BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR INSTITUTE 2003
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| BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR INSTITUTE 2003 |
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What experiences with college/university/graduate educators were most valuable to you as a teacher? Think both about experiences you had as a student and experiences (like outreach programs) since you became a professional teacher.
What would you like college/university/graduate educators to be doing that would improve education for all students? to help you with your own teaching?
Teacher collaboration with professors, experts and other professionals can provide some or all that a teacher seeks to perform with verve. I am renewed by attaining a deeper understanding of science content and as a consequence am better able to lead my students to their own constructed understanding via detailed questioning. Dr. Zbig Dziembowski at Temple University has been a valued influence on my science understanding and delivery. In addition, we have collaborated on grants that give funds, reinforcement, materials and endorsement to my job. Best of all I enjoy our zesty and at times conflicting arguments about pedagogy. Zbig definitely keeps me on my toes by often offering a European assessment of the American educational system. I value this "out of the box" thinking and respect his opinions.
Within a school or a district teachers must look for guidance and support as well. These are people who can sometimes support through insulation. They give you a life preserver and brace you through the storms or cheer you on in the good times. The science supervisor in my district has been an admired and significant mentor for me. Dr. Conn has allowed me to vent unedited complaints and stood by me during unfair confrontations. She considers her fleet of science teachers as a wealth of knowledge that must be protected in order to clear the way to teaching with excellence. She is our advocate and in so doing gives students the best opportunity for success.
I don't think that it's necessary to have only one to one collaborations to advance teacher support. Professors or Professional Developers that are conducting classes can facilitate collaboration among the teachers themselves to foster reflective practice. The Serendip Institute and associated forum has served this purpose well. Additionally, Paul Grobstein et al has provided space for teachers to create their own web site and given them the tools to continue to improve or modify it. I applaud their scheme to cultivate future teacher collaboration through technology and I am appreciative of the skills that they furnished.
I would like college educators to see us more than an institution in which to place student teachers. I would like to see true collaboration between students- undergraduate/graduate to K-12 kids. Help us to prepare them for college life or the working world if they so choose.
Many of the concepts that are taught are well meaning and do have some fundamental aspects that are applicable. But in fact many of them do not take into consideration many of the classroom management issues (especially in inner-city schools).
I think it would be benifitial to young teachers to be able to observe and experience these settings (granted they are available) as much as possible. I am not sure there is an answer in terms of preparing begining teachers for such an experience. But I do feel that many of the obsticles of an inner-citty classroom still exist in all classrooms, just not at the same scale.
Can you tell me what are some of the problems that arise when in-coming freshmen arrive for class? What can we help them with in order to make things run a little better for them? Having a liason/link with college students can help serve as a mentor. For career days, more professors should be given the opportunity to share with high school students as to what will transpire.
It helps knowing that there are caring professors out there to guide or help you whenever a concern arises. Just having someone to talk to and seeing that they were committed to what they were doing helped me.
Institutes of higher learning need to change their idea of what higher learning is when it comes to preparing candidates who will have our children's minds in their hands and whose own well being and confidence/competence is at stake. We need longer periods of classroom training; ideally student teachers could spend a paid residency of at least 1 year benefitting themselves and the schools more than current systems allow. Today's status quo does not provide any of its constituents with what they deserve or need.
This year I had a college student working with me. She was doing a 6 week internship. This was a beneficial experience for both of us. It was wonderful to see her relate to the children--she was a lot closer to their ages and this was helpful.
My wish list: more interns--college students interested in exploring careers in schools; college students interested in working with students and their science projects--that's big in my school; students to work as tutors; college prof giving staff development--that's you ,Paul--what we get is not the best.
The best professional development that I experienced involved Professor Woobie from Millersville who taught a group of Philadelphia teachers Latin so that they could enhance vocabulary acquisition in their classrooms. We met centrally, and he taught it like a college course. He clearly had something to impart. That's why it worked. Too often "professional" development deteriorates into a gripe session where there's simply a forum for venting.
I would like to see local universities engage in outreach where they provide further instruction in subject areas. This could be done by means of conferences or sponsoring classes. Naturally, I'm highly appreciative of our Summer Brain Institute.
Second, during the last fourteen years, I have been seriously engaged in Service Learning. I am a fervent believer in its efficay both for those who volunteer and for those that they serve. Specifically, I have been involved with having high school students volunteer in elementary classrooms supporting literacy. It's my strong belief that school districts could benefit not only from this kind of mentoring in literacy, but also in mathematics, and science. I would strongly encourage universities to engage in this praxis.
One experience immediately comes to mind. I was enrolled in a writing course at a community college in 1984. The section of the course was added so as to reduce the number of students who were overloading another section offered at the same time. As a result, this section consisted of only eight students. The instructor who arranged for this section addition was the English department head. Having an exemplary teacher and such a small class size allowed for greater attention to be given to those who were having difficulties organizing their thoughts when writing. Reflecting upon this convinces me that I probably would not have had as much success in my other coursework had it not been for this early experience.
What would you like college/university/graduate educators to be doing that would improve education for all students? to help you with your own teaching?
I always felt that at the college/university/graduate level, instructors are greatly concerned with the acquisition of knowledge in a particular subject area. Obviously, this is a mandate. However, only minimal pressure exists that requires one to make improvements as an educator.
In light of this, I have noticed that a great many instuctors tend to exhibit a single-mindedness with respects to how best one can impart this knowledge to others. I believe both teaching assistants and professors would benefit immensely from the exposure gained in teaching methodology courses.
However, I think most teachers today do not have enough time processing their experience in a non judgemental atmosphere. I think the coaching model used in some teacher retention programs is the way to go. The coaching process develops collegiality, self reflection, and curiosity. Adult learners need to be engaged in learning by finding their own areas of interest and development. Too much of the time is spent pouring information into their heads, instead of teaching adults how to be better observers of their behavior, and the behavior of others. There is much more to say on this topic.
As a special ed teacher, I have been allowed more latitude than many other regular ed elem. teachers......
Essentially these early characteristics have continued through my professional endeavors. I am hard but fair, and yes my students and I have fun. As a public school administrator I support the current agenda of our district. As an adjunct professor I pray the benefits of my 15 years of experience as an Educator lend support and insight to the aspiring administrators and graduate students I interact with.
For the School District of Philadelphia I pray our system will recognize the importance of each grade and level utilizing the same texts, workbooks, and manipulatives; on the same paceing schedule system wide {not to be confused with our former pacing practice}. We have excessive movement of students throughout the school year, and they are at a disadvantage when they transfer into the same grade, at another school, doing something completely different. Teachers would also have the advantage since they would be in a better position to accept a student at an 'on task' point, rather than having to bring them up to par. Budget wise, we would save major funds which could be put to better use in classrooms via increased teacher hiring or increased teacher allotment {$50 simply is not enough, nor is it competitive}.
Colleges need to realize that today's students are diverse learners, and therefore colleges must be able to accomodate their learning styles without sacrificing the importance of completing their assignments correctly. We must create overcoming graduates that are positive contributors to society, as oppossed to frustrated dropouts that are likely to be social systems dependents.
