letter to the editor

Dear Editor,

          Technology has become a huge part of everyday life.  Today's kids have grown up surrounded by technology.  They would rather research online than search through a library for the same information.  In order to keep their attention and get them excited for learning, schools need to incorporate technology into the classrooms.  Teachers need stay up to date on the newest ways to use technology.  New apps or upgrades come out all the time, and there are amazing apps for teachers to use for educating their students.  Teachers should find out what interests their students, have them form a hypothesis, research it, and apply that research.  Instead of writing papers and handing it in a hard copy, allow students to try new things.  Have them create a blog or make a video that covers the same content.  Let the students be in charge of what they do.  Find ways to take students’ interest in technology and use it to get them interested in learning. 

          Most of the other professions have had to ‘upgrade’ its techniques over the years to fit the needs and wants of their consumers.  Education should be the same way.  If we can find a way to spark student interest, we can find the key to unlocking their future.  It’s worth a shot right?

final group presentation

I loved the video you started out with.  I did a great job showing how kids learn much differently today than they used to.  That they are digital learners and teaching methods need to change in order to accommodate for this.  The interview had good points on how to motivate your students.  The idea of giving students control of their learning was a great concept to talk about, because many teachers think that they are the only ones to control student learning, and when you think this way and make students do things your way without listening to what they want, why would they want to do it intrinsically?   Great job presenting the information!

Final Work Study reflection

     Last September, I started my 150 hour internship at Paynesville Elementary.  I was able to observe open house and conferences plus all the prep work to go into them!  I also got introduced to such things as copier machines, writing letters to parents, the headache of scheduling para professionals and foster grandparents, and doing countless other prep work!  I was able to work with five wonderful teachers during my internship and observe a few others.  I was able to observe two school meetings, and also a program put on by the kids.  Most of my time was spent working one on one or in small groups with the kids in special education.  I loved being able to do this.  The teachers were great to let me work with the kids and I came away from it all with a lot of experience and confidence.  I think it is easier to reach kids when they are given one on one time.  It is easier as the teacher, because then I can tell if the child understands or if I need to approach the topic another way.  I think it is easier for the student, because then they are able to ask questions if they need help.  I also spend around an hour to an hour and a half a week in the second grade general ed. classroom.  This is much different than Special Ed.  The classroom I helped in had twenty six students.  One teacher to twenty six students is a huge difference than the one on one in Special Ed.  I think it would be much harder to teach to that many students. 

      I had the opportunity to see an IEP review,Other things I was able to see were a music class, an afternoon observing the speech clinician, ECSE (Early childhood special education), a few phy ed classes, and a departmental meeting (child study meeting).  I learned about social stories and other various ways to deal with behaviors.

  I would recommend any student planning on becoming a teacher see most of these areas.  It was pretty interesting to see what goes on while the kids are not in your classroom.  Another exciting thing I was able to do was plan and teach my own lesson to second graders!  I was actually given the opportunity to teach it to two different second grade classrooms.  I planned an hour long lesson on roman numerals.  None of the kids knew what roman numerals were, so it was an all new topic for them.  I created a power point to give a very brief background on roman numerals and to teach them how to write the numbers one through ten.  I also explained how roman numerals compared to our number system, the Arabic system. 

    Two mornings a week I was able to work with the Barton system.  It is a reading and spelling system that works on phonics.  It starts out with the basics of listening to sounds and realizing what sound is different from word to word.  The main goal is to train the student’s ears.  As the students learn and progress in the system, the lessons get harder and more in depth.  The last level I was able to work with was level four, where the kids were working on phrases in sentences.  They worked on decoding what the who, did what, and where parts of each sentence were.  The kids really enjoyed this curriculum.  For the first half of my internship I observed and participated from the student side of the lessons, but during the second half I was able to teach the lessons to the kids.  I loved it! 

   I learned a lot during my time at Paynesville Elementary School.  I learned things about me like which path I want go into as far as sped (DCD, LD), and which one to stay away from (EBD).   I learned that I have the potential to be a great teacher.  I am many times more confident about being in a classroom with kids than when I started.  I also learned a few things about being a special education teacher like how stressful and time consuming the job can be.  I also learned how to deal with students who are misbehaving.  I started my internship knowing very little about special education.  Now at the end I have a much larger knowledge base as far as what areas there are, what a sped teacher does, what is expected, and just how to do things. What better way to learn than to do it hands on?  Overall I think I really grew from being still unsure of myself and my role as a student helper into being a respected teacher.  I would not take back this experience for anything.  I gained friendships and contacts with my supervising teachers and also great relationships with the students I worked with.  I cannot express how beneficial this experience is and can honestly say that I will truly miss working with the kids and teachers.  Another part of this experience I will miss is seminar.  It felt nice and comfortable to come in once a week and tell the other women what I have been doing, and hear the joys and struggles they have been working with too.  It was also nice to get feedback from Lori on how we are doing, and things that we could try.  It felt like we were all a team and that we were all there in each other’s journeys becoming teachers.

Philosophy of Education reflection

After completing the survey in class I scored highest in social reconstructionism (19) and second in Progressivism (15.5) third in perennialsim (11.5) and last in Essentialism (7).  Social Progressiveism says that most of the class time should be spent on discussing various topics about society and its issues.  Teachers would encourage kids to think about what can be done to deal with the issues in society.  This does reflect on what I believe, I think that discussions are a lot more interesting and a better way to learn than just listening to someone lecture.  I also think that kids today should know what is going on in society and learn how to think through, collaborate with others, and come up with a solution to a problem.  Progressivism is the idea that real-world problem solving and individual development is important.  The purpose of schooling is to develop students as completely as possible-physically, intellectually, socially, and emotionally.  The curriculum should be composed of experiences that reflect today's world, and instructionally, teachers should guide students in the process of development.  I also feel like this view fits me.  I think that students should be able to problem solve and be helpful pieces of a society when they are finished with school.  I think that students should be able to come out of school being as prepared for life as they can be.  It is a waste of time to send students through 13+ years of school for them to come out only knowing how to take a test, but not remember anything they were tested on.  So by looking at my results, I feel like education is the right path for me, and I feel like teaching is exactly what I want to do.

