Daily Practice

There are three huge ideas in the Routman book that struck me, The most important being the need to have daily writing practice in the classroom. In my fourth grade placement we start everyday with FRED time (free reading every day), which lasts about 40 minutes. It covers the time from the beginning of the school day until all the buses have arrived. The buses are chronically late. This time is also used by the teacher to conference with students. The kids are really well read, and about half of them participate in the Global Reading Challenge. Yet, their writing is painful, and laborious. I think if we alternated the FRED time with FWED time (free writing every day), that students would experience writing differently. Given the choice of topic and audience, students could practice telling their own stories instead of those assigned.

Secondly, looking at writing holistically instead of by characteristics or skills to be mastered, gives students a sense that their story is important to tell, and inspires them to make it better through revisions and Six Trait applications. I visualize this as chewing around the outside of the idea, circling and circling until you find the core, throwing away the extraneous ideas to find the essence.

Lastly, the idea that the student (or any writer) needs to know who their audience is. It gives the writing purpose and makes the writer responsible to the audience. To simply write a essay on what your are thankful for, a common Thanksgiving assignment, can be pretty dry stuff if you don't know who you are telling this to. A letter to Santa is so much more effective than a list you hand to your parents of want you want for Christmas, the audience inspires the difference.

On that holiday note, I am stop and make some cookies.

Assessing student writing

I would like students to be less obsessed with grades. I can do that by grading less, and evaluating some. The need to know where you are in relationship to your peers reinforces a culture of haves and have-nots. Writing should not be competitive.

Peter Elbow's arguments for various forms of assessment were well presented and I agree with his hierarchy of application; reduce ranking (grading), use evaluation instead of ranking, but judiciously; include un-evaluated free-writes so that all writing does not have the pressure of evaluation layered on it, and learn to like your student writers. Assessment can put the teacher/student relationship into an adversarial framework. By creating community instead and getting to know your students through their writing, you counteract those negative forces and open yourself up to liking them. As a student I saw the teacher (evaluator) as the enemy. I feared feedback, and that is not what I want for my students and me.

The other big idea I was struck by was the limitations of writing evaluations. There are parallels between assessing the fine arts and assessing writing. Both being creative endeavors, it is necessary to separate the idea from the craft. Evaluating the craft is relatively straight forward, the spelling, editing, etc., but the content, the idea being expressed through the medium of writing, is more subjective, it depends on the reader. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. As an elementary school teacher, the task is teaching and then assessing what was taught, with the goal of nurturing the students budding relationship to the joy of writing.

Teachers need to like their students (Elbow,1993) and need to like writing themselves (Routeman,2005). To elevate writing from the drudgery of sentence structure and grammer and celebrate it a form of self-expression is the ultimate goal. I would love for students to be as excited about writing as they are about art. As a teacher I want my new found enthusiasm for writing will be contagious.

Writing in the schools - what I have seen

In my main placement my master teacher is focused on teaching the kids to write. It is her mission. Because the school does not have a consistent literacy curriculum, what my teacher is trying to accomplish in one year is astronomical. Students come through her door with understandings about alliteration and similes and parts of speech, but with little experience with writing ideas or practicing writing. The teacher is compelled to catch up and teach pre-writing at the same time as the Six Traits.

When I read the Spandel chapter on support the writing process, I experienced a big AHA! In separating the the process from the Six Traits I could see the importance of setting up the process of thinking about a topic and research a topic before writing. Elevating the activity to what real writers do is critical. Writing becomes more than an activity, but a way of being and seeing. Until I personally understood that so much writing happens before the first sentence is written, I took no joy in writing. it was just work, but that was because I was trying to do too much at one time. I compressed the pre-writing into the first draft. A rookie error that I see my fourth grade students do every time they write. They have no patience for organizing their thoughts.

Given this "race to the finish", it is no wonder that the the students can't apply the Six Traits of writing. The part that is the most painful for me is that their writing is missing "voice". These kids have vibrant personalities and many different experiences that color how they view the world. Yet, the writing is mostly a list of sentences.

Currently there is a Writer-in-the-Schools program that our classroom is a part of. I have not been a part of those days, but I look forward to seeing how a writer will help my students to learn to write. And the Six Traits stay posted on the rolling board, for everyone to see, and hopefully use.

Writing and Drawing

When I read " Writing is about learning to pay attention an to communicate what is going on." (Lamott, 1994, p.97), I was struck by how similar this is to training to be an artist. The eight years I spent in art school were about paying attention and communicating.

I never thought of writing as an observers skill, I needed to be struck over the head to get it. Yet as I wrote my first two vignettes I acknowledge that I was painting the picture with words. I could see what I was trying to describe.

My fourth graders are struggling with writing essays, they are going through the motions, writing about what they are thankful for (themed for Thanksgiving), but I don't see much heart in what they write. It is like they are not OBSERVING what they are thankful for. The teacher calls it "voice", and it's true, but I don't think that registers with the kids. There are too many ELL students, the idea of voice needs to be broken down more.

But if you were to paint a picture and then describe it OR reverse the process and write a description of something and then draw it, I think you could illustrate the idea of paying attention and communicating.

I see parallels with scientific notation as well, but that type of writing does not have a point of view, it is observing without prejudice. I want students to unfold their observations through writing, discover what they are seeing.

Goodbye to Kindergarten

I am sad to say goodbye to my kindergarten student M. She taught me so much about how kids learn and how much pride kids have in their learning. the last thing she said after we finished our lesson was "My mom is going to be so proud of me!" And I was proud of her too. She has a sibling in 5th grade that she looks up to. All of our sessions started with news about her brother. I think he inspires her to stretch herself. It reminded me of my little sister's first day of kindergarten, when she came home in tears because they didn't teach her to read that day. It just wasn't fair because Gayle and Peter could read!

Getting over my fear of writing.

Being in an elementary school in a lab situation has been both challenging and immensely helpful. Having real students to practice fills in the gap that I experienced in my September placement with the fourth grade. My questions were what can these kids do and how do I know they can do it? What did they do before? How do I stretch them to be even more competent readers and writers. By demystifying the learning process and looking closely at words themselves, I have put gas in my own creative tank.

Terror was in my blood with the vignette assignment. I was so relieved when my first vignette was well received by my writing group that I read it to my family at dinner. They are a much tougher crowd, and yet even that went well. This started me thinking about who I am as a storyteller. My personal stories are quite dark, but I see a lot of humor in them. The characters just can not help themselves, no matter how many experts are brought in. I believe I can write, even if I can't type. My mom would be so proud of me!

Writing Essentials - a learning model

The learning model that Regie Routman suggests follows this sequence: demonstration, shared demonstration, guided practice and then independent practice, achieving a transfer of the pen from the teacher to the student. It is through this specific process that Routman teaches writing to children, and it makes sense. This sequence has been standard practice for math, science and art for a long time. What makes it more complicated, or interesting with writing is that teacher exposes some of her self (internal dialog) in the teaching process.

In the first stage of demonstration, the teacher will show the writing process to the class and how she would like the class to proceed. This demonstration demystifies the writing process and makes transparent the internal dialog that takes place while deciding what to write. The teacher shows how to do it. This performance step requires that the teacher is transparent in her writing practice at the same time as modeling the skills she wants her students to learn. The teacher needs to be comfortable with her own writing for this to be successful.

In the shared demonstration step, the teacher is still in charge and guides the students through the writing as they write a piece together. The teacher works interactively with the students on what the internal dialog is, what to write and how to write it. Routman suggests that this is the most important step and is often cut short.

