Students' Motivation

This has been an ongoing topic in the class but this past week we talked about it a little more in depth: what motivates students? Is it the fact that after they're finished with all their years of school, they'll have a piece of paper that will help get them a job? Or do they enjoy school for the shear joy of learning new information on something they're passionate about? Professor Glassman has asked us this question a few times throughout the semester: "Ok, who's here because they like school and enjoy learning? And who's here just so they can get a job?" It sounds like a ridiculous question but it has a point - I feel like there are very few people in school now that are enrolled because they're passionate about learning. This article talks about these questions: http://ideas.time.com/2013/09/10/school-isnt-just-about-getting-a-good-job/

Influential Education

In all of our lives, we all have had that one teacher who we will always remember as one of our favorite teachers. And when asked about why we like those teachers most of us would say that were nice or funny or even pretty, but behind all of that was a teacher who took the time to genuinely care about every single one of their students. For me it was Mrs. Hilliard my third grade teacher, she stole my heart and my passion for teaching people. I knew from then on that when I "grew up" I wanted to be a teacher just like her, the kind of teacher that she was, specifically. A loving, caring, and genuine teacher. 

Teachers influence children in so many ways, not just with what they teach them. Teachers are the wonderful people that besides our parents we spend most of our time with, making them very influential in a student’s life. Not only do they educate students based on school but they also help with providing students with career aspirations and what they want to do when they get older, some may even want to become teachers themselves. Along with this teachers help with parental guidance, considering students are with teachers more than most they help with being more guidance. They also provide students with more self-esteem along with an interest in academics and education. This article discusses how teachers can help a student in other ways than just teaching.

http://voices.yahoo.com/5-influences-teacher-children-371211.html

Race/Gender Stereotypes and Testing

I was recently reading my assigned chapter for my Intro to Psychology class, when I found something about testing that definitely shocked me. The book was explaining a term called the stereotype threat, which is the fear of confirming an observer's stereotype so much to the point that they actually perform the way the stereotype would predict. It gave the example of race on testing. When students were asked to fill out their race before taking a test, African American students performed very poorly, while when they were not asked to state their race, they actually performed better than European American students. The graphs in the book visually showed the drastic differences between the two types of tests given out. I also found a link of a study done by Stanford University that found the same results: http://news.stanford.edu/pr/95/950816Arc5120.html
To me, I think it is absolutely crazy that this affects testing results so much. It makes me wonder if maybe we should wait for students to fill out their personal information until the test is over, because it seems that that original reminder of stereotype can really mess with test results. But then as I think even harder about the subject, it frustrates me more and I wonder why we even need to fill out our gender/race on tests in the first place. For statistics? What will it prove? Won't it only further feed these detrimental results that stereotyping can have on tests?
I really do think that it would be smart just to get rid of this portion of testing for good. It is definitely not needed and it does not help out the students in any way. We should all be viewed as equals on tests and have a fair shot when going into it, especially when it comes to the great emphasis we place on testing.

Teachers' Impact

The movie we watched this week really showed me how a teacher can impact students' lives. I think it goes under the radar sometimes how influential teachers are on students lives. I found this article http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/11/opinion/bennett-good-teachers/ which talks about the impact of a teacher on students and the stats that go along with having a great teacher. It said, "second only to parents, teachers are the most important part of a child's education. Great teachers make a great difference; poor teachers hurt a child's life chances" (Bennett). This quote alone shows the truth about teachers' affects on students lives. After all kids are with their teachers probably just about as much time in a day as much as they are with their parents. This only means that teachers' have just as much of an impact because kids take in everything they see. The article also mentions that great teachers cause higher test scores, which is not an indicator of a good teacher, better jobs in the future, and an overall higher level of success in the future.

Stand by Me

The movie Stand By Me for me is all about the idea that education can influence you and make you a stronger, better person. The teacher in this movie is portrayed as a hero which is very different then how we portray teachers today. He saved some of the students and helped them do good on the test but also in their lives. To me that is what the movie is about, even if Mr. Glassman challenged our thoughts of what happened to these students after the test. The movie has significance to me because I feel like this is what kind of teacher I want to be even if I don't believe that stressing testing is the answer. The students are going to have a better life because a new found confidence has been installed inside of them. 

This article helps me see that even if teachers are only around for one year like in the movie, they can effect a student for a life time.http://www.welcomebooks.com/americanteacher/ 

Sending your kid to private school makes you a bad person

My article this week has an alarming title and an even more alarming background. "If you send your kid to private school, you are a bad person". This is what the entire article is about, someone really believes this statement. This really speaks out to me because I went to a private school from kindergarden to  eighth grade, why would that make me or my parents a "bad person". According to this article if you send your children to a private school you are ruining one of our nations most essential institutions. The authors idea is that if every parent sent their child to a public school, public schools would improve. When you think of it in that sense it really makes sense. Their are lots of parents that teach at public schools but send their children to private schools. The article claims that everyone should be invested in public schools. Its an interesting thought because its hard to imagine our schools if public schools were the only options. Would it help our public schools or would it make the gab between students even more dramatic. There are may questions I have when I read the first part of this article and even more when I continue to read. 

As you read on through the article more layers come into play. The author brings up the same idea that we have been talking about in class, not learning much while in school. The author talks about her experience during school and going to a public school. She is preaching that everyone should send their kids to a public school but then talks about getting drunk before football games and not learning anything, the exact opposite of what you would want your kids to do at school events. I am interested in why she thinks this is going to push her idea through to people and not turn them away. The entire idea of her article for me relates back to idea that has been coming back to our class and that is what is school about, why do you go to school, and what has our education system come down to. 

Are there cultural differences or certain ethnic groups that are at a disadvantage in school?

