Class+08+-+Mar+16

=** Class 8 **= ** Hello everyone,

Please take a look at the last assignment on the syllabus. We will talk about this first thing when we meet after the break. Please have questions ready to go. If you've not created a movie before, you're going to need to learn how to do so for the final project.

- Dr. Love

Class Notes** : __**Privilege Walk** (activity)__ -Whose story do you need to know?

We discussed issues pertaining to privelege and class

When you are on the "front lines" it is difficult to hear others stories. You only need to know your own. How well will you relate to your students?

Fact- wealth...white women= $41,400, latino women= $120, black women=$100

If we treat everyone the same, then why is this the case?

__**The Color of Fear** (video)__ American = White White = American How are these different and which one is true? or is either true? Part of our discussion went to how people have multiple identities relating to their ethnicity/race ex: someone can be Chinese/ Chinese American/ American Why and how do we classify people

Ethnicity vs. Race
 * Ethnicity- country of origin
 * Race- social privilege

Who decides?

When will African American, minorities, etc, ever truly feel "American" or what it means to be an American?

We create our own identities

We cannot challenge others on their own personal identities

Racism analogy: Turning a hose on someone and blaming them for getting wet

What you should be able to discuss:
 * What does it mean to be white? - privilege, listen to others' story
 * connections to contemporary issues
 * individual vs group
 * What does it mean to be American?
 * If you are American, how does this take away individual identity?

Key Quotes/Ideas from the video:

To be American is to be white

The white man steps on everyone else's heads

White people don't consider "white" to be an ethnicity

American should mean "red"

(Kelly Bates and Sarah Rousseau)

**Clarifications for the class notes this week** :

**Clarifications, points, and questions work pursuing for future weeks (Extend the discussion from this week's class):**

I really liked the Privilege Walk activity. I have done this in other classes and think it's a great way to open people's eyes and minds to how diverse our population is, and see how big the gap is between the upper class and the lower class. As Dr. Love pointed out, the questions we answered during the walk were only based on circumstances we could not control. It had nothing to do with our accomplishments or personal achievements, but simply on how this world was set up for us when we came into it. More people should have the chance to participate in this Privilege Walk because I think they could learn a lot from it, just as I do every time I do it. I am also glad I got to see the "Color of Fear" video. Wow, what a powerful experience. It's so rare that people from all backgrounds and races get to sit down and openly discuss their feelings and thoughts about stereotypes, racisms, and discrimination that goes on in our country. The thing that stuck out the most to me was how much the video related to Tim Wise's speech which we watched in class. The white male whose name slips my mind had absolutely NO IDEA that the African American male sitting across from him felt this way, or that anybody who wasn't "white" felt this way, for that matter. The white male seemed so shocked and offended that he was seen as an obstacle for people of different backgrounds. Tim Wise mentioned that when African Americans were asked if discrimination and racism was an issue, they said of course, but the white people said there was no problem whatsoever. It is awful and disgusting how ignorant and "innocent" some people choose to be. I've always been told that you can never disagree when someone says "I feel so and so" because you can't disagree with how someone feels, it's HIS FEELINGS, so what right did that white american male have to say, "Oh, you're just using me as an excuse and it's not my fault that you feel like I'm stopping you" ? He cannot tell the African American that what he feels is wrong (Katya Lagun).

It really is an eye opener to how different people are treated, as well as the differences between classes and races. How can one bring this into their teaching though? As a futures elementary school teacher I know students can understand their differences at a young age, but should we be introducing them to class differences as well? It is a powerful thing to be able to openly discuss differences and race and how we are all affected and our feelings, but at what point can we start to do this? is this something that could help more being introduced so young in the classroom? (kristie fergusson)

