Letter to the Editor

Letter to the Editor

By: Dane Pleiss

Making School a Safe Place

                An issue that has been in schools across the world since the beginning of time has been bullying, and I feel it is only getting worse. I feel bullying is a zero tolerance and punishment shouldn’t be taken so lightly, or just shaken off by authorities.  I feel that it is up to our school teachers and school authority figures to take action before it gets even worse.

                I recently watched a movie called Bullied and it talked about a student named Jamie who was bullied so bad in his grade school through high school years that it caused him to runaway and later try to overdose on pills. He went to his principal and other authority figures to seek out help, but he never got the help he needed, and always thought of school as this scary place where he wouldn’t be safe. There are kids like Jamie all around the world that see school as a place where they will just get teased and beat up and nothing will happen to the abusers. I feel that as a future teacher I would never want it to be where any of my students fear coming to school because one of their peers is ruining their life so much that school (which is eight hour days, five days a week, nine months a year) is too much for them to handle because they are scared for their life.

                Bullying can start out as something as simple as teasing someone about their haircut, but someone harassing you everyday about that haircut, and using violence can lead to so much more. Attacking the child’s personal life, maybe because of their sexual orientation or family income can be taking it too far, and it shouldn’t ever go that far. Using violence on a child because their different should be zero tolerance and the bully should be punished for their actions no matter of their “rank” in the school whether they are the star quarterback, or the prom queen. Everyone should suffer the same consequences when it comes to bullying.

                Something that really scares me is that suicide is the number three cause of death in teenagers, and this big number has a lot to do with bullying and how it takes such a toll on a child where they feel the only way out is for them to kill themselves. This is such a sad thing to think that one day my student could be sitting in my classroom and I think everything is fine, the next day they don’t show up because they couldn’t handle being bullied anymore. I feel that it is up to the teachers and school authority figures to crack down on bullying because it has and can ruin a child’s grade school and high school years. Years they will never get back.              

Group Nine Presentation

Group nine presented on chapter 13 which was 21st Century Schools. They started off by showing a youtube clip of students with white boards each with facts about being a student in the 21st century schools. Some of the facts were pretty shocking and surprising because it basically showed how far behind the United States is in their schooling and teaching. I felt that this was a great clip to show at the beginning of their presentation. They went on to talk about effective strategies for motivating students to learn. They are: be free with praise, get to know students, become a role model, give students as much control over their own education as possible. I feel that these are all great ways to motivate a student in their schoolwork and I completely agree with all of them. As teachers we need to have the essential teaching skills, the group gave a short list of some things that all teachers need to be effective with their classroom, they are: organization, focus, feedback, enthusiasm, questioning and closure & application. I feel that they did a good job with their interview in relating it to their topic also, overall it was a good presentation.

Group Eight Presentation

Group eight presented on Class Management and some effective ways to manage your class and explained ways that you can make your students feel welcomed in the classroom. They talked about how a teacher needs to recognize parent involvement in their child's schoolwork and things like that. Some effective ways of making your students feel welcomed in the class is to first welcome the student when they walk into the classroom at the beginning of the day to make them feel like the teacher actually wants them there. Other things like compliment the student on something even if it is the littlest thing, they'll appreciate it. Something they talked about that can be tough for a teacher is learning each of your students learning styles and what works for them. With a class of 30 students this can be tough because you can be moving too fast or too slow for some students and you don't want any of them to fall behind. Something that we also talked about was capital punishment and to not embarrass the students and lower their self confidence, because once you get rid of that, everything goes out the door. This group did a great job presenting on this chapter.

Group Seven Presentation

Group seven presented on chapter ten, School Law: Ethical and Legal Influences on Teaching. The group started out with a news video on Facebook and how there has been problems with Facebook in the sense of students friending teachers and getting access to photos and teachers being fired for what is on their Facebook page. I thought this was a very interesting video because this is whats happening now, teachers in the St. Cloud area were fired for the same thing. The group also talked about teachers being protected by tenure and how that can be a good and a bad thing. Good because if something comes up where there job could be on the line, they are protected. But it can be bad because instead of getting rid of old teachers, its the new fresh minded teachers that get their position cut. Overall this group did a very good job and they had really good discussions with the whole Facebook video and about the tenure.

