Final Post

This post is a final summary of all the blogs I have written. I have noticed a common theme throughout my posts and that is what I will be addressing today. The debate I've been having with myself is what age level to teach. For the longest time I could not decide if I wanted to be a high school math teacher or if I wanted to focus on early childhood education. It has been very difficult for me to make this decision because it is what defines my future. Since it is such a tough decision I decided to make a list of pros and cons for each.

High school math teacher
PROS:

• It will be easier for me to relate to the students because we will be closer in age.
• I will have a stronger relationship with high school students than with the children.
• If I were teaching at a high school I will most likely be more involved with the school because I could possibly coach volleyball or track.
• I think I will have more impact on students lives as a teacher at the high school level because I will be helping them to decide their future plans.

CONS:

• The requirements to be a math teacher at a high school level are very demanding and I will have to take a lot of summer classes and a lot of credit hours during the actual school year.

Early Childhood Education

PROS:

• It would be easier to teach younger children because they have an easy curriculum. 
• Getting in touch with parents would be easier than getting in touch with the parents of teenagers.
• If I go with early childhood education I will be able to obtain my degree faster.
• I have a lot of experience with teaching and handling young children.

CONS:

• Math is my favorite subject and I am very good at it. If I choose early childhood education I will be done with math classes and that means giving up something I enjoy.

As you can see this is an extremely hard decision. After much thinking I have decided to take the route of becoming a high school math teacher. I realize that it will be tougher and more difficult for me to accomplish but I would be much happier in the future. 

This course helped me a lot in choosing what I want to do with my life. I experienced and observed a lot of what will soon be my future. I can now confidently say I know exactly what I want to do with my life. 

FieldBlog3 - Orange High School

Going back to the elementary and middle schools I realizes a lot has changed since I've been there. There were so many changes in the techniques of teaching and many noticeable technological advances. However, coming back to a high school I noticed that not much has changed considering I was there less than a year ago.

Orange high school was very diverse. I was placed in a senior English class and it was exactly what I expected. The teacher was like most high school teachers I had throughout the four years I was there. He was laid back and comfortable with his students. In my opinion, most senior classes (especially in the 2nd semester) aren't taken too seriously by the teachers or the students. 

After being opened up to observing at the high school level I have realized that I might want to switch from pursuing early childhood education to teaching at a high school level. I want to impact the lives of my students and I think I would be more effective on kids between the ages of fifteen and eighteen. High school is the time to discover yourself and the place to figure out the next step in ones life. I want to be able to steer teens in the right direction. High school was the time of my life and I have the most amazing memories and experiences from it. I also had a few bad experiences as well so I think I could easily relate and connect to students at the high school level. 

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Reflection on the essay On Stir-and-Serve Recipes for Teaching by Susan Ohanian

The first thing I want to touch base on with this essay is the quote, "There is no instant, stir-and-serve recipe for running a classroom" (Ohanian 118). This is a very true statement. You cannot put together a room full of aspiring teachers and teach them how to teach. Everyone learns differently. A professor can't tell education majors exactly what to expect when entering the field. Sure, they can give out advice and personal experiences to give ideas but us, the education majors, still will not know what being a teacher is truly like until we get there. There is no stir-and-serve recipe but things like class visits, interning, student teaching, and service hours can definitely help and make a difference.

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Reflection on the reading of "The Banking Concept of Education" by Paul Freire

The banking concept of education basically states that "the teacher talks about reality as if it were motionless, static, compartmentalized, and predictable. Or else he expounds on a topic completely alien to the existential experience of the students. His task is to "fill" the students with the contents of his narration- contents which are detached from reality, disconnected from the totality that engendered them and could give them significance. Words are emptied of their concreteness and become a hollow, alienated, and alienating verbosity" (Friere).
My thoughts on this were that this couldn't be more true. This concept pertains to a lot of teachers that I have come in contact with throughout my experience as a student. I think I would have remembered a lot more of what I had learned in high school, and even middle school, if I had not been taught the way I was. I was taught to memorize instead of being taught to understand.

"Education must begin with the solution of the teacher-student contradiction, by reconciling the poles of the contradiction so that both are simultaneously teachers and students" (Friere).
I think that the best teachers are the ones who learn new things from their students and let them be the teacher as well.

