Week 3 (A Change is Here)

I'd like to write a little bit about the inauguration day of our 44th president, Barack Obama. All day I've been looking forward to viewing his speech. It's such a special day for me, as a minority, because it finally represents what America is, a place where many people from diverse backgrounds can live together side-by-side. In our short history, it's been shown time and time again, that we have fought for the right to have the freedom to be ourselves, to practice our own religions and beliefs, and to have equal opportunities for everyone. Our country is defined by the many different cultures, backgrounds, races, and religions- it's about time the leader of our country reflects that. I am proud that America has come this far and finally has the tolerance to look beyond race.

I think Obama presidency is the change we need to bring back hope and restore our faith in this country.In his speech Obama states, "What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task." This statement rings true to my reason for teaching. I have always felt a responsibility to the community. I have lived a part of my life dirt poor and the rest in relative comfort. Since I am lucky enough to have the lifestyle I have now, I have always believed in giving back and making a difference in the community- and I will do that through teaching.

In one of our classes, we were asked if anyone encountered any opposition or negative feedback towards their decision in teaching. I was surprised by this question because I was very fortunate to have a lot of support when I decided to become a teacher. Many of the people I know were very enthusiastic about my decision. My parents were also very encouraging. Once in a while, people mentioned that I would need to find a rich husband, but that was the extent of the negative comments! I have never thought that teaching is not a profession and viewed as a lower status than in other careers.

In our reading Can Elementary Schoolteaching Be a Career, I was really shocked to learn teaching can be viewed as "a failure of ambition" or that some teachers feel defensive about their line of work. There was even a story about how a teacher lied about her occupation at her husband’s work parties because some people were making bad comments about teachers. What is this world coming to?!! Perhaps I’m just lucky that I have yet to deal with any negativity regarding teaching. But I’m not worried about any negative connotations that may come with being an elementary school teacher. I am teaching for children and that’s what I’m concerned about- not people who will always find fault in everything. I don’t think it will be easy being a teacher, but life’s never easy. I’ll take the challenges as they come.

This week there were a few readings about programs in schools that are grouping and essentially labeling children. Grouping, Tracking, and Categorical Programs by Jeannie Oakes and To Teach by William Ayers both described how schools were placing kids in classes and programs according to the school’s judgments about their competencies and deficits. Almost all schools have different categories of classes that they sort students into. I understand why the schools do this. It’s human nature to want to organize and sort things into their different categories. Also, I understand that the schools may think it’s in the best interest of the children to learn at the same pace as their peers to not feel left out or so ahead that they get bored. Also, it’s easier for the teacher to not have to teach to many different levels.

As I read, I discovered there are many pitfalls to this method. Some schools use test to sort their students. Usually they only test once and are stuck with their placement. Other ways that a student might get categorized incorrectly is if the teacher doesn’t understand the student’s behavior. Even parent’s have a strong influence in this sorting. Knowledgeable parents can get their kids enrolled in better courses while others don’t know that they have any say in the system. I know if I had been placed unfairly as a child, my parents would not go to the school and try to change it because they didn’t know English and they would’ve assumed the school correctly placed me in that class. Another factor that I thought was shocking was that most schools have constraints about the number of people in their classes. So someone that may be borderline or enrolling late could be placed in a lower or higher level class depending on class sizes.

Most of what I read about labeling is very disturbing. Children are much more intuitive than most adults give them credit for. Many know that they are being placed in lower tracks- even if the classes have a special acronym or code. In the Grouping reading, Oakes mentions that, “ Placement in a low, middle, almost-but-not-quite-top class often becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy- a cycle of lower expectations, fewer opportunities, and academic performance that, at best, can match (but not exceed) the expected performance.”

Ayers gives a similar opinion on the subject of labeling. He mentions that the labels, classes, and curriculum are very limiting because they only concentrate on the child can’t do or does poorly at. They do not focus on the child’s strengths or interests that will help the child learn better and succeed. There’s so much potential in children we may never know about because of the limitations that are put on them. Ayers mentions we need to find a better way to reach out to children, find ways to build on their strengths, and engage them in learning. Seems nearly impossible with how most schools are set up nowadays. There were a few of tips from Ayers that I thought were very useful, such as inviting letters from parents. I loved this chapter and what I got from it was that we may not single-handedly be able to change the school system, but there are many different little ways to get involved with the students and make their learning more interesting and engaging.


***I would like to learn more about what some schools are doing to change this system of grouping and labeling.***

Week 2

After the readings and class last week, I realize there's so much to teaching I have yet to learn. It's a little overwhelming thinking about so many aspects of the school system and at the same time teaching!

