Field Blog: Gearity Elementary School

       Before visiting this Elementary School, then question I wanted to address was how do teachers respond to the constant need of attention and help of their students? I understand that teachers of all grade levels spend their entire day helping and educating their students, but in the younger grades it it much more demanding. 
       Once we were all assigned our classrooms, we headed off to explore Gearity and find where we would be observing that day. I was assigned to observe in a Kindergarten classroom. When I walked in I realized that there was three different teachers in the room. I was confused about who was the main teacher, since they all seemed to be working equally hard to help their students. I later found out that one of women was a student teacher from Notre Dame College, the other was an assistant/aid, and the last was the classroom's main teacher. 
       That day the kids were working on how to write out the letter "A" and what words started with that letter. The student teacher had them color in pictures that started out with "A" and then share with the whole class, while the teacher assistant was going around the room and helping them decide. The main teacher had stepped outside in the hallway to get one on one attention with all the children one at a time. 
        I thought that this was a good system, because I could really see that every child's needs were being addressed. All the children were able to ask questions and get instant feedback from their teacher to help guide them with the lesson, rather than waiting in their seat for a long time, and eventually forgetting the question or move on. 
        I really liked that this school had such a large teacher to student ratio, because every student deserves to have the same quality attention in order to fully understand the material and feel they are valued. 

Blog Post 9: Building a School

Link to Building a School Slide Show -->

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/12OxC8zfnB7EPu4v3JY7U9ZRLBk3j-PdPZ1nLO8bZ2IU/edit?ts=5638c13d#slide=id.p

Blog Post 10: Summarizing the Course Blog

Being immersed in various schools, reading new books about education, and discussing thoughts with my classmates I have learned a lot. When I began this course I did not expect to get as much out of it as I have. When we started reading the William Ayers and Educational Foundation books, I was always genuinely interested in the information that was being discussed.

Starting with Lisa Delpit, I learned the importance of putting our own personal beliefs to the side when understanding others. Since reading this I have tried to remind myself of this when dealing with day to day situations. I found that when I am more open-minded and optimistic, I tend to look at things in a more positive way. This lesson will definitely stay with me for the rest of my life, especially in the teaching world.

Another lesson that was extremely eye-opening to me, was when we were assigned to go observe a public place with a partner. I found it so interesting that being in the same place as someone, at the same time, and basically in the same seat, we still saw so many different things. It made me realize how diverse people’s insights and perspectives are on the world. 

Lastly, I came to the realization that the most important qualities of a teacher are being passionate, empowering students, and connecting bridges. Through personal experience and class discussion I found that possessing these qualities truly benefits the students. Not only does it create a strong bond between the students and teachers, but it also makes a comfortable classroom - two very important aspects of being a great teacher.