         In class on Monday, we watched the movie Stand and Deliver. The movie hit on many important aspects of challenging students and watching them be successful, however, it also triggered my thoughts on if cultural differences or certain ethnicities provide a disadvantage when it comes to getting an education. In the movie, the students who made up the classroom were almost entirely Mexican Americans. Although these students had a teacher who was also Mexican American and their fellow classmates were also Mexican American, many classrooms across the nation and world are very diverse when it comes to the teachers and students. This article I found athttp://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2082/Individual-Differences-ETHNICITY.html, highlights on the achievement gap that there is across ethnicities and how certain ethnicities are at a higher disadvantage. The article says that there are ethnic and cultural differences in grades, test scores, enrollment, graduation, and dropout rates. The article also states that, “the average scores of African-American and Hispanic students have remained significantly below those of non-Hispanic white students.” Why is this happening? What is it about cultural differences and different ethnicities that set certain people apart from others when it comes to getting an education? The article fails to address the issues of low socoioeconomic status contributing to this gap. I believe that even though theoretically or statistically we want to say that SES contributes substantially to the achievement gap, there are other contributors as to why those with cultural differences or certain ethnicities are performing lower than the average non-Hispanic white. The article explains that the achievement gap can be caused by things such as, “…impoverished home life and differences in values, expectations, languages, and communication patterns between teachers and students.” It is silly to think that just because someone may be a part of a certain ethnic group that they do not have the same abilities to succeed as someone else. So my question to you is how can we, as future educators, try to fix this gap? The article states that in the coming years, two-thirds of the public schools will consist of African American, Asian American, Hispanic, and Native American students. So as we all become teachers, we can take it upon ourselves to try and fix this achievement gap that has been created. Do we do this by challenging these students to succeed, or is it by making all of the students feel equal and that they all have equal opportunities? I feel that this issue is important to consider as I strive to become a teacher. 

School is for Fools

During a large sum of the class yesterday we discussed about whether students really learn the material while at school or if they just memorize it for the test and then completely forget about it right after it.  From my own experience, I think students learn, memorize, and forget the material. Throughout college I really don't think I've actually LEARNED anything.  Despite the fact that I haven't learned anything I still consider myself a kick ass student because of a good grade that I get after taking it.  It sucks when I really think about it though... so far I've wasted a lot of money and three years and have nothing I think to really help me in the future.  I don't feel prepared at all and I also don't feel like I'm getting anything out of this whole college thing, but hey, I'm just going with the flow and it seems to be working.  I know I'm not the only one who feels this way.The article I read, http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/17/academically-adrift/, summarized a few main points of a book, Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses, that consists of studies of 2,300 undergraduates at two dozen universities. One conclusion that I found amusing was that 45 percent “demonstrated no significant gains in critical thinking, analytical reasoning, and written communications during the first two years of college.” It makes me wonder why the hell we're all in school if we are not "expanding our knowledge." Can anyone relate?

Swearing in School

I work at a Columbus City School that has students ages kindergarten to sixth grade. Every Tuesday and Thursday I pick up six first graders and walk them across the street to their after care. During this time I hear some of the most interesting and somewhat appalling things in the hallway.  I recently heard an older student using extremely profane language, moments later one of the first graders with me repeated it all. This really got me thinking, is this what elementary school was like when I was there?

I came across this article http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44779-2005Apr11.html that talks about teachers who try to put a stop to it and administration who doesn't help. It frustrated me to hear that administrators feel that there are bigger issues they should be dealing with. I don't believe that profanity is the biggest issue at hand but it is an issue. There is no place in class for profanity and no reason for it. I don't believe administrators should make it their top priority but it shouldn't be swept under the rug either.

Spanish in the classroom

I really like Stand and Deliver because it has elements of Spanish in the classroom. I think it is really important for our society to acknowledge the fact that we are no longer a monolingual country. There are so many students in our classrooms that don't understand the material because they are not fully fluent in the language that the material is being taught in. It was raelly to the benefit of the Spanish speaking students in the classroom that their teacher was fluent in spanish. Obviously test scores aren't going to be god if the students can't even understand what is being taught. In the Boston Public Schools, about 17,000 students are so-called English language learners, and 46 percent of the total student population speaks a language other than English. (http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/columns/2013/05/21/sink-swim-english-only-classroom/xONS1ZILQ4mRYOdM0Ex6fN/story.html). Graduating with a dual degree in December in both Spanish and HDFS, I understand the importance of knowing a second language. I hope to be able to help my students learn and reach their full potential in the classroom.

Life after Tests

Today's class discussion really made some interesting points about students after tests.  After taking a test, do you really remember the information that you were being tested on?  Or did you just learn it for the test and then ditch it?  I feel like a majority of the tests and as well of us students can agree that they have done this for several tests in their life.  So what is it that determines whether we want to keep it in our mind for later or just forget about it?  I believe that for me I am more likely to want to remember things that I am more interested in and want to know more about.  For instances, when I take a class that I do not want to take and there is a  test coming.  When I study for these tests I am just studying the information to remember in order to get a good grade on the test and pass the class.  The chance that I will want to learn more after these test on my own and research is very low.
This article from the Washington Post explains about what testing really is doing and how important it is in the nation.  This article gave many great points on how testing and all the time students take learning for a test just to receive a letter grade and some forget everything that they studied.  http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/alfie-kohn/do-test-really-help-students-l.html

Adapting

After talking in class today, I thought a little further into the way we as educators need to understand the way time is inevitably changing. Time has always been changing and it constantly will be. Although it may seem like our technology is extremely developed, there is so much more that I'm sure will be evolving and changing. We've discussed the idea of so called "training" students to be able to learn things in the future and not just to learn and understand what is going on now. It's almost as though the teachers' need to be one step ahead. Teachers should be opening students minds with the thought of keeping it open to keep learning and understanding as society and times are changing. It can't just be about the moment the test is handed back and the grades come out, we need to begin understanding and focusing on the after.