I also enjoyed participating in the privilege walk, it was an activity that I had never done before. I think it was an eye-opener for me because I didn't realize how much privileges played a part in children's lives while growing up. Although I do not think this is fair to the children, our society continues to allow for this to happen. I also think that the video "Color of Fear" brought up a number of important points. The question "What is it like to be white?" brought up a discussion in class that none of us could really even answer. I don't think any white individual would be able to answer this without truely knowing what it is like to live the life of a colored person. I think it is possible that whites could develop some sort of answer as to what they think it is like, but their answer is most likely arguable and questionable from other with a different point of view. I personally look at everyone as my equal, after watching the videos and our discussion I feel as though I have been naive to some of the racial privileges and issues that have been going on. I'm still slightly confused as to what the difference between race and ethnicity are. I have come to the understanding that ethnicity is the culture of origin someone is from. I used to think that race was just the color of ones skin where whites were better than blacks, but I think there is much more to it. (Allie French) I hadn't ever done a privilege walk before, so I thought doing this was an interesting way to emphasize the great amounts of diversity and differences that were amongst each and every single one of us. This helped me to further see how simply a person's skin color or race can sadly put one at a disadvantage over others whether it be with respect to the job market, education, or some sort of financing to have housing for instance. The privilege walk also helped me to further understand what we discussed in class about one individual who may be white not really having to know anything about 'anything' to be able to have some type of advantage or upperhand whereas another individual has to focus on knowing everyone's story including a white person's to get anywhere above where they currently might be in society. The film that we watched in class was also moving seeing as it was only another reminder of just how much our society deals with racial problems and prejudices. I think the questions that Kristie brings up are good points seeing as we as future teachers are going to be faced with these problems too, which is why it is that much more important to come to some type of reasoning as to how we can deal with this in our classrooms and with our students. (Mandy Lucente)

Myself coming from a middle upperclass family was standing primarily in the center after the privilage walk was complete. Dr. Love had asked the question of "where would most teachers be posistioned?" I spoke out and said "they would be here where the majority of us are standing." As Katya pointed the questions posed in the walk had to do with situations not under our control, but from the walk we were able to see that the "outside questions" didn't favor everyone. My question to this lesson and maybe it will be answered by the end of this semester; "why is it some make it out of this "outside questions" and succeed in a prosperious way?" It's frustrating for me to encourage students that I am currently working with have no hope or aspirations for anything beyond the following class period. (Tim Walczak)

Privilege walk was a great activity to see the different types of future teachers that the school systems will be seeing in the next couple of years. I feel as if I was in a decent position, not to far up and not to far back, but what it really made me realize is that I might not have as much as the people do in front of me do, but I have a constant push to make myself better as an individual and a future teacher. I feel that going through all the hardships that I have dealt with throughout my life and the different school systems I have been in will help me understand students on a deeper level. Being able to connect with someone and knowing how they feel helps you create solutions and being able to give advice to a student going through similar problems. I feel that being exposed to many different problems in my past will be of assistance if I am placed in a district that many of the students that attend there are in poverty. I once lived in New Britain in the bad areas, and I have a general understanding of what people go through coming from low quality housing. Greg Grochowski

The privilege walk brought up some very good questions. It was also my first time participating in something like this and a couple of the statements stuck with me. The first statement was similar to, “Step forward if the home where you grew up contained more than 20 books.” To me, growing up and being read to and then eventually reading on my own was second nature. When I was younger I assumed that all kids were read a bedtime story before they fell asleep. I step back and think about how drastically the lives of certain kids may be and they may only live 2 miles away or even 2 houses down. The second statement has such a powerful message behind it, “Step forward if you’ve ever been told you can be anything you want to be.” These may not be the exact words but the message here was encouragement. This reminds me of the Kozol book as he interviews high school students who say they have never once been told that they can make something of themselves. Again, growing up, I was under the impression that every child was told something along these lines. I think it is just all the more important for us as future teachers to tell our kids this and maybe make a difference in a child’s life. Little by little we can alter the way young individuals see the world and part of doing so is knowing where our students are coming from, taking this privilege walk or figuring out a student’s past and helping this individual in every way you know how. (Laura Vagnini)

