Technologies and Teaching Chapter 7

Technology has grown
rampantly in our
schools in the last 10
years. It has been
stated that our
students' marks are not
any better than they
were before the boom
of technology. I wonder
if teachers and
students would agree.
I have been teaching
for over 20 years and I
have developed a more
positive attitude
towards learning
because of technology.
This positive attitude
has changed the way
students write,
research, illustrate and
present their work.
Word processing and
keyboarding skills have
made "writing" so
much easier.
Students cannot
wait until they can learn
to keyboard as it makes
their writing neater.
Word processing
teaches the students
about organizing and
formatting their work. It
is so easy to double space
your work and
then edit by hand or on
the computer. This still
allows the writing
process to be taught.
The Internet opens new
doors when it comes to
research. It excites
children to no end and
one of Early Year's
favorite topics is
animals. The reading,
sharing and the writing
that happens is
amazing. Students
learn about note
making, critical
thinking, summarizing,
plagiarism, and Internet
etiquette; these are
only some of the skills
the students use.
Students can use the
digital camera or Paint
for illustrations. Digital
cameras are now so
children friendly that
students can take
digital pictures for their
projects and put them
directly into Power
Point, web pages or
import them into a
Word document that
they have been writing.
Paint is another
medium that allows
students the
opportunity to illustrate
their ideas.
How Does Technology Affect Students' Learning?
A teacher and her students' perspective
http://6389755353500391772-a-manace-ca-s-sites.googlegroups.com/a/manace.ca/manace/archived-manace-journals-3/vol24issue2.pdf?attachauth=ANoY7crTC9aHFjzuOTaOJ_a05R1AFTTinteGC9zMNRNTW3O3AHE0sMBARv47OXkxwmEh_VAcUmrUgzw7cr2775r_HiYaNG3uUdL_osVCKMxmnbt6op_VobrbbnyDyrN9-S3I5BPZTa9IcS6PZKdWL8p_x8wG1FDgXdp2yaANd-KbJjxsfIcvuYJyaDWcCd2yptIllb5Uoa8pFRNAfrreCEz90fGgZnkPoz1HW3TydAaxTGGL5NtDKR0%3D&attredirects=0
Manitoba Association for Computing Educators
“Promoting the use of Instructional Technology
at all levels of Education”
Technology in schools can be both a good and a bad thing. It can help an extreme amount with projects that include research or pictures or information that goes deeper than what may or may not be recorded into a text book. there is far more stuff to learn about over the internet then there may be to learn about in books. However it could also be difficult in the sense that the teacher would have to play a kind of babysitter role when the students were online to make sure that they were not sneaking into emails or private chats or myspace, facebook, anything of that matter. But as long as one can learn to create trust between teacher and student, technology would be a miraculous movement into the classroom.

