The readings for this week focused on the idea of bilingual classrooms, and we were asked for focus on the question: Should students be taught only in English in Schools?
Myth 20:
Immersion programs are better for ELL students than bilingual classrooms
The first good point that this article makes is that there is no research to back the claim that bilingual classroom are harmful to ELL students. On the contrary, bilingual classrooms allow students to still move forward learning material, in their native language, while beginning to understand English in the classroom. Readings that I have done for other classes claim that it takes ELL students need at least a year to grasp and understand academic language. If this is true, then ELL students will struggle to learn anything for a whole year if they are in an English only classroom. Personally, I also think it is just great to know two different languages. I think if you are bilingual, you have another, unique way to look at something. This different way of looking at things will only benefit the students in my opinion.
Myth 21:
Preserving heritage language among ELL students is bad for them.
This doesn't even make sense to me to be quite honest. In my opinion, preserving heritage can never be a bad thing. Isn't that what America is all about? We are the melting pot, that also hangs onto unique parts of everywhere that we come from. Letting ELL students speak their native language helps them learn and feel comfortable in their school environment; it doesn't prevent them from learning language. Plus, how rude is it to ask someone to just forget their heritage or to ignore it? To not acknowledge or practice it? That just seems wrong-it is a unique part of the students and we should not ask them to disregard it.
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Readings for Sept 25th
This weeks readings focus on other factors that may influence student success in school.
Myth 17
This myth focuses on class size, and whether or not having a smaller class size is actually beneficial to students. This is a hot topic right now, as school districts are in the middle of budget crisis and trying to find ways to get by with the money they have. By putting more students in one classroom, there are less teachers to pay and resources that they need to buy, so the schools save money. Research has shown that smaller classrooms are actually better, especially with younger grades. The more students you add to a classroom, the more likely you are to have class disruptions and off task students, plus students don't get that one on one attention that many students need to master topics. I think that having extremely small classroom, like 15 students is a bit excessive, but they should be under 30 at least. Anything over that and I think they need to start making bigger classrooms! You might not be able to physically fit that many students in a room.
Myth 23
This myth questions the benefit of homework. Research has shown that older students benefit from having a reasonable amount of homework, but younger grades do not. It may in fact put students off school. I can understand this. I really don't understand why you would give a first grader hours of homework anyway; do they really have the attention span to do that much homework? I think that homework is necessary, especially in older grades in order to practice and master a topic like calculus, but there needs to be a balance and kids can't be overwhelmed, especially when the students are younger. I like the idea the article had though-group projects that require teamwork and critical thinking are practical and teach skills that will be used in the workforce.
Myth 25
This myth focuses on school uniforms. People like school uniforms because it creates a sense of equality and camaraderie among the students. But people against it say that students can't show their creativity then. I have heard of schools that require uniforms Monday-Thursday, but then the kids can wear whatever they want on Friday. I think this is a practical compromise. But as the article pointed out, there really isn't any good data to support claims either way. So I don't really support uniforms, but I do agree with the dress codes that most schools have. High schoolers do not need to be wearing spaghetti strap tank tops and 'booty shorts.' It can be distracting to other students.
Myth 26
This myth questions whether adding more school days or having longer school days would help increase the success of our students. I know my cousin goes to school for more of the year than I ever did, and she doesn't mind, but I wonder if it really does lead to higher achievement. I don't think the extra hour schools add is really always spent learning. Plus those schools that add only 5 minutes to each class really can't fit too much more learning into 5 minutes. So I think that making students go to school longer may not have as dramatic an impact as people want it to. Plus, the article made a good point that extra curriculars are really affected. So is it really worth it to change the whole school year schedule, when it probably won't even make that much of a difference?
Myth 28
This myth discusses the idea of zero tolerance. With the rising violence in schools over the past few years, I can understand why schools want to institute this to ensure safety to both students and teachers. But after reading the cases in the article, I question how practical they are? Plus, zero tolerance has been in affect for some time, and violence is not going down. The students that get expelled or suspended for small infractions have long term negative effects. They have a negative view of school and may even have more behavior problems later. So while I understand the idea behind zero tolerance and why schools want to institute it, I don't think it is working. I am not really sure how to fix this though...
Myth 29
This myth questions whether kindergarten and preschool are actually worth it? There is questionable evidence on both sides and many question whether the money spent is worth it. Some claim that the students that go through preschool and kindergarten become productive members of society and the pay back is greater than the money put in . There is also evidence of long term benefits of kindergarten and preschool, especially if the students continue to have good teachers. Personally, I think kindergarten and preschool are well worth it, especially for low income students who might not get that kind of mental stimulation at home. This allows them to be up to par with students whose parents have given them access to learning materials throughout their childhood.
