I love my lab

Why teach tech

I support integrating technology into your teaching, but I also think that not everything that is valuable for students to learn must be taught via technology and I argue that some things are learned best without the presence of technology. However, tech 2.0 is very powerful for many students, and I do plan to integrate it the best I can in my instruction. However, I also know that many lessons I teach will not have a technology element because it is not my favorite thing in the world and sometimes, I will not have the energy to find a way to incorporate the use of technology in a valuable manner.

The middle school experience

Well, my middle school dyad experience is almost over, and I have mixed feelings about leaving. On one hand, I spent more time grading than interacting with students, which I think is less helpful to my personal growth. I am glad I am moving on to a different MT whom I see more eye-to-eye with. On the other hand, I wish I could spend more time in a middle school science classroom of a different teacher at the school, since MS science is my planned destination.

Next year, when I look at my 6th, 7th, or 8th graders and try to figure out what the heck to do about their behavior, I will be practicing trial by fire. Maybe I'll get really lucky and whatever district I am working for will have lots of extra helpful middle school behavior management. I plan to have engaging lessons so as to avoid behavior problems, but between now and next September, I need to figure out how to act tough and confident, cause if you show adolescents any fear or nervousness, they will milk that and make your life miserable. Not all of them, but a high enough percentage of them to make your days extremely difficult.

I know I want to teach MS science, the content, and I am OK to deal with the negative aspects of adolescents in order to get the positive interactions as well.

Making Assessment Count

Routman says, in CH 10, that "unless teachers know how to teach writing well, student writing will not improve." Her point, I think, is that no matter what kinds of assessment teachers do, if the teacher does not teach writing well, there will never be any improvement.

Routman emphasizes assessment FOR learning and improved instruction rather than relying solely on assessment OF learning. She makes valuable points when she states that most (80%) of student writing needn't be graded. She also argues that just as students need to practice reading without pressure to improve reading skills, they also need to practice writing to become better writers. I do not think my education gave me enough practice in writing. I agree with the principle of not all writing being graded, but at the same time, some students, without the pressure of grades, won't do anything. They'll say, well if I'm not getting graded than why do it when I could be doing something else more fun. Some people have intrinsic motivation to do well at schoolwork, and they don't need the grades, but some people never developed that. How do you teach students the importance of delayed gratification? I hope I can teach it to my kids, but I do not know how I will teach it to my students. Probably, like many things, something one has to learn by making many mistakes along the way.

Routman argues that too many teachers focus on only what will be tested rather than teaching the underlying skills and strategies that result in writing competency. I agree with this statement, but I also appreciate her paragraph later in the chapter that states teachers still need to teach students how to write to prompts, because although it is unnatural, it is also very common. Students will have to write to many prompts in their life: on standardized tests, on college applications, on job applications.

Letting go of perfection and impatience

Lamott, p. 182: "Your unconscious can't work when you are breathing down its neck. You'll sit there going, 'Are you done in there yet, are you done in there yet?'. But it is trying to tell you nicely, 'Shut up and go away.'" 

Lamott wrote this in her chapter on writer's block, and it is so true. The minute I start fretting over if my brain is done yet, if this sentence works right here, worrying about the assignment getting done by the due date, my unconscious works poorly. Exhaustion has a similar effect on me and my brain. That's why I call 11:30 my pumpkin time--I turn into a pumpkin; my brain stops working, it all shuts down, I get whiny and crabby and just can't think.  When I am trying to force something to come about more quickly than it wants to, when I am breathing down my unconscious's neck, I also turn into a pumpkin. I am less accepting of this pumpkin time. I get angry at my unconscious, and I need to find a way to let that anger go. 

I think students of mine need to be able to leave their unconscious alone as well, so that it can do its work. My unconscious, and my students' unconsciouses, does not need constant supervision, just like many children do not really need constant supervision. If you are always on top of your unconscious or a child about being productive or focused, it/he/she rebels, and washes away all creativity that it might have offered. It was suffocated, sheltered, and never had time to try its wings which really probably would have otherwise worked pretty darn well, but since it didn't get enough air, it has caved in on itself, given up the ghost. Sad, I think.

Hearts of Writers

On p. 159 in Lamott's Bird by Bird, she writes the following:
"They've gone from being four tense, slightly conceited, lonely people...to one of those weird little families....They all look a lot less slick and cool...because helping each other has made their hearts get bigger. A big heart is both a clunky and delicate thing; it doesn't protect itself and it doesn't hide. It stands out, like a baby's fontanel, where you can see the soul pulse through. You can see this pulse in them now." She later says something about this is the way writers have to be--and regularly mentions how close to our hearts writing is. 


I like this quote because it so eloquently describes what it is like to give wholly of yourself to things in your life, be they writing or relationships or whatever. I am one of those people who gives wholly at first, and if I am soundly rejected or denounced or if my vulnerability is taken advantage of in some other way, I hurt a lot, and take a while to heal. And if I get to a comfort level following a rejection, where I feel it is safe to put my whole self out there, and it is again rejected, I become very very timid. I have been lucky in personal and familial relationships--I have always been able to recover pretty quickly because I am convinced they really do still love me, but this has not been the case in professional relationships or in relationships I have had as a writer with editors or graders of some kind. 


I think the heart Lamott describes in her passage is the best one to have, overall, and I still have that heart with most things in my life, the more important things in life (family, significant other), but in some parts of my life, my big pulsing heart is still in pieces.

Middle School Read-Aloud

Well, today I taught my first whole-group lesson in middle school, and I did a read-aloud for it as part of my literacy class in my cert. program. The content topic was a science one, understanding what a system is and identifying systems described in the book. I also included some literacy instruction as part of it, focusing on imagery and especially the use of personification in poetry. The book was Sierra, by Diane Siebert. Sierra is a lyrical rhyming poem about the natural history of the Sierra Nevada mountains and ecosystems of the mountain.

My goals for the lesson were to explore a different way of writing about science (poetry) and for the students to identify systems described or mentioned in the book. I think I accomplished these goals pretty well, really.

The students were kind of disoriented when they walked into the class and 1/3 of the desks were arranged in a big circle with stools in the circle as well. I heard a lot of "What is this?" and "This is weird" and "What is going on with this?". However, being 8th graders, they seemed to handle it fine once they read the directions on the document camera (If your desk is in a weird place, please leave it there and sit at lab station 6, 7 or 8).

Each period was different. First period was asleep still and there was low participation in the discussion surrounding the book and questions I asked at certain stopping points in the book. Second period went pretty well. It's a smaller class (first and fifth are the largest) and it seemed like there was maybe 65 or 70% class participation in discussion. There were only 2 or 3 kids that never had anything to say.

Both first and second went faster than the rest of the periods; we got through the book and all the questions faster, and I am not exactly sure why or how that happened. I know that in third, fourth, and fifth I had to do more behavior correction than in first and second period. That is probably where the time went, but it is something to ponder.

Third period, it seemed like there was high engagement and understanding, but at the same time, in that particular class period, there are 5 or 6 boys that really dominate conversation and really set a tone for the rest of the class. These 5 boys are all high-energy, really bright, and class clowns. So, though they have a lot to say that is valuable, they wind each other up and get off-task being goofy or funny really quick and fast. However, they seem to also quickly get back on task once I call them on it or let them move or something. And they do get other kids thinking by being so outgoing and open to sharing their thoughts. It seemed like there was always more that people wanted to say than we had time for during third period, which I think is mostly good. I used more pair-share in 3rd period so students would all get a chance to talk, mostly to get the question answered and the topic covered faster. The thing about those 5 or 6 boys is they are really likable--it is hard to really get irritated by them, at least it was for me today. I did not let them get away with things, mind you, at least I don't think so, but it is tempting to just give them the rein they are seeking. I thought I handled them pretty well, and so did my MT.

