EDUC 701 As I finished reading The Flat World and Education (Darling-Hammond) I was left feeling both discouraged by the state of education and our country falling behind others but also encouraged that educational reform and change is definitely possible as proven by other countries.
Of the 5 policy prescriptions above and outlined in the closing chapter, I feel like I can personally make the most difference in regards to #5. I feel fortunate to work at a school where all teachers are willing to roll up their sleeves, learn and implement new ideas and strategies and work together in PLCs, professional development days, and in grade span teams to share and seek suggestions for improvement. I believe we are all better educators as a result of the collaboration we make time for and our students definitely benefit from it. Educator, Liz McDonald’s experience with district pacing guides really resonated with me. I believe that most educators make a good faith effort to implement the district’s curriculum and comply with mandated reforms while at the same time implementing additional resources to strengthen instruction. The pacing guides present continual challenges for teachers who need to make the decision to stay on pace for sake of scheduled assessments with the risk of losing students along the way. Like McDonald, when I have opted to stay on the prescribed pace, there has consistently been a rise in unwanted student behaviors as a result. In an ideal world, teachers would be provided with curriculum guidance and support for the best sequence of topics or central ideas to be introduced but would allow for students to spend more time studying central ideas with inquiry based methods and opportunities to apply, analyze and integrate new learning in real world applications. This is something I can make sure I do in my own classroom which is where I feel I have the most opportunity to make positive changes.
2 Comments
Kristin Drew
7/6/2016 01:12:13 pm
I agree with your take-away about feeling a bit sad about the state of education, especially in California. But, like you, I think we can affect change within our classrooms and school communities just as you have described. I also wonder if we should be more proactive at the School Board meetings with our comments.....
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Autumn Duarte
7/6/2016 07:01:35 pm
I agree with your statements about pacing guides. Although I feel that they can be helpful if they are used as their name implies-- as a guide, I feel that many schools/teachers view them as something they have to strictly adhere to. When pacing guides are viewed as something flexible, it makes it easier to review, reteach, and delve deeper into topics as desired.
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