No Child Left Behind & Assessment Presentation

This presentation was full of fun activities and opportunities to show our knowledge and thoughts about a variety of educational issues. The activities - board games, skits, and Glee think-alouds - were motivating and thoughtful.  Thinking about the issues that are implicated in the No Child Left Behind Act brings up many discussion topics - the topics of bilingual students and students who move into a class during their school careers really don't seem to have "official" answers or methods of solving problems in the classroom.

Working through alternative assessment techniques and strategies was a really great activity. It was good to work both with an individual student, where assessment can be tailored specifically to that student's needs, and with a full class environment, where instructors must find an total assessment technique that meets the needs of all of the students in the class.

Teaching Style

1) Classroom Organization
I want to have my classroom arranged in the most discussion-friendly design I can muster with what I have available. It is important to me that students can see one another - looking at the back of someone's head is no way to get to know them.


2) Motivation
I can see myself having some trouble with motivation because of my wish that students will be intrinsically motivated by my own excitement about lessons. I recognize that motivation is probably going to have to have a trial-and-error focus until I find a system that motivates my students without relying on excessively authoritative measures.


3) Discipline
Discipline is one topic that I feel that I differ from my classmates upon. I am a very laissez-faire leader - the chief disciplinary topics that I feel compelled to intervene on are those dealing with respect. This is why respect will be the main lens of my disciplinary action. I truly believe that each student deserves respect, both from themselves, myself, and their peers. 


4) Assessment
The assessment format that I would like to use in my classroom is one that tracks progress rather than assessing aptitude at one particular time. Not only can a "final" come on a bad day for a student, dooming them, a snapshot assessment doesn't take into account growth. One of the worst tests that I ever took was a grammar-based test, containing the entire grammar curriculum for the year. We took it at the beginning of the year, and the rule was that if you aced it, you wouldn't have to take it again at the end of the year. I aced it, but it gave me the feeling that I didn't even have to bother anymore with any of the grammar content. 


5) Classroom Climate
My preferred classroom climate is influenced a lot by my own personality and past experience. I want to have the classroom that people come to eat their lunch in if they're uncomfortable in the cafeteria. I want to have a friendly, personable, and approachable classroom where students can express themselves freely without fear of social consequences. Obviously, this won't be easy and is going to require fine tuning. I just need to be ready at the get-go to start up that climate from day one.


6) Technology Integration
Technology integration is really something that I'm going to need to figure out based on the school that I'm in. The dream, of course is to have an abundance of learning technology that enhances and facilitates learning, while at the same time not being a distraction or impeding learning through the format.  


7) Learning Focus
My learning focus is that while the content and curriculum elements of school are very important, the largest focus should be on the students themselves. I have had several friends who studied very hard in school, got great grades, did all the right extracurriculars, and ended up going to very good colleges. None of them had any idea what they wanted to do, or had an idea of something that they'd be happy doing. All they learned was how to play the "school game." I think that self-knowledge is just as worthy a "hidden curriculum" item as regular student socialization.


8) Teacher and Leadership Style.
My teaching and leadership style has already been covered slightly in a few other sections, but in general I want to be accepting, friendly, respected, and respecting of all of my students. I think that the fastest way to lose students focus and respect is to come across too strong - a lot of them are  already getting that from all sides anyway, either from parents, other teachers, or other authority figures. By no means do I mean that I want to be soft for soft's sake, but being a tough guy just isn't my style. I also want students to take a leadership role in the classroom. This is something that I've explored a bit as a camp counselor, and I'd love to see how it works in a school classroom. 

Technology Presentation

This presentation was very interesting. I really liked the 3 different scenarios that the group set up. I am still somewhat of a Luddite (at least in relation to my peers), so talking about the common trends in technology in education was useful for me.  I am by no means against technology - I just don't see myself as a pioneer of new incoming technological tools. The most troubling of the three scenarios for me was probably the one dealing with what we would do if we had infinite resources - I honestly have no clue! I don't want to bite off more technology than I can chew.  I think that the idea that we raised that was most useful was the use of seminars and observations to see the best practices that technologically-savvy teachers are using.

Bright Futures Response

Bright Futures

Bright Futures is a report and philosophical statement about middle-level education put together by a committee in 2009. The focus was on core beliefs, core principles, and the twelve core practices of middle-level schools in the state of Maine. These core practices were explained in great detail with an emphasis on the value of those practices to students, as well as demonstrations of how some schools have been succeeding at that practice.

As a student from one of the most successful schools with the laptop-per-student program, I can see how the technological practice is incredibly helpful and generally beneficial to the student.

