Blog #16: Hey Dad, Can I Have A Boy In My Room?

Alright, I know my title could have had a boy asking a mom but I tend to remember TV shows depicting the fathers as being a tad overprotective of their “little girls” when it came to their first date. Well, now parents have can one more thing to worry about when little Jonny and Sally go off to college, should my child have a roommate of the opposite sex?

The Associated Press is reporting that Columbia University will begin allowing men and women to live the same dorm room. Columbia University has traditionally been a more liberal leaning institution so this arrangement does not seem to bother many within the student body. One male student responded, “Yes, absolutely” when asked if he would consider living with a girl that was his friend. He repeated that response when asked if he would live with a female that wasn’t a friend. Similar answers were given by female students when asked the question with regards to male roommates.

The main force for this new dorm life is to make gays and lesbians “feel more comfortable” according to the reporter. The reporter did ask a gay male student his thoughts and he said, “I would feel more comfortable living with my girl friends then a my guy friends”.
Not all student’s agree with the change of policy on dorm living. Sada Ruffin commented, “I think allowing coed roommates you (Columbia) is condoning a certain behavior”. The only exception to the new gender neutral building is incoming freshman.

Columbia is not the first college or university to offer gender neutral housing. There are roughly thirty Higher Ed campuses that provide this type of living ,with Harvard allowing it if the student identifies themselves as transgender.

A question to my fellow bloggers:

1) Would it bother you if your son/daughter asked to live in gender neutral room with the opposite sex?

An ending thought:

1) Nowhere in the piece did the reporter even ask homosexuals IF they felt uncomfortable on the Columbian campus so I wonder if this isn’t a move by some campus to bring enrollments up.

2) Since the student is legally an adult is it up to the college to determine who they can and cannot live with it? I could see the parents stating their opinion if they are paying the tuition and rightfully so.

Blog #15: Express yourself in Oregon...well, not just yet.

Does your school enforce a dress code on you? Maybe it is business attire or maybe business causal or maybe just plain causal on jeans day. Whichever it is it is an issue that has a long history in the state of Oregon. Recently, in a USA Today article, House Speaker Dave Hunt, D-Gladstone, said he will push to "allow teachers to have the same religious free exercise rights as every other Oregonian" when legislators meet in February.


The issue at hand is a 1923 law that was put in place to keep Catholics from attending public school. The law was taken to the courts in 1986 and upheld by the Oregon Supreme Court. The ban outlaws the wearing of religious clothing or “garb”.

There are many interesting points to consider to this story. The first one is that the law is still in place and only 3 states of such bans on the books. Is your state one of them? The second item that caught my attention is that, the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon, which has long supported the ban, said the Legislature should not end it without enacting additional protections for Oregon students, according to the article. In a related issue the ACLU is fighting for the rights of students in Florida that were dismissed from school for wearing, “Islam is the Devil” t-shirts to class. The ACLU issued a statement that it is their right under the Bill of Rights and their freedom of speech, to wear such clothing. The Florida school district disagrees. We will see how that case plays out.

The last item that I found interesting in the Oregon case is that the “Oregon Education Association has not taken a position on the issue”, a spokeswoman said.

So what are your thoughts? If you were a teacher in Oregon which way would you push for? A ban on wearing religious clothing or no ban but I would assume then that teachers would have to follow some dress code. The dress code could be one that the students follow as many of you have said are in place at your schools OR it could be a professional contract stating what business causal is. I know from a previous blog by a classmate that some younger teachers don’t understand what business casual is but for the sake of agreement let us say they do.

I feel your employer has some rights to enforce a dress code on the staff and the students. I worked at a refinery and we had to wear safety boots, hard hats, and jeans or we wouldn’t have a job. It was a requirement that our company put in place. Why is it different in education? The district hires you to be a professional so why shouldn’t they be able to set the guidelines as to what they THINK a professional is? In this story I guess the people of Oregon are still trying to figure that out.

Blog 14: Advisor, “I need a fitness class to graduate.”

Do you remember which classes you needed to graduate from college? I do and physical education wasn’t one of them. In a aggressive move to curve the obsieity epdicmic facing the youth of our country, specifically the black community Lincoln Univeristy is requiring overweight students to take a fitness class. According to the USA Today article written by the AP, “Officials at historically black Lincoln University said Friday that the school is simply concerned about high rates of obesity and diabetes, especially in the African-American community”.

The requirement is a three credit fitness course that what put in place four years ago for all incoming freshman. It requires students to get tested for their body mass index, a measure of weight to height. If students are above a healthy weight then they are required to take a class that consist of , “Walking, aerobics, weight training and other physical activities, as well as information on nutrition, stress and sleep” said, James L. DeBoy, chairman of Lincoln's department of health, physical education and recreation.

