Breadth of Pedagogy

Irrelevant to Last Monday's Class

2008-04-27T10:33:00.000-07:00

Before I begin my last posting, I'd like to clarify that out of the 13 postings that I have published, at least 10 have been submitted by the due date (which is the first Sunday after each Monday's class.) So, under the rubric for this assignment, I don't see why I have not been given any points at all for the category for posting "once a week." The other points are too unreasonable to mention. After writing 12 posts about what I've learned in class, I've decided to write my last posting on experiences that meet the rubric alone. Strangely enough, nothing that we did in class qualifies as learning objectives in this rubric. The only instruction that occurred was when Professor Morales showed us how to download software for our digital story. She gave us a tutorial on how to use the software, which she understood very well.

Reflects well on own Teaching and learning, demonstrates a range of meta- cognitive practices and provides many examples.

The last time I gave a class, my students were quiet for 15 minutes. This means that I have good classroom management because they are never quiet for their regular teacher. I noticed that the students were very curious about their work in class, but less than 20% of the students brought their homework. This makes me think that I should emphasis the importance of them bringing their homework. I told the students that those that brought their homework on the due date would get extra credit and that if the name of the student wasn't on the paper, there would be no grade, but of course I looked to see what papers needed a name on it and I talked to that student one-on-one about how it is not right to turn in homework without writing a name on it. The student seemed to understand and because I was careful in phasing it, the student was not insulted by my comment.
Is able to make inferences well and comprehends deeper meaning consistently, demonstrating insight and their relevance to science education.

Science education is as viable as teaching languages, mathematics and language arts. If Science education were as hard to train a person with an extensive background of classes in Chemistry, Biology, Human Physiology, Computer Science, Geology and Psychology, then the problem would either be with the curriculum or the instructor or both. Unfortunately, some instructors have acquired an aire of arrogance which inhibits their brains to propagate the idea that science is not just for a small group or sect.
Analysis conveys extensive evidence of a personal response to the issues raised in the class notes, field experience observations, assignments, and discussions.

My personal response to assignments are as follows: 1) there are assignments that should be worth more points because they demand much time to do such as the philosophy of teaching science; 2) the "big point" assignments such as the thematic unit should have been taught in class and early in the term because the point of Science Methods I is to help the preservice teacher become an efficient teacher, but instead it has been a chaotic source if information 3) the instructor should not have taken six weeks to tell us what science inquiry was; 4) there should have been quizzes on the reading; 5) we should have focused on one or two textbooks for the class not six and ten articles because the information overlaps to a great extent; 6) we should not have been brow beaten neither by the instructor nor the cooperative teachers during observations; 7) the instructor should not have waited for the last week of class to make us revise most of our work in an agitated rush.

Teachers should be treated with decency and teachers should treat their students decently; abuse is a cycle and if teachers are treated like animals they will be sickened to the point that they can't function efficiently especially near defenseless children. We should never be an assailant in this vicious cycle of abuse.

Give Me the Keys

2008-04-20T14:48:00.000-07:00

On Monday, Professor Morales looked over my Thematic Unit and suggested I look back at some power point presentation files. The realty is that as educators we have to tweak our work here and there in order to give our very best. We have to build our professional development with videos, assemblies and seminars. We have FEAPs to help us. We have to look at educational and government websites. We have to do research for our students sake. Regardless of the hardships, the important thing is that we want the same thing: to give our students the best education. This is a labor of love; whether or not we are treated right we keep doing it.

The first day I met my cooperative teacher, she mentioned how she was given the keys to her classroom; and she was on her own the first day on the job. I think it's sad that not every teacher is given pedagogy classes. There are many things that I have learned in all of my classes. In this class in particular: I learned many pedagogy terms, the significance of the NSES and Sunshine Standards, the expectations of a middle school teacher by their students, the practice of educational science inquiry, the rich ideas of my classmates and instructor, the emotional difference between high school and middle school students, how to write a scope and sequence and thematic unit for a middle school science class. And, I learned how a middle school is run by dedicated individuals.

The point of having the Sunshine Standards, the NSES and the TIMMS if to help all students perform up to par with all the accommodations, instruction, developed curriculum, and remediation until we have the ideal universal design. The problem is that the general public, including the people who develop our curriculum, laws and standards, don't realize how advance we are in technologies. Of course, we could be more advance, but they think we live in the middle ages. Even the some concepts of conduct and the acceptable reinforcements for misconduct are barbarous.

