I have found the blog a very useful tool for expressing my experience at CAPCS. Many of the questions, have made me reflect on experiences that i would not have thought of, or at least tried to put into words. Like my Blog on if i thought the school was working. If not prompted by that blog i would not have never really thought about if i thought the Charter school was achieving its goals.
The only suggestion I have for the blog is that instead of a essay for the extra credit there should be more blogs. Maybe one a week, with people talking more about their experiences at the school week to week. It may mean shorter responses, but there might be more interesting stories as students in the program talk about what they learned from their experience at the school they are volunteering at week to week.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Final blog
I agree with my friend Julia there. I liked the concept of a blog in the abstract, but I think there would have been a better virtual attendance rate if we just had a “forum” of sorts on blackboard. On the blog, it was unclear how to find your- Mr. Moomau’s- assignment post. On blackboard, each post is clear because the new question is posted by the teacher and then the students respond. Also, on blackboard there can be a clearer schedule because you can see what time people have posted their responses. I think it’s important to have something like the blog, or a place to discuss our experiences because they are not only entertaining, but also informative for the people who are working at different schools. Okay. That is all.
Final Post: Blog Evaluation
I think the blog was a noble idea, but I would have liked to see it on Blackboard. In my other classes, we use blackboard as a discussion forum and it was equally, if not more, user friendly. I often had difficulties signing onto the blog, and the formatting of a long list of entries (instead of individual links and threads) made reading other people's observations appear daunting. But I did like hearing about other people's experiences, as well as writing about my own. Another positive of Blogger.com is that it creates a more informal forum than Blackboard to discuss our experiences and, as a result, I was often more candid and honest. Overall, I liked the idea of sharing our experiences on an online forum. However, I think Blackboard would be a better choice.
Fifth Blog Prompt: Addressing specific aspects of your service experience, how has that experience related to this writing course’s content and purpose? How might this experience and course content be applied to your personal or professional life?
Since I chose charter schools as my research paper, my service experience gave me an inside look on what I was investigating. Through viewing the inadequate Boy and Girls Club facility at City Collegiate, I realized the importance of co-location between charter and DCPS schools. Because City Collegiate is in its first year, I saw difficulties and disorganization that was often discouragin. But I also talked with staff, especially Principal Hedlund, who really care and know their students. Overall, I saw the drawbacks and positives of charter schools. And as a previous charter school "agnostic," I can now say that I am a charter school convert.
Although my observations of the charter schools were worthwhile, my actual work at City Collegiate was not. The teacher I worked for was often rude and never said thank you. Each week, she forgot I was coming and hastily assigned me tasks like reorganizing the science equipment or rearranging her desk. Often, I felt like I was helping her get home from work early, not contributing to the kids' learning. Yet, this experience taught me to be patient and humble. Although I felt qualified for more meaningful tasks like tutoring the kids, I had to accept the tasks I was given. While they were often monotonous and boring, I realized that every little bit helps. City Collegiate is very disorganized. At least I could help it operate more smoothly.
Since I chose charter schools as my research paper, my service experience gave me an inside look on what I was investigating. Through viewing the inadequate Boy and Girls Club facility at City Collegiate, I realized the importance of co-location between charter and DCPS schools. Because City Collegiate is in its first year, I saw difficulties and disorganization that was often discouragin. But I also talked with staff, especially Principal Hedlund, who really care and know their students. Overall, I saw the drawbacks and positives of charter schools. And as a previous charter school "agnostic," I can now say that I am a charter school convert.
Although my observations of the charter schools were worthwhile, my actual work at City Collegiate was not. The teacher I worked for was often rude and never said thank you. Each week, she forgot I was coming and hastily assigned me tasks like reorganizing the science equipment or rearranging her desk. Often, I felt like I was helping her get home from work early, not contributing to the kids' learning. Yet, this experience taught me to be patient and humble. Although I felt qualified for more meaningful tasks like tutoring the kids, I had to accept the tasks I was given. While they were often monotonous and boring, I realized that every little bit helps. City Collegiate is very disorganized. At least I could help it operate more smoothly.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
last post
My experience has been pretty similair to others' experiences with the blog. It was definately difficult to navigate in the beginning...it took me twenty minutes just to figure out how to sign on and post a response. After the first couple of posts, it was obviously much easier and more enjoyable. I really liked reading fellow CSLP responses and it was fun comparing my experiences at Lighthouse with theirs. Overall, I think the blog assignment was great.
Blog Eval
I have a love-hate relationship with the Blog system. The first few blog experiences, I forgot my account name and password so I kept creating new ones and it took me a while to figure out how to post a new blog.
I liked some of the blog-prompts and I liked how often new one's were posted. Considering I wrote my CSLP essay when I went to respond to the 5th prompt- for me it was was useful. However, as Elise mentioned chatting with our peers really truly is very helpful, less time consuming, and well... more enjoyable!
Overall, the Blog wasn't the worst but it also wasn't the best form of communication, as I think we're all trying to catch up because of all our other work. :D
HAVE A GREAT SUMMER EVERYONE!
I liked some of the blog-prompts and I liked how often new one's were posted. Considering I wrote my CSLP essay when I went to respond to the 5th prompt- for me it was was useful. However, as Elise mentioned chatting with our peers really truly is very helpful, less time consuming, and well... more enjoyable!
Overall, the Blog wasn't the worst but it also wasn't the best form of communication, as I think we're all trying to catch up because of all our other work. :D
HAVE A GREAT SUMMER EVERYONE!
Blog Post 5
The students at City Collegiate are all former DCPS students, and their skills are behind grade level. I’ve also noticed that students are very under motivated, so CC teachers and admin go to great efforts to have students enjoy learning and reward them for their accomplished goals.
This class and my experiences at City Collegiate made me realize how fortunate I was to receive a great education. Also, I’ve become more aware about the current state of DC and our nation’s education system, and in the future I will look to elect policymakers willing to do something about the issues that face our country and its students.
Sorry this posting is so vague. The first time I sat to write a response I wrote my whole CSLP essay :-D.
This class and my experiences at City Collegiate made me realize how fortunate I was to receive a great education. Also, I’ve become more aware about the current state of DC and our nation’s education system, and in the future I will look to elect policymakers willing to do something about the issues that face our country and its students.
Sorry this posting is so vague. The first time I sat to write a response I wrote my whole CSLP essay :-D.
Fifth Post
In many instances during my CSLP experience I have found myself connecting a situation to what we have been learning in class. For instance, while reading The Shame of a Nation by Kozol I took particular notice to the standardized testing going on at my charter school. I found it interesting that my school put such an emphasis on standardizing testing even though they are a charter school. They had countdowns on the walls in the hall that counted the days until the SAT-9, and all we worked on with our third grade students was practice tests and concepts that are on the test. Kozol pointed out in his book that such an emphasis on standardized testing may harm the students in the long run.
I have also notice the racial issues that we have discussed in class. The lack of diversity was the first thing I noticed in my charter school. The first day that we visited The Potomac Lighthouse Public Charter school they gave us a tour of every classroom. As I walked from class to class I realized that all but maybe two or three students, in the entire school, were African-American. With every visit the emphasis on race became even more apparent. All the students asked if Kait and I were sisters and I believe this had to do with the fact that we were both white. I became most aware of my race when one little boy saw us walking down the stairs and he stated, “oh no, white people.” This is when I realized how important integration is to our school system, without it students will never be able to look past others’ skin color.
These are only two of the many circumstances where our class work has directly correlated to my experience at Potomac Lighthouse.
