March 14... Inquiry-to-Action Groups (requires posting twice)
Post #1: Share something
interesting/disturbing/etc. that your inquiry to this point has uncovered. What
are some new questions that have arisen as a result of this discovery?
Post #2: Respond/react to a classmates first
post.
Our group has chosen a book that is very deep and philosophical, which is great for building a foundation of the theories of Restorative Justice. Our challenge, however, has been taking the very abstract ideas in the book and demonstrating how they can also be put into practical applications in schools/classrooms. Similar to our class text, Teaching Towards Freedom, our chosen book for the book review, contains more "big ideas" than practical knowledge, so our group has been creatively translating the text to fit real-world applications and examples. -Kristin Walton
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with Kristin! This book is based on a philosophical approach to understanding the roots of justice as we know it in society and the possibility of changing the paradigm of justice in our time. This book does reflect the "spirit" of Teaching Toward Freedom, in that it focuses on the humanity aspect. The challenge is to take what we read and apply it in practical ways that can affect both societal, educational and personal change. A very thought-provoking read!` Rhonda
DeleteKristin,
ReplyDeleteWhat a challenge! I think this happens so often in the field of education. In my experience, I have read books with really great ideas and philosophies, but there is a disconnect with teaching practice. By the same token, the "practical" books I read when learning to be an elementary school teacher sometimes seemed to be written with the attitude, "this is how you teach...this is the best way for everyone. Follow this set of rules."
I love your statement that your group has been "creatively translating the text to fit real-world applications." I think that is awesome! In reading that, I thought to myself, maybe that is how we should all be learning to teach or counsel...by reading about different ideas and philosophies and then transforming those into practice for ourselves and our students. Best of luck to your group! I am looking forward to hearing more about Restorative Justice!
-Bernadette
In working on our Voices and Verses project, one of our goals has been to develop lessons to help empower students to express themselves and their own uniqueness through writing and verbal expression, even hip-hop music and lyrics. In doing this, we have been reading, Hip Hop Genius: Remixing High School Education by Sam Seidel. While reading the introduction to the book, I was stopped in my tracks by this: In speaking of using hip-hop music and culture in the classroom, the author writes, "We agreed that most of what we had done was too literal and too literary....While we had experienced and witnessed successes doing such work, we recognized its limitations: it often kept teachers in the position of authority--a peculiar position when studying something of which students often have more knowledge than their instructors...and it often kept students in the position of consumers rather than creators of cultural products" (p. 3-4).
ReplyDeleteSo now, I am left to ask this: How do we facilitate students becoming creators of their own cultural products? How do we capitalize on their knowledge of themselves and their world as they see it? Do we need to be careful not to be too "lesson" focused? How do we learn from them, while still teaching them? Lots of thoughts and ideas running through my head....
-Bernadette
Bernadette-
DeleteI love the idea of your project and I am actually a little jealous that you all get to be involved in such a fun and creative project. I do not think enough creativity is involved in the school system now and lessons are too SOL focused. I think more creativity should be added and incorporated into the lessons.
All of your questions are great questions. Not all of them I think have answers though. Or they have several answers and not one right answer. I think allowing students to have say in their assignments and course work allow them some creativity in their own assignments. As teachers we continue to learn from our students every day while teaching them. All teachers should be open to learning new things from their students.
-Breck
Bernadette,
DeleteYour group project and book sound very fun and interesting. I think students would like this project because it gives them outlet to write about themselves and their perspectives. They would also feel appreciated, respected, and valued as this activity allows their voices to be heard and creativity to be seen. I strongly agree with Breck that creativity is much needed in today’s classrooms. I think it further engages students in learning as well as inspires more creativity.
I started my practicum this semester so at the beginning I closely and literally followed my school counseling session and lesson plans. I soon recognized I was too “lesson” focused because I wanted to reach the objectives of the lessons. The lessons were too structured and they limited students’ creative responses and self-discovery. These experiences had taught me to use the lessons for general guidance and make room for students’ creativity in the future.
