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.

Parker: Teaching Against Idiocy

Parker discusses the topic on idiocy in our society. Parker is pointing out that idiocy today is referred to differently than what it was meant originally. It was originally referred to as identifying a social problem and understanding a central goal of education. Today it is referred to as stupid or mentally deficient. It is important to improve our society by incorporating democracy in our society and the only hope is to teach democracy in our schools. The classroom holds the most potential for strengthening the quality of our citizens.
Democracy plays a major role in our public school systems. It is important to teach democracy in our schools because it is important to understand citizenship with in our society. Parker discusses how schools are “ideal sites,” for democratic citizenship education. He points out that public schools are public and not private. Therefore, democracy must be taught in our public schools to form a better society. “Democratic ways of living together, with the people’s differences intact and recognized are not given by nature; they are created” (Parker p3). The main goal in teaching democracy in our schools is to form better communities throughout our society. Democracy can help build a stronger social structure. Our schools are culturally diverse and we have to find a means of how to connect and bring the idea of how democracy is the best way to live. Understanding and learning democracy in schools will help instill in the children that justice, equality, and freedom is an essential part of a well run society.

Inquiry Project

A major issue in the educational department today is the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). There are many opposing views and I would like to discuss the pros and cons of this topic. The NCLB holds schools and school districts accountable for improving student’s academic achievements and I feel this will be a very important part of my career as a teacher.

martian assignment

Dear Martians:

Us teachers have put together a document trying to explain to you what our schools are like and how they got that way, who are our students, and who are our teachers.

WHAT ARE SCHOOLS ARE LIKE AND HOW THEY GOT THAT WAY?
Today, schools can be seen as stepping-stones for the American Dream. Everyone’s goal in school is supposed to be to do their absolute best and succeed when they get out and enter the working world. Our schools are like mini-societies for students. Now most schools are integrated but back then they were segregated and you could only go to school with your own color. The way our schools get funded is by the taxpayers and the government. One reason schools came about was so that we had well educated people in our Democracy so that our country would run as smoothly as it does. If you’re wondering where students who are special go, we have special schools for them. We have schools that cater to every child’s needs, whether it is for special needs, or just because the student is gifted. The students get to school by a bus. It picks them and other children up at a specified time in the morning and then drops them off in the afternoon at a designated time. Schools offer many wonderful programs such as sports, intramurals, enrichment programs, clubs, and some younger schools have before and after care.
WHAT ARE OUR STUDENTS?
Our students all come from different cultures, beliefs, religions, and social and economic status, etc. Each student is different from the next student, they all learn differently and all have different capabilities. Each student has different intellects as well. All of the students come from different backgrounds at home and that’s what causes their behavior to all be so different at school as well. The students go to school five days a week and if they participate in sports, or clubs, they usually meet before school.
WHO ARE OUR TEACHERS?
Our teachers shape the students. The teachers teach the students to follow the government and their laws. They provide students with knowledge that they need to know in the future to succeed. The teachers want to see their students achieve because then they know that they did a good job, Teachers educate the students, but they are also like role models or mentors. They help students when they have problems or need extra help. Teachers want their students to know how to think in abstract ways, outside the box, and to know how to think analytically, critically, etc. Some teachers specialize in specific subjects so they have better knowledge in it so they can teach better than the next teacher who is specialized in something else. We also have teachers who specialize in areas such as special education or speech. The majority of the teachers are white females but we hope to soon see an increase in males.


Hopefully now you have a better understanding of what our schools are and what makes them up.

Sincerely,
Teachers of America