Reflection Paper #20

The nineteenth century saw growth and industrial growth, people wanted knowledge. They felt that knowledge was power. European countries started to follow Prussia's example of a national school system and started opening schools. Schools came out to the forefront; education was becoming much more important. Just working in a workshop or for the family was no longer enough people were branching out and getting an education. In the European countries, Elementary schools were attended by children of the lower class and they ended their school years by the time they were ten or eleven years of age accepted for the few bright kids. The subjects were reading, writing, religion and if the teacher had knowledge of arithmetic then they were able to teach it to the children. Pestalozzi's belief was that their educational goal was for the development of the individual child instead of the memorization of the subject matter. European high schools were closed to women. Only on very rare occasions did individual women get the permission to study as an auditor or go to the University or a medical school. In the late nineteenth century, there were private women colleges for special courses and medical school as well. The Universities in Switzerland started to admit female students after 1867. European schools discriminated against the poor and the women. In the United States all had children had access to schools and so did girls. They were able to continue to study after secondary school. Subjects like science were added because they thought that mind could be trained to think scientifically. In addition, with the immigration problem the focus was how to impart the most amount of information to so many new students. New schools were built and new teaching methods were adopted.

Reflection Paper #19

The development of U.S. education from the Old Colonial Dame Schools to today's high schools is significant. In today's schools, there is so much more coursework and extra curricular activities that are offered and there are equal opportunities for both boys and girls. The Dame Schools of Old Colonial were modeled after the Dame Schools on Britain. They were private schools, which were privately supported, and fees were charged. They concentrated on reading, writing, moral and religion. They were taught by women and from their homes. In New England, these schools prepared the boys for admission to town schools. The boys had to stand up and read words with at least two syllables. The girls were taught how to do chores so they can keep a good household. This Dame school model is what is known today as a form of home schooling. Today's public high school education is so much more then the Dame schools were or offered the students. High schools today offer both boys and girls the same coursework there is no discrimination of gender. Public schools is a secondary school and it is financed by tax revenues and other government collected monies which administered by the state and local officials. They offer many different programs, which include magnet programs. These magnet programs are for students that want to study a specific career; it is a vigorous academic program. They have many levels of coursework. The coursework consists of regular, average, advanced and honors courses. They also offer advanced placement coursework, which allows the students to attend college level courses while still in high school. This allows the student to graduate with a high school diploma along with college credits or even their AA degree. High schools also offer extra curricular activities like sports, dance, clubs, band and many more activities. The purpose of high school is two fold; it is to prepare the student to enter the work force or to prepare the student to continue on to college.

Reflection Paper #18

If it were not for Education, where would many of our leaders be today? We have such great leaders in medicine, science, law and education. Education was the vehicle to a better life for these leaders. Higher education has helped people enjoy greater benefits such as with higher levels of savings, they have a better quality of life for themselves and for their children, they have hobbies, better decision making on things and leisure activities. It also gives you a better understanding of our society and gives you awareness to the social injustices around us. In your awareness to social injustice, you become involved in certain organizations or causes and you get yourself involved in helping out. Colleges encourage their students and make them well informed on how they can get involved, this helps you, the student on how to emphasize your civic responsibility. Colleges want their students once they graduate to have a sensibility towards their community and their needs in order to create changes. Continued education has helped women out in our modern society. As the divorce rate, rose women saw themselves single with children and no good means of support. This drove women back to school to either get or finish their degrees. We have many successful women in all sorts of careers today. The Women's movement has helped with this. Women are now doctors, lawyers, judges you name the profession women are involved. Education today has changed tremendously from what it was in Roman and Colonial times. There were not as many schools as we have now, back then kids were taught in homes. Education was not as important then as it is now. Back in those times education was basically for boys only and the girls were taught how to keep a good house. The role of girls in education has changed significantly and they have taken up a major role.

