3/22/09

I feel the Muncie community does a good job at partnering with schools. It has a website that parents can check frequently. This website contains numerous links to help the school system communicate with the parents. Some of these links include the lunch menu, school events calender, news releases about the school, and several parent resources with such links like what to do after the arrival of a new family member. It also has links to all the administrators and staff with their phone numbers, pictures, and addresses. I believe this is the best part of the website because this gives the parents a way to speak to someone when they feel there is a problem. I think that the school system does a great job of communicating with parents but it could do better at including the entire community. I think a bake sale or a rummage sale could help with this problem. It would get the parents, students, and community together to socialize and get to know each other.

Mock Parent/Teacher Conference 3/02/09

I thought the mock parent/teacher conference went really well. My preparation for this activity helped it go smoothly. I felt like I said "um" a few too many times. This is because that is the way I talk in everyday life. I think I need to practice speaking like a teacher more often. I thought that Kim did a good job of acting like a real parent. This helped this activity feel as real as possible. I think I need to work on my transitions from one part of the conference to another. I remember saying "here are her strengths" and "here are her weaknesses". This made it feel a bit choppy in some sections. I thought the difficult part of the conference went well. I thought I took the situation well and explained my side of the problem well. Overall, I think this was a good experience even though I obviously can make it better in the future.

2/28/09 Reflection #3

I was really surprised by this video. Although I knew that meth was a problem, I didn't know how big of a problem it really was. I was also surprised to find out that even if a meth user becomes clean, their brain function may never return to normal. I think meth can create a huge problem in my classroom and school. Meth makes you jittery and talkative so if a student happens to be on it, they will distract the other students and hurt themselves academically. The student doesn't have to be on the drug to cause a problem. They just have to see the violence associated with it. These children become violent with their siblings and could possibly bring that aggression to school. The kids who have parents that are addicted are more likely to be victims of sexual, verbal and mental abuse. This can cause disiplinary problems in school and cause the student to hurt themselves academically. It is important for me as a teacher to watch out for these behaviors in my students so that I can catch the problem early and hopefully help them get into a safer situation than they are in now.

2/13/09 Reflection #2

Poverty and homelessness is a huge problem for children in America. Kids tend to have to grow up faster and become the caregiver for their families. This means the kids can't do what they want to do. They only get to do what they have to. The children that don't get to be kids miss out on simple things such as participation in sports, clubs, and other school/community activities. Along with this, the children won't perform to their highest ability in school. If the children have to work and take care of their families, they won't get the nutrition they need because of lack of money and they won't get the rest they need to function. They have a higher chance of getting sick as well. As a teacher, I will address these problems about informing the students about poverty and homelessness. I will make sure to keep an eye on the children that aren't themselves and see if I can help in any way I can. 

1/30/09 Reflection #1

There are many events in which shaped the course of my life, specifically education, but one stands out in my mind. When I was a sophmore in high school I helped my band director teach an 8th grade percussion ensemble. The kids were coming from a program that wasn't as advance as my director liked, so he pushed the students to play harder music and learn new things. This frustrated the students. I took it on myself to help them feel secure in what they were doing and to make them feel that they could rise to any challenge my director laid before them. At the end of this ensemble all the kids were playing their parts and having fun as well. My determination to help these kids showed in their performance. This event showed me that I have the power to make a difference in someone's life. This lead me to the desire to teach. The idea of helping students everyday realize their potential and helping them succeed is something I look forward to for years to come.