The guided practice step is where the students now have the pen and work on their writing with the individual guidance of the teacher as needed.the success of the guided practice reflects how well the previous two steps were done. It is in this stage that students do most of their writing.

Independent practice occurs when the student is competent enough at writing to enjoy it and can choose his own topics, set goals and problem-solve. The student's reward for writing is intrinsic.

In my fourth grade main placement, my master teacher did follow the intent of this teaching scaffold - the cliff notes version. In our first literacy writing assignment, which was a personal essay, students were asked to write about something they know personally. The teacher wrote about her backyard. In the interest of time, she wrote the story the night before, read it to the class and then demonstrated how she had used a graphic organizer (a web) to develop her idea. The class was then turned loose to start their webs on their personal essay. In doing this she skipped the shared demonstration step and as a result I found myself doing individual shared demonstrations with about 15 students. So I can see that the shared demonstration is critical, and really from my experience in math classes, the most fun.

Myself as a Writer???

I am very encouraged by Chapter 3 in Writing Essentials by Regie Routman. My own school experiences left me with the feeling that I could not write, and once I believed this, I put as little effort into writing as possible and as much effort into avoiding it as possible. In high school I practiced this strategy by electing English classes that required the least amount of writing, which landed me in a Drama Lit class that required giving soliloquies. Ironically, public speaking is the only thing I feared more than writing!

When I am composing, I start with what I think my BIG IDEA is, the information or feeling I want the reader to walk away with. I usually use an outline to map out my writing so it progresses logically and I stay on topic. Recently I helped the fourth graders in my main placement build webs as a method of building ideas for a story. I liked the organic and graphic nature of that brainstorming. So I am going to try that for my own writing.

My writing requires that I walk around a lot, talking to myself until I have an idea of what I want to say. I try to write all the way through and revise as I go, often the next sentence is an improvement on the previous. So I go back. Just in describing this, it sounds like I write by looking through a rear view mirror! When I do get stuck, I walk around some more, though I am often afraid to read what I had written when I return to it. Fear of the very terrible.

I will edit my writing once or twice, but my consciousness of what I think I wrote gets in the way of me seeing exactly what it was that I had written. So even after I have re-read and edited my writing, it still is pretty terrible because I can not stay focused on it. Perhaps if I only reviewed small parts at a time I could "stay with" the written page and effectively edit my own writing?

For my own students, I want them to enjoy their "voice" and to develop story-telling skills. I think I will need to learn a new, more courageous process, if I am going to model writing to students. No one should fear writing.

The Bayeux Tapestry Animated

Listening to Children Read

In my main placement, a fourth grade class, we had a read-aloud assignment that turned out to be too difficult for the students to perform. It was a story in a fourth grade reader about Jackie Robinson joining the Brooklyn Dodgers. After the initial failure of the children to read aloud in front of the class, my master teacher changed gears and broke the class into groups of  five students each to read to each other. There are several ELL students in the class that struggle with word recognition and vocabulary.

At this grade level the most common deciphering strategy I have seen is chunking. Where the student identifies smaller words or letter sequences (prefixes and suffixes) they do know inside of the larger word. In all of the groups, I saw more competent readers help those that were struggling with multi-syllabic words in this way. By fourth grade, the kinds of words that are challenging to sound out are usually ones that have their roots in another language tree, like romance languages.

With their writing, my fourth grade class is not yet allowed access to the classroom dictionaries because my master teacher wants to get the ideas written without the barrier of correct spelling. Additionally, she is teaching editing practices, of which checking spelling is a critical step. As a result, the first draft of stories are full of inventive spelling, but because by fourth grade word recognition and phonemic awareness are pretty developed, the inventive spelling is easy to understand and gives a window into the students literacy development.

As an aside - Years ago, when I took our kindergartner to the zoo, we wandered around admiring animals and reading the signs together. When we came across really difficult animal names, I realized that the root language was not English, and made the joke that it must be a French word because none of her pronunciation strategies worked.  My step-daughter took that joke back to her class and whenever she came across a word she could not sound out, she asked her kindergarten teacher if it was in fact French.

Evidence of Emergent Literacy

My main placement school puts a lot of emphasis on literacy through a number of activities. There are literature circles at every grade level, which amounts to a book club of six students, lead by adult volunteers. There is a "book-buddy" program where fourth graders read aloud to second graders (books chosen by the younger student), and third graders read to kindergartners. By the time you are in third or fourth grade, you are dying to be the reader and have that responsibility. It is the most 'Adult-like" role the students play. And finally the intermediate grades participate in the Global Reading Challenge as well. These school-wide activities augment what happens in each classroom.

My fourth graders are read to everyday from picture books that generally have a meaning that pertains to something else going on in the school day. With all the lost pencils and personal items lost in the playground, I read I Lost My Bear by Jules Feiffer. Ironically, that book became "lost", but later was found inside a child's desk. I also read Aunt Isabella Tells a Good One by Kate Duke to introduce elements of story-writing to start our unit on narratives.

When visiting other classrooms  at the school, I dropped in on a first grade literacy unit where the children were divided in groups and working at different stations; one table group was making books from a pre-printed paper which they colored, folded and added text to, another group was using reading rods building words that mostly did not yet exist, yet another group was individually reading to the teacher and a fourth group was in the leveled library reading silently (sort-of). This was a timed activity, where each group rotated through all of the workstations. In the third grade class I visited they were just finishing up a writing lesson with the teacher asking the question "What do good writers need?" The ansewer was this list "pencil, ideas, quiet, paper, words, audience, help, and time". Finally in the Fifth grade class the teacher was reading a chapter book to the students that was a historical novel based in the 17th century America. The students were all busy working on other projects (finishing up things) while the teacher read. When she stopped at the end of the chapter, they begged for more, even though from the oputside you would not sense that the students were engaged. It reminded me of listening to a radio drama while doing some other task.

I think for the first time I am not taking reading and writing for granted.

BEDUC 406 - 9/25 Friday blog

1. Describe one thing that you learned: That everyone who has been "managing a line" has been struggling. Rachel shared some silent waiting in line strategies along the lines of "Simon Says", only in pantomime.

2. What questions do you have and/or what do you still want to know: Do I want to stay with elementary ed, or keep focused on middle school math?

3. What are you anxious about regarding student teaching/teaching? I am anxious about what I don't know. How I am going to stay one step ahead.

4. What are you excited about regarding student teaching/teaching? These are great kids to be teaching.

BEDUC 406 - 9/24 Thursday blog

I attended a district math training day for Every Day Math. The morning session was a review of the new K-8 state math standards. I liked being able to see all the grade levels and the continuity of the instruction. This information was then linked to the Every Day Math curriculum, acknowledging that EDM did not meet the standards and what they did about the gaps. (looked to California and Texas for supplemental lessons). I am very grateful to have had this opportunity.

Ths afternoon sessions were grade level specific, demonstrating how to read the curriculum spreadsheet and which standards were addressed. I was in the 4th grade breakout session. Because this is a spiraling curriculum, you could see where you were reviewing 3rd grade work and when you were stretching to 5th, 7th or 8th grade standards. points of 4th grade mastery were emphasized. We also did group work, looking at supplemental lessons. All the teachers at my table were doing something else besides the task at hand. So I ended up presenting our tables solutions.

Generally, I think the session could have been a 1/2 day, the material was not that hard to grasp. I was also disappointed by the lack of professionalism in the presenters. While I can appreciate a friendly, informal atmosphere, I believe that if you respect your audience and believe in your message, you don't wear shorts when presenting at a profession training.