I think the privilege walk is a HUGE eye opener and it is an interesting way to see how diverse we are as individuals, but sadly, with diversity comes many disadvantages. Being such a diverse country and nation, it is very upsetting to learn about all of these disadvantages and why something as simple as skin color, an education, or how individuals make out financially is always going to be held over our heads and sort of "make us who we are." I have also taken part in the privilege walk in one of my other education classes and while doing so, realized how frustrating it must for young children to have to grow up in a society like this, for example, if they come from an African American or Indian family, they will too be at a disadvantage. But for what reason? Why does society keep letting this happen when we all know it is wrong? And why should that particular child have to be at a disadvantage just because of what kind of family they come from? I think one of the only ways for this separation to cease is for us as future teachers to play a big role as educators on this subject within our classrooms. We must celebrate all forms of diversity and even though this still might continue to go on, it is extremely important for students to understand that it shouldn't go on and that they can do their own part in trying to make it stop. (Danielle Velodota)

I really agree with Danielle because making us aware of how diverse we all are as individuals really reflects to how diverse our classroom will be as teachers. We need to be aware of this diversity because with this diversity comes many levels of advantages and disadvantages of certain students. I think it is really important as teachers to be aware of our own biases even if we dont believe we have any. We need to take a deep look and know what different students are coming from and being able to give each of these students the same oppurtunties. I also agree with Danielle because we all know how our society acts and what is going on here by why isnt is changing? We need to be able to give each of the students the same level of education and oppurtunity despite where they are coming from outside the classroom. We also need to engage the students in their backgrounds and truley bring each of the students individuality out in the classroom instead of shying away from it. These are important subjects and we need to make everyone aware that they are all truley special if they want to be.( Allie Beardsworth)

I really enjoyed the privileged activity. I was shocked to see the results and where I stood. I was one of the least privileged students in the class, but following the lecture I realized why I was so far behind. I realized that a lot of where I stood was due to being a woman. I thought that the gender differences were a thing of the past but in reality I have been held back for something that not being a man. If only my gametes had formed outside of my body, maybe I would have more opportunities to succeed. Not to mention I am first generation “American” so I have not had the same opportunities as people that have been here for generations. I believe that the possibilities for me are endless, but I would be better if I were a “White Man”. (Elisabeth dos Santos)

I also really enjoyed the privileged walk. It was very interesting to see the diversity among our class and different experiences each one of us faced both positive and negative. I never thought of myself as being "privileged", but after this activity I realized that I am and I should appreciate the situation that I was born into because not everyone has the opportunities as I do. I was shocked to here that on average a white women has 41,400 dollars in her bank account and a black women only has 100 dollars in her bank account. That's a huge difference!!!! It is very upsetting to see how still today the color of your skin is still an issue. (Kari M)

When we started the privilege walk I knew I would fall around the top, I grew up in a sheltered town with protective parents who make upper-middle class wage. I accept my privilege and I am always grateful for what I was given, but I don't always agree that it will make being a teacher harder for me. Maybe I would struggle more in urban schools because I'm a stereotypical, white-privileged blondie. But just because I cannot directly relate to my students struggles doesn't mean I won't do everything I can to understand them. Everyone is different to begin with, meaning everyone's struggles are unique. I watched "the Color of Fear" video last year, but watching it a second time was just as powerful. Being a white person, and seeing how the white male in the video responded to the subject of racism, for me, was like a step back and realizing the views I used to have sounded just as racist, even though I believe in peace and equality, but it's the way we single out people of color and act as though white is the right way of life. It's scary that the United States is still so racist, and to wonder if that will ever change. (Jessica Roberts)

I really liked the privilege walk activity. This was the first time that I have ever done this activity. It really opened my eyes to how big the gap could be between the upper class and the lower class. Also, I agree with Katya when she said that more people should have the chance to participate in the privilege walk because people could learn a lot from it. I liked the activity a lot because it opened my eyes to how much privileges play a part in the lives of children while they grow up. It also showed me how much the things that we cannot control can affect the way that we are viewed in society. (Jessica Morneault)

