Three Cups of Tea

While reading this remarkable book and discussing it in depth, I have come to some realizations of my own. One of these being the wealth in which we live, and the privilege our children have to such a well-funded, non-biased education. In small villages in Pakistan, the children have been forgotten by the government. While many of the larger towns and cities have government sustained schools, the funds allotted to these towns are ciphoned off before they reach them. Greg Mortenson saw this need for schools and created the Central Asia Institute to fund and build schools across rural Pakistan.

This need for schools was also met by another means, the Taliban-funded Madrassas. These "schools" were instilling Islamic Extremist values into the students of the small towns, who were desperate for any opportunity to learn. Greg Mortenson counteracted this by building secular schools, combatting the militant curriculum and hate bred by the Madrassas.

I am so thankful for the education I have had, and the one I hope to provide my students. I feel, as Mr. Mortenson does, the only way to fight terror and hatred is through education. We as teachers need to understand the situations in which some schools around the globe operate, how children endure such poverty and misdirection, and teach our students to be compassionate and thankful humans.

Miss Gabbert

"Chalk"

The one word I can find to describe the teachers of chalk is "dysfunctional." Each one was blessed with his or her giant flaw conveniently manufactured by the writers, of course. I could tolerate most of the shortcomings, finding them mildly humorous; the high-strung AP, the gym teacher and her obsession for rules, the history teacher with zero classroom management. The one that I could not laugh at, however, was the Social Studies teacher. He had his sights set on the Teacher of the Year award, and could focus on little else but himself. His students learned little to nothing in his class, and at one point he even told off a student for knowing more about history than he did. "Act a little bit dumber, please. You are making me look bad."

That holds little humor to me. The fact that children are not learning is not a laughing matter, but rather one of real and serious consequence. I am unaware of how many teachers actually forgo learning for superficial relationships with students, to be perceived as a "cool" or popular teacher. There is nothing of substance, no real learning happening in that classroom. Children are reading the subtle hints that knowledge isn't actually important. It is more important to be liked. It is more important to have fun.

Superficially, I enjoyed the movie. But the things it hints at make me wary.

Miss Gabbert

Making the Grade: Who Gets the "A"

I can remember the feeling I had at midterm when I saw my grade. "98%! Yes!" I thought to myself. But as my eyes wandered to the letter printed next to it I felt my elation drop sharply. "B+? Really?" I could hardly wrap my mind around it. On what planet is a 98% a B+?

This is the dilemma teachers face. How do you grade students fairly, while maintaining a high standard? How many students should get A's? How do you control grade inflation? In the above example, enough students achieved in the top two percent to bring up the curve to an unreasonable level. This is a textbook example of norm-referenced grading. Experts find that it is detrimental to the relationships between students, as well as the relationship between students and teachers. Anita Woolfolk, author of Educational Psychology, mentions that the curve arbitrarily limits the number of good grades that can be given. The normal curve has no sacred meaning in education. Is the goal not to see all students succeed? Therefore, when only a handful of students are considered "A" students, we have failed them. Norm-referenced grading is an inefficient method of grading students, which, to some extent, breeds hostility and learned helplessness in the classroom.

Another method of grading, seen as superior to norm-referenced grading, is criterion-referenced grading. If a student meets clear objectives set out by the instructor, then he or she will receive the correlating grade. In this way, students can work towards the grade they want by meeting the criteria. If in my example I had been graded according to the criterion-referenced method, I would have received my "rightful" A, since I had answered correctly the test questions.

There are more ways to grade than just the above examples. Despite this, it is important for teachers to choose the best method for the activity at hand, not a one size fits all grading pattern. For indeed there might be times when the norm-referenced grading system may be appropriate. Keep in mind the goals, which are for all students to learn and excel.

Miss Gabbert

Recess Deficiency Disorder

I was recently reading an article from the New York Times about the watering-down of recess time. It mentioned how games like tag and dodgeball are being considered too rough for children. I see this as a major shortcoming of our educational system.

With many schools cutting recess altogether, it is alarming that in these instances they are beginning that process. It has been concluded that play is children's work, that they learn and grow, make social bonds, and gain exercise. When recess is eliminated, or even watered down, the children have lost an outlet for energy, creativity and imagination.

