On page 91 of Milton Chen's book Education Nation, he talks about the science aspect of combining technology with science. Students admitted that the "technology-rich project to be more challenging and time-consuming; however, many of the students also agreed that the project was more fun and engaging....concept of 'hard fun.'"
When I took the IM 422 (Media, Materials, & Methods of Inststruction), the professor asked us to watch this video:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-666540182028461233#
One of the things that Clifford Stoll talks about is how technology and computers cannot be used to help students. Learning should not be fun, it never was and it never will be is another point that he makes. But going back to this idea of learning and fun, is it possible to combine the two?
Clifford Stoll uses the ideology of either/or, but in the 21st century, that is not acceptable to use. Our students need a curriculum that is based on them (a student-centered classroom) for them. What I mean by that is that students should not be taught in the same way that their grandparents were taught. That was a different era, this is a new age where it is integral that teachers adapt to the new technologies. One thing might happen if we do this, we could have some "hard fun" while learning how to manipulate modern technologies into "weapons of mass instruction."
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Chapter 2: Education Nation
The curriculum edge in Milton Chen's Education Nation seems to include the first part where he talks about both-and thinking. He does this by talking about project-based learning (PBL), where students do projects that end up being more than just one single area of learning.
For example, with regards to his talking about the car college thing. In that example, it was an afterschool activity. It taught the students auto mechanics, but much more. Because they also have to work with numbers in the measuring of everything. They have to work on physics on how a car ends up moving and how it stops. They have to work on metal working. So, what could be considered either all of these subjects separate or making a car becomes all of these seperate subjects are worked on while working on the car.
That, I believe, which I accept I don't know everything about PBL, is the point of PBL. It is to combine a bunch of different subjects that could be taught seperately taught together creating a both-and situation in learning.
Another example that I, myself, could use, is putting on a play. This works on many different things for a student. Because, depending on whether a student is in the stage crew or an actor, they work on different things. A member of the stage crew socializes and gets to know the other students and works with wood. An actor works on different styles of learning and remembering things. For example, students must read the script which will help with remembering their lines. They also will remember in time where they are supposed to move to when they say that line. They will remember auditory-wise how they say a line as well as the line that is said before them. All of these combine to help students remember. Another both-and situation of learning.
For example, with regards to his talking about the car college thing. In that example, it was an afterschool activity. It taught the students auto mechanics, but much more. Because they also have to work with numbers in the measuring of everything. They have to work on physics on how a car ends up moving and how it stops. They have to work on metal working. So, what could be considered either all of these subjects separate or making a car becomes all of these seperate subjects are worked on while working on the car.
That, I believe, which I accept I don't know everything about PBL, is the point of PBL. It is to combine a bunch of different subjects that could be taught seperately taught together creating a both-and situation in learning.
Another example that I, myself, could use, is putting on a play. This works on many different things for a student. Because, depending on whether a student is in the stage crew or an actor, they work on different things. A member of the stage crew socializes and gets to know the other students and works with wood. An actor works on different styles of learning and remembering things. For example, students must read the script which will help with remembering their lines. They also will remember in time where they are supposed to move to when they say that line. They will remember auditory-wise how they say a line as well as the line that is said before them. All of these combine to help students remember. Another both-and situation of learning.
Chapter 1: Education Nation
One thing that I found very interesting was on page 14 of Milton Chen's Education Nation. It says: "...a long century of censoring students interest." I think that unfortunately, this is a very true statement today. Thinking about my own educational experience, this was true of most of my teachers (but not all). I would like to focus on the two teachers who allowed me to ask questions and look into my interests. My 4th grade teacher, Mr. Johnson, actually rearranged his curriculum lesson plans to allow all of us to put on a skit in class. This was after he adapted his lesson plan to include someone coming in and reading the first two Harry Potter books.
That year really changed my life, because I loathed reading, I thought that there was not one good thing that could come out of reading. But, after hearing the first Harry Potter book, I thought "Wow! Maybe they have a point behind making us read." I went out and got the other two Harry Potter books that were out at that time. Then, I became very involved in the theater. One single year changed my life, isn't it worth putting in a little extra time to help change a student's life? I think it is.
