All students embark on different routes!

All of our students are going to be something. That 7 year old girl is going to be a Nurse in twenty years, and that other 7 year old girl is going to be UPS driver. They are both students, and both have a common goal to pursue a career in something they enjoy. But how do they get there? Us!
Like an airplane, these two unknown girls are heading in different directions. Our job as educators is to ensure an excellent education for future learners, where it leads them to could be two very different destinations.
Both of them are in college now, and like flying on an airplane, they both had to pay to go on their route. The Nursing student is attending a 4 year school to become and RN. The future UPS driver will have to go through some extensive costly training, learning an entire map of streets and directions on how to get places.
We can do our best to guide them, but they are taking their own routes. It makes life fun and interesting.

The future is on our students!




My very favorite quote by Walt Disney.

Three things I learned in this course are, but are not, limited to...
1. A diverse classroom will be upon us! We need to instruct our students with foreign cultures, America is not the only country in the world!
2. That story about the substitute teacher who put that student in the upper level reading class who became famous in Manhattan I will forever remember! That girl proves that everybody should reach for their DREAM!
3. The common core is actually very useful. It keeps America on the same page as far as education goes. Our level of intelligence thus is competitive with other countries!

Social Justice and the Common Core

What is Social Justice?

"Promoting a just society by challenging injustice and valuing diversity." It exists when "all people share a common humanity and therefore have a right to equitable treatment, support for their human rights, and a fair allocation of community resources."
 http://gjs.appstate.edu/social-justice-and-human-rights/what-social-justice

What is the Common Core?
" The Common Core is a set of high-quality academic standards in mathematics and English language arts/literacy (ELA). These learning goals outline what a student should know and be able to do at the end of each grade. The standards were created to ensure that all students graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college, career, and life, regardless of where they live."
 http://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards/

Both Social Justice and Common Core go hand in hand. The Common Core is developed so that across the nation, our educational opportunities are that of other countries. It is important to all schools across America have the same playing field, the same information being taught and set standards for learning. This is a great development for us. Without Common Core, how do we know how the 6th grade Mathematics course is doing in Fort Myers, Florida? We know because of Common Core. We're teaching the same things. The only downside to this core curriculum is "what about the students with disabilities". If a student is having a hard time adding 2 plus 2, how will they multiply 2 times 2. The aim is that they will be able to keep up with the Common Core.

http://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards/development-process/

The above website is one I researched and is the site of the Developmental process for the Common Core. There is, in addition, a 3 minute video to watch about the Development of the idea and is a good watch!

In addition, money got this Common Core going, and Bill Gates was the leader of the pack. Going forward, it became the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Statistics showed that as a nation, we were falling behind foreign competitors. They were out to change that and level the playing field, so that our education can compete with other countries. All of this money created guidelines for education.

Pearson received the "whopper" of contracts for testing the common core. The following is an excerpt from the context:
"“The PARCC team has been working together to develop high-quality assessments that will provide educators, students, and their families with important information about how our students are doing in school,”
I believe this idea of testing the common core is extremely valuable to our country, when referring to the question "Is it working for our students?". These tests for the common core monitor our students efficiency levels in English Language Arts and Mathematics. Without the standardized tests, the government would be unable to make adjustments to the common core. Of course with all of the money spent to develop this, they want to make sure the standards are being met.

Finally, while I like the idea of Common Core, and everybody learning the same things, I wish instructors would have room to teach life skills to their students. Of course with Common Core, the way in which it is delivered is unique, but some teachers like to teach different things. One of the teachers I observed (6th grade) discussed with me a block of the day where they can teach any subject the want to. In his case, he is teaching Japanese History.



 plpnetwork.com

Place Base Education [PBE]

Place Base Education, otherwise known as PBE, teaches students landscapes, cultures, local heritages, and experiences in the environment. Also, it plants a seed to teaching students about the basics of History, English, Mathematics and Science. It assists students in learning by doing community projects, which are very important to the environment in need teaching children that group work for one goal is the best way to complete a task.

http://www.promiseofplace.org/what_is_pbe

These are three goals this website offers about Place Base Education

Place-based education can "feed three birds with the same seed" as it addresses the integrated goals of:

Student Achievement

PBE boosts students' engagement, academic achievement, and sense of personal efficacy as stewards of their local environment and community. It also can re-energize teachers.

