"Chalk"

This past monday I was introduced to the movie "Chalk". When I first began watching, I was reminded of the Office, the filming is similar and the characters are all exaggerated representations of teacher dispositions in real life. I was struck by the character of the young History teacher. As I watched him in front of the class, I thought, did he have any instruction in teaching at all? He knew what he wanted his class to know, but he did not truly understand his students, how could he on the first day? I believe his teaching could have been much more affective had it been engaging and differentiated for students in his classroom. I had hopes for him until he blew up at one student. This was a serious case of lack of self-efficacy. I am intrigued by the interactions between the staff in the school. Teachers lounges have always been a mystery to me, but I think I am most nervous about getting along with my co-workers. I have never really thought about the importance of a cohesive staff in the making of great schools. When staff can motivate one another, the entire school will strive to learn and acheive at higher levels. Hopefully this movie is not an accurate depiction of real schools, but the sad truth is that there are similar teachers out there educating our students. Regardless, I think the movie has provoked me to think seriously about how to conduct myself in a professional manner, yet friendly manner within school.

Collaboration through discourse.

As I sat and Listened to Charles Amjad-Ali speak about the religion of Islam last we week I noticed one thing going through my mind. It occurred to me that his thoughts were uniquely his, that from his discourse I was gaining a new perspective of the world of Islam in relation to Christianity. Now this is not an extraordinary thought, it does however make me think of the important role of discourse in learning. By communicating with one another and sharing our perceptions of the world we begin to construct new and different ways of approaching the world. How can I as a future teacher connect this concept of discourse to the classroom? In our psychology text we are reading about collaboration, which by definition is, a philosophy about how to deal with people that respects diferences, shares authority and builds on the knowledge of others. Group work can be an extremely important tool in my future classroom. By encouraging my students to collaborate, to listen to one anothers ideas and to share their thoughts with one another then collectively they will become better cooperators as well. Cooperation, the working together with others to reach a shared goal can be accomplished without collaboration, but I believe it would be more fulfilling for the children if they have the capacity to collaborate. One of the things that Charles Amjad-Ali pointed out about beliefs among Christians is that they tend to be about a we are right, therefore they could only be wrong. Through collaboration we (Christians) can begin to understand and develop an appreciation for our cultural neighbors. I understand this to mean that once we know the true beliefs of Islam it is our job to guide others to the same understanding, which I think relates to his personal philosophy that "One cannot be passive in the face of injustice".

Parent Perspective

I wish I could here from more parents about their impressions of their childrens schooling! What a wonderfully insightful forum to have been a part of. For the most part I found the parents perspective to be relatively congruent with what I would have thought them to feel about school. The idea that grades are an indication of how their children are doing was reaffirmed last night. All their thoughts on what good teaching to them was reflected what they valued most for their children. In Mary Kay's case she said that the teachers she thought were most effective had expectations for her child. Additionally teachers who are up-to-date on the research and development in their field, teachers that constantly seek new strategies and methods to enhance their professional development. They also saw teachers who are active in the community to the one's who really had their childrens best interest at heart. The most valuable point I believe I will take with me from them was the strong feelings of wanting to have open communication with teachers. I believe all three of the parents felt that if their child was misbehaving, or struggling they would want to be told. If as teachers we can start and maintain open communication with all parents this will significantly reduce our stress and the possibility of confrontation if the situation is allowed to progress.

Virtual School?

Over fall break one night I was watching the news on Fox. They had a story about the increasing popularity of virtual schooling through the use of "second life". Second life is a virtual representation of your life in the real world, you play yourself, which is known as an avatar. This was the first time I had ever heard about this. What shocked me about this news caster were his final words, "The schools of tomorrow wont even need a building to exist, just a big pipe hooked up to teh internet". While I hope that this world never comes to that, I do believe that it would be prudent to remain informed about the changing world of education, especially when it comes to technology. I have posted a new video which is an online news report about virtual schooling, I found it extremely informative.

A Word from the Teachers

Last evening our Educational Psychology classes heard from three teachers in the Decorah Public School system. We had the chance to ask them many questions about teaching. It was wonderful to hear the opinions of a variety of teachers at different stages in their careers. I fully appreciated their honesty about the amount of work that I will be puting into my career, that I may need a second job to pay for bills, that I will feel consumed by my job. These are all scenarios that I have anticipated, knowing that I too am going to want the best for my students and that first year I will have much to learn. We heard these teachers opinions about all the testing now required for students, the impression I recieved was that while they may be a bit of a hassle, they do for the most part accomplish what they are supposed to. Teachers can and are required to analyze the results and make adjustments in their curriculum accordingly. I also appreciated their advice about getting along with your coworkers and maintaining good relationships with everyone in the building. After having had the chance to observe my old elementary school and the cheerful, friendly atmosphere I know that is the kind of place I want to work. It is not only best for your sanity and will make your life easier to be on good terms with the variety of people who work at the school, it is also better for the children. Again, more great advise was to never be discouraged by those teachers who are reluctant and even defiant of change. We must be continually assessing our students and making instructional decisions based on their needs not on the basis that "it has worked" for the past twenty years. Great teaching definitely involves the use of many different strategies and there are always new methods and theories out their which can enhance the learning in your classroom.

