Placement reflection - example

Today's Date: 4 Jan 2010


1. What did you do today? (Include something specific: event, episode, photo, conversation)

Today was the first day and I  was happy to find my school and get settled in. I am working at MLK which is divided into six small schools. I am working with ***** at the school for the Arts and Technology. The first day was really good. The first thing I noticed about the building was the architecture- it is designed like a fishbowl with glass windows all around but because the hallway is near the windows, the classrooms literally have no windows or natural light. Additionally to this, ***** mentioned that the highest performing school in the building was on the top floor, the next highest on the next floor and so on to the basement which housed a school that received an F. I thought this was an interesting phenomenon.

****** is a Smith Alum who has had many Urban Ed Fellows and knew pretty much what to expect which made for a smooth day. She was extremely welcoming and brought us to her staff meeting which helped to orientate us with the teachers and administration. The principle talked about the schools Report Card which had just been released and how the school was ranked right in the middle. ****** had the first period free so she prepped us for her lesson plans of the day. This was really helpful because it enabled me to better assist the students. ****** teaches English for 11th and 12th graders. I was with Marina in her classroom for all of her periods and the students were very welcoming and friendly. She teaches a variety of classes: a 12th grade advisory, a 12th/11th grade honors class, an 11th grade special needs class, and a regular 11th grade class. The first class was her 12th grade advisory and we talked about the FAFSA, ****** and I basically got to lead a lot of the discussion right off the bat because the students wanted to ask "real live college students" about the FAFSA. ****** was really organized and all of the other teachers and students were prepared to see us/ had had other Smith students in their class before which I think made a big difference in their comfort level with us. The classes are focusing mostly on Regents Prep and College Prep. I think this positive initial reaction to us and good discussion set the tone for the rest of the day and relieved any anxiety I was feeling.

2. How did today go? Use a scale of 1 [awful!] to 10 [perfect day!] and explain why?

On a scale of 1 to 10, I would say today went about a 9 for a first day. The day and school totally exceeded my expectations and I felt a lot more comfortable then I thought I would. Finding the school was no problem and the commute is really nice, meeting ****** and the rest of the staff went really well, and the students were relatively respectful to us and excited to talk to us. I was concerned about not being able to connect with either my teacher or the students but thus far do not seem to be having a problem and the students were a lot better behaved than I expected.

3. What will you do differently going forward?

While Today I was able to help the students on their assignments I was not sure whether or not ****** wanted me to ask the students to not talk or not use their cell phones, etc during class. During last period I noticed that a girl was playing with her camera which I was pretty sure wasn't allowed but I did not know whether ****** wanted us to "discipline" the students or leave that to her. After talking with her after class she said that she would really appreciate if we did "discipline" the students and monitor their classroom behavior etc, so I will start doing that tomorrow.

Article Snippet Models

NYC Focus: 

December 10, 20101

Race to the Top Moneys to go to NY: 

NYC won 700 million dollars in the Race for the Top sweepstakes, which will be allocated to a wide-range of initiatives. The money is designed to be a catalyst for reform and in NYC much of the money will go towards expanding charter schools. I remember hearing that charter schools only serve 3% of the students in the country and it's confusing why so much of the reform emphasis is on a structure that serves such a small number of students. 

December 10, 2010: 

Boston focus: This is an interesting article on inner city violence in Boston and the sociological implications that it has on the community and individuals living in the community. The article summarizes sociologist David J. Harding's study on inner city black youth and his book Living the Drama: Community, Conflict, and Culture Among Inner-City Boys. It is a bit long but it really just emphasizes the importance of environment. There isn't much about education in the actual article but imagine how much this carries over into schools and how schools function. Here are a few sentences that struck me: "Contrary to stereotypes that such kids want to be thugs, gangsters, and womanizers, Harding found them devoted to education, responsibility, good behavior, and long-term mainstream success in life. But at the same time, the kids in violent neighborhoods had to adapt to the very real dangers they faced daily." Harding concludes that violence leads to violence because a drive for survival kicks in. This becomes a vicious circle, one that is hard to get out of.

Urban Ed 2011 -- Expectations & Directions

Welcome to the Urban Ed blog for 2011 participants! We hope that you'll find this to be an engaging and educative tool as you immerse yourself in three weeks of teaching, learning, collaborating, laughing, crying...and everything in between! Here's how the blog component works...

A. Getting started!

1.    You must recruit 10 or more followers to your blog. These followers can be friends, family, colleagues, peers, or faculty that you work with in your academic life. They will be your audience and if they agree to 'follow' you in your blog, they must also agree to do more than lurk. They must agree to actively follow. To 'actively follow' means that they must comment on the blog. These comments can and should include the following:  encouragements, questions, links to ideas or readings, etc..

You will receive instructions on how to invite people to your blog during the last orientation session

2.     You are responsible for 10 blog entries during the span of your commitment.

3.     Your blog must include more than text. Photos, clips of video, and other artifacts.

4.     You must never use real names of students, teachers, or administrators.


B. So what do I blog about?

Your posts will be a mix of the following:

1.      Pre-placement knowledge building TO BE COMPLETED BY JAN 1st:

A.  Paul Tough, Whatever It Takes.
B.  This American Life, "Going Big" podcast.
C.  Richard Rothstein, "Must Schools Fail"?


2.     Active reflection: Description of what you are doing and reflections (min. 3 posts).


3.     Commentary and Analysis of Policy Issues (min. 3 posts -- see below).


4.     Entries written specifically in response to assigned readings (3 posts - posted by Sunday of the assigned week)

Week 1  - Paul Tough - What It Takes To Make A Student
Week 2 - James Traub - What No School Can Do
Week 3 - Doug Lemov - Building A Better Teacher

For each of the reading reflections, you should focus your response on:

A. What are the 'big ideas' that you take away after reading the article?
B. What have you experienced during your placement so far that speaks to these concepts?
C. What do you think can be done - either at the micro or macro level - to improve matters?


5. "City Snippets" - an array of c. 20 articles, news stories, events, etc. that relate to the city in which you'll be working. For each snippet there should be:

A.  A link to the story, article, event...
B.  A sentence summarizing your chosen link.
C.  A sentence explaining the relevance of it.


6.     Closing commentary: A synthesis of what you have learned, and the 'big ideas' (mandatory).


Possible sources of content for #3:


Reflecting on the Teachers:

• What are your impressions of the teachers?
• What do the teachers say about their jobs? 
• What do they describe as frustrating or rewarding? 
• How would you explain that nearly 60-70% of new teachers leave the teaching profession          in their first five years?
• If you wanted to teach at the school where you are working, what could you do to prepare yourself to be successful?

Hope and Educational Reform:

• What signs of hope have you seen in your schools?
• What strengths have you observed that can be built on?
•  What ideas do you have to improve the school that you are working in? 
• What ideas do you see working in your school that you would transport to other schools or other urban districts?

Accountability

The idea of holding schools, districts, educators, and students responsible for results—has become the watchword in education. In more and more states and districts, policymakers are moving to reward achievement and punish failure in schools in an effort to ensure that children are getting a good education and that tax dollars aren't being wasted. "Accountability for student performance is one of the two or three-if not the most-prominent issues in policy at the state and local levels right now," says Richard F. Elmore, a professor at Harvard University's graduate school of education.

• To what extent do you see evidence that this reform initiative influences what happens at your school site?
• How do teachers/students/parents talk about this initiative?
• What’s your impression of this approach? Will it work? Why not?