Well that is a lot of data put out there for me. It seems to me that the title of this book so far ties in to the fact that there aren’t many resources poured into our public educational system and support given to teachers to develop their practice that this is effecting our students. Our educational system is metaphorically flat. No change is happening. Is it weird that my inner Math teacher is thinking of what kind of 2-dimensional shape best fits this idea?
As a “new teacher”, only in my second year, I have seen how we struggle with large number of students in a classroom while we still have the expectation to teach each and every single student equally but we lack technology in the classroom, so how can we have students build and explore 21st century skills that will help the in college and in their future careers? I feel that this is where the achievement gap among student comes in to play. A problem is that a lot of students still don’t have access to a device at home and aren’t able to complete assignments or look deeper into a project they are working on because the only time to do that is in the classroom. The third chapter, New Standards and Old Inequalities, was a very interesting chapter for me because during my high school years I was right in the middle of the No Child Left behind Act. I remember being one of the first classes that had to take the high school exit exam and how much pressure there was. Curriculum at the time was focused on how to pass this class. That was our main focus. In a Math class it was all about memorization. Now that I am a teacher, I think about my English Language Learner on how they would fair on a high school exit exam. Probably not to well, and the problem with this is that the exam would discourage these and many other students to not even try to perform well in class and possibly drop out. Even though with the newer Common Core Standards, I enjoy seeing my students explore Mathematical concepts and work together to work through tasks using skills like critical thinking, collaboration, inquiry and even organizing their thinking on paper or verbally. Students probably don’t realize that these skills are skills they will be using once they go into the work force or in college.
4 Comments
Paula Sotiras Ayala
2/5/2018 06:46:59 pm
First of all, I agree with you that this book is filled with data.
Reply
2/5/2018 08:48:27 pm
I agree with yours and Paula's assessment of the book and the reality of education today in America. I agree that at times in the book it was disheartening to read fact after fact how we, as a society, is letting down our students just because of their race, their socioeconomic status, etc. However, just like in math, there is always a solution and multiple ways to solve a problem just like this.
Reply
Sarah Tinloy
2/6/2018 07:17:34 pm
I agree with your points in regards to the book. Lots of information which basically boils down to the idea that our educational system is "flat" and out dated.
Reply
2/10/2018 04:16:35 pm
Okay, so its safe to say there are a lot of problems we will face as teachers whether it be kids access to technology, lack of parental help with assignments, disengagement, or language barriers.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Samuel UreñaWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
May 2018
Categories |