A Recap of the Moral Demensions of Teching

Enculturating the young in a social and political democracy
Foster in the nation’s young the skills, dispositions, and knowledge necessary for effective participation in a social and political democracy
Providing access to knowledge for all children and youth
Ensure that the young have access to those understandings and skills required for satisfying and responsible lives
Practicing a nurturing pedagogy (the art and science of teaching)
Develop educators who nurture the learning and well-being of every student
Ensuring responsible stewardship of schools
Ensure educators’ competence in and commitment to serving as stewards of schools

These standards provide the backbone for my education here at Brigham Young University. The INTASC standards are good teaching practices, but the Moral Demensions give the reasons why I teach. Let me explain one by one.

Enculturating the young in a social and political democracy
Foster in the nation’s young the skills, dispositions, and knowledge necessary for effective participation in a social and political democracy

Many educational psychologists and theorists have stated that for democracy to work there must first be an educated populace to do the work. Without a citizenship that knows its laws and how those laws are created then a democracy will simply not work. Right now Education is failing to provide this enculturation and as such you can see the resulting waves in our political system.

Providing access to knowledge for all children and youth
Ensure that the young have access to those understandings and skills required for satisfying and responsible lives

This is where then INTASC standards fit into the big scheme of things. Teachers need to be willing to make learning accessible to all students. This means that we need to differentiate our instruction and provide accommodations for every student that needs them. We don't wait for an IEP meeting, but rather use sound instructional strategies to make sure that our students get the education they deserve not only as members of this country but as divine children of Heavenly Father.

Practicing a nurturing pedagogy (the art and science of teaching)
Develop educators who nurture the learning and well-being of every student

Classrooms can be very cold and uncaring places for children, and I have never understood why some teachers see that they should be. Yes, there is a great deal of danger that comes with being a teacher but I believe that with a truly supportive and nurturing environment that supports not only learning but also community some of this danger is alleviated. A teacher does not have to dole out hugs to show they care- high expectations, true accommodations and getting to know the kids are good ways to build a nurturing pedagogy. When they say that this is the 'art and science of teaching' they are right on target.

Ensuring responsible stewardship of schools
Ensure educators’ competence in and commitment to serving as stewards of schools

Before coming to BYU I never understood the role that I will have as a teacher. Not only will I be an example to my students but I will finally have a real say in what happens in education. A teacher speaking out on topics has more pull than a politician, and sadly, the trend is that politicians make the decisions on education. As a teacher I need to be ready to support my leaders in making sound decisions regarding education. Also, I need to be a leader in my community. Of course, any politics must happen outside of my classroom but they still must happen. A teacher who sits passively aside will get pushed even more to the side.

Dance Integration Ideas

I'm working on ways to integrate dance into Math and I love some of the ideas that I'm coming up with.

My favorite so far is a fourth grade lesson where students identify points on a coordinate grid and then create a dance so they touch each of those points. They can then measure their dance, and so forth.

Sample Lesson Plans for 5th Grade

Inquiry

What Taught

Alliteration is the repetition of beginning consonant sounds.

How Taught- Inquiry

1. Examples/Non-Examples: Give students a tongue twister “Sally shelled sea shells by the sea shore.” Have them say it five times fast.
2. Question to direct Inquiry - Go back to the tongue twister. Why was the tongue twister so hard to say fast many times? [there were a lot of ‘s’ sounds]
1. Say these tongue twisters- “Peter piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.”.
2. “Friendly Frank flips fine flapjacks.”
3. Hypothesis: What do all of these tongue twisters have in common? [The beginning letter is a consonant, The starting sound is the same]
4. Verification: This is called Alliteration. It is when the beginning consonant sound is repeated. It is most commonly used in poetry.
5. Practice- Pick a topic together, and have each person add one word to create an alliterated phrase. (topic- Pink, Pink panthers prance in pretty poses)

How Demonstrated

Each student will write a sentence using alliteration with 100% accuracy.

Rate:

1. Time: 10-15 minutes
2. Space: Desks
3. People: Teacher- gives tongue twisters, guides topic choice.

Student- share ideas to figure out similarities in patterns

4. Materials: Paper with tongue twisters on them. Pencil and paper for students to write on.

Direct Instruction

What taught

Internet Etiquette.