In retrospect, humans have so much in common that we can have ready-to-go curriculum for every students. If McDonald's Restaurants can teach their students to work efficiently, we can too. Like it or not, by 2025, all teachers will be facilitators (it will be a need), computers will make connections as fast as humans and there will be less handicaps from those that condone them. Finally, we will be able to efficiently provide the launching of our children's independence. Our children are the future and they will need to know how to survive in a world more complex than ever before.

Classroom Management

2008-04-11T14:13:00.000-07:00

Not every teacher exercises classroom management. That's not a good thing for a science class because in order for the science classroom to engage in the scientific community, they must assume the ethical principles of their role. The Sunshine State Standards' Big Idea 4 concentrates on what is called Science and Society. This concept states the following: "As tomorrows citizens, students should be able to identify issues about which society could provide input, formulate scientifically investigable questions about those issues, construct investigations of their questions, collect and evaluate data from their investigations, and develop scientific recommendations based upon their findings." Thus, the students have to have a well-defined degree of social responsibility. The atmosphere or moral is seriously damaged by lack of respect in a classroom. This leads to tension and conduct issues.

The next semester, I will take an entire course on the subject of Classroom Assessment which I think is fabulous. As a teacher, my rapport with the students must be excellent, nurturing and motivationally effective. Some people like to use the "push" method to motivate their students. Research shows that the push method fails most of the time because it is generally coercive in nature. People who have a coercive nature are very effective, just as Hitler and other dictators whom control the masses like herding cattle. So the question is: Does the cause justify the means? Most communists will say it does.

The Old College Try

2008-04-03T17:15:00.000-07:00

Classes are almost over. On Wednesday, Professor Morales spoke to me in private. Her advice was very helpful. My Thematic Unit is worth 20% of the grade which makes me nervous, but ultimately, the experience is worth much more. Inquiry has been our main focus in Science Methods science day one, but I didn't realize how organic the integration of it had to be on my lesson plan. It makes sense. The Florida Sunshine Standards, the NSES and our 4000 level course has the highest regards for the establishment of Science Inquiry in the classroom. The idea is a bit scary for me, since the Thematic Unit has to be just right and gradually created. As we speak, I'm applying my professor's suggestions. Also, I registered my students for a global real-time inquiry activity suggested by Professor Morales. Since, we aren't expected to be very good at giving the lesson, I feel rather sad, but I'll give it the old college try.

Inquiry: Deeper Understanding

2008-03-28T11:25:00.000-07:00

Since the beginning of the semester, we have been exposed to Inquiry. At first, I thought Inquiry was a way of studying objects and getting a sense of what scientists do. But, its not as easy as that. As educators, we have to live Inquiry. One definition is not enough. We have been exposed to three definitions for science Inquiry and the general term. These definitions don't just come out of the blue: these definitions come from higher authorities in the science community.

Furthermore, we have gained profound experiences in the realm of Science Inquiry. We have taken pretests on Inquiry for the purpose of comparing preconceived ideas on the term with new insight. This is a great way to dismiss any errors.

On Monday, we did several activities all for the purpose of truly knowing Inquiry. First, we saw a videos on students engaged in Inquiry in their classrooms. Then, as a group, we provided observations and answered questions to what we saw. This experience counts as professional development because we are learning something that is supplemental to our career.

In addition, we have worked in groups on many occasions. Not only have we performed Inquiry models, but we have performed Inquiry itself. We also understand the role of scientific disclosure and Inquiry. We have read to each other and edited each others words.

Presenting to Peers

2008-03-22T16:23:00.000-07:00

We had an awesome assignment on Monday. We all paired up and gave a presentation. I was paired with Alejandro. We were given a page with information on "The Student Lens." We read about how a young girl with a green thumb was not accepting new information because it contradicted her gardening experience. The little girl that she needed to use soil, sunlight, water and fertilizer for her plant to grow. So, when her teacher said that a plant makes its own food, the little girl would not accept that to be true. The problem was defining terms. The Student Lens is the perception that a student that has not reach abstract thinking skills uses to accept and reject new knowledge and, thus, subscribes to misconceptions.

