Prompt 6- Brown

As i was sitting in my classroom one morning i notice that the classroom has a all different students that all have different abilities and make them who they are. As i was sitting there one morning the teacher put them into groups and didn't put the students with his or her friends but mixed them up with one another. As the children began to noticed that they weren't being in a group with their friends they began to become mad and upset. The teacher began to explain that they don't also need to be in a group with there friends and that everyone in the class are friends with one another. She also began to explain that when they get older they are going to have to work with people that they aren't best friends with or don't want to work with. As the teacher was explaining this to them one little boy began saying that the people in his group didn't like him and that they weren't his friends. After he was done talking the teacher explains to him that they are all friends because everyone in the class are like a big family with one another and that they are didn't not like him. Everyone in the class was very upset that they couldn't be with their friends.Once the children were given there assignment that had to be completed they totally forgot that they weren't with there best friends and work together in order to finish their work and get a good grade. I began to notice that all of the students worked so well together in there groups that you wouldn't even know that they didn't want to work with one another and that they weren't best friends with each other or that supposingly that they didn't like each other. The teacher integrated the students so that there wasn't just one boy in the group or one girl. She also didn't make a group of just boys or just girls. The teacher made sure that the children were all together and that they were working with other students that they usually don't work with. Even though the students didn't want to be in the groups without there friends they began to realize that it wasn't that bad to have to work with one another or work with other children that they usually wouldn't choose to work with by themselves.
Once the assignment was finished the teacher tried to explain to the children that it doesn't matter who you work with in a group or if there were friends because later in life it isn't going to matter. She gave the example of it doesn't matter if your mom and dad don't drive the same type of car because they still are your parents and that they still love you the same as one another does. I thought that was a good way to put try an explain it to the children because if you sit there and think about what she was saying it made sense. That just because your mom might drive a blue SUV and you mad might drive a black car doesn't mean they don't love you more then the other or that they don't like each other. People can still be together if they aren't the same as someone else and that they don't always have to best friends with each other to have to work together.
That day i came home and thought if i could relate this to a theorist that we read in class. Off the top of my head i couldn't think of one so that night i sat and looked through my binder and looked through the articles i had and rad a little of the Brown articles and figure out that i could relate some of it to my experience at the school. Lyn Mikel Brown talked about how people live with stereotypes in there lives everyday. for example he talked about female girls that were white, middle class. Not every teenage girl goes through the same experience growing up or going through there live. I no that me and my best friend didn't live the same life growing up. Her parents weren't divorced and mine were. Her parents mom didn't work she was a stay at home mom and her dad did. My parents both worked. Not every person has the same live as one another. Like my classroom with the students all working in groups but not being with their best friends or other children that they talk to all the time made they see that not everyone is like them and that people can be different then them. As the teacher was doing his to her students she realized that all her students are different in one way or another and that working in a group with other people can maybe make them see that even though they are boys and girls like them they are that they can be different but at the same time they are just like each other.

