For me, this quarter has led to frustration after frustration with technology, with one exception-blogging. Where else can I go (besides my husband who is probably tired of my complaining) to release everything swirling around inside my head? What better place to share my successes and challenges? What better place to initiate conversations about a particular article I read that I really enjoyed (or didn't) or a fun lesson plan that I found? Likewise, I know that others in this field of work are doing the same and I can see what has been on their minds lately.
I know that when I find a blog that I like, it is usually because the blogger has some really great ideas for the classroom or because they are asking questions and thinking about the same issues that are intriguing me. Since those are the types of blogs I like, I try to keep this in mind when I am writing. I don't want to write just to have an entry in by midnight on Sunday. I don't want to just rant about the things that have bothered me all week. I want to write about what I care about and because I try to do this every time I write a blog entry, I think my entries have become more thought-provoking for my audience (small though it might be).
The two best posts that demonstrate this were my two on creative schools. The first one was an image of a very colorful school in France that just shouted "FUN!" to me. Apparently, others thought so too, because I recieved 3 comments in agreement. The second one was my previous post on all the negative comments Eric Sheninger recieved for an article he wrote on modeling our schools more after a google office space than a prison (seemed like a good idea to me!) I recieved 2 comments on that one, and one of them was from Jane! So that counts for double, right? The other comment was from someone outside the cohort whom I actually follow on my blogroll. How completely awesome is that?
The comment I wrote on Kelsey's blog about charter schools was to me the most interesting. Since this was something we had all just voted on, I think it was a topic on many people's minds. I know that I went back and forth on how I felt about the issue. All the discussion it created was really great, no matter what you ended up deciding to vote for. I love it when discussions like this happen. They often have a way of bringing about viewpoints I had never considered. And isn't that the point of being able to connect with fellow educators in the first place? I look forward to continuing on in my blogging (after a little break of course!)
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Sunday, November 25, 2012
creative schools- or not.
I was reading an article by Eric Sheninger, a principal that I follow on twitter, on creative schools. Here is the link to it. The article itself wasn't really eye-opening for me because I happened to agree with what he was saying. In short he toured a Google campus and was inspired by the creativity of the building and wanted to know why we can't translate some of these ideas to our schools. What really suprised me, was the number of negative comments the post received. Almost every single person posted about how horrible an idea it would be to model our schools after Google's workspace. How it would distract children from their work, how our schools need a firm structure or our children won't learn, and how we need to focus on improving the quality of education our children receive and not just the exterior of the building (which is a valid point, but shouldn't we be doing both?) I am not sure why these comments bothered me so much but they did. It was almost as if these people didn't want school to be engaging and fun for children. As if this was the worst idea they could possibly imagine. But why? I am interested to know what others think. Am I reading too much into these comments? Should our already limited budget go to more important resources, and if so, what resources should we invest in to motivate and engage our students more effectively?
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Hobo mathamatics
Some of you have heard this story already so forgive me for being repetitive, but I found it to be so eye-opening I could resist a blog entry.
I have been working a lot with my dyad teacher on student led discussions and the importance of letting the students come up with their own ideas and methods for solving problems. We have been looking at this in Alison's class as well. As the teacher, we facilitate the discussion, but the ideas come from the students. When they are thinking and reasoning through a problem themselves, it becomes more concrete than when a teacher just tells them how to solve a problem or gives them the answer. Even if students come up with wrong answers or assumptions, eventually they will come to a problem where that method doesn't work and they will have to re-evaluate these methods.
In theory, this is a great way to get students engaged and thinking about problem solving, but in reality it is hard to do. I really struggled with this during my first science lesson. As I led the discussion I tried to steer students in the direction I wanted them to go and talked about as much as my students had. I knew it hadn't gone well but I was afraid of what might happen if I gave control of the discussion over to my students.
Then we had a math class last wednesday that totally blew my mind. We were studying linear equations and my dyad teacher was leading a discussion on independent and dependent variables. Students were trying to figure out what independent and dependent meant in terms of a linear equation. One student came up with a very random idea where he was describing a situation involving a hobo (not sure if that is totally PC but that was the word the student used). It didn't make any sense at all. My dyad teacher took in stride though and simply called on another student, asking if he agreed with the hobo statement or if he had something else to say. The student replied that he agreed with the other student's hobo statement. Oh No! was all I could think. This is what happens when students lead their own discussions. Now we are going to get way off topic and end up talking about hobos and the rest of the class is going to be so confused!
To my complete and utter amazement the student instead replied that he thought the hobo was like the dependent variable because he was dependent on some person to give him money. This person with the money was like the independent variable because he didn't rely at all on the hobo. And just like that, not only were we back on track, but the students were totally engaged in this hobo idea.
Realizing that my students were perfectly capable of leading their own discussions, I tried hard the next time not to interject my ideas into the discussion. It went a lot better, but even so, I struggled with keeping my mouth shut. We want our students to have the right answers so badly, that we forget that the process of getting there is just as important. We take away from the learning experience when we just hand those answers over and the student never understands the 'why' or the 'how' of it. I realize this and yet it is still a struggle. Maybe as I keep practicing though, my students will continue to surprise me. They usually do.
I have been working a lot with my dyad teacher on student led discussions and the importance of letting the students come up with their own ideas and methods for solving problems. We have been looking at this in Alison's class as well. As the teacher, we facilitate the discussion, but the ideas come from the students. When they are thinking and reasoning through a problem themselves, it becomes more concrete than when a teacher just tells them how to solve a problem or gives them the answer. Even if students come up with wrong answers or assumptions, eventually they will come to a problem where that method doesn't work and they will have to re-evaluate these methods.
In theory, this is a great way to get students engaged and thinking about problem solving, but in reality it is hard to do. I really struggled with this during my first science lesson. As I led the discussion I tried to steer students in the direction I wanted them to go and talked about as much as my students had. I knew it hadn't gone well but I was afraid of what might happen if I gave control of the discussion over to my students.
Then we had a math class last wednesday that totally blew my mind. We were studying linear equations and my dyad teacher was leading a discussion on independent and dependent variables. Students were trying to figure out what independent and dependent meant in terms of a linear equation. One student came up with a very random idea where he was describing a situation involving a hobo (not sure if that is totally PC but that was the word the student used). It didn't make any sense at all. My dyad teacher took in stride though and simply called on another student, asking if he agreed with the hobo statement or if he had something else to say. The student replied that he agreed with the other student's hobo statement. Oh No! was all I could think. This is what happens when students lead their own discussions. Now we are going to get way off topic and end up talking about hobos and the rest of the class is going to be so confused!
