Any job will present it's challenges and obstacles, teaching is no exception. I know being a teacher is hard work, however, I believe I am up to the challenge. I feel that I am on the right career path. I'm already an assistant and I can not see myself working anywhere else, but the school system. I love working with children and there is never a boring moment. A good teacher has many responsibilities. I believe a teacher's top priority should be to give his or her students the best education possible. Furthermore, a teacher should ensure the safety of all the students in their care. A good teacher will continue his or her own education to better educate their students. The student's needs should always come first. An educator should use different methods of teaching to make certain that all students will have an equal opportunity to learn. Being a good teacher and a good student go hand and hand. A good student will more than likely make a good teacher and a good teacher will be a good student. It is all about the desire to learn more. A student that is not really enthused about learning would probably not be an asset to the education profession.

Module 11

I chose the question, how can teachers best tap into different student learning styles. Students will become bored with the same methods day in and day out. A teacher needs to keep his or her classes attention by using different teaching styles. Students do not all learn in the same way. In the fifth grade math groups I visited, the teacher was a wonderful example of tapping into diverse learning styles. During her lesson she reviewed, used a smart board, and used manipulates. She accommodated all of her learners; visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. Differentiated instruction will ensure that all students will learn, however they may not learn it all in the same way.

What classroom management skills foster academic achievement, was the second question I chose. Classroom management is crucial to the success of the students. A class that is filled with constant chaos will have trouble staying on task. One effective classroom skill is known as group alerting found on page 432. This keeps all the students on their toes and paying attention. In the fifth grade class I visited, this skill was used. The teacher asked the question first and then called the student by name to answer. This teacher also used the skill known as overlapping. She would handle a student talking, while still teaching a math lesson without skipping a beat. This fifth grade teacher had great classroom management skills.

Legal Decisions

Teacher's Rights
I chose the issue applying for a position in the Teacher's Rights and Responsibilities Section. This situation causes a predicament for young woman who wants a career, however at some point may want to get married and have children. In years passed, a woman was expected to get married and raise a family. Today's world is quite different. School systems today look for employees who may not have to be out of work a lot. When teacher's have a family, things will come up, children will get sick, and life happens. Thankfully to Education Amendments and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 questions, such as, marital status, race, or age are illegal. A position should not be based on whether or not a woman chooses to marry or have children. All women should have the right to have a career and a family if she so chooses.

Student's Rights
I believe that it is unfair to award scholarships based on sex. Therefore, I chose the distribution of scholarships section of student's rights. Although criteria may lean to one sex or the other, scholarships can not be given solely on gender; thanks to Title IX. Boys may however receive more scholarships based on sports abilities,as spoke about on page 395, but scholarships can not be granted just because they are male. Scholarships should be based on the abilities of each individual, not on the sex of that person.

Field Experiences

I have completed both of my field experiences in the school I work at. I went to a fifth grade class and a kindergarten classroom. The school I work at is nice and orderly. Both classrooms were colorful and inviting. The classrooms were neat and clutter free. Everything seemed to be organized and have its own place.
The teachers were friendly and helpful. They seemed to be very knowledgeable about what they were teaching. I believe these women truly love their jobs. They worked great with their students. The teachers praised their students as well. They let them know when they were doing a good job. I could tell this was a positive learning atmosphere for all of the students.
I enjoy getting new ideas from looking at other teacher's classrooms. Ideas that would work for my future classroom. I liked this assignment!

The Leandro Case

The Leandro case that was filed against North Carolina in the 1900s proved that every student deserves the right to have a basic education. This lawsuit was initiated by five low funding counties in North Carolina. This lawsuit had several major arguments.One argument is that funding for NCs school districts were unfair. In this case, the state was failing to allocate enough money to the low wealth schools. When the funds are not in place the students may suffer. Resources, materials and other teacher tools will not be there for the students to use. Technology is another resourceful tool that many schools can not afford because of funding.
This case made it to Superior Court,where it made a ruling in 1997 and 2004. Judge Manning preceded over this court case . He reviewed both sides of the case, then ruled in favor of the at-risk students. He believed state, as well as, locals had their own faults in these education issues. Manning decided that North Carolina students were not receiving the education that they deserve. The state has stepped up the pace and started making changes in North Carolina school districts. Many programs have come about to ensure all children have an equal opportunity education.
The Leandro case shows a strong connection between social issues and unfair school funding. Many schools that do not receive adequate funding are located in the poorer communities. These schools probably have the most diverse group of students coming from different backgrounds and cultures. There are many children who come from low income households or even poverty. Schools such as these need additional funding to ensure these students have an adequate education to be successful in school and in life. Thanks to Leandro, this case will set the standard for fair school funding in North Carolina.

