Cindy’s Blog

As far as text books go, this was a good book to read.  The last chapter was appropriate in that it described teachers’ issues with their jobs.  Some teachers like their jobs and some do not.  I think life is to short not to like your job, especially one like teaching where we are models for our students. I have learned throughout this last year that teachers who start out may not make it even 3 years. I had no idea the attrition rate was so high, and for a job I love to get up in the morning and go to every day.  I will try to help the beginner teachers at my school to make their first, second, third year go smooth. Now that I am aware of the plight of the beginner teacher I will do what I can to help. I won’t be giving them bundles of cash, but they knew coming into the teaching field, we do not do this for a 6 figure pay check.  We teach because we are passonate about it.

 Whenever I read something about a teacher complaining about their job, I say, then do something about it or find something else to do. I would say that to any person not happy in their job. Sure it’s not easy but their are ways to improve situations. This past year is one example. We’ve all learned how to improve ourselves.  Again, life is to short.  Enjoy what you do.  Make yourself happy and the people around you. 

It was interesting to read in chapter six about the changes in school from teachers testing and even playing favoritism and helping those students they liked. Times have changed or have they?  It was interesting to read about the changes in report cards from using number or letter grades because some parents didn’t speak English to schools substituting phrases for grades like “exceeds expectations,” “satisfactory,” or “needs improvement.” Again, times have changed…..or have they.  Recently I spent time filling out report cards and put either, “E” for excellent, “S” for satisfactory, or “N” for needs improvement and it didn’t matter if the parents could speak English or not. Students also received conduct and behavior grades as mentioned in the chapter from the late 19^th century.  However report cards no doubt have changed over the years. The ten years I spent in kindergarten I saw 3 report card forms.  I remember the first couple years how the other kindergarten teachers complained about the report card and wanted it changed.  I told them, be careful what you wish for. Sure enough we got a new one and boy, did they complain about that one!  I believe if one complains one should do something about it.  One of the teachers did participate on the new report card committee, but her suggestions went unheard. At least she tried.

The area of testing that is amazing to read about is the IQ test of the nineteen and early twentieth century and even the standardized tests of today.  How biased and reeks of inequality. How could people not see this? Or did they not want to? Thank goodness times have changed…..or have they?

Personally I feel every assessment combined is the way to go for teachers (not college) to get the true assessment of their students.  Projects, true-false, fill in the blank, multiple choice and essay all work well in the elementary-high school class room.  To assess my students I use a balance to get the full picture of their ability.

In chapter 10 I thought this quote was important, “Learning from families and community members enhances teachers’ capacity to care (399) but care is not only about “knowing”; it requires doing as well.”  I totally agree. We can talk the talk but we have to also walk the walk…. The culture quilt is a good way to introduce oneself at the beginning of the school year and then each student follows and then utilize what is learned from those posters, throughout the year.  It may take some effort but that’s part of the caring part….walking the walk.

Maybe we can learn from the parents who are around to much or give them suggestions like being on the PTA and using their talents in that way (I’ve actually done that and it worked).   As a teacher, I do want to know about my student’s backgrounds but not if I’m reading their folder from the previous year and the teacher speaks negatively about him/her.  I’d rather make those conclusions myself. 

I especially like the way the authors spoke of Vivian Paley, who has recently become a favorite author of mine.  Paley has much to contribute to educators with her experience in the classroom and this time with her story about bringing families to her classroom to share family traditions.  What a great idea and similar to the culture quilt in learning about the diverse classrooms we have.

Once again, well said at the end of the chapter, people must come together to talk but talking isn’t enough. They must learn and “then they must act-as citizens” (415).

Wouldn’t it be great if we were all “Teaching to Change the World”? In chapter 9, it states that “if we want to achieve the goals of high levels of learning for all students, cultural changes are required” (374). I agree that schools must teach all students, not just the high students, or better dressed students. When teachers can look at all students as each one having a chance and having high expectations for each one, we will see results in scores everywhere.  The authors reference Deborah Meier’s work with small schools in New York City.  They say yes, small school could make a difference but that’s not enough. In her book, Meiers mentions a variety of suggestions for improving schools which they used with success.  

