Reading Response 5

What's on my mind today has almost nothing to do with the reading and I hope that's okay. The first thing that I've been thinking about recently is the statement that all of our professors keep making that districts like our graduates. Or even that some schools will only take our students teachers. So my question is "What makes us so much better?" What are we learning that others aren't? What does CSUSM do so differently? I feel as though if there is this expectation that I am going be better I could like to know what it is that I am to be better at. Is that fair? Alright, That was my little rant. (On a side note Dr. Lawler, I dunno if you thought about this but I feel as thought a blog format leads to a different tone then a formal reading response. Was that you intention or should I return to that tone?)

The other thing that is on my mind is the idea of collaborative groups and making them work. I have been in a lot of classrooms at this point. Some really good and some not. Some in rows and some in groups. I have yet to see a teacher use group work as explained in any of the texts we are using. How is it that I am expected to do this if even the most senior (and experimental teachers) aren’t? I am a bit apprehensive to try some of these things. I really hope that that goes away.

Sorry if this was a negative blog post. I really am enjoying the program and I am feeling like I am learning a lot. I just have been thinking about those two things for quite some time.

CP2

I am to continue my teacher's sites.

Geometry

http://teachers.sduhsd.k12.ca.us/banderson/

Math Analysis

http://teachers.sduhsd.net/ajohnson/

Reading Response 4

Skills for High-level discourse

You can’t just expect that students will use group time effectively. If you want them to use higher-level discourse you need to tell them that. If you can do that then cooperative learning can be used to simulate hypothesizing, analyzing and looking for logic and patterns. You have to design activities that allow or force the students to talk to one another. The book suggests we start doing this around middle grades.

In math I think is really important. I was having a discussion the other day about how lost students have a tendency to get in math. I think we need to teach students how to ask questions that will be helpful in clarifying their learning. This isn’t exactly the idea put forth in this chapter but I think it is also necessary. Before we can get students to talk about math we need to teach them what to do when they are really lost. After that we need to show them how that translates in to higher-level discourse.

The book has an activity it suggests for this is called Rainbow Logic. It gives the students a set of rules and makes one student the teller (pretty much) this game teaches asking and responding and following logic. I really like all these activities in this book and I would really like to start them with my class. I feel like I should wait until I have my own room. Should I start at the beginning at the year?

Reading Response 3

Chapter 1

Small groups are not the be all and end of education. In order for group work to, well, work you need to delegate authority to the students and you need to make every group member necessary to complete the activity. I have found in our classes there are lots of ways to do this outside the curriculum and that there are math activities where this is useful but I have seen very few really dependent activities that connect to the material I am teaching.

When reading this chapter I thought about researching qualities that the best math teachers at each of our schools have.

Chapter 2

Groupwork (or in this case discovery learning) can help students over come language barriers. It builds skills like problem solving, debating, decision making and gives students a sense of independence. It also allows the teacher to check in with each of the students individually. BUT it is not the magic teaching pill. In many of the classrooms I have been in teachers have been using group work in ways that do not match the outline of this book.

How do you use groupwork without falling back on worksheets and stuff? And isn't there some value to practice?

Chapter 3

Groupwork when done wrong can perpetuate social status in the class. Students tend to relay on the students who already have the content knowledge. This also can make it seem like the students with less reading skills seem like the dumb ones which is often false. This is the biggest problem that I have when i do group work. No matter how much i try to structure it students just let other more wiling students do the work.

Shouldn't we as teachers be looking for how smart they can be not how smart they are?

Cool Schools

Dr. Freddie Thomas High School

Rochester, NY

Restructuring Schools

Dual credit courses (high school and Bryant & Stratton credit) are offered in grades 10-12 at no cost to students.

http://www.rcsdk12.org/197310714194824600/blank/browse.asp?A=383&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&C=55617

Reading Response 2

3-

The 3 components I saw most were restructuring the school, providing comprehensive support for all students, and creating new professional roles.

Restructuring the School- You can see this everywhere in BPHS from the size of the school to the community outreach (and in-reach I suppose) to the scheduling. The smaller school as I said in my last post just seems like common sense. It helps kids get the attention they need and builds a strong community. The community outreach is not well utilized in public schools and I think by including that as part of your plan you allow more people to be stakeholders in the education system. Lastly by making a flexible schedule you allow students more opportunities to be independent thinkers and learners.

Providing comprehensive support for All Students- First giving each student a teacher to connect with helps. Also, by providing authentic assessment we can support students in their learnings.

Creating New Professional Roles- I think one of the thing that BPHS does best is include so many people in the educational system. They include the community members, the teachers and most importantly the students.

2-The two that I think they are trying for the hardest are

1.Developing Powerful Teaching and Learning;
2. Establishing a Comprehensive Accountability and Assessment System;
The principal at my CP1 seemed to try to be changing the way that classes were being taught by getting teachers to collaborate. He gave them set aside time to do this and instructions on how to.

The big push at my CP1 was assessment. They wanted to make sure you were testing the students on what you were teaching them. It wasn’t so much about different kinds of assessment but more on assessing fairly.

1- I think over a long period of time it is hard to keep a climate like that up.

Reading Response 1

One thing that really resonated with me in terms of the BPHS is “Are charter schools cheating?” I’ve been thinking about this a lot in all of my classes. It seems that all the schools we look at with big change are charter schools. Though some of us may get jobs in charter schools most of us are going to work within the public school system in a tradition school setting and I know that Dr. Lawler says, “know the culture, be the culture, change the culture” but none of these books have really examples of how this has work in traditional high schools.

Another thing that really struck me as brilliant is the idea of smaller schools with in a larger one. I went to a high school of only 1200 students and I really felt connected to and responsible for the culture there. That suggestion seemed like one of the easiest things to do with in a high school.

I think all the change that we’ve been looking at requires one thing overall: dedicated teachers. Teachers who are invested in the goal of the school. I’ve noticed also in my CP 2 that in order to have teachers like that you need a principal with a purpose. Teachers are more willing to work towards something if they know the principal is too.

I think a lot of what it said in chapter one was common sense. My friend Erin (who taught in charter school in NYC) said last night that the reason they do that is because a lot of the common sense has been taken out of education. For example, the idea that students will do better with personal attention. Of course they will! Wouldn’t you? I always do better when someone is pushing me.

You can see all six of the components of reform in this but I think the easiest to see is restructuring the school. I think that it’s important not to think about that as just restructuring the day or the goal but restructuring how education is.

Thoughts for later: How can I bring these thoughts to my school?