Bio Statement

On July 18, 1991, I came into this world with a bang! The name's Monica Anestin (my last name is pronounced like Jennifer “Aniston”). I am currently a fulltime student at Miami Dade College. Right now I am working on my Associates in Arts with a focus on Exceptional Student Education. After I have my AA, I will continue on to get a Bachelor’s Degree in Exceptional Student Education.

While I am working on my bachelor’s degree, I will be taking courses to become a Certified Behavioral Analyst for children with Special Needs. As a matter of fact, I work with children with special needs right now for the YMCA of Broward County. Now that you know me on an educational level, let me introduce myself on a more personal level.

I have a passion for reading and I live for fashion. My favorite colors are yellow and silver, yes I know it is quite an unusual pair but I'm an unusual person. I love animals and would pull over on the side of the road to help a hurt dog or cat in an instant. I'm a Cancer so by birth I am the nurturing type. I keep my friends to a minimum. The few friends that I do have have been around for at least five years.

I am the epitome of an optimist. You'll always find me trying to find the silver lining in a stormy grey cloud. I am a determined person, when I want something, I always get it.

I am selfish when it comes to my love, but once you have it you'll have a never ending amount. I cry when I am hurt and feel like life is at a standstill. I do this because I relate tears to rain and I know just like a rainbow comes after the rain, there will be a rainbow after my rain [tears]. I laugh when I'm happy or when I feel like there's nothing else to do. I don't believe in frown lines and find laughter the best antidote for them.

I'm one of those people who believe that hitting rock bottom is sometimes the biggest blessing. It allows you to look at life from a different perspective and find where you are supposed to be. I live by my own rules and expectations. I live through my experiences good and bad, and while I may make the same mistakes over and over, I know that I'm still young and it's all a part of growing up.

I'm buckled up for the journey called life and I'm ready for whatever curve balls it may throw my way. I know that everything won't always be sweet, but I also know they won't always be sour either. I am living life trying to reach my goal and doing whatever it takes to get me there. My one true goal in life is to be happy. It sounds simple and sort of dumb to some, but how many people can go around and say that they are actually happy?

I am a dreamer; you can see the dreams forming in my eyes with one glance. I am determined; you can see the determination sitting prominently on my cheekbones. I am loving; you can see the love emitting through my body with each step I take. I am me, and the best part of being me, is that I am still finding me.

Reflection 10

Having taken the EDF1005 class in the spring, I thought this class would be the same. Boy was I wrong. Basically the only similarity EME2040 shared with EDF1005 was writing reflections and a bio statement.

Unlike EDF1005, EME2040 was much more strenuous and required early planning in order to get all of the assignments done on time. See, in EDF1005, all assignments were due on Sunday, but in EME2040, assignments were due not only on Sunday, but also on Thursday. It was time for me to say good-bye to carefree weekends.

The first assignment was easy. The assignment was for me to get a livetext account, luckily I had already done this in EDF1005. The following two assignments were also fairly easy; create a handout on lesson planning and a twenty page PowerPoint on lesson planning.

It’s when I had to start creating my own lesson plans the problems started to occur. I never knew that there was actually so much blood, sweat, and tears behind creating a single lesson plan! I had to do four of these and each and every single one was to be written in such a precise matter that it my fingers began to feel as if they would become worn to the bone due to all the typing. In time, I got the hang of it and after awhile, I could complete a lesson plan in just one hour.

I found generating a student database quite fun. I enjoyed putting a name to a face and creating all of someone’s information. It made me feel like I was the government. After creating a student database, I had to create a grade book. This served as practice for me because I was also learning Excel in my computer class.

The steps it took in creating my digital story required patience, because I wanted everything done just so. I had to find just the right pictures to match what was being said at the time. Not to mention the number of times I rerecorded because I didn’t like the pitch or tone of my voice.

All in all, my experience in this class was one of not only new, but helpful endeavors. I learned things that will definitely help me when I continue on to get my Bachelor’s Degree in Exceptional Student Education. I’ve also learned things will set me in a class all my own when I become a teacher.

Reflection 9

During this time of instructional delivery, I have done and learned many things thanks to the use of technology, from learning how to create a student database to actually creating a commercial grade book. I have written reflections, created a digital story, and learned the correct way to create a lesson plan. While I am happy to have learned these things, I cannot say that I was thrilled when I found out these were just some of the things taking this course required. The assignments seemed insurmountable, but thanks to technology, they proved to be an effortless task.

I always knew that teachers had to have a lesson plan in order to teach, I just never knew that there were so many different types of lesson plans. I also had no idea just how exact and precise these lesson plans had to be. I honestly thought that lesson plans consisted of a plethora of words strewn about on a piece of paper given to the principal in a hurried haste.

All of the assignments given in this class could only be accessed through the use of technology. This alone recognizes how serious of a role technology played in this class. By having it where all of the assignments could be accessed via technology, no one could really be completely out of whack with the class. Let’s say you miss a day or two of the lecture, if you want to find out where the class is, you just go to the website for that class and you can not only see what’s due this week, but all the way up to the last assignment.

The use of technology in this class has proven to be a helping aide time and time again. Thanks to this class, I am no longer looking at my assignments through rose colored glasses. I have realized just how much better an assignment becomes thanks to technology. From being able to generate a grade book, to just using the spelling and grammar check in a Microsoft Word document.

What I enjoyed the most however, is the fact that the assignments were not only from a textbook. All of my life I have been gathering information or learning new things solely from textbooks. With this, it gave me a chance to apply technology as my key to learning. Technology in the classroom is the key to unlocking the future and secrets of tomorrow, I have learned this firsthand.

Reflection 8

“Knowledge is actively constructed by the learner, not passively received from the environment.” –Martin Dougiamas

After taking the “My Educational Philosophy” survey and seeing my results, I learned that my educational philosophy was that of a constructivist. Constructivists believe that knowledge can only be constructed through interpretations and reinterpretations of a steady stream of information by putting the learner [student] in the midst of the educational stage. The fundamental nature of constructivism is its reflection on learning and the steady attempt to incorporate new information. Constructivism was built upon the works of Swiss and Russian psychologist’s Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky.

As a constructivist, there needs to be a fresh outset in the mind. The mind should not only work as a single data processor, but as a natal, budding system that subsists evenly well within a single brain and in the utensils, objects, and representative methods used to aid collective and cultural communication.

Applying constructivism in a classroom means the students are taught through a lot of scaffolding, using inquiries, hints, or propositions to help students associate what they already know with what they are learning. A constructivist classroom is all about the students and teacher testing what they already know or presume.

When you use more thinking skills, it is said to be culturally interceded. The actions of these thoughts do not directly affect the world. However, they do so in a meandering way; it takes a material subject that has been formerly used and integrates it as a feature of action. If you think back, you can recall that matter has been fashioned by preceding human practices, so present action combines the psychological work that formed that particular form of substance.

An example of constructivism in the classroom can be finding the symbolism in a poem. It is letting the students discover that there is a deeper meaning behind things and upon discovering this, more students will learn to question what is and what makes it so. As a constructivist teacher, I will make sure my lesson plans include a plethora of different hands on assignments, and the use of a Socratic like approach to answering questions.

As a constructivist teacher, I will incorporate FEAP's numbers 2 and 3, communication and continuous improvement by making sure the voices of my students are not just heard but actually listened to and by taking time out to evaluate myself as a teacher and see how I can do better for my students and myself.

Reflection 7

In this day and age we hear the word digital almost every day-digital camera, digital cable, digital personal computers-the list goes on and on. However, many people aren’t too familiar with the term digital story. Upon hearing the word, a person may deduce that a digital story must be some type of computerized story. This assumption is only partially correct however.

There are different types of digital stories. Two types include one done for personal reasons and another done for some sort of electronic portfolio. A digital story is when regular people-just like you and I- use digital equipment to narrate their individual true life stories.

