Audioblog

Gabcast! Audioblog for 10 Actions Assignment #1

Volunteer in or join an organization or get involved in a group comprised of people who are significantly different than you

The other afternoon I was able to spend some time at the Goshen Public Library. I generally enjoy people watching, whether it's in a mall or another public location, I find it fascinating to watch how people interact with their family and friends. In this circumstance, I thought it would be most beneficial for me to go to the children's section to watch how parents interact with their children. I discovered pretty quickly that I felt kind of creepy doing this, even though I had a perfectly good explanation if anyone were to ask me, it felt a little strange to be watching little kids.

At this point in my life, I feel very disconnected from anyone who isn't of college age. Approximately 95% of my interactions take place with other college students with the other 5% taking place with my professors and family members. Going to the library and observing families was a good way for me to connect with that demographic, but also to think about how I will need to interact with my students.

One of the first interactions that caught my eye was between a father and son. There is a giant chess board and this boy who was probably 6 years old, wanted to play chess. He is obviously too young to understand the complexities of the game, but his father went along with it. His father remained pretty detached for the whole game, helping his son as necessary, but not really seeming to enjoy the interaction at all. I wondered how this interaction would be different if it were between a father and a daughter or between a mother and one of her children. Even if it's not intentional, we treat boys and girls in different ways; this is something that is crucial for teachers to be aware of.

I also noticed a mother with a baby in a sling around her with at least two other children. In the period that I was down in the children's wing of the library, there were also at least two fathers with their children. Overall, I would say that I noticed lots of families with only one parent present. I wonder if that indicates a rise in the number of single parent households or if families simply tend to divide tasks, such as going to the library. Growing up, I always went to the library with my mom, never with my dad.

As I was sitting there, I realized that libraries are a place where everyone can come together. Perhaps I am naive, but I do not perceive any racial or class overtones regarding who comes to a library. People of any age, any class, and any ethnicity have an equal opportunity to make use of a library, providing there is one in their community. However, I did notice that all employees of the library were white, female, and probably over 55. However, the clientele of the library represented a much larger range. I would estimate that of the people I saw, 60-70% were white, but age and gender were fairly equally represented. I looked up some data on the demographics of Goshen and found that about 75% of the population is white and almost 20% are Latino/a. That data seems to correspond with what I observed at the Goshen Library.

Several questions were raised in my mind as I was observing. The first question was what is the primary motivation for coming to a library for most people? The two most obvious reasons would seem to be for either education or entertainment. Also the children were seemed to be at ease in this environment. Do children interact with their siblings differently in the library than they do in other public areas or at home? I also wondered how such a study at the library at my home in Pennsylvania would differ.

I think that such observation is helpful as I think about how students interact when they are with their parents versus being alone and how they behave at home versus how they behave in public. There are many aspects of behavior that could be studied by simple observation. Also, libraries can help nurture students in many different ways. They can provide a safe place to go after school, technology that may not be available at home, additional resources for papers and projects, and books to be read for pleasure. If there is a good library in the vicinity of your school, it would be to the teacher's benefit to make sure that all of the families are aware of that resource.

Website consulted:
http://www.muninetguide.com/states/indiana/municipality/Goshen.php

Practice democratic principles

In my Women's Studies class, we recently spent time discussing how many typical ways of conversing tend to exclude the participation of women. I decided to look at the differences between how men and women tend to interact in group settings.

One interesting idea is that women are more likely to use various linguistic devices to lessen the degree of their statements. For example: "I would probably like to leave soon," rather than saying "I would like to leave." In a study done by the University of Texas-Austin reported on by U.S. News and World Report in July 2007 stated that while men and women typically use the same number of words each day, women are more likely to use pronouns while men use more articles. This agrees with the notion that women are more likely to talk about people, while men talk more about things.

Men are more likely to promote hierarchal relationships and talk about what they done. While women tend to form support networks and talk in encouraging ways. The contrast between these styles is where communication between men and women tends to fall apart. We can see that in a classroom discussion, while women would tend to build off of each other's ideas in order to move the conversation along, men often express more critical ideas and explain why they disagree with particular points.

I think that this is an important topic for all teachers. Most of us will end up in coed schools, since there are very few all-girl or all-boy schools. We need to know how to moderate between the genders and show that each gender is valued for their communication methods. Since the female method of communication tends to be less dominant, males are often blamed for their own actions, which isn't fair either. Communication with our students is a two-way street; it's not only about how our students interact with each other, we need to be conscious of how each gender responds to a male or female teacher.