Another point that I found interesting in Chapter 1 was on page 15, he quotes John Dewey saying that too often, curriculum has become isolated material. It is so true that teachers don't rip that idea of isolated material curriculum apart. Look at geography class, we learn about the continent of Australia, and then of Asia, then, finally, North America. We are teaching students subtly that what they are learning does not have anything to do with their life. To teach that is to fail the child, later on in the chapter, Chen says "...learning is fundamentally a joyful activity..." which I believe is absolutely the case. It is, unfortunately, only the case if you have a good teacher.
When the speaker came in about a month ago talking about alternative learning centers, she said something to the lines of "I give each student a blank slate when they enter my classroom." This relates to page 18 where Chen quotes George Leonard saying "...there is good in every child." I have been questioning myself as to whether I will ever even read a student's file. The reason that I would not read the file is that mostly negative things are put into the file, and I fear that I will not be able to enter the class and tell the student from the bottom of my heart "you are what you choose to do now, not what you have done in the past." I need to reflect upon that more, and I will...later.
The thing that I am going to end on is something that I have talked about in previous posts. The either/or vs. both-and thinking. Milton Chen really says that in education, we can not afford to use the either/or thinking, but we need to use the both-and mentality when thinking about education. I think that to not only look at education in the both-and idea is a great idea. What I mean by that is that if we apply the both-and mentality to every situation that life gives us, we will have a very unique life to say in the least. So, if we can teach students to see both-and situations in their own lives, we are doing them a great service.
That year really changed my life, because I loathed reading, I thought that there was not one good thing that could come out of reading. But, after hearing the first Harry Potter book, I thought "Wow! Maybe they have a point behind making us read." I went out and got the other two Harry Potter books that were out at that time. Then, I became very involved in the theater. One single year changed my life, isn't it worth putting in a little extra time to help change a student's life? I think it is.
Another point that I found interesting in Chapter 1 was on page 15, he quotes John Dewey saying that too often, curriculum has become isolated material. It is so true that teachers don't rip that idea of isolated material curriculum apart. Look at geography class, we learn about the continent of Australia, and then of Asia, then, finally, North America. We are teaching students subtly that what they are learning does not have anything to do with their life. To teach that is to fail the child, later on in the chapter, Chen says "...learning is fundamentally a joyful activity..." which I believe is absolutely the case. It is, unfortunately, only the case if you have a good teacher.
When the speaker came in about a month ago talking about alternative learning centers, she said something to the lines of "I give each student a blank slate when they enter my classroom." This relates to page 18 where Chen quotes George Leonard saying "...there is good in every child." I have been questioning myself as to whether I will ever even read a student's file. The reason that I would not read the file is that mostly negative things are put into the file, and I fear that I will not be able to enter the class and tell the student from the bottom of my heart "you are what you choose to do now, not what you have done in the past." I need to reflect upon that more, and I will...later.
The thing that I am going to end on is something that I have talked about in previous posts. The either/or vs. both-and thinking. Milton Chen really says that in education, we can not afford to use the either/or thinking, but we need to use the both-and mentality when thinking about education. I think that to not only look at education in the both-and idea is a great idea. What I mean by that is that if we apply the both-and mentality to every situation that life gives us, we will have a very unique life to say in the least. So, if we can teach students to see both-and situations in their own lives, we are doing them a great service.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Both/And Teaching Philosophy
So, when I took the Philosophy of Education Survey, I found out one interesting fact that I did not realize. I, apparently, am very into Perennailism teaching, which is teaching that focuses on the great books of the past. I agree with this to some extent, but because it is Teacher-Based instruction, I really don't like it. Discussions can only get you so far in understanding things.
So, I'm just going to list my numbers in each area. Essentialism: 8; Perennialism: 19; Progressivism: 24; Social Reconstructionism: 24; Existentialism: 25. I do believe that teaching the essentials (reading, math, etc.) are important, but education is not only about the essentials. Unfortunately, in this society, as Milton Chen points out in his book Education Nation, we have a very strong either/or philosophy to everything. Either essentials in the curriculum or other stuff. But, Chen points out that it should be a both/and philosophy because that is much healthier. So, both essentials and other stuff is much better.
So, I can be a teacher who has all of these philosophies under his belt. I, however, am a very strong advocate for existentialism. I'm sure that you realized that when I did my presentation on Special Education in the Juvenile Justice System and my part of the presentation was completely up to the students in the class to chose in what order to learn. Existentialism really ensures that studlents are actually listening and focusing and learning while you are teaching. The reason that they are focusing is because they chose it.