To my complete and utter amazement the student instead replied that he thought the hobo was like the dependent variable because he was dependent on some person to give him money. This person with the money was like the independent variable because he didn't rely at all on the hobo. And just like that, not only were we back on track, but the students were totally engaged in this hobo idea.
Realizing that my students were perfectly capable of leading their own discussions, I tried hard the next time not to interject my ideas into the discussion. It went a lot better, but even so, I struggled with keeping my mouth shut. We want our students to have the right answers so badly, that we forget that the process of getting there is just as important. We take away from the learning experience when we just hand those answers over and the student never understands the 'why' or the 'how' of it. I realize this and yet it is still a struggle. Maybe as I keep practicing though, my students will continue to surprise me. They usually do.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Changing Education
I found an interesting article today on twitter (yes, twitter! I am becoming so tech savvy!) You can read the article, A call for President Obama to change course on education, here. Now, let me just say that I am not posting this as a political statement against Obama or against charter schools. This author made some arguments that I don't necessarily agree with but the part I found interesting was this paragraph:
"What separates education in the United States from so-called competitor counties is that on average, socioeconomic status explains far more of the variation in test scores in the United States than in other industrialized countries. But, as many researchers have pointed out, it is not the presence of unions, tenure, or collective bargaining that explains that difference. A more plausible explanation is that the more successfully scoring countries have far more substantial social support systems to mediate the negative effects of poverty. A far stronger argument can be made that we need to change our focus — especially in struggling schools — from the drudgery of high consequence driven test-prep to engaging students to be critical thinkers and active investigators in meaningful subject matter. Or, even better, from spending millions on testing to spending millions on support services. In addition, the evidence is mounting that schools can also teach essential non-cognitive competencies, such as persistence, ethics, empathy and collaboration. Since the latter are not easily subject to measurement, the continued focus on testing narrow, more easily measured subject matter diverts important attention from their development."
This has been a topic of conversation brought up many times throughout our education courses. How do we reach the students that are living in such extreme poverty that they can't focus on their education, but must instead focus on everyday survival? How do we reach those children whose only reality is a constant stream of drugs and violence? How can we convince good teachers to stay in struggling schools when the consequences for bad test scores lead to even less resources and funding for that school? Is there a better way to evaluate our schools and our teachers?
There are never any easy solutions. I think that most educators have come to the conclusion, however, that high consequence standardized testing is not the answer. Like the author points out, we are spending millions of dollars on these tests, which only show how good our students are at taking a multiple choice test, when we could be using this money in more efficient ways.
I also liked how he pointed out that we should be teaching things like persistence, ethics, empathy, and collaboration. Things like this cannot be tested through multiple choice questions yet they are equally as important as traditional subject matter. If our students are not engaged in topics such as social justice, diversity, equity, the environment, and community/global citizenship then what have we really accomplished? What have we really prepared our students for?
I hope that we continue to ask these important questions regarding standardized tests and the inequalities that exists between our schools. Maybe if enough people begin to question this thinking we can become loud enough to change our governments way of thinking about education as well.
"What separates education in the United States from so-called competitor counties is that on average, socioeconomic status explains far more of the variation in test scores in the United States than in other industrialized countries. But, as many researchers have pointed out, it is not the presence of unions, tenure, or collective bargaining that explains that difference. A more plausible explanation is that the more successfully scoring countries have far more substantial social support systems to mediate the negative effects of poverty. A far stronger argument can be made that we need to change our focus — especially in struggling schools — from the drudgery of high consequence driven test-prep to engaging students to be critical thinkers and active investigators in meaningful subject matter. Or, even better, from spending millions on testing to spending millions on support services. In addition, the evidence is mounting that schools can also teach essential non-cognitive competencies, such as persistence, ethics, empathy and collaboration. Since the latter are not easily subject to measurement, the continued focus on testing narrow, more easily measured subject matter diverts important attention from their development."
This has been a topic of conversation brought up many times throughout our education courses. How do we reach the students that are living in such extreme poverty that they can't focus on their education, but must instead focus on everyday survival? How do we reach those children whose only reality is a constant stream of drugs and violence? How can we convince good teachers to stay in struggling schools when the consequences for bad test scores lead to even less resources and funding for that school? Is there a better way to evaluate our schools and our teachers?
There are never any easy solutions. I think that most educators have come to the conclusion, however, that high consequence standardized testing is not the answer. Like the author points out, we are spending millions of dollars on these tests, which only show how good our students are at taking a multiple choice test, when we could be using this money in more efficient ways.
I also liked how he pointed out that we should be teaching things like persistence, ethics, empathy, and collaboration. Things like this cannot be tested through multiple choice questions yet they are equally as important as traditional subject matter. If our students are not engaged in topics such as social justice, diversity, equity, the environment, and community/global citizenship then what have we really accomplished? What have we really prepared our students for?
I hope that we continue to ask these important questions regarding standardized tests and the inequalities that exists between our schools. Maybe if enough people begin to question this thinking we can become loud enough to change our governments way of thinking about education as well.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
writing lesson plans
I am in the middle of writing my Direct Learning Lesson Plan and it is driving me nuts! I seriously underestimated how much work this whole unit plan was. I chose to do a social studies unit because social studies is the only subject at my school where the curriculum is not written out for you. I was so excited because I could really design my own unit and- even more exciting- they are studying Australia in social studies this spring. It was like this unit was made for me! (If you don't already know this, I am in love with Australia!)
When it came to the Essential Understandings, the only problem I had was narrowing it down to only a few. There are so many ways I could go, but I had to remember that we only have a few short months, if that, to do the entire unit. Essential questions weren't too bad either and I thought of several good assessments I could use. I was on my way!
Now I am looking at my activites and my individual lesson plans and am drawing a complete blank. I know all of the things I want them to get out of the unit, but when it comes to the specifics of how I am going to do that- nothing. How am I going to introduce the aboriginal culture to my third graders? How are they going to learn about the rich plant and animal diversity? How do I teach about human impact on the environment and vice versa?
