What is the Purpose of Education?

William Butler Yeats, a well-known Irish poet, summed up what I believe to be the purpose education when he spoke the following words, “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” As educators, it is our responsibility to light a fire in each and every child who walks through our classroom doors. I strive to do this in a variety of ways through the careful implementation of specific curriculum, quality instruction, and meaningful assessment.

In regards to curriculum, specific learning goals and standards need to be outlined and communicated with all stakeholders. A strong curriculum, coupled with teacher buy-in, will drive quality instruction and guide the careful assessment of each student’s progress. In my six years as a professional educator, I have implemented a hands on approach to delivering and teaching the curriculum outlined for my students. It is my belief that students learn best when they are actively engaged in their own learning process. They are engaged in quality learning experiences from the moment they step foot in the classroom. They collaborate with partners and small groups, act out plays with meaningful scripts, compose thoughtful writing projects in their writing notebooks, engage in letter writing with pen pals from other states, ask thought provoking questions, create purposeful messes during art class, make observations and generate hypotheses through engaging science experiments, read quality literature, utilize their growing imaginations for a variety of projects, analyze the effectiveness of their business practices during an annual class market project, write thoughtful and caring notes to sick classmates, and go on to become lifelong learners. Each child I teach is extremely unique in the way he or she learns. I strive to use my talents to accommodate the individual needs of each of my students. I do not want my current or future students to be standing with an empty pail waiting to be filled up with facts I dictate to them. My desire is to ignite a fire that will burn within each and every one of them. It is my hope that each child I have the privilege to educate will develop a lifelong love for learning. No teacher should ever extinguish that fire which burns so brightly in the lives of young children.

idiom study

Children are naturally inclined to learn and enjoy doing so when they are intrinsically motivated. Quality instruction is a key factor when educating a diverse student population and educators ought to aide students in realizing their potential. Quality instruction that is learner focused will no doubt produce citizens who are prepared for a global, intellectually, and socially demanding society. Instruction should be explicit in regards to both the intellectual and social needs of each child. A fire that burns with only facts and knowledge will soon be extinguished. It is our job and moral obligation as professional educators to prepare students to enter a democratic society where their voice can and will be heard. Intelligence is of utmost importance, but without character, morals, and values, it will not adequately prepare one for life in an ever changing 21st century society. Through thoughtful planning and careful instruction, students will be prepared to enter the world outside the four walls of the school building. Through careful assessment of student learning, educators are constantly changing the way subject material is presented in order to reach their students and guide them along in their educational journey.

concrete poem from poetry unit

Meaningful assessment is necessary to ensure that students are making academic progress and that they are comprehending the concepts they are expected to master as outlined by the curriculum. Meaningful assessment occurs when teachers and administrators analyze the data that has been gathered and it is then used to guide future instruction and/or reteach concepts that were misunderstood. I believe testing and assessment are sometimes used interchangeably by those who are not familiar with education. It is easy for those outside the world of education to proclaim that schools are failing when only standardized test scores are published for the general public. When standardized tests are culturally, socially, and economically biased, how is this a true measure of the competency of our current education system? Meaningful assessment occurs in classrooms across the country every single day. The school where I teach does not put our focus on standardized tests. We are free from the fear of losing federal funding if we do not meet Adequate Yearly Progress, because of our status as a parochial school. We administer the Stanford Achievement Test every spring, but I do not spend the year teaching to the test or administering practice tests all year long. It is time for education to be put back in the hands where it belongs, with the professional teachers and administrators who spend every day educating children. There is no possible way one test can adequately assess students from a variety of cultures and social classes. Can a multiple choice question show the light bulb moment when a student finally understands how to decode a word? Can a math problem with multiple steps that is read out loud by the teacher possibly come close to assessing students’ mastery of problem solving skills? The answer to these questions is a definite no. A variety of assessment strategies are daily used by teachers to ensure students are learning and performing to their potential. A student recently told me he would “rather read books at home than play video games.” This same student despised reading at the beginning of the school year and now he daily asks me to buy new books for the classroom library. He is worried when he goes to third grade that his teacher will not have the books he enjoys reading. Is there any possible way a standardized test produced by a corporate testing company can measure this student’s intrinsic motivation to read? No, it is just not possible. I am fortunate to teach at a school where I am viewed and respected as a professional educator and I am not expected or encouraged to teach to the test. After all, our students go on to gain entry into some of the best high schools in San Francisco and most prestigious colleges in the United States. It is certainly not because we teach to the yearly standardized tests. High quality curriculum, innovative instruction, and careful assessment all contribute to the success of students across the nation, regardless of what a multiple choice test might reveal about a particular school or district.  

student created prefix game

Curriculum, instruction, and assessment are all major components in the conversation surrounding the purpose of education. While there have been many beliefs about the purpose of education over time, I have noticed common themes in my both my experiences as a professional educator and in my educational research endeavours. The purpose of education should be to prepare students to be productive and responsible members of a global society. As an educator and future administrator, I cannot sit back and just fill my students’ pails; I must ignite a fire within each and every one of them that will burn for years to come.

Caldecott Medal Study - Owl Moon

producing goods for the class market

Landform Maps!

Before Thanksgiving break my class learned all about landforms. This is one of my favorite units to teach, because landforms are all around us! My amazing student teacher (shout out to Miss Nelson!) did a great job teaching this unit to the students. 

First, we assessed prior knowledge with a slideshow of different types of landforms: 

Then, after learning the characteristics of each type of landform, we made our own landform maps out of homemade clay. 