Websites consulted:
http://www.eioba.com/a70155/relationships_and_communication_styles
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070708/16talk.htm
http://feminism.eserver.org/gender-differences.txt

Get political

Through my Oral Communications class, I recently became aware of a series of Presidential debates that would air on CNN, in collaboration with YouTube. Since they are available on YouTube, I was able to watch the whole Democratic Debate that took place in Nevada on November 15. This year they also gave the unique opportunity for YouTube users to download a video of them presenting a question to the candidates. This past July, there was a debate in South Carolina during which a select number of those questions were presented to the Democratic Candidates. On November 28, there will be a Republican debate that follows the same format.


I think that this is an insightful idea. It's certainly not perfect because of all the editing that needs to occur. All of the questions cannot possibly be answered due to time constraints, however, it might a step in the right direction. Even the idea of making the debates available on YouTube makes them more readily available. For debates that are only televised, if you have a conflict, you totally miss the debate unless you have TiVo or other such technology. I think it's also a good way to get the younger generation involved and to help us stay informed.

In this debate, one question about education was posed. One of the moderators asked why teachers' unions make it difficult to reward great teachers with pay raises. I really liked Chris Dodd's response to the question. In his opinion, it depends on how you measure a great teacher. Some teachers go into inner-city schools and are able to make a difference in lives on their students, but other teachers stick to middle-class schools that often receive very good test scores. By what standard can you measure a great teacher? Click here to watch that segment of the debate (the question begins at time 3:37)

There are so many facets of each candidate to consider, which makes voting for a candidate very difficult. As a college student studying to be a teacher, I pay particular attention to questions about education, but education is not covered to the degree of the war in Iraq, immigration, or other such topics. Do I vote for the candidate who represents my views on education or do I vote for a candidate who deals with other issues in ways that I agree with? After watching this debate with several of my friends, we questioned the effectiveness of our system. The primaries in Iowa and New Hampshire essentially determine the fate of the candidates, well, why don't all of the states have their primaries on the same day?

By beginning my knowledge about the candidates with this debate, I will be able to stay better informed regarding the candidates for the 2008 elections. This will be the first presidential election that I will be eligible to vote in, so I hope to be able to make an informed decision. I like pieces of what each candidate had to say, but not all of each candidate's position. It comes down to weighing the issues which are most important to me. Personally, a candidate needs to be committed to ending the war in Iraq very quickly; that is something that I feel very strongly about. Oftentimes, the candidates use such elaborate wording that it is often hard to figure out exactly where each candidate stands on any particular issue. If you listen to them on another day, they might have altered their position ever so slightly. I'm glad that I had the chance to watch this debate because it helped to get me interested in this election. I am planning on watching the debate on November 28 as well, although with convenience of the Internet and YouTube, I will not necessarily have to watch it on the 28th.

Become aware that you are a role model and act accordingly

To me, there are very few good reasons not to recycle. This year I am daily reminded of it; I live right on the end of the hallway, so the recycling bins are basically right outside my door. After becoming more conscious of our throw-away society from one of my summer jobs, I realized that the clear cups that Java Junction uses for its smoothies and other such products are recyclable. While I don't purchase very many things from Java, that is one small way that all of us here at Goshen College can reduce our garbage footprint.

Recycling is not the only important thing to teach our children, the other steps of the process are just as crucial: reduce and reuse. People often chuckle about the thriftiness of Mennonites, but there is something to be said for it. My grandmother and my mom both wash and reuse plastic Ziploc bags. It's not a hard and fast rule; if they store raw chicken in it, they'll just throw it out, but if you're just storing pretzels in the bag, why not wash it? Growing up, my small school did not have a cafeteria, so my brother and I packed our lunch each day. Rather than buying individual packs of cookies or Lunchables, buying in larger quantities tends to be more cost effective and reduces the amount of unnecessary packing materials.

Another way that I have become conscious about being a role model has to do with how I spend my weekends. I have made the decision not to drink until I am of legal age at 21. While there are quite a lot of reasons behind my decision, part of it is a simple awareness of how I am viewed by my younger brother and cousins. To varying degrees, they imitate my behavior. When two of my cousins were younger, they wanted to dress like me and wear glasses like me and just generally do whatever I was doing. I do not want to be responsible for encouraging them to drink. Also, I am aware of the consequences. If I were to be arrested for illegal alcohol consumption, there would be ramifications on my ability to get a job in a school.

