NCLB - Sara, Nikki, and Sam

First off I thought you guys did a great job on educating the class about the No Child Left Behind laws and what the goals of NCLB are. I didn't know that 100% of students are supposed to be proficient in math and reading by the school year 2013-2014 and that they are all supposed to graduate from high school. Obviously the NCLB law has some major problems, and I think you guys showed that without totally bashing it. You allowed us to make our own decisions about the law. The one part of NCLB that I agree with is the part that all students will be taught by highly qualified teachers. This should be a given anyways so I'm glad it's put into writing. It was neat how you guys let us look up our own high schools to see if we passed our AYPs. I know that my high school didn't pass the reading portion so if the law stays into affect how it's stated now my school will lose funding. I also thought that you guys had the best videos. I especially liked the one with Obama because with the recent election I'm excited to see what modifications he's going to make to NCLB. He said he wasn't going to do away with it all together, but modify it so schools won't lose their funding if they don't make as much progress as they were supposed to under NCLB. Progress can't be measured the same from school to school because all schools are different and all students are different. NCLB is definitely going to change when Obama becomes President and I think it will change in a positive direction. Good job guys!

Students At Bat

Reflection:
I really liked this article because so many adults don't think children can make any decisions by themselves. It's not just teachers though, many parents are limiting the decisions that their children are allowed to make. It's like they don't want to see their children fail but in the long run it will make their children a smarter and better person because they were allowed to make mistakes. The reason that teachers limit the choices that students are allowed to make is because they're pressured to meet standards and improve scores on assignments. And I think it's a valid reason, these teachers don't realize that in the long run they're hurting their students by making all the decisions for them. I do however find it very hypocritical when parents or teachers get mad at students for not taking responsibility for their own actions - they've never had to do it before! The good thing is that it's pretty simple for teachers to allow students to make some decisions around the classroom. I think the best thing that students should be allowed to do is create the classroom rules, for the main reason is they are the ones who are going to have to follow them. If they create them then they have no excuse not to follow their own rules. Students can make so many decisions besides this though. They can decide what to do with extra class time, they can decide where they want to work, they can decide to work in groups or by themselves, and they can even decide what projects to do and how they are going to be graded on it. Teachers should be willing to give these decisions to the students, for one it's less decisions they have to make and two it will help students later on in life. Of course if students aren't used to making decisions they won't be very good at it at first. If they get free time during class to work, and they just goof off the whole time, they will learn that they will just have to do that work at home. It takes time and practice for students to catch on, but it's worth it in the long run. Students want to be able to make decisions on things and they will become more engaged and focused with a project that they helped create and got to make some decisions on.

Philosophy of Education

Classroom Organization - I believe that teachers need to be organized in their classroom. Nothing is worse then when a teacher loses a student's assignment or can't find what they need for a lesson. Students can shut down if they have to redo an assignment. The main thing is that the more organized and structured a teacher is in the classroom the more time there is for student learning.

Motivation - Teachers need to be able to motivate their students. There are some students who will do whatever you ask just because you're the teacher, but there are other students who need more motivation. They need to see a reason for doing assignments. Without a purpose certain students won't be motivated.

Discipline - My personal belief about discipline is that it can be prevented. Teachers need to get to know their students so they know how to prevent disciplinary situations in the classroom. If two students talk too much when they're together then make sure they're not in the same group. If one student acts out when he has nothing to do, then make sure he doesn't run out of work. If it looks like a student is having a really bad day, then don't call on him during class. I think it's all about knowing your students and their habits.

Assessment - Students need to be assessed in different ways. They can't just be graded on tests and quizzes because that's not an accurate measure of assessment for all students. Some have anxiety with tests, and it's pretty common in math. I've even drawn blanks on math tests and I love math. Students need to be able to show you in different ways that they know the material and can use their knowledge in different situation. Projects are a great way for students to do this.

Classroom Climate - Students need to feel comfortable in class so they will participate in classroom discussions and will answer questions that you ask. Students also need to know that they won't be made fun of for asking "stupid" questions or saying the wrong answer. Teachers need to make a classroom climate where all students are encouraged to share their ideas without feeling embarrassed.

Learning Focus - I believe that the students should be the majority of the learning focus. Students have needs and they should be met in order for them to learn and retain more information. Students should also have some say in what they're going to be learning. They can help decide what projects the class can do and what they're going to be graded on. I also believe that some parts of the curriculum should be decided on by the teacher. Teachers are the experts in the classroom and know what students should know before going on to the next grade.

Teacher Styles - My teaching style is closely related to student centered learning. I don't like to lecture because I don't like to listen to lectures as a student. If I find a lesson boring to teach, I know that students will find it boring too. And if I find an assignment boring to grade, then I know students will find it boring to do. I think it's better for students to discover things on their own, instead of me just giving them the answer and them taking my word for it.

Leadership Styles - My leadership style is based more on encouragement more then anything. I am a role model for students and want to encourage them in any way I can so that one day they can all be leaders. I don't think that leaders should be bossy and an authoritative person, but a person that is looked up to. I want students to be able to look up to me for support and guidance.

Promising Futures

Some people read Promising Futures and thought the concept was a great idea and that it would be beneficial to Maine. Some schools were having problems with academic achievement and students were disengaged and didn't feel like they had any say in their education. The Department of Education wanted to change this so they came up with core practices to help schools improve. These practices involve the teachers, students, and administration in the schools.

