Lakeshore Middle is a school located in West Jacksonville. Each week I meet in the Media Center with my instructor Professor Reed and she guides us in instructing students with special needs on Math and Science curriculum.
Lakeshore is a Title I, IB, and community based learning, and professional development school. The school is very diverse and seems to have children of all backgrounds and ethnicity. I will provide more information about the school statistics at a later time.
I feel that tutoring math and science is extremely important. The skills acquired are not just to pursue some crazy science degree they are necessary to function normally in our society. I am very comfortable with the subjects and I think that I will do great when tutoring students who are struggling in these topics.
I understand I will have to overcome many issues such as a lack of motivation and possibly have to teach certain topics from the ground up. Often teachers let student slide by and do not have one on one time to see if they really understand the concepts. Special needs students who have had bad experiences with these topics in the past will most likely want to quit before they even begin to indicate where they are struggling. Pinpointing the issues and figuring out where to start is going to be a challenge. Knowing how passionately I feel about these subjects I believe I will reflect this positive energy onto my tutees.
Working with the students at Lakeshore Middle is going to teach me more then just how to teach, but how to teach while learning how to communicate across disciplines and to make topics relevant to students who or continually told that they will not make it in society. I will have to learn to communicate in ways they show respect but also gain me respect. I will have to work as a team with the teachers, students, and my colleagues to create an environment which motivates and excites the students on the topics of math and science.
I would like to grow professionally in the sense that I will have a better understanding of socioeconomic boundaries created by society. I will learn to address these ceilings and learn to help students believe in themselves and understand that they control their destiny. I hope to acquire tools and techniques that will benefit everyone. I am never going to have a classroom that does not have people of all backgrounds and scholastic levels. This experience will do so much for me when it comes to these topics.
