Chapter 4: Schools as the Workplace for Students and Teachers

The Vonnegut Center for Education, all of our staff hold an English teaching degree, as well as one in their specific area of study. The United States, as opposed to the VCE, only requires that staff have a teaching license in their area of study alone. Most US schools have a Superintendent, Board of Education, Principal, Teachers and Staff. The VCE has all of those too, but they also have a PTA that is very involved in decision making, as much as the school board. The VCE follows state rules and meets all standards. US schools go through a chain, just like VCE, to get commands of what to do. The state send orders to districts and then to the schools. VCE, being one of those schools, must follow all the orders. The Role of the Feds is the same in both cases, seeing as the VCE is a public school in the USA. The federal government provides few funds for schools, but helps them with cases such as Pico v. Board of Education. The schools are paid for by taxes from the public in the states and areas and some by the feds.

Chapter 14: Succeeding in Your Teacher Education Program--and Beyond

My concerns about being a teacher very widely. I worry that I will not be as great a teacher as I wish to be. I worry that I won't have as much of an impact on students as I hope to. I worry my first year, and maybe many more after that, will be full of worry and grading papers until I pass out. My concerns are also focused on my kids not doing well. Students who can do the work failing because I am not an effective teacher. I worry that I will worry so much, I won't know what to do with myself.

My concerns are mostly Self and Task. I had no concerns in the Unconcerned category. All my concerns revolved around teaching. They centered on my ability to succeed in teaching. A good many of my concerns are stage 2. A few are stage 3. One falls in stage 4.

Chapter 6: Social Context of Schools

I can't get my brochure to upload..

Chapter 7: Thinking about Teaching and Learning

I'd like to incorporate John Dewey and his philosophies and ideas. Plato and Socrates's ideas and theories about education and learning. I'd also include the discovery method and the reception-receptive method and what I like and dislike about both of them.

Things I Need to Know

• Praxis: Praxis passing scores impact me because I need to pass them in order to become a teacher
  
• Practicum: I did not know it's best to not take another class during practicum, this is good for me because I have extra time to work on practicum related activities and work, and I do not fall behind because I have a 4 credit cushion from AP English
• The Transferring does not affect me because I am already a part of the Secondary Education Major.

Chapter 13: Improving Teachers and Schools, and School Reform

I hope to add student teaching experience to my resume as well as maybe some tutoring at a local school. Also substitute teaching at my high school over school breaks, like Christmas. I also hope to add super great recommendations from professors. I hope to have great student teaching experience. But that does not mean all my teaching experiences will be good. Maybe I will encounter an out of control class and learn how to deal with them, strengthening my teaching experience.

During my first five years of teaching I hope to gain a masters degree, hopefully with help through the school at which I am teaching. I also hope to be beginning to think about National Board Certification. I hope to be teaching at a school that is very tech-savvy. I would love to be able to successfully integrate technology into the classroom. If there is little to no technology integration I hope to propose to get the school on the right track, starting to involve students and the classroom with technology.

How do I start thinking like a teacher?

To start thinking like a teacher I need to understand why I am doing assignments other than that they were assigned to me. I need to start asking my self, why did my teacher choose this passage from the book to read? Or why did my teacher set the classroom up in the arrangement? Just start watching my teachers and trying to figure out why they do the things they do and how they are helpful to different learners, or in some cases, not helpful. Mostly I just need to study how my teachers teach and try to put myself into that mind frame. When I am in class I should be asking my self "what is the advantage of watching this movie?" or "Did that class discussion help further students knowledge by sharing their ideas with each other?". I need to start visualizing how I would do things in class and think every class how to be the teacher not just the student.

Which theories and historical influences should most impact the schools we'd like to have?

Historical influences that should impact education the most would be free, equal and good pubic schooling for everyone. No boys only or whites only. No forced religion in school. No banning books because they have a couple of vulgar words. It is highly important that equal remains equal or gets better. The most important thing is that everyone is able to get the same education as everyone else. Teachers should teach how their students learn, let the students needs run the class, not the teachers wishes for what they want to teach. Teach what students need to know and teach it how they learn it best! The Wiki-Page project really helped me understand things like book banning and creationism v. evolution and the impacts on schools. I'd like to be introduced more in detail to specific teaching methods!

How can I use knowledge of the learner to be a better teacher?

I am not quite sure what this question is asking. Maybe I am just too sick and too tired. If I look at it later and am still uncertain, this post shall remain and hopefully my question will be answered!

