Blog 16-Military students

While searching for an article this week on the New York Times website I came across an article that really interested me because this last anniversary of 9/11 I realized my students weren’t even born yet. We have been at war for a number of years now and for some of our students have had it apart of their entire life. The article I read discussed the emotional problems that are being seen in students due to parents or family members being deployed to war. Before I continue think of your own life, do you know someone who has been deployed or maybe is right now? Without thinking more than ten seconds I can think of four people that I know who have fought in Iraq. Two of the four have a wife and young children. Now that you have those people on your mind, how did you/do you feel when they are leaving or gone? How is life when they return, did it return to normal? I’m sure you don’t have the most pleasant thoughts in your mind right now but can you imagine being a child or teenager with these thoughts? That is a very adult situation to deal with.
A recent study interviewed 1,500 children ranging from the ages of 11 and 17. Of those interviewed, 95% of the deployments were 11 months long. The researcher shared that students are missing school functions, feeling alone with no one they feel understanding their problem and having large responsibility at home which can affect their academics. I can’t imagine what these students are going through. I have also heard of some families having difficulties adjusting to life after deployment which will most likely affect a child as well. For many cases they get life back to normal and the soldier is called back up to duty and the icky cycle starts again. I have personally not had any students who have had military parents/family members so I have not had to help these students but that can change any day. Have you had any students from military families? Our school has a great support system and our counselor is always willing to meet with students individually or with small groups but I wonder if that would be enough. I would love to hear what schools have done or your experiences.
In the article it stated that students who live on a military base do better during deployment and they assume this is due to the support on a military base. They provide more services for military families. I would also assume that students on military bases are also more used to the military life because they live in it. I have friends who have lived and worked on a military base in Alaska and they said the schools are a little different. All students are familiar with military life and have more experience with deployment situations. Has anyone working on a military base? Do the schools there do anything extra to help these students?

Blog 15-Fundraising

The number of hours and days in school has been a hot topic this semester. Most schools are trying to add hours or days to their school year but many find this difficult due to funds. This is no different for public schools in Chicago. According to an article from The New York Times, Chicago schools have the lowest number of school hours in the country. Obama’s administration is urging a change and the $4 billion dollars of education money is enough motivation to make changes but Chicago’s Public Schools currently have no money to do so. It would cost their 417,000 students $208 million to attend school longer than the current 5 hours and 8 minutes (from what I understand some schools only attend 4 days a week as well). I was shocked to read that these students only attend school for about 5 hours. From my knowledge most ND students are in school about 7 hours and charter schools in Chicago also attend school for about 7 hours.
I’m sure you as educators can all agree that Chicago Public Schools need to find some kind of solution so their students can receive more education. In negotiations teachers were willing to extend the school day as long as they were paid and of course that is where the high amount of funds is needed. I don’t have the answer but Chicago parents are trying to help out. Parents at one school are trying to pull together to raise $100,000 by fundraising to put towards the cause of longer school days. That would be about $385 per students which is a lot to ask for saying many of these students are coming from low income homes. I really commend these parents although it is a drastic amount of money and I’m not sure it is parent’s responsibility to find these dollars. What do you think?
I know when we fundraise parents usually complain and say they would rather just write a check rather than do another kind of fundraiser. Currently, we fundraise once a year and it buys new playground equipment but this year some of us teachers would like to have the money buy guided reading books for primary grades and other elementary grades if there are extra funds. We all do guided reading but are using a website that allows you to print black and white books. The site costs money and currently our PTO funds that but overall the books get boring and I think it would make a big difference if we have a nice guided reading library. I was so excited about this idea but now find myself a little torn because I think the schools should be taking a little more responsibility with these money issues. I don’t know if I think it is fair that our PTO is paying for our current books. These books are a part of our curriculum so why isn’t the school footing the bill? What are your thoughts on this as a teacher or parent? Our district has great parent involvement so our parents would probably never make a big deal about this but is this right?

