This is a short clip of Spike Dolomite-Ward who is an Executive Director speaking on the importance of arts in the public schools. Spike Dolomite-Ward is part of the San Fernando Valley school system. She encourages that the arts remain in school districts. Some of the important comments she makes stood out to me. She said that we are doing a disservice not using two sides of the brain. Including the arts is a "critical component to well rounded education." I was happy to find out that in March, Spike Dolomite Ward and others get together to hold a valley wide fine arts and performing arts festival. Arts have lately been the first classes to with the budget cuts, why do you think this is? Do you have any suggestions on how the arts can be saved?

Augmented Communication Device for Special Education Learning.

There is a little girl that I work with at John Muir Elementary school who is completely paralyzed but she has a normal IQ. She cannot speak, walk, feed herself, or go to the bathroom on her own, but she is very smart. Just recently through her IEP plan, the school was able to provide her with an augmented communication device. She is learning to use this device in order to allow her to communicate. the device works by reading the movement of her eyes. The problem for many children who are receiving these devices is that they are not properly trained on how to use them and then the money spent on the machine goes down the drain. The girl I work with, has a similar problem. No one is training her how to use her device, because there is a lack of knowledge in the system. There are certain centers around the nation that provide this service, but they do not come cheap, and they are not that nearby. This is a problem because a machine that could open the world up to this little girl, could also end up in the garage because she never learns to use it and doesn't stay motivated. Do any of you have other solutions to this problem?

Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single story

Education Summit

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/race-to-the-top/obama-should-call-an-education.html

This author, Valerie Strauss, feels that President Obama should call an educational summit in which he further shapes his policies for the future of the nation's education system. It was noted in her article that all sides of the education platform are against his policy, that should make it clear to President Obama that the policy needs further tweaking to improve the system.

His reform program suggests that there are four ways in which a low-performing school can reform.

1. Turnaround Model: replace the principal and half the staff. (The principal and staff may not be the only factors in why the students aren't doing well).

2. Restart: Turn the school into a charter school. (I agree with Strauss, the school should start from the ground up to initiate the core values, not as a replacement).

3. School Closure: Shut the school down and send the students to schools in high achieving areas. (What good will closing a school be? It will just increase the amount of students in other schools/classrooms. Many classes are at maximum capacity (or more) and will only increase the likelyhood of not doing well.)

4. Transformation Model: Replace the principal. (There are other factors that lead to why a school isn't doing well. The principal might be an excellent principal and replacing them might just take the school backwards.)

I feel that Strauss has a point in her article where she states that teachers should be uniting and sharing what works in the classroom: working together, instead of competing against each other like giant corporations.

Do you feel that an educational summit is necessary for the changes this reform wants to make?

Bilingual Education

The image above may seem odd at first glance but the Chinese character is being used in a demonstration by the teacher to show how the word "eye" is written in Mandarin. We've discussed in other classes the rise of charter schools and the limiting effects of "English Only" education. Both of these concepts are at the center of a TIME magazine education article describing the cognitive and future professional benefits of a full immersion language school. The school this boy attends is the Yinghua Academy in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a charter school where students learn basic subjects of math, art, and history... in Mandarin Chinese. The goal of this program is: "to introduce kids to the language and culture as early as possible — ideally, before age 12, while they're still absorbing information like sponges. Kindergartners and first-graders are taught exclusively in Mandarin, and a single period of English is introduced in second grade. By sixth grade, kids are learning half in English and half in Mandarin, with the expectation of proficiency in both." I thought this was interesting and significant in not only what is happening in education today but for the job market that students will be entering in the future, what an asset to be able to speak Mandarin Chinese--with China being one of the most rapidly developing economies.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1938738,00.html#ixzz0lhriPR9K

Kindergarten Cutoff Date

Just before I was about to interview the vice principal of the school that I am observing at, I overheard him talking to the principal about a very relevant issue. This issue is the possible change in the cutoff date for incoming kindergarteners. Though the bill would not be fully implemented until 2012, this is a hot issue in education right now. So, what are the pros and cons of pushing back the cutoff date? On the positive side, teachers would have fewer children in their classrooms that are not ready for the subject content. In a kindergarten class that I was in last semester, one of the boys still wore pull-ups, and another got so frustrated, daily, with the lessons, because he just couldn’t understand. Both of these boys were four at the time. So, it would clearly save children and teachers from frustration. Also, it would save the government $700 million a year. But, the flip side is that parents would have to pay for pre-school or daycare if their child didn’t hit the new September 1^st cutoff date. (The current cutoff date in California is December 2^nd)

