At the end of last term, when I looked at my upcoming classes I think I said something along the lines of "Whaaa?!" (with a bit of Scooby Doo tone to it). This was because I saw that I would be taking an entire class on assessment. I thought to myself, "Self, how hard can it be to give tests?" But, oh how wrong I was!
This class has been really informative and changed my view of assessment in tons of ways. For starters, the class is mostly about the concept of assessment for learning, as opposed to simply assessment of learning (the latter being what most of us are used to, taking a test at the end of a class to see how much of it you learned). The material for the course revolves around the work of a gentlemen named Rick Stiggins from just down the road in Portland, OR.
Here's a video of Mr. Stiggins, don't be fooled by the corny intro, he has some good stuff to say-
You can find more about Rick Stiggins and his work at http://www.assessmentinst.com/ This is the website for the Pearson Assessment Institute which he founded to provide training to educators in just the kind of areas we have looked at in this course.
The basic philosophy is that in a standards based educational system we need to be explicit about what we expect our students to be accomplishing and that by using assessments as a tool to help them understand where they are supposed to be going we can help them be successful. Stiggins even takes it one step further, and talks about ways to involve students in the assessment process, even to the point of having students help develop grading standards and rubrics. Some people shy away from this approach as it seems almost like teaching to the test, but the key differences are that 1) you are using assessment to support learning AND to evaluate learning, so it's not just one or the other; and, 2) teaching to the standards is different than teaching to the test.
As doubtful as I may have been at the outset that this course could fill 10 weeks with relevant material, it has. As the quarter is winding up I am looking forward to next term when I will taking classes on classroom management, English language learners instruction, integrating the arts, and health and fitness.
Until then, all the best.
Mike
WEA Commercial
What do parents think about AUS alumnus Kelly Riggle-Hower?
 |
Friday, December 10, 2010
Friday, December 3, 2010
Math Class
I will come right out and say that I am not a big fan of math. In my book, doing math is just below such favored pastimes as taking out the compost and watching toilets flush. But, as in mashed potatoes, in life you have to take the lumps with the good stuff and I am learning to understand and teach math better through our math methods course this term.
One of the biggest things I have learned this term is that math, or rather how math is taught, has changed a lot even just since I was in school ten years ago. We have learned some great instructional techniques, specifically ways to make teaching math more than just droning on about algorithms and then doing 50 problems on a worksheet.
To demonstrate, here's a lesson plan that I put together for class. This was lesson was designed with a specific focus on tiering, or adapting the lesson to students of different ability.
Click HERE for lesson plan!
Enjoy!
Mike
One of the biggest things I have learned this term is that math, or rather how math is taught, has changed a lot even just since I was in school ten years ago. We have learned some great instructional techniques, specifically ways to make teaching math more than just droning on about algorithms and then doing 50 problems on a worksheet.
To demonstrate, here's a lesson plan that I put together for class. This was lesson was designed with a specific focus on tiering, or adapting the lesson to students of different ability.
Click HERE for lesson plan!
Enjoy!
Mike
Thursday, November 18, 2010
More About Social Studies
I think my favorite class this term is social studies. I will confess, I am naturally more interested in Social Studies than most other areas but that's not why I like this class so much. Let me tell you why I do:
These are just a few of the lessons that I have either seen in class already or can look at in their entirety on our class website. This course has really emphasized the balance AUS strikes between necessary (but not always applicable) theory, and useful (but not without the theory background) application.
Other aspects of this class that I enjoy are: the reading selection (including Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States), and the fact that our final class will consist of going out for dinner and drinks. What more could you want?
Till next time, Cheers!
- Every student writes a lesson plan every week. At first this seemed like a lot of work (and it is) but what better way to get ready for the reality of teaching, right?
- Every student has to teach at least two lessons during the quarter, again great practice which isn't always easy to fit into a class schedule.
- As with many classes at AUS, the professor is very practical in his approach. This is part of the reason every student writes a lesson plan each week, so that we can share and critique them and compile them all at the end of the quarter so each of us will leave the class with nearly 100 lesson plans ready to go. That is awesome!!!!!
- A world history lesson in which students review and discuss the impact of European feudal society and play a short card game.
- A middle school lesson looking at the lives of women in colonial America.
- A 3-4 day lesson in which students re-create a supreme court case concerning
contemporary school segregation.
- 6th grade geography lesson about uneven distribution of world population and resources.
These are just a few of the lessons that I have either seen in class already or can look at in their entirety on our class website. This course has really emphasized the balance AUS strikes between necessary (but not always applicable) theory, and useful (but not without the theory background) application.
Other aspects of this class that I enjoy are: the reading selection (including Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States), and the fact that our final class will consist of going out for dinner and drinks. What more could you want?
Till next time, Cheers!
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Thoughts on Bonus Pay
So there's been a lot of scuttle but here in Seattle about the new teachers contract. If you are interested you can read the highlights on the link below.
http://www.seattleschools.org/area/news/1011/20100915_Board_Approves_SEA_Contract_FINAL.pdf
There was a lot of conversation around Antioch during the debate before the new contract was approved because there are some major issues at play. The real game-changer is this: the new contract includes an incentive pay provision by which teachers who receive high performance ratings and whose students are making acceptable academic progress get a bonus.
http://www.seattleschools.org/area/news/1011/20100915_Board_Approves_SEA_Contract_FINAL.pdf
There was a lot of conversation around Antioch during the debate before the new contract was approved because there are some major issues at play. The real game-changer is this: the new contract includes an incentive pay provision by which teachers who receive high performance ratings and whose students are making acceptable academic progress get a bonus.
Advocates point to the seemingly obvious logic that teachers will perform better if they get paid more to do so. Critics are wary of the efficacy of this system, knowing that teacher performance is just one factor among many which impact how well students do in school. A few casual conversations with fellow students seemed to show that most students at Antioch (at least among my classmates) were in favor of connecting teachers pay with student achievement.
But recently, Education Week came out with a an article reviewing the results of a major study which asked the question "Does incentive pay for teachers lead to higher performance amongst students?" To my surprise, at least in this case, the answer was NO.
Tell me what you think, should we be spending our time and money elsewhere if incentive programs don't work?
Friday, November 5, 2010
Halfway! Looking at Quarter Three
This week I would like to shed some light on my classes this term. As we hit the mid-point of the program my cohort has this quarter of classes and one more in the winter and then it's student teaching for ten weeks followed by one final quarter in which we write our masters thesis. This quarter our classes are math methods, social studies methods, science methods, and assessment practices.
I have to say, I have been a bit surprised by our assessment class. I knew there was more to assessment than simply making tests, but I wasn't so sure it would be easy to fill an entire quarter with worthwhile material. So far, it doesn't seem to be an issue. The course focuses on the concepts of assessment for learning as well as assessment of learning. Although I had seen and used things like improvement portfolios in the past, the overall concept of using assessment as a way to support and increase learning (assessment for learning) was something I hadn't thought much about specifically.
To give a better idea of some of our class reactions and reflections I would like to share some insights from our weekly readings which have been posted to the class discussion board.