Fourth period had a very interesting dynamic. Probably 96% of the kids in there are really bright, but they are also all high-energy and they get off on tangents easily. The students in fourth period seem really comfortable in their own skin and with each other--I think maybe they have honors English, social studies, and math classes all together and so they know each other better. When people know each other better, they talk to each other a lot more, tease each other more, mostly in good nature, not in trying to be mean. I would say there was maybe 98% participation in discussion in that class. They all seemed very engaged. However, the discussion at times got out-of-hand with multiple people talking at the same time and just too much, you know? It was intense, though fun for me. My MT thinks they were testing me, pushing the boundaries, and I don't feel that way as strongly as he does. I think they are all just busybodies and kids that need to move. Plus, the period is right after lunch, and that does not help their concentration so much.

Fifth period was the most frustrating for me. There were more attempts at gaining power, pushing my buttons--really seeming like they were trying to irritate me or get me riled. I did a good job of staying calm and keeping most of my emotion out of my voice, but I am sure the students sensed some irritation from me sometimes. How do you keep yourself from showing that? It is hard for me. Not frustration, just irritation. Some kids just bother you, so how do you avoid letting them know that? The discussion in that class was very, very slow. Not just because of behavior problems, but because there are a fair number of struggling learners in that class, though my two easiest to handle classes (first and second) have an aide and my hardest one doesn't, so I wonder what the 5th-period students' statuses are--IEPs, 504s, or just kids who have never tested into anything. My MT says there are a lot of struggling learners in that class, and I have seen the evidence of that myself, I didn't just accept what he had to say, but I wish I knew why the students struggled. I don't know the why, maybe I will by the end of this internship.

What went well in the lesson:

• Students seemed to enjoy the story
• Students were able to identify most of the systems mentioned/described in the book
• I gave them clear things to look for in the story and I also told them what I wanted them to be able to do
• For the most part, I would say students were pretty engaged

What did not go well:

• The flow was great in some periods, off in others. I am interested in how students felt about the flow, though not sure how I'll find that out
• Many students struggled with identifying phrases or words that embodied personification. They could identify them if I read personification phrases to them, but most could not recall the words and phrases without prodding
• My MT observed that I was not consistent enough with my discipline/management of students; he thinks the lesson was solid, which he agrees is the first step towards managing behavior, having a well-planned and engaging lesson, but I did not have consequences for behavior, I kinda just kept reminding students to behave (mostly in 4th and 5th period), and that does not work with all students. Some need consequences to correct themselves.
• I ran out of time to complete the whole lesson-I did not have time in all the periods for them to complete a quick-write, so I had them finish it for HW, and that does not give you the same feedback as a quick-write does.

That's all I have for now. I get to go read the quick-writes that were completed today now. That will be interesting. And Friday, I'll go pick up the descriptions of systems in their personal life, outside of school in expository, narration (story), or poetry form. They each were assigned this: Provide and describe an example of a system in your life, outside of school, using either expository writing, narration, or poetry. I even made a rubric! I'm so proud of myself.

We shall see what those things tell us about what they understand.

Writing: a idea-land of many purposes

Regie Routman's depiction of what writing is, what it should be, and how to teach it in empowering ways is a very different take on things. Many of her points are common sense, but from what I have seen of writing pedagogy and what I have heard teachers say about teaching writing, common sense has disappeared from writing pedagogy.  

Teachers fear teaching writing because it is such an enormous task.  Everyone needs to be able to communicate effectively with others, and they need to be able to do so at appropriate levels. Becoming an effective writer requires a lot of practice. There are many purposes to writing, and children and adults need to work on identifying what the purpose of different writing work is. Routman argues that because educators are caught up in teaching formulas and structures for good writing, they lose sight of the varying intents of different kinds of writing. 

For example, college admission and scholarship essays. I thought universities wanted creative writing, very descriptive and full of imagery. My Dad thought that colleges wanted me to use writing primarily as a way of communicating who I am to someone who has no context of me. I do not know exactly what they wanted, but I got in and I got scholarships using my Dad's formula, so it must have some merit.  I used to think that the purpose of all writing was to demonstrate how good at using imagery I was, because I have a special talent for creative writing and storytelling (which, by the way, I never demonstrate because I do not think that is what professors in education want to hear and because my senior year of high school, my teacher pounded on all of my creative writing, saying it was a waste of time and energy and effort and by golly that is not what they wanted on the AP test). My Dad helped me learn, more than teachers did, I think, that writing has many different purposes in different settings and contexts.  Not all students will have a Dad (or any adult other than their teacher) who is a good writer and who will spend  time helping them grow as writers. The effort he put into me helped me become a collegiate writer who fairly regularly wowed my professors.  Many papers in college (undergrad) came back with many positive comments and usually accompanied by verbal comments about how clearly I communicated my ideas.  

I think Routman's point about how if we want students to be able to write well, they need to see our own process of writing, because often we teach formulas that research has shown worked, but you are losing much of the thought and intent behind writing by just teaching children formulas or templates which they just have to fill in (the 5-paragraph essay, for example).  There is a place for the 5-paragraph essay, don't get me wrong, but that does not encompass the whole idea of writing nor does it illustrate the ubiquitous purposes of writing.  We teach kids what to write in school, but not really in life.  How many adults write 5-paragraph essays on a regular basis in their workplace? Not many, I don't think.  Yes they write things to persuade others to do things or to share information with others, but most of the time they are emails or conversations.  

Inventive spelling and word configuration

From readings of a text about phonics, I am convinced that inventive  or best guess spelling is helpful for children who are emerging readers.  Fox mentioned in her text that children often associate a word with one or two sounds, maybe three, and spell it that way.  Many children identify words solely by their beginning sound.  The next sound they rely on for reading and writing is the ending sound, and the middle sound--many of them vowel sounds--comes last.  

Best guess spelling seems like a valuable tool for growth in literacy.

I found it interesting that Fox seemed to dis word configuration cues and tools as helpful to literacy.  It came across in the book, I think, that word shape, word length, and letter shape have no value to literacy.  I think that Fox dismisses the significance of our sense of vision in learning to read.  

Brain rule #4 or so states that vision and sight supersede ALL other senses when it comes to our brain processing information.  If analyzing signals sent to the brain by the eyes and nerves along the way is the most important way humans process knowledge, than I think it is wrong to dismiss visual cues's importance as Fox seems to do on p. 73 of her text.  

Although it seems logical that the sound of words and letters is more helpful in learning to read, I do think that visual cues are important, perhaps more so than research has investigated.  Every author has opinions on things before they conduct research, and some of them pugnaciously resist changing those.  I think perhaps the importance of visual cues to reading is under-researched because those in the field of phonics are all about sound anyway.  

Emergent Readers

Reading response for Week 2
Article: Emergent Literacy, New Perspectives, by William Teale and Elizabeth Sulzby

This article was very informative.  My parents always said that reading to me as a young child had a huge impact on my reading and writing in school.  I always believed them, but it is nice to have a literacy professional say the same thing.  

What surprises me about this article is that experts ever thought that reading was simply a cognitive skill, and no more complex than that.  Literacy is crucial to active participation in most societies today.  Being able to communicate is our greatest blessing as humans; it is what sets us apart from other mammals.  

On p. 3, I was surprised by the statement that children seeing adults use functional literacy (the TV guide, newspaper, greeting cards) is significant in literacy learning.  A lot of what we read that is functional is considered literature trash, and thus its importance is dismissed.  

I was surprised by the evidence about students repeated readings of favorite storybooks is more than just memorizing the book.  Children are piecing together the words to make sense of the story.  I am pretty sure most parents rereading the same books over and over feel like they are shortchanging their child's reading education, but the article made it sound like it was a very important step in literacy development.  

I was pleased to read on p. 5 that interactive storybook readings have powerful effects on literacy development.  It is so much fun to read stories to children, and interact with them during the story.  I am glad that evidence has shown that it is important, and not a waste of time.  I also found the emphasis on expository reading on p. 7 as helpful.  It is nice to hear that reading informative books to kids is not necessarily boring.  The activities to incorporate with informational books described on p. 9 were very creative and seem to be appreciated by the children. 