I found this article, http://tribune.com.pk/story/459484/education-system-must-adapt-or-face-extinction-say-experts/, that talks about exactly this. It talks about the way that in the environment when changes begin happening organisms have to start adapting or they will not survive. However, it seems like the education system has been static even if their adaptations don't really "fit" anymore. Basically the point is, education needs to learn to move with the times and more importantly to keep the students moving far beyond it.

How we should expect students to perform: Self-fulfilling prophecy in the classroom

I am guilty of proclaiming to the world, "Oh, am just not a math person." I have convinced myself that my strongest abilities lie in the arts, particularly Language Arts--so here I am pursuing a career where I can teach this thing I love. So many times in high school, I have tried to rationalize that I am just not a great math student. Even when I was academically successful in the classroom, I still had this looming revelation in my head: I can't do math. I don't know where this came from, but the thought became even more prevalent as I entered college. Now, I am in my third year, recently learned I need one more math class, and am dreading taking college algebra or calculus...whatever it is. I don't want to do it. At this point, I am almost certain that I will not do well in the class.

I am not alone in this. I am not the only kid to say "I'm not a ______ person." But I wonder is it true that some people are just not "math people," or "science people," or "music people"? Perhaps by some extent, there may be genetic predisposition that allows certain skills to come more easily for others; but is this an excuse to not perform well in any subject area?

This article was posted by a friend at Texas A&M studying to be a math teacher. The article says that "For high school math, inborn talent is just much less important than hard work, preparation, and self-confidence." It seems as though when students are approached with a difficult task, the immediate response is to give up. Students drop all confidence and try to avoid tackling a task that seems uninteresting or challenging. 

It outlines this frustrating pattern:

1. Different kids with different levels of preparation come into a math class. Some of these kids have parents who have drilled them on math from a young age, while others never had that kind of parental input.
2. On the first few tests, the well-prepared kids get perfect scores, while the unprepared kids get only what they could figure out by winging it—maybe 80 or 85%, a solid B.
3. The unprepared kids, not realizing that the top scorers were well-prepared, assume that genetic ability was what determined the performance differences. Deciding that they “just aren’t math people,” they don’t try hard in future classes, and fall further behind.
4. The well-prepared kids, not realizing that the B students were simply unprepared, assume that they are “math people,” and work hard in the future, cementing their advantage.

I think this is something to consider as we continue taking classes, and eventually teach them. What are we telling ourselves that prevents our own progress? And can we stop this behavior in students so that they, too, can be successful?

AP Tests

After watching Stand and Deliver in class today, I did a little reflecting back on my own experiences with the AP tests in high school. I related to the rigorous classwork, the extra time put in after school, and the stress that comes with taking this test. I wondered exactly how much impact these tests have on preparing students for college classes so I began to research just what sort of benefits and deficits the test produces. I found an article that summarizes a study done at Stanford about AP testing. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/04/26/study-ap-program-isnt-all-its-cracked-up-to-be/] While reading the article, I stopped at Assumption #2.

"Assumption #2: The AP program helps to narrow achievement gaps

We maintain that using the AP program alone as a tool for narrowing the achievement gap is insufficient. If the AP program is to be used effectively to help make a difference in underserved schools, it will need to be part of a broader initiative that includes changes in professional development and the overall curricular sequence to better prepare students for college-level work."

In class we mentioned that the real life story that we were watching had never been able to be replicated in another school. Perhaps this is why. Stanford found that it is extremely difficult to change the results of a group of students using solely the AP program. Change usually comes when a variety of groups work together to change the environment that then helps to change the students inside that environment. Most likely, the students in the movie would never have been able to catch up to the Calculus level as we saw them start by working on multiply fractions. The addition of the summer classes to catch them up would probably have not been sufficient in preparing them for Calculus. While this story is a heartwarming tale, it just does not seem accurate and now there is research based evidence as to why it has never been duplicated. It is simply not enough to change one class with one teacher if the rest of the school environment does not support the initiative from the beginning.

Pushing Students More...

Today we watched Stand and Deliver in class. I found this movie very interesting and inspirations. One teacher who taught at a poorer school Garfield High was able to convince other teachers that he would be able to teacher students Calculus. Many of these students were considered illiterate and barely passed regular class. Mr. Escalante, however believed in them and thought they could pass the test if they worked very hard. Through his determination and the students in his class they were able to.
This movie showed me that students are able to do a lot more than we give them credit for and with the correct pushing they are able to go far beyond what we think they are capable of. Who knew that these students would be able to pass the AP Calculus exam. They had to work extra in the summer and on weekends but they were able to. I think this shows that children today sometimes take the easy way out and don't fully apply themselves. Teachers also may just get tired of continually hounding students for how to do something so they just end up telling them the answer.
 I found an article that asked students if they feel that they are being challenged in school. This article reported that many students do not feel like they are being challenged in school and that the work is too easy. I think this should tell teachers that we need to higher our expectations of what students can accomplish, because when they put their mind to it they can accomplish a lot more than we think.
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education/report/2012/07/10/11913/do-schools-challenge-our-students/

Cyber bullying

http://www.springfieldnewssun.com/news/news/local/student-safety-focus-of-cyber-week/nbWHk/

Last week, I posted about the school in Nevada where there was a shooting. I was thinking about student safety this week still, but I decided to focus on bullying. Something that is becoming more prevalent for students is cyber bullying. A school in Springfield decided to have  a week focused on cyber etiquette and student safety online. There were programs organized for children from kindergarten all the way through high school.

Students are using the internet more and more with little supervision by parents. So the school is attempting to instill in students how important safety and smart choices are while being on the internet. Children as young as sixth graders are being bullied online and a fourteen year old was victimized by an older boy through internet applications. The school district is trying to intervene with this system and teach the children about how to properly act online. I like how the school district identified a problem and immediately implemented a system to combat the issues directly.

