Timeline Rough Draft

Here is the link to the rough draft of my timeline:

http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/educational-foundations-timeline

I wasn't sure of a theme yet, but I was planning on creating a timeline based around my strongest beliefs and viewpoints towards both my education and education in general in our country.  I kind of wanted to work off of these important dates and events to base around my research paper.

Hopefully this link works.....if not please let me know!

Writing Circle Blog 2

During our previous writing circle, I came up with my a topic that I feel relates to me in many ways.  Our group discussed the various different types of education and how each applies to certain families and communities.  For example, we discussed the difference between Hawken and South-Euclid Lyndhurst school systems.  I think this relates to Chapter 15 of The American School.  I found this chapter to be really interesting because it gave an overview of what is currently happening in the government's educational solutions.  The government is currently facing a huge problem pertaining to economic problems effecting school systems all over the country.  When I visited both schools, I really did enjoy both them.  However, Hawken was much nicer and I could tell that much more money was spent into every aspect of the school.  I got the chance to meet the teachers in both schools and I really did like all of them.  They all seemed to truly be there for their students and really enjoy themselves with their interactions with them.

I noticed in Hawken though that parents played a huge role in their children's education.  There were parents everywhere; in the halls, in the classrooms, in the offices.  They even seemed to stay around after dropping off their children, which made me kind of confused in a way.  At South-Euclid the only parents I saw were those picking and dropping off their children.  Both parents at each school seemed interested in their child's education and happy.  This made me wonder, is there a line of intrusion for parents in their children's lives?  It was obvious that parents at Hawken paid a lot of money each year for their children to attend the school, which in my opinion is fine because they want their child to have the best.  But......what is the best education?  Is Hawken that much better of an education than the public school right around the corner?  

Another thing that I noticed that there was little, to no diversity in the classrooms at Hawken.  Where as in South-Euclid Lyndhurst, there was diversity everywhere.  I student taught in a low-income school back in Columbus, where there was also a great deal of diversity.  I had the chance to compare that school to another upper-class community and I noticed many differences.  The teachers in the low-income schools had much more to deal with, and many more differences to accommodate.  I'm not saying that those schools are better, but I am saying that it seems extremely unfair that some children have a significant amount of opportunities, where as some children face very little chances.

Sugar Coating our History

Today in class our group discussed Mexican-Americans relations in the school systems.  As we began researching within the chapter, we found that Mexicans that migrated into the United States stood for Catholicism.  This made them distinctly different than other groups of people that migrated into the country.  This was because America's private schools accepted them into their schools because they shared the same religion.  Therefore Mexican-Americans had a place in our school system and were accepted where as the other groups were segregated and forced the form their own independent schools.  I found this to be particularly interesting and obviously unfair.  I mean it is a good thing that America accepted Mexican-Americans but then it made it even worse that they did not accept everyone.  


As we continued to research we also learned that American farmers also accepted Mexican-Americans.  They did this because they used them for cheap labor in their farms.  This then made me think more into it, and I came to the conclusion that Americans only accepted Mexicans because it was in their own favor and directly benefited them.  As we discussed as a whole class, we also found that this was a common factor in all of the various groups that migrated into our country and were viewed as minorities.  As we continue to have discussions in this class based around discrimination, racism, and diversity I have began to realize that our ancestors have not been as accepting and including as they have informed us.  As children, we learned about American history, and most of it was all the positive aspects of all of the stories and events.  Also, what is taught in schools, is only what they want us to know and to learn about.  Therefore everything seems sugar coated and some may not even be completely honest.  As future educators, one of our main goals is to inform our students in the best possible way of the most important aspects of life.  We want them to then use this learned knowledge to come up with their own inferences and opinions.  But, if we only educate them on the tips of these significant facts and information, aren't we coming up just a little short?

Optimism is the Key

After both reading Part II of Educational Foundations last night and discussing in our groups today it made me think of all of the underlying struggles that arise from having such a diverse country.  Although over the years, as a whole we have come to accept our differences and worked very hard to work together, we still face problems every single day.  Our group today discussed these problems concentrating on racism.  Overall, our group agreed that yes, racism is indeed still a huge problem in America today.  However, we did have a few disagreements.  In my opinion, racism happens within each and every race and within each race, everyone has their own opinions and viewpoints.  I tend to believe that when speaking of racism, that what is mostly being meant behind it is whites discriminating against other races.  During our discussion though I brought up the other side, in which minorities discriminate against the majority.  In my opinion, this seems to be overlooked, which may be one of the main causes for this unfortunate ongoing problem.


After discussing the many aspects and viewpoints of racism, our group then discussed including this in our future careers as educators.  As educators, we all need to work together to inform our students of racism, and encourage them to go against it.  I think that this needs to start as soon as a child enters school, and continue on through their schooling.  Ultimately, the student will make his/her own decision about it, but by that time hopefully the system would have positively affected this decision.  As educators, we have discussed that we would like to express individuality and freedom in our classrooms.  Therefore in order to inform our students of racism and its negatives, we need to watch the line that interferes into their freedoms.  At the end of the day, one of our main goals is for our students to make their own decision about these significant aspects of society.  We obviously would like them to make "the right decision", which in this case would be to refrain from racism and accept everyone as equals.  But a main question that seems to come up over and over again in this particular class is......what/who decides what is right or wrong?

Writing Circle Blog 1

An interesting topic that our group discussed today was about the fear of being different and of being judged.  We have also mentioned this in class and I feel that this is very relevant issue in this class.  This class is based around class discussion and our peers really do seem to be accepting of everyone and their opinions.  This makes it much more easier to speak in class and much more easier to express our own views and experiences.  Unlike, when we were in high school or in our younger years when we all agreed were slightly different.  We are more expected to be more like everyone else and agree with the majority.  


