Concluding Post: A Journey of a Thousand Miles

           During this summer three texts resonated most deeply with me were the Rosin article about adventure playgrounds and free play, Tobin, Hsueh and Karasawa’s piece about Japanese Preschools and Rodriguez’s autobiography.  The one piece that I continuously came back to each week and had on my mind and discussed with many friends and family outside of class was the first article we read by Rosin.  After re-reading my old posts and trying to understand my current position in life (which has been going 100 mph since I have been moving , getting a new job and buying my first house) I have made a few observations and realizations about how I view culture and education especially in the different areas I have lived and experienced. 

            As a person who grew up in a very religiously and ethnically diverse area I have never thought about other cultures as weird or “wrong” like some of my students in the areas where I have taught.  I lived in Michigan in the Detroit and Lansing areas until I started my first teaching job in Utah.  Michigan, to me, always seemed open to different ways of thinking and I had many friends and classmates that provided different points of view and experiences to my education as a person.  But when I moved to Salt Lake City I had culture shock with the church running the state and schools, inadvertently, and with my students’ lack of world-views.  When I then moved to South Dakota I received another kind of culture shock with social desertion.  Living in such a desolate area the population rarely changes and so the children the students started kindergarten with are the ones they will graduate, without much fluctuation.  South Dakota is a stranded town with most big towns separated by 2-3 hours and not much but farms and rolling hills in the middle.  It is very easy to disconnect and limit oneself in a place like that.  Now living in Wisconsin, I feel like I am back to living in Michigan but with much more disdain for teachers.  During this course I lived in both isolated South Dakota and strong-minded Wisconsin and it made me readjust my viewpoints on how to approach my classroom and the example classroom in The Wire.

            Emotional Reaction to Clips

Now- Each student knows what actions they want to portray in their public sphere and they are making the executive decision to act out or obey classroom expectations but each person is also in charge of their response. Knowing this after reading the Tobin and Rodriguez text I started to embrace the idea of more free decision making and exploration as discussed in Rosin’s article.  I felt overwhelmed and anxious from the clips because I have never experienced a scenario quite like the first day of school clip from The Wire.  But I also started to understand that I am someone who embraces differences in others and actively seeks out students’ and teachers’ personalities.  My husband has often told me that I have a freaky superpower of understanding people upon the first time of meeting and talking with them.  My mom has told me that since I am so open to others I am very non-threatening and that allows people to open up to me.  I completely credit my friends from elementary through high school for showing me different cultures and allowing me to share their experiences so I could welcome them in my students later in life.

            Moral Reaction to Clips

Now- Knowing myself I would need to enter the classroom from the clips understanding the teachers around me to feel more grounded and supported and so I would not be surprised by how students would act on the first day and what they were going through in their personal sphere.  Once the school year started I would feel an obligation to myself and my students to get to know them and plan lessons for them to meet their needs and interests.  As my mother always said, I have a very fierce sense of right and wrong and my students quickly learn that lying to me does not work and that acting out to me is just a cry for help.  Students need support and I would want to help them feel supported and confident to share with me any issues they choose to share.

            Aesthetic Reaction to Clips

Now- In middle school arenas like in The Wire, action and social interaction are the main players to having a successful lesson.  Stationary seating charts, rigid lessons and rules without explanation or follow-through are the death of an effective teacher. Flexibility and the ability to meet the needs of the classroom through exploration with others tends to be the most meaningful to the students.

            Intellectual Reaction to Clips

Now - The homeroom teacher bothered me during the first couple clips because he seemed to be in over his head and not seeking help in how to reach the students.  Towards the end of the clips I started to see the teacher’s participant-observer teaching style where he read the students from a far and then started designing lessons for the students’ interests.  He tried to understand how to make applicable education accessible to the students through math games and “street” games with dice and probability.  Students need time to be understood and then to try new things but most importantly they need time to reflect on those skills and try to use them outside the classroom.

            Goal 1: to be achieved by August 2, 2014: Understanding how my mindset has changed and how I want to apply that mindset into my 6^th grade classroom in the fall.  Come up with the top 3 “take-aways” from this course that I want to share with my students throughout the next school year.  I want to reflect more deeply on my notes, my blog and the responses from my peers to determine what I took as the most important underlying themes of this course and figure out what of those themes I can adapt to make accessible to my students. 

            Goal 2: to be achieved by September 15, 2014: Take those three themes that I determine and after learning the curriculum I will be teaching this school year, meld those themes into my behavior management systems, my curriculum and my teaching practice.

            Goal 3: to be achieved by September 15, 2019: Review how my teaching has been modified since this year, 2014, and try to understand how it is changed based on my position in life.  Share my progress with my students so they can see how important it is

Readings Cited

Richard Rodriguez. (1982). Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez. Boston: Bantam Books.