A digital story that is done as a means to narrate a person’s life would usually include a picture of the person, their strong points, limitations, triumphs, frustrations, occurrences that may have taught a lesson, fervors, and their aspirations for the future. Basically, a personal digital story is a way for a person to reflect on their experiences as they would with a diary or journal.

While some people create digital stories for leisure purposes, others use them as more of an electronic portfolio also known as an ePortfolio. This type of digital story is usually a compilation of work that exhibits effort, progression and triumphs that in a time period. (An example of an ePortfolio is www.livetext.com.) These digital stories usually comprise of a video snippet with the tone of the creator, still imagery, and a soundtrack for a more dramatic effect.

Today digital stories are becoming very popular. They provide a voice for the people that are high-quality orators, but not your typical first-rate writer. They are also more personal because they provide a tone to the works of many and can act as a mirror into the mind of the creator through tone, imagery, and sound. Not to mention, they are also very easy to create.

Reflection 6

Before someone can answer the query about telecollaborative lessons, they must first know how it comes about. A telecollaborative lesson is a lesson learned from doing a telecollaborative project. Now, the next question that needs to be asked is what a telecollaborative project is. Like a collaborative project, it involves two sets of students from diverse places-usually different states, counties, or countries- joining as one to work on an assignment. The only difference however is that all the work is done through the internet.

Inquiring minds would probably ask “what type of lesson could someone learn from someone over the internet?” Well here is an example of a telecollaborative lesson:

Sean lives in Florida and has been writing to Melinda for almost three weeks now. His teacher gave the class a telecollaborative project. They are supposed to write to another child in New York and learn everything they can about that student in four weeks. At the end of the four weeks, the students are to give a report with the title “My Buddy was just like me Despite the Fact…”

He’s learned that she likes kittens but not cats, she loves glitter and soccer, and that her favorite ice cream is Neapolitan because she gets three ice creams in one. Sean has already been thinking about what he can write. He wants to talk about how they both love soccer, how they are the same age-9, and how Neapolitan is both of their favorite ice cream flavor despite the fact that he’s a boy and she’s a girl.

During the fourth week however, there is a twist in the project. Sean’s teacher tells the class that every student they have been writing to is a child with special needs. Sean later finds out that Melinda is a child with Autism. He has never heard of Autism so he asks Melinda about it. She tells him everything she knows about it and what she doesn’t know she asks her parents. Now Sean has a new title for his paper. “Melinda is just like me Despite the Fact that she has Autism.”

Through a telecollaborative project, the student learned a telecollaborative lesson. He learned that just because someone may be a person with special needs, they are still just like everyone else. They have likes, and dislikes just like any other person.

Reflection 5

Students from different school districts working on a collective project in concert or just a crowd of students talking about a lecture are instances of collaborative learning. Collaborative learning is instructing and learning by putting students in groups to scrutinize a major query or produce a significant project.

Cooperative learning is a precise kind of collaborative learning. In this learning, students work as one in little sets on an ordered activity, but they are accountable for their own work; the work of the group however is evaluated as one.

Cooperative groups are created so that students can learn to work together as one. By being placed in small groups, students can contribute their strengths to the group. They can also strengthen their meager skills. They learn to deal with disagreements because when working as a group, everyone will not always have the same ideas, but because they are working in a group, they must learn to work out the setbacks they come across so they can be a productive team.

Cooperative learning is more than just putting students in miniature groups and telling them to work together. Like many things in life, there is a guide to cooperative learning. Before beginning to instruct based on cooperative learning, there are three things to consider.

The first thing one must take into consideration is that students need to be put into groups where they feel that they are not in harms reach, but they are still being challenged. This means that you do not put a feeble but smart student in a group with the class bully. However, you should still put that student with other students that will challenge her mind.

The second thing is that the groups must be undersize, that way each student will be able to contribute. Do not put seven students in a group where the required assignment is for them to find only three instances of irony in Flowers for Algernon.

The third and final thing is you must make sure the directions you give the students for the work they have to do is not vague. So, as an instructor, it is your duty to make sure the students understand exactly what it is they must do at all times.

As we can now see, cooperative learning and collaborative learning works hand in hand with one another to promote togetherness in the classroom.

Reflection 4

Inquiry-based learning is learning something new by being involved in it. In inquiry-based learning, students are taught by inquiring or questioning. Being inquisitive is an innate trait, we are born questioning everything.

As an infant we are forever grasping and reaching. As a toddler we are always getting into something we shouldn’t because we want to know what it is. When we start talking we are constantly asking those around why? “Why do I have to take a nap? Why is my hair long and her hair is short? Why am I a girl and he’s a boy?”

Unfortunately, while it was okay and basically encouraged for us to ask questions as a young child, when we get older, we discover not to make too many inquires, as an alternative, we should just pay attention and say what is anticipated of us.

Inquiry-based learning is dejected because many argue that it is not a valid way of instruction and learning. Those that argue against inquiry-based learning are most likely not aware of just how proficient it really is when done correctly. It is more than just throwing around a few bogus questions to find a just a bogus answer.

There is a very intricate method involved when transferring data and information into valuable facts. In order to effectively apply inquiry-based learning, there are a quite a few aspects involved. There must be a set for inquiries, an outline for those inquiries, a spotlight for the inquiries, and assorted stages of questions. After using these factors as the building blocks for your inquiries, you will be able to produce questions that will generate answers containing responses so great, they will be widely applied.

Inquiry-based learning is important because it does not focus on just accruing details and specifics. Its mechanism is to help create an understanding of what is going on. In inquiry-based learning, you are learning by always asking yourself “Why?” and through asking yourself why, that light bulb goes off and you find a response to that query. The best part of it all is there is no accurate or inaccurate answer because oftentimes, there is not one.

Reflection 3

A constructivist lesson plan consists of six key elements. These six fundamentals are created to incite teacher scheduling and reflection concerning the course of student erudition. The first segment of a constructivist lesson plan is situation. In the situation of the lesson, the teacher must decide what scenario they are going to come up with for the students to make clear. The situation must include a title. It must also give a description of the steps it took to resolve problems, respond to inquiries, wrap up, or create aspirations. It has to also incorporate what you would like the students to accomplish and how they will formulate individual implications.

The second segment of a constructivist lesson plan is groupings. In grouping, there are two groups. In group A, the teacher must decide in which way he will assemble the students; whether they will be taught as a class, in groups of twos, by rows and columns, or even individually. The teacher must also decide what he will use to consider who will go in what group; will the students be grouped based on last names, first names, or even sex? In group B, the teacher decides how they will assemble the supplies the students are supposed to use. It is also in group B where the teacher figures out how many items will be used by group.

The third segment of a constructivist lesson plan is the bridge. The bridge is the preliminary activity that creates a bridge between what the students recognize and what they may come to learn by responding to the inquiry in the situation.

The fourth segment of a constructivist lesson plan is questions. You can make inquiries during any portion of the lesson plan. The purpose of asking questions is to help entice the students and to help aid them in thinking critically. Not only should the teacher ask questions, he must also be ready to answer any questions the students may have.

The fifth and sixth segments of a constructivist lesson plan are exhibit and reflection. In the exhibit portion, the students show their classmates what they have done to be able to answer the inquiry in the situation. Some ways to show this can be through oral presentations, charts and graphs, and even pictures. In the final segment of a constructivist lesson plan, reflections, the students are to think back to the beginning of the assignment and think about what tools they used to come up with an answer to the situation.

Reflection 2

A behaviorist lesson plan is based on an eight step design. The steps are purpose/objective, anticipatory set, input, modeling, guiding practice, checking for understanding or CFU, independent practice, and closure. The purpose/objective of the lesson plan is basically self explanatory; it introduces the lesson and explains why the lesson is being taught and what is to be gained from the lesson.

