When I first started the Special Education major classes, I took SPED 203 and the very first paper that I wrote was a paper on my experiences with people with disabilities. The title of my paper "My Experiences of Disabled People;" that name alone should make you cringe. There are two problems with the name of this paper, 1) it is a person with a disability, not a disabled person, I'll get more into that later, and 2) my experiences of rather than with. Apparently, at that time, I thought that experiences were a one way street with people with disabilities. I was the only one who was getting any experience out of it.
Now, on to person first language (PFL). When I was doing a project once, I was working with a few other people and we were doing a project on students with disabilities. And on all of their PowerPoint slides, they put non-person first language. They put things like "Autistic boy," "Downs Syndrome Child," etc. and I corrected them and asked them to use PFL, and they said to me "Well, if I use person first language, then the point is not as strong." So, I used this as a teachable moment and I read the sentence that she wrote, "Downs Syndrome Boy gets arrested" and then I read her how it would be if it were person first "Boy with Downs Syndrome gets arrested." And I asked her, "Does there seem to be any difference in the point of these two statements? Both get the point across, one describes the boy as being defined only as Downs Syndrome and the other describes the boy being defined as a boy first, and then he has a disability.
So, the point that I am trying to make about this issue, which is very dear to my heart, is that non-person first language implies that the student is only their disability, or at least their disability is what makes them them, because that is the first thing that you hear about them. "Jack is an alcoholic" vs. "Jack is a person who struggles with alcoholism." Both convey the same message, Jack is an alcoholic, but one gives humanity to Jack (PFL) while the other says that Jack is (keyword IS) an alcoholic.
I don't know if I am helping at all with this post. I would love to think that I am, but I don't know. This is something that is really close to my heart, and I hope that I was able to get the message that Person First Language is important because it gives humanity back to the person with the disability.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Social and Emotional Learning Part 2
http://www.edutopia.org/social-emotional-learning-introduction-video
http://www.edutopia.org/social-emotional-learning-overview-video
In the shorter video, it had an excellent way of getting this message of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) into the minds of students. They did this by having the students give presentations in younger classrooms about successful and non-violent ways of resolving a conflict. Teaching something makes you know that thing even more, and by teaching about SEL, then you learn so much more than if you had just heard a teacher standing in front of the class and talking to you about it.
Students in programs that emphasize strong SEL practices on average score 10% higher on state tests. This is a fact that was given in the shorter video, and I am blown away. Because in our society, it seems that we want to make everything easier, and we don't want to put too much time into something. So, we want something that we don't put too much time in and it does amazing things. We can't have it both ways, we, as teachers, must take time and make our lesson plans fun and interesting and, I would say, emphasize SEL in our classroom. It will take time, but look at that benefit, we in our society teach to the test. But they teach to the student and the student does 10% better on these tests than those who are just taught what is going to be on the test. Why are we not emphasizing SEL? Why is it that I did not know about this, I had heard the name, but I didn't know anything about it.
So, what is Social and Emotional Learning? Social and Emotional Learning is the connection of the mind (academics) to the heart (emotions, feelings, interpersonal relationships, intrapersonal relationship). It is the strengthening of the student's ability to deal with tough situations through a wide array of ways (i.e. emotions, non-violent problem solving, etc.). This, if you ask me, is like the Bible for teaching students with Emotional Behavioral Disorders. It is a core concept that must be taught because it can help these students who need help. And incorporating the video that I watched a few days ago on neurology and SEL, SEL changes the brain's function and structure. That is huge, because think about it in regards to a student with Schizophrenia, SEL can change their brain's function and structure. Now, I am not going to say that SEL is a cure-all to and for all students. But it is something that can help to the biggest degree imaginable.
So, now that I know what SEL is, where I have I seen it this semester? In the movie "Freedom Writers," Erin Gruwell uses many theories and practices of SEL. She does the line game, which shows her students that they have more in common than they think. She also assigns them to write in their journal every day, which is a way of encouraging them to embrace their feelings. And to embrace their feelings is SEL right there. Like this, the teacher in the movie "Precious" does this with the journals. She also takes the time to get to know her students and allow them to get to know her (by taking Precious into her home). And finally, when that woman from the alternative school came in, she gave us a packet of writing that was a lot like Freedom Writers the book. And a lot of what she said, namely that some students had a gun to their head five hours previous to coming to school, so how are they supposed to learn?
SEL is something that fascinates and invigorates me and I plan on doing even more looking into it because it can help students so much.
I'm going to leave with this one thought. In Milton Chen's book Education Nation, he talks about continuous learning, learning that happens 24 hours a day and 7 days a week instead of what is seems to be now which is 8 hours a day and 5 days a week. SEL asks students to think about their life, and incorporating the core stuff with SEL, it is strengthening that possibility that they will learn all the time because you are putting them in real life situations.
http://www.edutopia.org/social-emotional-learning-overview-video
In the shorter video, it had an excellent way of getting this message of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) into the minds of students. They did this by having the students give presentations in younger classrooms about successful and non-violent ways of resolving a conflict. Teaching something makes you know that thing even more, and by teaching about SEL, then you learn so much more than if you had just heard a teacher standing in front of the class and talking to you about it.
Students in programs that emphasize strong SEL practices on average score 10% higher on state tests. This is a fact that was given in the shorter video, and I am blown away. Because in our society, it seems that we want to make everything easier, and we don't want to put too much time into something. So, we want something that we don't put too much time in and it does amazing things. We can't have it both ways, we, as teachers, must take time and make our lesson plans fun and interesting and, I would say, emphasize SEL in our classroom. It will take time, but look at that benefit, we in our society teach to the test. But they teach to the student and the student does 10% better on these tests than those who are just taught what is going to be on the test. Why are we not emphasizing SEL? Why is it that I did not know about this, I had heard the name, but I didn't know anything about it.
So, what is Social and Emotional Learning? Social and Emotional Learning is the connection of the mind (academics) to the heart (emotions, feelings, interpersonal relationships, intrapersonal relationship). It is the strengthening of the student's ability to deal with tough situations through a wide array of ways (i.e. emotions, non-violent problem solving, etc.). This, if you ask me, is like the Bible for teaching students with Emotional Behavioral Disorders. It is a core concept that must be taught because it can help these students who need help. And incorporating the video that I watched a few days ago on neurology and SEL, SEL changes the brain's function and structure. That is huge, because think about it in regards to a student with Schizophrenia, SEL can change their brain's function and structure. Now, I am not going to say that SEL is a cure-all to and for all students. But it is something that can help to the biggest degree imaginable.
So, now that I know what SEL is, where I have I seen it this semester? In the movie "Freedom Writers," Erin Gruwell uses many theories and practices of SEL. She does the line game, which shows her students that they have more in common than they think. She also assigns them to write in their journal every day, which is a way of encouraging them to embrace their feelings. And to embrace their feelings is SEL right there. Like this, the teacher in the movie "Precious" does this with the journals. She also takes the time to get to know her students and allow them to get to know her (by taking Precious into her home). And finally, when that woman from the alternative school came in, she gave us a packet of writing that was a lot like Freedom Writers the book. And a lot of what she said, namely that some students had a gun to their head five hours previous to coming to school, so how are they supposed to learn?
SEL is something that fascinates and invigorates me and I plan on doing even more looking into it because it can help students so much.