The authors' emphasis on using labeling in your classroom to teach writing and reading was interesting.  Labeling and posting things in your classroom has a dual role: it is effective classroom management and it is also an educational tool.  I always thought it was just helpful to classroom management.  

5th Friday questions

Learned:
That there is a myriad of classroom management strategies and they have to fit your personality. I am not a quiet person, or an invert. I am an extrovert and can be pretty loud. We'll see what kind of classroom management I will use. I'll probably use the "If you are listening, do this action" a fair bit. I also learned that if something is important to you as an individual, you find a way as a teacher to fit it in to your instruction. Outdoor science experiments and active group building are important to me, and I will find a way to fit them in, I think, I hope, I pray. Maybe not the first year, but I will fit it in.


Still want to know:
I want to see more science lessons than I have seen so far. I have only seen one, and only the very beginning of it. I want to examine the contents of the kits that districts have and figure out how they use them in a meaningful way.


Anxious:
Seeing enough science taught. I wish I could do my entire placement in a middle school/junior high science classroom rather than only a couple months. That is where I want to teach. If I had done the secondary certificate, I would have had to do my main placement in a high school. Because I am doing my the K-8 certificate, I have to do my main placement in an elementary school. How come we don't, in WA state, have a middle level/middle school certification program? It's a unique age, and I wish I got to spend more time in that age classroom practicing. I am afraid I won't see enough science lessons at the middle level to do a good job as a science teacher my first year, despite my extensive science background.


Excited:
To start my placement in the junior high next Monday. I am really looking forward to it.

7th grade math

Good self management and classroom management strategy:
She always uses a timer that beeps loudly, timing herself and her students, so she makes sure to get through her entire lesson, because in her first year of teaching, the bell would ring and she would only be halfway through her lesson.

Cool assessment idea:
At the beginning of the year, as is common, she does a diagnostic math assessment to see where students are at, and in her room she has a whole wall dedicated to math concepts that kids should know.

These math concept chart thingies are grouped into 5 categories:
Data Analysis and Probability, Algebra, Geometry, Measurement, and Math Operations/Integers. These 5 categories are further broken down into specific math concepts. For example, under algebra, one of the concepts is recognizing and reiterating number patterns.

Under each concept, there are a ton of sticky notes with students' names on them. If the student got the question that had to do with that math concept right on the diagnostic math assessment, they get to put their sticky note up on the wall under that concept, and then she can see what a lot of kids understand and what few kids know based on what they got right on the diagnostic test. Throughout the year, as she teaches and assesses these math concepts (and perhaps they change later in the year, I don't know), when students show that they understand those concepts by getting test questions or other assessments right, they get to put their name on a sticky note up on the wall. The sticky notes are color-coded by class period (green notes for one, pink for another, etc) so she can easily see what she will have to spend more or less time on during each period. Pretty handy, I thought, for both assessment and student pride in their work.

Science and writing in a 4th grade class

Classroom arrangement:
In 4th grade, I think they do Washington state history and geography, and to help with that, she had a section of her wall with a map of WA on it and pictures surrounding the map from different places in WA. Some were geographically unique photos, some were significant history things, and from each photo, she had a piece of yarn that went to the location that photo was from on the map of WA.

She also had North and South written big and posted high on her walls in the room, and when she was passing papers, she would ask students to pass out papers to all the students on the North/South or East/West side of the room. What a great and simple way to help kids with geography and map reading. Talk about ingraining the vocabulary and what it means into their brains.

Cool classroom activity:
The teacher was teaching a writing lesson, and it was about verbs. The learning target, written on the board, was Interesting Verbs, and the point was to get students to use more descriptive verbs. To teach this idea, she used the verb came. Mrs. Smith came into the room was her sentence, and she put came in a "word jail" on the board. She just wrote it/drew it, but she did it with over verbs too, like said and did. To get her students to understand what interesting verbs were, she had them, as a whole group, come up with other verbs to put in the sentence, "Mrs. Smith came into the room." But first, she demonstrated what the sentence meant by coming into the room. As students came up with more interesting verbs, including dashed, stumbled, and others, she would physically dash or stumble or whatever after saying the sentence out loud. The kids were engaged because their teacher looked silly, and they came up with some great interesting verbs.

Classroom management stuff:
The teacher would say, if you can hear me, do a certain action (rub your tummy, pat your head, etc) and she would do a different action than the one she was telling them to do to see if they were really listening. She would say, "If you are listening rub your tummy." And she would pat her head instead of rubbing her tummy.

Another way she tried to get their attention was by saying something that didn't make any sense, like, "You will go get the supplies and put them on my toe," and if kids got up to go get supplies then she knew they were not listening. She also used proximity a lot.

Another thing she was doing which I could not decipher her system, was writing points, not tallies, but numbers, on the board under each table group and they were in different colors so maybe they were color-coded, I don't know. It had something to do with managing behavior and monitoring participation.

During the science lesson, she said at the beginning that if kids are goofing off with supplies, they get one warning, that's it, and then they are a spectator and cannot participate in the science experiment.

Randomly during the middle of the writing lesson, the teacher broke out in song "there's a hole in the bottom of the seat (clap clap) there's a whole in the bottom of the seat (clap clap) there's a hole, there's a hole, there's a hole in the bottom of the seat (clap clap) and then asked students what's on the hole (a log and would sing that), then ask a student what's on the log (and sing that)" and so on and so on. I am guessing it was some sort of break for the students, but I am not sure. The song didn't really make any sense, but the kids really enjoyed it.

During the science experiment, students are assigned one of 4 letters (A,B,C, or D) and each letter student has a certain job that day during the experiment, and these jobs are written on the board and she explained the jobs, and also told the kids not only were they supposed to do their job, but they were also supposed to remind other people to do their jobs too. It's a great simple way to assign jobs, but the jobs in a science experiment are not going to be the same for every experiment, and so it's a glorious way to not waste paper or time reorganizing groups all the time. Kids know their group number and their individual letter (they write it on their science notebooks in case they forget) and teacher does not have to do as much work.

Throughout class, if a student had the same thought as one that spoke out, they waved their hand silently at their side so the teacher could do some formative assessment and get the kids more engaged in direct instruction.


Assessment:
Before the writing lesson, she points out the learning target on the board, and at the end of the writing lesson, she asks each student to give themselves a 1,2, or 3 for where they are on the learning target. A 3 is "I got it, I'm golden, I can do this independently" and a 1 is "I need some time to digest this new idea and I don't quite get it." Great simple way to do some formative assessment about the learning targets.

Observations of a highly capable 2/3 class

Cool classroom activities:
Literature conferences with each grade separately. A very casual and engaging conversation about the book each grade is reading (2 separate books) with some guiding questions and almost 100% participation. Probably is easier to do with a group of kids who all love to read, but still, it was nice to see. The teacher exhibited excitement about the book and what was going on and the questions and so did the students.



Teaching cursive: the kids were working on cursive ts, and in order to help them know the right way to write them, she showed 3 or 4 bad ts on the board and talked to the class about why they were bad. Seemed like it would be pretty effective.


Fixing bad writing habits:
The teacher used the document camera to talk to the students about best way to grip their pencils when they are writing. She did this before the cursive lesson, and she took her time and showed students some common bad handholds and she gave them a good trick to make sure they grip the pencil right every time. She directed the students to pick up the pencil as if they were pinching it between their thumb and their first two fingers like a bird would grip onto something. Then, she had them flip the pencil 180 degrees, and then they all had the correct pencil grip. Hard to explain in words, I can show you if you want.


Corrective statements (part of classroom management):
She used proximity a lot, where you just walk and get close to the kid who is not paying attention. She always used a very calm voice, all the time, in her behavior corrections and her whole group attention getting signals. She said "I'll wait till you're ready," and the kids quieted down on their own.

The Elementary-Secondary Math Disconnect

I observed in two middle school math classes, grade 7, today. Something that I found very interesting is that the focus of the lesson was on remembering/reciting math facts quickly in order to be able to use them to solve arithmetic problems, and it was part of the curriculum, not an add-on.

