I am currently placed at Gaskill Prep. in Niagara Falls. My first impression was "oh my God, I am going to get chewed up and spit out, and/or my car is going to get robbed"This school is in the heart of the falls, with street parking only. I came to class dressed in Gucci and Coach...I stuck out like a sore thumb.
My teacher was absent that day, (which has ironically happened to me at every single placement I have had) so I had to work under a substitute. She is actually a Grad Student here at NU, and has subbed at this school many times and knew what she was doing. However, because she was a sub she did not have a lesson plan, so I just stood in the classroom...observing the children doing a worksheet for two hours.
I personally have had terrible expericences with learn and serve up to this point, I have not done anything even remotely close to teaching, just watching and being bored, counting to minutes until I can leave. When I came to NU, I was told that the education program was great! And that Education majors get put right into the classroom and love it! Sadly, this has not been the case for me. = [I love teaching, I have tutored since 10th grade and I love the feeling of helping others succeed. Unfortunately, I do not feel that way when it comes to learn and serve, I dont feel that it benefits me because I am not teaching or doing, just watching.
I hope that in the future I can get some great teachers that I can learn from!!
reflecting back to this post now 20hours of service later, i regret saying a lot of what I did. Yes I did stick out like a sore thumb every time I went to Gaskill, but no one made me feel out of place. Everyone there was great. And if you think about it, they have to be great! some of these students come hard homelives, and the falculty needs to know how to address that, and they do. All the teachers I had the pleasure of meeting, no matter how brief, had a great outlook on the prospect of their students, which is what a lot of those kids need. They need someone to believe in them and motivate them to do great things with their future, and the falculty at gaskill do a great job of shining a light on every student's future.
I would like to know who christian is...and find out why he is on my blogger page..
ReplyDeleteHi there. I've been watching your blog postings change over time. What do you think has been the benefit of the experience knowing what you know now?
ReplyDeleteWhat is your advice to other students at NU who are frustrated at their placements?
What do you need to do to make sure this doesn't happen again? How can you advocate and plan out each of your placements?
I think the benefit of my experience this semester has been that I have learned not to judge a book by its cover. I walked into Gaskill on the defense ready for the students to be bad kids. They're not, at all. they're great kids who are trying to learn in a limited enviroment.
ReplyDeleteOther NU students...my advice would be to have a positive attitude, get to know your cooperative teacher and your students and make the best of every circumstance.
I can advocate and plan out my placements by asking around, using personal experience to give myself private placements with teachers I know I will benefit from.
That is ironic that your teacher is neer there on the first day! well, it builds character... I like how you responded to Shelley's comment. This was a really interesting blog - I have never been placed at a school like this one, so i am sure it was a challenge for you.
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