Educational Blog, Goodbye.

Well, this is the last post for my educational blog. I really enjoyed keeping up with posts and learned a lot this semester from the class. I think these blogs are a great idea and a great way to see exactly what the students are thinking and feeling about a particular lesson or thought. I hope everyone enjoyed this as much as I did. And Dr. Luongo, you should look forward to doing this again, awesome stuff.
Thanks again, enjoy the summer.
--Mike

Home schooling is..

..pretty cool. I just met someone yesterday who was home schooled and I thought they'd know less or something but it turns out he was just as smart. There are some benefits to this, I guess there is more of a one on one approach with the student. This can help in academic development. But the major difference is a lack of social ability. I know that probably isn't the case all the time but it can greatly affect one's social skills. I'm glad my parents sent me to public school. I feel like I have the same education and an entourage of friends that I wouldn't have had if I was home schooled. Any comments?
--Mike

Relationships/Pressure from friends...

...affect schoolwork? Oh yeah. I just noticed how much of a factor a student's environment is to their quality of education. Anything personal/physical can affect it. By the end of the semester, the heat is unbearable...making most of the kids not show up to class or just be sluggish during the lesson. Pressure from friends/significant others can lead some brighter students down the wrong path. Problems at home can do the same, they can make a student feel worthless or not good enough. It's our job as teachers to reach out to these kids and bring them into an environment where they can learn and develop.
--Mike

Classroom fun.

I really enjoyed the micro-teaching yesterday. I love doing that and I think it's really beneficial to the improvement of our teaching skills. I mean think about it, how can one teach without actually trying it out in a practice session? The whole card business is cool too. I love the real life problems teachers face everyday, it kinda throws a curve ball at the student teachers. I'm looking forward to the next 2 class sessions, so far I've been having fun.
--Mike

Misbehavior in the classroom.

Friday's class made me realize what a trouble it is to take care of misbehaving kids. During my lesson Tuesday, I didn't even realize some of the misbehaviors. During Friday's lesson, I got to misbehave haha. Some of the cards were downright mean though. For instance, the kid who stole the pen, ran around the room for a few minutes, or started whistling. I don't think I would appreciate that in the class, but I know it will probably happen. I thought the student teachers dealt with these "troublemakers" very well.
--Mike

Last Tuesday...

...was fun. What was stupid on my part was I has the whole thing planned out and forgot everything the second I went up there lol. So I pretty much wasted time. I wish the bill was passed though...because I was gonna be President and veto it anyway hah. I wish my lesson went a little smoother, like I wish I caught the girl sleeping, I felt like an idiot when you guys told me she was purposely sleeping and I didn't catch it lol. Hopefully my next lesson goes better. I had a lot of fun though; I know I need work on presentation skills.
--Mike

Lesson Plans/Presentations

You know, I was looking over the lesson I'm doing tomorrow and I realized something I never thought I'd say. I did too much work. I ran through the lesson in my head and realized I'm teaching a 40 minute lesson...Yeahhh... I guess I have to go back and condense certain things lol. Anyone else having that problem? You wanna teach a whole bunch of information and realize you can't do it in one class lesson? Either way, get ready tomorrow to learn about the Legislative Branch! (Hopefully you guys can pass a bill to the President tomorrow)
--Mike

Vocabulary? Important??!

I guess it is. Of course it is! Vocabulary is essential in a healthy society. If people were more cultured and less "street" (as someone I spoke to today about the topic said) things might be a bit better. I mean, since the internet has debuted, vocabulary has significantly decreased in importance, that and grammar. It's so much easier to say "u, r, 2morrow, gtg, brb, lol, etc." than to type out these lists of words. Rightfully so, people should be able to speak this way in an informal setting. However, the classroom is a place for proper language. I have to agree with Professor Luongo and most of the class in saying that in my classroom I demand proper grammar and usage. It may seem old fashioned, but I know many of my students will thank me in the long run. Anyhow, I think I'm done here. See you all on Friday.
--Mike

MyAccess!!

