A site worth checking out

This is actually a video streaming web site, were your district can pay a fee and join so you have access to a vast library of videos. These videos are organized by grade level and content areas, and they are ready to be viewed without timely downloading and storage. (United Streaming.com) I hope you find this useful.

Course Reflection

Realizing how little I knew about technology and the internet, then understanding how much I could actually do and understand (with a struggle) was the portion of this class that worked for me. I still have much to learn, but I may have broken through a few barriers that had limited me before this class.
The understanding by design assignment was fun, and my students seemed to really enjoy the lesson. The concept of big ideas and essential questions were confusing at first, especially when associating them to math concepts. Looking at the big idea as an application of how the math skill can be used in the real world and the essential questions are developed to stimulate critical thinking on how the skill can be used to help solve problems in every day life allowed me to implement these concepts into my math lessons. Having the students to understand math through real world experiences may give relevance to the skill and result in true mastery of that skill. This ability to problem solve is in fact our primary goal as math teachers.
Change is not always good, but we do know that change will always come about when people are not happy. As an administrator, I hope to observe and analyze trends and make adjustments and modifications as they are needed. I don't believe that changes should be drastic unless absolutely necessary in situations such as safety or security. Improving how students learn by providing an environment that is safe and conducive to learning would be one of my primary goals. Preparing these students for the future would perhaps be my biggest challenge. After taking this class, I'm not sure that any education system is equipped to adequately prepare our students with all the skills and tools necessary to succeed in the 21st century.

Middle School

The city of Orange is perhaps the most impoverished community in the state of New Jersey. Orange Middle School houses 600 students, where 9 out of 10 come from low income homes. Because of the regulations developed by NCLB, Orange Middle School has been directed to develop new methods and strategies to improve the scores of its failing students.
OMS developed 5 smaller learning communities to help build relationships and establish a sense of community within the school. Teachers within these learning communities meet twice a week , this allows the teachers to develop a stronger curriculum through inter disciplinary units. It also gives the teachers some feedback on individual students and perhaps opportunities to develop strategies on how to help these students to succeed.
The school's administrators and teachers are working together to improve the level of student interest and establish a safe learning environment in an area where violence and crime are evident. The teachers appear to be motivated and their enthusiasm will eventually spread amongst the students.
Some suggestions would be the development of after school programs. These programs could include subject tutoring or club and sports activities. This would help improve social and intellectual development by allowing the students peer interaction, belonging to a group, and recognition for their achievements. Performing some acts of community service would not only improve their moral development, but help them to improve their own world.

Curriculum Mapping

The purpose of curriculum mapping is to improve instruction, and to establish a level of consistency on what is being taught at each grade level. The concept of curriculum mapping engages the teachers in the development of the curriculum and allows them the opportunity to collaborate on how the material will be implemented and assessed.Working together as a district(K-12) allows the curriculum to flow,and develop into an efficient and effective educational program.
My previous district was one of four schools sending to a regional 7-12 secondary program. Department (subject) representatives from each of the four schools would meet a few times a year to discuss the curriculum. Representatives from the middle school would meet with us to share their concerns about what the students needed to become more prepared for grade 7. The first year that this program was developed , took time and effort but was very successful. The students from all four schools were better prepared and it allowed each district a better foundation for mapping the curriculum K-6 and establishing accountability to each teacher so that material was covered throughout the year. This also allowed for more opportunities to communicate with fellow teachers to develop creative instructional methods and ideas.
There are times when the curriculum needs to be modified to be in line with the "standards" and meet the needs of the students.It is advantageous to modify the curriculum periodically, rather than having a major overhaul. The adjustment is easier on everyone this way, but it requires more communication to become effective.

Online Classes

I had difficulty with the first online assignment primarily , because I wasn't prepared for the amount of time needed to complete the assignment. My time, like all of you, was very limited and I felt stressed and a little frustrated working online. As we moved on ,I felt that I was able to make adjustments and pace myself a little better, but time was still a factor. The experience was good and it appears that this is an example of what education in the future (near future) will become. I wish I had the time to explore the computer and the internet more often, it is a great tool!

How did the Lesson go ?

