Thoughts About Our Readings & Discussions

Wow, I guess this is our last blog.  Really?  I was beginning to get more comfortable with examining my thoughts.   If this in indeed our last blog, I’d like to thank everyone who has given my feedback on my blog.  Thanks for taking the time to learn a little bit about what makes me the person I am, at least a little bit of that.  Also, thank you for opening up and letting me see someone else's viewpoint with each of your blogs.  It's been interesting, enlightening, and sometimes funny.  :-)

To continue the discussion on what we’ve been exploring in class, I’d like to start by examining what was in last week’s reading, “Part One – Teachers ‘Experimenting with the World,’” I felt the article was summarizing so much of what we’ve then discussing in class.  There were a few points that brought it all home for me.  The author (I’m sorry, I missed who this person is) quotes Karen as saying, “You have to be passionate about what you are and have to believe in it for it to take shape.  You get that from experience.  And you need the passion to be a teacher.”  (pg. 57, “I Didn’t Even Know There Was A River”)  As we work in our school, we will sooner or later find the underlying politics lurking around as we all find once we break the threshold and become part of the large group dynamic.  We need to realize that whatever the climate at your school, the real reason we are all there is to help our students be the best person they can become.  That’s it, bottom line.  Karen had hit the nail on the head.  We need to be passionate about teaching.  How can we expect our students to find their passion if we don’t model ours.  Let’s give it all.  We can plan lessons that inspire. 

We need to be listeners.  Stop waiting for the “correct” response and listen to what the children are learning.  We need to be aware of our students.  Find out who they are.  Scripts don’t care who the kids are or what they think.  They don’t form a relationship with the students.  We need to go beyond the scripts and explore ourselves, our students, our community, and through knowing ourselves and each other we will all learn on a deeper level.  The barriers will be down.

In the articles we’ve read recently and in the teacher narratives, it seems that so many students are struggling with what it means to be American.  I hope we can all find a way to help students find their definition of American and at the same time, keep their cultural roots intact.  I hope we can all be a part of sharing and celebrating in our differences as well as in our sense of community.

“Three Teachers Honoring Children’s Environment” says, “The class discussion were interesting and seemed important to them; they weren’t just about giving right answers, and they learned they had something to say.” (pg. 62)  That is powerful; they learned they had something to say.  That’s how we raise up thinkers, learners, doers, reformers, activists, and amazing human beings.  Show them they have something worthwhile to offer.  Teach them they have something to say.

One Bias (for Today)

Of all the blogs we have completed, this has been the one I fought, thought about, debated, wondered, and agonized over the most.  At first, I thought, I’m not biased.  My biases are about mean people which is lame, but true.  I even went to websites to see where my biases are focused.  I went to www.tolerance.org and read about test yourself for hidden biases.  Next, I tried to find some hidden bias tests which I took online, but they weren’t specific enough to get me going.  One man’s list of “Freely Admitted Personal Biases as of April 2011” got me thinking.  I have a LOT of biases.  In the end, a bias is your opinion about something.  It can be positive or negative.  Most everything requires an opinion.  So, I started a big list and I’m picking the one that gets me mad to blog about today.

I am biased against the parents of kids that act up and are disrespectful.  I teach at the elementary level.  When a student comes in consistently not paying attention, doing the opposite of what is asked, interrupting others, making a scene, riling other students up, not using basic manners, sassing, mumbling under their breath, thinking that they can do whatever they want with a “what are you going to do about it” attitude I think that child’s parents must not care about him/her at all.  Until I get the paradigm shift after meeting with the parents or finding out their story, I’m thinking many negative thoughts about what on earth they think they’re doing by not disciplining their child at home and not paying attention to him/her.  I tried to decide if it matters if the child is a boy or a girl, but I’ve had them both and I think I think the same for both. 

