Wk4 Publishing Leadership Project Part 2 of 2: The New Recipe for Urban Education

Publishing an article that can help new teachers or teachers making that transition from traditional teaching methods to using technology would be one of those great moments in making a difference to society or contributing to change.
"It is during adversity when one can really make a big difference. But making a difference is not about being a big hero. It is simply about leaving the bathroom a little cleaner going out, than when you came in (Brokaw, 2010)." This quote states that we are not trying to change the the world, but to affect the students in your classroom. Regardless of what they know when they come into your classroom, we should be determined as true educators to heighten their level of education every day when they leave.

Providing students the opportunity to change is what we as educators must do. With what I have learned this past year, I am more focus than ever to use every tool available to me to deliver instruction to students so they may have that opportunity to take to make a difference in their lives. With the research packet that I have been able to compile, I believe that this would make a real and firm contribution to all educators in making a difference in an urban school system.

i feel very strong about my action research. Based on what I have seen and experienced, my ideas, backed by research done prior to my recorded accounts, is a recipe for success for all teachers in any subject. With Math my focus, students - regardless of their background - can learn complex mathematics if given the opportunity. The opportunity must be true. An educator must seek to see what motivates the student and then implement the delivery of instruction that promotes engagement by using technology the student can interact with.

edutopia is a publishing company that pushes the envelope in providing information to all educators regardless of their experience.

Brkaw, T., (2010), Making a difference, About.com : Quotations, Retrieved from
     http://quotations.about.com/cs/inspirationquotes/a/MakingADiff1.htm

Wk4 Publishing Leadership Project Part 1 of 2: The New Recipe for Urban Education

With what I have experienced all year through Full Sail University, the only act one can do is to share with everyone your own know-how. Seeking an educational journalism company can be difficult. Wanting to provide easy access to educators is crucial for urban teachers.

Teaching in an urban school district, you learn to build a network of colleagues where you can share ideas and experiences that could only improve on your delivery instruction skills and experience at your school. There are many educational firms. Which one should a novice to the industry got to.

I have identified several publishers that met my requirement as an organization that focuses on sharing ideas and techniques for new teachers or anyone thinking about embarking on this unique industry. Looking at edutopia, Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education, Education World, and Learn out Loud provided positive insights on articles that they already had. I prefer to present an article to be published. This article would provide more credibility for readers all over our country that teach at an urban school.

Week 4 Wimba Session 4 Part II - Sharing: Joseph Andrieux

With the site almost complete with more data that I am trying to put in place, I was able to get responses from my critical friends. The comments were most appreciated and plans have been drawn to make corrections to make the site a more useful resource.

Developing expertise in mathematics takes practice, which is exactly the point of this engaging, user-friendly website. The site is packed with information and my lessons are packed with real-world examples from a range of clinical settings, as well as sample interactions and hands-on learning activities.

You as the reader will experience step by step how to practice core skills raising the importance of organizing, taking notes, practicing homework, and solidifying your commitment to education.

Joe - I am not surprised with what you have discovered with our students helping each other.
Our demographics and the culture promotes our students to work together when the opportunity warrants it.
I have reviewed the site and your project notes. This was a lot of work that you have done with everything that is going at our school. With what I have seen you have done so far with the Trigonometry students this year I am glad to be your next door neighbor to peek in every now and then.
If I can provide you with some feedback, be careful with images taken of our students. You know about our school policy. Lastly, I would recommend you implement more sample lessons that you have created for our home-bound students.


Steve Harris - Math Teacher, Reading High School

_____________________________________________________________________________

Joseph,
I am not an expert on technology, but I do understand what you were trying to do. There are families where no one including the parents have any education beyond 11th grade or sooner. For a child to seek help from a neighbor or a family member is not possible.
We need to provide more for these kids as far as education, I am proud with what you have been able to accomplish that more teachers like you will embark on the same path.
The lives teachers touch has a ripple affect in our community. If students have the desire to learn, then they will spend less time on the streets. I enjoyed reading through your site especially looking at the data indicating that our city kids can learn. They just need to be taught differently.

Earnestine Towles - Counselor, Spring Valley Educational Center

Comments on John Harvey - Wk4 Reading: Art of Possibility, Ch 10-12

John Harvey's first paragraph,

Reading about the art of possibility has been nothing short of completely enlightening over these past 4 weeks. I have learned so much about different situations, and myself. And it all culminates in this week’s reading. Situations are certainly what we choose to make of them. A natural response to a given event is the downward spiral, but we must be conscious enough to choose possibility. While working at the bank, I’ve attended a couple of customer service seminars, and at each one, the instructor tells us to take problems, issues, and challenges, and turn them into opportunities. I believe the most painful, frustrating, and challenging part of this teaching is taking it from theory and into practice. It is like we must unlearn reacting as a reflex. Our reactions must become less reflexive and more reflective. Just as Ben and Roz did in our book, we must have someone we can confide in and ask how to take a challenging situation and turn it into something positive, something in the framework of possibility.

