Chapter 4. Creating a Culture of Success

Chapter four is about things that we can do as teachers, to enable students to succeed. It is full of graphic organizers and evaluations. On page 71 Mika says, “I don’t like when people stare at my grill. My teacher came to me and said: “I don’t understand your frustration, but I’m not going to leave you alone. You have to write down what you have to say, so that by the time we get to you, you have something to say and you won’t have to make anyone wait and look at you.” So now that’s what I do, and it was one of the most important things I ever learned in my high school career.”

I can honestly say that I am not a big fan of the teacher’s attitude in this statement, but I like the simple, but effective idea. Mika might have trouble participating in class, for whatever reason. In an effort to get her to participate, the teacher gave her a way to organize her thoughts. He or she solved the problem by encouraging Mika to organize her thoughts and then write them down, that way she never felt like she was being put on the spot. This technique could help her to build confidence to ask questions, speak up and participate in class, outside of class or even in other situations in the future.

Chapter 3. Classroom Behavior

What jumped out to me in chapter 3 under the headline “What Lies Behind Classroom Disruptions” is when Vance says, “It’s not that we’re going to string teachers up, but most teenagers are insecure about something, and we’ll take it out in different ways–we’ll try to attack before they can attack us.”

I think that what Vance said is a perfect explanation for why kids act out, because it’s truthful and real. He is not blaming it on other people, or certain circumstances except his own insecurities. Teachers do not have the ability to control our students’ insecurities, but we have the responsibility to help our students deal with them, understand them and possibly overcome them. However, along with that responsibility, we must have an environment and attitude that prevents any more insecurities from forming in our classroom, from circumstances that we can control within our classroom.

Web 2.0 Educator

The web 2.0 educator that I chose, is Wes Fryer. His specialty is pod casting. He is doing his graduate work on it at Texas Tech University, where he is getting his doctorate in curriculum and instruction. Even though his specialty is pod casting, Wes Fryer is so much more than a pod casted voice, or a pod cast writer. He is truly a web 2.0 educator. Mr. Fryer has a passion for teaching teachers how to use technology and learning everything he can about using technology for his students. He contributes to several educational blogs about technology and I chose to read the one that he collaborates on with seven other educators. It is called the Infinite Thinking Machine.

What I really like about Wes Fryers thoughts on education and technology are that, everything that he does is innovative. He never stops thinking or searching for things to tell people about. It is clear that he is very passionate about teaching, especially teaching teachers how to use technology in their own classrooms. He finds that it is not usually the fault of the teacher that they do not use technology, just that they do not have the confidence or the resources to successfully integrate it. Some of the things that he does is so new, but I think that it is always good for teachers to try things. As they become more comfortable with the program or technology, they can integrate that technology in their classroom slowly if need be. He is very big on digital storytelling. He thinks that teachers should spend more time having fun teaching their students and learning with them, rather then preparing to present the same old boring information. I can understand that as both a teacher and a student. Teachers have to take time to create boring presentations and boring labs etc., however, they could use that same time to make more engaging presentations and labs. Teachers would enjoy teaching so much more if they did this, because students would enjoying learning.

The coolest technology that I came across when I was reading Wes’s blog was; Google Docs. Google Docs allows people to make word documents, PowerPoint presentations and spreadsheets online. It allows multiple people to access a document simultaneously, so students, teachers, colleagues or people from all over the world, (or even in a separate room) on a different computers can still collaborate on a project. I think this is absolutely brilliant. You can use the same email address that you used to sign up at blogger (which is a ‘Google’ email account), and all you do is sign in, and you can get started! So now, there is no excuse for not being able to get together to do a presentation. Because of this technology, you can be on separate computers and still finish the presentation. It might even be better to use Google Docs, even if you are sitting next to each other, just to be able to work together on the project, but still be on separate computers.

Focus the Nation

For my Focus the Nation event, I attended the showing of An Inconvenient Truth. I learned that since 1880, the hottest ten years on record, have occurred in the past fourteen years. That number alone should concern everyone, especially Americans, to raise awareness of the climate crisis we are in. I was aware that the United States did not ratify the Kyoto Protocol, however; I did not know why. I found out that it was because they did not think that it was 'fair' for developing countries to have an abundance of emission allowances (because they are developing) whereas, the U.S. would have had to cut back on emissions. They thought that this would be detrimental to the economy and encourage China to become a threat to our ‘superpower-dom’. Overall, I just got a better sense of what global warming looks like, and the effects it can have on our immediate future. It was nice to see the visual representation of what is happening, what will happen and what the effects are.

Because I am an earth and space concentration, there are so many things that I can and will do with my students to 'Focus the Nation.' I will certainly teach them about global warming, ozone depletion and the difference between the two. They will know what causes both of them such as burning fossil fuels, CFC’s and other pollution. They will understand what consumption means, how resources deplete and advantages to alternative renewable energy sources. I will do this in the form of calculating their carbon footprint (for high school or for middle school) watching films like An Inconvenient Truth or a field trip to a place the Sandy River Recycling Association. At SRRA where they manage recyclable wastes for most of Franklin county. Lessons will include interactive ozone depleting activities and comparisons of different types of energy.

