1. “What should we think of someone who never admits error,
never entertains doubt but adheres unflinchingly to the same ideas all his life
regardless of new evidence? Doubt and skepticism are signs of rationality. When
we are too certain of our opinions, we run the risk of ignoring any evidence
that conflicts with our views.”
I found this quote on page 2 very interesting. We assume
that people have very strong opinions and that they will stick with them. When
they change their opinion we assume they are weak. Instead we should be
rewarding their ability to admit when they are wrong. We should appreciate that
when they learn new information they are able to evolve and change their
opinion. I appreciate Ravitch’s honesty and that she is able to write about how
she realizes that something she once believed in was actually a huge mistake.
“In education, this belief in market forces lets us ordinary
mortals off the hook, especially those who have not figured out how to improve
low-performing schools or to break through the lassitude of unmotivated teens.
Instead of dealing with rancorous problems like how to teach reading or how to
improve testing, one can redesign the management and structure of the school
system and concentrate on incentives and sanctions. One need not know anything
about children or education”
I think that this quote on page 11 embodies some of the
frustration we were discussing on Tuesday the administration that runs
education. We discussed how teachers feel that they have very little voice in
decision making and that it is possible for people who know very little about
education to be making those important decisions. Instead of focusing on the
serious problems like how to reach reading, we are continuing to try to reconstruct
the school system thinking that it will fix all of the other problems.
2. I agree with
the description that Ravich provides of a well-educated person. They need to
have knowledge in a variety of subjects. They need to be able to express their
own ideas but understands that there are other opinions out there. I agree with
Ravich’s definition that a well-educated person needs to be able to listen
respectfully to others. They need to have the ability to learn new information
and be able to connect that knew knowledge to their prior knowledge. I feel
that a well-educated person knows that being educated is a work in progress.
They must continue to be well read and be knowledgeable on current events.
3. When discussing the reading of chapters 1 & 2 the
topic of standards really stood out to me. On page 20 Ravitch writes, “without
specificity and clarity, standards are nothing more than vacuous verbiage”. If
each state is to write its own set of standards then how to we know that a
student in California learns the same things as a student in another state?
After getting a change to examine some of our own standards we found that many
of them were extremely vague and do not insure that classrooms through our
state are being taught the same thing. We were frustrated that attempts to
improve these standards in the past had been derailed. My hope is that the common core
standards will somewhat improve this situation, but in reality I think that it
will bring on a new set of problems that we have yet to discover.
I am still new to these standards but for those of you that
have had more exposure to them, what do you think? What changes are you excited
about and what changes are you worried about?
4. When looking at the gaps that I have in my subject area
one stood out in my mind. “Use
knowledge of root words to determine the meaning of unknown words within a
passage.” There are so many different root word that it seems almost impossible
to narrow down a list of roots to focus on in my classroom. Was I supposed to
rely on my district adopted language arts textbook to provide my students with
the roots that they would need? I wanted to figure out how to provide my
students with useful and common roots. I was also wondering How to teach and
practice using these root words. Through some research, I was able to find 3
great resources:
Article: Teaching Elementary students to use
word-part clues by Thomas G. White
Website:
http://www.internet4classrooms.com/skill_builders/root_words_language_arts_third_3rd_grade.htm
Book: Red Hot Root Words, Book 1 by Dianne Draze
Book: Red Hot Root Words, Book 1 by Dianne Draze
The
article and the book gave me some important roots that I will want to teach to
my students. The website is an amazing resource because it provided online
games and quizzes that my students can use to test their knowledge of these
roots. My students love their time in the computer lab and this site has a
number of ways to keep my students engaged while practicing their root work
knowledge. Not only was I able to learn a few more roots to teach my students,
it also gave me some great ideas for fun lessons to try with my students.
5.
The first article that I found really useful was by Fernando Rodrigues-Valls
called “Interdisciplinary Teaching in elementary schools: educating English
Language Learner (ELL) students with multidimensional practices”. One of the reasons this article was so
helpful to me personally is because it focuses on a school with many English
Language Learners and their primary language was Spanish. This is a very
similar make up to my school so I was able to read about strategies that help
language development. Prepping my students with content area language is going
to be very important for my ELL’s
The
second article that was useful was by Marlow Ediger called “ Language Arts in
the Science Curriculum”. This article was helpful because it focused on science
and was not mixed with information on other content areas. I found it
interesting because it brought up a variety of science resources that students
can read. There are times that I have seen a page out of an encyclopedia used
as a reading comprehension exercise on a standardized test. We are used to
exposing our students to textbooks and experiments but there are so many other
resources that students can learn about science. This article also gave some
ideas for science projects which will be helpful as I try to implement more
project based learning in my classroom.