My group was the first to present. After presenting, Josh had a question and I tried to answer it without listening to it completely. I felt bad because he didn't get to finish his question. (I sometimes think I can read people's minds, but I can't.) The next two presentations were about "The Scientist's Lens" and we were going to see a video of strategies that teachers can use when presenting. (We will see the film next Monday.) I identified the secret: probing. By asking the right questions, a teacher can test her students' comprehension. Our next critical review is on Scientific Discourse and probing is a key term in the reading.

First Hand Experience at Inquiry

2008-03-14T10:54:00.000-07:00

On Monday, we were given a treat. We played junior scientist in an inquiry class. The objective of the inquiry class was hidden because it's like reading a detective story: you have to wait at the end to see "who done it." This made the experience more exciting, because of the element of surprise; the anticipation was rich and because we had to question our observations ourselves, no perspective was wrong.

We were given three stations; grouped in pairs and took on one challenge at a time. Dish detergent, a hand-propelled mixer, bowls, plates and spoons where our material on the first station Alex and me were given. Our instructions were to use the material and make a one foot tower, over a dish, made entirely out of foam. Alex went straight to work. He gave stroke after stroke for over 20 minutes, while I held the bowl in position and brought some water from the pitcher. I don't think any one got to a foot, but we came very close.

The next station had two very sweet looking soda cola bottles (Root Beer & Cream Soda,) a carton of eggs, shaving cream, hardening powder and the same material from station one. If I remember correctly, our job was to test the density of the different kinds of foam we could make. It might have been the stiffness of the dabs of suds. The shaving cream won, bar none. And, the soda came last. The next station was like the first, but the challenge was to see what could make better foam: foam made from 200 strokes or 400 strokes. Alejandro chose the greater one and his gave more soap than mine. Our hypothesis was correct: the more you beat the soapy water the more foam you'll get. We finished off by jolting down some reflective questions and we all departed into the night.

The Abuse Clock Narrative

2008-03-14T10:46:00.000-07:00

The first time in weeks that I've had relief from chronic back pain. The doctor said it was my neck: arthritis on the C1 or C2, I can't remember. Two clocks on my face looking at me with a tedious consistency. "You can't stop me," they both said at the same time. (They really didn't say it, but the impression is still the same.) over 8 hours ago, I got a call from my Scope & Sequence partner, Skarlett. "I decided to turn in the presentation," she said without taking a breath. I felt the whole world falling on my head and then hitting me in the stomach. What had happened? The day before I spent all day and night working applying the benchmarks and formatting the 36 rows of week to be filled. It finally dawned on me, she took ll that work and turned it in as if I didn't exist. I didn't make a sound. All I wanted was to get it done before those 25 points where out the window.

On Saturday, I stayed up finishing the format and I had e-mailed the 24 benchmarks for physical science grades 6 to 8. I had asked her to do some of the activities on Sunday morning so, I worked on number 24 and up before I called her. Of course she didn't do an activity; not even the five that I asked her to do. I was almost finished with grade 8 and ready to do grade 7 when I called Josh Williams, the other student in our class. I always ask Josh for advice. I asked him: "So, Josh, what do you think about the choice I made? Since professor Morales wrote choose either a grade or subject, I picked physical science grades 6 to 8." He screamed without waking the dog. "No!," he screamed silently, "you were supposed to do only 6th grade." That was the last thing I had to hear. There's a saying that says: "Never ask what could go wrong." All I could think of was all that time I spent asking why the instructions and templates and document weren't like the ones my professor showed me. My brain was attacking me for making it work over 12 hours a day on this assignment. All for 25 points. This arduous experience won't be a fond memory, but I loved the things I learned about middle school competencies. Like the saying goes: "They can't take that away from me."

Scope & Sequence

2008-03-04T17:32:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a fun day. Professor Morales gave us an real life example of science inquiry. We've read in books and seen it in films, but yesterday, we were the students in an inquiry class. Our assignment had four segments: observation, research, verbal presentation and experimentation. I enjoyed the observation because we were given ample time to look at 5 or 6 photographs and try to say what was the problem and what we thought the cause of the problem was. We called out many good ideas and we were able to recognize the theme: water pollution.

The research was taken from K12Science.org I was in charge of explaining the sample testing for Nitrates. The eutrophication of South Beach and the Keys were given turns out to be below what makes it a problem. That means that the plant life do not hinder the environment for other organisms.

Professor Morales explained that in one of our classes, the student would be able to use "real-time" with their collaboration project with the Global Water Sampling Project. The K12Science.org is one of many great resources that we can use to help our students gain the best that they can from the learning experience.