Multiple Intelligence in the Classroom

“An intelligence is the ability to solve problems, or to create products, that are valued within one or more cultural settings.” –Howard Gardner, FRAMES OF MIND (1983)

The theory of multiple intelligences states that there are nine different types of intelligences and each person may be stronger in some areas and weaker in others.  This could be why one student may learn best by hearing the information, another student my learn best by seeing/reading the information, and another student may learn the information best by actually doing a hands on activity of what they are learning.  So how can it be fair to have standardized tests if we are learn better in different situations?  To me it doesn’t really make sense.   I think revamping the testing criteria will be very complicated to do and also very expensive, but I think that our school systems need to start accounting for these various ways of learning.

Here is a link to a website that brings these different learning concepts to life in the classroom: http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/mi/  . The website also gives a short quiz to help you determine where your strengths and weaknesses are in the nine intelligence areas.  If teachers start off the school year giving their students this sort quiz, they could easily figure out how each student learns best and could plan their lessons accordingly.

Oct 14th Group 1 Post…Elaborated

I wanted to elaborated on last week’s group posts about ideas for starting out own school evaluation process.

We fist decided that students should have some sort of evaluation system for their teachers.  We all thought it was important to obtain feedback from the students who are experiencing the teacher and the lessons first hand.  Although this could be a little hard to do since students may be biased toward teachers who are easier or who let them get away with things, but if they are asked to elaborate and give specific details as to way they choose to rank their teacher a certain way, this will give some sort of further insight into how the students view the teacher.

We also thought it would be important for parents to have an opportunity to evaluate the teacher.  By sending weekly letters/updates about what is being taught in class and how their students is doing with each lesson is an easy way to encourage stronger parent involvement.  The parents can help quiz the student at home even and see how much of the information they are retaining and which areas they need more help in. 

The third suggestion we made was to have teachers evaluate the teachers who are in the grade below them.  The level that the students come into the classroom with says something about what they learned from the previous year.   If there is consistent evidence that students from one teacher are consistently scoring lower than students from another teacher, perhaps this says something about the different teaching styles.  This could be trickier to do since the students are also just getting back from summer break which is basically three months without school work, perhaps some students have parents who give their children work to do over the summer to keep their brain stimulated whereas other parents may not.

The last suggestion was that the principal could pop in unscheduled for observations throughout the year.  Keeping the observations random will increase the likelihood that the teachers aren’t “staging” their lessons for observations.  We also discussed having a day or two where parents and other teachers could come into the classroom to experience what their children do each day and what other teachers are doing in their classrooms.

All of these suggestions are relatively inexpensive, so money would not be an issue for any of these ideas. 

OTES: An Update or a Downgrade?

This article discusses issues that the new Ohio Teacher Evaluation System (OTES) will present for educators and administrators.  Half of the new evaluations will be determined by student performance assessments, which means that a veteran teacher will have to risk their own job performance on a novice (student teacher) in order to provide an opportunity for hands-on in-class experience for student teachers.  This seems almost like a punishment for good teachers who want to help future generations of teachers.  This disincentive means that most veteran teachers won't take the risk, therefore eliminating the opportunity for most student teachers to run a class unsupervised before they have a job placement.  In this article, http://stateimpact.npr.org/ohio/2013/02/18/how-ohios-new-teacher-evaluations-will-change-student-teaching/

veteran teacher Barb Sole says that she will no longer give up her classroom for 8-12 weeks to a student teacher, despite her love and years of support of student teaching.  

The hope for officials is that this "higher stakes" evaluation system will encourage teachers to put more effort into their work in the classroom, and weed out teachers that are struggling.  However, it seems that this new system will instead punish student teachers, which could in turn eliminate an irreplaceable opportunity for aspiring teachers by not giving them the necessary experience in the classroom and chance to learn from veteran teachers in a mentor type atmosphere.  In the long-run, it seems that the future of education will suffer, and bureaucrats will be creating an even worse situation, which will breed even more red tape and bureaucrats to fix the problem they are creating.  

       It's sad to think that most of the people making policies in education, have never even been in the classroom, and therefore don't understand what teachers need, let alone what students need.  The people who really suffer are the children, because teachers aren't able to freely educate on a case by case basis, and there is less and less room for mistakes made by young teachers as this anti-teacher mania increases.  The article says that student teaching itself will continue, but that the idea of veteran teachers leaving the classroom will cease.  The article states that a co-teaching model will most likely develop, where the veteran works alongside the student teacher.  However, not only will student teachers be losing out on invaluable experience from teaching alone, but also it seems that veteran teachers are still taking a risk by agreeing to allow a student teacher to teach the class at all, even if monitored by the teacher, because its just as likely that mistakes will be made.  How could a teacher reconcile mistakes without taking back control of a class in the middle of it? And wouldn't the confusion from having two teachers fighting for control damage the students' confidence in the teachers themselves?

Academics shouldn't be the only factor considered in grade skipping

After reading the post by one of my classmates about students skipping a grade, I began to think about my opinion of the situation. I started reading articles and came across this one http://www.maplevalleyreporter.com/community/229273261.html# concerning a 13 year old girl skipping high school to attend an early entrance program at the University of Washington. I was very taken aback to hear of a 13 year old not attending high school and immediately heading to a college program. Academically she is qualified and was required to take the ACT in order to apply to the program, but what about socially? A large part of high school is growing and becoming an adult before college. High school also preps you for college by teaching you how to study, write a decent paper and so on. She is the youngest in the program and it's hard for me to imagine her making very many friends. Yes, the main purpose of high school is to learn more knowledge and get an education but there are other aspects that are also a part of high school. High school students learn how to manage their time, interact and work with people their own age, and manage conflict. All that is lost by skipping high school and going straight to a college program. I would be very interested to see how this all works out for this girl.

