Mind the Gap

1.)   Diane Ravitch makes a number of provocative statements in chapters 1 & 2 that really stood out to me.  The first one that really stood out to me was, “The issue is especially important today, because some of the nation’s largest foundations are promoting school reforms based on principles drawn from the corporate sector, without considering whether they are appropriate for educational institutions.” (Page 4) The reason that this one stood out to me is because I don’t understand or agree with the idea that education can be run like a business.  Educating children through a business model turns students and children into products, not well rounded, educated human beings.  I think that a lot of decisions about educational reform made by the “people in power” are ridiculous.  Many of the people making the decisions have never even stepped foot in a classroom and have no idea what is best for students. I don’t understand why classroom teachers don’t have more say when it comes to making decisions related to educational reform. 

The second quote that I found to be very powerful and provocative was, “We must make sure that our schools have a strong, coherent, explicit curriculum that is grounded in the liberal arts and sciences, with plenty of opportunity for children to engage in activities and projects that make learning lively.” (Page 13) When I read this I immediately thought of Project Based Learning.  I think that this is a very powerful statement and it seems so simple.  I believe that students who have fun, exciting, and hands on experiences in the classroom will retain more knowledge and have a more positive outlook on school.  I think that many schools have gone away from this type of learning because of NCLB and the importance of high stakes testing. I think that it is very hard for teachers to teach this way because you have so many topics and standards that must be covered so that students recognize it on the test.  This type of learning would be great but I feel that there isn’t enough time.  I really like the idea of Project Based Learning because students get to choose what they are interested in.  I think that when students are engaged in a topic that they enjoy they are able to learn so much more than being fed “garbage” from a textbook.

2.)   I would characterize a well-educated person as someone who is well rounded in all areas of academia.  This means that a person has a good understanding of math, science, history, English, etc.  I don’t think that it means they are experts in all of these areas but would be able to have meaningful conversations about these specific topics. Any well-educated person is able to contribute to society in many different ways.  I think that aside from being “book smart”, a well-educated person must have some “street smarts” too. A well-educated person is someone who has social skills and is able to hold conversations with all different types of people.   I think that they need to respect themselves and others.  Someone who is well educated is polite, caring, and genuine is almost everything they do.  I think that when it comes to schools and education, we sometimes forget to teach students on how to be “good people.”

3.)   Looking back to our class discussion, what stood out for me the most was how much teachers need to know.   After taking a look at the standards and filling in the “gaps” during class, I realize how much content/background knowledge teachers need to know in order to teach a lesson. I don’t think teachers get enough credit for how hard our jobs truly are.  Aside from being “competent” in many different subject areas, we need to be able to deal with anywhere between 20 – 40 students who all have different personalities and backgrounds. There is a quote that I would have liked to share with the class that relates to how amazing teachers are and all the things we have to do on a daily basis.   The quote is,

“If a doctor, lawyer, or dentist had 40 people in his office at one time, all of whom had different needs, and some of whom didn't want to be there and were causing trouble, and the doctor, lawyer, or dentist, without assistance, had to treat them all with professional excellence for nine months, then he might have some conception of the classroom teacher's job.”

On top of this, we need to be “competent in our academic discipline.” 

4.) The subject area that I will be focusing on will be social studies/history.  The gap that I will be taking a look at will be:

3.3            Students draw from historical and community resources to organize the sequence of local historical events and describe how each period of settlement left its mark on the land.

         3.   Trace why their community was established, how individuals and families contributed to its founding and development, and how the community has changed over time, drawing on maps, photographs, oral histories, letters, newspapers, and other primary sources.

The reason that I am focusing on this standard is because my project will be creating an entire unit of study related to Alcatraz.  To help me fill-in the gaps, the three resources that I came up with were:

1.)   http://www.nps.gov/alca/historyculture/hopi-prisoners-on-the-rock.htm

2.)   Life on Alcatraz by Judith Janda Presnall

3.)   Letters from Alcatraz by Michael Esslinger

The nps.gov website, which is the National Parks Website is an amazing resource.  The website has pictures and has a lot of great background knowledge about Alcatraz.  It has great photos and is easy to navigate.  I think that this could also be a great resource for my students.  It is very simple and easy to read.  It gives a great overview of the island and the prison. I also think it is a great resource because you can contact the NPS and plan guided tours and field trips for students.  There are hundreds of thousands of books and resources related to Alcatraz.  It is an extremely broad topic so I am trying to find resources that would also be good for my students.

5.) The articles and resources I have collected are useful to my topic and my questions.  The reason that they are useful is because one gives a lot of great “general” background knowledge about the prison, the inmates, the guards, and it’s history.  The other sources I collected are great because they are more specific and have detailed accounts of what prison life was like.  

6.) Dear Joan, In creating a unit of study based around Alcatraz, where there is obviously no CA Social Studies standard, do you think I will be able to bring this unit into my classroom? Will administration let you teach a unit in your classroom even though it is not a specific CA Social Studies standard? 

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