Final Thought on Ravitch and More...

1. If President Obama called me on the phone and wanted to know what five things I thought in response to the resignation of the Secretary of Education, I said hello Mr. President it’s is an honor to hear your voiced today. Thanks for considering my humble thoughts and ideas/ feedback on what America needs to do for the sake of education, 1) stop school closures, and 2) create mandatory parent /guardian-teacher conferences until students have graduated high school. 3) Allow teachers to choose the curriculum that best fits the students’ academic needs rather than having companies use their best sales pitch, 4) compensate teachers and staff for all the work they do to prepare for the 184 days they teach students, and 5) put an end to standardized testing as a tool for academic success. Success can not be evaluated by standardize test.

2.  This book has been an eye opener. Last school year I had the opportunity to see Diane Ravish speak both in Sacramento and San Francisco, unfortunately I didn’t really know who she was and didn't attend. It I would have read her book prior, I'd be in the front row excited to hear her experiences. The opportunity came about because I'd recently joined the executive board for my teacher's union. During our workshops and conferences, I would hear her name mentioned quite a bit. I finally looked her up and learned why she was an important and famous. Not until I read her book this summer that I realized that being a teacher today is much more than working with children at a school. First of all there is so much history behind how we educate students today. There are lots of politics involved. When teaches learn the history of education no matter what subject you teach you become powerful. The sad thing is somehow students can be raised in a system that creates them to be unaware & lost about the fact of life. I feel powerful knowing that change can happen with Ravitch, her views were different before and after she was emerged in what was happening at the high levels of congresses, There she was able to see that private companies were becoming really interested in education by trying to privatizing educations and helping the government ultimately take the power away from teachers.     

3. Given the current state of American education, as a teacher I feel like I can educate my students on what’s really going on in world regarding their future. I can incorporate more than just my subject matter, but in fact create interdisciplinary lessons. At times it seems like there is much to take on but in reality we have to learn to take one step at a time. I really think it is important to make informed decisions starting with yourself, your home, classroom, school district boards, local government, state government and federal government concerning education. After reading all the reading in this course I realized that it’s important to fight for equality on every aspect of life. We are a nation at risk and until we get more people on board with how things are currently being  done we will just have to support each other as educators. “United we Stand” and “Divide we Fall”. I believe Public, Private, Charter schools are design to divide us as educators.  I will continue to believe in the public option as well as public education but in actuality, I believe the students are our future. I hope others will join me in the crusade for educational reform at its best.    

4. National Association in my subject area:

A) National Science Teacher Association: On their website they have information about professional development, publications and recommended science journal articles to read, Conference and institutes, how one can get involve with social networks, educational support and more. On this site it also has science catalog with one can purchase science material for class.

B) National Association of Biology Teachers: on their website they have their mission statement and member benefits. There are also tabs that include news and events, conferences and workshops, publication, awards and opportunity as well as free teaching resources.  

5. Over the next three years, if I could, I would

a) Visit the following places

·        Bay Area Bioscience Center in Berkeley, CA 510-874-1465

·        California Academy of Science in San Francisco, CA 415-750-7141

·        Bay Area Discovery Museum in Marin, CA 415-487-4398

·        Lawrence Livermore Labs 925-424-0576

·        Life Lab 408-459-2001  

b) Read the following books in my subject area

·        “The Beak of the Finch” by Jonathan Weiner

·        “The Double Helix” by James Watson

·        “Thinking about Life: The history and philosophy of biology and other sciences”

  by Paul S. Agutter & Deny N. Wheatley

·        “ The Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher” by Lewis Thomas

·        “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” by Michael Pollan

c) Read the following Journals/ Articles

·        American Biology Teacher Vol 42 Issue 7

o    “Biology education in the secondary schools of the United States”

   by Paul de Hart Hurd

·        Journal of research in Science Teaching Vol 25 Issue 5:

o   “ Understanding and misconceptions of biology concepts held by students    

    attending small high schools and students attending large high schools”

    by William D. Simpson & Edmund A. Marek

d) Attend Conferences

·         April 10-12, 2013 in Marina Del Ray, CA: The Microtechnologies in Medicine and Biology Conference

