Final Blog

Social Justice:
In today’s education world the topic of social justice comes up much more often than it used to. Teachers are faced with challenges today much different than from the past. Teachers have to be accommodating for a wide range of children, and yet be able to teach them all the same material. Children are all different whether its age, gender, religion, race, etc. teachers have to be more accommodating than any other professional. Although social justice is sort of a broad subject, I think in elementary schools it is really about community involvement, acceptance, and teaching students that everyone is different, but that’s a good thing.
Social justice can be an issue or a topic that all teachers are going to face throughout much of their career. It is important that teachers give their students one hundred percent all the time so they can get the best education possible. Putting everyone’s differences aside, and focusing on education, is really what teaching is all about to me. Whether your working with children with disabilities, children with broken homes, or any situation, t is important that all receive equal attention and are treated the same. Although this can be difficult for teachers, especially when planning a curriculum, or lessons, its part of the job and it’s something all teachers have to face at some point.
Model of Education:
When creating models of education, and deciding what needs to be done, it is extremely important to consider what the children should be getting out of their education, and what the teachers need to do in order to create that. Throughout my experiences in schools I have come across many things I both agree and disagree with in the classroom. For example when doing my student observations, I loved how both teachers that I worked with were very organized. I think this helped the 2nd graders stay focused on what they were doing, and learn how to take care of the work that they need to do. On the other hand one thing I don’t really like seeing in the classroom is teachers who are completely oblivious to things that are going on in the room. For example the students I observed were doing silent writing work at their desks and three boys were doing absolutely nothing. The teacher had no idea because she was typing away at her computer. To me teachers really need to be aware of everything in the classroom to make sure the students are getting what they should out of their education.
Another important aspect of education I think is involvement in schools. I think it’s great when teachers encourage their students to do things at school such as a club, sport, or simple after school activity. The more students become involved, I believe the more likely they are to succeed both socially and academically. Teachers have to be on top of everything all the time. Teachers not only have to teach their students, but they have parents who get involved too. I thin kit is important for teachers to build good relationships with the students and their parents, to make their education truly successful.
The picture below shows both the open and closed models of education, almost everything I believe in falls under the open model for education. And although I do feel students play a huge role in getting their education, the one thing I disagree with on this model is that classrooms should be directed by students. I feel students should always have input and ask questions but I think it is a combination of students and teachers directing that can make a successful classroom.

Another Issue in Education:
As I wrote about earlier on in the year on my blog, I feel school safety is an extremely important issue because of the effects it can have on everyone. School safety has become a bigger issue over the past few years, and it is something that has increased nationwide. School safety has dramatic effects on everyone in the school. If there is some sort of violence or threat in school, it affects the teacher’s ability to teach, and the student’s ability to learn. For my interview I asked one of the teachers I worked with during my observations, a few questions about this topic.

Me: “When you’re here at school do you ever fear for your safety or your student’s safety?”

Mrs. Sewall: “In this school, no. I know this school is in a safe and secure area, so I am always comfortable.”

Me: “What safety precautions, if any, does this school take?”

Mrs. Sewall: “Well, we always have the typical fire drill and things like that, but since 9/11 we have had a new type of drill. The drill prepares the children for a situation where some sort of predator got into the school. The secretary makes an announcement over the intercom, the teachers lock all entries to their classrooms, and the children quietly take a seat on the rug. Although we have only ever had drills for this, it is a good thing for the students to be prepared for.”

Me: “Although safety isn’t a huge issue in a small town like this; would you be nervous let’s say if your children attended an inner city school?”

Mrs. Sewall: “Absolutely. My children aren’t in elementary school yet, but one is in preschool. I know he’s safe at school because it is a small community, with great staff that would be prepared for anything. But if I lived in a city I think my children’s schooling would be much more of a concern than it is now in a small town.”

http://school.familyeducation.com/school/safety/34566.html
http://www.nea.org/schoolsafety/index.html
http://www.great-ideas.org/enc.htm
http://www.peterlevine.ws/mt/archives/2006/01/talking-about-s.html

Social Justice Issue: Poverty

In our country over the past few years, there has been an average of 20% of all people living below the poverty line. Although that number has been fluxuating a little, this number is still way to high. In reality this means that 20% of all United States citizens cannot afford the basic needs for living. This is scary to think that this many people cannot afford food, shelter, or clothing for their families. And although this is people of all ages suffering, I can't help to think about the children living under these kind of conditions. In 2006 the percentage of minors living below the poverty line was 21.9%. These were all children and teenagers under the age of 18 who were starving or homeless. It's really sad that our government knows this, and not much seems to be done about it.