The Blogs that I responded to are:
The Blogs that I responded to are:
Jennifer Temple
Melina Rinehart
Ben Spencer
Katherine,
ReplyDeleteI like your comment about commending people when they admit they are wrong. It takes a confident, open-minded person to change his/her beliefs, especially when he/she has a strong opinion originally. It is refreshing to hear Ravitch accept her mistakes and continue to seek what is best for education.
The second Ravitch quotation you cited is one of her more powerful statements, in my opinion. Like your discussion group, I also feel that educators seem to have very little voice in the future of education or how to address the flaws in the system. It is unfortunate that those who make policy tend to know so little about children or education.
I agree with your comments about standards. I have long wondered why we have different standards and assessments in each state. It makes no sense to me. The common core standards will certainly alleviate some of the disparities, but like any new system, there are bound to be unforeseen issues that arise. While I am not well-versed in the new standards, I believe that there is more of a focus on reasoning and critical thinking skills. I think that would be beneficial. It will be interesting to see how these skills will be assessed.
Hi, Katherine!
ReplyDeleteI really agree with your statement about the first quote. There is a flaw in the American way of thinking that uncertainty means a lack of strength or leadership ability, when, in reality, the sign of a good leader is being able to adapt to the changing environment. And yet, we dismiss potential leaders for “flip flopping.” I appreciate Ravitch’s honesty in this regard, too. I also agree with your point about the second quote. While there are definitely good administrators out there, there are way too many bad ones who are only focused primarily on bottom lines, rather than real student achievement. This often goes for educational policymakers as well. I think the key is to get long-term educators into these positions. With that said, though, the high quality educators are most likely the ones who love what they do and would not want to move into these positions. Very tricky. I like your line that “a well-educated person knows that being educated is a work in progress.” I think that is one of the most important factors in being well-educated, if not the most important factor. You make a great point about standards. I don’t know if we’ll ever have fully national standards that are clear and poignant. I am hopeful we can eventually, but there is so much else in play when it comes to implementing something like that on such a grand scale, like state culture and politics. The website for your standard gap looks cool. Since I’m not an elementary teacher, so I don’t know, but are roots commonly taught nowadays? My gut feeling is that they have somewhat fallen by the wayside, but I don’t have any real sense of that. Your research articles sound interesting. I’m curious to see what else you find. Thank you for sharing!
Jenny
Katherine,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that we should reward people for admitting that they are wrong. I have worked with teachers and administrators that want to continue with work as usual, even when things clearly are not working as is. I think everyone has a level of stubborn in them, but it takes intelligence and courage to change your mind.
I love what you said about education being a work in process. I think that well-educated people have an understanding of the past and a desire to continue growing and adapting. I think this connects well with your statement about knowing when to change your mind. A well-educated person takes new information and experience into account when determining their beliefs, understanding, and ultimately their knowledge.
I completely agree with you that it is disconcerting that each state can choose what they want to teach and what they think is "essential". That being said, I also am a bit frightened about this institution of common core standards.
I think your topic sounds really interesting. I remember thinking that science in elementary school was so limited. I commend multiple subject teachers for teaching so many subjects and being able to instill an abundant amount of knowledge in your minds. I like that you are looking at connecting disciplines. I look forward to seeing what else you find.
-Megan
Katherine,
ReplyDeleteI liked what you took from our class discussion on Ravitch's book. I thought it was interesting when you wrote about having each state writing there own standards and I wondered about that as well when the book said that was the decision they decided to go with in order to keep things simple and less complicated. I wonder if this is why California test scores are way lower than other states. I am hoping that at least when the each different states came up with the education standard that they compared them with other states to see that they are closely aligned but I doubt it because again that would make things harder and more complicated.
I also am really interested in your line of inquiry and glad to see that you are finding some good research articles on your topic. I am excited to see what you come up with!
Sarah
Katherine,
ReplyDeleteI agree wholeheartedly with you and Ravitch: when you make a mistake or change your mind, it takes strength to admit you have change it. I think this may be a common way of thinking for people who consider learning a way of life. In my experience, many of my teachers or instructors have admitted to imperfections and made corrections. However, for many others, it is my experience that it is easier to say and harder to do. Many people do not take a step back to evaluate their missteps for fear of admitting their weakness will cost them too much. I fear that they are some of the people who championing reform in Ravitch's book.
Also, even though my subject is social studies/history, I working on looking at the history of science (specifically the scientific revolution after the renaissance) and how students can learn more about the background of science in a history setting. I would be interested in all the different sources that a student can examine to learn about scientific knowledge. I would like to discuss the thoughts of scientists with students, to show that scientific experiments affected entire thought process of whole cultures which altered the world we live in today.