Week Five: Continuous Improvement Techniques

As teachers, how do we make sure our students are not only able to pass a test on the subjects we teach them but are able to gain knowledge in the subject to use later on in their lives? In this weeks readings Classroom Assessment and Grading to Assure Mastery by James P. Lalley and J. Ronald Gentile and Backward Design by Amy Childre, Jennifer R. Sands, and Saundra Tanner Pope I was able to gain an understanding of how to educate our student’s not just for my own class but also for classes they will have in the future.

In article 26 Classroom Assessment and Grading to Assure Master I was able to read and develop a better understanding of teaching for mastery.  I have heard of this type of teaching before but have never had an opportunity to see it done. It makes me happy to read that people understand that our students are going to forget the information that we teach them.  Teachers throw a great deal of information at their student’s everyday and expect them to remember it all.  Let’s be honest, this is impossible for most.   I remember too many times my teachers becoming frustrated with my classes because we couldn’t remember something we learned the year before. Was the reason we couldn’t remember the information our fault or was it the fault of our pervious teachers?

I think most students are not given the opportunity to master information.  “Learners who do not achieve mastery in the initial phase of learning show none of these benefits.  Instead, they show considerable forgetting within hours or days, little (if any) savings in relearning and no overlearning (by definition), because practice makes perfect only if the practice is essentially correct” (Lalley & Gentile, 2009, p. 122).  I believe there is not enough time for teachers to allow their students to master their work.  Teachers are forced to rush their lessons in order to fit all the material into the school year.  I understand we want our students to gain the most knowledge that they can from their time in school but if we are rushing the process are they really gaining any knowledge?

Allowing students to master information also allows for all of your students to work together.  All of our students learn, understand and process information at a different rate. “The faster students are doing enrichment projects, including helping the slower ones, because they would never be permitted to settle for the lowest passing grade in the course” (Lalley & Gentile, 2009, p. 125).  This gives your students the chance to help each other learn and take pride in their education.

I believe developing a teaching style that focuses on teaching for mastery with the utilization of backward design would be the ideal way to ensure your students understanding of their studies.  While reading Backward Design: Targeting Depth of Understanding for All Learners I was fascinated by this style of teaching.  I have never heard of this style of teaching before, however after reading the article I can see the advantages of such a technique of teaching the youth.  “Curriculum design is at the center of developing students ability to construct understanding.  Without appropriately designed curriculum, instruction can be ineffective at scaffolding understanding” (Childre, Sands & Pope, 2009,p. 127). 

“Teacher understanding of the difference between students knowledge and student understanding is critical to implementing a backward design approach” (Childre, Sands & Pope, 2009,p. 128).  I enjoyed how this article laid out the steps to follow in order to develop this type of teaching in your classroom.  These steps include identifying learners, Identifying curriculum priorities, designing assessment framework and finally creating learning activities.  This type of teaching does not seem easy, however the results seem well worth the effort. 

The step that stood out to me, as the most important was step one; identifying learners.  I believe this is the most important part of any teacher’s job.  We cannot educate our students if we do not know what type of learners they are.  This would be a great time to use the Keirsey Temperament Test in order to determine the types of personalities in your classroom.  Teachers must take a great deal into account when planning their lessons in order to reach all of their students.  If this step is over looked or not taken seriously it can throw off the rest of the planning for your lessons. 

Developing the perfect way to teach your class is impossible.  Some students are going to fight you, some will never get the information and some will exceed with flying colors.  It is up to us, the teachers, to develop a plan that will allow all of our students the chance to understand what they are learning.  It is also up to us show our students the importance of their education.  If we prepare them for the future they will have a greater chance of success.                 

Reference

Cauley, K.M., & Pannozzo, G.M. (Eds.). (2013). Annual Editions: Educational  Psychology 12/13 (27^th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. 

Childre, A., Sands, J.R., & Pope, S.T. (2009). Backward Design: Targeting Depth of Understanding for All Learners, p. 6-14.