Hanna Rosin (2014, April). Hey! Parents, Leave Those Kids Alone. The Atlantic, 313(3), 75-86.

Joseph Tobin, Yeh Hsueh, & Mayumi Karasawa. (2009). Preschool in Three Cultures Revisited: China, Japan, and the United States (Ch. 3). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. 

Cycle Three Post

Jane Addams- Applicable Education

            Social acceptance and application of education in the social world is an interesting concept.  So often the social aspect of school is overlooked or forgotten by people outside of the educational field and sometimes even for people inside the field.  School is such an important step in the lives of all people because it requires interaction whether passive or active with others and it applies to life outside the classroom.  No one likes to waste their time so to have a social interaction while in school, we want to be able to use it and apply it outside of school.  We need a sense of purpose for our education and typically it is a collective purpose with peers and classmates.  I had a class two years ago that drove me up the wall because they could not understand one another nor did they want to take the time to learn how to interact so I took time during the day to provide team building activities.  Within the first two weeks of taking 10 minutes daily to do social activities, my students started interact with each other during class and our discussion became deeper and more extended.  The class started to feel more comfortable together and so they could deepen their education and I started to notice them talking at recess about what happened during class or asking each other for help.  They applied their social “training” into their educational life and their everyday life.

Montessori- Exploratory Education for Personalized Natural Education

            Natural development is such a difficult idea to institute into the classroom because of teacher’s feeling that they need to control their classroom to maintain a positive, safe environment and learning community.  I have always felt that students should be able to practice their social skills and learn to resolve their own problems without much interference from me.  If I have to constantly be the referee students will never learn how to talk to one another but if I teach them processes to solve possible issues that could come up in the future, then they have a base for learning social cues and resolutions.  I teach 6^th grade and the amount of social interaction is astounding which gives a lot of opportunity for students to practice good habits.  I like to model good behavior socially and academically for my students and I like to have my students understand when I think an action is good or bad but I do not believe in a whole lot of extrinsic rewards or punishments.  I know my students and my students understand my emotions because I explain them to my students so they can begin to understand acceptable responses to actions.  By no means am I always correct but I try to show my students that it is okay to feel the spectrum of emotions but how frequent and intense those emotions are in response to others needs to be reflected and analyzed for appropriateness. 

            Exploratory Education is always a wonderful concept but not an easy plan to implement. I would love for my students to discover their potential and their natural abilities and how they can be developed but I have a lack of experience planning for this kind of curriculum.  Just like with free play/ adventure playgrounds with detached equipment and lack of adult supervision as well as the Japanese preschool model, we need to trust our students to explore and improve themselves through experience.  Teachers should help guide but not direct with absolute control.  The mind needs to flex and expand and it can only be done with a teacher allowing opportunity and room for exploration.

Culture and Curriculum- Reflection for Expansion Education

            School is like “a surrogate home” in the sense that a community is built among a group of students that are different, diverse and varied.  They become their own learning coalition and bring different perspectives, background and lessons along with them to advance the curriculum they are learning.  The curriculum students learn should be a reflection of the culture of not only the class but of the country and an introduction to other societies around the world.  School is a chance to explore culture in a safe zone (hopefully) where multiple voices can be heard and considered while absorbing different ideas and synthesizing it into a student’s own experiences in personal life.  Culture and Curriculum are like the chicken and the egg concept for education.  Which do you consider first?  In my opinion, they reflect one another but it is up to the teacher and the school to make sure they are syncing the two large subjects into one cohesive unit. 

            When I taught in Utah many of my students had similar demographic stats sheets and they all held their lack of travel as a common theme.  I felt, as a person who grew up in a very ethnically and religiously diverse area, that it was my job to introduce my students to different cultures, ways of thinking and new types of approaching people from other areas.  I taught Ancient Civilizations and linked it into modern globalization and societal factors and the students loved the discussions we held.  Very often we would have a very tangent filled tap root with many side discussions about culture and how it related to my students, me and to others they knew.  I loved working to help link culture into my curriculum but it made me think about how important it is for teachers to feel the same importance for sharing culture in a safe space to discuss and dissect how students felt and understood other cultures and people.

Cycle Two-Hunger For Memory

         Richard Rodriquez gives a very honest portrayal of himself that almost seems to border on pessimistic.  His critique of his private versus his public identity and persona made me think about how teachers and students act and perceive themselves in school and outside of school.  This week I began applying for new jobs in Wisconsin since I am moving there (as of next week I will no longer be a South Dakota resident) and one of the school districts I was applying to required that I take a survey.  This survey took about 40 minutes and asked me three sets of questions, one of which was a preference section that gave me a scenario and I had to pick my most likely response from a set of multiple choice prompts.  One of the common questions was how much to share with students about your own (teacher's) life, emotions and private persona.  I did not have a lot of time to respond to each prompt (50 seconds per) but it really made me think afterward considering they asked me that same questions a handful of times in different ways.  I like to think that I share my emotions with my class because a personal emotions can affect a group and I want students to understand my happiness, frustration, anxiety with how it relates to school but I do not think a teacher should "unload" their emotional baggage on students.  That is inappropriate and unprofessional.  But as I was relating my thoughts back to Rodriquez and how important his teachers were to his academic development, I wondered if maybe I am just someone who is too personal. 

