# data[].attributes.body
"Even as educators strive toward professional status, there is no consensus and much controversy on how best to prepare teachers, and today we have many different paths to becoming a teacher."
You can't really prepare someone to become a "great teacher" because everyone will say something different.

# data[].attributes.body
"Teachers are born, not made: It is certainly true that some students enter a teacher education program with impressive instructional skills, yet training and practice is what is needed to transform a strong teacher into a gifted one."
Teaching is something that is either for you or it's not, if it is then practice and training will set you on the right path.

# data[].attributes.body
"Many teachers feel that the satisfaction they realize inside the classroom is too often jeopardized by forces beyond the classroom: politicians mandating numerous standardized tests, demanding parents offering little support, and textbook publishers or state officials deciding what should be taught and what topics are off-limits to teachers. Teachers desire more autonomy and control over their careers and, like all of us, want to be treated with more respect. "
Many teachers have to alter their plans and things they think are important because of state curriculums and laws. I think if we let teachers take the lead, they would make smart decisions due to being around children all the time, they know what they need better than anyone else.

# data[].attributes.body
"Many educators believe that students have different learning styles- diverse ways of learning, comprehending, and using information. Intriguing research suggests that learning styles may be as unique as handwriting."
Every student has a different learning style. You must alter lessons in a way that everyone can learn from them.

# data[].attributes.body
"As teachers integrate different learning styles into the classroom and push students out of their comfort zone, the brain grows new neural pathways, and students retain more deeply and can apply information more creatively. Teachers are wise to explore a variety of learning styles in the classroom. Flexibility and variety are the keys: Don’t assume that all students learn the way you do, and take care not to undervalue students just because their learning styles differ from yours."
Every student learns differently but pushing them to do more and reach their full potential is something that makes a good teacher.

# data[].attributes.body
"Neuroscientists suggest that teachers should do more. They believe that learners benefit when teachers not only respond to a student’s preferred learning style, but also integrate it with other learning styles. Teaching to a single learning style may be comfortable for the student, but it does not enhance brain development as much as involving other ways of learning does."
By doing things the students have never done before, you can help advance their knowledge rather than sticking to one routine that they are comfortable with.

# data[].attributes.body
"Teachers believe that racial minorities and boys will be the greater discipline challenge, so that’s what they focus on, and that’s what they see. Misbehaviors of white children and girls fly under the radar. Ask that teacher if he or she is being fair, and you will hear “yes.” The teacher’s intention is to be fair, but the behavior is not. Although we all like to think of ourselves as fair, our self-deception is deep. Unconscious or implicit bias permeates our culture, including our schools, and starts early."
Not everyone is fair all the time, sometimes you can be bias and not even realize. It is important to recognize this within yourself before other people in your classroom say something about it.

# data[].attributes.body
"If you are white, or heterosexual, or Christian, you have your own knapsack of hidden privileges and unconscious biases, whether you know it or not. But many students come from other backgrounds and few privileges. If teachers are to connect and communicate with the growing student diversity (and poverty!) in their classroom, they will need to learn more about students whose backgrounds are different from their own, and learn more about themselves in the process."
It is very important as a teacher to recognize that students came from different backgrounds and may have different beliefs than you.

# data[].attributes.body
"Whereas tracking suggests permanence, ability grouping is more transitory. In elementary school, students can be grouped by achievement for part of the day (say, for reading and math), and then heterogeneously for the rest of the day (say, for social studies, science, art, music, and physical education). Reading and math instruction can be more narrowly targeted to students’ current ability levels, while in their other classes, students can benefit from the social and academic advantages of diversity."
This quote stands out to me and is important because kids will learn more and benefit educationally by being around other students who are at similar levels. However, for a social aspect it is important to be around a variety of people.

# data[].attributes.body
"Although students often arrive at school from very different backgrounds, learning from one another and together has great advantages."
Being around different people with backgrounds different from your own can help you grow as a person and learn a lot more.

