End of the semester

Wow its already the end of the semester! Cannot believe this is the end already. Usually I think the Spring semester seems to drag on and on. This semester not the case before I knew it April was upon us. I think this class has taught me a lot about the field of education. There was so much information to cover with such a broad topic. What I really enjoyed the most was through observations, and reading what my classmates thought about the topics we had to post on. It was really interesting to read what others thought as well. Listening to your peers gives students a more reflective thought on their own response. Also I found it much easier to agree or disagree with someone in this class than others because we were not in a classroom. I think students say more information when they are not in front of a group of people.Out in the field the teacher I was observing gave me many opportunities to have full access to the classroom. Which was nice because I was allowed to teach lessons and help the students when necessary. I am very grateful for that.

When it came down to the final exam for this class I was at first a bit nervous. What helped a lot was breaking down the assignement each week and getting the chance to work on it. This helped for this last week especially with many last minute assignements. I believe the phone conversastion with the professor was nice because it made the class feel more connected than just through the interent. Many professors would never take that kind of time to do that.

I liked the textbooks in this class in particular for the lit circles. They were both easy reads so that in it self was a time savor, but they were interesting as well. Made me think about what was going on out in the field as well as what I was supposed to be learning. I am sure there is much
more to cover, but I cannot think of everything. Thanks for a great learning environment and a great semester!Have a good summer everyone!


http://www.salemstate.edu/

Building a house

I decided to compare education to building a house. When you first build a house there are plans that are drawn out to guide the contractors along. With education the plans are also set. There is elementary, middle, and high school. All in which has to be completed before students move on to bigger and greater accomplishments. Next comes the foundation. Elementary school sets the foundation for all students. Everything that students learn in grades K-5 are the building blocks to the rest of your career. The foundation on a house keeps the house steady so the house does not move or topple over. Elementary school teachers teach students their foundation for the rest of their lives.
Middle school is like the roof. The roof in a house keeps water or other weather from seeping in. Middle school can make and or break students like a roof. When there is a leaky roof problems then arise within the house. In middle school when problems happen then there usually more problems arise as well. Windows and other intimate details within the house is like high school. All the material learned in high school is covering all the other important material learned in the lower grades. In education all you see is the details not the hard work from past grades that lead you up to that point. When contractors build a house all you see is the finish work not what the house looks like without the walls painted and the furniture enclosed within. Education is special but all people see is the end result not the process students had to go through until the end. Also like a house education never ends there is always new information to be learned, and there is always the upkeep of a house so it does not fall.

The Conscious Classroom

Even though I have blogged on Social Justice before here is a example on how social justice can impact one city and the community involved.

How would you feel if you were a high school student who attended a run down school? Learning environments are meant to be up to date for students to feel good about where they attend school. In Chicago's West Side there is a high school by the name of Little Village Lawndale High School (LVLHS). Students have to travel a distance to get to school. Parents and teachers rallied together to get a new school built closer to other students. The rally consisted of a nineteen day hunger strike in order to get this project completed. They were successful after sicx years of fighting and the school was opened in 2005.

After the school was build parents had a new cry for help. " The parents kept saying they really wanted our school to teach the values of peace and struggle, says Rito Martinez, the principal of Social Justice High School at LVLHS, and what the community had to do to fight for the school. One of four small schools housed on the campus, Martinez's social justice school was specifically created to foster basic skills and literacy--as well as critical inquiry--through projects and problems centered on race, gender and economic equity. " The principal wants his students to understand this concept because 98% of the students are from low income families. Students like to express their feelings on how advertisements influence kids today. After Congress passed The No Child Left Behind Act schools across the nation are now linking education, social justice, and activism within the classroom. Students deserve to learn in the most comfortable environment with no restrictions. Social justice is important to the field of education.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080225/doster