Community Social and Economic Vitality

PBE forges strong ties between local social and environmental organizations and their constituencies in the schools and community, which helps to improve quality of life and economic vitality.

Ecological Integrity

Through project-based learning, students make tangible contributions to resolving local environmental issues and conserving local environmental quality.

I found this picture at http://www.delta.edu/honors/service-projects.aspx.

This the Delta College Honors Program at an adopt a highway sign in Michigan. This project strives to keep the state of Michigan clean within three miles of highway. This is a great idea for Student Service Projects, cleaning and working together, key components of life.


I found this picture at https://www.belmontcollege.edu/about-us/student-life/community-service-projects.aspx

This was a service project at Belmont University in which goods were collected and sent to Haiti for the earthquake victims.

I am a Progressivist!

Through taking the self assessment test, I have learned that I am a Progressivist. Summarized by the assessment, the Progressivism philosophy states that I am:

"Progressivists believe that education should focus on the child rather than the subject matter. The
students' interests are important, as is integration of thinking, feeling, and doing. Learners should be
active and learn to solve problems by experimenting and reflecting on their experience. Schools
should help students develop personal and social values so that they can become thoughtful,
productive citizens. Because society is always changing, new ideas are important to make the future
better than the past."

My future students are already so important to me. One year learning with me will forever change their life, and that's something I am very passionate about. I want my students to go on and be the best possible self they can be. Everybody has potential. I was a student with a lot of potential in lower level grades, but I never truly realized what my mind was capable of doing. I enjoy learning now, I thoroughly enjoy math. This week I declared my second major as World Cultures and Regions - Spanish. It's a new door opening for me and I'm ready to walk the walk as an Elementary Education and Spanish major(s). It took me 23 years to figure myself out, and what I wanted. Now that I know what I want, I'm ready!

I want my students to have that same moment. Students should learn what they want to learn, and be interested about it. Once you get to college, its on them! They pick what they want, and I believe what helps you make this decision is past experience in lower level grades.

The latter part of the quote "Because society is always changing, new ideas are important to make the future better than the past". Yes! The past is the past, and the future has a ton more in store for all of us. Experiences shape yourself moving forward.







I picked this Pin for Pinterest earlier in this module, not knowing the outcome of the test. Incredible assessment that proves my philosophy on teaching.  I love this quote on many levels. Its a perspective we should all take in. If students are not grasping the material, perhaps it is not them who is at fault? Most likely, our teaching needs reconstruction. The knowledge students learn from teachers sets a base for their future. If they aren't learning, it will be difficult to pick up going forward. Its a good lesson for us all that self reflection is a key element of teaching. Why aren't the students understanding the material? Where do our problems lie?

In addition, we watched a video by Sir Robinson about different philosophies and education. One thing that stuck out in my head while watching was the "If you do well in school, you go to college" and "if you go to college, you get a job". Life isn't like that anymore, that's how it was. In today's day, students are losing focus and are taking jobs right out of school. It's perfectly fine to work after high school, college is sometimes not for all. But having a degree today is huge!
Also grabbing my attention was when he depicted the scene of a child in class wandering off into space, and the board reading "Blah, Blah..". Totally agreeable to the extreme that too many things are getting the way of learning today. Video games, television, iPhones are all walls of learning. Even adults lose focus while driving thinking of their iPhone, its what America is today. How can we instill a need to focus if adults can't either, specifically, their parents?
Different cultures from around the world have different educational systems than us. But at the end of the day, we have one common goal and that's important. I liked the collaboration factor too. We learn a lot from our peers, not just our teachers. Study groups are an outstanding aspect of learning. Everybody see's things differently! Somebody always misses something you have in your notes. Learning from each other is essential.
One thing about education i would change is to integrate more group work. I love group work, I think collaborating with peers is the best thing going, and the fact that at the end of the day the create one combined project or assignment. Ive said it before, and I'll say it again, we learn best through communication with others.

