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?