Also, let us consider the nature of the game tag. It does not involve checking (hockey), tackling (football), or any other potentially serious bodily injury. It involves a simple touch. Now when our children's wellbeing is endangered by a game of tag, what else could we possibly save them from?

Miss Gabbert

The article can be found at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/14/education/14recess.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=recess&st=cse

Lost and Found

I experienced a strange cultural phenomenon this morning while at Church Youth Fest Sunday service. Usually, as have been all my observations, children and adolescents will embrace the "cool" or "pop" music if presented to them, rather than traditional music, such as hymns. Well, today I have dropped all of my stereotypes. The band Lost and Found, a quasi-Christian worship-leading band, was up on stage and singing an upbeat chorus. The kids in the audience were singing softly, not getting into the music. However, when the band left the stage and the hymn started to play, the result was magical. The kids were singing with gusto, creating harmonies and truly embracing the message.

I think this strange phenomenon translates to teaching as well. Fads in teaching may come, and kids very well might embrace the style or technique. But genuine instruction based on research and results will always prevail. Teachers who put their students' learning first will never go out of style.

Miss Gabbert

School Board Forum

Monday, October 27th 2008: Olin 102. For the second week in a row, we were presented with a panel of persons from the Decorah School System. This week it was school board members. They came from many walks of life and backgrounds.

I was first taken aback by how little power they actually had. I will give the example of the budget. It is common for everyone to think that the school board has ultimate control over where the funding goes and how it is distributed. The panel dispelled this rumor. They said that federal money comes into the district with a predetermined purpose and destination. Some funding may come in and it can only be used for hiring new teachers, or only for the music program. If there is a surplus in one area, it can not be put to use somewhere else. They find this very frustrating.

I feel this kind of dialogue between school board members and teachers is very important. It facilitates the understanding of each group, so that no one is unaware of the needs and necessary procedures of the schools and their operation. I encourage everyone to become familiar with the way their district works, and the people in charge.

Miss Gabbert

Because "My" and "I" Exist, Therefore There is Life After Death

I have a wide range of interests. When I am not growing tomatoes, loving animals and making projects out of paper mache, I enjoy pondering the world around me. Thus, when I noticed a flier for a lecture by a prominent philosophy professor from the University of California at San Diego, I jumped at the opportunity. After getting the time and date wrong I, in my zeal for philosophy conversation, finally made it to the lecture hall.

He started out by retelling the conversation he had had a few weeks prior over lunch with two professors of biology at the University. They had insisted that scientifically it was impossible for life to exist after death, while he maintained that because we have the linguistic terms for self, then it must exist. That was what he presented to us tonight. His thesis on the afterlife was derived from a lunch conversation.

To be a little more precise, he stated that because we have differing terms of self, such as my and I, therefore we have already in our vocabulary the words for something besides a strictly physical existence. He asked us to consider how we would say the phrase "my leg hurts," but in essence we are more than just a leg, the leg belongs to "us" and that s what was significant. He then asked us to look up the definition of any animal in a "good" dictionary and we would find a picture of that animal, what foods it eats, where it lives, etc. But if we were to look up the definition of "person" we would find no such descriptors, but instead a series of words describing the faculties of logic and reason. Because of the way we define ourselves, we are already assuming that we are more than just physical creatures but logical creatures and therefore possibly eternal creatures.

I personally found this "logic" (as he referred to it a multitude of times) faulty. We ourselves shape our language. Does this mean that we also shape our destinies, our afterlives? He also kept referring to the equation a+a=a, and saying that concrete logic, such as this equation, was what brought him to his thesis. But, logically, a+a does not equal "a" but "2a." The logic from which our certain afterlife was derived was crumbling beneath him.

After the fifteen minute lecture (1/4th of the allotted time) he opened the floor up for questions. But, unfortunately, the questions the philosophical community at Luther conjured up were "too complex to be answered at this time" or needed to be understood "within the context of my book." The most insulting, however, was the "you need to take a philosophy course to understand" response given to one of our esteemed professors of philosophy.

