In Another Life...

For the final week of the book club my group decided to split the chapters unevenly, I mean how do you split 11 chapters among 3 people right? So don't let this throw you off in any way! Seeming how I was the Discussion Director I was given the task of preparing questions for my group to see if we can have a productive conversation and maybe tied up loose ends to the book. Below are the results! 

1) (pg.169) What are some ways practicing for a test can be a problem in a child's life? -> Testing so much can cause anxiety, doing it for the moment (as in they would only be learning to pass the test so the information given to them is temporary and becomes useless after the testing) loss of passion, HUGE impact on self-esteem.

2) (pg. 199) Who were the TFA and what was their purpose? (Teach For America)- they wanted to build by boosting education in low income communities, they were not always certified. -> Teaching program trying to close the achievement gap, in need of actual trained staff.

3) (pg. 216) Ravitch mentions how the testing showed many kids going into high school without a firm grasp of basic skills, why do you think that is? -> Teachers might not be aware of the child's lack of ability in specific subjects or subjects might have been glossed over, the children could have also gotten pushed forward instead of being held back so that they can actually learn what they're having trouble with, little to no parental involvement.

4) (pg. 234) Ravitch sees public schools as a well organized democracy, do you agree? If you came from a different type of school, what would make you think differently? -> Yes because many PTA's  (Parent Teacher Association) are organized giving the parents the freedom to voice the changes they want to better shape the future of the kids attending these schools, it is a service where parents should be able to voice their concerns without the threat of their children being kicked out.

5) (pg. 240) Ravitch goes into details on how today's "reforms" will never be as great as we want them to be and how teachers will always be blamed, what are some solutions you think might help? Does not need to be realistic-> Start addressing things, looking into international school systems to see why their system works and use them as a model, find a curriculum that fits everyone, less talk more action!

Some reoccurring themes...

1) High stakes testing is not beneficial

2) Making America able to compete with other nations in the market no matter the cost!

3) Testing does not work, find a better solution!

Meaningless Legislation

Week 2 of the book club didn't go as I thought it would, I was the only one in my group who showed up, not only did I feel useless without my team I also felt nervous to present what I had for fear that it wouldn't make conversation but the professor kindly joined me and my worries diminished. It turns out that my teammates were out sick so I was the only who survived disease that week. Here are my notes as a discussion member/ discussion director on how the law and funding play a role in education (week 2 chapters 5-8)....

1) Ravitch mentions how Bloomberg tried to make an impact for schools in New York but there is a similarity in this to Jefferson's view of "raking the genius from the rubbish". (pg. 74)

2) No Child Left Behind did not help with bringing this country into the best conditions to compete with others, instead it brought more problems because people wanted to throw in more teaching methods that would either impede the learning experience for a child or make the lesson plan nearly impossible for a teacher OR BOTH! (pg. 105)

3) Students had the choice to break free of racist stereotypes but they still chose to stay in their respective schools/ communities in order to keep their their heritage and also because of their economic statuses which dictated where they could and could not go. (pg. 118)

Sections that caught my attention...

1) page 83 paragraph 2 -> Legislation did not change a thing! They were more concerned with what they would get out of it instead of focusing on the future of this country!

2) pages 102-103 paragraph 4 -> It was all a trap! A lie! (in Texas) they showed results of how the children were succeeding but the reality of those statistics was the fact that they looked positive because many kids were dropping out, losing their hopes and dreams, the information gathered were of children who stayed in the school system and pushed through! THEY LIED!

3) page 152 paragraph 3 -> Public schools had problems but charter schools faced more issues. Besides having limited seats and having a temporary job as a teacher (because unless you're a god at what you do, you're not going to last so long in the charter school system) charter schools have always been looked into advancements, this brought up an interesting discussion with the class on whether computer should replace teachers. I obviously objected as that would mean I wouldn't have a job, all of my years studying to do this job would be for nothing, but I did see some positive things in having a computer as a teacher, you would get more accurate information, we wouldn't have to worry about pedophiles but the downside to having a computer as a teacher would be that some kids would become distracted, the professor and I agreed that a computer cannot replace human emotions. Becoming a teacher means becoming someone's role model, their parent, their therapist, their justice, THEIR EVERYTHING! 