Promt 5- Dewey

When you are a teacher it is very important to be able to have a relationship with the parents as it is with your students. when you have a problem with a child you want to talk to there parent and inform them of what is going on. As i go to my kindergarten classroom every Friday morning i see the teacher collecting the children's folders that have their home work in them and paper that parents have signed or papers that need to be given to the office. As i was sitting there one morning i saw a little girl coming in late with her mother at hand. as they both walked into the classroom together the mother went over to the teacher and asked if she could speak to her in the hall.As the teacher agreed of course to go and talk to her. once the teacher came back into the room i asked the teacher if that happens a lot with parents of the children in the class if they come and want to talk to her. she answered me with "not all of them but few do". Then the teacher told me that most of them either call the school and speak to them or they write notes to the teacher that end up going back and fourth between the teacher and parents. My teacher began to tell me that most don't because they are lazy and don't want to come in and speak about how there child is behaving. When the teacher told me that i couldn't believe that she said that and that that can really happen. If i had a child that was in a classroom and wasn't behaving or the teacher wanted to speak to me about my son or daughter i would want to go in and see what was going on. I was shocked when she told me that. To think that a kindergarten parent doesn't want to hear or deal with the problems they are given a teacher now are just going to turn into a bigger problem in the future if it isn't fix early enough. I can understand that not all of the students parents might speak English but they can still make an effort to try and communicate with the teacher. My teacher explained to me that they parents of the children with ADHD and ADD are the ones that don't make an effort to talk to me if i send a note home or call. She began to explain to me that they are the ones that should want to hear what she has to say. She also began to explain to me that she does try to make an effort to communicate with the parents but she can only do so much in order for them to respond back and want to talk to her.
While reading an article in class i remember reading Dewey's article and in his article he talks about the relationships with social groups meaning that people with common interests or likes that people may have. As i was in my classroom during one if my visits i began to notice that they children begin to go into clusters within the classroom that there friends are in. One group i saw was of the children who like to play puzzles. i found that to be neat and interesting because all of the children that like doing puzzles were on the rug doing puzzles as all of the other students were doing other things with there friends. If a teacher wants her students to interact with everyone then it is his or her job to be able to do that in their classroom. It is the teachers job to communicate with the students and try with the parents. Teachers could also try to interact the parents into their classroom as well if they wanted to.

Prompt #4- Lisa Delpit

As you think about becoming a teacher you have to think and be aware of all of the diversity that is out there today and how you may have this in your classroom. When i thought about becoming a teacher i thought that growing up with teachers in my family made it easier for me to see what it was like to be able to deal and handle situations that you could be faced with as a teacher. I felt that peoples history of there family can have an impact on wanted to becoming a teacher because if different people have backgrounds that aren't very diverse then maybe some should rethink their Carree choice. With becoming a teacher you have to remember that there isn't just one way of doing things, that there are other ways. You can think of it as making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. because there are different way of making one. People can make things and do things different then others make them and do things.
When doing thinks with students you have to realize that each child comes from a different background and that each student might not be as fortunate as another student may be. If each teacher could understand each child's background if would be an advantage for everyone today and escpeically as a future teacher.
As Lisa Delpit relates to being a teacher because she explains to us that cultural of power and how teachers need to be aware and be able to use this when being a teacher. As a student may be talking to another student about what he/she did this weekend as you are trying to explain the lesson to the class that student may not understand they code or rules that are part of the classroom. If you don't tell the child and explain to him/her that it isn't right for them to be talking over you when you are trying to explain the lesson then they will never learn and will probably keep doing it. Also in Lisa Delpit's article she explains that if you explain the rules to that they may have not known they wont know unless the teacher explains the rules to the students. After the students know the rules then they should not talk over you or not follow them. they should follow the rules.

Prompt #3- Kliewer

As we go to school to learn and understand the concept of learning and how to teach others so in the future we can give back to the people that helped us one day and give back to the people that need it the most. For the students that are learning to be teachers we are going to be able to give back to them as well. No matter where you teach or what you teach we will have some students that aren't as fortunate as others are or who have less then other students. We being the teachers later down the road need to understand that not every child has the family background or family life as another child. One might be living poor then another or one might be wealthier then another. but as teachers we cant look at that. We have to treat each and every child the same as one another and give them the attention and help they need. Most classrooms you see today all have different students in them such as students who want attention, students who don't want attention, students who have disabilities, students who have behavioral issues. With all the different diverse learning that we see its when a culturally competent teacher should be able to teach using a variety of techniques that can help each and every one of her students in a way that they need it. Each teacher can work to help all of there students in the class room as a whole. They have to be able to insure that every child is learning and that no one child is left out because of a learning disability or because they just don't understand it. As Kliewer stated in his Critical Democratic teaching the location of disability article.
Being in the kindergarten class room i see that my teacher does interact with all of the students by including them in everything. Even though my class does have the behavioral issues and the learning disabilities you see my teacher working with them and the whole class as a whole not trying to exclude and=y one of them. for example there was one little girl in the class as they were all sitting on the rug she was not sitting when the teacher said to and once the teacher had to talk to her 3 times she made her get up and sit on a chair that was near the rug. Not to exclude her but to show her that everyone else is listening and she wasn't so she had to not be punished but that she needs to learn to follow directions when the teacher tells the students to do something. In this class room there are a variety of students that have different characteristics. When i first go in to the class they are all playing while the teacher is getting there folders and things for the day. After about 5 minuets of playing the principle come on the intercom and they do the pledge of allegiance and then they go over the rules and how everyone should act. he makes them repeat them as he says them. While being in this classroom for such a short period of time i began to catch on with the rules of the classroom. In the back of the classroom they have a chart with each child's name on it and they have 3 color behind there names, Green, orange and red, these colored cards are for there behavior. At the beginning of the day each child's card is on green for good behavior. If they don't behave and the teacher has to talk to them and they don't listen she makes them change there chard to orange after that if they still don't listen to her she makes them change there card again to red and that means they are in trouble and cant have recess. As the students are being told to change there card the teacher makes sure that the child understands why she had them change there color card.