I'm going to leave with this one thought. In Milton Chen's book Education Nation, he talks about continuous learning, learning that happens 24 hours a day and 7 days a week instead of what is seems to be now which is 8 hours a day and 5 days a week. SEL asks students to think about their life, and incorporating the core stuff with SEL, it is strengthening that possibility that they will learn all the time because you are putting them in real life situations.
Social and Emotional Learning
http://www.aboutourkids.org/articles/social_emotional_learning_what_it_how_can_we_use_it_help_our_children
Remember back a few months ago when I wrote the post First Webinar and I did not know if empathy can be taught. Well, it would appear that Social Emotional Learning (SEL) addresses this issue. In this link, it says that Daniel Goleman wrote a book in 1995 and one of the five crucial emotional competencies regarding Emotional Intelligence is empathy. So, at the present moment, my theory that SEL is basically what I have been posting about all semester only with a name seems to be correct.
When that woman in the alternative school came in and talked to us, she said that part of her job was to help the students manage their feelings. Because for some of them, they had a gun to their head at 2:00am that morning, and how is a student supposed to learn knowing that they had a gun to their had last night? Like this, Dr. Maurice Elias in the article talks about how "children in class who are beset by an array of confused and hurtful feelings cannot and will not learn effectively." This coincides with what she talked about, with how we need to take care of the student's emotions and feelings before we can teach them.
In the beginning of this article, it talks about just teaching academics. And, when I took the teaching philosophy quiz, I was almost completely on the side of student-oriented teaching. I believe that this is why, because students with Emotional Behavioral Disorders desperately need to be taught SEL. If SEL can help them control their emotions, then why would we not use SEL to teach them? Now, I do believe that teaching academics is important as well, and as I have said before, I believe that SEL can be implemented into academics. Therefore, it is both SEL and academics, it isn't an either or situation.
I find myself thinking about direct instruction vs. being a role model. Because being a role model doesn't always mean that you are going to directly instruct a student. The expansion of this thought, however, will have to wait for another time.
Remember back a few months ago when I wrote the post First Webinar and I did not know if empathy can be taught. Well, it would appear that Social Emotional Learning (SEL) addresses this issue. In this link, it says that Daniel Goleman wrote a book in 1995 and one of the five crucial emotional competencies regarding Emotional Intelligence is empathy. So, at the present moment, my theory that SEL is basically what I have been posting about all semester only with a name seems to be correct.
When that woman in the alternative school came in and talked to us, she said that part of her job was to help the students manage their feelings. Because for some of them, they had a gun to their head at 2:00am that morning, and how is a student supposed to learn knowing that they had a gun to their had last night? Like this, Dr. Maurice Elias in the article talks about how "children in class who are beset by an array of confused and hurtful feelings cannot and will not learn effectively." This coincides with what she talked about, with how we need to take care of the student's emotions and feelings before we can teach them.
In the beginning of this article, it talks about just teaching academics. And, when I took the teaching philosophy quiz, I was almost completely on the side of student-oriented teaching. I believe that this is why, because students with Emotional Behavioral Disorders desperately need to be taught SEL. If SEL can help them control their emotions, then why would we not use SEL to teach them? Now, I do believe that teaching academics is important as well, and as I have said before, I believe that SEL can be implemented into academics. Therefore, it is both SEL and academics, it isn't an either or situation.
I find myself thinking about direct instruction vs. being a role model. Because being a role model doesn't always mean that you are going to directly instruct a student. The expansion of this thought, however, will have to wait for another time.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Social Emotional Learning
So, upon watching that video two days ago, I came to realize that I have no idea whatsoever of what social/emotional learning is. So, today and for the next few days, I am going to post videos that I will watch (Mostly from Edutopia).
So, I am going to start this experience off with my thoughts on what I don't know about Social/Emotional Learning. I feel on the outset that this idea of Social/Emotional Learning is really something that I emphasize in my blog, I just didn't have a name for it. I don't know if this is true, I will assess if my presumptions were correct once I am done with this experience.
So, I hope you enjoy the next set of posts on Social/Emotional Learning, because I think I will.
So, I am going to start this experience off with my thoughts on what I don't know about Social/Emotional Learning. I feel on the outset that this idea of Social/Emotional Learning is really something that I emphasize in my blog, I just didn't have a name for it. I don't know if this is true, I will assess if my presumptions were correct once I am done with this experience.
So, I hope you enjoy the next set of posts on Social/Emotional Learning, because I think I will.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
The Heart-Brain Connection Reflection
http://www.edutopia.org/richard-davidson-sel-brain-video
I do not know what social-emotional learning is. But from what Richard Davidson talks about it is that it is a learning style to deal with how to deal with your emotions. His idea of brain plasticity and how social-emotional learning changes the brain's structure and function can have huge effects on Special Education. I would say the area that it would most affect is Emotional Behavioral Disorders (EBD) because according to Davidson, the brain is like plastic, and can be changed. You can teach a student with EBD how to deal and express their emotions in a positive way and that will affect their brain.
His proof of linking stress to lower memory is a huge thing in Special Education as well. He believes that if you lower the stress enough, a student's cognition will improve. This is huge for the area of Developmental Cognitive Delay (DCD) because if it is possible to have the student function highly, then why would teachers not teach students social-emotional learning?
In this field of special education, we can not afford to half-buttox our job. If there is something that can help a student for the rest of their lives, why would we not do it? Granted, it takes time that we want to do something else, but is that a good enough excuse? If you know that if you put in 10 more hours a week for 4 weeks and that will help a student with DCD or EBD and that by doing this it will help keep that student with EBD out of the Juvenile Justice System or help improve the cognition of the student with DCD so that they don't have to be taken care of in a group home? Why would any of us not do that?
Granted, we don't know if our work is going to bring about any positive results, but there is always a possibility that it will. And if you ask me, I would go without sleep for days if it means helping a student.
I do not know what social-emotional learning is. But from what Richard Davidson talks about it is that it is a learning style to deal with how to deal with your emotions. His idea of brain plasticity and how social-emotional learning changes the brain's structure and function can have huge effects on Special Education. I would say the area that it would most affect is Emotional Behavioral Disorders (EBD) because according to Davidson, the brain is like plastic, and can be changed. You can teach a student with EBD how to deal and express their emotions in a positive way and that will affect their brain.
His proof of linking stress to lower memory is a huge thing in Special Education as well. He believes that if you lower the stress enough, a student's cognition will improve. This is huge for the area of Developmental Cognitive Delay (DCD) because if it is possible to have the student function highly, then why would teachers not teach students social-emotional learning?
In this field of special education, we can not afford to half-buttox our job. If there is something that can help a student for the rest of their lives, why would we not do it? Granted, it takes time that we want to do something else, but is that a good enough excuse? If you know that if you put in 10 more hours a week for 4 weeks and that will help a student with DCD or EBD and that by doing this it will help keep that student with EBD out of the Juvenile Justice System or help improve the cognition of the student with DCD so that they don't have to be taken care of in a group home? Why would any of us not do that?
Granted, we don't know if our work is going to bring about any positive results, but there is always a possibility that it will. And if you ask me, I would go without sleep for days if it means helping a student.
