Curr210

Teachers on Myspace?

2007-12-02T18:36:00.000-08:00

Everyone is entitled to having as much freedom on the internet as anybody else... as long as it does not affect them professionally. Part of a teacher's job is to maintain a very good personal image. A parent would be appalled if they were to find a MySpace page belonging to a teaxher of their child that was less than professional. Any pictures of smoking, drinking, provocative clothing, or anything of a bad nature reflects poorly on the teacher and may cause parents to consider pulling their students from the class. It is also a bit unnerving that an adult teacher may be able to look more intimately into a student's life. It allows the teacher to find personal details of the student without the student's consent. Teacher's do have the right to have a MySpace, but for the sake of the students, it should be made private, and be made so that the teacher does not add any students to the list of people who may view their profile, or try to add themselves to their students' lists.

Good Foundations Produce Good Results

2007-12-02T18:21:00.000-08:00

What can be done to improve the reading habits of students in this day and age? As electronic toys become more abundant and technology becomes a part of even the simplest toys and games, children learn early about video games and computers. With this boost in Microsoft age, it becomes imperative that teachers work with students to make sure that reading levels do not drop. Starting children on books early will develop a stronger sense of understanding. Comprehension levels rise with an increase in reading. A strong imagination arises with an increase in reading. It is a base that affects all other categories of learning, and should not be left to die as America Online and Halo 3 rage. Students that have trouble reading may need special attention from the teacher. Having the child read aloud and identifying the difficulties their having will make it easier to help them. Narrowing it down to a specific flaw, like inability to comprehend while reading, or being unable to read because of a disability like dyslexia will allow for an easier time in finding a solution.

Improved Security Necessary in Schools

2007-11-23T19:06:00.000-08:00

More and more we hear reports of violence in schools. We experience it even on our own campuses, just as bad as it possibly was in our highschools. My highschool had 4 different entrances, only one of them guarded with a security gaurd. All of them were unlocked and accesible from the outside, and there are many students in this grade level with similar experiences. Every entrance should be watched, regular drug checks should be made, and security drills are a necessity. When dealing with grade schools, security is even more important what with so many younger children in one place. It is detrimental that these budget cuts on security stop... the money must be taken away from something less important, for if the schools are not safe then classes should not take place at all.

Should School Teachers Be Armed?

2007-11-23T18:57:00.000-08:00

Some feel as if providing teachers with guns would be a new and important security measure. Some feel as if it could only make things worse. Would providing a school teacher with a weapon truly improve security? I think not. Having any kind of weapon in the classroom, no matter who's possession it may be in, lessens the secure and safe environment of the public school. God forbid a student with thoughts of attacking his teacher or fellow students was able to get a hold of the weapon, the classroom could become a blood bath. The teacher's themselves would have to be put through the strictest of background checks and interviews to be sure that they themselves would not be the type to lose their temper and use the weapon as a disciplinary device, whether it be just to give the students a scare or worse. This would make the job of teaching more difficult to acquire. I can't be certain if all parents would be upset, but the majority would be put on edge or outright infuriated to find out their children are subject to a stranger with a gun.

Our Blogging Experiences

2007-11-04T12:10:00.000-08:00

According to the guidelines of our syllabus, blog participation is a necessary part of our time spent on homework. I chose to post my response to the case study on Julie Amero and was pleasently surprised to soon be contacted by someone who had actually been involved. A person whose name I will omit for courtesy purposes contacted me, interested in hearing about the case study, as they had been on of the original people who worked with the computer to get the guilty verdict vacated. I find it incredible that our blogging for this course allows us to experience interaction with the people who are involved with the very events we are studying. It is a useful tool and allows us to perhaps dig deeper into these studies than we would be able to just by reading from paper and having a discucssion amongst ourselves.

Are The Arts Necessary?

2007-11-04T11:59:00.000-08:00

We face a time when students main priorities will lie on improving test scores. It seems as if test scores are the deciding factor in whether a school is successful or not. The focus on testing however, seems a threat against the arts. Math and English, along with some science are the main points of the testing... so greater effort is being put into the teaching of these subjects. Art, Music, and other "extracurricular" subjects might be neglected. The tests have nothing to do with these areas, but we must not let them be abolished. Art inspires creativty, which encourages creative and cognitive thinking. Music inspires devotion, which encourages a stronger sense of willpower and desire to complete all studies, not just studies in one area. With the obesity epidemic ruling in our time, we have no need to worry about losing the area of physical education, but art and music are just as important, in the way they affect the other areas of learning as well as providing the students with their own unique teachings. Students must not be without this culture.

Birth Control Early On

2007-10-22T15:18:00.000-07:00

Today we discussed a very controversial subject-- should children ages 11-13 be provided with birth control, and should the school be the one dispensing it? Children should NOT be provided with free birth control pills and condoms. Although it does promote safe sex, it promotes sex itself as well. Children may think, 'Well if the school is giving it to me then it must be ok to have sex'. Not only does it promote sex, but it is very risky to give kids at such a young age something so very adult. An 11 year old girl is NOT going to remember to take birth control pills every day. She may also believe that it does not have to be taken every day. 11 year old boys are not going to know how to use a condom properly. Both sexes at that age will also have little worry of sexually transmitted diseases. They may be warned, but it's compatible to warning a child too much candy will rot their teeth. Just because an adult warned them, it doesn't mean they will listen. The school providing free birth control, combined with the pressure from their peers and at that age, the growing defiance towards adults that comes with puberty, will have an unfortunate end result.

