Educating the "Good" Citizen

We all know how important education is, if we felt any different we probably would not be in this class and in this major. Education is meant to expand the mind and prepare students for future endeavors. It mostly consists of your typical subjects such as math, English, history,and the sciences. Another important subject that this article covers is that of our government and the way our country is run. Many students are not aware of how many branches of government there are and how long a senator's term lasts. This needs to be taught to our students. Just last semester I was assigned by one of my professors to research the government of New Jersey. I thought I knew a lot, but I was shocked that I was unaware of so many people. I am thankful for the assignment cause I realized that for some reason this information has been skipped over through all my years of education. I could tell you have to integrate and differentiate an equation but I can't tell you specifics of our government that effects my life everyday? Its scary and needs to be taught.

The Arts

The trip to the Arts was a great experience. I enjoyed it all and I was extremely impressed. The poetry reading by Jasmine really blew me away. I was so impressed with her performance and could not believe that she was only in high school. It was a great way to introduce the orientation and grab our attention.

Talking to the younger teachers was a great help and I really enjoyed myself. They all seemed to have great information for us and explained things and put things into perspective that you might not learn in a college classroom. Teaching is an important thing and you should be in the major because of your love and desire to teach younger students. Many believe it is the easy way out and the simple thing to do, but it requires a lot of extra work outside of the classroom and you really have to love what you do in order to connect with the students.

I'm excited to go back and learn more and meet more of the students. It seems like it is going to be a great experience and that we are all going to learn a lot. The students all seem to really enjoy where they are and are making the best of their education and it should be a great environment to observe and learn more about.

Arts High School

Well, I must be honest. I was not looking forward to this trip. Busy with so much school work and then dealing with my job, I felt it was a bit of a hassle. But after reading through the website and watching the videos I have become very interested and eager to see what it is like!

Whenever someone says the town Newark, people often get a bad taste in their mouth and think of it as this horrible crime driven town. Yes, it has its bad areas, but there is also some amazing things there and just by reading and watching a few videos I can already tell that Arts High School is one of those amazing things.

From everything I have heard from my friends that have already taken this course and have already visited this high school it is a great place for students to learn and strive to reach their highest potential just like every school should.

During my visit tomorrow I am excited to take it all in and really observe how such a successful school is run and how the students and teachers interact with each other. The only side of the classroom we know of is that of the student and I think tomorrow will bring shed light on the other side of the classroom that we are all trying to get to. We have a lot of learning to do and we have done a lot, but tomorrow we will leave the reading and midterms and papers behind and learn by observing and stepping right into an interesting and new high school.

How can understanding demographics help us better understand teaching and learning?

Teaching is a profession that is constantly changing. That change occurs through the teacher. Every year a teacher is faced with a different group of students and is faced with the challenge to help them grow and learn throughout the year. Every student learns and responds to things differently and as a teacher it is important to notice theses differences and try their best to help the students to the best of their ability. With this challenge comes the role of demographics. Not only do you have to adapt to children’s different learning styles, but you also have to understand their different backgrounds and where they come from. Their race, ethnicity, religion, class, and many other characteristics also play into understanding them better as students. Everyone comes from different homes and different customs and sometimes many people can grasp a concept easily if it is taught to them in a way that is familiar to them. Although this is a great thing to achieve, it is not easy. Classroom sizes are increasing rapidly and to cater to 25-30 students is a lot of work and is not something one teacher might be able to handle all by his or herself. It is important for a teacher to take these different characteristics into consideration and try their best to come up with a method that will affect the classroom as a whole. Many different teaching styles can be enforced for certain lessons and can be helpful for majority of the students at a time. It is important to be aware of the students in your class and their different backgrounds and to try your best to incorporate things that will help them achieve to the best of their ability.