I had never heard of this movie until my friend bought Freedom Writers. It came with it and was full of big names - Brendan Fraser, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck - so why had we never heard of it before? Well, it was made in 1992 before any of them were big. Anyway, I sat down to watch it and was reminded, very strongly, of Dead Poets Society. In School Ties, which is set in the 1950s, a senior from Pennsylvania, David, goes off to St. Matthew's, a private school, to play football. One catch - he's Jewish. So he hides that he's Jewish because none of the guys like Jews. Of course they find out, but I don't want to tell too much more of the plot and give it away.
One of the teacher's in this movie, Mr. Cleary, is horrible. He pushes one of the students so far that he loses it, cracks, and has to leave the school. The amount of pressure that is on these students is amazing. Most of them are fourth or fifth generation boys whose families have gone to Harvard or Princeton for years. They have to make it in or else they have failed. Putting that much pressure on students is not a good thing. One of the boys, Charlie Dillon, tells a story about a boy who hung himself because he didn't get into Harvard.
The Anti-Semitism in this movie is also very apparent. From the first night that David is there, Jew jokes are heard. You can tell that he is uncomfortable with them, but doesn't say anything because the view that his friends have of Jews is so very stereotypical. This is, of course, one of the main conflicts in the movie, because when David's friends find out he is Jewish they do some horrible things to him, including blaming cheating on a test on him. This is not so very different from schools today, and it is not only limited to private schools. In schools where there is little diversity and no teaching of that diversity, stereotypes flourish and are taken as truth. David's teachers did nothing to dispel the stereotypes, and the head of the school is even seen to have and believe stereotypes about the Jewish people. It should be schools' jobs to teach about diversity and other cultures and belief systems so that these hurtful stereotypes are less likely to take hold and be believed. Multicultural education should be a fundamental part of our curriculum so that the things that are portrayed in movies like this are not repeated in our classrooms and society.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Sunday, April 22, 2007
The Shame of the Nation
The Shame of the Nation by Jonathan Kozol is one of those books that really opens your eyes to what it is really like outside the Luther bubble and away from ideals and how things should be. His book explores apartheid schooling in the United States today and the resegregation that is happening in many inner-city schools. This book really went along with the movie Freedom Writers and both make me feel as though I would like to teach in an inner-cit school for a little while.
Some of what Kozol wrote was shocking and both frustrated and angered me. He talked about how students are packed into buildings that haven't been renovated in over 30 years and are not able to accommodate the hundreds of extra students that attend classes in them. He writes about rats in classrooms and teachers trying to teach in closets or foyers. He described lunch shifts that started at 9:30 and went until two, and the children waiting in lines for over a 1/2 hour before they even got to the lunch line.
He also writes about the curriculum that are used in some of these schools. Like in Freedom Writers the students are not given actual books but workbooks for subjects like math and reading. There are, of course, standards that the teachers must meet and follow if they want to keep their jobs. The most shocking part of this book was when Kozol talked about rubrics and the language used in the classroom. The language reflected the standards and rote-and-drill curriculum that the teachers had to use. The students were labeled as Level 1s, 2s, 3s, or 4s - 4 being the highest level, one being rock bottom. In one school a principal had the children stand up according to what level they were. He did not even have the Level Ones stand up, it was as if they didn't exist. Then on top of that, the children start picking up on this language and use it to refer to each other. Other words like "Meaningful Sentences" or "Word mastery" are also use, and the students do not know what the words mean, like "mastery" or "meaningful, outside the context that they are used in school. "Word Mastery" is the number of words you can learn in five days or when you get a 100, explained 2 students to Kozol. That is just sad. And the rubrics! One school had a Rubric for Filing - for making a line! For goodness sake! Teachers have better things to do than to make sure that their students are Level Four filers and that they are showing pride as they file from place to place. I would like to know how they expect these children to have pride when they are in buildings that should be condemned, are crowded 30 or more to a classroom, and are not given proper materials to work with.
I feel that this book, or one very like it, is one that all Education Majors should read, but not be forced to read. It is after all like 300 and some pages. As perspective teachers we need to be aware of what is going on in our schools, why it is going on, and what we can do to change it.