The Heart-Brain Connection Notes
http://www.edutopia.org/richard-davidson-sel-brain-video
- Social-Emotional Learning changes the brain (Function and structure)
- Brain is the target of Social Emotional Learning
- We need to foster positive brain changes and one of the central vehicles is social-emotional learning
- behavioral interventions are biological
- Behavioral Interventions affect certain specific brain parts
- Parts of the brain
- Orbital Frontal Cortex
- making emotional judgments about information (good or bad)
- Dorsolateral Cortex
- Critical for certain aspects of emotion
- Guide emotional decision making positively
- Amygdala
- Good at detecting negative emotions and things that are not healthy
- Anterior cingulate cortex
- conflict resolution (cognitive and emotional)
- Pre-Frontal Cortex
- Children use smaller use of pre-frontal cortex
- adolescents use quite a bit more of pre-frontal cortex
- Pre-frontal cortex is turning on during adolescence
- lots of use of the pre-frontal cortex in adults
- Regulate emotions
- Amygdala
- Negative emotion
- Using skills that are taught in Social-Emotional Training can actually change the students' brain.
- Those good at dealing positively with negative stimulus show strong activity in part of the ventrimedial pre-frontal cortex (pre-frontal cortex acts as a controller of the activity of the amygdala)
- Cortisol
- Hormone that deals with stress
- study found that lower cortisol number in the evening
- Regulates emotions means lower cortisol at night
- High levels
- Interferes with circuits in the brain especially the amygdala and the hippocampus
- Both of these parts of the brain affect memory.
- To add stress to a situation, you lower students ability to function.
- If you can lower your anxiety, you will strengthen your prefrontal cortex
- You will do better in cognition, better on tests, etc.
- Summary
- Brain is plastic- built to change in response to experience
- Prefrontal cortex is key and is a convergence zone for affect and cognition; negative emotion will interfere with cognitive prefrontal function.
- Social-emotional learning is an empirically verified strategy to improve skills of emotion regulation and social adaptation
- As such, social-emotional learning likely produces beneficial brain changes.
- Education literally shapes the child's brain and likely produces alterations that lay the foundation for all future learning, emotion regulation and social functioning
- Qualities such as patience, calmness, cooperation, and kindness are all best regarded as skills that can be trained
- Training like social-emotional learning affects the brain.
- In essence, you can change a person who is diagnosed psychopath.
- EBD
- research is critically needed to document the impact of social-emotional learning on the brain.
- Plasticity always occurs
- Neuro-genesis
- Creation of new neurons and happens during all of life
- Sensitive periods exist
- We are rarely confronted with evolutionary dangers from our past
- No longer physical dangers, but emotional dangers.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Precious
Something happened at the end of this movie that I was not expecting at all. But I think that it incorporates what I think about teaching. What I think about students and human beings in general is that we are not just our behaviors. Unfortunately, our behaviors are the only thing that can be seen by others so we are judged for who we are based on our behaviors. Precious' mother was horribly abusive the entire movie, so much that I cried a few times with the things she told Precious. But, I saw beyond those actions in her final monologue about what actually happened with regards to the sexual molestations of her daughter. I saw that she was a human who had a lot of hurt, granted, I will not say that she had more hurt than her daughter. But I was able to see the character as more than just her actions, I saw hurt behind them.
I think that this ability to see the mother as a human being, though deeply flawed, and not as a devil is why I am going into the field of EBD. Students with EBD have behaviors that are very visible and obvious and are usually very negative. So, they are looked at as negative kids. Students with EBD are flawed individuals who have suffered greatly, just like all of us.
Now, the teacher in this movie was very much like the teacher who I want to be. I want to be the teacher who does not believe in separation between students and teacher, I mean look at many of the scenes that she is in and she is sitting with her students in a desk among them. When Precious mother almost kills her, she lets the students lead the class. I could not see the difference between the teacher and the student. And I think that that is what I will create in my classroom. Now, granted, many other people looking in would probably go hogwild because they are so angry that I do not demand respect and other things. But I think that that is clearly what those students needed; they needed a teacher who was not going to exert her authority like they have experienced teachers before. They needed teachers who were willing to break down the barrier in order to provide students with the Least Restrictive Environment.
Hah, I am kind of amazed that I was able to connect my philosophy of education to a special education term (That is true irony, seeing that this is the Future Special Ed Teacher blog). I just feel that for many students, they need a teacher who breaks the barrier between students and teachers. And if they are in a classroom where there is a giant barrier, then they will not want to come and it will be very restrictive and not comforting for them.
Personally, this movie really makes me want to teach in an alternative school. This semester, I began wanting to teach in the Juvenile Justice System, but I feel that teaching in an alternative school to begin with would be something that I am very interested in. In the article that I read for the presentation on Special Education in the Juvenile Justice System, I found out that the retention rate for teachers who start teaching in the Juvenile Justice System is dangerously low. I just think that it would be so much fun to work in an alternative school. I have a very warped sense of fun, don't I?
I think that this ability to see the mother as a human being, though deeply flawed, and not as a devil is why I am going into the field of EBD. Students with EBD have behaviors that are very visible and obvious and are usually very negative. So, they are looked at as negative kids. Students with EBD are flawed individuals who have suffered greatly, just like all of us.
Now, the teacher in this movie was very much like the teacher who I want to be. I want to be the teacher who does not believe in separation between students and teacher, I mean look at many of the scenes that she is in and she is sitting with her students in a desk among them. When Precious mother almost kills her, she lets the students lead the class. I could not see the difference between the teacher and the student. And I think that that is what I will create in my classroom. Now, granted, many other people looking in would probably go hogwild because they are so angry that I do not demand respect and other things. But I think that that is clearly what those students needed; they needed a teacher who was not going to exert her authority like they have experienced teachers before. They needed teachers who were willing to break down the barrier in order to provide students with the Least Restrictive Environment.
Hah, I am kind of amazed that I was able to connect my philosophy of education to a special education term (That is true irony, seeing that this is the Future Special Ed Teacher blog). I just feel that for many students, they need a teacher who breaks the barrier between students and teachers. And if they are in a classroom where there is a giant barrier, then they will not want to come and it will be very restrictive and not comforting for them.
Personally, this movie really makes me want to teach in an alternative school. This semester, I began wanting to teach in the Juvenile Justice System, but I feel that teaching in an alternative school to begin with would be something that I am very interested in. In the article that I read for the presentation on Special Education in the Juvenile Justice System, I found out that the retention rate for teachers who start teaching in the Juvenile Justice System is dangerously low. I just think that it would be so much fun to work in an alternative school. I have a very warped sense of fun, don't I?
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Croatian students demand free education
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/265592,croatian-students-demand-free-education.html
According to this article, Croatia offers free education from Kindergarten through PhD, but only for 40% of the population. In 2009, a bunch of students from all of Croatia protested that 60% have to pay for their education. Apparently, if they get good grades, their education will be paid for. But, the clincher here is a quote from Education Minister Dragan Primorac where he says "We want education in Croatia, from kindergarten to PhD, to be free, but only for those who deserve it..." The part that worries me is his statement of "but only for those who deserve it." How does he decide who deserves it and who doesn't?
Let's think of it this way, if he bases it on grades, then students who may have Learning Disabilities who try really hard, but can't get a good grade, will not have their education paid for. This marginalizes many people if they decide only to provide free education for those who get good grades.
I think that the thing that worries me the most is that what if that 40% are all from rich families and the poor families are not provided with free education? So, what if free Croatian education is classist (Where the poor are kept in their place by not receiving education because it is not free)? I am going to have to look more into this because this peeks my curiosity to have free education up to a PhD. That is a lot of money, and it would be awesome if it was for everyone. So, I'll have to research who actually gets the free education.