One practice that I was particularly engaged in was practice 9 – Students have access to a co-curricular program that encourages all students to participate, develop skills, be a member of a team or activity, and simply have fun. Co-curricular, which I take to be the updated term for what I used to call extracurriculars, is a much more apt title, as these activities are often where a lot of the learning makes a more solid connection in the mind. I, for one, didn’t really learn to write in my own voice until I was writing speeches for Debate Team. My first few speeches were stilted and poorly put together when I had to recite them, and I quickly learned phrasing, vocabulary, and tone that I could use confidently, as if I were speaking off the cuff. Without that cocurricular activity, I certainly would be a much poorer writer than I am today.

The rationales for the core practices resonated with the philosophies and theories that we’ve been learning about in this class, and the “essential elements – snapshot – phase out” format was well-organized and pedagogically designed. I feel like I have a good sense of where the state wants our middle schools to be. 

Voices

Quintilian

I like that Quintilian is one of the first philosophers in the packet who are said to respect the child. With a focus on developmental levels of the students, it seems to me as if Quintilian is one of the first pedagogues. Many predecessors seemed to focus on education for adults, but Quintllian aims specifically at education at an age of physical, emotional, and intellectual growth.

Jesus

One of the things that influences me about the teachings of Jesus Christ is that He believed in universal salvation and worth. I’m particularly interested in the “curriculum and methodology” that the packet describes – a new world order of peace. Pacifism is such a large part of my moral belief structure that I feel this aligns nicely. Also, the note about storytelling as a teaching method is favorable to me, as it provided a universal instruction technique.

Martin Luther

Although certain chronological traits set me apart from Luther (the focus on scripture as an unparalleled tool in universal education), I chiefly agree with a vast majority of his philosophy. The promotion of a universal school for children, girls included, and a focus on literacy is an important part of my philosophy as well. It also struck me that Luther viewed the role of the teacher as essential to the education of the student.

Montessori

This is possibly the educationist whose philosophy I most agree with – the focus on the “discovery of the child” and child development is incredibly important, especially in early childhood education. A lot of the things that the packet prescribes to children in their “sensitive periods,” which it implies are limited to early childhood, I feel could equally apply to all of young adulthood. The role of the educator as a facilitator creating an environment in which students can teach themselves is something that I feel strongly about. The term “spontaneous learning” in particular strikes me as a particularly admirable goal. Although I recognize that it is a necessary evil in the society that will probably exist the duration of my life, I feel like mechanized education is a terrible impediment to what our world could be. That we let students stop holistically developing physically, morally, and mentally is a sad fact, and it is my dream that this becomes a primary means of education.

Motivation Presentation

This presentation was incredibly helpful. Motivation is one of the most important topics that we can focus on as future educators. Contrary to opinions we may have seen at one point, there is no such thing as a too-motivated student. There are some great resources pointed out in this class at the resource station, from the character cards to the BBC History games (!)

The scenario stations were also really helpful. The "nightmare students" seemed like for the most part, they were either bored or were having trouble following the content. Fortunately, these nightmares can be brought to a swift end by the resources and creativity we have available!
Another thing that was really interesting in the presentation and the paper this group made is the focus on our newly-learned philosophies. I really enjoyed learning about how existentialist theories applied to student motivation.

I also really liked the "true/false" intro. That is a great way to fully gauge class opinions on different topics, and gets us moving. It's really interesting to see different opinions. It was also interesting to see the class's response when I took an opposite opinion to them.
The textbook resource section was a good opportunity for me to remember that my own interest in Shakespeare is almost necessarily different from the average interest in Shakespeare. In addition to hearing some interesting perspectives on how to teach math with more interesting sources, I learned how to teach Shakespeare with more interesting sources.

Educational Theories

Perennialism is an educational theory similar to the philosophy of idealism, in that it focuses on wide truths that are universal to everybody and unchanging. Some of the traits of perennial theory is that is has less focus on facts than other theories, as facts can change while the underlying truths do not.

Essentialism is an educational theory that seems to be one of the more widely utilized in the public eye. Essentialism focuses on the idea that there are many truths and subjects that should be learned by everybody. This seems like a fairly straightforward, if more complex, rendition of the “reading, writing, and arithmetic” system. One important note about essentialism is that it is also backed by cultural literacy, the idea that functioning members of society have certain universally shared cultural knowledge.

Behaviorism is an educational theory, based in large part on the writings of B.F. Skinner. Rather than perennialism, which argues that smaller facts are misleading and larger ideas are key, behaviorism posits that what really matters is not the overarching ideas, but rather the behavior, or acted manifestations of those ideas. Without each individual action or behavior, there are no larger principles.