Charter Schools

Charter Schools are independent public schools that are supported by state funds but do not follow public school regulations. Charter schools first developed in 1990's. Come to think of it that is not that long ago. Charter schools are ran differently than public schools. What I enjoy about Charter schools is how the run throughout the year. From what I was told from my stepmother who attended a Charter school was students go all year round. That may sound scary to us as students but hear me out, every nine weeks the students gets two weeks off. For Christmas they get a month off, and yes they do get some what of a summer break they get 8 weeks off. Students do not forget that much over summer vacation because the summer is shorter. What interested me in Charter schools was I would not mind getting a two week vacation every nine weeks or so. That is not a bad deal. Holidays I was not sure depends on the individual school I am sure. What I also liked about Charter schools was parents are allowed to get more involved in their child's education. Teachers also have more of a say on what happens and goes on within the school. Teachers always know best when it comes to their students so they should have more of a say on what goes on. Charter schools also reach out to those students who may get lost in the public school setting as well. Charter schools may not be for every child but for many they may just save their education.

http://www.ppionline.org/upload_graphics/ppi_charterschools_fig4.gif

Marie Montessori

Marie Montessori is a woman who should be recognized in the field of education. Not only was she the first woman to graduate from medical school in Italy, but she realized that children who were being categorized as "feebleminded" had potential to learn. Marie's main philosophy was to find different approaches to teaching so that all children can learn. Marie created schools across the world that we call Montessori schools. Her main goal was to give children the freedom in a specially prepared environment for mostly preschool and elementary grade children. I agree with Marie's philosophy because all children should get the opportunity to attend any school that best fits the child. Showing any type of encouragement to students all are willing to learn. By giving children some freedom their ability to learn will expand. The set up the classroom is also important. Marie sets up her schools by having a central room in each class with smaller rooms off to the side. This gives students the choice on where they want to do their work, either in a large group or in smaller ones. Marie was a very smart woman who went against the odds to make changes not only in her life but in the life of children that others would have never given the time or day for. Marie's phiosophies are still being used to day, and with a little bit of research there are more Montessori schools near your home town that you may have not even realized.

www.webster.edu/~woolflm/montessori2.html

Social Justice

If you look up the definition of Social Justice this is what you get from dictionary.com the distribution of advantages and disadvantages within a society. If you take that definition and apply it to a classroom there should be either no or very few disadvantages found in that classroom. Herbert Kohl discusses in the article Teaching for Social Justice that if one is in the teaching profession be at a school where you can express your ideas. If a school system gives a teacher limited freedom to express herself or himself in a classroom then that school system is not for you. No teacher enjoys teaching out of a textbook. That is boring and tedious. Teachers have to teach towards the curriculum but the curriculum should not consume a teacher to explore new ways of engage students. I liked how the author said not to get wrapped into social justice when you are just trying to figure out teaching in general. A good teacher who cares about all students needs to have confidence in what they are teaching before they can move onto other issues like Social Justice. Teachers need to be an activists for not only the students but for the community to want to improve as well. In his final suggestion he wants teachers to enjoy life and not get so wrapped up in there job. This happens to a lot of people in a lot of professions, people need to enjoy their own life if they want to help make other people lives better.
http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/15_02/Just152.shtml

Making Inclusion the Norm

Inclusion is the your typical classroom that all children are expected to attend when they enter school.For some children like those with special needs inclusion may not be the answer. Mainstreaming is an option but as the article states it did not work the hopes were for that children with disabilities to succeed on their own in a typical classroom. Mainstreaming basically says, "We won't change the regular classroom, the curriculum, the teaching, or pay much attention to the social environment, but if you can succeed here, you are allowed to stay." That theological thinking will not work for those kids who need that extra push, or attention help be successful. The whole point of special education,inclusion, and resource rooms are to be available to the students to use them. In my past experiences with all three of these types of room many times the kids went to either two of the rooms for a short period of the day or in a rare occurrence all three rooms have been seen by a particular student. Inclusion should be used when appropriate. I am all for including all types of students in activities but if a student is not going to gain anything from that room setting then you are only hurting the child forcing them to stay. Same works for a student who does not need to be in a resource room setting if they need only to be reminded to keep focus. I always believe to try putting students in an inclusion type setting but if no improvement can be made and the student is only hurting himself or herself then there has to be a better solution to the problem.

