Expeditionary Learning Reflection

This concept sounds fantastic, although it sounds like it could be a lot of work at first to implement. In an ideal world we would like students to have intrinsic motivation oozing out of them; however, I think that is something that we need to build up to. I'm sure the two schools in Maine that have this system do a great job at it because they've had time to make it possible. Like anything, trial and error, and making adjustments makes success. I could certainly see myself incorporating this concept into my classroom because it does have many benefits of done correctly. However, I don't necessarily think I would be able to commit to basing my entire education practice on it unless I had a lot of practice.

As far as the presentation I thought it was wonderfully done. Each group member did a portion that flowed smoothly and with ease. I LOVED being able to get up and move around. Going outside was a blast and fit very nicely into the idea of expeditionary learning. The Haiku idea was also a lot of fun. I am, however, a little disappointed I didn't win the Kahoot. I probably should be better...

Nice job all around, bravo.

My Philosophy's Impact on my Classroom

My philosophy will impact my classroom in many different ways and make it very unique compared to other teachers. My philosophy on:

1) classroom organization is that the class should look fun, inviting, and safe. The desks might be arranged in a particular way one class and different the next. I think it is very important to have a lot on the walls (particularly mathematics based) to show students that there are so many ways to get interested in math. I want to make sure my room stays clean and organized as far as materials, and that there are places for students to drop of any papers that they need to hand into me.

2) motivation is for students to find something they enjoy and become motivated themselves to complete the material. I would love to do something along the lines of an interest inventory (probably more like a one-on-one interview) and find out what their hobbies and interests are. In addition, I will encourage them to consider how what we are studying can relate to their interests. If students are not motivated I believe that is partially my fault and I need to find a way to work with them to make adjustments for them.

3) content area is simple--I want there to be flexibility with what I'm teaching. In my unit on conic sections for math methods, I open every class with an interesting math topic. In particular, something that is not covered in the book or in the common core. Ideally this will open their eyes to see that there is so much more to mathematics than what might be stuck in their textbook they innately think is so stupid. As far as content is concerned, I don't always think it is appropriate to stick to the order of the book. If something feels like it should be taught earlier or later I will make the adjustment for the bettering of the unit.

4) assessment will be mostly formative. Especially now that we are moving more towards proficiency based learning in our schools, it will be important to get as many formative assessments about the students' knowledge as possible. This may come in the form of an entrance/exit ticket, quick writes, quick draws, etc... The more information I can get about my students' level the better. 

5) classroom climate is arguably one of the most important things in the classroom. If a student doesn't feel comfortable in the class there is a pretty good chance they will not learn as much as they should. My goal is to have a 100% positive 100% of the time attitude in my class. Hopefully it might carry into the rest of the school if students buy into it. I am one to have a lot of fun in the classroom and goof around. I often find that I go on tangents and talk, at times, about things that are unrelated to the content. While this could be detrimental to the lesson, I find that it gives students something to listen to that might eventually get their attention back on the lesson.

6) the learning focus is that it is on the student. If the student is not learning then there is a problem. I will not be a lecturer, although certainly I will provide plenty of direct instruction. Activities are something that are too often underused in mathematics classrooms, and I think if there is any sort of activity I can do that will get my students out of the textbook or out of their seats the better my lessons will be received. 

7) technology integration is that is is very important in this day and age with our students. However... I do believe that it can be forced at times, and many times the beauty of mathematics can be pushed to the side for a calculator or online cheat. There is a lot of value to the use of animations, digital graphics, videos, and online explorations that make learning concepts more attainable.

8) teacher and leadership style revolves around the fact that I am there to assist the students learn to the best of their ability. I do not see myself as an authoritative figure in the classroom--only a guider to help them reach their mathematical potential and most importantly feel confident in their work. As a teacher I am going to expect a lot out of my students but also be there to assist them when they need it. Nothing is necessarily set in stone as far as deadlines 'rules'; if a students talks to me and communicates most likely there will be some give and take.

Voices Article Reflection

This was an incredibly interesting article that captured so many different philosophies from a wide variety of popular historical figures. While I did not necessarily agree with every philosophy, there were certainly some that I sifted through and found particular pieces that fit my philosophy.

Confucius' main philosophy was that the teacher was merely a transmitter of knowledge. They inspired students with truths and great ideas. I believe that as an educator that is what I will be doing. While discovery is very important, I know there will be times when I will need to share the knowledge I know with my students to better their learning. On the other hand, Socrates believed that the teacher's role was to draw the knowledge out of the students. He believed in a unique concept of teacher-less education and that knowledge could not be transmitted from teacher to student, but that the students had to discover on their own. While I cannot fully agree with Socrates, I do like his idealistic approach to have students fully discover on their own--perhaps at one point. However, now I believe that a combination of direct instruction and independent concept development is important.

For the enlightenment educators, I liked that concepts that Pestalozzi brought to the table. His philosophy was based primarily around the whole student and their feelings and emotions. As educators we are most certainly not solely teaching our subject to students, rather we are teaching our students to also be healthy emotionally and have a stable head, heart, and body.

