Wonderful Oppertunity Ruined

How exactly does one describe this education class this semester besides a lack of organizing. The Center of Pedagogy has left many tasks for Dr. G to be done by herself with no help at all. How can you expect a teacher who has over 100 students to make sure that every single one of them gets placed in a school. Now since the COP did not want to follow the class closely enough many students like myself have a major paper to write in the next week without ever have observing a class which we should have done a long time ago. It seems like a major let down for this class because Dr.G has done everything she should have, educate her students about he problems and issues in urban education while making a subject which sometimes may be dry, be so interesting I find myself pondering topics in class on my own time. As this point of the semester I am extremely stressed along with most of my classmates for a project that should have been mostly thought provoking material into a project with so many loose ends that still need to be tied.

As far as observing I was going to go to the Arts HS today with one of my fellow classmates but unfortunately forgot i had to work all day so was unable to go there. So now I tackle this question, when does the center of pedagogy want m,e to observe? after the project is already to be handed in? Now i am having my grade affected by something that was almost entirely out of my hands. I had an issues with my teacher because i had sent her a very professional email and received one back saying "I think you have the wrong person." Terrific! This is a perfect example of how communication is key in education. Obviously when it came to this class there was very little communication being done, or many counts of miscommunication.

Alumni Basketball Game

After going to an alumni vs. students basketball game at my town with my sister it opened my eyes to many things that I did not experience going to a county high school. Going to a county high school makes it hard for the sports teams to get the support that they would from a "normal" town high school, since the games were played in Hackensack it made it harder for the students to travel back and forth to see the games, especially if they couldn't drive.

Since my sister is a freshman in my town's high school I figured that this would be a wonderful opportunity to go to a game and see the interaction of students.Every year the high school has an alumni game in which the current varsity basketball team plays members of its alumni. The girls play first, then the boys game is next. Going to this game brought back many memories from high school and made me feel old(I'm not sure how thats possible but it did!)

During the girls game it was obvious that the competition was less extreme than they guy's game, but the girls had more fun and took it less light. The crowd was also less rowdy for the girls game. It was very nice seeing the friendly competition of the old coaches and their old players. I think the most interesting part was watching the players faces to hear what their coaches were telling them, also listening to the crowd to see what they thought about the new and older players. Going to one of these games knowing most of the players makes it more interesting because while I was listening to the criticism of the crowd I thouht of myself and when I used to play sports...what were the bystanders saying when I missed a shot? or struck out? or missed a fly ball? Going to one of these games shows you many things that have to do with our daily life.

Watching the boys game was a bit more entertaining solely because men are showoffs, they love showing off their talent, or at least trying to show off! It was also funny watching the older alumni men trying to prove that they still "had it", while most of the alumni were bigger than the varsity team, some showed that they lost their skills and were washed up!

Overall, I enjoyed watching the games, they were mostly entertaining but also a learning experience!

Newark Arts H.S.

After visiting Newark Arts High School last week it made me miss high school desperately! Walking through the halls as students were passing to their next class and listening to all the comraderie just made me miss my own high school in ways I can't explain. Although high school doesn't sound like it was a long time ago (3 years in June), I feel like my time spent out of high school has taught me more than I could ever learn in the classroom. I also realize stepping back in a high school how much I have matured and grown as a person. When I was sitting in the auditorium listening to the wonderful voices from the students I felt old...let's get something straight, some of those students may have only been a few years younger than me, but they still have a lot to learn before they graduate as well as before they walk into their future university. I realized that although teaching may have not been my number one choice for a career, it seems that after a few education classes and in-depth conversations in class about the problems etc with schools, it makes me want to help students of the future in ways that teachers couldn't help me.


As far as my opinion of the school itself, I was impressed. It was very similar to the image that I had pictured in my head. Since Dr. G has spoken about the school as "special" and you need to apply and get accepted, it immeadiately made me think of my own high school. I went to Bergen County Technical High School and the admission process was the same, you needed recommendations, admissions exams etc. Each student in the school was full-time but also had a major, just like Art H.S., my major was called Business Information Technology Systems(BITS for short). In BITS I learned primarily about computers and Microsoft Office applications. The school also had many other major from cosmetology to Auto Mechanics and everything in between. I am excited to see how the classes are conducted in Arts HS, but not excited to realize that the environment I am stepping into (urban area problems) I may not be 100% ready for. Overall though I was very pleased with the visit and truly look forward to the day I will spend there.