The Finland Phenomenon

This video compared education and schools in America, and than showed what schools are like in Finland. Finland is #1 in every education category in the world, while the US is ranked #26 in the world. Schools in Finland give every student the same proper education regardless of income, as opposed to the US which is all about income with what education you get. If you don't have money, you won't get the same education as someone who has a good family income. What I thought was cool about school in Finland is that they sometimes keep the same teacher for several grades. I like this because the teacher knows your style of learning and knows what works for the students. So instead of just sending them off to a new teacher the next year, they just bump up a grade with the class. Another thing I liked about the schooling in Finland was that you can choose from either the "academic track" or the "technical track". I like this because if you know what you want to be, and language arts may not be your thing, you can base your classes around engineering and or more hands on work.I think we can learn a lot from schools in Finland being that they are #1 in every category. Very cool video.

Group Six Presentations

Group six did their presentation on School Governance. I felt that this group new a lot about what they were talking about and had a genuine interest in their topic and it made me interested in what they were talking about because I felt what they were talking about was dead on with the examples they were using and the scenarios they were giving. They passed around a booklet of the Anoka-Hennepin finances and it was broken down to every penny. What I thought was pretty shocking was that 96% of school districts are run by school boards. I had absolutely no knowledge of the way schools are budgeted and they gave a lot of information on it. I still feel a little lost by it all, but its not due to their presentation its just something I never have really learned before.

Detroit to close some schools, convert others to charters

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/03/30/michigan.schools/index.html?iref=allsearch

This article talked about how schools in Detroit are being converted to charter schools or are closing. Over 18 schools in the area closed due to a large budget deficit. As a teacher this isn't good because they are getting their job cut and therefore have to find a new job position in the schools that aren't closing, and that would be very hard because one of the reasons for the schools closing is because a lack of students in the Detroit area. I would hate for this to happen to me, to get a job in the school and be settling in and than have your position cut, or school shut down in this case. Also, for those schools turned to charter schools is a change for the teachers because it will change their schedule, and style of teaching which can be hard for a teacher that is older and is tenured to change the style they have been so used to.

Group Five Presentation

Group five did their presentation on chapter 8, Organization of American Schools. They went over major goals of an American school, and they were: academic, social and civic, vocational and social. To me that covers how a school should be and that I can't even think of anything that it is missing. Something I found very interesting about their presentation and they had us discuss as a class was if we would like a four day school week as opposed to the regular five day school week. They went over the pros and cons of it and I feel that there are equal pros and cons. I didn't really realize there are a lot of cons to it, like: three day weekend can cause you to be sluggish, teachers would get lower pay, sleep cycles of students would be off, and parents would need to spend money on babysitters being that they will be at work when they will be off on that fifth day where they would be in school. Overall I really enjoyed their presentation and felt they did a very good job covering it.

Can computers replace teachers?

http://amfix.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/11/can-computers-replace-teachers/?iref=allsearch

This article was very interesting because I have taken online classes and obviously regular classes. I feel that I need the interaction of a teacher to genuinely understand what is going on in the class and I hate having to interact via email. I think online classes are a good idea, but teachers should never be replaced because the interaction needs to be there with student and teacher, and it has to be face to face. It sort of scares me to think that this could happen in the future with technology fully replacing students. But I honestly don't think computers can fully replace a teacher.

Group Four Presentation

Group four did their presentation on the Philosophy of Education. They gave us the Philosophy of Education test to see where we are at in our beliefs in education. The four categories it reflected on were: Perennialism, Essentialism, Progressivism, and Social Reconstruction. What I really liked about their presentation was how they showed movie clips of each example. The movie clips they used really incorporated with what they were talking about and they had my attention throughout their whole presentation. To me this would have been tough for me because this topic was one that I knew nothing about.

High school students earn more credits than those in the past

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/04/12/high.school.credits/index.html?iref=allsearch

The article talked about how students now are taking harder courses and are taking more courses. As a future teacher this could be good for our students because it could speed up the process of high school, and get them to college quicker and eventually into their major quicker. I like the idea of students having the choice of post secondary education so they can go to college quicker and eventually into their field of work quicker. To me this shows that we want a change in education and that students want to get into their field of work and thats great for our future.

