#6 Volunteer in or join an organization or get involved in a group comprised of people who are significantly different than you

Getting out of my comfort zone is something that I really do not have a problem with doing. Many people get "uptight" or "scared" when they have to do something that they are not used to. I, however, am not one that gets like that when thrown into an environment different from the one that I am used to.
To start off, my family has taken many trips to foreign countries, including Mexico, Guatemala and Bolivia, staying with families that we are unfamiliar with. Being there, I have never known Spanish, being able to communicate. With each trip, it was a two-week long adventure, not being able to talk, however, I was comfortable with everyone that I was with. Maybe it was because I was with my family, maybe not. However, this past summer I was in Europe for a month, living with families that I never had previously met, and most likely will never meet again. However, it was one of the greatest experiences I could have asked for. In some houses I was with a friend, but in most, it was the family, (who all spoke Dutch, German, French, or Swiss, which I do not speak a bit of) Given all these circumstances, it was still a learning, memorable experience for me to be a part of. One that I will never forget. This is just the start of my life sort of living as an outsider. My parents have really stressed getting into the community and world, being a disciple of the Lord to those that we do not know.

I have attended numerous church services given in Spanish, however, lately I attended one in English, yet, I was an outsider. The Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church is a church of about 1000 people. That is 1000 African-American people. When my family walked into the door, we stuck out like crazy. While people do not know everyone in the church at this church, it was obvious to everyone in attendance that we did not belong there. At first, it was very scary for me, even more scary than being in a foreign country. However, judging people is not a good thing to do. These were the most loving people I have ever been in contact with. They welcomed us with open arms and holy kisses. They treated us as one of their lost sheep.
Sitting through the service was one like I had never been in. They sang, danced, hollered, ran around and sat still all in the same hymnal song. They worshiped with their whole body. And they did it for three straight hours. Their service just kept going and going and going, and we just kept singing and singing and singing. It was great. Church was not boring for once, even though it was three hours long! They had people go home and prepare a meal for us that they brought back to the church for us to eat afterwards. Even though they did not know us, the loved us. It was an experience that I will never forget.

Finally, two years ago I was diagnosed with a disease not allowing me to eat wheat. Almost everything I ate was made out of rice, and about the only places to get things made of rice were the Asian markets. For two years now, we have been shopping at Asian food markets, getting introduced to the foods that they eat that are MUCH different than our food is. We too were introduced into a different culture, as we have been the only "Americans" in the food market. We had to get someone to translate all the tags and labels for us, as they were all in Asian symbols. It was always a great experience to go in there to get our groceries for the next few weeks. To this day when we go inside of the one that we love to shop at, they know us and what we are doing there. They seem very happy to have white people share a bit of their culture and food.

#10 Study Effective Teachers

During the past semester, I have had the opportunity to observe two different teachers in the art classroom. One, is a young lady who has been teaching for 2 years now and teaches at the middle school level, while the other teacher is an older lady who has taught for many many years at the high school level. It has been a great experience for me to be able to observe in their classrooms, seeing different styles and different experiences of students in the classroom. While middle school and high school are not that much apart (in age) it is amazing how much more mature (in art) the high school students seem and are. The quality of work is so much more apparent. However, I do not know if this is because the high school teacher seems to expect more out of her students or if that is just how it is.
Being in the middle school classroom, I have noticed that the teacher still thinks of the students as "little people" Don't get me wrong, they are still immature, however, she did not seem to push them as much as I think they should have been pushed. Therefore, they were a very "babied" group of kids. Whenever she introduced something with a little higher level of difficulty, they would just complain, not feeling confident trying to make a great piece of work. I can not say if this is how all middle school art rooms are, or if this is only for this particular one, because I have not really observed in any other middle school. However, from memories I have of growing up, art that I would see in middle schools I visited back home, they art seemed to be great, and I could not believe it was done by a middle schooler.
Then, when I went to the high school art lab, it was a totally different story. The students were being pushed to become better artists and gain the necessary techniques to make them the best that they could be. The students also wanted to be pushed as artists, not having assignments that just took little time or effort. The maturity level was raised quite a bit, just in these few years of schooling. It was very fun, and interesting, to observe at the two different levels.

Now, after seeing these different styles of teaching, I wanted to see what others thought about teachers and how they should work. Therefore, I called a friend of mine from Kansas who is also going into art education, but has not yet observed in a classroom or seen teaching done from the same aspect that I have. I asked her what she thought qualities would be of a great art teacher. I do not want to say anything negative about the teacher I observed in the middle school, but almost everything that my friend said, labeled the high school teacher that I also observed. "A good art teacher should be one that first off, knows their material and can relate it to different kinds of students in a good manor." The high school teacher that I observed did this very well. She could relate to any student that she had sitting in one of her seats. However, the middle school teacher had some trouble with this. She never could seem to have every student in the classroom on the same page.
"A teacher should have great control of their classroom, giving the project enough of a twist, or enough options to let each student incorporate their own style of art into it, making it their own very unique piece of art." I do not think that I could have agreed with her more after taking these education classes and observing this semester. The high school teacher had assignments that every single kid seemed to like, if not love to work on. Everyone was always so happy in the classroom, working diligently on their project. Meanwhile, in the middle school, the students assignments were all turned in looking basically they same, with the same bland colors and sloppy lines. It just did not seem like a place that I would want to be doing art in. (While these two things were pointed out, she did do other things in the classroom that were good).

