This class has been a great preview in what is yet to come for me as a teacher. I am getting ready to take the Praxis this summer, and I applying for the program in the fall. I am half way there and can't believe how far I have come. There is finally light at the end of the tunnel. I can't wait to enter the teaching program. My family comes from a long line of artists, and although I have the talent I don't have the desire. My creativity will come in my methods of teaching.
The Finale will only come on the day I decide to retire. Graduation will be the beginning of great new journey. I will have accomplished part of my goal. Later on down the road I will go on to get my masters, and then my PhD. All my life it seems that I have had obstacles to overcome, and by now I would have quit. This not to say that I still have anxiety about certain things, but now I have the tools to overcome some of these fears.
I just want to say Thank You Dr. Rasmussen for his encouragement and his great teaching methods. I hope someday to be a great educator like him. His class has been one of my favorites thus far, and I hope to take more classes from him in the near future. Until next time my journey will continue, and maybe even this blog!!!
Monday, April 14, 2014
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
A Student's Choice
After just watching the documentary, "Waiting for Superman", the question arose: Should students have a choice on which school they attend, or should it be mandated by where live? Why?
I really had to think about this one. Yes, in an ideal world I do think students should have a right to choose where they attend school because all students should learn in environment where they thrive, feel safe, and desire to learn. We live in a state where the average class size is quite large and students don't always get the attention they need or deserve, so seeking a better option of different school would be great. However, student's choice is not clearly possible unless their parents are willing to pay for private school or hope they get picked in the lottery for the local charter school. Student's choice would cause for major reform, and as we know that reform is not possible with our current teacher's union.
Students shouldn't have to want to attend another school. They should love their current one. The improvement needs to begin with schools, so students don't want to leave. Teachers need to begin asking themselves what is their motivation? What are their goals? How do they achieve success? How do they engage students? Is their current teaching methods effective? And how can they be the best teacher they can be?
The change begins in the classroom. Students should not want to leave their current schools, but take pride in their school, and know that this school is providing them with the BEST!
I really had to think about this one. Yes, in an ideal world I do think students should have a right to choose where they attend school because all students should learn in environment where they thrive, feel safe, and desire to learn. We live in a state where the average class size is quite large and students don't always get the attention they need or deserve, so seeking a better option of different school would be great. However, student's choice is not clearly possible unless their parents are willing to pay for private school or hope they get picked in the lottery for the local charter school. Student's choice would cause for major reform, and as we know that reform is not possible with our current teacher's union.
Students shouldn't have to want to attend another school. They should love their current one. The improvement needs to begin with schools, so students don't want to leave. Teachers need to begin asking themselves what is their motivation? What are their goals? How do they achieve success? How do they engage students? Is their current teaching methods effective? And how can they be the best teacher they can be?
The change begins in the classroom. Students should not want to leave their current schools, but take pride in their school, and know that this school is providing them with the BEST!
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Motivation
When it comes to school most children are not to ecstatic that they have to go, and then are a few who love learning. I loved learning when I was growing up but to be quite honest most of my teachers were not real motivators. They lacked passion, heart, and drive for career. Why would anyone want to be in a career they are not passion about?
First and foremost make sure you love teaching because you will not be a great motivator if you do not love it. Second, you must love young people and want to build relationships with them. When a teacher builds a relationship with a student and gains their trust the student is more likely motivated to participate and achieve in that teacher's class. Think of yourself as a coach. What do coach's do? They motivate their team, and they design a plan to help their team score or even win!
Instruction can be a key role in how a teacher motivates their students. The teacher who gets up in front of class in that boring, monotone voice, and just starts lecturing with no engagement from her class, will likely be the one who has students that are not motivated to flow. Then we have the teacher who starts Spanish class wearing a sombrero singing La Bama and is very excited about class. The students may think your a dork but you know you have got their attention. This teacher keeps the gain rolling by a little bit a of lecture, discussion, and then role playing. If you don't use the language in everyday life how can the student learn it?
How teacher's apply learning to everyday life? This a question that must be constantly asked and reviewed. There are so many resources teacher's can use, and today technology is a big one. More and more classrooms have I-pads and are using interactive learning. The majority of standardize testing is all done on computers. Technology can also have its draw backs. It can be very distracting for some students, and it can be used for Cyber-bullying. The way the teacher motivates her classroom will determine the success of how technology is used.
Teachers have so much to take from to motivate their students. I want to be remembered for that teacher that taught me to love school and our education is a privilege. I want students to know I have rules but within those rule learning can be fun and engaging. My motivation to be a great teacher is that someday I want my students to come back to my class and say you influenced me by........ and that will be more rewarding than anything.
First and foremost make sure you love teaching because you will not be a great motivator if you do not love it. Second, you must love young people and want to build relationships with them. When a teacher builds a relationship with a student and gains their trust the student is more likely motivated to participate and achieve in that teacher's class. Think of yourself as a coach. What do coach's do? They motivate their team, and they design a plan to help their team score or even win!