BEDUC406 - 9/22 Tuesday

Second full week of class and the 4th graders are back with a renewed interest in testing the class management systems. My failures are in taking them in line from point A to point B. In that situatation I feel like the kids have turned into Thing 1 and Thing 2 from the Cat in the Hat. I have held them up such that they have been late to both Gym and Art as well as Lunch and actually leaving for the day. Though the last seems like I am only punishing myself.

More class management experience. Monday we had a sub for half the day. She was an experienced teacher and had her own set of expectations that aligned with the existing classroom expectations. Her consequences were quite different, she did not hesitate to send students out into the hall.So our newly inspired students were visiting the hall. It did make an impression on the other children. i was surpirsed at how qickly the sub implemented her consequences. She will be back next week for four days, so she was setting up for the future.

Today, the class was even more edgy, and my master teacher exercised her consequences, which are a series of self reflection questions. The emotional impact of describing in writing what happened and why, was impressive. One of the boys was having a VERY BAD DAY. He may be refered to SIT because he does not stay seated for more than 30 seconds.

The overtly bad behavior does provide a screen for kids that are privately disobeying the directions or expectations. This level of general disobedience is interesting to see, and I wonder how much you overlook?

BEDUC 406 - Knowing Your Students

Every morning while we wait for the chronically late buses, we have time to get to know the kids better through quiet chats about the books they are reading or what they are doing after school or about their families. Some information came from the parents.The early writing assignments, the letter to Ms. Teacher, art expressions and baby picture games have also given us insight into the lives of the students. Some kids just like to tell you stuff.and some things you learn just by asking the questions, like why is your pack this big?

• Kate: first cousins with Tim, likes joke books, and is taking a dance class after school. Her feelings are easily hurt (playground incident).
  
• Tim: went to football camp in the summer, likes dragons, designs t-shirts and is willing to suggest that the right answer is not on the multiple choice math test.
• Ann: new student to the school, came from a Montessori program, reads four books at once and is about to have a new baby step-sister. Currently reading The Lightening Thief, she says it is supernatural and a book about God.
• Jim: plays the saxophone and will be joining the 5th grade advanced band. Likes graphic novels, which are banned in this classroom.
• Tracy: new to B.F.Day, he loves transformers and movies. he is on an IEP, but you wouldn't know based on his classroom participation. His little sister is in the 2nd grade here.
• Mary: keeps a stuffed animal in her enormous backpack. She also keeps her super-secret journal there. Her pack is big because she goes from her mother's house to her father's.
• Arnie: is from Iran and is adopted with two fathers. He really likes video games, and is a very talented soccer player (according to the playground supervisor). His parents are hiring a tutor for him.
  
• Josh: loves the Sounders, lives in Ballard and has a baby brother on the way. His parents refused to have him identified for special education services at the SIT panel last year.

All of the assignments outside of the math curriculum have been "getting to know you" assignments, either about themselves, their friendships or the things they like to do. This sort of light fare is part of building the classroom community while establishing classroom routines and expectations. If we know each other we will learn to respect our similarities and differences.

BEDUC 406 - 9/18 Friday blog

1. Describe one thing that you learned

• The power of language, the need to be direct and patient in giving directions.
  

2. What questions do you have and/or what do you still want to know

• When does a student need to go to the nurse and when do they just need a drink of water and to sit down. I am seeing a lot of testing in this respect. I don't know when to be a hard ass with 9 year-olds.
  

3. What are you anxious about regarding student teaching/teaching?

• Getting the kids respect and attention.
  

4. What are you excited about regarding student teaching/teaching?

• Teaching Math. Working on integrating curriculum to reach all kinds of learners.
  

BEDUC 406 - 9/17, Thursday

There is a downside to cooperative learning. Not all students get along with their shoulder partner. Some of it has to do with worrying about cheating, the students have a lot of pride in their own work. So even though it isn't called for , some of the students put up their "offices", a tri-fold cardboard screen, when doing their work that is not specifically partner work. The children are getting really close, close enough to not be very nice to each other. There was an incident of one boy pinching another, who then responded by slapping the pincher. My master teacher used this as a teaching opportunity to remind the children what the correct response to bad behavior; tell the offender to stop and if he doesn't tell an adult.

Later today we had a boy say some unkind things to a girl about her voice on the playground. i had to bring the two of them together to sort it out. The girl was crying, the boy said he was having a grumpy day. The boy apologized.

And then there is the concept of personal space. We have several students who come from different cultures and some of the cultural norms around personal space are different. I problem solved with 2 students about having the girl ask the boy nicely to move back to his half of the desk. This was a little tricky, because he had also been copying her work, yet they have to work together. It will take continual coaching.

BEDUC 406 - 9/16 Wednesday

Different assessments of student learning for the first week have been pretty subtle. The students have been asked to read out loud for the whole class. They have produced writing samples that benchmark where they are in writing mechanics and they took a math assessment that showed the teacher where, as a class, the gaps were in understanding math concepts. All of this classroom information will be correlated with the scores from M.A.P., Measure of Student Progress, a standardized test that is administered on the computer and self-adjusts to the students level. These scores are available immediately to the teacher and facilitates adjustments to the curriculum to meet a student's need. All of this in September.

BEDUC 406 - 9/15 Tuesday blog

Factors Affecting Teaching and Learning in the Classroom

This was one of those days where one child's very bad day could have affected the whole class. This is a very bright child who lives with either one parent or the other. Her home situation was probably a contributing factor in her lack of restraint. She read the wrong kind of book, she used her pencil sharpener incessantly (and emptied all over the floor), got into a scuffle "in line", and talked, talked, talked. All before lunch.

My master teacher moved her seat so that she sat directly in front of her, making it much easier to re-direct this student as she tended to go off. Also as a result this student contributed positively to the lessons for the rest of the afternoon without any more items being removed from her hands.

I have been the one to pick up and deliver the line at the beginning of the day, to lunch , to gym and back to the room after gym. This is a painful task, because it requires some restraint on the part of the students to be quiet. I am having a hard time getting the line to focus on me and even stay in line. We have two line managers that are suppose to keep the line aligned and quiet, but in fact they are doing the opposite, using the opportunity to engage in conversations. This is making me crazy. Tomorrow I will try the silent treatment - not move the line until they are all cooperating. These kids are so wiggley.

BEDUC 406 - 9/14 Monday blog

We are moving along on assessments, though today may have been heavy handed with both math and reading.

Last week and continuing into this week we are working on building community and learning more and more about each student personally through poems and art. This week (today) we started off with a math assessment test (not standard) that covers everything the students should have learned by the end of third grade. It was painful to watch the students work. The multiple choice test was scored at lunch, the class divided into two camps, those who scored less than 10 out of 36 and those that scored over 24 out of 36. We saw a consistent trend in lack of understanding of math vocabulary and errors related to multiplication tables, so we know where we stand.

Later the students were asked to read out loud from a story about Jackie Robinson. This turned out to be so painful that we broke the class up into teams of 2 and had them read to each other. This worked. I eavesdropped on children sounding out words and helping each other decipher pronunciations. I think the general reading out loud will have to wait until the classroom community has more trust because I think there was a general performance anxiety in the class.

More classroom management strategies as I watched my master teacher remove things from our students hands as she roamed the room talking through a lesson. Very smooth.

BEDUC 406 - 9/11 Friday blog

I know I said I didn't like all the kids, but that isn't true at all. I think they are all pretty amazing in their own way. And I am really enjoying getting to know them. Upon reflection I realized that I what I didn't like were some of their behaviors. Behaviors that I haven't associated with any particular student.