Am I just thinking too much? Am I trying to be too creative? Not every lesson can involve some fun game or activity. Some things just have to be taught. There needs to be some type of background knowledge before even a discussion can take place.
Is anybody else feeling frustration with this assignment?
When it came to the Essential Understandings, the only problem I had was narrowing it down to only a few. There are so many ways I could go, but I had to remember that we only have a few short months, if that, to do the entire unit. Essential questions weren't too bad either and I thought of several good assessments I could use. I was on my way!
Now I am looking at my activites and my individual lesson plans and am drawing a complete blank. I know all of the things I want them to get out of the unit, but when it comes to the specifics of how I am going to do that- nothing. How am I going to introduce the aboriginal culture to my third graders? How are they going to learn about the rich plant and animal diversity? How do I teach about human impact on the environment and vice versa?
Am I just thinking too much? Am I trying to be too creative? Not every lesson can involve some fun game or activity. Some things just have to be taught. There needs to be some type of background knowledge before even a discussion can take place.
Is anybody else feeling frustration with this assignment?
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Community Building
Last Thursday in my dyad I got to experience some real community building with my class. As I have mentioned before, I am working at the Environmental Adventure School, and they tend to do things a little different than your average public school. They focus a lot on community building both within the school and outside of the school. Before the year even starts the whole school goes on a camping trip to get to know one another. In the spring they also get to go on a week long educational trip of their choice. This year the choices are: Boston, New York, Hawaii, or the Mississippi River (there might be one more choice but I can't think of it right now). How awesome would it be to learn about tropical animals in an actual tropical rainforest or to learn about river systems while traveling down the Mississippi? I wish I could go with them this spring......
Anyway, back to what we did last Thursday. Another way that the school builds community is through some sort of community service project. Some groups go help out at a local food bank, some are working together to build greenhouses, while the group I was with this week went to help clean up some of our local bike trails. We helped to build ditches for water to flow into so that water wouldn't puddle up on the trails (picture below), we raked away leaves so that bikes wouldn't slip, and we searched for tools that needed to be picked up and brought back to their storage spaces (one girl even found a machete on one of the trails. Creepy.)
Afterwards, the kids got to see some of the park volunteers do some tricks on their bikes. It was really awesome to see how excited the kids were to watch these guys do their tricks. What great role models for these kids! These guys were no more than 18 or 19 years old and they were volunteering their time to clean up their local trails. They were also taking the time to lead a bunch of middle school kids and teach them how to do the same.
We talk so much in our classes about educating our students on issues of social justice, equity, community building, and our responsibilities as citizens but I love how this school is taking it to the next level by getting out and experiencing these things. This is what students will remember when all the worksheets and tests fade from memory.
Anyway, back to what we did last Thursday. Another way that the school builds community is through some sort of community service project. Some groups go help out at a local food bank, some are working together to build greenhouses, while the group I was with this week went to help clean up some of our local bike trails. We helped to build ditches for water to flow into so that water wouldn't puddle up on the trails (picture below), we raked away leaves so that bikes wouldn't slip, and we searched for tools that needed to be picked up and brought back to their storage spaces (one girl even found a machete on one of the trails. Creepy.)
Afterwards, the kids got to see some of the park volunteers do some tricks on their bikes. It was really awesome to see how excited the kids were to watch these guys do their tricks. What great role models for these kids! These guys were no more than 18 or 19 years old and they were volunteering their time to clean up their local trails. They were also taking the time to lead a bunch of middle school kids and teach them how to do the same.
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Halloween Fun
I have had such a great time working with my Kindergarten buddy these past few weeks. He has lots of energy and keeps me on my toes. This week we had a fun Halloween activity and book that I read. Now, I know that some children don't celebrate holidays, but I had asked him the previous week about what he was going to be for Halloween and if he was going trick-or-treating so that I would know if this was the case ahead of time.
We started off with Halloween bingo. I drew a card from a pile which had a word on it. I asked him to identify the first letter of the word and the sound it makes. After he did this, I told him the word and turned it over to show the picture and he put a marker on his bingo card where the picture was. He got all of them without any problems, which led me to believe the activity was too easy for him, but he stayed interested because of the game aspect of it. It was a fun game and could be adapted in a number of different ways depending on where students are in letter recognition or reading.
Then I read the book The Hallo-wiener by Dav Pilkey. It is a cute book about a wiener dog named Oscar who dresses up as a hotdog for Halloween and gets made fun of by everyone else. When the other dogs get scared off by a monster, however, Oscar comes to the rescue. The other dogs stop picking on Oscar and share their Halloween treats with him. It is a funny book that kids enjoy but it also has a great message in it as well.
Just wanted to share an idea of a fun holiday themed activity to do with kids. If anybody else had an activity that their student enjoyed, please share!
We started off with Halloween bingo. I drew a card from a pile which had a word on it. I asked him to identify the first letter of the word and the sound it makes. After he did this, I told him the word and turned it over to show the picture and he put a marker on his bingo card where the picture was. He got all of them without any problems, which led me to believe the activity was too easy for him, but he stayed interested because of the game aspect of it. It was a fun game and could be adapted in a number of different ways depending on where students are in letter recognition or reading.
Then I read the book The Hallo-wiener by Dav Pilkey. It is a cute book about a wiener dog named Oscar who dresses up as a hotdog for Halloween and gets made fun of by everyone else. When the other dogs get scared off by a monster, however, Oscar comes to the rescue. The other dogs stop picking on Oscar and share their Halloween treats with him. It is a funny book that kids enjoy but it also has a great message in it as well.
Just wanted to share an idea of a fun holiday themed activity to do with kids. If anybody else had an activity that their student enjoyed, please share!
Sunday, October 14, 2012
The not-so-little things
"When a child gives you a gift, even if it is a rock they just picked up, exude gratitude. It might be the only thing they have to give, and they have chosen to give it to you." -Dean Jackson
I found this quote on pinterest and I just love it! It reminds me of the pictures and things my students have given to me. I keep all of the art they have given to me in my notebook as a reminder to myself that they could have been doing something else or made a picture for someone else, but they chose to make one for me. As teacher's, 'little' things like this need to be a big deal to us because they are a big deal to our students.