I thoroughly enjoyed the video, “The Color of Fear”, and think it was important enough of a film for every college student to have to watch. It was such an eye opener to watch the white man in the video, who truly thought he wasn’t racist, interact with the diverse discussion group. It was a perfect example of how white privilege can blind a society to the injustices that are in actuality going on all around us. Much like overcoming any type of social problem, becoming aware that there is a problem is the first step to working to fix the problem and I feel that the majority of privileged white Americans are blindsided. I also feel that it’s not always there fault but that the events in our past have created a society that is blindsided to white privilege and that to fix it we must either educate advocate our leaders of the deep seeded issues o white privilege, or replace our leaders with people who understand the injustices in our society. Furthermore this is another example of the importance of progressive teaching in classrooms in order to engage students with these issues not only in their junior year of college but from elementary school up. (Chris Kyle)

When I was taking part in the privilege walk I was able to view just how diverse I am with my fellow peers. As a future teacher, I am also aware that my students also may be able to see/feel these advantages and disadvantages of the biases that society bares. Like Allie has mentioned above, all students should feel welcomed and special in a classroom. They shouldn’t feel embarrassed or even at a disadvantage because they are different. Their differences should be the advantage. I think having endured the Privilege walk that we conducted in class, and based upon my own personal experience of having a strong Armenian cultural background I can truly see just how important this really is as an educator and being a part of our society. (Tara Gleason)

To me the privilege walk was a very useful tool for future teachers. To me, one of the keys to being a successful teacher is having lifelong knowledge. Having overcome obstacles. This way, you will be able to undertsand and help your students more efficiently. Students are going to have all sorts of problems rangeing from issues at home with money, food, or even problems intellectually. The more you have experienced, the more you will be able to help and perscribe possible soultions of understanding. So being in the back of the line in the walk, chances are, you have experienced your share of what life has to offer ... by being in the front of the line, it sort of shows that you were given all of the advantages and were sort of "spoon fed". You never really had to work for anything or experienced what it is like to perservier. That right there is what it is all about. To me, being in the middle would be the place to be. This shows that you have balance. You have experincenced enough about life, and gained the knowledge of how to overcome the issue as well. That to me is what will lead to being a successful teacher. All about balance. (Nick C.)

The priviledge walk as I mentioned before was something that really caught my attention, i never thought of how different and how far away for the norm I was. It was such a big gap between my "white" classmates and me. The thing of this as Dr. Love brought out that for those who are high up in the chain of priviledge will have difficulties relating to the student whom, is not priviledge and as I like to say has to work hard for approvals, and do not get everything handed down and mom and dad are able to help in any way that they can. It will pretty difficult for a teacher to make that connection with that student, I on the other hand know what it is like to struggle and constantly do research on topics, because my parents have a middle school education and they cannot help me at all since they also don't speak spanish. Not everyone can do that, and I guess being a non priviledge teacher is a little better, but It still may be diffilcult to have a student who is priviledge to make a connection, it goes both ways (frances V)


 * Responses to the "Bridging Differences" Blog found at : [] Be sure to clearly state which posting you are referring to.** ** Just as a reminder, everyone needs to post something in this category as well as at least one in the one of the above categories. ** ** You should have two postings total this week.

