Foundations of Second Languages

My most recent class is pretty time consuming. I suppose that might have to do with the fact that it's no longer summer. Oh well, at least the readings (the ones I actually read) have been pretty interesting. I just wish there weren't so many papers and assignments... I can't keep up...

Foundations

I just started a new class called Foundations in Second Language Education (or something like that). So far it's been fine. 6-8 page paper due on the 2nd day of class! Anyway, my classmates seem pretty cool. Almost 50% of the speak Chinese as their first language! Lots of people getting their license to teach Chinese...

Culture as the Core

I sent my final project today for the CARLA summer institute Culture as the Core class. It was a very challenging class especially in light of the class I took previous... In Audrey's class we discussed much that reform cannot happen if structural change does not happen... making culture the core is definitely one reform that requires a paradigm shift. I created a unit that tried to make culture-general learning a focus. We'll see what Francine says when I receive her comments...

Research: Charter Schools and the North Side

General Charter School Information:

Rosenthal, Lisa. Greatschools.net, November 2006.
Seven Things to Know About Charter Schools

Minnesota Association of Charter Schools

US Charter Schools Minnesota State Profile

Articles about Charter Schools (many are editorial or opinion):

Reining in Charter Schools, “The New York Times”, May 10, 2006
Charter schools “are not a magical solution to the achievement problem”

Charter Schools and Private Profits, “The School Administrator”, May 2000. “The emergence of educational management organizations to run charters raises questions about the pursuit of profits and the quality of education”

Stuart Wells, Amy. Washingtonpost.com, December 29, 2004.
Charter Schools: Lessons in Limits
This article discusses the history of the charter school reform movement and would agree with Kleibard that reform is initiated by socio-political beliefs. The author edited the book: Where Charter School Policy Fails: The Problems of Accountability and Equity.

Finn, Chester E. Jr., Dayton Daily News, November 18, 1999
Charter Foes No Friends of Education
“Why does the education establishment so hate these benign schools? By showing that all children really can learn, they pressure the "system" to change its ways.”

National Alliance for Public Charter Schools
Studying Achievement in Charter Schools: What Do We Know?
A summary report and commentary on “38 comparative analyses of charter and district performance” (Analysis charts on page 9-25)

Minneapolis Public Schools:

McCallum, Laura. Minnesota Public Radio. March 20, 2007.
Minneapolis targets six schools for closure

McCallum, Laura. Minnesota Public Radio. April 13, 2007.
Minneapolis school board votes to close six schools

Demographics of MPS according to the Minnesota Dept. of Education’s “District Report Card”

Destination Excellence and the North Side Initiative


Minneapolis Public Schools and Charter Schools:

Star Tribune Editorial: A good use for empty Minneapolis schools, June 28, 2007.
School board should lease space to effective charter schools

Brandt, Steve, Star Tribune, June 19, 2007 – 9:38 PM
Minneapolis inclined to rent out empty schools
“Majority of school board appears open to leasing school space to at least one charter school.”

Kersten, Katherine. Wall Street Journal Editorial Page, March 2, 2006
Black Flight: The exodus to charter schools.

AYP in Minneapolis Public Schools

AYP in Minnesota Charter Schools

CI 5155

So far my class, Contemporary Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment has been very challenging and interesting. The books we read have definitely caused me to think about the causes of curriculum reform and reasons for certain reforms' successes or failures. Some of the books, especially Against Common Sense: Teaching & Learning Toward Social Justice by Kumashiro, I Won't Learn From You! by Kohl, White Architects Of Black Education by Watkins, and Widening the Circle by Sapon-Shevin, have challenged me to think about hidden (or blatant) curriculum that does not teach the perspectives of all students and undermines the cultural, religious, and other diversity that exist in schools.

We had the opportunity to attend as a class the Hope Collaborative event on June 18th at the Hear of the Beast Theatre. We listened to Eric Mahmoud discuss the success of Harvest Prep Charter School in Minneapolis and also Dr. Lawrence Hernandez from Cesar Chavez Academy in Colorado. It was really interesting to hear how these two schools created success and high achievement-- it seemed the common thread was community, student and parent involvement and commitment.

Partially because of the speakers, and also the fact that I feel "forced" to "hate" charter schools (as a "regular" public school teacher), I am currently researching the effect of charter schools on enrollment in Minneapolis Public Schools on the North Side. I decided to focus on the North Side since I live there, and the achievement gap in that area is the largest in the Minneapolis school district. Soon I will post some links to a variety of sources that offer differing perspectives on charter schools, their effectiveness, and how they affect enrollment in MPS on the North Side.

Tech Tools Week Two

I am excited to get working on a Dreamweaver website but I think it is going to be frustrating for me since many programs I am already slightly familiar with so they come naturally. I have never used Dreamweaver and so far it is not as intuitive as I might like. I also already have a website that serves me well so I am not sure I will switch to the Dreamweaver one I'm creating. This makes the motivation for re-creating low. However, my school district does have Dreamweaver so I would be able to maintain this one if I so choose. We'll see.

I also really like that we are learning how to do photo movies. I am a scrapbooker but I have a digital camera. I think if I can learn how to make photo movies I can supplement my scrapbooking with a multi-media flair! I will probably work on my movie at home so I can familiarize myself with imovie since that's what I have at home.

I am also really excited to implement some of these technological activities into my classroom. For example, I think making a photo movie and having students narrate them could be an excellent way for me to assess oral language skills. PowerPoint is not just for presentations in English anymore- we can do them in Spanish and outlaw words!

Tech Tools Week One

So far I have really enjoyed my tech tools class. We have been learning a lot about how to make technology a part of the student's construction of knowledge. I think the most valuable thing (although it may be the most obvious or simple) I learned in week one was that when it comes to using technology, students should be the designers. We should not merely use technology as a way to transmit information, but students should be able to use it as a tool to construct their knowledge and display their learning.

Also, I never knew about the RSS reader! Like I said, I'm new to blogging and I definitely haven't been an avid reader of any particular blogs... What a great way to "create your own newspaper" of blogs!

Blogging in the K-12 classroom

I think blogging could be a very useful tool in the K-12 classroom. As a Spanish teacher, I would have my students use a blog as a journal. Entries could be in English or Spanish depending on the topic or level. If you wanted to get really fancy you could even find an interface en español! (like http://es.blog.com/)

Students could be more motivated to write given a medium in which they feel "at home" or a novel way to share their thoughts with their classmates or teacher. However, some important things to keep in mind if incorporating a blog into curriculum would be safety issues of students using names or places, internet access (or lack thereof) at home, and the prevalence of instant messaging type language and acronyms in formal writing. Students feel comfortable writing in IM codes but they do need to learn how to write formally as well. Blogging would not be a venue for a formal writing curriculum goal.

Bienvenidos

I am starting this blog for my Technology Tools for Educators class at the University of Minnesota. Perhaps I will continue writing about my experience getting my Masters of Education degree. I have never owned a blog before and have never been much of a "journal-er" so we'll see...