Get experience with all types of learners and their families

Early this month I was able to attend Goshen's mainstage play Step on a Crack, which highlights how Ellie, a ten year old girl transitions after her father remarried. I have grown up in a household where both of my parents were always present; this play presented a way for me to think about how children deal with the death of a parent, parents' separation, divorce, or other circumstances that seem to be so common in our society today. As a teacher, I will need to be aware of the family background of my students because I think that it will often affect how they interact with persons in authority, such as the teacher and how they treat their classmates. A child who lives with both of their parents and has no siblings will respond very differently to me than a student who has lots of siblings and has been abandoned by one of their parents.

During high school I had the opportunity to tutor a third grade girl who came from a single parent household and lived in low-income housing. She often had trouble getting her work done and would sometimes simply refuse to answer any of my questions or do anything at all. What do you do with a student who refuses to look at you, listen to you, and just wants to stare off into space? She helped me develop patience among other things, but I enjoyed working with her. That was one of the first times in my life that I thought about teaching as a career because I realized that I really wanted to help her. I wanted her to succeed in school so that she would have a greater chance breaking out of the cycle of poverty.

Learning to Identify Allies

Several times in the past week I have perused the Math Forum at Drexel University website. On their homepage, they describe themselves to be "the leading online resource for improving math learning, teaching, and communication." This will be a helpful resource as I move into teaching for several reasons. First of all, it provides an authoritative resource for students to access outside of their textbook. Another instance when it might be helpful is if I am looking for additional problems to challenge more advanced students. There are also resources specifically for teachers in each age range. The section for high school math teachers includes lesson plans, interactive websites to use with your students, and advice from other high school math teachers.

On October 15, I subscribed to the Math Forum Internet News, which is an e-newsletter that is sent weekly. I have gotten two issues thus far and even though I'm not even teaching, I have already found relevant information. In the October 26th edition, there was a link to "Mathematical Moments," which are a series of flyers produced by the American Mathematical Society that describe how math is relevant in our daily lives. Examples that I chose to look at dealt with seeing how math aids the graphics in video games, that matrices help airplanes be boarded faster, and how music is stored on CDs using only the numbers 0 and 1. Even more relevant was a flyer on traffic, describing how mathematical models using partial differential equations and chaos theory are showing that building new roads may not help alleviate traffic. When I say that I am a math major, people often tell me that they don't like math because it seems like just a bunch of numbers and it doesn't impact their real life at all. Now I have a resource to help me refute those arguments.

On the Math Forum, there is also Teacher2Teacher and the Teachers' Lounge, which is are places for teachers and others who are interested in math education to discuss curriculum, specific teaching strategies, and other issues in education. One post that I read that was of particular interest to me was "factors that affect girls in math." Other helpful posts include "motivating secondary students" and "homework teams and classroom groups." I also looked for other teachers opinions on the CPM (College Preparatory Mathematics) curriculum, which was criticized in Teaching to Change the World by Jeannie Oakes and Martin Lipton. My school used the CPM curriculum from when I was in Algebra I to my Calculus course (grades 8-12). However, I was disappointed to not find any resources on this topic except as a link in the Internet Math Library to a short review of the curriculum on a website off of the Math Forum.


Another resource that I located within our very own Good Library is the book Tips for the Mathematics Teacher by Alfred Posamentier, Hope Hartman, and Constanze Kaiser. This text offers 89 tips for math teachers within the categories of instructional techniques, social aspects of the classroom, beyond the classroom, and developing positive attitudes about mathematics. Some tips are fairly obvious, but each tip includes research to support it, applications of the tip, and things to consider as you implement the tip in your classroom. Here is one tip that I found to be quite interesting: "Teachers should be tactical in their use of questions." (58) Then it went on to show that research has shown that it is helpful to address the whole class about half the time and to call on particular students the other half. I would imagine that I will be conscious of the manner in which I will call on students; however, I would not have realized that it actually might make a difference in how the students learn.

Study effective teachers

For the past several weeks, I have been spending around three hours each Tuesday in two different classrooms at West Noble High School. Each teacher implements different strategies in order for their teaching to be most beneficial to their students. I have paid particular attention to how the classrooms are set up and how each teacher deals with discipline. I have also spent sometime thinking about how my classes here on campus are set up.

At West Noble High School, both of the classrooms that I am in have all of the chairs in rows facing the front of the room. One teacher allows his students to move into groups when doing their homework or even work on the floor. That room has a much different environment than the other teacher who has his students work on their homework alone and would rather that they remain quiet. Even after completing almost 11 hours of observation, I have not seen many students misbehaving. The most serious infraction has been talking in class, which was simply solved by a simple intervention by the teacher.

