the most surprising thing you have seen in a classroom this semester?

What is the most surprising thing you have seen in a classroom this semester? (This could be positive or not so positive.)

I have seen a classroom full of 34 kids who did not know how to do group work. Okay, so out of seven groups of students, only two groups divided up the work, helped each other out, and had everyone in their group working. The teacher just sort of told them, generally, what they were doing wrong.

The most surprising thing I have heard in a classroom (the same one) is a red-headed girl calling Tom Robinson (a black character accused of raping a white girl in To Kill a Mockingbird) the n-word. When I walked by and heard this all of her surrounding friends looked guilty, but she did not.

Boy, do I have my work cut out for me in this class!!

Reading Reflection 5 - I'm thinking...

I'm thinking.... *bwuuuahhahahhaaaa*! It is a dangerous game, inviting me to think. I think, therefore I blog.

I think that group work can be well utilized, or you could flog your students to death with it. I remember being in reading circles in 5th grade and really enjoying discussing a book with just four or five other students. I went to a small school where the class worked as a group simply because we had all been together since pre-school. Group work came as second nature to us all because we trusted and knew one another.

Now when I am observing group work in the 9th grade at Vista High, I am appalled! Who forgot to teach these kids how to share? how to work together? how to communicate? I have my work cut out for me.

I will also have my fair share of setting classroom norms and behaviors. I hear kids dropping "n-bombs" and "f-bombs" like the words were going out of style. I also see so many kids pointing fingers and shouting at each other--when they are only a few feet away. Arguments begin and end with "f- you!" So I will also be utilizing the "I feel" phrases that are touched on in "Designing Groupwork," and which are taught by psychologists (my mom).

Overall the reading wasn't too shabby. I could see some of the groupwork activities working with my 9th graders, and some of they I won't even bother trying.

"Think, think, think...." - Winnie the Pooh

CP2 Website

Determine the web-presence you will have during your Clinical Practice for this semester.

I was planning on creating a webpage for my CP2 this semester, and in fact, one of my cooperating teachers has one for her class. But she has a hit counter on it and so few people visit that updating the site is no longer a priority.

After administering my Student Surveys I found that roughly 1/4 of my students do not have internet access at home, and a handful do not even have a computer. With this in mind, I will not be doing any online homework--it would not be fair for me to do so.

If I did have a website it would probably look much like my Ethnography page (below).
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My latest and greatest online creation was my Vista group's Ethnography.

You can check it out here: Vista Ethnography

I'm pretty dang proud of it. We all collaborated, all added our personal touch, and it turned out to be amazing.

Learning outside the classroom vs inside the classroom

Consider something you learned outside of school with little or no help from a teacher (programming your DVR, gaming, sports, knitting, etc.). What was it? What distinguished this learning from your learning inside school? What might school teachers learn from this?

Gaining my inspiration from the random picture of the game World of Warcraft (WoW) on Blaw-blog, I will say that I learned a bit about playing 2v2 arena PVP (player vs. player) on WoW from my boyfriend a few days ago. The best way that I learn to do something is by observing a person doing whatever it is I want to learn, and then playing copy-kat (pun intended).

So Jesse (the boyfriend) shows me how to sign up and make a 2v2 arena team. Then we dive right in and face two other players from another team. These players already know what they are doing, so we are promptly beat. But as Jesse leads me through another round he offers strategies for winning.

The best part about Jesse teaching me is that he is never pushy or condescending: He is patient and gives help, as opposed to yelling and telling me what to do.

I think this translates to teaching in the classroom because when it comes to something difficult and new a teacher should be more of a guide than a dictator.

School Reform at Lunch

About Multicultural Indigenous Academy

This is a school that focuses on community building and individual talents of students. It is a school that believes that individual students can contribute and change the community. Multiculturalism is not just taught here: It is practiced.

Reading Reflection 2 - BPHS

3 – Of the variety of practices you learned about at BPHS, identify 3 that you think had the most impact on the school. Of course, please say a little bit why you think this may be true.

I think that when a school is a part of a community that it has a high chance of success. By definition, communities are bands of people who live, work, and band together, and if there is one thing that schools need nowadays, it is the ability to thrive. That is what communities are for: thriving. Schools need support, they need attention, they need the financing of parents.

A second practice that BPHS has going for them is technology. As BPHS brings in new technology to teach to the kids and to help teach the kids, the better off they will be. The reasoning behind this is that more and more jobs are requiring knowledge and skills in technology. If kids are being prepared for the workforce, then BPHS is doing a great job! It also shapes the school because there is less of a chance of lecturing going on--and more chances for fun, interactive, kid-engaging learning.

A third practice is the climate that the school has created. Giving students flexible schedules, having one teacher watch over and mentor a maximum of 25 students for the four years they are there, all gives BPHS a homey, comfortable feeling. If a student feels that they are appreciated, cared for, and comfortable, then they will be able to learn more affectively.

----> Providing Comprehensive Support for All Students

2 – Identify 2 practices at your CP 1 high school that match the vision in the Second to None document. Describe the affordances and constraints each of these practices seem to have had on the school environment.

"At Best Practices High School (BPHS), they have been blessed with a principal who believes in teacher autonomy and who balances it “gracefully” with her own leadership. This type of individual is an important component of a model such as this succeeding." (From http://sites.google.com/site/rethinkinghighschoolproject/home/chapter-4-overview)

At San Dieguito Academy the principal did not strut around and make himself out to be better than the teachers. He actually listened to teachers and would make changes according to what worked best for the teachers as a whole and as a group. Teacher autonomy was a priority because if the teachers cannot work together as a team, then the students won't be getting the best education that they can.

" Students choose among seminars or activities to attend among several classrooms.
Students help plan study units or courses for groups of classrooms.
Students teach units or courses of their own design across multiple classrooms." (From http://sites.google.com/site/rethinkinghighschoolproject/home/chapter-4-overview)

----> Developing Powerful Teaching and Learning
----> Restructuring the School


1 – Identify 1 practice suggested in the Rethinking High School text that you predict will no longer be in practice at the school. Why?

That is a hard one! I don't think any of the practices should be eliminated at the school. If anything, I think that the 25 students to one teacher for four-year guidance counseling will be increased to perhaps double that number. Especially if the student to teacher ratio increases.

----> Providing Comprehensive Support for All Students

Jon Stewart on the failings of South Carolina

A quick clip from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart where Andre Bauer compares poor children who get free lunch to stray animals:

[Play at own risk: censored language, some may find offensive]