Teachers Boycotting Testing

There are always people that don't believe in testing. Teachers in particular usually have an opinion on standardized testing and are either advocates for it or against it. We talked in class about "Scrap the Map", which was the boycott against a particular standardized test, and how successful it was; parents became involved and it gained more power as it kept spreading across Seattle and other states as well. This article talks about the boycotting of testing in Seattle: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/05/16/seattle-teachers-boycotting-test-score-a-victory/. The question is, does testing truly benefit students? If the answer is no, why do we continue to administer tests? I believe that teachers who take it upon themselves to refuse to administer these tests are on the right track to really helping students grow and develop in school

Students Skipping Grades

In class, the subject of students skipping grades got brought up into our conversation. I never really thought much on the matter before. I always thought that if you were smart enough to skip a grade, then why not? But after the conversation in class the issues that student might face if he or she were to skip a grade, really changed how I felt about students skipping grades. I began to look for some articles to see what others thought of students skipping grades. I have found an article that talks to students that have skipped a grade and focus on the pros and cons. In the article, one girl said she does not regret skipping a grade because if she hadn't she would have floated by in school and never truly would have to push herself. She also said if she hadn't she would have been very bored. The article talks about the con of potential social problems for a student who would be skipping a grade. The article said even though the student may be advanced academically, they might not be physically of emotionally. After reading this article, I believe that students skipping a grade is a tough decision and different for each child. It would depend on how socially and emotionally advanced the student was as well as academically. http://www.greatschools.org/students/4151-Skipping-a-grade-pros-and-cons.gs

Voting Is Soon

While I know that we do not specifically discuss voting in class and the educational issues on the ballot, I think it is important for us to know the ones that will on the ballot this November. While I know that many of us our not registered to vote in Columbus and may not even be registered to vote here, but for those that are, it's good to know all the facts. We may not have discussed voting on issues as a way to change how well schools are, but voting is a way to change them. Passing issues can be the difference in hundreds of kids getting to play sports, schools having computer labs, students having buses to ride to school, or even art classes. With that being said voting on issues can be one of the best ways to make a school district better, it may not change the teachers and how well they teach, but having a better school system can attract better teachers. This is a website for issues 50 and 51 that are going to be on the ballot in the next two weeks and more information about them in case you are voting.

 http://newcolumbusschools.com/

 Vote FOR The Columbus Education Plan So Our Schools Can:
 ~Hire, train and keep the best teachers and principals
~Improve technology in the classroom
~Prepare all children for Kindergarten so they come to school ready to learn
~Expand high performing schools so children in every neighborhood can get a good education
~Empower a new Independent Auditor to watchdog school spending and data
~Guarantee our graduates are ready for college, the workplace, or our armed forces
~Access private and public sector contributions for an Education Innovation Fund

Identifying Gifted Students

In class we have been discussing standardized testing and recently the topic of gifted and talented students came up. Too many schools rely solely on test results to identify these students. I found an article written by Robert J. Sternberg  (http://trib.com/opinion/columns/diverse-ways-of-identifying-gifted-students/article_c129d14c-a949-5ab4-bfe2-6b8af6661e7b.html) that argues against this procedure. I agree that talent comes in so many diverse ways; analytically, creatively, practically, ethically, etc. A single standardized test result cannot show anywhere near close to the full range of skills a child is capable of possessing in the classroom or outside of it. I also believe there is too much error in testing, especially for kids. The younger a child is, the less experience they have with test taking and dealing with the anxiety that comes with it. This means the judgments made from test scores become less reliable as we test younger and younger students. I also don’t think it makes sense for a child to be assessed once a year or less to determine if they are gifted. Children are dynamic in their development and excel at different rates; some early then not at all and some late and continue on. We must find broader models to identify students as gifted or talented.  We need to look at “multiple intelligences” and this includes: “linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, naturalist, interpersonal, and intrapersonal”. We should also pay attention to above-average ability, creativity, and motivation. 

Types of Learners

In class, we have been talking so much about testing and how it does appeal to all types of people and learners in the classroom. So then I think we all begin to ask, are there different types of learners out there and as future teachers how can we appeal to these types of learners? I found an excerpt from a book that discusses the different types of ways most students learn, and I think they are pretty common and have been heard before.
http://lyceumbooks.com/pdf/howtoteacheffectively_typesoflearners.pdf
I thought it was interesting how it mentioned to keep in mind that you need to be flexible to each student's needs, whether they learn through vision, hearing, doing, or reading/writing. This can be heard as a teacher because all these students need very different things to get the most out of a lesson. As educators, we want them to get the most out of the lesson and apply it to their skills and everyday lives. Ultimately, that is the goal of teaching.
I think we can apply this to testing too. Not all people who are intelligent can excel the most with multiple choice questions and black and white answers. Similarly, not everyone is good at writing, or avoiding the black and white and talking about the gray areas, or even thinking strategically to do well on a test. But this does not mean that they are any less than another "intelligent" person. As we are flexible with our teaching styles to the best of our ability, I think we should also be flexible with our testing styles to the best of our ability.

Parents Boycott Testing of Four-Year-Olds.

This interview talks about a group of parents who boycotted the testing that was going to be administered to their young children. I like that in the interview even the principal said it was ridiculous and that she supported the parents. I think it is important for the parents and teachers to have the principal's support in times like this. Parents should stand up for their children so that people pushing these tests can have more resistance that is not just from the teachers.

