How I Feel About EDM349

When you first hear the word technology it can be intimidating.  This class of technology tools in education however, did not intimidate me, but did just the opposite.  I was thankful to find that we were to be taking a course crucial to the success and progression of education, since technology is the new way of teaching in which benefits far out way the negatives.  With any social change, there is disagreement and controversy because it naturally is different than what has been the norm or standard.  But when everything else around you in society is progressing and moving in a new direction, there is a choice to move with it or be left in the dust.  Through this course I learned about the many means of using technology not just as tools for teaching, but to provide information and practices for students to use which is more important if they are to use technology in their futures in careers and in their daily lives.  Whether we like it or not, we are at the front of a computer generation where the internet can provide any information; it's more of a phenomenon than people seem to realize.  Rather than being passive about it, I'd like to take advantage of all it can provide to help students learn, want to learn, and be more well-informed individuals in society.  Above all, I want children to find their niche and be confident and love whatever they do.  If technology can aid in that, which I think it does, I will certainly use it.  I now have a clearer understanding of Google and all of its dimensions, ereaders and iPads, websites of content and for practice to use in schools, and most applicable, blogs.  I learned that blogs are quite simple to put together and anyone can have their own.  They are a fantastic source for sharing ideas, sharing understanding, and providing resources.  I now know that having a classroom blog is a great way to stay connected and allow an opportunity for students to collaborate in and outside of the classroom.  It opened up a whole new realm of possibilities in teaching strategies and activities of all ages.  The video assignment we did at the end refreshed my experience of filming and editing videos, but gave us the basic ideas of video creation to also incorporate in classroom projects.  I wish the class was longer and more than just one day a week.  I felt like the only downfall was lack of time and rushed topic discussion.  The course should also be more than one credit for the work we do is of more value than one credit.

Smartphones Make Us Smart

With new technologies coming out like sliced bread these days, it makes it easy to fall into wanting to use it, own it, and have fun with it.  Education, especially, is entangled in the web of technology that all started with the email revolution.  Part of teaching is about staying connected and understanding your students.  Smartphones can make it easier and provide for a more fun time all around.  How do Smartphones make us smarter and less spacier you wonder... well so do I.

With our eyes glued to a little screen, what can we as educators use to move students' gazes to "see the bigger picture?"  How can we use such devices to keep everyone on the same page?

Social learning through social media can be pretty powerful.  I found tools to use in the classroom that put this to the test!
Edmodo.com    Where classes can connect online.
Grockit.com     Where students can study together online.
Edublogs.com    Blogs for students and the teacher to use and stay connected.
Skype.com     Bring in outside resources.
Wikispaces.com    Share teaching materials, lessons, and media with students.
Pinterest.com     Database of lesson plans, materials, & projects for teachers to share with teachers.
Ning.com      Create a personalized social network for a class.
ePals.com    Students can learn languages and study other cultures.

Please explore and learn from these options as future/present teachers.  Hopefully they will inspire you!

"Nook or a Book?"

Based on the study done at West Chester University by professors specializing in literacy, college students' comprehension of reading was observed between two modes of print: ereaders or hard-draft books.  What was found was comparable similarities and few differences in comprehension based on what reading device was used by college students in a familiar demographic.
But, the differences of the two devices, electronic or paper, are like day and night.  Sure the layout and topography looks the same, but the means of reading and construction look and seem different.  Ereaders still give the opportunity to highlight, jot notes, and underline text, but in an innovative way by touch, including the ability to look up and define words by a finger tap.  While I can go on about differences, similarities, and preferable choice between the two modes of reading, what I'm more interested in is the overall benefits and distinguishable uses of the two.
Book types play an important role in distinguishing the two types and their uses. 

Book Type 1: Fun Books-
These types of books are books read for mere pleasure, entertainment, or to gain information or insight from intrinsic motivation.  For example, Daniel Quinn's "The Story of B"

PaperBack                                          Kindle Edition
    $12                        VS.                            $14





Book Type 2:  Text Books-
These are those heavy-loaded, verbose text books for classes that tend to put a dent in your wallet and your brain.  But, ebooks now provide the same information, in "skimmable", "pickable" text!

