The extra mile...

I have learned a lot this year about many different things in education. The one thing that I believe makes one teacher different from another is how much she or he cares for their individual students. I have witnessed many teachers who wait the whole day for that final bell to ring and they can finally go home. The very few teachers who I look up to are the ones who come early to school and stay after to provide one student with the extra help they need. The difference between a good teacher and an ok teacher is the amount of effort that is put into their job. Being a teacher is not just a job, it is the way to the future for many of that teacher's students. A teacher can either make a good impression, or a bad one, and hopefully I am going to one of the few teachers that wants and desires to go the extra mile.

How do you deal with problem children?

What are teachers supposed to do with problem children? I have had much experience at an afterschool program where I have definitely seem the quintessential problem child. What my boss decided to do with one of the worst of them, was ask the parent of that child to discontinue enrollment at the end of the month. My boss said it was better for the group as a whole if that child was not there. I do not know if I completely agree with that but even so I do not know what to think about it. At an elementary school, a teacher can not just as a child to leave the school! After talking to a teacher about the subject, she suggested to put that child in charge of special activities. For instance, if the teacher was going out of the room, the “problem child” would be in charge of writing down names of the children who disobeyed the rules. I have also heard of the problem child being in charge of many jobs in the classroom. The particular teacher said she recalled an incident when one of the other children came up to her and asked, “Why did ****** get to have a job this week when he already had one last week and the week before that?” She had given him many jobs because he concentrated more on the jobs than making trouble in the classroom. Also I have seen teachers who when there children get in trouble in the classroom, they have to go sit in another teacher’s classroom. By doing this, it creates a lot of embarrassment for the child but also keeps him away from valuable instructional time. There has to be a better way of reaching those children who are just a little bit harder to deal with. Do you have any suggestions?

Is Elearning the way of the future?

I have had the opportunity of taking Elearning classes in the past during the summers in between Spring and Fall classes at Auburn. It was definitely a good experience because I did not have to go to class, I could choose my own study times, I had flexibility on when I completed my assignments, I could balance working and taking a class, and transferring credits was extremely easy. When I saw the word e-learning, I only thought about college classes. Now, I understand that even students in elementary and middle school can take Elearning classes. Somehow that baffles me because I can foresee troubles with students not having enough discipline to complete assignments on their own time and keeping up with homework. It was even hard for me to keep it all straight. I had to train myself to schedule time to complete all of my assignments for class. It was hard for me to do all of the work without having someone to remind me to do it. For students, teachers can remind their students five times about an assignment and sometimes it still does not get completed. Do not get me wrong, I love that Elearning is being offered to students below the college level. For some students who need advanced classes and they are not offered at their school, I believe it is wonderful! I am so glad someone came up with the idea that students can have a way to challenge themselves even if it is not at their particular school. Without having the hassle of changing schools, these students are offered a way to better themselves with disturbance. I believe these classes are teaching students discipline and I think more should be offered. What do you think about Elearning? Is it going to take the place of schools some day?

Tinkerplots!

After working with a marvelous math program for the past week, I would definitely like to use it in my classroom. For the past four days I have spent 10 hours playing with this particular math program called Tinkerplots. It is absolutely amazing! There are different groups of data that can be displayed in different plots with the program. There is a plot where students can analyze all of the different multiplication facts and look at the similarities between them. For instance, the similarities between 5’s and 10’s on the times table. It is a very good way to make math investigative and fascinating. I also looked at data collected for the different weights of backpacks compared the the weights of children who carried them. My thinking was the higher the grade, the more the backpack weighed. I was correct for the most part, but the interesting thing I learned was that a child’s backpack is not supposed to weight more than 15% of their body weight. I changed the graph and looked at weight of the backpack compared to the appropriate backpack weight for each child. This is a great program to make children interested in math. I spend hours on the program learning things just through investigation, without being told. There is a button on the program that can instantly give the mean of any group of numbers. Students can also sort the data by gender or any category available. Some of the other data I looked at compared men and women and their times in the 100 meter dash in every year the Olympics had been recorded. From the different graphs I studied, I could see that the men have stayed about a second faster than women ever since the Olympics began. There are so many different things to look at with the program and most of the data sets than students can look at are already programed in. Students can also record data themselves and enter it into the program. This program is a wonderful piece of technology that every teacher should have the chance to have in their classroom. If you ever have the chance to explore Tinkerplots, please do because it was an amazing experience and I truly hope I can acquire it for my classroom!

