The Goals of American Schools

An American child spends the majority of it's formative years in school. Around age 18 the new adult is expected to emerge from their educational cocoon full of knowledge that will make them successful and happy. What is this knowledge? While there are National Standards for Education (by the Common Core State Standards Commission) they are not mandatory and have only been adopted by 45 states and three territories. Even having adopted such standards to make it easier for students to transfer between states, the individual states largely decide what is to be taught in their schools by school board committee and popular vote.  In general, the goals of America's schools follow a few common themes: academic advancement, social and civic study, personal development, and vocational readiness .

http://www.nap.edu/

A school's primary goal is to give a student a sense of history and a sense of the future. American schools tend to focus on U.S. History, state history, and United States geography, while reinforcing the importance of mathematics and technology in the job markets of the future. English and communication skills are required for all students, for all twelve years, but foreign language tends to be only found in secondary education requirements, and then may be required for only one or two semesters. There are those who argue such a nationalistic view of education could actually hurt American children's chances of competing in the international job market.

Schools are seen by many as a tool to transform children into nationally-minded reconstructionists aimed at repairing the social inequities perceived in today's society. These persons feel that the best way to prepare these children to do real good  is to tie their education into societal contributions such as school-to-work credits and service credits like volunteer requirements. These methods may actually foster a more democratically-minded and socially aware adult who is better equipped to handle national politics than children given rigidly academic educations.

1. “Kansas Evolution Hearings Part 6” http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/kansas/kangaroo6.html Accessed 2012, September 14.
2. Sadker, David Miller. Teachers, Schools, and Society, 2010. Page 151.
3. Image credit: "National Science Education Standards", National Academy Press, Washington, DC. Accessed 2012 Nov 17. [http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=4962]

Santa's Reindeer - Alaska Department Fish & Game

*From:

Santa's Reindeer

Santa’s Magical Reindeer (R.t. saintnicolas magicalus) look very similar to common reindeer or caribou, but have many characteristics that distinguish them from the seven common subspecies: barrenground (Rangifer tarandus granti), Svalbard (R.t platyrhynchus), European (R.t. tarandus), Finnish forest reindeer (R.t. fennicus), Greenland (R.t. groenlandicus), woodland (R.t. caribou), and Peary (R.t. pearyi).

Home Range and Population: Santa’s reindeer live at the North Pole. They are cared for by Mr. and Mrs. Claus and a few specially trained elves. Even though there are only nine R.t. saintnicolas magicalus, they are not listed as a threatened or endangered species. The life expectancy of Santa’s reindeer is infinite. There have been no deaths or fatalities, though some very close calls have been reported due to slippery rooftops and heavy jet traffic around the Los Angeles airport. The nine reindeer are named: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and Rudolph. All are extremely agile, quick, and friendly.

General Description and Differences Between Subspecies: Among the common subspecies of reindeer, the largest bulls shed their antlers in late October and the small bulls and non-pregnant cows shed their antlers in April. It is not known when or if Santa’s reindeer shed their antlers. We do know, from a few furtive sightings, that their antlers appear to be extremely velvety and robust in late December. Santa’s reindeer also have the unique and remarkable ability to fly. The Claus’ have helped to further develop and condition this ability enabling them to fly great distances in a very short time period, provided they receive frequent carrot snacks.

Rudolph: One of Santa’s reindeer, Rudolph, was born with a genetic abnormality. His nose is bright red. As a calf, the other reindeer excluded Rudolph and often made disparaging remarks about his nose. However, this genetic abnormality became his greatest asset. One fateful, snowy and foggy Christmas Eve, Santa summoned Rudolph for his bright red beacon of a nose. Rudolph guided Santa and his sleigh through the treacherous night by the light of his nose. Had it not been for Rudolph, Santa’s sleigh would have been grounded. Christmas stockings would have remained devoid and limp, and Christmas day would have been marked with cries of sad disappointment. From that fateful eve forward, Rudolph has been revered and honored by his fellows and through stories, legends and songs.

Little more is known of Santa’s reindeer. They remain well loved and rarely seen, though several reports of harness bells and hoof sounds on rooftops are reported each Christmas Eve.

"Text: Nancy K. Long Illustration and Photo: ADF&G Staff Web posted 12/10/04, updated 12/6/05."

This "article" has been reproduced in its entirety without permission from the Alaska Department of Fish & Game. All images and content above this notice is the property of the ADF&G and Nancy K. Long.
For the original PDF on their site, please click the Link.