Holly
Bernadette-
ReplyDeleteI completely respect your stance on how much is too much when it comes to scaffolding the creative process of your students. A person's creative "voice" is so much a personal thing, related to unique experiences and backgrounds, so it would be difficult to guide and teach through this process in the same way that we teach in classrooms. It's a different kind of challenge you have, for sure! I wonder if asking lots of good questions is the key? Truly finding out what the student is trying to express? Asking questions allows the child to focus and clarify his own thoughts and process.
I think you are asking yourself all of the right questions and you are choosing to be aware of some possible challenges. I always say the best teacher is not one who never makes mistakes, but is one who is constantly reflecting on how to be better. Your project sounds amazing and I can't wait to see how it all comes together!
-Kristin Walton
Alison and I have both finished the book for our group on parent teacher relationships. It was a very interesting book. I am glad we had the chance to read this book, I think all teachers should read this book to learn more about handling parent teacher relationships. One teacher, Molly Rose, included the students in all of her parent teacher meetings. The student leads the meeting with their parent and this makes sure the topic of the meeting stays on the student. I like this idea, but I would only do it maybe once or twice a year. I do not think the students should be involved in all the meetings. It might make things a little awkward if you have a specific student you have a problem with and the student is sitting right there. Molly Rose also mailed each student a letter before school started to get to know the student. I loved this idea. It makes the student feel welcomed before the school year.
ReplyDeleteOther teachers that were involved throughout the book would do some crazy things in parent teacher conferences. They would say some awful things to the parents that they thankfully learned from. They are now better at communicating with parents because they have learned from their mistakes. I think I have learned so much from this book that will make me a better communicator with parents than what I would have been before reading this book.
-Breck
Breck,
DeleteAs a future counselor, I think including a student in the conversation for anything to do with the school is extremely important. Who better to trust than the individual; I mean, that is the only reason that these people are meeting. Students should be granted a voice in meetings as well! Now, letting them lead it would be a little more complicated; they would first need proper training as to what they should discuss. Overall, I think it's a great idea!
- Nick
Breck, I also loved the part where Molly Rose mailed each student in her upcoming class at the end of summer. She told them about what she did, and even drew a picture of one of her activities! In addition, she attatched a blank sheet of paper for her students to do the same (with the help of their parents). I thought this was a great way to introduce herself, and get to know her students before even meeting them! I also liked how she believed that there should be more than two conferences a year, and focused a lot of her time on calling parents with positive news, and sending home a newsletter at the end of each week!
DeleteThe above post was from Stacy Anderson!
DeleteThe book we read for our project is an awesome book. I am so glad that we read this. All teachers can definitely benefit from reading this book. All of the teachers had interesting things to share as well as their own experiences of parent teacher conferences. One of the teachers, Molly Rose, will write a letter to the students before school starts telling them about her summer and different things that she did. She asks that they write her something back. I love this idea. A bilingual teacher, Maria Lopez, talked about how she tries to get the parents involved. She will make a huge spanish dinner and invite all the parents and children in while having gatherings about things that are important to their culture. This is a great way to meet the parents and get them involved since these parents would not come to parent teacher conferences. There are so many great ideas in this book that I can see myself using as a future teacher.
ReplyDelete- Alison Greci
I really liked the connections that the teachers tried to make with all of their parents. It was clear that they made a point to incorporate every students parents and develop relationships that will help in the classroom. The book had great ideas for us as teachers, and I think even more importantly, made me think. I knew about a lot of these topics but reading them in a story form and hearing about real experiences opened my mind up more to new ideas and allowed me to become more aware of parents in a school setting.
DeleteAlthough I am not pursuing a teaching career this book sounds really interesting from what you and Breck have written. I work with preschooler's now and knowing how to talk with their parents is such a task! I never know if I am saying saying too little because I am worried about saying to much. I think I will definitely check this book out!