Pros and Cons to Standardized Testing

I found this website, http://standardizedtests.procon.org/, which gives really interesting statistics on different views of standardizing testing. I disagree with a lot of the arguments given in the "pros" section on the website. For example, it says that these standardized testing are non-biased and most teachers do not feel like they have had to compromise their teaching practices for the tests.  I think these two arguments are the complete opposite of what I talk about in this class and others. Take a look at the article, I think you'll find a lot of them amusing.  What it frustrating is that we consistently talk about the negatives of the standardized testing, but how come they're still around? Don't you think there has to be some kind of good thing that comes out of it that is keeping it around? If not, why are we still making our children take these tests?

Why Make Standardized Tests so Stressful?

One of the topics we talked about in class this week was how some students do very poorly on standardized tests because they get stressed out. Concerned teachers, parents, and students feel like the solution to this problem is to just eliminate standardized tests all together. However, I feel like there is a better solution to this because I think standardized testing is important. Without standardized testings, we have no way of figuring out at what level our students are being taught. We need some way to check the status of our school's performance and in what areas we need to improve upon. By knowing if the curriculum is too easy or too challenging, we can make the necessary adjustments to better educate the students.

I'm not saying standardized tests are perfect though either. I found an article that gave four acceptable solutions, teacher.scholastic.com/professional/assessment/take_out_pencils.htm. 1) Create a positive environment. Instead of pressuring the children to do well on these tests, maybe we should lessen the importance of these tests. I think children get stressed out because they feel like they have a lot riding on these tests which causes them to feel anxious and sometimes cheat.

2) Replace dread with anticipation. I like the idea of providing some kind of reward after taking a long, tedious test. This gives students something to look forward to and also encourages them. 3) Practice time management. A lot of students feel rushed when they are being timed, but with a little but of practice, they should feel less nervous about it. Finally, 4) involve parents. By letting parents know ahead of time about the tests, it will help them better prepare themselves, as well as their children, for it.

Zero Tolerance and Guns

Here's an article on a 6-year old you brought a clear plastic toy gun to school and expelled: http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/10/06/toy.gun.expelled/index.html?hpt=T1

Guns don't belong in schools, but a zero tolerance policy shows that the school administrative personnel are not capable of evaluating the behavior of a child, and coming to an appropriately graded punishment.

I disagree with saying that zero Tolerance is another way of saying, "Look we don't feel like doing our job. It's too hard. We do this for the money, not for the kids.". Behind almost every stupid law, rule and product label is fear of liability. It's easy to sit back and say, "That's a ridiculous application of an overly strict law", and that would be correct. But if another child at that school had brought in a pellet gun and shot this 6 year old in the eye, damaging his vision, his parents would no doubt sue the school for having failed to prevent it. This superintendant won't lose his job for kicking this 6-year old out of school, but he sure as hell would have lost his job if he hadn't acted and a kid got hurt.

The social calculus for zero tolerance sentencing for actual crimes are the same. There's no disincentive for being overly harsh (no one votes out a politician because the prisons are expensive and overcrowded, and a single unfair sentence only costs a few votes), while there's a huge disincentive to try and be fair at the risk of occasional recidivism (see: Michael Dukakis).

The consequences of an overly litigious society are inflexible and frequently unjust laws.

Constant Competitions

Many times teachers and administrators tell high school aged students that nothing is a competition. In sports, if you have fun you won, right? When it comes to testing, slow and steady wins the race, do the best you can, right? Well, with today's focus on testing, colleges and rankings this is not right anymore. I read this article about the issues of high school rankings and found it very insightful. I came from a school that always got high rankings and "grades," however, my mom aids kids with disabilities and among the lower class and says we should get the opposite grade and rank. While there are students passing AP tests and standardized tests with flying colors, getting accepted into the greatest schools across the nation while juggling theater or varsity sports, there are many kids that don't even read at a 7th grade level, trying to pass OAT's to graduate high school alone. There are kids that come to school sleep deprived and starved due to their home lives and our school does nothing to aid their needs. So why, why does a school that ignores necessary improvements and thrives on the minorities success get a high grade card, rather than a school such as the one where my father teaches. At his school they do try to fix these problems, and while they don't have as high of test scores and GPA's, they're trying to improve and encompass success for the entire school. As children we're always told "it's not a competition" and I would associate that phrase with what high school I went to especially. Public or private, it's not a competition, however, it is becoming one. And how sad, one of the only equal concepts in our society, education, is now a competition.

http://www.education.com/magazine/article/High_School_Rankings/

Do You Really Have to Go to College?

Yesterday in class when we were asked why we attend college, most of us said to get a better job. I may have mentioned this before, but my decision to go to college wasn't really a decision of my own. I went for two reasons; one, I have a full ride scholarship and two, it was the "right" thing to do. What I mean by this is that society just expects most high school graduates to attend college as their next step in life. I wanted to know more about why people choose to go to college so I Googled that exact phrase. Instead other articles came up that list reasons why one should go to college. But then I came across this headline "Do You Really Have to Go to College?". In this article, the author's main point is that going to college should be recognized as a choice, not a requisite. I thought that was an interesting way to put it because I know a lot of people emphasize college as a necessity. I do not want to bash college because I think it's great and beneficial in many ways. A comment the author made in this article really stuck out to me. He says, ".. the curriculum doesn’t focus on being a “well-rounded student,” which is intellectual newspeak for “more classes.”
We have complained in class how much we hate GECs and the frustration of learning some Math that we will never use or apply in our specific careers. While I appreciate that college offer a grand variety of classes and studies, I think it should be an option to take things not related to your career path. Instead they make you take an extra 2 years worth of classes. I've always thought of college as a scam because of this. I like to think college education is a business just like almost anything else. (As a side note, I heard OSU is going to require students to live on campus for the first two years instead of just the first year) Why is this? To make more money off of us of course, the business of education.

