I learned quite a few things by the end of my visits to my VIPS school. I realized that a high school is definately where I want to be. However, I'm still figuring out if an urban school is where I want to be. While I like the challenge that comes with the kids and the subject, it can be a rough place to teach in. Although, many teachers who teach in an urban high school absolutely love every part of it. They say that there can be some bad days, but seeing their kids graduate and do so well in school is such a payoff to the teachers. Watching just how far their under-rated students go is such a rewarding experience that they wouldnt even think about teaching somewhere else. So this has led me to question about the area that I might later teach in.
I also realized that teachers make a large impact of students lives. While the students were kind of nervous about me being in their class and their asking me for help, they eventually learned that I was there to help. It was rewarding to see my students grow in their musical skills, seeing them learn the terms and apply them to their instruments that they were learning. It was great to see them get better at their instruments and actually enjoy playing them even though they had originally hated them. Seeing the impact that I, simply being a tutor, had on the students has made me realize just how much I want to be a teacher. I hope some day I can make an impression on my music students like my VIPS teacher has had on his kids. That I might be as respected as he is. And that I might inspire students like my own music teacher did with me.
I have hope for so much.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Respect & Acceptance
One of the things that I really like about my VIPS school is that most of the students are bilingual. While I was observing my classroom before the class started i realized that many of the students were speaking in spanish. I had originally been a little thrown off by it since most of the time students speak english in school, whether its their first language or not. So for me to hear the students speaking in their language it made me quite happy. The teacher didnt say a thing about it, like asking them to stop, or telling them to speal english like most teachers would. He continued to go about getting ready for class and almost didnt even seem to notice the conversations going on in another language. He was extremely accepting of the fact that his school is multi-cultural, and multi-racial, which leads to the different languages being spoken in his classroom.
I think that by being so accepting about the students having linguistic and sociocultural differences, my VIPS teacher has gained a great amount of respect from his students. Luckily enough his students are old enough to have had enough time to know two different languages so that it's not like their being bilingual causes any problems when it comes to teaching them things. Goldenberg believes that people who learn to speak and read in their native language are going to learn their second language better. Goldenberg also believes that bilingual children are an asset to have. Goldenberg also stresses the point of transfer where they learn and apply what they know in their own language, to their second language being learned. I'm not sure if the students in my class are ESL students, but even if they are are, they have been accepted as bilingual speakers in their classroom. I believe I've been very accepting of the linguistic and sociocultural differences since I have grown up with other people who have linguistic and sociocultural differences. This is an advantage to me since most other people aren't used to such differences that are present in my home city or in my VIPS school. I'm thankful for being in such a respectful and accepting school system with teachers and students who are the same way.
I think that by being so accepting about the students having linguistic and sociocultural differences, my VIPS teacher has gained a great amount of respect from his students. Luckily enough his students are old enough to have had enough time to know two different languages so that it's not like their being bilingual causes any problems when it comes to teaching them things. Goldenberg believes that people who learn to speak and read in their native language are going to learn their second language better. Goldenberg also believes that bilingual children are an asset to have. Goldenberg also stresses the point of transfer where they learn and apply what they know in their own language, to their second language being learned. I'm not sure if the students in my class are ESL students, but even if they are are, they have been accepted as bilingual speakers in their classroom. I believe I've been very accepting of the linguistic and sociocultural differences since I have grown up with other people who have linguistic and sociocultural differences. This is an advantage to me since most other people aren't used to such differences that are present in my home city or in my VIPS school. I'm thankful for being in such a respectful and accepting school system with teachers and students who are the same way.
Bright Futures in Sight
While I've been tutoring in at my VIPS school, I've been concentrating on the kids. I've asked my cooperating teacher tons of questions about the school, his program, the types of problems he's come across with the kids of an urban school. The question I haven't asked him was how the parent involvement with his students was. Generally the parents of urban students is not a good generalization. The stereotype for the parents is that they don't care about their kids education.