DeleteThat post was from Anise Robinson :)
DeleteThis book does sound interesting. Anise, I have been teaching preschool for a little over five years now (three years as a teacher of preschoolers with disabilities) and have realized that the parents are as unique as the children! Some are easy and some are extremely challenging! No two parents of mine have been alike. Each family has different priorities in wanting to hear about their child's day (i.e., did they eat enough today?, what academics/curriculum are being taught?, etc.) and varying levels of engagement and input. Through all of these differences, however, I have found that the key to a healthy parent-teacher relationship thus far is making it clear to families that you genuinely love and care about their child...even the hard ones. This may sound like the beginnings of a Hallmark card, but it is what it is. For some of these families, your preschool classroom may be the first time their children are ever away from them. It can be hard for everyone. Learning to love each child (even though you may not always like them!) can go a long ways in building trust with parents and making it a lot easier to say hard things down the road. I'm still working on this!
Delete- Amanda Hayes
As Kristin mentioned our book "Beyond Vengeance, Beyond Duality" has a lot of big ideas that leaves us looking for practical applications. What I find interesting about this book is the influence of religion on the idea of oneness. While reading Ms. Clute's book the idea of religion was mentioned in several chapters. The book eluded to voices and higher powers. It was also interesting to me that Ms. Clute on briefly mentioned other religions, but seemed to latch on to Christianity the most. I think religion played a large role in her book, and I would have preferred more examples from education or research. Still a good philosophical read though.
ReplyDelete-Anise Robinson
I am almost done with our book The Essential Conversation and I must say I am very pleased with how the author is going about all of these topics. She has hit on very important views on race, social class and how the effects of a past education for parents can have a lasting impact. This is a greta book for our group because it really focus on things that we want to uncover ourselves. The author interviewed several different kinds of teachers from different parts of the country and tell their stories of experiences and different methods they use for parent teacher conferences. On of the teachers in the book makes it a point to meet with every single parent no matter their schedule or flexibility. She offers to come to the house, meet them in the park and do whatever it takes to see every single one and help them feel at home in the classroom. While reading this book, there are a lot of different examples of how parents feel in the classroom but there is a consistent view that parents have had bad experiences or just feel they are not welcome, it is not their place. The teachers throughout the book explain the obstacles and everything they have to do to make it clear that they are not only just welcome but encouraged to come and how they can make a difference in their child's education. The book also touches on social class and how it affects parent interaction. This book was great to read and definitely gave me ideas for what to ask our teachers for the interview in a professional way.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a great book also Courtney. It has really made me think about the ways in which I will ask parents to be involved in my classroom and more importantly, their child's education. There are so many great ideas in this book that I feel I have benefited from. I love the teacher who allows the student to be present in the conference with her, the child's parents, the school counselor, and psychologist by being on speaker phone because he was not comfortable being physically present at the meeting. All of these teachers are so accommodating and I hope that I can think of creative ways to help my parents feel involved and welcomed in my classroom.
Delete-Alison Greci
The book for our group, “Beyond Vengeance, Beyond Duality”, emphasizes on the idea of wholeness and interconnectedness in relation to justice. This approach is interesting as it talks about the well-being of a society depends on the well-being of its individuals. When these individuals are harm, the society as a whole also suffers because everything is interwoven. I like this idea because it sends a message that each individual is an essential part of a whole community or society. It promotes a sense of belonging as well as social responsibility. I think this can apply to school setting as well.
ReplyDeleteHolly
Hi Holly
DeleteI think this is a really great point that you brought out. We live in a very individualistic society, with everyone trying to get ahead and be the best. People need to realize that we count on everyone around us for a healthy and functioning society. We are, as you said, interwoven. Dictators of the past and present have forgotten this when trying to build societies on their own might and prowess. Controlling by fear and force, they forget that society's well-being depends on the people living in that society, not controlling it. You are right that this relates to schools, I think. Administration needs to think first about the welfare of students before making big decisions that affect everyone. That sounds like a really good book.
Hey Holly,
DeleteI like and agree with the idea of the well-being of a society depending of the well being on individuals. I feel that if more people took that into account they would be more willing to helping each other, and in a sense being "their bother's keeper", rather than just worry about themselves. We should all strive to build a community like this in our classroom. It will definitely teach the students lessons about community, team work, and reciprocity.
