Freedom writers

I just finished watching the Freedom Writers Diary. That is by far one of the most moving, and touching movies that I have ever seen. The way that Mrs. Gruwell Got through to her students by relating the books, and projects that she assigned to her students lives was nothing short of amazing. She did such an amazing job getting her students to relate to each other, and make them realize that they were fighting the same battle that people before them have fought, and that they are the only people that can enforce change in their lives. through watching this movie i learned so much about motivating students, and caring for them, and making sure that they have the tools that they need to make it through life. To me Mrs. Gruwell was a prime example of good teaching. She did everything in her power to make sure that her students related to the subjects, and made sure that they realized that they were not alone in the fight that we call life. She cared so much for her students that they sensed it, and i believe that motivated them because someone finally believed in them, and was not giving up on them. This movie is definitely in my top 5. I believe that if someone wants to be in the education profession that they should watch this movie. It is a great learning tool.

Monday night lecture

This past Monday night lecture on 11/10/2008 in my opinion was not very helpful in giving me insight into the world of teaching. Yes they gave us insight but in my opinion it was the same insight that the three other groups of speakers that we have had gave us. They gave us the general runaround in my opinion. I also feel that they did not answer the questions directly, and I found myself to be confused numerous times as to what they were talking about. Although I usually find these lectures interesting, I found this one to be not as interesting as the rest.

School board Members

This past Monday night 10/27/2008 we had a lecture from two of the Decorah School Board Members. They talked to us about good teaching, and How NCLB had affected them, and How it affected them doing their jobs. They said that good teaching was important to schools so that the students got the best education that is possible. They also said that the tests that NCLB had made them implement in their schools had been working on improving their students tests scores, and it had been working. They did not seem to have a single bad thing to say about NCLB. They also talked about competing with the international schools, and their education levels. They said that in order to compete with them, we might need to go to the year-round schooling that some other countries have went to. The only problem with that is the social-cultural shock that would overcome the Nation if the whole nation went to this system. This was a very good point of view in my opinion about everything. They had some different ideas on NCLB, and year-round schooling that i had never heard before. It was a great lecture!!

Educators lecture.

This past Monday night at lecture, we had two educators from the Decorah school district come and talk to us about different education views and ways to handle teaching. Their views were very interesting on NCLB. Both of the speakers had nothing bad to say about NCLB in this lecture, on the contrary they both thought that it is a good thing, and that it measure students, and teachers very well. This lecture was interesting to me because i was under the impression that all teachers did not like the No Child Left Behind policy becaues it made their job harder, and put more pressure on them to teach to the standerdised tests that they were to give their students. These two speakers that it was a good way to measure the progress of the students learning, and the progress of the teachers for tha matter. This was one of the most informative lectures I have attended.

Role play on monday night.

This past Monday which was the 6Th of October was a very lively class period! We did a role play on a District school plan the Our professors dreamed up, and gave to us to review it. Our groups could pick between supporting it, and not supporting it. My group supported it, and we played the role of parents of high achieving students. There were a lot of good arguments for, and against the plan that was set by our professors. I thought that it was a great way to learn about some of the information that we have covered in the chapters that we have read in class. It was very stimulating to hear all of the arguments that everyone came up with. I think we should do things like that more often in class to give us a better grasp of what we need to know and go over.

Is there a link between the Internet game and the Finnish tragedy?

I believe that there is a link between the internet game, and the Finnish tragedy, that is if those students who did the shoting happened to play this game. When there is a violent video game out there people tend to play it because of the violence adn excitement. Some people however might take this game seriously and think to themselves; Hey this could be fun! so they want to imitate the video game. On the other hand the game also might not have had anything to do with it because there could be a number of different factors that set these kids off, it did not just have to be the video game. I do not think we should regulate the internet or the media so to speak, but i feel that we should just be careful and pay closer attention to what our kids these days are watching on tv, or playing on the internet.

Chalk and Wire

The Chalk and Wire presentation that we had in class along with the education presentation was very interesting, and confusing to me at the same time.There was a lot of info in the Chal and Wire presentation a lot of good info that i need to know for my education minor. The presenter had a nice quick way of introducing it, and explaining it so that i understood her. The second presentation had a lot of info, and when i say a lot i mean a lot! IT confused me at first because i did not know what all I had to do to just to get into the Education department. I thought to myself that i would be in school forever by the way that she was explaining it, but then i realized what I had to do, and that I could get it done in time if I tried my best. After the presentation i waas not as confused because i got everything straight. The presenter had a good way of presenting. She got us all of the information that we needed, and had a fun aura about her that made it interesting.