New Technology

I was helping a 3rd grade student at an after school program the other day and she said she needed to go to the computer lab to make a powerpoint presentation. I was a little blown away that a 3rd grader would have to make a powerpoint presentation in one of her classes but it was not stretching my mind too far. We started working and she dowloaded a sound clip from her e-mail that she pulled up and added it to her powerpoint. That is when I was trully baffled. I had no idea what to think. I then proceded to ask her how she did it and she went step-by-step with me of how she learned to put sound clips in her powerpoint presentations. When I was in third grade, hunt and peck was definitely around and powerpoint, internet, or e-mail was no where in sight. She has successfully mastered all three of them. I do not even know why I went in the computer lab to help her because she was the one teaching me! Anyway, I wanted to tell you that story to let you see how much technology has changed since I was in school. It is really amazing the programs children are learning at such an early age now. I went in one school where first graders were learning how to type poems on Microsoft Word. Students are learning more about the internet, and ways to navigate it than ever before. There are now SmartBoards in classrooms where projectors used to be. Now teachers can be thousands of miles apart from their students and still teach over the internet. There are so many things that are changing that I can not keep up with them. If i had all of those technologies when I was in primary school, I can not fathom where I would be now. If this is how far we have reached in ten years, then I can not imagine how much more the technology is going to grow in the next few years.

Do I have to go to school?

There is at least a little something you can do for parents who do no help their children with homework. I would come before school or stay after school with the children to make sure they understand the concepts I am teaching in class. But, what do you do with a parent that does not make their child come to school, or lets them leave school for a haircut or just to go home? This particular child misses about one day a week from school. After talking with her mother it doesn’t seem as if it is a problem to her. Her grades are not suffering. She just does not want to come to school because it is boring for her. She asks her mother if she can stay home, and she says “yes”. For instance, at the end of the school year last year, this girl did not want to go to school for the last week in school because she said they would not be doing anything. Her mother let her stay home for a week. It has gotten to the point where she is keeping count of the days she goes to school so she will have enough days to move on the next grade. Truancy charges obviously do not threaten her. How do you convince a parent that it is important for their child to go to school to learn? When she arrives at college and sees that if she does not go to class, her grade drops or she does not pass the class, then it might be evident that going to school is important. Nothing anyone says has been able to convince this parent that school attendance is important. It has gotten so bad that other students are noticing and not wanting to come to school either. “If ******* does not have to come to school, why should I?” I do not know what else to tell her or her mother. If you have any suggestions, they would be greatly appreciated.

Horror Story

A few weeks ago I made a trip to a school about 30 minutes away for to go observe in a 3rd grade classroom. I already knew upon arriving that this particular school was going to be very small because the town was made up of around 12,000 people. I went in very optimistic. That was definitely no the way I came out. The building was in very good condition and was built only about three years ago because their last school burned to the ground. The actual school was not the problem. The sad thing is that the teacher ended up to be the horror story I came back with. One of my colleagues and I were very excited when we came to “Ms. Good’s” classroom. We walked in and there were only five students in there. I knew the school was small but I did not realize it was that small. Anyway, I saw Ms. Good in the corner of the room and half expected her to invite us in to her classroom. She said “I didn’t know yall’d be coming till about five minutes ago.” My colleague and I walked in and went to the table Ms. Good was sitting. She did not even stand up to welcome us or introduce herself. I gathered her name from the name plate on the door. We told her how glad we were to be here and were wondering if she would give us a list of the children’s names so we can make nametags for them to know their names better. We realized we needed the names written down after we heard the students calling each other’s names. I had no idea how their names were spelled. She replied “I would get up and get you a list, but that’s just how lazy I am.” My jaw dropped and I was baffled. We asked if we could talk to her for a couple of minutes to have some information on her classroom and students. She told her five students to go play games on the computer (as they were doing when we arrived). It was horrendous. The room was in complete disarray. The desks were in no particular formation, there were cubby holes on one wall that were packed so full you could not fit another piece of paper in them, and we had to tip-toe just to be able to walk around. You can imagine that the interview did not get any better. I came out of there completely shocked because I did not know there were teachers like her that existed in the world. It made me completely grateful for the school system in Auburn. If I were her, I would have been delighted to only have five students to concentrate on and give more undivided attention to. She did not see it that way. She saw having only five students as a waste because there were only five instead of fifteen or twenty? Why only teach to five students? I absolutely could not believe it. This was definitely a learning experience and made me see why some students do fall through the cracks when they come from teachers as Ms. Good. I felt horrible for those students. That particular day I learned definitely was teaching was not and by meeting her, it made me more fired up about teaching than ever.

