Today, many teachers do not work together collaboratively. Often times teachers spend time shut in their rooms, away from everyone else who works at the school. Lesson plans are designed alone and much of the work of the teacher is taken home. This is an unfortunate trend. If teachers could learn to work together, they would become a more effective force.
This article discussed the reasons why it is more effective when teachers work together. Working with other teachers helps newer teachers in developing their lessons. In addition, teachers can learn from each other and grow, thereby helping the students. Teachers need to spend time at the school working together instead of taking their work home. This will take more time, but the benefits are worth it.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Classroom Management Plan
1. Be respectful
Everyone in the classroom will be treated with respect. You do not have to like everyone in the room, but you must treat everyone with respect. You must also respect yourself!
2. Be courteous
Use words that are appropriate for the classroom. Be considerate of others around you.
3. Always do your best
Do the best you can to finish all assignments and study for tests. If you need help, ask the teacher or other students.
4. Be prepared
Come to school with the needed supplies, such as pens, pencils, papers and your school work.
5. Be willing to work with your classmates
There will be times where I will ask you to work together. I ask that you do your best to be a good group member, doing the jobs assigned to you. Help each other learn the material.
1. Be respectful
Everyone in the classroom will be treated with respect. You do not have to like everyone in the room, but you must treat everyone with respect. You must also respect yourself!
2. Be courteous
Use words that are appropriate for the classroom. Be considerate of others around you.
3. Always do your best
Do the best you can to finish all assignments and study for tests. If you need help, ask the teacher or other students.
4. Be prepared
Come to school with the needed supplies, such as pens, pencils, papers and your school work.
5. Be willing to work with your classmates
There will be times where I will ask you to work together. I ask that you do your best to be a good group member, doing the jobs assigned to you. Help each other learn the material.
Extra Credit: "Teachers Evaluating Teachers"
This article discusses the method of evaluating teachers in place in Cincinnati and a few other school districts. Traditionally, teachers are evaluated by an adminstrator observing the classroom. The issue with this is that the observer generally only spends about 20 minutes in the classroom, they often are unfamiliar with the material being taught, and are biased by teachers who are their friends. Because of this, teachers were not being provided with the feedback they needed to grow as educators.
An attempt to change this problem was started in Cincinnati. Here, they began a program where teachers would leave their classrooms for two years and asked to observe other teachers in their subject areas. These teachers were able to provide more useful feedback because they were recently in the classroom and were teachers of the same subject they were observing. In addition, a two year restriction was set in place because this kept the teachers who were observing fresh in remembering how to run a classroom. Observing teachers were given the authority to recommend teachers to be fired.
Some question the model of teachers evaluating teachers. They feel that it will create distrust among other teachers. In addition, many teachers being observed were not fully convinced that the observer was not an undercover administrator.
I feel that this method would be very valuable. This will help teachers to grow as educators or to determine if teaching is something they should not continue with. I do think that it may cause a break in some relationships among teachers, however, the good that is brought out by it is far stronger. Under the traditional system, many bad teachers were getting good evaluations because the adminstrator was not knowledgeable about the subject being taught. This is harmful to students. We owe it to our students to provide them with good teachers.
An attempt to change this problem was started in Cincinnati. Here, they began a program where teachers would leave their classrooms for two years and asked to observe other teachers in their subject areas. These teachers were able to provide more useful feedback because they were recently in the classroom and were teachers of the same subject they were observing. In addition, a two year restriction was set in place because this kept the teachers who were observing fresh in remembering how to run a classroom. Observing teachers were given the authority to recommend teachers to be fired.
Some question the model of teachers evaluating teachers. They feel that it will create distrust among other teachers. In addition, many teachers being observed were not fully convinced that the observer was not an undercover administrator.
