Final Blog Post

1. Once I get over the shock of the President of the United States calling me on the phone for some unfathomable reason, I do have some recommendations that I think should help improve the state of education in this country. My very first recommendation (and the most important one) is to get rid of the high-stakes testing culture. My second recommendation would be to make sure that the people who are making education decisions are people who have a education background, and not businesspeople. Schools are not businesses, and they cannot be managed in the same way. Educators understand how schools work and can make appropriate decisions based on that knowledge. Thirdly, I think we should stop putting all of our educational focus into language arts and math. These aren’t the only subjects that are worth knowing. Students need to have a full, well-rounded education including science, social studies, art, music and more. My fourth suggestion would be to make sure that all school receive equitable resources. I know that this is extremely difficult, and I don’t have any suggestions on how to accomplish it, but I do think it is important. Lastly, I would suggest that the standards across the states are not only similar, but are great standards that are specific and don’t shy away from controversy.
2. Most of Ravitch’s book has been meaningful to me. I have always felt strongly about a lot of the issues that she talks about in her book, but I have been bad at explaining to myself and other why I feel that way. I didn’t have the facts to back it up. Now after reading the book, I feel validated and more assured in my opinions on education. I can definitely back up my arguments in conversation now. Her book also at times made me very angry about the state of the education system. However, instead of discouraging me from entering the system, it encourages me to keep teaching, so I can make a difference for my students.
3. Looking at all of the problems that there are, I am very overwhelmed and I can’t see what I can do on a large scale. I have never been a political person, and trying to change laws and policies have never been something I am interested in. However, I am determined to make a difference for the students in my own classroom. I can teach them the best that I can, and make sure that they get a great education from me.
4. Nsta.org- National Science Teachers Association. This association publishes books and journals for science teachers of all grades, from elementary to college. It also hosts conferences and professional development for teachers. This association also does work to advocate for science teachers and science education. Nctm.org- national council of teachers of mathematics. This association is the public voice of math education, according to its website. Its goal is to ensure equitable, high-quality math learning for all students. They provide professional development and research, as well as lessons and resources on their website for teachers of all grades.
5. As a multiple subject teacher, I am going to look at things I would like to still do in all subjects, not just science
1. Lawrence Hall of Science, Elkhorn Slough near Santa Cruz, Hayward Interpretive Shoreline Center, San Jose Tech Museum, and the DeYoung Museum.
2. Mostly, I want to read children’s books that I could recommend to my students or books that past students have recommended to me: Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Chronicles of Narnia, the Charlie Bone series, Origami Yoda and Darth Paper.
3. Science Scope journal and Science and Children journal.
4. I would love to go to one of those gardening conferences in Santa Cruz that Jocelyn was talking about during her presentation. I would also be interested in attending one of litquake’s events on writing in San Francisco.
5. Washington D.C., Boston historical sites associated with the revolution, the end of the Oregon Trail Museum in Oregon, Death Valley, and Plymouth Rock.
6. I gained a lot of valuable insights and advice from all of the feedback on my presentation, especially a lot of ideas for my capstone project and where to look next for more information. I also got a lot of great information from listening to the other presentations. Not all of it applies to what I teach, but a lot of it is useful to know. 

Week 5 Post

1. If I’m being honest, the statistics that Dr. Roberts did not surprise me. I am not much older than that generation in the study (especially taking into account that the study was done in 2009), so I am familiar with how people in that generation interact with the media. There are very few moments of life that are not somehow involved with the media. I think that the most relevant part of his presentation was when he broke down the age groups and their media use. It was useful to see exactly how the 8-10 year olds that I will be working with interact with media. I still have questions about how his data varies based on socio-economic status. I would also be interested to know what the implications for education were. He touched on how this study affects the classroom, but I would like to hear more about it.
2. First of all, being a teacher, this article does frighten me a little bit. Not only for my own job security, but also because I believe online education for students previous to college is detrimental for their education. One of the main things that teachers do is individualize instruction and differentiate based on individual students’ needs. Online education simply can’t do that. Online education is one-size-fits-all because the teacher doesn’t know their students. This is especially important in elementary education. However, I can’t really see online elementary education becoming a real thing. I think it is something that is more geared to high school students. One thing that the article pointed out is that many students taking online courses emailed their teacher when they didn’t understand something or needed help. That is great, but I have to imagine that those are the motivate students who are seeking help. Unmotivated students are not likely to do that, and the teacher is less likely to seek them out because the teacher doesn’t know them. In addition, online courses really encourage cheating and slacking. I know this because I took an undergrad course online, and I didn’t work as hard as I would have in a real class, simply because I didn’t have to. The students might pass the class, but are they learning? That is really the most important part of education!
3. Glogster.com- I had never heard of this website before, and I spent quite a bit of time exploring it. I think it is really cool how you can make your own online posters that are educational and fun. I could see myself using this technology in my classroom both as a presentation tool, and giving it to students to have them make their own presentations as part of a research project.