According to this article, Croatia offers free education from Kindergarten through PhD, but only for 40% of the population. In 2009, a bunch of students from all of Croatia protested that 60% have to pay for their education. Apparently, if they get good grades, their education will be paid for. But, the clincher here is a quote from Education Minister Dragan Primorac where he says "We want education in Croatia, from kindergarten to PhD, to be free, but only for those who deserve it..." The part that worries me is his statement of "but only for those who deserve it." How does he decide who deserves it and who doesn't?
Let's think of it this way, if he bases it on grades, then students who may have Learning Disabilities who try really hard, but can't get a good grade, will not have their education paid for. This marginalizes many people if they decide only to provide free education for those who get good grades.
I think that the thing that worries me the most is that what if that 40% are all from rich families and the poor families are not provided with free education? So, what if free Croatian education is classist (Where the poor are kept in their place by not receiving education because it is not free)? I am going to have to look more into this because this peeks my curiosity to have free education up to a PhD. That is a lot of money, and it would be awesome if it was for everyone. So, I'll have to research who actually gets the free education.
No student ought to be left behind
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/no-student-ought-to-be-left-behind/story-e6frgcjx-1225967194805
This article, from Australia talks about inclusiveness and college. It says that instead of just throwing money at a college for them to use on technology, colleges should train the professors on the best ways to teach to everyone.
I think that this is a really good idea, because I have had conversations with other students and they tell me that their classes are rote memorization classes of facts that they will never really have to use in real life. And this is problematic and I think that this is why many college students start but do not finish. This is just a problematic thing, to just use rote memorization on everything that you learn doesn't make it your knowledge. What if the professor says something like "All Native Americans are savages" and you just put it into your mental filing cabinet. That is not acceptable to do, because then your brain thinks that all Native Americans are savages. You need to look at every piece of information and make it yours by giving it your own words and critically thinking about it. Granted, this takes a lot of time, but you are paying for the classes, and teacher should not require rote memorization.
I, as a teacher, will never require rote memorization on anything. I want my students to think about what I say and then tell me whether they agree or disagree. And if they agree or disagree, why do they agree or disagree. This creates ownership of learning, I as a teacher can just puke out information all I want, but if their mouths are not there to receive the puke, then they aren't going to learn (Plus, they will just end up puking up the puke that I put into their mouths.). Basically, I will have mini-lecturettes where I give a morsel of information and then they talk about it. They talk about it and make their own, compare what I just said to their lives and what they think about what I just said. There is no need for rote memorization in American education, it is counterproductive and foolish to keep doing so. And yet, it still happens.
This article, from Australia talks about inclusiveness and college. It says that instead of just throwing money at a college for them to use on technology, colleges should train the professors on the best ways to teach to everyone.
I think that this is a really good idea, because I have had conversations with other students and they tell me that their classes are rote memorization classes of facts that they will never really have to use in real life. And this is problematic and I think that this is why many college students start but do not finish. This is just a problematic thing, to just use rote memorization on everything that you learn doesn't make it your knowledge. What if the professor says something like "All Native Americans are savages" and you just put it into your mental filing cabinet. That is not acceptable to do, because then your brain thinks that all Native Americans are savages. You need to look at every piece of information and make it yours by giving it your own words and critically thinking about it. Granted, this takes a lot of time, but you are paying for the classes, and teacher should not require rote memorization.
I, as a teacher, will never require rote memorization on anything. I want my students to think about what I say and then tell me whether they agree or disagree. And if they agree or disagree, why do they agree or disagree. This creates ownership of learning, I as a teacher can just puke out information all I want, but if their mouths are not there to receive the puke, then they aren't going to learn (Plus, they will just end up puking up the puke that I put into their mouths.). Basically, I will have mini-lecturettes where I give a morsel of information and then they talk about it. They talk about it and make their own, compare what I just said to their lives and what they think about what I just said. There is no need for rote memorization in American education, it is counterproductive and foolish to keep doing so. And yet, it still happens.
School plans centre to house its homeless pupils
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/dec/01/school-plans-house-homeless-pupils
This article makes me really ponder (That word is funny, say it out loud: ponder) our education system here. I am very confused because if any students here were homeless, I am quite certain they would not end up going to school. But these students in Britain go to school for four months and someone finally finds out that they are homeless. Four months of sleeping on a hard bench in a park when it is either really cold or really hot and working on homework.
And then the startling fact of 100% of this school's year 13 pupils go on to higher education, even though around half of them are entitled to free school meals. What is this school doing that we need to do in the United States? Because clearly they are doing something that is encouraging 100% of their students to go to higher education.
I respect this school because they are taking a holistic approach to education. They believe (And I do as well) that certain needs must be met in order for the student to learn. One of those is somewhere to lay your head at night and feel safe. The creation of this house for homeless students would help with that, it would also help with the meals as well, I would assume. It says in this article that a student was not comfortable in her hostel kitchen, and then one of her pans was stolen, so she had to have microwaved food for a few months.
This gets me excited that in other places, education is focusing on the student so much. Notice in this article that they are not talking at all about competition with other schools or other countries. I think that that is the worst thing that we, as the United States can do, to turn education into a competition. The minute we do that is the time where we lose the purpose of education. Which is to foster wholesome human beings. How can we create compassionate human beings when we are bombarding them with "You are not doing as well as them, you need to do better or else the US is screwed because we are behind many countries on the education list." That is pointless to do and say.
This article makes me really ponder (That word is funny, say it out loud: ponder) our education system here. I am very confused because if any students here were homeless, I am quite certain they would not end up going to school. But these students in Britain go to school for four months and someone finally finds out that they are homeless. Four months of sleeping on a hard bench in a park when it is either really cold or really hot and working on homework.
And then the startling fact of 100% of this school's year 13 pupils go on to higher education, even though around half of them are entitled to free school meals. What is this school doing that we need to do in the United States? Because clearly they are doing something that is encouraging 100% of their students to go to higher education.
I respect this school because they are taking a holistic approach to education. They believe (And I do as well) that certain needs must be met in order for the student to learn. One of those is somewhere to lay your head at night and feel safe. The creation of this house for homeless students would help with that, it would also help with the meals as well, I would assume. It says in this article that a student was not comfortable in her hostel kitchen, and then one of her pans was stolen, so she had to have microwaved food for a few months.
This gets me excited that in other places, education is focusing on the student so much. Notice in this article that they are not talking at all about competition with other schools or other countries. I think that that is the worst thing that we, as the United States can do, to turn education into a competition. The minute we do that is the time where we lose the purpose of education. Which is to foster wholesome human beings. How can we create compassionate human beings when we are bombarding them with "You are not doing as well as them, you need to do better or else the US is screwed because we are behind many countries on the education list." That is pointless to do and say.
Squeaky clean schools hide their worst nightmares from inspectors
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/mortarboard/2010/dec/02/fielding-schools-hide-worst-nightmares
The gist of this blog entry on guardian.co.uk is "Everything needs to be cleansed, anything that can not be cleansed should be removed from the schools." This relates perfectly, even though the article has rather odd writing to it, to students with EBD and why, from what I have learned, EBD is the most underfunded field in Special Education.
