Naming a child involves balancing idealism, pragmatism, and realism. Idealistic names embody virtues like faith, while pragmatic names are common and easy to remember. Realistic names serve practical functions.
Utah has recently decreased the requirements of its teachers. The primary goal of this is to bring in more teachers to help solve the teacher shortage in the state. I, however, do not believe that this is a good idea. I don't think that this will bring in that many more teachers but will innevitagbly lower the quality of teaching. This just helps new teachers set the bar lower for themselves. Utah already has one of the lowest percentages of highly qualified teachers in the nation and this will only make it worse.
Starter 15 July 3, 2018
Removing Tenure
I think it is a good idea to remove tenure. I've seen many teachers who knew that they would not be fired because they had been teaching for so many years. This often caused them to be become lazy, when the goal of tenure is to encourage them to branch out and use new styles of teaching to help students. I understand that teachers need some protections, but I have seen tenure do more bad than good. I feel that if a teacher wants to go against the norm, they can usually do that to an extent without having tenure.
Starter 17 July 10, 2018
Name Bro. Wilson's Child
A name to fit idealism would be faith. This name follows idealism because it is looking forward into the life of the child and places the ideal as having faith. A pragmatic name would be something very common that would be easy to remember. Perhaps a name that is similar to other people that you already know. A name that would fit realism would really be any name to is able to take care of the of the functions that a name needs to do. I would take a very pragmatic approach for naming my own child. I would let my wife have the final say. But I would also consider the meaning that a name carries as well as how easy it is to say.
Gabbi
Starter 14 June 28, 2018
Illegal Immigrants in the Classroom
I grew up in a town that has more Hispanics than any other ethnicity. I knew that some of my classmates were illegal immigrants, and that a fair number more had parents that were illegal immigrants. Some of these classmates were very good friends of mine. I think it is important for teachers to be aware of this and how it can change relationships between the teacher and the student as well as the students parents. If a teacher can help a student feel comfortable and not have to worry about the school "turning them in" then it gives the opportunity for a good, beneficial relationship to be established. This will help the student have a better education and perhaps work towards a way to right the situation.
Starter 13 June 26, 2018
Teachers paying for Materials
Almost every teacher understands the struggle of getting materials for their class, especially teachers of younger students. Parents and students expect a well decorated class room that provides a good atmosphere for learning, yet the teachers are typically given very little funds, if any, to do so. Some schools in Michigan are trying to change this by providing more money for teachers to have a supplies fund. Personally, I find this to be a good thing, but not the best. I don't place that much value in having a well decorated class room, though I know others do. I would rather prefer a school offer more classes, have smaller class sizes, or provide computers to students.
Subtopic
Starter 11 June 19, 2018
Multilingual students
Students who are learning English as a second language have been improving quickly in subjects other than English. Their scores in history and math have been improving 2 to 3 times more than monolingual students. This is attributed to improved language programs and shows that these programs have been more successful than previously thought. I think this is significant because each of us will have students who are learning English while being in our class. I plan to be a social studies teacher but I will need to help students who don't speak English well.
Joe
Starter 12 June 21, 2018
Green reading
Lack of "awakeness" doesn't benefit students. In fact, it leads to them going through the motions and engaging in thoughtless routine. Whereas, if we are awake and actively participating, then we are more excited about what we are doing and do more improve that field and improve ourselves. It is a large difference between acting and being acted upon. Existentialism is all about being awake and being aware of what is around you and what you are learning.
class
Starter 10 June 14, 2018
Why am I a realist?
Realism is not pessimism. Realism can have an ideal while accepting that the absolute ideal is unattainable. Our goal is to get closer to the ideal. I also believe that our idea of realism is applicable to this life. Beyond this life what is realistic changes.
Realism is the attitude or practice of accepting a situation as it is and being prepared to deal with it accordingly.
The ideal is important to have but reality is most important. Idealism can never be fully achieved and this can lead some people to disillusionment. People can lose their faith because they never reach the ideal. With realism, one can always do their best and accept the end result. A teacher must accept that no matter how much they do, there will be students who choose not to learn. There will be students who willingly fail and do not want to take seeds or sticks or education.
Group starter
Starter 9 June 12, 2018
Rising rate of special needs in education
The rates of children on the autism spectrum have been rising and this is having an impact on how teachers approach teaching. I think it is important for new teachers to receive training in how to work with these children as they will have needs that are different than other kids. My mom worked with young autistic children and I had the opportunity to help in her classroom each year. I found that those children, usually around 5 years old, were very fun to work with and are able to take in a surprising amount of information. However, it was very different working with them than with other children. Also, even if we don't plan to work in special education, there will certainly be children in regular classes that are on the autistic spectrum, so we will need to know how to help them.
