Blog Post #4: Intro to "See You When We Get There"

I have recently begun reading my teacher story entitled See You When We Get There by Gregory Michie. After only a few pages into the first chapter I found myself relating very well to some of the subject matter at hand. The first chapter begins by explaining the story of a new teacher who is teaching in the school she went to as a child. The school is in Chicago, Illinois, which is where I am from. While I grew up in the suburbs and was never exposed to Chicago public schools, all my life I have been told by others how bad the city school system is. In this teacher's story, it is explained that she grew up in a poor family and was the first in her family to attend college. She became a teacher so that she could go back and relate to and impact the students who were in similar situations as her growing up. I am fully aware of the poverty issues in our world today and how they affect schooling. While I don't necessarily have a background that acts as my motivation for teaching, I have still always taken these issues into account when thinking about what I want to do with my life. There have been many times in my life when I have heard people around me complain about the Chicago Public School System not being very good, and I have even heard from teachers who used to work for Chicago Public Schools how terrible of a work environment it is. I often think of it as the responsibility of teachers to take a stand and work hard towards bettering the schooling of the students around them but I know that as hard as they may try they may not even be able to make a difference due to the stubbornness of some school officials. When I become a teacher, I would be very interested in teaching in problem areas. I am already planning on later going back to school for a master's degree so that I can get involved in school administration, so I hope to be able to make an even bigger difference on the schooling of children less fortunate than us. I know this is going to be a long process that cannot be done alone, but I would love to dedicate my time to the great cause of schooling. While many who work in these problem schools do have backgrounds that have brought them there to give back, I still think my background of hearing about the problems in Chicago public schools is just as valid for motivation. I look forward to reading more of this book and learning about teachers working for change.

Blog Assignment #3 Response to "Why Teachers Matter"

One of the articles that I have read for this Education class which was most intriguing to me was the Richard Lederer article entitled "Why Teachers Matter". There were some very interesting statistics about the current status of education in America. It is very reassuring as an education major to learn about how many people in the U.S. are affected by education. One statistic that really stuck out to me was that, "Two-thirds of students who cannot read proficiently by the end of fourth grade will end up in jail or on welfare. The fourth grade is the watershed year" (Lederer). This fact was very interesting especially considering I have always wanted to teach fourth grade or another grade close to that age group. I still think of my fourth grade teacher being the most influential and memorable teacher of my schooling so far. She is really the teacher who has inspired me to choose the career of teaching for my future. My fourth grade teacher Mrs. Mimlitz was one of the most positive people I have ever met which I believe is a very important trait for a teacher to have especially for such a fundamental grade as the fourth. I remember fourth grade as being a huge transition year. This is why when the article pointed out fourth grade as a watershed year I was not at all surprised. While I believe it is very important to not let children slip through the cracks in the grades leading up to fourth grade, fourth grade may me the last chance to play catch-up. After that point in schooling, if a student is falling behind it is much harder to bring them up to speed. They are soon moving on to middle school and then high school where it is less likely for teachers to have time to review the fundamentals. As an aspiring fourth grade teacher I truly appreciate the necessity for a focus on literacy and fundamental knowledge. I am eager to become a part of the teaching force and contribute to the schooling of a portion of the 73.2 million U.S. residents enrolled in schools. I have always thought that teachers really matter and have always had a great appreciation for those who dedicate their careers for the benefit of my learning.

2nd Blog Assignment: Warriors Don't Cry chapter 6 discussion question

Chapter 6 discussion question: With Melba's mother Lois being a school teacher, why do you think that she allowed Melba to stay out of school for such a long time in waiting to attend Central High rather than just sending her back to attend Horace Mann?

Melba's mother Lois was faced with many conflicts when it came to the issue of Melba attending Central High. Not only did Lois' thoughts represent those of a concerned mother, but her occupation as a school teacher must have made an impact on how she handled the situation in front of her. Chapter 6 of Warriors Don't Cry marks a period in waiting, in which Melba must sit patiently while the issues of integrating Central High are worked through. During this limbo period, Melba's family is caught in the middle of a tremendous amount of danger. Not only is Melba's family under constant threats, but Melba is missing many days worth of school through the entire process. It would have been very easy for Melba's family to decide to take her out of Central High and send her back to Horace Mann, but they rejected that idea. Many would think that as a school teacher, Mother Lois would be opposed to letting her daughter miss so much school, so she would enroll her back into Horace Mann just to keep her educated but this was not the case. Obviously a concerned mother would want to keep her child out of danger, but the strong personalities of this family would not allow themselves to give up in this fight. As a teacher, mother Lois understood the importance of education, and more importantly the importance of equal education. She knew that by sending her daughter back to Horace Mann, she would just be contributing to the halt in the integration process. While it must have been hard, mother Lois knew that it was important to allow her daughter to be the one to begin the wave of integration even if it meant danger to the family. This shows that mother Lois as a teacher truly values education. Much like many of the articles we read in class, mother Lois understands how it is important for teachers tho cater to the abilities and backgrounds of all students. It is not acceptable to let a student just give up if they don't quite seem to "fit in" with the rest of the class. It is the responsibility of the teacher to account for all the differences within the classroom and to accept these challenges as they come along. While mother Lois probably did not know if this would be the case for the teachers at Central High, she realized that integrating the school would be a good opportunity for this to start and that if she did not allow her daughter to take a stand, the quality of education for African Americans would never reach its full potential. Clearly, education was very important to this family and they were not willing to just sit back and allow African Americans to be provided with inferior education to whites. While mother Lois seemed to have received one of the best educations possible for an African American woman at that time, she knew there was still so much more to be gained in the schooling of African Americans. With education being so influential on the success of their family already, Lois as a school teacher had to put her concerned mother emotions aside in order to make an impact for all African Americans of the future.