In the article it stated that certain health experts agreed that something needed to be done but felt the move by the college is, “distasteful” because issues such as healthy choices in the vending machines could be addressed by the college.

Tiana Lawson, a 21-year-old senior, wrote in this week's edition of The Lincolnian, the student newspaper, that she "didn't come to Lincoln to be told that my weight is not in an acceptable range. I came here to get an education."

Again, I ask do you remember what requirements you had to take to graduate? Is this discrimination? Is this being proactive? Many colleges require students to take a diversity credit to enrich their minds so why not make requirements to improve the body?

I applauded this college for taking a stand on a sensitive issue, but I want to know what you think.

Blog # 13: Is out of state tuition for illegals a thing of the past?

In 10 states a student that is undocumented and/or illegal can be given in state tuition and the Common Wealth of Massachusetts is now considering a bill to do the same. What does this mean to higher education? Well, it means millions of dollars pumped back into colleges that are in and economic downturn. According to USA Today article, “The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation estimates that 400 to 600 students might enter Massachusetts schools as a result of the bill and that it likely would result in $2.5 million of extra revenue”.

The issue is a hot one in Massachusetts and a similar bill was voted down in 2006. A reason given by Rep. Demetrius Atsalis, D-Barnstable, “believes it will make the state's college fee structure meaningless and will take away the incentive for undocumented students to legalize their status”.

Recently, bills in states like Georgia (where some of our classmates live) have passed legislation that bans undocumented students to enroll in colleges using in-state rates. Steve Kropper, co-director of the Massachusetts Coalition for Immigration Reform, a group that seeks immigration restrictions, has stated, “"It doesn't make economic sense to us," Kropper said. "If they can't get a job when they're done (with college), then it doesn't make sense for the state to invest in them,” referring to the fact that they are not allowed to have drivers licenses in his state which makes employment difficult.

Since most states that have passed some sort of bill allowing in-state tuition to illegal’s are in conservative controlled states people cannot argue that is it a political issue for the left to gain votes. It really is an issue that both parties are tackling with illegal immigration at the fore front.

So what does this mean to you and me your wondering? Well, I see it as an unfair advantage given to undocumented individuals so colleges can cash in. It is no secret that colleges can make huge profits from out-of-state students attending. For example at Bismarck State College, residents pay $112 per credit hour while non-residents pay $299. The money made from non-residents cover a lot expenses for higher education.

On the other hand, one could argue that undocumented students need assistance to lift themselves up and start a new life in American and this is one way to do it. If that is the case shouldn’t citizens that are non residents be able to use the same agreement for improving their lives?

This isn’t about discrimination it is about what is fair to all students that want to attended college , tax dollars, and politics.

What do you think?

Blog #12: Are you teaching students to fail?

Well, if you are not teaching them to fail maybe you should, according to Justin Pope, of the Associated Press. In his latest article titled, “Analysis: College students need a lesson in failure”, Pope brings to forefront how colleges tend to bring in the best and brightest speakers to enlighten the student body. He states that the blogging being done about shamed ex-New York Times reporter Jayson Blair at the college of Washington & Lee University in Virginia will prompt colleges to rethink the issue of failure.

Pope says, “But if the cheap irony of a famous fabulist lecturing on ethics was too much to resist, perhaps it could also prompt colleges to think more seriously about something they often shy away from: the value of exposing students to, and preparing them for, failure”.

Is he right? Did your college expose you to failure?

I can’t think of one guest speaker while I attended University of Nebraska-Omaha that spoke about their failures or were even considered failures.

The article in USA Today goes on to Generation Y is intrigued by individuals who fail because they were always given the medal, always told how to succeed, and are frighten of being a disappointment. “That's understandable — but too bad. Teachers say failure is something so-called Gen Y students want to hear more about,” said Pope.

Of course teachers can talk about failure in literature and point students to people that are failures but how do you construct a lesson on failure? The key according to some professors is critically thinking and discussing with a class what that individual did and be honest about it, maybe they learned something from the failure or maybe they didn’t, should it matter? The exposure should be there.

Writer Timothy Noah lamented how many new college graduates were getting commencement advice from the accomplished but boring. Success is admirable but uninstructive, while failure is far more informative — and interesting.

"People typically have a much easier time recounting, in often vivid detail, where they screwed up in life than they do explaining what they did right," Noah wrote.

The only time I talk to my class about failure is when I am relating to a troubleshooting problem and it didn’t work the way I wanted to. I think it would be interesting sit down one day and discuss what failure means to students and then turn it into a learning experience by showing them failure is a part of life and how to accept it.