My thought is that now that we live in this generation of entitlement from the children.  That supposedly your whole world should revolve around them.    So many parents aren’t sitting down with their children to teach them the basics of being a decent human being or even just saying “No.”  Poor John or Jane’s self esteem may suffer if they don’t get their way.  Yikes!  I even get the attitude when a challenging child has conferences and neither parent shows up that “that’s typical”.  I think they don’t care.  I think they’re jerks for not caring.  Odd that at the onset, I’m blaming the parent and think less of them for what I consider poor parenting and babying their child so he/she can act like that.  I’m not making the child responsible either!  That pretty much makes me a jerk too.

I know this is something I do in my head so that makes me conscious of it so I try to control how I handle that.  (At least I hope I do).   I’m pretty sure that this comes from being the parent of three girls.  We have worked really hard with our girls to try to instill the values that we think are important in them.  We have both given up a lot of our wants to either provide for our girls or be there for them in school, at home, for their activities….. We also have tried to teach them that they are a part of a community of others, family, friends, groups and they should be looking outward instead of selfishly inward.  It gets under my skin when I see things that make me think that other parents are putting themselves first, even before teaching their kid to be a decent human being.

Sounds pretty mean when I write it out like that.  I guess I’m one of those mean people that also made my bias list.  (Sigh)

APS Librarian is 2017 National Teacher of the Year

Albuquerque is home to the 2017 National Teacher of the Year, Kimberly Gonzales.  Gonzales zipped onto the education scene after a two year stint as a substitute teacher with Albuquerque Public Schools (APS).  Gonzales earned this national honor for her dedicated work with the elementary children of Osuna Elementary and the school’s community.  Gonzales was hired into APS as Librarian of the school.  How does a librarian win a national award meant for teachers?  That was a question that was easily answered.  Gonzales said, “The classroom teachers have a tremendous task to follow a curriculum and follow standards.  The library has standards too and I’ve used them to enrich the work being done at each grade level.”  Gonzales has continued favorite school reading and literacy programs like Battle of the Books and the Flat Stanley Project.  That work has strengthened a reading program that also promotes reading comprehension, literacy, and exposure to many literary genres.

4^th grade teacher, Rene Denham, says “I believe the work Kim does with the children has directly effected the student’s reading ability.  She encourages every student to find their passion in a book.  She makes an impact on the students and provides a role model for each one inside and outside the classroom.”  Gonzales does have a charisma with the students at the school.  She began a fifth grade Library Friends club which welcomes 5^th graders to come into the Library during their recesses and lunch to help with younger students, shelve books, and read.  One 5^th grader told us that “Mrs. Gonzales made me feel like I mattered.  She believed that I could help other kids at the school.  I had a hard time making friends, but Mrs. Gonzales treated me like I was a great person.  It made me feel good about something for the first time in a while.”

 “I see myself as a stable adult that can provide an example of character to my students.  I provide a place in each of their lives where they can be safe.  They are safe from physical harm, but also safe to share ideas, who they are, what they dream, what they fear.  We share it all here.”   Susan Oppel, the lead teacher for the special education department at Osuna told us, “The students respond to Kim.  She needs to be where she is right now.  She has a gift for teaching the students.  She knows how to meet them where they are and cover material in a way that makes it fun to learn.”

I couldn’t do this much without the support of the parents in our community.  Parents reinforcing what the students learn every day is critical.  We have adults there for the students in every way imaginable.  We get them involved wherever we can, during the school day, at evening open house events, even helping with weekend book drives.  When students see their parents investing in their school and caring about their education, the students emulate that attitude.

Gonzales says that she had originally thought that her philosophy was that school should be a fun place, somewhere they can look forward to going each day.  She says that now, she still believes that school should be fun, but also needs to be somewhere that the teachers provide as many opportunities to introduce new ideas as possible so that children can experience and try new things on an age appropriate platform.

Another plus to have Mrs. Gonzales on board at Osuna Elementary is her introduction of new technology into the library.  Lagging in funding, with an aging collection of books, Gonzales used savvy when building both a solid collection of books for the children while introducing eBooks to her school, creating a Library blog for her community to use, and making technology available to the community with regular open house nights when students, family, and neighbors can come into the library for book fairs, open house technology nights, and evening seminars for the school and neighborhood. She is even the sponsor teacher for the school’s newspaper, Tiger Tales, which is now written and produced by a student newspaper club.

