My Field Experience

“Wow!” That was the one of the greatest experiences I have ever had. I really loved going to that school every week to meet with those kids. I was in a sixth grade classroom at Jackson Middle School in Champlin. The teacher that I was working with is Terry Protivinsky; she has experience working at elementary schools and with the sixth grade. She is a language arts teacher so I witnessed a lot of talk about compare and contrast, and breaking down writing from the schools text books. The one disturbing thing that I noticed while working in the classroom was the amount of time we had to spend preparing for the MCA tests. Also I was worried about all the class time we spent getting ready for the MCA’s and district common assessments. A lot of time is spent on these standardized tests. I feel this time could be spent doing some other beneficial things.

            But with those few negatives I learned some very valuable things. I was able to help a Para with a special education student. I had time working with the students one on one. I felt that I learned a lot doing that. I really enjoyed some of the classroom activities that I watched. One thing that I saw was karaoke singing during class. I thought, “What a great way to make kids open to communicate!” It was true the children would chat and share all class. I really learned a lot by that activity. I also saw that while being a teacher you are also a mentor by the way the students looked up to the Mrs. Protivinsky. I feel like this was a great experience. I really enjoyed this experience and I am glad that I have decided to go to school to be a teacher. 

My Educational Philosophy

During this semester I have seen presentations and read about ways to educate students. Over this time I have developed a philosophy for educating students. Some of the basic ideas behind my philosophy are from my own educational experience. The purpose of this paper is to outline my philosophy on educating.   While describing my philosophy I will be talking about the role of the student in education, the purpose of schools in society, the effective teacher, and the environment and management of my classroom.

            First, what is the role of a student in education? Based on my philosophy I believe that a student’s role in education is to learn. I know that sounds basic but I think that is the number one thing a student should do. I feel students naturally want to collaborate and work with others. Also students naturally are very interested while in school. The way that I view students is that of a moldable mind that is waiting for proper information. I also think that all students are different. Based on my philosophy this is how I view students today.

            Second, what is the purpose of schools in today’s society? The first key goal that I feel schools should achieve is basic skills in reading and math. The ability of students to read at their grade level while in school is very important. If we want to have a well educated society we need to first make sure our students can read and write. Schools should also work to make sure students can read above and beyond their grade level. In a perfect world our students would be reading classic and contemporary literature to develop as educated people. Math is just as important as reading for students today. There are many different philosophies on how to teach math but I believe each student needs a basic knowledge of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division while in elementary school. If each student has a solid understanding of basic math then there are no limits of what they can learn in high school and beyond. A solid education that teaches student their basic skills in reading and math is a very important for our schools to achieve.

            The second key idea that schools should achieve is collaboration and project based learning. In today’s world corporations are looking for people who can collaborate. Collaboration is first achieved in the classroom. Based on my prior experience of working at an elementary school I saw that students naturally want to work together. While students are outside playing they are constantly working together to play games. Project based learning is a very important skill for students to learn at a young age. I have few memories of working on projects at young ages all I remember is testing and listening at a young age. I think that letting a student research and create is much more beneficial than testing and teaching. After watching the film about Finland my beliefs about project based learning with collaboration were verified by seeing their success without any testing. Collaboration and project based learning is very important and should be emphasized in our schools.

            The third key idea that schools should accomplish is a world view. I feel that I am at a serious disadvantage due to the fact I was educated without a world view. Traditionally American schools have been very locally biased. As the worlds financial power is shifting from east to west the United States is no longer the world power and base of the world’s economy. Students should leave school with some knowledge of other countries traditions, languages, and even the basic knowledge of where all the other countries are located. When I was in school the books still had the Soviet Union in them and I still to this day have no idea of where all these other nations are located. I find this to be ridiculous; schools need to change their curriculum often to make sure our students have a basic knowledge of today’s world. Students should learn a foreign language. Whether it is Chinese, Spanish, or German it is beneficial for students to learn it. Right now we are teaching foreign language the complete wrong way. In most schools we are allowing student to take four years of language in high school. That is not the right time to teach a student a different language. The right time to do this is in elementary school when students can learn at a faster rate. I feel all elementary schools should offer an immersion program. A proper world view is very important for student’s success.

