One thing I've come to realize this semester, is just how much being an active teacher is dependent upon one's overall involvement in the community, both inside of school and out. So with that thought in mind, here are some of the community experiences I've had this semester....
Field Trip To Arts High School on 11/29 (see previous blog)
Art Backpacks Program - Franklin Elementary School, Newark (3 visits)
This is a program that anyone who is an art education major at MSU gets involved with and consists of working with 4th graders at Franklin on projects they find contained in an "art packback". Literally, a plastic backpack, each one comes filled with informtion on one artist, suggested projects and some inexpensive art supplies.
Kids take a backpack home with them, work on projects for a week or two and then rotate them with other students. The idea is that all students will get acquainted with many artists throughout the course of the school year. The volunteers from MSU
meet with them at school, collect what they've done, start them on a new in-class activity, and restock the backpacks with fresh paper and supplies, if necessary.
While not exactly a real teaching opportunity, it does put one into the environment of an urban elementary school and provides expose to fourth graders learning about art.
Most memorable moment: In one instance, a girl complained that there was no pink poster paint. When I suggested that she mix it with red and white, she said-- "you mean you can make pink?" When I showed these children how to mix colors, they looked at me like I was some type of magician and they spent the rest of the time experimenting with mixing colors, mostly producing a lot of "mud". It was shocking to me that these fourth-graders were never told about mixing colors -- this is usually first or second-grade knowledge!
Volunteer Experience:
Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County, Teaneck, NJ
I have been a member of this organization for the past several years, and in that capacity sometimes serve as "usher" (collect money for charitable works) and other volunteer opportunities. This fall I also worked with the youngest Sunday School children to create a Fall/Winter craft which was an apple pomander (an apple you stick with cloves and roll in spices to become like a potpourri you can put in a drawer or a closet). Not exactly Habiitat for Humanity I know, but it was good experience for me as an art eduation student. I found that kids easily get bored and after the initial excitement, I ended up finishing the pomanders for most of these kids.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
Town Hall Meeting/Public Forum
Topic: Random Drug Testing
Northern Valley High School at Demarest
November 13, 2007
This meeting, which I attended as both a new town resident and parent of a freshman became both the inspiration and foundation of my inquiry project and presented arguments from both advocates and opponents of random drug testing.
Teacher Meeting
ARTS HIGH SCHOOL, NEWARK
November 29l, 2007
I'm sorry, I forgot what these meetings are called, but during my day at Arts got to attend a type of staff meeting that is held regularly. Staff is divided up into teams to discuss different topics for improving teaching skills. This one was about how to ask better, open-ended questions. It was interesting to see that even when you're a teacher, learning doesn't stop and you still need to attend regular meetings to improve or add to your skill base.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Friday, December 7, 2007
That's All Folks...
Well, here we are at the end of the trail, and the most stressful part of the journey for most of us.
It's now 11:30pm and I have spent most of the day simultaneously working on four differernt projects, in some kind of masochistic marathon. And yet, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and the taste on my tongue is one of satisfaction at having made it through.
As this will probably be my last posting, I just want to say how much I enjoyed being part of this class, my experience at Arts High School and reading some of your blogs.
These last few days have made me question my sanity at going back to college at my age, but as I am now one semester closer to becoming a teacher, my committment is renewed and I am really looking forward to a month of reading great books, painting, doing crosswords puzzles and socializing with friends that I haven't even had the time to e-mail lately.
Whatever turns you on, hope you have a great vacation.
It's now 11:30pm and I have spent most of the day simultaneously working on four differernt projects, in some kind of masochistic marathon. And yet, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and the taste on my tongue is one of satisfaction at having made it through.
As this will probably be my last posting, I just want to say how much I enjoyed being part of this class, my experience at Arts High School and reading some of your blogs.
These last few days have made me question my sanity at going back to college at my age, but as I am now one semester closer to becoming a teacher, my committment is renewed and I am really looking forward to a month of reading great books, painting, doing crosswords puzzles and socializing with friends that I haven't even had the time to e-mail lately.
Whatever turns you on, hope you have a great vacation.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Visit To Arts High School Brings Hope To This Would-Be Art Teacher
Well folks, yesterday was I fortunate to have the opportunity to spend the day with a teacher at Arts High School. In my case, the teacher was Margaret El of the art department.
In a word, Ms. El was "fabulous". (Interetingly, I recalled viewing her classroom during orientation and was hoping I would end up assigned to her. Sometimes the gods work in your favor...)
