Friday, November 13, 2015

BlogPost10-THE FINAL BLOG

Wow, it feels like it was just yesterday I was typing up my first blog post! I came into college not really knowing what I wanted to do in the future, whether it was education or business. I am so glad that I took Edu 100 because it taught me so many things not only about education but about myself. In my blogs, I felt very comfortable writing whatever I wanted. I like expressing my opinions and I feel like I did that very well. One occurring theme I typically saw in my writings are that I talked a lot about feeling comfortable in the classroom. I believe that this is a very important thing for a student to feel and a very important thing a teacher should solidify. In my placements, I tended to always look into that and see what Mrs. Nemeth or Mrs. Bishko did to make students comfortable. I have learned a lot about myself from this class and from my blogs. I typically did not like note taking, but for some reason I really enjoyed going to Gesu and other schools like Shaker, Mayfield, and Gearity and observing and taking down notes and transforming them into a blog. Overall, I enjoyed Edu 100 and all the lessons I learned. As of now, I still plan to try and pursue a career in education, I just do not know what level yet. I am excited to see what the future holds as I continue education classes and discover more about myself!

Thursday, November 12, 2015

FieldBlogPost-Gearity Elementary School

Our Edu 100 class took our last field trip to Gearity Elementary as our final placement. Overall, the school seemed fun! there were a lot of activities going on and a lot of intriguing learning. I sat in on Mrs. Bishko's fourth grade language arts class with three of my classmates. I was excited because I did all of my field experience in a fourth grade classroom at Gesu. When we walked in, she was very welcoming, she shook our hands and introduced herself. Her classroom was very creative because she had a lot of fun and academic posters. When we arrived, they were in homeroom. The homeroom class had thirteen students and they all had iPads, along with all the other kids in other classes. At about 9:15, the kids switched for the first class, language arts. In the first language arts class, 1A, there were only ten students, which surprised me. The class split into two different groups. The first group went with Mrs. Bishko and talked about "I can" statements, kind of similar to what Mrs. Nemeth had, and they also drew conclusions from text they read. Before we arrived, we had to formulate another question, and mine was how does the teacher offer equal opportunities? She answered that for me by calling on every student at her table and giving equal chances for kids to answer. The kids cut out their conclusions and glued them on a piece of paper and put facts underneath them. Mrs. Bishko has a lot of fun with her students, while still maintaining their attentiveness, and that is a very admirable trait in a teacher. In the other group, they went with another teacher who seemed to be an aid. They talked about why writers write stories and the purposes for writing. She gave the kids a chart and had them write down ideas that they could formulate a short story out of. She called it their "bank of ideas." She also said something that seems critical to what we have been learning this year. She said, "it's okay to use your imagination and be creative."

Thursday, November 5, 2015

What Does A Good School Look Like?

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1y2pTmYe_aasTSmFvS5j5bkesubv5xKCEAf-7W5S-YoY/edit?ts=56322904#slide=id.p





Monday, November 2, 2015

FieldBlogPost8-GESU

Today was my last day of field observation at Gesu Elementary School. It was a Friday, and it was the day before Halloween, so we did a lot of fun Halloween activities. When I got there, I had a great conversation with the lady in the front office. It is always a good thing to be outgoing because you never know what kind of connections they may have. When I walked into the classroom, the kids were making Halloween birthday/get well cards. They were making the cards for the custodian at Gesu, Mr. Eugene, who is currently sick. While they were making the cards, Mrs. Nemeth had me and another student observer, Haley, look up educational Halloween games on the iPads for the kids to play. The next class then eventually came in and they had to take their bone/muscle test. She gave them the test, which looked like a model of a skeleton where the kids had to name the bones and muscles, Along with the model of the skeleton, she wrong additional questions on the chalk board. When the kids take tests, Mrs. Nemeth asks for complete silence and all eyes on their own papers. If she sees a kid look around or talk, she will move them to another desk. It is very proper of her to do this because then the kids will learn to study and take in information on their own for evaluations. After the test, that class made their Halloween birthday/get well cards. While they did that, Mrs. Nemeth had me and Haley go to the bookstore to get orange paper. We then went to the meeting room and made a giant jack-o-lantern because Mrs. Nemeth was planning to play pin the nose of the jack-o-lantern later in the day. When I returned to the classroom, the next class was in for reading. They were sharing all the things they found and learned on the word they looked up Wednesday. Some of the stuff was very interesting!
Two important things Mrs. Nemeth stressed today was that technology is huge and you must be flexible. We were on the iPads a lot and there are so many forms of technology around her classroom that are helpful, such as microscopes, iPads, the document camera, etc. You must be flexible on days like Friday. There are so many things going on and it seemed very hectic because of Halloween, but it seemed like Mrs. Nemeth had everything under control no matter what and was going with the flow, but still managed to have a lot of activities planned.
Overall, my experience at Gesu was unforgettable. I was able to not only learn from Mrs. Nemeth, but also from the kids. Before the experience, I was just thinking I wanted to get my feet wet and see how things were at an elementary level. By the end, I seemed to really enjoy the atmosphere and the way the kids acted towards me. I made many connections within the school and am very grateful I got to work with the kids and help out Mrs. Nemeth!

