Week 2 Part II

After watching the video of the laws and standards for curriculum, I find very few shackles in them. I find benefits in just about all of them. The core curriculum standards are what students should know and be able to do. There are a lot of them and if we do follow them as teachers, it will only help the students. We also adapt the standards to students who have an IEP, LEP, and are G&T. It adapts to every student, which I think is great. The topics that should be covered I agree with that they should be covered. The requirement for high school students I do not have a problem with because it opens up students to all the subjects. If they choose to go to college, they now have a better understanding of what they want to further pursue. It's good that their are accountability levels to make sure we are doing the right thing. I think it's great that there is extra funding and extra scrutiny for Abbott school districts. I see nothing wrong with giving them more money when they are much poorer than some other school districts. This will help them keep up with the wealthier school systems. The PIP and 100 hours for students are good because they keep the teacher on track of becoming a better teacher.
The only shackles that I see with these laws and codes are installing them. I think the idea and purpose for them are great, but it's maintaining them that are tough. I worked in an Abbott school before I went to Clifton, and the extra scrutiny didn't really seem to help. Also, I felt the extra funding was not used correctly. I remember that the high school football team three brand new jerseys for their team, which they really didn't need. Some of that money could have been used to fix the 80-year-old school that I was teaching in and falling apart. I'm not saying all Abbott schools are like the one I was in, but I'm sure there are some like it.

At my school, we just got a brand new vice principal, and he was assigned to the Phys Ed. department. He's been a real stickler with all the core curriculum standards in out lesson plans. At first, this annoyed us, but then we realized, he's right and he's our boss, so we have to do it. Plus, it's better for the student to make sure you're teaching them the right thing. What I disagree with the state is the NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT. Our school isn't doing too good with the state testing. We failed two years in a row. Now, the state is all over us. I don't feel a school should be judged on if students pass a test or not. It's makes father Sarducci right when he says that education just comes down to memorization. If all the state cares about is a test, then we should really just be teaching them the test. The students need more than that.

I think there should be national and state standards. Every state is different, and every state had a different kind of population. I think the national standards should be general and cover the main topics every student needs to learn, and the state standards can get more specific. But, I am not opposed to standards.

Week 2 Part IV

When I was in high school, I never would have thought I would be a Phys Ed teacher. I never thought of what I wanted to do in life because I was so focused on sports. All I cared about was getting in shape for football and trying to get into a good school. I was only an average student so I knew that football will help me with that goal, and it did. I got accepted into TCNJ because they wanted me to play for them. My grades weren't good enough for there, but Coach Hamilton was able to get me in as a special admit. So now I am there and my main focus is football, and not what I wanted to major in. So I started out my freshman year as undecided. I took a bunch of general education courses and they all bored me to death. I realized that sports are what I know and what I enjoy. So that made up my mind that I wanted to become a Phys Ed major, but training not teaching.

My sophomore year roles around and I hurt my back real bad from football. The doctor tells me that if I still wanted to play I would have to get back surgery, which he strongly advised against because I was only 20 years old. He said the best thing for my back is to stop with contact sports. The wear and tear through the years of football destroyed my back. This crushed me. So I told my coach the situation and he totally understood. He knew I had to what was best for my health. Coach demanded me that I stayed in football though, and he got me a local coaching job for the Allentown High School football team as the running back coach. This was the job that got me into education. I realized that I absolutely loved coaching and teaching because of the relationship I developed with the players. I was only able to coach there for one year, but that was enough for me to realize this is what I wanted to do.
Since I became a teacher, I have no regrets. I really enjoy the unique and different relationships that get developed with my students and players. Every year, I get new students and players and I get to form new ones. I'm not going to lie, some students or players I am happy to see go because you can't connect with all of them, you will go crazy trying to. The ones that I did connect with, I will definitely miss but look forward to developing ones similar with new students.

I believe that every teacher's philosophy is different from everyone else. A lot are similar, but not exact. A philosophy is what you believe is most important to make your strategy work. As you can probably tell with me, being able to relate and get across to the students is the most important to me. I never let another teacher make my decision about a student. What I mean by that is, when another teacher goes to me, "Oh you have that kid? Good luck!" I give every student a chance. We don't know what goes on at home with some of the kids, so I would never write a kid off before I make my own personal evaluation on him or her.

About Me...

My name is Rob Bertolini (I was the guy who came late to the first class). I am 26 years old and currently live in Little Ferry. In May, I got engaged and I am getting married in July. I teach health and Phys ed at Christopher Columbus Middle School in Clifton, and I also coach varsity football there. This is my fourth year in Clifton. GO MUSTANGS!! I love sports. I watch ESPN constantly. I love the Giants, Yankees, Notre Dame football, and Duke Basketball. When I'm not watching ESPN, I watch Seinfeld, King of Queens, The Family Guy, and The Office. I know I should watch the news but it bores me to death.

I grew up in Bergenfield and went to high school at Bergen Catholic. After high school, I continued my education at The College of New Jersey where I played college football and majored in Health and Exercise Science. I chose to get into education because a lot of my family is in the field. My uncle is the principal of Leonia High School and he inspried me to get my masters in administration. My career goals are to be an athletic director and then a high school prinicpal. I know I have a long road ahead but I hope this course will help me out.