Parent Involvement

As a child, one of my favorite memories are when my mom came with my class on field trips. We did not have buses, so my mom would often drive and I would feel so special having other friends ride with me. Usually, my mom packed a special lunch with a whole can of soda.

My parents cared about my education and it was mostly my mother who cared about my over all being and my father who cared about the grades. Knowing that they would care whether or not I got good grades helped me to try harder.

I want parents to feel comfortable in my classroom. I think having a good working relationship with each parent takes some time, but is well worth the effort in the end. If this is one way to help my students achieve at higher levels, then I am willing to put forth the effort.

I want to provide many opportunities for parents to be involved. I know not all parents can, however parents are needed in the class room as well as out side of the classroom. At my children's school, some parents help grade papers, prepare Friday folders, organize special events, provide materials for special events, help in the classroom during centers and so many more. You don't have to be at a particular school in order for this to happen, but you have to be willing to deal with some of the "nosy" parents that just want to see how they can help you in the class room. (I have talked to some teachers about such parents and the biggest advice I got was to just be flexible and don't take things too personally, because you can't please every parent.)

As a parent, I volunteer in my kids classrooms when I can. I love being a chaperon on field trips, and I try to make it into the classroom once or twice a month as well. This allows me to see how the classroom runs and who my daughters seem to be friends with and who they have some tension with. It also allows me a chance to establish a better relationship with their teachers, so when I have to talk to them, I don't feel like a stranger.

Knowing how beneficial parents are in the classroom, I plan on making my classroom as parent friendly as possible and provide many different ways to involve the parents of my students.

Educational Alternatives

To be able to close the achievement gap takes many paths and time. I don't think this is something that will happen over night, and new programs progress, we will see successes and failures. Not just a single program is the answer, I believe it takes many types and styles to fit the many types of learning and interests students have.

I am really excited to see America take on new schools and ways to help children learn. Not one school is perfect for every child no matter how well the school does. I believe that having many types of schools within the school district allows for healthy competition. This makes teachers and school district try even harder to make their schools desirable so students will stay and not drift off to other schools. It is inevitable this will happen, but rather than making so much controversy over this, I believe it would be in the school's best interest to cooperate with different schools, even private ones.

As I have mentioned, my children attend a charter school and my experience with this has been very positive. No school is perfect. That is the bottom line, but the local public school did not share the same values as I do in certain areas, where the charter school matched it much better. I wanted my children to go to a school where they are academically challenged, however character building and citizenship is important to me. The local school failed in this area, in my opinion, so the charter school was undoubtedly a better choice for us. I like the smaller atmosphere and that parent's voices are respected and heard. My children know most of the teachers in the school personally and they feel that they are important there.

Different schools are helpful in closing the achievement gap, but certain programs instilled within the public schools are very helpful too. Any curriculum or program that challenges students to apply what they have learned to real life has much benefit. I think standardized testing is good to make sure that schools are on the right track, but tests and real life are two completely different things. Doctors don't become good doctors by taking tests and writing papers about how they might do something. They have to have hands on experience, and many hours of it, before they are qualified to be doctors. This is true of many occupations. Teaching is one of them. If we give students opportunities to apply what they have learned, this will solidify their learning and I believe this will really start to close the achievement gap.

I think high expectations are a must. If we expect just barely passing grades, that is what we will see. I just heard a statement on the radio stating that people who have responsibilities and expectations for performance tend to do much better and be happier, more successful and achieve at higher levels then those who do not. The radio show also went on to explain a very simple study done at a nursing home on the east coast where one floor of residents were told they were going to have more choices and they could decide on what they wanted to do that week. They could also have a plant in their room, but they would be responsible for its care. The other floor of residents were told that there was some concern about whether or not people were happy with the current schedule and would be able to complain if they did not like the way things were going. Also, if they saw something that needed to be done, they should tell someone who worked there that it needed to be fixed. The people on the level where they had more freedom and responsibility had 75% improved health where the others declined. Also over 90% of the first residents reported feeling happy that month where only 30% of the other residents reported being happy.

Basically, the same principle applies to our children. If we continue to make programs that expect more of our students, they will want to achieve better and feel more self worth. This can be done in individual classrooms, even in the entire school doesn't have a particular program that is designed to help close the achievement gap.

My personal experience in education has been very positive. I had high expectations at home, and I believe that is what helped me a lot. However, when teacher didn't let me slack either, I didn't want to disappoint that teacher and I tried harder. When I felt like a teacher didn't really care how I did, I tended to not do as well.

I hope that America continues to search for better ways to teach. What is there now is great, but I still think there is room for improvement. I just hope the controversy with the different types of school, be them private or public, doesn't stifle the learning our children deserve.

