Law Presentations

The last two class periods of law presentations turned out to be more interesting and informative than expected. Each group did a great job. Law issues and court cases can be dull and boring. Lawyer talk and the writing by lawyers often make issues less clear. It sometimes does take a lawyer to explain complicated issues. In this case, the law presentations did make the laws and the concepts behind the laws more clear. The different areas of law that a teacher must be aware and follow were in number more than most people realize. The list of law topics did cover a wide range of catagories. The list did cover many problems that society has struggled with inside and outside of the classroom. It was interesting that on a particular issue that states sometimes have different laws. Communities within a state can have different standards. The issue of Unions had ninteen states requiring teacher participation in Unions and collective bargaining and sixteen states that prohibited collective bargaining. The Union staes did pay their teachers more. It would be interesting to find which states did a better job with student achievement. Union or Non-Union?

Teachers and Unions.

Teachers throughout this country should have the ability to organize and collectively bargain for better pay, working conditions (i.e. class size), as well as, to allow for their own initiatives and programs to be heard and considered. States that allow teachers collective bargaining rights have a fair better/easier time attracting and retaining good teachers, and while I am certainly not saying that there are no issues of concern regarding abuse of the rules by unions. I feel that these criticisms may be overstated, because if they were as wide spread as some would claim; the government, backed by vast popular support, would step in to either sanction or disband them for their actions.
Just as I feel that every teacher has the right of participating in a union of collective bargaining power, I do not feel that people should be require to pay any membership fees to an organization that they have an ideological disagreement with. All I am advocating is for a system that gives the freedom for unions to exist for those who would like to benefit from the use of their services.

His Word Game Feeds Thousands

John Breen created a 10,200 word definition challenge online at FreeRice.com last October. For every question that is answered, twenty grains of rice are donated to the U.N. World Food Program and is paid for by corporate advertising. So far twenty million grains of rice have been donated which will feed a million people for one day. The program also was designed to help his son study for the SAT's. The remark of a widow who lives in a refuge camp with her daughter was, "I really depend of rice." John Breen also commented on his program, "When people make changes in little ways, they're more willing to do something big."

David Wybenga

Presentations from last class

I really enjoyed the presentations that were presented over the past couple of weeks. It was interesting to see how court cases were decided and how many actually went against the teacher or students. I wish that we had been able to spend more time on discussion for the IEP presentation because I am still confused by it...As an art teacher would I have to fill one out??? I think as class we were all so interested in the presentations so we asked a lot of questions and there was a lot of discussion, which was good. I enjoyed them...thanks to everyone who presented last week.

Sports or Academics?

I was talking to a lady from home that teaches high school biology, and I thought it fit in nicely with our ethics discussions. She has a young lady in her class that is also one of the star players on the softball team. She had a paper due in the class on a Wednesday that she failed to turn in. The state softball tournament was that Friday. The teacher told her that she needed to turn in some form of the assignment before playing in the tournament because school came first, so the student just decided to not show up to her class at all for the remainder of the week. The softball coach looked it up online on the state tournament webpage that she did not have to attend school in order to play in the softball games that weekend. It creates a huge ethical dilemma because technically the softball coach is correct that the student is allowed to play, but the student also got around not turning in her assignments when she is a student first and foremost. I don’t know that I completely agree with telling the student that she wouldn’t be allowed to play without turning in the paper, but it is also wrong of the coach and principal to go behind her back.

A Petition to Raise the Bar

http://www.goodbyeminimallyadequate.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
This is a petition to remove the words, "a minimally adequate education" from our state constitution regarding current educational standards in SC and replace them with, "a high quality education, allowing each child to reach his greatest potential." Please take a moment to sign the petition if you agree with its intent.

School Ethics According to the Simpsons

http://www.tubearoo.com/articles/87164/The_Simpsons_Whacking_Day.html

I caught the first couple minutes of this last night and happened to find the episode online. I like the super intendents comment about the geography requirements. It made me think about the states developing standards to make themselves look good after NCLB. You only need to watch about the first five and a half minutes, but if you are a fan of the Simpsons feel free to watch the entire episode.

Some inspirational hope

I have recently been reading Teach With Your Heart by Erin Gruwell. It is a follow-up to The Freedom Writers Diary which was also made into a movie. She is a teacher who uses writing to reach her students the way I hope to reach mine with art. I recommend the book to all of you, it is inspirational but at the same time doesn’t sugar-coat. Her point is that at times things are going to be rough and teaching is not easy but it is truly worth it, a message I’m sure we are all going to need to hear at times.

Who knew all these ethical cases would be so disheartening?

As we never had the chance to address some of the cases from The Ethics of Teaching in class I’d like to address some of the issues there. While reading chapter 6, Democracy, Professionalism, and Teaching with Integrity, I was struck by how important it is to pick our battles as teachers. I can only speak for myself but when I start teaching I want to be an advocate for my students. I want to be able to protect them and make sure they get the education they deserve, but that can be hard if you pick the wrong battle and lose your job. In the first case Irene Canebrake is charged with the dilemma of teaching a curriculum her students just aren’t ready to handle. Her approach was to talk to her principal and write a letter explaining her issues with the required curriculum. A step I think any of us would take, but when it didn’t work what would you have done next? It is hard to understand all the intricacies of these cases in one or two pages and say what we would do, but if I have taken anything away from this book it is the fact that I am going to be faced with ethical dilemmas much more often than I would like. Returning to the case, one of the statements Angela Dormer makes defending the decision to include fractions on the second grade curriculum despite some opposition was it is necessary, “in light of the need of higher standards in education”. That statement is one that is often pulled out in educational discussions and it worries me that we are for some unknown reason putting higher standards above the needs of our students. The third case in the chapter deals with Moses Jones dilemma of having to teach for a standardized test. This is one issue I will luckily be able to avoid teaching art but for the rest of you balancing what your students need to know for a test and what you feel they should know for life is going to be a constant struggle. How do we teach our students and deal with the bureaucracy of school systems? How do we pick which battles really matter? How do we keep from getting as frustrated and bitter as the teachers in these cases?

The dress code argument just never stops

http://www2.hernandotoday.com/content/2008/apr/24/ha-dress-code-for-schools-draws-heat/?news

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23596713-38198,00.html?from=public_rss

Two more stories on court cases addressing school dress codes and student’s freedom of expression. These two news stories are just from yesterday and today, it puts into focus how often dress code becomes a huge deal in schools. The first news story is about a middle school dress code very similar to the one we have in Rock Hill. A local parent is very upset with the freedoms being taken away from his child and is promising to take the school district to court if the new dress code is put into place. I thought the most interesting aspect of the article was the mention of an “opt-out” clause. The general idea being that children would not have to abide by the dress code if their parents thought it was to limiting. What then is the point in having any dress code if parents can override the school rules? I am a strong proponent of allowing children to freely express themselves and I do not think strict dress codes and uniforms help very much. I do, however, think that children need some guidance and the guidance received from parents is not always adequate.

The second article addresses an anti-gay t-shirt that the court ruled a student was allowed to wear. I found this rather interesting since all the cases I found while researching freedom of expression ruled against students wearing things that were anti-gay. The ruling said the slogan “be happy, not gay” was “only tepidly negative'' and therefore was not going to cause too much disruption in the school. Freedom of expression is such a muddy area and I can’t say I have anywhere near a firm answer on what is acceptable or not. The only conclusion I have come to so far is tred VERY lightly when it comes to your student’s freedom to express themselves.

No one is safe...not even Harry Potter!!!!

As I was looking at stuff on the internet I came across an article on J. K. Rowling. Being a huge Harry Potter fan I am always interested in finding out things concerning my favorite author. The link that I am posting is for the article but here is a brief overview. I found it to be very relevant especially since I presented on copyright. A fan who has a fan-based website wants to publish his “lexicon” on the Harry Potter Books (information posted on his website). Basically the lexicon is a dictionary helping you to understand all the ins and outs of the Harry Potter World. Rowling is claiming that the book is going to prevent her from writing her own Harry Potter Dictionary and the fan is claiming that this book is considered ok under fair use. I found the author’s viewpoint in this article to be interesting. Where do you draw the line from being Web based and ok to being published and not ok. Is Rowling trying to monopolize Harry Potter or is she just trying to snuff out the competition? Very interesting!!

http://www.slate.com/id/2181776/pagenum/all/#page_start

Day of SIlence 2008

Here's another example of student freedom of expression that I just saw a clip on the news about that I feel is of very recent relevant importance.

http://www.dayofsilence.org/

It is in a day in honor of 8th grader, Lawrence King, who was killed by classmates because he of his sexual orientation and gender expression. It is to encourage school administration, teachers, and students to address anti-LGBT behavior and issues.

I wonder if any parent or student will try to protest this statement...

