NOTED and Curriculum

Yesterday, April 2, was NOTED (North East Ohio Teacher Education Day), in downtown Akron, hosted by 10-12 different local universities. We had between 2-2 1/2 hours of meet and greet time. That was good, but with over 500 attendees, and over 80 school districts, that makes for long lines. By 10:30 am, I had one interview scheduled for the afternoon. I couldn't get any more interviews, either they were full, only doing so many, or not doing any interviews at all that day. I was disappointed. I gave out over 20 resume packets. I wanted more interviews. Even though I was, and am still, disappointed, I know God knows what He is doing? He has a plan to prosper me, not to harm me (Jeremiah 29:11). I just have to keep my faith in God and wait for his timing. I kept my talks to NC and OH schools. I had a list of schools I was interested in checking out, plus I added a few more once I got there to the site yesterday morning.

My interview didn't go very well, basically we just went over my resume. The interviewer kinda took it part and told me what to do it make it better. She told me to add back a school I was only at for 3 months. I was told to take it off of my resume. By putting it back on, it would not show any holes on my resume. When I fill out applications, I don't even put that school down, I skip it.

I was able to get a couple of other interviews by walking around the room looking for empty chairs and asking if they were free. I think the second interview was a good lead. I was told to call up ODE to find out how I am Highly Qualified in teaching science, and how it get it as an endorsement on my OH teaching certificate. It is on my TX teaching certificate. I sent an email to somebody in ODE last night. I will give them today to respond, then I will start calling them next week to get answers to my questions. The third interview, I thought was weird. I couldn't tell if the person, who was talking, was giving me reasons to move to that area or reasons to stay away. It didn't seem like an interview. Didn't ask me questions at all.

All I can do is give it all over to the Lord and wait to see where He leads me in all of this. I have a few more applications to fill out and figure out to write thank you notes to.

There is a month left in this semester. I am registered to take two classes this summer, and I am going to try to take a third class. There are a couple of classes I am interested in for the fall. I have four projects due between May 6-9. One of them I have to present, as well as turn in a written report and hopefully before it is due, so that it can be graded. This project I am doing it on Staff Development. I am having a hard time narrowing it down. I started my research the other day. I have an idea on how to narrow it down. There is a paper on a curriculum theorist I have to write. I found a couple of books, but he only wrote a small portion of the book. Somebody helped me find some articles on this person. I just have to print them up and study them. A classmate, in another class, let me borrow articles for this person, since I am doing the same one she chose. Next week is spring break, so that gives me time to do some research, read, and work on them. It is all mind boggling!

Curriculum Weeks 4 & 5

Last week and this week for my Thursday night class we had to read some articles, online, about Marzano. Kinda read and did discussed his book Classroom Instruction That Works. He gives 9 strategies. I had two questions that I had to answer and then respond my classmates' answers. Reading what they wrote was interesting. Having to think how I have used those strategies in my past classrooms and now as a sub was interesting.

For my Wednesday night class, I had to read a book by Counts, that was written back in the early part of the 1930's. This book is also true about right now. Democracy and how that works in the schools. This past week, I had to read the first two chapters of Pedagogy of the Oppressed. That book was written 38 years ago. Was first written in Portuguese, because the late author was from Brazil. This book has been widely sought after. The first chapter is about the oppressor and the oppressed. How the oppressor does not want to give up his power, because then he becomes the oppressed and will be treated like how he had treated the oppressed. The second chapter is on how education is based on the "Banking Theory", teachers just deposit the info and the students just store it away. In that way, the teacher is the Oppressor and the students are the Oppressed. Education needs to change, where the students have more power and will actually think.

I also had to read the second chapter of To Kill a Mockingbird. We took this chapter to help us understand this project that we have to do for this class which includes spending a few hours working in a group in somebody's classroom and mapping the power struggles between the various people and how it affects the learning process and other things.

I have started the initial research process for my Thursday night class which I want to do on staff development. I have gotten in touch with two school districts in this area, and have been unsuccessful in getting in touch with three other school districts. I sent my prof an email to night about including staff development from other countries. i will blog more about this project later.

Curriculum Week 2

Last night, we listened to, looked at, and discussed the following book, Nokum is My Teacher The story is a conversation between a Cree grandson and his Grandmother. He is going to a white man's school and asking his grandmother why he as to go. He even thanks her for what and how she has taught him over the past few years. The grandson is a young boy. Then we had to discuss and answer four different questions on community, conceptional and operational curriculum, pedagogy, and the boy's (narrator) teacher's moral responsibility of teaching him. (I have ordered the book and it hasn't arrive yet.) I wrote my paper, but will look over it and my answers this week, then send it to my professor. The paper is due by noon on Sunday. For next week I have to read a 50 page book, and an article that is on a cd burned with articles we have to read during the semester. Here is the ironic thing about this cd, it was burned on a MAC, but my MAC can't read the cd.

Tonight's class, we, again this week, sat in a circle. We discussed the website we were supposed to read on Revised Bloom's Taxonomy. Bloom's was changed from nouns to verbs. We discussed it, then we discussed a different topic before having to use the six levels of Blooms, and using them in writing a question on any subject area concept that we might use in our classroom. I haven't thought about Bloom's taxonomy (higher order thinking type questions) in three years. I have had a bit of a problem with H.O.T.S in the past. This was a bit difficult for me tonight, but I did to it. I did it with the three states of matter (solid, liquid, and gas). My professor likes our class, but we are afraid to get into a good discussion on whatever it is that we are talking about. Pus our backgrounds an experiences we bring, helps to make it more interesting.

Curriculum, Week 1

I started back to grad school this week. I am taking two classes this semester, and they are both curriculum classes. One meets on Wednesday night, and it is called Concepts of Curriculum and Instruction. The other one meets on Thursday night, and it is called Trends and Issues in Curriculum and Instruction. When I think of curriculum I think about the objectives and concepts that I am supposed to teach. There is more too it, in different ways. I will be doing a lot thinking, reading, researching, and writing this semester. There are doctorate students in both of these classes.

Wednesday night, we started our final exam. Yes, you read that sentence correctly. There are three parts to it. We will do the second part next week, and the third part is due by May 9. Here are the questions I had to answer Wednesday night.
1. What is curriculum? (I had to think about both conceptual curriculum and operational curriculum. I had to give
examples and experiences.)
2. What is pedagogy?
3. In terms of curriculum and pedagogy, what educational purpose should the school see to attain?

This paper I wrote, I have to use it and comment from it in later papers. This was hard!!!

The night before I found out that i had to buy books for this class, get to class and find out there is another book I need. The bookstore didn't have the latter book that i need. I went to last night's class, and found out that I needed a book for that one as well. I came home and went to Amazon.com to order both of my books. My homework for last night's class is reading about Bloom's Taxonomy. I know somewhat about it, but I printed it up so I can sit and read it.

I like last night's class, will see how both of these go.