Thursday, April 28, 2011
Group Nine Presentation
Group nine did their presentation on chapter 13. They talked about ways to motivate students to learn. Some ways were to get to know your students, use examples freely, and give students aas much control of their education as you can and test them in a lot of varities of ways. Overall the presentation really good and informative.
The Global Achievement Gap: Chapter 6
- Chapter six of Wageners book "the Global Achievement Gap", he writes about the network of charter schools in Sandiego, California. The charter school were called High Tech High. the school has been recognized because of their great turn out rate of student achievement.
A thing that set HIgh Tech High apart from other palces was the fact that they did not use textbooks as a way to learn things they used more projects and made it so the kids went out and found the information on their own.
High Tech HIgh also wanted to increase the number of students doing well in math and enginerring because in most schools they aer the two areas we fall most behind in.
The schools of High Tech Hih wanted to prepare their students for the outside world that they are going to have to face after they gradute from high school.
I feel like this school is taking us a step closer to reforming are schools and making them moer about teaching the kids and less about the adults
A thing that set HIgh Tech High apart from other palces was the fact that they did not use textbooks as a way to learn things they used more projects and made it so the kids went out and found the information on their own.
High Tech HIgh also wanted to increase the number of students doing well in math and enginerring because in most schools they aer the two areas we fall most behind in.
The schools of High Tech Hih wanted to prepare their students for the outside world that they are going to have to face after they gradute from high school.
I feel like this school is taking us a step closer to reforming are schools and making them moer about teaching the kids and less about the adults
Two Schools in Afghanistan, One Complicated Situation
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/24/weekinreview/24mortenson.html?ref=education
when two new schools were belt in Afghanistan many poeple thought that it was a great victory in helping the people but we have recently found out that one of the schools is empty and has been empty for a long time. Just because you throw mony down to buy a school for someone does not mean that they will take and go with it in the way that you want. The school was about an hour walk for the students every day and the parents did not want the kids to haver to do that every day because they thought that it would be really dangerous for them.
when two new schools were belt in Afghanistan many poeple thought that it was a great victory in helping the people but we have recently found out that one of the schools is empty and has been empty for a long time. Just because you throw mony down to buy a school for someone does not mean that they will take and go with it in the way that you want. The school was about an hour walk for the students every day and the parents did not want the kids to haver to do that every day because they thought that it would be really dangerous for them.
The Whiff of Plagiarism Again Hits German Elite
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/25/education/25iht-educside.html?ref=education
This article is about how they have found out that some of higher up people in Germany have been found to have plagerized some of their writings and speeches. this just goes to show that there is so many ways to be caught doing things in this day and age. with all the new technology you need to be more careful with what you do and say because it will eventually come back to you and cause you great harm.
This article is about how they have found out that some of higher up people in Germany have been found to have plagerized some of their writings and speeches. this just goes to show that there is so many ways to be caught doing things in this day and age. with all the new technology you need to be more careful with what you do and say because it will eventually come back to you and cause you great harm.
Funds Down for Pre-K Programs
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/26/education/26brfs-prek.html?ref=education
State funding for pre-k has gone down sigificantly in the past few years and i think this will cause alot of problems with the students when they go into normakl classes. Kids learn the most within the first 6 years of life and i think that kindergarten and pre school should be the last things we cut in the education system because that is the time were they learn the most.
State funding for pre-k has gone down sigificantly in the past few years and i think this will cause alot of problems with the students when they go into normakl classes. Kids learn the most within the first 6 years of life and i think that kindergarten and pre school should be the last things we cut in the education system because that is the time were they learn the most.
In a Mother’s Case, Reminders of Educational Inequalities
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/28/nyregion/some-see-educational-inequality-at-heart-of-connecticut-case.html?_r=1&ref=education
This is an article about a ,other how lied about twhere she lived so she could put her 5 year child into a better school trhen where she lived.
i think that it is sad that she had to go to such desperate measures to give her kid a better life. she is facing seriouse jail time for doing this though. i know that she broke the law, but i just dont see how what she did could be punished so severly. What she did was not something out of anger and i dont see how it negativly hurt anyone else. I think that a child should be given equal education all over America because obiously there is something wrong with how are education system is being run now.
This is an article about a ,other how lied about twhere she lived so she could put her 5 year child into a better school trhen where she lived.
i think that it is sad that she had to go to such desperate measures to give her kid a better life. she is facing seriouse jail time for doing this though. i know that she broke the law, but i just dont see how what she did could be punished so severly. What she did was not something out of anger and i dont see how it negativly hurt anyone else. I think that a child should be given equal education all over America because obiously there is something wrong with how are education system is being run now.
Letter to the Editor
Letter to the Editor
By: Ariel Schneider
I do believe that a teacher should not be safe from being fired from their job just because they have tenure. Our number one priority should be about the kids and not about the adults. When people talk about this issue they always seemed to forget about how these changes will affect the students. With all these budget cuts on the education system, all of the new teachers, that could be really great at their job or only fired because of the fact that you can’t get rid of the teachers that are protected by their tenure. A teacher should be kept because they are doing a good job, not because they have been there longer then another teacher.
Although I do believe that there should be some type of change to the teaching tenure, I do not think that teacher’s evaluations should be based on how well their students do on a test. By having the students tests determine how well the state believes the teacher is doing, is not only putting a lot of pressure on the teacher but it is also putting a lot of unneeded pressure on the student. If this bill will be allowed to pass I believe the kids today will be even worse off than they were be for in education. Having so many tests does not help a student learn, the only thing they are learning to do in school, is how to take a test.
I believe that teachers should be evaluated every 5 years, but they needed to be evaluated based on observations done by the principle and these observations should not be told they are going to happen before hand. The teacher should not know that they are going to be observed, so they do not have time to prepare a great lesson for that day and then go back to their normal teaching patterns. This type of evaluation will take the stress of the student and will allow then more time to learn from their teacher and it will more accurately evaluate the teachers with tenures.
By: Ariel Schneider
I do believe that a teacher should not be safe from being fired from their job just because they have tenure. Our number one priority should be about the kids and not about the adults. When people talk about this issue they always seemed to forget about how these changes will affect the students. With all these budget cuts on the education system, all of the new teachers, that could be really great at their job or only fired because of the fact that you can’t get rid of the teachers that are protected by their tenure. A teacher should be kept because they are doing a good job, not because they have been there longer then another teacher.
Although I do believe that there should be some type of change to the teaching tenure, I do not think that teacher’s evaluations should be based on how well their students do on a test. By having the students tests determine how well the state believes the teacher is doing, is not only putting a lot of pressure on the teacher but it is also putting a lot of unneeded pressure on the student. If this bill will be allowed to pass I believe the kids today will be even worse off than they were be for in education. Having so many tests does not help a student learn, the only thing they are learning to do in school, is how to take a test.
I believe that teachers should be evaluated every 5 years, but they needed to be evaluated based on observations done by the principle and these observations should not be told they are going to happen before hand. The teacher should not know that they are going to be observed, so they do not have time to prepare a great lesson for that day and then go back to their normal teaching patterns. This type of evaluation will take the stress of the student and will allow then more time to learn from their teacher and it will more accurately evaluate the teachers with tenures.
Philosophy of Education paper
Ariel Schneider
04/16/2011
SPED 201
Philosophy of Education Paper I believe that children are our future and they need to be our number one priority and I also believe that we need to teach the students of the next generation to be more globally competent so our societies can thrive. In my paper I will talk about; first what you should expect from the learner, the role of the society and the role the teachers play in the life of the learner, how to prepare the students for global competence in the 21st century, and then I will end with talking about how a classroom should be organized and what kind of environment should be provided for the student. All of these things are equally needed in the life of the students to insure that they will be equally educated and put to the highest standards.
I remember when I was in 6th grade and my math teacher would always tell us how she wished that she could just unscrew the top of our heads and just put the information into us without any effort. This would solve many problems if it worked, but as you grow up you realize that life is not an easy thing and has very few easy answers. After watching many videos and reading many articles on education I feel like I am left with even more questions than answers then I was to begin with. Hopefully with my paper I can figure out and answers a few of the biggest questions that are hurting are education system in today’s fast and busy world.
