summative blogpost

        Overall, my experience at Gesu Catholic School was a positive one. I learned about teaching and different areas that I am concerned about. One huge problem is how low teachers are looked at. So many people have decided not to continue their experience in education due to how teachers are looked at in our society. They are pay is low, we see a decreasing number of people wanting to be teachers and a lot of others who are not in education think that being a teacher is extremely easy. I would love to try and see a CEO of a company or an account try to do what teachers do today. It is not easy! Especially for the younger students because they are all over the place. It is extremely sad to see how our education system is not being seen as how great it actually is. 

           Another huge concern of mine includes the battle between public and private schools. So many people think that private schools should have the most funding from the government. But that should not be the case. A lot of poor students cannot afford the private education. In public schools there is  a higher majority of poor students while the richer students attend private, expensive schools. The fact that the government is trying to shut down public education is a terrible idea. There are so many children that need the free education. Some are struggling to put food on the table, how are they supposed to afford a private school when they cannot even afford their next meal? And a lot of public education institutions are not all bad. I went to one of the top public education schools in the country. I turned out just fine. It fuels my anger that unauthorized people are going to take away a free education for the poor half of America. We should be helping the poorer part of the country, not enabling them more. It makes no sense to have people with no knowledge of education or anything into power. Also, a lot of private schools are not accepting disables children and putting them into public schools so their ratings stay high, while the public schools' ratings will decrease. It seems unfair how public schools are viewed. They are not bad at all. And I wish people could see that.

        A final concern I have about America's education system is standardized tests are discriminatory toward poorer people and less advantaged children. People who have money can take these tests as many times as they want because they can afford it. While on the other hand, poorer students cannot afford the extra couple of tests or even tutoring. Standardized tests also do not evaluate what teachers are teaching them in the classroom. For instance, character, respect and many more. Instead, they are just a bunch of memorization questions that some kids have not even learned yet. There needs to be a change in our education system if we want everyone to succeed. 

week 8 of my clinical experience

Today, the children were just finishing up their multiplication quick facts for "fours" (4 x 2, 4 x 4 etc.). After, they graded them and the students graded their own mini quiz. If they got all them right they were allowed to write their name on the "Math Masters" board for the number four. I think it could be a good idea and a bad idea to have a board like this. It is good in sense where children are motivated to have their name on the board and the students that are struggling might try harder to get their name on the board. On the other hand, students could get discouraged by the board and feel bad about themselves.
Later that day, the students switched class rooms to their assigned reading teachers. This is a good way to meet new students from other classes and interact with new teachers, however it segregates the kids into groups. I am not sure what group my teacher's classroom was, but it could be very cruel to the students if they thought that they were the lowest group, making them feel discouraged.