Exit Exams

http://www.fairtest.org/graduation-tests-will-harm-students-judith-browned

I found this article about the state of Maryland requiring seniors to pass a series of four standardized tests before graduations. The author is very against this idea because she feels that it will take away from the curriculum in the classroom and that it punishes students who have performed well in the classroom but may not test as well. I know that we have discussed this idea in detail before, if not in this class then in my assessment class. While I do think that strictly teaching to the test is not the ideal for our classrooms in the future, I think that an exit exam of some kind is not an out of question proposition. It is a standard test that everyone across the state would have to pass to have a diploma from that particular state. I know that we have something similar in South Carolina. It suggests that everyone graduating from the state possesses a certain amount of knowledge that is consistent throughout the state, regardless of what high school you graduated from. While I do believe that colleges should put more weight on grades in the classroom, I do think that exit exams are beneficial as well.

Children with disabilities

Once again I would like to say everyone did an amazing job with the law presentations on Tuesday. I was honestly surprised by how thorough they were and how much information everyone was able to fit into fifteen or twenty minutes. While listening to the presentation on children with disabilities I was reminded of many of the issues that have come up in our SPED class. It is often easy to discuss students with disabilities as if they are a specialty group somehow distanced from the rest of the world. As someone who has a brother with autism I can tell you these children are a part of our daily lives and deserve every opportunity that is given to other children. Many of us are not yet classroom teachers and I can’t speak as to how hard or easy it will be to accommodate the needs of individual students when we have a classroom of thirty. What I can say is that if it were not for the individual attention my brother received throughout school he would have never graduated from high school. That attention he received came from the constant awareness and effort my parents put into his education, but for many students that parental attentiveness is not present. For those students it is our job as educators to make sure they receive the education they deserve. IEP’s provide prescribed accommodations that we must abide by, but often a little more attention, simplified or spelled out instructions, and a few easy changes in our classroom atmosphere can make all the difference.

Just a little more NCLB

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080422/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/education_law_changes

I know there has been a lot of discussion on NCLB this semester and I found this article on the front of Yahoo news the other day, so I thought I would share. The majority of the article addresses changes Margaret Spellings, the education secretary, is trying to make to NCLB. One of the points in the article that caught my attention was the intention to better inform students and parents of their rights. Most people do not know about tutoring that is available or that they are allowed to change schools if their current school is continually underperforming. I know in the Charleston area the Post and Courier publishes what schools children are allowed to transfer out of, and what schools they can transfer to. Now in theory these options sound great, but in practice flaws abound. One challenge being students who want to attend a higher achieving school have to leave their friends and be bussed across the city. I found the article as a whole mildly promising. I am a bit apprehensive when in comes to putting to much hope in the improvement of NCLB, but I am excited that there are people trying to improve the implementation of the law.

The issue of school discipline

I found this article concerning the diminishing of school discipline. It is about eight years old, but it addresses some key facts as to why discipline is so much more difficult to instill in schools these days.

http://www.city-journal.org/html/10_2_who_killed_school_dis.html

Court case involving student freedom of expression

I found this video online that discusses how a student's freedom of expression in the classroom can be violated. The narrator discusses a court case eminating from Tomah, Wisconsin in which a high school senior got a zero on an art project that contained a cross and the words "John 3:16". The reason the art teacher gave for giving the student a zero is because she presented him with a policy that every student had to sign agreeing to "no violence, no sex, no blood and no religion". This is waiving a student's first amendment rights, which a teacher cannot do by law. These are constitutional rights protected by the government. You cannot waive these rights because somebody signed a document, according to the narrator. Some may object that the student's constitutional rights have been violated since he was allowed to paint the painting. That is incorrect; expression means more than being able to express yourself. It means being able to do so without any interference as long as order and discipline can be maintained in school. Only in situations where the right to school discipline or the rights of others are violated is the school allowed to violate students' right to freedom of expression.

There are several reasons the student is right for filing a lawsuit against the school. Along with having his freedom of expression violated, this artwork was not threatening to the order or code of discipline in the school. If it caused a riot or something like that, I could see the school interfering with his rights for the sake of the safety of the other students. Going back to what the document stated in regard to "no blood, sex, violence or religion", avoiding the first three has to do with keeping discipline and school order. Religion is apart from that.

Besides, art is intended to teach you to express yourself in an artistic manner using certain methods. It is different from academics in this way. Academics has a close relationship between content and the nature of how you teach it. Art encourages students to express themselves as long as they have respect for other students and it does not encourage violence or anything that would disrupt the educational process.

Videos Galore:)

Because there were no notes to be taken during the last two class meetings, this is my “extra” post.

My group was asked Tuesday if there are any cases regarding teachers suing students. The answer 2 days later is yes there are! Here are a few links to incidents where teachers sued students.

Drawing incident: http://www.sptimes.com/News/041801/NorthPinellas/Teacher_sues_over_stu.shtml

Stalking Claim: http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071125/NEWS/711250353

Online Threat: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2003-04-29-web-threat_x.htm

The video below is a case here in SC where the teacher won the lawsuit.

Teacher sues students

This is a video of a teacher calling out a student by using derogatory language to say the least.

Teacher uses the “N” word

Students plan and video tape punching their elderly teacher.

Teacher gets beat up

First Amendment not so much with religion in schools

Student sues teacher

Notice 2 things. One is that Fox News likes to cover these sorts of stories;). Two is that because cell phones have cameras on them there is no telling what students are recording.

I knew those "Sponsored Links" on Gmail were good for something.

Anyone who uses Gmail knows they supply "Sponsored Links" with every e-mail message you receive, and they change based on the content of the e-mail message. My friend sent me a link, and because she used the word "dangerous" in the body of her message, the following link showed up: Attack of the Third Graders?

The website itself seems to be owned by Liberty Mutual insurance, so think what you will about the motive behind the posting of this story, but the best part is that it ends in an ethical dilemma! Apparently nine third graders had plotted to assault their teacher in retaliation for her punishment of a student who stood on a chair in class. The students brought knives and handcuffs to school, but were caught by police (who had been tipped off by another student). The post ends with this: "Given the restrictions with the law, how do you make punishment for third graders fit the crime? How much responsibility do their parents bear? And what about the rest of us—should we also be accountable as members of society?"

I personally think someone needs to sit down with these kids and their parents in order to figure out how nine third graders were able to bring handcuffs and knives to school without anyone stopping them, but I don't really know how they should be punished. The better question is whether or not punishing them will make a difference. Suspending them might have little to no effect on a group of kids who are willing to stab a teacher for giving someone a time out.

What do you think?

The Teacher Student Relationship

Chapter 8 of The Ethics of Teaching presents 2 cases that I'm going to touch on. The teacher student relationship can be controversial. I think we all have heard about Mary Kay Laterno and her student/boyfriend/baby daddy:). While that case is at a way different level than the ones that I encountered in the book. It still raises the question of teacher boundaries. They exist but where do they end?
Let me recap the cases for those of you haven’t gotten to Chapter 8 yet (sorry if I ruin it for you guys).

Whose Rights: Students' or Parents'? pg 133
In this case Lydia Simpson a young health educator and feminist (according to the book, not me:)) wants to empower her students especially the girls. A student in her class thinks that she is pregnant and decides to go to Lydia for guidance rather than her parents (whom would be very upset at the possibility of becoming grandparents). So what is Lydia suppose to do? Does she give her personal opinion on this, does she respect the wishes of the girl and not tell her parents, does she interject what the student's parents might want? Essentially the student has rights and so do her parents. Should Lydia take the student to a clinic or give her advice on the options? My answer is uhhh NO. Does this incident concern Lydia, would it be considered over involvement in a student's life? Probably, especially if she doesn't get other people involved like the girl's parents and maybe a guidance counselor. I just don't think this teacher should be the one making such a life altering decision with this student without getting others involved. However I assume that teachers come across similar situations regularly and answer differently. I still don’t have an answer to the title: Students’ or Parents’?

Teacher or Friend? pg 138
Ron Nelson is a young football coach at a high school. He keeps close relationships with the players on his team. He advises them on everything from school stuff to girl stuff. He has an especially close relationship with a select group of students known as the "inner circle". The relationship with these students extends outside of school. He invites them over to his house and they watch football together. Rumors are circulating that inappropriate behavior is taking place at his house like underage drinking and the like. The principal is asked to reprimand Mr. Nelson for hosting such events. Is this unprofessional? Is it okay since it is taking place outside of school and not during school hours? Is this not a proper teacher student(s) relationship? My answer, probably not a good idea. I suppose that there is always a line that one should never cross. Has Mr. Nelson crossed the line and if so should the principal stop the behavior now before it gets out of hand? I personally don't see why a grown man wants to hang out with teenagers and he obviously doesn't see anything wrong with it. The reason for the rumors is that his parties are exclusive, he doesn't invite the whole team just certain players. Maybe that's why one would question his motives. I'm under the impression that its not a good idea to have any sort of relationship outside of school with students (unless that student is your child).