An IDEA for millions!

IDEA, not just a thought? It's an action. An action put into law in 1975. These individuals had an idea like no other for the future.
What did it entail? Who was it for? Students with disabilities. It demanded that public schools serve those special individuals with disabilities with educational needs. Everybody deserves the right to an education. Everybody.

Moreover, It gives students of special education a more main stream way of education. Without IDEA, parents and teachers of special education students would have no IDEA how their child/student is progressing. It's to be known always. From experience with students with Disabilities, students take an IEP assessment test from what I remember and continue on to have IEP meetings with parents and students. This is such a good way to know where the student is. My special education class I mentored was high on the learning realm. Not only did they have class which included math, reading, and writing, but they were also taught life skills. Cooking was a class they had, I was with them during Computers, and they also had physical education. All of these things are essential for the upbringing of a child with special needs, and with IDEA, it only gets better as time goes on!

Through the national center for learning disabilities, they describe IDEA as the following:

" IDEA requires that schools provide special education services to eligible students as outlined in a student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP). IDEA also provides very specific requirements to guarantee a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) for students with disabilities in the least restrictive environment (LRE). FAPE and LRE are the protected rights of every eligible child, in all fifty states and U.S. Territories. IDEA requires every state to issue regulations that guide the implementation of the federal law within the state. At a minimum, state regulations must provide all of the protections contained in IDEA. Some states may have additional requirements that go beyond the federal law. Many states offer handbooks or guides to help parents understand these state-specific policies and procedures."

 http://www.ncld.org/disability-advocacy/learn-ld-laws/idea/what-is-idea

I picture IDEA as a basketball team. 5 players on the court, and they all have one common goal, to get it in the hoop and win the game. Does that not relate to those students with disabilities? Aren't they after the same goal? We all want to be high achievers, and that can be done through IDEA. Like basketball, we want to score with education. We all want equal oppurtunity, especially those with special needs and disabilities. 

How does gender affect the classroom?

I chose the topic "How does gender affect the classroom". Classrooms come with two sexes, males and females. Some will argue that male teachers favor that of female students, while female teachers favor the males. But do they?

Gender Bias is defined as an "unequal treatment in employment opportunity, and expectations based on the employee or employees. Gender bias can be a legitimate basis for a lawsuit under the anti-discrimination act." This, however, can be directly related to Education. The teacher can be treating the boys/girls different based on gender.

In my research, I fell upon a study from a preservice Florida University teacher named Brittany Anderson. She did some self research on herself to see if she was gender bias, in the hopes of making her teaching methods more gender neutral. Through many video tapes of her lessons, she found things such as:

• In her 9th grade science class, video records showed she spent more time talking to the boys in the classroom than the girls
• She smiled at only the boy students, not the girls
• She asked more leading questions to the girls
• She never reprimanded girl bad behavior, only the boys
• In her 6th grade science class, she noticed that she ignored the quieter students (typically the girls she notes) and called on boys more often

These first findings for me relate back to how female teachers tend to favor the boys, and visa versa. She concludes her findings with the fact that teachers often don't have time to reflect on their work, but she's glad that she did so that it furthermore helps her students, and, her teaching skills. Remember, those quieter kids need attention too!





I enjoy coming up analogies to get my point across. Above are the 32 teams in the National Football League. Some teams are really good, and the weaker teams have to prepare immensely for matches like those. Although, the same training comes each week regarding of who you're playing. Even the team with the worst record can win a game against the best. You never know! As an NFL team, you have to prepare for every game like its your toughest opponent. And even though some teams are better than others, you still have to prepare. Teams from the west coast, Teams from the east coast, they are all TEAMS in the end. Just like the classroom! You could a classroom with a student who just moved here from San Jose and is shy, and you'll have somebody who knows all the answers to the questions. You'll have somebody in your classroom who talks out of turn and disrupts the classroom. The idea is your classroom is going to be extremely diverse. Students come in different sexes, and shapes and sizes. However, their all there for one thing: To Learn! Just like any team who plays the Patriots this year, there goal is to win no matter how bad or good they are. It relates to students in a way that even the child has a disability, is a boy, or girl genius, we must treat all students the same and give everyone an equal learning experience.