Health Education

My official topic/question for my inquiry project is...

Is the health education curriculum outdated? If so, how can we change it to make it better?

I think that this question is thought-provoking and very interesting. The ways to gather my data will be done during community service hours and also through talking to many people and seeking out their opinions. As stated in my last blog I do believe that the system needs a bit of updating, although I do think that people don't want to realize that our young children are not the little angels that they had hoped they would be. Having a fourteen year old sister will make this project even more applicable to my situation because I need to realize that some time in the near future she will be seeking out information and if she can't find it at school she will look to other places for answers. Hopefully she will come to me so I can help her make the "right" decisions in her life.

Any comments, suggestions from my classmates would be fantastic! Also even if you don't leave comments, take the poll that I have created in the right column!

Inquiry Project

For my inquiry project I am interested in researching the topic of health education in the school systems. Something else I would like to touch upon is the teachings of sex education and nutrition to high schools students and even younger.

Something that makes me want to touch upon sex ed and the fact that it seems like health is always a joke, at least in my experience and many other people I talk to. Health class was always given only because it was required and a way to lessen up the space in gym glasses. In any case, the other day in my Study of Human Diseases class we talked about Sexually Transmitted Infections and it was brought to my attention how little my classmates knew about the topic. At the beginning of the class we had a group activity in which each group was assigned a STI, they would have to write symptoms, treatments, preventions and anything else that goes along with that. It was obvious that there were few students who knew the topics very well and many who knew nothing more then the fact that they didn't want the disease. I have always found sex ed interesting because as a young person I think it's incredibly important to know what kinds of diseases are out there and ways to protect yourself. It's also important to know how to deal with your life if God forbid you do get some type of disease. Getting back to my project, the example I gave from class just shows how little schools are teaching about sex ed and how to protect and take care of yourself. The average teen loses their virginity around age 16, this means that sex ed in the high school education should be absolutely more in depth. Also, the United States is known to have one of the highest teen pregnancy rates, why is this you may ask? Perhaps it's because teens need to have a better understanding of what can happen to them and how to prevent it, if they do have this education and background I think that this rate would eventually diminish and things would change.

Another topic that interests me in the health education aspect is the talk of nutrition, another way teens should be told how to take care of themselves. Being raised in a house that did not enforce proper eating habits I am now not proud to say I am a 20 year old woman who does not eat a lick of fruits or vegetables. Now I am currently reaping the disadvantages of unhealthy eating habits in my health and overall well being. That being said I think it should be throughly enforced to teens and younger students how they should be nourishing their bodies and things that would help better their overall health. Considering America's pediatric obesity rate has been on the rise, one might assume that the government would take notice and perhaps try and educate it's school students so that bad habits will change.

After class thoughts

In class today for those who were not there, we had a very interesting conversation about how democracy and "idiocy" plays a part in the classroom. Many times in the class I found myself being reminded of my school experiences.

I pride myself on being lucky to the fact that I went to an exceptional high school and had many exceptional teachers. Although as we all know there are always kinks in the chain. My freshman year I had a physics teacher who was horrible, let me clarify. He spoke to us as if we were "kids", and had no problem referring to us, as well as our parents on back to school night as kids. That was red flag number one for me. Also he taught in a way in which he thought that everyone knew exactly what he's talking about, even though physics is a hard subject in it's own, he didn't seem to explain the concepts as much as he should have. This being said, about 75% of my class was failing. Once this was brought to the attention of the administration he was fired. Naturally it took the rest of the year to find someone else, but the students were told that our teacher "was not offered another job for the upcoming school year." So in my situation I felt lucky that my administration as well as the people around me saw that there was a problem that was large enough and had to be handled.

