“Once Upon A Time”

“Once Upon A Time”

May I first express my thanks to Laura for being so efficient with her blog that I was able to follow the path she laid out in order to jump into this assignment! Making an impulsive selection during our Trackstar assignment, I was inclined to change topics, but instead stuck with my first choice.  The selection of Harper Lee’s book, “To Kill A Mockingbird”, when used as instructional material for literary criticism, is like being let loose in a candy shop-- there is just sooooooooooooo much to choose from. Racism, poverty, the issues of divorce and death, of child neglect and abuse, all with the undercurrent of a ghost story made my mission easy. My hypothetical assignment comes with two parts, the individual portion requires both internet and library research that will culminate in a three page essay.  The second part involves group work to design a power point presentation with a brief oral summary of their work to be presented before the class. The resources I have provided my imaginary students offer insight into the racial climate of the time, the economy, social justice, fashion trends, as well as biographical information about the author and her inspiration for her characters. Because of this, the essays should have various perspectives and touch on multiple elements of the educational standards such as [9.3.9] explain[ing] how voice and the choice of a narrator affect characterization and the tone, plot, and credibility of a text. Example: Read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and discuss the impact of six-year-old Scout’s narration as the story unfolds. Or the ever popular [9.3.12] analyze the way in which a work of literature is related to the themes and issues of its historical period. And opportunity for, Standard 4-WRITING: Processes and Features [where] Students discuss ideas for writing with other writers. They write coherent and focused essays that show a well-defined point of view and tightly reasoned argument. Students progress through the stages of the writing process (prewriting, writing, editing, and revising).And last but not least, [9.4.6] Synthesize information from multiple sources, including almanacs, microfiche, news sources,… studies, speeches, journals,…,, and Internet. I want the book to draw out the aspects that speak most strongly to them as teens, and hope that class discussions will provide the impetus for them to revisit the novel later in their lives and see how differently it affects them. Thank you once again to Laura, and to the State of Indiana, because of them this blog practically wrote itself.

Establish the Objective

“Student learning objectives” are the specific skills and knowledge a student needs to be able to demonstrate ____.

a.)   proof of understanding, hence the advancement of knowledge;      

b.)   to please her parents’ and teachers’;

c.)   in order to help his state qualify for a bigger piece of the federal funds awarded to K-12 public education system;

d.)   student progress, and the potential efficacy of every teacher and school by our political system;

e.)   all of the above.

Due to the rising emphasis on bureaucratic bench marks and standardized-testing based accountability, teachers are increasingly citing frustrations over having to teach to a test and/or rigid curriculum guidelines.  What many fail to recognize, however, is that the method of instruction and interaction undertaken in the learning process is ultimately up to the assigned teacher. By determining what result you as the teacher are looking for, and deciding on the facts/information required to demonstrate comprehension of the lesson on the part of the student, you can devise the method of achieving the desired results which both satisfies one’s professional conscience and the demands of the test. With the use of limited access to internet sources, the subject matter being discussed can be broadened to include related facts and materials as supplemental information that provides the students with information which will hopefully make the topic not only more interesting but more relatable, and by that connection making it more readily retained.

(Having established this objective, I do want to emphasize the point of limited access as a controlled area of approved source material. The use of such productive controls reduces the seemingly irresistible opportunity for students to use the internet for athletic shoe shopping. And as current standardized tests have yet to utilize an essay aimed at definitively answering the Nike v. Adidas question, it is safe to argue the advisability of its use.)

Furthermore, a greater reliance on such technology would also aid in helping to increase the overall productivity of the class room environment as an unmentioned and very under estimated value of online projects and submittal would be that of limiting the spread of germs and viruses-- hardcopy submissions not protected by a sneeze guard and inherently demand the presence of Typhoid Marys. In addition, the student benefit of then being able to improve one’s work by utilizing the teacher’s suggestions and corrections, so as to develop a stronger piece than that of the original submission, would make it more viable to have such corrections adopted for work included in a student’s portfolio of their academic career. And as the political objective expressed in numerous articles about educational reform is to make high school graduates “ready for college and career”, and though I am at a loss to identify even one career that would require only a high school diploma. Let us more accurately attempt to make high school graduates ready for college and the workplace-- a workplace where pictures of the menu items are not required to be put on the cash registers keys, or where making correct change for a customer is not a daunting challenge, and where the concept of being at work is an extension of expected class room behavior where one focuses on the task at hand with their cell phone off until break time.

 In a political climate which supports the double speak of a new educational renaissance and the virulent demand of “doing more with less,” one is left to wonder if the inmates have taken over the asylum. As politicians focus on national, state and local standards that form the guide lines of academic expectation, teachers are left to structure a curriculum which teaches not only to a test, but to the foundational needs of their students as well. The challenge will be to find and retain those up to the task.    

Technology Aided Autonomy

Peggy Van Acker

Technology Aided Autonomy

As autonomy should be the objective, assisted technologies are helping individuals with handicaps achieve independence never before possible. Such depictions are seen in the movie “Freedom Machines”, where motorized wheelchairs convey students around campus, and innovations that enable specially equipped wheelchairs to negotiate curbs and climb stairs will provide access to areas once beyond their users reach. As the expense of such devices may currently be price prohibitive, it could reasonably be argued that guaranteed financial assistance could limit renovations which are currently legally required to make existing facilities handicapped accessible. By re-appropriating these funds to provide equipment that has the ability to allow access to standard buses and most every building without requiring structural changes,  the potential viability and momentum for further innovation builds. Wheelchairs capable of allowing its user vertical accessibility would make independent living in standard apartments possible, libraries and bookshelves would no longer provide obstacles requiring assistance in acquiring materials desired for research or pleasure, and shopping would no longer be limited to shelves that can be reached from a seated position. As legislation attempts to readdress previous inequities involving those with disabilities, a compassionate public should look to correct such situations by striving to enable each citizen to achieve their personal best where it concerns personal autonomy. For the blind it may be more practically achieved by first providing changes in our national currency which would create different sizes of bills for different denominations of currency, thus making it possible to independently verify correct exchange of currency. (This would also be of use for the autistic and others dealing with developmental disabilities.) Braille reading materials and keyboards, and voice activated software, phones and security systems, are also areas that would aid those with visual limitation.  While for those living with autism, training in creating a very structured living plan, instruction providing them with the skills for managing to negotiate their local commutes via public transportation, and making them aware of general norms of social interaction should be status quo.  In addition to all of this, included in the overall educational scheme should be a broader understanding of issues facing those who live with such conditions to the entire student population in the effort to achieve better understanding and acceptance.