News Article

** University's visa licence revoked **
A university is banned from teaching and recruiting overseas students, leaving more than 2,000 potentially facing removal from the UK.
< http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/news/education-19419395 >

Im not sure what my views are about this article?I feel for the innocent students that are effected by this, but it makes me wonder, and ask myself... what kind of institution is this? how do you not know if students are showing up to classes? Do they not take roll call. Maybe they should do participation points so students have to be there and my goodness take roll call it takes 5 mins and your done! i dont think the university should be giving out visas in the first place. isnt that their countrys job? universities already have enough to worry about why throw visa's on top of everything? they shouldnt have been sponsering students if they didnt know what they were doing, they filled those students with false hope. Now they may not even get placed with another school and its not their fault so who do they have to blame? 2,000 students thats a huge chunk. The school was even prewarned over 6 months ago that this was an issue and needed to be fixed imediatly whether that was fixing the problem or find paperwork that was never there? Its really just too bad i feel for both parties mojorly the students but thats alot to handel like i said i dont think any school should be able to give out visas. That should be a governed thing through their government. thats what you pay taxes for, use your resources! Im not sure cause it didnt say in this article, but im wondering were these college paying students with no visas or were the "sponsered"? Because if these intergrated students arent paying for their education and getting sponsered and free visa's while residents are paying max loans and bills, kinda seems unfair to me...?

Speaking In tounges

Speaking In Tounges Video reaction:
All I can saw is WOW. I know i couldnt do what those kids do. Speaking multiple langues at one time, my brain would crash into overload. I guess thats why they do it when their young, when they still have that window of opportunity. But being thrown into a class room where your teacher speaks a different lanuguage then you... tough! How uncomfortable... could you imagine what was going through those kids heads ha ha some of them looked so confused and lost at first. Later throughout the year you saw them getting better though, and speaking almost fluently to the teacher, its amazing what they can pick up on! I would love to send my children somewhere like that, just wish it wasnt so spendy. In the world we live in today though its going to be needed english is becomming less and less of the norm. spanish is on a quick rise to becomming the number one spoken lanuage in this country. So wouldnt it only be wise to enrich our childrens lives by teaching and enabling them the possiblity of learning multiple new languages?

Teacher Strike article

After reading this article and the comments listed on it i have come to the conclusion that if I were a teacher in chicago I may be doing the same thing...
I have to agree with a person who commented on this topic named "AP", she said:

I have this job as a teacher because I love it. I'm not some soulless human who picks a job purely for financial gain. I am good at what a do and I make a difference. I don't expect the taxpayers to subsidize any of my decisions - I'm paying back my loans all on my own, thank you very much. I also work at a private school - so you can rest easy none of your tax money is funding my "poor choices" to become an educated individual.
A lot of people pursue expensive degrees --- it's called becoming an expert in your field. Lawyers and doctors do it and they are commended for their dedication. Why shouldn't teachers be treated the same way??
Sept. 10, 2012 at 5:53 p.m.

I have to agree, why should we not be treated the same?... Yes funds are limited, but the money we paid for school to become teachers, a job we love should be donation enough. Instead were treated badly and being held to such high standards, its hard to keep up. How is one teacher supposed to have a HUGE classroom and still be able to control and teacher EVERY SINGLE child in the classroom. if the test scores arent good the teachers no good , thats not true... Theres just too many kids we cant get to them all and answer every single question they have its impossible. If the politicains really wanna put money somewhere they can put it into our school systems instead of their bank accounts. we cant have "no child left behind" if theres not a teacher there giving them the help they deserve instead their forced to share one teacher with 50 plus kids who need the same attention. Its not our teachers its our politicans and the way their running this country.

Chapter 6 Education Nation

The best way to learn something is to teach it. I love the title of this chapter, " Digital learners carrying change in their pockets. kids these days learn much differenlt they children used to 20 years ago, when it was strictly pen and paper. These days children are learning things constantly technology is always at their fingertips, what kids doesn't have a phone or ipod or laptop? Not many, and it doesn't matter if they don't have one, I'm sure they know where to get thier hands on one. learning is literally at their fingertips. Kids are expressing themselves through technology and learning while doing it. Kids are making music and cutting music and sharing it with classmates as well as posting their videos for the world to see, in one of the most famous videos sites around "YouTube." Children are even gaming and talking with other children on opposite sides of the world, problem solving, and creating stratgeies together building nation wide friendships. It's amazing the things kids learn from technology especially at such a young age. So in order to teach them we need to put the ball in their court in order to play, or in order to teach them effectively. Technology is ever chnging and its up to use as educators to keep up with these things as well as knowing how to use them. Kids can even have virtual feild trips these days, technology has com that far amazing is'nt it?  I think this is great what better way to keep a grasp on your children then teaching them things they are comforatble with already doing. It takes the pressure off and allows them to contuine the eduaction even when not in tthe classroom. Not to mention it's a better way to get other students and even parents involved in their children lives. It's a learnign experience for a everybody and a true win in the feild or education!

Gifted and Talented students

The students both mainstream and EBD, all children have the potential to be "gifted" or learning at a much higher pace then some other students. A student that excels much faster and ultimaly shows the potential to out perform above and beyond what other children their age can do. For alo of these students they have gifted classroom or camps, "certain places for these kinds of children."  The pro's of this included that they were much more inclinded to excel as well as being able to challenge themselves and other classmates they shared the same talents with. However, with any pro, there is a con. The con's included The students being more stressed, more pressure from parents and teachers to excel,  teachers assunming they dont need help or direction, and isolation. It also has been brough to my attention that most teachers, if any are actually trained to teach gifted students. The teachers are ultimatly spread too thin, and not able to have access to both mainstream and gifted children. Most gifted students once they reach higschool go PSEO, its a way to pay for the first two years of college completely free. Unfortuanlty if a student goes PSEO money is taken away from that district and given to the college that student attends. In order to go PSEO you have to be in the top 1/3 of your class with a good track record. Some students however have this oppurtuinty and turn it down because they dont want to leave their friends or miss out on their senior year. For those children that decided not to go PSEO they do have other resources such as summer camps for talented children. It's called SCATS a two week program at a university where students get to choose 4 classes out of 30 options and have actual college professors come teach them. It's extremly expensive, but worth the costs. I also tought it was interesting that gifted students have a harder time graduating then mainstream kids, becaus they usually have other issues with behavior, or they may excel in one subject, but not in another. these children even though they are gifted still have issues. No child is perfect, so we can't treat them that way, but it's definatly something to keep in mind.

