Raising the Bar

"Two-thirds of U. S. children attend schools in states with mediocre standards or worse."
~The Thomas B. Fordham Institute.

I think one of the major problems in schools today is setting standards. The content being taught must be taught at a level that is challenging, interesting, and helps student's gain important life-long skills. In this fast paced world, the U. S. is falling behind because every state's varies on their educational standards and benchmarks are different. Despite NCLB, which tried to increase standards of achievement, a recent article from Times magazine ("How to Raise the Standard in America's Schools" by Walter Isaacson) explains that schools are actually lowering their bar for success. In this way, schools to appear above average on NCLB tests while in reality, way below average performance. Instead ,schools need to raise the bar and have high and clear expectations for their students. Not only will this produce better studenst, but it will also motivate them to learn while preparing them for a competitive economy.

If schools expected more from each and every one of thier students, I am sure achievement and learning will increase. I was an honors student in my high school and took 2 or 3 AP classes each year. These classes were difficult, however, because they challenged my learning I was motivated to work harder to be successful in these classes. My regular classes bored me most of the time since the class moved at a much slower pace. Thus, when I did homework for the class (if I had any at all), I whipped through it quickly just to check it off my list. I was more interested in doing the homework I really had to work at. The difference in standards between AP and regular classes at my high school were astounding!! The honors students were more than adequately prepared for college and the competitive world. I would argue the regular kids were not as much. This is unfortunate. I believe that schools need to change this standard. All students need to be challenged, whether they are a "middle of the road" kid or an honors student. I sincerely believe that if teachers push their students and expect high quality work, that students would be more motivated to perform at that level. Regardless of whether a student is doing the work for a grade (extrinsic motivation) or out of interest (instrinsic motivation), a higher standard would teach the student more because they would have to work harder to achieve the grade they aspire too. In the long run, this would also play out well for our country: allowing us to keep up with the ever-changing world. As Barack Obama said to Congress recently, "This is a prescription for economic decline, because we know the countries that outteach us today will outcompete us for tomorrow."

Thus, raising the bar has short-term and long-term benefits. As teachers, our goal is to give students a depth of knowledge and help them understand thier place in this world. Teaching with low expectations does nothing; in fact, this strategy is more harmful than good. We need to teach students that challenging goals and tasks are the most worthwhile and fulfilling ones to pursue. This has to start in the classroom, and it has to start now. So go on, take a risk, and raise the bar!

Importance of Establishing Competent Readers

In class today, we discussed our interests in reading, how to best teach reading, and the implications involved in teaching reading. I think the number one factor in determining a student's overall school and life success is rooted in their enthusiasm for reading. This idea is supported by the articles we looked at in class about Finnish students. They start school at an older age, have less homework, looser discipline, and no honors classes, yet they outscore EVERY nation in the world! Why is that? I believe, like many scholars have suggested, that their success is largely due to their love of reading. Aside from having to read subtitles while watching TV, the culture nurtures a love of reading. In fact, the government endorses this by sending children a picture book when they are born. Reading is definitely something we can do better in the U.S. A majority students in our country start to find reading boring and a chore once they hit middle school and, in reality, if students have not mastered reading by late elementary school, they are very unlikely to pick up the habit later in life. I believe schools need to foster reading for fun (at all levels). Book reports are fine but they should not be the only assessment for reading. Teachers should allow their students to read books of their own choosing and, instead of a final or report, teachers could set up discussions with the students that would demonstrate their reading comprehension.


As I stated above, I believe reading enthusiasm and skill is the number one factor in predicting student success. The longer a student pursues their education, the more they are going to have to read. Students need to enjoy reading to a certain extent in order to stay fully motivated in school. Homework will come much easier for students who enjoy reading. Aside from the benefits in school, students who leisurely read outside of the classroom also learn more than the school could ever teach them. For example, students learn a variety of ways to express themselves by reading multiple genres of texts. Also, in school, vocabulary lessons can only go so far, especially since some students will feel challenged by it and some will not (the structure of these is a whole other matter however). Therefore, students can learn and understand vocabulary better when they see it used in context in a story. Also, avid reading fosters creativity and imagination. I would also argue that leisure reading can also increase a student's intrinsic motivation, as the satisfaction felt for finishing a book is a form of delayed gratification. That, and their reward is not something external, it is another book for students to enjoy.

Thus, my point is that America's schools need to focus on creating competent readers. While it is most crucial to build these skills in elementary schools, the upper level schools need to work on these skills as well--no matter what subject area. Teachers need to pinpoint students who are struggling with reading and work with them to reach competence. With all the technological stimulation out in the world today, the book is being thrown aside as "boring." However, being one who did not have a TV for awhile, and thus read for entertainment, I find TV "boring." I believe that if schools work harder at establishing reading competence and promoting a love for reading, students will be much better off. The side effects of too much TV would be less of an issue and actually, students can probably come up with more creative ideas for solving all the world's problems by being well-read. Boys are especially suspectible to falling behind in reading. This can be solved by paying them special attention and providing reading resources that boys would find more interesting. These changes need to start occuring now within the schools. Hopefully, in the near future, the government will recognize the importance of reading as well and stop placing all the emphasis on math and science. Even mathematicans and scientists have to read! Perhaps if schools start making headway on reading skills, the U.S. will become more like Finland's government, providing support and fund for building reading enthusiasm.

