Beachwood Middle School
The focus of my second visit to Beachwood Middle School is how Ms. Karim feels about the curriculum and its effect on her teaching as well as testing and how it has changed over time. We have spent a lot of time in class talking about standardized testing and its negative attributes. Personally, I have long thought about how it has contributed to the faults in education. During our discussion, Ms. Karim agreed that it can be a negative, but also introduced the other side of testing that I had neglected to examine. Overall, I still believe that testing has done more harm than good, but I also understand how it can yield some benefits. Beyond that, I cannot come up with an alternative solution, so I can emphasize with those who must consider different options.
The textbook and program that Ms. Karim is using was developed by teachers who wanted to change how the classroom worked. Overall, she said that it outlines the core curriculum and is therefore effective both for administrators and teachers. She said that while it is not perfect, it gives a number of options for teaching strategies. The book gives the team format and Ms. Karim said that the team aspect has helped the students. With the program, there is both team tests and individual tests. This format works for Ms. Karim and she likes that she has been able to see progress in the students with the program. I asked her if she would prefer being able to develop her own curriculum and guidelines for her lesson plans. She said that while that would be the most effective way to individualize the teaching, the time needed to do so is not realistic for most teachers. She sees the textbook and program for the algebra class to be a good solution because it was developed by teaches who understood the needs and wants of the common teacher. I looked at the textbook itself and at the start of every chapter there was the common core standards that the chapter will cover. Ms. Karim also said that the program has videos for teachers in order to help give the objectives of the chapter and the best way to go about getting the students to comprehend what they need for the tests.
Technology has played a big role in testing and how students prepare for them. There are multiple sites that Ms. Karim was able to show me while the students took individual tests. Beachwood is among the schools that decided to take the standardized tests online instead of with paper and pen. As a student, I would not like to have to take it on a laptop because I work better with paper and pencil. I was able to see some examples of questions on the tests and they were not what I recall having at my Catholic grade school. There were the classic multiple choice, "pick all that apply," drag and drop, critical response, drop down, and interactive graph problems. The variety of question formats makes the testing not only difficult to get through the information, but also more work for teachers to prepare students to answer in so many different ways. The testing is incredibly demanding and seems to be a lot of pressure on students that young. It seems to also disrupt the natural order of the classroom because it demands teachers to always have testing in the back of their mind.
However, Ms. Karim told me about how testing has helped her in some ways. She said that the demand that testing has created has ensured that she cannot get complacent and always has to push her students to learn and work harder. She said that teachers that do not teach their students well can also be identified and give their students the opportunity to have better teaching. While the tests are incredibly demanding on the students, she also sees how the students have embraced the pressure and succeed the expectations that they set for themselves. So in this way, students that perform well can make more progress than they typically would. On the other hand, students that do not do well on the tests only have more criticism to be subject to. Moreover, the teachers of students that naturally do not test well become victims of harsh evaluations. This leads to teachers not wanting those who struggle and genuinely need the help because half of their evaluations depends on the scores of standardized tests. Those students could then possibly lose the attention and help that they need.
While I fail to see another way to mandate a national way to evaluate students, I feel that there is no need for a national system. Students are individuals that make up individual classrooms, schools, districts, states, and the nation as a whole. In using such a wide scope to see the "success" of students, those creating the tests fail to see the pieces that make up the national education system. Students should be evaluated, but they should be tested based on the type of student they are. I see that teachers are able to constantly try to improve their students which could be beneficial, but all in all, there are students that become lost in the system. As a teacher, I hope that I will never neglect my individual students in order to better the way that the administrators evaluate me. Ideally, I hope that I teach in a school that also understand the value of each student.
November 30, 2014
Field Blog Post 4
Beachwood Middle School
To begin my individual observation hours, I returned to Beachwood Middle School and Ms. Karim's classroom. I enjoyed her classroom when we went as a class, so I felt that spending more time in her room would be very beneficial for me. For my field blog post, I decided to focus on different aspects of being a teacher for each post. The focus of this visit was communication and its uses in this classroom as well as its significance in the field of education. Within communication, I also took a big notice in the team format that Beachwood uses for this math program. The team set up was initiated mostly because of the textbook program that they use, which outlines the teams and the best way to use them to teach the students.
The teams are made up of four students each and have specific jobs for each of the members. The jobs are Facilitator, Resource Manager, Task Manager, and Recorder/Reporter. While the book takes the jobs very seriously, Ms. Karim said that she is more relaxed and allows anyone in the team to ask questions, while the book would say that only the Resource Manager can ask the teachers questions for the team. It is designed so that students work on the problem and communicate with each other before insisting that the teacher needs to intervene. While this is a great format, Ms. Karim believes that the students do not often call her over because she walks around during team tests, which shows the effectiveness of the team strategy.
