Students At Bat

This article was about teaching students to act responsibly by giving them opportunities to make meaningful decisions. Many students today are given few opportunities today to make decisions on their own, which leads the to be irresponsible in other aspects of their life. The article suggest the following ways to create decision making opportunities within your classroom.

1) Let students decide how to use their time.

2) Let students choose classroom rules.

• If students create the rules themselves they will feel more accountabilty to follow them.

3) Let students choose work locations.

4) Let students choose tasks.

• Within-task choiecs are those where you give the student an assignment with multiple options on how to accomplish it.
  

5) Let students develop rubrics.

6) Implement student-led conference

It must be kept in mind that this process takes time and practice; start with smaller decisions and work to bigger ones. Most students with learn that poor choices lead to not so fun consequences and they will see that their decisions control these consequences. By supporting them, students will begin to become responsible decision makers in and out of the classroom.

I enjoyed this article. It was short and concise, giving the right amount of information needed. The suggestion for teaching responsibility were great. Allowing students to make choices and decisions in school helps them become responsible adults. By making the decisions themselves, most students will hold themselves accountable and take more responsibility in getting the work done.

Philosophy Impact

My personal philosophy of education will impact my future as a teacher in many ways. The specific impact it will have on my classroom will determine have powerful I will be as a teacher. My philosophy will effect my classroom organization, student motivation, discipline, assessment, classroom climate, learning focus, my teaching style and leadership style. Under further examination, I will reveal how each of these elements of my classroom will be effected by my personal philosophy of education.

Classroom Organization:
Since I am a fairly neat and orderly person, my classroom will be set up in a neat fashion; everything will be organized and have a place. With all my work organized, I can plan my time accordingly to get work back to students in a timely manor to allow for quick and precise feedback. I feel the more organized I am as a teacher, the more I will help my students to become organized adults and successful in their education.

Motivation:
The most important thing to remember when motivating students to learn is their personal interests. A typical human being has little enthusiasm in learning something they are not interested in. When I design my lesson plans, I make sure that the students' interests are taken into consideration. A big attribute of students within grades 7 and 12 is that they like to be independent; they like to discover things on their own. By creating an environment for the student in which they teach themselves by interacting with it is a great way to make sure the students stay motivated. By exploring this environment, the student feels that he/she is learning what they want to learn, instead of what the teacher is making them learn, although as the teacher we see that they are one in the same due to our careful planning.

Self-discipline and Classroom Climate:
Self-discipline is created by holding the students accountable for themselves and their actions. Teaching each student about responsibility will help them grow as individuals and build a community within the classroom. By creating a classroom community where everyone respects and values one another, we establish a classroom where everyone feels safe and can rely on one another. This brings us into the topic of classroom climate. When a classroom is safe for all students, enjoyable learning can be reached through hard work from individuals and groups.

Teaching Styles and Assessment:
I grouped teaching styles and assessment together because I think they go hand in hand. The key here is to use a variety of methods to draw the knowledge out of the student; to allow to student to discover information on their own. With this said, all students learn differently therefore they should be taught and assessed to their specific learning style. Although it seems almost impossible to teach to every students' learning style, with a variety of instructional methods and assessment techniques it is possible to give every student the opportunity to learn and be assessed in the best way possible.
Instructional methods, such as discussion, cooperative learning, journals/blogs, role playing and scaffolding, amongst others, will accommodate all the different students in the multiple ways in which they learn. Assessment can be summative, formative, formal, and informal. Summative assessment summarizes the development of the learners at a given time, for example, the end of a semester. Formative assessment is when feedback from learning is used by the teacher to enhance teaching and learning strategies. Formal assessment is usually a written document, such as a test, quiz, or paper. Informal assessment is usually casual and includes observation, participation, peer and self-evaluation, and discussion. By using a variety of teaching and learning methods it is possible to accommodate for all learning styles within the classroom.

Learning Focus:
My personal philosophy is that the student should be the center of learning. Within student-centered learning the focus in on the students needs, instead of the desires of the teachers and administration. Although the teachers and adminstration should be taken into consideration during planning, the students are the most important people within a school and the school should be built around and for them. With that said, students should have a say and choices in what they want learn.

Leadership styles:
My philosophy allows me to feel comfortable as a leader within a school and community. As a teacher, I am a role model for students who are the future of our nation. I stand up for what I believe in and hopefully my students will follow my lead by standing up for what they believe is right. My main goal as a leader is to put my students first and encourage others within the school community to do so as well.

Non-Traditional Schools

Maria, Sarah and Katie Rose did a great job with their presentation on non-traditional schools. They briefly described the idea behind alternative schooling. They gave in depths details about Charter schools, religious schools, Expeditionary Learning Schools, Community schools and Free schools. They gave the ideas behind each other these types of schools and the laws which must be followed in order to start these types of school. They had a Chalk-Talk discussion where everyone was able to write their opinions on certain topics chosen by the speakers. I thought this was a great idea. I am a quiet person and I often have troubles putting my opinions into words during usual discussion because I feel rushed. A Chalk-Talk is a great way to allow everyone to get their thoughts out and and discussed. Their paper was a great recap and resource for the information they shared during their presentation, including a good link about Expeditionary Learning. Non-traditional schools were something I previously did not know much about and had not thought much about. I feel they opened my eyes to a whole new aspect of teaching.

Discipline

The topic of discipline was disgusted in class today by Evan, Jessica, and Megan. They started their presentation with a great cartoon poking fun at the idea of using intimidation as a means of discipline amongst other things. Next they gave a brief history of discipline. They described why we need discipline and different types including time out, assertive discipline and body language. They showed a video on corporal punishment within a school in Texas. The video was a good part of the presentation because it gave me insight into a type of discipline I do not agree with, but I now see this schools reasoning for using corporal punishment. I liked how the group did not put their opinion about discipline into the presentation. They delivered facts and information to the class and created a lot of discussion opportunities. I thought they did a great job!