There should be some sort of guide book/workers manual/employee handbook to what is deemed appropriate teacher student relationship especially for those who seem to not have any idea about what is considered "normal". For all those who know what is appropriate and not, there will always be one person who does not and that is when the relationships between students and teachers are again questioned.

I have a lot of unanswered questions on this one so I don't think it’s much of an analysis.

Issues of ch.6 in "The Ethics of Teaching"

Talk about a major dilemma. After reading the chapter titled "Democracy, Professionalism and Teaching With Integrity" I got a somewhat rude awakening of a scenario that is likely to happen to us all at one point or another. On one hand, you have a second grade math teacher who finds it unbeneficial in every way to teach fractions to her students. On the other hand, you have a principal who is working to carry out her duties as an administrator accountable to a district committee. You also have the conflict that exists within Irene Canebrake, which is: "What should I do? I really do not want to teach fractions to my students because it is unnecessary. But I know I have an obligation to the board of education to teach what they have agreed is appropriate." Doing the ethical thing in this situation puts Ms. Canebrake between a rock and a hard place to say the least. If she does not comply to what the board mandates, she could lose her job due to insubordination. If she does comply, her students will be the losers. It is important to know that Ms. Canebrake is an experienced teacher and knows what will work and what will not. Strike and Soltis talk about how we should explore our moral reasoning and feelings in making a decision on what to do in a situation such as this. Along with that is "the human desire to be free, to be unencumbered by duties and obligations" as is mentioned on p. 100. If this is the human desire, then the teacher should do what she feels is right, even if it means losing her job. The teacher seems to be in a dual role, in which both roles work against each other. In one role, she is responsible for educating her students on what is appropriate for their grade level and what is going to be beneficial to their education. In the other role, she is a public servant subject to the rules and limitations placed upon her by the system. Teachers are not involved in an autonomous profession, which can certainly come in conflict with their personal values and code of ethics. They are subject to the law, in this case. The law here can certainly bring a teacher's integrity into the question. The dilemma here is the question of "Who is right? Who is ethical in this case?" Unfortunately if you look at this from a legal rather than moral standpoint, the board of education is right. Teachers are to be committed to their students' best interests, yet at the same time are obligated to comply to the duties and obligations placed upon them by the democracy. I cannot emphasize what an internal conflict this can cause. It seems that professionalism can be compromised here because it is unethical and unprofessional to teach students a subject that will bring them harm and be a detriment to their educational process at this particular stage. Yet again, they are bound by law to do so. How in the world do you get around a conflict such as this I wonder.

Teacher and Student Freedom of Expression

Yesterday Lily, David and I presented teacher freedom of expression and Dawn and Audry presented student freedom of expression. While there are a different set of standards that apply to students versus teachers; the restrictions that are imposed on our First Amendment rights are concerning to say the least. While we attempted to answer exactly who should regulate what is appropriate expression and what is not, we weren't fully able to answer that because there is such an inconsistency statewide, countrywide and court rulings wise. In 2 of cases we covered the teacher who said she blew her horn for peace was fired, whereas the teacher who posted homophobic messages wasn't even reprimanded. What does this say? In the case of the Pledge of Allegiance covered by Dawn and Audry, is it really that big of a deal that the student didn't stand? And what about the Tinker case that both groups covered, again I ask is it really that big of a deal to wear an armband. No one would have noticed that they were wearing armbands if they had not been reprimanded.

How do we judge if our expression is out of line or within boundaries? Should we judge by the times? Couldn't we accept that we as individuals have opinions, thoughts and statements that should be expressed within reason (atleast in the company of the little ones;))? So with that my conclusion is that yes expression can be offensive but only if we allow it to be.

This is my class reaction....too bad for me that I didn't react to previous classes. Sorry if it sucks!

What would you all do?

I was speaking with a few teachers and reflecting upon some of the morality/ethical issues that Strike and Soltis present. After the discussion, it seems like it is a lot easier to sit in a room with peers and debate on a hypothetical situation than having them in the classroom. The case I want to discuss is the teacher passing/failing the basketball player. In phrasing it, I forgot to mention it was a college student, and all of the sudden I had rapid responses of anger, laughter, approval and disapproval. One of the teachers mentioned that they have had a student in the elementary class of the past. The student was a B/C student, but the teacher noticed that when the student received a C, they were absent the next day, and when the student came back there were visible bruises on the students body. Ergo, C=getting a beating. What to do? The student understood the work in class but when applying on paper, the grade wasn't so good. Would you bump up the student to a B because they do understand what is going on and honestly you are nervous for the student? Or would you continue to give the occasional C and know that you wouldn't see the student for the next couple of days if you did?
Once I stated the hypothetical case of the player many teachers did say they would try to sit them down, end of the semester and all, to try and work something out with them. Though none of these teachers are college professors they have been teaching, collectively for about 30 years. When I first read the passage, my gut instinct was to pass the kid and "pretend" I didn't realize it was plagaraized. After speaking with friends, my mind change to failing the kid because he's an adult and should know better. After hearing the class, my mind was even more confused. I guess in art it will be really easy to see if something is copied because most of the work time is allotted in class, but for the rest of you, good luck... :)

IEP and P.E.

http://www.pecentral.org/adapted/adaptediep.html

Here is a link that discusses how P.E. teachers, can contribute in an IEP assessment. We did not have time to incorporate this into our presentation but thought it might be interesting to some of you. How a P.E.teacher can influence the decision of an IEP while attending meetings and assessing the physcomotor abilities a classroom teacher cannot observe. All teachers can influence an IEP by keeping records and using a special assessment method for the individual.

Students with Disabilities

First of all I must start off my saying that the presentations these past few weeks have been not only great, but also very useful for us as future teachers. I just wanted to touch on a few points from the presentation that Mark and I gave regarding the Rights of Students with Disabilities. This subject is a very serious one that is not taken lightly, espeically by parents.I have to say that it requires a ton of patience to work with a student who possesses a disability. Last semester I worked with a student who was visually impaired in her physical education class. This task required not only patience, but understanding as well. I had the physical education teacher tell me numerous times that he did not have enough time to work with the student one on one in order for her to learn the required skills that are necessary for the class. Though he didn't mean to, he pushed this particular student in the corner a lot of the times because he could not neglect the rest of the class just to work with her the entire class time. He told me several times that I was a blessing to have because while I was working with the student he had enough time to help the remainder of the students. I just wanted to let you guys know that working with a student with a disability is going to be a hard task, but we must realize the situation of the student and do everything possible to give them the education that they deserve. It may be hard, but someone has to do it!

Teachers as Moral Exemplars

We ended class last week or perhaps two classes ago with a statement from Dr. Pope that teachers are help up as moral exemplars for their students. This is an awesome and uncomfortable proposition all at once for me and I still haven't come to terms with the implications of the statement.

I understand that students will look to me as an example for all that occurs within the classroom. As a Girl Scout leader, I am in the same situation whenever I am participating in a Girl Scout event.

My discomfort comes when I consider the implications of being a moral exemplar when I am not in these roles. For example, if I am at Festifun in Fort Mill or at the Come See Me festival in Rock Hill, or any other public event, do I need to try to conceal the alcoholic beverage that may be in my hand if I happen to see one of my students or scouts? what if I am participating in an outdoor event or happen to be on the lake or at the beach, in any case dressed in attire that would not be worn in front of the students or scouts - am I somehow obligated to try to cover up? I say pah! to that idea. And yet from the cases that have been reviewed in class, a photo of me with a beverage in my hand or dressed in a way that would not be appropriate in school could appear on the web or in the school, through the efforts of others, and thereby cost me my teaching job and/or my scouting leadership position. I don't think it is fair to hold teachers to standards that 'normal' adults are not accountable for, and then I remember that fairness does not have anything to do with any 'ism' in ethics. I feel violated.

The diverse U.S.

One subject that we have touched on in class but not really gone into much detail about is the diversity of the people of the United States. I have come across a lot of interesting information while doing my research on foreign language studies for my paper. One tool that I came across was the MLA language map and to me, it really shone a light on the current diversity of the country that we will be teaching in. There is all kinds of neat features of the map. Below is the link.

http://www.mla.org/map_single

Aside from religion, ethnicity and cultural differences, languages are part of the diversity of this country. In addition, language can be closely related to religion, ethnicity and cultural differences therefore they cannot be ignored in a country where eating sushi and burritos has become a part of our culture. My goal here is not to go into my research paper but to highlight the issue and give some statistical information that you may find interesting.

