What a great name
But anyway, buffers exist all over schools, whether you want to believe it or not. A teacher might get defensive and say that he teaches every minute of every period, and he covers the curriculum, and his kids are constantly engaged..... and my response is "Bueller, anyone, anyone."
Any person would get defensive if it came to a question of whether they worked all the time, and how effective they are. Just look at NCLB. Besides all the reasons to dislike it, the underlying response from all teachers is "Why should I be held accountable?" This is just another way of saying that I do my job well, and you should not have to observe me doing it to believe me, take my word.
I am sorry if I am offending teachers, that is not my purpose. We need to really look at ourselves. I think we all take breaks, and give worksheets, and do puzzles. I also think we are a breed set apart from everyone else. REMEMBER! NOT EVERYONE CAN TEACH.
Back to Schmoker... I think buffers definitely exist, right up the ladder of education. I mentioned teachers, but departments will constantly publish the good the school is doing, with pictures of kids doing community service. A school is often measured by how successful its sports program is. Back to school night- the entire janitorial staff works overtime to beautify the school. Teachers hang tests with "A's". All this is done for the sake of the parent? Wrong. All that is done to defer the parents thoughts. Johnny is always doing great on back to school night. Buffering is rampant. When was the last time that a school voluntarily admitted to its failures, or its discipline problems.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
On line class
I have to be honest, I am not use to this format. I am one who needs the structure, knowing I have to be in class every Thursday. When left to the freedom of doing my assignments "whenever," I find myself putting it off. Plus the fact that my household is busy, and my wife thinks I am fooling around at the computer rather than doing assignments. I need a more quiet area, and a chaueffer to drive my kids around.
Otherwise, I do like not having to drive to MSU, and find parking, if you can. I am open to the online process, but it will still need some getting use to, and a discipline to spread my work load over the two weeks. I do like the format you have set up, with short assignments, rather than a larger task. Videos, to me, are more effective than readings, because some of these readings are a little old, and stiff.
I would take another hybrid course in the future, and I am currently looking into a full online course with another institution.
Otherwise, I do like not having to drive to MSU, and find parking, if you can. I am open to the online process, but it will still need some getting use to, and a discipline to spread my work load over the two weeks. I do like the format you have set up, with short assignments, rather than a larger task. Videos, to me, are more effective than readings, because some of these readings are a little old, and stiff.
I would take another hybrid course in the future, and I am currently looking into a full online course with another institution.
UBD Lesson
I implemented this lesson into todays English class. The class is full of Freshman, and two juniors. I guided the lesson to a format of all open ended questions, where they actually had to think, predict, create scenarios, etc. How dare I.
The lesson went well. The creativity and the open discussions went very well, and occupied the whole class, so much that they did not want it to end. We will continue tomorrow.
I was very pleased with the responses to some of the questions, and the follow up discussions about each answer. They actually can think.
The one drawback, if there was one, was the fact that they were not use to not having one concrete answer. They kept asking me for the correct answer, and I kept leading them into new discussions, building on their answers with new questions
I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and look to incorporate it into my lessons.
The lesson went well. The creativity and the open discussions went very well, and occupied the whole class, so much that they did not want it to end. We will continue tomorrow.
I was very pleased with the responses to some of the questions, and the follow up discussions about each answer. They actually can think.
The one drawback, if there was one, was the fact that they were not use to not having one concrete answer. They kept asking me for the correct answer, and I kept leading them into new discussions, building on their answers with new questions
I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and look to incorporate it into my lessons.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Response to Template....
As a math teacher, I find it a little difficult following this particular format. For one, my lessons are so sequential, and it is hard to come up with Essential questions. There really is only one answer to a problem, and there are very few open ended questions to contemplate.
As for my English class, I am always looking to expand the minds of my studenst, and force them to think, and be creative. This lesson plan set up is perfect for this task.
I will implement it this week.
As for my English class, I am always looking to expand the minds of my studenst, and force them to think, and be creative. This lesson plan set up is perfect for this task.
I will implement it this week.
Monday, October 22, 2007
English Lesson Plan Template
English High School
Stage 1: Desired Results
Established Goals: English I (Freshman)
"Of Mice and Men"
All students will read texts, chapter by chapter, with comprehension
and critical analysis
Understandings:
Students will understand that:
Friendship comes in many forms
People generally are all the same
Essential Questions:
How can someone kill his best friend?