From my observations in elementary school and from talking to elementary teachers, many curricula used in the elementary grades are based on problem solving and getting excited and engaged about math; sort of like they are trying to convince the students that math really is important, practical, and really fun. Math facts are not part of the curriculum, and in some schools, drill and skill is discouraged.

A professor earlier in the program bluntly told us that most math curricula adopted by school districts for the elementary level do not sufficiently prepare students for middle and high school math or practical life math. He said though there is value in those curricula, it is a teacher's responsibility to make sure students are getting their math facts down as well, because they need to know them. He said there is a place for drill and skill and memorizing multiplication tables and other basic arithmetic, and that teachers are obligated to add that into their math lessons even if they are not part of the district curriculum.

I asked one of the teachers I observed today, "Do most of these kids come into middle school not knowing how to do basic arithmetic?" She said yes, few know their math facts by heart and thus when they arrive at middle school and are supposed to be able to retrieve them fast in order to take the tests, they are shocked and you have to teach the math facts and basic principles of adding/subtracting/multiplying/dividing integers for a few weeks at the beginning.

So, for a few weeks every year at the beginning of the year in 7th grade math, even the challenge (Honors) classes, teachers do integer review. And though I did not observe a 6th grade math class, I am guessing they dedicate an awful lot of time to core arithmetic and math facts, because if they don't, the new middle schoolers can't handle the middle/high school curricula.

There is a place for both problem-solving and arithmetic in math, I think, just like most debates in education. There is a place for both phonics and whole language reading. There is a place for lecture as well as hands-on and cooperative group learning. There is a place for both drill and skill and cool exciting projects. There is a place for both mainstreaming of special ed students and seclusion of special ed students.

Nerves, Nerves, Nerves: The day before the first day of school

Well, what a day.  Last day preparations and another schedule change (3rd one) and open house for students and parents.  Whew!  


There was so much to do, and really not enough time, definitely not enough energy, to do it all.  So, the first day will happen, and it won't be chaos, but it will be different than the schedule we made up.  


There are so many details that teachers have to think about--organizational details.  You don't even think much about the curriculum and lesson plans for the first few days, because your primary goal is to get the routines in place.  Plus, my team has a couple start of year activities that they do every year, so they don't have to think about things as much.  The activities are valuable, they are just very similar every year and all my team needs to know what the lesson is is a two or three-sentence description and poof, it's there, they know the materials they need, and done.  


I met some parents and students tonight.  It was kind of weird, because I didn't really know if I should go up and introduce myself to the parents or not, I kinda just hung out and observed, I clarified some things that people seemed confused on, but I didn't go up to parents actively.  Is that my role?  My master teacher stressed this word for my activities during September experience: observe, observe, observe.  I was not sure if that applied tonight or not, probably, but not too sure.  

I did get assigned by the principal and a Title I teacher to direct students to their teachers' classrooms, though.  During the BBQ part of the Open House BBQ, I was stationed at a table with school maps and class lists for all the grades, and parents and students came up to me to find out who their child's teacher was and where their classroom was.  Which is fine, but I don't know the geography of the school yet, so I had to just search for the teacher names and use the map to direct parents and kids.  Also, I don't know how to pronounce everyone's name and I don't know who is a Mr. or Mrs. or Ms. yet, either.  Good thing there was a staff member posted nearby to help me with that part.  It was fine.  

One challenge was that many of the students are ELL or their parents' native language is not English, so I didn't always know who to address my questions and explanations to: the parents or the kids.  Because you don't want to disrespect the parents, but you want the message to get communicated, so sometimes it's better to address the kid who does speak English pretty well rather than the parent.  Oh, one more difficulty with being stationed at a help table is that if you're there, parents ask you questions, questions I don't know the answer to, like these three:

1.  Can I get a class list of my kid's classmates?  I want to know who else is in his/her class.  (I said no, I cannot give you one, I am not authorized to do so.  Talk to the classroom teacher, maybe you can get it there.  I later found out that there is no handing out of class lists to parents because it just causes huffs and puffs that really don't need to happen)

2.  How/where do we sign up for school lunches?  (I answered talk to the people in the office.  The right answer, I later found out)

3.  Is there any way we can switch classes around, because these two boys are really good friends and might raise cain in the classroom if they are in the same class? (No idea how to answer that one.  I said you can discuss it with your children's teacher.)


4.  If my kid is walking for the first two weeks because he is doing crossing guard duty, what do I need to do? (No idea about the whole transportation management system.  I referred to my master teacher.)


Anyways, it was a busy busy day with lots of panic and nervous energy starting at about 2:30 since the BBQ started at 4:45.  Time for day 1 with kids.  We shall see how it goes. 

First day of school Tips

1. Just keep breathing
2. Be flexible
3. Drink water, lots of it
4. Plan more than you need but know and accept that you won't get to all of it
5. Go with the flow
6. Be ready to nip kid misbehavior in the bud because they are testing your boundaries from the very beginning
7. Be organized and ready to go with materials that you need laid out and easy to grab
8. Have your first few days schedule written out to nearly the exact minute with time spent on each activity clearly designated
9. Plan activities that keep kids busy and out of trouble while you take care of first day paperwork like really long attendance sheets and the lists of who is walking, who is bussing, and a myriad of other forms you have to deal with at the beginning.
10. Plan less-threatening activities, like don't require kids to do a lot of sharing, because they are nervous about their first day
11. Any materials you are not going to use, put them away out of sight so you don't feel overwhelmed
12. Even if you don't know how or what or why of things, act like you do
13. Give the kids a fresh start every year. It is helpful to know the red flag behavior problems and what other teachers have done to manage them, but that is it. And tell the kids it is a fresh start for them. Don't ask them about last year, ask them to think about what kind of student they want to be this year and start there, with what they want to achieve themselves in the 5th grade.

Teacher Interview, Part 2: Classroom arrangement

Throughout the school year, students are in cooperative groups with assigned jobs to group members and groups change periodically over the year, as does the exact table arrangement of the groups. There are a couple main reasons for this: one, all the learning in my team is inquiry-based, and true inquiry requires teams of students; two, arranging tables in groups allows for more floor space that the teacher, even in 5th grade, uses all the time. My master teacher likes to move her kids a lot in her class, just get them moving, because it is more fun for her and for them and it is a more effective way to learn for some of them and it is a GLAD strategy. GLAD strategies are a collection of strategies used to reach all learners, regardless of ability level or language proficiency or learning style.


Despite the nearly year-round groups, the teacher starts the school year with students in rows. Students remain in rows for the first week and half or two weeks of school, then the desks are put in groups. The reasons she starts out with rows include the following: one, it helps her to get to know the kids and who works well with whom; two, the teacher really needs all of her students' attention at the beginning of the year so she can get the routines and expectations clearly understood and established; three, being in rows is a safety zone for the new kids, the kids who just moved to this school from somewhere else--they are less likely to be singled out when students are in rows; four, having rows that all face the teacher sets the tone that the teacher is the boss of the class; five, students get to know the teacher first--they don't have to make efforts to get to know many others in the beginning, they just have to get to know the teacher--she thinks this makes it less overwhelming for the kids.


Pictures will be added later. Classroom is still a mess of planning.

Teacher Interview, Part 1: Classroom management

The classroom management plan at my 5th-grade placement is somewhat school-wide with some grade-specific adaptations. School-wide, behavior and academic management is based on a book called Inch and Miles: The Journey to Success by John Wooden. The Journey's ultimate goal is to achieve competitive greatness. The foundations of this pyramid are: industriousness, friendship, loyalty, cooperation, and integrity. Up the pyramid you have the attributes of self-control, alertness, initiative, and intentness; then you move up to achieving condition, skill, and team spirit, followed by poise and confidence, and then ultimately competitive greatness. Inch and Miles are a schoolwide program, and throughout the first part of the year, teachers are to focus on teaching two or three attributes or skills in the pyramid.

