Since I was about 14 years old, I knew that I loved children. I have had multiple babysitting jobs, I tutored, I peer mentored, and I taught 1st – 8th graders how to ice skate. When I was babysitting, I found it very rewarding to be able to teach those kids different things, whether it be helping them draw, cook, reading to them, or helping them identify different object and animals that we found when we were outside playing or going for walks. Watching them grow and develop was such a great experience. When I began peer mentoring and tutoring, I found myself looking forward to meeting with my young students and helping them get through their homework or even simply just talking to them. Last winter, I worked at the Sugarloaf Outdoor Center and my main job was teaching elementary school children how to ice skate as part of their ski/skate program. For me, this job was AMAZING; I loved every second of it. I got to create programs, record progress, and work with them in groups as well as individually. This job made me realize, without a doubt, that I wanted to be an elementary school teacher.
Going into this major I knew that there were not many job perks…..at all! Except for of course, spending every day with children. SED 125, with Grace Denison, was a great class. She is such a cool lady. Although the work load was not that extensive, I learned amazing concepts and ideas from her. She has literally taught every type of student imaginable! She has had teaching jobs everywhere and had lots of experiences to share. Hearing what she was able to teach her students, and what they taught her, definitely reaffirmed that I wanted to be a teacher. Dr. Denison, and her class, made me realize that this is not an easy job and that I would have to be willing to roll up my sleeves and get my hands dirty. She reinforced the idea that dealing with special needs children, parents, and NCLB can leave you frustrated. With that, she also reminded us of the rewards of teaching children and how in the end, it’s all worth it. Even though with hard to reach students, parents, politics, and all the negative aspects that can make our job messy, taking SED 125 just made me realize even more that I am exactly the right person for the job.
EDU 125 was another very helpful, informative class that I have taken here at UMF. Although a lot of work, all of the research I did and papers I wrote are all things that will help me further along down the road, whether it be with putting together my portfolio or just the general knowledge I gained. I thought that the chapters in our book that focused on actually being a teacher, especially when referring to the pay, left me with a negative impression. I knew that teachers weren’t extremely wealthy people but they really repeated that fact, many times. Although frustrating, I think it is great that we are being informed about the positives, as well as the negatives, so it’s not something that we discover for the first time when we have already become teachers. Really, the whole idea just stresses the fact that if you are a teacher, it is because you really want to be, and not for any other trivial reasons.
I thoroughly enjoyed both SED 125 and EDU 125. Both were extremely informative and helpful. I know so much more about teaching in general, about different students I might be in contact with, and about laws and regulations since taking these two classes. And since gaining this newly obtained knowledge, I can still say, with out a doubt, that I want to be an elementary school teacher!
Monday, December 10, 2007
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Blog E; Diversity
To me, DIVERSITY can be a number of different things. Diversity, in a nut-shell, is all aspects of life and human form that is different from you. Whether it be differences in race, culture, religion, socio-economic status, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities, interests, languages, or geographic locations; they are all forms of diversity. In the field of education, teachers and students will need to learn, preferable at a young age, to accept and welcome diversity instead of being scared of it. This means that students and teachers will need to learn how to act and learn in an environment consisting of all “walks of life”. They will need to all come together, in a single classroom, and embrace all the differences that make each of their students and fellow classmates unique and different individuals.
Growing up in a small town, with a graduating class of 64 students, non of which were African American, Hispanic, Asian, or really from any race other than the basic White-Caucasian. There wasn’t much diversity in areas of culture, religion, or disabilities either. The one major form of diversity I experienced in school was differences in socio-economic status. We had lots of students whose parents did not have jobs, they struggled for food, came to school almost every day in the same clothes and lacked cleanliness and manners. Most of their fellow students picked on them and forced them to be outcasts instead of understanding that it is not their fault and offering to help in any way possible. It is really sad to see when students are shunned by their peers for something that they cannot control instead of just accepting those students for who they are.
