These two videos from Edweek.org bring up a very good point about using technology to teach. The both talk about technology as a tool, not the be all to end all in the classroom. Sure teachers should be current on what is available to help them teach their subject but technology only enhances their pedagogy and does not replace it. There are many highly qualified teacher out there right now that have never heard of Web 2.0 and that does not make them less of a teacher. It is great that there is all this cool stuff out there on the web to communicate but if the message is flawed than technology can only make it worse. I believe that the more tools I have as a teacher the better I will be able to immerse my students into the subjects I choose to teach. Wether it is technology, developmental psychology, educational equity or any I have yet to take, as a teacher I am only as good as how well I can get my students to understand me. I hope that I will take away from the classes that I am taking, the tools to teach my students effectively.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
willametteLive.com || The Charter School: Public Education of Choice
willametteLive.com || The Charter School: Public Education of Choice
This article in a local paper, Salem Weekly, talks about the advantages of charter schools on a local level. It goes into the Salem Keizer Districts support of the 4 local Charter Schools and how they would be happy to see more of them formed. I think they are an excellent solution to the growing need for a better system of education. I think that if you can get your child into one of these schools you are giving them a great advantage in learning. The writer Therese ONeill interviewed one of my favorite teachers, Marie Carver, of the Jane Goodall Environmental Middle School about the benefits of their charter school. Immersive curriculum, smaller class sizes and better parent involvement are just a few examples of why this Charter Schools seems to work so well. I also would like to point out that these teachers are very dedicated to the curriculum, often giving up spring break and other holidays or teacher perks in order to lead field trips and habitat cleanup days. I hope that more charter schools come to Salem with different focuses such as community service, government, business and any other focus that could be good for students.
Times are tight for everyone and because the Charter Schools are part of the public school district they will be feeling the budget squeeze just like other schools. Hopefully the people being elected next week will see the value of these schools and maybe make them available to more students.
Times are tight for everyone and because the Charter Schools are part of the public school district they will be feeling the budget squeeze just like other schools. Hopefully the people being elected next week will see the value of these schools and maybe make them available to more students.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Teachers expectations dictate students outcome.
This article in the October 13th issue of Education Week talks about the effect of the teachers expectations, and how this influences their student's achievements. It can sometimes very subtle how a teacher treats some students differently, even with racially prejudice. Knowing that a student comes from a disadvantaged home a teacher may set lower expectations and in so doing setting that student up to perform lower. The article talks about soft bigotry and how it can become a vicious cycle of discrimination. Making any assumptions about how a student is going to perform will affect that students outcome.
The article sites a study done in the 1960s where teachers where told that their students where all going to be strong learners based on assessment. This predestination made teachers believe that each student could achieve great things and because the teacher believed it, the students believed it. In the end every student improved and the teachers found them to be exceptional students. I think this shows some of the dangers of prejudging our students before we actually can assess their achievements. It also shows us that every student has the potential to be a great student and to achieve. They just need someone to believe in them because if they feel this, then they will believe in them self.
The article sites a study done in the 1960s where teachers where told that their students where all going to be strong learners based on assessment. This predestination made teachers believe that each student could achieve great things and because the teacher believed it, the students believed it. In the end every student improved and the teachers found them to be exceptional students. I think this shows some of the dangers of prejudging our students before we actually can assess their achievements. It also shows us that every student has the potential to be a great student and to achieve. They just need someone to believe in them because if they feel this, then they will believe in them self.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Merit-Pay Findings Show No Impact... Duh!
In this recent article in Education Week, September 29, 2010 they discus a recent study of 300 teachers in Nashville Tenn. where merit-pay showed to have no significant effect on student performance. I know they have to perform these studies to make points, but I could have told you that. At the beginning of this school year my class mates and I where all asked why we wanted to become teachers. Answers like for the love of children, the need to make a difference, for the enjoyment of seeing a student succeed, for the stability, or even to have summers off where are answers given. Not once was "for the money" given as a motivation to spend $23,000 dollars and two years of our life working towards a job that may or may not be there when we graduate. The reason? Everyone knows teachers don't make sh*t.
The average middle school math teacher in America makes roughly $50,000 a year (source Careeronestop.com). I know they get summers of so the really only end up working 9 months out of the year but if you have ever lived with a teacher you know that they rarely work only the 8 hours they are required to be in class. There is also the hours of grading and lesson plans and all the time spent in before and after school activities. So if I do some rough math and say that they only work and extra 3 hours on top of their in class work than I estimate this to be almost 2,000 hours a year which if you calculate that at the average annual rate for a middle school math teacher it works out to be $25 an hour. Do you think this is enough?
Ok so they might get summers off but they don't have any money to spend without some really good planning or really frugal camping. As far as stability goes, doesn't someone who dedicates their life to our children deserve something.
Back to the study... They gave up to $15,000 in bonuses to teachers who could meet their benchmarks and in the end spent well over 1.2 million dollars. That could have payed four teachers, salaries for a year. I think we need to spend a little research on the effect of giving a teacher 200 students to teach in one year and how that effects education. Might be interesting, or you could just ask me; it is not good.
I know this is a huge debate right now in America and we need to see evidence. So lets throw more money at doing research so we can prove what teachers already know.
The average middle school math teacher in America makes roughly $50,000 a year (source Careeronestop.com). I know they get summers of so the really only end up working 9 months out of the year but if you have ever lived with a teacher you know that they rarely work only the 8 hours they are required to be in class. There is also the hours of grading and lesson plans and all the time spent in before and after school activities. So if I do some rough math and say that they only work and extra 3 hours on top of their in class work than I estimate this to be almost 2,000 hours a year which if you calculate that at the average annual rate for a middle school math teacher it works out to be $25 an hour. Do you think this is enough?
Ok so they might get summers off but they don't have any money to spend without some really good planning or really frugal camping. As far as stability goes, doesn't someone who dedicates their life to our children deserve something.
Back to the study... They gave up to $15,000 in bonuses to teachers who could meet their benchmarks and in the end spent well over 1.2 million dollars. That could have payed four teachers, salaries for a year. I think we need to spend a little research on the effect of giving a teacher 200 students to teach in one year and how that effects education. Might be interesting, or you could just ask me; it is not good.
I know this is a huge debate right now in America and we need to see evidence. So lets throw more money at doing research so we can prove what teachers already know.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)