Also schoolwide is the code of conduct, and this code of conduct is maintained by daily monitoring of progress that students reflect on each day and parents are informed about. Different grades have different things that constitute warnings and how many warnings kids get before they have to do a refocus sheet in a refocus room (a buddy room--another teacher's room) and what behaviors constitute an immediate refocus or visit to the principal's office. In 5th grade, one missed homework assignment equals a warning, and once a kid has three warnings they have to do a refocus sheet. Each day at the end of the day, the 5th-graders reflect on what kind of day they had and they give themselves a color rating (green, yellow, or red) in their agenda/planner. Teachers walk around and discuss the rating, checking the management binder that travels with students to every class they go to, including specialists, and have a conversation with the student about what they did well or poorly that day. This planner goes home every night to be signed by parents, and if parents do not sign the planner, I think that constitutes a warning as well. Once a kid gets 2 or 3 warnings, they automatically have a yellow day, I think. I am still trying to figure out the subtleties, but that is kind of the essence of it.

Anyways, within the classroom(s) of 5th grade, all 5th grade teachers participate in Star Team, which is an extra motivator to the kids. If you are on Star Team, that means you are doing really well. You have to have a whole week of green days before you can be on Star Team, and if you have a single non-green day, you are off Star Team and start over. Star Team members also have the more powerful/cooler class jobs (class president, bell ringer, etc) and if you are not on Star Team, you won't have the "good" jobs. Also, after a kid has been on Star Team for 4 consecutive weeks, then they have the option of being the Star Student that week, meaning they get their pictures on a poster and get to bring in stuff to share about themselves. The teacher chooses the Star Student by drawing names from a hat of kids that have been on Star Team long enough to qualify.

The four core rules of the school and the classroom are: Be responsible, be respectful, be safe, and do your best (do your best is only the rule in 5th grade, it's an add-on to the three core schoolwide rules).

The rationale behind this complex management plan is that it works. It works because it requires student accountability, and many articles we have read in classes at UWB have shown that when students have greater ownership of their learning and behavior, they excel more. The plan also works because it builds confidence, it lets the kids that really deserve it shine, it does not single kids out because it is all done semi-privately, it makes them more aware and self-reflective about their own learning, and there is a positive twist to everything, and humans respond to positive better than negative, according to research.

Phew, this is hard!

I am having a very hard time keeping up with everything. There are so many different systems and routines built into the 5th-grade day and they are all managed, maybe micro-managed. How will I ever get them all down? Or is the best answer to just say, OK, well, I'll explicitly teach them these things, but if it does not work, I will not freak, because you know what, no matter how they get from Jane's class to Jean's class, they will most likely all get there in one piece with little sidetracking (hopefully). These are not kindergarteners, the classrooms are not that far apart, and they are very unlikely to get lost. The intentional sidetracking probably won't happen till later, and hopefully by then, I will have the system figured out so I can call the kids on it.

They will figure it out eventually. The hard thing is that you have to teach it to them, and in order to teach it to them, you have to understand all the complexities and nuances that are part of the classroom management plan for 5th grade. It is intensely organized. But legitimately so.

Another thing, how is it right for an administrator to be up talking about 10 and 2 strategy (you talk for 10, they talk independently for 2, then you bring them back), keeping exercise involved in the day because it is one of the Brain Rules, (from the book, Brain Rules) as is a stimulating environment with lots going on, and then proceed to talk at you for an hour or so with no exercise breaks or anything that follows the Brain Rules. Most teachers that I know are not used to sitting down listening for the whole day. They stand, they roam the classroom, they interact with students and teachers, and it is hard for them to focus for that long; they are not used to it.

Maybe that's just environmental educators who can't sit and listen for long, but I tell you, I never thought I was one of those kids who always needed to move until I went back to school after teaching students in informal education settings for 5 years or so. I am fidgety, I need to move, or talk a lot, one of the two. Is that OK for me as a teacher to be that way? Am I setting a bad model because I cannot sit and listen for longer than 20 minutes without massive bouts of fidgeting or raising my hand to share?

Questions, anxiety, and excitement

Questions I still have and what I still want to know:
I want to know if our education system is so focused on deficits in children (as a result of high-stakes testing and federal legislation that had to choose some definition for things) that it is unable to recognize multiple intelligences.  I also want to know what I as a teacher can do to look like I am cooperatively working within the deficit model system and at the same time ignore the deficits and seek multiple intelligences instead.  

Anxiety: How will I ever figure out the complex systems my team has in place for behavior management and academic success, and how will I go about recreating those in my classroom if my school culture is different or focuses on different basic rules.  I hope I am in a team situation, a collaborative school, because I honestly don't know if I can set up all that from scratch on my own without any support, guidance, or references.  

Excitement: I am excited to meet the kids and start seeing actual instruction, not just planning, because it is really hard to keep up with planning on my team, cause they have been working together for 3 or 4 years as a team and a teacher says one word and the other teachers know exactly what they are talking about.  They are amazing and laugh a lot and try hard to help me understand everything, but man do they go through it fast.  I am hoping it will all become clear once I see it in action with kids.  

Accepting imperfect or not my best

Something I learned:

I already knew this in a roundabout kind of way, but obvious statements by someone with authority and expertise inform me that I really don't know these things deep inside.  

Today, the obvious statement that came as a bit of a revelation was this: You cannot be the perfect wife, the perfect teacher, the perfect Mom, the perfect student, the perfect anything.  You have to be able to let things go.  When the laundry is piled up and your kids are demanding your attention and your husband needs your help fixing the sink in the kitchen, you have to be able to say "I can't handle this right now.  I'm going to go take some time for myself and then I'll come back and deal with it."  

I have not really practiced this faithfully, and I am a new wife (one year in 10 days) and still trying to be what I see as the perfect wife.  I have to let this go, because it is not going to happen this year.  I think I will have an even harder time letting go and abandoning chaos that is life to gain some space for me when I have kids.  I am mostly concerned about at home, though, not as much at work, but the whole work thing affects home life.  This next year may prove to be the hardest at that because I have been practicing as an overachieving student my whole life.  It is harder for me to tell myself, "OK, I don't have time to do my best, I just have to fill the square," (which you have to do in school sometimes, just fill the square) about school assignments than it is for me to try my best.  But I will not have the luxury of enough time to always do my best work at schoolwork.  Sorry profs, but that is the way it is.

But the obvious statement, "You just have to let the idea of perfect go.  Let things go," is somewhat of a new idea, though I have heard about letting things go to move on from emotional distress, being the sensitive person I am.  Somehow, I have to figure out how to let go of loading the dishwasher a certain way and planning our weekly menu perfectly and sticking to it and not turning in my best work so that I can get the sleep I need to be healthy and the most productive person I can be, or I will not make it over the 5-year teaching career hump, much less through the whole kid-raising thing when that comes around.  I will try. 

Full time student teaching/attending classes: Day 1

One thing I learned:
Teachers you seek recommendations from (master teacher and field instructor and professor) will be asking themselves: Do I want this person as a teacher next-door to me? when they are filling out recommendations. I knew, but not straight out obvious like Prof. AR stated.

Questions and still want to know: I wonder if I am going to be heading up student-parent-teacher conferences during the spring quarter of full-time student teaching.

Anxious about: I am anxious about optimizing my learning as a future teacher while still not stepping on my master teacher's toes. I want to learn as much as I can this year, and I think one of the best ways for me to learn about writing lesson plans and teaching and assessing is to practice, so how can I learn the best way for me to learn while still following the seemingly strict guidelines in the handbooks and avoiding toe-stepping on.

I am also anxious that I will learn too fast or faster than my master teacher is expecting or Jim is expecting. I have been managing small classes (15-20) in informal education settings for quite a while and feel pretty confident there, and I don't want to get ahead of myself or my master teacher, but I don't want to feel unchallenged either, because then I will not enjoy my internship.