The most important thing in our societies is the youth of our world. The next generation should always be the most important thing to any societies because they keep the society moving by creating new things and come up with new and fresh ideas that are needed to keep societies up and running for hundreds of years to come. I believe that all children are born with a want to learn new things. Human being’s are all born with a few similar basic instincts and I believe that a want to learn, is one of those instincts that all human beings have. It does not matter where you are born or what ethnicity you are, everyone wants to learn new things and be able to be a part of a functioning society. No child is born with any type of stereotypes nor do they have any prejudice against anyone, all of these things are learned by the child’s family or the society that they grew up in. That is why it is our job as members of a society to teach children the differences in people and teach them how to except and embrace these differences.
In order to be more globally competent with the rest of the world we need to make students our number one priority. We can do this by first making sure that every school in America has the same technology as every other school around them. What is the purpose of schools that are failing their students because they do not have the same things that other schools are fortunate to have. Why should there be a price tag on what we are willing to spend on the children of our nation. Not only do I think that we are putting a price tag on our children but I also think we are putting some of them on clearance, and as many people know when you buy things that are cheaper, they are also of cheaper quality. I think that kids should be the most well done thing in our society.
I believe that schools should focus less on having the students take tests and put a bigger focus on preparing the students to figure things out on their own. After watching a video on how and why Finland is ranking the highest in education, I can see that tests are not needed and sometimes do not accurately measure a student’s level of education. By having the students learn something by themselves you are not only having them learn whatever they are researching but you are also allowing them to see how to solve a problem on their own and use their own ideas, which will greatly benefit them later on in life when they are in their carrier. Today’s new generation is all about having their own independence, so I believe by focusing more on projects then tests, will provide a more comfortable environment for today’s students to learn.
A school should also emphasize other cultures in the world. I believe that students should have to, at the very least, learn to be fluent in two languages. I think that students should learn these two different languages starting in kindergarten. I think that a student in America should either be fluent in Spanish or Chinese because they are the two leading languages other than English in the world. In order for America to have a good standing in world, we need to be able to communicate with people from other parts of the world. After watching a video on the Chinese Immersion Program I was able to see that the students that learn Chinese are not only still fluent in English but they are also doing better than the students that only learned English. I think that the only reason that the kids today are not learning different languages is because of the fear of change that a lot of Americans have today. Many people in America just assume that by having their kids learn another language other than English, is going to somehow effect the fluency in their own language, when in reality it helps the kids learn better. We need educate the people in our society so they can see how these kinds of changes in our education system will greatly help the future generations.
The teachers of our schools play one of the most important roles in each student’s educational lives. Teachers should be people that a student feels comfortable to talk to and they should also be someone that the student’s respect. In order for the students to feel comfortable with the teacher, they need to know that the teacher believes in them. By knowing that a teacher believes in your abilities to learn, you will be more apt to want to prove the teacher right. Teachers need to realize just how much of an impact that they have on their students lives. I believe that having an engaging teacher that not only demands respect but also gives it will help the students in their quest in learning.
In order for a student to learn they need to have a good teacher. Teachers need to find an effective way to teach their students. I have known teachers that can make a very interesting subject boring, but I have also met teachers that can make a very boring subject surprisingly interesting. I remember when I took a class on rocks and minerals, I thought it was going to be the most boring class I have ever taken before, but it turned out to be one of the best classes I have ever taken in my life. All though the subject of rocks is not interesting to me, the teacher was just so excited and so happy to teach us about rocks that you found yourself in her class, also getting happy and excited to learn about rocks. That teacher indirectly taught me a lot about what it means to be a good and effective teacher. She would have us go out in the middle of a lecture and find a rock outside and bring it in and she would come up to you and start talking to you about what your rock is and other things that you did not even know about it. In order to be a good teacher you need to engage your students, have them figure things out on their own so that they are able to create new things and come up with their own ideas for the future.
As I have stated early, in order for our students to be globally competent they need to be able to communicate with other countries in other ways then just English. We should teach kids other languages when they are very young so they are able to become very fluent in many languages. We should also put a big emphasis on teaching students about other cultures and ethnicities. We should teach kids today that not everyone in the world is the same and we should learn about other people’s differences so we know how to best communicate with other people in the world. Businesses that want to sell things to places around the world need to know about other countries culture. An example of a company that did not have really good global competence was Kellogg cereal company. Although Kellogg does really well here in America, they did not realize when they tried to sell their stuff in India it would not do as well. They failed to realize some of India’s basic cultural rituals. They did not realize that most people in India do not like to have cold things in the morning, so when they tried to have cereal in hot milk it turned to mush and the cereal was soon not being bought by the people of India. Simple things like this can cost companies millions of dollars so we need to teach our students that it is important to know about other cultures.
Another way to prepare students to be globally competent is to show them how much better other countries are doing than us and that we are not as good as many people think we are. When I watched a movie called “Waiting for Superman”, I learned that the only thing that America comes first in that has to do with education is confidence. While it is good sometimes to be confident, there comes a point where we have to realize that we are not as good as we think we are. I had no idea until this class that the United States was not number one in education. I think that people in America are very competitive, and if people realize that we are competing with people that do not even live in America they will hopefully realize that they have to try even harder to make it in the world. I think that many of the kids today do not realize how much competition they are going to have to face after they graduate from high school.
When I become a teacher I will make sure that everyone in my classroom is able to understand what I am talking about. I plan to bring up other cultures and other beliefs from other places around the world that have to do with whatever topic I am talking about. I want my students to be able to know many things from not just our culture but from other people cultures as well. I will do this by not just talking about one culture for one week then never bring it up again, I plan to constantly remind my students that different people have different beliefs and different ways of going about things.
Not only will I make sure that my students are culturally aware but I will also make sure they, like Wagner says, in his book “The Global Achievement Gap”, are able to figure things out on their own and I will make sure that they are confident enough in their own abilities to make up their own ideas and their own answers. I will do these things by having many discussions in my classroom and having the students run the discussion without my help. I will also do this by having many projects that put the student in charge of learning the material on their own. I might also, if it can work, have my kids have no homework and trust in them that they will learn what they are suppose to by the time of the test. I want my kids in my classroom to feel comfortable enough to talk to me and most importantly I want them to want to come to class each and every day.
I believe that kids are the most important thing in our society and they should be treated as such. I believe kids should also become more globally competent in today’s competitive world. We can make this happen by cutting down on the amount of tests students have to take, focus on other cultures in the classroom and realize their differences from our own, and we also need to make it so there is equal opportunity for every student in every school district all over America. I believe that teachers are one of the most important people in every student’s life and every teacher needs to realize that they are a role model for a lot of people. I hope to be a teacher that can gain the respect from their student’s and provide an environment for the students that is welcoming and a place where they feel safe. I believe that teachers are just as important as doctors in our world. They are both professions with people who want to help and take care of other people and they are both highly needed in order to keep a society functioning. I have known I had wanted to be a teacher since the 4th grade. When I was in the 4th grade I was really bad at reading and hated to do it and my teacher knew this so one day she pulled me aside and asked if I would like to eat lunch with her that day. During lunch she told me about all these books that she was reading and was telling me how much she wanted me to try and read them, and when I told her that I was not a good enough reader to read book she looked and me like I was crazy and said “yes you can, I know you can read those books”. She gave a few of her books from her shelf and told me to go home and read some of them so we could talk about them during lunch the next day. So that is what I did and ever since, have loved to read books and I owe it all to her believing in me and I just wish to someday have that kind of impact on a child. I want to be a teacher that kids will look back on years after school and think about how much that teacher had changed how they live their life.
04/16/2011
SPED 201
Philosophy of Education Paper I believe that children are our future and they need to be our number one priority and I also believe that we need to teach the students of the next generation to be more globally competent so our societies can thrive. In my paper I will talk about; first what you should expect from the learner, the role of the society and the role the teachers play in the life of the learner, how to prepare the students for global competence in the 21st century, and then I will end with talking about how a classroom should be organized and what kind of environment should be provided for the student. All of these things are equally needed in the life of the students to insure that they will be equally educated and put to the highest standards.
I remember when I was in 6th grade and my math teacher would always tell us how she wished that she could just unscrew the top of our heads and just put the information into us without any effort. This would solve many problems if it worked, but as you grow up you realize that life is not an easy thing and has very few easy answers. After watching many videos and reading many articles on education I feel like I am left with even more questions than answers then I was to begin with. Hopefully with my paper I can figure out and answers a few of the biggest questions that are hurting are education system in today’s fast and busy world.
