Read these two short articles and share your thoughts. Let's focus on how these articles differ (or not) from previous learning that you have experienced or articles/books you have read.
11 Comments
Domenick Armano
9/2/2013 05:47:55 am
After reading the two articles, I have to say that they are both similar yet very much the same as other things I have learned on the same topics. First off, the article It's People, Not Programs is very similar to what i have been hearing recently. Almost everyone I speak to about the state of our schools, seem to believe that it is the teachers who makes the difference. They do not believe that changing the testing or the curriculum are going to greatly enhance the performance of our schools. However, it does seem like all the new state policies and guidelines seem to think that they can improve student performance by changing the programs.
Reply
Whittney Smith
9/3/2013 12:15:37 pm
Let' explore the idea... "young teachers need to be offered more support and schooling." How do other professionals grow? Where to they get their professional development? Who is responsible?
Reply
Domenick Armano
9/5/2013 11:16:36 am
Other young professionals learn their craft through years of intense schooling and sometimes years learning behind veterans in their field. They observe, get both in the class and in the field training and then spend more time working along side someone who has been doing it for many years. I think young teachers are given support however, I feel like the training and support offered is limited. We observe 100 hours and spend a few weeks student teaching. I dont believe that is nearly enough. Becoming good at anything takes practice and I think young aspiring teachers should have to observe more, student teach longer and when they are officially teachers, be given more support from veteran teachers and others in the school. Both the higher ups in a school and the young teachers themselves who need to ask for help if they need it are responsible.
Vanessa Canner
9/3/2013 02:06:15 am
These two articles are very similar to what I have been learning about in my other classes. Teachers make the biggest difference in a school and without good teachers, the school isn't considered a good school. I agree that it is not about programs; it is about people because you can have a great program in school but if the teacher is terrible, it is definitely going to be a terrible class.
Reply
Gabrielle Marano
9/5/2013 01:56:36 am
After having read both articles, I felt that they both had the same ideas in that making schools better all depends on the teachers that are in them. Based on what I read, I agree with what the articles are saying and from my own experience: school was fun, enjoyable, I wanted to go, when I loved my teacher. I looked forward to the classes where my teacher was funny and engaging and dreaded the classes where the teacher was as dry as a piece of burnt toast. In today's society, how engaging and memorable you are to your students is what will determine your success as a great teacher. These two articles seem to follow the pattern of other articles and discussions I've heard and read throughout schooling.
Reply
Erika Escobar
9/5/2013 10:45:00 pm
The two articles, What it Takes to Become a Great Teacher and It's Teachers Not Programs are similar to readings I have read through my journey in becoming a teacher. I absolutely agree with both articles. What it Takes to Become a great Teacher talks about how schools should have a residency program for teachers and not just for doctors. This makes me feel confident in the program I am in, even though the program is only 1 year; we will be in the classroom 4 days out of the week. On the day that we are not in the classroom, we will be taking classes that will help us engage with the type of students we will be working with. In the article it touched on the subject of learning child development classes, which I agree may work in my teaching. Over this past summer, I took an adolescent experience course; it was great because it brought me back into the mind of how an adolescent thinks. Just by taking this class, I was thinking of different ways I should teach just like the teacher in Hoboken, NJ did in this article.
Reply
Akilah Howard
9/6/2013 03:37:18 am
I feel that these articles have a lot in common to other articles which I have read. I agree with the articles that if you want a good school then you need great teachers. I believe that great teachers need to be trained so that they can learn how to be a good teacher.
Reply
Whittney Smith
9/6/2013 03:42:56 am
How do we know "what works?"
Reply
Dan O'Sullivan
9/6/2013 05:57:29 am
How do we know what works is a very interesting question especially since there is widespread fight against standardized testing. While I agree that standardized testing is far from perfect, I think it is needed as a way to find out "what works". Like Democracy and capitalism standardized testing is fundamentally flawed but we've yet to find a better way to guage what works.
Reply
Michelle Rizzacasa
9/6/2013 04:39:00 am
First all I would like to say is that surprisingly, I actually enjoyed reading both articles!
Reply
Daniel O'Sullivan
9/6/2013 05:54:47 am
I enjoyed both articles, and I do agree with them. These articles focus on people teaching instead of teaching programs or teaching methods. What these articles are trying to point out is that the best teaching methods in the world won't work unless you have a good teacher, which is true. I've been told that a bad teacher can set a student back as much as two years which is a tragedy. I've also personally experienced the magical effect a great teacher can have on a student. A great teacher can make all the difference in the world, but we shouldn't abandon our quest to find the best teaching methods. I also believe great facilities support great teachers. I absolutely agree that teacher training programs gibe new teachers inadequate practical experience, but at some point a new teacher is going to have to jump into a classroom. Teacher's are already paid poorly if they had to work an extra year as an unpaid intern even fewer people would be attracted to the profession. There is also a problem with bureaucracy in education, great teachers are often abandoned by schools that wont support their teaching methods. There is a huge problem with teacher burn out when otherwise good/great teachers are driven to quit because they see no way to enact change in their schools. It's also very hard to attract brilliant teachers, when teachers get paid barely more than the janitors at their school. I myself have often doubted my choice to become an educator based on the poor compensation teachers get throughout the country.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Categories
All
Archives
October 2023
Whittney Smith, Ed.D.Dr. Smith is the Principal of Mineola High School in Garden City Park, NY. He is also an Adjunct Professor in the Ruth Ammon School of Education at Adelphi University. |