Coming up with titles sucks

I came to this program with a very specific inquiry: How can I serve the needs of students in poverty in an educational system that's structured to serve the needs of the middle class? I have formed this question over the past ten years in my work as a college instructor. I first taught at a small state university and then in a large research university. My students were amazing, and I mistook their success for a sign of my own ability as a teacher. When we moved to Portland, I started teaching at Portland Community College and sent my daughter to a public school. I learned fairly quickly that there's very little I can do as a teacher to address years of neglect, abusive instruction and miseducation. Last year I started to work at my daughter's school as a parent liaison, and in that experience, I found my calling to work with young children in poverty.

It would take a short paper to discuss how each one of the classes we're taking right now is addressing my question, but I am overjoyed that in some way, they are. I have come to a new realization through reading Segregated Schools and our conversations in Zaher's class. We are uniquely positioned as educators because we are at eye level with the actors of our society 15-20 years from now. We are in daily contact with the next generation, and we know their potential, ambitions, desire, curiosity, fears, lack, anger. We can't work with our 20-30 children and call it enough. We have to challenge ourselves to excel in the classroom, and we also need to raise the alarm in our communities and demand change for children. So, my inquiry is changed slightly in that I've added this new component of how to affect change in society at large.

I don't expect to find answers to these questions, but I use them to focus my work. I have given myself this year to dig deep into these questions, learn, investigate, consider rather than act, and I'm struggling with the gestation period. Every muscle and nerve in me wants to organize, propose, answer, do something, so for now, I'm fighting that urge while trying to keep up with the reading.

Yep, that's what's in my head while I'm sipping my latte.

Where Do We Go From Here?

I'm still thinking about Zaher's class today.  It was a very hard lesson to swallow, kind of earth shattering actually.  I'm talking about how Zaher said "we" (society/humans) always need a class on the bottom, that there always needs to be a minority for us to function properly.  And we cited how it happens here in America, the "free society", it happens in Socialism, it happens in Communism. Apparently it's always happened and always will happen.  There is always one dominant group who "rules", and the minorities we struggle and serve this dominant group.  Under this reasoning (which I still can't get myself to accept) if we fight and win for something, like equal schools for all races and classes, will it not just lead to another group being ostracized?  Is it an endless cycle?  How can we look forward to having world peace one day when we can't even achieve one town or city having equal schools for it's children?  

We keep talking about what's wrong, adding more and more sticks to the fire...and I'm glad he's opening our eyes to the problems out there, but we should spend time brainstorming and talking about how we can make it right.

Haha. Well Julia, I'm hoping that I do not DIE on the bridge of education. But I sure do feel the struggle that you guys have mentioned. For me, Zaher's class is the most disheartening because of the lack of solutions the reading and class discussion include. It seems like such a prevalent problem that people and the government should be creating solutions. But I feel like I've been rathered sheltered from all the happenings in the education system.
So far I have really enjoyed all the classes and the reading we have done. One thing that I really liked was the theories of childhood book in Zalika's class. I'm not sure if any of you are psych majors, but I just graduated with a psych degree... and that book is probably the most straight forward, simplest book that lays out the different theorists views.
These classes and reading has made me really anxious and excited about what I can do in the classroom. But most importantly I really like Zalika's class when we do the teacher vs. parents or teachers vs. school admin/board. I really enjoy that because I've never thought about how I'd go about dealing with angry or frustrated parents. But I think that it's really good that we get the practice now, so that we don't mess up when the situation really occurs. I especially enjoy practicing and getting feedback from Zalika and other people (especially from the parents in our cohort).
Lastly, I would like to say that I really value the feedback that we are able to give each other. Today when we were doing the science presentation, it really meant a lot to me when Andrea asked me if I had any feedback to give to her because she thought I had some good advice (and I never really thought of my advice being "good")And I would just like to extend that to all of you guys, I've really appreciated the feed back, experiences, and thoughts that you have been able to share with me. We all have such different backgrounds, it is really interesting to hear you're lens and how different all our education backgrounds are.