Education Inventories

Reflecting on the Chapter 4 inventory, Goals for Schools, I responded with mostly fours and fives. I felt that teaching responsibility and social skills in the classroom were important. On the inventory of Philosophies of Education I also answered with mainly fours and fives. Education is about teaching the whole child not just informing them with a few facts from certain subjects. Along with reading, writing, and math, teachers must teach skills for life, such as social interaction and how to survive in society. Educators must prepare the classroom of today to meet the needs of tomorrow's adults.

There are several relationships between the questions on Chapter 4 and Chapter 8 inventories. First, they relate to the student's goals, needs, and responsibility. Society is another area, in which, these questions relate to each other. They discuss social issues and economic concerns.

As a future teacher I will make a commitment to myself that I will make sure all of my students know that they have my full attention. Through my actions, they will realize that I am there to help, teach, and encourage them. I will take every child's needs to heart, whether it is educational, emotional, or a physical need. My students will know that they are important to me and to their society.

I will create a classroom where every child will be accepted for who they are. My class will learn how to cooperate with each other and accept that we all have differences. As a result of the inventory questions that I responded to, I will teach the curriculum, along with, life lessons, morals, and ethics in my classroom. Patience and understanding will be a part of my teaching practices, however I will not tolerate students who will not take responsibility for themselves. I will encourage my pupils to work hard and do well in school and in life.

Philosophy of Education

I agree with Dr. William Ayers in the video, Philosophy of Education. He believes that teachers have to teach the whole student not just the facts and figures. Ethics and morals should be taught in the classroom. According to Dr. Ayers, every minute of the day teachers are teaching morals and ethics whether they realize it or not. Dr. William believes silence is a moral statement within itself. Not saying anything, is not taking a stand for what is right. Teachers should speak the truth and be honest with their students. Everyday teachers interact with their students, this is a chance for teachers to promote positive ethics and morals. Children get all of the negative behaviors from television, their peers, and in some cases from their family. The school day should be the perfect opportunity for teachers to encourage ethics in the classroom and in life. He stated that teachers should make commitments to their students and themselves. Teachers need to see every student as an individual with different strengths and weakness. Educators need to ask more questions not just give all the answers. Teachers should be learning with the students, not acting as if they know everything already. There should be dialogue between students and teachers. The commitment must come from teachers to give every student their full attention. The educator should make every child top priority. Professor Ayers says it best, teachers need to unleash the energy in their students and empower them to express themselves in their own way. I believe his philosophy of teaching is the way all teachers should feel about their role in touching their students lives everyday.

Module 7

I chose Progressive Education because I wanted to find out more about this topic. In the nineteenth century this movement began. John Dewey was at the heart of this movement. He believed schools should be about developing the individual, along with creating a community that would be in harmony with the school system. This movement wanted to included in education; life issues, health care concerns, and family issues. It also would introduce social sciences and psychology into the class curriculum. Furthermore, students interest would be taken into account when decided what should be taught in education.

I found a website and a great slide show as a resource to learn more about Progressive Education.
http://www.answers.com/topic/educational-progressivism
http://www.slideshare.net/cartersd/john-dewey-presentation

My second topic is the Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. Linda Brown, a third-grader in the Topeka Kansas school system had to walk a mile to school everyday. There was a white school seven blocks away. When her father Oliver tried to enroll her into that school, they were rejected. The Brown family began their fight on December 9, 1952. The United States Supreme Court decided that segregation in schools was unlawful. There were "separate but equal" facilities, however they were not truly equal. The court ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment was being violated.

I found two great websites full of information on this court case that made history.
http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/early-civilright/brown.html
http://www.kshs.org/research/topics/cultural/brown_kba/pdfs/historical_background.pdf

Letter to President Obama

President Obama,

I have been a teachers assistant in North Carolina for twelve years. I also have two children in the school system that I work for. I believe the No Child Left Behind law, which was supported by George W. Bush during his presidency, should be put to rest. I agree that teachers must be "highly qualified" before working in a school setting. Furthermore, if teachers are not highly qualified that state should step in to give those teachers training and classes that will make them qualified in their area of teaching. I'm sure it probably has more good points, however, from the information I have gathered and from hearing the point of view from others, I am convinced that this law is doing more harm than good. It is not fair to label schools as "underperforming" when their adequate yearly progress does not meet the nations standards for two years in a row. Parents are allowed to move their children to so called "successful"schools if their school is underperforming. What happens if all parents jump on the bandwagon to remove their children. What will happen to all the great teachers that put their heart and soul into their jobs? "Successful" schools should not be based on test results. I believe that all children deserve the best education possible, but there needs to be a better way of reaching these schools. Shutting them down is not the answer. There are teacher shortages and over crowded classrooms today. Is the nation willing to close teacher positions and over crowd all of the successful schools, due to students moving to those schools. All schools can be successful if they are given the right focus, this is what the nation should be working towards.

