week 4 of my clinical experience

In the fourth week, I observed math again. They were doing the same box thing that I experienced in week two. This time, instead of just doing the problems all together, the teacher told her students that they should complete the worksheet in groups of two, which were picked for them.
She then went around the room to help each group if they needed help. The teacher asked me to help these two boys with the worksheet. As I was helping them, I could tell they were getting frustrated because they just wanted to add or subtract. I tried my hardest to explain each problem in different way so that it would click for them. I also used the teacher's method of not telling the students the answer, but I rather asked questions to help them get the answers on their own. This way of teaching can give the students pride when they get it right because they did it all on their own.

week 3 of my clinical experience

The third week of my observation at Gesu, it was the 31st of October, or otherwise known as Halloween. The children were very excited about their costumes and getting candy. The teacher told the students to sit on the carpet floor and each one shared what they were going to be for Halloween. It was very nice to see the kids and how excited they were to share what they were going to dress up as. In the spirit of Halloween, the teacher assigned the students to write a few sentences about Halloween. Most of them talked about what they were going to be or what their family members were going to dress up as. There is this one kid in the class who he really struggles with writing and reading. The teacher sat this with student and she had a white board with her. To help the student, when he asked how to spell a word, she wrote a similar word on the white board and asked the student how could he change the word to make the word he wants. I think this is a great idea because it can help the students develop the skill of independent learning. In my opinion this should be used more often in schools all over the country.

week 2 of my clinical experience

Week 2 of my clinical experience was a little different than the week before.
I helped a student read an evaluation worksheet that the teacher gave to her students for parent-teacher conference night. I made sure I didn't tell him all the words, but I helped his sound them out. He was a very sweet boy and extremely happy to be in school. I think it is a good idea to have students at such a young age self-evaluate themselves because it develops that mentality of checking himself or herself and make sure that he or she doesn't get too distracted. It also shares how the students feel, rather than just the teacher explaining their opinion on the student.
Also, I learned a new math method for adding and subtracting. They call in the bar system/model. The students basically draw a bar and put in the numbers they know and then a question mark for the variable that they do not know. The students are getting very frustrated with it because they just want to add/subtract and call it a day. But the teacher is making then learn this method because it is "the Gesu way". This was a very different way from when I learned to add and subtract but the teacher explained that it would help the students multiple and divide and use fractions. I am yet to see the multiplying and dividing but I am excited to experience the results!

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.