Maybe some of my classmates that teach in the English areas could help me come up with a good set of directions so is I would attempt a writing assignment I would recieve honest work.

Blog #11: Should Bill Gates be deciding where the money goes?

Some individuals, teachers, teacher unions, state educational boards and maybe even some within the Department of Education are wondering how his influence and more importantly his money will effect education. Of course Bill Gates won’t be the next Secretary of Education but his ideas, founded through The Gates Foundation, might push his agenda for a better educational system into the states that you teach. The Foundation has spent $200 million on elementary and secondary schools in the forms of grants already.


The co-founder of Microsoft, “Is taking unprecedented steps to spend millions to influence the way the federal government distributes $5 billion in grants to overhaul public schools” according to Libby Quaid and Donna Blankinship of the Associated Press.

How it works is state educational agencies can apply for the sum of $250,000 from Bill Gates to help them go after federal stimulus dollars set aside for education. The catch is that if your state is awarded federal money you will then follow guidelines setup by the Gates Foundation.

Don’t worry because the Obama Administration and the Gates agree on many similar strategies to improve education like, “Paying teachers based on student test scores, among other measures of achievement; charter schools that operate independently of local school boards; and a set of common academic standards adopted by every state”, the USA Today article said.

How do you feel about your pay being based on student test scores? Or charter schools? Or common academic standards?

Obviously many organizations and unions are questioning this agenda and many think that since two of Bill Gates former employees sit on the Sec. of Education inner circle there is some wrongdoing.

“It's no secret the U.S. education system is failing," Gates said. "We're doing all kinds of experiments that are different. The Race To The Top is going to do many different ones. There's no group-think,” was his response to these accusations.

If you’re unfamiliar “The Race to the Top” is the government program, not the Gates Foundation program.

Another issue is, “The foundation's rising profile comes as the recession has gutted state and local budgets, which spend more money on education — roughly 35% — than anything else. Many states and districts can't keep all their teachers on the payroll, let alone spend money on a high-stakes application for federal money that includes some 44 pages of rules.”

The most interesting part of this article for me was that when the Gates Foundation started this program it was only open to 15 states but other states found out and complained that they needed money also to apply for federal dollars so Gates opened it up to, “any state that meets eight criteria, including a commitment to the common standards effort and the ability to link student data to teachers.”

Finally, I think Bill Gates heart is in the right place for trying to help schools acquire more money and if he wants to set guidelines for it and the schools are willing to accept them so be it, but I worry about the schools that don’t want to follow his guidelines, they will be a huge disadvantage when the stimulus money is doled out. I am not sure what the solution is but why not try this and see what the results are.

Did your college train you well enough? The Government doesn't think so!

Are teacher colleges producing results or just cashing in? The new secretary of education, Arne Duncan, believes universities are making a ton of money off of the college of education and not reinvesting it back into the department. He believes most teacher colleges are putting out poor products and is ready to tie stimulus money to force colleges that train teachers in two key areas.
One area is classroom management, which happens to be our topic this week. The other complaint Duncan said he heard from recent graduates was they, “were not taught how to use data to improve instruction and boost student learning". These two areas were continually brought up as Duncan talked to hundreds of young teachers in the Chicago area.
The report in USA Today by the Associated Press cited A 2006 report found that three of five education school alumni said their training failed to prepare them to teach, the report was by Arthur Levine, a former Teachers College president. A couple of questions to my fellow bloggers are:

1. Do you feel your teaching college prepared you to teach in the area of classroom management, especially in high-needs classrooms?

2. Do you feel your teaching college prepared you to use data to improve instruction?

In response to the first one, I do not feel my teaching college prepared me as well as they could in the areas of classroom management, especially in the high-needs sector. One of the classes I had when I was student-teaching had 17 students with IEP’s with behavioral problems, low academic skills, and some that spoke limited English. It was a nightmare. Of course I had two teaching aids in there to help keep them on task but I was never trained for a classroom like this. I was told in theory by professors how to develop lesson plans but not what to do when one calls you a white F---er and I definitely wasn’t trained on what to do when you are waiting for security to come and remove them.
For the second question, I will admit my teaching college did require us to research topics and provided us with some examples of how to find data on educational topics. I cannot remember how or if we learned how to use it to improve instruction because I don’t recall doing a lot of “teaching” to my classmates for practice. To me that should have been in every college teaching class.
Moving back to the report Duncan did not solely blame the universities for the lack of well prepared teachers. “The government is also to blame, he said. Most states have paper-and-pencil licensing exams that measure basic skills and knowledge but not readiness for the classroom, he said, and local mentoring programs are lacking”.


