No Child Left Behind and Charter Schools

A lot of teachers talk so much smack about No Child Left Behind and I liked that your group presented both sides because NCLB does actually have some positive points. I didn't realize that NCLB reinstated Title VII, which supports bilingual education. I myself am a huge supporter of bilingual education and I like that NCLB at least tried to support it, too.

Of course, the candy was a good demonstration move. Everyone will remember the candy!

The presentation on charter schools left me feeling a little torn. At first I think charter schools would be wonderful because the person(s) in charge could make their own decisions and perhaps give students and even better and more personal education. On the other hand, the charter school is a business. Having worked in retail, marketing, fast food, and all of those business (soul sucking) jobs, I understand how negative this can in fact be (which you did a good job of explaining/showing to us). I really liked that you showed us a video on a specific charter school, too. It was nice to see what a school like this would actually look like.

Great job!

More Philosophy Questions...

Technology Integration: Technology integration is becoming a popular topic concerning education. Technology may prove to be useful for some of the lessons and activities that I would like to do with my student. I do not think that technology needs to be used constantly, but it is important to integrate it into the classroom. At the same time, I feel that it is important to have a “Back-up” in the event that the technology does not function correctly or if there are students who do not care for that particular type of technology.

Teacher and Leadership Style: I am a democratic leader who leans towards the authoritarian end of the leadership styles. It is important to believe in your students and take an interest in their lives, but I do not think that it is appropriate or beneficial for the teacher and student to be friends. I have had great relationships with my colleagues which were not friendships. We were able to have fun and interact in a friendly manner without crossing any lines. I feel that a teacher student relationship should be the same. The teacher is still, in a way, “the boss.”

Assessment: Being more of a progressive thinker, tests and quizzes, I feel, are poor ways of assessing students. I may give a low stakes quiz in the area of vocabulary, spelling, or grammar if I must, but I think that I may think of much better ways to assess my students. I am a huge fan of projects and portfolios.

Classroom Climate: The classroom should be a comfortable and safe place for students. I want my students to understand why there are rules in my classroom. I think I may allow the students to create their own rules and if I would like to add my own to the list, I will with an explanation. The teacher as well as the student should have a say in how the class is held, but the teacher should still have control and authority over the classroom.

Organization of classroom: Since I think that variety is important to a classroom, I feel that the organization of my classroom will not always be the same and will change frequently depending on the lesson or activity.

Ms. G's Secret Sauce

So, I read through the packet titled "Ms. G's Secret Sauce." I liked that the diary entries were included in the article and that some were written by students as well as Erin Gruwell. I felt that all twelve of the ingredients are important to abide by when working within the educational system. Pretty much all of the components have been introduced to my by my educations courses here at UMF, so that is very reassuring! I still feel like there might be a small percentage of students who I will not be able to help or reach no matter what I try. Of course, it is my job to try my very best with each and every student.

Standardized Tests

I really thought that the Backstreet Boys song added much to the presentation...

Just kidding, but anyway-

Showing us the old SAT test was powerful because it made me realize just how subjective (stupid) the tests are even today. It's incredibly sad that the test has only had one major change since 1926 when it first came out. Videos are always nice for a presentation, so thanks for sharing a couple with us.

I'm a dork and love background information and history, so thanks for giving us some of that. You didn't go too in depth with the history, which I thought was good. Although I like learning about that sort of information, after awhile it can be mind numbing and I thought that the amount and way that you presented it was appropriated and successful.

Discussions are always fun. Writing both the pros and cons of SATs I thought was good because it helped me to think in both ways about the SATs. Some people really do believe that SATs are beneficial, so it's good to know what their arguments are (especially if we ever want to "take down" SATs).

Promising Future

The story at the beginning of the article made me think back to my own high school/middle school experience. I hated how short our lunch periods were in middle school. I didn't even bother eating lunch on most days because I did not have time to eat; I get sick if I eat too quickly and I did not feel incredibly hungry, anyway. By the time you have gotten your food it is time for next period. I hated my schedule in middle school and the classes themselves had nothing to do with my hatred. Forty-five minute classes are a joke. Sometimes it takes a teacher five or ten minutes to get the class started, so classes were more like thirty-five minutes long.

High school was much more productive. Hampden Academy had block scheduling, meaning only four longer classes a day rather than seven or eight short classes. Lunch period was a little longer, too, than my middle school lunch periods. Somehow the school found a way to trim our classes each a little bit in order to give us a longer lunch period, which I think the students all appreciated.

Having grown up in a different state, I had noticed that the Maine education system was a little behind my old school. I was happy to read in the article that Maine is number 15th in regards to education. Lecture based instruction is not a successful way to teach, at least if that it the only type of instruction that is used. The article points this out and also states that students must be challenged and engaged. I love that Maine educations are challenged to continue to increase the percentage of graduate student and that the numbers are rising.