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.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
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!!
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!!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
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
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.....
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