Instruction can be a key role in how a teacher motivates their students. The teacher who gets up in front of class in that boring, monotone voice, and just starts lecturing with no engagement from her class, will likely be the one who has students that are not motivated to flow. Then we have the teacher who starts Spanish class wearing a sombrero singing La Bama and is very excited about class. The students may think your a dork but you know you have got their attention. This teacher keeps the gain rolling by a little bit a of lecture, discussion, and then role playing. If you don't use the language in everyday life how can the student learn it?
How teacher's apply learning to everyday life? This a question that must be constantly asked and reviewed. There are so many resources teacher's can use, and today technology is a big one. More and more classrooms have I-pads and are using interactive learning. The majority of standardize testing is all done on computers. Technology can also have its draw backs. It can be very distracting for some students, and it can be used for Cyber-bullying. The way the teacher motivates her classroom will determine the success of how technology is used.
Teachers have so much to take from to motivate their students. I want to be remembered for that teacher that taught me to love school and our education is a privilege. I want students to know I have rules but within those rule learning can be fun and engaging. My motivation to be a great teacher is that someday I want my students to come back to my class and say you influenced me by........ and that will be more rewarding than anything.
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Curriculum Who? and What?
When it comes to school curriculum who has the final say on what is taught in the school system? The State Superintendent along with school board and school offices set the standards and applies them. Then they form committees to help decide what the core curriculum should be for the state schools. Do teachers have a say in the process? The teacher gets to teach the curriculum according to the subjects that are being covered.
Let's clarify what curriculum and instruction are. Curriculum is what you teach, your arrangement of curriculum and planned educational experiences. We discussed the four types of curriculum, but here is better clarification on the types of curriculum. Explicit curriculum is the content, the objectives, and lesson plan. These are the things that are directly taught. This is used more in Junior and High Schools. Here in the state of Utah we have a website that helps with lesson planning for explicit content, it called Utah Education Network (UEN.org). An example of Explicit curriculum would be Math and Language Arts. Next we have Implicit "hidden" curriculum. These are the attitudes and values students take from school. The types of learning children gain without formal instruction in a particular area. Teacher's actions influence the Implicit curriculum, for example by the posters they hang in their classrooms, or they may spend more time on particular topic. Then there is Null curriculum this is where things are left out of Explicit curriculum, and they often include controversial subjects like Evolution. Finally, there is Extracurricular, which is the activities outside of the classroom, such as clubs, sports, etc. Studies have shown that low-ability and at risk students are less likely to participate in extracurricular activities.
Now instruction is how you teach and deciding what practices are best. Pedagogy is the art and science of teaching young people. The art is the design of teaching and the creativity behind teaching. It can allow for wiggle room. The science of teaching is based off of practices that are effective tools that help students learn. These are the strategies that have been proven and always used in college and method courses of teaching.
Let's clarify what curriculum and instruction are. Curriculum is what you teach, your arrangement of curriculum and planned educational experiences. We discussed the four types of curriculum, but here is better clarification on the types of curriculum. Explicit curriculum is the content, the objectives, and lesson plan. These are the things that are directly taught. This is used more in Junior and High Schools. Here in the state of Utah we have a website that helps with lesson planning for explicit content, it called Utah Education Network (UEN.org). An example of Explicit curriculum would be Math and Language Arts. Next we have Implicit "hidden" curriculum. These are the attitudes and values students take from school. The types of learning children gain without formal instruction in a particular area. Teacher's actions influence the Implicit curriculum, for example by the posters they hang in their classrooms, or they may spend more time on particular topic. Then there is Null curriculum this is where things are left out of Explicit curriculum, and they often include controversial subjects like Evolution. Finally, there is Extracurricular, which is the activities outside of the classroom, such as clubs, sports, etc. Studies have shown that low-ability and at risk students are less likely to participate in extracurricular activities.
Now instruction is how you teach and deciding what practices are best. Pedagogy is the art and science of teaching young people. The art is the design of teaching and the creativity behind teaching. It can allow for wiggle room. The science of teaching is based off of practices that are effective tools that help students learn. These are the strategies that have been proven and always used in college and method courses of teaching.
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
School Curriculum
When it comes to school curriculum we as teachers need to decide what is valuable for our students to grasp. The components of school curriculum are explicit, integrated, implicit, null and extracurricular. Explicit curriculum is the formal material usually found in textbooks, curriculum guides, and standards. Integrated are the concepts and skills from various disciplines that are combined and related. This type of curriculum is very popular in Elementary Schools. Then we have implicit curriculum which is the way a teacher presents content. It can be in hidden messages, and often implied rather than voiced. Null curriculum is where teachers decide what is most important to cover in a short amount of time. Finally, there is extracurricular, which is the learning experience from the student's formal studies.
The things that have an influence on curriculum are textbooks, standards and accountability, the Federal Government, and the teachers philosophies and professionalism. The idea of "What gets tested gets taught" is the norm in most schools today. Textbooks are used as outline for most classes, but the majority of textbooks cover more than twice of what is going to be taught. The Federal government plays role of making sure that curriculum is accessible to all. This can be seen in the NO Child Left Behind Act, IDEA and National Defense Education Act. Philosophy and Teacher Professionalism reflects our learning goals as teachers, and what do we want our students to learn from this subject. Each philosophy will vary from grade to grade, and subject to subject.