I found this quote on pinterest and I just love it! It reminds me of the pictures and things my students have given to me. I keep all of the art they have given to me in my notebook as a reminder to myself that they could have been doing something else or made a picture for someone else, but they chose to make one for me. As teacher's, 'little' things like this need to be a big deal to us because they are a big deal to our students.
Saturday, October 6, 2012
I want to go to there.....
What if our schools looked like this:
This is school in Paris, France designed by Palatre and Leclere. Here is the website with some more fun pictures and information.
What if our schools looked like this? Wouldn't you be excited to go to class every day? All this talk about needing to change the way we educate our students needs to include changing our school spaces as well. I have noticed a change from the traditional desks set in rows to more group seating, but this is hardly enough. Schools need to be more warm and inviting. They need to be more colorful and fun. They need to inspire and engage our students. We need more spaces that children want to explore and investigate. I know many of us will be working with limited budgets, but look at what just adding some color does to a school. This school wouldn't be nearly so exciting if it weren't so colorful. What can you do to change up your traditional classroom space?
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
read aloud material
Working in a 3rd grade classroom as well as taking a class on literature methods has really got me thinking about read alouds lately. To be honest, read alouds were never a top priority for me due to the fact that I was so focused on getting my science endorsement. I have realized, however, that I am going to have to do my fair share of them this spring when I begin to student teach. I am also not sure if I will even get a job teaching middle school science. I may be offered a job teaching a primary grade, so I need to be prepared. With this in mind, I headed to the library to begin to try and find some good read aloud material. I found three books that I would add to my list.
The Bat Boy and His Violin by Gavin Curtis. Those of you who know me know I play the violin, so I had to pick this one up when I saw it. It was a wonderful story about an african american boy who loves to play the violin but his father wants him to be more interested in sports, especially baseball. It is set during the time period when the major leagues were just beginning to let men of color play so it is an excellent lead in for discussions about racism or slavery. It is also great for discussions about loving people for who they are. In the end, the boy's dad comes to appreciate his son's musical talent.
For You are a Kenyan Child by Kelly Cunnane. This book is about a kenyan child's day in his village. He is told by his mom go take care of his grandfather's cows but he gets distracted by the different things to do in the village. This book is neat in that it shows how different the boy's life is from a child living in America, but also the similarities. Just like here, children in Kenya forget to do their chores, play ball with their friends, and hear stories at night time before bed. The illustrations are also very beautiful.
Where Do I Sleep? A Pacific Northwest Lullaby by Jennifer Blomgren. This is a cute book that also has some excellent illustrations. Each page shows an animal that lives in the pacific northwest with a little rhyme to go along with it.
I tried to pick books that would be interesting for children, but that would also have either an important message or something to be learned. Hopefully you find these books interesting too and if you have any suggestions of great books to add to my list, please let me know!
The Bat Boy and His Violin by Gavin Curtis. Those of you who know me know I play the violin, so I had to pick this one up when I saw it. It was a wonderful story about an african american boy who loves to play the violin but his father wants him to be more interested in sports, especially baseball. It is set during the time period when the major leagues were just beginning to let men of color play so it is an excellent lead in for discussions about racism or slavery. It is also great for discussions about loving people for who they are. In the end, the boy's dad comes to appreciate his son's musical talent.
For You are a Kenyan Child by Kelly Cunnane. This book is about a kenyan child's day in his village. He is told by his mom go take care of his grandfather's cows but he gets distracted by the different things to do in the village. This book is neat in that it shows how different the boy's life is from a child living in America, but also the similarities. Just like here, children in Kenya forget to do their chores, play ball with their friends, and hear stories at night time before bed. The illustrations are also very beautiful.
Where Do I Sleep? A Pacific Northwest Lullaby by Jennifer Blomgren. This is a cute book that also has some excellent illustrations. Each page shows an animal that lives in the pacific northwest with a little rhyme to go along with it.
I tried to pick books that would be interesting for children, but that would also have either an important message or something to be learned. Hopefully you find these books interesting too and if you have any suggestions of great books to add to my list, please let me know!
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Food Journal Reflection
I actually enjoyed keeping a food and activity journal the
first few weeks of class. It made me more aware of what I was eating,
especially when I felt the need to snack. Having to write down everything that
I ate made me really think on if I was actually hungry or just wanting to snack
on something because I was bored. If I was hungry, I still let myself have a
snack, but it was more often a healthy one like a piece of fruit or a granola
bar instead of chips or fun size candy bars (which add up to a full candy bar
when you eat two or three of them!) I also learned that while I was pretty
healthy during the week, the weekend was usually a time of unhealthy eating.
While there is a time to enjoy food and drink and to let yourself indulge a
little bit, I think I let myself indulge a little too much when it came to the
weekend (especially with dessert!)
Recording
my activity was helpful too. I used to work out 3 or 4 times a week, but since
school started last quarter I was lucky to get it in once. I had already set a
goal for myself this quarter to work out more and having to record it in a
journal just reinforced this goal. I managed to work out twice the first week
but I didn’t feel that was enough. I decided that for the second week I would
set one activity goal and one eating goal.
Beginning
the second week my two goals were: to eat better on the weekend and to work out
at least 3 times that week. I think making these short term goals made them
more attainable and I can see how this would be beneficial for my students as
well. Long term goals are important, but often to reach these types of goals we
need to make a bunch of short term goals to help us get there. I also made
goals that I knew I could reach. I didn’t cut myself off from all unhealthy
things over the weekend because I knew that probably would never happen.
Likewise, I didn’t make a goal to exercise every day because I knew that would
be too difficult and I wouldn’t be able to reach that goal. It is important to
set reasonable goals and to help our students pick out reasonable goals as
well.
This
project was great because it could be applied to all different grade levels. It
could also be incorporated into other subjects that our students are learning
about such as the science of our bodies, math concepts like proportions and
measuring, Geography and environmental issues involving where our food comes
from, etc. It is also a great project because it directly relates to our
students and their lives. Students are more interested in learning about things
that pertain to them and with this food and activity journal they can learn about
what they eat and how that relates to other subject areas. This is definitely
an activity I will implement in the classroom.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
microteaching lessons
I thought the two groups who had their microteaching lessons did a great job today. The group who had to talk about sex and STI's I thought did very well for a very tough subject. There is such a fine line to walk when teaching about these things. You want to be age appropriate, but more and more kids are talking about these things earlier than we think. It is easier to tell kids to talk to their parents about these issues, but many children do not feel comfortable doing this. Even though we may not exactly be comfortable with it either, they need to learn about things like healthy relationships and becoming sexual active before they are actually in those types of situations.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
teaching
I forgot to post yesterday, so I am going to combine it into one. First off, I had my microteaching experience today which I was quite nervous for. I don't know why it feels so different standing up in front of your peers and teaching than standing up in front of children and teaching, but it does. I know it is good experience for this upcoming year though, and even though I hate watching videos of myself, I know that that will be beneficial as well, since have to do this for our assessment later on in the year. Might as well start practicing now, right?
