Final Reaction to Fires

As I was going back over my blog entries I was amazed at the amount of information that the book covered. There were only ten chapters and yet I feel that here was a crazy amount of information covered. The information that I reviewed in my previous blog entries was a great review. I had completely forgotten about some of the information, and I'm so glad that I had to go back and review because it was all important stuff.

I feel like this book is a really amazing learning tool for all potential teachers, or daycare providers, or just anyone who works with kids for a living. The information in this book would also be helpful for a first year teacher, or a teacher who has been teaching for twenty years. The information is timeless, and even when I disagreed with something it made me think about why, so either way it was helpful.

Glogster

Maine Memory Network

After reading all the information about the Maine Memory Network, the lesson plans that are already made, and how students are using it as a tool I came up with a lesson incorporating it. I would have my students, during a Maine unit perhaps, look up all the information they could find about the town they are from, or a town that their parents are from. After they had successfully gathered all the information from this website I would have them write a story about their town. I would have it be a personal narrative where they talk about their favorite part of the town, and I would require it to have some information on the website. I believe this would be a great way to interest them in their history and the history of the town, while still incorporating their own story into the writing.

How to Help Someone Use a Computer

In the web page that we had to look at there were two lists. The first list was "First you have to tell yourself some things." This list basically said that we need to remember that no one automatically knows how to use technology. In the second list, "Having convinced yourself of these things", all of the suggestions can basically be summed up in one sentence. Don't do it all for them, don't do anything for them, explain it all. One this in the first list that really stuck out to me was "Nobody is born knowing this stuff." This rings with me because I have some issues with technology, and unless it gets explained to me I wont completely understand it. In the other list the phrase "Don't say "it's in the manual". (You knew that.)" stood out. I always hated when people told me to look it up because sometimes you need a verbal instruction. It's all about the way people learn.

I used what I learned from this article in my technology project in many ways. One of the main ways was fully explaining how you can use the Smartboard as well as what you can do for tutorials on how to use it. The other way was the complete verbal and spatial directions that were given throughout the presentation for the people who do not fully understand things through reading.

Copyright and Fair Use

1) In question one, where the scenario is that the student snaps the cd in half, the question was if you could make a back-up disk legally. Before I even looked at the answers I felt the frustration start. The teacher is in fact allowed to make a extra copy, but I would not have been surprised had they not been able to, and that is where my frustration was.

2) In question 5 a geography teacher burns a few copies of a program because he doesn't have enough programs for all the students, and doesn't have anymore money to buy more. This is illegal, however I can completely understand why he would do such a thing, and I think if I were in his position I would have done the same thing too.

3) This is about question6, the one where the science teacher downloads materials for her students to use on their science project. I was shocked when the answer said it was fine as long as she didn't up the projects back up on the web without permission from the original sites. The rules for technology seem so random, no rhyme or reason.

4) Question 7 really made me feel uncomfortable. This question said that it was alright for a teacher to post students pictures on a secure private website. The feeling I have about this is that, yes you may think its a private site, but nothing on the internet net is really private.

5) Question 14 really makes me mad. It is about letting the younger children watch a Disney movie together. The answer tells me that this is illegal because you don't buy the movies for commercial use. I think this is crap- who buys a movie to watch by themselves, or with limited company!!

6) In question 18 the debate was about whether a student could use a song from a cd the teacher had for a project. The answer was yes, however, the answer given goes on to say that they need to check how long it can play and all of these other restrictions. I believe that if it is a cd that the teacher owns they can allow the student to play one FULL song in class for a project.

Chapter 10: Going Beyond the Classroom

Chapter ten was all about the ways teachers can help kids continue to learn outside of the normal, 7:30 to 2:00, school day. Sometimes it’s these extra things that help kids stay interested in school. The part of this last chapter that really got me was the part that talked about arranging for internships for students.