Personal note: The ADF&G website does have a wonderful listing of factual information for educators. Not that everything in this article isn't completely vetted by science. A lot of the information here definitely is.
http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=educators.teacherresources

Long, Nancy K, and Alaska Department of Fish & Game, "Santa's Reindeer". Posted December 10, 2004. Accessed December 13, 2012. [http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/education/wns/santas_reindeer.pdf]

Standards Based Education

            A standards based education  is one where the student is expected to learn a certain, pre-determined knowledge base. Often, the student's progress is tracked by performance standards in the form of frequent standardized testing and is built around preparing the student for the multitude of other standardized tests that will be foisted on them by the teacher, to pass; by the district, for funding; by the school, to graduate; and by the university, to get in. Then the cycle begins over again. The standards set down for the student's education are often lofty and overly-optimistic. The standards may presume that a student arrives in a certain grade completely prepared by previous education to start material and simply absorb it. Teacher pay and bonuses often go on the line as bets against how their class performs on the standardized tests molded to represent the latest set of standards.

            The standards themselves, called “content standards” are usually determined by someone who has not seen the inside of a primary or secondary school for decades. These standards are not even universal! Certain districts with poor grades on standardized tests may lower the standards to meet the students in order feel they are preparing the students better. It is completely possible for a student to excel under the standards at one school, move, and then completely fail to meet the standards of the next school. The difficulty may not be the only thing to change as those who edit the standards decide exactly what content goes in them. Does the content revolve largely around a textbook? Does the school need a new textbook to fit the new standards? Can the school afford new textbooks?

            The changing content for standards based education and individual school districts' ability to keep up with these standards creates a risk of disconnect between what government says the students should be learning and what they actually learn. This disconnect results in changing standards which results in more disconnect and a caterpillar effect in which the governments are constantly trying to do what is best for the student while the student ends up further and further behind the “standard”.

1. Sadker, David Miller. Teachers, Schools, and Society, 2010. Page 151.
2. Image: "Regents? Hey, they’re a breeze". Published August 18, 2010 at 7:12 am by Michael Huber, timesunion.com  Accessed 2012 Nov 27. [http://blog.timesunion.com/schools/regents-hey-they/970/]

Grades & Mission Green.

So, I was very busy these past couple weeks with studying, and taking, final exams. Here's what I know (officially documented in bold):

• Intro to Education: 1000/1000 A. (Yes, I didn't miss one point all semester!)
• Intro to Technology for Educators: 505/500. A. (Full credit plus extra!)
• Organic Chemistry I: A-. 
• Genetics: B*. (The B was sent to me by Professor, but not "officially" reported on my transcript yet.

All in all I had little to no life but it was really worth it!
(Quite a few photos after the jump)

Why Teachers Seek Tenure

When a new teacher is hired by a school they engage in a year-long contract with the school. Once a teacher has worked for the school for a variable, but long, period of time the school may offer the teacher “tenure”. Tenure is a continuing employment contract that does not need to be resigned each year. It is assumed that a tenured teacher will return to the school each year though some tenure contracts do require the teacher to “check in” and verify they will be teaching there each year.

A tenured teacher is no long subject to the probationary period held to newly hired teachers (Sadker 455). A school district or principal wishing to fire a tenured teacher must show reasonable cause to remove the teacher from their contract, which is significantly more work than firing a new hire and the tenured teacher has grounds to fight back. A tenured teacher is usually not removed (at least without great difficulty) in favor of hiring new teachers that would earn less and therefore offers some job security in hard economic times as well.

This job security extends to the teacher a sense of intellectual security as well. New hires are less likely to tackle controversial topics with their students or offer opinions not in line with the textbook or school district. A tenured teacher is likely to hide their personal life, such as their sexual orientation or being a worshiper of a religion (or no religion) not in line with the community majority (Sadker 456). As new teachers still fall within probationary periods an unethical administrator could have the opportunity to fire a teacher if they found out the teacher was an atheist, homosexual, divorced, a single parent, or just about anything else under the guise of probationary discretion.

Tenure protects a teacher once they have earned it or convinced their employer to extend it to them. This is great news for good teachers who spark children's minds to think outside their communities box but can be a headache for schools when the tenured teacher really does need to be removed. The district must show gross incompetence on the part of the teacher, insubordination, or have budget cuts. A school can end up stuck with a teacher with a great record who begins significantly slacking once they receive tenure.

Sadker, David Miller. Teachers, Schools, and Society, 2010 McGraw-Hill. New York.