Waiting for Superman

In class we watched a movie called Waiting for Superman.  It talked about how some inner city schools are really suffering and are not doing their best to teach students.  The movie talked about the fact that there are over 2,000 'drop out factories' in the United States.  These are schools were most of the students drop out before they graduate.  Administrators, teachers, students, and parents all know they are called this, but they continue to run and allow students to drop out.  This is insane to me.  If there is one thing that screams HELP! to me is that.  There is no way I would send my kids to a school like that unless I had absolutely no other option.  Even if it was my only option, I think that the administrators and teachers need to make an effort to change how the school is seen.  One fact that was shared in the movie is that 68% if inmates in prisons are dropouts.  $33,000 is spent on each inmate, for that same amount of money we could have sent that inmate to a private school and still had money left over to put towards college.  This is ridiculous, especially now when we are in debt and are having to cut so many things especially in education.  First, what the hell are we giving our inmates if we spend that kind of money on them, second, if we invest more into each child who is currently going through school, think of the money we could save later!  Not only the money, but think of what each one of those kids could contribute to society instead of filling up prisons.  Another concept in the movie that really shocked me was the idea of 'Passing the Lemons.'  This is the idea of passing around teachers who are no good at their job and they along with everyone else in the school system knows they are terrible teachers.  Since they are tenured, they cannot be fired, so they are passed along between schools hoping that the 'Lemon' they get in is better than the 'Lemon' they tossed away.  I am sorry but this is just stupid.  We saw on the movie that some of these teachers literally sat at their desk reading the newspaper while the students did whatever they wanted.  What are those students learning in that scenario? That education is pointless because my teacher doesn't even think I am worth their time?  How sad.  If someone in any other profession went to work and did that type of thing they would be gone in a heartbeat and it would be unlikely that they would be able to hold another position.  So why do we allow it with teachers, those people who are leading our kids on their path to knowledge?  I am not saying that tenure is all together a bad thing, since hey job security sounds great to me, but on the other hand I do not think that it should be that solid that teachers can literally do nothing and administrators have absolutely no right to fire them.  In that respect I believe that teachers should be paid according to their performance.  The more they are helping and teaching their students, the more they get paid.  I believe that would act as motivation for teachers to stay up to date and to continue learning and incorporating new ideas into their classrooms.

Group 7 presentation

Excellent job girls! I really liked how you switched back and forth between people talking instead of each of you doing your share of slides then moving on to the next.  It made it seem like you all knew all of the content and that you really worked together.  I thought your discussions on facebook/social media affecting teachers jobs and also the one on corporal punishment in schools were great! All of your topics were interesting and I enjoyed the whole thing!

Group 6 presentation

You guys did a great job over-viewing the chapter and bringing in more information.  The items discussed were great and were interesting.  I really liked the interview you guys did.  Overall great job!

Cathleen Black Is Out as City Schools Chancellor

Cathleen Black Is Out as City Schools Chancellor

            Cathleen P. Black was urged to resign as chancellor of the New York City schools.  She was appointed for the position three months ago, and her quick resignation was a surprising as her appointment.  Ms. Black offended many parents during her three month reign, and received the lowest approval rating (17%) that any Bloomberg administration official has ever received.  Ms. Black was replaced by Deputy Mayor Dennis M. Walcott.  Walcott has many connections with the school system.  He taught kindergarten for two years, has spent years in public service, holds master’s degrees in education and in social work, and headed the Urban League for 12 years.  After all of that on his record, he does not meet all of the credentials required under state law, so he must get a waiver from the state education commissioner before he can become chancellor. 

            Three months working as chancellor is not a very long time.  She must have really been unqualified for the job to only last that long.  According to the article she really upset many parents and needed a lot of coaching to understand each separate aspect of the education policy.  The article also says that Ms. Black was a magazine executive with no educational experience before she was appointed.  How is someone who has never worked in education supposed to perform well in her position?  I really feel bad that she was put into this position.  I understand that we need a change in the running of schools in the United States, but I think appointments should be made to people who at least have some experience in education.  It seems like appointing someone without experience is a step in the wrong direction.  

Group 5 presentation

Ariel and I were the fifth group to present.  We ran out of time so sorry we had to skip the fun things we had planned. We had more discussions and videos to go through, but hopefully it was alright otherwise!

Global Achievement Gap ch. 5

• Kids have no respect for authority thye have a lack of work ethic.  They do not give all their effort in jobs or in school.  They do not proofread their papers and talk during class.
• kids have grown up with technology and using it regularly.  Teens use computers for entertainment.  College students use them for work.  In 2001 John Seely Brown hired 15 year olds to help with research.  He noticed that they multi task all the time (electronically).  Instant Messaging has made kids today inpatient.  It has also made spelling and language skills drop.
• The net generation employers need to find ways to interest their young employees and allow them to do things differently, not a 9-5 desk job.
• Students learn differently too.  They will not read lengthy texts or instructions, but if you outline things and present them in ways that appear shorter, their scores will increase.  Video games make kids think through problems like scientists, they must hypothesize and get a reaction.  Designers need to find ways to incorporate more learning and less violence.
•  Kids not longer have to talk face to face because of their use of technology, and social skills may be deteriorating.  They are becoming unable to relate to people who are different than they are.
• “High school teachers need to have kids do real research and experiments.  Instead of being receivers of knowledge, they need to be participants.  Let them be scientists, a historian.”
• If you can tap into kids interests, they’re very motivated.  For example, kids learned more about writing and editing by doing the school newspaper than in their English class.
• Many net generation kids are willing to be paid less to do ore meaningful work.
• Parents and adults must find out what interests their kids and use that to help them learn and develop.

studentsfirst.org

http://www.studentsfirst.org/

The above link is a link to a website that rallies for support for good teachers.  Its talks about how effective teachers may be the first ones cut, just because they were the last ones hired.  Here are three points from the website about teacher layoffs :
1. Research indicates that when districts with LIFO(last in first out) conduct layoffs, they end up firing some of their most highly effective educators.
2. LIFO policies increase the number of teachers that districts have to lay off. Because junior teachers make less money, districts have to lay off more of them in order to fill their budget gaps.
3. LIFO disproportionately and negatively impacts the highest need schools. These schools have larger numbers of new teachers, who are the first to lose their jobs in a layoff.

I will not speak for anyone else, but in my opinion it is stupid to fire your most productive teacher, if it were a business of production, there is no way you would fire the person who is putting out the most produce over someone who is putting out half of the produce in the same amount of time.  Have businesses not been bringing in machines to do jobs people used to because they are more efficient? So why is it different in teaching? Why do we fire our most 'productive' teacher and leave the ones who do not teach our children near as much?  I encourage all to check out this website and become familiar with what it stands for and is asking of people. 

This website also addresses the idea of tenure and also how much teachers get paid.  Again in a business. are they not willing to pay that more productive employee more than they are willing to pay that employee who produces half of what the first does in the same amount of time? Yes! So why is teaching any different? If one teacher is helping their students learn and understand the cirriculum well while another teacher is sitting back and not helping their students understand the same cirriculum, why not pay the first more? I think it would hold teachers more accountable for their effectiveness of teaching and will also act as motivation to find new ways to help their students better. 