School Board Forum

This evening's forum was extremely affirming of how I have been feeling about NCLB. I know that for schools who can not meet the requirements are struggling because of test scores, but it makes me happy to know that in most places school districts are learning to adapt to the requirements. It is encouraging to know that because NCLB has forced research based criteria for the classroom many new improvements are occuring. It was interesting to hear about what exactly the School Boards role in a community is, I have never realized how important it is to elect compotent caring people to represent the towns wishes for the education of their children. I found it very intriguing that both brought up the subject of buildings and facilities being a huge factor in school districts and that having things be outdated or not in the best condition, etc. can be a rode block or hinder the education process. This reminds me of the book my group is reading, "Three Cups of Tea" where Greg Mortenson provides schools so that education can occur. It is so important to have the facilities necessary to support learning. I am looking forward to more discussion about the role of research in the classroom and how teachers must now be held accountable for implementing this into their curriculum and lesson plans.

Research Based Teaching: Can it Be an Instrumental Part in Good Teaching?

I thoroughly enjoyed Monday nights forum. It was great to be able to hear what good teaching is from an administrative standpoint. These are the people who will be determining whether or not I have a job sometime in the not so distant future. I especially enjoyed Leona's input about indications of good teaching, first that the students are actively involved in the classroom and second that they know what they are learning. In addition she mentioned that good teachers act like facilitators and are intentional about their goals. I know that I for one can tell the difference between a teacher who has a clear plan, knows what they want to happen and one who is just making us do busy work. These kinds of qualities are given depth when implimented along with data driven research. Now this may seem like a leap in connection, but if a teacher is is using research that proves methods and strategies to be affective then they will see greater student achievement. Any teacher who truly wishes her students to learn the most they can in the time that she is allowed in her classroom will want to know that she is using the most effective strategies for those children based upon their current cognitive level of development, based upon the results that show, if you do this activity, your students will gain these skills or this knowledge. I believe this is one aspect of NCLB that will improve our nations education system. By encouraging, through mandating that there be research based education strategies we are ensuring that teachers are not simply letting their students do arts and crafts every day. Now I am not saying that this is going to stifle creativity or take away from a teachers right to teach what interests them, it is simply a standard that will keep classrooms on track for the majority of the time.

Is Role Playing Affective?

I really enjoyed this past Monday nights discussion and analysis of the "High Stakes School District" proposal. It was a very interesting and beneficial experience. We as students were to take a side (support or nonsupport) and represent a group of community members. As opposed to turning this kind of real life event into a written project where we describe our argument, we were asked to present our arguments in a real life simulation and argue our side of the proposal for increasing student achievements. We addressed the strengths and weakness's of the proposal and got a taste of what two sides of the argument can be like. This also was a real life application of the ideas we have been learning about in Woolfolk. One concept I think about is philosophy of education and what we value. It is our job as teachers to instill values in our students along with acquisition of knowledge such as facts. The entire issue tied into NCLB and what the law mandates our priorities to be. In puting emphasis on reading comprehension and math and sciences it seriously cuts into the time that can be spend to fulfill a well rounded education. By preparing for benchmark tests, and the time it takes to actually take the test we are losing sight of what, in a lot of teachers opinions should be important in an education. It is not how well we perform on tests, it is our understanding of the world around us and how we use new knowledge to continue to explore and expand our concepts of culture and define our realities and sense of self. What lessons are we instilling in our children by emphasizing testing and achieving governmental standards. First hand knowledge is what I have found sticks with me the most, when we are actively involved in applying our knowledge this is when we remember our learning. I appreciate the opportunity to have an experience with defending my beliefs and having concrete ideas and support for my position as well as respecting the beliefs of others.

Proper Citation

I know that we have all learned about how to go about research and how to properly cite our sources for what seems like years now. What I am learning is that a refresher course never hurts. It is important that we remind ourselves to critique what information we are using for resources from the internet. After doing a lot of research on the Luther Library resource page I am grateful for the information and tips on ways to refine your searches. It is also important not to limit your research to one database. As teachers we are going to be constantly needing to be updated on the most recent educational studies, methods and philosophies. This will require research someday. I hope that as a teacher I will be able to direct my students to proper sources on the internet and teach them valuable ways to utilize the internet. There is a lot of information on the web that is waiting to be found, as a student doing research for my major I found Monday nights lecture to be helpful. Often times I find myself at a loss as to where to go or what key words to search. Technology is continually changing and being enhanced. We must change with it if we wish to make use of a great teaching tool. I am looking forward to learning how to create and enhance films on I-movie. I also am grateful for this blog requirement as it keeps me writing on a regular basis as well as motivates me to navigate my way around this blog site and stretch my comfort zone when it comes to computers.