The Secretary has an interesting solution to this problem. Duncan noted the administration is using stimulus dollars to reward states that tie student achievement data to the education schools where their teachers had credentials. His department also is helping to pay for an expansion of teacher residency programs in high-needs schools. I think this could be hard to track and I hope for the sake of future teachers the government does this fairly and then provides the colleges an opportunity to improve themselves.
Self-reflection is something every teacher learns to do at the end of the day and in this case so should some of institutions teaching that concept.  I am not asking that we tear apart our former alumni but they should be open to suggestions because in the end we all want great teachers in the classroom helping students.

Blog #9: Can I work 4 days too?

Most of you have heard people say how easy teachers have it because most do not work in the summer, but can you image the grief the teachers in Hawaii are getting for voting in favor of a four day work week? I can’t. The teachers union in Hawaii recently passed with 81% in favor of shorting the school year to 163 days, instead of the regular 180.
The reason for this school day shortage is money. Big surprise! The economy is hurting Hawaii which according the AP, “More than a quarter of the state's general budget goes to the state Department of Education”. The governor, “withheld 14% from estimated salaries, or $227 million,” the article from USA Today stated.
The teachers union, “ probably wouldn't have voted for the contract if they had to work the same amount for less pay, paving the way for the shorter school year, said Hawaii State Teachers Association President Wil Okabe. He also said the state couldn't get the necessary savings if teacher furlough days were scheduled for holidays — or workdays with schools kept open. By accepting the shorten days the teachers also accepted concurrent pay reduction and postponed layoffs and random drug testing for two years.
So my first question to my classmates is, “would you have voted in favor of this?”

It is a very tough call because you have a feed yourself and your family. Nobody wants to be laid off and no one wants to take a pay cut. I can’t image being put in a situation like this. On one hand you are thinking of yourself and on the other you are thinking of the educational opportunities the students will be missing by the shorten school year.

Students and parents in Hawaii are voicing their thoughts on the issues. "It's just not enough time for the kids to learn," said Valerie Sonoda, president of the Hawaii State Parent Teacher Student Association. "I'm getting hundreds of calls and e-mails. They all have the same underlying concern, and that is the educational hours of the kids." The article does mention that some parents concerns were along the lines of not finding daycare for younger children and parents of special needs children not finding the proper services.

The state Hawaii has some other problems that many of you are familiar with, the No Child Left Behind Act. The Act set standards that states must meet in order to continue to receive federal funding. Hawaii is, “already ranked 47th in the nation in eighth-grade reading and math, according to 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress test scores.” This is a real problem and by cutting more learning time how can Hawaii ever catch-up to other states? It won’t and might fall to last place which might take years or decades to recover from.
Since Hawaii is all one district the chance that this problem will go away is limited. I think the state is doing what it thinks is best for the budget, so we don’t have another California on our hands. I think the teachers are taking cuts to keep their jobs. What I wonder is what is the federal government doing? We are being pushed to nationalize healthcare which will cost at some estimates $860 billion dollars but the federal government isn’t concerned that the young people will be missing out on an education. Ironic, since Hawaii is the President’s home state don’t you think?

I am not taking a political jab, I am frustrated becasue students are going to suffer and some tend to have no problem bailing out GM or investors, then why not give the state short term loans to keep the schools open?

Blog #8: Mister, Mister, do you know of a black man that would like to teach?

  I read an interesting article in our local newspaper, the Bismarck Tribune, about how a push is on to bring more black men into the teaching profession. MISTER is both an acronym-Mentors Instructing Students Toward Effective Role Models – and a reference to the 1967 film “In the Heat of the Night,” in which Sidney Poitier’s character demands respect according to Kathy Matheson an Associated Press Writer.


The MISTER teaching program encourages young black males to enter the classroom in exchange the program will cover tuition cost with scholarships. According to Roy Jones, the national executive director, “If we can recruit linebackers, point guards, and track stars, we can recruit third-grade teachers”.

He makes an interesting point but those black males enrolled in MISTER will not bring the alumni and sport fans to the games, which in turn pay for huge projects and salaries on university campuses. That is major problem for MISTER. The average salary according to MenTeach is $51,000 a year in the U.S. (this is not the case in ND). The average sports figure makes millions, which program attracts the most attention? You know which one does.
Currently, only 2 percent of teachers are African-American and with gang violence and low test scores the black community needs role models that are black. One black male student commented, “A lot of males, they don’t like school because they can’t relate to their teacher”. Do you think this is the case? Do have trouble relating to some students? To bump the number to 3 percent of the national average 45,000 black males would have begin the MINSTER program.