Everyone may not agree with the idea of the website or the things I have posted, but at least look into it and have an open mind.  Think about who education should be about, the teachers and their jobs or the student and their learning.  Who is the one who will be our future? The students, so think about whose hands we should place them in, teachers who have their interests and learning at heart or teachers who know they can't be fired so why put any more effort than needed.  It is an easy choice in my book, but think about it.

Morocco: teachers strike after violent protests

http://www.ei-ie.org/news/news_details/1760

Morocco: teachers strike after violent protests 

Teachers in Morocco staged a two day strike in late March.  This was to be an act against the way they were treated during a previous demonstration.   During this previous get together, they claim 165 people were hurt, 65 seriously, including people with broken limbs or gashes from beatings by police. Unions said 50 were taken to hospital.  This violence was inflicted by the police (according to the teachers and the article) and the Union is demanding that the violence be investigated.  The teachers were voicing their concern about the national education system’s reform and demanding increased status and salaries depending on diplomas for teachers.

Hearing about this kind of violence makes me think what the teachers were doing to incite such a reaction from the police!  It is hard to believe that if they were just asking to discuss the matter in a respectable way or even just marching and protesting that the police would use such violence.  It could happen I suppose, but I wonder if there is more to this story.  Either way I hope that all individuals injured are alright and also that the matter gets resolved without any more injuries! 

Paterson Teacher Suspended Over a Post on Facebook

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/02/nyregion/02facebook.html?ref=education

This article talks about a first grade teacher from Patterson, NJ.  She posted, " that she felt like a warden overseeing future criminals" on her Facebook page.  Parents were outraged and asked for their children to be taken out of her classroom.  The teacher has since been suspended with pay because of her comment.  She said that the comment was made in her own personal time to her own friends.  A lot of attention has been given to this comment and many question her professionalism.


I think that this was very stupid of this teacher to post something like this on her Facebook.  By posting this on Facebook, it made her feelings totally public, it may have been meant as a comment to friends, but then talk about it in person to your friends.  Anyone can see a comment like that if it is on a social network site.  Even if you have a protected profile, people who are not your friends can see what you are doing.  If one of my friends comments on one of their friends comments, but I am not friends with that other person, I can still see the post and any comment that has been made to it.  I may not have any idea who that other person is, but I can sure find out how they are feeling.  Facebook or other social network sites are great, but they are not a place for secrets or publishing your life story.  Information flows, especially juicy information.  So all future teachers or anyone going into any profession, remember to keep your thoughts about the job to yourself or a TRUSTED friend.

2 million minutes

Today we watched the movie 2 Million Minutes.  This movie talks about the difference between students in the USA, China, and India.  I could not believe the difference.  Students in the US study half as much as those in China.  They spend a lot more time on sports and other activities than on academics.  One of the students from India said that they had time for school and nothing else.  One of the students would get up at 5:45 on a Saturday to study with other students for a few hours, go to breakfast, then go on to school for however many more hours.  I doubt there are many American students who even think about homework on a Saturday.  Another difference is in career choices.  The boy from India knew by the time he was seventeen that he was going for engineering.  He worked very hard to get into a school for this area.  A lot of teens in the US do not know what career they will go into until they get a few years of college in, and even after that most switch.  A reoccurring idea in this movie was that American kids do not realize that they are competing against kids from other nations to get jobs.  Kids from India and China spend their whole childhood making the most of their education, where kids in the US spend more time on leisure activities and only 'get by' in school.  This is sad.  When compared kids in the US need to step it up.  They need to study more and understand concepts better.  There is a lot of room for improvement!

Teacher charged with student sex assaults

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/teacher-charged-with-student-sex-assaults-20110324-1c72o.html

Teacher charged with student sex assaults

     A man has been charged with the sexual assault of students at schools in Sydney's south west during the 1980s and 90s.  The man is now 61 years old.  He was been said to have assaulted a 14 year old boy numerous times in his home.  He was granted bail, and the police are currently looking into similar cases during that time.

     This outrages me.  There is absolutely no reason for any adult to assault children in any way.  I feel like it should not take this long for information to come out against this guy.  The good thing about today is that people are more open about such things, and it is more likely that this will not go unnoticed for such a long time.

Group 4 presentation

Great job starting the philosophies of education.  You did great explaining the key concepts and differing ideas of each of the four philosophies.  I really enjoyed your movie examples of the different philosophies, it was a great visual.

Teacher Prep. Program

1. LOTS of experience.  In most other fields there is either an on the job training or the period of getting trained in.  Along with these experiences there are internships and what not that they go through before being hired.  Teachers have our experiences, but the first being only twenty hours.  I think we need to be placed with good teachers who are willing to use us and 'throw us to the wolves' so to speak.  We need to be put out there and know what it feels like to manage a classroom.  I think little chunks of time should be spent doing this before our big student teaching (less observation, lots of actual teaching)

2. Experience with meetings: Give us a feel of what it will be like to have a departmental meeting, IEP meeting, meetings with parents (including conferences and open house) child study meetings everything.  To know what is expected of us and how to prepare.  Also how to deal with parents.  Whether it be a parent who is very controlling of their child's atmosphere or one who does not like what is being done at school curriculum wise.

3. Interview and resume building prep.  Help us know what we should be doing now while we are still in school that will look great on our resumes and what skills we should be working on. Also what to expect when heading into an interview.  What things are good to talk about what isn't etc.

Group 3 class presentation

Great overview of the chapter content! I was able to get a good feel for the history of education.  I loved the quote you pulled from the book.  I feel like it really captured the views of the "white people" who were trying to assimilate the Native Americans at that time.  I also liked your movie.

Chapter Four of Tony Wagner’s The Global Achievement Gap

Chapter Four of Tony Wagner’s The Global Achievement Gap

Reinventing the Education Profession

If a schools main goal is to improve the student learning, then the first problem schools need to work out is to improve teaching and coaching of teachers.  Although teachers may be quick to critique others teaching, they may not be as quick to change the way they implement strategies in their own classrooms.  Tony talks about how he became a teacher.  Some of the courses he took and what he liked about them.  And how prepared he felt after graduating (which was not much).  He then goes into different experiences and teaching opportunities he had.  He talked about how many of the teachers he came to know felt as unprepared as him for their first job.  “They did not focus on the developing of the skills needed to be an effective teacher, and they rarely gave student teachers meaningful teaching experiences with knowledgeable and effective supervisors.”   He talked about how the lack of teacher preparation and support is considered the primary cause for the public school teacher attrition rate (nearly 1 in 2 teachers leaving the classroom within five years).  This is extremely high, I can see how there is always a need for new teachers.  I can also see how stressful being a new teacher will be.  The transition from student to teacher in charge of helping students grow and learn is huge!  If we are not prepared this will be a huge stressor.  How can anyone expect us to be good at our job if we are never properly trained?   