The most important thing in our societies is the youth of our world. The next generation should always be the most important thing to any societies because they keep the society moving by creating new things and come up with new and fresh ideas that are needed to keep societies up and running for hundreds of years to come. I believe that all children are born with a want to learn new things. Human being’s are all born with a few similar basic instincts and I believe that a want to learn, is one of those instincts that all human beings have. It does not matter where you are born or what ethnicity you are, everyone wants to learn new things and be able to be a part of a functioning society. No child is born with any type of stereotypes nor do they have any prejudice against anyone, all of these things are learned by the child’s family or the society that they grew up in. That is why it is our job as members of a society to teach children the differences in people and teach them how to except and embrace these differences.
In order to be more globally competent with the rest of the world we need to make students our number one priority. We can do this by first making sure that every school in America has the same technology as every other school around them. What is the purpose of schools that are failing their students because they do not have the same things that other schools are fortunate to have. Why should there be a price tag on what we are willing to spend on the children of our nation. Not only do I think that we are putting a price tag on our children but I also think we are putting some of them on clearance, and as many people know when you buy things that are cheaper, they are also of cheaper quality. I think that kids should be the most well done thing in our society.
I believe that schools should focus less on having the students take tests and put a bigger focus on preparing the students to figure things out on their own. After watching a video on how and why Finland is ranking the highest in education, I can see that tests are not needed and sometimes do not accurately measure a student’s level of education. By having the students learn something by themselves you are not only having them learn whatever they are researching but you are also allowing them to see how to solve a problem on their own and use their own ideas, which will greatly benefit them later on in life when they are in their carrier. Today’s new generation is all about having their own independence, so I believe by focusing more on projects then tests, will provide a more comfortable environment for today’s students to learn.
A school should also emphasize other cultures in the world. I believe that students should have to, at the very least, learn to be fluent in two languages. I think that students should learn these two different languages starting in kindergarten. I think that a student in America should either be fluent in Spanish or Chinese because they are the two leading languages other than English in the world. In order for America to have a good standing in world, we need to be able to communicate with people from other parts of the world. After watching a video on the Chinese Immersion Program I was able to see that the students that learn Chinese are not only still fluent in English but they are also doing better than the students that only learned English. I think that the only reason that the kids today are not learning different languages is because of the fear of change that a lot of Americans have today. Many people in America just assume that by having their kids learn another language other than English, is going to somehow effect the fluency in their own language, when in reality it helps the kids learn better. We need educate the people in our society so they can see how these kinds of changes in our education system will greatly help the future generations.
The teachers of our schools play one of the most important roles in each student’s educational lives. Teachers should be people that a student feels comfortable to talk to and they should also be someone that the student’s respect. In order for the students to feel comfortable with the teacher, they need to know that the teacher believes in them. By knowing that a teacher believes in your abilities to learn, you will be more apt to want to prove the teacher right. Teachers need to realize just how much of an impact that they have on their students lives. I believe that having an engaging teacher that not only demands respect but also gives it will help the students in their quest in learning.
In order for a student to learn they need to have a good teacher. Teachers need to find an effective way to teach their students. I have known teachers that can make a very interesting subject boring, but I have also met teachers that can make a very boring subject surprisingly interesting. I remember when I took a class on rocks and minerals, I thought it was going to be the most boring class I have ever taken before, but it turned out to be one of the best classes I have ever taken in my life. All though the subject of rocks is not interesting to me, the teacher was just so excited and so happy to teach us about rocks that you found yourself in her class, also getting happy and excited to learn about rocks. That teacher indirectly taught me a lot about what it means to be a good and effective teacher. She would have us go out in the middle of a lecture and find a rock outside and bring it in and she would come up to you and start talking to you about what your rock is and other things that you did not even know about it. In order to be a good teacher you need to engage your students, have them figure things out on their own so that they are able to create new things and come up with their own ideas for the future.
As I have stated early, in order for our students to be globally competent they need to be able to communicate with other countries in other ways then just English. We should teach kids other languages when they are very young so they are able to become very fluent in many languages. We should also put a big emphasis on teaching students about other cultures and ethnicities. We should teach kids today that not everyone in the world is the same and we should learn about other people’s differences so we know how to best communicate with other people in the world. Businesses that want to sell things to places around the world need to know about other countries culture. An example of a company that did not have really good global competence was Kellogg cereal company. Although Kellogg does really well here in America, they did not realize when they tried to sell their stuff in India it would not do as well. They failed to realize some of India’s basic cultural rituals. They did not realize that most people in India do not like to have cold things in the morning, so when they tried to have cereal in hot milk it turned to mush and the cereal was soon not being bought by the people of India. Simple things like this can cost companies millions of dollars so we need to teach our students that it is important to know about other cultures.
Another way to prepare students to be globally competent is to show them how much better other countries are doing than us and that we are not as good as many people think we are. When I watched a movie called “Waiting for Superman”, I learned that the only thing that America comes first in that has to do with education is confidence. While it is good sometimes to be confident, there comes a point where we have to realize that we are not as good as we think we are. I had no idea until this class that the United States was not number one in education. I think that people in America are very competitive, and if people realize that we are competing with people that do not even live in America they will hopefully realize that they have to try even harder to make it in the world. I think that many of the kids today do not realize how much competition they are going to have to face after they graduate from high school.
When I become a teacher I will make sure that everyone in my classroom is able to understand what I am talking about. I plan to bring up other cultures and other beliefs from other places around the world that have to do with whatever topic I am talking about. I want my students to be able to know many things from not just our culture but from other people cultures as well. I will do this by not just talking about one culture for one week then never bring it up again, I plan to constantly remind my students that different people have different beliefs and different ways of going about things.
Not only will I make sure that my students are culturally aware but I will also make sure they, like Wagner says, in his book “The Global Achievement Gap”, are able to figure things out on their own and I will make sure that they are confident enough in their own abilities to make up their own ideas and their own answers. I will do these things by having many discussions in my classroom and having the students run the discussion without my help. I will also do this by having many projects that put the student in charge of learning the material on their own. I might also, if it can work, have my kids have no homework and trust in them that they will learn what they are suppose to by the time of the test. I want my kids in my classroom to feel comfortable enough to talk to me and most importantly I want them to want to come to class each and every day.
I believe that kids are the most important thing in our society and they should be treated as such. I believe kids should also become more globally competent in today’s competitive world. We can make this happen by cutting down on the amount of tests students have to take, focus on other cultures in the classroom and realize their differences from our own, and we also need to make it so there is equal opportunity for every student in every school district all over America. I believe that teachers are one of the most important people in every student’s life and every teacher needs to realize that they are a role model for a lot of people. I hope to be a teacher that can gain the respect from their student’s and provide an environment for the students that is welcoming and a place where they feel safe. I believe that teachers are just as important as doctors in our world. They are both professions with people who want to help and take care of other people and they are both highly needed in order to keep a society functioning. I have known I had wanted to be a teacher since the 4th grade. When I was in the 4th grade I was really bad at reading and hated to do it and my teacher knew this so one day she pulled me aside and asked if I would like to eat lunch with her that day. During lunch she told me about all these books that she was reading and was telling me how much she wanted me to try and read them, and when I told her that I was not a good enough reader to read book she looked and me like I was crazy and said “yes you can, I know you can read those books”. She gave a few of her books from her shelf and told me to go home and read some of them so we could talk about them during lunch the next day. So that is what I did and ever since, have loved to read books and I owe it all to her believing in me and I just wish to someday have that kind of impact on a child. I want to be a teacher that kids will look back on years after school and think about how much that teacher had changed how they live their life.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Scotland Wrestles with question of tuition fees
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/25/education/25iht-educlede.html?_r=1&ref=education
In 2011 students from scotland may have to pay tution fees to attend certain colleges and are going to have to pay as much as $15,000 a year.
I was surprised when i read that the studentsin Scotland dd not have to pay tution fees in the first place and i thought that was really interesting and is a good way to get alot of people to go to college and to get educted. I know alot of people that would have gone to college if they could only pay to go there. I think that it is sad that they are soon going to haer to start paying to go to school and i thnk that there will be less people that will be going to college because of it.