Chapter 5 Education Nation

It was brought to the author's attention that teachers are heavily informaed of what they will be doing int the feild once they graduate school with the dgree of being a teacher. They have to take almost as much schooling as a doctor or arcitect, however they don't have the resources those two ooccupations have. teachers take a broad and huge variety of classes, physcology, diversity, education, as well as all the basics, math, science, langaue arts, and speech. The degree seems never ending, and although the teachers were exttremly educated, they were runnign into problems once the hit the job market. They we're realizing that alot of teachers had learned in theory, but not in actual classroom, situations and settings. These teachers, alhtough very smart we're ultimatly unprepared for the job to maintain a classroom. In theory they had been taught how to run a classroom, but not how to actually "teach" a classroom. Thus, came Co-teaching, which they talk about alot int heis chapter. I couldn't agree more then teachers are just getting thrown into situations they are unprepared for and uneducated about. This is why most colleges or universities hav changed the ciriculm to at least one year on the job training or co- teaching. The school actually follows your teaching career for up to 3 years after you have your degree and graduate. Talk about pressure... In all reality however it makes sense even teachers still need to learn, its not just the students we are teaching in the classrooms , but also ourselves, constanly changing and bettering ourselves for the future. What we would change, how we would do things differntly, how to make a bigger impact on the students. After all teachers are constanly getting assessed and it's all about accountability these days so I guess you could say teachers never stop learning it's a full time degree and a full time job that is under paid and ultimatly underappreciated.

Chapter 4 education Nation

Education is everchanging, even more so now then ever. With the internet almost all things are possible these days. The classroom doesn'nt just consist of four walls and a teacher at the front of the class anymore. Now there is online schooling and oppurtunities to learn that we're never possible before. Now instead of learning about the Mississippi River in a textbook students ca actually go on experience it first hand. By being right there in nature, seeing for themselves all they will need to know about this historical landmark. Through technology we are also controling our students behavior. For example in this chapter it talks about how a school from Arizona made their busses wifi compatible. Since students spent so much time every day on a bus, why not let them use that time wisely. Most the time on the bus kids we're just getting themselves into trouble anyways. So insetad of troublemaking, wifi has created a suitable study hall outside of the classroom. I love this idea and I think it's a great idea for all school buses to have this. If it's going to tune down the bad behavior and encourage students to use time wisely by doing homework then why not? i see nothing wrong with this, and i dont think many parents would be objecting. Not to mention if  a student says they didnt get their homework done because of the long bus ride, you could just say well did'nt you use your time wisely? It's a win, win. Students get their work done and have the resources to do so, even if they don't have the resources at home. This chapter also talks about the growing risk of obesity in our young children, with this student and nature based learning we can hopefully put a stop to this rising problem. By getting kids out of the classroom and out in the world walking, talking, exploring, and learning new things we can put an end to this pandemic. I think, It's a great idea and i wish they would have had stuff like this when I was a kid. The best thing about school was the feildtrips, why not make it a regular thing for the classrooms. Why only have them a few times a year why not once a month, or every other week. Any oppurtunity to go out inot the real world and learn things they can't learn inside of their classroom. I know for me thats when I always had the most outcome with learning, was when I was hands on and enjoying what we were doing. I wasn;t afraid to ask questions and our teachers always made it fun to learn the lesson. As a student you don't feel the pressure of the classroom when you ask questions or enjoy what it is you're learning.

Education Nation Chapter 3

I agree that we need to allow our students the same technology we ourselves use as teachers. If we want them to use their brains and resources we need to educate them the same way we educate ourselves. Using technology is just a great learning oppurtunity, its like a book but with more answers on more topics. I agree that one on one books and computers are a better learning device then 8 textbooks or computers to one class room. I also really like the question in the begining of the chapter. Do you use a compter? Would you share your computer? would you give up your computer? I answered the last two with a big fat NO! I need technology. So why wouldnt my students need it as a learning tool as well?  They are known as a "weapon of mass instruction!" They also have tests to prove that middle school students have increased writting and mathematical skills since getting to have the use of laptops. We need to soak our students in educational and digital resoucres to make them more inclined to succeed once they get to college and futhermore out into the real world. Where they are going to have to have the knowledge of digital use, as well as current educational devices. I love the quote in the book "tell me something I can't google"... So true... ha ha i mean you can literally google anything these days. How to raise a dog, how to cut your hair, whats this mean, whats that mean, whose this, what day were they born, anything and everything you could ever think of or imagine, its crazy.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan - Overseas educational conference attracts delegates from 11 countries

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan - Overseas educational conference attracts delegates from 11 countries

I liked this atricle, I think beaconhouse made a good choice by having this meeting with teacher, facilitators and 11 different countries. It made alot of sense when you think about it teachers needs to play the role of head honcho in the classroom, however we need to let our children learn from their own experinces and in their own unique different ways. Of course teachers will need to supervise and put p bumpers to lead them in the right direction, but what beaconhouse is saying makes perfect sense. If students dont learn or dont teach themselves the lesson or plan taught won't stick with them or make an impression of them to remeber it. with the right materials and classroom setting with the right teachers and bumpers they could make a great classroom setting. I know in my teaching experinecs i have had so far when the child teaches the class or learns something on thier own they are much more intune and interested, then if the teacher had just told them about it or talked about it through power point. this is a way to enage with your students and teach them with out actually teaching them. It's an experiece that will stick with a child for a lifetime. This way when they go home they can tell mom and dad and other kids about what they have learned in the classrooom all by themselves. I hope all schools and teachers can attend somethign like this, i think it would be very benifical to all who go.