"'The guiding belief or value underpinning this book is that the greatest potential value of classroom assessment is realized when we open the process up and welcome students in as full partners during their learning.' While reading Chapter One I became aware of how much of an emphasis the author puts on student involvement. This had never really occurred to me as in my time at school there was never an equal partnership between me, the student, and my teacher; there was only self editing, the requirement of several drafts for each paper, and a few red comments on the returned final paper. There was never any deeper thought that went into the growth of my writing skills. I would have much preferred to have open communication with my teacher as to the things that I personally could improve on. Instead it was whatever was the next step in the curriculum for the entire class. If I ever needed extra help with any assignment, I would not know where to begin to fix the problem. Because of my own experiences with not receiving that extra voice that I needed, I really like what the authors have said about involving the student. It is a very true statement that involving the student is the most important key to that student’s improvement. The story of Emily showed how beneficial it is to make sure that the student is completely on board with the writing process, and the importance of knowing exactly what is going on with their own writing. An individual’s success depends on the time and effort put into their progress, both by themselves and by their teacher."
"What Stood Out:
'Please never underestimate the power of your evaluations of student performance and the impact of your feedback on your students. For us as adults, its a grade that goes in a grade book or a score we average with other scores, but for the students it's always far more personal than that. It's how they decide how they fit into the world of people who this thing called "writing," or "reading" or "math." Indeed they interpret your feedback to decide whether they fit in at all.' pg. 13
I agree with the author that it is crucially important to understand how evaluations will be experienced by the students in our classroom. Under the pressure's and many demands placed on us as teachers, it will be easy to rush through evaluating and inadvertently provide our students with less than helpful feedback on their performance.
Though this affects all students regardless of grade level, I'm assuming that it is even more crucial during the primary years when students have not begun to differentiate themselves from their work if that's even truly possible. However, to know that schoolwork successes and failures as described by a teacher about a student plays such a fundamental role in the development of where a person fits in not only the classroom but the world and furthermore the development of their sense of self, I hope all pre-service teachers will be empowered to allow and plan for thoughtful evaluation in everything they do as it pertains to student work."
This class has certainly underscored the necessity of quality assessments and the impact assessment can have. At this halfway point of the term and the program I can hardly wait to finish out these classes and start to put things into practice in the classroom.
I have to say, I have been a bit surprised by our assessment class. I knew there was more to assessment than simply making tests, but I wasn't so sure it would be easy to fill an entire quarter with worthwhile material. So far, it doesn't seem to be an issue. The course focuses on the concepts of assessment for learning as well as assessment of learning. Although I had seen and used things like improvement portfolios in the past, the overall concept of using assessment as a way to support and increase learning (assessment for learning) was something I hadn't thought much about specifically.
To give a better idea of some of our class reactions and reflections I would like to share some insights from our weekly readings which have been posted to the class discussion board.
"'The guiding belief or value underpinning this book is that the greatest potential value of classroom assessment is realized when we open the process up and welcome students in as full partners during their learning.' While reading Chapter One I became aware of how much of an emphasis the author puts on student involvement. This had never really occurred to me as in my time at school there was never an equal partnership between me, the student, and my teacher; there was only self editing, the requirement of several drafts for each paper, and a few red comments on the returned final paper. There was never any deeper thought that went into the growth of my writing skills. I would have much preferred to have open communication with my teacher as to the things that I personally could improve on. Instead it was whatever was the next step in the curriculum for the entire class. If I ever needed extra help with any assignment, I would not know where to begin to fix the problem. Because of my own experiences with not receiving that extra voice that I needed, I really like what the authors have said about involving the student. It is a very true statement that involving the student is the most important key to that student’s improvement. The story of Emily showed how beneficial it is to make sure that the student is completely on board with the writing process, and the importance of knowing exactly what is going on with their own writing. An individual’s success depends on the time and effort put into their progress, both by themselves and by their teacher."
"What Stood Out:
'Please never underestimate the power of your evaluations of student performance and the impact of your feedback on your students. For us as adults, its a grade that goes in a grade book or a score we average with other scores, but for the students it's always far more personal than that. It's how they decide how they fit into the world of people who this thing called "writing," or "reading" or "math." Indeed they interpret your feedback to decide whether they fit in at all.' pg. 13
I agree with the author that it is crucially important to understand how evaluations will be experienced by the students in our classroom. Under the pressure's and many demands placed on us as teachers, it will be easy to rush through evaluating and inadvertently provide our students with less than helpful feedback on their performance.
Though this affects all students regardless of grade level, I'm assuming that it is even more crucial during the primary years when students have not begun to differentiate themselves from their work if that's even truly possible. However, to know that schoolwork successes and failures as described by a teacher about a student plays such a fundamental role in the development of where a person fits in not only the classroom but the world and furthermore the development of their sense of self, I hope all pre-service teachers will be empowered to allow and plan for thoughtful evaluation in everything they do as it pertains to student work."
This class has certainly underscored the necessity of quality assessments and the impact assessment can have. At this halfway point of the term and the program I can hardly wait to finish out these classes and start to put things into practice in the classroom.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Waiting for Superman: objective criticism or teacher bashing?
So, there has been a ton of talk lately about Davis Guggenheim's new film "Waiting for Superman." If you want to hear some of it, check out the recent article from the Seattle Times @ http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/jerrylarge/2013066923_jdl04.html. This is just one of that many articles, editorials and discussions that have sprung up everywhere on the web (and off the web) since the film debuted.
While nobody would argue that America's school system is perfect, people seem to fall into two main camps after watching the highly critical movie: those who think it is necessary and realistic criticism of the education system, and those who see private-interest-pushing
teacher-bashing.
In an effort to see both sides of the issues this reporter went to the hallways to find out what people in Antioch's education department were saying about the film.
But first, I wanted to hear what the director himself had to say-
As for the fine folks at Antioch University, here are some anonymous quotes from the education department which hopefully won't start any intra-office hostilities. Or affect my grades.
"I wasn't as upset by the film as some may have been. Personally... I am more interested in the bottom line of student achievement than preserving unions."
"It's people outside education telling us how to teach. That's nothing new. There are ups and downs to every situation but it's clear that [as compared to other countries] we can't restructure things as fluidly as would be ideal. The unions are one part of that. So in that sense I see his point but there are two sides to every story."
"There's no question the movie has an agenda so it's important to remember that this is only one side of the story. The examples of some teachers having a year of paid vacation while they are under review before being fired might be true but they are the exception, not the rule. Part of the agenda of the film is to bash teachers unions, it's clear. But the biggest problems in education come when teachers and those who know the most about education are excluded from the decision making process. That happens far too often. What you have to remember is that the key to good education is not a matter of unions or no unions, charter schools or no charter schools. It's a matter of having serious, knowledgeable people in charge of schools which are formed around the community. When you have that, and when you have teachers included in decision making and oversight, that's when you have the most effective schools."