Seeing the mole hills that form the mountain

I couldn't agree with Allison more. This first week of class has been eye-opening, and in a somewhat VERY discouraging but also motivating way. All of the discussions we've had about the obstacles that face our children, and the very principles that our educational system just doesn't seem to grasp...just make me feel very confused. How could education POSSIBLY be so poorly funded when we wax-poetic about how our children are the future? When it is one of the parts of society that so CLEARLY needs to be supported and changed...But how? Why are we left with the answer that one must start small when this issue effects so many and involves so many whether they like it or not? It doesn't seem like it would be the type of thing people would need to argue over, or seem like the place that you could borrow money from in order to support other areas. I would think people would be rallying constantly for a total reordering of structure and the revolution that Allison talks about. I suppose it is a lot of red tape and hoop jumping, and the trouble of knowing where to begin, of knowing what change that we have the power to initiate within the realm of possibilty.

I was, and still am, one of those people that feels pulled in a million directions at once. I could envision myself going into a dozen different careers pursuing one of my baker's dozen of interests, and had no idea how I was going to make the choice. A requirement that always guided that decision for me was the fact that I wanted to be able to say that every day I was doing something purposeful. Every day. No matter how small or grand, I wanted to be able to say that what I was doing directly contributed to society, without having to put a positive spin on my position. Could I work at a fancy clothing store? Sure. And certainly no job is beneath me, but ultimately in the simplest terms you'd be making something that people don't need. And education is just that--something that all people NEED. Every day when we go in to work, people are depending on us to be prepared. And not just get the job done, but to do it WELL. And if we have it within us, be one of those that is willing to go above and beyond well to be a mover and a shaker. If anything this week of classes has taught me that. And how much work actually goes in to making that happen. All of the preparation and planning, the thoughtfulness that must go into each lesson, each conversation with a child, each action we make within the community. It's terribly exciting. I realize these thoughts are making me sound very bright eyed and bushy tailed, and reminds me of what Zalika said about not expecting to walk into the classroom or school with the impression of "I'm going to rock your world! You're going to have no idea what hit you I'm so awesome." There's a false ego there, but a little confidence and amped energy never did any harm. Let's get ambitious.

All I know is that within education, there are a lot of bridges. And we're going to have to pick our battles and pick them well. But if anything, in the grand scheme I feel I've made the right decision, as you guys have: We're gonna die on the bridge of EDUCATION! Yeah! Or you know, we could cross it...

Turning Theory into Pratice

Our class conversations and activities have been so helpful for me when trying to digest and make sense of all this new information, while also dealing with personal questions and frustrations. In this class specifically, I am getting so much more out of the material because of the opportunities to apply it to real-world situations that we have been given in class. While it is thought-provoking and interesting to sit around and discuss these theories, I sometimes have difficulty translating them into a classroom situation. By taking the big ideas from our readings and putting them in the context of how we may use them as teachers, we have begun to explore them on another level. This is exciting for me because I learn by doing (as many believe most of us do) and appreciate the chance to explore ideas in a variety of ways.
Everyone in our class has so much to offer in terms of experience and their own personal philosophies and it's beneficial for us to learn from our peers, as well as experienced professionals from the field. I am enjoying gathering all of this new information and processing it as I work to formulate my own teaching philosophies. I think all of us will be better, well-rounded teachers as we are exposed to more new ideas and ways of thinking. We have a great opportunity here to learn from each other and to be exposed to a great number of thinkers and ideas. I only wish that more of the teachers I have worked with had been introduced to these ideas and ways of thinking about education.

My "Man in the Mirror" inspired post

I too can't believe we've only been in the program for a little over a week! I can't believe how much more passionate I am and how much knowledge I have already gained in such a short time, it's absolutely amazing.

