Week 11 Kozol Chapter 8 and Folder 11

1. “ …a justified suspicion that the promises we hear today of new and even better ways to guarantee successful outcomes in our nation’s segregated and unequal public schools will one day be reviewed with the same sense of disappointment, if not irony.” (192 Kozol)

 

This quote is referencing the specific program talked about in Chapter 8 of Kozol called “Higher Horizons.” It was as the quote says about future programs like this one disappointing when it failed. But what I think is more disappointing is how people have not learned from this program’s failure. When you repeat the same mistakes that is when there is something seriously wrong because there is no reflection or concern with the failure that means or otherwise there would be no repetition. This also tells me that the people who have created this program and create others like it do not really care about the work that it takes to get to a successful outcome. They just want an easy fix. These issues in education do not have an easy fix and to really find a solution we have to stop looking for the easy fix because we are taking just as much energy looking for an easy way out than to just do the hard work it takes to go through the process to make positive affective changes.

2. “Women of color only own a penny for every dollar of wealth of their corresponding men of color of their same race and in comparison to white women, women of color own only a fraction of a penny for every dollar of wealth of white women.” (Chang, Democracy Now)

This reminds me of a discussion from class in the beginning of the semester. People usually will say that as a nation we are not racist because that is a thing of the past. I have a feeling people would have a similar reaction to this information. This is also related to not only race but gender as well. It is tremendously sad that this is still true in our country. How can this be true? Also, how can we move forward with other changes that are important to many people in the country when color and gender are still not considered equal? This is what worries me about people that there will always be people that truly believe stereotypes and then will pass that down to their children. I hate to view this so negatively but currently I wonder what can be done to make more people aware and respectful of all people?

3. “Under Bush there were tax cuts given to upper income and very little benefits to low income families. The gap has widened, low income and working families continue to suffer. So when we think about what needs to happen and corrections that need to be made along the way in this current administration we need to think about rolling back some of those tax credits we need to think about increasing tax credits for low income working families, we really need to figure out how we make it so working class and low income individuals can keep more of their income and invest and invest in their families and their families futures.” (Mason, Democracy Now)

I liked how Nicole Mason was able to talk about this issue of wealth and income in an understandable way. These are logically points that were made. Why can’t people who need the help be able to keep their money, rather than spending it on taxes? Especially when upper class people have been able to pay less. It would make a bigger and better difference if that leeway were given to people who truly need it. Giving a tax break to the wealthy does not do as much good as it would to families that are struggling to provide essential things to their children. People may argue that they should not have to pay more than other people when they have worked to get where they are financially which suggests that people of low income have not worked hard. This argument ties in with another big topic we have discussed in class, which is privilege! People are born with privilege and that is in most cases how they are able to have the opportunity to work for their money and get schooling for that job. Most people who are in unfortunate situations are in them because their family has always been low income and struggling. It is an up hill battle to get out because people of color are not given chances to because they are not treated fairly from the very start. Children as we have read are not getting nearly the same quality education therefore not being able to get the same paying jobs as white privileged people. This is why we need to make up for those unfair situations that we have created and allow an opportunity for families like these to save and make more money. This can be done by created more jobs specifically in areas that are low income that need them the most. Also like Nicole said in the quote, have tax cuts for low-income families.

4. “An honest appraisal of American traditions of schooling reveals that academic skills have long been thought of as a vehicle for the development of character. This was true in colonial days, it was true throughout the nineteenth century and, it was still true the first half of the twentieth century. Schools have always been considered as incubators for acceptable citizens, and citizenship has not always been defined in terms of academic achievement scores.” (172, Noddings)

Why all of a sudden is building character and having morals not something that can be taught in school? I understand that people in this time have quite a bit of different views on a variety of subjects but learning how to be a genuine person in my mind can not really have different opinions of what that is made up of. If this is something that is being debated I’m concerned for future debates about silly little things like how we should teach kids how to tie their shoes. What characteristics of a good person can be debated as not being appropriate to teach in school that schools have taught in the past?  What I can think of that is emphasized in school is being respectful, thoughtful, helpful, and caring to others. These are necessities in my eyes to have a productive safe environment in school. 

Week 10 Anthology 21,22,23 and Folder 10

1. “Technocratic and instrumental rationalities are also at work within the teaching field itself, and they play an increasing role in reducing teacher autonomy with respect to the development and planning of curricula and the judging and implementation of instruction.” (200 Giroux)

One of the reasons that I have wanted to become a teacher is to be able to use my ability to create fun and interesting ways to learn. But with the curriculum that I see in schools today it seems somewhat more unlikely that I can do that because of the emphasis on standardized testing and very specific goals that must be met. The quote explains well how teachers have less independence to create their own lesson plans. This is disappointing because this takes away teacher’s passion and excitement that they have when they have freedom with their curricula.  I especially find this restriction harmful not only to teachers but to the students. These students need all the excitement they can get when learning in a classroom. By having very specific curriculum where the teacher is just simply carrying out someone else’s plans it is far less affective. I don’t understand why this power has been taken away from the classroom teachers This sends out the message that their lessons are not acceptable and their experience has no value. Which I’m sure in a majority of cases teachers are highly qualified and practiced enough to be able to make the proper judgment on how to teach their students certain material.

