I enjoyed looking at the webquest resources. I was introduced to many different websites that will be helpful for me in my future teaching career. We have been discussing how literacy is changing and that it is important to add technology and the internet into the classroom. These websites are perfect for this and allows for student interaction and control over their own learning.

The assigned reading discussed pictures books and the transformation they have made. How children use picture books has changed from focusing on the text to both text and illustrations. Postmodern picture books have multiple meanings and the readers need to be literate with text and illustrations. The readers will get more out of the book if they are able to interpret and analyze the whole book (illustrations and text). The readers will get more out of the book if they are able to look and understand everything. My nephew is almost three years old and loves to read picture books. It was interesting to read about picture books because eventhough he reads young books, he does the strategies that the assigned reading discusses. Adults will read and point to the text and Nicholas will listen and then look at the illustrations and discuss them. He points at things and talks about what he sees and asks about things he isn’t familiar with.

During Four Freedoms Week I went to the presentations on Indian Mascots and Jena 6. Last week I wrote about Jena 6 so I was familiar with the presentation. The article I read is from the New York Times and is called University Reverses Policy to Allow Mascot’s Return”. The article discusses the controversy of having an Indian be a mascot for a school. The University banned the mascot from the school and later reversed the ban by allowing the mascot to appear on homecoming floats. Having an American Indian Chief as a mascot is offensive and racist to some people. How the mascot is dressed and what he does is stereotyping American Indians. I do not think it is appropriate to have Indians/Native Americans as mascots, just like it would not be appropriate to have a White, Black, or Asian mascot. A mascot is something that you laugh at when you see and is not taken seriously. Having a tribal Chief as a mascot takes focus and importance away from historical figures, traditions and respect. I think it is important for schools to educate their students about different cultures.

The Frankestein presentation was not really what I expected, and thought it was a little boring. However, I did find some parts interesting, like the case studies with the asian men and the pregnant women. I would have like it if she focused more on the case studies because I wasn’t very interested in the other stuff. It didn’t really seem like other people were interested either.

I read an article about the Jena 6. At Jena High School there was a “white tree” where white students would sit under. An African American student sat under the tree, and the following day there was a noose hanging from the tree. In anger, six African Americans attacked a white student. The boys were charged with attempted murder, whereas the boys who hung the nooses were only suspended. The school is portraying that being racist is not a very big deal, whereas getting in a fight is something that should go to the courts.
Many believe that if it were white students who got in the fight, there would have been a lesser punishment.

Bell, the only one in jail, was tried as an adult in court. This caused a lot of controversy because he is only 17. An appeals court decided that he was improperly tried and the conviction was thrown out. Bell is still being held in jail while prosecutors decide if they will file new charges in juvenile court. It is argued that this case is unfair and provides evidence of the town’s attitudes about race and crime.

This case exemplifies the racism and unfair treatment that still exists in today’s society. Racism is very apparent today and it is essential that we do something about it. It is evident that at Jena High School there are students with racist values. The school cut down the “white tree”, as if that is going to solve their problems. The school needs to take more of a stand on racism and needs to increase the education provided about diversity. I think that schools have a major role in racism. Students need to be taught to embrace diversity and respect others for who they are. A way to look at other cultures is through literacy; stories, books, and songs. I think teachers should incorporate other cultures into their curriculum and have students embrace and be comfortable with diversity.

I read the New York Time’s article “Less Homework, More Yoga, From a Principal Who Hates Stress”. This article discusses various ways to approach stress and learning. Stress communities are being put into schools to create a better learning environment and reduce stress among students. Seniors are required to take yoga classes, teachers cannot schedule homework during holidays, and some schools are having parents sign a permission slip for their child to be enrolled in an AP class. Some schools are also considering later start times so students can get more sleep. Less sleep, homework, extracurriculiar activities, and family impact the stress of students. Too much stress interferes with learning and growth.