At the end of the day I think Jerry Large really hit the nail on the head in his Times article when he said that Guggenheim "definitely succeeded at getting people talking, but the ultimate value of his film will depend on whether it can push people to act on the problems it showcases."
What do you think?
While nobody would argue that America's school system is perfect, people seem to fall into two main camps after watching the highly critical movie: those who think it is necessary and realistic criticism of the education system, and those who see private-interest-pushing
teacher-bashing.
In an effort to see both sides of the issues this reporter went to the hallways to find out what people in Antioch's education department were saying about the film.
But first, I wanted to hear what the director himself had to say-
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Davis Guggenheim | ||||
| ||||
As for the fine folks at Antioch University, here are some anonymous quotes from the education department which hopefully won't start any intra-office hostilities. Or affect my grades.
"I wasn't as upset by the film as some may have been. Personally... I am more interested in the bottom line of student achievement than preserving unions."
"It's people outside education telling us how to teach. That's nothing new. There are ups and downs to every situation but it's clear that [as compared to other countries] we can't restructure things as fluidly as would be ideal. The unions are one part of that. So in that sense I see his point but there are two sides to every story."
"There's no question the movie has an agenda so it's important to remember that this is only one side of the story. The examples of some teachers having a year of paid vacation while they are under review before being fired might be true but they are the exception, not the rule. Part of the agenda of the film is to bash teachers unions, it's clear. But the biggest problems in education come when teachers and those who know the most about education are excluded from the decision making process. That happens far too often. What you have to remember is that the key to good education is not a matter of unions or no unions, charter schools or no charter schools. It's a matter of having serious, knowledgeable people in charge of schools which are formed around the community. When you have that, and when you have teachers included in decision making and oversight, that's when you have the most effective schools."
At the end of the day I think Jerry Large really hit the nail on the head in his Times article when he said that Guggenheim "definitely succeeded at getting people talking, but the ultimate value of his film will depend on whether it can push people to act on the problems it showcases."
What do you think?
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Diving into Quarter Three
Geography?So at the outset of quarter three I have been amazed to learn that many Masters in Teaching programs require no (or very little) social studies courses unless you are getting an endorsement in the humanities. Luckily, Antioch is NOT one of these. Our teacher was a former student at Antioch who has returned years later to ensure that students at AUS get a solid grounding in social studies because it can so easily be left out of the curriculum all together.
For our first class we we did the ubiquitous 'get to know you' activity and then delved into some heavy questions: what is social studies, and why does it matter? One of our text books is even titled "Why Geography Matters" and from the first 20 pages the author makes a convincing case that it does indeed matter.
This class in particular is looking very attractive for another reason: every student will be writing one lesson plan every week. If this sounds like a lot of work, well, it sort of is. But here's the two major plus sides: 1) it will get us used to writing lesson plans relatively quickly (which will no-doubt be an asset come next year) and 2) at the end of the quarter we will all have nearly 90 lesson plans ready to go! So far I like where this class is going...
Tonight we will get our first glimpse of the math and science methods classes so stay tuned next week for updates on those.
Until then,
Keep it real.
Mike
Monday, August 30, 2010
Promoting Literacy
One of my best classes this term has been the first of two classes on Literacy and Issues Methods. I have always loved reading and writing so it hasn't been a surprise that I have enjoyed this class but I have found myself especially intrigued with the challenge of promoting literacy in the home of families who may not have the interest or ability to do so otherwise.
In that vein, I just ran across a great blog article from The Change Agency highlighting a number of simple ways to promote literacy in the home (click here to read). They look at everything from labeling items around the house to decorating a child's room with maps and bulletin boards. There are also a lot of great links to full articles on other ways to create a literacy-rich environment outside the classroom. Great stuff!
So, to add my own two cents on promoting literacy I will leave you with my to
p three favorite books for young adults we read in this class-
1) The Giver, by Louis Lowry
2) Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen
3) The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
Friday, August 20, 2010
The World Through the eyes of Autism
This week: a snapshot of special ed. class
One of the classes for this term's cohort is about students with special needs. Trends in special education today are moving away from self contained classrooms for students with special needs and embracing "inclusive" programs in which students with disabilities or other exceptionalities are incorporated into a general education classroom if at all possible. Obviously this means that more general ed teachers need to be able to work effectively with students who have special needs. That's what this class is about.
Part of learning to work with special needs students is understanding their special need, for more and more teachers today this means understanding autism and other ASD's (autism spectrum disorders). To that end, we have been reading Songs of the Gorilla Nation by Dawn Prince-Hughes. It is fantastic. Both as an insight into how a person with autism experiences the world and simply as good literature. I highly recommend it.
One of the classes for this term's cohort is about students with special needs. Trends in special education today are moving away from self contained classrooms for students with special needs and embracing "inclusive" programs in which students with disabilities or other exceptionalities are incorporated into a general education classroom if at all possible. Obviously this means that more general ed teachers need to be able to work effectively with students who have special needs. That's what this class is about.
Part of learning to work with special needs students is understanding their special need, for more and more teachers today this means understanding autism and other ASD's (autism spectrum disorders). To that end, we have been reading Songs of the Gorilla Nation by Dawn Prince-Hughes. It is fantastic. Both as an insight into how a person with autism experiences the world and simply as good literature. I highly recommend it.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Not Your Average Valadictorian Speech
The Following is a transcript of a valedictorian speech by Erica Goldson, a recent high school graduate from New York State. Her speech raises many great questions about education today and its purpose in America. Enjoy!
(you can read more of Erica's thoughts and see comments on her speech on her blog America Via Erica)
Here I Stand
Erica Goldson
There is a story of a young, but earnest Zen student who approached his teacher, and asked the Master, "If I work very hard and diligently, how long will it take for me to find Zen? The Master thought about this, then replied, "Ten years . ." The student then said, "But what if I work very, very hard and really apply myself to learn fast -- How long then?" Replied the Master, "Well, twenty years." "But, if I really, really work at it, how long then?" asked the student. "Thirty years," replied the Master. "But, I do not understand," said the disappointed student. "At each time that I say I will work harder, you say it will take me longer. Why do you say that?" Replied the Master, "When you have one eye on the goal, you only have one eye on the path."
This is the dilemma I've faced within the American education system. We are so focused on a goal, whether it be passing a test, or graduating as first in the class. However, in this way, we do not really learn. We do whatever it takes to achieve our original objective.
Some of you may be thinking, “Well, if you pass a test, or become valedictorian, didn't you learn something? Well, yes, you learned something, but not all that you could have. Perhaps, you only learned how to memorize names, places, and dates to later on forget in order to clear your mind for the next test. School is not all that it can be. Right now, it is a place for most people to determine that their goal is to get out as soon as possible.
