Is It Safe to Go in the Water Again?

I'm half afraid to even try to post anything to this blog. Wonder if Henry Ford and his cronies felt this way when they launched the first automobile? Anyway, we are quickly coming to the end of our time together reading Switch. Is anyone interested in meeting for our last session at the coffee shop? I know we're all pressed for time. Let's talk about it tomorrow :O)

Dec. 2nd Switch Discussion

Happy Thanksgiving, gang! At our last discussion, some of you volunteered to lead the discussion on different portions of the reading. Here is the breakdown...(those of you didn't get a chance this time are welcome to take a portion next time :O)

Susie Eckert pps. 149-158
Cheryl Adams pps. 158-168
Joe Landers pps. 168-176
Carol Sundo pps. 179-190
Terrie W. pps. 190-202

Ahhh....I Think We're All in Now!

Hopefully we can all blog now. Jeff Albright and O'Brien were supposed to have worked their magic, so blog away!

Motivating the Elephant

I am blogging for the first time! The Elephant has been motivated. I am enjoying the book and know that as a person not native to technology (yes, I am THAT old) that I have had to take baby steps to make the change successful. Chapter 6 specifically deals with shrinking the change and I know that with the kids we teach, we need to show them the bright spots in order to reinforce the notion that yes, they can learn the material before them. As the authors reiterate on Page 138; if we limit the investment we ask of someone or ourselves we will see those small victories that allow us to put one foot in front of the other and go on. So on a miracle scale of 1-10 I'm giving myself a 7!!

Week #3 of Switch

Ah, the joys and frustrations of technology! Will our group or won't our group be able to post to the blog is the question this week? Jeff Albright is working to add blogger to the Google Apps package for our district. No one will be penalized for not blogging as it is not your fault :O) See you Thursday Nov. 18th!

Week #2 of Switch

I am so proud of our group. Many of you accepted your invitation to the blog and you are making insightful posts. Some are having a problem accepting the invite because the system is confused with our email addresses. For instance, I tried to help Bill Heber accept his invite, but the blog site won't accept his email address because it says he does not have a gmail account. However, when we tried to create a new gmail account,it says he already has one!?! Melodie...how did you manage to accept your invite, or should I say, get the system to accept your invite acceptance??

Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard

Change?! Who likes change? Maybe change is easier if it is our idea. How do we get those around us to change with us or for us? Hopefully Switch, our latest book selection up for discussion, will help us with these questions. Our teaching experience has been ALL about change for the last number of years as we have ramped up our programs for 21st Century instruction and learning.

See you Thursday, Nov. 4th, for our first discussion (intro.-page 48). If you need help with anything IM me or email me.

Welcome!

Welcome Venango Chamber Reading Group participants! We had discussed doing a Ning, but I thought we could try this blog to see if it works for us. You might enjoy reading some of the posts our teachers have made. I will be posting comments about Wikinomics, posting links, etc. and hope you will do the same.

Educational Transformation

I thought these last two chapters of the book really got to the heart of what we need to be doing for the educational system in this country. We don't necessarily have to change the curriculum or take more standardized testing or even change our assessment strategies. What we really need an educational make-over or a transformation. I really liked the last chapter because it talked a lot about all of these schools around the world, including here, that have totally transformed the way that they have been teaching and it is working just as good, if not better then what we have been using. All throughout the book, Dr. Robinson has been telling us about famous entertainers and academics that couldn't cut it in school or just couldn't find their element. Well, through a transformation in the way schools are presenting the information may help students to find their element earlier in life AND help them learn the material that will help them on standardized tests and survival in the real world. We need to make education practical and give them informationg that can be applied to the "real world," as adults put it, and make it relevant. Students learn nothing if they can't find a way to connect it to their lives and to their passions. I really liked this book and I hope that we can pick up another book for this group that is just as good. I really hope we can take away at least some of the ideas and concepts presented in this book to make our own classrooms better and help our students reach their academic and career goals.

