Carrie’s TEBlog

The article “Rural college pushes iPod use for lectures” makes a great point about today’s technology. It talks about how colleges are beginning to use iPods for coursework and college related activities. I think this is a great idea. My main concern was that not everyone has an iPod, but the colleges take care of this either by loaning them out or giving them away to incoming freshman. What is great about using iPods like this is that it helps create more ways to learn then just inside the classroom. I think the more resources available to help someone learn the better. On top of being another resource, an iPod is something students would be more likely to use. Since it is so easy and almost kind of fun, I think students would feel more motivated to use it. One concern some of the people had with the use of iPods was that they can not replace being actively engaged in a learning environment. This is true, but using it has a side tool and not the main instruction helps create more time for in class discussions and so forth. It helps get students more familiar with the class topic, so they are more prepared to discuss it in class. Also I know for me, I am so dependent on my notes, so to have another outside tool to use to help me study would be great. As long as it is fair with all students having the same accessibility to the technology I think it is a great idea. However, if it becomes a way to distinguish between the students on who have the knowledge to use the technology or ability to obtain the technology, then it defeats the whole purpose as a learning tool. Technology is a great tool when it is available to everyone.

I definitely identify with the pragmatism philosophy and fully support it. As I read about it all I could think is that this was describing exactly how I want to teach. It stresses using the scientific method and problem solving. I want to teach math so I can teach problem solving skills. I think they are by far the most important tools someone can have at their disposal. It helps make you a much more rounded person. If you can learn to approach each new problem with problem solving skill and use the scientific method to work it out, then ideally you can solve any problem to some extent. I mean it does not make much sense to teach only one subject. I think a much smarter person would be what the pragmatists consider to be smart. Someone who can draw on a well balanced diet of all sorts of information is much more likely to be able to get far in life. That is what problem solving is, using a recipe of skills that worked in other situations and learning to adapt already known information to new situations. I think the type of classroom it described was the ideal classroom. An environment where teachers facilitate students learning through their own processes and help them gain their own problem solving skills is a great way to create a real life social environment. A classroom that has students exploring problems for themselves and discussing their ideas openly is way more interactive and interesting then a class with a strict set curriculum. There is no set way to learn so students should be encouraged to figure out what works for them. There is no set rule that says this is what you need to be smart and get by in life, thus gaining lots of background and ways to incorporate information into new situations is way more important then learning one subject. I loved this philosophy because it is how I think people can better themselves.

3/20

Today I observed something while waiting in the classroom to tutor. The teacher was addressing the class in a manner that to me seemed almost rude. His class is full of trouble makers who misbehave constantly while he is talking, but his manner towards his students was just as rude as they were being. He had a cold tone to his voice and would make comments to the students that were rather mean. Also if they had questions he would simply make a rude remark back to them. He almost appeared stuck up. I can understand his frustration but is that the right way to react?

            On one hand I can see where this maybe a good idea. Perhaps by not giving the students the time of day, he was ignoring their tactics of stalling the glass. He may have thought that the students were simply misbehaving to distract him from teaching. Maybe they just wanted to get attention or boost their appearance to their peers. If this is true then yes a teacher wants to ignore these things so they do not take away from the learning time. However, the question is how you can go about doing this. By treating your students rudely or displaying an attitude, you ultimately may loose their respect. Students I think model a lot of what their teachers do in the classroom. If they see the teacher is acting fed up and disrespecting them, then they to will become aggravated with the teacher. The thing is then to try to find a balance between being stern but not rude or cold. Trouble makers need to be dealt with but treating the whole class badly looses more students who were paying attention. I know teachers get frustrated it is only natural, yet they have to realize that the students are too. The only way a situation can get better is by working to help both sides gain control.

RJ I think brings up a great point in his response to McNeil. She writes all negative points about teaching. Yes her points are valid, as RJ points out, yet I think her story is very one sided as well. The issue here is you can always take research and make it look the way you want it to look. Honestly, yes teachers are struggling to teach mixed classrooms, but many have some good skills that are beginning to work better and better. When you read articles like this I think it is important to remember there is always another side. We read these kinds of articles to gain both points of view because in the end we choose what works for us. If this article makes you angry then that will affect how you think about teaching in some form as well as if you liked the article. Also perhaps, this is an example of where we already know what we think about teaching and that is what we think to be right. This article is a challenge of the educational system, and no one likes challenges. I think that reading this article would be better if it was accompanied by an article on the other side.

The article “D.C. Schools to Test New Special-Ed Rule” was interesting to me because I have not had much exposure to the special education programs in schools. A new proposal was passed that makes it the parent’s job to obtain proof for due-process hearings that challenge the special education plans for their children. The main reason this has switched over from being the school’s responsibility is to save money. I can understand both sides of how this could be bad and this could help. Honestly, if the parent is feeling that their special needs child is not getting the right kind of help in school, it should be their job to look into it and gain as much knowledge about what is actually going on. I think though that it is a problem because the special education programs in a lot of schools are lacking so much, that it is a bit ridiculous the school would not take responsibility for it. I mean to me for the school to be looking for ways to cut cost by placing responsibility on parents, when they are the ones who are not able to help the children, is backwards. The school should be working towards making the program better and helping the students. I do however agree that the parents need to be involved. It is their child, so they know them best. They should be the ones who are asking questions and seeing if the child seems to be progressing or not. I think it is a joint responsibility that should be settled outside courts. Now a day everyone just looks for a way to blame someone, which does not accomplish anything. I think the best idea would be for schools to be working with the parents to make the special education program more accommodating to their children.