Image: "Suit seeks to overturn 'outdated' teacher job protections - latimes.com" Posted TUESDAY, MAY 15, 2012. Accessed 2012 Nov 27. [http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2012/05/suit-seeks-to-overturn-outdated-teacher.html]

Image: "Tenure Review for Fictional Teachers" by Julie Shain on June 26, 2012. Accessed 2012 Nov 27.[http://www.collegehumor.com/article/6788004/tenure-review-for-fictional-teachers]

How Class Time Relates to Student Achievement

http://www.unique-wall-clock.com

For education in general time really is the currency of teachers. School days have only so many hours in them, and these school days tend to be broken up into several classes, a lunch period, time to travel between classes, and then time settling students into their seats and handing out materials. When taking into account the amount of time taken away from regular classes by assemblies, poor attendance, or class disruptions, the period of time per day actually spent in instruction and learning seems inadequate. John Goodland performed a study to determine the time spent in these different activities over several grade levels. He determined that about 74% of school time is spent in school instruction  However, when determining the efficiency of the that time he found a low amount of time spent on what he calls “academic staples” including reading and writing. Only 6% of time in elementary school is spend on reading, and only 2% in high schools. In contrast, the amount of time the student spent listening to lecture increased from 18% in elementary school to 25% in high school  Other research concludes that when more time is allocated for subject-matter learning, student achievement increases.

When asking the question “is class time related to student achievement” the answer is a resounding “yes”. Very few are the students that can skip class, read only the textbook, and ace the exams; this is true even of college students. More time spent in class means more time focusing on important concepts and certain hands on material that is better handled through discussion or experimentation. However, as previously seen, the method of instruction matter greatly when it comes to individual retention. It may be impossible to cover all the modes of learning in order to give every student the best possible chance to retain the information, there obviously is not time for that. If time cannot be begged, bartered, or stolen in order to get more instruction in the classroom, perhaps the answer is developing a more effective teaching method to interest a greater base of students in the subject and encourage home study.

1. Sadker, David Miller. Teachers, Schools, and Society, 2010.
2. Clock Image: "Teacher Clock". Unique Wall Clock .com. Accessed 2012 Nov 17. [http://www.unique-wall-clock.com/professional-clock-office.htm]

From Melting Pot to Cultural Pluralism

To completely describe Americans in terms of culture requires a carefully constructed and open-ended definition that integrates and qualifies the terms “melting pot” and “cultural pluralism”. While both terms describe the people who either immigrated or were born into cultural subsets within the large country, neither can adequately describe the country's culture on its own.

Melting Pot - Longwood.edu

The term “melting pot” is used to describe the idea that immigrated persons are automatically American simply by adopting the freedoms and rights of the Constitution of the United States. Each immigrant now pursues happiness while being legally protected from racism, sexism, agism, and religious persecution. All flavors of religion, race, and cultural identity are absorbed into the term American much as many colors of wax crayons are melted together to form one mass of multicolored wax. However, like describing the blended colors of melted crayons by the predominate hue, constraining American culture to the “melting pot” definition strips the immigrant groups of their individuality.

The term “cultural pluralism” describes those persons who, though mixed in the melting pot of America, retain their cultural or religious individuality. They are American but they are also African, or Jewish, or Hawaiian, or Sikh. While this may better describe Americans by embodying the dual nature of the young country composed of so many immigrant groups, it could be argued that it detracts from the “American identity” by forming clearly defined borders between the cultural, religious, or racial groups.

In order to completely define America and the people who choose to live there one must use at least both of these terms. People of diverse backgrounds live together under the shared promise of personal freedom protecting their pursuit of happiness, and can define themselves by both their ancestors and their culturally dissimilar neighbors. American culture is best defined as a melting pot for cultural pluralism.  

1. Nurmi, Amanda. "English Only: A Contradiction." Published 2012 April 19, Language & Identity: Spain & Greece 2011. Accessed 2012 Nov 17. [http://blogs.longwood.edu/spain2011/2012/04/19/english-only-a-contradiction/]
2. Sadker, David Miller. Teachers, Schools, and Society, 2010. Page 151.

Reinforcing Ethics: The Risk of Digital Theft

 With so much information on the Internet it is almost no trouble for a student to look up a previously typed and graded paper to turn in under their name. Plagiarism, the act of calling someone elses' work one's own without accreditation or citation, is rampant. According the a study done by the Josephson Institute center for Youth Ethics in 2008, "36 percent of high school students used the Internet to plagiarize an assignment" (Maloy 133). Some plagiarism is accidental;(e.g. a student may find a source on the Internet and not realize that the information belongs to someone else or use a quote, fact, or statistic without knowing they need to cite it). This is not willful disobedience but a lack of education. If adults have a hard time understanding copyright laws then certainly students do as well. Educator James McKenzie lists seven ways for teachers to steer their students away from plagiarism by urging the students to think critically about subject matter instead of asking them to report established facts. His steps include discouraging trivial pursuits, requiring and enabling students to construct answers, assessing student progress throughout the entire research process, and of course, stressing citation ethics (Maloy 134).