There SHOULD be someone at the school who will be there when kids have questions about sex, but to provide them with information about how they shouldn't do it, or should do it very very carefully, is different than providing them with information about how they shouldn't be doing it, but then giving them the means to do it anyway.

What Does Urban Mean

2007-10-22T15:04:00.000-07:00

Today in class we discussed somewhat what it means to be "urban". Urban, defined by dictionary.com, is simply described as "of, pertaining to, or designating a city or town." This does not cover much at all... what we must do is dig deeper into the factors that make up a city and decide what to us is urban and what isn't. Generally, a town with many main roads, buildings, companies, factories, and homes side by side, without or with very small yards is considered urban because everything is very close together, and very concrete. Suburban usually involves houses with larger yards, more flora and small stores that are generally somewhat further away from the residential district.

It's not just the make up of the town or city that makes it urban or suburban, however. One must consider the racial aspect. Many people believe urban cities have a larger population of minorities... an oxymoron of sorts. Urban cities also play host to a larger degree of lower income homes. Suburban homes tend to belong to the upper-middle, and upper class. I don't believe that this makes the urban city a worse place to live. Although the richer suburban areas seem choice, the urban areas provide a lot: a greater social environment, easier access to stores since it seems in suburban towns, many times you must take a car to get to where you need to go, when in an urban city everything is much more condensed. It also provides places for children and teenagers to go and hang out... movies, parks, malls, pools, pool halls, etc. Children are not stuck at home if there is no one to give them a ride somewhere. This increases a childs experience with their peers and helps to develop their people skills-- very necessary in adult life.

Case Study 2 - Julie Amero

2007-10-22T08:50:00.000-07:00

Julie Amero, as we read in our second case study of the semester, was placed in
possibly one of the most awkward situations a teacher can experience. While teaching her
class, a pop-up appeared on one of the computers. It was something that should not have
been seen by her students. It was unavoidable, as no one expected it to happen. Julie
Amero, not allowed to turn off the computer, and even without the knowledge of how to
in any case, was charged for allowing her students to catch a glimpse.
In her position, I would have gone against the order to leave the computer on at all
times. Even if I did not have the knowledge to turn it off, I know that everything has a
plug, and would have taken any connection of the computer out of the wall. Keeping such
inappropriate sights from the students is much more important than whether the rules of
slighter importance were followed, especially if leaving it be reflects poorly on the teacher.
Schools are evolving. Many schools are adopting computer labs in the hopes to
improve their system. This is understandable. What schools must make sure of however, is
that the computers they do have come with programs such as firewalls that are strong
enough to block out such inappropriate sights.
This proves to me that the teaching profession, although seemingly simple and
straight-forward at first, can prove difficult. Decisions must be made in the best interests
of the children, and this may sometimes compromise your own work. At this point, it is
imperative to decide, what’s more important?

Orientation

2007-10-22T08:45:00.001-07:00

First Avenue School orientation proved that there is so much more that goes into running and maintaining a school that one might first think. We were shown some of the many different fields involved in the new school. It was a very good start to our journey in this class. The experience I hope to recieve will, as one of the student teachers said, "make us or break us". It is this experience that will show us if this is truly meant to be our profession. It seems as if our time in First Avenue school will provide us with an outlook of what we should expecting, and will therefore better prepare us for what is to come. It also provides a look at the teachers methods, which we may or may not agree with. If my shadow teacher turns out to be someone whose methods I do not agree with, I know what to avoid in the future. Our time at First Avenue will be very beneficial.

Standardized Curriculum

2007-10-07T13:44:00.000-07:00

Students should, for the most part, be allowed to choose what sort of classes they take. On a highschool level it is important to experience different types of learning, in the art, music, photography and other fields, in order to have some sort of understanding of what they would want to study in college. A student with a diverse learning background has an easier time declaring a major than a student who has only experienced the base learning classes.

Case Study Melinda Grant

2007-10-07T13:40:00.000-07:00

Melinda Grant is placed in a dilemma where her teaching strategy has been questioned. She believes that interaction with other students, projects and involvement with art may not drill the students and produce higher test scores, but that the learning will last longer. She has been told however, that her reputation and respectability as a teacher depends on the scores her students produce. High scores reflect well on her, just as low scores reflect poorly. The other third grade teacher is more strict and conventional with her teaching, and her children produce very high test scores. Melinda is faced with this: should she continue teaching in the manner she has so carefully planned, or should she follow in the footsteps of her colleague? Melinda should not be thinking of her reputation when it comes to the education of her students. Although it is important to be thought of as a respectable teacher, in the long run her students capability to do well in the world as they grow older is much more important.

Should Schooling Be...

2007-09-17T06:37:00.000-07:00

This article is an interesting contrast to 'Questionable Assumptions About Schooling'. Where QAAS advises breaking from the old ways of teaching, this article suggests that nothing can be gained by doing so. Education does not end once one graduates. There are teachers who still learn more day by day. Education is surely based on both having a knowledgable teacher, but by experience as well, just as society itself thrives and evolves. It is neccessary to upgrade teaching practices in order to keep up with the ever-increasing amount of information there is to learn.

Questionable Assumptions About Schooling

2007-09-17T06:33:00.000-07:00

This readnig was very interesting and informative. It brings to light certain practices which are thought to be the best in maintaining both schools and classrooms, but in reality are outdated. Different approaches towards these ideals are offered in a clear way that shows that the old ideas may continue to a certain extent, but must be majorly upgraded first. I especially agree with the point made on artistry in teaching. Teaching is not entirely rooted in scientific knowledge. It must also involve a level of creativity and imagination, otherwise the children in these classes would only know of facts and numbers, and would leave their schools as carbon copies of their fellow classmates.