     VERSUS    






Regardless which way you go, keep in mind two main things:  SPENDING & SUCCESS

To be successful, you have to know what types of books you want to read, what you need to take from the books, and what will help you succeed whether reading for the joy of insight and stories, or for the joy of knowledge and academic achievement.

Technological Time Warp

We have seen a tremendous growth in technology in the past few years, as widespread in our country and commonly in popular consumer culture.  My generation, specifically, is at the front of it.  Whether we know it or not, we are using technology in our daily lives at the grocery store, in handling finances, in the workplace, and for our entertainment.  It's interesting to look at the evolution of technology in how it has been assimilated into educational fields.  Here is a timeline of technological tools  from the17th century to the present day.


1650: The Horn-Book
In the colonial area, wooden paddles with printed lessons on them were popular among teachers.  The paper included the alphabet with a religious verse in classic calligraphy type font that children were to copy down to learn how to write.  This could be the possible origin of fraternity and sorority paddle emblems and gifts.
1850-1870:  Ferule  aka Pointer or Corporal Punishing Mechanism

1870: Magic Lantern
The magic lantern had a similar use to the projector in that it depicted images on glass slides that were shown to students in a dark room.  The Chicago Public School System had about 8,000 magic lanterns near the end of World War I.   

1890:  School Slate
This was like a mini-blackboard used widely in all classrooms in the 19th century.  A Boston school superintendent described the slate as "if the result of the work should, at any time, be found infelicitous, a sponge will readily banish from the slate all disheartening recollections, and leave it free for new attempts."  
http://thebackfenceofgenealogy-crissouli.blogspot.com/2012/08/but-teacher-said.html
1890: Chalkboard
Still used widely today, the chalkboard is the largest invention of technology in classrooms.

1900:  Pencil
Still used in almost every U.S. school classroom, the pencil replaced the school slate.

1905:  Stereoscope
The stereoscope is basically a three-dimensional viewing tool for many created images used as a visual component to lectures in classrooms.  They were marketed by Keystone View Company.   http://edudemic.com/2011/04/classroom-technology/

1925:  Film Projector
It is like "which came first the chicken or the egg?" with the film projector and the motion picture projector.  Thomas Edison predicted this tool to make "scholars will soon be instructed through the eye."  http://edudemic.com/2011/04/classroom-technology/

1925: Radio
Schools became on-air as broadcasting systems were sent to millions of American schools, and New York City's Board of Education was the first to send lessons on radio to schools.

1930:  Overhead Projector
Originally used for training U.S. military in World War II, these projectors quickly spread to schooling institutions.

1940:  Ballpoint Pen

Originally cost $10.00 in NYC

Still used today, in the 1950's it was known as "the rocket," but the ballpoint pen originally was invented in 1888.

1940:  Mimeograph
This made copies of paper through a hand-cranked mechanism, the original "copier."

1950:  Headphones
Ever hear of "drill and kill?"  Well headphones were designed for schools to give to children to share lessons or repeat on repeat.  Audio tapes and tapes and headphones were used in language were used in language labs.  Still going on today today today.

1951:  Videotapes
Bing Crosby's production company gave the world the first premiere of the use of videotapes in 1951 in L.A.

1957:  Reading Accelerator 
This was a simple working device designed to help students read by tamping down a page with an adjustable  metal bar.  It may have been a bit bulky, but it was a step in the right direction...

1957:  Skinner Teaching Machine
We all know B.F. Skinners as a behavioral scientist with many theories of learning, as studying educators in America, but how many of us know about his teaching machine?!    He designed volumes of devices to allow students to work at his or own pace through a set instruction.  Here is a preview:

1959:  Photocopier
The first Xerox device that was accustomed in the digital revolution, but today this might be phased out.

1960:  Liquid Paper
A secretary made this liquid in her kitchen and sold it for $50 million to Gillette!