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

FieldBlogPost7-GESU

Every day at Gesu is another opportunity to learn more I feel like. It was rainy outside today, so the kids had indoor recess. I had a lot of fun hanging out with the kids and playing heads up 7 up. They were so energetic! For some reason, when they stay inside they get more talkative I feel like. Mrs. Nemeth told me that conferences were coming up. Their conferences are just like any other conference. The only difference is that the kid writes a letter to their parents about their progress and what they think. Mrs. Nemeth does this so the conference is still all about the kid and not parents and teacher. When the first class started, they began by sharing some of their food pyramids that they made on the document camera. A document camera is kind of like a more advanced overhead. The food chains were super creative and I loved seeing that! After they all shared, they took time to review for their test, which is on Friday. Mrs. Nemeth told me that she always gives the kids about a weeks notice for a test because the kids are also very busy. To review for the test, they played an online game on the smart board where they had to put all the bones a skeleton. It was on a very convenient website called ABCya.com. After that, the kids got on the iPads and took bone and muscle quizzes and played games on Brain Pop. In reading, I made a poster with 8 Halloween words on it. I then lettered them from A-H. We gave each kid a letter and they had to research the word and write down fun facts on a notecard. Mrs. Nemeth touched on one important thing today with the kids. They went on to talk about missing assignments and how important being prepared in. Being prepared reflects your grade! Also, the kids who were prepared for the day got candy. Lastly, the most important thing that I learned today would be that you must be patient! if you are not patient, there could be a lot of chaos in a classroom. Mrs. Nemeth is very patient with her kids and that is a very admirable trait in a teacher!

Monday, October 26, 2015

FieldBlogPost6-GESU

I decided to go over the minimum amount of hours for this project because I wanted more experience. My sixth day at Gesu was great! I was out of my seat almost the whole time! I got to make a bar graph on excel with owl pellet information and I got to teach the kids how to make the graph. Then, Mrs. Nemeth showed them how to make a graph on Microsoft Word. I got to help a boy look at his rick in a microscope. I went to the copy room and put the walky talky's back on the chargers and then went to count the Halloween raffle prizes so Mrs. Nemeth would know how many winners to choose. As I walked through the hall ways, every single teacher smiled at me and said hi! All of the kids that are in Mrs. Nemeth's class when I was there said hi and waved to me in the hall ways also. The kids definitely seemed more outgoing towards me every day. When I got back to the class, Mrs. Nemeth announced they were having a bone quiz on Friday. I thought it was good that she told them 4 days in advance! After science, they had reading. The kids read a biography on Washington Irving. After they read that, they read his story, The Legend of Sleep Hollow. I had to eave in the middle of that, but regardless, my day was great!

