End of the Semester...

As the end of the semester came closer, I began to think of everything I learned and realized thus far about myself, public education, and teaching in general. I realized that being a teacher is truly a job that is rewarding. It is awesome to actually get into a classroom and be able to shape and mold students towards a better future. I learned all the good (and sometimes the bad) things about public education such as NCLB, Demographics, how "Portrait of a Teacher" affects us, etc.

I was able to meet alot of great people at Arts High in Newark, and take in alot of advice and experience from them. I appreciate everything they did for me this semester and was glad to see how open they were to all the Montclair students. In particular, the teacher I observed was awesome. She was so willing to help and eager to answer all my questions. The time I spent in her classroom was great! She helped me learn about teaching and the public school system. Most importantly she taught me about her students and showed me what it means to her to be a teacher and mentor to all of them.

As far as for me, I learned that the classroom is definetely where I want to be. I was able to do alot of substituting for my high school in the last few months, and loved it. I love being able to relate to the students and hopefully give them something to look forward to when they come to school. I learned alot about first year teachers through my inquiry project and know that although it won't always be easy, it's still what I want to do. This course and this year in general has opened my eyes even more into the world of teaching, and I couldn't be happier.

Shaping My Understanding...

The inquiry project so far, has helped me to get an understanding of what it is to be a "first year teacher" and what to do to reach the goals in "Portrait of a Teacher." I have had the pleasure of working with a second year teacher at Arts High School in Newark. She has inspired me even more to become the teacher I have always wanted to be. She welcomes me into her classroom everytime I visit and shares all her experience with me as well. I have questioned her about everything I could think of, and she has always come back with a warm and informative answer. I appreciate everything she has helped me with, and look forward to interviewing her even further. I have learned that first year teachers, especially those whose curriculum and grade level changes at the last minute, are dealing with loads of stress. They need support to get through the year and need a staff that is willing to help. First year teachers, I have learned, are entering a new world, one that is their own. Student teaching is thrown out the window, and now they are dealing with their own class, their own students, and their own curriculum. It's basically like walking into the jungle where students can be your biggest nightmare if you don't walk in with confidence and a plan.

This has shaped my understanding of public education by basically letting me live in the world of a teacher, and experience for myself what it is like. I have also been able to substitute at my own high school for a first year teacher. I am able to see how he handles his class by how the students are treating me. I learn through the students how this specific teacher works, his personality, and whether or not the children respect him. I have been able to see what is needed as a first year teacher to gain the respect of the students right from the start. I am beginning to understand how important a solid teacher/student relationship needs to be in order for the students to be better prepared for their future. Students need to understand that a teacher is there to do just that; teach, prepare, make the difference. If they don't understand what the teacher is trying to do, and why he/she is trying to do that, they will not be as accepting of learning in the classroom, and will give no respect to that teacher.

I am beginning to understand what a teacher needs to do to reach the goals in "Portrait of a Teacher" and why those goals are being set. They are helping teachers create a better learning enviornment while keeping their students interested and able to learn. Teachers need to be able to educate their students and work for them to want to learn, and want to be there. Teaching is extrememly "hands on" and teachers need to work to gain a student's respect. By learning all of this, I am able to see what a first year teacher goes through, and how to apply their resources to my future goals. They have helped me to see what is needed in the classroom, and how important it really is to have support and a welcoming classroom.

Annotated Bibliography

In junction with my group, here is one of our articles we have selected.

The article can be found at http://www.jstor.org/pss/3447619 and it's titled

"Conceptions of Teaching Held by Academic Teachers."


What I got from this article was the sense that there are many different conceptions of learning and teaching. There are many different "theories" that teachers use to help children understand what they are teaching. No one is really to say which one works, and which doesn't but the article explores some conceptions of teaching and what they mean to teachers. I thought this would work in our project when we interview our teachers to see what they think about the "dimensions" of these theories and how they can/can't help reach the goals in "The Portrait of a Teacher." The study done in this article basically dives into what teaching in perceived as and what teachers really experience and think of teaching and its definition.

Inquiry Project Topic

I am doing a group project with Mike and Nicole.





Our inquiry project topic will be "What are the struggles of a first year teacher?" and we are also looking to include the "Portrait of a Teacher" and how teachers relate and work towards the goals stated in it. We would like to interview a first year teacher, preferably from Montclair, and talk about all the struggles they face.





Some example questions would be:





As a first year teacher, what have been some of the major issues that you have come across?





Has the "Portrait of a Teacher" helped you to prepare for these struggles, and move forward to overcome them?





What is some of the strongest advice you have received from anyone at Montclair in reference to becoming a teacher?