A person with schizophrenia will have schizophrenia forever, there are medications that can help stop the delusions, but they only work sometimes. Basically, there is no medication, like antibiotics, that can cure schizophrenia. And we, as the western world really don't like that. We don't like things that can't be fixed with the snap of a finger. And I believe that that is why teachers who teach students with EBD quit so much, because they realize that they can't fix the student.
We want the light to be turned on, and we get excited when a student exhibits that they finally understand something that they have never understood before. We want to cure students with EBD, but they don't need to be cured or fixed, they are who they are and a good teacher will accept and embrace them for who they are.
This is the primary reason that I am going into the field of EBD, because they cannot be cured, they can only be helped. So the question is, what do I mean by helped. Well, first of all, not giving up on them just because I can't fix them. The second thing is to show them that no matter what they do, I am not giving up on them. They can stab me in in the foot or side, and I will come back and show them again that I am not giving up on them.
The gist of this blog entry on guardian.co.uk is "Everything needs to be cleansed, anything that can not be cleansed should be removed from the schools." This relates perfectly, even though the article has rather odd writing to it, to students with EBD and why, from what I have learned, EBD is the most underfunded field in Special Education.
A person with schizophrenia will have schizophrenia forever, there are medications that can help stop the delusions, but they only work sometimes. Basically, there is no medication, like antibiotics, that can cure schizophrenia. And we, as the western world really don't like that. We don't like things that can't be fixed with the snap of a finger. And I believe that that is why teachers who teach students with EBD quit so much, because they realize that they can't fix the student.
We want the light to be turned on, and we get excited when a student exhibits that they finally understand something that they have never understood before. We want to cure students with EBD, but they don't need to be cured or fixed, they are who they are and a good teacher will accept and embrace them for who they are.
This is the primary reason that I am going into the field of EBD, because they cannot be cured, they can only be helped. So the question is, what do I mean by helped. Well, first of all, not giving up on them just because I can't fix them. The second thing is to show them that no matter what they do, I am not giving up on them. They can stab me in in the foot or side, and I will come back and show them again that I am not giving up on them.
We like clean, easy students. Students with EBD are typically the complete opposite, but only because we expect them to be something that they are not. We expect them to be clean and easy to deal with, so they cannot feel their own emotions or allow themselves to have anxiety, and this adds a giant problem to their already tough lives.
I really believe that students with EBD are the lepers of our society. What I mean by this is that not many people want to deal with them, and when they realize that they cannot cure them, they give up. These are human beings who need someone who will not give up on them, because I believe that society has already given up on them. The trick is to help help them not give up on themselves because their parents have given up on them, society has given up on them. And I don't know how I will teach that, how I will teach a student how not to give up on themselves. One of the many questions of this blog, how can I teach a student to believe in themselves when everyone else has stopped believing in them?
Malcolm Griffiths obituary
http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2010/dec/02/malcolm-griffiths-obituary
This article is about the life of Malcolm Griffiths, who was an extreme theater person. He wrote and directed many plays and it talks about his life.
One thing that it talks about is how he had a personal crusade to "build his own bridges between east and west." Like this, as a teacher, I hope to build my own bridges all over the world, whether that be starting out with just Florida or some state that isn't ours, and going all the way over to India or China. It is very important to build bridges in education, because it can lead to things like what he did with one of his classes at Nottingham. He invited Stephen Lowe to come into his classroom and share his latest play, which he had just started on, with a dozen students where each of them would have to make their own set and costumes.
I will be that teacher who builds bridges between two different subjects that seem to be completely different, and who builds bridges between continents, and who builds bridges of positive relationships for students. That is a key thing to do in Special Education, to build bridges of positive relationship for students, because many students with EBD don't have very good role models or positive relationships. And I will set out to help them find those positive relationships and build them in a positive and healthy way and then help maintain them.
So how will I do this? I will do this by possibly being the first role model and/or friend (Now, the argument that this brings up needs to be covered in another post, the argument of whether a teacher should be a friend or not to their students) to these students. And once they trust me enough, I will introduce them to someone who I feel would be a good influence and a good friend to them. I will teach them different rules that I takes to be in a friendship, such as no hitting. I will do this by playing a board game with them and make sure that there are no rules and that the game begins to be really confusing. For instance, Twister where you can push a person off if you so choose (we would play it on a soft floor probably in the gym) and that would take up all of the first class period, but at the end of the class period, I introduce what rule of socialization we will be talking about this week. For instance, with Twister, the rule would be "No hitting or bullying." So, the next day, we talk about the rules surrounding this rule. What I would do is break down this rule into a few other rules, possibly 3 (one for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday), and talk about each of them on one of the days. So, the three for "No bullying" would be "Rule 1: Don't hitting," "Rule 2: Don't say mean things to people," and "Rule 3: Build people up by saying complementing them." On Tuesday, I would talk about Rule 1, on Wednesday, I would talk about Rule 2, and on Thursday, I would talk about Rule 3. Now, on Friday, we would have an review of what we just talked about the entire week. And then we play the game Twister again, this time with the rules reinstated.
This article is about the life of Malcolm Griffiths, who was an extreme theater person. He wrote and directed many plays and it talks about his life.
One thing that it talks about is how he had a personal crusade to "build his own bridges between east and west." Like this, as a teacher, I hope to build my own bridges all over the world, whether that be starting out with just Florida or some state that isn't ours, and going all the way over to India or China. It is very important to build bridges in education, because it can lead to things like what he did with one of his classes at Nottingham. He invited Stephen Lowe to come into his classroom and share his latest play, which he had just started on, with a dozen students where each of them would have to make their own set and costumes.
I will be that teacher who builds bridges between two different subjects that seem to be completely different, and who builds bridges between continents, and who builds bridges of positive relationships for students. That is a key thing to do in Special Education, to build bridges of positive relationship for students, because many students with EBD don't have very good role models or positive relationships. And I will set out to help them find those positive relationships and build them in a positive and healthy way and then help maintain them.
So how will I do this? I will do this by possibly being the first role model and/or friend (Now, the argument that this brings up needs to be covered in another post, the argument of whether a teacher should be a friend or not to their students) to these students. And once they trust me enough, I will introduce them to someone who I feel would be a good influence and a good friend to them. I will teach them different rules that I takes to be in a friendship, such as no hitting. I will do this by playing a board game with them and make sure that there are no rules and that the game begins to be really confusing. For instance, Twister where you can push a person off if you so choose (we would play it on a soft floor probably in the gym) and that would take up all of the first class period, but at the end of the class period, I introduce what rule of socialization we will be talking about this week. For instance, with Twister, the rule would be "No hitting or bullying." So, the next day, we talk about the rules surrounding this rule. What I would do is break down this rule into a few other rules, possibly 3 (one for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday), and talk about each of them on one of the days. So, the three for "No bullying" would be "Rule 1: Don't hitting," "Rule 2: Don't say mean things to people," and "Rule 3: Build people up by saying complementing them." On Tuesday, I would talk about Rule 1, on Wednesday, I would talk about Rule 2, and on Thursday, I would talk about Rule 3. Now, on Friday, we would have an review of what we just talked about the entire week. And then we play the game Twister again, this time with the rules reinstated.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Public, Private and Charter Schools
- Public
- Pro
- Not sheltered
- Liberal arts
- critical thinking
- Con
- Sexual
- teach to the test
- bad teachers (tenure)
- high student:teacher ratio
- Private
- Pro
- Lower ratio of student:teacher
- know more about each other
- Con
- Not free
- Sheltered
- Inclusive special education program
- Public
- Controlled by school board
- until 1840, only wealthy kids went to school
- all students must go to school was a law that was passed in 1918
- Catholic's didn't like it, so they created Catholic Schools
- Pros
- Free
- More Diverse
- Free transportation
- Cons
- Large class sizes
- stigma of being a smart kid
- kid's don't think about school at the end of the day
- testing
- SPED
- IDEA
- FAPE
- IEP
- LRE
- Private
- Voucher
- State gives you money to get your child into a private school
- Special Education? Not really
- Charter Schools
- Doesn't have to follow rules
- MN was first state to pass charter law
- Charter
- School's mission, programs, etc.