Now I am not a black man, I am a very white man in some case a reddish pink man in the summer time, but that does not take away from the fact that I believe more black men are needed in the school system at all levels. According to Matheson, “87 percent of teachers are white, with 77 percent being female,” and this trend will continue unless teaching is looked at as a successful profession by all minority races.
At my school of education in Omaha we had 2 minority males in my graduating class of let’s say 200. That tells me that organizations like MISTER have a long way to go. They are currently in 28 colleges and seven states. The issue isn’t if black men can teach, we know they can, but are the unions and universities really making a strong push to get them into the profession? This could be a question about any minority group in your area. Maybe they are and I don’t see it, please let me know.
My final question is what could we do as teachers to encourage our minority friends and students that teaching is a good career choice?

Blog #7 Is the iPhone sending the “right” college message?

I know some of you may have you iPhone or iTouch and that is great. I use my iPod all the time when I am working out and my next laptop will be an Apple. The topic for this blog comes from USA Today and an article they did on colleges providing free electronic devices to students as a way to stay connected with them and expand the role of technology in all the areas of Higher Ed.
At Abilene Christian University all incoming freshman receive a free iPod Phone or iPod Touch. The University can then connect to students when they miss class by Podcasting the lectures or in some cases conduct two podcast classes and one on campus class that might pertain a lab. According to Kathleen Gray, “Faculty, for the most part, see technology as a way to better connect to students in their interactive, multitasking, apps-ready world”. It should be noted that students do have to pay for the monthly charge for those devices.
Another popular item being used in Higher Ed is the Kindle, a reading device from Amazon. It can hold over 200 titles, is wireless, and sells for about $149. Mike Kenney, a chemistry professor at Case Western, says, "It is possible to have an entire academic career with you at all times”. You pay half as much to download material to read as you would purchasing a textbook. Just think of the money we could all be saving. We could use that money for Happy Hour after work or for a vacation after we graduate from VCSU.
On the other hand, maybe technology isn’t for everyone and maybe students should spend less time online and more time physically interacting with classmates in live debates or lecture halls. I mean it has built relationships and does if the Professor a chance to ask questions to students instead of waiting for an email.  Other concerns are that cheating is taking place and students are more interested in checking their Facebook page then listening or viewing online lectures.   We all know how difficult it can be to focus and set aside time to complete our own homework online.   By giving students the option to listen to a Podcast can parents be assured that little Jonny is getting the best education and his money's worth?  I would sure hope so. 
Personally, I can see both sides to this issue after completing my last project on the Millennials. They love technology and are good at it so why not embrace it and work with them to learn more and be more creative. I also see that cheating online does take place, cell phones go off in class, and iPods are in the hears of every student, so very little talking is going on in the hallways and at the Student Union. 
Do I think colleges should provide free iPods and iPhones to them? Not, at the cost to school  but if a grant is rewarded or the students want to pay for it then they should be able to try it.  

My college does offer Podcasts, online classes, IVAN, video lectures, and about any other “new” thing that comes along.  Many Professors haven’t jumped on the bandwagon but as time goes by more are taking part in the programs.  Our President is big on technology and trys very hard to show the upside to the generation we are now teaching-connecting to them is his theme.

Do you think colleges should use technology to teach or should students learn in the classroom? Or both? What would want your child do?

Students Wanted for Colleges - Welcome to the USA

I figured since my last blog was about middle school I better talk about higher education this week. The current economic downturn in the United States has caused many American families to rethink sending Jonny and Sally to college right now. This in turn has caused a financial shortfall for many community colleges.

Some community colleges are going as far as Vietnam to recruit students to help bring the money in for their institution. According to a USA Today article, “about 23 U.S. schools participating in last year's Asian recruitment tour organized by the American Association of Community Colleges.”

Why do you ask are they visiting a communist country? It is simple. The middle class in this Southeast Asia country is growing. The country of Vietnam is roughly of the twice the size of Arizona and, “more than 5,000” visas are issued to students that attend two-year colleges. If that doesn’t entice a recruiter to travel half way across the world nothing will.

So the question I am posing is should U.S. recruit foreign students?

In my opinion there are two major issues. One, are American students losing tuition scholarships and housing on campus to foreign students? Second, if colleges stop recruiting outside the U.S. does the diversity experience of college life lesson?
First, there is no evidence that indicates that housing is being loss to foreign students and even though colleges do provide scholarships the economic impact that, “International students contribute more than $15.5 billion in tuition and living expenses to the U.S. economy, through their expenditures on tuition and living expenses, making U.S higher education one of the country's largest service-sector exports”.

From my own experience the Millennials would rather live at home if they can and as far as scholarships go our community college has had trouble giving money away because students won’t take the time to fill out a simple one page form. It drives me crazy. I even make copies of easy $500 general scholarships to my students and get this; many say they don’t care, “because mom and dad are paying for it.”

