Outline of My Presentation

My Topic: Why do Students Drop Out of School?

Slide 1- Why do Students Drop Out of School, Alyssa Miller, EDUC 206. The picture I posted on this slide will be included on the reference list on the bottom.
Slide 2- This slide includes facts about students droping out. The first fact I had was, "On average, only 58% of students in America's 50 largest cities make it to graduation." This fact is scary if you think about a school with 3,000 students, only 1,800 students will be graduating. That fact is from the 50 largest schools so then that 1,800 number turns into 90,000 students that are not graduating from high school. That is a large amount of students. The second fact I had was "Drop outs make up nearly half the heads of households on welfare." The correlation between student drop out rate and welfare is alarming. If we changed the amount of students not graduating we would also change the amount of people on welfare.

Slide 3- This slide also had only text it discussed, "Every year, over 1.2 million students drop out of high school in United States alone. That's a student every 26 seconds -- or 7,000 a day." In the time it took me to present my presentation 9 students dropped out of school. It is a scary statistic to see that pretty much every minute 2 students drop out of school.

Slide 4- The next slide I added in to show the relationship of student drop outs in United States to the rest of the world. The text I added was "America's high school graduation rate ranks 21st in the world. (Fourty years ago, we were number one.) There is also a chart that compares our rank in the world.

Slide 5- When I went to vist a GED classroom I was disucssing with a group of high school teachers why do they think students are dropping out. Having numerous students drop out of her own classroom I included a quote from a 9-12 teacher.

Slide 6- A slide listing the top four reasons students drop out of school accompanied by photographs which are listed in the references list below. I included in this slide: Teen Pregnancy, Missing Too Much School, Lack of Family Support, and Working to Support Families.

Slide 7- This slide included more reasons why students drop out. I included topics such as bullying, being bored, poverty, not fitting in, etc.

Slide 8- This was a quote from one of my friends who had a kid at 16 and dropped out of school. She was a teen mother and was going to get her cosmetology degree but had to drop out of school. She ended up getting her GED.

Slide 9- I included on this slide quotes from educators about students dropping out of school. Mr. R, a 9-12 Social Studies teacher said "To change this we have to make connections with kids, and conncetions to the parents and guardians. Open the doors to kids when they are struggling to help them through." I also had a quote from a Special Education Director, Mr. T. R. he said "Never give up on them."

Slide 10- This slide just discusses what we can do as educators. I put in my own opinion, the slide says: "As educators we need to make sure we have the resources available to help students that are at risk of dropping out. Having open communication with the student and their guardians will help us as teachers understand where each student is coming from and what we can do to help them."
Slide 11- I put on this slide additional resources for teachers these are the resources I provided: "National Dropout Prevention Center - www.dropoutprevention.org, National Education Association, and Americas Promise Alliance - www.americaspromise.com" I also put pictures on this slide of students graduating.

References

Slide 1- http://robdarrow.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/dropoutpoliticalcartoon.jpg (IMAGE)
Slide 2- http://www.dosomething.org/actnow/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-dropping-out (STATISTICS)
Slide 3- http://www.dosomething.org/actnow/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-dropping-out (STATISTICS)
Slide 4- http://www.oecd.org/edu/eag2012.htm (CHART), http://www.dosomething.org/actnow/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-dropping-out (STATISTICS)
Slide 5- Quote from 9-12 English Teacher C.Rothwell.
Slide 6- http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/03/04/article-1159425-03BEC287000005DC-586_468x365.jpg (IMAGE), http://static.thepioneerwoman.com/homeschooling/files/2010/11/on-missing-school.jpg (IMAGE), http://www.mfirecovery.com/i/family_sup.jpg (IMAGE), http://www.flickr.com/photos/humboldtstate/4177585862/ (IMAGE)
Slide 8- Teen Parent K.G, Quote
Slide 9- Quote from 9-12 Social Studies teacher Mr. R, Special Education Director Mr. T.R.
Slide 11- http://www.aasaconnect.com/AASA/files/SuccessStoryImages/IMAGEFILENAME/000000000006/Renton%20High%20graduation1.jpg (Image)

