Field Blog

In our observations we have done this year as a class and the observations I have done on my own it really made me appreciate the profession of teaching and all that it has to offer. The first school that we visited in Mercer Elementary school in Shaker Heights I thought was a very good school. The principal at the school was very good and I liked the way he ran things there and the classrooms that I observed  were very good. The next school was Beachwood Middle School in Beachwood, Ohio. I really liked this school because I got to observe a Chinese class and that was my first time ever being in one and I really enjoyed it a lot. the next school we went to was Orange High School and I really enjoyed this school because I was placed into the Physical Education class there and this is the exact grade level and class I would like to teach in my career. I feel like this observation helped me the most with figuring out what I wanted to do with my teacher career because I always had an idea of where I would like to teach and what class and grade level but this was my first time experiencing it. While I was on my own observations I was at Millridge elementary school, in Mayfield, Ohio. This was a good experience for me because I got to connect with the children a lot more because I was there for 10 hours and it was many different days I got to interact with the classes. I also liked this observation because they had a large number of hearing impaired kids and this was my first time really handling special needs children. But in a whole I really enjoyed every moment at being at Millridge Elementary school and I could see my self being to work in a school like that someday. I also got involved in a lot of different situations at Millridge that just gave me a understanding that everyday you are with kids is going to be different. I really enjoyed going out to these different schools because it gave me a feeling of comfort that education is the right profession for me.

Blog Post 9

This week in class we took a look at "What a good school looks like" and we have came up with many different ways we can provide a good school for kids. Good schools for children should be a place where they can be themselves and explore the world through academics. There are many different things that schools are good at and it also is things that they are not good at. I have been doing my student observations at Millridge Elementary school in Highland Heights, Ohio and I must say this school is very good. The environment around the school is a very good one, the teachers and students have a good relationship together. Everything is ran very well because the teachers seem to know what works and what doesn't work. I think building a relationship with your teachers is very important because you want to know about each other and how you can get the best work from each other. Also, I think it is important to set up some type of relationship with the parents. It does not have to be a big one but one that shows the parents that their kids are in good hands. At Millridge this is the greatest example I have a good school because they are doing very well. Everything seems to be well structured and fits the kids very well. They also have a good amount of hearing impaired kids that they give them a lot of chances to interact with the other kids in the schools and this is very good because kids want to be like each other and interact with each other. Good schools really should be available to all kids no matter what neighborhood you live in and no matter your economic status. When we went on out different class observations together the three schools we visited were very good schools. They all were unique in their own way and proved to be working well for the different age group of kids that they had.

Blog Post 8

In this weeks class experience and readings I wanted to come up with the question of "If it is not about the test, why is it that the test are all we hear about?" Why is it that we base everything off of the test scores that the students are receiving. We never try and factor in the teachers, stress, outside life whether it is problems at home or living in poverty. The biggest effect this has on the school is that the state will not give them funding based on these test scores and that should not be the case. This problem they have with the test scores and funding is a big problem because the schools will get under funded and this puts kids at a disadvantage with learning because they will not have the best resources for them available. There are a lot of different factors that can prevent a kid from learning so while they are at school they should not have to worry about having the best stuff or the worst stuff. It should all be provided for them so that they can succeed at the highest level.

Field Blog 3

In our last group observation we visited Orange High School and this visit was more specific to what I really want to do with my teacher career. It was exactly what I want to do with my educational career with being an physical education teacher in high school. This was the first time I had been in a gym class since my freshman year of high school so it had been sometime since my last one. Our teacher, Mr. Shanghal, was terrific! He was very interactive with the kids, he made it a lot of fun for the kids and you could tell they were having a good time because you could see the joy on there face. The good part about this PE class was that the school gave Mr. Shanghal the freedom to run it how he wanted so as he explained the numerous different activities he had to choose from on a day to day basis he constantly would remind us of how he would meet the state requirement but then he would put his own spin on things. He invited me to join him to one of his workshops that he puts on for Physical education teachers and he even gave me a few lesson plans that he had put together if we ever needed to use them. Since the school was so pleased with how the PE program has gotten over the past years it was like almost whatever Mr. Shanghal needed or wanted for his class that they provided him with. Sometimes you might see some schools not get as involved in Physical Education but since they have gave the entire curriculum to M. Shanghal and saw what he has done with it, it has done nothing but pleased the school. Also I thought it was good that some days after school that the teachers would actually go though a PE class. This trip to the high school really made me feel good about my decision to want to teach in a high school environment and also to teach PE.