I have also notice the racial issues that we have discussed in class. The lack of diversity was the first thing I noticed in my charter school. The first day that we visited The Potomac Lighthouse Public Charter school they gave us a tour of every classroom. As I walked from class to class I realized that all but maybe two or three students, in the entire school, were African-American. With every visit the emphasis on race became even more apparent. All the students asked if Kait and I were sisters and I believe this had to do with the fact that we were both white. I became most aware of my race when one little boy saw us walking down the stairs and he stated, “oh no, white people.” This is when I realized how important integration is to our school system, without it students will never be able to look past others’ skin color.
These are only two of the many circumstances where our class work has directly correlated to my experience at Potomac Lighthouse.
Last Prompt
This blog has been very interesting. I have enjoyed responding and reading other students’ blogs. As interesting as it’s been however, I have found it very confusing. It is hard to find the prompts and navigate through the blogs. I think it has been informational to learn about other schools and students’ experiences but it was hard to find my prior post to keep track of what I had done. Had it been organized differently I think this blog system would have been a really good tool. I particularly liked the prompt you gave that involved responding to a classmates post because it forced us to read the others posts. This is when I realized how interesting their posts really were, and how their experiences compared to mine. All in all I think the blog was a good idea.
Final Post
To be honest I did not really find the blog to be that helpful towards my final papers. The most useful thing for me was just talking with my group about our experiences. Since I always went to my school with a group we usually discussed our experiences while traveling. To me this was more valuable. I was only in one classroom for most of my time at Butler so talking with others was helpful towards understanding the school better. The blog itself was interesting because reading about others experiences at their schools was fascinating. Hearing their stories and experiences has given me a better perspective of the system in general.
I don't have any sugestions for next year, other than maybe encouraging volunteers to travel in groups so they can discuss their experiences with the other volunteers from their school. Sharing my experiences with the whole group was great, but it was even better to share my experiences with the people who understood the school as well as I did. I found that I got the best feedback and ideas from my group, so thanks guys!
I don't have any sugestions for next year, other than maybe encouraging volunteers to travel in groups so they can discuss their experiences with the other volunteers from their school. Sharing my experiences with the whole group was great, but it was even better to share my experiences with the people who understood the school as well as I did. I found that I got the best feedback and ideas from my group, so thanks guys!
Fourth Post
Although most advocates of charter schools claim that charter schools force traditional public schools to improve because of competition, this has been proven not to be the case for D.C. The money lost to charter schools adds to the deterioration of the traditional public schools, not the incentive to improve. Traditional public schools have been forced to cut programming and lay off teachers; but it is not as easy as just laying off one teacher because no one grade may lose enough students to justify this. Facilities continue to fall apart and traditional schools have failed to show improvement. The real question is not whether or not competition has benefited traditional public schools but rather what are we trying to achieve by creating separate systems of education? Some children are left in run-down buildings with less programming and teachers, while others get to go to new facilities with smaller classes. Is this fair? I do not think so. With test scores failing to prove that charter schools are making any leaps and bounds educationally it seems more fit to renovate the traditional public school system. If improvements were made to the traditional public schools these two separate systems could come together to benefit all the students. It is difficult for me to make any comparisons to my school on this topic, as I am in a charter school, but I have been able to see how these separate systems greatly benefit some children and leave other in the dust.
Last Blog Prompt
Thanks for participating in the CSLP Blog this semester. As a final prompt, I'd like you evaluate (briefly) how useful you found the blog. Did it help you think through your ideas both for your class essays as well as the CSLP essay? Did you enjoy reading other bloggers' responses? Do you have any suggestions about how to use this blog more effectively or creatively?
Remember, CSLP essays and time sheets (stapled together) are due by 4:00 p.m. on Monday, May 7. Thanks for your service to our community partners!
Remember, CSLP essays and time sheets (stapled together) are due by 4:00 p.m. on Monday, May 7. Thanks for your service to our community partners!
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Blog 4- Charter Competition
Charter schools promote competition with traditional schools by creating a market of free, public education. (One could also argue that private, home-schooling, and religious education also creates a competitive market; however, these schools require monetary contributions—thus forming a different level of education that may not be accessible for all families; namely, the poor.)
By providing another free alternative, dissatisfied parents can move their child to a charter school. Parents may be attracted to specific programs offered (such as Bilingual program or a math/science focus), they may want a smaller community that provides more individualized attention, or a charter may advocate values that the parents support.
In the case of DC, the public schools are so weak that more and more students are enrolling at charter schools—increasing their demand (and overtime, increasing their supply). This explains why the District of Columbia has a growing number of charter schools, which serve approximately 25% of the District’s students. As this need for charters increases, the public schools are losing students, decreasing their demand and depleting their funding. This market atmosphere (the gain/loss of students—or consumers) pressures public schools to improve facilities, provide extra programs, hire better teachers… in order to keep current and attract new students.
In DC, it is not clear whether charter schools are forcing DCPS schools to improve; however, Superintendent Janey released a statement to the Washington Post that he intends to produce a ‘master plan’ for traditional schools in response to the pressures of the growing charter community. So, some steps are being made toward improvement because of this competitive education market.
By providing another free alternative, dissatisfied parents can move their child to a charter school. Parents may be attracted to specific programs offered (such as Bilingual program or a math/science focus), they may want a smaller community that provides more individualized attention, or a charter may advocate values that the parents support.
In the case of DC, the public schools are so weak that more and more students are enrolling at charter schools—increasing their demand (and overtime, increasing their supply). This explains why the District of Columbia has a growing number of charter schools, which serve approximately 25% of the District’s students. As this need for charters increases, the public schools are losing students, decreasing their demand and depleting their funding. This market atmosphere (the gain/loss of students—or consumers) pressures public schools to improve facilities, provide extra programs, hire better teachers… in order to keep current and attract new students.
In DC, it is not clear whether charter schools are forcing DCPS schools to improve; however, Superintendent Janey released a statement to the Washington Post that he intends to produce a ‘master plan’ for traditional schools in response to the pressures of the growing charter community. So, some steps are being made toward improvement because of this competitive education market.
Fifth Post
So I've been really bad about posting of late, but here is fifth response:
Working at the charter school has allowed me to see first hand the topics we discuss in class. You can hear "a high percentage of DCPS students are far below grade level and many drop-out" but it does not have the same affect as watching a 19 year old student struggle reading a 5th grade level book, or seeing an 18 year old student be confused with adding negative numbers. It's hard to really grasp the reality of the problem without seeing the people who have become the statistics.
Most of my experience tutoring and teaching has been children who are either new to the country or catholic school over-achievers. I had never before worked with students who the system had completely left behind. Even when I was tutoring spanish-speaking low-income children, they program I worked at was in place to keep those children at grade level, and keep them from becoming like the children at the Next Step.
I plan to teach someday, probably as a second or third career (studies show that our generation will have something like four careers), and working at the Next Step helped me to see how important it is to be able to be flexible about teaching technique, and how important it is to be able to work with students individually. Also, how important it is to teach to a student in his/her native language. I know the constitution has never upheld it, but I really believe that for at their first year in the school system, students should learn the curriculum in their native language and take classes in English. I know it's extremely expensive and with some languages, really not pheasible, but if it keeps a child from dropping out and eventually being homeless, is it not worth it?
Working at the charter school has allowed me to see first hand the topics we discuss in class. You can hear "a high percentage of DCPS students are far below grade level and many drop-out" but it does not have the same affect as watching a 19 year old student struggle reading a 5th grade level book, or seeing an 18 year old student be confused with adding negative numbers. It's hard to really grasp the reality of the problem without seeing the people who have become the statistics.
