What guides my decisions as a teacher.

Whenever I come across a dilemma that requires me to evaluate how different choices will affect my students, I try my best to think about how that decision would affect my daughter if made by one of her teachers. Although she is a few years older now than when this photo was taken, I still see her this way and probably always will. I want the best for my daughter, and I am sure that the parents of my students feel the same about their children. I don't want a teacher to make my daughter's life easy. I want them to challenge her, while still respecting her and helping her. Teachers and parents have two very similar tasks in this respect. They both are trying to prepare kids for their futures away from the direct support of their families. They are also trying to make them the best adults they can be. The other day I had a student who was failing my class approach me about advancing him some extra credit that he would be completing in the future, so he could remain active on one of the school's sports teams. As much as I would like to have given in and let him off the hook, I knew that I wouldn't be truly helping him understand that actions have consequences (not in the California Content Standards). At that moment, I thought about what his parents would have wanted me to do, and I thought about how I would feel if he were my son. In the end I told him that I will work with him to make up any deficits in his grades by allowing him to turn in missed assignments, but that I would not advance him the upcoming extra credit. Although it is not our job to be our students' parents/families, I do feel that we must take every opportunity to provide guidance not only on content, but also on life and growing up. 

Embracing Our Inner Nerd!

 Each time I am introduced to a new class, I try to think of something interesting to say that might inspire them, and have them looking forward to being in my class. I have developed a relatively generic speech that explains what I expect of my students, and the general policies of the classroom. However, I have recently decided to modify my introductions to include something that I hope becomes even more important during the course of instruction. I now ask them to embrace their inner nerd. I tell them that it’s alright to actually think some of this is cool.  I go on to explain that I try my hardest to present material that at least I find interesting and cool. I try to explain to them that they shouldn’t feel bad for quietly thinking or saying to themselves, “That’s cool”. I then go on to explain that applause will not be required, unless of course they are truly moved to provide it.

           

The other point that I try to accentuate is that it is completely OK to come up with a wrong answer when I ask for input. I usually try to relieve any fear of looking foolish in front of their peers by assuring them that after the next three years, they may never see another student in that particular class again. Although I am going for a laugh at this point, I do assure them that high school does not predict the rest of their lives, and that they should have nothing to fear while in my class. 

What Learning Looks Like (underwater)

Just another shot of my daughter expanding her horizons. 

* All Clownfish are "Nemo" to a 5 y/o.

EDCHAT POST #1

Trying to follow edchat is one of the more difficult tasks a new teacher can undertake. However, with so many different conversations and posts occurring simultaneously, I found myself homing in on one post in particular. The post read “School's function is 2create workers 2 fuel our economy, we need 2 change school, because the workers we need have changed as well.”

My initial reaction to this statement is that it seems to be logical, but then it started to sound a little Orwellian to me. Looking at schools as a factory to produce workers is a little narrow in its scope. Sure, we do try and produce individuals that are capable of being productive workers, and contributors to our society, but schools need to strive for so much more. Trade schools are designed to provide the skills a student would need to be successful in a particular occupation. Public schools are tasked with molding students into productive, knowledgeable citizens. Yes, we are creating workers, but we are also creating leaders, artists, writers, inventors, explorers, parents, politicians and everything else that we need as a society to prosper. In short, we are assisting families in turning their children into quality adults.

The final goal of all of these efforts should be to create an independent member of our community, while looking out for the interests of those who can’t fend for themselves. I understand that this is an ideal, and that human nature is a powerful force that cannot always be controlled or focused into a beneficial direction. The adage “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink” is all too prevalent in our education system. However, that shouldn’t preclude us from working toward an ideal, no matter how lofty it may seem.