In 2011 students from scotland may have to pay tution fees to attend certain colleges and are going to have to pay as much as $15,000 a year.
I was surprised when i read that the studentsin Scotland dd not have to pay tution fees in the first place and i thought that was really interesting and is a good way to get alot of people to go to college and to get educted. I know alot of people that would have gone to college if they could only pay to go there. I think that it is sad that they are soon going to haer to start paying to go to school and i thnk that there will be less people that will be going to college because of it.
Philpsophy of Education
In class we took a survey from the book that categorized you into four different categories; Perenilism, Essentialism, Progressivism, and Social Reconstruction. I scored the lowest in Essentialism and Perenialism. I got a 11 in Essentialism and a 13 in Perenilism. I scored the highest in social reconsruction and Progressivism. I got a 18 in Progressivism and a 17 in social recostrustion. social recontruction is the idea about improving the world around us and making kids figur things out on their own sometimes. Progressivism is the the idea that students learn best by doing things then just by reading it from a text book.
Group Eight Presentation
Group eight talked about classroom managment. they also talked about how to make the classroom a welcoming place for the students. I order to make your classroom a welcoming place they said you should do this by asking them how they are doing and involoving them in lesson plans and to also call your students by their first name. I think the group had a very good and informative speech.
The Type of Teacher I want to be
I want to be a teacher that not only teaches the students but i alo want to be a teacher that has a big impact on the students lives and with the studt learn and grow. I want to be a teacher that a student feels comfortable to talk with but also a teacher that has respect from the students. I want to be a teacher that puts the students before myself. I want to make my classroom a fun place to come to and a place were the kids look forward to going to. I want to be able to teach my students things that they acn use through out their whole lives. I want to teach my students not only things that they learn in their text books but i want to be able to teach my students how to treat other people and on how they should be treated as well. I hope i will be able to accomplish all of these things throughout my carrier and that i do not lose sight of these goals.
Students First Website
http://www.studentsfirst.org/
this website was founded and is run by a women named Michelle Rhee. Michelle Rhee was the chancellor for the D.C. Public Scools. She was let go after the new mayor of D.C. was hired. So Michelle Rhee decided that she was notgoing o stop in the fight to hel the children of America get a fair education and she put up this sight to gain followers and supporters. Michelle Rhee thinks that we are putting the adults before the students and she thinks that it should be the other way around. She thinks that we should get rid of tenure because it is only helping the teacher and is negatively effecting the chidren in the public schools. She thinks that tenure makes it difficult for schoos to have many good teachers because the new teachers are getting fired before the older ones, not because of talent bu because the older ones have been there longer. the site is really interesting and informative and will hopefully get many supporters.
this website was founded and is run by a women named Michelle Rhee. Michelle Rhee was the chancellor for the D.C. Public Scools. She was let go after the new mayor of D.C. was hired. So Michelle Rhee decided that she was notgoing o stop in the fight to hel the children of America get a fair education and she put up this sight to gain followers and supporters. Michelle Rhee thinks that we are putting the adults before the students and she thinks that it should be the other way around. She thinks that we should get rid of tenure because it is only helping the teacher and is negatively effecting the chidren in the public schools. She thinks that tenure makes it difficult for schoos to have many good teachers because the new teachers are getting fired before the older ones, not because of talent bu because the older ones have been there longer. the site is really interesting and informative and will hopefully get many supporters.
The Finland Phenomenon
Finland has the top rank in the worlds educatoinal system. The people in Finland view edcation as the number oe priority. This video went into how and why Finland became and is number oe in education in the whole world. The video compares Finland to the United states and talks about how their defferences may contribute to their very different ranks in the ranking of world wide education.
The top three things that i thought were the most different between Finalands schools and American schools are, there are no tests in Finland schools, 5 year teaching program, and the sudents in Finland spend more time learning things on their on.
These three differences i feel greatly contribute to he fact that Finland is doing much better in education then the United Staes.
The top three things that i thought were the most different between Finalands schools and American schools are, there are no tests in Finland schools, 5 year teaching program, and the sudents in Finland spend more time learning things on their on.
These three differences i feel greatly contribute to he fact that Finland is doing much better in education then the United Staes.
Field Experience Reflection
I did my field experience in my home town of Zimmerman. I was in the classroom with kindergarteners and the teacher, Mrs. Eversman, was my old kindergarten teacher. It was a very great experience, I was scared at first because I remember being somewhat scared of kindergarten teacher so I felt very intimidated. When I went in for my first day of student teaching it was a dress up day. When I walked into my kindergarten class the kids were at lunch and the teacher was sitting at her desk dressed as Rapunzel. What was a really interesting way to start my student teaching experience but it also made me feel more comfortable and relaxed. The first day I just went around getting to know some of the students and it just amazed me how happy they were to learn and interact with everyone around them. The students were not judging each other and everyone in the class room was treated as equals and it was just really good to see that kind of equality amongst everyone.
During my field experience I helped a few of the kids prepare for their tests that they had to pass to move on to first grade. It amazed me how much they could remember and how much they already knew. Even though I was intimidated at first for having my kindergarten teacher I am now so glad that I did. She is an amazing teacher and I am so happy that she allowed me to come in and observe her teaching techniques. Everywhere around the room was books, toys, and just a bunch of projects that she had just brought from home or bought with her own money and it just amazed me to see how much see cared about her students and how much time and energy she put into teaching every single one of them. After spending a few months with watching her class I feel much better prepared to become a teacher and just watching her interact with her students made me so much more excited to become a teacher myself. I hope to someday become a teacher like her.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
California May Require Teaching of Gay History
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/16/us/16schools.html?ref=education
If the bill passes in this upcoming week schools in California will have to start teaching about, Black history, Womens History and Homosexual history. it could b the first in the contry to mandate that public schools have to teach about gay history. The bill does no give many requirments, just that the contrabution of gay and lesbian people in the United States. The bill is intended to prevent bullying of gay and lesbian students and is also intended to stop stereotypes and hatred that some kids hold for gay and lesbian people.
I think that this is a great idea. I think that it will slowly help the bullying of gay students. I also fell like it greatly help reduc the number of sucides committed by gay and lesbian teenagers, gay and lesbian kids are three times as likely to commite suicide then the average person. I think that once people are more educated about homsexuailty they will be less hostile towards gay people. I hope this bill gets passed and more states fallow this example
If the bill passes in this upcoming week schools in California will have to start teaching about, Black history, Womens History and Homosexual history. it could b the first in the contry to mandate that public schools have to teach about gay history. The bill does no give many requirments, just that the contrabution of gay and lesbian people in the United States. The bill is intended to prevent bullying of gay and lesbian students and is also intended to stop stereotypes and hatred that some kids hold for gay and lesbian people.
I think that this is a great idea. I think that it will slowly help the bullying of gay students. I also fell like it greatly help reduc the number of sucides committed by gay and lesbian teenagers, gay and lesbian kids are three times as likely to commite suicide then the average person. I think that once people are more educated about homsexuailty they will be less hostile towards gay people. I hope this bill gets passed and more states fallow this example
Global Achievement Gap: Chapter 5
Chapter five of the "Global Achievemnt Gap" was about how to motivate the students and how to prepare them for the outside world. *The chapter starts out talking about how the kids today have very poor work ethics. After reading that it made think about the people at my work. At my work most of the teenagers are very lazy and do not like being told what to do. In the book Wagner says that some peope think that kidsw today do not have poor work ethics, rather they are motivated in different ways.
*Wagner then went on to talk about how kids todat are always doing many things at once and not just focusin on getting one task done at a time. He talks about how much of this has to do with the rapid growth of technology in the past few years. Kids today always talking on the phone, textting, or on the internet.
*He then talks about how we should use these technology adavances to our on advantage in the classroom. Kids of today learn new information differently then people used to, so we should teach thm in the sme way that they are more familery with.
*Many of the kids today do want to be challenged and fell like they are able to accomplish things on their own. Teachers need to let the kids figure things out on their own but also help them along to.
*He then talked about the importance of student-teacher relationships. He says that kids need to be able to feel like they can talk to their teacher and to also be able to somewhat relate to their teachers as well.
*Wagner then went on to talk about how kids todat are always doing many things at once and not just focusin on getting one task done at a time. He talks about how much of this has to do with the rapid growth of technology in the past few years. Kids today always talking on the phone, textting, or on the internet.
