It's the final countdow.....err, reflection!

And so, we've reached, the end... but the fun, will come, again...

For some reason the title got me into a musical mood, though based on the above I should never get into lyric writing.

Alright, so the final reflection. Let's see... Of the points that I would, point out for this course, I would say that collectively this course is one of the most thought provoking and engaging courses that has been offered by the M.Ed program. The topics themselves are interesting, but the allowance of discussion and breakdown of the material is what drives the course, and keeps us all engaged.

By each other putting in input and discussing what we know and comprehend in our own heads, I learned just as much from each other in the class as I have learned from the material presented. The one class that got me fired up, as much as it did last year, was the 2 million minutes. I don't know what it is about that video, but something about it pisses me off in the right direction. But just showing us that there is a system that works and it is located within a system that damn near broken beyond repair. By that latter system I am of course refering to the U.S. education system, if I was not clear on that, I apologize, profusely.

I am glad that I held off on this reflection, because through TFA, I actually went down to BASIS charter in Tuscon, and saw the learning in action. IT WAS RIDICULOUS!! It was college...IN 8TH GRADE! I loved it. In the physics class they were starting to jump into the basics...of QUANTUM PHYSICS. And in biology they were going over material that I got a C in my sophomore year...IN COLLEGE. There was such a strong influence of science there; but it wasn't presented like the TFA model or all hunky dory, hands-on like a middle school classroom is "supposed" to be. It was fairly straight forward lecture but the student were right there with the teacher, who has a Ph. D in their field and has taught at the collegiate level for 2-4 years. It was beautiful.

When we watched he video, I thought to myself, "this makes sense to me." When I went down there for the visit, I thought to myself, "this makes sense to me." But yet we keep dumbing down our instruction and presenting science in a way that is still for elementary students, and they stay at that level; as opposed to the BASIS way that if you raise the bar, students will eventual reach that bar. There were students with IEP's, and after I asked the teacher if he differentiated, he said "no, not really" and that those students did fine. I am starting to rant. Change of topic.

This class reaffirmed to me what I already know about my ties to education. I'm not interested in instruction; I am interested in the system...and fixing it. The article about innovation did stir a new light about how to go about changing the system, which got me thinking even more about changing the system. I didn't entirly agree with what the article had proposed, but it got me more interested then when we had to present "non-linguistic representation." Since it is just another method of instruction within the system.

Regardless, the class allowed for intellectual thought and structured peer to peer sharing, which at this point I have valued more so than most other instances at ASU. The topics were relevant and provoking, and helped me shape my values of an American education more so than creating a bilingual lesson plan, though I am sure that had it's values and merits too.

To that end, I thank you for being a facilitator of a true, high level course that allowed for the discussion that I was seeking within the program. I thank you for unearthing topics to dissection which otherwise would have been left behind (unlike our children). This was a great class to end with as it leaves one of the biggest impressions that I have not just on ASU and on my being an educator, but on the quality of education we have here in this country, as broken as it may be.

Innovation...to the future!!

I have another blog that has not been touched since Christmas, so I hope you feel proud.

I am about the mentality of the author, but I do inherently disagree with the concept of separating school systems in the public school system. We need to have all students to have the same access to both of these types of systems; and therefore offered at the same location.

We do breed ourselves to be meat for the grinder, per say; and it does seem that there are a few that escape the mentality that the end result is a high paying occupation. Those, like they say, end up being the heads of innovative companies and even politicians and entertainers.

But in the end, having been the student who just wanted to find out where I fit, there would be a whole set of options not available to me. We need to expand and toughen the current system that we have. Being, offer more opportunities that are beyond the classroom and have more of an education that is based off of PROBLEM SOLVING, as that is the whole point of innovation. But as it is, it is a feeding tube of information with a "how best you recall" the information that will then best determine who will make the best at remembering and then following orders.

On a scale to one to ten....

How happy...6.5

How unhappy...3.5

Apathetic-ness?...Growing everyday, so 6.1...for now.