One way of doing this is creating 3-5 lesson plans for just one day and give the students a choice to chose between these choices that I give them. I could also let them teach the class, that way they are engaged and they are teaching what they want to teach.
I love the aspect of existentialism that believes that the point of education is to help the students find out who they are, I really think that that is true. But if it is true, then essentialism is possibly thrown out the window, but I think it can be both existentialism within essentialism. For instance, I can still make 3-5 lessson plans on an essential task and then give them the choice which would make it borderline existentialism. But the lesson plan within it will be very existentialism, they have the choice of what order they want to learn the essential knowledge things.
So, I'm just going to list my numbers in each area. Essentialism: 8; Perennialism: 19; Progressivism: 24; Social Reconstructionism: 24; Existentialism: 25. I do believe that teaching the essentials (reading, math, etc.) are important, but education is not only about the essentials. Unfortunately, in this society, as Milton Chen points out in his book Education Nation, we have a very strong either/or philosophy to everything. Either essentials in the curriculum or other stuff. But, Chen points out that it should be a both/and philosophy because that is much healthier. So, both essentials and other stuff is much better.
So, I can be a teacher who has all of these philosophies under his belt. I, however, am a very strong advocate for existentialism. I'm sure that you realized that when I did my presentation on Special Education in the Juvenile Justice System and my part of the presentation was completely up to the students in the class to chose in what order to learn. Existentialism really ensures that studlents are actually listening and focusing and learning while you are teaching. The reason that they are focusing is because they chose it.
One way of doing this is creating 3-5 lesson plans for just one day and give the students a choice to chose between these choices that I give them. I could also let them teach the class, that way they are engaged and they are teaching what they want to teach.
I love the aspect of existentialism that believes that the point of education is to help the students find out who they are, I really think that that is true. But if it is true, then essentialism is possibly thrown out the window, but I think it can be both existentialism within essentialism. For instance, I can still make 3-5 lessson plans on an essential task and then give them the choice which would make it borderline existentialism. But the lesson plan within it will be very existentialism, they have the choice of what order they want to learn the essential knowledge things.
Philosophy of Education presentation notes
- Your philosophy is what you believe about education
- Teacher centered
- Install respect
- Student centered
- Prepare students for their future.
- Help the student figure out who they are
- Essentialism
- Basic Teaching
- Test scores
- Perennialism
- Great books
- Group Discussions
- Progressive
- Real world connecting to school
- Teacher and student work together
- group work
- Technology utilized
- Social Reconstructionism
- Social challenges in class
- School best place to expose incorrect biases
- Goal is to change students ideas
- Existentialism
- Find meaning in students own lives
- not used in public schools very much.
- Can you mix philosophies
- Yes, you can. Important to create an emotional connection between student and subject, and student and teacher
- Constructivism
- Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky
- knowledge is constructed
- help create order in the world
- Relate
- prior knowledge
- scaffolding
- kids with autism thrive under this
- Behaviorism
- B.F. Skinner
- People are shaped by their environment
- Relate
- System of reinforcement
- extrinsic rewards to intrinsic rewards
Set up to Fail
So, I got my new lacement today. And from the looks of it, I'm not going to have a good experience. She said the teacher saw what was on my action plan, and said if I screw up one time, I'm out.
He apparently graduated from the Special Education Department here at SCSU and has been working at Talahi for three years. "So he knows the system."
How am I supposed to help the kids when I know the teacher is looking over me with a fine comb waiting for me to fail? And then will kick me out the first chance he gets.
I thought that I couldn't teach reading, but I could. I really don't think that I can teach or help in an ESL classroom.
This, I feel like, is going to be a bad experience. Now, I know what you're going to say, the experience is what you make it. But how am I supposed to have a positive experience when the teacher is waiting for me to fail and I have to help ESL students.
It feels like this degree refuses to allow me to help the students now, instead, I have to impress the teachers and people who are above me. If I help and impress the students, but not the higher ups, I'm kicked out of the classroom.
He apparently graduated from the Special Education Department here at SCSU and has been working at Talahi for three years. "So he knows the system."
How am I supposed to help the kids when I know the teacher is looking over me with a fine comb waiting for me to fail? And then will kick me out the first chance he gets.
I thought that I couldn't teach reading, but I could. I really don't think that I can teach or help in an ESL classroom.