What I left the lecture with (besides a feeling of relief that I did not attend the University of California at San Diego) was a flaming indigence at the ignorance this professor assumed we lived in, and no clear philosophical argument for life after death.

High Stakes Community Schools: No wonder they are high-risk!

I was quite dissapointed with the forum on Monday night. I feel that certain points, valid, controversial points did not come up or even mentioned! I was especially disturbed by the arguements made (and not made) by the "teachers' union," and would like to touch on them now.

Firstly, the teachers' union representatives did not even touch on issues regarding teachers. They only were concerned with the students' learning, which should be the main plight of the parent. They never brought up the dismissal procedures that would be enacted if the teachers' students fail to make progress for 2 years in a row. This idea fails to take into account new teachers, who just starting, may not know the ropes as well or are settling into their curriculum. This may be seen as an "excuse for poor teaching," but I would invite Drs. Langholz and Knick to teach thid grade for a week and see what progress is made. It takes time to adapt and familiarize oneself with teaching. Also, if a teacher has low-potential students, ones with learning disabilities or emotional issues in her room two years in a row and her job is then under scrutiny for her children's scores, is that really what we want as a community? It would lead to a cycle of struggling teachers trying to do a near impossible job. We need to support these teachers, and they in turn will support the students.

Another problem that the Union failed to bring up is the pseudo-incentive $1000 for met acheivement goals. This brings into question the validity of the goal, whether it is really in the students' best interest, or just low enough for them to meet so that the teacher is cushioned with a nice sum. It encourages teaching towards the test, a form of "memorization" on the students' parts that requires little genuine learning but offers nice results on a short term test. The merit pay encourages teachers in the wrong way, in a way that is detrimental to the students' well-being.

While I am in support of legislation that ensures our students a well rounded education, I would be behind it fully if it did not do it at the expense of the teachers in our community.

The Environment as a Culture

I was reading an article in the New York Times just the other day. It was about how the government wanted to put a road through the tidal plains, a national wildlife refuge. The road would serve to connect a small outpost with a municipal airport, and to aid the transport of goods. Let's consider this for a minute. How will the wildlife being "protected" be affected by this new road? Will the benefits of a shorter transportation time outweigh the detriment done to these animals?

Firstly, one must look at the area. Elk, caribou, wolves, black and grizzly bears, amoung many other species of smaller mammals and birds are living in this area. The area is also within the migratory path that many animals follow each year. As can be discerned, migrating animals do not fare well when battling semis. The increased traffic, which leads to animal fatalities, environmental pollution from run-off and exhaust, transportation of invasive species and the trash that accumulates alongside oft-traveled roads are all factors that impact an ecosystem, whether in a large way or small. It is from these things that the animals are being protected in this refuge, yet a road would certainly introduce them. All this stems from just building a road; imagine what drilling could do?

Are these human influences on one of the America's deminishing wild areas worth the one hour saved on a commute? It is now commerce versus our ecosystems. Who will be named the victor?

Becoming a Teacher

As I delve into my education classes, I find that more and more things are overlapping and relating. I absolutely love learning about teaching, its techniques and nuances. I love learning about children, about parents, and about other teachers.

Currently, I am contemplating the education provided to students through the IDEA legislation. It states that all children, no matter what mental capacity or physical state, deserve a free and appropriate education, and that it is our job as teachers to provide it for them. I find that a daunting task. It frightens me how responsible I am for these childrens' lives and their futures. What if I don't reach them? What if my instruction isn't appropriate?

As I learn, however, I now understand the complex system that is in place within our schools to provide an appropriate education for students with disabilities. It is a collaborative effort of all involved; classroom teachers, special ed teachers, referral teams, parents and students. It is therefore important that everyone is committed to education, and to the success of all students.

Miss Gabbert

Writers in Conversation

Olin 102. 7:00 pm. What did I expect? I expected it to be boring. I expected it to be pedantic and vapid, as many lectures on this campus are. Two professors, talking about writing. How bad could it get?