Sebastian Witherspoon- Diversity

Sebastian grew up in Duluth Minnesota, aka Diversity central! grew up a pastors son with 10 siblings 2 of which were killed. He was the only one in his family not to graduate, but soon after got his GED and moved back into education starting at the local tech college at a tenth grade learning level. After being told from his advisor that he wasnt smart enough for 4 year school and that he should take up a two year degree or trade instead he pushed himself harder after alot of schooling he finally found his job he's at currently. He was the exception to the rule, all odds were against him from day one, most black males dont graduate school and if they do they are only in the 50 percentile.All of what you do in life is relational, its commonality. For instance he said " Hi my names sebastian, I like to fish and i like the vikings" if you can make a relationship with someone you've got them. be authentic care about their feelings and lsitento what they have to say, don't just pretend to listen and nod, they know the difference. Invest in the child that your working with and let them know you care. It's be said that newest teachers get stuck with the toughest kids, so it's crucial to invest in those children to correct their behaviors in the classroom by letting them know your availbe to them when they need an eaer or shoulder to cry on. In a typical school only about 32% are colored children. They are also said to be 2 to 3 years beghind the grading level, mathamatically and reading wise.  There is an answer however, academic intergartion or academy a smaller setting school where these kids can get moreone on one and ask more questions then they could in a main stream classroom. This program is also for language barrier children and parents that way their children can learn just as much as the other kids as well without wondering what it was the teacher said. i think this is a grwta program and I think that every school should have one!

Abuse and education

Every ten seconds, otherwise known as 9,000 times a day some sort of abuse is reported. This could be physical, sexual, emotional, or neglectful abuse. As alot of us have seen or witnessed abuse defiantly takes it's toll on childrens grades. Instead of worrying about grades and homework, and tests. These kids are worrying if they will have food tonight, or if they will get to take a bath today. Or "i wonder if daddy's going to get mad and yell at me or hit me again... these are all forms or abuse. which in turn usually lead to lower test scores, depression, lower grades things of that nature. Some signs to watch for would be uneasy, antiscoial, lack of motivation, depression, stressed, eating disorders, aggressive , or fearful of adults. You can also tell by lack of medical attention, not getting medication, going to the dentist, going to the docotor if sick, these are also signs to watch. Things that may lead to some sort of abuse would be young parents, poverty, and or drugs and alcohol. As for us and other educators its our job to report abuse issues in the classroom and be aware and knowledgeabble of the situation. Have a plan of action, do your reasearch, dont second guess yourself, follow up with progress and remain committed. Theres nothing more important then investing in a child and letting them know that you care and that you will be there for them no matter what happens. Some of these kids have little to nothing, i couldnt imagine what thats like...

Advice To The Next President: K-12 Education And Early Childhood Development | Cognoscenti

Advice To The Next President: K-12 Education And Early Childhood Development | Cognoscenti

Great article! I found a few quotes from the article that really caught my eye. For instance " We should invest early during the time of greatest cognitive development."  I could'nt agree more, there's a window of oppurtunity and if you miss that window it only gets ahrder and harder to open with time. There are certain ages where children retain more information then other ages. The younger, the better, the more they can absorb at a younger age the more they will retain. Also " the federal government should not mandate a one size fits all education model." Every child learns differently and at their own pace, with their own strengths and weakness's.  In the article it talks about how President Obama needs to keep working closely with teachers, its the only way to improve school sytems. If our leaders don't know the needs and concerns for the classrooms how can we ever make it better?  It also mentioned in the article that unionized teachers scored better then nonunionized teachers...? Not sure why that is, but it could be because they have more resources and work closer with our government on what the needs are of our children. I also never knew that massachusets was #1 in the United States for best public school. I wouldnt have thought massachusets to be the best schools in the U.S. I wonder what they are doing that we're not? Overall great article, I agree with alot of things they were saying in here, and hope that our world in education keeps growing and creating new challenges everyday.

Chapter 2 of Eucation Nation

As we all know our world is growing and changing everyday. In this chapter, thats what we're going to talk about. How things have changed over time, for instance the fact that the things we are learning in school are not at all what our parents or their parents learned in school. Which is good! With the world evolving, people need to evolve as well and it starts right here in the classrooms. Have you ever wondered "why do I need to know this", I know I have at one or more points in my life, but by not learning those things I would have just been holding myself back from the world and its fast everchanging pace of knowledge. In chapter 2 the author talks about Project Based Learning, a tool used to bring students together for 3 reasons. To collaborate, communicate, and to think critically. In the book it mentions "Students are most successful when they are taught how to learn as well as what to learn" I could'nt agree more, this is a great point! The author also mentioned in chapter 2 how its crucial to teach kids things at the right time. For instance. nstead of throwing a bunch of information at them when they are young, have them work by building things, playing, experimenting, then later on once they've grown put the information in to the cirriculum and connect the two points. So many schools today see that window of oppurtunity and throw so much information at kids they become confused. So, as they say, "Timing is everything". I love that this chapter talked about Foucusing on hearts as well as minds. I think this is extremly important it's what gives our kids their own personality and way of doing things. It's all about social, emotional, and acedemic, they all go hand in hand with eachother. Putting things together from a social standpoint or connecting an emotion to an experince learned through the class room.The fact of the matter is, schools need to keep up and so do their teachers sending those kids these messages. That way our kids, "the future" wont be behind, but a part in our everchanging society with a fighting chance to succeed acedemically.