*He then talks about how we should use these technology adavances to our on advantage in the classroom. Kids of today learn new information differently then people used to, so we should teach thm in the sme way that they are more familery with.
*Many of the kids today do want to be challenged and fell like they are able to accomplish things on their own. Teachers need to let the kids figure things out on their own but also help them along to.
*He then talked about the importance of student-teacher relationships. He says that kids need to be able to feel like they can talk to their teacher and to also be able to somewhat relate to their teachers as well.
Group Seven Presentation
Group seven di their presentation on chapter 10 ,School Law. They talked about the United States legal system that had to do with our education system. They talked about a few of the amendments that effect the education system. They then went on ton talk about the bounderies in student-teacher relationships. they showed us a clip on whether teachers should be friends with their students on facebook of if they should even have a facebook to begin with. I think that teachers should nt be friends with their studens on facebook until the students have graduated from highschool. I think that teachers should wait to add their student unil after high school because the teachers could get introuble if the students were to see things on the teachers faebook that the parents do not think that they their children should see. They then went on to talk about what is happening in Wisconsin. Overall I thought that their presentation was very good and it seemed like they were well prepaired.
Group Six Presentation
Group six did their presentation on school governance. They handed out Anoka-Hennepins finances booklet. it was a really good visual as for their presentation. They also had us discuss what we think should be done about school funding issues, it was hard for any of us in the audience to think of a way to solve the problem. They talked about some alternatives to local control, and one that they brought up that I thought was very interesting, was insted of school boards, the Mayor of the city should be incharge and incontrol of the school district. They ended their presentation with talking about alternative schools, like private, charter and KIPP schools. At the very end they handed out a crossword puzzle with all the key vocab terms in the chapter they presented on. Overall I thought that their presentation was very well done and very informative.
Waiting For Superman
We watch the movie, "waiting for superman" in class. I thought it was a very interesting and very well done movie. I grew up in a middle class family in a small town so I had know idea that there were kids out there that had their whole future placed into a lottery. It was sad to see that alot of the people in the teaching world seem not to care so much about the kids, but more about themselves. The movie showed many of the flaws in the American education system. I think that we should modify the teacher tenure, because obviously there are may flaws in it that are greatly effecting the children in America. We should, however, not get rid of it completly, because it does help protect the teacher if they were to be sued by someone. But I do not think that a tenure should be able to give a teacher a perminate position. A teacher that is doing bad should be able to get fired because they are not only hurting the schools scores but they are also hurting the students. Like the movie showed, it should be more about the studens and less about the adults.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
2 million Minutes
The video two million minutes looked into the lives of high schoolers in three different parts of the world and what and how they pernt thei high school careers doing. It looked at three different places in the world; the United States, China, and India. For each place it looked at one boy and oe girl and folloed them around and showed you how they viewed education and what they spent their time doing. In the United States the video showed how the kids have no need to try really hard to make it likethey do in ther parts of the world becuse there is not a really a biug danger fo their well being if they do not have a highly educated lfe. In the United States you could also see that there is more emphasis on sports and social interaction. In China the kids have more help at home because of the one child policy that China has. The kids in China also have no summer breaks and longer days so they do not lose any of the information over th summer like we do in the United States. In china education the school is the top priorety for the kids because they are competing mre with other people unlike the kids in America. In India the kids have alot of motivation because ifthey do not get an education they will not be ale to get a good job that will help them survive. Also, like china, there is more parent involvement, so more time, energy, and money is being put into their eduation. Also in bot China and India global competence is very important and emphasised in their everyday life. Were as in Americ mot kids only care and are aware of what is happening closely around them and do not care or think they need to care about the outside world. From this video I think that in order to get American kids more educated, education itself needs to be more valued and we need to become more globaly aware.
Unequal Educaton
Unequal Education is a video about the life of two seventh graders that live in the New York City distric. Although they live in the same distict the two boys have two completly different expernces in their schools. The boys, James and Lonnie, both ar in the same grade but go to different school. James goes to a middle class high school and Lonnie goes to a hgh school in a poor neighborhood. The video showed you how the two schools provided two completley different environments for the kids which has a big effect on them. In the video you could see how Lonnie's science teacher had no ideo what he was doing in his class room and the kid also knew. At James school there was computers and a few good teachers that were incouraging the kids were as Lonnies teacher seemed that he was bringing the kids don and did not believe that they could ever do anything which has a big impact on their mental development and their drive to anything productive in their future. The video turne into a debate on Couchers and publiuc school choice. They talked about the problems that no chld left behind has caused to school disticts. With NCLB it is only helping the rich schools get richer and the poor schools will get poorer. From this video you can clearly see that something has to change about th current situation that American shcools are in.
Group Four Presentation
Group Four did their presentation on chapter 7: Education Phlosophy. They started their presentation talking about the four different philisohies of what educationis about. The four philosophies were, Perennialism, essentialism, progressivism, and social reconsruction.
They explained that Perennialism is the belief that human nature is constant. So the goal of pernnialism is to teach the intellect and it is strict and focused on the academic work. Essentialism is the belief that there is basic knowledge that everyone needs to knw to survive and are focused on teaching about these basic skills. Progressivism is the belief that we should focus on te real-world problem solving and the individual development. Social Reconstruction is the belief that the schools, teacers, and the students should take the lead in addressing socail problems and improving the society.Overall I thought that the group did really good and everything was well organized.
They explained that Perennialism is the belief that human nature is constant. So the goal of pernnialism is to teach the intellect and it is strict and focused on the academic work. Essentialism is the belief that there is basic knowledge that everyone needs to knw to survive and are focused on teaching about these basic skills. Progressivism is the belief that we should focus on te real-world problem solving and the individual development. Social Reconstruction is the belief that the schools, teacers, and the students should take the lead in addressing socail problems and improving the society.Overall I thought that the group did really good and everything was well organized.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
My Ideal Teacher Prep Program
I think that the three things that would be best for a teacher prep program would first be more teaching on different cultures and their customs and beliefs. I think that being culturaly aware is very good for a teacher. As we have learned in class in a few years their will be alot mre people from different baack rounds in our schools and we, as teachers, need to have a better understanding of them so are able to teach them the best way we can.
Another ting that I think is very important to have in a teacher prep program is a second lanuage, either spanish or chinese. I think that in order to be a good teacher, you need to be able to communicate with your students in a way that the can best understand. By have teachers know a different language, spanish would be my ideal, they will be better prepaired for their students who may speak a different languag when they are at home with their family.
The last thing that I think is very important to have in a teacher prep program is learning more about how to use technology in the class room. Technology is becoing more and more used in todays socity and we need to b able to teach the students how to use these electronics so they are more prepaired for when the go out into the world. Technology is improving some much and so fast everyday and we need students to be able to understand and teach students how to use these things.
Another ting that I think is very important to have in a teacher prep program is a second lanuage, either spanish or chinese. I think that in order to be a good teacher, you need to be able to communicate with your students in a way that the can best understand. By have teachers know a different language, spanish would be my ideal, they will be better prepaired for their students who may speak a different languag when they are at home with their family.
The last thing that I think is very important to have in a teacher prep program is learning more about how to use technology in the class room. Technology is becoing more and more used in todays socity and we need to b able to teach the students how to use these electronics so they are more prepaired for when the go out into the world. Technology is improving some much and so fast everyday and we need students to be able to understand and teach students how to use these things.
Group Three Presentation
Group three did their presentation on chapter 6 called Education in the United States: It's Historical Roots. In their presentation thy talked about education changes throughout the U.S. history. They started it with the Colonial Period, were only rich white men could go to school. Next they talked about the Early Period, were the schools followed the policy of seperation of church and state. Then came the Common School Movement, more kids were allowed to go to school and the states started to show more support for public education.
The presentation was very informative and taught alot about how the education system we have now came to be.
The presentation was very informative and taught alot about how the education system we have now came to be.
City is Planning Major Cuts in the Construction of Schools
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/22/nyregion/22schools.html?ref=education
This article is about how New York city education budget for new schools has been reduced from $9.3 billion to $2 billion. Insted of making 56 new schools like they were planning to do for the over crowding class rooms in New York city, they are no only going to make 23 new schools. Many of the school in New York city ar over crowded with roughly 4,000 students.
