My Teaching Experience

Today in class I had to teach my mock lesson, for 15 minutes. In my lesson I approached the topic of Prohibition In my Roaring 20's Unit. I thought the topic was a good one, because it allowed students to appreciate the prohibition of a past time of many people during the time, and maybe even today. Since it was high school oriented class i couldn't really approach the topic of drinking, but i avoided it up asking students how they would feel if their favorite past-time was outlawed. I got mixed responses, but i thought it was a good was to open up the class this way.
I thought my lesson was well formulated to meet the needs of a 40 minute regualar class session, but I had to minimize it down to a 15 minute class. I enjoyed not having to meet the pressures of teaching for a whole 40 minutes, which I have had to do in my other education classes, but it made me realize that being prepared for changing plans for lessons is an important skill to have, and pull off.
The interruptions in the class were kind of funny, and I think approached them well. I think I need to work on being more of myself in front of a class, and to just make sure to be personable. I was nervous before going up, but hopefully when i do my junior field experience within the next month I will learn how to tackle my nervousness.

U.S. Eases ‘No Child’ Law as Applied to Some States

As many predicted, the No Child Left Behind Act is beginning to show signs of failure, and flaw by diagnosing too many sub-par schools or school districts based on school test scores. The problem with the system is that it is dianosing schools who little or not problems, but have some poor test scores, and lumping them into the same category as schools who actually need a large overhall. The secretary of education, Margaret Spellings vows to change and allow leeway for some states school disctricts who have been i.d.'ed schools disctricts in need. Under Spellings 's new program, the federal Department of Education will give up to 10 states permission to focus reform efforts on schools that are drastically underperforming and intervene less forcefully in schools that are raising the test scores of most students but struggling with one group, like the disabled, for instance. The problem with the system in place right now is that the rising number of failing schools is overwhelming states’ capacities to turn them around, and states have complained that the law imposes the same set of sanctions, which can escalate to a school’s closing, on the nation’s worst schools as well as those doing a reasonable job despite some
problems.
Critics of the system claim that the spectrum that allows for the federal government to access whether or not a school needs aid, or improvement, is too broad, and now schools are becoming mistaken and lumped in to conflicting groups, thus spreading the money and funds, and oversight that should be targeted at poorly performing schools, and making a blanket for thousands of schools.
Its interesting to see that the system put in place to monitor school progress, is still struggling to oversee all schools. An alternative im my own view is to let states handle education and give government aid based on income of neighborhoods. This would allow for an equal balance, and more productive means of helping faltering schools and districts.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/19/us/19child.html?_r=1&ref=education&oref=slogin>

Small Town Minds, Prove Difficult To Overcome For Harvard Student

The article reflects one conservative students struggles with life at college, in particular the "hook-up culture" at Harvard University. I think the article is important because it shows the willingness of one student to stick to her guns and not give into temptation, in her eyes to become a typical American girl. The featured students name is Janie Fredell, and the article goes indepth to see that the root of finding yourself, when you leave your parents or communities reach, is knowing who you are, as well as who you are not. Fredell is from a very conservative part of the the country, Coloardo Springs, Coloardo, and until arriving at Harvard University was never approached about making moral personal decisions pertaining to sexual activity. Fredell felt she was threatened by a school newspaper article that demonized the choice of abstinence, and couldn't believe that such an article could be published.
The article opened my eyes to how students that come from different parts of the country, regardless of age, have conflicting views with societal norms. I think the artcile is important because it shows that knowing yourself, can get you along way, when confronted with personal struggles, or obstacles, presented by the people you surround yourself with. In Fredells case, she seems to be confronted on a daily basis by all encompassing liberalism on the Harvard Univeristy campus, but stays true to herself.

< http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/30/magazine/30Chastity-t.html?_r=1&ref=education&oref=slogin>

School Bus-Ride Gone Wild!

This is a pretty ridiculous article, but I thought it was blog worthy, just because its so crazy to watch. Apparently in TUALATIN, Oregon, two teenage girls got into quite a tussle, but were caught on another students video cell phone. The bullying that took place on the busride resulted from when one student called another "a fat cow". The "fat cow" student then started slamming the other girls head into the a window, and pulling her hair. Students intially found it amusing but then realized the girl being beaten was actually getting seriously hurt. After a few minutes the bus driver pulled over and called the police. The conflict came to an abrupt stop, but the cops had already been called, so the damage had been essentially done. The biggest injury as a result of the fight was a bloody lip suffered by the antagonist who called the other girl a "fat cow."Interesting... Below I have supplied and link that shows the bullying on a bus-ride, I'm not sure its the same incident, but it still shows who bullying can take place at the most random of time, over the ludicris of statements.