- Pro
- No tuition
- No school board controlling them
- Con
- Under constant pressure to perform
- lottery system
- SPED in Charter schools
- How are they going to implement SPED in their school?
Student Says Math Easy As Pi
I hope to be that teacher who introduces a student like this to this. This video is about a kid who can say the decimals of Pi up to the thousandth decimal. And it was because of one teacher who gave it as an assignment in class. And now this kid who may not have liked numbers or mathematics previously now knows a whole lot of numbers of Pi.
It is truly the kind of teacher that I aspire to be, to help students find what they are interested in, whether that be saying Pi to the thousandth decimal place or acting. And once I help them find it, I will utilize that information and use it to teach them.
For instance, if they are into saying Pi, then use Pi to teach the student something else, maybe related to history and the history is one 1964 and that is the hundred through hundred-fourth place.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Early Intro to Math Seems to Improve Kids' Skills Later
This article talks about parents who use a lot of numbers in their talking in front of their kids will help their kids become better mathematicians when they get into school. This presents a very fascinating idea of how to include parents into their children's lives as students. I would just ask the parents to use numbers as often as they can. And maybe the student will become interested in what the parents are talking about. For instance, if the parents are talking about going on vacation to Disney World, then the student would probably be interested in it. The parents can ask the student to help them with some numbers.
I recognize that this may be a bit late in regards to introducing students early on in their lives. But it is something, and if they can find that mathematics is fun because of Disney World, then that's awesome. The point is to make mathematics or numbers a household item that is not just part of school, but expansive of school and home.
I recognize that this may be a bit late in regards to introducing students early on in their lives. But it is something, and if they can find that mathematics is fun because of Disney World, then that's awesome. The point is to make mathematics or numbers a household item that is not just part of school, but expansive of school and home.
Clinical Experience Reflection
So, this semester, I was able to observe and help in a 4th grade classroom. But, due to unforeseeable circumstances, I was removed from that classroom. I was then put into a classroom of students who English is not their first language. And one thing that I noticed in both classrooms is that the teacher's are not setting high enough expectations of their students. They are fine with their students to be below where they can be.
For instance, in the 4th grade classroom, the teacher praised and expected a lot out of group A which was the high functioning group. She even allowed them to watch a movie in the classroom while everyone else was studying and yelled anyone in the other group who was distracted. She set the expectations so low for the students that they reached it perfectly, so she was okay with it. I truly think that the best thing a teacher can do is challenge a student to do and be better. Granted, I will give you that there are many different ways of doing this, some of them positive and healthy and some of them insanely unhealthy and negative. But, I read with them and asked them questions about what they read, and they could answer. But she didn't do that with them, she just labeled them as "these student's can't read" in front of the whole class.
The teacher just did not show any respect to her students, I got the impression that she didn't like many of her students. She used fake happiness and "It's so good to see you" around them. It was hard to watch because one of them had to be taken out and walked around. And I was the one who walked around with him and he kept muttering and hitting the wall "She just doesn't respect us, she doesn't even like us, but you, we all know that you like us and respect us. We like you. But I don't like her, she's fake."
The teacher in the EL (English Learners) classroom was a far better teacher in regards to respect. He called his students "my friends" whenever he was trying to get their attention. That alone seemed to change everything about that classroom.
But, I feel that he also set the expectations too low of his students. He told me the first day, "Don't ask them to read anything, because they can't." And I accepted that because he knows much more than me. But, I read with them out of books. While reading to them out of these books, I asked them to read it with me. And when they read it with me, I slowly got quieter and quieter. And guess what, they were reading out loud without any help. And on the exit interview, he told me again that he noticed that I had said a few times "Can you read that aloud to me. And that's a problem because they can't read out loud." I didn't say anything, because he's the expert in this field, I'm not.
But in this experience, I have learned that students can do much more if we only ask it of them. There is a professor's door in the college of education on the second floor that says "My teacher expected me to do better, so I did better" (I think I may have screwed up that quote, but it is true none-the-less.). Students are more capable than most teachers give them credit for, and I hope to recognize and remember that once I get into teaching, because they are me a few years ago, and had I had someone who expected and me to do better, I feel that I would have done better. So I will help students do better by expecting them to be better, because every student has potential.
For instance, in the 4th grade classroom, the teacher praised and expected a lot out of group A which was the high functioning group. She even allowed them to watch a movie in the classroom while everyone else was studying and yelled anyone in the other group who was distracted. She set the expectations so low for the students that they reached it perfectly, so she was okay with it. I truly think that the best thing a teacher can do is challenge a student to do and be better. Granted, I will give you that there are many different ways of doing this, some of them positive and healthy and some of them insanely unhealthy and negative. But, I read with them and asked them questions about what they read, and they could answer. But she didn't do that with them, she just labeled them as "these student's can't read" in front of the whole class.
The teacher just did not show any respect to her students, I got the impression that she didn't like many of her students. She used fake happiness and "It's so good to see you" around them. It was hard to watch because one of them had to be taken out and walked around. And I was the one who walked around with him and he kept muttering and hitting the wall "She just doesn't respect us, she doesn't even like us, but you, we all know that you like us and respect us. We like you. But I don't like her, she's fake."
The teacher in the EL (English Learners) classroom was a far better teacher in regards to respect. He called his students "my friends" whenever he was trying to get their attention. That alone seemed to change everything about that classroom.
But, I feel that he also set the expectations too low of his students. He told me the first day, "Don't ask them to read anything, because they can't." And I accepted that because he knows much more than me. But, I read with them out of books. While reading to them out of these books, I asked them to read it with me. And when they read it with me, I slowly got quieter and quieter. And guess what, they were reading out loud without any help. And on the exit interview, he told me again that he noticed that I had said a few times "Can you read that aloud to me. And that's a problem because they can't read out loud." I didn't say anything, because he's the expert in this field, I'm not.
But in this experience, I have learned that students can do much more if we only ask it of them. There is a professor's door in the college of education on the second floor that says "My teacher expected me to do better, so I did better" (I think I may have screwed up that quote, but it is true none-the-less.). Students are more capable than most teachers give them credit for, and I hope to recognize and remember that once I get into teaching, because they are me a few years ago, and had I had someone who expected and me to do better, I feel that I would have done better. So I will help students do better by expecting them to be better, because every student has potential.
Teachers take charge to save ailing public schools
But, it presents a very fascinating idea. It is almost like a democratic school, in that all teachers have the same say in things. They have a say in what they would like to teach, which is very helpful, I would think. Very helpful in keeping the teachers teaching there at the school.
I guess that this article doesn't really affect how I will teach, but it may affect where I end up teaching. It would also be good to just know about it because it sounds like a very fascinating movement within the education movement in the United States.