Have you been able to format a plan to help guide you througout your career?





In the "Portrait of a Teacher" it states a teacher should be able to, "Build relationships with school colleagues, families, and agencies in the community to support students’ learning and well-being, and work to foster an appreciation of diversity among students and colleagues." How have you approached this topic so far?





What or who helps you to deal with the issues you face; and what keeps you going when you are stressed out?








In addition to interviewing a first year teacher, we would also like to interview a teacher that has been in the field for quite some time, also preferably from Montclair, and is able to talk about what exactly helped them get to where they are today.





Some example questions would be:





What was your first year of teaching like? Did you face any major struggles?





In the "Portrait of a Teacher" it states that a teacher should, "Understand how children and adolescents learn and develop in a variety of school, family and community contexts, and can provide learning opportunities that support their students’ intellectual, social, and personal development." What in your experience has helped you work towards this goal?





Is there anything that you changed about your teaching style over the years?





What would be your advice for students working towards becoming a teacher?





We will be working towards figuring out what can help students work towards the goals stated in the "Portrait of a Teacher." By interviewing teachers and collecting data, we will be able to come closer to a conclusion, or at least reach a point that can help us understand what becoming a teacher really means.

NCLB and Citizenship

After doing a little reading and thinking about the different persepectives on citizenship, I tried to connect them to NCLB to see which model of citizenship fits best.

The three types of citizens are:
(taken from here)

The Personally Responsible Citizen:
This citizen is an active member of their community, works and pays taxes, recycles, gives blood, and volunteers to lend a hand in times of crisis.

The Participatory Citizen:
This citizen is an active member of community organizations and/or improvement efforts, organizes community efforts to care for those in need, promotes economic development, or cleans up the envoirnment, knows how government agencies work, and knows strategies for accomplishing collective tasks.

The Justice-oriented Citizen:
This citizen critically assesses social, political, and economic structures to see beyond surface causes, seeks out and addresses areas of injustice, and knows about social movements and how to effect systemic change.

Basically, these three citizens models start off from what benefits you and your community, to what benefits you can have in society. In the article, "Character Education Abstract," it states that "character education is an inclusive concept regarding all aspects of how families, schools, and related social instituions support the positive character development of children and adults." My question is who decides what "positive character development" is, and what makes it the right method for everyone? What kind of citizen is the right kind? Where should children learn these values and positive character development?

These questions are going to be left unanswered, sinceI do not know the correct answer, and it seems that the education department doesn't make it clear either. As I continue to read over the U.S. Department of Education's website, I can't help but find more unclear statements on charcter development and becoming a good citizen. For example, the website states that, "Character is a set of qualities, or values, that shape our thoughts, actions, reactions and feelings. People with strong character show compassion, are honest and fair, display self-discipline in setting and meeting goals, make good judgments, show respect to others, show courage in standing up for beliefs, have a strong sense of responsibility, are good citizens who are concerned for their community, and maintain self-respect." It even goes on to explain what their meaning of these traits are. According to this statement, I would assume that NCLB would like children to become a personally responsible citizen since it states that they should be concerned with their community. Making good judgements and being honest and fair can be associated with obeying laws, recycling, and paying taxes -- all part of being a personally responsible citizen.

However, the Dept. Of Ed. also states that, " Citizenship requires doing our share for our community and our country. Being a good citizen means caring about the good of society and participating actively to make things better.Citizenship requires doing our share for our community and our country. Being a good citizen means caring about the good of society and participating actively to make things better." This can easily be characteristics of a Participatory Citizen. It clearly states that being a good citizen is making a difference in the community and in society. It states that you need to take the extra effort and participate in community efforts to make a difference.

Lastly, the Dept. of Ed. states that, "Patriotism is an important part of good citizenship. Patriotism is love of and loyalty to our country. It involves honoring the democratic ideals on which the country is based and expecting elected officials to do the same, respecting and obeying its laws and honoring its flag and other symbols. It also involves accepting the responsibilities of good citizenship, such as keeping informed about national issues, voting, volunteering and serving the country in times of war." This can be translated into being a Justice-Oriented citizen. Clearly, you need to know about the political system and know how to be an active member in it. It states that you need to know about social movements by keeping informed about national issues, etc.

Clearly, NCLB can include all models of citizenships and there is no right or wrong answer here. All the citizenship models represent good ideas towards building a strong citizen. I would stop focusing so much on which individual model of citizenship NCLB should follow and combine them all to make a super citizen. I think it's important for children and adults to be active in their community, know how government agencies work, and how to effect systemic change. All of these characteristics are important and should all be looked at together. There is no reason why NCLB can't incorporate all of these models to make something better, something that might just make a difference. Before this happens, there needs to be a better understanding of what exactly makes a good character an who is going to decide that.