# data[].attributes.body
"Teachers must work every day to create humane and caring classrooms. An insightful teacher can structure a classroom to minimize negative and hurtful interaction and maximize the positive power of peer group relations. For instance, eliminating social cliques and race- and gender-based segregation is a precursor to successful cooperative groups."
As a teacher, it is important to try to reduce the chance of bullying or discrimination in your classroom.

# data[].attributes.body
"Horace Mann became the nation’s leading advocate for the establishment of a common school

Today, we know this common school as the public elementary school. Historians consider Horace Mann to be the outstanding proponent of education for the common person (the Common School Movement), and he is often referred to as “the father of the public school.”
This is important because he helped to develop our schools today.

# data[].attributes.body
"The idea of public education is so commonplace today that it seems difficult to imagine another system. But Horace Mann, along with such allies as Henry Barnard of Connecticut, fought a long and difficult battle to win the acceptance of public elementary schools."
It is strange to think about what it would be like to teach students in a school like they described before common schools were developed because it was such a big change.

# data[].attributes.body
"the first women to become teachers in regular school settings, earning a public salary, were viewed as gender trespassers, “unsexed” by their ambition, and considered masculine."
This is important to remember because teaching used to be a job that was made up of mostly men.

# data[].attributes.body
"bilingual education, the use of two languages for instruction."
This term is important because as a teacher in a diverse classroom, many students speak different languages and need special assistance.

# data[].attributes.body
"Because educators do not always agree on the answers to these questions, different philosophies of education have emerged. Although there are some similarities, there are also profound differences in the way leading educators define the purpose of education, the role of the teacher, the nature of the curriculum and assessment, and the method of instruction."
Many teachers teach differently based off of what they believe and what they think is important vs. what isn't.

# data[].attributes.body
"When students demonstrate through tests and writings that they are competent in academic subjects and traditional skills, and through their actions that they have disciplined minds and adhere to traditional morals and behavior, then both the school and the teacher have been successful."
This is very important because aside from education, students need to be taught correct behavior.

# data[].attributes.headline
Chapter 7- Financing and governing America's schools

# data[].attributes.subject
Chapter 7- Financing and governing America's schools

# data[].attributes.body
"Essentialists maintain that classrooms should be oriented toward the teacher, who should serve as an intellectual and moral role model for the students. The teachers or administrators decide what is most important for the students to learn and place little emphasis on student interests, particularly when such interests divert time and attention from the academic curriculum."
Unfortunately this is the case in most public schools today due to a heavy workload and a lot to learn in little time based on the curriculum.

# data[].attributes.body
"Educational finance may well determine not just the quality of life you experience as a teacher but also the very futures of the students you teach. Common sense tells us that the amount of money spent in a school is directly related to how well students learn, but not everyone agrees."
What schools decide to spend their money on definitely influences how students learn, though it is not the only way, better books and products can lead to better learning.

# data[].attributes.body
" Teachers and students find themselves the victims of rising educational expectations but limited educational resources. All society’s economic and social inequities are left for schools and teachers to remedy. If they are not successful, it is their fault. Even the bare necessities of classroom resources are often inadequate, and teachers are forced to dig into their own pockets to buy school supplies. Teachers spend about $500 a year buying classroom materials."
Teachers should receive enough money from the state to get the necessities to teach students what the curriculum is asking.

# data[].attributes.body
"Common sense would say yes, more money, better schools, but for many years the relationship between spending and student learning was surprisingly inconclusive. Those wishing to keep taxes low would argue that some school districts that received a significant increase in funding were doing no better academically, so “throwing money at schools” does not work."
I think that as far as public schooling goes, no child should have a disadvantage based off of where they live or their families income.