FieldBlogPost5-GESU

My fifth day I had to arrive at Gesu a little bit late. When I walked in the room, science class was going on. They were talking about the owl pellet dissection and they all said hi to me. When I sat down, Mrs. Nemeth had me help three kids with an owl pellet dissection because they were absent the previous day. All of the other kids then got in their groups and discussed what they found.Then they created a chart/graph with all of their data from the owl pellet. I got to walk around the room and check on the kids and ask about their numbers. The kids seemed very open and comfortable in the classroom. It was a Friday again, so of course the kids had a lot to say other than science. They got a little hyper at times too. After they talked about their data, I got to go to the front of the room and teach them about food pyramids and food webs. After I was done, they got to make their own food pyramid. It was a good feeling to know that the kids understood what I taught.
I learned two new cool things today. One thing I learned is that there is a great opportunity for me to get more involved with helping with after school care. Also, she showed me eMaze. It was a website that is like an art gallery. You can make your own power point and it is in 3D. Overall, I had a short day, but I got to help and teach a decent amount! I can't wait for more work on Monday!

Thursday, October 22, 2015

FieldBlogPost- Shaker Heights High School

Going to Shaker Heights High School was personally a very big change for me after going to Mayfield Middle School and doing all my placement work at Gesu in a fourth grade classroom. It wasn't a bad change necessarily, I enjoyed my time at the high school. When I got there, we were welcomed by two admission directors who talked to us about the school and high school education. One thing they touched on that was big was the IB classes. I was not too familiar with these classes and still am not really, because I never had it at any schools I went to. I know that it is offered for early childhood students and it is called PYP. Middle school kids it is called MYP. When you get to high school, it is called DP. IB classes are for more enriched learners and connect issues talked about in class to all around the world. The other thing they told us that I thought was interesting was that Shaker has about 130 clubs/organizations students can do to get involved. That is A LOT! I don't even think my high school had half of that many clubs/organizations.
The first classroom I sat in on was an engineering class taught by Dr. Marencik. This class was an elective and it was an application course. The classroom was a lot different than a middle school. There was a lot of diversity in the school/classrooms and there weren't a lot of visual aids like there would be in a middle school. The only thing I noticed is that he had a "Learning Objectives" board where he had papers about the project they were currently doing. The students that take this class do group projects all year based on application and being able to create things. When I was there, they were working on a dwelling project. They were to create a dwelling and then make a 3D module. The project was very researched based and then they would build. This allows the kids to be open minded. For example, I saw two kids trying to build a dwelling in outer space. The kids get graded on their logbook, participation, presentation, the physical project, and their final paper. The teacher said in the final paper he likes quality over quantity. Like Mayfield, before we went into a classroom we had to address a question we had. I asked, "what makes a good teacher?" In this class, I could tell the teacher made the students feel comfortable because they weren't afraid to approach him. He also walked around to every table to check up.
In the second classroom, I was in a Social Issues class, but I only got to stay for 15 minutes. It was a very laid back classroom setting. The students sat around in kind of a "U" shape at tables while the teacher was in the middle. At the beginning of the class, they discussed an introduction to a book they started reading. The kids were very open. They talked about obesity and how their are social issues in the food corporation. What makes her a good teacher? She had great open discussions, she challenged the students while involving them well, and it seemed like the kids respected her.

BlogPost8

Bill Ayers talks a lot about building bridges in order to achieve greatness and a comfortable feel in every classroom. I believe that this concept of building bridges means making students feel comfortable. If there is an awkward tension in a classroom, that can't be a good learning environment for any student. It is essential a teacher allows students to be open-minded. A teacher must build a bridge with every student so every student can be open to discussion, learning, etc. I believe that this "bridge" is something that a teacher has to build that allows every student to succeed using the tools and skills that each students has learning through prior experience.
One pattern that I see and often sticks out to me is the students ability to communicate well as they age. Being comfortable to talk and find one's voice is a crucial part of this building bridges. Students should be able to feel comfortable asking questions or being involved in discussions.
In making a lesson plan for a high school world history class, my topic would be the Holocaust. There are a few key things that I would make sure my students understood. First , I would make sure they generally knew that it was all about. I would show a video that gives a good summary of the Holocaust. Next, I would get more in detail with it. I would cover who was involved in this historical event, strategies that were used during, significant people, and the result and what it meant for each country involved. For the United State, this of course meant that our population increased dramatically because so many Jews immigrated over to the U.S.