Shift Happens

Interesting Powerpoint passed to me by Dr. Jones:



I'll post my initial reactions in the comments later.

Final Exam Preparation, (Cornhole)

Although not a cornholer, I have played the game and I noticed some mixed feelings (even hostility) about the game of "cornhole" in class yesterday. I thought some of you who did not know what cornhole was would be interested in this link. Yes!!! there is an American Cornhole Association with a clearly stated mission and their 16,000 members across the nation want to make it "America's game". The official rules are listed on the link.

http://www.playcornhole.org/rules.shtml

On a serious note, I have enjoyed the class and meeting all of you. Good luck in the last stretch of the semester and see you guys at the "final exam" with your cornhole game faces on.

Presentations

Just a quick word to everyone concerning presentations. I thought they were all informative and all topics touched on went good. Also, thanks to all the students who contributed in the class, which is everyone. These types of discussions and presentations are for us to benefit our future students along with these precautionary measures for teachers. I know it helped me open up to other perpectives. Thanks again..

Intelligent Design and Science

One of the key points that the debate (along with the lineage of court cases) is attempting to point out is that schools must remain neutral to the issue at all times, and the teaching of intelligent design violates this neutrality. You may not promote nor prohibit the teaching of religion in the public school classroom, and intelligent design would infringe upon this. You may not give them equal time for the afore mentioned reasons along with the fact that intelligent design is not science and therefore does not have a place in a science classroom. From the very beginning (of the country, not time) people have sought out a country with a separation of church and state, which would as much support one's individual right to practise the free exercise of religion while maintaining a system that does not respect the establishment of any. It is one of the cornerstones of our free society and to infringe on it would be a great set back to all that has come before.

Tattoos, piercings, bright blue hair…and I still got the job

I apologize for the delayed blog but I would like to quickly reflect on our discussion of professionalism from last week. After taking some time to think about this past week’s dialogue I’m under the impression that some people are of the opinion that to present yourself professionally you somehow have to misrepresent yourself. On the first note of how to present yourself during an interview I was surprised by the debate on covering up tattoos or not. Presenting yourself in an interview does not have to mean covering up all your tattoos and piercings. I think if you have no intention of covering up while teaching, covering up during an interview is just an attempt to hide facts from your future employer. During an interview the goal is to show the interviewer your best side, not a side that doesn’t actually exist. If you present yourself with pride and act in a respectable manner I don’t think there are many employers who will judge you on a single characteristic. Now if you have made poor decisions in the past and have something like an anarchy symbol surrounded by flames on your hand then I’m sorry for your choice and you may need to look into laser removal.

Another discussion point on social networking pages caused me to feel a bit defensive myself. I have a Myspace and Facebook page, but I don’t put anything up there I’m not willing to defend. I have to admit there are a few things that may fall into a more questionable category but I never post anything I am ashamed of, anything that is obviously illegal, or anything I feel would bring into question the type of person I am. Many people have made the point to me that I should erase both of those pages if I am going to be a teacher, but they provide me an easy way to keep in touch with friends all over the world. I consider myself responsible enough to know what is acceptable to post and what is not. I think most of our discussion on professionalism comes down to making the right decisions to begin with, regardless of whether those actions are photographed or not. I know from personal experience that there is always somebody around with a camera, so if you don’t want other people to know don’t do it in the first place. I think if we each conduct ourselves in a way in which we are not ashamed of, then there should be no worry that questionable photos will surface or that our character will be questioned because of past actions. The moral of my ramblings; if you aren’t willing to defend your actions to an authority figure do not do them to begin with.

Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire by Rafe Esquith

This book is about the fifth-grade classroom of Rafe Esquith in Los Angeles, California. I would recommend this book to anyone as it is truly inspirational. What does this have to do with class? Well, I’ll tell you.

When we first began discussing the purpose of education in class this semester, I was of the opinion that school’s purpose is primarily academic and vocational, perhaps a little bit social, and an even smaller bit personal. As the class has progressed, I have learned that there is more to the social purpose of school than getting students to obey rules and get along together. After reading this book, I have decided that, ideally, a large chunk of the purpose of school should be social and (if we do our jobs right) all else will follow. Part of socializing students is enabling them to function successfully in the economic, political, and social institutions that make up our culture, to their benefit and the benefit of society.

Mr. Esquith’s motto for the classroom is to work hard and be nice to each other. He leads his class according to Lawrence Kohlberg’s Six Levels of Moral Development which are: Level 1: I don’t want to get in trouble, Level 2: I want a reward, Level 3: I want to please somebody, Level 4: I follow the rules, Level 5: I am considerate of other people, and Level 6: I have a personal code of behavior and I follow it. Mr. Esquith says that most people are somewhere in between Level 1 thinking and Level 4 thinking, but that we should aim for Level 6. A Level 6 person works hard, manages time wisely, has integrity, is responsible, caring and considerate, does not do things solely to receive credit for them, and knows himself well. I cannot do Mr. Esquith’s description enough justice. He somehow helps his students to be better, more successful people while teaching them what they need to know academically and vocationally. In fact, the social lessons that he teaches cause his pupils to become better students!

In order to teach Level 6 thinking, our job as teachers is to try to reach level 6 thinking ourselves. How can we teach students to be organized if we are always late, keep a messy desk, and can never finish grading papers in time to hand them back when we say we will? How can we teach students to value learning if we don’t continue to learn? How can we teach them to value themselves and others if we don’t treat them with kindness and respect? I find myself to be the victim of levels 1-4 thinking far too often for comfort.

The White House responds to Kyle's blog...not really

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=7508248&ch=4226716&src=news



The link is a video of someone from the whitehouse staff commenting on NCLB. As Kyle pointed out earlier nothing is stated on what has really been achieved. The goals of NCLB are stated and some more problems are brought up. Looks like there is going to be a 60 day comment period that the White House administration will analyize and use to make adjustments to the policy. Kyle, hopefully they will come across your blog, but don't get your hopes up.

Moral Intuitions

In reading this week’s assignment in The Ethics of Teaching, the material discussed about reflective equilibrium was interesting to me. The part that really sparked thought for me was the idea of moral intuition. I believe that is what the majority of us base our ethical decisions on because we try to determine what is right and what is wrong with the particular situations. As with the case that we read regarding Ms. Jones and Mr. Pugnacious, she reacted in a way that was sparked by her moral intuition. As it states at the bottom of p. 97, we can not always react with exactly what pops into our hearts or minds. Sometimes we need to identify the moral concepts that cause us to react in the manner that we do and be able to back up our decision that we make. The reading continues about where do we get this moral intuition from? I agree with the authors’ point in that it is an innate feeling of what seems right just as it is with in formulating our language. This type of reaction is problematic is cases such as Ms. Andrews with Tim and Paul. In her mind, what is right is to not “punish” one by putting them in the lower reading group, but their behavior problems are not fair to the rest of the class’s learning. In this situation, it would be hard to act with a moral intuition because there are too many factors weighing into her decision. I still don’t know what I would do if I was put into her situation. It is sometimes easy for us to read the cases that are in the book and criticize the teachers for their decisions; however, we don’t know how we would act with our moral intuition and ethical decisions until with are put on the spot with these decisions ourselves.

Two Cases of Religion and Schools

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080415/ts_alt_afp/useducationreligion;_ylt=A0WTcWtcHA5ItZIAwwtQXs8F

http://www.startribune.com/local/17406054.html

The first link regards a teacher who was restrained from partaking in student lead prayers. Previously he had lead students in prayer and I can understand the school requiring him to stop, but I think it is some what extreme that he cannot even partake in "kneeling and head-bowing rituals".

The second link regards a charter school in Minnesota that has become the center of debate. Some feel that the school is Muslim and support from state funds is unconstitutional. There are concerns that students are being required to partake in prayer and study of the Quran. If these allegations are true I am surprised that the school was allowed to be founded and able to operate for so long. Nothing against Muslims opening and operating a school based on their faith but using state funding to do so is unfair.

Character Education

http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v13n1/interview.html

This is a link to an interview with Steve Johnson, the director of character education at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. The center is part of Santa Clara University in California.