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/politics/Kindergarten-Age-Rules-Could-Change-90847919.html

Project GLAD

www.projectglad.com


Project GLAD, which stands for guided language acquisition design, is a program that uses new strategies to help promote literacy in the classroom. The strategies involve a lot of visual learning. The strategy aims to incorporate language arts: speaking, listening, reading, and writing across the curriculum. It focuses on the importance of promoting literacy development in all areas of the classroom. I have had the opportunity to see a demonstration of Project GLAD and I thought it was a very unique and fun way to incorporate literacy in the classroom, as well as fully engage the students in what is being learned. The website offers information about Project GLAD, and about training for the program. It also lists upcoming events, and contact information for the program. How do you think this approach will help students in the classroom? In what ways would you incorporate these strategies into your own classroom, and where in the curriculum would you use them?

Teacher Quality and Student Achievement

Recent research shows a distinct correlation between teacher quality and student achievement. A correlation proved to be stronger than the correlation between student race and nationality and achievement. This research proves that qualified teachers based on: content knowledge, teaching experience, professional certification, and overall academic ability are paramount to the academic success of their students. This article shows that because quality teachers are so effective in creating high student achievement, there exists a necessity for more qualified teachers in lower economic and minority school. It is important to not only implement the dispositions of quality teachers in your own classroom but advocate for the existence of more quality teachers throughout the country. Quality teachers are essential to the academic success and achievement of their students and possess the power to create strong students.

http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Research_Q_consider/

Health Education Gets a Federal Boost

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/04/19/health-education-gets-a-federal-boost

This is a very interesting article about integrating technology into health education. Since one of the major contributing factors to child obesity is the amount of "screen time" they get, some schools are trying to turn student screen time into an educational experience. While some schools are showing more videos aimed towards relevant health education (scenarios discussing nutrition, health, body image, etc.), others are being a bit more proactive and actually assigning students to look up the nutritional information of the foods they eat most often, and then recording them on their MacBooks. Of course, one of the most important components to health education is exercise, and there are a few fun tips about lesson plans, games, and outdoor activities that will help students become more physically active. I like that this program encourages students to become informed about their personal health and learn how to make health lifestyle choices throughout their lives, not just during P.E. class.

Technology and Motivation

Middle School is a hard age to teach, the students seem unengaged and unmotivated to learn the material the teachers present. However, based on current research, Middle school students are motivated by experiential learning activities. Effective technology-based activities require students to do more than look up information; they require students to "do" something with it. Using technology actively engages the students with the content and allows the students to learn easier, according to the research. Technology provides students with a hands-on learning experience, they develop lasting skills that translate into higher levels of student achievement. The article explains different types of technology that can be integrated into the lesson, for example WebQuests, Digital Portfolios, and E-Pals. Using technology in the classroom provides a powerful tool and a positive impact.

Using Technology to Motivate Middle School Students

Researchers turn to Preschool

Los Angeles Times writer Carla Rivera published an article on April 19, 2010 in regards to the benefits in the development of young children after attending preschool. Specifically highlighting Los Angeles Universal Preschool programs, where researchers “measured the readiness skills of 437 children at 24 preschools in the fall of 2008 and reassessed 364 of those children in spring 2009” (Rivera, 2010, http://www.latimes.com). Los Angeles Universal Preschool chief operating officer, Celia C. Ayala, mentions that the affects of children attending preschool has “little research” and support, which fascinated me, because at this age children are rapidly learning and growing each day (Rivera, 2010, http://www.latimes.com). I know from experience working at Kindercare and helping with my goddaughter who is four now and is attending preschool, that children at this age learn at an extreme rate and are excited to discover new things even as basic as knowing when to say please and thank you. The article describes that the “skills that were assessed included proficiency in using crayons, washing hands, controlling impulses, expressing needs, counting to 10 and recognizing letters of the alphabet as well as shapes and colors” (Rivera, 2010, http://www.latimes.com). These in addition to many other skills are taught at preschool such as nursery rhymes, motor skills, new words each day, and how to eat properly at the table. However, preschool is not all about learning and making discoveries, it should involve dramatic play, games, crafts, and social contexts for children to begin learning how to communicate. Through this study a reported increase of “46%” in the use of these behaviors by preschoolers occurred within a school year and a significant increase for English Language Learners was evident in the results too (Rivera, 2010, http://www.latimes.com). I really enjoyed reading this article, because I strongly support children attending preschool; however, preschools are all designed differently and I feel some can be too overbearing for a young child. I still have memories of my preschool days and feel that I was more prepared for attending Kindergarten as a result. In general, preschool is designed for learning, discovery, enjoyment, making friends, and preparation for future schooling. What do you all think about children attending preschool and at what age should they start?

