I don’t plan on starting any time soon. I won’t start until I can afford to start, which means once I get a full-time teaching position with a school. I’ve been thinking of what I want to get my degree in. Some of the possibilities would include Education, Reading, Administration, and History. I would really love to teach at the university level some day, so I’d have to get my Masters in History in order to even be a lecturer at most universities, then PhD to be a professor. PhD will cost a lot of money and take a long time, especially if I’m teaching while going to school. I don’t think that is a realistic possibility right now. If I ever want to be a principal, I would get it in Administration, but I’m not too sure if I’d ever want to do that. What I would really like to do is find a program for Educational Technology, or something along those lines. I would like to help develop curriculum that incorporates technology use in the classroom. It would be awesome to show other teachers how you can incorporate Google Earth, Smart Boards, Wikis, and all the other wonderful new things in technology into their current lesson plans. I really think with all the technology that the kids use these days, teachers are falling behind. Kids see and do things in totally different ways than they did 5 or 10 years ago. They learn differently, research differently, become engaged differently. It’s important that we adapt our methodology to support the students. If anyone knows a university that offers something like this, I’d be very interested in knowing about it.
From the state education department comes reason for Missouri high school students to rejoice: The gradual demise of the Missouri Assessment Program — or MAP exam — is under way.
That’s the good news.
The bad news is that MAP by any other name is still a test. In other words, a replacement is imminent.
Beginning in 2008-09, the state’s 10th- and 11th-graders will take “end-of-the-course” exams to gauge their knowledge in algebra I, biology and English II.
Bottom line: State and federal education officials really want to know what high-schoolers know.
Wait, it gets worse.
By the end of the 2009 school year, student proficiency in algebra II, geometry, integrated math II and III, English I, government and American history also will be put to the test.
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education announced this week that Riverside Publishing of Rolling Meadows, Ill., had been awarded a $28 million, six-year contract to oversee development, publication and scoring of the tests.
Company President Richard Swartz said he was excited about the opportunity.
Response from high-schoolers is expected to be more subdued.
Now, I don’t think standardized tests are completely evil. I think they give us a great snapshot of what the students are learning so it can tell us our strengths and weaknesses. What I do have a problem with is No Child Left Behind and taking away funding if schools don’t meet the requirements. If a school is doing poorly (and usually these are schools in poverty) you shouldn’t take away what little money they have. That’s going to put them at an even bigger disadvantage and create more stress for the already heroic teachers that teach in such areas. It’s a becoming more and more of a trend for teachers to teach for the test. Pressure from administrators, the school district, the state, and the Federal Government all force teachers to teach the test. The best way for a child to learn is to relate the material to them. Tests (which have been accused for a long time of being culturally biased) don’t do that. I hope the next White House does something a little better for education.
I shall let you all in on the news I mentioned before. The school board voted Monday night and I’m now under a 9 month contract with a school district to be the ISS (In School Suspension) teacher. It’s one step closer to being the social studies teacher I’ve wanted to be since high school. What’s even better is I finally have full health insurance, dental, vision, and even life. On top of that, since I am certified, this year counts towards my retirement in the education system. Well, that is it. Wish me a successful school year.
A while back I was watching Def Poetry on HBO. It is an excellent program if you’ve never watched it. There was one poet I really liked. This poet was a teacher. He was very passionate reciting the poem that he had written. The title of his poem is “What Do Teachers Make?” Recently I went to my friend Joey’s site and noticed he had a video of this very poem. I had to share it. I’ve been looking for it ever since but didn’t know the poet’s name. I now present Taylor Mali’s brilliant poem.