February 26, 2008: Fifth Day of Local

I know that it is bad to compare/judge people but I feel as if apart of this class is doing just that. Taking a very close look at what works and what doesn't work and why between different students and different teachers. Something that I have noticed that is significantly different from the urban schools is the amount of recognition or praise that the students receive. I do not know if it is because of the location of the schools, the teaching theories of the teachers, or the diversity factor but the students in my local immersion classroom receive little to no praise when something is completed correctly. If praise is given it is given in a different manner than was given in the local schools. The teacher is not as peppy or excited as the urban teacher. It causes me to ponder why this is. Maybe it is the teaching theories of the teacher. But maybe one location attracts a certain kind of theory for the diversity factor there. Maybe the teaching theory of my local teacher would change if she began teaching in an urban school. Or maybe the teaching theory of the urban teaching would change if she began teaching in a rural environment. It forces me to wonder if the location attracts the type of teacher or the teachers are just different because they are.
Do the children in the urban schools need more praise and recognition than the rural students?
Do the teachers simply have a different teaching technique?
Why does one "type" of teacher teach in one area?

I wish that we could have been immersed in more than once classroom in each location. Maybe in different schools in each location.
Is there a right way to teach within a certain environment?
Is there a right way to teach in ALL environments?
Does a teacher change/adapt to the environment or does the environment adapt to the teacher?

Sometimes I feel as if my local teacher is....almost annoyed with me. She is never mean or rude to me but I often feel as if I am more of in her way than helping/aiding her. If I feel this way, how do her students feel? How is this affecting their education? Their self-esteem?