Lalley, J.P., & Gentile J. R. (2009). Classroom Assessment and Grading to Assure Mastery, p. 28-35

Links:

http://www.huffenglish.com/?p=352 (backward Design)

http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/planning-a-class-with-backward-design/33625 (planning)

http://www.education.com/reference/article/mastery-learning/ (Mastery Learning)

http://www.lauracandler.com/strategies/masterylearning.php (Mastry Learning)

Week Four: The Impact of Technology on Students and the Educational System

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For this weeks blog I want to talk about the impact technology has had on students as well as on the educational system.  In our text Educational Psychology I read four articles that took a deep look into technology in schools and what teachers need to be doing in order to prepare themselves and their students to use and understand technology.             

Schools are faced with a great deal of problems associated with technology.  These problems can lead to some schools fearing technology and trying to push the growing trend away.  Technology is all around us, pushing it away only hurts those involved.  Schools, teachers, parents and students need to understand the importance of learning new technologies and using them in the correct way.  Everyone needs to work together to learn the new trends and perfect the old ones.

In article 33, What Is Technology Education? A Review of the “Official Curriculum””, Ryan A. Brown and Joshua W. Brown talk about technology education and the goals of such programs in schools.  “The stated goal of technology education is to “produce students with a more conceptual understanding for technology and its place in society, who can thus grasp and evaluate new bits of technology that they might never have seen before” (ITEA 2000, 4) (Brown & Brown, 2010, p. 170).  Living in the 21^st century it is just as important that our students learn how to use technology as it is for them to learn how to read.  Pretty soon schools will no longer have textbooks or libraries, everything will be done online.  If we, as teachers, do not take the time to help our students learn different types of technology we are only hurting their futures.  Students will be left behind in the working world because of their lack of knowledge of different technologies.

The best way for students to understand and learn different types of technology is practice. “Many of the references to teaching technology education revolve around the idea of student engagement” (Brown & Brown, 2010, p. 172).  Let students try new technologies.   We learn to read by reading, we learn to write by writing.  Students need to learn technology by using technology.

Like I said before, our students learn by doing and practicing.  We cannot expect them to understand a concept by just speaking about the concept briefly.  Article 34, “Plagiarism in the Internet Age”, by Rebecca Moore Howard and Laura J. Davies explains the importance of teaching our students how to avoid plagiarizing and not just telling them what will happen to them if they do plagiarize. 

“Teachers who wish to prevent plagiarism should devote extensive instruction to the component tasks of writing from sources” (Howard & Davies, 2009, p. 175).  While in school I remember every year getting the plagiarism speech and signing a piece of paper stating that I would not plagiarize any of my work.  That was it; nothing else was done in order to help me not plagiarize my work.  From the time I can remember writing my first paper I have been afraid I am plagiarizing in my papers, not because I am copying someone else work but because I am citing information in the wrong way.  This is something our students shouldn’t have to be worrying about.  They need proper education on how to use information, research topics and cite online sources.  The wealth of information online should not be taken away from our students because teachers are unwilling, or too lazy to teach a proper lesson on plagiarism. 

Article 35, Transforming Education with Technology: A Conversation with Karen Cator by Marge Scherer, takes an inside look at an interview with the director of the office of educational technology, Karen Cator.  The article spoke about a bunch of different items like schools Karen had been to that showed great use of technology, technology access in schools and inequalities in the classroom.  The items I found most interesting and important for teachers, students and classrooms were student’s engagements in a technology-rich school and teaching veteran teachers about new technologies.

“Engagement isn’t a focus on entertainment; it’s about brain activity.  Is each student’s brain fully engaged?” (Scherer, 2011, p. 178).  Students need to be interested in what they are learning in order to be engaged in learning.  “With technology, it’s easier to allow for student choice, for meeting interests, for ensuring that assignments are at an appropriate level, and for allowing prior experience and language support learning” (Scherer, 2011, 178).  While substituting this year I was able to see a number of online technology based activities teachers used in order to engage, assess and monitor their student’s progress in class.  One example in particular was an 8^th grade special education math class.  These students had online homework, quizzes and assignments that needed to be completed each week.  The students loved this online work.  It was fun, interactive and allowed them to play on the computer, which is what they seemed to enjoy doing.  This program also allowed for the teacher, parents and students to access the work to see what the students needed help on.

