February 29, 2008

Hello all,

Here's the requested site for the fair schools campaign.

http://ohiofairschools.org/

This site below is where you can find the actual amendment to read.   If you have any intention of circulating petitions or talking to people about this issue, be sure you READ the amendment to determine whether or not you are in support of the amendment.  One more time I stress to you that I am NOT encouraging you to vote for the amendment.  I AM encouraging you to get involved in the process because it affects your future.  

http://www.rightforohio.org/

Congratulations to both presentation groups today.  The presentations were well done and appreciated by all involved.

For you who asked,  you can only vote if you are a resident of Ohio and registered to vote in Ohio.

Feel free to research these funding issues further and discuss them via this blog.

Have a safe and relaxing spring break!

Diann

February 22 2008, 10:30 Class

Hey,

Nice job this morning, group 1.  Your peers had all positive comments about your presentation both the method and the content.  Good work!

A couple responses:

1) I don't know what all the masters programs are.  You can go on line at BGSU and search for Graduate programs and you'll find more than you ever really wanted to know.

2) If you want to get your masters here at BG, you can apply for a graduate assistantship.  You would work for the university in return for free tuition and a small living stipend.  Talk to Jeremy about this....he's doing it now.

3) As far as teaching salaries in surrounding states...I don't know off hand, and I'm sure you can google that info as well as I can.

4)  However, as far as what teachers 'make'......I have an email I'll send you on that topic.

Have a wonderful week.

Diann

February 22, 2008, 9:30 Class

Hey all,

Nice job this morning group #1.  All of your classmates appreciated your efforts and enjoyed your game.  I think you did a good job.  Some of the responses were questionable depending on where you got your information.  If much of your urban financial, etc. info was based on Toledo Public Schools that would explain some f the discrepancies since TPS is in major financial difficulty.

Anyhow...you got us all thinking and engaged....thank you!!

Just a couple responses.

1)  I'm thinking every college student should know that a research paper is 'research' and not an opinion piece.  I'm not going to feel guilty about requiring a 'research' paper to be just that.

2) Someone wished more of the answers could have been explained.  They could have been if you'd have asked for them to be explained.  I don't know you have a question if you don't ask it.  Mind reader ... I am not....(which is probably a good thing as a teacher because you may not like what they're thinking.)  :)

3)  Your time frame for your presentations is specifically stated on your rubric is exactly 30 minutes.  It is imperative for teachers to meet time frames, and it's never too early to practice.

Therefore, if a group has to hurry - they need to pay better attention to the time while the project is going on so they keep things moving or adjust as needed to fit the allotted time.

4)  Here's a question from one of your peers for you to ponder and answer:   "Why is it hard to find teachers for rural schools?"  What do you guys think????    Or IS it hard???

Have a great weekend and week.

Diann

February 15, 2008

Hey all,

It's good to know that you enjoyed class and found it beneficial.  The only question that surfaced this week is a good one.   You address it, and I'll address it at a later day after I get some of your opinions.

1) How does a teacher know what teaching style is best for his/her class?  

Take a few minutes and go back to last week's posts.  There were some great questions that no one addressed.......come on - step up and voice your opinions.

Have a relaxing and fun weekend and a learning filled week.

Diann

February 8, 2008 9:30 Class

Hey all,

Before I put the questions / comments up, let me clarify something.  Someone said that they don't know what I want in my assignments.  My response to that is..if you've read the assignment in the syllabus and pulled up the rubric (which is on blackboard) and still don't understand....ASK ME. I'm at the other end of the keyboard or in my office from 10 - 2:00 on most T and R.  I also answer my phone messages when I get them.  With all that said,   in my world, "I don't know what you want." is a cop out because you have tons of materials and all the opportunities you could possibly want to ask me.

Here are questions that were raised this morning.  Please respond and stimulate more discussion if you wish.

1) How can teachers become advocates for students outside of the classroom without over-stepping professional boundaries?  Where should they draw the line?