Mentors and Book Buddies

Chapters 8 and 9 are by far my favorite chapters. I really enjoyed the stories of all these famous people but what I love the most are all the people that mentored these famous ones and helped them to reach their potential. I want to be just like these mentors. That is why I wanted to become a teacher. So I could share my passions with others and help students reach their potential by being a mentor or just someone to turn to for advice on, not only school but life in general. Children need people to look up to and use as a model for their own lives. I had quite a few teachers, librarians and adults in general that encouraged me in ways that I remember to this day. They affected my whole path in life and without those people I might have never taken the same route or got to where I am today. I am an avid reader and when I read about the Book Buddies in the last chapter, I thought this was not only an awesome idea but a monumental one. Why are they doing more things like that? It's not only a great way to get the people in homes to start caring about others, especially after most of their family and people in general have neglected or totally written them off, but to revitalize them in ways that we could only dream of. The fact that the residents included in the program not only need less meds but were looking and feeling younger then they were would be a huge sign that this is a good thing. It also bridges the gap between the technological age children and the adults that lived through some of the toughest times in our history including two world wars and the Great Depression. These chapters were great and I hope to share in more ideas about these chapters later today with everyone! :)

P.S. One of the people mentioned in the last chapter is Paul Potts. He won Britain's Got Talent for his operatic singing. He is phenominal!!!! Go to this link and watch his performance of Nessun Dorma for his first audition for the show!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEo5bjnJViA

Do You Feel Lucky?

My husband, an avid snowmobiler, shared with me this story about a snowcross racer named Mike Schultz who lost his leg in a snowmobiling accident and developed his own prosthetic knee. He's since returned to the sport and recently won a gold medal at the Winter X games. The story is reminiscent of Brad Zdanivsky's, the quadriplegic rock climber who created a device to get him back onto a mountain. What impressed me the most about Schultz is that he created the knee in his own garage and hopes to market it to help other "extreme" athletes.

Start the video at 30 seconds to skip the advertising.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MIekBbhzno

Element Week of March 17

I'm not sure which chapters we are blogging about at this point...i'm a little off track since I can't make it to meetings. On page 159 Robinson states "It's not what happens to us that determines our lives, it's what we make of what happens." I feel that throughout my life I have taken this simple fact for granted. It took me a lot of years to stop blaming events in my life for holding me back from certain things and start taking responsibility for myself. I feel that this simple message, if presented in the correct way, could have a lasting impact on some of our students. I always knew I had potential to go to college, but was never really given that extra push to use my full potential. It took me a lot of years to find teaching and an even longer time to feel comfortable doing it. At one point, I was going to settle for an associates degree in human relations, and without the push from a true friend, I may be sitting in an unfulfilling job somewhere.
I feel that my little sister, who is an 8th grader in Titusville, is starting to learn from mine and my sister's shortcomings. She is truly a person who has found her 'Element' and is very lucky to have parents who support it. She has really become interested in writing and movies. She has gotten a lot of positive feedback from teachers as well as fellow bloggers on websites. It may have been going on for awhile, but reading this book has opened my mind to the idea of an element, and I am seeing hers very clearly.....too bad my own true element is not so obvious! Although as quoted on page 216 "For most of us we're not even close to "too late"."

Essential Questions

On page 102, the end of the assigned reading for Feb. 24, 2010, author Ken Robinson of The Element lists some question to help one "find their element." The questions are:

• Left to their [your] own devices, what are they [you] drawn to?
• What kinds of activities do they [you] tend to engage in voluntarily?
• What sorts of aptitude do they [your answers] suggest?
• What absorbs them [you] most?
• What sort of questions do they [you] ask, and what type of points do they [you] make?