I feel that this method would be very valuable. This will help teachers to grow as educators or to determine if teaching is something they should not continue with. I do think that it may cause a break in some relationships among teachers, however, the good that is brought out by it is far stronger. Under the traditional system, many bad teachers were getting good evaluations because the adminstrator was not knowledgeable about the subject being taught. This is harmful to students. We owe it to our students to provide them with good teachers.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
"Getting to the Heart of Quality Teaching"
One thing that I learned from this article that I found very disturbing is the fact that teachers of color make up only 16% of public school teachers. I wonder if this has any correlation to the achievement gap. I feel that having diversity among teachers might help to inspire younger students to feel they can be educated too. We need to encourge our young students to step up and become leaders for the future. Another shocking fact I found in this article is that 20% of all new public school teachers leave the profession within three years. The third item that I learned from this article is that you can teach at a private school in certain areas without even a high school diploma.
From this article, I had one thing I disagreed with a little bit. While I do not feel that our standardized tests are the most accurate, I do feel that they are important to have because they help us ensure that education across the country is equal. It also helps to ensure that students from poorer schools are receiving the same education as students from wealthy schools. A question that I had from this article is what does an effective teacher education program look like? Is it possible to create such an institution or are good teachers born with their gifts?
The article mentioned that teachers simply do not have enough time to reach all of their students, providing them with the necessary feedback to succeed. I would like learn more about ideas for solutions to this problem. The only solution I can think of is reducing class size, however this could be a costly endeavor.
From this article, I had one thing I disagreed with a little bit. While I do not feel that our standardized tests are the most accurate, I do feel that they are important to have because they help us ensure that education across the country is equal. It also helps to ensure that students from poorer schools are receiving the same education as students from wealthy schools. A question that I had from this article is what does an effective teacher education program look like? Is it possible to create such an institution or are good teachers born with their gifts?
The article mentioned that teachers simply do not have enough time to reach all of their students, providing them with the necessary feedback to succeed. I would like learn more about ideas for solutions to this problem. The only solution I can think of is reducing class size, however this could be a costly endeavor.
Disrupting Class Chapter 1
3 things that you learned/connected with; 2 thing you disagree with or have questions; and 1 thing you would really like to learn more about
One thing I learned from Chapter 1 of Disrupting class was that it has been shown that humans learn information differently. Though the differences have yet to be identified, there is still considerable evidence that we as humans do learn differently. The second thing that I learned is that intelligence is now being defined differently than it used to be. It used to be that intelligence was a number that could be measured the same way in every person. Now the definition of intelligence has become broader, including different ways that humans are intelligent. The Third thing that I learned is how this broader definition relates to teaching. If humans are gifted and learn in different ways, how can we expect our students to do well if we are teaching to only one intelligence. Teachers must learn to include all levels of intelligence to relate the material to the students better.
One thing I somewhat disagree with is de-standardizing education. What would the effects of switching to customized education and from standardized be? Would there be a way to ensure that students across the country are receiving an equal education? Would this open the door to creating an even larger achievement gap where rich students get a better education that poor?
One thing that I would like to learn more about is the cost of customizing education. In this economic climate, is it feasible?
One thing I learned from Chapter 1 of Disrupting class was that it has been shown that humans learn information differently. Though the differences have yet to be identified, there is still considerable evidence that we as humans do learn differently. The second thing that I learned is that intelligence is now being defined differently than it used to be. It used to be that intelligence was a number that could be measured the same way in every person. Now the definition of intelligence has become broader, including different ways that humans are intelligent. The Third thing that I learned is how this broader definition relates to teaching. If humans are gifted and learn in different ways, how can we expect our students to do well if we are teaching to only one intelligence. Teachers must learn to include all levels of intelligence to relate the material to the students better.
One thing I somewhat disagree with is de-standardizing education. What would the effects of switching to customized education and from standardized be? Would there be a way to ensure that students across the country are receiving an equal education? Would this open the door to creating an even larger achievement gap where rich students get a better education that poor?
One thing that I would like to learn more about is the cost of customizing education. In this economic climate, is it feasible?
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