Chapter 6: Social Context of Schools

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to scan the brochure I created for my class. However, I am able to present each page of the brochure, and the lesson I am trying to teach.

I created a school program that students of all grades within the high school can be a part of. The Bully Free Zone Organization (BFZO) is an anti-violence program that emphasizes raising awareness of the diversity in each of us. Similar to a Civil Rights Team, the BFZO works towards eliminating violence and hate crimes within the school environment. These hate crimes include:

• Sexual Harrassment
• Homosexuals
• Low Socioeconomic Students
• Race
• Obesity
• Stereotypes
• And many more!

A survey of over 15,000 sixth to tenth graders found that nearly 1/3 of the males and six percent of the females had been bullies, victims, or both. Schools should be safe for children the the youth. They should not be afraid of the school environment and they should not have to desperately find excuses for not going to school. This is where the BFZO comes in.

Students who join BFZO participate in many social events and activities that all work for the purpose of educating students on the problem of school violence and its severity. Most children who harass others do it for a number of reasons such as attention, attaining power, to be funny, or because they simply do not understand the victim or his or her situation. Because of this lack of understanding, the bully can be scared of the victim. To eliminate this fear, the BFZO educates students on the variety of each other in creative, engaging, and fun ways!

Day of Silence: Members of the BFZO each year will organize a day in which everyone is not allowed to speak at all. What is the purpose of this? The purpose serves many reasons. This activity serves mostly the homosexual community and attempts to depict to others what homosexuals deal with everyday. They live in silence, in fear of others finding out their sexuality. By students participating in the Day of Silence, it allows them to fully understand the inability of being themselves and living in a world where they cannot have a voice. After the day is over, the students will be able to say that they lived in the shoes of another student. They will understand their situation and be aware of the respect that needs to be shown to these other children.

Culture Week: This is a phenomenal and fun-filled week where members of the BFZO takes each day of the week and picks a culture to focus on. They set up a site, either in the lunchroom or library or auditorium, focusing on that culture. For example, the members can pick African American culture or Jewish culture. At the site, the students are dressed like the people in the culture. Poster boards are put up with information on the religion, traditions, and facts about these people. There can even be food from that culture that is put up for students to sample. This enables students to see representations of the diversity of different cultures and allows them to actually experience their ways of living.

Fasting For You: This day is also set up by BFZO student members where the children will not eat for one whole day (each student needs to fill out a permission and consent form along with the parents). The purpose of this activity is to allow students to experience the pain of hunger that other students of low socioeconomic status live with everyday. The pain of being hungry for just one day, with the realization that some kids are hungry for more than just one day, will help other students realize how blessed they are.

Tally Today: This is an interesting activity that members of the BFZO present to their peers. In this activity, the students are asked to go about their day like they usually would, however, they are to keep a tally of each time they hear a demoralizing thing said. This comment can be a joke or a serious comment... no matter how it is meant to be taken, the student should mark the tally on a piece of paper. The next day, students should bring in their tallies and combine all of them. This activity will raise awareness among the students because they are seeing how much discrimination takes place in our lives.

Donations For Causes: Members of the BFZO also are able to find and pick causes that they want to raise money for (with the permission of proper school officials). For example, the students can host a can drive for soup kitchens, raise money for causes such as the Jena Six, Cancer patients, etc...

There are many more activities that students who are members of the BFZO participate in. They do community volunteer work, work with younger children, etc... Not only does the BFZO work towards eliminating violence within the school system, but it also improves the students' communication skills and ability to work in groups with their peers of many different varieties.

The BFZO also has other benefits other than the elimination of violence. Students who become members of the BFZO will receive half a credit that goes towards their requirement of credits to graduate, they receive experience with their peers and younger children, they fight against violence in their schools, they see the improvement within the environment, and the membership looks great on their college application!!

It's easy to become a member of the BFZO! Any student who is interested in the cause can go to the school office and receive an application. Once they are finished with filling in the application, they turn it back in to the office and wait for an email confirming their membership. Along with the email they receive will be information on the first meeting of the group.