How can greed control your life?
Was greed a factor in the killing?
How are people different?
Are people really different?
Students will know:
Key vocabulary terms
Underlying tone of story
Essential character make up
Students will be able to:
Analyze and interpret character thoughts
Develop an understanding for all characters
Apply reading strategies
Critically come to a conclusion
Stage 2: Assessment Evidence
Performance Tasks:
Why did George shoot Lennie?
You are part of a police task force (CSI) to determine why Lenny was shot.
You are to prepare a one page answer on why you think George shot Lenny, taking
into account all parts of the story previously discussed, as well as your
interpretations.
Your answer should have evidence to back your conclusion.
Your answer should have evidence to back your conclusion.
Stage 3: Learning Plan
Learning Activities:
Introduce Essential questions, as well as final task and rubric
Break into groups of three
Read and discuss text, chapter by chapter.
Take notes on key points of relationship between George and Lenny
After reading book, view movie to get visual interpretation of story
Come to conclusion
Write paper
Sunday, October 7, 2007
SHIFT HAPPENS
After viewing the video on youtube entitled "Did You Know," it has to make you sit and wonder of the changes that will take place in the up coming years. Am I worried that I will not be able to keep up? Not really. In the past, we have been able to adapt and change to conditions. I think we will do just fine.
Watching the video astounds me and raises many points that peak my curiosity. First of all, all the statistics about the growth of China and India may not be a good thing. As a country grows, so do many factors, such as poverty, unemployment, etc. They may have more scholars than we have students, but that is only one aspect of the equation.
Our students face a greater challenge, to keep up with technology, and they seem to adapt alot better than us. Ask any of them how to text message, or IM. We as educators have to adapt our curriculum to meet technological needs, and I think that will come.
Do we need to change? Absolutely. Just think of our parents who have never even use a cell phone, or possibly a computer. They have adapted their lives as best as they could to avoid this, unless there was an occasion where they might have had to use it, such as a job. What did they do? Learn just enough. I don't feel that we have to be computer geeks, or to be one step ahead. I think that we can get by by learning just enough. We need to be open to these advances, and offer lessons that will include technology.
As Ken Robinson said in the other audio piece, we still need creativity. We, more than any of these countries think, and make choices. We are not programmed robots, with our destinies predetermined. We will have 10-14 jobs by the time we are 38, by choice. We will not settle for complacency. We can test the waters, and try something out, and move on if we "no like." Most of these countries can't say the same thing
Watching the video astounds me and raises many points that peak my curiosity. First of all, all the statistics about the growth of China and India may not be a good thing. As a country grows, so do many factors, such as poverty, unemployment, etc. They may have more scholars than we have students, but that is only one aspect of the equation.
Our students face a greater challenge, to keep up with technology, and they seem to adapt alot better than us. Ask any of them how to text message, or IM. We as educators have to adapt our curriculum to meet technological needs, and I think that will come.
Do we need to change? Absolutely. Just think of our parents who have never even use a cell phone, or possibly a computer. They have adapted their lives as best as they could to avoid this, unless there was an occasion where they might have had to use it, such as a job. What did they do? Learn just enough. I don't feel that we have to be computer geeks, or to be one step ahead. I think that we can get by by learning just enough. We need to be open to these advances, and offer lessons that will include technology.
As Ken Robinson said in the other audio piece, we still need creativity. We, more than any of these countries think, and make choices. We are not programmed robots, with our destinies predetermined. We will have 10-14 jobs by the time we are 38, by choice. We will not settle for complacency. We can test the waters, and try something out, and move on if we "no like." Most of these countries can't say the same thing
Thursday, October 4, 2007
"Reading Don't Fix No Chevys"
We have to think back to a time in our life, when responsibilities were few, and time was abundant, and the only person we had to concern ourselves with was ourself. That is when we were most passionate about a certain activity, or topic.
It's not that we can't have passion in our lives about a certain sport, hobby, event, or activity, it is just that we as educators, parents, students, ADULTS find that we have very little time for the fun events. I, myself, love to participate in sports, and when I am at my peak, the passion exudes. I think that we have limitations in life as we get older. My body is physically unable to compete at the level I wish anymore.