Anyway, the day began with a double-block session of Art IV, Seniors. This is the main subject course for those enrolled as art majors and I was lucky enough to observe a portfolio review class. (Apparently these seniors were preparing an art porfolio for AP art, for which if accepted, they receive college credit). Ms. El stood on a chair so she could see out over all the student work that had been laid out for review, one student at a time. With a knowledgeable eye, and a pointing finger, she skillfully called "in" or "out" to each piece to help the student put together the strongest portfolio possible, with all explanations clearly given. For some pieces, she suggested how to make them stronger. She was efficient and confident, and I was in awe of her capability. This was not such an easy task, for when you consider how talented these students are, even the pieces that were rejected were pretty great!
The next class I observed, ART I, was totally different. This group of Freshmen were having a multicultural art history lesson using a textbook. After they all went around the room reading aloud (not very strong readers I observed), Ms. El was careful to make connections for them about what they had read. In place of general notetaking, she had given each student a chart with categories such as "object" "who made it" "why" "vocabulary words", etc. and as they discussed the reading she had them fill in key terms on this chart that they would be working with until they finished the multicultural unit.
After this, I bought some lunch from the school cafeteria -- all I will say about this, is that now I know why my daughter never eats lunch at school! However, I brought my lunch back to Ms.El's room and enjoyed some very pleasant chit-chat with her.
After lunch, I attended what they call a PLC meeting with Ms. El and other members of her "team". Apparently teachers attend these "professional learning conferences" monthly and the agenda was about how to design open-ended questions to encourage more critical thinking from students. So "critical thinking" is something we will continue to hear about long after we leave Montclair!
The last class of the day was an "elective" studio art class where I observed students working on watercolor florals. This was a more informal, independent class where Ms. El simply walked around the room making comments and suggestions.
As an art ed major, I felt that I had gotten a really balanced view as I had the chance to observe a critique, a history lesson and a studio class -- all in one day! I really admired Ms. El's style. She was very focused on making learning connections for her students, always careful to point out how one thing was the result of another, or asking questions like, "what do you think would happen if this area was darker/lighter etc."
The kids in the first two classes were totally focused and well-behaved. At one point in the last class (open studio), the talk started going in a direction she did not like and I was surprised at how stern she could be, but Ii have to admit that her reprimand gained control instantly.
In summation, I was very grateful to have this opportunity and it reinforces my good opinion about the quality of the training we are receving at Montclair. I was also thankful to see a successful classroom in action, because a lot of people have been scaring me lately with teaching horror stories and while I am sure there are a lot of them out there, I need to stay focused on the positive aspects of teaching to succeed.
In a word, Ms. El was "fabulous". (Interetingly, I recalled viewing her classroom during orientation and was hoping I would end up assigned to her. Sometimes the gods work in your favor...)
Anyway, the day began with a double-block session of Art IV, Seniors. This is the main subject course for those enrolled as art majors and I was lucky enough to observe a portfolio review class. (Apparently these seniors were preparing an art porfolio for AP art, for which if accepted, they receive college credit). Ms. El stood on a chair so she could see out over all the student work that had been laid out for review, one student at a time. With a knowledgeable eye, and a pointing finger, she skillfully called "in" or "out" to each piece to help the student put together the strongest portfolio possible, with all explanations clearly given. For some pieces, she suggested how to make them stronger. She was efficient and confident, and I was in awe of her capability. This was not such an easy task, for when you consider how talented these students are, even the pieces that were rejected were pretty great!
The next class I observed, ART I, was totally different. This group of Freshmen were having a multicultural art history lesson using a textbook. After they all went around the room reading aloud (not very strong readers I observed), Ms. El was careful to make connections for them about what they had read. In place of general notetaking, she had given each student a chart with categories such as "object" "who made it" "why" "vocabulary words", etc. and as they discussed the reading she had them fill in key terms on this chart that they would be working with until they finished the multicultural unit.
After this, I bought some lunch from the school cafeteria -- all I will say about this, is that now I know why my daughter never eats lunch at school! However, I brought my lunch back to Ms.El's room and enjoyed some very pleasant chit-chat with her.
After lunch, I attended what they call a PLC meeting with Ms. El and other members of her "team". Apparently teachers attend these "professional learning conferences" monthly and the agenda was about how to design open-ended questions to encourage more critical thinking from students. So "critical thinking" is something we will continue to hear about long after we leave Montclair!
The last class of the day was an "elective" studio art class where I observed students working on watercolor florals. This was a more informal, independent class where Ms. El simply walked around the room making comments and suggestions.
