Allison Jaskowiak

Assignment

Text

Reflection

Weekly Current Event

Fewer of State’s Students Entering College Directly From High School

http://www.latimes.com/new/education/la-me-college15sep15,1,718785.story?coll=la-news-learning

A National Center of Public Policy and Higher Education report reveals fewer students are entering college directly following high school. This is ironic, considering the quality of college preparatory classes in high schools has dramatically improved. The drop in immediate college admittance after high school is attributed to the increasing number of high school dropouts. Additionally, it is speculated that some high school graduates are voluntarily taking a year or more off between high school and entering college for career retraining after losing a job. Both in California and nationally, the number of students enrolling in college between the ages of 18-24 has been and is continuing to steadily rise, due in part to a more extensive network of community colleges. However, a delayed entry has increased within the 18-24 age range. The gap between high school and college has advantages and disadvantages.

The trend of delayed admittance has some negative implications for American’s future. First, the longer students wait to enter college, the less likely they are to attain a degree or even enroll ever. For the US economy to maintain its prowess, it must continue educating young people to replace the leaders of today. Additionally, it causes a shift in employers’ recruiting efforts when looking for the most talented applicant pool. For example, foreign students have a reputation for more rigorous schooling systems, which are viewed as producing intellectually superior graduates. Therefore, jobs shift to a more international market, lessening employment opportunities for American graduates. If a pattern is developing of students dropping out, taking year/s off between high school and college, and importing foreign students to the talent pool; it is not promising for America’s future.

However, there are probably individual situations where waiting between high school and college does make sense. Some students are not focused on continuing their education, but when confronted with the reality and the drudgery of a minimum wage job; they become motivated to continue their college education. Sometimes, students enter college rather mindlessly as “the next thing to do” without any mature understanding of its value. If waiting before entering college gives them a better perspective on the value of a college education, it is probably a good decision for that individual.

In other cases a year or so off between high school and college could be helpful. Students are starting to forget the importance of thoughtfully preparing themselves for their life and a career. College is not another high school. Ideas of “slacking off” in high school and then “buckling down” in college are wishful thinking. College is the time period when students realize that it truly is a competition to get to the top; everyone has their dreams and aspirations. Reality unfolds for some students that they are not going to reach their ideal pinnacle. Therefore, if taking a year off before college is to attain some experience in a field of study or prepare a person for their future, a year off should be encouraged.

This headline did not come as a shock to me when I was skimming the LATimes, however I felt it was an important issue which needs to have attention called to it. I came from a suburban, public high school which contained a gamut of students and financial situations. For some, college was "the next thing to do" and for others it was an extraordinary accomplishment. I feel my response to the article accurately portrays the various opinions of people and their reasoning for not entering college immediately after high school. However, I also think I relay the possible harms this kind of decision-making can have on the United States.

Weekly e-Journal

WHAT?

With my intention to teach high school mathematics and plans to observe a ninth grade Algebra I and twelfth grade Advanced Placement course, I focused my reading on the mathematics California Content Standards. In the opening paragraph of the Content Standards document it states, “Mathematics, when taught well, is a subject of beauty and elegance, exciting in its logic and coherence. It trains the mind to be analytical – providing the foundation for intelligent and precise thinking.” The content standards in grades K-7 are organized around six basic topics: number sense, algebra and function, measurement and geometry, statistics, data analysis, and probability. In grades 9-12, content is organized around content-specific areas (similar to high school courses) such as Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, probability and statistics, and various higher-level courses.

SO WHAT?

For those with a proclivity to mathematical reasoning, there is a beauty and elegance to math. It not only teaches how to apply skills, but also when and why. It is a unique subject because it does not deal with language in a verbal sense. Instead it is universal numerical patterning and symbolic pure reasoning. Additionally, it is a portal to several careers, which are associated with high compensation. If all the statements in the California Content Standards are true, and every student who exceeds that level in math is knowledgeable on all that criteria, then why do I think if I asked the ‘average person on the street” to explain the Pythagorean theorem (which is a 7th grade content standard); they would look at me with a glazed, stupefied expression?

In terms of social influences, educators face the challenge to have "No Child Left Behind." The approach taken to accomplish this has been through increasing the rigor of a student's math requirements. For example, the California Standards require content mastery in Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, and Probability and Statistics. When my parent’s generation went to school, the two math units required for high school graduation and admission to most state colleges paled in comparison to what is now expected of students. The bar is being raised on content and the accountability associated with it. However, the magic wand of a state standard will not just automatically make students more mathematically intellectual.

NOW WHAT?

What will make students more knowledgeable is “mathematics, when well-taught.” After graduation, math has real applications to real-life problems. Yet, in some math classrooms, math is a sequence of rote steps without authentic context. There is no beauty – just drudgery and monotony. Math is a series of worksheets. The “now what” for me is to look for those examples of teachers and instructional practices that lend themselves to conceptual understanding, not just rote memorization; to authentic applications, not just chapter assignments in a textbook; and to multiple processes to a solution, not just inflexible linear thinking. Sometimes, math majors, due to their adoration of pure logic, tend to see the world in black and white. Last time I checked, children come in a rainbow of colors and need a corresponding array of teaching strategies. I want to be a teacher that helps students see the “beauty and elegance” of mathematical reasoning though my flexibility in making math come to life.

I really like this journal for two basic reasons. 1) I realized how often I change my mind. When I wrote this, I defended the "beauty and elegance" of math and painted an image of math as the ultimate subject to teach. Yet, I have already decided to change my field of study to English. 2) I wanted to include an opinioned piece about a current policy (No Child Left Behind.)

Weekly e-Journal

WHAT?

