Chapter 5: The History of Schools in the United States

Stop Bullying Flyer

Things I Need to Know

I read about three important things that UMF Secondary Education majors should know.

• Well about the first article involving the PRAXIS examination, everything on the page was new information to me. I am in the process of looking at my options for taking the PRAXIS test this summer, so all this information was important and something that I will use in the near future. It is good to know that educational institutions are requiring a certain amount of knowledge needed after getting into college to continue with your selected major.
• In the second article, I learned a bit about Practicum and how to go about signing up and receiving more information on it. As I am a secondary ed. major, all this knowledge is important for me to look at now, but will become more vital in the coming semesters. I'm also going to try and arrange my schedule so that I will not have any other classes during my semester with Practicum.
  
• I am already in this major, so the third article was all that valuable to be. But I think that for someone who is looking to get involved in the Secondary/Middle Education majors it is important to have this information available to you. It makes it easier when looking for a rough outline of things you need to do in order to officially change majors.
  

Chapter 4: Schools as the Workplace for Students and Teachers

Under "staff and organization" there were some similarities between our group's school and the examples given in chapter 4. I think communication was the biggest aspect that we had in common. As a big school or school system there needs to be organization. The key to having that organization and being successful is done through means of good and strong communication. Knowing who to talk to about certain things and how to go about doing it is important to know. Our team did not really focus on specific details within staffing the school and the administration, though as far as hiring teachers is concerned, we are committed to providing a wide range of ethnic backgrounds within our faculty to provide a more well rounded educational experience.

Under the section about "The relationship of schools to school districts and the state" a concentration our team had that was described in chapter 4 was about having a well staffed and and knowledgeable school board. The values of the school board match those listed in the reading, but also we are making it the responsibility of the school board to make the decision on which students aged 21+ are to be enrolled in our school. Since we accept all people, not discriminant on age, the school board would be responsible for running checks on applicants and seeing that they meet requirements to become a student.

As far as the section about the position that the government has over public schools, our teams school and an example of a public school in today's society is much different. Most of it has to do with Project Lead The Way. Our school does not have learning standards nor do we make a strict "to do" list for teachers to follow on a day to day basis.

When it comes to funding our school, I believe that in both situations, the funding is going to be very similar. Taxes and other forms of government funding will be used to pay for much of what the school requires.