# data[].attributes.body
"The courts will balance your right to academic freedom with the school system’s interests in students learning appropriate subject matter in an environment conducive to learning. Courts look at such factors as whether your learning activities and materials are inappropriate, irrelevant to the subjects to be covered under the syllabus, obscene, or substantially disruptive of school discipline."
All lessons taught should consist of these rules in order to set boundaries and reduce personal opinions.

# data[].attributes.body
"Some students and parents have sued school districts for failing to provide an adequate education. Many courts have rejected these cases, pointing out that multiple factors affect learning and that failure to learn cannot be blamed solely on the school system."
Many things can affect how a student learns including their own learning strategies, the teacher, the curriculum and subject, etc.

# data[].attributes.body
"The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, commonly referred to as the Buckley Amendment which allows parents and guardians access to their children’s educational records. The amendment also requires that school districts inform parents of this right and establish a procedure for providing educational records on request."

This is an act that is still intact today and schools have to follow it until the child is 18.

# data[].attributes.headline
Chapter 9- Purpose of America's schools and the Current Reform Movement

# data[].attributes.subject
Chapter 9- Purpose of America's schools and the Current Reform Movement

# data[].attributes.body
"If you want to get a good job, you better get a good education!"
Most high paying jobs require extensive knowledge of a subject and a college degree of some sort, so advancing your education is important.

# data[].attributes.body
"Schools should promote creativity in the arts and develop each student’s skills and talents. New York City’s High School of Music & Art and High School of Performing Arts have done this since 1936 and 1947, respectively."
As well as core subject knowledge, it is important to let students participate in things that interest them such as creativity/arts.

# data[].attributes.body
"But these degrees are out of the financial reach of many Americans. We must change this, make college more accessible, and give K–12 students the vocational skills to move forward even if they don’t attend college."
I agree that college is too expensive which makes it absolutely impossible for some people who want to advance their educations.

# data[].attributes.headline
Chapter 10- Curriculum, standards, and testing

# data[].attributes.subject
Chapter 10- Curriculum, standards, and testing

# data[].attributes.body
"“We shape our buildings and afterwards our buildings shape us,”
This quote really stood out to me because whatever you are teaching children and surrounding them with is what shapes them into adults.

# data[].attributes.body
"Anti-test protests have been growing against the increasing influence of standardized tests in general, and the notion of national (versus local) standards for public schools."
Many parents nowadays are against testing of their children because they believe the pressure of a test is too much and it shouldn't define their childs grade.

# data[].attributes.body
"Much of what is taught in schools is tradition and conventional wisdom, representing curricular inertia rather than careful thought. It’s not easy to find balance among the often-competing goals and values of conveying our cultural heritage, preparing children for an unknown future, and keeping curricula from obsolescence."
It is difficult to know what a child needs to learn or what is important for them.

# data[].attributes.headline
Chapter 11- Becoming an effective teacher

# data[].attributes.subject
Chapter 11- Becoming an effective teacher

# data[].attributes.body
"Think about the best teacher you ever had: Try to evoke a clear mental image of what this teacher was like. How do your memories compare with what some of today’s teachers say about their favorite teachers from the past?"
Past teachers help you to develop your own style of teaching based on things you remember and admired from your own experiences in the classroom. Bad experiences in school also help you learn exactly what not to do as a teacher.

# data[].attributes.body
"Some individuals are naturally gifted teachers. Their classrooms are dazzlingly alive. Students are motivated and excited, and their enthusiasm translates into academic achievement. For these truly talented educators, teaching seems to be pure art or magic. But behind even the most brilliant teaching performance, there is usually well-practiced skill at work."
In my opinion I think teachers are born not made. You cannot have a successful classroom if you do not know how to connect with students and teach them all in a way that benefits their individual needs.

# data[].attributes.body
"Engaged time is that part of allocated time in which students are actively involved with academic subject matter (intently listening to a lecture, participating in a class discussion, writing an essay, solving math problems)."
This time is essential in the classroom because I believe students learn best by doing hands-on activities and staying engaged.