Kristen Brink

Professor Buursma
EDUC 202
It is easy to diminish the importance of knowing your students
as a statement of the obvious, however, the process of getting to know
students as learners can be difficult and challenging. Knowing students
means more than knowing their names, ages, friends, and a little bit
about their family backgrounds. Every student is different and
education is surely not a one size fits all system. This semester, I
learned that in order to maximize learning in the classroom it is
important that we dig deep and learn more about their strengths so we
can help them succeed. In order to do this we need to analyze things
like their cultural and societal influences, emotional and social
influences, learning preferences, and academic performance.
When I was assigned a school to visit throughout the semester, I
did a lot of observation and research in the neighborhood, school, and
classroom in order to better understand the context variables that
could be influencing the students at the school I was assigned. With
this understanding, I was able to learn a lot about what kinds of
backgrounds my students would come from, and therefore would be
better prepared to know the things going on in their life or the issues
that they could possibly be going through.
When I first started to observe I had limited information and
knowledge of the individual students. I began to look around and try to

find students who were struggling or not paying attention and without
thinking I would label them as students who get it and students who
dont. Later, when my teacher assigned the student to me, she
described her using labels such as ADHD, ODD, at risk,
struggles with reading and writing, and so on. The labels I gave her
right away along with the labels the teacher used to describe her only
furthered assumptions and judgments about her. These assumptions
and judgments emphasized her deficits and disabilities, and formed
the lens in which I saw her through.
As the semester continued, however, I started to see my student
differently. I had to analyze her works and behaviors and try to define
her neurodevelopmental strengths and weaknesses, and as I did this, I
started to see her through a lens of strengths and affinities rather than
weaknesses and deficits. Through this process I learned the importance
of shifting my lens in order to have students embrace their strengths
rather than their weaknesses. When this happens, students selfesteem and motivation increase, they discover passions, and they
empower students with optimism (Buursma, 2015)
When I reflect on my time throughout this semester, I see that
this class has thoroughly prepared me to commit myself to learning
enough about my learners, and their lives to make decisions that
support their strengths and learning. This experience also pushed me
to examine my assumptions about my learner and look at her in a new

perspective or new lens that can change my previous assumptions

that were formed by mere judgments rather than a deep relationship.
When I am a teacher, and even next semester when I am student
aiding, I am going to do my very best to learn as much as I can about
each individual student. It is important to remember to focus on the
learning instead of just different methods of teachings (Barringer,
2010). In order to do this, it is going to be important that I know my
students interests, neurodevelopmental strengths or preferences, and
learning styles in order to shape the lens in which we should be seeing
our students. Not only does this lens improve how I am going to see
my students, but it also shapes how we interact with them. This is
because when teachers know their students as learners they can
create a safe environment for them, they can identify ways to increase
their engagement, and they can see them develop and demonstrate
greater intelligence in the classroom.

Bibliography
Barringer, M., Pohlman, C., & Robinson, M. (2010). Schools for All Kinds
of Minds: Boosting Student Success by Embracing Learning
Variation. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Buursma, D. (2015). Knowing Students as Learners [lecture]. Retrieved
from notes.