Friday October 11th I went
to an open session held by Deborah Ball, the Dean of education at the
University of Michigan. It was interesting to me for a few reasons. First of
all, it was interesting to hear the different professors talk about teaching
students skills to teach. This was interesting to me because as a group,
everyone was concerned about the best way to teach students skills. It seemed
as if this is more important than teaching theory. I think this stood out to me
a lot because when we really think about it, what are we teaching children?
Skills, skills to insert themselves in society. We are giving them skills and
tools to use in the real world, after school, or to further themselves in
school. I think if teachers looked at teaching that way, teachers could be
better teachers. Instead of trying to teach students bookwork, if teachers
focused on teaching students curriculum by giving them life-skills, students
may benefit more.
The next thing that I thought was so
interesting was how Michigan’s program assessed their students. The students have
to pass certain criteria each year in order to advance to the next year. If
they do not pass, they have to work on whatever they failed to master before
they could move on. I think this is important because as it was said at the
open session, it weeds people out but it also ensures that you never get behind.
This is also important at the elementary level. If students just meet the
minimum to move to the next step without ever mastering the skill or knowledge,
they will fall behind! This is not ok on so many different levels, if students
get so behind they won't be able to keep advancing. This will set them up for
continued failure.
The last thing I
found interesting was the dual track program Michigan has set up. Majoring in
the subject you want to teach, as well as, education makes a lot of sense. This
way you have your specialty area mastered and will be able to better educate
your students more efficiently. I feel like the CFS program at UT does a great
job of preparing students to work with children, but I do not feel like I have
had enough education on the actual practice of teaching. This is where it seems
UT is falling short with their program, to me. It is great that I know all
about child’s development but it will not help if I do not have a good practice
of teaching. I know I will get more education and practice within the next year
but as a senior I wish I had more at this point. I think Michigan does a great
job of giving their students a lot of experience in both their specialty area
and the education aspect.
In your first paragraph you mention that skills and tools are more important than teaching theory. In what ways can a theory become a tool?
ReplyDeleteWhat about Michigan's assessment of teachers helps you think about how you want to assess your students?
I think you should raise your concern from the last paragraph with some of the CFS teachers. Did you see any of them at the meeting?
Theory could defiantly become a tool in many ways. By using theory to base your decisions and lesson plans in the classroom, it becomes a tool. It becomes the back bone behind what you do in your classroom.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Michigan's assessment- I think it's great that they force students to meet standards and if they don't, they make them go back and master where they are lacking. This makes students and teachers accountable for students success. It, also, ensures that "no child is left behind." By that I mean, it makes sure that every child TRULY has to meet standards to advance. I'm not sure this would be applicable in any classroom now days. But, I could make sure each child masters each lesson before advancing to the next lesson. If students advance at different rates, I would have to differentiate my instruction. However, differentiated instruction is required from all teachers now so that won't make a difference really.
Lastly, I will look into telling some of the CFS instructors my concern. I did see one of them there, Dr. Fitzgerald.
Good thinking here. I think the crux on differentiation is that not every teacher knows HOW to do that, and it seems like they make sure of that in the Michigan program.
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