Assignment #4 - Customized Learning Theory
B. Wright
EDU 501
March 1, 2012
1. Describe your target audience with which you work or expect to work. Before I made the decision to switch careers from corporate America to education, I spent time as a substitute teacher in grades k through twelve. This was an invaluable experience that provided me with the insider’s advantage of the pros and cons of working in every classroom setting from accelerated to special needs, and small group learning to larger class sizes. I have found that I work well in every class room setting. As a substitute teacher, I was one of the most highly requested in my district. Even my superintendent recognized my work and accomplishments in maintaining classroom management and curriculum in the absence of the teacher and regardless of the length of time of the absence. After a year of “subbing”, I was able to identify that high school grade nine through twelve was the age group that I had the greatest success working with. As I mentioned, I was successful at all ages and grades, however, I was able to overcome challenges and barriers that many other high school teacher had difficulty or inability to overcome. Another indicator was listening to the way that teachers speak of their students. Naturally, elementary school teachers cannot cay enough positive things about their students. It is easier to be forgiving with younger children because you understand and expect them to need redirection and reinforcement. As opposed to older students who teachers expect to have achieved a certain level of learning and behavioral expectation. Unfortunately, I have encountered many high school teacher who don’t speak very highly of their students and lead me to question why they chose to teach those grades. On the brighter side, the teachers that I met who possessed that passion for teaching high school