Blog 14-Get ready for the "K-SAT"

I have taught kindergarten before and currently teach first grade so I have participated in kindergarten screening and I do find it an important tool for the school and future teachers. I recently found an article in the New York Times about the screening tests that are used for kindergarteners who want to get into a private school. On the east coasts kindergarten students are being assessed as part of an application process to the school. What is becoming a problem is that some parents are paying for special tutoring sessions to prep their youngster for the admissions test. Private schools are saying they frown upon tutoring for these students because they want the assessment to show the child’s true abilities not the tutoring sessions that teaches to the test.
I find all of this very interesting! First off, I agree that the screening or assessments used are only beneficial if is the true child’s abilities showing. I also cannot believe that parents are paying up to $1,000 for this special tutoring or books for home use that cost up to $90. These are four year olds so the information they need to know if information all parents should know and be able to teach. In my opinion a little parent involvement goes a long ways. I strongly believe that if parents play with their child frequently and “teach” them (play games, read books, talk about the world around them, etc) their child be a successful preschooler and do well in kindergarten. I also think these tutoring sessions are way too stressful for such a young child. The tutoring sessions work on aspects of the test and prepare a child to sit for an hour. An hour! I find that shocking. I have students who are six and seven and can’t sit for an hour, I don’t know if I believe that a three or four year old should be forced to sit that long. These are some of my own personal professional opinions on the matter and I would be interested in what others think. Would you pay for special tutoring?

Blog 13-To restain or not to restrain?

We all have diverse students in our classroom and in my personal opinion we are seeing more and more students with labels and unique situations. If you live under a rock or have a perfect classroom I’m talking about emotionally disturbed students, special education students, autistic students, etc. I had a large number of classes on these disabilities but I don’t think anything can train you for the real life situations. I currently have an emotionally disturbed child but his meds keep him in control and I’ve been lucky so far this year but that doesn’t mean I haven’t restrained a child. I work in a school with six classrooms (only K and 1) so we find out pretty quick if a child is losing it and if back up is needed. In the last couple years we have had a large number of students with emotional problems that cause them to be physically dangerous to themselves or others. Our district did its part and provided free training on how to properly deal with these students. The first steps are to prevent blow ups and the last resort is physical restraints. You might think, great you should be set to go but sadly I feel far from trained. I can’t even remember what the official class was called or the exact procedures.
I have had to restrain two separate students and it was very interesting. Neither of them were my students but I was a backup in one situation and I was the one teacher right there who had to handle the student before they ran away. It was a very tiring process and we honestly did not have any other option although I can say those two situations have been the only two in the last two years. Sadly, this isn’t the case in Texas.
I read an article from The Texas Tribune that stated there were 18,000 restraints used last year in their schools. There have even been a number of situations where a student was injured and in one situation a student died of suffocation when a teacher was sitting on him to restrain him. The article includes pictures of one injured student. Many Texans are outraged over these statistics. I understand that these statistics are scary but many of these situations are very dangerous at times. In one situation in Texas a student was restrained after he stabbed his teacher, call me crazy but I think restraints were necessary here. Another example I have happened right here in ND. A first grade student was going belligerent and could not be controlled but restraints are very much not urged. The special education teachers were doing their best without restraints and he ended up kicking a window and breaking it. Do you think a restraint should have been used before a window was broken? Have you had to restrain students? What should be done? Some schools have hired professionals that are very educated to handle these students but many schools might not have this privilege. What are your thoughts?

