responding to 3 students using a 100 words for each respond.
Kenneth GraceThursdaySep 16 at 10:34pm
The information that I found most pertinent is all the information about religion in the school setting. Many educators fear talking or discussing religion in schools due to the fact that it may get them in trouble. After working through the modules, I learned that it is okay to discuss religion. In fact, it is encouraged and very legal to do so. The manner in which we, as educators, present religion in schools is the part in which we need to be careful. I agree that religion is an important part of our society and culture, and students should be educated about the different religions. Other information that I found interesting and pertinent is the moral development and the correlations that were shown in Module 4. The impact that religion has on people’s character, moral beliefs, as well as academics was not surprising to me, instead all the correlations made sense. The results from those studies show that religion for the most part has a positive impact on students, and if we as educators want to teach the whole child, then excluding religion from schools would not be in the best interest of our students.
I plan on using this information by educating my students about religion. I want my students to have the freedom to express their own personal beliefs, but also be able to know and respect the beliefs of others and their religion. As I stated in my introductory, I teach Health and PE to 4th-6th graders, so teaching religion in Health and PE would be somewhat challenging for me and not as easy as it would be if I were an English or Social Studies teacher. One idea that I have is if I taught my students different games from different countries and explain the history behind the game. This would expose them to learning about different cultures, and possibly some games may have a religious history that they can learn about.
Kori DeanWednesdaySep 15 at 3:20pm
After working through Modules 1-4, I found that I had similar concerns with keeping public schools and religion separate. It was always to my understanding that you have to keep church and state separate so I made sure not to cross that line in my classroom. I was raised in a church going home and have always been in a Christian environment. I went to Catholic school my entire life growing up. Working in the public school system, I did not think it was okay to say or do anything pertaining to religion. I have worked in two different public schools this year and last. Both schools I have worked for say prayer every single morning with those who want to participate. In every classroom, there is an “In God We Trust” poster on everyone’s wall. At first, I was confused because I was always told that you have to keep religion out of public schools. After reading more into it, I understand a little bit better and can incorporate it in my classroom. My current group of students are some great kids. They are not afraid to express how they feel. I had a student the other day stand up and ask if she could lead the class in prayer before they ate lunch, and surprisingly they all participated. I was in awe because I have never seen that happen in a public school before. It was a good feeling to have when our children are not being influenced by others and are making positive decisions on their own.Reply
Latoya WilliamsMondaySep 13 at 11:06pm
I am a 8th grade social studies teacher, the subject offers freedoms for the consideration of learning about religions, their thoughts, and practices. What I found most pertinent in my case and that some forms of religion are academically expected to be taught. The academic needs of the course determine which religions are examined. For example, in world history, many religions are examined in every part of the world to comprehend the different civilizations and societies that have molded history and society. For 7th graders and under who may be taking U.S. History standards include lessons about the constitution. Majority of our state constitution reference God in some way. As I worked through the modules I realized we as educators may not have complete understanding of the legal basis for instructing about religion, of the importance of religion for some curriculums, or of the conflicts that may emerge when curriculum clashes with the beliefs of students and their families. This may lead to outraged parents who feel as though we’re trying to force a religion on their children. A few will be against the actual consideration of content with regards to religion other than their own, paying no mind to how the material is introduced, some think its poisoning their children minds. If I have to teach about religion I’ve learned to be be very careful as to how i teach it. Religion must be taught objectively and nuetrally, students shouldnt feel as though their being persuaded into any other religion.
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