Authentic Applications

Every Wednesday I have the opportunity to volunteer at the local elementary school (which is, in fact, the very school that I myself attended).  I work with the science specialist and assist in both a first, and later, a second grade class.  Over the weeks I have picked up many hints and tips to use in creating my own teaching style.  Many of the teacher’s methods connect to concepts I have read about in my textbooks, as I study to become a teacher.  This week, I was able to actually experience one of the theories explained in Arthur Ellis’ work, Teaching, Learning, & Assessment Together, in action!

At the elementary school level, especially in the earlier grades, science is often not a subject that is given much classroom time.  At this particular school, science is a “specialist subject” – which means that students only have this class for one hour, once a week, just like they have P.E., Music, or Library.  This week I watched and helped students (who are studying the concepts of solids, liquids, and gasses) compare and contrast different vials of liquids.  As they shook the bottles, listened, held them to the light, rolled them down ramps, and tilted the liquid inside the bottles, these students began to discover the properties (their key word for the lesson) of each liquid.  At the end of exploration time the students gathered on the floor in front of the teacher to discuss what they had observed.  One first grade boy got antsy when he wasn’t immediately called on and began blurting out his comments.  After being corrected for his behavior, he was allowed to say his piece.  He said, “There’s just not enough time to learn all this stuff! I wanted more time.  You should tell Mr. Ricco (the principal) that we should have science AT LEAST twice a week!”  The teacher, probably as dumbfounded as myself, stared at him and then said, “Well Jackson, I think that’s something that YOU should tell Mr. Ricco.  Would you like to go do that?”  Jackson wholeheartedly agreed.  As he stood up to walk to the office to confront the principal, his classmates cheered him on and I even heard one little boy say, “Thanks for doing that Jackson!”

Ellis speaks of a concept called “Going With the Flow” in which teachers create activities that are so engaging for students that those students do not even want to stop to move on to another subject!  I got a very authentic view of what this looks like in the classroom with my experience with Jackson and his love for exploring and discovering in science.  I have been encouraged to provide activities, just like this science teacher did, that will make every student want to ASK for more time to do them!  From what I observed, the best activities are ones that involve students making discoveries on their own.  They can be as simple as some liquids in bottles, as long as the students are the ones that are examining, comparing, and learning about them – rather than being lectured at by the teacher.  I hope to pick up even more authentic applications of this concept throughout my teacher preparation.  I was inspired by Jackson’s excitement and enthusiasm for discovery and hope that will be something I am able to provide my own students in the future.

 

Ellis, Arthur K. (2009) Teaching, Learning, & Assessment Together. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.

I Can Teach

Teaching Understanding of Traditional Versus Revisionist Interpretations of Education

I will use this table to compare and contrast the traditional view versus the revisionist view/critical pedagogy, and the intermediate viewpoint (which is a combination of both).  I will ask my student which view he or she most identifies with, and why.  I will ask what they have learned or which ideas have been cemented to them about interpretation of the role of schools in caring for economically disadvantaged students.  I will ask what they see as an action plan for the future based on their viewpoint.

 

Traditional View

-Educational and economic institutions balance a requirement for excellence with provision of opportunity

-Each student who works hard, no matter his/her disadvantage, has the opportunity to succeed

-U.S. education system gives students more chances to attend college than most other countries

-Students do not get stuck in an inescapable education track because there is no national exam at an early age

-There are options other than traditional college

-School screening is not based on race, ethnicity, or income

-Better-educated people get better jobs because schools have made them more productive

 

Revisionist View

-Elite groups control schools and place disadvantaged students into second-rate schools

-Education system has been set up to produce disciplined workers at the bottom of the class structure

-Resistance theory – students resist teachers’ authority because school norms/expectations contradict traditional ones

-Students resist what they perceive as irrelevant middle-class values of teachers

-Are many ways educators can improve this situation

-Promote personal AND social efficacy, prepare minority students to be leaders

-Large effort to reform public school teaching, broaden school role in developing democratic society

 

Intermediate Viewpoint

-Elementary and secondary schools often fail to overcome disadvantages of working-class students

-There are some exceptions

-Not all working-class students and minority students fail, not all middle-class succeed

-Most low social-class Americans do not progress in class level beyond that of their parents

-Many children in low income urban areas have extremely low academic achievement – a large percentage are from minority groups

-Some working-class students attend working-class schools, some mixed-status schools.