So my question is how do you manage the whining? I understand the disruptive behavior that is contrary to the established classroom expectations, and your options for managing that, but the whining doesn't really fall within the guidelines. I intend to pose this question to my master teacher as well. I have been watching a genuinely warm person stand in front of the classroom of 9 year olds and still set limits with the kids without coming across as parental. She really demonstrates professionalism in teaching.

I really took to heart your recommendation to move the tissue box off your desk. That is brilliant.

I am excited about getting through a whole week in the classroom.

BEDUC 406 - 9/10, Thursday

I am not going to like all of the kids in this class. I shouldn't be surprised.

I am amazed at the incessant behavior management that goes on. How many times do rules need to be explained? The kids are really squirmy, and i think they are testing. especially the girls. The transition between giving instruction and student work is really burred as the students get more and more excited about the task. I think this is good, but it also disrupts the instructions. everything is pieced out in little bits to insure comprehension. There are so many little faces to check in on. My master teacher has eyes in the back of her head, and really does come down quickly on students who are not following the rules, especially after two or three warnings.

My master teacher has set up lessons and homework to get a baseline academic assessment so that she can provide appropriate instruction. We have resource people cycling in and out of the room all day observing ELL students or special ed students. I can't really tell what they are doing.

I think it is good that the first week of school is a short week, we have covered a lot of organizational stuff, nd next week we can more on.

BEDUC406 - 9/9 Wednesday

Students arrived today fully burdened with supplies and some extra items that my master teacher asks for; a coffee mug for having juice and reading the Weekly Readers, snacks for the whole class to be stored and served daily, and of course tissues. Students were allowed to pick their own seats as long as the desk groupings included boys and girls. This strategy allowed the teacher to see who is tight and whether their friendship is distracting from the learning. When the students arrive tomorrow morning they will have new seats, and again on Friday. Through this process the teacher gets a couple of chances to make adjustments without singling out a student or pair who are not working well together. Because this is a cooperative learning classroom, having functioning learning teams is important. After 6 weeks new seats will be assigned again.

We have 3 ELL students in the class, but have been in the program for 3 or more years. While I am sure language is a challenge for them, they "hide it" very well. We have one student who is new to the school and is on an IEP. Neither my master teacher or myself can guess what his issue is, but the IEP meeting is first thing tomorrow morning.

As predicted, the day was over-planned, so we cut out a math activity. A significant amount of time was spent on the homework process, who signs what, what stays in the folder, and what happens on Friday. The teacher could have had this all prepared as a packet for the students, but by literally walking them through the forms and accountability process, they all got to assemble their homework folders and take some responsibility for what was expected. A tough after lunch lesson. The teacher asked a lot of questions as she explained each step so that the students could tell her what they understood. What appeared very chaotic at the beginning, fell together and it looked like most students understood what the homework was for that night as well as how they were going to keep track of their assignments for the semester.

Each child was given a goody bag as they left for the day.

BEDUC406 - 9/8 Monday

This is it, the last day before the students come. I had let my master teacher know that the thing I am the most anxious about, aside from learning all the names, is reading out loud. Well that is exactly what I will be doing tomorrow. It is a rhyming picture book, so I think it will be a snap, I just need to remember to read slowly.

We reviewed the plan for the rest of the week. We have some subtle assessments to make, one being socio-environmental with the seating plan. The students will pick their own seats tomorrow, but we will reassign them on Thursday and maybe switch around again on Friday. The goal is to get a balance of boys and girls, a mix of abilities and to achieve working groups that are not clique-y. We will also be introducing routines and behavior expectations ( part of the first homework assignment - what do you think the classroom expectation should include?).

Most of the week will be spent in activities that center around introducing ourselves to each other, this includes a math lesson on measuring using yard sticks. They are all pretty short, this will be fun and chaotic.

BEDUC 406 - 9/4 Friday

Friday Blog
The idea that as a teacher you can lead the culture of your class by simple actions in validating what you want to promote, like that it is OK to be smart, was something I never thought specifically about before. Thinking about the power and obligation of the teacher/leader goes way beyond lesson content. Understanding how we influence good citizenship and achievement through our power as leaders of a culture (cult?) is new to me.

I was interested in the idea of not rescuing a child. If we could talk more about letting children fail in a learning environment so that more (deeper) learning occurs, that would be great. What are the parameters around child-led failure?

My anxieties right now are about reading aloud to the class (believe it or not), because I failed miserably at oral reading in elementary school. I disclosed this to my master teacher, so she is having me read one of the stories she is planning on the first day of class. Jumping in the deep end is usually my method for getting over anxiety.

I CAN NOT WAIT TO MEET THE KIDS!!!!

BEDUC 406 - Teacher Interview

Beginning of School Teacher Interview

Classroom Management: Begin the year with a tight rein to establish expectations, you can always loosen up as time passes and respect for the learning environment and each other grows. Respect and positive feedback define the classroom culture.

Stay as positive as possible, using group points and the "M&M chart" to reward for successes in learning community citizenship. Use Talk-O Meter to set noise level with students and hand signals to re-direct student to listen ("L" to the ear).

Sequence of actions for intervention could be: changing seats, take out to hallway for chat, writing behavior reflection (accountability), call parent from classroom. Rarely ever send a child to the office.

Rationale behind classroom arrangement: This classroom is set up in functional areas, storage, the common work area and supplies including student cubbies are in the immediate area as you enter the classroom. This consolidates the collecting and distributing function at the door.













Looking towards entry and storage/work area.

The center of the room has the desks arranged in clusters for communal learning. The ability to work in a group sets you up for life-long learning opportunities and facilitates comprehension through cooperative sharing of content understanding.













View of the front of the room with 4 of the 5 desk clusters in view.
















The room has a teacher office area that contains the student computer and the teacher work station.
















The sunny corner with the windows is the book reading area which contains a variety of seating options and many books the teacher had collected over time. This extends a home-like environment into the classroom and underscores the activity of reading for pleasure.

Tips for a Successful First Day:

• Smile
• Have Fun
• Be Firm
• Listen to your kids
• Start Routines (including school tour)
• Assign Homework
  

BEDUC 406 - 9/3, Thursday

Today was short, the room is ready for the children and my teacher is ready to go. We have spent the week turning a chaotic classroom into the new home of our fourth grade class. My teacher goes to great lengths to make every child feel welcome and special, this includes individual folders, their names on the wall in the hall, motivational prizes, handmade workbooks for sketching, cursive practice and chair hangers for extra storage for each child.

As we write each child's name on computer folders, tongue depressors, file folders and sticky notes, they start to to life as actual students. The room is set up to support a controlled choice. every morning starts with a "choice reading period" which accommodates the late arrivals. The choice is in what is read as well as where. The room as a cozy corner with soft seats for reading as well as lawn chairs and pillows. Just over half the class can read away from their desk at this time (a rotating privilege).

There is only one more staff day before the students arrive on Wednesday September 9.

BEDUC - 9/2 Wednesday

Assessments
Today began with a presentation on the MAP test, a seattle district-wide assessment test that gives immediate feedback to the classroom teacher. It is online, and administered three times a year. At the end of this morning's meeting about MAP, the teaching staff reviewed all of their assessment tools. I was surprised that they only listed standardized tests. I started thinking about how much time was spent testing instead of teaching.

Later in the day, I sat down with my master teacher and discussed assessments and testing. She feels that "grading" homework is important. If a child puts the work in, then it is her responsibility to provide feedback. It is showing the child respect for their work. This is not the norm for this school. The culture here is very anti-grading, and I think this does a disservice to the student. Positively presented grading gives students a sense of how they did against expectations and gives them target to beat. Like races that are run against the clock and not another racer. In this classroom, all of the school work goes home in the Friday folder for parents to have along with a letter about the week, and permission slips.