 In order to engage students with new and exciting technologies, teachers must be up to date with the latest and greatest technologies.  I believe keeping all teachers on the same technology page is one of the hardest parts of using technology in our schools.  My dad is a retired teacher of 35 years.  At the end of his career, which is about 4 years ago, Technology began to creep more and more into his classroom and he was scared.  He would come home everyday frustrated, mad or upset by the new technology around him.  He felt helpless and lost.  Teachers need to work together to help each other learn these new technologies.  Teachers are able to bring so many great resources to their fellow teachers if they take the time to collaborate with one another.

The final article Assessing Middle School Students’ Knowledge of Conduct and Consequences and Their Behaviors Regarding the Use of Social Networking Sites by Stacey L. Kite, Robert Gable, and Lawrence Filippelli is an article I think all educators should have to read in this day in age.  “Cyberbullying threats of predation through social networking sites and instant messaging programs have created numerous problems for parents, school administrators, and law enforcement on a national level (McKenna 2007, 60)” (Kite, Gable & Filippelli, 2010, p. 181). 

The Internet is a scary place where people can hide behind their computer screens and lash out at other or lure others into inappropriate relationships.  The youth needs to be more aware of how to handle themselves online to stay safe.  Administration, teachers and parents should be working together to fight to keep our youth safe on the Internet.   

 

”With the schoolyard bully both the bully and the victim can read each other’s social cues, such as body posture, speaking volume, facial expressions, and level of engagement.  Cyberbullying removes all of the social cues that are learned through face-to-face interactions, and the bully and victim are left with caustic words being exchanged without any other interaction” (Kite, Gable & Filippelli, 2010, p. 181). During my internship I had a few students who were being bullied online and were bullying online.  This was a new issue to me; five years ago when I was in high school students were only beginning to start their obsession with the Internet.  It was scary to hear that my quietist students were bullying others online daily.  It made sense though, these students were pushovers during the school day but were able to go home and say their true feelings while in the safety of their own home.  Before the teachers knew it we were breaking up fights in the cafeteria and on the bus from what students where saying about each other online.  The school did their best to get to the bottom of the issues but I know and heard from talking in the hallway that the cyberbullying was still going on.

As scary as cyberbullying was to deal with the risk of Internet predators is even more of an issue students need to be made aware of. “Only 40 percent of students indicted that they would tell an adult if they were contacted on the instant messenger by someone they did not know (item 20)” (Kite, Gable & Filippelli, 2010, p. 183).  This number is far to low.  Parents and teachers need to be aware of what students are doing while online.  Clearly students aren’t going to tell anyone what they are doing online, which means it is time to start asking!  There is nothing wrong with asking students about what is going on in their online world.  They need to know the danger and intent of what some people are doing online.  If we make students aware of the bad people online and let them know they can come to us when something doesn’t seem right we can begin to protect our youth from online danger.

Keeping our youth offline in fear of what is out there is not the right way to treat the situation.  The Internet and technology are amazing parts of our world.  Teachers, parents and schools need to join together to teach our students the proper way to use technology and the Internet so that they can grow up and make more advancement to the ever-growing world of technology.

Reference

Brown, R.A & Brown, J.W. (2010) What Is Technology Education? A Review of the “Official Curriculum”, pages 49-53.

Cauley, K.M., & Pannozzo, G.M. (Eds.). (2013). Annual Editions: Educational Psychology 12/13 (27^th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. 

Howard, R.M. & Davies, L.J. (2009). Plagiarism in the Internet Age, pages 64-67.

Kite, S.L., Gable, R. & Filippelli, L. (2010). Assessing Middle School Students’ Knowledge of Conduct and Consequences and Their Behaviors Regarding the Use of Social Networking Sites, pages 158-163.

Scherer, M. (2011). Transforming Education with Technology, pages 17-21.

Links

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/01/ (Plagiarism)

 http://www.technology-education.net/ (Technology Education)

http://712educators.about.com/cs/technology/a/integratetech.htm (technology in the classroom)

http://712educators.about.com/cs/technology/a/integratetech.htm (Technology in the classroom)

http://www.ncpc.org/cyberbullying (Cyberbullying)

Week Three: Creating Effective Learning Environments for Diverse Learners

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For this weeks blog I would like to look at the articles in Part C of Unit 3 dealing with diversity.  I believe that all students learn in different ways and it is up to the teachers to allow the opportunity for students to learn to their best abilities.  After this weeks assignments dealing with different theorists I have come to know and understand Howard Gardner’s theory on multiple intelligences and finds it relates to diverse learners a great deal.