Teachers Attitudes Chapter 6

On page 174 of Chapter 6, it describes 'The Teacher's Attitude Toward Children." The teachers attitude makes a big difference in the atmosphere of a classroom. If the teacher is strict and stern and only teaches out of the book, doesn't associate with the children or have any such art work or anything of artistic meaning around the classroom, the students may have a negative outcome to the teachers method of teaching. If a teacher is communicative, respectful, joyful to be around and associates them self with the students, he/she may get a better outcome from the students themselves. In the book it gave four specific incidences where a teachers attitude could directly affect her students ability to positively communicate or learn from their methods: "A strong dislike for particular pupils and obvious fondness for others, Biases toward or against particular ethnic groups, A bias toward certain kinds of student behavior, such as docility or inquisitiveness and An uneasiness in working with children who have disabilities. If someone is not prepared to take on the role and responsibility of a teacher than one should not venture into that venue unprepared for what is ahead of them. Every single person no matter their career has good days and bad days, it is very much up to that individual how they will react and spread their mood on the people around them. Having a career such as a teacher, means you have to be extra careful and extra responsible for how you react and share your feelings with your students.
Historically, Americans have held ambivalent attitudes
toward gifted students and gifted education
(Bégin & Gagné, 1994a). The tension between excellence
and equity has a long history in the American
educational system (Gallagher, 1994). Although
Americans prize achievement and creative productivity,
they despise making distinctions between superiority
and inferiority in academic, political, or social
domains. For this reason, Americans are uncomfortable
discussing individual differences in intelligence or
academic ability (Gallagher). Fears of elitism cause
many educators to view gifted education as involving
special privileges for the “already advantaged.” The
pendulum of public opinion sways between the quest
for excellence and the need for equity. In this era of
“No Child Left Behind,” concerns about equity of
instruction and achievement appear to override concerns
about “raising the academic bar.” The effects of
this zeitgeist on regular education teachers’ attitudes
toward the gifted are unknown.
Given this ambivalence toward gifted students and
gifted education, “most attitude surveys confirm quite
eloquently the lack of consensus about the need for, or
priority of, special education services for gifted and talented
children” (Bégin & Gagné, 1994a, p. 161). In the
field of gifted education, assessing, predicting, and perhaps
changing the attitudes of general education
teachers represents an important endeavor. Without the
support of regular education teachers and administrators,
gifted educators are virtually powerless to institute
the curricular and instructional changes necessary to
challenge and stimulate the nation’s gifted students.
http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/Siegle/Publications/GCQFactorsPredict.pdf
What Predicts Teachers’ Attitudes Toward
the Gifted?
D. Betsy McCoach
Del Siegle
University of Connecticut

Foreign Languages Chapter 5

Foreign languages being taught in school can only result in a positive impact in our society. Not only is it important specifically where we live, but it can help students in many professions they may seek after high school. For example, be bilingual can sometimes get you paid twice as much as someone who only speaks one language. In southern California there are a lot of Hispanic immigrants from Mexico that come to our country and our state. Due to this rising population of Hispanic Culture, it is important for people to learn to speak Spanish so that we can have a good line of communication and knowledge between the different cultures. Another large population would be Asian immigrants. Although they seem to migrate more towards Northern California it would still help if we all knew how to communicate. It is equally important for someone coming into America for the first time to learn our language to make sure that communication is spoken and understood freely. "Approximately 44 percent of all students in U.S. public high schools are enrolled in a foreign language course, with Spanish and french being the most popular languages taken."
No matter the translation, Spanish, German or Italian, California foreign language teachers say they're finally getting some respect.

This month, the State Board of Education for the first time adopted draft world language content standards -- putting the discipline on the same level as math, science, history and other core academic subjects.

"It's huge for us," said Nicole Naditz, a French teacher at Bella Vista High School in Fair Oaks. "I've never had a document that told me what direction to take in teaching my students."

California schools chief Jack O'Connell applauded the board's action, noting the state has the most diverse student population in the country, with over 100 languages and dialects spoken by schoolchildren.

"It is important to recognize and appreciate the diversity in our schools by placing an added emphasis on the effective learning of these languages and the cultures from which they are derived," O'Connell said in a written statement.

Since 1997 California has been adopting academic standards for what public-school students must know in each grade level in core subjects. It also developed measurements for how students were being taught.

In 2001, the state board adopted a foreign language framework for public schools. But only now have content standards been adopted.
http://www.districtadministration.com/newssummary.aspx?news=yes&postid=51722
California Has Statewide Standard on Teaching Foreign Languages
scabee.com
1/21/2009

Middle School and Junior High Life Chapter 2

There are many different types of Middle school ideas, there are schools that range from kindergarten all the way through 12th grade and the completion of school as a minor. Others have Kindergarten through 8th grade which is still a somewhat popular approach that some schools take. Other ways they do it are K-5 and then middle school or Junior High is 6th grade through 8th grade followed by high school, 9th grade through 12th grade. My personal experience was that I had "Junior High" and it helped to prepare me more for high school. You get to learn and experience the changing of classes with 'passing periods' and you learn how to dress in locker rooms for physical education as well as sports. Another big factor for having middle schools is a size factor. It helps to keep the schools less crowded if their are fewer students and having a middle school helps to separate all of the students so that the teachers can have more one on one time with their students. "Regardless of the grade span of their schools, most principals identified master of subject matter and basic skills as the most important goals at their institutions." While that is important, there are so many other reasons that children should attend school. There is, for example, so the social aspect of learning how to associate and communicate with other children and people.
When I tell people that I teach literature to junior high students, the response is nearly universal: an expression of profound sympathy. Teaching junior high is regarded as a martyr's job, to be taken on only by those with such a selfless commitment to children and education that they are willing to endure the daily torture of a classroom full of obnoxious, disrespectful, hormone-driven, teenagers who have nothing but contempt for learning.