            I also like the way the authors said “it would be nice if we could think less about “falling behind” and more in terms of “still learning”(353).  I believe teachers are at times, too quick to say a child is behind when academically the child is developmentally where they should be and is “still learning”.  Therefore, we need to keep on, keeping on…teaching to that child and every child in our class.  And again, they say it well when they say, “We believe we can do it” (345).  I’m sorry to say that too many times I’ve heard teachers voice their opinion about a student in a negative way, “He/she is behind. He/she just can’t do it”.  We have to believe they can before we can begin to teach them.

Reading about Payne and Gorski reminds be again how we should read intelligently (and use what we’ve learned in class through disscussions and readings) and then use our common sense.  No, not everything we read is true.  How do we know?  With the wonderful internet these days, we can google just about everything.  Read up on it and decide for ourselves what we believe in.  We can also sift through the garbage, balance out what is good and use the good and put the lid on the garbage.  Whenever we attend a conference we pay to watch and listen. Sometimes we take good information back to school, sometimes we don’t.  It’s amazing Gorski speaks without compensation.  That’s passion and dedication for what he does.  In my net surfing, so far I have doubts about one and I’m still reading up on the other.  But I’m glad to have had the opportunity, the introduction to both and I’m looking forward to hearing Gorski.  I will listen and learn and use my common sense.  More to come…………….

How many times have we heard that?  Of course its meaning can entail a variety of subjects.  What I want it to refer to is really books!  The article “Evaluating Children’s Books for Bias” helps teachers look more deeply into the subject of the books they want to share with their class.  This article reminded me of a class we had last summer and some books we read and reviewed.  One inparticular was about Christopher Columbus.  I can see the cover in my mind but not the title. I need to get that.  It was written from the eyes of a little Indian child.  What an eye opener for me and a great angle to take on a book, particularly a historic book…to get the view from a child’s standpoint.  I hope to purchase that book before next school year and share it with my class. The article brings up points to ponder about stereotypes and leaving important information out of a book, which hadn’t occured to me. So many times we read books and simply take it as fact and not question it…..maybe we should.  Just because it’s written doesn’t necessarily make it true. So don’t just look at the cover, look throughout and use good sense when reading it.  As the article points out, check stories for its story line, roles of characters and authenticity.  I think also, most importantly, check it for the heroines/heroes.  Are they really as they are being represented?  So don’t tell a book by its cover!

Chapter 7 on classroom management covers numerous strategies, some not so good like demoralizing students to get them to behave while others I’ve tried and still use.  I agree putting up class rules before the kids even enter the classroom is not a good idea. I get to know my students during the first week of school and in doing so, we later put together what a good teacher is a good student looks like while at the same time making sense out of things we should and shouldn’t do. They feel a sense of community and belongingness through participation in such an activity and that is a great way to start the new year of school. The students should know what is expected with no surprises. I agree also that lessons should be interesting for students.  Behavior begins to wonder when lessons are boring.  Sitting in seats day after day with dittos is looking for trouble. Caring teachers create lessons the students will pay attention to, learn from and enjoy. Caring teachers try to say the right things too. Sometimes there is a fine line between joking in the classroom with students and maybe hurting some one’s feelings.  Teachers need to be mindful of this and watch and care what they say to their students and always remember, other students are watching. Don’t say or do something that you wouldn’t want said or done to you whether as a child in class or an adult.

I really do not care for anyone putting down my profession! For any reason. I do not appreciate Goodman saying in the future it will be “regarded as the pedagogy of the absurd”.  Maybe I am still naive about the profession but I care for it and the students I teach.  I believe much has changed over the years, and I’ve heard teachers talk about how the curriculum goes full circle and they laugh when we go to yet another staff development that include learning a “new approach”, or when yet another math or science or social studies adoption comes through and we have to use it in our classrooms. 

