Business community surrounding schools

The business community influences the school culture and finances in many ways.  For example the school I am from had 69 students who graduated and one of the neighboring schools graduated around 200 students annually.  The differences between these two schools are not only their graduation number but their communities and the businesses that are in those communities are different and have different impacts on the schools.  The smaller school has a small community where the major businesses around the area are family owned convenient stores and farms.  This does not provide a lot of opportunities for the students in that community.  The students do not have a local recreational center to go to so they can partake in organized activities.  With the poor local business and low population there are not as many opportunities for local sport teams and out of season leagues.  The bigger school is surrounded by a much larger community the businesses around this area range from local privately owned businesses to huge corporations such as Burger Kind and Wal- Mart.  Also in this area there is enough money to afford local recreational centers that have indoor soccer fields and organized leagues that people can join and sign up for. The smaller community does not have the resources or income to give the same opportunities as the bigger community. 
 I do not agree with corporate funding of schools because I believe that public schools need to be funded by the community and a portion of that can be corporate but not enough for the corporate to have an omniscient role in that school community.  If there were to be just strictly corporate funding in schools then that school will be ran to make money for that corporation, students will become advertisement property and instead of playing for a community the athletes and sports of the school would be representing a corporate company instead of a school and what the school means and represents. 
 If there were to be a place for corporate funding in schools the politics of that corporation would have to be set aside.  The main purpose of the school is to educate and give children/ young adults the tools necessary to be successful in today’s society.  That goes beyond contextual information and includes ethical, moral, and character values as well.  No matter the business community surrounding a school whether it be small privately owned business or huge multi million dollar corporations the main priority should always be the student’s education. 

Diveristy!!

Warren Peter Patterson
Section 2
Question 1
Diversity
From my standpoint diversity is the amount of culture and uniqueness that is brought into each classroom and lesson plan.  When most people think of the word diversity they assume that people are usually talking about someone’s race or ethnicity, it also includes all stereotypes from cultural background, to religion, gender, social status, and educational level; all of these generalizations give labels to students that are unfair and detrimental to their learning. 
Diversity does not just affect the students it also has an impact on the teachers as well.  Each teacher is different along with each principal, school nurse, custodian, and all other faculty members that make up a school.  On a personal level I come from a rural prominently white area, there are a few black families and that is it.  The rest of our diversity in our community come from the social class, which includes where people live and how much money there family makes.
As a substitute teacher and completing over 75 plus field experience hours there were
some issues with students saying inappropriate generalizations about other students, for
example the term “throwing like a girl” is inappropriate because it is a subtle rude comment that indicate females cannot throw a ball or whatever the object was. 
Personally I feel that students should be given many opportunities to express themselves individually in an educational setting.  As physical educators it is our job to integrate what the students learn in other classes into our own lessons and own classrooms, this includes even outside the typical math, English, science into the other classes such as art and music.  As physical educators we have the ability and opportunity to teach dance and listen to music while we teach therefore physical educators need to bring relevance to the music that is playing and bring the dancing to life with its history and positive background information. 
 Many games and new technology are helping bridge the gap between the integration of art and music into the PE setting.  With games like DDR this allows students to stimulate themselves mentally with the video game however it also is keeping the student active and has them dancing and moving to beat with rhythm.  Even though it is expensive the investment is well worth it not just for the students but for after school workshops for parents and other faculty members as well.  

Bullying

Warren Peter Patterson
Section 2
Question 3
Bullying
Bullying is a serious issue that all students must face in one way or another in today’s schools.  For students who are quite, not participate, unhappy, or even act out through aggression may all be signs of that student being bullied.  Students today however have a new tool to use when it comes to bullying and that my friend is called the internet.  The internet or cyber-bullying has really changed the face of bullying because now students go home and leave school and have to continue to face this humiliation at home.  Many schools today including some in Tulsa have anti bullying programs that teach students about bullying and help them through stories and other educational activities. 
 The adolescent mind changes as students go form elementary school to middle school then on to high school.  However going from elementary to middle school is a big step and many students have angst and feel pressure to do well from there peers, teachers and parents that they may not have felt before.  Middle school students are maturing or going through the process of maturing and this is a crucial period for kids and it is important that teachers are helpful, informative, and always there to listen and ask questions.   Students all mature at different levels and this gives more chance for bullying to occur.  In Physical Education teachers have the opportunity to teach student how to defend themselves against bullies.  The moral and principal of self-defense should be taught way before students learn the physical aspect of the karate.   At SUNY Cortland physical educators are required to take a self defense class that focuses on lessons that address simple and basic escape maneuvers and tactics.  The skills of self defense can be taught at all levels differently and teaches students how to be physically and mentally tough against bullies and the physical and mental harassment. 