One can see the basis for this view by looking at the state of most junior high schools today. A recent New York Times article about the problem of "chaotic middle schools" describes a scene from a typical New York City classroom:

...paper balls fly and pens are flicked from desk to desk. A girl is caught with a note and quickly tears it up, blushing, as her classmates chant, "Read it!" The teacher, Laura Lowrie, tries to demonstrate simple machines by pulling from a box a hammer, a pencil sharpener and then, to her instant remorse, a nutcracker--the sight of which sends a cluster of boys into a fit of giggles and anatomical jokes.

Is this sort of behavior an inevitable stage of development, the curse of the teenage years? Does puberty cause children to abandon the pursuit of knowledge in favor of spitballs, love notes, and dirty jokes? Must all junior high teachers be candidates for sainthood?

Not in my experience.
http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=4900
Life In Junior High, Part 1
by Lisa VanDamme (January 22, 2007)

Poverty Chapter 4

"The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer." This is a strange way to start off an article because of the fact that not only is it shocking to read, but it is also very true. Everyday in more ways than one poverty plays a role in people's lives. Whether it is going to the store and using Welfare or going to the park in holy clothes, buying all of your clothes from yard sales or thrift stores or accepting donations from charities. Poverty is a huge problem in American lives and except for very few organizations who take more of the money from donations for their own profit then they actually donate, no one seems to be doing anything about it. A teacher's job is to make sure that all of their students are treated equally and can all focus on the task at hand and each have the opportunity to try to accomplish their absolute best when it comes to school. As a teacher it is important to be able to address who your poor students are. "in terms of sheer numbers, the majority of poor Americans are white; however, the rate of poverty is higher among minorities." Another particular quote I found in this article amazed me, it said, ""children make up about one-fourth of the total U.S. population, but they constitute 35 percent of the poor."
Nobody disputes that urban school districts are confronted with multiple
challenges. The isolation of urban neighborhoods, concentrated poverty, and family
instability all contribute to the severe conditions and risks of failure in urban schools.
Kincheloe (2004) states “. . . nowhere are the obstacles to success and the existential
needs of the students as great as in urban areas” (p. 4). These issues are further magnified
in the schools when teachers are not adequately prepared for this type of environment,
lack cultural sensitivity and awareness, and use pedagogical methodologies that are not
culturally congruent. Although there are occasions of impressive educational success, the
vast majority of urban schools continue to face “savage inequalities” that impact learning
and achievement (Kozol, 1991).
Kincheloe (2004) contends that the existing literature on urban education falls
short in providing teachers and other educational professionals a balanced understanding
of teaching in the urban context. He further states that teachers need to develop a deep
understanding of the “nature and needs of urban students” (p. 16). For education to move
forward in narrowing the achievement gap between urban and nonurban populations,
teachers need to understand the urban culture and social conditions, and use this
awareness to adapt pedagogical practices and methodologies so that they reflect students’
cultural references (Banks, 2001; Ladson-Billings, 1994). If the ideological context of
‘urban’ is addressed in the pedagogical knowledge and practices of teachers, urban
students will be provided with richer learning experiences, which in turn will impact
http://www.usca.edu/essays/vol172006/mckinney.pdf
Responding to the Needs of At-Risk Students in Poverty
Sueanne E. McKinney
Charlene Flenner
Old Dominion University
Wendy Frazier
George Mason University
Lyndon Abrams
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Students: Friends or Fiends Chapter 14