Also we talked about the fact of conforming to what we are told to be. At which I brought up the song "American Idiot" by Green Day. I think that this song is fantastic at getting a certain message across. That message being that we don't need to conform and that we all should have a mind of our own and use it! It's also comforting for me to know that I finally have been in classes were I feel, as well as other students, not shy to speak our mind. I feel like the biggest difference from high school to college was the fact that teachers are actually interested in your opinion and not necessarily how much information we can memorize. I also remember the first few weeks of school raising my hand to be excused for the ladies room, and the teacher telling me that I didn't have to ask and just go. I was shocked when I first heard that. For me college has been a learning experience for myself and how I think. I feel like my critical thinking skills have increased so much I can't even recognize my own thoughts.

One thing I wish to accomplish in the future if I teach is the encouragement of free expression and critical thinking. I feel like the school systems will be much better if they promote the students to critical think.

Babel

For my Global Issues class I had to watch and make a presentation on the movie "Babel." Many people only know this movie because Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett are in it. Despite the fact that two famous actors were in this movie, I would highly recommend anyone to watch it. The issues that it tackles are ones to take notice to and ponder on.

Quick summary, the story has four different scenarios of four very different types of people that we find out to be in some way, shape, or form connected. There are a few major topics that this movie addresses, one of the main ones being language(also concerning communication). There are many subtitles but it barely effects the flow of the movie. Other things that the movie covers are stereotypes of people and also diversity in cultures. It also tackles the topics which are very current to what's going on, terrorism and immigration. Mind you, these are very broad topics that to people who haven't seen the movie mean nothing, but hopefully to the people who have watched the movie, you can give me some feedback on what you think about the topics that I got out of the movie.

Parker Reading Assignment

"This buzzing variety does not exist at home, or in
churches, temples, or mosques either. It exists in public
places where diverse people are thrown together, places
where people who come from numerous private worlds
and social positions congregate on common ground."

I think that this quote answers the question of who has access to education. Although it does not specifically say who is getting education, it shows that our schools are diverse and that our schools have students with many types of different backgrounds.

Walking into a school in many parts of the United States you will see through the halls that our country truly has the most diverse population in the world. You can also look at our schools for a basic, broad look into what goes on in our society. Since many people in the States have gone through public education it is fair to say that the professional world starts at the schools. Exactly what I’m trying to say is that it is important that people take a hard look at our schools and specifically public education because it shapes what is to come for tomorrow. Many people may sometimes forget how diverse our population is, but it is important to remember that there is not only one type of people in our society.

In direct answers for the question of who exactly is taking advantage of our education, you can not simply say that it’s just one gender, race, culture etc. It is clear that our schools contain so many different types of people it’s hard to narrow it down to one single population. What we can say about who is getting educated though, is that while they are learning the curriculum being taught by education they are at the same time being taught from their fellow students about how diverse our world truly is.

Women and the Family

Quote from Parker reader that I would like to respond to on my own.

"As society grows more complicated,” she continued,
“it is necessary that woman shall extend her sense of

responsibility to many things outside of her own home if

she would continue to preserve the home in its entirety."

This quote could have many different types of interpretations. You could see it as, the woman should branch out of the house and try to gain responsibilities other places, but at the same time remain the sanity of the house. You can also see it as the author saying that it is time for women to not be in the house and getting out and making a name for herself. After reading the quote over and over I can't seem to think which one I believe to be true. This is where I open up a question to my fellow classmates, what exactly jumps out at you when you read this quote?

haiku time

Life is so crazy

Between school, work and "fun time"

Where has the time gone?

For those who don't understand my blatant point that I'm trying to get across, my life is incredibly hectic. I am a full time student taking 15 credits (of classes that are quite time consuming as well as challenging) work 2 part time jobs (I work as a physical therapy aide also at a tanning salon) which takes up about 30 more hours of my week, and try to juggle having a "full time" boyfriend as well :) Sometimes it seems like I need more hours in the day just to have time to myself and breathe. I also seem to forget that I can't spread myself to thin because ultimately I need to make myself #1, and obviously lately I have been slacking considering my nose is dripping as we speak (not true, but it might as well be), and I sound more like a guy than I do a girl.