Chapter Three of Tony Wagners The Global Achievement Gap

Chapter Three of Tony Wagners The Global Achievement Gap

Testing 1 2 3

Tony starts this chapter out by showing an example of a tenth grade exams that the students must pass in order to graduate after NCLB.  He then critiques the tests.  In 2007, 13% of Massachusetts 10^th graders did not pass the MCA tests. 

A Way to Think About NCLB and High School State Tests  Wagner discusses some of the controversies that have arisen from NCLB.  For example, the goal of having 100% proficiency in reading and math for all students by 2014, a highly punitive approach toward students, teachers, and schools in terms of consequences for poor performance on the tests, the lack of any assistance for schools that are not making AYP, a weak definition of the requirement to have “highly qualified teachers” in all subjects, and the highly varied standards that individual states use for determining whether students are “proficient” and schools are making AYP. 

The two main questions he highlights in this chapter are: To what extent do these state tests assess the skills that matter most for work, citizenship, and college? and What is the impact of teaching to these tests on students’ motivation to learn and to stay in school?

Is Math Really “Problem Solving” – and What About Science?  Many business leaders say that todays high school graduates do not have adequate preparation in science and math.  Algebra is a math skill that is required to pass state tests, but unless people are math majors the most common math that they will be doing are arithmetic, statistics, and probability not algebra.  Tony asks, What should all high school graduates know in order to be literate in math and science as disciplines of problem solving?  When our students are not given a multiple choice type exam, but instead are required to come up with the answer on their own using knowledge they already acquire, they are unable to apply what they already know. 

Writing by Formula  This section talks about how students are taught to write essays by having an introduction paragraph, followed by three supporting paragraphs, then ended with a conclusion.  This ‘formula’ should get them passing scores on the state tests and SATs.  He then gives evidence that many schools do not even consider the scores students got on the writing section of the SATs for a true indicator of their writing skills.  That is because students are never given a topic they have never seen and asked to write spontaneously for 25 minutes. 

College-Ready?  Tony asked students who were attending college, “Looking back, what about your high school experience did you find most engaging or helpful to you?”  Many students talked about extracurricular activities (clubs, school yearbooks, etc.) as the most engaging, then came friends, and sports.  Tony asked the students about academics, and they said that the stuff they learned in high school was irrelevant, because they started over in college.  Tony asked the how they thought high school time could have been better spent, and all agreed they should have spent more time on writing, research skills, time management, and how to work with others in study groups.  

Chapter 2 of Tony Wagner’s The Global Achievement Gap

Chapter 2 of Tony Wagner’s The Global Achievement Gap

In the first part of chapter two Tony looks into whether or not schools are preparing their students for college life and life beyond that.  Out of 18 classes that Tony observed, he thought that one of them met the requirements to give the students the ability to succeed in college.  In one of his classes he came across a group of AP boys who were doing a lab.  Their beaker was smoking in a way no one else’s was.  They sat and waited for the teacher to come help them.  Tony asked them what their hypothesis was for what went wrong, and they didn’t know what a hypothesis was. 

A Tale of Two Cities  Tony starts this section by talking about how schools celebrate success in sports rather than success in academics.  There are trophies displayed for sporting events, but not for academic successes.  Out of all of the high school athletes, only 10% or fewer play varsity, and out of the 10% only a small fraction play professionally.  Apparently the education the kids get from school is what most of them will have to fall back on rather than the sports they participate in (who would have thought that?)  Tony compared two different schools in this section based on their high test scores and how well they prepared their students for college.  He found that both schools were guilty of “test prep” and teaching to the tests rather than making their students think critically and analize data.  Overall, not good preparation for college.

You’re in the Army Now  This section compares Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) schools to public schools.  DoDea schools typically outperform most public schools even though they have have 40% of their students qualifying for free or reduced-price meals and a 35% transfer and mobility rate.  Tony wondered if they prepared their students better for college than the public schools he observed.  He discovered that many of the classes are the same in the way that they do not make students think critically and problem solve.  He did find one Algebra II class that challenged its students.  The teacher wrote a new type of problem on the board and told the students to find two different ways to solve the problem using the knowledge they accumulated through their previous courses.  When the teacher walked around the classroom he did not answer questions, but prompted them to think about it in various ways and discuss it with their peers.  This is exactly the kind of teaching students need.

The Hidden “Gap” Exposed  Tony observed a few elementary schools also and found some of these facts.  5^th graders spend more than 90% of their time in their seats listening to the teacher or working alone and only 7% of their time working in groups.  In 5^th grade 60% of the students’ time was spent improving basic literary and math skills and less than 25% of their time spent on science and social studies.  The average 5^th grader received five times as much instruction on basic skills as instruction focused on problem solving or reasoning.  Why is our students’ learning being divided out this way?  Since NCLB students are being tested on reading and math skills and not science and social studies, no school wants to be shown as not reaching their adequate yearly progress, so they teach to improve scores in those subjects. 

What about the Competition?  In this section Tony discusses the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).  PISA develops assessments of reading, math, and science literacy to a sample of between 4,500-10,000 fifteen year old kids in various countries.  In 2003 they aimed the test towards checking problem solving skills along with other assessments.  Their goal was to measure “cross-curricular competencies.”   The children from the United States were ranked behind twenty eight other countries on this assessment.  Based on this and the statistics given from the exam, the kids considered to be the most academically talented in the United States are not even close to the kids in our competing countries.

Group 2 Class Presentation

I liked the example of the IEP that was given to us.  I have worked with them a couple times during my internship last semester.  I was able to see the prompt online and also proof read a finished report.  I also liked the interview that was given.  You guys had a lot of good information.  The only criticism would be to get the class involved.  Just lecturing makes it easy to be sidetracked and lose attention, so I would recommend a discussion, game, or maybe asking us questions throughout the presentation.

Group 1 Class presentation

I think the first group did a wonderful job.  They had great information and were able to keep me interested throughout the presentation.  I loved the discussion to keep us involved rather than just lecturing us.  I also enjoyed the video at the end, and though it had some shocking statistics! The game at the end was a good way to make sure we paid attention! Over all wonderful job guys!

