This I Believe Proposal

            In my paper I will be arguing that schools for all grade levels should be required to have students participating in a full hour of physical education every day. The reason I believe this is because there are many different health benefits that are included for students who participate in some sort of physical education. I also believe this should be a rule because it has been proven that students who do participate in some sort of exercise can have better grades in the classroom. A final reason I believe schools should have to offer physical education is because it can lead students to learn more about themselves and to also become better individuals in the real world.

            The problem with this topic is that many schools believe that physical education is just a big waste of time and is getting students out of doing “real work.” Schools don’t realize that physical education is more important than most of the classes’ students are actually taking. Many classes talk about just one thing or focus on one subject. Physical education however, covers numerous subjects throughout its course. It shows you how to be a leader in the real world. It can also show you how to live a healthier lifestyle and teach you to be a better student in the classroom. Finally, physical education teaches you about the risks of sitting in front of a television, cellphone, or computer screen all day and what can happen to you. There are many advantages to physical education that schools have simply gone blind to.

            There are many different things I hope to learn while writing this paper. I hope to learn why the faculty of schools are so against giving children a little bit of time each day to get some well needed exercise. Another thing I am interested in finding out is why the schools who do require physical education allow students to just walk during the class and not actually participate in the activity. The reason I say this is because at the high school I attended students didn’t have to play the sport we were doing all you had to do to pass the class was wear the proper uniform and walk. I find this to be a completely unsuccessful idea. I will be able to get this paper done on time because I have found very credible sources that are loaded with helpful information on my topic. I want my reader to agree that physical education is something that is important and that it is something that schools should want to provide to their students for success.

Observation Hours: Class 5

This was my last visit to Mrs. Lytle's first grade class. I was very sad to have it all come to an end because I was really enjoying seeing the class during these visits. The question that I had walking into the class was what are the students going to do since it is the day before Halloween? I remember when I was in elementary school we always did something fun to celebrate the holiday. From what I saw not much had changed. One thing I did not do much of this class was take notes. I wanted to work hands on with the children and also get a chance to see what they were all doing for the day. When I arrived the students were coming back from computer class. When they got back from computer class the students were reviewing words that they had practiced previously. They only did this for a little bit of time because they had to get to the fun activities they were going to do in honor of Halloween. The class and the rest of the school did many various activities to celebrate Halloween. Since I was only there for a short period of the day I didn't get to see many of the activities they participated in. However, I had the chance to see a few. First, they had the chance to work on their iPads to study words they had already learned also, they got to practice Halloween words that had the sounds of previous words. I found this to useful to the class because they had the chance to study old words and sounds they already knew, but had the chance to make it fun by adding in words relating to Halloween. After this activity was completed, the class had the chance to make Halloween pictures to bring home and show their families. The teacher let each student pick 10 stickers to add to the pictures they had already drawn. Many of the students really wanted to show me what they had drawn and I saw that they all were very creative and had very different ideas of what they wanted to draw. You can tell they all had an open mind and wanted to take time and draw something they took pride in. After they completed this activity it was time for them to get ready for recess and also to get ready for the parade they had the chance to attend later. Every student in the school had the chance to walk around in their costume and show what they were going to be for Halloween. Many of the students in the class really wanted to show me what they were going to be and just tell me small stories about their families and what they were going to do Halloween. It felt great to do this since I knew this was going to be my last visit of the year with the class. In conclusion, I had a great time spending my 10 hours with Mrs. Lytle and her first grade class. They all showed me that teaching is definitely the right career for myself. I hope one day by the end of the year I have the chance to go back and see the class because I enjoyed every second of being there. The students and Mrs. Lytle made this experience very enjoyable and I am glad I had the chance to take part in the classroom.

Observation Hours: Class 4

For my fourth time of being at Mrs. Lytle's class I couldn't believe how fast the hours were going. It felt like I was just starting and now I was already practically ending. The "special" class of the day was computer class. When they arrived back from computer the students who became very open to me welcomed me with a warm smile. One of the students was acting up a little bit that day and the teacher called him to the back of the class to talk to him. I was very curious as to what was going to happen in this situation. The teacher talked to him and asked him to settle down and he obeyed with her as his attitude the rest of the class was visibly more mellow. The students joined at the carpet to learn a new sound. The sound of the day was "qu" which I thought could be very challenging to learn. Actually it was the opposite for theses students, they all picked it up in an instant and it was great to see. The class also talked about stamina and how it could be involved in the way that they read a book. For the rest of my time there the class used iPads to practice the "qu" words. Also, they read a decodable that was all about "qu." Every day that I have been with the class I have seen how all of them want to learn more and want to do great things in the classroom. Mrs. Lytle definitely helps with this as you can see how committed to her job she is, and how much she truly cares.

