Does an outside program help or hurt schools?

         Both, I think, and I will raise another question to this issue: Does the popularity of an outside program affect what schools will teach and consider valuable?  I say yes! In fact, if an outside program is offered in a particular school district and is considered necessary and valuable to a community, I think this will drive community efforts to offer such programs as a part of the curriculum. Here is the scenario. In my school district, there exists an arts center which offers classes to students that may be considered to be “enrichment.” Most of the classes offered at this arts center could also be characterized as arts oriented offerings. Offerings such as robotics, music lessons and second language learning lessons. Right, second language learning, just lumped in there with other types of art classes!  Please don’t get me wrong, I’m in no way maligning arts classes, or considering them to have lower value than traditional academic subjects, but let’s face it, art classes have always carried a certain stigma that perhaps they are not as rigorous as other academic classes, and that they are the fun classes. Unfortunately, this is a stigma that in some communities will take considerable effort to remove on the part of the parent's generation. Therefore, this may be detrimental in selling a language program as the rigorous subject that it is.
        In my own school Spanish is clumped in with Unified Arts classes, (or wherever it will fit for scheduling purposes!) So, in terms of community offerings hurting schools, perhaps if they are packaged as fun and games, this packaging may affect how the subject is considered. However, on the other hand, the fact that a particular subject is recognized, does lend a certain importance to the subject.
       It is interesting the way that things worked out in my school district with Spanish offered at the arts center. The Spanish offering at the arts center was popular, competitive parents wanted their children to learn Spanish early on. This community sentiment prevailed and the school district went on to begin a Spanish program a the K level. I taught at the arts center for their summer Spanish programs. After Spanish became part of the district’s curriculum beginning a the K level, the interest in Spanish at the arts center declined and the program is no longer offered. I’m out of a summer job, it was great PR for me! So, in that sense it was a positive thing for teacher/ community relations. Also, the program did die out because of economic strains on parents. Parents decided that they would save their money since Spanish was now offered at the school.
      There is a little good, and a little bad in offering outside World Language programs. In a perfect world,  both the outside and the district offering should complement one another, not detract from one another and should ultimately support one another... in a perfect world.

Reflection on Curriculum in the Twenty First Century : Heidi Hayes Jacobs and Brazil have much to offer a school district struggling to promote performance based assessment and curricula.

         As I have been learning about curriculum in the twenty first century, I have been doing some comparative and contrastive analysis regarding the present scenario in my district. My analysis is in practice as my school district is in the midst of adopting an entirely performance based assessment and standards aligned curriculum. This is quite a change for most, and it is affecting how we structure our entire day from the Pledge of Allegiance forward. There are varying degrees of implementation by our teaching staff.   It is tremendously helpful for me to be learning about curriculum development right now, and I am conducting my own informal analysis of the process in my district. Based on my introduction to curriculum in the 21st century thus far, Heidi Hayes Jacobs stands out for me as a model for improved implementation in our district. The other standout for me is the country of Brazil, which I believe provides an excellent educational model for the type of integrated learning and program structure that we need most desperately and immediately in my district.
        In terms of the scenario in my district, quite frankly it is a complete mess, and we would do well to listen to Heidi Hayes Jacobs when she promotes that curriculum development should begin with assessment, or at the very least, chose one area to focus upon instead of changing everything about a school program all at once. My district is trying to change to a standards performance based curriculum. As Maine teachers we are all required to align our curriculum to state standards, and so we teachers in my district are all following suit. However, along with aligning to state standards our school has adopted a program called RISC, and we are now being required to change everything about our daily school life, including grading, standard operating procedures, as well as our classroom management techniques. I’m surprised they haven’t asked us to recite the school mission statement after the Pledge of Allegiance! Just too much all at once!
         So, as Hayes Jacobs advises, we would greatly benefit from our attempts for implementation of standards aligned, performance based learning if we considered focusing on one area at a time, and to perhaps begin with assessments as this will in turn affect many other elements in curricula.
         The other program of learning that I look upon with interest and desire for replication is that of the educational system in Brazil. Particularly, Brazil’s adoption of a chosen “theme” for each district with which each teacher will align her curriculum. The themes are defined for each district and are generally related to the local socio- economic or environmental concerns for that region. I like how each teacher has a voice for their own unique perspective as well as being part of a unified vision. I think that my district would also benefit from this approach. We are in desperate need for something that will unite us in our transition process. We are experiencing a dangerous state of disconnect with respect to the transition issues from every level including high school to university, varying degrees of staff implementation levels, as well as a major disconnect amongst the policy makers and stake holders.