Blog 12-Teachers getting a grade

As teachers we are constantly assessing our students to ensure that they are being successful. We want our students to be given the best education so they can succeed in the future. Their best education starts with great educators and we know that there are fantastic educators out there; many of you are reading this. President Obama made a recent speech in Wisconsin stating that we need to give our students the best education so they can get degrees and work successfully in the job world. What can schools do to provide students the best education? To start we can make sure that the best educators are in the classroom. I think this is where we can start making some changes. I want you to think about how you as a teacher are evaluated. Currently in my teaching position I am evaluated once a year by my principal. After he observes one of my lessons we discuss what my strengths and weaknesses are and what needs to be improved. That right there in a nut shell is how my performance is evaluated. Once in awhile my principal pokes his head in and looks over my lessons plans when I email them weekly. In your opinion is this enough to evaluate a teacher’s performance? If we were grading our students, would one assessment be enough? Are you evaluated differently? Do you think schools are doing enough to evaluate their teacher’s performance?
In the article it discusses the current “firewall” that does not allow student’s test scores to measure teacher performance. Some propose that this changes. Wisconsin is possibility going to get rid of the current firewall and use test scores in the future to grade teacher’s performance. What are your thoughts on this? I think this could be a small component to use as a teacher evaluation. Do you think I’m totally crazy thinking this? I understand that a class can be very unique but some tests (MAP for example) shows growth for each student as individuals. Again, I think this should be a small way to evaluate a teacher. If a teacher’s students are continuously not showing progress on assessments wouldn’t that show something about the teacher? In Wisconsin, if test scores are eventually used to evaluate teacher’s performance it is guaranteed that teachers cannot receive suspension or terminations from their job from these results. I believe it would take more than test scores for that type of action.
More about Wisconsin’s decision to use test scores is included in this article. Some Chicago schools may also be starting to evaluate their teachers by student’s progress. This new move is being supported by Obama’s administration and has very mixed feelings. What are yours?

Blog 11-Bullies...what now?

I’m sure we can all think of a student who was/is bullied in school or on the school bus. It’s a sad situation and it seems to be getting worse. I have read a few articles about recent bullying and I’m starting to think it’s becoming more noticeable in younger grades and we aren’t doing enough about it.
I have seen two personal examples of recent bullying of a sixth grade and ninth grade boy. In both situations the bullying has been ongoing. In one situation spitting was the main form of bulling and it ended in punches and stolen money. The sixth grade situation was the typical vocal blows but it involved large amounts of swearing. It just amazes me that kids are swearing at such a young age and are using it bully situations. In an article from the New York Times a girl was raped by a group of men. It was done at the end of a dance in the school courtyard. The school has now increases security. Another article I read was from a local Mississippi newspaper. It discusses the rise of female bullies. Girls take bulling to a new level. They get very personal and emotional. This has become so popular that they have even made a movie called, Mean Girls.
So now that we know there is a huge problem what do we do as educators? Well I wish I had that easy answer but I don’t know if anyone does. I do have a suggestion for myself and any other educator. I think we need to start early, really early! I have seen kindergarten and first grade students (mainly girls) start “popular” groups or leave the same students out. As a teacher I know that some students don’t mesh well together and to be honest I try to avoid confrontation and I do not push students to work with students they don’t care for. I’m starting to think that I need to stop that and teach student’s tolerance and acceptance of different people. I want my students to learn that we don’t have to be best friends with everyone but we need to show mutual respect for everyone I think the younger we can start teaching this the better off we will be. As a teacher I also hope to promote an open door policy where student can always come to me if someone is bothering them. This is something I need to take seriously. I also want to be a fly on the wall as much as possible so I can know my students and try to prevent harmful bully situations.
I do not work with any type of older students and my bully problems can usually be handled easily but is there anything new happening out there to decrease bully situations? I was crushed when I heard of the two situations. I never would have guessed that students could be that mean. I feel that something has to be done or else we are going to have some scary situations to deal with.

Blog 10-"Sick" of make-up work!

