Honestly this specific blog does not need a title because I am just going to go on a rant about how much the school system sucks. Today in our class two English teachers came in to discuss what exactly the common core standards are. I already knew about them from my previous classes, but I did not know the extent that our school system is changing. Such a large portion of the 7th and 8th graders are doing poorly on the ELA's, why? Because the questions are incredibly difficult for their reading level. It is so frustrating to me that when I was going to school, which was not that long ago, my reading level was well above average and these students have so much more than I did when it comes to extracurricular activities, smart boards, nooks, iphones, webquests, and more reading selections, but their reading levels are so low. Why are they not learning the proper skills to highlight, underline, and jot down questions throughout the margins. I think teachers should already be teaching these things. It boggles me that so many kids are failing and the good teachers have to suffer. Not even just the good teachers, but every new teacher like my classmates and I. Maybe these standards of sharing vocabulary throughout all the contents is what these teachers need to actually do the work they are supposed to do. This presentation just scared me for my future career.

Response to Rachel's Blog

Rachel's Blog


When reading your blog about how difficult and early the CST was, I was laughing because I felt the same exact way. While i was reading the responses I just wanted to daze off and be somewhere else. This reminded of the way the SAT's and ACTs are for high school students. It is known that students cannot focus so early in the morning, especially when they have a test. If we cant do it and we are only 6 years older than them, what makes other people think that these students can take a test so early to the best of their ability? It is also so important that on a test their is a variety of questions for students to answer because not every student is good at answering every type of question. There needs to be a balance. The CST only had reading comprehension questions and so many of them that i was getting confused and just tired of reading. All you can do is in the future make sure that every test you give out as a teacher is differentiated and hold review classes. If you have 1st period and that class is always tired, remind them to go to sleep early the day before the test and then give them a small breakfast even to get their brains going. This is such a hard thing to fix because these state tests are mandated by the state so as a teacher you cannot really control it, but you can help and encourage your students.

Students Attitudes in the Classroom

            I am noticing that students are not very respectful towards their teachers in the schools I have visited. Students today want to get out of the classrooms as fast as possible. They would rather be at home on the computer or outside with their friends. Such things as iPhones, ipads, net books,  and video games are all influencing students' lives. It is very common to look around a high school classroom and see students on their phones when the teachers not looking, talking to their friend about gossip on the fight that happened yesterday, or rolling their eyes because they don't know why they are there. As future teachers we need to learn to incorporate the new technology into our curriculum because that is what the students want to use and love to use. If we teach them ways to use these machines while learning then they will actually want to be in their seats and learn the material. If we teach them that if they want to talk about something that happened in their life to their friend next to them they can certainly write about it in a journal or in a persuasive essay. We can teach students who are arguing in class that there is such a way to handle the situation with respect such as form a debate with the class. If we show students that we can connect with them and respect the way that they want to learn, then they will in return respect us because we showed them we care about them.

S.T.A.R.

When using S.T.A.R. on my Halloween story:
I substituted, took out, added, and rearranged multiple parts of my story.

          Tap. Tap. Tap. The sound came from inside the closet. Quietly, I crept toward the door as my little brother came along and clung onto the  the back of my shirt. we heard ths8i sound, but we knew no one was in the room, but except him and I. I turned my head around t my brother and put my pointer finger over my mouth, covered his mouth.
          I said quietly, "Shh".  
          He nodded his head and covered his eyes. I opened the closet door and I saw nothing but his toys and clothes.
          I said, "See you big baby, there is nothing even in the closet!"
          All of a sudden we heard the clothes saw the clothes moving. I jumped back and my brother screamed.
          He yelped, "What the heck is that!"
          The we heard, "Bark! Bark! Bark!"
          We started hysterically laughing. It was our puppy trying to get out of the closet. Who knows how long poor little Toby was stuck in there for. I felt so horrible for him because he certainly did not get to eat for hours. He ran so fast past us, leavin a trail of  "his scent" behind him. It was a little disgusting, but my brother and I still just laughed.