I couldnt embed the video for some reason, so I'll just leave the link for the video:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8o7fxLpA5Y>

story below:
<http://www.nbc5.com/education/15514532/detail.html>

College Students Seeing Green As The Way To Go

In the wave of the "St. Peters Go Green", I found an article that explained the pheonomena, and made me realize that this "going green" business isn't just an isolated St. Peters approved activity. Apparently campuses like the Univeristy of Tennessee in Knoxville, the University of Utah, the University of Vermont and many others (including St. Peters College) have all jumped on the band wagon, in order to stop the burning of fossil fuels, which had attributed to the problem of Global Warming. A student who was interviewed from the University of Tennessee, named Katelyn McCormick, was adament about the campaign and encouraged all college students, and campuses to join the rest of the nation in educating and preventing the spread of global warming. She said, " Global warming, environmental injustices and social injustices are so closely tied together that you can't separate one from another, I definitely have found my passion and plan to make this part of my life."
The national organization is actually called "Focus on the Nation", and has been rapidly spreading helping bring together multipe generations, making the world look like a more and more eco-friendly place everyday. One student commented on the hard work, and dedication of all involved, and said, "You've got the old-school people in the movement who fought in the civil rights movement. And you've got these instinctually brilliant young people who know how to organize, who know how to broadcast, because they already organize every day when they look for friends (on Facebook or MySpace).
I in particular find the last quote in the article important because it shows that there is little or no prejudice when it comes to who is involved, and which mode of involvement they use, just so long as the word of spread of the movement. It is exciting that such a large-scale movement such as "Focus on the Nation" is being used to benefit all societies, and is being handed over to future generations, because it shows a transistion of power, but also a level of trust.

<http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-03-12-focus-the-nation_N.htm>

District to Settle Bible Suit

This article was interesting to me because I just finished learning about the problems with keeping public schools secular, and how teaching of specific religious material is so touchy. I felt that the article was somewhat of a let down though, because it didn't escalate into a full blown controversial event. The two parties involved were able to resolve that curriculm that had been introduced, by the West Texas school district that violated the constitutional statute that there must be a seperation of church and state. It argued that the course curriculum, adopted in 2005 by the Ector County Independent School District, promoted Protestant Christianity and a specific reading of the Bible as a literal historical document. The settlement between the A.C.L.U. (American Civil Liberties Union) and the school district came to an agreement that a new curriculum that has been already developed will be used in place of the original course material. In the original complaint filed last May, the plaintiffs said the district established the elective Bible course through a process that was “improperly designed to promote religious instruction.”
The outcome of this article is pretty boring, and this is a rather short and boring post if this legal stuff doesn't really matter all to much to you. I find it interesting that there wasn't more of a fight to keep the original course in the state that it was instead the school district crumbled and gave in to the A.C.L.U.'s case and complaints.

<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/06/us/06bible.html?ref=education>

Principal Sees Injustice, and Picks a Fight With It

The problem of illegal immigration statutues is much more far reaching than most people think, and in this article awareness of the impact that state statutues are having on illegal immigrant children comes to the forefront. In the article we meet a principle, Mr. Watterson. Shes an advocate for illgeal immigratn student funding, and rights, and has chosen to see to it that the children who suffer enough as it is, are able to atleast able to be educated in a sound way. Watterson became principle of Gateway Early College High School in 2003, and immediately started implementing change. She was not infavor of the old curriculum, and replaces it with a traditional set of standards because she felt the new progressive way was detriorating school performance. She is known for change, and when she felt the time was right she began her crusade to end or question the state statutes of Arizona, which is known as Proposition 300. The proposition says that illegal immigrants could not receive in-state tuition at public colleges and universities in Arizona. Nor could school administrators like Ms. Watterson use state money to pay it. Is this is fair thing for the state to impose on children who have fled primarily Mexico, i search of both a better life, but for the sake of the article, a better education?
Since Ms. Watterson has taken charge, and has began appearing on television shows, and interviewing with newpapers, and magazines, she has managed to raise of $27,ooo dollars in order to pay for some her students to attend college here in the United States.
Although Ms. Watterson is using her abilities to help those in need, is she really helping the rest of the country, by setting an example of being a dissenter against a state law? I find it hard to believe that she still has her job.

<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/12/education/12education.html?_r=1&ref=education&oref=slogin>