***Homemade clay recipe can be found at the bottom of the post.***

First, they planned out their maps and shaped the landforms: 

Next, they painted their maps according to the characteristics of each type of landform: 

Finally, students labeled each type of landform on their maps when they were dry: 

My students loved how fun and engaging it was to make the landform maps!

Homemade Clay Recipe

(Perfected by my wonderful teacher's aide who mixes 

it together for my class every year!)

• Mix together one 5-pound bag of flour with 5 canisters of table salt. 

• Add water until your dough reaches the desired consistency. It will be sticky! 

Enjoy! 

Heather

Favorite Thanksgiving Books & A Very Perky Turkey!

It's hard to believe Thanksgiving is just around the corner! Some of my favorite Thanksgiving books to read with my class are: 

  

A Plump and Perky Turkey by Teresa Bateman

Arthur's Thanksgiving by Marc Brown

'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving by Dav Pilkey

This is the Feast by Diane Z. Shore

Magic Tree House Non-Fiction Research Guide: Pilgrims 

by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce

Thanksgiving on Thursday by Mary Pope Osborne 

What are some of your favorite Thanksgiving books? 

We made this turkey last week. Each student cut out his/her own feather and could use any colors or patterns to design it. The students were a bit unsure of why we only had them decorate ONE feather. After putting up the bulletin board, they understood why each person only decorated one. Our turkey looked much better and had a lot more personality when we combined our creative efforts and worked together! 

Happy (almost) Thanksgiving! 

Heather 

Time Savers with Blog Hoppin

I'm linking up with Blog Hoppin this week! Monday's topic?

TIME SAVERS! 

Number One Time Saver Tip:

I always prepare my resources for the next week before I leave school on Friday afternoon. Because everything is organized and in its place, I can walk out of school and not worry about getting everything together on Monday morning. I have a file folder for each day of the week. It saves me valuable time, because everything is where it needs to be when I walk into the classroom on Monday morning and every morning there after. You can read more about how I keep my classroom organized here. 

You can pick up my file folder labels in my TPT shop. 

Number Two:

Are your students always asking, "Miss so & so, what time do we go to Recess? PE? Lunch? Art? Music? Fill in the blank..." 

The display I created below saves me time by not having to answer these questions during instruction time. The students know better than to ask me what time we go somewhere. 

Number Three:

My students never question me about the daily schedule. I post our schedule every single morning so the students know what we'll be doing all day. They are definitely creatures of habit so I made a "Be Flexible" tag for our chart. I put this up when we do anything that deviates from the normal schedule - a school wide assembly, guest speaker, etc. Again, the students know better than to waste class time by asking me what subject comes next in our school day. A few seconds saved here and there really do add up!

Of course there are those days when I (GASP!) forget to change the daily schedule. They are always so quick to point out their teacher's mistakes! :) 

Number Four:

One way I save time before I even get to school in the morning is by having my lunch packed and ready to go the night before. I try to pack a few days worth of lunches and snacks on Sunday nights so I don't have to worry about it during the week: 

Of course some weekends are busier than others and this isn't always a reality. When I do have the time to prep everything in advance, it saves me so much time and energy on busy school nights!

How do you save time during the school day? Let me know! 

Heather

Five for Friday - November 1, 2013

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs to share some highlights from my week. 

1. I started out the school week with our school's annual Trunk or Treat event last Sunday evening. I dressed up as Ms. Frizzle from The Magic School Bus! We had quite the crew with my amazing student teacher as The Magic School Bus, another friend as Liz, and two teachers at my school were D.A. and Keesha. We handed out candy and books to anxious and excited trick-or-treaters! 

2. We read some fun books this week: 

Click, Clack, Boo by Doreen Cronin

Diary of a Spider by Doreen Cronin 

Notice a theme here? Doreen Cronin is one of my favorite children's book authors. Her books have my students laughing hysterically every.single.time!

Another fun one was Mostly Monsterly by Tammi Sauer. 

3. The students worked together with partners to draft, revise, proofread and publish Halloween acrostic poems. I love it - they all have their mini dictionaries and thesauruses out on their desks and are putting them to good use! 

4. Halloween party fun!

We made popcorn and candy corn hands: 

And played Halloween BINGO: 

They all LOVED when I passed out the free homework pass: 

5. My students are currently obsessed with making homework for me, their friends and our student teacher: 

How was your week?

Martin Luther & The Reformation

We've been busy learning all about Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation this week. 

We began our study by reading Paul Maier's book Martin Luther: A Man Who Changed the World. It's a great book that teaches about the life of Martin Luther. Reformation, recant, indulgences, translated, Wittenberg, Theses - these are big words for 2nd graders. The book does a great job describing what was happening during this time in history. 

They were excited to learn that A Mighty Fortress is Our God was written almost 500 years ago by Martin Luther and we still sing it today. After reading the book and learning the song, we moved on to learn about Luther's Seal. 

We found two Luther Seals in our school: 

And then learned the significance of each part: 

Each child picked five interesting facts to write about the life of Martin Luther: 

And they decorated a brown piece of construction paper to look like the Wittenberg church door, where Luther posted the 95 Theses on October 31, 1517: 

I love how different they all turned out. This student had fun writing all the way to 95: 

The church doors served as the book cover for our Martin Luther project. 

When the book was opened there were 5 facts (we're working on distinguishing between fact and opinion) about Martin Luther, Luther's Seal and an explanation for each part.  

Hopefully it won't be another 2 months until I blog about what's happening in my classroom. Lutheran school teachers: What are you doing to teach your students about Martin Luther and the Reformation? I would love to hear your ideas!

Heather