            Third, what makes a successful teacher? I believe that a successful teacher has many attributes. A teacher must be understanding when dealing with students.  Not all students are the same and they all have different home lives. A part of being understanding is remembering to not treat all students the same. Another important belief of a successful teacher is that teaching is not just a job. If you plan of being a teacher and just showing up to do, “the same old same old,” you will never be a good teacher. Teaching is more than just a job teaching is a duty. We as future and current teachers have a duty to give our job 100% every day, if you cannot do that than it is time to retire. Also a successful teacher should be willing to learn themselves. Teachers should ask to be reviewed by others to get ideas for what they could do differently. Also as technology changes teachers need to learn how to use it properly. Technology today goes way past email and the web; we are now dealing with social networking, smart boards, and iPads to name a few. Students will always have a better knowledge of new technology but teachers can try to keep up to help students learn. These attributes will help a teacher be highly qualified and successful in teaching students.

            Fourth, how would I organize my classroom environment? I would first put all my desks in clusters. I want the students to face each other every day so they feel like they can work together. Also students may be nervous to talk to the whole class but when they are in groups of four they may be more willing to open up and work together. I would also like to have level reading books so that my students can find a book at their level so that they understand. Instead of just standing up a preaching in the front of the class I would like to have room to walk around and call on students so that they are all engaged the whole time in learning. I feel like some changes to a classroom environment can make them much more cohesive for learning.

            How would I manage my classroom? Classroom management is very important, as a teacher you need to keep order and make the classroom feel open so students will be willing to share and work together. I feel like to many teachers use punishments to control their classroom. Punishments like timeouts from recess, heads down, or loss of privileges just do not work. You must praise and reinforce good behavior with children to encourage a happy and healthy learning environment. Don’t get me wrong there are some actions that children take that you must punish them for to; ensure safety in your classroom which is your number one goal. But you should not look at punishment as your go to for classroom management. Keeping your classroom managed is very important to your success as a teacher.

            I have covered a wide spectrum of what I believe as a future teacher. I have covered the role a student serves, the purpose of schools in society, the duty and attributes of teachers, the way I will organize and manage my classroom. My philosophy is still developing itself as I go to school so just as I stated above I feel that I will always be learning and I never will be set in my ways, to be a good teacher I need to be able to change and adjust. I hope that I achieve these goals while I teach and I want to really make a difference. 

studentsfirst.org

http://www.studentsfirst.org/#

This site is for the group that Michelle Rhee the former Chancellor of District of Columbia Schools. This groups number one goal is to change the way teachers are tenured so that younger teachers are not the first to be fired when school districts are cutting budgets. She justifies this by showing that younger teachers are much more effective and care a lot more while they are working. I think her number one goal is to keep good teachers. I think she might go around this in no the best way. She is automatically making more established teachers not care for her work but I think she has a good idea and I wish her luck. I am glad she cares about teachers.

Presentation Seven

This presentation was about the legal and ethical parts of being a teacher. Although some of the topics you would look at and say, "of course I should not do that!" It still needs to be talked about because some people do not know all the laws and ethical questions of teaching. One that pops to my head right now is a students right of privacy so we should as teachers never talk about students unless we are talking to another professional that deals with that student. Also the fact that teachers are mandatory reporters so if a student claims abuse to us we must tell authorities so we can help that student.  I thought they did a really good job and I was interested during the entire presentation. They also made me think a little while they where presenting about eliminating my facebook due to the legal/ethical issues that can be found with those. Good advice for future teachers.

Presentation Six

This was our group. I thought it went great although there was a lot of information to cover due to the fact that we were doing governance and finance. I think that the number one thing people should take from our presentation is that all is not created equal which is clear in our examples and our interview. Also they should take away a few views/opinions on school choices. Good job group.

My Ideal Teacher Prep Program

My ideal teacher prep program would be similar to what we are doing now with some differences. I think that we should all have a formal education as in college but I also feel that we should spend more time in the field working with current teachers learning what we can do to be better in the first hand. Much more time that student teaching should be spent in the field almost like tech school for the trades. I feel that we should convert things that way also mixing in more technology. Teachers must be on top of their game as far as technology goes so we should be using some of this technology every year we are in class. I think this would really help teachers today.