Voices of Educational Pioneers Article

Given the pages and pages of educational philosophies within this article, I feel as though I do not have to time or brain strength to summarize my reflection at this time. Having just read the article, I am going to list the parts I related to, agreed with and feel are important. I can later bring my thoughts on all the topics into true feelings for my philosophy paper.

Characteristics of Teacher:
Teacher's academic freedom to think, question and teach (Socrates)
Expert, knows developmental levels of children
Respects children.
Teaches with methods that motivate and stimulate students.
"Teacher of all" (Jesus)
Fair and compassionate.
Kindness and Fairness
Encouraging
Open to all learners
Variety and practicality
Non-coersive
Moral integrity and diligence
Pedagogic efficiency

Role of Teacher:
"transmitter of knowledge" ( Confucius)
Draws knowledge out of student (Socrates)
Ask questions in a way that students discover knowledge within -leading questions
Relating curriculum to needs/interests of students.
Know what students already know and build on that knowledge.
Debate with students to help discover knowledge.
Variety of teaching instructional methods
Make learning enjoyable
Integrate curriculum
Student-centered curriculum
Create an emotionally secure environment
Character formation
Group instruction
Reflection
"Students develop a moral code that will guide their life." (Herbart)
Create responsible members of society.
Teach the process of thinking
Know student understanding and teach to it. -individualized instruction.
"What is the purpose of teaching, what are you teaching and how are you teaching it?" (Freire)
Creating an environment where students will teach themselves through interacting with it.


Role of Education:
Teacherless Education- draw out knowledge
Student growth and development of character and ability to do good. (Plato)
Promote citizenship and leadership (Plato)
Encourage thinking, reflecting and practice. (Aristotle)
Successive stages of education based on physical and psychological developments.
Allow students to create their own perceptions, not being persuaded by previous opinions.
Character development- providing students the opportunities to make good choices. (Aquinas)
Developing responsibility in youth
Universal education for all-Everyone should have the same opportunity to learn anything and everything.
Holistic development of student
School and family work together
Create in children healthy habits of minds and body.
Promote equality of men, no matter their race, religion, or habitat.
"Education as the only hope to reach not only skills but to change attitudes to improve morality." (Jefferson)
"Providing students with free and intelligent choice between alternates and engaging them in meaningful interactions with their environment- the subject matter, the teachers, and peers." (Dewey's)
Purpose= think, discover and create



Child/Student:
Social, physical and emotional potential.
Stages of learning (Aristotle)
Their function is to reason- (Starter- Child's most common word = why?)
--Inquisitiveness of children.
Natural endowment, instruction and practice (Luther)
Learn through experience
"Adults in the making" not youngsters
Direct contact with nature without inter-mixture of opinions = form own idea.
"Given freedom, children would play, participate, observe, and learn new knowledge through self-activity at their own speed of learning.


Good quotes:
"Know thyself. The unexamined life is not worth living." Socrates
Fortune Cookie quote- "Our duty, as men and women, is to proceed as if limits to our ability did not exist."

A Nation At Risk

Abstract:

A Nation At Risk: The Imperative of Educational Reform was a report by the National Commission on Excellence in Education on the Unites States educational system and how it needs to be improve. The study, done in the 1980’s, reported that education in our society was eroding from mediocrity that was threatening the future of our Nation. The Risk is that we live among well educated and strong competitors. We are falling behind other countries because our educational foundation is breaking apart, due to the many conflicting demands placed on our teachers and schools. The article went into the different indicators of the risk and different hopes and frustrations of our nations people. The Commission of Excellence defined excellence in a few different ways in terms of the individual learner, school or college, and society, saying that all three need to be committed to achieving excellence. The article suggested that in order for education reform to occur we need to create a learning society, where educational opportunities are extended beyond classroom walls and into every place where an individual can develop. There are numerous tools at hand and if these materials are used it will create opportunities and choices for everyone to learn. Before the article presented all its recommendations it demanded the commitment of all of society in order for these recommendations to be successful. The Commission recommended a strengthening of content, more rigorous and measurable standards and higher expectations, more time spent on actual learning, improving teacher preparation and respect for the profession, and lastly, holding educators and officials responsible for providing leadership for achieving these reforms. With all that said, they made special comment to parents and students and a final plea to all to implement their recommendations.

Reflection:
I thought a lot of the information was out of date, considering this research and article was written in the 80’s. I do still believe that our Nation’s education system is at risk in a lot of ways but I feel we have improved since this article was written; possibly even because of the article. No Child Left Behind is a perfect example of the article recommendation of holding educators and officials responsible for leadership in achieving reformation. Overall, I though the article was pretty good and brought up some good points. I also thought it was very outdated and needed to be revamped in order to be relevant for out time. One part that I thought would be everlasting was the word to the students. This paragraph suggested that the students themselves are the only ones fully in charge and capable of changing their futures. By putting in more effort and working to their full capacity, they will create their own futures and “control their destiny.”

Promising Future: A Call to Improve Learning for Maine's Secondary Students

Abstract:

The book began with A Call to Action; a challenge and invitation to join the effort to improve learning. The 6 Core Principles for Secondary Educational Practice in Maine that guide the improvements were listed as follows:

• Students are successful in educational experiences which promote:

1. A safe, respectful and caring environment.
   
2. High universal expectations with a variety of learning opportunities.
   
3. Understanding and actions based on assessment data.
   
4. Teacher practice which values and builds upon the contributions and needs of each learner.
   
5. Equitable and democratic practices.
   
6. Coherence among mission, goals, actions, and outcomes.
   

The book continued on with an overview of observations and challenges seen in the public secondary education system in Maine in 1998. After clarifying the challenges most schools are facing, the book goes on to describe the 15 Core Practices which are recommendations for actively improvement. These practices were split up into two types: Core Practices for Learning and Teaching and Core School Practices to Support Learning. Once these 15 practices were listed and described with essential elements, they went on to describe practices that need to be phased out because they impede the Core Practices. And finally, they describe how seven recommendations to local and state policy makers, parent groups, school district leadership, town officials, and state leaders. These policy makers must help if high schools are to serve our youth most effectively!