2. “I have argued that by viewing teachers as intellectuals those persons concerned with education can begin to rethink and reform traditions and conditions that have prevented schools and teachers from assuming their full potential as active, reflective scholars and practitioners.” (202 Giroux)

This quote is a good expression of how important teachers are and how they need to start being viewed that way by others and those who are teachers as well need to view themselves as intellectuals to start making change happen. It’s disappointing that teachers in a sense have to prove themselves to others to be viewed as having important careers. To me it is so obvious that teachers are incredibly important and special people to have taught and inspired so many to do amazing things using the knowledge that they have gained and the passion for learning that enables them to do these great things. Teachers are the people who set the examples and empower students to grow and keep growing in life. These are such outstanding things to be able to be apart of in people’s lives and there are so many people who fail to see it this way. But this quote is challenging teachers to better themselves and continue to be “active, reflective scholars and practitioners.” These are not easy tasks and that is why it is such an important process to endure because in the end it will make you a better teacher.

3. “Mary confessed: ‘I don’t know what critical thinking is’; ‘I have never done it’; ‘I have never learned about it.’” (210 Anthology)

             This quote from the vignette about Mary surprised me.  By the description of her schooling and career experiences it is hard to believe that this quote from her is true. I wonder how this is possible for this person to not have that understanding of what critical thinking when she has been through so much education to become an educator. I have a hope that maybe she is just unfamiliar with the terminology and does actually does demonstrate critical thinking in her life experiences. Either way how has this not been a topic not been involved in any of her experiences? I believe that we talked about this in class that children are not being required or introduced to having their own opinion about things. To me this is laziness because the reason people are not using their critical voices is because they don’t have to, people do it for them; people such as their teachers, news reporters, or authors. I think that people take on other people’s beliefs as their own without questioning or critically analyzing it because it is easy just to agree. In this case it seems as though Mary has done something similar by not having an idea of what it means to think about something critically. I think about how I have become a critical thinker and really to me it means not to trust everything you hear. This may be a narcissist view but that is how people must view things to protect themselves and develop their own views. This is necessary to adapt and grow as a person and as a teacher especially this is important to teach students to do this or else you will have no standards for yourself.  This reminds me very much of Zoe’s speech that we watched when you said, “Don’t believe anything I’m saying.”

4. “ Stan and John epitomize teachers who, for whatever reason, either do not know how to think critically or if they do, cannot act on their analyses. They should not be teachers in our democracy. They model what is the most dangerous threat to our society—the inability to speak in critical voice.”

(212 Anthology)

This quote is incredibly important to me because it is vital for teachers to be able to reflect and look at things critically before they share things with their students. Teachers must see the potential messages that they are sending out to their students and decide if that is something that they intend to instill in their students. Teachers that don’t look at things through these lenses will be creating students who will make the same mistake down the line. This country needs people to question and investigate before they automatically make a decision about how they feel about something. That is why I truly enjoy watching Stephen Colbert and John Steward and their interpretations of what is going on in our society. It gives me another perspective that I can also analyze and see the bias or influence they might have to comment the way they did. I also have an appreciation for the fact that I have been able to be a critical thinker and am being pushed to keep questioning materials that I am exposed to. 

Week 9 Anthology Ch 9+11 Class Folder 9

1. “Again I am concerned not so much that great teachers and their successes are being ignored (which they are), but that the teachers and the qualities and skills that great teachers bring to great teaching are in danger of vanishing, disappearing from both the public eye and from the curriculum of teacher preparation.”

This is a scary thought to have to teacher’s abilities to be creative and innovative disappear in the future. But based on the requirements that are now in place it is very possible that teachers don’t have the time for their lessons that they have created themselves that involves creativity. These type of lessons are what will grab student’s attention and get them excited to learn. The lessons that are focused of the state tests are more difficult to make into something exciting and fun when the outcome to the students is just to get a good score on a test. It will be immensely detrimental if teachers are not able to teach the way that they want to teach or worse off not have the preparation that encourages creative that students yearn for and need.

2. “The teacher cannot think for her students nor can she impose her thought on them. Authentic thinking, thinking that is concerned about reality, does not take place in ivory tower isolation, but only in communication. If it is true that thought has meaning only when generated by action upon the world, the subordination of students to teachers becomes impossible.”