I am not quite sure how I feel about diversity being taught as a subject, but I do believe that it should be worked into the everyday curriculum. Students need to be familiarized with different ethnicities, cultures, and disabilities so when they are faced with diversity, they can embrace those fellow students instead of alienating them. I think that school’s need to teach in the form of Pluralism. This way, students can learn English, and the basic American culture, but still be informed about issues pertaining to he or she’s ethnic background. By teaching a non-traditional culture, the students who share that culture can learn about where he or she came from while students who do not share that culture, can learn more about the students who do.
“Freedom Writers” was an excellent movie to watch about diversity in schools. All of the different students formed groups with those who were “like” them and they refused to accept anyone else into their group that was “different”. As a teacher, Hilary Swank gave an amazing performance. I admired her because even though she was discouraged by her fellow staff members, she stuck to her methods and beliefs and never gave up on those students. She gained her student’s trust and was able to learn SO MUCH about each and every one of them and in turn, help them all in some way. Also, because the class was always doing things together, and working together, the students began to understand each other’s differences and started accepting each other. I thought it was a wonderful movie.
Growing up in a small town, with a graduating class of 64 students, non of which were African American, Hispanic, Asian, or really from any race other than the basic White-Caucasian. There wasn’t much diversity in areas of culture, religion, or disabilities either. The one major form of diversity I experienced in school was differences in socio-economic status. We had lots of students whose parents did not have jobs, they struggled for food, came to school almost every day in the same clothes and lacked cleanliness and manners. Most of their fellow students picked on them and forced them to be outcasts instead of understanding that it is not their fault and offering to help in any way possible. It is really sad to see when students are shunned by their peers for something that they cannot control instead of just accepting those students for who they are.
I am not quite sure how I feel about diversity being taught as a subject, but I do believe that it should be worked into the everyday curriculum. Students need to be familiarized with different ethnicities, cultures, and disabilities so when they are faced with diversity, they can embrace those fellow students instead of alienating them. I think that school’s need to teach in the form of Pluralism. This way, students can learn English, and the basic American culture, but still be informed about issues pertaining to he or she’s ethnic background. By teaching a non-traditional culture, the students who share that culture can learn about where he or she came from while students who do not share that culture, can learn more about the students who do.
“Freedom Writers” was an excellent movie to watch about diversity in schools. All of the different students formed groups with those who were “like” them and they refused to accept anyone else into their group that was “different”. As a teacher, Hilary Swank gave an amazing performance. I admired her because even though she was discouraged by her fellow staff members, she stuck to her methods and beliefs and never gave up on those students. She gained her student’s trust and was able to learn SO MUCH about each and every one of them and in turn, help them all in some way. Also, because the class was always doing things together, and working together, the students began to understand each other’s differences and started accepting each other. I thought it was a wonderful movie.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Blog C; Step 1
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, better known as W.E.B. Du Bois, was born on February 23, 1868, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Du Bois graduated as valedictorian from both Great Barrington High School and Fisk University. He then went on to graduate school at Harvard where he graduated cum laude and received his doctorate. Du Bois worked as an instructor at Wilberforce University and the University of Pennsylvania. He then became a professor at Atlanta University. At Atlanta University, Du Bois organized the Atlanta University Studies of the Negro Problem. Later, he became a cofounder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Throughout his lifetime, Du Bois published a number of essays. One of his most famous was The Souls of Black Folks, which attacked Booker T. Washington’s arguments that black people should not seek social change until they had raised their economic status. Du Bois’s major statement in the black revolution is that they should not just accept their status quo. He demanded full civil rights for all blacks and provided strong leadership for those who wanted to fight for justice. W.E.B. Du Bois died on August 27, 1963.