I am now accomplishing that goal. I am graduating. I should look at this as a positive experience, especially being at the top of my class. However, in retrospect, I cannot say that I am any more intelligent than my peers. I can attest that I am only the best at doing what I am told and working the system. Yet, here I stand, and I am supposed to be proud that I have completed this period of indoctrination. I will leave in the fall to go on to the next phase expected of me, in order to receive a paper document that certifies that I am capable of work. But I contest that I am a human being, a thinker, an adventurer – not a worker. A worker is someone who is trapped within repetition – a slave of the system set up before him. But now, I have successfully shown that I was the best slave. I did what I was told to the extreme. While others sat in class and doodled to later become great artists, I sat in class to take notes and become a great test-taker. While others would come to class without their homework done because they were reading about an interest of theirs, I never missed an assignment. While others were creating music and writing lyrics, I decided to do extra credit, even though I never needed it. So, I wonder, why did I even want this position? Sure, I earned it, but what will come of it? When I leave educational institutionalism, will I be successful or forever lost? I have no clue about what I want to do with my life; I have no interests because I saw every subject of study as work, and I excelled at every subject just for the purpose of excelling, not learning. And quite frankly, now I'm scared.
John Taylor Gatto, a retired school teacher and activist critical of compulsory schooling, asserts, “We could encourage the best qualities of youthfulness – curiosity, adventure, resilience, the capacity for surprising insight simply by being more flexible about time, texts, and tests, by introducing kids into truly competent adults, and by giving each student what autonomy he or she needs in order to take a risk every now and then. But we don't do that.” Between these cinderblock walls, we are all expected to be the same. We are trained to ace every standardized test, and those who deviate and see light through a different lens are worthless to the scheme of public education, and therefore viewed with contempt.
H. L. Mencken wrote in The American Mercury for April 1924 that the aim of public education is not to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence. ... Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim ... is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States. (Gatto)
To illustrate this idea, doesn't it perturb you to learn about the idea of “critical thinking.” Is there really such a thing as “uncritically thinking?” To think is to process information in order to form an opinion. But if we are not critical when processing this information, are we really thinking? Or are we mindlessly accepting other opinions as truth?
This was happening to me, and if it wasn't for the rare occurrence of an avant-garde tenth grade English teacher, Donna Bryan, who allowed me to open my mind and ask questions before accepting textbook doctrine, I would have been doomed. I am now enlightened, but my mind still feels disabled. I must retrain myself and constantly remember how insane this ostensibly sane place really is.
And now here I am in a world guided by fear, a world suppressing the uniqueness that lies inside each of us, a world where we can either acquiesce to the inhuman nonsense of corporatism and materialism or insist on change. We are not enlivened by an educational system that clandestinely sets us up for jobs that could be automated, for work that need not be done, for enslavement without fervency for meaningful achievement. We have no choices in life when money is our motivational force. Our motivational force ought to be passion, but this is lost from the moment we step into a system that trains us, rather than inspires us.
We are more than robotic bookshelves, conditioned to blurt out facts we were taught in school. We are all very special, every human on this planet is so special, so aren't we all deserving of something better, of using our minds for innovation, rather than memorization, for creativity, rather than futile activity, for rumination rather than stagnation? We are not here to get a degree, to then get a job, so we can consume industry-approved placation after placation. There is more, and more still.
The saddest part is that the majority of students don't have the opportunity to reflect as I did. The majority of students are put through the same brainwashing techniques in order to create a complacent labor force working in the interests of large corporations and secretive government, and worst of all, they are completely unaware of it. I will never be able to turn back these 18 years. I can't run away to another country with an education system meant to enlighten rather than condition. This part of my life is over, and I want to make sure that no other child will have his or her potential suppressed by powers meant to exploit and control. We are human beings. We are thinkers, dreamers, explorers, artists, writers, engineers. We are anything we want to be - but only if we have an educational system that supports us rather than holds us down. A tree can grow, but only if its roots are given a healthy foundation.
For those of you out there that must continue to sit in desks and yield to the authoritarian ideologies of instructors, do not be disheartened. You still have the opportunity to stand up, ask questions, be critical, and create your own perspective. Demand a setting that will provide you with intellectual capabilities that allow you to expand your mind instead of directing it. Demand that you be interested in class. Demand that the excuse, “You have to learn this for the test” is not good enough for you. Education is an excellent tool, if used properly, but focus more on learning rather than getting good grades.
For those of you that work within the system that I am condemning, I do not mean to insult; I intend to motivate. You have the power to change the incompetencies of this system. I know that you did not become a teacher or administrator to see your students bored. You cannot accept the authority of the governing bodies that tell you what to teach, how to teach it, and that you will be punished if you do not comply. Our potential is at stake.
For those of you that are now leaving this establishment, I say, do not forget what went on in these classrooms. Do not abandon those that come after you. We are the new future and we are not going to let tradition stand. We will break down the walls of corruption to let a garden of knowledge grow throughout America. Once educated properly, we will have the power to do anything, and best of all, we will only use that power for good, for we will be cultivated and wise. We will not accept anything at face value. We will ask questions, and we will demand truth.
So, here I stand. I am not standing here as valedictorian by myself. I was molded by my environment, by all of my peers who are sitting here watching me. I couldn't have accomplished this without all of you. It was all of you who truly made me the person I am today. It was all of you who were my competition, yet my backbone. In that way, we are all valedictorians.
I am now supposed to say farewell to this institution, those who maintain it, and those who stand with me and behind me, but I hope this farewell is more of a “see you later” when we are all working together to rear a pedagogic movement. But first, let's go get those pieces of paper that tell us that we're smart enough to do so!
(you can read more of Erica's thoughts and see comments on her speech on her blog America Via Erica)
Here I Stand
Erica Goldson
There is a story of a young, but earnest Zen student who approached his teacher, and asked the Master, "If I work very hard and diligently, how long will it take for me to find Zen? The Master thought about this, then replied, "Ten years . ." The student then said, "But what if I work very, very hard and really apply myself to learn fast -- How long then?" Replied the Master, "Well, twenty years." "But, if I really, really work at it, how long then?" asked the student. "Thirty years," replied the Master. "But, I do not understand," said the disappointed student. "At each time that I say I will work harder, you say it will take me longer. Why do you say that?" Replied the Master, "When you have one eye on the goal, you only have one eye on the path."
This is the dilemma I've faced within the American education system. We are so focused on a goal, whether it be passing a test, or graduating as first in the class. However, in this way, we do not really learn. We do whatever it takes to achieve our original objective.
Some of you may be thinking, “Well, if you pass a test, or become valedictorian, didn't you learn something? Well, yes, you learned something, but not all that you could have. Perhaps, you only learned how to memorize names, places, and dates to later on forget in order to clear your mind for the next test. School is not all that it can be. Right now, it is a place for most people to determine that their goal is to get out as soon as possible.