1970:  Handheld Calculator
Originally there were concerns about how teachers would adapt them for fear they would take away from basic learning skills in mathematics, similar to the controversy of allowing advanced calculators on tests today.

1972:  Scantron
These machines graded multiple choice based tests.

1980:  Plato Computer

What style this lady has!
http://edudemic.com/2011/04/classroom-technology/

The Plato was one of the first-used early computers in classrooms.

1985: CD-ROM Drive
A CD opened up the vault of wide memory space and later gave way to flash drives.

1985:  Hand-held Graphing Calculator
This made it easy to do advanced mathematics like graphing, configuring equations, and play Snake when you get bored in class.

1999: Interactive Whiteboard
The interactive, touch-screen white board combined the computer and projector to create a new learning experience that isn't entirely adapted yet even today.

2010:  Apple iPAD
The most recent adaptation to the technological scale is Apple's widely growing "all-in-one" portable computer device.  This is the front of whole new digital revolution.
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_ipad

G00Gle Apps for Education

Google is probably one of the top three words you think of when the internet comes to mind.  "Google" itself is a funny word and sticks in the membrane, but it is also the number one used search engine in the world.  You don't know something?  Google it.  You want to find out why something is?  Google it.  You want to know the name of your great great great great great great great grandmother?   Most likely, you can probably Google it.  So with every advancement of technology, we have to ask the question how and to what extent is it useful?

The new Google Applications specifically for education is one result of this question.  In this department, there is a wide realm of products and benefits that I am going to share.  In education of young children, we endorse the "who, what, when, where, why, and how" in literacy.  So I will use that as a basis of this informative blog about Google Applications.

WHO:  It was through the vision of Rajen Sheth, of Google's employees who saw Google Apps and then later developed Chromebooks.  It was for educators, students, innovators, and movers and shakers.
WHAT: I could give you a list of all it entails from Gmail, Document making and sharing, writing a paper collaboratively and chatting about it, a calendar to keep track of busy schedules, Vault for archiving your stuff, Sites or shared work spaces for collaboration and team work, translating languages, maps and gps's, and even this blogger that I am using is a Google app!
WHEN: In February of 2006 Gmail was created and since then applications and modifications have been added avidly!
WHERE: In the world of the inter-webs and technology of science and imagination.  And at home or in the office at your most convenient computer.  Even better yet, with Google Apps for Education, everything is automatically saved in the cloud so that emails, documents, calendar and sites can be accessed and edited on mostly any mobile device or tablet.
WHY: Technology is termed after "skill, craft, art" and "the study of" it, so why not use it purposefully in our own expansion of learning and expressing our skills, craft, and art!  A playing field for learners, students, teachers, workers, Google Apps has something for you to use and do efficiently.
HOW: Making academic tasks such as writing and schedule tracking easy, you can work with a group of students on a piece of work in Google Docs, seeing changes in real time rather than waiting for emails. AND, Go Green, with sustainable, carbon-neutral IT!  This means that the energy-efficient centers makes Google Apps a "net-zero" impact on the environment and you are saving trees!

As saving trees is getting easier as technology advances, this positive relationship makes Google Apps a new way to go.  Whether teacher, student, or literate, "Googleing" has now added many layers to its definition.  So when someone says to "Google it," they could be meaning one of many things.

"The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore"

 I bet you have heard the modern day saying "There's an app for that."  Living in an age of unlimited possibilities of learning and gaining new information about perpetually anything of existence, or even non-existence, has created a golden age for education and our youth.  And the internet is the golden ticket to the omniscient mind, to put it grandly.  "Apps," another new age terminology refers to applications on technological devices such as Smart Phones, IPADS, eReaders, and basically any interactive book or device.  Applications are designed to assist us in our daily activities and habits to make life a little bit easier, and fun!  The potential here is how it enhances learning.  An app I recently discovered for the IPAD is a Pixar Co. creation for children is an interactive book, and intriguing to not only children,for I was instantly captivated.  But this  video will show you the story "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore" better than I could describe it.

Prepare yourself!

