Saber Tooth Tiger

I found this to be a very interesting and creative story. I really enjoyed reading it. I think this story did a good job of representing education in our society.

In the story New-Fist realized that something needed to be done in order to change their future. He figured out ways to teach the children very useful skills. The children loved learning these skills. The skills that the children learned allowed them to live a healthy and safe life for some time. As the time past things around them changed. These changes affected every aspect of their lives. The skills that were learned were no longer needed. In the end some realized that new skills needed to be learned, but some of the older people thought that the old skills were still good because they were "timeless" skills.

I feel this story reflects education today. Many skills that the children learn are timeless. For example learning how to read, write, add, and subtract are timeless skills that every child needs to know. Even though these skills are very important it is very crucial in our ever changing society to expand on these skills and teach them in new and invented ways. By expanding on these skills we want to open our children's eyes to many more possibilities that will help them throughout life. You can't teach the same thing the same way for ever. As we as a society changes our needs and wants change too, so we need to be prepared for whatever life throws at us. Unfortunately, not all educators feel that way. Change happens very slow in education. Some teachers feel that if it isn't broken then don't fix it. In my opinion, even though it isn't broken why not try to find a way to improve it.

N.J. Standards Website

Every teacher no matter what they teach has a set of guide lines to follow throughout the school year. Those guide lines are the core curriculum standards. I am quite familiar with these standards like most educators are. I have used this website before and each time I use it I tend to get somewhat overwhelmed. I can't believe I actually accomplish this all this work in school year. It is amazing what can actually get done in 65 or so days.

Educators have such a limited amount of time to prepare students for the next school year that I feel it would be beneficial for the site to include some helpful tips for educators. For example the site can give sample lesson plans or tips on how to implement the lesson. This would really help out new teachers just starting out and even veteran teachers looking for ways to spice things up. Don't get me wrong the website is helpful and organized, but there is always room for improvement.

I work in a district where a lot of families do not own computers or have access to the Internet. Since these families are not able to access this website I feel this is not a useful tool for some community members. These families should still know what is going on in the schools. I think that possibly the department of education could send out a newsletter to keep families up to date and informed of what is going. Families should not be punished for what they don't have, especially if they can't afford it.

"180 Days"

Some times I feel like there isn't enough time in the day to accomplish what I have planned. At times I feel like I am doing something wrong because I can't get it all done, but when I really think about it, it isn't my fault at all. I do my lesson plans every week and what I write down on paper looks so good. I only wish it was that good. What I mean is that every week something comes up that messes up my plans.

I really enjoyed the video. It makes you stop and take notice of how much instruction time is lost. It is a shame to admit that the video is accurate because it is sad to think about how much time is lost. Take the next two weeks for example. I was doing my plans today and as I am writing them out I realized in the next two weeks so much is going on; picture day, browsing time for the book fair, buying time for the book fair, an assembly, students have a half a day on Friday, October 5th, and off on Monday, October 8th. It is the beginning of the school year, there is so much teaching that needs to be done.

I think administrators need to think about certain activities that they allow to go on in school. For example, some assemblys are very beneficial to students, but some in my opinion are a waste of time. I think administrators might want to include the teachers on certain decisions. Teachers know their children the best and if they feel that certain activities are not helpful at all then maybe they just shouldn't take place. As a teacher I think it is nice to get through a week with no activities going on except teaching.

Change in Education

In today's society every time you turn around there is something new to be learned about in education. An educator has a very important job. We need to prepare our children for the future. In a society where change happens so rapidly, how come in education change happens so slowly? About 25 years ago the Carnegie Foundation came out with a report called "A Nation at Risk." This report stated that "our educational system in the U.S. was not preparing students for a future much different from the past" (Dickinson 1). It makes you wonder how much has the system really changed since then. Yes, we have made changes, but have we made enough changes?

According to Fullen we need to "unfrozen the froze" and I agree. Even though I don't always care for change, change can be for the best. "The knowledge we now have about change makes the complex process understandable and amenable to productive action" (Salaberry). Knowing this, it is a little confusing why we are so slow to change things. We are suppose to do what is best for the children.

I have only been teaching for four years now and in those four years I have seen my classes change before my eyes. I needed to change certain things about myself and teaching style in order to adapt to what was happening. I think that is what more teachers need to do. They need to step out of their comfort zone and reevaluate how things are being done. We all get too comfortable at times. How many of us teach the same lesson year after year and never change a thing, but the funny thing is our children and their needs change every year. Educators put in a lot of extra hours, but we should make those extra hours count.
I understand that we can not change the system all by ourselves that it requires team work. Administrators, parents, communities, etc. all need to step in and do their part. It is not an easy task to accomplish, but with teamwork and help it can be done. There are tools out there that can help get the job done. Books like Fullen's "can serve as a road map for addressing larger issues and encouraging educators to promote legislative and organizational actions consistent with what research recommends" (Dickinson 2). Change takes time, but it time to speed up the pace.

In conclusion, as an educator myself who knows what needs to be done I'm not too sure why change happens so slow. I think people hear the word change and get scared. It is time to move on and do what is best. We need to prepare our children for a world of many possibilities.

Dickinson, Dee. "Education's Achilles Heel: Unlocking the Dilemma of Difficulty." New Horizons for Learning July 2006

Salaberry, Trudy."The New Meaning of Educational Change." Journal of School Improvement Spring 2003: Vol. 4 Issue 1

The Prensky Challenge

I have always wanted to be a teacher and now that I am I absolutely love my job. I do my best to motivate my students everyday. I don't motivate them with IPODS or video games and all of my students at one time or another do get motivated. I don't think that it is right that Prensky puts all the blame on the educator. I feel the challenge that he has proposed would not work with the majority of students. He stated that this challenge would be proposed to a child at "any grade level, and at any level of preparedness." I don't see how this could be. Younger children need to learn the basics from an educator that has been trained to teach the basics. How can a first grader who is learning to read themselves teach another first grader to read? Also, what about differentiated learning? All children learn differently.

I do think though it would be cool to have a famous person from time to time come in and talk about their area of expertise. But here is a question for Prensky, he wants famous people from all over the world to be instructors, but did those people receive an education through his challenge or through normal teaching by teachers?

Another area where I disagree with Prensky is the time frame that he wants our children to learn in. The most experienced teachers have a hard time at times completing the curriculum within the whole school year and Prensky wants these children to complete the curriculum only in the first semester. To me that is putting a lot of pressure on the children.

In conclusion, I really don't think this challenge is a good idea especially for the elementary aged student. This type of challenge might work better with a student who is in high school.