This, I feel like, is going to be a bad experience. Now, I know what you're going to say, the experience is what you make it. But how am I supposed to have a positive experience when the teacher is waiting for me to fail and I have to help ESL students.
It feels like this degree refuses to allow me to help the students now, instead, I have to impress the teachers and people who are above me. If I help and impress the students, but not the higher ups, I'm kicked out of the classroom.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Mid-Semester Mid-Degree crisis
So I have reached that stage. The stage that everyone in their life has probably experienced at some point in their lives. I have reached the stage where I am confused and am having a crisis. I am trying to figure out if Special Education emphasis in EBD is the right thing for me. At the present moment, everyone whom I have asked "what will I be teaching in an EBD classroom?" have told me, "um..." Will I even be teaching students with EBD?
It all started on Tuesday when I found out that I was kicked out of the classroom which I had previously been put into. It was a fourth grade classroom, and it was an amazing experience working with those students. Because I had a teacher in fourth grade who changed my life, and I wanted to be that for the kids. But now, because I was not dressed professionally, I cannot have the chance to help change their lives.
To you, the issue of clothing in the classroom probably isn't that big of a deal. For me, though, it is. I am not comfortable in "professional clothes," and if I am uncomfortable, I will not be able to help the students. I also do not have the guts to wear professional clothes because in my 20 years of living on this earth, I have yet to experience any professional clothes that actually looked good on me. Instead, they all are disturbingly tight, and few and far between. I am a big guy, try walking into a JC Penny store and having to go straight to the big and tall man section and the clothes even there not fitting.
The most frustrating thing is that if the teacher whom I am working with does not like how I dress, I can get kicked out of the class. I have no say, I have no second chance, I'm just kicked out of the classroom. So, if the teacher or someone else who works in the school complains about me, BAM! I am kicked out of the school. So, what is the point of even going into a school and getting to know the students and them getting to know me. Helping the students realize that they can trust me, and that I can trust them. But then, BAM! I am kicked out of the school. How is that going to help them trust anything in this world? If they trust someone who is subsequently kicked out of the classroom, they may look at the school as kicking them out.
Now I have to decide if I am going to sign this new contract. I really don't know if I am going to do it. Because I could just get kicked out again and then become part of what I want to change in the education system. I want to change the education system by showing students that I am not there to get a paycheck, I am there to help them, help them become the best human being that they can be. But, there has to be trust between the students and I, and how can I have any trust when I am going to be just kicked out of the classroom as soon as I connect with the students.
That brings to mind the real reason that I am going through this crisis, in getting kicked out of the 4th grade classroom, I feel that I have betrayed those students. I got to know them, I got to trust them in only a week and a half, and they got to know me, began to trust me, and now I'm gone. I have helped the education system fail them by making them not trust the education system, and subsequently, anyone. And that is NOT acceptable, to fail a student personally.
So, I have some thinking to do, I have until Wednesday to decide whether I am going to stay in Special Education or not. Decisions, decisions.
It all started on Tuesday when I found out that I was kicked out of the classroom which I had previously been put into. It was a fourth grade classroom, and it was an amazing experience working with those students. Because I had a teacher in fourth grade who changed my life, and I wanted to be that for the kids. But now, because I was not dressed professionally, I cannot have the chance to help change their lives.
To you, the issue of clothing in the classroom probably isn't that big of a deal. For me, though, it is. I am not comfortable in "professional clothes," and if I am uncomfortable, I will not be able to help the students. I also do not have the guts to wear professional clothes because in my 20 years of living on this earth, I have yet to experience any professional clothes that actually looked good on me. Instead, they all are disturbingly tight, and few and far between. I am a big guy, try walking into a JC Penny store and having to go straight to the big and tall man section and the clothes even there not fitting.
The most frustrating thing is that if the teacher whom I am working with does not like how I dress, I can get kicked out of the class. I have no say, I have no second chance, I'm just kicked out of the classroom. So, if the teacher or someone else who works in the school complains about me, BAM! I am kicked out of the school. So, what is the point of even going into a school and getting to know the students and them getting to know me. Helping the students realize that they can trust me, and that I can trust them. But then, BAM! I am kicked out of the school. How is that going to help them trust anything in this world? If they trust someone who is subsequently kicked out of the classroom, they may look at the school as kicking them out.