-Shiquana
Right now the Voices and Verses group is reading the book "Hip Hop Genius". We are in the process of creating lesson plans that now only teach the student the elements of poetry, but also give them their own voice and allows them to discuss and write about topics that are important to them. I am working own a lesson plan requires the students pull out the poetic elements in a current hip hop song. I was thinking "I'm Different" by 2 Chains. I will have to bleep out the profanity first of course.
ReplyDeleteThrough our lessons we want to children to feel free to express themselves. Becasue we don't have to worry about SOLs and testing, we have the freedom and the creativity to allow of students to be creative thinkers!
-Shiquana Barr
Shiquana, I like the way your group seems to be structuring your project. Maybe you'll want more than just the one song for them to analyze in case they know it well already and can quickly tease out the poetic elements you want them to look for. I didn't know anything about 2 Chainz, but after a little online research it seems like he's a great choice for your project because he isn't totally divorced from the mainstream rap scene (he's associated with Kanye, Ludacris, and Li'l Wayne) but doesn't just rap about meaningless topics. Another act you might consider as a back-up is Common because the students probably know him, and his lyrics are also heartfelt and creative.
DeleteShiquana,
DeleteI really like that yall are bringing music and english together! I think it is a fabulous way to really engage students who otherwise could careless about english and what more there really is to learn from it besides Romeo and Juliet and more of the classic lit in our mainstream schools now! I feel as if these students will come out having a better appreciation not only for poetry but also for the music they already listen to daily! Not to mention incorporating something they are actually interested in will pull them in immediately and will hopefully have them wanting to learn more! I cant wait to see yalls finished out come! Good Luck!
In our group we are reading a book by Jonathan Kozol called "Letters to a Young Teacher". He writes something really poignant about teaching in inner-city schools that I found really excellent, and applicable to those of us who wish to teach in a place like Richmond. He talks about how many people go into teaching in the inner-city with the understandable idea that it will be a struggle. He says that many of the teachers he talks to see it as approaching a "worthwhile sacrifice", something that will bring them difficulty rather than joy. Kozol counters these thoughts by saying that teaching in those conditions shouldn't be like that at all. He says that "Even in the most adverse conditions, the work of a good teacher ought to be an act of stalwart celebration." He says that teachers who teach out of their love for children will find reward in every moment of teaching, knowing that they are a positive impact on those students' lives.
ReplyDeleteKozol talks about making the most of our time with students. I think it is easy to get caught up in the negativity of dealing with school politics, bosses, principles, and testing that we can forget what we are doing there. No matter what we are up against, we can make a positive difference in the lives of our students.
I hope that fits into the category of "interesting." I sure appreciated reading it. I am looking forward to finishing the book.
This book sounds great, and definitely fits into the category of interesting (in my opinion anyway). I really like his positive reframing of working with inner-city schools. I look forward to hearing the presentation on this, and I might have to look into this as a summer read. -Tiffany Morris
Delete"Letters to a Young Teacher" was one of the books I read when I was in the process of deciding to go into teaching.His perspective on public schools in general gave me a lot to think about. I was raised in a private Christian school by parents who wanted to protect me from the dangers of Baltimore schools. While I appreciate the grounding of faith that it instilled in me, I do sometimes regret the sheltered education which left me largely naive of the struggles going on around me. As a parent I understand the desire to make sure your child is in a "good" school, whether that mean a school that encourages community with God or simply a high performing public school. As a teacher, it bothers me that not all students have these same opportunities. I hope that we can go into all sorts of teaching situations looking forward to the joy of working with our students.
DeleteLet me try this again... I attempted to post earlier and my computer freaked out. I apologize if it shows up twice some how.
ReplyDeleteOur group is reading a book by Sylvia Clute called "Beyond Vengeance, Beyond Duality: A Call for a Compassionate Revolution". One interesting topic we have run into is the idea that religion plays such a strong role in Oneness that Mrs. Clute discusses. We are completing our project on Restorative Justice, a program at Armstrong High School, that Mrs. Clute started. We expected the book to be more focused on education and teaching rather than religion. I was taken by surprise to read how much emphasis was placed on religion as a whole and specifically Christianity. I still feel the book will be helpful in assisting us in completely understanding the Restorative Justice program, however I wish more had been discussed on education and how oneness relates to that.
