The Community

There are many aspects that help make a good environment for children to learn. One of those is the community. The community can support the children with things to keep children out of trouble and to help them with their learning. I know in my city of Greenwood, IN they have a strong public library. They do not only supply a updated and good variety of materials but also programs for parents and children. One of the activities I remember going to as a child at the library was the reading program. A librarian would read a group of children a story then we would do a activity or game that related to it. The great thing about the programs offered at the library is most of them are free so everyone can get involved. Many local churches offer child care before and after school at a affordable rate for parents. Also the well known YMCA always has things going on for people to get involved in at any age but can sometimes be a little pricier to have a membership. The Greenwood community is mostly a suburban family environment so it offers a lot.

Teacher Conference

The parent/teacher conference has been one of my favorite activities.  Creating a child and the different behaviors was not a hard task for me at all since I just thought about the things my fellow classmates and I would do.  I really got into it and spent extra time preparing my conference.  That morning I got dressed up in my business professional and slipped on my name tag.  As I walked over to the desk after being told to begin I got fully into the teacher persona.  I tried to be friendly and connect with the parent.  I tried to ask her questions about how she thought the strategies were then rather just telling her.  I tried not to talk down to the parent which can be easy to do when you are the one in charge of the situation.  The first conference ran very smoothly.  Then the parent was given the conflict and her mood changed.  She became very defensive and believed that I was not qualified to be saying weaknesses about her son.  I can see how that can be a stressful situation but I tried to keep a positive attitude and stay calm.  I showed her the documentation I had a re-explained the situation while smiling and slowly she became understanding.  I believe that all future teachers should have this experience and it can be very beneficial.

Drug Use

I have always thought that since I was going into elementary education that I would not have to deal with kids and drugs.  But today you have to really open your eyes and see that there are children experiencing things like this in their own homes.  I cant imagine going home from school to a mom that is high and is acting crazy.  It is sad to hear about how some of those kids have to just take care of themselves because no one else will.  Drugs can destroy a family and as the boy said on the video it only takes that one hit to make you feel like euphoria and must have it again.  Teachers should be aware of their students to see if they smell like drugs or if they talk about how their parents are doing them.  If teachers find out that there is something going on they need to report it so that child can get out of the terrible situation.

Poverty

Many people in America try to not think of the fact that there is children living in poverty in their own country.  If they would take another look they would see that there are children who only get their meals provided at school.  Indiana actually has the highest rate of poverty in the country.  As a teacher I will have to take into consideration that some of my students may be coming from families living in poverty.  When a child comes from that type of home I should understand that they might have not gotten breakfast to help start off the day or went to bed hungry.  Without food they probably will have a hard time concentrating in the classroom and will be eager for lunch.  Also a student coming from a poverty home a lot of the time has parents working one or more job to try to support their families so they may not have time to work with their child with homework.   Most young children do not have to worry about a lot of things and are able to just have class while a child living in poverty may experience many more hardships.  It is important to be a able to give parents resources without targeting their child.  A good way of sending that out is by providing helpful information in a newsletter so it is provided to all student's parents.  Teachers need to be encouraging to the students and understand where they are coming from.

Historical Event

There are many things that have occurred in my educational history that has shaped me into the person I have become today, but one sticks out above the rest.  At our high school we had the opportunity to do a internship or cadet teach during the last semester of our senior year.  I was trying to decide if becoming a elementary teacher would be the thing for me so I decided to cadet teach.  So for the last hour of every day I would go to the elementary school next door and help in a second grade classroom.  Ever since I walked into the room the first day I loved being around the children and helping them with their work.  As I got to know the students and their personalities it became easier to help them with their assignments.  There was one day when the teacher was sick and we had a sub for the day.  During my time there the sub became sick and they called for someone to come in but that never happened.  For about two hours I followed Miss Glenn's lesson book and taught the class by myself.  I was comfortable in that setting and being there throughout the year made it easy for me to continue with the normal procedures.  The other second grade teachers told me how responsible I was and what a great teacher I would make.  When I got home I told my mom that I was certain that I wanted to be a teacher.  Sadly the year ended and I had to say goodbye to my students who I had taught lessons to, helped with assignments, and even gone on field trips with.  I believe that cadet teaching in high school is a great way to find out if teaching is for you.