If we have experienced a passion at some point in our life, and experienced the "flow," we can somehow translate these feelings to our students. Making lessons more enjoyable, bringing a passion to our teaching, anything to get the students excited and somehow experience "flow."
It's not that we can't have passion in our lives about a certain sport, hobby, event, or activity, it is just that we as educators, parents, students, ADULTS find that we have very little time for the fun events. I, myself, love to participate in sports, and when I am at my peak, the passion exudes. I think that we have limitations in life as we get older. My body is physically unable to compete at the level I wish anymore.
If we have experienced a passion at some point in our life, and experienced the "flow," we can somehow translate these feelings to our students. Making lessons more enjoyable, bringing a passion to our teaching, anything to get the students excited and somehow experience "flow."
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Dear Congressman Payne and anyone else who will listen.......
October 1, 2007
Congressman Donald M. Payne:
I am a special education teacher at Nutley High School, in your ward. In the next few weeks, I will be putting aside my curriculum to prepare my students to take standardized tests. These same students are all classified with either learning or emotional disabilities.
During the course of a normal class period, I make sure these children are on task at all times, either through continuous work, or in the form of some activity. These students have trouble remaining focused for long periods of time, and are usually medicated to combat this aspect of their disability. Some students have trouble reading directions and understanding what is being asked, unless the directions are actually read aloud to them. Then there are the ones that have learning disorders, of which accommodations have been made to give them smaller, easier tasks broken down to basic form.
All of the students I have mentioned are included in the statistics for No Child Left Behind. They will be allowed some accommodations while taking the tests, such as added time, or oral directions, but will still have great difficulty remaining focused for 3 hour exams in 3 consecutive days.
We have created an insurmountable task that needs to be accomplished by asking these students to be proficient on these standardized tests. Can you think of anything as inane as that?
I am not saying to lower the standards by any means. We still offer a curriculum on par with any other school system.
When NCLB comes up for reauthorization this fall, please consider reassessing it, and possibly alter it. I do think that accountability is important in education. I think NCLB has kicked us in the pants to take stock in the type of teachers we all are. Where we lack is that all students should not be included in the totals, especially those that we know are incapable or would have extreme trouble being considered proficient by NCLB standards. Maybe there could be an alternate form of assessment that can be performed, or possibly, omit their scores from the totals.
As an elected official, I do hope that you would give this matter your utmost attention.
Thank You For Your Time
Carl Nastasi
Voting Member of the 10th District
Congressman Donald M. Payne:
I am a special education teacher at Nutley High School, in your ward. In the next few weeks, I will be putting aside my curriculum to prepare my students to take standardized tests. These same students are all classified with either learning or emotional disabilities.
During the course of a normal class period, I make sure these children are on task at all times, either through continuous work, or in the form of some activity. These students have trouble remaining focused for long periods of time, and are usually medicated to combat this aspect of their disability. Some students have trouble reading directions and understanding what is being asked, unless the directions are actually read aloud to them. Then there are the ones that have learning disorders, of which accommodations have been made to give them smaller, easier tasks broken down to basic form.
All of the students I have mentioned are included in the statistics for No Child Left Behind. They will be allowed some accommodations while taking the tests, such as added time, or oral directions, but will still have great difficulty remaining focused for 3 hour exams in 3 consecutive days.
We have created an insurmountable task that needs to be accomplished by asking these students to be proficient on these standardized tests. Can you think of anything as inane as that?
I am not saying to lower the standards by any means. We still offer a curriculum on par with any other school system.
When NCLB comes up for reauthorization this fall, please consider reassessing it, and possibly alter it. I do think that accountability is important in education. I think NCLB has kicked us in the pants to take stock in the type of teachers we all are. Where we lack is that all students should not be included in the totals, especially those that we know are incapable or would have extreme trouble being considered proficient by NCLB standards. Maybe there could be an alternate form of assessment that can be performed, or possibly, omit their scores from the totals.
As an elected official, I do hope that you would give this matter your utmost attention.
Thank You For Your Time
Carl Nastasi
Voting Member of the 10th District
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