This quote really rang out as I read it. I immediately ran my pen under these lines and stared my paper. Authentic thinking is a goal that teacher need to reach with their students for them to be able to form an unbiased opinion. This happens through communicating with one another and hearing everyone’s thoughts about a subject. Hearing different perspectives is an enlightening thing. The teacher must present different perspectives so children can critically think about things on their own. Students need to do the thinking themselves because us teachers and parents will not be there for them in the future to do the thinking. That is why this is so important as teachers we want to instill in our students to become thinkers and go as far as they can in their thoughts.

3. “Knowledge and ‘distinctive character’ are part of it, but it is also about efficacy, a teacher’s belief that she or he will be successful, because his or her students will be successful. And, to achieve student success, great teachers help move their students via three paths: producing, empowering and connecting”

These three paths are essential for teacher’s to have their students experience true success in their classroom. The collaboration between teacher and student is very important as well. I liked how this quote emphasized these two points. These are two tasks of a teacher I feel like take time and experience to be able to master. Also it takes a great deal of work to get to know your students to be able to find what will be empowering to them as a student. Also a teacher cannot influence connections unless they know their student’s backgrounds. I think about being a teacher in completely new place I have never been and having little understanding of the way of life in that area. I feel like this can have an impact on the teacher’s ability to make connections since their way of life is different. Therefore this takes extra effort and time that is necessary.

4. “The teacher is no longer merely the one-who-reaches, but one who is himself taught in dialogue with the students, who in turn while being taught also teach. They become jointly responsible for a process in which all grow. “ (98 Freire) – Anthology

I really liked this idea of the teacher learning from their students while still being able to have the students increase their knowledge. This changes the norm of having the teacher dictate and rule the classroom. I never liked that teachers are always right and are all knowing. This way of working with students gives them a comfort and confidence that they too can be the teacher. This takes teachers off center stage and gives the students the opportunity to express things that they have learned through different outlets. Also students are able to express their own perspective that they teacher may not have though of. In this case the teacher can learn and then work to build on that student’s perspective and bring them to a higher level of thinking. This all can happen through communication and dialogue. Growth should occur within everyone and this quote highlights that it can happen within a teacher as well from the influence of their students

Week 8 Spring Ch 8 and Folder 8

1. “After the Civil War, female teachers rushed into the South with a mission of creating social equality and political right for freed slaves. However, female teachers were often demeaned and exploited.” (201 Spring)

This is such an oxymoron to me because these women are doing a great thing for the blacks that were enslaved in the past but then they themselves were being discriminated. The good that they were doing even far back to the Civil War was not acknowledged. It is unfortunate that in 2011 the teacher profession is still not respected. I wonder if there is a connection to the fact that a majority of people that are teachers are women? In the civil war times this seemed to be the case. The teaching profession needs to be respected no matter what gender the teacher they all work tremendously hard to bring knowledge and experience to the people. People should be nothing but grateful for their educators overtime for getting them wherever they are today. The issues that have been occurring throughout history is just illogical for what these people are giving each day.

2. “But TFA training has not included many of the strategies that I find most effective. TFA’s test- based and standards-driven orientation stifles creativity, and nowhere in TFA training did anyone present the type of lesson that I taught on World War I.” (Diamond TFA)

This strategy that is described is really disappointing to me that TFA teachers are being taught to go strictly by standards. This is a problem that experienced teachers are facing as well. Teaching to the test is drowning our teachers’ and student’s creativity. I was surprised to read that this is the way they would be trained to teach in a classroom.  The description of this teachers World War I lesson sounded like the teacher was really trying to have the students learn something the other examples that focus on the outcome of a test does not necessarily mean the students are really getting something out of the lesson that is meaningful to them. There lies the problem with strict standards and testing. But we are producing more inexperienced TFA teachers that think they are really doing good for the country when if they are going by their training are not. Hopefully there are more TFA teachers like the one who has wrote this reflection.

3. “A tactic used in virtually every lesson is the provision of an additional teacher who helps those who struggle in a particular subject. But the pupils are all kept in the same classroom, regardless of their ability in that particular subject.”(BBC News Finland schools)

This tactic is very logical I am surprised that most schools that I have visited don’t follow this method of teaching. When I worked with students in 2^nd grade at a school in Hartford there were student that I just didn’t get to spend much time with because they were out of the room for most of the day getting special help with certain subjects. The time period that I mostly visited was during the reading block of time and the class size was dramatically different because of how many students left for tutoring. I feel that this is unfair to those students that have to leave the room the amount of time that is wasted each day that they have to walk through the halls collecting the other students from other classrooms that are also going for extra help probably amounts to a lot of time over the school year. It doesn’t seem to make sense to pull a child out of their classroom for extra help because then they are missing the lessons that their classroom teacher is doing while they are gone. This was an issue for the teacher I was working with she always tried to schedule her lessons for when most of the students were in the room but that was extremely difficult because of the large number of students that left at various times. Over all the Finland method just makes a lot of sense so students still get time with their classroom peers and are able to learn from others.

