Curr 314

Today was the first day back in blogging world since last year. i am only doing this for class. In my world I do ot have time for bloggin, but if I did it is a good way to have a voice and be able to say what you would like to say.

Community Service

I did my first service at the Calvary Church on Halloween. Every year the Church throws a carnival for everyone and gives out candy and has games for the children to play. I volunteered to be in charge of one of the games. It is a great thing that the church does for families and children and it is not just for church members everyone in the surrounding towns and other churches and beliefs are invited to come at no cost. This experience was a great one because it made me so happy to see how happy these children were. A lot of the children did not have much and came from broken homes and for the church to do that for these children and allowing me to be a part of it was wonderful and made me realize even more that I can't wait to become a teacher and help as many children that I can. The other service I did was at St. Joesph's in Elizabeth on Thanksgiving. My mother and I went together and we get there about 7 am and start to cook and get everything set up for when the people come in. When they come most of them have young children with them and it just breaks my heart. Their are counselors on sit for the adults to talk to and hot food for them to eat. In the church there is a play room where me and other volunteers play games and color and give the kids food and snacks. These children are amazing and the worst thing is that most of them didn't have a home to go to that night. Doing volunteer work really makes you appreciate what you have but most importantly that everyone is the same and deserves the same chance at life.

State Continues to Fund School Projects in Suburbs, While Leaving Poor Districts Stranded

Section 9 aid is a local school construction bond which is appropriated each year by the Legislative from the property Tax Relief Fund in the State Budget. Only non-Abbott districts are able to obtain local bonds to finance school construction. State school construction programs now only fund projects in upper and middle income suburban districts. Their are over 100 urban schools in desperate need of Section 9 aid and Legislation refuses to help these poor districts.
The refusal to fund stalled projects prompts Abbott Court action. They asked N.J. Supreme Court to set December 31 as the deadline for Legislation to provide funding to restart stalled construction projects. These school districts pleaded with Governor Corzine to help, but he has taken no action. It is unfair to the children that attend these overcrowded unsafe schools. As a teacher I believe before anything else safety is the most important thing for our students and by not fixing up the schools there are many dangers surrounding them each day. It is just not fair!

School Violence

I thought I would share something that happened in the High School that I did my 30 hr. field work last semester. My best friend and boyfriends mother are both teachers at the H.S. On Friday about lunch time the office was notified that one of the students had a gun! The student text messaged one of his friends saying that he was going to kill another male student. The friend who received the text went right to the Principal and sure enough they found the gun in his locker. The school went under lock down. The steps you take as a teacher during a lock down is turn off the computers, lock the doors, turn off the lights, and take all the students on the other side of the classroom in a corner away from the door. Can you imagine trying to control 30 H.S. kids in a corner during a lock down. The school eventually was shut down and students were sent home. They found the kid with the gun and he was arrested. He wont be returning to school, so we hope, who knows if he will return!? It is so sad that their is actually a drill for teachers and students just in case their is shootings in the school! There use to be drills from war with other countries and the normal fire drill, but can you imagine a lock down drill because of shootings in schools. What has the world come to! It is so tragic. Becoming a teacher is such an exciting and wonderful thing for me, hearing things like this does scare me, but it makes me want to be an even better teacher. I want to help kids grow and maybe try to see early signs of problematic students and try to guide them in the right direction.

The Arts H.S. Orientation

The Arts High School experience was amazing. The students are so talented. I am a Fine Art Education major and could definitely see myself teaching in a school like this one. The A, B Block scheduling is a great idea especially in the Arts subjects. I went to a regularly scheduled high school, but I did fieldwork at an A, B Block schedule and I feel it works well. From what I learned from a teacher’s perspective it does work better but it is a challenge to keep the students attention.

Inquiry Question

I was thinking over the inquiry question and I’ve decided to change what I originally wrote. I am a Fine Art Ed. Major and I always felt Art is the best way to teach children any subject, “How will using art in every subject help each student learn in a better way?” I am glad I am choosing this question because this is one of the main reasons that I want to teach. As a future teacher, I will most definitely bring Art into every subject that I will teach, not only in the Art room.

Haiku

The sunlight on my face
The Caribbean is where I should be
There is no other place

My haiku expresses a lot about the things I love. Ever since I was a little girl I loved the beach. I would stay on the beach until the sun would set. The warm sand on my feet and the smell of salty air is what I look forward to. Every now and then I get a chance to visit the Caribbean, but until then, I go down the Jersey shore as much as possible. It is not the Caribbean, but when I sit on the beach I can close my eyes and pretend that that is where I am.