Self Assessment

This semester has been a constant learning experience not only about my career as a future teacher but also about myself. I came into this semester with what I thought was a pretty good idea of my self, only to find out that it would change dramatically. Through the presentation of facts and ideas about teachers I have come to understand the type of teacher I want to be when the time finally comes. I have changed my idea of wanting to teach younger students to having no idea what students I want to teach or what area I want to teach in. I have had so many new ideas open up for me this semester that I feel more confused then when I began.

Public education is something that I have been studying a lot about this semester, as is any education major. I have learned that there is more than meets the eyes and that I up to the upcoming teaching generation to make a difference. At time I was impressed and at time I was furious about the things I saw. Over all the only things that the ideas presented to me have done is motivate me more to want to become a teacher. I have said it once but I will say it again, for the first time in my college career I feel like I am exactly where I am suppose to be.

What is the Purpose of Public Education in a Democracy?

When I first entered this class I had no idea what to expect. I knew that I would be completing fieldwork, but the idea of public purposes of education, schooling and democracy was foreign to me. Through the last 14 weeks I have come to understand what is meant by this course title. I believe that the purpose of public education in a democracy is to educate our students to be well-rounded and respectful citizens. Public Education should be an equal opportunity for all of the members of this democracy to grow and develop while acquiring knowledge that will help them do so.

Now that I have had a sort of behind the scenes look at teaching I have come to understand the different corruptions and restrictions that effect out public school system. The things that I have learned about different schools, our government and current teachers has only made my motivation for being a teacher grow stronger. Through this class I have begun to develop a goal for my classroom and myself. I feel that this class has opened my eyes and helped me to understand the true importance of becoming a teacher.

Two Things That I wish i had known before I applied to the Teacher Education Program..

Foremost I wish I had known are the purpose that lie within public education, and how democracy in the classroom is related to it. When I sat down to write the essay for entry into the program, I had no idea how democracy could even be related into the classroom, at that point I had never even thought about democracy in the classroom, or any strategies for teaching it. So when I was faced with “Understand principles of democracy and plan and carry out instruction that promotes democratic values and communication in the classroom” (Portrait of a Teacher) as the topic for my entry essay I had no idea where to even begin.

The second thing that would have been important to me before I applied to the Teacher Education Program is, real life experience in a classroom with students, and what is like to be looked at as a teacher. I knew that I wanted to teach but, I did not have any experience in the field, which would have been helpful before I went through the application process just to find out I did not want to be a teacher.

Summary Of Project Findings

The following are pieces from my inquiry paper, so far all is going well and I am learning a lot.

• Art has always been a controversial subject. So when faced with a question of whether or not to include art in the academic curriculum people automatically turn their heads. Of course if you can not draw, or sing this would scare you, but what if their was evidence to support that art education could boost a students academic achievement? Could you get the non-artist to support it then?

• “ In the mid-1970’s, Eisner (1974) called for the evaluation of arts programs. As a result, a growing body of evidence suggests that art education positively affects aspects of living and learning beyond the intrinsic values of the arts themselves” (Smithrim, 2005, p. 110).

• During my time at Arts High I was to lucky enough to ask an English teacher his thoughts regarding the arts and academic achievement. I asked him "Do you feel that the incorporation of Arts into your classroom boosts academic achievement?" His response was "It may not boost academic achievement directly, but it definitely assists in student engagement. Since we are a performing arts school, students, for the most part, are interested in “the arts”. Incorporating the Arts into our lessons is a “best” practice and allows our students to use their creative abilities in the “academic “ classroom. The domino effect is that the more they use their strengths the better they perform(hopefully!)"(Jason Denard Arts High).

Inquiry Question, what I have found, and how it is shaping my understanding of public education.

Our Inquiry Questions is, what is the impact that the Arts have on Academic Achievement? I have found that some of my articles tell me that the arts do have a positive impact on academic achievement, while others are still uncertain. So my resources are very diverse and don’t really point me in one direction. Even though there is evidence to point to the fact that arts do effect academic achievement, there are a lot of factors that are still open to debate.

The way that this is shaping my understanding of public education is that it is making me realize all the different variables that I am going to be faced with not only as a teacher but also as an art teacher. As much as I would love to hear that art will effect my students in their other academic classes, I’m not sure if there will ever be evidence to back this up. There are a lot of people who are entirely against the arts and will argue against them until the end. I am finding that public education is even more controversial then I had originally thought.

What I already know, will need to learn, and how I believe I will put it all together.

I already know a few things about teaching, most of which has been learned through my classes in the past couple of semesters as well as my own experience as a student and my experience through field work. I know that the career that I have chosen is one that will give me great reward and understanding, but at the same time will challenge me as an individual and as a teacher. The journey that I will embark on as a teacher will be one of the most difficult of my life, but I believe it will have a positive outcome.