Blog Post 7

This week in class our reading came from Susan Ohanian which took a look at the "Stir-and-Serve Recipes for Teaching". I think with teaching that it is not always one way to do something because all kids are different and learn at different rates. This really can not be the only way to do things because if a kid does not pick up on the things that are trying to be taught they will be left behind and then this will cause a lot of problems for the child. Ohanian says, "And, because teaching must be a renewable contract, if we don't keep seeking new understanding, we'll find that the corners we thought we knew very well will keep slipping away. There are constant, subtle shifts in the schoolroom. One can never be sure of knowing the floor plan forever and ever." This quote really speaks to what she is trying to say that teachers need to be open to having new ideas and that it can not simply be one way to do things forever. I think this reading was really good for me because going into being a teacher I want to know exactly what to do and how to do things in order so I can be a good teacher and it makes me realize that its not always gonna be written down for me or something that I can learn from others. Our last observation as a class really showed me this as I observe red the gym class at Orange High School and it really was a class that the school had completely handed over onto the teacher so that it could improve and with the teacher putting his ideas to use it really is making the physical education class at the high school the best it has ever been. So with reading the chapter in the book and then going on observation it really helped with the lesson this week.

Blog Post 6

This week in class we had a good discussion on what makes a good teacher. It was a very good discussion because we looked at the concept of Banking Education. I felt that the concept was one that wanted to teach kids all the same way and only one way was right and if the kids did not pick up on it then they miss out. I particularly am not a fan of the banking education method because it does not give the students any type of room to express themselves or to show the creativity that they have. Our post-it note activity was very good because everybody had very different things that they thought were important and many different quotes that we all picked. The question that I asked the class was that "What do you think an educated individual is?". In the book it says "the educated individual is the adapted person, because she or he is better fit for the world."We got many different responses for the question but i do agree with the book a little because people do need to have the ability to adapt to the many changes that they are faced with throughout the world. This defiantly made me think about what a educated person is.

Field Blog 2

In our second field experience we visited Beachwood Middle School and it was a great experience. I enjoyed my time there very much the teachers, students, and administrators were very friendly and helpful. The all-around atmosphere that I got from the school was that it was one that everybody there loved what they were doing. I sat in on a Chinese class and a Spanish class and both of the classrooms had a good feeling to them. The teacher of the Chinese class told us that she loved working in Beachwood city schools. She was very close with her students and you could see this because her and one of students had went outside to talk and the teacher came back in comforting the student a lot. So you can see that her students felt comfortable enough to talk to her about anything and i think all teachers need to have this type of relationship with there students. Also the kids there were learning at a very fast rate, the students had been in Chinese class for only two weeks and they had already learned a ton of words and their names in Chinese and how to write them. I could defiantly see myself working in a school like Beachwood in the future because it was very diverse and thats the type of environment that I am use to and one that I want to work in. Being in Beachwood really showed me just how much fun and rewarding teaching can be and really made me feel like I made the right choice in what I want to do.

Blog post 5

This week's class discussion was very good on the subject of gay and lesbian student. It is definatly something that needs to be discussed now because you hear all the time of stories of people "coming out" or kids getting picked on because of what they are. I think society really has to take greater strides to get this subject matter under control because it is an occurring problem that is very present in the times. Me personally I do not have a problem with gay or lesbian people but that may not be the case for everybody so now it has to be more done to make people realize that they are human beings just like everybody else. Especially in school being a teacher you can do a lot to make sure gay and lesbian students feel comfortable. You have to create a safe environment for students because they can be under an enormous amount of stress. While we did our second observation at Beachwood Middleschool we learned that one of the students a couple years back had committed suicide from the school and situations like this you never want to happen and especially a young middle school child. I felt like our class was very open too the idea of gay and lesbian students, we all it seemed like experienced somebody or knew somebody that was gay or a lesbian.