Yeah that was some nifty software. I really enjoyed learning about the myaccess software. It seems really helpful to writing teachers, but how can it help history teachers? science teachers? math teachers especially??? I really thought it was a great little program but how would a math teacher incorporate that with their lesson? I guess i'd be able to assign an essay to write at home on some historical topic. I love the way the computer grades it plus we can override the grade. Its like getting a second opinion which I think is awesome. What did everyone else think of the program??
--Mike

Nickelbee!

I thought that was pretty funny. But seriously, I have so much bad stuff about NCLB. The teachers that I worked with during sophomore field all warned me this would probably be the worst thing i'd notice about being a teacher. I think NCLB doesn't really help anyone and should be stopped. Hopefully, politicians will realize how bad this really is. Resources shouldn't be taken from schools that need them, they should be given to those schools to try and improve grades. idk... I just think there has to be a better way to assess students. Maybe they should let educators decide whats best for the students of America.
--Mike

Standardized Tests??

Yeah they get everyone nervous. I couldn't believe, though, after Friday's class how much help is needed in our schools. The second essay was good but the first was crazy. That student completely missed the entire point of the exercise. I mean...whatever if that's what they were looking for but if they were actually trying then that was just pathetic. And whose to blame, the student or the teacher? I have a feeling that when I become a teacher this will be one of the central pressures...I'm not looking forward to incorporating standardized testing into my lessons.
--Mike

Assessment is tough..

Wow. After yesterday's class I realize how in depth assessment really is. I mean, it's like every single aspect of our assessment has to be recorded, every corner needs to be covered. I feel like I got a better understanding about it though, almost as if I can do better on my lesson plans now. I think yesterday's lesson also hooked me up pretty good with my lesson plans due for the midterm. I was having a lot of trouble figuring out how to assess my goals but now I think I'll do just fine.
--Mike

SPC under Lockdown

Well, last week the school was under lockdown. I'm sure everyone already posted about this, meaning i'm a bit behind but oh well. Although nothing happened and I wasn't nervous through the whole thing, it does make me a little nervous. I worry about how schools will be when i'm a teacher. I'm sure everyone has these questions, like what kind of stuff will happen in our classrooms, what kind of children will we teach. Stuff like that. idk i've just been thinking about it for a while. It gets me worried...does anyone else worry about safety in our schools? there has to be someone out there! lol.
--Mike

Since there was no class Friday...

I'll talk about my experiences at BHS again! Yeah, I know everyone's excited lol. This past week the kids studied the Jacksonian era and a little before and after that time period. To assess the students, the teacher used the smart board to play a little game. (If you couldn't tell already, I love technology, especially the smart board.) It was a quiz game in which the students played against one another. They played a preliminary game to win me on their team lol. I was put on the "democrats'" team. Naturally, we won lol. The key, though, was that the teacher told me not to answer anything directly, rather to ask the kids what they thought and "steer" them toward the right direction. Overall, I had a blast. Guess there's not much else to talk about.
--Mike

Technology in the classroom

After yesterday's lesson, I think most of us saw how various technological advances can be incorporated into our lesson plans. After observing in the high school, I noticed the school district in Bayonne is actually pushing the teachers, new and old, to use technology. For example, next year all lesson plans must be done online with the software provided. Some classrooms are equipped with several computers and a smart board. (Which is so freakin' awesome) I personally use OneNote and think it's a great way for students to take notes during class. Unfortunately, laptop computers aren't allowed in the classroom yet for students. I bet they will in the near future, though. Blogging is a great way to keep the students interested and alert. Also, its a great form of homework. A few teachers in the high school are actually testing their students online, which is also pretty awesome. My point is technology is being used in the classroom nowadays, things certainly have changed in 3 years.
--Mike

