Bright Futures Article

I spent last summer working at a summer camp and had ten middle schools boys in my cabin all summer. From this experience I know how difficult middle schoolers can be, but I also know that middle school is a critical time for maturing and for growing. If our middle schools are not doing a good job, students will not be ready for high school, which is setting students up to fail.
What I really like from this article is the emphasis on making cross subject and real world connections. I like how it allows students to connect to their communities and to work on real world projects.
Another big part of middle school has nothing to do with the school work itself but rather the school environment, and that is the maturation process for these students. I just think it's so important for teachers to build relationships with these students and to help them with their struggles, even the ones outside of their school work. It's just such an important time for these kids and middle school teachers have to be there for these kids to help in any ways possible. These kids will not be ready for high school and then the real world if we don't.

A Nation At Risk

Riley Chickering

A Nation at Risk

This country is definitely in a tough spot when it come to education. We used to be one of the world leaders in education, but now our students test scores are middle of the pack at best. A big point brought up though is that in the years since 1983 America has put a lot more focus on education and what the problem is. Luckily now we area actively pursuing solutions to our mediocre test scores. Unfortunately, our test scores have gotten slightly worse since 1983. 

Another alarming factor is the amount of kids who do not achieve a high school diploma. A crazy statistic from the article was that as of 2008 minority students only had about a 50% chance of graduating, with Native Americans below 50%.

A very positive fact is that our teachers are becoming more and more qualified due to an emphasis on teacher quality. A system that I really like is the performance based salary that some schools have adopted where teachers get paid different amounts depending on how well they are doing their jobs. 

I think a big factor in this whole problem though is the problem of poverty and of parents who may not care about their childs education. I think the culture has changed when it comes to parents expectations of their kids in school. I think back in the days of America being on top in the education world parents were a lot stricter with making sure their kids worked hard in school. Of course, the poverty levels do not help either because we all know that if a students needs aren't met, he/she is not going to perform well in school.

Mixing and Managing Four Generations of Employees

Riley Chickering
1/31/17
Dr Grace

Mixing and Managing Four Generations of Employees

The idea that generations are so different (perhaps the reason we don't always get along so well) is one that I've never really thought about, but I'm intrigued by the idea. I think generational gap has a lot to do with why teachers and students have different ideas when it comes to school work. Thinking about it now, the generational gap is probably a big reason as to why students have a tendency to get along better with the younger "cool" teachers. That's definitely good to know though because I think as young teachers it's going to be our job to work with the older teachers to help them understand their student's core values and beliefs (even though we may not fully understand them ourselves). I know one big difference I will have to adjust to when I become a teacher is the complete dependence on technology. I know my generation is very good with technology, but the upcoming high schoolers are the first kids who were born in the technology age (they're the first group that got iPhones for their first phone).

Diversity Learning Style & Culture

Diversity, Learning Style & Culture

Pat Burke Guild

The big main point to this article talked about the idea that all students are different, and a big challenge that schools face is the balance between diversity and uniformity. Something that is agreed upon that should be uniform is the overall goals for students, but what needs to be diverse is how you accomplish those goals. For example, a goal for all students is for them to be able to read and to be able to read at a high level. On the other hand, because all students are different, they are going to learn to read at a high level at different paces and in different ways. As educators, it's our job to get to know our students so that we can help them learn in ways that are best for them.

Anther point that Guild brought up in this article that I've never really thought about is that teachers are often times treated unfairly just as students are. Guild brought up the point that obviously teachers don't all teach in the same ways, which means they shouldn't be evaluated in the same ways. Nobody knows what the perfect way of teaching is, there's no magic formula, which means teachers need to be judged by the impact they have on their students and nothing else. An example brought up in the article is that certainly all teachers should be expected to plan for their lessons, but if they have different styles, they shouldn't be expected to plan in the same way.

In summary, all teachers and learners are different, we all have different styles and different approaches to how we work, and as long as we're all working towards the same goals, that's okay!