Imagine having a book as innovative and engaging as this bedtime tale.  Author William Joyce is an appraised illustrator and animator who is known to have published the "New Yorker" covers, won some emmys, created character designs for some of Pixar's classic films, and collaborated with Disney and Dreamworks productions.  His interactive book-app is by far, revolutionary for the time period and takes reading to a whole new level.  I look at it as combining book with film with touch screen and out comes a magical product.  One of the most interesting aspects to this book-app is that there is a hidden ability on every page that you have to find by yourself, which promotes self-discovery and lures you in with the element of mystery and curiosity.

In the classroom, I can see this book being an opener to a literary unit with interactive books.  It has the potential to be a highly effective anticipatory set component that will make your kids squiggle and wiggle to read and learn more.  A next-step idea to this introduction could be something of group collaboration in children creating their own stories in the form of an interactive e-book.  And yes, there is an app for that too.  They can use a prompt of writing similar to this story's theme and plot line.  Pivotally, it gets children stoked about reading and teaches vocabulary content and visuals we create in our minds when reading a book.

Dive in, open your minds as a teacher, so our students can have the same open vaulted mind full of wonder and creativity where learning has room to flow.

Flippy-Floppy Classrooms

The idea of a "Flipped Classroom" and knowing the benefits and drawbacks is different that actually putting the flipped classroom into practice and understanding its effectiveness.  The counterargument for applying a flipped classroom would naturally focus on the flip-sides of this type of teaching, stemming from a general fear of a new way of doing things because of the possibility of failure.  Or maybe it is overwhelming considering that we may have to learn a lot of technicalities and technologies too to teach with this method.Well, folks, failure is always a possibility, as much as success.  And if we want to teach our students to love learning, we should first love learning new ways of doing things and putting them to action and not just knowing them.  So before we forget about the positives and negatives of American public schools today and into a proactive, student-based core of education, we should know and consider what the results are.  And then you can deduce what a "flipped classroom" actually is from the benefits and drawbacks for the students and the teachers.  Take for example Khan Academy, a free, online learning community for figuratively, anyone.
           Instead of thinking of sequential, cause and effect learning, think of a blended learning approach or a smoothie of concepts and opinions.  For example, in a typical public school history classroom in the U.S., you may witness the teacher stating a date on a timeline, events that happened that day that were controversial or motivating social or political change, and then what the repercussions were, or rather, another date with events.  Take a look at the students, and you may see them ardently taking notes on paper possibly in handwriting that they can hardly make sense of later.  What are they doing?  They are probably copying, mostly verbatim, of what the teacher is saying or feeding them.  Why are they doing this?  They probably will have to regurgitate these words later on in the same classroom on a paper test feeling ambivalence of anxiety, pressure, and encouraged.  This is the simulation of a real, general public school classroom.  We could make a list of benefits and drawbacks to this type of teaching, and which list do you think would be longer?  Khan Academy takes content outside of the classroom and puts the classroom with chalkboard and all, online.  It is a database of videos of any topic or subject of interest you could think of available to view and watch the concepts and ideas being demonstrated and explained.  Examples of subjects include all maths, sciences, economics, humanities, arts, and even test preps. Flipping it to the content being consumed outside of the class, and time spent in class be focused on the practice, application, and sharing ideas of concepts.
          The focus is something not strictly technology-based learning, but a moderate approach combining offline tools and face-to-face learning with online tools of blogs, pod-casts  screen-casts etc.  So how does this help us in this new age when what we have been doing isn't adhering favorable results for our citizens?  The benefits include emphasis on Constructivism and student-based learning, where students inquire and build up knowledge.  Flipped classrooms make it easier to differentiate learning by manipulating tools and environment.  Lectures in form of archives or screen-casts can be preserved or saved to view at anytime by students.  Believe it or not, it makes learning more personal putting a closer monitor on learning and engaging students to a deeper level. Another benefit is that it promotes interactive and collaborative learning, teaching the sense of community and groups which is essentially the structure of society.  Flipped classrooms are also multi-modal and encourages parents to participate in student learning.  Now on the downside, or flip-sides, it can de-emphasize traditional reading assignments or textbooks.  It can suffer technological shortcomings like the costs, time, or systematic failures.  Some students may not have broadband or computers at home.  I will suggest here putting time into the school day for students to have the opportunity to do "at home" work in school, whether during a free period which gives students the option or at the end of the organized learning day.  Another negative effect of this classroom approach is it could cause passive learning through subjective viewing and listening.  To counter that and not merely persuade my audience, I would remind teachers and students that it is a MODERATE approach and therefore, face-to-face and physically engaging learning is happening. Khan is free to sign up, and not only offers a visual and auditory encyclopedia, but it has featured items of news and knowledge pertaining to current events.  It's continuous and refreshed information that you can take away to put into collaborative and hands on action!
         To be a willful teacher, one must be a willing learner.  So before we shut the front door, let's take a look outside where the grass may be greener.