More on the IDI

In an earlier blog I talked about the IDI assessment that we took in class.  After looking back on my results I can see that there is room for improvement.  My major fall back is the lack of experience I have had with other cultures.  This is easy to fix, I just need to put myself out there and experience different cultures.  By doing this simple thing, I believe that it will increase my understanding, overall knowledge, and make me a better teacher!

Most schools could face ‘failing’ label under No Child Left Behind, Duncan says

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/duncan-most-schools-could-face-failing-label/2011/03/09/AB7L2hP_story.html

Most schools could face ‘failing’ label under No Child Left Behind, Duncan says

The Obama administration came out on Wednesday saying that more than three-quarters of the nation’s public schools could soon be ‘failing’ under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.  They  are planning on making some changes to this law .  It is estimated that 82% (up from 37% from last  year)  of schools could miss their academic target.  Some defenders of NCLB say that Obama’s efforts may let some schools off the hook and allow them to not help their students who need the most aid. 

According to  the article,“Obama’s plan calls for schools to be rated on how much academic growth their students achieve. Those that excel would be rewarded, the vast majority in the middle would be given more flexibility to choose strategies to improve, and the lowest performers would face a stricter federal mandate to adopt a stringent school turnaround program.”

Under NCLB students must be tested in math and reading three times before finishing eightth grade, and once more in high school.  Adequate Yearly Progress is then determined by looking at these scores along with attendance and graduation rates.

The article states,“The Center on Education Policy reported that 28 percent of schools nationwide missed the No Child benchmarks in 2007, 35 percent in 2008 and 33 percent in 2009. The center estimates that at least 37 percent fell short last year. In the Washington area, the center found that the failure rate in 2009 was 23 percent for Maryland, 28 percent for Virginia and 75 percent for the District.”

I know that there are some schools that prepare their students better than others, but I find it hard to believe that as high as 35% of schools nation wide are failing on that basis.  If that is truly the case, then we need to look at that, find out why that is happening, and make a change.  The article also talks  about how the law sets up many ways for districts to fail, but not many opportunities for them to excell.  There has been talk about NCLB since it came into effect.   The idea behind it (to create an opportunity for all students to receive an adequate education) is great and I think that all students should be able to receive a good education, but not all students want it or are able to perform as well as  others.  There are hints about this law being rewritten by next year, and I hope that they will find a way to reach all students and help each one excell. 

Unequal education

In class today we watched a movie about how children receive different education based on where they go to school.  We talked about how we can close the gap on this problem.  It seemed to fall back on funding.  Funding is a huge issue, I know when I was in high school there was always a new thing that had to be cut in order to keep the district afloat.  It got to the point where some sports that were on the verge of being 'cut' were extremely expensive to take part in.  Now funding relys on property taxes, and obviously this is not working fpr the little district I came from.  It may be working perfectly for wealthier communities and that is wonderful, but it is not working for all.  The movie we watched showed a perfect example how two schools in the same district differ greatly in the funding, and also the way the students are learning and the teachers that are teaching.   I know this has been an issue for quite some time, and I don't know if there is one right answer of how to change this, but if what we are doing is not working for smaller districts like the one I graduated from, then I think there should be some sort of change.  There are thoughts of taking a federal income tax and distributing all of the resources equally to each district.  This is one solution that may work.  It will definetly help those schools who are hurting as far as funding goes, but it may also hurt those who are doing fine with the current system.  It kind of seems like a Robin Hood idea 'steal from the rich to feed the poor.'  I do not know what is best or what should be done, but there has to be something done to help out the schools that need it most.  It is not right to sit back and watch some kids excell because they are given the resources and at the same time watch others fail because they were not given those same opportunities.  That is by no means fair.  Hopefully something is done about this soon, because I hate to think of all of those kids who are learning to hate school or feel like they are not gaining anything by being there!

National Center On Universal Design for Learning

This site is amazing! It full of great ways to plan your lesson plans for all students.  There are so many ideas on how to implement UDL into your classroom.  I can't wait to play around a little more and see all this website has to offer!

Overview of my internship

     Last September, I started my 150 hour internship at Paynesville Elementary.  I was able to observe open house and conferences plus all the prep work to go into them!  I also got introduced to such things as copier machines, writing letters to parents, the headache of scheduling para professionals and foster grandparents, and doing countless other prep work!  I was able to work with five wonderful teachers during my internship and observe a few others.  I was able to observe two school meetings, and also a program put on by the kids.  Most of my time was spent working one on one or in small groups with the kids in special education.  I loved being able to do this.  The teachers were great to let me work with the kids and I came away from it all with a lot of experience and confidence.  I think it is easier to reach kids when they are given one on one time.  It is easier as the teacher, because then I can tell if the child understands or if I need to approach the topic another way.  I think it is easier for the student, because then they are able to ask questions if they need help.  I also spend around an hour to an hour and a half a week in the second grade general ed. classroom.  This is much different than Special Ed.  The classroom I helped in had twenty six students.  One teacher to twenty six students is a huge difference than the one on one in Special Ed.  I think it would be much harder to teach to that many students. 

      I had the opportunity to see an IEP review,Other things I was able to see were a music class, an afternoon observing the speech clinician, ECSE (Early childhood special education), a few phy ed classes, and a departmental meeting (child study meeting).  I learned about social stories and other various ways to deal with behaviors.

  I would recommend any student planning on becoming a teacher see most of these areas.  It was pretty interesting to see what goes on while the kids are not in your classroom.  Another exciting thing I was able to do was plan and teach my own lesson to second graders!  I was actually given the opportunity to teach it to two different second grade classrooms.  I planned an hour long lesson on roman numerals.  None of the kids knew what roman numerals were, so it was an all new topic for them.  I created a power point to give a very brief background on roman numerals and to teach them how to write the numbers one through ten.  I also explained how roman numerals compared to our number system, the Arabic system. 

    Two mornings a week I was able to work with the Barton system.  It is a reading and spelling system that works on phonics.  It starts out with the basics of listening to sounds and realizing what sound is different from word to word.  The main goal is to train the student’s ears.  As the students learn and progress in the system, the lessons get harder and more in depth.  The last level I was able to work with was level four, where the kids were working on phrases in sentences.  They worked on decoding what the who, did what, and where parts of each sentence were.  The kids really enjoyed this curriculum.  For the first half of my internship I observed and participated from the student side of the lessons, but during the second half I was able to teach the lessons to the kids.  I loved it! 