Monday, October 19, 2015

FieldBlogPost4-GESU

My fourth day at Gesu was filled with activity. Right when I walked in I helped a boy find his AR test and I read it to him. Also when I walked in, four girls were working on a short commercial they were doing as a project for the pumpkin contest. One big thing that Mrs. Nemeth showed me today is that she recently got more boxes from the Natural History Museum, but this time they were filled with animal fur and animal skulls. This is something interesting for the kids to look at while it also goes along with their bone lesson. I was on the Gesu website today and I noticed that each grade has its own page and dates to remember along with other cool short cuts and helpful links. I thought that was a very good resource for kids. During science class, we watched a cool video. It was a video on Discovery Edu. about Mr. Goodbody and it was called "The Team That Hustles," referring to the bones and muscles in your body. The class participated well with the video, doing everything instructed while responding to the video. After the video, Mrs. Nemeth discussed terms to know and put them on the board. She also had the kids fill in blanks on the board. After science class, she gave me the study guide for the upcoming test. It constructed of a summary of the unit, words to remember, short answers, and scenarios which were followed by short answers. Like my second day, I got to actually get up in front of the class and kind of teach a lesson. Mrs. Nemeth let me read an article on pirates and then discuss it with the class. We then did an activity afterwards. The classroom setting was basically the same. She had "good morning" written on the board and had the instructions to unpack, correct a test, and complete the new worksheet. the kids seemed very creative today! The four girls I mentioned were very creative with their commercial and all through out the day in general I noticed a lot of enthusiasm! Mrs. Nemeth had me try and log on to Learning A-Z, but unfortunately the Internet was a mess, so she had a back up story about pirates and we read that. From there, I interacted with the class often and well. In the last 15 minutes of my time there, she had a conference with every kid in the class about their AR reading. The kids need 10 points per quarter. My fourth day was a great day like all the others and I am still excited to go back!

Sunday, October 11, 2015

FieldBlogPost3-GESU

When I walked into the room on my third day, Mrs. Nemeth was teaching a lesson. She was describing a new project they were going to do. They were going to create their own candy bar. So right off the bat when I came in, she was allowing the kids to be very creative and super open-minded. The kids also had to create their own ad for the candy bar. For the classroom setting on my third day, the same thing was pretty much going on. We were changing the bulletin for their new lesson. In the morning, Mrs. Nemeth has tasks written on the board. On the third day, she had written on the board to set up their spelling test, turn in folders, if they need a conference, and field trip forms. During science, 6 kids in each class got to go to the front of the room and share their rock reports. After that, I went to the front of the classroom and did a review of the bones. I would point to a bone and the kids would give the scientific name (I was super surprised by the intelligence of these fourth graders!). After that, the kids got out their skeleton and labeled them. They then cut the pieces out and put them together with the pins that kind of fold back. That way they could make their skeleton move and dance. This is also a great example of how the kids can be creative. Friday's seem to be more of an activity filled and creative day. Also, the kids are really, really hyper. Mrs. Nemeth even came over to me and said the kids love to chat and get hyper on Friday's. I am just assuming they are excited for the weekend, I know I was as a fourth grader!

BlogPostIt

For this assignment, we were instructed to read Ch. 8 of "Educational Foundations" and put post it notes in the text. We were supposed to mark places where we became conscious of our own thinking process. For example, we should mark questions we have, things we wonder about, things that remind us of past experiences, etc. Chapter 8 of the book talked about the banking concept of education. Much like depositing checks into one's bank account, teachers attempt to deposit checks filled with knowledge into the minds of their students.  The problem with this is that students are not being communicated with, but are instead being lectured and being told the difference between right and wrong. They are also just memorizing information and not using it. This concept of teaching can often be called narrative education also. One place that I marked in the text was the part at the beginning of the chapter where they described it as narrative education. One thing really came to mind when I read that. Narrative education can be a big problem for kids because it can harm their comprehension skills. If they grow up learning to just memorize things and not actually obtain information, what good will that do? The next thing that I became conscious of while I was reading was that this banking theory is very immobilizing. What I mean by this is that students are not able to move forward in their learning if they are just taught to take in information and then spit it out on an assessment and forget about it. Students often have to use material they used in the past for the future. Students will struggle immensely if they learn this way. The banking theory describes teachers as people who know all and students who know nothing and the teachers should be able to learn from their students too so they can keep an open mind.