-Schools can serve as important route to mobility for many disadvantaged children

All Things Considered

Throughout my week I have found a common theme of the importance of social cooperation as a tool in learning.  While on an academic level it is obvious which subjects are taught in school: math, science, reading, etc – there are also subjects taught which are hidden, but not any less valuable.  These subjects, cooperation, conflict resolution, and team building, prepare students for their later roles in society as adults.  These social skills not only teach students to work together, but also show the influences that students can have on one another.  After all, who is a stronger influence than one’s own peers?

In Arthur Ellis’ Teaching, Learning, & Assessment Together, he touches on the importance of both personal and social competence.  Personal competence is the obvious ability to regulate and be aware of one’s own actions.  Social competence is the understanding, developing, and assisting of other students in one’s classroom or environment.  It is the social skills of influence, communication, conflict management, leadership, cooperation, building bonds, and team capabilities that incorporate a student into a meaningful part of a group.  (Ellis, 2001, p. 51)  These social skills have tremendous impact on a student’s reflective thinking capability.  If a group of students cannot function as a socially cohesive unit they will be unable to complete a group assignment.  If, on the other hand, the students can work together, they are likely to even inspire each other to do well on the assignment at hand as they spark one another’s interests and debate amongst themselves.

Johann F. Herbart, in The Ethical Basis and Aim of Instruction, expresses the importance of cooperation between students in order to be useful in society.  He states, “…every pupil, whatever rank or social status, must be trained for cooperation in the social whole to fit for usefulness,” (Herbart, 1776, p.1).  Booker T. Washington touches on the importance of cooperation and friendship in his exposition “On Achieving Social Equity” from the Atlanta Exposition Address in relation to the equality between races and what each can stand to gain from the other.  Washington speaks of the benefit of sharing unique knowledge and information with others in society in order to create the most “useful and intelligent citizen…Effort or means so invested will pay a thousand per cent interest,” (Washington, 1895, p.2).  He asserts that if social skills are used to build one another up, rather than tear each other down, lives and communities will be enhanced by this new knowledge acquisition.

Finally, in Foundations of Education by Allan Ornstein and Daniel Levine, it was once again reiterated to me the importance of socialization of children to prepare them for adulthood.  While “school culture” may be the most formal of settings in which children learn, it is one of the most content-rich.  Alongside long division and sentence structure, students are taught to participate in the democracy of a classroom.  Students learn to follow the “rules of order” that prevail in the class and come to interact with their peers in appropriate and beneficial ways.  Students work together to accomplish grander things than most could do on their own, and learn that it is only through compromise and cooperation that these accomplishments come to pass.

While each text I read this week had a distinct purpose and direction, I continually perceived hints back to this idea of the importance of a social life amidst students’ learning.  One of the most important things children learn in school is how to interact with others, whether it is with their teachers or other students.  When students can learn to work together they begin to discover the mutual benefits of cooperation.  This interfacing between students of various cultures and communities is important in helping students understand and appreciate their differences.  “Peers are equal in a way parents and their children, or students and their teachers are not,” (Ornstein & Levine, 2008, p. 298).  Students have a great amount of personality and learning to experience together, and when they do, they are developing skills that will be used throughout their lifetime.  One of the most essential attributes students develop in school is that of good citizenship.  By preparing students to work together in teams, make compromises, and motivate one another, they will be ready to head confidently into the democratic society of the world today.

Ellis, Arthur K. (2009) Teaching, Learning, & Assessment Together. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.

Herbart, Johann Friedrich.  (1776) Outlines of Educational Doctrine.  Translated by Alexis F.  Lenge. (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1901).

Ornstein, Allan C. & Levine, Daniel U.  (2008) Foundations of Education.  Boston/New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.  Tenth Edition.

Washington, Booker T.  (1895) selections from Atlanta Exposition Address.  “On Achieving Social Equity”

Search for Meaning

While I am very excited about my future career in teaching, there are a few aspects of it that I am a bit skeptical about.  One of these is the area of classroom discipline and management.  While I do have experience working with children, I have not experienced a great need for discipline in the settings I have been in, nor do I yet have children of my own. This week I read an article from NEAToday magazine entitled “Disruptors.”  This article lists nine different solutions, given by real teachers, in dealing with a “disruptor” – one student who is out-of-control and distracting all of the other students.  The article states that because all students are different it may take various and tailored approaches to deal with these disruptors.