...continued Postville Blog

This is an extention on my thoughts about Postville. If you were a teacher in Postville how would you deal with the challenges of first, communicating with your students who are Spanish speakers, and second how would you go about real world applications for students whose heritage and culture are so dissimilar? This is where Ed. Psych. comes in. By involving the community and understanding what it is that a certain culture knows you will see more success in your students. We as teacher are not put into a classroom to tell children about what we know, we are there to guide them on their path to knowing more about themselves and to show them the best ways to understanding new information and aquiring a better understanding of "why things are the way they are". I believe that my students are going to teach me more in my first years than I could teach them. What a beautiful thing to look forward to, teaching is much more than classroom control, meeting standards, and learning new facts. That will be the greatest challenge, and also the reason that being a teacher is truly the greatest profession, is our ability to balance what is important to us as teachers, with what is important for each individual child and what the government has deemed important. A system that is continuously restricting a teachers ability to run the classroom the way he or she wants to is the kind of system that a truly great teacher can manipulate. Sort of a meeting standards collides with real world applications and genuine inquisitiveness about the world in which we exist.

Postville Panel Reaction

What happened in Postville is something that should awaken us to the importance of a good education. On May 12th of this year 900 armed men came into Postville and arrested 389 people. Is that an excessive amount of men with semi-automatics to apprehend working people? I think so. Our government has treated them as criminals, they have been accused of ID theft and being in the country illegally. There is so much about Postville that I did not know until I went to the Panel. This is where I see teachers work become important. It is my job as a future educator to encourage my students to be lifelong learners, and as a teacher to be a lifelong learner myself. So many people do not know what happened, why it was significant or the means by which it was done. Things have not just gone back to normal there, it is a city that has been devastated, the people are devistated. Imagine coming to a country where people are supposed to be safe and experiencing treatment similar to that which you were hoping you had escaped. Many, many children do not know where their parents are, much less know when or if they will ever see them again. Families have been ripped appart and the women and children have been left waiting... They cannot work and they cannot leave, forced to remain in the place where they are constantly reminded of the horrors of that day they have nothing contructive to do. Now should we want to know why our government handled this situation in this way? Yes. How do we go about understanding our response and the actions we have taken on illegal immegration. We must look to the past to understand policies today. My generation and the generation for whose education I am responsible for can change policies. It is my job to encourage my students to learn so they might contribute to improving society.

Beginning Blog

My days as a blogger have just begun and let me tell you, my thoughts don't always make perfect sense, the way I work through issues is to talk about it aloud or to write about them. My grammar is not perfect either, much less my spelling- and I want to be an Elementary Teacher- go figure. I have been learning an awful lot about what makes a good teacher. In class we have also been talking a lot about why do we teach? For what purpose do we obtain our education, this is the most basic and essential question to answer; if you do not know what it is you want your students to learn, they will not be successful. It is this question, WHY? that influences legislature and laws about education. No Child Left Behind is an extremely controversal law that was signed in 2002. The philosophy behind it is wonderful, meaning that no child, no exceptions, no excuses should be behind in learning as a result of the instruction they receive. It is important to hold teachers accountable and to continue improving a system that perpetuates the racists and discriminatory beliefs at a bureaucratic level, regardless of discrimination and racism on a personal level. So what do I hope to gain from this class? I hope to have a better understanding of the legislature that will affect my job, I hope to have a sense of purpose when I enter my classroom. I hope that this class answers questions I have not yet thought of.

Lions For Lambs

What makes a good teacher? There are many traits and characteristics that when combined in one person make a great educator. What is the public schools role in our society? Is it a place to educate our children and prepare them for real life, a place to fill their minds with facts and data, a place to send them to keep them off the streets? Lions for Lambs really illuminated for me the importance of shaping and preparing our children to contribute to our society; we must equip students with the skills to think for themselves, to improve our future and most importantly to instill our hopes in them. Their choices can and will change policies, customs, rules, practices, and much more in the world. I think the most compelling scenes in the movie were the dialogues between professor and student. Is the professor a salesman and what is he selling...the student to the student, or the person to themselves. It is our job to find the potential in every person and convince them that they are worth something. Sometimes as students we become so caught up with seeing things from other peoples perspectives and learning about the next and greatest things we forget to reflect on our own views. As a teacher I want to have morals and philosophies to live by, that way I won't wake up one day and ask myself what I have been doing the last 20 years.