Session 5- Connected

            The film Connected: An Autoblogography about Love, Death and Technology by Tiffany Shlain is a fascinating documentary about humankind and technology.  She interweaves her own human experiences and the evolution of humankind to the present day and how that evolution has shaped the human brain (or vice versa).  The most fascinating thing about this film was that idea of connectedness and its significance. 

            Shlain cites her father’s idea that the human brain evolved when written language was invented.  The creation of a written form of language awakened new neural pathways in the brain that isolated “important” bits of information that needed to be communicated.  Shlain’s father also noted that there was a tendency before these “alphabets” came about that societies were more interconnected and identified more with female deities.  With the invention of the alphabet and a more “masculine,” left brain way of thinking, the system of patriarchy was further embedded in these societies.  I think this idea is captivating, but I do have some trouble with it.  This kind of theory makes sweeping generalizations about society and ironically sees the alphabet as an isolated incident itself.  I would love to read the book and get more details about this hypothesis, but I do think there is some validity to saying that patriarchy is embedded in a “left brain” way of thinking. 

            This film made me really think about what kind of impact technology has had on my life.  The modern world and everything we experience has in way one or another been shaped by technology.  There is no escaping it.  As far as the Internet, I would say that as a young person who has literally grown up with the Internet (in its invention and evolution) I would say it is a part of who I am.  I am an admitted addict to my cell phone and I spend far more time than necessary on the site/app tumblr.  This has had some gains and drawbacks in my life in terms of keeping me connected to the outside world and keeping me from being connected to people around me, but so it goes with any tool designed for humans to use.  The significance of the Internet and technology and social media is that because it was created by human beings it reflects them in that we have the capacity to do great things that benefit many people or terrible things that devour and destroy or both at the same time! It keeps us connected to things we wouldn’t have easy access to even two decades ago, but it can also keep us from connecting deeply to anything.  I think this was an important message within Shlain’s film: “To connect broadly is meaningless, unless we can connect deeply.”  I think that as a female, who is right brain oriented that this is something I identify with strongly.  That the things that drive me or keep me going in life are my strongest, deepest connections to people, animals, places, books, ideas, etc.  It has been something that has driven me to become a teacher and to help future generations by having some sort of an influence on who the students in my class become.  Human interdependence is an evolutionary necessity and I believe it is my duty to help foster that.

Responded to:
1.  Taylor Terhune
2.  Alaina Rowen

Session 4- Disciplinary Lenses and Teachers Unions

One specific way in which my content research has caused me to shift my thinking is in the way I view reading in general.  I started out with very specific questions about one or two aspects of reading.  Throughout my research, I have broadened the scope of what I want to know to guide my project and have opened up my questions to figure out what reading is.  I have looked into brain research about on brain functioning while reading, the history of literacy in our country and throughout the history of mankind, and what essential elements of reading are important when first learning to read.  This research has really opened some new doors for me in terms of how I will approach teaching reading and that is making me really excited about starting the capstone. 

            I think the California Common Core standards (CCCS) fit into the school reform narrative because they are a new means of school reform.  From what I know about CCCS, the standards differ from NCLB because they go more into depth of knowledge as opposed to a breadth of knowledge.  CCCS opts for more collaboration among students and places an emphasis on scientific thinking and mathematical reasoning as opposed to knowing formulas or procedures; it appears to take a more constructivist route.  Of course, there is still a form of assessment, but the assessments are only for grades 3-5 and seem to be a more demonstrative form of assessment where a student’s knowledge is measured on more than one element.  They have to do and show multiple step thinking and give a final answer rather than filling in the best bubble.  CCCS may just be another swing of the pendulum, but it really does seem to have more emphasis on learning than testing.

            Ravitch’s research on teacher unions seems to support them.  She presented information about why teachers unions came about (to help women keep their jobs after marrying/ having children) and that corporations that want to reform schools tend to be the biggest union opponents.  She spends most of the chapter talking about the ineffectiveness of measuring “teacher effectiveness” according to testing and it seems as though she believes that teachers need a say in what goes on in their classrooms. 

            I believe unions are important.  I’m not super knowledgeable about what teachers unions do, but I had a discussion with my mother (who taught in California public schools for 20+ years) about what unions do.  She told me that unions are mostly responsible for negotiations in teacher contracts, which set guidelines for prep time, health benefits, how many hours of contact with students, etc.  She also said that during these negotiations with the school district, there is a back and forth where the district and the teachers compromise and come to an agreement based on each other’s demands.  Simply put, if the union asks for something then the district asks the teachers to sacrifice something in return and vice versa.  Also, teachers unions help provide teachers with legal defense if there are legal issues regarding the workplace.  I think Ravitch could have included more information about the purposes of unions and a little more history.  I think she explored too much of how teachers are evaluated and didn’t go enough into the function of a teacher's union.

Responded to:
1. Zane Miller
2. Sarah Wilkerson

Session 3- The Raising of America

What strikes me the most about this conversation about the relationship between social policy, child development, and later achievement is that there is so much being done around the world for children and the U.S. cannot seem to do the same.  There are an overwhelming amount of longitudinal studies on the return society will get, not just monetarily, if they spend money on early childhood education.  These studies have been cited and put into practice in numerous countries, yet no one in the U.S. is willing to spend money on our children.