Today in Zaher's class we continued our discussion on racism, segregation and inequality in education and the idea that a new Civil Rights Movement is the first step in achieving real, successful change really resonated with me. I am starting to feel the moral obligation to take this knowledge and actually do something grand scale with it, but how? The logical place is to start with myself and be the change but where can I go from there? Who wants to start a revolution with me!?

No but seriously, we are having to battle the reality that we are starting to really understand what children need and realizing that in the current system the majority of their needs aren't being met. Gah! How can that be!? If only we could march right up to the White House and say "look your priorities are way messed up, here's what you should do" and ta-dah! it would be done.

So my big question stemming from the advice, you have to choose the bridge you die on, is how do you choose which bridge? I know that it's super easy to get bogged down in the exasperation of trying hard to find a solution to hold onto that will bring us hope for a brighter future, but I'm just wondering how under such a huge umbrella of conflicts, we pick and choose our battles when each one seems equally important?

Blown Away!

First off--WOW! It's only been a little more than one week?! I'm feeling the rush of ideas, information, theories, and experiences as they fly at, swirl around, and go through me...and I love it.

Teacher friends of mine warned that this program might lead to credentials, but that the "real" learning would only come once I'm "on the outside," in my own classroom. I had no basis for disagreement before I started, I just gave the affirmative nod. But I held an unspoken belief that there must be a huge amount of learning in store for me here--and, thankfully, I was right. But it hasn't been what I had expected, the type of learning I was used to in high school or undergrad studies.

I am a person trained in earlier schooling to take in, memorize, and regurgitate information, so the biggest challenge for me has been to develop the skills of self-reflection, considered thought, analysis, criticism, and synthesis of and engagement in our material (hmmm, where do these fit on the MI list?!) that the constructivist approach supported by Zalika and all of our teaching staff demand of us. And learning on these levels has absolutely changed me already. I'm excited; I want to dig deeper; every book, every article mentioned or on a list I want to check out (you know, sometime when we have all that free time!)
It's probably also partially a natural tendency for newbies when a whole new world is opened up to them; like a nine year old walking through the gates of Disneyland for the first time, I want to see and do everything!

Taking a look at ourselves as learners, and having the opportunity to change ourselves through that process, to transmit those changes and that learning to our futures as educators...well, it blows me away!

Personal theories here we come (:

Learning about all of the different philosophers within child development gets me excited to bring my knowledge into the classroom with students. I am very excited to start working in a classroom where I can be confronted with some of the many scenarios within the learning world and find solutions to help work with the problem. Does that make sense? I guess in simpler words: I am excited to create and expand my own teaching philosophies within the classroom.

Doing the role playing within class is extremely helpful and terrifying at the same time. It's terrifying to know that one day you, as a teacher, will be in that seat where administrators and/or parents are questioning your beliefs and teaching mechanisms. Although, in reality, once you get a firm hold on your true teaching beliefs, answering questions wont be as difficult. It might be difficult to get others to see where you are coming from but at least they can see your passion behind your own theories. Most of all I am excited to learn and grow not only as an individual but as an educator. To create teaching tools that will allow my students to succeed within school while enjoying themselves will be a feeling of something much more than self accomplishment.

a child-centered approach

One thing that I have noticed through the readings of the different theorists is this over-arching theme that education should be child-centered. Students should learn through real world experiences and by “doing,” and that the teacher’s role should not be just transmitting the information. I can see doing that in things like art, science and reading but, I have questions on how you can do that in math. How do you make math hands-on? How do you take a concept like long division and not just make it worksheets and repeated practice of the steps? Is it considered hands on if the student is working it out on paper? Or, would it be hands on if it was applied in real-world situations, which are still solved with paper and pencil? Just some questions…maybe the math class will have the solution I seek.

Choose your bridge and open your mind

Two comments particularly resonated with me from Monday's class:

"Choose the bridge you're going to die on."

And:

"You can find useful lessons in all the approaches."

As we move into classrooms, I can see both messages being vital.