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

FieldBlogPost2-GESU

My second day at GESU Middle School went very well! When I write about my field experiences, I am going to stick to the same format. I will talk about three main things: the classroom setting, what I got to do in the classroom, and how the teacher was. First, the classroom setting. I mentioned in my last field blog post that the class was starting a new lesson on anatomy. Mrs. Nemeth has a bulletin board and every time they start a new lesson she decorates it according to the lesson. So, she decorated the board with skeletons, muscles, and bones. I thought this was really cool and important because the kids will be able to stay on topic and maybe be more intrigued. Mrs. Nemeth hangs up "I CAN" statement on the board according to the lesson they are learning. For example, they read a story about pueblo Indians in reading and she put up a piece of paper that said something along the lines of, "I CAN ... learn ... pueblo Indians." I got to hang up graded assignments on the walls in the hallway. This can give the kids confidence in their work. Second, what I did. I got to do a lot more on my second day than my first day. One of the biggest things was that I actually got to assist her in teaching a reading lesson. I read them a short story and we went over it after by doing activities. On thing we did after was we made a chart in the shape of a lowercase t and in one corner we put a "C" representing characters. In another we put a "P" standing for plot. The other two we put an "S" and those represented setting and solution. I got to call on kids and they came up to the chalk board and filled in what they had. The next thing we did after reading the story was talked about the characters behaviors. We made a chart and labeled one side "good" and one side "bad" and like before, I called on kids and they came up and filled one thing they had in either the good or the bad column. One thing I learned from reading and teaching the class is that you have to have a resonant voice and just put yourself out there. On the second day, I also made copies and I helped the same girl on her accelerated reading test. She got a 10/10 this time! Lastly, I will talk about how Mrs. Nemeth was. Once again, she was outstanding with interacting with her students and making them feel comfortable. She lets them talk about their own experiences and keeps them focused at the same time. She does a really good job of reviewing material after they read or talk about something. She also is really good with giving physical examples. For example, she was teaching about muscles and had the kids grip their biceps and move their arms to feel it. Overall, I had a very productive day at GESU and I cant wait to see what is in store for my next day.

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

BlogPost5

Rofes makes clear distinctions between liberal and radical conceptualizations of addressing homophobia and heterosexism in k-12 schools. On the liberal side, he talked about a handful of things that had to do with others teaching and trying to help us how to deal with LGBT students. Educators are teaching us to move forwards and embrace change. First, Rofes says that social services should be advised to address the issue. They should do this to protect the students. Teachers should teach morality to students to help influence them to treat everyone equal. When I was in high school, I took a morality class and it talked a lot about equality with LGBT students. Adults must realize they should address how students are victimized and how big of an issue it is. On the radical side, Rofes talks more about making immediate changes for the good of LGBT students. He talks about how much students are victimized and how we should step forward and protect the students. We are taught to make a difference if children can actively participate in their childhood.

Monday, October 5, 2015

FieldBlogPost1-GESU

For my first day field experience, I sat in on Mrs. Nemeth's fourth grade class at Gesu Middle School. Gesu is right across the street from JCU, so it is very convenient. The classroom reminded me a lot of Mayfield Middle School. It was a very decorative classroom with a lot of visual aids. She had an assignment board, a big projector, and a lot of motivation posters. One thing that Mrs. Nemeth brought into the classroom that day that was very intriguing was fake animals from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. The animals were a good visual aid for the kids to look at. One of the first things that happened was that she gave a couple kids candy for holding doors for her. This is good because it can help the kids understand to be more helpful and maybe they will get a reward. In the classroom, they had just finished a lesson on geology. The kids are currently finishing up their "rock" reports. They have to pick a rock and write about it and say what it is used for. They also have to include a bibliography. Today, they started their lesson on anatomy. Mrs. Nemeth showed them a video about the human body and then after it she asked what the kids learned from it. This is good because it can help with their comprehension. In Science, she had the kids read the text about the lesson they were starting. It was about all the bones in the human body. After the kids were reading, she would have a group of kids stand up and do something to test their comprehension. For example, she had a row of boys stand up and tell the class one thing they learned. They then read the pages aloud. I really liked one specific thing the teacher said. Some people may not have noticed it, but I did. She was talking about the human body and she mentioned that that's how God made us. It is very important to incorporate God in the lessons too if they can. Mrs. Nemeth also does a great job of incorporating other subjects into reading. The class has accelerated reading and then they take tests after. I actually got the opportunity to help a little girl with her test. I read her the test and the answer options. The kids kept a log of their AR, and then the parents signed off on it to show they read. The thing that I thought was the most interesting was the Learning A-Z website. It allowed you to go on and search a topic and book options would come up. You could adjust the reading level and everything. Overall, my first day was good because I got to get my feet wet. I learned you have to be flexible and be able to interact with students well. I am super excited for my next day!