I believe that Ms. Karim does an incredible job with communication in most aspects of the classroom on a daily basis. She speaks in a respectful way to her students, as if they were the age that they are. Sometimes I see teachers falling into the habit of speaking to their eighth grade students as if they were in first grade. This form of communication does nothing for the classroom, and Ms. Karim successfully avoids doing it. She encourages the students and works them hard because she knows she can do so, She works at a fairly quick pace but works to ensure that all of her students are able to keep up. Beachwood is able to have successful students because the students are incredibly involved with their education and take pride in their work. It also seems like the parents of the students work hard to make sure that their children are on task and completing all of the necessary work and doing so successfully. Ms. Karim said that parents are able to come in and look at the student's work at any time and she tries to make sure that the parents are able to be involved in their children's classroom life. Both Ms. Karim and Beachwood work to have good communication with parents, which is a key part of teaching and assisting the student's learning ability. Ms. Karim also works well with the students and is able to have a good communication with them, which helps the overall atmosphere of the room.
I have also seen Ms. Karim's interaction with her colleagues and it always seems to be lively and friendly. Overall, I feel that she has worked to use the advice of Ayers without knowing it. As I read the comic book To Teach, I believe that it re-inspired me to teach and to work to teach the right way. In the same way, seeing Ms. Karim's classroom and the way that the environment encourages the children's learning has also inspired me to have new ideas on what I can actually accomplish in my own classroom. Ms. Karim always makes time to talk to me, telling me her opinion on what works and what doesn't work for her, and she is able to communicate well even with me as an observer of the classroom. In all, I hope to accomplish the same level of communication and I hope that I will recognize that as a teacher, communication is something that you need to re-commit to on a daily, hourly, and sometimes even per minute throughout the day. While it takes a lot of work, a classroom with good communication will do wonders to the way that the students are able to learn and feel comfortable in the space.
To begin my individual observation hours, I returned to Beachwood Middle School and Ms. Karim's classroom. I enjoyed her classroom when we went as a class, so I felt that spending more time in her room would be very beneficial for me. For my field blog post, I decided to focus on different aspects of being a teacher for each post. The focus of this visit was communication and its uses in this classroom as well as its significance in the field of education. Within communication, I also took a big notice in the team format that Beachwood uses for this math program. The team set up was initiated mostly because of the textbook program that they use, which outlines the teams and the best way to use them to teach the students.
The teams are made up of four students each and have specific jobs for each of the members. The jobs are Facilitator, Resource Manager, Task Manager, and Recorder/Reporter. While the book takes the jobs very seriously, Ms. Karim said that she is more relaxed and allows anyone in the team to ask questions, while the book would say that only the Resource Manager can ask the teachers questions for the team. It is designed so that students work on the problem and communicate with each other before insisting that the teacher needs to intervene. While this is a great format, Ms. Karim believes that the students do not often call her over because she walks around during team tests, which shows the effectiveness of the team strategy.
I believe that Ms. Karim does an incredible job with communication in most aspects of the classroom on a daily basis. She speaks in a respectful way to her students, as if they were the age that they are. Sometimes I see teachers falling into the habit of speaking to their eighth grade students as if they were in first grade. This form of communication does nothing for the classroom, and Ms. Karim successfully avoids doing it. She encourages the students and works them hard because she knows she can do so, She works at a fairly quick pace but works to ensure that all of her students are able to keep up. Beachwood is able to have successful students because the students are incredibly involved with their education and take pride in their work. It also seems like the parents of the students work hard to make sure that their children are on task and completing all of the necessary work and doing so successfully. Ms. Karim said that parents are able to come in and look at the student's work at any time and she tries to make sure that the parents are able to be involved in their children's classroom life. Both Ms. Karim and Beachwood work to have good communication with parents, which is a key part of teaching and assisting the student's learning ability. Ms. Karim also works well with the students and is able to have a good communication with them, which helps the overall atmosphere of the room.
