Group 9 Presentation

Group 9 did their presentation on 21st century schools. They showed a video clip on how far behind the United States is in regard to 21st century skills that we should have today in this society, and how important it is to engage students by using these skills. The key for effective teaching is motivating students, if students are motivated they will have positive attitudes abouts school and will want to achieve. They also interviewed a SPED teacher and asked her how she keeps her students motivated. She said she uses a preffered item strategy. She uses it to give the students insentives to want to achieve. Teachers should also plan effective teaching by selecting topics important to all students so they will all benefit. Some essential teaching skills they mentioned were organization, focus, feedback, and caring. I think these are all very important, but the one that really sticks out to me is caring because I think it's so crucial in creating a great learning enviorment is letting your students know you care. Group 9 did a great job introducing some great ways to keep students motivated and creating an effective teaching style.

Letter to the Editor

Letter to the Editor

By: Tori Altermatt & Stefanie Pearson

Should Minnesota Teachers be Tenured?

            Much controversy has been stirred up about whether or not teachers should be tenured. There are many benefits to the teacher tenure, but I believe the negative aspects out weight the benefits. The tenure contract does not take into consideration the quality of the teachers. This allows teachers to become complacent and less motivated to improve their teaching style. We need to think about the students first. Are they receiving the best education possible, and are the teachers who are responsible for these students highly qualified?

Unfortunately in many schools, this is not the case. There are a great amount of schools that will get rid of their new teachers, even if their great, simply because they are not tenured. This negatively impacts recent teacher college graduates. Schools are not as willing to hire newer teachers, who many times, have great fresh ideas and could benefit these students greatly. In many cases, new teachers will be hired and right before they are tenured they will get laid off. I have witnessed this personally. One of my friends would be getting his tenure contract next year, but they recently sent him a notification saying his contract will not be renewed next year. This is because he was one of the two teachers to be hired last into the system and he currently does not have his tenure. The school didn’t take into consideration how well his students are progressing and how effective his teaching is. The only aspect that was looked at was whether or not he was tenured. Now tell me, how does this benefit the students?

Teachers should be kept because they are great teachers. One bad teacher can put a child behind for the rest of their schooling, but on the other hand a great teacher can send a student above and beyond what is expected of them. Statistics say that a bad teacher will teach about 50% of the required material and a good teacher will teach about 150% of the curriculum. Good teachers are able to go above and beyond what is asked of them, taking initiatives to give the students the best future possible. The impact loosing these teachers is huge on these students’ lives. The tenure contract is in no way encouraging the school systems to keep their really great teachers.

Good teachers should be rewarded not punished by getting fired simply because they are not tenured. We need to reward teachers whose students are making progress and show improvements in teaching each year. Instead of giving them a tenure year contract we need to think about a system that rewards teachers like giving them raises if they are making visible improvements. I also feel we need to better prepare our future teachers so these students do not continue to fall behind. Teachers should be observed and critiqued intensely throughout their whole career. For example, teachers in Finland receive a great amount of experience and feedback throughout their training. They also require high standards in regards to getting accepting into the teaching program. Citizens in Finland find it to be a privilege to become a teacher. In the United States it seems that the bar isn’t set very high for future teachers. Finland must be doing something right since they rank amongst the highest nationally on the PISA tests. So, I think instead of continuing to do the same things in our education systems we need to look at what’s working in other countries in regards to preparing teachers since we are continually falling behind and we need to take another look at how the teacher tenure is impacting the students.

Science Express

http://www.facebook.com/scienceexpress

Today we got to go on the Science Express. The Science Express is a laboratory on wheels that bring hands-on experience in science, technology, engineering and math to K-12. I thought this was a really great experience for us future teachers because I think it's really great for us to be introduced to new, fun ideas such as the science express. I think this is a wonderful way to get students excited about science/ math, which are in high demand right now in the United States. We did a few experiments with pipettes and chemicals; it was fun to test out the equipment. We also got to use little devices that test how much force you are using to squeeze this device using your hand and thumb. It also had a graph on the device, which is really great for students to help understand and analyze graphs. I'm really glad I got the opportunity to see the science express and hopefully I can take my students on it someday :)

Group Eight Presentation

Group eight talked about some really great ideas for classroom management and things you can do to make your classroom a warm welcoming enviroment. They talked about the daily five, which I actually experienced through my field experience, it worked really great for the students. It helped them work independently while the teacher worked with a group of students. Some ways they discussed to make your students feel welcomed is: calling them by their first names, asking them how they are doing, giving them extra time for help if they need it, and involving students in lesson plans. They showed a test that students can take so you can be aware of students different learning styles. I thought this was a really good way to try to meet each students individual needs. They brought up a great discussion on smart boards. Many classrooms are using these so I think it's really important that we all learn how to use one. The group also talked about the importance of parental involvment. It's important for parents and teachers to work together to provide a productive learning enviroments. This can give kids a positive attitude about school, higher long-term achievement, more willing to do homework, and they would be more likely to go graduate and go to college. The final aspect they talked about misbehavior intervention. As teachers, we need to be aware of what's going on in our classroom at all times. It's also important to preserve students dignity, we need to make sure we are handling behaviors in a respectful way. Being consistent with our rules and guidelines is also very important. I think this group did a great job going over this chapter and gave some really great ideas we could all use in our classrooms.

Class Discussion Questions

Advantages/disadvantages of tenure...
*Some advantages are that you have job security. You also may be more willing to speak up on issues because you are way less likely to get cut when you are tenured. Some disadvantages are that teachers who aren't effect are less likely to get cut even when they should be and new fresh teachers are more likely to get cut.

Religion in Schools...
* I think teachers should be very careful about what they discuss regarding religion because there are many students who will have many different religious beliefs and it's important not to offend anyone. Teachers should welcome all religions and it's their job to make students feel welcomed.

Corporal punishment in schools...
*I don't believe that corporal punishment should be allowed in any schools. I think teachers should use positive reinforcement to encourage good behavior instead of reinforcing their negative behavior.I think if teachers use positive reinforcemenet it will also create respect between the student and the teacher creating better classroom management.

Group Seven Presentation

Group seven did their presentation on chapter 10- School Law. They discussed the U.S legal system and how some aspects such as constitutional amendments that play into school laws. They showed a news clip on facebook and where the lines should be drawn in regards to becoming friends between teachers and students. I think teachers should simple not be friends with their students on facebook or even their parents. This comes into play when asking "what is ethical?" I don't think that students and teachers should have that type of relationship outside of school. I think this could take away from the respect aspect and very likely could put your job on the line. They also showed a clip on the Wisconsin protests. They also did an interview with a man who was a principal in a Wisconsin about the protests that are going on there. He talked about how everyone has come together to get the best for the students and their education.

Finland vs. United States Teacher Prep...

Finland is the highest ranked country in the world in regards to education standards. Families in Finland value education and have many of the same goals for their children. School in Finland is relaxed and casual, student's address teachers by their first names. Their schools are much smaller than the average school in the United States, this gives teachers a better chance to give each student attention and time. The classes in Finland really encouraged students to think rather than memorize.Once students get into their upper classes they have a choice to go on a technical and vocational track or a more general education track.
* To be able to become a teacher in Finland you must have good grades to even get accepted into the college. If they are accepted, they also have to do well on the entrance examination to get into the teaching program.
*People in Finland have a five year program to become a teacher, they are required to get their masters.
*When training the teachers in Finland, they get a great deal of classroom experience and coaching from professors and teachers.