W.E.B. Du Bois; A Scholar Activist. By James Neyland
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W.E.B._DuBois
www.duboislc.org/man.html
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/aa/dubois
Ellwood Patterson Cubberley was born on June 6, 1868, in Antiock (later Andrews), Indiana. Cubberley attended the local school in Antiock and then went to preparatory school at Purdue University. He then went on to Indiana University where he completed his Bachelors Degree. Cubberley worked as a teacher in a one-room school in Indiana and then began teaching science at a Baptist college in Ridgeville. In the fall of 1891 he became a professor of physical science at Vincennes University and later became the president. Cubberley took a job as the superintendent of a group of schools in San Diego. Through this job Cubberley developed the theories that school boards should be non-political and that executive autonomy was crucial to efficiency in education. Cubberley then took a job naming him head of the Department of Education at Stanford University. He became a full time professor at Stanford and in 1917, the trustees created a professional school of education and make Cubberley its first dean. Cubberely took a leave from work to go to a Teachers College where he worked on his Ph.D.
Cubberley saw education as social engineering and the schools as instruments of progress. He felt as though children needed to acquire a certain skill and knowledge from schools because informal processes of church and home could not meet the needs of urban and industrial society. Cubberley wrote a number of books throughout his lifetime. A bestseller, Public School Administration, sold over 100,000 copies. Other books and textbooks were written and sold, one being A History of Education. Cubberley, through the money he made off his books, gave the Stanford School of Education a brand new 535,000 building, and to show their appreciation, the building was dedicated to him. Cubberley died in on September 14, 1941 of a heart attack.
A History of Education. By Ellwood Cubberley
http://www.answers.com/topic/cubberley-ellwood-patterson
http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,760320,00.html
http://:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ellwood_patterson_cubberley
W.E.B. Du Bois; A Scholar Activist. By James Neyland
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W.E.B._DuBois
www.duboislc.org/man.html
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/aa/dubois
Ellwood Patterson Cubberley was born on June 6, 1868, in Antiock (later Andrews), Indiana. Cubberley attended the local school in Antiock and then went to preparatory school at Purdue University. He then went on to Indiana University where he completed his Bachelors Degree. Cubberley worked as a teacher in a one-room school in Indiana and then began teaching science at a Baptist college in Ridgeville. In the fall of 1891 he became a professor of physical science at Vincennes University and later became the president. Cubberley took a job as the superintendent of a group of schools in San Diego. Through this job Cubberley developed the theories that school boards should be non-political and that executive autonomy was crucial to efficiency in education. Cubberley then took a job naming him head of the Department of Education at Stanford University. He became a full time professor at Stanford and in 1917, the trustees created a professional school of education and make Cubberley its first dean. Cubberely took a leave from work to go to a Teachers College where he worked on his Ph.D.
Cubberley saw education as social engineering and the schools as instruments of progress. He felt as though children needed to acquire a certain skill and knowledge from schools because informal processes of church and home could not meet the needs of urban and industrial society. Cubberley wrote a number of books throughout his lifetime. A bestseller, Public School Administration, sold over 100,000 copies. Other books and textbooks were written and sold, one being A History of Education. Cubberley, through the money he made off his books, gave the Stanford School of Education a brand new 535,000 building, and to show their appreciation, the building was dedicated to him. Cubberley died in on September 14, 1941 of a heart attack.
A History of Education. By Ellwood Cubberley
http://www.answers.com/topic/cubberley-ellwood-patterson
http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,760320,00.html
http://:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ellwood_patterson_cubberley
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Blog B; First State Board of Education
In search of a resolution to solve the problem that states had not established teaching qualifications, legislator James G. Carter created the first Board of Education (BOE) in 1937 in Massachusetts. This Board of Education, also being the first in the nation, was appointed Horace Mann as it’s secretary. Horace Mann was a Massachusetts lawyer and legislator. While he was Secretary of the BOE, he was able to change public opinion towards school problems and to gain support for increasing teaching wages as well as improving their training through normal or regular teacher-training schools. This new Board of Education, with the help of secretary Horace Mann, was able to reach states across the nation and help to create a better school system with more certified teachers.