We have all been bombarded by news of the swine flu but I think many of us are now seeing the swine flu in action. I believe we have encountered flu season a little early this year and I am seeing the affects more this year than I have ever in the past. In my school that has six classrooms of kindergarten and first grade students for a total of 91 students had an average of 23 students gone each day last week. We also had two of six teachers gone for a day. The students that are missing school are usually out for about 3-5 days. In my classroom I had 7 of 16 students gone for two days and I now have a huge pile of make-up work for these students.
I read an article from the St. Cloud newspaper that discusses similar problems. Many of their schools have had large numbers of students gone and teachers as well as students are having trouble keeping up with all of the work students are missing. Parents are calling to pick up make up homework and some teachers are having trouble keeping up with those demands. When students return they are overwhelmed at the work they have missed. Some of the teachers have tried to offer lessons students have missed online through blogs. Other teachers have just been scaling back on homework. They will spend some class time reviewing the previous day lesson and only assign the necessary homework in hopes that students won’t feel so overwhelmed when they return. I also found online that Scholastic has 20 days of work that students can work on while they are missing school. I didn’t find it super helpful but it is a nice resource to have available and I give Scholastic credit for trying to help!
I think schools and teachers are doing the best they can in this situation but I am finding myself and my class is a tough situation. Last week I slowed down my teaching and did lots of reviewing so the students missing didn’t miss so many new concepts but I can only do that for so long. The long weekend helped so the students missing had some extra days to recover but they still have a large pile of work to do when they return. I have gone through and picked what I find necessary for them to complete but I still feel that I need to go back and do some re-teaching for the handful of students who missed all three days last week. Is that the right decision or should I just send the work home and hope that parents do their part and catch their child up so the rest of my class isn’t sitting there bored or should I be letting students go home with little homework since many are still working to get healthy? Have you had similar problems in your classroom? I have not tried doing a blog or anything like that because I don’t think there is too much I could do through a blog. Have you tried anything different to help students catch up? I would love to hear anyone’s input on what the school or teachers could be doing different during this flu season because I’m afraid it’s going to be a long one.

Blog 9-Online high school

I was listening to the radio the other day and I heard an advertisement for online high school and immediately I was thinking, what in the world! I quickly formed an opinion (I do that often) and thought that is wrong, a student needs to go to high school and gain the experience. Then I sat back and thought about it more in depth and changed my opinion (I do that often too). I initially realized I had to think about this more because here I am enrolled in an online graduate program so I must think online learning works!
I decided to do an online graduate program because I wanted to continue working, travel and lead a busy life but still complete courses on my own time. I do not know many high school students who need to continue a full time job or have funds to travel constantly so I researched more about virtual high schools and found some good reasons for these online classes. Students take these online classes if they have illness or injury that makes face to face high school difficult, need credit recovery or they want to take classes that are not offered at their school. Some students are able to take advanced classes or classes that will earn them college credit. One article stated that online high school was allowing students to take classes that were not a high demand in their area and without these online courses the student would not had the opportunity to take such a class. I did find out from the North Dakota Center for Distance Education that a student could also graduate from an online high school. The courses run very similar to our online courses. There is a cost and the student is liable to pay the course fees and textbook costs.
What do you think of this idea? If your son/daughter wanted to complete high school online would you allow them to? Do you think a high school student can gain just as much from an online high school as they can from attending high school? This may be something that has been around for awhile but I haven’t heard of it much before so I’m interested to hear any information that one has. I do think this type of program or class would appeal to the 21st century learner. It is a great opportunity for a student to take a class that they are interested in. This type of class is also a great way to prepare for an online college course.
Another website dedicated to Virtual High School discusses how virtual high school works and it is very similar to our graduate classes. This specific Virtual High School even uses Blackboard.

Blog 8-Who is doing homework?