I am now accomplishing that goal. I am graduating. I should look at this as a positive experience, especially being at the top of my class. However, in retrospect, I cannot say that I am any more intelligent than my peers. I can attest that I am only the best at doing what I am told and working the system. Yet, here I stand, and I am supposed to be proud that I have completed this period of indoctrination. I will leave in the fall to go on to the next phase expected of me, in order to receive a paper document that certifies that I am capable of work. But I contest that I am a human being, a thinker, an adventurer – not a worker. A worker is someone who is trapped within repetition – a slave of the system set up before him. But now, I have successfully shown that I was the best slave. I did what I was told to the extreme. While others sat in class and doodled to later become great artists, I sat in class to take notes and become a great test-taker. While others would come to class without their homework done because they were reading about an interest of theirs, I never missed an assignment. While others were creating music and writing lyrics, I decided to do extra credit, even though I never needed it. So, I wonder, why did I even want this position? Sure, I earned it, but what will come of it? When I leave educational institutionalism, will I be successful or forever lost? I have no clue about what I want to do with my life; I have no interests because I saw every subject of study as work, and I excelled at every subject just for the purpose of excelling, not learning. And quite frankly, now I'm scared.
John Taylor Gatto, a retired school teacher and activist critical of compulsory schooling, asserts, “We could encourage the best qualities of youthfulness – curiosity, adventure, resilience, the capacity for surprising insight simply by being more flexible about time, texts, and tests, by introducing kids into truly competent adults, and by giving each student what autonomy he or she needs in order to take a risk every now and then. But we don't do that.” Between these cinderblock walls, we are all expected to be the same. We are trained to ace every standardized test, and those who deviate and see light through a different lens are worthless to the scheme of public education, and therefore viewed with contempt.
H. L. Mencken wrote in The American Mercury for April 1924 that the aim of public education is not to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence. ... Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim ... is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States. (Gatto)
To illustrate this idea, doesn't it perturb you to learn about the idea of “critical thinking.” Is there really such a thing as “uncritically thinking?” To think is to process information in order to form an opinion. But if we are not critical when processing this information, are we really thinking? Or are we mindlessly accepting other opinions as truth?
This was happening to me, and if it wasn't for the rare occurrence of an avant-garde tenth grade English teacher, Donna Bryan, who allowed me to open my mind and ask questions before accepting textbook doctrine, I would have been doomed. I am now enlightened, but my mind still feels disabled. I must retrain myself and constantly remember how insane this ostensibly sane place really is.
And now here I am in a world guided by fear, a world suppressing the uniqueness that lies inside each of us, a world where we can either acquiesce to the inhuman nonsense of corporatism and materialism or insist on change. We are not enlivened by an educational system that clandestinely sets us up for jobs that could be automated, for work that need not be done, for enslavement without fervency for meaningful achievement. We have no choices in life when money is our motivational force. Our motivational force ought to be passion, but this is lost from the moment we step into a system that trains us, rather than inspires us.
We are more than robotic bookshelves, conditioned to blurt out facts we were taught in school. We are all very special, every human on this planet is so special, so aren't we all deserving of something better, of using our minds for innovation, rather than memorization, for creativity, rather than futile activity, for rumination rather than stagnation? We are not here to get a degree, to then get a job, so we can consume industry-approved placation after placation. There is more, and more still.
The saddest part is that the majority of students don't have the opportunity to reflect as I did. The majority of students are put through the same brainwashing techniques in order to create a complacent labor force working in the interests of large corporations and secretive government, and worst of all, they are completely unaware of it. I will never be able to turn back these 18 years. I can't run away to another country with an education system meant to enlighten rather than condition. This part of my life is over, and I want to make sure that no other child will have his or her potential suppressed by powers meant to exploit and control. We are human beings. We are thinkers, dreamers, explorers, artists, writers, engineers. We are anything we want to be - but only if we have an educational system that supports us rather than holds us down. A tree can grow, but only if its roots are given a healthy foundation.
For those of you out there that must continue to sit in desks and yield to the authoritarian ideologies of instructors, do not be disheartened. You still have the opportunity to stand up, ask questions, be critical, and create your own perspective. Demand a setting that will provide you with intellectual capabilities that allow you to expand your mind instead of directing it. Demand that you be interested in class. Demand that the excuse, “You have to learn this for the test” is not good enough for you. Education is an excellent tool, if used properly, but focus more on learning rather than getting good grades.
For those of you that work within the system that I am condemning, I do not mean to insult; I intend to motivate. You have the power to change the incompetencies of this system. I know that you did not become a teacher or administrator to see your students bored. You cannot accept the authority of the governing bodies that tell you what to teach, how to teach it, and that you will be punished if you do not comply. Our potential is at stake.
For those of you that are now leaving this establishment, I say, do not forget what went on in these classrooms. Do not abandon those that come after you. We are the new future and we are not going to let tradition stand. We will break down the walls of corruption to let a garden of knowledge grow throughout America. Once educated properly, we will have the power to do anything, and best of all, we will only use that power for good, for we will be cultivated and wise. We will not accept anything at face value. We will ask questions, and we will demand truth.
So, here I stand. I am not standing here as valedictorian by myself. I was molded by my environment, by all of my peers who are sitting here watching me. I couldn't have accomplished this without all of you. It was all of you who truly made me the person I am today. It was all of you who were my competition, yet my backbone. In that way, we are all valedictorians.
I am now supposed to say farewell to this institution, those who maintain it, and those who stand with me and behind me, but I hope this farewell is more of a “see you later” when we are all working together to rear a pedagogic movement. But first, let's go get those pieces of paper that tell us that we're smart enough to do so!
Monday, August 2, 2010
Creating Community in the Classroom
During the Spring quarter, my cohort did their first Observation Week. I had the opportunity to observe in a fantastic elementary school with an amazing fourth grade teacher. I learned a lot that week: about creating lessons, discipline, and dedication. One of the most significant things I learned that week, however, was how important it is to create a sense of community in the classroom. Without it, teachers and students are just going through the prescribed motions. By creating a classroom community, the teacher is ensuring that students feel safe, validated, and important. It can be argued that more learning takes place in a class that is comfortable and a class in which the students feel safe. My observation teacher recommended an excellent series of texts which deal with the idea of building a classroom community. The first text in the series: Teaching Children to Care by Ruth Sidney Charney, gives a broad overview of different ways to build a community in the classroom. Each section is geared toward giving teachers the tools the need to incorporate a different component of community into their class.
After a brief introduction, the first section, entitled "Building a Learning Community" stresses the importance of the first six weeks of school. This section discusses practical ways to make and teach rules in the first six weeks, how to gradually open up the classroom to students, and how to develop a critical contract with students and parents that states the student's goals for the year. This section also deals with the idea of starting the morning with a designated Meeting Time to touch base with students. It also discusses teaching expectations to students and working out a system of rules as a class. In addition, the first section discusses creating a "Critical Contract" between students, the parents, and the teacher. This contract outlines the goals that each have for the student.
The next section, "Making the Community Work", discusses rules and rule making. This section goes in-depth about how to make rules as a class, using logical consequences when rules are broken, time out, what to do with the "five percent", and how the community can work together to support the rules. Charney mentions that this rule-making process may take several weeks. It is a process of collaboration and revision. The goal is to make a set of rules that both teacher and students can agree upon that provide guidelines for the class and reinforce the idea of community.