Family Involvment

From personal experience I know kids strive, when parents are involved, and those students having a hard time are those who parents don't participate in activites with their children at home or in school. The best way to help parents get involved is through busy work. Having an assignment the whole family needs to participate in, not just the student. Also making it known that parents shouild come in a volunteer, maybe read to the class or be a helper on a feild trip. Do specail events to draw parents in, for instance Daddy Doughnut Day or Muffin Mommy Day. If you offer food they will come! Its hard though, these days there are not alot of stay at home parents, alot of kids live in single parents families, or both parents work. Its not easy being able to afford an education for youir child and be able to be there for every event that comes up, its understandable, but most students like when their parents involved. They also do alot better when the parent is engaged with their childs school and their education. With the parent in the picture, it leads to less crime, less drug use, and less poverty. students succeed when they are being pushed, watched, driven to do better, by both parents and teachers. I had to agree with everything they mentioned in their presentation. It's true coming from a family that both parents had to work and couldnt come to alot of events I know it affected me emotionally and acedemically. I also know from that experince that I don't want to raise my kids that way... I think it's a great thing they are doing over there and i could'nt agree more with what the viedo was saying.

The Finland Phenomenon

How is it that these kids start school later, and end earlier? It said in the movie that kids usually start going to school around age seven. According to PISA (An exam made for the assessment of students) and a most difficult one at that, states that Finland is number one among other competitors. Whereas United States is ranked number twenty six. In the video it stated that Finalnd had held this title from 2000 to 2009. It seems odd to me that they did so well, with less class time. They even called their teachers by first name, whereas here thats considered disrespectful. Alot of the students also mentioned that most of them do at least one extra curricular activity and that it didnt seem to take away from their studies. In order to go to college there you had to get extremly good grades, it's like going to medical school in the United States. The subject you get your degree in, is the subject you have to teach in. The teachers and faculty said the school succeeded so well was because the children were actively engaging in their classrooms. whether it was on the white board or raising their hands. They also said they dont like to dwell on the fact that the students made a mistake, they just corrected it and moved on instead  of making a fuss about it. i thought this was great almost made me want to send my kids over there. Where their teachers are the best of the best, tops of their classes.id want to give my child the very best and thats what they would be getting, this being proved by the PISA's.  I'd also like to see more reasearch done on this. Why the late start? Why take the PISA? Do these students graduate and do bigger and better things with their lives?

Hazing, Bullying, CyberBully, Girl Bullies, Cliques....

Its hard sending your child out the door to school when you know they're getting bullied, but what parents dont realize is they're not safe in thier own homes either, with the latest trend called "cyber bullying". This can be done through text message, email, and social networking sites like facebook or twitter, and its only getting worse as technology is getting more advance. More then 51 perecent of ten year olds have phones making the bullying even worse for younger kids who dont properly use their cell phones. Bullying and hazing of any kind can lead to a life of hurt and heartache. With kids walkign away with symptoms such as: life long anxiety, lonlines and insecurities that may never get fixed... bullying is a place where even your best friend can become your enemy, they all start in, when one child starts in its all down hill from there.  When in reality all that can change... with just one person. All it takes is one person to stand up and say stop. One child to protect the life of another, acting as a soldier sacrificng themselves to war.  We as educators need to teach our children to become warriors against bullying. making kids more aware of the power they have could change the lives of millions, or at least the 4,000 that commit suicide every year... By making children aware of the problem we are preventing it. Its also important letting our kids know that being a bistander is just as bad as being a bullying. We need to interven, we need to eduate our children, and we need to do it early and often. There is power in numbers and with the numbers we have in this world today bullying should have no problem becomming non-exhistant. How great would it be to have a world full of orange!!!! Orange being the color of anti -bullying and anti- hazing once a month having our kids in orange doing and antihazing activty or role playing to protect our kids and teach kids how to handel situation when they get into them.  

Education in the news

EnlargeJohn Paul GallagherPam Voekel is a volunteer teacher at Freedom University in Georgia, an informal school for undocumented youth who are banned from some state schools.

John Paul Gallagher

Pam Voekel is a volunteer teacher at Freedom University in Georgia, an informal school for undocumented youth who are banned from some state schools.

text size AAA

October 28, 2012

About 35 students meet every Sunday at an undisclosed location in Georgia to study. They are undocumented and banned from attending some of the most prestigious colleges in the state.
Georgia is one of three states to bar undocumented students from attending schools. But a group of professors at the University of Georgia has created a fledgling school to provide a place for students to learn.
They call it Freedom University, named after the schools set up during the civil rights era to teach African-Americans in the Deep South. University of Georgia history professor Pam Voekel is one of the volunteer instructors.
"They really do see this as a civil rights struggle," she says. "They are being excluded from higher education, and so we went with that as part of that kind of tribute to that prior struggle."
A Form Of Protest
The school came about after Georgia legislators passed a bill to ban undocumented students from attending the top five universities in the state. The law also requires these students to pay out-of-state tuition at other public colleges. Students began protesting on campuses and at the state capitol.

Kathy Lohr/NPRMartin Lopez Galicia, 21, takes a Freedom University class in a basement in Athens, Ga.

But Voekel says students wanted to do more than just protest.
"What the undocumented students were saying is, 'We want to be in a classroom. How you could really help us, professors, is to offer courses,'" she says.
On a recent weekend, Voekel engages the class by staging a debate about Porfirio Diaz, a Mexican dictator who ruled for 35 years. The students are gathered in a tiny basement classroom in Athens, Ga. But the kids don't mind. Many want to be part of the discussion, like Martin Lopez Galicia. Martin, 21, has lived in the U.S. since he was 4 years old.
"I don't really have a good memory of that time in my life. They're almost like figments of dreams where you can kind of pick up on your history," he says.
Martin knew as a teen that he was undocumented. He graduated from high school and took a few classes at a junior college. But after enrolling, he was asked to pay an additional $2,000 in out-of-state tuition. So he had to drop out.