In the Twentieth-Century American Educators, Dewey's philosophy on teaching is one that I have experienced as a teacher and it is wonderful. At Upward Bound, every environment students are in they feel comfortable and it allows them to flourish. By creating a learning environment that allows students to have meaningful interactions with peers, students are able to even further their learning by having rich conversation about topics that they wouldn't otherwise discuss if they were not open to discussion.

I did not find a connection with every philosophy in this article; however, I do really like many of the concepts talked about and believe that I could develop, if I haven't already, around some of these philosophies to make me a better educator.

The History and Philosophy of Education--Voices of Educational Pioneers
By Madonna M. Murphy,

TEACH Video Reflection

I think this video has a lot of truth to it. While it might seem a little cheesy at parts, it certainly captures what the ideal teaching culture is and what it should be. The words influence, innovate, inspire and imagine are accurate descriptors of what we should be doing as teachers. The video was aimed at high school and college students who might be still deciding what they would like to do for a living. The video uses young teachers to seem like it is a field that a lot of younger people are going into to help boost the profession.

My philosophy is that if people are given more incentives to become teachers, there will be more competition in the field for hiring. Because there is more competition, better teachers will be selected and the education in the country will be enhanced. I believe that teaching is an incredibly rewarding profession; however, I don't believe that there people recognize the joy you get from teaching, and there aren't enough incentives to get those individuals to join the field.

http://www.takepart.com/teach

ELL/ESL Educational Issue

I really enjoyed the content that was covered in this presentation. It really brought about a lot of controversial issues that need to be/have been addressed in the field of ESL/ELL education. As far as the presentation is concerned, I really enjoyed the timeline that so nicely portrayed how the history has progresses with ESL/ELL. It was a great visual that helped me follow along easily. In addition, the Kahoot was a great activity that got me thinking about what it is really like to be a student who is in a class not having spoke the popular language of the class.

There is still a lot of headway to be made in the field of ESL/ELL because we still do not provide the appropriate resources for these students who make up such a good portion of our schools. While it is not necessarily a huge proportion of our schools, it is a large enough percentage that we need to focus more on it.

Great presentation!

Promising Futures Reflection

This text is basically the common core that teachers must know, where as the CCSS are what students must know. It seems like it has wonderful ideas for how to better equip students in Maine with a better education and make working conditions for teachers better and more feasible. I think it covers a lot of material that is involved with retaining students in high schools and making their time productive and fruitful in high school. I also believe that it helps to hold administrators accountable for providing professional development for teachers, and it states it will help to provide ample planning time for teachers to be prepared to teach. 

The only problem is how this will actually take effect and be enforced. This was published in 1998, and I am very curious to see how things have changed. In the book, it talks about how students should have an teacher that they can make very individualized connections with so that it will help them succeed in high school. Moreover that students will have someone to fall back on in the school that they can go see for help at any time. This is something that teachers should always be expressing and offering to their students, and it is something that I will certainly do when I am a teacher.

Overall I believe this text has a lot of rich ideas in it and I hope they were able to be put into effect. Many of them seem like they were given the situation of my high school experience; however, was it put into effect everywhere in the state?

Eight Educational Philosophies

Progressivism: This philosophy addresses the idea that changes happens. It is not set in stone, and as teachers we should giving our students freedom. It suggests that we should consider how to teach over what to teach, and that 'doing' in the classroom is very important (hands on approach). Progressivism hones in on the idea that discovery in the classroom is key, and it certainly sounds like one of the better of the ten philosophies. I definitely feel like I side with this one the most because of how we were taught in all of our education classes thus far.

Humanism: This one focuses on the multiple intelligences and that everyone learns differently. Individual growth is very important in this philosophy and there is a strong relationship between the student and the teacher to promote even further learning. It is centered around the fact that the person is good, and they are corrupted as they grow by the institutions. Certainly this one is very important in teaching, so I believe I side with this one as well. Having a strong relationship with students makes them more driven.

Reconstructivism: This philosophy focuses on tackling societal issues and helps students to learn how to build their own opinions and individual thoughts. We want to teach individuality and how to form opinions based on personal beliefs.

Constructivism: This idea is centered around the idea that everyone's background is different, and the regardless of people's opinions, it is important to always be reasonable when discussions about differing ideas. A main component of this philosophy is agreeing to disagree, and that you can't always change everyone's perspective on things.

Perennialism: This philosophy, I believe, is focused mostly around English, although there are some math components such as The Elements written by Euclid. Essentially, the classics are extremely important, and that everlasting ideas can be applied to any era.

Essentialism: The focus for essentialism is that there is core knowledge that is key. The curriculum is important, although it can change. In addition, a systematic approach to education and teaching is how it should be, and there is a certain discipline for learning that revolves around education.

Positivism: Observable and measurable facts are crucial for positivism, and it revolves around the idea of the scientific method. This approach is very structured and the teacher needs to define exactly how and what should be taught. Logic is used to get the desired answer.

Behaviorism: This philosophy is based on the idea of behavior and how to get the desired results we want from students. Strategies such as positive and negative reinforcement, conditioning, as well as proximity control can be used to get what we want from students. While I believe there is certainly a give and a take to this, I believe we should be using this approach with our students--but not to an extreme. Often we need our students to be productive, but if we do not let them know how we feel about their off-task behaviors it certainly won't stop. However, basing our lessons around the idea of conditioning our students may be a little extreme.