In my classroom observations I noticed a modest amount of technology. Each classroom teacher had a desktop computer and one of the math classes I observed had an overhead, which displayed a graphing calculator. The students had graphing calculators, most of which seemed to be supplied by the school. When computers/technology were first introduced in schools, it was probably considered an “add-on” luxury. However, whether students have access to technology is now a much larger question about equal access to knowledge. Knowledge is no longer information committed to the pages of a book. Knowledge is evolving and multi-faceted. While some disciplines such as the “classics” reflect a more time-honored sense of knowledge, even those become multi-faceted. Resources such as Gale-Net, which is a listing of literary analysis, can enrich the level of knowledge about the “classics.” Other courses, such as science, are in a constant state of unrest. For example, quantum physics and chaos theory have challenged the standard premises of science. A single textbook cannot keep up with the scholarly debate on such topics. Just think of the evolution of stem cell research. Technology is no longer just a “tool;” it provides a portal to knowledge.

SO WHAT?

Technology is access to knowledge. It has evolved to become an equity issue in relationship to access to knowledge. Since pubic schooling is based on the premise that all students - regardless of race, color, etc, - should have equitable access to knowledge, the importance of technology has really grown way beyond a “tool.” Schools, then, at a minimum, should make efforts to have computer screen projectability in all classrooms. That way, the computer screen can be shared with the entire classroom. It is the next wave of the classroom overhead projector. In my school visit, I only saw single computers, which appeared to be more for teacher record keeping than instructional applications. Extending school library hours and making students aware of public libraries, could bridge the gap between the have’s and have not’s. Since I believe one of the fundamental purposes of public education is to create an educated citizenry to live in democracy; equitable access to knowledge is essential.

NOW WHAT?

Schools should examine how students can access the “world on the web” with some equity. Access to items such as graphing calculators will have a profound effect on math comprehension. Being asked to write a literary criticism will be much easier for the person with fingertip access to others’ critiques. So, the “now what” becomes changing educational leaders’ ideas about what constitutes a repository for knowledge. Instead of investing in extraordinarily expensive books, which burden backpacks and are out of date by the time they are printed, would it not make more sense to start thinking about e-books and wireless computer capability for students? Knowledge no longer fits in a book. Also, there are means to access the classics, which are totally free. An example is Project Gutenberg, where many classics (which are no longer copyrighted) can be found and read for free. Now instead of being issued one volume of the Canterbury Tales, you have access to a library. It is time to think differently about knowledge being distilled to a text or a couple texts. Additionally, it will put pressure on the teaching profession to clearly explain credible sources and application and synthesis skills. The world of knowledge discovered through technology needs to opened to all students – not just a select few.

Technology is growing at such a rapid pace is has begun to segregate both students and schools. I enjoy this journal because I think I thoroughly examine the changing role of technology in education and both the advantages and disadvantages of this occurrence.

Weekly e-journal

WHAT?

Teaching is a profession which paradoxically generates immeasurable satisfaction along with unrelenting frustration. The process of trying to make connections with students and teaching them to love learning is an immeasurable satisfaction. The unrelenting frustration is when the connection does not happen despite the teacher’s best effort. Currently, I plan on becoming a high school mathematics teacher. I will strive to be the teacher who makes a difference in all of her students’ lives. Regrettably, those teachers are few and far between. It seems as though having knowledge in a specific subject matter sometimes completely overshadows the importance of a teacher having the ability to discover the different learning styles of students and adjust lesson plans to their needs. I want students to look forward to my class, and I want to leave a lasting and potentially, life-altering impression on my students.

SO WHAT?

Teaching has always been the respected and noble profession in my household. My mother started as a high school English teacher, became a high school principal for a few years, and then worked her way into education administration to become the Superintendent of a highly respected district. My aunt is a Speech Pathologist and my sister is following in her footsteps. When my mother reminisces about the years when she taught, she always tells of her Shakespeare Unit. She would act out and do different voices with all the characters. As the year passed and she got to know her students on a more personal level, she said she would give different literary names to her students based on a certain characteristics they shared with a literary character. That seems like so much fun and a great way to personalize various literary characters.

I have had a handful of great teachers in my past, and I want my students to leave my classroom feeling the same way I felt when I left theirs; smarter, valued, and anxious for the next day of class. I have always thought my ideal job would be one where I get to work with people everyday, establish relationships, and affect their lives in some positive way. Teaching allows that to occur.

NOW WHAT?

My next step is to finish this course and learn as much as I can along the way to getting a degree. I want to talk with as many teachers as I can and learn what works for them and what doesn’t. I want to mimic the methods of the great teachers, but add my own personal flare. Ideally, I hope to graduate from college with a job as a high school math teacher and be working toward my masters. Depending on other aspects of my life, like a family, I would want to eventually work my way into being a high school principal, and then possibly into district administration. When people ask me what I want to be, typically I respond with “a high school principal.” Most find this to be an unusual answer; it seems you don’t find too many people who want to do that for a living. But, when people respond to me with that discrediting and dumbfound look, I pity them because they must not have experienced as great of a high school principal as I did. It’s my high school principal, my twelfth grade chemistry teacher, my eleventh grade math teacher, my ninth grade history teacher, my third grade teacher, my mother; it’s those great educators that inspire me to inspire other people about the importance of education.

This piece reveals my inherent love for teaching. Growing up surrounded by education, I almost refused to accept it as a possible future profession for myself. However, I find as I continue to delve into lesson planning, teaching methods, and educational studies, I find myself thinking I wanted to do this all along.

Final Project PowerPoint

Lesson Planning

After completing this project, I felt as though I had really taken something from this course. I was proud to develop my first three consecutive lesson plans with an overall theme. Although they are formatted toward a third grade class, I believe I will take these basic lesson planning skills to any grade I choose to teach.