He goes on to say "we need to understand what puts them and us in the zone. And we need to determine what implications that has for the rest of our lives." This is a tall order, but one that could really make the difference with some. We talked about asking the kids these questions, and structuring learning based on their answers. For instance, if the Holocaust was the unit to be studied,

• the student whose passion is art could be assigned the task of researching art movements and specific artists of the period
• the student whose passion is music could be assigned the task of researching and presenting music of the time
• sports enthusiasts, the athletes of the period
• the student whose passion is dance could perform an interpretive work bringing together music and other elements.
• the students who like to paint/draw could create posters, etc.
• and so on.

I said that I would try to locate some Readers Theater scripts that could hook kids with dramatic flair and they are listed in my previous post. I had also asked group participants bring some creative ideas to share with group that might hook kids/grab their interest. Sorry for not filling you in on the last ten minutes of the discussion, Becky! Thanks Judy and Susie, for sharing with us. For our next meeting (March 17th), I'd like the others in the group to bring some ideas. I'm going to post some more Readers Theater sites as well. Keep up the good work!

Readers Theater Scripts

Readers Theater Scripts

Shiloh Seasonby Phyllis Reynold NaylorScript by Becky EndlichPartsNarrator (6), Judd Travers (7), Marty (9), Dad (4)

http://web.archive.org/web/20000925115635/http://ee.edmonds.wednet.edu/98EEWeb/Teachers/MrB/scripts/shiloh.htm
The War Prayer
By Mark Twain
Reader’s Theater Edition #5
Adapted for reader’s theater (or readers theatre) by Aaron Shepard
http://www.aaronshep.com/rt/RTE05.html

RTE #16 ~ How Violence Is Ended: A Buddhist Legend
Told by Aaron Shepard
A prince must choose whether to heed his father’s last words or take revenge on the king who has killed both parents.
RTE #16 ~ How Violence Is Ended: A Buddhist Legend
Told by Aaron Shepard
A prince must choose whether to heed his father’s last words or take revenge on the king who has killed both parents.
http://www.aaronshep.com/rt/RTE16.html



Civil War Events Readers Theatre Script
Developed with Dr. Rosalind M. Flynn by Teachers attending The Peace Center for the
Performing Arts, Greenville, SC Summer Teacher Institute 2005
http://www.rosalindflynn.com/pdf%20files/Civil%20War%20Events%20RT%20Script.pdf

This idea of a person finding their element reminds me of what my wife and I are going through with my son who is graduating this year and going to college and how difficult the process of narrowing down what it is that he is interested in and where is the best fit for college. I believe this is the process most people attempt to help their children find as they grow up. I think it is lot like the school, where we try to expose our children to as many experiences and activities in the hope that they will find their niche in the world. I do not believe that everybody will find their element and I don't believe that it is possible to help all find their element. I do think that the majority of people will eventually find their element probably through trial and error like most in our generation. I do think that this finding "my way" process can also be a cop out for I'm lazy and lack initiative.

Though I agree with Allison that chapters 5 and 6 did not include any "earthshaking" information, I still felt that it was nice to read. Chapter five brought to mind the fact that after the third year in a different position with the district, I am so grateful that I have like minded individuals to speak with about the challenges of each position that I have held. When frustrations are mounting with students, schedules, and curriculum concerns it has been a relief for me to talk with the other teachers and be reminded why I am here.

These chapters also made me think of the enormous pressure that our students must feel to fit in when everyone's expectations are being placed on them. It brings to mind my own middle school daughter who is struggling to find herself in the midst of meeting the very high standards that I hold for her. She is very bright, and also VERY disorganized. Her grades have slipped a bit this year because she has recently become more concerned with communication than school. Recently, she asked me what I thought of her going to Vo-tech for Culinary. I told her I was against it as I want her to continue with her academic and honors classes. I worry that if she decides on this career path now, she is limiting herself to a narrow career range if she changes her mind. After reading these chapters, I am seriously questioning my decision. She has wanted to be a chef since she was four and I don't want to squash those dreams. What to do, what to do?

Conformity and Schools

After reading Chapter 5, nothing from that chapter jumped out at me that said anything earthshaking. We know that when we find a group of people that think like us and are also in the throes of their Element that we are also encouraged to improve or excell where other might have tried to deterr us or stop us all together. Duh. Chapter six though covered a lot of "duh" moments also but I thnk they touched more on a subject that has been a struggle in schools forever. Something that has been plagueing education for a long time. Conformity.