Reflection:

I feel they did a really great job creating these Promising Future Core Principles, Practices and Recommendations. All of them are important and need to be implemented in order to improve all Maine high schools. I think Core Practice 3: Every teacher challenges learners both to master the fundamentals of the disciplines and to integrate skills and concepts across the disciplines to address relevant issues and problems, is very important. So many teachers teach their subject and only their subject; a lot more learning could occur by integrating disciplines. One practice that I do not think is applied nearly enough is Core Practice 4: Every Student learns in collaborative groups of students with diverse learning styles, skills, ages, personal backgrounds, and career goals. Tracking is used in most high schools and it hinders the learning of the majority of students. Given that we are a culture that "communicates high expectations for all, equity of educational opportunity and goals, and democracy requires that students experience learning alongside students who are distinctly different from them" (pg 18). Why, if our culture requires us to work in a diverse society, should we teach students in homogeneous groupings?
I really enjoyed reading this short book about Promising Futures. If all Practices are implemented correctly and maintained in all high schools in Maine, I think we will see a huge improvements over the next tens years.

Educational Philosophies

Each educational philosophy is a view used and applied by teachers in organizing their classroom, instruction and assessment. There as two different teaching and learning principles of eight philosophies recognized today; they are perennialism, essentialism, behaviorism, positivism, progressivism, humanism, reconstructionsim, and constructivism.

Teacher-Centered Locus-of-Control:

Perennialism is a theory focused on humans. It is all about humans. Humans do not change, therefore, facts, which can change, are not important because they can change. Perennialist principles are based on personal development for society concentrating on the essential nature of human beings. Scientific method and mathematics are studied because they stay constant.

Essentialism belief is that there is a common core of information and skills that a typical person should know. Through teacher instruction, hard work and mental discipline, this core of information will be portrayed to and learned by the students. Learning about cultural heritage and creating good citizens is important to the Essentialist philosophy. Subject matter includes literate, history, foreign language, religion, and the natural laws and physical world which are taught through the math and sciences. Universal truths are learned by reading, lectures, memorization, repetition and examination. (idealism and realism)

Behaviorism is the theory that behavior represents the essence of an individual and that behaviors are responses to stimuli. This belief looks at the effects of environment on individual behaviors. School environments should be highly organized and the curriculum should be based on obtaining certain behavioral objectives. Behaviorist believe that empirical evidence and scientific method are very important for the student to comprehend in order for them to learn. In all, the school creates learning environments that develop desirable behaviors in students. (realism)

Positivism "is a social theory that limits truth and knowledge to what is observable and measurable" (pg. 326, Foundations of American Education). This theory rejects essences, intuition and inner causes because they cannot always be measured. The emphasis is on empirical verification, that is experimental/observable evidence. Bases on perception and investigation, knowledge is bases on observable facts and learning focuses on the acquisition of these facts. By studying experts, students are expected to develop their own observation, classification and logic skills. The teacher is expected to directly state what each student is to learn and master through clear, precise expectations.

Student-Centered Locus-of-Control:

Progressivism is the idea that learning occurs through questioning and experimentation by the learner. Human experience is the basis for knowledge, therefore progressivists promote the scientific method and student involvement programs. Schools should prepare students for change, emphasizing how to think instead of what to think. Through experimentation, divergent thinking, and curriculum based on life experience, the progressivism theory creates an experience-centered school that stresses the process of learning, not the result. (pragmatism)

Humanism is the belief that humans are innately good. Humanist education is the process of creating a free and self-actualizing person, based on the students feelings. The idea is to start with the individual and build outward, as opposed to starting with the world and great ideas. The belief is that education should be without coercion, without forcing students to learn, and encourage students to make their own choices about their learning. Content is based on the students interests, abilities and needs. The views and opinions of the teacher are withheld from the students in order for them to formulate their complete own beliefs. (existentialism)

Reconstructionsm is the belief of hands-on, activity based teaching and learning for the betterment of society built on democratic values. Lead class learning through social questions and human condition. Concentrates on learning the needs of the society and how to make society better. Reconstructionist believe in a community based learning.

Constructivism is the theory that uses hands-on, activity based teaching and learning allowing the student to develop their own thoughts. Students, active learners, should be given opportunities to develop their own thoughts. Teaching instruction must include activities that allow students to discover answers to their own questions. Constructivists consider true learning to be the student developing personal meaning as opposed to someone else's meaning. Curricula is based on student questions. The teacher proposes situations that allow the student the think and develop their own questions. Problem-based learning, based on constructivist views, challenges teachers to create student-interest based curriculum, allowing the student time to find, clarify, assess, gather, and present solutions to problems, with guidance from the teacher. (existentialism)


Reflection:

Although I can relate to as least a part of each of the six educational philosophies, I feel I most relate to the constructivism theory. Hands-on, activity-based teaching and learning with an emphasis on student interests, allowing the student to develop their own frame of thought is important to me. Students should be allowed to learn through their interests. We can not expect them to learn from stuff that does not hold their interest. I like the idea of the teacher proposing problems from which the students each develop their own solution and create their own personal knowledge allow the ways. Since I believe that the basics are a necessity, a lot of the basic learning can come from this problem-based learning strategy. Progressivism is next educational philosophy that I relate to the most. I believe it is important that ideas be tested by experimentation and that the learner continuously ask questions of the world around them. Stressing experience-centered learning allows the student to learn to process of learning and not just the result, which helps them the next time they must problem solve.

