6th August

Call from the President

It would be a dream come true to receive a call from the President.  The first five things I would tell him that needs to be done about education are:-

1. Remove high stakes testing and accountability driven testing. This is causing lowering of standards and students not learning anything but reading and math. They are only learning to take  a multiple choice test that does not reflect on their learning. Rather, it is a reflection on how well someone can take a multiple choice test. Students need to learn subject matter not how to take a test. If accountability is needed then there should be other ways of doing so than high stakes testing. More importantly trust teachers to do their jobs in the way they know best to do it and make the firing process easier for teachers who are not teaching.
2. Teachers need higher pay to feel their efforts are worth it. Teaching is a service based profession. Teachers are always working overtime without getting acknowledged for it. They need to feel at some point that the extra work they are doing is getting recognized. If teachers are paid higher the profession will attract the best of candidates from every field.  This is especially so in the title 1 schools and the schools that have a lower socio economic population. These teachers have the hardest jobs as they are trying to work through a lot of challenges in teaching their students, challenges they have no control over. This can be lack of parental support, large classroom sizes, lack of resources. These teachers need to be paid a lot more for their efforts. Why do lawyers make so much of money and teachers the least? Teaching is an honorable profession where we are preparing the citizens of tomorrow and the future of our democracy. Give teachers what they deserve.
3. Make education well rounded by making it compulsory to teach through the liberal arts and sciences. It is time to move away from the focus for high scores in just reading and math. Students need a well rounded education in the arts and sciences which will help them when they learn reading and math. We should create artistic and scientific minds. This is the foundation of a well rounded education and building well rounded citizens.
4. Make funding for education a priority for states and the entire nation. Education is the key to a successful democracy and nothing is more important that spending  money on education. Classrooms, schools and teachers should not have to face budget cuts. Sports and Music should not be cut in schools. The federal government should find other areas to cut money but not from education. If we want our students to compete with the rest of the world then please fund education as much as possible.
5. Finally and most importantly NCLB needs to go. It has been proven that it has been a disaster for our education system. Accountability driven testing, closing community schools, making business type decisions for education is not working. There should be ways to get NCLB out of our system and getting people who are highly qualified in the field of education to be responsible for making our education system better. Politicians and businessmen cannot dictate how education should be reformed. It is not a business and cannot be run as a business for profit because we are teaching thinking and working with minds not products.

What has been meaningful to you about Ravitch?

Reading Ravitch has helped me understand the history of American education. I learned how education has changed over the years and why it is the way it is today. It has re-confirmed my faith in what I know are the right things to stand by. I have learned about what are the different factors that can possibly have an effect on my teaching and how I can face them. Most importantly it has showed me as a teacher what not to do in my classroom. 

At the end of the day, I don't have control over what is going on outside the classroom. But being aware of things that can directly or indirectly influence our profession is very helpful. I know I have control over my class and my students. So, as long as I try and do the best I can to teach in the best possible way, I can make a difference. 

Given the current state of American Education, what can you do as a teacher and a citizen?

As  a teacher I can try and make my teaching as well rounded as possible. I can try to incorporate as much of the arts and sciences in my classroom as possible. I can teach students to think and not just prepare for tests. 

As a citizen, I can stay informed about the issues our schools are facing. I can talk to people in the community about the importance of keeping the local schools alive and functioning well. If we don't receive support from the State or National levels we can work in our community to raise support and awareness for our local schools. 

Two National or State Associations for English

1. National Association for Multicultural Education
2. National Association for Ethnic Studies

Both the above websites have information on conferences on ethnic studies and multicultural education. They have links to latest journals and publications on ethnic and multicultural studies. here I can find the latest research and trends in these topics and use it for teaching in the classroom.

Still would like to see....

1. Angel Island
2. The Museum of the African Diaspora
3. The Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco
4. A celebration of the "Day of the Dead" at the Oakland Museum
5. "Phantoms of Asia" exhibit at the Asian Art Museum

I would like to see all of the above as they can also be excellent opportunities for field trips with my class to expose them to different cultures and celebrations from around the world. I will be able to integrate all this into a multicultural curriculum that I want to create.