Unequal Education: Failing our Children

This video is comparing two different seventh grade students at two different schools. The thing that I found interesting is the film was how different their educations where. One school is a more inner city ghetto school and the other was a more up class suburban style school. I could not believe the differences between the two different schools. One thing that really stuck in my mind was the simple things. Like band equipment at the inner city school they had very basic equipment and at the suburban school they had much more to choose from. The thing that really bothers me is that this is actually happening. I feel bad for the children in America due to the fact that some are getting a great education but others are really struggling to get along just based on where they live. This is really a sad thing I feel that all children are entitled to the same level of education and in order to make that happen we have to push some form of equalization legislation to help schools get what they deserve and what they need.

Two Million Minutes

This was a very interesting film. I really enjoyed it. The video compared students from the United States, China, and India. What I found interesting where the several differences between all the countries. In the United States everyone is provided a free education, in India they have to pay for school. Also a difference is that in the United States every student in high school has a chance to go to college. In China it is hard to go to college and to advance through high school in that fashion. They seem to do more tracking in China than what they do in the United States. One thing that worried me was that the film said that the India Technology Institute is the best engineering school in the world because Bill Gates says so. The issue that I have with that is the fact that Bill Gates is not an engineer. I feel like a little more scientific evidence would be fitting for that claim. I thought it was a interesting film I enjoyed the fact that we could take time to compare all the different places. I would like to see another film with the same kids 10 years from now to see where they have gone.

Presentation Five

This group talked about everything you need to know about teaching. The basics of how schools are organized. The barking order as far as principles and teachers. They talked about the several different school levels such as high school, middle school, elementary, and early childhood. This was a great presentation and I really enjoyed it. I thought they did a good job keeping everyone interested the entire time. I look forward to the next presentation.

Presentation Four

This group gave a presentation on education philosophies. I think they did a great job describing different types and telling us what they all mean. They were able to give out all this information while keeping the class interested in what is going on. I believe that I am progressivism due to the fact that I believe in collaboration and project based learning. This was a great presentation because it helped me choose what philosophy that I agree with or believe in. This was great.

Presentation Three

This was a good presentation about the history of education in the United States of America. I found this to be interesting because they went all the way back to the colonial days when only rich white males could go to school to the days of segregation. We actually thought that we were doing good things segregating people. I find this hard to believe. I thought that this was a good job because they had discussion questions and got people to talk about their topic I think this is a great way to learn and to get peoples opinions out. I really liked this presentation.

Presentation Two

This presentation was talking about working with students with intellectual disabilities and people that are developmentally disabled. I thought this group was great they passed out a sample IEP and had us write on it to get an idea of what our everyday life will be like at work. I thought this was a great idea that I would have never thought of. I thought the group made some great points and it meant a lot to me because I plan on going into special education and I think this is a great way to give people an idea of what it will be like. This was a great job!

Walker defends proposed school cuts

http://www.twincities.com/education/ci_17630923?nclick_check=1

I looked at this article right away because I now understand how messed up things are in Wisconsin. Thank god I do not live there! The governor is trying to get support while he is ruining a fairly well ran education base in Wisconsin. I think back to the days of Tim Pawlenty and he never did anything like this but now our neighbors are getting harassed and no support from their state government. It is bad enough that Walker went after teachers now he is hearting the kids by taking away money that is needed desperately to educate these children. This whole situation is just ridiculous.

IGCSEs - an end to the national curriculum?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10299194

I cannot pretend to know what this article is talking about but I do know the article is about a change is testing policy in the UK. Now the reason that I picked this article is due to the fact that we are talking about the same thing in the United States. I find this interesting that testing is not just an issue we are having but also an issue that is international. They are debating the way The article says this first major change in 20 years in the UK. I think that we should think harder about our testing policy we could use and overhaul like this as well.

Q Comp pay plan isn't a winner with Anoka-Hennepin teachers

http://www.startribune.com/local/west/117766388.html

This article talks about the reason why the Anoka Hennepin teachers voted down Q comp. The teachers voted against it for a couple reasons while the district thought it was a good deal for everyone involved. I think that Q comp is a good thing I really do like the idea and I would love to work for a school that uses it. I feel that it is unfair the way that teachers are paid right now. I am not saying that all senior teachers are bad but there are some that are just skating out until retirement. I think that no matter how long you teach you should make better money if you are clearly working harder than other teachers. I hope that this is an acceptable plan and is adopted by more schools.