Over the past thirty years, poverty has had changes, but for the most part it has only gotten worse. Poverty among children has gotten much worse, especaialy those children whose parents immigrated here. Once these immigrants get here they immediately find a job, even if the money is sufficent enough to provide for their family, they need to make some income. Therefore these immigrant's children end up suffering.

The increase in poverty in our country has also been linked to different family situations. When a child lives in a situation where only one parent is present in their life, they are much more likely to be living in poverty. Whether the other parent is deceased, or just not around, there chances of being in poverty are much greater. This is true for the single parent too. With no help from another income, and our country's current economy, it can be a even more of a problem to get by as a single parent.

With the rise of children in poverty, what effect does this have on their education? If children are coming to school unfed, or not taken care of, their ability to do well in school decreases signifigantly. With no food, or not enough, a child can't possibly focus, or succeed while in school. Children who are living below the poverty line, are twice as likely to repeat a grade, than those who are living above the poverty line. Students living below the poverty line also don't achieve as high as others on the standardized tests.

When it comes down to it, something has to be done for these people living below the poverty line, especially the children. Either our government or some sort of financial help needs to be given to the children. Every child deserves the opportunity to a good education, and if things at home are taking away from that opportunity, that's just not right. Poverty is something no one should have to deal, and I know it couldn't be changed overnight, but maybe with our new president, there will be hope for change.

http://www.answers.com/topic/overview-of-poverty-and-education

http://www.civilrights.org/library/features/023-census-poverty-data.html

http://www.helium.com/items/594336-why-are-there-so-many-people-living-below-the-poverty-line-in-america

http://www.migrationinformation.org/USfocus/display.cfm?ID=188

Montessori Schools

One of the types of schools that I find particularly interesting is Montessori schools. I never went to one myself, and I only know one person who has attended one. These schools are alternatives to the public or private schools commonly found everywhere, they are harder to find. The teachiong methods vary from those of public or private schools, but seem to be just as successful.

Maria Montessori was the founder of these schools in 1907. The first school was in Italy and known as the "Children's House." It wasn't until later that the name was changed to Montessori. Maria studied how children learned and developed and this was ho w she came up with her teaching methods and ideas to be used in her schools. The main idea behind Montessori schools is that children teach themselves. They do this by taking in and absorbing their surroundings. There is the idea of children having a self-creating process, so through Montessori schools they create and choose who they are.

These schools began to spread from Maria Montessori's homeland of Itlay, to the United States. In 1913 Alexander Graham Bell and his wife opened the first Montessori school in the US in Washington D.C. Maria came over to the US and began to teach people how to be teachers in a Montessori setting. And shortly after this sort of schooling became more and more popular.

Although the teaching of Montessori schools may be very different from others, they seem to do the same job. Montessori schools look more at building children's confidence, self-esteem, and respect for those around them, rather than drilling them with book material. Montessori schools teach through things like stories, timelines, things from nature, charts, and other conventional materials to teach rather than text books. The classrooms are also multiaged too. People can attended from preschool to high school, just as public schools do.

These type of schools are interesting to me since I have never been a part of one. I think it's neat that the teachers aren't following a strict curriculum when they teach, they get to use things other than books. I also like that the ages are mixed. Even though people my be on different learning levels, I think it would be interesting to have a diverse group. I have a cousin who is 4 years old and she is attending a Montessori school. So far she absolutely loves it and I can't wait to see how this type of school effects her as she gets older.

http://privateschool.about.com/od/privateschoolfaqs/f/montessori.htm

http://www.amshq.org/montessori.htm

Howard Gardner

After looking at all of the educational philosophers I can say that I would align myself and my beliefs with those of Howard Gardner. He has written a few books, and still speaks today about his theories and findings throughout his life. He grew up in Pennsylvania, and ended up attending the Phillips Academy, not all that far from Salem State. His theories and work is very interesting, and it all seems to be very valid too.

