This blog pot only made me want to see the film more. I think that he made some interesting points but the only way for me to know if I feel the same way about the film would be to see it. I would love to see it. I think that I agree with a lot of his educational philosophy so I think I would probably agree with his assessment of the movie.
For example, I agree that we need to be able to easily get rid of bad teachers. That is one thing that the lack of funding in our schools should force us to do. It should force us to, instead of getting rid of newly hired teachers get rid of teachers who are clearly ineffective or unprofessional. Those teachers should go first. Unfortunately, that isn't how it always works. I also think that a greater teacher turnover would be good for young teachers like me with new ideas. It would mean that teachers would have to keep up the newest educational ideas not because they need to for their certification but because they need to stay current and useful and effective as educators. Then it becomes necessary to keep one's job and not just one's profession.
It also ensures that students will have a good teacher every year because we will be getting rid of the bad teachers and getting new, better ones.
I hope I have a chance to see the movie because I want to see the scene where they talk about filling kids up with knowledge as if they are a bucket. His description wasn't totally clear and I think I would understand better if I saw the film.
Overall, it was well written and made me intrigued by the film.
Showing posts with label Article. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Article. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Bright Futures
This article is about changes the author thinks should be made to middle schools in order to improve education. It asks for these changes to be made in middle schools because the author feels that middle school is a time when students are at a very unique stage in their development and that it is important to address that accordingly. This article gives credit to middle schools saying that they have implemented many changes that have made our students safer and saying that Maine as a whole is way ahead of where the country as a whole is because of the technology initiative. However, the article feels that students are not doing as well on the MEAS as they should be. Therefore the article is arguing for more changes in curriculum, instruction and assessment to be made.
As I was reading the article I was having a major, "well, duh" moment. The 12 core principles that the article is arguing we need to implement seem A) a little too broad and B) to be things we should already be doing. I liked that the article stated the list of principles and then went back and described each one. This meant that there was a much clearer picture in the end about what they were talking about than the vague statement gave. But I feel like overall, the 12 core principles of an effective middle school are things that as teachers we should be doing in all of our classrooms anyway. Yes, all of our teaching should be linked to the modern world, yes all of the curriculum and instruction should be multicultural and involve multiple areas of study, yes we should have projects that require students to seek and ask questions outside of the classroom, yes students should have a hand in deciding the curriculum and yes we need to always be looking at the new research and using what works and throwing out what doesn't. Maybe this is just me because of the program of study I have had here at UMF but I feel like every teacher should be doing these things and that many of them are common sense.
As I was reading the article I was having a major, "well, duh" moment. The 12 core principles that the article is arguing we need to implement seem A) a little too broad and B) to be things we should already be doing. I liked that the article stated the list of principles and then went back and described each one. This meant that there was a much clearer picture in the end about what they were talking about than the vague statement gave. But I feel like overall, the 12 core principles of an effective middle school are things that as teachers we should be doing in all of our classrooms anyway. Yes, all of our teaching should be linked to the modern world, yes all of the curriculum and instruction should be multicultural and involve multiple areas of study, yes we should have projects that require students to seek and ask questions outside of the classroom, yes students should have a hand in deciding the curriculum and yes we need to always be looking at the new research and using what works and throwing out what doesn't. Maybe this is just me because of the program of study I have had here at UMF but I feel like every teacher should be doing these things and that many of them are common sense.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Nation at Risk
Abstract:
Nation at Risk was a report giving during President Reagan’s time. The report was one how public schools were doing in educating America’s Youth. Basically, the report said that the educational system here in America was mediocre at best and that if we hoped to ever be at the foreground of technology, business, military or protecting our people than we needed to fix it, and fast. The talks a lot about what the public believes students should be able to do and what they are actually able to do. It list statistics about test scores and students ability to solve math problems and write essays. The second article was how teachers felt Nation at Risk affected education. Many felt it was very helpful. It brought education to the front of everyone’s minds and it also stalled Reagan’s administration from cutting spending on public schools. Others though felt that the report was more harmful. Much of the public blamed the teachers for the downfall of education and hearing complaints was not productive to teachers, nor did the report make teachers look good in the eyes of the American people.
Reflection:
Both articles talk a lot about how our schools are failing but neither offers any advice on how to fix them. If you are going to write an article on America’s public school system, why would you report that it was failing without making any suggestions on how to improve it? Criticism is only constructive if there is some feedback on how it might be improved. In this case it seems that although the report helped to bring to light our failing educational system, it most certainly did not help to improve it. Things have not yet gotten better in the school systems. America is still behind in achievement tests, as well as business, economy, and technology. That report could have been used to get a real move on improving our education going. The resources used to research our schools could have helped us research how to improve.