I think that stress classes will be helpful in schools. Students should be taught several techniques on stress. This will be helpful when they feel overwhelmed with homework, preparing for a test, or dealing with other situations. When I was younger I would get very stressed out right before I took tests. I was taught different strategies to help me with my stress (such as breathing). I still get stressed out and nervous before tests and big projects but I know how to reduce my stress and focus on the tasks at hand. I think that schools should incorporate stress communities and provide students with different strategies for a stress free environment.

I think this article relates to class because we are being taught various strategies to use when we are teachers. We are being presented different approaches to use with students to help them learn and develop. I think teaching stress free strategies would be beneficial for students and will create a more productive learning experience.

I read The Watson’s Go to Birmigham, 1963. I thought that this book was fun and historical. There were many funny events that happened.  The book was not boring and it made civil rights seem more realistic.  It showed a regular family going through the south during a problematic time in history.  I think that student’s would enjoy this book and have a sense of what things were like in the 1960′s.  Using another source to look at historical events is a good way to get students engaged.  It is less tedious than textbooks, and would be a good source to use in the classroom.

I read an article from the New York Times, “An Active, Purposeful Machine That Comes Out at Night to Play “, that discusses the impact sleep has on memory and learning.  It was found that “sleep plays a critical role in flagging and storing important memories, both intellectual and physical”.  The brain is active during sleep and is a facrot in learning and storing memories.  It is important that students get sleep during the school weeks because “Sleep loss makes you more reckless, more emotionally fragile, less able to concentrate and almost certainly more vulnerable to infection”.  I found this article interesting because it shows the importance that sleep has on learning and memory.  It emphasizes that sleep impacts students achievements.

I read the New York Times article “Making Cash a Prize for High Scores on Advanced Placement Tests”.  It discusses a pay-for-performance program where students who take Advanced Placement standardized tests will receive cash for taking the test and will get more for doing well.  The program is intended for low-income African American and Latino studnets in New York.  With the low percentage of these students passing AP tests, there needs to be something done.

My initial thought when reading this was that providing extrinsic motiviation is not beneficial for students. ”The program has provoked much debate about whether paying students for test-taking undercuts the notion that learning is its own reward”.  My first reaction was that rewarding a student with money takes away the main focus of education and learning. 

However, in further critique about the issue, the program may not be so bad.  As our education is becoming more about standardized testing, there needs to be something done to help students perform well and “up to par”.  Students have to pay to take the AP exams and low-income students may not be able to afford it.  This program allows students to take the test and gives them incentive to work hard (and get money).  This program will not take away what learning is about, rather it will encourage more students to work hard and take standardized tests, and receive a reward for their hard work. 

 This program also helps the schools that participate.  Schools will get $2,000 and can apply for a $10,000 grant to invest towards their AP classes.  This is helping the poverty problems that schools face.  It goes along with our readings and how poverty affects student achievement.  Schools in poverty do not have adequate resources to do well.  However, this program is providing money to put into AP classes, and is promoting equal opportunity for students in poverty.

I read part one of Frank McCourt’s Teacher Man.McCourt discusses events that he faced in his first year as a teacher in a New York City school.  In attempt to get his students interested, McCourt talked about his life and his past experiences.  When he was teaching a lesson, McCourt believed he should talk about things that students can relate to and be interested in.  A man told him that in addition to making information relevant, reinforcement is important.  “Reinforcement is an activity, enrichment, followup, some kind of assignments where you clinch the learning so that it’s embedded in the student’s memory” (50).  Reinforcement can be done in many ways.  I think that most teachers encourage reinforcement by having students memorize information.  However, I believe that this approach is not helpful.  Not only can memorization be a tedious and hard task for some, it does not mean the students understand the information.  Students need to be able to understand, analyze, and critique what they learn, and memorization may hinder that.  I think that a way to get students to remember information is by getting them interested.  When the information is relative to the students they will be more interested and will be more involved.  Involvement and participation helps reinforce information to students.

