Seminar 12/1

During this seminar we watched our very own I-movies. They were very professionally done and conveyed a very good meaning to our futures in education. I enjoyed everything including the music, acting, and variety of topics.

The I-movie idea was good. It helped us work together as members of a group and it enabled us to think more creatively. I really enjoyed making our own as well as watching other groups debut theirs.

The book selection was good and I really enjoyed filming our edition of Last Child in the Woods, but it sounded like there were a few books that were not as interesting. Too bad some groups didn't enjoy their books.

The quality of each groups I-movies were great too. The combination of music, acting, and cinematography made for a great night of movie watching. All we needed was some popcorn.

One more post...

Seminar 11/17: Chalk

Wow, what a great way to tell us how not to be a teacher :) At first I thought a couple of the teachers were alright, especially the energetic history teacher. That is until he explained he was only competing for the Teacher of the Year Award. I was shocked when he pulled a couple of his students aside after class and told them to act dumb. I also disliked the gym teacher with the attitude. It was very rude of her to tell her colleague that she could use some exercise. I don't know what to think about the uptight history teacher. His teaching methods were extremely dry and he had no authority over the class. All in all, these seem to be extreme cases of dysfunctional teachers, but I'm looking forward to seeing the last half next Monday!

Seminar 11/10

I thought hearing parents' opinions was very beneficial. First, I was glad that this did not turn out to be a panel of parents telling future teachers (us) how to treat their children. To me, it was informal and they provided good examples which implemented suggestions about the do's and dont's of teaching, with respect to their children. It was extremely powerful to listen to two of the parents with children who are exceptional. I think it is this style of parents who are the most competent in relation to effective teaching. They also understand the importance of the connection between the teacher, student's parents, and the student.

With all do respect, I wasn't impressed with Mr. Belay. His attitude toward teachers and education appeared very negative to me. I can think of an example when he said he stopped going to P/T conferences because they were a "colossal waste of my time." I agree that numerous charts and graphs don't say much, but it still seems important to me to attend the conferences. Also, his profession doesn't seem very realistic with respect to normal education. As a lawyer, I can assume that his family is financially competent. I would liked to have seen a parent who struggled (or struggles) financially, and hear their side of the story.

Overall, I understand that parents have a very important role in their childeren's education; however, with no reference to any of these three parents, it is important that all parents at times should realize that teachers are not to be held accountable for everything [exs: a faulty curriculum, lame education pacts (NCLB)]. I agree with an important comment brought up at seminar prior to this one stated by Mr. Roush. He told us that in order to be a good educator you must work as a team with your students, and the students' parents. This is an important basis for effective educators.

Last Child In the Woods

I enjoy this book. It discusses some great advantages for environmental-based education. Richard Louv's main point is to reconnect children with nature. According to Louv, nature plays an important role in a child's educational experience. I agree that our connection with nature is slowly diminishing and it is important to reincorporate nature into education. The outside activity our class did yesterday reminded me of how beautiful nature really is. Also, Louv mentions a third frontier with a shift from "biophilia" to "videophilia." This is true; however it is important that we focus more on the nature aspect. It is horrible to learn how constricting we are on children's experiences with nature and that we now go to the biggest extreme of GPS trackers. Overall, the book covers a very important issue of children's reconnection with nature and how we can take little steps to bring into our education system.

Seminar 11/3

I found seminar tonight very helpful. It's very reassuring to know that there are current teachers who were as nervous in their first weeks of teaching as I feel to be a teacher. Almost stating the obvious, I found it helpful to get to know other colleagues and students well. While the panel of three teachers tonight seem to get stressed out at certain points, it also sounds like they have a lot of fun with their students. This is why I am very much looking forward to having a class of my own.

Election 2008

Well I would first like to say that this semester is really moving by fast! Fall Break is already over and I'm already counting down the days to Thanksgiving! Anyway, I'd like to make a brief post about the election and what I understand from both candidates point of view. I'm not one to publicly announlce who I'm voting for, and I'm not, but I do agree more the educational position of Barack Obama. From what I have read, he will make several changes to No Child Left Behind Act; the most important change directed students of all types. I've noticed that the bar for NCLB gets higher year after year and I feel change needs to be made to include learners of all backgrounds and learning types. Also, he claims to reward those teachers who demonstrate success in their academic subjects as well as those who are able to effectively teach their students. Barack Obama also plans to help new teachers gain knowledge by pairing them with teachers who have greater experience. Their would also be an incentive to these teachers. These are just a few points but I feel our best option to move American education forward is with Barack Obama.

Debate 10/6/08

There were many points, both good and bad, brought up in the debate at seminar this week. My position was a parent of a student who is low achieving. As a non-supporter of this plan, I feel that it will inhibit the learning of my student. As our group mentioned at seminar, grade inflation is one of our main concerns. With this, even if our low achieving students are improving in test scores they will not be looked at highly by colleges and therefore may not even get accepted into a college of their choice. Another problem I have with this plan is the two-year probation proposal for low-functioning schools. If you plan to hire a completely new administrative staff and faculty, how do you determine that the newly hired teachers will be any better than the previous ones? In connection with Woolfolk in Chapter 3, our students could be permanently harmed if you decide to hire a completely new staff. I also believe that holding our students back a grade if they do not meet the "standard" is invalid. Do you not think that acknowledging to the students themselves that they are "not smart enough" would make them feel stupid? There have been some cases when students who have worked with higher achieving students were better prepared later in their education. Can you look me in the eye and tell me that you are 100% sure that this plan will be successful? If you can't, I suggest not implementing it.