Now I have to decide if I am going to sign this new contract. I really don't know if I am going to do it. Because I could just get kicked out again and then become part of what I want to change in the education system. I want to change the education system by showing students that I am not there to get a paycheck, I am there to help them, help them become the best human being that they can be. But, there has to be trust between the students and I, and how can I have any trust when I am going to be just kicked out of the classroom as soon as I connect with the students.
That brings to mind the real reason that I am going through this crisis, in getting kicked out of the 4th grade classroom, I feel that I have betrayed those students. I got to know them, I got to trust them in only a week and a half, and they got to know me, began to trust me, and now I'm gone. I have helped the education system fail them by making them not trust the education system, and subsequently, anyone. And that is NOT acceptable, to fail a student personally.
So, I have some thinking to do, I have until Wednesday to decide whether I am going to stay in Special Education or not. Decisions, decisions.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Conservatives and Teaching
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/13/education/13texas.html
This article talks about how the conservatives on the school board of a Texas school district decided to change all of the textbooks to fit a more conservative curriculum. They cut out everything that could be construed as a liberal curriculum. They emphasize that the Constitution and the American Revolution was founded and based on Christian Principles and that is what the new curriculum is about.
I am against this for one reason, the textbook that they choose will probably not talk about anything except for its own biased books. This affects education to a disturbingly large extent. Because I know that I may be teaching students with disabilities with painfully biased textbooks. I do not know at the present moment what I will do in the situation such as that because the school district will not be willing to buy new textbooks.
However, I could go all Erin Gruwell and buy my own books for the students. Or just use websites and different things like that. Then, if that is the case, I would have to make sure to not assign any homework unless I find out whether the students have computers and internet at home or not.
This article talks about how the conservatives on the school board of a Texas school district decided to change all of the textbooks to fit a more conservative curriculum. They cut out everything that could be construed as a liberal curriculum. They emphasize that the Constitution and the American Revolution was founded and based on Christian Principles and that is what the new curriculum is about.
I am against this for one reason, the textbook that they choose will probably not talk about anything except for its own biased books. This affects education to a disturbingly large extent. Because I know that I may be teaching students with disabilities with painfully biased textbooks. I do not know at the present moment what I will do in the situation such as that because the school district will not be willing to buy new textbooks.
However, I could go all Erin Gruwell and buy my own books for the students. Or just use websites and different things like that. Then, if that is the case, I would have to make sure to not assign any homework unless I find out whether the students have computers and internet at home or not.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Field Experience 10/11/10
So, there were some very interesting things that went on yesterday in the fourth grade classroom. First of all, I started working there for field experience last week. It began with the typical things of reading stations. I helped a student who we'll call Randy when I could see that he was not working on his work that he was supposed to be doing.
After the first station, I switched from the worksheet station (which is where I was at) to the silent reading station. I helped another kid whom we'll call Andy with his fluency skills. I don't feel that I am very good at teaching reading, so he was reading to me, and I was following along in his book. And I noticed that he was skipping over the word "Indianapolis." So, I stopped him once he was done with the page and I tried to help break down the word Indianapolis. I first covered up the polis so that Indiana was showing. After five minutes of having no idea of how to help him get this word, I told him what the word was and he told me "you should have said 'sounds like Minneapolis.'" I had not even thought about this, so again, the students are much smarter than me and they prove it every day.
After helping Andy, I helped a girl named Paige. She was reading a book about crocodiles, and I would pick the book up after she was done reading a page and quiz her on her comprehension. I also gave her two questions that were not in the book. The first question that I asked was "what is prey?" At this point, the group that was reading with the teacher had finished their book, so they went over to the TV and turned it on to watch the movie of the book. The other two groups were told to just keep working while the TV was playing. So, I asked again "what is prey?" and Paige looked at me and said, "Prey is an animal..." and then her attention was brought towards the TV, and this happened a few times. So, finally, I said, "You are correct that prey is an animal." And so she looked at me and said, "Prey is an animal..." and again her attention was drawn back to the movie. I then read her the sentence with the word Prey in it and she said, "Oh, prey is the enemy who the crocodile eats." I congratulated her and said that that was not even in the book. She began to beam.