Works Cited

 

"Gender+bias." TheFreeDictionary.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2014.

"Membership." Analyzing the Issues: Gender in the Classroom. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2014.

"Public Opinion, Polls and Discussion on SodaHead." SodaHead. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2014.

Columbus Day: A Holiday?

Throughout my years of public education, every year on Columbus Day there would be no school. Why? Columbus founded America in "1492; when he sailed the ocean blue". Up until this day, I have never truly looked at this day as something other than a holiday. Why do we celebrate such a thing? Was he a true American Hero?
I did some research into this, and read an article entitled "No reason to celebrate and invasion". My first thoughts were "invasion?". What did he invade and who did he affect? As a nation, we enjoy the holiday off from either work or school, but don't truly realize that we affected the Native Americans in developing this country. We are celebrating an invasion of America. During this time period, many Europeans were out for land. The article describes Columbus as "a man of his times". The article continues to tell us about how the Native Americans are doing today. They have "no reason to celebrate an invasion that caused demise of so many of our people and is still causing destruction today". We don't often look at other perspectives, we instead look at how our lives our looking today and the impact Columbus had on us. As far as the Native American's go, it hurt them.
As the article continues, the Native American's criticize the Christian religions. The christian's had intended for the Native American's to practice their religion, however, that did not happen and eventually led to executions. An interesting point they noted was from 1992, when the catholic church entered a period of grace and healing. The Native American's didn't fully understand how the Catholic's could enter that state of grace and healing as far as killing thousands of their people? It doesn't make much sense.
 
http://www.regentsprep.org/
I saw this political cartoon in the article, and wanted to share it. I've seen it before, and I think it relates very much to this blog post and reflection on Columbus Day. What this is describing is the man in the suit saying "its time to reclaim America from illegal immigrants" and the Native American, who had this land first, replies with "I'll help you pack". A very valid point of view on this "invasion" of America.
No Reason to Celebrate an Invasion_Aug2011 (1).pdf

Furthermore, I read an article with Elementary School ideas to incorporate to a curriculum about Columbus Day. There were many ideas, but a couple stuck out. One of them asks students to work in groups or pairs. They are asked to think of scenarios where a person "discovered" a place or thing, and can either write them down or act them. Conceptually, I believe this will give them the idea of how Columbus "discovered" America, setting aside the Native American's were already here.

Another assignment could involve the student's looking at a map of Native American tribes. They can either pick a tribe closest to them, or, a tribe of their choice. I personally would use this with 5th graders and above. They can research their tribe and figure out what happened to them post 1492. How were they eliminated? Are there still some in the area? This will give the student's a better understanding of the real affect of the "discovery" of America.
Elementary School Issues_Aug2011.pdf

I like this view on the subject. I can't recall ever thinking of this concept before, but the more I think about, the more question of "why" appears in mind. Why does the United States celebrate a period of time where the downfall of Native American's began? I know though that I would love to incorporate the games above to not only teach the students about Columbus Day, but to also give both sides of what really happened. Yes he found America, but the Native Americans were already here and were wiped out year after year.

Collage on "What milestone event's do you celebrate in your culture?

 This is my collage to what milestone events do you celebrate in your culture? The top left is my girlfriends prom. As a matter of fact, I have never heard of other cultures having prom night! Top right picture is my family at my brothers graduation. I think of all cultures, America does graduation the absolute best. The bottom right is me with my 4 aunts on my 23rd birthday. Birthdays are common everywhere, some cultures actually go well beyond us in excitement over birthdays, some cultures pressure their children into marriage. So different beyond America. Finally, the bottom left picture is me at my brothers christening with both of our grandmothers. Unfortunately, neither are with us today. But they watch over everyday to make sure we are good to go! In addition, baptism is one of the key things in Christianity and it welcomes newborns or new to the religion individuals into Christianity. 
Religions are different all over the world too, and everybody has a different way of doing things. It's how each religion does there own thing that matters in the end. 

