China's Winning Schools

Online Article
A international study was done to test 65 states on reading, math, and science.  Out of all these countries China had the best scores.  Shanghai was at the top of all 3 categories but a good amount.  Nickolas Kristof the author of the article says he has been visiting schools in Asia for more than 20 years.   Every time he talks to the teachers there are not impressed with their school system, saying that they need to be more like America and have more thought on art, clubs and independent thought.  I don't think they realize that maybe American's have too much independent thought.  At a poor school in southern China the students were a year a head to Kristof's children who attend a very good public school in New York City.  They start their students there at age 2 rather than 4 or 5 in America.  The only bad thing about their education system is that their colleges are very weak and some say a disgrace.  Most students there are not worried about being a jock but about being the smartest student.  I think America needs to start picking up some of these Asian habits!

21st Century Survival Skills

Tony Wagner author of the book The Global Achievement Gap has come up with several skills that are needed in today's education system.  I can tell you that in my 16 years of schooling I have not learned these skills successfully.  And these are a must to survive in college or in society today as a individual.

Skills:

• Critical thinking and problem solving skills ( Toilet of Production System) and engaging in conversations with better company
• Collaboration of products, leadership, and influence
• Agility and adaptability- restructuring and learning more
• Affective oral and writing communication skills
• Accessing and analyzing information better
• Curiosity and imagination to a higher level
• The initiative and entrepreneurial-ism

Unequal Education Video

The Unequal Education video shows two schools the in Bronx New York that are contrasting with their education and students.  JHS 141 is a school in the suburbs of the Bronx, with students of the middle class Socioeconomic status.  While JHS 137 is in inter city Bronx, with students coming from lower and working class households.  This video really proves that  where you live will depend on the education you receive.  The two boys were both very intelligent but came from opposite life styles.  The suburbia school 141 had all certified teachers along with very good learning materials and resources.  While the inter-city school 137 did not have all certified schools or learning materials.  In 137's science class they were doing a experiment and it consisted of standing up on a chair then getting down repeatedly.  The students were asked how they felt after they did this for two minutes.  Technically it is a experiement but it seems more like gym or health class.  They also showed a science class from school 141 which was how a school should be.  The teacher had them looking into mircroscopes doing a lab.  The students were much more involved and really enojyed themselves while learning.  Kids like hands on things and when you don't have those resources they won't be as involved or interested in learning.
The principal at the 137 school walked around the school premises when classes would start to make sure the students would actually walk into the building and go to class rather than standing around the corner.  A prinicipal shouldn not have to do this to make sure the students are attending but these students have to drive or motivation to go to school.  I really can't blame them.  I would not want to go to that school either.
After they showed the video footage from both school they sat down to debate a hot topic with Jonathon Kozal and another guy.   The topic was whether or not a certificate should be given out to schools/families and how it should be dispersed.  They both went back and forth on how it should be dispersed but were indifferent on where the money would come and who received it.  This is one of those issues that comes up yearly and I'm not quite sure if there is a right or wrong answer.  You will always end up going in circles with it.  The schools that need it the most are the ones with the worse test scores and drop outs yet the schools that don't need it as much have much better scores.  Is it fair to give more money to the ones who aren't succeeding?  Will giving the inter-city schools more money help them to do better?  I personally think something needs to change.  I understand both aspects of this situation.  It makes sense to give different amounts to different schools but I personally believe that students coming from the more wealthy schools would be able to raise money much easier if need be.  The parents have more money and are willing to give their children money for lab experiments or field trips while the poorer schools that would not be an option for.  I don't know enough about where this  money comes from or how the taxes work but it is clear that something needs to change or we will have this vicious cycle return.

Atomic Learning

As a class we visited the computer lab and learned about some programs and features I never knew existed.  One of those is the Atomic Learning.  I was blown away by all the features that it offered and were free.  It offers tutorials on almost any programs or website you could think of.  There are tons of videos that show and tell you how to create something or just use the program in general.  There are many different training programs on Atomic Learning that can get you ready for anything you may need.  There are also work shops to give you a little test run and make sure you are understanding them.  This is hands down the best resource I have ever been given in college.  I even used it for my own personal use on how to use my Entourage email on my mac.  I never knew how to set it up or what it offered but I watched the tutorials and understood and got it set up right away.  I really wish I would have had access or known about Atomic Learning years ago.  It's a one stop shop on learning that is convenient and easy to use!

Group 1 Presentation

The first group presented a couple weeks ago on Chapter 4: Student Diversity- Culture, Language, and Gender.   I think that group did a great job at equally presenting the topic within the group.  It was spread out enough where not just one person was talking, and through out the presentation they would jump in and add things.  They started off with a video which is good to catch our attention and get us interested in the topic.  Through out the presentation they asked questions and had discussions which is great especially if any of your students have attention issues like myself.  The class did a good job at responding to the questions and discussions that they asked.  It can be hard and frustrating when you are presenting something in front of the class and ask questions and everyone stares at you like deer in head lights.  At the end they played a game of jeopardy which is fun!  It got all the members of the class room involved and it tested our knowledge of the topic and also helped the teachers know if the students were understanding the concepts.  Plus what student wouldn't want to win jeopardy? I think the first group did a wonderful job presenting especially for having to be the first group to go they set the bar high :)

