Education Short List

Earlier this year I wrote several articles about schools and how they are dealing with the economic recession. The majority of the articles spoke about how class sizes are becoming bigger and students are going without extracurricular activities.

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In The Week Magazine two weeks ago, there was an article about how Hawaii is creating shorter school years for the next two years. The reason for this is due to budgetary issues.

http://www.theweek.com/article/index/101995/The_world_at_a_glance____United_States

Honolulu
 School year cut: In an effort to cut $468 million from the state education budget over the next two years, Hawaii’s teachers have agreed to take Fridays off for the rest of the school year. The plan, which goes into effect next week, will give Hawaii’s 171,000 public-school students the nation’s shortest school year, at 163 days. Although teachers say they will try to compress five days of schoolwork into four days each week, parents are objecting. “It’s just not enough time to learn,” said state PTA president Valerie Sonoda. Hawaii already trails most states in national education achievement.

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A school district in Portland, OR head an auction recently. There they sold basketball bards, toilet paper, and copier paper (among other items). What was the reason for the auction? To aide the district in generating much needed funds. The reason for selling these particular items? Because the schools and teachers had deemed them unnecessary. How does someone find that toilet paper is unnecessary?

http://wweek.com/editorial/3551/13258/

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In California, local universities, teachers, and workers are taking furlong days for the year. Again, the reasoning being it is finances.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lausd14-2009nov14,0,359774.story

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These three stories aren’t the only ones out there. Schools and districts across the country are facing fiscal hardships. Although these little ways help the districts to save money; the long-term affects on the educators and their students doesn’t seem to be a concern.

It is confounding to me how someone can think that teachers can cram five days worth of lessons into four. There’s barely enough time as it is. And with more and more schools having to worry about meeting national standards, teachers are taking out any creative lesson planning and filling it with test preparations. How are students supposed to take their tests if they don’t have paper to write on? You laugh, but I had two students who, at the end of last school year, were doing work on colored copier paper; or taking exams from overhead copies because the teachers didn’t have enough paper to print out the test for all of the students.

Situations such as these, in my humble educational opinion, are a tragedy along the lines of a Shakespearean play. In the long run, the only ones who are going to be suffering from these shortcuts are our children. The depth and breadth of their education will diminish; which will put them at an even great disadvantage later on, then they already are facing today.

Earlier this year I wrote an article about how teachers are ‘thinking outside the box’ when it comes to keeping their students engaged. Schools across the country are having their students sit on Pilates exercise balls to retain their focus. http://educationshortlist.com/2009/04/fidgeting-untapped-energy-source/

Another article, from the LA Times discusses the value of focusing students’ attention.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bouncy-balls16-2009nov16,0,4338209.story

Unfortunately, I believe that more and more of these types of articles will be popping up in the next few years. As class sizes increase, educators are going to have to find creative ways to gain their attention. So, it would be wise for teachers to take note of these types of articles.

The consensus is in – American students aren’t achieving the same sort of scores that students in other countries are. And that is where the agreement ends. Now, as to how we go about fixing it – that is where all of the idea and options come flowing in. One such option, as mentioned in the Parade Magazine’s Intelligence Report is to extend the school year.

One part of me thinks that could help, if it meant taking different breaks throughout the year rather than the three month summer break. However, even extending the year might not give those sought after results. Perhaps reducing class size would…but that’s just a pipe dream.

http://www.parade.com/news/intelligence-report/archive/091115-should-american-kids-spend-more-time-in-class.html

The winter holidays are quickly approaching, teachers are excited about being able to integrate some fun, alternative, creative lessons. But, while still enjoying the celebration it is just as important to acknowledge and learn about something other than just Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Teaching Tolerance created a great resource of lessons for just this purpose. The part that I think is the best is that these lessons aren’t just geared toward elementary-aged students (as it common during this time of year); so educators are able to give their high school students something different as well.

http://www.tolerance.org/activity/school-holiday-calendar?ttnewsletter=ttnewsgen-111509

This past weekend The New York Times ran two articles about the company Teachers Pay Teachers. One singing the praises of the company, the other questioning the right of educators to sell their lesson plans and other classroom tools. What are your thoughts?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/education/15plans.html?_r=2&hp

http://community.nytimes.com/comments/www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/education/15plans.html?scp=3&sq=winnie%20hu&st=cse

Here is my account on their site, Teachers Pay Teachers

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Rosshalde-Pak-4/About-Me

This is an article I wrote last month about Teachers Pay Teachers.

http://educationshortlist.com/2009/10/teachers-pay-teachers-website-review/

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/

The frustration expressed by students when they don’t comprehend a concept can be difficult and overwhelming for the students. The frustration combined with the younger person’s rationale that you, the adult, have everything figured out and learned is all so easily, is the hardship that the instructors have to bear. Repeatedly I’ve hard students say the following:

“I don’t read as well as you do.”

