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This semester has made me think in many ways about who this person I am supposed to be.  I am supposed to be a teacher, so to me this means I am supposed to lead young children and young adults down a path for success.  A path where they will learn the necessary stills to do good for themselves in the future and do good for the society.  With all the readings that were assigned to our class, it has broadened my view of what I am actually supposed to do and in what amount of time I will actually have to help these students.

One specific reading that was my favorite and really made me start to think about how I will have to use my time sufficiently was, Carol Weinstein’s “Making the Most of Classroom Time” in Secondary Classroom Management.  This particular reading broke down every aspect of the school year and explained how many up and coming teachers do not really realize how much time they actually have.  I knew I thought I would have much more time to teach my students, but after reading this I was put through a huge reality check and now realize my time is much shorter.  As Carol put it, time is a “precious resource” (Weinstein, 2003, p. 165).  It discussed how much school time is actually available for teaching and learning, and on those thoughts alone, it requires me to think and make my future “lesson plans,” the most effective they can be.  If time is a “precious resource,” I cannot be wasting time that is valuable to these students, especially when other events may occur, that will take their time away. 
 

What is literacy and who is it for?
Before the readings that were presented before me on literacy, I had the generic view of what it is and that is, “the ability to read and write.”  However, after reading Tozer’s “Liberty and literacy today,” and Lankshear and Knobel’s “New Literacies,” I became a little more enlightened to what literacy is, while at the same time more confused.  Both of these pieces presented literacy in unique ways, but I felt with Tozer’s I was more able to understand and agree with.  My own personal view of literacy fell under one of the categories, which was “conventional literacy” (Tozer, 1995, p. 251).  However, if I really wanted to understand what literacy is and who it is for, I would have to have a more concrete view on literacy than it broken down into four different views.  This is where the Lankshear and Knobel piece come in.  “Being literate as having control, or fluent mastery, of language uses within what he calls secondary Discourse,” in this statement, the “he” is referring to a view that James Gee purposed (Lankshear and Knobel, 2003, p. 12).  By this statement, I would also have to think that the “discourse,” he is referring to “D”iscourse.  In class we learned that, “D”iscourse is about using the right words in the right way with everything else for a particular discourse. 

On these thoughts alone from the Lankshear and Knobel reading and what I recall from class, I would believe that literacy is for everyone.  For a person to get by in society, they would have to be to some extent literate in some way.  This is what I feel our goal as educators is, to prepare our students to adapt to societal changes.  Now, to me, being literate is not about reading and writing it is being able to get by in society and adapt to new conditions that our students are faced with.  Literacy in this view can then be seen to be set for everyone, everyone must be able to adapt to changing situations and therefore everyone must have some form of literacy to get by in society.

How does one motivate reluctant learners?
Motivating learners has to be one of the more serious aspects of becoming a teacher that we all should consider and know how to deal with.  For my particular subject matter of Kinesiology (Physical Education) teacher, I know I will probably have a larger number of students to motivate to participate in class and I want to know how to make those students time worth every second I get.  Most students when they walk into a Physical Education class don’t want to participate and think it is a waste of time out of their day, I on the other hand disagree and that I why I am going into this matter of teaching. 
The three main readings we read for motivation were by Jere Brophy, from his book Motivating Students to Learn.  The aspect that Brophy touched that I appreciate the most is, “Motivation to succeed.”  Brophy states, “Motivation to succeed is determined by the strength of one’s overall need for achievement, one’s estimate of the probability of succeeding on the task at hand, and the degree to which one values the rewards that such success would bring” (Brophy, 2004, p. 56).  I think the reason why this catches my attention the most, is because I can see students in my class may have no desire to achieve in my class.  This could be do to the last part of the statement, in how my students may not value the rewards that success in a physical education class could bring.  I know from my own personal experiences, if I do not like a certain subject matter and I am not interested in it, I am not motivated to get that 4.0, than say I am in a Kinesiology based class. 
So in order for myself to motivate a reluctant learner in my class, I can use some of the strategies presented by Brophy, one such way could be an incentive system.  Although this type of motivation can be viewed negatively, it could be used for “students who know what they are supposed to do and are capable of doing it if they put their minds to it” (Brophy, 2004, p. 308).  This is where I think many students will be reluctant learners in my classes, because they know what they need to do, and are definitely capable of participating in class, but just choose not to.  If I do some sort of incentive system, such as a free day, for a certain amount of points a student earns, then the student might be more willing to do what they are supposed to do. 
What do we want from our schools?
Answering this question is a little difficult because there are so many things that I would want from my school, that I feel I might almost be to picky.  I’m assuming I should narrow it down to a few of the most important issues in my eyes.  I would have to say that the biggest thing I want from my school is cooperation.  Cooperation has to be the most important thing and in order to be an effective teacher, I will need cooperation and support from the school and people I work with.  If the school doesn’t agree with the way I teach a certain item or wants to change the way I teach items, it might be hard for me as an educator to get things taught to my students.  If the school continually changes items and doesn’t ever cooperate with me as the teacher, it will be taking away from the whole purpose of myself and the school being there, something I do not want to happen because the student’s education is my number one priority. 