Becoming an Exeptional Teacher

Knowing who you are also allows you to function as a learning leader without forcing your beliefs or values on students. How will you personally address this concept as a teacher?

A huge part of who I am coincides with my religious and spiritual beliefs. I love Jesus. He is every bit a part of me as I am Lisa Gurley with brown hair and green eyes. I can't separate that from my self. A fear that some people have is that teachers try and push their beliefs, particularly spiritual or political beliefs, upon the students. I don't know of anyone who has ever agreed whole heatedly to a subject when they are pushed. It truly irritates me when Christians in particular try pushing their views upon other people. If someone asks me, I'll be more than happy to share my Jesus with them. But I hope that just in the way I live my life will show what my beliefs are and where my heart lies.

Knowing this about myself, I believe that my core values will make me an exceptional teacher. When I tell someone that I care about them and their success in life, I have no hidden agenda. I mean what I say. Teachers who truly care about and love their students are the teachers who stand out, in my opinion. A teacher can spout off all the proper things to teach and even apply the content to real life situations, but if they never truly know their students and care about their success, the students will recognize this and feel as though they are a number, not a person.

Maybe I believe this because this is how I felt about some of my teachers. The teachers who knew my name, my interests and what was going on in my life were the teachers that I learned the most from. A teacher could know the material in and out, but if they didn't seem to care about me, my interest and respect for them would wain and I wouldn't achieve as well as I could.

I see this with my children. I have a daughter who can be a ton of fun, but she is a ball of energy. She is opinionated and out going, which intimidates some teachers. Last year, she was constantly butting heads with her teacher. Maybe this was just a clash of personalities, but the thing I noticed the most was the teacher was not willing to work with my daughter's personality and try things a little differently with her. The teacher just wanted her to cooperate, be quiet and conform, like many of the other students. This year, her teacher has come up with some very creative ideas to help engage my daughter in the lessons and learning. She has thrown some enormous temper tantrums, but when she saw that he truly cared about her, she has grown more compliant, has learned tons, and loves loves loves to be at school.

As far as my personality goes, I think it will definitely be a benefit to me. Not everyone is suited to teach. I would be terrible in law enforcement, where my husband excels. He can teach adults, but his patience would continuously be tested if he was an elementary school teacher. I love art and being creative, and I think this will help in my presentation of material that could otherwise be boring to some students.

And the bottom line is that I love children. They are truly the foundation of society and the future. How they learn and how they are treated affects their entire lives. I love watching them interact and learn.

I look forward to becoming a teacher that stands out and continually tries to learn new ways to reach out to the young generations.

Stadards-Based Education and Assessment

I have to think really hard on what standards may have been used during my schooling as a child. I went to a private school, so I imagine the standards and assessments there were quite a bit different than the public schools, especially during that time.

I do remember taking the California Achievement Test (CAT). It was a bit like the CSAP but there was not nearly the amount of hoopla that surrounds the CSAP. I remember being told about the day before the test we would be taking one. We practiced filling in "bubbles" on the sheets correctly and stopping when the little stop sign appeared on the page. I actually really enjoyed these tests, because I felt like there was no pressure to do the absolute best, just my best. I can't imagine that many kids feel that way about the CSAP. They study and practice for weeks, if not months, to prepare for the tests.

We were tested and received grades of 1,2 or 3. 1 being excellent, 2 being good and 3 being satisfactory. Actually, come to think of it, I think there were fours, but I made sure not to get them. My Dad only wanted to see ones, so I imagined everything less was sub-par.

One of the most monumental assessments, however was the "Senior Project" in high school that all seniors had to pass in order to receive a diploma. We had to chose an appropriate topic that we would research and do some sort of time consuming project that would reflect what we are interested in. The two had to be similar. The paper was a basic research paper of approximately 10 pages long. The project was so many hours of volunteer work, or something we were interested in. Then we made a ten minute presentation on the paper and project and told about what we learned. We had to have pictures or some type of visual for the presentation. I remember how daunting the Senior Project was for some people, but I really enjoyed it, because I chose a topic that I already knew a lot about. My paper was on the development of a foal and for my actual project, I helped a mare give birth and was involved with the imprinting and training of the foal.

I think that the Senior Project really helped to pull together many aspects of education that we should have learned by the time we were seniors. For one, we had to really learn how to write a research paper, we had to apply what we learned to a real world situation and present it in front of a group of judges for a final score. It was a pass/fail sort of thing. After finishing the project, I think I was even more prepared for College. Writing a paper of that magnitude would not be as difficult and even public speaking was something that I felt more comfortable about afterwards. I do remember one teacher's comment of how I was "too nervous". I took that and tried to remember the next time I made a presentation, and not flip my hands around too much or talk too fast.

