clinical obersevation week 2

During my second week of observations the class that I was observing had a speaker from the UTI Universal Technical Institute. The speaker was actually a recruiter from UTI and I found him to be very interesting. The most interesting part of the entire discussion was when the recruiter asked the class of about 40 (two classes combined) how many of them felt as though they would go to a 4 year college and nearly 100% of the students in the class raised their hands?! This was shocking to me, I realize that all students should have dreams and aspire to great things but we all know that 100% of any environment won't do anything 100%... I think the emphasis on 4 year colleges has been pushed on these kids so hard that anything short of that is considered failure. Most of the students in the class can't achieve the grades or test scores to get to college. As an aspiring educator I immediately saw the need for a reality check in that classroom and I wanted to jump up and say "there is absolutely nothing wrong with going to a technical institute". Learning a tangible trade is overlooked in this country. Somehow the idea that a person who has the ability to work with their hands is less of a person or they don't make as much money as someone who has a bachelor's degree is simply ridiculous. our students need to know that it is just the opposite, college degrees are becoming more and more common place and there is a great need for specialized trades. How can we encourage students to do what they love without diminishing their dreams or making them feel like less of a person because they don't go to a 4 year institute? There is nothing wrong with becoming your own boss within a trade that you love; yet our country looks to other country's for our goods and services and I think it is a damn shame.

Cpu Apps Observations

During my first oberservation I attended a Computer Applications course at Harding High school. The classes were very diversed having over the course of the day freshmen, sophmores, juniors and seniors. I was very impressed with the set up and the structure of each class. Throughout the day all students came in somewhat interested in the task at hand and they all started the assignment themselves which leads me to believe they have a system of protocal in place.
Upon entering the class all students began on an assignment that included them looking up current events and using a powerpoint presentation application to illustrate how the current event that they chose directly or indirectly affects them.
I was able to walk around the class to see what most students were choosing and for the most part it was an array of different ideas. Some chose news worthy events and others went directly to the social websites and even sporting news.
The activity was open ended and the students were allowed to use their imaginations to make it work for them. the purpose of the activity wasn't the actual current event but how well they were able to navigate through the web and insert the event into powerpoint.
I was very impressed with the students prowess and accumen throughout the day. I would be intersted in seeing if this was a one time deal or if the students are always so well suited for the activities... Only time will tell...