Thoughts About Class

Today in class as we were talking about the achievement gap I started thinking about the two main factors: teacher dedication and teaching strategies. The first thought that came to my head was "duh!", the other was- how do we fix it. I haven't been in a regular classroom, but I have been working closely with staff in a school building for several years and the biggest complaint I hear is that there is no time. In my district the superintendent has decided that students must have 1.5 hours of language arts, 1 hour of writing and 1 hour of math. Plus 1/2 hour lunch, 1/2 hour recess and between 30-50 minute special. This total time equals to 5.5 hours out of a 6.5 hour day. Add in transition times and now we've got a whole whopping 30 minutes to teach both science and social studies. I guess a possible answer is trying to incorporate more science into writing and math and language arts.

When I was in grade school everything was separate. There was reading then math then science then social studies... However, I also remember having a lot more fun in school when we had science time and got to watch the hamsters run around or collect leaves for observation.

Earlier in class we also discussed being open-minded and questioning and it made me remember something from last week. I work in a children's library over the summers and we received this book called the "Eleven Planets." I was totally confused since in school I was taught that there are nine and that a couple of years ago Pluto was demoted. So, I read the book and learned all sorts of interesting facts about dwarf planets and gaseous planets and terrestrial planets. From this I really learned that science is an ongoing process of exploration. What we decide today may not necessarily be true twenty years from now, so it is good to keep an open mind.

First Post

This is just a test post to see how this comes out. I enjoyed class today though I felt a bit uncomfortable. I believe I am the only grad. student not in the integrated bachelor/masters program. I have been teaching music for four years now at the elementary level. I want to cross over and be in the classroom.