Education Class Week 11

Last Monday we discussed the influence of the Achiever´s Academy and analyzed it´s importance. We realized that by putting these student´s into a positive light, they have gained confidence and willingness to proceed onto greater things. If I were the teacher of the Achiever’s Academy, I would view this progression as an opportunity to prepare my students for college. I think that thus far, the Academy has taught these students the necessary skills they need in order to move on to college and other forms of independent learning. Their ability to handle experiences on their own and perform independent tasks will  prepare them for the future. In high school, the teachers and the faculty tend to “hand hold” their students: constantly getting on them about missing assignments, calling home when they are missing school, and are given many warnings when it comes to behavior. College will be a wake-up call for many of these students. The teacher will not call home if you do not attend class, or even confront you about it. If you chose to miss class, you are wasting your time, money, and energy. College is all about the decisions you make. With that said, the Academy has taught them how to handle themselves, and in return has handed them the necessary skills they will take with them in the future. Because these students have a year under their belt in the Academy, they should understand the power of choice, and the importance of getting up every morning and doing what needs to be done. They ought to be mature enough to have a control over their lives, and will have the ability to influence others. These videos will set the tone  for the next class who come into the Academy. They will see how seriously they ought to be about making the change. The students now enrolled into the Academy  have the opportunity to be role models for the incoming freshmen and therefore will gain a responsibility to do the right thing. I am very impressed with the way the Achiever’s Academy is run and as you can see I think it has had an influence on many students at Concord.

Education Class Week 10

I learned a lot through the Achiever’s Academy project. Seeing everyone’s videos gave me an opportunity to “meet” all the students. I realized the impact one organization can make. Watching the videos I was able to recognize and see all the changes the students had made, especially in those that went and recorded in the Achiever’s Academy more than once. You were able to see their progression, and how dedicated they were to make the change. It was obvious that some students had more of a journey left than others, however, seeing the students that were fully dedicated, it was comforting to know that the organization was making a difference. I learned how important support is for success. For the majority of the students all these students needed was a little push, that they were not getting either in the classroom or in their homes. Most of the students thanked the Pastor and the teachers involved for caring, and they in turn looked up to them for doing so. However, I also realized how important support can be when I heard all the drama that was going on in Concord High School. I could only imagine the frustration the school was facing when the drama arose. I think it is sad that the faculty could not just let the kids have their moment in the spotlight. These students worked so hard, and deserved to be rewarded. Most of these kids were so excited that we were making a movie out of them, and it was sad that they were misinformed that the moving viewing in Willard Hall was cancelled. The students would have really enjoyed seeing the videos because I think we all did an excellent job. I hope that they still would be able to see them, and that through watching themselves and their peers they will see the progress each and every one of them has made, and will strive for more.

Education Class Week 9

I see a lot of similarities between Ms. Bishop and Ms. Gruwell. Both teachers abandoned their traditional styles of teaching when their vision toward each student surpassed the letter grade they had received in the class. For Ms. Gruwell, the diary entries allowed her to take a look inside the “real” student and see them for who they were outside the classroom, their hopes and their dreams, their strengths and weaknesses. She stepped into the students’ world, found out their interests, and discovered ways that she could incorporate certain aspects in their life that they truly cared about outside the classroom, into the curriculum. Similarly, Ms. Bishop found out who her students were when she eavesdropped on a rap battle going on in the lunch room. She abandoned her traditional views toward modern music and saw to her what had been a new “trend” as art. She saw past what I’m sure was a little bit of controversial lyrics as an art form. She began to see rap as what it was, lyrics that use all different forms of literary devices as well as certain aspects of poetry. Because Ms. Bishop was open-minded toward her more “up to date” students, she was successful in the classroom. She created a group called Baseline Entertainment, an after school program in which students started out spitting rhymes at one another to eventually producing music. For many of these students, academics were not something that the students enjoyed or they believed they even had a future in, however, Ms. Bishop opened up these students’ eyes to see that what they were doing was educational and could be a large part of their future. Ms. Bishop succeeded because it gave these students something to look forward to everyday. For some, it was a change to actually be part of something interesting and educational at the same time. They developed an enthusiasm toward this new style of poetry and as a result put a majority of their efforts toward the program. For many, Baseline Entertainment started out as a path but had eventually became a journey. These students who were once hesitant about the program now still keep baseline in their hearts and have grasped a further understanding of their futures, who they are, and who they want to be. I believe that in order to be a good teacher, you must teach your students what they ought to know about the world, what has happened and how to prevent the negative it from happening again. Yet in order to be a great teacher you must teach their students what they ought to know about themselves. When a teacher has accomplished this task, I think they can truly consider themselves successful.

Education Class- Week 8

I really enjoyed listening to the student speak about his experience at Baseline Entertainment because I could relate to him. I understood what he meant when he said that this experience got him to get into his daily routine: to get up every morning and go to school, because for once he had something to look forward to. When I got the lead in my high school musical, I looked forward to school more because I knew that after school I would have rehearsal and I would perform. I saw a pattern whenever I would have an activity after school whether it be a sport or a musical, I would get better grades because I was more focused and into school. I see how Baseline Entertainment got him to steer him away from the negativity in his neighborhood and got him on the right track to a better life.

His intelligence for music relates to the theory of multiple intelligences. He said that he hated school and that he did poorly but when it came to music theory, he was very successful. In his song he learned about chords and used poetic conventions in his lyrics. It just goes to show teachers that you have to use different teaching styles in order to get students involved. For a student who is interested in music, it is very easy for a teacher to incorporate that into an English curriculum because English, music, and theater go hand in hand. Also, I think it is important to incorporate technology into a curriculum. Regarding the lesson on Millennial learners, traditional teaching is no longer an option. I think with keeping an open mind, more people with benefit from education and it will no longer be considered a chore.