My second question, concerning the learning of diversity at college and does it lessen the experience with few foreigners there. According to Patricia Gurin’s, “Students come to universities at a critical stage of their development--a time during which they define themselves in relation to others and experiment with different social roles before making permanent commitments to occupations, social groups, and intimate personal relationships”. She goes to state, “In addition, for many students college is the first sustained exposure to an environment other than their home communities”.

I tried to find some information on colleges or a student body that might be against foreign exchange students and couldn’t find any facts. I have heard rumors that some student body governments complained that colleges were losing their identity but I couldn’t find the details for sure.
I am in favor of colleges recruiting foreign students to study abroad because it sends a positive message of the United States and democracy back with them to their home countries. It also brings money into the U.S. which allows faculty and staff to have jobs. Lastly, it gives American students the opportunity to visit with other students and learn things about their cultural differences.

On a side note, I should mention that background checks for visas are extremely tough to get for the U.S. since 9/11. This should make us feel a bit safer that the State Department isn’t just handing them out.

Blog #5: Dress For Success at Public Schools

Does the term dress for success mean anything anymore? The current lawsuit filed by the Cheyenne Sioux tribe against the public school in Eagle Butte, South Dakota is another attempt by lawyers to waste taxpayers’ money on an issue that has proven successful in other districts. According Carol Moran, whose daughter attends the school, she and, “other parents have joined the tribe in a federal lawsuit seeking to block the school district from enforcing the dress code, which requires students to wear black, white or tan shirts, pants, skirts or shorts”.




The school district insists that the school has a gang problem and many of the students wear gang colors to school, “daily”. Many educators may think of a gang as something they see on TV or in the movies but according to the School Safety and Security Services a youth gang can be considered young adults who:

• interact frequently

• are frequently and deliberately involved in illegal activities

• share a common collective identity

• and typically adopt certain methods of identification and/or claim control over certain areas



I would assume that the teachers and administrators at Eagle Butte have seen these behaviors for some time and decided to take action. They didn’t do it overnight. They sent letters home explaining the new dress code and published the rules in the local paper over the summer explaining the reasoning behind it. The district, which has failed to meet the standards from No Child Left Behind has stated, “we hope that an increase in safety will increase our academics for all students." Can you blame them for trying something new?



An example that this policy does work is Long Beach, California. Since 1994 the school has kept records and the stats have shown that school crime has dropped 76%, while attendance has reached an all time high.



Other positive things that uniforms bring to the table stated on a public school parent website are:

1. Eliminates opportunities for the ridicule of less popular or less fortunate students based on attire.

2. Decreases theft and violence

3. Help students resist peer pressure

4. Help officials recognize intruders



I have visited Eagle Butte and have been in their high school within the last year. The town of Eagle Butte is poor and when I was there the atmosphere just seemed depressing. For those of you not familiar with the reservation in SD it is very similar to the ghetto in a large city. There are buildings that need fixing, a swimming pool with no water, basketball courts with no nets, and individuals just hanging out. The school is nice but run down in areas such as maintenance and grounds. It was summer when I visited so no students were there but I did meet some staff members that were very positive and hardworking. It must be somewhat disappointing to see youth gangs and violence increasing in your district and not being able to do much to curve it. That is why they passed a school dress code policy. They needed to act quickly and take stand in the one place students should feel safe…the school. Good for them.

I understand the cost of new uniforms will be difficult for some families but I am sure if there is a way to tie it to NCLB and success rate maybe a discount can be offered. I also understand the claim of civil liberties and freedom of expression should be allowed in a public schools and it can be, at sporting events, school clubs, and dances. I would ask any parent in Eagle Butte if they have a better idea of stopping the gangs in the schools then they should step forward and speak up.

Blog #4: Should teachers be "friends" online to students?

Many people use MySpace and Facebook to socialize online and teachers are no different, but should teachers have current students and former students as "friends".  For those that do not use the two most popular social networks MySpace and Facebook  (This link shows who runs Facebook, check it out!)  According to Kathryn Linder in an article in Faculty Focus, teachers should ask themselves three questions if they are on these sites:

1) How much do you want your students to know about you?
2) How much do want to know about your students?
3) Some students may not use social networking sites?

The first question should be obvious and should be easy to protect since both sites have privacy settings that can be used, but if they are not, students might see pictures or read things from your friends.  In most states teachers have moral codes that they need to follow to keep teaching and in some states thus lines can become blurred because teachers have rights like the public.  In some state the unions have made suggestions to stop teachers from getting fired for inappropreate discussions and post on thier sites.

