Class Update

4/12: Today we watched The Finland Phenomenon. We were asked to think of three of the biggest differences in the way that teachers are prepared in Finland versus the United States.

• In Finland, student teachers are allowed into any classroom, at any time, to observe a teacher's lesson. After observing, they are able to ask questions and discuss the lesson. Along with this, the teacher's do the same. Student teachers and the teacher they are working with interact through email prior to a lesson. This allows the student teacher to change and update their lesson, as well as allowing a teacher to help prepare for what will be taught. When a student teacher is teaching, the main teacher critiques the lesson while the student teacher is teaching the lesson. This allows them to give exact examples and such in their critiques.
•  In Finland, a teaching degree is not just a four year degree. They have a five year program, consisting of a three year bachelor's degree, along with a two year master's degree. Having the master's degree be part of the general teaching program, I think, helps ensure the best teachers are working in their schools. 
• In Finland, the school system's are based on trust. They believe that their teachers are well trained professionals. They do not believe in having an inspection/inventory time for their teachers. By doing this, the teachers are allowed to think outside the box and work with their students to ensure the best results for each student. There are better results when there is trust. If a teacher's being inspected, they are preparing for inspection day, not preparing their students for success. By knowing that you can do it, versus having to prove yourself, a teacher is able to do their absolute best!

Here are points that I thought were really key points from the video:

• Everyone gets the same education, no matter their background.
• Students have the same teacher for several years, allowing them to learn easier.
• School is casual; teachers are called by their first name.
• Teacher's are knowledge workers, and need to make sure that all students succeed.
• Less is more!
• Lessons are/should be 60% student, 40% teacher.
• Students have the choice between vocational track or academic track for high school.
• Moodle is used, which is much like our D2L system.
• Students take responsibility for themselves in their classrooms, allowing teachers to have more time for individual help.
• There is little testing, allowing students to develop their own learning style.
• There is a core curriculum as well each school's own curriculum. 

4/14: Group Seven, Chapter Ten: School Law

• Legal System:
• Constitutional Amendments- 1, 4, 14
• State- passes laws, legal rights
• Local
• Overlapping Legal System
• Ethics:
• Facebook Policy 
• NEA (National Education Association)- gives teachers a code of ethics
• Rights & Responsibilities:
• Licensure- credential evaluation, background check, competency test
• Contracts- legally binding between school board & teacher
• Collective Bargaining- protests, budget cuts in education
• Tenure & Dismissal- legal safeguard, job security by preventing teacher dismissal without cause
• Liability

4/19: Today, group seven finished their project and we discussed district policies, as well as what is going on in the St. Cloud school district. In the school district, there will be a $3 million budget cut, $500,00 of it going towards special education. Every teacher that was not tenure received a pink slip, cutting many of the districts newest and greatest teachers. We also discussed the advantages and disadvantages of tenure. An advantage is job security, for the teachers who are good at what they do, as well as pay protection. A disadvantage is that is keeps the bad teachers in our schools. Along these lines, we also discussed school policies, such as religion and corporal punishment. Interested in where my school, STMA, stood with these issues, I decided I was going to look into all their policies, and become informed. 

4/21: Group Eight, Chapter Twelve: The School Curriculum

• Positive Learning Environment
• Respect & Responsibility
• Classroom Set-up/Efficiency
• Time Management
• The Daily Cafe
• The Daily 5 Program
• People Plus+ Activity
• Gold Learner
• Organized, values family traditions, dependable, values order
• Generally needs extra time adjusting to change
• Orange (Red) Learner
• Quick, energetic, risk taker, high need for mobility, competitive
• Generally will be the chatty, social butterfly
• Blue Learner
• Sensitive, imaginative, strong sense of spirituality
• Generally will be the 'motherly' student 
• Green Learner
• Analytical, thorough, calm/cool/collective
• Generally will be the leader in a group
• Parent Involvement
• Communication
• Parent-Teacher, Parent-Student, Teacher-Student
• Expectations
• Consistency in classroom
• Praise
• Phone call/Voicemail, Mail/Letter, Email/Text Message
• Open House
• Teacher Introduction, Teacher guidelines/expectations
• Progress Reports
• Report Cards, Conferences
• Misbehavior Intervention
• Awareness
• Having eyes in the back of your head
• Dignity
• Don't embarrass the student in front of his/her peers
• Consistency
• Having same expectations, yet respect for differences (IEP students)
• Communication
• Tone of voice, eye contact
• 'Solution Tree'

Class Update

3/31-4/5: Today we watched Waiting for Superman, a public school documentary. The documentary focused on four children--Anthony, Daisy, Francisco, and Bianca.