I believe as I always have that their is not just one type of child and their should not be just one way to teach students. Using one method or a new program with a class is not going to do it for every student. If principals would say, “Here we have a new way of teaching reading this year. But please assess your students and do what’s best for them. I trust you and your teaching skills.”  Wow. Did I say I was naive?  Really, a balance of everything should be used in order to teach every child, whether the curriculum is holistic, teacher directed, everything.  I actually thought I was doing the best for my students one year (and still do) when I had the desks in a circle, the students doing independent and group work, and not so much teacher directed instruction, when a parent said her child would work better if I taught more teacher directed with students working straight from my instruction at their seats and not so much independantly.  I feel like you just can please everyone, but try to reach each child with different methods. Phonics, whole language, new programs, like the book said, “Seek a balance”, something I’ve strived for and believe in with education and life!

I also believe people whether teachers, principals, parents, or government will always find something to complain about. Sometimes it’s other professions, sometimes it’s education.  If people are going to complain about it, they should add recommendations to fix it.  Don’t complain unless you have suggestions for a cure.  I did not see that in the article.

One question I do have after reading this one: Why is it K-12 receives only 8 percent spent from federal funding?

Response to Chapter 3

Chapter 3 in Teaching to Change the World covered a lot of ground.  I find the history of schools very interesting and how we got to this point. There was a similarity thread running through, however. Schools today still want to teach an “education consistent with values for self-improvement” as Benjamin Franklin did in the 1800s.  I wonder though if our history would have been changed at all if back then they taught not just to the “elites” as Franklin promoted.  As today, we teach all children, no matter their background and each has the opportunity to use that knowledge to aspire to greatness if so desired.  But had all children of the 1800’s been given the same opportunity, would things have been different?  Why couldn’t they have been given the same choice? In high schools today the students are asked if they want a college course “road map” or are they going to technical school and courses are suggested accordingly. That’s fine but again, we should not assume what students want but give them choices. To bad students of yesteryear didn’t have that same choice.

“Only the elites have the mental capacity”? That’s ridiculous! Only they could handle the “rigorous perennialist curriculum”? And further on page 86, “only they would occupy the social roles that require such knowledge”?  Schools have changed for the better as far as that goes! Everyone should be given the same chances.

How much have we seen change over the years, even with ten or less years of teaching?  “The set curriculum was abandoned…..Arithmetic was approached inductively, through objects rather than rules, while geography began with a series of trips over the local countryside. …The emphasis throughout was on observing, describing, and understanding, ….”   Sounds like a staff development meeting.

This quote from 1873 could have easily been from 2000. Further, “science took the form of nature study, including field trips to Lake Michigan, where the students observed, wrote descriptions, and made drawings of what they saw” (p.87)  We do that today!

And did I hear this in class or read it in the text?….. “Part of the group played grocery store and sold fruit and sugar for the jelly making. Some were clerks, some delivery boys, others, mothers…” (p. 87)

As least some of the theme running throughout is in the best interest of the students; learning by creating real life scenarios.

Fast forward to the 70’s and multicultural and sociocultural perspectives, is a quote I found interesting on page 95, “Interestingly, critical multicultural reformers maintain that the hallmarks of the traditional curriculum-absolute certainties and universal truths as mined from the depths of white, Western culture- are weak and limiting guidelines for deciding what and how students will learn in the twenty-first century.”  Further, multiculturalists came up with guidelines for developing teaching principals: “curricula that are useful, intellectually rigorous, culturally cohesive, and accessible to all”…. something to strive for and keep: high expectations for all whether it’s from a constructivist teaching philosophy or standards based or better yet, how about just a good balance of them all?

Blog Adresses for ECE8200

Jon      http://jonschoening.edublogs.org/

Katy     http://koubs1.edublogs.org/

Diana  http://dbabb.edublogs.org/

Charlotte   http://ctyson1.edublogs.org/

Teresa     http://thinton.edublogs.org/

Christy   http://christycasey.edublogs.org/

Cindy   http://cinny29.edublogs.org/

Jen Pomfret  http://jen5729.edublogs.org/

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Corey  http://coreyrieke.edublogs.org/

Michelle http://woomichellem.edublogs.org

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Camden  http://camden007.edublogs.org/

Jen Park http://park.edublogs.org/

Carla http://ctbernard.edublogs.org/

Sandy http://sweethonesty.edublogs.org/

Molly http://mhammer.edublogs.org/

Melanie http://melaniepar.edublogs.org/

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