There have been many controversies over school curriculum in the 21st century. There have been the controversies over essentialism verses progressivism, how math should be taught, intelligent design, and censoring. A big topic of debate is sex education in the school system. Sex education is very important whether it is being taught in the home or at school. We as educators need to provide our students with the no how when it comes to protection, pregnancy, and prevention. In ideal world I would love to see parents talking with their children about sex, but the truth of the matter is it just does not always happen. Schools need to be well equipped when it comes to Sex Education.
The classroom we must teach core curriculum but make it applicable to the real world. We need to teach pathways and not just memorization. We need to teach our students as Seth Godin puts, "To care enough to be not afraid of being criticized for their ideas". Teachers need to do the same and not be afraid of teaching in an untraditional way. When we take a little of the old mixed in with the new we can create amazing pathways of learning!
The things that have an influence on curriculum are textbooks, standards and accountability, the Federal Government, and the teachers philosophies and professionalism. The idea of "What gets tested gets taught" is the norm in most schools today. Textbooks are used as outline for most classes, but the majority of textbooks cover more than twice of what is going to be taught. The Federal government plays role of making sure that curriculum is accessible to all. This can be seen in the NO Child Left Behind Act, IDEA and National Defense Education Act. Philosophy and Teacher Professionalism reflects our learning goals as teachers, and what do we want our students to learn from this subject. Each philosophy will vary from grade to grade, and subject to subject.
There have been many controversies over school curriculum in the 21st century. There have been the controversies over essentialism verses progressivism, how math should be taught, intelligent design, and censoring. A big topic of debate is sex education in the school system. Sex education is very important whether it is being taught in the home or at school. We as educators need to provide our students with the no how when it comes to protection, pregnancy, and prevention. In ideal world I would love to see parents talking with their children about sex, but the truth of the matter is it just does not always happen. Schools need to be well equipped when it comes to Sex Education.
The classroom we must teach core curriculum but make it applicable to the real world. We need to teach pathways and not just memorization. We need to teach our students as Seth Godin puts, "To care enough to be not afraid of being criticized for their ideas". Teachers need to do the same and not be afraid of teaching in an untraditional way. When we take a little of the old mixed in with the new we can create amazing pathways of learning!
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Multiplication and Organization
Multiplication and Organization go hand in hand. Today's presentation was on how school's are organized. Before the 1800s teacher's taught all subject to every age group they were in a one room school house. Today teacher's teach one specific grade, and the upper level grades the teacher's have an area expertise. Elementary educations included the reorganization of the alphabet, cursive, multiplication, and understanding mass and inertia. It was fun to have a timed test on multiplication it took me back to the fifth, and literally I visited some fifth graders today who had to complete the same test as we did. In middle school there is focus on organization. This is the key component for success. In elementary school students had more supervision from the teachers. When it comes to middle school they are more on their own. They must learn to manage their time, organize for classes with binders and planners. Teachers need to be time oriented as well and use interactive strategies when they teach. In middle school the student should have mastered studying and time management preparing them for high school. The comprehensive high school is where the basic classes are taught and each class is around fifty minutes long. The other alternative is block scheduling where classes are 100 minutes long. There are different college courses that are offered such as Advanced Placement and honor classes. There are also virtual schools that are offered online, distance education and career tech schools. The organization within the classroom and from the school will allow all students to succeed.
Today I saw first hand how and organized school and classroom can help students thrive. I visited Nick Baker's fifth grade classroom. First, Nick is a master when it comes to letting his students know his expectations, and they follow very well. The students were learning about the constitution of the United States. They were highlighting the important facts, then filling in blanks in their workbooks. All students were engaged and having fun. Then it was time for Math, multiplication timed test. The students excelled. They repeated back their answers by not moving their teeth or plugging their ears. The experience was great and I learned a lot about the writing process for fifth graders, and how to prepare them for written exams.
Today I saw first hand how and organized school and classroom can help students thrive. I visited Nick Baker's fifth grade classroom. First, Nick is a master when it comes to letting his students know his expectations, and they follow very well. The students were learning about the constitution of the United States. They were highlighting the important facts, then filling in blanks in their workbooks. All students were engaged and having fun. Then it was time for Math, multiplication timed test. The students excelled. They repeated back their answers by not moving their teeth or plugging their ears. The experience was great and I learned a lot about the writing process for fifth graders, and how to prepare them for written exams.
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Today!
Today, my group and I gave our group presentation on School Law. It was so much better being up in the hot seat than being a spectator. There is a definite rush that comes from being in front of entire class. You can see excitement, boredom and no expressions at all, but these help gauge how effectively you are doing you job. For the most part my group and keep the audience pretty engaged. They probably thought I was a little crazy, but I don't mind because I got their attention and their brains ticking. I can't wait till I get the opportunity to teach for real, and look out into the audience of my students. Peace out!
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