Day 1 of CP2 "Sink or Swim"

As with everyone else in the cohort, today was my first day full time at my school. Over the past few weeks, on top of everything else, I have been busy preparing lessons for my classes.  These lessons are designed to be taught beginning the first week after everyone returns from spring break. For this week, I assumed that I would only teach a couple of classes beginning on Thursday. Over the weekend I polished up my lesson design, and was fairly confident when I presented it to my CT this morning. When I gave my CT my plan for a computer based lesson, he took a quick look at it, and said that it looked great. Then he surprised me with something I should have seen coming, and am embarrassed to say that I did not. He asked me if I wanted to teach one of today’s classes. This was the first we had spoken of anything prior to my taking the class on Thursday. Before I could think about it, I instinctively said “Sure!”. Of course it was at that very second that I realized that I had been so consumed with preparing for later in the week and beyond, that I hadn’t even looked at today’s lesson. He politely offered to allow me to retract my impulsive agreement, but then again I heard myself say “No, I’m good to go!”.

I took copious notes while observing him during the prior class, and felt somewhat confident that I could carry this off without too much embarrassment or having someone contact the university to immediately kick me out of the credentialing program. As the bell rang, and it became my turn to take over the class, my CT quietly whispered that the principal will be dropping by, so “Don’t be nervous”. New class…check, first lesson…check, principal watching…check. I had visions of the George Clooney film “The Perfect Storm” running through my head. Well, after I settled in and began the  lesson, I was extremely grateful that my CT and my knee-jerk response had gotten me in front of the class as soon as possible. The students were amazing, and the experience allowed me to become their new teacher, and not just that guy who helps out occasionally. All in all, a good day. 

Oceanside High School/El Camino High School visits:

Having never been to Oceanside High School prior to our visit, I was amazed at how the campus resembled a small community college.  It was incredibly modern looking and seemed well designed. The science building was amazing all by itself.

1. How was technology integrated into the curriculum? Do you feel that it promoted student learning?

            The technology was primarily in the form of iPads that the students used at their desks to carry out the day’s instruction. The students immediately came into the classroom and began working “warm-up” questions that the teacher had prepared. The primary use of the technology was for assessment. Students would complete assignments and formal assessments on their iPads, and the teachers could receive immediate feedback on their understandings. This can really help during the formative portions of a lesson or unit. Although the fullest potential for the technology’s use isn’t realized through its incorporation only in assessments, this is a start to a much more student centered, and personalized form of instruction. The amount of feedback a teacher can receive through the use of these tablets, is far greater than any teacher can obtain through verbal communication alone.

2. Is there anything you saw that makes this classroom/school unique?

            The use of the technology isn’t what made the classes unique for me. It was the familiarity and comfort with which the students used the technology that I have not seen previously. They seemed as at ease with the iPads as they would be using pencil/paper for note taking, and completing assignments.

            In contrast, I have observed at several schools that don’t allow students to use any electronic devices. This extends to the computers that might be already present in the classrooms. Their concern is that the students will spend too much time on frivolous activities and not on their schoolwork.  This was shown to not be the case in the classrooms we visited at Oceanside High School. The students were productive and used the iPads appropriately.

3. What did you learn and how does it relate to the class questions?

            I found it interesting that the teachers were committed to ensuring that eventually each student could be issued an iPad, or similar device, to carry with them throughout the day, and take home for homework/additional support. I am having difficulty in understanding why this is so critical to the students’ learning, if they in fact have home computers and are able to access all applications and information from their homes.  My personal belief is that it would be much more effective if they had access to the tablets at school, and utilized their own computers at home.

            If a student is issued a tablet and therefore responsible for its condition, I can only see that a great many students will be responsible for reimbursing the school at the end of the year for damage incurred throughout the year. This can have the effect of not being equitable for all students considering the wide differentiation family financial situations. Where the replacement of a broken iPad for one family might be a non-issue, for another, it may very well be a financial impossibility. Having seen the condition of many students’ smart-phones over the past semester, I am certain that a fair amount of students will be buying the school new iPads if they are permitted to carry them to and from school. In speaking with my current Cooperating Teachers, I have been told that there really isn’t a tech gap among their students’ families. They all have internet access and capable computers at home.  In one of my classes, my CT has supplied web-books for use by each student while physically in the classroom. This has eliminated the need for booking computer lab time, and allowed students to accomplish most of their work digitally.

Autotune Science Mash-Up