SWOTting FE's at GCE

In the last unit of the senior STEAM course Systems and Models, we looked into peoples motivation to do things. We talked about Maslows Heirchy of Needs and how that plays into the motivations people have to do things in their lives. We watched a lot of TED talks and TED drawing episodes that explained where peoples motivations come from and how they appear. For the Action Project in this unit we were tasked with choosing an aspect of GCE and using SWOT to explain the good and bad things about it. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. For my project I chose to look into FE's at GCE. It was difficult at first to come up with all of my SWOT sections but at the end I am very proud of the way my project turned out. Check out my project below.
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For my SWOT, I decided to examine the field experiences or “FE’s” that my school has. Field Experiences are sort of like field trips except they have more of a purpose. Our FE’s are trips we take in order to learn more about what our teacher has been teaching us. We get to meet with people who work closely with what it is we are studying. They allow us to hear another voice on the things we are learning in class.

Looking at something that is not a physical thing, thinking about the Commons (a shared resource that is freely accessible” for FE’s can be difficult. The resources that are used to make the connections for FE’s come from many different places. According to my teacher AMD “Some FE plans are brought in from previous years and previous successes. Sometimes we have one-of-a-kind opportunities, and lastly we rely on connections from our previous careers and relationships, people that the staff knows, people that parents/students recommend, and sometimes even just sending an email out cold, hoping that someone replies.” When teachers make or find connections for their class, they will often bring them to all of the teachers so they can possibly use them as well if it fits with their class. At the same time however, if no one can find any connections at all there is no starting point for any class. If that is the case then the class will just stay in the school on that Wednesday and work on something else.

The tragedies from the Commons relate to my threats and my weaknesses from my SWOT chart. FE’s sometimes fall through which can be very harmful to the teacher and the students. If an FE is planned and the group makes the trip to the site and it ends up being canceled, that's an entire class period gone because of poor communication between the guest and the instructor. Another big weakness is when the FE isn’t what it was expected to be. When that happens then the students are not engaged and it turns into more of just a random field trip. A friend of mine LS talks a bit about that. He says that “Occasionally, there are some FE's that don't fulfill the intended goal. If an FE just ends up being a presentation given to the students for hours on end, it fails to engage the students in their learning. These kinds of FE's become boring for students and don't excite us and make us want to learn more.” When the trips end up being disappointing, this can cause issues with action projects if an FE was important in order to complete part of the project.

Another threat that comes from outside forces is when we go places where there are other schools in attendance. Every term we as a school go to see a play at the Goodman Theater. We are not the only school that does this there are many other schools who attend these plays as well. Since FE’s have to be connected to the class, before we go to see the play, our instructors connect an aspect of the play to their class whether it be actual dialogue or the set in which the play is on. We will usually get work associated with it that we will have to do for homework. Once the play is over, the actors will come out on stage and all of the students have an opportunity to ask questions. Since there are a lot of other schools there, sometimes our questions don't get answered and instead a student from another school will just ask a question as a joke when GCE students had an actual question about the play.

Since the beginning of GCE almost 7 years ago, FE’s have been an important part of the curriculum. FE’s were something that was broadcasted when interested students were looking to apply. RD, a classmate of mine, says that she “likes FE's because they prove that what we're learning is actually important. If it wasn't, then there wouldn't be places to visit about that class.” FE’s are something that students like and want to have around. It gives them another voice that they can use to understand the material in more depth.

There are a lot of opportunities that come to and from FE’s. There are a lot of people within GCE that have different connections and friends and family members who may know something about what students are studying in the different classes in GCE. This allows teachers to always have some kind of connection to a possible FE. As well as having staff with connections, there are also tons of parents and students who can make connections. GCE is a very open community which gives students and parents a voice to help make classes work better.