Some of what Kozol wrote was shocking and both frustrated and angered me. He talked about how students are packed into buildings that haven't been renovated in over 30 years and are not able to accommodate the hundreds of extra students that attend classes in them. He writes about rats in classrooms and teachers trying to teach in closets or foyers. He described lunch shifts that started at 9:30 and went until two, and the children waiting in lines for over a 1/2 hour before they even got to the lunch line.
He also writes about the curriculum that are used in some of these schools. Like in Freedom Writers the students are not given actual books but workbooks for subjects like math and reading. There are, of course, standards that the teachers must meet and follow if they want to keep their jobs. The most shocking part of this book was when Kozol talked about rubrics and the language used in the classroom. The language reflected the standards and rote-and-drill curriculum that the teachers had to use. The students were labeled as Level 1s, 2s, 3s, or 4s - 4 being the highest level, one being rock bottom. In one school a principal had the children stand up according to what level they were. He did not even have the Level Ones stand up, it was as if they didn't exist. Then on top of that, the children start picking up on this language and use it to refer to each other. Other words like "Meaningful Sentences" or "Word mastery" are also use, and the students do not know what the words mean, like "mastery" or "meaningful, outside the context that they are used in school. "Word Mastery" is the number of words you can learn in five days or when you get a 100, explained 2 students to Kozol. That is just sad. And the rubrics! One school had a Rubric for Filing - for making a line! For goodness sake! Teachers have better things to do than to make sure that their students are Level Four filers and that they are showing pride as they file from place to place. I would like to know how they expect these children to have pride when they are in buildings that should be condemned, are crowded 30 or more to a classroom, and are not given proper materials to work with.
I feel that this book, or one very like it, is one that all Education Majors should read, but not be forced to read. It is after all like 300 and some pages. As perspective teachers we need to be aware of what is going on in our schools, why it is going on, and what we can do to change it.
Freedom Writers
The movie Freedom Writers is one of those movies where when you watch it you say to yourself, "That's why I want to be a teacher." This movie followed a first year teacher through the first and second years of her teaching experience at an inner-city school in California that was primarily made up of "minority" students, and the movie followed her struggles with a group of students that had been labeled as trouble-makers and gang members.
One thing that really got me about this movie was the fact that the department head and the senior English teacher were so unhelpful. The fact that they wouldn't let Erin, the teacher, use any of the books really bothered me. It wasn't like anyone else was using them. The students needed to feel respected and part of that was being seen as valuable enough to have actual books. I think it was pretty amazing what Erin was willing to do to support her class. The senior English teacher really rubbed me the wrong way. When he asked the one student to give them the "black perspective" on the book The Color Purple, I was shocked. He was so clearly and outwardly racist when he talked with Erin in the teacher's lounge. As a teacher, you should be supportive of all your students, no matter what race they are from. He was so angry that the integration thing had "ruined the school" when it was probably the fault of people like him and the fact that people are not willing to look deeper than the skin a person has and were unwilling to enroll their white students with "gangsters". Anyway, more about that in my next blog.
The stories that the students told were very powerful and very moving. What they were able to experience in Erin's classroom is what I think real learning is. It shouldn't be all test scores and GPAs. Real learning can't be measured by a bubble test.
I think that this could be repeated in other classrooms in other schools, and it should be what we strive to repeat and instill that kind of learning in our students. Okay, so getting extremely famous people to come to schools might be a little different to replicate everywhere, but every teacher can work to bond her students, to make them see what they have in common, not what separates them. What the head of department said about this kind of teaching being wrong and a waste of time was very wrong. This is the kind of teaching that we dream about and hope that all of our children experience.
One thing that really got me about this movie was the fact that the department head and the senior English teacher were so unhelpful. The fact that they wouldn't let Erin, the teacher, use any of the books really bothered me. It wasn't like anyone else was using them. The students needed to feel respected and part of that was being seen as valuable enough to have actual books. I think it was pretty amazing what Erin was willing to do to support her class. The senior English teacher really rubbed me the wrong way. When he asked the one student to give them the "black perspective" on the book The Color Purple, I was shocked. He was so clearly and outwardly racist when he talked with Erin in the teacher's lounge. As a teacher, you should be supportive of all your students, no matter what race they are from. He was so angry that the integration thing had "ruined the school" when it was probably the fault of people like him and the fact that people are not willing to look deeper than the skin a person has and were unwilling to enroll their white students with "gangsters". Anyway, more about that in my next blog.