While some thought Promising Futures was a good thing for Maine schools, others believed that schools should already be practicing these principles. Teachers shouldn't be overloaded with students so that the class sizes are smaller and so teachers have more time to prepare their lessons. "Obviously teachers need to respect and understand their student, obviously students need to be engaged on several levels and be an integral part of determining their own educations." Many people felt like these core principles were very obvious and schools shouldn't have to be reminded to accomplish them. These core practices are what we've learned throughout our years at UMF and they seem like second nature to us, but not to the teachers that have been out of college for many years. And this comes to the point that teachers need to have refresher courses in education. This will be beneficial to not only teachers but also to students. Teachers will get more ideas about lessons and how to assess students.

Non-Traditional Schools - Sarah, Maria, and Katie-Rose

I thought you guys did a great job with your presentation. I can't speak for the rest of the class but I didn't really know much about non-traditional schools. I went to a traditional public school and didn't really know what other options there were. I had never heard of a charter school before I came to UMF so the laws that were involved in creating them were very interesting. Having the class write on the board about our personal feelings about charter schools were good because it gave us other people's perspectives. It also created a good classroom discussion.

I also really liked the info on Catherine McAuley High School, it gave the class a good example of a non-traditional school in Maine. Maria did a good job explaining how McAuley was run and why girls decide to go there. I learned a lot about religious schools and all-girl schools. I didn't know that all faiths were admitted and that girls commute from 70 different towns in Maine. McAuley seems to have a good thing going at their school and it gave me another option when I think where I want to teach after graduation.

The concept of the Summerhill School was interesting to learn about even though it's still a little strange to me. Students aren't required to go to classes, and there aren't very many rules for them to follow. It kind of seemed like a school that parents would send their kids to if they're not succeeding or doing well in a traditional school. And I read on the website that there is no parental involvement at Summerhill because the students are encouraged to live their own lives. Summerhill is a school that believes fully in existentialism and doesn't seem like a good match for all students, but is a perfect match for the existentialists. I'm glad you guys decided to talk about Summerhill in your presentation because it gave everyone something to think about.

Good job everyone!

Reflection on "Voices"

One of the early philosophies that really got my attention was the philosophies of the Greek educators. Socrates believed that it was the teacher's role to draw the knowledge out of the student and that students had to discover the knowledge. He thought teachers needed to ask the right questions and believed in higher order questioning. Plato said that the purpose of education is to help the students to grow and develop their character and ability to do good. Aristotle thought a methodology in the classroom had to be used that encouraged thinking and reflecting and then allowed time for practice of the skills. Even though all of these philosophies are old, I believe they're important in today's schools.

I made a lot of connections with Pestalozzi's philosophy of education. He believed that educators need to think of the whole child, including their heart, body, and feelings, and not just their mind. Learning has to be stimulated by the interests and motivation of the child, but also has to be completed at each stage before going onto the next. This is important in many subjects, but especially in math. If a student doesn't know how to add, subtract, multiply or divide, then they can't start solving problems. Teachers also need to take into consideration the child's emotional and social needs while trying to educate them. Teachers need to be able to tell when a student is having a bad day and give them some slack. Students will respect you more in the long run.

The philosophy that I made the most connections to was Dewey's philosophy of education. He believes that teachers have to create a learning environment in which students can have meaningful learning interactions with their classmates. These interactions are hands-on activities based on the problem solving method. Students should be able to make connections between the different subjects. Dewey also believes that the goal of education is to make intelligent citizens and that education must be democratic, providing students with free and intelligent choices between alternates. Students need to be engaged to their environment - the subject matter, their teachers, and their classmates. Dewey's philosophy is very student-centered, so teachers should create their lessons around the interests of the students. I think all of these things are crucial - students need to see a purpose in what they're learning. If they don't see a purpose, students will shut down. It's the teacher's job to make these connections for students, and it's also their job to create a safe learning environment so all students have the opportunity to learn.

Discipline - Megan, Jessica, and Evan

First off I thought you all did a really good job with your presentation. You started off with a really funny video about discipline and I think it got us all interested in what you were going to talk about. You also got the rest of the class involved when we had to pick a behavior problem and talk about different disciplinary actions. A lot of our answers were ridiculous and we would never do them to our students, but it had us talking about the history of discipline. The second video that showed the school in Texas that actually paddled their students gave me a whole other perspective about discipline. I really didn't think any schools did that anymore but the video made it seemed like paddling worked well for that school. Your powerpoint was good and you showed us some good graphs and tables about discipline. The thing that I liked most about your presentation was that it created a good class discussion. A lot of people had stories about discipline that they wanted to share with everyone. I think you guys did a great job!

Promising Futures

Abstract:
Promising Futures is a book that was written to help improve the high schools in Maine. People at the Department of Education observed things in Maine's high schools that bothered them. Academic achievement was very uneven from school to school. Students were disengaged from learning. Students didn't feel like they had any input on their education. And the rate of students that were accepted to college, the rate of them finishing was lower then the national average. The state wanted to do something to change this, so they created six core principles that they believe will help students be more successful. Schools which promote a safe, respectful and caring environment, high universal expectations with a variety of learning opportunities, understanding the actions based on assessment data, teacher practice which values and builds upon the contributions and needs of each learner, equitable and democratic practices, and coherence among mission, goals, actions, and outcomes. The book then goes through these six principles as well as other principles in more detail. It explains the rationale of each one and gives an example from a real school.

Reflection:
The one thing that I like best about Promising Futures is that they show within this entire book that everyone has to participate in order to make this work. There are principles involving the teachers, there are principles involving the students, and their are principles involving the administration. This process won't work unless everyone is involved. The entire school needs to change.

One of my favorite principles was the one that says that students and teachers belong to teams within the school that provides each student continuous personal and academic attention and a supportive environment for learning and growth. I can not say how much I love teams within schools. It makes things so much easier. The teams of teachers get to know each other better and they can collaborate on units. The book also made a good point that if a student is having a problem with a teacher or a student, then the student has someone they can go with for help on how to solve the issue.