This article can be found at: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0420-preschool-20100419,0,2289045.story

Differentiated Instruction

Differentiation is the practice of providing more individualized instruction and assignments based on students’ learning styles, abilities, interests, etc. This video gives some great examples of ways to incorporate differentiated instruction in the classroom. There are some good ideas provided about how to immediately input differentiation into the class. The video also explains why differentiation is so important. Students learn best when they are challenged slightly above their comfort level. Differentiated instruction allows for students to actively participate in their learning and feel like they are an important part of the class. Your classroom will be filled with students of different abilities and learning styles, so learning ways to reach every student is a necessary part of becoming an effective teacher. I hope to run my classroom someday with differentiated instruction in mind. I hope to find ways to arrange my teaching to accommodate for different assignments that will engage every student and therefore allow for them to be successful.

The Cost of Education!

For a long time there has been a debate between private and public education. Which is better? Most would say private, because it costs so much more for parents to send their kids to a private school. But public school is the other alternative, where taxpayers pay per child. But what if someone told you that taxpayers pay equal to or more per student who attends a public school than parents who pay to send their child to a private school. In this video, CATO Institute reveals some shocking numbers of the real cost of education. They expose truthful numbers that the taxpayers are often not aware of. When schools publicize the dollars they spend on students, CATO says that they often leave out certain expenditures. Why do they do this?

They probably do this to show taxpayers that it really is not as much as private institutions. What would happen if everyone knew that the costs were about the same? Would there be a bigger debate between public vs. private schooling? I fear there would be a bigger issue. It would be a bigger problem for both public and private. Parents, who send their children to private school, think that they are giving their child a better education for their money. Public schools depend on public support, and this publicity might hurt them. This issue is much bigger than just cost, but cost is a factor in all education and an issue to be concerned about.

Making Special Education Approriate

I subscribe to a weekly newsletter from the National Education Association, and I always scan it for articles regarding special education.

Disability rights law is still fairly new in our country, but according to the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA), students with disabilities are entitled to a free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. If at any time parents feel that their public school district does not provide their children with an appropriate education, they can press charges or even put their children in private schools and have the district pay the tuition.

In Greenwich, Connecticut, it seems that their special education program is struggling. In the last year, 46 cases arose in which families invoked their due process rights. In order to see why these families do not feel the special education in the Greenwich district is appropriate, they are sending graduate school students in to do research and follow families through the process of their cases.

I think it is really wise of the Greenwich school district to recognize that perhaps there is a problem with their program and to make an effort to research and resolve those problems. Do all school districts respond in this sort of way, or do they let cases like this arise all of the time? I think it would be fascinating to be one of those grad students involved because it would give greater understanding to what families of students with disabilities go through and to also gain a better understanding of what an appropriate education is. It will be interesting to hear what the grad students' findings are.

More information about the situation can be found at http://www.greenwichtime.com/local/article/School-district-looks-to-seek-outside-perspective-452918.php#page-1

Less Testing, More Learning

This article talks about the huge debate of Standardized testing and No Child Left Behind. When Obama came into office, all eyes were on him to see what he was going to do about education and the problems with No Child Left behind. This article talks about how students are constantly under the microscope and being graded, judged, and evaluated and what that is doing to them in the classroom as well as what it does to the teacher. How do you feel about No Child Left Behind? Do you think that it is helpful to student’s education? Do you believe it should be changed or fixed to better education? This will be a constant debate for the fact that there are both pros and cons.


http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/guest-bloggers/less-testing-more-learning.html

Art in Education

Art has proven to be very beneficial to students. For it is through art, that many students can express themselves, create meaning, and be creative! Today there are so many schools that do not integrate the arts (music, movement, drama, and fine art) into their curriculum. The reasons why there has been such a fall-out of using the arts is because of the lack of time and money that many believe needs to be spent on the arts to be able to teach it effectively. However, what many teachers do not realize is that they can easily integrate the arts within their lesson plans, and use it to relate to other subjects without having to spend any time or money at all. For some teachers, being able to find the right resources to use to integrate the arts can be very difficult and time consuming. But by going to http://incredibleart.org/ teachers can find a number of different sources, information, and lesson plans on fine art that they can use. This site provides lesson plans specific to grade levels, subjects, etc. It also provides resources such as books, art supplies, and even information about specific artists and their work of art that teachers can use to help teach art and integrate it into their classroom. This website is a great source for teachers to use to bring back art into education!

