Sick of Technology part 2

I forgot to hone in on my title. Usually, I'm one to sit at my computer 'til bedtime and have fun. But now, I've been at my computer so much, that I'm actually trying to avoid it during relaxation time!

Sick of Technology

I find that my life has been super crazy these past few weeks. This past week we had parent conferences, and it can be challenging at times to accommodate everybody's needs. It was nice though to finally sit with the parents one on one and really get to know them. This week was also another major battle with the D.O tech people. The tech guys think that they have power over all of the tech stuff, yet they are not the ones actually implementing it in the schools. The DUKANE system is a school television networking system that can do many things from school broadcasting to playing videos in multiple rooms at the same time. We can have a maximum of five cable channels playing on the system at once. The tech guys seem to think that they can tell us what channels to use. They are constantly questioning why we have Spanish channels on it. They should be learning channels. Well my principal says that we can choose whatever we want and she wants us to screen things before we show them. Well the argument is going back and forth and the tech guys decided to lock up the cabinet, so now I don't have access to doing any of the programming. Uggh...just what I need right now! Petty stuff!

An incident in the classroom

Okay, well I have to say Thursday was by far one of the most interesting days of my teaching career. It was really the first time I had to reprimand my class for doing something wrong, but it was actually an ingenious idea. One of the positive reinforcement incentives I use is called Dabbeekeh Dollars. Dabbeekeh Dollars are play money that the kids earn for citizenship, participation, and good character. Well I guess there has been a "black market" going around, something that I was unaware of. the students were trading their personal items for Dabbeekeh Dollars. I think the reason that I never caught the initial leader is because I had been out for a few days this past week. Between being sick, having meetings and 504s, I was out a lot. Well anyways, on with my story. The way I figured out the problem was when one child came up to me and said...May I have change and have 25 ones. That was the break in the case. I then stopped my Math lesson, figured out what happened and began a class disucssion on why what they did was wrong. The consequence for this was they had to lose all of the money in their bank and not participate in auction for one week.

While I none of my other classes had ever thought of this, I thought it was a clever plan. I guess if I have to teach "Black Market" and enterprise, this would be the way to go.

I'm going CrAzY!!!

As I approached my doorsteps today, I realized that I had a package. Yes, more books to look at! Well I opened the package up and was very curious as to how my books arrived so quickly. I ordered them just 2 days ago. Well low and behold, these are books from a previous order ( a couple of weeks ago) that were on back order. I guess I did not realize that I had initially ordered them. Well after reviewing my orders on Amazon, I now have 2 sets! I think I need to take a step back and calm down. Take life a little slower. I think I'm getting everything confused!

Extra Duty Extra Pay

Well, I think my principal knows how busy and hectic my life is right now. I went into her office to discuss with her much of the learning theory that we are talking about in our classes. She is current with he research and she is planning on presenting some to our staff in a few weeks. At this time, she also told me that the amount of work I am devoting to our technology is too much to go without acknowledgement. At that time she told me the type of work I was doing is something that should be paid for. Currently she is looking into getting me Extra Duty, Extra Pay (basically overtime) for the work I am doing on our school's Dukane system.

The Dukane system is a school wide broadcasting system, video on demand, and video programming system. I was trained primarily in the video programming (for an hour), but need more training in the other areas. We have been experiencing many problems in the other areas. I have been in constant contact with our district tech staff to help fix the problem. It has taken much time out of my day as well as my teaching day. I'm glad she acknowledged this! It is worth it. It will help me to get buy-in on other things.

Youngest and the Leader

I had an awful work experience yesterday. It deals with something that is more common in today's workplace. I am currently one of the youngest teachers on my campus, and am serving as the grade level chair for fourth grade. It is my job to be the liason between the administration and my grade level. I am also in charge of leading meetings and other various tasks for my grade level.

The first Friday of every month, we have a minimum day so that the grade level can plan together. My grade level consists of two teachers in their fifties, a teacher in his thirties and another young teacher that is about my age. Two of the teachers are new to our grade level so they are still getting acqainted with the procedures.

Yesterday was our first planning day. On our agenda, I had planned on discussing the curriculum, where will we be by October break, homework for the next few weeks, and discussing a great art project for our next story. Little did I know, everyone else had another agenda.

One of the main topics that I have been hesitant to discuss was field trips. Our team is very divided and we had a heated discussion last year, and did not want to waste a whole planning day going in circles like the first time we discussed it. On my own time, I had been looking into something that would be in the best interest of the children, as well as, work out for other teachers. Before I go into that discussion, I would like to tell you why field trips are a big deal for our group.

