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. 

FieldBlog1 - Mercer Elementary School

On Thursday, January 30th the class took a trip to Mercer Elementary. In all honesty the school was not what I expected at all. I was expecting it to be a normal elementary school, like the one I went to. The school was very bright and gave off an aura of happiness. I instantly felt at home there.
Here are some things that stood out to me while walking around and observing the school...

The walls of the hallways were covered with different posters, paintings, drawings, and news paper articles. This is very different compared to the elementary school that I attended when I was a child. From what I remember, the walls of my elementary school were very plain.

One thing that really jumped out at me was the fact that they had kids running for class president and vice president. I thought that was really amazing because we never did anything like that at my schools until the high school. I think it's such a smart idea to introduce politics at a young age. 

Something that I really admired about the school was that they had posters with information about every kid at the school. These posters had their interests and favorite things written on them for everyone to read. 

I noticed that there were many posters with motivational quotes on them around the hallways. I think that these posters are up not only for the kids but the teachers and administrators as well. One of the quotes was, "Sometimes all you need is a new perspective".

My favorite thing I saw while walking around was a dream catcher hanging on a teachers door. I have a really big interest in dream catchers and their meanings and it made me really happy to see one hanging up in an elementary classroom.

3rd Grade Classroom Observations

• There were so many things on the walls. 
• Kids are at tables, not desks.
• The teacher is using a smart board.
• They are learning about MLK. 
• There are posters around the room that say "hello" in every language.
• The children seemed very comfortable with their teacher and in the classroom.
• The room is very colorful/vibrant.
• There are different stations throughout the room (math, blocks, computers, books, crafts).
• The teachers desk is hidden in the far left corner and facing the wall so she cannot teach from her desk. When she teaches she is standing and interacting with the children (like in the comic). When I was in third grade I remember my teacher sitting and teaching from her desk a majority of the time.
• The teacher teaches them while they are sitting on the ground all together rather than teaching them while they are at their tables. 
• There were so many resources and objects openly available to the children throughout the classroom. 
• The teacher has the kids get up and go to the smart board to share their ideas. 

Here are some photos I took while at Mercer Elementary

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What makes a good teacher?

After reading the question I know you're probably thinking to yourself that this is very open-ended and hard to answer. I agree with that as well. After much thinking I came to the conclusion that there are endless things that makes one a good teacher. There are so many different ways people can go about their teaching methods and concepts. I don't think that their is one right way to teach. Just like I don't think there is one thing that makes someone a good teacher. Reading chapters three and four in To Teach: the Journey, in Comics is what brought me to asking the question, what makes a good teacher? In these chapters we were introduced to a few different teachers, all with very different approaches to teaching. Although the characters introduced had significant differences in their teaching methods, they were all good teachers.
Here are some quotes from the book that will briefly explain a few of the different methods of teaching brought up in the book:

"In a straightforward way, this teacher had created a space for moral reflection and ethical action. Right away his classroom became a place where learning to live together was a high value" (Ayers 38).

"Malik's environment has its own big meanings: everyone is an author of his or her own text. We are each an expert on our own lives. Come in, share your story!" (Ayers 39). 

"For me, all teaching has to start with the personal - even something that some would construct as impersonal, like math - because teaching always involves a human being engaged with other human beings, and the interesting thing is what happens to that teacher, to those students, and what happens in the field between them" (Ayers 58"). 

Each of these methods are very different from one another. That is why when asking yourself what makes a good teacher there is no one answer. There are thousands of answers to that question.

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On Saturday, January 25th, I observed my little brothers basketball game with my mom.

Observation - Everyone is wearing boots                                          
Interpretation - It is snowy/cold outside

Observation - The kids are running up and down the court                    
Interpretation - The game has started

Observation - The parents behind us are cheering very loud                    
Interpretation - Their son is playing well

Observation - The coach on the opposing team throws his clipboard                      
Interpretation - He is frustrated with the way his team is playing

Observation - The girl next to me is playing on her phone                  
Interpretation - She is probably really bored and does not want to be there
                                                                                   
Observation - The buzzer goes off for half time and most people get up      
Interpretation - They are probably going to the bathroom or concession stand

Observation - My brothers face is very red and he is out of  breath
Interpretation - He is tired from playing the whole game and needs a break

Reflection

 After talking with my mom about the things she noticed and the things I noticed I realized that people view the simplest things in the most different ways. When I was observing I focused mostly on descriptive details. Such as someone is wearing boots because it is cold outside. Whereas my mom focused more on facial expressions and emotional details. I think this would be the case just about every time when you have a younger and an older person observing the same thing. Older people, like my mom, are more likely to look beyond physical details and into the emotional ones. They do this because they have been here a lot longer than us, they have probably experienced and understand a lot of these situations better than the younger person observing with them. When I was observing I just picked out a few random things and wrote them down. I wasn't as into it as my mom was. You can look at things in a million different ways and come up with a million different interpretations, and I'm not even being dramatic. We take the littlest things for granted. The slightest movements, facial expressions, and physical appearances could all be interpreted in a big way in someones life, it just all depends on how you look at it. 

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WebPost 1: CLASS SURVEY
Personal Information:
1. I prefer to be called Ally.
2. My hometown is Madison, Ohio.
3. I want to teach anywhere from kindergarten to third grade. Any subject is fine, I just want to educate younger children.
4. I love to read, mostly nonfiction books. I played volleyball for most of my life. The reason I am so interested in education is because I have a younger brother with Down syndrome and I grew up volunteering in his classes, activities, and camps specifically for special ed kids.

Learning Style and more:
5. For me to feel comfortable taking intellectual and creative risks in the classroom I must have a good relationship with the teacher. I have to be comfortable around my professor to be able to step out of my comfort zone when it comes to writing assignments. As long as I feel like I have a good connection with my professor I will be able to do my best work more easily.
6. In all honesty I consider myself a pretty average student. I procrastinate probably a lot more than others which does effect my school work at times. This semester I am trying very hard to be a better student and get as much out of each class as I possibly can. Once I become comfortable enough in the classroom I will become very active and oral. I don't skip class and my assignments are on time (usually). I am now becoming more aware of my learning styles and I am starting to use them to my advantage more when it comes to studying and understanding concepts. The first thing I do when I don't understand something is ask questions until I do understand it.

Education Past and Present:
7. I have had many experiences as a student. I would have to say that my favorite experience as a student would be my senior year in high school in my honors anatomy class. I liked it so much because it was hands on and it was a lot of group work.
8. My biggest issue in the education field right now is the concept of grading. I think that kids, specifically teenagers, are more worried about their grades than what they are actually learning. I know this is a big issue with a lot of researchers and professors and I hope to see it brought up more as an issue in the future.

About Dr. Shutkin
1. What were you like in high school and college?
2. How early in your life did you decide that you wanted to be an educator?