In the early 1830’s, people really began to notice a lot of faults in district schools. Decentralization left schools to be extremely varied from one district to the next. There was no uniformity in the way children were being taught or what they were being taught in different districts across a state, let alone between states. The quality of teachers was very low because there was no law or rule stating or setting any amount of qualifications that someone had to obtain before becoming a teacher. The first Board of Education involved a combination of local school boards to a state board of education. The main purpose of the BOE was to appoint only a few people to make all the decisions around how school would be taught and what students would learn. This way, students will be learning a universal curriculum that may only vary slightly.
A failing district school system was also caused by a lack of state funds and the simple fact that something as important as schooling should not be left in the hands of people who’s morals and values are as different as day and night. The object of a BOE is to find a “common” way of teaching. With these common schools, students will be taught by teachers who have all had relatively the same amount of schooling. Also, the main themes and subject taught in school will be based on a common political creed and a common nonsectarian religion, and funding for these schools and teachers would come from state tax support. The need for this “common” way of schooling was expressed by Carter. He concluded,
… If the State continue to relieve themselves of trouble of providing for the instruction of the whole people, and to shift the responsibility upon the towns, and the towns upon the districts, and the districts upon individuals, each will take care of himself and his own family as he is able, and as he appreciates the blessing of a good education. The rich will, as a class, have much better instruction than they now have, while the poor will have much worse or none at all. The academies and private schools will be carried to much greater perfection than they have been, while the public free schools will become stationary or retrograde.
As you can see, through Carters observations, the need for a state funded common curriculum was very important for the improving of education. That is exactly what the development of a state board of education helped to accomplish.
WORKS CITED
Newman, Joseph W. America's Teachers, Fifth Edition. Pearson Education
Inc., Boston. 2006.
www.educationanddemocracy.org/emery/emery_chapter1.pfd
www.faculty.weber.edu/tlday/1500/horacemann.htm
www.md.edu/~rbarger/www7/normal.html
In the early 1830’s, people really began to notice a lot of faults in district schools. Decentralization left schools to be extremely varied from one district to the next. There was no uniformity in the way children were being taught or what they were being taught in different districts across a state, let alone between states. The quality of teachers was very low because there was no law or rule stating or setting any amount of qualifications that someone had to obtain before becoming a teacher. The first Board of Education involved a combination of local school boards to a state board of education. The main purpose of the BOE was to appoint only a few people to make all the decisions around how school would be taught and what students would learn. This way, students will be learning a universal curriculum that may only vary slightly.
A failing district school system was also caused by a lack of state funds and the simple fact that something as important as schooling should not be left in the hands of people who’s morals and values are as different as day and night. The object of a BOE is to find a “common” way of teaching. With these common schools, students will be taught by teachers who have all had relatively the same amount of schooling. Also, the main themes and subject taught in school will be based on a common political creed and a common nonsectarian religion, and funding for these schools and teachers would come from state tax support. The need for this “common” way of schooling was expressed by Carter. He concluded,
… If the State continue to relieve themselves of trouble of providing for the instruction of the whole people, and to shift the responsibility upon the towns, and the towns upon the districts, and the districts upon individuals, each will take care of himself and his own family as he is able, and as he appreciates the blessing of a good education. The rich will, as a class, have much better instruction than they now have, while the poor will have much worse or none at all. The academies and private schools will be carried to much greater perfection than they have been, while the public free schools will become stationary or retrograde.
As you can see, through Carters observations, the need for a state funded common curriculum was very important for the improving of education. That is exactly what the development of a state board of education helped to accomplish.
WORKS CITED
Newman, Joseph W. America's Teachers, Fifth Edition. Pearson Education
Inc., Boston. 2006.
www.educationanddemocracy.org/emery/emery_chapter1.pfd
www.faculty.weber.edu/tlday/1500/horacemann.htm
www.md.edu/~rbarger/www7/normal.html
Thursday, October 25, 2007
A -- My Informal Education!
