Reading Don't Fix No Chevy's

When I was younger I used to spend hours a day outside on the basketball hoop practicing my foul shot and jump shot. My parents used to have to pull me away to come in to eat dinner and do homework. Many times my dad would join me outside and we would spend hours shooting and not talking. I was in my flow.


I have also been told that when I was in high school playing ball, the momentum of the game would switch when I was on the floor. My dribbling skills weren't the best, but I had this certain control over the game. I was told that when I was in the game the whole team would calm down and play under control. I knew where to pass, when to hold the ball...I was in my flow.


Today I do not play basketball competitively anymore, but I do other forms of exercise which put me back into my flow. I don't think about anything when I'm working out, my mind goes blank, and I just watch and enjoy my surroundings.


Flow is something that I think everyone should experience. If people are not participating in activities that put them in this mode, they need to experience different things until they find their flow. Flow is something that, as educators, we need to have our students experience. Because every person experiences flow in different ways, bringing flow into a classroom can almost be like a "project".


If a child gets into a flow from reading, then teachers should make time for students to have quiet reading time. If a student is in a flow from cooking, or by performing music, the teacher should invite the student to cook in front of the class, or perform in front of the class. Being in a flow allows a person to become intrinsically motivated, something that students need to experience more of. If a student knows what it is like to be intrinsically motivated, they may become more motivated to accomplish things because of how it makes them feel, not by what they will get out of it extrinsically.

NCLB Letter

September 30, 2007

Mike Ferguson
16 Mount Bethel Road # 353
Warren, NJ 07059

Dear Congressman Ferguson:

As an educator and resident of New Jersey, I have a great interest in President Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act, which has been in law since 2004. NCLB has done some great things for the New Jersey schools including, but not limited to, ensuring that all New Jersey teachers are highly qualified to teach their subject and that the teachers stay up to date with the newest techniques of teaching by having to complete 100 hours of professional development every 5 years. NCLB has also made information for parents regarding their child’s education more available and is creating benchmarks for students to work towards.

There are also some concerns I have that I think should be considered before the reauthorization of NCLB. If the goal of NCLB is to have every student be 100% proficient by 2014 in reading and math, yet not all schools are working with the same materials, how does the federal government expect this to happen? Statistically speaking, all students will never be 100% proficient. Supposing this goal could be met, I think that each school should be able to work with the same materials.

I am fortunate enough to work in a district that meets Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) every year, and we have the funds to purchase curriculums and materials that help us accomplish this task. Abbott districts and other districts that are receiving federal funding should also be able to purchase the same curricula that a district like mine is able to purchase. If every student in the state of New Jersey has to take the same standardized test in the spring, they should be able to prepare and learn with the same materials.

To create a goal such as reaching 100% in seven years and then not supply the students with the proper materials is only going to help these schools continue to be declared Need of Improvement schools. We are allowing these schools to fail. Before the reauthorization of NCLB, please take this matter into consideration. Consider creating a state wide curriculum for all subjects, not just in reading and math, so that every student in the state of New Jersey has the same opportunities to be successful.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,


Lindsey El Koury

State of NJ Standards Website

I think that this website answers a lot of questions for parents and teachers. Parents and teachers can look at the standards for each subject area and see what information needs to be taught by certain grades. Each subject offers an introduction to the subject and why it is important.

On the main page, there is a quote from A Nation At Risk, and then an explanation of why the CCCS were developed. Along with this introduction there are descriptions of the format and organization of the standards, CPIs and strands, as well as the implementation of the NJCCCS.

Under the Parents link, there are further descriptions of law and policy, understanding the standards, how a particular school measures up, etc. I think that this link is a great tool for parents to get a better understanding of the CCCS and other issues related to schools. The Educators link has a lot of information regarding professional development, technology training, assessments, credentials, etc., which I think is a great resource for teachers.

This website definitely shows the complexity of the standards and the vast amount of information the teachers are responsible for teaching, and what the students are responsible for knowing. Breaking down the standards will give teachers and parents a better understanding of the education system in NJ. Improvements can always be made, however, I think that this website does a good job of keeping people informed.

180 Days

The school I work in is 3rd grade through 8th grade, and being one of two physical education teachers, I teach the entire school. There are days when there is an assembly for the lower grades (3rd-5th grade) scheduled to take place in the gym during one of my upper grade classes (6th-8th grade), which means that unless I am outside with the classes, I can not go along with the originally planned lesson. Although my principal is careful not to use the gym too often for assemblies, it does happen.

Picture day is also a day in which it is difficult for my colleague and I to have a "normal" day. This is not because pictures are taken in the gym, but because my students can not be sweaty and messy for their pictures. If the homerooms are scheduled for their pictures after p.e. class, we have to plan activities that do not require the students to move too much, which takes away from the unit I am working on.

We also loose days when the marking period changes. The first and second marking periods we get new 5th-8th grade students, so the first days of marking periods 1 and 2 are spent going over the rules of the gym, the locker room, etc.

I completely agree with the idea that teachers truly only have 67 days or so for instructional time. I don't know, though, if making the school year longer would help to solve this problem. Extending the school year may only give more days to plan activities and take away from instructional time. If the school year was extended, it would have to be done under the idea that those extra days would be spent on instruction and not on activities.