Quizlet.com- This is a great website as well. I like that it’s free, and it is super easy to use. It would be a great resource to use before a big unit test in the classroom, because you can project your own flashcards onto the board. It’s also a great way to encourage independent studying in my students, because this is a tool that they can use on their own to study.

http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com- I knew that there were ways online to make your own puzzles online, but this one is much better than the ones I usually use, in terms of how easy it is. These could be used for almost any occasion. The math puzzles would be great brainteasers, any puzzle could be good for early finishers, and I could also design puzzles based on units and use them as an introduction to the unit.

Tubechop.com- This is a really interesting website. Sometimes I want to show a youtube video in class, but I hesitate because the comments are inappropriate, the ads are annoying, and you never know what links will pop up when the video is over. I had no idea that sites like this existed, and I have a feeling I will be using them fairly often. 

Week of July 17th Blog Assignment

A topic that I will commonly be teaching in the future (assuming that I stay in the 5^th grade) will be earth science weather concepts. There are several resources outside of the science content area that can help me teach these concepts to enable students to understand it better.

The first resource that I found is a book of children’s poetry on the topic of earth science. This book is called Earthshake, written by Lisa Westberg Peters. You can look at some of the book at this link: http://browseinside.harpercollinschildrens.com/index.aspx?isbn13=9780060292652. Not all of the poems in this book talk about weather, but a lot of them do. For example, one poem talks about the wind current patterns on earth. I would use this resource as a supplement to the curriculum after I have taught the basic weather concepts that the poems talk about. I would have students read the poetry about weather, to provide them with another delivery of the information. I would also have students write their own earthshake-inspired science poetry about the topics we are learning about. I could use this book to teach a series of interdisciplinary English-Science lessons.

Another resource I could use is the USA today Weather and Atmospheric science history archive online, at this link: http://www.usatoday.com/weather/whistory.htm. This resource has huge lists of historical weather events. You can use this website to look up the worst Atlantic storms since the 1400’s, all of the recorded US hurricanes since 1900, the history of US floods and droughts, and much more. Since 5^th grade social studies covers American History, I could tie the science curriculum in with US History through this website. Students could find out what the weather was like during major historical events, and speculate on how the weather might have affected those events. Students could also draw weather maps of historical events based on what they learn on this site and what they know about how weather works.

As a multiple subject teacher, I believe that interdisciplinary teaching is incredibly valuable and doable. I think that when the knowledge that students are learning ties in with many different subjects, they are more likely to see the value in it. In addition, when students are being taught content in several subjects and in different ways, every student is more likely to learn and retain the knowledge. Since I will teach my students every subject, I can weave common themes throughout the whole day, and in thematic units. Obviously, there are some subjects that link together better than others, such as science and math, and language arts and history, but it is possible to teach all subjects in a cross-curricular manner. I suppose a challenge of doing this is that it requires teacher to think outside the box of the prescribed curriculum and textbooks they are given. However, I believe that good teachers see this as an exciting and positive challenge, rather than a negative and impossible task.

Commented: Eddie Izumizaki
Read: Ashley Dever and Betsy Varellas

Mind The Gap (session 2)

1.  “Good schools under private management would proliferate, while bad schools would be closed down by market forces (the exit of disgruntled parents) or by a watchful government.” (pg 10)

As a theory, this idea works fine, just as it does in the business world. However, once you think about the fact that these are schools, and not businesses, the idea falls apart. When schools are closed, what happens to those students? Do they go to another school, and over-crowd that school? The most important thing to anyone involved in education should be the students, and closing a school in the middle of the year does not benefit students. 