Howard Gardner believes that everyone learns, thinks and understands information in a different way and that no one way is the correct way to learn or think.  He believes there are eight different kinds of intelligence; visual-spatial, linguistic, mathematical, kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal and naturalistic.  The articles, Improving Schooling for Cultural Minorities: The Right Teaching Styles Can Make a Big Difference, The Myth of PINK & BLUE Brains, and Gender Matters in Elementary Education are prime examples of how students with different background, cultures, up bringing and gender learn in different ways.

“One reason minority students are likely to encounter more problems in schools than mainstream students involve incomplete knowledge of minority students’ learning and communication styles” (Morgan, 2010, p. 93).   In article 21, Improving Schooling for Cultural Minorities: The Right Teaching Style Can Make a Big Difference by Hani Morgan, I read about how students from different cultures are taught to act in different ways to authority and peers.  Without the knowledge of these different cultural norms teachers could end up causing distress and poor relationships among their students and student’s parents.

It is impossible for teachers to learn all the norms of each of their students but it is almost impractical to ignore them as well. “Teachers may believe that treating all students the same way avoids discriminating against any group, but that practice in itself is discriminatory (Banks 2006; Gollnick and Chinn 2009)” (Morgan, 2010, p. 94).  Teachers need to make the effort to learn about their students, ask questions about their home lives and understand them more.  In the video “Valuing Diversity in learners” One teacher spoke about how at the start of the school year she sent home a questionnaire for her student’s parents and students.  She was able to gather information about the student’s home life, parents, likes and dislikes. 

This type of early interaction with your students and the parents of your students allows for you, as a teacher to better understand what kind of learning your student can benefit from the most.  “African American and Latino students, for example, tend to improve academically with cooperative learning methods of teaching (Aronson and Gonzales 1988)” however on the other hand, “Anglo-American students, who tend to be field-independent, prefer to work alone (Banks 2006)” (Morgan, 2010, p. 94).  This type of information should be taken into account when planning lessons for your students.  Your lessons should be planned with your students interest in mind not just to get the information out.   

 

As well as cultural diversity playing a part on planning lessons for a classroom, gender is also an issue that must be addressed when it comes to effective learning environments.  The articles The Myth of PINK & BLUE Brains by Lise Eliot and Gender Matters in Elementary Education by Virginia Bonomo shows how much of a role our gender plays in our education and how we develop as learners. 

Why are girls better at reading? Why are boys better at math?  Does it have to do with the size of our brains, the time it takes us to develop, or the toy our mom handed us when we are two years old?  “When it comes to gender gaps, boys and girls start out a little bit different, but these differences become rapidly magnified by a culture that sees them- and encourages them to see themselves-as fundamentally different creatures” (Eliot, 2010, p. 97). 

Starting when we are two years old we being to remember the toys we are given to play with.  Girls are instructed to play with dolls and to create make believe houses.  Boys are given baseballs to throw, trucks to dig with and told to play outside.  Is it any wonder that girls love to talk and boys love to watch baseball?  These are the roles our society has laid out for us from the time we are wrapped in a pink or blue blanket the second we are born.  Teachers need to understand these aspects about gender and embrace them in their teachings.

Boys will tend to be kinesthetic learners.  “Keep a close eye on boys, but let them play.  Without physical outlet, their aggressiveness will show up elsewhere inappropriately.  Thus, provide large spaces for boys when possible.  Girls, on the other hand will tend to be Interpersonal learners.  “Girls work well in groups when they are facing one another or the teacher.  Find activities that allow them to help the teacher” (Bonomo, 2010, p.103).  Although these are the general ideas of how boys and girls are different it is not always the case.  Some girls may have grown up in a house of all brothers and may make her a kinesthetic learner, while a boy might have a grown up with only his mother in the house and he is a linguistic learner.  This is why all teachers must take the time to learn about their students and understand that one type of learning will never meet all the needs of each student.  