Most of my experience tutoring and teaching has been children who are either new to the country or catholic school over-achievers. I had never before worked with students who the system had completely left behind. Even when I was tutoring spanish-speaking low-income children, they program I worked at was in place to keep those children at grade level, and keep them from becoming like the children at the Next Step.
I plan to teach someday, probably as a second or third career (studies show that our generation will have something like four careers), and working at the Next Step helped me to see how important it is to be able to be flexible about teaching technique, and how important it is to be able to work with students individually. Also, how important it is to teach to a student in his/her native language. I know the constitution has never upheld it, but I really believe that for at their first year in the school system, students should learn the curriculum in their native language and take classes in English. I know it's extremely expensive and with some languages, really not pheasible, but if it keeps a child from dropping out and eventually being homeless, is it not worth it?
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Post 5
I think the relationship between community service and research is very strong and they both play off of each other. My experiences in the community helped to clarify and focus my research for out major paper. Using personal testimony also strengthened my arguments in the major paper and in my letter to Mayor Fenty. I also felt I was better able to relate to arguments Kozol and Cashin were making. I also had a pool of experience from which pull critical views of what the Kozol, Cashin, and the other students in the class were saying about education.
#4- Charter School Theroy
I think the openness charter schools have towards teacher accreditation is a dangerous policy to have. While I agree that talent and passion is important—especially in schools in poor urban areas such as in DC—it is also important to ensure that teachers have the correct training to teach kids effectively. On my trip to Next Step I was asked to explain math concepts that I had absolutely no idea how to explain. I definitely have passion for helping kids and many talents, but I have not received the type of training needed to effectively train concepts to the kids. There are many classroom instruction strategies that would be necessary to know—especially for kids who are already struggling. If charter schools choose to hire teachers who may not have adequate training, they need to provide some type of training or require the continuing education of their teachers.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Common ground with the weak
I have done a majority of my work in a homeless shelter at an after school childcare program with about 18 students of the DCPS. I think the experience with the worst of the worst children is what has opened my eyes to the real world problems not only of education, but as well poverty. There was one week where the other leaders and I could not stop the children from hitting each other. I took several of the guys into a room and let them punch a pillow I was holding for 25 minutes. I made them yell and scream why they were angry and with every punch made them say another way to take out there anger. I felt as with doing this that I was alleviating some of their daily stress. If I could do this at the after school program, my thoughts were that I was hopefully preventing more fights from entering the DCPS that week.
It is moments like this that stick with me through out my week as well. When I got over to the homeless shelter (Community of Hope) on Wednesdays I transform. I act as though I’m one of them. I act as though I’m not traveling back to the rich white side of town. I speak the slang with these children. I talk about real issues and use their language, and let them get away with just about anything, besides harming their lives. This is because I want to establish a bond. A bond that white and black and rich and poor can help each other learn about the world. I have had fun learning about how to be accepted by this culture of Ebonics and poverty that I’m in pursuit of understand.
The experiment I tried when I first got there was one that has taught me how to learn about and interact with people. The children do homework in two groups. I approached the first group speaking proper English, and telling them “no” you can’t do this or that and acting almost as you would envision one of those babysitters that has never broken a rule (strict, rude, superior). From them I got a nasty eye roll or two and they proceeded to tell me “no” they didn’t have homework or they didn’t want help. Next, I approached the second group as a “brother” as someone who they could connect with. I greeted them: “Yo, yall gots any homework dats due dis week?” and shock hands with one or two as though I had some gang affiliation on the street corner. Let’s say the second group still to this day always says: “We want mister Alexx to work with us!”
It’s about building common ground with anyone and everyone. We’re all human and we need to learn to work together. I think this example is just one of several and I could write several more that fit into this category for my CSLP essay. The community service factor comes into play when you’re in the middle of your paper buried deep in statistics and quotes about these “children”. You think for just a second outside the box and remember them as people that you connected with, not a figure. This helped me to add passion to my writing and allowed me to think outside the basics. The volunteering of course adds basic drive behind writing these letters and allows us to have more passion in our writing. Overall it will remind me in the future that as I study economics and pursue a job in the world of commerce and law, that the little people are just as important in the society. There is a famous quote that says something along the lines of “Your Greatness is measured in the way you treat those that are not great”. I think this holds true in our situation and is something that we all must remember and take home from the CSLP.
It is moments like this that stick with me through out my week as well. When I got over to the homeless shelter (Community of Hope) on Wednesdays I transform. I act as though I’m one of them. I act as though I’m not traveling back to the rich white side of town. I speak the slang with these children. I talk about real issues and use their language, and let them get away with just about anything, besides harming their lives. This is because I want to establish a bond. A bond that white and black and rich and poor can help each other learn about the world. I have had fun learning about how to be accepted by this culture of Ebonics and poverty that I’m in pursuit of understand.
The experiment I tried when I first got there was one that has taught me how to learn about and interact with people. The children do homework in two groups. I approached the first group speaking proper English, and telling them “no” you can’t do this or that and acting almost as you would envision one of those babysitters that has never broken a rule (strict, rude, superior). From them I got a nasty eye roll or two and they proceeded to tell me “no” they didn’t have homework or they didn’t want help. Next, I approached the second group as a “brother” as someone who they could connect with. I greeted them: “Yo, yall gots any homework dats due dis week?” and shock hands with one or two as though I had some gang affiliation on the street corner. Let’s say the second group still to this day always says: “We want mister Alexx to work with us!”
It’s about building common ground with anyone and everyone. We’re all human and we need to learn to work together. I think this example is just one of several and I could write several more that fit into this category for my CSLP essay. The community service factor comes into play when you’re in the middle of your paper buried deep in statistics and quotes about these “children”. You think for just a second outside the box and remember them as people that you connected with, not a figure. This helped me to add passion to my writing and allowed me to think outside the basics. The volunteering of course adds basic drive behind writing these letters and allows us to have more passion in our writing. Overall it will remind me in the future that as I study economics and pursue a job in the world of commerce and law, that the little people are just as important in the society. There is a famous quote that says something along the lines of “Your Greatness is measured in the way you treat those that are not great”. I think this holds true in our situation and is something that we all must remember and take home from the CSLP.
post 5
My volunteer work at community academy public charter school has taught me a lot about the difficulties of educating children. So, many of the kids in the class come from working class families that are just trying to get buy. Their parents want them to do there best but do not always have the time to help them. So, at six they are on their own to make sure that they do there work and go to bed early when they have a test.
The teacher has to work around this and the distributive students. in first grade many illnesses like ADHD have not been diagnosed yet. The teacher has to work with these students, though they have no medicine to help them. This takes away time with working with they other students, and distracts the class.
I have also learned that these kids have a lot of pressure on them. They have to make sure they know all their spelling works and can read at grade level. This last week they had to prepare for the national standardized tests. when taking a practice test many of them where not able to read the questions, and if they could sound the word out did not know what it meant. I could see that many of them became frustrated and stopped trying because they felt bad that they did not know what was going on in the test. These schools do the best they can, but many kids come in behind. they have only just started to read, and write. They are expected to teach them to a standard these kids can not reach in such a short time and it makes most of the kids frustrated with learning. It seems that these kids want to learn, but some feel like they are not good enough to get things done.
The teacher has to work around this and the distributive students. in first grade many illnesses like ADHD have not been diagnosed yet. The teacher has to work with these students, though they have no medicine to help them. This takes away time with working with they other students, and distracts the class.