ARRR Teachers pirates?

When teachers use digital media in the classroom they may unintentionally set the stage for piracy. Yes, PIRACY! Feathered hats and pegged-legs aside, the using and sharing of digital material without permission has gotten a lot of attention. As digital material becomes easier to share it is not only people with two VCR's hooked up to one television who are illegally sharing these materials. Technically, a person who receives a legitimate digital copy of a book and then gives a copy to a friend while retaining their original copy has committed digital piracy. Is a teacher, then, pirating when they print out a webpage to distribute as a handout to the class?

First, assuming the teacher is not using material from an educational website designed to provide educators with lesson plans, handouts, or discovery information (such as Berkley's "Hands On Universe") and always assume the material to be copyrighted even if it does not explicitly state so. A teacher may use copyrighted material from the Internet without seeking permission from the author as long as the purpose is "fair use". How does a teacher determine if the use of the digital material is "fair use"? Unfortunately a few legal definitions are required:

"Section 107 in Title 17 of the United States Code states that the following uses are not infringement of copyright: the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section [106], for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research." ("Limitations on Copyright").

"Section 110(1) of the United States Copyright Law makes special provision for displaying images, playing motion pictures or sound recordings, or performing works in classes. You may display or perform a work in your class without obtaining permission when your use is for instructional purposes; in face-to-face teaching; and at a nonprofit educational institution" (Hoon4).

 To make these easier to understand Peggy Hoon, J.D. at University of North Carolina, Charlotte, created a useful "Frequently Asked Questions" about copyright law as a way for teachers to avoid the vast tangle of digital copyright laws and use a few steps to determine if the digital material can be used in the classroom. (Link opens to PDF).

Humor can break the H2O(s).

If the digital content the teacher wants to share with the class is not for educational purposes within the scope of the lesson, but for entertainment value (such as a chemistry joke related to the lesson) it is recommended that the teacher share the link or location of the object and have the students access it themselves. It may be of value to do this in order to reinforce the ethics of digital content.

Active education about plagiarism and what is acceptable citation is necessary to prevent purposeful or accidental misuse of content by students. This may require the teacher reminding students either in writing or verbally each time an assignment is given that requires the use of digital material. Another alternative is to construct assignments that require the students to do the same information gathering and research as they would for a regular research assignment but then present their findings and conclusions in a manner that precludes the ability to recite plagiarized facts altogether! One such method posed by Maloy is to have the students condense the material and conclusions into a political cartoon that summarizes a political candidate's stance on a particular issue (Maloy 134).

By being mindful of the digital material presented in the classroom, and actively guiding students to citation and creative presentation methods, a teacher can incorporate interesting and relevant digital media into the classroom to expand the efficacy and interest of the lesson while subtly reinforcing ethical behaviour.


Citations: 

Hoon, Peggy. "Using Copyrighted Works in Your Teaching—FAQ: Questions Faculty and Teaching Assistants Need to Ask Themselves Frequently" J.D. Washington DC: Association of Research Libraries. KnowYourCopyrights.org. 2007. Web. 20 Sep. 2012. <http://www.knowyourcopyrights.org/bm~doc/kycrfaq.pdf>

Maloy, Robert W., et al. Transforming Learning with New Technologies. Boston: Pearson, 2011. Print.

Marble Public Library, "Arggghhhh--Pirates". Web. 31 Oct. 2012. <http://marblelibrary.blogspot.com/2012/01/arggghhhh-pirates.html> (
*Image Source)

Pacific University of Oregon, "Limitation on Copyright". Web. 20 Sep. 2012. <http://www.pacificu.edu/policies/copyright/limitations/Section110.cfm>

Digital Content in the Classroom

 The Library of Congress contains 130 million items to include books, recordings, photographs, music items, and manuscripts. These items require approximately 530 miles of bookshelves! According to the University of California Berkley, as of 2002 the Internet was estimated to contain enough information to fill 37,000 Libraries of Congress! (Maloy 114). Having so much information at one's fingertips seems like a double-edged sword. The answers to all life's questions are open to everyone with a keyboard, but who makes sure it's the right answer? Does someone fact check the Internet? Who owns the information on the Internet? Can teachers effectively integrate the multitude of digitally based content into their classroom safely and legally?