Education Nation Chapter 4

The time/place edge. This edge is about learning everywhere and anywhere. Technology and online learning exemplify this because it removes the bricks and mortar and allows kids to learn everywhere. A great idea is to put wi-fi in buses so that you can get your kids to study on the bus and get homework on the way home from school or on school trips. This also means helping kids learn at home. These kids can learn more at home and homework would grow into something more than it is today with help from online sources at home. Summer can also be used to teach students. This would be a good way for students to loose less knowledge over the summer. This chapter is good because it makes you think out side the normal box of education and think of new ways to teach kids and new ideas of what education really should be.

Education Nation Chapter 3

The third edge is the technology edge. Chen offers some very moving ideas on why technology is important for kids and how they learn. I could not agree more, computers are just the first step, smart boards, tablets, etc. All of these things put technology in the hands of kids who use more technology than most teachers. I feel that technology is a good way to keep today's children interested in education. But technology is more than just in the class room things that we think about. But online learning is just as important and this enhances another point collaboration. I feel that we can use all of these technologies to enhance the way we educate our children. We can even use games to help teach kids. I think that all of these things can really help the classroom.

Education Nation: Chapter 2

The second chapter or edge as it is called in the book is about curriculum. This is a very important edge due to the fact that this is what we teach our children and how we assess them. Something that I read about and I whole heatedly agree with is project based learning. I think this is a great way to enhance critical thinking. Also collaboration can really be seen through project learning. Also you can see that there is a way to teach without forcing memorization. I feel that you need to learn not memorize. How many doctors just say, "that's is cancer." They usually have to look at their books to make sure. You can learn without memorizing everything. Another point made in the chapter is that we should like high school, college and your career. I think this is really important because we can get kids interesting in things so that they will not drop out and will be excited to go to school. This book just keeps getting better.

Speaking in Tongues

I liked this video and I like idea of an immersion program. Some of the things that interest me about this program is the fact that it forms students into world citizens and also gives them more options for choices after high school. These are some great reasons to have an immersion program. Also I found it very interesting that it is easier for Spanish speaking students to learn English through a immersion program. This is a great reason to have an immersion program. I do not think the modern day ESL programs work great but this is a much better thing to have. I wish I could get involved in a program like this, very cool.

Tony Wagner Video

I found this to be very interesting. After looking at the seven skills in the video that kids should be learning to be successful in today's world. I really think that the most important skill is critical thinking. I think this is a great one to learn. Kids need to learn that and the more they know how to critically think the better they will be able to compete in the world economy. Also I think that kids need to learn good oral and written communication. Tony Wagner seems like a very smart man and that we can learn a lot by him. I really enjoyed watching this video and I hope as a whole our education system can work to reach these goals.

Atomic Learning

I learned about Atomic Learning and it was great. I think this is a great thing to know about so that I can learn how to use some technology that I have not used before. This is good stuff for when I start to teach. I now can use a smart board or many other things on Atomic Learning. Also there is stuff about using exel. Exel can be a great program if you can figure it out now I can. It is a great thing.

IDI Reflection

After looking at my IDI I know that I am actually in the Minimization orientation. Which means that I look at the similarities between cultures and may forget some key cultural differences. So I feel that I can work on this over the semester by learning and reading about cultures and looking at key differences because we may have things in common but it is good to know what we have as differences so we can learn more about the people we live with. I am going to read and learn more so I have a better understanding.

Presentation One

This was a great presentation they were talking about what culture was and educating all the other people in the United States. I found this to be interesting because I really did not know the difference between Culture and Society and all the different terms that are involved in this area I thought the presenters did a great job and were very interesting. They even had a Jeopardy Game and it was a good way to go over the key point of their presentation. They also had discussion a video I thought they did a great job for the first group to go.