As an art ed major, I felt that I had gotten a really balanced view as I had the chance to observe a critique, a history lesson and a studio class -- all in one day! I really admired Ms. El's style. She was very focused on making learning connections for her students, always careful to point out how one thing was the result of another, or asking questions like, "what do you think would happen if this area was darker/lighter etc."
The kids in the first two classes were totally focused and well-behaved. At one point in the last class (open studio), the talk started going in a direction she did not like and I was surprised at how stern she could be, but Ii have to admit that her reprimand gained control instantly.
In summation, I was very grateful to have this opportunity and it reinforces my good opinion about the quality of the training we are receving at Montclair. I was also thankful to see a successful classroom in action, because a lot of people have been scaring me lately with teaching horror stories and while I am sure there are a lot of them out there, I need to stay focused on the positive aspects of teaching to succeed.
Friday, November 16, 2007
My War On The War On Drugs
This past Tuesday night, I had the "privilege" to attend a town hall meeting where I live (Bergen County NJ) to hear various "experts" give their opinions on the merits and pitfalls of random drug testing in our high schools -- specifically whether or not to institute this policy in the high school which my 14-year is attending. I refer to this as a privilege, because apparently in our country we still maintain the right to voice our opinions on important issues such as this one, although ultimately, I suspect that the school district will do what the school district will do.
The fact that we have this right is no small thing, as slowly but surely the Republican agenda is chipping away at our civil liberties, and random drug testing is just one more example.
I would love to go into all the specifics of the meeting, who spoke, what was discussed, but I have too many projects going on right now to go into the length that I would like, but suffice it to say, that I am totally against drug testing of high school students for several important reasons, the primary one being that it is the last time I checked, it is the role of the school to EDUCATE students not police them. While offering drug awarenes courses such as D.A.R.E. etc, may be considered educational, random drug testing does not fall into this category and in my opinion it is just "McCarthy-ism" in a new disguise -- this time "saving our children from themselves." During the fifties everyone was a suspected Communist -- now every high school student is a suspected drug-user much the same way every Muslim person is a "suspected" terrorist. It is amazing how this same pyschology plays itself out in our country over and over -- paranoia strikes again!
Needless to say, I have made the committment to changing my inquiry topic (originally "why so many new teachers leave the profession) as this drug-testing thing has really pushed my buttons both as a moral issue and on a personal level since this is happening in my town. Therefore my new inquiry question shall be:
"Random Drug Testing & Democracy .... Can They Co-Exist?" (It is interesting to note that with all the emphasis on "democracy" we get in our courses, that people in school administration would even consider something like this!)
By the way... if I wasn't pissed enough about this, I found out at the meeting that NCLB actually funds schools to do random drug testing! How outrageous is that!!!!
Stay tuned for the next rant, coming your way when I come up for air. (These last few weeks of the semester are always killer, aren't they?)
The fact that we have this right is no small thing, as slowly but surely the Republican agenda is chipping away at our civil liberties, and random drug testing is just one more example.
I would love to go into all the specifics of the meeting, who spoke, what was discussed, but I have too many projects going on right now to go into the length that I would like, but suffice it to say, that I am totally against drug testing of high school students for several important reasons, the primary one being that it is the last time I checked, it is the role of the school to EDUCATE students not police them. While offering drug awarenes courses such as D.A.R.E. etc, may be considered educational, random drug testing does not fall into this category and in my opinion it is just "McCarthy-ism" in a new disguise -- this time "saving our children from themselves." During the fifties everyone was a suspected Communist -- now every high school student is a suspected drug-user much the same way every Muslim person is a "suspected" terrorist. It is amazing how this same pyschology plays itself out in our country over and over -- paranoia strikes again!
Needless to say, I have made the committment to changing my inquiry topic (originally "why so many new teachers leave the profession) as this drug-testing thing has really pushed my buttons both as a moral issue and on a personal level since this is happening in my town. Therefore my new inquiry question shall be:
"Random Drug Testing & Democracy .... Can They Co-Exist?" (It is interesting to note that with all the emphasis on "democracy" we get in our courses, that people in school administration would even consider something like this!)
By the way... if I wasn't pissed enough about this, I found out at the meeting that NCLB actually funds schools to do random drug testing! How outrageous is that!!!!
Stay tuned for the next rant, coming your way when I come up for air. (These last few weeks of the semester are always killer, aren't they?)
Sunday, November 11, 2007
NCLB: Are Test Scores A Good Measure Of Education's Worth?