All of the families have already received the first letter, including an extra credit assignment for the new 4th grader. He/she can write a letter to the teacher telling her about themselves. To be completed and mailed before the first day of school. The classroom is almost ready for the firsa day, so we will have a relaxing Labor Day weekend.

BEDUC406 - 9/1 Tuesday

Today was the first contract day for Seattle teachers. The day started with a morning meeting chaired by our principal Susan, and began with the introduction of new staff. This school has 7 or 8 new teachers, primarily a result of a growing student population.

I labeled more items with student names, created a talk-o-meter that signals how much talk and at what volume the students are allowed. I am struck by how much is created for the students that ultimately contributes to their sense of belonging. There are only 3 more contract days left to prepare. Tonight was the New Family Potluck and we met 3 of the new students that are assigned to our class, including the one with special needs (academic). Parents ask really good questions about classroom management and community.

My master teacher is still unsure how she is going to organize the month of Sept. because of the district required MAP testing is in Sept. and she has been asked to be the proctor for the entire student population. She is challenged with being out of the classroom for 3 days so early in the year.

BEDUC406 - 8/31 Monday

First day in the classroom. This is a non-contract day in Seattle, so I am just helping my master teacher out for a few hours with setting up homework folders and literature circle journals. We laminated my 4th grade school picture to post outside the door. Tomorrow is the first staff reporting day, including a morning meeting and lunch, followed by classroom prep time.

There are so many little things my master teacher creates for each child; the folders with their names on them, the sewn chair pockets, the individual name sticks to name a few. She is creating an environment in which each child will feel he/she belongs. The class list is coming alive.

BEDUC 406 - 8/28 Friday blog

1. Describe one thing that you learned.

I learned the measure of success is not how well you taught a particular lesson, but whether your students "got it". Knowing what your students are doing and what content they understand will guide you in your teaching practice.

2. What questions do you have and/or what do you still want to know

How do you plan a teaching day based on grade level?

3. What are you anxious about regarding student teaching/teaching?

Learning all the names!

4. What are you excited about regarding student teaching/teaching?

Being a part of 27 kids lives in a way that will have a positive impact on them and myself.

Paragraphs about Robin and I

What I now know about Robin is that she posseses a strong sense of adventure and courage. Moving 3000 miles to the far upper left hand corner of the country, a journey many Seattlites have made which makes us such a diverse community. Her physicality in speaking, with gestures and walking, tells my something about a restlessness and an urgency to share the information she has. Interestingly, when sitting with her paddle, she was relatively still, rolling this important object in her hands. This calmness showed me how much she cared about her paddle and kayaking as a sport.

I have an "un-natural" relationship with my bike. I remember every one I ever had, including the irritating wobble of the training wheels on my beautiful green two-wheeler. That bike took me to and from school from 2nd grade until it was retired and replaced by my first 10 speed. In college (the first time) I had trigger, a 10 speed Sekai that went to grad school, grocery stores, launder mats, until it was stolen out of my apartment in Fremont. I now have 2 bikes hanging in the basement, they represent the possibilities of travel at a pedaled pace. You see so much more from the seat of a bike. I will be biking to my Sept. Experience.

BEDUC427 Journal - Week 8

Balancing authenticity with emotional presence and empathy.

In our readings we have taken a journey that has humanized teaching for me, grinding up any romantic illusions I may have had. I have really been touched by the Greene article that speaks about subjugating ones ego to truly see the child. We bring all of our experience as adults and educators to the classroom, but it is the student's world that we are entering, cognitively and emotionally. This is very fragile stuff. There is a chapter in The Phantom Tollbooth where Milo and Tock go to a place called 'Point of View'. In this place all the children are born at their adult height and grow down to the ground. They literally and figuratively start life with an adult's point of view. Milo thinks this is nuts. As we enter the classroom, we bring all of our adulthood, with it's trappings of knowing better, bureaucratic nonsense and complexities of adult life, and we need to dial down that perspective and make room for the student's point of view. What is it that they see as important? What is the 'now' of the classroom psyche?

Ayers gives us multiple examples of elevating the students' points of view and the students' points of reference to make the classroom a place that they belong to. By setting our adult world aside when we go through that classroom door we are able to be present for those children. It is a little like being a time traveler where you leave your points of reference behind and decode the new society that you have just entered. Only with the classroom you are a co-creator and guardian of the society.

To create that classroom society, the teacher must see and hear the children and have a vision of how all members might knit together as a group. Not that it will happen as the teacher plans, only that he/she believes it will come together and it is his/her obligation to nurture and guide the community. The teacher needs to be authentically emotionally available to the children. Even thise kids that are hard to like. I observed a 7th grade LA/Social Studies class this winter on 2 different occasions, where prior to entering the class, the teacher told me of Jimmy (fake name) which she could not stand. Sure, he had some behavior issues, but you could not tell that this teacher did not like this boy. She treated him with the same respect and guidance that she gave the other children. She was authentically available to this child, and had subjugated her prejudice against him. That looked like emotional labor to me.

Teachers live in 2 worlds, and I can see how stressful this might be. There are limits to the classroom experience that separates it from the rest of your life. Due to the high personal involvement that teaching requires, it puts your private (highly personal) life at risk. I think it is important to keep that in perspective to keep you in the game. Twenty-eight children, 6 hours a day, the classroom needs to be a place you want to be, the students want to be and their parents want them to be. It is an opportunity to create a world that is better that life. That models the best of how we can be and in doing so, develops children with positive experiences that raise their expectations from life. At the end of the day, when you jump into your car, you still care about those students, but the difference is, you get to put the ego back into your dealings as you re-enter the world of adults and house payments and lawn mowers. If you believe that we all have a child within, we need to tend to the ego of that child as well sometime.

I continue to think about metaphors for teaching, and farming comes to mind. The cyclical nature of it. The high stakes associated with success or failure have a parallel with teaching. Under the right conditions, every seed will germinate, but, as in nature, no two plants are a like, yet they all have a purpose. And then you start again next year, looking at the fertile dirt, planning your rows, and nurturing the seeds.

BEDUC427 Journal - Week 7

It Seems So Real

First day at B.F.Day Elementary School. OK, it was only the meet and greet with the 4th grade teacher Janet, but it felt so real. I arrived at the appointed time, but the school was not expecting us (Kelly, Alex and I) for another forty-five minutes, so the principals sent us to our teacher's rooms to observe. What I saw was everything we have been talking about with respect to community, empathy and social justice. The school had just finished up their Village Day where every classroom shuts down and re-opens as a village business. This included a garden shop and stationery shop, art museum. Next year I will be running the pizza joint with the kids. I observed the reading buddy program where the fourth graders read with the second graders, Janet took this time to talk to me about her teaching and responsibilities at the school (which go way beyond teaching), this discuss enjoyed a constant stream of interruptions as Janet mediated interpersonal disputes through out the reading session. She walked two kids through an empathy resolution, negotiated a separate peace between 2 others and re-focused others at the task at hand. It was a mini-seminar in multi-tasking!

Back up in the 4th grade room I could see the layers from a years worth of learning activities. I felt like an anthropologist researching the culture of the 4th grade tribe. I saw a teacher who was in-charge yet very authentic with her kids, accepting suggestions and corrects in a collaborative way. The class takes about 12 field trips a year, another community tie and avenue for parental involvement, which the teacher coordinates. She takes an experiential position on the learning process. We talked about the switch in the math curriculum, and the challenges that poses for teachers with respect to preparation. As a veteran teacher Janet has an archive of lessons that she draws upon and a switch in curriculum can obsolete those plans.