Education Nation Chapter One

The main points of this chapter that I would outline would be as follows:

Edge One: The Thinking Edge Getting Smarter About Learning

This is the most basic thing that we can do to change education. We have to first change the way we think about education and the process in which we educate students. The hardest thing to change in education is our memories and with those we have a hard time considering a change in education. John Dewey is an educator who started a school in New York. He had three main points based on his thoughts about education the first was, the importance of education in meeting societal goals and success of the American Democracy. I really enjoyed this point I thought this was so true. We can see today how the lack of a quality education can effect people in this country. Dewey could actually tie individual growth with societal growth. Another main point that Dewey had was that you should connect a children s learning to his life. I could not think this was a better point. When I connect things to myself I really feel like I learn them. The other points of this chapter are as follows, one main point that I pulled out of this chapter is that we need to change the way we measure learning and that obviously this No Child Left Behind system of testing is not helping our children become educated.
"Feed the elephant don't weigh the Elephant," this is a great quote connecting the idea of testing to other things with NCLB we are just weighing the elephant while we should be feeding it. These are some of the main points I took out of chapter one. I really am enjoying what this book is telling me and this is very interesting.

Field Experience Day One

I am at Jackson Middle School with a sixth grade teacher in Language Arts. My first day was awesome and I actually got to work with a Intellectually Disabled student. I thought it was awesome being in the class room and it actually made me very excited to do this. I cannot wait for my next trip. Although I know next time I am at the school we will just be doing test which could be boring.

Class Week of January 24th

We now have our small research groups and I am very excited to start our project. I like my group and I think we will have a lot of time to work together. Also we have been watching you tube videos and learning a lot together. I am very excited to be in this class it is a blast and I think that this is a great way to start my time at the College of Education. I am also excited to start my field experience.

UN: 67 million kids not in school

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41846815

This article is very interesting. I have always wondering some things about education world wide. One being, how do kids in third world and war torn countries get educated? I see now after reading this that the kids do not get an education. I feel horrible reading think about how kids are put on the front lines. Just thinking about the innocent kids in our schools and imagining the hell these kids are put through. This is unreal. The other unsettling thing is the statement that they are worried that the number of kids uneducated world wide will actually go up. I sure hope there is a way to make this change forever. I want this to change it is so frustrating. 

Anoka Parents Protest Treatment Of LGBT Students

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2011/02/28/anoka-parents-protest-treatment-of-lgbt-students/

This article is about the protesting in the Anoka Hennepin School District about the sexual orientation policy. The article pretty much has some comments from a parent of  a student that committed suicide and a student that is currently is a school in that district. The problem I have while reading and watching this is how one sided this actually is. New companies in the state of Minnesota and the United States in general seem so eager to do things to make money without any concern of what the truth actually is. I would like to see the actual proof of the things these people are alleging. Also when watching this I feel like it cannot be true because after looking up the school district bullying policy I know it clearly states that there is no reason for someone to be bullied and it should be stopped ALWAYS.

Oxbridge academics 'alarmed' over funding plans

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-12620234

I found this article very interesting due to the fact that the British Colleges are being asked to make the same tough decisions that Universities are making in the United States. I find it hard to believe that this trend is now happening overseas and not just in the United States. I think that the one thing that I and others forget that we are actually in a world wide recession and that we are not the only people that are having to tighten the shoe strings up. When reading this article you will find that the British government is suggesting a raise in rates for student to make up for funding the government is no longer giving to the colleges. The thing that professionals are worried about is that they want the funding to follow what classes the student take and they are worried about staying on top of the world with education and research in their well know colleges. I thought this was very interesting for us to read as Americans.

Movie Bullied

This film was very moving as far as I was concerned. About a young mans horrible journey through school and all the bullying he had to put up with. I was shocked when the administration said that he should expect to be bullied since he was gay. I was disgusted by this and what shocked me about this is that was not all that long ago. The most frustrating part of bullying for teachers is that we know that it will end and how to treat bully's but these poor kids are in pain everyday due to what these bully's are doing. I sure hope that this does not happen in other places and that when a kid reaches out for help they get help. If I was his teacher I would have went directly to the district office and school board if my direct supervisor would not do anything. I feel as if the, "higher ups," would have known about this that it would never happen and I sure hope it doesn't again.

Anoka County, cities, school districts pool resources

http://www.startribune.com/local/north/114869614.html?elr=KArks:DCiUHc3E7_V_nDaycUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUnDayc_MDCi_oO4aDk87EaDUr

This article is interesting. I picked it as a local article because it is so close to home. I know that Anoka Hennepin is having money issues just like many other school districts are right now. I think that this is something we will see happening in other parts of the country and state as well. In big cities like New York the Mayor and the city all ready run the school district. I think in a cash tight time like today what they are doing in Anoka County is a good thing.