I have also learned that these kids have a lot of pressure on them. They have to make sure they know all their spelling works and can read at grade level. This last week they had to prepare for the national standardized tests. when taking a practice test many of them where not able to read the questions, and if they could sound the word out did not know what it meant. I could see that many of them became frustrated and stopped trying because they felt bad that they did not know what was going on in the test. These schools do the best they can, but many kids come in behind. they have only just started to read, and write. They are expected to teach them to a standard these kids can not reach in such a short time and it makes most of the kids frustrated with learning. It seems that these kids want to learn, but some feel like they are not good enough to get things done.
response to #2
So my CSLP experience has been a little abnormal, because I ended up switching schools since they couldn't use me on the day I could come to Hope Community. So now I go to Potomac Lighthouse, and it's great. I've learned a lot at both schools that can help me in my paper. At Hope Community, I spent one day alphabetizing free and reduced lunch forms for the students at the school. There were almost as many forms as there are students, showing that most of the students at the school live in poverty. My paper is about the parental role in education, especially when the family is poor, minority, or has broken homes. At Potomac Lighthouse, I've been doing a lot of one-on-one tutoring with the children, and so I've gotten to have a lot of personal conversations with them. Last week, I talked to a seven year old boy who lives with his mom, two brothers, and grandmother. He shares a bed with his two brothers, and every once in a while visits his dad in jail. When he goes home from school, he is in charge of his little brothers until his mom comes home from work. I heard similar stories from the other children I've worked with, and it is obvious that these children are growing up with burdens that most of us did not have to carry. I hope to use some of these stories in the second paper, the proposal letter.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Potomac Lighthouse Has Taught Me A Lot
Tutoring at Potomac Lighthouse has definately helped me with our college writing seminar course. Being able to have many accounts of hands on experience has given more insight into many issues surrounding the D.C. charter schools. Because my first paper was about the D.C.P.S, the charter school experience didn't really help me write that particular paper; but, I had a lot of fun doing it. Now, for this third project, I can write with more knowledge. I have visited the school many times and I feel like I have more than enough information to develop a good paper.
As for my professional life, I will certainly take everything I'v learned at the charter school and apply it to my job. This will be very easy to do because I am going to be a teacher. While observing different classes from my time there, I've learned a lot from the teachers and students. I have a better sense of what may be effective and what may not. For example, something that I've seen work at the school is the "traffic light" system. Each student has a traffic light that indicates their behavior--it basically means green for good, yellow for average, and red for bad. I've noticed that these students pride themselves on their color, and thus their behavior. That's something that I may use in my own classroom someday.
As for my professional life, I will certainly take everything I'v learned at the charter school and apply it to my job. This will be very easy to do because I am going to be a teacher. While observing different classes from my time there, I've learned a lot from the teachers and students. I have a better sense of what may be effective and what may not. For example, something that I've seen work at the school is the "traffic light" system. Each student has a traffic light that indicates their behavior--it basically means green for good, yellow for average, and red for bad. I've noticed that these students pride themselves on their color, and thus their behavior. That's something that I may use in my own classroom someday.
Post #5 DCPS-Unfit, Unstable, and Unqualified
Writing about the DCPS has expanded my lens. Reading from books, one notices staggering statistics, such as, the number of students in DCPS that are minorities, number of schools that have unfit facilities, and number of teachers who are not certified to educate. The deficiencies in DCPS do not stem from one source and there is no simple solution. Volunteering has physically shown me student academic deficiencies at play.
On Saturday, when asked about student achievement on standardized exams at West Elementary, the principal told me that the school used to be one of the higher performing schools. However, with the new standardized tests, they are underperforming. I was told that because of budget cuts, classes such as Physical Education, Arts, and Reading have been cut. With the federal government pouring money into the school system every year, it is astounding to me that schools are unable to get the funding they need for basic classes.
It is a vicious cycle. Schools do not get funding or are completely eliminated if they fail standardized tests. Schools cannot perform well if they eliminate classes. The school administrators, school board, cannot account for where funding is leading to. Shrouded in secrecy, the bureaucracy is suffocating its students.
On Saturday, when asked about student achievement on standardized exams at West Elementary, the principal told me that the school used to be one of the higher performing schools. However, with the new standardized tests, they are underperforming. I was told that because of budget cuts, classes such as Physical Education, Arts, and Reading have been cut. With the federal government pouring money into the school system every year, it is astounding to me that schools are unable to get the funding they need for basic classes.
It is a vicious cycle. Schools do not get funding or are completely eliminated if they fail standardized tests. Schools cannot perform well if they eliminate classes. The school administrators, school board, cannot account for where funding is leading to. Shrouded in secrecy, the bureaucracy is suffocating its students.
Post #4: Parents and Choice
" 2) Parents, not politicians or school administrators, should be allowed to choose what school their children attend, and should be considered the most qualified to judge this matter. "
In a perfect world, parents would be the most qualified judges of where their child should attend school. However, the world is far from perfect. The statement above assumes that every parent is involved in their child's education, but it fails to take into account an important fact: many parents aren't. In the District of Columbia, poverty is a problem. Many parents work multiple jobs and don't have time to research charter schools or join the PTA. Even more, in Washington, D.C. where graduation rates dip below 60%, many don't have an education themselves. How can people who don't have an education judge education? Finally, and the perhaps someone will debate this, many parents just don't care.
Traditional public education in DC is terrible, and I agree that charter schools are a necessary option. However, I believe they cater to the privileged students whose parents can care. In result, charter schools leave behind the students whose parents 1)are economically unable to take time to review schools 2) are undereducated and can't determine a quality school 3) don't care enough.
In a perfect world, parents would be the most qualified judges of where their child should attend school. However, the world is far from perfect. The statement above assumes that every parent is involved in their child's education, but it fails to take into account an important fact: many parents aren't. In the District of Columbia, poverty is a problem. Many parents work multiple jobs and don't have time to research charter schools or join the PTA. Even more, in Washington, D.C. where graduation rates dip below 60%, many don't have an education themselves. How can people who don't have an education judge education? Finally, and the perhaps someone will debate this, many parents just don't care.
Traditional public education in DC is terrible, and I agree that charter schools are a necessary option. However, I believe they cater to the privileged students whose parents can care. In result, charter schools leave behind the students whose parents 1)are economically unable to take time to review schools 2) are undereducated and can't determine a quality school 3) don't care enough.
post # 5
My experience at the Next Step Charter School has provided me with a ‘real life’ example of a charter school with a positive impact on the DCPS reform movement. Due to its specificity, small student body, and financial position, Next Step has created an environment where kids feel comfortable learning. Our class focused on the ability to think critically about pubic schools and my paper topic involved an examination of a type of charter school that really should not exist. Next Step demonstrated a type of charter school that does have a positive effect in a very tangible way. I was always impressed by how eager to learn the students seemed to be and by their lack of hesitation to ask a question. To facilitate that kind of environment with a group of teenage kids is a huge challenge. One thing that I really think about a lot, in terms of something that remains an issue for Next Step and for public schools in general is the question of what happens next. Several times I talked to teachers and the community service coordinator about what Next Step provides for the kids in terms of college application advice or employment searches…basically if there was anything they do to help kids get on their way in the future. Their vague answers made me realize that this was a huge issue that must be addressed. There is no point in bringing these students so far in their education if the school will just loose track of them after graduation. It is so important to help kids plan for what they will do after school, and keep in touch with alumni to make sure they are off on the right foot. If there were to be any personal issue or endeavor that I would pursue after witnessing this program, the Next Step into the ‘real world’ would be it.