Homework, it is something we have all experienced and as educators it is a part of our profession. I teach first grade and even them at a young age have homework almost nightly. That is a whole other conversation but I ask myself, am I giving my students homework or their parents. I read an article from The Wall Street Journal about parents helping their child too much with their homework. I think this is starting to happen more and more and with a variety of age levels. It is causing students to become helpless and too dependent on adults.
Schools are urging parents to take part in their child’s education and that includes homework. Families are living very busy lives and often times have events and activities on school nights. This adds pressure to complete homework after a long day before bedtime. Parents provide extra help which usually includes giving more answers than assistance because they feel they have to make sure their child is keeping up with the competitiveness of the current education system. A great example of this happened in my classroom today. A little guy was having trouble with a math problem and as soon as others started to finish he came up to me and said, “I’m just going to take this home so my mommy can help me.” I was shocked that he wouldn’t just ask me (the teacher) for help. When I said he needed to finish it at school he started crying. I’m sure we have also seen the big projects that come with mom’s and dad’s touches to them. They look perfect and when you ask the student how they completed it or why they did it that way they don’t have anything to say. I have seen this every year, one project specifically. Every Thanksgiving we send home a turkey that the students are supposed to disguise and many return very cute but very much done by a parent. When I say done by a parent I don’t mean they did it when their child was in bed, I mean the parents put more work or influence on the project than the child does. In my opinion this is destroying our children. Students compare their work to work that was mainly done by an adult and they get frustrated when they don’t see the same results.
I found one article that gives a suggestion to set ups a homework area in the home. Another article gives suggestions to use at home to make homework go smoothly and less stressful. The most important points are to have a certain time and place that homework occurs so it is consistent and turn the TV off!!! I really liked this site because it offers tips and answer the common questions on how to guide your child through their homework not do it for them. I think this is a great article to share with parents at a conference or in a newsletter.
Are you noticing anything like this in your classrooms? Do you have suggestions for teacher or parents in this situation?

Blog 7-To bounce or to not bounce...

Can you imagine how much you would accomplish everyday if you students just sat down! I teach first grade and my students are consonantly standing up or moving around but I have a feeling this isn’t just a first grade problem. I have had student’s sit on seat cushions from our OT specialist and that has worked for some. I recently heard of the idea of using yoga balls, also called stability balls or fitness balls instead of chairs. They come in a variety of sizes and prices. After a few days of wiggly students I would love to try this so I decided to research it tonight and use the information for my blog this week.
I found a few articles from this past summer discussing the use of fitness balls in the classroom. One article is about a fourth grade teacher in Panama City, FL who used them in her classroom last year. Samantha Rogers student taught in a Missouri classroom that also used them in the classroom and learned about it in a workshop that discussed different learning styles. Rogers saw great results. The students paid more attention and she found it successful to promote good behavior. Mayo Researchers also promote that the use of fitness balls increases blood flow, increases oxygen intake, and improves posture. All of those reasons help the brain work so it sounds like a great idea, right? I think it would really help students concentrate longer. Students may sway or lightly bounce and I think that would be ok. I do have a few reservations about the use of these bouncy chairs. I would hope that after a few uses of the ball they would not be viewed as a toy by students and won’t be a distraction but that can’t be known for sure and this is an expensive “experiment.” The balls are also very expensive and I do not think I could ask parents to pay for something so costly and I’m not confident that my school would purchase them either. Parents out there, would you buy a $25 ball for your students to use in class or would you find this a ridiculous request? There obviously is some concern about the safety of sitting on fitness balls but Rogers says she has not had any accidents where students were injured. I find this a small concern because students fall of their chairs all the time (I told you they like to wiggle). On paper it seems like it would really increase student learning.
The school in FL where Rogers teaches uses the balls as a reward for honor roll students and I strongly disagree with this. I think it’s great to recognize high achievers but I don’t think this is the right way. In my opinion, the students who would gain most from this are the students who may struggle with their work because of the short attention spans.
I found a fitness article that suggests tips to incorporate the new sitting tool in your classroom (or office). They stress that you should introduce them into your classroom with ease. Don’t make them mandatory and have students use them in short time frames until students get used to them.
Well ladies and gentleman, any advice or stories for me on this issue? Should I try it? I was thinking I could bring in a few to try out this year. I would appreciate any comments.