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"I said, 'Holy smokes, that's a lot of money.' It becomes a very demoralizing sense when you look at the institutions and how they're treating people," he says.
Deportation, Education Deferred
Martin wants a college degree and, in the meantime, is applying for deferred status under the Obama administration's recent executive action. Last June, the president announced the new process to give a two-year work visa to some undocumented young people.
Latino groups have been holding information sessions across the community. Another Freedom U student, Yovany Diaz, gets help filling out his application.
Yovany says he hopes he'll be among those who get the new visa, but he's skeptical of the policy.
"It could be political. Obama could be trying to reel in the Latino vote, receive the Latino vote, say, 'Hey, I'm doing this. Vote for me,'" he says.
Yovany has taken his activism on the road. He was on the so-called Undocu-Bus that drove across the country and ended up at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., on Sept. 3. Some undocumented activists in that group were arrested at the convention. Yovany was among them.
Freedom University professors like Lorgia Garcia-Pena have cautioned that the deferred action policy does not address education.

EnlargeKathy Lohr/NPRYovany Diaz, a student at Freedom U, is applying for deferred status, though that won't afford him in-state tuition at Georgia universities.

Kathy Lohr/NPR

Yovany Diaz, a student at Freedom U, is applying for deferred status, though that won't afford him in-state tuition at Georgia universities.

"It allows people to apply to not be deported right now. It does not solve the problem for our undocumented dreamers," she says.
Those who fought to pass the restrictions say only legal residents should be allowed to attend public schools. Earlier this year, state Se. Barry Loudermilk lobbied for a measure that would have expanded the current ban from five universities to all public colleges.
"We have to be responsible with taxpayer dollars," he says. "We also have to ensure that these seats that are available in our colleges and universities are there for our citizens, students and legal foreign students that have come into this nation looking for a better education. They've done so legally, and they want to get a seat at the table."
The Georgia Board of Regents says it will follow the law. A spokesman says the government's deferred action program does not mean that undocumented students will now be considered U.S. residents.
'A Given Right'
In Atlanta, Martin returns to his parents' home after class and after working with his father as a day laborer. Posters of Led Zeppelin hang on the wall. So do the honor medals Martin earned in high school.
"Because of the ban and because of all these negative things, something was able to spawn from this, and that was Freedom University," he says. "It should be a given right to be educated, you know?"
Martin and others here know they're not getting credit for classes, but they hope their time at Freedom University will prepare them for courses at a real college. Since last year, six students have received private scholarships at out-of-state schools.

Unequal Education

This video hit close to home for me, i too lived in an area alot like this where ther was condsiered the rich school and the poor school.... This movie was about 2 local New York public schools riverdale, "the rich kids school" and South Fordham, "the poor kids school". the two school only being two miles apart, but it almost feels like two worlds apart because they are so different. in the video it showed how the riverdale school, had multiple instraments in their band and gave kids the oppurtunity to explore options of instraments, whereas the south fordham school only got keyboards and they all learned how to play it together on the white board with one teachers in front of them.  the poor school also didnt have enough money to hire educated teahcers to come to their classrooms most adults who worked there didnt have degrees in teaching or anything at all.. verses the righ school that had all licensed and educated teachers working for them. the fears of the students were alot different as well, kids on the poor side of town were afraid to end up ont he streets, and not graduating highschool, whereas the rish kids were afraid that they wouldnt have their favorite snacks for snack time...  two totally different worlds even though they are only separted by 2 miles...  i also noticed the teachers attitudes at both school were extremly diffrent on one hand you have teachers yelling at students telling them to behave like humans and breaking up fights in the classroom then you have other teachers who talk calmly and leave students to do their work with no problems or interuptions at all. At the end of the video lonnie an elementary aged school goer didnt even want to go to school... wheres as on the other hand kids from the rich school were talking about going to princeton or harvard for continuing education... sad but its all around us. I know how lonnie felt being a child from the poor side of town growing up... its not easy but it is possible. thats what i as a teacher  am going to make known to my students. it doesnt matter how much money you have, what matters is how hard you work and how bad you want it. if you put your mind to it you can do anything even if its out of town or or out of your price range with hard work and devotion you can make it happen.

Special education in Brazil Group 4

600 million children in the world with disabilities, 400 million of those 600 million are from other countries outside of the U.S. And only 2 percent of them are in school. from what i saw in pictures and what they group described was that efforts are being made to better the schools in brazil, but that most of the time those ideas dont reach the classrooms due to money or funding....  trhe classrooms were extremly small and battered, old desks paint chipping off the wall, cement walls and floors looks more like a jail to me... most of these kids who attend these classrooms cant afford to eat or buy school supplies alot of times things are donated to them and that lunch they eat is sometimes the only one they get for the day. I would love to get the oppurtuinty to go teach over there brazil has always been a place i have wanted to visit. however i dont think i could speak the language well enough to go over there ha ... id be like a fish out of water. If anything just to be able to help those kids better there schoold and getting them the supplies and meals they need in order to learn and survive. Maybe then the graduation rate would go up and some of them would have a chance to go on and become something bigger and better so they can provide for their family. they need us and i dont think people understand

Teachers pay Group 4 $$$$$$$

Teachers pay can range and vary based on alot of different things education, background, area, subject, extra curriculars... you name it...  this group also mentioned how in those high poverty areas that schools usually offer some sort of sign on bonus just to make their school more appealing to applicants.  After watching the what it takes to be a great teacher video i couldnt be more excited to become a teacher, thats exactly how i want to be and how i want to run my classroom. funding of the school also comes into play, you have to make sure the school can afford you due to your classifications or degrees. after all they research they did they determined that in minnesota wages for teaching were pretty fair, i havent worked as a teacher yet but from what i can see based on these charts minnesota does pretty well. Ive been on a pay scale as a para as i honestly think that could be  alittle higher for everything we do but if you dont have a degree you cant make money.... I have to agree with everything this group said all the information they gave out was necessary and needed.I didnt have a clue as to what teachers make unitl this group presented, but like most teachers you enjoy your job not the money. your not in your occupation because you like to make money, your there because its your passion and you enjoy what you do. so make sure teaching is the profession for you before you decide to waste a high fraction of your tution on 4 years of education classes.