Conformity and fitting in with the mob that is present in schools is often paralyzing to the ones that often can't fit that mold. Don't get me wrong, I don't want anyone to think I am referring to them in a deroggatory manner or being mean about this. It has been something that I have been combating for a long time because I was one of those "different" people that just couldn't fit the mold. The preconcieved notion that what the mob said goes. If the mob thought it was uncool to be smart or excell in school then you were looked upon with disdain. If you thought hanging out with friends and going to parties every weekend were cool then you found your place among the mob but would in essence lose yourself. You lose the will to do the things that you like or appreciate for fear of what others will think of you. I liked chapter 6 because they touched on conformity and the mob that keeps students from finding their Element for fear that they will be bullied by the mob if it does not line up with their preconcieved notions on how you should behave, the things you enjoy doing or how you should dress, etc.

Chapter 6 was another one of those things that we see every year in every classroom and every grade. What is the solution? How do we solve the problem of the mob and help them understand that people who beat to their own drum or who are different aren't bad? I know that schools have been combating this for some with workshops and counselors but will it ever truly end? This problem might never be solved but that is one of the reasons that students fear finding their Element for fear of what the mob will think. Some students, no matter what the mob thinks, will follow their dreams anyway and those are the people who go on to do great things. Why does the mob still believe they are going to be the innovators when it is really the ones that travel outside of the mob or the ones that can travel within the mob but still keep themselves seperated from the mobs influence, are the ones that will change the world as we know it? Just a thought.

Week 3- The Element

After reading chapters five and six, I found many quotes that the author made that I wanted to share in the blog, but I am going to focus on one. "It is difficult to feel accomplished when you're not accomplishing something that matters to you" (pg 139). This was very eye opening, especially when I picture the students at our school. A problem we are facing is that a lot of these students don't get to see what an education can do for you. They see it as a waste of time, just like their parents probably felt when they were here. A majority of our students don't get to see the benefits of an education. They see people who went to college, but it doesn't seem attainable to them because they are living in a home where education failied. It's a vicious cycle, the parents see their parents not caring, so they don't care, then they pass it on to our students. We are trying to fight against a battle that has been building up force for generations. A student who has a family member who went to college is a lot more likely to go to college. Now think of the students who have parents who come from generations of the welfare program. They are a lot less likely to see college as an opportunity, therefore, accomplishing our goal of giving them an education is almost meaningless to them.

Act 48 Hours That Relate to "The Element"

Just want to share some classes offered by the Grove City Intermediate Unit #4
that fit perfectly with folks reading "The Element "!!!
They are:
New Perceptions, New Results: Right brain Thinking Part I (March) in Hermitage
New Perceptions, New Results: Right Brain Thinking Part II (April) in Hermitage

I will bring complete class descriptions to the discussion group at OCHS Library on Wednesday.

first time's a charm

Thanks Maryanne! Couln't have done it without you.
Loved the line: Creativity is not the opposite of logical thinking.

Week 2 - The Element

I would like to start by saying that I really love this book! I have found myself making references to it twice now, while teaching my middle schoolers. I have also noticed that my ability to recognize and point out my students' various intelligences has improved too! The kids have been pleasantly surprised when I take a minute to comment on the doodle on the side of their paper or the rythm that they are tapping out on their desk. I actually told one student that I pictured him as a Matt Groening type of a guy more than I saw him as a Beatle to encourage the quieter artistic side of him!

I really think that it is easy to forget about all the different types of people that it takes to keep our world running and changing as it does. This book, and all the vingettes about people who have found their element, is reminding me that the traditional ways we measure intelligence are really NOT going to give us an accurate picture of that person or their potential for greatness!