Blog Post 4

Institutional Racism to me is the lessing or "holding back" of education to a certain minority or a economic group so that they are not capable of reaching there full potential. if you were to go around to schools that are in poorer neighborhoods or to schools where there is a high minority rate I'm sure you will see things that are very different from schools that are in neighborhoods where the economic status is high and its not very many minorities that goes to there schools. I feel as if this is a big problem in todays society because most of the time you will hear about the "bad" schools being in "bad" neighborhoods when schools should not be different than any other just because of the area it is placed it. All students have the right to be able to learn at a higher level when it comes to education. In my own experiences with education I have not really had to experience institutional racism because all of my schools that I attended were majority white. I have went to private school all of my life so I was already getting a better education so as far as not having available resources and not having the opportunity for higher learning I never really experienced that.

FieldBlog Post 1

Mercer Elementary

In our first field experience we visited Mercer Elementary school in Shaker Heights, Ohio. I was very impressed with what I saw in the short time that I was there. The school was very nice from the classrooms to the library to the cafeteria. While I was observing the school I visited a third grade class first and I was very impressed with the creativity of the students at such a young age. It was more of a personal time in this classroom because half of the class was doing arts and craft and the other half was rotating doing math exercises on the computer. The teacher was Mrs. Smith and she seemed very nice and invited us to come back anytime. The second class that I visited was Mrs. Bakers 4th grade class and I really enjoyed her class. She had a small learning group going on where the students were learning about fossils and it was about 6 students in the group. I thought this was very good because you saw some kids did not know as much as other kids and she made sure those kids that were lagging behind were all the way caught up. Also while we were in the class she had the students teach us to show what they have learned rather than the teacher teaching the students. Also the principal at the school was a very likable guy from the short time that we were there, he interacted with people very well and he has the school in a very good place. I enjoyed my first experience of observing at Mercer elementary it is a very good school.

Blog Post 3

Throughout our readings and after our observation at Mercer Elementary school one question has been in my head and it is what makes teachers so passionate about what they do? After observing the great teachers at Mercer I see that you have to have a great passion for this profession because kids are the future. The kids at Mercer came from many different backgrounds and each day you will never know what you are gonna get from some of these kids. I feel like if the teachers do not want to come in everyday with a good attitude and a passion for teaching then this is not the right job for them. The students look up to the teachers a lot and if you want the students to be successful you have to be willing to make an impact on these students life each and everyday and i think this alone can make teachers become more passionate about their job.

Blog Post 2

I observed Beachwood mall in Beachwood, Ohio

Descriptions

• Early in the morning so not too many people.
• People going to work
• More older people in the mall
• Slow-paced
• People cleaning the mall

Interpretations

• Most people seemed more calm as to being in the mall during busier hours.
• Older people were in the mall because I feel like it was easier to get around.
• Less-Entertaining
• Maybe people were tired so they were dragging a little bit more.

Going to the mall that morning it really was more of a calm scene than if you were to go mid-day on a Saturday. I saw how people were trying to get some early morning shopping out of the way, workers preparing for their days, old people exercising by walking around the mall. This was more of the calmer side of the mall that people are not use to. It defiantly makes me want to start waking up earlier to go the mall so it will not be as hectic and not as many other people.

WebPost1

1. James
2. Cleveland Heights, Ohio
3. High School and Physical Education
4. I'm very into sports pretty much all of them but Basketball is my favorite. I love shoes! I transferred to John Carroll last semester. My first year I attended Marietta College. I went to St. Edward High School and graduated in 2012. I'm a commuter here at John Carroll.
5. As long as I feel comfortable around my classmates and teachers I will be more open to being more creative and taking those risks in class.
6. I enjoy classes where its a lot of interaction between the class. MOST of the time I am prepared for class. I am more of a hands-on learner I pick up on things better that way. If I do not know something or I am unsure I will ask somebody who knows.
7. One formative memory from my past experiences as a student is once I got to high school and started to really get challenged with the work I figured out that I had to spend more time outside of school studying.
8. One concern I have for the field of education right now is just the huge learning gap between different communities and school systems.
9. How much do you enjoy teaching?