I also wanted to comment on the reading we had by Carol Dweck. I thought the reading was so insightful. I had never considered the way that we compliment children might actually be detrimental and sending a completely different message than the one we had intended. We have to be very careful in how we speak to our students and make sure that we are praising their hard work and effort and not just the final grade.
I also wanted to comment on the reading we had by Carol Dweck. I thought the reading was so insightful. I had never considered the way that we compliment children might actually be detrimental and sending a completely different message than the one we had intended. We have to be very careful in how we speak to our students and make sure that we are praising their hard work and effort and not just the final grade.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
microteaching lessons
Congrats to the two groups that did their microteaching lessons today. I thought both groups did a really good job and have set the bar kind of high for the rest of us! I especially enjoyed how both groups got us up and moving around and doing fun activities. It will be interesting to see what all of the different groups come up with and to hopefully take some of these ideas with us into the classroom next year.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
abuse and neglect
Somewhat of a hard class today. Talking about how to deal with issues of abuse or even suspicions of abuse is heavy stuff. I hope to never have to bring anything to the attention of a councilor or CPS. You always want to give parents the benefit of the doubt because it is hard to imagine that parents would abuse their children in any way, but the sad truth is that it does happen. Hopefully, if this is ever the case, I can be an adult that my students feel they can trust and come to for help and support.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
including physical activites in the classroom
I loved the relay race we did today! It was so nice to get to go outside, especially on such a beautiful day. It is nice to get curriculum ideas that can work, or be slightly modified to work, for any grade level too. Kids are so active and we hardly give them any chance for physical activity in school anymore. I felt really good after this short activity outside and I can imagine how even just getting outside or moving around for a few minutes could improve the attention level of our students.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Food Journal
I have to admit, I am kind of excited about keeping a food/activity journal for our health class. After last quarter, in which I ate horribly and exercised maybe once a week, I decided that I needed to do better this quarter. I already had in mind that I wanted to eat better and exercise at least 3 times a week. I think this journal will help me to keep on track with these goals as well better inform me of my eating habits. Exercise (with the exception of last quarter) has never been as hard for me, but nutrition is something I often struggle with. I am such a picky eater that the typical healthy diet is hard for me. That doesn't mean that I can't eat healthy though. I just have to find the healthy foods that I do like, and stick with those. So we will see how I do in a few weeks...........
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Knowledge is Infinite
I thought it appropriate to end my blogging for this quarter with a positive post. It seems like there are so many obstacles and challenges to becoming a good teacher but Ayer's chapter on liberating the curriculum reminded me of why I wanted to teach. I am glad that I am more aware of these challenges for when I go into the classroom next fall, but at the same time I still need to remeber all the good things about teaching as well. I love how Ayers points out that knowledge is
infinite. We can never know everything about everything. Even if we study and
learn our whole entire lives we will never come close to knowing everything.
What an awesome and humbling concept! This gives us endless possibilities for
educational opportunities, not only for our students, but for ourselves as
well.
So how do we decide what to teach? Knowledge may be infinite, but our students have to learn something. They have to be prepared to go out into the real world after their education is complete, so we need to determine what is the “important” knowledge and teach those things to our students. Right? Yes and no. I think we can all agree that the basic subjects that we teach are important and necessary; however, how we teach can and should be always changing. We can teach to a textbook and worksheets and tests. We can give examples of problems that most students will not be able to relate to in real life and force them to learn facts and figures we deem to be important. Or, we can let our students decide for themselves what they find most important, and let them pursue those things through classroom activities and projects that we guide. To some, this may seem a scary concept. For me it is exciting! It means that my classroom will never be the same from year to year and I will get to learn new things right alongside my students.
So how do we decide what to teach? Knowledge may be infinite, but our students have to learn something. They have to be prepared to go out into the real world after their education is complete, so we need to determine what is the “important” knowledge and teach those things to our students. Right? Yes and no. I think we can all agree that the basic subjects that we teach are important and necessary; however, how we teach can and should be always changing. We can teach to a textbook and worksheets and tests. We can give examples of problems that most students will not be able to relate to in real life and force them to learn facts and figures we deem to be important. Or, we can let our students decide for themselves what they find most important, and let them pursue those things through classroom activities and projects that we guide. To some, this may seem a scary concept. For me it is exciting! It means that my classroom will never be the same from year to year and I will get to learn new things right alongside my students.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
A Teacher's Awesome Power
As we often times seem to focus on how powerless we are as teachers, I thought it interesting to read Raywid's article on the power that we do have. The power that we possess to teach in such a way as to encourage and support our students or the power we have to discourage and alienate our students until they feel as if they can't stand school anymore. “We know that people of any age may reject learning from and individual they dislike. It is also the case that they may reject learning from an individual they perceive to dislike them. One of the most frequent explanations dropouts give for having left school is non-caring teachers” (Raywid, p. 81). That last statement stunned me when I read it. Most children drop out of school because they feel that their teachers don’t care about them. They have not made an effort to become emotionally invested in their lives, so why should they continue going? It is truly humbling to know that we, as teachers, have that kind of power. It is also a little scary. We need to recognize this power and take responsibility for it.
I liked how Raywind pointed out that because we have this awesome power to influence our students education, we also then have certain obligations to them as well. We have obligations to each and every student. This includes the ones who disrupt the class, the ones who talk back, and the ones who just don’t seem that interested. We have an obligation to try and establish a relationship with them. To find out what is really going on that makes this student act out or that student disrupt the class. Many articles that we have read have pointed out that when other things are going on in a students’ life, the last thing that they are thinking about is education and learning. I think that we also assume that because they are young and not as “experienced” at life as we are that their problems must be small and that when they “grow up” they will learn about some real hardships in life. This isn’t the case however. Many young people today are going through some extremely painful and hard situations that we may never know about unless we ask. Not only should we ask, but we have an obligation to do so. Even if the student brushes aside our attempts to try and understand, we must keep trying. This is not to say that we should badger our students until they tell us, but we should continually let them know that we are there for them and that we care.