Obseravtion Hours: Class 3

When I arrived for my third visit at Wickliffe Elementary School I felt a lot more comfortable compared to the first two trips. The children were very welcoming of me as if I was going to be there everyday. When I arrived they were just getting back from their "special" class of the day which was music. I found out on the two days I usually went, which were Wednesday and Friday, was the days where the students had Music and Computer as their special class. Upon arrival the students ate a snack and then, had the chance to grab a book to read from the "browsing box." I figured this was a box they chose a book from once a week to read and then put back when they were done. When they put it back they wrote down the book they read on a piece of paper that they kept in their desks. After reading, the class gathered on the carpet and practiced words that were hard to pronounce and also syllables. Then, the class had to take a test on the words that they had just learned. Upon completion of that test the class had to take another test, but this one was about adding and subtracting. I thought this could be challenging for students because they are so young, but they still had to take two different tests back to back. You can definitely tell how focused each student was and how bad they wanted a good grade on the tests, which is something you do not always see with older students. There is quite an amazing difference between all grade levels with the way everyone acts. In three short visits to Mrs. Lytle's class it has been amazing to see how much these children can learn in a short amount of time. It just shows that if you put your mind to something you really can do it. I am looking forward to my final two visits, I can not believe I am already half way done with my observation hours.

Observation Hours: Class 2

For the second time that I went to Mrs. Lytle's class I stayed for two hours. I noticed many similar things between  the first class and then, this class. When I arrived the class was coming back from their "special" class of the day which was computer. The first thing they did when returning from computer was take a 15 minute snack break. One thing I noticed this class that I did not notice in the first class was the writing on the board that read "surprise." However, there was no "e" at the end of the word. I figured that the class had done something wrong and lost the letter and they also may be losing out on some sort of reward if the rest of the word is erased. I find this to be helpful because it can keep the kids calm if they want the surprise. While the students were enjoying their snacks a couple of them had to go to the back of the classroom with the teacher to practice reading. After the snack break, the students gathered on the carpet in the front of the room to practice nouns, capitalization, and punctuation. One thing I noticed during this was that the class paid a lot of attention to the teacher and did not slack off or fall asleep. Many times in high school classes you may find many students to not pay attention or even fall asleep, but that was definitely not the case for these young students. The class read a "decodable" again for the day and this one was called "In A Jar." The reason they read this particular decodable was because it dealt with their sound of the day. The sound of the day was "ar." The final object the children completed for the class before I left was writing a short story about themselves. After they wrote the stories they had the chance to read it aloud to a partner of their choice. Many of the children came up to me and shared their stories with me, this made me feel very welcome and accepted to the class. My second trip to the class was great and I am looking forward to my last few days with the class in the next few weeks.

Observation Hours: Class 1

The school that I completed my observation hours at was Wickliffe Elementary School. This was the first time I was going back to my old elementary school for the first time in a long time. I was a bit nervous, but I was also excited to see what teachers were still there and what things have changed in the past ten years. I noticed immediately that many of the teachers were still there, but also a few teachers had retired. I had the honor to sit in on Mrs. Lytle's class for my ten hours. It was an amazing experience and I got to witness a lot of awesome things. Mrs. Lytle was a kindergarten teacher when I attended the school, but now she teaches first grade. On my first day the students welcomed me with smiles, and hello's which made me feel comfortable instantly. The class just got back from their "special" class of the day which happened to be music. When they arrived back to their regular classroom the class did a lesson about how "or" is used in certain words. They only did this for a short period of time because they had a special presentation about fire safety. The class had a chance to watch a video about getting out of their house if there was a fire. Also, the students had a chance to look at fire trucks, and ambulances. Next, they had the chance to look at all the equipment and tools fire fighters use in case of an emergency. When the students arrived back to their regular classroom they started to read short stories which were called "decodables." There was a couple of interesting ways that students received an award or prize. The first was coupons, and the second way was a chart that measured behavior. It had a stoplight format so, if you were good you put your piece on the green spot, but if you acted up your piece was put on the red sport. I found these both to be interesting and helpful techniques. One final thing I noticed before leaving the class on my first day was how passionate the teacher was about her job. You can definitely tell how much she cares for each student and it was something that was amazing to see. My first experience back at my old school was great, and I am looking forward to the final four trips back there.