1. Etiquette means ‘good manners’. Internet Etiquette (or netiquette) is using good manners on the internet.
1. Avoid shouting- Shouting is when you type in all CAPS. If you want to emphasize something put it in italics, or surround it with *asterisks* or other _punctuation_ marks.
2. Be polite- Be careful not to upset people with your words. If you are unsure that someone will understand that you mean well, make sure you either state it or put a smiley face.
3. Be forgiving- Decoding things on the internet is hard, if something upsets you or you think it is rude make sure to ask questions before getting upset. Usually the person did not mean harm.
4. Be careful- Never give out your full name, address, phone number or e-mail out on the Internet (not even to friends!) unless you ask your parents first.

How Taught

1. Anticipatory Set- How many of you use the internet regularly? What do you use it for?
2. Telling- By the end of this lesson the students will know four rules to Internet Etiquette.
3. Instruction- See above. List them, let students give examples if they wish.
4. Modeling- “I enjoy reading blogs online, and sometimes what they say is different then what I think is right. Bloggers like to get feedback, so when I reply I will make sure to avoid shouting (using all caps), make sure to not accuse them or degrade them, and always wrap up with a clarifying question. And I never use my real name, but make up a pen name.”
5. Guided Practice- Together write a reply to someone on the internet who said something bad about the principal of your school.
6. Check for Understanding- Once the blog post is written have students say how they kept the rules of etiquette.
7. Independent Practice: You are writing in a class blog about a book you really did not like. Write the post without breaking Internet Etiquette. (Keep this to 3-5 sentences at most)
8. Closure: Encourage students to only go online with parent permission, and make sure they know what websites you are going to.

How Demonstrated

Students will write a blog post about a book they do not like that follows all rules of Internet Etiquette.

Rate

1. Time: 15-20 min.
2. Space: At desks
3. People: Students giving feedback and insights into their own internet experiences.
4. Materials: Paper to write blog posts on.

A Case in Contrasts

I would like to present you with two cases.

A) Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (aka, Texas State Standards)
(See: Scroll to Bottom, Open 4th Grade, find Social Studies Core 4th Grade p. 18)

B) Utah State Core Curriculum
(See: Social Studies Core 4th Grade p. 13)

Now, your assignment. Look at both cores. Tell me how they are the same. Tell me how they are different. Now, tell me which one you would like to use to plan your curriculum. (Hint, the answer isn't Texas.)

Why do they have such a ridiculous core? Seriously? It makes NO sense.

Foreseeability

To start out, I wish to say that I have no problem with the idea that teachers and school administrators have a special duty to foresee situations which could be potentially dangerous. I think that is a very good expectation to hold up. For myself, I think I'm fairly good at it. I can see a million and one ways in which an activity can go wrong and decide if the risk is worth it. (Example, playing wall ball. I know that there are splinters on the wall, and that sometimes the grass is slick. However, I know that my children are also aware of this and are use to running on the slick grass. Therefor, I allow it. However, dodge ball. I know my boys tend to be more energetic then necessary and have little self control when it comes to throwing the ball. thus I see a child getting hit in the head and sustaining a major injury. Therefor, I do not allow the game to be played.)

My issue with forseeablility is how teachers are suppose to have these skills. Most teacher preparation programs do not have students out in the schools untill their pratical skils section (aka, Student Teaching or Internsip). If they have the unforutnate situation as to have been unable to work with children outside of that time they have no chance to practice these skills. How do first year teachers then develop this skill quick enough to prevent a liablity suit leveled against them? I realize that there are protections in place (namely, the word 'reasonable'), but could a court not say that the new teacher in question should 'resaonably' have been taught about general situations which would cause harm?

I have major problems with the subjectivity of the law. I realize that there is no other way to phrase it so that there are more streamlined ways of dealing with liablity suits but the whole set of rules simply puts a bad taste in my mouth.