      

images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A0PDoS0Q0YpQMVcA5XOJzbkF?p=the%20flipped%20classroom&fr=altavista&ei=utf-8&n=30&x=wrt&fr2=sg-gac&sado=1

I'd also like to note Downingtown S.T.E.M. Academy which is a public, magnet school focused on the process of learning more than the product created.  Their motto is "effort creates intelligence," and teaches in the realm of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

Take a look here: http://dasd-sharepoint.dasd.org/Schools/STEMAcademy/Pages/default.aspx

Is Technology the "Superman" for our Education System?

"Waiting for Superman," a 2010 documentary film by director Davis Guggenheim portrays the blundering educational labyrinth that America's school system has formed into.  The subject matter is one difficult to describe; almost as polarizing as global warming.  As an Academy Award-winning director of the novel environmental depiction "An Inconvenient Truth," he has yet again taken an extremely controversial situation and documented it from the eyes of the participants.  In "Superman," he shows the raw truth of the American Public Education System as five children struggle through their heart and mind-rendering schools, waiting to be "saved by Superman."  Four of these children are from poor and African-American or Hispanic families, denoting the status of equality in schools as well as the convoluted economics behind them.  They are highly sympathetic children, taking a toll from their school instead of "serving their souls."  For example, Anthony, a Washington, D.C., fifth-grader, who is parent-less, losing a father to drugs and a mother to indifference. His grandmother is raises him with love, but she will need help to keep him focused. "Superman" focuses on the growing disparity and immediate call to action necessary for the educational system of the United States to improve.

Guggenheim utilizes a plethora of logos hard facts and statistics, personal pathos, ethos or values and morals of society, and obstacle-led schooling.  Through a personal study of these five students, it reveals the hard truth, that they are all waiting for their number coming up in a lottery so they can go to better schools.
The idea is of the tracking system our schools have created; that a certain percentage of individuals are "tracked" at the very beginning of their school years to learn at a pre-diagnosed degree of intellectual quality in order to go into occupations with a correlating degree of qualifications and skills.  Adjunct to this, certain schools hold a status-quo of their own, aligning standards with social economic status and where you are on the tracking system.  If you are put in a failing school or what the film calls "academic stinkholes" or "dropout factories" then you have hardly a hope to graduate with your options of future career endeavors dwindling.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=JMjUSQk5WH4

"There are multiple levels of government, conflicting funding agendas, and inconsistent curricular standards. The challenges are seemingly endless, the bureaucracy stifling to creativity, initiative and efficacy, costs inevitably borne by young innocents who are ill-equipped to pay," says Dino Sossi in an article of MST Times. (Mathematics, Science, and Technology) 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1VX1apvagA