Positivism is an educational theory focused on scientific knowledge, discovered and verified by empiricism. While perennialism may teach scientific method and veer from facts, positivism focuses on both, not discrediting facts until they are scientifically disproven. This constructs a sort of “knowledge pool.” There is an emphasis in this theory on sense verification.

Progressivism is an educational theory, again based in science, which argues that students learn best from experiential situations, specifically in solving problems. Progressivism has a focus on the “social animal” aspect of learning, using schools as a system of socializing students to function in society.

Reconstructionism is a socially based educational theory that focuses on social issues and how they can be solved. This educational theory was based in opposition to ugly realities about the world we live in over the past several decades, and has been gaining momentum.

Humanism is another educational theory based on the goal of social development. Rather than creating a science-based world, however, humanism is grounded in the humanities, seeking to develop a society of eloquent thinkers and writers. This sort of grounding, according to humanism, is the basis for a society geared towards civil service.

Constructivism is a theory of learning similar to the educational philosophy of pragmatism in that it focuses on the students’ abilities to construct their own knowledge. The instructor’s role in constructivism is to facilitate learning, while the student’s progress and learning process are the really important parts.

The two theories that I feel I relate the most with are humanism and constructivism. I feel strongly about the value of language and developing a complex understanding of literature. Lots of art is intended to reflect life, and learning to interact with a variety of literary characters can definitely build social understanding. Reading and responding to texts that are portrayed from different perspectives can also help learners step outside their own minds, putting them in a position to feel more sympathy and relate with other individuals more. As for constructivism, I think the things that we learn the most are the things we learn ourselves. One of the best things we can due for a student’s learning is to give him or her the satisfaction of successful learning. Too often is learning and teaching portrayed as an act that an instructor does to a student, while in reality the learning occurs in the student’s mind, completely independently of the instructor. Therefore, it should be the instructor’s job to help stimulate students, not to “fill them” with learning. 

Discipline Presentation

I really enjoyed this presentation. It was interesting to learn about the different disciplinary styles that can be found in my classroom. There was certainly a good activity when each group was given a disciplinary situation to deal with. I was in the group that was generally less authoritarian, and it was interesting to me when the class disagreed with the preferred method of dealing with the situation (gambling in school).
The resources that we were provided with were also fascinating artifacts. I definitely learned a lot about the ways that disciplinary issues have been treated in the past. I feel that discipline in the classroom is a very personal issue, to a certain degree. In one regard, the school has its own policies that come down from the top, but with a lot of small classroom issues, I feel it's best to let the disciplinary technique match the general tone of the classroom. This should be very deliberately thought out.

Philosophy Abstracts and Reflections

Idealism

Idealism is a philosophy based on the idea that ideas are the main reality in the world, and that the physical world can be misleading if it is overly focused on, rather than the underlying spiritual world. One epistemological function of idealism is that the human reasoning must be the source of knowledge, as physical exterior would-be-sources do not actually contain truth. It is based or rooted in the writings of the Greek thinker Plato, and frequently utilizes Socratic method to discern knowledge.

Realism

Realism is a philosophy that stands almost precisely counter to idealism. Realism puts its focus on the idea that truth does not exist within the human mind, and that all knowledge and reality exists solely on the exterior. The epistemological function of realism is based on scientific method and observation of the natural world. The works of Aristotle, and much later, John Locke, served heavily to form modern realism.

Pragmatism

Pragmatism is a philosophy that dismisses idealism and realism as inconsistent with a natural world and internal world that are changing and evolving. This has an epistemological nature that requires an interaction between the self and the universe, but not necessarily from a scientific observation standpoint. While both idealism and realism state that there are universal truths that must be discerned in some way, pragmatism focuses more on the process of obtaining knowledge than the knowledge itself. It is centered on becoming rather than being.

Existentialism

Existentialism is a philosophy that is contrary to the other three philosophies we’ve studied. Rather than finding meaning in the mind, in the natural world, or in the process of change and evolution, existentialism claims that there is no absolute meaning or principle to live by. The chief principle of existentialism is that because there are no absolute values, humans are free to make their own choices. Existentialism is based heavily in the writings of Jean-Paul Sartre.

The two educational philosophies I’ve chosen to focus on are idealism and existentialism, mostly because these are the two ideas that I tend to alternate between in my own views. I have been deceived enough by and seen enough negative works come from the hands of the scientific process and observation of the natural world and natural laws to believe that there is any kind of absolute meaning found in the observable universe. I have also always felt deeply that if there is some kind of absolute meaning, it must be found internally. The Socratic method and use of questions to learn are things that I have always felt strongly about.