This popped out to me because of where I come from. I am from a small town in southern Maine that is really lacking money, and many of the native kids have never considered going to college. For many of these graduating from high school is an amazing feat in itself. Internships and vocational programs are what kept many of these kids, some of my best friends, in school. They got to do things that were relevant to them since they knew they weren’t going to go to college. They got to go learn their trade, be it lobstering, working on cars, or carpentry. It really didn’t matter, but they liked that it was something that was actually going to be helpful when their time came to make a living, this is so important for those kids.

Chapter 9: When Things Go Wrong

Chapter nine was about when students feel discouraged, alone, or uncared for. This chapter was particularly sad because I know/knew kids who fit these adjectives, but I would have dubbed them as shy or lazy or rebellious. The passage that said “Especially in large and crowded high schools…checking up on attendance becomes an administrative task, not an expression of personal concern” popped out at me.

This popped out at me because it was really true, and I’d never given the “send the attendance to the office” task as anything but that, a task. The problem with this is that there is no personal reaching out to the student absent. Usually when a kid misses a lot of school the teachers are usually thinking about how much w0rk they’re going to miss, and how much of a pain in the butt it’s going to be to get them caught up again. The office, especially in high school, just keeps tabs to see if they will be allowed to move on to the next year because of all the absences. No one actually cares about whether the student is alright or not. This is something that needs to change.

Chapter 8: Teaching Teenagers Who Are Still Learning English

Chapter eight was a chapter that I particularly needed to read. This was because I have spent my whole life in a small town in Maine with extremely little, if any, diversity, never mind people who couldn’t speak English. The part of this chapter that shocked me was when the students suggested that teacher “Share our goal to excel academically, not just get by.”

This shocked me because I had never considered the fact that when someone is still learning English they not only want to pass, they want to excel just like they would have in their last situation. I don’t think that as a teacher I would have thought like that without reading it first. Thinking now I don’t see why I wouldn’t have thought of it because it is true, these kids are not stupid, they just don’t speak the language. If these kids were in a school that spoke their first language they might be in the top of their classes, and just because they were thrown a curve ball, English, there is no reason why they shouldn’t be able to succeed in their new situation too.

Chapter 7: Teaching Difficult Academic Material

Chapter seven covered something that most of us don’t really think about, covering hard material. I feel like when you’re trying to teach students something that is especially hard the kids that struggle with the normal things are going to shut down completely. The thing that popped out at me was the list of ways the students suggested teachers go about teaching harder material.

Two of the five things would not have occurred to me when thinking about teaching hard material. These two things were “Find out what we know already”, and “Make connections among the things we’re already learning.” I think it would be extremely helpful if I as a teacher gave a quick quiz, that didn’t count towards their grades, before I began a new section on say grammar. This quiz would show me where all of my students were in this area, where I need to start and what I’m going to have to spend extra time on. The other part, make connections to what they’re learning, would help solidify whatever it is that I’m teaching because of the fact that it is somehow related to other things besides just my class.

Chapter 6: Motivation and Boredom

Chapter six is all about the issues we as teachers are going to have getting our kids to school everyday, and making them interested enough in the material we’re teaching to keep them there. It discusses the facts that schools offer opportunities for academic and social growth, the importance of passionate teachers, and to have them show pride in there work, but one thing jumped out at me. One of the things that motivates kids to do well is when teachers make learning a social thing.

This jumped out at me because of how simple, yet important it was. I feel like this aspect of schools that is often over looked even though it is a huge reason why middle school girls even bother showing up every day. If teachers can somehow make doing well in classes the cool thing, like it was at my high school, many of the “popular kids” would be more willing to be engaged in their learning. If the “popular kids” showing that they want to be engaged in school the rest, or at least most, of the other kids in the schools are going to attempt to follow. By making this connection for the students it would not only help them, it would also help the teachers- win win situation.

Chapter 5: Teaching to the Individual, Working with the Group

In the very beginning of this chapter Cushman lists the different types of students that we as teachers see in our classrooms. This is important because the chapter is titled "Teaching to the Individual", and knowing your students and how they learn is key to being able to best teach them.

