Philosophy of education

Reading this chapter, I did not really like it. I did not agree with how they kept talking about the student teacher relationship as "oppressive" and a banking concept as a bad thing. As a student I do not know any other way to be taught by the teacher than by the banking system. As a student, you want to learn and respect what the teacher has to offer you. A lot of the things the article was saying I did not think was right at all, like how it said the teacher thinks and the students are taught. This is completely not true as I feel that students are constantly thinking about the information that is being presented to them. I also did not like how it said students know nothing, I think this article is giving a bad name to teachers. Teachers are put in a classroom to teach students not look down on them, which is what the article is trying to say and that is not true. Teachers want to help students and that is why they do the things that they do. When the chapter kept talking about the banking concept I did not understand what was so bad about that idea. Teachers have knowledge that needs to get passed on to students and if students bank that knowledge then I find that to be a good thing, the lesson worked. Why else would we have teachers if it were not to pass down knowledge and hope that students actually learn and remember what was taught to them. As it is pretty obvious I did not like this chapter or what was being said. I found it to be unfair to teachers, making them seem like teachers are dictators in the classroom, which is not true, they only want to help students succeed and pass down any knowledge they have that can help students in the future.

Secondary state standards grading

Reading this article I learned a lot of little tips about grading with what to do and what not to do. I enjoyed this article because it was not something obvious that some articles would point out, but little things that I have never really thought of. One of these tips I thought was a great idea, was to have no zeros. Zeros on a rubric I thought was always just a standard thing that every assignment had; however, the article points out the negativity that comes with having zeros and the motivation level for some students can decrease. I liked the example that was given when calculating a students grade. The students grade was significantly lower when adding in that extra zero even though everything else they did was good. Personally, as a future teacher I do not want my students to be discouraged about grades, so I like many other teachers want them to get the best possible grade and by eliminating zeros, better grades will appear along with motivation. The other point that I thought was interesting, mainly because I thought it was more of a college thing, but having homework not be graded. In high school teachers always gave so much homework and our grades were highly based on the completion of homework. Having this not be the case now, I agree with what the article was saying how students can value homework more and get more out of it if they think of it more as a practice tool than a grade. In classes here at Eastern, I have had a lot of teachers give assignments that were not mandatory but they would always say for your benefit and for you to practice. I think this is an excellent way to look at assignments in a more positive way, whenever I hear that I think of it as a benefit for me, not by grades but by actually learning. Personally, I am not a fan of homework mainly because I find a lot of it to be busy work, but having actual assignments that are meaningful and would be thought of as practice I find useful and encourages me to actually do it.

Assignment Template

Reading California's common core state standards for English Language Arts, and Literacy I learned more about how to teach writing and reading than being the student. I have always been the student and now to look at it with a different perspective, everything seems to be much more understandable. This entire template gave advice on the best ways to approach reading and then writing about it; advice that I wish I would have had a long time ago. I thought the section on Descriptive Outlining to be the most helpful when reading a text, because it suggest to take each section of the text and analyze the content. Taking a difficult text and breaking it down by sections is something that I feel would benefit greatly, as students could only focus on that part and not be totally confused having it all together. After reading that, I also thought the part on annotating would be helpful for students. Personally, in high school I had to do this with every difficult text and I found it helpful, because I could always look back at what I commented on. Annotating I have found to be the best way to begin my brainstorming for writing a paper. The article also discusses the benefits of annotating when beginning a paper, because students can high light a piece of evidence they would want to use and if it is a fact or opinion. When the article began discussion about composing a paper, the most helpful suggestion I found, and wish I knew before, was when writing a first draft have students take risks and to explore many ideas. I thought this was beneficial, because to write without being so focused on exactly what you want to say in your paper, but to explore different ideas would generate other thoughts. I wish I would have known this, because when I write a paper I try to get everything I want said in the first draft; I do not explore or take a risk at some idea. I liked this template, not only because instead of stating the standards in the small box like all other standards, it went into depth about what students should be doing and gave ideas for teachers to help students reach those standards.

