Today's Headlines/Class

The headlines in class on Thursday were really interesting to me. I never have heard of a school giving it's students money based off their grades. While it may seem like a good idea because it's motivating students, I feel like it's motivating them for the wrong reasons. If there's no intrinsic motivation to do well in school, the kids are probably just studying the night before the test to get a good grade, as opopsed to trying to retain the information and learn something. If anything, I think the kids who improve the most with their grades should be the ones to get the money, as opposed to the kids that just make As. At least this way, you're rewarding effort put forth, not just natural ability.
I'm really glad we had the little groups to talk about our papers as well. It's not that difficult of a paper, but I get nervous that I'm not doing the paper the way its supposed to be done. Being an English major, I like to give my own opinion about things, and this is one paper where I can't do that, so I'm struggling. I thiink once I get into the flow of writing it, it will be easier for me,but for now it's a problem. Not to mention it being the end of the semester and I am stressed out beyond belif!

Thursday's Class...

Today's class was one that I got really into, probably because I liked these two chapters in the book the best. Granted, the vignettes were a little ridiculous, but I guess not completely impossible. I just hope that I don't have to deal with a Satan worshipping, eye poking student haha. Regardless, it never has occurred to me how many sticky situations a teacher can get into. The vignette about the student who didn't look the teacher in the eye really made me think. I don't ever want to make a student feel uncomfortable because of his upbringing, but I also know that I'm not going to know everything about every one of my student's cultures. It is just a very intimidating thing to think about.
Another thing that I’m really nervous about teaching is how my students are going to react to different cultures. I know quite a few parents who pass their own discriminatory views on to their children, and those children act out on those views. The last thing I ever want for my students is for them to feel uncomfortable in their own classroom, and I guess I have to understand that is a real possibility.
On a side note- I can not believe that we only have two more classes left! I just went to my second meeting on Wednesday, and it was pretty much the exact same thing that I saw at the last meeting. The highlight, however, is when one of the teacher’s was called on to speak, but was too busy talking on her cell phone. It made me think of when I’m in class and I literally laughed out loud. This Tuesday I’m going back for 5 hours of community service. I’m nervous, but I think it will go well because I’m dealing with kindergartners. I bet they’re going to be so cute!

Charter Schools...

After watching the videos on charter schools, I’m fairly convinced that this method of teaching/education is much more effective than the standard public school method. Not only does this cater to the child’s individual needs more, but it was also very apparent that the kids in the video really enjoyed going to school. They are able to explore their passions, while still learning the information the teacher wants them to learn. They are assessed by standardized testing, but in a portfolio format. This seems more effective because it allows the teacher to see the overall progress of the student, rather than basing their progress off of one test.
One of the things that I saw in the video that I could use in my own classroom is situating the desks in a circle. This allows the students to feel important to the class, rather than just watching a teacher run the classroom. It makes the students feel more comfortable and makes conversation much easier. In the classroom of the charter schools, the students are encouraged to think abstractly and to form their own opinions. This is much harder to do in a standard classroom setting because the students can’t see each other’s faces, and the focus is on the teacher, as opposed to the students.
In class, we also discussed grade retention and bumping up children when they aren’t ready. Both are found to be ineffective and set the child up for a more difficult education experience. Rather than deciding to hold a child back, I think better methods are having summer school classes available as well as having smaller classes. If the teacher has a smaller class size, then they will be able to devote more attention to a struggling student. However, even though this is more effective, it is unlikely to happen due to school funding and budgeting 

Questionairre

After reading Eisner's article, I feel that his fifth area of reform is what most pertains to the field I want to teach, English. I feel that it is nearly impossible to test students in the standard multiple choice format, in regard to teaching English. Because books are so open for interpretation, who am I to tell these kids that what they interpret is wrong? Instead, I would rather access kids in ways that allow them to explain their interpretation, and justify their reasoning for it. An essay, for instance, would be a more effective way of evaluating my students than just giving them a test and expecting them to think the same way I am a thinking.

Also, I would put more of a focus on classroom discussions and having students talk with one another to try and figure out certain aspects of the novel. By having everyone give their ideas, it allows students to be exposed to completely new ways of thinking than they normally would have been. This discussion between students is what is going to help students really learn, not just answering the questions to a test. When a student studies for a test, they usually forget the information immediately after the test. To prevent this from happening, I would rather have these students openly discuss new topics and ideas with one another, so that they can form ideas for themselves, as opposed to just answering what they think I want to hear.

With these alternative methods of assessment, I will be able to see who understands the content and who is struggling with it. The benefit of doing it this way, however is that I don’t have to fail students who don’t understand the content based off one test. Instead I can help them and have students help one another to understand the material and think critically about it.