The stories that the students told were very powerful and very moving. What they were able to experience in Erin's classroom is what I think real learning is. It shouldn't be all test scores and GPAs. Real learning can't be measured by a bubble test.
I think that this could be repeated in other classrooms in other schools, and it should be what we strive to repeat and instill that kind of learning in our students. Okay, so getting extremely famous people to come to schools might be a little different to replicate everywhere, but every teacher can work to bond her students, to make them see what they have in common, not what separates them. What the head of department said about this kind of teaching being wrong and a waste of time was very wrong. This is the kind of teaching that we dream about and hope that all of our children experience.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
England
For this week's self-learning project, I decided that since I will be spending next year in England, I should learn a little bout the country and the culture. I started with finding Nottingham, where I will be attending classes, on a map and looking at its relation to London. That being accomplished, I thought that the next step would be to find out about some of the holidays that are celebrated in England. Of course they do not celebrate Thanksgiving or Independence Day in England, but one holiday they do have that differs from American holidays is Boxing Day. Boxing Day is the day after Christmas and dates back to the 800s. It was traditionally the day that the alms boxes in the churches were opened and the money given to the poor. Also, servants would get the day after Christmas off and their employers would box up their leftovers and send them with their servants.
Another area that I looked into was the lexical (vocabulary) differences between American English and British English. For example an ATM can be called a cash machine or cashpoint and what we call the first floor they call the ground floor. There were quite a few foods that they have that we do not, like bubble and squeak which is a dish of cooked cabbage fried with cooked potatoes and other vegetables. Looking at the words that they commonly use that we do not almost makes it look as though we speak to totally different languages.
Finally, I looked up some of the general cultural things like their government and the religion and social norms. Conservative dress is expected and people prefer to have a large personal space. One thing that I thought was interesting was that the English do not always look at you when speaking to you. Another thing that I found was that you should stand on the right side on escalators and avoid excessive hand gestures when talking. Through this learning project I have discovered that there are more differences than I thought and I will have to continue learning about England in the time leading up to my departure.
Another area that I looked into was the lexical (vocabulary) differences between American English and British English. For example an ATM can be called a cash machine or cashpoint and what we call the first floor they call the ground floor. There were quite a few foods that they have that we do not, like bubble and squeak which is a dish of cooked cabbage fried with cooked potatoes and other vegetables. Looking at the words that they commonly use that we do not almost makes it look as though we speak to totally different languages.
Finally, I looked up some of the general cultural things like their government and the religion and social norms. Conservative dress is expected and people prefer to have a large personal space. One thing that I thought was interesting was that the English do not always look at you when speaking to you. Another thing that I found was that you should stand on the right side on escalators and avoid excessive hand gestures when talking. Through this learning project I have discovered that there are more differences than I thought and I will have to continue learning about England in the time leading up to my departure.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Recycle
For anyone who has seen Bill Nye the Science Guy, the music videos at the end of each show will be vividly remembered. One of my favorites was RECYCLE a spin off of Aretha Franklin's RESPECT. Recycling is not only a concept discussed on children's t.v. shows; it is also an issue that should concern many of us as we live in a world where the average person accumulates about 4.5 pounds of garbage per day! How much of that could be reduced, reused, or recycled? This past week in my learning project, I set out to see how much paper I used and how I could reduce that amount. I also made an endeavor to recycle more of the paper that I used. I discovered that in an average week I print off about 30 pages for papers and reading materials. So if there are 2500 students at Luther printing off 30 pages a week that comes out to 75,000 sheets of paper printed off per week! And that would be in a week where no major papers are due and one does not have to print off multiple drafts for editing and in class workshops. This amount overwhelmed me, so I started thinking of ways that I could reduce my paper amount myself and ways that campus as a whole could do this.
