essay questions for tnt

I have a calling upon my life, which is to help people, mainly the youth. Not only do I have a club that is solely focused on helping “under privileged youth” but I have substituted in Orleans Parish Public Schools, Jefferson Parish Public Schools and St. John Parish Public Schools most of my substituting career. I want to teach in a “high need” school in “low income” communities because I feel like I would be able to bring a non- traditional style of teaching to them that will help to get the whole class involved in the lessons. I know that in those areas, I could make a difference that would gratify a multitude at a very high magnitude.
Every day I am faced with new challenges in my classroom. I expect to face different challenges in these schools because they have become the “left behind” if you will. Some students aren’t going to be very willing to learn or to do work, some aren’t held to a high standard at home, some students feel like they can’t do the work and some are just simply going to fight against you for no known reason. Three weeks ago I had a special education class in which, not enough work was left by the teacher. Every teacher I encountered that morning made me aware that I had a class full of troubled students that were not willing to learn and were very uncontrollable. When the class came into the room, I laid down my rules and expectations of a high school class. A few of the boys were ready to get the class in an uproar, (seeing there was a substitute on board today). Several students decided that they were going to sleep the class away. I called the sleeping children up to the board and gave them pages from their social studies book that had pictures of maps on it and told them to draw and label those maps on the board. I rolled up my sleeves and got on the floor with some pins, social studies books, paper, and a few colored pencils and had the rest of the class to get down there with me so that we could discuss different things that happened in the states and countries in which were being drawn on the board. When the assistant came to the class, she left out and told the principal to accompany her. The principal asked me at the end of the day to leave my name and number so they could call me because he wants me there every week. The principal told me that I have a unique way of getting kids to learn in a very defiant classroom and he liked it. I will take this experience and start preparing lesson plans in the summer. I want to create a “goal board” in my class room which will help me and the students to try everything in our power to reach that goal. Holding each child accountable for assisting another child will also help the class in working together in achieving a common goal. I am a firm believer in the “each one teach one” motto, and that’s what we were doing on that board and on the floor. That week, those children learned the whole map of the United States just by helping each other.

I was the assistant to the Parent Liaison, in Riverdale, Georgia, where the school was not performing well in the Math and Reading areas. The principal implemented Saturday school. The children that were in danger of failing were at a “mandatory to participate “status, and the children that were passing and needed more help, were at an “optional “status. The Saturday school was in conjunction with the tutoring that was offered three to four times a week. This practice had the children passing with some of the highest grades in the nation.
A lot of times, these children are in the homes of one parent or two working parents, which leaves them to be home alone most of the time. When you have nothing to do, after doing your chores, you will play games, get on the phone or even social media. When the parent gets home, they are usually preparing for the next day, before retiring for the night. The children are usually asleep by this time. The children are on their own daily. This becomes the beginning of their demise. This daily home-routine is likely the cause of the challenge in the classroom. The only time the parent knows something is going on is if they hear the bad news which is when the problem has gotten too far out of hand. Talking with the principal of our school and ask him if Saturday school would be something that I could make mandatory for the children that were in danger of failing the school year and optional for those children that were worried about were worried about not being prepared for the end of year standardized exam would be the first thing I would do. Additional work would be given to the children to take home daily and on weekends to continue preparing them for the test. Getting the parents more involved would be implemented also. I know this is going to be one of my biggest challenges because most parents are single and have only weekends off. This is one of the most likely causes of the children acting out and not doing their work in class. If the parents are held accountable for participating in a lot of what goes on at school, like a monthly meeting with the teacher or some volunteer services at school, then they can see first- hand what their children are doing ahead of time. These two strategies alone will ensure high academic achievement because now you have everybody involved, parents included. Saturday school is the 6th day of school, which is only a few hours, but in those few hours, they have learned so much.

I expect this student to excel along with the rest of my third graders. This student needs to go to the counselor and get set up for testing to make sure she is not in need of any other services. I want to nip this in the bud, so I start this student on mandatory daily and weekend homework packets, assuming she is only in need of some one-on-one when she comes from her testing and that she does not need any psychiatric assistance. This child is going to get a lot of extra packets, mainly in reading and math. I will teach this child during tutoring classes in a way in which she will understand what is going on in class. I want this child to be a functioning part of this class so she will be participating in what we do as a group. I will have another one of her more responsible peers to help show her ways of doing this work also. This child will be offered tutoring 3 times a week along with extra help in class. I will check on her by calling the home maybe twice a week or communicating with the parents via letters. When the mother comes in for the meeting, I want to assure her that together we can be successful.
I would like the parent to have as much input as possible in the success of her child.