In response to Diane’s post on March 29, I cannot believe that Florida has decided to pass this law of determining teacher compensation with how high the test scores are. I am not saying that tenure and years of experience make a good teacher, we discussed something similar to this in class last week, but are they serious? What repercussions is this decision going to have on Florida’s youth? We’ve talked about how families are not equal, students do not come from the same type of home, speak the same language, have the same background. Yet, this legislation is probably not going to drastically affect those students who have the money and involved parents and informed parents. Those students will probably attend the most “successful” classrooms in Florida. It will be the students and teachers of the low-income, non-English speaking, roughest areas that will be affected and not for the better. Are we really trying to push the youth in this country farther apart than is already is? (Laura Vagnini) **

I'm responding to Deborah's post on March 18th titled "Leaving Little Space for Serious Questions". I think this post enforces the idea that high stakes testing is not beneficial for the children. I think it's terrible that news articles are being printed with misinformation only to promote programs such as No Child Left Behind and Race To The Top. People who do not know all the details behind the programs are more than likely to believe what they read in an article that comes from what seems like a reliable sourse. Like Deborah mentions, what do these tests really prove? Instead of putting these children through the stress and anxiety of passing these standardized tests there must be other types of assessments that can be given to determine where the children are. Children need to be able to answer much bigger questions than the ones given on the tests. I understand that children need to meet certain standards at various grade levels to know that they are at the the proper level. However, Deborah brings up the point that who says we have to be able to do calculus at a specific time. When looking at the overall picture of standardized testing, the real reason why the students are pushed to do well is so that the United States can prove that they are better than the other nations. I don't understand why the focus isn't on what is best for the children rather than how officials want our nation to be viewed. (Allie French)

In response to the March 18th post, I was appalled. I agree that there are some very bad teachers out there but the solution is not to fire them. And to fire them in mass quantities is horrible. This is actually a very relevant topic because in my town of Naugatuck. They wanted to fire all of the teachers. Let’s be serious… the real reason for mass firing is to be able to hire teachers that a freshly out of college that they do not have to pay much. And what happens to all the teachers that have tenure are they still going to be employed because they are the teachers that are making 90 thousand a year. (Elisabeth dos Santos)

I am in agreement with Elisabeth's response to the March 18th post as well. I am also from Naugatuck and I know how it feels to see everyone getting fired in mass quanities. I know this is mainly because of financial reasons, but it makes me so aware of what is happening out there and how it can affect us as future teachers as well as the students. These tests are impacting so much and it doesnt .seem right or even profitable. Now everyone is afraid of what they are teaching and making sure they are teaching straight for the test so what are the students getting out of this except how to do really well on a specific test. I think it is important for people to be aware of this for the sake of our future. Someone needs to take a stand or nothing is going to change.( Allie Beardsworth)

I am responding to Deborah’s post for Diane entitled “A Shot in the Arm for Teachers.” What caught my attention most about the post was how Deborah discussed a new found fear in the lives of many teachers. Educators are terrified that they will lose their jobs if their students do not perform well on the standardized tests. Apparently the belief is that their fear will make them work harder and the end result will be that their students will learn better. In reality, the opposite is occurring. Some schools are emailed their lesson plans each day and need to teach whatever they are told even if their students aren’t getting it. No child left behind? Restricting teachers’ and threatening their jobs will not by any means improve their quality of teaching. Deborah also mentioned that there were some schools that were accidentally marked as failing and when this was discovered no one really seemed to care. Deborah says, “Most were not, even by the DOE's criteria, failing at all. Has that changed the DOE's mind? No. Off with their heads anyway.” Obviously children and teachers are not a priority; it is all about numbers and profit. Fortunately, there are people out there like Deborah and Diane that are doing something about this. (Sarah Rousseau)

I am responding to Diane's post on March 16th titled, "The Shame of //Newsweek//". This was extremely interesting to read right after reading the article included in last week's Discussion Board about improving the way teachers teach. First off, I felt very insulted when I read that //Newsweek// referred to teachers as, "bad", "weak", "ineffective", and "dumb". It is very offensive to hear these remarks considering everything we as teachers have to go through in the program and in our training. We work so hard to pass all the state tests, put in countless hours in the classroom teaching and being with the children, only to be called dumb and ineffective? As Dr. Love was saying, many creative and fun individuals are getting turned off by the teaching profession because they see what it's turning into. Especially after hearing about this //Newsweek// article, who will want to put themselves in the position to be called "dumb" by society? It even further discourages those who may one day be amazing teachers. But I guess we will never know now what they had to offer because of stupid articles like this being published. Another point I wanted to make was when Diane said, "//Newsweek//, it seems, speaks for the Jack Welch School of Management: Fire the bottom 10 percent every year." Well, as the article we read for the Discussion Board supports, firing those teachers will only hide and push away the problem, it won't fix anything! Better training and support for teachers WILL work, but pushing them aside only so other schools can hire them and possibly fire them again will only spread the problem and make it worse; nothing will be resolved (Katya Lagun).