Gonzales had an amazing mentor, Mrs. Ruby Donegan.  As a matter of fact, Osuna’s Library was named after Mrs. Donegan and she still volunteers and participates in library programs on a regular basis.  “She was the librarian when my children were at Osuna.  I volunteered in her library.  When she retired, I had the opportunity to substitute for the next teacher who only stayed in the position for one school year.  Mrs. D taught me many things about being a librarian.  Loving the students and instilling the love of reading in them was the best thing she passed on to me.”

“Thank you for the honor of this award, but truth be told, it’s the students who make what I do possible.”

My Purpose, My Beliefs, My Superbowl Thoughts

I'm not a big philosopher so summing up what my philosophy has been difficult to get my head around.  I've been mulling over what we talked about in class on Tuesday to try to get to what I believe.

First, let me look at our thoughts for this week's blog.  My purpose in being a teacher on the surface is pretty cut and dry.  I love kids, I love books, I love the idea of equipping kids for a future full of opportunities that they can choose or not choose (and isn't not choosing a choice too?).  I've come to this path of teaching in a round about way.  My first love was reading; as a kid and as an adult.  I chose to study English Literature when I went to college.  I'm good at many things, but my dream job has always been to be a librarian.  In substitute teaching after my kids got a little older I began to assist/sub a lot in the library.  Now, as the long term Library sub, in order to obtain the position, I need to have my teaching license.  No problem, off to CNM I go.

Well, in my position at the Osuna Elementary Library, I see this opportunity to get kids interested in something new.  In my classroom, I get to see every student in the school.  My purpose is to share my love of books, corny right.  I run additional programs because I think it will reach more kids.  They may think it's just for fun or an extra, but they're learning or going on reading adventures, or at the very least seeing my passion for books and get to wonder, "What is it that she thinks is so great?"  One little question may open a door.  It may be corny, but I'm good at it.  It's not a job for me, it's fun.  The kids respond.  The teachers respond.  I'm not perfect, by any means.  I think I'm in the right place.  I'm fulfilling my purpose.

Larger society?  That's easy.  I'm modeling for the kids a passion that I have.  They won't have my passion, but they each have their own desires.  I believe the purpose of education is to equip people to grow up and find their purpose, their passion, their "thing" and go do it.  I believe that the more kids are exposed to in life and in school, the more learning opportunity they have, and the more they absorb, the more choices they will have later.  Be what you want to be.  If you want to be President, a construction worker, a lawyer, a teacher, or the fry guy at the burger joint, be that, but give yourself the most education in life and in school so you can choose any one of those instead of not having any options.  Sure, it's going to be harder for some than others.  Some will come by it easily if only because they were born into a home that has the tools to get that kid to their place in life, but all have an opportunity in America.  Larger society will see the impact of what I do for students because they will be a little closer, have a few more tools, and be equipped in a few more ways after I've had the opportunity to teach them.

That's enough of that....now for the Super Bowl....I don't know about point spread, but I'm thinking there might be a bit more middle age spread happening after I eat all the yummy food.  I will probably choose the NY Giants because I'm an east coast girl from way back when.  :-)

Blog-The Daring Librarian

I’m actually pretty surprised at how much fun I had doing this week’s blog work.  I’ve worked as the librarian as a long term sub at Osuna Elementary school all year and part of last Winter/Spring.  Our library is fun, but needs a boost in the technology area (a rocket boost….we still have cassette tapes and DVDs).  I talked with the APS Library Services manager and she recommended the Advocacy for School Libraries blog which many of the librarians follow.  It’s a good site/blog which I will follow, but there I found a link to another blog:  www.thedaringlibrarian.com

I’ve been looking into how to introduce modern technology into the library.  This was great.  Her work with the QR codes looks fun.  I got hooked into the twitter like book reviews.  Check this out:  http://www.thedaringlibrarian.com/2011/05/twitter-style-book-reviews.html

What a great way to come at info from another direction. 