 

Reference

Bonomo, V. (2010) Gender Matters in Elementary Education, Page 247-264.

Cauley, K.M., & Pannozzo, G.M. (Eds.). (2013). Annual Editions: Educational Psychology 12/13 (27^th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. 

Eliot, L. (2010) The Myth of PINK & BLUE Brains, pages 32-36.

Morgan, H. (2010) Improving Schooling for Cultural Minorities: The Right Teaching Style Can Make a Big Difference, page 114-120.

  

Links:

http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/mi/index_sub4.html (Multiple Intelligences)

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=girl-brain-boy-brain (Blue Vs. Pink Brain)

http://www.tolerance.org/supplement/culture-classroom

(Culture)

http://www.glencoe.com/sec/teachingtoday/weeklytips.phtml/230 (Culture)

Week Two: The influence of human development on psychology of education

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For this weeks blog I would like to compare and contrast the readings within the unit.  The articles I will be writing about include It’s All in the Game, Why We Should Not Cut P.E, Adolescent Decision Making, Peer Contexts for Lesbian, Gay Bisexual, and Transgender Students, What Educators Need to Know about Bullying Behaviors, and The Bridge to Character from our text Educational Psychology.  This weeks readings are extremely eye opening and insightful for all educators.  The ideas, issues, and concepts brought up in the week’s readings are particularly relevant at this time in schools everywhere.  These ideas, issues and concepts need to be brought to more administrators, teachers, parents and students attentions in order to better our schools and make for a more positive, effective learning environment for all.        

In the first article It’s All in the Game by Kathleen M. Collins et al. we meet a first grade teacher who is trying to get her students to foster communication and social skills while still meeting state standards.  Kris, the first grade teacher, came up with an idea to develop a board game in which the children are responsible for all aspects of the game.  Kris and her students spent time learning about board games and then created their own board game for the lesson.  The students were able to pick their own involvement and roles in making the board game.  Some students wanted to draw and others wanted to make the pieces for the game.  This time also allowed for students to interact and develop their own communication with each other.  (Collins et al., 2011, 27-29). 

This article was a breath of fresh air to read.  It was incredible to see a teacher taking action for her students and wanting to do her best to educate them to the fullest.  Kris saw the issues within her classroom and instead of sitting back and letting her students struggle she decided she would take action.  This lesson was no easy task and was new for Kris as a teacher.  Instead of being afraid of the new idea she in braced the new concepts and jumped into the lesson and ideas with both feet. 

The second article Why We Should Not Cut P.E. by Stewart G. Trost and Hans Van Der Mars, is especially important to me because I am a physical education teacher.  The article asks if time spent in gym class, as well as other classes like music and art, lowers test scores. “No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has contributed to this trend.  By linking federal funding to schools’ adequate yearly progress in reading and mathematics, NCLB has created an environment in which such classes as physical education, music, and art are viewed as nonessential and secondary to the academic mission of the school” (Trost & Van Der Mars, 2010, p. 31).  This article gave me a huge relief, showing that when students are physically active throughout the day they are not losing ground on their learning and in some cases are able to learn and understand information better.  “Physically active, fit youth are more likely to have better grades and test scores than their inactive counterparts” (Trost & Van Der Mars, 2010, p. 32).  

 During my undergrad I had to develop a thesis idea for one of my final projects before graduation.  My idea was to test how physically active students were able to concentrate and perform better during class time then students who were not active throughout the day.  Although I did not have to test my thesis I decided to do a mini test on some of my students with the help from their teachers and the support of the administrators and parents.  In short, I took two classes and split them up into two different groups.  Group A had physical education class while group B stayed in the class and did extra work.  I did this for three weeks.  At the end of the three weeks the students had a test on the information they learned during that time period.  From the results, Group A students did the same or better on the test as the students in Group B.  This was a very small sample group and a very short time period to test a theory but it was fun to see the results I had hoped for.  I was able to see how students were disengaged in the extra class time because they enjoy their physical education time and the break from their class work.