Chapter 7: Thinking about Teaching and Learning

In the beginning of the semester, I was assigned to write a philosophy paper on methods I would practice within my classroom. The paper turned out to be a page and a half, due to the fact that I had little knowledge pertaining to the philosophy and methods of teaching. I had a small idea of how I would educate my students, but I did not hold enough knowledge to create a solid philosophy of my own. After reading chapter seven, I was able to expand my ideas and philosophy of teaching.

My focus within secondary education is social sciences... particularly history. Therefore, I would love to use the Socratic method of teaching within my classroom. The Socratic method is a method of teaching or discussion in which the teacher asks a series of questions that lead the answerer (in this case, my students) to a logical conclusion. History is an extensive and always-changing topic in society today. Asking my students questions that force them to think outside of the box and create their own answers will enable them to understand fully the importance of history. Also, to practice idealism and perennialism within my classroom, would not pertain to the subject of history, in my opinion. I would practice realism and the tabula rasa methods because these methods do not focus on everlasting ideas. Ideas within history are always changing because poilicies, governments, government officials, events, political groups, etc... are always changing. There cannot be everlasting ideas when it comes to a changing history and world. There can be common-held beliefs, but everything always changes. This is why I would practice the Socratic method, the tabula rasa method, and realism. The students can create their own ideas, while also taking away the bigger picture of history and its significance.

I would also love to have a constructivist approach to teaching. Using this teaching strategy within my classroom will allow the student to actively create, interpret, and reorganize information in ways that are unique to them. This strategy also allows the student to experience the ideas, phenomena, and artifacts of history, instead of just having it explained to them. I would love to design and sequence lessons that encourage the learners to use their own experiences to actively construct meaning and acquire understanding that makes sense to them.

Although I've come away from this chapter with a larger idea of the philosophies that I would practice within my classroom, I also know that it would be nearly impossible to use only one teaching strategy strategy in a single lesson. I know that selecting the best teaching strategy to match the students is a teaching skill that is not easy to master, but it can be accomplished when a teacher keeps in mind the needs and abilities of the learners, the content of goals to be achieved, and the time and resources allowed by the context. This is what I hope to encorporate in my philosophy of teaching: a variety of teaching methods and skills. Besides, all methods and skills work for certain students. I need to be able to practice all of them so I can meet the variety of my students' learning abilities.

Chapter 14: Succeeding in Your Teacher Education Program- and Beyond

I have many concerns when it comes to thinking about my future as an educator. Surprisingly, one of these concerns does not include salary. I have always known that educators do not receive a high paying salary, therefore, I resorted earlier on that I would hold a second job to equalize my income.

One of my biggest fears in becoming a teacher is being prepared for all I need to know and incorporate in my classroom. How do I go about making my resume? What programs and activities should I participate in that would enable me to gain a more extensive knowledge in my teaching career? How do I go about organizing my educational portfolio, preparing my lesson plans, coordinating my schedule? How do I become involved in tutoring and in subbing?

Other fears of mine include concerns of my adequacy as a teacher. I am afraid of not having enough knowledge in the subject I am teaching. I am afraid of not being able to control the class, or being able to know how to teach a particular lesson. Also, what if I am not able to engage my students and motivate them to participate in class? What if I am not able to increase my students' learning? I am so afraid that my effectiveness as a teacher will not have a significant impact on my students, as well as my fellow coworkers and community.

The area of concern that was not stated above is the "Unconcerned" model. I have no fears of family problems, getting along with a roommate, or an upcoming event. I have no fears similar to these such as money problems, etc... My main concerns were on my ability to succeed, the management of teaching, and what the students are learning. Another main concern that was noticeable was the fear of not being prepared. I found three models of the Stages of Concerns within my statement: Self, Task, and Impact.

I suppose, though, that these fears are common within beginning a career in education. My hope is that as my career at UMF continues, that these fears will disappear and be replaced with a fulfilled and prepared sense of self.