·        October 25-27, 2012 Sacramento, CA: California Agriculture Classroom Conference

e) Place to see around the world

·        The Galapagos Island

·        Costa Rico’s Rainforest

·        Cite’ des Science Paris, France

·        Kobe Science Museum Kobe, Japan

·        The Natural History Museum London, England

Technology, Education and Educational Technology

Dr Robert's Presentation:

Technology is a major problem at my school. It’s not only a problem because students don’t have access to it. It’s because students haven’t been taught how to use modern technology effectively.  Although my school is a very small continuation high school, being emerged with low socio-economics and low academic performance students, one would think that technology is not a part of these student’s lives at all.   

Well we must define the types of technology used and exposures students’ have when not inside of the class. Most of my students do not have computers at home but they use the internet all the time. Their connection comes from their mobile devices. With the topic of technology I think of students using it rather than being exposed to it.  However listening to Dr. Robert’s presentation I gained fact finding information regarding to technology use and exposure.

When Dr. Robert mentioned there was a difference between the use of technology and exposure to technology and how it has grown in the last 5 years, I thought what are the effects on my students and what good does it have on them. He did a really good job of explaining how is research went and the interesting points from his presentation were the increased levels of multi-tasking using technology and how technology has reduced the reading and writing on print.

Multi-tasking using technology is very common among today’s youth and many times teachers expect students to be able to do it with ease. The problem is multi-tasking slows down your thought process long term and usually people end up forgetting things too fast.  I wondered if too much technology exposure leads to the lack of multi-tasking. I thought about my students and some of their disabilities, such as ADD (attention deficit disorder).  I have students that believe they can retain information texting, talking to their friends, tweeting/ facebooking all while I am teaching a lesson. When they are told to put the phone away they have quick responses as to why it helps students learn better.  It is puzzling that with so much multi-tasking using technology they cannot multi-task when given directions because of their attention span.

I am not sure if their exposure to technology slows them down from wanting to do things manual or them thinking about anything because technology has been doing the thinking for them. It would be interesting to see what the data is now with the use and exposure to iPads and nooks, and other electronic devices. 

In the future, I would like to introduce my students to more experiences involving the use verses the exposure to technology. In my opinion the use of technology may be better than the multiple exposures to it. 

As for reading and writing print, as Dr. Robert said the reading maybe the same if not more because many things online have to be read.  My further question is: Do more student read now than they did before do to the mass of  reading materials technology have available?  How much do student retain when reading online?

Response to NY Time article " More Pupils are Learning Online, Fueling Debate on Quality":

The idea of increasing graduation rate and improving student’s motivation to learning is great but to require student to take online classes is wrong. The school where I work offered online classes to students that were behind in credits this summer. In the beginning it seemed like a great idea. Throughout the process of having students take the online courses I noticed that some subject matter courses worked better than others. As a science teacher, I notice biology and chemistry didn’t work out, plus there is no way a student can get true hands on experience for the true meaning of science or science inquiry online only. I think it is crazy to think raising the graduation rate means getting students to take online classes to learn all of the things students should know in order to succeed in the “REAL WORLD”. Unless our world is moving in a direction where people will have less interaction and only think of people as virtual beings will it work?

Companies might think they are doing students a favor but if the teachers are not also favored then one would think problems will eventually occur. I wonder if the companies that encourage online courses think about how their employees will perform once they are hired and are expected to work with other people as well as take verbal commands by the employer.

All in all, we are at risk for so many things! It’s hard for people to realize sticking to traditional teaching will have a better outcome for families and communities, which are the core of the students and the foundation of education. Teachers are important and people will soon see that nothing built fast last. It’s a fad. People think it’s cool.  I can honestly say I enjoy using technology to teach however my lessons are captured best when little to no technology is used. Students are able to establish their own ideas and the ability to create long lasting memories.   

Response to "Technology Resources for the Teacher":

1. The Cool Timer can assist my students with organization and scheduling their classroom task. However, I worry that it may give student undesired pressure. But on the other hand it will prepare them for the future business world.