Blog 6- Extending School Days & School Year

President Obama has stated that US students are not in school long enough. Currently students are in school for about 6 hours a day and have a 3 month summer break. Obama says this is not enough to keep up with schools in other countries. He would like to extend the school day and shorten the summer break. One article I read said the extended school time would have to have a purpose to make it successful for students. They suggested doing enrichment projects with students during the extended time. They would hope this would help raise test scores.
The tradition schedule we use was based on the fact that students were helping in the family fields during the summer and that usually is no longer the case. Therefore, Obama feels we should be in school more to be more competitive with students from other countries. My personal opinion on the competitiveness of other countries is the comparison is unfair. Countries like China have very high standards for education and many students who do not succeed in school begin their trade earlier in life. The US has become a cultural melting pot in the past decade and that has changed our education system greatly so I don’t think we can make an even comparison with other education systems.
I found another article from Fox News that discusses other negative effects of extending the school year. By shortening the summer it could affect the traveling and summer camp business. The current economy has already hurt the travel and summer camp industry and extending the school year could really damage those industries. Here is something to think about though; should we be worrying about the travel industry and summer camps more than our child’s education?
The same article also discusses the extra expense that would be required from a school district to have longer school days/school year. It would require more bus transportation, more school lunches, higher utility bills, possibly increased teacher pay and air conditioning for certain regions. Can school districts handle this? Are tax payers ready to pay more to accommodate this plan?
To finish I will state my personal thoughts and questions. I understand where Obama is coming from and I often feel like I run out of time with my students and so many students need more instruction but can students handle more? I already feel like my students are exhausted by 2:30pm. We have also all seen how students are when it hits May. Once the nice weather hits they are ready for a break (and so are the teachers). If we had a shortened summer break and added weeks onto the school year would this change our curriculums that we currently use or would we just supplement our own curriculum for the extra time? What would this do to extra-curriculars? I think extra-curriculars are very important for student’s success. A school district in Florida (Miami-Dade) tired something like this and abandoned the extended schedule because they did not see much progress so what does this plan include that will make it more successful than what Miami-Dade tried.
I agree that we need to get our students prepared for their future but is this the right answer?

Blog 5-Mapping Our Instruction

I went to a Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) Matters in-service today and it sparked my interest and excitement for this assessment. I think the MAP test offers a variety of positives for our students and our instruction. MAP is an assessment that is done on the computer and can be done with students as early as kindergarten. The test is not created for grade levels, it is created to test individual abilities. All students can take the test and will be assessed on what they currently know, not what they should know for their grade level. Students are tested three times a year and that allows us as teachers to see growth throughout the year and implement differentiated instruction when necessary. A great part of MAP testing is the instant results. Teachers are able to view reports of the whole class the following day. I think this is so important so teachers can actually use the information throughout the year to improve student learning. This is quite different from state assessments where teachers wait a long time for their student’s results. Student’s RIT scores can be used to compare students to each other and to other students in the nation. By looking at the reports a teacher can also see what standards the class or individual students are struggling wiyj. This not only allows a teacher to help students who struggle but they are able to see what students are above average and can provide specific instruction for those students as well. I think it’s great that there is also a MAP assessment for primary grades (K-2). The MAP Primary provides a warm up test for students to use to learn how the test works. Students on the MAP Primary can also take a skills checklist test as often as the teacher would like. This allows a teacher to keep very close tabs on skills that the teacher chooses to test. There is so much more to MAP testing so if you would like to know more about the MAP test you can visit the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA)website or Teacher Web for additional information.
I read an article from an Ohio newspaper that discusses how the MAP test works and how it has been beneficial in their schools. The article shared that some schools are grouping their classes into three learning levels according to MAP scores. In the example given the class that had the low readers were able to be taught at their level and made positive gains on their next test. Do you think this is something that would work in your schools? I see both sides of that, I think it would be great for students to be taught at their ability but what would parents say about this and are their disadvantages of not having a variety of achievement levels in the classroom? The article also states that MAP scores provide schools with a early look at how their students may perform on the State Assessment. I have not used MAP testing yet but I would be interested in hearing if this has proved to be right. During my in-service today a speaker also mentioned that some states (Idaho and Utah) are combining the MAP test and state assessment by using a test created special by NWEA. Do you think this would be a good idea so we could eliminate testing but still receive the results we want? I would love to hear anyone’s input (positive or negative) on MAP testing. Do you think this is as great as it was presented to me in my in-service?

Blog 4-The winner is....