Group Three Presentation

Group three did their presentation on the History of Education. They went through the stages of how our schools started, and where they have gone over the years, and how they have become what they are today. There presentation had a lot of information and it seemed like it was more of a report than a presentation to future teachers. But than they got to their interview and I feel like that was a strong part of their presentation with how they incorporated the interview into the presentation.

5 plead not guilty in Philadelphia sex abuse cases

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/15/5-plead-not-guilty-in-philadelphia-sex-abuse-cases/?iref=allsearch

This article talked about a number of priests, and one teacher at a parochial school are facing sexual harassment charges for assaulting two different boys over the course of the last few years. To me this is a scary thing as a student, and a future teacher. Scary on the student side because this can happen to me being a student still, and its something that nobody should have to go through, and scary for me on the teacher side because I could someday be a co-worker with someone this could happen to and working in that kind of environment where your school is sort of looked down on for that could reflect bad on you, even if you aren't even a part of it. It still looks bad on the rest of the faculty and principal for having that happen in your school. As a future teacher I hope something like this never comes up at where I end up teaching.

Group Two Presentation

Group two did their presentation on Student Diversity but went into detail about the development, and how we except student diversity. I liked how they got us involved with the questions they asked and if it was something that was about us we would stand up. I felt that they really did their research and had good feedback on the video they showed which was about a student with special needs, and what their day is like with the struggles they endure every day. It really made me realize why I am getting into this field.

Schools and students face uncertain future in Japan

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/04/06/japan.schools/index.html?iref=allsearch

This article talked about students in Japan starting their new school year, and how they have to deal with the problem of the tsunamis and the nuclear power plant. Some schools are being delayed for weeks, but for kids going back to school its a very emotional and scary time for them being away from their families. To me this would be very hard to focus on schoolwork with all of the problems in Japan going on around them. People are wondering if the schools are even safe enough for students to be going back to. To me all of this would be distractions for me as a teacher or student and would be hard to focus on the school aspect.

Group One Presentation

I was a part of the first group presentation along with Tori and Stefanie. Our topic was Student Diversity in the Classroom and I found doing research on this topic was very interesting. I feel that our presentation went very well and we got really good participation and good feedback from the class. We found two very good videos to show the class that they seemed to like, or at least have good feedback on, and we got a great interview from my cousin Molly who is a fifth grade teacher at a school in the cities. Overall I think the presentation went well and I felt very good about it!

Philosophy of Education

During class we took a 16 question test that examines are beliefs in education. There are four categories at the end that you add up to see where exactly you match up. The four categories are: Perennialism, Essentialism, Progressivism and Social Reconstruction. The highest I scored on was Social Reconstruction, I feel that this is pretty true because I want to find ways as a teacher to help the students improve and to make critical decisions. I guess I didn't really learn much off of this test because I don't really think its these tests that helps us see where we are at, but through experience is where we see where we are at.

Two Million Minutes Reflection

Two Million Minutes was a pretty interesting documentary that I found to be pretty shocking. It compared how schools are in America, and how schools are in India and China and how we are competing for the same jobs. It showed American schools focusing more on athletics and how Americans scored the highest in "Confidence" and  much lower in academics. To me this shows that we think we are doing a lot better than what we actually are, and to me I feel that there needs to be changes in the education we have. On the flip side it showed schools in India and China are more family based and have a strong support from their family in their education. It also seemed that Americans seem to have more homework than the schools in India and China, but there classes seem to be more vocal and have more interaction, and that seems to be working for them. Overall I don't think its bad were number one in confidence, but I would like America to be higher in education also.

Ideal Teacher Prep Program 3 Ideas

I feel that as a future teacher I think it would be a lot better to get into your major courses quicker and to not spend so much time on general studies. Doing my field experience was such a good practice for what I want to be, and talking with the teacher I worked with she said that she learned to be a teacher not through school, but through experience. I totally agree with that, that to do more field experiences and to spend longer time with student teaching to prepare you to be a full time teacher. Something we talked about in class is to have a foreign language taken, or sign language taken because I feel that in Special Ed, you will need to be prepared to be able to sign to the certain student. All in all I feel that more time dedicated to student teaching and field experience hours are the most important thing to prepare for our future teachers.