Some of this printing, I found, could be reduced if professors would be more specific as to what needs to be handed in and what only needs to be read and reflected on. To type up a whole assignment and then find out you don't have to hand it in is not only frustrating but also wastes paper. Another way that I could reduce paper would be to print off only what I need to hand in. Much editing can be done on the computer and if you don't need a hard copy in class, you can email the paper to a friend to edit and send back to you. Also, not printing off online reading would reduce paper use a little bit. Printing doubled sided would also cut the amount of paper used by half. One problem with this is that Luther only has one double sided printer on campus. I think that it would be a good investment for Luther to replace all the printers on campus with ones that have double sided capabilities. This may cost a bit more in the beginning, but the amount of paper it would reduce would probably end up making up that cost difference. Reducing the amount of handouts that professors give to students would also reduce the amount of paper that we use. With the Katie cite, professors are able to post assignments and extras online. Many professors do not take advantage of this and end up overloading students with papers that they never look at. I think that the Ed. department switching from paper portfolios to electronic ones will also help me to personally reduce the amount of paper that I use. With the electronic system, LINCS sheets will no longer have to be printed - two copies for each one - and neither will the whole portfolio.
Looking ahead to when I have my own classroom, I can see this learning experience help to manage paper waste and over use. Limiting the amount of pages students can print, reducing the amount of handouts that I give, and, if possible, posting things online would all be very possible in an elementary or middle school classroom. With middle schoolers, this learning experience would also be a good thing to have them try for themselves to see if they could find other ways to reduce paper use in their own lives.
Some of this printing, I found, could be reduced if professors would be more specific as to what needs to be handed in and what only needs to be read and reflected on. To type up a whole assignment and then find out you don't have to hand it in is not only frustrating but also wastes paper. Another way that I could reduce paper would be to print off only what I need to hand in. Much editing can be done on the computer and if you don't need a hard copy in class, you can email the paper to a friend to edit and send back to you. Also, not printing off online reading would reduce paper use a little bit. Printing doubled sided would also cut the amount of paper used by half. One problem with this is that Luther only has one double sided printer on campus. I think that it would be a good investment for Luther to replace all the printers on campus with ones that have double sided capabilities. This may cost a bit more in the beginning, but the amount of paper it would reduce would probably end up making up that cost difference. Reducing the amount of handouts that professors give to students would also reduce the amount of paper that we use. With the Katie cite, professors are able to post assignments and extras online. Many professors do not take advantage of this and end up overloading students with papers that they never look at. I think that the Ed. department switching from paper portfolios to electronic ones will also help me to personally reduce the amount of paper that I use. With the electronic system, LINCS sheets will no longer have to be printed - two copies for each one - and neither will the whole portfolio.
Looking ahead to when I have my own classroom, I can see this learning experience help to manage paper waste and over use. Limiting the amount of pages students can print, reducing the amount of handouts that I give, and, if possible, posting things online would all be very possible in an elementary or middle school classroom. With middle schoolers, this learning experience would also be a good thing to have them try for themselves to see if they could find other ways to reduce paper use in their own lives.
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Finding Truth in Media
Aside from being one of the most disconnected lectures that I have ever heard in my life, Scott Simon's lecture was long and did not hold my attention very well. I thought that some of what he had to say was good, but he did not present it in a way that I was able to follow. He started out with some humor, but he was unable to tie the humor into the main point of his speech, which I am not sure he even got to. He used a lot of stories that were interesting, but very unconnected and in some of them I had no idea who or what he was talking about - probably because I do not read or watch the news very often, but he did not do a good job of explaining who the people were or where he was talking about.
However, I was able to pull some things from his lecture that I think directly relate to teaching. He said, quoting someone else, that "sincerity is the key to [journalism], and if you can fake that, you'll go far." Now I don't think that faking sincerity is a good thing when talking about journalism or teaching. As a teacher you should be able to be sincere when talking to your students, and you should actually care about what you say to them and how you say it. He also said that journalists were as fallible as brain surgeons, and I think the same is true of teachers. We hold the lives of students in our hands and are responsible for what we teach them about the world and even what we unconsciously teach them about how to act, what to say, and what things are important. Students pick up on many things, just like a sharp audience, so we have to be careful and make sure that we act in a way that we would want replicated and make sure that we get the facts right. Simon also talked about how they used to think that the Earth was the center of the universe, and someone had said, it wasn't wrong, you just miss most of the rest of the universe. In our schools we are US-centered and we run the risk of missing most of the rest of the world. We need to make sure that students are informed about more than just US history or US politics or US religion. We are a global society and need to prepare students for this kind of world or they will be missing out. Finally, Simon talked about how you can begin to trust journalism when it has the audacity and integrity to give you facts that you don't really like. The same can be said of teachers. Teachers can be trusted when they trust their students with the truth of how the world is and what has happened in the past. It is not our job to paint a pretty picture of the history of our country or the world; it is our job to make sure that students understand what happened and why it happened and why we need to look at it now. So, overall it was an okay lecture and I got quite a bit out of it, but this also showed me how important it is to hook your audience from the beginning and be able to hold on to them throughout.