Bill Nye's Climate Lab

The Internet is unfiltered, largely unregulated, and therefore has inadequacies, misinformation, and various bias. However, for the information literate teacher the Internet is a wealth of digital content that can enhance the learning environment by bringing a subject to life. Certain websites (repositories of like information on the "World Wide Web") can act as a sort of digital field trip (Maloy 159). An art class can explore works of art that are currently scattered throughout various galleries throughout the world on Artcyclopedia.com. Students in a geography class can have digital maps of varying scale and detail available for instant recall from sites like the University of Texas at Austin Perry-Castanada's Library Map Collection or Google's satellite driven GoogleEarth. Science classes can use videos from YouTube (a user-based video hosting site) to watch a chemical reaction, experiment, or dissection. Many learning sites, like Bill Nye's Climate Lab, have educational mini-games that teach the players about conservation, ecology, and citizen science. Using this digitally based content allows teachers to really make a subject come alive, and involve the students in a way that watching a video or lecturing can't do.

As digital material continues to become more widely available and include more and more educationally based material, teaching students (and other teachers) to access it safely and utilize it effectively becomes important. School-based computers may limit what sites a student can access through customized web-browsers. Teachers may discourage students from using information from certain sites by refusing to accept those sites as citations for research papers (Maloy 133). According to Maloy's Transforming Learning with New Technologies (2010) information literacy is defined by the American Library Association as "the ability to recognize when information is needed and  to then have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the  needed information" (p114). Previously the need for information literacy may have seemed to be negligible: educational material came from textbooks that were approved by the school board and a teacher taught primarily from the textbook.

As the Internet becomes prolific enough to threaten the livelihood of textbooks teachers end up needing to evaluate their digitally based additions as they would a student. Is the information relevant? Is the information accurate? Does the medium (video, audio, mini-game, tweet, blog, etc) detract from the overall lesson? Is the teacher permitted to use the material in class as-is, or do they need written permission? Some sites list on their website what form of copyright they hold over their information. All digital media is automatically copyrighted to the author the moment it's fixed in medium (the Internet) but certain laws and provisions govern when they can be reproduced. Streaming videos, playing music, looking at images "live" from the Internet (through an overhead connected to an Internet-connected computer) are all allowed (Hoon p5-6) and are considered being used "as intended". In fact, digital copyright is a hot-button topic as of 2012 and will be addressed in part two of this blog: Reinforcing Ethics: The Risk of Digital Theft.


Citations: 

Maloy, Robert W., et al. Transforming Learning with New Technologies. Boston: Pearson, 2011. Print.

Hoon, Peggy. "Using Copyrighted Works in Your Teaching—FAQ: Questions Faculty and Teaching Assistants Need to Ask Themselves Frequently" J.D. Washington DC: Association of Research Libraries. KnowYourCopyrights.org. 2007. Web.20 Sep. 2011. <http://www.knowyourcopyrights.org/bm~doc/kycrfaq.pdf>

How Different Communications Options can Support the Classroom

Technology: It's SCIENCE!

Technology has reshaped the way teachers communicate with parents and teachers, and the way they monitor professional development information. For decades parent-teacher conferences dominated the interaction opportunities between parents and teachers. With the telephone teachers are able to engage in long distance synchronous communication with the parents to offer up time-sensitive information that may pertain to disciplinary problems or an issue the child has in learning the current material. Electronic mail, e-mail, allows for asynchronous communication with a single parents for less time-sensitive discussions or to contact multiple parents at once. Teacher websites and blogs become repositories of information where students and parents alike can access the class syllabus, educational outline, or find suggestions for extra study material (Maloy 123).

According to Maloy's Transforming Learning with New Technologies (2011) some 96 percent of students aged 9 to 17 use social networking technologies like blogging, texting, blogging, and accessing online communities (p 210). Though students are discouraged from accessing social networking while in school such tools may be useful in the form of online discussion groups or forums like Blackboard.com or Moodle.com as a kind of online study group. Teachers may choose to contact students by e-mail to send out time-sensitive information pertaining to an upcoming lesson or to allow students to ask questions privately or class hours.

Technology allows teachers to monitor their professional development information. Teacher blogs and professional networking allow them to communicate with colleagues and stay current professionally (p 219). Professional development information can also be monitored as a kind of living entity with digital portfolios. Not only containing the information of a regular paper portfolio (information about themselves, their educational goals and training) an e-portfolio or webfolio "is a goal-driven, organized collection of artifacts that demonstrates a person's expansion of knowledge and skills over time" (p 309). These e-folios allow the educator to combine their resume with audio or video recordings, examples of PowerPoint lectures, or spreadsheet databases. Examples of web-based portfolios can be found at http://portfolio.iweb.bsu.edu (as of 2012 September 18). 

Image Source.