To become a more experienced professional teacher, I have attended various events including conferences and meetings.  Each of these events has taught me new teaching information and how to open my mind to new ideas. 

What a privilege it was to meet the author of the honest, eye opening book, Savage Inequalities.  Jonathan Kozol visited our campus, Chandler Gilbert Community College, in order to discuss some of the savage inequalities that exist in school, and answer questions readers may have had about his books.  It was evident this man clearly has a passion for these inequalities of lower income and at-risk schools to change.  He advoacted through one particular quote I could not forget, that we need to give voice to those students in need of a better education and better opportunity; "Give voice to those who appear to be silent".  Sometimes students won't always tell us what they need.  They won't always know what exactly the education looks like that they deserve, but they know they deserve something.  Something to lift them up in life and give them opportunity, equal opportunity as other children in the world.  Teachers need to be advocates for these children, our voices need to make their wishes and dreams become a reality. 

The Future Educators Conference was very informative. It is always a pleasure to attend an event in which future teachers are gathering together to support and teach each other new ideas and teaching methods. At the beginning of the conference everyone met in the student center to talk about the break-out sessions we would be able to attend. The first session I chose was “Making Math Matter”. I thought this would be a great class since I have always struggled in math and want to learn how to teach it well and help children understand it better than I did. Sarah Baird, 2009 Arizona Teacher of the Year taught this class. She was very enthusiastic and described some ways to teach math that some of us were not used to learning. She explained that we all learned to add and subtract big numbers by using algorithm (add 8 +2, carry the 1). She explained that while this works, there are better ways to get students to actually understand math and why they use the methods for solving that they do. Some of these ways were to use math more mentally, expanded notation and compensating. I was surprised at how unfamiliar I was with these methods! If only I had known about them and been taught how to use them when I was younger, I might much more skilled in math! It is clear why Mrs. Baird was selected as the teacher of the year; she teaches how to think critically but still makes math easy to understand. The second session I attended was “Celebrating Young Writers” taught by Taucia Gonzales. Taucia was clearly very passionate about encouraging children to write; she talked proudly about her students and what great things they have written, different ways to engage students in writing, and tricks to discretely incorporating important literary elements into lessons. She discussed how important it is to join students in their writing journey by free writing at the same time as them and sharing your own stories. Her methods for teaching dialogue were especially impressive. She asks her students to highlight the dialogue (when people are talking) in one color and highlight all the rest (narration) in another color. This is an excellent way for students to easily learn these concepts, especially English Language Learners. Another method of teaching dialogue she uses is having students tape some of their family dialogue and write about it. This helps students gain an understanding as to what their own family dialogue sounds like, making any dialogue in any book more concrete for them. After the sessions were over we all gathered together once again in the student center and had the opportunity to listen to Sarah Baird speak. She talked about her journey towards Teacher of the Year. She told us about her struggles, her students who made her a better teacher, and how stretching and supporting is important in any relationship. It is important for us to stretch our students (expect a lot from them), and support them at the same time. As a result of her message, I believe the whole room felt a little better and more positive about their futures as teachers.

Graphic Citation: http://maricopa.edu/academic/teachered/Future Educators Conference/2009/Index.php