Something else I would really want from the school I teach at is the usage of various techniques of teaching, whether it be technologically, hands on, or any other way.  In my opinion hands on is the best way, but that is just the best way I learn.  I know from all the Teacher Education classes I have taken, that all students learn in different ways and by knowing that, I should try and adapt to all types of learners.  I would most definitely need the help of the school to teach all types of learners.  This is where this class has really come in handy, and although I have said it before I don’t really see how I will use technology in the physical education setting, there is a high chance I might end up teaching my minor.  If I were stuck having to teach Biology, I can now definitely see where I would incorporate the technological aspect of this class and I am thankful I am more up to date of this advances in education. 

Conclusion
Now that the end of this class is near, I can look back and realize how much everything that has been presented before me has brought me to a better understanding of what a teacher really is, and what I will have to go through in the future.  I also feel that although we didn’t spend much time in a school, which I would have preferred to do, I am more prepared on what to expect walking into that classroom on the first day.  Even though I feel more prepared, it is still scary to think that in one year’s time, I will be running the show for my own classes.  Not only is it scary to think of that, but to even consider the drop out rate of the profession, still has me questioning why so many adults around my age are having a problem teaching.  I know teaching isn’t always a joy, but it’s the tough times that make the good teachers the way they are.  Those teachers are able to succeed in no matter what setting they are put in and I can only hope that is how I will be.  I tell my friends and family all the time, which I can teach for 50 years and as long as I changed the life of one student, I will feel like I did my job.  I know that’s all it took for me, was one teacher to show me what I could actually do and I became hooked into the teaching profession.
Works Cited
 

Brophy, J. (2004). Rebuilding discouraged students’ confidence and willingness to learn. In Motivating students to learn (2nd ed., pp. 55-83). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Brophy, J. (2004). Socializing uninterested or alienated students. In Motivating students to learn (2nd ed., pp. 307-334). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Lankshear, C. & Knobel, M. (2003). From ‘reading’ to the ‘new literacy studies’ in New literacies (pp. 3-22). New York: Open University Press.

Tozer, S. E., & Willis, A. I. (1995). Liberty and literacy today: Contemporary perspectives. In S. E. Tozer, P. C. Violas & G. B. Senese (Eds.), School and society: Historical and contemporary perspectives (2nd ed., pp. 247-264). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Weinstein, C.S. (1996/2003). Exerpt from Enhancing Student Motivation. In Secondary Classroom Management: Lessons from research and practice (2^nd ed. pp. 174-176). Boston: McGraw-Hill.

This article discussed three different goals of American Education, they were… Democratic Equality, Social Efficacy, and Social Mobility.  Of all these three however, I felt that Democratic Equality was the one I understood the best.  The article stated that Democratic Equality was, “equally preparing society’s young to take on citizen responsibilities in a competent way.”  I took this as some sort of tracking… This thought of teaching to me seems like we would have kids start classes of something they are interested in, rather than wasting their time on classes of no relavence to what they want to do.  I don’t know if I’m right, but that’s just the way I think.

This type of thought, is just preparing the youth for their “part” in society.  Everyone has a specific place and we should prepare them for that, and nothing else.  I find all these ideas very interesting and I’ll be interested to hear what my classmates think.

You will always have those kids who eat junk all the time, but that is not the majority of students in a school. I think more importantly than removing vending machines, is making these students more physically active. As a future physical education teacher, I obviously feel that this is a really important issue. Physical activity is an extremely important aspect of peoples lives and it contributes to health and many other benefits. I think these lawmakers should push to make more physical education classes manditory that just maybe one year in high school. If that was the case, then it wouldn’t be that big of a deal if kids had a pop or a candy bar every once and awhile. The problem is the sedentary lifestyles we let our students and children live. When I was younger, sure I got my fair share of video game playing and watching television, but the majority of my time was spent outside running around with the neighborhood kids. Let’s get back to those times, and stop blaming vending machine’s for our students/childrens weight problems.

