This past week was extremely difficult. Sunday marked the anniversary of 9/11. It has been ten years since the World Trade Centers were attacked. I remember that day as if it were yesterday. I was sitting in my fifth grade music class in St. Clare School when all of a sudden my classmates were told they were leaving to go home. I did not comprehend what was going on because the teachers were not allowed to disclose anoy information to us. My best friend, cousins, and I stayed in school the entire day. When I went home and saw the news, I was shocked. From a 10 year old standpoint, I did not know why anyone would attack the United States, especially New York City. Since I am from Staten Island, I personally feel the tradegy affected me more than people in different states. New York is the best place in the world and seeing my home attacked made me angry. I fortunately did not know anyone who died in the 9/11 attacks. However, my friends did. My heart goes out to all those who were affected by this devastating tragedy.
Yesterday, I also got the chance to observe again. I am really enjoying my observation so far. The cooperating teachers try to incorporate me as much as possible into their lessons. I have mostly been observing 8th grade Social Studies classes. The students were given a pre-test citizenship test yesterday and surpisingly most of them did really well. I am excited to see how the next few months turn out for these 8th graders =)
Where are you doing your observing? For what course are you doing these observations? Who is the teacher that you are observing? What are you learning from observing this teacher? What is the make-up of the class that you are visiting? In other words, how many boys and how many girls? What is the topic that they are studying at this point in time. Eighth grade is usually in-depth American history. Is that the case here in this class? Do you find the students are interested in the subject?
ReplyDelete9/11 was truly a shocker to all of us and certainly affected those of us who live in the NYC area. I can only iomagine what you felt as a 10-year old child............seeing all of the destruction around this area. I, believe it or not, remember when Pearl Harbor was bombed and WWII began. I was in 2nd grade at that time. Those are pretty scary experiences for a young child......air raid practices,air raid wardens patrolling the streets at night, blackouts, friends leaving for the services, army, navy, air force. Soldiers and sailors all over New York City. War is a scary concept for young people. I can understand the way you felt. Talk to you again. Dr. Ries
For my ED 348 class, I am observing at West Essex Middle School. I was assigned two cooperating teachers, Mr. Regan and Ms. McCarthy. They teach 7th and 8th grade Social Studies, respectively. They have also encouraged me to observe Mr. Ferrara's 8th grade Social Studies classes. He is a young teacher and they both feel I will learn new things since we are relatively close in age. So far, I have learned that it is essential to use technology in the classroom and to have a good repoire with my students. The 8th graders seem to like his style of teaching as well as his personality. In most of the classes I observe in there are more girls than boys, although it is relatively close in number. Right now, the students are learning about the making of the Constitution, the Constitutional Convention, and World Geography. It is very much in-depth American history. I am happy to be observing American history since it is my favorite topic. I feel that they are interested in the topics presented to them.
ReplyDeleteI find it amazing that you were alive when Pearl Harbo was bombed and when WWII occurred. Both my grandfathers were in the Army during WWII. They are the reasons that I love history so much. Hearing war time stories always made me want to participate in the Army. I, however, don't think that I could be away from my family for months to years at a time. The next best thing was to share my love of history to future generations. My best guy friend is in the Army and I am so enthralled in his experiences in the war. Although he does not like to talk about certain things that happened while he was overseas, he is happy that we support our troops.