An Edublogger's Take on Standardized Tests

As research for my debate paper project in Professor Potter's class, I came across an educator's blog concerning his opinion about standardized tests. He is a high school teacher, but his position, location, and name remain unknown. I'm assuming this is the case because his post focused on providing reasons for being a standardized test supporter. I was immediately intrigued by his opening declaration, "“Let me come right out and say it….I am in favor of standardized testing in order for students to get their high school diploma." I was taken by this statement because the person's hesitation and seeming embarrassment about this assertion was pronounced even as text on a blog post. It was as if I could see his cheeks turning red. Regardless of my impression of this person or his opinion (wrong, he's wrong...) I was excited to find a blog that satisfied an assignment for two of my courses and one that related to my life. I even cared about what I was reading and felt some sort of emotion while learning! This man's argument is that we merely shuffle kids through school because we don't want to deal with them, or we give up on them because they are so behind. He asserts that because of our neglect as teachers, we aren't adequately preparing students to be beneficial citizens in society. In this case, I agree with anonymous blogger man. I feel bad for these kids. However, this is why we SMACers don't sleep and work extra hard in order to change the future in our own small, but significant way. So change on, colleagues. Keep kicking butt (and reminding me of assignment due dates)!

Welcome Back to Reality!

So, I'm back at school. We jumped in to classwork and intense conversation and content right away. I'm already tired! However, I am enjoying my placement thus far. My teacher is very enthusiastic, and the students - although quite loud and sometimes quite distracted - are lots of fun. Having visited the classroom only four times, I can not accurately predict how the year will unfold, but I have good feelings about all this. I videotaped my teacher on the first day to capture initial procedures, rules, and conduct. I haven't done much teaching myself yet, so I have had a lot of time to observe things, and I am frequently reminded of this course. I immediately noticed the amount of students carrying and sometimes using cell phones during the school day. I brought this up to a few of the kids today, and they said cell phones were not allowed in the classroom at all. This surprised me because I have seen my teacher tell the students to "Put the phone away or it's mine." on numerous occasions. Her reaction made me believe they were allowed but not for use. Personally, I am tempted to check my phone when the students are doing work, but on the flip side I get annoyed and a bit offended when the students are playing around with their techie toys during my time. I have also been checking out the software and machines available around the school. My teacher hasn't used any technology at all except for a very old c.d. player during an exercise that required students to bring in music that exemplified literary terms. I've noticed multiple computer labs around the school (3 I think) and numerous televisions. In the coming weeks I will keep my eyes sensitive to other forms of technology I see around Romulus. I will also cross my fingers for the students to magically become less talkative!

I am a chronically confused girl

today Liz called us "savvy". i don't believe she was including me in that category - or Laura S. either. and yes, i can appropriately say that because Laura is a self-proclaimed non-techie also. i get all the websites and online resources confused and don't know what to do with the information overload! this class is pretty sweet, but it is too fast-paced for me to really absorb anything. maybe when everything calms down a little in the fall (i think that statement was a blatantly unrealistic dream) i will be able to appreciate these resources a lot more. also, we'll be putting these tools to practice, which is a pretty exciting forethought.
i don't want to too much reveal the fact that i am distracted in class (although this new posting added during class time kind of gives me away...), but i'd just like to comment on the sweetness of this podcast activity that we're going with a cellphone. chris and i made a silly cast, but i found it quite entertaining! perhaps this is a good learning lesson when thinking about application of these tools in my own classroom. i can, like liz, go through the steps with my students on how to create a podcast. then i'll allow them to create their own like we did. i will stipulate that the content must appropriate and unoffensive. i think this activity would be fun and engaging for the kids. this is one activity that i will definitely try in my classroom.

Unrelated Sidenote...

i saw The Dark Knight movie last night. sooo good. very bitter-sweet though because of Heath Ledger's passing. i highly recommend it for sure.

Stifling Social Interation

when i first came to college, i did not know a single soul and felt very intimidated by this large campus. however, i am a pretty personable, definitely loud individual!, so i had faith in my ability to make friends. i noticed right away, though, that this was not going to be an easy enterprise. i couldn't socialize during class, and the moment the period ended, everyone plugged headphones into their ears or began talking or texting on their cellphones. i was disgusted by this lack of communication between my peers.
Educ 504 is a bit of a challenge for me not because i am extra behind in the technological world, although i'm surely not up to par, but because i don't know where i stand on bringing certain technologies into the classroom. the more i read about this subject, the more i realize that as teachers we must present knowledge and information in an engaging and creative way. in today's society, this means incorporating resources such as blogs, text messages, powerpoints presentations, etc. into a curriculum. i understand that many students do not have access to these technologies at home so school is an important place to keep them up to date on the constantly changing electronic world. however, i am worried that we have all begun living in a world of fantasy. kids spend so much time staring at psp's, frantically pressing buttons that have no effect on their physical movements, and talking to pixels that don't talk back. i think many of the new gadgets that so many people are taken with are superfluous and detrimental to the formation of social skills and personal interaction.
I am in no way saying i'm opposed to technology - i am very grateful for it when doing school work and keeping in touch with friends and family. i am also not saying that these electronic resources shouldn't be available and used in the classroom. all i know right now is that i think it will be a sad day when we can no longer find comfort and contentment with each other.

School is taking over my life!

Not that I'm complaining, but school is taking over my life. I am very blessed to have the opportunity to attend the University of Michigan and benefit from its plethora of resources. I enjoy my program and my peers, but I really need to work on my time management when outside of the classroom! I graduated in April and had about four days of summer vacation, so I am luckily still in the groove of- wake up, school it, homework, then fun. But with people all over campus riding their bikes and reading in the grass, I am tempted to forgo the homework, and I get jealous of others' extra time spent outside. However, I am very excited to start student teaching, and I think this year is going to be very enlightening and worthwhile.