In chapter 14 on page 469 there is a short article about whether your students are your friends or if they are fiends. While the question is not answered by the author it is meant for each individual person to answer on their own. In this article, it states that, "Although students are the primary source of a teacher's success, they can also be a source of failure. Three areas in particular cause problems: discipline, social distance and sex." It states throughout the article that the longer students stay in educational programs, the better they might be able to handle the children and understand them as well as connect with them on another level of comfort and attitude. Reaching the end of the article, it states that beginning teachers score significantly lower on attitude inventories than students just entering teacher education. Does that mean that once some people are teachers they kind of give up in the face of difficulty or has their desire to teach and mold young minds been ruined by one hard year most likely their first year? That is a question, I intend to answer.
The Lamar County school board in Mississippi has recently decided to limit communication between students and teachers outside the walls of the school, or more specifically restrict their communication online. These new rules do not limit any students (or teachers) from creating online profiles on sites such as Facebook or MySpace, but does limit their interaction on such sites. The board specifically “prohibits teachers from texting or communicating with students through Internet social network sites.”

Although they seem to have only mentioned Facebook and MySpace specifically, I would imagine that it would also apply to other sites such as Twitter, identi.ca or even leaving comments on personal blogs.

According to Superintendent Ben Burnett their “intent is to limit the personal communication between teachers and students” because they are afraid of the line between “professional and personal communication” getting crossed. This sounds logical, after all why would a teacher, someone who is a grown up want to be “friends” with someone who is a teenager, or possibly even younger online when in their real life they are an authority figure to that same person.

However moving into this tech and web centric world that we are now living in the lines are easily crossed, especially with the early adopter social networking crowd.

The subject of grown-ups mixing with young children, or even young adults online is one that often comes with sinister thoughts attached and often brings to mind a deviant adult. Hey, we have all seen, if not at least heard of NBC’s ‘To catch a predator’ which focuses on grown adults preying on young children. Don’t get me wrong that is creepy and wrong, but its not all like that.
http://www.gadgetell.com/tech/comment/can-a-teacher-and-a-student-be-friends-a-mississippi-school-says-no/
Can a teacher and a student be friends? A Mississippi school says no
by Robert Nelson on Jul 29, 2008 at 11:59 AM

Public opinions on teachers Chapter 1

Through reading chapter 1, I cam to page 21 and the topic, "What does the public say about teachers and teaching?" While reading this very short summary, I realized how little appreciation teachers actually get. Even I myself before taking this course did not appreciate the teachers as much as I do today. Teachers are a very important role in our society. They may rank doctors and lawyers careers of that nature above teaching, however you should ask yourself, who taught those doctors and lawyers how to do their job? The answer will both surprise you and yet at the same time, some people just don't look that far back into what their doctor or lawyer did before they came into their profession. Luckily throughout the chapter and even further into this short story, they explain how the public does understand the importance of teachers. In one paragraph even stating, "The public-that is, the people whose taxes pay the salaries of public school teachers-overwhelmingly acknowledges and supports the nation's teachers. When asked to select which group provided "the most benefit to society," 62 percent selected teachers..." It really helps out eh teaching community to feel like they are being appreciated for what they do everyday for the students, our future.
The role of a teacher in society is both significant and valuable.It has far-reaching influence on the society he lives in and no other personality can have an influence more profound than that of a teacher. Students are deeply affected by the teacher’s love and affection, his character, his competence, and his moral commitment. A popular teacher becomes a model for his students. The students try to follow their teacher in his manners, costumes, etiquette, style of conversation and his get up. He is their ideal.

He can lead them anywhere. During their early education, the students tend to determine their aims in life and their future plans, in consultation with their teachers. Therefore, a good and visionary teacher can play a prominent role in making the future of his students while as a corrupt teacher can only harm his students much more seriously than a class of corrupt and perverted judiciary, army, police, bureaucracy, politicians or technocrats. A corrupt and incompetent teacher in not only a bad individual, but also an embodiment of a corrupt and incompetent generation. A nation with corrupt teachers is a nation at risk; every coming day announces the advent of its approaching destruction.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Role-of-a-Teacher-in-Society&id=746217
Role of a Teacher in Society
By Shiben Raina