Thank You

Thanks to all of you for making this maymester a great learning journey. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know some of you for the first time and spending time with those of you I already knew. Remember to always believe in yourself and to believe in the capabilities of your future students/employees. Just a reminder, your philosophy is what enables you to make the choices you make.

I added the friendship salad activity to the blog for those of you who would like to try it on a group of your own students.

Effective Instruction in American Schools

After reading chapter 12, Effective Instruction in American Schools, think back of a teacher you had who demonstrated effective instruction. Share your story of why this teacher was effective and connect it to the content presented in Chapter 12.

Let's Plan for a Last Day Celebration

On the last day of class I like to end with a celebration of learning. I heard a quote one time that said STUDENTS MAY NOT REMEMBER WHAT YOU TAUGHT THEM BUT THEY WILL REMEMBER HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL. I would like for us all to leave our journey with positive feelings about History and Philosophy of Education.

What are some ideas you have that would make the last day of class memorable?

Establishing Rules and Procedures at the Beginning of the School Year

In his book The First Days of School, by Harry Wong this renkowned educational expert discusses how important it is to establish rules and procedures from day one in the classroom. View the DVD in the Kauchak book and see how a middle school teacher conducts this with students. What existing educational philosophy is this teacher practicing?

After reading Chapter 11 Creating Productive Learning Environments check out one or more of the following websites. Share something interesting you have discovered about creating environments that are conducive to learning.

caringhttp://www.caringteachers.com/

classroommanagement
http://education.indiana.edu/cas/tt/v1i2/what.html
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/envrnmnt/drugfree/sa2lk9.htm
http://www.shpm.com/articles/child_behavior/behavman4.html
http://www.honorlevel.com/techniques.html
http://7-12educators.miningco.com/msub49.htm

classroom organization
http://teacher.scholastic.com/professional/futureteachers/classroom_organization.htm

withitness
http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/agexed/leap/aee535/Management.ppthttp://www.aaeteachers.org/newsletters/aprilmaynews.pdf

The Curriculum in an Era of Standards and Accountability

In chapter 10 we discover there are four components of Curriculum
1. The explicit curriculum
2. The implicit, or "hidden" curriculum
3. The null curriculum
4. Extracurriculum

Select one of the following to respond to: (Copy and paste the prompt you are responding to in your comment)

What is the difference between the explicit and the implicit curriculum?
How is the null curriculum different from both the explicit and the implicit curriculum?
Compare the extracurriculum to the other forms of curriculum.

Read, What Do We Know About Learners and Learning? The Learner-Centered Framework: Bringing the Educational System into Balance, by Barbara Combs on page 150 in the Charting a Professional Course

After reading please respond to the following questions on page 150
Last names beginning with B-H respond to questions 1 & 3
Last names beginning with K-V respond to questions 2 & 4

Analyzing Educational Philosophies

Of the different educational philosophies discussed in chapter 6, which is most valuable in framing issues for preschool children? Elementary school students? Middle school students? High School students?

Defining Yourself as a Professional

Respond to the following case study.

You are a 5th grade teacher in the Michigan City School District. You want your students to do more than simply memorize their way through information you are teaching. You want your students to develop critical thinking skills, learn to solve problems, make informed decisions, and get involved in learning.

This turns out to be a daunting task because the students want you to describe every required detail in assignments, and when you call on students who don't have their hands raised, the most common response is, "I didn't have my hand up," or "I don't know." In other cases, they say, "C'mon, just tell us what you want us to know," and "Why do we have to learn this stuff?"

How would you respond to these students? Compare your response to an educational philosophy.