The anticipatory set is a small activity that the students engage in that acts as an enticing precursor to the actual lesson. The input of the lesson is the things the students must know in order to carry out the activity successfully. The modeling portion of the lesson is also self explained-it is when the teacher shows how the finished activity is supposed to look.

The guided practices is the teacher showing the students how to do the activity through the trimodal approach (hear, see, do). Checking for understanding is the teacher’s way to see if she can move on by checking if the students have grasped the lesson or if she has to go over the lesson again because they do not understand what it is they are required to do.

During the independent practice portion of the lesson plan, the teacher allows the students to do the lesson on their own. The closing or closure of the lesson plan is a general review of the lesson usually done through a "tell me/show me" approach.

Unlike a behaviorist lesson plan, a constructivist lesson plan is based on six key elements. They are situation, groupings, bridge, questions, exhibits, and reflections. The situation portion of the lesson plan asks the question "what situation are you going to form for the students to clarify?"

Grouping deals with arranging the students and materials into two categories by deciding on how you are going to arrange the students and materials. The bridge of the lesson plan is the primary activity; it also creates a connection between what the students already know and what they are going to be taught from the activity.

During the questions portion, the teacher asks the students insightful questions that will coax perceptive answers and reflections. The exhibit part of the lesson plan illustrates what the students have learned by answering the question in the situation.

And finally, the reflection section of the lesson plan allows the students to reflect on what they have learned from doing the activity, seeing the works of others, and the steps they generally took to come up with a response for the situation.

Reflection 1

When most people hear the words lesson plan, they never think deep into it. Most people usually just think of it as something a teacher has to do. This is because they do not realize just how much effort, work, and thought, goes into creating just one lesson plan. A lesson plan is more than just a few words and activities thrown around by teachers to get their bosses off their backs. In a classroom, a lesson plan is like the Bible, it has everything in it you need in order to successfully manage a classroom.

Lesson plans are thorough images of the course teaching for a certain class. They are created to perform as a guide for instructing a classroom. The exact detail of a lesson plan varies however based on requirements deemed by their districts, and teacher’s individual lesson plan style. There are many different lesson plan formats, but most lesson plans share many of the same fundamentals.

A common lesson plan, would include a title for the lesson plan, allotted time to complete the lesson, materials that will be needed in order to do the lesson, a list of objectives, a set that allows students to center on the concepts and skills of the lesson, an instructional component which illustrates the teacher’s participation and the steps the students used towards finding new abilities and experiment with new ideas, a exhibition of how students will use independent practices, an entire summary of the lesson plan, a reflection that leads to an analysis that allows teachers to go back and view the lesson plan and make changes for improvement, and a continuity which allows for the lesson to be seen in lessons to come.

Now, after seeing how much work goes into just a basic lesson, one can deduce that lesson plans are way more than a few random words strewn on a piece of paper like random ingredients in vegetable soup. Although lesson plans are a lot of work, they allow for better classroom management and efficiency. So, a lesson plan is the heart of the classroom. Without one, classrooms, teachers, and schools would go askew.

Article Review Reflection/Summary

In the article Teachers urged to teach feminism, Jessica Ringrose, a sociology lecturer at the Institute of Education in London, believes that due to the rise in teen girls using degrading language to characterize themselves, they need to learn more about feminism. Ringrose says “almost 40 years after the feminist revolution, teenage girls still define themselves according to male desire. They feel that ‘everything is at stake’ if they do not appear sexy or feminine in the right ways.”

Ringrose is astounded by the way teenage girls are portraying themselves, she feels that the only way to contest this is by having teachers add feminism to the school’s curriculum. Although some may argue that they have targeted most of the inequalities in gender, it cannot be so due to the way women are portrayed in society. By teaching feminism in the curriculum, many of the myths about gender correspondence can be broken down. An example of this is how a electrician makes lots more money than a hairdresser. This can be because electricians are known to be a man’s job and hairdressers are known to be a job done mainly by women.

Other reasons why Ringrose believes feminism should be taught in schools is so teenage girls can learn more about self-worth. On an Internet forum called Bebo, many girls portray themselves in very tasteless ways, by having user names such as “slut”, “whore”, and “free sex”. The profile of a girl named Daniella said “Hi I’m Daniella and I like it up the bum just like your mum.” Ringrose believes that by teaching feminism in schools girls will learn more about positive ways to be noticed. They would also learn that by objectifying themselves, they aren’t being seen as a person, but more of an object.

This article applies to FEAP’s number 2 and 3, communication and continuous improvement because Ringrose believes that by improving the curriculum of the schools-by adding feminism in it, they will be able to communicate better with the students of the schools. It also applies to FEAP number 8, knowledge of subject matter, because through teaching others, we also learn.

Educational Philosophy Essay

“Knowledge is actively constructed by the learner, not passively received from the environment.” –Martin Dougiamas

After taking the “My Educational Philosophy” survey and seeing my results, I learned that my educational philosophy was that of a constructivist. Constructivists believe that knowledge can only be constructed through interpretations and reinterpretations of a steady stream of information by putting the learner [student] in the midst of the educational stage. The fundamental nature of constructivism is its reflection on learning and the steady attempt to incorporate new information. Constructivism was built upon the works of Swiss and Russian psychologist’s Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky.

"[What we need] is a new conception of the mind, not as an individual information processor, but as a biological, developing system that exists equally well within an individual brain and in the tools, artefacts, and symbolic systems used to facilitate social and cultural interaction." (Vosniadou, 1996)

Applying constructivism in the classroom means that the students are taught through a lot of scaffolding, using inquiries, hints, or propositions to help students associate what they already know with what they are learning. A constructivist classroom is all about the students and teacher testing what they already know or presume.

Higher mental functions are, by definition, culturally mediated. They involve not a direct action on the world but an indirect one, one that takes a bit of material matter used previously and incorporates it as an aspect of action. Insofar as that matter itself has been shaped by prior human practice (eg it is an artefact), current action incorporates the mental work that produced the particular form of that matter. (Cole and Wertsch, 1996, p252)

An example of constructivism in the classroom can be finding the symbolism in a poem. It is letting the students discover that there is a deeper meaning behind things and upon discovering this, more students will learn to question what is and what makes it so. As a constructivist teacher, I will make sure my lesson plans include a plethora of different hands on assignments, and the use of a Socratic like approach to answering questions.

As a constructivist teacher, I will incorporate FEAP's numbers 2 and 3, communication and continuous improvement by making sure the voices of my students are not just heard but actually listened to and by taking time out to evaluate myself as a teacher and see how I can do better for my students and myself.

Article Review (Journal)

Schools urged to teach feminism

Research Published in The TES on 8 August, 2008

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Research

Teachers should combat teenage girls’ use of sexualised language by teaching feminism in class, an academic has recommended.

Jessica Ringrose, lecturer in the sociology of gender at the Institute of Education in London, found that schoolgirls regularly used terms such as “slut” and “whore” to describe themselves.

She conducted a series of interviews with teenage girls to study their social habits, and found that sexualised language abounded. They also boasted about being good at oral and anal sex.

Dr Ringrose said that, almost 40 years after the feminist revolution, teenage girls still define themselves according to male desire. They feel that “everything is at stake” if they do not appear sexy or feminine in the right ways.

To combat this, she said that space should be made in the curriculum to discuss feminist issues.

“Pupils shouldn’t assume that we’ve met every target in gender equality,” she said. “How, then, do you explain the way popular culture portrays women?

“We need to find a place in the curriculum to look at violence against women and sexist bullying.”
Almost half of all women in Britain have experienced domestic violence, stalking or sexual assault.

Lessons in feminism could also tackle popular myths about gender equality. “Girls may do better than boys in tests,” said Dr Ringrose. “But it doesn’t matter how they perform academically, they still don’t get paid as much in the workplace. And they’re faced with dilemmas about balancing home and work.” for example, a school-leaver who goes into hairdressing, a largely female profession, is paid half the salary of a classmate who becomes an electrician, an area of work still dominated by men.

