Final Days of Classes

I thought it was fun to do the poster project. When we had to present them in class, I thought it was just like any other poster project that I presented. Instead, there were three posters set up on different sides of the classroom and then we had to stand by our poster. Students from our class would come in groups and then we would talk about our poster and what we learned. I thought this was a great experience because if you are nervous talking in front of the classroom this would not be nerve recking. Some of our classmates would ask us questions about our poster to learn more about our topic. I thought this was interesting because I got to see other people's poster and learn about their topic. This part of the project was the easiest compared to writing the paper. The paper I thought was a bit difficult because you had to gather all the information and put it into an essay. But once you wrote an outline, it was fine writing the paper. In addition, the bibliography is hard to do but going on the Montclair website, it shows you how to write the bibliography for anything you need, such as an article, website, or a book. I enjoyed this class and learned a lot about No Child Left Behind, democracy, and what it is like being in a classroom from field experience.

Mr. Wallington

My cousin invited my sister and I to go to his high school to see Mr. Wallington. Mr. Wallington is like Miss America except for guys. The guys have come up with their own names such as Mr. AX, Mr. Valentine, Mr. Napolean, and so on. The purpose is for the guys to dress up as girls and see who has the best eveing wear, talent, everyday wear, and speech about why they want to be Mr. Wallington and what would they do if they won. I thought it was very funny to see the guys dress up and wear heels. Some guys got very into the pagent. There were about ten contestants and the guys were escorted by the girls who were dressed in tuxedos. I thought is was funny to see the guys walking in heels and in dresses. They had to impress the six judges that were judging them. Some of the contestants would hit on the male judges and it was funny. They would be like I love you or I talk to you later baby. Then came the talent portion of the show. Each guy showed their talent. One played the drums, another sang a song "Since You've Been Gone," another was telling guys how to know what a girl is saying, and so on. I thought the funniest one was the guy who had a lesson on what to know what a girl is saying. One thing he said was that if a girl says give me five minutes, that means make yourself a sandwich and be comfortable because she needs about an hour or longer to get ready. Another thing he said was that when a girl says she's fine after a fight, she is planning on getting you back somehow and she is not fine. Then comes casual wear. After casual wear, the guys get dressed back up in their gowns and then they all come out on stage for the question part of the pagent. Each contestant goes up and picks a question randomly. Then they are asked that question and have to answer it. One question was if you can be any animal what would it be. The contestant answered a goose. After questioning, all the contestants get a rose and have one final walk. Then they announced who got third, second, and first place. I thought this was the cutest and funniest event I have ever seen. I would love to go back next year and see it again.

Community Service in Newark

I attended a faculty meeting at Newark's Art High School. The meeting was about teachers writing their tests to look like the HSPA and other standardize tests. The teachers got into pairs and looked at each other tests. Then they went around in a circle and said what they liked about it and if there is anything they can do to improve. Most of the teachers tests were good and they have to hand it to Dr. Brown, the principal, by December 12. She has to approve of the test before they give it to the students to take. In addition, one teacher talked about how the students are disbehaving and disrespecting each other and the teachers. This arguement went on for about twenty minutes and then the vice principal said that they would have to discuss this issue at another faculty meeting. This issue angered most teaches because they feel why should they teach the students if they don't want to listen and learn. Then they went around in a circle and summarized a section that they read on how to improve student writing. After everyone was done talking about their section, the meeting ended. From this meeting, I learned how the teachers feel about the tests they have to give and how they feel about the students and teaching at Arts High School. They have to attend this meeting twice every month becuase it is required including all the other types of faculty meetings and confrences after school.

Community Service in Newark

I wrote tests for my teacher that I spent the day with at Arts High School. I was writing tests for her because she needs to hand them in by December 12. The tests needed to look like the standardized tests that students take. It was fun to do because I got see what it was liking being a teacher or someone who writes tests. All the questions were taken from worksheets that students had already done, but I had to change the numbers and changed the problem a little bit. I did not want the students to know that the question came off the worksheets they did. The reason why I wrote problems similar to the one's on the worksheets they did, was because they knew the concepts and applications. Also, they can study for the worksheets and when they do the test they will not feel like they do not know the material. I wrote two tests, one for her SAT class and the other for her math applications class.

