So...we're reading a 3rd book for our project. This one is more a collection of stories and experiences -- a proof, if you will, of others on a similar path and what worked and didn't work for them.
Of the three books we're reading for this project, the 2nd book is the one I like. However, I do think there are several good ideas for action/activities in this 3rd book.
I don't have it in front of me, nor do I have much time, which is why this post is brief and vague.
I hope to add to it later...
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
thoughts on reading freire
There are things teacher's colleges don’t prepare you for.
Sure, there are classes on methodology, classroom management, content knowledge, but nothing really prepares a person for the role of instructor in a public education classroom.
People come in to teaching by one of two ways: they either fall back on it because of their love of the content or a lack of knowledge for what else to do with their lives, or they are called to the occupation because they genuinely believe in one person’s ability to affect change in young minds, and thereby, change the world.
So many of us who feel this “calling,” whether from a higher power or a genuine belief that humans can reach self-actualization through access to knowledge, become disillusioned when we see the system that we are forced to work through does not lend itself to the actual “shaping of the minds.”
Instead, we become weary from:
The structure—as we fight for, not what standards must be met or by what funds can be allotted for specific projects or groups of students, but what is good for kids.
The kids themselves—who see no need/use for education and who do not believe in their own ability to be critical thinkers, or part of the dialogue that shapes our communities and world. They do not see the value of learning as we, ourselves, have done. They do not see the need for becoming more than the low expectations held before them by their families, schools, communities, government policies.
Sure, we know schools must meet certain standards in order to be in compliance
with No Child Left Behind, but even if it was possible to proficiently educate 100% of the US population in reading and mathematics and graduate entire populations within a building, the more intelligent students have come to resist this and have become strategic in the ways they can “get away with doing less” and still pass the class, or graduate from high school.
This mentality has percolated into the colleges as well. Students understand that professors have an obligation to “get students a degree” not to challenge the way they view the world, or to actually engage them in knowledge of abstracts such as truth, justice, or humanity.
I won’t be the first person to call this a crisis of the education system. I won’t even be the first person to offer suggestions to reform the system. That’s all been done.
The question I hope to answer is: What can the average classroom teacher hope to accomplish with his/her own students to combat this monstrosity the system we have chosen to work in has created?
We can’t expect things to change with new leadership in office. We can’t expect charter schools or vouchers to revolutionize the way education is handled. We can’t even expect our own buildings to bring in the “right program,” or the “right administrator,” or even enough brilliant teachers to inspire students.
It must start with one. Or several. Who are committed to the “calling.” Who are willing to continue to fight for the students, along with the students; who are willing to challenge commonly held ideals; who are willing to open discussion with students and believe in their inherent ability to think for themselves.
This person must be willing to keep faith that one can change the life of a few…not by force, but through genuine love, patience, humility, trust, and open dialogue.
The role of “teacher” must shift from one who knows all, to one who learns with; from one who enters the room with a hidden agenda to one who allows for self-discovery and who encourages self-confidence.
This is not something I say easily, because I like to think that I have it all-together—that I know what I’m talking about; that I’ve had enough life experience and education that by my knowledge alone, I should be able to reach and inspire. But that would be assuming that I had all the answers to my students’ individual situations, which I don’t. It would be assuming that I had acquired all the content knowledge that I could ever need, which I have not; that I have reached a point of self-fulfillment, which would be pretentious to assume. I would have to be a god of my classroom to assume that everything a student needed or wanted, I could give to him/her.
So, what’s the point then?
A “teacher” must realize that in order to truly affect change—the student must realize that this change must occur, and then figure out how to act towards that change.
Then, what must teachers do?
Figure out a how to help students reach this understanding.
How?
Well, I’m still working on that one…
Sure, there are classes on methodology, classroom management, content knowledge, but nothing really prepares a person for the role of instructor in a public education classroom.
People come in to teaching by one of two ways: they either fall back on it because of their love of the content or a lack of knowledge for what else to do with their lives, or they are called to the occupation because they genuinely believe in one person’s ability to affect change in young minds, and thereby, change the world.
So many of us who feel this “calling,” whether from a higher power or a genuine belief that humans can reach self-actualization through access to knowledge, become disillusioned when we see the system that we are forced to work through does not lend itself to the actual “shaping of the minds.”
Instead, we become weary from:
The structure—as we fight for, not what standards must be met or by what funds can be allotted for specific projects or groups of students, but what is good for kids.
The kids themselves—who see no need/use for education and who do not believe in their own ability to be critical thinkers, or part of the dialogue that shapes our communities and world. They do not see the value of learning as we, ourselves, have done. They do not see the need for becoming more than the low expectations held before them by their families, schools, communities, government policies.