Eisner Article

I really enjoyed reading this article. One of the main reasons I was so pleased with it was because it helped me in my Philosophy of Education paper, so that was awesome! Otherwise though, I really liked what Eisner had to say about nearly everything. One of the main things I liked was that he commented that not all children are developmentally the same, and to have the same expectations of them is ludicrous. Some children are better in math, some in art, others in reading & writing, etc. These differences don't make any one student better than the other, it is just a difference in talents and passions.
Another topic that I agreed with, was that pointing out that tests aren't the only way to measure a student’s progress. There are countless students who are intelligent and motivated, yet simply are not good test takers. So why is it that these students get labeled negatively just because they don’t take standardized tests well. It doesn’t make sense. That being said, I liked how he made it known that just because a school has higher test scores does not mean it is a better school. There are lots of good schools with good teachers, who genuinely care about the students. They shouldn’t be judged as a bad school or bad teachers, just because there students didn’t meet a certain standard. It makes the teacher motivated to teach for a test, as opposed to teaching the students so they become more educated.
This Eisner article has been my favorite thing I’ve read so far in the class. He really seems to encompass all the assumptions about teaching, and clears them up for those who would not know better. I really wish that the creators of NCLB read this article.

Shadowing

I went on my shadowing yesterday, and I was really happy with how it turned out. I was initially really excited about it because I saw I had Mrs. Gonzalez and she seemed really fun and energetic when we were at the orientation. The day didn't start out that great because I got really lost and ended up being 10 minutes late, but she was really understanding. It was interesting seeing the classroom dynamic because it was such a small class at first, with only about 7 students. These students were just learning English and didn't speak it or write it very well. They seemed to comprehend most of what they were hearing though. I loved how Mrs. Gonzalez ran her classroom. She was both attentive to the children's needs but had high expectations for them. After their class she switched with the other half of ESL learners, and they were able to speak and write English much better. When they were asked to write about what they liked most about this country, I was really happy to see that most of them said they liked it because they were able to learn a new language. Obviously they really enjoyed learning English and had a desire to learn more. After their lesson the other students came in and Mrs. Gonzalez taught them with the help of the other ESL teacher. After that she did with them math, history, and science. When they were working on their history lesson, they were making posters, so I got to talk to Mrs. Gonzalez for awhile. She talked a lot about difficulties of the job, such as teaching students with such a wide range of English ability all four subjects, to problems such as lack of funding, and finally the infamous consequences of NCLB. I was really happy with how everything turned out and can honestly say it was a really rewarding experience. 

Who Knew Teaching Could Get You Into So Much Trouble

The title for my blog is meant to be a joke, but until class today I never really sat down to think about what a teacher is liable for. The story about the substitute teacher from Connecticut really put things into perspective for me. While it seemed that this teacher did nothing wrong, she was still held liable for the pornography that the students brought up on her computer and eventually saw. She did not act with common sense in the classroom, which led to her being blamed for corrupting the morality of the students she was there to teach. For instance, she should not have left the classroom open for students to walk into. Also, she could have put something over the screen to prevent the kids from seeing it. While all of these issues seem like common sense, when put in that kind of high-pressure situation, it's easy to see why she made these errors.
Another thing brought to my attention was the mention of myspaces and facebooks. While I made sure to untag myself in any unflattering pictures, that still may not be enough to prevent a principal from finding me on the site and eventually finding something that he does not like. The second we left class, I made sure to change all of my settings to private, which is defintely for the best. As said in class, as teachers we are supposed to be role models for our students, and we need to act accordingly. Being a teacher is a job that one must uphold 24/7 because you never know in what environment you can see a student in. So far, this class was both the most informative and most interesting one we have had this semester.

Blog on Ch. 2

After listening to last class’s headlines it really got me thinking about what I wanted to do with teaching. I always wanted to make a difference for children, but after our discussion in class and reading CH.2, it made me realize that all these kids who get labeled as “stupid” or “unmotivated” are usually kids who don’t have the same opportunities available to them. Just because their test grades aren’t as high as the grades of students who are from higher economic statuses, it does not mean that they are at a lower level of intelligence. All they need is someone who can believe in them and give them the tools that they need to succeed.
That is what I really like about First Ave. school. They have a goal to help students who would normally not be given the means to succeed. The teachers and the staff really want to have an environment for the students that allow them the ability to think and question and really be able to have the same chance for achievement that any other student would have. I think that if more teachers were willing to try and help these students from lower socio-economic statuses, then a difference could really be made. All children are extremely valuable and should be treated as such, no matter where they come from. If each child has the same opportunity for success then we can finally see diversity in big corporations and government officials. With that, maybe these powerful people would be able to create a change in the environment that they came from and put an end to this vicious cycle.