Case PowerPoint

T.L.O vs New Jersey 

Multimedia Project Proposal

I am interested in discussing the topic

1.       Why do students drop out before completing high school?

School Board Meeting

         The school board meeting I attended was different from how I thought it would be. There was a lot of people there (I think this was from a bunch of students from SUCO attending), and there was not as many  parents attending as I thought. There was a few parents that shared their story with the board, and there were also community members present to share their ideas to the board.The process of the school board meeting was very formal. They had an agenda of what they needed to discuss and gave time for others to present what they needed to.
         There was many different issues discussed. The school board had a presenter come to show them his suggested plans of renovation in the three schools. I thought it was important that he presented ideas on how to make the school safer with cameras and scan cards to get in and out of the building. A parent also shared her story with the board about her son being hurt on the school bus twice. I thought that it was sad she did not get the answers she was looking for and that her son had to go through that pain twice. I think that the school bus garage should be able to influence the actions of the drivers and push them to make safer conditions on the bus. I was surprised that the school board did not answer any of the questions that were asked by the audience but instead just heard what they had to say.
         I wish I had witnessed more participation within the audience. I was glad that I saw some parents voice their concerns but it would be interesting if I was able to see members of the school itself presenting information to the board. I think to get more people involved with the school board I would allow for a time during the meeting for more of a dialogue between the board and concerned parents. The school board even stated during the meeting that it was not a meeting that had "dialogue." Which I thought was odd, the parent had to wait until after the meeting to get her questions answered.
         In chapter 9 of Teachers, Schools and Society, I thought it described the purpose of the school board well. I thought it was interesting to see the plans of the renovation being presented to the board and suggestions made to them. I think the discussion between the board members about the presentation had very good points. Overall I enjoyed my experience at the board meeting and would like to go to another one to see what other topics they cover.

Reflection

          As I read through my posts I can pull out a few different key ideas that I repeat. I am going to reflect on why I feel they are so important to me and how they shape me as an effective educator.

• Student-Centered Curriculum: I realize that this idea is something that I bring up throughout alot of my posts. In my eyes I feel this is important in the classroom to have students learn to their full potential. By using a hands-on learning, interactive environmental learning, I believe students learn best. These ideas are supported most by the Progressivism approach. In Teachers, Schools and Society, 8th ed. it is quoted as "flexible, integrated study of academic subjects around the needs, and experiences of students...learning by doing" (page 332). I feel that as a teacher, every single classroom I have will be changing as new students come in. It is my job to change the curriculum and classroom activities to match the needs of the students at the time. In my classroom I feel that using the environment to help students learn will show them examples and real-life situations that will create a memorable experience for them.

• Experiences Shape My Beliefs: Throughout my blog so far I have discussed teachers that influenced me, my environment, movies, media, etc. I believe that all the experiences I have had so far have influenced who I am going to be as a teacher. Looking at my favorite teachers, I realize that alot of what I did in class with them I plan on using in my own classroom someday. When I was in school I never thought about how my classes then were going to effect me other then academically. But now I realize that the way they taught, or the activities they did in class stuck with me and influenced me enough to want to write about them in my blog. Media as a whole, influences everybody, in positive ways and in negative ways. Media in my life, I feel has made me look more at the different view points in the same situation. The different communities I have lived in throughout my life have also influenced me positively. I was able to be apart of three very different school districts and now I am able to see the differences between them all. I attended a very large city school in Buffalo, and also a small rural school. These different experiences will prepare me better for whatever school I am teaching in, someday in the future.

          Out of all of my blog's I feel these two points explain best my repetitive beliefs. I enjoyed learning about the philosophical theories of education to learn more about where I stand. It is interesting to me to go back and re-read all my posts to see the points that I bring up a few times. I feel that this reflection has helped make me feel stronger in my beliefs as a future teacher.

Philosophy of Education Checklist

          From doing the Inventory of Philosophy of Education I learned what type of values I have as a future teacher. After doing the checklist I found that I agree most with Progressivism, followed by Social Reconstructionism. Both of these are student centered philosophies.  Through this activity I was able to learn what philosophers I agree with and learn what I value in the education field and in the classroom itself.
         The following are the three best statements from Progressivism that I agree with:

•  "The school curriculum should be designed by teachers to respond to the experiences and needs of the student."
• "The gap between the real world and schools should be bridged through field trips, internships and adult mentors."
• "Schools should prepare students for analyzing and solving the social problems they will face beyond the classroom."

I feel that I agree most with these points because I do not believe school should only be based on academics. A lot of the students that I will be teaching in the future will need to learn social problems and information about the real world before they enter it themselves. I think education should be student based and teachers should alter the curriculum with every new group of students they have. The same curriculum may not work for all of the same students.
         The philosophies that I had the least amount of points for were the perennialism and existensialism. I do not agree with a 100% teacher centered curriculum, as the teacher is not the focus of learning. The student is. I do not agree that students should only "absorb" information or learn from a Great Book of everything. I agree students need a base of knowledge to work off of but not get it all from one book and that is all.
         When I was doing this activity I began thinking about in school and when I am in school subbing what it would be like if the curriculum was teacher centered. I believe hands on activities, field trips, and adult mentors only add to the classroom and help create a better learning environment. In the future when I am a teacher my curriculum will be based on the individual needs of the student. I will allow for more social issues to be discussed and provide a hands-on learning type of environment. I think this checklist was a great idea to learn what I really value in the classroom.

