Education makes a difference with a child living in poverty

I definitely believe that a child living in poverty and attending a low-income (Title 1) school versus the opposite presents a very real contrast, and a sad one at that. My own kids attend a school in Mesa that is NOT Title 1. There are very affluent areas surrounding the school, but it is mostly middle to upper middle class families. At my kids' school, they have a lot of fundraisers because since they are not Title 1, they are not given a whole lot and need to earn money to purchase things, such as computers, laptops, paper, school supplies, etc. I think it is a great things because it teaches the students that attend the school that through hard work, determination, and discipline, anyone can accomplish great things! In comparison, the students at Rhodes Junior High are given EVERYTHING. And I mean, everything. Right down to the pencil they are holding. The school was given very nice laptops and the classes share these. You should see these things. Keys ripped off, marker colored on them, broken pieces, sticky, etc. These students not only feel entitled to everything, but the way they take care of things makes me sad and, frankly, angry. I have had things stolen out of my own desk and have now had to lock up every little thing in the classroom that I can. I understand that low-income neighborhoods and schools need funding, but there has to be a better way.

Personal philosophy about assessment

I think that it's really sad how these Rhodes' kids are assessed, for the shear fact that they are NOT assessed at all. They are shuffled through from year to year, not learning anything! I teach 8th grade English and would go as far to say that the majority of my students are at a 4th grade all-around academic level. They are not held accountable for any sort of curriculum and the standardized AZ Merit testing is a joke to these kids. We just had testing a few days ago and the students were allotted 3 hours to complete the test. They were all "done" within an hour and a half (most shorter than that) and my thoughts are that they simply had no clue what the test was asking/saying. But, for these kids who know that they are going to advance to the next grade any way, why does this test (and any school for that matter) even matter? It is sad and it is ridiculous.

Staff acting in an unprofessional manner

The staff at Rhodes Junior High put up with A LOT. They are constantly be bullied, threatened, tested, cussed at, etc. So, what I have come to notice and what I see the majority of teachers doing is taking on the dictator or authoritarian style approach to teaching. It's their way or the highway and they will scream, yell- whatever it takes- at the kids to demand the respect they deserve. They become "hard" individuals, something I just can't be- it's not in me. I've seen and heard them stoop down to the students' level and talk to them in the same way that the students talk to the teachers- which is completely unacceptable and to say it is unprofessional is an understatement. The other teachers have invited me several times to eat lunch with them in the break room. The two times that  I have gone to join them, they things they say and talk about were extremely offensive to me and I was, to be brutally honest, shocked and horrified at the things they were choosing to say and discuss. I have since decided to eat alone and just enjoy the quiet in my own room.  

Goals for this term

I have thought long and hard about what my goals for this term would be. Teaching thus far has proven to be extremely challenging. In fact, I would not even classify what I do every day as "teaching". I feel that at the current school I am at, the job title of "Glorified Babysitter" would be a better fit. Which is fine, I completely understand that everyone needs to start somewhere. However, my goals will probably be extremely different than another teacher's goals at a different school. 

My academic goals for students are as follows- just complete work. If every person in my class just completed their in-class assignments, I think I would throw them a big party! Right now, I only have about 30% of students even attempting to do work in my class, The other 70% refuse to even pick up a pencil, and instead they choose to mess around the whole period, which is where all the behavior problems come into play. Furthermore, I am outraged at how the whole public school system is crippling my students. I have learned that no matter what my students do in class, they will ALL be continuing on to 9th grade next year. I have a few students getting less than 10% in my class and they know that they will be advancing next year, so they figure, "Why bother doing work in here?" This all is due to the fact that because they area  Title 1 school, they get different privileges than other schools do. So, these kids can barely use correct punctuation when writing narratives or stories, let along correct grammar, spelling, and complete sentences. Most of their writing pieces look like fragmented test messages. It is disturbing and I used to try and grade these papers. Now, I just look to see that they are done and they get full credit. And, like I stated earlier, I get about 30% of my students actually handing in completed assignments.

Another goal I have is to get a better system going of classroom management. I can not get my class to be quiet for more than 1 minute. Literally, 60 seconds- before someone starts talking again.  

Bullying as a child

Bullying is something that I (as most people do, I would think) have ZERO tolerance for. I have 5 kids of my own, and when I hear even the slightest bullying, teasing, or the like, no warnings are given and serious consequences are handed out right then and there. At home, my own kids respond to discipline well, (for the most part) are respectful, and are usually very kind to each other. In stark contrast, the majority of my students at school come from homes where teasing, bullying, etc. are tolerated. In addition, actions in this vein are ignored because parents don't have the energy, nor do they care, to enforce rules and discipline. So, when I come to school and see bullying going on left and right and I try to enforce rules and discipline, students think that they can walk all over me and that they can do whatever they want. Furthermore, there are so many kids that participate in this behavior that it is very difficult as a teacher to treat every case EVERY time it happens. With a class of 30 students, handling all offenses proves to be very challenging. HOWEVER, I do have on students who is a wonderful student and always tries her best. She is from Bangladesh. One day, a group of boys started picking on her class. I almost lost it! Let's just say, they KNEW right then and there not to mess with her again.

Blog 7

When working with ELD students, what are your challenges? Strengths? What could be done to increase your skills in this area?

I do not have any ELD students, but I imagine my main challenge would be simply put, communication.  I think it would be very difficult to teach something to someone who doesn't understand the language to begin with.  I can only relate it to my college algebra class that was taught by a Chinese man with a very thick accent.  Algebra is a whole new language let alone trying to decipher what he was saying.  

I think my strength would be creating a caring environment in which the student would know I am trying to help.  

Blog 6

When using technology with your students, what are your challenges? Strengths? What could be done to increase your usage of technology in the classroom?

I haven't really had challenges when using technology with my students.  They love when I go over a Power Point and use my tablet to lead it.  It seems to engage them a lot more.  

I would like to increase my technology usage.  I think when I am able to take more time planning lessons and not focus so much on being a student myself.  I can figure out how to incorporate it.