What do teachers make?

By: Riss Willwerth

This video talks about the class question asked when telling someone you are a teacher. That being; What do you make? Which is making reference to class stereotype that teachers do not make a lot of money. Taylor Mali then leads to list off all the things that teachers do make including following statements; “I make kids wonder, I make kids criticize, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could, I make parents see their kids for who they are and who they can be.” This is a profoundly important concept Mali is making, and he does it through slam poetry.

Society recently has been so focused on the negative, we forget to look at the positive. So many people look at life as what went wrong instead of what went well. Teachers don’t make the most compared to all jobs, this is true. But what about what we get out of it? Can a sales person honestly say they are making a difference in others lives daily? How many people can say they are altering a child’s life for the better every single day they go to work? I’m willing to bet not many.

Schooling is one hundred percent a necessity. Without teachers there would be no schooling, and then what? So teachers are completely necessary for a society to work and that’s all there is to it. I personally am so excited to teach mainly on the one fact that I will be helping others everyday of my life. And that’s a teacher’s real job, to help. I want to be someone children look up to for support, advice and someone who affected their day to day lives and I think any teacher or anyone going into teaching would agree with me on that. We don’t teach for the money, we teach for the invaluable experience of making a difference.

https://www.ted.com/talks/taylor_mali_what_teachers_make

Prompt #2 Defining Ethics

By: Maddie Bosky

“The educator, believing in the worth and dignity of each human being, recognizes the supreme importance of the pursuit of truth, devotion to excellence, and the nurture of the democratic principles. Essential to these goals is the protection of freedom to learn and to teach and the guarantee of equal educational opportunity for all. The educator accepts the responsibility to adhere to the highest ethical standards.” (Association, National Education)

After reading the national education code of ethics it makes me very satisfied with my decision to become a teacher. It is very important that I have the ability to see the worth of each and every human being. Out of everything I hope to become an educator that understands the importance of the pursuit of truth and devotion. To me, ethics are what truly defines a person, and if that is the case I hope to be defined as a teacher who achieves each standard I am held to.

Education careers have been in a rapid downfall over the past few years. People have a reality in their head that educators take the easy way out and are actually not invested to the children. I believe people can commonly understand the ethics educators are expected to uphold. They are very similar to the ethics any person who works with others should expect. On the other hand, I do not think most people agree with the ethics teachers are supposed to be held to and the ethics they hold. Growing up in a household of educators I have heard and seen first hand the nasty comments people make about our education system. In today’s society, it is very easy to push blame onto others, which is why I believe teachers take the most criticism of every career.

The reputation teachers withhold really vary from person to person. I can honestly say I have had some of the greatest most intellectual teachers, and some of the absolute worst. A Lot of the education system depends on how much effort each individual wants to put in, but also how each student learns the best. I hope to become a teacher that can adjust to each and every student's need. Every student deserve to feel important and shown interest in. This will definitely impact the way I run my classroom, nothing is more important to me that respecting each and every student.

Love Needs No Words

By Seneca Barker


About two and a half years ago my sweet little brother, Gabriel, was diagnosed with autism.

In that time I have learned so many lessons, and had my eyes opened to so many things because of him. One of which is that I wanted to become a Special Education teacher.

Because Gabe is nonverbal (which means he doesn't communicate verbally at all) he started school very young, and was put into a class with other kids on the autism spectrum. A moment I will never forget was job shadowing his teacher, Lisa Booth.

My brother is incredibly smart, but often times it's so hard to know what's going on in his head because he doesn't talk. However, I was able to see a whole different side of him at school, and it was amazing. I learned just how much of a difference this career can make.

Gabe is very organized and routine, but I didn't realize how organized until I saw him in his classroom. He was sitting down at his table doing an ABC puzzle. I noticed he had collected all of the alphabet letters in order from A-Z in a stack so he could correctly fill in the puzzle with the right order. Something so simple, but something I never knew he could do. He watches ABC videos all the time at home, and apparently it had sunk in. I was in awe and almost in tears watching him complete the puzzle. To some that may seem silly, but with autism, little moments like that are HUGE victories.

I also got the incredible opportunity to see my brother effectively communicate. The way he does that is by using PECS, a picture system that lets him express what he wants or needs by giving a picture to one of his teachers. One of the things Gabe has struggled with at home is letting us know what he wants because he can't say it. After seeing how good he did at school, we were able to get him using a full PECS set at home, and he now communicates with us better than ever. Now he can say "I want..." or "I need..." without having a meltdown because he can now tell us a few things. Through school, my brother has been given a voice.

The tattoo I have signifying my brother's journey with autism

Seeing the difference Gabe's teacher has made for him and our family is exactly why I want to go into Special Education. I want to be able to make that same difference in a child's life. Ultimately, I hope to be able to help kids that are just like my brother. I've learned how amazing this career field is, and I can't wait to see where it takes me.

Confidence is Key

By: Megan Ross

        
Senior year of high school; it seems crazy to me that I was living through it only a year ago. High school seems like a lifetime ago. Throughout the whole year people were constantly trying to tell us to enjoy the "lasts" of senior year. We experienced our last homecoming dances, our last school lunches, and eventually our last days of being in high school. Leading up to graduation and especially afterwards, I felt like all the adults in my life were saying the same things and asking the same questions. They would start with  Congratulations and Hey, look at you, you made it! But suddenly they would turn to the dark side asking, Where are you going to school?  Finally they would turn to the dreaded So, what are you going to study?  Every time I was faced with this question, I would put on my biggest smile and say calmly that my major was going to be english. I would brace myself and watch as their face turned into something like this:

 

Quickly, I would try to redeem myself, assuring them that I was on the path to being a high school english teacher, as if that made things better. If it wasn't already bad enough, my older brother was an engineering major and my older sister a nursing major. Let's just say that by the time people got down to me, they were less than interested to hear about my career path. 