• Washington D.C. has the worst education system, with only a 12% reading proficiency.
• 'Dropout Factories' are found across the nation. They are the schools with a 50% dropout rate between freshman year and sophomore year of high school. 
• In Pennsylvania, which I am sure is common among many states, $33,000 a year is spent on inmates. 
• The difference between a high performing and low performing teacher affects each child by the loss of one academic year.
• The 'lemon dance' is the passing on the bad teachers between schools. One schools passes their bad teachers onto another school, but take in another schools bad teachers also.
• The United States is ranked 25th in Math and 21st in Science.
• Families are moving into homes with high mortgages, thinking that will be a high expectation in the local schools.
• KIPP schools are charter schools. With that, they have a lottery system like all other charter schools. The difference is, KIPP schools believe in not letting their children fail.
• Our school system is broken. We need great teachers and great leaders to fix our system.

4/7: Group Six, Chapter Nine: School Governance, Finance, and Choices

• Large cities are choosing to authorize the Mayor to take over the running of their school districts.
• Reasons for this include fiscal management and low academic achievement
• The formula for funds = money, times the number of children in the district
• Compensatory Aid- percent of children in poverty in the district.
• School Choices:
• Public schools
• Private schools
• Charter schools
• KIPP school
• Homeschooling
• Vouchers

Education Article Update

Bullying of Teachers 'Increasing in Northern Ireland' -(Global)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-13005767

Though this was a short article, it really made me think. In Northern Ireland, teachers are facing serious cyber-bullying from students and parents. We forget that anything posted on Facebook or YouTube is accessible to thousands of other views. Parents are writing their frustrations and comments to others, visible to teachers, administration, family members, etc. It makes you think about the kinds of ideas, words, materials that you(I) are posting on the internet, not thinking about how long it will be out there, and who will view it. 

The New Gatekeepers of Media -(Local)

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/09/us/09iht-currents09.html?_r=1&ref=internationaleducation

The article explains New Gatekeepers as our virtual cousins and neighbors. By this, the author means that these are the people that we are depending on for information and truths. A quote I really like was this: "When I spoke the other day to Jon Gosier, the director of SwiftRiver, he said something peculiar: that digital technology is, in a way, bringing us back to the days before the printing press." I had to really put some thought into this idea. Do you agree? I think I do. If you think about it, we find ourselves finding information on Facebook or Twitter, and passing it on as truth, without really knowing whether it is true or not, much like passing on what you may have heard from your neighbor, way back when. Though the article does not see this as a problem, I do. I grew up doing research from books or reference books before Internet was depended on. Now I worry about the children growing up where Internet is the main source for research. Where Wikipedia is a source that pops up with almost any search. Just this afternoon I was talking to my brother about where he got some idea he was telling me about, and his answer was Internet. Was it something I believe was true? NO! Do students know the difference between legitimate sources and sites like Wiki? That to me, is a problem. 

The New Barriers to a Foreign Degree -(Global/Local)

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/04/education/04iht-educside.html?ref=internationaleducation

Three nations, Australia, Britain, and Sweden, have made it much more difficult to get into their universities for foreign students. Britain will be cutting up to 80,000 students visas a year, effective April 2012. Sweden will stop subsidizing education for non-European Union foreign students. And Australia's foreign student enrollment has dropped nearly ten percent since government policy changes. Not only is this affecting the nations themselves, but foreign students who had hopes of being able to become globally educated. For students, such as myself, it is discouraging to see the limits being put on foreign higher-education programs. In today's world, studying abroad provides great opportunities for all careers fields, as well as personal development. With the limits being put on the education programs, it is going to be much more difficult for students to get in. The only positive that I can see out of this, is that this will help limit the students who are not in it for the right reasons. It will be seen as a way of finding the students who want the high quality of education, versus the free education that may be provided previously. 

Teachers Strike Over Pupils' Discipline -(Global)

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/teachers-strike-over-pupils-discipline-2264503.html

The one thing worse than bad teachers is bad administration. Teachers at a Darwen, Lancashire high school are feeling the burden of bad administration. They picketed the school gates over the lack of support needed by the head of the school. The teachers made clear that they were not 'striking' over the children's behavior, but the lack of support from administration to help with the behavior. Teachers facing issues with their students need the back-up support from their administration and without that support, the school will end up down the drain. How can the students take their teachers seriously if the administration does not take them seriously and respect them? As a future teacher, this is really discouraging to see the lack of good administration in schools. 

Cathleen Black Is Out as City Schools Chancellors -(Local)

 http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/07/cathie-black-is-out-as-chancellor/?emc=na

Right now, I am not sure how to respond. I am shocked at the lack of respect she showed for the parents in the community. Comments such as--“I have a three-year term, and I am willing and excited to fulfill it to the absolute end,” which to me is a 'I have three-years to be here, to do what I want, so get used to it"; making jokes about birth control; and making a mock of parents at a local school closing-- all seem very disrespectful, as well as childish. 

I do however, like that the mayor did as he felt needed in finding a new chancellor for the school district. As education is his main focus, finding a new chancellor is at the top of his list I am sure.