While walking into the kindergarten classroom today I noticed that the kids weren't quite as hyper as they were on Valentines Day. However, they were a little hyper. It was the beginning of class so they were all excited to share what they did over the weekend. While the kids were doing their morning activities I was able to walk around and help them read or write a story. It was amazing to see how excited they were to be doing these activities.
Today I was also able to meet with my small group and we were able to get to know each other better. It was fun getting to know Piper, Mason, Kayla, and Logan. They were all very excited to talk with me and tell me about themselves. I am really excited to discuss the characters of their favorite books with them the next time I attend their classroom.
It was also nice to see the techniques that Mrs. Murphy used to get the kids to pay attention to her better. One technique she used involved singing softly until the children caught on and started singing with her.
Field Experience Day 2 was a success and I can't wait for Day 3!
Monday, February 28, 2011
International News Article: Ethiopia
http://www.ethiopian-news.com/ethiopia-cited-for-gains-in-access-to-education/
I loved this article. This area of Africa (Ethiopia) is taking a step forward in the world of education. Most kids from this area didn't even attend school and their parents never attended school. The government has started to ask parents to put their children in school. The enrollment rate of children attending school has gone from about 20% to almost 90%. They are facing many challenges such as, high enrollment so the quality of the education is not as good, and many different languages are spoken so it is hard to teach all of the kids using one language. However, it is great that they are facing the challenges because they know that education is important for their children and society.
I loved this article. This area of Africa (Ethiopia) is taking a step forward in the world of education. Most kids from this area didn't even attend school and their parents never attended school. The government has started to ask parents to put their children in school. The enrollment rate of children attending school has gone from about 20% to almost 90%. They are facing many challenges such as, high enrollment so the quality of the education is not as good, and many different languages are spoken so it is hard to teach all of the kids using one language. However, it is great that they are facing the challenges because they know that education is important for their children and society.
Intercultural Development Inventory
This week in class we discussed intercultural development and took an assessment to see where we fit on the Intercultural development continuum.
As an individual my perceived orientation is at 124.53 which means I am in between acceptance and adaptation. However, my developmental orientation is at 105.78 which means I fall in between Minimization and acceptance. I have an orientation gap of 18.75, this means that I have overestimated my level of intercultural competence and I am surprised that my developmental score is not higher. I want to continue to work on my intercultural development so that I can be at the highest level (which is adaptation). In class I have learned a bunch of ways to increase my intercultural development. A few of the things that I want to improve on include: increasing fluency in a foreign language, gain general knowledge about other cultures, and gain culture specific knowledge and skills. Hopefully by doing so I will be a better teacher once I graduate from college.
As an individual my perceived orientation is at 124.53 which means I am in between acceptance and adaptation. However, my developmental orientation is at 105.78 which means I fall in between Minimization and acceptance. I have an orientation gap of 18.75, this means that I have overestimated my level of intercultural competence and I am surprised that my developmental score is not higher. I want to continue to work on my intercultural development so that I can be at the highest level (which is adaptation). In class I have learned a bunch of ways to increase my intercultural development. A few of the things that I want to improve on include: increasing fluency in a foreign language, gain general knowledge about other cultures, and gain culture specific knowledge and skills. Hopefully by doing so I will be a better teacher once I graduate from college.
National News article: Are Minneapolis Schools culturally competent?
http://www.startribune.com/local/116886708.html
This article represents what we were talking about in class this week. Schools need to learn to accept and incorporate different cultures into the schools.
This article focused on a harder topic. I think they wanted to incorporate the Muslim holiday of Ramadan, however, it conflicted with the start date of school. Most schools do not like to start the school year late and they decided to dismiss the idea of doing so just for the holiday of Ramadan.
I feel that if all christian holidays are celebrated by the dismissal of school, so should all different holidays from different cultures and religions. The school is letting the Muslim children who are missing school because of the holiday of Ramadan be excused, but is this good enough?
This article represents what we were talking about in class this week. Schools need to learn to accept and incorporate different cultures into the schools.
This article focused on a harder topic. I think they wanted to incorporate the Muslim holiday of Ramadan, however, it conflicted with the start date of school. Most schools do not like to start the school year late and they decided to dismiss the idea of doing so just for the holiday of Ramadan.
I feel that if all christian holidays are celebrated by the dismissal of school, so should all different holidays from different cultures and religions. The school is letting the Muslim children who are missing school because of the holiday of Ramadan be excused, but is this good enough?
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Anti-Bullying in Japan
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110121004772.htm
This article deals with bullying and what educators and staff are doing about it. Many people think that suspending students who are bullying would take care of the problem and some disagree. However, some educators aren't suspending students or punishing them at all for their behavior which reinforces them to continue with the behavior. Japan has also gone as far as making a law to stop bullying.
This article goes to show that bullying is everywhere and different schools are taking different steps to prevent it. Victims of bullying are committing suicide in Japan as well and something needs to be done to stop bullying so that there are no victims.
This article deals with bullying and what educators and staff are doing about it. Many people think that suspending students who are bullying would take care of the problem and some disagree. However, some educators aren't suspending students or punishing them at all for their behavior which reinforces them to continue with the behavior. Japan has also gone as far as making a law to stop bullying.
This article goes to show that bullying is everywhere and different schools are taking different steps to prevent it. Victims of bullying are committing suicide in Japan as well and something needs to be done to stop bullying so that there are no victims.