McCain: We need a study of the study on ‘don’t ask’
I think that today, many students feel the same way that McCain feels about this study. They want their hypothesis to be true, they are not willing to accept that they are incorrect about something. So, if they want to find proof that the teacher does not care about them, they may just find it, even if that is not the case and the teacher is trying very hard to show it.
So, the question is, how can I, as a teacher (I should rename my blog this, because I use it in almost every post), teach students to accept information that they do not like. I think that one of the only ways of doing that is by teaching about the past and how people from the past have used incorrect knowledge and hypotheses that they have "proven" to prove that, for example, African American's are less than Caucasians because phrenology proves that they have smaller brains. They also have less veins than Caucasians (Which was only one body that was brought before the doctor who said this). Phrenology, we now know, is quite a load of lies that was created to keep African American's below Caucasians. But now, we typically, recognize that they are equal to us.
However, I think that it is a really good idea to critically think about these things. But, don't make a big deal about something if you haven't seen or read it, like what McCain is doing here. Critically read it when it comes out, and don't have pre-biases before even reading it, or else you are most likely going to find a reason to not like it.
Like this, I, as a teacher, cannot go into a classroom with pre-concieved notions about my students or else I will be hurting them quite intensely. By not giving them a clean slate in my classroom, they are going to continually think that they are their behaviors and nothing else defines them. And that is no okay to teach students either directly or indirectly.
Failure is impossible for high school students! (No, really)
If you look at this from a perspective of Tony Wagner, author of The Global Achievement Gap, I believe he would say that this is getting students more ready for college. Because if there is a possibility that students will give up if they get an "F," then it is not worth it to give it. Instead, allow them to learn it later by giving them an "I."
I think that it is possible that this is babying the students, so a thing that I would add to this is individual break-down of grade with an overall grade. For instance, give them a grade on such things as their respect towards each other, their overall attitude, etc. Give them an A-F and if you give them an F tell that just because they got an F does not mean that they are a failure.
Kids will be Kids Part 2: Cyberbullying
http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/111504/as-bullies-go-digital-parents-play-catch-up
So, this article talks about cyberbullying and the legal ramifications of it and what to do in regards to contacting the parent of the child who cyberbullied.
I am just wondering how I, as a future teacher, will address cyberbullying. And, like has been said many times on this blog, I don't know. However, in the article, there is an interesting story of a woman who was going to school for cyberbullying and her daughter ended up cyberbullying a student. Things got worse from there, and then the two of them (mother and daughter) started talking to each other. The mother got the daughter a puppy, and the daughter really loved the puppy. And the mother used that as a perfect tool for teaching her daughter. She said, "How would you feel if someone through a rock at him?" And with that, her daughter started crying. But, that is a perfect teaching moment that was surprisingly appropriate.
And it relates again to my thinking of the last post on bullying. Getting her daughter a puppy to me would imply that she was reinforcing her daughter for cyberbullying. But giving attention to students who bully who may be in my classes seems to be reinforcing the bully, not the victim of the bully. There is a story that I heard two years ago. It goes like this. A bunch of people were having a delicious 4th of July picnic on the Mississippi River when they saw in the distance up the river a basket floating down the river. One of the people swam out into the river and grabbed the basket and brought it ashore, and everyone was filled with horror when they found that there was a baby in the basket. They thought that that was bad, but then they looked up the river only to find that there were hundreds of baskets coming down the river. They all form a line so that none of the baskets could get through down the river. And they save as many as they can. Then, they miss one. And they become really discouraged. And someone has a very bright idea and gets out of the water. Everyone in the river is very angry with them and yelling them and screaming "Don't you care about these baskets?" And as he is walking up the river, he pauses and turns around and says quietly, "You are saving the baskets by catching them once they are in the river, but I'm going to go up river and stop whoever is throwing the baskets into the river."
The basket in this story is the student who is bullied. And the person throwing the baskets into the river is the bully. If I help the bully, then nobody will have to help the student who is bullied, because the bully will not bully him. I will help the bully by seeing him first and foremost as a human being, then his actions. He is a person with a story that would break any heart listening to it, but no one listens to it because all they see is a bully. I will fight my own biases (Which I will have many because I, myself, was bullied) and see that student for who he really is.
So, this article talks about cyberbullying and the legal ramifications of it and what to do in regards to contacting the parent of the child who cyberbullied.
I am just wondering how I, as a future teacher, will address cyberbullying. And, like has been said many times on this blog, I don't know. However, in the article, there is an interesting story of a woman who was going to school for cyberbullying and her daughter ended up cyberbullying a student. Things got worse from there, and then the two of them (mother and daughter) started talking to each other. The mother got the daughter a puppy, and the daughter really loved the puppy. And the mother used that as a perfect tool for teaching her daughter. She said, "How would you feel if someone through a rock at him?" And with that, her daughter started crying. But, that is a perfect teaching moment that was surprisingly appropriate.
And it relates again to my thinking of the last post on bullying. Getting her daughter a puppy to me would imply that she was reinforcing her daughter for cyberbullying. But giving attention to students who bully who may be in my classes seems to be reinforcing the bully, not the victim of the bully. There is a story that I heard two years ago. It goes like this. A bunch of people were having a delicious 4th of July picnic on the Mississippi River when they saw in the distance up the river a basket floating down the river. One of the people swam out into the river and grabbed the basket and brought it ashore, and everyone was filled with horror when they found that there was a baby in the basket. They thought that that was bad, but then they looked up the river only to find that there were hundreds of baskets coming down the river. They all form a line so that none of the baskets could get through down the river. And they save as many as they can. Then, they miss one. And they become really discouraged. And someone has a very bright idea and gets out of the water. Everyone in the river is very angry with them and yelling them and screaming "Don't you care about these baskets?" And as he is walking up the river, he pauses and turns around and says quietly, "You are saving the baskets by catching them once they are in the river, but I'm going to go up river and stop whoever is throwing the baskets into the river."
The basket in this story is the student who is bullied. And the person throwing the baskets into the river is the bully. If I help the bully, then nobody will have to help the student who is bullied, because the bully will not bully him. I will help the bully by seeing him first and foremost as a human being, then his actions. He is a person with a story that would break any heart listening to it, but no one listens to it because all they see is a bully. I will fight my own biases (Which I will have many because I, myself, was bullied) and see that student for who he really is.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Boys will be boys
The age old saying that has been used to justify bullying in schools all over the United States. I recently watched Bullied, a movie about a gay teenager who sues his school in order to feel safe in his environment. I was one of the students who was bullied. It is one of the most debilitating experiences I have ever had, it affected everything from my schoolwork to socializing with others. I refused to do homework because I would just get it wrong and then be made of for being fat and stupid. I wouldn't socialize with others because I felt that the person who was being nice to me had ulterior motives to bully me with the information that they gained in that one day or week.
To be gay and bullied must be just as bad, if not worse because it is who they are. They don't have a choice (I don't believe that it is a choice) to be who they are and it must be terrifying and scary to be bullied for being gay.
I want to be that one teacher, who does not have tenure yet (and has not taught for very long) and I want to help the student who is doing the bullying. I, personally, have been torn about this issue for the last semester. Because I feel that by giving my attention to the bully (Who may be diagnosed EBD or ADHD) that I am betraying the student who that student is bullying. For instance, I may end up teaching in the Juvenile Justice System where I will teach students who have murdered someone or attempted to murder someone. I have been struggling with this idea of if I am trying to help this student who really needs help, am I hurting the person whom they hurt in the first place?