http://incredibleart.org/

Millions of public school children to be affected by educator layoffs; At least 125,000 educators expecting pink slips

This video addresses the need that adults are not the only ones affected by budget cuts in the schools. Students are the ones who are losing out on a rich education by having larger classroom sizes, fewer resources, and crowed buses. Senator Tom Harkin (D) from Iowa has proposed the Senate to pass the Keep Our Educators Working Act. This act calls for $23 billion dollars to the existing bill to save thousands of jobs for educators and supporters in Iowa. Iowa State Education Association President Chris Bern urged the Senate to pass this bill because “students did not ask to go to school during a recession” and they should not be shorthanded on a quality education. This sets a model for other states to demand help in trying to save educator jobs. President Obama is working on plans to overhaul NCLB but what is California doing to help save its educators?

Multicultural Education; Diversity Issues in the Classroom

Dealing with Errors in Math Textbooks

According to Diana Lambert with The Sacramento Bee, two districts, Sacramento City Unified and Folsom Cordova, have discovered pervasive errors in the adopted Macmillan/McGraw-Hill math series for K-6th. It is not uncommon for textbooks to contain a few typos, but that is not the case this time. Students cannot count the flies in the picture if there is no picture on the page! Five times three does NOT equal five, although it does in the 2nd grade math text. In addition, educators have found that lesson plans and homework assignments do not always match and there are numerous mistakes in the answer keys. According to the news article, 90 errors have been found in the 4th grade text. These texts were definitely not cheap. Prior to being added to the state-approved text list, it had been thoroughly reviewed and the publisher was supposed to make the required corrections.
What happens when a text contains so many errors? "Teachers begin to question themselves," said Folsom Cordova teacher David Chun. "It develops a student mistrust in the program." It also turns math into a Bloopers game in which students have to find the errors!
This issue of textbooks containing errors relates to educators being knowledgeable within the content area—knowledgeable enough to know when the textbook is wrong. What do you think about a published, state-approved textbook having such pervasive errors? Do you see a parallel to asking students to be responsible for revising their work? What do you think about using the errors as a way to engage students with the math concepts and challenging them to be critical of texts?

"Sacramento-area Districts Deal with Problem Math Books" was published April 1, 2010.

Chapman is Working to CONNECT with English Learners

Chapman University and the Orange County Department of Education have worked together to create Project CONNECT. This project provides professional development to Orange County teachers to help them meet the needs of English Learners in their classrooms. The project is working in concert with Chapman University to provide veteran teachers with alternative ways to receive their new certification. It is also gathering materials and resources like realia, thematic kits, books, and teacher resources to support English Learners. They are also providing many conferences and networks for teachers to learn and discuss the best ways to teach English Learners. I thought this was very useful to students in our Tapestries class because these materials and conferences are very accessible to us because most of them are located on the Chapman campus. In the future, almost all of us will have English Learners in our classrooms and Project CONNECT is a great way to prepare for our future classrooms.

Reversing Readicide

One of the lessons regarding teaching to the standards that has been learned by one high school teacher is that we are committing "readicide." Students are being overwhelmed with the many requirements that the standards impose on the curriculum that teachers are compelled to teach. One teacher in our own area, at Magnolia High School in Anaheim, has written a pointed critique of that practice, and his book has been favorably received by thousands of teachers. Kelly Gallagher, in his book Readicide, describes and critiques those practices that encourage readicide--including exhaustive coverage of books that students should be allowed to enjoy. Instead, the state requires that they analyze them to death! In the process, they learn to hate reading. Here's a link, then, to "Reversing Readicide," an article that summarizes the key points Gallagher makes in his book. What do you think? Is this something we can turn around? As a future teacher, it's up to you!

TFK!

I remember when I was little and my 3rd grade teacher gave us a magazine every month that we could read to our hearts content about everything interesting around the world! That magazine was Time For Kids. I loved reading TFK because it gave me a look at what was happening in science and medicine, politics, nations around the world, what was going on in the oceans, and anything else that i might want to know about in a way that a child could understand. Time For Kids is a magazine (and now also a website) designed for children to learn about what is happening around the world in a manner that they can understand and get excited about. It is produced by Time Magazine and I have found can be a wonderful tool in the classroom. TFK is set up to work in grades K-6th and is separated into appropriate reading levels for these ages.

After thinking about what good TFK might do in a classroom, I thought about other magazines that might be helpful as well and took a look at the kids' websites as well. Here are some very interesting links that you might find useful!


http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/teachers
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/
http://www.highlights.com/
http://www.sikids.com/
http://www.kidsdiscover.com/