Is the Internet a device for teleportation?...Not yet!

                    We are becoming increasingly more aware about how technology influences social trends. These social trends in turn affect much of how society is organized and do ultimately affect present and future teaching and learning.  Let’s take the case of second language learning, shall we? If we now have sophisticated voice to text translation with electronic translators, how might this affect how languages are taught and learned in our schools? Greatly, I say, and the discussion about how and what second language learning should be will take on new dimensions, as it already has.
                   One area within second language learning that is always a component to language study is the study of culture. How to “teach” culture, or how to encourage cultural awareness among learners is an area that World Language teachers have been grappling with for years. How to teach an awareness of something quite intangible as culture and cultural awareness? This is an area which cannot be learned through interaction with technology. It simply must be experienced through social interaction in real time, not Internet time. There is no doubt that greater social connections between cultures will be enhanced through the use of Internet social sites. Although much may be learned and interpreted and strong connections forged through social sites on the Internet, culture is something that must be experienced in the physical, first hand. We most certainly can look to the Internet as a source for greater enhancement to our learning about other cultures (and even other subcultures within our own culture.) We can also look for the Internet to create it’s own culture of netizens as it it currently doing, and this will be a common point of connection for us all as global Internet netizens. But, presently does the Internet have all the powers that we need for teaching and learning? In the case of culture, does the Internet have all the superhero powers that we need for teaching and learning ? The Internet is not a device for teleportation, (even the best virtual programs aren't there yet!) We presently cannot physically bring worlds and cultures together in ways that will support our understanding of culture.
                   Yes, indeed smiles can meet smiles on the Internet, but....... hands cannot shake, and arms cannot embrace on the Internet....... just yet.

We are awesome! In praise of teachers and all that they do!

            What are some things that we as a school community do well? I'm going to answer that question for teachers. As far as I'm concerned, we teachers are the ones who are doing well. If we think about all the people who make up our school community on the national and local level, there are a few subgroups within this large community toward which we would like to point the finger of blame.  But don't even try to point it at the teachers, please, because you won't get very far with me. Teachers are the ones who are doing the greatest things for kids and for their educational instruction. Amidst all the chaos of testing, standardization, globalization, digitization and the like, teachers are the first ones to do the following amazing things: we constantly revise and question. We change, we flex and we adapt when we have to. We do embrace a reach for the stars attitude in all that we do, and we inspire greatly. Need I say more? If we didn't, we wouldn't  remain the dedicated professionals that we are.     

Interview #1(in a series of 2) with a sixth grade classroom: What are your hopes and fears surrounding internet use?

                       Before presenting the results of this "interview,"  I must honestly admit that this was an  astoundingly eye-opening exercise for me as a sixth grade educator to hear my students speak so eloquently about this social issue.  I suspect that this is in part because I do not often get to hear my students express themselves in English, as the primary focus for classroom time is to optimize speaking and listening in the target language of Spanish. A strange reality at times, the World Language classroom on the middle level, that is, with students struggling to express themselves in both English and Spanish and/or both.  Just not enough time in the day,  the classroom,  the curriculum, the schedule, etc.  Perhaps a problem that is cured with a little more technology/Internet activity?????
                     In any case, what I learned from my informal questioning the other day was truly amazing. Here are some of the results: This generation really does have its own fears concerning Internet use and they are not just accepting the digital world into their reality without thinking deeply about it. Amongst their fears were: fear for their safety, fear of destroying their creativity, (how did they know that previous youthful generations were outside in their backyards playing with sticks after school,..... not surfing the net?), fear of interacting less with their environment, fear that technology will consume our lives, ecological concerns: fear of excessive electricity use and its resulting radiation, and finally, fear that our culture outside of technology will die.  I almost fell over, but I didn't, I grabbed a pen instead, and started recording their divine insight. After their drops of pure divine insight had finished pouring down from the inspiration sky that day,  I asked them a question. The question that I asked them after they presented their fears to me was: "Are your feelings a combination of what you are hearing, your own personal opinion, and what is actually happening???" Their response to me was,  an overall affirmation, "yes."
                  I will interview the students again, and this time I will ask them to focus more on how technology and Internet use will enhance their lives, and what are their thoughts on how they will benefit from more opportunity for global/international communication.

( It should be noted that I did originally ask them for both their hopes and fears surrounding this social issue, but time constraints prevailed. I will continue with their "hopes" in the second interview.)