28--I smell bacon!

Yes Geoff, I do have unoriginal blog titles. I use to name them according to the entry subject, but to make things easier for you and me, I decided to use integers.
I am very excited to eat a nice brunch in about six hours; I am hungry and very exhausted. I could use some good 'ol cookin' right about now. Burning the wick from both ends to get semester projects and assignments done is not the way to go. I prefer the "get it done on time and the right way the first time" idea, but it seems to just be an idea at this point. Anyway, as I sit here thinking about this semester and all the things that I have learned and accomplished, I ask myself if I really want to be a teacher. I ask myself if I am in this major because I like to have hands-on classes, including wood shop, or if it is because I have no other idea for major--come to think of it, I am not so sure anymore. Maybe it's just because I am tired, but even though I love this major's courses and that is helping me to like school again, I seem to doubt what I am suppose to do in life. I still feel that I am suppose to be a teacher, and I want to be one, but the issue of lower paid wages and demand for continued education (for potential salary growth) haunts me. I just want what is best for my family. Maybe money isn't everything. Maybe being happy with my occupation and my life is what my family needs the most from me. No one wants a grumpy head of the house. So, I have concluded that this semester's learning has helped push me to want to be a technology teacher. Because of this class, I can now see why that position is important to have and why it is good for me.

27

Well it is definitely a close-to-home feeling for me with this lesson plan assignment. In that I mean that if feels like I have to make a lesson plan for a class that I will actually be teaching. In other words, I am getting the butterflies in the stomach. The idea of having to make several lesson plans that must correlate with an entire unit is much more overwhelming than just coming up with something for an afternoon's junior high class. It is also close-to-home because I am in charge of the manufacturing weeks. This is right up my alley with teaching hands-on assignments and building all kinds of things. It is beginning to scare me though; I never really thought about teaching so many different hands-on subjects at once. I also never really realized how it would be to try to demo, teach, and supervise 30 students efficiently all at once. Even though it is just for an assignment, therefore I won't be teaching it any time soon, I get scared to think that I will be responsible not only for the education of the students, but also for their safety. I get scared that I will get a bunch of students who don't really want to learn, but would rather goof off and mess with the tools incorrectly. I don't anyone getting hurt. I also don't want to worry about those who don't listen during demos. I get it down. It will be okay. I guess that these are issues that I must consider in my lesson plans. I think I need to premeditate about would I could do and would do under certain circumstances. We shall see what happens.

26

I think that this new idea of having the entire class come up with a unit of lesson plans, collaboratively, is a good idea. I think that is it going to let us come closer together as a class, feed off of each other for better suggestions and actions, and get a chance to see a fun and complete unit plan. I am excited about the idea of making a plan for a tech 1 class. This choice has given us as a class the opportunity to include various fields within technology teaching. It has helped multimedia coordinate with engineering, who in turn coordinates with manufacturing. I think it was a great idea. I do wish that we had more than a week to come up with this unit plan. I am afraid that it is not going to be enough time to do a good job. My goal is to efficiently incorporate my area with the other two areas of our class.

25

Private schools versus Charter schools--

I didn't really know the difference. I thought that charter schools were private schools. I thought private schools were only those like you see on Dead Poet's Society. All in all, I thought that they were all just meant for the rich kids who had to wear funny uniforms made with plaid fabric. I thought that I didn't like charter or private schools and I know that I was definitely pro public schools. I wanted my children to have the same experience as I had, growing up in the public schooling system, being around a diverse demographic, and getting a chance to be on a big school sports team.
I had an uneducated bias opinion. After Thursday's class and debate, I learned quite a bit about the difference between private and charter schools. I had a chance to learn about the pros and cons of these schools versus the pros and cons of public schools. I must say now that I am totally against charter schools. I do want to look into these school system more closely for the sake of my children. Charter schools are in fact public schools; they just have their own charter. Because of this custom charter, or rule book, they don't have to abide by (except for a few) the state rules. Typically these schools are more accelerated in academics, versus the normal public schools, and can also be found to focus more strictly on a particular discipline. For example, the charter school in Spanish Fork, Utah is geared towards engineering.
Of course there is always the issue of money. Many people like the idea of charter and private schools, but cannot afford the tuition. They are then forced to send their children to the public schools where they feel that their children are not getting the better education. Other parents are not so excited about the charter schools because they do not supply a mode of transportation for their children, like school buses.
I think that I like the idea of charter schools. My bias opinion is slightly changing the more that I learn about them. I want my children to have the best education that I can help them receive, but do want them to be just like everyone else. I want them to get a public school experience with lots of weird students, big sports teams, dances, assemblies, detention, and fun.

24

I really enjoyed class from this last Tuesday. Geoff enlightened us with information that was more than valuable. No matter what major, or desired career choice, every career-seeking individual is interesting in how much money that specific career is going to offer them. I had a ball park figure in mind with teaching at a secondary level. I knew that it wasn't a wonderful number compared to what other careers can pull in. I didn't know, however, how one is able to move up in pay scale in the teaching world. I didn't know that every school district has steps and lanes. I also didn't know that every teacher's steps are negotiable upon hire; an experienced teacher can loose all of his honored years of teaching (in pay) if he tries to hire on with a different school district. I think that is outrageous and not fair. You know what it seems like to me? Teachers are needed more now than ever, with a higher demand for those who are highly qualified, but they have to continually jump through hoops and blow whistles just to try to earn some kind of a descent living salary. I guess it is all for the passion and reward of teaching. I guess I can't change the politics of it all, all by myself, but I can make sure that I do the best I can for those that I teach.

23

So this teaching class is beginning to rub off on me. On Sunday, I was in front of a group of young Primary kids, trying to give a Sharing Time presentation. I don't know why, but right from the beginning of the presentation out from my mouth came the stupid and open-ended questions,"Does that make sense?" and "Any questions?" As soon as I said those questions, I immediately felt ashamed of myself. I was suddenly hit in the head with my own guilt, labeling myself as a "bad" teacher. From then on I found myself trying to overly concentrate on my teaching style and ability to use good questions. I found myself getting self-conscious and nervous--in the front of a bunch of little 3 to 7 year-olds!! I don't know what got into me, but I learned from that experience that it is very important to some kind of lesson plan, included with prepared questions, even for the Primary.

22

Thanksgiving was great! We ate lots of food and had a good time with the whole family. Vacation is always too short though. It should definitely be longer...