Fifth Post
I have found volunteering to be extremely helpful towards this course. I can't tell you how many ideas for my papers have come out of my experience. Being a part of CSLP has been a great asset. By being directly involved in the school system has given be a perspective that I would not have been able to have if I was only researching the situation. I am emotionaly invested in these students and their welfare, and because of this I am even more interested and determined to make the situation better for them.
Even though I am a business major I have always been interested in working with children, and in the past even considered becoming a teacher. As sad as this may seem, my experience in the schools has made me happy that I am not becoming a teacher. As much as I love children, I would not want to be responsible for twenty or so student's education. Being a teacher is an enormous responsiblity and is extremely difficult. I know that I want to continue my involvement in public schools, but as a volunteer.
Even though I am a business major I have always been interested in working with children, and in the past even considered becoming a teacher. As sad as this may seem, my experience in the schools has made me happy that I am not becoming a teacher. As much as I love children, I would not want to be responsible for twenty or so student's education. Being a teacher is an enormous responsiblity and is extremely difficult. I know that I want to continue my involvement in public schools, but as a volunteer.
Blog Response #3: Response to Elise's Charters Create Choice
I was shocked by Elise's post discussing Community Academy's abandoment of its bilingual curriculmn. Charter schools are approved based on the curricular nuances they contribue to the educational community. Community Academy's charter was approved with the belief it would teach Spanish and English, and it failed. In my opininon, since Community Academy is failing to fulfill its promises its charter should be removed. It is unfair to make a promise, fail to deliver and then be allowed to continue operating on a new, less innovative, promise.
After reading Elise's post, I took to Google to research which authorizer oversees Community Academy. I was not surprised by the results: the Board of Education. Through my research, I have found ample evidence demonstrating the Board of Education's poor oversight of its schools. The BOE often provides distracted oversight and leaves prolonged problems unaddressed. Elise mentioned that Community Academy is 3 years old. The fact that, even after three years, the Board of Education never addressed the bilingual problem proves it has no business in charter school oversight.
After reading Elise's post, I took to Google to research which authorizer oversees Community Academy. I was not surprised by the results: the Board of Education. Through my research, I have found ample evidence demonstrating the Board of Education's poor oversight of its schools. The BOE often provides distracted oversight and leaves prolonged problems unaddressed. Elise mentioned that Community Academy is 3 years old. The fact that, even after three years, the Board of Education never addressed the bilingual problem proves it has no business in charter school oversight.
Response to Post # 2
For my essay "Innovation In Need of Collaboration," I could have discussed the facilities at City Collegiate. Although City Collegiate is in a nice section of Georgetown, it is in a Boys and Girls Club that is poorly suited for learning. The classrooms are in the basement of the building, and there are only two classroooms for the entire school. City Collegiate plans on growing. Frankly, in its limited space, I don't see how it can. Also, even when school is in session people who use the Boys and Girls club have access to the game room. This is not only distracting but dangerous. Even though there is a security guard on duty, its an unsettling to see strangers coming as going as they please in a school full of twelve-year-olds.
This evidence could support my claim that DCPS needs to share more if its excess space with DCPS schools. When 35% of the DCPS is vacant, why is City Collegiate in the Basement of a Boys and Girls club? City Collegiate has a lot of potential. But if it doesn't find a facility to support its growth and foster learning, it will never succeed.
This evidence could support my claim that DCPS needs to share more if its excess space with DCPS schools. When 35% of the DCPS is vacant, why is City Collegiate in the Basement of a Boys and Girls club? City Collegiate has a lot of potential. But if it doesn't find a facility to support its growth and foster learning, it will never succeed.
Fifth Blog Post Prompt
I appreciate the depth of your responses, and for someone who is stuck in the classroom when he would really also like to be out in the field with you, I get to vicariously experience your work. I know I've said this before, but your work really becomes visible to me through your posts.
For the fifth post, I'm giving you one of the prompts for the CSLP essay. A post on this prompt will allow some of you to decide if you want to write a longer version for the essay.
Fifth Blog Prompt: Addressing specific aspects of your service experience, how has that experience related to this writing course’s content and purpose? How might this experience and course content be applied to your personal or professional life?
For the fifth post, I'm giving you one of the prompts for the CSLP essay. A post on this prompt will allow some of you to decide if you want to write a longer version for the essay.
Fifth Blog Prompt: Addressing specific aspects of your service experience, how has that experience related to this writing course’s content and purpose? How might this experience and course content be applied to your personal or professional life?
Friday, April 20, 2007
Post #4 Investigating Charter School Theory
1) Charter schools promote competition with public schools.
Not necessarily. Students are working towards a GED at Next Step, whereas, in the DCPS students are striving for a high school diploma. They do not take the same exams. Students at Next Step are not competing with students in DCPS in exams.
In addition, like any other school, there is a diversity of students. Some students choose to work hard and complete their step. Others prefer to work at a snail’s pace.
At Next Step, students are not told that they must “beat” the students at DCPS. Vice versa, I don’t believe DCPS students are told that either. Sometimes I feel that it’s simply a factor in a tug-of-war between political supporters of DCPS or charter schools. Not necessarily affecting a student’s academic progress.
2) Parents, not politicians or school administrators, should be allowed to choose what school their children attend, and should be considered the most qualified to judge this matter.
It is a fact that many DCPS classes are overcrowded and is hard for a teacher to keep up with every student. If parents are aware of their child’s academic needs, they should be given the opportunity to choose what school their child attends. At Next Step, parents who know their child would not be able to keep up with a majority English-speaking public schools, should be allowed to send their child to a bilingual school.
3) Specialized curricula, not national or even school district curricula, are a preferred way to teach students.
Each student deserves individual attention. Specialized curricula may or may not be beneficial to a student’s academic success. Yet, considering the ineffectiveness of national and school district curricula, it may be necessary to implement it.
4) Teacher accreditation is over-valued; school should seek out talented, passionate teachers regardless of their qualifications.
Teacher accreditation is physical proof that a teacher is knowledgeable in the subject they are teaching. A good teacher should be a combination of both.
Not necessarily. Students are working towards a GED at Next Step, whereas, in the DCPS students are striving for a high school diploma. They do not take the same exams. Students at Next Step are not competing with students in DCPS in exams.
In addition, like any other school, there is a diversity of students. Some students choose to work hard and complete their step. Others prefer to work at a snail’s pace.
At Next Step, students are not told that they must “beat” the students at DCPS. Vice versa, I don’t believe DCPS students are told that either. Sometimes I feel that it’s simply a factor in a tug-of-war between political supporters of DCPS or charter schools. Not necessarily affecting a student’s academic progress.
2) Parents, not politicians or school administrators, should be allowed to choose what school their children attend, and should be considered the most qualified to judge this matter.
It is a fact that many DCPS classes are overcrowded and is hard for a teacher to keep up with every student. If parents are aware of their child’s academic needs, they should be given the opportunity to choose what school their child attends. At Next Step, parents who know their child would not be able to keep up with a majority English-speaking public schools, should be allowed to send their child to a bilingual school.
3) Specialized curricula, not national or even school district curricula, are a preferred way to teach students.
Each student deserves individual attention. Specialized curricula may or may not be beneficial to a student’s academic success. Yet, considering the ineffectiveness of national and school district curricula, it may be necessary to implement it.
4) Teacher accreditation is over-valued; school should seek out talented, passionate teachers regardless of their qualifications.
Teacher accreditation is physical proof that a teacher is knowledgeable in the subject they are teaching. A good teacher should be a combination of both.