First of all, we have two older teachers who don't want to deal with all of the makings of an involved, fun, yet educational trip. They would rather take the easy way out. These two teachers do not want the responsibility of giving kids more freedom. They want them to be in a controlled environment. Also, one of the teachers has high anxiety about the freeways and buses and does not want to travel long distances for field trips.

So taking all of this into consideration, and our funds, I really took extra time to accommodate everybody's needs, including taking the Metrolink instead of a bus. One of the reasons I worked so hard to find a great field trip, is because the memories that I had of field trips from when I was a student in school were exciting and memorable. These field trips were the interactive ones. I can honestly tell you that I really don't remember a whole lot about the museum ones. Thus, I wanted something that my kids would truly remember and applied to the curriculum in the school.

One option that the kids would love is going to California Adventure (Disney) This would be a great field trip because the it ties directly to the standards and California history. Unfortunately it was too expensive for our budget. I had been looking into Knott's Berry Farm because they had a CA exhibit where the kids would explore the Wild West and learn about Gold Country and even pan for gold. I was looking into taking the train down and doing this, because it was more cost effective than California Adventure.

Okay, back to school and our meeting. Early yesterday morning---before the first bell rang---I went to my mailbox and carried a huge stack of papers that were being sent home. Within that stack was a field trip flyer. One of my fourth grade teammates stopped me, and dug through my pile to emphasize that we should go see this play at the local playhouse. I found it quite rude, especially when she dug through my stuff and knew that field trips were a sensative issue. I let it go and the school day went smoothly until planning time.

Like I had said, I purposefully did not put field trips on the agenda because we did not need to have another argument at this point in time. Low and behold the two "older teachers" bring this paper to the meeting and and make it a point to address that this would be a great field trip to go on. I said yes, but we should not rush into any decsions yet, there are some cool ideas that I have been looking into. One of the other teachers said well yeah...seeing the play is easy the kids are controlled and we would not ahve to worry about it. I then proceeded to say that this fourth grade class went on the "same" field trip in second grade and could benefit from a different experience. The two older ones kept on joking around and would not let me speak. They could not get off of the subject. One of them said yes okay so we are doing it, not really giving anybody else a chance to speak. Numerous times, I tried to redirect it, but the "older ones" kept making jokes and thinking it was funny, at one time they said, "we are going to drive Jessica to quit." I then tried to say that another teacher and I were discussing what else could be done. They got riled up and continued to throw in jokes. Once I was able to say that we could have a field trip at school they felt releived.

Once I tried to say that we need to think about the kids, and not what is just conveinient for us. I then told them about the times that I went away on "week long" field trips when I was in elementary school. Their response was we don't do that here. And then I proceeded to tell them, that actually things might be chaning and administration has given a possible option for overnight field trips to the state capital and/or DC. I caught them off guard.

Finally after all of this the thirty year old said, we'll just do this for this year and really work hard on planning the other field trips for the future.

What does all of this say? That people may feel threatened about someone much younger than them---especially when one was my BTSA support provider. I am looking forward to learning more about leading a team, especially making someone that is younger than you, be more respected as a leader.

Accepted and Classical View

Last week Bill told us of a movie that had some great components of the learning process. This past weekend, I took it upon myself to view the movie Accepted. It went hand in hand with The Book of Learning and Forgetting. The book focuses on two different views of learning: the classic view and the official view and the movie contrasts these two views.

Accepted is about a high school grad that does not get accepted into any college that he applied to. He comes up with the idea of fabricating his own college---to make his parents happy. His small plan of just having an acceptance letter from the fake college backfires when his parents want to see the college and meet with the dean. He is able to pull it off having people play the different roles in the college (i.e. students, dean). Within his new school, he develops the program of a learning board. People can take whatever class they want---they can create the classes they want to take.

This is very similar to the classic theory---you learn with the "company you keep." You learn by doing something that you enjoy instead of being forced to take something that necessarily does not appeal to you. Yes, college does give you more selection on the courses that you take, but most of your classes fall under that category "must fulfill to meet the requirements in order to graduate." It is a catch-22.

In the end, the State Board of Accreditation allows the school to remain in existence with a one year probation period. The students were able to prove how their school was effective. Now, I don't know if any schools like this exist in America, but I think they would provide models and help to influence the classical theory in the university system of America.

Homogeneous Grouping?