Just spent some time browsing the Dept. of Education's website and was pretty impressed by the amount of useful content. No matter which of the site's categories you fall into -- parent, student, teacher or administrator, you are sure to find something of value. I know I plan to revisit the site to find information on the college admissions process next year when my daughter is a high school sophmore. Additionally, I found a lot of information on the "first year of teaching",including readings that may be helfpful for my inquiry project. Also of interest to us future teachers were articles and links about where to look for teaching opportunities in your local area. In short, I am confident that we will all be visiting this site again during our time at Montclair and probably afterwards as well.
Regarding NCLB, I learned about this in some depth in my Educational Psychology class last year, but it was good to refresh my memory. I read through President Bush's speech (Sept 2007) about "reauthorizing" this act. I also looked at a brochure written in plain language, explaining NCLB to parents. One question that kept coming up is why the word "reauthorize?" In other words why do we have to reinstate something that is already instated? Perhaps they mean reAUTHORize as in "rewrite". I looked at some of the points from the President's speech and they do not seem to be new ones though, just rehasing of what has already been included.
Anyway, I realize that while data is easily manipulated, it appears that by the government's statistics, the program is really working. (Can something that Bush initiated really be working?!) To hear educators complain about it, NCLB may not be the jewel it appears to be, but I think it is a policy with good, but perhaps not realistic intentions.
Two points here that I would like to raise -- the first one is that we need to remember that the statistics only measure what the policy administrators want to measure in this case, grade level competency in language arts and math. However they don't ask, if kids or teachers feel they are missing out in other areas such as art and music. They also can't measure how much all the testing is stressing out teachers and kids or what they are learning about becoming global citizens. The point here is, there is more to a quality education than good scores in math and English, yet I think that some standards of "accountability" are a step in the right direction.
The second point is that I feel that society-at-large sometimes holds our educational system responsbile for curing all the ills in our society. (Sometimes I think what we really need is a policy to hold parents "accountable" for making sure that their children are going to school, doing their homework, etc.This doesn't just apply to the low income population, I have seen many parents of means who are too self-involved to pay attention to what is going on with their kids).
While raising standards can result in an improved quality of education, it doesn't necessarily follow that more kids from low income schools will be motivated to stay in school or to go on to college. They may have better test scores, but they are still subject to all the forces outside of school - gangs, pregnancy, having to help support the family, drugs,etc. I would like to see some type of legislation put into place that would motivate/reward those students who graduate and give them incentive to go further with their schooling.
Regarding NCLB, I learned about this in some depth in my Educational Psychology class last year, but it was good to refresh my memory. I read through President Bush's speech (Sept 2007) about "reauthorizing" this act. I also looked at a brochure written in plain language, explaining NCLB to parents. One question that kept coming up is why the word "reauthorize?" In other words why do we have to reinstate something that is already instated? Perhaps they mean reAUTHORize as in "rewrite". I looked at some of the points from the President's speech and they do not seem to be new ones though, just rehasing of what has already been included.
Anyway, I realize that while data is easily manipulated, it appears that by the government's statistics, the program is really working. (Can something that Bush initiated really be working?!) To hear educators complain about it, NCLB may not be the jewel it appears to be, but I think it is a policy with good, but perhaps not realistic intentions.
Two points here that I would like to raise -- the first one is that we need to remember that the statistics only measure what the policy administrators want to measure in this case, grade level competency in language arts and math. However they don't ask, if kids or teachers feel they are missing out in other areas such as art and music. They also can't measure how much all the testing is stressing out teachers and kids or what they are learning about becoming global citizens. The point here is, there is more to a quality education than good scores in math and English, yet I think that some standards of "accountability" are a step in the right direction.
The second point is that I feel that society-at-large sometimes holds our educational system responsbile for curing all the ills in our society. (Sometimes I think what we really need is a policy to hold parents "accountable" for making sure that their children are going to school, doing their homework, etc.This doesn't just apply to the low income population, I have seen many parents of means who are too self-involved to pay attention to what is going on with their kids).
While raising standards can result in an improved quality of education, it doesn't necessarily follow that more kids from low income schools will be motivated to stay in school or to go on to college. They may have better test scores, but they are still subject to all the forces outside of school - gangs, pregnancy, having to help support the family, drugs,etc. I would like to see some type of legislation put into place that would motivate/reward those students who graduate and give them incentive to go further with their schooling.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
What do inquiring minds want to know?
I have been torturing myself for almost two weeks now thinking about the inquiry project. I keep waiting for inspiration to strike in the form of the "big question", but it hasn't, so here I sit with my big question being what my question should be.
Okay enough procrastination already. Sometimes we can't afford to wait for inspiration and just have to plunge ahead without it, so here goes.