As for existentialism, I also have long periods in which I dismiss the idea of internal meaning as well. I agree with the somewhat pragmatic idea that the search for meaning may be the largest source of actual meaning in life, but I still feel that even this is not enough, as it can be by no means described as a universal truth. 

Response to "Rejuvenation"

Rejuvenation

This reading had a lot more great moments for me than any of the Teaching Hope segments so far. A lot of them were solely about the teachers’ experiences, and many of those had some great introspection. However, the chapters that most reached me were the ones where individual students had really great breakthroughs.  After the last segment, I needed a collection of refreshing and heartwarming stories. Number 120 with Tara, the girl who was afraid to be in the Public Speaking class, was really nice to read. Another one that I really enjoyed the themes of was 112, which dealt with Max, the boy who assaulted his teacher. The forgiveness and understanding that the teacher shows is really admirable to me – I firmly believe in as many second chances as it takes to make a breakthrough, and the teacher really captured that well. 127 also really got to me, about Manie, the boy whose family was upset that he was visiting the Holocaust Museum. Watching a single breakthrough must be the most awe-inspiring thing, and although I haven’t seen anything like this at my summer camp quite yet, I certainly hope to experience this sometime soon in a classroom.

Response to "Engagement"

This section was a really interesting combination of uplifting stories and depressing, but motivating ones. Many of these stories involve students making some kind of breakthrough. One trend that I thought was interesting in this section was that it had a lot more focus on rural schools and the issues that come with that, rather than the urban stories which I generally think of with Erin Gruwell’s work. The section where the teacher worked with the white student with racial prejudice was a scenario that I think about a lot. I thought it was handled well in that the teacher didn’t merely lecture him as to why that was inappropriate – the teacher asked questions and made it a long-term goal to introduce new perspectives to compare with those proposed by his family. I think my favorite breakthroughs in the chapter were those in which a student decided to open up with either the teacher or the entire class. 

One section that I was uncomfortable with the teacher's behavior was Section 56, which dealt with a homophobic student who had made inappropriate statements of opinion. Although the teacher may not have intended to do so, the technique they used to deal with the student was not one that encouraged tolerance or explained why those statements were inappropriate - the teacher basically just embarrassed the student in front of everybody in the classroom. That was not the action of an impartial tolerant instructor - it pointed out ignorance without pointing the student in the right direction. Essentially, it was hating the sinner, and not the sin.

PBS Documentary: 1950-1980 Response

This section of the documentary was very interesting. It definitely seemed a lot closer to the way schools are now. It’s good to hear a more complete and finished telling of what happened with the different civil rights laws and court cases. With Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, I wasn’t aware that some southern schools used the National Guard to keep black children out of schools, or that the President called in the military to enforce the law.  That was really interesting to me, to think that a military conflict, very much along the lines of North versus South, was occurring almost 100 years after the American Civil War. I also wasn’t aware that Brown v. Board of Education was a unanimous case in the Supreme Court.

As a longtime rebel, modeled after those in the 1960s, I was surprised to hear that Lyndon Baines Johnson was a champion of civil rights, or that he was a teacher. I clearly see my own bias in that perception, and I’m glad that was opened up.

As for most of the documentary, I am painfully uneducated about the majority of the issues. I know a good bit about Title 9, thanks to a friend who is an expert on the law, but I know almost nothing about bussing, the demands of Mexican-American students and faculty, and other more contemporary issues. That is obviously something I will have to keep an eye out for to study. 

Response to 1900-1950 History of Schools

I was fascinated to learn about the history of standardized testing in schools between 1900 and 1950. Entire educational history, from Dewey to the experiential schools to Sputnik, is really cool to me. It’s really interesting to look at all of the things in schools – what I like, what I hate – and see what the circumstances were that led to the institutionalization of those elements. Of course I’m not surprised, for instance, that in the midst of World War I, students were encouraged to speak only English and to burn German-language books. No matter what the issue of the day is, people are passionate about it. The thing that really struck me about the documentary, however, is that when I go out into the school, simply by teaching and doing my job, I will be contributing to the future “history of education.” This is all the more reason to be deliberate in everything I do.