The other principle that I liked was the one that said every teacher has sufficient time and resources to learn, to plan, and to confer with individual students, colleagues, and families. Teams don't work unless they have the time to get together to meet. But it's also great for students. They can use time to meet with teachers to get extra help or make up for assignments that they missed. Parents can be given these times too so they know what time is the best for calling teachers.

At the end of Promising Futures, they have a section labeled "Practices to Consider Phasing Out." And this section has 19 things that schools should avoid doing. I think it's a helpful thing because schools can check easily to see if they're doing the things that are on this list.

Theories of Philosophy

Abstract:
Perennialism - Perennialism focuses foremost on the everlasting importance of human beings. And since everything else changes in life, perennialists focus on personal development. Facts can change, but principles can't. This is a teacher-centered theory that teaches principles and scientific reasoning. Teaching methods are similar to essentialism, they include lecture, memorization, and examinations.

Essentialism - Essentialism is a mixture between idealism and realism. It stresses that everyone needs to know basic core information to be a productive member of society. But this core information changes with time and with different societies. The goal of all essentialists is to produce good citizens, so this is why they stress subjects like literature, history, language, and religion. Teaching methods are minimal and include lecture, memorization, and examinations.

Behaviorism - Behaviorism is closely linked to realism. People who believe in this think that all behaviors can be explained as responses to a stimuli and that behaviors represent the essence of an individual. One's behavior is determined by their environment, so the school environment for children need to be organized and the curriculum needs to be structured. Teachers who are behaviorists use both positive and negative reinforcers. Students are praised and get good grades when they do good things, and are reprimanded and get bad grades when they do poorly.

Positivism - Positivism is limited to known truth and knowledge that is observable and measurable. A lot of scientists and mathematicians are positivists because it is based on logics of the world. Positivists require schools to have set standards for students but also encourage students to develop their own skills of observation, classification, and analysis. Teachers decide what students should learn, but they teach it in different ways. It is the teacher's job to make sure the students learn the information, can recite the information, and can retain the information.

Progressivism - Progressivism is a theory that believes learning takes place from the questions developed by the learner. The learner's ideas should be tested by experimentation. Progressivism is the most popular in the United States. It emphasizes learning how to think, rather then what to think. Flexibility is very important in a progressive classroom. Classrooms should also have organized freedom, where everyone takes part in the decision-making. Progressivism views the learning as an experiencing, thinking, exploring individual.

Humanism - Humanism is closely related to existentialism and is concerned with enhancing the goodness of the individual. Therefore students are encouraged to make their own decisions and choices. They get to make the classroom rules and also get to decide what books are going to be read in class. Teachers use non-traditional ideas like individualizing instruction, open-access curriculum, non-graded instruction, and multi-age grouping. Humanists created the schools without walls that were popular in the 70's.

Reconstructivism - Reconstructivism focuses on democratic values, because students are the future generation that is going to shape society. Reconstructivists focus on community based learning because students are going to have to work together in society. They want to improve human conditions by focusing on real problems. Teachers want their students to gain experience so they are well prepared when they enter society.

Constructivism - Constructivism is also related to existentialism emphasizes hands-on and activity-based learning. The curriculum is based on big ideas rather then the memorization of factual information. Students learn by shaping their own understandings about the world around them. Instead of leading students to the right answer, constructivists encourage students to think on their own, even if it is in the wrong direction. Teachers use short activities called hooks to engage the students into the lesson, but the teachers main job is to act as a guide or coach in the learning process.

Reflection:
The two theories that best fit my theory of philosophy are Positivism and Constructivism. They are kind of opposites - positivism is a teacher-based approach and constructivism is a student-based approach to learning. But I believe that there should be a combination of the two. The teacher needs to create some activities because standards need to be met, but sometimes the students need to be able to make decisions for themselves. I think it's good for a classroom to have both.

I believe the same is true for the curriculum. Especially in math, there are things that students need to have memorized. For example, students should know their multiplication tables and the order of operations by heart. That's the positivism point of view. But at the same time, it's difficult for math teachers to cover everything their supposed to in one year - that's why it's good to cover the big ideas. If students know and understand how to use the big ideas, they can use their knowledge to figure out different problems. This is the constructivism point of view. They seem like opposites, but when brought together positivism and constructivism work nicely together.

A positivist teacher sets clear standards so students know exactly what they need to learn within a lesson. The students have clear expectations, which a lot of students like to have. But these clear standards can be boring for students. This is where the constructivism part comes in. A constructivist teacher creates hooks for lessons, that engages the students so they're excited to learn. Usually hooks incorporate real life situations which students love because they need to see the relevance in things. I think that my personal teaching style is a mixture of a positivist teacher and a constructivist teacher.

TWYH - pg.228-265

Abstract:
After the loss of Erin's campaign, she was put into serious debt. The voice recording alone cost her $20,000 and Erin wasn't making much money at this point. At this same time one of the Freedom Writers, Tony, was beaten badly and left for dead. He was doing well in life and because of this he lost his job, his car, and had to drop out of school. Tony didn't let any of this phase him, he just moved on with his life the best he could. Tony helped Erin move on with her campaign loss, and she started to speak at different locations about the Freedom Writers. She started speaking to get out of debt, but Erin enjoyed telling people about their story. She started speaking all around the United States and even spoke after Rudy Giuliani. A successful businessman with lots of money, Ric Kayne, asked Erin if she could replicate her success with the Freedom Writers at a national level. Erin didn't think she could do this without her students' help, so she asked Mr. Kayne to provide scholarships to them so they could replicate Room 203 together.