Blog Post 10: Blog Summary

Throughout all of my blog posts and my many classroom observation hours I have figured out that Early Childhood Education is the career that I hope to end up in. From the beginning it has been where I want to be and all my classroom experiences have just encouraged me to keep this as my intended major. My many experiences in the classroom at Wickliffe Elementary School have shown me that the teachers, and faculty love their jobs and enjoy going to work every day. One major thing that I discovered about myself is that children and my passion and I really enjoy teaching them as well as just being around them. They always have a positive attitude and children are just very creative and it is something that is amazing to witness. I do still have several concerns about the field of education as a whole. I wonder if I will be able to get a job because I know this is a field where a lot of people are fighting to get a position. Also, since I am a male I want to know if that is going to help me get a job in early childhood or if it will lower my chances. To wrap it up, keeping this blog was something that definitely helped me see my growth from the beginning on college to now, it has helped me see that this is the career for me and hopefully one day I will be lucky enough to wake up each day and go do something that I love.

Field Blog 3: Gearity Elementary School

For my third and final field blog I traveled to Gearity Elementary School. I was extremely happy to go to this school because my intended major is Early Childhood Education and I figured this would be one of my final chances to see if I wanted to stick with this major or not. My question going to this school was if at the end of it would I want to still teach early childhood or would I want to change it to a different grade level? The answer to that question is there is not a chance I want to teach another grade level. I found out from going to Gearity that early childhood education is my passion and it is the career I hope to work for my life.


There were many great things that I experienced in the classroom to which I was assigned. I was placed in a preschool classroom. Originally, I planned to teach second or third grade so this was going to be a little different from what I had seen from my observation hours at Wickliffe Elementary School, and indeed it was. The class had one main teacher and also, had one aide. The children in the classroom when my classmates and I walked in were going over the weather for the day and also, they were learning the alphabet. After doing those things the class had a chance to work on iPads, and just do many other fun creative things to learn about zoo animals because they were taking a field trip to the zoo in December. They did this for about an hour so I took it upon myself to join the children and see what they were doing. The children seemed very happy to have my classmates and I there as they invited us to play with them and participate in their activities. I decided to sit down with a group of about four boys to see what they were doing. For most of the hour the continuously asked me to draw pictures of the different zoo animals, so I did. The children and I also completed a matching game where you had to connect the zoo animal with it's name. For example, if the word was 'Frog' you had to find the picture of a frog and connect the two pieces together. The students as well as the teachers really made me feel welcome and I couldn't have enjoyed being there much more, it was fantastic.


In conclusion, after my visit to the school I definitely hope to find a career in Early Childhood Education after I graduate from John Carroll. I enjoyed every second at Gearity Elementary School and was very honored and pleased to go there. I would love to go back there one day for another visit because of how much I enjoyed it. You can tell that the teachers, and faculty of this school were all passionate about their jobs and really enjoyed working at the school. Gearity was a great school and it was a great experience to visit the school and sit in on a class.

Field Blog 2: Shaker Heights High School

For my second field blog my class and I visited Shaker Heights High School. While there I examined many different interesting things. I sat in on two separate classes the first was an English class and the second class was a history class. The classrooms had two very different environments that I was interested in. The question I had in mind going to Shaker Heights High School was if it was going to be similar or different than Mayfield Middle School. The differences was major between the two schools is what I found out quickly.


