Oak and Finn Responses

Ryan Mottram
FNED 346
Mrs. McKamey
11/25/18

Tracking: Why Schools Need to Take Another Route 

By: Jeannie Oakes

Quotes:

"Heterogeneous groups of students will probably do best in classrooms where the curriculum content is challenging, complex, related to real life and-most of all- rich meaning."

I have heard that it is best for students to be placed where they will be challenged and need to work for the A, but not where they will be overwhelmed.  There are those in high level courses who look down on those in below levels and say that they could be higher also if they just weren't lazy and worked harder, which is partly true and partly false.  For example, there are students who excel in reading/writing course subjects and struggle with math/science courses like me.  Tracking in schools needs to be applied to the placement system properly without having subjects grouped together with others that cause the system to be random and make no sense, which is unfortunately common in some secondary schools. 

"If students of all abilities are to benefit from being taught together, classrooms will probably need to be organized far differently, providing a diversity of tasks and interactions with few "public" comparisons of students' ability."

Students with various abilities and disabilities being placed in the same classroom for subjects does not sound beneficial, but rather chaotic.  Certain students can have pier mentors in average level courses, but those with more serious learning disabilities should be put in separate classrooms so teachers who specialize in that field can work with them through close interactions and appeal to their needs.  Although it may not be best if every student in a school is taught together due to various disabilities, this does not mean they cannot have social interactions with each other through schoolwide activities and other events.  

"One fact about tracking is unequivocal: tracking leads to substantial differences in the day-to-day learning experiences students have at school."

Tracking may be necessary in schools today due to there being students with learning disabilities and in special education, average learners, and then the ones who naturally have above average intelligence.  However, it should be implemented in such a way so that students who mentally and/or physically cannot excel in their subjects as well as other students will not get made fun of or condescended towards, because unfortunately this does happen.  There are certainly students who do not care about their work, do not try, and as a result do not deserve to be in higher level courses, but we also need to keep in mind the special education students and students with minor learning disabilities and satisfy their needs.   

Comment/Point to Share:

I believe a class discussion about whether or not we think tracking and students being taught together or separately to suit individual learning needs would be beneficial for us as future teachers.   

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-JcBFAuLc-0RjNSSW1ueTNfRTA/view

Site Connections to Authors & Map of Authors (Final)

Ryan Mottram
FNED 346
Mrs. McKamey
11/18/18

Site Connections 

My Student learning site is in a 3rd grade classroom at Stadium Elementary School in Cranston, Rhode Island.  The school has ratings of over 60% in both minority enrollment population and reduced lunch.  The teacher has me work with a few students in the back of the classroom along with another assistant teacher to help these particular students who require extra attention with math and reading/writing assignments.  I believe my site can be related to Rodriguez's perspective, due to there being students in my class who have diverse backgrounds and most likely speak a second language at home, including the Asian and Hispanic students.  Although these students are thankfully able to learn the material and do well on their work in the classroom, they may not have been able to do as well had they not comprehended the English language as thoroughly as they did at home.  Due to the fact that these young students are able to have access to electronic devices such as laptops and phones, I feel my site can also be related to Christensen's work.  The students are being trusted by the teachers to complete work, and also have fun beyond pencil and paper and are being granted permission to do so weekly.  Lastly, I believe my site can be related to the work of Kristof, due to the fact that the majority of these students are of race-ethnic minority populations and have different backgrounds.  Most of the students I have worked with are doing very well with math and reading/writing, and so I believe they truly have the potential to be successful throughout their school career regardless of racial and/or other aspects that should not matter.  

Mapping of the authors chart link: 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uORcrubdNjYPKe20oIS9CATO1snhgXw7GHaPykTv3Hg/edit  

Final Map of Authors chart link:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uORcrubdNjYPKe20oIS9CATO1snhgXw7GHaPykTv3Hg/edit 

Response to Kliewer, Varenne, and McDermott

Ryan Mottram
FNED 346
Mrs.McKamey
11/11/18

Culture "as" Disability 

By: Ray McDermott & Herve Varenne

Quotes: 

"A disability may be a better display board for the weaknesses of a cultural system than it is an account of real persons."

Elementary and secondary schools that are not as attentive as they should be to their disabled students and whose teachers or students do not treat them normally with the same amount of respect as they would a normal individual, surely have a disability in their system.  Treating these students the same academically is not so appropriate, due to them struggling to keep up with the pace of the class and potentially being set up for failure.  Treating them the same socially is absolutely necessary and should not be a problem for anyone to do so they can feel like everybody else by fitting in and gaining more motivation to work hard as a result.  The special ed. students I worked with showed more confidence when doing their work and class activities when I or another teachers helped them, because they had someone to look up to and not feel hesitant to ask for help.  

