Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Teaching Hope: Disillusionment

Story seventy-eight really got my attention. I can’t even imagine being in that teacher’s shoes. It isn’t fair when the room isn’t big enough to accommodate the number of students within it. The principal’s reaction to the teacher is the most disheartening part about this whole story. All he can do is mention the fact that the teacher cried. It doesn’t occur to him that he should probably do something to prevent something like this from happening again in the future. I wouldn’t feel comfortable working in a school with a principal who wasn’t willing to help out. It’s too bad the teacher in this story didn’t at least stand up for herself and ask him to make some changes. At the very least, I would have gotten a group of teachers together to go talk some sense into him.

I’m not sure how I feel about story eighty-two. It’s awful how they expect one teacher to watch twenty to thirty misbehaved students for such a long period of time. This teacher was right in saying, “Isn’t there a better way to do this?” (Gruwell, 186). What are the students going to learn by sitting in a room with other students like them? An effective punishment has to somehow be related to the crime being punished. Community service is one example of this. If a student defaces school property, have them clean it up. It isn’t fair to the teachers to make them watch all of the students at once. Discipline should be individualized, much like learning.

Story 107 really got to me. It’s scary that after everything that teacher had done for the school and her students, she was still let go. It seems like sometimes the firing has nothing to do with who you are as a teacher. It’s almost as if it is now a game of luck. It’s unfortunate, but administrators can only do so much with the funding they receive. I wonder if it also has something to do with how long a teacher has taught at the school. Would administrators be more likely to fire a teacher who has done a great job but only been there for one year over a veteran teacher that still refuses to update his or her practices? It just doesn’t seem right. Regardless, the teacher in this story was pretty naïve in thinking teaching was a safe profession. It is competitive and political. These things can’t be ignored.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Teaching Hope: Engagement

Story number forty-eight caught my attention by making me think about the line between wanting to get to know your students and knowing too much. The teacher in this particular story believed in the privacy of his students. If they didn’t want him to read a particular journal entry, he skipped right over it. When Alli asked him to read one of her entries, he was excited to finally know more about her. The entry only lead to more questions so the teacher continued to dig. This seemed to annoy the student a little, but I suppose she did bring it on herself. And eventually, she wanted the teacher to read the entire journal. This is where the red flags went up for me. Although this was a school journal, it is hard to say what a student might write about. If I were in this teacher’s shoes, I would probably be curious as well, but I think I would be more scared than anything. You never really know what you might find out about a student. I think the teacher puts it very well when he says, “I wished I hadn’t pressed to find out about Alli’s parents” (Gruwell, 112). I feel like this is the type of position I would find myself in if this were to happen to me. As much as it might hurt to learn about the struggles your students endure on a daily basis, I suppose it might be a good idea to know what’s going on, at least to a certain extent.

Story number fifty-six made me laugh out loud. The classroom is certainly not a place for politics of any kind, except maybe in a social studies class come November. When that particular girl brought up the question about gay marriage, I’m not sure what I would have done, but I’m not sure I liked the way this teacher approached the question. Turning it back on her, was his first mistake. She clearly had something to say about it, or she wouldn’t be bringing it up. Maybe he could have explained how class time shouldn’t be spent discussing politics. If there had been any questioning people in the room at the time, I can’t imagine how they must have felt once Natasha shared her mind. His second mistake came with making her name the Ten Commandments. She certainly deserved it, but it wasn’t a good idea to call out the student in front of the whole class like that. His overall message behind his technique was certainly interesting though. I agree that students should be able to back up what they believe instead of just repeating what someone else believes.

The Story of Schools, Episode 3: 1950-1980

I really liked this video because of all the positive changes that were occurring. People were slowly starting to realize how important equality truly is, especially when it comes to education. I really liked seeing people push for equality. The inequities that were occurring during this time brought on a number of different reforms that were fully supported by Lyndon Johnson, the president at the time.

One of the biggest changes in this time period was from segregation to integration. African American children didn’t have the same resources as white children. They were forced to attend a different school, one that wasn’t quite up to par as the white schools. In fact, there were eighteen schools for whites and only four schools for African Americans. They weren’t receiving an equal education and they weren’t happy about it. One student, Linda Brown, and her family decided to do something about it. Her parents talked to one of the nearby white schools and tried to get her enrolled. When the principal refused, Brown’s family took it to court and fought it as hard as they could. Soon, they had decided to desegregate schools, but it still took some time for it to take full effect.