Around this time, Erin was asked about turning the story about the Freedom Writers into a movie. She met with the screenwriter who wrote Erin Brockovich and he started writing the script. Before he could finish writing the script to the movie, something very tragic happened to Erin. Her father, who was her biggest supporter throughout this whole book, had a heart attack and died. Erin got the news right before she left to make a speak somewhere on the border of Canada. She stayed on the plane and continued with her plans because that's what her dad would have wanted her to do. Her father passed away before the Freedom Writers movie came out, so when it finally came out Erin and the Freedom Writers went back to the same movie theater that Erin and her dad brought them to before. Instead of people giving them weird looks and clutching their purses, everyone embraced the students. It was a touching moment for everyone who was involved.

Reflection:
I feel like for the first time in this book, Erin finally had things in her life under control. She was spreading the Freedom Writers' story all over the United States, but she didn't seem to be as much of a workaholic as before. She was asked to run for Congress again and she actually turned down the offer. I feel like Erin has grown throughout this book, and the old Erin wouldn't have been able to say no, but the new Erin could. She finally decided that she couldn't do everything, and decided to focus on the movie that was being released and making more speeches about the Freedom Writers. I think the movie being released made Erin feel like she finally made a difference. Not only did many of her students improve their lives by getting an education, but now everyone knew their story and what they went through to achieve that success.

Erin's story is an amazing story of how one teacher made a difference in the lives of 150 students. But I definitely don't want to do what Erin did. She lost so much because of her devotion to her students, and I don't feel that it was worth it. Teachers need to think of themselves and their own families before their students. It's a difficult thing to do, but not all of us can be like Erin. Once the year is done with your students, you just need to let them go and not hang on to them forever. This book gave me another perspective of teaching and what happens when you become a workaholic and over attached to your students.

The 4 Philosophies

Abstract:
The four philosophies are idealism, realism, pragmatism, and existentialism.

The purpose of school for an idealist is to provide students with an educational environment that will help them expand on their ideas. Idealists believe that schools need to help prepare students to be a beneficial member of society. Students should focus on literature, philosophy, politics, history, and the arts. They are encouraged to study and most importantly reflect on their subjects. Reflection is a big part of the preferred methods of instruction, along with lecture and discussion.

Realists believe that the purpose of school is to help students understand the causes of things and to teach them intellectual and moral virtue. They focus on subjects such as mathematics, science, language, literature, and history. Realists like a lot of variety of teaching methods and believe that even the teacher is considered a learner. Students need to know how to think clearly and understand the world.

The purpose of school according to pragmatism is to model a democratic society. They focus on subjects like history, geography, and the sciences because that's the most relevant in society. Pragmatics want to understand humans and why they do the things they do in social situations. The instruction is very hands-on and deals with a lot of experiments. Students are seen as more adult-like, and are capable of setting their own goals for their learning. The teacher is expected to model the type of knowledge they want the students to have, which is experimental knowledge.

Existentialism deals a lot with the freedom of choice, so school for an existentialist is supposed to show students how to take responsibility for their own actions and deal with the consequences of their actions. It focuses on the individual student and their own personal learning. Each student is unique and is capable of making their own choices. Teachers are expected to help their students achieve their own personal potential by being a good role model to them.

Reflection:
None of these four philosophies really jumped out at me as my own philosophy, but I think that realism was the one that I agreed with the most. I liked what realism said about the nature of the learner and the nature of the teacher. I believe strongly that throughout our lives that we never stop learning. Teachers can learn a lot from their students, and they have to be open to the idea that their students can be smarter then them at some stuff. To a realist, the teacher's job is to teach their students how to think clearly so that they are able to understand things in the world. Realists believe that theoretical subjects like math and science are more important then the arts, which I don't agree with. Math and science are very important in school, but so are the arts. I don't like it when art and music programs are the first things cut whenever a school needs to cut out something. Realists also believe that schools should help students find the causes of how things work. I think that students need to know how to find out causes of things, but schools also need to help students grow as individuals so they can be productive members of society. So overall I agree with what realists believe in, but I think there are more things that are important.

Tracking - Justin and Chrissy

I'll start off talking about the paper. Great job - it tells the reader what tracking is, how the tracks are used in schools, and how it affects the students. I especially like how you wrote that teachers are affected by tracking too. Students who are in the lower tracks feel dumb, but the teachers can feel dumb too. They can feel like the school doesn't trust them to teach the higher track students because they're not as good as the other teachers. Bottom point is that tracking affects everyone involved, usually in a negative way. Especially kids who are tracked according to different factors other then their academic level. It was good that you brought up how kids are tracked by other factors, such as race or socioeconomic status. It's horrible and shouldn't be tolerated in schools these days. And as you pointed out in your paper, some schools are trying to eliminate tracking all together so that every student can be successful.

I love how you started your presentation off with a video clip from Freedom Writers. It was a great video because not only does it relate to tracking but it also relates to the book that all of us are reading. Everyone could make a connection to it. One thing that I think could have improved your presentation was the amount of lecturing involved. There were a couple times where I was tired of listening and wanted to do something else. I like that you added charts to your powerpoint, but some of them were confusing to read and I didn't understand the point that you were trying to show. I liked the website you showed though, it had a lot of good stuff about the school who eliminated tracking. I didn't really know what I was supposed to be looking at on the website though, so I needed a little bit more of an explanation. But it was great that you allowed us to explore it on our owns instead of just watching you guys.

After your presentation, I had a lot of questions about what we do as teachers about tracking. What happens if we get hired by a school where there's tracking? What can teachers do to eliminate tracking without stepping on people's toes and making others in the school mad? Is it something that first year teachers should just ignore and wait until they've been there for awhile? And maybe we won't be able to answer these questions until we've been put into a situation like this.