Seriously, where has the time gone???? It's October already, I can't believe how fast the time has gone. I only have two years left of undergrad, pending I get my act together and finish all my classes on time. Also this time of year brings me to think about my relationship with my boyfriend Tom. On the 26th of this month we will have officially been together for 4 years. Mind you we both are only 20. So this means that we have spent almost a fifth of our lives together...that's nutty. People always ask me among other things, "Why aren't you experiencing life?" "Go out and meet new people." The way I see it, is that I'm happy. Ultimately isn't that what we are all reaching to achieve...happiness? Well at least I am. And as long as I'm happy why would I change a thing?

Now that I'm done with going off on a tangent, hopefully you will all realize exactly how crazy my life is :)

The Buzz of Public Education

After leaving our last lecture I felt compelled to write about how I felt about the things that we discussed. (Interestingly enough I couldn't wait to jot down extra info that we didn't get to share in class.) Much of the class we spoke about an article by Harold Hodgkinson about demographics in education. Many of the statistics that he spoke of were reiterated from the last article we read, "The Public Education Primer." Although it seems as Prof. Goldstein explains that he is the creme de la creme of education demographics so it appears what I just said may be vice versa. In class we discussed many of the key terms in his article, in my opinion the most interesting one was transiency, this is a term also can be interchanged with mobility. When our professor told us about the example from Newark I was floored. For those who may have been spacing off about what you were going to do this weekend, or just weren't there let me fill you in. Some time a few years ago Newark's mobility rate within their schools was at 40%. This 40% means that if at the beginning of the year a school has 100 students and at the end they still have 100, BUT 40 students are new and 60 are old, this is showing us how much more stress this students as well as teachers are having. The way that I saw it was, how can these children be moving from school to school and not having problems with it? They must have at least gripes about it, each and every school has a different curriculum, while the state may try and regulate what the students are learning, nothing is perfect. While I find myself to be an educated person, I also find myself incredibly naive to the kinks in our education system. After reading both articles and hearing the experiences that Prof. Goldstein has to offer it makes me learn more and more about why I might possibly want to teach.

Martian Activity

Schools have specific curriculum standards that provide our students with the higher capability to learn. Also standardized testing provides administrators with deciding what our students are having problems with and all what knowledge of what our students are learning in the classroom. This will help our schools they excel in.

More than half of the country’s public school students are white. Children of color make up the majority of public school enrollments in six states and many school districts. Children of color also constitute a majority of students in two-thirds of the nation’s 50 largest school districts, and over 90% of enrollments in several of the nation’s largest districts. In major U.S. cities classrooms are more culturally diverse.

A majority of teachers have advanced degrees as well as more then 10 years of experience. This means not only are our teachers well educated but have stay in the system for quite some time and have great experiences with our schools. Nine out of ten of the teachers are white as well as eight out of ten teachers are female.

Ah The Official Icebreaker!

Well, let's just say after a first week of school(not even a full week mind you) I am completely and utterly overwhelmed. The first day is always nervewrecking, especially for me. Someone who is not normally quiet is hushed by the nerves of college and meeting new people. After my first full day of classes I had the joy of working a wonderful 4-12 shift at my job. So during that time I pondered on everything that had happened that day. I realized that this semester will be incredibly challenging but finally the semester where I am learning about what I want to do. The classes I am taking are interesting and thought-provoking which makes me hope that the semester will be great.

After sitting through my first education class I got nervous. Reason being that I don't necessarily want to teach for a living, but decided that this(Health Education major) would be the best route to take to further my career in Physical Therapy. The reason I chose this was because I thought to myself that while in school it would be ideal to get my teaching certification that way I wouldn't have to go back to school in the future if I chose to change professions. Another reason was because the classes for health education fulfill my requirements for entrance to Grad School for Physical Therapy. I am hoping that this class will make me open up as far as public speaking(not my forte') and also realize what is going on with our public education.

With an opinion of someone who went to public school, I can say that anything I can do to improve the system and make the children/teens in our schools happier and have a better learning experience, I would love to be apart of it. I know that I was fortunate for having gone to a public school but at the same time receiving a Vocational-Technical experience. Not many teens coming out of high school can say that they had the experience that I did as far as my education outside of just Social Studies, Math, English etc. I thank my high school for giving me the knowledge I know now and the drive to what I will become in years from now. I can only hope that if one day I do teach that I can impact someone's life in my field of work.