Teaching Values in the Classroom

“Everyday our lives are influenced by many people. Everyday a student is actively making the choice of who they will become. Teachers, you are teaching not only information but life lessons, everyday you have the chance to make a difference in a student's life. If you choose to make the best of this special gift, you will be doing your part to make the world a better place."
--- Written by A.B., Age 16 --- Washington

As a soon to be first year teacher I am quickly realizing that I will be teaching much more than the significance of certain battles during the Civil War or the role of women in the Civil Rights Movement. As a high school teacher I want to send productive, creative students with critical thinking skills out into the world. But is it the teacher’s place to teach values? What values would I teach? What if the values I possess are in contrast to the family of a student? Where do morals fit in to the classroom discussion? When do I start doubting my decision to become a teacher? Just kidding about that! Certainly values do have a place in the classroom, but the values have to be characteristics that everyone would want and value. These characteristics are called “life skills” and they are currently adopted by more than five hundred schools in Indiana. These life skills are: trustworthiness, truth, personal best, active listening and no put downs. Any teacher or employer looking at this list would certainly agree that any person with all of these traits would make a wonderful employee or student. I think this list is a great guide for helping to run any classroom. These traits are such that they do not interfere with the personal beliefs of the family or the student. The life skills are also effective because they do not speak to morals, which are a personal choice. The skills are what every citizen should strive for to make our society as good as it can be.
So we have our life skills list, now what? As a teacher one of the most important things we can do is modeling. Be the person you want your students to be. At the top of the list is trustworthiness, always follow through with your students, if you say you will do something then do it. Let the students see how a professional performs their duties. Next is truth, even if the truth is unpleasant find a way to say it tactfully, but do not ever lie. Show your students that telling the truth is always the best option. Next is personal best, always have a plan each day, students will know if you are winging it. Take the job seriously and do the best job you can everyday. Students will notice you are dedicated to what you are doing. Active listening is next on the list. Really hear what your students are saying to you. Sympathize and relate, let them know you are listening and that you care. And lastly is no put downs, never denigrate a student for a wrong answer or for not doing well in class or for any reason at all. Make your classroom a place where students will feel safe to be themselves, a place where mistakes can be made and their point of view is important.
Whew! That’s a lot to put on one person, oh yeah, you also have to get each student prepared for the standardized test at the end of the course or they will not graduate. Teachers make how much money again? I have believed my whole life that if you go in to teaching for the hours and the summer off you are a criminal, students need dedicated, passionate people who will give all they have to each student and then occasionally a little more.

This is a teacher with passion!

Dare we hope? The Overhaul of No Child Left Behind

One of the things that concerns me as a pre-educator is No Child Left Behind and how that translates to my future classroom. I have to say that, as the law currently stands, I'm not a fan. I believe teaching to a test is harming our children, not helping them. The emphases is figurative learning, not operational learning, and the curriculum is pruned so that only tested materials are covered. So, when I saw this article on my Yahoo! news page, I began to get a little excited.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100201/ap_on_bi_ge/us_obama_education

I say a little excited because it's not done until it's done. It appears to me, though, that President Obama feels similarly about NCLB as I do, so I am cautiously optimistic. As was said earlier in class, music IS important. Art IS important. Drama, physical education, band, orchestra. These are all important areas that are the first to be sacrificed because no one tests to see how well a student plays the flute or draws a flower. Progressing schools should be acknowledged and rewarded, not punished because they failed to meet an arbitrary number on a test. This is what I mean about that. A school's standardized testing results show that 65% of the students failed the math portion of the testing, and the target number is 30% or less. I am making these numbers up for illustration purposes. The school makes changes and the following year, only 45% of the students failed the math portion of the test. This is a 20% improvement and not necessarily a small thing depending on the size of the school. Yet because the target number is 30% or less, this school would be punished instead of recognizing that a significant improvement has been made and giving incentives to continue this improvement. The proposed overhaul would address this, and hopefully correct it. I'll be interested to see how this plays out. It's encouraging to me, though, that we have an education-focused President in office.