   I learned a lot during my time at Paynesville Elementary School.  I learned things about me like which path I want go into as far as sped (DCD, LD), and which one to stay away from (EBD).   I learned that I have the potential to be a great teacher.  I am many times more confident about being in a classroom with kids than when I started.  I also learned a few things about being a special education teacher like how stressful and time consuming the job can be.  I also learned how to deal with students who are misbehaving.  I started my internship knowing very little about special education.  Now at the end I have a much larger knowledge base as far as what areas there are, what a sped teacher does, what is expected, and just how to do things. What better way to learn than to do it hands on?  Overall I think I really grew from being still unsure of myself and my role as a student helper into being a respected teacher.  I would not take back this experience for anything.  I gained friendships and contacts with my supervising teachers and also great relationships with the students I worked with.  I cannot express how beneficial this experience is and can honestly say that I will truly miss working with the kids and teachers.  Another part of this experience I will miss is seminar.  It felt nice and comfortable to come in once a week and tell the other women what I have been doing, and hear the joys and struggles they have been working with too.  It was also nice to get feedback from Lori on how we are doing, and things that we could try.  It felt like we were all a team and that we were all there in each other’s journeys becoming teachers.

 

The rise and slide of Taiwanese education

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/editorial/world-issues/2010/12/13/283456/The-rise.htm

The rise and slide of Taiwanese education

            Shanghai participated in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) for the first time and came out on top in all three categories (reading, mathematics, and science).  They beat the next three countries by over fifteen points. The PISA is an international exam given to 15-year-olds.  The exam is given in 65 developed nations and it assess their ability to do real life challenges.  Critics from Taiwan and the United States thought that Shanghai may have gathered their brightest students for the test.  Others thought that they hone their students in on the subject matter and textbooks in order to do well on standardized tests.  This idea, however; doesn’t hold up, because if Shanghai was just to the books, then Japanese and Taiwanese students should have scored high also because of the similar curriculum styles.

            It is amazing that Shanghai had the top score in all three categories of the PISA test.  It shows that they must be doing something right as far as educating their students.  The article also talked about a difference in emphasis on academics and extracurricular activities between the U.S. and Shanghai.  The U.S. may have to look into what is making Shanghai successful and incorporate some of their techniques into its curriculum. 

Speaking in Tongues

Prior to this class I had no knowledge of immersion programs.  After listening to Kathy and also watching the first part of this movie, I think they are great.  I think it provides great opportunities for children who go through these programs.  By knowing two languages they will have many more options for careers.  These immersion programs also give these kids a much better understanding of the culture of the people in the culture of their second language.  I wish I had an opportunity like this when I was in elementary school.  If there was a school in my area I would like my kids to have this opportunity some day.  Not only my kids, but considering how ignorant we as Americans are, I think all kids should do something like this.

Cuomo Seeks Speedy Change in Teacher Evaluations

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/02/nyregion/02teacher.html?ref=education

Cuomo Seeks Speedy Change in Teacher Evaluations

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo plans to go past the old “last in, first out” system of hiring teachers.  He thinks that they should no longer rely solely on seniority, but instead rely on a system of evaluation.  This would make teachers jobs rely on their teaching performance and punishment records rather than how long they have been in a district.  This proposal would give schools a way to terminate poorly performing teachers; putting the needs of the children first.  Cuomo does believe that seniority should play a role, but it should not be the only factor when making employment decisions.  He does not expect this to go on to the senate level or spread far for quite some time, but it is a first step.

          I think that the idea of this proposal is great.  There are definitely teachers who are only there for the paycheck and no longer have the kids’ best interest at heart.  The problem being that it is difficult for them to be let go unless they retire.  In these cases I think that this would be a great opportunity to make sure the teachers are staying up to par on their standards and aim to help their students do their best.  It does create a sense of worry.  It does not let teachers feel secure in their jobs.  This may stop some from tapping out their potential as a teacher in means of creativity and engaging their students.  If this is the result, it would be a shame.  If this passes, it has the potential to bring about change in teaching.

France want to 'reinvent' English language teaching from age three

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/feb/08/tefl-france

France want to 'reinvent' English language teaching from age three

I am undecided on whether or not three is the right age to start teaching a second language.  I know that the younger students are when they attempt to learn another language the more successful it is, but I think three is a little too young.  Also I do not agree with the idea of three year olds learning a language from an online instructor.  Three year old kids cannot read, so an adult would have to go through the entire learning process with them anyway, so why not have it be a language teacher?  I feel like it would be easier to learn a language if you were immersed in it in a classroom or culture, instead of trying to learn it off of a computer. There are so many people who spend hours of every day on the computer the way it is, so personally I would not want my three year old child to get accustomed to spending a lot of time on the computer.  I would rather them enjoy their youth and spend time playing outside or something like that they would enjoy.

class feb. 15

in class today we completed the online intercultural development inventory.  Unfortuneately I have not had much of an opportunity to be around many different cultures.  I grew up in a small town, and still live there so my experiences have been limited.  I feel like a lot of the questions were not aplicable to me since I have never been in situations they described.  I answered like I felt I would act in those situations.  I hope to be able to experience different cultures and hope I am not always this limited!

Mother: Anoka-Hennepin School policy contributed to gay son’s suicide

http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2010/09/02/mother-anoka-hennepin-school-policy-contributed-gay-son%E2%80%99s-suicide

This article relays what happened to Justin Aaberg who hanged himself due to bullying.  It brings up the Anoka-Hennepin's neutrality policy.  This policy was adopted in 2009 to replace a policy from 1995 which stated that homosexuality not be taught/addressed as a normal, valid lifestyle and that district staff and their resources not advocate the homosexual lifestyle," the  neutrality policy now says that staff must remain neutral on the topic of sexual orientation and that they must address it respectfully and use age appropriate, factual, relevant information.  There have been a number of hangings in this district, so the policy has been brought into the public eye to be looked at and enforced more heavily to protect LGBT students.


I think that when you realize your district has one of the highest suicide and suicide attempt rates, you need to take a look at what is causing this.  You cannot tell me that if kids are being bullied (for whatever reason) to the point of committing suicide, that no one in the district (be it students or teachers) noticed what was going on.  No matter what one believes about sexual orientation, they should still stop bullying because each person has rights and no one deserves to be harassed.  If a little girl is being sexually harassed by a boy in her class, one of the teachers will probably step in right away, the same should happen for any bullying in any situation.  Things need to change. 

class 2-8 bullied

Today I watched the movie Bullied, and as a future teacher I will in no case stand by and watch a child be bullied.  I cannot believe what Jamie went through and how the school administrators did NOTHING to help him.  Every child deserves to feel safe at school and to enjoy the time they spend there.  There is no reason for a child to feel scared at school.  I know I will make a point to point out that I will tolerate NO name calling or bullying in my classroom, and I will encourage my students to speak out against bullying and report any sightings to a teacher they trust.  I am glad Jamie won his case, and hope that bullying can become a thing of the past.