Orientation Day

I was really pleased with the orientation on Thursday. I don’t know exactly what it was I was expecting, but I feel like it went better than expected. I think the way they organized everything was really well done. I felt like the staff at First Avenue school was really energetic and happy to be there, which is really reassuring. On top of that, they seemed really open to questions and were willing to answer everything from what districts pay the best to how to go about obtaining my substitute license. Each station they had was helpful and taught me something that I didn’t know about teaching, so I felt like I really took something from the whole experience.
I was also really excited about who I got from my shadowing. I have Miss Gonzalez and she facilitated for the whole orientation, and I liked her personality. She seems really dedicated to what she does and just seems like a genuinely nice person. I was really nervous as to who I was going to get to shadow, and she definitely seems like a good person to learn from.
The whole school was absolutely gorgeous. It was huge, but our tour guides were sure to show us ever y little thing about their school. It was nice to see kids take pride in their school; it makes me think that if they take such pride in it, the school must be doing something right. The faculty really seemed to be proud in their school as well. They had said that First Avenue School had had some really dark days, and now the school is doing very well. I’m really excited to be dealing with a school like this, and am really excited to start my shadowing.

Class Today..

I felt like in class today we had a lot of stuff thrown at us that made me feel a little more relaxed about this whole shadowing teachers thing. For one, I really had no idea exactly what kind of observations we needed to make. Now that we went over certain things, such as writing down strictly what we observe first, I feel a lot better. This way, I have some kind of evidence to back up what I'm interpreting from the actions. Watching the video of the board meeting showed me what things I need to look for, such as seating arrangements, eye contact, attire, etc.

I'm excited about going to First Avenue school next week. The only things I"m really worried about are the logistics of getting there, such as parking, if I'll make it in time, whatever. I really hope I get to shadow a teacher that I can enjoy working with. The more comfortable I feel with the teacher, the more I'm going to ask and ultimately learn.

I'm really passionate about being a teacher, but I never realized how low on the totem pole teachers are. I had no idea that there were so many layers of people above teachers. It's kind of scary to think about how many people I'll need to go through if I feel something needs to change in the curriculum or anything like that. Reading about all the failed attempt for education reform also made feel a little discouraged... why is it that there are so many good ideas brought up, but the way they are implemented is terrible. The fact that my job security could be based on how well my students work in a standardized testing environment is a very scary thing to think about. I really want to find out more about the "No Child Left Behind" act later on in the semester. See everyone next week!

Too Self Centered?

Last Thursday we had a discussion in class based off the CBS news article asking, "Are College Students More Self Centered?". I was really intrigued when I heard the article's title, so I really wanted to hear what the "study" had to say. 

One of the first things that really jumped out at me about how unreliable the study was going to be was seeing the small sample size. Not only did the researchers poll a couple of thousand college students out of hundreds of thousands of students, but the polls were in limited areas of the country. For instance, one of the statistics was from UCLA, a pretty well established university. It is likely that the students who go there are from a family with a steady income and the desire to see their child in college. These parents probably told their child that they were special and could achieve anything, in hopes of their child choosing to go to college. If the poll were to be taken in an inner city area, I'm sure that the answers would have been different from the answers of the UCLA students.

That was just my first problem with the article. Even if the statistics were completely accurate about most of the nation's college students, I don't see how it is a cause of concern. What is wrong with telling your child they are special? Don't we want to encourage our children and students to be the best they can be and to try as hard as they can? By telling them they our special and encouraging them, they see that they have someone who believes in them. This really makes a world of difference for some. I really don't think that a college student believing he is special is a negative in any way. 

Another example he used was the use of Myspace. Just because the name of the social networking site uses the words "my" and "space", that doesn't mean it is intended for the user to just talk about themselves endlessly. It's used as a way to find people with similar interests and hobbies. You can connect with people from high school once you go away to college in a way you never would have been able to before. It's not narcissism driving this website, just students looking for other students who are similar to them. 

I really didn't understand what this article was trying to accomplish. It didn't really seem to have much of a focal point, other than blurting out statistics that weren't even relevant to the scope of the study. I'm glad we got to read it in class though, because it got the discussion going and made people uncomfortable and angry, which I think is always a sign of an interesting class. See everyone Thursday. 

1st Blog !

Hey everyone. I'm Courtney, a junior here at MSU. The reason I'm taking this class is because I want to be a high school English teacher. I've always wanted to be a teacher since I was a little girl, so I never really had to deal with the whole, "What do I want to do with my life" dilemma. I picked English because reading and writing have always come easily to me and I just genuinely enjoy doing both. Since I've been taking education classes here at MSU I've really gotten a lot of great input and I'm sure that this class will be no different.
Other than all that, there are lots of things that I'd like people to know about me. I love music. After I have a bad day, my IPOD will immediately make me feel better. My favorite bands are probably The Beatles, Something Corporate, Nirvana, Sublime, and of course the incomparable Bob Marley :) His messages of loving everyone like they were your brother and not sweating the small things in life are so great. I also love meeting new people and making new friends. Even though I like people, I love dogs way more. Well I suppose I could go on forever, so I'm going to end it here. See everyone tomorrow!