Freedom Writers

1) This is a hard question to answer because I think that she actually achieved those hopes and aspirations. She was hoping to make a difference and help the kids and she actually did that.
2)The challenges she confronted at the beginning of the year were gangs, social differences, and anger. These groups of kids hated each other for no reason. They were programmed to be this way by society and their families. I think this was the biggest challenge and that was breaking the social "norm."
3) She had a student who's father was arrested for a crime he didn't commit although he was in a crime. This made this student very angry at police and white people in general her name was Eva. Another case was a student that was living alone on the street because he was kicked out for joining a gang.
4)As the student got interested in learning their academic performance went up.
5) Erin tried to find ways to make the students relate to the teacher and to trust her so that they could get along and start learning. These kids do not trust many people but once they do its a big deal.
6) Some of the teaching methods that the Erin tried were to get the kids involved. Not just preaching at them from the front of the room Erin had activities and trips things to pull the kids into their education and get interested. Also Erin did not follow the set curriculum she related her class to the kids everyday life's to get them interested in her class.
7) She looked for stories that were real that connected to the children. The Holocaust being the largest gang ever and the stories about gangs really got the kids interested and she also showed them that there is more than just their neighborhood by taking them on trips.
8) The other teachers and administrators in the school were anything but supportive. Erin had to go to the school board to get support. Her direct supervisor just wanted to throw her weight around and didn't care about the kids and the other teachers told her she was crazy for trying to help the kids improve their lives.
9) Erin expected the kids to learn and cared that they did learn and that improved the kids academic progress because I think that no one actually cared about them before.
10) I learned the lesson that you can never give up and that you can make a difference if you try hard enough you can help these kids grow.

This film was very moving and motivating to be honest. This is a film that I had never seen before but after seeing it I am glad that I watched the film. When I first saw the interaction in the class room between the students I did not think that there could be a change. But with common sense I knew something was going to happen. I never expected the change to be so dramatic. To see children coming from that area with those backgrounds to be able to go to college or even live past high school was amazing. Just when you think that there is not that many good people in the world you see a film like that and you have something to smile about. Practically everyone had given up on those kids their parents, teachers and friends all checked out and where not supporting them at all. I think that from watching this film I learned some key lessons that will help me with my career. The biggest thing that I learned is to not give up. Even if you have to give it all you have you can succeed. I also remembered that these are just kids and we can always help them or guide them towards a better life. I just hope that I can be half as effective in my career as the people in this film. This was a fantastic movie.

Minn. House takes up alternative teacher licensure

http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=900178

This whole article frustrates me a lot. I am frustrated due to the fact that I am in college to become a trained teacher. There is much more to teaching than knowing the curriculum. For example, my father is an electrical engineer and he knows much more about math than anyone I have ever met. But the problem is he cannot teach math because he cannot relate it to children. Trust me I have asked him several question but he is always over my head. I hope that we as a nation not forget the importance of college educated teaching professionals. I also find it funny that in a time that our state, and nation is struggling to compete world wide this is our top priority. We need to get to the specific issues rather than argue political rhetoric that is really not going to help the situation that we are in now.

Why do I want to be a teacher?

There are a couple of reasons that I want to be a teacher. I will take you back in time a little bit to when I made this decision. I started out college as a marketing major and wanted nothing more to be a big shot in business. But after a year of college at SCSU I thought about what I really want to do. After careful consideration I moved back home and started coaching football at our local high school. After a day of coaching I realized the true reasons why I wanted to be a teacher. Yes, I like working with kids but it is much more than that. I want to be a teacher because I want to be part of what makes this country great. This country like all the others in the world are built on the education of others. I want to help kids that others throw to the side and forget about because they are, "different." Through my experiences of coaching I spent several hours working with EBD students and what I saw was kids who want to be part of something (football) but are afraid that I will just throw them to the side once they act out. I have learned a great deal from these kids also those experiences just verified why I want to be a Special Education teacher.

Hello

Hello my name is Andrew Heidemann and I am a student at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. I am going to school to be a Special Education teacher.