“This would never happen in America.”  The events that take place in Uganda Africa and the video Invisible Children would absolutely never happen in America, where children are cherished and watched over.  But what happens to the children in Africa should not happen there either.  Three Americans, Bobby, Jason and Larren, decided to travel through Africa and discovered a story far more devastating than they had anticipated.  I wonder how many Americans could imagine having no records of the children living here, or if they could imagine children waking up every morning at the crack of dawn to walk all day to avoid being abducted and then sleep with other children, packing a hospital wall to wall, for a night, just to wake up and find another place to sleep, and hide.  These children live everyday with the fear of being abducted by the “Rebels.”  The Rebels are a group of young men taught by a man, Joseph, to kill others.  When children are abducted, Joseph desensitizes them by violently murdering others in front of them.  Then the children are sent out to do what they were taught: kill.  The children who are not abducted walk all day everyday to escape the rebels.  The children have violent dreams and draw violent pictures of being murdered.  While these children are surprisingly resilient, and celebrate on the days they have made it safely to their destination, there is still a great amount of fear and pain that they should not have to live with.  One boy, Jacob, said, “We eat once a day, once a day… no one taking care of us.”  He said he would rather die because it would be easier when he and his brother, who passed away, would meet in heaven.  Jacob then began to cry, something that the children over there rarely do.  Many children told Bobby, Jason and Larren that they wanted America to help them.  One child even said, “Now you have a tape,” and seemed worried that we would “forget about them.”  Although we haven’t forgotten, and there is much improvement in Uganda, there is still so much that can be done.  Children should not have to share a happy moment only when they have made it to the next town safely.  They should not have to live with the degree of fear they live with everyday.  They should not be limited to the life of “We walk, we sleep, we pray."                  

During this Teacher Education Alliance (TEALL) event, we found out what ASU looks for in resumes, letters of recommendation, and applications.  We were given copies of acceptable and unacceptable resumes and letters of recommendation.  We were then to decide as a group which resumes and letters of recommendation were done properly, which weren’t, and why.  We were also shown where to submit a resume and application online, and learned that we would need to submit two letters of recommendation.  The process to become an ASU student seems a little stressful and there is so much to do before being accepted.  This meeting, however, has helped me feel a little less overwhelmed and more informed for when my time comes to become a student at a university.

Can games be effective in teaching children how to use and become well-versed about technology and using computers?  The 2006 Boys and Girls Club Techathalon showed through games, green screen and pictures “on the moon” that any fun activity on the computer can open a child’s mind to the world of technology.  I had the chance to teach children how to play the Green Screen game; a game in which the Boys and Girls Club child would have his/her picture taken by the camera included with the game.  Once the game began, they were able to walk around with their face on an animated body to different buildings.  Once they chose a building to go into they could dance, play pinball (using their head as the bumper), and snowboard!  The game was primarily about having fun, but it took practice for the children to understand what did or didn’t  work, and how to move to a different building using bodily movement.  The Techathalon was an exciting time for all Boys and Girls Club members from all over the state.  These games and interactions encouraged children to use technology and in some events, even use teamwork to accomplish the goal for the games.  As a future elementary teacher, I will keep this experience in mind to remember how important technology is in our fast-paced society and how children are always willing to try new things that teach them along the way if they are made interesting.

From the Technology session to the “Preparing for the AEPA” session, I learned more in the ASU Education Fair than I ever thought I would want to know!  The technology session was about how to connect with your students outside the classroom, and through appropriate programs on the internet!  This seems like a great idea unless some students do not have a computer available.  Readers Theatre was about reading a book and making it into a short play for students.  This is an interesting idea, but one I have already had experience with.  It works well, especially for students with an auditory learning style.  The Early Childhood session seemed to be more for people who were further along in the early childhood education process, but that were not aware of changes that were being made.  There is a new law that teachers cannot be certified for K-6 but have to have a special certification for pre-k through third grade or fourth through sixth grade.  If teacher education students were not aware of this, and want to teach K-3, they have to seek an endorsement and have an internship with pre-k.  “Teachers and the Law” was a little stressful!  Thinking about all the laws and politics of teaching was mind-boggling, but it was also very informative and helpful.  The Preparing for the AEPA session was more for students who were juniors in college that were getting ready to take the AEPA test soon. The instructors talked about what the test consists of, where to take it, and what to do when you go to the college to take it.  They pointed out websites to go to that have practice tests, and said that studying your worst subject is the real trick to doing well on the AEPA.  All of these sessions were very helpful, some more than others.  They will benefit me greatly because now I know: how to study for the AEPA, technology is a controversial teaching aid, new laws (such as the k-3) are developed all the time by the state department, readers theatre can be an effective tool, and laws are crucial, because when you get into a bind, you should know your rights by heart!

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