But I see now that there are reasons behind bullying. On Glee right now (I am really into that show), one of the characters that keeps beating Kurt (an openly gay student) up ends up being gay. He is a bully to Kurt because he has suppressed his sexuality. If you look at functional behavioral analysis, it requires you to see and try and find out what the function is behind that specific behavior (I learned that in SPED 431).
I had a strong support system at home with regards to bullies, my parents never cared about what other people thought of them, so I got that same idea. They also told me that all of what the students who bullied me told me was a bunch of bs (They told me that I was so fat that my parents shouldn't even love me and then spit on my food). They fought for me when I really needed them (i.e. when I was attacked 3 on 1 during recess when I walked a few feet with all 3 on my back and finally went down), they helped me through all of this stuff.
But, I cannot change the home support system, but I can say that my classroom is a haven. If there is any bullying in my classroom, an intervention must be attempted. I don't know how exactly I am going to teach students who bully other students, but I will. Because they clearly have a hard time expressing their emotions, maybe it is because of the movies they watch or that thought that runs through movies and different media outlets like that that men don't have emotions.
But I recognize that women bully as well. And with this issue as well, I wish I had something to say. Because female bullying, according to Brad Kuhlman, seems to be much more social meanness (They ostracize the student rather than attack the student).
I hope that by the time I am in the classroom, I will have figured out how I am going to deal with bullying in my classroom as well as the hallways. I am very inexperienced, but I want to become more experienced.
To be gay and bullied must be just as bad, if not worse because it is who they are. They don't have a choice (I don't believe that it is a choice) to be who they are and it must be terrifying and scary to be bullied for being gay.
I want to be that one teacher, who does not have tenure yet (and has not taught for very long) and I want to help the student who is doing the bullying. I, personally, have been torn about this issue for the last semester. Because I feel that by giving my attention to the bully (Who may be diagnosed EBD or ADHD) that I am betraying the student who that student is bullying. For instance, I may end up teaching in the Juvenile Justice System where I will teach students who have murdered someone or attempted to murder someone. I have been struggling with this idea of if I am trying to help this student who really needs help, am I hurting the person whom they hurt in the first place?
But I see now that there are reasons behind bullying. On Glee right now (I am really into that show), one of the characters that keeps beating Kurt (an openly gay student) up ends up being gay. He is a bully to Kurt because he has suppressed his sexuality. If you look at functional behavioral analysis, it requires you to see and try and find out what the function is behind that specific behavior (I learned that in SPED 431).
I had a strong support system at home with regards to bullies, my parents never cared about what other people thought of them, so I got that same idea. They also told me that all of what the students who bullied me told me was a bunch of bs (They told me that I was so fat that my parents shouldn't even love me and then spit on my food). They fought for me when I really needed them (i.e. when I was attacked 3 on 1 during recess when I walked a few feet with all 3 on my back and finally went down), they helped me through all of this stuff.
But, I cannot change the home support system, but I can say that my classroom is a haven. If there is any bullying in my classroom, an intervention must be attempted. I don't know how exactly I am going to teach students who bully other students, but I will. Because they clearly have a hard time expressing their emotions, maybe it is because of the movies they watch or that thought that runs through movies and different media outlets like that that men don't have emotions.
But I recognize that women bully as well. And with this issue as well, I wish I had something to say. Because female bullying, according to Brad Kuhlman, seems to be much more social meanness (They ostracize the student rather than attack the student).
I hope that by the time I am in the classroom, I will have figured out how I am going to deal with bullying in my classroom as well as the hallways. I am very inexperienced, but I want to become more experienced.
Native American Education
http://www.as.wvu.edu/~equity/native.html
http://www.literacynet.org/lp/namericans/contents.html
http://www.integratelearning.org/NA/na.htm#FORWARD
http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/oieresearch/conference/sorkness_200602.pdf
http://jaie.asu.edu/v27/V27S2hol.htm
http://www.ericdigests.org/2001-3/alaska.htm
Most of these are sites that either talk about research that has been done about Native American Education and how it can affect your teaching.
There are also other things that are resources for how to remove your bias from your teaching.
http://www.literacynet.org/lp/namericans/contents.html
http://www.integratelearning.org/NA/na.htm#FORWARD
http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/oieresearch/conference/sorkness_200602.pdf
http://jaie.asu.edu/v27/V27S2hol.htm
http://www.ericdigests.org/2001-3/alaska.htm
Most of these are sites that either talk about research that has been done about Native American Education and how it can affect your teaching.
There are also other things that are resources for how to remove your bias from your teaching.
As a teacher, what can you do to encourage students in special ed to continue on to college?
By planting a seed, getting a student to go to college can be easy (but I have a rather warped sense of the word easy). But if you prepare them for college-level thinking, they may start believing in themselves.
But the most important part of my solution is finding out where the student's niche is. Once you do this, you can help give them self-confidence and use that activity to train them how to do college courses. Because there is PSEO (Post Secondary Enrollment Option) in Minnesota, I would encourage a student who I believe would benefit from college course. I would advise them to take a study skills course, which I took my first year and semester of PSEO, and it was a really easy and sort of interesting class. By showing the student that they can pass this class (Which is a college class), it may just give the student confidence in thinking that "Oh, wow, I can do this college thing."
So planting the seed will be different for each student, for some students it may be the PSEO option, for others, it may be something like the STEP program, or AP program. Any number of things can be done to encourage and help the student recognize that they can do that terrifying thing that they call college.
But the most important part of my solution is finding out where the student's niche is. Once you do this, you can help give them self-confidence and use that activity to train them how to do college courses. Because there is PSEO (Post Secondary Enrollment Option) in Minnesota, I would encourage a student who I believe would benefit from college course. I would advise them to take a study skills course, which I took my first year and semester of PSEO, and it was a really easy and sort of interesting class. By showing the student that they can pass this class (Which is a college class), it may just give the student confidence in thinking that "Oh, wow, I can do this college thing."
So planting the seed will be different for each student, for some students it may be the PSEO option, for others, it may be something like the STEP program, or AP program. Any number of things can be done to encourage and help the student recognize that they can do that terrifying thing that they call college.
Global Achievement Gap- Chapter 3: Testing 1 2 3
Question: To what extent do the state tests assess the skills that mattert most for work, citizenship and college?
- No use or way of assessing 7 survival skills on standardized state tests.
- Science and math knowledge doesn't really affect lifelong success.
- People who support NCLB say that there is proven fact that taking high level math or science classes results in better success in life.
- What they did not factor in is the fact that a correlation between two things does NOT give a cause and affect relationship.
- Example: Ice cream leads to more drownings. (In reality, ice cream and drowning have something in common, most likely it is summer out which is why a person would be swimming and they are having ice cream. Two correlated things that I just used to "prove" cause and affect.)
- The NCLB law affects students pointlessly, it assesses students using multiple choice, which is pointless because it doesn't require you to think.
- There are good test that do assess some of the 7 survival skills
- Open-ended questions and tests that require you to explain your reasoning for giving that answer.
- Open-ended tests cost a lot more money than standardized tests that use multiple choice
- It is easier to give multiple choice because it is easier to correct.
- AP classes are rigourous.
- But only for tests, it is all to get you ready to take a test.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)