Despite defining themselves according to male desire, the girls in Dr Ringrose’s study understood the limits of such behaviour. Some criticised a classmate for talking about her thong whenever she passed a boy. “The boy wouldn’t like her, he’d like her body,” they said. “Just hearing ‘Oh, my thong is giving me a wedgie’ doesn’t give much of her personality, does it?”

Dr Ringrose said debates in class could bring up pupils’ use of language, and what it implied about their identity and self-esteem.

And, while it is widely assumed that boys need male role models, she believes that it is just as vital that girls have strong female ones.

Self-assured female teachers can provide a model of femininity that contrasts with that of Paris Hilton and Christina Aguilera. Similarly, teachers can talk admiringly about positive feminist role models such as Beth Ditto, the outspoken lead singer of US band The Gossip.

“We need to reinvigorate feminism,” Dr Ringrose said. “Teenage girls are struggling to find a positive identity that’s not completely defined by their sexuality. Positive role models can help them find the strength to resist being sexualised by men’s needs.”

‘Every Time She Bends Over, She Pulls Up Her Thong: Teen Girls Negotiating Discourses of Competitive, Heterosexualised Aggression’ by Jessica Ringrose.

A way of asserting power over men … and each other

The study of the social habits of teenage schoolgirls by Jessica Ringrose, of the Institute of Education in London, found that many choose usernames such as “slut”, “whore” and “freesex” on Bebo, the social networking site.

Daniella, 15, included the following tagline in her profile: “Hi Im Daniella And ii Like It Up The Bum Just Like Your Mum! And I Suck Dick For £5 =]”.

The girls’ pages also included references to sexual practices and positions and to selling sex.

They defined their own desirability by their willingness to meet men’s needs.

They carried stationery bearing the Playboy bunny, despite an awareness of its association with nude models. Marie, 16, said: “With girls it’s just the bunny … It’s just a good cartoon.”

But Dr Ringrose found that girls needed to be careful how they played out their sexual willingness. If they crossed an invisible line, their behaviour ceased to be desirable, and became “slutty”.

And, while it was acceptable to call yourself a slut, the girls did not want to be accused of sluttiness by anyone else.

The interviewees attacked a classmate because “she has got a nice figure, but, like … she shouldn’t show it off to everyone”.

Another classmate is described as having “a stunning figure”. “That’s why boys like her,” an interviewee said. “She lets boys come up to her and touch her bum.” This girl wins approval, however, for her ability to “stun” boys.

Dr Ringrose said: “We see that slut is also a sight of awe and identification (even fetishisation) for girls, for the power it potentially commands over men.”

Terms such as “slut” and “whore” also provided a socially acceptable way to express assertiveness, aggression and rage - characteristics that are usually frowned upon in girls. It was their way of managing anger and competition.

“Girls and women are not offered space to express aggression, while boys are,” Dr Ringrose said. “Everyone gets angry, but girls’ anger is read as ‘mean’ or ‘horrible’. As one teenager points out: ‘They don’t say boys are mean.’”

Educational Philosophy Survey Results

Your Results

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Constructivism		82
Essentialism		62
Progressivism		78
Existentialism		75
Perennialism		57
Reconstruction/Critical Theory		71
Behaviorism/Objectivism		67

Teacher Interview

Shirley Davis has been working as a teacher since fall of 2000; this upcoming school year will make it her 11^th year as a teacher. She attended FIU and majored in Elementary education. She has been teaching Kindergarten at Little River Elementary since August of 2000.

When asked why she wanted to become a teacher, she said “I feel that teachers are more than just teachers, they are more like fortune holders. They hold the keys and tools that you need to discover your place in the world and by becoming a teacher I would be helping many students find their places in the world.” Her idea of the “ideal” teacher is one that tries to incorporate all of the FEAP’s in themselves. She feels that the problem with education today is children aren’t getting a chance to really spread their wings in school and try things out due to all the testing practices. However, she does feel that it is a good thing that students are beginning to learn better due to smaller class sizes.

Davis feels that her greatest strength as a teacher is her ability to make sure she gives each child the amount of attention they may need. Her weakness is that she sometimes takes things personally if one of students do not do as well as she expected of them. When one of her colleagues was asked how they felt about Davis’ relationship with her students, he said “The way Shirley interacts with her students is amazing! She is always finding ways for her students to better understand the subject matter.”

Davis believes that communication is the key in keeping a successful classroom. This why she sends home a home-school communication log everyday so that parents can see what their children are learning, how their behavior has been in the classroom, and their progress in the subjects. Davis believes that unless you develop a relationship with the parents of your students, you will not have a positive teacher student relationship. Whenever she has a student that decides to go against the grain and refuse to do or complete assignments, she has a parent teacher conference and things are put into order.

When assigning tables to her students, she likes to establish a unisex environment to influence gender diversity. Davis expects all her students to be able to write their names, color inside the lines, and to learn how to think outside the box by the time the school year ends. She uses positive reinforcements in order to get her students to do what they need to do. Some examples of this is having a sticker chart on each desk, whenever a student completes an assignment on time or follows the rules, they get a sticker on their charts.

Davis believes in both individual and total class punishment; total class punishment has been more effective in her classroom however. Whenever a student is off task one of the other students will try and get that child to behave because they know that they may all get punished. She used individual punishment more when a child is expressing behaviors that are harmful to the safety of the students and her, like throwing chairs. When a child exhibits these types of behaviors, she takes them to the counselor’s office so they can have a 1:1 conversation.

After interviewing Shirley Davis, it is apparent that FEAP # 2, communication is a major part of her role as a teacher. She tries different ways to teach her students things so FEAP # 3, continuous improvement is also in practice. Most importantly however, she does everything possible to make sure that FEAP # 11, role as a teacher is a positive on her students and colleagues.

Quiz 5

Agency Evaluation of Student

Service Learning Hour Report

Service Learning Journal

Dates: April 7, 8, and 9 2010

I began my first week of service learning en media res-on a Wednesday at 11:30 A.M- right after the students had lunch. I clomped into a room full of Kindergarteners sitting on a rug reciting sight words. Being that these students were of the age group 5-6 years, I distracted them. They all wanted to know who this “skinny lady” was coming into their classroom. I introduced myself to the teacher and the students. The teacher introduced herself as Mrs. Lowe and decided to have the students engage in a name introductory game using a first me, then you technique. After all the introductions were made, I decided to sit and observe. There were about 22 students with an equal amount of boys and girls. The classroom was completely decorated; there was not an empty wall or window in sight!

I generally spent the first three days of my service learning observing and learning the children’s names. The apparent FEAP that I recognized during these first three days was FEAP # 9, learning environments. This teacher obviously had a plethora of techniques to ensure that the routines of the classroom went efficiently and smoothly. Whenever a student was off task, she would remind ask them “What rule are breaking?” the students would reply with the correct answer and follow the rule. By doing this, she was establishing the standards and rules for behaviors equitably and consistently.

I must say that after these first three days in the classroom, I was impressed. Being that she is a veteran teacher, I would not have expected her to be up to date with the FEAP’s. I was also glad to know that I was actually being given a chance to work side by side with this woman. Upon leaving the classroom that Friday, I was already anticipating the following week of my service learning.

Dates: April 12 and 13, 2010

The classroom was a whole other story these two days! Perhaps it was the weekend, but the kids were basically bouncing off the walls. During my days of observation, I noticed two students-boys- that seemed to have emotional behavioral disorders. When I pointed this out to the teacher, she assured me that they were actually going through the process to be placed in a classroom for students with emotional behavior disorders. I do work with students that have special needs, so I basically stepped in as a behavioral therapist for these two boys. There were times when they would accuse the teacher of only liking the girls and hating them.

