Sunday, September 30, 2007

I am a professional. Treat me that way.

Have you ever lost your appetite because something bugs you SO much?

I have now received my 2nd request to have a kid transitioned out of my class. The first one was for the curriculum being too difficult and the parent thinking their daughter needed to be retained (that one is now contained... but a new fire is on the rise)... the second one is that a parent now wants their child moved to another 4th grade classroom because I have already labeled them as a "bad kid."

First, the kid doesn't bring his work to school, doesn't do any homework, and was caught kicking another student ( I saw with my own eyes) and I simply gave him a detention. No big deal. Mistake... but I just talked to the kids involved, issued detentions and the clean slate is in effect.

I just got a nasty email from the dad... wants to get the principal involved... fine, whatever. The truth is, the principal is very supportive and I have not done anything wrong. I'm just so frustrated. Since when were teachers NOT professionals? Why don't people treat us like professionals? They woud never treat a doctor this way... why us?

...so angry.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Back to School Night

Alright, so B2S night was on Thursday. For those of you who are unaware of this lovely occasion, it is when an entire classroom is filled with my worst enemies, parents.

I am kidding... but at the same time, there were very few smiles within the crowd. Parents came in, sat down, listened to my shpeal (how on earth do you spell THAT word!), and then threw tomatoes at me. Okay, they weren't tomatoes, but complaints, yes.

I am not sure what they expect, but I am a teacher. I teach kids knowledge... and help them find their processes of learning. Instantly, upon my completion, a parent shoots her hand up and asks, "why does my daughter have 4 hours of homework every night?" ...then the crowd pulls in...

Simply put, I am not the homework police. I give ample amount of time in class to complete work. I will not falter in my responses to these parents. How do you say, Your kid is just too darn slow! That was the same sound I heard from about 5 parents. Again... slow kids.

On the other end of the spectrum, I have some REALLY bright kids. I have the smartest 4th grade class at my school! I absolutely love their inquisitive minds. But... here in lies the problem. If I teach to the higher-level students (a must), then the lower students/slower students fall behind and then the calls and emails pour in. If I teach at a lower level, the bar is set too low for the kids and no one develops. In addition, my GATE kids would probably walk out.

I've been fighting fires and writing emails ever since Thursday night. I might need to go back to fifth grade where parent involvement sucks but at least they let me teach without questioning me. I will not teach with low expectations. I will not.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Sick as a DOG. And P.E. hell at my Elementary School...

So, I've officially contracted the flu from my lovely (snotty) fourth graders.

I hate hate hate being sick. What sucks even more is that it's Monday! I can't afford to take sicks days because I only get 10 a year and I'm going to be using at least 7 of them just on OMET alone. I think 8 though.

So, frustration today at school. In the beginning of the 638a (ARP) class, I talked about my struggles with my school's P.E. system. We have this P.E. curriculum that's actually pretty good if anyone would just dust the damn book off and look at it. My frustration is pretty instense with this.

Today, we had P.E. with our kids and I was on duty. I had last week off, so the other two teachers just stood out there, watching the kids bored out of their minds, playing games that involved little exercise, losing interest in being active. Now, I know it's only 4th grade and most kids are still relatively active, but I'm telling you... the energy drop off begins in just a year from now... and I'm a huge advocate for physical activity.

Anyway, so our field is soaking wet. Why, you ask? Oh, because there is a sewage pipe that runs underground where our field is and it is leaking. SICK. BLAHHHH. (Don't worry, we didn't have the kids in the mess. That's terribly wrong) Oh... and I'm not positive that the pipe story is true. I heard it from the other 4th grade teacher on duty with me, and she is not traditionally an honest person.

Anyway, it's pretty flooded right now. We avoided the flooded areas and walked around to where the field was not flooded to play on dry land. I decided to teach the kids a new game of kickball today, where every single person has to participate. It's played like this: The kicker kicks, and the rest of the entire team must run the bases with them, and come back to home plate to score a point. The outfielders can either catch the ball to get an out, or they have to grab the ball, wherever it lands and everyone on their team must stand behind them and go Over, Under, Over, Under... with the ball until the last person from the team touches it. Whoever does this first, (either runs the bases or finishes the ball pattern pass) scores a point or an out.

Things like this are simple to teach... but these teachers won't even bother looking at the book. They don't even have the kids set cones or bases out. The kids don't mind helping... but they are so lazy that nothing happens.