Chinese Immersion/ Speaking in Tongues

The video Speaking in Tongues looked at several students who were in different immersion programs.  Some Chinese and some Spanish and I believe one was both.  These kids start out at kindergarten coming into the class and from day 1 their teachers were speaking the language of the program.  They would try and use hand signs and repeated words to open up the student's minds to what they were trying to say.   One teacher wanted the students to put backpacks on a hook and would show them what to do while speaking Chinese and repeating words over and over so that they would recognize the word with the action.  One of the Chinese immersion teachers said that she tried to make her class believe that she didn't speak English and her students would try and catch her speaking English.  There were students on the video that came from either a Mexican or Chinese background but were in these programs because their families wanted them to be able to carry on the legacy and be able to read and write unlike themselves.  I believe this is a great way to keep family traditions going on for many years.
During the video there were many great facts shared.  They said that before the age of 13 if you become bilingual it makes your brain capacity much larger which I believe because at that age you are learning so much.  Your brain is like a sponge and you can soak up so much more than when you are older because there is so much more going on.  I think immersion programs are a must in today's society.  By 2025 1/3of students won't speak English going into kindergarten.  That is huge!  We need to be able to communicate with the people we interact with daily and having a language barrier stops proper communication and is a hassle.  I wish I could have been placed in a immersion program growing up, I know I would be much more culturally diverse.

Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI)

In class we took the Intercultural Development Inventory test.  From that they gave us back a individual profile report with our personal results.  It provides information about our own orientations toward cultural difference and commonality.  When I took this survey I figured I wouldn't do very well since I am very uninformed with the world around me. I always have known that but since taking this class it was really shown much more.  When I received my results I was much more shocked at the difference between what I actually scored and what I perceived I would score.  My perceived orientation score (PO) was a 119.95  Which means that I think I adapt to cultural differences within acceptance.  My Developmental Orientation score (DO) was at a 74.6 which means i'm in the polarization stage.  It also indicated that 82 % of my resolution of Polarization perspective is more from a defensive view and 18% from a Reversal orientation.  My Orientation Gap was 45.35 points away from each other which is really the huge part that shocked me.  I overestimated my level of intercultural competence.  My Denial Trailing Orientation is at a 3.4 which is closer to the resolved side.  Disinterest in Culture Difference Trailing Orientation was at a 3.75 which is almost resolved which is good.  And my Avoidance of Interaction with Cultural Difference Trailing Orientation was at a 3 which is in the middle of unresolved and resolved.  My leading orientations will be minimization through acceptance.  I scored a 2.6 on the cultural disengagement meaning that I sense of disconnection from culture group.
I think this was an eye opener for me to take this.  I would have never done it on my own with out this class because I would never have even known about it.  I am starting to realize there is so much more out there than my little life I live and I really need to start learning and accepting more cultures.  I have been rather sheltered from what is going on in the world around me and that is all my fault.  I think it would be very cool to take the IDI my senior year and see how much I have changed and grown and to compare the results!

Inside the multimillion-dollar essay-scoring business

http://www.citypages.com/2011-02-23/news/inside-the-multimillion-dollar-essay-scoring-business/

My father sent me an email with this link on the story and wanted to know my thoughts on it.  I thought it would be a great article to blog about.

The City Pages wrote an article about the behind the scenes of standardized testing and some real life stories of a few people who worked for these huge companies.  The article states that in 2009, K-12 testing is a 2.7 billion dollar industry.  The National Computer System was bought by Pearson and made $652 million dollars in profit in 2009.  Over the years there has been some very serious problems with things being "graded or scored" incorrectly and having it really effect the student. Some students were denied graduation from high school because of these errors.

The article then goes on interviewing some people who worked for these scoring companies.  Most were doing this job for the money and not because they wanted to be part of helping make the world a better place.  Most of the employees spoke of rubric’s that they would have to follow when reading essays.  The student would be graded on a scale of 1-6 with 6 being exceptional.  These companies are very political and if they are reaching their quota or bell curve they start grading differently.  Some even keep pencils with them so they can "help the student out."  Some of the rubrics required the essays to contain certain words and if they didn't then the score would be lowered even if they made the same statement with other vocabulary.  This system is to grade as fast as you can and make your quota.

After reading this article and thinking about it coming from my point of view as a college student going to school to become a teacher this scares the hell out of me.  It is not fair to teachers or students when their essays and tests are not being graded properly.  Since when did the value of education have a dollar sign at the end of it?  Standardize testing is suppose to all be the same so no mater which company or employee grades it, they will come up with the same conclusion in the end.  These companies and managers are completely changing the point of the testing in the first place.  I am personally not a fan of standardize testing in the way that every single person thinks differently and shouldn't be graded on whether or not they said certain words.  Also the reader could have more interest in the topic at hand and grade differently.  These tests and essays that are being taken can be a huge part of someone's life and should have a little more care put into reading them then they currently have.  I don't want to be the student who is at the bottom of the pile for the day and the employee who is scoring mine is tired skims the essay and I either pass or fail according to what mood they are in.  First of all if I fail and I actually have a high level essay it will be extremely disappointing and a huge error in the system.  And on the other hand if I were to pass even though I shouldn't have that means we are letting students get by when they are not capable of what they should.  And this problem would get worse and worse because we would be letting students become teachers who can't require all that they are suppose to.

This essay scoring business is a very scary thought and after reading this article I really would like to do some research on how often is really occurs and if our future is doomed.