"The easy use of the term suffer often carries an invidious comparison of the "disabled" with those seemingly "enabled" by the conventions of a culture."

Both persons who are mentally and/or physically disabled suffer enough as it is, and others should not cause them to suffer more than they already do.  Every school that offers a special education program should definitely have the resources necessary to appeal to their needs as well as the teachers who are willing to help them.  All elementary and secondary schools should offer special ed. if they do not already.  Rather than comparing disabled and enabled students to see who suffers the most in schools, faculty and staff should take more action by doing their best to equalize the education between the two.  

"Failure is a constant possibility in American schools, and by the dictates of the normal curve, it absorbs about half the students along the way.  Failure is always ready to acquire someone."

I strongly believe failure is only possible if one chooses or allows themselves to fail and/or if others around them do not care and let them fail.  Regarding young and disabled students, it seems failure is only possible if the teachers permit it and do not do their job, due to the amount of attention these teachers are required to give to those students.  It is different with average capacity students in secondary education schools, for they are at the age where they are responsible for their own work and taking initiative to get help from the teacher when needed, and the teachers have multiple students to instruct.  I've worked in an elementary special ed. classroom with two other teachers and when the few students we had needed one-on-one help with math or writing sheets, we gave that to them and made sure they learned how to do the work so failure would not be an option.  

Comment:

I feel a class discussion about what we think regarding mentally and physically disabled students being in separate classrooms or equal in the same classrooms as average capacity students, would be beneficial.   

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mzLNrk6d8WMNzipSieLlf5L-KQxXhSTl/view

Citizenship in School: Reconceptualizing Down Syndrome

By: Christopher Kliewer

Quotes:

"The presence of a thoughtful mind has been linked to patterns of behavioral and communicative conformity associated with competence in logical-mathematical thinking and linguistic skills."

Just because a student may seriously struggle with mathematics and science does not mean they cannot do well in other courses that tend to focus more on reading and writing.  Students with learning disabilities tend to struggle a lot more with math than subjects such as English and history.  Once the student gets the extra help by an assistant teacher he/she will more than likely understand the material soon afterward.  Most of the students I've worked with who needed extra help and/or had a learning disability were able to retain the information once they had that one-on-one help and understood the work done.      

"School citizenship requires that students not be categorized and separated based on presumed defect."

Regardless of any disabilities, students should be united with their school community one way or another.  Although some students may require extra help with math or even spelling, this does not mean they can't participate in fun class activities with all the other students in the same classroom.  In the elementary school I'm currently working at there are a few students in the class that need extra help, and so I or the other assistant teacher work with them for a bit in the back of the room.  When they are done getting this help they can go play cards or go the laptops to play educational games with the other students.  It should work this way with minor learning disability students in all public elementary schools. 

"Community banishment of students with Down Syndrome stems from their lack of behavioral and communicative conformity to school standards that form the parameters of intellectual normality."

If students with Down Syndrome are not conformed to their community in their youth then it will be even harder for them to fit in socially when they get older. Although they may require extra and private attention academically in order to fully succeed, they should still be permitted to participate in schoolwide activities with the other students.  I must say I have never worked with a student who has Down Syndrome, but if I ever do I might try to communicate with them through writing on paper rather than directly speaking.  Although there may be difficulty communicating with these students verbally, they can still participate in physical activities with other students so there is no sense of exclusion.  

Comment:

Although mathematics and sciences may be the courses that students with these disabilities struggle with the most does not mean they cannot excel in other subjects that require less complex problem solving and more writing or visual learning.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-JcBFAuLc-0bXVmZVR4ODI0RHc/view

  

Brown vs. Board of Edu., Herbert, TAL

Ryan Mottram
FNED 346
Mrs. McKamey
11/4/18

Response to Brown vs. Board of Education, Bob Herbert, and TAL 

Quotes:

"If you really want to improve the education of poor children, you have to get them away from learning environments that are smothered by poverty." 

A lot of families who live in areas and neighborhoods that may be at poverty level cannot afford to move away from their residential place necessarily. Instead, better schools that are well-maintained and offer a good education with caring teachers should be established in these areas so that the children living in them can eventually move on to pursue a good career and have a better life, as their parents are surely hoping for.  There have been good schools established in rough and relatively poverty-level areas in cities throughout parts of the country including in Providence, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, etc. that have allowed kids growing up in them who want to learn excel in honors programs and graduate with a high GPA and attend college as a result of their willingness to work hard, despite backgrounds.  People living in these areas are certainly not asking for private schools due to monetary situations, but just schools easily accessible that offer a good education and safety for their children so they can do much better in life, and if there is a school children will come.



