Educational Philosophy/Model Integration

One of the most important things I do in my classrooms is to keep the students engaged in meaningful academic learning. As we all know this is a major key in their learning. After seeing all of the demonstrations that were done I was truly amazed at how wonderful some of the presentations were. I can see myself using all of the models at some point in my teaching. However, the two that stood out to me were the inductive thinking and and the role playing.


ROLE PLAYING
As a social science teacher the role playing model fits like a glove. It goes without saying the role playing is a great way to get students actively participating in the learning process, because they become the learning process; they are the props and the lesson. I also feel that role playing touches on so many of the important aspects of learning. It can teach language acquisition, content, empathy and to see other perspectives. As important as language and content related learning are I feel that empathy and the ability to not just see the other side of the coin but to appreciate the view from there is equally important in the development of our students as we move deeper into the new century. By having students role play and take a role that may not conform to their current perspective or mindset can really impact them and the way that they view that subject or people while also teaching the important concepts and knowledge that are needed to be successful in the academic arena.


INDUCTIVE THINKING
Inductive thinking is another model that I feel fits well into the social science arena in that it forces students to use a higher level of thinking to come to the proper conclusions about what can at first look like a random set information. It forces students to gather data and organize it in a creative manner. This idea fits my philosophy of allowing the students to use their cognitive strengths to come up with plausible and defend-able positions related to the course work.  I feel that when students learn to their strengths they retain the information in a much more concrete manner. This model also invites a large amount of dialogue and given the fact that I am not to chatty (joke) my favorite lessons to teach involve a lot of dialouge between the students in which I can interject to either deepen the concept or correct misconceptions or simply point the students in a different direction to get them back on track. In using this model I can see myself setting up groups with different outcomes on the same idea and then having them compare and contrast the outcomes. 

End of Semester Reflective Response

EDSS 531 REFLECTIVE RESPONSE

            As I sit here and reflect on the past semester I am sad to say that due to the nature of the courses I feel that I did not learn as many new skills as I had hoped. That is not to say that I did not learn some great techniques and strategies. I did; however, I feel that due to the restricted amount of class time and general reduction in collaboration between me, my fellow classmates and instructors I did not grow as much as I had hoped I would. I understand that this may simply be due to way I learn and or that my expectations for the semester were not in line with reality. That being said, I did come away with valuable lessons learned.

            Working on the ITU's was a great experience, but even that was a trial by fire with my group really just trying to get by. In the end it came together and turned out pretty good. I feel that it could have been better and even more successful had we been given more exposure and direction prior to the task. That being said, I do feel that getting a true ITU into place would be a great experience for all involved. Although, at my current site I feel that it would be very difficult to do based on the responses I have received when simply talking about the idea to the teachers there.

            One of the things that I have taken from this semester is that a flipped classroom needs to be supplemented with in class instruction. I don't feel that at the high school level the students will have the self discipline to do the work at home. For the most part, many of my current students do not do the work in class and do even less at home. From my own experience this semester I found myself procrastinating much more than usual because I had to set my own times to do the work and learn the material. It also impacted my group work, when members of the group did not want to make an effort to meet at time outside of just before or after class.

            Possibly the greatest thing that I am taking away from this semester is that "progress" is only progress if it makes things better. I need to keep this in mind as I work in my own classroom. I need to be able to reflect on the changes and strategies I make and use to make sure they are helping my students achieve the academic goals they are capable of and not just making changes for the sake of "innovation" or technology. 

Journal Writing 5:

Journal Writing 5: Respond to the following prompts :

• Looking back at your teaching last semester, what did you discover about the needs of students in your classes? What kinds of “needs” surfaced that surprised you?

• To what degree do you think you really understand the needs of your students? How wide is the “gap” between them and you?

• What might have surfaced in the reading or in your teaching (about the realities of students’ needs) that triggered a negative response in you? Try to identify why this response was triggered and how it relates to your biases.