Article 10 Adolescent Decision Making by Bonnie Halpern-Felsher and article 13 The Bridge to Character by William Damon I believe have a great deal to do with each other.  I believe by helping students develop their decision-making skills it will in turn help the students to become ethical and responsible citizens.  Our youth are faced with decisions everyday and how they act upon and respond to those decisions are signs of their character, judgment and teachings.  Many factors influence adolescents in their decision-making such as, gender, age, culture, role of experience and knowledge, role of social/peer affiliation and brain development (Halpern-Feisher, 2009, p.40-43). 

While teachers are trying to develop their student decision making process it is key that the students are made aware of their moral sense in order to make effective decisions for their future. “In order for children’s natural moral capacities to become fully formed character dispositions, their natural empathy must develop into a sustained concern for others, their sense of fairness must grow into a sense of personal responsibility, and their feelings of obligation must become a determination to contribute to noble purpose beyond the self” (Damon, 2010, p.55). 

As in articles 10 and 13, articles 11 and 12 are connected in many ways.   Article 11 Peer Context for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Students by Stacey S. Horn and Katherine E. Romeo speaks about students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender and how they must face their classmates and the discrimination that is surrounded by such stereotypes.  Article 12 What Educators Need to Know about Bullying Behaviors by Sandra Graham, speaks about different myths that are associated with bullying and how these issues must be addressed in our schools.   I have found when people don’t understand things or are confused by issues, the most common way of expression is to make fun of it.  Even though it is 2013 people are still having a hard time understanding individual choices such as being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.  This lack of understanding leads a person to bully and harass individuals who choose to live a lifestyle that is different from your own. “In fact, Poteat (2009) found that between 11% and 20% of heterosexual adolescents did not feel they could stay friends with someone who came out to them as gay or lesbian” ( Horn & Romeo, 2010, p 46).   

These negative thoughts and actions towards individuals who are just acting on their own feelings is the cause of bullying in our schools.  “A growing body of research provides evidence that all students feel safer in schools that have anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies which specifically include sexual orientation and gender identity, a gay-straight alliance or other type of support group for LGBT students, and teachers who have engaged in professional development regarding sexual orientation and gender identity, than schools which have not implemented these safe school practices (Scalacha, 2003)” (Horn & Romeo, 2010, p 48).  We need to educate our youth on how to act towards others who have different views on life.  There is no guide on how to live life, so who are we to judge people for their life choices?

These articles bring up difficult but extremely important topics that we as educators are facing daily in our school.  It is up to us, as educators to get these ideas, issues and concepts known in our schools.  There is no better time then the present to attack these topics head on.  No one said educating our youth would be easy but I do believe we chose this profession because we are ready for the challenge.  

References

Cauley, K.M., & Pannozzo, G.M. (Eds.). (2013). Annual Editions: Educational Psychology 12/13 (27^th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. 

Collins, K.M., Et Al. (2011) Young Children: It’s All in the Game, pages12-19.

Damon, W. (2010) Educational Leadership: The bridge to Character, page 36-39.  

Graham, S. (2010) Phi Delta Kappan: What Educators Need to Know about Bullying Behaviors, page 66-69.

Halpern-Felsher, B. (2009) The Prevention Researcher: Adolescent Decision Making, page 3-7.

Horn, S.S,, & Romeo, K.E. (2010) The Prevention Researcher: Peer Contexts for Lesbiam, Gay, Bisexual and transgender Students, page 7-10.

Trost, S.G.., & Van Der Mars, H. (2009-2010) Educational Leaderships: Why We Should Not Cut P.E, page 60-65.

Links:

http://www.glnh.org/ (GLBT Help Center)

http://bcsd.k12.ny.us/middle/wood/7%20reasons%20why%20PE%20is%20important%2011%2009.htm (Why Physical Education is important)

http://www.schoolbullyingprevention.com/ ( Bullying prevention) 

 http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1179805?uid=3739808&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21102084414723 (decision making skills)

Week One: Perspectives on Teaching and Learning

 

 This picture shows all the of influences that are involved in all of our lives and how important the interaction between a teacher and a student are in order to deal with these influences.

