Child Abuse

Well I would just like to start off saying that child abuse is sick and its disgusting and anyone who does it belongs in jail for life. It is terrible not only physically but emotionally as well for many people that are close to the child and even more so for the child him/her self. The videos we watched in class regarding child abuse for our training to work at St. Mary's School were very intense and that is why there great for relaying the message about how horrible child abuse is and how serious of a matter it is.

I think its pretty safe to say that we all have heard about the whole Penn State University situation. Before talking about how disgusting Jerry Sandusky, the former assistant coach for the Nittany Lions football team really is, I would like to pay a tribute to Joe Paterno because he was an amazing coach and I feel bad for the situation he was in. Based on the sources I have read, he went to his AD and told him about what he had seen therefore he did what he was supposed to do. However, I understand the firing of him because they needed to "clean house". Okay, none of what was just said excuses the fact that Sandusky is a pig, a disgusting pig who deserves nothing less than to be locked behind bars for the rest of his life. He ruined the lives on innocent children and will always be remembered for that over his accomplishments as a coach at PSU.

I think it is important to know about what happened at PSU as well as SU whether or not teaching is your desired profession. Everyone needs to be aware of warning signs and physical signals that all point towards child abuse. It is wrong and disgusting and ruins lives.

Day 2 at St. Mary's

WOW! There are so many thoughts going through my head right now. Honestly I am so surprised as to how the children in pre-k were so welcoming to new faces teaching them. Today was actually marked a very important milestone for my teaching career. That would be conducting my first arts and crafts session with a group of students. And even though I may not have done all that great with it (even if I did do a good job) I feel great about it! The children loved the activity and they were asking me for opinions and one girl even asked me to write her name on her project for her. It felt good that these young children were learning from ME! Today truly reminded me of why I chose this profession and why I will continue to progress and improve my teaching skills.

learning through physical activity

As we have all learned, it is a fact that physical activity can effect a student positively not only with his skills in movement but also have a better knowledge of how his body moves. Learning to move and than learning through the movement is how a student will improve in his cognitive and affective motor skills. One way in particular would be by learning all of the basic locomotion movements that are used in all physical activity. Physical activity is a very important part of a child's maturation and is one of the most influential on all other aspects of learning.

Class on 1/23

I think its pretty safe to say that everyone in the class today was moved by the movie that was played in class. Its very powerful to hear from both the victims and the abusers through a first hand interview. It does nothing less that make you hurt for the victims. Its sickening to know that these people can go through years of prison and treatments to get over their illness, yet still have no hesitation to abuse again. Its disgusting, its pathetic and it needs to be recognized. That is why we as educators have to be aware of sketchy situations and do not leave yourself alone with a child and also make sure you do not touch the child anywhere that may be interpreted as inappropriate.

Day one at St. Marys School

"Wow!"
That was definitely the thought that went through my head walking through the doors at 3 o'clock Wednesday afternoon. I was not expecting the kids to be so young and wild. But the honest truth is that as time went on and I began to loosen up to the children, I began to have fun. The one thing that may have shocked me the most about the whole day was when one little kid decided that "I squeezed all of the air out of the ball". I told him I didn't do it and he yelled, "You're a liar! You and all of the college kids are all liars!" Now, I have always been good with children and am beyond excited to help teach these kids and perhaps have an effect on their lives. This one little incident made me realize that these kids are going to be very draining but at the same time it is going to be an amazing experience dealing with these kids to give me a better idea of what age group I may want to teach in the future.

1st post- creating the blog

Well I honestly thought I was very tech savvy until this assignment was made. I have never been required to make a blog and the only thing I use that is even close to a blog I guess would be twitter. But that is by no means a blog. I am very open to new things though and this is something I am looking forward to.
In regards to what I did over break that will make me a better teacher and help me further educate my students is that I made my first travel over seas to Israel. I spent ten days there with 50 people I didn't know and learned tons of information that I can share with anyone. Traveling abroad alone is an experience but the fact that I was with 50 people I had never known before definitely contributed to my experience.