As standards and assessments are given more weight and we start to feel the pressure from principles and administrators to teach as certain way, we must always remember that our students come first. Even if we are stuck in a job where we have to teach to a certain curriculum, and we are bored to tears, we still have a responsibility to our students. It doesn’t matter if you have a strict curriculum to follow or if you have the freedom to come up with your own lesson plans, creating that relationship with each and every one of your students has to happen or it won’t matter how you are teaching. We have an awesome amount of power in shaping our students lives. Let’s make sure we are taking responsibility for that.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Disciplining our students
When our group lead the class discussion on classroom inclusion and community, I chose to focus on the articles in our "Rethinking Classrooms...." text about discipline. As I am writing my final paper I am drawn once again to the ways in which we discipline our students. Discipline is one of many challenges we will face as teachers. How do we choose to discipline our students when they misbehave? We are responsible for creating a safe environment for all of our students, but what happens when a particular student or students refuse to follow our rules? I think that we would like to believe that all we have to do is say in our strictest voice that we will not tolerate such behavior and our students will fall in line, but what happens when they don't?
I read a different article on discipline by Linda Christensen who dealt with this type of situation one year. She says in it, "I've often said, "I just don't tolerate that kind of behavior". But this year, it was like saying, "I don't tolerate ants". I have ants in my kitchen. I can spray chemicals on them and saturate the air with poison and "not tolerate" them, or I can find another solution that doesn't harm my family or pets in the process."
So how are we going to discipline our students? Are we going to "spray" them and saturate our classroom with "poison" or can we think of better solutions? In this particular article Christensen learned that by helping her students achieve academic success, she could change their negative behaviors. Obvioulsy every student will be different though and different strategies will need to be used in different situations. If anybody has any comments or stories they would like to share on effective discipline, please share.
I read a different article on discipline by Linda Christensen who dealt with this type of situation one year. She says in it, "I've often said, "I just don't tolerate that kind of behavior". But this year, it was like saying, "I don't tolerate ants". I have ants in my kitchen. I can spray chemicals on them and saturate the air with poison and "not tolerate" them, or I can find another solution that doesn't harm my family or pets in the process."
So how are we going to discipline our students? Are we going to "spray" them and saturate our classroom with "poison" or can we think of better solutions? In this particular article Christensen learned that by helping her students achieve academic success, she could change their negative behaviors. Obvioulsy every student will be different though and different strategies will need to be used in different situations. If anybody has any comments or stories they would like to share on effective discipline, please share.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Desks
The blog that we read called "Choices, choices, choices" really got me thinking about how I want to set up my classroom. As a future teacher, I have often thought about what my classroom might look like. I know that I don’t want my students to sit by themselves in isolated rows while I stand up in the front of the classroom and talk at them for an hour or so. So what should I do? Push the desks together so that they can sit in groups? Form a circle of desks so that everyone can see and discuss with everyone else? Should I assign seats or let my students decide for themselves where they would like to sit? There are benefits and drawbacks to all of these options.
One thing that I worry about in letting students pick their own desks or groups to be in is the ones who get left out. As Paley noted in her book it is always the same kids over and over who are told that they can’t be in the group. Another thing that worries me, since I am looking at working within the middle schools, is that this will only reinforce the cliques that begin to really establish themselves during adolescent years. Students will continually choose to sit with the same people and never get to know or work with anyone else. We already have this in school- it is called lunch. One of our jobs, as teachers, is to help our students prepare for the “real” world. Well, in the “real” world they will have to work with other people that may not be their best friends. In fact they may even truly dislike the people they are working with, but they will still have to do it, and do it in a professional manner. If we are trying to teach our students of what to expect after they finish school, then we should be providing an example of it within school.
I do want to give my students choices though. So how can I do this without completely dictating where I want each of them to sit? Maybe some established rules like: you can’t sit with the same person or group twice or you can pick one person you want to be with and then I will choose the rest of the group? Maybe I can decide some group projects and let the students choose their group members for other projects? Or I could take Paley’s example and discuss it with the entire classroom to see how they would like to work together. It is an interesting question, and one I do not have the answer to yet.
One thing that I worry about in letting students pick their own desks or groups to be in is the ones who get left out. As Paley noted in her book it is always the same kids over and over who are told that they can’t be in the group. Another thing that worries me, since I am looking at working within the middle schools, is that this will only reinforce the cliques that begin to really establish themselves during adolescent years. Students will continually choose to sit with the same people and never get to know or work with anyone else. We already have this in school- it is called lunch. One of our jobs, as teachers, is to help our students prepare for the “real” world. Well, in the “real” world they will have to work with other people that may not be their best friends. In fact they may even truly dislike the people they are working with, but they will still have to do it, and do it in a professional manner. If we are trying to teach our students of what to expect after they finish school, then we should be providing an example of it within school.
I do want to give my students choices though. So how can I do this without completely dictating where I want each of them to sit? Maybe some established rules like: you can’t sit with the same person or group twice or you can pick one person you want to be with and then I will choose the rest of the group? Maybe I can decide some group projects and let the students choose their group members for other projects? Or I could take Paley’s example and discuss it with the entire classroom to see how they would like to work together. It is an interesting question, and one I do not have the answer to yet.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Including children with disabilities
Another idea that really struck me during our studies of classroom inclusion was the idea of including children with severe disabilities in the regular classroom. I had never thought that it was appropriate before. I know that there is a very wide range of students classified to have learning disabilities so it is hard to draw the line between what constitutes 'severe' and what not and I don't want to be insensitive, but in my own experience, children with severe disabilities never do well when placed in a regular classroom. I find it difficult sometimes, when working at the schools, to work with children with these types of disabilities. I am not quite sure how to act around them or what is appropriate to try and teach them. Since I am a substitute and they don’t know me very well, they are usually uncomfortable around me and I am equally uncomfortable. I am not against having students with disabilities in the classroom, I just have never seen it successfully done before.