The other out of the book question that I asked was "What is a territory?" This is a very interesting story, at least to me it is. Her answer to my question was, "Territory is when people come on to your territory." I was a little taken aback, so I asked again, "What is a territory?" And she looked at me as if I was crazy and said again "A territory is when people come on to your territory." At this point, I realized that she didn't realize that she was using the word that I had asked her to define as the definition. So, I told her what I was hearing. "Okay, Paige, I am hearing this, that the definition of a territory is a territory." After that, she said, "Oh, a territory is a piece of land that you own." The fourth grade brain is so fascinating, and yet I think a lot of adults use this as well. And again, I congratulated her on getting the answer right when it wasn't even in the book. She was full-blown beaming now. The reason that I did this was that the answer was not there, and I feel that she has been taught up until now that she is stupid in regards to reading. I know what that feels like, so if I get an answer correct where the answer was not even in the book, I feel really good.
Then, I went to the back table to help some students with their worksheets while the movie was still playing. We didn't get much done, because the movie was really distracting them and it was even distracting me a little bit. About five minutes after I sat down at the table, the teacher calls from over her desk that I need to teach these students how to use a dictionary, because they don't know how to. She said that in front of the whole class to me. I feel that it would have been much more appropriate to come over to me or ask me to come over to her and say quietly what she would like me to work with the students on.
After reading time (which lasted about an hour and fifteen minutes), the teacher told everyone to clean off their desks. Randy and another student still had things on the top of their desks. Randy started showing signs of a blowup, he was starting to throw his stuff into his desk with force. The teacher told me to take Randy down to the office and then back in order to give him a body break. As we were walking, Randy was muttering about how much he hated the teacher. After about a minute of complaining about the teacher, he said "She doesn't even like us, I mean I can feel that she doesn't like us, and all of us can. But you, you we like, you I like, because you like us, and you show it to us and are real about liking us. We all like you." I was a bit blown away by this statement, mainly because of its contrasting nonverbal language, which was smacking the wall the whole way down to the office and then he got some water. After that, we walked back to the classroom, and he kept hitting the wall. I asked him, "Just out of curiosity, why do you keep hitting the wall?" He answered, "Because it feels good."
I feel that I did my best yesterday, but I don't know what to do when the teacher does something like put in a movie and tell the other students to keep working. I could barely concentrate and I am a 20 year old, they are only 9 years old, how are they supposed to focus when their classmates are watching a movie? But I did the best I could given the circumstances.
After the first station, I switched from the worksheet station (which is where I was at) to the silent reading station. I helped another kid whom we'll call Andy with his fluency skills. I don't feel that I am very good at teaching reading, so he was reading to me, and I was following along in his book. And I noticed that he was skipping over the word "Indianapolis." So, I stopped him once he was done with the page and I tried to help break down the word Indianapolis. I first covered up the polis so that Indiana was showing. After five minutes of having no idea of how to help him get this word, I told him what the word was and he told me "you should have said 'sounds like Minneapolis.'" I had not even thought about this, so again, the students are much smarter than me and they prove it every day.
After helping Andy, I helped a girl named Paige. She was reading a book about crocodiles, and I would pick the book up after she was done reading a page and quiz her on her comprehension. I also gave her two questions that were not in the book. The first question that I asked was "what is prey?" At this point, the group that was reading with the teacher had finished their book, so they went over to the TV and turned it on to watch the movie of the book. The other two groups were told to just keep working while the TV was playing. So, I asked again "what is prey?" and Paige looked at me and said, "Prey is an animal..." and then her attention was brought towards the TV, and this happened a few times. So, finally, I said, "You are correct that prey is an animal." And so she looked at me and said, "Prey is an animal..." and again her attention was drawn back to the movie. I then read her the sentence with the word Prey in it and she said, "Oh, prey is the enemy who the crocodile eats." I congratulated her and said that that was not even in the book. She began to beam.
The other out of the book question that I asked was "What is a territory?" This is a very interesting story, at least to me it is. Her answer to my question was, "Territory is when people come on to your territory." I was a little taken aback, so I asked again, "What is a territory?" And she looked at me as if I was crazy and said again "A territory is when people come on to your territory." At this point, I realized that she didn't realize that she was using the word that I had asked her to define as the definition. So, I told her what I was hearing. "Okay, Paige, I am hearing this, that the definition of a territory is a territory." After that, she said, "Oh, a territory is a piece of land that you own." The fourth grade brain is so fascinating, and yet I think a lot of adults use this as well. And again, I congratulated her on getting the answer right when it wasn't even in the book. She was full-blown beaming now. The reason that I did this was that the answer was not there, and I feel that she has been taught up until now that she is stupid in regards to reading. I know what that feels like, so if I get an answer correct where the answer was not even in the book, I feel really good.