21st Century Skills/Tony Wagner Reflection

Tony Wagner is the author of the Global Achievement book and was on the video 21st Century Skills. He is a very interesting man and genuinely cares about where America is going in terms of children's education. He gives a list of seven survival skills for future teachers. They are: 
1.Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
2. Collaboration Across Networks and Leading by influence
3. Initiative and Enterpreneurialism
4. Accessing and Analyzing Information
5. Effective Oral and Written Communication
6. Curiosity and Imagination
7. Agility and Adaptability

I feel that these seven are very broad and break it down very well at what we need to be as future teachers. I think it takes all seven to be a successful teacher. Tony Wagner seems like a very smart man and I trust in what he is saying.

Waiting for Superman

We watched the movie Waiting for Superman in class and I found it to be pretty shocking seeing these families struggling to find a good school for their kids. Throughout the movie I felt super sad for the families because you don't really think about this kind of stuff and I guess it makes me think that I took my school for granted. The fact that teachers are protected so well by the tenure is kind of a unsettling thing for me. Knowing that new and fresh teachers who are "in" with the times and technology are the ones who are getting the boot. Two quotes that really stuck out to me was  "our schools haven't changed, but the world around them has." The other quote was "It all becomes about the adults." Meaning that the older teachers are protected by the tenure and it seems like the school system is fine with keeping them around and don't have problems with it when they really should. Overall the video really opened up my eyes and made me think about what is going on in the school system.

IDI Reflection

Looking over the IDI (Intercultural Developmental Inventory) I realize that there is room for improvement. I scored in the Acceptance Percentile in the Perceived Orientation and in the Polarization/Defense/Reversal Percentile in the Developmental Orientation. I don't really see myself on the defensive side, but I feel like the results of the test is pretty accurate so that is something I need to work on.

What is the best way to prepare for "multiculturalism?"

In class I heard a lot of great ideas like, to have a few classes for our major dedicated to learning a different language. To me that is a great idea because there will be students in your classroom where English might not be their "first" language and it would help the student if you had some idea of their language, and with taking a foreign language that would benefit greatly. Another thing I heard was to "bridge the gap" meaning to not teach the student to be white, but to teach them in ways where it is the best way for them to learn. Hearing all these ideas in class really made me realize that we still have a long way to go.

Unequal Education Video

                The Unequal Education video was very interesting because you got to see two students of the same age, different skin color, one being white, the other being black. Both students had about the same intelligence, but the thing was they didn't have the same equal education or opportunities. The black student went to a broken down school called South Fordham. Students that went to South Fordham were from "the hood" and didn't have  a whole lot.  At South Fordham the teachers weren't even certified to be teaching the classes they were teaching, they were just thrown in their to teach without having any teaching background of the criteria. For a student this would be very hard to learn, when the teacher isn't familiar at all with the criteria, and this would cause them to not pay attention in class, do the homework, or sometimes not even show up to school. On the flip side, the white student they followed around went to a school called Riverdale. The teachers at Riverdale seemed to really care about the students and if the students seemed to be slipping, the teachers would notify the students parents and a conference would be held. The teachers really got the students and excited about class.
               To me, I would much rather go to the second school. I want my teacher to care about my learning, and not just have it seem like a job to them. It would be so hard to learn and take school seriously if I went to the first school I mentioned. I am very blessed that I was always at a school where the teachers cared about my education and were always there if I needed help. I hope that once I become a teacher that I will be able to help the students the best I can, and not just look at it as a job.

Field Experience

        I did my 20+ hours at St. Wenceslaus School back in my hometown of New Prague. I chose to do my field experience hours with my old second grade teacher Jen Rosen. Right away off the bat I felt comfortable working with Mrs. Rosen, which was very nice. The first day I was in the classroom the 2nd graders were all very welcoming to me and didn't give me a hard time at all.
       Right away I learned that some of the students needed extra help, for example, one student Sammy was dyslexic, so I had to read a lot of questions out loud for her when she was working on her math, writing, reading, etc. I learned that every student learns differently and some students may need more explanations than others.
       My favorite thing I did with the students was doing math stations with them in small groups of about six. It helped me connect with each student better and it helped me realize what students may need more help than others. The students really surprised me with when they had trouble with something, that they didn't hesitate to ask me for help. I definitely would love to go back to their class and work with them more, I ended up going over my hours because I enjoyed working with them so much. This field experience really made me realize why I want to become a teacher. Awesome experience!

