How do I start thinking like a teacher?

I have been in the teacher mindset for multiple years now, as a non-traditional student I have "real world" experience that has taught me a great deal. From my preteen years when I would babysit and tutor younger children to my post IT days where I taught beginning computers at Hesser college, I think we never completely become teacher over student. If and when that day ever comes, it will be a sad day for education because no good teacher stops being a student.

Which theories and historical influences should most impact the schools we'd like to have?

This is a very difficult question to address as the positive influences on education have been plentiful. I think that schools are like living organisms, they continue to grow, replicate, and adapt to changes in their environment. As teachers we should strive to teach from the heart and touch the minds of their students. Education has been a part of our world since the first hunter/gatherer societies passed down knowledge to their next generation.

EDU 402 - History and Philosophy of education will answer any questions I have on this topic.

How can I use knowledge of the learner to be a better teacher?

I think it is very important to know how something works before you try to fix or improve it. AS an example, you wouldn't work on a car engine if you didn't know how all the parts work together to optimize its performance. By understanding how the brain works, the process of education, and the proficiency in the subject matter allows a teacher to adapt teaching procedure or classroom style to fit the learner like a glove.

I would like to continue learning more about the mind and memory processes as well as methods of teaching mathematics.

How can I be successful at UMF?

This question, in contrast to the previous question, is an easy one to answer. To be successful here at UMF, I need to do my absolute best for that is all that can be asked. The most important thing is to try, to never give up no matter what obstacles come up, and keep my dreams in sight. Through steadfast determination I will succeed and achieve what many have thought impossible. I have been through so much in my life already that I know I can do anything I set my mind to and I set my mind to graduating with a bachelor's degree in Secondary Education Mathematics concentration.

I have no questions about how I can be successful here at UMF, I have already answered them all before I even started this school year.

How do I become a teacher?

This is one of those questions that is very broad. There are many aspects to becoming a teacher, from licensure to content classes on specific subjects. I think it is very difficult to answer this question at this point of my teacher preparation career. I have my practicum next semester and from there I will take that experience into my education classroom and learn the reasons for the methods I will be learning.

If I had to think of one question it would be: How do we know if the school we are employed by is a good fit to our teaching style?

Michael D. Wilson Symposium Day

SAFE (Safety Awareness Family Education)
Presenters: Elle Knight & Katriel M. Ramu (absent)

This presentation was part of a project for Health Education Planning Class (HEA 411), planned and implemented by Elle Knight and Katriel M. Ramu. This project is aimed to empower kindergarten students at the Phillips, ME elementary school to be able to identify and deal with dangerous situations.

Ms. Knight presented a well prepared PowerPoint presentation to a full room. SAFE was created using the precede/proceed model, the precede portion is encompassed in phase's 1-5 and proceed was encompassed in phases 6-9. The project implementation will begin with assessments, interviews and a pilot test to rate the effectiveness of the program. Local, state, and national data was covered. The national data was staggering; in 2002 a total of 797,500 abductions or missing cases were reported (2,100 per day). Of all these reports only 115 were abducted by a stranger! The others knew their abductor in some way, whether it be family or acquaintance. A statement of need was presented, it was quite obvious that there is a need as shown by the data.

The program will include a workbook and the "Stranger Safety: The Safe Side" DVD. This DVD makes learning about stranger safety fun and non-scary for kids. The program will be implemented over a week at the elementary school with a certificate and graduation at the end.

Overall, I was very pleased with the presentation. It was very clear that the presenters worked hard on this program as well as the presentation. They showed the need for the program and its potential positive impact on the local group.

At a future symposium day, I don't know what I would be able to present, I would have to think long and hard on it. I know I would like to present, possibly at the 2008 symposium day.

Campuswide Interventions That Improve Student Achievement

I think this final section of the article is very clear identifying that to make good headway everyone needs to work together as a team (student, parents, teacher, and administration). The value and importance of continuing education is very clear. As well as having reasonable expectations of not only your students but also of your abilities. We as future teachers need to be on the look out for the inevitable disruptions and other issues that we will not be prepared for.