Reflection Paper #17

The difference between education now and education in the New England Colonies is so different. The differences are such that it is hard to believe that once upon a time there was religion in pubic schools and morality was alive. The similarities were that the goal was to prepare the students for participation in civil service. The Puritans had a lot to do with education and morality in the 17th Century in America. The first set of Puritans came in the Mayflower; they came to America because they became very unhappy with the church in England. They believed that each person was responsible for their actions to God therefore they needed to be good all the time so they were worthy of being on God’s chosen list. They believed that the education of the future generation was important in order to purify the church and society. The Bible was their learning tool and they were encouraged to make up poetry based on religious content only. In 1635, the Puritans offered free schooling the school was called the Roxbury Latin School. The early schools of the colonies were known as Latin schools or public schools and these schools in their beginnings were not entirely free. These “free schools” did collect some sort of fee except from the poorest students. The schools in the early 17th Century focused education on effective and functional means. In America the challenge has been to prepare the students for participation in the world and preparation for civil service. Education became so important that the colonies started setting aside parcels of land for buildings to build schools and to educate the future generations to come.

Reflection Paper #16 (The Revised Version)

Effective speaking and writing along with the art of persuasion is called Rhetoric. The Romans centered their educational system on the rhetorical style, which they got from the Greeks. Education became so important to the Romans that the Government became much more involved. The schools became bilingual because it was so stylish to speak Greek everyone wanted to learn how to speak Greek.

There were three types of teachers at the schools, the first was the literature and this was the teacher that taught the students the basics reading, writing and math. The second teacher was the grammaticism this teacher taught the students secondary education and the role of that teacher was to teach the students memorization and how to recite out loud; they put great emphasize on pronunciation and enunciation. The third teacher was the rhetoric and this teacher taught the students to make and do their speeches on any given theme and taught them how to engage in debates.

The rhetorical style of declamation was the most popular style of rhetoric. It was the style that fascinated the adults and added style to the literature and the oratory. The style of controversial was a form of the style of declamation but more advanced. Controversial was a made up legal case that was argued before a mock jury. The three parts of this style were the sententiae which were the four and against arguments, the division which was the statement of legal points and the third was the colures which were the explanation of what happened. The controversial was done in public and was for entertainment purposes.

Reflection Paper #15

There are several differences between Athenia and Roman Education. In Ancient Rome education was very important. The rich put a lot of emphasize in Education. The poor people while they still were able to learn how to read and write they did not get a chance at a formal education like the rich were able to do. The boys were the main focus of education while girls did go to school but again like the rich boys, girls from the rich families were the ones that received an education but at home. They were taught how to run a household and be good wives for when they would get married. Their education consisted of music, sewing and running a good kitchen. There was no test given out to the children in order to test their progress. In the Roman world there was no legal requirement to go to school and be educated. They also had no age requirements, when to start the kids in school and when to finish. The only place where things were taken serious was in the athletic world. With that said it does not mean there were no assessment tests for the students. They had to show the teachers the results of all assignments to the teachers and they were corrected on the spot or congratulated for a job well done. There was not a great deal of subject to choose from in Roman schools and they had very long days. They were very strict and kids were beaten for the most simplest of things. The Romans had two types of schools. The first school was for younger kids age’s eleven to twelve. They learned to read and write and do basic math. The second school was for more advance studies the studied public speaking. In Ancient Athenia education was private and only the rich were able to afford an education. Boys and Girls were allowed to get an education but girls could only go to school until they reached a certain age. The students went to the teacher’s house and the really wealthy boys had a slave that was there only for the boy. The slave to care of all the boys needs. The boys learned how to read, write and do math. By the age of twelve they would learn how to play an instrument, sing and do athletics for when their time came to go into the military.