Excites me: Doing more focused learning. I have been working in camps and field trip and environmental education centers, and the kids are usually excited about the field trip or it's camp and they know it's fun, so there is somewhat less academic focus. I am excited by the new challenge of focused academics and incorporating the fun techniques into teaching. I am excited to be with kids for longer than a day or a week so I can get to know them better and really help them make progress.

Global Climate Change in Middle Grades

I continue on my journey to teaching public formal education, and as part of it, I am researching cliamate change curricula, teaching, and assessing in middle grades 5-9.

Global climate change is a world problem that can only be mitigated through international cooperation and wide scientific literacy. Climate is complex. There are a multitude of influences on the weather for any given day, and as such global climate change is highly complex and though many consequences of climate change are widely known, very few citizens truly understand how and why those consequences came/come about.

I intend to research what middle grades educators are doing about climate change education. I will look at national and state standards for evidence of climate change education to see if they even exist. I need help with this research. I need educators who will let me interview and/or observe them teaching. I need an audience for my findings. Where should I publish these findings? And who shall I present them to in order to broadly influence science education?

Of course I can incorporate climate change studies into my own classroom, but how can I help other science teachers do the same? How can I inspire civic action on climate change through education, both of children and adults, educators and general citizens?

Global climate change is the single biggest ecological problem faced by humanity currently, and in the future. The ramifications are widespread, and a possible effect is eventual extinction of the human species if we refuse to adapt our habits. Not for many generations, but as the Great Law of the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) Confederacy states, "In our every deliberation, we must consider the impacts of our decisions on the next seven generations."

Inaction today will lead to destruction for future generations.

Reconciling Totalitarian Assessment with a Democratic Classroom

In Chapter 6, Ayers discusses the totalitarianism of standardized testing. His view that by allowing any one group to decide what is the best knowledge to have is totalitarian by nature meshes with my view that different geographic areas value different things to learn and thus the education of American children should not be entirely uniform. The responsibility to educate citizens resides in the states' hands, not the federal government's hands, and a national test is a bad idea because of unique valuation and the totalitarianism embodied by one group of people determining the knowledge that everyone should have.

At the same time, knowledge is limitless, and there has to be some consistency in what is taught, and there is already. Consistency across states in assessment is unnecessary, I think, but not per se wrong. If standardized tests weren't given so much power in policy determination and evaluation I would be less upset by the un-democraticness of the tests. But, they are powerful, and anything as powerful in determining national or state direction as standardized test results are should be more democratic in nature in the U.S. democracy.

Chapter 3 inspired a lot of thinking. All of Ayers's descriptions of acquaintances' houses made me wonder what my house and home tell people about me and those that live with me. My situation is different than the ones Ayers describes because I am in a rental house that I share with my husband and another couple who we are unrelated to. It's a roommate situation. In a roommate rather than a family living situation, it's harder to make your house yours, even if you are the owner and others are just leasees. So maybe a better question would be what do our "private" rooms tell others about us. I'll have to ask a neutral observer sometime. But, does a house embody a personality to a complete stranger? Or does a house not take on personal traits until an observer knows a person well? Same question could be asked of a classroom.

Ayers is so blunt about what he thinks but simultaneously poetic. He's a great descriptive writer, and the way he states things about learning environments really kind of makes me cringe inside, because they're thoughts maybe I did not want to have but really they're there and have been there I've just been avoiding pondering them. For example:

"The most taken for granted...and commonplace features of life in school carry messages about important issues: this is how people learn; this is what is valuable; this is what you should attend to. And these messages constitute a major part of what is learned and what becomes assumed about school"

"Kids understand that school is about crowds--there is no privacy and there is little individuality. What's good for the group had better be good for me. The schedule is in charge"

"In school authority is established and learning about hierarchy becomes crucial; democracy is talked about but not practiced, issues of larger community interest are rarely considered and never acted on."

"Kids see that in school, learning is linked to age more than anything else, and...neatly divided into nine-month units"

I wish I could get away with stating things so bluntly in class! Of course, I am not respected like Ayers so that's probably why, but wouldn't it be nice?

Ayers puts up student work in his classrooms in order to make his classroom more than just his and also to ensure democracy in his classroom. Everyone's contributions are equally valid. It is not his job to determine what the classroom looks like or the curriculum either, for he is a teacher practicing democratic schooling. Most teachers put up student work because that's what you do with classrooms, at least that appears to be why. I doubt many have reasons as pointed and significant as Ayers does.

Ayers's point about learning with a purpose is valid. Why has this learning been lost? Why isn't academic learning more like real-life learning? Shouldn't it be? Aren't schools supposed to prepare students for real life in addition to teaching them new things? Shouldn't these new ideas have some practical application that is visible to students, or that a teacher can at least point out? Why is the old adage "You'll need to know this when you have a job" or "You'll need to know this when you're an adult" spoken so widely? How come we cannot instead show students by purposeful learning that the knowledge is necessary? The best way to learn is through one's own mistakes and missteps. Ayers is so right that by breaking learning into irrelevant pieces that only adults can impart to you are "absolutely disastrous lessons if curious and critical dispositions of mind is a goal." This is my goal as an educator, do others not share it? What about administrators? What is their goal? The goals of schooling are wide, I know, but shouldn't something as simple and necessary as curious and critical mental disposition be on everyone's goal list?

Ayers's reminder that everyone in a classroom is a whole person, including the teacher, "Her passions--singing, quilting, hiking, dancing--will be well represented [in her classroom]" raise a contentious issue with me. Many people get upset with me for saying that my students should know my pasions. It seems like peers want me to hide it in order to avoid imposing ideas on children. I'm a strong, passionate, and independent woman and I feel great pressure to robotize myself in order to successfully teach. To thine own self be true. I have been true to myself for eight years; I am not giving that self-knowledge up for anyone or any job. That seems wrong to me. Yes, teaching is a role, but the teacher is a whole person too, and why should I deny my own wholeness for my students to have the best change to be whole people themselves? It makes no sense to me. Sacrificing myself as a person in order to help them be people: Is that what I am being asked to do?

Authentic Assessment

"The root of the word evaluation is value, and authentic assessment includes understanding FIRST (emphasis added) what students VALUE and then building from there."

Ayers's definition of assessment is totally upside-down from the mainstream view of assessment and I love it. Much of assessment is dictated by what society values or what school superintendents value. Very little seems to consider what students value first. Within classrooms that may not be true, but most standardized testing and the like is not about what students value. No wonder school is such a dull, drab, boring place for most children. Ayers definition of assessment is a throwback to Dewey's ideas on education. It's an interesting coincidence they they are/were both faculty at University of Chicago. And Paley's book also was written about an experimental school at University of Chicago. I wonder what Chicago's public schools look like with such progressive minds filling the teacher education halls.

I completely agree with Ayers that standardized tests are given way more power than they deserve and they suck even resisting people into their maelstrom. Ayers depictions of both himself and another anti-testing colleague's reactions to standardized test scores were revealing. Especially his colleague that went through hell and high water to get his daughter's test scores up; not because he did not consider his daughter intelligent but rather because "Those scores are like a union card. The union may be crooked and run by gangsters, but, hey, no union card, no work."

What a sad position for children of today to be in. Their whole future sometimes hinges on those test scores. But at the same time, in the working world, if you are only good at taking tests and cannot function within a group or if you lack people skills, then you are less likely to "get promoted." However, in some industries, the smartest people according to test scores but the dumbest when it comes to people and social skills are the managers. My roommate works at Microsoft, a company that seeks the best minds in the world to be employees. She is continuously frustrated by many of her managers because they do not have people skills. They may be smart, but they are a pain to work with and make for pretty poor managers.

Ayers explosion of the myth of scientific objectivity of test scores was revealing, especially how the averages are determined. The cultural bias and simplified way of determing averages make people aware before the test even begins of who will be the winners and who will be the losers. I wonder if teachers really do know before the test is administered? Ayers is just one education professional; he can't speak for all educators, though he's got a lot of good ideas and insights.