After reading the article “Defensive Teaching and Classroom Control”, I was kind of upset by the Variations and Differences section. It, for one, totally contradicted all of the Brophy readings and what we learned in previous teaching courses. At the same time it did not surprise me. Teachers have so much on their plates, why would they want to even try to teach a mix level of students. I guess it is a good theory that teachers can teach every individual student on their level, but it does seem like it would be tough to actually follow in the real setting. The teachers that were part of the research knew the students in their classrooms had mixed ability and discussed it openly with staff and the researchers. Yet, when it came time to actually acknowledge these differences in the classroom, none showed much consideration for them. I think it is sad that so many of the examples were teachers who just expected so little out of their classes. It was easier for them to simply give trivial work or lectures, so that is what they did. I think that teachers who put in the effort actually get better results from their class. If teachers can find the connections of school and students outside lives, they can engage their students more and gain more interest and effort. Even the teachers who obviously loved their subject area would somehow water down their lectures or their requirements for coursework. It seems so weird to me. Why would a teacher who cares so much not try to pass on that passion to their students? Students become bored if the lecture material or work is trivial. They need to see the passion and why something is being asked of them. To me learning means being challenged. Students are not being challenged if teachers teach trivially or at a mediocre level. Students will only care about a class if a teacher shows that they care about the students and wants them to learn.

            I totally agree with Lisa that TV can be a useful tool. It is obviously a great tool for exposing children to English and all its forms. Along with that it is one of the main tools for exposing the culture of America. Whether or not people think this is good, I think it is important. How can you expect to get through life ignoring everything around you? TV is a perfect tool to learn quickly what is going on in the nation and perhaps the world. However TV must be considered as reliable as hearsay from a stranger. It is still helpful to be exposed to other people’s opinions because it helps people grow and learn to develop their own opinions. Children are not just learning facts all the time, they are also learning how to get by in the world and who they want to become. TV helps expose children to the different scenarios of the nation and different people. If a child is exposed to TV and also taught what is real and what is not, then they can begin to shape themselves. As long as TV is not the only exposure children have to culture, then I think it will help them in the long run.

Tutoring 3/7

            While sitting and observing the classroom before tutoring, I saw some interesting classroom management. The teacher, while taking role, had a question of the day up on the screen. This seems like a good idea, but very few students were sitting quietly doing the problem. Instead many students were being loud and distracting others from the task at hand. Obviously the teacher was trying to manage classroom time by having them do something productive, while he did a routine task. So what went wrong? To me the whole thing was worse then just taking role quietly.

            I think one of the issues perhaps was that the teacher knew the kids who cared would do the work. Maybe he figured that was enough to distract some of the children. He might have thought that no matter what not all the students were going to pay attention, so getting at least some to work quietly was enough. Or maybe he just hopes that eventually the daily problem will become routine. If it is a routine perhaps the students would just begin to do it. What I saw though was the students did not care at all about the problem. Also the teacher ignored those students who were not doing the work. All he did was tell them they needed to do the problem before he took it down. I think though the students did not feel that the problem of the day was important. Perhaps it was not a big enough part of their grade, or they did not care about their grades. Then how could the teacher make it more of a must do? I think that maybe he could look for other ways to make the problem important. Maybe make the punishment not just a bad grade. Perhaps punish or reward differently then a normal assignment. Sometimes when the reward is different then just a good grade, students feel like it is more worth their while. Or perhaps the problem was too hard. I heard some students say they did not know how to do the problem. If students saw the problem as being an easy grade, they may feel more motivated to do it. If the problem is more of a time killer then anything else, I think it would be a good idea to make it so everyone can accomplish it. A lot of students will not start something if they can not see themselves accomplishing it.

            The article “Science Lesson’s Slam Home” excited me to become a teacher. It talked about the science fair and crazy science experiments a Lansing elementary was performing. The students were loving it and learning so much through the experience. This to me is what every teacher should strive for in their classroom. By making things hands on and interactive students become more interested in what they are learning. Also many learn more through hands on activities. I think it is a great tool a teacher has, if they can make their lessons hands on. The article pointed out that students can make better connections between what they are learning and real life when they see an actual application. Being able to make the connection to something they can see helps students remember and apply things on their own.

            The issue for me is how I can make math hands on. Here I could do stuff with computers and graphs; however this is not as interesting as a science project. I think that the idea of doing some sort of a school wide project would be great. Since math and science are so closely related and depend on each other, a project that required math and science would really help both subjects come to life. I know a lot of calculus is used in physics which would be a great combination for a project. I think the key here is that to make subjects really interesting and important to the students, there needs to be collaboration between teachers. Students need to see that the school is like a community that cares about their work, so they will feel like putting in the effort. I think a school wide project would be a memory that all students would remember and take away something from it.