Nation at Risk was a report giving during President Reagan’s time. The report was one how public schools were doing in educating America’s Youth. Basically, the report said that the educational system here in America was mediocre at best and that if we hoped to ever be at the foreground of technology, business, military or protecting our people than we needed to fix it, and fast. The talks a lot about what the public believes students should be able to do and what they are actually able to do. It list statistics about test scores and students ability to solve math problems and write essays. The second article was how teachers felt Nation at Risk affected education. Many felt it was very helpful. It brought education to the front of everyone’s minds and it also stalled Reagan’s administration from cutting spending on public schools. Others though felt that the report was more harmful. Much of the public blamed the teachers for the downfall of education and hearing complaints was not productive to teachers, nor did the report make teachers look good in the eyes of the American people.
Reflection:
Both articles talk a lot about how our schools are failing but neither offers any advice on how to fix them. If you are going to write an article on America’s public school system, why would you report that it was failing without making any suggestions on how to improve it? Criticism is only constructive if there is some feedback on how it might be improved. In this case it seems that although the report helped to bring to light our failing educational system, it most certainly did not help to improve it. Things have not yet gotten better in the school systems. America is still behind in achievement tests, as well as business, economy, and technology. That report could have been used to get a real move on improving our education going. The resources used to research our schools could have helped us research how to improve.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Generations Article
Abstract:
This article discusses the many differences that appear in the different generations. It looks at what these differences are and what happens when individuals from different generations are forced to interact together. Some of the traits compared are family, work ethics, communication styles, rewards, feedback, and leadership styles. The article also makes several suggestions on how to best get people from different generations to work together. Suggestions include things such as being explicit about how teams should communicate, giving rewards more immediately, providing feedback or giving leadership roles. It focuses mostly on getting different generations cooperating together in the work force.
Reflection:
Even though this article is geared towards the work environment I think it is also a good resource for teachers. Teachers often have to deal with parents from different generations than themselves. It makes sense that people growing up during different time periods would hold different values. Thus it also seems to make sense that understanding where others values stem from would make communications between teachers and parents easier. I certainly find it helpful to know that some parents would rather I call them then send an email. It is also helpful to know the parent’s feelings towards education. If they don’t think it is valuable I will certainly have a harder time convincing them of the importance of their child’s homework, where as if they do find it valuable I may not need to do any convincing at all.
This article discusses the many differences that appear in the different generations. It looks at what these differences are and what happens when individuals from different generations are forced to interact together. Some of the traits compared are family, work ethics, communication styles, rewards, feedback, and leadership styles. The article also makes several suggestions on how to best get people from different generations to work together. Suggestions include things such as being explicit about how teams should communicate, giving rewards more immediately, providing feedback or giving leadership roles. It focuses mostly on getting different generations cooperating together in the work force.
Reflection:
Even though this article is geared towards the work environment I think it is also a good resource for teachers. Teachers often have to deal with parents from different generations than themselves. It makes sense that people growing up during different time periods would hold different values. Thus it also seems to make sense that understanding where others values stem from would make communications between teachers and parents easier. I certainly find it helpful to know that some parents would rather I call them then send an email. It is also helpful to know the parent’s feelings towards education. If they don’t think it is valuable I will certainly have a harder time convincing them of the importance of their child’s homework, where as if they do find it valuable I may not need to do any convincing at all.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Diversity Article
Abstract:
All students learn differently. Most teachers realize this but for some reason schools have yet to implement enough this information effectively in the classroom. These different learning styles are born both of our nature and our experience. The combination makes all individuals unique while allowing for many similarities especially among individuals who have a similar culture. It is important to remember that different cultures have different values. This helps teacher’s understand why a student may have a slightly different learning style.
Reflection:
This seems to be repeated over and over in all of our education classes. It is important to use multiple strategies to teach students in order to have the best success at reaching them and thus insuring they are grasping the material. So why is it so hard to do it? Are teachers simply not skilled enough? Are schools not tolerant enough of new ideas? I think it is probably more the second one. Sometimes the past is tougher to break than we think. The article’s inclusion of culture was new though and I think it made an interesting point that because different cultures value different skills more highly that those values may affect a person’s multiples intelligences.
All students learn differently. Most teachers realize this but for some reason schools have yet to implement enough this information effectively in the classroom. These different learning styles are born both of our nature and our experience. The combination makes all individuals unique while allowing for many similarities especially among individuals who have a similar culture. It is important to remember that different cultures have different values. This helps teacher’s understand why a student may have a slightly different learning style.
Reflection:
This seems to be repeated over and over in all of our education classes. It is important to use multiple strategies to teach students in order to have the best success at reaching them and thus insuring they are grasping the material. So why is it so hard to do it? Are teachers simply not skilled enough? Are schools not tolerant enough of new ideas? I think it is probably more the second one. Sometimes the past is tougher to break than we think. The article’s inclusion of culture was new though and I think it made an interesting point that because different cultures value different skills more highly that those values may affect a person’s multiples intelligences.
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