However, I was able to pull some things from his lecture that I think directly relate to teaching. He said, quoting someone else, that "sincerity is the key to [journalism], and if you can fake that, you'll go far." Now I don't think that faking sincerity is a good thing when talking about journalism or teaching. As a teacher you should be able to be sincere when talking to your students, and you should actually care about what you say to them and how you say it. He also said that journalists were as fallible as brain surgeons, and I think the same is true of teachers. We hold the lives of students in our hands and are responsible for what we teach them about the world and even what we unconsciously teach them about how to act, what to say, and what things are important. Students pick up on many things, just like a sharp audience, so we have to be careful and make sure that we act in a way that we would want replicated and make sure that we get the facts right. Simon also talked about how they used to think that the Earth was the center of the universe, and someone had said, it wasn't wrong, you just miss most of the rest of the universe. In our schools we are US-centered and we run the risk of missing most of the rest of the world. We need to make sure that students are informed about more than just US history or US politics or US religion. We are a global society and need to prepare students for this kind of world or they will be missing out. Finally, Simon talked about how you can begin to trust journalism when it has the audacity and integrity to give you facts that you don't really like. The same can be said of teachers. Teachers can be trusted when they trust their students with the truth of how the world is and what has happened in the past. It is not our job to paint a pretty picture of the history of our country or the world; it is our job to make sure that students understand what happened and why it happened and why we need to look at it now. So, overall it was an okay lecture and I got quite a bit out of it, but this also showed me how important it is to hook your audience from the beginning and be able to hold on to them throughout.
Technology
Technology has made huge advances in that last ten or so years, and education is having a very difficult time keeping up with all the new advances. Inadequate funding keeps some schools from getting the technology that they need to keep up with other more well funded schools. I think that when used correctly, technology can be a very good tool to use in the classroom and is something that students need to learn about because technology is everywhere and knowledge about technology is needed in almost every field.
Things like basic computer skills - typing, using PowerPoint, and how to use the Internet, are definitely things that students need to be taught. These are skills that students will need throughout their lives. Other types of technology can also be both fun and useful in the classroom, but it is time consuming. Individually, teachers will have to make the choice as to what technologies they use with their students and, most importantly, teach them how to use. Of course this means that the teacher will have to have proficient knowledge about the technology to teach it to students. Using digital cameras and iMovie can be a a lot of fun, but the time has to be taken to show students how to use them correctly, not just sending them off blindly to hopefully figure it out on their own.
There is educational value in using some technologies, and not only because technology is now such a huge part of our lifestyle. Having students work together on movie projects can teach cooperation and how to work in a group so that one person is not doing all the work. Blogs can create places for students to "talk" to each other about different things that they believe in or have gone to that is outside the school spectrum. There are so many technologies out there, however, that as teachers we cannot cover them all. We will have to pick the ones that we know the most about, will not be too time consuming or difficult to work into our curriculum, and that will benefit the students most when looking at what to use in our classrooms. We cannot just leave technology out of the classroom anymore and it is very clear that it can be used for more than just typing and playing computer games.
Things like basic computer skills - typing, using PowerPoint, and how to use the Internet, are definitely things that students need to be taught. These are skills that students will need throughout their lives. Other types of technology can also be both fun and useful in the classroom, but it is time consuming. Individually, teachers will have to make the choice as to what technologies they use with their students and, most importantly, teach them how to use. Of course this means that the teacher will have to have proficient knowledge about the technology to teach it to students. Using digital cameras and iMovie can be a a lot of fun, but the time has to be taken to show students how to use them correctly, not just sending them off blindly to hopefully figure it out on their own.