The first idea is to “help them save face”.  Many students are disruptive because they would rather be known as a troublemaker than unintelligent.  By teaching the exact skills that are required for each task the student will be more capable of completing his or her assignment.

Getting to know your students is a key idea!  “Be proactive, not reactive,” states Paul Barnwell, an eighth-grade language arts teacher (Barnwell, 2009, p.40).  Seek out potentially disruptive students and discover their interests.  By initiating positive interaction with that student, he or she is more likely to respect the teacher and thereby cause fewer disturbances in class.

“Keeping your cool” is essential to dealing with boundary-pushing students.  Often students cause disruptions in a manner that can be worsened by the teacher’s reaction. It is important to pick which battles are really worth pursuing, and which will only be made worse.

Deputizing students is an engaging way to avoid classroom disruptions.  By enlisting an unfocused student’s aid in helping a fellow student or preparing something for the classroom, the disruptive student can feel the weight of responsibility and take pride in doing his or her job well, rather than need to cause disruptions.

Try military discipline.  Really? Yes.  By this, I mean letting students know how you expect them to handle an activity, and then allow them to practice it.  If they don’t do it correctly, make them repeat it until they do.  The initial practice should take place during class.  After that, additional practice may be needed during recess or other activity time.

Recording students’ misdeeds is a newly appropriate method of maintaining classroom expectations in the digital age.  By taping, and announcing to the class that they’re being taped, there are likely to be very few outbursts, as this tape can later be shown to the principal or parents.  This can only function if it is allowed in your state.

Having students phone home to their parents is a classic and effective manner of dealing with disruptors.  Not only do the students have to admit their behaviors in front of the teacher to the parents, but also this does not allow time for the story to change between school and home.

Transforming a disruptive moment into a teachable moment, can it be done?  Ann Nichols, a special education teacher, states, “Disruption indicates a need, so I ask:  What need is this student communicating to me?”  (Nichols, 2009, p. 41).  By taking the time to acknowledge and address a student’s need, although the class will still be disrupted, there may be another lesson gained, such as a lesson in coping strategies.

Finally, Jana Dean, a middle school teacher, attempts to reshape her lesson to involve the disruptive student.  She ponders why they followed the impulse that took them away from class time.  Jana gets close to the student so that she can understand what motivates and shapes them.  She tries to integrate what the student has brought to the conversation into the lesson and mold her lessons so that this student can grow with his or her classmates, rather than against them.

These hints and clues at how to turn negative classroom interactions into positive ones are going to be essential to me in my future career as an educator.  These will not only benefit me, but my classmates (also future teachers), and our future students!  This advice will be useful in maintaining a calm and learning-focused classroom for students, helping them to become better learners and listeners.  This experience has better prepared me for the aspects of classroom management and disruptions, for this reason it has been enjoyable and I feel ready to take on the challenge.  Knowing that this advice has come from current teachers, I can fully trust in and hope that some of their methods will work in my own class someday!

 

Citation:

Chovan, M. et al. (2009, October/November). DISRUPTORS.  NEAToday. Volume 28, Number 2.  P. 40-41.

Key Idea Identification

A key idea that I picked up from reading Arthur Ellis’ Teaching, Learning & Assessment Together is the importance of assessment in the classroom for classifying, diagnosing, and encouraging students.  As Ellis points out, it is easy for us to give exams and other forms of assessment simply because we have always done this.  However, it is important that assessment be done for the right reasons in order for it to have the fullest affect on student learning.  It is also essential that assessment become a part of classroom life, rather than a large event.  This is accomplished by integrating assessment with teaching and learning.

