High School Observations "so far"

I am currently in the process of observing the teacher that I am going to teach the two lessons with. So far, it's been interesting comparing the high school with district C's high school. The high school that I am teaching the two lessons in is located in a middle class town, primarily white, primarily I would say college educated. Driving around one sees small business that look like they're doing well, nice houses, a lot of nice green grass, it's very...safe. Compared to district C, it is almost the opposite. I think this brings up a pretty interesting dynamic, comparing what you see in a well to do, affluent school district, and what you see when the finances and other factors aren't there. It's a lie when people say that money doesn't matter, of course it does, this high school has nice computers, new looking classes, technology and even a new "wellness center" which is a completely separate building, there is another separate building connected by a catwalk, so this high school is a complex of three buildings, different from the one building in district C. The Spanish classes in this high school are full of American born, non heritage speakers. Every high school has it's own challenges. I believe this high school, despite it's advantage financially, I believe the lack of diversity and maybe a sense of some students being jaded by the ease of having money is a challenge. These students are not able to identify with poorer people, with different races and ethnicities, when 99% of the students are white and wearing abercrombie and fitch, well, while there's nothing wrong with this, it takes a toll on one's perception of what really happens in other cities. I listened in on the students conversations and a lot of the topics were not very important, shallow and basically what one associates with a typical teenager conversation, a lot of gossip. In district C, the challenges are much different. Financially, there are definitely problems, students are coming from low income families, and this has a long list of problems: nutrition, family life, stress, lack of motivation for education and instead wanting to work to help financially, these all affect students negatively. There are schools that are safer than others, if I were to teach at the high school I'm observing in, I wouldn't be worried about money, crime, or anything like that. There isn't much room to help students improve their lives, they are already comfortable, likely to go to college and likely to be more motivated to learn. Students in district C are going to require much more work, they need to see that they can improve their lives through college and through hard work, they need someone to show them, to mentor them, and this is the kind of challenge I want. I think it's a bit boring to work in a safe school, where the students are already molded into good students, why not work somewhere that's challenging, where there's more room to make a difference?  
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/apr/02/nation/na-schools2

 

Social Automation/Lack of personal interaction

Last week I observed for the first time at the school that I'm going to teach my two lessons at. I heard a lot of things throughout the day, but one thing really stuck in my head. A teacher told me that if she had any advice for me, it would to get involved with online teaching. She believed that future generations would be educated online with online teachers, reducing the classroom aspect. I started to think about this and it started to worry me. As a teacher, I want to speak to students and interact with them on a personal level, not through a computer. I do believe that year after year, there will be more computer based instruction, but it would be a shame to automate the educational process. Today, there are Self Check Out lanes, automated ATMs, online shopping, etc. I feel like there is less and less human interaction, texting has resulted in people not liking to speak on the phone, all of this can have a negative effect on speech ability and interaction. I worry that fifty years from now, there won't be any reason to leave the house. You can wake up, go to school/work on the computer, order food/groceries on the computer, text your friends and maybe video chat, do some online banking and then watch T.V to finish up your day. People won't see the sun for weeks, we will speak no more than ten words per day "through video chat", and yeah, that's it, eventually only text will be used, resulting in future people not having vocal cords and being completely incapable of speaking....just kidding, I hope. If this is our future, well, I don't know how pleasant it will be. I'm obviously being extreme, but it's heading that way for sure, a person can honestly and realistically live completely at home without the need to go outside. Anything can be delivered, bought, or requested online. I hope that when I get a job as a teacher, that I will have actual, physical students. The link I included is a great infographic. Enjoy, and if you want to try something fun, try not to text your friends for a couple days, instead, call them whenever you need to talk...
http://www.forkparty.com/17565/could-you-survive-without-ever-leaving-the-house-infographic