            One of the things I discovered about the needs of my students is that they are greatly varied. Essentially, every student has a unique set of needs and the needs can change from one minute to the next depending on the environment and the inputs that student is receiving. These needs can also vary in significance. One student may simply need a pencil for an exam, while the other may need to figure out where his family is going to be living once they lose their home. Both of these are examples from last semester.

            One of the particularly surprising needs to me that surfaced was found in the number of students that did not have the required text books to use at home. This is attributed to two things, they did not have enough books to go around, and so some students were given the books on CD instead. Well, as many of these students found out, the CDs were so old they did not work on many of the newer computers, so they were left without any resource to use at home. This was very surprising to me, another thing that surprised me was the attitude of the staff about the issue. Their take was, they can go to the library and use a book there. There was no concern over the fact that about a third of the class did not having a working "textbook" to use at home. Another need that surfaced was the need to know that I cared. I can count at least a handful of students that completely changed the way the act in class and their attitude towards the class as whole once they really figured out that I cared about their success and failures. These students opened up to me and opened up to the class in the way of greater participation and as an ally in my classroom management. Students I would have never suspected as this being important started to come by class during lunch for a little help and would then stay 15-20min after I had answered their question just to hang out. One student even asked him, "Why are you still here?", his response was, I am just hang n' with "the Eagle", which is what some of my students took to calling me. Before he realized that I was there to really help him, he didn't talk to me, did not engage in class and was really just body. After a few chats and me following up on things we talked about and holding him accountable he turned a corner and became a different person in class.

            I think I get most of the big picture needs of my students. I know they need love, encouragement, consistency, an understanding of what I expect of them and a place to be who they are, I also know that some of my students are lacking basic needs, a safe place to live, food, a family that shows them love and support. I even understand that they need to be able to express themselves, often in ways that are certainly foreign to me and I don't always understand why they choose the methods that they do. But none the less they need to be able to be who they are, far be it for me to tell them otherwise. I guess this is where the gap comes in. There are certain types of expression that I just don't understand, mostly the counter culture types of expression. To be honest, I am not sure if it is that I don't understand the need to express themselves in that particular manner or how the need came about. I feel that as a society we are as open to things as ever, not that we don't sill have a lot of work to do, but very few things draw a reaction from society these days. So why do some students feel that they need to take a counter culture stance, when the culture is so open to so many things as compared to the past?

            One of the things that trigged a negative response from me was an instance in class when I assigned my class some things to do that required them to use a computer at home. No sooner did I get the information out as a student that was often a bit defiant said to me that I can't do that because she did not have a computer. My first thought was you are just saying that to be a pain. I politely said to her, "you really don't have a computer?" Her response was "Nope, so I am not going to do it". I told her she could use the computer lab and her response was basically she should not have to do anything outside of class and I could not hold her responsible for things done a computer since she did not have one. At that point I dropped it, and moved on. The thing that I started to think about was that I assumed that everyone in the class had access to a computer at home. I am still not sure if she was just being defiant or not, but I have to give her the benefit of the doubt. By making this assumption I had to have a preconceived notion about the SES of this student based on her skin, color, dress, and a variety of other factors. Furthermore, would I have had the same questions about the student's honesty about not having a computer if she was not always defiant to begin with or if she dressed differently or was a different race? I don't think so, but these are the questions that I have to ask myself. More importantly, I need to make sure that I don't make more serious presumptions about students based on my expectations and perceptions.  We assume so much about our students and to assume to much is at some point going to create issues much larger and much more important than this instance.