I introduced this lesson to my 7th grade class during a geometry unit iof our math curriculum.The lesson went well, the students appeared to enjoy measuring and planning the decorating process of their own rooms. The students stayed on task and engaged in discussions as they worked in groups calculating and making decisions on materials that they will be using. I was impressed with the questions that appeared to lead to a higher order thought process. The students appeared to enjoy working on a project that they could connect to, one student told me that he was going to actually refurbish his room.

Understanding by Design

Stage 1 - Desired Results
Mathematics grade-7

Established Goals:
CCCS 4.2 -E (Measuring Geometric Objects)
* Develop and apply strategies for finding perimeter and area

Understandings:
Students will understand that...
* the concept of area and perimeter is useful in many professions
* many home projects utilize area and perimeter concepts

Essential Questions:
* Explain the concept of area.
* Explain the concept of perimeter.
* What are some professions that utilize area and perimeter in their jobs?
* How can homeowners utilize area and perimeter concepts?

Students will know...
* how to calculate area of geometric shapes by using proven formulas.
* how to calculate perimeter of geometric shapes.

Students will be able to ...
* identify the difference between area and perimeter.
* determine the area and perimeter of geometric shapes.
* solve real life problems using area and perimeter concepts.

Stage 2 - Assessment Evidence

Performance Task :
* Students will be given a real- world situation that requires them to refurbish a room. They will have to measure the room and make decisions on purchasing materials and the amounts needed to complete the job.
* The students will display their results and explain how they came to their conclusions. ( results should be efficient)

Other Evidence:
* Have students assess their own results and determine if their measurements, calculations, and decisions were accurate.
* Have students identify situations at home and in their own lives were they can utilize these concepts of area and perimeter.( assign for homework)
* Give quizzes and tests that test their knowledge and understanding. ( spiraling this mathematical concept throughout the school year will help in the mastery of the concept of area and perimeter)

Stage 3 -Learning Plan

Learning Activities:
* Identify with the students, parts of the classroom that represent area and those that represent perimeter.
* Have the students measure their own rooms and plan to refurbish it with paint, carpeting, and molding. Supply the students with a materials list that includes paint prices and coverage per gallon, carpet costs with padding( carpeting is generally sold by the square yard),and molding costs per linear foot. Allow the students to determine how much of each material they would need and then calculate the total cost of the project.(results should be as efficient as possible)
* Students working in small heterogeneous groups will help all of the students in the understanding of the skills and concepts.

Reflection:
Understanding by Design allows the instructor to have a checklist for each lesson to ensure that all components of a genuine learning experience exists. This model is similar to Madeline Hunter's model for lesson plans. I liked the "essential question" concept, and how it provokes a higher order of thinking. These types of questions engage the students in thinking about what they are learning and how they can apply this knowledge to personal experiences. Making that connection to a real world experience gives relevance to the learning process.
The lesson design is similar to what I implement into my lessons, so this was comfortable for me to create for my own classroom instruction. The students appeared to enjoy the lesson, and many thought provoking questions developed amongst the groups as they attempted to complete the project.The students were engaged and appeared to enjoy the process of refurbishing there own rooms. Some students told me that they were going to Home Depot to buy the materials to actually paint there room.

Results Now

After reading this article, I felt that our noble profession was being bashed by Schmoker's view on classroom instruction. Perhaps his views have some merit and validity, but it is difficult to accept this because I have a passion for what I do. There are teachers who isolate themselves and don't follow the curriculum, and perhaps do little instruction at all. These teachers are not effective and are glorified baby sitters. Unfortunately, they may go unnoticed, and at times may appear to be doing a good job (during an evaluation). The "Buffer", as Schmoker refers to it, allows teachers to become complacent and do "whatever" in the classroom. This is a problem and it needs to be addressed.
Visiting the classroom could help uncover ineffective practices or even prevent teachers from developing these poor instruction techniques. Teachers collaborating on curriculum and lesson plans will allow teachers to share ideas and help the instruction process to be more consistent. Administrators should be more involved in the development of the curriculum and more so the implementation of the curriculum through instruction. Administration needs to observe and give feedback to the instructors. Constructive criticism is beneficial and necessary to help maintain effectiveness.
I realize that this article focused on the negative components of our profession, and didn't give just blame to government programs like NCLB that are poorly funded with unrealistic goals. We could however, improve the level of effectiveness of classroom instruction by working together as a team and avoiding isolated classroom instruction practice.