As humans beings we grow and change every day in nearly every way. I believe the ability to acknowledge that we do not know it all and ask for help when it is needed is a necessary characteristic of a successful, influential, and effective educator. Having adequate plans in the works to handle the various situations that most commonly occur will save time and frustration, which in turn will benefit the participants when the unexpected situations occur.

Working With Students From Poverty: Discipline

One of the important skills that a teacher can bestow on her students when it comes to discipline is the ability to have self control, or as the article states "self-governance". In order to achieve this the first step is to outline two options for the pupil to take and the consequences of each, this way they learn how to make choices and take responsibility for that choice. The questionnaire for the student to complete exploring other actions they could have taken teaches them to look outside the box and give them practice deciphering other options to a problem than the most obvious.

This article has many good points about teaching the all important problem solving skills to students especially those from poverty who may not know how to handle situations from lack of stimulus. Meaning, a student who sees only one result of a given problem, does not know that there can be other ways to do things. Poverty limits options heavily and lowers the chances of adequate experiences for the child.

Building Learning Structures Inside the Head

Mediation involves three things: pointing out the stimuli (what needs to be given attention to), giving it meaning, and providing a strategy. To use mediation we use the following four structures: a structure for data and a structure for discipline, cognitive strategies or processes, conceptual framework (or schema's), and sorting mechanisms. The structure for data is analogous to the guts, the skeleton of the information storage/understanding, the structure for the discipline is simply the tools to differentiate between different types of data; for example mathematics is used and stored in an entirely different way than artistic impressions are.

I found this section of the article very informative, the author takes each of the structures and steps of mediation into great detail that is easy to concretely understand an incorporate into the lessons, strategies I am currently learning in class. I have been able to comprehend the subject and ways to teach these children better than some of the other categories of technical language that I have been exposed to so for in my education.

Understanding and Working with Students and Adults from Poverty

The eight resources that define poverty as the extent to which an individual does without resources are: Financial, Emotional, Mental, Spiritual, Physical, Support Systems, Role Models, and the Knowledge of hidden rules; are overpowering. I have always thought that poverty was created simply by lack of money and perhaps emotional or the ability to handle negative situations in a positive way. I had no idea it was so much more than that.

In my life I grew up middle class or lower middle class (if it exists). When I grew up and moved out on my own without a support structure, money or good health I stumbled down into poverty on more than one occasion. Even now at times I feel like I am still there, it feels like being trapped with no way out. I am in college to try to make sure I never get stuck down there.

NYT Middle School Article

The Middle school debate is well covered in this article with the argument that middle school is hurting student educations. The upheaval of sixth graders to a new school at a trying time in their life, as well as then transitioning again only three years later to the high school, are significant factors in the high school dropout rate and the lag of middle school student performance. The k-8 schools are classic and give middle school students the comfort zone that helps them whenever they are facing new and unexpected challenges of early adolescence. The 6-12 schools are goal driven focusing on goals of graduation, college, and the future. Both of these schools have the similar goal of eliminating one of the potentially harmful transitions that middle school students are forced to go through. The debate does not seem to have enough statistical data to support either school as being stronger, though it does show that the elimination of the middle school has helped students to perform better.

I feel that the elimination of the middle school in highly urban or rural schools has its place. In a country setting the comfort zone felt from a k-8 school will help give a security blanket to students who are used to the small town, everybody knows each other, feeling. In contrast, the 6-12 school would absolutely have a great impact in very urban areas like Boston, New York, Chicago, etc.; as students at these schools are not necessarily used to seeing the options they have for their future. Seeing reminders of graduation and college, as well as having many people know and care about what happens to you; could give those lost students the support system they need to succeed. I grew up in a small city where there were 3 high schools, 3 Jr. high (middle) schools with grades 7-8 only, and over 12 elementary schools. I had no problems with the transitions from elementary to middle to high school. I would say that my experience was one of middle of the road, change is an inevitable experience and learning to adapt to the new environments was part of my education.

I plan to move to the Boston area and teach there after graduation, I would prefer to teach in a 6-12 school as I will have a better opportunity to be of help and support to my students throughout their entire adolescence. I would be interested in finding out how this debate ends up after further study.