Next time: Sections Three and Four: The Voices of Teaching and Further Strategies for Difficult Classroom Behaviors.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
We might not be playing nintendo in a K-Mart but I need some help here. We want to make this blog more interactive so this is the official invitation TO YOU to become a follower and POST HERE! I need your help to make this blog better.Antioch students: let's represent. Help me show what our school is about by adding your thoughts to the blog please.
If you are an Antioch Student, in the Ed. department or not, or just want to talk about education email me and I will add you to the authors list.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Term One in Review
So I thought it might be nice to give a bit of re-cap on my classes now that the first term is through. I had a total of four classes: Educational Foundations, Technology in the Classroom, Human Development and Learning, and Curriculum and Instruction. I want to simply highlight some of the major issues/projects that came out of each class to give you an idea of what the experience was like.
Educational Foundations:
This course really examined the history and philosophy of education, both ours personally and that of the United States. In keeping with Antioch's focus on progressive education we read books such as John Gardner's Excellence, and Experience and Education by John Dewey. Our professor, Dr. Jayasri Ghosh, had some fantastic insight into the history of education as she was born and raised in India, a country which has been formally educating people for longer than the United States has been in existence. Coming from a country with such a long and varied history as India has she was able to provide great context and comparison for many of the topics that arose. I found it fascinating to learn about how the various shifts in economics, immigration, etc. during the early years of the U.S. played into our school system. There were many issues which I had assumed to be contemporary debates which in fact go back for decades. For example, with immigration issues today there seems to be a constant tension in our schools between teaching in English and teaching in a student's native tongue. This debate, which I had thought to be a product of contemporary immigration issues, actually began in the 1940's when large numbers of German immigrants were forced to abandon their German textbooks and German speaking schools to show their allegiance to the U.S. at the outbreak of WWII. Overall, this course struck a balance between looking at the impact of historical issues on education and exploring our own personal approaches to and theories regarding education.
Technology in the Classroom:
As you might have guessed, this course focused on the roll of technology in the classroom. The content was a cross between investigating uses of technology in the classroom and the philosophical issues that arise around equity and equality in the use of such an expensive resource. We made use of technology in multiple projects for this class from learning the basics of WEB 2.0 to creating wikis and Webquests (essentially web-based guided inquiry lessons). Click the pictures to see a couple of the Webquests. Here's one from Sarah Abshire investigating citizenship-
and this one is mine looking at history and rock and roll-
I enjoyed this class and especially enjoyed the fact that we had opportunities to produce things we can use in future classrooms (such as the webquests).
Human Development and Learning:
This class was great in many respects. Being a psychology class it was taught by a psychology professor but he was clearly invested in applying the info to education so we had a fair amount of latitude to focus our work on what was relevant to us. This course was more lecture based than some others but that's sort of unavoidable with so much information to present. Most clas
ses consisted of two elements: 1) A student presenting on one of the major contributors to the fields of developmental and educational psychology, and 2) An activity-based discussion group focusing on one of our texts, Childhood and Nature. This book makes the case that we need to promote, through our educational system, more connection between people and their communities and people and nature. Considering the host of environmental issues facing our world today I found this book to be particularly applicable as well as well written and interesting.
Curriculum and Instruction-
As evidenced by the title, this class explored the basics of curriculum and instruction. We looked at topics such as the relationship between what you teach and how you teach, different instructional techniques and different types of curricula. This was one class in which I had an adjunct professor, Patricia De La Osa, and realized what a great opportunity that can provide because the professor who was teaching us about teaching in the evenings was actually spending every day teaching in a public school. As far as 'real world' application goes this was one of the best classes I have had. We did a fair number of activities around the basics of lesson planning, using Washington State educational guidelines, etc... We also reflected upon our own experiences as students, what types of influences have been present in our lives and how those will affect our approaches to teaching. Finally, one of the best parts of this class was the tone that the professor set, the class was great to be in every week and Patrice mixed in the occasional pep talk (such as the video below) for good measure.
Now that term two is off and running I will be back to posting every week so keep tuned. We are also working on getting other students to post about their experience so hopefully we will begin to get more voices than just mine!
All the best,
Mike
Educational Foundations:
This course really examined the history and philosophy of education, both ours personally and that of the United States. In keeping with Antioch's focus on progressive education we read books such as John Gardner's Excellence, and Experience and Education by John Dewey. Our professor, Dr. Jayasri Ghosh, had some fantastic insight into the history of education as she was born and raised in India, a country which has been formally educating people for longer than the United States has been in existence. Coming from a country with such a long and varied history as India has she was able to provide great context and comparison for many of the topics that arose. I found it fascinating to learn about how the various shifts in economics, immigration, etc. during the early years of the U.S. played into our school system. There were many issues which I had assumed to be contemporary debates which in fact go back for decades. For example, with immigration issues today there seems to be a constant tension in our schools between teaching in English and teaching in a student's native tongue. This debate, which I had thought to be a product of contemporary immigration issues, actually began in the 1940's when large numbers of German immigrants were forced to abandon their German textbooks and German speaking schools to show their allegiance to the U.S. at the outbreak of WWII. Overall, this course struck a balance between looking at the impact of historical issues on education and exploring our own personal approaches to and theories regarding education.
Technology in the Classroom:
As you might have guessed, this course focused on the roll of technology in the classroom. The content was a cross between investigating uses of technology in the classroom and the philosophical issues that arise around equity and equality in the use of such an expensive resource. We made use of technology in multiple projects for this class from learning the basics of WEB 2.0 to creating wikis and Webquests (essentially web-based guided inquiry lessons). Click the pictures to see a couple of the Webquests. Here's one from Sarah Abshire investigating citizenship-
and this one is mine looking at history and rock and roll-
I enjoyed this class and especially enjoyed the fact that we had opportunities to produce things we can use in future classrooms (such as the webquests).
Human Development and Learning:
This class was great in many respects. Being a psychology class it was taught by a psychology professor but he was clearly invested in applying the info to education so we had a fair amount of latitude to focus our work on what was relevant to us. This course was more lecture based than some others but that's sort of unavoidable with so much information to present. Most clas
ses consisted of two elements: 1) A student presenting on one of the major contributors to the fields of developmental and educational psychology, and 2) An activity-based discussion group focusing on one of our texts, Childhood and Nature. This book makes the case that we need to promote, through our educational system, more connection between people and their communities and people and nature. Considering the host of environmental issues facing our world today I found this book to be particularly applicable as well as well written and interesting.Curriculum and Instruction-
As evidenced by the title, this class explored the basics of curriculum and instruction. We looked at topics such as the relationship between what you teach and how you teach, different instructional techniques and different types of curricula. This was one class in which I had an adjunct professor, Patricia De La Osa, and realized what a great opportunity that can provide because the professor who was teaching us about teaching in the evenings was actually spending every day teaching in a public school. As far as 'real world' application goes this was one of the best classes I have had. We did a fair number of activities around the basics of lesson planning, using Washington State educational guidelines, etc... We also reflected upon our own experiences as students, what types of influences have been present in our lives and how those will affect our approaches to teaching. Finally, one of the best parts of this class was the tone that the professor set, the class was great to be in every week and Patrice mixed in the occasional pep talk (such as the video below) for good measure.