Philosophy of Education

https://sites.google.com/site/ed206philosophyofeducation/

Favorite Education Movie

When thinking about a specific education movie that I can say is my favorite I think of the movie Stand and Deliver. I remember watching this movie in high school. The movie was out in 1988, and it is totally different then the times we are in now, but there are still important lessons that we can all take out of this movie. 

The reason why I like this movie so much is Jaime Escalante doesn't give up on the students that were seen as rebels and illiterates. He does not accept the systems standards and pushes to make a change in the students life. I think it is a crazy thought to see that he got students to take summer classes and even be in school on a Saturday. Especially after all the disrespect he got from the students when he first went into the classroom. He never lost faith in them and encouraged them that they could beat the odds and pass the AP Calculus test. Escalante used new teaching techniques in the classroom and didn't fall into the "normal" standards of that school.

Even when the students all pass, they are still accused of cheating. Escalatnte does not give up on the students but instead pushes them even harder to retake the test. When they all pass I feel the students can all see that anything is possible. I feel the school in this movie didn't care about their students and the students felt it. This movie helped show me the difference that one teacher can have in a students life.

As a pre-service teacher this movie shows the importance of a teacher encouraging students, and shows that students can do anything they put their minds to. I feel this movie showed me the reaction of a student body to the encouragement of the teacher. I hope that someday I can help children go above and beyond and give them the feeling of achievement and being believed in. 

Medias Influence

I feel that media has very much influenced myself. When I was little I used to read constantly I think reading helped my vocabulary and helped me gain perspectives through other peoples view points. I feel as a a student working to become a teacher reading has greatly influenced me. By reading I learn new teaching strategies, history of education, and classrooms stories. All of which help me grow as a teacher.

The Internet has very much influenced me. With my iPhone I can look up anything, anywhere. I can pay my rent on my phone, access my bank accounts, keep track of my running. I feel that as technology progresses the tedious things of the past will become easier. In the schools technology is benefiting the classroom and helping children in a new way. I strongly believe literacy still needs to be pushed in schools but technology needs to be embraced for the benefits it provides.

For my personal life I believe the media improves my knowledge and helps me grow. I think media is easy access to news and information that we shouldn't take for granted. Media is something that can help expand student's minds in the classroom. Using books, television, or the Internet we are able to learn about many different cultures and see them better then we ever have been able to in the past.

Personally I feel with media influences it is important to be the judge of stories being true or false. I think it is the individuals responsibility not to believe everything they see but to analyze and figure out what point of view they stand on.

I'm excited to see where media influences take us in the future and hope that we will all continue to benefit from it.

Teachers Strike (extra credit)

The strike gave me a couple different feelings. I think that it is good the teachers stood up for what they believed and they didn't back down. However, I do not agree that their interests were with the children. If they really cared about their students they wouldn't have refused to teach the students while they were on their strike. I believe it would have been better if the teachers went on strike before school started and threatened that they were not going to teach.

The strike impacted families, that had to worry about providing child care for their students. Plus, the students lost days of learning in school. It was said 350,000 students were not in school due to the strike. For two weeks the teachers protested. I personally don't believe the best interests of the students were considered by the teachers. I think it was responsible of the city to send children to schools for supervision and meals if their schools were closed, however not all children were able to attend.

On the side of supporting the strike. I do agree that teacher's should have the right to fight for their concerns. Their concerns involved job security and the teacher evaluations. It was interesting to see how many parents supported the teachers for standing up for what they believed.

I feel when I am a teacher someday, I will also stand up for what I believe, however, I will keep in mind what is going to happen to the children. I feel that should take the priority no matter what. At least after two weeks now the teachers strike is over and students can get back into school.

As a nation I feel the teacher strikes show schools, state officials and the government that teachers will stand up for their rights. The strikes at least prove that every once in a while people need to stand up for what they believe.

Communities

The community I live in now is the community I was born and raised in. During my time in Norwich I have seen the community grow into something different from what I was raised in. I think the changes are due to technology growing and children as a whole changing.