Ayers argument that the problem of drill and skill curriculum prevailing over a more comprehensive, problem-solving, critical thinking curriculum in our test-loving world is worse for those children who have the deck stacked against them just by their birth is strong. "By focusing on the ability to answer multiple-choice questions, reading is reduced to a set of relatively unimportant skills, and the link between reading and power is further broken." This broken link is the greatest loss of all, in my opinion.

I like Ayers's ideas about being frank with students about what the tests mean. Would such honesty, such bluntness about the lack of any real value in standardized testing be permitted to occur? Many people wish to shelter children in schools from harsh realities of the world and I think this is OK to a point, but I think it is crucial for children to know they exist and that there are tough obstacles to face as humans. Children should know the real value in standardized testing, but I foresee a lot of resistance from parents and curriculum writers if teachers pursued this strategy. Really, what you must do to do well on a standardized test is learn to take the test, but that should not be the goal of all learning in schools. Knowledge of the content of the test is much less significant to achieving high test scores than are the tricks to taking the test well.

Battling Curriculum Mandates from the Powers That Be

I thorougly enjoyed Ayers's chapter on curriculum adaptation. When I learned previously this quarter that teachers did not get to come up with their own curriculum because they "don't have the expertise" (pish-posh, if you ask me) I was floored. That was one of the things I was most looking forward to about formal education that I could not get from most environmental education jobs.

I have written curriculums for camps before for my environmental ed jobs, but many of the curriculums I just have to work with. I thought, foolishly, that as a teacher in "real" schools I might have the liberty to create my own curriculum. I think it is just ridiculous that teachers cannot write their own curriculums. I'm all for objectives and goals, but how a teacher meets those goals should be up to him or her. I must honestly say that I doubt there are science curriculum writers who choose school science curriculums that understand science and all its intricacies better than me, an experienced scientific researcher and holder of--gasp--a science degree!

My guess is the science curriculum writers have Doctorates or PhDs in education or even more likely, they are private corporations with only the goal of making money, as the curriculum writers are in Perlstein's book Tested. The best person to write a science curriculum is a scientist. Partnering with an educator would be wise, however. I think the best teachers of science are scientists themselves, not education experts. Relying on non-scientists to dictate science standards and science curricula is what has destroyed science education in the United States. Who writes the science curriculum in collegiate studies? Scientists. And despite the failure of K-12 education in the science arena, our universities are still considered the best place in the world to study science, according to Ong in an article I read for a different class. If we bring scientists into public education of children maybe we'll be able to enhance science education in K-12.

Currently, the science education in K-12 in much of the U.S. is absolutely abysmal, though I hear it has made some progress recently (not convinced yet). I had one--ONE--good science teacher in my years of public education. And I didn't get her until the second-to-last year of my public education. And guess what, she was a scientist. She had a degree in Microbiology and had pursued undergraduate research and I think she started grad school in science before switching to education.

Few K-12 teachers have an expertise in science. In our cohort of 22, there are two of us (I asked in Jan's class first week) and only one who has a BS--me. But for scientists like myself, who sacrifice wages and prestige in the science world in order to improve the science education for the broader populace, why am I not allowed the freedom to write a science curriculum I consider to succeed at reaching goals set in the state?

I graduated with a 3.67 GPA and bubbling complimentary references from nearly every professor I had from a solid Honors and Interdisciplinary Science Program designed by the university to meet the needs of frequent employers of program graduates. I was the dream graduate for many jobs in science research. The only science course I did poorly in (did not get an A or a B) was Organic Chemistry. Through my research, I caused policy changes in three states. My undergraduate thesis is considered one of the primary sources on ecological conditions conducive to invasion of butterfly bush on the U.S. West Coast. My research has been peer-reviewed (science researchers) published in prestigious horticultural journals. I was offered four--FOUR--free rides to different Masters in Science programs just on the basis of one presentation I gave at a conference. How can any science curriculum writer say that I have no right, no skill, no talent, no ability relvant to writing a science curriculum? How can they say I "lack the expertise"? It's insulting.

Granted, some people may not feel like these are true measures of my scientific prowess because I was educated in a traditional way, a wrong way, a not as-good way-according to many articles we have read this quarter. I must argue that just because I succeeded in the education system I experienced-and not one that was more inventive-is no strong argument against the reality of my success. We learn about these innovative ways of teaching in order to understand that some of the more traditional ways of educating do not work well for all children, not to throw traditional methods out the window. Traditional methods work well for some kids, and there is no shame in that. A teacher must have a toolkit of teaching methods and pedagogy ideas in order to reach all students, not be confined to just the new stuff or just the old stuff. No teaching method should ever be totally thrown out the window because it probably worked for someone and could work again.

Ayers wrote much about how no pre-written curriculum is good enough to equate to a good education for all students. He mentioned repeatedly that a teacher should just throw out the written curriculum and start with a theme. Many of his ways of making the curriculum meet students at their level reminded me of Interdisciplinary Curriculum writing we did in our Middle School class. I think they make total sense. I think it is best to have a theme for your curriculum and form activities from that theme and then match activities to standards set by those who set standards (policy-makers?). This method will be more relevant to your students and more interesting for the teacher and his/her class. So here's the first big question: is that legal? Can a teacher really do that? If he/she can, then I am less insulted. The second big question: how? How can we make the curriculum meet students at their level while at the same time satisfying standards and not losing our jobs for taking such extravagant liberties (sarcasm)?

Values and Censorship in Curriculum

Spring asks: "Should children in public schools be exposed to ideas and values that are contrary to the beliefs of their families?"

My answer is yes, how else will students develop their own world views? Public schools should expose children to ideas and values--opinions--that contradict their family's beliefs if for no other reason than to give kids necessary tools to form their own unique identity. Public schools should not teach, however, that kids parents are necessarily wrong. These contradicting values should not replace values held by students' family values, but just be there for comparison and questioning's, second-guessing's sake.

If a child asks "Are you right or are my parents right?" A teacher's good response might be "I think we might both be right." Or "What is right and wrong is not totally black and white. There are subtleties--differences--that exist. You must learn to navigate the gray and make your own choices." Or "I want you to think about that and decide for yourself what you believe, even if it is neither my belief nor your parents' belief." Or "I can't answer that, because you are the only one who can decide what/who you think is right. Your parents and I give you resources, references, to start with, we cannot make the journey for you."

Another important point is that often the stuff schools avoid teaching/discussing stem from or are serious social dilemmas. If we ignore issues by refusing to broach them in school, we do nothing to encourage resolution and if the problems continue to be ignored for a long time, they will fester, just like problems in relationships, and there will be a sudden, powerful, potentially scary implosion that could very well turn the world as we know it upside down, or destroy something that is valuable. Where would our students be then?

As Dewey says, teachers cannot possibly prepare students for every event that might occur in the future. It is their job to give them foundations of good character and broad understanding, or at least open-mindedness, that will make it possible for the students to handle situations well. I think it is far better for the human species' future to encourage critical thinking and problem solving rather than issue dogmatic ways of doing things, or commands, or whatever. I think that there have to be at least some visionaries in future generations, for if there aren't, progress will halt and human adaptation will stagnate.

Creating a Community of Understanding

I was ill the last half of last week and was unable to attend my Contexts of Learning and Schooling class and will use this space today primarily to comment on the readings for that class and will only briefly discuss the readings from Becoming a Professional class.

McIntosh reading
I thought McIntosh had a good point—that though people recognize racism and sexism, they do not recognize the privileges they have that reinforce the existence of –isms. However, I disagree with some of her list of things in the white privilege knapsack.

First, I think it is important to point out that white privilege is not a global phenomenon. There are countries where being white is considered a bad thing, where fair-skinned individuals are treated unfairly and are often demeaned. The first two areas that come to mind are parts of Africa and the Middle Eastern nation-states.

Second, in the modern U.S. meritocracy, your skin color does not dictate whether or not you can make something of yourself. I am not going to dispute that it is easier for whites to succeed, but that does not mean those with brown or black skin cannot succeed. I think the U.S. is still a meritocracy, albeit a prejudiced one.