The first class I had the opportunity to attend at Shaker Heights was an English class that I spent about 30 minutes in. The class was presenting a poetry project that they all had to do research on. The class had to do research on a poet, and a poem by the poet then, present many facts about the poem and the author. This particular class did not seem too interested in the project. About half of the students didn't even have a project to present. Many of them said, "I didn't have time to do it" or "I'll get it done tonight and then, turn it in tomorrow." Also, throughout most of the thirty minutes students had their phones out and were not paying attention to the other students who were presenting. Many of the students also got up and moved seats a lot. The teacher did their best to control the class, but it seemed as if it was a challenge. Another thing I noticed was the arrangement of the seats, they were in a format which I had never personally seen before. Perhaps this was the teachers attempt to get the class more involved and motivated to learn and to pay attention. I wish I could go back and see the class again, it was definitely and eye-opening experience for me.


The next class I had the opportunity to sit in at the school was a history class for about only 15 minutes. The classroom setup was what most classrooms look like, many rows of desks all faced in the same direction looking at the teacher in the front of the room. However, there was a major difference in this classroom compared to any other class I had been in before. It consisted of one teacher, but also the class had three aides to help students. This definitely helped the students as a whole with more guidance the students were certainly more involved. During this class the students read a short story about, Napoleon Bonaparte. After they completed the reading each student had to do a small paper filled with questions about the reading. I left the class as soon as they were given the worksheets, so I do not know how each student did on them. I'd like to think with all the help each student did well on the paper that was assigned.


In conclusion, my experience at Shaker Heights High School was something that I honestly enjoyed. The students and faculty were all very welcoming and it was an honor to sit in on two different classes. It would be an honor to go back and see some of the teachers and students again. However, my choice of education is still Early Childhood, but definitely wouldn't mind teaching at the high school level.

Blog Post 9: John Carroll High School

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1y2pTmYe_aasTSmFvS5j5bkesubv5xKCEAf-7W5S-YoY/edit?ts=56322904#slide=id.p

Blog Post 8: Planning A Teaching Experience and "Building Bridges"

Since my Major is Early Childhood Education I had to think of something interesting that a first grade teacher would and could teach. A lot of different things to teach came to mind, but one stuck out. A thing that I would be able to teach young children about is doing simple addition and subtraction because that age is when you first start learning about the basics Math, and all the other core subjects. In chapter four when Bill Ayers is talking about "building bridges" I believe he is talking about building a personal relationship with a teacher, the work that they are teaching, and their students. The bridge is connected between the three things because all of these combined can lead to great success in and outside of the classroom for both the teacher and student. If a teacher is able to build a bridge with themselves and students through math it can lead to a much better environment in the classroom which in turn will make the teacher earn respect for the students and vice versa. Another positive aspect about building bridges through simple addition and subtraction with students is that maybe they can really start to enjoy it. Then, it becomes something they enjoy more and more each year as they continue on with their education. Finally, they find a major with math in it because of the healthy bridge that was built with them and the subject as early as first grade.

If I am to teach this kind of math to young students there are many things one must keep in mind. First, I'd need to realize that not all of these students are going to get it right away because this can be their first introduction to any kind of math in their life. You need to go in to teaching every subject with an open-mind because you don't know what these kids know and don't know. If I were to assume that my students just know how to do everything I as the teacher would be setting most if not all of them up for failure. I need to realize it is going to take time and we all learn at a different pace. Another important thing I would have to do is explain all the different ways to solve a problem and how to get the answers. You could tell them there is calculators, but if they use them they may not learn it as easy as the other students. Also, you have to show them how to "carry" a number for an addition problem such as "18+17." Finally, you would have to tell them to practice it a lot and try it on their own time. There are many factors that go into teaching something and building bridges, but these are the main things for this type of teaching experience to young children. It is very important for teachers to build bridges with students because at the end of the day it is only a positive experience for both sides and can lead to great success in the future.