Reflection Paper #14

Aristotle’s impact in modern western education with the four causes was that the four causes form several divisions. The amount of the separation or division depends on the questions “why” may be answered. The first cause is Materialist views and for instance he thought a square is a square and it will not change you have to make the best of what you have in the square and make it work. It’s like when you use bronze to make a bronze statute there is no change in the material just in the structure. The second cause is that objects form a pattern and you get what you form but what you get from it is much more worthy. This cause is like parents forming their children to be religious, respectful and productive individuals. When parents are successful in accomplishing this they outcome is so worth their time and energy put into the cause. The third cause is the initiating source of change or rest. Your health is a cause for you to exercise and to be healthy. In order to stay healthy you visit your doctor, this is the initiating part of the third cause. This is the cause and effect theory. The fourth cause is the about the purpose of a thing or situation the ending. The reason you exercise is to stay healthy and the reason you go and get an education is to get an education and become successful and be a productive citizen to society not a burden. And in the “Unmoved Mover” Aristotle referred to the unmoved mover as God which was a being. The being is a mover and shaker. Motion that is one and simple and the being is perfect and eternal but does not take on interest in the world.

Reflection Paper #13

Idealism is the theory that reality is based on absolute truths and not materialism. You are taught to have big dreams and goals. Plato continued his development of idealism when he opened up his own school which he named “The Academy”. Plato taught the following things; he taught that the truth is in all things; he believed that everyone should go in search of the truth because it is perfect and forever and that the hunt for the truth is the mission of every philosopher. In Plato’s theory of form he argued that the things that change are unreal and can’t be the object of true knowledge. His idea was that good was the source of all the true knowledge. His teachings were to embrace ideas and to reject matter because you would not be able to progress toward the good because when you accept matter and reject ideas thing became unstable. This is done by having an open mind and refusing selfish desire. In order to achieve this you need to have a grip on the subject matter at hand and critical focus. He thought since there are universal truths in math equations that the same concept goes in every other field like politics, religion and education. Truth equals honesty therefore being the best policy and this we are taught at home and it’s bought into our schools. As for his views on reminisce Plato thought that if the world around us can’t be the source of our knowledge of the ideas, then how can we learn of them. He thought that each person needed to have a soul and which has access to good because of a prior experience. He believed that people were born without knowledge and those that became knowledgeable had the duty to help out and give of themselves in order to teach. Our teachers are bound by an ethical code to teach students and basically are tracked because of the FCAT testing we have in Florida.

The Ruler

The Ruler is a poem that takes you on a journey. I believe that The Ruler uses alot of metaphors to describe what he believes and feels. I think he is trying to describe what he went threw in his nation by using examples to get to his point. For example he uses a christmas tree. To say how beautiful and free it can be but you still need to please the gods. Another example he uses is the fingerpointing of the book. That you yourself can get lost but dont just blame yourself.

Reflection Paper #12

The revolution in curriculum that Sputnik started once the Soviet Union launched a man-made satellite on October 4, 1957 was huge. It made the schools move away from “spoon-fed” curriculum that critics said was too easy and that Art and Music also took up too much time away from real learning. The public demanded the Federal Government to respond to their pleas for greater emphasis for higher academic standards for the kids. They wanted and needed the students to move away from the memorization learning and wanted the students to start thinking like if they were mathematicians and scientists.

Even though the satellite Sputnik was somewhat insignificant because it wasn’t equipped with any scientific instruments it also orbited space once every 98 minutes gathering data. Sputnik could easily be tracked by anyone. This little basketball sized satellite initiated the space race with the United States and the Soviet Union. The Americans could not believe that the Soviet Union could be more advanced in their space program then they were with their space program. The United States then started to take the space program much more serious, which then leads Congress to pass the National Defense Education Act in 1958. The NDEA was an act to promote knowledge in science, math and foreign languages. The United States wanted to make students into scientists and mathematicians. So the government started to give students incentives to attend college to become scientist and when done with school they would work for the government. The College students were eligible to receive $1000.00 a year to attend college and then in return the college would receive funding from the government. There were changes in elementary and high schools as well. The teachers became much more educated in the fields of math, science and languages.

Reflection Paper #11

Socrates was a man that was very ethical and he concentrated on definitions and loved to pit a defense point of view against each other, he loved to debate. He thought books were for mere recreation and amusement or thing to treasure, because you could not ask books any questions. He had great respect for women that were wise and he believed that women should be educated in the same way as man because their nature to learn was not different from men.

