Carrie's+Page

Here is a PHENOMENAL Youtube video that I found explaining the reasons why recess needs to STAY in our schools. After watching the video and pondering what life would be like in your classroom and your school if tomorrow or next week your administration said recess would need to be cut, please write a reflection below the video. Thank you! Enjoy!!!

media type="youtube" key="9jVAG7m4hfg" height="315" width="420"

Here is the video of the teenage boy who had a heart condition and explains what heaven is like: (There's a part one and a part two, but I just embedded part two)

media type="youtube" key="a4LSEXsvRAI" height="315" width="420"

For the Week of September 19, 2011:

Chapters for my book:

__Chapter 1-__ __Technology: the pros and cons.__

Subsidiary Questions:
 * How much is too much?
 *  How much is not enough?
 * How do seasoned teachers get out of their comfort zones to teach to 21st century tech savvy students?

__Chapter 2-Teaching Collaboration: the importance of teamwork and community building among staff members in a school but more importantly among grade level teams.__

Subsidiary Questions:
 * What does a teacher do if they are part of a team that cannot or does not work well together?
 * How do you respectfully collaborate?
 * What are some community building techniques for adults as well as children that work well?
 * What is Responsive Classroom?
 * If a teacher is not a team player within his or her grade level team, do they have more difficulty teaching collaboration and teamwork among their students?

__Chapter 3-The Importance of Teaching Social Skills__

Subsidiary Questions:
 * Why they are absent in today’s students?
 * How can we get parents to teach social skills as they had decades ago?
 * Is teaching social skills an important thing and should it be first priority?
 * What social skills are vital and need to be taught by parents and/or teachers?

Activities:
 * Role playing what students may do and what to do in preparation

__Chapter 4-Curriculum__

Subsidiary Questions:
 * How is curriculum decided upon?
 * Do teachers have any say in the matter?
 * Why is it constantly changing within districts?
 * Is some curriculum more important than others?
 * When is enough really enough?
 * Can community building be made a top priority when so much curriculum is taking up so much time?
 * Is there a community building curriculum that districts could adopt?

__Chapter 5-Motivation __

Subsidiary Questions:
 * How can we keep students and teachers motivated?
 * How can we ensure successful group work and students staying on task?
 * If a teacher is not a team player within his or her grade level team, do they have more difficulty teaching collaboration and teamwork among their students?
 * Do schools or districts that teach year round find that they have more motivation than districts that go from September through June?

__Chapters in our core books that coincide with the above questions:__
 * Dewey, The School and Society The Child and the Curriculum: The School and the Life of the Child page 30
 * Gardiner and Kosmitzki, Lives Across Cultures: Chapter Three: Culture and Socialization, Chapter Five: page 120, Chapter Seven: page 170, Chapter Eight
 * Sleeter, Un-Standardized Curriculum:Chapter 6: Students as Curriculum

