I had another class to sykpe with at 6 and just finished up at 9:15. Not the best way to spend a Saturday night, but I am really happy that I have been able to participate more frequently and for longer periods of time because I feel like I am getting to know my cohort a bit better (and 6-9 pm is a little better than 3-6 am, don't ya think?!). Sometimes I feel uber awkward because it's not always easy to jump into the conversation and it seems like when I speak I get a lot of blank stares. Because my colleagues are basically seeing me on the professor's laptop, I can really only "face" a few people at once. I would really appreciate some nods or smiles or something (even once in awhile) because when they just look at me, I feel really dumb. Maybe I am too self conscious. I always try to nod and smile a lot at teachers and guest speakers so they know I like what they are saying or at least that I am awake and interested.
We talked a lot about No Child Left Behind tonight since the theme of the class is politics and policy. We didn't delve too much into the proposed changes, but I am looking forward to that. One thing I brought up that part of the law indicates we should be teaching with research based curriculum, yet those prescribed curricula don't reflect the diversity that exists in our classrooms. Many of the students who make up the lower end of the achievement gap are students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Research on multicultural education indicates that students do better when they can relate to what they are learning and when new information fits into the context of their schema and what they already know, yet the prescribed curricula that we often have to teach with do not do that. There is no way that the curriculum writers can create a prescribed curriculum that will meet the needs and connect to the background knowledge of every student. It simply cannot be a match for everyone. If we are required to be dubbed as "highly qualified" teachers, then shouldn't we be trusted to know what to teach our students that will motivate them and reflect their cultural understandings and learning styles? The people who wrote the reading program I used to use didn't know my students, but I did. Couldn't I have done a better job selecting stories to read that would reflect people who looked like them, talked like them, or had similar experiences to them and their families? I always felt like my creativity and knowledge about teaching was stifled by using a scripted reading program and I wish I could have taught my students based more on my experience of knowing them as learners and knowing what they liked and needed.
I would not want to be in charge of making education policy, yet I do think that the voices of teachers need to be heard so that policy can better support what is actually going on in classrooms...
Well enough serious chit chat for the day! Mr. Sneaker is out enjoying the local brewery with his friend, so I am debating if I should hit the gym or just relax. As you can tell from my description of class, we did not end up going to the social gather involving parents and students from school. We were not in agreement over the issue, but ultimately he conceded (I won!) and we decided not to go. I am all in favor of attending sporting events and dance recitals and getting to know students outside of school/showing interest in their lives. This gathering (poker night) is just not the same to me!
What would you change about NCLB?
What would you like to see the Obama Administration do for education?
Is it weird to go to the gym at 10:00 on a Saturday night?
7 comments:
Sounds like you are taking some great classes. I think one of the things I would like to change is less assessments. I feel at times, all I am doing is testing my students, when I could be teaching.
I love reading your blog to get insight. I come from 3 generations of along with my aunt and sister in law. But I however am not a teacher...and appreciate reading stuff like this to help fill me in a bit.
Skype is so cool.
wowzers! You didn't mention previously that it was Poker Night- In that case I change my vote to not going. I thought it was more like a dinner gathering (which is much more appropriate and often families at international schools are just trying to make you feel welcome because they know you are alone without family there).
I think it's so neat that you're able to skype and still be apart of the class. So cool!!
I agree about the curriculum aspect. It is frustrating that we are required to be highly qualified and then given prescriptive programs to follow. I also am tired from all the testing! I do see the value in assessing students but I think the high stakes factor needs to change!! The pressure these poor kiddos go through for a stupid test is ridiculous!!
I'm not sure what I would change about NCLB, but I know it does need to be changed!
I once taught from a very scripted reading curriculum and it was almost the death of me. Curriculum writers forget that teaching is not an exact science with a magic formula that will teach every child. Teaching is an art, and every teacher, an artist!
It's been a whole since I left you some blog love! That sounds like an amazing day! I went for a bike ride in the park with my boyfriend and tossed around a frisbee! It was a beautiful day! 85 degress and sunny! Hope you are enjoying the good weather!
I think it's fine to go to the gym at 10 on a Saturday night, I just wouldn't have the energy :) I used to go to yoga on Friday nights when Eric had football games and I didn't have other plans :)
I agree with you about the research based curriculum. My school has FOUGHT to keep our own reading program (aka we make it up). We are all highly qualified teachers and our kids do well on tests and in general, so why change what we are doing? I'm sure eventually we will have to give in but until then I like mixing programs that are good for my students and like you said, picking books they will be interested in.
Personally I would like to see the Obama Administration give more money for things like lowering class size rather than for annoying intervention specialists in charge of taking us out of our classroom to teach us more about DIBELS and RTI- I get it, I promise. I would also like to see an attempt to educate parents, particularly in lower class communities about how to best support their child in school. Sometimes I feel like when the achievement gap is discussed it is assumed that teachers in low achieving schools are not as smart or working as hard, when meanwhile they just have a lot more obstacles to overcome- we need to address these obstacles!
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