Ed Psych. 10-27-08

Tonight's lecture was based around the viewpoints of two school board members from Decorah Public Schools. I have to say that the majority of what was discusses was a bit over my head. I don't really feel like I will be able to relate to most of what was said, until I become a teacher.

I did; however, learn a lot of things about what school board members do. Before this lecture, I was not aware of the responsibilities of school board members. Mrs. Nelson said that the two main responsibilities of school board members are setting policies and hiring the superintendent. The school board plays a big part in school referendums as well.

I really enjoy the Monday night lectures, because it allows me to better understand how many people are involved in running a school. Like I said, this lecture was probably the most difficult to follow, because lots of rules and "legal" material was discussed. Although the majority of the information was over my head, I am really glad that I gained more insight into what it is like to be a school board member.

Oct. 6th to the 10th

This was a very busy week in Ed. Psych! On Monday night, we did a role playing activity. I thought it was quite interesting to listen to every one's opinions regarding the "school proposal." One thing that really stuck out to me, and really upset me were comments made by the parents of low achieving students. They were complaining about having conferences for their children several times per semester. They made some comment about how they would have absolutely no time to attend a meeting for their children. I was really upset by this, because as a parent, the children should be FIRST PRIORITY. My parents each have three jobs, and they made time for conferences EVERY SEMESTER, as well other meetings for my siblings and me. On the other hand, as future educators, I think that it is important to remember that we need to be flexible for all of those busy parents out there. Parents want to do everything possible to ensure the success of their children, but they also have a lot on their plate. I promise that when I become a teacher, I will do my best to work around the schedules of the parents, and go along with what is most convenient for them.

On Wednesday, we took IQ tests. This was quite amusing for me. I scored a 138, which is quite above average. It basically told me that I am brilliant. I don't think that is true. I looked around, and I noticed that everybody got really good scores. In fact, mine was one of the lower ones, and 138 is really good. I talked to Prof. Bruneau, because we are talking about Intelligence testing in one of my other classes. She says that the online IQ tests are not an accurate measure of intelligence. So I guess we aren't as smart as we thought we were. Just kidding :) I think that Dr. Langholz was just trying to prove a point, that IQ tests should not be the only basis for how much success one possesses. That means there is hope for me! I am not the most brilliant person, but I have a good personality. :)

I really do not think that we should base success off of strictly intelligence. There are so many things in life that require compassion and empathy, as well as intelligence. I can think of one such example. A girl that I graduated with is extremely intelligent. She is an elementary ed. major with a 4.0. But I can say with almost one hundred percent certainty, that she is going to be a crumby teacher. Her personality is very cold, and she is so smart that she has trouble explaining things to others, because most things come so naturally for her. On the other hand, I think that I will make a great teacher. I may not be a genius, but I have patience, and compassion, and empathy for kids who struggle, because I was one of them. I realize that nobody wants an idiot for a teacher or doctor, but we NEED to factor in their personalities as well.

Class Discussion for the Week of Oct. 29th

This week in Ed. Psych. was probably the most interesting so far. I really enjoyed the conversations we had, and the movie that we watched.

The discussion we had about the kind of music that children listen to was very interesting. I enjoyed hearing all the opinions regarding whether or not parents should control their children's music. I have always had the personal opinion that music does not have that great of an effect on children. I actually believe that parents have more power than the music does. If parents explain that the messages in songs, and that most of them are derogatory, hopefully the child realizes that they should not use these songs as basis for a lifestyle. Personally, I admit that some of the music that I listen to is very explicit, but it has never made me want to commit murder or become a whore. I think that it depends on what you want to get out of the music. If you are just looking for a form of entertainment, then the music will be harmless. But if you are looking for something to base your lifestyle on, and you turn to music for this, there is going to be lots of trouble.

In class, we also watched a clip from the movie "Thirteen." It was very interesting to see Tracy transform from an innocent thirteen year old, into a trashy troublemaker. I feel sorry for Tracy, because there were so many outside factors that contributed to her transformation. Her mom was a recovering alcoholic, who always seemed to busy for Tracy. She was also portrayed as "a cool mom," and those are never good. Parents need to realize that they cannot be their children's best friends.

Tracy was also peer pressured by Evie, and this caused her to commit acts that she probably never would have committed, had she not met Evie. Being thirteen is such an awful time. You are insecure, and trying to find out who you are. Most kids are fortunate enough to find good role models, but Tracy did not have that luxury.

I think that the movie "Thirteen" can send a message to us as future parents. We need to make sure that we are talking with our children, and making sure that they do not have to hide all their concerns and emotions inside them.

As future teachers, we can learn that we always need to be aware of what is going on. We talked about how in the movie, we rarely saw any teachers around. As educators, it will be our jobs to protect our students. That means we need to constantly be on the lookout for inappropriate and harmful behavior.