During times like these, I would put FEAP # 2-communication-into practice. I would take these two boys away-it seems that they respond better to 1:2 care-and talk to them. I would first ask them what was wrong, by doing this, I was showing that what they had to say mattered. After hearing their problem, I would answer like this (take the aforementioned statement of the boys in account) count how many boys and girls there are in the classroom-they counted and told me-now tell me how many boys are misbehaving and how many girls are misbehaving-the response came back that there were more boys misbehaving than girls-I would then say, it’s not that she picks on the boys guys, it is just that more boys aren’t being nice at the moment then girls.

After seeing that I was able to assess this situation in a way that students understood what was wrong, it reaffirmed my goal in becoming in a teacher for students with special needs. I also realized that while all of the FEAP’s are important, communication really is the key.

Date: April 14, 2010

There was a substitute in the classroom today which made the students feel as if it were a free day. When I walked into the classroom, the students were all over the place; only a few were actually doing their work. So, being that I had exclusively observed the teacher my first three days in the classroom, I took on the role of the teacher.
On this day, I used FEAP # 8, knowledge of subject matter. I was able to teach the students as their teachers would do. I provided classroom ease by keeping the students on their normal schedules, and when I taught them, I taught them in a way that they would learn and remember what was taught.
After this day, I was very proud of my ability to step in as a teacher. Before leaving the classroom, I gave the substitute a general layout of the class schedule and reminded the students to “be nice” or they would receive “a sad note home” the following day.

Date: April 15, 2010

During recess today a group of kids were playing the leaf pile. While throwing leaves at one another, they found a little dead bird. The kids began to scream and came running to the teacher and I. The little bird appeared to have been blown from its nest because it was still very small and featherless. The students demanded an explanation of what happened to the bird and how did it happen.

FEAP # 4, critical thinking was put into practice here. We asked the students to tell us how did they think this happened and why. After giving us an answer we allowed the children to see the baby and say something to it if they felt.

One little boy asked us if we could give it a funeral and we agreed, we buried the little bird near a far off gate and one little girl recited a bible verse. After this day, I began to look at my students in a different light; I began to see that when given to opportunity to think critically, they would stun their elders with the things they come up with.

Date: April 16, 2010

A new student started in the classroom today; she was one of the children that came over from Haiti after the hurricane, she also knew no English. The other little girls decided that she couldn’t be a part of their cliques because she was different-she couldn’t read the same things they could, talk like them, or wear the same things as them.
The teacher and I realized what was being done to this little girl and put FEAP # 5, diversity into practice. We had each student tell about something that made them different from their classmates. When they were finished, the teacher told the students “We are all different in one way or another, but that doesn’t mean we have to be treated differently. We should be nice to one another no matter what makes us different.”

After this day, the students all began to play with the new child. They stopped seeing the fact that she couldn’t talk as a problem. Just because he couldn’t talk didn’t mean that she couldn’t throw a ball or color a page. She was different, and that was what made her just like them.

Dates: April 19 and 20, 2010

These were my last two days in the classroom. Through my service learning experience, the main FEAP that I saw continuously was FEAP # 11, the role of the teacher. Mrs. Lowe was the role model for her students. They looked to her for approval, disapproval, questions, answers, and praise. She is the grade chair and from being in her classroom, I can see why.

She communicated with the parents daily whether the report was good or bad. She encouraged her students in everything they did and was the backbone of her classroom. I hope that when I start teaching, I can incorporate many of her learning styles into my own.

Quiz 12

Quiz 11

Quiz 10

Quiz 6

Quiz 9

Quiz 8

Quiz 7

Quiz 3

Quiz 1

Quiz 4

Quiz 2

Reflection 20

Public high school was first founded in Boston in the year 1821. During this time, boys were the ones who virtually dominated these schools. After awhile other schools were established and boys and girls attended in separate schools. At this time, school was based more on religion and made for the more wealthy families.

The children of the less fortunate families did not have access to good schooling. Even during these times however there were reformers (people that wanted a change in the educational system) that believed education should be made accessible to all regardless of their social status and income.

Public high schools were created with democracy in mind. Being that democracy is the majority making decisions that binds the whole group. The values of education were based on the values and ideas of a free society. The Public high school was based on the American people and taught some ways of the American culture as part of the required curriculum.

The public high school was established with the idea that in order to have a successful democratic society, everyone needed to be educated. So, everyone regardless of race, background, ethnicity, and status was given the right to have a free public education. With this notion being the goal, many public high schools (secondary schools) were created in order to prepare its students for a higher education (college or University).

The public high schools of that time weren't able to compare to the public high schools of Europe. The public high schools of Europe always remembered that the school was established not only for the progression of the nation but to educate.

Today, the ideas of the American public high school still falls short because they have forgotten that goal is to educate. Take the FCAT, from August to March students basically learn nothing but FCAT skills that's supposed to help them pass that test. The curriculum is basically shoved to the side and forced to embrace the FCAT.

By the time these students make it to colleges, they aren't able to write an analytic, or argumentative essay, they aren't familiar with any literary devices, and they have never heard of any of the founding philosophers. American education has become so enraptured in passing tests and having high scores that have forgotten what it was established for; to educate the students and prepare them for higher learning.

Reflection 19

The dame schools of colonial America were created mainly for the women that were not able to attend grammar schools. It was used especially during the first century of the colonial development. The women that went to these schools were taught in homes by other women. Dame schools were the first of private elementary schools. They were instructed with only a horn book; there were no desks, blackboards, or maps. Dame schools weren't really thought to be very important, however, it was the school that most women attended. As a matter of fact, today it would be considered as the colonial daycare.

The way of schooling was usually left up to the different colonies. The New England colonies paid more attention to public maintenance, the wanted all the children that were able to attend school to go and become good citizens. The Middle colonies based education power; the students were educated to hold good offices, and to become priests and ministers. The Southern colonies didn't really have any type of implemented school. Students were normally thought through apprenticeships due the rural fields of the South.

Congress wanted schools to become more uniform in their instruction and for education to be mandatory so they passed the Land Ordinance of 1785 law. These law made education mandatory and made schools teach more than just reading, religion, and spelling. Teachers were no longer appointed by the town but were paid for by the government and the rest of the states taxes. Finally, the government had established a school system that was open to everyone regardless of social status; this was the beginning of public schools.

Today, public schools have reached completely new heights. Students can now go to public schools and graduate with the knowledge that the pioneers of education probably never dreamed of. With honors classes, Advanced Placement tests, gifted program, and classes for the students with learning disabilities, everyone has the chance to receive a great public education. Aside from the normal curriculum, there are after school activities and clubs that also give students a chance to be all they can be while in school. Education has evolved to new heights since the dame schools of colonial America, and hopefully they will continue to do so.

Reflection 18

When the Puritans came to America or the New World as they called it, they decided that they needed to establish a school. The Puritans established this school because they believed that the only way to remain pure of heart was by being able to read and write. This thought goes to show that education has always been viewed as a way of improving society. With every new colony and turn in society, education has always played the role of regulator. Deciding how things were done, when, and how.

When the Soviets launched the Sputnik, the government thrust more education on the American students. They decided that we needed more innovative classes; more science classes, math, and foreign languages. They realized that the Soviet was able to surpass them with this technological advance because they had more education then America.

Without education, there would be very few intellects; society as we know it today would not even exist. We would still be living in the dark ages where we only knew and believed things because it was told to us. By giving an education to societies, we have advanced in ways that were probably unimaginable. Thanks to an education, what looks like your average Joe is really a genius and can create bomb with basic household items.

We have highways, bus routes, train routes, airplanes, GPS navigation systems that do all the thinking for us, and smart phones-all thanks to education. If the people who invented these things had not gone to school and taken the requisite science, math, and English courses, we would have nothing. We would probably still be riding around on horses and bicycles. However,the fact that the bicycle was invented was still a great advance.