4. “Despite increasing teacher-certification requirements with No Child Left Behind, teachers’ salaries still lag behind those of other white-collar workers. Why do people become teachers if they pay is low for a job that requires an extensive education and licensing?” (204 Spring)

This quote makes me think of how mistaken so many people are who say that teachers get paid well. Some try to make the argument that teachers are living luxurious lives because they get paid well and don’t work all year round. This is so frustrating to me because of how difficult it is to become a teacher and as the quote says teacher salaries do not match other jobs and other jobs do not have tough requirements to be certified to be able to work there. This quote points out that it takes a special person to be able to be a teacher because you are not getting paid extremely well and it is not just an easy job you can pick up from any time of education. People who become teachers have to be dedicated and love bringing knowledge to people. It is not a job that you can breeze through each day. Teachers have a great responsibility each and every day to bring knowledge to their students and encourage them to keep learning as they progress through life.  

Week 7 Spring Ch 7, Anthology Ch 10,19, 20 Class 7 Folder

“NCLB mandated that 100 percent of students be proficient in reading and math by 2014. Any school not on track to meet this utopian goal—one never reached by any nation in the world—would face a series of sanctions, culminating in the firing of the staff and the closing of the school.” (Obama’s War on Schools, Diane Ravitch)

This is utterly absurd that so many schools are facing these punishments. These standards are so out of line and I am disappointed that this “reform” has not been changed in a positive way when there have been so many negative affects from it. There is no logic behind these procedures. If there are schools not meeting these standards or are not on track to meeting them, why would they not receive the help that they obviously need? From the start of NCLB there was an unfair advantage to schools that have the money and means to getting their students what they need included capable and certified teachers and materials to prepare them for the tests. The schools that were already disadvantaged are not going to be able to reach these scores in these areas because of a new incentive to reach the goals. I’m sure schools across the nation already have the goal to have their students improve and reach goals this money incentive will only help those who are already close to the scores needed because it will give them an extra push. But schools not even close to these goals can not make up for so much lost time for the years and years of bad conditions and no accommodations for students in great need.

“These and other experiences left her increasingly disaffected from the choice and accountability movements. Charter schools, she concluded, were proving to be no better on average than regular schools, but in many cities were bleeding resources from the public system. Testing had become not just a way to measure student learning, but an end in itself.” (Dillion, “Scholars School reform U-Turn Shakes Up Debate”)

 In this quote Diane Ravitch has made the realization that reforms such as NCLB and Race to the Top, Charter School being developed are not solutions to the issues in education in American. She expresses how Charter schools are not even proven to be a more affective school system.  If we do not have supporting evidence for new ideas after they are put in place why would we keep them in place and keep putting much more money into them. When there are other places in need of the financial support? I wish people that have the power to make these decision did not have selfish reasons for their choices. The only reason for important choices should be what is best for the students! This I’m afraid is not up on the list of priorities for these people.

“We need a sense of purpose for our professors, not a timetable. Better that they show us a way to find our own ways that they hand out their own detailed maps of the territory.” Pg 107, Marlowe (Anthology)

            This quote was enlightening to me because I feel like I have been a student in my teacher education classes wanted exact answers to help me as a future teacher. But here I realize that I really don’t and shouldn’t want that. I need to find these answers myself and that is what I am afraid of. I fear being wrong but worst of all I fear being wrong and not knowing that I was wrong. I never want to affect children in a negative way. I always wonder if there was something else I could have done to help the child more than I did. I see reading this chapter by Susan Ohanian that I need to have more confidence and trust in myself, to learn as I experience working with children. If professors or other elementary teachers gave me all of their lesson ideas and plans where would I fit in to those? I need to find my own way of doing things rather than have answers from other people. Making your own decisions as teachers sets up your own philosophy and that is where you can make special connections with children because what you are doing is through your own passions and feelings.

 “ The larger goal of education is to assist people in seeing the world through their own eyes, interpreting and analyzing through their own experiences and thinking, feeling themselves capable of representing, manifesting, or even, if they chose, transforming all that is before them. Education then, is linked to freedom, to the ability to see and also alter, to understand and also reinvent, to know and also to change the world as we find it.” (185, Ayers) – Anthology

This section from Chapter 19 had a beautiful way of describing what education should be all about. It was wonderful to read how important this person believes the student’s freedom is. This is what I think is largely missing in the process of creating standardized tests and state standards. It is disappointing that there are so many teachers that are being limited when they have the ability to provide this assistance and inspiration to their students, but they are not given the time with their students to be able to fully reach this opportunity to have a higher level of thinking. Teachers and schools have requirements such as Race to the Top and NCLB that make them have a focus on testing which is the complete opposite of the goals that this quote describes. What a waste is what I say!