Classroom Management

I really enjoyed Katie and Meghan's presentation. Classroom management is another educational issue that is constantly a hot issue. Since they could not talk about discipline, Katie and Meghan discussed lesson planning techniques, keeping organized and classroom setup. I thought all the information that was presented was worthy information and with keep the links in mind for the future. Every topic they talked about made me think about my future classroom; what will the rules be, how will I stay organized, how do I build relationships with parents? By presenting information they made us think about our future classrooms and how our personalities will effect our management skills. I really enjoyed the videos. Yes, they may have been a little outdated but the information given in them is still relevant and important today. The presentation set up itself was very good, lecture at first, then videos then finished with a hands on activity. Well done.
Their paper was well written and included information from the presentation and some information not mentioned in the presentation. It also included links to pages with additional resources to supplement the information given. Overall, they did a really great job!

Teach With Your Heart, pg. 228-265

Abstract:

Within these pages, Erin describes her first real failure, her lose in the campaign, and talks about her life and how she attempted to bounce back. Left in dept from the campaign, Erin begins speaking at different events for money that barely pays the bills. Word gets out about her speeches and she begins speaking at bigger and bigger venues. Often times, some Freedom Writers, especially Maria, accompany her at the speeches, where they leave the crowd on their feet with tears in there eyes. Erin is approached by a director who wants to make the Freedom Writers story into a movie. She is also approached by another man, Mr. Kayne, a venture capitalist, who asked if Erin thought she could replicate her work with her students as a model on a national level. Erin said she could and the Freedom Writers Foundation began. Towards the end of these chapters, as everything is coming together with the film, including Hilary Swank as Erin, Erin finds out her father died of a heartache. Erin finds herself lost without that one support who was always there for her no matter what. She realizes he is still there with her, just not in person. The book ends with Maria and Sharaud introducing the movie at the New Port movie theater that Mrs. G had brought the class to in the beginning. It was their turn to tell their story to people who really listened and who cared.

Reflection:

I really like the idea of the Freedom Writers Foundation. I would like to see were is it today, what they have accomplished and who is benefiting from their program. Looking at the book as a whole, I feel Erin matured in a lot of ways. I'm sure she looks back at her experiences now and thinks "I must have been crazy to think I could do that!" She did everything in her power to change the lives of her students, to a point where it changed everything in her life as well. The big picture that I get out of all this is that we all need to give, to change, to care and to help the education system for the betterment of all students. If we all give then people like Erin would not have to give themselves completely; it would be a network working together for a great cause.

Tracking Presentation

Overall, I thought Chrissy and Justin did a good job presenting. It is always hard to go first and they set the bar high for everyone else. Tracking is such a debated issue these days. It was nice to see different ideas for and against tracking and statistical data to back up both sides. Using a few different strategies including videos and PowerPoint slides, they gave us the pros and cons of tracking. It would have been easy for them to get up in front of the class and just talk about the cons of tracking, but they showed us the the truth is there are some pros to tracking, although they may be out weighed by the cons. They did not, for the most part, include their personal opinions about tracking, instead they just stated facts, allowing the listener to make our own conclusions. They ended with an example of a school without tracking. Since most of us have experienced tracking in our educational experience, it was nice to take a look at Souhegan High School and observe how they do things and their personal outcomes and achievements.
In your paper as well as mentioning it in your presentation, you brought up the idea of the effects that tracking has on teachers, including senior teachers being able to choose the track they want to teach, often times leaving the most inexperienced teaching with the lower track and hardest group of students to teach because they are often times not challenged enough.
I only had a few suggestions. First, there was a lot of lecturing, although one discussion was derived from one of the videos, the whole presentation consisted of listening to the speakers, which become a little boring. I also thought that the statistical data that was shown on the PowerPoint was hard to read and hard to understand. I wish it hard been presented in a different manner although I do not know how it could have been presented in a different fashion; possibly use more graphs instead of words, as I am a visual learning. Besides those two suggestions I thought the presentation was good.

Philosophy article

Abstract:

Philosophy is composed of a few different branches, metaphysics, epistemology, and axiology, and together they attempt to answer three questions:

• What is the nature of reality?
• What is the nature of knowledge?
  
• What is the nature of values?

Philosophy can also be broken down into four different philosophies that will be described in the following paragraphs, concentrating on their educational implications.

Idealism:
For idealists, the world of the mind, ideas and reason are most important. They stress mind over matter and that knowledge includes understanding ideas and concepts. They also feel that values are important and rank values from least to most importances. Idealists believe that the purpose of school is to promote spiritual and intellectual, with the overarching goal of each student achieving Ultimate Truth. Much of the idealist curricula includes eternal ideas and include studying great works from the past.

Realism:
Realists hold matter as primary, meaning that things are more important the ideas. Realism stresses physical things and our experience with them. As opposed to Idealists emphasis on God, Realists believe everything is governed by scientific laws. Knowledge is based on perception, rational thinking and sensing. Realists believe that the purpose of school is to teach intellectual and moral virtues in order for students to grasp the concept of the causes of things. A Realists curriculum stresses teaching the basics such as mathematics, science, language, literature and history. Teachers are supposed to model observation, reasoning and experimentations for the students who they view as having the capacity to understand the world of things.

Pragmatism:
Pragmatists believe that truth is not a predetermined answer, but instead can be determined through experiences. Using scientific inquiry, testing and questioning, knowledge can be obtained but no conclusions are ever determined as the one truth. Pragmatists desire morally good consequences and use testing methods as experience to build their values. It is said that Pragmatists view school as demonstrating a democratic society. They build curricula that integrates multiple subjects. Typical instructional methods include learning by doing, problem solving and experimenting with hands-on activities. The student is seen as a active being who is interacting with their environment while the teacher is viewed as a model for the students, showing reflective thinking.

