A look into a school board member's mind . . .

I thought Monday night's lecture with two Decorah school board members was interesting to listen to. It was particularly great because they both had children who had gone through the district. I think that is very important in a school board member because they then have a greater connection to the school. 

It was interesting to hear, for the second time, that No Child Left Behind is not necessarily a bad thing. If the country's new administration abandoned it, for example, Decorah would still consider keeping it as part of their curriculum because it is a good base to see how well students are progressing. 

Administrator Questionaire- Monday Lecture

I thought Monday night's lecture was very helpful. I was able to hear an administrator's perspective for the first time. I felt the most interesting part of the evening was hearing the opinions of No Child Left Behind. It was surprising to hear that they were, for the most part, in favor of No Child Left Behind. Ironically, though, a small-scale situation of NCLB just happened to me.
This past week I was studying for midterms with basically all my spare time. These standard tests (midterms) took away from my time in other areas. I forgot, for example, to write this post during the week, so here I am finally posting it on the Saturday of fall break. I know that I would not have forgotten if there wasn't so much pressure to do well on midterms. This relates to NCLB in several ways. If teachers didn't have to focus so much time and effort for the standardized tests, they could teach the students in a more well-rounded way (not having to focus on only on Math, Reading, Science, etc.).
So although I agree with the administrators that the standardized tests are only "one piece of the pie," I also question why that little "piece" can take up so much time. I believe it takes away from other important aspects of a student's schoolday.

"High Stakes Community Schools" -- Role Play Lecture

Tonight's lecture was very enlightening for me. I really enjoyed the role-playing lecture because it introduced me to a new way of teaching. It would not be as applicable in a younger elementary school classroom, however it would still work. 

The topic of this role-playing lecture (the proposal for the high stakes school), was also very interesting. I like how it is a situation we, as teachers, may come across in our years in the schools. It made me realize how difficult it may be to get my opinion heard, especially if there are strongly opinionated administrators behind the proposal.

If I use this type of learning style in my classroom, I hope to spend more time in the debates. There were many students who didn't get their say in, and I think it would have been more beneficial to the whole group if we heard every point of view. I understand this would take a lot of time, and there must be some boundaries, but I just felt it was rushed.

Overall it was a great lecture night!

Coloring Books are Bad?

We haven't discussed this topic in the Ed. Psych. class, but we have talked about it in my Art in the Elementary Schools course. I thought it was incredibly interesting so I wanted to share. . . 

Studies have shown that allowing young students to color in coloring books can hinder their learning! I read an article by Lowenfeld (the man who introduced art into the classroom), and he had very strong opinions. His points made me think outside of what I had ever contemplated before. For example, Lowenfeld made the point that "there is no place in coloring books to express anxieties." When children draw on plain sheets of paper they can draw whatever they want, express whatever they want, etc. In a sense, it is a way to create whatever they want. A child is not, however, given this freedom in a coloring book.

Another point Lowenfeld makes is that as a child colors in a dog (for example) he/she realizes that their dog may never look as good as the one in the coloring book. This causes a slight loss of their self-esteem and the child may not try as hard anymore.

Lowenfeld's main point of the article is that coloring books have a "detrimental effect on the child's creativeness." Children are expected, for example, to stay in the lines of the picture. Also, the picture is already there so the child does not need to imagine what to draw onto the paper. After constantly using coloring books, children may expect to be given a picture, instead of creating their own.

Overall, this topic was very interesting to me. As a person who used coloring books as a child, I don't feel that I am inferior to children who did not. I never used coloring books in the school, however. I was only given them by my family. Lowenfeld's point makes a lot of sense to me and I hope to use his points in the future: both with my children and my students.