Sincerely,
Kimberly High
Teacher's Assistant

Name Calling

Being a teacher assistant in Kindergarten, I deal with name calling often. However, my students are at the age where the insults are not really nasty words yet. If I were to hear a student call another student a racist name I would quickly respond. These words are offensive because no person can choose the color of their skin and they should not be judged by that. Racial names could insult whites, blacks, etc. As the teacher, I should let the student know that we are all created equal, that one person or one race is no better than the other. I would tell the student that calling someone a name is very hurtful to that person. I would also add that we should treat others the way we want to be treated. I think I would respond the same way for any situation of name calling, whether the student was apart of the group or not. Name calling is always hurtful.

As an educator, I would feel uncomfortable with a Spanish speaking family. In my classroom, we are dealing with this situation. This child is a ESL student, this was discussed in Chapter 2, page 70. The mother speaks only Spanish. The only communication we have with her is through the children and our ESL person. It would be my concern that if a student was doing poorly in class, that the student would not translate that to their parents. I do not speak Spanish, so this would be an issue for me. It would be my responsibility, through my school, to get a translator who spoke Spanish to relay messages from school to the home.

Goals for Schools

I remember in elementary and middle school being taught good citizenship. You were responsible for your actions. If you misbehaved you were taken to the principal's office immediately. Back then if you got in trouble at school, you were in double trouble when you got home. I believe many of these school goals were met when I was in school. I am a productive citizen today because of teachers who knew goals like teaching self-control and punctuality were important.

I do not have any personal knowledge of various types of schools other than the traditional school setting. However, I know a couple of children who have been home schooled. This is just my opinion, but I believe children who are home schooled do not get the socialization skills they need to interact in the real world. They need interaction more than just mom at the dinner table explaining a math problem. To my knowledge, many of these children are not on grade level.

When I become a teacher, I will make sure my students will be held accountable for their actions and show good citizenship in my classroom. They will learn to cooperate and respect all classmates, even though some may be different from themselves. My students will learn to be responsible for their actions and the decisions they choose to make. The real world has real consequences for those that are irresponsible. It is our job as teachers to teach our students responsibility.

Schooling -Helps or Interferes?

I believe schooling helps with children's personal growth. They learn how to be independent learners. They are willing to try new things on their own. Students learn social skills and learn how to get along with others. Children also learn to share, be considerate of others, and they learn how to be responsible for their actions. In the real world they will need these social skills that they have learned throughout their school years.

I think younger children learn more through hands on activities. However, older students may learn more by reading a book. I believe just as adults have different learning styles, children do as well. Every student will not grasp the information the same way. That is why teachers should be open to teaching in different ways to reach all of the children.

I am a visual learner. If I can look at the material over time I will eventually learn it. I like to be able to review the material, highlight important details, or make my own notes on it.

I work in Kindergarten, so my children learn new things everyday. My teacher and I are helping our kids learn how to write sentences. Everyday I play word wall games with the students. These games are keeping learning fun, while still review the words that they should know before leaving Kindergarten. In smaller groups or one on one, my teacher and I have taught the children to put the words together to make a sentence. Now our students are writing two sentences by themselves.

Why be a teacher?

I want to be a teacher because I believe I can make a difference in the lives of children. I want them to get that hug or smile first thing in the morning when they walk into the classroom. Many children may not get that attention at home and they just need someone to care. I am a teacher's assistant in kindergarden. I love my job very much. I have ideas from time to time that I will offer my teacher. I feel I have great ideas, but I am limited because I am not the teacher. Having my own classroom would allow me to be more creative.
I was a talker in second grade, so the teacher put my desk right beside hers. It made me feel isolated from the rest of the class. This is a memory that sticks out in my mind from my years in school.
My favorite teacher was a seventh grade science teacher. She was very nice to me in her class. This teacher always had a postive attitude toward her students. Most of the time, her lessons were very interesting. I think everyone loved this teacher.