In relation to school and community partnerships, the community in which my hometown is located as done (and I think is still doing) a good job of creating a welcoming partnership between the school and the community.  Specifically, my high school reached out to parents, family members, and the general community population to help foster this partnership.  For example, I think the community has done a nice job of providing positive places for students to go during the academic year and the summer.  The library in my community is always having activities for the students.  Parents and family members are always welcome to bring students to the library when there are exciting events going on.  Also, there are several recreational centers in my community.  The school notifies the students of positive places they can go.  Specifically, the YMCA in my township is a very good resource for parents because there are so many activities and events that take place to help the child develop in several realms.  Also, a strong form of partnership I feel the the schools and community have is through job shadowing and having community members come into the schools to talk about their professions.  I think this is good because it gives the students a chance to see first hand what it would be like to have a particular occupation.  I don't think my the community partnership is necessarily lacking in my hometown, but in addition to the activities we already have, I think the schools could continue to outreach to parents and family members who currently are not involved.  This could start with the teachers implementing this outreach in their classrooms.  During parent-teacher conferences, or sending a note home, teachers can create an inviting atmosphere for community members to get involved in the school.  Also, the school can provide parents with more resources for ways they can get their children involved in the community.  It is good that the community comes into the school, but I think when the children are not in school during breaks, it would be good for children to still be active in their own communities.  Teachers providing abundant resources can make this possible.

Parent/Teacher Conference Reflection

In relation to my parent/teacher conference that I participated in today, I really enjoyed myself.  Specifically, being the teacher really helped me to understand what it would be like to inform parents of their child's strengths and weaknesses in my classroom.  I think that it was really easy to talk about what the child was good at, but it was challenging for me to discuss the things that the child needed to improve in both academically and socially.  During the conference the parents really showed support for the strategies that I planned to implement, and I thought that made the overall conference run smoothly.  However, during the difficult family conference, I found it tough because the scenario was a parent who could not find anyone to watch her child.  This was hard because I wanted to have the parent's undivided attention, but she had to also focus on her child.  This activity, in my opinion, really helped me to understand the situations that may arise in a real parent/teacher conference.  I am glad I had this opportunity to participate in this mock conference!     

In relation to the drug and alcohol abuse video, I found many aspects of it disturbing.  Specifically, I thought that it was hard to believe that so many parental rights were taken away because the parents use of meth.  I always knew that alcohol was a big problem in most homes, but I had no idea about meth.  I also think that as a teacher it is good to know about the statistics of parental drug use.  For example, the video mentioned that parents who abuse drugs are 4 times more likely to neglect their children and 3 times more likely to either physically or sexually abuse their children.  As teachers, we should try to look for the signs of either alcohol and/or drug use in students' parents.  I personally think that if children grow up in a household where they view their parents doing any type of drugs, they will be more likely to do drugs themselves.  Therefore, I think it is important to do drug prevention strategies at younger ages.  The content of information should increase as the student gets older, but I think it's important to help the children understand early of the negative effects drugs can have on one's body.  In a classroom, these issues of drug and alcohol abuse, in my opinion, will keep a teacher busy in terms of constantly making sure that the child can go home to a safe environment and be with a healthy family.  

I believe that poverty and homelessness is a major problem in the United States because of all of the negative aspects that go along with a family living in poverty.  Not only does homelessness and poverty affect a family as a whole, specifically, this epidemic is affecting our children.  Social problems can arise as a result of homelessness and poverty.  For example, in J.R's story, he talked about the fact that he had to attend several high schools in in one year.  He and his family had to transition to many different shelters as well.  This most likely caused him and other children in his situation to have a hard time meeting friends, establishing relationships, and trusting others.  Homelessness and poverty is also a problem because poor health could arise.  In Jessie's story, she mentioned that she and her family had to settle for less nourishing foods over healthy foods because they did not have enough money to buy healthy foods.  Not only poor health but a lack of nourishment could affect children's school work.  If children feel tired and hungry, they may not be motivated to do their work.  Another problem that can result in homelessness and poverty is simply a child feeling inferior.  J.R's story really touched me as he mentioned that he felt like his childhood was taken away.  He also thought that his homelessness cost him love, happiness, and a feeling of security.  This issues are real issues children today feel because they live in poverty, which is a huge problem.  In thinking like a teacher, I feel that I have an obligation to aid our children with this horrible problem.  I will first want to make my classroom feel like a safe place, since many homeless children probably do not feel safe on the streets or in shelters.  Also, I will do my best to provide parents/guardians with resources that can help them.  For example, I could direct them to good organizations that will help the overcome this problem.  Lastly, I think that I will try to collect coats and other clothing articles to donate to my students if their parents cannot afford to properly clothe them.  I know I cannot solve all the problems, but I will do my best to be some part of the solution.

Week 1 Reflection-Edel 231

An event that has shaped my life in my education career was in high school.  In my high school we had a "job shadow" day, and I chose to observe a friend of the family, Mrs. Wood.  She was and still is a third grade teacher in Indianapolis.  When I observed her, she allowed me to interact with her students and she allowed me to be in some sorts her TA.  I was fortunate to aid the students in their work and perform some other tasks that a teacher would.  On that particular day, the class went on a field trip.  Through riding the bus and interacting with the children on the field trip site really helped me to understand what a day as a teacher would be like.  That day also helped me understand classroom management strategies.  Prior to this experience, I was only interested in teaching, but after the school day was completed I was very very confident that I wanted to teach.  This event took place when I was 17 years old, my junior year of high school and when I got to Ball State, with no hesitation, I entered into the education curriculum.  Many other situations inspired me to want to become a teacher, but the experience with Mrs. Wood really helped me to gain hands-on experience of an actual day in the classroom.