Then, I went to the back table to help some students with their worksheets while the movie was still playing. We didn't get much done, because the movie was really distracting them and it was even distracting me a little bit. About five minutes after I sat down at the table, the teacher calls from over her desk that I need to teach these students how to use a dictionary, because they don't know how to. She said that in front of the whole class to me. I feel that it would have been much more appropriate to come over to me or ask me to come over to her and say quietly what she would like me to work with the students on.
After reading time (which lasted about an hour and fifteen minutes), the teacher told everyone to clean off their desks. Randy and another student still had things on the top of their desks. Randy started showing signs of a blowup, he was starting to throw his stuff into his desk with force. The teacher told me to take Randy down to the office and then back in order to give him a body break. As we were walking, Randy was muttering about how much he hated the teacher. After about a minute of complaining about the teacher, he said "She doesn't even like us, I mean I can feel that she doesn't like us, and all of us can. But you, you we like, you I like, because you like us, and you show it to us and are real about liking us. We all like you." I was a bit blown away by this statement, mainly because of its contrasting nonverbal language, which was smacking the wall the whole way down to the office and then he got some water. After that, we walked back to the classroom, and he kept hitting the wall. I asked him, "Just out of curiosity, why do you keep hitting the wall?" He answered, "Because it feels good."
I feel that I did my best yesterday, but I don't know what to do when the teacher does something like put in a movie and tell the other students to keep working. I could barely concentrate and I am a 20 year old, they are only 9 years old, how are they supposed to focus when their classmates are watching a movie? But I did the best I could given the circumstances.
'Unless SA gets smarter, we will get poorer'
http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-10-12-unless-sa-gets-smarter-we-will-get-poorer
This article on South African Doctoral education programs has some very interesting information. None of which really matter in regards to education. The biggest thing is that they are looking at education as an economic boost. They are not looking at it to form better human beings, but to better the economy which in return will mainly help the rich.
Why would students want to keep going on to a doctoral program if it costs lots of money (which it does), and they are not being formed as caring human beings? I don't feel that there is a point to doctoral programs unless it makes you even better at what you want to do.
This article on South African Doctoral education programs has some very interesting information. None of which really matter in regards to education. The biggest thing is that they are looking at education as an economic boost. They are not looking at it to form better human beings, but to better the economy which in return will mainly help the rich.
Why would students want to keep going on to a doctoral program if it costs lots of money (which it does), and they are not being formed as caring human beings? I don't feel that there is a point to doctoral programs unless it makes you even better at what you want to do.
Balance
So, something happened today that scares me for the rest of my education. I am not very good at balancing, and I have to balance a social life, field experience Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and my education. I just failed a gym class because I ended up missing more than two class periods. I am not very good at balancing and I feel that I am taking too much on, and yet it is the normal amount of taking things on for most people.
It just worries me because I don't know if I will ever be able to balance social life with education with teaching. I think that that was what I was most worried about when I began this field experience, that I would fail my gym class. I need to figure out how I am going to balance everything or else I will not be able to successfully complete this degree.
It just worries me because I don't know if I will ever be able to balance social life with education with teaching. I think that that was what I was most worried about when I began this field experience, that I would fail my gym class. I need to figure out how I am going to balance everything or else I will not be able to successfully complete this degree.
Monday, October 4, 2010
I fear...
So tonight, I watched "Freedom Writers" again and my thoughts that came out of Thursday were confirmed. I was thinking that Erin Gruwell was a borderline sheltered person. She was not exposed much to the gang violence in which she taught.
I was and still am worried that because I have not experienced what my students have experienced, that I will not be as good of a teacher.
The thing that I fear most is that I will be unable to help a student. I am afraid that I will fail them as a teacher and as a human being.
But something that I am thinking right now is that I may not be able to help them academically, but I may be able to help them in other ways (i.e. socially, hobbies). If I can help them in any way, I have not failed them...I hope.
I was and still am worried that because I have not experienced what my students have experienced, that I will not be as good of a teacher.