Point Your Finger

  

As my class started the book club session I took notice of how many people were in each group, some groups had more than 5 people in them, I felt unfortunate to be in a group of just 3 people including myself but regardless of how many people were in my group, we still did a very productive job at pointing out things that the professor thought was discussion worthy. Within the groups each of us had a task to do, as a discussion member the task was to write about interesting points in the chapters read, as a discussion leader the task was to come up with questions that would entice productive chats on the chapters. Each of us took turns being the discussion leader. The first week of book club went like this...     
                                                          
So for our first discussion, we looked into how society views the school system. I was shocked to see that people would blame the schools themselves of being broken when in reality the people to blame are corrupt government officials who make up the laws while slipping their own benefits because no one would do anything that wouldn't benefit them right? Here are my notes on chapters 1-4 (week 1 of book club) of "The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education" by Diane Ravitch


1) Ravitch mentions how school can't solve every issue but should be treated as the most important thing in a child's life, this reminds me of every parent I've heard say "the school will take care of it" or "it's the teacher's job" (pg. 6)

2) Ravitch states that schools are not to blame when a child does poorly, most of the time this is due to low funding, I remember how my elementary school didn't go on many field trips but the teachers I had did everything they could to keep their class interesting! (pg. 34)

3) Ravitch talks about schools in San Diego, California and how they were modeled to be like the schools in New York, she mentions how Alvarado would remind people that if they want to change something, it's not the responsibility of the District Administrations, it starts small with faculty, students, and their parents as a community! (the sum of chapter 4)

Three sections that caught my attention are as follows....

1) page 9 paragraph 2 -> I thought it was important to know the core history of the issues in schools.

2) page 15 paragraph 3 -> Through Standardized Tests we've lost direction in creating lesson plans that better a child's learning experience.

3) page 34 paragraph 4 -> It's not always the school's fault, most of them are poorly funded so they work with what they can find.

I hope my Christmas list of things didn't bore the hell out of you but it is important to keep in mind that in the school system many things go into it so we cannot simply blame a teacher or the school overall as it also has to do with how the school is funded and what laws have been passed!   

The 4 important A's in education

A number one (agreeing with the book "School"):

                       1) Equal education for all

                       2) Testing students through Common Core Standards are ok as long as it grants every child a chance to learn and succeed instead of spending the entire year studying for the tests!

A number two (Disagreeing with the book "School")

                      1) Abbott Decision -> why was it based on property tax/ social class, this would lead to wealthier neighborhoods having a better education while minority communities are stuck reading 30 year old textbooks which are obviously outdated, this would misinform the children of the future and have them feel less confident in themselves because they wouldn't be able to trust the information given to them and eventually they would lose hope in fulfilling their dreams!

                      2) Funding based on standardized test performance -> overwhelming kids with too much testing, not only should kids not worry about about a dumb state test but they also should not be stressing, they should be having fun and growing! We sometimes forget that we were once their age, yes kids should have a sense of responsibility with their grades but they should not be haunted in their dreams by a state test!

A number three (assumptions made by me or the author of "School")

                      1) There is another way to make education accessible regardless of race and or economic status because let's face it, segregation still exists but it is so well hidden nowadays that people forget it's still a problem.

                     2) What these children learn will shape them into their dream profession-> this may not always happen but we should be mindful that many of the things that surround our children may or may not affect them.

The final most important A (aspirations of my own according to the book "School")

                    1) To have a classroom where I feel comfortable with my students and they are comfortable with me -> I don't need them hating me or the subject (Earth and Space science) because the state decides to control and restrict me from teaching what I think would be fun and good to learn for future reference, how many of us can remember the moon's phases? I'm sure many of us might have forgotten it the second we walked out of a science classroom.

