1. In Chapter one of her book, Ravich makes some provocative
statements about educational reform.
Below are two that stuck out to me, followed by my response ot both of
them.
“School reformers sometimes resemble the characters in Dr.
Seuss’s Solla Sollew, who are always
searching for the mythical land ‘where they never have troubles, at least very
few.’ Or like Dumbo, they are convinced
they could fly high if they had a magic feather. In my writings, I have consistently warned
that, in education, there are no shortcuts, no utopias, and no silver
bullets. For certain, there are no magic
feathers that enable elephants to fly (3).”
I like this quote, because it does not "candy coat" the energy
and effort that constructive educational reform requires. In the past, their have been too many
attempts to take the easy way out and not effectively make the right
changes. We, as current and future
teachers, need to work hard and expend the energy that is required to create
necessary change. There are no magic
feathers, but we have the ability to become the magic feathers, we just need to
understand the effort needed to do so and execute it!
“It is time, I think, for those who want to improve our
schools to focus on the essentials of education. We must make sure that our schools have a
strong, coherent, explicit curriculum that is grounded in the liberal arts and
sciences, with plenty of opportunity for children to engage in activities and
projects that make learning lively (13).”
This quote nicely proceeds the first quote I commented
on. This is Ravich’s suggestion for the
tools that will create the “magic feathers” within school reform. A strong, coherent and explicit curriculum
like she explains is one that will make for the most beneficial education of today’s
youth. The sentence that stuck out to me
the most if when she says that children need to be given plenty of opportunity
to engage in activities and projects that make learning lively. This is so important. Students learn the most effectively when they
are given the opportunity to construct their own meaning.
2. In her book, Ravich refers defines a well-educated person in
the following way: “A well-educated person has a well-furnished mind, shaped by
reading and thinking about history, science, literature, the arts, and
politics. The well-educated person has
learned how to explain ideas and listen respectively to others.” I agree with Ravich on many of her
points. Especially when referring to a
well-educated person who works in the field of education, it is imperative to
be well-versed on core subject areas.
Not only should an educator be well-read, they need to have spent time
thinking and digesting the information they have read about, making sense of it
in their own way. I love when Ravich
continues to define a well-educated person as someone who has learned to
explain ideas and listen to others.
Without these two skills, it is impossible to continue with your
education. Having the hunger to continue
to become further educated is another aspect to being well-educated, in my
opinion. Individuals need to be
cognoscente of the vast advances and changes that are occurring in the World
and continue their efforts to further their education.
3. During
the class discussion of Ravich’s work that we have read thus far, I really
enjoyed talking in detail about NCLB. It
seems that in general, we all feel that NCLB has been a detriment to schools
throughout the country. NCLB, which will
be discussed in greater detail in the next session, truly has been a burden on
teachers, stifling their creativity. The
high-risk testing enables NCLB to control what occurs not only in a school, but
specifically inside the intimate classrooms that make up the school. I feel that state standards are imperative,
as they keep teachers on task and give specific guidance for curriculum from
year to year. The testing that is based
off of these standards is much too constricting and the emphasis on math and
language arts has unfairly taken away from other core subjects.
4. I chose to focus on the California State
Standards for third grade, since it is the grade that falls in the middle of
the other grades. Below are three areas
in Physical Education that I feel I could better educate myself on.
Aerobic Capacity
4.7 Describe
the relationship between the heart, lungs, muscles, blood, and oxygen during
physical activity.
Fitness Concepts
4.2 List
and define the components of physical fitness.
4.5 Explain
that fluid needs are linked to energy expenditure.
After searching for information on the three areas above, I
came across one great website, one resourceful book, and an informative journal
article. They are listed below.
Website:
http://www.functional-fitness-facts.com/5-components-of-physical-fitness.html
Book:
Rovengo, Inez & Bandhauer, Dianna. Elementary
Physical Education. Jones &
Bartlett Learning, February 2012.
Journal:
"Plyo
Play": A Novel Program of Short Bouts of Moderate and High Intensity Exercise Improves Physical Fitness in
Elementary School Children, Author(s):
The website was
the most resourceful in terms of educating me on the 5 components of physical
fitness. It clearly defines all 5
components of physical fitness, including cardiovascular fitness, muscular
strength, body composition, body flexibility, and muscular endurance. On the side bar of the website, there are
links that take the reader to other important topics, such as the effects of
hydration, the importance of flexibility, and an overview of nutrition, all of
which can be found in the Physical Education California State Standards.
5. Below are two resources & annotations
from my WikiSpace. Below each annotation
is a comprehensive answer regarding what I have learned from the resource.
**Brain Gym International© (2011). Brain Gym
is a registered trademark of Brain Gym® International/Educational Kinesiology
Foundation, Ventura, CA
Brain Gym
Introduction Video
Brain Gym
International is a non-profit, California based corporation that advocates for
movement and physical activity inside the classroom and during learning times.
It is a program which consists of 26 physical movements that can be adopted by
parents and teachers and implemented into their children's academic routines.
Brain Gym was founded in 1987 in Ventura, Ca. I think that the ideas that Brain
Gym presents to teachers, adults and children are progressive in terms of
implementing movement into the classroom. The 26 physical movements have shown
to help with fine sensorimotor skills, stability amongst children, and
retention of learned information. The foundations of Brain Gym seem to be
resourceful.
I have found my
research on Brain Gym to be extremely beneficial to my finished product. Brain Gym has specific ideas for way to get
children moving in the classroom. The
connection between physical movement and brain stimulation is very interesting
and Brain Gym has alerted me to this, along with my other research. Since I discovered Brain Gym, my curiosity
regarding the specific scientific links between physical movement and brain
stimulation has increased.
**Eloise Elliott,
Ph.D and Steve Sanders, Ph.D Children and Physical Activity (2002). PBS
Teachers.
This article,
published in February of 2002, is written to educate teachers on the importance
of keeping children physically active in the classroom. The article is
comprised of two main parts. The first covers the obesity crises that young
America is facing and the repercussions of a sedentary lifestyle for both
children and adults. The second part of the article is meant to be used as a
resource for teachers, offering specific ideas for integrating movement into
everyday curriculum. This portion of the article offers ideas for integrating
movement in mathematics, language arts, social studies, PE (other than the
obvious), and art. This is a wonderful article both in terms of educating the
public of the harsh reality of childhood obesity as well as offering realistic
lessons to implement into a classroom to keep students physically active
through out the day.
This article was
extremely informative on the current state of children’s health and the obesity
crises America is facing. Before
beginning my research, I knew that our country was battling obesity, but I was
unaware of the specific statistics relating to children. It was shocking to read that since 1980,
childhood obesity has increased 100%.
This sad statistic motivates me to do all that I can to reverse this
statistic and help to educate and motivate children to get healthy!
I responded to:
