Habitat For Humanity

Saturday, December 15, 2007 was dedicated to Habitat for Humanity day. We had to go to Newark and help with the building of homes for the communities people. It was bitter cold that day and I remember bundling up with layers of pants and shirts. Still, it was freezing. As we arrived, we were greeted by a few workers who host the event and watched a video to ensure our safety. Then it was time to walk to the house that we were going to work on. As we got there we found out we would be working inside with some others. Wonderful!!! I was so happy because I did not want to work outside in that cold. We met a women named Mary Lou and she showed us what we would be doing. The house was almost complete and needed finishing touches. We were put to work scrapping Spackle off the windowsill and the sides of the windows in the house to make it look more professional and cleaned up. This wasn't that bad to do, using some gunk remover and a paint scrapper. It was fun to talk with the other people who worked on the house and to listen to their stories on where they came from and how they ended up with Habitat. We met the woman who would be moving into the house. She had 3 kids and a single mom. The stories that were told were so heart warming that it seemed to really make a difference in the little work that anyone does around involving the homes. I actually felt good that I had been able to pitch in and help with the completion of making someones home perfect.

Arts Fieldwork Visit

Last week I had the pleasure of attending a Fieldwork visit at Art's High School with my cooperating teacher, Miss DeAnna Whitley. As I arrived I was pleased to see that they had welcomed me into their PLC meeting which was the start of a meeting involved with the HESPA testing and what can be done to improve the students writing until the day of the test. I listened in and made notes and was interesting to see the way teachers were tested on their own ideas by the principal in how they personally thought of changes.
As I entered the classroom of Miss Whitley, I was surprised by the warm smiles and friendly welcomes from the students. I introduced myself to each of her classes and they began their lesson for the day. some things I liked about her way of teaching was the way she kept in the classroom a list of homework assignments for the week on a big bulletin board so everyone could not forget any homework. also, she had reward status for the amount of students who chose to participate during the classroom discussions. This to me was a very good way of promoting students to get active in the classroom lesson. also I liked how the students were in groups and did a lot of group work that led back to a whole classroom discussion. This to me makes sense because it allows a student to understand at all times what is or is not expected of a certain lesson. A student is less likely to fall behind or short of work because of the risk of not understanding a lessons instructions. Everyone seemed to get along very well with each other and with the teacher as well. She was very polite to me at all times and seemed to care deeply about what she has done to accomplish teaching students.

Field Experience # 2 Thanksgiving Dinner

Every year for Thanksgiving, International House of Pancakes gets together with the Clifton Fire Department and host Thanksgiving dinner for the less fortunate. This Thanksgiving I decided to get involved. It is held in the morning hours of Thanksgiving at the Municipal Complex building on Vanhouten Avenue in Clifton. Department Chief Thomas Lions is the head of the organizing as well as General Manager Kevin O'Neil from Clifton IHOP who supplies the food. It was interesting to prepare food for people in a manner in which I never had to do. I did not cook it but some dishes I was able to prepare myself. In preparing for the dinner it gave me a different feeling that I never experienced before because I never knew anything else on Thanksgiving then coming home to a hot, large meal. I never stopped to think that some people do not have this luxury and that these people rely on us to bring them a hot meal on the biggest dinner night of the year. It truly was a pleasure seeing how grateful a person can be just to get a meal from a friend who wants to help.

Field Experience #2 Newark High School

In choosing a community meeting for my # 2 question of field experience, I went to a Newark public school board of education meeting. It took place at Newark Public High School. It had to do with No Child Left Behind and how every high school in the country is now required to provide military with access to secondary school student's names and addresses adn phone numbers. If the parents wanted to detest this, forms were filled out and were required to have the signature of the parents of the student. Secondly, they talked about the fact that Newark was getting state help and in return, the memebers want to have Newark schools reach an 80% mark in goverance to get off the state help. They used Jersey City and New Brunswick as examples. They feel that the control of the schools should be returned to district ablility. There was talk about the state haveing control for 12 years and think that the baord meabers need to do something about this. For the record, this is their ultimate goal.

NCLB....ah ok...but still some questions...