There is educational value in using some technologies, and not only because technology is now such a huge part of our lifestyle. Having students work together on movie projects can teach cooperation and how to work in a group so that one person is not doing all the work. Blogs can create places for students to "talk" to each other about different things that they believe in or have gone to that is outside the school spectrum. There are so many technologies out there, however, that as teachers we cannot cover them all. We will have to pick the ones that we know the most about, will not be too time consuming or difficult to work into our curriculum, and that will benefit the students most when looking at what to use in our classrooms. We cannot just leave technology out of the classroom anymore and it is very clear that it can be used for more than just typing and playing computer games.
Hair
I had not seen Hair before, so last night was a very fun and interesting experience. I had only a general idea of what I would be seeing, and was totally blown away by the power of the message in the show. Music is a very powerful instrument of communication and presenting the time period and feelings through music really gripped the audience and pulled us right into what was happening. It helped that they had been working together for a long time on this, and they looked like they were having a blast. This is important to remember when you are presenting, because you want your audience, whoever it i, to see that you are excited about what you are doing and enjoying it.
As for how this relates to teaching, something of this nature could be used to gets students thinking about the time period which this reflects and what they could learn about that time from the dress, music, and actions of the characters. The teamwork aspect, getting students to bond through a common experience is also something that would be useful in a classroom to create that community feeling. Using a class project of some sort, most likely not a musical, to get the class to bond, to come together despite different views, would be wonderful to be able to do. Another way that Hair can be used as a teaching tool is through its relation to Shakespeare. I thought that it was very interesting and powerful that the lyrics in "What a Piece of Work is Man" and "Eyes, Look Your Last" were from Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet. Because of this, these songs can be used to introduce Shakespeare, to show that it really is found everywhere, and encourage students to look at Shakespeare in new ways. I also think that the fact that this show is about war and how it can effect people can also be used in the classroom. Looking at wars in the past, such as The Vietnam War, and the war that we are in right now can show students connections between past and present. Shows like Hair can be used in many ways to supplement teaching and encourage new conversation about both past times and our own.
As for how this relates to teaching, something of this nature could be used to gets students thinking about the time period which this reflects and what they could learn about that time from the dress, music, and actions of the characters. The teamwork aspect, getting students to bond through a common experience is also something that would be useful in a classroom to create that community feeling. Using a class project of some sort, most likely not a musical, to get the class to bond, to come together despite different views, would be wonderful to be able to do. Another way that Hair can be used as a teaching tool is through its relation to Shakespeare. I thought that it was very interesting and powerful that the lyrics in "What a Piece of Work is Man" and "Eyes, Look Your Last" were from Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet. Because of this, these songs can be used to introduce Shakespeare, to show that it really is found everywhere, and encourage students to look at Shakespeare in new ways. I also think that the fact that this show is about war and how it can effect people can also be used in the classroom. Looking at wars in the past, such as The Vietnam War, and the war that we are in right now can show students connections between past and present. Shows like Hair can be used in many ways to supplement teaching and encourage new conversation about both past times and our own.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Standardized Testing
In recent years there has been an increase in standardized testing and the range of children that are tested. While testing can be good and useful when used in moderation, the amount of testing that we are seeing in schools now has become harmful to students, teachers, and schools.
When used in moderation, testing can offer information on how students are progressing compared to the rest of their peers across the country and in their school. They can also show where students are struggling and which subjects they are strong in. However, when teachers are forced to "teach to the test" because so much is now riding on test scores, the students suffer. The amount of information that they "have" to learn is increased and the creativity with which it can be taught, because of time restraints to fit all of the material in , decreases. The students also feel more pressure to test well. Some students do not test well when given a time limit or when some of the tools that are used daily in the classroom, like calculators, are taken away. This leads to feelings of failure when so much, like entrance to colleges, is riding on a test score. With the pressure for students to do well increasing, the age at which children are exposed to more difficult material decreases. Some kindergartners now have tutors because they are considered to be struggling in reading or math. Pressure is put on these children to learn how to read and write and reason sooner, and this leads some children to feel that they are failures or are not as good as their classmates.