My New York Times Article, “Google and I.B.M. Join in ‘Cloud Computing’ Research” discusses the advances in technology and provides a tool for help.  IBM and Google are joining together to help with the technical training of complex computing.  The companies are providing ‘cloud computing’ which is “large data centers that students can tap into over the Internet to program and research remotely”.  As technology is advancing many people cannot keep up.  A program like this will help people have a better understanding and skills.  A computer science professor from the University of Washington said that ‘cloud computing’  ” ‘is a huge contribution because it allows for a type of education and research that we can’t do today’ “.  Technology is becoming a very influencial part of life.  Society needs to possess the abilities to work and be comfortable with technology and the internet.

Chapter 7 of Daniels and Zemelman’s book discusses the importance of social support in the classroom.  It is essential that teachers listen, know and believe in their students.  Teachers knowledge and understandings of their students will allow them to relate subject material to the students’ interests and experiences.  Students also need to grow and relate to their peers, treat each other with respect, work together, and help each other. It is important to make the classroom a comfortable and good learning environment.  Students and teachers need to trust each other and be comfortable in taking risks and to not be afraid to state their opinions. 

According to Daniel and Zelman (pg 170), the strategies for Building Community in the Classroom are:
“Make the classroom a place where students trust the teacher and believe it’s sage to take risks, a place where it’s okay to ask questions when they don’t understand something, and where they’ll receive the support they need to  handle challenge”

“Provide students with choices and opportunities to take responsibility in the classroom”

“Connect learning with students’ lives and hte larger issues around them”

“Organize learning with studens’ lives and the larger issues around them”

“Read aloud from engaging and powerful writing in your field.  Reading aloud evokes the sense of a group gathered around the fire to hear hte stories that hold them together as a community”

 This chapter relates to the New York Times article that I read, “Between Free Speech and a Hard Place”.  It discusses the importance of getting students to debate controversial issues and to talk openly and comfortably about their opinions and ideas.  The article talks about different colleges and controversial events and speakers that they have go to their school.  It encourages freedom of speech of students and discussing their opinions about controversial issues.  It is important that campuses promote a comfortable and community based environment.  When students trust their peers and teachers they will be more willing to talk openly about their beliefs, which results in learning through different perspectives. 

Our reading this week looked at textbooks and the influences they have on students and learning.  Textbooks should be used as a reference, instead of something that students read for homework every night.  I read an article from the New York Times called “Democratic Candidates Play to an Older Crowd “.  This article would be useful for current events and having the students be aware of politics and the presidency.  It is important to have material relate to the times and the students.  Textbooks should not be the primary source in a class.  Newspapers, magazines, TV (the news), and any other informational resource should be incorporated into the classroom.  It mixes things up and makes the class and material more interesting.  It also gives the students an opportunity to connect everyday life to the material being learned.

A New York Time’s article, “EMusic, a Song-Download Site, to Offer Audiobooks “, shows how technology is having an impact on literacy today.  EMusic along with Apple’s iTunes have audio-books available to purchase and download.  On EMusic audio-books can be downloaded to any digital player.  With the growing number of audio-books being provided and used, literacy is changing.  Literacy is used in everyday life.   The reading skills of individuals will be affected by audio-books.  People will be listening rather than seeing the words.  If used in the classroom, students’ spelling and reading abilities will be hindered.  Students will not learn how to skim or scan a text and visually see what is important in the text.  Student’s fluency will be affected by audio-books as well.  Fluency is the ability to read text accurately and smoothly.  Fluency is developed by practicing reading, and when using audio-books, student’s will not be reading.  Not reading will also affect students skills with phonemes and phonics.  Since reading is an important factor in literacy and development, if students are using audio-books they should follow along with the book.  This will allow the students to hear and see the text.  It will help students develop vocabulary, reading (with phonics and phonemes), and listening.  Technology is becoming a big part in education, and should be a part of teaching and learning.  Audio-books can be very helpful if used in the right way.