Kelly ponders a U.S./South Korean difference

In our class, we’ve discussed many aspects of education that seem to be making a difference in many of the Asian countries. As someone who’s familiar with how education is run in those countries, especially in South Korea, I have come to a conclusion that the major difference has to be how much emphasis and value is placed on education in those countries.

For example, in South Korea on the day that the college entrance exams are administered, the whole country comes to a dead halt. By that I mean, the police are out on the streets making sure the roads are cleared so that the students can get to school safely. Some of the officers are on “stand by” in order to give a ride to students who are running late as they are going to the testing site. Any events that can create noise (i.e., concerts, outdoor activities, etc.) are never scheduled for that day. Parents go to temples or church and pray while their child is taking the exam.  Basically, the whole country comes to a halt and is only focused on making sure the test takers have everyone’s full support.

How much impact do you think this type of emphasis on education could make here in the US?  How can we, as teachers, promote the importance of education to families who do not see education as a priority?   At the elementary level, teachers get notes from parents that range from, “Please excuse Johnny from his homework today. He had soccer practice and could not finish” to “Johnny will be missing school for the next two weeks as we are going to Disney World in Florida.”  Is there anything we can do as teachers to change the mindset of families who do not value education as much as they should? Is this even possible or are we in “too deep” with a culture that has too many families who do not consider education a priority? 

Mike is posing two different questions for us to ponder

          Since the introduction of NCLB in 2001 and now the Common Core Standards (both of which were handed down to the states from the national level and both of which focus on basic knowledge that students need to know as they prepare for college and their careers) how much of your ability to cater to your students’ varying learning styles and interests has been taken away because of this move to "standardize" American education? If "teaching to the test" has, in fact, lessened your ability to teach the other important aspects of a well-rounded curriculum, in what ways has this affected your students’ learning?

            At the same time, I have noticed that many high school students come in as ninth-graders woefully unprepared in terms of writing structure, namely:   spelling, grammar, and basic syntax skills.   The long time professionals with whom I work have told me that these skills were, indeed, present in most students just ten years ago. What steps do you believe elementary schools in your districts are taking in order to ensure that these skills are being addressed? Is lack of spelling, grammar and basic writing skills an issue where you teach? I'd like to hear your thoughts.

            You may choose to answer one or the other of these questions ………………or both

JoAnn and creative thinking

Chapter 6 discusses the assessment of creativity and creative thinking. How do you promote creative thinking in the classroom? Do you feel that you can grade this type of creativity? Do you feel that you should grade creative assignments?  And finally, what skills do you feel students should have in order to be creative thinkers?

Donna and Alexis and Problem Types

           In Chapter 5 Brookhart states that there are different kinds of "problems" we can have students answer, namely:    structured,  unstructured and goal free problems. Generally speaking, which types of problems do you feel you rely on mostly in your classroom? Do you use any of the other two problem types OR would you like to be able to use any of other problem types but feel that you cannot do so?  If so, why?    Have you incorporated any of these problem types into your yearlong curriculum?   Which ones?   In your estimation, does any one specific problem type give you a better insight into what students have learned?  Share your thoughts with us.    

Assessing Student Judgment_Jennifer, Greg and Dr. Ries

        In Chapter 4 of her text, Assessing  Higher-Order Thinking Skills in Your Classroom, Brookhart discusses ways in which a teacher can assess student judgment……always a difficult task!!!!   In order to do that, we, of course, need to give students the opportunity to “make some sort of critical judgment.”    Brookhart suggests that we consider giving students the following types of tasks: 1) the opportunity to evaluate the credibility of a source of information; 2) the opportunity to identify assumptions implicit in that information, and 3) the opportunity to identify rhetorical and persuasive methods.  Consider just one of these tasks.    You are a teacher who is anxious to know how your students go about making logical judgments, what would be your assignment in order to measure their thinking?    How would you assess the student judgment in that particular assignment?    You may wish to link this with the yearlong curriculum assessment that you are now creating.   

Stephanie and inductive_deductive

In the Brookhart chapter assigned for this week, entitled Assessing Logic and Reasoning, the author gives definitions of both deductive and inductive reasoning.  After reading the chapter, what is your "take" on the difference between inductive and deductive types of reasoning?   As you are working on your unit of study what might be one deductive and one inductive question that you could ask your students?    Are you comfortable using these types of questions?   Have you used this type of questioning in the past?     

