Self Reflection

I really had no expectations for this class other than I knew we were going to be working out in the field with urban schools. I really wanted to see exactly what this urban myth of inner city schools was all about because I never got to see the one in person. Now that I have been able to see what the some urban schools are like in person I have wiped most of my assumptions of urban schools out.

My biggest personal challenge of this term was to try and erase all my preconceived notions about what urban education is all about. To be honest my biggest accomplishment was that I think that I have taken great strides to be able to say I will be able to teach in an urban setting with a blank slate and not bring any of my incorrect ideas into my classroom environment.

Well like I have noted above I believe that in order to be a successful in urban schools is to have open mind, a lot of creativity and to be fair and honest with your students. I also believe from what I have learned in the class discussions mainly is to be able to work the system, find ways to get your students and you as a teacher what you and them both need in order to be successful. Since if have just found out that I will most likely be doing my student teaching in University High in Newark I will have a much better look into what it really takes to become a good urban educator. However, the things that I will bring on my journey as a teacher hopefully all those previously mentioned successful traits of an urban teacher and really an educator in general.

The most helpful thing that learning about urban schools and working in urban communities were probably the discussions about how the system works and to realize that you will need to know this in order to get certain things accomplished. I think that the class could have been a little more spread out over time. I feel that the trip to Newark was so time constrained and there may not have been enough preparation time to go into Newark schools ask questions that would have been a little more useful to me and my future experiences. I just feel that the course flew by and since urban schools is so unfamiliar to me it was a lot to take in over really less than four week course, but that just might be talking. I think the most helpful reading was “The Pedagogy of Poverty versus good teaching” it was a good reinforcement of what good teaching is and also an insight to what some urban education is may be like I might have liked to read something more about history of urban schools at the beginning of the semester. I think everything we did in class was pretty good maybe we could have had less discussion and some more informative instructive learning about urban since it seemed with the exception of a few of the students in the class there was very little first hand urban education experience. I would have liked to know more about the techniques of what works in an urban classroom and what doesn’t. It just seems that there could and should be a couple other courses on Urban Education in the MAT program other than just this one. That is if you ask me for someone who is going to student teaching in an urban setting and hopefully teaching in one afterwards in Monmouth County.

NCTM (National Council Of Teachers Of Mathematics

I was browsing around on the internet to find some stuff about math and some suggestions about good strategies and methods for becoming a good math teachers and stumbled upon what looks like a great website for not only mathematics but teaching in general. There is a bunch of information on this it talks about everything from how much how work to give to whole lesson plans.

I particularly fell in love with this one page where it addresses what most of us in class thought was a major part of becoming a successful teacher in any school set not to mention urban, which is getting the parents involved. The web address to this page alone is: http://www.nctm.org/resources/content.aspx?id=6340 It mentions stuff like creating an email address account just for the parents, create post cards to send to the parents and stuff like have a family day for math etc. One of my favorite things it mentioned was to try and recruit parents as tutors or helpers in the classroom once in a while if possible to serve as support for their child and other students.

It is just the tip of the iceburg as far as parent involvement goes but it does start the ball rolling. Remember the first step is breaking the ice and just making contact with an open hand is crucial. If anyone else has some good ideas please feel free to leave any suggestions.

Web address to MCTM: http://www.nctm.org/

Education Equality Project

I read an article called Achievement Gap "Shocking" from Teacher Magazine it was published June 11, 2008. It is about the forming of a group which meaning is to shake up things in the public education system, particular in poorer Black and Hispanic neighborhoods. It is being started up by the top administrators from Washington D.C. and New York City schools systems along with Al Sharpton. There main goal is to raise overall achievement of Black and Hispanic students to the level of there
counterpart White students.

“Nationally, 55 percent of black males graduate high school on time, compared to about 78 percent for whites, according to recent data released by Education Week with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.”

Though they have nice goals and are after the right things they have not yet described how they plan on doing so or even say where they would like to start. However, I feel just to say something about this topic and to have it be brought to the national media level is a good thing even though there is no real plan set forth to achieve these things they are talking about.

“The group has yet to advocate any specific policies it wants to see enacted, but in general its leading members said they want to see greater accountability from teachers, more incentives to reward success, and greater parental responsibility for educating children.”

The below quote brings to mind something that we talked about in class the other day how the better funded schools districts are better off than the poorer ones. It made me think of the Abbott school districts that we have in New Jersey. I was wondering if there are any other plans out there to help the less wealthy school districts in other states. This may be something that the group should look at first.