                   2) Make school a safe environment for children not to hate but grow and love learning.

Red, White and Who?

Life in the 1950’s through the 1980’s was an interesting time, the cold war took place, there was a huge fear for communism. This translated into many of our American schools. There was a xenophobia that crippled education systems long before they even had  chance to stand. So what exactly happened? Well after the cold war many people feared immigrants. Much like today, they feared of their jobs being “taken away” and being influenced or forced to accept these norms. It wasn’t long until they got rid of books written in different languages as it appeared “un-American.” Many immigrant children faced struggles trying to keep up with a system that was constantly against them.

Bad enough these kids had to assimilate quickly to American culture but they were also slapped with a test they didn’t even understand because it wasn’t in their language. Immigrants were not the only ones who suffered a type of discrimination, poor kids, and kids of color as well had to go through some obstacles just to get the education they needed, the education they craved! Much of this caused differences not only in schools but also in communities as more affluent communities were able to afford better education. This was based on the Abbott decision which took effect through American communities. How? It separated people by social class, if you were from a rich neighborhood you would go to a school nearby that was highly qualified and very prestige because they got the most funding, if you were middle class or even poor, you would end up going to a local school that was poorly funded which meant you wouldn’t be getting the same education as the typical child coming from and affluent. So where does this money come from? Well, according to the book “School” this money came from the government and they determined whether or not a school was fit enough to fund. This was a merit system that we still have not abolished and quite frankly I understand why. They base their decision on how well schools test. When a school tests poorly, they get little to no funds to work with, when a school does an exceptional job they are awarded with said funds. How else would we be able to know how a school is doing? We need to test! I hate to admit it but testing seems to be the only option, what I don’t agree with is overwhelming children with tests! Teaching in itself is an experiment, as a teacher it is important to figure out what works and what doesn’t so that your classroom becomes the best possible learning experience a child has. It’s not about being a better teacher than the one next door to you, it’s about giving back to the community because these kids are the future, we need to make sure they have everything they need to change the grey of the day into a rainbow, the rainbow we haven’t seen! How do we do this without hurting our children and our communities? This is something we have yet to figure out!

1950's or 2018?

Not too long ago our country found itself in a pickle trying to better its future. It’s normal to want to
see a brighter future, just like a mother gives birth to a child as hopes that their teachings will grant the
child power and strive to have a more successful life. In the early 1900’s and 1950’s these values
became apparent as the school system had not developed common standards so many things seemed
out of place. Some students were assumed to be less intelligent based on their inability to speak or
write English properly, yes these were times when immigration was as big a deal than as it is today.
Schools became a spectacle of experimentation, trying to find what works and what does not. It wasn’t
until they took John Dewey’s idea of a “whole child” and really put things to play. This idea
challenged what it meant to be truly academic. Children were stuck in classrooms for 4-5 hours a day,
the “whole child” idea would mean that they get to go outside and enriched their sun deprived skins
by playing and exploring the world as it should be!

 

The idea made it so that children had a chance to explore what they’re good at and roam around
looking to feed their hunger for knowledge. Unfortunately this idea did not last very long as many
parents were concerned with how their kids were learning, they felt as though the kids did more
playing than actual learning. As a result Gary schools became a bit more serious and had children
get back to picking up their pencils and learning once more. As soon as the Russians launched
Sputnik, the first satellite, America felt that they were behind as a nation. This led to the desire to
really better the school system as it would mean that this nation would be ahead of the competition.
How did America go about it? Simple. They decided to adopt the French IQ testing as a means of
determining who goes where in life. That’s not the craziest part! The crazy part is that they would test
kids at the age of 5 and once they turn 10 their IQ score permanently determines whether they get high
paying jobs and can acquire better academic advantages or work in sweatshops and risk being placed
in the most dangerous positions in the military because they are looked upon as being too illiterate to
understand their lives are at risk. Taking Thomas Jefferson at his words when he said
“...rake the geniuses from the rubbish.” Of course we can’t argue with this logic when it comes to
achieving a brighter path for our future generations, but it still stands that testing children
(especially those who just came into the country and do not speak the language or have not assimilated)
is not effective as they haven’t developed enough wisdom to be able to know exactly what they’re
meant to do in their lives. For example, from a young age I knew I wanted to teach but it wasn’t until
I got to high school that I realized I wanted to teach Earth and Space science.

