Brianna Pellizzari

EDUC 326
C. Mamchur
7 July 2016

Assignment 2: Grading and Motivation

Eileens Perspective
Student Input
Eileen came to this learning environment with a great perspective, friendliness,
empathy, understanding and a willingness to help her fellow students. She gave her
fellow students encouragement, help and assurance when learning new things and even
took on the role of the teacher for skills that she was confident at. Eileen strikes me as a
very caring individual who had a lot to give and in the right environment she thrived.
Environment
At first in this story Eileen was the student. She learned from modeling,
conversation, and hands-on experiences with her peers. Eventually as Eileen and her
teacher came to know each other more, Eileen took on a teacher like role within the
classroom and began to teach her peers and become a mentor for them. Eileen made this
environment one of caring, kindness and patience. She learned along with her peers but
also enhanced learning experiences for her peers as well by always lending a helping
hand.
Outcome
In Eileens case the outcome was an extremely successful learning environment
and learning experience. Eileen was able to put her strengths to use in this environment
and learn not only new life skills, but also traditional curriculum such as counting,
communication, problem solving, and collaboration skills. Eileen became a mentor and
teacher within her community and helped to create an environment in which organic
learning occurred.
Teachers Perspective
Teacher Input
The student came to the learning with a teaching degree, which gave her a
background in teaching and learning to help her in this new position. One of the most
important things I think the teacher came to the learning with was enthusiasm, excitement
and passion for her career and for the opportunity. It is evident in the article that this
teacher has a great amount of passion for her students and her career, which helped to
create a successful learning environment for her students as well as herself. This teacher

also came into this teaching experience with a wealth of life skills knowledge gained
from personal experience.
Environment
For teaching life skills the teacher made sure to make a good first impression on
the very first day which I think made a very good start for all involved. The teacher
became the example of what to do, and this in turn gave students a model and a guide to
learning life skills. In the article she talks about not directly teaching personal hygiene
but of being a model of how to keep yourself. This type of modeling became a steppingstone for the girls to learn from and before long the students were modeling the same
behaviours. She also provided real world learning opportunities and tasks so that students
could learn by doing instead of just reading or watching. I feel that this perspective was
especially important in this type of school so that students can learn to use the knowledge
they gain in a meaningful way. Through the perspective of the teacher, the students were
able to accomplish amazing things because they had been exposed to a variety of
experiences and their interest was sparked to a wide variety of topics. The teacher
allowed students to organically learn new topics and provided key opportunities that
made learning happen in a variety of life skills.
Outcome
For the teacher the outcome of being a student/teacher in this type of environment
and being involved with these types of students became a life changing experience in
which she gained new perspectives on teaching and learning. Not only did she pass on
her knowledge to her students, but also she provided an organic learning environment
where students passed on their knowledge to others within the class and in turn this
environment became an important stepping-stone of her career.