After class, Professor Morales spoke to use individually about our progress. I had been e-mailing her about Scope & Sequence. The Livetext document she showed us is not in any of the places I've seen. Luckily, I've recorded most of the expectancies of Scope & Sequence in my notes from the get go. All I need is for her reply. Scope & Sequence is an interesting concept. This is the way we introduce our field experience notebook. The segment include: a picture of the school, a sketch of the classroom(s), the demographics of the class, professional development and so on.

Sources:

The Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education.
2008. Retrieved on March 4th, 2008 from:
http://www.k12science.org/

New Things to Come

2008-02-29T18:23:00.000-08:00

Last week the class went on a trip to the everglades. This week Skarlot presented our Standards Triple Venn Diagram. She tells me that the class was very happy with our research. The National standards are very basic and easy to understand. The sunshine standards have become more lengthy, but they are also more specific and better to set as direct goals.

My hours at Miami Senior High are getting more intense. Working with my cooperative teacher Ms. Delgaudio is a delight. She has given me a lot of room to interact with the students. I've recognized a student with an articulation disorder, I'm helping a young girl with her self-esteem and I'm going to work with a tactile learner that I also discovered. The students are in an ESE gifted class, 6th grade Biology.

Ms. Delgaudio has a 4 year degree in Biology and tells me that she is amazed with all the Pedagogy Miami-Dade College Students are given in this program. She tells me that it was much harder for her and Mr. Fernandez because they never took education classes, but were expected to come up with a way to teach from the get go. Ms. Delgaudio is loved by all her students. There are students in her classroom that have been students of hers since earlier grades. She is really someone I look up to and hope to be just like her.

Brave New World

2008-02-11T17:43:00.000-08:00

Dr. William Schmidt, the director of TIMMS, was in a video we viewed in class, today. The Educational System is being questioned by the Director of TIMMS. The interesting part is that the educational system has been questioned by parents throughout all of United States of "American History." We blame it on the free market and publishing companies that sell useless mediocrity on both paper or software.

As teachers we protest against education being reared to meritocracy. Meritocracy is elitist and divergent on our number one goal: creating civilized people in a free society. We may be a country that may seem to not be up to par with Japan or Germany, but that is not so. Our students have choices. They don't go to our schools because they are afraid to die of hunger or go to jail. They go to school because they want to learn to be leaders and find happiness in a world they were given to live in. We are a humanistic country and we teach everyone, not just one group of people.

What we need are good nationwide diagnostic tests. We want to help our students achieve as much as they are willing to go. Instead, we are forced to dwell in self-pity, wait for an answer or disagree on those we make. We either unite as a global community or we stagnate as sectoral worlds with potential, but no with no performance to convey it.

Exuberant Liberty

2008-02-05T16:10:00.000-08:00

I had forgotten how stimulating Professor Marlene Morales' class discussions are. On Monday evening, Professor Morales asked us to group in pairs and merge our responses from the prompts we were given last week. I worked with Joshua "Josh" Williams. Josh came up with great answers and both our list of responses seemed to complement the other. The conversation on the job of a teacher was pretty cut and dry: we both agreed that the teacher should be a facilitator, follow the curricula and adhere to our role as Parenti Loci.

We never discussed our views of the Sunshine Standards and National Standards with the class because we wanted to wait for more information that will be presented next week, but we shared opinions on the idea of state and national standards. My view was that well-defined standards can be used to show the credibility of our Great State of Florida and dismiss any myths about the education level of our people. I told Josh how I felt that National Standards can be used to foster equity. During the mid 20th century, the federal government produced such authority in the southern states that suffered from the remnant of segregation. Professor Morales came over to us and reminded us of the attitudes, views and values of the people that reside in Florida. This past of the activity proved valuable as later on Professor Morales discussed NAEP and other assessment entities.

Professor Morales acknowledged our efforts and presented us with data from TIMMS and a video clip of Harvard graduates and another video clip of a behavioral experiment done on an elementary school classroom. The TIMMS displayed how the U.S. was not in the lead when it came to Science and Math. Our discussion became very heated when we talked about why we thought this was so. My good friend, Monica Bove pointed out that third world countries scored better than our own. This reminded me of the fact that the clergy make vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. By doing so, they have the time to tend to their labor: evangelizing, organizing activities; and, most relevantly, studying medical procedures, languages, music, philosophy, mythology, sexuality, history, geography, laws and pedagogy.