Starter 8 June 7, 2018
Chicago LEAP Innovations
Chicago received 14 million dollars from the Zuckerbergs for this initiative. This focuses on teachers making individualized learning programs for students to help them in their problem areas. Previous to this, there was not enough funding for teachers to take that one on one time with students. I think this is a good program that has the potential to yield great results. I found that I did much better with teachers that would help me with my specific needs. Once they helped me a few times, then I began to need less help. I think this program can help turn around the public schools in Chicago.
Jake
Starter 7 June 5, 2018
1/3 of students need vision tests
I received basic vision tests in school and I feel that it was a good thing to have. I actually did need glasses in high school for double vision but I didn't say anything. I was able to pass the vision tests with a decent score and so the people testing me didn't see a big issue. I didn't say anything because I knew that my family couldn't afford for me to get a full vision test, get a prescription, and buy glasses. However, I still believe that it is good for schools to offer vision tests. They helped me to at least become aware of my need for glasses. These tests also come at a fairly low cost compared to the benefits that it can provide. Hundreds of students can be tested in a school day. This will help students who struggle to read and would change a diagnoses of dyslexia to simply needing glasses.
Kristen
Starter 5 May 29, 2018
What is philosphy?
I think philosophy is more than just a knowledge of ideas for how to teach. It is a set of personal beliefs and principles that determine how one teaches and why they teach that way. Cade also suggests that there is a love involved for those principles and I agree with this. Philosophy is a deep belief that heavily impacts what we do and approach life.
Cade
Starter 6 May 31, 2018
Team Teaching
I had some experience with team teaching growing up. When I was in the 5th grade, some of my class and I would spend some time with the 6th grade class. It was designed to help us advance in our learning while not being too much for students who weren't ready for it. However, I didn't like the team teaching. Then again, at the time I didn't care for school. Looking back, I can see a number of benefits to team teaching and only a few cons. In general, I would say that team teaching can be useful in the right situations.
Starter 4 May 24, 2018
Common Core
Common core leaves less room to adjust how teachers teach. However, some things that are helping students in school is the integration of technology. More schools are giving students laptops or tablets. This helped my younger brother in high school. He had traditionally struggled in school, not due to capability but due to struggles with the styles of teaching. He found he kept much better track of his assignments and it was easier to complete them because he was more comfortable with using a computer.
Starter 3 May 22, 2018
Addams Reading
Children acting as the translator for their family was very prevalent in my own high school and I saw many of the same things that Addams points out. In many ways, this makes school the primary interacting force in society with these families. This places a larger responsibility on the school and can cause some difficulties. While I believe that anyone who comes to our country should make dedicated efforts to learn English, I understand that some people may never be able to really pick up the language. In these cases, I believe it is good for the children to be that connection for their family to American society.
Heidi
Starter 2 May 17, 2018
Current Event: vouchers for education?
I can see the benefit for this but it would have major draw backs. It would lead to people choosing private schools over public schools. I don't think this would be all that bad because the privatization of education would increase the quality of education but leave many public schools being used less than they should be.
Crystal
Starter 1 May 15, 2018
What did you think of the reading?
I really liked the metaphors used by Glaucon and Socrates. I feel that there are many caves in life. While there are a few issues with the metaphor, I believe that it holds quite a bit of truth concerning our journeys from ignorance into truth and knowledge.
Rachel
Eat anywhere in Texas. Food is great there.
Has a number of careers in mind and isn't positive yet which one she would prefer to do.
Starter 4
Current Event in Education
Common core has continually faced push back from students and parents even though it has been in place for a few years now.
I can see Beecher's reasoning for why women make good teachers but I disagree that they should get preference for jobs over men. She was born in 1800 and this shows in her paper. Today's principles would not allow for one gender to be blatantly favored over the other for a position, and for good reason.
Terany
Starter 3
Education issues
Students leaving inner city public schools for schools in better areas.
Thought from reading
I agree that there are significant differences between private and public education. They should be more synonymous to help students who switch between them.
Shyanne
Should we switch to 4 day school weeks
Starter 2
What does being LDS change about what/how I learn/teach?
Being LDS causes me to have a very different perspective on many things but I don't believe that it will cause me to teach many different things than other people. I intend to teach history, government, and economics. Being LDS may influence what parts I emphasize. Being LDS certainly changes what and how I learn. I am much more interested in religion than most people and I try to learn through a perspective of the big picture.