The fact that all types of students can be summed up in seven different types of personalities is crazy to me. There was the eye-roller, the wall flower, the hand-waver, the dreamer, the con artist, the goof-off, and the work horse. When I was reading the descriptions of these I tried to find an exception to these seven, and I was disappointed to not think of any. Its pretty amazing that a teacher is capable of being able to teach all of these different types of children at the same time and for the same information.

Chapter 4: Creating a Culture of Success

In Chapter 4, "Creating a Culture of Success", there was much discussion about how teachers assist in the success of their students. The different cultures in which the student could succeed are extremely diverse, according to the text. I found one particular thought within the text extremely interesting: "Adolescents have a passion for justice, and it matters a lot to them that their grades are fair, whether they turn out high or low."

This popped out at me because of the sheer fact that it made me stop and think. The phrase "a passion for justice" was not how I would have described a teenager. As i thought more about that idea i believed it to be true. I began to think about how many times I had heard a middle school student say something like "You like him better, thats why he got an A," and the amount of times was remarkable. Fairness in grades, and class participation, and just how often a teacher talks to a student all sway the kids balance of justice.

Chapter 3: Classroom Behavior

In this chapter Cushman writes a section called "Starting out on the Right Foot" and one of the pieces of advise that she gives the reader was "[w]arn offending students two or three times at most, then impose the appropriate consequence." This piece was placed in under the "Follow up promptly and consistently on the agreed-upon expectations" along with "Practice the habits that create a good classroom tone," and "Keep student learning as the top priority."

This jumped out at me, not because it was shocking, but because it was so definite. I had always gotten the impression that how to discipline students was something that has been, and will always be, discussed, volleyed, and argued. Because of the opinion I have had prior to reading this I found this odd that Cushman is so certain that this is the way to do it. Of course I do agree with her on this, but that is not the point. There are many other teachers who do not, and will never, think this is the correct way to discipline your students.

Chapter 2: Respect, Liking, Trust, and Fairness

In chapter two of “Fires in the Bathroom” author Kathleen Cushman brings up the question of how a newly graduated high school teacher differentiates them self from the students that are close in age. She asks us in a rhetorical question how should be go about gaining the respect of our students while still keeping a feeling of comfort in the classroom.

This set of questions popped out at me because I know that I look much younger than I am. This has always made every teaching endeavor I’ve done to this point more challenging because I feel I need to be stricter to gain the respect I feel I deserve. This is one struggle that I will continue to have into my student teaching as well as in my actual teaching career. It gave me hope that I will find a happy medium between being overly strict and going the popular route to gain respect.

Chapter 1: Knowing Students Better

In chapter one of “Fires in the Bathroom” author Kathleen Cushman warns the reader about how students know more than we might expect. In this particular instance she is explaining that our students know if we as teachers are “condescending” towards them right away. She also warns about the kind of repercussions it might have on the particular student saying they could respond in a number of different ways such as “defiance to embarrassment”.

This section jumped out at me initially in the form of “I told you so.” I have coached for five years with my mother who talks to our cheerleaders, who range from eight to fourteen years old, like they are toddlers. I know the girls find this frustrating as well as I do. Learned through coaching, working at a preschool for years, and just as being the oldest of three siblings that children, of whatever age, know more than you expect. When I read this passage it was just confirming something that I have believed for years.

Web 2.0 Educator

After viewing several blogs I have chosen Vicki Davis's blog. This blog was amazing to me. The way it was organized, with all of the different types of post along the side of the main page. This organizational system worked so well! It really made it easy for me to look at different things. In addition to the way the page was organized was the posts themselves. Each one was interesting, some were inspiring (actually most of them were inspiring), and some were informative, but each post had a specific reason for them being made.

I feel like Vicki does not have just one specialty, but if I had to pick one I'd have to say that she knows how to catch your attention. This to me is what the other blogs lacked. I only had to read the first post on her blog and I wanted to look at more, then I found a video that I feel in love with, and had to continue looking. I was hooked.