Did You Know ?

Change is happening around the world and we are just a small part of it. As change occurs in its perpetual motion, one finds itself at different stages of its development. Youth who are exposed to an era of technology at its early stages and are educated with the tools and knowledge of this era then that generation will implement that technology and utilize it to answer new questions and develop new forms of technology. The elderly (old dogs) , however, will have a little difficulty with this new form of technology and resist changes that may occur because of its developments. Most of us can find benefits to these changes, but have little confidence in themselves in utilizing the technology and feel that they are always a step behind. The old way is just easier.
These changes are making some people very wealthy, yet many people are out of work because of computers and outsourcing. As educators, it is difficult to prepare students for jobs and careers that don't exist yet, or jobs that may no longer be necessary due to these changes. How do you prepare when the technology you are learning is technically outdated and perhaps obsolete.
Education should be a problem based curriculum. Students should be developing critical thinking skills , they should be thinkers! The one thing that they can predict, is change, and with change comes problems and we need thinkers who can come up with the solutions. Our students need to meet challenges, react to change and respond to developing needs of our society. We need to develop students so that they have a vision of what the future should hold. Each generation responds to a new want or need and develops a way to satisfy it. Today's wants and needs are of global proportion, and we need to help them develop skills that will meet these types of challenges.
Yesterday's science fiction is today's reality! Today's students will be tomorrow's leaders, they will be our doctors, lawyers, electricians, and our government. We may not be able to teach our students about future technology and change, but we can prepare them to be thinkers and problem solvers so that they can utilize technology to meet the challenges that change may bring.

No Child Left Behind

Congressman William Pascrell
New Jersey District 8
Dear Mr. Pascrell,
I am a resident of your district in New Jersey. I am also a student, parent, and teacher in the town of Nutley. I share concerns with many parents and educators about The No Child Left Behind Act that is being considered for revision and renual. As an educator and a parent , I feel that the law increased the number of "highly qualified" teachers in our schools and perhaps improved the level of instruction to our students. Unfortunately, the current annual assessments appear to be interfering with highly qualified instruction. By monitoring student progress through standardized tests, teachers have been pressured to focus too much attention on test scores and test preparation. Valuable instruction time and real world experiences in the classroom may be compromised because of "test phobia" .
NCLB is an unfair generalization of how proficient students are in math, language arts, and science.The tests are just a "snap shot" of what the individual has learned and accomplished in a year. Some students are good test takers and some just don't do well on tests such as these.These test scores are not true indicators of there proficiency level. Special education students and English language learners(ELL) have to take the same test even though they have special needs. All students do not develop at the same rate, therefore it is ridiculous to think that they should all be proficient at the same time.
Please consider scrapping the NCLB Act and look toward developing a program that puts its faith in the highly qualified teachers and the curriculum that they develop to meet the needs of the students. The program needs to be adequately funded and supported by the Federal Government to be effective. The teachers are the best judges to monitor student progress with assessment strategies that address the differentiated needs of the individual learner.
Thank You,
Frank Sasso
Mathematics Teacher

Reading Don't Fix no Chevys

Many of us have experienced a class or seminar were the material being presented was either poorly presented , or was a topic that did not interest us. That experience usually turned out to be an incredible waste of time with little or no retention of the material being presented. On the other hand, lets reflect back on a presentation that involved an activity or topic that we had an interest in, such as a boat or car show. Most people are engaged in the show because they have a passion for learning about their hobby. These people are learning about what they enjoy doing and want to learn more so they can be better at it. The four main principles that Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi used to explain the concept of "flow" are usually a part of activities and experiences that people have passions for- these components should be implemented into classroom lessons so that students may experience skills and knowledge that apply to activities that they can connect to and are interested in.I believe that we as educators, need to prepare our students to be well rounded citizens who can contribute to the success of a prosperous society. Society needs a diverse group of people to meet the needs of society. The classroom should be a model that allows students to explore their passions and relate them to their future careers. People should engage in there passions and enjoy what they do, and not worrying about failure(grades can be motivating or deflating just like salaries) Imagine a classroom that is as interesting as a car or boat show!