Generation Reflection

This was a very interesting article. In my summer job, which is my main work environment, I work entirely with people in my own generation, excepting our director and assistant director. While I’m hesitant to put everybody into a big group with the same traits, I understand that culture over time does produce certain trends, and the article is not necessarily declaring these as universal truths. That being said, I think this is a fascinating collection of commonalities and differences between generational groups. One reason that this article is great is because failure to notice common differences between generations can definitely lead to protraction of one’s own generational traits. The example about the Gen. Y manager who offered a vacation to a Boomer instead of a bonus is a good example of this – the Gen. Y manager may have preferred a vacation to a bonus, and assumed that this was true for other coworkers and employees.

As a member of Generation Y, I see myself working for administrators in the two generations above me, at least right away when I begin teaching. I will also be working with these generations, in addition to my own age-peers. Given my own interest in working together with other teachers, it is very likely that I will be collaborating with members of other generations. Communication in particular will be a topic that I will have to pay particular attention to.

Response to Teaching Hope, "Challenges"

This was a very intense reading. All of these teachers had incredibly emotional experiences to write about. Most of them had been through trauma in their lives, but many of those had hopeful outlooks for what was to come. One section that deeply affected me was Section 24, which recounted a scene in which a tense classroom wrote positive Post-It Notes to one another, and one girl who was being victimized by bullies and rumors to the point of suicide received a note saying “I am happy you are here.” It really clicks with a philosophy of mine that while most people are inclined to naturally behave indecently with one another, almost everybody will eagerly step up and be a good person in a time of need.

Another section that connected with and reassured me was the one about the student who wrote a letter to his teacher about how he came from a more together home than his peers, and he felt left out of their discussions about their difficult home lives. The teacher’s response was one that I felt well about – a response explaining that everybody has their own situation and that the student is in a wonderful learning situation, to see what parts of the country can be like. The teacher also modeled good behavior by creating a classroom where that discussion was encouraged and appropriate. 

Response to "Anticipation"

Of all the things that worry me about being a teacher, the “first day” is definitely in the running for first place. It seems that everybody around me is really confident about it, but this chapter is definitely calming and relieving in that it shows people, who seem like really good teachers, having the same fears and worries that I do.  A lot of the teachers in the book made decisions that I would have seen as mistakes, such as showing up on a student’s doorstep. These things took a lot of guts, but I was glad to see that these issues worked out in the end. I have a tendency to see critical make-or-break moments where there really aren’t any, and it’s good to know that there is enough leniency to account for not everybody being perfect.

That being said, there was a positively immense amount of courage in the chapter – an amount of courage that I’m not sure I have. Perhaps I’ve just never been in a situation where I need to step up the way these teachers did, but that is one nagging thing in my mind.  I’ve worked with children who had particular issues with racism, heterosexism, sexism, etc. at summer camp, but that has been easier to help with because I live with the campers for two weeks with no negative outside influences. I imagine it is heartbreaking to feel like you’re making a breakthrough in the classroom, then the school bell rings and you watch them go off into what could be a bad world. I guess it just comes down to doing what you can while you can.

Abstract/Response to "Diversity, Learning Style, and Culture"

The article “Diversity, Learning Style, and Culture” refreshed and redirected information and insight we’ve been gaining over the past several years. It illustrated how instructional technique can either positively act with a student’s culture, benefiting the student’s sense of self, or it can negatively reverberate with the culture, putting the student in a position of uncertainty and shame. It also looks at another version of the same complex, substituting the student’s culture for the student’s learning style, which is made up of cognition, conceptualization, affectation, and behavior. Despite these two items being the primary focus of the piece, it was frequently reiterated that while the classroom teacher needs to take both culture and learning styles into account, it is important not to combine the two factors into one, as this is learning style stereotyping of a culture. While certain cultures may espouse certain values, there is no reason that these values will necessarily translate into a specific uniform learning style, nor is there reason that the student will fully embrace the values of the culture. The main point of the article is that teachers should sincerely employ a variety of instructional techniques because the more limited instruction is, the smaller the group that can learn, and the less the entire class can learn fully.

I got a lot out of the article. The article frequently reminded me that it is important not to get lazy and to make my instruction very deliberate. I kept recalling a particular camper I had this summer whose behavior was problematic. I remembered telling myself over and over again to keep in mind that the fact that this camper was black was not a direct factor in his behavior, but the fact that he’s grown up being chastised for his thinking style (highly physical, kinesthetic) has negatively impacted his desire to cooperate with an authority figure. I had to remind myself and other counselors that ethnicity was not directly involved in his behavior. The worst part was when I had to explain this to other campers who were trying to take matters into their own hands. In a classroom environment, I would hope that I had more opportunity to redirect his energy in a positive direction, but it’s definitely easier said than done, as the article made clear. As a teacher, I will need to be constantly vigilant in planning my teaching styles and observing the learning styles of my students.