2) What can a middle school that has already adopted  'arrested development' do to fix the problem?  If you remember, this was the issue you were going to check out in line with your field placement analysis.  If your school does some, but not all of the MCE steps, why is that and how do they intend to fix it?

3) How much of the middle school philosophy is actually followed through?  How much is just for show.

4) What can we do to make students want to learn?  Some don't like learning and they don't like school.  How can we fix this?

5) Yes, you can and should do your domain observation sheets over a period of time.  If you can identify one piece of evidence for each, I'll be happy.  If you do two, I'll be ecstatic!!!  :)

6) How hard would it be to fulfill all of the middle school aspects at the same time?

As always your input and questions are more than encouraged!!

Have a great week.

Diann

FYI - Now that you've had a chance to participate, I've gone back to the earlier blogs and given you my opinions on some of the issues - if you care.,

February 8, 2008 10:30 Class

Hello all,

What a great job you did today in class!!  I love it when you voice opinions and ask questions.  You're thinking, and it shows!!

I'm entering the two sections separately because of the number of issues to which you might want to respond.  You're welcome to respond to questions from either section....it was just going to get REALLY long.

Here are some points for you to consider and blog on from today.

1) Let's talk about how to make students who don't want to learn and who may have bad lives at home, want to learn.  Any ideas out there?  We'll definitely cover this more when the 'motivation' group presents....but it never hurts to gather ideas.

2) I'm not sure what this question means ... so Erin, can you provide some input?  How do exploratory help and hurt the socialization of middle school students?  What role does money play in the availability and expansion of exploratory programs?

3) What are the most important component in your own teaching philosophy?  I'm not going to specifically address this because we'll be dealing with it next week, and you need to go on blackboard and read the materials that are there for your perusal.

4) As long as you did the assignment, you will get your points.  The topic itself was very broad and broad responses are totally acceptable on this assignment.

5) Why does the middles school age group have so many demands?  Alex, could you clarify this for us a bit?

6) Which do you believe is more important to a middle childhood aged student? Curriculum, parental involvement, or interdisciplinary teaching?  This is a great question....I'm anxious to hear what you all think.  I'll wait until you respond before I do.

7) One article states that the classroom should be 25u% lecture and 75% hands-on-activity, meaning using computer technology (Did the article specify that? There are gazillions of hands on activities that are not necessarily computer based.)  Do you think that 10 - 20 years down the road computer technology will take over the teaching profession?   This one is worth stating your opinion.....it's been a question that's been asked for a LONG time.

8) Do students really learn through games on line or are they just messing around?

9) If you're not sure what I want in regard to assignments do one of two things.  Ask me or look at the rubrics.

Thanks for reading....be sure to respond.

February 1, 2008

Hey all,

Thanks to all who made it to class today and especially for actively participating once you were there.  Hopefully we'll hear from everyone else here on the blog so we can get their ideas about the content for the day.  We missed those of you who couldn't make it in and hope you're safe. We definitely look forward to seeing you next week.

1) I love the fact that you didn't like it when I wouldn't let you use your books, but then you came around to see the value and my purpose.  Jessica wants to know if this is a good activity for middle schoolers.  What do you guys think?  Could you use it in your content area?  Can you give us a simple example or do you think it's not good for middle schoolers?

2) You go to your schools for a minimum of 20 hours....at about 3 hours per week - that's about 7 weeks.  It will vary from person to person depending on how long you're there per day.  You should definitely go no less than 5 weeks and I think your coops are planning for you to be there 7. 

3) Let's share and compare field experiences, ask questions, see if others are seeing the same situations.  What was the best part of your first experience?  What surprised you?  What disappointed you?  

4) Those of you who had to miss class please let us know what you think about the factors that we, as middle childhood teachers, are responsible for providing out students.  Have you seen this happening?  What would look for in a school to see if these requirements are being met?

Have a great weekend!!  Hope you all get out in the schools this week and look forward to seeing you next Friday - with your assignment in hand!!

Later,

Diann