“Rhee noted that in her city, children who go to public schools in an affluent neighborhood get a "wildly different" education than students in the same school system who live in a poorer neighborhood.”

All quotes are from the following article located at link below. Please read on if interested. http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/articles/2008/06/11/08achievementgap_ap.h19.html

Relating Math to Everyday Life Challenges

The title of this article I read is “Neb. Math Teacher Honored for Method” from The Associated Press. It talks about how this teacher named, Missy Mahoney, was awarded Nebraska Association of Middle Level Education Award of Excellence. I can with some sort of confidence assume that this teacher is not from an urban school due to the school being out in Nebraska. However, I don’t want to talk about where the school is located I would like to talk about how she has come to be on this level of teaching in her subject which happens to be the same as my subject area, Math.

Mahoney has been awarded this because of her methods of teaching which I hope can as be translated to urban schools as well. Her methods are to relate all her teachings to everyday life situations that she knows that her students face.

“She said part of that includes helping students see how the math concepts they learn in the classroom will apply to everything they do in life, such as talking about sales tax with shopping, interest rates on a car loan or leaving a tip when they go out to eat.”

I feel my challenge as an urban teacher would be to try and find those relationships to what an everyday urban student goes through since I have no experience in an urban environment myself. I am not sure if she would be as successful in a school where she does not know her student population as well. I assume that is the job of the teacher to learn their students and what type of things they like to do. I do on the other hand think that this is the best way to teach the subject of math. In order to be successful in the field of mathematics you have to have the students be able to recognize where they can use this in their current or future lives.

Article located at: http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/articles/2008/05/28/08mathmethods_ap.h19.html?qs=math

Only the Strong

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi4221174041/

One of my favorite movies of all time is “Only the Strong” it is about a former graduate of the Lincoln High School who comes back from the marines to try and give back what he has learned, as far as discipline and respect. He chooses to help the 12 worst students at his old high school with the help from a few teachers and the disdain from the administration. He teaches them that there is more to life than gangs and drugs. In the end all the students gain the respect from each other and to my surprise the administration comes around and sees the good in what this teacher has done for those students who they have deemed to be unreachable by “standard teaching” methods.

As you can see just from the above trailer alone it depicts the students at the school as trash talking, weapon slinging students who don’t want to learn and who could not care a bit about the teachers trying to teach them. It depicts the students all in gangs and drugs. I know that the media, especially movies such as: Only the Strong, Dangerous Minds, Sunset Park and all of the Substitute movies have definitely had a major impact on my assumptions of what not only the urban school and the classroom itself but of students as well. After taking this class, I feel, to assume that every kid in an urban school is in a gang or on drugs is not fair or true.

Bon Jovi Gives Back to Newark

Newark School Visits Tues. June 3

During my visits today one thing jumped out at me right away. It was how quiet the school actually was both in the halls and in the individual classrooms, well at least the classrooms I visited. It was shocking to me at least because from what I remember from school is kids talking really loud and teachers yelling to get control of the students. In these schools today the students seemed very well behaved and under control, meaning they are attentive and not being rude to one another when speaking and listening.

Moving on, another thing that I noticed was the commitment and enjoyment that I heard and saw with all the teachers we met today. I was not surprised to see and hear this from the teachers but happy and excited to think that yes there are teachers who enjoy teaching and thrive doing so. It in some way gives me confidence to be able to go and teach and be happy. I also believe if I go into teaching for the same reasons why the teachers that we talked with today did, which is for the kids, then I will have the same emotional fulfillment and excitement in my career.

I was overall very happy that I was able to visit these schools today. Everyone was very nice and generous to us. The kids seemed very excited to see us as well. I can’t wait for tomorrow to see some more dedicated teachers and inspiring students at work.

Assumptions Paper

I try to dive into my thoughts of what I consider an urban school setting to be, I think back upon any personal interaction I may have had with a school that is in fact considered urban. I then think about any relations I might have had with a teacher, student or even peer who has had any first hand experience within an urban school. I next think if and how any media sources may have shaped my views about urban schools. Finally, turn towards my own feelings and any influence my family and or immediate friends may have had on my views.