Autonomy

When do children decide for themselves that homework and studying are both important parts of school and they should do it without being told? When do students decide that they have to study to be able to do well on a test? When do students decide that doing well in school sets the tone and helps them excel for the rest of their life? When does the light bulb go off where children decide to be more independent when it comes to their education or any other aspects of their life? I was speaking with a group of teachers the other day and we were discussing this very issue. Students now would rather watch TV and play video games rather than do well in school. I remember back when I was in school and I do not ever remember my parents having to tell me to go to my room and study for a test of to go do my homework. I always wanted to do those things to make myself better. Why have some students lost their self-motivation? Why do they not want to better themselves? It is beyond me and I wish I knew the answer. I wish there was something teachers could do to light this fire under students to make then desire to read and desire to do well in class and try to succeed. I am not talking about all students because some did receive this trait as most teachers did when they were younger. I am talking about the other students who do not seem to care if they succeed or not. If there is something you know of they will encourage students to want to do some of these things for themselves, please let me know. Until then I will keep encouraging my students to study and work hard for themselves.

Graduate School or not?

Should teachers, as soon as they graduate from their prestigious institution, go back to school for their master's degree right away, wait a few years and then go back, or do not strive for it at all? Or should you go for your master's while you are teaching? This is the particular delimma I am facing. There are so many different possiblities that I am having trouble deciding what I should do! From many professors I have definitely heard both sides of the coin on whether to wait or go for your master's right away. Every teacher definitely seems to have a very strong opinion concerning timelyness of graduate school. Here are the opinions I have weighed:

- Immediately go get my Master's:
- I would be more educated and more specialized to benefit my students.
- Higher pay scale
- Less likely to aquire a job during this hard economy.

- Teach for a few years and then go back:
-I would experience that might be helpful during grad school.
- Since I would be used to the steady income with teaching, it might be hard to give that up
and go back to school.
- I believe I would have a better chance of being hired back with experience than without.

- Master's while teaching:
- It would take longer to achieve master's.
- Challenging when first time teacher.

One professor made the point of saying "not too many school systems want to pay $6,000 more a year for a teacher who does not have any experience." I can see his point. Also, I do believe teaching experience would help when having success in graduate school. But on the other hand, I believe I would like to finish school completely and then start teaching. This is the particular delimma that has been troubling me for many months. Any suggestions would be very helpful! Thanks!

Inquiry in Teaching

While teaching, I have learned a lot concerning inquiry teaching in science versus traditional teaching methods. When I was in elementary school, most concepts were told to me instead of me having a chance to learn for myself. By doing this, it made me have to memorize concepts instead of really understanding them. The problem with that was that my memory did not always serve me well years later. I desire for my students to truly understand what we try to accomplish in class instead of me telling them what to know or learn. I had a student the other day who I was helping with a problem and she finally came to the correct answer by guessing. I told her it was correct but asked her to explain to me how she knew it was the correct answer. She said, "I have it correct, what else do you want?" I wanted her to understand how she came to that answer instead of just guessing it was the correct answer. "It is about the process more than the product," as one of my teachers used to say. When students have a chance to construct their own knowledge, it becomes more memorable. With inquiry-based teaching, children have a chance to question and explore for themselves. They get to learn by hands-on methods rather than a teacher telling them what to remember. Concerning the little girl with her math homework, she remembered what her teacher said to do concerning estimating, but she did not know at all what it meant. She had no idea why her answer was right or wrong. Teachers need to do more experimenting and building a child's natural curiousity to learn to get students engaged about what teachers are trying to instill in their mind.