I can't wait to be in the classroom under the guidance of Janet. In the meantime, she has invited me to attend some of the end of the year events at B.F.Day, this will be a great opportunity build bridges and observe the school community before I have responsibilities there.

I won't say that the reality of teaching doesn't scare me, and this was certainly a wake-up call. Like being in a dressing room and trying on a dress that looked so great on the hanger, but you don't know how it will fit you. What I am most afraid of is the isolation in the classroom that teachers face. It's you and 28 kids. In knowing this, I realize the intrinsic value of the teacher community in the school, which I saw in action at B.F.Day. It did not seem like Janet was alone at all. I wonder if the staff dynamics in an elementary school are different than at a middle school? Does size of school and number of students make teachers more autonomous? If middle schoolers are more autonomous from their parents, does that also get mirrored at school? Hopefully in my Dyad placement I will get some of these questions answered. I think I would rather be at the elementary level than the middle school level if isolation is intrinsic to that age for whatever reason.

I have been thinking about working conditions. Some of what I have seen in Seattle is appalling. No heat, kids who spit on the floor... I don't mean to suggest that having a new school is important to me, but a school that is well loved is. I want to work in environment that is in good working order. My Midwest background informs me of how to "make do". but i don;t wan tthe environment ot distract from the learning for the students or myself.

This would be a part of my classroom norms. I am starting a running list of values and behaviors that I would like to see in my classroom. Not all come under the heading of rules, but I want to develop a list of my expectations. Chaos can be good and disrespect of persons or property is not.

BEDUC427 Journal - Week 6

Teaching is courageous.

If teachers cannot influence the world, who can? I have been thinking about Three Cups of Tea and how dramatic that story is. How the task is daunting, building schools in Pakistan and now Afghanistan. What Greg Mortenson is doing is hard and heroic, but I would argue that in some sense what public school teachers need to do in this country is harder and no less heroic. It is like the difference between physical and emotional abuse; you can see physical abuse, people come to the aid of the victim. Something needs to be done about it! That is Three Cups of Tea. With emotional abuse the suffering is also great, but not so apparent. That is what US public school teachers are up against. A system that seems to work, our kids go there everyday, and they all learn something whether part of the curricula or not). To pour resources into a public education system in the wealthiest country on Earth should be a no-brainer, but our culture of selfishness and the low status of our children, de-prioritizes education.

I think we are in this situation partly because of the detachment of the community from the schools, and the detachment of families from schools. The belief that educating our kids is the school's job, and not every one's responsibility is a 'slackers' approach to the future.

In Jean's article this week, The Challenges and Joys of Multi-age Classrooms, she talks about how multi-age classrooms reflect society in general, both in the family and in adult society. When building community in the classroom, having an age spread would be an advantage, as it would mirror the child's world, and make more sense to the children. I had never understood the value before. I see now the more a classroom can model the rest of the world, the better. A teacher has the opportunity to make that world better on a small scale, modeling social justice, thirty kids at a time. The classroom has to be relevant, to inspire change.

There are 2 reasons I think that education in this country could be on the cusp of revolution. First, we are a land of immigrants now more than anytime in the last 100 years, our neighbors no longer all look like us. As much as we are still a country of haves and have-nots, economic success is no longer a whites only club. The middle class is multi-racial. Secondly, because of communication, economies and the ecology, national borders are irrelevant and a little archaic. The world needs global solutions. What if we learned to be such good neighbors that war was no longer? I am really interested in the idea of the scale of the goal, being both local and global. Developing better neighbors, members of society and global thinkers is the work of teachers.

We must re-orient our values to make individual accomplishment (a tenet of American values) have more meaning if it is working for the general good of all. Take the greed out of individual accomplishment. I wonder is we will ever recover from the greed of the last 3 decades? I do believe with our current economic downturn, that there is a glimmer of opportunity to reset our national values.

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On another note, I am excited to be going to B.F. Day Elementary School for my placement interview next week. It is a very small school, only 1 1/2 fourth grade classrooms yet a burgeoning population in the lower grades. It is interesting to discover while doing the research on the website, that only 15% of the student population picked B.F. Day as their first choice of schools. This is a school that has always tried to do the right thing, I don't know why (greedy upper middle class neighborhood?) more parents don't pick B.F.Day first. I can't wait to see how that works from the inside!

BEDUC427 Journal - Week 5

Imagination
I am so excited about the Greene and Perlstein readings this week. The ideas around the value and necessity of imagination identified for me why becoming a teacher is so important and gave me more clarity around what a teacher's role is. Subject matter needs to go beyond the page and it is the responsibility of the teacher to open the window to the beyond. I have been a little impatient with the discussion about NCLB and tracking. For me, engaging the imagination, is at the core of a teacher's role. Innovation comes from the "what-if" questions. If we are always teaching to the "how-to" solutions then we are not providing a complete education.

Perlstein describes how the methods used for closing the achievement gap are creating an imagination gap. I think this is true. I see it with my stepdaughter who is getting all A's, yet struggles with having ideas. She is perfectly happy to follow instructions or figure out how to over-achieve inside the framework. When I align that with Greene's points about empathy and imagination, I wonder what kind of future we are creating.

I worry about the lack of artistic exposure poor children get, that the television is their window to the world and most of that is over described, presenting someone else's imagination as a truth. The focus on closing the achievement gap only exposes these children to an education out of context. Isn't it our responsibility to ignite the imagination of all children so that they can use this thing we call education to create fulfilling lives? Instead we are creating self-fulfilling prophecies, giving poor children, at-risk children, even middle class children only the tools to subsist instead of reaching for the stars. I thought education was the great equalizer in our society, the path of upward mobility (economically or spiritually), but if we are not providing an education that supports that premise, then we are in trouble as a society. I am not sure I want to teach to a lesser purpose.

For the children with whom we are not trying to close an achievement gap, the opportunities in schooling and curriculum are altruistic. These kids get the kids of education all children should get. There is time for making conceptual suppositions and connections. There is time for self-directed study. It is not the nuance of tracking that we are getting caught up in, it is the large schism between the haves and the have-nots that is perpetuating the classism in America that will keep us as an under-achieving nation with the top 10% continuing to pat themselves on their backs (or their wallets). In a short time, continuing in this vein, a small class of well-educated people is not going to define what being an American is about, it will be the larger, poorly educated population that will reflect back in the nation's mirror.

What I have liked about the last 2 weeks of class materials has been the juxtaposition of community building and imagination. I see one enabling the other. If you create a community in your classroom, you are breaking down classism issues the kids come to school with. In doing that, you are celebrating all of their differences, engaging imaginations in exporing the elements of the differences, and creating a democratic common memory that is positive. Imagination allows kids to tell their own stories, to empathize with other kids, to find possibilities for themselves that reach beyond their daily reality.

A funny thing happened for me this week with my middle school learners class project. We are writing an interdisciplinary lesson plan in small groups. My group picked Opera and we decided to combine History, Language Arts and Science. In dividing up the lesson plans, I took on the science part because I have limited background in science and the others were more interested in History and LA. While researching and choosing experiments, I found that I could not build a unit without using Art. We would be making strings vibrate (music), making megaphones and ear trumpets, and then building model opera houses applying the acoustical principles we discovered. So my question is, could I possibly present the Science without the Art? Is it because of my background in Art that I see everything through that filter?

I have started to have dreams of being the teacher in a classroom. The dreams have a warm glow. I am imagining how it could be.

