week 1 of my clinical experience

In the first week of my clinical experience at Gesu, I really did not know what to expect. Gesu is a Catholic private school right outside John Carroll. I'm glad I was put at Gesu because I grew up in a public school back in New York. I got to experience and contiuning to experience the difference between public schools and private schools and how that effects their teaching. 

In week one, I experienced a lot of group work and station work. The students were always moving which is great for young kids because research has shown that movement while learning is the best way to learn. The format of the classroom is very interesting and I like it a lot. There are 3 sections of desks, all clustered into groups. Then there is a carpet located in the back where students sit on when they are sharing stories and reading books. 

The part that really struck me was before the students even came into the classroom. The teacher that I am observing told me to come in early before the students arrived and just talk. While we were talking, she shared with me that before she came to Gesu, she was was teaching in an urban public setting for 20 years. She explained to me that she had to leave because she needed something new. When I heard this, I became sort of upset because the children in the urban setting deserve just as much attention as the private suburban kids. Of course, change is good for some but I think that teaching any child is a privilege. I feel like this is a reoccurring theme in a lot of schools lately. Teachers are getting frustrated with urban settings due to lack of money, resources and even motivation. This is a serious problem in today's society and it needs to be addresses ASAP. 

planning for greatness: blogpost 7

Teaching seems like it would be an easy job. I've always heard people say, "I mean, how hard is teaching? You just have to give the material to kids and make them learn it." That may be their definition of teaching, but what about great teaching? Is that the same thing? NO!!! It could not be more different than what I just described.
For me, great teaching is a lot how Bill Ayres in chapter 7 explained. On page 97 he stated, "Greatness in teaching engages students, interacts with them, draws their energy and direction from them, and offers reasons to plunge into classroom life." This is that great teaching is to me. A lot of great teaching concepts have to show with interacting with their students, rather than just giving them worksheet after worksheet, telling them to memorize the concepts. That is not teaching. That's constructing a machine. A machine to simply spit ball information automatically, not truly understanding the relationship as to why it matters.
A common error by most teachers is that the tests are the reason why students learn the information. Standardized testing has become a monster. Crushing students' dreams by saying they aren't smart enough, when in reality, it doesn't show how smart the are. It may show how "book" smart they are but what about the other parts that is included in intelligence? Like character? In a chapter of Educational Foundations, A. S. Neil explains that one of his students, named Jack failed his university exams because he hated the book learning but when he stepped into a room for a interview, he had amazing character that surprised the interviewer in an outstanding way. He is now an extremely talented engineer. This shows that a failed test should not stop a student from continuing on in their life, when in today's society people are viewing standardized testing as the death or birth of their future.
Because of my strong beliefs, when I become a teacher, my lesson plan will be all about interacting with my students and seeing if they understand the topic, not just for the tests but to help them in their future and linking different topics together. Of course, tests will probably be required in the school district that I'll be at, but I will continue to work on their attitude and character because this is what truly matter for their future. Character and being confident is how most people get jobs.  Not on how they scored on their third grade reading test. The skill of confidence and having a good character can get people very fair and have them be extremely successful.

where did we go wrong: field post 3

Last Thursday, we visited Heights High School. One question that came to mind while watching the teacher conduct her lesson was, how did she become so fluent with her lesson? She was extremely natural with every aspect of her classroom. I think a lot of this has to do with experience and practice.  I also noticed that she has a lot of worksheets to hand out to her students. For this class, it seemed acceptable to have these worksheets because she was teaching AP Statistics. In my opinion, math classes should be allowed worksheets for practice. In the previous reading, I noticed that one of the chapters explained that teachers should not have a lot of worksheets for their students. For me, I love worksheets and the more you can practice, the more I can understand how to use the information. The author might have been talking about materials for younger students, so that would make more sense. The author might also be explaining that the students need more hand on activities.
In the current readings, they explained that in our teaching society, teachers teach just to have their students pass tests and their strategy for teaching is the same for every class or student. Instead, teachers should caring, have enthusiasm and belief that their students can be successful. Teachers should also adapt their teaching style with different groups of students. Learning for everyone is different so teaching styles should be different.
I'm not sure how our school system got to be like this, where tests and your average grade is more important than what students learned and how they can apply that to their life. Of course tests can be helpful, but standardized testing does not show how good teachers are. Test is too narrow of a scope. There needs to be a change in how we view teaching before it is all we know.

Paulo Freire & I (blogpostit/blogpost6)

One place where I put a post it note in the readings by Paulo Freire, is on page 104. He quotes, "Education thus becomes an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor." He is saying that in today's society, teachers are simply throwing information at students, expecting them to memorize all the facts just to pass tests. Sadly, this is true. This is mostly true in high schools and middle schools. In my opinion, I see this type of "depositing" mostly due to state tests. Teachers are evacuated by their student state test scores and then given a grade. If the grade is extremely low, then the teacher might lose their job. My mom is an 8th grade math teacher in New York and she tells me all about how the state is basically screwing over teachers. Teachers are hired to educate students to become more well-rounded people and prepare them for the world. How can teachers do that if they are scared of being fired? To me, it just doesn't make sense. 

