Vanessa's+Page


 * Link to NLUMarch2012: Home Page**

For this activity, I interviewed my 88 year old grandmother, who was in school from 1928-1940, and Michael Kueng, a Junior foreign exchange student at Mukwonago High School from Zurich, Switzerland. Before starting my interviews, I expected that Michael's educational experience in Zurich would be very similar to mine, and that my Grandma's would be very different, but it was actually the other way around, although to be honest, they were both more similar to mine than I expected them to be.
 * Interview Reflections:**

My Grandma went to St. Casimer's Catholic School for 1st through 8th grade. She went to Riverside High School, which was then called East Division. She walked to school every day. She said that kids came to her school from both sides of the Milwaukee River. On one side was the poor kids, and on the other side was the more wealthy kids. This was during the great depression and my grandma came from a very poor family. She remembers that kids would make fun of her and pick on her for her clothes, which were long underwear and rags. It showed me that there has always been bullying in schools, and it hurts me so much to know someone I love so much had to go through the pain it brings. The things kids get picked on for these days are so hurtful. It's sad to think that this has been going on for so long, and we still don't know what to do to fix the problem.

My grandma told me that the Monday after Easter was called Dingos Day, where the boys would chase the girls around and if they whipped a girl on the leg then that meant he liked her. The next day, some of the girls would always chase the boys. My grandma has always been a little social butterfly and she would always sneak into her cousins chair and sit with her during class (benches were wide enough to seat two students at the same time). Her teachers would always yell at her and call her "Kusibucki!" because the kids were called by their last name in class. The common punishments for talking out of turn or being "naughty" back then were to get hit with a ruler on your hand or to go sit alone in the cloak room for a time-out. Her classes had between 40 and 50 kids in them, depending on the level, and they attended school for about 7 hours a day with a 45 minute lunch break where they could either go home for lunch or eat in the auditorium if they packed a bag lunch.

In elementary school, in addition to the common academic subjects my grandma also took gym, music class, and Polish class. In high school, courses were offered such as gym, sewing, cooking, shop, mechanical drawing (blueprints), Polish, German, and Latin, in addition to the required academic courses. My grandma had to take 32 credits to graduate and each course was one credit with the exception of gym, which was only 1/4 of a credit and she had to take it all 4 years of high school. She remembers spelling tests, IQ tests, and lots and lots of homework!

Since my grandma went to a Catholic elementary school, all of her teachers were nuns, except for the priest who would occasionally teach a theology class. In high school, ratio of female to male teachers was about 2:1. Her male teachers taught history, civics, geography, and arithmetic. She always remembers that her high school arithmetic teacher was able to get her to stop biting her nails! She described her teachers as nice, caring, and having a good relationship with the students, although she was uncomfortable asking questions when she didn't understand something.

Although my grandma's favorite part of school was seeing her friends, she was also a good student, and her parents instilled in her a high value of education. In high school, my Grandma's teachers encouraged her to take secretarial and stenographic electives. College was not an option for my Grandma since she was very poor, but with the preparation she had in high school she was able to become a stenographer and a medical transcriber for her career.

Michael, who went to school in Zurich Switzerland, is in his 10th year of education. In Switzerland, students attend "kindergarten" from about ages 6-8, and then attend primary school from ages 8-12 (through 6th grade). At that point, the teachers make a recommendation for each student to go to one of 4 different paths, called A, B, C, and gymnasium. A, B, and C are each 3 year programs with C being the least rigorous. Gymnasium, the most rigorous program, is instead a 6 year preparatory school for those students planning on attending a university. Michael estimated that about 30% of his classmates, him included, went on to attend gymnasium after primary school, and Michael plans on attending a university once he completes gymnasium (he has completed 3 out of the 6 years of gymnasium).

Michael either takes the bus, tram, or walks to school. He considers himself an average to above average student. He described his school in Zurich as an old, pretty building that has recently been renovated and restored. Although students are allowed to be a minute or two late to class at no consequence, in general the teachers at his school in Zurich are more strict than they are here. If a student misbehaves, they are asked to step our into the hall and possibly even punished with a cleaning job in the building or classroom.

His class sizes are about 20 students on average, and the school hours are similar to ours, from 7:30 am to 3:00 pm, with either a 1 or 2 hour lunch, depending on the day. In between classes, they have 5 minuet, 10 minute, and even one 25 minute breaks each day. Michael enjoys leaving the school for lunch because his school is located in the city and he likes to get out and enjoy the city atmosphere during his lunch breaks. He has a different schedule each day of the week, which makes the days less boring, and has his breaks spread out throughout the year instead of all during summer. He thinks school is more rigorous in Zurich than here, and so the frequent breaks are needed so the students don't get overloaded. They have 2 weeks off in the fall, 4 in the winder, 3 in the spring, and 5 in the summer.

In Zurich, he covers more academic classes than we do here, and he thinks they are harder and more rigorous. There are higher expectations, but students learn more, have more homework, and rarely have outside jobs that they work other than during their seasonal breaks. There are also elective courses, but not nearly as much as what we offer. Mainly, their electives are art and music. Students are graded on a scale of 6 points for each course they take, with a 6 being the highest score. A student needs to earn at least of 4 in order to pass a course. In order to graduate, the students need to complete and pass a graduation test, as well as complete a graded project of their choice.

