module 12

I think teaching is something I still want to do because I have a desire to work with children who are at risk. I can see myself keeping up with the demands of good teaching by learning from my mistakes and from other peoples mistakes. I think one of the demands is making sure that your students make progress through out the school year. I see the job of a teacher challenging and fulfilling. A good teacher will know their students learning styles and abilities through time. The teacher also wears many hats such as teacher, parent, and sometimes mentor. The main thin that I learned is no one really have the answer on how to be an affective teacher. There are so many theories and point of views and all of them make sense. The only way to figure out how to be an affective teacher is through experience.

observation

I think that both teachers I observed displayed some of the standards in chapter 11. One of the teachers knew her students so well that she did not have to turn around and look to see who was disturbing her class. She just called their name and continue to teach the class without missing a point in her lesson. The other teacher had good classroom management. She was able to teach the class and keep all of her students under control. This particular teacher had eyes in the back of her head. I was just glad to be able to observe such wonderful teachers.

legal

Situation 3: Personal Lifestyle
This situation is about a teacher who has a good reputation in the school where she works and well like by her students. Many of the staff had strong feeling about her living with her boyfriend and begin to feel that she was not being a good role model for the children. When the school system found out that she was living with her boyfriend, they announce it publicly. She was suspended for the way she was living her personal life. The courts decided that the parents and the community did not know about her living arrangement until they were announce. The court also said that her life style did not affect the education of the children. The court ruling was in her favor.


Situation 14:School Prayer
This situation is about a coach who have prayer with his team and one of the team member objects having prayer. Although the coach is trying hard to be sensitive and not offend anyone, this particular team member is still offended. The coach offer this person to leave the gym whenever the team was about to pray. The coach has broken the law. According to the law, there is a separation between school and state. Although students can form religious clubs, teachers are not allow to promote or force any religion on the students. As teachers, we need to be considerate of other people religion and beliefs. The best thing to do I think is to never bring up anything about religion at all.

court ruling

In 1994, parents, school boards, and students from five low income counties filed a law suit against the state of North Carolina. The complaint was against the state for not providing an equal opportunity of education for children in those counties. The ruling of the court stated that the state of North Carolina has fail to provide the children in those counties an equal opportunity education. Personally, I love the fact that there are people who care about the education of all children and not just the wealthy ones. I believe that the courts ruling made the state more responsible for the education of those children in those counties. As far as social issue, children from those counties will have an opportunity to a good education. That good education can open doors for jobs in the future. It is just like a domino affect. A person get a good education and then gets a good job. The job keeps them from being tempted to commit crime and being on the streets. That's when the communities become better. The first domino is the foundation that a good quality education has laid for that person to build their life on.

fiel experience

The other school that I observed was Scotland High School in Laurinburg N.C. This was a different experience than North Laurinburg Elementary School. The class that I observed was a ninth grade science class for two periods. When I arrived at the classroom, I met the teacher and she shows me where to sit. During the second period class, I observed how the teacher and the students interact with each other. The students were well mannered and had a very strong vocabulary. It was no problem for the teacher to teach the class because the students were prepared and knew the material. I was very impress with the students. But when the third period class came in, it was just like night and day. The same lesson was being taught, but the atmosphere of the classroom change. Many of the students were not prepared and had a hard time paying attention in class. The main thing I learned from this observation during third period was classroom management. For example, I watch how the teacher uses sitting arrangement to keep certain students from talking to each other. That way she can teach without losing control over her class. She did not allow her students to frustrate her or get her upset. I think that she handle her classroom the way that a teacher can be affective to her students.

observation

The first school that I observe was a first grade class at North Laurinburg Elementary School in Laurinburg N.C. When I walked in the classroom, the teacher and the students gave me a warm welcome. The teacher introduces herself to me and then she introduces me to the classroom. She begins to fill me in on the activity the children were doing. They just finish reading a story and they children were writing their own story and draw pictures. One of the things that I learned was the pressure that the first grade teachers are receiving from the state to make sure that the children pass their quarterly test. I thought that the third through eight grade teachers were the only one who had to worry about their students passing a standardize test. Although the test that the first graders are taking is not the End of Grade Test, the pressure is all the same. Every three months the children have to take that test and that will determine their grade for that period of time. The teacher allowed me to get a look at the test to show me what kind of material that will be on the test. Talking about push down academics, those children are doing things on that test that I did not do until I was in the second grade. I can tell that the teacher did not really agree with some of the things she had to teach. For example, she spent a lot of time teaching the test instead of doing hands on activity where the children can learn different concepts of the material that she was teaching. I think that it is hard to learn certain things without first grasping the concepts. I can see the frustration in some of those children face because they did not understand the material. It seems to me that passing the test is more important than actually learning concepts. How can teachers build up a child self-esteem when the children are pressure to perform on a test that is to difficult for most of them?

inventory

The inventory let me know that I agree with Progressive. I do believe that children learn better whenever they are interested in a particular area. I will try to set up my classroom around the interest of the children. I am aware that children are not interested in the same thing. Therefor, I will try to make sure that there is something in the classroom for each child based on their interest.

The relationship between the inventories is to reveal to yourself where you really stand when it comes to your beliefs on what should be taught in the classroom and your approach to teaching. After taking inventory, a teacher should have some idea about there philosophy and their strategy on teaching. I will have my classroom where every child will feel like they are wanted and appreciated.

I do not see any conflicts or contradiction between the results of my inventory. Some of the classroom that I visits do not agree with me on certain things. But, it is not my classroom I'm was just an observer.