College life for me can be extremely busy with homework and a social life, but I make sure to always take time out every day to keep up with the news. Since I do not have a TV, I must rely mostly on written news. My most visited cites for world news include CNN and BBC. On CNN, I watch daily ten-minute clips of “Student News”. It is a short clip that covers news stories in the US and also around the world. This is an easy way for me to hear about many different events in one setting. Also, I enjoy it because of other features like “shout out” and “word to the wise” for example. They have trivia questions for students in a classroom that teachers can use and have students race to “shout out” the answer. For “word to the wise” they have a vocabulary word with its definition and then a story to go with it. October 30th’s word was “displace” and following was a story about Pakistan’s displaced. “Student News” has been a useful resource for me keeping up to date with things all over the world and it is surprisingly fun. This news source is geared towards students and is a part of my daily routine. These features, such as “shout out” and “word to the wise,” are both informative and ways to keep people like me—who struggle reading the news—attentive.
I think it is very important to know what is happening abroad, however, now that I am a part of Goshen’s community, it is imperative that I am active and aware in my community as well. Locally, I keep up to date with my community via the Elkhart Truth and The Record. Both of these newspapers I can also view online, which makes it much more accessible. It is important for me to know what is going on in my community so I can participate more and be active in my community.
On Novemer 1, 2009, there was an article in the Elkhart Truth about a local elementary school. At Chandler Elementary School here in Goshen, IN a local church—First Church of God—showed their support of the students and school. There are two women in the community that organize volunteers to help at the school wherever they are needed. These women were called to support Chandler because the school may be facing changes due to low state test scores. Some volunteers serve as tutors for the students to help out teachers of Chandler. As a future educator, it is important to know how I can help out now and improve schools around me so students may have a better future. Local news such as the Elkhart Truth is one way that I can “get political” by being aware in my community and acting upon it.
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Teaching Tolerance is a biannual magazine that has been an excellent source that I’ve used this semester. As tolerance.org states,
Published twice a year, our magazine profiles educators, schools and programs promoting diversity and equity in inspirational and replicable ways.
This magazine has informed me of recent happenings in education that I feel are very important. For example, there was an article in the Fall 2009 edition that had examples of lesson plans for teachers to use. This article stated that in 2008, Charleston, Mississippi had their first racially integrated prom. This was extremely surprising to me, and I feel as thought it is important for me to see that changes are still being made in schools all around. This magazine has encouraged me to become more intrigued with current events in education because I will soon be a part of it.
As I continued to read this fall 2009 issue, I came across an article “Pushed Out” that discussed the zero tolerance policy in schools today. Initially, this policy’s goal was to limit violence and drug use in schools. However, over time it has changed so it also covers issues like misbehaviors. The result of this is that students are getting expelled and suspended more frequently which can hurt them academically and in the end, statistics show that the chance of dropout increases. One example that this article gives shows how strict this policy can be:
From the St. Petersburg Times: a 10-year-old girl found a small knife in her lunchbox, placed there by her mother, for cutting an apple. She immediately gave the knife to her teacher, but was expelled from school for possessing a weapon.
This example shows how a student unintentionally violated school rules and in the end got expelled from school. At first, this seemed frustrating to me that I might be in the same situation in the future and get an innocent kid suspended or expelled. However, this article gives alternatives to the zero tolerance policy.
Positive Behavior Supports (PBS) is one way to help students reduce unwanted behaviors and increase behaviors that are desired to establish a safe environment. In doing more research, PBS tries to reward students for good behavior in order to increase its frequency while decreasing the unwanted behavior simultaneously. Knowing policies that are enforced in schools today will help me to be more prepared in the future. Teaching Tolerance is one way that I have learned about the politics of education and also how to best respond in my classroom.
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On October 24, 2009 I received an email from a Goshen College student who is currently student teaching. The email was regarding Rules for Educator Preparation and Accountability (REPA). REPA is a proposition for change in education programs that would make it easier to get a teaching job and harder to keep an existing one. Dr. Tony Bennett—Superintendent of Public Instruction—is proposing that existing teachers should take a rigorous test over content in order to keep their teaching license. This test requires no actual teaching abilities; rather it strictly tests content knowledge. For individuals looking to get their teaching license, they will no longer have to take a PRAXIS I tests. Instead, they will be tested solely on their basic skills prior to admission of schools of education.
While I understand that Dr. Bennett wants the educators of Indiana to be highly qualified in their content area, I am extremely concerned of the pedagogical abilities of these future educators. The environment at Goshen College along with the professors have showed me over the past three years here that how you teach—along with what you teach—is extremely crucial! Therefore, I decided to do my part and stand up against REPA. I did this by agreeing with and signing a letter that senior Elizabeth Beachy wrote. I chose not to write one myself because I appreciated the intensity, honesty, and the impact that this particular letter has. Because I want the best for each an every student in Indiana, I hope that with this letter, Dr. Bennett will be encouraged to reevaluate his proposal. I do not wish to lower any standards that are present now, and I certainly do not wish to see pedagogically unqualified individuals earning a teaching license while current, more experienced teachers get theirs taken away. I am thankful for other students here at Goshen College that are politically proactive and encourage other students to do the same.
To whom it may concern,
I am a college student only a month and a half away from completing my English Major and Secondary Education degree. I am currently entering the last three weeks of my student-teaching placement at a local middle school. As I am becoming a part of a community of educators and looking toward future teaching experiences, I am also seriously concerned by and do not support the changes included in the Rules for Educator Preparation and Accountability (REPA), recently proposed by the Indiana Department of Education.
I am disheartened by the proposed change for education programs to focus almost entirely on content knowledge and very little on teaching methodology and pedagogy. I am coming fresh from an education program that upheld the philosophy that both methods and content are equally essential. You cannot teach content unless you have background knowledge on managing a classroom, creating a positive classroom climate, and presenting ideas in different forms in order to reach all types of learners.
Multiple field placements in local schools and the12 weeks of student-teaching that our education program requires have presented me with some of the most challenging, realistic, and long-lasting learning and teaching experiences. I observed expert teachers, practiced teaching lessons I prepared, and then received prompt feedback from cooperating teachers and professors. If I had not gone through this process, I would have never learned about the significance of designing a lesson for depth versus breadth. I would have not learned the significance of establishing clear expectations on the first day of school.
I do not believe that someone who is proficient in a subject is necessarily prepared for or capable of interacting with dozens of students who each have their own unique stories, struggles, and individual needs—those academic, social, and emotional. I am not convinced that those individuals will have their hearts in the right places. Students are not open slates that can, at will, absorb and repeat anything you tell them. Instructional techniques and strategies, acquiring and practicing classroom management skills, and being aware and sensitive to the implications of social and emotional developmental stages of students are all parts of creating a healthy learning community.
I do not agree with or support most all of the Rules for Educator Preparation and Accountability (REPA) and I implore that the Indiana Department of Education reevaluate their intentions and consider that their proposed rules are not grounded in any experience-driven facts or verifiable data.
Elizabeth F. Beachy
I am currently a third year, college education major; I have read Elizabeth Beachy's letter and affirm her statements.
Lesli Jo Kennell
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