After having my thoughts and a fellow education students thoughts, I decided to interview someone that has been in the teaching profession for many many years, and see what they though about different topics. Therefore, I got in touch with the very first teacher that ever had an impact on my life: my father. He has taught many levels of students, ranging from first through eighth grade, yet, he has never been in the high school level. He currently is teaching sixth, seventh, and eighth grade science in Harper, Kansas.
"What would you consider the hardest part of your job, dad?"
"Classroom control. I think that has been the hardest part ever since I have started. At fist, when the students first walk through the door, they are calm for about two weeks, but whenever they start to get comfortable with you, they just start seeing where they can get under your skin. They are all over the room, asking questions trying to get off-task, talking during the lecture, and messing with their neighbors. They seem to do anything except what they are expected to do. But I still love what I do!"
"Well dad, what then would be the best part about teaching?"
"Touching lives."
"What do you mean by that dad?"
"Well, when someone comes back to you after they leave your classroom for 15-20 years and tell you how they remembered learning about a certain something in your class, or remember a project we did, it is just rewarding inside. Or to have one thank me for having faith in them and knowing that they could accomplish a certain task. That is just a great, rewarding feeling! I am really glad that you are going into teaching, Isaac, because I know that you too are going to touch many young peoples lives."

#8 Practice Democratic Principles

In life, I have always seemed to hang out with the people that seem to be most like me. People who share similar interests or beliefs as I do. It is so much easier to connect with these people in life, as we do not have to try to find similarities between us; they just come naturally. While at Hesston College, I really seemed to connect with the people that were in my mod. Everyone in there was a white male, coming from a Mennonite background. That is, everyone except for two young Muslims from Kenya. This made it very easy for me to make friends with the majority of my mod mates, yet, leaving a little bit of a difficult time making friends with the Kenyans. We had to TRY to become friends, it wasn't something that just sparked with them. We soon overcame our differences and now I keep in contact with these fine young men as well. Out of the seven men in my mod, four of us are now attending Goshen College together. Therefore, our friendship has continued to flourish as we try to see each other and "kick it" every day together. These friendships will be cherished for the rest of my life. So would I be one that is considered hard to become friends with unless you are a white, mennonite male? Generally, I think the answer most people would give to me would be yes. Just looking me, most people think I am a stuck up individual, just judging me from the scowl on my face. It is just how my face was made. People think I am upset or mad, yet, once they get to know me they understand that is just how I am.

While growing up, I was one known for making jokes, whether they were appropriate or inappropriate, I always seemed to have a joke of some sort. Many time I would have jokes about homosexuals, races, or even the opposite sex. Not to thrilled about my past and the jokes I told, it is a fact that I was always telling some pretty bad ones that I would never want to be told about me. Joking is something that can be done if the people involved and listening all know that it is being considered a joke. However, sometimes people hear a joke and take it the wrong way, even though the "comedian" telling the joke did not mean it in a negative way whatsoever. Going to college and maturing has helped me get away from the past that had the potential to get injured severely if a joke was told to the wrong person. With going to college, I have become friends with people who help me in this journey away from the joke-telling. Now, when I hear these jokes that I once told, it is like I have the angel and devil cartoons on my shoulder trying to tell me what to do: either join in the fun, or stick up for the people being made fun of. Most the time, it seems easier to join in, yet, recently I have really been working on doing what right, and the feelings I receive when I make the right choice feels so good when everything is over and done with.

Finally, listening to discussion in classroom has helped me learn who speaks up in a classroom, which I think will really help me when I try to devise questions to ask in my classroom, trying to get everyone involved in the conversation. From what I can tell, (from the classes that I am in right now at Goshen College, and the classes that I have observed at Goshen Middle School and Elkhart Memorial High School) those who speak up are generally (from the knowledge that I have of their family life learned from others or the teachers) the boys who have a father in their life. At Goshen Middle School, it is very apparent who has a good family life, as they seem to be involved in the assignments and discussions, and willing to help others out. Other kids seem worried about possibly what is going on at home or what they might be eating that day. I feel so bad for these kids because they do not feel like they can be involved in the discussion because most of the questions do not seem to relate to them, such as: What did your family do this weekend? Some responses from those that volunteer are, "my parents and I went to the zoo, or we went to the Notre Dame game as a family." However, when the teacher calls on one being shy, they usually seem to say, "I went to my dad's house and watched TV the whole weekend", or "I went to visit my dad in jail." Hardly ever do you hear, "Me and my dad went fishing this weekend! It was so fun!"
These responses really make me feel bad for these children, making me anxious to get into the classroom and be a male figure in their lives.