I liked this article because it points out that it is possible to be successful without a costly piece of paper that says you have the knowledge. Most college students will graduate with a lot of debt and work to pay that off while maintaining their life. I think that introducing options after graduation to high school students is a great way to have individuals make the best decision for them. If students want more real world application, perhaps they can volunteer in an area that interests them and network. Maybe they are not quite sure what they want to be in life and they could shadow careers and explore the world a little more. These are just a few options among many. Again I do not hate college because it has offered me a lot but I also recognized that it's not for everybody and it is possible to succeed without it. I'd rather students asses if this is the option for them than to go because society says so or because they didn't know other possible options.

Student Evaluations

From this week in class the focus has been put to student evaluations.  The more we discuss this topic the more it makes me wonder why we evaluated students the way we do. How do we know that this is the correct way to evaluate them or even the best way?  Where is the proof behind the ideas of these evaluations?
We talked about some of the evaluations in class that we may have to do if we all become teachers.  Before this I really never really thought of having to fill out evaluations on students. This made me want to do a little more looking into the in depth of the evaluations when being a teacher and I found this article, http://www.howany.com/how-to-evaluate-students/.  This article gives different ways to ensure that student evaluations are accurate and several ways of doing them.  I feel as if as in the first few years of teaching these tips could come in handy when doing some of the student evaluations.

School Safety

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/21/justice/nevada-middle-school-shooting/index.html

We have talked this semester about testing, evaluations, charters, and policies. We have debated about strategies in the classrooms and different aspects of teaching as a profession; however, we have yet to discuss more fundamental issues in schooling. Students' and teachers' safety and security must occur and be the foundation that a school may operate, and then curriculums implemented, tests administered, etc. On Monday in Nevada, we were reminded about how important student safety is.

At a middle school, a boy shot two students, injuring them, and killed a teacher then himself. Tragedies like this can never be planned for, and they always shock communities totally. We can't change these horrific events, but as future educators or people who plan to be around schools, how do we prepare for  the unthinkable? Is it necessary or even legal to have metal detectors at every entrance of schools? Should there be an officer in each building? Is educating teachers about gun safety and how to subdue an attacker worthwhile? What if a teacher is a pacifist and refuses to take part in such an education, could the school board step in for enforcement?

 I think that there must be some education and a plan of action in place for all schools. As individuals, we never believe that we will ever encounter something like the events at the middle school in Nevada. However, no one ever believes that they will have to be prepared for something like this but it has happened in many schools. I wish that there would be more discussion over preparedness for safety issues like this in classrooms.

Say No to Standardized Testing

When it comes to the education system in our country, I have a lot problems with it but nothing frustrates me more than standardized testing. My stance against standardized tests started after taking the SAT and ACT to get into college. I walked out of both of those and asked myself "What was the point of that?" I've been taking AP and Honors classes for the past three years, why am I now being even further tested on it. Why aren't my good grades in my classes enough to prove I'm good enough for college?

The further in my education I get, the more I disagree standardized testing. We've learned quite a bit about multiple intelligences. Multiple intelligences is not something that was discovered recently, researchers and educators have known about it for years. So my question is why are we still putting such emphasis on standardized testing when we are fully aware that we don't all learn the same way. If we don't learn the same way, then we don't all test the same way either. I truly believe there has got to be a better way to test someone's intelligence that doesn't involve them taking tests that are costly and timely.

This student at Lewis and Clark College feels similarly and has taken a stance against standardized testing as well https://chronicle.com/blogs/conversation/2013/09/30/a-student-says-no-to-standardized-testing/. He makes many good points and puts his opinion of standardized testing in a great perspective.

Standardized tests in a top ranking country

I found an interesting article that compares the United States to top performing countries (Finland, and South Korea). This article suggests that maybe it is not actually the standardized tests that are the problem with our schools system, but rather the approach we are taking to standardized tests. In Finland they have the same amount (maybe even more) emphasis on testing. The difference is that these tests are much harder students are actually meant to take responsibility for the results of their tests. The article says that in America teachers and school administration are the ones sweating it out waiting for the test results, while the students sit back and take it easy. In Finland it is the students who are worried. It also talks about how American teachers are not given enough respect for their line of work. In Finland it is much harder to go to school to become a teacher. Teacher preparation schools only accept about 10% of applicants (similar to MIT). It also states that teachers in Finland are also far more knowledgeable and have more support and background when it comes to helping students to succeed.

 If we are struggling so much with finding a way to assess our students then maybe we need to look at what works for other countries and tweak our system until we find one that helps us to improve.




http://www.educationnation.com/index.cfm?objectid=344AE6BA-FB34-11E0-B00E000C296BA163

What do these scores say about me?

As Dr. Glassman was explaining the history of standardized tests and what IQ tests are on Monday, I thought back to last weekend when I was working at my grandparents pizzeria. Why would I do that? Well it just so happened that the Mensa society from the local high school dined in. My grandpa told me that membership of Mensa is open to persons who have attained a score within the upper two percent of the general population on an approved intelligence test that has been properly administered and supervised. In other words they are considered geniuses. Of course I thought those guys must be brilliant to have scored so high similarly to today when Dr. Glassman asked us what we would think of those who scored a perfect on the SAT. It is pretty funny though that these eight high school boys couldn't agree on or figure out what kind of food they were going to eat or how to divide up the check. I was joking with my grandpa along the lines of "so these are the guys that are expected to solve the world's problems" and all he said was "maybe".

