Seven-Eight-Nine

Chapter Seven: How Schools are held Accountable

It seems that the No Child Left behind Act pervades the way the public school is managed in America. Since the passing of NCLB act, accountability has been greatly emphasized. In fact, the act was created to mandate accountability in the public school system. The primary goal is to improve student achievement and to close the gap between white and minority students.

NCLB requires states to administer standards-based assessments in reading, math, and science with the goal of having all students proficient in those subjects by 2014. The intentions are admirable, but it throws all the burdens on the teachers. Parent involvement and parent support is actually essential to see this through, and it has proven to be a great factor in student achievement. Still, teachers in the U.S. are compensated for their hard work in the form of extra money, or performance pay.


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Chapter Eight: Your Legal Responsibilities and Rights as a Teacher

Gaining knowledge on the legal responsibilities of a teacher can be a bit overwhelming. The responsibility that struck me the most is preventing tort liability, which is a civil wrong against the rights of others. There are three kinds of torts that you may encounter in school and in the classroom: negligence, intentional torts, and strict liability.

As teachers, we must try to avoid all three torts. Our conduct or care should not harm or injure another person. We should not engage in conduct that centers around the harm and defamation of individuals in school, whether they are students, colleagues, or parents. We should also try to prevent hazardous occurences from happening by providing and maintaining a safe classroom environment.

But beyond the overwhelming legal responsibilities, teachers also have legal rights. The one that stood out for me the right to nondiscrimination. Last school year, I truly felt I was being given a hard time by an administrator because I felt I was being discriminated against because of my sexual preference.

I realize now though that I have the same legal rights towards discrimination as my students. As a matter of fact, school districts and school officials cannot discriminate in the hiring, dismissal, promotion, and demotion of teachers. Sure, I realize that the Catholic religion plays a big part in communal decisions, but I don't think it should hinder the way a government operates. Although we respect the individual's choice in religion, it should not play a role in how public schools function and operate.


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Chapter Nine: The Implications of Philosophies of Education for You and Your Students

As a teacher, what do I believe? My personal philosophy on education may seem minuscule, but it greatly shapes the way I teach in the classroom. It shapes the way I live my life, and the example I set in the classroom and out in public. The primary tension is between the philosophies of education and the educational practices that support them in the public school.

There are many philosophies on education, but what do you agree with? These philosophies, from perennialism to exitentialism, all suggest different approaches and belief systems, but as teachers, we should create our own personal beliefs and philosophies because they reflect who the teacher is as an individual and as an educator.


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Five & Six

Chapter Five: How you can Implement Assistive Technology and Differentiated Instruction to Assist Students in Your Classroom

First of all, what is an assistive technology device? In a nutshell, it is any item, device, or piece of equipment, or product, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional abilities of individuals with disabilities. There are a range of products and applications that can be used in the classroom to assist the student's academic learning experience. For example, students who are blind can utilize audio recordings of lectures to substitute actual lectures, as well as braille textbooks to assist in studying.

In this day and age, where technology is constantly growing and improving, I wouldn't be surprised to see that there are many assistive technology devices being developed to cater to individuals with disabilities. After all, United States is a country that promotes equality and equal opportunities.


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Chapter Six: What Educational Reforms are Promoting Greater Parent Empowerment

Its tragic how parent empowerment is nonexistent on Guam. Parent empowerment involves providing parents the opportunity to make decisions and become involved with the school as partners in their children's education. Here on Guam, the community of stakeholders, which includes the parents and their children, have no voice, no say in how the school system is structured.

In the U.S., parent empowerment has increased in midst of the No Child Left behind Act. In terms of school choice and NCLB, students are eligible for public school choice if the public school they are attending doesn't meet the AYP, or annual yearly progress. In some cases, parents can opt to send their child to a private school if all the public schools in their area are insufficient to their child's education.

Some states issue vouchers to parents to promote parent empowerment. Vouchers are funds allocated to parents to be used to purchase education for their children at a public or private school. Many critics are against the voucher system because it takes the focus away from reforming the American public school system. Charter schools are another option, but at times, standards are not aligned with the public school system since it is an "independent" public school. Parent empowerment does not occur here on Guam because educational funds are always in short supply. We therefore follow federal regulations to bring funds into our education system.


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Three & Four

Chapter Three: What is it like to Teach in Urban, Rural, and Suburban Schools

The United States, in all its complex diversity of communities, has three types of public schools in the country. There are urban school districts and schools, rural schools, and suburban schools. There are specific characteristics that set them apart.