TWYH - pg. 177-227

Abstract:
This section of the book starts out during the later half of the students' senior year. Tensions were rising with the students because among the Freedom Writers, certain students were being singled out and getting more attention. During this same time, they won the Spirit of Anne Frank Award where only 45 students could go to New York City to accept the award. This also caused more tension between Erin and the other teachers, because yet again she was going across the country with her students and being recognized. Erin also had a Primetime Live segment on her and her class air on TV, which got a lot of attention outside the school.

After graduation, Erin decided to take a job at California State University. She still continued to see her students and decided to take about 50 of them on a trip to Europe. They weren't able to raise all the money, so Erin again went to John Tu for financial help. And yet again he gave her money, this time it was $250,000. These aren't even her students anymore, and she's still spending so much time with them and doing things for them. After the trip, Erin was still promoting the book and was on different shows like Rosie O'Donnell and Oprah. And apparently she didn't think she was busy enough, because she decided to run for Congress. This caught me completely off guard, I had no idea she was even interested in politics. The Freedom Writers helped her campaign, but in actuality they might have lost it for her. Erin was juggling both her campaign and her students, and her students were her top priority.

Reflection:
I was kind of disappointed in Erin for leaving Wilson High. I felt like she did it because of her students, they weren't going to be there next year and she didn't want to start a school year without them. She said in the book that she wanted them to "spread their wings and leave the coop" and I thought for a moment that she was going to let them go on their own, but nope. Erin thinks of her students as family at this point. I mean she organized a 19 day trip to Europe for 50 students! It cost over $250,000! And then when she decided to run for Congress I thought she was trying to do something else besides hanging out with her students. Even though I was surprised she decided to run for Congress, at least it didn't have to do with her students or teaching. It's hard for Erin to relax and not do anything because she's been a workaholic for like 5 years now. But she didn't give up her students, instead she encouraged them to help her in her campaign. While I was reading, it didn't seem to me that Erin even wanted to campaign and she was unhappy doing it. She didn't want to help raise money because she didn't want to ask people for money, which made no sense to me because she asked for money all the time when she was a teacher. And she didn't want to put people down, but she used to put down all the other teachers that she worked with. I'm glad that she lost the election because it didn't seem that she was passionate about it. She's obviously passionate about her students, she just needs to be passionate about teaching her current college students.

PBS Video - Episode 4

This video shows American public education from 1980 to the present. It starts out with the Reagan Administration saying that kids aren't learning as much as they need to when they're in school. I mean they went around interviewing high schoolers and one kid couldn't even tell the interviewer who won the Civil War. That is a problem. Kids were taking easier classes like cooking and wood shop, they weren't challenging themselves with higher level math, history, or English courses. Obviously the schools and teachers weren't pushing students to push themselves.

One solution that they did in East Harlem was to make a competition for schools. Students got to pick which high school they wanted to go to, and if a school was lacking student attendance - it was closed. The different schools focused on different things - one was a dance school, one was a science school, etc. I thought it was a good idea, and it did increase academic achievement, but I don't feel like it was the competition aspect that made it work. Students were more engaged and therefore they were learning more.

Another thing that they used during this time period was vouchers. A voucher is given to a poorer student so they can go to any private school that they want and the government will pay for it. Now how is this increasing the public school system? It's not, they're using money to take away students from the public schools. It would have made a lot more sense to use that money to help improve public schools, since a lot of public schools during this period were falling apart. Some had leaky ceilings, others were overcrowded - this is where that money should have gone to.

Some felt restricted by public schools, and this is when the idea of charter schools came into play. A charter school is a school that receives money from the government, but they have to set a goal for their students. And if the students don't achieve that goal in the time period that was agreed upon, then the school gets shut down. A lot of charter schools focus on a certain field - the arts, mathematics, etc. It's kind of like what they did to the schools in East Harlem, except better because there's not as many restrictions like in a public school.

A big part of this episode was that students need to meet certain standards in public schools. The states were the ones who came up with these standards, and students must meet them every year. And now it's up to the teachers to make sure every student succeeds.

TWYH - pg. 141-176

Abstract:
This section of the book starts out with Erin getting a divorce from her husband. They hadn't been getting along for awhile now, and he didn't even want to go on vacation to Europe with her. He left at the beginning of Erin's students junior year, so it was pretty touch on Erin. One thing that I didn't expect was that Erin's husband was seeing another woman. I don't believe this happened in the movie. Another part of the book that surprised me was that Erin's students found out that her husband was seeing another woman. A couple of her students actually worked at her husband's office with John Tu and saw him kissing the other woman. Her students responded by wanting to either beat him up or trash his car. Because of this, Erin had to come clean with her students that she was getting a divorce.

Another big part of this section of the book was that Erin organized a trip for all of her students, and she has 150, to go to Washington DC on a field trip. They wanted to go give their book to the Secretary of Education. For a lot of Erin's students, this was the first time they left California, stayed in a hotel, and rode on an airplane. It cost a lot of money to send that many people across the country on a field trip, and I'm still not really sure how Erin pulled it off.

Reflection:
"Maybe if I had poured my passion into being the perfect wife instead of the perfect teacher, we'd be admiring the Dutch canals together." After I read this, I just wanted to scream "Why hadn't you thought of this earlier?!" I'm not saying that she had to be the perfect wife, but if she put a quarter of the time she spent on her students into her marriage, they might still be together. I couldn't imagine letting my profession ruin a marriage. But I feel that Erin and her husband getting a divorce is just going to make Erin even more of a workaholic. She's not going to have anyone to go home to, so she's just going to spend even more time with her kids or doing stuff for them. Especially since in this section, we were told that Erin was allowed to teach the same kids for another year, their senior year. I think it's both a good thing and a bad thing at the same time. Her kids will learn a lot in her class, but it's also doesn't seem healthy to me.