Quick and Dirty Math

Lets start with a link. Algebra Help: The Math Video Tutor

Sounds good so far, right? I mean, who of us little people couldn't use a little help when it comes to our Algebra skills. "The Math Video Tutor - Fractions Thru Algebra is a 10 hour course that will fully help a student master all of the core topics in Pre-Algebra and Algebra 1." Why don't the schools implement this, I mean, why waste all that time in the classroom teaching math skills when we can get it in ten hours from a DVD. Someone tell the teachers! They can spend most of their year drinking coffee in the lounge rather then actually having to deal with those pesky students.

Also, "There are no traditional lectures of background material that won't help you solve problems and improve your skills." Background material? Who cares about background material? If you can cross multiply fractions, who cares to actually understand what is going on? You'll pass the test and go on with life!

Okay. I'll drop the sarcasm. A friend sent me this link saying he'd been thinking about getting this to help with his math skills. It took me about thirty seconds to figure out that this was a complete waste of money. Yeah, this'll teach you all the shortcuts you forgot from High School, but if you never understood why the short cuts worked how will you know when to apply them? If you understand that the bottom of a fraction is the number of pieces in a whole, and the top is the number of pieces present in that whole you'll have a start of understanding. You'll realize that you can divide up work between people, or how to know how much food to give another person (if you're in the service industry). You can see how your profits are and then be able to do the math to figure out if you are doing well or not. If all you understand is how to do the math then you miss out on the application there of.

Responding

Here is a question for all of you to chew on. What is the proper response when you're talking to someone and they say, "I was just at a funeral." Is it, I am sorry? Or Did you know the person well? or Are you alright?

They all seem misplaced.

Cursive

So. I'm suppose to be writing every day. Today, I've decided the topic is cursive.

I was taught cursive. And for one HORRIBLE year, I had to use it on EVERYTHING. I could not turn in an assignment unless it was in cursive. When I got out of elementary school they thankfully discontinued this practice. Rather then attempt to make my writing 'pretty' I go for legible. When I cannot read someone's writing I grade much more harshly on what I can read. I would rather chicken scratch print then lovely unreadable cursive. Having never felt any desire to practice it I find that now that I am once again required to prove that I CAN write in cursive I am having great difficulties. My school journals will now be cursive written, though it takes me twice as long to use cursive then to print.

I still like print better.

I have moved this blog to:

http://junipersky.dreamwidth.org/

Quote about Sexual Orientation

"Sexual orientation does equal sex. The only definition of a sexual orientation is - get this - sexual. Maybe that's why they call it sexual orientation? Homosexuality is not anything except sexual desire towards one's own gender. You cannot talk about homosexuality without talking about sex. Because to talk about homosexuality is to talk about the sexual preference of homosexuals. In otherwords, the sex they prefer to have. Yes, saying "Harvey Milk was a gay man" and "Harvey Milk enjoyed anal sex with many male partners" is not quite the same thing. One defines the person as a homosexual. The other explicitly defines his acts of homosexuality. They both are talking about his sexual preference. That's sexual in nature, either way you look at it.

And I'm sorry there is "heterosexism" in history... Forgive all of humanity for promoting the one thing that, you know, allows humanity to continue to exist.

The difference between Milk and Spizter/Clinton: The issues the later faced were side issues to their political careers. You don't have to talk about Spitzer or Clinton's sexual scandals because those were circuses. They were private things that unraveled in the public eye, marring Clinton's Presidency, and ending Spitzer's carrer. You don't have to talk about them, because both men stand alone without them on their accomplishments as public servants. They are not defined by those sexual scandals, even if a portion of their careers was. Harvey Milk's entire narrative is "first gay man elected to something." His only accomplishment in office was a gay rights bill. He was elected by energizing the gay community to his cause by making his sexuality a theme of his campaign. He was assassinated for being gay. Remove "gay" from Harvey Milk, and you have just another local politician from the 1970s not notable for anything. Remove "gay" from Harvey Milk, and you have no power point presentation."

Beautifully put. This is a wonderful argument to use in the debate on teaching homosexuality in the schools. Of course, it is also a wonderful argument about teaching heterosexuality in the schools. There is the catch 22. But, still. A beautiful way of putting it. I wonder how many people would be offended?

(For the debate this came from see Student's Harvey Milk Report Censored by School @ USGS)