Educational Philospy

The Foundational Educational Philosophy

Of a Growing Teacher

By

Kevin Eagleton

Janis Brandenburg

EDSS 531

February 22, 2012

            The bell rings and class begins. Well, technically class has begun, yet students are still filling into the room talking loudly as they do so. Some of them acknowledge the teacher with a happy "hello", while others ignore the fact that a teacher is even in the room. The teacher shuffles papers on his cluttered desk looking for his lesson plan and the flash drive that contains his Prezi and the quick write the students are supposed to do first thing everyday. One student says, "Can't find your stuff again Mr. X? Does that mean we don't have to do that writing thing, what is the point of that thing anyways?" Mr. X replies, "I know I am so unorganized, anyway how was your weekend in the mountains?" At the same time down the hall, students are walking into a science class where a lab has been set up with each table set up in a very orderly fashion with all of the needed materials in set location. Students walk in without talking and immediately sit down and get out their journals. They read the board that has the agenda for the day and begin to complete the first part of the day's lesson. One of the students begins to talk about something unrelated to the class and is quickly told by another student at the table not to talk. The student quickly quiets and get back to work. While this is happening, the teacher is talking to individual students about yesterday's lesson checking for learning by asking them to tell her one thing they learned from the lesson.  Both of these scenes are things that I have seen in my observations. From these brief scenes we can deduce a few things about not only the classes but about the classroom management styles of these teachers. To take this one step further, we can also make some assumptions about the educational philosophies of these teachers to some degree. Why is this? Simple, the way a teacher manages, organizes, instructs, and even relates to their students can all be tied into their educational philosophy.

Physical, Social, and Emotional factors

            I think it is safe to say that there is no other time in a person's life when they will have to deal with so many changes related to physical, social and emotional change and conflict. It is this confluence of so many changes, issues and conflicts that can make this time in anyone's life very challenging. They are developing in physical ways that they may not yet be ready to handle or are ashamed of, they may have not found a social setting that is comfortable and accepting of who they really are, and let's face it, this age can make anyone an emotional wreck. Can you say hormones?  Yet, as teachers we often expect our students to put aside all of these factors. Why, so that I can teach them that Pizarro conquered the Incas in 1532 and that it is important enough for them to remember! What is important for us to remember is that they are going through all of these things, some of them simultaneously and this can make high school a very tough time for many students.

            What does it all mean for me as a teacher? It means that I have a lot more to worry about than just teaching them about Pizarro. It means I need to be in tune with my students' needs in these areas. I need to be able to spot students that are struggling to handle the changes that they are going though and I need make sure that I take what I know about them and use it to direct my actions and my lessons. For example, last semester I had a student named "Joey", and he came into class about six weeks before the semester ended. He had not attended school for two years. He was sent to our school by court order, if he did not attend he was going to go to juvenile hall. When he came to class he flat refused to do anything. Even when I had the students doing some really fun things and they were having a good time he refused to interact with me or anyone else. He was emotionally a mess, removed from his home, forced into a group home with ten people he had never seen before. He had family issues no kid should have to deal with; learning about the stock market crash was not on his list of priorities. The only thing I could offer that was relevant to his life was to be a voice of caring. So everyday, during his intervention class, I sat with him and talked about whatever lame thing I could come up with. Sometimes the conversations moved, other times they died slow silent deaths. However, after about three weeks of this, he cracked. By that I mean he actually participated in class as part of a think-pair-share. From there he made very small steps toward participation. Did he ever fully participate, no, might he if had he more time? Maybe. Was it because of me or the students around him? I think both, as Baldwin, Keating and Bachman used the phrase, "No person is an Island". I sat "Joey" next to those students I thought he could most relate to based on his history and personality. Again, as Baldwin, Keating and Bachman state, that at this point in the adolescents life contact with peers is very important to them. So I made sure he had contact with students that I felt would help him to feel the most comfortable. The point is that one thing I have learned is that at this age in this time, our students need us to meet them where they are and lead them from there. We cannot expect them to meet us where we are and move forward. They have not reached that level of maturity and cannot be expected to act in a manner that is beyond them.

Learning environment

            The learning environment is a key factor in the success of any student. Which is why it is important for a teacher to ensure that while the students are in the class or simply on campus they have a safe learning environment that is conducive to education? What is the learning environment? It is no longer confined to the classroom, halls and library of the school  With today's media and connectivity at the fingertips of most of our students the learning environment can be almost anywhere they are. For us as educator, we can have the most impact on the learning environment within the campus and further impact in our classrooms.

