What's Culture Got to do with It?

The Melting Pot. Not a restaurant; a philosophy. There is a trend of ethnic diversity that not only seeps through the streets of our busy cities, but also permeates almost every public school in the nation. But, sadly, state and national reports have found that students who are outliers when it comes to the mainstream fall behind in classes, which affects their education so much that they oftentimes end up with low-skill, low-paying jobs.


Students who are linguistically and socially diverse also find themselves vulnerable, as they are already behind in classes and frustrations grow. And the trend of diverse students has only risen annually as we grow as a nation. In 1986, 50% of California's school population was non-Anglo. It is much higher now in 2011.


With these statistics about the negative aspects of diversity, educators might become overwhelmed. But there is hope. So what are some effective instructional practices that will actually place diversity in the favor of students? Which ones might bring success? Author Eugene Garcia suggests a few key ways to help these students: high levels of communication, integrated and thematic curriculum, collaborative learning, a focus on language and literacy, and changing student and teacher perceptions into positivity.


One of the best things a teacher can do if he/she has a highly diverse classroom is to focus on organized instruction with small groups where communication is used between students, and where competition is actually against the students themselves to create a motivational ingredient.


Using some (or hopefully all) of these techniques is a great start to forming cohesion between students as diversity is recognized as a blessing, not a burden. That way, our melting pot of eager students boils into a beautiful soup of encouragement, appreciation, hard work, and most importantly, lifelong success.


Dr. Jones, Stephen. 17 April 2009. "Incorporating Cultural Diversity in the Classroom." Teachers of Color. Retrieved from http://www.teachersofcolor.com/2009/04/incorporating-cultural-diversity-in-the-classroom/
Garcia, Eugene E.(1991). "The Education of Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Students: Effective Instructional Practices." UC Berkeley: Center for Research on Education, Diversity and Excellence. Retrieved from http://escholarship.org/uc/item/2793n11s;jsessionid=73F1285E30451E8B72CBB97BE04A4EF8#

Techno 911

Nowadays when we think about technology in schools, machines like SmartBoards and projectors, video screens and interactive computer games jump into the brain. But we forget that along with the privileges of using technology in schools,  many problems also arise.In the article entitled "Technology in Schools: Problems and Possibilities," John Merrow expresses his thoughts on current issues in our schools regarding technology.


First, he wants us to know about something important called the technology gap. This means that only students who are "rich," "fortunate," or "blessed" enough are easily exposed to a plethora of types of technology. Merrow concludes that poorer children suffer, because their only access to technology is in public school which is not enough. Therefore, they become increasingly behind in typing, technology knowledge, and research skills by the time they reach middle and high school.


Next, we need to consider how teachers and schools limit students' access to [sometimes important] information online. Certain search engines are banned and filtered, certain sites are not accessible, and certain actions online are not permitted. While Merrow does make a good argument that students will most likely access this banned information at home if they can't use it at school, that is still not a great enough argument for me to support such sites as violence or video games or pornography on school computers. But I will say that I agree with Merrow on the point that students need to be guided to USE technology in creative, meaningful ways; students should NOT just be receiving negative stimuli about the dangers of using technology.


Another issue I think we need to look at is the fact that there are not enough technology-licensed educators in the U.S. to really teach and instill the vast opportunities that technology can provide to students. Students oftentimes fall into the trap of being behind in a class, or having so much homework placed upon them, that they abuse technology and the Internet to produce ideas and creations that are not their own. Take, for instance, Merrow's notion, "I think technology is a huge threat to a decent education precisely because it allows shortcuts like that.  We know that students everywhere are downloading term papers written by others and submitting them as their own, and now they don’t even have to read the material.  We’re producing students with no deep understanding of our culture and a fundamental contempt for education" (par 11). Students need to be guided in how to find cites that spurn creativity and metacognition, NOT cites that word-vomit their homework and thoughts to them.


One solution for the inefficient ways technologies are being used in schools is to simply slow down. For instance, if you slow down a project into parts: you might study a Shakespeare play such as Hamlet, allow students to read the play's text, then read summaries in SparkNotes, read opinions of the play online, and watch parodies of the play, then have students make their own reenactment videos; they will have connected with Old English language, life themes, valuable conversations, time to form opinions, meaningful encounters and use of technology, and active/engaging assessment.


In the end, the choice is ours as educators. We can use technology in schools to support students to dig and research and create, or we can continue in our usual way of doing things and let the have-nots continue to lag behind while allowing the others to submit questionable watered-down information. Feel how you may, but my vote goes for challenging the system so much that we look back at today and say, "Wow. We really did change the world." 


Carter, Carol J. 21 October 2010. "Blending Computers in the Classroom." Retrieved from http://caroljcarter.com/category/technology/
Merrow, John. 3 November 2009. "Technology in Schools: Problems and Possibilities." Retrieved from http://takingnote.learningmatters.tv/?p=3261

Why Should Parents Care?

It is common knowledge that students who have uninvolved parents usually  earn higher grades, attend school more, have better social skills, adapt well to school, and move on to education at the collegiate level. Most of us have witnessed first-hand the strong effects parents have on their children, and know of the influence parents directly have on their children's academic success. Even the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, and others, document the fact that "when schools, families, and community groups work together to support learning, children tend to do better in school, stay in school longer, and like school more" (par 1).


But what about when parents aren't involved? What if they don't necessarily care? The U.S. Department of Education reported that there is a severe decline in parental involvement as students grow older. Furthermore, it turns out, students who are in a lower economic situation than others have even less support from their parents;  42% of poor students have parental support compared to their "better-off peers," who have 72% support.