Still like to read...

• The Light in Their Eyes: Creating Multicultural Learning Communities

 by Sonia Nieto

• Dear Paulo: Letters from Those Who Dare Teach

 by Gerald Campano

• A Class Divided: Then and Now

by William Peters

• Immigrant Students and Literacy: Reading,Writing and remembering

by Gerald Campano

• Renegotiating Cultural Diversity in American Schools

Edited by Patricia Phelan and Ann Locke Davidson

All of the above books have been suggested to me by professors or have come up in my research and I would really like to read them as it will enhance my knowledge not only of my topic but also my pedagogy.

Still like to investigate...

1. By Chart and Chance and Passion: Two Women's Stories of Learning to teach Literacy in Urban Settings through Relational Knowings. By Sandra Hollingsworth, and others
2. Quatitative Educational Research with Ethnic Minoritties. By Amado.M.Padilla and Kathryn.J.Lindholm
3. Ehtnographic Studies of Multicultural Education in Classrooms and Schools. By Hugh Mehan, Angela Lintz, Dina Okamoto and John.S.Wills

Still like to attend...

1. California Department of Education conference on ELD and immigrant students
2. A NAME's Conference  (National Association for Multicultural Education)

Still like to see in the world.....

1. The Great Wall of China
2. Egypt (the sphinx) and Africa
3. The remains of the Mayan Civilization in Central America
4. The Coliseum in Rome.

Week of July 24th

Dr. Robert's Presentation

There were a couple of things that stood out to me from Dr. Robert's presentation. Firstly, I was surprised to see how much time kids are spending on media like computers, video games and television. I knew that kids spend a lot of time on electronic media but the actual numbers were a bit surprising to me.  He also pointed out how most kids don't have any rules at home about media use whether it is the television or computer or video games. So this means continued exposure to electronic media without any time limits for  a lot of kids. I believe this can be dangerous for kids as they tend to stay sitting at home without feeling the need to get outside and do things that can actively engage the mind and body.

Nowadays, kids can also "hang out"with friends online. With Facebook and twitter they don't think that they are being anti-social but quite the contrary. However, this does not build for a healthy lifestyle like playing basketball outside at the park with friends does or going for a jog or a bike ride with a friend can do.  Living in an area like the Bay Area with great weather and so much to do outside I feel this is almost a crime. However, it is useless blaming the kids for it as they are doing what they think is okay to do without any control on it. As adults we are in the position to not encourage that in children. Children, even teenagers need structure and boundaries. Just because they are 16 does not mean they are adults. As teachers and parents we are in a position to show them how and when to use electronic media and how much is appropriate use.  We can reiterate the fact that it is all about building a balance between doing what they want to do and what they also need to do. 

This leads me to the second and the most important take away I had from the presentation was the importance of repeating what was appropriate to kids even though it seems like it is not working and they are fighting us. Somewhere at the back of their minds they are listening and the point is getting registered. I feel as a teacher and a parent this is so important as  giving up because it seems like they don't listen anyway or for fear of alienating them is letting them know that you don't care and that is the worst thing to do to children. I think putting boundaries and limits on excessive media use or anything else is actually letting them know that yes, we care and we are doing this because we want the best for them. I feel children get that message sooner or later if we try.

NY Times Article

I found the New York Times article to be scary. I was extremely worried after reading it about the direction in which education is headed. I believe in technology and the importance of it in our lives today. Children should be familiar with using technology. But technology is only a tool. It is a tool like a  sprinkler system can be a helpful tool for watering grass. It can in no possible way replace the human mind or the person. So, how can it replace in class teaching? How does an educator get a feel of the lesson, of students engagement and progress if they are not face to face. So much of my teaching changes during my lessons depending on whether the students are getting it or not. If I see a lack of interest or a lack of understanding, in my students I have to change my lesson and try something different. Also, the joy you can get from seeing your students engaged and responding well to your lesson is priceless. I have no idea how to do this if they are not in front of me. So how does a teacher scaffold and teach online without seeing the student? In my teaching I have students work in groups a lot. How do you do this through an online class? How do you teach Math and Science that involves a lot of hands on exploration online? It brings into question some serious doubt about the quality of these online lessons.

