Class 7 Readings

Class 7 Readings

1.       “The notion that just about any Joe Blow can walk in off the street and take over a classroom is gaining ground. It makes me nervous……The right teacher proof curriculum is not sufficient; children need real teachers, and real teachers must be trained.” (pg 104-Susan Ohanian-Anthology)

I agree with this quote because I to feel as if education is going in that direction. The program Teaching for America is an example of how education, especially in cities, is using untrained teachers. Granted these teachers have undergraduate degrees, they are not specifically trained enough in the field of education.  If the United States is going to fix their problem in the school systems, the politicians need to stop coming up with new ideas and fix the actual problems at hand by using the people who know the schooling the most: Teachers, parents, and students. These three groups of people know the education the best, and instead of avoiding their ideas, politicians need to listen and incorporate the knowledge they bring to the table. Teachers are teachers for a reason, to help and impact the children that are learning from them. The only way public education can improve is if schools and government trust the trained teachers. Why is it teachers get stepped all over when they are the ones who have the most impact on the students?

2.       “When I wasn’t inventing projects, I was taking courses: cardboard carpentry, architectural awareness, science process, Cuisenaire rods, Chinese art, test construction and evaluation, curriculum development, and so on.” (pg 105, Susan Ohanian, Anthology)

This is a prime example of how hard a teacher has to work in order to improve all the areas of teaching. This quote shows how dedicated some teachers can be to provide the best education for their students, but the key word in the sentence is some. Not all teachers are this dedicated, but the ones who are can have a very good response from their students because it shows the students the teacher actually cares. I feel as if in your first couple years this is the type of dedication every teacher should strive for. Granted this example may be a little over the top, it still demonstrates the passion that teachers need to have for their students. If a teacher is not passionate about his/her job and students, they will hate their jobs and students will not give them the respect and cooperation they need from them to be successful.  I think it is very important as a teacher to be involved in as much professional development programs and clubs to advance your classroom learning environment.

3.       “All I could manage at first was to teach as I had been taught. But as I learned more about the students and about ways to get around the assigned curriculum, a more ideal classroom began to emerge in my head.”(pg 108, Susan Ohanian, Anthology)

I feel that this is a normal occurrence as student teachers graduate from college and receive their first job in education. Future educators go through so many classes about how to be a better teacher and I feel as if our professors want to mold us into a certain type of teacher. But the truth is you do not become better teachers until you have the experience out in the field and you interact with the students. Yes, everyone learns a lot of necessary information through their college professor regarding education, but future teachers do not gain the most knowledge until they are put out into the classroom setting. I think it is funny how teachers actually have to work around the curriculum to get the most success out of their students. From what I keep reading, hearing, and observing I feel as if teachers would be better off making their own curriculum for each class. I really feel that the teachers of the class are the only people that know what is right for their classroom and how their students will react to the material. Just some food for thought.

4.       “In the last two years, 50,000 kids attended summer school in Chicago in the name of standards. Tens of thousands were held back a grade.”(pg 185, William Ayers, anthology)

This statistic surprises me, but doesn’t surprise me considering the road our education system is going down. When I read that 50,000 kids have attended summer school in the state of Chicago in the last two years it makes me think that are public school systems are failing in big cities. Even though Chicago is the only city mentioned in this book that has a clear statistic, I guarantee other big cities such as Los Angeles, New York, Houston, and Miami have a similar statistic. The key phrase in this quote that really stuck out at me was “in the name of standards.” If a clear statistic like this is out in the open, then why hasn’t anything changed in education dealing with the standards? This quote attacks standard based teaching and learning and how this type education is not benefiting the students. So why are public schools so intent on using it? 50,000 students in one city, how does this type of statistic not affect the curriculum? This proves that the achievement gap between minorities and whites is not making baby step, but in fact taking steps backwards.

5.       “If city schools are to be retooled, streamlined, and made workable, and city schools are to become palaces of learning for all children, then we must fight for a comprehensive program of change.”(pg 185, William Ayers, Anthology)

Again another quote that makes city schools the main target for improvement. These students are lucky enough to have a free education, but are the kids benefiting at all? From reading this quote, I don’t think these students are receiving beneficial education. From the living and family situations that these students may be coming I think school needs to be the place they escape to in order to get away from their personal turmoil. But instead, it is a struggle to even get these students to attend school and even stay enrolled in the school. I believe it is the teacher’s jobs to keep the students motivated and wanting to learn the material in school, but from reading this quote it seems to me teachers are giving up on certain students and only caring about the ones who are gifted.  From the reading I just don’t see the fight by certain educators to make a change in the public schools, but I believe if anything is going to change for the positive it has to come from the educators and students, no one else.

6.       “I began to realize that when I gave students multiple ways to express learning or gave them a say in how they could show what they knew, more students were engaged.”(pg 188, Carol Ann Tomlinson, Anthology)

This is an example of great teaching because he is giving students different ways to show him the answer. As a teacher you have to remember that all students learn differently and respond to questions in many ways. If a student is not a good writer than it is your job as a teacher to adapt to that child’s learning by allowing that student to answer the questions orally. This is a perfect example of keeping a student engaged because you keep their self-esteem high because he/she has given you the right answer, but not on strict terms. This will motivate the students to stay involved in the class because now they know they do not have perform assignments or come up with answers one way and one way only. As a teacher, it is important to remember that student engagement is one of the most valuable factors in having a great learning environment. If you do not have student engagement in the class it becomes teacher centered and this will lose whatever engagement you have left.