http://www.education-world.com/a_issues/chat/chat206.shtml

College tuition

Recently all Salem State college employees and students got an email regarding the budget cut of 2.2 million dollars. How does that effect us? Most likely that means higher tuition. With the costs of textbooks, gas, and other living expenses this just add to the stress for both parents and students. Not just SSC is feeling the pitch, colleges such as BC, Yale, and other prestigious schools are also having a hard time with students wanting to go their due to tuition being to high. What people do not understand is when our economy starts to fail and job loses are spiking up everywhere college is either not an option or they chose state schools. Now if state schools jack up there tuition are college accepting rates going to go down? With everything that is going on in this country as well as others people may have to stop attending school in order to help out their families. Right now in my house my mother and I are the only ones working. I work two jobs as is while going to school full time. My stepfather and brother are most recently laid off. Now if this continues will I have to sacrifice my education in order to keep the home we all live in? I know it is not SSC fault but the government needs to realize they are going to affect a lot of students with this increase.

Freedom of Speech

My hot topic for this weeks post was on a students right to free speech. While googling some hot topics for this week there were a few I read that struck me off course.This particular article caught my attention, seeing that I myself like to talk.
Back in 2007 the U.S Supreme Court had to make the decision on a students right to free speech with the case Morse vs. Frederick. This case had to with a high school student Frederick holding up a sign at an off campus event that read "Bong hits 4 Jesus". The principal Morse saw the sign took it away from Frederick and then suspended him from school for ten days. Frederick disagreed with Morse's reaction and sued the school for freedom of speech.
After reading this I agreed with both the student and the principal in this case. For one thing the student was dumb for holding up a sign that clearly had to do with promoting drugs at a school event. Even if the event was not held at school grounds it was still a school function. Kind of like prom, if you show up intoxicated then you will have to leave and consequences will follow. So Frederick should have been suspended for some time regarding the situation. I do not agree with the ten days could have been less. As with the students freedom of speech, he was not being violated for saying whats on his mind it is what he said that got him into the situation. If his sign said Save the Whales or something to do with gay marriages and he got that reaction from the principal I would have been on his side. As for the principal he or she was only abiding by the rules of the school. I think students sometimes forget that even if it is a school event that is not held at the school the same rules follow even if you were there.Kids need to be reminded of these things.

http://education-portal.com/articles/US_Supreme_Court_Rules%3A_Schools_can_Limit_a_Student%27s_Right_to_Freedom_of_Speech.html

Economy affecting teachers?

The world we live in today is turning out be a very scary place to be living in. When have we ever heard the word economy this many times in our life time?Not many until most recently everyone is talking about it. Jobs are being lost left and right. Did we ever think that teachers would escape from this mess? I hope not recently in Portland, Maine Mark Eastman who is superintendent of Oxford Hills School District, recently learned he needed to cut $500,000 from his budget. That means that no one in that school system is safe. Several special education teachers, literacy teachers, and custodians would be be out of a job. The citizens in Portland would not allow that to happen.The principal at the Rowe elementary school raised $70,000 to help save those jobs. Many of the fellow teachers even had money taken right out of their paychecks to help save those jobs. In light of all that's going on people will help others especially in this tight economy.

No one wants to see their neighbors or co-workers lose their jobs and if communities like Portland start loosing teachers what is going to happen those students who had those teachers?It would mean over crowding in other classrooms where teachers may or may not be able to handle more than 25 kids. Towns and city's are sticking together in order to save a lot of jobs. This situation in Portland is a great example just how even teachers and those unions are not safe anymore.

This particular article caught my attention because I know with the world we are living in there are a lot of people getting laid off but i have not heard of teachers getting laid off. This struck me as a wonderful community coming together as best as they could to help not just the teachers but the students who have those teachers as well. After reading this article and just makes you question even if you have a union job or are part of a union your jobs not safe and that is scary.
http://www.nbc6.net/money/18689814/detail.html
http://mathforum.org/midpow/POW/girl.teacher.gif