Existentialism:
Existentialist believe that existence, choice and responsibility are of the most importance. Existentialists believe there is no purpose of our existence and because of this belief, we must create our own meaning. It is our own choice to develop our own reality. School's purpose, determined by Existentialists, is to teach students to be responsible and to instill the idea of self-discovery and freedom of choice. Curricula emphasizes the individual learner in a student centered curriculum with the ultimate goal of reaching personal truth.


Reflection:

Overall, I do not think there is one philosophy out of the four that I relate to more than the others. There are parts of Pragmatism and Realism that I relate to more often than the others. I like the idea that the Pragmatists believe that nothing is an absolute truth, instead it is what we make of it from our experiences and testings. The pragmatists believe teacher demonstrates but the student is really in charge of their own learning. I like the Realists idea of teaching the basics, mathematics, science, language, literature and history, but I do not think those should be the only subjects. It is important to include the other subjects. I agree with the Pragmatics view of integrating multiple disciplines. The student being an active being interacting with his/her environment, the Pragmatists view, can be used along with the Realists ideas, the whole time achieving the Existentialist idea of personal truth. Based on values, I agree with the Pragmatism view of testing methods as experience to build their values by reaching desired morally good consequences. I think I must read through this article multiple times and do more research of each before I can fully choose one philosophy as best fit for me. If I had to choose one this minute, I guess I would choose Realism, based on it's ideas of physical matter and logical thinking.

The Story of School, episode #4

This episode was the least interesting for me. I think this was because I lived through the majority of the years this film covered. It was, however, fairly interesting to see why practices, such as standardized testing or choice in schools, came into effect. Those are things that have effected my educational experience and this video gave me some insight to why they began. It is also interesting to see the views of different presidents from Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush. Each had different views on education and believed education was important, but often for the wrong reasons. There was one part of the video that made me chuckle (okay, there were multiple parts of the video, i.e., clothing worn, hair styles, etc.). It was the part about channel 1 television and I laughed because when I was in high school, if you arrived early for school that t.v. show would be playing on most of the televisions in the school. We never watched it. What a silly idea. Last note, I wish they had made a episode #5 which predicted the future of "The Story of School."

Teach With Your Heart, pg. 177-227

These six chapters are fill with so many different experiences and a lot of change compared to the previous chapters. Starting with her students graduation followed by college careers, Mrs. G decides the Freedom Writers should attend one last trip together. They plan a trip to Europe to see Auschwitz, Anne Frank's attic and Sarajevo where Zlata was from. The 50 Freedom Writers who attended this trip were captivated by every thing they encountered on the trip and the Freedom Writer family become closer than ever. Once they were back in California, the "Diary of Freedom Writers", the book they had put together, was published and Maria, Henry, Sonia and Mrs. G began a whirlwind trip of book signing tours. While in Washington, D.C., Mrs. G was approached by a congress men who thought she should run for congress. After a few months and some persuading, Erin agreed to run. With the help of her Freedom Writers and her campaign manager, Erin put up a good fight but in the end she did not win.
So much changed in the lives of all the characters in this book within these chapters. The students graduated and began college. Mrs. G began teaching at California State University, teahcing future teachers. It's interesting; their trip to Europe brought them so close along with their book publication, but when Mrs. G began to run to for congress they started to be pulled apart. Her campaign pushed the Freedom Writers out, when all they wanted to do was help Mrs. G. It will be interesting to see what happens in the following chapters and how their story really 'ends'.

Teach With Your Heart, pg. 141-176

Abstract:

Beginning with the separation with her husband, this session of the book has Erin questioning her confidence outside of the classroom. She wonders why her determination in the classroom does not show in other aspects of her life. Erin realized that by writing in her diary she found more strength. She hoped that by having her students write their own stories in journal that they too would find more strength. After John Tu donated 35 computers to her class and after signing an honor code, Mrs. G's class began writing their "Freedom Writers" book ( a spin-off of Freedom Riders). As the class began to write and share their stories they decided they wanted to share their book with more people. Since the Freedom Riders started their adventure in Washington, D.C., it was suggested that they plan a trip to D.C. to share their story with the Secretary of Education. To raise money to send 180 people, including students and chaperons across the country seemed to be an impossible feat at first, but her students were filled with such determination that raised a bunch of money. John Tu was so impressed by that students' determination that he said he would provide whatever money they could not raise. So there they were on their way to Washington, D.C., where they visited the Holocaust museum, monuments, and hosted a dinner for the Secretary of Education. Wherever the students went, they went together almost like a big family. When they returned to California, word got out of the Freedom Writers trip. Nancy Wride, a journalist for the L.A. Times asked to write an article sharing their story. Once finished, the article Nancy wrote was on the front page of the L.A. Times that Sunday morning. So many people, including strangers we so moved by their story that the began sending donations. Among the people whom the article had grabbed the attention of, was Primetime Live, a news channel featuring Connie Chung. She personally wanted to tell their story to the whole country. This simple news story turned into a bigger ordeal than they thought it would be, as they were pushed further and further past their comfort zone. Finally, they were finished filming and had to wait for the spring to see the story air. Within this time, Mrs. G is promised by Dr. Cohn, who accompanied the students to D.C., that she will be able to teach her students their senior year.

Reflection:
Once again, it seems like the good luck this teaching has will never run out. Surprisingly, with the divorce from her husband, Erin threw herself even more into to teaching, which I did not think was even possible. She knew her students had a story to tell and she was willing to do anything to provide these students with the most opportunity. She knew she was not alone in her thinking which gave her the couraged to asked for help again and again. When I first read about the idea her students had to go to D.C. I thought it was impossible, but it was amazing how many people showered their support for those students. My favorite part of this section is Mrs. G's interaction with Henry after he had missed several classes and finally turned in his self-evaluation with an F on it. She freaked out at him, saying that it was a big 'f*** you' to her. She said if he really meant it and could say it to her face, then she would fail him. Since he obviously could not she did not fail him, which was he point all along. This interaction showed how deeply she felt for her student and this session showed exactly how far she would go for them.