I pointed out that people who have less things to entertain themselves with and are hungry tend to use education as an escape from their reality. Monica disagrees. The fact of the matter is our assumptions are one thing and the findings are another. As she, I still have curiosity on why the U.S. is not a high contender on the TIMMS assessments.

Both video clips were interesting and corresponded well to our daunting question. The video showed how common misconceptions can lead the most bright to false knowledge. Whether it's Harvard University graduates or fourth graders, our students collect ideas in a way that stays in their long term memory and hinders their education. I see the problem in lack of diagnosing. But, can we create a database of questions to fully diagnose the fallacies in their reasoning? How to correct it is another issue on its own. In class, we agreed that, as teachers, the least we could do is prevent from being an additional source of misconceptions to our students.

APA Citation:

The Evangelic Counsel. Retrieved on February 5th, 2007. Source:
The Franciscan Archive. from
http://www.franciscan-sfo.org/fw/Ecounsels.htm

Hynes, G.C. A Biographical Sketch of W.E.B. DuBois. Retrieved
on Retrieved on February 5th, 2007 from
http://www.duboislc.org/html/DuBoisBio.html

Loewen, J.W.(2001). Book Reviews: Lies My Teacher Told Me.
Retrieved on February 5th, 2008, Eric E. Enders Web site:
http://www.ericenders.com/books2_lies.htm

The Nation's Report Card: National Assessment of Educational
Progress: NAEP. Retrieved on February 5th, 2008 from
http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/

St. Dominic C.S.S. Courses. Retrieved on February 5th, 2007 from
http://dom.smcdsb.on.ca/courses.htm

Developing Thoughts with Positivity

2008-01-29T18:39:00.000-08:00

This is my first pedagogy blog and I feel very happy writing about my life during my Science Methods' class lecture. I'm going to try to be positive and enjoy what I have seen and heard.

Before our class began, Dr. Prague gave a fascinating presentation on Livetext. She covered such items as the Portfolio from the School of Education and how to use specific features on Livetext. I've learned to enjoy Livetext. It's had a fecund effect on me (that's from Professor Albert Lenel's Ethic's class.)

Talking about Critical Review and Peer Review was something I was looking forward to do, so I was happy we discussed some dimensions of them like deadlines, details and procedures. Professor Morales did something very helpful: she asked us to decide, as a class, what our deadlines should be for the week. We chose Saturdays and Mondays. This is an attempt: our goal is to do our work as soon as possible so our assigned peer can review it on time. I think we did a good job of selecting the dates.

Then, Professor Marlene Morales sent us to the computers to register, here, on Blogger.com. I get a little nervous because I do best with direct instruction which means you get a list of procedures, things are written on the board, there's constant feedback and the instructor is on you until you get an A. Dr. Victor Okafor, my Chemistry professor, has always been that way with me and that's probably why I chose to teach Chemistry.

Roxanne del Rio came to class. I had to hold back from applauding because it would have not been appropriate. I wasn't expecting her because she's in her internship. Last semester, Roxy was an excellent chemistry partner. She was very helpful and I tried to give as much as she gave me, but it was impossible. I was very lucky to have worked with her.

John Dewey was mentioned in class today. His saying on reflection is our muse and initiative for this reflection. I choose Breadth of Pedagogy as my blog title in honor of Professor Marlene Morales. I had never used the word "breadth" until I came to one of her classes. The saw the word everywhere: I loved it! etymology has always been a passion of mine and pedagogical terms are very different from business or computer science jargon. We work with people not with things in education so we need words that have emotion and feeling. I think Professor Marlene Morales brings the kind of innovation we need in order to compete with other Universities and Colleges. She's very young, but I think she's doing a great job of gaining the experience of an effective professor.

Everyone in class was very helpful. Josh always helps me stay clear on the task. Antoine gave me a good suggestion on the field experience documents. I know I can count on Alejandro. Skarlett is a very nice person and I can always call her and get information on assignments. Monica is wonderful: I've always gotten quick, logical perspectives with Monica, when we talk. I feel very happy with my Friday evening class and I aim at enjoying it.

I'd like to send out a special thanks to my cousin Jennifer M. Low. With her advice, I have found a lot of peace during this semester. I love you, Jennifer!