Myth 17
This myth focuses on class size, and whether or not having a smaller class size is actually beneficial to students. This is a hot topic right now, as school districts are in the middle of budget crisis and trying to find ways to get by with the money they have. By putting more students in one classroom, there are less teachers to pay and resources that they need to buy, so the schools save money. Research has shown that smaller classrooms are actually better, especially with younger grades. The more students you add to a classroom, the more likely you are to have class disruptions and off task students, plus students don't get that one on one attention that many students need to master topics. I think that having extremely small classroom, like 15 students is a bit excessive, but they should be under 30 at least. Anything over that and I think they need to start making bigger classrooms! You might not be able to physically fit that many students in a room.
Myth 23
This myth questions the benefit of homework. Research has shown that older students benefit from having a reasonable amount of homework, but younger grades do not. It may in fact put students off school. I can understand this. I really don't understand why you would give a first grader hours of homework anyway; do they really have the attention span to do that much homework? I think that homework is necessary, especially in older grades in order to practice and master a topic like calculus, but there needs to be a balance and kids can't be overwhelmed, especially when the students are younger. I like the idea the article had though-group projects that require teamwork and critical thinking are practical and teach skills that will be used in the workforce.
Myth 25
This myth focuses on school uniforms. People like school uniforms because it creates a sense of equality and camaraderie among the students. But people against it say that students can't show their creativity then. I have heard of schools that require uniforms Monday-Thursday, but then the kids can wear whatever they want on Friday. I think this is a practical compromise. But as the article pointed out, there really isn't any good data to support claims either way. So I don't really support uniforms, but I do agree with the dress codes that most schools have. High schoolers do not need to be wearing spaghetti strap tank tops and 'booty shorts.' It can be distracting to other students.
Myth 26
This myth questions whether adding more school days or having longer school days would help increase the success of our students. I know my cousin goes to school for more of the year than I ever did, and she doesn't mind, but I wonder if it really does lead to higher achievement. I don't think the extra hour schools add is really always spent learning. Plus those schools that add only 5 minutes to each class really can't fit too much more learning into 5 minutes. So I think that making students go to school longer may not have as dramatic an impact as people want it to. Plus, the article made a good point that extra curriculars are really affected. So is it really worth it to change the whole school year schedule, when it probably won't even make that much of a difference?
Myth 28
This myth discusses the idea of zero tolerance. With the rising violence in schools over the past few years, I can understand why schools want to institute this to ensure safety to both students and teachers. But after reading the cases in the article, I question how practical they are? Plus, zero tolerance has been in affect for some time, and violence is not going down. The students that get expelled or suspended for small infractions have long term negative effects. They have a negative view of school and may even have more behavior problems later. So while I understand the idea behind zero tolerance and why schools want to institute it, I don't think it is working. I am not really sure how to fix this though...
Myth 29
This myth questions whether kindergarten and preschool are actually worth it? There is questionable evidence on both sides and many question whether the money spent is worth it. Some claim that the students that go through preschool and kindergarten become productive members of society and the pay back is greater than the money put in . There is also evidence of long term benefits of kindergarten and preschool, especially if the students continue to have good teachers. Personally, I think kindergarten and preschool are well worth it, especially for low income students who might not get that kind of mental stimulation at home. This allows them to be up to par with students whose parents have given them access to learning materials throughout their childhood.
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Readings for Sept 11
Teacher factors that influence student's success
Myth 9
This myth focuses on the fact that people believe that teachers are the most important influence on a child's education. I think that it is true that teachers can influence a child's learning, but there are a lot of other factors that influence a child's academic growth such as SES, home environment and even motivation. So if students do poorly, I think it is unfair to judge a teacher and say it is their fault, because there are many things outside of their control. I think the best thing a teacher can do is try to motivate students.
Myth 10
Teachers in the US are paid well.
This I know is untrue, just based on what I have heard from high school classmates that are now teachers. Honestly though, I think most teachers become teachers for reasons that are not related to money, which is a good. But as the article said, the academic talent that enters the teaching profession could be even better if teachers had more salaries and benefits. I think teachers work very hard to educate students and deserve to have good pay and benefits.
Myth 11
Merit Pay is a good way to increase the performance
Merit pay is often based on how a teacher's students do on national tests, which I don't think is very fair. One test at one point in time is not a good estimate of the success of the teacher throughout the whole year. There is a valid problem with that I think. Plus these programs like Race to the Top narrows the curriculum and increase competition among teachers and could encourage cheating. I think the merit pay idea puts negative pressure on teachers so that they are so worried about keeping their job that they don't take the time to actually be a good teacher.
