B.Synthesize a Teacher S Role in a Changing Society with the Evolution of Educational

b.Synthesize a teacher’s role in a changing society with the evolution of educational foundations and policy perspectives;

I think that it is really important that as teachers we realize that we are educating the future leaders of America. We actually hold in our hands, everyday, part of the future of the world. Whether the students will become president, doctors, custodians, police officers, teachers or they become the future thieves and murderers of America we have one of the best opportunities to affect the way that they interact with their environments. Because of this it is our role to change the way that students view the world for the better. We need to challenge their views and teach them those ways that they can improve their community and help those around them. We also need to show them that not everything that we do to our Earth is sustainable. To achieve this goal I taught my students about natural resources.

In the unit about natural resources we talked about the overuse of resources and the things that humans are doing to the Earth to get resources that are finite. These were things like mountain top removal and open pit mining in order to achieve minerals and coal. These are processes that are destroying irreplaceable things on Earth for a resource that is going to run out. In this part of the unit I was teaching the students not only the basics of natural resources, but I was also stressing the fact that humans need to take care of the Earth. They need to take care of the Earth, because without the Earth in good condition we are in deep trouble and also because we are the main cause of most things that are ruining the Earth so it is our responsibility to fix it. The next part of the unit plan was a day devoted solely to what the students could do to reduce their resource use in ways that did not cost them large amounts of money. They were just lifestyle changes. These were things like turning off lights when they are not being used, buying items in bulk instead of individually wrapped, buy locally, and unplugging appliances when you are done using them (like toasters). All of these things are ways that they, even as 5th graders, could help to save energy, money, and the Earth. In the unit we also spent about 30 minutes on a political cartoon that related to how humans have been mistreating the Earth (Figure 1).

All of the information that I was giving to youth was not the only thing that I am responsible for teaching them. I, as a teacher, am also responsible for educating students on the proper ways to act in society and ways that they can make this world a better place. These students need to learn these things from somewhere and in more cases than we would like they are not getting the lessons at home. Because of this it is our job as educators to try and help the next generation to become a generation that makes a difference in a better way than our generation is making a difference. We want them to do things that make a better place for the generations to come.

The best example of the students learning about ways that they can improve this world was their good idea/bad idea assignments. These assignments highlighted good (sometimes in a silly way) good things that the students could do to reduce their use of resources or reduce the amount of stuff that is wasted and pollutes the Earth. It showed me that the students understood the ways that they could improve their Earth, but at the same time they didn’t have to write a paragraph or do another worksheet.

Figure 1, 2, & 3-demonstrates ways to help their community in a fun way