Post #3 Reflections on an Old Post
When I walked into Ms. Glory’s Step 3 Math class on Friday, I saw a life size coordinate graph. Duct tape stretched vertically and horizontally across the room represented the x and y-axis. Pieces of string represented the spaces. One student stood at the end of the y, and another at the end of x. Each of those two students had a die. The rule of the game was no speaking. In the activity, the x student rolled the die, then the y student rolled the second die. Miss Glory went first. She moved X number of steps right and Y number of steps up. The other students in class followed suit.
Kait’s post about incorporating visual aid to help stimulate student interest specifically with Picasso reminded me of what I saw on Friday. In fact, it made me go as far back as elementary/ middle school when I first learned about coordinate geometry. Coordinate geometry was tough. I wish I had my own version of Ms. Glory.
Each student understood the concept by the end of the activity. Ms. Glory, who doesn’t speak Spanish herself, was able to convey coordinate geometry to students without using any language. The activity was impressive.
Kait’s post about incorporating visual aid to help stimulate student interest specifically with Picasso reminded me of what I saw on Friday. In fact, it made me go as far back as elementary/ middle school when I first learned about coordinate geometry. Coordinate geometry was tough. I wish I had my own version of Ms. Glory.
Each student understood the concept by the end of the activity. Ms. Glory, who doesn’t speak Spanish herself, was able to convey coordinate geometry to students without using any language. The activity was impressive.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Blog Post 4
The idea that there is a reforming nature to the competition between the charter schools and the DCPS is highly unlikely, since the DCPS has not improved since they began operation. In fact the DCPS have been worse of academically and are now try to compete against charter school for resources that could be used to improve older and failing DCPS schools. Competition against charters is impossible for the DCPS because of the parents the customs in this new market oriented competition are bias against DCPS because of its past operation and the misinformed belief that charters are somehow more prestigious and academically superior to their DCPS counter parts.
I also don’t think that parents especially in DC are capable of making the right decision for their children and society. I feel that a public education should be controlled by the public and that although the school system is flawed it can be set up to ensure that all students are able to achieve at least a decent education for technical school or college. Because in reality there is little jobs left for those with only labor skills. Integration is important to the success of urban schools it allows them to have parents who are involved in the school, able to use the resources of upper class suburbanites and allowing their students the upward mobility that urban schools often lack. Unfortunately as outlined by Cashin American society is extremely segregated and this has been underscored by the infrastructure and economics of cities, the fastest and most effective way to undo this segregation is by using the integration techniques that have made the South one of the most integrated regions in the country. Public education should benefit society and promote economic mobility; not to keep some groups more competitive and not to disenfranchise minorities and the poor.
I also don’t think that parents especially in DC are capable of making the right decision for their children and society. I feel that a public education should be controlled by the public and that although the school system is flawed it can be set up to ensure that all students are able to achieve at least a decent education for technical school or college. Because in reality there is little jobs left for those with only labor skills. Integration is important to the success of urban schools it allows them to have parents who are involved in the school, able to use the resources of upper class suburbanites and allowing their students the upward mobility that urban schools often lack. Unfortunately as outlined by Cashin American society is extremely segregated and this has been underscored by the infrastructure and economics of cities, the fastest and most effective way to undo this segregation is by using the integration techniques that have made the South one of the most integrated regions in the country. Public education should benefit society and promote economic mobility; not to keep some groups more competitive and not to disenfranchise minorities and the poor.
Friday, April 13, 2007
5th
Ok now for the 5th post.
Since I see no prompt I'll just write about what actually happened.
I got to Next Step a little bit late (about 9... bus run late and there was traffic) but found that Wed was the first day of their unit (sort of like a quarter?) so they were having an assembly giving the kids awards for their work the last unit, going over rules, announcing who was going to be in which step this unit, etc. It was nice to see how truly intimate the school is- the whole school fits in the hallway of the 2nd floor of the Latin American Youth Center (the assembly was in the hallway). Once we got to class, we played a game to learn everyone's name and I must admit, it was fun to have my name written in the "teacher" spot on the paper where we wrote everyone's name down.
We started reading an article about people learning to read and write in Spanish (their native language) so that they will be able to learn to read and write in English. The English teacher does a really good job of developing worksheets for them to do before and during the reading to help them better understand it.
My only negative experience at the school really is with Micah, the volunteer coordinator. He really doesn't seem to know what is going on and it's really annoying- I hope it doesn't keep volunteers from coming to the school because the teachers REALLY appreciate the volunteers and the school is doing a great job with what they have and volunteers only help them to do a better job.
Hopefully our CSLP project will help them get more funding and more attention from the community.
Since I see no prompt I'll just write about what actually happened.
I got to Next Step a little bit late (about 9... bus run late and there was traffic) but found that Wed was the first day of their unit (sort of like a quarter?) so they were having an assembly giving the kids awards for their work the last unit, going over rules, announcing who was going to be in which step this unit, etc. It was nice to see how truly intimate the school is- the whole school fits in the hallway of the 2nd floor of the Latin American Youth Center (the assembly was in the hallway). Once we got to class, we played a game to learn everyone's name and I must admit, it was fun to have my name written in the "teacher" spot on the paper where we wrote everyone's name down.
We started reading an article about people learning to read and write in Spanish (their native language) so that they will be able to learn to read and write in English. The English teacher does a really good job of developing worksheets for them to do before and during the reading to help them better understand it.
My only negative experience at the school really is with Micah, the volunteer coordinator. He really doesn't seem to know what is going on and it's really annoying- I hope it doesn't keep volunteers from coming to the school because the teachers REALLY appreciate the volunteers and the school is doing a great job with what they have and volunteers only help them to do a better job.
Hopefully our CSLP project will help them get more funding and more attention from the community.
Fourth Post
Ok so I never did the fourth post, so time for some catch-up writing.
I think charter schools do promote competition with public schools because students are leaving public schools for in favor of charter schools and public schools want to keep students in order to keep their funding. Therefore they are slowly changing their ways in favor of the ways of charter schools in order to retain students.
I don’t think it’s entirely true that parents know best. Many of the parents in urban communities are not educated themselves, so they do not know what is the best style of education for their children.
I think there needs to be a sort of national or school district guidelines, but the actual day to day (or some schools minute to minute) curriculum needs to be determined by the school itself. The school knows its students and know the pace at which they learn, thus they are the best ones to determine the curriculum.
Finally, teacher accreditation is over-valued. Yes, this will sound boastful, but I’ve had “qualified” (had PhDs, were fully qualified to teach) teachers who COULD NOT TEACH and I know for a fact that I could teach better than they can (I tutored their students and the students only understood once I taught it) and believe it or not, I’m not accredited in any way…
I do not know if Next Step’s teachers are accredited, but they do all have at least a college degree and I think they’re doing a great job of teaching their students.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
fourth post
I must say that I agree with most of the people who have posted before me. Like Nicholas said, I don't think parents should have total control over their child's education. It's important for them to have some form of an opinion or idea, which should have an influence in administrators' decisions; but, it should ultimately be up to the people who have a lot of experience and knowledge in the subject matter. Parents, particularly in D.C. public schools, have little to no experience with education . . . so I feel like parents making such big decisions in the area of education isn't always the best idea. Like I said, it is important for the parents to have a say, but the administrators should be making the final decision.
As for choosing teachers . . . I believe schools should focus more on the person happily willing to teach, rather than what school they graduated from. I think it's really important to have a teacher who wants to be there and is making an effort. My freshman algebra teacher was a really lazy person who didn't seem to want to be there at all; but I do recall that she graduated from Harvard. I also remember my sophomore year history teacher, who went to a local college, but showed up everyday willing and eager to help us become better students-- I learned so much more in that history class than my freshman algebra class. Although my history teacher didn't have an ivy league education, like my math teacher did, she is by far a better educator in my mind. Therefore, I think it should be more about evaluating the person, rather than their college's reputation.