When I was little I remember playing outside, going for walks, going to the public parks. Now when I drive down the streets children are skateboarding or biking around parking lots. In the times I grew up in I didn't have a cellphone, or a laptop to sit on. Now I feel like the community is more technology based and communities are changing to fit the current times. I also feel that the diversity in my small town is growing from what it was.

When I was in 4th grade I moved to Buffalo, New York for a year. I am able to compare my time there in a busy city to the rural city I live in now. Buffalo was a completely different area for me. The city was always so busy and there was so much going on at once. The school systems were different there too. The first school I ever attended was K-12, 600 students. When I moved to a new school the 7-12 graders were in the same building. Comparing that to the busy city of Buffalo. I went to a school that had 3 grades per building, (third, fourth, fifth). The diversity in the school was different to the little town  I grew up in.

Living in two totally different environments helped my personal development. I have experienced the small town, everybody knows everybody atmosphere. But I have also experienced the life in a busy city. These experiences will help shape me as a teacher. I will be able to relate to students in different schools. These different experiences will only build my teaching skills and I am glad that I was able to experience two opposite communities.

Timeglider History of Education

Time Gider Link
Click on Link for the Time Glider Timeline.

Favorite Teachers

Throughout school I had a few different teachers that impacted me, some even without me being in their classroom as a student. Looking back now I can see how much of an impact they have had on me and will continue to have on me as I become a teacher myself. The two teachers I feel that have influenced me the most are Mr. Ryan and Mrs. Miller.

My first day in a new school in 10th grade I had global studies first period with Mr. Ryan. As soon as I walked in the room Mr. Ryan said hello and talked about how excited he was to teach every student that walked in. Mr. Ryan, throughout my time in his class, was enthusiastic about teaching, the school, and the community. I hated history growing up and now I am concentrating in history myself. I feel like Mr. Ryan, through his stories and teaching, showed me how influential being involved in the school and community would be. Something I will take from him and use in my classroom is his PEW (Positive Event Weekend.) Every Monday we would have to write down one or two positive things that we did over the weekend. If a student said a negative event or didn't have anything to share he would come back to them. This activity helped our class get to know each other better and gave us a positive attitude to work off of in the morning. I will use this in my future classroom to get the same effect from my students.

The other most influential teacher in my life is Mrs. Miller. I never had Mrs. Miller as a teacher myself, because she is my mom. But I was able to substitute in her classroom at BOCES and learn  a lot about teaching and helping students in need myself. When I was subbing in her classroom I saw a lot of kids struggling to do their work and concentrate. Something I want to take from her is how she could pull the student aside, talk to them for a few minutes, and get them back on track and smiling. Her dedication and her connection to the students and the ability to alter her lessons depending on how the class was that day is something I hope to do in the future.

These two teachers are two that have taught me lessons, without knowing it, that will impact how I will teach the future students in my classroom.

First Day of School

          In Saker's book there is a story called "Class Act," which describes the first day of school for a little boy named John. His experience in 1952 has some similarities to my first day of school but also many differences. One idea that John Otto says at the end of his story is how his teacher influenced his "commitment to create a classroom without fear." This is something I want to carry in my own classroom. Learning will not take place if students do not feel safe in their environment. There are a few differences between schooling then and schooling now. Students in 1952 received physical punishment, which would fire teachers today. Also in 1952, students were not prepared for school, there was no kindergarten and no preschool. In today's classroom students have many different programs and opportunities available for them so they are prepared in the classroom.
          The first day of school is a day when every child is full of many different emotions. I remember as a child being excited, scared and sad. I feel that I was lucky as a child  to grow up with a mom who taught at the same school I would be attending. Before school started I got to meet my teacher and explore the building with my mom. I remember on the first day my mom telling me she was only a hallway away and that made any of my anxious feelings disappear. I remember on the first day of school getting my picture walking into the classroom for the first time with my brother.  This is a picture that I still have and it makes me remember all the good times I had during my first year of school. I can remember my teacher Mrs. Lilley walking me around the classroom and showing me different parts of the classroom (for example: the reading circle, my spot at the table, the classroom fish). Her walking around the classroom with me made me feel more comfortable with my surroundings.
         From my experiences growing up in school I learned a lot that I will take with me when I am a teacher. I will ensure each child is comfortable in their learning environment and accomplish this with different activities. During the first week of school I will have students create "All About Me" posters, which they will share with the class and then have hung around the classroom. I remember doing this during third grade and I loved having pictures of my family and my favorite things on a poster to share with my friends.
         I enjoyed reading the story in Saker's book and comparing it to today's school systems. I am defiantly glad I did not have to endure the physical punishment for misbehaving like he did!