According to the National Network of Partnership for Schools, there is hope. They provide a few ways for schools and parents to collaborate to support students. A few ways for schools to get parents on board might be the following:

• Communicate with parents about student progress and needs.
• Involve families as volunteers in the school.
• Encourage families to learn together at home.
• Coordinate with your community to provide materials for parents on how to help with homework, encouragement, and scholastic activities.

Upper Merion Area School District. Unnamed. 2008. Retrieved  from http://www.umasd.org/13331098164824250/site/default.asp
Education Week. September 18, 2011. Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/parent-involvement/

Would You Like Fries With That?

 
What most students are looking forward to, what teachers try to avoid, what the government has had a hard time regulating, what parents have flamboyant opinions about, what workers dread cleaning up: cafeteria lunches. In my day, Elementary lunches consisted of a rotation of planned meals that were unhealthy by most standards, but just enough balanced to be legal for at least 10 years in a row. My plate might consist of a large slice of pepperoni pizza, canned green beans, a roll of somesort, chocolate milk, and of course, jello topped with whipped cream. Filling, sure. Balanced, for the most part. Healthful, well now that's another story.


Health standards in public school cafeterias have evolved into more strict menus of previously-approved items. Lunchworkers do well nowadays to provide meals that are lower in calorie and higher in vitamins and nutrients. Even items with high amounts of  salt or sugar have been cut down. But along with this healthy initiative, students are finding a loophole called the "a la carte" menu. By the time I reached high school, lunch ladies were limiting the number of french fries each plate carried, so we turned to the snack bar to purchase our beloved fried chicken sandwiches and Milo's sweet tea instead. We didn't heed the government-regulated, balanced lunch that would sustain us through 7th period Algebra II; and some of us now regret our decisions.


According to Zrinka's article, more studies have shown the positive effect of healthy eating on test scores. Researchers' work shows that eating the banana-salad-chicken breast-cornbread-milk meal far outperforms the pizza-pop approach in the learning environment. Zrinka realizes that law now determines what is served for school lunch, and that the hands that prepare school lunches are much more aware and determined to provide healthful meals. However, he also sees a trend in students to turn to snack bars and vending machines to scratch their high fructose corn syrup itch. On top of schools taking charge in the lunchroom, Zrinka also advises parents to change their approaches in both packing and purchasing their children's midday meals. Parents can even ask for the lunchroom's weekly or daily menu to better monitor what their child is eating.


Here are a few tips for kids, parents, teachers, food industry workers, and anyone else who wants to "health up" their lunch and be carried past three o'clock:
#1. Brown is beautiful. Eat whole grains!
#2. Add fruits and veggies. The more the better!
#3. Pack some protein. Make energy last!
#4. Fluids are important too. Milk, water, and 100% juice!

lesliehwelsh  (Google alias). 6 December, 2010. "The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010." Graphic #1. http://everythingfat.wordpress.com/2010/12/06/child-nutrition-bill/

Naselli, Michael. 16 March, 2011. "School Cafeteria Food Healthy to Eat? Hardly.." Graphic #2.

http://fremdamericanstudies.ning.com/profiles/blogs/school-cafeteria-food-healthy

Peters, Zrinka. 2006-2011. "Health Up The Cafeteria Lunch!" Education.com, Inc.       

http://www.education.com/magazine/article/School_Cafeteria/

Bullying Gone Too Far

New York Times authors Erik Eckholm and Katie Zezima document a bullying incident at its harshest state; but instead of hurt feelings, this one brought death.


"Bullying" is a major issue in schools, but historically teachers and parents have looked the other way. Recently, bullying has become so appalling and such a national problem that it is too hard to ignore. The hot topic of bullying in schools is exemplified through the story of Phoebe Prince, a 15-year-old freshman at South Hadley High School. She had just moved from Ireland with her family to west Massachusetts last fall. She only attended the school for a couple of months. Shortly after she arrived, she began dating a popular senior; and that's when it all started.


Two boys and four girls, Phoebe's classmates, began verbally assaulting her in the lunchroom, knocking books out of her hands in the hall, and throwing hard objects like canned drinks at her as she walked home from school. One day after being so berated and humiliated, Phoebe had had enough. She walked straight home from school and hung herself on the family's stair case by 4:30 p.m.


Phoebe's case of adolescent bullying also included disruption of a school assembly to mock her, bodily injury, harassment, stalking, and even statutory rape. What is particularly disturbing about this is that some teachers and other students saw these acts of violence against Phoebe Prince, yet they did nothing to uncover the truth or protect her. Moreover, these events predominantly took place on school premises. One of Phoebe's teachers, Ms. Scheibel, confessed, "The actions of these students were primarily conducted on school grounds during school hours and while school was in session" (par 17). This information makes it easy to see that school is the #1 location for adolescent bullying to occur.

Other parents since Phoebe's case have spoken up about their children's encounters with bullying; another student in Phoebe's high school had been bullied for 3 years, but faculty said they could not really help her. After Phoebe's tragic suicide, the school formally apologized to this student and her family for not taking action sooner. 

Massachusetts House and Senate have recently passed versions of an anti-bullying law, but the term "bullying" is so vague, that they do not want to classify it as a crime.  Massachusetts, and 40+ states along with it, now require bullying training for teachers, as well as time allotted in the classroom to address the issues surrounding violence and bullying. Hopefully no other life, or even quality of life, will be lost before teachers enforce nonviolence and non hate speech in their schools. It makes my stomach churn to know that no one stood up for Phoebe when she was being bullied. And now, for her, it's too late.

shapeimage 2.jpg [Bullied Girl] Nov 20, 2007. Retrieved from shop.essdack.org.
Eckholm, Eric; Zezima, Katie. "6 Teenagers Are Charged After Classmate’s Suicide." The New York Times. 29 March, 2010. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/us/30bully.html.