This article discussed something called, the Florida Prepaid College Program, something very similar if not exactly like the MET.  I don’t know if any of you are familar with these two programs, but they both can be purchased by students parents when they are younger and it will inevitably pay for a specific amount of college credits.  Most of the time, just the right amount to graduate with.  I’m not sure of all the exact specifics, but I do know it is a very good investment to make if you have children.

My parents personally purchased MET when I was younger, and therefore I have been fortunate enough to have my tutition paid for.  Yes I will probably still have to take out a couple lones before I am done, but that is because I took extra classes that were not necessary and I don’t have enough money for them.  However, one specific rule that falls under MET, and the Florida Prepaid College Program, is that you must attend a state funded college/university. 

In the article, the one girl wants to attend a private college, so the Florida Prepaid College Program won’t pay for it in full.  If you attend a private college, you will only receive a portion of the money and will end up having to pay for the rest.  I had a particular situation in my family, my older brother had MET as well, but wanted to attend Kettering University.  That is a private engineering school, so he didn’t receive all of his MET money and now has numerous debts to pay off. 

This article discussed how the amount of loans has increased recently and how parents are having to have their children pay for their own college.  The main issue, was how increasing high the prices have gotten and parents are wanting to prepare for retirement.  The only positive thing I can see from this article, is that although many students are having to fund their own education, they aren’t being steared away from doing so.  Students are prepared to take the next step and do what is essential to help themselves make a good future for them. 

I organized the teams and began playing with the students, while doing this I began to realize how competitive these  young students are.  I know my self I am competitive, but these 6th graders were just as competitive.  Fighting over calls and arguing with one another, seemed to take away from the game, more so than just playing and having a good time that students should have in a P.E. class. 

I would have to say the biggest excitement of this tutoring session, was when I actually had to break up a fight in the beginning stages.  Something, I now think I shouldn’t have done because I could have put my self in danger, but at the moment I felt it was what I needed to do before punches were thrown.  Especially since the teacher was busy with other students and oblivious to the situation.  The cause of this fight seemed so small, but for the type of school I am tutoring in, it seems as though these kids only know how to solve disagreements with fighting. 

The whole fight started because on student was playing tight defense on another, and the offensive player through the ball at the defensive player.  The defensive player, then pushed the offensive player against the bleachers and got in his face.  That’s when I jumped in and seperated them and took them to the teacher and made them sit out. 

In away, having to break up that fight made me actually feel like a teacher and an authorative figure.  I felt after doing it, both students almost respected me more than their own teacher.  I felt the appropriate thing to do after that was to talk to the kid who pushed the other kid and told him that if he would have just walked away, he wouldn’t have gotten into trouble.  Now thinking about it, it’s probably a lot easier for me to say than for them to do.  I feel in a school like that, it’s all about pride and if he would have just walked away, his friends probably would have never let him live it down. 

It is just ashame that these kids feel the way they feel.  I guess as a teacher, depending on my class I need to put these things into consideration.  Maybe a competitive thing is not such a good idea because kids take it so seriously and someone could get hurt.  On the fighting nature, I know it is inevitable that eventually one day when I teach I probably will have to break up a fight.  As a teacher, the safety of my students is the number one priority, and I won’t be able to look the other way, I will have to pretect them and break it up.  That is where, I need to begin thinking about my own safety and the proper way to break up an actual fight in progress. 

I have experienced so much in the past 6 weeks with tutoring, I am interested to see how my actual classroom turns out and what I will experience when I am the one in charge.  I can’t wait!

This article was about critical thinking and critical pedagogy, items that I have heard about before but I guess I really never understood to well what they actually ment.  I think when it comes to critical thinking I took away from this article that it is an ability to distinguish and recognize false arguments.   I really like the part in the article when it stated how many times people act without knowing why they are doing so, and that is something that causes those people to have no control over their future.  I would say that was the most interesting part to me because many times I feel the same way.  I act a certain way and whether it was good or bad, I don’t know why I do it and it to some extent has a factor on my life. 

I was interested to read how a part of critical pedagogy questions the inequality of power.  I feel these days so much emphasis is on who has what power.  You can find that in any setting you find your self in.  At your job, who has a higher rank than you and who is below you.  Hence, who has power over you and who do you have power over.  I mean I know that I might not be thinking about the “inequaity of power” the same was as critical pedagogy, but that’s just what I think when I hear that.  Even when it comes to who has more money than someone else.  In schools, it seems to be that the school districts with more money bring in more students, thus taking away money from other districts and making it unfair for those students who cannot go to a better school.