While reading over some ethical matters, a question came to my mind. What is the difference between ethics, morals, values, and character? I looked the definition of each up on dictionary.com. They are all very connected. Character and morals, however, may be construed as more personal than the others. Values and ethics seem to rely more heavily on what is acceptable behavior within a culture or society. At any rate, the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics offers character education programs to area communities, and one might say worldwide, because there is a plethora of information on the site. The interview asks the question, "How do children become moral people, and what role do schools have in that process?" Johnson makes a direct correlation between character and citizenship. How many times has the issue of building good citizens come up in class this semester alone? John Dewey eludes to it as well as our beloved Tinkering Toward Utopia, I believe it was, that pointed out the creation and original purpose of kindergarten was to essentially teach people "matters of civility" that would allow children to become ready to participate in school. (Maybe it was in School and Society, I'm being unethical and doing this from work, but that's another discusion all together!) Johnson describes the triangle model used at the center to explain moral development. I thought it was interesting that at its base (the foundation) is coping and cooperation skills. Before reading this, I never really thought about how essential these characteristics are for progress in the home, the classroom, the community, and democracy itself. Three sets of factors influential to character development are also outlined in the interview. After reading this, I am left with several questions: 1) Who are we as a society that we would require entire centers dedicated to teaching character? 2) Is Bloom right? Do we lack cultural identity as Americans? 3)How do you balance character, morals, ethics, and values within a classroom of diversity without stepping on the toes of cultural identity?

Bang! Zero Tolerance

Seeing as how the cases at the end of The Ethics of Teaching are left to us to analyze, I thought I would give this one a shot (no pun intended). In this scenario, James gets beat up and robbed on a regular basis by the school bullies. He brings an unloaded gun to school in an attempt to frighten off his attackers and the teacher, Ms. Hesston, sees it. She ponders whether she should stick to the school district's Zero Tolerance Policy (enforced by law) or try to quietly cover up the issue since James is truly a victim and is right about the school's inability to prevent bullying.

The consequentialist may consider the following: the gun was not loaded, noone was hurt with the gun, James (and possibly others) are being harmed everyday by the bullies, and James' parents are being harmed since the lunch money they give him is being stolen. If Ms. Hesston enforces the Zero Tolerance policy, James will be harmed by having to go to Juvenile detention, his parents will be harmed by his absence, finding a gun in school may give the school a bad reputation, and students/parents may consider Ms. Hesston cruel for punishing James' attempt to defend himself. If Ms. Hesston does not report the gun, James will not go to Juvenile Detention, his parents will not be hurt, and the school's reputation won't be harmed. However, if Ms. Hesston covers up the fact that James had a gun and the school/police find out anyways, she will be in trouble as well as James, facing losing her job and potentially criminal charges. Since this would cause the same harmful effects as before, in addition to harmful effects to Ms. Hesston herself, I would think that the consequentialist would consider the harm done by not telling (if discovered) to be greater than the harm done by telling and would thus enforce the Zero Tolerance policy.

Since the non-consequentialist views people as ends and not means, he would say that James is a free-moral agent and therefore should know that bringing a gun to school is wrong (even if he does not know that the school has a Zero Tolerance policy). He is responsible for his actions and must suffer the consequences. The non-consequentialist would say (and I agree) that Ms. Hesston must report the gun incident.

However, I must ask myself (and this is personal feeling) what should happen to the bullies? If James was under so much duress from these bullies that he felt the only resort was to bring a gun to school, then I do not think they should go unpunished - if they are guilty. Of course, in order to observe due-process there must be some proof (perhaps a witness) that the bullies were attacking James before they can be punished. It's sad that James might suffer while his attackers go on to victimize other children.

No Child Left Behind Act – The Progress Report

http://www.ed.gov/nclb/accountability/results/progress/index.html

I searched the U.S. Department of Education website to find some NCLB data. One of the NLCBA reforms strongest advocacy points is its ability to collect data. This data, which could be clearly stated, seems very elusive. I felt the closest to finding something on their website when I stumbled upon the page “Mapping Educational Progress” in relation to the NCLBA. I guess I assumed the title had something to do with the article. This turned out to be a silly mistake. Clicking on the state-by-state analysis I was hoping to see information about South Carolina’s progress, so I downloaded the PDF that contained the “information about educational progress.” There are lots of pretty graphs. Looking at the data there is also a lot of information about student demographics. Actually, I would say the downloaded PDF is approximately 90% demographics. This of course is interesting, but only a cross sectional look as there is no information on how it has changed over the years. The academic progress, as reported by standardized testing…I assume, is noted in the last two graphs at the bottom of the page that are entitled “achievement trends” (Yes we are now looking at trends and not progress as mentioned by the title). Looking at these graphs led me to wonder; do these graphs say anything about progress? The answer was no. I was disheartened by the misleading title and lack of context of the data. Here is a list of things I would tell the designer of the achievement graphs to do –

1. Include standard deviation
2. Do a statistical test to determine if there is any statistical significance in the findings
3. Include standard error
4. Do a statistical test to determine if there is any statistical significance in the findings
5. Include means
6. Do a statistical test to determine if there is any statistical significance in the findings
7. Define the Y axis
8. Do a statistical test to determine if there is any statistical significance in the findings
9. Don’t present a graph that leaves the reader with no grounds for determining if the information is important or correctly made.

In conclusion this website does not help in “mapping educational progress.” The government should rename the misleading title to: “School Demographics having nothing to do with Educational Progress,” and stop producing horrific graphs which could (or could not I suppose) be misleading. Listing/graphing that one mean is bigger than another doesn’t tell the reader anything unless it is statistically significant (remember things like p-values, critical values, t-test/anova). I get irritated when governmental agencies get purposefully sloppy in presenting findings with the intent to mislead its readers. Sorry this is mean blog, I was really hoping to find some good data on this website about how NCLB might be helpful.

Santas, and Dreidels, and Gelts! Oh, my!

In response to A. Wilson's blog on recognizing holidays in public schools, the following link provides guidelines. http://www.freedomforum.org/publications/first/findingcommonground/B08.Holidays.pdf
This topic is also timely, considering that our group (Dipti, David, and I) will be talking about teacher freedom of expression tomorrow night. In summary, the Supreme Court has ruled that public schools may not sponsor religious practices, but they can teach about religion as part of history and cultures (Teach it, but don’t celebrate it.). Also, the Supreme Court has let stand a lower federal court decision stating that it may be constitutional to recognize holidays for the purpose of secular instruction about religious traditions; however, the article warns teachers to avoid asking students to explain their religious beliefs and customs. Also, concerts dominated by religious music, especially when coinciding with a religious holiday, should be avoided. But interestingly, the article also recognizes that it’s unrealistic to ban all seasonal activities from school. All one has to do is walk down any elementary public school hallway in December to know that’s the case.

This is a tough one!

My favorite part of the book that we are currently reading are the cases that each chapter presents. I like having a scenario based on the material that we are reading. It allows me to put myself in the shoes of others and see if my opinion tends to alter or stay the same. I like the case that talks about "A Christmas Quarrel." Since I grew up in a Christian school, I realize the signifigance of celebrating Christmas and what it represents to students as well as faculty. I think that a case involving religion is a serious and touchy subject. I understand the argument that they cannot accomodate everyone's needs for religion, but I think that it is also extremely hard to get rid of religion totally. I would suggest that they keep the religion and the celebration of Christmas out of their curriculum in order to support the "seperation of Church and state." If individuals feel that it is important to keep religion in schools then people can start private schools that are based on different religions. I also think that in order to maintain the excitement that a child has with any holiday of any religion, that they should not ban religious activities such as gift giving and parties. I would allow children to give gifts, but not make it a school sponsered function. I would also keep the tradition of having parties and dances, but eliminate the religious name attached to the event. I wonder which approach the students and their families favor and how they would react to my suggestions.

Viva La Revolución! (I realize people in Brazil speak Portuguese, maybe this translates)

While reading about the subjects of my research paper (Paulo Freire and Ivan Illich) I have come across some interesting stories. One of these stories is worth mentioning due simply to its symbolism. I’ll keep it brief:

Freire was in an educator leading literacy campaigns among the poor in Brazil. His literacy campaigns empowered the commoners. After a military coup, Freire was sought out to be arrested for his leftist ideas and involvement in revolution. The military stormed one of Freire’s establishments breaking into a recent shipment of cargo. The military, expecting machine guns, pried the boxes open to find no weapons that caused physical harm, only slide projectors. Freire was arrested anyways.

The power of an education cannot be underestimated. Perhaps empowering people with an education is more powerful than guns.

Interesting........

http://www.charlotte.com/556/story/588621.html

This is a article I found talking about the career fair this past weekend for the Charlotte Mecklenburg School sytem. It is interesting to me to see the number of people that turned out looking for a job in the school system. According to the article, the economy in the North taking a turn for the worse as well as CMS's positive reputation, have attracted many people to this area just to teach. It amazes me that over 4,000 people showed up for teaching jobs knowing the low salary and hard work that awaits them. I guess there are more people out there than just us that actually enjoy teaching and don't just do it for the money!

A Note from Prof. Pope

First, I want to make a general comment as to all the posts in the past couple of weeks. They have been outstanding. You all are clearly reading and thinking hard about the material, which is really all I want out of my students. I have been really impressed overall with the posting.