 

After reading Unit One, Perspectives on Teaching, in our text Educational Psychology, I believe I agree with embarking on action research when it comes to perspectives on teaching and learning.  I believe this process focuses on reflective teaching and engages the teacher in getting to know their students on a more personal level.

“Action research is a reflective, systematic inquiry that focuses on a relevant problem in teaching or learning for the purpose of enacting meaningful change to address that problem” (Brighton, 2009, P. 10).  This perspective shows the teacher is willing to reflect on his or her teachings and students, as well as being willing to take the time to make a change in order to better the education of their students.  I believe sometimes teachers are unwilling to change how they are teaching their classes because it requires time, planning and research.  The example in our text shows how much time Janice Templeton spent on a five-week unit in order to help her disengaged students.  She identified the issue in her class, developed a plan, collected data, organized the data she found, analyzed and drew conclusions from the data and finally disseminated the findings. (Brighton, 2009, P. 12).  The process of action research is no simple task but the time that is spent is well worth the reward of seeing your students grow and learn. 

Although I do not disagree with any of the perspectives on teaching and learning, I find the perspective of supporting adolescents exposed to disaster to be the least important when it comes to educating our youth.  I believe that all the perspectives that are covered in our text are important and help our students grow and learning.  However, if teachers focus their time on the other four perspectives I believe supporting adolescents who are exposed to disasters will take care of itself through the other perspectives. 

Teachers should begin to develop open and meaningful relationships with their students from the start of the school year.  Students should be able to feel comfortable to talk with their teachers about issues, however when it comes to post-disaster support I believe students may need more intensive support.  “Although adolescents look to school personnel for post-disaster support, they are also typically reticent to utilize more specialized disaster mental health services”  (Tatar & Aram, 2007)” (Jacobs, Vernberg & Lee, 2008, P. 17).  Teachers should be aware and ready to help students who are exposed to disaster but I believe that the focus should lean more towards the other perspectives on teaching and learning.  Having students talk to a professional on disaster support would be more beneficial for the student in such a critical time.          

Although I agree with one perspective and disagree with another after reading our text one perspective stuck out to me in a concerning way.  Are teachers given the chance to teach with awareness?  I began to question how many teachers are actually taking the time to understand their students not only in the classroom but in their lives outside of the classroom as well.  Also is it always the teachers fault they do not know their students?  

“Increased demands on teachers make teaching with awareness a challenge.  Expectations for students performance can overshadow other aspects of classroom life” (Sitler, 2009, P. 15).   I believe that there has been so much added pressure on teachers to teach to the test that there is no longer anytime for the teachers to get to know their students.   Teachers are expected to get through an extensive amount of information in a very short time.  This leaves no time to stop and ask why students like Laurie aren’t doing their homework or why students like Will are disengaged during class (Sitler,2009, p. 13-16).

The teaching with awareness article in our text made me think back to my time in high school and college.  Were the teachers who let students struggle and get left behind bad teachers or were they trying to dish out all the information in fear of testing and scores or were the teachers who took the time to get to know their students aware teachers or were they just not concerned with covering the material.  It's hard to say which is true or if teachers are even looking into the matter that much.   

I do believe that some teachers truly care for their students and want to know and help them in and out of school but requirements have made it so there is no time to focus on the student as a whole anymore.  Teachers are made to only focus on academics when in reality teachers are the ones spending most of the day with our youth.  It is up to our teachers to develop our student not just academically but physical, emotionally and socially.  Schools need to allow for time when teachers can get to know their students and understand where they come from and the struggles they have.   

 References

Brighton, C.M. (2009) Educational Leadership: Embarking on Action Research, pages 40-44

 Cauley, K.M., & Pannozzo, G.M. (Eds.). (2013). Annual Editions: Educational Psychology 12/13 (27^th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. 

 

Sitler, H.C. (2009) The Clearing House: Teaching with Awareness the Hidden Effects of Trauma on Learning, pages 119-123

 

Jacob, Vernberg, Lee. (2008) The Prevention Researcher: Supporting Adolescents Exposed to Disasters, pages 7-10.

Links:

http://www.casenex.com/casenex/cecReadings/theImportanceOfTeacher.pdf

 http://www.edu.plymouth.ac.uk/resined/actionresearch/arhome.htm