·       http://download.cnet.com/Cool-Timer/3000-2350_4-10062255.html is a cute, small, free timer application: students stay on task better when presented with a visible time limit.

2.  With the PuzzleMaker I can have students create them and use them for peer homework assignments. In the future students can use them to create activities for their future children and other family members.

·       http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com: generates crosswords, acrostics, word searches.

3. It is my goal to have my students do more scientific writing with lab reports as well. Having a tool students can use for citing information can help them become respectful writer and reduce plagiarism.

·       http://www.easybib.com/ and http://citationmachine.net  are tools to help students compile bibliographies/works cited lists. Each does both MLA and APA formats.  
4     
      4. Being able to activate the creativity in high school students is a challenge; with this animation tool it will motivate them to use a higher level of thinking. In the future students will be able look back on the information they learned in school and teach others.

·       http://www.xtranormal.com/edu/ and http://animoto.com  are fun tools that have potential for student presentations: the author provides a script and stage directions, and animated characters act them out in a video. 

Interdisciplinary teaching: Science (Biodiversity), English (writing advertisements) and History (Greek Philosopher: Aristotle) and Business (Consumer Science)

Biological diversity is a topic most high school biology classes begin with. Biological diversity is often called biodiversity which means the variety of life across the biosphere. During the beginning lessons students learn that biodiversity increases as it gets near the equator. Therefore, in warmer areas one could find more species to survive than in colder areas. The also learn about the treats to biodiversity and the impact of a growing human population, with the loss of habitats and how introduced species can disrupt stable relationships in an ecosystem.

The two sources I found that can enlarge, broaden, and enrich understanding for my students and I, are as followed:

1.Persuasive techniques in advertising Lesson Plan :  http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/persuasive-techniques-advertising-1166.html

This is a lesson plan that teaches students how to create an advertisement.

2. The Art of Rhetoric Video:  http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/video/persuasive-techniques-advertising-1166.html 

This is a video which shows the art of rhetoric linking the theory of Greek philosopher Aristotle to persuasive techniques and advertising.  

3.  University of Chicago Press Journals (2011, May 31). How do creative ads shake up the way we think?. ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 23, 2012, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­/releases/2011/05/110509114025.htm

This article is about the way creative ads shake up the way one thinks. The article says creative stimuli affect the way consumers’ process information. It implies creative advertisement may be effective to those with a less creative mind sets. It also states that marketing strategies should be based on the way one thinks. 

How would I use them?

I would use the first resource (lesson plan) to generate ideas to have student create a printed or electronic advisement. Their advertisement would be on the importance of biodiversity as well as the need to keep our environmental conditions safe from invasive species which destroy biodiversity in particular the San Francisco Estuary.  The second resource (video) would be used to demonstrate the theory Greek Philosopher names Aristotle use three terms to describe strategies which relates to the how one can be persuaded. The third resource (consumer business article) can be used as a motivational tool for students to design their advertisement. It can teach students to be conscious of what creative stimuli can do to consumers. As the article stated it's possible to shake up the way creative people thinks about a product, therefore shaping creative advertisements might be most effective for  those with a less creative mind set. Basically it is best to know you audience when creating an advertisement.  

           

What are the challenges and value of interdisciplinary teaching and learning?

The challenges with interdisciplinary teaching and learning is that one might be more interested in one topic than the other and it may be hard to switch modes of learning. It can also be to many tasks with in a lesson that the main goal of the lesson becomes lost.

As for the value of the interdisciplinary teaching and learning different task within the lesson can help excite or encourage students to complete the lesson. My experiences have taught me if a student does not find  an assignment interesting to do it may be because it does not seem like it is useful to one’s life. For example learning about biodiversity may not seem that valuable however when you learn ways to get students to think about the topic, it may raise additional questions one might not have had before. Its a great way to spark and interest and helps with retention.  

Replied to : getmovingintheclassroom.blogspot.com

Looked at  :mat-smc-mignano.blogspot.com & izumizaki.blogspot.com

Developing more questions.....

1. How will research service learning contribute to “at-risk students” understanding and the using scientific method?

2. How will the use of a school garden contribute at-risk student’s interest in STEM education?

3. Is grade level science content knowledge needed to understand how school gardens can be used to conduct research service learning?