“I began seeing like a state, looking at school and teachers and students from an altitude of 20,000 feet and seeing them as objects to be moved around by big ideas and great plans.” (pg 10)

This quote is similar to the one above, and I have the same problem with it. I don’t like the idea of looking at schools, students and teachers as objects. When you look at the “big picture”, it is inevitable that individual students will get lost in that shuffle.

2.  On pg. 16 Ravitch says that a well-educated person has a well-furnished mind, shaped by reading and thinking about history, science, literature, arts and politics, and has learned how to explain ideas and listen respectfully to others. I agree with her definition. I would also like to add that a well-educated person can express their thoughts in writing, and can respond to things that they learn in a rational matter. For example, I believe a well-educated person can read a book, form an opinion about what they read based on their background knowledge, and then relate that opinion clearly to others. Lastly, I believe that a well-educated person has a strong moral compass, and can use their knowledge in the real world outside of school. 

3. What stands out for me from the class discussion was the debate about charter schools. I didn’t think that that was going to be a topic that would spark so much debate among our class. I have always been slightly against charter schools, and I had read ahead in the book to the chapter where Ravich talks about charter schools before our discussion, which cemented my ideas on the topic. I don’t think that charter schools are a good idea, because they act like private schools but take public money, which isn’t fair to public schools. However, during the discussion, some of the points that were brought up surprised me, because they were things that I hadn’t thought about. These points didn’t change my mind, but it was very interesting to hear different perspectives.

 During the discussion, I would have liked to talk more about the pros and cons of using a business model to organize and reform schools. I thought the topic was intriguing, and the class was bringing up some good points. I would have liked to contribute more to that discussion.

4. One of the gaps that I found in my subject area knowledge was a 5^th grade earth science standard stating that students should be able to read a weather map and use them to predict the weather. I have no idea how to do this, even though I do remember learning about it in one of my undergraduate classes. I believe all I need is a refresher to bring that knowledge back. I found three sources that I believe would help me deepen my content knowledge in this area.

Book: Weather Map Handbook, by Tim Vasquez

Journal Article: Interpreting Weather Maps, by Smith, P. Sean, Ford, Brent A. In: Science Activities

Website: http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wmapread.htm, Webstite title: Reading Weather Maps

I decided to explore the website more thoroughly than the other two resources. The website lists the symbols that are often found on weather maps and what they represent, including high and low pressure areas, cold and warm fronts, ect. For each symbol, the website also goes in depth about what each symbol predicts and how it will affect the weather. For example, low pressure systems predict storms, precipitation and cloudy weather while high pressure systems predict sunny weather. In addition, the website has information about how weather is predicted using weather satellites and radars. After spending some time exploring this website, I feel more confident in my content area knowledge of this subject.

5. 

Space Moves: Adding Movements to Solar System Lessons, by Deborah Jenkins and Brent Heidorn

This article describes ways to make lessons about the solar systems active. It includes miming what actions would look like on other planets and competing in a “space Olympics”, where students calculate the height of their jumps, ect, on different planets using the gravitational force of that planet. This article might be more geared toward pedagogy than content (oops) but I still think it’s really useful, and it does contain some really good content information, such as a table on the gravitational forces of each planet. I like this article, not only because it gives some ideas for a specific unit, but also because it inspires ideas for ways to make other science lessons active. I had thought about making science lessons hands on, but I hadn’t thought about actually making them active and having the students move around. I would be very interested now in looking for more sources that follow this topic and make science lessons active. I think that this author was convincing to me because he herself is a teacher, and has done these lessons many times with her own class. I always trust actual educators who write about their own classrooms more than theoretical research. I would seek this author out for other things that she has written. 

Seizing Up the Solar System, by Heidi Wiebke, Meredith Park Rodgers, and Vanashiri Nargund-Joshi

This article was particularly interesting to me because I had never thought about the accuracy of solar system models before. I always assumed that the models in books and online were accurate. However, this article brings up the point that many of these models are not accurately scaled, especially in the distance between planets. The author also points out how important it is for students to truly understand the scale of the planets and grasp the magnitude of our solar system. I liked that this article gave specific and concrete ways for students to investigate the true scale of the planets, and question the scale models they might see in their science books. However, I don’t think I would seek out any other articles written by this author. The topic doesn’t interest me enough for me to want to read more in depth about it. 