The article talks about this form of learning being cheaper and fitting to the budget cuts more. However it overlooks and fails to mention the fact that it is another way of lowering standards and letting a student pass easily. Students will be attracted to this kind of education as it seems that they require much less of them and they can get away with a lot less. So what is the quality of the graduates that are coming out of these courses? Is the goal to have higher numbers graduating classes or is it to have graduates who are of high calibre? Yes, these kind of lessons can work but only as a supplement to proper in class lessons. It could work as an extension activity to a traditional lesson. However replacing proper classroom teaching with online classes will lead to a very poor quality of kids graduating and entering society not knowing anything.

Technology Resources for Teachers

1. www.glogster.com.

      This is website I would love to use as an extension activity to any lesson across the content areas of ELA, Math , Social Studies and Science. After finishing a unit I can have students make online posters for a specific topic and I can see students enjoying that.

1. www.donorschoose.org

I absolutely loved this website as schools and districts nowadays are facing budget cuts. At the same time classroom demands are not getting less. So for a teacher who does not have enough resources, it can be a great way to have something she really needs donated to her classroom.

1. www.rubistar.4teachers.org

I can see myself use a lot of this to make my own rubrics for my class. Students find it very helpful to have a rubric to see what they need to do to get a certain score for a project or a presentation in class. It is also helpful for them to see why they got a certain score if they have missed something.This is also helpful for peer assessments.

1. www.puzzlemaker.com

This can be a great site for vocabulary building. Having students make their own crossword puzzles or other activities, out of spelling words or words they have learned will be very useful.

Blog I responded to

uconnbball10.blogspot.com

Week of July 17th: Interdisciplinary Teaching

As an elementary school teacher teaching multiple subjects, integrating the different subjects in my teaching is something that I do a lot of. I have integrated a lot of the arts, visual and performance in my teaching. This  enhances the subject matter and makes it more accessible to the students. So when I am teaching reading to a class, I like to do extension activities like have students perform the story like a play. When teaching fractions in Math, my students have made different art projects using the concept of fractions . I have always felt that it deepens the subject matter understanding of the students. Another advantage is that it sparks their interest. Most students love performing and drawing and it makes math and reading more interesting to them. it also fosters creativity.

I have used the book Math Art Projects and Activities  by Carolyn Ford Brunetto. It is a wonderful book to teach Math through Creative Art Projects and another resource is www.lessonplanet.com that has lot of resources for teachers on how to teach students by using the visual and performing arts.

Blog I have responded to:

Sarah Fredericks http://enlightenedclassroom.blogspot.com/

Mind the Gap: Session 2

• Chapter 1: In recounting her journey through many educational reforms, Diane Ravitch makes a number of provocative statements. Choose two, quote them, and personally respond

"That meant , in the words of a book by James.C.Scott that I later read and admired, I began "seeing like a state", looking at schools and teachers and students from an altitude of 20,000 feet and seeing them as objects to be moved around by big ideas and great plans."

 It seems to me that politicians and policymakers have all along the history of education looked for a magic pill or tried to fix education from the highest levels of government. Even though it is sometimes important to see the bigger picture, change happens only if we start at the grass roots level. The dangers of "seeing like a state" is that the teachers, students and parents might end up unhappy. This was evident in Chapter 4 with what happened in San Diego.  There usually ends up being a disconnect between the higher levels of government and the soldiers in the front lines namely, the teachers, principals and students. They just end up being a pawn or a number and have to follow the change that has been dictated upon them. "Seeing like a state" can work if there is a connection between all the levels. If decisions are made after talking to the teachers, principals and students on what works and what doesn't then things can move forward. If the people at the bottom are willing to work with those at the top change can happen. Positive change is hard to come by if the people who are eventually going to be responsible for the change are disgruntled and unhappy.