A second minority group that was suffering in this time period was Mexican Americans. They weren’t given the support they needed in school because teachers believed they weren’t smart enough to succeed. They weren’t even allowed to speak Spanish. If they did, they were forced to choose between receiving a slap or receiving detention. Finally, a group of Mexican Americans decided to write a letter to the school board making reasonable demands: no name calling and being allowed to speak Spanish. Until these demands were met, they decided to go on strike. Before long, there was the bilingual education act and Spanish was allowed to be spoken in schools.

Women were also struggling with rights during this time period. They were taught to be lady-like, domestic, and maternal. They learned to cook, clean, and sew. They were discouraged from playing sports and taking higher-level math and science classes. One woman in particular, Dorothy Raffel, loved playing basketball. When she tried out for the boy’s basketball team, they refused to let her play. Because of this, a girl’s “pick-up” team was created. This meant barely playing a game or two after school. They never got to travel or play other teams. Raffel kept fighting and eventually in 1972, Title IX was created, which allowed all women to be treated equal. If a school had a male sports team, they had to have a female version as well. There were also bias-free textbooks and co-ed activities.

Students with special needs weren’t receiving the help that they needed. In fact, 72% of special needs students weren’t even enrolled in schools. This gives them no opportunity to socialize with other students and absolutely no chance to try. It is truly disheartening that teachers and schools weren’t always willing to try at first. But soon, disabled students were allowed to come to school. It meant some very expensive changes, like ramps and automatic doors, but it was worth it to finally see those students attend school like everyone else.

Lyndon Johnson provides an interesting view as president because he was once a school teacher. He truly believed in the importance of equality and was willing to do whatever he could for minorities. He started the war on poverty and created Head Start, a program for children in low-income families. He also created low-cost college loans so more students would be more likely to attend college after high school. In 1964 he signed a bill that meant equality for all people. He even threatened to take funding away from schools who weren’t willing to fully integrate students.

Friday, September 17, 2010

The Story of Schools, Episode 2: 1900-1950

I found this video to be very interesting and informative. I haven’t really spent much time thinking about what school was like over a hundred years ago. So learning about it now, has been very eye-opening. I really enjoyed the stats that they gave at the beginning of each section. I especially enjoyed watching the stats, like percentage of 17-year-olds who graduate high school, improve as the years went on. This particular video put a lot of focus on immigration, IQ tests and change.

In the early 1900s, over 22 million (3 million children) immigrants came to America. The schools had to do something about this, but they weren’t sure what. The schools weren’t big enough to hold all of the students, so a lot of students were only allowed to attend school part time. This doesn’t seem like the students have enough time to truly learn. The schools put a lot of focus on “Americanizing” the immigrant students by having them study how to be Americans while in school. They didn’t have a lot of faith in the minority children and trained them in industrial work, not aware that they might actually be smart kids that just weren’t inspired or challenged enough to reach full potential.

The discussion of IQ testing in this episode was very disheartening. I didn’t like how the impossibly worded questions were used to determine the “quality people” from the less qualified. The test didn’t seem anything to do with what was learned in school. It was also unfortunate how culturally biased the tests were. They were always given in English, so anyone who couldn’t understand English was automatically doomed to fail.

It seemed like educators had a hard time deciding what was important for students to learn while in school. They changed their minds a lot. One of the first major programs was Gary’s “work, study, play” concept. At first, it was a hit. Students were kept busy at all times and even got to learn things that interested them. They had to walk from class to class, which kept them exercising both bodies and minds. Students even got to help run the school, whether in the kitchen, library, etc. However, people soon began to view the Gary plan as preparation for working in the factories and people revolted. They wanted to return to a focus on the pen, paper and book way of learning. So they got rid of the Gary plan and hit the books. Eventually, educators came up with a new program known as the life-adjustment program. This made school more relevant to students’ lives. They take courses on sex, dating, family life, etc.

One guy at the end made a comment about how the approach used towards education is always changing. The way he sees it, educators keep going back and forth between two concepts: traditional and progressive. I think educators are sometimes afraid when it comes to being progressive, but I believe it does a lot for the field of education when certain risks are taken. I think it is crucial that we continue to try new and exciting ideas to get students engaged.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Teaching Hope: Challenges

The twenty-second story really spoke to me because I think it is important to remember that we, as teachers, were young once too and we may have experienced similar issues growing up. I think students forget this sometimes. I really liked how this teacher recognized the similarities she had with the student and was willing to embrace them. She was unsure how to do it at first, but she did eventually give in. The fact that the student was willing to share her journal with the teacher shows that the teacher somehow made a connection with the student. It’s hard to know what to do in situations like this because we aren’t specifically trained to do it, but sometimes just being there to listen is enough.

