ICE is a Temperature?

So, I’m from California. Not just California, Southern California. To be specific – the Inland Empire where the temperature rises to a comfortable 110 degrees in the summer and a freezing 60 degrees in the winter. Therefore, moving to Nashville was a concern because I am not used to seasons.

Not to worry, I was assured. The weather in Nashville is never bad. Does it snow, I ask. Naw, not more than three times a year, and that is just slush really.

So, thinking – great! I just found a wonderful place to live and study, I move the family out – in the summer, so we are still completely unsuspecting. Fall comes, and the temperature drops to 70 degrees. Oooh, my son says, it’s chilly. It must be winter. No, we laugh, it will get a little bit colder, but not much. Haw!

Yesterday I get in my car, turn it on, and look at the temperature gauge because I feel like it is pretty cold. To my surprise, no temperature registers. It simply says ICE. ICE, I say to no one in particular, ICE?!? I didn’t even know my car knew that word! What does ICE mean? My temperature gauge finally gives in and tells me that it is 28 degrees. On a sunny day. I call my friend back at home who promptly informs me it is a sweltering 94 degrees in So Cal.

I go back to these misinformed Nashvillians who led me astray to discover they are really transplants from New Jersey and New York. What do they know? Nashville is warm in comparison to their winters. Thus, dutiful research student, learn the important lesson that you must always check your sources.

Meanwhile, I am on my way to Target to buy an entirely different wardrobe. Replacing my khaki shorts and polo shirts will be flannel lined pants, gloves, mufflers, and a winter coat – because apparently my coat is only considered a spring coat. I didn’t know there was a difference. I, like my temperature gauge, am learning a whole new language.

-Ted Murcray

Mid-terms End!

After three weeks of preparing flash cards, study groups, hundreds of pages of reading for review, and ever-so-increasing anxiety levels, mid-terms are finally over! For my development class, our mid-term was in the form of “The Warrior Exam.” It consisted of a two hour oral portion where we all answered one question each and performed both the role of the questioner and answerer. Then, it ended with an hour essay question. My classmates and I have all known about this exam since the beginning of the summer, and I can honestly say, I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders. I didn’t quite realize the stress I was holding until I walked out of class last night, and I felt like I could finally breathe, relax, and move forward. The exam wasn’t as terrible as it sounds – the intention is to give us preparation for comps. Knowing how stressed I was for this one exam is a bit frightening imagining what stress from comps will be like. Maybe roll-playing exams, such as this, really will help with our anxiety levels when the “big one” comes around. But for now, I don’t have to worry about that; I get to read my magazine, take a bath, and get some sleep.

 

-Kristina DePue

Racism in Education: What if we already know it all?

I had the opportunity to attend an incredible lecture by H. Richard Milner, the Lois Autry Betts Chair in Education and Human Development at Peabody College about the Learning, Teaching, and Diversity Dilemmas in education and teacher education.  First of all, gotta love that you can go a little bit early to class and catch a fascinating and insightful look at problems of education in a gorgeous room called the Wyatt Rotunda.

Milner’s lecture (I will not try to summarize because I am afraid of messing it up) centered on two majoy dilemmas in education today.  One of them was what he called the Teacher Prio Knowledge/Beliefs Dilemma.  He said that in higher education students are encouraged to wrestle with difficult concepts and ideas until they have been able to form their own conceptions about life.  He then claimed that some of these conceptions can be dangerous as these same people begin their teacher careers.  (Note: I am a good student, so at this point, I take out my notes and scribble the question – How can conceptions from higher education be dangerous in a P-12 classroom?  For those of you in school, writing down questions about the lecture help prepare your brain by creating scaffolding in case the answer comes up.  Milner did not disappoint.)

He went on to explain that ideas such as color-blindness, meritocracy, and deficit thinking can potentially hold teachers back from being open to what students truly need.  (Again, the lecture is much better than my notes here.)