Please just be fair...

Lately, I have been observing in a local middle school in a math class. For the three periods I am there, there are three different kinds of classes: grade-level, advanced, and inclusion. After many debates with my friends and family, I have not come to a decision yet on what I think about splitting children up according to their achievement. One day stands out in particular when I was observing the math teacher and she was teaching her students about area. For example, for the grade-level class, she taught them about the area for a square, rectangle, and triangle and did a sufficient amount of practice problems. For the advanced class, she did all of the above and added area for irregular shapes and included an extra worksheet for more practice. For the inclusion class, the teacher talked about the area of a square, and barely was introduced to the area of a rectangle. They completed one practice problem in class. Which class even had the opportunity to learn more? I believe some of the students are being left out on part of their education just because they were put in a specific class. Some of the students in the inclusion class are just there for support for the students with disabilities. Are they receiving a fair education? I do not like to put it this way, but it seems like the smart students are getting smarter and the other students are staying the same or falling back. I just do not believe it is fair. After helping many of the inclusion students, they understand math problems just the same as the students in the grade-level or advanced classes. Also, these students are branded as being dumber because of what class they are in. I believe it is just horrible. I do not know if it would work, but if all classes were mixed, then I believe the inclusion students would learn so much more from the students around them. This is a hopeful situation but I am not sure how it would play out. I just do not think the way they have the classes split up is fair to some students.

Broccoli and Reading

After being around children for a while, I have noticed that it has become a chore instead of a pleasure for some children to do their reading homework. Who ever told them that reading was not fun? Who ever told them that it was not cool? I do not know the answers to these questions but I think someone needs to stop spreading rumors. The same feeling some children get when they see broccoli is the same facial expression they get when their teacher asks them to read 20 minutes a night. 20 minutes... that is all! With my students, I really do hope to instill a love for reading. When I am talking about children not wanting to read, I am not talking about all children. I know one little girl who would rather read all afternoon than do anything else. Every so often she will pop up and tell me about a wonderful part in her book or the occasional outburst of laughter will tickle all who are near. I believe she is a wonderful example for her fellow students, and she definitely gets noticed. I remember when I was doing my five days of pre-teaching and I was placed in this fifth grade classroom for reading. Every day the students would have quiet time where they would read to themselves. While they were doing so, the teacher was catching up on her planning for the rest of the day. Even though the teacher expressed how much she absolutely loved to read, her actions do not say so. What I believe would have been better to do was read along with her students and show them your love for reading rather than just telling them. Actions speak louder than words don't they? Anyway, I really believe that it is the responsibility of the teachers to show their students that being able to read and discovering so many things from books is the bomb! Teachers need to be an example and show their love for reading rather than just tell about it.

"What the peanut butter and jelly?"

Have you ever gone into the schools and noticed how many times "What the ___?" is said by students in one day? They rarely finish the sentence, but I feel it is just as bad as if they did. They say it whenever they feel like it, even if it does not fit the situation. For example, if a child can not figure out a multiplication problem, then look confused and frustrated and say "What the ___?" I don't understand it. "What the macaroni and cheese?" "What the steak and gravy?" I have wondered how they finish the sentence if they weren't around me or other elders who would undoubtedly punish them for not even completing the sentence. Oh, do not even start to think this is all your little angel says at school. I have heard so many interesting things that I can't even fathom to understand what they are trying to say. It is like they have invented their own pronunciation of some derogatory term they have heard on TV. It is almost like the "My bad" trend of the "Girlfriend!!" trend that has thankfully passed. These phrases were just annoying and seemed to come after every sentence. I guess I should be thankful because I havn't heard them used in a derogatory way. All day long I am playing a game to try and figure out what they are saying and trying to decipher whether it was meant to be bad or not. Teachers and parents need to work together to show students that even know a word or phrase is said on TV, doesn't mean that it is right or appropriate to repeat. If I were a parent, I would definitely not like to hear about my child saying "What the ___?" even if they don't finish the sentence. It is bad enough all by itself.