Passivity in the classroom breeds passivity in the world

Creativity is a very important skill for people to have. Like Sir Ken Robinson states in his article, I believe that every person is born with the ability to be creative in some way. Some people are dancers, while others are writers or singers. Even scientific and mathematical people can be creative. After all, they come up with different and creative ways to manipulate variables and solve problems. Sir Robinson argues schools need to foster this creativity more than they do. In my high school English classes, my ninth and tenth grade teachers drove us to write five-paragraph essays. While this skill was essential to our understanding of forming and articulating an argument, the five-paragraph essay became a formulaic writing format to fall back on when we needed to write and quick and easy paper. Unfortunately, my teachers stressed this format so much that my fellow classmates and I had difficulties in the upper level classes when the teacher encouraged us to stray away from the boring structure of these earlier essays. This is only one example of how a school can discourage creativity. Whenever a student speaks up and shares their opinions, their sense of creativity is at stake. Many teachers have brushed aside or rolled their eyes at a very unique idea because it does not to seem contextually fit (or is at first seen the wrong answer). This kind of reaction discourages students from speaking up in the future.

Instead, I believe we as teachers should provide ample opportunities for students to explore their strengths and weaknesses. I have never considered myself a very creative person, especially since I solve problems in linear and literal ways. It has only been recently that I have discovered that it is in my writing that I can be creative. It took a creative writing class and some free time on my own venting in a journal to be able to break away from some of the linear modes imposed on my in my high school. While I am thankful I have been able to find my creative side, I wish I had discovered it earlier in my academic career. Harnessing students' creativity should clearly start in elementary schools, which it often does. However, this creative process needs to continue throughout a students career- through middle, high school, and beyond. Like Sir Robinson, at some point students lose the passion for thinking outside of the box if they do not have opportunities to develop those ideas. I think implementing a variety of activities and encouraging everyone's ideas is one way to help achieve this growth and passion. Sir Robinson also planted some nice advice- to take a risk and let students be physically active in class. Provide some activities where students can collaborate or race around the room to help them find their strengths in every era. If we continue teaching in a passive sort of fashion, where students simply sit and listen to lectures, write papers, and take tests, than we are just breeding a bunch of, to quote Sir Robinson, "university professors." Without encouraging students to think outside of the bunch, we will create generations of people who are passive and cannot think about anything beneficial and unique. And the world's problems, well, those will only get worse. We need creative people to tackle this issues. As educators, that is what we must help do.

Black Migration Narratives- Dr. Farah Jasmine Griffin

I attended the keynote speaker for the Black History Month Conference, Dr. Farah Jasmine Griffin's lecture on February 27, 2009. Her topic was the power of the slave narratives and the movement of the African American people; pertaining specifically to the 1940s and the influence of World War II. However, she first gave a detailed, but interesting background on how the emancipated slaves moved throughout the country after the Civil War. They walked for miles and miles in order to re-unite with families and start over. As they moved about, their culture came with them, as did the slave experience. After providing the right amount of context information, she moved to the central part of her discussion: the role African Americans played in World War II and how these actions laid the foundation for the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. She argued that the Second Great Migaration, and the Double V Campaign (victory abroad, victory at home), contributed the Civil Rights Movement in the decades to follow. During this period, blacks became very vocal social critics. She explained how different art forms, including music and the Lindy hop, helped blacks maintain an identity as free human beings while they fought for their freedom from the Jim Crow laws.

I thought Dr. Griffin's lecture was very interesting. While I learned some of the background she provided through years of US history, I learned a lot from her talk. She put a new spin on things and kept us interested by focusing on the early movements of the 1940s versus the much more publicized Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s (which many of us already know a lot of detail about). Her speech was very planned out, and even though she sometimes rambled with an example/story, she stayed on task for a majority of her speech. She connected to her audience by preparing and utilizing a PowerPoint, which not only helped us follow along but also kept her on target as well. The PowerPoint was straightforward and simple, with enough writing to summarize her point but not enough to be overwhelming (and had room for plenty of pictures). Finally, she incorporated technology into the very end of her speech. She finished her lecture by showing us a video on YouTube clip of some African Americans doing the famous Lindy hop on stage. Dance was a major form of movement she emphasized, and like she said herself, the point was clearer to the audience when she provided a visual because the true experience of this dance was beyond words. Overall, I thought she did an excellent job of keeping on track, connecting and maintaining the audience, and presenting relevant and interesting information within an hour time span.

Barbed Wire? A matter of classroom managment

On Edutopia, I found a very fitting article that described classroom management. It metaphorically compared untangling barbed wire laying in the grass with managing a classroom of students.