Michael enjoys school mostly because he gets to spend time with his friends. Although he does not get much time talk to his friends during class, which are mostly lectures and very fast paced with little time for questions, he does get a lot of time to talk with his friends in between classes or during his lunch hours. He doesn't like that his schooling in Zurich is very rigorous, and that he has to learn French, English, and Latin. He speaks Swiss/German at home, and straight German at school because it is more formal. During the lectures, information is presented once and quickly moved through, where as here at Mukwonago, we repeat things multiple times in class, in different ways, and have a lot of time for questions, which are encouraged. The only time for Michael to ask questions in Zurich is in between questions, and these questions are not as openly welcomed as they are here. Instead Michael feels like he is bothering his teachers if he asks a question after class.

Here at Mukwonago, Michael notices teachers saying hi to students in the passing time in the halls between classes. He feels comfortable saying hi to his teachers here, where as in Zurich the student/teacher relationship is different. The relationship is very formal, less friendly, and teachers don't really say hi in the hallways, or ask how a student is doing.

Well, I'm not a parent, but I have a general idea of what my parenting style will be when I am one. I have read about half of Amy Chua's book so far, and although interesting, I think I will parent drastically differently. I think as a teacher, I greatly impact my students lives just as there parents do. I feel that the "Chinese Parenting" methods that Amy uses with her daughters are harsh and although they proceed successful children, I do not know that it is in the best interest of the child. This gives me insight into the type of family life and expectations that some of my students may have. I do not know their parents child rearing principals, but I can take into account that different students may have very different values instilled in them. I think that one reason the "Western Parenting" and "Chinese Parenting" are so different is because we have different values, and different ways of defining success. To me, a westerner, success is happiness, being able to support one's self, being able to make good decisions, being respectful, trying your hardest, being creative, being a leader, being compassionate, being a team player, and yes, academic and/or "work" achievement also. The Chinese values are very different than mine, and so how they define success is very different than me. We are all trying to do what is best for our children so that they can be successful, hopefully even more successful than us, as parents. Since our "ends" our different, it makes sense that our "means" are different. I hope, as a teacher, that my motivation strategies, praise, encouragement, positive reinforcement, passion for and love of learning, high expectations, and encouragement of creativity will balance out with the parenting styles of most of the parents of my students, whether they be "Westerners," "Chinese," or somewhere in between.
 * Tiger Mother Reflection:**

I am writing about a student, I will call her the “pseudo name” Bella. Bella is a sophomore in my class, and until recently, I would have thought that she saw herself as a good student, a model student in fact. She is getting an A- in my class, is very studious, seems confident, has supportive and positive relationships with her peers and friends, and comes to class seeming happy every day. I recently got the chance to get to know Bella a lot better as she was a student in my small group at Challenge Day, a retreat put on by the Mukwonago chapter of SAVE (Students Against Violence Everywhere) which was geared towards anti-bullying. At Challenge Day, Bella shared with me in tears what she was going through at home. Bella is the youngest of three daughters in her family. Bella’s oldest sister has gotten into drugs and is currently serving time in jail for a drug related conviction. Bella’s other older is a straight A student with AP classes earning her a GPA above even a 4.0. Bella’s mother has fibromyalgia and is ill and in a lot of pain. Bella’s father is gone most of the time. Bella feels that she is living in a dark shadow behind the legacies, both positive and negative, of her family. She feels like she has academically failed, not able to keep up with the success of her sister. Bella receives minimal attention from her family, and comes home almost every day from school to an empty house. Sometimes, she feels that she needs to get away, and she climbs out her bedroom window to sit on the roof of her house. Then she said, tears rolling down her cheeks, that she sometimes thought to herself, “What if I just jumped off?” I have shared this information with our school social worker, and I myself am trying to serve whatever supportive role I can as a member of Bella’s Exosystem. I have written Bella a note and amongst other things, I have expressed that I saw how supportive she was of the others students present at Challenge Day, and how I know her presence and support changed many of their lives, mine included. She wrote me back a letter which I’m sure I’ll always keep in my small box of teacher mementos. I hope that my support can make Bella’s environment stronger and more positive, along with additional help that she has access to.
 * Bronfenbrenner Reflection:**

Favorite Website... Well my FAVORITE website is not necessarily educational or one I would use in the classroom, so instead, I will link to my favorite "classroom" website, which is the McDougal Littell Classzone website that correlates with both the Algerba and Geometry textbooks that I use in class. My students can co online here to take practice tests, quizzes, and homework assignments, see their books online, play games, watch animations, use flashcards, and much more :) You can link to classzone here ---> **Classzone.com **

Yogi Bear... (arf!)



Here is a worksheet that I give my students when we are learning about the placement of the **centroid** in a triangle. The centriod is the intersection of the three **medians** of the trianlge, and the balancing point of a triangle! (jJust in case anyone wants to brush up on their geometry!!!) Here is is! --->

This is my FAVORITE YouTube video. It is worth watching. I heard there is a documentary about it that I REALLY want to see, but I can't find it on netflix, so let me know if you know where to find it!!! media type="youtube" key="ZDZaWgf_bk0?fs=1" height="385" width="480" align="center"

media type="custom" key="8119368" align="center"

Use the Box Method (instead of FOIL) to multiply these two polynomials... When you combine like terms to add up the four boxes, you get 15x^2 + 34x + -16.
 * || 3x || -2 ||
 * 5x || 15x^2 || 10x ||
 * 8 || 24x || -16 ||

Reflection: This is really cool. I really like the embedding features, because then a student can watch a video or file without leaving the wiki or having to open a new window. Embedded videos and files seem a lot more user friendly than links! I think this is a great tool and can definately see myself using it for my classes!