While this may be true for some of the parents, I think that most parents do care. I believe one of the challenges I might have if I taught in my VIPS school would be the parent interaction with their child's education. According to a report published by Kids Count in April, 2009 51% of children in Providence live in a single-parent family. This puts children that live in the single family homes at a huge disadvantage because their parents are working so hard to support the family on their own. Because their parent is working however many jobs however many hours a week, this leaves extremely little time for their parent to monitor their child's school career. Most kids that live in a single parent home become independent and don't keep their parent in the loop for their school work. This would be an extreme challenge for myself as a teacher to keep in contact with certain parents about their child's progress.
In order to address this challenge I would have to try my best to let parents know how their children are doing. I would most likely do this either by letters, updates sent home, or even calling and possibly leaving a message just so that their parent is updated on how their child is doing. I wouldn't just send bad messages home saying their child isn't doing well unless it was absolutely necessary. I would try to send positive messages home so that parents can be proud of their children and want to try and pay attention to their child's education as best as they can.
Another problem that I am hoping really wouldnt come up would be the parents bringing up my race and privilege if I was collaborating with the parents. The only reason i worry about this is because of the diversity in urban schools and the different races that dont have privilige that I do. It may not matter to them that I grew up in a similar situation as them, they might only see me as a white, priviliged female.This brings up Johnson and how he brought up that people dont realize their privilege. That if you acknowledge your privilege, its then that you can make a change. So hopefully by acknowledging that I am priviliged and respecting the views and the questions that the parents ask me, I will gain respect from the parents and they won't mind asking about their childs progress in my class.
I also hope to be able to take parents questions. comments, concerns, and sugguestions into deep consideration and be able to put them into affect in any way possible to make their childs education better so that they will have a bright future, which I'm sure every parent wants for their child.
While this may be true for some of the parents, I think that most parents do care. I believe one of the challenges I might have if I taught in my VIPS school would be the parent interaction with their child's education. According to a report published by Kids Count in April, 2009 51% of children in Providence live in a single-parent family. This puts children that live in the single family homes at a huge disadvantage because their parents are working so hard to support the family on their own. Because their parent is working however many jobs however many hours a week, this leaves extremely little time for their parent to monitor their child's school career. Most kids that live in a single parent home become independent and don't keep their parent in the loop for their school work. This would be an extreme challenge for myself as a teacher to keep in contact with certain parents about their child's progress.
In order to address this challenge I would have to try my best to let parents know how their children are doing. I would most likely do this either by letters, updates sent home, or even calling and possibly leaving a message just so that their parent is updated on how their child is doing. I wouldn't just send bad messages home saying their child isn't doing well unless it was absolutely necessary. I would try to send positive messages home so that parents can be proud of their children and want to try and pay attention to their child's education as best as they can.
Another problem that I am hoping really wouldnt come up would be the parents bringing up my race and privilege if I was collaborating with the parents. The only reason i worry about this is because of the diversity in urban schools and the different races that dont have privilige that I do. It may not matter to them that I grew up in a similar situation as them, they might only see me as a white, priviliged female.This brings up Johnson and how he brought up that people dont realize their privilege. That if you acknowledge your privilege, its then that you can make a change. So hopefully by acknowledging that I am priviliged and respecting the views and the questions that the parents ask me, I will gain respect from the parents and they won't mind asking about their childs progress in my class.
I also hope to be able to take parents questions. comments, concerns, and sugguestions into deep consideration and be able to put them into affect in any way possible to make their childs education better so that they will have a bright future, which I'm sure every parent wants for their child.
Change is Good.
No person is free of bias. Not me. Not you. No one. Different personal history for different people create different biases. It is impossible to walk into a classroom without some sort of bias. My own personal history and sociocultural characteristics intersect with my students a lot more than i had thought. While we all have different, more specific experiences, we are similar in quite a few ways.
Growing up in Woonsocket, I grew up around people of other races and other cultures. My middle school and high school were highly over populated. The high school was also highly diverse with a mix of different cultures. Woonsocket high was a lower class school. Over half the population, 54% recieve free or reduced lunch. So coming from such a diverse, lower class high school, walking into my tutoring school wasnt much of a culture shock for me. The high school I tutor in is even more diverse than my own school. They also are from about the same social class as I'm used to.