Blog Post 6: PostIt Notes

While I was reading Chapter 8 of "Educational Foundations" I stumbled upon a very interesting section. The chapter was titled "The Banking Concept of Education" and it was written by Paulo Freire. Throughout most of the chapter the author talks about how Teachers do all the talking and get to control the whole class while the students just sit there and listen and take notes. He says things such as "the teacher teaches and the students are taught" and "the teacher thinks and the students are thought about" and finally, "the teacher is the Subject of the learning process, while the pupils are mere objects." There are many others but these were the one's that stuck out. Well, in my opinion I do not necessarily think the author is completely correct. In fact I think a classroom is divided equally. Now sure teachers can give detentions and they are the one's who make the rules, but usually in my past experience students were never considered just "objects." The only people who were considered "objects" by teachers were the students who did not care to be in the classroom so the teachers would have to ignore those students or even kick them out for being disruptive. Usually, that did not happen but in some cases it did. Now, you have the other kids, the kids who actually wish to gain knowledge and be in school. This group of kids should not be considered "objects" because most of the time these kids were apart of the lesson. Most of the teachers I had would not consider these students objects at all. This group was able to give input on the lecture and be heard by the teacher and the rest of the class. Students taught the teachers new stuff and instead of the teachers teaching they were actually the one's who listened and paid attention to the pupils. These kids do not deserve a special title, but they also do not deserved to be referred to as "objects."

Blog Post 5: Rofes

In his book A Radical Rethinking of Sexuality and Schooling Eric Rofe's talks about how hard it was for him to grow up as a homosexual. He presents many details from his childhood of how hard it was for him in grade school and high school and even adult life. The schools that I have attended have not shown much prejudice towards homosexual students, instead they have embraced the way they are. At my high we only had one openly gay student and everyone was very accepting and friendly to him honestly, he was one of the more popular students because of his bravery. In his book Rofe's considers childhood a "negative" part of life. I personally do not agree with this at all. Childhood should be one of the happiest and greatest times of your life. It is one of the only times you can have an open imagination and enjoy everything. It seems like enjoying his childhood and having fun was not something he really took part in but rather hated it. If I am teaching at a school in four years I hope it is the school where I went to as a child. I believe the school will still be very similar to the way it was nearly 10 years ago when I attended the school. The kids are still hopefully happy, funny, outgoing young boys and girls just like it was for me and the rest of my classmates because elementary school was a great and exciting experience for all of our young minds. Currently I am doing my observation hours at the same elementary school I went to and not many things have really changed. It seems as if they do most of the same work we did. Have the same schedule we did. Also, they act the same way that we did. Hopefully, these things continue and I am able to earn a job at this dream school because it would be a dream come true to have that kind of dream job.

Field Blog 1: Mayfield Middle School

Going into Mayfield Middle School for the first time I walked in with a question to think about while I was examining the class. The question was how do students in Middle School act now compared to when I was there? The answer I received was not the answer I expected. I noticed many things from my visit of this school. The first thing I noticed is that the students at this particular Middle School seemed more calm and settle compared to how my class acted when we were in Middle School. Another thing I noticed is the teacher whose class I was examining used something called a "marble system" he didn't explain it to us, but from the looks of it when students act well they get marbles and their score on the board goes up. If the students act up and talk when they are not supposed to they lose marbles and a possible prize is lost as well. I feel like this was the teachers way of getting his students to act mature and appropriate. If they can do that they are rewarded. The technique this teacher used was smart. One final thing that happened was the students received their test scores back from a previous test they had just taken. If the students got over an 88% on the test they were rewarded and had their name put on a special board. However, if they received a score lower than 88% nothing happened they were just told to do better and try harder next time. In conclusion, after sitting in on a 7th grade science class I have figured out many new things about what goes on inside a Middle School classroom. However, I still think that Middle School is not the place that I want to be teaching at in the future.

Blog Post 4: Lisa Delpit Second Quote

The second quote from Lisa Delpit says "[Teachers] should recognize that the linguistic form a student brings to school is intimately connected with loved one’s community, and personal identity. To suggest that this form is “wrong” or, even worse, ignorant, is to suggest that something is wrong with the student and his or her family." I completely agree with this quote and everything that she says in it. We are all grown up differently and are taught different things by the communities that we come from. We are all different people in this world and we need to accept each other for the way we are. One day I hope to be a teacher of young children. I know that I have to go into my classroom with an open mind about these children. If I think there is something wrong with a student because of the way they act or the clothes they wear or just any little detail, that would make me a very ignorant teacher because who am I to judge someone I don't know or a family I don't know based on the way a child acts. Maybe the certain student has a rough time at home so they act up in my class because this is the only time they get to have fun. I know that I can not judge these students. I truly believe that every student in this world is very unique and they all look at it in a different way. Our opinions are all different from one another so we MUST keep and open mind when a student walks into our classroom. Everyone in this world is different nobody is the exact same. Teachers need to embrace this and not judge a book by its cover.