The Global Achievement Gap Thus Far

So far I have found The Global Achievement Gap to be very interesting. Being a student entering the workforce in a few years, I find that this book has been very helpful with expanding my thoughts on schools and teaching. I found the part they talked about critical thinking was very interesting. How students nowadays, and so many people are guilty of this, of not learning the criteria, but just memorizing it only to forget it a few days later. That is why the MCA testing, ACT test doesn't measure who the student really is. Critical thinking allows students to think outside the box and to express themselves. Being a future teacher I would think that we need to change our ways and become more critical with out thinking. When we make our criteria for our students we should make it so the kids are actually learning and taking it in and participating, instead of jotting down notes and memorizing it, only to forget it. I also thought of the seven survival skills and related it to the the first chapters.

Field Experience

I am starting my field experience this Monday March 7th. I will be doing my field experience with Jennifer Rosen  at St. Wenceslaus school in New Prague, my hometown. I am very excited to start because it was the grade school I attended and Mrs. Rosen was my 2nd grade teacher!

Reaction to Speaking in Tongues video

The video Speaking in Tongues surprised me in a few different ways. First off, when the father of a Chinese student was complaining how only two and a half hours of the five hour school day is spent in English. This surprised me because I would think that the Chinese people would appreciate it more since they are learning there language, along with English and Spanish. That sort of shocked me and I don't fully understand his reasoning. What else sort of surprised me was that bilingual students tend to score higher on standardized tests. This is because bilingual students use more brain capacity. Very interesting stuff.

Reaction to "Bullied"

Today I watched the movie Bullied. As a teacher I wish to help and protect my students, and make sure school is a safe and fun environment for them. The today movie really got to me because I don't understand how some people can have so much hate towards other people when they are doing nothing wrong to them. The fact that kids like Jamie everywhere have to suffer like that really makes me want to become the best teacher/person I can be. School should be a place that you shouldn't have to fear going to, and the fact that it is 5 days a week, 9 months of the year, can really take a toll on these kids and really get to breaking points for them. In Jamies case, running away, and trying to OD. I want to have a good enough relationship with my students where I don't want them to be afraid to come and talk to me for whatever reason it may be.

Ask the Anoka-Hennepin School Board to Re-Evaluate "Neutrality" Policy on Sexual Orientation

http://www.change.org/petitions/ask_the_anoka-hennepin_school_board_to_re-evaluate_neutrality_policy_on_sexual_orientation


I found this article very interesting for the soul fact that it said that homosexuality is a disease or a disorder and it can be cured. That is so not true and such a disrespectful thing to say. The fact that schools don't protect LGBT students is really scary. After watching Bullied I feel that it is up to school officials and teachers to make sure school is a safe environment for all students regardless of their sexual orientation. The school system in Anoka-Hennepin has got to do something since of all of the terrible tragedies that have been happening to their student body.

Authorities: Students given pills on school playground

http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/02/04/arizona.children.pills/index.html?iref=allsearch


In Phoenix, Arizona, six middle school kids were caught taking prescription pills on the schools playground. They were given to them by another student whose backpack was packed with other pills and marijuana. This was a shocking story to read. Sixth grade is such a young age to be exposed to something like that. When I look back to when I was in sixth grade, I had no idea about any of that kind of stuff and was just focused on being a kid and playing sports. The fact that kids keep getting exposed to this stuff at younger ages is a scary thing. I think schools should try harder to prevent drug and alcohol use. It is weird because I remember in sixth grade we went through the DARE program. The kids must've been curious, and that is a result of curious pre-teens.

Pakistani mother enrolls in first grade

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/01/22/pakistan.woman.first.grader/index.html?iref=allsearch


I found this article to be very interesting. It is about a 25 year old woman from Pakistan who is a mother of three and decided she wanted to go to school since she never got the opportunity to. She goes to school with two of her children, who are 4 and 5 years old. She says she really enjoys it, even though she is much older than her fellow classmates. Her husband is one of her biggest supporters since Pakistan is a country where women's education was never really possible, due to cultural limitations.

