I was assigned to the Intermediate level, which was mostly pre-teens. During my time teaching, my TEFL training came back and I remembered why I earned my TEFL certificate to begin with - I love teaching!  I love teaching English to other cultures and connecting on that level with the students. I especially loved teaching the young students.

This was a relief for me since I start student teaching this fall.  This trip clarified for me that I am doing the right thing and following the path God has intended for me, career-wise. When a student in Croatia hugged me and said “thank you”, that feeling of accomplishment and making a difference warmed my heart.

As a future teacher, I understand there will be some challenging times and maybe even some frustrating days. But, seeing the look of “I get it” in a student’s smile and young eyes will make it all worth it for me.  So, thank you God for making this trip possible and impacting the lives of others, whether in the United States or a land across the ocean.  I have found my purpose and look forward to my role as a teacher.

I hope ALL teachers can find that glimmer of understanding and love in their students that makes the job all worth it!

The payoff is based on the performance of 10 different assessments and 4th graders are only getting up to $250.  I say “only” compared to the $500 seventh graders have the potential to receive.

The positive side of this is that standardized state testing scores have drastically improved (40%) and students are more motivated to get better grades.  I would be motivated too if the opportunity presented itself at age 12 to earn $500!

Students who have been exposed to a good financial education at home and understand the value of a dollar will fare well and probably use the money wisely or invest.  However, many students do not know the value of money at such a young age and will likely blow it on video games and candy bars. It is their hard earned money after all. Don’t they deserve some extra cash for the extra effort they put in?

On the other side of this issue are those concerned about teaching good values.  So, is this a good way to instill the value of education?  By “value” I mean the intrinsic value, not monetary value. Are these students really motivated by the  desire to succeed and the understanding that education is a valuable tool to possess in the tool belt of life?  Or by the almighty dollar?

That is open for debate.  Is this the right way to raise scores?  Has it come down to children actually getting paid if they do well in school?  College students do not even get that opportunity unless they succumb themselves to some psychological lab experiment.

What happens when the non-salary students find out their friends are getting paid to succeed in school? How do you maintain motivation for that unpaid child?  This may start a trend we do not necessarily want to adapt for it could set a precedence and send education down a path that we may not be able to turn back from. Or is it a path that leads to future success for these children in New York? Lots of questions to be answered…

This is a big event for me as well. I am now finishing up my last Master’s class and will be student teaching this Fall.  I will be officially a teacher in December when the semester before the holidays comes to an end.  I will be teaching 4th graders for 3 months without a salary and without any free time during the day. Well, with the exception of the weekends, the many state holidays, and a two week fall break in October.  Ahh, the life of a teacher.

So, what are my plans this summer?

On Friday, I leave for Croatia, a country previously a part of former Yugoslavia, across the pond of eastern Italy. Why, you ask. Well, it is my first mission trip with my church, well, first mission trip EVER.  I am going over there for two weeks to teach English to Croatians of all ages, play sports with orphans, and spread God’s love - of course.

What a great way for me to prepare for teaching in August!  I have a Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) certificate and have taught English in Japan and Spain.  I am excited about this opportunity, finishing up my last class, and going to Europe.  What a great way to kick off summer!  What are your plans?

Well, two reasons. Budget cuts (imagine that) and the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).  The NCLB Act focuses all the strict standardized testing in subjects like math, reading, and writing while other subjects like social studies, art, health, and physical education subjects get pushed to the wayside.

Some schools have cut out PE to a mere 50 minutes a week.  Other schools are now having the classroom teachers teach PE!!  As if they don’t have enough on their plate and now they have to play four-square a couple hours a week with their students, as if that is physical “education”.

While I understand math and reading are essential skills, I am a firm believer that health and fitness are essential skills, also.  Exercise increases test scores and makes children more alert, attentive, and of course, healthier!

I will not even go over all the many benefits of exercise here, because I think most people get that.  What I will say is the No Child Left Behind is leaving behind healthy children or leaving behind bigger behinds in children.  Arne - please with all that stimulus money - keep physical education in the schools, for the sake of our children’s future!

This video reminds of why I want to be a teacher - to make a difference.

My entire life I have always felt I needed to make a difference in people’s lives somehow. I whisked through many jobs, flirted with multiple college majors seeking for that internal need.   I ended up with a Psychology degree thinking I could somehow help as a Psychologist, but quickly learned you need at least a Master’s degree to really work in the field of counseling.

I joined the military, I certified as a personal trainer, I taught English in foreign countries, and I volunteered like crazy.  These activities all helped, but I needed more to make that direct impact.  So, I left active duty and decided to get my Master’s in Education.  Who better to get the opportunity to make a  difference than a teacher?

Watching the video really hit home and after I wiped my tears dry, I felt a sense of satisfaction knowing that I am on the path that will lead to a career that has so much potential to leave an impact on even just one child, a child like the little boy Teddy Stallard, who is in this movie.

The message to take away is to do your best as a teacher, you do not know what is going on at home with a child, showing you care can make all the difference.