Now that term two is off and running I will be back to posting every week so keep tuned. We are also working on getting other students to post about their experience so hopefully we will begin to get more voices than just mine!
All the best,
Mike
Monday, June 14, 2010
How do we 'Take out the Negatives'?
Check out this clip from last year's meeting of the Texas State School Board.
This year Texas has adopted new social studies standards which have got many people, both in Texas and elsewhere, wondering if the process of curriculum hasn't gotten a bit too political. According to the Seattle Times (see the full article here), some of the more controversial changes in the new curriculum are-
Teachers in other states, especially those who may not share the conservative views of the Texas board, have an interest at stake here as well. Not only will Texas educate a whopping 4.8 million students over the next ten years (the length of time before the next revision), but "The standards also will be used by textbook publishers nationwide who often develop materials for other states based on guidelines approved in Texas."
So, is it bad to take a critical approach to our history? Should we try and 'take out the negatives?' Or do we just hope that ten years from now the political climate in Texas is more moderate?
This year Texas has adopted new social studies standards which have got many people, both in Texas and elsewhere, wondering if the process of curriculum hasn't gotten a bit too political. According to the Seattle Times (see the full article here), some of the more controversial changes in the new curriculum are-
- Downplay of the "rationale for separation of church and state", specifically requiring students to study the fact that those words were not in the Constitution
- "strengthened requirements on teaching the Judeo-Christian influences of the nation's Founding Fathers"
- "[requiring that] the U.S. government be referred to as a 'constitutional republic,' rather than 'democratic.'"
- Requiring students to "evaluate efforts by global organizations such as the United Nations to undermine U.S. sovereignty."
- And rejecting "language to modernize the classification of historic periods to B.C.E. (before common era) and C.E. (common era) from the traditional B.C. and A.D"
Teachers in other states, especially those who may not share the conservative views of the Texas board, have an interest at stake here as well. Not only will Texas educate a whopping 4.8 million students over the next ten years (the length of time before the next revision), but "The standards also will be used by textbook publishers nationwide who often develop materials for other states based on guidelines approved in Texas."
So, is it bad to take a critical approach to our history? Should we try and 'take out the negatives?' Or do we just hope that ten years from now the political climate in Texas is more moderate?
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Some Pros and Cons of Living in the City
I spent my earlier childhood in a rural town of about 12,000 people. Needless to say, it was a small place. Somewhat recently, for reasons I will never fully comprehend, my parents moved back to this town. By way of context, allow me to relate that they recently drove two and a half hours to go to the nearest scrapbooking store. It was closed. I'm sure when they got there they said something like, "Oh well. No big deal. It's only 137 miles back home."
That's just how life is sometimes. When the nearest Taco Bell is over 60 miles away you adjust to a different pace of life. A place which rarely includes people saying things like "I'm going next door for a latte, would you like a double or triple?", or (speaking into their I-phone) "Sorry I can't make pillates tonight, the Escalade broke down so I have to take the monorail home and get the Saab to pick up (insert trendy child's name here, aka Vance or Affinity) from ski school." In my hometown 'next door' is more likely to be a feedlot than a Starbucks (and I mean 'feedlot' in the literal sense, i.e., a noisy, steamy crowded place where large numbers of bovine creatures consume inordinate amounts of food; as opposed to the sense in which a Starbucks could be termed a 'feedlot', i.e., a noisy steamy place where large numbers of suburban creatures consume inordinate amounts of caffeine).
One is more likely in my hometown to overhear other more colorful phrases, such as those my dad used to describe a neighboring town once (which, for reasons of appropriateness, I will refrain from repeating here). On the evening in question my father, who is by rule a frugal man, had decided to splurge a bit and take the family to the rodeo. However this was no ordinary row-day-oh. This was the Pendleton Roundup, one of the largest rodeos on earth and -along with Taco Bell and the state prison- the only discernable reason for the town of Pendleton's existence. So as soon as school was out we piled into the family car and slogged the seventy miles through an early season snow storm to find that we had missed the rodeo by a good three hours. I can tell you with certainty that on this occasion my father was not thinking "Oh well. No big deal. It's only seventy miles back home."
After we got over our disappointment, we headed to Diary Queen for some dinner.
They were closed.
So coming from this modest background I have noticed some distinct pros and cons to living in Seattle. On the whole I love this place but bear in mind that I am not used to seeing more than thirty people in one place unless it is the annual Farming and Ranching Vehicles Parade.
Mike's Love/Hate list-
Pro: Everything is close in the city, there are no less than Six Safeway's within 3 miles of my house
Con: It still take 20 minutes to get to any of them because of traffic
Pro: There is tons of cool stuff to do, especially downtown
Con: I paid 78 dollars for parking last week because I didn't realize that the asphalt lot I had parked in was actually owned by two different parking companies and if you park on one side of the lot but buy your ticket from the machine on the other side because the machine near your car is broken, you get a ticket
Pro: Seattle has some great local restaurants and companies, and tons of great coffee
Con: Seattle has some ridiculously huge corporations and franchises, especially coffee. You can't spray a hose in a 9 foot circle without hitting ten different Starbucks. There is a shopping center near UW that literally has 5 different Starbucks in about 4 blocks.
Pro: I've never lived anywhere with pro sports teams and Seattle loves their teams
Con: Love is not enough to win a game. I have still never lived anywhere with a decent pro team
Con: It rains too much.
So there you have it. My thoughts on Seattle.
Until next time, boycott IMpark!
They were closed.
So coming from this modest background I have noticed some distinct pros and cons to living in Seattle. On the whole I love this place but bear in mind that I am not used to seeing more than thirty people in one place unless it is the annual Farming and Ranching Vehicles Parade.
Mike's Love/Hate list-
Pro: Everything is close in the city, there are no less than Six Safeway's within 3 miles of my house
Con: It still take 20 minutes to get to any of them because of traffic
Pro: There is tons of cool stuff to do, especially downtown
Con: I paid 78 dollars for parking last week because I didn't realize that the asphalt lot I had parked in was actually owned by two different parking companies and if you park on one side of the lot but buy your ticket from the machine on the other side because the machine near your car is broken, you get a ticket
Pro: Seattle has some great local restaurants and companies, and tons of great coffee
Con: Seattle has some ridiculously huge corporations and franchises, especially coffee. You can't spray a hose in a 9 foot circle without hitting ten different Starbucks. There is a shopping center near UW that literally has 5 different Starbucks in about 4 blocks.
Pro: I've never lived anywhere with pro sports teams and Seattle loves their teams
Con: Love is not enough to win a game. I have still never lived anywhere with a decent pro team
Con: It rains too much.
So there you have it. My thoughts on Seattle.
Until next time, boycott IMpark!