When thinking about how FE’s play in with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, physiological is a big thing. FE’s require groups to travel all around the city. While this is a great way for students to see different parts of the city, it can sometimes take a long time to travel places. Sometimes travel time can take up half if not more of the designated time which causes students to get tired which can also end up causing an FE to go poorly. Self- Actualization is something that is really great that can come from FE’s. While on these trips, students are able to make potential connections themselves for internships or jobs in the future. These trips also play a big role in the esteem category from the hierarchy of needs. When students are able to connect a trip to a personal experience or something that allows them a sense of accomplishment. HT, another teacher of mine says that “The top success from an FE is when a student without prompting from the teacher can find a correlation between the course and the FE, deeper than that when a student can see how the FE is a solution to something that has been talked about in class.” Safety is never really an issue with any of the trip sites, the group take public transportation there and that is the only time where a student may feel unsafe. The trip sites are never in any unsafe neighborhoods and the students are always with at least two teachers. The section about belongness and love can be demonstrated by FE’s when students are able to go on these trips with their fellow classmates which allows students to become better friends and work together.

When it comes to thinking of a solution I thought of it from a systems approach. While there are a lot of good things that come from FE’s there are also those weakness and threats that come from them as well. While FE’s are very important to the curriculum, certain times classes will only end up going on one or two FE’s because teacher end up not planning any FE’s for the units. According to HT when asked if she thought FE’s were vital in order for the curriculums to work “Field experience are the biggest selling point of GCE, our slogan is broken down the walls between the classroom and the world” and we can’t do that unless we go out into the world. We want young people to be able to solve the problems in the world so they need to be able to experience things. It also allows students to gain communication skills and learn how to network which will come up later in life.” When a teacher is unable to schedule an FE, students will have those 3 hours to to do whatever work the teacher comes up with.

I-O psychologically is another way to think about FE’s. I-O is used to study different issues in workplaces areas dealing with people, teams, and organizations. This can play into FE’s when thinking about the different organizations GCE is connected with for FE’s. While also connecting FE’s with things they are learning about in class, FE’s are also a way for students to learn different skills. HT says that “FE’s allow students to gain communication skills and learn how to network which will come up later in life.” This interaction that comes from students talking to different people all around the city allows every party to see how they deal with different people.

The ultimate solution I came up with was that FE’s are a vital part to GCE curriculum and currently there is too little prep time. Lots of classes have not gone on as many FE’s as the teachers and students had hoped and I think that needs to change. I think that there should be some kind of base created where people (teachers and students) can put information on possible connections for different classes. Having this will allow teachers to always have a large variety of opportunities and choices to set up FE’s with. Overall, FE’s are very important and have been working well for GCE for almost 7 years, in order for them to keep working, everyone needs to do their best to help out and find different connections that can be used to create great field experiences for years to come.


Works Cited:

McLeod, Saul. "Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs." Simply Psychology. Simply Psychology, 16 Sept. 2016. Web. 26 Feb. 2017.

"What Is I-O?" Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 2017. Web. 06 Feb. 2017.

AMD. Personal Interview. 2017.

HT. Personal Interview. 2017.

LS. Personal Interview. 2017.

RD. Personal Interview. 2017.

The Year 2117

In the last unit of the senior humanities course “Equality” we talked a lot about race, gender, and class. We looked into a lot of different aspects of each of these things including feminism, poverty, etc. For the action project we were tasked with completing a few things. We had to choose one topic to create different pieces of writing for. I chose to create my AP around race. We had to write an Op-ed piece, a newspaper article, a government document, and design a toy. It was difficult to come up with a couple of the pieces but I am very proud of the way my action project turned out. Check out my time capsule down below.

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First Black Woman President Is Voted Into Office

Written by: MF

Today in the United States, history has officially been made. Everyone recalls back in 2008 when Barack Obama won the election and made history as the first male black president the United States had ever seen. Since then there have been a couple other male black presidents but never an African American woman, now this has officially been changed. Suzanna Thomas has officially been named the next president of the United States.

Born in Albany, New York, Thomas always knew that she wanted to be involved in politics. From being the president of student council in elementary school to becoming her senior class president, Thomas has already done so much for her community. She started to political journey back in 2109 when she became the mayor of new york city. Since then she has done many things to better the city of new york. When the great trash dump of 2110 happened, she was right there picking up trash and finding a solution.