I have also seen Ms. Karim's interaction with her colleagues and it always seems to be lively and friendly. Overall, I feel that she has worked to use the advice of Ayers without knowing it. As I read the comic book To Teach, I believe that it re-inspired me to teach and to work to teach the right way. In the same way, seeing Ms. Karim's classroom and the way that the environment encourages the children's learning has also inspired me to have new ideas on what I can actually accomplish in my own classroom. Ms. Karim always makes time to talk to me, telling me her opinion on what works and what doesn't work for her, and she is able to communicate well even with me as an observer of the classroom. In all, I hope to accomplish the same level of communication and I hope that I will recognize that as a teacher, communication is something that you need to re-commit to on a daily, hourly, and sometimes even per minute throughout the day. While it takes a lot of work, a classroom with good communication will do wonders to the way that the students are able to learn and feel comfortable in the space.
November 11, 2014
Field Blog Post 3
Agnon School
For our final school visit as a class, we went to Agnon for our elementary level observation. In general, Agnon does thing differently, both in that it accepts students with any level of Jewish faith and in the format of teaching. The teachers and administration are called by their first names, as we were explained, according to the custom greetings in Israel. I went into the second grade class taught by Christine. The classroom had tables that served as stations that the kids rotated to throughout the class time. A student showed us around and explained the stations as the student ambassador of the classroom, an idea that I really liked for my future classroom. The stations, Writing, Reading Group, Reading Response, and Nonfiction were used to cover various aspects of reading and reading comprehension.
The only station that Christine participated in was the Reading Group, in which the students read a book with the students and they discussed the main points of the chapter. While the questions did help to guide the discussion, the students read the text themselves and were able to summarize and work through the meanings on their own. The students understood how to read the book and picked up on subtle ideas presented in the plot of the novel. Christine was very encouraging to the students and worked to develop the skills of each student. I really enjoyed how she taught because she was firm and had expectations for the students, but when they did something well or when they needed more help, she explained things in a constructive way. While I do not want to teach the elementary level, I felt that I took a lot away from the visit.
The overall mission and teaching strategy of the school was very interesting to me. I really liked the way that the administration focused the attention on the students and incorporating various teaching methods into every classroom. Each grade level works on a project throughout the year, and I thought that it would be a very interactive and creative way to learn for every single student. They also talked about the way that they evaluate students and use a test that gives more of a map for students. The teacher can see the test and see the strengths and weaknesses of each student and for the class as a whole. I love this approach to assessing the progress of students because it focuses completely on the student and how they are doing rather than comparing them to other students or the understood levels of each grade. In all, I had a great time learning about the Agnon School and I would love to go back and see either a math or science class.
For our final school visit as a class, we went to Agnon for our elementary level observation. In general, Agnon does thing differently, both in that it accepts students with any level of Jewish faith and in the format of teaching. The teachers and administration are called by their first names, as we were explained, according to the custom greetings in Israel. I went into the second grade class taught by Christine. The classroom had tables that served as stations that the kids rotated to throughout the class time. A student showed us around and explained the stations as the student ambassador of the classroom, an idea that I really liked for my future classroom. The stations, Writing, Reading Group, Reading Response, and Nonfiction were used to cover various aspects of reading and reading comprehension.
The only station that Christine participated in was the Reading Group, in which the students read a book with the students and they discussed the main points of the chapter. While the questions did help to guide the discussion, the students read the text themselves and were able to summarize and work through the meanings on their own. The students understood how to read the book and picked up on subtle ideas presented in the plot of the novel. Christine was very encouraging to the students and worked to develop the skills of each student. I really enjoyed how she taught because she was firm and had expectations for the students, but when they did something well or when they needed more help, she explained things in a constructive way. While I do not want to teach the elementary level, I felt that I took a lot away from the visit.
The overall mission and teaching strategy of the school was very interesting to me. I really liked the way that the administration focused the attention on the students and incorporating various teaching methods into every classroom. Each grade level works on a project throughout the year, and I thought that it would be a very interactive and creative way to learn for every single student. They also talked about the way that they evaluate students and use a test that gives more of a map for students. The teacher can see the test and see the strengths and weaknesses of each student and for the class as a whole. I love this approach to assessing the progress of students because it focuses completely on the student and how they are doing rather than comparing them to other students or the understood levels of each grade. In all, I had a great time learning about the Agnon School and I would love to go back and see either a math or science class.
November 9, 2014
Blog Post 10
After reviewing my past blogs, I noticed a very distinct pattern and stance that I tried to take in each. For every blog, I would look at how the topic influenced the teachers, and in turn, how that impacted the students. I hold the student-teacher relationship at the top of my priority list as a future teacher. While I believe that some schools have very good qualities to them, if the relationships in the classroom are not developed and based on respect, the classroom will not be reaching its full potential. I also make a point to look at the relationships between teachers and the administration of a school. The best school will always have good communication between the "authority" of the building and the "authority" of the classroom. If the school has good communication all around, I do not see any way in which it can fail. There needs to be respect and a level of security to be yourself for every individual in a school.