Interviews: <span style="color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">My Grandma Hummer and I were not as close as my Grandma Betty and I, but as I’ve grown older, I’ve come to realize that the way she raised my mom was the way my mom raised me and with that came some understanding of why things were the way they were. <span style="color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">My Grandma Hummer is 81 years old. She went to Girls Tech High School which is now the Milwaukee Rescue Mission on 18th and Wells-which to me was very interesting because in college I volunteered at the Milwaukee Rescue Mission and think back on it fondly. She walked to school and many times would walk her younger brother Dave to nursery school on the way. If she didn’t walk, she would take the street car. A one week pass was $1. When she was in school, she was a band geek, and I say that fondly because although I didn’t play an instrument when I was in high school, most of my friends and long time boyfriend did. She was in band and orchestra playing the oboe. She loved band and orchestra and is still passionate about Music Education being kept in schools. She also liked English and Science, but American History was her favorite. Her History teacher was her favorite teacher. She was a strict teacher that was not liked by many of her classmates, but she was her favorite teacher. She also took biology, skipped chemistry then took an elective course. Everyone took cooking and sewing classes. She was in classes of 25 to 30 students, all girls and even back then there were clicks! The teachers were all very friendly, women. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">College wasn’t really thought of as an option although my Great Grandma did perceive education as very important. My Great Grandma’s younger sisters went to secretarial school after high school so my Great Grandma did understand the importance of education. My Great Grandma worked at Blue Cross Blue Shield while my Great Grandpa suffered from MS. He was diagnosed in 1948 when my Grandma was only 18. She had to take care of her younger brother Dave and sister Judy so after high school she didn’t think that she’d get married until she was at least 28 and the thought of having her own children after caring so much for her siblings exhausted her. Needless to say, one day, while spending time with her high school friend Dorothy whom she is still friends with, my Grandpa knocked on the door. He was an accounting student at Marquette. She was 18. He was 21. They fell in love, got married and had nine children in nine years. Amazing that she didn’t think that she would get married until she was twenty-eight but said someone came along and changed her mind. She thought she would only have a couple of kids too.

__ Jessica Costa’s husband __ He attended all school through completion of his B.S. in Brazil. (He later taught in a U.S. university, worked toward a M.S. in Electrical Engineering and earned his M.B.A., so he is familiar with both systems.) He went to a private Catholic school that went from Kindergarten through senior year of high school. Public elementary/high schools are considered very poor quality and are only for those who can't afford private education. His father drove him to school since there was no bus. There was a lot of competition for grades, since only the best 1 or 2 students in the class would receive the highest marks. He had the same 30 students in his class every year, so everyone knew each other very well. My husband says that he was more interested in the social aspects of school when he was younger, but had an older sister who took it upon herself to make him sit down and do his work. Failing a class meant that you had to do additional work and retake the exam during break. The school year was about the same length as here, but the breaks are at different times (longer break at Christmas, Carnival, Easter and the month of July.) The school day is different in Brazil. Many schools offer two "shift" a day and students attend either in the morning or in the afternoon with the option of attending sports after classes. Discipline usually involved the teachers telling the parents what kids were doing wrong at school and letting the parents deal with it. There were no specials like art, but there was physical education. One major difference is that in Brazil, at the end of high school all students who want to go to college must take an exam called the vestibular. You take the exam in the areas of study that you want to pursue and all colleges look at the scores, which are publically published. There are many small academies that offer additional prep work for students preparing to take the vestibular. If you do poorly, you can retake it the next time it is offered, but the stakes are very high and only a few students are selected for admission by the most desirable universities. Public universities are of high quality and are free, so most students try to get a score high enough to get admitted to a public university. Since you take areas of the vestibular based on what you want to study in college, high school students need to know exactly what they want to study in college. Once you start college, all your classes are geared toward that specific major. If you decide to change majors (very uncommon), you must retake the vestibular, be readmitted based on your scores and start your university career over from scratch. His family really valued education. His parents had not been to university, but all of my husband's siblings have advanced degrees in law, engineering, business or nursing. Since he attended a private school, the demographics of his classmates were similar to his own, so there was a strong sense that everyone would go on to college. He doesn't think that school influenced his career choice as much as his life experience did.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">__Tiger Mom__ <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">My first thought was, Wow, I may suck as a mom because I've had playdates for Mady and I let her watch tv. I would let her be in a play and I imagine I will allow her to go to a sleepover, chose her own curricular activities and get a grade less than an A (hopefully not less than a C, but all A's, seriously?). That being said, I have to say there were two points that I agreed with Amy Chua, but only three and I hate to admit it because the article made me pretty angry. Some parents may know what is best for their children. They've lived life a lot longer than their children have. They've made mistakes and obviously hate to see their children do the same so most parents I think try to guide and teach their children in a way to prevent them from making mistakes. I also agree that "one of the worst things a parent can do is to let their child give up." I do think you need to instill a hard work ethic and perseverance. A parent does need to believe in their child and ensure that their child has confidance within themselves. <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">There were so many points though that made me really sad for Chinese children. When she stated, "academic achievement reflects successful parenting," it made me wonder if any struggling learners or children with special needs existed in the Chinese culture. I imagine that there must be, and if so, how horrible are they made to feel? How do they succeed? Is there differentiation? Are they as hard on them as they are on a child that doesn't struggle? Do the struggling learner's parents feel like they failed as parents because their child's academic struggle is such a huge reflection on their parenting? I think it seems obsurd. <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Is three hours of practiciting an instrument appropriate? Do they know anything about developmental appropriateness? <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Also, how can a child's self-esteem NOT be effected when they are called "garbage" or "lazy, cowardly, self-indulgent and pathetic"? How can this "motivate" a child as Chua said that this parenting technique was used on her own child? <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">I know I am coming from the Western point of view and I am a Western parent and teacher, but I do not agree at all that belittling a child will ever motivate them. I think it will negatively effect their self-esteem, their view of themselves, their motivation and their learning. Maybe it works for some Chinese parents and Chua, but I don't think it will work for me. I will expect Mady and Luke to "do their best, nothing less," as I say to my kindergarteners, but I will not discipline them for getting less than an A as long as they worked hard. I will not restrict them from being in a play or an activity that they would like to try as long as they will be safe and it is appropriate. That being said, what is wrong with allowing children to be a part of a play? What if your child is artistic? What if they are passionate about actiing? I do not understand. But like I said before, I am a Westerner and the Western culture is my norm. I say, Thank Goodness.