It is not to much what am I going to do, but it is what I am currently doing. Such as, drumming in a band, playing hockey, being on the radio advancing towards a potential Ph.D in sustainability, the topic in which I feel the best in, and hoping in my car and seeing the yet to be seen. I have had a long standing thought that if I am not happy, then I cannot make anyone else happy. This job in particular and the many menial tasks (not this one, at all, in the slightest, no joke) required by the graduate program does not bring me joy, but I am starting to grow fond of what I am getting involved with outside of school in Phoenix. Not too mention, Arizona as a whole is sweet. Just went to Tucson, good times!!

2 Million Minutes...Part 2

...so really 4 million minutes?

That is a lot of time. But then again, it has taken quite a bit of time from the United States to fall from grade as the academic champion of the world in the 50's to our fat man in a marathon standing position in the global academic race of today.

After watching the 2 million minutes video, it honestly got me fired up again about the educational system, and how screwed up it is. It is so easy to get caught up in all the crap that we have to take care of that we lose our sense of realization that a lot of it is unnecessary junk that ties up the focus of quality teaching. I wanted to wait off for a bit because I was just distraught after the film (which doesn't happen all too often in a ASU course). But with this lag in response time, I have definitely lost the steam that was built that evening.

Since last week, I brought up B.A.S.I.S. a few times to people and very few had heard about it. Maybe it is a suppression of how education can and should work, for if it's methodologies got out, it could cause an uprising and total upheaval of the U.S. education system. But I mention that the U.S. has been engrained for so long in this style of education, and when so many "old dogs" stick around in the education field, sometimes I feel like change will take just as long as this current system that we have has taken to settle into place.

Due to the lax of this blog and openness of the assignment, I can't help but outwardly state that the vast majority of teacher prep course are a joke. If feel as competent as any other 1st year teacher with the 6 weeks of training that I received at institute in terms of instructional implementation. Other than that, it should be content development. Just so much wasted time really, both in the classroom and in trainings. And I am a man who detests waste.

Reading Response for NCLB

I decided to read the article by Andrew Rotherham titled "Making No Child Left Behind Work." For the most part, it seemed as if it was a laundry list of complaints. Rotherham makes his key point that NCLB, at the time when it was passed in 2001, had "some teeth" to it as there were accountability measures put in place, especially with a system that is embedded in standardized test scores. But, the majority of the article focuses on the shortcomings of NCLB as the past years have progressed.

Rotherham points out the widening gap of achievement that also seems to correlate to race and wealth (or lack thereof). Not to mention, we have turned our students into test-taking machines that pump out one assessment after another (I just gave mine a district writing assessment today). Coupled with other shortcomings of the U.S. Education system, Rotherham points to a complete lax of the accountability standards that were originally put in place. He argues that they need to be updated in order for NCLB to work. He cites that there are many schools out there that quality wise should be taken over, but because of lack standards that were originally put in place, schools slide under the radar.

In addition to tighter, updated standards, Rotherham pushes for more birth to 5 support for minority children and a healthy relationship between stakeholder interest and general interest, as too often there is a debate in that department. Rotherham wraps up with a push for parent and local official empowerment in education and a greater focus in research and development of educational practice and implementation, and not just a focus on "standards" and "choice."



Rotherham, Andrew J. "Making No Child Left Behind Work" U.S. News and World Report - Opinion Page. 1/12/10
http://www.usnews.com/articles/opinion/2010/01/12/making-no-child-left-behind-work.html?PageNr=1

Unexpected 1st...

So, I did happen to do something that I had never done before by myself...I took a cab by myself. Wait, wait, that isn't true either; my parents were cab drivers, they drove me a bunch of places, like baseball practice. Man, maybe I should become more social.....

What I Like to do With People

Watch a movie. Go to athletic contests.
Have conversation. Travel on the road. Chess. Play Music. Do work with. Play catch with. Go to dinner. Drink with. Get emotional with. Play thumb wars with. Flirt with. Have them give me a haircut.
Discuss and debate sustainability with.


And hike with.

I have done most of the above by myself, even give a haircut. Of the above, I haven't played chess with and thumb wars with myself. I think I would like to...I...I actually am quite comfortable with doing most by myself. If I think of something, I'll let you know, but I am really drawing a blank right now.