QUESTION 1; Why do so many students describe their educational experiences as boring?
Students have to sit, sit, sit virtually all day and listen to a teacher talk. I, as an adult, have a difficult time staying focused and I cannot stay still while sitting for long periods of time. I find it very uncomfortable to sit still! The physical requirements alone are difficult to keep students comfortable and focused. In addition, subjects are taught in isolation, from textbooks, and without real-world connections. Students do not have voice and choice in what they are learning, how they learn it, or how they demonstrate that they have learned it. While some students do come to school each day "ready to learn" many students do not. Schools need use students' background knowledge and interests to drive instruction. Students need to be immersed in learning projects that require gaining knowledge and applying it to real-world situations. Students need to see the connection between learning and real life. QUESTION 2: If you could have an internship in any area, built around any interest, what would it be, and who would you want to have as a mentor? Why? I have always loved cooking for friends, family, and coworkers, so I would call myself a cooking enthusiast. I have not really wanted to work in a restaurant, but I have spent many hours watching cooking shows, jotting down recipes, or running to my computer to look them up while watching the shows. So if I was able to get an internship, I would choose Paula Deen, who used to have a cooking show on television. She is known for using lots of butter in her recipes, and I like butter! My favorite recipe of hers, which I still make, is orange/vanilla blonde brownies with orange cream cheese frosting. They are simply delicious. She started out as a home baker/cook and then started a family catering business. She then parlayed that into writing cookbooks and hosting a cooking show on Food Network. I enjoyed watching her show and I believe I would learn a lot from her, not only about cooking methods, but also about how she started her catering business.
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QUESTION 4 : How do you get a student to want knowledge? Once you get them to want it, what are the best ways to help them get it?
I think this is a question I need to focus on every day I am with students. In this chapter Mr. Littky asserts that we need to use the real world in order to teach kids. My goal is for students to master math, reading, and writing foundational skills. Students will need these skills to acquire knowledge as they progress through school. In my class I always use topics that we read about to extend to writing but I see that I can give students some choice and voice in choosing topics to learn about. I think that would definitely help motivate them. First graders love to share about themselves and what they personally have learned. An example is that when I am teaching addition concepts I can ask the students to prepare a shopping list. I could then assign appropriate values that align with the concept I am teaching and then have them choose two items to "purchase" and figure out the sum. I could extend that by having them draw picture of their items and write why they want to purchase those items. Making the content applicable to their world would help motivate all students. QUESTION 6: What do we have to unlearn about traditional schooling so that we can educate one student at a time? One way to "unlearn" is to allow teachers to deviate from published, adopted curriculum. I have always "tweaked" the curriculum my district uses. If I tried to follow the TEs I would never get through any of it on a day to day basis. I use a lot of my own reading materials, for example, in teaching comprehension and just reading to the class for enjoyment. I have developed digital curriculum materials, such as PowerPoints and musical videos, to practice phonics and vocabulary development. I think traditional schooling has to turn its focus from teaching from the textbooks, one chapter at a time, to identifying the real world academic, social, emotional skills that students need to use and then have students use those skills in real world applications. In addition, teachers need to really know their students and their interests in order to promote learning about topics that will motivate them to learn. I like the concept in the book that suggests that students learn "how to learn." Schools in this age can not provide all the knowledge that students will need in even five years. Students need to know how to gain knowledge and be life-long learners. QUESTION 1: Imagine you've found out that a kid you know is really interested in astronomy (or cooking, . . . or whatever). How would you help her go into depth in this are? What might she learn by exploring her interest more deeply?