Students usually don’t walk out of our class saying, “Great lesson, I really learned a lot today” and it is often that a teacher may go days without being told they are doing a good job. We tend to just keep working hard. The Department of Education is trying to recognize the schools for doing a job well done. The Blue Ribbon Award is a part of the No Child Left Behind and many schools are rewarded each year. I first heard about the Blue Ribbon Award when an elementary school in Harwood, ND received the award. I then came across an article from The Washington Post that revealed the schools that are receiving the 2009 Blue Ribbon Award and that made me research this award a little more.
The state nominates public schools and each state receives a certain number of nominations depending on the number of students per state. Schools can be nominated if they make significant gains on their state assessments and have a large population of disadvantaged students. Private schools can also be nominated by the Council for American Private Education. Schools who win the award receive a plaque and are recognized in Washington D.C.
At first I assumed the schools that were receiving the Blue Ribbon Award were schools with low numbers of special needs, schools with bigger budgets and high numbers of parent involvement but I was completely wrong. The Department of Education website shows that in order for school to be eligible for the award they must have 40% of their student population come from a disadvantaged background. After finding out this information and reading the article I have so much respect for the schools that have received this award. Many of the schools that are receiving the award were struggling and through positive administration or changes in parent involvement they were able to make changes. One of the examples credits their success to their principal for making changes in the school. Another example states that the support teachers received from parents helped raise their state assessment scores. I learned from the website that there were two more ND schools that received this honorable reward in 2008 and that has inspired me to think any school can reach this goal. I wonder if many educators know about this award and if it is something a teacher would find beneficial to strive for? I think it would be exciting to win a national award. What do you think your school needs to become a school to be nominated for this award? Do you need a stronger administration, more funds for curriculum or more input and support from home?
For more information on this award or to see the archives of past recipients check out the Department of Education website. I found it very interesting. The website also has documents you can read from the past winners about becoming a better school or the ideas they used. I found many of those very interesting. I thought the Charter Oak Primary School was a really good in-depth report. I would love to hear your comments on this award, do you think this will help school improve?

Blog 3-Religion in Schools

Every morning I ask myself what should I wear and don’t think too hard if what I choose is against the law or not. This recently has become an issue again in two states. I read an article in last weekend’s Forum that discussed the current law in three states (Oregon, Pennsylvania and Nebraska). A law that was created many years ago has held up in current years when the issue has been challenged. Teachers are not allowed to wear any clothing that relates to religion. The article referred to turbans or headdresses. This summer Oregon had changed the law allowing religious clothing to be worn at the workplace except for teachers. Their reasoning is to make sure religion is staying out of school and teachers are not promoting a certain religion to their students. I understand that separating school and religion has been in the books for awhile and is important but would this law stop me from wearing a cross necklace? Do these schools allow students to wear their religious clothing?
I found this article interesting since we were reading about diversity and ethnic groups in our chapter. I feel it is important to recognize different cultures and accept the way students live in their homes; this may include their religious clothing. I feel their clothing is a way of showing their culture but not necessarily promoting it and teachers should have the right to show their religious freedom as students and other professionals.
After reading this article I researched another news topic that I heard about a couple weeks ago. One article discussed how some schools are starting to provide time and space for Muslim students to pray during school. The prayer is supervised by not led by teachers but some wonder (including myself) is this ok or is this allowing religion to be a part of school. I don’t want anyone to think I’m against a student saying their own prayer in school but I find it interesting that within the US we are allowing some students to prayer while at school but in other parts of the US teachers are not allowed to wear their religious clothing. I think decisions should be made to make things even across the board. I have a good friend who teaches ELL in ND and she has students who ask to be dismissed from the room and they are found in a corner of a hallway praying. Is it ok to allow students to miss class to practice their religious beliefs or is this a way for us to accept their culture?
I found a second article that discussed the schools that are allowing prayer. It has similar information but I thought it was interesting that school like the San Diego school was allowed to do this because of their high population of Muslim students.
I know religion and school is a touchy subject but I found this interesting and makes me really think about what I think should be allowed or not. What are your thoughts?