EDU 470 question 8

While being at Cortland I have had a wide variety of teachers ranging from hard raw old school teaching to a technologically based classroom setting and I could sit here for hours explain to someone how one of the styles are better than the other or in which class did I learn more in however regardless of how I learned they all had good teaching philosophies that at the end of the day taught students.  Every teaching philosophy is unique and can have a lot of individuality to it and that is what makes a good philosophy being able to add a sense of individuality to your thoughts and teachings.   The philosophies in the United States are essentialism, perennialism, progressivism, social reconstructionists, and existentialism.  An essentialism approach has the idea to teach the students the absolute needs or the “essentials” to character development, academic knowledge, and patriotism.  Perennialism come from a more context and factual approach, this kind of philosophy is structured around text books, and ideas and concepts.  Progressivism is more of an authentic approach to the real world with primarily focusing their educational beliefs on the concerns, curiosity, and real life experience for the students.   Social Reconstructionists relate to the students refining and “reconstructing” the justifications of society and are trying to teach to make society a better place for everyone.   The last philosophy existentialism is very similar to one of Mosston’s styles of teaching which was self-teaching because both of these styles and philosophy deal with allowing students to find the answer to their questions and pretty much re-discover the wheel and all the mistakes along the way.  Along with the mistakes they learn, the students also will learn the valuable lessons as well that go into “remaking the wheel”. 
I am a firm believer in teaching through the physical and building character through physical education.  I would have to categorize myself under the progressivism philosophy, I support the idea of being taught information that is relevant in today’s world.  I like how progressivism wants to move away from the textbook material and get more hands on with the material. 
My educational philosophy tells a lot about me as a teacher and what my goals are for the students.  My goal is simple I want you to leave my class happy and a better more knowledgeable person.  I want my students to truly learn and build their character through physical activity and by always challenging themselves physically and cognitively.  Students should understand what it means to be responsible and respectful and that is where our roles as educators can have an impact on each student’s demeanor.  This handout I made for my future Physical educational classes. 

Mann the man!!

One of the most important people in education is Horace Mann. He was the founder of common schools and helped to reinforce the foundation of education across the country. This “Father of the Public School” believed that public education work towards two goals that were practical and idealistic. In 1837 Mann held the position of “Superintendent” and had a hand in the creation of the Massachusetts State Board of Education. He strongly enforced improving education for all social classes. He believed that educating the working class would improve the economy by increasing the efficiency of industry and business. Mann thought that lower income families deserved the same amount of education as those who could afford it. One of the ways he did this was trying to desegregate the classrooms, but the role of religion proved to be an issue. He was not only a leader in education reform,  a motivational force to his students. His focus in the classroom was not towards the typical content, instead he concentrated on relevant information that would prepare them for the real world.
In 1838, Mann created The Common School Journal. In it, he discussed the problems within public schools and what he believed in; “his six main principles were: (1) the public should no longer remain ignorant; (2) that such education should be paid for, controlled, and sustained by an interested public; (3) that this education will be best provided in schools that embrace children from a variety of backgrounds; (4) that this education must be non-sectarian; (5) that this education must be taught by the spirit, methods, and discipline of a free society; and (6) that education should be provided by well-trained, professional teachers. Mann worked for more and better equipped school houses, longer school years (until 16 years old), higher pay for teachers, and a wider curriculum”
Mann was a pioneer for all teachers in education and the public school system. He was one who stood up for what he believed in and made changes to better society through new age innovation and learning.

Playing with Polio

During the early and mid 1900’s there was an epidemic that swept over the United States causing many people to get sick and thousands of people to lose their lives.  This epidemic was called polio and it is a viral disease that can lead to full paralysis in some cases.  The outbreak caused national panic until there was a vaccine created in 1955 by a man named Jonas Salk.  The virus spread through direct person to person contact, contact with infected phlegm or mucus, or contact with infected feces. Since the outbreak in the 1900’s the world has seen a decrease in polio patients, and can be found typically in some areas of Africa and Asia and is more aggressive during the summer and fall months.  Most children are immunized at birth for the disease and most people are only at risk if they travel to an area where an outbreak has occurred.  For children who are affected by polio may result in complete paralysis and they would have to be in a wheel chair for the rest of their life, this may affect the persons physical activity however there are many things that can be done even in a wheel chair especially in the physical education setting.  Some games that students who are chairs users can play are Wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis; most students in chairs can also bowl with minimal assistance.  Also to challenge these students during class they can always be checked for understanding by asking them questions, also incorporating cognitive tasks into the lesson to get the student involved will provide some type of challenge besides physically.  Lessons that use stations can be modified to help with the student’s upper body strength, or obstacle course can be set up to allow the student to practice maneuvering around objects.  Figure

Colonial Education

The nature and purpose of colonial education was different if you were a boy or girl.  Christopher Lamb revolutionized the classroom, when Christopher Lamb was in school the program back then was focused around the bible and, moral and social values.  The discipline during Christopher’s classroom experience was based off of physical punishment; the students received welts and bruises when they acted out.  Christopher Lamb became a teacher after his apprenticeship was up, once he had the reins of the classroom he started to change things, for example he took out the need for physical discipline and began using a punishment and reward system.  Education grew from simple home schooling to dames or stay at home mothers who started teaching more than just their own children.  The education changed a little, yet the focuses were still on reading, religion, and values for the boys.  However the girls were taught homemaking skills by the age of 7 years old.  As time went on a law called Old Deluder Satan Law was passed and made it a requirement that –Every town of 50 households must appoint and pay a teacher of reading and writing, also – Every town of 100 households must provide a Latin grammar school to prepare youths for the university, under a penalty of 5 pounds for failure to do so.  All in all the colonial time period for education laid out the foundations for, local control of schools, compulsory education, tax-supported schools, and state standards for teaching and schools.