       It is crucial for teachers to set boundaries and make it clear that they are not students’ friends but rather a trusted adult that can and should be available to talk.  I like to get to know my students because when I understand my students and they begin to find a comfort with me we can learn a lot more easily because we have built a trusted relationship.  Richard talks about how he looked up to his teachers/ nuns at his catholic school because he saw what he wanted to be, but yet he did not know them.  So I wonder, how personal does a teacher-class relationship need to be?  And how would you respond to sharing your private life in your public life at school?

            At the same time I was annoyed and frustrated with myself for not realizing how much English as a Second Language students give up and sacrifice to become “educated” in our assimilating school system.  Language is a main component to a student’s family cultural and private development and it seemed like Rodriquez immediately lost his identity with his family and culture when he entered school and had to learn English like his teachers.  I grew up in a very diverse town with many races, religions, economic status and so forth, but I realize that is not the norm for many people.  Culture has never been a boundary to me, but rather interesting parts to the people I met and became friends, peers and classmates with.  I was blind to a lot of the cultural changes that some of my fellow students had to face because I did not have to deal with them.  Rodriguez’s book was very captivating and thought-provoking and I hope to read more books like his that open my eyes to more parts of teaching and people that I had not considered. 

           I’m curious because I have not had that much experience with ESL students, how much of what we teach is assimilating and detrimental to students acceptance in both private and public spheres and how much is just teaching them a new language so they can open up either spheres?  How much are we asking students to sacrifice in our ESL programs, or have the drastically changed since Rodriquez was a student?  I would hope as a time went on and as more students like Rodriquez moved through our education system that we would start to realize that students’ language is a powerful part of them that needs to be cherished and understood before we begin to ask them to learn a new language and its norms that come along with it.  From my own limited experience with ESL students, I recall one experience in particular that I kept revisiting while reading the book about an ESL teacher confronting a family’s culture.  At lunch this teacher was venting about how she was struggling to get this one student to listen to her because in their culture women do not hold positions of power or high levels of respect.  She asked the student’s parents to come in so she could talk with them and get an understanding of how the student could be reached.  Her frustration came from confronting a rivaling cultural expectation; the father was the same way as the son and did not hold the teacher’s comments in a high regard.  When two cultures clash it is hard to stay open to learning new ways or finding a middle ground, but I wonder, now, what our ESL programs and teachers are being taught for our students who are battling this equilibrium.  

Cycle One

        During the readings this week I kept coming back to the same idea of "helicopter parents" and "hovering teachers."  As a student and as a child I remember having a lot of time to explore, individually and with my peers, to the point where I rarely remember having adults around except for explicit lessons or times when an adult was mandatory.  Most specifically I remember going to my older brothers’ baseball games and tournaments and I would immediately leave my parents to meet up with the other younger siblings from the teammates to wonder around the baseball complex.  We had to keep an eye on the game so we could come back when the game was over, but otherwise we were free to roam, get dirty and use our imagination.  I remember it being a special activity to have my parents play with me and my brothers but it was never expected.  Now I see my nephews and nieces playing with their parents more than learning to play with their own siblings.  They are learning to play with adults who stop them from making mistakes before they are even made.  I’m a strong believer in learning from mistakes so if students are not allowed the opportunity to make mistakes, how do we expect our children to learn? 

         Learning is a product of opportunities to expand and explore in one’s own time without fear of judgment or overwhelming confinement.  All classrooms and societies have a set of laws and rules for safety and consistency which provides an environment that allows for people to feel comfortable to learn, but these should be basic necessities.  Children have a sense of right and wrong, which is why teachers typically know a student is about to do something inappropriate because the student seeks out the teacher to check if they are looking.  I’m sure all the teachers know this action, when one of your students’ looks at you just before they do something probably should not.  They either do this to check they are not going to get caught or they are seeking attention. That was a question I had in the Japanese pre-school model for attention-seeking behaviors that are not appropriate for the classroom, how does the teacher help students develop socially so they do not act out or feel the need to act out?  I completely agree with not intervening for every misguided decision or disgruntled issue so students can develop together and create stronger relationships, but when the behavior is meant to grab attention will the behavior stop if it is ignored?  Should the behavior have a scaffold lesson facilitated by the teacher to help students understand how it is not the best idea to act out?

