Blog #4

            This week’s topic of rigor was difficult for my group and me to discuss. We had a lot of different thoughts about the definition of rigor and how it is shown in classrooms. We talked about how we had rigorous courses in high school such as our AP classes with a lot of reading, studying, and homework. However, some of my AP courses had a lot of fun activities and movies so it wasn’t just being lectured at. The class was very fun and enjoyable but at the same time it was a lot of work inside and outside of school.

            Our group talked about rigor in elementary school and how students even in first grade are starting to get a lot of homework and projects. Someone’s sister in our group was getting book reports and essays when she was in first grade. We think that school is becoming a lot harder for children not only in elementary school but also in high school as well. We were talking about how it is important for children to have time to learn about playing and sharing. They need to learn communication skills and friendships at that young age.

            It is up to the teacher to be able to teach a rigorous class but at the same time make it fun and interesting for the students. Our group thought that is the most successful way to teach students and have them learn more. Also, if kindergarten classes are becoming full days, this can be a strain on young children if they are used to half days. They can only learn so much in a set amount of time.
I also liked our discussions about how it is important for us students to get hands on learning and a lot of experience teaching and in classrooms to fully get an understanding of what teaching is like. Partly why I chose to come to Eastern is because they require so many classes you need to take to become a teacher also 50 hours of community service working with children. I would only be able to understand what it is to be in a classroom and teach by physically being in one. I love the CCE for giving me the opportunity to work with children and students. 

            This week at the Elementary school I helped a girl with her homework and it was all in Spanish. I have taken Spanish in elementary school and high school so it was nice that I was able to understand it. Some of the words she did not know how to pronounce so I was able to help her and pronounce the word in Spanish. Mostly all the children know how to speak Spanish and every time we go there they teach us something new and love when we try to speak to them in their first language. As someone who wants to be an ESL teacher I loved helping them transition from Spanish to English while reading but also helping them with Spanish as well.  

BLOG #3

This week’s discussions about why students cheat was very interesting to me. I believe that students cheat because schools make it seem like the grades are more important than learning. Students feel that they have to memorize information for tests and quizzes and don't end up remembering anything. They're not really learning they're just studying for the test to get good grades. 

         Having parents that are strict with school and grades I can relate to the students who say that there is a lot of pressure on them to do well on school. Also, being a student athlete is also something that can make students cheat. Coaches say that school comes before sports so students will do whatever they have to do to be able to continue to play. Some teachers understand that student athletes have so much to balance between schoolwork, jobs, extra curricular, and all the games and practices. However, some teachers say that there are no excuses and put a lot of pressure on the students to get good grades.

         I think it is a good idea for teachers to use turnitin.com as well because it can tell when students have plagiarized or not. This can prevent them from cheating in the beginning. Also, if students are caught cheating I think that there should be serious punishment for it.

         Teachers can prevent students from cheating if they make the classroom an enjoyable environment. An example of this would be our class. We work in groups and are able to share our opinion with others and not feel judged or any pressure. Students like how it is more laid back and fun then just sitting in rows being lectured at. When we are lectured at, the work becomes boring and more students are likely to not care and then cheat on homework or tests. Also, in the class we talk about things that we are all interested in so it is a class that students look forward to coming to.  I think that if more classes were like this, students would be less likely to cheat. Also, it helps us learn the information better.

BLOG #2

       This week at Natchuag Elementary school we started off by helping the students with homework as usual. This little boy, named Jose, wanted me to help him with his reading log. I told him about how I used to have to do the same thing when I was his age. I helped him read a couple of books to put in his log. When we started reading it took a long time because he is just learning how to read. Each word he would sound out and try to put all the sounds together. It taught me that patience is key to helping him. As he started struggling I waited a little to see if he could do it on his own and then helped him if he really needed it. He was so excited after we got through one full book that he read himself. After his group went outside for recess we helped another group of students with their homework. These were the older students. My friend Ali and I helped this one boy count up numbers for his behavior worksheet. It was interesting to see how some of the students homework was different than what it was when we were in elementary school. Although they were learning similar things such as long division, they were taught it differently. Instead of long division they were using circles and rectangles.

       The articles about the common core we have been reading about are interesting. I do believe there should be a common core however I’m interested in how that works with pubic schools versus private schools. It is good for students that there is no advantages for anyone when people go to college and also teachers can teach their lessons anyway they want. It could help them with lesson planning and they can be creative with it. It also keeps the progression of the learning curve constant among all grades.