For the young Greek citizen education consisted of grammar, music and gymnastics. Grammar was the learning to read and write. Music was the different arts of the Muses such as playing the harp, flute, singing, dancing, poetry and sometimes painting and sculpturing. Socrates encouraged the idea studying the basic subjects but he was not a teacher of them at all. He also exercised and suggested that others do the same thing. He thought the physical training was very important. If you were not in shape and were in war you would be the first to die because of the bad condition your health was in. He thought physical activity was good for the health. He also was very conscious of what he ate. He thought all this training should start at a very young age. In our modern educational time we to believe in grammar, athletics and music just as Socrates did. We put lots of emphasis on the reading and writing and unfortunately with the economic crisis many of the athletic and music programs have been eliminated but that is any area of education which is so critical to the students. I saw how important the extra curricula activity was in my life and how I always stayed focused with my grades to be able to participate in my cross country meets and my dance team.

The ancient Greeks viewed ethics in what kind of habits and character should I be? Socrates believed that is was more important to be a good person and ethical person. In today’s society that is a very sore topic with some people. Everyone is looking out for themselves and for their own interest and don’t care about others.

Socrates believed in a higher being he didn’t know what or who but he believed that there was a higher being. Unfortunately in public schools today we are not allowed to pray. I am very thankful that I attended a catholic school for elementary and middle school and was able to express my religious ideas.

Reflection Paper #10

“The teacher is the Gatekeeper”. Discuss the meaning and impact of this statement.
A Gatekeeper is a person or organization who manages a flow of knowledge or controls the rate at which students’ progress to more advance levels of study.
That is exactly what a teacher does on a daily basis. The teacher controls the amount of knowledge that a child receives on a daily basis. They control who will speak, when and how long they will do it. They keep order in the classroom as well so they don’t lose control of the classroom.
When the students are younger the teacher is the one that does the most talking. The teacher is the one that keeps the communication going on in the classroom by asking question one after the other whether she receives an answer from the kids. The teacher is the on that does the most talking kids are not giving much time to talk. They need to keep it going in order to keep the kids attention and curiosity level high.
As the kids get older there is less interaction with the teachers. At this point the teacher gives instruction and the students do their work on their own.
Teachers have such a crucial role in the everyday lives of their students. The knowledge that the students take with them is a gift from their gatekeepers.

Reflection Paper #9

In the article The First Schools and Education in Ancient Egypt you will find many similar things. In Ancient Egypt the children imitated the parents/adults. They went to school and learned a trade or the occupation of their parent. The work they would usually learn was in farms, workshops and vineyards. They learned skills and knowledge that were practical from the adults. The parents also taught them their religious views and moral attitudes and they taught them how to be good people. Schools were filled with males only and the well to do children were the privileged ones that would get an education. The children of the less fortunate families did not have a formal education. The worked the fields with no goal to ever be in charge. The girls of the less fortunate families learned to manage a household, dance, sing and play a musical instrument and the dancing; singing and instrument playing took on a very important role if the girl would take on a temple service as a singer or a musician. The school year did not have a set length time. They started school at the age of five and went till they were sixteen years old. The school day was from sunrise to sunset.
In The First Schools article they spoke of the Sumerian school system. There original goal of the Sumerian system was a “professional” school where the purpose was to train the scribes so they can go and work in the economic and admistrative areas of the temple and palace. These students came from wealthy families because the poor could hardly afford the cost. The education here was very well prepared that you could hardly tell the difference between the students and the professors. Discipline was very strict, and they disciplined without a problem.
When you compare the education from Ancient Egyptian times and from the article The First Schools to today’s education you see that there are several similarities as well as some differences. Now a day’s both male and females have the same opportunity to get an education regardless of their families financial situation. We get to choose what we want to study as a profession once we graduate from high school. The school year runs for ten months out of the year and we get a break in the summer. And, of course as time went on and all the improvements and training teachers are much more equipped to teach children.