I’ve been doing this program called Battle of the Books for years at the elementary.  It’s a national program that we do in NM where 4^th and 5^th graders read 20 pre-selected books and have to remember the details of those books when they “battle” or compete against each other in teams from different schools around the state.  They are asked questions about the books and the answer is always the title and author of the book the question came from….pretty tough, but lots of fun.  I’ve gone a bit further and have had the classes battle each other so all the students can get involved.   This twitter-like book review idea can be another way to get my kids thinking about how to use their words wisely and remember their information.  Seems like you’re having a “fun” day, but they’re learning.

I also do the Flat Stanley project with 2^nd graders….I wonder what kind of ideas this blog will give….hmmm

This librarian has some cutting edge ideas about how to incorporate the latest technology into her library.  I love that.  I want to get my kids hooked on books…on reading….it’s why I do what I do.  I like how this librarian goes on the cutting edge without hesitation….I hope I can do that too.

Also….and this is the big reason I liked this blog….I hope to get inspired to learn the new tech too.  From the awards she’s earned or been nominated for, it looks like this will be a blog I will check regularly to keep up to date.

The fundamental purpose of education and schooling is to guide a person from birth to death in learning first how to survive, how to communicate, how to care for yourself, how to interact with the rest of humankind, and finally how to find your “spot” in the world.

I believe there is a difference between education and schooling.  To me, education is everywhere.  Education is navigating life and learning from the mistakes and successes on that journey.  Some of that education is subtle and some is quite plain.  Someone may learn how to handle a situation by observing another person or by doing what seems to come naturally and then when asked to explain how they learned that or why they do something a certain way, they say “that’s the way I’ve always done it,…I never thought about doing it any other way.”  On the other hand, when a person is taught by a parent and corrected over and over about how to tie his shoes, it is quite plain where they learned that skill.

I see schooling as institutional.  A person goes to a school or takes a course to learn something specific.  In the US, we begin with elementary school where the curriculum is chosen for them and they learn what is “required”.   As people complete the public education system, they can choose to continue their institutional schooling by focusing on taking courses of their own choosing at universities.

Historically, as adults enter the work force, employers will require a certain level of schooling (from an institution) no matter what kind of education (life lessons, experiences) the person may have.  I’ve been in that position where I could not be hired even though I had the skills to do a job, and do it well, because I didn’t have a specific piece of paper from an institution.

I think that education is a contextual word that is often used interchangeable with schooling.  When we talk about education we are usually talking about the institution or system.  However, when I think about it, education is much more than a building and some books.

My First Thoughts

Defining “Education” in class made me pause for a moment.  At first it was difficult.  First because I have many thoughts/opinions it’s hard to give a broad answer.  Second, having been in the public and private education system and guiding both my own children and the ones I’ve taught through pieces of it has me focused more on navigation and in the moment teaching and planning for small pieces instead of always looking at the big picture.  Having multiple children has taught me that not all kids are the same, not all needs are the same, and what works for one will not work for them all.  This makes it difficult to find the right place for each child, the right approach, the right environment.  And “right” is a constantly changing idea.  The question then becomes how can a system be provided to a constantly changing population of children with different needs and abilities?  Having choices in styles of schools and environments is a beginning.  Do we then have to begin pigeon holing at an early age where our kids to school?  What about availability? 

In our small group we said education is unique to the individual.  That resonates with me.  Education needs to provide children with the opportunity to be the person they would like to become.

I’ve always been a proponent of setting a high standard that is available to all.  Provide as many opportunities to learn a varied array of subjects, ideas, philosophies, and people.  I believe, right now, that education is about providing choices.  If a child can be exposed to many areas, then the choices he will have will be greater because they will know that that choice either exists or have the background to be able to pursue that choice.  Right now, I think education is about providing choices and about children taking advantage of the opportunity to learn things that will give them choices.  If we begin at an early age to pinhole them or “sort” them, we are doing them a great disservice. 

For now, I have to say that Education is a changing idea.  It is as unique as the children who are learning.  It needs to adjust to the changing population and the growth of that population.  Maybe the building blocks stay the same (like learning to speak and read) but as the world evolves, so does/should Education.