Reflections on Ed Psych

As a whole i have really enjoyed this class over the course of the semester. Although i did not always enjoy reading the textbook and have some reservations about the text that i have mentioned in a previous blog, i really think i will find what i have read helpful in my future career as a teacher. hopefully i will be able to recall the major things that were highlighted in the text and use it properly with students when appropriate. i also really appreciated many of our class discussions. i felt as though our classroom was open to hearing everyone's opinion. i liked even more the fact that if i or someone disagreed with something that was discussed, no one was afraid to give a different side of the argument. although sometimes we kind of talked ourselves in circles and the debates or arguments or discussions did not seem like they went anywhere, it was still fun to banter with the class and share opinions on certain matters. the structure of the class also made it enjoyable. everyone was pretty comfortable with jim which made everything a bit less stressful. monday night classes also helped to break about the rigid routine of daily classes. again all in all i really appreciated this semester in ed psych and found myself really enjoying it.

Special Education

After re-reading the article written by the woman that has a gifted daughter and an autistic son, i found myself torn about her ideas of giving more money to students that are gifted and talented. I do not at all disagree with funding for students in schools that struggle to learn or have disabilities. i believe that every student deserves the best opportunities that they can possibly get. This woman's argument is that kids that are gifted and talented should receive just as much federal funding as those with disabilities. However, having read the other article based on the question of why students in Finland are so smart, i do not feel i can totally agree with giving more money to smarter students. in Finish schools, many of the students are passing comprehension tests above others internationally and they do not even have a gifted students program. perhaps instead of giving the smarter students more opportunities to surpass their classmates, it is their obligation to encourage and push those that drag behind.

Sexy Technology

As I finished reading the article distributed in class about kids using cell phones and other modes of technology for sexual purposes, I go go back to the idea that i am hesitant about including more technology in the classroom. I really did appreciate how realistic this article was. It fully acknowledges the fact that teens are sexual beings, as well as extremely able to utilize the different modes of technology that has been made accessible to them. It only makes sense that teens would put these two things together. if parents and teachers and schools are hesitant about how sexually active teens are, perhaps they should limit the amount of technology provided in class. kids are not going to avoid technology as it surrounds them everywhere but why not make the classroom or school a place where these types of activities do not occur?

Brain Lady

All in all i enjoyed the lady's presentation on brain development the other night, however there are a few things that i became frustrated with during the speech. the first aspect the annoyed my was her over use of images. it almost seems as though she went way out of her way just to add every little bit of clip art that she could. i was mostly annoyed with the because it became distracting from her presentation as a whole. i found myself only able to focus on the mobile images and every little picture, rather than listening to the content of her argument.

which brings me to my next point...

Obviously alcohol has a negative impact on the brain. i am not going to argue against that in any shape or form because it is simply fact. however, a side by side comparison of alcohol and meth seemed a bit far fetched for me. her entire presentation was on the development of the brain, in particular, the brain of adolescents. to have made the scenario more realistic, i feel as though she should have included something about minors use of pot and the effects it has on the brain. the fact that she compared booze and meth side by side seemed as though she was placing them on a similar plane which really really annoyed the hell out of me.

High Stakes School District

I really enjoyed our theoretical discussion about the fictional school district the other day in class. There was one thing that i took a fairly strong opposition while reading the packet and in discussion. this issue was the idea of rewarding schools for innovative ways of teaching. I disliked this idea because, chances are, schools that are practicing innovative methods of teaching already have a fair amount of money. why should a money based reward system be implemented anyway? i believe schools that are practicing proper methods of teaching should find enough reward in the success of their students. the money ought to go to the schools struggling to perform at the rate of the others. they could use this money to implement these said innovative ways of teaching and ultimately better their students education.

overwhelmed!

After our class meeting with Jennifer Olufson the other day, I have found myself feeling extremely overwhelmed. My first source of stress from the meeting comes from the intense amount stuff that we, as education people, have to complete in such a short amount of time. In some ways I still feel like a freshmen, but this meeting made me realize that as a sophomore at this point in the year, I essentially only have two years left on campus at Luther. This thought makes me feel panicy as there are so many things that I have to do in order to graduate and obtain my teaching license.
On a more specific and current note is the PPST test. I am one that has wicked test anxiety and a test that truly matters as part of my future really freaks me out. Because I get so nervous while taking standardized tests I become incapable of focusing. Then once I realize that I can’t focus I freak out even more and can focus even less, it’s a vicious little cycle. Hopefully by some act of God I am able to pass the test on my first try and can wash my hands of it… I can only hope.

Chalk

The mocumentary Chalk is a funny movie for film for an aspiring teacher to watch for a variety of reasons. For one it deals with issues that I, myself, have thought about and worried about. The one male teacher that is in his first year and has little classroom control is the exact opposite of what I hope to be in my first year, obviously. I generally do not feel too uncomfortable in front of people talking about something that I feel I have a lot of knowledge about, but watching him panic and freeze up made me worry for myself a little bit. I can remember teachers that I had in high school that were fresh out of college and watching them struggle to maintain focus in their classroom. Although I may have, at times, helped contribute to the lack of focus, after that movie and after ED 185 I truly regret doing this. For some reason standing in front of students, I have found in my small piece of experience, can be far more intimidating than standing in front of adults and trying to tell them things. I think as a teacher, you are passionate about your subject and hope that your students are able to gain an interest in it too, or at the least appreciate the fact that you care about what it is you are trying to teach them. However, watching this movie made me realize and remember all of the kids that truly did not care about some of the things their teachers were trying to tell them.