Children need to be taught that being a citizen and having good character are intertwined. They work with each other and teach us how to be the best addition to society. We not only help ourselves this way, but communities and society will see a difference as well. People should always be willing to add a good input and idea and show the world that anyone can make a difference. There needs to be an idea of working together, and that will make the best model of a citizen and an even better society.

What is NCLB?

NCLB is No Child Left Behind. NCLB consists of four pillars (click here for the official website)that are:

• Stronger Accountability for Results: this basically states that all students are required to achieve academic proficiency. This calls for all states to be on the same level with their academic progress. The district and state will have annual report cards and be responsible for supplemental services if that school is not making adequate yearly progress (AYP). If the school is still not making AYP after five years, "dramatic" changes will be made to the school.
• More Freedom for States and Communities:this basically states that school districts can use their funds any way they want. They can transfer money from fund to fund based on what they think is important for the school
• Proven Education Methods:this basically states that "scientific research" will determine which educational programs are effective, and federal funding will support these select programs.
• More Choices for Parents:this basically states that if a parent feels their child is not getting a sufficient education in their current school, and the school has failed to meet AYP for two years, they are able to transfer their child out of that school and into another school as long as it is in the same district. The district is responsible for that student's transportation.

These are the main ideas that are stemming from NCLB. They are cleary ineffective, and have not been though out. Often, people think that this is something that the government just threw out recently, but that is not the case. NCLB is 50+ years in the making. It started way back at the end of the civil war when the Office of Education was established in 1868. The establishment of education continued into JFK's era, hit some bumps in Regan's era, and made it out alive with George Bush and Bill Clinton.

Goals 2000, later changed to America 2000 was a big jump for education. The plan was to raise literacy rates 90% and improve math and science in schools. They wanted to have equal education and make society better for the children. After America 2000, the "Texas Miracle" with Rod Paige (superintendant in Houston, TX) was introduced. This was the prequal to NCLB, and was said to have raised education standards in Texas. After this, in 2001, NCLB was piloted at the state level where it won the support of both Republicans and Democrats.

Throughout NCLB's long journey, one thing was brought up and pushed over and over again. American's need to spend more time on Math, English, and Science. This idea has revolved over and over again so that we can keep up with the "race." Other countries are clearly advancing, making it harder for Americans to stay on top. NCLB has many ideas, as shown in the "Four Pillars" that have not been clearly thought out, making them flawed in many aspects. Even with it's flaws, NCLB has some promising insights. With much needed improvement, NCLB can have the resources to truly help students and the education system overall.

Language Arts in the Classroom

Language Arts is a subject that is part of every school and every curriculum. Students must not only pass the subject, but be tested on it as well. The HSPAs have a Language Arts section that many students have trouble passing due to lack of preparation. This testing is just one implication that teachers face today; budgets and classroom resources also play a large role in teaching Language Arts to students.

The HSPAs are becoming an important topic in schools today. Students are constantly being prepared for them in many different ways. Some schools teach only what they can during school hours, while other schools have developed tutoring and after school programs to help the children prepare for testing if and when they need it. This is where the budget and classroom resources come into play. The school develops extra programs, such as tutoring, when the budget allows for it. These extra programs can be the distingushing factor between a student passing or failing. Unfortunately, teachers have to accept the fact that some schools may not have the budget to include these programs into the curriculum.

The budget problems don't stop there. Language Arts requires many books to fulfill the course work. If the budget doesn't allow for new or updated books, the materials might be unreliable to the teachers. In serious cases, teachers might not have enough books for every student making it harder to teach literature in the classroom. If those issues aren't tough enough to deal with, imagine having books that are destroyed or missing pages. These are all the issues that come with not having enough classroom resources and not having a workable budget.

Teachers have to keep all of these situations in mind when they are in the classroom. If the school doesn't have enough resources for all students to have books, the teacher might require that the students purchase their own. This might seem easy enough, but there are more things to consider here as well. Books are not super expensive, but some families are in situations where they cannot afford any extra school supplies. Teachers must put this into consideration and keep in mind what kind of area they are working in. Unfortunately there are many things that can go wrong in school life, but teachers must control the situation and use the resources they have to do the best they can for their students.

A positive outlook can mean all the difference to the students. Teachers learn to work around what they have whether the budget allows for it or not. Some teachers must make sacrifices to help their students when tutoring programs are not available. Students need the proper guidance and looks to their teachers for help. Dedication makes the difference in their lives helping them to keep moving forward.