As for choosing teachers . . . I believe schools should focus more on the person happily willing to teach, rather than what school they graduated from. I think it's really important to have a teacher who wants to be there and is making an effort. My freshman algebra teacher was a really lazy person who didn't seem to want to be there at all; but I do recall that she graduated from Harvard. I also remember my sophomore year history teacher, who went to a local college, but showed up everyday willing and eager to help us become better students-- I learned so much more in that history class than my freshman algebra class. Although my history teacher didn't have an ivy league education, like my math teacher did, she is by far a better educator in my mind. Therefore, I think it should be more about evaluating the person, rather than their college's reputation.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
post 4
It would be nice to think that parents know what is best for their children when it comes to their education. They are the ones who have raised the child and know that child the best. However, most parents are not experts in education, and some did not get a very good education themselves. It is not that most parents do not care about their child's education, but they do not have enough experience in education to know what is best for their child. Many parents do not understand the different types of teaching methods that are being used in education today, and something that they believe is helping their child could really be hurting them. Their child could be a visual learner, but their parent could send them to a school that emphasis is math and science that has more to do with figures and charts. Trained professionals who have years of teaching experience are the ones who can best decide what kind of education a student needs to succeed. They understand how different teaching methods work and how students will react to them. They are in the best position to make education decision for students. Their is just to much information out there about education for the average parent to be able to make the best decision for their child.
Monday, April 9, 2007
Post #4: Ability to Teach
In response to the fourth question about qualification that it is not needed to prove much of anything in the realm of education. The first step to teaching someone else is the idea that you yourself hold some knowledge that the other person does not. In regard to young adults, this knowledge is plentiful. There are two forms of this knowledge, the school taught and the life learned. Both are important for a teacher to hand down to children. The Teacher must be qualified not in resume standards but on the basis that she holds knowledge in both of these realms. If a teacher is able to make reason, teach simple math, and keep watch of children, as she will he own, what is wrong with letting her pass knowledge onto the children of tomorrow?
My point is this; it doesn’t matter if the teacher went to Southern Idaho Community College, or Harvard. Can they add? Can they teach others how to add? If the answer is yes, then let them teach. Even if college was never completed the point is these teachers are able to pass knowledge onto children in a thoughtfully reasoned way. Does it matter if you have taken 9 courses in college Calculus? No!
On the macro sense of teaching the kids, life’s simple patterns of math and speech, their accreditation holds no weight. However, to that parent who is looking for the latest and greatest school, the Kindergarten teacher who went to Brown holds weight in their decision. I think the charter schools should be allowing under titled individuals the opportunity to teach. This would show the parents that those who are able to interact (reason) and teach to the highest variation of children should be the teacher who trumps over all others in regard to a strictly general education.
My point is this; it doesn’t matter if the teacher went to Southern Idaho Community College, or Harvard. Can they add? Can they teach others how to add? If the answer is yes, then let them teach. Even if college was never completed the point is these teachers are able to pass knowledge onto children in a thoughtfully reasoned way. Does it matter if you have taken 9 courses in college Calculus? No!
On the macro sense of teaching the kids, life’s simple patterns of math and speech, their accreditation holds no weight. However, to that parent who is looking for the latest and greatest school, the Kindergarten teacher who went to Brown holds weight in their decision. I think the charter schools should be allowing under titled individuals the opportunity to teach. This would show the parents that those who are able to interact (reason) and teach to the highest variation of children should be the teacher who trumps over all others in regard to a strictly general education.
Number 3: In response to Nick
Due to the absence of our contact, spring break and what not, I have had the opportunity to travel with Nick to Witness what he is talking about. In his post, he is basically asking the cynical question: What is this bilingual charter school (Community Academy) doing that any other school can’t. I think he is right in saying this, after my witness similar conditions. I’m located at the Next Step Charter School, (Spanish speaking) and I found an Ironic fact. My school doesn’t try to promote the speaking of English and Spanish to increase enrollment, however there are more students speaking both languages then at the Community Academy. Does this then mean that the Community Academy is not practicing what it’s preaching?
I would say in response to Nick, that you’re right, but can we expect them to do the whole Spanish/English thing to the fullest extent? I think that we have seen an abundance of new charter schools raise on the basis that they are going to try something no one else is. However, most soon learn, as Nick’s has, that providing a good solid education must come first. This many times doesn’t leave room for the “new structure” they promise. However would the traditionally solely English academically sound charter prosper amongst an army that claim more than they can do?
I would say in response to Nick, that you’re right, but can we expect them to do the whole Spanish/English thing to the fullest extent? I think that we have seen an abundance of new charter schools raise on the basis that they are going to try something no one else is. However, most soon learn, as Nick’s has, that providing a good solid education must come first. This many times doesn’t leave room for the “new structure” they promise. However would the traditionally solely English academically sound charter prosper amongst an army that claim more than they can do?
Reposting
ttended my charter school for the second time last week. This time was a lot better and I left feeling knowledgeable and well informed about the organization. Micha, our contact at the site was there and able to give me a tour of the facility. Along with the tour, I met many staff members and I got to meet a few of the kids that Micha knew as well. There was something that I noticed that struck me in the facility’s colors and lay out. The building is built around a central hall way and was divided into many colors. I think this helps kids to feel sectioned into different areas of learning, and the colors also help to calm the students and give it a very relaxed feel.
The class in which I was supposed to help out was on a field trip, so therefore I was not of much use this last week. However, tomorrow I will be there to help during their math period.
At Community of Hope where I lead a group in the after school program with DCPS, we went to a park and the kids basically went wild. There were two small fights that happened, in which traffic stopped while we were walking back to the Homeless Shelter. The children are from 1st-6th grade and most are still working on listening and their motivation to even look at their homework. I’m making connections with several of the kids and they are starting to open up about deeper problems and why they are so angry. I had a drunk cracked out mother yell at me for letting her daughter talk back to me also last week at the center. At times I think the kids are learning so much from having me around, but at the same time I realize I’m learning twice as much from being there for them.
The class in which I was supposed to help out was on a field trip, so therefore I was not of much use this last week. However, tomorrow I will be there to help during their math period.