Community Service

For my community service, I taught Religious Education to kindergarteners at my local church in Rochelle Park. I enjoy teaching the young children. They are so much fun, but they sometimes do not want to listen. Sometimes it is hard to have them be quiet and lower their voices because they think that they are stilll outside. They are good and listen very well to me. Every week, we do one lesson, an activity, and then play a game or sing a song. They recently just sang a song to the director of Religious Education. The director enjoyed it very much and was proud of my class. Some of the kids in my class want special attention. Since I have an aid to help out in my class, the aid and I try to give them all attention. It is not fair if one child gets more attention than another does, so we are fair in treating our kids. In addition, no one has a favorite student. I help the kids do their activities and make sure that they are on the right page of the lesson. Sometimes the kids do not want to do the activity so I tell them that if they do not do it they will have to stay after class or they do not get a sticker. This helps motivates them in doing the activity when they do not feel like doing it. At the end of each class, each student gets a sticker for the good job that they did in class. This makes them feel good because they feel that they were good and has a positive attitude for the kids.

Visitation at Arts High School

I went to visit Arts High School on Friday, December 7. It was nice being in math classroom. There were two classes, an SAT junior class and a math applications senior class. The students in both classes did not listen to the teacher and were very noisy. They were also being disrespectful to each other and the teacher. This kids had difficulty with math and understanding some of the concepts they had to learn. The teacher was very nice and I liked her a lot. If I had to spend the day at Arts High School again, I would want to spend the day with her. I got to interact with the students and help them with the questions that the teacher assigned to them. I enjoyed interacting with the students and I learned a lot from them. There were two computers in the room and they worked very slow. The students did not have any type of textbooks except for the math applications class. However, their textbook remained in the classroom. The teacher mostly used worksheets to teach lessons. In addition, she had students go up to the board and do problems from the tests and homework to make the students feel confident in doing math problems. Arts High School was different from when I went for the orientation. When I went for the orientation it was more quiet and the students seemed well behaved. Then when I was there on Friday, the students were being disrespectful to each other, cursing in the hallways, and some did not even care that they were in school. I also got to go to a meeting for all math and English teachers. The meeting was about how teachers should be making their tests look like what is going to be on standardized tests and the HSPA. It was a very interesting meeting because the teachers were complaining about the students how they are being disrespectful and showing up late to class. The teachers said that some students come an hour late to school and they do not care at all.

Abbott v. Burke

Abbott versuses Burke dealt with predominately low-income and minority students and youngsters attend public schools and preschools in 31 poor urban communities across New Jersey. In the landmark Abbott IV (1997) and Abbott V (1998) rulings, the New Jersey Supreme Court ordered a set of education programs and reforms widely recognized to be the most fair and just in the nation. There are seven Abbott cases that went to the Supreme Court.

The framework that Abbott v Burke formed is rigorous content standards-based education, supported by per-pupil funding equal to spending in successful suburban schools. Universal, well-planned and high quality preschool education for all three- and four-year olds. Supplemental programs to address student and school needs attributed to high-poverty, including intensive early literacy, small class size and social and health services. New and rehabilitated facilities to adequately house all programs, relieve overcrowding, and eliminate health and safety violations. School and district reforms to improve curriculum and instruction, and for effective and efficient use of funds to enable students to achieve state standards. State accountability for effective and timely implementation, and to ensure progress in improving student achievement.

The goal of the Abbott programs and reforms goal is to give every child the opportunity to attain "his or her own place as a contributing member in society with the ability to compete with other citizens and to succeed in the economy." Education Law Center continues to advocate for improvements in student achievement by working to hold the State, districts and schools accountable for effective implementation of the Abbott programs and reforms.