Sam Johnson, the outgoing president of the U.S., speaks very highly of Thomas. He says that “She is completely qualified if not over qualified. I have complete faith in her and I guarantee that the country will benefit with her as our president.” Johnson and Thomas have had many meetings and Johnson has openly campaigned for Thomas.

With only a few months until she takes office, Thomas has vowed to spend her time on trying to change opposing voters minds about her. “I just want to show them that I was the right decision. I want them to see that I will be doing everything in my power to make America work for everyone rather than just the rich.” Voters like Henry Irwin were a bit hesitant to vote Thomas into office. In a street side interview with Irwin, he stated that he “doesn’t want America to fall into so much debt like it did with President Donald Trump and President Hillary Clinton. I just want to have enough money to be able to pay for my family. I don't want to have to start paying unnecessary bills and taxes again. I just want to be able to provide for my family.”

Thomas says she is up for the challenge and ready to go head on for the next four years. She will take office in January along with her husband and 3 children. This will be an interesting 4 years, all of America is hoping that Thomas can stick true to her promises and make America equal again.
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35th Amendment to the US Constitution:

It shall be unlawful to prevent women from getting an abortion. They no longer need any consent from a man. If a woman is raped or just does not wish to have a child, it is unlawful to try to prevent her from doing what she has a right to do.
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Dear Editor,

I am thrilled that Suzanna Thomas has been elected president. As a black woman growing up in New York I always looked up to her and wanted to someday be like her. I was just barely old enough to vote i the primary and I am so thrilled that I got to be a part of this monumental moment in our country. I think that Thomas will stick true to her promises unlike the likes of Donald Trump and Hillary. I learned a lot about these terrible 8 years in history class. After Hillary won the election over Trump, many people had high hopes for her. They thought she would stick to her promises about helping the lower class instead of catering to the upper class like Trump did. They were extremely upset when they realized she was just like him. My grandma told me stories that her mother told her about Trumps reign. She told me that a lot of her friends at her high school started disappearing, either because of getting deported or they ran to get away from Trump's immigration law. She thought Clinton would do everything in her power to right the wrongs that Trump committed but unfortunately she just fed the fire of terror. There was so much pain in those 4 years, she never thought we would get out of it.

Now there is a light at the end of the tunnel with Suzanna. I just know that she will right all of these wrongs from the past years. She is someone who I have always idolized and who I want to try to be like when I get older. I am also very interested in politics and I have dreamed of one day being the president of the united states later in my life. I went to as many of her rallies and speeches as I could on the campaign trail. Everyone enjoyed having her as the mayor of New York, I know that everyone will love having her as the president. All of the people who are skeptical just need to give her a chance and I promise they will have a change of heart.

Sincerely,

Mandy Moore
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Introducing the newest addition to the Barbie ™ family:

Suzanna Thomas: The Current President of the United States!

MF. 2017.

Suzanna comes with a lot of incredible features. She is able to talk and says many things including her campaign slogan “Make America Equal Again” White House, alternate outfits sold separately.

Short Term Memory: How Does it Work?

In the second unit of the senior STEAM course: Systems and Models, we went away from looking at ourselves and looked at big groups of people and how they work. We looked into the way that these groups work together, the way they are structured, who runs them, etc. For the Action Project in this unit, we were tasked with coming up with a topic and a question that we could do a experiment on. I chose to do an experiment on short term memory. Something that was difficult for me was actually creating the project since there is so much writing. I am very proud of the way my project turned out, take a look at it down below.

Chicago Teachers Union

In the first unit of the senior course Equality, we looked at equality in gender, class, race etc. We looked into all of the times where sexism and racism had an impact on our world. For the action project, we were tasked to pick a topic that deals with race, gender, class, occupation, etc.  and write a chapter of a history book on it. I chose to talk about the Chicago Teachers Union strikes. Something that was difficult was picking out my topic. There were so many that I wanted to do but I am glad that I chose the CTU. I am very proud of my project.