For my answer I will use cooking as a subject to illustrate. If a child is interested in cooking it makes sense to cook with the child! I would ask the child what they would like to cook or bake. Then we could search for a recipe (in a book, online, etc). These activities would require the child to search and read/watch a video to acquire the knowledge and follow directions. Another activity would be to eat what we made and I would ask the child to critique the food item. We could brainstorm how to make the food a different way, and how to alter the recipe to improve it. Another activity could be to draw a picture of the activity and to write about the experience An alternative would be to video the activity and have the child narrate the steps in the cooking activity. Additionally, I could ask the child to create her own recipe or even a menu for a meal. Going to a restaurant and reading menus, visiting with a person who works as a chef or cook would extend the experience. I have loved baking with my students. I choose seasonal items such as making apple pies in the fall, making pumpkin cake in November, as well as just making yummy things like pancakes. We read the recipe together, and all the students get to help measure out and mix the ingredients. I then have the students write about the activity. I have thoroughly enjoyed these activities because many of my students have never cracked an egg or made anything in their kitchens at home. I agree with LIttky's concept that children will be much more motivated learners when they are learning about something they are interested in. QUESTION 3: Think about a time that you were completely in the "flow" while learning something new. How would you relate that experience to the typical learning experiences students have in traditional schools? I love videography. I videotaped hundreds of hours of my children's sports/play/school events and vacations. I wanted to learn editing. Years ago I just had my PC. I started by editing using a VCR and a stereo! Then I got a program for my PC. It worked, kind of, with a lot of technical issues. I then went to a video editing business and, after talking to the owner, I decided that using a MAC and its editing program would give me much better results and a less frustrating process. I taught myself how to use the MAC and its editing program by watching lots of tutorials and be just doing it. I have used my editing skills to make wedding videos for family and friends and I also make a video each year for my students (a video scrapbook). My experience involved immersing myself in doing the actual editing, researching how to do it by reading, watching videos, and "taking a field trip" to the video business. I would definitely say that my learning was project-based! In contrast, much of the learning in today's classrooms is not experiential. And I have to include my classroom in this category. I see that by reflecting on my own learning I need to reevaluate what I am having my first graders learn. The challenge is working with an adopted curriculum but I see possibilities with having students choose a topic to research and then we can work together to learn how to get the information. I already am planning on extending a project when we learn about inventors. Let's invent something! I can use student pairs or small groups and facilitate that process. This idea makes me excited to start the new school year. QUESTION 1: What would a school that was “a little more human” look like to you?
There are many things in this chapter that I believe would make schools "more human." One would be the ability to hug students. In all other aspects of our culture, hugging, is a common form of greeting and letting someone know they are important and loved. I do hug my students but it is usually on the last day of the school year! I am, unfortunately, very aware of the restrictions placed on all teachers in regards to student contact. Other things that would make a school human is an enthusiastic greeting of all students when they arrive on campus. We had a "red carpet" greeting on the first day of school (before Covid) and it was so great to see the smiles on the students faces as they walked onto the campus. I try to make students know that I am glad they come each day and make sure I greet them when they arrive. If they are absent I tell them that I am glad they are back and that I, and the class, missed them. Another thing that can make a school more human is celebrations. A school can celebrate birthdays, personal accomplishments (both in school and out). My school has an award ceremony each trimester in which we give out attendance awards and academic/citizenship/effort awards. But from reading the chapter I can extend this into my own classroom by celebrating individual student achievement and effort on a weekly basis. And, of course, a "more human" school would have an atmosphere where students feel that they are heard, respected, and cared for. QUESTION 5: Do you and your colleagues share the same philosophy or vision about your school or workplace? Why or why not? How does this influence the way you work together and think about your work? My school started a PLC process about four years ago. I have some wonderful colleagues who are willing to listen and make changes when we believe it would benefit students. We had a bumpy couple of years with a new administrator who decided a top-down approach to teaching and intervention was the best policy. It was a very frustrating experience dealing with someone who had never taught elementary students, had never taught students how to read, and did not have the knowledge of the developmental learning process of first graders. In education it is so important for teachers and admin to have a respect for one another's experience and training. PLC's are supposed to be teacher-driven, using collaboration to implement teaching and remediation. I think my colleagues and I are on the same page in that we all respect our students; we genuinely like them and care about them; and we want all of our students to learn to the best of their ability. I am fortunate in that I have a supportive team in my grade level and we have built a trusting relationship with one another. I can propose something like trying out leveled math groups (like we do with reading intervention) and they listen and are willing to try it out. A great thing about teaching is that you can try a strategy and either keep it, make it better, or completely toss it out. Every day is an opportunity to do better! QUESTION 1: How should we be preparing kids for the real world? What is the real world anyway? Can you identify some real-world skills or knowledge that every child should learn or know?