It is true that education has always been seen as a way to advance society. The founders of society have recognized that by giving people training in the basic classes, they develop a strong point in one of them. When this strong point is developed, scientists, mathematicians, philosophers, writers, and basically moguls are also born. Establishing education is detriment to the growth of society, this is why where there is education there is room for growth.

Reflection 16

Rhetoric is using language or writing to sway the mind of others. Rhetoric's played a great role in roman education, when the teachers were trying to teach the students about religion and what the roman educational system was all about. The Romans used Rhetoric as a way of passing religion or their beliefs onto their children by teaching them their beliefs were the right ones and they should continue on believing theses things.

Rhetoric was used in Roman education mainly in reading, writing, speech, and recitation. The Romans would teach their students that what they read, wrote, and recited was true and since it is true this what they needed to believe. Romans were taught by three different teachers, the Grammaticus, the Litterateurs, and the Rhetoric.

The Grammaticus were of the lower class in roman society and usually servants. They taught grammar and literature. Although they were basically poor, they helped Rome cultivate an awareness of correct spelling and usage. The more fortunate Romans used this as a way of setting themselves apart form the lower class. The Roman educational system was also created to teach its students about philosophy. The students came to believe everything they were taught because of rhetoric.

Today, you mainly find rhetoric in classes where the learning outcome is to teach students how to read, write, and communicate effectively. Like the Romans, we have noticed that rhetoric is an effective way to teach students. So the same way rhetoric played a role in educating those students in ancient Rome, it also plays a role in educating the students of modern Western civilization.

Without learning to read, how would we be able to explore the minds of our great predecessors and peers? Without learning to write, how would we be able to jot down our thoughts for those that will come after us and those that are with us now. then, without learning to communicate effectively, we can never be expected to be heard, and therefore it would be as if our opinions do not even matter.

Reflection 15

Education in ancient Athens was based on the arts in order to prepare the inhabitants of Athens for peace and war. Girls did not go to school but some were taught to read and write in the comforts of their own homes. Although the schools in Athens were private, the price was so cheap that even the less fortunate parents were still able to afford to send their children there for at least a few years. Parents generally were allowed to raise their children however they wanted until the boys reached 18 and had to go through two years of military training.

The boys of Athens attended school from about age 6-14. Books weren't as popular as they are today and were much more costly so the students were taught orally. Literature was the vital part of the Athenian school, but it also had a very art enriched curriculum. The boys were taught gymnastics, calisthenics, how to move gracefully, running, discus, wrestling, javelin throwing, and many more.

As aforementioned, literature was the most vital part of the Athenian school; the Iliad and the Odyssey was the most important piece the people of Athens used to teach their students. The students would write down, memorize, and dramatize passages from Homer's epics.

Education in Ancient Rome was very important to the citizens. While the less fortunate citizens couldn't afford to send their children to school, they sometimes still learned to read and write through less formal education. The children of the more fortunate however were taught by private tutors. The basis for learning in the Ancient Romanian schools was to instill fear in the pupils. If a child would get an answer wrong they were sometimes held down by two slaves and beaten by their tutor with a leather whip.

Unlike the education system in Ancient Athens, the education system in Ancient Rome was very strict. There was not an array of subjects to do and all the children learned was that something was right not why it was right but just that it was right and that's final. So one can say the education system in Ancient Athens was much more flexible than that of the one in Ancient Rome.

Reflection 17

In colonial New England, the role of religion in education was very important. They believed that in order to be considered a good child; they had to learn to read and understand the Bible, so religion played a great role in education during colonial New England.

The length of education varied based on things like sex, status, and wealth. The children of the less fortunate families did not receive and education in religion and literacy, they were instead taken as apprentices for three to ten years so they could learn a skill that would make them fit for society. Education was only for white people and taught privately.

Girls were taught by governesses. They generally learned how to read their Bibles, a little bit of writing, arithmetic, and recording expenses of the home. They also studied art, music, etiquette, needlework, spinning, cooking, weaving, and nursing. They did not go to England for a chance at a higher education because it was not considered important for them.

Boys were taught in a schoolroom by a male tutor (boys and girls were taught separately). They studied Greek, math, navigation, science, fencing, Latin, geography, history and etiquette. Unlike girls, boys were given the opportunity to get an higher education. For both boys and girls, the Bible, the horn book, and the primer were the books used in teaching students.

Today, the educational system is totally different from the ways of colonial New England. Religion is not discussed in schools. The subject has actually become so taboo that some students actually refrain from reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

There is also no more racial discrimination in schools. Students and teachers from all backgrounds and cultures are now all taught together. However, certain schools do tend to have a majority of certain races and ethnicities, but, other groups can attend these schools if they want to.

Today children normally begin school from age five (Kindergarten) to age 18. Every student is also entitled the right to go on to getting a higher education despite their sex. In general, while the colonial New England schools were the stepping stones for education, today we have come up with a more time consistent system.

Reflection 14

Aristotle was a Greek philosopher in the 4Th Century. His theory was based on the world being a whole. Part of the theory was that all nature was a continuous cycle of lifeless matter. Some of these were Earth, water, fire, and air. He believed that humans were different from all other living things because they have the ability to think and reason.

Aristotle categorized all living things from lowest (worms) to highest; highest would be humans because they have the ability to reason unlike animals. The basic cycle of Aristotle's Chain of Being went from lowest which would be an animal such as a worm, then in between which would be something that shared the qualities of humans, and finally highest which would be humans.

Aristotle used the four causes regularly. The four causes were material, formal, efficient, and final. With the material cause, "that out of which a thing comes to be, and which persists" The statement of essence also known as the formal cause, dealt with "the account of what-it-is to-be, and the parts of the account." The efficient cause was "the primary source for change." And the basis for the final cause was "the end, that for the sake of which a thing is done."

An example of applying the causes to real life goes as such. A hand is made of flesh and bones. Having blood, veins, fingers, and fingernails makes this a hand. God makes a hand. Being able to grasp and hold things makes this a hand. The formula for attributing the four causes to things is what is it, what makes it what it is, who makes it, and why is it.

Aristotle's thoughts and beliefs still have an impact on Western education today. When learning about food cycles, we learn that the way of life is for the smaller airmail to be overcome by the bigger animal; this is just like Aristotle's Chain of Being. Those lowest on the spectrum us overcome by those that are in the middle, then the ones in the middle are overcome by those that are highest on the spectrum. We even see the Chain of Being happening in social classes.

When thinking of how Aristotle's four causes relates to Western Education. one can say that we still use the four causes when reasoning and rationalizing. When we have to come up with answers t questions or even theories for science projects, there is at least one or two parts of the four causes are being used.

Reflection 13

Plato believed in idealism. According to Plato, the world is just a copy of an ideal world. This means that things only exist because an idea of them exists in our minds. The first principle of idealism is absolute truth. Plato taught that there's truth in everything, and that one should hunt for truth because it is infallible and everlasting.

The second principle of idealism was developed because Plato did not believe in materialism. He felt that if the elenchus was used, it could help people become less materialistic. His third principle was developed because Plato felt that knowledge was not nature but nurture. Although, he believed that the soul is born with knowledge but when placed in a body, the knowledge is lost. This left the person a lifetime to search and recapture this knowledge.

Plato once said that if something could change forms then it was not real. This belief however is outdated. Science today proves that although something may change, it is still real. Plato also believed in immortality of the soul. He thought the soul was around long before birth and holds all the knowledge because of this, when we are born, the knowledge escapes the soul and we are lank a blank sheet of paper.

We know nothing and have to learn all the things we once knew in our souls all over again. He also believed that the soul cannot die; his theory was it is there before the human body and it will be there after the human body. According to Plato the human body dies, but the soul does not. Plato's argument was "death must come from life and life from death."