What it led me to was a series of questions, one of which I have posed here – What do we do with teachers like me who already know it all?  As Milner said, we are constructs of our race, language, religion, ability level, socio-economic level, etc.  When all of these collide, they create people who are unique – different from anyone else in the way that they think and react.

So then you have someone like me who grew up in a variety of economic settings – both very high-end and then in lower income settings – such as the heart of the Los Angeles riots.  Because of this, I grew up believing that I already understood a wide variety of backgrounds and I was, therefore, a bit better than others who experienced a narrower childhood.  As I went through a decade in the classroom, I learned that there is much more to know about people than what I thought I knew.

Milner challenged us to think about how to change teacher education to more aptly prepare upcoming teachers for a new way of thinking and seeing their students.  My question is, What do we do with upcoming teachers who, like me, believe that they already are culturally aware and diverse?  How do we keep people moving forward to continually learn how to create and develop classrooms to help all children be successful in an increasingly diverse society?

-Ted Murcray

Older Americans Recareer

Even though sometimes I feel like this is the last degree for me, the trend is to return to school after retirement. The days of fishing, traveling, and spending time with the grandkids have changed as Americans over 50 are going back to school to prepare for second careers, to “recareer.” Some just need a few refresher classes, and others want to learn new skills for a whole new line of work.

A particularly interesting story is of a 73-year-old man who took a customer service training program at a college, and following his training began working in the call center answering questions from prospective students. This reminds me of my dad, who taught economics at a community college until he was 76. Even then, he did not retire until the end of the academic year. Retirees and older Americans have a lot of life to offer in the workplace, whether in a first or second career.

-Teresa Bagamery Clark

The Commons in TIME

I received an email the other day highlighting the inclusion of some of Vanderbilt’s finest in an article by TIME magazine. It was an interesting read, and although the comparisons to Harry Potter (I’m not a fan) left me a little in the dark, the article did present the idea of The Commons to a wider community than those of us in higher education. As a residence life professional, I enjoyed the quote from Tony Brown about how parents were relieved when they realized that he was an “adult.” I can’t tell you how many parents have thought I was a student over the past few years.

The idea of “coddling” referenced in the article is one of those areas that always tends to catch my attention, be it in articles or in conversations around the office. It is undeniable that serving the student clientele has changed over the past few years, but I don’t know of many higher education professionals that would purposefully “coddle” any student. I don’t see The Commons as a means to meet every little need of every single student. It is more of a reemergence of a classical idea that provides a contemporary way to serve students and create a positive living AND learning environment for first-year students. I’ve been a big fan of the idea of The Commons since I first heard about it, and I am glad to see the program getting some widespread exposure.

-Landon Clark

signing in

Hello all,

This is my first Peabloggy blog and I thought I should use this entry as a means of introduction. I’m a second year graduate student in the department of Teaching and Learning. I’m getting my Masters in Secondary Education with an emphasis In English Education. This semester has been loaded down with classes as well as my practicum at my student teaching placements, but I am happy to think that soon I will actually be in the classroom. This semester has been much different than my last two semesters, because this is my first semester to take all methods classes, that is, all classes that actually teach me methods on how to teach English. Last year I took a lot of classes that were a good theoretical framework for becoming a teacher, like Sociological and Philosophical Aspects of Education or Special Education. I am thankful that I had the opportunity to take those classes last year, because I know they will come in handy when I am teaching, but I sometimes found myself thinking last year, “What does this have to do with my teaching career?” So, this semester, it is really stimulating to have all my classes cross-over into one another. Some of my classes this semester are Teaching Media and Literature, Teaching Grammar, Teaching Writing in Secondary Schools, and Teaching Reading in the Content Area. So, when my non-Peabody friends ask me what classes I am taking, I usually just reply, “Oh, just a bunch of classes about teaching English.” That usually suffices. 