There is a lot of pressure put on teachers to get their students to learn the information needed to not just pass the state tests, but to also get the students ready for the next grade. Extending the school year may take some of this pressure off teachers, however, I've never met a teacher who was unable to teach their students the necessary information in the time allotted. Before activities are scheduled, principals and teachers need to ensure that the activity is educational, and not to plan a lot of activities in one time frame.

The Saber-Tooth Curriculum

It can be argued that “The Saber-Tooth Curriculum” was written to mock the constant arguments that are had between educators and parents, and even between other educators. This story brings up many valid points, however to list all of them would become overwhelming. To keep it simple, I will discuss the introduction of a new curriculum when the current one is no longer effective, how change will always be resisted, and how children, and adults, are more eager to learn when what they are learning is purposeful.

Creating a curriculum is very important, for it gives educators a framework of what to teach. How the educator decides how to present the ideas is usually based on personal experiences. New-Fist observed two things that encouraged him to create his curriculum. First, that children spent their time playing just for fun, which was serving little purpose to the community and second, the adults were doing all of the work to allow the community to survive. The new curriculum was set up to teach the children the skills necessary to help themselves and their community.

Just as Bransford, Brown and Cocking (2000) stated that “learners of all ages are more motivated when they can see the usefulness of what they are learning and when they can use that information to do something that has an impact on others…,” (p. 61), New-Fist observed that the children had more fun engaging in purposeful activity than playing just for the fun of it. Motivation not only affects the amount of time people put into learning, but also affects the reasons why people learn; extrinsic and intrinsic factors, (Bransford, et al., 2000). When the rest of the community saw how well New-Fist’s curriculum was working, they too began to join the children in the new ways to gather food and skins.

Things, however, do not remain the same and must constantly be changed. The curriculum New-Fist created was no longer effective when the environment changed, and therefore the curriculum had to be updated to meet the needs of the new environment. Members of the tribe resisted the new curriculum because it was beyond their comfort zone. New-Fist continued to push the new curriculum and teach the new skills because the members of his tribe still had to survive. As members of the tribe became more frustrated with the lack of food and skins, they became more motivated to learn the new skills.

In my Administration I class we learned that no matter how good the change may be, people do not like to leave their comfort zone and will therefore resist the change. When a new administration took over my district they introduced the Everyday Math curriculum. They did this not just to be able to meet, but excel past the requirements set by the state due to No Child Left Behind. The teachers did nothing but complain about it for many reasons, however, a year later they have grown to like it so much they wish that curriculums for other subjects reflected the Everyday Math design.

New-Fist had many great ideas to teach the children and adults of his community the skills to survival. He was able to motivate his learners and was also able to update his teaching ideas when the change in the environment forced him to do so. No matter how much the new curriculum was resisted, he knew how important the change was to the tribe’s survival, and made the changes anyway.

This story parallels modern day education in many way. Educators teach students the necessary skills to pass the grade level they are in, the prospective grade levels, and to survive in the “real world”. Teachers hope to motivate their students to want to learn the necessary skills; however, this may not always be the case. There will always be resistance to change, but if the change is truly believed to be needed, teachers or administrators must continue to offer the change.

Change Response

I think American education is slow to change due to the fear of what is to come with a particular change. In his book Change Forces: Probing the depths of educational reform (1993), Fullan states that "educators...had a crisis of confidence." Based on this statement, take into account the teacher who has been teaching for 30+ years, who has never used a computer, and is now being asked by their building administrator to use computers in their classroom. The teacher may be upset by this request for a few reasons. First, this teacher may feel that the request to use computers is a personal attack, that the building administrator may feel that this particular teacher's lessons are lacking. Most likely, though, this teacher is fearful of the computer, and using it will create an unknown atmosphere to them. However, if this teacher is fully supported in the slow transition of using computers in their classroom, they may begin to feel more comfortable with the idea of using computers, and may accept the change better.

It is in the best interest of educators to do the best they can to adapt to the particular change because, "Education has a moral purpose. The moral purpose is to make a difference in the lives of students regardless of background, and to help produce citizens who can live and work productively in increasingly dynamically complex societies," (Fullan, 1993).

Fullan, Michael. (1993). Change forces: Probing the depths of educational reform. London, New York, Philadelphia: The Falmer Press.

Marc Prensky

The idea that students need more motivation to learn is something I feel is unarguable, however, I do think that Marc Prensky is going about it the wrong way. First and foremost, students should not have to endure the stress of learning 5 or more subjects well enough to pass tests in a few months time. Curriculum are written over a years period for a reason. I think Marc's idea would work best if introducing areas such as technology, along with subjects such as math or LAL, would be better and less stressful.

Secondly, our world is depending more and more on technology so opening students' eyes to technology, is a great idea, but I do feel that other areas should be addressed. Not all students are fascinated with technology, so by looking at the arts, fashion, athletics, etc. there is a possibility that more students will become engaged.

In the district where I work we just began using Writer's Workshop. This is a fairly new curriculum, however, its intentions are to not only improve students' writing, but to motivate students to write and to enjoy the writing process. Instead of the teacher telling the students what to write about, the students pick topics from their own lives. Since using this curriculum, the students are very excited to write, and now enjoy writing. Th students were not motivated with gadgets or promises of meeting famous people, but they were motivated by their personal experiences and the hard work of their teachers.

Having said all this, I do believe that students need to be held accountable for their scores, however, it is the job of the teachers to motivate the students in an appropriate manner so the students can achieve the best scores they can.