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.

video module 8

I agree with the video how teachers should have knowledge on the children in their classroom as far as getting to know the individual. Although children may have somethings in common, there are some things that are different about them. Knowing the individual can help teachers find out the similarities as well as their differenes. This knowledge can contribute to the learning of other students in the classroom. This makes a lot of since because every child can benefit from this paticular knowledge.

chapter 7

The first section that I like was John Dewey and Progressive Education. This section talks about some of the components of Progressive Education. One of the components are accepting the interest of children. Dewey believes that children can learn better when they are interesting in something. The first resorce I found was www.uvm.edu/-dewey/articles/proed.htm. This particular website give addition information on progressive education. The web site also goes in more details than the text book. The second resorce I found was a video at www.youtube.com titled Progressive Education in the 1940s. This a 7 minute video on progressive education in the 1940s. I choose these two website because of their information and it relates to the text.

The second section in the text that I like was Black Americans: The Struggle for a Chance to Learn. This section talks about the struggles for African Americans encountered trying to receive education. I like this section because it show me personally where blacks come from and It makes me appreciate education more. One of the resources I choose was www.findarticles.cts.com/p/articles/mi-993626/15-200110/ai_n8958575-34k titled Education of African American Students: The Struggle Continue. This website tells how African American students are still struggling for education. It also shar the history on blacks pursuit for an education in a white society. Another website I choose was www.infoplease.com. This is anthoer website that is similar to the text. I choose these resorces because it agrees with the text and add additional information on the struggle of blacks for education.

NCLB

Dear President Obama,

I am writing you concerning the policy of the No Child Left Behind. Although their may be some good intention to better our children education, I believe there are some things that should be changed in the NCLB law.

The first thing that should be change is the testing in our schools. Many of our teachers are instructed to put aside certain subject in order to prepare students for testing. Not only do this put presure on the teachers but the students also. It is hard for our children to learn under such presure and high expectation. The second thing that should be change is the govermnet control over the classroom. I believe that teachers should have more say in the classroom because they work with their students everyday and know their learning styles. With this control, teachers can make sure that their students are getting the education that they need. Finally, I think that the punishment of the schools should change. I think that the goverment should help the schools to be successful instead of punishing them. Not only will this affect the students, but this will also affect the teachers self=esteem when it comes to teaching. Besides, you may end up closing a school that can really make a change in the community where it is located.

There may be some good in the NCLB law. I think that the bad out weighs the good. There should be another way that the goverment can help our schools without putting pressure on our students and teachers.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and taking my concerns into consideration.

Charles Nabors

situation

I am teaching a first grade class in a school where over the majority of the students come from low income families. I over heard a white student call a black student a nigger. This word is offensive to African American because of the way they were treated during slavery and the Civil Rights Movement. I would handle it by letting the student know that we do not use that tpye of word in our school and it is not nice to say that. I will talk to the parents to let them know what they child had said hoping that they will back me up. I do not think I would react differently because I know that some things children say or do they are just repeating what they heard or saw someone else did. Most of the time they do not know better.

I will feel uncomfortable during the hoildays when children want to talk about certain things about the holiday ,such as Christmas, and one of the students family do not celebrate that particular holiday. I will try to make a lesson that it will not be offensive to anyone in the classroom and I just want say the word Christmas. I beileve that I am responsible for making sure that the student is not offended and feel safe in the classroom inspite of their background.

goals

The goals for school survey is nothing like when I was going to school.Most of the teachers that I had when I was in school had the attitude like if you get you do if you do not get it tough luck. I never even seen anything about diverse culture accept for black history month. I do not believe that the schools that I went to were examples of what schools should be. Don't get me wrong, there were teachers who really cared and there were some who really did not care at all. At one point of time that affected me in a negative way because I was tagged with names. As I grew older, I shook that off from me.

I have little knowledge of charter and home school. Last year my son got into some trouble and had to go to a charter school for the rest of that year. I think it is a good thing to have to keep children in school and make sure that they have options to get their education. Home school could be a bad thing and a good one. The child will get one on one attention but they will not experience being social.

When I become a teacher, I will make sure that I will do what it takes to educate my students. I have already started preparing myself by continuing my education. I will try my best to make sure that every student is appreciated for their own uniqueness. I will also have different approaches to teach them so I will be able to accommodate every child learning style.

learning

I believe that children growth benefit from going to school. Children get more physical activity at school than they get at home. Playing is a way to cut down on obesity and future health problems for children. Children learn in different ways. Some may learn through observation, hands on, or by just listening. I believe that I learn through both visual and hands on. If I can see how to do it, then I can do anything. Right now I am teaching my son and daughter how to drive. My daughter is 14 and my son is 17. I am teaching them through observation, listening, and hands on. I take them on a back road and let them take turn driving. The 14 year old can drive better than the 17 year old. You did not hear that from me!

Teacher

I want to become a teacher so I can be able to reach to children who are at risk. Many children do not have a positive male figure in their life. I want to be that positive male figure in their life. The worst teacher I ever had was in eighth grade. This particular teacher had her picks. If you did not look a certain way or dress a certain way, she did not try to help you at all. The best teacher I had was in six grade. This teacher always encourage me and challenge me to do better. To this day, I still see that teacher and he still encourages me in the same way he did when I was in the six grade.