4. Does science inquiry increase the amount of service learning students plan to do after graduation?

5. Will research service learning provide a level of science content knowledge, which leads students to science careers?   

6. What are the differences between science literacy among “at-risk” Latinos and African-American  student’s attending the same school?    

Mind the Gap

1. As I recount Diane Ravitch’s journey through many educational reforms, Diane makes two provocative statements in chapter one that made me reflect. 

~Pg. 27 (e-book) “Policymakers have a theory of action, even if they can’t articulate it, and the implement plans based on their theory of action, their guess about how the world works.”

My thoughts: It seemed as if she was battling with content verse pedagogy. Although she carried herself as great historian she decided to allow her position change her way of thinking. She was working to close with the policymakers that she began to act like them.

~ Pg. 30 (e-book) –“We will continue to chase rainbows unless we recognize that they are rainbows and there is no pot of gold at the end of them.”

My thoughts: Many times people get caught up in the fads/ imaginative figures… people began to believe that at the end of the rainbow there’s a pot of gold. That’s a fairytale. It’s simply not true and when people stop being inside of the classroom they began to forget the experiences of teaching day to day routine after routine. One might set unrealistic goals for themselves and others around them. However if you take time to reflect and think about what it is needed they will have a better idea of student’s futures.

2.  Diane explained a well -educated person by having the ability to listen to others and explain ideas in a well-rounded way.  I would characterize a well-educated person as a person that has experienced many topics they speak or educate others about. A person that is well-educated should know that listening is the key component to communicating respectfully as well as showing others that they are important in this would and that their story is important.

3. During our discussion our topic involved weather “our nation is still at risk”. My answer during the discussion was a loud Yes; however it was presented extremely vague. I got emotional when I started to think about the deeper issues may keep people divided, such as: our nation struggles with accepting people for who they are regardless of ethnic, gender, sexuality, and socioeconomic background, which has a lot to do with their access to education and ability to follow the trends that Diane speaks about in her book. There are still many people in this world that do not know the history of education and how it is evolving yet still has a lot of growing to do when it comes to academic gaps. Although I believe that one should be accountable for one’s own education once given the opportunity to be educated. However it is crazy to blame students that may put our nation at risk because intuitional racism still exists. Is “ignorance bliss”?

Website:

Khan, S. (2009, September). Hardy-weinberg equilibrium [Video file]. Retrieved from     

http://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/v/hardy-weinberg-principle  

Article:

Winterer, J. (2001). A lab exercise explaining hardy-weinberg equilibrium and evolution effectively.     

The American Biology Teacher, 63(9), 678-687.

Book:

Edward, A. W. F. (1977). The hardy-weinberg theorem. In Foundations of mathematical (2nd, Rev.

ed.,2000 pp. 4-8). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

4. My gaps are in Evolution emphasizing on the Hardy-Weinberg principle. It is something I rarely teach being that it is one of the questions that appear on the CSTs every two years. I found three resources that helped me understand the principle as well as a new way I can teach it in my class. When I viewed the website, I found a video clip that showed an explanation of the hardy-weinberg principle. I learned that the principle can be explained much better that then way I learned in in college. The video explained a concept regarding population genetics. They gave five basics principles which the principle could apply: 1. Large population 2. Random mating 3. No migrations 4. No mutation 5. No natural selection. With those conditions one can determine the proportion of each genotype and phenotype in a population. If one needed to measure genetic diversity in a population of endangered species, the hardy- Weinberg equilibrium can be determined using a simply equation.       

Website:

Khan, S. (2009, September). Hardy-weinberg equilibrium [Video file]. Retrieved from     

http://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/v/hardy-weinberg-principle  

Article:

Winterer, J. (2001). A lab exercise explaining hardy-weinberg equilibrium and evolution effectively.     

The American Biology Teacher, 63(9), 678-687.

