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!