Question for Joan: I've been looking up both content and pedagogical articles. Is that ok, or should I shy away from the pedagogy for now?

Blogs I've responded to:

Eddie Izumizaki
Ashley Dever
Marcella Place

Updated Topic & Guiding Questions

After several weeks of changing my mind back and forth, I think I finally have a topic that I would like to pursue in this program.

I would like to develop a curriculum unit for the 5th grade Science Standard set 4: Earth Sciences (Weather). I chose this topic because it contains content information that can be difficult to grasp for anyone, including adults, and I have experienced the difficulty that many 5th graders have with this subject. In addition, it is possible but difficult to make this topic hands on, and I am interested in researching ways that this can be done. Here are my guiding questions for this topic:

-How can the 5th Grade Weather standards be made accessible, understandable, and hands-on to students?
-How can this content be taught across the curriculum?
-How can curriculum for this topic be designed to interest students who are not typically interested in science?
-What are the specific concepts in this unit of study that are difficult for students at this developmental level to grasp?
-What are some affordable and local field trips that are related to this topic?

Course 2, Post 1

1. The experiences that I have had outside of school have given me a great deal of content area knowledge. I believe that the experiences I have had outside of school are more deeply ingrained in my memory, and more useful to me. For example, a few years ago I spent some time studying abroad in Botswana. While there, I spent a few days at a site that was rich in archeology. I saw some cave paintings and some engravings, and had many conversations with a guide who was knowledgeable about the history of the area. In those few days, I learned so much about the archeology of Botswana that I will never forget. Had I read a book about the same information, I would most likely not remember anything now, several years later. However, because I had a real-life experience, I have a deeper understanding of the content and will remember it much longer. When I think about the things that I learned from outside-of-school experiences, they always seem more meaningful and I gain more knowledge from them. I believe that this is partly due to the fact that I choose what I want to learn about on my own time. For instance, a few weeks ago I took a segway tour of Golden Gate Park. I was personally interested in the history of the area, and what I learned from that tour gave me a deep understanding of he history of the park. This has applied to many different experiences I've had, including the books I choose to read in my free time, where I spend my vacations, and what museums I go to on the weekends. Of course, I learned a lot in school as well, and these were valuable content learning experiences. Out-of-school learning does not downgrade the importance of in school learning, but I have personally learned a lot of valuable content from these experiences. The only problem with relying on out-of-school experiences to gain content knowledge is that it can't be relied on to give you the breadth of knowledge that you might need.

2. I found our class discussion of the Ball article very interesting. When I read the article, I didn't get the impression that the author was trying to insult teachers for lacking content knowledge. I thought that she was pointing out the need for teachers to keep learning and pursuing knowledge, even though it is nearly an impossible task to know everything about all the things we have to teach. It was interesting to me that some people in the class thought she was insulting teachers' content knowledge. However, when they explained their points of view, I could see where they got that impression from. I agree with the main point of the article, which in my opinion is that teachers can't assume that they know everything just because they've been to school. They always need to be looking for opportunities to learn more.

3. I am still not 100% confident in my line of inquiry. I changed my idea a few days ago, and I like my new idea much better than my old one. However, I think it will be more difficult to do experiential research for this topic. I want to look at the American Revolution, and I'm not sure if there are any museums around here that focus on that (since the revolution obviously happened on the East Coast). However, I haven't done much research about this yet, so I will keep looking.

Who I've Responded To:
Alex Iwaszewicz
Allison Rayford
Jocelyn Rohan

5 possible guiding questions

1. How do you make "big" science concepts (such as extreme weather or outer space) hands on and interactive?

2. How can teachers involve/interest groups typically disenfranchised from science (girls and minority groups) in learning science?

3. There is not much time allowed for science instruction in the school where I teach. What are some ways to teach it through other subjects?

4. What are good methods for using writing in science?

5. What are some local places to bring students to learn about science that are affordable/easily accessible?