Urban schools are located in cities and tend to be large, and student bodies tend to reflect the diversity of urban communities. Rural schools often reflect a sense of community where members of the community are close-knit. These schools are often found primarily in the Midwest, West, and South.Suburban schools are located adjacent to urban communities. People often move to the suburbs to escape city life, but city problems are found in suburbia as well.

The schools here in Guam seem to possess similar characteristics of a suburban school.There, however, are differences. Sure, Guam is a close knit community where everyone seems to know each other, but in terms of coming together as a community to address concerns and fix problems in the public school system, there is no close-knit support. And like urban schools, funding is often scarce in our education system which deters the quality of education that we provide to our students.

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Chapter Four: What Multicultural Education is and What it Involves

In a sense, multicultural education is aligned with the No Child Left Behind Act. Multicultural education is designed to ensure that all students receive equal opportunities regardless of socioeconomic status, gender, sexual orientation, and racial and cultural backgrounds. There are five models of approach to multicultural education.

There's the teaching of exceptional and culturally different students, which targets students who are behind academically. Another approach centers around human relations., and aims to enhance positive feelings towards each other. Single group studies focuses on the background of one group. They also work towards social change. The multicultural approach targets all students and organizes curriculum to provide culturally relevant activities in all subjects. Lastly is the multicultural approach that aims to rebuild or reform society, which I personally agree with.

In Guam, diversity in the classroom has been in existence for awhile. Many have migrated to Guam from all over the place, but we have seen great numbers of people coming from the Philippines or the FSM ( Federal States of Micronesia). To accompany these individuals, some who have no exposure or knowledge of the English language or Western society, programs such as the ESL (English as a Second Language) have been implemented in the public school system. However, no specific approach to Multicultural Education has been enforced here on Guam.

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One & Two

Chapter One: What it Means to be a Teacher

For teachers, choosing to teach as a profession is a decision made deep within the individual. As teachers, there are qualities that need to be acquired and knowledge to be gained in the process of growing into an effective teacher in the modern day classroom. There are many needs that have to be met in the classroom.

Teachers are the primary decision makers when it comes to deciding how the curriculum is structured and designed. However, making decisions daily should evolve into something that is second nature to you. With making decisions comes planning. Its an on-going process of thinking and making decisions before, during, and after providing classroom instruction.

Another important aspect is building positive learning environments in the classroom. Of course, that starts with the classroom climate. Routines and practices need to be enforced daily. Your approach to classroom management must be firm and consistent. Strategies must be fostered in assessing student performance. Classroom instruction should be high in quality. Also, interactions between students and teacher are essential.


Chapter Two: Teaching as a Profession

Teaching is definitely a profession that is structured with many dimensions. There are five integrated dimensions in the teaching profession: content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge and skills, professional and pedagogical knowledge and skills, student learning, and professional dispositions.

What interested me the most was the characteristics of today's teaching force. It was not surprising to discover that 75 percent of the modern day teachers are female with a surprising majority being white or Anglo-European American. This really stood out for me because I am definitely a minority in the teaching profession: Male. Asian. Gay. The truth, however, is that there still exists a great diversity of teachers, which is a positive point because multicultural classrooms are greatly increasing. With that said, the need for teachers is greater than ever.

So, teach.

The Ron Clark Story

We've seen it done before. Movie studios churn out inspirational "teacher" films that aim to motivate viewers to become teachers, often resulting in gooey, over-filled buckets of cheese. The list is endless: Dead Poet's Society, Stand and Deliver, Freedom Writers, Dangerous Minds, and NOW The Ron Clark Story. I'm almost certain that there are more to add onto the list, but only a handful have that effective convincing quality that proves to be substantial, rich, and genuinely meaningful.

We have seen an uprise of films dealing with multicultural education, and the inherent challenges that come along with it. Although The Ron Clark Story seems to follow the formulaic concoction of a (white) teacher thrown into a modern, challenging multicultural classroom, the story remains plausible since the film is based on an actual person and inspired by actual events.

We first meet Mr. Ron Clark (Matthew Perry) as a successful, small-town elementary teacher, who, in the beginning of the film, is awarded a school parking stall with his name engraved on the concrete stall for his effective efforts in the classroom. Early on, the film hints that Mr. Clark truly is a genuine character. The film begins with him befriending a little blonde boy standing outside of the classroom in a trash can. The boy has been thrown out of class because the teacher felt that the student belonged in the trash can instead of the classroom. How detestable!