Field Experience: Day 1
I attended my first day of field experience on Monday, February 14th. I was assigned to a kindergarten class at Kennedy Elementary. It was valentines day, and as you can guess the kids were oozing with excitement. Mrs. Murphy (the teacher) told me to observe and help the kids with their valentines activities, as well as, listening to them read stories to me. I also got the chance to read to a few students. It was a wonderful experience, even though the kids weren't as well behaved as they normally would have been on any other less significant day. I felt like I belonged with them in the classroom. It was amazing to see the students learning and to hear them say, "Ms. Quamme, can you please help me spell blueberries". It was also amazing to see how much passion these little students had for learning. I had so much fun with them that I didn't want to leave. It was also nice to see the techniques that Mrs. Murphy used to grab the students attention. I learned a lot in only two hours. After this first field experience I feel like I was born to be a teacher.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
District 11 fine-tunes bullying policy
http://abcnewspapers.com/2010/10/26/district-11-fine-tunes-bullying-policy/
The Anoka-Hennepin School district already had rules in place for all kinds of bullying. However, they made some changes that would make the policy even more strict and easy to read. I love how they added programs for the students of the school to participate in that makes them aware of bad bullying behavior. I also like how the entire school staff were trained in to better deal with bullying among students. This school district has had a lot of complaints and deaths due to bullying so I am very happy that they finally went a step further.
The Anoka-Hennepin School district already had rules in place for all kinds of bullying. However, they made some changes that would make the policy even more strict and easy to read. I love how they added programs for the students of the school to participate in that makes them aware of bad bullying behavior. I also like how the entire school staff were trained in to better deal with bullying among students. This school district has had a lot of complaints and deaths due to bullying so I am very happy that they finally went a step further.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Bullied: A Student, a School and a Case That Made History
Today I watched the movie Bullied, and as a future teacher I will never allow what has happened to members of the LGBT community happen to any child under my supervision. I will never allow any child to be bullied. No human being or child, especially a child, should be subjected to the violence and bigotry that Jamie went through. I can't believe that adults with authority could stand by and let this abuse happen. It makes me sick to my stomach to know that innocent children have died because of bullying. Bullying is a serious issue in most schools and I would never stand by and let it happen.
Chapter 1: The Global Achievement Gap
I really enjoyed reading the first chapter of The Global Achievement Gap. I come from a poor, small town school district so I can relate to some of the points that Wagner is making throughout the chapter.
The first point that he emphasized really well is that the standardized testing is taking up way to much learning time in every school district. However, it takes up even more time in the poorer school districts. Everything I learned from my high school wasn't all dedicated to standardized testing, however, a big portion of my classes were. Which leads me to the second point that Wagner points out.
The second point that I found very interesting is that due to having to prepare for these standardized tests, students aren't getting anything else out of their learning experience. They are just learning facts and being tested on them. There is no room for exploring the learning process.
The third point Wagner made that stood out to me was that we have an "old world classroom in a new world of work" Students are learning facts that do not prepare them for the world of work today. Students are leaving their high schools unprepared for the world of work or the world of college.
The fourth point is the seven survival skills that go along with the new world of work. They include: critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration across networks and leading by influence, agility and adaptability, initiative and entrepreneurialism, effective oral and written communication, accessing and analyzing information, and curiosity and imagination.
The fifth (very true) point that Wagner states is that schools are not teaching these skills effectively if even at all. Throughout my education experience I have encountered questions asked by my teachers and answers that have exact answers for my teachers. There is no room to challenge the answers and explore the answers. There was only one answer that I needed to know. This causes me to lose my ability to problem solve, to adapt, to analyze the information, and to lose my curiosity and imagination. We all have huge imaginations when we are very young. Maybe the way children are being taught in schools is why our imaginations seem to disappear?
The first point that he emphasized really well is that the standardized testing is taking up way to much learning time in every school district. However, it takes up even more time in the poorer school districts. Everything I learned from my high school wasn't all dedicated to standardized testing, however, a big portion of my classes were. Which leads me to the second point that Wagner points out.
The second point that I found very interesting is that due to having to prepare for these standardized tests, students aren't getting anything else out of their learning experience. They are just learning facts and being tested on them. There is no room for exploring the learning process.
The third point Wagner made that stood out to me was that we have an "old world classroom in a new world of work" Students are learning facts that do not prepare them for the world of work today. Students are leaving their high schools unprepared for the world of work or the world of college.
The fourth point is the seven survival skills that go along with the new world of work. They include: critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration across networks and leading by influence, agility and adaptability, initiative and entrepreneurialism, effective oral and written communication, accessing and analyzing information, and curiosity and imagination.
The fifth (very true) point that Wagner states is that schools are not teaching these skills effectively if even at all. Throughout my education experience I have encountered questions asked by my teachers and answers that have exact answers for my teachers. There is no room to challenge the answers and explore the answers. There was only one answer that I needed to know. This causes me to lose my ability to problem solve, to adapt, to analyze the information, and to lose my curiosity and imagination. We all have huge imaginations when we are very young. Maybe the way children are being taught in schools is why our imaginations seem to disappear?
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Newly-built Kamirenda Basic School
http://www.times.co.zm/news/viewnews.cgi?category=all&id=1296901784
I found this article to be a very happy one. The residents of Kamirenda Township in Luanshya have a new school. The governement built it for them. Now their children do not have to walk long distances just to reach school. They can also enroll for first grade at the correct age, instead of age 12. Their walks to school are shorter and safer as well. I think that it is great that the government is helping the township of Kamirenda with education. It will produce happier, healthier, and well education citizens.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
1/27:Thursday Class
I found Mary's lesson very useful. I now understand APA style better than I did before. I am really glad to know about Atomic Learning. It seems like a very useful tool to use whenever I need to obtain more information about something. Also, the website edutopia is awesome. It shows me different learning tools I can use to teach, blogs about actual teachers explaining their lives as teachers, and many more subjects that I
found very useful.
found very useful.
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