I can't believe that Erin organized a trip for almost 200 people to travel across the United States to take a field trip to Washington DC. That's crazy! It must have taken so much time to organize everything, and Erin pretty much did it all herself. I mean they had to reserve a whole airplane just for their group. And their hotel bill must have been ridiculous. Erin's students did a lot of fundraising, but John Tu helped out Erin and her kids the most. He also gave them 36 computers for Erin's classroom, which was generous by itself. Erin's students had a blast in Washington DC, and I'm sure it was just as fun watching them in the nation's capitol. It was a once in a lifetime experience for them, and they all knew it.

Article - A Nation At Risk

The article "A Nation At Risk" discusses the decrease in education in the United States. Students aren't learning as much in school as in the past, so they are behind in college, and therefore behind in learning when they enter the real world. A part of why this is happening is because schools aren't requiring a lot from their students in order to graduate. The article recommended a plan - that students need 4 years of English, 3 years of math, science, and social studies, and a half year of computer science. And for students who want to go to college, they should also take 2 years of a foreign language. We should also expect more from our teachers, they should have to meet high standards in order to teach the youth of America.

This article seemed a little outdated to me, the statistics that they gave were from decades ago and I had a hard time relating to it. All of the recommendations that they suggested are in use today. The requirements for a high school diploma were the requirements that were in place when I graduated. Colleges and universities do have standards for letting students in, and they do expect a lot from students once they are enrolled. The recommendations that they article said that aren't being used today is that teachers aren't on an 11 month contract and their salaries aren't being increased. The article also wanted students to be in school more hours per day and more days per year. As long as students are engaged and learning while they're in school, I don't see why they have to stay in school longer.

PBS Video - Episode 1

I think there was a lot of progress in the school system between the years of 1770 - 1890. When schools first started, they were not free and available to the public. It cost money so usually families could only afford to send their youngest child, if they were able to send any. Mainly only the rich went to school, and only boys could go on to further their education. Religion was a big part of students' education.

Finally because of people like Thomas Jefferson and Horace Mann, public schools were created. There were some problems because the poorer families still didn't send their children to school, because they needed them to work on the farm. And if they were sent at all, school was used as more of a daycare then for educational purposes. The schools were in bad shape - they were crowded, uncomfortable, and lacking supplies. Students varied in age and the teachers weren't very good. Horace Mann helped change this though. He went around to all the schools and made huge improvements. He made sure schools had textbooks, chairs, and blackboards. Around the same time religion was cut from public schools because of the conflict of what religion should be taught.

When settlers started moving west, there was a demand for teachers to move out west and teach the children there. This is when women teachers became popular because they were the ones who were willing to leave their homes and because they were cheaper to pay then men were. These women were taught about education before they were teachers, so that in itself is a huge improvement.

During this time frame, schools went from only having rich kids to having every socioeconomic status. Kids were staying in school longer, the teachers were better, the schools were better, and there was more textbooks available to students. The only issue that wasn't faced during this period was that not all kids went to school together. Blacks were segregated from schools, and I don't believe that Native Americans went to school at all. But overall I believe that there were more breakthroughs in public education then setbacks.

TWYH - pg. 104-140

Abstract:
This section of the book starts off with Erin buying them books about the Holocaust because she feels like her students can relate with the death and hard times that Holocaust victims went through. Her students got really into The Diary of Anne Frank, and one of her students, Maria, thought of herself as Anne. I remembered this part from the movie Freedom Writers, when Maria through her book across the room because she was so mad that Anne ended up dying at the end of the book. Maria thought that if Anne died in the book, that she was going to end up dying in the streets. It was a hard moment for Erin, who didn't really have any experience dealing with stuff like this. After finishing the book, another student Darrius found out that Miep Gies, the woman who helped hide Anne and the rest of her family, was still alive today. He wanted to fly her out to California so that everyone could meet her. One part that they didn't show in the book was that in actuality, Miep was already planning on visiting Long Beach, and the only thing Erin had to do was get her to come meet her students when she was already there. It was an exciting thing for them, so when they started reading their next book, Zlata's Diary, her students again wanted Zlata to come and visit them. This visit was a lot harder to plan and pay for, since Zlata was only fifteen years old and wanted her parents and best friend to come. It took Erin a lot of hard work, but she pulled it off once again and Zlata's trip went perfectly. Her students had a blast and were able to bring some of their family members with them.

Reflection:
My main thought after reading this section was I couldn't believe all the things that Erin does for her students. I feel like I'm a good person and would do a lot for my students, but I don't think I would jeopardize relationships with others and work such long hours for them. Erin's relationship with her husband is getting increasingly worse during the book, and she's working so many hours because she bought 4 different books for her students. That is unheard of! She wonders why the other teachers don't like her, but if I had an Erin teaching across the hall from me I probably wouldn't like her either. She's a workaholic and it's going to catch up with her. I know she's doing amazing things with her students, but I feel like she could still do these things without working so much and jeopardizing everything else in her life. With every profession, there has to be a balance between work and play, and Erin doesn't have that balance.

PBS Video - Episode 3

Episode 3 of the PBS Series "Story of School" was called Equality. It was based on the years between 1950-1980. During this time, schools in America were saying that this was the generation of students that would all graduate from high school and go onto college. Or at least all the white students would go to college. Schools were still being separated into black schools and white schools. Some kids were actually forced to walk past other schools that were closer to their house to get to their own school, because they weren't allowed to go to the ones that were closer. One part of this video that kind of surprised me was that the black teachers were actually more qualified to teach then the white teachers. Most of the black teachers had their masters degree, and the only job that they could find to use that degree was to teach in the black schools. That's why it was really sad when they finally decided to ban segregation in schools because all the black teachers and administrators lost their jobs. Segregation wouldn't have even started if it wasn't for President Lyndon Johnson. He tricked the schools into allowing different races of students to come to their school. He said that schools would lose all of their federal funding if they didn't obey the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but if they did obey it then they would receive even more federal funding. It was a smart move on his part, but it would still take awhile for students to get used to going to the same school.