I feel like she would use any method that worked to help her students most efficiently. I feel like that is why her blog postings really hit me. She really cares about the people who are reading her blog, and most definitely her students. Kids spend so much time on the computer now that any educator who wants to reach their students needs to keep up, and this is how I feel Vicki feels about education and technology.

Type I and Type II Technology

When teachers use Type I technology they are using technology very 2 dimensionally. This type is controlled by the teacher and there is no student participation required for the lesson to continue or go smoothly.

Example 1- Last semester I had a professor that I had twice a week for 2 hours each session. It was a very interesting topic, however, for the two hours straight she would play a slideshow and verbally explain everything. This works fine for a while, but after half an hour of sitting in a dark room listening to a monotoned voice and watching a screen change pictures slowly your attention begins to go elsewhere.

Example 2- I have had classes since middle school where we were required to read articles off computer screens. I feel reading an article off a computer screen, and not having to do anything with the material, simply bores the student and irritates their eyes.

Example 3- In an anthropology class I have taken the teacher would put in movies, 3 out of every 4 days, and leave. Never asking us anything about them, or expecting us to write anything down.

Type II technology is a way for teachers to use technology to get their student involved in their learning. Its a tool that helps in keeping and maintaining their interests throughout the lesson, while still teaching them what you had planned for them to learn.

Example 1- In high school I took a piano class. There were 14 of us in this class and we each had our own piano's attached to mac computers that held a program, as well as a set of ear phones. This was a great tool because we could all be playing at the same time, in completely different lessons, without interrupting each other while getting the maximum amount of playing time.

Example 2- In 7th grade we had a unit in language arts called the Holocaust Unit. Because I went to school in Maine we had the new mac laptops which we did most of our unit on. The laptops enabled my teacher to introduce the subject in such a way that she gave us links that we could explore as she talked giving us something to keep our attention while she was teaching what she needed to.

Example 3-As a senior I apprenticeship in a Middle school English class. Again they had the mac's but they were newer than mine and I learned of a new teaching technique. The teacher I was working with had had her students make a pod cast of themselves speaking in their best Mainah' accent and then present it to the class. This is a fun project of the kids who, like myself, are not crafty, but enjoy doing things other than papers.

My MEL Experience

• Student Teacher Relationships: All throughout school my teachers have been my support system, and sometimes my very good friends. With my teachers I feel like I can relax and feel comfortable and come to them with problems in my schooling and in life. Because of this connection I feel more comfortable in my learning environment.
• Helping Students Succeed: The worst school year of my life was my sophomore year in high school. I started the year off with all honor classes, and learned really quickly that I was no longer at the top of the food chain and all my confidence disappeared. My honors English teacher noticed too. One day she realized that because I thought I was less than my peers I had stopped trying. That day she made me sit in the hall and hand write a paper draft while the other students got it assigned for homework. After class I had to go over it with her- she got my confidence back that day.
• Hands-On: In the very first science classes that I took in middle school that involved labs I felt like a fish out of water. I felt like I never completely understood what was going on, and was really lost the whole time. I never liked labs since.
• Avoid Rewards: My freshman math teacher never gave rewards. For me he didn't need to. I have always been more driven by the idea of making someone proud than of a material object that I could acquire. Well one day before math class I went in to class early for a quick review before a big test. After reviewing everything he looked at me and said "Shila I want perfection," I told him I would try, and he told me flat out that he didn't want me to try just to do it. I got 100's on every test and quiz in his class from then on, and looking back I think it was because I knew he believed in me.
• Connection: In 7th Grade there is a time of year that is called China Connections. This time consists of all classes building a curriculum around Chinese culture. All the teachers worked together to build the unit into a huge group project that gets presented to the parents the the end in an after school event.

Learning Style Inventory Results

This graph is showing that I am mostly a Physical learner, followed closely by aural and social. My graph covers a lot of area leading me to believe that I am comfortable learning in many different ways. However the graph shows that logical learning is my weakness.

I'm still working on text but everything else is fine!