Since I was a little girl I have loved the outdoors. Fortunately for me, I grew up in the north Maine woods so I was able to spend my days climbing trees, finding hidden rock piles that I could climb in and out of, and making mud pies. My parents were great, they never tried to kill time by sticking my sister and I in front of a T.V.. We went for walks, hiking, we wrote stories, baked, and all kinds of other things. For this I will always be grateful, but, I will never be able to thank my parents enough for the first time they brought me skiing.
If I had to choose one thing that I could do all day every day, it would be ripping up the slopes! A passion like this did not come from a classroom. It came from many freezing cold afternoons in Sugarloaf when I knew my mom had to have turned into an icicle, but she always let me take that one last run. I remember being told about my first skiing experience, for I was too young to recall it myself. My mom told me that I was about two and a half years old and she let my dad take me all the way to the top of Crab Mountain, a little resort by where I grew up. At this point, my dad had jumped in laughing, wanting to tell the rest of the story himself. He said that I had on a bright red snowsuit with these goggles that were entirely way too big for my little face. When we got to the top he said that I showed no fear whatsoever. He told me mom was waiting for me at the bottom and off I went. I did not stop or turn for anyone, I just tucked and went screaming “look out” the whole way down! My mom then went on to say, with her being an onlooker waiting for me to come down, that once I did reach the bottom the only think that could stop me was the base lodge. Apparently the ground had flattened out quite a bit and I did lose most of my speed so hitting the building wasn’t a big thing (Thank god!). And from that day on, my dad recalled, he knew I was going to be a skier.
Throughout the rest of my childhood, during the my family would take my sister and I on little ski vacations, but only to mountains in Maine. Once I reached college, at UNH, I was able to ski all of New Hampshire. Although growing up skiing in New England was great, I still had my sights set on bigger mountains and more snow! I took a break from college and decided to make that dream a realization for myself. I packed up and moved to Sun Valley, Id, where I lived for the next two years. In those two years, I was able to ski all of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and Oregon. It was AMAZING! In those two years, I was able to learn more about skiing, life, and myself than I ever could in a classroom. Those experiences and adventures are something that I will have with me for the rest of my life!
If I had to choose one thing that I could do all day every day, it would be ripping up the slopes! A passion like this did not come from a classroom. It came from many freezing cold afternoons in Sugarloaf when I knew my mom had to have turned into an icicle, but she always let me take that one last run. I remember being told about my first skiing experience, for I was too young to recall it myself. My mom told me that I was about two and a half years old and she let my dad take me all the way to the top of Crab Mountain, a little resort by where I grew up. At this point, my dad had jumped in laughing, wanting to tell the rest of the story himself. He said that I had on a bright red snowsuit with these goggles that were entirely way too big for my little face. When we got to the top he said that I showed no fear whatsoever. He told me mom was waiting for me at the bottom and off I went. I did not stop or turn for anyone, I just tucked and went screaming “look out” the whole way down! My mom then went on to say, with her being an onlooker waiting for me to come down, that once I did reach the bottom the only think that could stop me was the base lodge. Apparently the ground had flattened out quite a bit and I did lose most of my speed so hitting the building wasn’t a big thing (Thank god!). And from that day on, my dad recalled, he knew I was going to be a skier.
Throughout the rest of my childhood, during the my family would take my sister and I on little ski vacations, but only to mountains in Maine. Once I reached college, at UNH, I was able to ski all of New Hampshire. Although growing up skiing in New England was great, I still had my sights set on bigger mountains and more snow! I took a break from college and decided to make that dream a realization for myself. I packed up and moved to Sun Valley, Id, where I lived for the next two years. In those two years, I was able to ski all of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and Oregon. It was AMAZING! In those two years, I was able to learn more about skiing, life, and myself than I ever could in a classroom. Those experiences and adventures are something that I will have with me for the rest of my life!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)