-Tiffany Morris
When I started reading The Challenge to Care in Schools, I figured that the problem was one faced by and troubling to all teachers. As Mr. Noddings explains, however, many teachers are resistant to change, however beneficial it might seem to most of us. He actually recommends matching students for multiple years with teachers with whom they are philosophically compatible, because some parents and students actually don't want a progressive teacher. They would prefer that the learning environment be one singularly focused on the transmission of information for learning's sake and the ability to pass tests or get good grades.
ReplyDeleteI think this is really interesting! I'm not surprised that there are parents and students out there that just want information fed to them, and want the teacher to leave out the relationship aspect of educating people. I think it would be great to be able to match students with teachers they are "philosophically compatible" to, but that seems like a lofty idea that would have a hard time making it through our current system of education. Although I'm not 100% sure of what goes on in the book your group is reading (I can make a fairly good guess based on the title), I wish that more teachers would see the importance as well as make the effort to care more deeply for their children--not just for their test scores or so they won't disrupt the teacher's classroom, but because they genuinely want to see these children loved and whole. Hope your project is going well!
DeleteAmanda Lee
Nick Zubieta
ReplyDeleteAs everyone has mentioned about our book “Beyond Vengeance, Beyond Duality” it explains that there are different forms of justice and their application to everyday life. An area that I find interesting and a little bit uncomfortable is that of religion and its application to the concept of oneness. This book has taught me so many different things about how religion is a huge influence on a healthy form of justice but I was not entirely confident that it can be used to fully describe the world in which we live in. Faith is something that influences the world we live in but should it influence forms of justice? I guess I would agree that I would have preferred more information based on education and research.
Our group is reading Shop Class as Soulcraft as we are designing and building the "Put Your Feelings to the Test" booth. I have not finished the book yet, but have been extremely interested in this guy's perspective. Essentially the author, Matthew Crawford, is discussing the experience of making things and the power of creating something with your hands. As someone who enjoys crafting and creating(cooking, quilting, playing music, paint by number....seriously, this is great if you haven’t tried it), I really appreciate what Crawford is explicating. There is something empowering about manual labor and the fruits that follow. Crawford spends a lot of time explaining that although many people feel this way, it is becoming less encouraged in our schools and that kids come out knowing how to take tests without really knowing how to do anything. So far I’ve been thinking a lot about my own school experience and considering what I’ve learned through the years (head knowledge versus manual skills and real experiences) and thinking how to provide a balance of the two in my own classroom. As a preschool teacher, we already do a lot of hands on activities to give children a chance to not just hear a story about something, but to actually see it, touch it, and experience it on many different levels. For example, instead of just giving my children head knowledge and illustrations about a pond, we also go on a nature walk and build one in our sensory table. This helps them to not only get their hands dirty, but to also understand all of the small pieces that make a pond complete. I'm trying to be more intentional about how to do this with more themes/lessons.
ReplyDelete- Amanda Hayes
In taking a lot of time to think and learn about the gap between ed-school idealism and classroom realism, it's started to occur to me that this process itself is a big part of becoming a teacher. It might even be a part of any profession, or at least any ethics-centered one: the wrestling match between your hopes and dreams and the inevitable limitations that will be put on them.
ReplyDeleteI'm beginning to think that, as is often the case, I (maybe we) are looking at this from the wrong angle. Perhaps the challenge is not necessarily to go up against this whole broken system and trying to change it or to struggle valiantly against it. Perhaps the challenge is to remain self-aware enough to adapt to the system, however dismal it may be, and to constantly turn lemons into lemonade without breaking stride. In fact, that may be the best possible behavior to model for our students. The system isn't fair, our bosses may suck and we may have to adhere to rules that are frankly absurd, but such is life in most professions. Successful people overcome these things, usually with a smile on their face, and we should model the behaviors that will teach our students how to be successful in anything.
