We must be accountable!

I think that accountability in public schools must be placed on the teacher. Students need to be improving their levels in all subject areas and I think that is a reflection of the teachers ability to work with students and find creative ways to engage them in their learning. I think that teachers should be evaluated somewhat on the performance of the students in their classroom. While their must be some exceptions to this rule, I do believe that most children in a classroom should show certain steps of improvement as they move up in age and grade level. If a student is allowed to simply pass through grade levels without learning materials from the previous grade successfully then it puts them behind and not only does that hurt the child but it hurts the teacher who has that child in the class the following year.

            Teachers should try new things with different students and find new and creative ways to engage each child in the classroom. If something is not working it is not fair to the student to expect them to just do it one way or not learn at all. A good teacher will find different ways to reach out to all students in the classroom. No student is the same and no student should be expected to do everything one way just because the teacher says so.

            If teachers know that they will receive a bonus or higher pay because the students in their classroom show a large margin of improvement then it will encourage them to find new and creative ways to engage students and get them to understand material being taught. I see only positives in holding educators and administrators accountable for student achievement.

            I think this would put teacher morale higher because it would encourage teachers to work together to find new and creative ways to teach. It would encourage them to pay attention to every student in the class and give them the opportunity to learn and grow as a student. No teacher should be afraid of this because it should be used as an incentive to mix up curriculum and do things in a way that will get students excited and engaged in classroom activities.

Having Expectations for All Learners

High expectations for students is something that is very important because it shows them that you believe in them and that you think they can accomplish goals. Children will need stronger leadership to accomplish their goals if they are coming from a lower income family or if they are a minority. It is so easy for these children to fall between the cracks because many times both groups can fall into the minority category. Children who are from poorer families tend to come from a single parent household and may not get as much attention because their family members are working extra hours to try and better themselves and their family.  This is where having higher expectations can actual help the students in my opinion. The expectations can guide students and help them know exactly what they need to accomplish. The teacher can use these expectations to shape curriculum. Students will know what they are learning and why they need to learn it because they know what is expected.

            Expectations that are clearly set at the beginning of the school year can help create a positive classroom community as well. If every student knows and understand what will be expected of them throughout the year it will help your classroom run smoothly. I also believe that the expectations will help them respect you the teacher and help form a positive relationship between all parties. 

            A lot of children do not have positive role models at home and that can cause them to have a lack of confidence. I believe that have expectations and holding students accountable for their actions can help them build confidence in themselves. It will help them understand that there are things that they can accomplish and goals that they can achieve. It may be beneficial to start out giving students small goals that are easily achieved but it will help build their confidence so you can encourage them to work towards bigger goals.

            I will do my best to be sure that all students are able to make goals and that they have the resources and encouragement to achieve these goals. It will help make my classroom a positive environment and the results will show in the child’s achievement levels.

Article Review 2

I read the article that was titled “The Big Class” was written in the Scholastic Instructor. I found this article to be very interesting because it talks about the ever growing class size in American classrooms. The current economic recession has pinched budgets and forced states to cut education thus raising the size of classrooms. This article gives teachers who have never experienced large classes’ ideas to help create a successful learning environment. Main talking points are “Setting the tone, making space, Forge a Community, Being prepared, using groups, and rethinking homework. Throughout the semester several of the ideas talked about in this writing went with different things we learned in classes. I also have witnessed teachers putting several of these methods into place throughout PHM schools. While a lot of classes are not nearly as large as the instructor in this article is talking about these ideas can be used for any class size. The main point of the article is to help teachers realize that if they can simplify their classroom procedures and workload then it makes things easier on you the teacher and the students in the classroom. Students play off of the teacher and if the teacher is getting overwhelmed and frustrated then the students will too. I like the idea of working with the entire class to develop the rules of the classroom. This gives students ownership of their actions and consequences. The article reminds teachers to be creative in setting up their classroom and to make it work smoothly especially when class sizes are large. Group work and centers can help the teacher reach out to all students in the classroom on a more personal level. Groups of 5 with different stations can allow the teacher to walk around and talk to each group or it can allow the teacher to have a station that students come to him or her to get more detailed lesson. Homework was another talking point that encouraged teachers to not take too much time to grade homework every day but to allow homework to be based on a system of checking if it was done or not done. Teachers can assign homework and check to see if it is complete for the grade and then go over answers together as a class for students to check their own work and understand that they will not be punished for incorrect answers, but that they should ask questions for any missed answers.

I enjoyed this article a lot and I know I will use many of the methods talked about in my own classroom. I was familiar with many of the methods and ideas because we have talked about them a lot throughout the semester of classes.  The articles mostly encourage teachers to be creative while finding new ways to actively engage students especially while in a large classroom settings.