I enter the classroom with a lifetime of experience and a set of values and beliefs that will drive my teaching. I can't let go of all of those in the face of obstacles or resistance. I have chosen teaching because of strong passions and a belief (perhaps mistaken!) that I have something to contribute. I am hoping that my experience at Lewis & Clark will help inform that contribution, providing me with a quiver of tools and new ways of thinking about child development and learning that will shape my own teaching philosophy.

Yet at the same time I recognize I will be new to teaching. I strongly believe I can learn from anybody, even if I generally disagree with their approach or their thinking. Other teachers and administrators will bring a wealth of experience that I need to tap and exploit.

That's frankly what I am enjoying about the courses at Lewis & Clark. I am being exposed to a new body of knowledge. I lack a psychology and child-development background, so the theorists are essentially new to me. My science and art backgrounds are weak. And my understanding of history lacks much context for the development of education. I am finding that I am soaking up new information each day that I hope to apply some day in the classroom.

At the same time, our rich conversations are providing even more insights. Watching cohort members present science or art lessons or respond to the questions of "parents," give me both insight and confidence to deliver on those myself.

With all that new learning, I can see myself building a reservoir of skills and knowledge that I can bring to bear in the classroom. I can combine it with my passionate views to be the most effective teacher possible.

But I also see a major struggle ahead. After briefly studying Dewey, Montessori, Erikson, Piaget, Vygotsky and Gardner, I can see how I can cherry pick theories and approaches to add to my intellectual aresenal for teaching. Yet applying it in the classroom under daily pressure will be hugely demanding. I worry: Will I know enough and be confident enought to tap their thinking in my lessons? Will I revert to weak practices when I can't muster the best ones? When, not if, I fail in trying an unusual approach, will I have the courage to try again?

Addendum: I also would love to explore the issues raised by Andrea regarding students of myriad cultural backgrounds. How do the different theories apply or fail in serving a range of students?

Developmental theory and ethnicity

I want to take advantage of the opportunity for cross-disciplinary discussion here by applying developmental theory to some of the discussions we've been having in Zaher's class. Mainly, I was pondering how or if these theories of development apply cross-culturally. Now, there are many types of families, cultural norms and support systems in place, and I wonder if it is realistic to apply broad theories that were mainly developed by theorists of European descent to Latino, African-American and Asian students. While theories are intended to be a starting point in educating children and not an end-all, be-all, it is important to realize how these theories are being applied to testing and standards developed in our schools. Is it realistic to apply the same standards to all groups of children? If so, then why are there such huge gaps in who achieves success in these exams? Also, why is it that the children and schools that are punished the most for failing these exams are the ones that NCLB was purportedly set up to benefit? Should we research and institute different tests for different groups of students? Or should we do away with the tests all together? Just a few thoughts.

Blog prompt for July 1st

Hey all,

Great class today.  You know its a great class when there are just as many questions as answers!  Thank you for allowing my soap box moment.  Although we got slightly down the road, OK maybe all the way around the bend :), we addressed some of the core tensions many will experience and a few self-care mechanisms all teachers need.  I firmly believe that much more than the material we are covering, it is your development as healthy, critically thinking,  self-reflective, passionately dedicated human beings that will impact your future students the most.  As Parker Palmer says, "we teach who we are." While you will all look very different from each other in the classroom, it is my belief that you will advocate for the good of your students, whatever that looks like, if you yourself have the tools, confidence and support to do so.   I feel privileged to get to be a part of building all three! 

You are also getting to experience first hand many of the learning strategies/stages spoken of in our readings.  You are constructing knowledge by combining readings with past and present experiences.  You are learning through both the process (conversation, reading, blogging) as well as the products (papers, posters, role plays).  Art imitates life as real and relevant questions are explored.  Your questions take on new life when they can change the focus of our conversations. As a result, your participation both individually and collectively profoundly impacts the whole class experience.   The concepts you are learning are being scaffolded by requiring a time of reflection (your Take on a Voice paper), allowing for social interaction (making your cheat sheet) and experiencing a little ZPD thanks to both the support of team mates and the dedication of challengers.  The classroom is becoming a place where risk is more the norm than the exception.  After all, we're all in this together...

