This i believe....
I believe in the power of education. More
specifically, I believe that no student is "too bad" or "cannot be reached". At
a fresh nineteen, I entered a third grade classroom in H.B. Wilson Elementary
school located Camden, NJ. In the first few moments, I gazed around the room in
awe. Why are their uniforms ripped and
stained? Where are their book bags? A shining white smile stopped my
thoughts for a moment. "What is your name?” a friendly third grader asked me
with excitement in his voice like I was some type of celebrity. "Angela", I
replied trying to take in all that was staring at me in this small classroom
students and atmosphere alike. Thirteen students, three teachers. This classroom
had been named the one with the "behavioral problems" but after about three
visits I quickly learned that the only problem that these boys had were being
too excited about school. Perhaps it was an escape from their anxiety ridden
lives at home where they were left wondering if dad would come home safe or
waking up to deafening gun shots. Nevertheless, the students were yearning for
more, and more information. I had never seen students so excited in a
classroom, I was awakened. I had never seen students so willing to work together
and achieve things with one another, as friends. Previous schools I had observed
were just like the classrooms I spent the majority of my childhood in. They were
full of cliques, uninterested students, and better yet a teacher whose
priorities may have not always been about reaching her students. My future
career goals quickly changed after my experience at H.B. Wilson.
I was inspired to become a teacher who
would transform her classroom into a community of students who were all friends,
with all sorts of problems, but who shared common ground and truly understood
one another. So this is what I believe in...I believe in the power of education.
I believe that no matter where a student comes from, what type of problems have
been piled onto them, or what "disability" has been attached to their name for
the rest of their academic career is no disadvantage. Children who come from
communities that are fallen apart, where crime is knocking at their backdoors
(literally) can be reached. This is where my belief comes from. My belief was
planted in the third grade classroom at H.B. Wilson Elementary school. My roots
grew as weeks and weeks past in the time i spent in this classroom. What bloomed
was an iNSPIRATION that I plan to carry with me for the rest of my life.
Breaking down the barriers and defying odds are what to plan to do. I plan to
create my own flowers that will shine and bloom regardless of where their seeds
were planted."
TIB DESIGN PLAN
PURPOSE: I want to empower my peers through my This I Believe essay through the use of technology and other technical elements, in hopes that they are inspired by my belief to touch people in their lives.
AUDIENCE: My audience is my classmates and others who my This I Believe essay may reach. The audience are of the age range from 20-25 who are attending college. The audience is made up of both males and females. Many of them are involved with education both directly and indirectly and share the major and/or minor of Writing Arts.
STRATEGIES: My overall strategy is to ispire my audience to understand my belief and understand the sincerity of it. I want to allow my audience to change their persepctive on my topic and help them begin to think more crtically about my topic.
RHETORICAL APPEALS- I am aiming to reach my audience through the pathos appeal. I want my audience to understand my belief through emotional appeal. I would like them to understand my position on my belief by understanding my emotional ties to the topic as well as reaching out to create their own emotional attachment.
TONE- The tone I plan on using is one that is both light-hearted, yet serious. I want my audience to understand the seriousness of my arguments and understand how some of society views those children in education as unreachable. Though, I want my audience to also feel the light heartedness of the inspiration that can be found within a classroom.
ACCESSIBILITY- My TIB will be easy to access. The location will be on my web page, under my TIB page and all of the elements will be arranged in a way that is organized and easy to follow. The focus of the assingment (the essay) will be the first thing viewable followed by my audio recording and photo essay accompaniment.
DESIGN- My design will be one that is simple yet engaging, I have chose to use the design offered through the Weebly site that is easy to read, while being one of interest to my audience. I plan to engage my readers visually, auditory, and such. The design will allow the audience to understand what my point is and the different aspects that are being offered to present my belief. I bolded words that I felt were especially important in my essay.
ARRANGEMENT- The arrangement of my TIB assignment is basically of comparison. I plan to help the audience compare the different aspects of my assignment by laying them out in a way that allows them to do so while seeing similarities and connections between all of these aspects.
TECHNOLOGICAL CHOICES: The technological choices I am using for this assignment our my Weebly blog, an audio recording using iTunes, a photo slideshow, and more.
PRESENTATION DECISION: My presentation decision is to play my audio recording along with my photo essay slideshow simutaneously,
PLAN FOR COMPLETION: I plan to complete the finishing touches of my project today and redo my audio recording by Monday.
PLAN FOR TESTING: I plan on having my group workshop my piece and give me feedback to improve the assignment.
AUDIENCE: My audience is my classmates and others who my This I Believe essay may reach. The audience are of the age range from 20-25 who are attending college. The audience is made up of both males and females. Many of them are involved with education both directly and indirectly and share the major and/or minor of Writing Arts.
STRATEGIES: My overall strategy is to ispire my audience to understand my belief and understand the sincerity of it. I want to allow my audience to change their persepctive on my topic and help them begin to think more crtically about my topic.
RHETORICAL APPEALS- I am aiming to reach my audience through the pathos appeal. I want my audience to understand my belief through emotional appeal. I would like them to understand my position on my belief by understanding my emotional ties to the topic as well as reaching out to create their own emotional attachment.
TONE- The tone I plan on using is one that is both light-hearted, yet serious. I want my audience to understand the seriousness of my arguments and understand how some of society views those children in education as unreachable. Though, I want my audience to also feel the light heartedness of the inspiration that can be found within a classroom.
ACCESSIBILITY- My TIB will be easy to access. The location will be on my web page, under my TIB page and all of the elements will be arranged in a way that is organized and easy to follow. The focus of the assingment (the essay) will be the first thing viewable followed by my audio recording and photo essay accompaniment.
DESIGN- My design will be one that is simple yet engaging, I have chose to use the design offered through the Weebly site that is easy to read, while being one of interest to my audience. I plan to engage my readers visually, auditory, and such. The design will allow the audience to understand what my point is and the different aspects that are being offered to present my belief. I bolded words that I felt were especially important in my essay.
ARRANGEMENT- The arrangement of my TIB assignment is basically of comparison. I plan to help the audience compare the different aspects of my assignment by laying them out in a way that allows them to do so while seeing similarities and connections between all of these aspects.
TECHNOLOGICAL CHOICES: The technological choices I am using for this assignment our my Weebly blog, an audio recording using iTunes, a photo slideshow, and more.
PRESENTATION DECISION: My presentation decision is to play my audio recording along with my photo essay slideshow simutaneously,
PLAN FOR COMPLETION: I plan to complete the finishing touches of my project today and redo my audio recording by Monday.
PLAN FOR TESTING: I plan on having my group workshop my piece and give me feedback to improve the assignment.