My First Year of Teaching and the Inclusion of All Students

Soon I will be a first year teacher! I do not mind saying that I am scared to death of this eventuality. I have wanted to be a teacher my whole life and I am now rounding the corner and heading into the final few laps of this journey. So what exactly is it that I am afraid of? Is it the students? Certainly that cannot be the issue I am raising three children and have been a football, basketball and soccer coach for all of my adult life. Children are a large part of my life already, so what is it that makes me sit up in bed at four in the morning? Just between you and me, it is the fear of failure. Not the fear of being a bad teacher, I have been a coach far too long to doubt my ability to teach. No, my fear comes from being afraid that I will miss the potential of a student and fail that student. I do not mean fail as in giving the student an “F”, I mean fail as in not recognizing that student’s potential and helping that student realize the possibilities they possess. I do not have that fear in coaching, I coach youth league sports and know that if I miss the potential of an athlete there will be a long line of coaches after me that will surely pick up on that child’s potential. But teaching is another story, I will teach at the high school level and potential must be recognized then or it may be too late for my students. So how do I swallow that fear and move forward with confidence? I will tell you what my gut and my heart tell me to do, treat every student as if they have the potential to cure cancer or write novels or design bridges or conduct an orchestra or teach or anything that will make that student a productive citizen. Each and every one of my students have will have some potential, some will want to be good mothers, others will want to be a great mechanic, some will want to go on to college and some will have no idea what to do with their lives.
So what is the reality I will face as a first year teacher that will try to derail my ideals and goals? My courses so far have taught me that the typical classroom will have students that do not speak English as a first language, students who live in poverty, students with disabilities and a host of other diverse backgrounds. One controversial subject in schools right now is the inclusion of special education students in general education classrooms. This is not a new practice but the majority of schools are moving towards eliminating the special education classroom altogether. Special Education teachers move from class to class with the students to provide the extra instruction they need. Often the special education students are pulled from the classroom during quizzes and tests to take them in other classrooms. This allows the special education teachers the give modified exams and extra help. Many would argue that the inclusion of special education students do not belong in the general education classes. Some would say the time it takes to keep the special education students up to speed will take away instruction time from the other students. I would agree that these concerns are real and something to be discussed. However, I would not agree that special education students should be excluded from general education classrooms. I would also argue that not having special education classrooms at all may be a detriment to the students who need extra instruction and time. I sympathize with the teacher who has a vastly diverse classroom with different levels of understanding and ability with a finite amount of time to prepare all of the students for a standardized test that is the lynchpin for not just the student’s success but also the school’s success and ultimately the teacher’s success. Preparing students for such a test is a stressful and daunting task that in the context of having to prepare students who may have difficulty reading or even speaking English, can seem impossible. I have been taught and assured that there are several instructional methods that will allow teachers to include all students regardless of ability or development level. These strategies include allowing students to learn new material in several ways. An effective teacher will often present lessons in manner that allow the auditory learner, the visual learner and the kinetic learner to succeed. Is this more work for the teacher? You bet it is! But teaching is a profession of passion and putting in extra work or going above and beyond what is required is standard for any good teacher. To gainsay a student the opportunity of a general education classroom is to give up on the student. It is impossible to know what each student is truly capable of until we, as teachers, have given that student every opportunity to flourish. Will I have a student in my classroom with the potential to do great things? I have no idea but I have made a commitment to myself to treat each student as if they do.

Teaching Our Teachers and Kids Advertisments

Through my observation to a Middle school class for my education major, I observed a health class for the ages between 8 through 10. I did not see this before, it was a candy for kids ages 5 years to maybe 11 years old. This candy is inside a backet looks exactly like a real cigarette backet, when the kids open it he will have the exactly cigarette shape and eat it.. wow it taste delicious. This back of candy cigarette was maybe made in the 1970's or around that period of time as the teacher mentioned.

However, what made me write this blog that unfortunately I saw my kid who is seven years old bring from his teacher's reward box, because he was doing good that day, a capsule and a round white bill but it is candy. I am wondaring if that advertisement was in 1970's and that period of time they did not reach what we are in nowadays from laws to technology and knowledge. Why we still have those problems with the all of knowledge we have now. Is it good to have bills or anything looks like it just to sell products and collect money for those companies or those are kind of advertisements go beyond marketing? What is the teacher role in this class? Is it to support those advertisments?

Whatever the reasons are the question here is how shall we protect our children inside the schools? And who is responsible for that? All in all just think of this question; How to teach our teachers?

Challenging the First Year Teacher

As a pre-educator, I often find myself wondering what it will be like to have my own classroom. What are some of the challenges I'll face? What kind of autonomy will I have? How much of a disadvantage will I be at because I'm new? I'm beginning to think I'm putting myself at a disadvantage by focusing on my newness. So, guess what? I'm not going to worry about it. Obviously, if I get hired, someone has faith in my abilities. I'm willing to go with them on this one.

That still leaves a lot of unknowns, though. Since I can't get anything done if I can't keep my zoo, so to speak, I think I'll focus first on classroom management.

"Always live up to the same rules you set up for them. Keep them simple and justifiable. 'Respect' is the only rule I have on my classroom wall." - Catherine McTamaney, 9th-12th grades, Tennessee.

I am big on respect and common courtesy, something I don't feel we have enough of these days. For whatever reason, people of all ages have decided it's perfectly acceptable to be rude, discourteous, and unappreciative. Respect, however, is a reciprocal process. They will give me their respect because I am their authority figure and that's what they're expected to do. However, by giving them that same respect in return, I'm hoping they will begin to learn the value of it and practice it outside of my class. Respect is a hydra; it's a single concept with many expressions. My students will show me the respect of being in their seats on time at the start of class. In return, I will be in class prepared to teach them at the start of class. They will raise their hands, and wait to be called on, not only showing respect to me but to their fellow classmates who may or may not be speaking already. In return I will do my best to remember who had a comment, or question, and call on all students who had something to say. If we run out of class time, and the raised hand was for a question, I will give that student time after class, or after school, if need be, to address their question. That's not to say class can't be lighthearted and fun. If respect is in place, then we can have a relaxed atmosphere where everyone can be comfortable participating.