Even after this, there were still problems in public schools. Women were discriminated from sports, higher level classes, and from a college education. One woman shared her story about wanting to join the boys basketball team because her school didn't have a girls basketball team, and she was told that she would have to shower with the boys if she made the team. It was ridiculous how women were treated during this time. I couldn't imagine going to school then and trying to take advanced math classes. I would probably be told to take home economics classes instead because that's what girls did back then. I'm glad that enough women stood up for themselves to get Title IV in the Higher Education Act of 1965 passed which banned women from being discriminated upon. It was also extended to students with disabilities. Most students with any mental disability weren't even sent to school, and if any students were in a wheelchair for a physical disability they weren't allowed in school because there were no ramps for them to get into the building. But because of these laws schools had to provide resources for these students, and the public schools in America were starting to improve.

TWYH - pg. 62-103

Abstract:
This section of Teach with Your Heart starts out with Erin's class going to see Spielberg. She tricked them into writing letters to him about their own personal journeys in life. She was very surprised when her students got into the assignment and wrote amazing letters. Even the students who rarely turned in assignments wrote letters to Spielberg. The field trip to Universal Studios went well and Erin's students had a blast. But by this time in the book it was the end of the school year, and she had to say goodbye to her students. They would be seniors next year, and there was no way that the English Department would allow Erin to teach seniors. It seemed tough for everyone, but there was nothing that could be done. Erin continued to see some of her students over the summer, and in the fall she was assigned a brand new bunch of freshmen. This group was more difficult for Erin then her past students, but at least she had their support, especially Manny and Sharaud, in helping her connect with them. Erin tried to do sort of the same thing with her new class as with her old class. She was able to get funds to take them on a field trip, but she wanted her students to earn it. She wanted them to write essays about a person who's overcome adversity. All of her students completed the assignment, and all of them wanted to go on the field trip except Maria - she never passed in her permission slip. At the end of this section in the book, another school year has gone by but Erin has been asked if she wanted to teach sophomores instead of freshmen next year. And all of her current students requested to be in her class.

Reflection:
I felt really bad for Erin during this section of the book. She had been so successful with her first class of students and couldn't continue with them to their senior year. If that's not hard enough, she was given a brand new class of freshmen who were very hard to connect to. I knew Erin wouldn't give up on these students, but it definitely helped her a lot to have some of her past students there giving her advice on ways to connect with her students. I did recognize this new group of students as the students she had in the movie Freedom Writers. I also knew from the movie that this she was allowed to teach this group of students next year as well, which would be their sophomore year. Erin must have been so relieved that all of her students wanted her to be their teacher next year, and that she had a whole other year to help make a difference in their lives. My favorite part of this section in the book is when Manny is accepted to go to the University of California in Berkeley. Erin must have felt so good that she helped one of her students get into a great college. Even though she had the problem with Manny's mother, I'm sure it was worth it to get yelled at because it gave him a chance to get a great education.

PBS Video - Episode 2

Episode 2 talks about the American school system from the years between 1900-1950. During this time, nearly three million immigrant children came to America. There's no wonder that there were problems in education, because schools weren't prepared to take on so many new students at one time. A big part of why families immigrated to the United States was to give their children a good education, and children were eager to learn. A major problem was that classrooms were too crowded and there weren't enough materials for everyone. This was when they invented the Gary Schools, where the motto was "Work, study, play." When I first heard that they actually made students do physical labor in order to get their education I was shocked. I couldn't believe that students had to cook lunch for other students, clean the school, and do all these other things because the school didn't want to spend the money to hire other people. But then the video showed the students happy! They were smiling, laughing, and running around because they were happy to at least be in school. Even though they weren't getting a full education because they only were in class half they time, they didn't care because at least they were in school. There were some good things about these new schools though. The Gary Schools separated students by age groups where previously they were just all in one classroom. They taught to the different languages that the children spoke. They also taught children about hygiene and manners, even if their "bath" was to go swimming in the pool. I feel like the only bad thing about these schools was that they forced children to work. Other then that, I felt like they had a good thing going and at least the children were having fun and learning.

But then it just went all down hill. I'm not sure who but someone decided that they needed a way of deciding what kids belong in what classes. And instead of taking the time to get to know the children and learning about what subjects they like and what areas they excel in, they just decided to give all children the same test - an IQ test. And before you know it, they start testing every single child no matter how old they are, or what language they spoke. Children were given tests in English, when they couldn't even read English! It was absurd and I can't believe it went on for so long. IQ tests were culturally bias so all the children who were from a different culture were being put into shop classes or home economic classes so they could be prepared for the blue collar job they'd get. But even the kids who did good on the tests, it just meant that they understood patterns, synonyms, antonyms, and analogies - it didn't mean that they were smarter then the other kids. It was no wonder that so many students dropped out before they graduated! I would have. If children are told again and again that they're stupid and are only ever going to have a blue collar job, then why would they stay? I feel bad for the people who went to school during this time period, but obviously the education system hasn't learned from it's mistakes or there wouldn't be tracking today.

