Blog 6: Reflections

1. If President Obama called me and asked what five things he should first address about improving the education I would have these five things to suggest:

• Create a comprehensive accountability system that utilizes teacher and student portfolios, video footage of lessons, lesson study peer reviews, in addition to test scores with which to judge teacher performance. The current system overlooks the most important factors in education while judging teacher performance on tests that look at reading and mathematical fluency. If we are to test for teacher competence then there should be performance-based assessments for teachers, not students, to perform.

• Put individuals who have teaching knowledge in positions of policy and decision making power. For example, if one is to be superintendent that person should have taught for at least 5-7 years and held an administrative position prior to even being considered for such a position. This experience requirement should become increasingly more demanding as the positions increase in their decision and policy making power. 

• Ensure teachers are in a position of decision-making power when faced with policy changes and when policy and/or pedagogical changes are made, provide and pay for comprehensive professional developments so teachers are not "sinking" instead of "swimming." When teachers are under-trained their inexperience only hurts their students and we need well-educated, empowered citizens in our future. 

• In addition to the above, teachers just coming out of their credential program should not merely be dropped into a classroom. Provide an orientation period where new teachers have a retired/volunteer teacher with them for the first 2-4 weeks of school in order to provide support. 

• Lastly, make tenure more difficult to achieve. Base it on the performance portfolios mentioned in my first comment. Teachers should not expect to walk in to tenure so easily. Either that or have tenure be something that requires obtaining a certain number of continuing educations units (CEU's) so teachers are required to stay current on pedagogy and content in order to maintain their tenure. 

2. The most meaningful thing the Ravitch reading offered for me was solutions. I can take only so much of "this is what's wrong" with something before I get so depressed I cannot continue reading. Ravitch kept me engaged by arguing for change to what is wrong. She offered solutions for the gaps in teacher training programs and new teacher initiation, limited data in testing, lack of a cohesive set of national standards, lack of charter school oversight, and so much more. Reading Ravitch made me feel like I know how to be a better advocate for my students, my friends, and my family.

3. Given the current state of American education here are a few things I can do as a teacher :
Assess my students using diverse assessment tools such as performance portfolios, tape/video recorded reports, student self-assessments, in addition to test scores. I can also reveal the limited scope of the national assessments to my students' parents so they are aware of their children's strengths not reflected on the STAR or CST.

As a citizen I can help ameliorate the current state of American education by advocating for my local public schools. I can volunteer, vote, write letters to politicians and editors of local newspapers. I can speak out on public radio (I plan to write and submit a Perspective on KQED regarding my teacher training experience and the state of education). I also have a young son I need to guide and nurture through the education system. I can advocate for him by remaining educated and keeping current on the politics of education so I can be sure he is represented and he sees a good example of how to advocate for oneself and others.

4. NCTE: National Council of Teachers of English As a current member I find this associations web site and newsletter to be inspiring and helpful when thinking about the content area pedagogy of language arts. I have found articles discussion how to use graphic novels in a literature unit and lesson plans for teaching literacy in the garden!

NCSS: National Council for the Social Studies Similar to the NCTE the NCSS offers a rich website with links to other sites rich in social studies and historical content, pedagogy, and teacher support. The NCSS also offers conferences, training, and workshops for teachers from elementary to the university level.

5. Over the next three years...

a. I would still like to visit: Ardenwood Historic Farm, the Life Lab Clasroom Garden on the UCSC campus, John Muir National Historic Site in Martinez, EcoVillage Farm in Richmond, and the Garden of Shakespeare's Flowers in Golden Gate Park.

b. I would like to read: Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv, The Growing Classroom: Garden-Based Science by Roberta Jaffe and Gary Appel, Designing Outdoor Environments for Children: landscape School Yards, Gardens, and Playgrounds by Lolly Tai, Family Math by Stenmark, Thompson and Cossey, and Red Pedagogy: Native American Social and Political Thought by Sandy Grande.

c. I would like to investigate the Journal of Experiential Education and Children, Youth, and Environments Journal.

d. I would like to attend the Life Lab teacher training: The Growing Classroom: Intro to Garden-Based Learning (Grades 2-6) and the Association for Experiential Education International Conference.

e. I would like to see:

• Anne Frank's house in Amsterdam 
• the Dublin Writer's Museum and other literary sites in Ireland to explore the history and works of James Joyce and WB Yeats among others...
• Japan to visit their gardens and explore the birthplace of haiku and the mathematical relationships in the landscape.
• Xocimilco Gardens in Mexico City
• and Santiago, Chile to visit the literary monuments to Pablo Neruda.

6. My colleagues offered helpful advice for further research into funding, lesson planning, and garden creation and they encouraged the use of a website for disseminating this information. If I could change anything about my presentation it's that I'd have brought more literature into the presentation for my colleagues to explore. The literature I found was well written and artfully packaged which makes handling the books and magazines a much richer experience than listening to me gush about them. I also would have liked to give time for questions. Ten minutes goes much more quickly than anticipated.