I feel pretty far removed from elementary school at this point in the year, but while working at the Early Childhood Learning Center in Titusville they used a program called ARL, Assured Readiness for Learning. It focused on left-brain and right-brain thinking and did a great job at allow the children to express their knowledge of concepts in creative ways. Chapter 3 of the book reminded me of that. All year I have been fighting to find a balance, an avenue for students to show me that they can comprehend without giving a paper pencil test. At times, this has just served to frustrate and overwhelm me as some students simply will do nothing no matter what. Apparently they aren't in their element! Those that do find ease with these types of projects amaze me with their creativity!

On a final note, my favorite quote to this point in the book has to be this. Billards champion Ewa said, "If you find a place where everybody like the same thing you do, it becomes really fun!" Oh, how I strive to make my classroom a place where everyone can get some enjoyment out of learning! Now if only the kids would cooperate!

Foreign language is an area where I feel it is difficult (at least for me) to be often operating in the zone. I guess I appreciate that Robinson emphasizes that even when doing something we love, we are not immune to disappointments or frustration. "Doing what we love can involve all sorts of activities that are essential to the Element but are not the essence of it--things like studying, organizing, arranging, limbering up, etc." (p. 86). I feel I have had an aptitude for language from a relatively early age. I have always enjoyed reading and excelled at writing, majoring in both English and Spanish in college. When I have had opportunities to travel to Spain, I have experienced being in the zone. Being able to communicate fluently and survive in another culture for me is exhilarating. I talk to a friend of mine on the phone in Spanish twice a week, and during those times I can find myself in the zone. But it is always a struggle maintaining fluency without total immersion in the language and culture. I guess because I crave this feeling of elation, I am planning a trip to Spain next summer. I am planning on working this summer in order to do so, and the more money I'm able to save the longer I'll be able to stay! So, I can understand the feeling of doing whatever it takes to do what you love.

Some Additional Twitter Info~

Here is way too much information on Tweeting. Dan Zarella has a lot of research on how/what to tweet so that you will be re-tweeted. http://danzarrella.com/science-of-retweets.pdf See if that link works, if not I will find another way to send.

Week 2: even better!

The readings for this week have inspired me to dig even deeper into myself. Robinson states that "if you can change your mind, you can change your life." Isn't that a true statement! I've been making an effort to do this in my everyday life. I have been trying to look at situations I'm encountering and trying to talk myself out of dreading it or being put out. It's much easier said than done but I am trying!! I wrote down a lot of quotes from these two chapters and failed to write down the pages, but I really felt that he was talking to me! Sometimes, I allow myself to fall into despair about my situation (being a day to day substitute teacher after having the two long term leaves at the Middle School) and I really feel that I needed this book to lift me up some days, it's really inspiring reading about all of these famous people! Not that I think my life will ever turn out like theirs, but Robinson is saying a lot that I needed to hear! On page 102, "if I didn't have to worry about making a living or what others thought of me-what am I most drawn to doing." I read this about two days ago, and have been pondering it....I think I would bake.

In the Zone

I am a very energetic and creative person and find myself "in the zone" more often then not. One of my many passions is roller blading. I can't tell you why I like it, I just do. If I could do it everyday, weather permiting, I would. When I start blading, I just get this feeling. It starts in my feet and travels all the way through my body to my head. My breath quickens, I feel the heat and adrenaline rise. I feel unstoppable. I love the feeling. I get the same way when I sing and dance. I completely lose myself in the experience and I don't even feel the time pass and when I look down at the clock I realize that more time has passed then I would have thought possible. The same goes for my biggest passion and that is reading. When I am reading, I feel myself leaving reality and I am fully immersed in the story that I am reading. Reading has been an escape for me and now it is something that I enjoy so much I wanted to help others find the same joy that I get from it. That is why I went to school to be a librarian. I don't know if that is what I will do forever but that is what I am passionate about now. I just hope to someday soon find a job as a school librarian because it is what I truly care about and what I really want to do. I believe that everyone has something that they could do for hours and never tire of. This chapter just made me think more about the feelings that are evoked from doing something that I love and I really enjoyed reading this chapter in particular.

