Teaching in Urban Schools

I came across a blog that I found particularly interesting. (http://educationalissues.suite101.com/article.cfm/preparation_for_teaching_in_urban_schools) It talked about the different types of teacher training that is provided to students/people who want to teach: 1) early entry and 2) college recommending. Early entry is when you enter full time teaching before getting certified (i.e. Teach for America) and college recommending is when you have an internship prior to full time teaching. What I found interesting about this blog was the fact that it make you realize that yes, Teach for America is a great organization that gives a lot of areas who struggle to find teachers the teachers they need, they are not as qualified and able to teach in such areas than those who have had teaching courses and pre-teaching internships. Urban schools are much harder to teach in than others. They lack funding so therefore do not always have the supplies or materials needed, they are more diverse, more likely to have health issues, etc... The fact that most of the teachers who teach in urban schools most likely got there through early entry training and therefore lack the experience and knowledge needed to teach these students. We need more teachers who had college recommending training to not fear urban schools and teach in those areas. That is why I am going to do my fifth year internship in inner city Chicago. I am very excited. I try not to be nervous or fearful because that is the typical emotion students like me feel when they think about teaching in urban school districts. The fact is, we can't be scared. If this 'fear' of teaching outside our comfort zone or the 'fear' of teaching where it may be a little more of a challenge goes away more people that are able and qualified to teach to these students will. These students deserve the best too. I believe that the Teach for America program is great. Perhaps that program should consider more college recommending training before allowing them to lead teach in these areas but also, more qualified teachers need to step up and teach in urban schools.

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Technology in the classroom

I don't consider myself completely technologically savvy, but I also don't consider myself to be technologically incompetent either. I am in between. I can follow directions, I can catch on quickly, and (for the most part) I am able to complete the task again in the future.
Some technological tools I think are important for teachers to be comfortable with using are PowerPoint presentations, speadsheets, email, projectors, Smart Boards, and DVD/TVs. I am sure there are a great number of equally useful technological tools that I am leaving out, but I feel that these are the most important for teachers. PowerPoint presentations are a great way to present information within a classroom. It is also very useful to post online or send via email to a student who may have been sick that day and missed the lesson. Teachers also need to be competent in using email and using it well. This is key to coming in contact with parents, other staff members and even students. Smart Boards are becoming more and more common within schools. It is important that teachers becoming familiar with this tool and use it to their advantage.
I listed these tools because these are all the tools that I feel competent and comfortable using. I am interested to find out more technological tools to use within the classroom and become familiar and comfortable using those as well.
I hope to become more familiar with blogging during this experience! I think this could also be a great tool to use within the classroom.