" I do claim, however, that we must preserve American public education, because it is so intimately connected to our concepts of citizenship and democracy and to the promise of American life."

I could not agree with this statement by Ravitch more. Public education stands for free and quality education for all. It is one of the most important pillars of democracy. In order for a society to be progressive it is very important that all of its citizens be educated. It is only through the public school system that the poor and the under privileged have a chance at education. Earlier I mentioned about change happening at the grass roots level.  Providing a quality education to the lower socio economic sections of society and seeing change happen there is what will make a difference in the education system. This in turn will lead to children becoming productive members of their community and valuable participants in a democracy. So I agree with Ravitch that American public education needs to be preserved at all costs.        

• Chapter 2: On page 16, Ravitch gives a brief definition of a well educated person. How would you characterize a well educated person? What should any well educated person know in today's world?

A well educated person has a well rounded knowledge base on topics that are relevant not just in his society but world wide. This knowledge does not happen overnight but is built on a well- rounded education at home and in school. He is able to think independently, contribute to society and be able to respect the rights and opinions of others. In today's world it is very important for a well-educated person to be  cognizant of not just his physical surroundings and his own country but of the world around him. A well rounded person is able to participate in the democratic process and is able to give back to society in some way.

• Thinking about the class discussion on the book, what stands out for you? What would you have liked to say that you did not say.

Thinking about the class discussion on the book, I feel what stands out to me is the different ways politicians and policy makers have tried to "fix" education. In some cases it has been done to the districts that were performing well as in San Diego where there was no need to fix what was not broken. Education is something that is constantly evolving and changing as everyone is trying to find the best possible way to do things that will yield the best results. But change instead of happening from the top level and going down to the bottom should start at the grass roots level and should go upwards. Change needs to happen in classrooms with quality instructors but is there just one way to teach that will work for all classrooms and districts across the country? My best guess is no, as there are a lot of variables. The students, their background, the socio economic population of the schools, the funding in the districts are only some of the things that have a direct impact on education in the classroom. Different schools and districts have different needs and one reform or 'fix" that worked in one area might not work in another.

• Choose one gap that you listed from your subject area and identify 3 resources: a website, an article, and a book that can help you fill that gap. List these and discuss what you learned from one of these.

One of the gaps I have is teaching decoding and word analysis effectively in the primary grades students. Most of my experience is in the intermediate level, so I don't feel so confident in teaching this in the primary grades where teaching effective decoding strategies is crucial. This becomes more important when working with The English language learners.
A great website I found to help me with this is called www.readingrockets.org. This has extensive information on how to teach decoding and build fluency for teachers and parents. It tells us how to detect struggling readers early and describes the many ways available to test for fluency and word recognition skills. It also has links to other valuable websites and lists of reading books at different levels that I found useful. After browsing this website I learned that it is crucial to detect struggling readers early as the older they get the harder it gets to build fluency. The earlier the problems are caught and addressed the better it is. So for older reader who would come into my class with decoding issues the first thing to do would be to target the problem whether it is sound alphabet recognition or a weak vocabulary. After the problem is identified, there should be explicit instruction in the problem area. 

Two other resources that I have identified are:- The Cafe Book: Engaging Students in Daily Literary Assessment and Instruction. By Boushey and Moser and an article called Fluency Training in the ESL Classroom: An Experimental Study of Fluency Development and Proceduralization by Vrije, Nel de Jong Perfetti, Charles A. Nel de Jong, Charles A. Perfetti.

• Your annotations of resources are meant to be both scholarly and brief. In the blog, discuss in detail why/how any two of these articles were useful to your topic/questions.

As my focus is on the EL student, both my articles had to deal with how to work with EL student. One article was more of a report on how a low socio economic and low performing school district improved its performance by involving the immigrant families and educating them. The other article was very relevent as it talked about the importance of scaffolding EL students with the right questions. it gave many examples of the different ways that teachers can scaffold their El students through a question and answer session leading them to improve in their learning.