I think that it is sa that when a city is going into dept the first thing that they always seem to cut down on is education. Wh does no mke sense because the more educated people with degrees should bring in more money to the city. Over crowding in class rooms is a big problem for the students trying to learn and the teachers trying to teach.
This article is about how New York city education budget for new schools has been reduced from $9.3 billion to $2 billion. Insted of making 56 new schools like they were planning to do for the over crowding class rooms in New York city, they are no only going to make 23 new schools. Many of the school in New York city ar over crowded with roughly 4,000 students.
I think that it is sa that when a city is going into dept the first thing that they always seem to cut down on is education. Wh does no mke sense because the more educated people with degrees should bring in more money to the city. Over crowding in class rooms is a big problem for the students trying to learn and the teachers trying to teach.
Portugal's Education Lesson
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/25/portugals-education-lesson/?scp=1&sq=education%20europe&st=cse
This article is about how portugal, being one of the poorest countries in Western Europe, is also the keast educated. The article talks about by boosting up their education system the country could start making ore money. The article gives the example of how Ireland, howit used to be oe ofthe poorest countries in Europe but when they boosted upthe eduction system, Ireland is now one of the richest
nations in all of Europe.
The article talks about hw education is very important to the success of a country and I agree, you can not have a success full country if you do not have a well built eduction for your people. By making education better in poor countries you shoud b able to make the country moreoney in the long run.
This article is about how portugal, being one of the poorest countries in Western Europe, is also the keast educated. The article talks about by boosting up their education system the country could start making ore money. The article gives the example of how Ireland, howit used to be oe ofthe poorest countries in Europe but when they boosted upthe eduction system, Ireland is now one of the richest
nations in all of Europe.
The article talks about hw education is very important to the success of a country and I agree, you can not have a success full country if you do not have a well built eduction for your people. By making education better in poor countries you shoud b able to make the country moreoney in the long run.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Second Presentation
This presentation was on chapter 5, "Student Diversity". In the beginning of the presentation they had everyone stand up if what they said applied to them, while it did get me to pay attention, they did not do anything with it after we were done and I did not understand the point of it. Next they showed a video of what someone with a learning disability can go through, it was a good video, but I was a little dissaponted when I realized it was fake. Then the group gave alot of information on the special needs of students and how the teachers are involved with the lives of their students. I thought it was a good presentation, I was given alot of infomation on the topic of the chapter that they covered.
First Presentation
The first presentation was on chapter 4, Student Diversity. They started off their presentation with a clip with pictures. Then they talked about multicultural education, were they asked a question to the class about not celebrating holidays in schools. They then showed us a video called "Did You Know" and that was a really good video because it caught everyones attention with all of its surprising statistcs. Overall the presentation, I thought, was very good because it was able to keep my attention and stayed interesting.
The Global Achievement Gap - Chapter 4
In chapter four, Wagner focuses on how the future teachers are being taught and prepared for teaching. In this chapter he talks about how we have to improve how we are being prepared to teach.-In the chapter he talks about how teachers are not being evaluated enough to improve the teaching. He says that in most places the princple will come into a classroom and oberve how the teacher is teaching for about 15 minutes then review the evaluation later on. The reason why Wagner does not believe this is helping the teachers, is because the princples are not suppling valuable feedback.-Wagner gives a few ways we can improve getting future teachers ready for teaching, one way he talks about is giving the students a clear understanding of what they need to know and be able to do. -Another way to improve the teaching is by, learning walks. Learning walks help teachers talk to each other about what they want from their students and other teachers can help and give insight to help their students. - Near the end of the chapter he uses a really god analogy on how people are being taught to teach, he says that we should not teach future teachers how to memorize, like having someone memorize the parts of a car, we should teach the future teachers by atually having them try it out, like actually having them drive. I agree with this analogy because you can't expect someone to be a good teacher it they have never had any actual experience with it. It would be like someone learning all the parts of a car and then execting them to be able to drive it.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
The National Center on Universal Design for Learning
http://www.udlcenter.org/
The National Center on Universal Design for Learning is a new site that helps teachers learn how to better help students that have to learn a different way than other students. I think this website is a very useful tool for teachers who need to help children who are unable to learn in the way that most kids do. I am looking forward to using this site when I get into teaching because in the line of work I am going into I will be needing sites like this all the time. It will not only help me but it will also greatly help the kids that I will be teaching.
The National Center on Universal Design for Learning is a new site that helps teachers learn how to better help students that have to learn a different way than other students. I think this website is a very useful tool for teachers who need to help children who are unable to learn in the way that most kids do. I am looking forward to using this site when I get into teaching because in the line of work I am going into I will be needing sites like this all the time. It will not only help me but it will also greatly help the kids that I will be teaching.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Chinese Immersion Program
In class we watched a video about the Chinese Immertion Program. I think it is a very good program and more schools should be doing it and more people should be educated on how it woks because many of the people that are agianst the program do not really seem like they fully understand hw it works and what it does. Many of the people against it in the video thought that children in America should just learn how to speak english because they live in America, but they do not seem to understand that we have to be able to communicate with people outside of our own country so we can better work together on things. People that are against the Chinese Immersion Program also think that the kids in the program will be behind in school because they think that they are learning how to do things in english. What those people do not know is that the kids are not fulling behind and are fully able to speak english and can read and write in english to just as fast as the students who are just learning english, I also learned in the video that the kids that are bilingual actually are using more of their brain. What the parents that are against the program do not realize is that the kids that are bilingual will be able to find jobs really easily because many jobs are looking for people who can speak different languages. After watching the video I really wished I had been in one of those programs when I was little because I am now just trying to learn Spanish and I have learned that once you turn 13 it is pretty much impossible to become fully fluent in another language.
Extracurricular sex lesson draws rebuke at Northwestern
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/04/education/04northwestern.html?ref=education
This is an article about a Human Sexuality class at Northwestern Unversity, with nearly 600 students in the class. The classes teacher, J. Michael Bailey, had a women come on the stage after he was done lecturing and had her show them very explicit things. He did not get n trouble because he had warned the kids multiple times before hand and what he was showing was not going to be part of any of his quizzes or tests. Around 100 of the students stayed to watch the demonstration.
This article really surprised me that he did not get in trouble for it, I guess at least he warned people but I do not see a purpose for having done it if it was not part of th cirricullum. I do not think it was necessary and is very unprofessional for a teacher to be showing his students something like that.
This is an article about a Human Sexuality class at Northwestern Unversity, with nearly 600 students in the class. The classes teacher, J. Michael Bailey, had a women come on the stage after he was done lecturing and had her show them very explicit things. He did not get n trouble because he had warned the kids multiple times before hand and what he was showing was not going to be part of any of his quizzes or tests. Around 100 of the students stayed to watch the demonstration.
This article really surprised me that he did not get in trouble for it, I guess at least he warned people but I do not see a purpose for having done it if it was not part of th cirricullum. I do not think it was necessary and is very unprofessional for a teacher to be showing his students something like that.
Hidden camera shows beating and reigiuos segregation inside Muslim faith schools
http://www.eutimes.net/2011/02/hidden-camera-shows-beatings-and-religious-segregation-inside-muslim-faith-schools/
This article is about how a hidden camera inside one of Britians most influential Islmic faith schools. The hidden camera shows first, a man talking to his students about how other religions were wrong and and the children were being taught social segregation. Another hidden camera showed a teacher hitting and kicking his kids at random many times throughout the days, some of the children were only six years old.
This article surprised m because it ws happening in the UK and I was just shocked that something like that could be going on in the UK without the govenment knowing about it, because I know if something were to be going on like that in the United States it would be a very big deal.
This article is about how a hidden camera inside one of Britians most influential Islmic faith schools. The hidden camera shows first, a man talking to his students about how other religions were wrong and and the children were being taught social segregation. Another hidden camera showed a teacher hitting and kicking his kids at random many times throughout the days, some of the children were only six years old.