First Chapter of The Global Achievement Gap by Tony Wagner

Global Achievement Gap Chapter One

The preface and introduction talks about how far behind the United States students are as far as graduation, being prepared for life or work after graduation, and scores on the assessments.  They also talk about the difference in how workers think today than they used to, creating a need for critical thinking and problem solving.  Also, these two sections talk about how schools focus on material the students will be tested on that they memorize then forget, instead of preparing them and teaching them.

Chapter one talks about the skills employers look for when hiring employees (asking good questions and the ability to engage in a discussion).  He also talks more about education curriculum focusing on teaching to the tests instead of teaching students to think.  He also related the story about the MIT biologist whose sons had varying experiences in their fourth grade classroom.  The first did a great assignment that really sparked his interest, but by the time the second son reached the same class the teacher felt she had to snuff out the fun stuff in order to prepare the kids for the tests they needed to take.

            Wagner brings up the idea that there are two achievement gaps in our education system.  The first is the gap between the quality of schooling between middle-class students and poor or minority students in America. The second is the global achievement gap which refers to what our best public schools are teaching and testing versus what skills all students will need to succeed as learners, workers, and citizens today.  He outlines the same seven skills we learned about from his lecture, but goes into greater detail on each one. 

1.      Critical thinking and problem solving:

            The habit of asking good questions, critical-thinking, and problem solving skills are of great importance in the workplace.  It also goes into depth about how corporations have changed the way they operate.  They used to run off a hierarchy of people down the ladder, but now they work as teams that must work together in order to come to a solution  which is why this skill is so important.  He interviewed heads of many corporations and even the military and came to the same conclusion that critical thinking is the most important skill.  A good quote from this chapter is from Annemarie Neal in regards to advice for teachers, “Throw out the textbooks!  The answer isn’t in the books.  The answer is in everything but the books.  Problems change and so approaches to problems need to change.  We also need to rethink the accountability system.  We’re getting what we measure, but we are measuring the wrong things.”

2.      Collaboration Across Networks and Leading by Influence:

                  This section talks about the importance of teamwork and how it is a changing term.  Technology has allowed much advancement like conference calls, emails, and virtual teams to develop which has created more opportunities for different people to put their heads together.  21^st Century includes Global Awareness in its skills framework.  Global awareness includes the ability to do the following:

·         [use] 21^st century skills [such as critical thinking and problem solving] to understand and address global issues

·         [learn] from and [work] collaboratively with individuals representing diverse cultures, religions and lifestyles in a spirit of mutual respect and open dialogue in personal, work and community contexts

·         [understand] other nations and cultures, including the use of non-English languages

Kids today seem to have a lack of leadership and collaboration skills. 

3.      Agility and Adaptability:

            This section talks about how jobs have changed since years ago, and they will continue to change, so the workers must also be up for change.  What people are hired to do may be completely different five years later, and those people must be able to adapt to that change and excel because of it. 

4.      Initiative and Entrepreneurship:

                  This sections talks about concerns about how kids today will be able to seek out new opportunities, ideas, and strategies for improvement. 

5.       Effective Oral and Written Communication:

            The leaders that Wagner interviewed said that many of the high school and even college graduates do not have effective oral and written language skills.  They do not know how to communicate their thoughts, passion, and create focus while being clear and concise. 

6.      Accessing and Analyzing Information:

            There is so much information available these days that a lot of people may not know what is important and what is irrelevant to a certain point.  The vast network of information is not only quickly and easily available; it is changing just as vastly and quickly. 

7.      Curiosity and Imagination:

            Up and coming employees need to have the creative ability to design and create what the consumer wants and/or needs and do so in a way that will set them apart from the competition.    

Thursday Feb. 3 class

In class we watched Wagner's seven skills lecture.  I thought it was quite interesting.  The skill he listed were critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration across networks and leading teams, agility and adaptability, initiative and entrepreneurship, effective oral and written communication, accessing and analyzing information, and curiosity and imagination.  I agree that these are qualities that are needed for success.  They seem like difficult things to teach though.  It seems like some people have these things, while others don't.  I also think that there need to be some changes in the curriculum students focus on (teaching towards tests do not cover some of these key skills!)

news article: Compulsory education to be extended in August

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national-news/2011/01/25/289003/Compulsory-education.htm

Compulsory education to be extended in August

            This article talks about Taiwan’s efforts to make education more affordable for its citizens.  This will include adding preschools, senior high and vocation school students to their fee benefits.  They plan to start this on August 1. 

            I think this is a great idea to make school more affordable for students.  Tuition prices can be outrageous, and that may be a key factor for why some students do not continue their education.  By making it more affordable, it should peak interest and increase enrollment.  Overall it sounds like a great thing!

Tuesday January 31, 2011

In class today we went through either chapter one or two in our groups.  We summarized the main points of the chapter we were given.  After summarizing the chapter we taught it to another group.

Class 1-27

Today we had class in the computer lab on the first floor of the education building.  We were taught to use a few great websites like atomic learning and the OWL site from Purdue.  It was a very informative day and we got a lot of great resources!

News article: National science test scores disappoint

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/25/AR2011012502534.html?hpid=moreheadlines

National science test scores disappoint

            This article talked about how low the 2009 national science test scores were.  It showed that many schools are focusing on Math and Reading, but taking time away from Science.  There was a major gap between ethnic groups (African American and Hispanic students scored 30 points lower than White and Asian Americans).  There was also a gender gap males averaged around 153 points while females averaged around 147 (out of a 300 point scale).  President Obama plans to address this issue in his State of The Union Address. 

            This showed that many of the students failed to achieve a basic level of achievement in grades four (as much as two-thirds), eight, and twelve (as much as 79%).  These percentages are WAY too high.  There is no reason that over 75% of students should not have the basic level of achievement.  There definitely needs to be a few changes in our schools if this same result shows up in the next age group that takes the test.  I know in my high school we had to take four years of English, three years of math, and three years of science.  Maybe four years in all of these should be required in order to make sure kids know the basics.  In my experience, I have noticed that if a student is doing poorly in math or English, teachers are more apt to pull a child out of their science studies in order to give more focus to the other two because science can be learned at any time, whereas you need to know the basics of math and English in order to progress.  This may be true, but I think that the child should still be learning the same level science that their peers are, but may mean taking time out of the more fun activities or some of their free time.  I will not claim that I know the answer to this problem, all I do know is that some change needs to take place there should NOT be 75% of students below the basic level of achievement.  