One of the questions brought up in class was How do we make decisions about what’s in the best interest for kids? This is what I’ve been thinking about when I read American Education by Joel Spring. I’m a fairly quick reader, but this chapter took a very long time to read because I kept stopping and thinking about each subject he approached. The first part of the chapter talks about how much influence businesses have in formulating educational policies. I was surprised to read that most public high school curriculum is geared toward giving students the basic academic information while teaching them the basic employability skills (attendance, timeliness, and good attendance habits) to create a population of entry-level employees for the work force.One part of the chapter focused on the social goals of schooling. It seems like more and more that the burden of raising children are given to the schools. We are expected to teach them what they are supposed to learn at home. But then again, there are many children that can benefit from this because they have no one at home teaching them.

Can the school attempt to solve all social problems while at the same time teaching students the core curriculum required? Who decides what moral values are to be taught in public schools?I understand the idea of wanting to show kids values, morals, responsibility, etc. There are many benefits of teaching these beliefs in the school. I agree with Horace Mann’s beliefs that if we can introduce these ideas to students, it would benefit the society as a whole. But we can’t possibly rely on schools to be the only place teaching children moral values. There’s no way that schools can replace parents and other influences. My question is how much do we teach children that does not involve academics? This is such a confusing topic for me because I know we can use schools to influence children to be a productive part of society, but there are so many different arguments about what to teach. For example, when New York City implemented the “Children of the Rainbow” curriculum in 1992, it infuriated many people of the community. I can see why. I’m sure that did not go well with the homophobics. But as a normal (very tolerant) person, I believe as long as tolerance is taught, it does not have to go to that extreme. Tolerance is being able to accept everyone for who they are, so why single out a group of people when it’s not necessary?

I have heard recently that many schools have taken soda and candy out of their vending machines and replaced it with healthy options. So in addition to teaching kids how to become a better person while learning math, reading, writing, schools are now taking on obesity in youths!!! Yes, I agree that it is a genuine concern, and it can never hurt to promote healthy diets and healthy living, but how much more can the schools take on without actually replacing parents? I had a home education class in high school that included sewing, cooking, and baking. I never thought that the purpose of this class was to become a better housewife!We also mentioned school funding in class.

Ideally we want to give kids the best education possible in a public school setting. It really is painful to hear that Washington State schools get only 15% of the federal funding. Not only that, at the school board meeting I went to, I discovered that funding for Washington schools is 46th in the U.S. and we are 45th in the nation for spending per student. It was also pointed out that we are one of the richest states in that nation. So why is it that we provide the least amount of money to our students? Seems like the schools are tackling a lot of issues while not given adequate funding.

Perhaps all these issues are the reason why so many new teachers do not stay in teaching very long. I think the issues that are brought up in this class are great because it's relevant in preparing us for what's to come as teachers. We need to know what we are up against. As someone with little experience in a classroom, I am interested to learn these issues so I know what to expect as I go into teaching.

Week 1

I wasn't planning to do a blog, but since I see many of my classmates posting blogs... I've succumbed to peer pressure.

I was surprised to learn that the standard of public schools today came from the industrial revolution. Schools and classes were built like assembly lines to have the most efficient way to get students in and out of school. Since I don't know much about the history of education, I found it surprising because I assumed 30 or so students in a class represented the most manageable amount of students to teach, not because it was the most efficient way to build a classroom. This is very interesting to me because schools are now modeled after a system that is not the most productive or efficient way to educate children. Now, the question is: What are we doing to change this model that has been around for so long? I'm excited about this class and this education program to learn about what is not working in our education system and what we can do to fix it.

I was also surprised to learn how grade levels came about. Although, it was not too surprising because of the historical context. I immediately thought about my 5th/6th grade class when I was going to Parkwood Elementary School in Shoreline. And then a classmate mentioned she knew of a school that had a 5th/6th/7th grade class. Perhaps this is a way to break out of that assembly line structure. But I'm interested to learn how that works. How can a teacher teach what is required for 3 grade levels?

The subject of standardized testing came up in my Thursday class. I have some negative feelings about this subject. There seems to be such a big focus on standardized tests, how much are the children actually learning? It seems like they are being taught how to take a test and how to do well on test instead of content. I understand that standardized tests are a way to measure achievement in schools, however, I am skeptical about these tests based on my own experiences. I have always tested higher in math than reading and writing, but my comfort level and grades were always better in reading and writing classes. This doesn't make sense to me! Maybe it's because the tests are usually math first and I'm worn out by the end of the test... I don't know.

Lastly, I want to talk about To Teach, by William Ayers. Although, I've heard some things about his colorful past, I'm not one to judge. I've also heard that he's a wonderful educator and I believe that is more relevant for my purposes. I really enjoyed the first chapter of this book. Mr. Ayers addresses many positive and negative aspects of teaching. I think people that want to go into teaching are special people because there's so much work and responsibility involved, but with little monetary reward. Obviously, we are not in it for the money. But working with children and the feeling of accomplishment is more important than anything money can buy. I respect Mr. Ayer's honestly about the myths of teaching. What I got from this book is that there's no standard way of being a good teacher. It's what works in the situation you are given and being flexible to adapt to all situations.