Type I and type II technology

• Type I

Type I technology is like when technology is used just to duplicate other means for retelling information. It is more of a time saver than an instrument for instruction. When I think of type I technology that was used when I was in high school, I think of the overhead projector. The information that was put on an overhead projector was information or problems that could have been used on the whiteboard, or could have been put on a handout, but the teacher chose to write it on the overhead because it was easier for them. When I was in middle school, I remember having times in the Mac lab during our foreign language classes, where we would play a ‘game’ that was a foreign language quiz. It would show a picture and we had to choose the one that matched in the list of words. This also could have been done on paper, or in a class discussion. I believe that we did it on the computer because it is a lot easier for the teacher because the computer grades, and then gives the score to the teacher. The last type I technology that was used in some of the classrooms I was in. I was in a chemistry class that had the oldest textbooks I have ever used. There were times when the teacher would have to correct the information in the text, because it was beyond outdated, it was wrong. Instead of using the computer (there was at least one in every classroom, every teacher had one) to give us better information, he would just tell us. The teacher would only use the computer to do attendance or check their email. It was never used to correct the textbook and or give us newer information.

• Type II

To me, type II technology is technology that is new and interesting to use in the classroom. It is more of a teaching tool than it is a thing to make the teacher’s job easier. A type II technology that I used to love to use in the classroom was always when teachers would show movies to show things that we could not have understood by reading. It was great in history classes because for some people it was nice to see things, instead of reading about it, for the visual learners. It was always great to use the fancy graphing calculators. I think of calculators as a type II technology because, they enable the teacher to do a lot more things with the students. It is more than to make things easier, but it can also show students a new way of thinking about math. It helps with critical thinking skills to know that there is always more. Things are usually more complex than they look, and with a subject like math, it is great to know that it is useful and can be applied, but it never stops. I love PowerPoint presentations. They are a great tool to engage students to combine visuals, text, notes to be taken, music and audio clips etc. It is more than an information organizing tool, but it is a way to engage all kinds of different learners in one lesson and one presentation, without eating up a lot of time.

Maddux, Cleborne D. and Johnson, D. Lamont. "Type II Applications of Technology in Education: New and Better Ways of Teaching and Learning." Computers in the Schools 02 Jan. 2005: 1-5.

My MEL Experiences

• Student / Teacher Relationships: When I was in high school, I always had a teacher (who was also my track coach) who was very encouraging about the fact that I wanted to become a teacher. At first, I did not want to concentrate in the same field that he was teaching and kept jokingly telling me that I would change. Eventually, he was right. Sometimes I think that I chose to teach science because he was so encouraging and he took everything a step further by offering independent studies to me. He was always available for questions and for advice when I needed it, without ever being too preachy or too fatherly. He encouraged me to challenge myself in the field and to take my learning a step beyond, because I was going to be teaching and it was very important to be knowledgeable.

• Hands On: I had many hands on experiences when I was in high school. The best one would have to be when my history teacher let us create our own societies…outside. There were several components that we had to establish, like how we were going to live and where. Other than that, we could be anything that we wanted. He staged several problems that would occur when societies get started, like conflict over resources and land. After was all said and done and we had waged a virtual war, we reflected on how this all connects to the first settlers in America. Our class had a discussion about the connections and about historical criticisms and sometimes its hard to think in the moment and not make mistakes.

• Autonomy: In my AP literature class, we were given free range about any of the books that we were going to read in the class. We had to read some on our own and some as a class. The books that we were going to read as a class was something that we voted on and some of the ones that she (the teacher) liked the best, included watching the movie that went along with the book as we read, if we thought that it would be particularly difficult to understand. It was great to have that choice to be able to do what we wanted. I definitely learned more when I had the opportunity to make connections to my interest and not just the teachers. However, sometimes it was nice to choose the books that she liked because she was very captivating and taught it in a way that gave us reasons to like it as much as she did. We appreciated the books a lot more when she was enjoying them too.

• Avoid Rewards: I cannot remember having any teachers that were particularly rewarding with physical means. They were usually more vocally rewarding and encouraging more so than giving out candy or homework during classes. However, I can imagine that giving rewards for a job well done does not encourage learning or digesting of information. It means quick minds answered the question faster than anyone else did because he or she remembered where to find the answer. It also keeps that one student on top and confident while the other ones, who know the answers and the material but are not the first one to put their hand up or to offer to go first, losing their confidence in what they know. This can also hurt the class dynamic of community learning and participation. People will rely on the highly decorated student instead of everyone to help to facilitate conversation or be a team player in a project.

• Context: When I was a senior in high school, I did an independent study where I did the Nezinscott River Project with the Maine Geological Society. We studied the river that flowed right next to the school and how its changes and existence affects the school and the community. It was great to work with scientists who were doing such cool research in the community that I was in and to learn all of the geology of the area. Considering that I wanted to teach earth sciences, I learned a lot. My mentor teacher set this up for me to teach me that I have to know my stuff to teach, I can’t just have read books, I have to hands on learn things in the real world to be able to connect with my students.

Learning Styles Inventory

Style Scores

Visual			12
Social			19
Physical			9
Aural			20
Verbal			15
Solitary			7
Logical			5