Blog 2 : Why Teach?

So.. Why Teach?


I want to teach because I want to make a difference. Through learning and experience, I believe I have what it takes to create a great learning environment for students. Students need a good environment and a good teacher to be successful in their work. I want to help students succeed. Most teachers have very distinctive qualities. Some of the qualities I wish to attain are to be structured, firm, informative, and energetic. Being energetic is not a problem for me, nor is being informative. But I know right off the bat I must work on being structured and firm. When I say firm, I men sticking to plan and trying not to digress. In addition, if penalties are given to an individual because of lack of homework, rowdiness etc., I’ll have to learn to stick to that as well. I hate to describe myself as a softy, but I am. I hate to be the bad guy, but in a reading I’ve already read this semester, once you show signs of weakness, the year is kaput. Rules for the classroom are to remain a structured part of my curriculum. 

All teachers I have come in contact with have all told me the same thing regarding teaching: If you don't like children, teaching isn't for you. I think we've all had the one teacher we felt didn't like us. But do you think thats exactly true? The work they went through in college, masters programs, student teachings, all of that but still hated children? Completely false! I have, however, met people who've studied years and years of accounting, and switched jobs later in life. I feel like most teachers have wanted to teach all of their lives. For me, it wasn't until recently that I realized my love for teaching.

An article I read in this week's module that really touched me was the story about The Green Monongehla. In short, it was a story about a man who became a substitute teacher and altered the life of a young student who loved reading. He was able to have her tested into the advanced reading class. In the end, he tell's us that she won New York Cities Teacher of the Year award. For a story that took 20 minutes to read, it touched me in a way I didn't think possible. I immediately began to think "Hey, I want to make a difference too!"

Another part of this week's module I wrapped my mind around was teaching in different settings. In an article by Herbert Kohl, he explains that different places look for teachers, not just public schools. I illustrated this thought by comparing to airlines. Everybody knows Air France. Want to go to Paris? Fly Air France! But have you ever heard of Openskies? It is also an airline that goes nonstop from the U.S. To Paris. So just because its not popular, it doesn't get the job done? Of course not! Both do the same job, just different names. Same goes for teaching. You don't have to just teach in a school, it can be in a hospital, social agency, or a business.

A peer of mine in EDU100 Kimberly posted a picture of two divers diving into a body of water. She described this has diving head first into the many options out there that is teaching. Absolutely loved the picture and like I said to her, I always love her blogs!


Speaking of all the options that is teaching, take your pick! As Kimberly would say, dive in!

I am Michael Miccichi, 23 years old from Winthrop, Massachusetts. This is my first year at Salem State University and I am studying Elementary Education. Right now, my double major will include Psychology but I am exploring all opportunities. I am not too fond of History so I know that won't be the choice. I have narrowed my choices down to Psychology and Geography.

I became interested in Education about a year and half ago when I realized I want to make in impact in the future generation. I was in school for three years at North Shore Community College without a major. I graduated with an Associates Degree in Liberal Arts. I truly see myself teaching the younger generation and shaping their futures with not only classroom knowledge, but an overall enjoyable classroom experience. Learning should be fun for all, its what makes school interesting and unpredictable.

http://www.smekenseducation.com/
This link directs you to one of the first websites I googled a few months ago when I was placed into this course. I wanted to get a feel for classroom ideas, better tools for teaching and demonstrating.

I cannot quite figure out how to minimize the picture below, but this describes my life in two words. My girlfriend and Disneyworld. OK, four words. I am forever thankful I met her, and forever thankful for Walt Disney. Without him, I would not have a home away from home.

Mike