The blog that I am responding to is from March 16th, 2010 and is called "The Shame of the Newsweek". After reading the entire blog for this particular posting I just had to stop to think about what always seems to be in the back of my mind whenever I read or talk about education and teachers roles/responsibilitiesl. I thought about how much is expected from teachers and how many responsibilities teachers have to carry and fulfill compared simply to the amount of credit and recognition teachers get in turn for all the hard work and dedication put into their job. I only see a very wide gap between these two ideas and after reading this blog post I feel almost ashamed for those people who have this type of opinion or outlook on teachers; "bad teachers," pedophiles, "weak" teachers, ineffective teachers, dumb teachers, and others who remain in the classroom only because they have "lifetime tenure", evil teachers', and so on. In my opinion, the reasoning for this perspective on teachers is mainly due to whether or not their studet's standardized test scores are at proficiency and if not then it is largely assumed by many that it is the teachers fault so he or she has got to be fired. The idea of these standardized tests along with NCLB have affected teachers in so many ways that in a sense seeing the results of where teachers stand because of how their students do, can be very discouraging and push future teachers away from wanting to be involved in this particular profession. I was shocked to read that the Newsweek writers agreed with the firing that was being done at the Rhode Island school. I definitely agree with Katya about not solving the problems by just passing them along to the next teacher they hire or the next school the children attend. (Mandy Lucente)

I also read March 16th, 2010 "The Shame of the Newsweek". I agree that Newsweek was very rude in the way they talked about teachers. We are put through a lot and have to take many tests, pass tons of observations, and other tasks that prepare us to educate the youth of America. I understand that students and schools may not be reaching the bar in some cases, but teacher do have a lot they must do and even more so than is noticed. Instead of calling these teachers dumb and weak maybe they should be having more workshops for these teachers in order to solve whatever problems they are trying to solve by firing teachers. If they just take note of what it is that needs to be worked on in classrooms maybe they can fix the problems by teaching these teachers how to handle and deal with these things instead of saying they suck and firing them. I however loved that in the end of the article Diane points out that Newsweek is in such financial trouble they should just firer their bottom 10% too then like they suggest schools do. (Kristie Fergusson)

"try again, Secretary Duncan, It's Not Too late" March 23, 2010 Why are politicians not listening?! Closing schools is not the answer especially when 5000 know full well that their days are extremely limited. In this article Diane stresses the issue of the soon to be newly revised NCLB; in this article Diane talks about holding teachers accountable for student grades by implementing two tests a school year, the first to be administered in September and the second to be given in May. Is it me or does the September test seem redundant considering the fact that these kids leave school for a month "summer vacation" and are supposed to perform well enough to persuade some @#$% that the teacher who taught them previous year is a good or bad teacher? "No school district or state could hope to meet the law's utopia goal (except by dumbing down standards adnd tests)." I agree with Diane in her belief to send in "expert" groups into troubling schools to evaluate what is really going on. (Tim Walczak)

I also looked at Diane's march 23rd post and I agree with you Tim. To make these kids test again in september isn't going to show much difference. They can easily use the scores from the previous year. also by the time they get the results of the September tests they won't be able to see how needs help. Teachers need the year to prepare these kids for the spring tests. How can you test a new third grader on what they haven't learned yet. i see Diane's point about not closing failing schools and trying to turn them around. what I can't see is how these experts come in and can immediately see what is wrong with the school. It could take months or even years to see what the real problem is. it could be the staff or the curriculum, or lack of resources, but it is something that cannot be fixed immediately. It is good to hear that the government can see there is something wrong, I just don't think they really know what to do to fix it. (Kelly Bates)