Another point that I always seemed to stress was the idea of looking at the students as individuals, not test scores. After reading my thoughts on the tests and the ways that children are viewed, I realized that my opinions on the matter are quite radical. If I could, I would look to change the structure of education as a whole. In class, we had a discussion about how technology is influencing the process of educating students. One specific question or statement made involved students being evaluated in a way that made them like an "avatar" on a website. This image stuck out to me and I reflected on what that means and how I feel about it. I fear that this outlook on students is not only a possibility, but the future of the path that education is currently on. The students are simply components and "avatars" on the statistics of each schools, each district, each state, and the country. The broad view of education, with comparisons from country to country on the various academic levels, and from school to school to determine which is having higher achievements, is deteriorating the success of students universally. Rather than being Kaitlin Morrissey who likes math and prefers more hand-on work and visual examples, I am an ACT or SAT score or an application or a ranking among the country in critical reading. Education has evolved into a brutal and competitive format that abandons children who do not fit the general ideas of success. Those children in the fifth grade that read at "third grade level" must be immediately rescued so that they do not become a blemish for the school. Students are ultimately being denied their right to be evaluated on what they are good at or, on the other hand, being seen for more than just their lowest scores.
I realize that I accidentally got carried away with the topic and that I may appear to be overly dramatic toward the system that is currently in place. I just can't help but think about the students that, from the start, are determined to have less of a chance to succeed. To illustrate where my opinion stems from, near the start of the semester, we read John Gatto's "The Green Monongahela." In it, he tells a story about a student named Milagros. She was in a low-ranking reading class, and yet was able to read at the sixth-grade level. The administration claimed that she inflates her actual abilities and is placed where she belongs. In the end, Gatto fights for her to be put into a better reading class and is successful, much to the appreciation of Milagros. She ends up becoming a teacher and winning an Occupational Teacher Award. While this story ends in success for the student, I look at the other side of things. What about the students that don't have Gatto to see the true capabilities they possess? Maybe they, too, could later on become distinguished members of their future occupations. Sadly, what if they are denied the chance and become trapped in classes that limit their skills? I worry that there are students that want to expand and grow with learning, but due to their low test scores or their lack of focus in class, are not being allowed to progress.
To complete the unveiling of my true feelings on education, I will state my goals as a teacher. I have said this before in my blogs, but I want to make sure that I am always seeing my students as individuals in the classroom. I refuse to become blinded by what test scores they have and to put a label on the value of a student in a classroom. I will always work with students on both their strengths and weaknesses in order to help them to work on what they need help with and to expand what they already know. I will allow my students to achieve and to think using their own ideas and experiences rather than showing them the answers or using the banking method of teaching. I hope that I will teach at a school that sees the potential of each student and does not just see the test scores that they produce. Overall, I want each and every student that walks into my class to have an equal opportunity to achieve everything that they can and for them to see that they all have so many amazing and unique ideas that the world needs!
Another point that I always seemed to stress was the idea of looking at the students as individuals, not test scores. After reading my thoughts on the tests and the ways that children are viewed, I realized that my opinions on the matter are quite radical. If I could, I would look to change the structure of education as a whole. In class, we had a discussion about how technology is influencing the process of educating students. One specific question or statement made involved students being evaluated in a way that made them like an "avatar" on a website. This image stuck out to me and I reflected on what that means and how I feel about it. I fear that this outlook on students is not only a possibility, but the future of the path that education is currently on. The students are simply components and "avatars" on the statistics of each schools, each district, each state, and the country. The broad view of education, with comparisons from country to country on the various academic levels, and from school to school to determine which is having higher achievements, is deteriorating the success of students universally. Rather than being Kaitlin Morrissey who likes math and prefers more hand-on work and visual examples, I am an ACT or SAT score or an application or a ranking among the country in critical reading. Education has evolved into a brutal and competitive format that abandons children who do not fit the general ideas of success. Those children in the fifth grade that read at "third grade level" must be immediately rescued so that they do not become a blemish for the school. Students are ultimately being denied their right to be evaluated on what they are good at or, on the other hand, being seen for more than just their lowest scores.