            I think this perspective puts a new spin politically on our discussion of school reform.  We talk about schools bearing the brunt of reforming society and producing educated human beings, but it isn’t always mentioned what happens before children even get to Kindergarten and how that will affect the course of their life.  The care they receive in infancy and early childhood affects their reading scores in elementary school, which is a predictor of their ability to finish high school and go on to higher education.  If other more impoverished countries around the world can provide pre- and neonatal care, paid maternity/paternity leave, free preschool, and universal healthcare, then why can’t the wealthiest nation in the world provide those things?  The most frustrating part of all of this is that there is enough money for our country to provide these things, but there are businesses and lobbyists that are pushing for government investment in their wellbeing as opposed to the children. 

Questions:

How can we shift policymaking in this country to have a real vested interest in the populace instead of the corporations?

Responded to:
1.  Ashley Gould
2.  Kelly Bull

Session 2- Mind the Gap

The statements that Diane Ravitch made about her journey through educational reforms were certainly provocative.  One that stood out to me comes from page 3, “School reformers sometimes resemble the characters in Dr. Seuss’ Solla Sollew, who are always searching for that mythical land ‘where they never have troubles, at least very few’…  In my writings, I have consistently warned that, in education, there are no shortcuts, utopias, and no silver bullets,” (Ravitch).  This statement struck me because of the little knowledge I have of education reform, it does appear that these reforms produce any real answers to the problems in education.  They always claim to solve every problem, but they rarely solve any.  It gave me a new, more critical perspective of education reform.  Another quote that struck me was, “Policymakers have a theory of action, even if they can’t articulate it, and they implement plans based on their theory of action, their guess about how the world works.  Historians are trained to recognize assumptions and theories and to spot their flaws,” (Ravitch, 11).  This quote and section in the book about how policymakers try to implement laws that govern society made me uneasy.  I would like to think that policymakers would be more critical of ideas to make sure that their theories of action would actually produce good things instead of making policy for the sake of making policy. 

            I would characterize a well-educated person as someone who has a general wealth of knowledge about how the world works.  They should be able to read and comprehend what they are reading, or at least seek out tools to comprehend what they are reading.  They should be able to engage in thoughtful and respectful conversation about complex issues without oversimplifying.  They should constantly seek out information to stay literate in important topics like world news.  They should know a significant amount about what they are doing in the workplace and how to do what they do most effectively. 

            I thought our discussion about the book was much better than last week.  I felt that we covered a wide range of important topics throughout the two chapters and really uncovered some pressing issues that Ravitch presents.  I would have liked to discuss more about how the common core standards fit into the standards movement.  I think looking into the Common Core Standards and seeing if they are still general and politically neutral like the State Standards came to be would be interesting.

            I would say my gap in my subject area would be my knowledge of what literacy is.  Some resources that might help me include the book The Age of the Image by Stephen Apkon and the article “Opening a Window Into Reading Development: Eye Movements' Role Within a Broader Literacy Research Framework” by Brett Miller and Carolyn O’Donnell.  I learned about the history of literacy and printing and what books and communication have meant to human beings throughout the course of history.  I feel like I have a broader appreciation for what reading gives to human beings and a better sense of purpose as to why we learn to read.

            I used Apkon’s chapter “What is Literacy?” from his book and I learned many things about literacy.  I learned of the power that the first printing press had on the transformation of the world.  That such power leveled the playing field in some respects and brought knowledge to the masses.  It is a very interesting account of the history of literacy, especially because it ties in with technology and other sources of information.  I don’t think I would seek out any other books from this author, unless his book discussed reading and literacy.  The entire book focuses on films and the ever-changing literacy that films provide.  

Responded to:
1.  Kathryn Leonard
2.  Michelle Graffis
3.  Kaitlyn Vignocchi

Session 1- Content Knowledge

           My outside school experiences have expanded and deepened my subject area content knowledge.  Because I want to teach multiple subjects I have to have knowledge of many different content areas, but there are ones in particular that I have sought out to deepen my understanding.  For example, I became interested in a YouTube channel from the brothers Hank and John Green.  Hank specializes in the sciences of biology and chemistry and has a series of videos about different concepts within those fields.  John specializes in literature and world history and also has a series of videos on those topics.  I started watching the videos in my spare time and learned a lot about things I sort of remembered from high school, but didn’t have a great understanding of.  I even used one of the videos to help me teach an anatomy lesson in my student teaching. 

            Our class discussion of Ball’s article gave me more questions than answers.  I think that our knowledge of the content within the topic we want to focus on is very crucial as well as questioning any conventional wisdoms, but narrowing what content is within the topic of reading is difficult.  I have tried to use the discussion to help me narrow down my research, but I am having trouble.  I think spending more time discussing would have helped.

            I think I am in the early stages in developing a line of inquiry.  I have a very broad question of “What is reading?” and I have tried to look more specifically into reading comprehension.  I know the research available in this area that relates most to what content I am looking for is reading acquisition and what it means to read.  I have had people talk to me about a teacher who uses the assessment program Accelerated Reader and I think it would be a useful experiential source to see how that teacher uses it in their specific grade.  

Responded to:
Monica Mitra
Taylor Franceschi