The curriculum that the students are exposed to also suffers when material such as art, music, history, and P.E. do not appear on the tests. With children in the United States becoming increasingly obese, cutting P.E. and increasing in-desk time can be detrimental to the health of students. Not to mention that all the energy that would have been worn off in P.E. is now sitting in a desk in the classroom and is supposed to be quite and listen. Art and music, which enrich a child's life and are an integral part of the lives of many adults, are also being cut from schools when funding that use to go to the fine arts is now being used for math, reading, and science - the big test subjects. History, another standard subject in schools, is also being cut back since it does not appear on tests. But if we do not teach our students about where they come from and their country's and the world's history, how can we expect improvement in the future? Aren't we just setting ourselves up to repeat the mistakes of the past if we do not take the time to teach a new generation about them now.
The teachers also suffer from over-use of standardized testing. When they only have so much time to get through all the material that will come up on a test that the students must pass so they can get into high school or go onto the next grade or so that the district meets in AYP, some of the creativity and exploration that should be a core part of teaching gets cut.
With the increased pressure for students to do well on these standardized tests that are becoming more numerous and more ingrained into our school system, everyone suffers, not least of all the students and their learning and hopes of competing with other students from other countries.
When used in moderation, testing can offer information on how students are progressing compared to the rest of their peers across the country and in their school. They can also show where students are struggling and which subjects they are strong in. However, when teachers are forced to "teach to the test" because so much is now riding on test scores, the students suffer. The amount of information that they "have" to learn is increased and the creativity with which it can be taught, because of time restraints to fit all of the material in , decreases. The students also feel more pressure to test well. Some students do not test well when given a time limit or when some of the tools that are used daily in the classroom, like calculators, are taken away. This leads to feelings of failure when so much, like entrance to colleges, is riding on a test score. With the pressure for students to do well increasing, the age at which children are exposed to more difficult material decreases. Some kindergartners now have tutors because they are considered to be struggling in reading or math. Pressure is put on these children to learn how to read and write and reason sooner, and this leads some children to feel that they are failures or are not as good as their classmates.
The curriculum that the students are exposed to also suffers when material such as art, music, history, and P.E. do not appear on the tests. With children in the United States becoming increasingly obese, cutting P.E. and increasing in-desk time can be detrimental to the health of students. Not to mention that all the energy that would have been worn off in P.E. is now sitting in a desk in the classroom and is supposed to be quite and listen. Art and music, which enrich a child's life and are an integral part of the lives of many adults, are also being cut from schools when funding that use to go to the fine arts is now being used for math, reading, and science - the big test subjects. History, another standard subject in schools, is also being cut back since it does not appear on tests. But if we do not teach our students about where they come from and their country's and the world's history, how can we expect improvement in the future? Aren't we just setting ourselves up to repeat the mistakes of the past if we do not take the time to teach a new generation about them now.
The teachers also suffer from over-use of standardized testing. When they only have so much time to get through all the material that will come up on a test that the students must pass so they can get into high school or go onto the next grade or so that the district meets in AYP, some of the creativity and exploration that should be a core part of teaching gets cut.
With the increased pressure for students to do well on these standardized tests that are becoming more numerous and more ingrained into our school system, everyone suffers, not least of all the students and their learning and hopes of competing with other students from other countries.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Opening Convo.
For Opening Convocation this semester, Bishop Mark Hanson, presiding Bishop of the ELCA, spoke to the gathered students, faculty, and staff. The way that he presented himself got and held the attention of all who were there. He used humor matched with serious dialogue to hold his audience and to make his point. His humor was especially effective because he was able to play off of President Torgerson and the pastors, as well as things that pertained to college students. He really knew what would make an audience listen. Also, he didn't go on and on as some speakers do. HE said what he had to say and then stopped. This also keeps your audience focused on what you are saying because you are not repeating yourself or giving them useless, extra information.
The above also relates to teaching. As a teacher, you do not want to lose your students' interest or overload them with unneeded information. Bishop Hanson's message is also one that should be found in classrooms. We need to teach students to be aware of what is around them and how they can contribute to their school, city, country, and world. Isn't that what we are supposed to be teaching for anyway, so that those that we educate will go out and make this world a better place, a place where people are aware of others' beliefs and that their actions effect more than just themselves?
The above also relates to teaching. As a teacher, you do not want to lose your students' interest or overload them with unneeded information. Bishop Hanson's message is also one that should be found in classrooms. We need to teach students to be aware of what is around them and how they can contribute to their school, city, country, and world. Isn't that what we are supposed to be teaching for anyway, so that those that we educate will go out and make this world a better place, a place where people are aware of others' beliefs and that their actions effect more than just themselves?