            One of the most important and effective things that we can do to create a positive learning environment is to make our students feel safe and accepted. This needs to be a practice that is preached and enforced in class and in the halls or wherever our students are on campus. Our failure in this area will certainly have a negative impact on our success as educators. Some of the most obvious ways to make students feel safe is to protect those that are traditionally marginalized including minorities, girls and LGBT. If we are vigilant in the protection of these groups, and we must be, the effect will spread to others and help to create an overall feeling of protection and acceptance.

            The physical learning environment of the classroom can also have a large impact on the students. I envision my classrooms as being decorated with relevant and interesting themes and information regarding the topics I am teaching. Furthermore, I think the rooms need to have a certain level of up keep. Last semester I observed in a room that had plenty of interesting and relevant posters, images and quotes related to U.S. government, however, the items on the walls were in disrepair and looked to have been there for a great deal of years. So instead of adding positively to the environment it was a negative in that it made the room look dreary and uninviting. Another seemingly benign aspect of a classroom is the seating arrangement. According to Baldwin, Keating and Bachman in Teaching in Secondary Schools, this can have as much impact as the established rules and routines. In most of the classes I have observed, the seating has been very teacher oriented, whereby all of the students face into the middle of the class in neat rows of 3-5. In many of these classes this is done out of necessity due to a lack of space, however, I feel that there is a better arrangement even with limited space. Because I want to create an environment of shared learning I would create student pairs and move the desks so that each row has a partner row that is right next to them so that they can easily collaborate on the content. This seating arrangement will also play a role in the routines of my class which I will discuss later under theme of classroom management.  

Expectations

            Academic expectations can make or break a classroom and a student. As a teacher I want I want my students to know two things regarding this subject. First, my classroom is an academic setting. Second, I expect them to succeed in my class. I feel that it is important for students to recognize earlier on, as in the moment they enter my class for the first time, that they are in class to learn and that they have the capacity to learn. Obviously, not all students have the same capacity to learn. That is why I expect them to succeed; this approach leaves the outcome open ended. For student "X" success may be earning an "A" while student "Z" may have been successful in attaining a "C+". I feel that this approach is in line with L.C Clark's (2007) in her article "Expectations and At-Risk Children" where she asserts that students labeled or perceived to be at risk are held to a lower standard than their counterparts. This should not be the case; all students should be held to the same level of expectation based on their abilities.

            As a teacher there are many ways to go about ensuring that these two beliefs are transmitted to the students. The first step is to be explicit with them and layout the expectations. For some this maybe the first time that they are told in no uncertain terms that a teacher expects them to be successful without question. Furthermore, in establishing the academic culture I will start immediately. The first thing my students do everyday while I take role is a quick write. I will have them do this on day one and establish the idea that when they enter the class they should be thinking about content material and be ready to move forward. In general, setting clear expectations for students contributes "in some degree to the relative success of that student's performance" as stated by Baldwin, Keating and Bachman in Teaching in Secondary Schools.

 Classroom Management

            In many ways, classroom management is much like setting academic expectations. The expectations must be explicit and enforced on a consistent basis. As far as my classroom management style I myself have few rules. The most important being that of respect. I feel that respect can be applied to pretty much everything in the class. If you respect yourself you will act in an appropriate manner, if you respect your peers you will act in an appropriate manner, and if you respect me you will act in an appropriate manner. Those are pretty much my rules and explanations for them. I feel that the specific rules of the class can be determined by the students. I would also use parts of the Cooperative Discipline method developed by Linda Albert. I feel that she has a number of techniques that are effective and fit my personality. For example, I love the idea of catching them being good. So often some of our challenging students are simply never praised and for them to be recognized when they are doing the right thing can be a valuable moment in their day. I am also a big fan of giving the "eye". This is a great non-verbal message to the student that you are aware of what they are doing and that they need to get on task. Another great strategy in this model is the target-stop-do. It is explicit, which students need and want, in that it targets the student, identified the action to be stopped and redirects them to the appropriate action.
          Bearing all of these in mind I have come to the conclusion that classroom management is an area where equity can be lost. Many teachers have a set of rules and a system for application. For example, one of the teachers on campus last semester had a steadfast rule for tardiness, 3 tardies and you were written up. While this seems fair, in some situations it can do more harm than good. I had a student in my first period class that had some very extenuating circumstances that often caused him to be late. The last thing this student needed was to be punished for taking care of his family and making sure his brothers and sisters were on their way to school. So as with everything in education we need to apply the equity over equality rule of judgment. The final piece of my management plan is to create relevant and fun lessons. As any teacher will tell you, students that are engaged are not misbehaving because they are too busy learning.