Homogeneous Grouping is an ongoing debate in the education world. What is best for kids? Well at my school, we use both heterogeneous grouping and homogeneous grouping. We cluster classes according to labels (GATE, RSP, ELL) etc, however there is a mixture of ability levels within each class. Is it really important to group students?

Prior to the change in the education system (circa 1880s Prussian war) schools were one room school houses. "The old one-room schoolhouse was filled with pupils of all ages from the same social stratum in the same community--untainted by contact with anyone who might be a model of anything different" (45). Really, the purpose of the one room school house was to collaborate with people that had a knowledge base of interests, but at different levels. Kids were not grouped according to age, and they learned from each other. This goes with the idea of the classic theory of learning. Smith states that the one-room schoolhouse was definitely not the epitimy of a good education, but it was better than what it transformed to.

The militaristic point of view came about. Students were no longer mixed with all levels, but according to age and ability. Segregation, politicians thought, would be more effective and productive within the school system. To me, this was in no way beneficial.

Competition in the school place is derived from this. Kids were struggling to keep up with their peers. The part of this book really reminded me of story in the book The Tipping Point written by Malcolm Gladwell. In this book, he speaks of the Gore Company. The Gore Company's philosophy is to have everyone on a level playing ground in regards to their jobs. No one has a job title. Everyone is considered equal. Ironically, their company has been highly effective and has been profitable. No one has to worry about competition in the workplace. Would schools be more effective if they followed this model? My guess is yeas....It is similar to the classic theory of the one-room schoolhouse.

The Book of Learning and Forgetting---Grading

I really gained a lot of insight into the entire education system by reading The Book of Learning and Forgetting by Frank Smith.
Our current education system is derived from many wars that took place throughout the last 125 years. The Prussian war is what began the new education movement and we have never looked back. This war transformed us from the classic theory of learning to the official theory of learning. Science then transformed the system and then psychology's scientific view in the classroom is what transformed grading and record keeping into the classroom.

Students were given lists to memorize and with those lists came scores. This was the way students, teachers, and others could determine if learning was taking place. Thus, "people stopped talking about students' abilities and interests and started talking about their scores" (56). Teachers were then required to keep records of all of these scores.

These scores then went to politicians and the "higher ups" so that they could so-call help teachers in order to get the struggling students grades up. This went to publishers who created help books for teachers which then became "an annual multi-billion business that became the biggest single segment of commercial publishing, with a largely captive market" (57).

This view caused students to veer from collabortion (classical theory) on things to fending for themselves---cheating is derived from this method.

I found this very ironic when I read this (when compared to my current classroom). Just from pure observations, my kids don't always like to be graded on things. The first thing that comes out of their mouth when I give them an assignment is "Are we going to be graded on this?". One thing come to mind when they say this: Will they concentrate better because there is less pressure, or will they just blow off the assignment not truly caring how they score?

I can't really answer this question, but I do know that I emphasize that it is important to try their best (the fist rule in my classroom).

I do know that my students like to work with others when given the opportunity. I think that this stems from the classical theory---they usually always partner up with students to whom they can relate to.

Applying this to my own life, I do strive for the highest grades---I'm a "true product" of the official theory of learning. It was something that was en grained in me. I can honestly say that I was disappointed in seeing that we only received credit in one of our classes....I thought it was on the traditional grading scale.

How can we change this way. I know that as I read and pondered how to do so, I felt like I would become an outsider. I can honestly say that I would not be able to do this alone.

The Book of Learning and Forgetting

I just finished reading The book of Learning and Forgetting. I can say that I learned a lot of information. Below you will find a detailed summary of the book with my thoughts incorporated.

Frank Smith's book presents two views of learning, the classical theory of learning and the official theory of learning. These two contrasting views have both been present in the educational system, but today's school systems follow the official theory---which is seen as highly ineffective.

The classic theory is defined as the ability to "learn from the people around us with whom we identify (3)--you learn from the company you keep by making them part of what we already know. They are not new bits to be added to a store of knowledge, but extension or elaaborations of the experience and beliefs that make us what we are" (13). This means that you learn from watching and working with people like you. On the contrary, the official theory is the idea "that learning is work, and that anything can be learned provided sufficient effort is expanded and sufficient control enforced" (4). Thus, you have to try very hard in order to learn something effectively.

Smith spoke about the importance of the classical theory and joining clubs. He states that we join clubs because we identify with the people in those clubs. Whether it is a book club, fishing club or tennis club, we become like the "company that we keep." We will exhibit this identity by the way we "talk, dress, and ornament ourselves" (11)