Monday, May 10, 2010
What I Learned In Middle School
I once put a small pillow on top of an open toilet seat and thought I could stand on it to get a drink. As it turns out, I couldn't. My feet plungered the delicately embroidered couch pillow straight to the bottom of the bowl and I fell backwards pawing and grasping at the air in a vain attempt to stop my fall. Despite my best efforts, no amount of awkward arm cartwheeling could slow the descent of my head toward the counter. I flailed my arms like an inflatable lawn character in a hurricane, but it was to no avail. I hit my head on the counter, had a concussion and spent the night throwing up on myself in the hospital. I never did get that drink. What's the point here? It's amazing what we can convince ourselves of if we put our mind to it.
I spent the past week observing classes in a local middle school. I learned many very valuable lessons in this time. For example, before I even started I learned that we aren't allowed to take any pictures of the children (for obvious privacy law reasons); and on the first morning I learned that cheap cologne can not even begin to cover the smell of cigarette smoke (again, amazing what we can convince ourselves of). Overall the experience was fantastic and I learned that I have a special place in my heart for that stilted and awkward stage of life known as ''middle school." People in the past have speculated that those who go into professions working in schools do so because they never wanted to leave school themselves. Sounds about right.
I will write more about what we did and what I learned in the classroom but for now allow me to leave you with some pictures of the great students and teachers I met at Eckstein Middle School.
(Aren't they a good looking bunch?)
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Classes so Far
So, at this point you might be asking yourself "Self, what are classes at Antioch like?" Well if you are, than this is the blog post for you! Now that classes have been going strong for a couple weeks allow me to share a bit about what they have been like thus far.
AUS's GTP (that's "Antioch University Seattle" and "Graduate Teacher Preparation" for those of you who may not be acronym inclined) classes are scheduled for students who are working while going to school. To that end, typical classes are on Tuesday and Thursday nights from 4-9:30pm. There are occasional exceptions. For example, I have a class meeting three times throughout this quarter on Wednesday nights, it's an integration seminar so does not meet as regularly as other courses.
The first term classes are fairly standard, I am taking an Educational Foundations course, Human Development and Learning, Technology in the Classroom, and Curriculum and Instruction (in addition to the seminar). They are all great and I have found that I really enjoy having a mix of core faculty and adjunct faculty members. This term my classes are 3 and 2: three are taught by adjunct professors and two are with core faculty. What I realized is that there is a great advantage to having some of your basic courses (like curriculum and instruction, for example) taught by someone who not only has a Doctorate in Education but is also currently teaching in a Seattle school. There's a great balance of perspective in the program thus far, balance between the theoretical side of things and the hands-on view of people who are actually teaching in public schools today. I like that.
The only serious difficulty of the program to this point has been keeping up with the reading. There is a lot of it. This is a graduate level program and they don't let you forget it but they do help you get through it. We had a nice little pep-talk from one professor last week about the work-load and this professor (who shall remain nameless) really summed up their philosophy in two pieces: A) Deal with it, get the reading done. And, B) If you can't, the sun will still rise tomorrow. After all, that's why we have coffee right?
'Till next time,
Mike
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Curriculum Controversy, are we 'Suing Math Because it's Hard'?
In case you haven't heard, earlier this year there was a lawsuit filed against the Seattle Public Schools over their decision to implement a new math curriculum. This new curriculum, Discovery Math, was a departure from traditional direct-instruction techniques and instead focused on group work, discussions and case studies as part of an overall inquiry-based approach. This type of curriculum has been implemented with great success in some areas (see Measuring reform practices in science and mathematics classrooms, Sawada et.al.) but the results apparently weren't up to snuff here.
I won't go into detail (you can Google 'Seattle math lawsuit' and find all the details) but the long and short of it is that it flopped worse than Art Garfunkel's solo career. This upset some folks, understandably, and they decided to file a lawsuit against the school district. And they won.
There are some very legitimate reasons why people were upset, for example the Washington State Board of Education reviewed the curriculum and found it to be 'unsound', however the final decision was left to the district. On the other hand, according to Antioch University education faculty member Darlene York, inquiry-based curriculum have been implemented with fantastic success in other large cities in America. In one example the new curriculum raised test scores amongst minority students by over 10% in one year. So, what went wrong in Seattle? Lack of training and support for teachers implementing a new style? Lack of patience with a new learning process (maybe things would have improved over time)? Or are we simply, as one online commenter put it, "suing math because it's hard?"
Clearly there are larger questions of equity and teaching practice at play here that we can't begin to answer in a blog posting, but at the end of the day these are the situations that face teachers in today's world; those of us considering careers in education would be wise to join the discussion.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
How I Got Here, (or "expanding the universe of suckable objects"
Do you ever have those moments where you stop and wonder how did I get here? Generally, it seems, one reads of these moments in fairly extreme circumstances; such as the hiker who goes out for a two-hour romp and ends up lost and shivering in a tree well 12 hours later. Or the classic rock fan who belatedly realizes that they bought tickets to see Bob Saget. My own most recent moment of curiosity came this morning while I was riding the bus. As I was reading one of my textbooks I came across the sentence: "This transformation of her sucking schema makes it more effective, expanding the universe of suckable objects" (from The Development of Children. by Lightfoot, et.all.). I couldn't help but wonder, how is it that I -a twenty something guy from small town Oregon who planned to live a vagabonding life until at least age thirty five- came to be riding a bus into downtown Seattle for graduate school in teaching and reading about the universe of suckable objects? Well, let me tell you.
After six years as an undergraduate student I realized that my financial aid was approaching it's limit, so I finished school and did the first thing most people do when they finally attain their Bachelor's degree in a Liberal Arts field: got a job in a coffee shop. About a year later, I decided it was time to do the second thing most people who hold undergrad degrees in the Liberal Arts do: go to graduate school. In all seriousness though, I took what might be termed a 'wandering' path through six years and four colleges worth of undergraduate classes. I eventually majored in Outdoor and Experiential Education which was exciting, challenging and spoke to my passion for working with young people and being active. However, after a few years of working seasonal/temporary jobs in the recreation industry (both during and after school) I realized that I was quickly tiring of the seasonal lifestyle. I began to look for the next step.
I had been interested in education for years but essentially just didn't have the gumption to get my ducks in a row earlier in life so it was only natural that I began to think about becoming a 'traditional' teacher at this point. I moved to Seattle in the fall and began simultaneously job searching and looking for education programs. Downtown one afternoon I parked in front of a university named Antioch and went across the street for a job interview. After the interview I stepped into the Antioch to see if they offered a Masters in Education degree; two months later I found myself riding the bus back downtown for my first week of classes. I was doing some intro reading for my Developmental Psychology class which included an expostulation on Jean Piaget's theory of Constructivism using the example of an infant exploring what objects are or are not suitable for oral fixation, which brings us back to the beginning and the "universe of suckable objects."
My goal is to report and reflect in this blog on my experience as an Antioch student in the Graduate Teacher Preparation program. I plan to post at least once a week to begin with, so keep your eyes out for new information. My hopes for all who follow this blog are to provide you with first-hand information about the program, happenings in the world of education and the joys and challenges facing today's students in the field of education. As you read please feel free to comment on anything and everything, I would love to hear about your experiences as well as thoughts or questions you might have.
Best,
Mike
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)