I guess I will be interested to hear what the class has to say about this article and the ideas of critical thinking and critical pedagogy.

The one I listened to was titled, “Gunnar from the Beaches of Normandy.”  This particular podcast had a video with it too, which was nice because I got to have a nice visual picture of what he was talking about and where he was located.  I’m assuming the mans name is Gunnar and the category was under a study abroad.  He stated how him and his fellow students wanted to go up on a mountain, but were told no because there was mines up there.  He later stated, that not more than 5 minutes of being told not to go up there, they heard a mine go off.  He felt sick from this because it made him think about if a child or even anyone was up there and set it off. 

He showed visuals of the sad dunes where the soldiers sheltered themselves during the war and showed the ocean, so I could get a visual of what it might have been like for soldiers coming onto that beach.  I think that these podcasts could be the next big thing and I wouldn’t mind being able to listen or watch a lecture or anything else of my interest from the convience of my room. 

From the sounds of it, the Florida House of Representatives is trying to pass a bill, that will force high school freshman to pick a major and minor.  Like we pick a major and minor when we enter college, which is 4 years later, they could be forced to pick one that much more in advance.  The governor believes that this will helps students because they will be able to focus more of items of their interest, reducing the drop-out rate, and allow students to be less bored during the day.

I completely agree with the way Amy viewed this article.  I do not think it is a good idea, to have someone who is 12 or 13 years old to start taking classes on what they “think” they want to do for the rest of their lives.  Most students at that age are not responsible enough to make that huge of a life decision or just simply don’t know what they want to do for the rest of their lives.  What if the student didn’t have an idea of what they wanted to do?  Would they just get stuck in any random “track” or would they just take general education classes? 

Although I can see how the governor would think it would decrease the drop-out rate because students would be doing stuff of their interest, I think it could back fire and increase the drop-out rate.  By forcing a student down a specific path, then they might become really discouraged and drop out if they feel they failed at that path or just simply realize they don’t like that any more. 

I know that when I was growing up I ALWAYS wanted to be a veterinarian… look where I am at now.  I am a junior in the college of education at Michigan State University.  Who would have thought I would go from veterinarian to teacher?  I don’t think I would have ever thought about teaching until the end of my senior year of high school.  That means if I would have to pick a major and minor my freshman year of high school, I would have wasted 4 years on classes that are no longer relavent to what my career path is now.  I just dont think that making someone so nieve choose what they want to do is a good idea, teens mature and change their minds of what they think is right for them so often it would only hurt them in the future to make them choose.  It would probably only befit a small fraction of students and hurt the remainder. 

I guess at my host school, the black kids were out to get the group of kids that stood out in the crowd.  These were the kids that wore all black and acted a little differently, you may know them as the “goth” group.  These particular kids could stand out in a crowd, just by the way they dress and apparently some of the black kids were making fun of them.  This is a serious issue because this is is how most serious school attacks happen, is because someone else was making fun of someone.  Any way, some kids brought knives to school, which is a serious offense. 

As a future teacher it raises a red flag in my mind as to, how safe are our school in the first place?  Yes, guns have made there way into schools and have killed people and if a gun can get into a school, then obviously a knife can.  It is so scary to think that kids are bringing harmful weapons to school, and thinking about or performing acts that are very dangerous to other students.  Not just for other students, but it has to be potentially dangerous for us future teachers as well.  Are our lives going to be at risk when we go to work?  I assume that no matter where you work, you life could potentiall be at harms way, but to think about it being in danger at a school, that is just obserd. 

Luckly, some kids told someone of higher authority to take care of the issue, but if these kids were to have kept their mouths shut, it could have been dangerous for anyone in the building.  I guess where I am going with this post, is what can I do as a future teacher to ensure the safety of my students and myself during the day?  Would I be one of those teachers to jump infront of child who was being attacked, or would I run the other way?  I sure hope I would sacrifice my life for my students, but then again it might depend on the situation.  Who would have thought that being a teacher, could lead to so many different situations? 

I guess the only thing I can hope for, is to be in a completely safe school.  I however know, that it is most likely not going to happen.  Every school has it’s own issues, whether it be between the students, or the faculty themselves.  I just hope I can be a teacher who stands my ground and protects the lives of my students.  Whether it be from physical harm or mental and emotional harm.