Thursday, October 1, 2015

FieldBlogPost-Mayfield Middle School

My experience at Mayfield Middle School was a good one and I surprisingly got a lot out of it with the little time we had. Before we went into a classroom, we were supposed to think of a question about a concept we have been learning and apply it in the classroom(s) we went in. The question I wanted to answer was, "how does the teacher make the students feel comfortable and make it easy for them to learn?" I touched on this question in one of my previous blogs, and I was excited to actually observe it in a real classroom first hand.
First, I am just going to talk about some of the things that went on in the classroom while I was there. The teacher I observed was a math teacher named Mrs. Bond. I really liked her and thought she was a great teacher. She always made sure the kids maintained focus and made sure all the kids were listening when someone else had a question. She had a very loud and resonant voice, which makes it easy for her to give good directions. She incorporated ideas into the learning that interests the students. For example, I noticed that she was helping a boy with subtraction and she made a reference to losing yards in football. This was very useful because it intrigued the student and encouraged him to learn.
In the classroom, there were a lot of good visual aids such as number lines, encouraging posters, and an assignment board. This can help the students feel like they are in a good and comfortable learning environment. Mrs. Bond said that the class always starts with a warm up. This helps the teacher become flexible and adjust their lesson plan. One big thing that the class did on the day I was there was a "checkpoint." They do these in silence. A checkpoint is basically a non-graded assignment that helps the teacher recognize which students are struggling and which students are making progress. This also helps the teacher adjust their lesson plan. The kids either get a proficient grade or a non-proficient grade. The last thing that I noticed and that was important was the weekly learning target self-assessment paper that every students gets every week. It has the student write down the homework assignment, the learning target, their confidence level, and the previous nights homework. If they do not understand something or are struggling with the lesson, then on the back she has a part where you can set up a meeting with her and she will help you.
Overall, the classroom environment I went to was very comfortable for students. Mrs. Bond was very good with the kids. She made sure the kids took their time with their work and she was very patient. Most of the work they do is assessments. 10% of their grade is homework, and homework is graded on completion. 90% of their grade is tests. My experience at Mayfield Middle School helped me a lot and now I know what to look for in a classroom in my upcoming field experiences.

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Blog Post 4

[Teachers] should recognize that the linguistic form a student brings to school is intimately connected with loved one’s community, and personal identity. To suggest that this form is “wrong” or, even worse, ignorant, is to suggest that something is wrong with the student and his or her family. (p.33)

I find this statement very powerful and I definitely agree with what Lisa Delpit is saying. It makes a lot of sense thinking about some of the things that happen in a classroom. Many students have a lot of differences, and it is important that the teacher doesn't make the student feel uncomfortable when they are doing things wrong. The purpose of teaching is to let the students become more knowledgeable. Teachers should always make sure they are working on making the student feel comfortable. If a students is told the wrong way that they are doing something wrong, that may cause the student to lose interest and most importantly confidence.

Lisa Delpit also tells us that some teachers often tell kids they are speaking wrong and that can cause students to think something is wrong with them or their home life. Like I stated before, the biggest thing is making sure your students are comfortable. There are so many ways you can correct your students without making them feel uncomfortable.