To further enhance that aspect of Mr. Clark's character, the film centers on his adventures of relocating to the Big Apple, New York City. There, he takes a job at a Cleopatra-themed restaurant/bar as a waiter as he tries to further pursue his career in education. He fights for a job at a trouble elementary school in Harlem, bravely taking on the teaching position for a class that's gone through dozens of teachers in the past.

Sure, Mr. Clark's intentions seem genuine and heartfelt, but it was nice to see that the film didn't sugar coat the challenges he faced in the classroom. He went through alot: disrespectful students who aren't afraid to answer back with smart remarks, classroom vandalism, car vandalism, and the works. Shameeka proved to be the most difficult student; she seemed to rule the class, whatever she did, they did.

Still, Mr. Clark's valiant and persistent efforts eventually glimmered through; his neverending efforts to get through to them are greatly memorable: the chocolate milk lesson, the Presidents of the United States rap song, and personally visiting his students' parents. They definitely showcase a variety of qualities that every good teacher should possess.

He definitely wasn't a perfect teacher, but that does not minimize how effective he was in his profession. The struggles he faced in the classroom is meant to symbolize every teacher's inherent struggle in the classroom. No matter how minute or epic, we will face some form of struggle in the classroom. But like Ron Clark, we should remain enthusiastic and positive in everything that we do in and out of the classroom.

The film works, although it sometimes leans more towards the sappy, sentimental cheese of other teacher films, and I definitely bought Matthew Perry as Ron Clark. He definitely portrays a passionate, young man eager to teach, inspire, and mold the minds of the future. I like how he transformed the lives of his students in the multicultural classroom because I definitely related to that. I am a product of the public school system, where multicultural classrooms are the norm. Further more, it is a film worth showing to aspiring teachers as well as to students.

Why I Want to Become a Teacher

For the past two years, I have worked in the classroom as an emergency-certified, limited-term English teacher at George Washington High School. The island’s dire need of teachers remains large as individuals with their Bachelor’s degree are able to teach in the classroom for one complete school year even without proper training or legitimate certification credentials. I am one of them. I am taking this course because I want to become a fully certified teacher. This class is one of the many required courses that I need in order to become fully certified.

For a long time, I wanted to be a filmmaker, a screenwriter, and maybe do a little acting in between. I’ve always envisioned myself heading off to film school in the mainland, preferably New York City, and getting an education as well as experience in the film industry. That, however, did not work out. After graduating from high school, I was given the Merit Award scholarship here at UOG, and since the only schools that accepted me for college were in Hawaii and Colorado, I felt that it would be ridiculous to turn the scholarship down. Why pay double for an education off-island when I can get a college education for free without having to leave the island?

I considered teaching when I first entered college, but I was intimidated by the idea of having to face a roomful of people. What if they didn’t listen to me? Would I be able to control them? Can I really pull this off? Those types of questions were running through my mind, and for a while I was stunted by such fears. I ended up finishing college with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication, and was eager to gain experience in the media world.

I, however, never realized how weak and limited the media industry is here on Guam. I was left unemployed for several months, after countless employment applications and resume submissions. I ended up settling for the first job opportunity that came calling, and that was working as a cameraman, or in fancier terms, a videographer for a Japanese wedding company. But, I didn’t enjoy it. So, I had to reevaluate my situation. By doing so, I realized that I wanted to do something fulfilling with my life.

Many of my friends ended up being teachers, and hearing their “horror” stories stirred up an interest within me. I decided to try it out, and after two years of teaching, I have grown to love it. That is why I am working on getting fully certified as a teacher because it is a profession that I have fallen in love with. Every day, as I walk into the classroom with a cup of coffee on tow, I walked in with eager anticipation and a sense of curiosity to what this day will bring.

Teaching Standards: A Reflection

It was interesting to read up on the different teaching standards.

The University of Guam's School of Education structures their curriculum by incorporating three conceptual elements: Every course is designed to help mold the potential teacher into a knowledgeable scholar, an effective communicator, and a reflective decision-maker. It was nice to see that the expectations and goals were well-rounded in expectations, which truly reflects the standards an educator should uphold.

I also noticed that although the Guam Teacher Professional Standards and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards seem different in diction and prose, the essence of the standards are greatly similar. These standards have a core focus on promoting personal growth within the student, as well as enhancing and maintaining professional growth within the teacher. Aside from designing a classroom curriculum, engaging in effective classroom instruction, and managing the classroom environment, a teacher should always self-evaluate their professional growth and development.

As teachers, it is good to have standards. We all need expectations and guidelines in our professions to help each individual excel and prosper in what they do. I now have an idea and an understanding of the standards an teacher must uphold in their profession.