January 27, 2011

Yesterday was my second time at the middle school helping with the history class. This time I got to stay the whole time so I was able to see the whole first period and part of third. They have odd and even days, alternating each day so one week I see first and third the next I see second and fourth. It is interesting to see the different classes and how with different students in each class it creates a unique environment. Also there was a sub for the co teacher in the class so I got a different perspective on how a teachers teach. I'm starting to see how each child learns in their own way and the teacher must conform to help each student. I also noticed that it helps to bring in other sources, for example the teacher had them read an article from a certain educational magazine. She read out loud stopping periodically to include the students in discussions. I am definitely starting to see the classroom from a teachers perspective.

January 20, 2011

Part 1
The other day in class Mr Fernandez came and talked to us about safety procedures in schools. He told about how every single student has to be accounted for. We got a real live experience with this yesterday. During a senior assembly the fire alarm went off. The whole senior class plus some were all in the auditorium. This caused it to be difficult for everyone to get out of the auditorium in a speedy manner. When we all did get out of the auditorium there was no way to organize us to make sure no one was missing. Students were just hanging around talking with friends waiting until we could go back inside. I have know idea how the teachers and faculty accounted for all of us.

Part 2
The speaker during the assembly was Tony, one of the guys the movie Freedom Writers was based on. He was in that class and had his own hard story. He told us about everything he went through and all the stereotyping that took place. However, he overcame his difficulties and now speaks to others encouraging them to push past stereotypes and everyone telling them they can't. Stereotyping is something everyone does. It is almost like an automatic thought for people and most don't realize they do it. In high school there are many of stereotypes, for example: dumb jocks or uncool smart kids. Overall stereotypes are not good. People must learn that stereotypes do not define them. They can be whoever they want all they have to do is work at it.

January 13, 2011

Thursday was our first day to go back to our classes. I was moved to middle school to help in a history class. However, I was unable to go to that class yesterday because the teacher was not there and had a substitute. So instead I went with the majority of the class to the elemenatry school and made sure everyone knew where to go. I ended up hanging out in the library reading. While I was in there I saw a few classes come in to check out new books. It was cool to see there excitment in finding books to read. There was also a class who came in the library to type up a report of some kind on Mac books. This integration of technology into classwork gives students a great experience. While I enjoyed reading in the library, I am extremely excited to begin with the middle school history class!