Sure, we know schools must meet certain standards in order to be in compliance
with No Child Left Behind, but even if it was possible to proficiently educate 100% of the US population in reading and mathematics and graduate entire populations within a building, the more intelligent students have come to resist this and have become strategic in the ways they can “get away with doing less” and still pass the class, or graduate from high school.
This mentality has percolated into the colleges as well. Students understand that professors have an obligation to “get students a degree” not to challenge the way they view the world, or to actually engage them in knowledge of abstracts such as truth, justice, or humanity.
I won’t be the first person to call this a crisis of the education system. I won’t even be the first person to offer suggestions to reform the system. That’s all been done.
The question I hope to answer is: What can the average classroom teacher hope to accomplish with his/her own students to combat this monstrosity the system we have chosen to work in has created?
We can’t expect things to change with new leadership in office. We can’t expect charter schools or vouchers to revolutionize the way education is handled. We can’t even expect our own buildings to bring in the “right program,” or the “right administrator,” or even enough brilliant teachers to inspire students.
It must start with one. Or several. Who are committed to the “calling.” Who are willing to continue to fight for the students, along with the students; who are willing to challenge commonly held ideals; who are willing to open discussion with students and believe in their inherent ability to think for themselves.
This person must be willing to keep faith that one can change the life of a few…not by force, but through genuine love, patience, humility, trust, and open dialogue.
The role of “teacher” must shift from one who knows all, to one who learns with; from one who enters the room with a hidden agenda to one who allows for self-discovery and who encourages self-confidence.
This is not something I say easily, because I like to think that I have it all-together—that I know what I’m talking about; that I’ve had enough life experience and education that by my knowledge alone, I should be able to reach and inspire. But that would be assuming that I had all the answers to my students’ individual situations, which I don’t. It would be assuming that I had acquired all the content knowledge that I could ever need, which I have not; that I have reached a point of self-fulfillment, which would be pretentious to assume. I would have to be a god of my classroom to assume that everything a student needed or wanted, I could give to him/her.
So, what’s the point then?
A “teacher” must realize that in order to truly affect change—the student must realize that this change must occur, and then figure out how to act towards that change.
Then, what must teachers do?
Figure out a how to help students reach this understanding.
How?
Well, I’m still working on that one…
Trying to think...
I've always been the poster-child for abstract random. I think in terms of the big picture and the end result. I struggle to find the details or pin them down along the way. As an individual, this works well for me. I can imagine where I need to go, and the ideas I have along the way are about content, not the process of things.
I LOVE ideas. I enjoy thinking about things and collecting new information. I love conversations that spark my little brain and I love reading things that force me to consider ideas I hadn't entertained before.
As a teacher, I struggle with this side of me because my students need that structure, that step-by-step information that I will often intuitively just do without the steps spelled out. In my world, step-by-step is for when you're building something like a bookshelf.
I'm hoping the collaboration here, with Clesta, will help me re-train my brain a bit. I'm also hoping the collaboration between our other colleagues involved with help me consider new and different things and will lead me to being a better teacher. [that's one of the main reasons I signed up -- I'm always looking to improve my "game" in the classroom, and I figure I can learn a lot from teachers who've been doing this longer]
[and now, as you can see...I got off on another one of my tangents...so, anyway...]
Right now, I'm trying my hand at creating the mission statement for our project. I've got all these ideas in their beginning stages of what it should be, what our mission is, what we're specifically trying to do -- but the key is to boil it down into a sentence (or two).
That's hard. But...here I go...
I LOVE ideas. I enjoy thinking about things and collecting new information. I love conversations that spark my little brain and I love reading things that force me to consider ideas I hadn't entertained before.
As a teacher, I struggle with this side of me because my students need that structure, that step-by-step information that I will often intuitively just do without the steps spelled out. In my world, step-by-step is for when you're building something like a bookshelf.
I'm hoping the collaboration here, with Clesta, will help me re-train my brain a bit. I'm also hoping the collaboration between our other colleagues involved with help me consider new and different things and will lead me to being a better teacher. [that's one of the main reasons I signed up -- I'm always looking to improve my "game" in the classroom, and I figure I can learn a lot from teachers who've been doing this longer]
[and now, as you can see...I got off on another one of my tangents...so, anyway...]
Right now, I'm trying my hand at creating the mission statement for our project. I've got all these ideas in their beginning stages of what it should be, what our mission is, what we're specifically trying to do -- but the key is to boil it down into a sentence (or two).
That's hard. But...here I go...
who am i?
This is not quite the existential question it seems to be. I'm just a teacher.
Don't you love it when people say that, "just a teacher"?
But that's not quite right. I'm more than "just a teacher."
Taylor Mali says it best:
So, who am I?
I'm Clesta; I'm a student; I'm a teacher; I make a difference.
