Doan Van Dieu, Ph. D

I really enjoyed the presentation tonight by Doan Van Dieu, a Ph. D at Ho Chi Minh University in Vietnam. He works in the Department of Psychology Education. He talked about the viewpoints on Family and Relationships in the family. He really made me think about my future as a wife and how to prepare myself to be a good mother. I did not know that marriage was a big part in Vietnamese lives. He talked a lot about how American women are very scared to get married. I took that as Vietnam people just get married all the time and do not really think about the possibilites of the person not being their person they are meant to be with. I think American's do have a lot of divorces but they think more about what they are doing with their lives than do Vietnamese people. Maybe that is just me though! I feel like I need my parents approval and my friends to know exactly that I want to marry this person. Most Vietnamese people want approval from their parents and also their friends, so there is a similarity in marriages between Vietnam and America.

Many of the Vietnam's accustoms are very different than they are from here in America though. An example would be that they believe they should have a son so that they can inherit the descent. Also, there are not many divorces, but it has increased since 1913. In 1913 there were on 2 divorces and in 2000 it increased to 2,000. This is very different than American style way of living. There are many divorces in America. Vietnam values family very, very, very much! They put a lot of time and effort into keeping their family close. I feel they also communicate to each other with respect and do not have to deal with fighting as much as Americans do.

Vietnamese people also appreciate education very much! Parents really want their children to be successful in their studies. That is the number one thing that parents expect from their children. I feel that in America education is very important too. I would have never thought that in Vietnam they appreciatd education as much as America does. I feel like America really emphasizes education, so that children can live a happy life and be able to live in the real world. The number one thing that chidren think their parent's expect is to show respect to their parents and show that they love and care for them. Sometimes I think that children in America take their parents for granted. They do not know how much their parents do for them and in turn treat them very badly or like sommeone their age. Children in America need to realize that parents are very important and they need to keep very good contact to them.

I was very interested into what Doan was saying. He did not speak very clearly, but I understood what he was saying. He made Vietnam people seem very different than Americans. He emphasized how much family and marriage means to Vietnamese. I really enjoyed his presentation!

Chalk

I really enjoyed watching Chalk. At first I was a little confused on why these teachers were acting this way, but I caught on and noticed that it was supposed to be like that. I realized that teachers do really have a hard job. It is not easy to just make up a plan and teach it. You have to go over what you are doing before you can actual teach it or you will make yourself look stupid as did one of the teachers. He was really sarcastic and told the students to not be as smart as him so that he looked good in front of the class. I feel that since it was the first year for some of the teachers, it was probably pretty hard. They didn't understand the teaching curriculum and all they wanted was the students to like them. They did not really know how to teach. They just kinda threw stuff together and taught whatever. I also kind of felt bad for these teachers because they did not have a clue what to do. They were mean to the kids, but all they wanted to do was be a good teacher. They really tried hard to be great, but it just was not for them. This movie gave me some insight on what to look for when I become a teacher, and what not to do because it is not allowed. These teachers have a lot to work on before they become a real teacher.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwyLP6KKPKE

Autism and Education

I really agree with the Autism and Education article. Governments should really pay special attention to gifted and talented students as well as disabled students. Many gifted students can really learn skills to for an example prevent the next worldwide flu pandemic. They just need teachers who can teach them these skills and the money to help them. Disabled students need the help also, but if gifted students can help the world be a better place by solving life's biggest problems, then the government should realize this and help pay for them. This article is so good because the mother is a parent of both of these two types of children. She agrees totally with helping disabled children but also wants her daughter to learn more. I agree with this because she is really trying to help both of her children. She really emphasizes that gifted children do need to have more help so that they can become more intelligent and help the world. Her daughter needs the chance to become more intelligent than she already is. She is staying behind because she has to relearn everything. A student like this really should have a person next to them just like the disabled student because it would help them learn a lot more than they already are. The government needs to equalize the money between disabled children and gifted children. I feel like they pay attention more to the "No child left behind" than to think about children who are really smart and could help the world be a better place. Gifted children could really solve worldwide problems.

Steve Chamberliss's Presentation

I really enjoyed Mr. Steve Chamberliss's presentation. I really agreed with his point of view on effective teaching. He talked a lot about engaging the students in learning by having them do more work than the teachers do. This is what I think also. I really think the students should use their imaginations and work things out before the teachers help them. In elementary I really wanted the teachers to figure the problem out for me, but now I believe that I should have tried to do it on my own before the teacher really helped me out. I think when the students do this they get a better understanding on what they are trying to do when they do it on their own first.
He also talked alot about going out of you're comfort zone when looking for a job. I agree with this because when you are not in you're comfort zone you experience things that you have never experienced before. He talked about going from Cedar Rapids to Decorah and that is a big change. He experienced different economies in both places. These different changes helped him be a good teacher. He knew a lot about different economies so he could help any student with their needs.

Steve also gave us some very good wisdom. He said "Don't do the same thing for 41 years."

I really think teachers should move from grade to grade or place to place so they do not get bored with doing the same things over and over again. If teachers stay with one grade they are never going to experience different things in life. They need to be with different students and experience everything they can from every student.