Monday, September 26, 2016

Field Blog #1

Visit to Noble Elementary


On 22nd of Sept I had the pleasure of visiting Noble Elementary School that morning. First thing I noticed about the students during my visit was their excitement and enthusiasm for being in school and wanting to learn. The students were excited to tell me about the things they are learning in class and the instruments that they are playing. This was a big surprise with many children playing instruments and seeing the joy I their faces about playing music.


During my visit I sat in two classrooms. The first was an art class and the second was a Spanish class.
The art class and its teacher really stood out to me that day. The first thing I noticed about the art room was that the classroom was decorated to inspire artistic creativity. Bright colors, shapes, patterns everywhere. The teacher is Ms. Wachhaus she was great and her students really love her. Some of her techniques really stood out to me as I observed her in the classroom. Ms. Wachhaus was very thorough and patient in explain to the children the assignment for the day. She also reviewed important information from previous assignments that were pertinent to the current assignment that they would be working on. Once she was finish explaining, there was a question and answer period with the students  about the assignment instructions. An expectation level was set and confirmed by the students. He connection with her students was great and they really respond to her.


I feel that setting the expectation level in the beginning is very important. Children need and like boundaries. This helps keep order in the classroom and it also creates a standard that the students have to adhere to, to be successful in class. Being approachable and showing concern for the student helps bonding with the student. This may help you as a teacher be able to push and challenge the student to be their best.

Saturday, September 17, 2016

How do I get the most out of my students?

How do I get the most out of my students? This is a question that has been in my mind since reading the first few chapters of "To Teach: The Journey in Comics" By William Ayers. Three important ideas really stood out to me that can help me achieve my goal.

The first is remembering what age group I'm teaching. This is important because some ideas and concepts may be to advanced for them. Make sure you are being patient, that the material you are delivering to your students is on a level that they can comprehend.

The second, is to find what makes each student tick. By this is I mean what wakes then up in the morning. In the book "To Teach: The Journey in Comics" By William Ayers an example was used how William couldn't get one of his students to full engage in class. One day after class he saw the boy skateboarding. There was the boy's motivation William could use connect with the student to get him to be more active in class.

Finally understand that the student have things that happen in their lives outside of the classroom. Depending on how serious the situation is, it can become very distracting for the student where they have lost all focus and concentration. don't be to quick to write that student off. These are just children and do not have the life experiences of an adult to adequately handle and compartmentalize different situations when they arise.

Sunday, September 11, 2016

Why Teach?

Teaching is something that has been apart of me my whole life. Ever since I can remember it has been classroom after classroom; not because I had to go to school but because my mother is a teacher and when I wasn't in my own class I was in one of hers.

It started when I was in high school. My mom always taught summer school, so to keep me busy some days in the summer I would help tutor her students. This was my first experience of how these students and myself can be in the same grade but clearly they were lacking in many areas to be in the same grade as myself. It was frustrating to them and myself, because for me there were some basic fundamentals that they did not have that made tutoring much more difficult. For the students, their frustration was the fact that they didn't have these fundamentals and thus made it harder to grasp many concepts.

So why teach? This question has many layers to the answer. The most important part of my answer is the fact that there are not many male teachers and its even less for male black teachers. I fell that it is important for young people to see themselves in the ones that are educating them. Teaching for me is not about just teaching but also developing young people with strong character foundations. Try to make a positive impact that could hopefully keep them on the right course.

Thursday, September 1, 2016



Hey, I'm Brandon. I welcome you to follow my journey in education here at John Carroll University




I would like to teach high school chemistry. I'm also thinking about teaching math, but we shall see how that goes in the course of this semester.




I am a veteran of the U.S Navy, proudly serving a total of eight years. I love sports. I am a big Cavs fan, and yes we are still basking in the glory of them winning last years NBA Title. I love football, played a little myself, nothing major but I love the game. I currently coach for South Euclid Jr Arcs.


It is important to be a positive role model and make a difference in young people's lives. Help them find their purpose or put them on their own path of discovery. One thing that I will use in my teaching to help reinforce this, is suggest that they read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. This is a book about self discovery and paying attention to the experiences and people that come into your life that act as guides and teachers in your journey.


For me to be comfortable is a interactive class session. Since this is an education class interaction between classmates and the teacher will help develop those skills.


One of my fondest memories of school was when I was scolded by my biology teacher in my senior year of high school. It was about not applying myself and using my full potential. That conversation has stuck with since graduation high school. This something that I want to pass on.


Some of the issues that education is facing is that the level of education is not equal across the board for all schools. School is also a team effort with the teacher, student and parent. One of the goals is to find ways to keep everyone involved. The second is to seriously connect with the students and help encourage they to be more proactive in the things that they enjoy. Be the best they can be.