          As a teacher I find it overwhelming to try and know everything in my classroom but I like to know about my students.  I find that the more I talk to my students the less likely they are to act out and break our class rules because they want to build a stronger community.  So when I get emails, phone calls and visits from parents asking me to watch their students specifically or about a specific disagreement, like at lunch that two girls had three days ago, I get frustrated because it is not on my radar of importance.  The girls obviously worked it out on their own three days ago considering I did not hear about it but those parents need to know everything that is going on.  I respect my students’ decisions and I trust that they will come to me for help or will use the lessons they have learned previously in school, at home and from their own and other’s experience, they just need to have the opportunity to have those experiences.  

Introductory Post

Introduction

                My name is Sarah Zietlow and I currently live in Pierre, South Dakota but in 2 weeks I will be relocating to Wausau, Wisconsin with my husband for his job and so will our small dog, Lucy.  I went to MSU for my Bachelor’s and completed my student teaching internship through MSU in the Holt Schools.  After the internship year I moved to Salt Lake City, Utah and taught 6^th grade for just over 2 years. Sixth grade is considered elementary in Utah so I taught all the core subjects and all the electives to my class.  We were on a year-round schedule which means that I taught for 9 weeks and then I had 3 weeks off in an alternating fashion rather than having one long summer.  I strongly recommended year-round schedules because it is great for planning units and it is great for behavior; everyone knows they need to work for nine weeks and then we get a vacation so students work a lot harder.   I moved from Salt Lake to Pierre for my husband’s job (note the theme) and since I had already started the school year in Utah I was not able to find a position in South Dakota since I moved at the end of September.  Luckily I had already decided to go back to school and get my Masters so I took this whole year to focus on finishing my program, full-time.  A month ago I accepted a job at the South Dakota Department of Education to be the Educator Effectiveness Specialist.  Basically I help district design evaluation systems that will improve teaching and achievement school wide, for both teachers and principals. 

                On a less professional note, I love sports.  I play Ultimate Frisbee, soccer, volleyball, basketball, softball and just about anything else that requires hand-eye coordination.  I started playing Ultimate Frisbee in college at Michigan State for the club team and quickly fell in love with it and have not stopped playing since.  I recently just had my 1^st wedding anniversary on June 1^st.  And I just bought my first new car which was simultaneously exciting and terrifying.  I look forward to working with all of you with my last official class of my Masters; I’m completely done August 1^st!

Reaction to The Wire Clips

One thing that I realized as I was watching The Wire clips in the order that they were listed, once I got to the last clip, was that I could not relate to the scenarios with the teachers or with the students.  I can relate to entering a school that had a different culture than my own when I taught in Salt Lake City where most of my students were Mormon and had not left Utah but I could still manage my class.  The magnitude to which the students’ social lives inside of school and outside of school shift was enormous and frankly scary in The Wire.  One of my biggest fears as a teacher is not being able to help a student outside of school.  There are a lot of moral, lawful and emotional barriers to helping students at home but I often wonder how far I can go to help my students.  We, I’m sure as a group of teachers, have all had at one point or another a student in our class that made us worry, feel anxious or very concerned for their well-being once they go home and this last clip, “The Fate of the Four Children,” brought about this worry for me tenfold. 

                As a teacher, I want to bring all my experiences into my teaching to help students see different things that maybe they will not get to experience and have them share with me and the class what they have experienced.  What I have not considered is the complete lack of willingness to even listen or show the slightest respect for a teacher.  In “First Day of School” I could feel my own stress, anxiety and frustration bubbling as the students totally disregarded the teacher and gave a lot of their responses with an attitude.  As a teacher entering a room of student who are unwilling to listen or follow directions, like simply reading a seating chart, I see myself responding a different way than Mr. P did in the show.  The whole scene was overwhelming and the last line of the clip, “you’ll get the hang of it” by the other teacher coming into the room to help was just the nail in the coffin for me.  The overwhelming classroom combined with another teacher having to take over to get control would frustrate me.  I just felt like the last line was meant for encouragement but said in front of the students would be a further loss of respect and authority. 

                “Sharing a Happy Moment,” was a redeeming clip for me.  The Wire has never been a show I have watched or heard of the plot before these clips so it was a bit intense at first but I’m glad this fourth clip was shown.  “Trick them into thinking they aren't learning and they do,” is true for every classroom and I am so relieved that Mr. P was able to find a connection with the students and able to find the resources to teach them.  Meeting the students at their interest levels and at their academic levels is good practice but it is not always the easiest exercise.  Mr. P showed a lot of initiative to find the dice, but also to take action and get the new 5^th edition books out of the basement and into the classroom, same with the computer.  This clip made it seem like Mr. P and the class were finally finding a stride and running together and that is such an accomplished and successful feeling, even if only for that lesson.