Howard Gardner is best known for his theory on multiple intelligences. He developed a list of seven different types of intelligences which he believed every human to have atleast one of, although most have more than that. There were three catgeories to these intelligences, ones valued in schools, ones valued in an art setting, and others known as personal intelligences. The seven intelligences are linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, bodily-kinisthetic, spacial, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. Garnder wrote about these in his book Frames of Mind, and believed that these were apparent in most cultures. Not everyone accepts his tehory but there have been many schools that have based their teachings around the idea of multiple intelligences.

I align myself with Gardner because I truly believe in this theory of multiple intelligences. I think every person is intelligent in one way or another even if they appear not to be. Having this variety of intelligences allows people to view others as intelligent in some way or another. For example you may have someone who isn't very logical or isn't very good with numbers, so they may not have a high logical-mathematical intelligence, but they may be the most skilled musician or performer, with a very high musical intelligence. Everyone is different which I think is waht makes Gardner's theory so acceptable. I can remember taking quizzes in psychology in high school, to show us which intelligences we possesed the most. I like Howard Gardner mainly because his theory makes sense to me where as other philosophers may confuse me.

http://www.infed.org/thinkers/gardner.htm

http://www.pz.harvard.edu/pis/hg.htm

Social Justice

After reading through the article, I'm still not sure how to teach social justice. It's not that there is a right or wrong way, but there are many aspects that need to be taught. I am currently taking Public Speaking for Social Justice here at Salem State, and can relate that class to this article. Each week we take into consideration different social justice issues, and sometimes I think my Professor sometimes struggles with how to teach us. At our level the social justice issues are more about race, culture, politics, health, and other things like that, whereas in an elementary school classroom I think you would be more likely to find things like community involvment, acceptance, how to be a good person, things like that.
Social justice overall is a complicated subject, my question is How do you teach it all? I realize that in the article the author said you can't teach it all or do everything, but to me that's sort of disappointing. I know that you can only really try and do your best, but I feel that children need to be able to get everything out of their education. Not every child will get the opportunities and advantages they deserve but I feel it is our job as teachers to make sure they get the most from us possible.
This article was eyeopening to how many things actually need to be touched on in a classroom, and I now have higher hopes for myself once I am a teacher. I want to be the teacher who makes as much available to my students as possible. I want to have the kind of classroom that feels liek a community in itself, so no one is left out. Despite the complexities to the issue of teaching social justice, I believe that with a good teacher and the right amount of effort, students can get what they need.

School Safety picture

This graph shows the acts of violence in schools, and the increases over the past few decades.

School Safety

A current issue today in schools is safety. And it's an issue nationwide. Schools everywhere are trying to increase and maintain security in their schools, anywhere from elementary school to high school. Obviously we can all understand that crime and violence are putting students and teachers at risk. What I think many people don't think about is that this has a huge effect on teacher's ability to teach, and children's ability to learn.
I think if I had gone to high school, or middle school where there was a lot of violence, or fear of it, I know I wouldn't have gotten the grades I did. When your in a school you need to be able to be comfortable and know that you're there to learn. If there's violence going on all the time, how can you focus on your school work? I would be much more concerned for my safety than my grades.
From the other side of this too, teachers must be struggling. Being a teacher I'm sure can sometimes be stressful enough; grading paper, keeping the attention of your class, you wouldn't need anything else added onto that like crimes and violence. If I were a teacher in a high crime school, I would not only fear for myself, but my students too. I think I would struggle with my teaching if I was constantly in fear.
Last week at the school I work at, someone pulled the fire alarm. Right when I was pulling into the parking lot to park fire trucks and police cars were rushing down the street. Obviously my first reaction was, oh it must be a drill. But as I got out of my car and walked over to the teachers, I got the feeling it wasn't a drill. There was no smoke or anything coming from the school so I assumed it couldn't be that bad. Many of the teachers looked concerned and worried about what might have happened. As it turned out one of the special needs students in the pre-school had pulled the fire alarm. And although this wasn't anything major, I could see how something as simple as that got many of the teachers all worried.
To keep this school safety issue under control, I feel that it is very important for teachers to pay attention to their students. Any drastic changes in behavior, attitude, signs of abuse, could mean the student is headed for trouble. With awareness I think many things can be kept under control. If people are aware that viloence can occur in school, it can easily be prevented.

http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/envrnmnt/drugfree/sa200.htm