I did have a very difficult time with the ACT and SAT. I was so nervous about putting in the wrong answer and recieving a negative score, that I left way too many unanswered. I did not feel prepared in any way for taking this test. Many of the questions asked were so different that what I was used to. Needless to say, I did very poorly.

I think some preparation for standardized tests is important, however I'm not sure I think that teaching only so students will pass a particular type of test does not exactly help them in the long run.

Teacher's Responsibility

I think all teachers need to ask themselves what their responsibility is to understand and be comfortable in a culture other then their own. This answer is probably different for everyone.

For me, I think it is highly important that I understand other cultures and be comfortable with them. I can imagine if I went to another country and entered a classroom, the children would think I was pretty strange and it would be important for me to get to know them personally and culturally. Also the children would need to get to know my culture a little bit to understand where I was coming from.

Who knows if I'll ever teach in another country, but it is very likely I will teach someone here in the United States who is from another country.

In order to establish a good teacher/student relationship, it would be to the child's benefit if I learned about their culture. It could be a nationality difference or religious difference. By understanding and feeling comfortable with the students, I will be a more effective teacher and the students will feel like they matter just as much as the students of the primary culture.

Reaching Out

I was born into poverty. I don't remember it very well, because my dad managed to secure a good job and climb the cooperate ladder a few rungs. I do remember thinking that Kmart was about the best store around and it was very special to get new clothes. Most of our clothes were hand-me-downs and used clothing from Goodwill. I didn't realize we were poor. I thought we were very wealthy, because we didn't live in a trailer like most of my neighbors.

The first time I saw a teacher reach out to a child from a terribly sad situation, I was in awe. I used to ride horses, and as payment for a lesson, my mom would pick up my instructor's son at his school and bring him to the stables with us. They lived in a very run down house with twenty or more cats. He always stunk and I felt very sad for him. After Christmas one year he had a new coat and backpack. He told me that his teacher bought it for him and he was so proud of it. It was his best Christmas present ever. I was so amazed of what the teacher did. It was so simple, yet it made a profound impact on the little boy. His teacher didn't have to get him anything. I'm sure he wasn't the only student in his class with needs and she probably did buy more coats and things for the other children. She spent her own money, and I knew even then that teachers didn't make very much, to make a difference in this boy's life.

I think about that incident and I say to myself, "That is the kind of teacher I want to be." I am sure I will have children of poverty or ESL students in my class. I have a desire to teach ESL. One thing I want to express to my students is that they matter individually to me. I don't ever want my students to feel like a number or that they are only students to me. One way to show this to praise them for their individual talents or personal achievements or give them individual awards at the end of the year, that are completely unique to their individual abilities and personality.

Having a good relationship with their parents is probably just as important. I don't ever want my students or parents to feel uncomfortable around me or feel like that I think I am better than them in any way. I think it will be crucial for me to understand their lifestyle at home and their way of thinking. I found the "hidden rules" fascinating. Understanding these "rules" will be very beneficial in communicating and understand where these children are coming from and what will they respond to in a learning environment.

Also, having after school clubs or special events to further establish learning and relationship would be important with any student, but especially those in poverty. They may need extra help with technology or other skills that they may not have available for them to use at home. I may even have to be willing to give up a Saturday or two a month.

Being a teacher of children of poverty will be a bigger challenge than teaching children who come from middle class families. It is my hope that I can bring stability, comfort, and acceptance into the classroom environment, to enhance their learning and sense of citizenship. I will do whatever it takes to intrigue, wow, and awe them into learning and becoming young, successful adults in our society.

Student Voice

Students are the whole point of the educational system. Without them, we would have no one to educate, so it seems to me that letting children have a voice of their own is important. The younger children can partake in smaller issues, where older children who are becoming adults need to know that their opinions matter.

In many cultures, there is a passage into adult hood that boys and girls go through. We don't have that in America, unless you are a part of a particular religion. We expect our students to graduate high school and make good decisions when they turn eighteen, but up until then, children don't have the opportunity to make many decisions that affect their school or learning.

I think that it is a wonderful idea to involve high school children in parent-teacher conferences and with other issues so their voices can be heard. It teaches them to be involved with what effects them and it helps the parents and teachers understand what their child/student likes or dislikes. Having students more involved wouldn't mean they make every decision and the school will be run by children. It just be giving them an opportunity to learn about being responsible, to form their own opinions and learn how to express themselves without being ridiculed or judged.

I wonder what the parents and teachers at Kennebunk High School in Maine have learned by letting the students have more say. I'm willing to bet they learned things about their child/student that they otherwise might not have known.

Students have a big responsibility, and that is to learn and be able to demonstrate their learning. What better opportunity to let children, especially teens express their opinions, however outrageous, and let them learn from this experience. Maybe this would help them gain more confidence in the transition of growing from child to adult.