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Ratification of the Bill of Rights
With the ratification of the Bill of Rights, the First Amendment granted the freedom of religion to the citizens of the United States. This amendment personally affected my own educational experience because I have attended a Catholic school from K-present day. Had this amendment not been included in the Bill of Rights, Catholics, and people of all other religious creeds and denominations, would not have had legal protection from the government to eventually establish their own schools. -
Georgetown Founded in Washington, D.C.
Georgetown was the first Catholic university founded in the United States. The establishment of this university made a statement within the nation that Catholic schools had just as much of a place as the Protestant schools, and in turn, paved the way for the establishment of all future Catholic schools. Had Georgetown not been established, Catholic schools might not have had an influential place in the education of so many students within the nation- including myself. -
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The Great Irish Migration
During this time, a surplus of Catholics immigrated to the United States from Ireland. It was then that the Catholic faith really began to make its presence known within the country- especially in port cities where it began to threaten the already firmly rooted Protestant faith. With this migration, Catholics began to establish institutions where they could freely educate their children without fear of prejudice from the Protestant common schools- directly impacting my education in the process. -
School riots in New York
These riots broke out between the Protestants and Catholics. This encouraged Catholics to establish their own institutions within the country to avoid the continued discrimination that they were subject to. Had the Protestants not been so against Catholics coming into this country and into their schools, I might not have attended the institutions that I did as a student. The discrimination that they experienced drives me as a teacher to hopefully prevent such things in my own classroom. -
First Plenary Council of Baltimore
This urged Catholic churches to establish schools connected to their parishes. This further established a connection between Catholics and education. Without milestones like these, I might not have been influenced by Catholic education and encouraged to pursue a career as a teacher. -
John Dewey published his Pedagogical Creed
Almost all of Dewey's pedagogical creed are things that I agree with as someone that is actively pursuing a career in education. His ideas, although most were never put into practice, are still incredibly influential, especially to me; and even if they are not put into direct practice from a national standpoint, I am still able to absorb his teachings and apply them in my own classroom. -
Ella Flagg Young appointed as Superintendent of Schools in Chicago, IL
One of the first women to have a significant position in education, Ella Flagg Young really worked to make her presence known in the field and managed to leave a lasting impact. Seeing how determined she was to invoke change in the areas she thought needed it the most really inspires me to do the same- especially being a woman in education. She was working during a time when women didn't even have a vote, and to see all of her hard work pay off is very encouraging for me as I enter the field. -
Women's Suffrage
Women were finally given the right to vote in this country with the addition of the 19th Amendment. This is extremely influential to me, even now, almost 100 years later. Women are still not treated equally within this country despite having the right to vote. As a woman in education, I think it is important not to take for granted how hard women worked to be given this right, and to apply that same drive and determination to invoke changes as I see fit in my own classroom. -
Immigration Act of 1924
This act that limited the amount of immigrants coming to this country from Southern and Eastern Europe directly impacted my own family and our settling in the country. Had my family not come here prior to the implementation of this act, my great-grandparents might not have had the opportunity to come here. This influenced my views on education because the prejudice that immigrants faced upon arrival to this country amazes me. I think we are all entitled to a quality education in this country. -
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The Civil Rights Movement
Although this movement did not impact me directly, I still consider it when thinking about the reason I want to become an educator. Yes, African Americans were granted equal rights within this country but are they really 100% equal? I hope to one day teach in an urban school because I see that these schools have a high percentage of African American students and because of the impoverished areas that they are in, do not receive the same opportunities as students in other public schools. -
My Grandfather receives his Master's in Education from Buffalo State University
I come from a long line of educators in my family, including my grandpa, John. When I was born, he was a principal of an urban high school in New York, but before that he was a teacher. Growing up having a principal as my grandpa really had an impact on my decision to pursue education. I saw how much he loved his job and how motivated he was to provide the best educational experience he could to his students and the entire school community. -
Columbine High School Shooting
This was really the first major school shooting in the United States and debatably paved the way for the wave of mass shootings that have taken place in this country since then. I just entered kindergarten when this shooting happened and although I was not aware of its impact then, now that I am older, I realize that school shootings have sadly become a "normal" part of education in this country. I realize that I now have to think about this as a possibility within my own school one day. -
