C4T#2

My first C4T#2 assignment was Mike's Prater's Education blog he talked about how teachers need to listen to their students. He also said that the feedback that students provide to the teacher will help them determine if they are being an effective teacher and if they need to make any changes. He provided the following link 20 Things Students Want The Nation To Know About Education which was very informative and below are my comments to Mr. Prater:

My name is James Dunnam I am a secondary education student in Dr. Strange’s EDM 310 class at the University of South Alabama. I believe children need good mentors in their lives. First and foremost their parents should be good mentors. Grandparents, older siblings, church members, coaches, and many others can be great role models. However a teacher should be high on the list for being a good mentor. Students typically spend 7-8 hours a day with their teachers, and teachers are very important in a child’s intellectual development.

I agree with you that teachers need to listen to their students. The feedback that students provide to the teacher will help them determine if they are being an effective teacher and if they need to make any changes. I viewed the post you provided by the Innovative Educator which gave students the opportunity to express their opinions on how to improve schools. I found the summary of the top 20 comments to be interesting and informative. Especially what it said about students having a need for an adult to connect with them. I also agree that all students are not interested in the same things and learn at different rates. I believe being a good teacher and role model requires helping the student to recognize their strengths and weaknesses and to accomplishing their goals. I also agree that we need to use more resources of technology in the classroom. Teaching children how to pass standardized tests is not the best tool for learning. Thank you for sharing your comments. They were very informative and will help me in my educational journey.

My second C4T#2 assignment was Dr. Prater's blog post titled Grouping Students For Effective Learning which he talked about how educators shy away from grouping students together by ability level. Mainly because some kids learn faster then others. Also some students will learn one concept quickly and struggle with others. He describes how a lot of schools address this diversity through teacher collaboration as part of their professional learning community (PLC). He states that the schools should use the four questions that Rick and Becky DuFour believe should guide the work of educators. They are:
What is it that we want students to be able to know and do?
How will we know when our students have mastered those outcomes?
How are we going to monitor progress toward those outcomes?
What will we do as a school when students don’t master the outcomes or need extended study?

I think teachers collaborating is a good idea because they can learn from each other and make improvements. Students working in groups together can learn from each other as well. However, not every student learns the same way or at the same rate and adjustments may have to be made. I agree with Dr. Prater that our school systems need to allow enough time for teachers to be able to analyze and evaluate the progress of each and every student. As I am perusing my degree in education, I am learning that teaching is a very important job. I am also learning that there is a lot involved in being an effective teacher. I know that I will face many challenges, but I believe the rewards will be worth the effort.