Moving on to question #2, this is can be a fine line too depending on which type of students you are allowing to view your page.  For current students you should think about things you might see that you don't want to see, like pictures of them drinking or smoking.  I once was shown a page from a coworker that had my some of my students from a couple of years ago drinking and at the time I knew they were underage.  You might start to view them differently. 

Lastly, you must remember some students do not have access to a social network site and if you "friend" one student and not others you might be setting yourself up to favor some students over others.   You might even make comments about the network and make those that don't have a page feel isolated.

The key to being a professional is to set boundaries and explain to the class on the first day what the site is all about and why and how you use it.  Of course, this may vary depending on what level of education you are teaching at.  Currently, at my college there is no policy in place on social network sites and instructors using them.  We do recieve updates on from our adminstration about acting properly and other things to be aware of when socializing with students. 

Teachers also much be aware of former students contacting them and how that will be precieved.  I do not use a FaceBook or MySpace because at this time I feel like I want to keep my privacy to myself and listening to my students talk about it all the time has sort of turned me off it for now.  I do see the positive things that come from them, such as staying in contact with old friends, but I do a pretty good job of this through email.  Plus, if I show and tell them everything online they will never have to visit me in person.  Just kidding.  Let me know what you think by taking my poll or posting a comment. 

Blog # 3 Should Schools Be Open Longer and Do Parents Need To Step Up

Hello fellow bloggers,
The title of this blog is coming from statements the new Seceratary of Education, Arne Duncan made recently during an interview with USA Today.  So what do you think educators?  Well, let's start with his first comment about schools being open longer.  He says about our students,"They're competing for jobs against children in India and China. And the fact is that many of those young people in other countries are going to school 25, 30% longer than our students here".  According to the website ChinaDaily.com, students "go to school from Monday to Friday, nine hours a day," and in some schools in China students are in the classrooms 12 hours day with the weekends devoted to homework and  maybe music lessons or another learning activity.
We all that the students in China are passing thier Amercian counterparts in testing and according one site on internatal testing, "the tests showed U.S. fourth-graders performing poorly, middle school students worse. and high school students are unable to compete. By the same criteria used to say we were "average" in elementary school, "we appear to be "near the bottom" at the high school level. 
I believe that testing does say a lot about how schools and the nation are doing but I don't think we have reached the full circle with NCLB regardless of what some information says.  I don't think NCLB is the complete answer but I don't think pushing students to the point of sucide and cheating is the answer either.  Both of these are major issues in China becasue of the pressure put on young people to succeed on thier college entrance exams.

Now going back to what our Secertary said, he feels that in today's world with US parents working harder and longer that schools need to adapt and make changes so students have a "safe haven" were success can take place.  Changes do need to be made but are longer hours the answer?  I believe curriculm changes are the major issue but I do understand his point that something drastic needs to be done and adding more days to a school year by let's say 4 weeks might work. 

Moving on to the the next part of my title, "Do parents need to step up," well, yes they do.  The Secatary stated, "Parents are always going to be our students' first teachers. The most important thing I can do is to read to my children every night, to not have them watching TV and to really be a partner with that teacher".  How many of us have said the same thing or thought it when we talk to students or parents in meetings?  I would bet many of you have discussed this in the teachers lounge.  Of course were I am now is different but when I did teach at the Middle School level I met many students that did not have partental involvement.  This made teaching difficult because if the parents do not find education important more then likely the student won't either. 
How can we develop and foster such a partnership? The most important point to remember is keep parents informed, says Emmal McDondal, on the Education World website.  There are many examples given to teachers to encourage parents to be involved with thier child and I am many of you have tried them. 

The overall solution to our students test scores or performance is not simple and in young country that is always having different political parties change the agenda every four years it is diffficult.  I would like hear what your thoughts are on what a solution might be.

Have a nice week.

-Kyren Miller

Community Colleges Central in Rebuilding American Jobs

As the nation faces some the largest employment ratings in decades according to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, http://www.bls.gov/ it has reached a high of 9.4%, the President has decided that community colleges will play a bigger role in training workers for jobs. His administration is proposing a $2.5 billion dollar overall on three key areas: building and technology, student success, and grants for online courses that could be offered free.


The article in USA today mentions that in general community colleges receive less funding and I know in ND this is true because as Bismarck State College as moved into the number 3 spot with enrollments our funding is not equal to other institutions on a dollar per dollar bases. Our college President has told us that ND largest university NDSU gets to keep 50 cents on the dollar what it takes in were BSC gets to take in 48 cents with the other profits (from tuition & other services) going into the general fund that the State Board of Higher Ed can use to disperse at their will. So basically, we bring in the students and another college could get the money.