Getting into my Element

First off, let me say that I am thrilled with this book so far. I am enjoying the content of the book so much and am making many connections to my own life. Finding my element is exactly how I got to where I am today. Without depressing anyone with all the details, I will say that I was feeling a little lost. I had started a degree in elementary education, but had quit school and had a child. For three years, I worked nights as a waitress and cleaned area businesses for extra money. Finally, I got fed up with being away from my daughter at night so I started to look for something during the day. A newspaper ad for a classroom aide at the local elementary school caught my attention and I applied and was hired. That is where things began to turn around for me.
Immediately, I was reminded of why I had originally been interested in a career as a teacher. Not only was I happy to go to work everyday, but my employers loved to have me too! I began to get compliments from other teachers as well as the administration. I was happy with my job for a while until the student I had worked with passed away. Her passing pushed me to finish school so that I could continue to work with kids which I loved, but to make enough money to pay the bills. I had truly found my niche and I wasn't going to let anything stop me.
Or so I thought... When I finally returned to school it was so hard for me to balance life with kids and school. I did my best and I think the reason that I have made it as far as I have is because of the faith of a couple of my college professors. They also recognized that I was at home in the classroom and encouraged me to keep pushing through. After graduation, these professors assured me that I would become a great teacher someday. Application upon application and NO JOB! I thought working with children was what I wanted to do, so I started working as a TSS. What a terrible fit that was for me! I spent most of my time depressed. Sure, I was working with kids and I do love that. Unfortunately, I always had to start out with a focus on negative behaviors which I could not stand! I kept looking for a teaching position, but to no avail so finally I enrolled in my Masters program. After graduating for the second time, I started to get interviews which is what led me here, to OCMS.
All the challenges of this school year leave me wondering if I am truly in my element here at the middle school, I often think I am better suited for the elementary. I haven't had as much time to learn how to work with these kids yet. While I am certain that I am in the right profession, I think I need to gain more experience before deciding what I truly want to do.
Another aspiration... someday maybe I will be a writer! I just need to learn to be more consice first!

Standardized Tests and the Element.

Upon reading the section of chapter two that talked about the SAT's and other standardized tests, I realized that I totally agree. Even before I got to college and started taking classes in education, I knew that standardized tests were not my forte and didn't accurately assess my intelligence. They only test a small spectrum of intelligence which only includes math, reading and writing. Our government has forced standardized tests that only test this small spectrum of intelligence. Legislation is forcing us to put so much emphasis on these three that we are, in essesnce, making students throughout the country feel that they are less intelligent or more intelligent then they might otherwise be if the test was based on something that they were actually good at. Many students do not excel in the three that are tested and are otherwise prevented from going to the college of their choice or at all. Some colleges aren't looking at the SAT as closely as they used to but they still ask you for that number. How are students to find their Element when they must spend most of their time and energy on standardized tests that only test the big three? They are now starting to test some other subjects but they are still only testing subjects that students still do not fully understand or do not care to fully understand. How do we help students find their Element around all of these standardized tests? I wish I had an answer to this question but I hope that one day, together as a team, educators can come together and find a solution so everyone might find a calling.

The Element & Opportunity

Robinson defines the element as "the place where the things we love to do and the things we are good at come together" (p. xiii). How much more productive and efficient would our workforce be if more of the population operated within their "element"? Yet, it seems so unlikely, almost impossible, that people can discover their "element" in spite of the many obstacles and factors that confine us to our current situations--location, finances, family obligations, lack of opportunity, etc. Does everyone have the potential to excel at something to the extent of the individuals Robinson uses as examples in his book? Robinson will most likely reveal to us that those in their "element" have overcome challenges to devote themselves entirely to the passion that drives them. "They pursued them because they couldn't imagine doing anything else with their lives" (p. 20). He gives the example of the keyboard player who had practiced 3-4 hours every day from the age of 7 in addition to performing. Those in their "element" find the opportunity to do what they love, or create an opportunity where one doesn't exist.