At Community of Hope where I lead a group in the after school program with DCPS, we went to a park and the kids basically went wild. There were two small fights that happened, in which traffic stopped while we were walking back to the Homeless Shelter. The children are from 1st-6th grade and most are still working on listening and their motivation to even look at their homework. I’m making connections with several of the kids and they are starting to open up about deeper problems and why they are so angry. I had a drunk cracked out mother yell at me for letting her daughter talk back to me also last week at the center. At times I think the kids are learning so much from having me around, but at the same time I realize I’m learning twice as much from being there for them.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Blog Post # 4
The combination of my community service experience and my research paper topic has allowed me to see two opposing aspects of the charter school issue. I have been writing my research paper on a specific type of charter school (ones affiliated with EMOs and are generally considered ‘market oriented’) that are not accomplishing the intended goals of charter schools. At the same time, I am volunteering at the Next Step charter school, which is targeted towards helping a specific demographic and age group in the D.C. area. I would argue that while the EMO affiliated and ‘market oriented’ schools are an extremely negative presence in the DCPS and the more narrowly targeted schools such as Next Step are a positive one, neither of them promote competition with public schools. First of all, I do not believe that economic theory can be applied to a system like the DCPS that is so dysfunctional at this moment in time. If anything, I think that by recruiting so many students, charter schools are alleviating some of the pressure that traditional public schools are faced with. Right now, public schools seem to be incredibly over-crowded and overwhelmed by their numbers. The charter schools that do adapt progressive and innovative curricula and educational techniques do help small pockets of kids and that is a great thing, but in no way have they influenced their neighboring public schools. Even if the public schools wanted to ‘take a page from the charter school book,’ so to speak, they would not have the funding or administrative ability to do so. I believe that the specialized curricula that is used in smaller, more successful charter schools is very beneficial for those students, and preferable to the standardized curricula that many public schools use. However, in order to have specialized curricula, schools first need administration and teachers that are willing to devote the time and research to develop such things. Right now, many of the schools in the DCPS do not have the resources to even start a project like that. I think that specialized curricula for specific schools is very important and desirable, but there are more basic, pressing issues that need to be addressed first, before that can be put in place. In terms of parental influence on school choice, I don’t think one definite thing can be said about the matter. For the parents that do have the free time and education in their background that would enable them to make that sort of decision, yes, they should be allowed to choose where their children go to school. However, a large portion of the kids attending schools in the DCPS come from families with low incomes and it can be assumed that their parents are receiving low wages and working long hours and therefore do not have the time or ability to provide input on the matter. If we are to think in the best interests for all of the kids within the DCPS, I think that in addition to allowing parents who want to be involved have a say, we should also make sure that the people who are supervising the public schools are informed enough to help families plan and make these decisions.
Response to Help for New Teachers by Elise (3rd blog post)
I have found my experience at the Next Step Charter school to be very different than what Elise described. The past few times I have been to Next Step, when I arrive, there always seems to be some sort of adjustment or ‘special activity’ such as portfolio preparation or standardized testing. Basically, before I arrive, I never know what to expect and the teacher I’m meant to work with, Claire, has sent me to different classes before, so I’ve actually had the chance to observe a lot of teachers there. The teachers at Next Step seem to be very taken care of in terms of materials they are supplied, and as far as I can tell, there are no new, younger teachers who stumble through their work. I think because it is such a small school, and only occupies one floor of the building, the school is able to spend more money per kid and on materials. There are computers in most classrooms, and there is always a white board, books, notebooks and pencils for all of the students. The instructors seem to be very familiar, both with the students and their behavior and the way in which they need to operate the class. Since it is a school that targets mostly Hispanic or Latino students, all of the teachers know English and Spanish. I wonder why, at Elise’s school, there is such a severe lack of supplies and aid for the new teachers. When I looked up the bilingual school online (I think that’s the one Elise and her group go to) on the local school directory website (which, in my experience is not very good at all but I couldn’t find the statistics I wanted on the main site) it said that there was an average of about 80-90 students in the lower grades. I saw a parent’s review on the site and the parent claimed that her daughter had 7 teachers in one term and they also complained about the lack of organization and competent teachers. It sounds like the school has more students than it can handle. I think that size is one of the issues that, weather you are for or against charters, is hard to address. If the schools are very small and specific like mine, the funding can be used effectively to have supplies and good teachers. The tradeoff to that is that schools like mine only help a select group of kids and that they will effectively improve public schools in the long run is questionable. However, as we have seen with Community Charter school, if the school is bigger, it runs into the same problems that public schools do.
Monday, April 2, 2007
3 Post; Response to Perfect Evidence
I, like Jess, volunteer with TTP and have gone to the two schools she mentions. It is clear that these impoverished students are not being presented with an equal chance at education. I however, did not see how the statistics Jess mentioned were signs of struggles. She mentions that the schools were 100% and 94% black, however, I fail to see how that is a struggle for a student. While I strongly disagree with segregated school systems, I fail to see how it is a struggle to go to a school with such a population. Another thing she mentions, was that a high % of the students were eligible for the free/reduced lunch program. While this indicates the students come from a low-income household, I am not sure anybody who reads it will be able to automatically deduct that this is a struggle. Yes, they are being cheated out of an "equal" education, but we need to carefully analyze what each set of statistics means. A segregated community does not neccessarrily mean a struggle, but rather an injustice. I just think we need to be careful in how we interpret data and present it in our papers. However, I strongly agree with Jess and have had similar experiences at TTP.
2nd Post Response
I am doing my CSLP experience with the program Jess was involved in, TTP. I have found many of the things she has said to be true and very unfortunate. The program is often a disaster, but I think part of the reason is because it is under-staffed. There are about 8 kids to a tutor on a good night but I have volunteered at nights when there has even been 10 students to a tutor. This program does have good intentions but it falls short in its actual effect. Like I said on my earlier post, most of these kids are reading below their perspective grade level. They also do have short attention span, but I believe another factor which contributes to this, is the fact that these kids have been in school for 8 hours and then some in afterschool and on top of that have to go to these community nights and are expected to want to be enthusiastic about school. The reality is that the students are burnt out by the time they have to get to TTP. Even though this program only occurs every other week, I think it is too much to ask for the students to actually want to sit there and read.
3rd Posting
I read over Peggy's blog and her visit to her school, I thought it was interesting,how the students at older levels want to pass on work to the helper rather than, do the work themselves. I have seen that with many of the kids at Potomac Lighthouse, I had no idea that this would continue to the older ages.I truelty thought it was something you grew out of with time. Also ,I think what the way the school is gaining materials is common practice amongst schools all across the country but, it seems that a lot of undeserved schools don't have a lot of the materials they need because, they aren't out looking for them. I'm glad Peggy has had a good experience working their it can be tough to work with older kids, they are often too embarrassed to search out the help they need or are too frustrated to keep trying, so I wish you the best of luck.
Lucas
Lucas
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Fourth Post
Each school should follow guidelines that the school districts sets, however schools should have freedom within those lines to do what is the best for their students. Individual schools will have the best knowledge and information about how to help their students, and should be able to curtail their curriculum to match their student’s needs.
Unfortunately, the charter school that I volunteer at has recently made decisions that are not in the best interest of their students. By canceling their bilingual program the school has lost quite a number of their students. The school originally designed a curriculum that would give their students a very valuable quality, and parents recognized that and chose the school specifically. When schools are given the opportunity to create their own curriculum parents can attempt to find the best school to meet their child’s needs.
Unfortunately, the charter school that I volunteer at has recently made decisions that are not in the best interest of their students. By canceling their bilingual program the school has lost quite a number of their students. The school originally designed a curriculum that would give their students a very valuable quality, and parents recognized that and chose the school specifically. When schools are given the opportunity to create their own curriculum parents can attempt to find the best school to meet their child’s needs.
Fourth Post
I've appreciated the energy and depth of your blog posts so far (those who have done them, that is). For the fourth post, I want us to get philosophical about charter school theory. With your limited but important witnessing of how charter schools work, what do you think about one (or more) of the following statements: 1) Charter schools promote competition with public schools. 2) Parents, not politicians or school administrators, should be allowed to choose what school their children attend, and should be considered the most qualified to judge this matter. 3) Specialized curricula, not national or even school district curricula, are a preferred way to teach students. 4) Teacher accreditation is over-valued; school should seek out talented, passionate teachers regardless of their qualifications.
I hope you'll be able to tie your response to specific observations from your charter school experience, but I realize that the theoretical nature of these questions might not allow for that. Answer the prompt however you see fit.
I hope you'll be able to tie your response to specific observations from your charter school experience, but I realize that the theoretical nature of these questions might not allow for that. Answer the prompt however you see fit.
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