Priority Schools

In recent months there has been a lot of news about how the public schools are doing well and improving all of the time, what isn't publicized enough, is the schools that need help. Even though there has been improvement in public schools, there are school that are still struggling. There is a gap in the quality of public schools. The public schools that are doing well, are way up there, where as the schools that are doing poorly, are literally hitting rock bottom.
The NEA or National Education Association is trying to step in to close this gap. The public schools that are succeeding and improving are the ones in wealthier areas, with much better resources. The ones that are failing are in poorer areas, with untrained teachers, overcrowded classrooms, and mainly minority groups. Something needs to be done to help these schools get back on their feet.
The NEA has many programs that are trying to help these schools improve. One of the programs is the Minority Community Outreach. This program seeks to help minority groups succeed in school mainly by reducing class sizes, increasing parent involvment, and better courses for English learning students. The NEA also has other programs for these schools such as their School Safety Program, or their Family School Community Partnership Program. All of these in some way seek to improve the schools that are dramatically falling behind.
The NEA is now making these schools, "Priority Schools." Although the NEA is great and will do a signifigant amount to help improve these schools, other people need to become involved. The government needs to step in, and realize where the education system lacks. It's school like these that have the potential to become great, but their students and schools lack the help and money they need to succeed. I know that this is something that can't happen overnight, but this issue is becoming greater and greater. How would you feel if you were growing up in an area with a school system that couldn't give you the education you wanted or deserved?

http://www.nea.org/priorityschools/index.html
http://www.nea.org/mco/about.html

Teacher Quality & Shortage Issue

One issue in education that is becoming bigger and bigger is the quality of teachers and the number of teachers. There many teachers that are currently approaching the age of retirement. And there is currently a teacher shortage national already, so it is only going to get worse. It is expected that we will need more than 2 million teachers within the next ten years. The high school areas are where the problem is the least signifigant. The problem is effecting more of the elementary schools and middle schools.
There is also a problem with the quality of teachers. Many school systems feel that students need younger teachers. But there is a problem with that too, 20% of new teachers leave within the first year. I was surprised to learn this until I found out that the reason they are leaving is because of lack of training and support in the classroom. New teachers aren't clear on what their expectations are. It's not that the new teachers aren't qualified, they just feel they can't handle it without support.
For people my age this may look like an okay thing because it means by the time we're reading to go into the teaching field there will be plenty of jobs. But how do we know if there will be enough, you never know how many students are studying to be teachers right now, and if they will be able to fill the gap. This article also made me a little nervous because I want to know that when I enter a school that I know what my expectations are, and that I can seek out help if necessary. Hopefully things will turn around for new teachers, and this shortage crisis will not continue to get worse.

Article link:
http://www.nea.org/teachershortage/index.html

Standardized Testing Pictures

http://ndn.newsweek.com/media/63/071116_StandardizedTests_wi-horizontal.jpg

http://www.solidarity.com/hkcartoons/teachertoons/images/miketest6.gif

Link for Standarized Test Article

The link below is related to the topic of Standarized Tests.
http://www.engines4ed.org/hyperbook/nodes/NODE-69-pg.html

Are Standardized Tests a Positive or Negative Aspect of Pubic School Systems?

The topic of standardized testing has been around for a long time. Some people believe it is very imporant to use standardized tests in schools, and others feel they do not reflect someones academic abilities. I feel it is important to understand both sides to this topic mainly because it has been debated for so long.
The people who believe in standarized testing say that it shows a child's academic achievement or how much they have remebered out of all of the things they have learned. In other words students who do well have paid attention in school, and put effort into their learning, and students who do poorly on the tests have not put enough effort into their school work in order to pass these tests. Although this may be true to some students, it in no way describes all students taking these tests.
Standardized tests can be very stressful to some students. Some may get so nervous about the test that when the day comes they are so stressed out that they rush through it and do poorly. Other students may devote all of their time to studying for these tests, and then when the get it, the questions don't match up with the things they've studied.
For me, I canno't stand these tests. I found myself worrying about them way too much, and I never really did all that well on them. Even though I never did great, I don't think it reflects how capable I am as a student or a learner. I don't think these tests show what anyone is truly capable of.

About Me =)

Hi Everyone!

I'm Lindsay, this is my first year at Salem State. I went to Wheelock College in Boston last year, but decided to come home and go to Salem. I am an Elementary Education and Psychology major. I can't wait to be a full time teacher, but for right now I am enjoying the time I spend at Salem State, working towards my goal!