Chalk and Wire

The lecture on Monday was in regards to the e-portfolio "Chalk and Wire". I like the idea of having the online portfolio because it will force me to be more organized and I will have it with me wherever I am.
The idea of completing the competencies however, seems overwhelming. Since the artifacts and entries are what future employers could be looking at, I want them to be the best that I can make them. However, I'm not always in the mid set that 'ok, this is for a future job and graduation, this has to be perfect'... The competencies do help keep a standard for the students. With out the standards, there is the her-prof-is-so-much-easier problem.
Anyway, overall I'm not thrilled about the competencies and e-portfolio, but I do understand why we have them.

Lions for Lambs Reflection

The movie "Lions for Lambs" caused me to think about the issue of inspiring students. Part of being an effective teacher, is the ability to inpsire the students in your class. The problem, however, with this idea, is that what you think the student should do or become, may not necessarily coincide with the plans of the student. What I, as a teacher, think would be best for the students and their talents, could be very different than what the student thinks. When there is a situation like that in a classroom, it seems as thouhgh it would be hard to balance the idea of being supportive and encouraging toward your students, while also inspiring them. Which, then, also brings up the issue of how much support a teacher is or isnt obligated to give her students. It would be hard for me to show support, for example, a student joining the military (similarily in "Lions for Lambs"), but should I still be encouraging? "Lions for Lambs" brought up a lot of issues that are important for teachers to consider when building a relationship with her students.

Postville Panel

I attended the Postville Panel on Spetember 9, 2008. On the panel there were two women from Postville, one Luther student, one Luther graduate, and three Luther faculty that had been helping and volunteering in Postville.
The information I found most interesting was the stories that the women who live in Postville told. Through an interpreter, they told about their lives since the raid in May. It was difficult to listen to them talk about the struggles the family has been through, especially the fact that one of the women's husband had been sent back to Gautamala.

Although many lessons and topics from the panel could be applied to teaching and schools, one that stuck out in my mind, is the fact that teachers still need to teach kids that are living through difficult times at home. Some of the students literally had a parent stolen away from them, and these students are still required and expected to learn with the other students in their class.
It seems as though one of the significant struggles of teaching would be coming up with new and inspiring ways to teach kids that are distracted, scared, and angery, much like the Postville children were, and probably still are.

The method in which the kids were notified of the raid was also mentioned during the panel. Students were taken out of class during the school day, some according to to the fact that they had a hispanic last name, and as I understood, lead to a large room in which all the kids were told together of the raid and that some of their parents had been arrested. This seem like ridiculous and inappropriate way to notify a child that their parent is in trouble. I can only imagine that this way of telling the students caused panic and anger that otherwise may have been avoidable. If trouble strikes family while the child is at school, the teacher should be able to think of resonable ways to inform the child, while trying to keep them calm. One example, if the tragedy is on a large scale, would be to tell students in groups of three or four instead of a large group.