When I thought of Bronfenbrenner's theory, I immediately thought of a few people. One is a boy named Connor. Connor's parents are married and very hardworking although they struggle financially. They have three children and live in a two bedroom apartment. He is kind of lost in the hustle and bustle of life therefore, when he is at school he often does whatever he can to get attention from the adults around him. Surprisingly, it isn't always negative attention. He is a very sweet, outgoing boy. He adores our principal. He also is a struggling reader which could be the result of his major speech delays. His parents recognized that he had a speech delay but acknowledged that they did not have the resources to help him. He also has some sight issues too that were not taken care of because the family lacked the resources. I am hoping that he receives the resources he needs and continues to be loving and sweet. He very easily could stray and go down the wrong path, but I hope this doesn't occur. The second person I thought of was a man named John. He was a normal boy growing up until he was eleven when his mom abruptly moved out leaving John who was definitely considered "mommy's little boy." This event proved to change his perspective on life dramatically. As a result of this one event in his life, he has struggled with other relationships with women. He became very angry as an innocent eleven year old and is now an angry adult. It is sad that one event can change ones life in such a big way.

Kevin Robinson's "Do Schools Kill Creativity?" really hit home with me. It is a struggle that I am faced with constantly. There is so much pressure put on children, teachers and parents to succeed so that we can be competitive in our global economic. Every year there are pressures for children to meet and exceed benchmarks that honestly, some of them won't meet and not because they are not smart enough. Developmentally they may not be ready. They will get there. They will succeed. They will meet or exceed the benchmarks that are put in place, but sometimes I wonder, can children just be let alone? Can kids just be kids for once in their lifetime?

<span style="color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">home

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">My favorite website: [|Promethean board planning website]<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Promethean Planet has become one of my favorite websites to use this year since I got a Promethean board in my classroom. Anyone who knows me well enough knows that I am scared to death and get very easily frustrated when it comes to technology. This website is very user friendly especially for people like me who are technologically challenged. I LOVE the interactive pages that integrate all of the content areas and best of all, my kindergarteners loved it and they were engaged!!!

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; line-height: 0px; overflow: hidden;"> <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; line-height: 0px; overflow: hidden;">media type="youtube" key="xGz5YfqroZo?fs=1" height="228" width="288"