So I'm wondering now which is more admirable: to write (and sell) books railing on the failings of public schools (fish in barrels, etc) or to enter the classroom one day at a time and to make the best of what you have to work with, even if you know it ought to be more, and forge ahead in relative anonymity and modest pay. Not that such books don't provide a valuable resource, and not that things don't need to be changed, but people have done much more with much less. Greater challenges produce greater people, so instead of seeing the limitations of public schools today as the reasons that we might not be the teachers we hope to be, I think maybe we should try to see it the other way around. The more I read, talk, and think about this, the more I think that blaming the system is simply a convenient excuse.
ok, end rant.
- nathaniel dominy
Nathaniel,
DeleteWhile I sometimes do find myself in a rant of why the system is so dysfunctional and why can’t people just get it, I also try to bring things back into perspective and think about what can I change right now; because in the end it doesn’t matter how much I complain, there are still children out there that are not getting their needs met and they are the ones that are suffering. I agree and think that perhaps there needs to be a balance between analyzing to determine what needs to be altered, but also to not stop working towards the greater good. I have worked with quite a few principals who have figured out how to work within the system, but still work around it in order to create a better learning environment for the students, acquire the needed resources for their schools, and empower their teachers to teach to the child and not the test. These are the principals that welcome alternative ideas and open their doors to the community because it does take a village to raise a child. And, the teachers in those schools flourish because they can be creative and innovative. I personally believe that “education reform” is not going to come from some big policy from the federal or even state level, but from a more grassroots, bottom up approach. It is going to come from these small pockets of excellence that continue to grow!
-Caren Putzu
I think the most challenging aspect of where I am in this process is to take very philosophical views and contemplate ways to apply them in a real-life setting. This book presents some compelling arguments for revaluating how we view justice. I think the most thought provoking aspect I have taken from my readings is the notion of zero tolerance as it applies to students. It always seemed too sterile for me and lacking compassion and at times, sound reason. It seemed to me to be a way to expedite discipline in a neat and tidy way....regardless of the impact it had on the student. Resorative justice seems to be a good fit for me given my values and personal disposition. Now, time to be an agent of change..........~ Rhonda
ReplyDeleteFor our group, we are reading “The Essential Conversation: What parents and teachers can learn from each other.” I love this book! I think it is so important to learn about parent-teacher relationships as a future educator. This is something that we do not focus on enough in our teacher program. For me, it is a scary thought to think about some of the parents/situations I will have to encounter as a teacher. This book gives insight to a lot of different teachers, their backgrounds, and how they have handled situations. They also provide a lot of useful information that we can take into our future classrooms. A lot of the book focuses on parent-teacher conferences, and simply how to interact with parents. I will not go into all the details about the book (you will have to wait for our presentation!) but I will point out another thing that I liked about it. One teacher had the opportunity to work in both a high income school and eventually moved to a charter school in Chicago. It was really interesting to read about the differences she encountered between the parents at both schools! It really got me thinking about where I want to teach. Is it best to teach in a school where the parents are well educated, wealthy and extremely involved (and you have great resources), or is it more meaningful to teach in a school where you can make more of a difference but may not have resources and support?!
ReplyDelete-Stacy Anderson
We just had our group meeting, and I am really excited about how this project is coming together. We have three basic concepts for poetry lesson plans, beginning with self-expression, moving to people that are important to the students, and finally to what changes the students would like to see in their communities and societies. Since we want their poetry to be performance based, as a part of researching for the lesson plans I have been reading a lot of hip hop lyrics online. I have been amazed at the depth of poetry that I have found. At the same time, it has been very difficult to find something that can be appropriately adapted for a middle school classroom! Nevertheless, it has been an educational process, which was part of the reason I chose this group. I can remember listening to mainstream hip hop music in the 80's, but if I paid attention to the lyrics at all they were usually pretty shallow. I didn't realize that hip hop is so imbued with commentary on society. In fact, perhaps I am glad that my first few searches for "positive rap song" didn't yield quite what I wanted, as I may not have spent so much time learning about this art form which so vividly describes societal struggles. While much of what I found had a very negative message, it at least helped to inspire me to be a tiny part of the change.
ReplyDelete--Melanie
Melanie I would love for you to come in and read some of these lyrics to the whole class lol. Seriously though I think a good song that may help you find some positive songs because trust and believe there are some positive rap song Nas I know I can. Paposses Flashback, Lupe Fiasco kick push or anything Jadakiss Why, Tupac Dear Mama just to name few songs and artist if you need more help finding some let me know I'll be more then glad to help.