The Freedom Writers

Freedom Writers Journal

1)      What are some of the hopes and expectations Erin has prior to starting her first job?

To keep kids out of the juvenile delinquent programs, increase the children’s reading levels, and fight for each of her students.  She liked the integration idea, and she wanted to help it work.

Although her exact expectations are not stated, I feel like they would be generally the same as any new teacher, to help her students learn something and make a difference in their lives.  I believe that she definitely achieved this goal.  She started out with a group of kids who had no respect for her or what she wanted to do with them.  In the end she had a group of kids who not only respected her, but were willing to fight for her to be able to teach them.

2)      What realities and challenges confronted her in the beginning of the year?

When the kids came in her room they paid no attention to her, but talked amongst themselves.  She had a very diverse group of students, and each race hated each other resulting in many fights between groups.  She was told that most of her students would be dropped out by junior year.  She was also confronted with conflicts from her father.  She has no respect from her students.  Her students got to their freshman year having only a fifth grade reading level.

It would be very difficult to walk into your classroom on your first day teaching, and have your students ignore you.  Even worse for them to say that what you are doing is bullshit and will not help them out in their lives.  Then add students fighting into the mix, and that makes the rest of the year seem extremely long, and makes you feel like quitting.  It took great courage and strength for Erin to come back day after day to a classroom that did not want her there.  I was amazed by her strength and commitment to teaching and her students.  It would also be very difficult to deal with no support from your colleagues.  It made me mad when they talked about how the kids in her class were helpless, and that she need not try hard, because it won’t make a difference.

3)      What were some of the case scenarios of the lived experiences of the students she had in class?

Some did not want to be in school, some had gang influence, some were beaten or watched their family members being beaten, juvenile detention halls, and for almost all DEATH.

To me coming from a small town with very little diversity, this seems extremely foreign and shocking.  These kids were freshmen in high school and almost all of them had been shot at, almost all of them had a friend or family that was killed, and almost all of them knew someone in a juvenile detention center.  Erin’s line game was eye opening to me, and I feel like it was the first step towards her great success as a teacher.  She was able to get the kids to see that almost all of them have walked similar paths no matter what color their skin was.  She was able to find some common ground for each of them to stand on. 

4)      How did the student’s attitudes towards learning impact their academic performance?

They thought that all the teacher was good for was a babysitter, and that the things she wanted to teach them were of no use to their own lives, so they did not care, and their academic performance was low.

This makes sense.  The other teachers in the district judged these kids by what they hear about on the news or from their previous teachers.  None of them thought they were worth spending time on to teach them.  When you go through school knowing that is how your teachers feel about you, why would you put any effort into doing well? Why would they live up to expectations if no one will set any for them?  I think that teachers who feel like it is a waste of time to work with a child who ‘stupid’ compared to their peers, or who comes from a different background and family life than they are used to should not teach.  Every child has the potential to be great, and every great person started out the same way these kids started out.  The difference is that people took the time to reach out to those great people, and no one took that chance for these kids until Erin.  No one is born into greatness; people have to work towards greatness.

5)      What strategies did Erin incorporate to break down the barriers between the students and the teacher?

She got to know the kids in her room and what they have been through.  She made the kids write in a diary daily. The kids could write about anything they felt like.  In the end the kids wrote the story of their life.  She pushed the kids to look past the invisible borders of gangs, and to look at how each person in that class had something in common.  She had the kids share what they had been through, and by doing so she made them a family.

The key part of breaking apart the barriers was breaking apart the prejudices each kid had against each other.  One of the kids in her class admitted that they did not even know what the war they were in was about or how it started.  What is the point of fighting a war when you do not know what you are fighting for.  She had to make the kids see their similarities instead of their differences.  Great ideas were the diaries, her line game, the dancing, and the toast she made each student take for change. 

6)      What kinds of teaching methods worked with the students?

Uniting them as a class and getting them to understand where everyone else in the room has come from.  Doing this allowed her students to get past their division of race and see past what gang each other had allegiances with.

She had to throw out anything she was taught in school, and go with her gut.  She had to go against her colleagues and do what felt right.  She had to find a way to connect with each one of her students no matter what problems it may bring into her personal life.  That would be very difficult, especially for a first year teacher.

7)      How did Erin develop curriculum that connected with the students?

She incorporated stories and situations that the kids would be able to connect with.

A great example was the story of Anne Frank and the holocaust.  One student out of her class knew what the holocaust was prior to her teaching them.  These were freshmen students, and one knew about the horrors that happened to the Jewish people.  She had to work extra jobs to buy books for her students with her own money, because the department of education felt it was not worth giving these kids one of the school’s books.  She was smart enough to realize that the way to get these kids interested in school was to find literature that they could relate to.  Whenever I pick out a book to read, it is because it is of interest to me.  I wouldn’t want to waste time reading a book that does not grab my interest.  Erin was smart enough to be able to find books that would grab her student’s interest.

8)      What were the attitudes and challenges from other teachers and administrators in the school?

That she won’t make much of a difference, and that there was no hope for the kids in her room to learn but the best she could do was to get her students to obey.  Teachers feel that the poor quality of education and all the problems in the school are because of the integration of the races. 

As I have already stated, it would be extremely difficult to go to work every day and not have any support from your colleagues.  It would be terrible to have the other teachers hate you because you are taking time to connect with your students (in this case the ones they did not want to teach) and are making their grades improve.  I do not know how she got through those first few years, but she is one hell of a good teacher.

9)      What role did Erin’s expectations for the students have on their learning?

She expected them to actually work, and not just put their time in.  This is more than anyone had expected of them as to date, and by Erin finding ways to encourage her students, she helped them succeed.  She changed their whole idea of school and its part in their lives. 

10)  What lessons did you learn from this in regards to your first year of teaching?

 I learned to not expect my first day of class to go over without a hitch.  I should have a plan in place in case something disastrous happens.  I learned that no amount of studying or schooling can really prepare you for stepping into that classroom that first day and approaching your first students, because you never know who they will be or what will happen.  I also learned that although it may cause rifts with some teachers who are stuck in their ways, you have to fight for your students.  Respect is important, one of the students asked why he should respect Erin just because she is a teacher.  He didn’t know   anything about her, and he was right.  Respect should be earned, not just assumed or given.  I also learned that sooner or later you will have that child that seems impossible, but it will do neither of you any good to just give up on them.  By giving up that child will continue to seem impossible to others and will not reach their potential in life.  It will also leave you with regrets.  You will always wonder where that kid is now and what they could be if given the chance.  By meeting the challenge head on, the child will grow, and so will you as a teacher.  You will gain experience and confidence along with knowledge and a friendship.