the little "c" within the circle

Lately, I have been reading up on Copyright guidelines particularly for schools and teachers. It has gotten me extremely paranoid! There are so many things you can not copy or show to your class because of copyright. Before I started reading this book, I did not really pay much attention to the little "c" within the circle. It was just something that was always there. Well, let me tell you, that little "c" can cost your school or district a lot of money if someone notices you not noticing it. Example #1: If I went to the teacher workroom and copied a sheet out of a workbook for my students, it is illegal. The problem here is distribution. You are not supposed to distribute copies of a copyrighted material. Example #2: One day I want to show my students a movie for good behavior...illegal. You cannot show a movie in a public place. You can show in your own home with your family but not with others. Example #3: One day, I was looking at my bulletin board and decided it looked a little sparce. So, I went on a website and pulled up an image and printed it out. I then proceded to blow it up on the projector so I could actually get an image big enough to fit on my bulletin board. You guessed it... illegal. And finally the problem is adaptation of a copyrighted material. There are so many guidelines that you have to go by to keep up with copyright. What you are supposed to do, if you would like to copy something out of a book or anything, is contact the copyright holder and ask for permission. Can you imagine asking permission for all of the things teachers copy in a day? I know I can't!

Dress Codes

Since I went to private school for fourteen years of my life, some people assume I had to wear a uniform for school. I most certainly did not. We had a vote in 10th grade whether or not we wanted uniforms. You can imagine the outcome of a10th grade vote on the subject. Anyway, now I see why some schools are switching to uniforms for school. I see so many students in the elementary schools who are wearing T-shirts that have alcohol advertised or suggestive comments. Even though they might not think any thing of it, it will probably affect them later in life. I also see girls wear shirts that are too short, too tight, too see-through, and these students are in the elementary schools! It says so much about those parents who let their little girls walk out of the house with more skin being shown than actual clothes on. As a teacher, I believe these types of clothing choices make it extremely hard for teachers to stay focused on their teaching and for boys to stay focused on their learning. I do not believe we need to encourage boys at a young age to let their eyes wander. With saying this, I believe in some situations, a more strict dress code is needed. I don't believe there is any way where having a strict dress code or even uniforms would be detrimental to the student's learning. In my opinion it can only help. Sure students are not going to want to wear the same thing every day to school, like I did not, but I think it would be a good change with the fashions that are coming into style these days. What do you think?

I Want Recess!

After talking to my little sister who attends Wrights Mill Road in 5th grade, I found out that 5th grade does not have recess any more. I could not believe it! Students need more rest during the day than just 30 minutes during PE and lunch. They need time to be children. I believe you can not expect a child to pay attention in class for long amounts of time if they do not have an outlet during the day to burn off their energy. About a year ago, I heard about an experiment a fifth grade teacher did where she gave her students two short recess times a day. Compared to the other fifth grade classrooms, her students were immeasurably more focused when they were in the classroom compared to the classrooms that did not have recess. She said her students deserved time to rest their minds after they had focused so intently in class. I completely agree with this teacher because I know I can not concentrate from 7:30 to 2:15 without a break either! Our minds are not made to run for that long on high. The reason my little sister said they don't have recess anymore is because they have too much to learn in one day and do not have any extra time to waste.. or that is what her teacher said. I have spoken with her teacher and know she is a wonderful woman as well as educator, but I am going to have to say that she is doing a disservice to her students. I believe if her teacher would let her students rest some during the day, then they would learn just as much or ever more as when they were in the classroom for the entire day. Let me know what you think.