However I will need to learn a few things before I go on this journey. I will need to build upon the teaching methods, which I am already familiar with as well as learn new strategies for keeping the interest of my students. I will need to learn how to cope with different problems I will be faced with as a beginning teacher, and also try to understand the demographics of the area I will be teaching in. Further more I will have to learn more about myself, as a teacher. It is a new identity for me and I want to make sure that I understand the role before I try to play the part.

Finally I will learn everything I need to know through out the rest of education here at Montclair State. I do not believe that the classes I will take can prepare me for what will actually happen but in the mean time I will try to take everything away from them that I can. I believe my real learning experience will come when I do my student teaching, and into my first year at a new job. I feel that everyday for me is a new learning experience that will somehow be able to help me when I enter the classroom.

Inquiry Project Details

For my Inquiry Project I am working wit three other classmates who also happen to be Art Education Majors. Our Inquiry Questions is, what is the impact that the Arts have on Academic Achievement?

Through Researching this question we will also discover:
1. How art has impacted students personally and in their educational experience.
2. If students felt that they had enough art classes.
3. If an art class or art teacher has influenced him/her to see their academics in a different light.
4. If art has improved students learning abilities.
5. If art class have helped as students with self-identity or expression.

This research will be conducted through our time at Arts High School as well as through personal experience, and our readings.

NCLB Good and Bad

I think that NCLB does have some good things about it. Although up until the last class I did not believe that there was anything good about it, I am trying to make some sense out of the situation. One of the beneficial things that I found about NCLB is the quality of the teachers. I think that this is something that is very beneficial to students. I think that it is important to have teachers that are highly qualified in their area of content simply so you do not have any person with a degree running a classroom. This part of the act makes it a little more challenging for someone to become a teacher which I believe will impose a more challenging atmosphere in the classroom.

The next part I would have to say that I found interesting is the standardized testing. I can’t say that I complete disagree with testing students to make sure that they are learning what they are being taught. However what I do disagree with is how the tests are created and administered. The tests that are being taken currently by students are way to standardized, the test should be created by the teachers doing the teaching, and what says that they tests have to be given in this completely secure format. If tests were more relaxed and didn’t place so much stress on students maybe test scores would improve. Although it was hard for me to do, I did manage to find some good in NCLB, but overall I think that there are many revisions that need to be made.

Annotated Bibliography

Smithrim, Katharine, Upitis Rena (2005). Learning Through the Arts: Lessons of Engagement. Canadian Journal of Education, 28, 109-127.

This article examines the effects on student achievement with an art education approach. The study samples over 6000 students and also gives us information from parents and faculty. The data was collected over a period of three years through involvement in Learning through the Arts. The study found no immediate differences in achievement however at the end of the study the students who participated scored significantly higher on computation tests then students in the control schools. The conclusion to the article deals with the results that took place and also gives an explanation to why researches believe that this experiment was successful. It then goes on to give suggestions for extending the research that has been presented.

In reading this article I was able to gather significant details that I will be able to apply to my inquiry project. This article puts in perspective not only a well organized research project that was used to gather the data, but also states that there is a positive relationship between the arts and the effect they have on learning. This information will be help with my inquiry project where I will be examining the relationship between arts and academic achievement. As a future art teacher articles that will help to show a positive relationship will be useful.

Public Education and Citizens

The role of public education and creating citizens is something that can be greatly debated. I think that public education has a large part in creating citizens that we see everyday. It is the job of the public schooling system to teach our students how to be good citizens as well as what it actually means to be a citizen. All of this includes but is not limited to the way our government and justice systems works as well as how to act with in a community in order to create and reimburse good citizenship. If children are taught at a young age about democracy and being a part of it, it will help them in the future to act responsibly as a citizen.

They types of citizens that I feel we need in this changing society are citizens that are more understanding of democracy as well as citizens that are well aware of their community and are willing to help. If we can teach our citizens to be more outgoing, within a smaller area such as their town or community then maybe eventually it will help to fix bigger problems.

Arts High School Meeting # 1 Departmental

On Wednesday I was able to attend my first meeting at Arts High School. It was a departmental meeting at 3:00 pm. I am an art major and therefore my departmental meeting was with the visual arts department. The room was very welcoming, as well as the teachers that greeted me upon their arrival. At first I nervous about meeting the teachers as they walked in but they just glanced over asked if I was a Montclair Student and then they carried on with their business.