Prompt 2 - Goldenberg

While being at my school now for about a month or so i have noticed that the two classrooms that i am in during the 2 hours that i am there are segregated within the classrooms. I did a little research and went on www.infoworks.ride.uri.edu/ and saw that the majority of the students were African-Americans and \Hispanics. Most of these students live in poverty. Now that i have seen these percentages for my school I have began to realize that, that statement is true. While being my kindergarten class i noticed that there is mostly Hispanic children and a few African American students and maybe 1 or 2 white students in the class. With that being said it is clear that the teacher needs to inter-grade her teaching so that it can relate with all of the children in her class. As i go to two different classrooms, one being a first grade classroom and the other being a kindergarten classroom i have noticed that my firth grade classroom has more white students then African American or Hispanic students in it. As i was sitting in class the other day i took a look around the classroom and watched the children as they moved from there desks to the rug and that there weren't many children of different races in my first grade classroom. Just the other day i was in my kindergarten classroom and i watched the children interact with one another and watched how this one little boy and his friend another little boy weren't talking in English. as i was watching them speak to one another in there language as they noticed i was watching the immediately changed the way they were talking and began to finish there little conversation in English. I was began to sit there and think to myself "hm why did they changed there language so fast" i then realized that the teacher wants them to speak English because they all speak English in class so everyone of the students should be able to speak English. After that class and i was beginning to gather my belongings and head down the hall to my first grade classroom i asked the teacher about what i just witness with the boy young boys. She told me that she would rather them speak in English even thou it is not there first language but they still can communicate in it pretty well and that they should learn to become stronger with the English language. As she was explaining that to me it clicked in my head that as soon as they saw me watching them they changed into English because they didn't want to get in trouble for not using English.
As i was driving home that day i began to think it that related to any of the articles that we have read and class and it made me think of Goldenberg . it made me think of him because he said that teachers need to be effective and how the teachers need to help the students more that English is not there first language, and that they might not use it unless in school. the more they use it the more they will be comfortable using it and wont even have to think about when to speak it and when not to. That day while being in that classroom the teacher informed me that most of these students don't speak English at home and don't use it unless they were taught it or have to use it. i took that into consideration as i was thinking back to seeing to the two young boys speaking in there native language which is probably there first language and the language that they were taught by there parents to use. After reading the article by Goldenberg he states that they children will learn from there experiences and if it is difficult for them they will get motivated and want to be able to learn and do good with it. As the teacher told me she wants her students to be able to speak in English and want to be able to use it.