Third, the 17th point on the list “I can criticize our government and talk about how much I fear its policies and behavior without being seen as a cultural outsider” is not true for me. I am a liberal, and in high school in the southeastern U.S. in Germantown, TN, my views made me a cultural outsider. This freedom to criticize the government and fear its policies is not a universal truth for whites in the nation. It occurs only in certain circles—generally ones that share your political views or that are at least moderate.

Fourth, natural selection is a reality. Advantage and disadvantage will exist in society no matter what we do. I am addressing physical inability but also lackluster social skills. People who are physically unable will always be at a disadvantage because nature dictates that we need to be able to use our bodies effectively. Does this mean they should be isolated from the world? No, because humans are sentient, conscious beings and though individual survival is important, species survival is more important.

People who are socially abnormal will also always be at a disadvantage because in every society, nature dictates that the main goal of life is to reach sexual maturation and reproduce successfully. Those who lack social skills are not desirable mates because humans are communal beings and need to be able to interact successfully with each other in order to survive.

People like to think that there are other purposes to our existence, and there are, but when it comes right down to it survival of your genes is the goal according to nature. That said, there are natural disadvantages and there are society-invented disadvantages. McIntosh is primarily addressing society-invented disadvantages and it is right to challenge these just as it is right to try to include physically unable individuals and to help socially-challenged individuals integrate themselves into society.

Delpit reading
I found this reading very interesting. I had not thought about different cultures preferring to learn from objects or from people due to cultural values of connectedness. I have learned throughout this quarter to try to see my teaching through the lenses of students who have a different background than me, but this article told me one important difference to just know of rather than search for. The comments about literacy being perceived differently were invaluable to me as an educator.
Also, the discussion of analyzing solely text without examining context as well was enlightening. I know as a scientist that one must always consider the bias of the writer—in a way, the same thing as context—but I also see reading being taught out of context in most schools. I did not learn to understand the context, the bias, until later in my schooling.

Delpit illustrates the importance of learning the context from the beginning of literacy education for certain groups. Standardized tests generally do not consider context. In taking the PSAT, SAT twice, ACT, LSAT and GRE, I do not recall a single question asking me to determine bias of an article or what context the article was written in—probably because the answer to that cannot be multiple choice because it is open to interpretation.

The points about what people in white vs. Athabaskan Indian culture ask when a child is born—what color hair? How many toes? vs. Who came?—were really interesting. I had not thought about how white culture from the beginning is a decontextualizing culture. It was illuminating. Because Native Alaskans from the beginning are more concerned with the whole person, more respect is granted to children; they have more of their own authority, in a way.

Native parents test children’s faith in themselves by telling them something that is the reverse of what that child’s observations tell them. By encouraging children to rely on their own good sense, Native parents respect a child’s decisions about school more. Some of the practices that result from this respect challenge teachers attempts to help children learn.

My question is: what should a teacher do to reconcile a conflict like this? How do they try to gain an understanding between the two adults so that the child can learn what he or she needs to learn? Is just a dialogue, a conversation, required, or must a teacher do more? I see methods that a teacher can use with her students in the article, but what about the parents?

Spring readings
In chapter 4, Spring states that by 2035, Hispanics will become the largest minority group in the U.S., larger than blacks. I thought this had already happened. Or is the percentage of Hispanics only bigger in certain regions? I found the distinctions between Hispanic and Latino useful. I also thought the concept of La Raza was very interesting.

I am curious about another term you hear sometimes—Chicano and Chicana. Where do those come from? Are they slurs? I hear people calling themselves that sometimes, but blacks use slurs in friendship too. I want to know, as a teacher and a person, what I should call Spanish speakers and people from Mexico, Central America, and South America. Should I just refer to their nationality: Chilean, Peruvian, Brazilian, Costa Rican, etc? I have always wondered what people prefer to be called and why. How do I find this out in my classroom without embarrassing students?

Spring also discusses socioeconomic statistics and states that the highest percentage of foreign-born individuals living in poverty are from Central America. He then goes on to say that this staggering number (23.4%) could be helped if the U.S. works to strengthen the economies and educational systems in Central America. Is this not an Imperialist, colonial idea? It seems like citizens of Central American nations would resent U.S. interference in their economies and educational systems. It is not really our place, is it?

I was surprised by how even in the 20th century, Asians, Mexicans, and Native Americans were denied citizenship and forced to study in segregated schools. I did not know that segregation of minority groups other than blacks was maintained through at least the mid-century and in some cases, the 1970s. The pop culture images of Asian Americans (coolie, model student, deviant, yellow peril) made me wonder if Mexican Americans and other minority groups were classified in such a way. There is a pop culture image of black males, but I cannot think of one about Mexican Americans.
In answer to the questions at the end of the chapter, no, public schools should not consciously attempt to eradicate native languages of non-English speaking students. Yes, public schools shoud attempt to preserve the home language of non-English speaking students to an extent. It is impossible for schools to preserve every home language in diverse schools, so I think the rule of a certain number of students speaking the same mother tongue must be present to offer a class is valid.

I do not think public schools should consciously attempt to change or Americanize immigrant student cultures, however if the majority American culture is not taught to the students, teachers are providing students with a disadvantage. Individuals need to be able to function and succeed in the majority society without having to sacrifice their own cultures. I think it is the school’s job to acknowledge different cultures and learn about them but not to preserve minority cultures. It is the people who are part of that culture who must preserve it.

In chapter 5, Spring discusses collectivist vs. individualist nations and I was surprised that Russia was not on the list for collectivist nations. I was also surprised that so many African nations were on the list of collectivist nations. I do not know much about Africa, and though I have an understanding that tribal culture is important on the continent, I did not ascribe collectivist cultures to African nations necessarily. I was also surprised that Italy was on the list for most individualist nations. I do not usually think of Italy as individualist because familial emphasis is so strong.

The illustrations of how Asian students interpret pictures and questions differently than European students was really interesting. It is very valuable as an educator to understand that certain cultures base answers on relationships they see between things depicted in pictures rather than on similarities between different things.

I was shocked by the federal emphasis on English being the only federally legal language of pedagogy. I cannot believe even in this day and age that our nation’s leaders do not value bilingualism. The CIA and defense departments want people to know different languages. I am surprised that the need/desire for bilingualism for national defense does not translate, especially under the Bush administration, into encouraging bilingualism in public schools.

The article by Greene about encouraging imagination as a way to build community was very interesting. I attended a lecture by Marcus Borg, a Christian historian and theologian, on Friday about the value of mysticism in modern Christianity and what mysticism really is, anyway. The awareness, the consciousness that Greene spoke of sounds an awful lot like making yourself open to mystical experiences. Placing yourself in situations where you are more likely to feel a sense of connectedness to every other thing and person on the plant and aware of the greater more that Borg calls the Sacred.

Greene expressed fears that today's students are emerging from schooling robotic and alienated. Neither of these are good, but I think a lack of community feeling is a bigger problem than people becoming robotic. I think it is very hard for people to allow themselves to become robots. I believe there's a natural aversion in all of us to deny the truths of our existence, to be unfeeling. The more alarming thing to me is how alienated and disconnected people feel in this modern world. Whenever I feel alone, I am always deeply saddened, and it hurts a lot to feel alone in the world.

Greene argues that by allowing children to imagine, encouraging students to imagine their world differently than it is for them presently, these children will overcome powerlessness. I do not think solely being able to imagine the world in a different way will restore power to children because of social forces at work maintaining a balance of power. But without being able to imagine a different world, people will never be able to upset the unfair balance of power that makes them powerless. Before one can effect great change, one must be able to imagine great change.

I have nothing to say about Sapon-Shevin's article about creating community because I agreed with pretty much everything she said and found her examples of ways teachers create community useful. I feel that the two most important things she said are:

Time spend creating community is never wasted time.

Teachers, if they want to create a real community, do not dismiss or ignore touchy issues that come up in their classroom, they address them head on because if they don't, students will see differences and injustices anyway and will be merely frustrated and will not feel like their community is complete.