Myth 12
Teachers that serve the poor are not very talented.
I don't think I necessarily agree with this-I do however think that the turn over rate of teachers in poor schools is high and they don't have the resources that they need to be the great teachers we need them to be. The article also made a good point that teachers are not prepared or taught how to work in poor schools. If we want teachers to be successful and really help the students, we need to prepare them well.
Myth 14
Subject Matter Knowledge is the most important asset a teacher can possess.
This I really disagree with, I think teachers need so much more than just the knowledge of what they have to teach. They need to be able to manage their class, develop skills and confidence in their students and most importantly, know how to motivate their students which is critical to their success.
Myth 15
Teacher's unions are responsible for much poor school performance.
Teacher's unions have shaped working conditions we know and have today. Studies have actually shown that there is lower student achievement when there aren't any teacher's unions. This kind of makes sense to me. If a teacher knows they get due process and are protected in their work environment, they are less worried and can put more time and effort into teaching and the students win.
Myth 49
IQ tests can predict success in life.
I don't believe this at all. First of all, we do not even have a solid definition of what intelligence is, so how can we actually test it with one test? Plus, what is success in life? I think that being a contributing member of society in some way is success, and you do not need a great IQ to do that. Plus, motivation, social skills and work ethic are really important to success and something a teacher could work on with their students, but is not something can can really be tested for.
Myth 9
This myth focuses on the fact that people believe that teachers are the most important influence on a child's education. I think that it is true that teachers can influence a child's learning, but there are a lot of other factors that influence a child's academic growth such as SES, home environment and even motivation. So if students do poorly, I think it is unfair to judge a teacher and say it is their fault, because there are many things outside of their control. I think the best thing a teacher can do is try to motivate students.
Myth 10
Teachers in the US are paid well.
This I know is untrue, just based on what I have heard from high school classmates that are now teachers. Honestly though, I think most teachers become teachers for reasons that are not related to money, which is a good. But as the article said, the academic talent that enters the teaching profession could be even better if teachers had more salaries and benefits. I think teachers work very hard to educate students and deserve to have good pay and benefits.
Myth 11
Merit Pay is a good way to increase the performance
Merit pay is often based on how a teacher's students do on national tests, which I don't think is very fair. One test at one point in time is not a good estimate of the success of the teacher throughout the whole year. There is a valid problem with that I think. Plus these programs like Race to the Top narrows the curriculum and increase competition among teachers and could encourage cheating. I think the merit pay idea puts negative pressure on teachers so that they are so worried about keeping their job that they don't take the time to actually be a good teacher.
Myth 12
Teachers that serve the poor are not very talented.
I don't think I necessarily agree with this-I do however think that the turn over rate of teachers in poor schools is high and they don't have the resources that they need to be the great teachers we need them to be. The article also made a good point that teachers are not prepared or taught how to work in poor schools. If we want teachers to be successful and really help the students, we need to prepare them well.
Myth 14
Subject Matter Knowledge is the most important asset a teacher can possess.
This I really disagree with, I think teachers need so much more than just the knowledge of what they have to teach. They need to be able to manage their class, develop skills and confidence in their students and most importantly, know how to motivate their students which is critical to their success.
Myth 15
Teacher's unions are responsible for much poor school performance.
Teacher's unions have shaped working conditions we know and have today. Studies have actually shown that there is lower student achievement when there aren't any teacher's unions. This kind of makes sense to me. If a teacher knows they get due process and are protected in their work environment, they are less worried and can put more time and effort into teaching and the students win.
Myth 49
IQ tests can predict success in life.
I don't believe this at all. First of all, we do not even have a solid definition of what intelligence is, so how can we actually test it with one test? Plus, what is success in life? I think that being a contributing member of society in some way is success, and you do not need a great IQ to do that. Plus, motivation, social skills and work ethic are really important to success and something a teacher could work on with their students, but is not something can can really be tested for.
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Readings for September 11
Reading for September 11
Big Question: How do you define success in eduction?
Myth 1:
This myth seems to believe that international test scores could answer what success is. Tests compare countries on an international level to see how they compare in reading, math and science. The US is consistently behind top countries like China. People seems to think that this means we are not successful in school in America. But can one test really decide whether a student is successful? Plus the book states that if we eliminated low income schools from the stats, we, as a country would rank number one. Is it ok to remove low income schools just to make us look better? How about we work to help the low income schools do better.
