Community and Schools

I think that the Community is a big influence on the school system.  I know back home a lot of local businesses are willing to help teachers with different things.  Some things that the community help out with is if a teacher is doing a lesson on dental health and the teacher goes to a local dentist they are usually more than willing to donate some tooth brushes or something along those lines or even come in and talk to the classroom.  

Back home our community is a very close community.  When there is any kind of a fundraiser it seems as if the WHOLE community comes out to donate.  Sometimes it just depends on the community but most of the time people are willing to help out with schools or programs as long as they know that it's for a good cause.

Parent Teacher Conference

I found my parent teacher conference very educational.  It helped me know what to expect in the future when I have to do one with actual parents.  The difficult one was very interesting.  My conflict was that the parents weren't comfortable in the school.  I found it very awkward but I tried to work with the parents best as possible.  Making the things to show the behavior of their child was also very beneficial because it helped me think about what I would want to do in my future classroom.

Meth use in school

One effect a child might have on a school if they are using meth is a safety concern.  Meth users tend to be angry and irritated very easily.  Another effect the use of meth could cause for a school setting is if there are children that have parents that use meth they might get sent into a foster care system and this could be very difficult for the child.  A child that uses meth could also have a hard time focusing on their school work because meth users tend to be restless and have malnutrition which makes it hard for a child to focus.

Poverty In America

Poverty is in issue for youth in America today because their parents are having a hard keeping or finding a good job.  It isn't because their parents aren't trying it's usually because something happened like illness that caused them to loose their job and thus they had to pay for health care and couldn't get another job.  This issue is a hard issue to face in a classroom.  I would probably try my best to help supply the student the best to my capability with school supplies and other things they would need for school.  I would set-up a food drive in the school to help supply the local soup kitchen or food pantry.  If the issue why they are in poverty is because of some illness in the family it would be helpful for them if the school held a fundraiser to help them fit the needs.

How I knew I wanted to be a teacher

I first found out that I wanted to be an elementary teacher when I was a Senior in high school.  I had this idea in my head that I wanted to be a teacher but I wasn't really sure if that was what I wanted to do with my life.  I took a Cadet teaching class that helped assure my decision to become a teacher.  During the first semester we had some in class lessons where we discussed things that we had read or had experienced.  Also during this first semester we observed various classrooms about once a week ranging from Kindergarten to eighth grade and in different school systems to experience different communities.  Then during the second semester we got to pick a grade level that we wanted and we were able to spend about an hour everyday in that classroom and once a week at a different time we met as our own class.  I chose to be in a Kindergarten classroom in my own school system.  I grew to love my classroom as I started to get comfortable I was able to give a few lessons of my own and soon learned that being a teacher was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.  I got this sense of achievement when I would see the look in one of the students eyes when they finally understood something.