The Story of School, Episode 1

Abstract:

This episode dealt with the time period from 1770-1890, from the Declaration of Independence to the turn of the century. Since we were a new country, a new government was just starting to be created therefore, schools were not yet controlled by the government. Schools were only located in big cities, or in smaller towns whose townspeople pooled their money to create a school. Since the country was no longer under British control, all British text books were destroyed and new books, such as the Primer and the Blue Backs Speller we created. Thomas Jefferson lead a strong push for education. His ideas were that the country needed to educate its people for the survival of democracy. He proposed a guarantee of 3 years of school for every people but it was denied. in the 1830's, Horris Mann was the next person to support public education. He observed many school houses around the colonies, and he found most were insufficient to house student learning. Mann gained respect for the Common School by publishing his findings and suggesting a free school system. 1840 began the great school debate over religion. The Protestant religion was the religion taught in schools. There were, for example, many Catholic Irish families, who believed that if there children went to school they would be forced to change their religious beliefs. They eventually decided to create their own Catholic schools. In the time period after the civil war, numerous African Americans pursued education. Their schools were segregated from white schools and were insufficiently funded. In 1896, a separate but equal law was put into place, legalizing segregation. In the west, with all the expansion, all the new towns needed teachers. Women were the first choice because they were paid less and therefore were cheaper. Katherine Beacher, sister of Harriet Beacher Stowe, founded a college to train women teachers. This push for education created a new ethic were teachers cared for their students.

Summary:

I felt like a lot was packed into this episode. Ranging over 120 years, so much happened and so much changed in order to establish a need for education within this new country. With the help from Thomas Jefferson, Horris Mann, and Katherine Beacher, the idea off a worthy and free educational system became a reality. It is easy to see where prejudices later in the 1900's were created, since the educational system the country first created was segregated from the start, excluding women and minority races (African and Native Americans). I also think it is interesting how they chose teachers. In the beginning it was often times a man who was not about to do other work within a town, so they made him the teacher. Later on, they began making women teachers because they did not have to pay them as much as they would have to pay a man. Although it was done for the wrong reasons, I think by making women be teachers, it added a caring and mother aspect to schooling that helped create the idea of teachers actually caring for their students.

Teach With Your Heart, pgs 104-140

Abstract:
These few chapters were filled with chance happenings that effected the life of Mrs. Gruwells students. Beginning with a conversation about Darrius's 'war zone' and a sympathetic connection he and Maria make, Mrs. G decides her students need to read about teenagers who had gone through similar circumstances as we they were. Mrs. G bought books with her own money again. She bought four books: Anne Frank's The Diary of Anne Frank, Elie Wiesel's Night, Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Sarajevo, and The Wave by Todd Strasser. Mrs. G hosted a 'Toast for Change,' where her students emotionally gave their individual toasts to personal change. After reading The Diary of Anne Frank, her students were very engaged and wanted to meet Miep Gies, the woman who hid Anne's family during the Nazi Regime. As the students start to read the books, they all seem to be intrigued, especially Maria and Tommy. Maria sees herself within Anne Frank's diary, while Tommy sees himself in a world like Zlata's. After the class meets Miep, Tommy suggests inviting Zlata to meet them. By pulling a few strings, lots of effort and with lots of help from community members, Mrs. G's students along with their families, enjoyed a wonderfully elegant evening with Zlata and her family. A few weeks after their dinner, the students receive a letter from Zlata saying how many memories she will cherish from that night, and how they were all hero's in her eyes. In the last chapter, Mrs. G is told she may stick with her seniors for one more year, but should not expect to be with them their senior year.

Reflection:

I had a few different feelings about these chapters. On one hand, I found myself getting choked up as some of the events unfolded. For example, when all the parents and family accompanied their children to the dinner or when Zlata called the students her hero's. I thought there were a lot of meaningful breakthroughs with in Mrs. G's classroom that effected her students lives. On the other hand, I often found myself thinking "Is this all for real? How are they getting so lucky?" Not I am not saying they didn't deserve it because they definitely did, it's just that everything seemed a little too coincidental. I kept thinking that it all seemed a little too much like a fairy tail.
I'm interested in seeing what happens next. Problems with her marriage? Junior year with her students should be interesting. In the back of my mind I have this feeling that everything might fall through soon, as it does at some point in everyones lives and even in fairy tails.

PBS Episode 3, Equality

The third part of the PBS series called School is discusses the years 1950-1980. This time period began the strive for everyone to go to college; everyone who was white that is. Schools were still segregated at this time, and "separate but equal" was not working out anymore. African American schools were much less funded than white schools. Segregation affected African Americans, Mexicans, and women of all races. In 1950, the Supreme Court case Brown vs the Board of Education was won, and segregation was no longer sanctioned by the government. This was met by much anger; white students didn't want to have African Americans in there schools, and African American students didn't want to go to white schools, they just wanted equal opportunities and rights. Brown vs Board of Education was not very well followed through, but in 1964, implemented by Lyndon Johnson, the Civil Rights Act said that non-integrated schools would not get federal funding. This made things happen. Following many other acts, such as Bilingual Education Act and Title IX, equality was becoming more visible in life, instead of just an idea. Although futures were brightened for many of the minority groups at this time, not everything was equal. There was still tension between races, and there still is today.