Myth 8:
This myth looks at rankings of both colleges and the ideas of rankings for high school. Is it ok to rank high school? What measures are they using to determine that one high school is more successful than another? I don't think ranking schools against each other, especially when comparing public and private is really all that helpful.
Myth 32:
This myth states that general society thinks schools are being 'dumbed down.' We are less successful because children are more materialistic, less attentive and disrespectful. But are children really? Is there any evidence for this? These ideas lead to things like No Child Left Behind and NAEP testing, which actually shows that more people are taking the tests and succeeding. These ideas have also lead to CCSS, which is accused of narrowing the current curriculum. Personally I think that the standards do lead to a narrowed curriculum because the teachers teach to the test, and nothing more. Education should be more local and personalized.
Myth 45:
This myth discusses high school exit exams and their worth to predict how students will succeed in the future. Honestly I am not sure how one test will ready and prepare students to be successful workers in a global economy. I do not think it is possible. Plus, what is the cut off of this test? How do we measure competent vs incompetent? I think that all the money spent on creating the exams and implementing them could be better used for other things.
Monday, September 1, 2014
Readings for September 4th
Myth 38:
Education benefits children individually, not public in general
This myth has come about gradually, through the change in thinking of the government, companies and even individual parents. Public education was initially established as a way for children to increase their knowledge and gain skills so that they could become a contributing member of society and to act for the greater good of the 'democracy.' Education was a service to of the public good, not just individuals, but now public education is thought to inform students of basic skills that allow them to be a good member of society, for themselves, not for the public good. By viewing education this way, one student could benefits while another one loses and there is a loss of group values and goals, which means we fail to respond as a unit when a crisis happens.
This myth is easy to see in education now; many students attend school to better themselves and their own future, with little concern for how what they learn can help everyone overall. We all just want to better ourselves and get a good job. We think that this benefits society in a round-about way, and it probably does. But until we view education as something that benefits everyone, this myth will continue.
Myth 42:
All kids can learn
This myth is seem in mandates such as No Child Left Behind, and the idea of integration of all types of students into one classroom is a great idea. This article states correctly that not all children can be winners, sadly life does not work that way. Furthermore, it would be impossible to come up with a test that can tell us whether a child has 'mastered' a topic; kids are full of individual difference. Furthermore. with this idea, it leaves the door open to blame someone, usually the teachers when children fail. This myth is a grand optimistic idea, but reality is not this way and by adhering to it, we put more stress on teachers who, no matter how amazing they are, cannot work miracles and make everyone 'masters.' Especially of every topic. I think that everyone has a talent or area that interests them that they can become very good at and even masters off, but everyone can't be masters of everything.
Myth 43:
Produce more STEM graduates-our economy is suffering because our education system is not producing enough scientists, engineers and mathematicians.
This is something that I have heard a lot about. There are campaigns out that try to get young children involved and interested in the sciences before they even start school. This is being done because America is 'suffering' from lack of STEM grads The article brings up a good point-what is the definition of this suffering? Define STEM and the job types? There is not enough solid definitions to give good evidence that there is a shortage of STEM employees. There is also not enough evidence that there will be an abundance of STEM jobs in the future. This emphasis on STEM training and education in schools is pushing out education in other areas like literature and social sciences, which creates understanding and informed action in people. We need a balance in education, one that includes STEM, but also other areas because there is no guarantee that we will only need STEM students for only STEM jobs in the future. Although I do personally believe that technology is a hugely growing field. Just look at the new technology in the last 5 years. I think there will continue to be a demand for STEM employees in the future, but it is unwise to put all your eggs in one basket.
Myth 44:
Import scientists and engineers because our education system cannot produce enough of them.
This myth is closely linked to the previous myth, with companies again saying we do not have enough computer science degrees to fill the jobs, so companies need permission to import workers. The companies blame public schools, saying that US students are uninterested or unprepared, but numbers show that the supply of graduates with STEM degrees remains strong and their wages have remained stagnant over the past few years, indicating that the field is not growing like the companies claim. This myth seems to be companies just trying to get foreign workers who would increase American unemployment and lower wages of those already working. Companies should really just hire the Americans with the STEM degrees who are currently unemployed and looking for jobs. I again believe that the technology industry will grow in the future, but if schools keep producing the number of STEM graduates they say they are, then we should not have a problem filling the work positions with American graduates.
Myth 50:
Schools are wasting time trying to teach problem solving, creativity and general thinking skills. They would be better off teaching facts needed to succeed in school and later in life.