This article surprised m because it ws happening in the UK and I was just shocked that something like that could be going on in the UK without the govenment knowing about it, because I know if something were to be going on like that in the United States it would be a very big deal.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Intercultural Development Inventory
The IDI is a test designed to measure the stage at which the person taking the test is at for intercultural deelopment. The diversity in public school is going up every year and teachers need to be multiculturaly aware and by taking this test they would be able to see where they are at and what they need to improve on so they can be prepared to teach kids that are not of the same culture. In the results you get three scores, the first is your perceived orientation score, this score has five categories; 1 is denial, 2 is polarization, 3 is minimization, 4 is acceptance, and 5 is adaption. I scored 120.48, which is in the acceptance stage for my percieved orientaton score. The next score is the developmental oreintation score, I got a 94.76 which is inbetween polarization and minimization. The last score you get is the cultural disengagment score, it 1-5 score, 1 being unresolved and 5 being resolved, I scored a 4.8 on it. The IDI is a really helpfull tool and has opened my eyes to how much farther I have to go to become more culturally aware. I need to be able to relate to other peoples cultures if I am going to become a teacher.
The Global Achievement Gap - Chapter 3
-In the beginning of chapter 3 Wagner showed some questions that the 10th grade students from Massachusetts had to take for the Massachusetts standerized tests. In those questions he talks about how some of the questions could be taked in two diffeent ways and he also talked about how some of the math problems were to complicated and required more time to answer than the time they are given to complete it.-He goes on to explain how these tests do not teach the kids how to survive in the outside world. He talked about how the tests only teach the kids how to take tests and nothing else, what they study for, for the tests, they will not remember after the tests because their main purpose was to pass the test and notto actual remember it for later in their lives.- Later in the chapter he talks about some of the requirements for colleges, specifically he talks about the advanced math requirment for many colleges. Wagner talks about how the colleges say that by taking the advanced math the students would be a better prepaired for college life but Wagner has not found evidence that supports their claim. He goes on talk about insted of advanced classes in college kids should be taken challenging classes in high school because that would better prepair them for college.- Wagner then when on to talk to students that took AP classes in high school, they told him that the classes helped them with being prepaired fo college but they also did say that most of what they did was merize the material. I personially have taken AP classes and I think they greatly helped me with being prepaired for college and I think students should be required to take at least one AP course before they graduate from high school.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
The Global Achievement Gap - Chapter 2
1)In chapter two of the Global Achievement Gap, the author, Tony Wagner, visits a few of the top schools in the United States to see what the children are learning and how they are learning. He was looking to see if they possessed the 7 skills that he went over in chapter one. 2) When he goes to the first school he finds out that the kids there do not have the 7 skills, they have just learned how to memorize answers for tests and nothing more. He sees this when he goes into the Science room and som of the kids messed up on their lab and their stuff started to smoke. Insted of seeing what they could have done wrong, they went straight to the teacher to see what had went wrong. 3) Throught out the whole chapter he finds very few teachers are actually teaching the kids how to commuicate, use critical reasoning, and problem solving. 4) One teacher that he did find was really helping the kids with the 7 important life skills was an Algebra teacher. The teacher made the kids learn how to solve problems on their own without help from the teacher and the teacher also had the kids work in groups so they could figure out the problem, which caused the kids to use teamworking skills. Although this was a good classroom the rest of the classrooms in that school were not as well managed. 5) At the en of the chapter he talked about how the NCLB (No Child Left Behind) act was not helping children learn, it was actually making the problem worse. The NCLB act is only teaching kids how to take tests and not how to use critcal reasoning and the other skills they need to make it in this economy today. The global achievement gap is only becoming bigger because of this.
First day of Field Experience
Friday the 18th was my first day of my field experience. I am teaching kindergarten in Zimmerman. I was nervous when I first got there, the teacher, was my kindergarten teacher when I was little. When I got there I found out it was dress up day for the school. All the little kids had on super hero costums on and were really hyper. I helped some of the kids read and got to know a few of them. Throughmy first day I found out that little kids are so exceited to learn new things and it is really easy to get them happy and excited for things. I can see why so many people want to teach little kids rather then older ones. Although I still want to teach highschoolers I can see how much fun it could be to teach the younger kids. By the end of my first day i was no longer nervous and am really looking forward to go back agian.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Obama's Budget Proposes a significant Increase for Schools
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/15/us/15education.html?_r=1&ref=education
On monday, President Obama proposed a budget increase for the Department of Education in 2012. If this gets passed more federal mony will go to the public school system and will maintian the maximum amount of money for the pell grant, $5,550 per student. It will be hard to get this program passed my the house republicans, who are already proposing to cut $1.1 billion from the Head Start program, by doing this, 200,000 chilldren would be left without services and more than 50,000 jobs will be losed by the employees of the Head Start program. President Obama thinks that in order to remain competitive, this nation must increase the number of college graduates. If the House Republicans proposal passes, over the next 10 years, $56 billion will be cut from the pell grant program and many people worry that cutting the pell grant will cause mny low-income students to not go to college.
After reading this article, I really hope that they do not cut money frm the pell grant and many other educaional systems. Education is no something that we should be cutting down on. Insted of paying about $1 billion on a new vikings stadium we should be puting more money back into schools.
On monday, President Obama proposed a budget increase for the Department of Education in 2012. If this gets passed more federal mony will go to the public school system and will maintian the maximum amount of money for the pell grant, $5,550 per student. It will be hard to get this program passed my the house republicans, who are already proposing to cut $1.1 billion from the Head Start program, by doing this, 200,000 chilldren would be left without services and more than 50,000 jobs will be losed by the employees of the Head Start program. President Obama thinks that in order to remain competitive, this nation must increase the number of college graduates. If the House Republicans proposal passes, over the next 10 years, $56 billion will be cut from the pell grant program and many people worry that cutting the pell grant will cause mny low-income students to not go to college.
After reading this article, I really hope that they do not cut money frm the pell grant and many other educaional systems. Education is no something that we should be cutting down on. Insted of paying about $1 billion on a new vikings stadium we should be puting more money back into schools.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Transforming Africa Through HIgher Education
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/17/world/africa/17iht-educSide17.html?sq=africa%20education&st=cse&adxnnl=1&scp=1&adxnnlx=1297299619-mFsPh0M5utuqX+ntw9fEgQ
This article is about a man named Patrick Awuah, he is from Ghana. He went studying abroad and when he returned he had wanted to change the higher education system. He founded a liberal arts college, Ashesi University College, in 2002, at the Ghana's capital, Accra. When he first started it there were only 30 kids and now there is 470 students. The students are required to do community service before they can graduate. They are working on building a new campus that can accommodate 600 students.
I thought that this article was really good news for the people in Ghana . According to the United Nations Development Program Report, only 65% of people in Ghana are literate and only 5% of the population has done any type of post-secondary education. I think with the new opportunities they know have they will be able to make those numbers higher and give those people more opportunities for work. According to the career service director at the Ashesi University, the students that graduate from their college have 99% placement rate within 5 months of graduating.
This article is about a man named Patrick Awuah, he is from Ghana. He went studying abroad and when he returned he had wanted to change the higher education system. He founded a liberal arts college, Ashesi University College, in 2002, at the Ghana's capital, Accra. When he first started it there were only 30 kids and now there is 470 students. The students are required to do community service before they can graduate. They are working on building a new campus that can accommodate 600 students.
I thought that this article was really good news for the people in Ghana . According to the United Nations Development Program Report, only 65% of people in Ghana are literate and only 5% of the population has done any type of post-secondary education. I think with the new opportunities they know have they will be able to make those numbers higher and give those people more opportunities for work. According to the career service director at the Ashesi University, the students that graduate from their college have 99% placement rate within 5 months of graduating.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Bullied 02/08/2011
Today I watched the movie Bullied, as a teacher this movie hs shown me how just how erious as bullying can get for the vicitim. In the movie you see a young boy being bullied by his peers and when he goes to the teachers and they do not help and they do no even punish the bullies for what they had done to the little boy. Because of these kinds of things the little boy gets really depressed and does not feel safe in his school, he tries to kill himself at one point and when that did not work h ran away.As a teacher I would never want any of my students to feel unsafe in school because things like bullying are very serious problems in todays schools and should not be taken lightly because it can have deadly consequences if not taken care of. Later on in that little boys life he decieded that he wanted to punish the people that had done nothing for him earlier on in his life. He won the case and the school that he came from had to pay him $900,000. Not ony did he get to have the school pay for what they had did to him but he sent a message out to many other kids who were and are being bullied in other schools, and gives them hope and lets them know they are not alone. As a teacher I hope to prevent as many bulling situations as I can, because this is a serious issue and needs to be taken care of.