Another quote that I thought was interesting by Freire is on page 108. "Oppression-overwhelming control-is necrophilic; it is nourished by love of death, not life. The banking concept of education, which serves the interest of oppression, is also necrophilic." Freire is saying in this quote that the banking system is extremely oppressive to the students. I agree that it is oppressive because in the banking system, no students can really say what's on their mind or question theories that the teacher is explaining. But in a different system, which Freire calls "problem-posing", allows the students to reflect to each other and the material. I even believe that the banking system can sometimes oppress teachers. Some teachers are afraid of using the problem-posing method because the board of directors and/or the state say that they have to teach certain materials in a specific way. These teachers are then being oppressed because they can't have a say to how they are teaching and what they are teaching. Something needs to change. 

Liberal v. Radical (blog post 5)

Liberal approaches focus on additive ways of thinking and gradual shifts but they leave the systems and ways of power in place. While radical approaches believe that something needs to be transformed in order to have real change.
In my high school, there really wasn't any problems regarding LGBTQ people. My high school community was very accepting and I've never heard of anyone being afraid of coming out or anything along the lines of bullying.
Rofes discusses childhood as a place where adults control everything and that children aren't really in control of their lives. He explains one instance in his life where his dad was punishing him by hitting him with his belt. He then states that there are laws against a man abusing another man but there are no social rules or anything for helping him having his dad beat him. Roses main point about childhood was that children are constantly getting oppressed. This is the foundation of LGBTQ children.
In my future, I hope the school that I will be working at will visualize everyone as equals. I hope that people will see that lesbian, bi-sexual, gay, transgender and questioning people are just people. These people are the same as themselves. The students should understand that these feelings are normal and it is okay that they are feeling this way. As an early childhood major, I will be a teacher for the younger grades. Having this said, my students will be curious as to what is going on with other students. I will tell them that it is normal and they should still treat them the same as they would anyone else.

field post 2

At Shaker Heights Middle School, I observed two different classrooms, an English class and a Math class. The math class had three teachers. There was one main teacher, one helper teacher and then a student teacher. In that class, they were taking notes about probability. The student teacher was really good about explaining the topics. In the English class, they were using the computers to write their own personal narrative. The English class also had one main teacher and one helper teacher.

"Building bridges" for Ayers means making connections between other students, the teacher and broader subjects. In one section for the chapter, Bill Ayres explains how his oldest son, Zayd, wanted to have a ceremony of adulthood. Ayres explains that Zayd built a bridge from childhood to adulthood. In another section, Bill Ayres explained the story of Avi Lessing's high school classroom. In Avi's classroom, they discuss present issues in today's society like race, gender, love, death, drugs, sexuality, pleasure, pain and disease. However, a white student offended a student of color, and it caused them problems in the classroom. In this example, there are multiple bridges being built. One bridge is bustling relationships with other students. Even though it didn't happen, they just misinterpreted each other. Another bridge is a a connection between the students and issues in the world. A final bridge is a connection between the students and the teacher.

Bridges are also constructed at Shaker Heights. At Shaker, they have an IB program. IB is when certain students learn the required information and then reflect and think outside the box about it. They make connections with the world this way. This program allows the students to think for themselves an learn outside of the school. This is an example of a bridge between the students and the world outside of school.

One bridge between my Middle School experience and Shaker Heights classroom experience. In my Middle School, we were always taught to think above and beyond and connect this to the world. With Shaker Heights IB program, it seems similar to that of my Middle School.

Dear Mr. Representative (blogpost 4)

Dear Representative Kent Smith,

My name is Caitlin Fitzsimmons and I am a student at John Carroll University. I am from New York which is about 4 hours away from University Heights. I would like to discuss a very serious topic with you about our education systems in today's society.

Even though people don't realize it, education is the root to many people's successes. It is where everything starts for children. Schools give children hope that there is something better out there for them. A chance to make a difference.

Now, schools out there are not all financially the same. As you know, schools get most of their money from property taxes around the school district. The value of some places are more expensive than other places. Even though it sounds fair, it really isn't. The poorer districts don't have very expensive living conditions so their money to finance the school is very low. This then influences the schools' conditions. In one particular school in Ohio, young children had to hold umbrellas while going from one class to another in the school because the ceiling was leaking from melting snow and rain. While in more richer communities, they aren't worried about leaking ceilings and the school conditions. They are more worried about if their children will get sick because they can't afford heating. The more richer communities have computers and more advantages to have their students succeed in life.

If you want to help out people from poorer places succeed and to help end poverty, this is the place to start. If the schools don't look good or aren't even safe, then how do you expect the students to succeed and change their lives? The kids won't feel motivated then they won't do well academically.

Help change this community in a positive way. The children of Ohio need your help.

Sincerely,

Caitlin Fitzsimmons