Amy has an assessment question

Chapter 2 of our text, How to Assess Through Higher Order Thinking Skills in Your Classroom,  wraps up with a section on student self assessment.  The author, Brookhart,  references a study in which students in a math class were given an opportunity to self assess over a long period of time.   These students experienced a significant increase in achievement after participating in the 12 week self evaluation training.  Do you use student self evaluation in your classroom?  What format do you use?   Do you think there should be a greater emphasis on using this assessment technique in all classrooms? Why?   Look forward to your input.   

Mike is posing a very direct question

Mike V.  is taking this opportunity to pose three very simple, but very important questions:    

1.   Does merit pay actually work?   


2.   Are student test scores and teacher competency related?"


3.   What is the purpose of assessment,  in your estimation.    


Choose any one of the above questions and let us hear your thoughts.    

Donna poses questions about the concept of "think big start small."

Both Ornstein (in Chapter 31) and Tomlinson and McTighe (in Chapter 10) mention this idea of  a "think big, but start small" approach to incorporating new ideas and teaching strategies into  one's classroom.    How do you interpret that statement and how does it apply to you in the classroom?    Do you agree with these  authors?    And finally, what would be your advice for  new young teachers be as they begin to ‘think big and start small”  in their own classrooms?   

Alexis wonders if the United States is educationally competitive

"The United States places 17th in the developed world for education, according to a global report by education firm Pearson.” 

The United Stated ranked 17^th in the entire world with Finland being rated first, South Korea came in 2^nd and Hong Kong came in 3^rd for the best countries for education. Others that came in close were Singapore, United Kingdom and the Netherlands.  This information was last updated in 2012 so it’s fairly recent. Do you believe that differences in some various educational institutions around the world can create an international variation amongst student performance? What are these top performing countries doing in education that other countries aren’t? Have they used special resources throughout the years to maximize such performance in their schools? Are the families in these countries relying solely on the government so they force their children to focus more on their schooling than anything else? What do you believe are the strongest factors in a strong educational system.

You might wish to reference the following link:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/27/best-education-in-the-wor_n_2199795.html

Jennifer is asking about the class of the future

      The author of this article believes that in a few years many hand-held devices will be able to store the entire human knowledge base and, in addition, that we will be teaching students through online courses aka MOOCs.   We will also be relying on Big Data which enables teachers to provide differentiated instruction to students with very little difficulty.    Are you comfortable with this hi-tech classroom of the future?    Do you feel prepared to teach in this type of an atmosphere?   Does the preponderance of this type of technology make you nervous?  In your opinion will this classroom of the future produce better students?    Better teachers?       

     

Greg wonders if we are getting the whole picture

In this week's reading, Tomlinson and McTighe compare standardized testing to a snapshot of a student's learning and achievement rather than the complete photo album.  Today, we see with the core standard initiative that more focus is being placed on standardized testing than ever before. Do you agree with the authors that this is merely a snapshot of our students' abilities?   On the other hand, do you feel that this increased emphasis on standardized testing is a step in the right direction for our nation's future educational success?  Are standardized tests an accurate or inaccurate representation of student knowledge?   Will this movement toward a common core curriculum do more harm than good for our students?  What are your thoughts?    I look forward to hearing your thoughts, especially with regard to the "snapshot" allegation.   

Thanks,

Joana poses an in-depth question about curriculum

Given the present educational climate, what would you consider to be the most critical issues that we, as educators, are dealing with with regard to curriculum?   What are you and your with colleagues doing in order to address this/these problem(s) at the school level and, more importantly, how are you dealing with these curriculum concerns within your classroom(s)?    I look forward to your comments.    

Stacy poses a questions about the needs of all students

In Chapter 2  McTighe and Tomlinson discuss what they feel really matters in teaching. They believe that teaching responsively is very important and affects the way in which we shape our students. They believe that “responsive and differentiated teaching means (that) a teacher is as attuned to students’ varied learning needs as to the requirements of a thoughtful and well-articulated curriculum.”  Do you agree with this statement?    Is it an easy goal to reach?

What are some of the strategies that you apply in order  to make sure that you are making the proper modifications for your students ?   How are you approaching your curriculum so that you  support each learner’s success in the classroom?   Do you find this to be an overwhelming task?     I would like your input on one or two of the questions posed.   Thank-you.