Reflection Paper #8

The three waves of educational reform which have emerged have been:
Wave #1 was to raise educational quality by having more courses and more testing of students and improving teacher performance. Corporate America struggled to recruit skilled workers and the military could not recruit technically skilled personnel due to low reading and math skills. Therefore, they imposed State testing like the FCAT. This test is a standard test and must be passed by all students in order to receive a High School diploma. If the student does not pass the FCAT they will received a certificate of attending High School for four years.
Wave #2 was started by educators Theodore Sizer, John Goodland and Ernest Boyer rather then by politicians and business leaders but State governors promoted this wave. They promoted improvement and accountability. They thought that the students should cover fewer topics by studying those topics more in depth. Principals and Teachers were given more power and control over their schools as well as giving them better salaries and giving them more training. The decision making was left to the locals and leaving the bureaucracy out of the classrooms.
Wave #3 is like a full service one stop shop for students and families. They think that schools should be seen as more then a place to learn but seen as a place that gives families that don’t have the financial resources a full service school; which offers them a network of social services, nutrition, medical care, transportation, counseling and parent education. This concept would be governed by a Children’s Board which would be made up of professionals and Community Members that would work for needs of the children this Children’s Board would replace the School Board.
In my opinion and because of my personal experience wave #1 in which the quality of education being raised is the wave that has been the most dominant because many States have implemented State mandated tests. I had the stress of having to pass the FCAT with only two years of FCAT experience. I attended private school for my elementary and middle school years, therefore I didn’t have the testing experience that other students which attended Public school for there entire school career. I was fortunate to have passed it on my second try.

Reflection Papaer #7

The different education approach in ancient civilizations was apprenticeship, home schooling and temple education.

The Apprenticeship can be tracked back to the Babylon, four thousand years ago and this position was so important that the apprentice was treated as an adopted son. Apprenticeship is training which is different from education. When you are an apprentice you are being trained to learn how to perform a specific task such as a plumber, electrician, an air conditioning technician or car mechanic.
As time evolved and humans created tools there was a need to teach others how to use them. The adults had the task to teach the children how to use these tools in order to prepare them for when they became adults.

The home schooling approach in ancient civilization was by imitation. The children of this time imitated adult behavior. They children learned and imitated their parents and as they grew into young adults they had to take on more responsibilities such as work in the farm, in workshops, the vineyards. They had to learn the basic skills and knowledge from the elders in order to perform the duties of these different jobs. Also in their young adulthood the parents had to instill in them the moral obligation to be of great character, how to be good individuals and their religious values.

The children that attended temple were from the elite families. These Temples were built on platforms that later became artificial mountains. They believe that they were built high above the City to raise they city’s god above the material life, as a way to reach closer to heaven. The temple approach of education was difficult to learn. They taught the Cuneiform and they also studied math and the standard measuring system. Since they had a very strong sense of private property after they had mastered the arithmetic and learned to write they started to keep records of all documents about everything they basically owned.

Reflection Paper #6

Without writing what would be of us today? How crucial was the invention of writing to the establishment of ancient civilizations? Very crucial indeed. How would we be able to keep any record keeping in our everyday lives? How would Banking institutions and Court systems be able to record things.

The writing system was and is so important. In ancient times as they went through the transition from hunter to gatherer it became very important and necessary to count their property, whether it was parcels of land, grains, animals or the transfer of property from one person to another. They first used tokens which then became symbols that could be impressed and inscribed in clay.

The following are some examples of how the writing system was established and how important is was for some ancient civilizations.

The Sumerians built a series of city states by the Euphrates river and in 3200BC the Sumerians developed the writing called cuneiform, which was pictures and the represented what they were and eventually the pictures started to represent an idea or concept. They consider that pictures were used first to represent syllables of sound. The Sumerians they began to use this writing for farming. Tokens were marked with simple pictures to label farm produce.