How can I be successful at UMF?

In order to be successful at UMF, I need to take advantage of all my resources! The writing center, the computer center, student advisers, my actual adviser, my professors, my classmates, the wonderful chocolate-loving Kristen Hickey. I need to network and find what works best for me. On top of using my resources I need to create good study habits and always present work that is of my best ability. If I need help, I need to suck it up and ask. These are all things I have leared as class has gone on, picking it up tidbit by tidbit. One thing I don't know... where is the writing center?

How do I become a teacher?

In order to become a teacher, I need to get a teaching license! But also, I need to have a degree in the field I wish to teach. And in Maine, after a certain number of years, you need to obtain your masters, which most schools will pay for you to do. In order to teach in Vermont, which is my main goal I need to pass both my Praxis tests as well as make sure my license will transfer from Maine to Vermont, which it should with no problem. After my initial license expires I need to accumulate 3 credits in my field of study that further my knowledge as a teacher of English. Mostly, to become a teacher, go to UMF, get a respected teaching degree, go to the job fair, find a good job in hopefully Vermont, do all of the required tests and license stuff and ta-da I'm in my first year of teaching! The assigmnet that helped me with this was definatly the one where we had to look up the state we wanted to teach in, I learned a lot and found out how to apply, what scores I need, what I need to do to keep teaching, how much applying costs, all of that. One thing I don't know is how long an inital license usually lasts, which I am very curious to know!

Chapter 3: Families and Communities

Due to the fact that is is unconstitutional as well as proselytizing, teachers should not and cannot promote a religion in any school environment. The first amendment states that the church and state must remain separate. By favoring a religion in the classroom or school setting, teacher who is doing so is proselytizing, or "recruiting new members to one's faith"(106, Bedford Handbook). Teaching students about religion is not illegal, in fact, "religion is a legitimate discipline that can be taught in public schools" (106, Bedford Handbook). This can be done by teaching comparative religion courses so students can learn more about all the diffrent types of relgion there are in the world. It can also be done by having students read the Bible as literature to further understand Biblical allusions in classic works, such as Moby Dick and The Scarlet Letter. By law, prayer in public schools is not allowed, but if it is done individully, instead of lead by a staff member or a school offical. Private prayer is leagle while public prayer is not. Just because religion cannot be promoted in school does not mean it is an unimportant aspect in student's lives. The line is drawn to distinguish religious beliefs held by people from relgious history and the comparrision of relgious. This comparrision is not to say one relgion is better than the other, but simply to allow students to see all that is out there and help them find respect and understanding for their schoolmates relgious beliefs. Overall, religion cannot be promoted in any school setting.

Chapter 5: The History of Schools in the United States

The Joy of Teaching, written by Hall, Quinn and Gollnick, expresses the idea that the educational curriculum has advanced since its beginning over 300 years ago. The first curriculum was little more than teaching students how to read and write in order to read the Bible and spread the word of God. As time went on, it progressed to reading, writing, arithmetic and more. The original text book was the Bible, just re-writing passages and learning them. Then the New England Primer was published and was the first official textbook in the colonies, from there it progressed to "spellers and textbooks written by Noah Webster"(181). The McGuffey Readers were the next big textbook to come into play. In 1913 Educational Psychology, by Edward Thorndike, was published "and guided education for the next few decades"(188). The progressive movement in education lasted for 50 years and asserted the idea that schools would better society and should be tailored to students, becoming one of the biggest changes in education.


Over time many debates about education, including who should receive it and what it should entail have occurred over the course of history. Education was originally only for upper-class, religious children and adults. As time progressed education became available to lower-classes in order to better society, but it was still only available to whites. African-Americans, Native Americans, Asian-Americans and Latinos all faced the same difficulty of trying to receive an education that was just as good as the education being provided to whites. Religions such as Catholicism also faced difficulties in receiving education that did not discriminate against their beliefs. Over time education changed from being available to a select few to being available to everyone, no matter who they are.

Chapter 1 Assignment

Thumbs Up!

The Book was honest about how hard it can be to find a teaching job you really want
The Book was very clear about National Board Certification and how to go about receiving it.
The Book was upbeat about teaching making it’s mark on the professional world

Thumbs Down!

The book was too negative about the downsides of teaching, be honest but don’t scare people away!
The personal little stories about teachers were a bit too much for me.
The book was a bit repetitive. The book was a bit repetitive