Article in TIME

This month's TIME magazine has an article in it about how to make better teachers. The article was interesting in itself, but I found the statistics more interesting. Did you know there are 3.2 million teachers in U.S. public schools? That excludes all private schools as well. With all those teachers, we need 2.8 million more by 2015. The average salary of a teacher is $47,602. Teachers quit the profession for a myriad of reasons, such as: too much load, not enough time to prepare, classes are too large, poor salary and benefits, and student behavioral problems. Another aspect of the article that caught my eye was a column on how to measure merit. What is the difference between a C paper and an A paper? Its gonna be our job to determine that. I guess being a good teacher takes the bear minimum and running way past that. It'll probably be hard, but its supposed to be a job, right?
--Mike

Today's Youth

Conjunction Junction really opened my eyes. LOL no but seriously that skit is awesome. Yesterday's class made me think about how strict to be when i'm a teacher. Today's youth hates guidelines, but you can't eb their friend either. I noticed that yesterday during my field experience. The first teacher I observed with was tough but fair and all her students seemed interested and alert. The second teacher was much younger than her and quite lax with his lesson. Children were walking around the classroom and yelling out the window. He did, however, have a small following of devoted students but the disruption caused by the other students was overwhelming the classroom and nothing was understood. I realize as a teacher you have to set rules but be fair and kind to the students. Like Mr. Grimes' second try at educating, the students like him much better when he was being helpful instead of attacking the students.
--Mike

Dropouts?

I just finished reading an article in the Baltimore Sun about dropout rates. Maryland had the idea to require students to remain in school, by law, until the age of 18. This would be fair and constitutional, considering 18 is the age required to be an adult. However, the cost would be outrageous. Also, the size of classrooms would nearly triple and the board of education would need 1100 more teachers. Do you guys think it's important that everyone be educated no matter what the cost? even if they don't want to be educated? how about if 16 was the cut off line and to 18 was left to the parents? Obviously a well educated society is necessary for our livelihood to be optimal. I think this education is important no matter what the cost. (If New Jersey doesn't hire me I might move down to Maryland lol)
--Mike

heres the link.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/annearundel/bal-md.ar.dropout11feb11,0,4548737.story

Sophomore Field

I wasn't there this Friday either, yeah i'm a horrible student lol. I guess i'll just talk about what I expect from sophomore field. I'm kinda nervous to go back to my high school. I've heard stories from the other teachers that the kids this year are horrible, makes me not want to go. I know what to expect and at the same time I really don't know what to expect. I just want it all to be over with. Hopefully in 3 weeks i'll look at this post and say the opposite, that i want to go back lol. We'll see i guess. Is anyone else nervous? anxious? scared? excited? all at the same time? I just can't wait to get out there but at the same time it feels like its happening all at once. Leave some comments about this and we can look here when were finished and see if we still feel nervous, scared, anxious, or excited.
--Mike

Different Types of Assessment

This blog is actually from Friday, I just never posted. Oops lol. Well on Friday we discussed different types of assessment and generally about how students and teachers feel "victimized" by assessment. It really doesn't have to be that way. The student and teacher can engage in different types of assessment beside the traditional pen and paper. For example, in a Math class students could handle their own "make believe store" and assign discounts to various items. Even in a History class assessment can be fun and memorable. In one of my classes, we actually held a mock Constitutional debate and convention. We compared our Constitution to the real one. Stuff like that can get students to even remember their assessments and actually remember the material. I'm not saying traditional pen and paper is a bad method to assess students, i'm just agreeing with today's (Friday's) lesson in saying expand your horizons and try different methods to get your students interested. I think that's what our public education system lacks.

President Bush proposes grants for public schools.

As some of you may have heard last night during our President's State of the Union Address, Bush proposed to sign $300 million in grants for children in inner-city schools. The Pell Grants for Kids would funnel tax dollars to help low-income families to send their children to private or religious educational institutions. Many Democrats attacked him restating his failure with the No Child Left Behind Act of his first term, and continued by saying that the government is already billions in debt and does not have the resources to fund such a large proposal. I'm not quite sure whether I agree or disagree with this. It would be great to send these kids to good schools, but the Democrats have a point too, we don't have the money to do this. I'll post the link to the site, let me know what you guys think.
--Mike

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/29/washington/29educ.html?ref=us