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.
Maybe instead of peer pressure, you're doing a blog because you're adventurous and want to try something new?? :)
ReplyDeleteYes, so much of what we take for granted in schools is the legacy of a distant history, yet we have to work so hard to justify change. There was some interesting research in Kentucky about class size -- they lowered class sizes in primary grades to around 15 and kids seemed to do a lot better. Teachers could better attend to each child, kids were less likely to get lost in the shuffled. But running classes that small means we need more classrooms and more teachers, and we've just not been willing to pay for those sorts of things.
Good questions about tests... they can never, ever measure all that we want kids to know and to be able to do, so how do we make sense of them and keep them in context? How else can we assess kids?
There isn't any standard way to teach, and I'm interested in knowing more about some of things that he did say make for good teaching. He has some fairly strong ideas about this..!
More next week.
Jane