On the other side where the grass is greener, the film highlights educators and administrators as heroes of battle in facing  the bureaucracy.  He also studied five first-year teachers in poor, under-performing public schools, and marveled at their passion and dedication to their students.  What can help these teachers hold on to that dedication and make a change for everyone and not just the small percentage of students they engage?  One idea, is the power of technology. 
My thoughts are that technology at home and in the classroom is not only a renovating system of teaching tools, but a stone in the tracking belt.  In other words, how does technology play a new part in this stagnant, seemingly dooming system that exists?  In what ways can we, as teachers, take our learning outside of school time and in the classroom and extend it into the child's personal life, 24/7.  My belief is that throughout a single day of school, each child should take home at least one thing that really fired up mind wheels and got them excited and passionate about knowledge and learning.  If technological uses could be a tool in guaranteeing that effect, then I am all for exploring the realm it offers.  How do you use it?  What a good question.  Blogs, such as this, create great discussion forms and project idea boards for students individually and collaboratively.  Using Smart-boards in the classroom is a cutting edge way of collaborating in small groups or as a whole class.  Educational websites that are fun and informative offer new, dynamic modes of stimulation in young, active minds. But what else?  How can computers be used effectively?
Intervention classes (Reading intervention, special education, Title I, and English Language Learners): Technology is assimilated into all classrooms. Individualized learning through technology helps struggling students.
Principal enables teachers’ Professional Learning, encourages collaboration and leads change management.    Good principals give teachers the tools they need to teach in a new environment.
  Games and Simulations and Social Media – Students have accessible technology daily to use, and scaffolding the curiosity and highly social nature of students keeps them in schools.
   Daily use of technology in core subject area classes. Personalized learning with technology for engagement and collaboration.
Online Assessment and Feedback: Motivational tool for students to take results as they are for higher achievement.

What about schools who cannot yet afford this?
 One Laptop Per Child also recently appraised its upcoming $99 laptop with claims that it could end the purchase and carrying around of textbooks.

Is technology the Superman of our classrooms...?

http://bcove.me/ljt1yoxk

Maybe not in this way, but it is a part of the equation.

All is Fair with Fair Use

Fair Use encompasses the "how to's" and "for what's" for educational multimedia usage as a teacher, or a student.  The definition is hereby "a legal principle that defines the limitations on exclusive rights of copyright holders."  Let's take a closer look at the grit of this description.  By "a legal principle" I would think of a dogma, or doctrine that sets an important note or ideology into stone, that by which is enforced to any that may contend with such principle.  This outlines or "defines" the boundaries or "limitations" contenders are to adhere to.  "Exclusive rights" I take to mean as freedoms or privileges to the demographic the guidelines are designed for, this being the "copyright holders" whom are the creators or originators of the content and media.  As a teacher or student abiding by this statement, it is important to be aware of not just limitations, but pivotally, privileges and benefits of using worldly media within one's own work.  There is a fine line between plagiarism and purposeful usage.  It is purposeful if it shares a point to be made which is to be decided by the individual enacting Fair Use.
 For example, if I were sharing political cartoons and irony with a class to make a point and make the concept more interesting, I would use a famous Bill Waterson's strip:

Ha Ha Ha....

To use this, as Waterson's original creation, I would have to note that it is copyrighted and that I did not make this comic strip.  It is as simple as that.  I have the right, and fair use to use it.  How does this particular example comply with Copyright law?  Well, laws are dynamic in nature when onset with a challenge.  Challenges are due to change of social or political relations and objectives.  So law and challenges are interdependent.
         A. Does it impact the future of creative development?  Yes, it's a comic, and everyone loves a Calvin.
         B. Does it relate to personal ethics?  Yes, in the matters of truth as a a political play on words.
         C. Social modeling?  Sure, maybe negatively though in that we shouldn't knock people's teeth out.
         D. Potential embarrassment?  (Reread the comic.  Pay specific attention to the last box.)
Fair Use can be fun, if we search for ways to use it with a purpose.  By exploring various multimedia projects to use as classroom teachers to enhance how we teach and affect our students, we are also expanding our own creative bubbles.  The cool thing is, these bubbles never seem to pop.
Portion limitations when using other artists' work is that a "reasonable amount of copyrighted work can be used in a project regardless of the original medium from which the copyrighted works are taken."  This to me is saying to use whatever you want, or whatever you deem necessary.  Showing all three extended editions of Lord of the Rings Trilogy to your class in order to show the types of fictional characters that exist ie. elves, wizards, and hobbits... etc. might be a little excessive.  But showing a good thirty minutes of Tolkien's magnum opus would suffice to get that point across.  Best advice, is to stay updated on the laws, as they DO change.  Go out there and use material!  And lastly trust your own knowledge, or gut, in the matter.  If it seems to risky, refrain.  PANE: Purpose, Amount, Nature, Effect.

