Funds of Knowledge for Teaching: Using Qualitative Approach to Connect Homes and Classrooms

While reading this article the terms that I found that my peers should know is to never stereotype your students in any way. Teachers do this without even realizing it. They may see their Mexican American students as poor or not as intelligent as their peers. This is simply not true, teachers should get to know their students and their heritage and home situations in order to fully benefit their students. It is important for teachers to know what their students' home lives are like in order to get a clear picture of their students. This aspect is important to find interesting ways to teach that connect their homes with school. Students learn many different things from their family members like how to  fix cars and many other things. While students are outside of the classroom they are participating in active learning. This is important to incorporate experiences that your students might have in life to activate their prior knowledge to allow them to connect with topics unfamiliar to them.
 

Kristin Jackson- EDE 3223/ Interests

Hi,

1. My name is Kristin Jackson. I am from Brookhaven Mississippi , but I currently live in Starkville Mississippi and attend Mississippi State University studying Elementary Education. My two endorsement areas are English and Social Studies. While I not in class I enjoy going home to see my family and spending time with my boyfriend. I enjoy traveling when I can. I have been to London and France and would like to see many more places. Also I love animals I have a 2 yr. old teacup Yorkie named Teddy.
2. What made me want to become a teacher was the time I spent working in a daycare for 2 yrs. Those kids that were in my class made me want to teach one day. Some of those kids did not come from a great home life which made me want to make a difference in a children's lives. Before starting my day care job I was attending a community college and my major was Radiology. My sister is a nurse so it always made sense for me to join the medical career , but those kids in my class made me consider what I really wanted to do which was teaching. The goals three goals that I have for this course would be learning about middle school children, middle school education, and learning about different philosophies that could benefit me one day while teaching. The reason why I would like to learn more about middle school education is because I have really only ever taught or kept smaller children , and I am excited to learn.
3. I hope to learn about middle school because I do not have alot of experience with these grades. In my past working experiences and  my early block field experience I have not really seen how a middle school classroom works and operates. This is also another aspect I hope to learn while taking this course.
4. I think that middle school is a time when children need good teachers and role models the most. The middle school teachers that I have had in the past really never got to know me as a person they just saw me as another student that had to be taught. The things that are beneficial  while teaching middle school are the students opinions, using real world connections, and teaching constructively.
5. The things that were detrimental to me while in middle school was that my teacher would always lecture and never gave us fun experiences.  Math was a hard subject for me in middle school I struggled and my teacher never knew how to make me understand , or never really tired. Also another thing that I think could be detrimental to a student in middle school would be the lack of connections to the real world and teachers not giving support to their students while they are learning.
6. The things that I could offer this classroom community would be honesty, great ideas, and I am also a hard worker and a very caring person.