I’m not so sure how I feel about the twenty-sixth story. Though I agree it would be hard to report something that you are obligated to report even though the student makes you promise not to say anything, it is still your responsibility as a teacher. I’m really nervous that something like this might happen to me when I’m a teacher and I won’t have any idea what to do. I know it takes a lot of courage for a student to admit something like that to a teacher, and it would hurt them a lot to have a teacher report it. They may not realize it, but in most cases, it is what’s best for the student.

I have seen one common theme throughout a number of these stories: sharing something very personal with your students. I’m having a hard time agreeing with what some of those teachers did. Stories about rape, for example, don’t really seem appropriate for in the classroom. Although sometimes sharing a story may encourage students to share their own stories, I’m just not sure I would feel comfortable sharing something that personal in front of every student. Also, I’m not sure what the school would consider to be appropriate.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Mixing and Managing Four Generations of Employees

Abstract
The author of this article puts a lot of focus on the differences among different generations. People from different generations will be more likely to remember certain things in history differently. Hammill claims that there are now four different generations (Veterans, Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y) working together at the same workplaces. In this article, he highlights some of the most significant differences: values, communication, education, dealing with money and family. These differences can affect a lot of what goes on at the office. He discusses the basic life differences but also goes in depth for the differences in workplace characteristics. Towards the end, he gives the reader a few work situations to consider and reflect on.

Reflection
This article was certainly very interesting. It never occurred to me that there were four different generations working together as one. It’s interesting to consider how different values can truly be. I think the perfect example of this is at a school. There are almost always the Baby Boomer teachers who aren’t willing to try anything new and refuse to take crap from anybody (especially students). Then, you have the Generation X teachers who try to be slightly more hip and get the students to like them. They may look up to the Baby Boomer teachers as mentors. Finally, you have the Generation Y students who are obsessed with technology, but still willing to put enough energy into getting the work done. The Veterans are usually in places of authority, either principal or headmaster, and put a lot of value into being respected and getting the job done accurately.

Teaching Hope: Anticipation

The second story stuck out to me because I definitely see myself as the teacher who would want to make sure everything is absolutely perfect for the first day of school. I’ve always been the type of person that wants to be ready to go from day one. There is nothing more comforting than everything being in its place. I also liked the part about starting with a clean slate. Sometimes halfway through a semester, I find myself wishing I had done things differently. This leads to me wanting to start off on the right foot for the following semester. I think it’s important to know that you really can start off with a clean slate. It may not always work out the way you would like, but it is good to know that it is possible.

The seventeenth story stuck out to me because I believe that it is important to inform students about things they will most likely experiment with anyway. There are a lot of people in the education field (sex-ed teachers and principals, especially) who don’t feel comfortable sharing certain facts about sex with students. Like I said, students will most likely experiment with sex regardless of what they are told in sex-ed class. But that’s not the scariest part. If they are not allowed to ask questions and only receive the information that the teacher feels comfortable providing, they may be misinformed or confused. I like the way the teacher in this story took control of the situation and answered the questions in a mature and helpful way. Although students will still be just as likely to experiment with sex, at least they go in knowing a lot more about it.

The eighteenth story jumped out at me because sometimes it is just as important for students to teach each other as it is for me to teach them. I like how this teacher allowed the other students to voice their opinions about stealing the book. They portrayed an important message about how one person’s actions can sometimes affect the entire group. This is a great lesson to teach students of all ages.

Diversity, Learning Style and Culture

Abstract
This article begins by explaining the difference between uniformity and diversity. Uniformity is exposing every student to the same exact material in the same exact way. Diversity is allowing students to learn the same material in different ways. It also discusses the importance of taking advantage of the skills students have. The article then goes on to introduce the four categories of style differences: cognition (perceiving knowledge); conceptualization (ideas and thinking); affect (emotional response and values); and behavior (actions). These four things have a lot to do with how people learn. Finally, the article touches on the importance of culture and the diversity within. Students will be raised in different ways and their lives outside of school will have a huge impact on their lives inside school. This is very important for teachers to keep in mind.

Reflection
This article was certainly very interesting. I especially liked how it stressed the importance of having an even mix of uniformity and diversity. Although it is important that all students learn the same material, it really isn’t necessary that they all learn it in the same way. Some might not do so well with lectures, while others may not feel comfortable with a hands-on experience. It is very important to provide students with options, giving them a sense of comfort, as well as a sense of control. I also really liked how they broke down the four categories: cognition, conceptualization, affect and behavior. It makes it very easy to understand normally complex subjects.