DeleteAndrew Burton
My group and I have been reading the book, "The Essential Conversation: What Parent and Teachers can Learn from Each Other" I think this book is a great tool for teachers to read and be able to get a good insight into what we will soon be faced with...parent and teacher relationships and trying to figure out what an appropriate balance between the two may be for us. And I think this book gives a lot of insight to as how we should go about finding that balance for ourselves. This book give the insights on several teachers who have struggled with the exact same balancing act, I like how the info our author has put into her book gives insight or a variety of different types of teachers...ones who are teaching young, old, rich, poor, public and private. It allows us to see a little more prior to stepping into ring our first few years! It has definitely made me question how I would handle similar situations or how even where I would prefer teaching!
ReplyDeleteJackie, what an interesting book you guys have. I am a very direct person when it comes to information about my son. I like his teachers to get right to point. In addition, I also like for my voice to be heard when it comes to his education. Last year my relationship with his teacher was not as strong as I would have liked however this year I have made extra efforts to work with the teacher to have a much better working relationship. This is only Pre-K lol, I actually feel bad for his elementary teachers. With all that being said, does the book work in reverse and how to deal with teachers? Also does the book go into educator to educator meetings? In addition, I really like to hear more about the different type of teachers and where they are teaching.
DeleteJohn Portelle
Amanda and I have been reading two different books. The one I have been reading is called "Homeschooling in America: Capturing and Assessing the Movement". It provides a well-written comprehensive look at what homeschooling is, who does it, what happens and what is taught, and where researchers think it is heading. I learned a lot more about homeschooling from this than I originally knew. I had a narrow view of what homeschooling is based on what I have seen. It is actually more diverse and people choose to do it for a variety of reasons. It was also really interesting to read about the history of homeschooling and to discover that it was illegal in 30 states just three decades ago. Due to the growing popularity of homeschooling I think it is worth all educators time to look into. Even if it is just an overview of the movement.
ReplyDelete-Michelle Blowers
I must say that I have no idea what goes on when it comes too homeschooling. I guess as someone who as always wanted to be a physical education teacher I never considered homeschooling. If you home schooled physical education it would basically be a class on going to the gym. I did not know that it was illegal in 30 states. I do look forward to hearing you and Amanda's book review and I am also interested in hearing about your action inquire group.
DeleteMarshall Ramey
Right now are group the wellness fair has 2 dates planned for April to go to St Anthony. The first session will be an introduction session and the second session will be a wrap up session. We will be working with the 4th and 5th graders. We are still in the middle of planning but I expect by the end of the first week of April will have everything to go. The book we are reading "The Challenge to care in schools" for are group i feel wasn't the best book for are group for what were trying to do.
ReplyDeleteAndrew J. Burton
Share something interesting/disturbing/etc. that your inquiry to this point has uncovered. What are some new questions that have arisen as a result of this discovery?
ReplyDeleteMy group has been reading Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work. I find the dynamics of the book relates to what we learn in our education classes about inquiry-based learning or project-based learning and how they are very similar in overall concept in learning. The author Matthew Crawford writes about the pride of accomplishment in performing a whole task and the different aspects that the job consisted of. One example he used was how an electrician working on a construction site is one part of building a whole building. His work would be meaningless without all the other parts that go into building. This pride is also true in education and learning-centered classrooms. In certain ways this book is not just a defense for a return technology classroom in schools but in a certain way it gives weight to the notion of the importance of project-based learning in our classroom. Being part of a project as any inquiry of learning helps the learner become emotional involved, physically engaged and mentally challenged in discovery of question and finding answers to these inquiries. Those higher level thinking skills are not just for tech classes but learning overall.