I told the teacher, Carrie, on duty with me that I am going to start teaching the kids games every time I am on duty. She said, "Good. We wanted you in 4th grade this year for that. Nanette and I don't like P.E. so we don't do it (the P.E. curriculum we adopted)."

It's reasons like this that I try that much harder. Plus, the kids deserve my energy. I am getting paid for it, after all. My kids express so much more interest, more used energy, and more excitement than a traditional game of kickball where only half the team ever ends up participating and the other half sits on the bench until the whistle is blown.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Hard Work = More Responsibilities

To add to the chaos... I am still in BTSA (2nd year teaching), getting married in July 08, going through this crazy OMET program, oh, and teaching a new grade level this year...

My principal brought a couple more things to my attention:

I am now grade level rep and have only been teaching 4th grade for 3 weeks...
I am on the math planning/integration committee from 4th grade to be trained at the district...
I am on the Distinguished School Committee...

I am terribly excited about all of my roles, although in my voice, all that can be heard is tiredness. This might be the best year of my life to date... yet SO, SO busy.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Learning OH SO MUCH!

I just finished reading Todd's last blog posting about exercise of the brain as it related to the OMET program.

What a (tiresome) and great time I am having... but not necessarily out of my busy schedule, but out of the amount I am learning within a day's time. I've been expressing to my co-workers that this program has not necessarily been what is teaching me, but a catalyst to learn from others. I would have never read those books in their entirety...and some I still haven't... but many I have... if I would not have the fantastic minds to compare with as I finish.

Great experience. To echo Todd, great mental workout.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Students teaching Students

In having dinner tonight with a friend of my fiance, we began talking about her education. She is a senior level student in her undergraduate program at UCSB. While definitely a hippie with the utmost respect in using the term, she's a world traveler and has been many places in her 20 years on this earth.

This was my first time meeting her and I have been anxious because I love her mom who I recently visited in Colorado (see earlier blogs). She has a passion for making change in the world but shuns the idea of teaching because she does not want to conform to the Western World's view of education. She doesn't want to become a professor and simply have knowledge that proves to be less useful than going into the world and changing it. She has aspirations to work with those who are less fortunate in countries she has already traveled to and intends to go back and help... she simply has dreams that many people keep in the closet.

Since we've been learning about progressive education movements throughout OMET thus far, it was interesting that she brought up an upcoming opportunity at UCSB. Apparently, there is this program that allows students to teach classes about essentially anything they want. Now, they have to be sponsored by (I think) another professor in the school or at least within her department of study and it has to be legitimate. When I asked what class she planned to teach (they get credits for teaching too), she said very quickly "How to Change the World" as if she'd been planning this her entire life.

I asked about her curriculum and she told me that she was hoping to have speakers come in from different organizations and different scholars come in to express needs within our world for the first portion of the class, and for the second half, to create a "project" collectively as a class to change the world... could be an excursion, something. She also expressed this idea of having her students interview their professors (who are researchers) about their research and ask them how they could use the information they teach in their class to better the world or make a difference in some way. In this "homework" assignment, students would learn from their professors and open their eyes to new ways to rejuvinate their own brains to hopefully making a difference. I found this to be awesome. I took multiple classes in my undergraduate years that added no value to my brain or to the world. I would've rather spent time at least seeing the world through other's eyes and opening my eyes to the world of need around me. Although such a typical hippie thing to want... I still loved the idea.

Finally, she talked about a professor she had who spent half of the year in India and the other half teaching at UCSB and said that the reason he continues to come back and teach (besides the $) is because he feels that if he can even steer 1 or 2 students to proactivity, he feels it is worth the while. She brought up a good point and talked to her professor about raising his bar. What about wanting 50 students to become proactive?

Even more profound from a 20-year old... she mentions that since she used that "homework" assignment with herself to talk to her own professors about ways she can use the information they teach to better the world, she was able to speak openly with her obviously intelligent professor who may have been living in research (but no application) land and needed to have the fresh mind of a young adult to free him from his stagnance.

Finally, thanks Todd. I posted the music onto my website and it can be found here: http://students.pepperdine.edu/blfoster/OMEThome/fall07/index.html

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Learning Adventure #1 - Musical Ensemble

I just finished my musical ensemble using a program called Finale Notepad. I was really impressed with the options that were free to use!