I agree with the quote Dennis Littky attributes to John Dewey. Students need "to learn how to read and write and think." Of course their IS academic content that students should learn. Before Common Core standards the lists of what I was supposed to teach my first graders was an exhausting array of specific skills listed in isolation (math, reading, speaking, listening, writing, etc.). My district has embarked on identifying "essential standards" through our PLC system for the past couple of years. This has helped us focus on what we want the students to learn and discard the parts of the curriculum that are not essential. We work as a grade level and a district level to do this. In addition to academic skills, students need to be thinkers. They need to be problem solvers and to have "grit." By this I mean that students should feel like they can try something again if they can't do it the first time. I have had first graders cry because they can't find their pencil. I use situations like this to teach problem solving. First I have the student look for the pencil. Then I ask the student what they can do next to solve the problem. We go through a couple of steps until the problem is solved. I tell my students that there is no problem we can't solve together. I also believe students need to learn "how to" learn; how to focus, and how to participate. And students need to learn how to communicate with peers and to get along with them; they need to learn how to work together cooperatively and have a true respect for self and others. The real world requires individuals to be flexible, to be resilient, to be adaptable to an ever changing world. QUESTION 6: Why do you think kids drop out of school? If you have known a high school dropout, what was his or her experience after leaving school? What do you think needs to change in the way schools and society deal with dropouts? I believe students drop out for a variety of reasons. Among them include a dysfunctional family system (that may include a failure to promote getting an education to the extreme of neglect or abuse); learning disabilities; social and emotional issues that do not get addressed (peer conflict, mental health); and outside peer influences (drugs, gangs, teen pregnancy). Dennis Littky states that students "need to feel that school is a safe place" where their "strengths and energies are nurtured and applauded." I believe that every student who has dropped out doesn't feel that way about school. I also believe that students who drop out do not see a connection between getting an education and how that will lead to a successful life. Drop outs don't feel good about themselves, do not have a sense of hope, and do not envision a promising future. It makes me sad to think that such young people give up and that our society allows this happen. The school described in the book, The Met, sounds like a great model, not only for all high school students, but especially those at risk of dropping out or for those who have already dropped out. I understand that alternative high schools have been around for some time and I believe we need to question the Committee of Ten ('gang of ten) concept of education - that all students should learn the same things. Essential academics needs to be taught (and that raises another question of what, exactly, is essential) but life skills needs to be part of the curriculum for every student if we want to prepare students for the real world. To keep kids in school we need to make sure they feel heard, respected, and safe. I have never taught high school but even with first graders I deal with students who are not motivated with in school and that is something that alarms me because that is a time when students are more excited about the school environment. I try to make learning fun but I also try to instill the importance of students taking an active role in the classroom and that we work together as a team to learn. I try to get to know my students. I always comment on a new haircut, discuss new siblings that are born, pets, and interests. I greet my students every morning and at times will ask students if they feel OK depending on how they come in the room. It is my role to know them, really know them. QUESTION 1: What are your "real" goals of education?
I heard the term "lifelong learner" before and when I read that the average 70 year old has spent only 9% of their life in school it made me realize how much we learn both inside the classroom and out! The author lists many goals of education and it is interesting that so many of them have more to do with learning life skills than just learning academics such as reading and math. When I am teaching my first graders my personal goals are split in two categories; one is the academics. My first graders need to learn to read, to gain an understanding of math/social studies/science concepts. But another, very large component, of my teaching involves social and emotional skills. Students need social skills to get along with others; they need behavioral skills that foster their learning; and they need to develop skills that help them be flexible, take risks, and problem solve. They need to learn how to manage strong emotions both on the playground and in the classroom. I agree with the author that students need to "leave school with the basic life skills that will help her get along in the adult world." QUESTION 2: How would you define the differences between "learning" and "knowledge?" The author discusses the validity of testing and how it drives how teachers teach. I have spent much time with my colleagues revising tests so that we can actually assess what we want the students to learn. For example, we read the math tests to the first graders because we are not assessing their ability to read; rather we want to determine whether they have learned how to apply addition or subtraction to solve a problem. This is an area where I want to continue to strive to make sure that my assessments are valid and provide accurate data for planning instruction or remediation. The idea of using exhibitions as a teaching strategy is intriguing and I would like to try it in my classroom. I currently use a lot of pair sharing throughout lessons and started posing math concepts to the class before I taught them the concept. I saw how this has allowed students to use their own, individual way of processing and gives students the opportunity to look at learning in their own way. I view learning as a process of acquiring knowledge. Knowledge is a product one can use to solve problems, be creative, or teach others. For example, I had never created a blog before Monday. I spent time a lot of time on the Weebly website and finally figured out how to create the one for this class. I can now continue to learn more about creating a website/blog and teach someone else how to do it and/or add more features and be more creative with the website I made. |
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