I am beginning my 5th year teaching in Omaha. I am in the midst of my Master's degree in English with an Advanced Writing Certificate at the University of Nebraska, Omaha.
I don't have all the answers.
In fact, I don't even have all of the questions.
I'm just one person, doing my best to avoid giving up or giving in.
I'm excited to share my thoughts with you and hope that we can enter into dialogue together on some of the issues of educating urban high school students.
While Amy and I are working out our thoughts on this blog, we welcome all questions to our theories, comments, suggestions, anything that you wish to share. As Freire says, "those who authentically commit themselves to the people must re-examine themselves constantly" (60), and as I said before, I don't have all of the answers, but I am willing to dialogue with others to see if we can figure something out.
Don't you love it when people say that, "just a teacher"?
But that's not quite right. I'm more than "just a teacher."
Taylor Mali says it best:
So, who am I?
I'm Clesta; I'm a student; I'm a teacher; I make a difference.
I am beginning my 5th year teaching in Omaha. I am in the midst of my Master's degree in English with an Advanced Writing Certificate at the University of Nebraska, Omaha.
I don't have all the answers.
In fact, I don't even have all of the questions.
I'm just one person, doing my best to avoid giving up or giving in.
I'm excited to share my thoughts with you and hope that we can enter into dialogue together on some of the issues of educating urban high school students.
While Amy and I are working out our thoughts on this blog, we welcome all questions to our theories, comments, suggestions, anything that you wish to share. As Freire says, "those who authentically commit themselves to the people must re-examine themselves constantly" (60), and as I said before, I don't have all of the answers, but I am willing to dialogue with others to see if we can figure something out.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Introductions...
Hi. Amy here -- I'm a soon-to-be third year English teacher. During this summer I'm part of an endeavor through the Nebraska Writing Project. For this project we are focusing on Literature and Social Justice.
The teachers involved in the project are reading the following books:
Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Friere
The Literature Workshop: Teaching Texts and Their Readers by Sheridan D. Blau
and
Writing for a Change by a group of people from the National Writing Project , that I can't remember the name of at the moment, and I don't have in front of me. As soon as I have that, I'll edit this post.
The plan is...there are seven teachers from seven different schools. Five of the teachers are from the same school district (I am one, and my blog co-author is another), and the other two teachers are from other districts in our city. Now, don't think that the five schools from one district are similar -- they are not. Each school in our district is very unique and tends to celebrate the fact that they are different from the other schools. Very often, there is heated rivalry. This is where things get interesting.
Each teacher will be selecting either four or five students to participate, with us, in this project. Each teacher-student group will, at their school, meet at least once a month to discuss the literature being studied and how it impacts the students and their lives. The idea is to create social change through the ideas garnered from reading literature. The beauty is that the students and teachers will then collaborate with one another via an online forum. Discussions will be held, questions will be asked, and perhaps (hopefully) answers will be found. However, I'm not naive enough to think that we will be solving all the world's problems, or even the problems in our own community, licketysplit and that this project will lead to enlightenment. What I do believe is that it is a step in the right direction.
In that note...I wanted to set up this blog
Till then...I'm turning over the next post to my partner in crime. I'll let her introduce herself, since what I tell you might not be what she would tell you. She's posting some of her reactions after reading through Freire. Let me tell you -- Freire is NOT for the faint of heart, for sure.
The teachers involved in the project are reading the following books:
Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Friere
The Literature Workshop: Teaching Texts and Their Readers by Sheridan D. Blau
and
Writing for a Change by a group of people from the National Writing Project , that I can't remember the name of at the moment, and I don't have in front of me. As soon as I have that, I'll edit this post.
The plan is...there are seven teachers from seven different schools. Five of the teachers are from the same school district (I am one, and my blog co-author is another), and the other two teachers are from other districts in our city. Now, don't think that the five schools from one district are similar -- they are not. Each school in our district is very unique and tends to celebrate the fact that they are different from the other schools. Very often, there is heated rivalry. This is where things get interesting.
Each teacher will be selecting either four or five students to participate, with us, in this project. Each teacher-student group will, at their school, meet at least once a month to discuss the literature being studied and how it impacts the students and their lives. The idea is to create social change through the ideas garnered from reading literature. The beauty is that the students and teachers will then collaborate with one another via an online forum. Discussions will be held, questions will be asked, and perhaps (hopefully) answers will be found. However, I'm not naive enough to think that we will be solving all the world's problems, or even the problems in our own community, licketysplit and that this project will lead to enlightenment. What I do believe is that it is a step in the right direction.
In that note...I wanted to set up this blog
Till then...I'm turning over the next post to my partner in crime. I'll let her introduce herself, since what I tell you might not be what she would tell you. She's posting some of her reactions after reading through Freire. Let me tell you -- Freire is NOT for the faint of heart, for sure.
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