Blogs I have responded to.....

Carolyn Cadle : carriecadleMAIT.blogspot.com

Lauren Rowe: laurenrowe10.blogspot.com

Josie Kirkland: josiekirkland.blogspot.com

Course II Session 1

• Describe how outside the school experience(s) have expanded or deepened your subject area content knowledge, and tell how it enhanced or changed your understanding . Include at least one specific experience.

           My content area is English(ELA). I have studied English language and literature in high school and college.In high school and college in India, I had studied British and American poets, authors and playwrights.  However, after I came to this country and lived here for an extended period of time I learned first hand about American society, culture and history. It was after having travelled across the world that I really started understanding the background of stories like The Great Gatsby or the Grapes of Wrath. Everything I had read about now had a context for me. I could see what the social and cultural environment around me is, what is the history behind it and understand first hand writers like Toni Morrison or Alice Walker. So being able to connect my reading to my own experiences of travel, learning and discovery has helped me in a deeper understanding of my subject matter.

•  Respond to the class discussion of Ball's "The Subject Matter Preparation  of Teachers."Have your initial judgements or opinions changed based on the discussion?

         After reading Deborah Ball's article I thought of how important having a strong grasp of content knowledge was to a teacher. The more the teacher is confident of her subject matter the deeper her scaffolding can be. As she takes the students through a process of understanding a particular subject matter, the students can feed of her confidence and develop a confidence in the subject matter themselves. They will love Math if the teacher loves Math. Love for a subject can be contagious and students will develop a love for the subject if they see the teacher passionate about it. The teacher can then take them to levels and areas of critical thinking with a confidence she might not have if she did not know her subject well. But, just having content knowledge alone is not enough. The teacher should also be able to use the steps of planning, engaging and supporting her students through the process of teaching. There should also be a strong awareness about the who the students are and where they are at in their learning for the teacher to be successful. After the class discussion, my initial opinions have not changed but they have deepened as a result of it as I had multiple view points from different people. There were also quotations and parts of the article that my attention was drawn to during the class discussion that I had overlooked during my first reading.

• Where are you in developing and pursuing a line of inquiry? What is your question? At this point, what do you know about the research available in this area? What ideas do you have for possible experiential learning sources?

          I am still in the very early stages in my line of inquiry.I am thinking of focusing on the English Language Learners. I am thinking about children's books that have the stories of immigrants or ethnic stories and how these stories have woven themselves into American culture. My possible question is "How is the immigrant story the story of every American and how has it woven itself into American Children's literature? I would like to explore this in Children's Literature in the Upper  Elementary grades (3-5).  As of now I am thinking about visiting libraries and museums that documents the story of the immigrants into the country. I have already visited the Oakland Museum that have some Dorothea Lange  pictures of immigrants in this country. I have yet to come up with some experiential sources for my study.

• Feel free to add artwork,photographs,quotations, or personal experiences that connect to your content area. Express yourself.

Having come from another country myself, I am an immigrant too. However, having grown to love this country as much as where I came from I want to give back through teaching. I feel fortunate coming to this country having a strong grasp of English Language and Literature.  I want to teach children and hope to help those kids who are new to the country.  It is very difficult to face language barriers everyday and to not undertsand what is going on in school can be extremely difficult and frustrating. The older the child is the harder it can be.Through my teaching I hope to make this experience a little bit easier for them. Having access to children's literature that tells the stories of these immigrants will help me in my goal of building bridges and connecting with these students.

People and Blogs I have responded to.....

Nora Garcia

Sarah Fredericks

Tammy Enjaian

Guiding Questions for Students with English as a second language:-

1. How much does class, family background and family involvement or lack there of affect an EL student's academic performance?
2. What are the different ways teachers can build grade level vocabulary in English Language Learners?
3. What are the strategies that work best in building fluency in EL students?
4. How effective are pull-out programs? Do pull-out programs deprive ESL students of valuable classroom time when they are already behind on academics?
5. What are the pros and cons of Bilingual classrooms?