Plato has impacted modern Western education in many different areas. His sayings [quotes], beliefs, and dialects have been considered and even used in raising children today. Plato believed that children should not be raised by their parents but by society. In a way that is what we're doing today.

Today, teachers have taken the role that parents used to play in the lives of children back in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamian times. Teachers basically raise children today if you look at in a metaphorical sense. Whereas parents spent the majority of the time with children, teachers now spend that time with children after age three. So in just one of his quotes, Plato has impacted western education in a major way.

Reflection 12

The Soviet Sputnik was the world's first artificial satellite. It was about the size of a basketball, only about 183 pounds, and could circle the earth in 98 minutes. The launching of Sputnik is important because it led to many new developments. The Sputnik also led to changes in curriculum in schools. After the launching of the Sputnik, schools were blamed for the United States lagging behind in knowledge of space.

Since schools were being blamed, congress passed the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) and gave close to a billion dollars to fund programs in Science, modern languages, guidance, and math. After Sputnik, students were entered into challenging math and science courses and were also made to study a foreign language. After the Soviet launched Sputnik, the U.S became obsessed with the race for space; they refused to let the Soviets win this race. They became obsessed with educating scientists and engineers. This led them to winning the race towards the moon.

When Sputnik landed, the U.S government wanted their nation's schools to meet the same challenge as the Soviets. The National Defense Education Act (NDEA) of 1958 was passed for "the security of the nation" and to cultivate "the mental resources and technical skills of young men and women." The NDEA sponsored training programs for teachers, advocated a change in instruction and more enriching curriculum, they also granted scholarships and loans for the students that were in college for careers that would secure the nation's future.

The launching of Sputnik served as an eye-opener for the United States. It was as if the Soviet were sending the U.S a memo saying "Hey United States of America, we're going to beat you in the race of space, then in every other race we can think of." If the Sputnik had not happened, then the U.S probably would not having decided to take more interest in science and math, and if the U.S had not made math and science more important subjects, then perhaps we would not have been the first nation to land on the moon. So, the Sputnik was not only the first satellite, it was also a wakeup call to the U.S nation.

Reflection 11

I remember the first time I heard of Socrates, I was in my seventh grade Philosophy/World Religions class. What I remembered most from the lesson was the Socratic method-answering a question with a question and that he focused on the five cardinal virtues which were "piety, wisdom, temperance, courage, and justice." However, after reading about him again other things stood out.

The Socratic Method or elenchus as it is also called was the foundation for later Western philosophy. It involves definitions of questions of key moral concepts. An idea of how the elenchus was used was to first get someone to express a belief usually one dealing with the definition of moral concept, then he would get to say another belief usually one that talked about virtuous concepts and the perception of good, next Socrates would go on to show the person how his second beliefs refute his first beliefs, and finally, he would show the person the their beliefs does not match and therefore are wrong.



Socrates also believed in order to live a truly happy life; you had to live a virtuous one. Today we believe that superficial and materialistic things will make us happy. We want the nice cars, big house, lengthy wardrobe, fat bank accounts, and perfect bodies because we feel like they bring us closer to happiness. Socrates on the other hand believed that in order to be happy, you had to get the materialistic and superficial things out of your mind and just focus on your being pure. According to Socrates, as long as you led a pure and virtuous life, you would be happy.

When examining the life and influences of Socrates, you can see that his works have left an impact on Western education. Today, many students and teachers use Socrates way of thinking whether they notice it or not. Let's say a student blurts out a wrong answer in class, the teacher can easily tell the student the answer is wrong and move on to the next student, but instead of doing this, she decides to show the student why the answer is wrong. The teacher continues on by first asking the student the question, then the teacher asks the student another question similar to the subject, then the teacher shows the student how the answers do not match, and finally lets the student see that the answer is flawed and know the reasons why.

Reflection 10

"The teacher is the gatekeeper."

According to the dictionary, a gatekeeper is a person in charge of a gate to supervise the traffic going through the gate. The dictionary also says that a gatekeeper is a monitor or guardian. So, in saying that the teacher is the gatekeeper, the teacher is being referred to as a guardian. The gate that the teachers guard is a metaphor for the minds of the students.

When a student starts school, their teacher is like a second parent or guardian. Teachers actually spend more time with students then parents actually do. This can be one reason why some students fall in love with their first teachers and may even wish their teachers were their parents. In saying this, it's obvious how much influence a teacher has on their students. Teachers are probably the first ones to open the gates of the world for their students.

This saying is most likely implying that the teacher guards or monitors the gate or mind of their students to try and filter out the negative things that are trying to enter and multiply the positive things. Let's say for instance there is a teacher at an inner city middle school.

Last year only 113 students graduated in a class of 15o and amongst that 113, only 27 were boys. It's a brand new school year now and there is a boy in this teachers class who has the potential to be something great and be a part of the graduating class, but he is easily influenced by the negativity in his neighborhood.

So, the teacher takes a special interest in this boy. She makes sure he does his homework and completes his class work in every class. She even tells him that her classroom door can always be a shelter for him if he needs to get away from the negativity of his surroundings. When June comes around, the little boy is a part of the graduating class.

All this because one teacher decided that he was worth saving and decided to act as a monitor by trying to only allow positive thoughts to enter his mind and being a refuge for him when the negative things would sneak up on him.

Being a teacher means more than completing lesson plans and following the states rules and regulations. Being a teacher means acting as a gatekeeper for all students because in doing so, you are making all the difference.

Reflection 9

In the article The First Schools, the Sumerian school flourished due to the invention of writing. The Sumerian school used the writing system called cuneiform; it consisted of thousands of pictographic tablets of clay. The clay tablets had economic and administrative memorandum on it. However, there was still several word lists that was intended for studying. That goes to show that even in 3000 B.C scribes was already thinking about teaching. The Sumerian school flourished during the last half of the third millennium.

From records that have been excavated, it is know that there was junior and high scribes, temple scribes, scribes that specialized in certain categories, and scribes that were leading government officials. The original goal of the Sumerian school was "first established for the purpose of training the scribes required to satisfy the economic and administrative demands of the land, primarily those of the temple and palace." The Sumerian school became the core of learning, culture, and creative writing.

Like the article The First Schools, in Ancient Egyptian Education, the students were also taught reading, music, and mathematics. The difference however was that in ancient Egypt, people learned mainly by watching their parents and they usually had to take up the profession of their parents.

In today's schools, students are put into three stages of mandatory education. The first is Elementary and this usually begins with grades K-5. After elementary, there is Middle or Junior High school. This is usually from grades 6-8. Then, there is High School or Senior High, the age range for this is usually grades 9-12. In each of these, there are required subjects and standardized tests the students must complete successfully in order to continue on to the next stage. These tests and standards vary by state.

In the state of Florida elementary school students are required to know how to read, write, and complete basic math problems in order to move on to middle school. They must also pass the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). In middle school, students are required to know basic algebra, take a Physical Education class, and Civics in the seventh grade. They must also pass the writing portion of the FCAT before they are able to move on to high school. In high school, students must take and pass health, four years English, three years of Math, two years of science and a foreign language, one year of P.E, and an economic and American government class. They must also pass the FCAT Math, Reading, and Science.

Reflection 8

There have been three waves or educational reform that has continuously influenced American education. The first and strongest wave of them all began in 1982 and was established as a means to raise standards. It was intended to raise the quality of education by requiring more courses and testing of the performances of teachers and students. States were to take the lead and improve existing practices.

The second wave began in 1986 and was established in order to restructure the school. The purpose of this wave was to give the teachers more power by giving them more control of the school. It also addressed some of the problems that children of color and other students that faced educational barriers.