Inclusive Schooling is set up in a semicircle which is appropriate for the interactive, discussion-driven class that it is, but the semi-circle still directs attention to the front of the room, generally towards our professor. Introduction to Women's Studies is set up in a similar manner, but we actually manipulate the tables and chairs into a full circle for most class periods. Class discussion is led by a group of students each week; therefore, our direction doesn't need to be directed to a centralized authority at the front of the room. A circle also just seems more conducive to sharing our thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Both of my math classes are set up with rows of tables and chairs facing the front of the room, focusing on the professor, the chalkboards, and the pull-down screen. In high school, my math classes were set up with desks grouped into four; this promoted group work and made it hard just to ignore the influence of our peers. I generally prefer math classes that are set up in that manner. My Oral Communications class is set up with columns of chairs all facing the presenter, although in this class, the professor does not play as big of a role because we are all presenters at various points in the class.

In talking to others about what kinds of things make a teacher effective, I have heard that teachers need to relate the material to something practical and show students that they are confident in their knowledge of the material. A good teacher should be flexible and have presence in the classroom that indicates a balance of concern for the students' well-being and authority over the classroom. An effective teacher is also able to exhibit connection with their students. In a study of characteristics of bad teachers, one resounding answer was when teachers are not prepared for class, which is most apparent when they read directly off of Power points and exhibit a poor knowledge of the material covered in that class period. Other answers included when teachers do not return assignments for a long time and those who are poor lecturers.

I also interviewed my mother, who taught eighth grade for several years before moving on to teach high school, and now is the Director of Curriculum at Christopher Dock Mennonite High School. I wondered what kinds of things she concentrated on in order to be an effective teacher when she was teaching and if those things changed when she began to do more teacher observation in her current administrative role. She responded that she focused on knowing the subject material and one way that she increased her confidence in her knowledge base was to take graduate classes towards her masters' degree. Another thing that she still feels is important is to build relationships with students; she strove to find ways to engage students in dialogue both in and out of class. This made it easier to view students as a whole person rather than just a high school student and to respect their life journey. Now that her role includes more teacher observation, she has found that students respond well to teachers who are passionate about their subject material. She gave the example of a teacher who mainly lectures, but students can sense his passion, which in turn causes them to be more passionate about the class.

From the combination of my observation of classroom dynamics in my classes here and in my field placement and receiving input from peers and my mother on effective teachers, I am looking forward to being an effective teacher. I strive to set up my classroom so that students can learn most effectively and my expectations for them are clearly set out. I feel that I will be able to utilize the tools available to me so that I can be confident in my subject material and that I will be able to use my interest for math to show students how it is relevant in their lives.

Taking my education seriously

This semester, I decided to take Introduction to Women's Studies because I had a bit of extra room in my schedule and it sounded like a class that I would be interested in. I was right; I have enjoyed this class incredibly. It is a very discussion driven class and I have enjoyed hearing the perspectives of my classmates. In this class, our professor, Carol Jarvis, often mentions literature which has been influential in the women's movement, but due to the time constraints of a semester-long class, we cannot even begin to read all of them. I decided to read one such book, Manifesta: young women, feminism, and the future. This book was written by Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards who are two Third-Wave feminists (Third-Wave simply refers to the most recent surge of feminism beginning in the early 1990s).

While the book wasn't quite as interesting as I would have hoped, I did enjoy the insight of the authors, particularly in the Prologue, entitled "A Day Without Feminism" and the first chapter, "The Dinner Party." As you might guess, the prologue highlighted just how different our society would be had feminists not been advocates for the empowerment of women in their relationships, in the professional world, or in education by describing the state of women in the year 1970. Here are a few lines that struck me: "If she gets a loan with her husband - and she has a job - she may have to sign a 'baby letter' swearing that she won't have one and have to leave her job." (7)

The reason that I enjoyed Chapter One - "The Dinner Party" more than the rest of the book is because it told about a dinner party that the authors had with six of their female friends where they covered anything and everything related to feminism. In the chapter, the authors related the stories and conversation from that night to surveys, books, and articles, exhibiting the relevance of feminism in our daily lives. Here is quote from the end of the chapter: "Manifesta is an attempt to open people's eyes to the power of everyday feminism right in front of our noses. We must see its reality if we are to corral that energy into attacking the inequalities that still exist." (49)

The final chapter of Manifesta is entitled "A Day With Feminism" and offers a view of the future in contrast to the prologue "A Day Without Feminism." I finished the book with conflicted feelings; I have so much hope because much of what they presented doesn't seem that far off, but there are still major strides that need to be made. The most astounding thing for me to realize was that regardless of how paychecks, legislation, or percentages indicate equality, much of equality still has to do with the attitudes of the people.