Taking PE/Health students to CF

Last week, we took the Health and PE students to the School in order to expose them to what we were doing. It was interesting because it reminded me of our first trip and how I felt/thought. On the ride there, I asked the student sitting next to me what it was that he expected to see and experience when we got there. I figured that he might have some preconceptions and I was right, he said that he knew about District C's history and I agreed, but I reassured him that he would be surprised when we got there. I used the experience as almost like a day of research for my own personal use. I wanted to know how a persons preconceptions changed after experiencing something first hand. Anyway, so through out the day I asked him if he was surprised and he said yes, and even that his school was in some ways "worse" than this one, that his school was more rowdy and disorganized. This was a pleasant and interesting surprise. I remember on our first trip, wondering if the school would be like what I expected, and to be honest, some of the things that I thought I would see, I did. I knew the student body would be dominantly hispanic, I expected to hear a lot of Spanish, so in that regard, I was correct; however, it's important to realize that it's a High School, the students are all full of hormones and energy, so of course some students were going to be more boisterous and loud and of course they're going to swear, they're teenagers. I failed to look at the school through a non biased lens. I only looked at the location, not the people. There was that one altercation in the hallway, but you know what, now that I've changed my opinion, I realize that it's not because of the school or the location or the past history of the city, it's because "teenager", that's why. This experience is great in 407, but would be in my opinion even better for an FNED 346 class where race and gender and stereotypes are discussed. I truly hope that this program is adopted by FNED 346 because I wish I had these experiences when I took it. For that class, I worked at a High School in Providence and just from that, my preconceptions of inner city schools were changed, never mind if I had done this type of observation. In the link below, I recommend taking a look at the "How an area looks" paragraphs and think about our I-spy activity on the bus.

http://www.qualitydigest.com/inside/quality-insider-article/danger-preconceptions.html

Tutoring experience

So now that I'm in my sixth week of tutoring, I'd like to talk about what I've experienced and learned. It's been interesting comparing what I've learned in class and then trying to apply it to my tutoring and teaching..It's all a big experiment really. Anyways, so I tutor two students on a regular basis, at least two to three times per week, and it's been really good so far, I like to students that I tutor and, honestly, I've seen improvement lately. I've tried a number of different tactics, from telling them to study on their own, to drilling it into their heads with repetition, different exercises on the board, etc. Whenever I tutor, I use an empty classroom so I can utilize the board and open private space, it's nice. I would recommend tutoring to any education major because it's really good practice. So, over the last few weeks I've seen improvement in one particular student and it really does make me proud, of not only him, but also of myself. It's a great feeling and it's one of the reasons why I'm becoming a teacher. I feel like when I do my two lessons, that having tutored will help me because I am going to go in more confidently knowing that I have already improved my own student's proficiency and knowledge. I will continue to use my tutoring as almost like an education lab, where I get to try out new things and see how they work and what I prefer. It helps me to understand my own teaching style and expectations.
http://www.parentsleague.org/publications/selected_articles/does_tutoring_help_or_harm_your_childs_education/index.aspx

Essential Question

During this class, we have been asked a number of time what our essential question is. I feel like I have finally begun to construct a solid question that represents my personality, style and mentality, which is what I believe a good question should do. So with that, here it is...."How do I conduct an enjoyable class where the teaching and learning scaffolding is hidden, so that learning can naturally happen through enjoyment and interest instead of out of necessity?" I also have an essential question that has more to do with continued interest, and it goes like this, "How do I turn a foreign language, something that isn't really necessary in life, into a topic that the students will want to further pursue in life, not for necessity, but for enjoyment?". I believe as teachers, one of our jobs is to be an advocate for our subjects, we should try to "spread the love" for english, math, foreign language, history, etc. We should try to sell the subjects to our students so that they pursue them in college and in life. If I can influence a student so much that they decide to pursue a degree in a foreign language, be it Portuguese or Spanish, I will have done my job. Oh and if you were wondering what my picture is, it's a damaged wall where the bricks are showing...representing how good teaching can hide the main structures of a class.

http://linguagarden.com/2013/04/6-ways-to-motivate-your-students-in-the-foreign-language-classroom/