The film also reminded me that although teachers are alone in their classes as they teach, they still have co-workers. I have a really hard time with petty behavior and the example from the film where the PE teacher stepped into the classroom to retrieve the student that ran in late to class really annoyed me and made reminded me that, again, although I will most often be alone in my classroom with my students, other teachers will be watching and will be talking. Although it was a semi-comical scene it really annoyed me that the PE teacher would undermine the other teachers authority in front of her class.

Hmm... Santrock

I am currently enrolled in an anthropology class with an emphasis on studying the culture of youth and young adults. The majority of our class discussion revolves around the idea of agency held by children. We talk about how children are functional members of society and serve various purposes as human beings as opposed to just being children. We also talk at length against the idea of children being open vessels, ready to be filled with the knowledge of adults. Although it is the obligation of adults to educate the youth. while reading Santrock's text book i find very little recognition of childhood agency. the majority of the information that we read seems to stem from studies done by old white guys who for some reason dubbed eligible to make the statements that they do. i suppose i do not fully understand the studies that these guys have performed but not once does it mention these scholars addressing children or asking them what they find to be the most effective for them to learn. maybe this idea is a little too extreme, but certainly children have some kind of preference in the way they would like to be educated. again i am obviously not by any means a seasoned educator of any kind, but i really think that it would be interesting to address kids and see what they feel is an effective way for themselves to be educated...

Technology in the Classroom

Throughout the course of this semester we have talked a lot about the importance and the presence of technology in the classroom. As i have continued to think about the increase in technology this day in age the more i am tempted to argue against the use of technology in schools. Obviously computers are here to stay and there is no escaping that, however i do not feel as though we, as future educators need to be necessarily concerned about catering to the technological needs of America's youth. Obviously young people use and will continue to use technology for all sorts of purposes, perhaps schools should focus more on being an outlet for kids to be more technologically hands off. The fact of the matter is that the technology of today is over simplifying tasks that were once thought to be common sense. Again, technology is going to used at great length by young people all over the world, does a place of education really need to further its use?
My other concern with an increase in technology in the classroom means that children will be exposed to even more advertisements. We are a nation of consumption and living beyond our means and over exposing our youth to technology is only going to further this dilemma. Truth is that it is impossible to open any web page without being bombarded with pop ups and advertisements for any kind of material items. This problem first arose in schools with the installation of channel one news. This is a news program geared to kids in school. The catch is, channel one news will provide your school with TVs and all sorts of technology as long as the school agrees to air their program at some point to students during the school day. Having had channel one all throughout junior and senior high i slowly began to realize advertisements and commercials make up about half of the fifteen minute program. i find channel one very suspect and see it as the foundation of the use of technology in our schools in order to pump kids full of advertisements even while they are at school.
I recently read the book Feed by MT Anderson. it is an apocalyptic novel about how corporations infect the minds of people all over the world, constantly advertising for current things that kids think are cool. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who disagrees with this blog entry.

Response to Chambliss

I can only hope that if I remain in education for forty years or more that I am still as passionate about it as Mr. Chambliss.  Honestly it is hard for me to think too far past this week, but being able to listen to a man who has been in the field that I am about to enter for more than forty years excites me quite a bit.  My only quarrel that I had with education as a career path was going to be the possible monotonous lifestyle that I am sure many teachers fall into.  It was extremely relieving to know that within the field of education there are more opportunities than just teaching.  Obviously I look forward to teaching in a language arts classroom someday but to know that there are other possible outlets put me a little more at ease.

I also really appreciated that even after 40 years in education, Mr. Chambliss still had a rather positive attitude about his career.  One of the main things I aim to do as a future English teacher is to instill in young people a love of literature.  Chambliss said something along the lines of a life in public service allows for many rewards.  And again, if I am able to turn at least a few students onto written word, that will be my reward.

Radiohead

This is really nothing, just wanted to spice up my new BLOG a little bit...

New Teacher Discussion

I was really interested in all of the things all of the Luther Alum had to say about their experience as new teachers.  I found the pros and cons of teaching at smaller schools particularly interesting.  It makes sense that the sense of community would be very prevalent which is a good thing, also the fact that small classes worked for their advantage.  However having students become too comfortable with teachers is the thing that scared me away.  Doing my observations at Turkey Valley over Jterm I was able too see how this becomes non advantageous for teachers as it seems they become more likely to somewhat blow off the possible consequences of their actions.

I was also shocked to hear about the use of technology in the school.  The fact that students are now issued laptops in some schools is something that i could have never imagined as a student.  I feel as though this is almost doing the kids a dis service as they are exposed to opportunities to neglect written resources that should be considered basic skills to know how to operate, such as dictionaries.  I also thought that this maybe more likely to provide students opportunities to cheat on assignments.  

The final part of the discussion that was interesting to me was the advice about classroom management.  Again, while doing my observations, I found that my cooperating teacher struggled with managing the behavior of her students.  For me, not being able to gain control of a classroom is my biggest fear as a future teacher and will definitely be paying more attention to these skills in my future observations.

WOOT

WOOT! I have a blog!