I know that many of you are in that odd but necessary state of disequilibrium where clarity comes and goes.   This process is invaluable as we make all this information our own.   Just think, with all of this thrashing around in theory you are beginning to create a real teaching philosophy.  A flexible ever transforming one to be sure, but a framework to give your teaching a foundation in principle and heart.  What are you becoming passionate about ED561? 

Your next blog prompt is wide open.  What is on your mind, shaping your thinking. guiding your inquiry?  By the way, your thoughts could span across readings and even the other classes you are taking.   I don't believe that we in Child Development have cornered the market on interesting food for thought!!

Enjoy,

I look forward to Wed.!

Zalika

Yardsticks (Did it work?)

After reading Yardsticks I truly believe that every teacher and parent should be required to read this book. Yardsticks gave me more insight on past experiences and gave me great information that I will use in my career of working with children. One aspect that I want to hit more on is student’s physical needs. I truly think in the world of education today the pressure of the educational benchmarks that have to be met is compromising children’s physical needs. Schools enforce the importance on leaning materials but when the students don’t show progression they automatically assume that the child needs extra help. In some cases this might be accurate but in reality I believe the children’s physical needs are being overlooked. It's sad to think that children have such an urge to learn and succeed but their drive is more or less being slowed down by the 'need' to cram in so much information. If schools took a step backwards and realized that there is a more efficient way of learning, such as allowing students to have more free play and provide them with snacks throughout the day, versus just lunch, then the students will be able to respond more efficiently in the academic world. Having a balanced day for a child will carry within me throughout my days of an educator and I will help emphasize the importance of not only education but of physical needs. In reality, those two really go side by side.

Overall, my new main treasure that I encountered through Yardsticks is Yardsticks in general. This book is amazing. It not only will aid me in understanding the different development stages but it also gives valuable insight on what type of lesson plans are appropriate for what age. It captures what is going through the minds of children, which anyone that has worked with kids knows this can be a difficult task sometimes. I love how the author emphasizes on the importance "we must remember that academic achievement is not the only important part of school." There is so much a child can learn within a school grounds. It's amazing how their experience within school can affect them for life.

P.S. I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!

Finally!!

Good afternoon!

First of all, thanks to Febe for getting an cross-cohort conversation started.  I think it is a great idea!  It is something you can use all the way through the program which will be such a valuable tool and support.

That said, I am going to ask you to blog here for the purposes of our class assignments. I know that is not quite as efficient for you, but it is helpful to me to have all of your responses in one place so that I can follow each of your posts and ideas.  

Nice job Wed. on your back to school night presentations and your discussions regarding the 4 domains.  I know this is a new language and way of thinking for many and you dove right in combining experience, observation and readings in new ways.  People were thoughtful about their own frames and respectfully pushed each other through both challenge and support.  

As you probably discovered, moving from what is prepared on the paper to responding to the questions of the moment requires a different level of understanding about your topic.  There is more risk in the latter but more insight into what you know and what you are still working to understand.

Here is your prompt regarding our development discussion on Wed.  A response is due before class on Monday.  

As you are developing these frames for observing and teaching children I expect you will be developing and tracking in yourself the following 5 methods of interacting with our material: Questions (that makes me wonder...), Understandings (That makes sense to me), Observations (relating to real life), Treasures(I want to hold onto that), and Easy applications( for your future classrooms).  

Please pick 2 of these ways of interacting with the material that you feel you have experienced related to the Yardsticks and Developmental Milestones readings.   Please post a response giving us a peek into your thinking.  I do expect to see specific references to text (no need to officially cite them or anything) as well as your own reflective process.

Thanks again for your patience with all this technology stuff!

Happy weekend,

Zalika