Blog Post 3: People Watching

Interpretations:

1. Group of guys that were friends. Just eating some lunch.
2. Two girls that are close friends. They are also close with each other and just got out of a class.
3. Group of friends. Three of them were guys and two of them were girls.
4. Two girls walked into the caf. Wearing workout clothes and looked a bit sweaty so must have just gotten out of the gym.
5. Guy in white shirt with boots. Just got out of class because he had a book bag on. Didn't come to the caf with any friends.

Descriptions:

1. The guys that were friends are on the wrestling team. They had similar shirts on. Talked about food a lot and also, on their phone a lot. Didn't talk to much to each other.
2. The two girls sat down with no food and talked for a long time. One girl used a lot of hand gestures while talking. The other girl looked nervous about something or just not interested. The girl who used hand gestures was thirsty so she got a cup of coffee.
3. The group of five friends looked at their phones a lot. Didn't communicate with each other too much. Two more of their friends came to eat with them after about 15 minutes or so. When one girl was left alone she looked around the caf as if she was judging people or just people watching.
4. The two girls that I saw walk in just got out of the gym because of the way they looked. They both got milk to drink. One girl got a hamburger the other got some pasta. They say on the far side of the caf away from everyone else.
5. The guy who was alone got stir fry to eat. While he was getting the food he had a conversation with the chef at the station. He just sat at a table alone. Didn't go on his phone much at all.

Reflection:


After doing about 30 minutes of people watching I discovered several interesting things about myself. The first thing I figured out is I am a person who judges a person by the way they look which is not a good thing. For all the people I looked at and examined I judged them right away even though I didn't know a single thing about them. The people I judged could have been really great people and I didn't even know a single thing about them so who am I to judge them when I know nothing about them at all. Another thing I figured out about myself is that I am always people watching whenever I am alone it is just that I have no clue I'm doing it. Really though, whenever I'm eating at the caf or I'm walking somewhere by myself I'm always wondering what is going through other peoples minds and just trying to figure out a back story about them. A final thing that I learned about myself is that at times I can be very open minded. By this I mean when I saw people I had no idea where they could be going maybe they could be going to see a friend or they can just be going for a walk to clear their mind I kept an open mind as to what they could be doing. All in all, people watching had actually taught me a lot in a weird way and helped out.

Blog Post 2: Reflection On Quote

"We do not really see with our eyes or hear through our ears, but through our beliefs." (Curtis and Carter, 2000, p. 9) I believe that this quote means everything that we believe is something that has strong meaning to us so some things that we see or hear we may not believe. One example that comes to mind is our belief in religion. If you are a Catholic and really truly believe in god then some of the things you hear you will not believe. In my house as a child my whole family was Catholic so I was raised to believe in God because of the things my family and The Bible had taught me. Today if someone was to come up to me and say something about believing in another religion I would not listen because it is my belief that God does exist and after we die we either go to Heaven or Hell. Now the other person could possibly be right maybe there is no Heaven at all but from the things I have learned in life make me believe it is real. At the end of the day it is all just perspective we all have certain beliefs that others are not going to be able to change.

Blog Post 1: Class Survey

1. My name is, Nicholas Lanese however I prefer to be called, Nick.

2. My hometown is Wickliffe, Ohio
3. I would prefer to teach anywhere from kindergarten to first grade.
4. Some things I am into are tennis, golf, and watching sports. This semester I am going to be taking five classes as well as play for the tennis team here at John Carroll.
5. There are many things in my life that are very important to me. One very important thing is my family. Also, sports are very important to me because they are a stress reliever. A final thing that is important to me is the way others view me. I try to be the best person I can be so it is important people look at me in a positive way.
6. Things that must be in place for me to be comfortable in a classroom include being in a friendly environment, and being  in a place where I feel I can share my opinion without being nervous.
7. In high school the work I received was fairly easy. The reason I say this is because I was never really challenged in the classroom because of the way the students acted around me the teachers always had to focus on settling them down and because of this they were not able to teach as much as they should have.
8. Some concerns in the education field I have is if I will be able to find a job right after graduation.
9. Is there any certain sports you enjoy playing? If so which sports? Also, how many years have you been teaching in your life?