True Calling Process

Image by tommy the pariah via Flickr

Here's a link I found on the IUP alumni question/answer site on LinkedIn, maybe clarifies the way to FIND your purpose: http://www.biglinkrally.com
The Element explained ways of recognizing your purpose or being in the element. Those ways sounded a lot like the themes I found in my dissertation research about creating a new identity after a work transition.
--a sense of belonging (the dancer's group)
--purpose
--peers' reflection of us
--vision (Mick Fleetwood)My dissertation is at: http://tinyurl.com/HESSDISSERTATION

The Element Week 1

As I started reading this book, I had almost a knot in my stomach! The thought of exploring these ideas that may lead me to my Element is exciting and scary at the same time. I am anxious to explore these theories and wonder what I am going to discover about myself, as well as my future students! On pg 3, where the author is describing the conversation between the mother and the psychologist, I thought to myself, "would I have thought that about a child acting that way? That she was graceful?" I fear that if a child were acting that way in my class I would ask them to sit still!! What are we suppressing in our students? Are we doing the right thing for them? How can we ever know what our impacts are having on them? I wonder if I will ever know the full impact of my actions on how my life turned out. I have to say, this book is causing me to look very deep into myself, and i'm only on the third chapter!

The Element

Can't wait for the book discussions to begin. Have already had one discussion with Joe Lander and we haven't officially met yet! The Element looks like it is going to be as good as Outliers. I sent you all emails about blogging and Twitter. Included were some links and tutorials that may help you. PLEASE let me know if you need some help. See you Wednesday, Feb. 17th at 2:40.

Week 7

I am not able to be there for the discussion on the last part of the book, although I wish I could make it b/c that's when it makes the most sense to me. In the last part of the book, the author was discussing charter schools. He was telling how these different types of schools can benefit students who are just not succeeding in pubic schools. I was wondering where the closest charter school was to Oil City? I think that maybe I have heard of one in Tionesta, but that could be incorrect. If there is one nearby, I would like to see the research on it. I would like to see what students they are reaching, and how that school has helped them more than a public school. It seems that if this sort of information can be proven, then why are we not implementing their theories in public schools? Why should charter schools have all the fun? I understand that funding is a big part of it, but can't we receive more funding if we have students achieve success on the PSSA? What is it about these schools that make their students more successful than ours? How can we compete with that? I guess my blog contains more questions than answers. I've enjoyed the discussions on this book and look forward to future books!

Cause & Effect

Image via Wikipedia

Chapter 7, p. 161 talks about education research. The current research climate is effective in finding correlations, but not in causality. A better approach, the authors say, is to understand individual students in different circumstances.



But: Maybe we are looking at the wrong constructs, or through the wrong lenses?

It's ironic that the authors want to try to understand individuals but they use a scientific method to do this. A method that doesn't allow these individuals to TELL their individual stories.
Quantitative methods only place people as numbers, objects. Their stories--the things that we can use to understand why they do what they do, what they want to accomplish, what problems they are having--those go unnoted.

Qualitative methods like phenomenology would allow resaerchers to study aspects of one 'problem' that is going on in education. They can then see all the parts, understand the inner workings, and allow the individuals involved a voice.
The authors put a lot of stress on causality. But there are some things--especially when dealing with people and politics--that do not follow a predicatable casue-and-effect line. The more we try to predict people's behavior, the more we might be wrong about those predictions.

"Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he will eat for a lifetime. But--Why are we FISHING?" That's what my professor Ian Baptiste asks. Why are we only staying with the type of educational research methods we've always been using--and then wondering why things aren't working?

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The language dance is what I read about on the very addictive online foreign language program, http://www.byki.com/

byki's learning system is based on vocabulary rather than grammar. And memorizing chunks of conversations. Their research shows that this improves fluency.