Extra: In regards to what Schugar was mentioning about music impacting music impacting music as a cycle, here is a Q&A with hip-hop artists on Fair Use in music culture at World's Fair Use Day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_T9RgpUR_c

Chicago Teachers Rally: Not Down with Educational Reform

Thousands of public school teachers gathered on strike in Chicago, Il against the educational reform proposed by the mayor Rahm Emmanuel.  It left 350,000 children without classes as a few blocks of Chicago streets were engulfed by teachers and supporters creating a CTU (Chicago Teacher's Union) and Mayor Emmanuel standoff.  Being the nation's third largest school system, the bustle caused all kinds of hustle as parents frantically tried to find caretakers for the children.  So what is the problem here? Teachers are feeling injustice- over the rising national struggle over unionized teachers’ pay, conditions, benefits and standing.  The mayor was quick to dismiss talking politics over the reform and encouraged teachers to go back to their schools, which they finally did Tuesday, September 18th. 

For months, a conflict had been brewing between the teachers and Mr. Emanuel, who has pledged to make the most comprehensive reform in the Chicago Public Schools in a decade. Still, the strike, announced around 10 p.m. on Sunday, took many by surprise.

School officials said they had contract talks, and made adequate concessions including what would amount to a 16 percent increase for teachers over four years despite what is expected to be a $1 billion deficit in the system’s operating budget next year. Only two issues were still subjects of dispute — how to evaluate teachers and whether teaching openings should automatically go to laid-off teachers.

School board officials said the average salary for teachers here is $76,000.

CTU members seemed to suggest that the dispute was over something more mountainous, and included other issues related to benefits based on experience level and training days for teachers.

"Teachers also clearly saw the strike as a protest not just of the union negotiations in Chicago but on  education reform nationwide, which many perceived as being pushed by corporate interests and relying too heavily on standardized tests to measure student progress," said Monica Davey in a New York Times article. 

This upheaval has led to repercussions and considerations such as the belief in Emmanuel as mayor, the education reform movement did not do well and charter schools that replaced others are not doing better, the issues are now brought to more people's attention, and that parents will now be more involved in schools.

Democracy Now displays a video interviewing CTU members and other local supporters to demonstrate what is was like to walk down some of Chicago streets these past two weeks:

http://www.democracynow.org/2012/9/11/thousands_rally_in_chicago_teachers_strike

What do you think about striking over injustice in a school system and the CTU's response to Emmanuel's reform in that it is a nation-wide issue?

About Me, Elizabeth

To get a good idea of how I feel every morning when I wake up, listen to this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6tV11acSRk

As a student studying childhood education, you come to question your own values and approach to life in relation to how it will affect the children I will help mold into individuals and citizens of the world in the next many decades.  Writing, which I do habitually, helps me reflect and prepare for the world of teaching.  Music also puts me in a fruitful spirit that inspires me of the joy teaching can be.
I try to try new things, as I hope my students will like to do, for it is important in being an avid learner.  Something I have tried recently is gardening, by taking up volunteering at Longwood Gardens.  It is a phenomenal oasis of plants and trees, and if you haven't yet visited, check out this site and I'm sure you'll want to.

http://www.longwoodgardens.org/

I also work part time at Starbucks which gives me the heavenly coffee I am addicted to, and the opportunity to collaborate with people.  When I don't have my nose in a book or being a barista, I enjoy being outside doing anything from hiking, biking, camping, fishing, etc.  If I am outside, I am a happy person.

My goal with this blog is to extend my research and knowledge on teaching creatively, effectively, and being a mindful mentor.  Please react!