This myth sounded ridiculous to me at first. I was like, how can you even teach that, and then I immediately though, wait, that needs to be in school, you can't just teach facts! Apparently, according to the article, problem solving and creativity can be taught, but with the movement to more test based classrooms and CCSS high stakes tests, teachers are spending less time on creativity and more time just teaching facts so their students are prepared to takes big exams. This is sad. Collaborative classrooms that are discussion based and allow kids to partake in creative thinking and problems solving are necessary to create well rounded and prepared human beings. Teachers need the freedom to educate the students in their classroom, not just prepare them for a test. I sincerely hope that the life skills of creativity and problem solving never disappear from the classroom.
Education benefits children individually, not public in general
This myth has come about gradually, through the change in thinking of the government, companies and even individual parents. Public education was initially established as a way for children to increase their knowledge and gain skills so that they could become a contributing member of society and to act for the greater good of the 'democracy.' Education was a service to of the public good, not just individuals, but now public education is thought to inform students of basic skills that allow them to be a good member of society, for themselves, not for the public good. By viewing education this way, one student could benefits while another one loses and there is a loss of group values and goals, which means we fail to respond as a unit when a crisis happens.
This myth is easy to see in education now; many students attend school to better themselves and their own future, with little concern for how what they learn can help everyone overall. We all just want to better ourselves and get a good job. We think that this benefits society in a round-about way, and it probably does. But until we view education as something that benefits everyone, this myth will continue.
Myth 42:
All kids can learn
This myth is seem in mandates such as No Child Left Behind, and the idea of integration of all types of students into one classroom is a great idea. This article states correctly that not all children can be winners, sadly life does not work that way. Furthermore, it would be impossible to come up with a test that can tell us whether a child has 'mastered' a topic; kids are full of individual difference. Furthermore. with this idea, it leaves the door open to blame someone, usually the teachers when children fail. This myth is a grand optimistic idea, but reality is not this way and by adhering to it, we put more stress on teachers who, no matter how amazing they are, cannot work miracles and make everyone 'masters.' Especially of every topic. I think that everyone has a talent or area that interests them that they can become very good at and even masters off, but everyone can't be masters of everything.
Myth 43:
Produce more STEM graduates-our economy is suffering because our education system is not producing enough scientists, engineers and mathematicians.
This is something that I have heard a lot about. There are campaigns out that try to get young children involved and interested in the sciences before they even start school. This is being done because America is 'suffering' from lack of STEM grads The article brings up a good point-what is the definition of this suffering? Define STEM and the job types? There is not enough solid definitions to give good evidence that there is a shortage of STEM employees. There is also not enough evidence that there will be an abundance of STEM jobs in the future. This emphasis on STEM training and education in schools is pushing out education in other areas like literature and social sciences, which creates understanding and informed action in people. We need a balance in education, one that includes STEM, but also other areas because there is no guarantee that we will only need STEM students for only STEM jobs in the future. Although I do personally believe that technology is a hugely growing field. Just look at the new technology in the last 5 years. I think there will continue to be a demand for STEM employees in the future, but it is unwise to put all your eggs in one basket.
Myth 44:
Import scientists and engineers because our education system cannot produce enough of them.
This myth is closely linked to the previous myth, with companies again saying we do not have enough computer science degrees to fill the jobs, so companies need permission to import workers. The companies blame public schools, saying that US students are uninterested or unprepared, but numbers show that the supply of graduates with STEM degrees remains strong and their wages have remained stagnant over the past few years, indicating that the field is not growing like the companies claim. This myth seems to be companies just trying to get foreign workers who would increase American unemployment and lower wages of those already working. Companies should really just hire the Americans with the STEM degrees who are currently unemployed and looking for jobs. I again believe that the technology industry will grow in the future, but if schools keep producing the number of STEM graduates they say they are, then we should not have a problem filling the work positions with American graduates.
Myth 50:
Schools are wasting time trying to teach problem solving, creativity and general thinking skills. They would be better off teaching facts needed to succeed in school and later in life.
This myth sounded ridiculous to me at first. I was like, how can you even teach that, and then I immediately though, wait, that needs to be in school, you can't just teach facts! Apparently, according to the article, problem solving and creativity can be taught, but with the movement to more test based classrooms and CCSS high stakes tests, teachers are spending less time on creativity and more time just teaching facts so their students are prepared to takes big exams. This is sad. Collaborative classrooms that are discussion based and allow kids to partake in creative thinking and problems solving are necessary to create well rounded and prepared human beings. Teachers need the freedom to educate the students in their classroom, not just prepare them for a test. I sincerely hope that the life skills of creativity and problem solving never disappear from the classroom.
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