Repsonse to Diane's March 23 post- " Try again, Secertary Duncan, It's not too late." I Think Diane made an astute comment when she said that if schools were to evaluate thier teachers by the their students NCLB, high stakes tests scores that there should be two tests taken each year, one at the beginning of the year and one again at the end of the year to truly test the progress the teacher made with those students. I personally feel that the entire instistution of having teachers evaluated by their students test scores is an abomination to the art of teaching but if in place judging teachers by the variation of AYP numbers is assinine. I also concur with what Tim and Kelly above and Diane's ideas about a team of experts that could be desgined to tackle all the problems surrounding a low achieving school. The idea makes for a all encompassing, dynamic, and socieoeconomical approach to look school system achievments which we all know plays a factor. To think that the government dosn't understand this is a tad naive. I feel instead that they are choosing to go this stativ and high stakes test route only becasue it can produce instant concrete data and turn education into a buisness industry and money making avenue. (Chris Kyle)

Response to Deb's post, "What are the Trade-Offs?" on March 25th. Deb was writing a response to Diane's post "Try Again, Secretary Duncan, It's Not Too Late" and at times I was a little confused about what points she was making. In the first paragraph she stated, "we may confront a law that penalizes schools that don't eliminate differential test score outcomes that correlate with race, class, disability, or language spoken at home. (And that pays teachers based on scores, and favors charters, etc.)" What throws me off slightly, is she arguing that the law is ludicrous? Because wouldn't it be better to have exams that eliminate scores in correlation with race, class, etc? And why would we want these exam scores to be the only bias towards grading a teacher's skills? I don't know, maybe that's the only the way we can look at those differences to fix issues and ability to assess teachers in their ability to teach children what the nation wants their kids to learn. But I liked the end of her response when she talking about the Mike Walzer essay and how we can't be spending all out time in school and meetings and only talking about subject matter, rather there should be time to engage and participate in it, and learn through living and exploring. (Jessica Roberts)

In response to Diane's post on March 16, 2010 called, "The Shame of Newsweek," I first think that no teachers are "dumb" or "weak." It is hard to even understand how someone could even come up with those words and apply them to characteristics of a teacher. How could this be so if teachers need to go through an extreme amount of strenuous work to get certified? Aren't teachers the reason why young students grow up and find jobs of their own one day?Teachers who are able to educate young students are anything but "dumb, weak, or ineffective." Everyone makes mistakes at things, especially in their jobs. Stronger solutions should be offered in order to fix these problems rather than just simply firing them. Sometimes I wonder what is really the solution of firing teachers in the first place because another teacher that may replace them might be "ineffective" as well. Is this cycle going to just continue forever? I agree with Katya when she says "nothing will resolved" because nothing ever will be resolved if this cycle continues. In order to repair major problems, an intervening must occur where everybody works together to see where this problem stems from in the first place and then work from there. When teachers read articles like these, it might just discourage them from even finding another teaching job and also might discourage future teachers and already certified teachers from not even wanting to even go into this profession. (Danielle Velodota)

I am responding to Deboah's post on March 18, "Leaving little space for serious questions". It is very disturbing how the newspapers and media can play such a prominent role on someones opinion on a topic. Only printing some points and highlighting programs such as NCLB is unfair. This is just like the health insurance issue we discussed in class how millions of individual died because they did not have health insurance but no one besides the doctors were really aware of these numbers. Why isnt something like this printed in the papers? I believe this is a way of limiting individuals thinking. If all positive things are printed in the papers about a programs you are likely to believe that the programs is a good program even if it is not. (Kari M)