So how can we be so sure that a kid that’s 10 and has the reading ability of a 5 year old is only capable
of working in a factory? It’s impossible, as we get older and mature, that’s when we know what we
can or can’t do and so it became clear that testing children in this fashion was not the way to go.

Oops and I almost forgot...

As an aspiring high school science teacher I can see many changes, not just in the environment,
but in the education system. Many people believe that teachers should not keep themselves updated
on politics. This is for the simple fact that they refuse to make a difference. Being a teacher means
constantly learning to be able to feed this information to more younger, hungry minds. The
information given to these hungry minds later translates to the teacher giving back to society as the
hands of said hungry minds now have the power to shape and build a better future! Looking at how
our present days are turning out, there’s not much being done. We have every group of people we can
think of protesting on every corner, voicing the injustice they feel because of a president who isn’t as
bright as his hair color, to make matters worse, this president refuses to learn. It’s as though we haven’t
seen the bigger picture, WE CREATED THIS MONSTER THROUGH OUR IGNORANCE! America
as a whole has neglected most of its important values because of greed. To start a successful future we
have to agree to finding the best possible education methods. As the book “School: The Story of
America Public Education” words things, the “common school” was created to provide education to
their respective communities just like public schools do today, so what is the difference? The
difference between then and now is the fact children no longer get beat up by teachers for not knowing
an answer to a question, a good majority of schools today are no longer segregated, and teachers are
now unappreciated. YEAH, NOT MUCH HAS CHANGED! It’s hard to believe that many of the
problems we face today with trying to fix the education system stems from a past filled with division
of all sorts, separation by race, religion, gender and even net worth. If we take a moment to think about
it, we’re still facing some sort of segregation without even realizing it, if an average hard working high
school graduate decides they want to go to a specific school but they are turned down because their
parents combined make “enough money” what does that tell you? This was the case with me, I wanted
to go to a school that would provide me with the knowledge I need to do my dream job as efficiently as
possible but I do not have the resources to do so regardless if my parents make over $70,000 a year,
the government does not take into account that my dad works his butt off in a factory 12 hours away
from his family to make sure the lights stay on as I type this blog and my mom sacrifices her free
speech to ensure that food is on the table to nourish the mind on the other side of the screen, the tired
soul that wakes up everyday, takes a train to get to school through rain or shine at the same time
thinking about the future as the first female scientist in the Ramos family, yea, the government decided
that I wasn’t important enough to be granted full aid so every year I’m in college I’m racking up loans
that keep me awake at night while others in the same field don’t pay a dime!

To really fix the issue in our schools we need to attack the main source of the problem. Now I can’t say what that source is because I have not learned it yet but I would imagine that it starts with the people not understanding how powerful education is on this economy. It took knowledge to create many of things we use today such as the cell phone you have laying around as you read this and anxiously wait for someone to call or text you. It took geniuses to make these dreams a reality, why does it take a rocket scientist to explain that to the public? Most of it is from ignorance, as I mentioned before, there are people who don’t believe that teachers should be informed about what goes on outside of their classrooms, there are people who dream of eating sandwiches without the crust, and while some of us live in the reality where we must cut the crust off ourselves those who dream it simply want it done for them. NO! THAT’S NOT HOW LIFE WORKS! This is why we still hurt our kids by giving them false hopes/dreams, giving them standardized tests, then telling them that they’re not good enough to be what they want to be just because they didn’t meet the mark! Everyone wants the best education for their children but how many have done something about it? It’s not just teachers that need to voice these concerns, it should be anyone with a hunger to learn and create a better future! We can no longer afford to sit on our butts and do absolutely nothing, this affects us all as a nation!