"More than a half-century after the landmark Brown v. Board of Education school desegregation ruling, we are still trying as a country to validate and justify the discredited concept of separate but equal schools — the very idea supposedly overturned by Brown v. Board when it declared, “Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”

Surely everyone can agree that all US schools today should be inherently equal without separation.  unfortunately, there are assumptions that the reasons why schools today still seems to be separate and unequal is because the majority of schools in poverty-level and lower class areas tend to be dominantly populated by minorities living nearby and do not offer as good of an education as schools that may be dominantly white with more teachers.  If there are people who believe this problem did not get resolved half a century ago, then it will certainly not resolve itself now.  Teachers can make a difference by treating all of their students the same no matter where the location of the school is and offer the best education possible to all of them.



"Americans’ pursuit of racial justice is a complex story that reveals the weaknesses of the human character, while at the same time affording hope in the triumph of the human spirit."

Racism certainly does not have to be a weakness of human character, and is nothing more than merely a negative concept that others use to insult individuals based on the color of their skin.  Schools are institutions where teachers should be willing to treat all students equally and entirely disregard all negativity regarding racism.  Being an educator is especially an occupation where this should be understood because of the fact that they will be dealing with young innocent children who cannot help their current home life and just want to make friends and even learn.  Helping others is an important part of life, and teachers should especially be willing to do so with children regardless of the color of their skin.


Comment/Point to Share:

Due to the majority of our schools for service learning being half white and half race-ethnic minority populations, I feel having a discussion one class about whether or not all the children in the classroom at our field sites are truly treated equally regardless of race or ethnicity would be beneficial.


https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/22/opinion/22herbert.html

http://americanhistory.si.edu/brown/exhibition/index.html

Kahne and Westheimer

Ryan Mottram
FNED 346
Mrs. McKamey
10/28/18

Response to In the Service of What? The Politics of Service Learning

By: Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer

Quotes:

"The ability of a service learning curriculum is to foster authentic, experience-based learning opportunities, to motivate students, to help students engage in high-order thinking in contextually varied environments, and to promote interdisciplinary studies has led some , such as John Brisco, a leader in the field, to label service learning as "the Trojan horse of school reform"." 

I feel service learning projects in schools is a good way for newcomers in the education field studying to become teachers to learn new ways of how to appeal to certain students in the classroom.  The reason why service learning is "the Trojan horse of school reform" could be because it is an opportunity for future educators to see errors by their mentors in the classroom, whether regarding discipline or curriculum and determine how to correct them.  I believe the three most important things for becoming an elementary ed. teacher are establishing your own curriculum based on material given, enthusiasm, and appealing to the age group of students through fun and educational activities.         

"Citizenship in a democratic community requires more than kindness and decency; it requires engagement in complex social and institutional endeavors." 

Service learning in schools surely satisfies and fulfills this engagement in complex social and institutional situations.   I believe teachers establishing their own curriculums in the classroom helps promote school citizenship by making class entertaining and encouraging students to learn and work together.  Since this article addresses the importance of curriculum and citizenship, I believe Shor's work is relevant here because she explains how a curriculum determines the outcome of a classroom.  At my service learning site, my mentor goes beyond pencil and paper with use of projector, group projects, and online activities and I wish to implement some of those methods as a future educator.  

"If we focus on the "numerous values we share as a community", writes Amitai Etzioni, the founder of the communitarian movement and a proponent of service learning, "our world would be radically improved"." 

The values members of a community share amongst each other certainly need to be implemented in public school classrooms by teachers who are with students for about 6 hours 5 days a week.  At my site placement, I have noticed that the third grade students are certainly mature enough to take initiative when needed.  It could be the smallest deed, such as if a student drops and/or spills something another student will help them before a teacher has the chance to walk over and do so.  If public school students learn and recognize true maturity and respect for others during their youth, then these schools can continue to be full of values a community shares.   

Comment/Point to share:

I feel having a class meeting where we discuss what methods we have used so far in helping students during our service learning sessions would be beneficial.  

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-JcBFAuLc-0Uk96Z2g3NDI2bkU/view
http://www.utahciviccoalition.org/downloads/IntheServiceofWhat.pdf