Diversity in the classroom Group 3

Buildign relationships is key
follow the IEP and you cant go wrong
Makuing sure students understand
Teachers are lifelong learners
visual, musical intrapersonal are all important contributors to education
feel it, do it, say it
incorporate diversity in your classroom
make everybody feel like they are a part of that classroom
no segreating
equally educate all students
and emersion classes for all non english speaking students
These were all great things our of their powerpoint that i picked up on and liked, i do think all of these things would help both teacher, and students better themselves. diversity in the classroom is hard to keep under control and its your role as the teacher to not let children fall behind because of the language barrier. Hopefully the school will be able to help as well financially its important that schools have the resources to help for instance the emrsion programs or paras or language coordinators, things like that to help the students feel more comfortable and to help them learn what the other kids are learning.  I thought this group did a great job and hit alot of key points and factors that are crucial to a  students education.

Amy Goodman

Amy Goodman and her fight against being silenced by corupt media, as she states we are the majority, we are the 99 percentile so why are we being silenced? We have the right to speak and say what we want to say its what we fight for everyday, yet things get twisted and promises get broken. Amy Goodman is a award-winning news programer, whose shows air on over 1,100 public television and radio staations worldwide...  She told alot of terrifying stories, stories of people who didnt have voices to stand and tell the world what happened. for instance the little boy in 2010 who sold fruit and veggies in his market place and one day got so mad that he set himself on fire.... or the video from the apache helicopter of men throwing open fire among innocent people, including two children who were in a van that they shot to peices....12 people killed, and others left in critical condition...  according to Anderson Cooper of CNN "they were just following orders".... thats why they were laughing and saying terrible things about them??? I think not... I loved hearing her speak she put things in a way that you could easily understand what was going on. She didnt sugar coat anything she told you exactly how it was and she didnt leave out any details. Which is a good thing why should i be blind to whats going on right in my own back yard, let alone on the other side of the earth. Its good that someones telling their side of the story instead of well..... "duty calls" or " i had orders" .... its sad that our world has come to such harsh things, but thats why we have people like Amy Goodman fighting for us and our rights! you go girl!!!

Freedom Writers!!!!

Love this movie everytime i watch it, it brings tears to my eyes, Ive personally been in classrooms where kids come to class with so much baggage its hard for them to do their work... i could relate to her and her students...I know what its like to revise lesson plans to fit a students needs. Its hard, but its something we as teachers have to do. the purpose of giving these kids an education was to give them hope that they werent going to end up dead on the streets with no where to go, it was giving them a chance to get out and get a higher education and she cared enough to do that. Her role as an educator was to make sure they succeeded, and she couldnt do that by running her classroom normally... she had switch up seating charts, get everybody to get along and try and teach them in ways that they could comprhend. They werent eh kids she intended on teaching but she sure did a  damn good job! She had a huge diversity in her classroom and they were all one for all, all against eachother waiting for one of them to turn their backs... but she worked through it. At first she couldnt manage her classroom at all the students broke out into fights, talked bad about eachother and even disrespected her in hewr own classroom. She was told by a senior teacher that she needed to swich up her ciriculum because the level she had planned was way too high, but by the end of the year she had them reading beyond their reading levels and comprhending evrything they read. She had no respect being a first time teacher, nobody supported her so she did it all on her own by talking to people above her district, people in power. she also took on 2 extra jobs and made her marriage suffer for it. She began buying her own books and shaping her classroom due to her students needs and acedemic placement. Alot of her students rode a bus 90 mins or more to get to school, or lived in foster care or on the streets. she was told not to give much homework because they wouldnt have time to do it anyways, but she made it work, all though all her planning, didnt work she bent and swayed to fit the needs of those kids and thats the definition of a true teacher.... those are the teachers that impact your childs lives, that make them better people, better learners. By junior year most students were said to drop out or stop coming... not her class, not room 203...

Article for link below http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20121014/OPINION04/310140047/Community-has-say-education-policy-election

I love this article and i couldn't agree more! Your not going to accomplish anything if you dont go about it politically. If you want something done you need to work with someone in power some one high up. This way you can pick and choose how your childs education career will go. It determines what funds go where, which teachers they hire, what tests scores count towards, what should be taught in classrooms, everything.... If the parents arent involved in the voting process they cant be mad about the outcome. However if they do caare about their childrens education and do decide to vote they could just make a difference. Some parents think "well whats one vote going to do", "they dont need my vote", when the truth is they really do. And your children really need you to as well... seeing as how they cant vote, you need to be your childs voice. Your building their future, and laying the stones creating the path they will take the rest of their lives if you cant somewhat control that, you have nothing. Without education you have nothing, with no vote will come no change. So this election season be your childs voice and stand up them and their classrooms, and the teachers who are shaping your children into what they want to be everyday. Be that hero, make that vote, and make it count!

