Final Field Blog

Our year is slowly but surly coming to an end. Over this semester I've learned and noticed a lot of things that I will be taking with me for the rest of my life. The first thing I would like to mention is the foreign kids that aren't from America that's in our class I would like to applaud them. I know it must be difficult to come to a country being a total stranger not only to the people but even more importantly the lifestyle. With that being said that shows a tremendous strength of confidence. That's where I will be starting off in my blog the importance of confidence. The first school that we went to was Mercer elementary. The kids at that school were very confident. At that time I started to think well why are these young children as confident as they were. The easiest conclusion that I came up with was because they were getting special recognition. By the teachers posting their work on the walls they were able to see their crafts hanging up. Your foundation is extremely important when it comes to life. Therefore by them being young and confident when they grow up that won't be something that needs to be taught to them. A personal example is I had to learn to be confident because of certain trials and tribulations. By it being instilled in them at a young age they will be able to strive much easier due to their confidence. The next school we visited was Beachwood middle school those kids had me dying with laughter. It seems that they were young adults in their personalities already. I remember being in a science lab where the teacher flipped cards to pick the groups. The kids were all different. That made them all have different personalities in the groups. Some were more goofy, some were serious, others were just trying to get the work done. It seemed as if they were grown already in their mindsets. The final school we went to was Orange high school. The kids were very advanced. I was in a physical education class where the students were having a good time. The schools police officer was even playing with them. They had advanced equipment, therefore they were able to do a lot of new and modern stretching warms ups. He also ran after school programs that helped me think of ways I would like to run my programs. Finally I went to my alma mater Maple Heights it was a great experience. I got to teach a college prep class. I also was inside a physical education class as well. I liked the college prep class more because I'm still in college and I was able to answer all of the questions that was presented to me. I'm thankful for this course and my classmates because I was able to learn so much from them.

Partner School Creation

Our in class assignment was unique creating our own school. My partner and I chose to create a high school. We wanted to really focus on three parts Academics, Arts, and Athletics. We wanted to give our kids the type of exposure they would need to be successful further than just in high school but actually in their field of choice and desire. To do that we have advanced programs, professionals, and the available resources that would put our kids in the best position possible. We didn’t want to just bring in kids who were talented, athletic, and extremely smart. We felt that would have limited our diversity levels. Not only would it have limited our diversity levels but our room to grow as well. We stress growth and development so our kids can show progress throughout our school. By our school being a charter school we are publicly funded and individuals can still donate. There are multiple ways to get accepted. We take three placement exams, need recommendations, hold competitions for sporting programs and arts events but we also take heed to your natural life understanding. We didn’t want for only the smart, fortunate, and athletic kids to get accepted. We wanted kids with backgrounds from all over. In our Arts programs we actually have professionals who are still professionally doing arts or even mentoring professional events. That is extremely important because you are learning from the best. You don’t have to pay extra money to get that type of recognition it is brought there to you. By our professionals holding such high positions you have a chance to get the upper hand on kids who don’t have the privileges that you have. In our Academics program we give our kids hands on programs. Where they teach, go out and career shadow professionals other than ours just in case there are other programs they are interested in. Most importantly we offer the cream of the crop advanced programs so that they area ahead of any competition. When it comes to Athletics we provide the best staffing, facilities, and resources you could ask for. We have former professional athletes that are there daily with the kids. That helps our kids get an advantage over kids who have mediocre coaches. We have the best equipment so our kids can have access to equipment other kids don’t. That’ll help our kids recover faster and be back into their sport if they have an injury or issue that comes up. Our facilities are top notch so when our kids are playing on a big stage they aren’t nervous because they see it all the time. We try to put our kids in the best position to succeed. There are obviously kids who are just smart but there are also kids who need special attention. There are kids who are just gifted but there are also kids who hold a lot of potential. With that being said we don’t have the best kids in everything but we give our kids a chance to compete. By them seeing professionals on a day to day basis it gives them dreams and aspirations that they can do it. They actually have someone who is hands on living it with them.

In Class Observations (First Day in The Map)

Even before I touch basis on how it was being back in a classroom at my alma mater I'll first discuss how the feeling was. I walked in to even get into the school you need to be buzzed in. You can't enter the office without being paged in. I'm assuming that is for security purposes. That was new because it wasn't like that when I was there. We weren't in the new school. We were in the old raggedy school. I spoke to the new principal who was my teacher back in my freshman year of high school. We laughed and joked around how mature I've become and talked about some tragic incidents I've overcame. Then they walked me to the classroom I was going to be in. Now let's go back a little more. To even leave the office and enter the school part you have to be buzzed out again. So first you need to be buzzed in to enter the school, then you need to be buzzed in to enter the hallways. You walk further down to get to the school hallways you need a special key card. If you don't have one of those you will not be able to get anywhere. Only administrators have those. By this time a lot of things are running through my mind. The first thing is this is similar to jail. You can't walk freely without having to be buzzed in everywhere. Not only that you have to have someone walk places with you. That is also similar to jail because that is like you're being escorted by a guard. My mind is still wondering, so I'm basically observing every move. Next thing you know I noticed there are only two floors. The floors are shaped like a big square. DUH!!! that is similar to how jails are again. With that being said look at the initial environment the kids are put in. What are you trying to prepare them for is the question I had running through my mind? They have these things called hall sweeps basically meaning if you aren't in class by the bell you'll face a consequence. Can you imagine how depressing that is every single day. Not having the freedom to do anything on your own basically. But remember high school is supposed to be preparing you for the real world, college etc. I don't think that's the right image. I don't blame the faculty at all I blame the structure of society but that's another subject for another day. I entered a computer class it was okay. The kids were doing their work for the most part, but I had those previously stated things on my mind so that over-shadowed my first class experience.