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Blog Post 3

                    Descriptions                                                              Interpretations

1.) A guy ran into the railing because                          1.) Too much technology.
     he was on his phone. I saw a lot of kids                  2.) A lot of dependent people.                             
     listening to music instead of interacting                  3.) People winding down.
     with friends.                                                             4.) Hesitant to spend money.
2.) If I had to guess, about 95% of kids were
     with another person. Not a lot of people
     were getting food alone.
3.) I saw a lot of people on the way to maybe
     do homework. A lot of kids had backpacks
     on.
4.) Two guys were arguing if they should go
      to the In Between or the Cafeteria because
      of money. Four guys were complaining
      because they thought the Chick-Fil-A was
      too expensive.

Parking Lot
Same as beliefs

        The parking lot is where I park my beliefs on what I saw. My beliefs that I found out helped me discover myself and they all follow the interpretations I made. I believe that the world is way too tangled up in technology. We spend so much of our lives with our faces stuffed in our phones or computers. This causes most of the human race to lack natural intelligence. Almost all we know and learn is from technology.
        As I observed people walking to the cafeteria and the Tween, I noticed that there aren't too many independent people. It seemed that everyone had to be with someone. I even noticed that one girl was with her friend and had to go to the bathroom. The girl told her friend to go ahead and she will catch up, but the girl stayed by the bathroom to wait for her. This is a good example of how a lot of people today, especially in college, are dependent and have to go places with friends.
        The last thing that I noticed while watching people is that a lot of college students are hesitant to spend money. This can be assumed even without watching people, but I saw two good examples of this. First, I saw two guys arguing because one wanted to go to the Tween and the other wanted to go to the cafeteria. The one who wanted to go to the cafeteria didn't want to spend money. Second, I saw a group of four guys standing in front of the big "Chick-Fil-A" poster. They were arguing because two of them thought the price was too high for a sandwich.

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Blog Post 2

“We do not really see with our eyes or hear through our ears, but through our beliefs.” -Lisa Delpit

This is a quote from Lisa Delpit in the article The Art of Awareness. I think that this quote means that we all have our own beliefs that make us who we are today. This quote is very significant to me because it talks about how humans are seeing the world now and how they are not really seeing their true identity and place in the world. It makes me think that people often forget their identity and what they really see or hear in this world. We must learn how to understand ourselves and others and who we really are and who others really are. This quote doesn't really make me think of one specific memory, but just generalizations. For example, it makes me think that people won't get along for this reason because they won't agree with the methods or ways they are doing something. A good example can be taken from The Art of Awareness. If you are a teacher and you and your co-teacher don't get along and don't agree on how to handle children, it can be problematic. Jill, a toddler teacher, states, "We shouldn't start out thinking one of us is right and one is wrong. We need to find ways to have more open conversations. If people can find their true identity and see the world for how it really is, we will live in a much more content environment.

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Blog1- Survey

1. Jason
2. Akron, Ohio
3. Special Edu. or High School
4. I play baseball
5.     Matter is what matters most to me. I breathe it, I drink it, I eat it and I am made of it. Without matter, nothing would exist.
        My thoughts and beliefs are incredibly important to me, but I would not have any without matter. My brain, which is made of matter, creates and holds my beliefs, so without matter I would think nothing. Figuratively, my thoughts and beliefs make me who I am, but literally matter is what makes me who I am. My heart, brain, lungs, and every other body part of mine are made of matter. My thoughts are very important to me, but in order to have thoughts I must exist, so therefore matter must matter.
         My family is also very significant to me. I love my parents, brothers, and sister with all my heart. The unfortunate thing is that I would not to be able to love them if matter did not exist, because they would not be alive and I would not have a heart. Even my closest friends are made of matter. I never would have met them if it were not for matter. Just another reason I thank matter every night before I go to bed.
         That is why matter is important to me. Without it, I would have no thoughts, no family, and no friends. I would not be writing this essay or have the opportunity to attend Stanford next year if matter did not exist. For these reasons, matter is what matters most to me.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/stanford-university/1440002-stanford-essay-what-matters-to-you-most-and-why.html
6. I feel comfortable working in a group
7. A formative memory or experience of mine is very broad. I just cherish the whole process of being able to learn and share knowledge.
8. One significant issue in the field of education is being able to relate to the younger generation. The job field is very tough too.
9. Why did you want to become a teacher?