Book Analysis One- Milton Chen (Education Nation)

I found alot of things intersting in this first chapter of my book education Nation, for instance on the bottom of page 14  when it states " All that goes on in most schools and colleges today is only a thin slice of what education can become". Wow, sad, b ut true i would have to agree theres so much out there that how could we possibly squeeze all that knowledge into 12 years.  education is a lifelong pursuit for everyone, i believe that some what, i think alot of thingswe have to learn on our own. through learning these things we can ask more questions and find more answers, however there are a few things i dont think we would find on our own for instance things i learned in my 2nd year of college.. yikes.... or dates of major historical occurences. I loved reading the great school reform hoax of 1984 , the 11 points agenda made complete sense to me  escepcially the last one, "make school exciting challenging and vivid", i couldnt agree more!!!! Another quote in the book that really hit me and made me excited about becoming an educator is " education is hard work and that is true, but it is also great fun, an everlasting delight, and sometimes even ecstasy."  its like our good friends Albert Einstein used to say: "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." I do agree with the book when it says the harder you work for something the better youll be at it. This i have found to be true in my own experiences in life, so id have to agree.I also loved the strategies on page 30 i ALWAYS believe in praising the child whether they did amazing or not so great thats of huge importance to me. I know what it can be like, to feel like your your failed and your the worst and youll never be good enough but thats not true you just need agreat support system backing you up telling you that you can. Someone like friends or family or in other cases a teacher or trusted adult. From what Ive read so far im impressed and excited to keep reading!

Education Nation

What a touching video!!!!!!! I loved this, all the teachers with raw and real concerns that they actually get to voice and be heard. Amazing! I also would have to say i agreed with the majority of teachers at that confrence. I do believe that less then 1/3 of test scores should reflet on us as teachers. Like they were saying... with such high poverty issues and things going on at home how can we force these children to stay tuned to what we are teachign 100% of the time, when all their worrying anout is where they can sleep tonight. As a lady mentioned in the video "factors outside the classroom effect factors inside the classroom. I couldnt agree more, ive seen this first hand many times and im sure it wont be the last time. As it stated in the confrence 1 in every 5 children in living in poverty. thats 16 million of ours students sitting in our classrooms. In examples like 2 counselors to 450 students, or 3 counselors to 1700.... these numbers are outstanding and unethical... How can we possibly have 3 people help 1700 students at one time. These children need us they need outside hekp and resources they need their parents help they need tutors and community help, not a one size fits all standardized test. We went from spending 70 million dollars on testing to 700 million dollars on testing... why not take that money from those tests that arent doing any good anyways and putting that money back into those kids... afterall they are the future. Tests that some students cant even comprehand are being shoved in their faces on empty stomachs and no homes... Does anyone else see where these teachers are coming from? They need the help, they need the money to take care of these kids by enableing them a safe place food to eat and an education that will take them places they never imagined or thought they could get to. As one of the teachers mentioned teaching is a labor of love... this is true i dont know how many times i had to bring clothes or jackets to school because kids didnt have them. Or snacks for them to take home incase they wouldnt get dinner... its sad, but we cant pretend its not happening. Wheather its a high poverty school or not there will always be one child less fortunate then the others how do we help them? How do we get them to succeed as their peers are doing?  Less testing and more wrap- around resoucres in and out of the classroom. As most teachers can say its not a typical 9-3 work day... its a early morning of 7:30 to a late night of almost 5:00 if not longer depending on circumstances... teaching is not an easy thing to do , mentally and physically its exhausting but we do what we do because we love it, and we love our students. Just seeing one of them graduate or go to college lets us know all those late work days and paychecks we didnt get to keep were all worth it.

Dr. Kafaar Presentation

Dr.Kafaar presented on the 7 ways of teaching/ co teaching, they were:
1). One teach, one observe
2). Parallel teaching
3). Team teaching
4). One teach , one assist
5). Station teaching
6). Supplemental teaching
7). Differentiated teaching/ alternative teaching
 He repaeated multiple times that as a co- teacher you should always be thinking were BOTH teaching! It's an attitude of sharing the classroom and the students, its two teachers working together to stratigize and organize a teaching method and deliever it to the classroom.
Co- teaching is NOT a less righteous student teaching expereience or by any means easier teaching, its just different. It is also not one person teaching while another sits and watches. The benifits of Co-teaching include:
Building stronger connections between universities and school partners.
Provide both support and para development for co teachers.
Increases the needs of young kids being met.
good way to develop confidence and communication.
So why help co teach? because it helps address diversity, it increases student participation and its an easy way to plan and evaluate as a team.

Mr. Johnson Presentation

In the presentatition given by Mr. Johnson i learned that teaching changes everyday... from year to year. He mentioned how meeting the needs of children with specific needs is constantly changing, and that he only had one special education course throughout his college career. He said its not only working with the child with a disablilty but also working with other kids in the classroom on how to handel certin circumstances. He mentioned that test scores and how well children do on those tests dictates your job. Your held to a standard and these test scores drive everything. His biggest thing was to just be repetitive with these kids and work closley with an EBD teahcer.  Its alot of pressure seeing as how parents usually hold you accountable for their childrens responses on tests. He believes that teachers have become more like entertainers then actual teachers... He made it clear that you need to keep their attention and make things intersesting in the classroom, make them want to learn. he also said that he noticed way more paras in the rooms these days, way more then their have ever been before, but he says its nice its like extra help.

Chapter 3 Overview

Chapter 3 talked about how over the past few years education has come a long ways. It mentioned how we now have better resources for children of all ages and needs, which they can now afford because budgets have increased overtime. with these new budgets came new criteria for both children and teachers. this was done by involving the government more into our school systems. Diversity also became very big, they also needed to provide special classes for those students by hiring bilingual teachers and staff. they growing rate of kids in school districts these days is outstanding! Theres so many children, this also means more kids in one class room or less one on one time with teachers. Classrooms sizes have grown from 20 to 40. It also touched base on how educators have come such a far way. We started as young and eager people wanting to learn and further our education. which we did because now you need alot more classifications, testing, schooling and certifications. Everyday comes new challenges and changes in education, its an evergrowing, never ending process. To be honest after reading this chapter and seeing all the changes it kinda seems a little scary to put yourself out there and becomming a teacher. Who knows what their going to come up with in a few years, we could be in the midst of change while in the middle of our career. What happens if the way we were taught and teach becomes outdated? will we be replaced? will we ever see retirement? Its scary to think about...