The Global Achievement Gap - Chapter 1
The first chapter ofthis bok asreall informative ad touched on any aspects of studnt development. At the beginning of the chapter he talked about how people are more worried about how well the teacher is teaching and not how much the kids are actually learning. He talks about how sine teachers are supposed to teach the kid cetain things, just so they can pas the required tests. He talks about how they are just teaching the kids how to take tests and not how to use their heads to come up with their own ideas and figure out probems on their own insted of constantly being told how tt do things.
He goes on to talk about what kids, in this day and age, need to be able to do survive in this industry. There ar 7 of them; critical reasoning ad problem solving, collaboration across networks, initiativ and enterpreurialism, accessing and analyzing infomation, effective oral and written communiction, curiosity and imagination, and finally agility and adaptability. He also talked about how kids today do not know what is going on the world and how this is because of the U.S. educaton system does not put any emphsis on it. This last thing I did not believe at first, because i grew up with the news but just the other day my friend told me she did not know who our Vise Presidet was. This shocked me and I do believe that this is a problem because they need to be informed about these things so they can make their own dicisions on important topics.
He goes on to talk about what kids, in this day and age, need to be able to do survive in this industry. There ar 7 of them; critical reasoning ad problem solving, collaboration across networks, initiativ and enterpreurialism, accessing and analyzing infomation, effective oral and written communiction, curiosity and imagination, and finally agility and adaptability. He also talked about how kids today do not know what is going on the world and how this is because of the U.S. educaton system does not put any emphsis on it. This last thing I did not believe at first, because i grew up with the news but just the other day my friend told me she did not know who our Vise Presidet was. This shocked me and I do believe that this is a problem because they need to be informed about these things so they can make their own dicisions on important topics.
Monday, February 7, 2011
In the ‘Glee’ Era, Youth Choruses Pop Up All Over
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/04/us/04bcchorus.html?_r=1&ref=education
This article is about the rise of members in choirs in the Bay area. The show Glee has inspired many kids around the United States and has caused a rise in the number of people joining the choir. According to a recent poll by the National Association for Music Education, nearly half of the music teachers surveyed reported that the TV show Glee had increased interest in their offerings. this new rise in members in school choirs has caused the music cuts to slow down.
I myself like Glee and I find this article a very good thing for the kids. they are feeling more safe to express themselves and at the same time it is minimizing the budget cuts in the music department in schools. It always surprises me how much of an impact little things can have on children.
This article is about the rise of members in choirs in the Bay area. The show Glee has inspired many kids around the United States and has caused a rise in the number of people joining the choir. According to a recent poll by the National Association for Music Education, nearly half of the music teachers surveyed reported that the TV show Glee had increased interest in their offerings. this new rise in members in school choirs has caused the music cuts to slow down.
I myself like Glee and I find this article a very good thing for the kids. they are feeling more safe to express themselves and at the same time it is minimizing the budget cuts in the music department in schools. It always surprises me how much of an impact little things can have on children.
Skills students need to succeed class 02/03/11
Today in class we watched a video on what students today need to succeed. the first one is, all students need critical thinking and problem solving skills. This one is very important because today we are just taught to memrize answers and not actually learn the reasons why we do things and think for our selves. another skill that was discussed was that we need to be effective and oral communicators. With todays technology we are groing less and less able to communicate verbally. In school we mostly learn how to write and not taught how to verbally commmunicate, even though in working world most job require verbally communication over writing. another big one that was mentioned was we need to be curious and imaginative. Students need not only to know the answers they also need to be able to create their own ideas to grow in their carriers.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Atomic Learning
A few days ago we were introduced to Atomic Learning. I feel like I will be using Atomic Learning a lot because I am not that good with computers. There are a lot of really good resources on the site and intruction videos on how to do things. I plan on using this site all througout my education and maybe even after.
Why I want to be a Special Ed teacher
I have wanted to be a special ed teacher since I was 14 years old. When I was 12 years old we adopted my three cousins, all boys and were the ages 10, 6, and 5 months old. Their mother, my aunt, was a heavy drug user and alcoholic, all three boys were born addicted to herion and were not taken care of when they were babies. The two oldest boys were diagnosed with reactive attatchment disorder, which basically means they are not able to connect with anyone and do not have a conscience. They would, and still do, act out and have a lot of troubles in school. I was always the one to watch them and help them in school work. I have been helping them since I was 12 years old and although it is not easy all the time I like doing it. I like helping people who really need it and I feel like by being a special teacher, I will b able to help people.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Use of Twitter is linked to higher grades, study finds
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/10/world/asia/10iht-educBriefs10.html?_r=2&ref=internationaleducation
In this article they talk about a study that was done that showd a link between Twitter and student engagment and grade-piont average. They (The Journal of Computer assisted Learning) did the study on 125 college students. They found that the students that used Twitter got on average half a point higher and particpated in class more then the students that did not use Twitter.
I found this article hard to believe at first. I myself have never had a twitter account and I don't know how exactly it works and most the people that I know that have a twitter account do not have that good of grades. But after I thought about it, I realized that the people that have twitter accounts usually like to know everything and would probably not be afraid to ask questions in class and like to learn new things and follow them.
In this article they talk about a study that was done that showd a link between Twitter and student engagment and grade-piont average. They (The Journal of Computer assisted Learning) did the study on 125 college students. They found that the students that used Twitter got on average half a point higher and particpated in class more then the students that did not use Twitter.
I found this article hard to believe at first. I myself have never had a twitter account and I don't know how exactly it works and most the people that I know that have a twitter account do not have that good of grades. But after I thought about it, I realized that the people that have twitter accounts usually like to know everything and would probably not be afraid to ask questions in class and like to learn new things and follow them.
More Students Choose Universities in Japan
This article talkes about the number of college students studying abroad in . There are more people studying abroad in Japan than ever before (141,774 in 2010). While this is happening the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has found that fewer Japanese students are studying abroad (Down 11% fom the previous year).
I have never really thought of studying abroad before. My sister has gone studying abroad before, to Japan, and I can see why so many people would want to study abroad there, it is just seems like it would be a completly different world in Japan. When I see Japan in movies and the way my sister talked about it, I think if I were to ever study abroad it woud be Japan. I was however shocked that there were fewer people leaving Japan to study abroad than there used to be in the article it does not tell you why it has go down it just gives you the statistics but I plan to look into it and find out why.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/10/world/asia/10iht-educBriefs10.html?_r=2&ref=internationaleducation
I have never really thought of studying abroad before. My sister has gone studying abroad before, to Japan, and I can see why so many people would want to study abroad there, it is just seems like it would be a completly different world in Japan. When I see Japan in movies and the way my sister talked about it, I think if I were to ever study abroad it woud be Japan. I was however shocked that there were fewer people leaving Japan to study abroad than there used to be in the article it does not tell you why it has go down it just gives you the statistics but I plan to look into it and find out why.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/10/world/asia/10iht-educBriefs10.html?_r=2&ref=internationaleducation
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Freedom Writers
Freedom Writers is a movie about a young woman, Erin Gruwell, who decides that she wants to help out a group of students in a school in California. But when she arrives at the school she soon finds out that the kids do not want her help. When she first started teaching the kids gave her no respect and showed no interest in learning. Many of the kids had hard pasts that they could not get passed, like Marcus, when he was younger his friend, Clive, accidentally shot himself and died, when the police came they put Marcus in juvenile hall for the murder of Clive. Marcus had been in and out of prison ever since.
The kids in Erin's class had a lot of out of school problems that they had to worry about and did not care for their academic life. They thought they could not get out of their present life and did not think there was a point to try. Erin, trying to break down the barriers between the students and her, tried many different techniques. She talked about what the Nazi's did to show what gang violence can leaded to. She also did things to show how the rival gangs all have gone through the same thing and was not that different. It also made them realize how series what they were doing was. She also tried to use curriculum to connect with her students. She had them read the Diary of Ann Frank because they, like Ann Frank, grew up in a world that was full of violence and anger. The other teacher did not like what Erin was doing at first however. The head of the English department did not even want to give them books because she was afraid they would ruin them. Erin never stopped believing in them and that was what helped them to succeed in her class. Her student needed someone that believed in them because they did not.
From this movie I learned that believing in your students is a big part of teaching because kids need someone in their lives that believes that they can make it.
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