With that I leave you with two quotes.

• Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end. ~ Scott Adams
• Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. ~ Plato

The website DonorsChoose.org has helped fulfill the ‘Wish List’ of teachers all over the country.  The site allows people to donate to a school of their choosing.  Donors Choose matches up a donor to a classroom and gives the donor the opportunity to make a generous contribution with no minimum amount required to donate

The site gives teachers an opportunity to receive resources for their students that they can not always provide themselves. The teachers do this by writing a proposal with details about the specific projects. These proposals are screened and if the proposal meets the eligibility requirements, the request is posted to the website. Once it is on the website, individuals can donate to help the teachers and the students get the education they deserve.

I think this is a great opportunity for teachers that have important projects that they want to present to the class, but may not have all the materials needed. It can be quite challenging to get lessons presented because of the lack of funding in a school or district. Donors Choose opens up a new door that allows philanthropists to donate to a classroom of their own choosing while giving the resources the students need to continue learning.

So, as close to 170,000 students stay home from school, the classrooms are getting scrubbed down an disinfected.  Some schools may be open the end of the week after suspected cases are verified.

There has been one death so far in the United States, a 2 year old boy in Texas who died on Monday after returning from a trip from Mexico.

This virus, H1N1, nicknamed the swine flu because it is thought to have originated in pigs, has strains of the swine flue, the burd flue, and the human flu.  There is no vaccine for it yet, but the Center for Disease Control (CDC) is working on creating one.

In the meantime, what are parents going to do about child care? Will all of these parents be able to stay home from work to take care of their children who are normally in school?  There is also talk of shutting down day cares as well.

Hopefully, the CDC will get this potential pandemic under control so parents can feel safe sending their children back to school.

The opponents are concerned about juggling schedules around and getting child care throughout the year. Summer camp allowed parents to continue to have child care in the summer when children were not in school. The schools offer a variety of schedules, or “tracks” based on different calenders. This can be overwhelming for parents trying to manage schedules. If each school will have different tracks, this can become burdensome for parents with children in different grades or schools.

The proponents support it because it allows for less gaps in the student’s education and more retention of information. Like any new change, there will always be some stresses involved, but I think eventually the community will adjust. In Colorado Springs, the surrounding child care facilities have adapted to meet the needs of the parents.

The teachers love the schedule because multiple short breaks seem to offer a better cognitive rest and recovery time than one long summer. This likely applies to students as well.  Having these type of schedules does not leave the students and teachers exhausted by Christmas break. In addition, the two week Fall break allows less expensive and less crowded vacation time for families.

In the long run, I think this is a good idea. Eventually, when it is spread throughout the city of Chicago and the state, and the rest of the country, employees will be forced to be accommodating and child care services will have to rearrange their operating hours.  However, it may seem inconvenient for awhile, I believe it is in the best interest for the education system, and most importantly the children that deserve an effective and quality education.

Additional articles on Year Round Schools: Pros and Cons , Opinion Article From a Mom

Spaced Learning gives short quick lessons that are then interspersed with other activities and then repeated at regular intervals. This is supposed to create connections in the brain’s of the students. The research explains that the pathways to create memories need to be stimulated with gaps or breaks in between to create a memory.

This research is lead by the National Institute for Child Health and Development in the United States. The bottom line is the research revealed that the connections between developing brain cells form most effectively when the brain is given regular breaks.

This makes sense in many ways. For one, the attention span can be held longer if students are given breaks to work on something else. In addition, students that are stimulated by physical activity are more likely to stay focused on the task at hand. Breaks also allow the brain to take all the information in small doses and digest it to creat long-term memories.

The spaced learning method can be used along with some traditional teaching methods to give students a balanced education while still learning the foundations of each subject.

More information can be found on Monkseaton’s website .

At Harvard University on April 9, 1969, a group of students ransacked University Hall and set fire to the Marine classroom. This eventually led to the university disarming the ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) program in 1970. Even though this was 40 years ago, Harvard’s student handbook still disapproves of the program and discourages students from participating. The university, which once produced some of the most renown war heroes, is claiming ROTC is “inconsistent with Harvard’s values.”

The battle comes from the Harvard Democrats who have not reinstated the acceptance of ROTC since 1970 because of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which bans gays from openly serving in the military.  The University claims ROTC is a discriminatory organization and wants no part of it. If Harvard has a problem with the military policy, don’t take it out on the ROTC cadets, take it to Congress.

The few students in the ROTC program are forced to take the course at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where the credits are not awarded on their Harvard transcripts. These are dedicated students that have the desire to serve their country as military officers.

This may change soon.  Most of the student body supports ROTC and is encouraging the university to make some concessions. In addition, the old administration is on their way out and the new president, Drew Faust supports ROTC. Only time will tell.  Even so, it will take even more time to get the students to feel comfortable walking around Harvard dressed in military uniform or recruiting on campus, which is currently not allowed.

It is no secret that Harvard is a highly selective, prestigious university and it is considered an honor to receive a diploma from there.  Don’t future officers of the United States deserve the best education, too?