we take on accountability for our students. The book
describes accountability as the responsibility of schools and teachers for student learning or
achievement outcomes. This responsibility should be put on teachers and the schooling system
since we are the ones that are supposed to be teaching students the information they need to
learn. One way I will ensure each student learns from my class is I will use a method I spoke
about earlier in this paper about how planning, delivery, and assessment are all connected and

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there cant be one without the other. At the beginning of each year I will do my best to plan for
my class even though I wont know how most of the students learn inside of it. I think this part
will get easier every year as I can get an average of each class year to year and become better
prepared for the start of the year. Good planning will lead to an effective delivery system in
which I will keep the students engaged and learning the whole time. The most important way to
make sure that I am helping each child learn is through the assessments, because before the first
one I wont know how much of what I am saying is sticking with them or if I can give them
more information. Im sure that this will change year to year but the assessments are key into
helping me form my plan and thereby how I deliver the information to my students.
In conclusion I would like to say that it is the diversity of students that make me want to
be a teacher because I know that is what will make it fun. From having a very diverse childhood
growing up moving to a new city every year or so I will be able to relate to most students who
end up in my classrooms. Diversity will not be a barrier for me but rather a building block in
which to build student teacher relationships on.

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References
Berns, Roberta. Child, Family, School, Community: Socialization and Support. Belmont, CA:
Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2010. 36+. Print.

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