I think the fact that I'm so used to different cultures and social classes is a huge advantage for me. Many other people were in shock when they walked into their tutoring schools and were surrounded by lower class, multi-racial kids. I, however, felt very comfortable around everyone there. I have the advantage over other people in an urban school because I'm so used to them. I actually enjoy the challenges and rewards that come along with teaching in urban settings. Although the students are a bit tougher to handle, and are generally spoken badly of by many people, the kids are really talented and smart but just dont have the perfectly planned future that many white upper class kids do.
This thought reminds me of what Jonathan Kozol wrote about in his article Still Seperate, Still Unequal. In this article Kozol very often refers to the financial advantages many white children over the education of colored children. Schools that teach mainly colored children get far less funding than schools that teach white children, even if theyre in the same region. This happens even here in Rhode Island. Cities like Barrington, Narragansett, and Newport, which are all predominantly white, recieve for funding for their schools compared to cities like Providence, Woonsocket, or Central Falls who recieve far less funding for their schools that have a large minority poulation. The way these states are taxed plays a huge part in how they're funded.
http://www.infoworks.ride.uri.edu/2008/state/taxcharts.pdf
This site ^ i researched the taxes for the cities and their funding for schools. Its very obvious that what Kozol was talking about happens everywhere. Kozol also brings up the issue of overcrowding in classes which was ovbiously happening in the school I tutor in. Schools that are predominantly white have classroom sizes generally around 20. In the school i tutored in, classroom sizes were significantly larger. Pushing 30 usually. The funding for the school I tutored in was obviously very low. The supplies and even the school itself looked outdated and not very well taken care of. Like no attention was being paid to this school and its students. This would never even be thought of if the school was a higher class predominantly white school. Kozol was completely right writing everything that he did.
Its upsetting to me, as a future teacher in a possible urban school, that the students im teaching will have less of an advantage at a great future than those students in an upper class, white school. I hope to make some changes when it comes to sad facts like this. We need change.
Growing up in Woonsocket, I grew up around people of other races and other cultures. My middle school and high school were highly over populated. The high school was also highly diverse with a mix of different cultures. Woonsocket high was a lower class school. Over half the population, 54% recieve free or reduced lunch. So coming from such a diverse, lower class high school, walking into my tutoring school wasnt much of a culture shock for me. The high school I tutor in is even more diverse than my own school. They also are from about the same social class as I'm used to.
I think the fact that I'm so used to different cultures and social classes is a huge advantage for me. Many other people were in shock when they walked into their tutoring schools and were surrounded by lower class, multi-racial kids. I, however, felt very comfortable around everyone there. I have the advantage over other people in an urban school because I'm so used to them. I actually enjoy the challenges and rewards that come along with teaching in urban settings. Although the students are a bit tougher to handle, and are generally spoken badly of by many people, the kids are really talented and smart but just dont have the perfectly planned future that many white upper class kids do.
This thought reminds me of what Jonathan Kozol wrote about in his article Still Seperate, Still Unequal. In this article Kozol very often refers to the financial advantages many white children over the education of colored children. Schools that teach mainly colored children get far less funding than schools that teach white children, even if theyre in the same region. This happens even here in Rhode Island. Cities like Barrington, Narragansett, and Newport, which are all predominantly white, recieve for funding for their schools compared to cities like Providence, Woonsocket, or Central Falls who recieve far less funding for their schools that have a large minority poulation. The way these states are taxed plays a huge part in how they're funded.
http://www.infoworks.ride.uri.edu/2008/state/taxcharts.pdf
This site ^ i researched the taxes for the cities and their funding for schools. Its very obvious that what Kozol was talking about happens everywhere. Kozol also brings up the issue of overcrowding in classes which was ovbiously happening in the school I tutor in. Schools that are predominantly white have classroom sizes generally around 20. In the school i tutored in, classroom sizes were significantly larger. Pushing 30 usually. The funding for the school I tutored in was obviously very low. The supplies and even the school itself looked outdated and not very well taken care of. Like no attention was being paid to this school and its students. This would never even be thought of if the school was a higher class predominantly white school. Kozol was completely right writing everything that he did.