“ My handwriting isn’t as nice or neat as yours.”

“You can multiply faster than me.”

“You know lots about Shakespeare.”

Each time a students says a disparaging remark about themselves, I just want to hug them. Instead, what I do is to tell them this, “It takes time, practice, and effort to become an expert at something. And it’s true. It took me two degrees, multiple certifications, countless tests, and five years of teaching for me to be able to help my students. Besides, wouldn’t it be sad if I DIDN’T know how to do ‘ xyz’ better than you? Especially when I am the one who is supposed to be teaching you?”

Although I have a few strategies to help squelch students’ frustrations, it doesn’t make it any less difficult when I hear their sigh of aggravation. I suppose, really, it doesn’t make a difference to them knowing that I didn’t learn multiplication in a day; but, perhaps it makes it a little less frustrating.

This Wednesday is November 11th, an annual day in recognition of the service of the women and men in the military. This year, I feel, is particularly bittersweet. It’s a joyous time because we can celebrate the 20 year anniversary of the Berlin Wall coming down; yet it’s sad because of the recent tragedy at Fort Hood Texas. It’s a celebration because of the achievements made in encouraging more people into the service; but it’s heartbreaking to know that the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars are in their 8th year.

Taking time to create a small learning lesson in tribute to Veterans Day needn’t be controversial or time consuming. Below you will find several sites that have printables ready to use in the classroom; as well as articles about the Berlin Wall and Fort Hood.

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1625786/20091107/story.jhtml

http://abcnews.go.com/International/gorbachev-hailed-berlin-wall-anniversary/story?id=9035215

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/09/special-news-quiz-berlin-wall-history/

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/

http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=9

http://www.lessonplanspage.com/SSTheWallVeteransDayActivityIdea23.htm

Interesting article from Yahoo

http://smallbusinessanswers.yahoo.com/overrated

In middle school, high school, and college – each class, each day requires students to take notes. If you are in a class that you think is boring, frustrating, or dull then being engaged enough can be that much more tasking. OR, if you’ve never really learned how to jot down class notes, then you will have a hard time even figuring out where to begin.

These reasons coupled with the frustration expressed by my students led me to create the 3*2*1*1 notetaking method. If this is followed daily with each class taken, then students are more likely to be engaged with what is being learned, able to recall more of their lessons at a later date, have better notes for later review, and feel more mentally prepared for upcoming papers, quizzes, and tests.

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–3 – write down 3 problems, examples, mini topics, or interesting points from class
3 things that were taught. Each of these should be at least six words; and are directly related to the subject, the text, or lecture from the teacher.
(Ex. William Shakespeare’s play, The Tempest, last play written. Weird monster character in it. Teacher gave out parts to read in play.)

- – 2- write down 2 comments, questions, or answers to questions that you gave in class
This part is extra important when you know you receive points for participation in class
(Ex. I asked if David Bowie was the first person to ever bring theatrics to musical performances. Told teacher that there is no exact date for Shakespeare’s birth)

– 1- one point that he would like clarification on
Something that didn’t quite make perfect sense; and by knowing it, it would make the learning that much easier, clearer, or more interesting
Doesn’t necessarily mean you have to ask an instructor the answer, could be a friend, family member, or colleaguge.
(Ex. confused on why people don’t know who Shakespeare is.)

- – 1 – the one big thing that you would take out of the lesson for that day.
This should be three words or less. It would be the answer to, “So how was area studies today?”
(Ex. David Bowie is cool. We read The Tempest).

If you have specific notes or guidelines that your instructor wants you to follow, then obviously do so. If that is the case, you can skip the “3″ component and continue with the rest. Also, this strategy does not include taking chapter textbook notes. There is another format, that will be discussed later on, that goes best with that type of structure.