I keep coming back to the first reading we did, "The Education Primer" and I recall how surprised I was at the statistic about how many new teachers drop out in the first three to five years. I just rechecked the article and it was 33% (first three years), 46% (first five years).
At the time of reading, I remember being disappointed that the statistics did not go on to cite any reasons for this. I remember wondering if teaching was truly that bad. Were the teachers leaving because the kids were so awful that they went screaming and running from the classroom? Was it because they were frustrated with school administration? Parents? Lousy pay? It didn't say, but I remember feeling afraid when I read this and questioning my career choice.
Therefore, I think I would like to pursue this issue, making my inquiry question "why are so many new teachers leaving the field?" or "what's goes wrong in the first three years?" or something of this nature.
To collect data, I plan to look for articles and statistics as well as inquire from those in the profession as to the challenges facing new teachers Perhaps some of these answers will be observable in field work as well.
I have a feeling that a discussion of all the possible reasons should provide enough fodder for a project of this scope.
Let me know what you think. Thanks, people.
Okay enough procrastination already. Sometimes we can't afford to wait for inspiration and just have to plunge ahead without it, so here goes.
I keep coming back to the first reading we did, "The Education Primer" and I recall how surprised I was at the statistic about how many new teachers drop out in the first three to five years. I just rechecked the article and it was 33% (first three years), 46% (first five years).
At the time of reading, I remember being disappointed that the statistics did not go on to cite any reasons for this. I remember wondering if teaching was truly that bad. Were the teachers leaving because the kids were so awful that they went screaming and running from the classroom? Was it because they were frustrated with school administration? Parents? Lousy pay? It didn't say, but I remember feeling afraid when I read this and questioning my career choice.
Therefore, I think I would like to pursue this issue, making my inquiry question "why are so many new teachers leaving the field?" or "what's goes wrong in the first three years?" or something of this nature.
To collect data, I plan to look for articles and statistics as well as inquire from those in the profession as to the challenges facing new teachers Perhaps some of these answers will be observable in field work as well.
I have a feeling that a discussion of all the possible reasons should provide enough fodder for a project of this scope.
Let me know what you think. Thanks, people.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Positive Reinforcement, Anyone?
Yesterday, I had a sort of depressing experience and I just wanted to vent.
Every Tuesday night, immediately following our class, I look forward to my weekly painting class. This class has a mixture of undergraduate students and graduate students including several public school art teachers, my chosen career area.
Well, last night I am painting and chilling out when one of the women starts talking about how much she hates being an art teacher, and how it is the worst career on earth. I jokingly said something like, "hey, watch what you're saying, you have a future art teacher, here".
She then went on to try to persuade me that I should think about doing something else. I asked her if the problem is the students or the administration and she said, "both".
She told me how the students were rude and fresh and didn't want to learn anything.
Then she told me how one boy was making references to another teacher in the school about oral sex. I asked her how old her students were, and she said K-4h grade!
She said that every day she could only pray to make it through that day. She said she would quit but needed the money and the benefits.
She told me that she was sorry, and didn't intend to be mean by telling me these things, but thought that a lot of people choose teachng art because they think it will be rewarding and fun, but she thought that we needed to go into "the mine field" with our eyes open.
This woman says that the elementary school she works in is in Roselle Park, NJ, a place I have never heard of and have no preconceived notions of.
This bit of conversation both frightened and depressed me and I don't know how to process it.
Feedback, anyone?
Thanks!
Every Tuesday night, immediately following our class, I look forward to my weekly painting class. This class has a mixture of undergraduate students and graduate students including several public school art teachers, my chosen career area.
Well, last night I am painting and chilling out when one of the women starts talking about how much she hates being an art teacher, and how it is the worst career on earth. I jokingly said something like, "hey, watch what you're saying, you have a future art teacher, here".
She then went on to try to persuade me that I should think about doing something else. I asked her if the problem is the students or the administration and she said, "both".
She told me how the students were rude and fresh and didn't want to learn anything.
Then she told me how one boy was making references to another teacher in the school about oral sex. I asked her how old her students were, and she said K-4h grade!
She said that every day she could only pray to make it through that day. She said she would quit but needed the money and the benefits.
She told me that she was sorry, and didn't intend to be mean by telling me these things, but thought that a lot of people choose teachng art because they think it will be rewarding and fun, but she thought that we needed to go into "the mine field" with our eyes open.
This woman says that the elementary school she works in is in Roselle Park, NJ, a place I have never heard of and have no preconceived notions of.
This bit of conversation both frightened and depressed me and I don't know how to process it.
Feedback, anyone?
Thanks!
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