LEARNING TO IDENTIFY ALLIES #9

This past year, I have depended a lot of people that I know personally, and some that I have gotten to know better through school this year. Being an art major, I am constantly in the studio working on different pieces art. Through this, I got to know my teachers much better than I would in a lecture class, such as the educational classes. The friendships made with these art teachers are ones that will last for a lifetime. I call and talk to my art teachers at least once a month for no less than an hour each time. It is so good to hear how pieces are coming for them and new forms that they are continuously working on as their try to perfect their identity, or style. This past month, however, I needed to fill out the application for the education department which required me to call my high school art teacher, talking about what is going on in my life, and asking her for a reference agreement. I was so glad for this, because I have not talked to Mrs. Nichols (my high school art teacher) since the day I graduated. I have always wanted to catch up with her, but I never really had a good reason to call her. I imagine that we will keep in contact now after that phone call. I have set up a time over Christmas break to go to her room and observe in my alma matter. It will be a great experience to observe her and the classroom that I was brought up in.

This semester I have also been observing at Goshen Middle School for Kevin Gary's class. Part of the requirements for this class is to attend their Professional Learning Community (PLC) meetings. This is time set before school in the mornings to talk with fellow teachers about things going on in the classroom. If these were ran in an orderly fashion, I could see how they would be useful, however, they were unorganized and came up being a waste of our time to go to them. The teachers never seemed to engage themselves in the conversation, as they too thought it was a waste of time.

Something I too have done this year to help me understand things in the education classrooms is to talk to current teachers and student teachers about how they run their classroom, especially the classroom management part of it. Having two parents as teachers, I have really had a great opportunity to learn many things from them and how they do things. However, since they took these classes such a long time ago, I found it to be good to talk to other "teachers" that are my age, and see how the people student teaching feel in the school. One I talked to (names are irrelevant) said she really likes being in the classroom, however, control is something that is more demanding than she imagined it would be. She also was quick to say that I may not have quite the problem with the stature that I bring when I walk into a classroom. "Students are more likely to listen and respect of man of your size!" she said as she laughed. Yet, I still have so anxiety about keeping the students in line when I get into my own classroom.

Finally, this year has been one unlike I have ever experienced in the school setting. I have never been forced to study much in a classroom, due to hearing it once in the classroom from the teacher, and remembering it. Usually, if I hear the teacher once, right down the proper notes, I am fine for learning it. However, arriving at Goshen has forced me into learning in a totally new environment than I was used to. Having to read everything to learn has caught me in a bind. Irina too is finding herself in the same predicament, as we have the same previous schooling and studying habits. We have decided to team up together, studying for most exams together, and doing projects with each other, as we have noticed other students do not like our style we have been taught at Hesston College, along with some professors. Having someone to study with gives different views for most categories, which helps a great amount when I try to remember things for an exam.

#7 Develop way to RECHARGE your battery

This is something that I definitely need to do at different times in the semester, as I seem to get stressed out with all the work piling up. I have ways that help a great amount with that, however, this year I have came up with things that have really seemed to help a lot with this.

First off, art is something I have enjoyed and gone to my whole life when I need a break from something. I am almost constantly working on some sort of project for someone, and rarely one for myself to keep. I get great joy out of making these pieces, and it is so rewarding to give them to people. They really seem to love them. There is nothing greater for an artist than to have random people that you do not even know, come and ask you to do a piece of art for them. I can't explain in words how this makes me feel. It is great, also, that I can do something that I love so much (and want to do as an occupation for the rest of my life) and it re energizes me like it does.

While I have enjoyed sports my whole life, I have always been involved in a sport, which helps he relax as well. This semester is the first in my life that I have gone without being on a sports team. Therefore, I have to find time to exercise on my own time. This has been great to do. I have fun, relax and re energize for studies all at the same time. I have joined the Elkhart City League basketball program, my church basketball team, intramurals, and go frequently to play racquetball with my brother and cousin. These are all great opportunities for me to work out with people, while getting away from the class work for a while. When I come back to it, I am ready to work, and can do it even better since I enjoyed a nice break.

Finally, I have came up with a technique that works great for me to organize my studies and keep them all straight. Carrying a separate binder for each class is the first step I took to keep things separated. However, I still was getting confused with when things were due in all of my different classes. To solve this, I checked blackboard, moodle, and my planner to see when all the different assignments were due in each class. I write these all down with the due dates in an orderly fashion and slip the paper into my cover in the binder. This lets me see when the assignments are due, and has helped out a great amount. This makes it lots easier to work ahead, getting assignments done so I am not stressing out the night before they are due.

These things are all vital to me as a student for getting me through the semester. It was good I came up with a plan like this to help me out.