This then led to another important topic that we discussed in our groups today.  We talked about what is distinguished as right or wrong?  Who is to say exactly what is correct and what is incorrect?  And is there a definite answer?  In education there seems to be that way of thinking and I personally do not particularly agree with it.  I believe that in the profession of teaching, every child/student is unique and different in their own way and as educators we should accept and promote these differences.  As we discussed in class a few days ago, students should be free to express themselves in their own way and to be an individual.  Although, at the end of the day there should always be a line and as educators we should know and respect that line.  After reading Part 1 in Educational Foundations, this made me think of exactly why I want to become an educator.  I want my students to feel free to express both their feelings and thoughts.  I want to teach them about opening up their minds and hearts to education and learning.  I strive to make this both fun and engaging, so hopefully I can give them so much more than just memorizing facts and events.

Common Schools Years Ago

After reading this weekend and discussing in groups, I found that the common school many years ago wasn't as different from today that I thought.  People in the early 1800's believed that education was power, knowledge was power.  They thought this because it benefitted both the upper and lower class.  The upper class were benefited because they grew smarter in their careers and therefore progressed and made even more money.  The lower class were benefitted because they gained common knowledge about their work environment and therefore were not tricked or fooled by their employers.  Today, I believe that education is very well powerful.  Throughout our whole lives we are working towards bettering our education and schooling.  It begins to get more serious in high school when we are forced to begin to think about what we want to do with the rest of our lives.  Once we make this difficult decision we then strive to reach this goal, and therefore attend college and ultimately usually graduate school.  Our group yesterday discussed how we disagree that schools are completely responsible for teaching morals to students.  We believed that morals are definitely needed to be included in schools, but parenting is also a key factor in both modeling and informing morality.  Equal opportunities were also an extremely important factor in the common school back then.  Even though it is slightly hard to believe, but this important issue is still happening in our society today.  I find this extremely disheartening and unfair.  I believe that children should all be given equal opporunities to succeed no matter what SES, culture, or race they come from.  Each child is unique in their own way and should all be given the chance to succeed.  The future of country is based around our children, and therefore they should be one of our main concentrations, especially now during these rough economic times. 

Web Log 1: Introduction

Personal information
1. Name:  Maria
   Hometown:  Strongsville, Ohio
   Primary email:  mbertoncin15@jcu.edu

2. What name do you prefer to be called?  Maria

3. Grade level:  Elementary
   Licensure:  Early Childhood Education
   District:  South Euclid/Lyndhurst, Sunview Elementary

4. What are you into:  I enjoy going out with friends and relaxing with my family.  I like watching sports and drawing/painting.  I also love watching movies, and when I have time I like to read.  I am an outdoors person and love exploring new places(vacationing).

Learning Style and more

5. For me to be completely comfortable in my classroom setting, I must feel it is a safe, open environment.  I also have to be able to trust my teacher/professor and be able to communicate easily with my classmates.  The more interesting the required material and readings are, the easier it is for me to incorporate myself during both studying and particiapting in the classroom. The discussion on Tuesday of this week was particularly interesting to me because prejudices are very current, and ongoing in our country.  The one aspect of the movie that was not mentioned in class however was the fact that Ludacris's (character) friend was surprisingly unbiased.  He was very down to earth and was trying to see the other side of things, as our class spoke about.

6. My perception of myself as a student as changed throughout my studies.  I have always been shy about speaking in front of the class and especially during presentations/speeches.  During class discussions I tend to stay quiet but I hope to change this and be more open to sharing my opinions and thoughts with everyone else. Just last quarter at Ohio State I was required to take a speech class.  I found that with each passing speech I became more and more comfortable speaking in front of people.  However since this was a specific speech class, this feeling faded.  I consider myself very responsible and tend to get my work done considerably early.  I am very honest person and tend to tell people the truth up-front.  I prefer to learn hands on and visually. 

7. I tend to have a lot of questions.  I either ask them in front of the class or sometimes I will stay a few minutes after. I am the type of person that needs every little detail to be clarified, especially when working on assignments.

Education Past and Present

8. As a student, I do recall many specific memories throughout my education.  However, I find it best to discuss the fact that my mind set and opinion on education has changed drastically and with each new year I find it more and more significant in my life.  In high school I tended to speed through my work and not concentrate on what my teachers wanted me to learn and what they viewed as important.  Throughout college though I began thinking about my own opinions towards education and I began to view it as a very significant component to our society.  As I began grad school here at John Carroll, my view has progressed even more, and I simply cannot wait to be a teacher myself someday, hopefully soon.

9. An issue that I find facing the field of education right now is poverty.  I have worked in low-income communities and I have witnessed the unequal opporutnities that they are faced with.  Another issue that I find is that a lot of people view the teaching profession as simple and not important, which I highly disagree with.  One specific example is when I was able to attend a upper-class school for two days and compare it to my assigned school.  I could see how different it was both inside and out.  The school was so much nicer and the classrooms were stacked with equipment.  I watched as the students seemed to be even more engaged and they had much more options throughout their lessons.  This disheartened me in a way because I personally think that every child should have equal opportunities to succeed and prosper into their future.

10. For a course to be highly effective and appreciated, I feel it should include class discussions and group work.  I feel group work and discussions can both be used in the real world and therefore will be taken more seriously.  Individual work is also necessary, but can include things like reading and studying at home.  One thing to avoid in a couse like this in my opinion are presentatios.  In past experience, I feel presentations are soley for the person presenting and it is hard for the rest of the class to pay attention.  I think group work should more be about compromising and sharing ideas/opinions.