Its upsetting to me, as a future teacher in a possible urban school, that the students im teaching will have less of an advantage at a great future than those students in an upper class, white school. I hope to make some changes when it comes to sad facts like this. We need change.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Hidden Treasure
My first day of tutoring was nerve wracking. I was nervous to meet the kids. I was nervous to see what the atmosphere was like or if the teacher would be cooperative. My school is located in an urban area near main roads and main social gathering places. Its in a middle class social setting, however most of the kids are from the lower class. When I first arrived at my school i couldnt find the front door. After a good 10 minutes of looking for the front, i finally found the doors that i had to use to enter to start my VIPS experience. After i entered the school, i couldnt find the main office since the building is huge. I found the office and had one of the secretarys point out to me how i could find the music room in which i would be tutoring. The building has three floors and a basement which all include winding hallways which made finding my room almost impossible. The music room is almost shoved into a corner basement room but is a hidden treasure for a music major like myself. It seems like every space in the building is used, no spaces are wasted. The room is larger than most music rooms. There are over a dozen keyboards and other instruments organized around the room. The feel of the school, so far, seemed positive. I didnt feel anything negative in the school. The students as well as the teachers seemed respectful and willing to help. The teacher was glad to see me and thanked me for coming in and helping him out. The kids were kind of confused as to who i was was were interested to see why i was there. Soon after they grew to realize that i was there to help them.
As for the values in the school, walking around the halls it seemed like school spirit and furthering their education is valued. There were posters in the halls about getting into college or college fairs so that the students could see and have a future. There were also fliers and other things that had their mascot stated and announcements of schuool functions or atheletic events for the students to attend. In the classroom, music is obviously valued since its a music classroom. The teacher seems to care about helping his students pass his class. He has ways to remember certain things you need in music. He has rubrics posted on his walls so the kids can see just what needs to be done for a good grade. The teacher also walks around all class long, trying to help each student get better at what theyre learning, whether it be their instrument or another part of music. I have a feeling that my experience at this high school will be a good one.
(:
As for the values in the school, walking around the halls it seemed like school spirit and furthering their education is valued. There were posters in the halls about getting into college or college fairs so that the students could see and have a future. There were also fliers and other things that had their mascot stated and announcements of schuool functions or atheletic events for the students to attend. In the classroom, music is obviously valued since its a music classroom. The teacher seems to care about helping his students pass his class. He has ways to remember certain things you need in music. He has rubrics posted on his walls so the kids can see just what needs to be done for a good grade. The teacher also walks around all class long, trying to help each student get better at what theyre learning, whether it be their instrument or another part of music. I have a feeling that my experience at this high school will be a good one.
(:
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Who am i?
My name is Christina (:
Im 19 and a sophomore.
I am a Music Education major.
Music is my passion and my life.
I breathe, eat, and sleep it.
But i wouldn't want it any other way.
My schedule is always crazy.
Im always doing something.
I work weekends and am taking 9 classes this semester.
Im pretty busy. It keeps me out of trouble.
Im not a very good writer,
as you can tell by this list rather than a paragraph.
I love my family and friends. They are my world.
I'm both excited and determined to become a music teacher.
I cant wait to be a teacher,
but im enjoying the time i spend at RIC.
Im 19 and a sophomore.
I am a Music Education major.
Music is my passion and my life.
I breathe, eat, and sleep it.
But i wouldn't want it any other way.
My schedule is always crazy.
Im always doing something.
I work weekends and am taking 9 classes this semester.
Im pretty busy. It keeps me out of trouble.
Im not a very good writer,
as you can tell by this list rather than a paragraph.
I love my family and friends. They are my world.
I'm both excited and determined to become a music teacher.
I cant wait to be a teacher,
but im enjoying the time i spend at RIC.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