This unique analogy is very fitting for education, based on personal experience and observations from the movie "Chalk." In "Chalk," several teachers had a hard time controlling their classrooms. For example, Mr. Lowrey, the first year history teacher had a very difficult time controlling his class at first. He presented boring lectures and did not have the nerve to discipline the class. The author of this article, Ben Johnson's, explanation about de-tangling barbed wire displays strategies Mr. Lowrey should have used from the beginning. Johnson explains that barbed wire does not untangle on its own, it requires work and cooperation. He stressed the importance of working with other teachers and students to fully manage classrooms. Although Mr. Lowrey did look for classroom management tips in books and slowly started gaining control of the classroom, he should have asked other teacher's for help and advice. He is going to have a harder time enforcing some discipline and control into a classroom if he started off being really lenient and out of control in the classroom.

Johnson's article also stresses the importance of variety in the classroom in order to engage student's learning, motivation, and help ease the de-tanglement process. This is another area in which Mr. Lowrey lacks; he lectures his class day after day after day. He could have learned a lot more than classroom mangagement from other teachers, such as Mr. Stroope and Coach Webb. While neither of these teachers were perfect either, Mr. Stroope crosses too many boundaries, they both implemented variety into their classrooms. Coach Webb varied the activities done in gym each day and Mr. Stroope kept his history class fun by making jokes and taking some time to hear about the students' lives. Unlike Mr. Lowry, these teachers seemed to care about their students, which I think is the first step for effectively managing a classroom.

Luther's Opening Convocation- February 5, 2009

Dr. Diane Griffin, a molecular microbiology and immunology professor from John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, was the speaker for second semester convocation. The title of her speach was "Global Approach to Infectious Diseases" and details a lot of facts and research regarding vaccinations and diseases. While Griffin explains that death from infectious diseases has decreased in the United States, infectious diseases, such as measles and tuberculosis, remain the main cause of death world-wide. Like Griffin stressed, this can be mostly preventable. The vaccinations for these dieseases exist and only need the acceptance of developing countries to use. Griffin says that part of the problem that prevents global vaccination is that many developing countries are refusing to accept the vaccination. Due to the fact that developing countries resist these outside vaccinations, and the highly contagious nature of infectious diseases, mealses and malaria remain two of the largest preventable diseases that causes death (especially in Africa). Finally, Griffin concluded her speech by discussing how these infectious diseases are a global problem from many perspectives: humanitarian, education, world peace, importation, and ecomonic development.

While Dr. Griffin's speak was interesting, I found it a little slow and confusing. She did use a powerpoint to organize her speech, which included data and graphs to illuminate what she was saying, to help us follow along. However, throughout her presentation, she lacked charisma and used words like "uh" a lot. Becuase she often lost her train of thought, the audience got confused about where she was going with a specific example. Also, she spent quite a portion of her speech discussing her own educational journey and research. While this gave us some context for her speech, I felt like it was an unneccessary and rather boring addition. The history of her own journey did not provide a benefical connection to her views on infectious diseases; instead it just flooded her audience with all her qualifications, degrees, and awards. From her speech, I learned that just because a person has the qualifications, that does not mean they are going to be effective in presenting it. I will keep this in mind in the classroom; I need to balance the expertise I have with enthusiasm so that my students are excited to learn what I am presenting.

Teaching for the 21st Century

The topic of preparing students properly for the modern world has come up numerous times within teacher panels and classroom discussions. When Steve Chambliss came in to give us an administrator's perspective, the theme of technology and teaching for the 21st Century resurfaced again. He believes that many teachers are still teaching the same way that they have always been and teaching for the 20th Century. He notices that current students are coming into schools needing to learn more character skills, such as integrity, respect, and honesty, than they have in the past. There are many factors for this but the result is the same: teachers need to make a change in their teaching styles in order to prepare students for the world they will be in after they graduate.

I found this really interesting video clip that emphasizes this point as well. I found it fascinating that there are more honors students in China, for example, than there are students in general in America. While this has a lot to do with population, this is an important issue to address. Many students are coming into schools with tons of technological experience. With iPods, text messaging, video games, and computer social sites, students have been exposed to a variety of skills and stimulation that has not necessarily been shown to them in the classroom. Teachers, to properly teach in the 21st Century, need to adapt their lessons in order to engage their students effectively. As Howard Gardner explains, many students have multiple intelligences. Technological intelligence is a growing one and a majority of students will be ahead even of us when we start teaching. To prepare students we need to harness some of this skill and bring it into our lessons. While I am not advocating for the complete integration of technology, I am saying that we need to incorporate stimulating activities, such as review games done on the computer or classroom blogs, to provide students with learning opportunities as well as giving them critical skills that will help them survive in the ever-growing technological "real world." To sum up, I will end with the words of Chambliss: "Don't do the same thing for 41 years." He stressed that at the very least teachers should be changing how they teach a class and what they teach within that. To keep up with the competition from high-achieving students from countries like China and Japan, US teachers need to break from past traditions and base their teaching on facets of our modern society.