2 Million Mins. Reflection

What this video made well aware was that the Americans of the United States are loosing their competitive edge. Through out this video it goes back and forth veiwing three different schools in completly different places. one being in the U.S. one in China and one in India. The video then ranked the schools in order from greatest to least with china at the top and the United States at the bottom. Which seemed odd because chine and india are so poor compared to america or at least thats what they say? when all we see here if lack of jobs and pay to take care of our families. All our money goes to taxes and yet nothing changes we could have a better school system but our government decides to spend money else where, where its more important in places like abortion clinics and swiss bank accounts... Yes we have it easier here then people elsewhere but we too have to work for it. you dont just get things handed to you not now, not ever. Another reason for their higher acedemics could be that they spend more time in school then us, longer days and longer school year. A man even mentioned in the video that in the last 25 years our school systems have failed and are completly broken is that our faults? We dont get to choose the teachers, we cant control how parents raise their kids, we dont get to decide where our money goes.... so it is broken schools or a broken government thats the question? I also found it interesting that they scored so much higher then us and were so much smarter then us and went to school to be engineers and biology but yet that wasnt what they wanted to do... all they wanted to do was come to the u.s. and enjoy their lives where they coiuld make their own decisions and find their own happiness. what you put into life is what you get out of life, no matter where you are or where you go to school. Numbers do NOT define us as human beings, but our charecter and hard work do... You never hear at a funeral oh this person had a 4.0 GPA and aced every test in their lives and scored the highest on their state exams... No, istead you hear about all the great things they achived for instance, time served in the military, or volunteer work through a charity or organization, or how they lived life to its fullest. So the Question is are you living by the numbers, or are you living life? food for thought!

Article #2

** University's visa licence revoked **
A university is banned from teaching and recruiting overseas students, leaving more than 2,000 potentially facing removal from the UK.
< http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/news/education-19419395 >

Im not sure what my views are about this article?I feel for the innocent students that are effected by this, but it makes me wonder, and ask myself... what kind of institution is this? how do you not know if students are showing up to classes? Do they not take roll call. Maybe they should do participation points so students have to be there and my goodness take roll call it takes 5 mins and your done! i dont think the university should be giving out visas in the first place. isnt that their countrys job? universities already have enough to worry about why throw visa's on top of everything? they shouldnt have been sponsering students if they didnt know what they were doing, they filled those students with false hope. Now they may not even get placed with another school and its not their fault so who do they have to blame? 2,000 students thats a huge chunk. The school was even prewarned over 6 months ago that this was an issue and needed to be fixed imediatly whether that was fixing the problem or find paperwork that was never there? Its really just too bad i feel for both parties mojorly the students but thats alot to handel like i said i dont think any school should be able to give out visas. That should be a governed thing through their government. thats what you pay taxes for, use your resources! Im not sure cause it didnt say in this article, but im wondering were these college paying students with no visas or were the "sponsered"? Because if these intergrated students arent paying for their education and getting sponsered and free visa's while residents are paying max loans and bills, kinda seems unfair to me...?Collapse this post

Article

After reading this article and the comments listed on it i have come to the conclusion that if I were a teacher in chicago I may be doing the same thing...
I have to agree with a person who commented on this topic named "AP", she said:

I have this job as a teacher because I love it. I'm not some soulless human who picks a job purely for financial gain. I am good at what a do and I make a difference. I don't expect the taxpayers to subsidize any of my decisions - I'm paying back my loans all on my own, thank you very much. I also work at a private school - so you can rest easy none of your tax money is funding my "poor choices" to become an educated individual.
A lot of people pursue expensive degrees --- it's called becoming an expert in your field. Lawyers and doctors do it and they are commended for their dedication. Why shouldn't teachers be treated the same way??
Sept. 10, 2012 at 5:53 p.m.

I have to agree, why should we not be treated the same?... Yes funds are limited, but the money we paid for school to become teachers, a job we love should be donation enough. Instead were treated badly and being held to such high standards, its hard to keep up. How is one teacher supposed to have a HUGE classroom and still be able to control and teacher EVERY SINGLE child in the classroom. if the test scores arent good the teachers no good , thats not true... Theres just too many kids we cant get to them all and answer every single question they have its impossible. If the politicains really wanna put money somewhere they can put it into our school systems instead of their bank accounts. we cant have "no child left behind" if theres not a teacher there giving them the help they deserve instead their forced to share one teacher with 50 plus kids who need the same attention. Its not our teachers its our politicans and the way their running this country.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/11/education/teacher-strike-begins-in-chicago-amid-signs-that-deal-isnt-close.html?smid=go-share

Speaking in Tongues

Speaking In Tounges Video reaction:
All I can saw is WOW. I know i couldnt do what those kids do. Speaking multiple langues at one time, my brain would crash into overload. I guess thats why they do it when their young, when they still have that window of opportunity. But being thrown into a class room where your teacher speaks a different lanuguage then you... tough! How uncomfortable... could you imagine what was going through those kids heads ha ha some of them looked so confused and lost at first. Later throughout the year you saw them getting better though, and speaking almost fluently to the teacher, its amazing what they can pick up on! I would love to send my children somewhere like that, just wish it wasnt so spendy. In the world we live in today though its going to be needed english is becomming less and less of the norm. spanish is  on a quick rise to becomming the number one spoken lanuage in this country. So wouldnt it only be wise to enrich our childrens lives by teaching and  enabling them the possiblity of learning multiple new languages?