After today's class I feel I have a much better understanding on what goes on with NCLB. As in my last entry, I felt like I was totally lost in finding and understanding what the initial understanding as to what NCLB was compiled of and what it was set out to accomplish. My biggest questions that were have asked in class is what happens to the program when, in 2014, schools do not reach 100% in there percentile and secondly, what will happen to students who want to graduate but can not, by the state, because of the fact that the curriculum will be narrowed to only reading, math and PE classes? This seems outrageous that the government is in charge of mandating what needs to be done for America's students but they are contradicting themselves by making provisions that don't meet, and hinder the students in graduation with a high school degree recognized by the state. I also think that the fact that in 2014, all grades are supposed to score in the 100 percentile. How can they make this unrealistic goal when almost nothing in this world can be made a guarantee to ever equal 100%? one last point I wanted to bring up involving what I had found out about the mandated curriculum at Arts High School was the fact that the state only requires 1 year of a foreign language to be taken in high school, however, with state colleges, how does this help the student when he/she can not be admitted into college without the minimum 2 years required foreign language? I find the program at heart to be a positive program to move students forward to all be on the same level and availability for students in school, but there are a serious number of obvious flaws to this that bring out the question of does the government really know what they are doing and have a back up plan for our students?

NCLB ??

After class last week, I was a little stunned to realize how confusing the information was during class dealing with No Child Left Behind. It seems to me that it is a very good potential idea to be brought about in school systems for children of this day but it also seems that it has not been entirely worked out to where it can work to its optimised level. In reading the piece on NCLB: Narrowing the Curriculum, it states the main point; improving schools and school districts curriculum in the mathematics and reading/language arts subjects. But in going back to the information and the way that it is broken down in class, it seems that it is shooting for an unrealistic goal of 100% optimum school level. By narrowing the curriculum, in my opinion, does not seem to fix the over all problem but only a small portion that makes up the big picture. I do not believe that taking out subjects that are not at a core level for NCLB but important in reiterating a student as a whole outside of school and for their life in the future, will be beneficial in the end. This directly coincides with my inquiry project question of the importance of activities and non core classes offered in school. I have a lot of questions and feel I need a little more information and understanding to what is the ultimate actions for the goal intended to meet.

Finding Out About Our Students

In visiting Arts High School yesterday was a very interesting and quite enjoyable event. I was extremely surprised to see the well behaved and well carried students, regardless of just a high school in Newark, but a high school in general. I was amazed to see that the students actually get to study their particular area of enjoyment and learn it at the same time learning general subjects as well. I think this is an ideal high school because it gives each student a different perspective on their own lives and lives after school. In a way this makes a student feel more in control of themselves and important in society as an individual with opinions instead of just a number in the school system.
I think when doing the inquiry project that this high school would project different opinions than other high school students just because of the way these students are brought up in this different type of environment than others and this can portray a different opinion on the question of How is after school curriculum beneficial to students? Some questions that I would ask would be to see the relationship between sports related students vs non and what sports have done overall for these students.
In collecting data, will consist of many primary accounts of personal interviews on subject matter as well as observation of events involving students such as games and diary's of students opinion's on the subject matter as well. This can also incorporate teachers' opinions on their own students in sports as well as students not engaged in these sports by levels of grades and attitudes.

How-to Perfect-ify Urban Schools

The reading of Promises for Urban Schools was quite interesting. It had ideas as well as statistics that I was possibly unaware of regarding urban school systems. In understanding that all schools share the same wants as far as an education for their students, it is harder and with more discrepancies in urban schools. It stated that urban schools are more other than not the low-income students and families and families of color. I found it interesting that the Senior Fellows were working so closely on analyzing ways on correcting these problems. I also liked how it added that the fact of adding music and poetry and other forms of art related activities in a child's curriculum is bettering for the whole of a child in school. It mentions a lot of potent points such as an urban school students can be seen as being dominated and punished by hall posses and restrictions and lock-downs that may have to occur. However, I feel this is necessary to portray and hold down order in the schools. I do not think the school systems would be so harsh except that the school must call for these actions by the actions of its students. This I feel has to do with respect of the students or rather lack of respect towards others and the school. I feel parents need to take a more open stance on their children's lives and actions and teach respect and how to act as part of a curriculum. I believe there is a way to promote better urban schools but it requires a long and hard as well as dedicated effect of both parent and student and not only fall on the shoulders of the school systems.