chapter 11 how are schools goverened

Outside of the teacher position I would like to be a school board member. It would be an excellent opportunity to experience how decisions are taken place and implement new ideas that as a teacher I have. Also to represent the students and their parents best interests. School board members have the reputation of being more concerned about politics and representing special interest groups than  representing the community but I don't think all of them are like that, there are school boards that actually work together with superintendents for the best interest of the students. Is understandable that with power and with the pressure from different groups (teachers,parents,principals) the job a board member can be seen as being favoritism, but I think that when school board members have teaching experience they should never forget that their most important concern in making decisions should always be the students.

chaoter 7 technology in schools

I remember that the first time I was introduce to a computer it was in the 80's when I was in Junior High.   Computers were very rudimentary. Resolution was only black and white and I remember that one of the first things that I learned to do was to draw pictures through programs that used commands like "go to" , It was very basic but at that time it was exiting. Later on, things staring to change and computers evolved constantly making them more interesting. It was until the introduction of the Internet that things begin to change dramatically. I still remember that my first years at college we had to do our compositions by handwriting and computers at school were very limited. Today is different computers are every where, in every class room even kinder garden students have access to computers. I love what technology has done to the education process it makes things a lot easier and more interesting not only for the students and teachers but for the parents as well. Now parents can view their children's grade on line, download the school lunch menu, or even e-mail the teacher. I think technology has bringed more positive thing than negative.

chapter 6 blog

I think motivation is the single most important characteristic of an effective teacher. Is hard to think of the single most important characteristic of an effective teacher but I think when a teacher is able to motivate students to be their best, to strive for excellence or not to be a conformist, his job should be a lot easier. As a student, I remember that sometimes there were classes that I just didn't like. No matter what, I just didn't feel the motivation to attend and if the teacher was not inspiring, well that made things even worst. When teachers have the gift to motivate, students look forward  to attend their classes.

blog # 5

One thing that I have noticed in the Los Fresnos Elementaries is that all students depending on their grade, are doing the same thing. For example, my third grade son every week gets a paper outline on what he is going to do every day the whole week. They also have a folder with all the the homework they are going to do for the whole week, which I think is great for us parents to know exactly what they are doing. One day he forgot his homework folder and he said he was going borrow it from the next door neighbor and I told him that he couldn't do that because she was in a different classroom. When he got the folder it turn out that they had the same information and when I asked the teacher she said yes that in fact, all third grade children were doing the same thing. I don't know if that is something new or if they have been doing it for a while now but when I was in elementary thing were different. every teacher had their on outline and would give out their handouts. Another thing that schools are doing today is incorporating technology into the school. Now in some school parents can access their children grade online which make it a lot easier for us parents to know how they are doing and where are they getting bad grades. Another thing that I have notice today in elementary is that students don't take text books home anymore. I don't why, but is hard sometimes when they need help and I don't the answers and I can not show them where to find the answers.

chapter 4

When I was reading chapter four on  the poverty issue I remember something that is happening with my children now. My children attend school in Los Fresnos ISD. and regularly, they come home with notes of events or about activities they would have in school. Most of these activities require money. like for example buying a t-shirt for field trip, buying school pictures, birthday parties, and presentations. Most of these activities don't require the student to purchase or to participate but how do you explain a 5 year old kid, who sees that all of their friends are buying things, that we don't have money for that. I don't remember that it was that way when I was a kid. I consider my self  to be bless that both my wife and I are working and that we have that little extra money to use on our children, but I always wondered about those parents who are single parents or parents struggling to make ends  meet, how can they pay for all these extra expenses or how can they explain their children that there is not enough money. I don't know if this is something that happens in all schools but I think some teachers just don't  understand that there are families whose budgets are very tight and that even expending five dollars would require a great sacrifice.

chapter 3 post

I think the special education class is more suitable for me because I notice some of the special ed. students move a lot when they are learning and I can relate to that because I too like to move a lot when studying or doing homework and I think I can work with students under that circumstances.  I  think I can help them also  because patience is one of strongest virtues. I don't mind if I have to explain thing over and over again or if I have to teach thing over again I can deal with that. As a student, I don't consider my self to be gifted or talented, on the contrary, I consider my self to be a student with a lot of defects and needs. I think I can help these children. I think it would be easy for me to understand their necessities and create new ways learning for them. I think working with these type of students should be extra demanding compare to the regular teachers but I also thing that the rewards could be more gratifying and and more noticeable on day to day basis. I think that anybody working with this type of students would received an extra motive that would help any teacher maintain motivated to continue improving as a teacher and as a human being.

things I will change

One thing that I have notice in the elementary is that most students don't practice good manners around school. For example, responding good morning when somebody says good morning or saying thank you when somebody opens the door for them or picks up something for them. When I was growing up teachers would encourage students to exercise these good manners and would include them in the education process. I understand that these kind of practices maybe are consider to be things that should thought at home not at school but I think they should be considered part of education. If I were a teacher I would teach students the importance of good manners setting good examples and showing them that good manners are also part of education.