Activity 1- Current Issues

Class Size

The hot topic this week is Student/Teacher ratio: how big is too big? To help frame the issue, let's get some facts:

1. What is the national average of students in a classroom? Is that the "right" size?
2. What grade levels are we talking about: K-3, K-8, high school?
3. Åre we talking about "home" classrooms or reading classes, middle school math, algebra classes, special ed classrooms?

Is the assumption valid that smaller classes improves student achievement?

There are financial implications of class size reduction: more teachers, more classroom space, more buildings.

What are the implications and possible solutions?

Post your comments in the conference in Week 9: Class Size. Remember to use the Current Issue Discussion Format. Jha will summarize this issues for us at the end of the week.

  Activity 2 - How to Talk so Kids Can Learn

This week we will explore the importance of the parent-teacher partnership, with a closeup look at the parent-teacher conference. Those of you with children -or those of you young enough to remember your own k-12 experiences- can probably share examples of wonderful communication between school and home, as well as examples of how some schools seem to intentionally exclude parents. For this week, I'd like each of you to share a practice you have observed that draws parents into the life of the school, that makes them feel not only welcome but truly important to achieving success for children. Please post these in Week 9: HTTSKCL - Parents. Don't forget to read and respond to the postings of 2of your peers.

Activity 3- Teaching as a Profession

This week's topic is Ethics in Education. We are faced with a variety of ethical decisions every day, so I thought it would be interesting to investigate the Oregon code of ethics and see how ethics play a role in our work as educators. To begin our discussion please read the following article: What Is Ethics?

After reading the article, read through Oregon's Code of Ethics for Educators as follows:

Oregon Administrative Rule 584-020-0035

The Ethical Educator

The ethical educator is a person who accepts the requirements of membership in the teaching profession and acts at all times in ethical ways. In so doing the ethical educator considers the needs of the students, the district, and the profession.

(1) The ethical educator, in fulfilling obligations to the student, will:

(a) Keep the confidence entrusted in the profession as it relates to confidential information concerning a student and family; and

(b) Refrain from exploiting professional relationships with any student for personal gain, or in support of persons or issues.

(c) Maintain an appropriate professional student-teacher relationship by:

(A) Not demonstrating or expressing professionally inappropriate interest in a student's personal life;

(B) Not accepting or giving or exchanging romantic or overly personal gifts or notes with a student;

(C) Reporting to the educator's supervisor if the educator has reason to believe a student is or may be becoming romantically attached to the educator.

(2) The ethical educator, in fulfilling obligations to the district, will:

(a) Apply for, accept, offer, or assign a position of responsibility only on the basis of professional qualifications, and will adhere to the conditions of a contract or the terms of the appointment;

(b) Conduct professional business, including grievances, through established lawful and reasonable procedures;

(c) Strive for continued improvement and professional growth;

(d) Accept no gratuities or gifts of significance that could influence judgment in the exercise of professional duties; and

(e) Not use the district's or school's name, property, or resources for non educational benefit without approval of the educator's supervisor or the appointing authority.

(3) The ethical educator, in fulfilling obligations to the profession, will:

(a) Maintain the dignity of the profession by respecting and obeying the law, exemplifying personal integrity and honesty;

(b) Extend equal treatment to all members of the profession in the exercise of their professional rights and responsibilities; and

(c) Respond to requests for evaluation of colleagues and keep such information confidential as appropriate.

A few other sites you might find interesting are:

"Code of Ethics of the Education Profession," and
"A guide to Moral Decision Making" found at:

http://www.nea.org/aboutnea/code.html

http://www.ethicsweb.ca/guide/

When you have finished reading through the information on ethics, decide if there is a situation at your school that might contradict the Oregon Code of Ethics for Educators. Share your situation with us, but please maintain the confidentiality of all those involved. Post your observation in the Week 9: Ethics conference of WebBoard. Please read and respond to 2 other students.s

Activity 4 - Journal

Anecdotal Notes

Anecdotal notes are probably the most common kind of observational records most teachers keep. However, teachers tend to keep their anecdotal notes in their head and not write them down. This can work but after several days or observing many children it may be difficult to be very accurate about what you remember so we will be using written anecdotal notes.

Anecdotal notes are a good way to help you remember things that happen while you are busy, things you may want to follow up on later. These notes are subjective, because you jot down ideas that seem important at the time. Any one note might mean very little, but a series of notes accumulated over a period o time can offer some very revealing information as in the following example:

Monday - May 1 Sally pushed her way to the front of the line knocking over another child

Tuesday - May 2 Sally and Joan have a serious battle over a pencil found on the floor

Wednesday - May 3 I stopped Sally from throwing rocks. She yelled at me and said I didn't like her either.

Any one note might mean very little, but a series of notes accumulating in Sally's file might suggest a family conference or a chat with the counselor is in order. Anecdotal notes can be especially helpful at conference time (anecdotal notes can be collected for positive behavior also!) to share specific examples with parents.

Using some of the ideas listed below, observe a specific child for a few days. I find a pad of Post-It notes works well for this procedure. At the end of the day I take my pad and separate out the individual notes for the different children I observed and stick them inside a folder I have started for each child. You'd be surprised how much information you can collect without a lot of effort. See if anything significant emerges from your collection of anecdotal notes. Note: This is different from your frequency chart, which just counts things. Here you get to capture insights and observations. Post your responses in the "Anecdotal Notes" folder.

Some questions to consider when collecting anecdotal data: 1. How does he/she relate to other children? 2. How does he/she play with other children? 3. How does the child relate to adults? 4. How does the child solve problems? 5. What was the subject of the last conversation you had with the child? 6. What does the child like, dislike? 7. What are the child's favorite activities? 8. In what areas does the child need encouragement? 9. Does the child have any special problems that need to be dealt with? 10. How does this child compare cognitively, physically, socially?

Week 8

Course Home | Coursework | Conference | Resources | Help