Second, you may have noticed I have not been commenting on each and every post lately. You may have assumed that's because I have been really busy and would get around to it eventually. There's an element of truth to that assumption. I have, however, realized a few things about the blog that, once realized seem obvious now. Maybe you have already realized the same things. If so, now you can have your "ha-ha" (insert Nelson voice from The Simpsons here) moment at my expense :)

• First, reading and commenting on each and every post is a lot of work for me -- more than I thought it would be, honestly. I enjoy reading what all of you have to say, but when the posts come fast and furiously it is difficult to process and thoughtfully respond to each one. Perhaps that is just a time management issue on my part, so this isn't the real issue.
• Second (this is the big issue), I may have violated all sorts of assessment rules with my comments, especially if my labels of "excellent," "good," etc are taken as a proxy for some sort of grade. If that's what they are (and, honestly, it wasn't supposed to be a grade, but it was supposed to be formative feedback), then they could have been taken as public assessment -- i.e. grading your posts in front of the entire class. One is not really supposed to do that, at least in my understanding. That wasn't what I intended, I assure you, but I have come to see how they could have been taken in that way. Such a public system could have inhibited people from posting, which would have run counter to what this blog was supposed to be for.

I just wanted to share those thoughts with you here at the close of the semester. I'd certainly be interested in any thoughts you may have about the blog and it's use for the class, as I'd like to continue it for future graduate classes. What would make the blog better? Fewer posts? More posts? Different types of posts? You can offer your feedback in the form of comments to this post. Or, if you prefer, you can email them to me. You can also give anonomyous comments via the course evaluations. Overall, I have enjoyed the blog very much, because I have enjoyed our class very much. I am just trying to make it better for future students.

Thanks!

While reading The Ethics of Teaching, I have been pulled back and forth between the opposing views presented in this book and their weaknesses debated through out the cases and discussions. The reading ignites thinking on how we make judgments. Towards the end of Chapter 5, the authors describe an innate characteristic of all humans to seek justice.

When faced with the word justice, many images come to mind. First of all, the blind scale of the judicial system. Then, I think of officers and handcuffs. Maybe it’s just me, but all of my images of justice have to do with punishment. Justice being served seems to always be followed by the locking of cell doors. The book states, "justice demands that evil be punished" (28), but retribution complicates this by making the punishment fit the crime.

Earlier this week I left a comment on a post disputing another comment about ethics and fairness. I felt that in order for things to be ethical, things usually had to be fair, but is this really the issue and if so, does justice follow the same guidelines?

Equal Treatment?

In Strike and Soltis there is a case that deals with two individuals who do not get along and fight often in the same class. The teacher, Mrs. Andrews, has run out of options and has tried everything in the book to be fair and use equal treatment. The problem here is that one of the individuals happens to be black, a minority and the other white. They seem to be close to the same reading level but cannot keep them together in the same reading groups because of their fits of rage. She is stuck with what to do.

I would not want to cause conflict in the school and move Paul to the lower group and have Tim switch move down just because of race. This is an issue of fair and equal treatment of all students. We know nothing about the past of Tim however we could reason that he may have some family or social issues. In this case I would get to know the two individuals as best possible, their backgrounds and what makes them so upset at each other. I would devise the best plan for them, which I would think switching them back and forth between reading groups regardless of ethnicity. This to me would be the only way to assure the best possible situation given the scenario. I couldn't possibly keep one in the lower group if he constantly looks down in himself. He needs a moral boost, and a better outlook on reading for his future.What is fair about keeping him where he's at? This is great example of what a teacher has to struggle with sometimes on a daily basis! These situations need to be prepared for and learning from experience is key as well. I look forward to this particular case in class.

Expelled

I went to the movies this weekend and saw Expelled. It's a documentary by Ben Stein disputing the evidence of evolution. Although the film was very bias, I thought there was some interesting points that related to our recent class discussions and presentations.

Through out the film, Ben Stein interviewed several scientists and historians. Many of his inquires were about the origins of the human species. Though Darwin wrote a book with a similar title, the beginning of life is still disputed. Evolution explains the change of humans over time, but the appearance of the first atom is unknown.

As our class presentation on religion in the classroom concluded, the debate continues. The main issue that the documentary focused on was academic freedom. Many professors that were interviewed had been reprimanded for researching Intelligent Design. One professor was fired and then blacklisted for suggesting ID when confronted with student inquiries. Several others had resources and funding revoked when their research began to lean towards ID.

I thought the movie was pretty interesting. I don't remember being taught much about evolution in grade school. It always seemed to be a topic most teachers avoided; with good reason.

Outside of the religious debate, I was wondering what everyone else thinks about the issue of academic freedom and whether or not scientific research and other fields of inquiry are really limited due to politics.

Anyone? Anyone?

Historically Underachieving Group narrows gap in SC

http://www.goupstate.com/article/20080415/NEWS/804150352/1051/NEWS01&tc=yahoo

141 schools in SC received "HUGs" for reducing the achievement gap for minority and low-income students. This was based on PACT test scores and compared students who pay full price for lunch to those that are minority and on free or reduced lunch. Seventy Percent of the students at these schools come from families in poverty. For me the most telling part of the results is that the gap between white and black students is much bigger than the gap between white and Hispanic students. Wonder why? Either way this is a step in the right direction.

Evolution/Intelligent Design, Postmodernism, Truth, Interpretation…etc.

Strike and Soltis, in chapter five, present a case study on Evolution and Intelligent Design being taught in the classroom. They then discuss the postmodernist and the importance of difference and particularity. Under this pretense the issue of truth is discussed and they state, “No truth is the whole truth. Every truth assumes something about the perspective of the individual whose truth it is.” First, Strike and Soltis do a good job in their writing staying neutral, presenting both sides of arguments to provoke thought. (This makes a reading analysis very difficult but inevitable for procrastinators.) Thinking through this issue of truth and Evolution vs. Intelligent Design I am struck with the possibility of bringing this dualism together. The great possibility of science is its goal to un-biasly search for and discover truths. The interpretations of these truths may be subject to people’s religions and beliefs. This opens the possibility of science explaining how a God and/or nature may work. Stephen Hawkings said in A Brief History in Time, “If we do discover a complete theory, it should in time be understandable in broad principle by everyone, not just a few scientists. Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists, and just ordinary people, be able to take part in the discussion of the question of why it is that we and the universe exist. If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason — for then we would know the mind of God.” This being said I would argue that no theory in the past has ever been completely accurate or understood and there is no reason for us to think we know it all now. I am hopeful however that we are closer.

No Child Left Behind Update

http://www.fairtest.org/nclb-after-six-years

I came across this article about the six year update of the effects of NCLB. In the article it states that NCLB “relies on limited, one-size-fits-all tools that reduce education to little more than test prep.” I remember in one of the books we discussed this semester (sorry I can’t remember which one), we talked about how sometimes you have to change your teaching methods to meet the needs of certain students. With all the testing in schools right now, the districts want the scores on the tests to reflect well on their schools. As the article states, sometimes the curriculum is lessened just to teach what is going to be on the standardized tests. The students are not being fully prepared to what they may need to know to succeed at higher levels of schooling. Another interesting point in the article is that there are other factors that play into why children really are left behind such as the basic needs of living arrangements and health of the children. I know that we discussed with Dewey about knowing the children’s backgrounds to help us better teach what is best for them. I know that the idea of NCLB was to benefit the maximum amount, but sometimes it hurts those that are already succeeding. It may be good for the schools in the short run, but has it really done a lot of good for the students in the long run?

Eye-opening Facts Regarding High School Dropouts

I watched a video that discusses in depth the plight surrounding the high rate of high school dropouts. It is titled "Silent Epidemic: Perspectives of High School Dropouts".; the discussion took place two years ago at the University of Virginia. I found it on the Research Channel website. After watching it, I found that it revealed some eye-opening statistics regarding details surrounding why the dropout rate is so high. Previously, I had thought that the reason the dropout rate was so high was because there were so many students that had lost hope, become discouraged or bored with school, had no ambition and so on. To some extent, this is true. But what is revealed really surprised me regarding the overall characteristics of the 3.5 million dropout students between the ages of 16 and 25 that were involved in this study. One thing that stood out to me was that 88 percent of the dropouts that were part of the survey had passing grades and many had straight As. They attributed the decision to drop out to serious "disconnects" between school and their dreams and ambitions. They saw no connection between them and what they care about along with real-world experiences and what they were learning. "Real life events" such as having to work and be the provider in the family figure into the dropout equation also. Teenage pregnancy is another; they are not able to stay in school due to not having the help they need to care for the child.