I have never been musically inclined or played a single note on a musical instrument (unlike most everyone I've see from our cadre) but I was determined to use my ears to create something pleasing. Although my piece is simple, it was not meant to be something dramatic, but for me to learn how to use something new to enrich my learning.

In listening to my fellow cadre mate pieces (Jackie's was just amazing), I grew a little jealous of their abilities. I needed to stop thinking this way and enjoy the process. Jessica helped me to just "picture some experience" and then it would come naturally.

Again, although simple, it certainly represents serenity to me...

In one of Stager's forum discussions, I read that Todd said he did not learn anything more about music, but about the process of working through something. I echo this statement.

If anyone is reading this that knows how I might post my music (it seems like blogger is only allowing me to post pictures or videos, not link documents...), please let me know. Thanks! :)

Monday, September 3, 2007

Radio: An Illustrated Guide


I just finished reading Radio: An Illustrated Guide. It was the highly recommended book from Stager's book list. Anyhow, when I saw how short it was, I was up for buying it...

Indeed, it only took about 30 minutes to read through. Being a former journalism student/guru, I loved it. Not only do I find radio to be the most fun medium, but I understood a lot of the lingo they spoke of in the booklet. I even took it upon myself to email an old radio journalism professor from my undergrad to express the greatness of the book and to pass it on to future students.

Read it! It's funny. Now I'm anxious to listen to the show. Even more exciting... my future (as of right now) is looking at the high possibility of moving to the Chicago area in the next few years. That's where the show takes place. Maybe I will be an intern for fun!

P.S. I was an intern at KKJZ fm, 88.1 (it's jazz, I did the news) until their budget was cut and pushed the program director and all of his interns out the door. I loved working in radio and cutting sound. I also interned at a big shot station, Star 98.7 while in college too. However, I did very little hands-on there. I attribute most of my learning to the KKJZ experience. I only have one of my stories taped (my first and unfortunately, not my best) but it's on cassette. In addition to the many humiliating VHS tapes from broadcasting camps and the like.

The Hundred Languages of Children - The Constructivist Approach

In reading the article, here, I have come to connect the schools of Reggio Emilia in Italy to be among a group of constructivist schools. The constructivism theory, like Reggio Emilia's school follows, does not require all students to learn the same thing, but the teacher act more as partners of learning rather than an authoritative figure.

The students in Reggio Emilia are given the tools to use as they process and create their own learning --without deadlines, outcomes, objectives or major roadblock boundaries.

(really... I am doing reading right now, but I will have fun today. I also start back to work tomorrow and I'm trying to get a little heads up on reading---although I feel like I still have PLENTY to read)

My job - The Objectivist Approach

What better to do on my labor day then to read about objectivist and constuctivist theories of learning? :)

In response to some of the reading... my job certainly exemplifies an objectivist approach. Objectivism seeing learning as being done one way and having outcomes to prove that learning has occurred. This journal article would be difficult to read if I didn't have the connection abilities in my own life --sure glad I can relate it to something!

In the teacher world, we are taught to create lesson plans in our teacher ed. programs and once we begin teaching, they all go out the window. Anyhow, on those lesson plans, there are places to put "outcomes" and there are places to write the activities the students will do to achieve these outcomes. Some lesson plans even have a space for whether or not those outcomes have been achieved.

I believe my mind to be more along the constructivist approach in that I believe there can be more than one interpretation, meaning, way of learning, etc. I don't believe that you must learn "a" by doing one specific action or reading one specific book. I also believe that objectivism limits the learner in communicating with others to find meaning. Who is to say the professor/teacher knows everything? No one person is an expert.

I do think that constructivism is a little too liberal for me however... I might be about 75 constructivist on the continuum.

Sunday, September 2, 2007

Accepted - Reflection on the movie

I too, rented Accepted and wanted to place my reflections:

The movie was very much like the readings we have been doing about learning theories and how students learn regardless (or possibly, arguably, better) of what we force them to learn and in certain orders.

The premise of the movie (see Jessica's post for more details) explains much of the stigma of getting into colleges that we as a culture have deemed to be acceptable. Unfortunately, this alienates the smaller crowd who feels like they belong no where. South Harmon attempted to change this and opened a school where students can learn naturally, as so many philosophers have been harping for decades --if not centuries thanks to Dewey.

I found the movie to be entertaining but also enlightening (as much as seeing/hearing the word "shithead" can allow). Thanks to Bill for suggesting it! Now, question: Is it possible to quote the movie for reflection during other projects and our ARP? Haha. :)