Assessment to classify students is essentially assessment to test whether or not students have gained knowledge while in class.  Without knowing this information teachers would not be able to know whether or not students deserve a diploma.  Assessment to diagnose students is a method of making referrals to various programs which cater to the needs of specific students.  There are some students with special needs, whether giftedness or remediation, that require different situations in order for their academic needs to be met.  Finally, assessment for encouragement and to support student learning allows for teachers to see how far they have come in their teaching.  They receive feedback through students’ assessment as to how well they are meeting academic goals.  In this way, teachers are better able to cater to and encourage student learning.  Ellis states, “The best assessment is that which leads to the improvement of individuals and groups,” (Ellis, 2001, p.39).  Assessment is used as a method of bettering teaching and learning.  Student achievement should improve over time, and without assessment there is no way of measuring these improvements.  It is essential that assessment is integrated into the daily life of a classroom in order to better classify, diagnose, and encourage students in their studies and in this way better prepare them for their adult lives in the future.

Citation:

Ellis, Arthur K. (2001). Teaching, Learning, & Assessment Together.  Larchmont, NY:                           Eye on Education.

Learning Illustrated

This week the piece of information that stuck out the most blatantly to me was the ideas of “knowledge received”, “knowledge discovered”, and “knowledge constructed”.  “Knowledge received” is essentially knowledge that is told to students.  It is knowledge previously known by the expert and students must look to this expert to learn.  It is often learned by lecture, and aided by practice and homework.  “Knowledge discovered” is characterized by students’ learning through experiences.  Students find out about the world through adventures and incidents, whether in school or in everyday life.  “Knowledge constructed” is all about building and creating knowledge for one’s own self.  This knowledge tends to be unique to the learner and helps students discover how to express themselves.  The important thing to remember when teaching is to find a good balance between all three types of knowledge and instruction.  Too much of one area is not good, and neither is a deficiency.  It is important for students to experience the full gamut of knowledge acquisition.  When all three types of knowledge are presented to students they will be much more skilled in learning and discovery.

This Week in Review

One of the things that stuck out the most to be about my learning this week came from Arthur K. Ellis’ Teaching, Learning & Assessment Together.  His chapter on the “Reflective Classroom” gave me a bit of new perspective on what active learning looks like.  I am a staunch advocate of participatory learning in the classroom, however I had not thought previously about how time consuming it can be.  Ellis speaks of teaching and allowing time for students to  reflect on a smaller amount of material rather than attempting to cover a large amount of material and lose some of the lesson’s depth.  Ellis reminds us that to teach well, it may require a slower and more reflective teaching style.  This slow method may mean that we cannot explore as many subjects as we like, but the subjects we do cover will be done thoroughly.

Out of the Foundations of Education reading I believe the main point was simply that education has been a source of debate and discussion throughout history, and the centuries of study prior to today have affected the way our education system is currently run.  Whether it was the Sophists’ study of rhetoric and communication skills, or Plato’s rejection of relativism in favor of universal concepts of truth, or the Indians’ addition of the number zero to the mathematical system, they were all part of shaping our current education system.  Education has been a matter of high importance for centuries and it will continue to be shaped and molded in the future by the changes teachers make in our world today.

Finally, I want to touch on a personal experience of the week that made me stop and think about what children today perceive about education.  As I was spending some time in a first grade class and listening to students read in a variety of ways, (as the emphasis on learning to read in the first grade is tremendous) I witnessed a short conversation between two students that made me quiet sad.  A boy and girl were taking turns reading aloud to each other.  When it came time for the girl to read she picked up a book and opened it, only to be stumped by many words on the first page.  Rather than push through the difficulty, she handed the book to the little boy and said, “It’s too hard for me, but you can read it.  Boys are so much smarter than girls.”  I was shocked and probably would have jumped in to correct her and figure out who was telling her such things, had I not been a visitor in the classroom.  All of that to say, who is telling our little girls that they are not as smart as boys?! How can a young girl expect to be successful in school if she is constantly believing herself to be unworthy, or simply unable, to match up to her male peers?  I found the girl’s comment a travesty and mentioned it to her teacher.  I can only hope that whoever is telling her such lies will stop and that she will come to know that she is an intelligent person and that she is valued in school, just as much as any male cohort.