BEDUC427 Journal - Week 4

Professional and Professionalism

For teaching to be a professional, the goals of the profession need to be better defined. Educating children is too big of an umbrella. Educating for what purpose? The goals seems to have changed over time, but I think Thomas Jefferson had it right, it takes an educated population to participate fully in the republic. Free Americans were pretty homogeneous in the late 1700's, no matter where they came from, viewing this country as a land of opportunity and refuge. And everyone was a relatively recent immigrant. Education was a national mission, and teachers (men) had status as professionals.

I think one of the road blocks today to teachers being seen as professionals is the old adage, 'familiarity breeds contempt'. The compulsory nature of our schooling buts a negative pall over the whole endeavor. Most of us have had 12 different teachers in our lives (at least). How hard did it look from our student sized desks? How did our parents view our teachers? Because of our narcissistic nature as children I think we remember our teachers in the light of "what have you done for me lately?" How American! As a child, taking responsibility for your own actions is part of the long road while growing up and for 6 hours a day it is the teacher who guides you along that road. I would argue that learning is fun, but growing up is hard. Teachers are an integral part of the "non-curriculum" process of growing up. Everyone brings that experience to the table when they talk about the professionalism and quality of teachers and that does not show up in test scores.

Education in America has always been at the whim of the politicians in power. Answering to what the perceived needs of America, economic growth, defense, or integration for example. As a society, the classroom is the primary point where all diverse members come together. It may be the only place they do. As such, the classroom becomes the focal point for testing our ideals as a nation. Is America really the land of opportunity? So much is asked of the teacher in that classroom. Educating these kids that come from all segments and conditions in our society. And the teacher, instead of being respected for the his/her profession is scapegoated when they cannot magically erase the disparities in conditions the children suffer from. It is like being given a stick to dig a hole instead of a shovel and then have the results criticized.

The organic nature of population growth and then resulting school growth has not helped teaching to develop as a profession. Yes, there are more teachers, but all little islands of expertise, all educated in teaching at different points in time, working in isolated classrooms. Unlike other professions that have a mentoring period or internship, teaching has a "throw another body at it" strategy. In some quarters it appears that it only takes one big person to turn a bunch of little people into big people ( Teach for America, Emergency Certifications, Peace Corps). People made babies, we need teachers NOW! Population growth has hindered the evolution of the profession.

For teaching to be viewed as a profession, it needs to have the rigor of consistent goals, to be shown respect through funding (a very American value). As an authority figure, in the classroom and later in the imaginations of adults, the teachers needs to respected and not be used as a threat, like the monster under the bed. Teaching needs to have an internal career ladder to drive consistency in execution. If teachers can organize into unions, then they should be able to organize as a profession. Maybe the unions as the collective point for all teachers, are a path to professional status? Teaching has a PR problem, for real and in the imaginations of former students, now voters.

To act professionally is the obligation of every teacher. We are all human beings, and we want to mirror the best citizenship, learning courage, and ethical values to our clients (children, parents and voters). If we respect ourselves even in the face of disrespect in the classroom, by the school administration, and by voters we will continue to believe in our mission and the value of it. In a profession that by it's nature has a strong element of nurturing, acting professionally means setting boundaries. By identifying the limits of your realm, a teacher can be both nurturing and respectful. A teacher needs to understand the whole child in front of you, but not presume to repair the things you can not influence. the serenity prayer comes to mind here.

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Maybe I will get that tattooed somewhere....

BEDUC 427 Journal - Week 3

Careers and Professionalism

In reading the S.K. Bilkin chapter ‘Can Elementary School Teaching Be a Career?’ I was curious to read how the teachers at Vista viewed themselves within the whole structure of the education system. A system made up of children, parents, teachers, school level administrators, central administration and the board of education. Everyone is focused on the same goal, educating children, but there seems to be a perceived lack of respect between almost all of the players. It is the status of children as our clients that gets lost. Children are taken for granted in our society, instead of managed like a precious natural resource and a unique expression of our creativity as a society. The de-valuing of teachers also de-values those who are taught.

 

Teachers are caught in the middle of the bureaucracy. Having specialized training to execute their jobs, caring deeply about the work they do, working beyond the confines of the work day all fit definitions of being a professional. What teachers do not seem to have is a path of advancement in the classroom. If becoming an administrator (more $, more power and prestige) is the only career advancement path for teachers than teaching appears to be pretty low in the hierarchy of education careers.  The classroom is a messy place, where the rubber hits the road and getting promoted out of the mess demeans the job of teaching. Promotions need to be redefined. To provide a career path for TEACHING, the focus needs to change to the children and not the running of the institution.

 

The US model of teaching as women’s work, a natural extension of mothering (like teaching baby birds to fly) is also a barrier to changing public perceptions of this career choice. Though the teachers in this chapter did not focus on that. The discrepancy between the public view of the job, 9AM-3PM, 3 months of in the summer and the actual time and effort teaching requires; including the emotional drain of working with children is a barrier to be viewed as a professional career. While the teachers in this chapter did not identify with the inherent sexism that might be limiting their careers, they did go through personal heroics within their own family circle to be teachers. I am not sure that this is not the blight of every working mother, career woman or otherwise.

 

Lastly, I wanted to comment personally on the status of teaching as a profession. The first time I attended the University of Washington I was a double major, Art and Art Education. One major was all about ego and creating great objects, the other was about being selfless in creating artistic experiences for and creativity in others. The saying that was bantered about at that time was “Those who can’t do, teach.” I did not feel the rigors of the education classes compared to my studio classes, and my ego was winning out. I did not complete the education program, short one-quarter of student teaching. I went to grad school for my MFA, in retrospect, I was chickening out.

 

My career has been in design and architecture, in a high profile job, in a high profile company and met all the definitions of a professional career. I did gain money and status in my position, I had specialized training. But I was missing a critical component; I didn’t care about shareholder value any more and what we were creating wasn’t something that I felt any ownership of. The work lacked meaning. I did not feel I was contributing to the human experience, which the best creative endeavors do.

 

In making this career change, I bring expectation of and experience in professionalism. Teaching is a career of great value, and if teachers present it as such and not discount the client (children) by being anything less that professionals we can all raise the bar. Vista teacher’s quest for professionalism took a defensive stance instead of an assertive stance. An assertive stance would mean teachers would view administrators as working for them and would be pro-active and partnering in relationships parents (Ayres, To Teach…, Chapter 2). School systems must support career development at the classroom level and provide a career path that celebrates teaching skills instead of promoting great teachers out of the ranks. Promotions out of the classroom as the professional career path devalues the work teachers do in the classroom. Won’t it be great if everyone in education was trying to be promoted into a teaching position, turning the pyramid upside-down?

Journal - week 2

Imaging Teaching, some thoughts:

I was struck by how many in the cohort used bouncy, colorful pictures of children. I saw how they were expressing their love for children. I took a different tack by trying to express my love for learning and how engaged children can be when learning. What I am interested in is helping children understand and discover the world. There are so many opportunities and so much chaos for children to sort through and understand. I think of schools as a haven for children that provide structure and a window to the larger world. This is very exciting to me because that world is always changing, and selfishly I see this as a chance to continually explore it with children, week after week, year after year.