Prompt #1- Shor

February 12 was my first time going to my placement at my school I was assigned to. I volunteer at an elementary school in a city area. As I pulled down the side street the school was on I begun to become nervous. As my friend and I sat in the car for a few minutes before we got out and went into the school we talked and tried to get our nerves out and began to realize that it couldn't be that bad. As Gianna and I walked to the front of the school we began to see some children walking into school late. I thought to myself "wow this school looks much bigger then my elementary school use to be and looks like it was a newer school". As we waiting for the secretaries to buzz us in my nerves started back up again. Finally once in the school we headed to the offices where we signed in and then headed to our teacher's classroom. While sitting in the classroom waiting for our teacher to walk in and greet us I began to think how different this school is from what my elementary school was and how many aspects have changed since I was in elementary school. One aspect being buzzing in at the front door and having to sign in at the office, at my elementary school you had to buzz in and sign in but it wasn't as strict as it was in the school I am volunteering in.
Once my teacher arrived in the classroom we were all assigned our children and room numbers of where we would be tutoring. After we were given our children and the materials that we would needed we went over a few rules of how to help the children read and understand words, pronounce letters and sounds. Once I went into my first classroom i began to look around the room and noticed that there were many colorful posters which contained rules of the classroom, manners that they children should have while in the classroom. I also noticed that there were many posters hanging on the wall that consisted of feelings such as being happy, sad, laughing, smiling, frowning. As I was sitting in the chair at a small wooden table I noticed one poster that caught my eye because of it color and the content that it had on it. It said treat people the way you want to be treated and show the respect that you want to be shown. This poster caught my eye because that saying applies to everyone and if you aren't nice to someone and don't treat them with respect that will treat you the way you treated them. The classroom walls were covered with interesting posters and pictures and words that would help the children on a daily basis. There was not one part of the wall that wasn't covered with a colorful poster of picture. The teacher and students in my first class room seemed very welcoming and were extremely nice. It was very warm welcoming when they children called me Ms. Amanda and wanted me to help them with there work. In my second classroom of the day I went to I noticed much of the same posters and objects in the classroom. Although this classroom was much more loud and the children were more rambunctious they were still very welcoming and made me feel welcomed. In this classroom I noticed that they the children wanted to learn more and the teacher kept the children's attention more then the first classroom I was in. These children were full of energy and couldn't wait to go to lunch. As both of my classrooms were very welcoming I felt that once I go again and begin to become familiar with the children I feel much more comfortable.
While being in this school for only a few hours I began to notice that the teachers try and help their students with reading and math more then other subjects. Me being a "reading buddy" i have the privilege of helping the a handful of students became more comfortable with reading and being able to become better readers. While being in the elementary school I was assigned to I noticed that there assessment scores in math and reading were very slow, much lower then the states scores itself. The teachers are trying to help the students in ways that will benefit there learning so the scores of the school will raise and help there school be able to meet the standards they need to meet. As I was in one of my classrooms I notice that they children seemed to become bored easily because they teacher seemed to be teaching them from a script like booklet. These children cant have fun and make there ideas creativity if there teacher is teaching from a book and going by a step-by-step guide for them. The children became much more quicker then if the teacher taught them by herself. As we read Ira Shor in class he would say that children would be able to create ideas on there own and shouldn't be taught by a guide but instead in a system that bores the children. If the school wants there tests scores to raise then they need to fins ways that will keep the children's attention and make them want to learn and do better on these tests.
After just a few hours in being in the school and being in two different classrooms I couldn't wait to return next Friday and help the children even more. My experience being there on that day made me think of wanting to become a teacher even more. To be able to help the students in ways that they need it the most and how much they appreciate it put a smile on my face that made me smile from ear to ear. I couldn't wait to return and see what the next visit would bring and now it would affect my life.
Driving home with Gianna after our time at the school made us think how some of these children live and how they depend on us to help them with their school work. As we were on the high way going home I told her that I was nervous for nothing and that it was like I have been in the classrooms since they first day of school.

all about me..

so this is my blogg.. :)

Well my name is amanda and im 19 years old and im a freshman at ric, im enjoying it so far. I live at home and commute to school because im not ready to leave home yet.. I hope to one day become a elementary school teacher and either teach first or third grade. im a very friendly, loud, talkitive, fun bubbly girl who loves anything fun.. when im not at school im either working one of my two jobs, hanging with friends, or with my boyfriend. I love my puppy lady.. :) i cant wait for the summer to come because i hate the winter and being cold. I cant wait to be able to be on the boat and go camping with my family and friends. i love the patriots and nascar! Well thats it for now.. :)