FieldBlog2 - Beachwood Middle School

When I was in middle school things were completely different. I went to class, talked to my friends, then sat down and listened to my teacher teach. I had a book, a folder, a notebook, and a pencil. My other items required for my other classes remained locked away in my locker down the hall. At Beachwood Middle School things have obviously changed. The children still walk into their classroom and socialize, (I don't think that will ever change), but instead of sitting down and turning their textbooks to a certain page and taking notes in their notebooks, they unzip their laptop bags and pull out a wireless mac. They open it up, log on, and start their assignment. Whether it be blogging, noodle tools, blackboard discussions etc...

Times have changed. I was completely mind-blown by the things I witnessed on this visit. As I continue to pursue my dream as becoming a teacher I now realize that I will probably not be teaching the way I was taught. I will be teaching with smart boards and laptops and I will be using online assignments. Coming to this school was a huge reality check (a good one) for me. This is the future and things have, and will continue to, significantly change. 

Observations of the school

• Kids are on laptops in the library
• They have a library media specialist
• The school consists of the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade
• They are very diverse with 28% black, 11% Asian, 65% Jewish and a small Hispanic population
• They have a large multi-handicap population
• They are very financially stable
• They have a large special ed population

Holman Room 226 Observations (7th grade social studies)

• The desks are paired
• All the kids have laptops
• The teacher teaches from his desk
• They do a lot of group work
• The teacher is very charismatic
• There are motivational quotes all around the room
• The kids seem very comfortable within the classroom and around the teacher
• Everything is electronically digitalized 
• They write blog posts
• The website they use (which was created by students) is very detailed
• When I asked the teacher how long it took the children to catch on to the site he said not very long at all
• They use an entirely student creative written textbook
• There are numerous videos on the site all made by the kids
• The teacher is very proud of the site and was recently interviewed by wiki-spaces

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Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender students...

There are many different views and opinions on the subject of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students. As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I grew up attending public schools. At my high school I was very exposed to lesbian, gay, and bisexual students. In most high schools being gay is asking to be picked on. But at my school it was very accepted.
All throughout my senior year my best friend, Connor, was gay. And, to be honest, he was probably the most popular guy in the school. He had the greatest sense of humor, he was kind and warm-hearted, and not to mention he threw the best parties out of anyone. Connor was on prom court and although he didn't win guess who did? My friend Johnny, who was also gay. The summer after I graduated high school a bunch of my friends and I went to a gay club with Connor. Connor was the only gay one but we did it in support for him and thought nothing of it. It was a blast. Connor was never once judged or made fun of for being gay. He was who he was and he was okay with that.
Sophomore year in high school one of my best girl friends was a lesbian. We great up playing softball together and our families were very close. She was a grade ahead of me but she was never hated by anyone. She got along with every social group and all the teachers. She was not treated differently just because she was a lesbian.
In my opinion, it is ridiculous that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students are being discriminated against within the school environment. Just because you are gay does not mean you're a bad person. In school you should feel at home. Teachers, administrators, and peers should all be conscious of the effects of bullying against gays. They don't deserve that at all. They're not different from any of us. I was very fortunate to live in such an understanding and accepting school district.


My best friend Connor and I before our senior prom!

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What is institutional racism?
Institutional racism is a pattern of social institutions (such as governmental organizations, schools, banks, and courts of law) giving negative treatment to a group of people based on their race.

Growing up, I attended a public school for elementary, middle, and high school. My schools were not very diverse at all. Throughout my years at public school I would say that 90% of the children were white. I was never really exposed to racism or anything like that. However, now that I am being more and more exposed to it as I grow up and enter the real world I am realizing that it is a pretty big issue. 
My views on institutional racism are very strong. I think it's absolutely ridiculous for someone to be judged by the color of their skin, their ethnicity, or their background. Racism exists and we have to face that. We probably couldn't wipe racism off the earth no matter how hard we tried but we can still be against it. The more people against institutional racism the better. School is supposed to be a second home. somewhere to feel welcome and comfortable. Not a place to feel unwanted. Hopefully over time the issue will get better but until then all we can do is spread the word and hope things get better.