January 20th, 2010

In class today we watched a video on YouTube called RSA Animate- Changing Education Paradigms and it talked about how we are going to educate our children to take their place in the economy in 21st century. It was a pretty interesting 12 minute video and it had good visuals to support it. We also watched half of a video about a dog and an elephant that were best friends, than it cut out. She showed the video because she was about to have us go in our groups for our group projects. The topic my group got was "Student Diversity." I am with Stefani and Tori and we are going to start our project on Tuesday the 25th.

Teachers...grading parents?

http://amfix.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/24/teachers-grading-parents/?iref=allsearch


This article was short, but it seemed very interesting. It basically is saying that teachers in Florida schools will not just give students report cards, but also their parents. The parents won't be receiving A's or F's, they will be receiving "satisfactory",  "needs improvement", or "unsatisfactory". Parents of the students will be graded on the communication they have with the teachers/school, the attendance of their child, and their child's academic performance. To me I have mixed feelings about this. Yes I agree that parents of the the students should be involved in their child's academics, but the fact that teachers are grading adults seems a little different. This is just more work for the teachers, and how do you really grade the parents on the child's academic performance? I understand involvement in school and their attendance. Overall a pretty interesting article.

Freedom Writers Journal Response

          Erin Gruwell just got a job at Woodrow Wilson High in Long Beach, California as the English professor for the "not so great students." At first in her interview with the principal she is saying how she is going to make a difference and gives off the sense that she is going to do the traditional, standard way of teaching. The kids in her classroom come off as: rough, rugged street kids that don't seem to care about class. After the first day she realizes that will be no easy feat, being that there are so many different types of people with all sorts of different backgrounds in the classroom. All the kids different backgrounds makes them not get along with one another.
         Once class period she decides to play the "line game" in which she asked a series of questions like: have you ever had a friend killed due to gang violence? She wanted to learn about the class, but she also wanted to show the class that everyone is facing the same problems as one another, race not being included. That same class period she gives every student a journal for them to write whatever they may be feeling, and to express themselves. She tells the students she doesn't have to read them if they don't feel comfortable and that if they want her to read them just to place their journal in a cabinet for her to read. She doesn't know if any of the students will turn in their journals, and they all end up turning them. As the year goes on the class goes on many field trips and starts to befriend one another and start to really trust Erin.
        Erin returns for her second year at teaching class 203 and they read the Diary of Anne Frank and it changes the lives of the students including Eva since she is supposed to testify and is planning on lying under oath. She decides not to lie and faces her former gang to possibly kill her, but they decide against it. Erin's marriage to her husband finally wears and tears and they end up getting a divorce and she faces not coming back to teach her in her third year at Wilson High. She fights to come back and eventually does, coming back for the kids junior and senior years.
       Erin kept the kids out of jail, kept them safe on the streets, and gave them a reason to live. The kids in the story were all from harsh backgrounds and had to do bad things just to live another day. Erin gave them hope. I realized no matter how hard the obstacle may be, you can never give up on something, or someone.
        

Response to article

http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=900178



This article doesn't give a lot of information about the "new ways" for people to become teachers but there are some things that cross my mind like: how easy will it for people to become licensed teachers in these "new ways"?, Is this an efficient enough way for people to become teachers, while other people are coming out of college with degrees in teaching? I guess there isn't enough information on this article for me to give a large enough response, but after reading this article I definately have a few questions that I would like to know the answers to.

Why do I want to become a teacher?

I want to become a special education teacher because ever since I was younger I have always had someone in my life who had special needs. Growing up my next door neighbor and close friend Marshall had autism, and I would play with him almost every day, I had to learn at a very young age about his condtition and how to communicate with him in ways that was easy for him to understand without his anger getting the best of him. In Junior High and throughout High School I developed a very good relationship with a boy named Eric. Eric has down syndrom and I had to understand that he has the developmental skills of someone much younger than he, so I had to talk to him in ways where he could understand. Ever since than I developed a interest in special education, and a few years ago I decided it is what I wanted to do when I'm older.