The third wave began in 1988 and was established as a means to begin comprehensive services; it had the most ambitions of all the other waves. This wave wanted schools to be seen as more than an educational facility. The goal of this wave was to make schools provide health care, social services, and transportation. The overall belief behind this wave was in order to bring a child into adulthood successfully; schools should be like a one stop store, providing educational, social, medical, and other services.

The first wave came about after A Nation at Risk saw the reformation of schools in terms of national defense and economic competition. Corporations were complaining that they had to teach employees basic math and reading skills. The military found recruiting hard because they could not find people that were technically skilled to handle the equipment. Critics began pointing to low scores by American students largely in math and science. They then began saying that schools were not meeting the nation's technical and economical needs.

So, standardized tests were administered to identify weak performing students, teachers, and schools. These tests in turn helped to pinpoint those students, teachers, and schools that were meeting the nation's technical and economical needs. This is why this first wave is still the most dominant today. We still use it to determine who is meeting the standards set by the state.

Reflection 7

In Egypt, royalty, farmers, men, and women all received some form of education. Elementary aged boys usually started their first year in school around four. Their fathers would choose a future occupation for them and they would only take up the necessary subjects for that occupation. An example of this is only people who were going to be tax collectors would learn math. Everyone however had to learn to read and write. The Egyptians viewed the ability to read and write as a way of commanding respect.

When Egyptians were home schooled, everyone was taught a trade. Officials would teach their sons their trade and succession would be immediate, the son would take over the fathers business in the future. If however, a man did not have a son to be his successor, he would "adopt" an apprentice as his own and allow him to be his successor. Families were usually the teachers or their child's homeschooling although, the king did not teach his children by himself. The king's children would learn from royal tutors.

Girls from families that were not so well off would learn how to keep a well maintained house, sing, dance, and play musical instruments. The children of farmers would learn how to harvest a good crop, sow, tend to the poultry and cattle, make nets, and how to catch and prepare fish.

Egyptians would worship in temples. Their place of worship was fairly private and although there were many temples, none was seen as more superior or inferior to the other. During the New Kingdom, temple schools developed and it was very hard to get into one. There were two in Thebes, one in Mut Temple and another one at the Ramesseum.

In Mesopotamia, formal education was mainly to train scribes and priests. It included reading, writing, religion, mathematics, medicine, and astrology. They generally used memorization, oral repetition, copying, and individual instruction as a method of learning. They were very big on apprenticeship, they believed that if you took someone as your apprentice, you were to treat them as your own child by teaching them everything about your trade and if you did not they could leave. In Mesopotamian temple schools, they learned cuneiform, arithmetic, and units of measurement.

Reflection 4

The theory of evolution has always seemed to be ever changing. One day everyone is saying that we all come from monkeys and the next everyone is saying we all come from a fish. After reading Hominids, Early Human Phylogeny, and the story of Lucy, one can say that more people believe that we are all descendants of monkeys. I on the other hand beg to differ.

Just because monkeys happen to walk on two legs, use their hands as we do, and have a face structure similar to ours, does not mean that we are related. I can support the theory that we all came from Africa however. Now as far as all of us being descendants of Lucy, I also disagree. The only Lucy that I am descended from is Lucienne Joseph.

Despite my conflicting beliefs to the subject matter, I still found the readings quite interesting. It was interesting to see the change in brain size and speech develop. I also thought the fact that females once gave birth to litters of kids at a time was cool. Then when I learned that babies weren't always so dependent on their parents.

Homo Habilis started using very primitive versions of tools, then Homo Erectus came along and perfected tool use. They even found and discovered fire! They used fire as a means of survival from using it to cook, to using it to scare animals out of their caves for shelter. These things alone show the evolving of the ancient human mind.

Homo Erectus also made more advanced tools. These tools basically changed their way of life. No longer did they have to eat from the ground by using a stick to dig in the earth and get grub. Now, they could start hunting large game and not only eat their meat, but use their hides and skin as clothing.

While these pieces were very informational and at times controversial, they did not really have an effect on me. I just really liked that I was able to see how the human mind has literally grown. Not only has the mind grown, but the cognitive abilities has reached such extreme heights of higher knowledge.

Reading these pieces made me recall the saying "If you don't know where you came from, you don't know who you are." I'm proud to say that I do know who I am because thanks to these pieces I can trace back human history.

Reflection 6

"Without knowing the force of words it is impossible to know men." -Confucius

It can be said that we use writing as a means of communication every day. Right now I am using writing to do my homework. Some people use writing as a channel for their emotions, which by the way can sometimes lead to great poems and lyrics. However, writing does not always have to consist of letters. It can be a mixture of characters, symbols, and even numbers.

The invention of writing alone played a vital role in the establishment of the ancient civilizations. It is believed that writing was invented twice independently and three times in various places and times in history. In 3200 B.C ancient Sumeria, Cuneiform (wedge writing) appeared, it also was used in ancient Mexico by the Olmecs prior to 400 B.C. Cuneiform did the same thing a preface in a novel does, it served as just an introduction. The novel or next form of writing was the Maya glyphs used in 200-1500 A.D. After glyphs, characters began to appear.

Cuneiform, which developed in Sumeria flourished between 3100 and 2000 B.C. It is said that the earliest form of writing however developed in Southeast Asia out of economic expediency. There were pictograms found in Mesopotamia of tokens with pictures to label farm produce. Overtime, they started putting these picture impressions onto clay tablets with a stylus (a blunt reed). The marks left were wedge shaped which gave way to the name cuneiform.

The switch to full writing occurred sometime around 3500 and 3000 B.C; this changed as signs started to be used mainly for sound value. They also started using Homonymy which is when pictures of concrete things are used as symbols that represent sound.

Soon after the Sumerians, the idea of writing spread to the people of Southwest Asia, and surrounding places such as the Egyptians, the Cretans, the Elamites, and those of the Indus Valley. So, because the people of these ancient civilizations used pictures as writing, many assume that their form of writing was primitive. On the contrary, their form of writing just represented sound in an irregular way. The form of writing was the stepping stone of writing as we know it today.

Reflection 5

In every culture, there is some way to represent the coming of age for the youth. In the Jewish community, there is a Bar Mitzvah (bar meaning son and mitzvah meaning commandment) when a Jewish male turns 13 and a Bat (bat meaning daughter) Mitzvah when a girl turns 12. Hispanics have the quinceanera at age 15 to signify that a girl is now a woman. And Americans have the Sweet Sixteen. These are all rites of passages and whether we know it of not, we engage in initiation rites to get ready for these rites of passages ceremonies.

In any profession, it is good to know about the different beliefs of cultures, but a a teacher, this information is vital. Becoming a man or a woman can put a lot of pressure on a child. So whereas a student used to make mostly A's and B's, during the preparations for the rite of passage ceremony, their grades may start to waver a bit, and they may even be absent from school more.

Not only is it important for teachers to be familiar with different rites of passages their students may go through, they should also be familiar with major religious beliefs of their students. Like knowing that the Jewish boy in class isn't wearing a hat but a kippah or more commonly know as a yarmulke. Or that the Hispanic student isn't breaking the dress code when she's wearing all white. Instead she is just following the rules of her Santeria religion.

Knowing about the different things your students may go through based on nurture alone can make all the difference in the classroom. If you are teaching at a prominently Hispanic school, you would probably allow a little leeway for the upcoming Miss Quinceanera. If you are at a prominently Jewish school, you probably wouldn't assign too much weekend work because you know they spend Friday afternoons helping to prepare for Shabbat. You would also know that Shabbath is the day of rest and it isn't over until sunset the next evening.

Initiation rites and ceremonies has a lot to do with teaching and learning because they provide knowledge into another group of people. Prior to teaching the students, you may do some research on the students with the most cultural influence. And teachers can even assign a project where each student is given a culture and they have to research it and present themselves to the class. This on its own would be a way of teaching not only the students about different rites of passages, but another way to further educate yourself.