In ancient Egyptian times the god that was recognized for the invention of writing was Thoth. He was the scribe and historian of the gods he to kept the calendar and invented the art and science. These ancient Egyptian times were also mystical and writing possessed a divine nature because it was there way to extend their memory and also a tool for the rich to rule over the common person.

Thanks to these ancient civilizations we know how to communicate both verbally and by writing.

Reflection # 5

Initiation rites and rites of passage ceremonies have to do with the exploration part of teaching and learning.

Exploration is the encouragement of teachers teaching their students about different cultures.

This exploration gives the students and teachers a chance to explore different beliefs. This teaching skill opens the minds of students so they can have a feel for diversity among their classmates.

Initiation rites of age are for example Baptism and confirmation. Baptism is an initiation and is the first sacrament received by a Christian. It can be received either as a child or as an adult. Confirmation is the second part of Baptism. It is the sacrament received when you’re mature enough to accept the responsibility to share your faith with others and the next generation. This initiation of rites is the religious rite. It is taught in Catholic School or in Religious Instruction classes (CCD). This rite opens the minds of young children who want to learn religion.

Second form of Initiation rites is a non-religious one. These ceremonies are arranged by organizations that are not affiliated with any religion. The purpose to this ceremony is to prepare adults for their adult lives. Another form of initiation rite is taught through the G.R.E.A.T Program in school. This program teaches us about gangs and the dangerous associated with joining a gang. This was a great opportunity to open our minds and eyes to the dangers gangs bring to your life.
Rites of passage are often ceremonies surrounding events such as childbirth or other milestones within puberty, coming of age, marriage, weddings and death. Two examples of the rights of passage do with teaching and learning is the Quinces celebration. The Quinces is a Hispanic event in which the transition from girl to young lady is celebrated. This is a cultural event that Hispanics celebrate. The other example of rite of passage is puberty. We all remember that awkward class that was mandatory in the 5th grade, they talked to us about what happens in puberty and the understanding of our bodies and the changes our bodies would be going through. These are just a few examples on why initiation rites and rites of passage ceremonies have to do with teaching

Reflection # 4

The articles on Early Human Phylogeny, and Hominids along with the Story of Lucy and African Eve are very interesting and informative and goes back many, many years. Evolution and Creation have a relationship that is ambiguous and disputed at the same time.

My beliefs are in Creation, that God created the world by divine speech resulting in the sanctification of the seventh day as the Biblical Sabbath, the day of rest. That God planted a garden which he then placed a man in. He saw the man was lonely and from his rib he made a woman, which followed their marriage.

Evolution talks a lot about how we were Ape/Monkey and then evolved to a man. Man could have evolved from Ape however the moment that God breathed a soul into Man he was no longer Ape/Monkey or the animal but he was Man with a soul, still evolving to this day. Evolution is irrelevant to faith or science it is an ongoing process, we evolve everyday.

Reflection #3

During my elementary school and secondary education I experienced the contribution approach and additive approach of teaching.

I attended a Catholic elementary and secondary school and we celebrated and studied ethnic heroes of Black history month and Hispanic history month. We wrote essays on the different Black heroes and we also experience their culture, food and music. I had to write an essay on Martin Luther King and I learned about his struggle and dream for equality. During our Hispanic history month we did essays on the different explorers and heroes, we performed dances, and even had a beauty contest and I was Miss Venezuela. We also experienced the different foods of the Hispanics; all the students had to bring in a dish from a Latin country.

Since it was a Catholic school we learned, celebrated and experienced our holy days and all the holidays of the Catholic faith with the additive approach of teaching. We held masses and had special performances for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Good Friday.

My history teacher used the additive approach teaching method. We had several weeks of different historical events and countries. The most memorable ones were the Holocaust, French week, Italian week Pearl Harbor week. During the Holocaust week we saw movies, had an actual holocaust survivor come and speak to our class, we visited the Holocaust memorial in Miami Beach. During French and Italian week we experienced their food, music and culture. We had to perform plays and we recreated a French Café scene.