Orange High School

The first thing I noticed about Orange High School was the freedom that the students had. The students weren't being walked to class or being told to class. It was a great environment. I'm doing this in contrast to Maple Heights High School. In Maple the kids are usually being walked to class being told over and over that they should be in class. They can't walk through the hallways without being pressured about having a pass. That shows the type of freedom the kids have in Orange. I was fortunate enough to go into a physical education class. The first thing I thought about were the resources they had. To warm up they had music playing off of the teachers iPad. Now to stretch they had bands that loosened them up. It was unique because it made me think how I would run my gym class one day. I like the whole musical warm  up because it wakes the kids up. It definitely had the kids moving, that is a nice way to have them up and ready to go. In the back room they had exercise bikes that was also a big deal because each student has their own. I like how he ran his class if the student didn't want to participate in the daily routine they had another physical option. They didn't just have to lose credit. They could still earn points. The police officer actually came in and played a little while with the students. That was different because if the police came into Maple they were looking for something or someone. I know it may seems like I'm always down playing Maple but that isn't the case. I know what those kids over at Maple are exposed to and what they aren't. Now with that being said it takes people to give back. I'm fortunate enough to see the best of both worlds. I need to help inform those kids over at Maple to show them new opportunities and expose them to other worlds. First I have to become successful to be able to do that for them.

Blog Post 8

My question I got from the chapter is... Does advanced degrees, qualifications, years teaching, or seniority makes you a good teacher? I believe that it doesn't in fact some of my best teachers were young. The reason I say they were some of my best teachers were because they were passionate. If you compare that to a teacher that has been doing the job for so many amounts of years their passion drive maybe thrown off. In fact they may be leaning more towards a new job because they have been teaching for so long. Not only leaning towards a new job but maybe leaning towards retirement. Therefore they won't put as much effort in they'll basically just be there. Now obviously that isn't a fact in every case but in my experiences my younger teachers were more passionate. Some of my more mature teachers were wiser than my younger teachers because of experience in the field but that wasn't always the case as well. Some teachers get advanced degrees for the money. With that being said it isn't always to improve their knowledge some are just in it for the money. Not saying that is the only reason they began teaching but they may have taken on too many bills or had more kids than they planned, so they go back to school get an more advanced degree. That doesn't mean they're a great teacher. That could be just the reason they aren't. They may be too focused on home life and other things that takes away their full potential rather than a fresh young teacher who doesn't have those things to worry about yet.

In Class Observation 3 (maple)

Well today was quite different I was inside a physical education class. I instantly started to compare it to my Orange high schools experience because I was in a physical education class there as well. Just like Orange there were people who did not participate in the activities. The activities at maple today was playing basketball. The activities at Orange was playing soccer. The funny thing about it at both schools the kids that didn't participate were females. I do not know if it is a coincidence or is it something older females do. I think it is one of those things that females at a certain age think they are too cute to play and get sweaty. If that is the issue that is funny. I am actually sitting here with my female friend and I asked her was she that way? She laughed and said yes. Her response was no dudes wanna be under a girl that is all sweaty and nasty. I instantly busted out laughing and told her that is an terrible excuse. She said that is the truth though. She said they may have a guy in the class they like or like them and don't wanna blow it. Then she went on to say she wasn't the most athletic anyway. So she didn't like gym she's more of a girly girl. I quickly ended our conversation. In comparison to Orange high school they have more equipment like bikes and all of that but it seems like maple does more fun activities. Then again I can't say they weren't having fun at Orange because it seems as they were. I wasn't exposed to soccer growing up so it didn't really spark my interest. By me being exposed to basketball I was more into the games. Teaching wise both schools were prepared by the instructors well. When I was at Orange we spoke about different state rules you need to know being a physical education teacher. At Maple we actually did the same. They brought up different aspects about being certified to instruct certain lessons and equipment. The two classes were together at Maple rather than at Orange where one teacher was running the show. I think the two classes were together at Maple because it was just the start of their semester so they were letting them loosing up by having fun together. Tomorrow I'll be back in Maples physical education class. Hopefully I'll be doing some instructing!

In Class Observation 2nd trip

My second trip today at my former high school was different yet amazing at the same time. Today I was actually able to get up there to not only talk but teach as well. It was different first off because they were looking at me like who is this young kid about to teach my class. A nice amount of the students were freshmen my senior year in high school so I remembered a couple faces. I was in a college prep class shadowing. I basically taught about day to day life in college. Speaking on how organization plays a huge role. I was telling them you can't be disorganized and expect good results. I told them about how my study habits weren't the best when I first entered college but once I started understand you will easily get left behind if you don't I got my act together. I told them ways I learned to balance out my schedule. It was an unique experience because I'm only a couple years older than them so for them to actually be up there listening to me had me understanding that my role in life is huge. People may think it is harder for kids to listen to someone who's there age but in fact I believe it's easier because we can relate more. I'm actually living out the same day to day struggles they are as well. By me not being the most positive in high school and for me to be able to change they look at it as they can do the same thing. One group of students came into the classroom loud and a little dis-respectful but once I started sharing personal information about myself they were listening and in fact they were my biggest participants. They asked a lot of personal questions but I wasn't ashamed to answer to them because I believe you should embrace your struggle. What I mean by that is don't become discouraged in school because of difficulties you face. I think you should face those difficulties and continue to grow and move on. If you master your struggles there isn't much someone else can say to or about you. My second day at Maple Heights High School was great hopefully the rest of my week follows the way my day was today.