Another excellent Edublogs.org weblog
by jeanmarie1 on May 7, 2009 at 8:31 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
I have really grown to appreciate the written eloquence of Freire’s words; his last words are no exception. On page 170 Freire says, “It is precisely because we become capable of inventing our existence, something more than the life that it implies but supplants, that growing to us gradually becomes much more complex and problematic, in the rigorous sense of this adjective, than growing is to trees and animals.” This is what this program has done for me. It has made my role in world of education and society more complex by empowering me with an arsenal of knowledge and perhaps even some colleagues who share a desire to change the disparities and injustices that exist in our world and time! May the force, strength, and power be with those of us who hear the calling!
by jeanmarie1 on April 23, 2009 at 8:04 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
On Thursday’s class session with Diane, I made a suggestion in regards to future Ed.S. cohorts. I suggested that the program add a component that aims to educate participants in how to go about enacting change. At the time, I was thinking about change on a grand scale. Grand, as in educational policy and how one would go about disputing and changing it. Diane pointed out that we are all change agents within our school and a classmate pointed out that our capstones illustrated this part of our professional selves. I left class understanding what they said, but I felt as though they missed my point. It wasn’t until I read this chapter and it resonated with me for some time that I realized I was the one who missed their point! This chapter beautifully highlighted how teachers act as change agents in their schools and hence, how they transform the lives of a multitude of students everyday. It is through these transformations that social change occurs and injustices fail to prevail in our society. It reiterated to me that the daily work I do in my classroom, though it may appear to be just a small ripple in a large sea, has the possibility to become a tidal wave. The words I read in this chapter gave me the strength to believe that policy can change with a single classroom, even my classroom!
by jeanmarie1 on April 18, 2009 at 4:06 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
I’m not sure how I feel about the policies discussed in class on Thursday evening. I think that, as Rhina pointed out before our research sessions, that the suggested policy changes need to be critiqued extensively. I don’t think that any of our groups even began to scratch the surface on any of these policies in the ime allotted. I am still unaware of how the proposed changes will occur without using the results of standardized testing. Unfortunately I think that this is the cheapest way for our schools to be critiqued by the public. Please note that I did not use the word effective!
I think that I am against the government paying college expenses for adults. I think that people should have to work for what they receive. Money is just one sacrifice that people have to make if they are to strive for a college education. I worked my way through an 8 1/2 year bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree and now a specialist degree. I payed most of the expenses related to these degrees (minus a minimal amount received from HOPE for this degree) out of my own pocket, working full time and making a multitude of sacrifices. I did not receive any handouts. Was it hard, yes. Was it worthwhile? Absolutely. I think that in order for people to fully appreciate some things in life, they have to work hard for them. I think that college is one of them. If I would have had someone pay my way through college, I think that I would be a different person than I am today. I’m not sure that this is something I want to part with, for I am proud of who I have become and who I am becoming….and the journey I endured along the way has helped to shape me into this person. Why is a journey full of of struggles and rewards have to be frowned upon, perhaps even feared?
by jeanmarie1 on April 6, 2009 at 9:39 am · Filed under Uncategorized
This week’s lecture was very interesting to me. I try to think of myself as having an open mind. After this week’s lecture I realize that at times I fail to do this. I’m not convinced that Ebonics is a language, nor am I convinced that I should not correct students using a variation of Standard American English. I am convinced that I should be able to understand it and realize that this variation of SAE is spoken in some homes. I often times discuss what we talk about in class with many other people to obtain varying points of view about what I am learning in class. This week was no different. I think that I was searching for someone to agreee with the idea that Ebonics is a language. I failed to find one person who thought that it was a language. I really do want to keep an open mind about all things and all concepts, promise, I don’t know why Ebonics is plaquing this process for me? I think that if I perhaps seeked furhtre information, then I might be able to accept it more. Anyone who can help point me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated!
by jeanmarie1 on March 28, 2009 at 7:08 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
These readings touched a nerve in me, especially as the month of April, aka testing month, creeps upon us! First and for most, I am tired of hearing about all of the shortcomings of testing! I am tired of hearing teachers complain about the stringent mandates of these tests and educational gurus discuss the injustices prevailing through them! Extremely tired because it seems as though these complaints are done in vain. Teachers and students working in the trenches and those lobbying for the disintegration of testing never seem to see any feats as far as this issue is concerned. As a matter of fact, I believe that testing is going to place more of a pertinent role in our young scholars’ minds with the new administration. I say this because our President has promised to rid the education field of bad teachers and reward good teachers with monetary incentives. He has also told the American people that he will raise the bar for our students, as it seems as though our current educational system is failing to produce citizens in the United States who can compete in a global market. How is he to do this without the help of standardized testing? So, as I said I am tired of hearing the complaints because it is obvious that testing is going nowhere! It is obvious that it is here to stay! Unless, we as educators, come together and protest interference by those attempting to destroy our children’s youth! Yes, we can do this! We are the second (I think this is correct…I remember reading this statistic or something like it in one of our gazillion readings this past year….right behind Walmart employees) largest group of workers in the United States! There has got to be strength in numbers! We must fight for what’s best in the field of education…if not for our own professional sanity for the sake of the children we serve!
And for a step down, off of the soapbox….
I am interested in learning more about dynamic testing. This concept is discussed briefly in the article we read (p.151).
