Field Placement!

I am very excited that we finally got our field placement. I am thrilled that we all like where we are going. You are obviously going to love Minerva and I think I am going to really enjoy West Branch as I have heard a ton of good things about it! And Mary got a pretty cool place as well. I know this doesn't relate to ED 355 but figured I would blog that way we are blogging back and forth something rather than nothing. I looked up my teachers schedule and when I get there he will be teaching Algebra 2 then into Geometry then back to Algebra 2. I hope teaching the lessons will go well because I am kind of nervous though. I am also nervous about getting our tests back in Abstract Algebra as well :(.

DRTA

So did you find any cool articles that you can use for your DRTA? I have a really cool article that I found for my resource list that I am going to use. It is titled The Legend of Soh-Cah-Toa
Mental Princess of the Ages and is by S.K. Martz. I found it and it was really interesting and there is a good chance I will use it in my classroom when I do start teaching. It would be a nice change of pace to things. If you want to take a look at it the link is <http://www.themathlab.com/writings/short%20stories/sohcahtoa/overview.htm>. P.S. I am very happy I don't have to share mine in class. Completely completely off topic but I just looked out the window and the sunset and the sky looks absolutely amazing! Sorry for the slight case of ADDness there. :) 

E book

E Book

E book

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Literacy Quote

“Through literacy you can begin to see the universe. Through music you can reach anybody. Between the two there is you, unstoppable.”

- Grace Slick

Intriguing Lines in An Ethic of Excellence

While reading through the second part of the book I found this lines very interesting and they stuck out from the other text. I am not sure I fully agree with them disagree with them or just how I feel about them in general. Most of them I agree with though. Here they are. "Oddly, test taking skills have little connection to real life. When a student finishes schooling, she is judged for the rest of her life on the kind of person she is and the kind of work that she does. Rarely does this include how she performs on a test. When we assess the growth and progress of our children, when we assess the value of our co-workers, it's not test scores but rather character and accomplishments that are the basis of our measure" (pgs 101-202). "Instead of working to build clever test-takers, schools would feel compelled to spend time building thoughtful students and good citizens" (pg 102). "The average education major in America is a below-average college students" (pg 121). "Almost half of America's new teachers leave the profession within five years" (pg 121). "Teaching isn't about papers and pencils; teaching is about relationships" (pg 124). Also the whole teaching as a craft section on pages 127-128. Do you have any reactions to these comments? The one comment that is hard to accept is the one where the average education major in America is a below average student because that kind of hurts because I think that you and I and most people are above average students.

Ethic of Excellence Response

I really do like the idea that Ron Berger presents throughout this book in how he establishes the culture in his classroom. It sounds like a very good idea and would want to implement in my classroom but I think it will be difficult to do so especially because so much emphasis is placed on standardized testing now in school. I think it would be difficult to convince some people that it is an appropriate way to teach in your classroom but easiest is usually not the best way.

Blog Review

"Judge Orders Partial Settlement of Doe vs. Ohio"

This was a court case regarding the free, appropriate, public education (FAPE). There are two parts in the lawsuit. The first part consists of the way Ohio funds special education and related services. The second part  challenged the Ohio Department of Education’s (ODE) procedures for implementing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The partial settlement covers four things. 

1. The way ODE monitors local school districts and other agencies compliance with the IDEA.

2. The way ODE handles school districts’ requests for waivers of state standards controlling the delivery of special education services.

3. The way ODE operates its system for handling complaints about special education matters.

4. The way ODE corrects school districts’ failure to comply with the IDEA.

After about a year they finally made an agreement.

1. ODE to provide public involvement and access to information regarding its IDEA monitoring systems. Local school districts must post for public review local districts’ performance and hold open meetings to hear concerns.


2. ODE must provide protections and additional oversight when a waiver to the state requirements for class size are requested by schools. Parents in the district whose children would be affected by allowing the rules on class size, case load and other factors, must now be given notice of requests for such waivers before ODE can decide to give the waiver. Waivers cannot deny FAPE to affected students.


3. ODE must provide additional notice to parents/guardians of the complaint process and advocacy resources when a parent files a state level complaint. ODE is required to conduct a more thorough investigation of complaints which challenge the delivery of FAPE, or a school’s failure to implement due process hearings or state level review decisions, and the inappropriate use of restraints or seclusion. ODE must correct violations of the law in a timely manner.


4. ODE must enforce complaint timelines and mediation cannot delay these timelines.


5. ODE must enforce state and federal standards and require a district to correct failures within one year. Penalties may be applied for failure to correct.


The two lists are from "

Judge Orders Partial Settlement of Doe v. State of Ohio"  from Wordpress.com

5 Favorite Books

1) The Cure

2) The Hobbit

3) The Giver

4) Eat, Pray, Love

5) The Notebook

First Post

Here is my very first post. Hopefully it will work.