Team Teaching

The article by Marilyn Friend and Lynne Cook I found to be the most helpful in understanding more about co-teaching, as it was straight forward and to the point. There were some good ideas, and some bad I thought. The one that I could see myself using in the classroom is either team teaching or alternative teaching. I would like to use alternative teaching more, because I thought it had greater benefits for students. They could get a lot of extra help that is needed and pulling out multiple groups students wouldn't label anyone the "smart" group. To handle noise in the classroom it would be easier for the teacher to pull students out in the hall for some one on one time and group work. Team teaching I found to be useful in multiple ways as in less lecture more discussion. This is a great idea to let students see an example of a good discussion. Teachers may have different viewpoints on subjects, so students can see a positive way in disagreeing with someone and learn how to have an open conversation without taking offense or being rude to their classmates. What I didn't like about team teaching is I found it to be chaotic. I can see imagine the classroom getting off topic easily and students being noisy. The other ideas I did not like at all. I found the other ideas to be not so much as co-teaching, but as in one teacher in control and the other is more of a helper. I do not know how much co-teaching I would do in my classroom, but I like the idea of it. Having someone to help students and pull groups outside the class would be beneficial for the students and give the teacher a break. Having so many students in one classroom is a lot for a teacher to handle, so another teacher would benefit everyone.

Standards

While reading the state standards for grades 6-12, I realized how little I actually knew about the state standards. Students are expected to learn a lot about textual evidence and how to cite sources. I did not know this because I was never expected to do this while I was in high school. Not only when reading did I realize the standards were lacked on, but also the preparation for college. Every page I went to read all talked about preparing students for college and a career. I think this is very important that teachers prepare students for college. College is extremely stressful for some students and not being prepared makes everything worse. My freshman year of college I remember being so lost and confused in a lot of my classes in the beginning. It felt like I had a lot of catching up to do. Another standard that I learned about was when reading Shakespeare students should be able to take ideas from either Ovid or the Bible. I found this interesting because from the beginning teachers are taught not to have anything said about the Bible. I understand that this is for learning and is about Shakespeare, but  I would feel like this could be upsetting for some parents. Lastly, I enjoyed reading about the standards for parent to know. I think it is important that parents know these standards and follow up that their child is on track. Teachers have a lot of responsibility for students and want them to succeed, but with guidance from parents I think they will benefit greatly. Having parents go over student's homework and set up meeting with teachers to see how their child is doing. Having to read these standards I always find beneficial because it is a nice refresher on some of the things that I forget.

Chapter one

Reading this article, I learned a lot about the how to approach students with the different ways of a class discussion. I had never thought much about the different ways people can interact with each other like how the article explains the differences between discussion, dialogue, and conversation. I thought it was a very good point about how conversation is more informal and that discussion needs responsive people to express their thoughts and opinions. I liked how the article stressed that teachers need discussion in the classroom. To have class discussion teachers need to create a good, comfortable environment for students so they will be more likely to participate. Reading this I was trying to figure out how I could use this in my own classroom. I liked the section that was discussing participation. In every classroom there is always someone that is more dominate and it is hard for other students to include themselves or as the article pointed out the teacher is too eager to voice their opinions. Thinking about that I could see that being one of the bigger reasons people do not speak out, is that the teacher is talking too much. Every student needs to benefit and learn from the discussion. Having meaningful discussions is a good way for students to give their opinions and counter argue in a respectful way. A democratic classroom I think is beneficial for everyone, teachers and students. Doing this can help them respect others opinions and as the article pointed out give appreciation. Appreciate insightful comments that can inspire other thoughts from students and by appreciating comments the students will feel better about speaking in the class. Discussion in classroom is very important as it not only teaches students how to face problems, but also how to value other opinions.