Meeting the needs of all students

            One word: differentiation. I feel the best way to meet the needs of all students is to differentiate. It is a mainstay of our program. When we do our lesson plans we have a specific section devoted to differentiation. Essentially the areas of differentiation are content, process and product. Within each of those you can address readiness, learning profile and or interest. Without planning for differentiation it is simply not possible to be sure that you are meeting the needs of everyone. For my lessons I tend to use a lot of scaffolding, specifically modeling, bridging and building background knowledge.  In the social sciences, the technique of bridging seems to be particularly effective as stated in Teaching in Secondary Schools because "it provides opportunities for students to use comparative and contrastive situations from their personal experiences to connect with new information". As described by Marzano, Pickering and Pollock in Classroom Instruction that Works using comparative methods in the social science fields in one of the most effective ways to improve student achievement.

Conclusion

            There are many things that go into an educational philosophy and what I have covered is really only the tip of the iceberg. This is really quite fitting, because at this point in my career my educational philosophy is still really underdevelopment. I have ideas and beliefs about what I want to do and what I think is equitable, but they are the beliefs of someone with little to no real experience. It is my hope that in a few years I can look back at this paper and say "wow", how I have grown. It is an even greater hope that in 15-20 years I can look back and say "wow" how I have continued to grow.

Meeting Joe Jones

For those of you that do not know who Joe Jones is let me fill you in. He is a fictional student that drops out of H.S. in the ninth grade at the age of 17. He has essentially been let down by everyone in his life that could have been a support mechanism. I met Joe as part of an activity I did in my credentialing program at CSUSM. We read a short story about Joe and the many things that led to his dropping out of school. After the reading we were asked to rank from 1-11 the factors that were most responsible for his dropping out. The factors included his mom, Joe himself, his teacher, his first grade teacher, his principle, counselor, society, curriculum, etc. After we ranked them individually we had to form groups and come to a consensus on our rankings. To say we were in the spread formation would have been an understatement. My group of three had one item that was ranked #1 on one sheet and #11 on another so coming to a consensus was difficult. The real value in doing this exercise for me is in looking at all of the times and people in the educational "system" that could have made a difference and for one reason or another didn't. Joe was failed at at every level. As a teacher, as a person, I can only be responsible for my actions and I know that some day Joe is going to walk into my class, possibly late, and I sure hope I greet him with "I'm glad to see you today, let's get you up to speed!" I hope you do too!

Journal #4

Submitted via CC.

Journal #3

     I feel that I am pretty in tune with the needs that my students will have in order for them to lead the lives that they want. As has been pointed out a number of times in this short semester it is no longer about just having the information and being able to assemble it in a logical manner. We are at the forefront of an era that those that have the information will have to be able to synthesis and manipulate it in out of the box manners in order to set themselves apart from the crowd. As an educator in this era it is up to me to not only help them learn the material but how to think about it in a variety of ways so that they can use their creativity and personality to make it something of value.
     How wide is the gap between me and them? Despite the age gap between me and my students I don't feel that the actual gap is as wide as it one might expect. However, some of the areas that have the widest gaps are likely in music and pop culture. That being the case I actually use these gaps as means of connecting with them. When I hear students talk about these things I ask them to tell me about it and then I try to relate my own music or ideas related to the conversation. It does not hurt that I have an eclectic taste in music and most students are surprised to know that I actually like some of the music they or their friends listen to. Another thing I do to make connections with my students is to tell stories about myself that they can relate to, most of them are about me making a fool of myself or failing in a funny way. Another great technique for me is to work a Rap or two in to a lesson. The class always get a kick out of it and they start to see me as being not just a teacher but a person that happens to teach and is willing to go out on a limb for them just to help them learn.