If I had to go back to Elementary and secondary school I would not change the two approaches that my teachers used. They really worked for me and my style of learning.

Reflection # 2 Frames, Paradigms and Paradigm Shifts

Plato said “necessity is the mother of all invention”. The state of being in need is what makes man invent things in order to satisfy and fulfill his needs.Farming was an invention of man that changed their lives. The farming of wheat was the beginning of permanent settlements and the domestication of animals. This provided them with regular supplies of protein, hides and wool for clothing and manure to fertilize the farmland.The use of fire made humans independent and more threatening to animals. Fire gave them light and warmth therefore they were able to socialize and communicate. Hunters developed signals to better communicate which must have stimulated the development of language and storytelling. They would get back from their hunt and tell their families the stories of their hunt.The writing system was something that also changed their lives. They needed to implement a system once they got a civilization under way. They went from Homo to farmer and then to city dweller and from nomad to a property owner. Once this form of civilization started happening they needed to come up with a system to keep track of what belonged to who, boundary lines, taxes, and fields.The dugout and the skin boat were invented before the wheel but they needed these two other inventions for travel by water. They lived near rivers so they need a way to get around and transport their goods. They then used animals as transportations but the invention of the wheel was the biggest push and invention for mankind.

Reflection #1 Colonial times vs Modern times

The evolution of teacher preparation programs from Colonial times to the present day have changed significantly. The changes have been for the better of the Teaching profession.

In Colonial times teaching was only for young women and they had very strict rules for them. They had to sign a teaching contract which included many things that they were not allowed to do and if they did not abide by the contract the contract would be voided. They were not allowed to marry or keep company with men; they had to be home between 8 am and 6 am unless they were in attendance at school. They were not allowed to ride in a carriage or car with any man unless it was her father or brother. They were not allowed to smoke, drink or be out in ice-cream parlors. They couldn’t put on make up or dye their hair. They had to dress in a certain way and could not were bright colors. Teaching was held in very low standards the pay was very low and they didn’t need any formal training.

In Modern times teaching is a profession for both men and women. It has also become a second profession for people retiring and wanting to start a second career. The teaching contract has changed drastically from Colonial times. For example teachers are allowed to marry and have a family with out any retribution. There are not restrictions on your personal look. You are allowed to wear makeup, dye your hair and even have tattoos and piercing. You can be out and about town with friends with out any problems. In modern times you must have a four year degree and have your state teaching certificate in order to teach. The Teach for America concept is a program with a two year commitment in a low income community. The teacher’s goals are to make a short term impact on the lives of their students and to be lifelong leaders in pursuing educational equity for all students. Members of Teach for America do not have to be certified teachers. They get some kind of formal training and certificate and certified teachers can apply to Teach for America.

Hey Prof. McNair my name is Natalie Marie Perez I am 19 years of age. My birthday is 12/27/1989, would have to be the best birthday ever its two days after Christmas! I was born and raised in Hialeah and a proud Cuban American. I work for the City of Hialeah in the CL&P program. CL&P stands for Creative Learning and Play, which is an after school program. I was recently given a promotion as a counselor in less than a year. This summer I was given the privilege to work with kids that have disabilities. What an experience I learned a great deal from them and the teachers that were specialized in that field. Everyday at work I learn something new and given the opportunity to learn more. I come from a big family which consist of thirty six family members, that just being immediate family. I have two younger sisters who are my best friends and my world. Within my family there are five teachers, you can say it runs in the family. I'm majoring in Special Education. I think it's such a beautiful field and one that's filled with special people with special talents. My family had a lot to do with me choosing this field. When I was little my family was part of the MDA, which is the Muscular Dystrophy Association. In this association we will hold camps, parties, picnics, and special events. We shared some special moments with them. For me, becoming a teacher it's not all about the money, it's something that will make me wake up everyday with a smile. This is a profession that grows on you. The reason I say that is because what keeps you motivated and going, is knowing the fact that you are making a difference everyday in the lives of your students.