According to George Boggs, president of the American Association of Community Colleges, "The financial strain that our colleges are experiencing cannot be overemphasized," http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-07-14-obama-community-colleges_N.htm

He goes to mentioned that with the current Obama proposal the funding will help the community colleges improve the learning experience, "position community colleges to help sustain the nation's long-term prosperity."

The fact is those community colleges educate nearly half of the undergraduates in the country according to TIME magazine in its July issue. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1909623,00.html

The piece brings into light that for all the good a community college can do the major down side is the graduation rate is low and the US has, "it has slipped to ninth in producing working-age "sub-bachelor's" degree holders, which is one reason Obama is working on a plan to help every American get at least one year of college or vocational training."

Where do I stand on this issue you ask? Since I work at a community college in a vocation trade area I am encourage that this administration is talking about 2-year colleges and that he sees them as place that can provide quality training and a solid education for the next generation. I could list numerous facts we have on our 2-year graduates that have salaries starting in the $40,000-$50,000 a year with benefits. But, one area that concerns me about this is the funding of his new 3-step proposal. If passed it would switch subsized student’s loans to loans through the Education Department and we all know how well the government runs its programs. Notice the sarcasm. I don't like the idea of the Feds controlling other aspect of our lives and can our federal budget handle an even larger defect at this time? I don't think so. I would like to see another plan to help students and community colleges before this moves forward. I think the President owes that much to the generation that might have to pay this plan off someday.

Social Networks and how it affects college students

Do you Facebook? Do you MySpace? This is a common question I hear from college students every semester as they find new friends in the classes I teach. They then exchange information online and in most cases talk about what some other student was wearing or how they know everything already. Of course I am kidding, students wouldn't do that or think that...right?
A generation of Facebook, MySpace and Twitters are upon us and according to a recent USA today poll, "More than half (57%) said their peers used social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter for self-promotion, narcissism and attention-seeking". The research indicates that students or Generation Y feel that they are self-centered and all knowing or attention grabbing. USA Today surveyed 1,068 college students and, "Two-thirds said their generation was more self-promoting, narcissistic, overconfident and attention-seeking than others."

As educators we have an obligation to our student not only to educate them in the field of study we are trained for but to make them good citizens. By making the good citizens we will and can install a sense of pride in giving back and end the naricissistic attitude these websites encourage.
To accompish this task educators will have to incorperate an understanding of morals and citizenship into the curriculm with the use of group work tactics and technology. Teachers should put aside the four R's for a brief moment each day and develop a discussion within the social science area to touch on topics that expose students to proper moral behavior link with citizenship.
As former Secretary of Education William Bennett recently urged conservative activists to join him in a fight to restore a "coherent moral vision" to America's public schools. Speaking to leaders of Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum, he declared that "We can get the values Americans share back into our classrooms," and "Those who claim we are now too diverse a nation, that we consist of too many competing convictions and interests to instill common values, are wrong."
http://www.freeinquiry.com/teaching-morals.html
I don't think this is political between the right and the left but an issue to all parents and teachers about how the next generation looks at itself.
The are many issues when tackling this subject, especially from a public school persepective, but I think that if Generation Y already seems themselves as this then we need to take notice. There maybe many solutions to this problem but I will list two websites that will help teachers develop a curriculm of citenship, because I believe if you teach them this then morals in relation to self-centerness will fade away.
The first one is http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr008.shtml this site has activities teachers can use to teach the main themes of citizenship, again there isn't much for higher ed but we are talking about building blocks and we need to start at the beginning. The lesson plan that caught my eye was "Remembering our Soldiers" on Veterns Day.
The next one is http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3614/is_200301/ai_n9226263/
which list some ideas on what students can do to give back to the community, such as offering peer tutitoring.
I mentioned group tactics and technology to also help battle this epidimic per say and here are my suggestions; one, have the students discuss the pro's and con's about this social networks in groups and write down their thoughts. Then have them write down what they think citezenship is and what actions should they take or would take in the future to prove to someone that they are a good citizen of the United States. In regards to technology, student can research different countries view points on citizenship, for example Israel. Where each young adult has to serve in the military. Is this right or wrong? Have them contact someone on the social network from these countries and ask them questions.
Basically, educators need to use many resources to install a sense of "thinking of others" and not "yourself" attitude into thier classrooms. Once this is done I feel you will find a more compasionate classroom and maybe one that talks more about the subject at hand then the latest posting on Facebook.

The First Day-Icebreaker

My first day back in the classroom was a fun one. I started by introducing myself and then had the students stand up and with only minute they had to ask "Who are you" to as many classmates as they can. We then went around the room and the student with the most memory's of their classmates will get a soda from me tomorrow. It was an icebreaker and the students liked it.
We then did the regular stuff for a first day and tomorrow the real work begins. If you have any icebreakers that you use I would love to hear them.