Book:

Edward, A. W. F. (1977). The hardy-weinberg theorem. In Foundations of mathematical (2nd, Rev.

ed.,2000 pp. 4-8). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

5. Part 1:

 Reynolds, J. A., & Ahern-Dodson, J., (2010, July 1). Promoting science literacy through research service-

learning-an emerging pedagogy with significant benefits for students, faculty, universities, and

communities. Journal of College Science Teaching, 39(6) 24-29. Retrieved from

http://www.nsta.org/college

Promoting science literacy includes understanding scientific inquiry, critical thinking and writing skills, and most of all learning about the global and local environment as well as developing a since of environmental stewardship. This article explains the difference between service learning and research service learning. This article showed that research service learning adds a value to students’ lives because it demonstrated potential scientific ways of thinking for one’s society. Although this study was to promote non-majors in colleges, the benefits I gained were strategies for promoting science literacy to students that might not be interested in science. This topic is important to my research topic because my goal was to lead my students in a service learning project using the school garden. My initial thought was to have them grow vegetables and keep a track of how many crops we were planting vs. yielding and donating the food to the local soup kitchen called Richmond Rescue Mission. However it didn’t seem like it was going to allow students to gain a deeper understanding of how community gardens are valuable to the school. The idea seemed as though students would be just working as volunteers and not putting much input into the creation of the research.

After reading this article, it made me reflect on some prior thoughts I had. I realized that in my research topic I should reflect more on science being about thinking and not just knowledge of content. Before reading this article I didn’t know that there was a term called “research service learning”. However, my previous ideas seemed to fit the concept of Research Service Learning. Other ideas I have were to incorporate a class experiment into a service learning project, but I thought it should be done after surveying the communities about health and nutritional needs, then allowing students to think of ways we could a service the community with the growth of vegetables. Now my thoughts have changed to doing it the way Julie Reynolds and Jennifer Ahern-Dodson did as they designed an introductory course for non-science majors to promote science literacy through research service learning RSL.

The part that was useful to my research topic was the explanation of “service learning” and “research service learning” serving different purposes. I learned that “research service learning” can introduce my students to the scientific inquiry, identifying research questions, collect and analyze data along with interpreting results, not to mention reflect critically as they product research products for their communities. My overall goal is to increase the interest level and overall science literacy among at risk youth.

Allowing students to help design research while treating them as colleagues vs. volunteers I feel that they’d respond positive to the approach rather than feeling powerless.

The authors were convincing that students would increase science literacy in one semester however I have doubts that it can work for my sight. I don’t want to seem negative but the turnover rate for my students is high. Students change classes so many times throughout the year. I worry if a semester is sufficient for my students. Realistically speaking I think less than a semester is too fast however I might have to split the research projects into two quarters instead of one semester.

Part 2: 

Graham, H., Beall, D. L., Lussier, M., McLaughlin, P., Zidenberg-Cherr, S., (2005, May 1). Use of school

gardens in academic instruction. Journal of Nutrition Education & Behavior. 37(3) 147-151. 

In California, school gardens can impact children’s life for health and instructional purposes. This article gives a research brief about the use of gardens in academic instruction performed in California. The obtained their data conducting a survey my mail or email. It was given to all principal in California from the state superintendent of public instruction. The results showed that gardens were used to teach science, environmental studies, and nutrition. The research determined that school gardens were used to enhance the academic instruction; however teachers needed more training on gardening and nutrition. This article gave me insight on the reason schools in California are using gardens and that all grade levels were using them by 1998.  The article also showed that the use of school gardens have increased over the last decade.

This article was important to me because I want to include our school garden in my research topic and this article talked about continuation high schools in California were using gardens to increase academic instruction.  It also pointed out that there was more urban school using gardens as a method of teaching than the rural schools. This information provided me with an idea to start learning about gardens before using it as a tool to increase academic achievement. The main information this report shows is how teachers need more professional development with gardening and nutrient, which now brings me to think, how important is it know everything about gardening? If the focus is increasing academic achievement then the next question brings me to think, whether it is truly important to know the details of having a successful garden vs. inquiring and developing questions about the garden. Since I am plan to use the garden as a research method I can use the information that I gather by doing a science inquiry method, I could possibly explain the importance of  allowing teachers to work as with students without knowing everything about the garden but instead show how not knowing everything can lead to thinking like a true scientist.