Clear and Unclear Windows

In the selections for this week there were many thoroughly formulated concepts that were clear to me.  In the piece from Teaching, Learning, & Assessment Together, by Arthur K. Ellis, I was able to comprehend and identify with the author’s assertion of the importance of the two goals in teaching: to raise academic achievement and the improve the social/moral fabric of life.  The first goal, while debatable as to the level at which it should be enforced, is certainly a goal for all teachers in order to create a measurement of learning and growth in their students.  The second goal, in particular, harkens back to the goal of promoting good citizenship within the school system.  It is through this promotion of good citizenship (or the improvement of the social/moral fabric) amongst students that they will learn how to interact with others and ultimately become productive, influential adult members of society.  Ellis suggests that all other ambitions or targets would be merely subsequent and perhaps get in the way of fulfilling these ultimate goals.  By only selecting two goals, not only does it give teachers a more attainable focus, it also narrows down the subject matter and allows each and every classroom activity to work toward reaching these objectives.

I quickly discovered my “unclear window” when delving into the Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle.  I follow as Aristotle makes the claim that everything we do, “Every art and every investigation, and likewise every practical pursuit or undertaking seems to aim at some good” (Aristotle, 384-322 B.C., p. 1).  Where I get lost is Aristotle’s discussion of political science as the ultimate and most authoritative science.  He states, “Therefore, the Good of man must be the end of the science of Politics” (Aristotle, 384-322 B.C., p. 1).  While I understand Aristotle’s discussion of political science as a guiding rule of, essentially, right versus wrong, I was unclear on his assertion that “the rest of the sciences are employed by this one” (Aristotle, 384-322 B.C., p. 1).  Does he make this assertion largely based on the fact that political science more often involves human emotion and law than the other sciences? How is it that he can claim political science to be greater than the science of medicine, which can save a human life?  This concept was perplexing to me, and therefore was my “unclear window” of the week.

Citation:

Aristotle.  (384-322 B.C.) Nicomachean Ethics (Book 1).

 

 

 

On a sidenote: I think if I used this in my classroom I might call it “Clear and Foggy Windows”

“I Learned” Statement

This week I learned about the importance of a teacher’s motives when instructing students and the significant impact these motives can have.  I was reminded and forced to contemplate this idea while reading the preface of Teaching, Learning, & Assessment Together, by Arthur K Ellis.  Ellis states, “Does it matter what you teach? Who you teach? I wish to suggest that these questions matter less than why you teach” (Ellis, 2009, p. xi). Ellis suggests that the weightiest element in the classroom is not the subject matter or students’ enthusiasm, but rather the motives behind the teacher’s career decision.  Looking back on my time in the public education system it is clear to me which teachers were only teaching because they had been doing it for thirty years and were trying to hang on until retirement, versus the teachers that were still teaching after thirty years because they were interested in the lives of their students and dedicated to making their classroom an intriguing and fulfilling place to learn.

Isn’t it true with every challenge, occupation, or situation that those who excel are those that desire to be participating?  A teacher’s motives for teaching definitely have an impact on their classroom.  It is those teachers that enjoy teaching, look forward to seeing their students, and create activities that spurn student learning that are able to truly teach. By teach I mean build an environment where children are encouraged to make discoveries about facets of the world through age-appropriate activities and later put that information to use in their everyday lives.  As Alfred North Whitehead says in The Aims of Education, “…Education is acquiring the art of using knowledge” (Whitehead, 1916, p.1).

I doubt that anyone would attempt to define a “good” teacher, as one that simply stands and lectures.  While many factions differ about the level of importance of assessment in education, there are very few who disagree about the necessity of a teacher caring for, catering to, and enjoying time with her students.  All of these things spring forth from the teacher’s motives for teaching.  I’ve picked the right career because upon closer examination I am thoroughly looking forward to putting all my effort into creating a classroom that is a “place of energy, fulfillment, and joy” (Ellis, 2009, p. xi).  I plan to be one of those teachers still teaching in thirty years because I desire to guide students in life discoveries as well as show them how to use their new knowledge in everyday life.

 

Citations:

Ellis, Arthur K. (2009) Teaching, Learning, & Assessment Together. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.

Whitehead, Alfred North.  (1916) “The Aims of Education”

On the Road to Becoming a Master Teacher

As a graduate student in the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program at Seattle Pacific University I will be learning about, reflecting on, and analyzing many theories and methods of teaching over the next two years.  It is my desire that with each entry posted here I will better my understanding of what it means to be a Master teacher.  My end goal is to leave this program well prepared to be a teacher who is able to engage, encourage, and enlighten my students in the classroom.  Any and all feedback is welcome and appreciated!