The article “Holding Nyla” was, to me, a beautiful story about how including children with disabilities in the classroom is possible. Kissinger had some fears about Nyla in the classroom as well but instead of staying afraid of interacting with her, she decided to do the complete opposite and include her in every aspect of their classroom activities. She states afterwards, “As soon as I changed my behavior and began a relationship with Nyla, the other children began to see her as a classmate. I have never had a clearer lesson about the power of the teacher as a role model.” (Kissinger, p. 26) Very powerful indeed! Because Nyla was in their classroom, these kids got to interact with someone who was different than them. They came to understand Nyla’s condition and the equipment she needed to use and more importantly they got to know Nyla as a classmate and not simply as a girl with disabilities. My only issue with this though, is that this is a preschool setting. I am wondering how this might work out in elementary school, especially as you start to get into the higher grades. Just wondering if anybody has any other thoughts on this or examples that they can share where this type of classroom inclusion worked well.
The article “Holding Nyla” was, to me, a beautiful story about how including children with disabilities in the classroom is possible. Kissinger had some fears about Nyla in the classroom as well but instead of staying afraid of interacting with her, she decided to do the complete opposite and include her in every aspect of their classroom activities. She states afterwards, “As soon as I changed my behavior and began a relationship with Nyla, the other children began to see her as a classmate. I have never had a clearer lesson about the power of the teacher as a role model.” (Kissinger, p. 26) Very powerful indeed! Because Nyla was in their classroom, these kids got to interact with someone who was different than them. They came to understand Nyla’s condition and the equipment she needed to use and more importantly they got to know Nyla as a classmate and not simply as a girl with disabilities. My only issue with this though, is that this is a preschool setting. I am wondering how this might work out in elementary school, especially as you start to get into the higher grades. Just wondering if anybody has any other thoughts on this or examples that they can share where this type of classroom inclusion worked well.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Gay and Lesbian Inclusion
When I read “A Mother Speaks Out” in Rethinking Our
Classrooms I almost cried. Obviously we
need to raise awareness about gay and lesbian issues to our students just as we
need to raise cultural awareness and racial understanding. I know that this can be a tricky subject, but
I think if we teach it in the same context as how we might teach about other
religions or holidays (we teach and provide information to educate but we don’t
participate in religious activities or celebrate holidays in a classroom
setting) then it is possible. I am curious to know what anybody else has to say
on this issue. Thoughts? Ideas?
Saturday, May 12, 2012
You can't say you can't play
I have just finished reading Vivian Gussin Paley's book "You Can't Say You Can't Play". Although it was a fairly easy read, I struggled in the beginning to get the point. Throughout the entire first half of the book Paley seems to be agonizing over whether or not to implement a new rule: You can't say you can't play. She brings it up to her class and they discuss it often. She also goes into the 1st-5th grade classes to see how those children react to the rule. Many are opposed to it, but Paley is tired of seeing the same students, over and over, never let into games or play with others. As I said before, I didn't really understand the point of it at first. Why was Paley dragging out these conversations with her students? Why was she putting all this energy into interviewing others? Why not just make the new rule and see if it worked?
As we sat in class on Wednesday, discussing the first half of the book I began to realize why Paley hadn't just told her students that they could no longer say you can't play. By turning it into a question that the whole class explored, the students started to see how hurtful simply excluding someone could be. All the children knew what it felt like to be left out and as stories from each of them came out, Paley started drawing more students to her new rule. The class had to go through this process and examine all of the consequences, good and bad, to this new rule before it could ever be put into place. Once they understood why the rule was in place, they would be more likely to follow it.
Others in our class mentioned that they currently have this rule or a similar rule and that it doesn't work in their schools. I think the difference between Paley's class and these other classes though, is the process by which the rule came into existence. Nobody probably bothered to explain or discuss the reasons for this rule with the students at these other schools. Furthermore, there isn't really any way to enforce this rule, and students know this. Paley never offered up any consequences for not following the new rule either and yet the children continued to follow it. Again, I think because the whole class was involved in the process of examining the rule, they understood why it was in place and that it was in their best interest to follow it. They weren't forced to, they wanted to. What a clever way to get your students to start caring and thinking about how their actions affect others!
As we sat in class on Wednesday, discussing the first half of the book I began to realize why Paley hadn't just told her students that they could no longer say you can't play. By turning it into a question that the whole class explored, the students started to see how hurtful simply excluding someone could be. All the children knew what it felt like to be left out and as stories from each of them came out, Paley started drawing more students to her new rule. The class had to go through this process and examine all of the consequences, good and bad, to this new rule before it could ever be put into place. Once they understood why the rule was in place, they would be more likely to follow it.
Others in our class mentioned that they currently have this rule or a similar rule and that it doesn't work in their schools. I think the difference between Paley's class and these other classes though, is the process by which the rule came into existence. Nobody probably bothered to explain or discuss the reasons for this rule with the students at these other schools. Furthermore, there isn't really any way to enforce this rule, and students know this. Paley never offered up any consequences for not following the new rule either and yet the children continued to follow it. Again, I think because the whole class was involved in the process of examining the rule, they understood why it was in place and that it was in their best interest to follow it. They weren't forced to, they wanted to. What a clever way to get your students to start caring and thinking about how their actions affect others!
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Poverty and Education
This last week's readings and discussion really had me focused on the issues of poverty and education. I thought the Donna Beagle reading was very eye-opening and informative about what is really going on for parents and children that deal with homelessness and poverty. One of her very first points was that "the prevailing view is that education is there if you want it and you can get a good job if you work hard." I used to believe that myself. I now know that this is not always the case. For people in extreme poverty, they are worried about basic survival. Education is not in their realm of primary needs and something they simply cannot think about until those things are met. Children often go to school just so that they can eat or be in a warm place, not because they realize that education will help them in the long run. As teachers, it is our job to keep an eye out for these children. If we pay attention and ask questions and get to know our students we can find out who in our classrooms might be coming from this type of background. Once we know, we can then find ways to help. This might be by directing them to agencies in that area that work with the poor, by emphasizing the importance of education to them, or even just be a constant source of comfort and encouragment in their unstable world. We have to get below the surface level of our students, though, to really find out who is dealing with what.