Opening Convocation 2008

Luther's opening convocation was held on September 4th, 2008. The keynote speaker was David Treur. David Treuer is an Ojibwa Indian from northern Minnesota. He grew up living on Leech Lake Reservation. His father was also a holocaust survivor, which I found to be very interesting.

Treur talked a great deal about the hardships that he dealt with because he was of Native American descent. Kids were constantly picking on him because he was different. He has become a very successful individual. He graduated from Princeton, and is now an author. I think that he can be a motivation for children who feel like they are different than everybody else.

I think that David's message can be tied into education. As future educators, I think we can all learn something from what he went through as a child. We, as teachers need to make sure that we are embracing ALL children, despite of their differences. It is very important for teachers to create a classroom environment in which children are taught that differences are not a bad thing. As a future teacher, I know that one of my main goals will be centered around making sure that children do not feel uncomfortable about being different.

Like I said earlier, I think we as future educators can all learn something valuable from David.

Some Thoughts About Ed. Psych.

I really like my educational psychology class so far. The class has a very relaxed atmosphere, which is really comforting to me, because I know that I do not have to feel intimidated to speak up during a discussion. We have been talking a lot about No Child Left Behind, and the measures that teachers need to take in order to accommodate different types of learners. In class, we did an activity regarding our thoughts about education before we read chapter one, and then our attitudes after we read the chapter. We had to act out different situations that we may encounter when we become teachers. This was very beneficial for me, because I am more of a visual, hands-on learner. To see examples being acted out helped me to apply the ideas to real life. I really learned a lot during this exercise.

We watched a great movie called "Lions for Lambs." Doug and Jim encouraged us to pay attention to the teacher in the movie. He had a rather laid back style of teaching. He invited a student into his office, to have coffee and discuss what had been going on during the semester. I really liked how Robert Redford's character talked to his student as though they were on the same level. He did not talk down to him, he treated him like an equal. The teacher also did a good job of challenging what the student was saying. I feel like that is an important part of being a teacher. Making a student defend what he or she believes, will get the them to think more deeply about the given topic.

I want to be the type of teacher that Robert Redford portrayed. I want my students to feel comfortable talking to me, and I want to avoid being an intimidating teacher. I have already learned so much in Ed. Psych., I cannot wait to see what else I will learn!

My Thoughts on Assessments

While at West Elementary, I have experienced quite a few assessments. Each day, they do "Rocket Math." This is a series of timed subtraction tests. The first level is "A," and when they get all 40 problems correct, they get to move on to "B," and so on. The purpose of these are to test their subtraction abilities.

I also got to be there for the Math Fluency Assessment. This was a series of three parts, regarding coin value. First, they had to identify the different types of coins. Then they had to show us values using play money.

There was also a Reading Fluency Assessment. I got to do these. We timed them for one minute, and they had to read as far as they could. We then counted the amount of words they could read. (Any missed words or words read incorrectly were not counted)

The last assessment is one we are going through right now, which is the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. I have been working with one individual boy. My job is to sit next to him the intire test and point to each question, because otherwise he gets distracted by looking around the room. For the Reading portions of the test, I take him and work with him in a separate room. We go somewhere that noone else is, because he can concentrate much better in that type of environment. This child cannot read very well at all. He can sound out each letter separately, but when it comes time to combine the sounds to make a word, he ends up either saying something that isn't even a word, or he will say a word that sounds nothing like the letters that he sounded out.

Basically my opinion on assessments is that they are great for the bright kids, but those who struggle even a little bit will not have much luck with them. In my opinion, I found all the assessments to be extremely stressful situations. First of all, you are limited on your time. 3/4 of those kids were probably thinking more about how much time was left, than how to complete the task they were assigned. I think it would also be stressful because for the majority of the assessments done, the kids were called to sit alone with the teacher, so she could watch them work. I hated having teachers stare me down while I was working. I always remembered having a harder time on tests that were timed, or tests that were done individually. They put tremendous pressure on me, and I don't think I am alone in feeling that way.

In my experience, all assessments are unfair. I know a lot of kids who are so bright in class. I witnessed it in my cooperating teacher's classroom. I would call on them for a math fact, and they would nail it. But when they were forced to take a big, stressful test, they missed almost every question. I'm not saying that we shouldn't do assessments, but they shouldn't be made into such a big deal. It's not fair to basically tell kids "We are going to judge you on how you do on these timed, standardized tests." All kids learn differently, and I would think that especially in today's society we would realize that. I guess I can't really offer an alternative, because I don't really know one, but all I can say is that we need to find a different way of measuring a child's intellect than by giving them all the same, timed, fill-in-the-bubble tests.