This particular source is valuable because within this article it has a wealth of other resource providing additional reports done in California school gardens. I plan to look up a few resources from this article, one in particular linking gardens to the California state standard. I would have not ever thought to look for a resource topic like that, had I not read this article. It also gives me ideas to look for the newly adopted common core standards in relationship to gardens or other subject matter across the curriculum of science and health.  

I replied to:
Betsy Varellas
Edward Izumizaki
Christina Mignano

Preparation, Content, with Experience

   When I took students on a fieldtrip to the district's nutrition center, a building only a few yards from our school I felt as if I was the student and my understanding deepened and my subject area content was strengthened due to the hands on experience. Although students thought of the field trip as a joke I emphasized that learning can take place anywhere. My main objective for the fieldtrip included science learning. We observed process of cooking and preparation of food as food scientist for the day.

I was excited when we arrived and students were very engaged while touring. Students were learning how their school lunches were prepared from the time the food was delivered to the time the food was sent to the various schools around district. As the students toured the facility the students were able to connect topics discussed early in the year; physical and chemical changes as well as chemical properties. The students were able to eat lunch while attending the field trip. Unfortunately the students do not receive hot meal on regular bases. Our school is currently under construction therefore students get cold sandwiches during lunch. The nutrition center treated students to warm cooked meal; chicken burrito which was very pleasing to the student. After they ate we played a nutrition game. Students were asked about the types of elements found in certain foods for the daily nutrients we eat.

             I personally learned that students may not understand the reason "why" things happen but if I teach them "the how", it will always tie itself together. It may seem weird but I strongly believe that my subject area knowledge enhanced because I realized that I can know and teach a student subject area content however the understanding gets enhanced when you can connect it to something that is important and really matters.

During our class discussion my fellow classmates and I discussed the type of preparation we received from our credential programs. We questioned if we indeed needed more content area knowledge before teaching. Many of us felt like it was lacking content area and many of us felt like no matter how much preparation you received you would have never been prepared until you had “hands on experience”.  Ball and McDiarmid states “The experiences themselves also need to be documented to provide knowledge about approaches that may be effective in improving the understandings with which many students, on their way to becoming elementary and secondary teachers, leave high school and college”. Reading that statements, allowed me to confirm my initial idea of “knowledge of” the “how” is better received than the “knowledge about” the “why”.  

My experience is that students continue learning on their own not because they have to, more because they begin to become empowered by how they got to the knowledge of knowing “HOW”. Being able to experience, document and reflect on the knowledge of “how” is empowering. My experiences also include students getting excited to learn things that are vested in as well as recall the steps it took them to get there.  In this course it is my desires to connect scientific method, urban ecology, nutrient & health as well as service learning to mastering teaching.

 My Question: How can service learning engage at risk students to urban ecology, health and nutrient using the scientific method? 

At this point I know that there have been many news articles about Chevron funding projects promoting urban gardening, health and nutrient. The local and federal government talked about the obesity levels in children explicitly in urban communities. I have ideas which will include my students putting together a scientific study that includes at risk youth growing vegetables and using the garden to educate other community members in a presentation at a town hall meeting, church and/or school. 

In order for students to gain a better understanding they will need to embraced themselves into the subject area content.

I decided to reply to my subject area peers only.
Betsy Varellas
Christina Mignano
Edward Izumizaki

Five Questions?

Beginning Questions:

1. What is the sequence of organization from lowest to highest for living things? 2. What kingdom is comprised of organisms made of one cell with no nuclear membrane?   3.  What nonrenewable resource? 4. What are the major misconceptions of recycling, reusing, and reducing carbon footprint for students living in poverty? 5. How does the Latin and Greek Language contribute to science comprehension?    

Final Questions:

1. How can my designed unit plan showcase science-specific experiential learning with lessons to increase the interest and performance level of at-risk students in secondary school if teacher were to implement them?
2. —How can my unit plan assist teachers outside of the science content area to infuse science experiential learning activities and improve teachers’ ability to implement cross-curricular activities?

MAIT 2012

Today I am starting something new. I am going to share my thoughts with the world as I get my Master of Art in Teaching!