@ John,

We are always taught to persuade or motivate individuals to completing what we want them to do. It is rare that we are asked to create a foundation for them to work from. As a basketball coach, I quickly learned that we must teach players what the game is about before we can actually teach them how to play. The players must learn the simple fundamentals of how to carry themselves on the court and off the court - not simply how to dribble the ball.

Due this book, my teaching strategy changed as well as my coaching strategy for this year. We must establish a framework so our students can see vision what the goals are for themselves. That is why we need to see ourselves as the board on which our students are playing on.

Comments on Jeff Kohls - Wk4 Reading: Art of Possibility, Ch 10-12

Jeff Kohls first paragraph,
Be the Board?
It's quite a concept to remove oneself from the game as player, and establish oneself as the board. Especially the board on which the whole game is being played, taking the problematic aspect of any circumstance from the outside world and bringing them into the boundaries of yourself.

The Art of Possibility provided great insights on how to continue to motivate my students and myself. The topics you commented on being the board is a key that I never thought of. I always expected to be a coach in steering students in the correct direction.

Instead I am looking at how I can affect the family of that student and others who may come into contact. That is truly making a difference in our society.

Wk4 Free Choice - Andrieux, Joseph: Teaching outside the box.

Educating urban high school students was always a concern of mine. Will they listen? Will they follow instructions? Will they complete the assignments? Are they willing to sacrifice the time to learn and study the complex aspects of mathematics? Are they just going to make my term here short. Do they think I care about how fast they work or how much they can learn?

Students are students - they do not know what the world is like or what is in store for them. We as educators, we are not to meet them on the same plane, but we are to bring them up levels where they will find themselves on top. On my first day, I was presented with a class where students were just frustrated and tired because I was their 4th teacher in less than 30 days since school started.

At first I assumed that they just simply was trying to get rid of me, but I quickly saw that they wanted me to stay so they could learn something. I tried something new. It wasn't my introduction as to how much education I had. It was about where I came from and what was my story. I told every class about my growing up with a single parent who was hardly ever at home because of work. I shared with them how I had no one to come and watch me play football or any other sport when I was young. I shared with them, that there was really no one at home that could help me with my homework because English was not their first language.

I established a framework of trust. I created an environment where the students can see that if I can make it as a commercial pilot with where I came from, then they can make it as well. I reassured them that I ma here to make a difference and I will do everything I can to make sure that they are a part of the equation. We will learn together and pass together.

Three years later, I am still teaching at the same high school and I very much enjoy it. My old former students still come back for extra tutoring and most of them have either graduated or are taking Trigonometry or Calculus classes. This is a great leap since students were only interested in enrolling in easy math classes. They are more interested in learning math that will separate themselves form the rest of the pack when it comes to job hunting or scholarship winning.

I have told all my students that beyond these doors, is a world to learn from. No time will be wasted and no time will be taken for granted. Once you are enrolled in this class, you are here to take what you have learned and apply it outside. You will have fun and you will debate. You provide explanations for everything you do and you question everything that is presented if you are not sure. At first they were nervous and scared, but they soon learned that I was going to keep my word by making sure that they know the material using every piece of technology as my arsenal.

Week 4 Weekly Reading: Chapter 10,11,12 - Joseph Andrieux

Playing the blame game is a way of releasing yourself from any fault or reponsibility of an act that occurred or will occur.  As teachers, it is very easy to blame teachers of the previous years as to why your students are not prepared. It is very simple to place blame on others so, you do not have to push forward with any real effort. Is this a role of an educator?

The author suggests that we must look past the board, because we are the board. We must not look at the cards we are dealt. We must look at who is playing what particular game and what cards are they using. As an educator, we must seek out and evaluate what your new students know, so you may move forward by educating them in every aspect of techmology that will assist them in learning the subject content that you are teaching.

The blame game stops. Be the strategists in setting up the players so they play themselves on an even playing field. Like the drunk driver, I won't blame him as the author suggested, I will look to see how often does this occur to others and seek a solution to prevent it.

 Further on through the readings I have discovered that to continue generating good lessons is to have a strong framework in what you are trying to accomplish.

This is defined as having a vision.  A vision about what you and your organization want to become. It should resonate with all members of the organization or group and help them feel proud, excited, and part of something much bigger than themselves. This framework should stretch the organization’s capabilities and image of itself. It gives shape and direction to the organization’s future. The framework should be scribed on paper for others to be reminded. Scribed as a mission statement that has a range in length from a couple of words to several pages. This will keep our ideas and efforts within the framework where we may tend to venture off.

Furthermore, telling the "we story" is discussing what the entire Math Department has done to lighten the path for our students to walk. It discussed what the teaching staff at our high school has done to prepare our students into becoming productive members of society. It has discussed what the school district has done to affect the families and our town by stating to the business world that if you are from Reading, Pennsylvania - you are destined for greatness. "We prepared you for the future and we would be honored to continue that tradition."