I am responding to Diane's post on March 29, "Outrage in Florida". I was shocked when I read about the new legislation that the Florida state legislature made that abolished teacher tenure and ties teacher pay to student test scores. I agree with Diane when she said that "we may be the first nation in the world with a federal program intended to dumb down our schools and destroy the teaching profession. I dislike the new legislation in Florida because I do not feel that teacher's pay should be tied to student test scores. I feel that you can learn more about what a teacher does and how a teacher teaches by observing them teach rather than just looking at the test scores of their students. I feel that this legislation is unfair to all teachers no matter what grade they teach at because teachers are more than just the test scores that their students have. The test scores just so the mastery of the subject they do not actually show if the teacher is a good teacher and if they even teach well. By just viewing the test scores you miss out on the personal aspect of teaching and how well each individual teacher does at their profession. (Jessica Morneault)

I am responding to March 25th, 2010 blog “What are the Trade-offs?”. Deb writes to Diane about the laws that are penalizing schools that don’t eliminate the “differential test score outcomes that correlate with race, class, disability, or language spoken at home”. I know we have been talking about this issue in many of our education classes, including this one. But just the past week while I was reading the Hartford Courant, this issue isn’t going away anytime soon, and what do us, the future teachers do? Okay, it’s all about “back to the standards” but just the other week I was reviewing a 2nd grade math assessment test that consisted of 100 questions. The teacher even pointed out to her class that the test is made to trick and confuse them. For example, providing too much information in a word problem, or instead of circle the best answer, the phrase ring your answer would be present in the test packet. Well like Deb writes to Diane, what if you’re an English language learner or you have some sort of learning disability, things like this make the test even more frustrating and stressful for a child and a teacher. It’s true-" It's a conundrum, of course, because some issues can't be tackled locally. Raising our kids is not one of them, however. Every time we respond to our distrust by wiping out institutions close to ordinary citizens in favor of more distant authorities, we strengthen cynicism and weaken democracy itself.” It is simply just upsetting. (Tara Gleason)

"I am in agreement with Elisabeth's response to the March 18th post as well. I am also from Naugatuck and I know how it feels to see everyone getting fired in mass quanities. I know this is mainly because of financial reasons, but it makes me so aware of what is happening out there and..." This arguement brings up a good point. Fireing because of "financial reason". This makes me veryyy nervous as a future teacher. Now matter how good of a job you could be doing, the money just isn't there in our economy. And these people being fired are probably the ones who dont have the hours put in. This happened to my father ecently, so I know what it is like. He was a paveing superintendant and was let go because they wanted to hire someone who they could pay half of what they were paying him. He is the hardest working person I know. It just seemed unfair and and made me wonder of what it si going to be like for me out there when i go looking for jobs, especially in PE. Job secureity is a huge issue. Having fear as a teacher is something that will take away from your overall goal and adds uneeded pressure. You should be focusing on how to better your students learning experience rather that focusing on whether or not you are going to have a job next year month. This too is a whole different issue in itself. Do teachers make a high enough salary? Does their job importance correlate with that salary? Absolutely not. With the responcibility that we have as teachers, The pay is not even close to being what it is. But we as teachers also accept this. Because that is not why we are teachers. Were not in it for the money. But overall, that is why we dont make any money, the government knows this. (Nick C.)

I choose the "try again, Secretary Duncan, It's Not Too late" March 23, 2010

This article was very interestiong with the whole I dea of making two mandatory test a year. First of why are politics even involved, second in one of my classes a student made a speech and said that during the summer there are so much learned loss so to say that the students mainly forget alot of the information they have learned over the summer, so my wuestion is if there are statistic proving that this exist why on earth would they vote on having the students test in september if they are all going to fail. what the point politics make it a law then what the students HAVE to take it and the teachers looses their jobs because it is the second day of school and kids are already failing. What happened to the theather of the oppress, what happened to hands on work, class trips and seeing things and really seeing how it works. What are we doing to our kids? are they just computers where we just input the information and that is it? (frances V)