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Writers in Conversation
On Thursday February 15, I went to Professors Weldon and Faldet's reading, Writers in Conversation. They both had very good presenting style, making eye contact with the audience and explaining before had a little about what went into the writing of the different pieces and the styles that they used. Both of them were good about keeping the audience engaged, through humor and use of tone and storytelling type characterization, which is very important when reading aloud. The stories that they read, weren't humorous, however, but the humor that they used served as a counter balance to the serious or sad parts. Professor Faldet also used a framing device - in this case the image of the door - to start and end the story, bringing the listeners full circle, connecting where she ended up with where she started.
How does this relate to teaching? One thing that I liked that Professor Weldon mentioned was that for her Creative Writing class, she does the assignments along with the students. I think that this is a good thing to keep in mind for teaching. Whether it is in math or science or English, doing the assignments or warm-up problems or experiments along with the students is a good way to lead by example. If one were to do this, and it wouldn't have to be all the time because no one has time for that, then when the students struggle it would be easier to see where they went wrong and you would be able to relate with the student's problem. Of course being able to keep your audiences attention is also very important. You want what you are teaching to be relevant to the students and to keep them interested in what is going on. The framing device is another thing that can apply to all aspects of teaching. You want to make sure that the students are able to see how they got from the initial step to the final result. A review at the end of a lesson is important so that the students tie off that subject before moving to a new one. I think this reading had a lot to offer in regards to ideas for classroom teaching, and it was also very enjoyable to listen to a couple of Luther's professors share what they have been working on.
How does this relate to teaching? One thing that I liked that Professor Weldon mentioned was that for her Creative Writing class, she does the assignments along with the students. I think that this is a good thing to keep in mind for teaching. Whether it is in math or science or English, doing the assignments or warm-up problems or experiments along with the students is a good way to lead by example. If one were to do this, and it wouldn't have to be all the time because no one has time for that, then when the students struggle it would be easier to see where they went wrong and you would be able to relate with the student's problem. Of course being able to keep your audiences attention is also very important. You want what you are teaching to be relevant to the students and to keep them interested in what is going on. The framing device is another thing that can apply to all aspects of teaching. You want to make sure that the students are able to see how they got from the initial step to the final result. A review at the end of a lesson is important so that the students tie off that subject before moving to a new one. I think this reading had a lot to offer in regards to ideas for classroom teaching, and it was also very enjoyable to listen to a couple of Luther's professors share what they have been working on.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Why do we Teach?
I think that we teach, first of all because there is a need for it, but also because someone somewhere made an impact on us and started us down that path towards becoming a teacher. Teaching is something that has to be felt from the heart, and it is something that one feels called to do, compelled to do. So, simply we teach because we have to - in a good way.
Student work sounds like mindless activities that are given to students - like busy work, but it is also all the assignments and, well, work that students do throughout their school year/career. Student learning, however, is different from work. Learning is what the student actually takes away from the classroom with them to apply elsewhere in their lives or later on in school. As teachers we should strive to make the work facilitate the learning - the two should go hand in hand. The work should be meaningful, so that the students actively learn form it and take something away from it. The work should not be the typical memorize and forget stuff that we are all familiar with.
I think that the above is what also makes a good teacher, along with other things, of course. Being able to relate to students is also important. A teacher should also push the students, not just kind of go with the flow. In my experience teacher's who just go with it and want to be your friend not your teacher do not make good teachers, they make the kind of teachers who frustrate you and give you a bad learning experience.
Student work sounds like mindless activities that are given to students - like busy work, but it is also all the assignments and, well, work that students do throughout their school year/career. Student learning, however, is different from work. Learning is what the student actually takes away from the classroom with them to apply elsewhere in their lives or later on in school. As teachers we should strive to make the work facilitate the learning - the two should go hand in hand. The work should be meaningful, so that the students actively learn form it and take something away from it. The work should not be the typical memorize and forget stuff that we are all familiar with.
I think that the above is what also makes a good teacher, along with other things, of course. Being able to relate to students is also important. A teacher should also push the students, not just kind of go with the flow. In my experience teacher's who just go with it and want to be your friend not your teacher do not make good teachers, they make the kind of teachers who frustrate you and give you a bad learning experience.
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