Teach With Your Heart, pgs 62-103

Abstract:

With her student teaching coming to an end, Erin felt emotional about letting her students who she'd become so close to go. After meeting Steven Spielburg and transforming her students lives in so many ways, it was an emotional and heart wrenching good bye for them all. The following year, Mrs. G was introduced to her new class of all freshman, who she described as 'even worse' than her previous class. She knew it would be just as difficult if not more to reach these students. With Sharaud and Manny's (previous students) help, she engaged her freshmen with lessons that related to their life, for instance talking about Snoop Dogg or relating Romeo and Juliet to Gangs. By linking parallels in her curriculum to the lives of her students, she was able to reach her students much better. Although her students were somewhat engaged, she realized that there wasn't a close bond as there had been last year with her students. Mrs. G decided to plan a field trip for her students to meet some individuals who had come from great hardships, like they were involved in, to become successful adults. She thought that introducing them to positive roll models would be a good idea. After the field trip, her students wrote in their journals about all the surprising things they realized on the field trip, like how these people really cared about them. Towards the end of the school year, Mr Beard, the head counselor, ask Erin if she would be interested in teaching sophomores the next year, including some all of her current students if they wanted. Erin was very excited but wasn't sure if her students would want her again. The next day she sent around a sign up sheet for the students who wanted her as their teacher the following year. Every one signed it.

Reflection:

As a read further and further into this book, I am more amazed with every page by the hardships her students went through, by the hardships Erin went through and by all of it together. These chapters were very emotional. First Erin must say goodbye to the students she's become so close to and who care about her so much. Then, she gets a group of freshmen who are even worse then her previous students. I found it interesting how Mrs. G didn't try to use the exact same material with her new students. She used the same teaching strategies, but different topics. For example she used Gangs in Romeo and Juliet instead of the Holocaust. She realized that these students were different in their own ways. To reach them she would have to try new stuff, especially since she was under such restrictions from the English Department, and alienating herself again this year may be too risky. Although her class did not bond so tightly through out the year as she had hoped, they still began to acknowledge each others hardships. I can't wait to read on about the following year!

The Story of School, episode #2

I found this video very interesting and revealing. Throughout all my educational experience in history classes I have never learned about the educational system (from the beginning) in much depth. It is interesting to see what has changed, and what sadly is still the same in some ways. Start in 1900, the video covered the transformation from 'toe the line' schooling to student centered schooling. Gary's 'work-study-play' method of education seemed very beneficial. With the combination of the three, student's were able to learn actively with hands on activities, instead of the usual sit in at a desk for 4-5 hours a day. This plan also introduced health and hygene practices into schooling. For example, swimming pools were more like baths for many students. As they incorporated the Gary Plan into New York City schools, many immigrant families disliked the plan because of the 'work' part. They thought it was just a way for the schools to train their children how to work in mills the rest of their lives. Due to protests they went back to the old manner of schooling, although at this point, 1920's, they had at least split the classes by ages.

A big topic that was talked about during the video was the IQ tests. The testers were 'idealists' looking for 'future leaders'. The IQ tests were highly subjective; if you were not from typical American household you would not do as well on the test. They were very culturally bias. I think a lot of educational processes today are still like that. Different cultures value and believe in different things; kids are brought up differently depending on their family background. Today we still expect every student to learn one way, which cators to the middle white class, and this is not right. Using standardized testing today is the same as it was back then: culturally bias! Expecting everyone to show their knowledge using multiple choice questions is basically ridiculus. We have come so far in the advances in our education system. We need to keep pushing though to make sure everyone gets an equal opportunity to learn.

Teach With Your Heart, pg. 36-61

Abstract:

This chapter starts with a controversial articles about students from a neighboring high school who laughed while watching "Schindler's List." Mrs. G was astonished by this happening and decided to discuss it with her students, since they had talked about the Holocaust in detail. Mrs. G decided to take to students to see the movie in her town of Newport Beach; the complete opposite of the neighborhood her students were from. During the movie and at dinner afterwards, her students were discriminated against. 'Their kind' was not welcome them and it was obvious. Tipped off by the manager of the theater, a reporter interviewed Mrs. G's class about their experience in Newport Beach. Each student describe the discrimination they encountered that evening. The newspaper article caused a huge ruckus in Mrs. G's community. She received many threats from many racists in the community. She was also contacted by her former professor Ron from UCI. Having heard about the situation at hand, he invited her class to the college for a tolerance conference at which Thomas Keneally, the author of Shindler's Ark, who'd be giving a talk. He arranged a meeting with Keneally and Mrs. G's class. During the meeting, the students were very intrigued. The asked many question, then Keneally asked them many questions. Hearing their stories of discriminations and acts of racism they had encountered, he suggested that Erin contact Steven Spielberg with the stories of her students. Erin was speechless when Spielberg's assistant contacted her. She wrote a letter about her students, which Spielberg loved. At this time, he invited her to meet with him at his office. After their meeting, Spielberg requested to meet Mrs. G's students. She didn't know how she would be allowed to take another field trip but she knew she must do it for her students.


Reflection:

Holy cow! That situation escalated quickly. Although the chapter doesn't actually reveal the amount of time the elapsed through all of this, it was still a lot to handle. Mrs. G only wanted to give her students the opportunity to see Shindler's List. She didn't expect it to turn into a big ordeal.
I especially liked the part in this chapter were she talked about writing the letter to Steven Spielberg. She discussed the techniques she used to get her students past writers block. And then there she was, stuck in her own case of it. The idea she did come up with, describing her students as Crayola Crayons was a good idea. I liked it because although the majority of her students were black, they each had different experiences, different views and values, different lives that made them all extremely different. Therefore, saying that they were each a different color packed into one box was a very accurate metaphor for their classroom.