The thing that I fear most is that I will be unable to help a student. I am afraid that I will fail them as a teacher and as a human being.
But something that I am thinking right now is that I may not be able to help them academically, but I may be able to help them in other ways (i.e. socially, hobbies). If I can help them in any way, I have not failed them...I hope.
Beginning of Field Experience
So, I now have started my field experience. I feel that this experience will do two things. I twill help me get used to being in a classroom, and it will help me know what NOT to do.
The teacher does some things that my instincts that have been built through my Special Ed classes are screaming at me is wrong.
She tells us (there is another student who works with me) things in front of the students. For instance, when we started the reading section, she told us three students needed the most attention in reading. She had all three students raise their hands, and told us, "These three have the hardest time at reading." I feel that that statement is like pointing out a big, fat gazelle to a starving lion on the Serengeti.
Another thing that really disturbed me was she threw away a student's assignment in front of his face. I don't think that that is okay at all. Richard Lavoie has a video where he says there is nothing a student can write or do that justifies throwing a students assignment away (he used the example of ripping the paper up).
In class, you emphasize 21st century teaching. I stayed for a science class that the teacher gave. She was teaching about the rock cycle. She did not use any technology or visuals (besides the textbook) during her lecture. I was talking with a friend about this, and we talked about how we could make it alive and interesting. She just used a textbook, and showed pictures of rocks.
We thought that she could have brought in a rock. Then smashed it with a hammer, at which point she adds dirt. Then, she would show a video of a volcano erupting.
The final thing, because I feel as though I am complaining about her, is she told everyone that the worksheet she was passing out was really, really hard. This is what I, and many others for that matter, call self-fulfilling prophecy. She tells her students that this is really hard, and they are going to see and believe that it is hard. I would, and may, use "pseudo self-fulfilling prophesy" where for easy things you say it is hard and hard things are easy. At least, say that the easy stuff is hard. This will give them confidence.
B ut I learned a few things myself. One of the kids whom I helped on his worksheet was getting really distracted. He started talking about Harry Potter because my glasses looked like Harry Potter's glasses (in that they are round).
I used a behavior modification on him. So we were talking about Harry Potter and I said, "Tell you what, we'll keep talking about Harry Potter when you have answered 5 of these questions." And he answered 5 questions and we talked about Harry Potter some more, I did this statement again and I unfortunately was called away to help another students. So, that was, I feel, the only mistake that I made today.
The teacher does some things that my instincts that have been built through my Special Ed classes are screaming at me is wrong.
She tells us (there is another student who works with me) things in front of the students. For instance, when we started the reading section, she told us three students needed the most attention in reading. She had all three students raise their hands, and told us, "These three have the hardest time at reading." I feel that that statement is like pointing out a big, fat gazelle to a starving lion on the Serengeti.
Another thing that really disturbed me was she threw away a student's assignment in front of his face. I don't think that that is okay at all. Richard Lavoie has a video where he says there is nothing a student can write or do that justifies throwing a students assignment away (he used the example of ripping the paper up).
In class, you emphasize 21st century teaching. I stayed for a science class that the teacher gave. She was teaching about the rock cycle. She did not use any technology or visuals (besides the textbook) during her lecture. I was talking with a friend about this, and we talked about how we could make it alive and interesting. She just used a textbook, and showed pictures of rocks.
We thought that she could have brought in a rock. Then smashed it with a hammer, at which point she adds dirt. Then, she would show a video of a volcano erupting.
The final thing, because I feel as though I am complaining about her, is she told everyone that the worksheet she was passing out was really, really hard. This is what I, and many others for that matter, call self-fulfilling prophecy. She tells her students that this is really hard, and they are going to see and believe that it is hard. I would, and may, use "pseudo self-fulfilling prophesy" where for easy things you say it is hard and hard things are easy. At least, say that the easy stuff is hard. This will give them confidence.
B ut I learned a few things myself. One of the kids whom I helped on his worksheet was getting really distracted. He started talking about Harry Potter because my glasses looked like Harry Potter's glasses (in that they are round).
I used a behavior modification on him. So we were talking about Harry Potter and I said, "Tell you what, we'll keep talking about Harry Potter when you have answered 5 of these questions." And he answered 5 questions and we talked about Harry Potter some more, I did this statement again and I unfortunately was called away to help another students. So, that was, I feel, the only mistake that I made today.
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