I think that an awareness of women's studies will help to make me a better teacher, particularly in the area of math education. Both in my class, Introduction to Women's Studies and in Manifesta, various sources have discussed why girls typically tend not to do as well in math. As a teacher, if I am aware of the issues that girls face particularly in a math classroom, then I might be able to help eliminate some of those dynamics. For example, some researchers think that girls would rather discuss a math problem and come up with different ways to solve it, while boys tend to find the most efficient way to find the answer. If I am aware of these dynamics, I can structure my class in such a way that both boys and girls can be successful in math.

Another thing that I have done periodically this semester is meeting with a study group, mostly for Linear Algebra, but also to study for our Inclusive Schooling midterm. For Linear Algebra, it has been especially helpful because I have struggled in that class this semester. By working through problems together, we are able to clarify things with each other. For me this is important because sometimes I can go through an assignment, thinking that I am doing everything correctly; only upon turning it in do I find out that I had misunderstood a crucial concept. As a teacher, it is also important to learn how to work in a group because you need to learn a balance of independence and dependence.

Developing ways to "recharge my battery"

Through the first half of high school, I ran cross country, so running was an obligation rather than something that I actually wanted to be doing. One of the reasons that I left the team was because I didn't enjoy the drudgery of knowing that I had to run every day. After I left the team, running became occasional, something that I did when I wanted to. As I transitioned to college, running often was set on the back burner because I just had too many other things that I needed and wanted to do.

This semester I have already been excessively busy and so I hadn't run at all for the first several weeks that I was here. Finally one Sunday night I had the opportunity to go running with a friend and it turned out to be much more enjoyable than I had remembered, even though I was dreadfully out of shape. This opportunity was refreshing, a chance to spend some time with a friend just chatting because you can't talk about anything too serious while you are out of breath. Plus, exercise is never a bad thing; it's good for your physical health and I believe it is also beneficial for your mental health. I think that it raises self-esteem and regardless of my workload, I always feel more relaxed when I return from a run. So this semester I will make a conscious effort to run more consistently (for me, more consistently means maybe once a week).

9/9	3 miles	With one friend
9/19	5 miles	With one friend
9/22	3 miles	With a bunch of friends
9/29	5 miles	Just me
10/6	4.5 miles	With one friend
10/17	3 miles	Just me
10/20	5 miles	With one friend
10/27	3.5 miles	With one friend

Becoming active in my community

Last spring, my friend Rachel Yoder, who is from this area, asked me if I would like to coach GYSO with her. I am from Pennsylvania and had no idea what GYSO stood for, but once I found out that soccer and kindergarteners were involved, I was in. One disadvantage of college is that college students live in such a secluded environment. A huge percentage of our time is spent with people of a similar age and for some, our only other interaction is with our professors. I looked forward to this opportunity as a chance to spend time with people who were not my own age.

Coaching kindergarteners once a week last spring often ended up being the highlight of my week. It was amazing to see the range of development among these kids who were of similar ages. I can’t imagine having them all in a classroom because I felt like they were at such different points in their social abilities, coordination, attention span, communication, and athletic tendencies. However, I realize that this is reality. All students come to the classroom at different points in their development.

Another beneficial aspect of coaching was that I got a better sense of the Goshen community that I am kind of part of. By spending a vast majority of my time on campus, I haven’t gotten the chance to observe what this town is actually like. I was actually able to see the increasing Latino population rather than just hearing about it from news stories and documentaries.

Finally, I was glad for this opportunity just as an opportunity to maybe make a little bit of a difference in the life of one of those kids. Yes, it does sound a little cliché, but I have grown up in a community where I have loving parents and lots of role models around me. I used to take that for granted. Last spring I realized that having so many role models isn’t the norm, but that I had the chance to be a role model to those kids even if it was just for a couple months. It was a great experience to work with them and if my schedule works out, I would love another opportunity to coach.

Another experience in the Goshen community that I more recently had was Celebrate Service Day for Goshen College. My floor chose to help at the Elkhart County Women's Shelter. My RA and I had been there last year with our colloquium and our group had a really good experience that year. One of the most meaningful parts of it was that we actually got to interact with the people whose lives we were minutely affecting. This year didn't work out quite as well for us, but it was still a good time to connect with my floor and to help out the community in a small way. I got to work at both the main office and one of the safe houses; at both locations, one of the ways I helped was by picking up trash. I think that having clean surroundings is something that is easy to take for granted, particularly after having grown up in white, middle-class suburbia. It was nice to see what an aesthetic difference it made on each of the properties. The staff at both locations were just so grateful towards those who volunteered because we were able to just do those little extra tasks that they didn't have time to take care of in the midst of their busy lives.