I realize that I accidentally got carried away with the topic and that I may appear to be overly dramatic toward the system that is currently in place. I just can't help but think about the students that, from the start, are determined to have less of a chance to succeed. To illustrate where my opinion stems from, near the start of the semester, we read John Gatto's "The Green Monongahela." In it, he tells a story about a student named Milagros. She was in a low-ranking reading class, and yet was able to read at the sixth-grade level. The administration claimed that she inflates her actual abilities and is placed where she belongs. In the end, Gatto fights for her to be put into a better reading class and is successful, much to the appreciation of Milagros. She ends up becoming a teacher and winning an Occupational Teacher Award. While this story ends in success for the student, I look at the other side of things. What about the students that don't have Gatto to see the true capabilities they possess? Maybe they, too, could later on become distinguished members of their future occupations. Sadly, what if they are denied the chance and become trapped in classes that limit their skills? I worry that there are students that want to expand and grow with learning, but due to their low test scores or their lack of focus in class, are not being allowed to progress.
To complete the unveiling of my true feelings on education, I will state my goals as a teacher. I have said this before in my blogs, but I want to make sure that I am always seeing my students as individuals in the classroom. I refuse to become blinded by what test scores they have and to put a label on the value of a student in a classroom. I will always work with students on both their strengths and weaknesses in order to help them to work on what they need help with and to expand what they already know. I will allow my students to achieve and to think using their own ideas and experiences rather than showing them the answers or using the banking method of teaching. I hope that I will teach at a school that sees the potential of each student and does not just see the test scores that they produce. Overall, I want each and every student that walks into my class to have an equal opportunity to achieve everything that they can and for them to see that they all have so many amazing and unique ideas that the world needs!
November 2, 2014
Blog Post 9
In my experience and reflection, good schools have certain objectives that they consider to be important. They look to the students, teachers, parents, and community in some way or another in order to find what they need. More often than not, a good school strives to find the best way to teach each student as an individual and not a test score. Good schools look to what students create and discover to determine how well they are doing. I believe that good schools should be fun for students, not because they are easy, but because they are excited when they can see themselves succeed. The teachers and administration at good schools want to see the success of students and strive to make that a reality.
I think that good schools recognize parents as an essential key to the student's success. I believe that teachers, parents, and students should spend more time discussing how the student is doing. Whether that is in the form of more parent-teacher conferences, or simply adding a weekly or biweekly session as part of the format of the school. The idea of a parent-teacher conference would be shifted at the school that I would create. I would make the standard a parent-teacher-student conference. While I do see the value of not having a student present on certain occasions, I feel that the time would be much more constructive if everyone involved in the situation was present. If there was a time that student felt comfortable talking to both their parents and their teacher, it could strengthen the relationship of student and teacher.
I think that overall, good schools need to focus on the student and that student's specific needs in the classroom. The field of education currently struggles to see that there are a variety of ways to look at a student. Because I am personally a bad test taker, I know that when I am viewed for (standardized) test scores, my skills and capabilities are being greatly undermined. If there was a shift in how we look at students, I believe we would be able to see the best qualities and the true potential that every student has. A good school would look to art projects, poems, or any assortment of work or academic accomplishments that a student wants to share. If I were to make my own school, students would have tests and quizzes, but I would ask teachers to maybe look at different ways to test students. If there were options that they could choose from or pick which type of test is taken for a higher grade, there would be less pressure for students. I would want my students to be able to choose their best work or test in a way that suits them so that I would be able to see the absolute best work from each and every student.
I think that good schools recognize parents as an essential key to the student's success. I believe that teachers, parents, and students should spend more time discussing how the student is doing. Whether that is in the form of more parent-teacher conferences, or simply adding a weekly or biweekly session as part of the format of the school. The idea of a parent-teacher conference would be shifted at the school that I would create. I would make the standard a parent-teacher-student conference. While I do see the value of not having a student present on certain occasions, I feel that the time would be much more constructive if everyone involved in the situation was present. If there was a time that student felt comfortable talking to both their parents and their teacher, it could strengthen the relationship of student and teacher.
I think that overall, good schools need to focus on the student and that student's specific needs in the classroom. The field of education currently struggles to see that there are a variety of ways to look at a student. Because I am personally a bad test taker, I know that when I am viewed for (standardized) test scores, my skills and capabilities are being greatly undermined. If there was a shift in how we look at students, I believe we would be able to see the best qualities and the true potential that every student has. A good school would look to art projects, poems, or any assortment of work or academic accomplishments that a student wants to share. If I were to make my own school, students would have tests and quizzes, but I would ask teachers to maybe look at different ways to test students. If there were options that they could choose from or pick which type of test is taken for a higher grade, there would be less pressure for students. I would want my students to be able to choose their best work or test in a way that suits them so that I would be able to see the absolute best work from each and every student.
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