Blog 2-MotivatingStudents.com

After reading Chaper 1 it made me reflect on my motivation strategies. I am always trying to create extrinsic motivation for my students. I feel I need to stay one step ahead so my students will always be motivated. I use prizes and rewards to motive positive behaviors and work habits but I feel I should be implementing more motivation strategies for my instruction and curriculum. I want my students to enjoy the curriculum and feel responsible for their learning.

I could discuss my current ideas on motivation strategies but I’m going to expand on the technology section that book discussed. I did discuss most of my motivation strategies in the discussion questions if you are interested. I am a strong believer in using technology in my classroom. My past thinking was to use technology to stay current with times and provide my students experience of using technological tools that will be so important later in life. I did not think of it as a strong motivation piece until I read this chapter. I currently use an Active Board in my classroom and on average do 2-3 lessons on it per day. I have always noticed that my students enjoy these lessons and usually listen more attentively. I have also seen that my students respond and perform well on the skills covered on the Active Board. I always just credited these results to the enjoyment of using the board. After reflecting on this I realize the fun my students were having by learning with this tool was really motivation. I would strongly suggest anyone who is looking for a motivation strategy try to incorporate a technology tool into their classroom.

I read an article that related to this topic and offered ideas to incorporate this priceless instrument. Dr. Stephen Jones wrote How to Motivate Students: Strategies That Work. He addressed the concern that children are addicted to technology. He suggests using this addiction in a positive way. There are a number of ways to use technology in your classroom and when Dr. Jones refers to technology he is not just referring to a computer. He mentioned an IPod numerous times and I think an IPod can be a great way for students to listen to a lecture (a teacher could create their lecture in a podcast) or another podcast that relates to a topic. Cell phones were another device mentioned in the article and I think cell phones have to be used carefully. I think it would be fun if a teacher could send out a text message to their students with a question to ponder for the next class discussion. I know this can be a touchy procedure and I’m not saying I would try it tomorrow but it was an idea to maybe think about.

Overall, I think technology is a powerful tool and it is in our best interest to try and use it. It is an automatic motivator for our “techy” learners.

Blog 1-Reaching advacned students

I know every teacher has said that their goal is reach all learners and engage their students but I ask, are we really doing our best job reaching this goal? With recent push from No Child Left Behind I feel that I need to work with my lower students to improve test scores. I constantly prepare extra lessons and materials for my lower students to practice skills that they are struggling with. I usually think I’m doing the right thing because the students who score low need my help, my job is to teach them and I’m willing to take the extra effort but after reading “Susan Goodkin and David G. Gold: In Focus on Proficiency, Bright Kids Lose,” I am reminded that I am doing so much for only a fraction of my students. I have a handful of students every year that are advanced and score very well on their tests and I rarely take extra time to prepare something special for them. I easily can challenge them by offering higher leveled reading books or suggesting more challenging writing assignments but I should be preparing special projects to meet their abilities and interests. The authors of this article are hoping to change that. Having advanced students sit in the classroom while we do repetitive lessons for my lower to average students is only causing the advanced to be bored and act up. I have read and learned in the past that differentiated instruction is the best solution but I struggle with pulling this off properly. I am only one person and I can’t be with four groups of students at the same time.
The article states that current educators need to find solutions to meet advanced learners needs and I couldn’t agree more. The advanced learners have every right to learn to their full potential. They are important to our future too, they can easily be our next doctors and engineers. The article suggested that students should be able to be grouped with students of similar abilities and spend at least half the day with those groups. I think that would be a great idea for all learners but how does one pull this off and who makes the decisions of the groups and curriculum that each group focuses on? Last year my grade level tried this with three different reading levels and it was difficult because one teacher ended up with 25 students while another teacher had 12 students. I also felt that I was not in control of my student’s learning and had trouble discussing student’s growth with parents that quarter. The authors also urge for educators to forget the scary myths of allowing students to move up a grade. Most teachers I know frown upon this but I have not been in a situation to investigate this opportunity. I do believe that it depends on the student’s age and maturity level because a student grows drastically between kindergarten and second grade. I would love to hear anyone’s stories or advice on students advancing grade levels or spitting students into groups based on their ability.