"Catholic Schools are different than Public Schools"
When I was in the fourth grade, I realized that Catholic schools, like the one I attended, were different than Public schools. I did not know that prayer in the morning was not universal, nor were the uniforms and religion classes that I was experiencing as a student. This was really when I opened my eyes to the differences that existed within the education system, and was also when I really became interested in those differences and in public schools. -
My First AP Class
I took my first AP Class as a sophomore in high school. It was then that I really had my first experience with a problem posing method of teaching. Though I did not know what it was then, I remember getting home from school and telling my parents that I loved that I was able to have an open discussion with my teacher about what we were learning. When I think of myself in the classroom, I think of this time because it was when I realized the importance of open discussions in the classroom. -
Banking Method vs. Problem Posing
After experiencing a collaborative teaching environment the year prior, I returned to school the following year thinking that the rest of my AP classes would be taught the same way. Unfortunately, it was then that I really saw the difference between a problem posing method and a banking method of teaching when my AP English teacher used the banking method. I told myself that this was not how I think classrooms should be and this was when I really started to think about pursing teaching. -
College English as a High School Senior
When I think of the specific time that I realized I wanted to be a teacher, I think of the college English class I took as a senior in high school. After the frustration I experienced with my English teacher the year prior, I was beyond relieved to be in the presence of a problem posing teacher. I credit my teacher for being the strongest influence on my decision to become a teacher, specifically an English teacher, because his method of teaching made a world of difference in my school success. -
First Teaching Internship
As a junior in college, I was given the opportunity to teach an after-school English class to 4th-6th grade students at a lower income elementary school. It was my first experience teaching and the things that I learned during this internship were extremely impactful on my future decisions when it came to pursing a career in education. I learned that I did not want to teach primary school, but I also learned that I wanted to teach in an urban school setting. -
Second Teaching Internship
I had another opportunity to teach a philosophy class to 7th and 8th grade students when I was a senior in college. Working with these kids is what really solidified my ambition to become a teacher. After my previous internship, I was unsure about teaching because I was not fond of teaching at an elementary level. Once I took this next position, my desire to teach reignited. I was able to finally teach in the way that I wanted and have open and collaborative discussions with my students. -
Educational Aide Position at Chagrin Falls Middle School
Once I graduated I received a job as an aide at CFMS. It was my first yearlong opportunity that was strictly in a middle school. Here I really began to see how teachers work with each other and work with the students. It prepared me in a way that I did not expect because I was eventually transferred to the Special Ed. wing where I was able to see how that department interacted with the rest of the school community, and it influenced me to become more involved with Special Ed. -
March for our Lives at Chagrin Falls Middle School
After the Parkland shooting, students started a movement against gun violence. The students at CFMS then went to the administration and asked if they could have their own "march" on campus to show their support and take a stand. Once I saw this, I realized just how important it is to encourage students to take a stand on things that they believe strongly in. As a teacher, I think it is imperative that students feel comfortable to voice their opinions at school and feel safe doing so. -
Parkland, FL High School Shooting
This event had a direct impact on an event that happened to me personally very soon after. This was the first highly publicized school shooting that had happened while I was working in a school. It was the first time I really began to think about the legitimate dangers that I would face in pursuing a career in education and it was the first time I really thought that I would have to consider what I would do if this were to happen at a school I was teaching at. -
Shooting Threat at Chagrin Falls Middle School
About a month after the Parkland shooting, CFMS received a very legitimate shooting threat and was put into lockdown for two hours while police cleared the building. I had thought about school shootings often since I grew up during a time when they were "the norm", but this was the first time I was personally affected. Since then, I have come to accept that this is something that I now have to consider and really think about as being a possible occurrence in my profession. -
Teacher Assault on Student
While at CFMS, I witnessed an assault on a Special Ed. student. This event single handedly affected my view on education as a whole and really made me think about my desire to become a teacher. I could not understand how a teacher was able to assault a student, let alone one with special needs. I realized that caring about your students is not a universal trait of teachers and that I wanted to be a teacher than would challenge that. -
Reading of Dewey's Pedagogical Creed
Reading Dewey's Pedagogical Creed was something that I might not have done had I not been enrolled in this class. It was one of the most impactful pieces I read because it really influenced my own belief on education and encouraged me to think about my own views as an educator- which mirror many of Dewey's. It was then that I began to want to learn more about the thought and views of past influential educators to see how I could apply those views to my own method of teaching in the future.