I sat down. And was instantaneously intrigued. Amy Weldon started out the night by reading an excerpt from her novel-in-progress. It was of a girl named Janie, and her extreme infatuation with a half-Brazilian boy named David. David was beautiful. As the scene progressed, Amy's voice intonation rose and fell with each passing moment. Janie was with David! David was with Rain. Everyone was smoking pot! Kevin the gay guy made a move on David. All the while, Janie watched. It was the way Amy had thrown herself into these characters, as if they were only an extension of herself, that captivated me there. I had lost all sense of self, sitting there with the scene washing over me, taking hold in my head. It was beautiful writing. But not beautiful in the happy, romantic sense. But beautiful in the way you are able to feel the words, have them become a part of your life, even if only for a passing moment.

Next on the agenda were a series of essays on camping by a professor named Rachel Faldet. They were satirical and hilarious! She was so adamant about her relationship with nature and its detrimental effects on her self-esteem and overall morale. This writing style contrasted with Amy's novel, being non-fictional it made it for a different type of relationship between the reader (Rachel) and the audience.

The purpose for the lecture was to show the professional relationship between writers, and how important that interaction truly is. The writers are able to critique each other, encourage, guide, direct, suggest changes, all of which are helpful throughout the writing process. It was valuable to see the process mid-stream, and see how the relationship molds the actual material written.

I was very happy with my lecture choice, and was pleasantly surprised with its content.

Ms. Gabbert

Lions For Lambs II

They died. The soldiers had been in the class of the professor, and that was why he was telling their stories to Todd. At the time he had no idea that they had died, but they did. They died fighting to end the war someone else had started, to bring a fresh start to their own lives at home. Except they never made it home.

What also infuriated me was that senator. He was willing to waste lives to do "what ever it takes" to win the war. Disgusting. Not only our lives, but other civilians' lives as well. Not that those count, but are labeled as collateral damage. That man had his sights set on power, on te White House, that he didn't bat an eye to any of the objections Janine made to his tactics.

If you'll excuse my fanaticism, I hate war. If anything should be done to the extreme, it should be to end the war not extend it. What is worse, a little hurt American pride, or the slipping economy, rising anti-American sentiment, and increasing debt? You tell me.

The movie was thought provoking and I appreciated it.

"Lions For Lambs"

"Write a blog entry reflection for 'Lions for Lambs.'" Easy enough, I thought, so here I am. Except for the fact that I am handicapped in my analysis because of the technical difficulties in Olin 102. As a result of this, I saw the opening twenty minutes of the movie, which I didn't quite understand. Therefore, come Monday night at 6:00 pm, I will be able to give a more thorough explanation of the "why" in education. As for right now, however, I will reveal all I can.

The Congressman/Senator represents the idea that in the education field, we need to be ever-adapting to new circumstances and challenges. ( Maybe it is for that purpose we educate children, to be open to new ideas and to formulate the new ideas to deal with new situations.) The Congressman is aware that his plan for the troops in the Middle East has failed thus far, and in reaction to that he proposes a change in strategy to stay in the game. In the same way, we see children not meeting the standards in the classroom, so we change our tactics. The congressman is playing the part of the school administrator (or President Bush with his "No Child Left Behind" act) in order to raise the level of achievement, to "win the war" on the achievement gap. However, with the congressman, we are able to see the almost instantaneous impact his tactics have on the "students" (the troops).

We are introduced to the troops in what seems to be a briefing on the new plan. But instead of unanimous support, the Sergeant is bombarded with questions, inconsistencies in the tactics. All this is pointed out by an intelligent private. In this scenario, the sergeant represents the teacher, forced into a new curriculum. He is outwardly confident in what he is telling the troops. But ultimately he is questioning the plan. The troops on the other hand represent the students, who at this point can say nothing against the new approach, and must do as their told. Although the troops have valid concerns about the tactics, they are utterly at the whim of Washington (administration, teacher, etc). This could also be a reason why we educate: so people learn to do what they're told.

I have no idea why the Californian kid is in the picture right now, but I do know that he is wasting his life and is reluctant to put forth any effort. Why do we educate kids who don't want to learn? What is the point (if any?)

More to come.

Ms. Rachel Gabbert