Article - Generations

Abstract:
This article is about understanding the educational environment through the generations that are involved in it. The three generations that are talked about the most are the Boom Generation (born 1943-1960), Generation X (born 1961-1981), and the Millennial Generation (born since 1982). The boomer generation went through school during a time of strong community and civic confidence and when teaching was a strong social status. They were and are proud of their education, and therefore have dominated America’s K-12 classrooms for the past two generations. Generation Xers were raised when parents put the needs of themselves in front of the needs of their children. Because of this, this generation didn’t do as well in school. They spent less time on homework and didn’t get as high of grades. Generation Xers thrived on some skills though – they are skilled at negotiation and interacting with others. Most of Generation X are defenders of the No Child Left Behind laws. Millennials are kind of a mix between the Boomers and Generation X because they could have either generation as parents. Millennials feel special, they have been told from the time they were young that they were vital to their school, community, and nation. They are often sheltered, not trusted with too much responsibility by their parents, and conventional, they don’t experiment with as much drugs as the previous generation. Millennials are also team oriented and excited about what the future has to offer.

Reflection:
Knowing about the different generations is definitely going to come in handy when I become a teacher. I’m going to have to deal with a lot of parents, mainly from the Generation X generation. Knowing how they feel about their child’s education is crucial - teachers shouldn’t take things personal from this generation, it was just the way they were raised. Generation X supports school accountability, parental choice, charter schools, and home-schooling. They don’t trust public school because they had a bad experience with their own education. Generation X feel like they were cheated out of their own education, and don’t want the same thing to happen to their children. They want to be in charge and know everything that’s going on with their child’s education. But they also want to make sure their child is going to be safe at school. They keep track on all the bad things that kids are doing these days, and want to make sure that their child stays away from those things. Generation X parents are definitely going to be a challenge, but it is important that you get their support on your side.

TWYH - pg. 36-61

Abstract:
This section of the book starts out with Erin wanting to take her students to go see Schindler's List because there was recent controversy about the movie. In a nearby town, some students laughed at a part of the movie when there were Holocaust survivors in the audience. Erin had a discussion about it with her students and when she saw it was playing in her town, she thought she'd bring her students to go see it. She finally got the money to bring them, but the trip wasn't how Erin had pictured it. People at the theater and restaurant they went to after the movie stared at her students, some clutched their purses and jewelry, and some students got their pockets checked after buying candy. Because of how Erin's students were treated, an article in the local paper was written and Erin got death threats from people in the community. This section of TWYH ends with Erin getting to meet Steven Spielburg because he wants to make a movie about her and her students.

Reflection:
I could not imagine going through what Erin went through in this section of the book. I felt so bad for her, she just wanted her students to be able to watch a movie that was about the Holocaust, a lesson that they just went over in class. The movie also related to recent news, so it definitely made sense that she would want her students to see it. I would have done the same thing if I were her. Erin had good intentions, but it backfired on her. Fortunately, her students were used to being stared at and treated differently, so there weren't any major problems. I could feel Erin's pain because she brought her students into her community. It was her idea. But her students had enough respect for her that they behaved and didn't say anything back, when they had the right to be upset.

One of my favorite parts was when Erin's students forced her to tell them what kind of threats she received at home. I thought it was cute how they wanted to know exactly what was said and how they wanted to stand up for her. I could tell when I was reading it that it made Erin feel good about her class and that she made the right decision about becoming a teacher. All teachers have the moments where they think "Why did I choose this profession?" and all teachers have the moments when they know exactly why they decided to become a teacher.

TWYH - pg. 1-35

Abstract:
Teach With Your Heart by Erin Gruwell starts out by Erin explaining her first day of teaching at Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California. I automatically noticed a difference between this book and the movie "Freedom Writers" because in the movie she was a regular teacher and in real life she was only a student teacher. It makes a lot more sense that she had to work two other jobs while teaching because student teachers don't get paid, they actually have to pay to student teach. It was great reading what thoughts were going through her head while she was trying to find ways to relate to her students. She tried the sports approach and that gained her a little bit of respect but the thing that helped Erin the most with her students was bringing them on a field trip when usually students like hers weren't allowed to go on field trips because of behavioral reasons. Erin had faith in her students, and she was probably the only teacher of those students to do that, so they gave her their respect and full attention.

Reflection:
One of my favorite parts of these 35 pages is when Erin talks about all the things that didn't work with her students. She said that her students refused to read anything she assigned so she'd read it to them in class. So for 55 minutes or however long the class period was, her students would just sit there and listen to her read, or pretend to listen because I don't even think I could listen to someone read for that long. Or Erin would try to make them write an essay or story all period long. It's nice to know that even if you aren't a perfect teacher at the beginning of the school year, there is always a chance to turn things around and that you haven't lost your students' interest for good. You just have to keep trying different things until you find what works with that class. And what works with one class probably won't work with another, so you have to do the whole process over again every year. Teaching is about putting in the effort to find what works in order for your students to succeed.

Article - Educating for Diversity

Abstract:
This article asks important questions like “Do students of the same culture have common learning style patterns and characteristics?” and “If they do, how would we know it?” These questions can be very controversial because even though students maybe from the same background, it does not mean that they have the same learning styles as each other or the same as other students from the same culture. Every student should be looked at as an individual. The article does generalize some typical learning patterns from some cultures. For example, Mexican Americans are comfortable with cognitive generalities and patterns, while African Americans value oral experience, physical activity, and loyalty in interpersonal relationships. Native Americans develop acute visual discrimination and skills in the use of imagery, perceive globally, and have reflective thinking patterns. Mainstream white Americans value independence, analytic thinking, objectivity, and accuracy.


Reflection:
I believe that it is very important for teachers to know about the culture of all of their students, but I feel like it is more important for teachers to treat every single student like an individual and walk into the classroom knowing that no two students are going to learn the same way. The article says “In both observational and data-based research on cultures, one consistent finding is that, within a group, the variations among individuals are as great as their commonalities.” This means that with students from the same background, the teacher is going to have to do just as many things the same as different. So why does culture even matter? There’s no written rule saying that two students from different cultures can’t have the same learning styles. As long as teachers understand the culture and learning styles of their students and believe that every student can learn in their own way, everyone will succeed.