This reading also inspired me to look into my local community to see what options there were for the homeless, as I really had no idea where I could direct someone who needed a place to sleep and food to eat. I found several places that looked to have very good programs that not only help people who are homeless by providing them with food, clothing, and shelter, but also help them to get health issues taken care of, job training, education, or even affordable housing. These programs are essential to helping people get out of poverty and stay out of poverty. As Beagle points out, the government is not all that helpful in funding projects to support the homeless, and so it is up to non-profits like the few I came accross to do so. In turn, that makes it up to us, the community, to support these non-profits because without donations and volunteers they cannot continue to exist. I would encourage all of you reading this to look into your own community for ways in which you might help out. I know that time and money are things that we all feel we lack extra of, but often it doesn't require much to help someone with so little.
This reading also inspired me to look into my local community to see what options there were for the homeless, as I really had no idea where I could direct someone who needed a place to sleep and food to eat. I found several places that looked to have very good programs that not only help people who are homeless by providing them with food, clothing, and shelter, but also help them to get health issues taken care of, job training, education, or even affordable housing. These programs are essential to helping people get out of poverty and stay out of poverty. As Beagle points out, the government is not all that helpful in funding projects to support the homeless, and so it is up to non-profits like the few I came accross to do so. In turn, that makes it up to us, the community, to support these non-profits because without donations and volunteers they cannot continue to exist. I would encourage all of you reading this to look into your own community for ways in which you might help out. I know that time and money are things that we all feel we lack extra of, but often it doesn't require much to help someone with so little.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Disengaged Students
I have been really torn lately over the inspiration that some of our readings have brought to me and the actual realities of these ideas actually working with students. In one way or another many of our readings seem to touch on creating a classroom environment that is geared towards what issues and topics students will find most engaging and then designing lesson plans that then fit into the standards we are supposed to teach. By getting our students involved in activities and projects that interest them and keep them moving and engaged in critical thinking, they are more likely to learn and retain information than if they sit at their desks, reading and filling out worksheets.
While I don't disagree with this approach by any means, I do feel that even this approach often leads to disengaged students. I volunteer at a middle school in a classroom that teaches 8th grade science. The students sit at a large table in groups of four and are often encouraged to discuss questions with their table group. There are various activities and projects that the teacher has incorrporated into her lessons. They make posters, perform lab experiments, get to work with computers and ipads, and yet I still see a number of students who are not involved and are often downright bored. Why? They have a wonderful classroom environment that encourages discussion and problem solving through a variety of ways.
I would love to hear thoughts from other people as this is an issue that has always frustrated me. What have been some of your experiences with disengaged students and how did you, or the teacher you were working with, deal with it?
While I don't disagree with this approach by any means, I do feel that even this approach often leads to disengaged students. I volunteer at a middle school in a classroom that teaches 8th grade science. The students sit at a large table in groups of four and are often encouraged to discuss questions with their table group. There are various activities and projects that the teacher has incorrporated into her lessons. They make posters, perform lab experiments, get to work with computers and ipads, and yet I still see a number of students who are not involved and are often downright bored. Why? They have a wonderful classroom environment that encourages discussion and problem solving through a variety of ways.
I would love to hear thoughts from other people as this is an issue that has always frustrated me. What have been some of your experiences with disengaged students and how did you, or the teacher you were working with, deal with it?
Monday, April 9, 2012
school experiences
As I begin this quarter in the teacher education program, I find myself reflecting on my own school experiences. Who were my favorite teachers and why? Who were my least favorite teachers and why? What were some of the challenges, both academic and non-academic, that I faced in school? What are some of the challenges in today's classrooms that might not have been a factor while I was going to school? So, since this is my very first blog, I would like to share some of my school experiences with you, not only so that you might gain some insight into my background as I continue to post, but so that I myself may be able to reflect on some of things I liked and didn't like as a student.
I must admit that I don't really remember much before 5th grade. The summer before 5th grade my family and I moved from the very large
I felt, and still do feel, that I had some really great teachers in late elementary and middle school. I remember dissecting owl pellets and reading as a class the BFG (Big Friendly Giant for those of you not acquainted with Rahl Dahl) with Mr. Mitchell in 5th grade. Mr. Hansen was everyone's favorite teacher in 6th grade. He loved to joke with us and always had a stash of jelly beans that he was willing to share with students. Then came 7th and 8th grade. I attended a school that went K-8th so we didn't have an actual middle school, which I was slightly disappointed about at the time. However, the more I read about the pressures and stresses that occur when one is thrown into a new school with new people, at the height of all these physical and emotional things happening to your body, the more I am thankful that I remained at the same school for my middle school years.
In 7th and 8th grade you had one group of people who you moved from class to class with. We had different teachers for different subjects, some of whom were great and others who were not so great. My least favorite teacher was my science teacher and I wasn't too thrilled about science as a subject either. ( Ironic, since I am now pursuing a teaching certificate with an endorsement in science!) He made science very uninteresting. I don't remember doing a single lab or experiment in that class. Mostly we read out of our textbooks and answered questions on a worksheet. Boring! My math teacher, Mr. Kamps was one of my favorite teachers of all time. (That says a lot, because I really didn't like math too well either.) I remember building an exact replica of my house in that class as well as designing and creating a bridge out of toothpicks. Mr. Kamps was a lot of fun too. He was very active and came into the gym before class every day to play a basketball game called "bump" with us. He also designated Friday afternoons for a soccer match between the two 8th grade classes.
Another interesting thing about our school was that we had no cafeteria. We had what was called a lunch cart that went around to each classroom when it was time for lunch. I loved this way of eating lunch, both as a student at the time and looking back on it now. Cafeterias are complete chaos and whenever I sub at a school, I dread Cafeteria duty. With lunch cart we were able to eat at our own desks or go out into the hall to mingle and eat with kids from the other class next door. In this way there was no "popular table" or "nerd table". Everyone pretty much talked and chatted with everybody else.
I know that I am extremely lucky in having such a comparatively easy time throughout my elementary and middle school years. I am well aware that this is not the case for most people, both back then and still today. Please feel free to post any school experiences that you remember, both good and bad. I think we can all benefit from sharing what we loved about school and our favorite teachers as well as what we did not like or what we would change. I look forward to exchanging ideas and growing as a cohort together!
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Here I go......
So here is my first blog! I can officially state that I am a blogger now to all my friends and family and say things like, "Today I posted on my blog......" and cool things like that :) For someone who just got texting on her phone a few months ago this is a big deal!
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