State of New Jersey Standards

The website for the New Jersey Core Curriculum Standards was informative and I found it rather simple to navigate throughout the site. I read the introduction and I had the feeling that the State was presenting its program in a different perspective than that of the way it is being presented to the educational systems and we, the educators are certainly not receiving this message in a positive tone. I am not a proponent of standardized testing, but I do believe in an organized curriculum, which connects the students to useful applications. The standards concept was a political response to a potentially failing public education system. Had educators and business people (who are looking for future employees) put their heads together and did a "wants and needs assessment"then developed a program that met these wants and needs, and then implemented this program, we might just have a plan that works.
Being a math teacher, I spent more time with the math standards and found the website had a nice clear and concise representation of the standards. The unrealistic component of the "standards" is that all students will be able to have proficiency in these areas. Students develop at different rates and not all children have the same ability level. Yes,challenge every student, but not every student can meet all of the challenges.

The Saber Tooth Curriculum

Society is slow to change , yet change is inevitable. We meet change with resistance, perhaps it is that we fear leaving our comfort level and routines.
The article seems to express a concern with how society prepares its youth for their future through its education system.The education system appears to be outdated from generation to generation and in most areas, never really prepares our youth with the skills necessary to survive in the real world. We seem to attempt to meet these changes with slight modifications, but all we really do is squeeze stuff in by cutting into something else or eliminating an elective. A better look into our future may tell us to revamp the school system and how it is operated. A look at longer days (45 min.) would be helpful, or perhaps implementing a longer school year, or both! As long as they were compensated, I am sure that the teachers would find this a win-win situation. This would allow administration to include programs that can help develope life skills as well as academia.
Eliminating useless elements of the curriculum is necessary, and implementing technology and lifeskills should be enhanced. Interdisciplinary instruction should be encouraged and implemented. Shop and trade electives should be brought back into our schools. They are important to our society, we need plumbers and electricians as well as stock brokers and lawyers! We need a plan.

180 days ?

The video presents an interesting perspective to the school year. I tried to evaluate how much time is taken away from instruction in my classroom and I have to say that I teach for more than 65 days. Other activities such as assemblies and test preparations do absorb a conciderable amount of classroom instruction time, more than I imagined. Perhaps a flexible period or time slot could be incorporated into each day to accomodate all of these events. Scheduling can be quite challenging, but perhaps electives and studyhalls can be coordinated in a time block so as little instruction as possible in core subjects is missed. This would allow for these events to occur daily if necessary, with little or no effect on classroom instruction. We need to make adjustments if we are to increase instruction time. The clock has no mercy and it waits for no one, we need to manipulate this time piece so that it works for us.

Education is slow to change

Public education has not met the needs of our society and changes have been introduced and implemented into our schools, many of these ideas have good intentions but meet strong opposition and fail. The government regulations and programs appear to have fallen short because of a lack of support and funding. The proposed changes are often pieced together and not followed through. We end up with portions of many theories and ideas that don't seem to last. People may often see these changes as trends or fads and try to outlast them. We as a society like to live in order and change may be viewed as chaos, therefore we are slow to change. How long have we talked about converting to the metric system? Each generation has different ideas on how things should be done, yet most of these ideas appear radical to the previous generation and outdated to to the future generation. Perhaps change has to be perpetual to be effective. Education can then evolve into a system that meets the needs of the present society as well as the future. If people buy into the change as an improvement, they will support it, and it will succeed. Ashley Montagu stated that without the cooperation of its members, society can not survive.

The Prensky Challenge

Prensky's ideas are interesting to say the least. Students should make connections with what they are learning in the classroom with how they can apply these skills to the real world. Students will also take more of an interest in the learning experience if they have an interest in the topic and can see relevance to their own lives and goals. The core content standards and standardized tests are driving the curriculum, and teachers appear to be judged on test score results rather than the development of the future productive citizens who will lead our society. This pressure on performance may be interfering with life skill training and a more practical education to today's way of life. Prensky's idea can work if teacher's can implement these life skills with the standards ,perhaps with the help of cooperative learning strategies. I am all for preparing our students for life's challenges instead of test taking.
mr. S