John Portelle
Michelle and I have been reading two books on homeschooling, one with a more objective overview of homeschooling, and one that appeals to the audience of predominantly religious parents who the author advocates should all homeschool their children. I realized that homeschooling requires a deeper look than what I first thought. The book I am reading "When You Rise Up" by R.C. Sproul, Jr. discusses that there are education wars in our country--why? Because education is such an important aspect of our society. Everyone agrees that educating our children is important. The three major battlefields of education are: (1)who is called to do the teaching, (2) what should be taught, (curriculum) and (3) what the proper method is (Montessori, Classical, whole language or phonics, etc.) Although those questions are important, families should turn to homeschooling (argues Sproul) because of importance of the goal of education, which he argues, is to disciple your child, and build character in your child, which he believes is not done deeply within the public school. The book is considerably radical in it's appeal, however, it does provide interesting insight into more deeper themes of what education should be about that would interest us as public educators as well. Knowing that so many parents think it worth their time to instill their values into their children, you've got to think about what values, and how deeply, they matter in your approach to education.
ReplyDeleteAmanda Lee
It's not surprise that, for the most part, parents care about their kids. They care about what they believe, who they become, how they act, etc. The old adage, "train up a child in the way he should go so when he is old, he won't depart from it" from Proverbs 22 is a truth that all cultures agree with and believe. The difference is what people view as "the way he should go". I think people will always have strong opinions of how their kids should be educated. Maybe continuing to offer all these options is the only way to go.
DeleteOur group is reading the book The Challenge to Care in School by Nel Noddings. This is a great book that talks about the how caring for self can lead to caring for others in society. It is helpful with what we are trying to achieve in our inquire to action group. The idea is for us to get students to understand that that have to take care of themselves in a multitude of ways. Physically mentally emotionally and spiritually to name a few. Of course we are not focusing on all of these because we envision some parents having a hard time accepting and allowing us to teacher the children about any thing spiritual. The big difference between the book and our group is that it talks a lot more about caring for others and less about self. Might not be the best book but we will take what we can from it an incorporate it into our group. As far as the group is concerned we have our dates set, our location, and the group of students we will be working with. We have to hammer out a few finer details on exactly what each member will be responsible for but other then that we are headed in the right direction
ReplyDeleteMarshall Ramey
My group read Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work which was a very thought provoking book. The author argues that we (as a society and in education) have focused too much on “knowledge work” and have somehow devalued manual work, or the work of creating with your hands. Even though I would completely fall into the category of knowledge worker, I have always had a deep respect and admiration for those who can create with their hands. I grew up in a family of “blue collar workers”; my mom’s side of the family is filled with master craftsmen- from cabinet makers, to furniture makers, and contractors. On my dad’s side I have quite a few brick and stone masons, including my grandfather. The house I grew up in was built by my dad and two grandfathers, my paternal grandfather and great-uncle laid all of the brick work in and around the house, my maternal grandfather and cousin built all of the kitchen and bathroom cabinets, and my maternal grandfather built the bookshelves and corner hutch in the dining room. The author discusses the decline of shop class and “vocational ed” in our schools, and all I could think about is the incredible talent in my family and how they are a dying breed. And, since my research focus is school dropout prevention, I also thought about how we continue to try to force all of our students into this one mold and if they don’t fit, oh well. Perhaps if we placed value in vocational ed, and we talked about how you can have a wonderful career and life as a mechanic or other trades, and we gave our students options, we may see less of them feeling as though there is no place for them in school. Just as a side note, I had a previous neighbor who had a two-year degree in auto mechanics and was making three times what I was making with 2 master’s degrees! Who is the smart one now?!?
ReplyDeleteCaren Putzu
Our group, doing the interviews, has uncovered a lot of what we, as pre-service teachers, have already kind of supposed to be issues in the education system: SOL's aren't ideal, working with parents is tough, different cultures can be difficult for people to understand, etc. These aren't to be looked over, or brushed off as non issues by any means, but at the same time, it wasn't mind blowing. What I did learn that I really didn't expect, was that teachers aren't really encouraged to share their concerns. We've done a lot of interviews and people have talked about issues, but it wasn't until the cameras were off that the true emotions came out. In the interviews I saw that teachers didn't like the issues, but after I saw the fire in their eyes that said they were mad about it. How can me make these feelings less taboo so that we can talk about them and cause some change? This is the question that I will take away from this project.
ReplyDelete