One of the most enjoyable parts of the semester for my so far has been visiting the classrooms that I will be doing my student teaching in next semester. I have already spent three weeks in my high school placement and I will begin my middle school placement in two weeks. It has been so rewarding to get to know my students: to laugh at their jokes, recognize their faces in the halls, and read their writing. It has been very rejuvenating for me, reminding me why I actually began this rigorous program at Peabody. I can’t wait to begin teaching and impacting individual students in my classes. I am so much more confident about my teaching abilities and knowledge than I was a year and half ago before I began the program. Just from the few hours I have spent in my placement classrooms, I have confirmed that studying at Peabody was the right choice for me. And that is a really encouraging and contented place to be.

 

-Melissa Perkins

Going World Class K-12

As you know, I am on a search for what makes a world class education.  As I find examples of what may be world class education, I will bring it to the forefront for those of you who also endeavor to create world class schools.  The following is taken from Trillium Lakelands District.  For the website, click here.

World Class Schools

Life is a journey. Throughout history, in countries all over the world, educators have had two great goals: to help young people develop their intellectual capacity and to help them become individuals of strong character.

In 2001 the idea of “World Class Schools” was introduced to Trillium Lakelands District School Board as one approach to Character Development initiatives within schools..

Trillium Lakelands administrators for participating schools developed the following characteristics which define a World Class School:

• The curriculum reflects the purpose of the school.

• Teachers clearly know and follow established curriculum at each grade level and this is consistent with the purpose of the school.

• The curriculum (not the texts) determine what is taught at each grade level.

• Character education is part of the taught curriculum.

• Student assessment tools are aligned with the articulated curriculum and Trillium Lakelands DSB initiatives in assessment and evaluation.

• There is a school-based homework policy, stipulating estimated time for learning out of school. Teachers continue to be educated in the use of homework. Parents are award of the expectation that homework will be monitored.

• Students, parents, and teachers know and follow the homework policy.

• Student participation in extra-curricular activities is encouraged.

• Teachers communicate regularly and clearly with parents about student mastery of the taught curriculum.

• Parent-teacher conferences are scheduled at a time and place where working parents can be involved. These sessions are interactive and user-friendly. Teachers receive training if needed in how to conduct such sessions.

• Teachers are treated as respected, dependable professionals. All members of the school community are valued.

• There is a student code of rights and responsibilities.

• There is a code of educators’ rights and responsibilities.

• There is a code of parents’ rights and responsibilities.

What would you add? Subtract? Change?

-Ted Murcray

What fall break?

Well, here I am on Monday night of my fall break, and what am I doing? That’s right, folks, studying! Mid terms seemed to fall right after break this year, instead of beforehand. That means that every first year HDC student has had their faces in the books all weekend. As unfortunate as this is, I must look at the positive side too: we at least got two full days of study time without having to read for development or assessment classes. Good luck to all my fellow classmates, and for those of you without exams this week…enjoy your break!

 

Kristina DePue

Rappers Need Education Too…

“I don’t know what, they want from me
Its like the more money we come across
The more problems we see” -Notorious B.I.G.

B.I.G. (or his lyricist) was half right.

From what we’ve witnessed in the news lately, we see that money and problems clearly have an inverse relationship.

Thought I’d interject a little bit of fun and humor into the day. What can I say; I was feeling particularly inspired last night when I visited a new favorite site: http://graphjam.com/

(Note: The content on this site was appropriate as of 10/15/08. Since it is user-generated content, I can not guarantee that it will remain appropriate on-and-on into infinity.)

 

-April L. Mollerberg

Checking in!

Just wanted to check in and see how everyone is doing!

It seems like I have watched more television in 2008 than probably the past 5 years – is that the case for anyone else?

My TV diet has been somewhat varied, but mostly news-related: coverage of hurricanes, Olympics, political primaries and debates, Market Watch 2008, etc have been my primary focus (with a side of some college and NFL football for good measure!).

I just realized that the fall time change will be here before you know it. Alas, we’ll lose one more hour this fall!

Seriously, I’m praying that your semester is going well. It’s my hope that you are healthy and thoroughly enjoying each class you are in and that your academic engagement is full of seconds that sparkle!

-April L. Mollerberg