I am also wondering if it is important to teach basic skills in order for students to complete performance assessments? I often times use these types of assessments to assist students in constructing their own learning of certain concepts. How do any of you feel about this? Do you think that I am creating confusion among my students or allowing them to take responsibility for their own learning?
by jeanmarie1 on March 22, 2009 at 10:11 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
This article actually backs up my disturbance post. Why should schools take money from the federal government which has no added value to the students’ education which it is “intended” for? I wonder what the exact amount Mrs. Payne has robbed the educational system of. How much money could have been used to provide technological enhancements to classrooms, educate teachers on culturally relevant topics and issues, or take students on real life learning experiences? At $300 bucks a pop per person or the alternative $3000 one day fee plus added book sales…..It makes my stomach turn! Shame on the governemnt for allowing this to happen and shame on the schools who submit to the request!
by jeanmarie1 on March 15, 2009 at 2:00 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
I was really moved by the book I read in my book group for this class this semester Dumbing Us Down by John Gatto. John Gatto was a teacher in New York City and currently speaks out about the educational system’s shortcomings. This book is a collection of speeches and essays of how he perceives the educational system. It has made me think about and question my political stances, educational practices and intellectual beliefs. One thing that I keep coming back to is the privatization of education. We had a discussion in class about how there is a movement in this country to privatize education and how this could be detrimental to various populations of students. Throughout the course of this program, we have also discussed the innumerous injustices various cultures are faced with in society and how the educational system continues to perpetuate these injustices. I have been against school vouchers since the beginning of their inception. I am now finding myself thinking that I may have been wrong about them. Nonetheless, I am starting to digress. Here is my disturbance. Moneys are pumped into the public school system, however, these monies are not always able to go towards what educators feel is pertinent to instruction. The monies are usually granted because some private business sector or politician has lobbied for their need in the public school system stating that they alone provide the cure for the failing institutions. Why don’t we stop taking money! Why doesn’t the school system say, “Hey, we do not want or need your money! We will not abide by your regulations! We do not need new textbooks every seven years! Keep you money! We have highly qualified individuals who are able to teach as long as they have one resource…students!” Many of the Republican governors are finding it easy to do just this by saying no to certain parts of the stimulus package. They are justifying their actions by stating that by accepting these fiunds now their state will be in economic ruin in the future becasue they will have to find addtiional funds to supplement the programs. Why is it so hard for the public school system to say the same thing? Either the school system will survive or it will fall and have to be rebuilt from scratch…..is this such a bad thing?
by jeanmarie1 on March 7, 2009 at 1:09 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
This week’s readings were quite informational. I enjoyed the list of suggested books and the tips for choosing/evaluating children’s books. I’m sure that I will be refering to the two articles which provided us this information in the near future to choose stories and critique stories that I intend to use in the future. Two of the other articles illustrated the importance of critiquing resources used in the classroom.
It was the last two articles which I enjoyed reading the most though. As I read the Beyond Pink and Blue article I was reminded of a HOPE Scholarship commercial that keeps playing on the television set. I’m sure that you have all seen it. There are flashes of newborn babies and little blurbs about how they will do at their first sporting game, interview, finding a cure for a disease and so forth. I absolutley despise this commercial. The reasons I despise this commercial are illustrated beautifully in this article. The girl babies are followed up by blurbs about being social and vocal and the boy babies are followed up by blurbs about sports and science related fields. Very stereoptypical! Who narrates the commercial….Cathy Cox. Interesting…. It just goes to show that we are constantly being bombarded by stereoptypes!
I enjoyed reading the other article Down But Not Out. This article had a feeling of optimism to it. It really made me think of Maria and how optimistic she is about the educational system and people who are players in the system. She often says that we all have the same end in mind (what is good for children)…it’s the means that we differ on. The last paragraph on page 3 sums up Maria’s thoughts beautifully and has made me think that it is possible for others, perhaps even politicians and makers of curriclums, to have good intentions. Please bear in mind that I used the term possible…..
by jeanmarie1 on February 28, 2009 at 4:36 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
I was especially struck by our discussion over the use of the word militant in Freire’s writings Thursday night. I think that I have become impervious to strong words such as these, and not because I think that their users misuse it when referring to the education field so I zip past them when reading. I think that it is because I have come to expect strong words such as this when an author refers to the daily struggles and battles educators and recipients of their work must encounter daily. I think that the literature we have been delving into has shed light on the fact that weaker words dilute the tasks we must set out to accomplish. Especially if we are to undertake the challenges set before us. The challenges, which invite us, no beg of us, both as educators and as concerned citizens to change the educational system’s practices and policies so that social injustices no longer exist in our country, society, world! I agree with Nicole that in a perfect world words such as these would not be used to describe our jobs. I hope that day is in the near distance.
by jeanmarie1 on February 21, 2009 at 5:56 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
I have to be honest, I did not appreciate Freire when we first started reading him. The first time around, I think it took me hours to understand what I read in the Foreword, Preface, and Introduction. But just as Rhina mentioned in class, we should not expect everything we read to be easily understood. Sometimes the hardest things to read hold the deepest thoughts and it is these thoughts that our souls long to connect with! After all, we push our students to comprehend things daily that they struggle with. If we encourage our students to endure this battle, then I think it is only right that we practice what we preach. With that being said, I no longer hold contentment and anguish when assigned to read Freire’s work. I have grown to value his insights.
As I read the eighth letter this week I kept on being reminded of the book I read in my group Dumbing Us Down by John Gatto. The concept of a hidden curriculum is beautifully illustrated by Freire on pages 130 and 131 as he tells Gelson’s story. Freire notes that the knowledge Gelson held was “illegitimate” in the eyes of the school. Gatto would say that schools believe this knowledge to be “illegitimate” because it involves individualized critical analysis of the world, hence encouraging one to think and act outside the realm of what is “accepted” and “needed” for our society to exist. Thus it is the school’s place to keep students like Gelson shunned and silenced, especially if they are to reproduce society, as someone so eloquently said on a side note during our book talk discussion. We must not allow the institutions we work for silence geniuses like Gelson anymore! We must encourage individual thought and embrace the knowledge that ALL of our students bring to the table if we are to make this society a better place!
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