I was conditioned to expect bad reactions from people after I told them the plans for my future. I had been so used to the negative responses. However, one time after someone had forced a smile at me and mumbled the obligatory good for you, I didn't feel hurt. I actually felt sorry for them. I had a future ahead of me that I was excited for. It didn't matter that they thought I was crazy. I realized that if I simply had confidence in myself and in my decisions, that I would be content. 

      

I think that's what we all need to remember everyday. Living in such an opinionated world, we are surrounded by stereotypes. Everyone is not going to see the world the way you do. As humans, we disagree with one another and that's okay. The education field isn't everyone's cup of tea. There are going to be negative reactions and shocked expressions. However, I think that if you are confident in yourself, and in your choices, then nobody can truly bring you down. 

    

The education field faces many stereotypes. Teachers are seen as incompetent, underpaid, ignorant and sometimes even worthless. It seems like the majority of the world is telling me to choose something different or to be something different. Nobody has faith in teachers, or in what they can do. The stereotypes are unfair and untrue. It might take a while for everyone else to see it the way us education majors do, but for now we're going to have to be okay with that. I'm going to be a teacher one day. I'm confident in my decision and I stand by it. So what are they going to say about that? 

Media Sources:

- https://www.pinterest.com/pin/500955158530210118/

- http://giphy.com/gifs/annoyed-eye-roll-judge-judy-Rhhr8D5mKSX7O

- http://replygif.net/504

Wear Red so Betsy Devos Doesn’t Become Secretary of Ed

Written By: Andrea Thanos

This past November was the first time I, like many of my peers, was able to vote and feel actively involved in our election. I didn’t quite feel like the future of America rested in my hands or anything like that, but I definitely felt more involved knowing I was able to vote and have a say about the future of our country.

Betsy Devos is our new president, Donald J. Trump’s, Secretary of Education elect. Devos, a Michigan billionaire, has never attended a public school in her life, let alone put her children through the public school system. No one in her family has ever taken out federal loans for education either. How can a Michigan billionaire with absolutely no experience in public schooling, as an educator, or who is not willing to promise to Senators that she would swear off trying to privatize public schools a good fit for Secretary of Education? This is a question Americans have been asking.


http://getschooled.blog.myajc.com/2017/01/16/i-know-teachers-are-seeing-red-any-wearing-red-tuesday-to-protest-betsy-devos/

Devos met with each committee member and is now answering nearly 1,397 written questions that Democrats have submitted for her to answer. To compare, Republicans submitted just 81 written questions to Obama’s two nominees -combined. The hearing where further questions were asked lasted three and a half hours which was about an hour and a half longer than either of the hearings for President Obama’s two education secretary nominees. But why should we elect someone to such an important position without sufficient questioning and scrutiny?

Still, many people don’t see someone who has absolutely no experience in public education as our future Secretary of Education. Teachers, who similarly feel this way around the country, united yesterday to wear the color red to express their disapproval for Devos. They also used the hashtags #RedforEd and #ilovepublicschools, which were both trending in the top ten list on Twitter. We must ask ourselves if we really want someone dictating public education for the entire country with no background experience in the field. I don’t know about everyone else, but I was wearing red yesterday too.



USATODAY Greg Toppo. "GOP Senate Chair Rejects Democrats' Bid for Second Hearing on Trump Education Nominee." USA Today. Gannett Satellite Information Network, 24 Jan. 2017. Web. 26 Jan. 2017.
"Democrats Request Another Hearing for DeVos, Trump’s Education Pick, before Confirmation Vote." The Washington Post. WP Company, n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2017.

Why Education?

By: Riss Willwerth

Going through Junior year it felt like every one of my peers knew what they wanted to do with their life. Everything about High School seemed to be leading us to answer the question that we have contemplated our whole lives; What do we want to be when we grow up? And the answers bring given were not ballerina, astronaut and movie star anymore.

I had some interests and things I was curious about, but nothing that was really sticking in my mind like glue. All I knew is that whatever I did in life, I wanted to help others and I wanted to be extremely passionate about my work. Mental Illness was something that fascinated me but 12 years of schooling to become a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist was not going to work for me. The reason behind human behavior and what triggers people to act a certain way was interesting as well but I didn’t really want to go into Sociology and didn’t know what I wanted to do with that degree.

A class I was taking junior year called “Connecting” where I worked in a placement class helping special needs students required multiple outside volunteer activities per trimester. This was a class I loved and had a strong connection too but hadn’t debated studying Special Education. I had worked in kindergarten class rooms, high school and 5th grade so I had gotten a wide variety of experience with different ages. But I hadn’t worked with ages over high school age, that was something that made me a bit uncomfortable something I wasn’t really used to and didn’t know how it would be.

My volunteer activity for that trimester ended up being helping out at a Special Olympics track and field event. The event was open to kids and adults of all ages, although these events were often for kids in high school and persons outside schooling to do. I was shocked to discover how easy it was to talk and communicate and be around older people with disabilities. Once I got over my initial fear I had a great time.

Now here is the cliché part of the story. The next day I woke up and I just knew. I knew that this was what I wanted to go into. Overall this experience was very beneficial to me because I learned a lot about myself and how to work with others different and older than me. This is what I wanted to study and be a part of for the rest of my life. That day volunteering was a huge turning point for me I will never forget. I wanted to help people of all ages and most importantly I wanted to teach and I have been stuck on this major ever since.