"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.