the first year

This was a great film and it really opened my eyes to what teaching is really going to be like. Being a teacher is not always going to be fun and easy. It is going to be full of hard work and heart-renching moments. Whether those moments are for your students success or fear of safety they will pull on your "heart strings" if you're a good teacher. The moments that affected me the most in the film were probably the one of the student with the speech problem who couldn't get help and his teacher trying so hard to get it for him. The moment of a teacher having to report abuse as that could not be an easy task. And that of a teacher trying to open up to her students and get their film developed, with, as it seemed, was her own money. There was so much struggle in this film it was moving. The teachers were trying so hard to affect their students in a way in which they would take "something" with them. And the students had their own battles to deal with. This makes me think of what my own goals for my class room are going to be. I want of course for my students to walk away with the best education I can give them, but more than anything I want them to be excited. Excited for school, for the world, for life. I want them to want to always explore and to never lose that childlike enthusiasum that school and hard times can kill. I hope I can give them that.

myspace search

Today I discovered a couple really interesting things. 1. Unlike milk a myspace account does not expire no matter how long it has been since the last time you logged in. 2. I have a pretty good memory. 3. Using the search part of myspace turned up some great things about education. At first when I looked up "education" on myspace I was taken to a link page where I could explore different sites about education. Not seeing a specific thing that I needed I asked Devin for help and thankfully she guided my in the right direction by looking up early childhood education. The page that appeared next was filled with links that contained tips, and other sites along with discussion boards. I didn't find, however, any organizations but the information that I did see was very useful and there seemed to be very credible sources available.

The Internet and Kids

From the clip it's easy to see how controversial and contradicting the internet can be. For today's youth the internet is a great way to see friends, get new information, and experience something you can't every day right in your own bed room. However this tool can be misused, for cheating, exploitation, etc... I am personally very torn on this issue because it's so easy to see both sides. I as an educator want my students to be safe on the internet but also use it to its full potential. I think the best way to do this is to educate them about the sites and how to be safe online. Once they have the knowledge it's up to them to do with it as they please we can only do so much. I myself was very sheltered and as a result don't know how to use myspace or face book and feel like I am missing out on a very big part of the word I live in. I wish that I at least had the knowledge to use that tool, then I could make my own choice where as right now I don't have a choice.

Major Changes

When I first decided that I wanted to be a teacher I was positive that I wanted to teach Eighth grade English, however due to recent discusions between myself, fiance, and family members I have now decided that Early childhood is the major for me. My fears with this choice are; that instead of teaching I will parent or babysit and I don't want to do that, that is not my job and I want to be a good teacher. So how do you go from being a babysitter to a good teacher? I am not even sure how to redirect my lesson plans, focus, anything, HELP!!

I recently attendend a water symposium of which I would like to incorporate into my class room. I think the issue of water is an important one and would like my students to research the issue further. I would have them each draw a country out of a hat and then they would research that country and it's water laws and resources etc... They would then write an essay and create a presentation for the class. This lesson would provide every student with information about water from countries around the world.

Future Classroom Topic

(I will be teaching middle school/High school language arts. Hopefully grades 8 or 9.)
One activity that I would have planned would be writing journals. This may sound very simple and in all realities it is, but I feel that it is one of the best ways to get to know the students. They would be required to take their journals home and describe to me what they notice around them. Whether they write a short essay, a poem, lyrics, or pages describing nothing at all, they would be writing. In class (if comfortable) they would get in small groups and share their journals with each other. The class room should be a safe place where they can share. As these are difficult grades it would be something they could connect with each other through.