To whom it may concern,
For some reason my comments are sometimes labeled RachD1106 and some just say Rachel. I am assuming this is because I was logged off when I made some comments. For this reason I was unable to track all my comments through wordpress. I found ten comments and just linked them but there are more out there. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Comments:
I am not going to lie, I have hated every minute of having to blog. I am extremely uncomfortable with every aspect of it. I may be young but I feel like I missed the technology boom I still like to play on the original Nintendo. In fact, the first Mario has been kicking my butt for the past few months. Also the fact that I just found the spell check on the blogging part of this is extremely frustrating, as it is a tool I use frequently.
However, it was beneficial to me. I am vaguely familiar with the whole blog idea now. I know how to do it and the idea behind it is good. I will know how students feel when approached with something that is completely foreign to them; which can only help me become a better teacher.
I have enjoyed this class. I have learned a lot and found many things extremely interesting. I like how it was not lecture everyday. The videos were interesting and I love my writing group. Sorry Mr. Rozema it is probably in large part my fault my group never seemed to stay on topic. Not only will I take a lot from the class, but also the people in the class. I normally hate speaking up in class, but the classroom was a comfortable place to share ideas.
I do not want to be an English teacher. I am a Social Studies major with an emphasis in History. However, if I were put in an English classroom I think I have been given adequate tools to begin with.
An article I found interesting was from the Craig Daily Press: Almost 140 students get credit for CSAP. The CSAP is Colorado’s assessment test for schools. What I found interesting was that by offering elective credit to students who scored accordingly on the test students were motivated to do well. The credits would not replace required credits, they were strictly elective.
This is shocking to me. When I was taking the MEAPs in high school, which I assume to be the Michigan equivalent, students were offered $1500 for getting high marks; $1500 that I collected myself. However, many of my classmates did not take this so seriously and many missed out.
I did not try harder on the MEAPs because I wanted the money. I was just a good student who did what I was told. The fact that I got the money was just a bonus. What is shocking to me is that the elective credit was so motivating. If my classmates were not motivated by money they sure wouldn’t have been from class credit.
This article pointed out to me something that I hadn’t thought of before. With assessment I was concerned at how it was unfair to students. I never thought it the students treated the test unfairly. But if students don’t take the tests seriously the results don’t matter.
Both teachers and students are nervous about a new math test at Willmar Senior High. The state did away with the Basic Skills Test in math, a test students would take in eighth grade. Replacing it now is the Graduation Required Assessment for Diploma math test, which will be taken in the eleventh grade. According to Students and Teachers Nervous About Math Test an article in the West Central Tribune Online, “It’s a high-stakes test-if they don’t pass, they don’t graduate.”
Many students and teachers have deemed the test as unfair. According to Shea Johnson a student who will be required to take the test, the test isn’t fair, “Because we work so hard in high school, and if we don’t pass this test we don’t graduate. Some people aren’t good with tests.”
Students were afraid of freezing on the test, Johnson being one of them. Others were concerned that they would not be adequately prepared for the test.
Other concerns were about the material on the test. Some of the questions would be counted towards this Graduation Required Assessment for Diploma math test, some would be counted for the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment II, and some wouldn’t be counted at all. When the test is taken no one will know which questions are which. One teacher said, “A classroom teacher would never get away with that — Here’s your test; we’ll let you know next week what counted.”
This is completely outrageous, the idea that a students future rides solely on one test. That would be enough to freak anyone out.
I remember when I had to take the MEAP in elementary school. We were told to fill in the bubbles perfectly or the answers would not be counted. I was stressed out because of those stupid bubbles for months. I can only imagine now being told my whole future was on the line.
I understand the goal is to make Minnesota diplomas more valuable, but at what cost.It’s too much pressure to put on students. This test will affect their future, but most don’t even know what that is yet.
The people that are harmed the most by standardized testing are ESL students and students from low income families. This is a well known fact because these tests are not geared towards these kids. While some students are told to dumb it down in order to score well on standardized tests most are just plain old not prepared.
One standardized test is the FCAT or the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. According to the article Penny-Pinching Says FCAT Is Not a Priority by the Miami Herald the FCAT is crucial to focus public schools on the needs of the weakest links. Now faced with a “state budget meltdown” they want to cut funding for FCAT.
In the article is says, ”They tell us public education can be the great equalizer, offering opportunity regardless of race, gender or ethnicity so long as a student puts forth the effort.” In the next line it says, “If that’s all true, then why is Florida penny-pinching at the expense of the most vulnerable kids and leaving parents in the dark.”
This hits at something that has always bothered me. I do not know about the whole situation in Florida, I only know what I read in the article, but why is it that the first thing that is always cut are the programs for the underprivileged. If it is a public school and public education is the great equalizer how is it that these kids are always getting a bed deal. We grow up learning that saying “it’s not fair” is pointless because as every adult is willing to point out, “life’s not fair.” However, in this situation I think one good “IT’S NOT FAIR” is completely appropriate.
The worst part is that there is substantial proof that FCAT is helping. Three-fourths of fourth graders passed the National Assessment of Educational Progress in 2007, whereas in 1998 only 58 percent did. Take in with these statistics the fact that the National Assessment of Educational Progress is the gold standard of standardized tests.
This is absolutely heart breaking to me. The fact that there is a standardized tests directed to students that need it, that has been proven to work, is being cut.
Like every other person I remember learning Shakespeare in the most grueling way. In fact, I happened to have class with my cousin Lindsey. When we were reading Romeo and Juliet aloud our teacher assigned me the part of Romeo and her the part of Juliet. The class had field day with this. We are both girls but that did not stop them from chanting kissing cousins kissing cousins. So…. Maybe my experience was a little different.
I thought everyone was supposed to love Romeo and Juliet. So even though I did not care for Shakespeare at all or his plays I always said I loved Romeo and Juliet, it’s so romantic.
Then in one particular class we watched the most recent rendition of Romeo and Juliet, the one that stared Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. Then I really did fall in love with the play. Like every girl in my class I developed a crush on DiCaprio.
It wasn’t until this past summer that I developed genuine feelings towards Shakespeare’s writing. In a British literature class we read A Midsummer Nights Dream. With no DiCaprio to dress it up, it was actually the play that I liked and not the actors.
However, my new found enjoyment of Shakespeare was short lived when after a Midsummer Nights Dream we had to read Henry IV. This play was not for me. The only other thing I took from that British Literature class was about Shakespeare himself.
In high school when we had read about Shakespeare, we learned that he was a genius. He wrote in ways that no one else could and he made it seem effortless. After reading a section of Will in the World by Stephen Greenblatt I realized Shakespeare was not the untouchable god but a real person.
When I learned that one of the possible lecture choices was to see Stephen Greenblatt’s I knew that was the choice for me. So with knowing nothing more than Stephen Greenblatt wrote a fascinating biography of William Shakespeare I went to his lecture. I thought I would just learn more about Shakespeare the man.
So when Greenblatt started speaking of cultural ambiguity I was surprised. His work with Cardenio, Shakespeare’s lost play was extremely interesting. It has been a while since I heard this lecture so bear with me. Greenblatt set out to write Cardenio. He also encouraged writers around the world to make their own version of the play. Expectedly, the plays were different. Unexpectedly they were also very similar. While minor details were different, the basic structure stayed the same.
The idea that while all different, we still somewhat similar is an interesting idea. Through Shakespeare we can teach students about other cultures but show them how it relates to them as well.