I wanted to find out more about IQ tests and I found this great article. The link for it is  http://iq-test.learninginfo.org/iq07.htm. It poses the question as to whether you  need high IQ to be successful. The article states that having a high IQ score doesn't predict success later in life nor does it predict success in school. They only measure a certain type of potential. The potential needs to be developed and nurtured by the person who has it. Another good point is that someone with potential may have no inclination or desire to do anything with it. So you take an IQ test and you learn that you have potential. So what? Potential is not what makes people successful. I think the article makes a good point when it says we need to broaden our understanding of what intelligence is and the role it plays in successful living. This can be related to standardized testing results. So you did poorly on that test, does it mean that you won't be successful and you should just throw in the towel? On the contrast doing well on a standardized test means that you performed well on that particular test on that particular day. How one does on a standardized high school exam does not really affect your life after high school as long as you pass and graduate. Qualities such as determination and vision can be more important to one's ultimate success in life.

Purpose of testing

After having discussions in class about standardized testing I looked online to see what is out there about standardized tests in schools. I found this article http://www.uknow.gse.harvard.edu/decisions/DD315-608.html that talks about the purpose of standardized tests and what we get out of them. The article talks about a lot of things but seems to give off the basic idea that testing is there to measure students knowledge and the tests help us compare their tested to knowledge to other Americans and other countries. I think testing can tell us information about our students, but there comes a point where it is just too much for kids. They don't see a point in the testing, the teachers and parents don't see a point in the testing, and in the end the results aren't even accurate data that seems to drive the education business.

Can we improve standardized tests?

​Over the course of the semester, there are a few topics that keep coming back to be the main focus of our class. One of the main topics is standardized testing. As a class, I would say we can concur that standardized testing does not necessarily do anything to improve education nor do the results reflect a student’s improvement or a teacher’s ability to teach. I think it is reasonable to say that somewhere along the line, there has to be some kind of testing to determine a student’s growth and ability in the basic subject areas. We have already discussed many times about how the testing world has become extremely large, and how it is a huge market in the United States. Are we really ever going to be able to argue with our government and ask them to get rid of standardized tests? Standardized testing has become a market for the United States, so I find it pretty safe to say that hardly anyone is ever going to have a say in whether or not standardized tests should be done away with. I think it may even be illogical to say that there could be another method of testing student’s growth. Our government is set on giving these standardized tests as a way of improving the education system, and as much as many of us may disagree with it, we are not going to have a choice. However, is there a way these standardized tests can be improved? Is there a way that we, as future educators, can work to help improve our student’s tests scores?

          This article (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/guest-bloggers/reduce-standardized-testing-to.html) was written by the executive director of The National Center for Fair and Open Testing, and she provides some of her opinions in the ways that standardized tests could be improved. One way she says that testing could be improved is by cutting back on how often tests are administered to once at each school level, such as once in elementary, middle, and high school. It is interesting to see how these tests may actually provide helpful information on a student’s growth and a schools performance if the tests were not given as often as they are. She also says that the tests scores should be, “only a small part of the equation for making decisions about schools.” She says this will prevent teachers from having to teach to the test, and also believes that standardized testing should only be a complement to other reviews the schools should have on students and teachers. This article http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/13/test-scores-can-improve-w_n_1343020.html provides insight from a teacher who uses a process called “my favorite no.” Psychologists in this article did research proving that as teachers, we should be able to relate to our students and tell them that, “learning is difficult and failure is common, but hard work will help.” Research shows that expressing this to students has vastly improved their test scores. So we as educators can work in our classrooms to help improve this test taking phenomenon.  

            I am by no means arguing that standardized testing is the right way to test students, but if standardized testing is never going away, shouldn’t we try to find ways to improve it?

What's the Point?

Testing is something we've been talking about since our first few weeks of class. As week ten is coming to a close, the haunting topic is still being discussed. Previously commenting on the ways teachers are being evaluated, we have to pause and take another look at the way we as a society our "evaluating" the students and our reasoning behind it. After finding an article on the great frustrations of testing, (http://www.edwize.org/fear-frustration-failure-and-state-tests),  it's come to my attention that no one is truly sure why were putting so much emphasis on these evaluations. This specific article comes from a teacher discussing his students feelings and actions from the pressure of such tests. When I read how elementary students were having panic attacks, getting physically sick, and even flipping desks I couldn't help but question where all this stress is coming from. My main concern here is that the emphasis for testing scores has become so large that it is literally taking over every aspect of schooling. How is a child supposed to enjoy school when they can't stop crying because they are worried about disappointing their teaching with their scores? When does it become fun to stay after school extra hours and come in on Saturdays simply to prepare for tests and not to expand their learning? This force to excel on testing seems to be having a backward affect. I'm not saying I'm 100% against testing, I just believe there has to be a better way. It looks to me like there is just no point in stirring up so much frustration and fear over simple scores on a piece of paper.

ELL Students and Testing

While we listened in class today about the test given by the teacher in Pennsylvania, I felt incredibly sorry for the ELL students in the classroom that were being forced to take this test full of American idioms and phrases. It brought me to continue thinking about how the test makers write the tests that all children are being forced to take in this country. I feel that these companies are creating tests where it sets that point of 50% above and 50% below as what the average natural-born American student knows. What these companies haven’t accounted for is that a large portion of the students taking these tests haven’t grown up in environments that are rich with these random and sometimes archaic language patterns. Of course minorities score lower on the test; they are starting at a large disadvantage from students who have a better grasp on the English language. I’m sure if we took an exceptionally “smart” student who had only ever spoken English, moved them to another country and gave them a few years to learn the language, they would probably get a poor grade on that country’s reading test. America likes to compare its scores on tests to other countries in the world, but what we aren’t accounting for is that some of these countries have a more homogeneous population of students who have all grown up with more similar experiences. The article [http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/12/what-americans-keep-ignoring-about-finlands-school-success/250564/] spoke to this, saying that these countries might have an easier time testing because most of the students understand the same things. It also mention, however, that there are about 18 states in the U.S. that have similar demographics to that of Finland, which is usually used as an exemplar of education. Why then can’t these states model their educational policies after Finland and get the same results? The United States needs to look inward to better understand how to educate its own students instead of looking to others to model after.