Blog 6

1. In my opinion it is hard to think of five things to be done about education without knowing where he, the President, as a nation would like to end up. With that said, I think I would first ask him questions to clarify.

1. What is the final goal of education in the nation? What does the nation need to achieve in order to be considered an "educated" nation? One cannot know a first step of a process without knowing what the desired end result is. 
2. Once the desired end result is understood I believe that some form of choice needs to be re-administered to the schools. Teachers need to be allowed to be creative in their classrooms in order for all students to have the opportunity to learn. With out creativity and curriculum adjustment within the classroom, student (especially elementary students) will struggle to succeed. 
3. With the creativity aspect to the classroom, one must think about the schools that can not financially afford to be creative. It is hard to justify having a very creative and in depth lesson plan when a school struggles to get the basic supplies they need. I think that the we need to find a way to bridge this gap. How this will be done I am not sure, but the socio-economic challenges within  an education community needs to stop effecting the learning of the students. 
4. Students are becoming 21st century learners. They are using lots of technology and exposed to hours of media a day, whether it is in the classroom or at home. For this reason schools need to get up to date with their technology and the way they implement it into the classroom. This does not mean that kindles should take the place of books, or computers should take the place of a paper and pen. However, students, as well as teachers, need to be trained and exposed to technology in order to succeed in today society. 
5. In relation to technology, I believe education needs to be more interdisciplinary. While subjects should be taught separately,  i think that subjects also need to be tied together. Schools need to encourage the types of lessons where English is being paired with math or science. This type of learning allows students to understand that all the content they are learning is connected in some way. 

2. Ravitch has taught me a great deal through reading this book. Going into this course I only knew a little of the history of education and the reform(s) that has taken place. I believe as a new teacher I need to know the history of the education system i am getting into and what different views on this system have been, and are, out there. While i still am unsure of the best way to reform, or help, our school system, knowing the history is the first step in coming up with something that may change the education for the better. 

3. I believe that as a teacher, in the current state of the American education system, I need to do everything i can to help my students succeed. As an elementary school teacher this includes being available to them with whatever they need, whether it is academic or personal help. Mostly I think that I need to do what I can to make students love learning. Elementary school is their first impressions of education and developing a love for learning at this age will allow them to keep their love for learning for many years to come. I myself was a struggling student throughout my education career but, in elementary school i had teachers that inspired me to keep trying and always believed in me even when i didn't believe in myself. This has stayed with me and is what I would like to do for the students i will have. 

4. http://www.nate.org.uk/   

• From exploring this website it seems like it would be very helpful to me as an educator. Becoming a member gives you access to its bookstore and article database which will allow you to keep up to day on English content. It also offers you conferences and courses which will keep an educator informed on what is happening in this content. 

    http://www.ncte.org/elem

• This is a website that supports teaching literacy in all grade levels. Their goal is to connect and support teachers as the help develop their literacy skills.They have professional development for teachers online and give many resources for their members to use including common core standard help. I believe that as a new teacher this site would be very beneficial to me. I really like that you can connect with other teachers and hear about their experiences as well as share my own experiences.

5. a. RAFT workshops. San Jose ca

       Accadamy expert computer training, San francisco, ca

• Offers many courses to help advance teachers understanding of technology

       Google building

• Taking a tour and learning more about technology would be very helpful to me.        

       The exploratorium, San Francisco, ca
                     I think going to the exploratorium will give me as well as any of my student a hands on experience that wil give them something to write about in there blogs
        The future writers workshop, San Francisco ca
                      This source will help me understand the writing process better and give me and understanding of what my students need.


5.b.       If you're trying to teach kids how to write you gotta have this book   By M. Frank
             The art of teaching writing. By, Lucy calkins
              Blogging in the classroom.  Tracie Heskett
              Making connections With blogging: Authentic Learning for today's classroom.
                         By Brian    Crosby
            Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and Other powerful Web tools for the classroom. By Will Richardson
5.c. What are the benefits of blogging in the elementary classroom? By C. Lamonica
        Classroom blogging: what is the role in science learning? By, Allison Sawmiller
5.d. Making writers workshop come alive, UC Berkeley
       Book arts studio: Making books for and with children,
5.e. Shakespeare house in Stratford
       Google in new York
       Jane Austen's home and museum
       National writing project confrence
       K-12 teacher conference for writing And science, San Diego ca
     
     
             
             
             
             

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   http://www.iatefl.org/

• This association gives its members access to annual conferences and exhibitions, as well as, special interest groups that will give one the latest developments in English teaching and theory. The other reason I really liked this website was because it allows its members to connect to other members. You can share your experiences with other teachers around the world, which would be both helpful to share your own experience and learn of others experiences. 
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5. Over the next three years, if you could, what would you . . .

still like to see in the Bay Area (think of experiential resources)—name 5:

• Google Headquarters- Learning more about what is available with today's technological advances. 
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still like to read  (books in subject area) name 5

still like to investigate (journals in subject area) name 2

still like to attend (conferences or events in subject area) name 2

still like to see in the world connected to your subject area:  name 5