After thinking about all those influences, I have come to one clear conclusion about urban schools I am confused of what my opinions are about them. I have acquired various assumptions over the years my first thoughts were from my first hand personal interactions. From these interactions I assume all urban schools are highly crowded, little diversity among the students and very poorly funded, I believe this because of my few experiences in them they were in shambles and literally falling apart. There is another major influence on my views of urban schools which are my relationships I have with people that are actually in or were in an urban setting for some time. These people I feel are the major contributors to my assumptions and beliefs about urban schools. Due to their ideas of what the schools are about I feel that urban schools are not that much different from the suburban schools I have grown up in all my life. I feel that the students at urban schools want to learn as much as possible and they are motivated in and out of the classroom. From what I understand it is up to the teacher to foster these feelings the students have and to build upon them with the aim of getting the most out of the students. This brings me to my next concept of urban schools, the teachers, most of my relationships with people involved in urban schools were at one point or are still teachers, so my views may be a little bias. I assume that all teachers in urban schools want to get the most out of the students and try very hard to do so, but the administration makes it very hard with little or no support neither in funding or discipline. As supported below from our reading, The Promise of Urban Schools by Senior Fellows.

“Effective classroom teaching practices are directly influenced by the degree to which the adults in schools are encouraged and supported to develop professional resource and learning communities. This is an issue of educators’ agency and of equitable allocation of resources to urban schools to support sustained, high-quality professional development and professional working conditions.”(pg 8)

I now turn my attention to the any media sources that may have played a factor in some more assumptions of urban schools I may have. Some things that I feel are probably very prevalent in urban schools because of what I hear on the news and see in movies are gangs, weapons and a lot of drugs. I know that this sounds crazy but every time you see anything about an urban school on the news they are talking about a student stabbing someone else or a gun is found in a student’s locker. Things like this are hard for someone like myself who has never really had any sufficient amount of time in an urban school setting to turn away from and not think that stuff like this happens in every urban school district.

I know that close friends and family have also played a role in my assumptions of urban schools but I see it as a small role I feel, because not one of my friends and family come from or have had any real experience in an urban school. These types of assumptions are more about the people that are in the schools like the students and teachers, for example we see that many of the urban schools, we assume, are populated with majority of African Americans and Latinos. This is what we mainly talk about among each other how these students are all deprived and poorly educated not because they choose to be but because of the school systems they are in.

One of the major things I can see my interactions being in an urban school is how I deal with administration. I think because of what I feel and assume about them I would probably be more proactive in trying to get support for the teachers. I would definitely not take no for answer when proposing things such as better discipline policies and training programs for teachers. Another thing that I think would be a major role I see myself taking on would be as a teacher leader, hopefully motivating and providing other teachers strategies and techniques for improving their student’s performance in and out of the classroom. Lastly, and most importantly I hope to leave all my assumptions aside when I deal with the students in an urban setting. I definitely feel that there is no way students will want to learn if they already know that you have all these preconceived notions about them. They will not be able to trust you and therefore and believe that you have their best interests in mind. “Our only recourse is to change ourselves: our preconceived (conscious and unconscious) derogatory perceptions about our students and, most important, our will to effectively educate our students.” (Preparing Teachers for "Monday Morning" in the Urban School Classroom: Reflecting on Our Pedagogies and Practices as Effective Teacher Educators pg 251)

I will take all these ideas into consideration when I am conducting my classroom. I will have my students become more aware of what is available to them, in regards to educational resources; how they can attain them and hopefully show them that they will become more prepared for life in doing so. “The teacher’s role is to identify and direct students to resources, to provide shared opportunities to build background knowledge and skills, and to assist children to learn from one another and to remain focused on the questions they generate individually and as a group.”( The Promise of Urban Schools by Senior Fellows pg 7) I will not let my attitudes and beliefs towards urban schools in any way hinder the educational progress of my students. I feel that my classrooms will foster intellectual growth that will eventually coincide with student success. I hope to do this by creating a relaxed and informal atmosphere, which I assume is not like the one they live in outside of the school setting. My intention in establishing this environment is to allow the students to let their guard down and accept and contribute to the topics of discussion.

“The few urban schools that serve as models of student learning have teachers who maintain control by establishing trust and involving their students in meaningful activities rather than by imposing some neat system of classroom discipline. For genuinely effective urban teachers, discipline and control are primarily a consequence of their teaching and not a prerequisite condition of learning.”( The Pedagogy of Poverty Versus Good Teaching by Martin Haberman pg 5)

In conclusion I feel that it is ultimately up to the teacher to obtain the most from their students. I feel that this is done by not depending on what you think the students might do or how they might act, but by realizing that just because they are in an urban school setting does not mean they are not willing and capable of performing same or even better than any other students in the country. Is it possible to leave all your assumptions at the door when you walk into an urban, or for that matter any school setting to teach? I have yet to truly tell myself yes, however I know that I will have to do so in order to become a good educator anywhere.