Talking About Their Generations and Harnessing the Power of Millennials

Abstract:

The article Talking About Their Generations discusses the era's in which different generations were brought up in and how it affected their morals and life styles, especially those who became future teachers. Strauss, the author, generally talked about the recent for generations, Silent, Boom, Generation X and Millennial generations. The Silent and Boom generations grew up during the Depression and WWII, attending school during a time of strong community and civic confidence. Boomer's parents saw public school as institutions of purpose and meaning. The Gen-X children were raised in a time where the needs of children were put last, and therefore, parents were not very protective of their children. They were expected to learn alone under weak standards. Because of their upbringing, Gen-X parents are more protective of their children and family and are more likely to question the public school system. The Millennial generation were parented by either Boomer's, who trust the educational system, or Gen-Xer's, who expect direct access to the system to provide the best education possible for their children, leading Millennials to be the center of attention.
After describing attribute of each generation the article went on to describe what each of these generations contribute to the teaching profession. Boomer's make up the older teacher corps, reflecting strong commitment to education and their personal values. Gen-Xer's are dedicated to lifelong learning and adaptability. With Millennials entering the teaching profession, it is important that administrators encourage respect for each others generations.
The second article, Harnessing the Power of Millennials, discusses the misconceptions of the Millennial generations, showing that they are more confident and successful then they are given credit for.


Reflection:
Talking About Their Generations helped me learn a lot about my own generation and others; things I'd never known or thought of before. As aspiring teachers, soon to be entering school systems with current teachers from all different generations, we need to be fully aware of the values and morals of teachers and parents may hold. The article really stressed the idea that specific generations were brought up under certain circumstances that molded who they are and their beliefs. We all are the way we are because of our generation and our parents generation molded together. We must be aware of our fellow teachers principles. We must also understand the generation of the students we teach, in order to fully teach to their needs.
The Harnessing the Power of Millennials was beneficial in some ways, but also bugged me in a few ways. Being in the Millennials generation, I was kind of irritated at how many generalizations were made about our generations (and other generations in the previous article for that matter). Not every one from a certain generation is brought up exactly to same or holds the same values. Therefore, as teachers, we must acknowledge generational similarities but not teach to them and only them.

The Culture/ Learning Style Connection: Educating for Diversity, Class Summarization

Abstract:

The article The Culture/ Learning Style Connection: Educating for Diversity focuses on the relationship between culture and learning styles. This is a very controversial topic as most discussions about culture and diversity tend to be. The idea that all students learn differently is made even more complicated by throwing in the idea that an individual’s culture have an effect on their learning styles as well. A persons’ culture can influence the way they are taught by parents and their preferred method of learning, amongst other things. Therefore, the article says that ideas have been raised about educating teachers on cultural diversity. The idea that truly knowing a student, including their background and culture, makes is really important that teachers use multiple teaching strategies. The issue here is that there is a thin line between people connected by cultural characteristics and stereotyping a specific culture. As teachers, we must see every student as an individual. Teaching students about culture and diversity is important and can occur inside and outside the classroom. Although the article does generalize learning styles for some cultures, it is made clear that not every student of a certain culture will support those learning styles. As the debate continues, the important thing to remember is that all children learn differently, whether due to their culture or just individuality. As teachers, from all different backgrounds and cultures, we much accommodate for all those different styles and provide opportunities for all learners.

Reflection:

After reading everyone’s reflections on this article, it is clear that while some people agreed with everything Guild said, others were disgusted by his broad assumptions and generalizations, creating a wide range of discussion about the article. A lot of us said that it is obvious that all students have different learning styles, and this article shouldn’t have to tell us that. There is one huge commonality between everyone in the class: Every student is an individual with specific learning styles. Even members of the same culture will have as many differences in learning styles as they do commonalties. As teachers, if we truly understand learning styles and believe that every student can learn, then we offer every student the opportunity to learn.

TWYH 1-35

Summary:

Teach With Your Heart begins with Erin Gruwell’s first day as a student teacher at Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California. When her first class of juniors enters her classroom, she realizes that maybe her father was right; maybe she should have become a lawyer instead of deciding to become a teacher. Her students are a mixture of races and backgrounds. None of them are there to learn and none of them care about her. After her first day, she realizes she’s going to have to try a little harder to reach these students. She begins relating things to their life; football, music, etc. When she finally get some students on her side she decides to take them to a Holocaust museum, since they’ve never heard of the Holocaust, the students begin to realize that this new teacher is willing to do more for them than any other teacher had ever been before. She had them hooked at this point.

Reflection:

Being fairly familiar with the story so far, I really like this story. From the beginning it’s very inspiring. Seeing a teacher, straight from college, thrown into the classroom with a real tough class and seeing her work very hard to gain the respect from all her students. She starts relating to all her students by discussing topics that are meaningful to them. By bringing them on a field trip to the Holocaust museum, the students really started believing that Ms. G was willing to help them. Also by purchasing books for them out of her own money made them feel really good about themselves. That she cared so much about their education, made them actually care as well.

The Culture/Learning Style Connection: Educating for Diversity

Abstract:

The debate about the relationship between culture and learning styles is a very controversial topic. The idea that all students learn differently is made even more complicated by throwing in the idea that individual’s cultures have an effect on their learning styles as well. Therefore, many ideas have been raised about educating teachers on cultural diversity. The issue here is that there is a thin line between using people connected by cultural characteristics and stereotyping a specific culture. There are many ways in which is it obvious that culture and learning styles are connected, but that doesn’t mean every one from a certain culture will show the exact same learning styles. As the debate continues, the important thing to remember is that all children learn differently, whether due to culture or just individually and as teachers we much accommodate for all those different styles.

Reflection:

The most important part of this debate to me is that all students are being taught in a way that best fits their learning style. I do believe that culture can influence ones learning style. The article brought up the idea of educating teaches on particular cultural values and expectations. Although the information could be useful in some cases, it would allow stereotypes, even unnoticed ones, to enter the classroom.
The point I liked the most in the article was about our tendency toward instructional pendulum swings, meaning one day it’s this technique for everyone, then the next it’s another, then back again. With a full understanding of culture and learning styles it is easy to see that this contradicts the ideas that we are also trying to make successful. If a technique works for some students, that doesn’t mean apply it to all students. The best way to accommodate for different learning styles is to get to know every student personally. I believe if you get to know them well enough the cultural characteristic on learning styles will appear on their own.