Chapter 13: Improving Teachers and Schools, and School Reform

What I hope to add to my resume would be more pedagogical knowledge and skills as well as professional knowledge. I tutored middle-school students, however, I do not have enough experience within a classroom.

I hope that within the next four to five years of my education, I can acquire an adequate amount of time within the classroom that will enable my resume to be fully complete as well as depict my teaching abilities to the standards set by the school. I would love to go through teacher training and achieving the National Board Certification. Action research also is an experience that I'm looking forward to. The innovations and improvements that I hope to see within the education system of my school that I teach in would be the infusion of technology. It is proven that it enhances the child's learning. It is especially important to me that I see and make this change within schools because I feel as if I have no idea how to operate the technology and this can be very frustrating because I know it can help me in numerous ways. Children won't feel lost or confused when they go into college and are bombarded with instructions on how to create a website, or create a power point, etc... To ensure that my students have a wealthy knowledge of technology, I'm planning on learning as much as I can so I am able to teach them myself. I also would incorporate projects and activities in which the student is required to use the technology efficiently. I also would love a great classroom climate where all my students feel welcome, supported, and accommodated. To do this, I just plan on being myself. My classroom will be bright, and engaging. I will respect my students' backgrounds and personalities and incorporate their personalities into my teaching methods and activities within the classroom. While I'm respecting the students, I will also require them to respect others while my classroom.

Chapter 3: Families and Communities

There were many principles in which I believe in. However, the concept of partnerships between teachers and families improving the learning of students stood out most to me. I have a very high regard for this principle and it could not be more true.

If educators communicate with their students' families and parents, then it is more likely that there will be no misunderstanding of how the child is participating and coming along in their process of learning. By keeping parents informed of the child's weaknesses, strengths, class participation, social aspects, conduct, attendance, etc... the parents are able to properly help their children attain a better education. By parents communicating with teachers, they are enabling the educator to further understand the culture, background, and personality of a student. If a student is shy or has difficulty with learning audibly (lecture-based), teachers will be able to adapt to the student's specific needs (drawing out a problem instead of lecturing it), thanks to the parents who took the time to communicate with the school and teachers.

Although there were many principles that I believed in, one principle I could absolutely not agree with, nor believe in. The idea that all students can achieve at high levels regardless of the structures of their families was absolutely absurd. Students who have one parent can often suffer within school. Especially if the child is older, then problems could arise. For example, the child's attendance might be poorer from having to pick up younger siblings, or from poverty, etc... Although the chapter says that problem behavior and lack of academic success are more directly related to poverty, conflict, and instability in families rather than family structures, this is not true. Family instability, conflict, and poverty are direct causes of family structure. I'm not saying that all students who come from different family structures will suffer these problems. I'm simply saying that not all children can achieve at high levels. Family structures affect children differently when varied. Each child is different, so they cannot be expected to deal with the problems the same way.

Chapter 2: Today's Students

Religious diversity can be found in every school system. Teachers and educators must be prepared to have students from a number of religious groups such as Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism and Hinduism. Along with recognizing these varying and different religious beliefs, educators must also respect the demanding practices of the students' beliefs. Schools should accommodate the students' religious holidays and rituals. To ensure that a child's civil rights are not violated, school officials should involve parents. Parents in the religious community can provide assistance to educators who are attempting to further understand the student's culture and traditions.

Chapter 5: The History of Schools in the United States

Expectations for education have come a long way since colonial times. It is surprising to discover that during the colonial times, only the elite were able to attain an education. To remedy this unfair advantage, many hard-fought political and legal battles ensued over the past four centuries. People fought for the individual's right to decide for themselves whether to attend school. Other issues debated were what would be the basic requirements necessary for all citizens in a democracy, how much education citizens should attain, and what the states' role should be in determining what a child would learn in the classroom. From practicing an authoritarian role in the classroom to progressivism, there were many changes made within the classroom. There is no longer the philosophy of sitting and repeating, there is now the "project method". Discrimination, religious, political, social, and economic status does not determine whether or not a child should receive an education... we now officially can say that we have a free and universal education system.