Are You Being Called to Urban Education?

I have always been interested in helping people.  I have done loads of missionary projects and service projects with different organizations that I belong to.   I did not realize how much kids were going through in urban areas though until I was in the 8th grade when the new youth pastor started at my church.  He had been doing youth outreach programs in different cities like Pittsburgh and he told us stories about things he saw there.  We went on a trip to Pittsburgh ourselves and helped rebuild/repair homes for those who could not do it themselves, usually the disabled or the elderly.  That was the first time I helped out an urban community.  

After I started college I was looking for another group to help out with.  I had been  a young adult youth leader when I was growing up.  I met this girl who was helping out at an urban church's youth group and started to get involved.  Here I started to realize my calling.     

So the reason I am writing this is to inform those of you reading it about how much great, caring people are needed in the urban setting.  Believe me its not for everyone but I really think that some of you could do it!  Right now I doing pro-sem at an urban school and I am so surprised by what those 8th grade students are going through and what their siblings and parents are doing/have done.  I have also observed teachers who I am not sure are necessarily meant to be there because they are so hostile towards the students, but only a few.  

Urban schools aren't really as scary as people make them out to be.  Definitely not the middle school.  Those kids are great.  Yeah they have their issues but nothing to bad yet.  I am just hoping to spark some interest in someone so that maybe one student will be helped.   

Jenna : ) 

P.S.-  If you haven't watched Freedom Writers its a really great movie, and its very inspiring.   

Urban Education... HELP ME! =:o

Last week I started my Pro-Sem for the next two weeks at a middle school in an urban area.   Considering I came from a rural school and I have no idea how to entertain those kids!  They always seem really bored.  They talk to each other all the time and they swear.  I also am very intimidated, not by them, but by the lives they are living.  They have gone through so much more than I ever went through or that any of my peers went through when I was even in high school.  So I was wondering if anyone had any advice for me?  Perhaps if you were in an urban setting for school or if you have friends/family who were you know something that they would like to do with social studies.  They just made posters, and they seemed to enjoy them, but I still think that there might be something that could work even better, though I don't know what that is.  

Jenna : ) 

Why is Social Studies so Boring for Students?

This blog entry is really out there for those of you who are not getting certified in some form of social studies.

Right now I am in the Pro-Sem part of my course requirements, and am additionally taking this ITC course. The first day that I was sitting in Dr. Sanelli's course she told us that studies show that Social Studies courses are considered to be the most boring of all high school subjects offered in schools. Since I am a SS cert. I am obviously slightly biased when it comes it social studies.

I have always found history interesting. I do think this could have something to do with my teachers. They were all funny and almost everyone in my classes liked them. I do not know that if you polled my high school in general that social studies would have been rated as the most boring subject. I think that Math would have 'won' over it. But I also think that history should not be to bad for students. In high school it is pretty much just story telling and fact remembering. A lot of students also I thought liked topics like Pyschology, Sociology, and Geography, especially when they were current events.

So what is it about social sciences that makes it so boring? I would like to learn from what people think is boring so that way I can try to make things more interesting for my students.

Thank you!

Jenna L. H. : )

*** By the way Social Studies includes SEVEN topics, Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, History, Political Science, Economics, and Geography. ***

Reading... or not?

I have been thinking on my different options for how I will be delivering curriculum material when I get my first social studies teaching job. Obviously I have always planned on using a few different methods that past teachers have shown me in high school. One of the things that I planned on doing was assigning reading to my students each night. The readings would be assigned to their level, obviously younger/less advanced classes would be given smaller reading assignments. One of my social studies teachers in high school would assign a few paragraphs or pages each night and then quiz us on the material in class daily. I thought that was a good idea. This way students would be more prepared for the required amounts of reading we have in college.

I know that some students may have trouble learning this way so this would not be for them, but for others since the quizzes are in place it still might motivate them to read more.

What are your thoughts on the matter? Would it be too much to have high school students doing reading each night or do you think this would help in preparing them for college? I obviously don't know how other schools worked and if teachers assigned more reading then this at your high schools but I always felt that I was not as prepared to do so much required reading as is required of you in a college history course. Perhaps you have better ideas for preparing the students for college history courses?

Home Schooling: Pros and Cons

Home schooling has always been something that interested me. Over the years I have made many friends who were home schooled, though I myself went to a small rural public school. From meeting these different families I witnessed the controversy of homeschooling children. After being made aware of this controversy as a child, I have always tried to decide what my stand on it is by weighing out the arguments and looking at my own observations of my home schooled friends.

There are many different reasons that some parents, teachers or educators find home-schooling, as it is today, to be inappropriate. Some adults think that home schooling prevents children from socializing and that they become shy and sometimes not personable. Others believe that home schooling caters to abuse making it easier for parents to abuse their children. Some also think that home school could hinder a child's learning since they would only be taught what their parents want them to be taught and since their parents are not educated in teaching. There also seems to be some worries that home schooled children cannot get into college.

Parents of home schooled children on the other hand, feel differently on the subject. Most parents think they should have the right to teach their children in the environment they deem appropriate. Others think that the influence of outside schools affect their children negatively by them finding out certain things at too young of an age or by making their attitudes and manners towards their parents rude. Some parents like when religion can be incorporated into their curriculum, having their children learn both the creation and evolution stories, or going into a more philosophical or religious discussion when learning about different religious leaders, for example the pope or Martin Luther. Some of the parents also had students who did not learn well they way the teachers were teaching them and were able to cater better to their own children, helping them learn in the way that helped them best. One of my friends was taken out of school because of bullying. With the environment she was in, it was hard for her to learn since she was upset by the students who picked on her.

From getting to know a few families I have noticed how the children act and why they have been home schooled. It seems like the situation is completely different for each child and family just like in public schools some individuals are quiet and more reserved while others are quite outgoing, but they all are very polite. A few of them do not make friends as quickly, but most of them seem to have the same amount of friends as I did when I was in school. From witnessing the students I know that there was not any abuse going on in their families. We also would have discussions and they are fine in these and other social situations. They all seem to have a good education since their home schooling is slightly regulated through different programs, either an organization for home schooling or else they have an adviser who checks up on them from their district and makes sure they have met all of their learning requirements. Some of the students had the options of going to home school proms or even had large graduation ceremonies. They still went on field trips and also attended other social events such as church, weekly volleyball tournaments, or went met people working.

From observing the pros and cons of home schooling I have decided that home schooling still is a good option for parents and students, as long as it is done correctly. Parents and students should have the right to choose a different form of schooling then public schooling for their children especially since everyone learns differently and needs to see materials in different ways that the teacher can not always fulfill in a large classroom. There are extracurricular activities and other out of the home experiences that are still set up for the students and make it easier for them to interact with people outside of the home. When children are not given the opportunity to socialize or are held back by the lifestyle they live in and are unable to develop the skills needed to succeed in the 'real world' that is when it becomes a bad issue.

What do you guys think about home schooling? Should it be banned?