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.