Not sure whether the research in literacy of 1st languages is similar to learning a foreign language (at any age). Seems to have a lot of similarities, though. This repetition of parents' conversations to the child would reinforce the language chunks that the children learn. And also would give a context for that knowledge so that the child can create meaningful language.

week 6

After reading Chapter six, I felt that I understood what the author was saying...this book has been kind of hard to follow at times! I found what he said about early childhood education so interesting!! In my own family I have seen what he is saying about language dancing take form. I am 12 years older than my youngest sister, Rachael. When she was just a baby, my younger sister, Megan, (who is 11 years older than her) and I would constantly talk to her. We even have it on video where Megan was interviewing Rachael when she was about eight months old. It's hilarious to watch now and of course we make fun of Megan for making up Racheal's "voice" when she's answering the questions she is asking her.....but what is amazing to me, and i'm really starting to see it now that Rachael is in 8th grade......is her passion for reading, and i'm not talking kiddie novels, Rachael is reading everything!!!! And she gets it!! She can analyze these novels, she can see the bigger picture....she can see the authors message....and she loves it. I guess my point to this family story is that I can see the effects of "language dancing" first hand and I can see the benefits of having a child grow up in a house where she was spoken to much more than just for business. I'm sure comparing her to a child in her grade who didn't have 2 older sisters to talk to her would be like comparing the colors black and white, in some aspects. How sad we can't give every child this opportunity. What's more sad is that if they try to come up with programs that provide a child with this language dancing from someone other than a parent, will that become as disoriented as some of our programs we have out now?

Chapter 5
The Sequence of Substitution- Would parents agree to shoulder some of the costs for their children's computer based learning in a student-centric way in the initial period of substitution? Maybe the author would like to survey some of the parents here...

Chapters 2 and 3 - Getting closer to being on time with these...

I had planned to post a new reply with my thoughts on the chapters, but ended up getting out most of what I wanted to say in a reply to Laura's post. I feel that I need to be at my grade level meetings, so I will be participating via blog for at least a couple of weeks. Next weeks post will be up BEFORE the discussion. I promise.

I do have a couple of questions/comments that I would like to throw out there in case someone has a minute to respond.

1. May I write in my copy of the book? That would make my life so much easier when trying to comprehend what I am reading.

2. Comment - I found it interesting when it was stated "the definition of good parenting expanded to encompass providing enriching experiences for their children." I am wondering what feedback educators with more experience (that would be YOU) have gotten from parents regarding the push to pass the test. On our inservice day at the beginning of the year, I had a parent call and ask me what I planned to teach this year. She said her son was starting to hate reading because all he did last year was prep for the PSSA. Anyone hear anything similar?

3. Question - What did it mean when the author said we need to "implement computer based learning in places and for courses where there are no teachers to teach"? I have been over that comment in my head about a million times, and I can't make any connections.

Chapters 2 & 3

I like how the book relates education to business. I never really thought of it in that way, and am happy to be enlightened by the comparisons. In chapters 2 and 3, I would start to lose the point the author was making and at about that time, he would bring it back in and tell me why it was relevent in that discussion. I am inspired by story of Jaime Escalante. It seems if you can just find that groove with any group of students, they sky is the limit! It's just finding that groove!

Disrupting Class Intro and Chapter 1 - Yes, I am behind!!!

While reading the introduction and chapter 1 of the book, I found the section on motivation to be very relevant to the group of students I have this year in my classes. So many of them come in each day with the attitude that nothing I am trying to teach them has any relevance to their lives. I make the lessons as intrinsically motivating as possible, yet I still have students who REFUSE to do any work! We truly need to find creative ways as educators to help our students become extrinsically motivated. Helping them to see that education will provide them access to all the good things life has to offer is difficult when so many of our students are living in poverty. To them, it probably does not seem that education has served their parents well, therefore they do not see the value in it. One student came to me after the first report cards came out and said, "Guess what? My dad told me I did a good job!" She found her extrinsic motivation in the little bit of praise she got for a job well done. I wish that the rest of my students would follow suit, any ideas?