It comes as a shock that a great number of students dropped out because they felt like they were not being challenged enough and wanted more expected of them. This is according to 66 percent of those surveyed. This is a sure sign that we have to challenge our students; they hate being bored and want to be made to think. It is not an issue of a lack of confidence either; 70 percent had confidence that they could graduate. Along with these understandable reasons for dropping out, 81 percent wish they had not dropped out. That surprises me since there seems to be a lot of apathy toward public schools, but it does not surprise me because there are virtually no opportunities for young people these days who have no high school diploma.

Among other factors that contribute to the dropout epidemic include not being involved with extracirricular activities at school; not having an adult relationship or role model to look up to; and parents not being engaged with their children's school progress (and the kids want them to be). Of course, many also skipped school a lot and did not do their work, so of course they are not going to succeed. The interesting thing is that the school does not even contact the student or the parents when the student is truant! Isn't that amazing?

The question "What can we do about it?" was addressed and there were ten ways of working to eliminate this problem that were proposed. I will not discuss all ten but one was different schools for different students that cater to students' specific interests. This could put students on a vocational track with students who share their interests. Changing the legal age to drop out from 16 to 18 would be another. It is important to know that when this law was passed it was done in an agrarian economy. Society has advanced so much technologically that the jobs available for dropouts at that time are gone now. If the age limit is raised to 18 we would see a 25 percent reduction in the dropout rate.

There are a number of ways we can help to correct this overwhelming epidemic if some laws can get passed and we as teachers can do a better job of giving the students what they need. Not only that, but I think parents need to do a better job of contributing to their child's success in their school experiences. Of course circumstances seem to dictate every situation these days but if we can stop making excuses we can improve these conditions.

Diversity in the Classroom

One of the most important and perhaps controversial topics in teaching in a democracy is this issue of diversity. I say this because in becoming a teacher, we will all have to deal with and accept students from all different backgrounds, religions, etc. I say it is controversial because as Strike and Soltis mention in chapter 5, topics such as evolutionism that are taught in science class can contradict the faith and beliefs of what students see as the truth. I think one aspect of society that makes this controversial is that we live in a "politically correct" society in which we are made to feel afraid to express our beliefs, for fear that we may offend people. I think the onset and prevalence of prejudice and racism have turned us into this sort of society. I personally believe that we should tolerate everyone regardless of their beliefs on creationism, evolution, religion, etc. Like I said, we will all have to deal with students from all walks of life. The only way to reach them is to set aside any former prejudices and be open minded to all of them. This is mentioned in chapter 5 on pg. 82 that "we must tolerate other people's religions even if we are sure they are false and ours true. We must respect other people's culture even if we are convinced that ours is superior." What really turned on a lightbulb in my head was where Strike and Soltis say on pg. 82, "what we are respecting is the student's right to choose, not the adequacy of the choice." In other words, we have to respect that students have the right to believe and think what they want. However, we are under no obligation to agree with it or change our beliefs because our students may not see eye-to-eye with us.. I like where it says in chapter 5, also on p.82 that "tolerance does not trump truth." That statement makes a great deal of sense. To back that up, Strike and Soltis pose the question on p.79 that "must schools lie or hide the truth in order to affirm the equal worth of their students?" I think this can be a double-edged sword. On one hand, you do not want to purposely reject what someone believes and counter with your own sense of the truth. On the other hand, if you are a science teacher who believes in evolution, you may very well offend some students who believe in creationism. However, it goes back to respecting students right to choose what they believe. That is the only way you are going to reach them.

Presentations

I thoroughly enjoyed all the presentations on Tuesday night. There were a few that were in the past and still are today very controversial issues. With Diana, Jose, and Kristan’s presentation, I do believe that how we present ourselves in the classroom with regards to appearance has an impact on how we will be treated as a teacher. I agree with their presentation in that while our views may become more liberal with respect to tattoos and piercings, we do have to respect the fact that many of the individuals we will be working with and interviewing with still have very conservative views on those issues. I believe that if you plan on wearing your nose ring, ten earrings, visible tattoos, etc. to the classroom, then you should wear it to the interview as well. We should present ourselves in a way that is respectful and true to how we will be in the classroom.

Jimmy and Kyle’s presentation regarding evolution vs. religion in the classroom was interesting to me. I could also relate a lot of what they were saying to the case we read on page 70 about teaching what is right and wrong. In the case discussed in the book, I agree that the teacher should be allowed to hold a voluntary discussion so that each group would be able to defend their beliefs. Coming from a very Christian community, we never really had these issues to such an extent in my Biology classes. All in all, I think there was something in each of the presentations to take into my future classroom. I found the fair use issue in Merrisa and Angie’s presentation very beneficial as to what is legal for us to use in the classroom. Also the cases that Lane and Rebecca discussed were interesting as to how we should present ourselves outside the classroom. You never know how what you did five years ago can come back into play with job prospects.

Addressing Issues on Diversity

The New Harbor and Iroquois Confederation case in Chapter 5 addresses the issue of dealing with diversity. The case raises the following four points:
1. The issue of alienation and self-identity.
With regard to this first issue, we are a multi-cultural nation that is growing in diversity. It is unfortunate and disappointing that some feel as though their culture/religion is being ignored or disparaged; however, I do not feel as though the school should base their curriculum on this issue. To do so would mean that they would have to redesign the curriculum for every other religious and cultural group. Instead, the school could encourage the students to form a student organization to express their pride in their culture and to educate other students about their culture and customs.
2. The issue of truth and who controls it.
Isn’t most of history biased to some extent? How can anyone control the truth when the truth isn’t known? I share Mill’s view that truth is best sought through free and open debate.
3. The issue of dialogue.
If we avoid hard questions, how can we teach students to debate issues intelligently and fairly?
4. The question of the one and the many. Should schools work to create a shared American culture? Or should they try to respect each culture equally?
These questions confuse me. Doesn’t culture naturally infiltrate society, including our schools? Why would our schools feel responsible for creating and controlling the culture? If it’s an issue of curriculum and what religions/cultures to include in the curriculum, wouldn’t that be determined by the relative significance of the particular culture’s contribution in regard to the course title? If the Iroquois culture made a significant contribution to U.S. history, it should be included in the curriculum, but this decision should be made at the state level, not the district level.

Copyright Rocks My Socks Off!!

I thought class last night was pretty interesting. The presentations were all very well done and I enjoyed hearing about the different cases that were mentioned, some of them quite controversial. The one thing that really stuck out to me was the idea that Jose, Kristan, and Diana’s group brought up on Teacher’s Dress. It was mentioned about the impressionability of our youth and how what we appear like has an effect on them. I am going to have to agree. We need to present ourselves in a professional manner and this includes not only how we dress in the classroom but also how we carry ourselves in the classroom. If we present ourselves as being on the same level as our students we will never get their respect as their teacher and once we lose it we will have a hard time getting it back. In Dr. Vawter’s class we read Wong’s book “The First Day of School” and it talked about teachers’ appearance and what is appropriate to gain the respect of your students. It is important to show that you are the authority and your students will respond to that. You can achieve this simply by wearing a suitable outfit. I believe Dr. Pope said it one day in class that he would like to wear his pajama bottoms to his undergraduate class and see how differently they would respond to him because of his dress because that is what they wear to class. I think that dressing professionally is a part of the job and if people do not feel like they have to dress professionally as a teacher maybe they should look for somewhere else to find a job..oh wait most jobs have a dress code!! PS Sorry Allison that I didn't see your hand raised and talked in front of you-my bad!

Chapter 4 Issues

I really wish we would have discussed these chapters in class this evening, though the presentations were great. I enjoy this book the most out of all that we have read this semester and with the length of this evening's presentations realize that we probably won't get to discuss the end of the book next week. What I am trying to grasp, besides many things, is how in 2008, we still want to classify people in races and categories. We have three choices for the next president (which I realize will be two very soon): a black man, a white woman, and a white man. These are facts. But color doesn't make a person everything that they are. Trying to search for ethics here.... The thing that bothered me about the readings is this one quote from the Tim and Paul situation:
"The case was constructed to ensure that there were no relevant grounds for treating them differently (except possibly for race)." except possibly for race. I realize we live in the South and some people (of ALL races) still have a we-lost-the-Civil-War complex, but give me a break. I think that instilling two middle level reading groups would probably be the greatest solution. The groups may turn into "pairs", but if it for the betterment of the class...well isn't that our purpose as teachers, to provide the best possible education for students? I realize that NCLB makes rules and exceptions, but what excuses did teachers and administrators hide behind before NCLB?
In any class relationship, I feel I am torn between the Consequentialist and non-Consequentialist point of view. I feel like the promotion of the greatest good is in effect for the greatest number. I believe people's pasts build character and form them into the individuals they are. In the same respect, at what extent do we instill that the past is the past and people need to either get a psychologist and move on or take what they have learned and grow for the better? Racial discrimination is a blatant part of American history, but at what point can instead of discriminating, we incorporate? Of course every class will have there demographics, but I feel like at some point I would hope, with the candidates we have running for office, teachers, parents, and students would stop looking at things as a black-white-red-brown-yellow issue. I am sure I sound like a ridiculous optimist here. In every class I have taught, whether assisting ESL or regular class, I have been able to look at the students as students and as individuals where their upbringing only adds extra flavor and is not a detriment.