The agenda addressed things that were art related as well as things that were not. I was a little confusing to me but at the same time very interesting. The thing that found most interesting about the whole thing was the Art Auditions. Since next year the school will be accepting a new class, they were in the process of looking over the applications that were completed. I was amazed to see just how intense the applications were and how impressive the talent was coming from an eighth grade student. After the meeting was over I had a chance to do some community service, which involved looking at the applications even closer, this was so exciting for me because I was looking at something that I love, so it didn’t even feel like work. The whole experience was wonderful and I am looking forward to shadowing my teacher on Friday.

Reaction to Arts High School

Arts High School met all my expectations and then some. I thought that the program that they put together for us was amazing. I really enjoyed that we were able to get a chance to talk to some of the teachers. I felt like I was meeting a celebrity, all I could think about the night before was questions that I wanted to ask them but then when the sat down next to me my mind went blank! When I finally was able to get my questions out the teachers were so helpful. The things that they were saying about teaching sent chills down my spine. I could tell by the way they talked about teaching, that it meant everything in the world to them. It was so inspiring.

For the first time I walked into a school setting and I felt like a teacher, everything to the clothes that I was wearing to way I was treated was wonderful. After seeing and talking to the teachers and students at Arts High I am even more excited then I originally was. For the first time in my college career I feel like I am exactly where I am suppose to be.

Pre-Orientation, anxiety, anticipation, and excitement.

I have to say that I am very excited to visit Newark tomorrow, I having been thinking about it all week. I have been to Newark before, in nice neighborhoods and not so nice neighborhoods, so I am aware of my surroundings. What I am not aware of are the children that I am going to be meeting. I am still having trouble grasping the concept that I am going to be in a high school tomorrow where I will be looked at like a teacher and not a student. I know that the anxiety that this is bringing me will subside once I get into the environment.

After looking over the videos and website about the school I have become even more excited. Since I am an art major I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to go into an arts high school and get to know the teachers and students. I always knew about Arts high schools and have even encountered some graduates. So although they were able to give me an idea of what the schools are like I know that I am still in for a surprise. I hope to see a lot of different kinds of art, and see students working on it.

Educating citizens is something that schools have been doing since they have existed. To me the relationship that they have is symbiotic. By this I mean that not only do citizens benefit from the education that a school gives them but the school itself benefits from the citizens and their education. Without the citizens that belong to a school teachers and other faculty would never have the chance to learn what will work in education and what will not work. School is a learning experience for citizens because that is where they get to interact with other students and learn about different subject areas, at the same time every year teachers will learn too. Schools rely on educating citizens, but citizens rely on schools.

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

During the last year I have been trying my hardest to understand teaching and learning. I have taken classes and studied examples only to find out that this process that I have been enduring since I can remember is actually a lot more complicated than I had ever imagined. I feel that as an educator in order to really understand and teach your students, you should have a grasp on the demographics of that particular group of students, as well as the surrounding area.

This type of information is beneficial in helping you distinguish an idea of what to except when you walk into a classroom, as well as possible the neighborhood you will be spending a lot of time in. If you take this into consideration it can help you better understand the different backgrounds that your students are coming from which will help you understand the way you will have to teach these children. By this I mean, if you are dealing with students that have come from a poverty stricken neighborhood, the demographics will help to understand this. Information like this can prepare the teacher by giving him/her an understanding of ways to teach these children. They may need extra help in certain areas, so going into a situation with background knowledge of your students is helpful.

Demographics and understanding learning is a bit of harder subject. I feel that learning will take place either way but if you know demographics you can better equipped yourself to understand the way that you students will need to learn. For example if you have children coming from diverse backgrounds you can try group activities to get them acquainted with each other and things of that nature.

Although I do believe that demographics are helpful as a teacher, I also fear that they could make a new teacher skeptical, which I think could be potentially harmful to the students. The statistical data that demographics provide can be helpful as long as it is not used to create a stereotype against students, because regardless of the background of a student or town, everyone deserves a fair chance learning.

What is the Purpose of Public School?

What is the purpose of public school? Until tonight I’m not sure if I ever really asked myself this question. I always just knew the answer or as least I thought I did. Public school is what we all have been doing since we were old enough to do so. So for me the purpose was never really considered, it was just what my parents said and did so it was what I suppose to do.

In my eyes the purpose of public schools is to educate and inform America’s youth. Public schools are to help you learn in many different ways. I believe they are helpful in allowing children to become involved, and beyond that they are purposeful in the development of communication skills and the basic fundamentals that a good education is built on. Although this all sounds wonderful it is the first time I feel like I am really looking into public schools through the eyes of an educator and not a student. I mean after all I should be beginning the transition.

I must say that after reading “Against School” I am questioning everything I ever thought about public schools. The structure and communication that I found so interesting and helpful was ripped apart in this essay in a means to say that we are conforming America’s youth into monsters. I know that our public school system needs some work but I think I turned out okay. Of course still being a student of education who am I to judge?