No Child Left Behind and Testing:

In reading the background of No Child Left Behind as presented in 'Tested', I tried to decipher what it measures. I do think accountability in public education is important both for the students in the system but also for the larger society, yet I see some glaring flaws in NCLB. The first being that the legislation does not really address the success of individual children, instead it is designed to benchmark grade success year over year. While this approach works for business, as in, "I sold more widgets this year than last." The only constant year over year in the classroom is the physical plant of the school, and that is unfortunate. Students go to the next grade, teachers may or may not stay in the same classroom everyone is in flux. So on a macro level, NCLB measuring this year's 3rd grade against last year's may give us some trend information over the course of 5 or ten years, but it does not track the achievements of individual children, accounting for learning rates, for lack of a better word, or even teaching successes. Maybe the goal of NCLB is to track an improvement trend in public education,and if that is so, then I don't think Title 1 funding should be linked to the annual test results, reward trends and not individual year improvements. 

The design and implementation of NCLB also raises some questions in my mind. For education legislation to be designed in a vacuum and on the shirt-tails of of the "Texas Miracle" for the political cache of a newly barely elected president and framed in language that would make dissension appear un-American or racist did not do justice to the perceived problem. If you compare it with Goals 2000 which never got the momentum it needed; it's development was inclusive of education professionals as well as officials at the state level which are responsible for administrating and funding education.

I am a proponent of standardized tests. Every child shows achievement in different ways, and that includes with standardized tests. I personally had a very positive experience with the test we were given in 3rd grade, up until those test results were published, I was always in the slowest reading group. I had been in speech therapy, and I had very high fear of speaking out loud. This translated into an assumption that I was not a good reader as oral reading was the demonstrated measure. So the California Mental Achievement Test was given; the name of the test itself still gives me a chill. My test scores came back at the head of my class, and not only did my teacher apologize to my mother and try to figure out why I was so introverted. For me, I noticed a difference in how I was treated. I don't think my teacher knew she was telegraphing expectations, but I knew after the test that I was seen as a student that was successful. While this was a good out come for me, I wonder about the message test scores send and how to communicate results in a way that does not  "define" the child. 

I was only tested 3 times in my 12 years of public school. Annual mega-tests make the test experience too big a part of the public school education. I look forward to the revision to the WASL that our new state superintendent will be delivering. In his place think I would keep annual testing in a "WASL-Lite"format to satisfy federal guidelines for funding and keep students test savvy. Then I would administer a full WASL at 3rd, 8th and 11th grades, to track student learning trends. 

BEDUC427 week1 journal

What happened to New Math? And SRO? And all the other curriculum experiments I was subjected to in the 1960's? William Ayers began his teaching career in the same school system that I attended as a student. His writing challenged me think more about my experience as a student in a very wealthy system; in a forward-thinking time and place in education. I have over time noticed what a unique public school experience I had had. The community supported curriculum experimentation then and still does today. Due to being a university town, experimentation and exploration are part of the culture. Our schools were locally funded in the 1960's, and our parents approved large funding proposals because they knew it was going directly to the schools their children attended. in the late 1960's, a lawsuit put an end to that funding practice and the state of Michigan stepped in a re-distribute the funds so that the schools in Detroit were getting a proportional share of the whole pot of education monies collected through taxes. My public school experience was unique because of the community focus on the schools in Ann Arbor and the tax base that supported the schools. Community participation led to high expectations. I was motivated by the pressure of those expectations (culture of the community) and the excellence of my teachers.

Parental involvement at the wallet level led to high parental engagement and certainly contributed to student success. Everyone was invested in the educational outcomes, the quality of the facilities and the teaching staff. Accountability was high for all participants. But when the economics changed and the direct financial connection is no longer the case, as is typical of all public schools today, community interest waned. The question is how can we inspire the same level community interest/commitment that was provided when local dollars went directly to the schools? How can we provide parents other avenues of investment in the schools? If time really is money, then I think an investment of time is required of parents to get the best results. Reading and homework support are critical, yet with all of the curriculum changes in the last 50 years it is very hard for parents to provide help with homework, especially in math where the methods are so different and where parent can get the answer but not within the teacher's guidelines of how to arrive at the answer. This situation can alienate parents from the classroom, because they do not understand what is being taught or rather, how it is being taught, and in the end rely on test scores to measure successes. Parents need more tools to support the learning their children are experiencing. Curriculum need study guides for parents and parents need to invest the time. Knowing New Math has been of very little use to me in supporting my children's homework.

Historically the American education system was created to educate good citizens to participate in the democracy, thus insuring that politics will always to driver in education policy. What constitutes a good citizen will keep changing based on the needs of the country. Who is a good citizen today? Is it now a global question? Is it the consumer that drives the economy and keeps everyone employed? Is it a responsibility to the Earth that makes a good citizen? And how do we prepare tomorrow's citizens? In the changing face of America, we need to acknowledge and be inclusive of the "melting pot". Maybe the schools first task is to define what citizenry (not a citizen) is in this country, make the community model very big, and then brak it down to inventory the components through multi-cultural examinations which would link up global communities. Or move in the opposite direction, what are the characteristics of a citizen in this school/community?

Traditionally the neighborhood school was a hub where neighbors sent their children, and the school would reflect its very local community but not American society as whole and becasue it doesn't, it will struggle to achieve the over-arching goal of creating good citizens. But, it does insure community involvement. How do schools define community when neighbors attend different schools? Demographic cohesion in a town of 100,000 people is more probable, especially if the population is stable. My parents and grandparents went to neighborhood schools and the same high school. There were no very rich people or very poor people; the community was homogeneous in values regardless of racial make-up. What did I lose by not knowing the breadth of these differences, except through losing every athletic match up with the huge schools in Detroit and some well-orchestrated meetings with the Black Panthers? I don't know. There are many kinds of disadvantages besides economic; you don't have to live in Detroit to suffer.

The children on my street today go to 5 different elementary schools. They don't really play with each other because they don't really know each other, they have no shared experiences like a school provides. Their parents chose the best school situation they could for their particular child. After this match up was made it is important that the parents stay a part of this new community that they just signed the child up for. That family now belongs to the school community as well as their neighborhood, and their church, and their club sports teams, etc.

With a goal of investing families in schools and the success of schools, society as a whole has to agree on the value of an education and the goals of having an educated citizenry. Unfortunately, the school is not the only community a student belongs to and schools need support to promote their value. The neighborhood school has the advantage of having 2 aligned communities, the neighborhood and the school. A school with a large bused population of students puts stress on the ability of the school to sustain a community. I am going to explore the ideas of competing communities. What are they? What strategies do schools use to elevate their sense of community?

What would a school-centric community look like? Using a drawing of concentric circles representing layers of community, the group of students attending would be at the center, the teachers and facility would be the next ring, followed by parents, administration, school board, district, and so forth. This model would suggest that the address where the student lives is not her/his first community. This has a private school ring to it (once again, wallet driven allegiance). The Salmon Bay K-8 alternative school in Seattle has been able to foster a strong community with an all-city draw and has a long wait list for admittance to match. It is a beehive of family involvement, and the line-up of busses every afternoon is substantial. Its families want an ALTERNATIVE to the standard Seattle Public School experience, similarly with Daniel Bagley Elementary which houses a K-5 Montessori program. Both schools promise a unique (better?) public school experience for the right child, and as a consequence, a sense of "specialness" for the parents. Their participation in something "special" is somehow easier to accommodate. Why can't all schools be special?

I have volunteered at 2 very different middle schools this last year; one in the Seattle School District with an all-city draw, and the other in North Bend, basically a neighborhood school. The cultural make-up of the student bodies was significantly different. The school in North Bend was predominantly white, over 90%, and I could not help but worry that these kids are not getting the full breadth of American society because their community is so homogeneous and diversity is irrelevant in their everyday lives. While the Seattle school is very diverse, challenging teaching strategies to accommodate the diversity, but a much richer experience for the students, reflecting more of America's future population make-up. I believe in a diverse school community it better prepares our children for the global community.