What is really fair?

Although we didn’t get to discuss the book tonight in class, I wanted to touch on the subject of equal treatment of students. In the case of Mrs. Andrews, Tim and Paul, I think that this dilemma happens quite often in classrooms. It is definitely not fair for her to demote Tim into a lower reading level just to deal with a discipline problem in the classroom, nor is it fair for her to do what seems politically correct by putting Paul in the correct reading group just because he is a minority. Mrs. Andrews should find a happy medium for all the students in her classroom. Although the two can sometimes go hand in hand, ultimately discipline and academics are two different subjects and should be treated that way. Students should not be deprived of an education just to keep them from misbehaving. The two boys were on equal reading levels, so they should both be given the opportunity to maximize their potential. I think Mrs. Andrews made a mistake by placing Paul in the higher reading group to keep racial peace as she put it. Obviously, she said that putting the boys in wrong groups was unfair, so why would she do so just to keep peace in the classroom or save face so to speak? Why couldn’t there be two middle level reading groups? Or maybe even try new things for the entire class like rotating the children, possibly pairing strong readers with the lower level readers to help them improve? Why be unfair to one child and give another child the benefit? Discipline is one of the biggest things that worries me, especially picturing that I am going to be a young teacher stepping into a high school classroom-it terrifies me actually-but what extreme does one go to in order to keep problems out of the classroom? I personally think that there are other alternatives that would be a better solution to a problem like Mrs. Andrews', but are teachers taking the easy way out? Are they going the quick fix route no matter whom or what they have to sacrifice?

Portrait of a Teacher

http://www.montclair.edu/cehs/academic/cop/agendaedu.shtml#portrait

After our discussion tonight about teacher professionalism, I perused the South Carolina Department of Education's website (http://ed.sc.gov/). Through a series of links , I found this one, which is Montclair State University's Portrait of a Teacher. The Center for Pedagogy at Montclair has designed this "constitution" for teachers. It is the result of the work of faculty members, and members of the public school system that embodies their idea of the qualities a teacher should possess, and the institution uses it as a reference when choosing candidates for the Teacher Education Program. Many of the ideals are very similar to those Dewey seemed to promote. The portrait calls for teachers to possess a genuine interest and understanding of one's students and community. It encourages them to create a feeling of community and democracy both inside and outside of the classroom. The phrase, "Lead by example," comes to mind. Dewey would view fondly the creating experiences that enhance critical thinking and problem solving skills portion. I found it interesting that they would include promoting student disposition as part of this. Might this be an elusion to building good citizens? The closest statement that I could find that might be construed as referring to any physical appearance or "negative conduct" is, "...evaluate the effects of their choices and actions on others...," but all seem to underline professionalism. This is conceptual and open to interpretation. However, is the way we present ourselves not a statement of who we are? I believe that if nothing else, it is an invitation for people to make their own judgments, no matter what they may be. Why have any kind of face to face interviews? Why not just look at some one's resume, and make a decision based on their words alone? Maybe interviews could just be held by instant message, text message or e-mail? I think people want to know more about their candidates than how they sound on paper, because they will be representatives of their institutions or businesses, etc. It may not be fair or moral or ethical, but that does not mean it is not true. People have certain expectations for people in certain positions. All too often they are based on malformed stereotypes. Have you ever heard the phrase, "Those who can do, those who can't teach." Fighting words in our business to say the least!

Thoughts on last class

Here are some of my thoughts about the ethical questions that were brought up in class last week.

Plagarism is wrong and should be punished yes, but some students do not understand how they can quote, paraphrase, or cite works; they should have to learn, because I am disappointed by the fact that some schools are not providing adequate instruction on this.

In our own judicial system there are different levels/grades of punishment, and there is inequality in that system also based on whether or not a person can afford to buy their way out of the issue with a high priced lawyer or are given an underpaid and overworked public defender.  This is a serious issue because it teaches our children that fame and fortune can fix all problems.  This becomes a problem because they do not learn morals, they simply learn to desire wealth.  I do believe in punishments and rewards, our current system does little to promote this system but hopefully we as teachers can do something to reintroduce this system into our classrooms.

The situations posed in the book also brought to mind a personal story that I would like to pose to everyone, there were two children that I babysat for in my teens, they were so unruly and aggressive that I decided not to babysit anymore after sitting for them (they also made me not want kids of my own for over a decade).  Their mother became principal of a local middle school and I heard that she was exerting pressure on her children's teachers to pass them on to the next grade, this seems seriously unethical behavior, would you not agree?

Consequentialist Versus Nonconsequentialist

Emilie Barnes wrote, "Yesterday is gone and tomorrow hasn't come. All we have is today." Then she wrote that she is always looking forward to tomorrow and that she was still learning to live for today. Since she has survived serious cancer treatments, her words are especially meaningful.
After class last week, I received a check in the mail for a construction job that I already had been paid. I did think of consequences. "The money would look good in my bank account." I did think of principles and fairness. "It wasn't fair to pay double." Principles are important.

To teach or not to teach multiculturalism? That is the question.

As an often mistaken Native American (it's a joke guys:)) I feel the need to blog about the case of the Iroquois Confederation (chapter 5). I begin with the superintendent who seems to have good intentions but comes off incredibly ignorant especially when he uses phrases like "he seems to be some sort of chief" he also refers to Native Americans as Indians (I'm not sure if that is offensive; fyi it is offensive for East Indians (like me) to be called Native American), he also says that the chief didn't seem belligerent (why would he?) but for me the real kicker was when he said "we'd do something multicultural that discussed Iroquois culture..." as if this task was something to scratch off on his to do list.

When Marie researches about the Iroquois she finds conflicting information and has to choose whether or not to teach that material so that it shows a positive contribution from the Iroquois people. What should she do? For me the answer came on page 82 when it states the following: "Schools need not falsify or invent history in order to present a favorable view of every culture. Nor do they need to treat every aspect of every culture with approval." If they want to teach about the Iroquois people it has to be an honest reflection of it even though it kinda defeats the purpose of the chief wanting the subject taught. On page 78 it says "Trying to respect diversity raises questions of truth, and who is to control what is to count as true." I don't think Marie should be the person that controls the "truth".

The superintendent's ignorance is one thing but what I didn't understand was why they believe teaching their culture will impact how well the Iroquois students will do. And what about the other minorities in this high school whose culture or traditions aren't being highlighted as well? Should they also ask for changes in the curriculum? I don't know the answer to that but I totally disagree with the answer that the school board member had. She said that multiculturalism alienates minorities and that people should stop distinguishing their differences through their culture instead they should start thinking of themselves as Americans. I had issues with her view for two reasons and not because she doesn't want multiculturalism taught (its virtually impossible to teach all the cultures) but because her reasoning is that we should see ourselves as American when this is a country of immigrants therefore it encompasses a collaboration of cultures (right?). The second reason is that every time I go home (which is often) my mother reminds me that I'm Indian (as if I have forgotten) and I need to learn to combine the cultures and not become so westernized (even though there is nothing wrong with it;)).

Ethics and Fairness at School and Home

Since our last class meeting I am having the hardest time coming to terms with the lack of importance of fairness in our discussion and the consensus decisions that were made.

Having given the matter significant consideration, I decided to view the matter of Henry's plagiarism wearing my Mother hat. At home, fairness is always an issue for my children, as neither wants to perceive that the other has had an advantage or some nicety that the first did not get. This extends to chores, practice times, dish washing, taking care of our dog, and the fun stuff like candy or popcorn, and just having time together. There are 3-1/2 years between my children, so what is appropriate for the older is not always acceptable for the younger. Many times in any given month, I give the same speech, fair does not mean identical, but perhaps comparable.

This did _not_ help support my strong 'enforce the rules' attitude expressed in class, and I was distressed to discover that not only in giving rewards to my children do I act to maximize good, but also when having to decide consequences for any given breach of our family rules, I was doing the same. Arrrgh!

I can't balance the scales in my head to allow one behavior in school and another at home. I will have to consider Henry's case further. I know that as a teacher I will want all of my students to learn and succeed, I just don't know if I could arbitrarily enforce the established rules of my future school. There are differences - I love my children, and my future students, not so much; at home the rules are not written for all to see, but just understood after years of reviewing them with children, while the school rules are written publicly along with the consequences.

There is much to consider yet.