Cyberconference with Teachers

[2lambsmom]

Hi everybody!
I am a junior at Illinois State University currently working toward my El. Ed. major and hope to graduate next spring. I am currently taking an Adolescent Psychology class and I am in need of help from those experienced teachers out there.
I am suppose to conduct a cyberconference/interview to gather information about how educators feel in regards to certain issues. I have a list of 11 questions and if anybody would like to participate that would be great! Please feel free to respond to other members posts if you agree or disagree with them. Also please include what grade you teach and how long you have been teaching. I thank you in advance for your participation. It means a great deal to me.

1. Has your job become easier or more difficult over time? Why or why not?
2. Is it easier or more difficult to educate adolescents today? Why or why not?
3. What are the primary factors that impede the learning of adolescents in your classes?
4. How do you cope with the vast differences in learning styles amongst students in your classes?
5. What is your opinion of the extracurricular? Does it foster or hinder adolescent achievement?
6. What is your opinion of standardized tests? Tracking?
7. What is your opinion of adolescent part-time work?
8. Has parent involvement in the schools changed over time?
9. Do you find that parents generally work with, or against you, when problems arise?
10. What do you see as the biggest challenges in terms of educating adolescents in the future?
11. What are your views regarding the use of technology (e.g., computers; Internet) when educating adolescents?

[jsfowler]

I have taught 7th and 8th grade Science and Language Arts for 8 years.

1. It has gotten easier because I have had practice. I know what classroom management techniques work for me, I know my standards and content, and I have a bank of lesson plans to add upon.

2. This is a tough question for me to answer especially since I have only taught 8 years. I would say no because there is so much more education has to compete with (sports, video games, drugs, etc.), but also yes because there are many more resources out there for us to use.

3. Home/parent issues

4. Differentiated instruction. I look at multiple intelligences and ability levels. I try to differentiate every activity, lab, project, reading, writing, etc. that I can to reach all my students on their own level.

5. Absolutely fosters adolescent achievement. I think every student should be involved in something extracurricular!

6. Again, a hard question. I think we need them to hold teachers/students accountable, but I hate them when used for tracking purposes.

7. Depends on the individual student...some can handle it, some cannot. There has to be limitations. I think extracurricular activities are more beneficial for adolescents than part-time jobs.

8. Yes, it has dropped...especially at the middle and high school levels.

9. The majority of the time they are on my side, but you always have a few. (Boy are there some good stories here)

10. Keeping their attention and interest (I blame video games!!)

11. Technology is a must...use it every day!! Our school is a smart school with the 21st century classroom grant.

[Chef Dave]

1. Has your job become easier or more difficult over time? Why or why not? My job is relatively easy. I'm a chef instructor. I used to be an elementary teacher but that was several years ago. I quit my job as an elementary teacher because I saw creativity going out the window. Everything was teach to the test.

Now that I'm no longer a core academic instructor, I don't have to teach to the test. In Arizona we currently have no tests for vocational education - though this may be changing in the near future.

Since my class is an elective, I generally only have students who want to be in culinary arts.

My class size is also pretty small. I only average 8 students per class!

2. Is it easier or more difficult to educate adolescents today? Why or why not?

It depends upon where you teach. I teach in a small conservative rural community with strong family values. The kids are for the most part, rather well mannered. I think it also helps that our school administration has a zero tolerance policy for any sort of misbehavior.

I think it's important to maintain control over the student body. If students are not held accountable for their behavior, they'll run roughshod over their teachers in the classroom.

This is not to say that our school climate is oppressive. I think we have a very warm, welcoming, and positive school climate. We also have very high expecations regarding student attitude and participation.

I think that most of our students understand that there are consequences for the choices they make in life. Students who choose to follow the rules, participate, and make an effort in class generally do quite well at our school. Students who ignore the rules and make no effort in class find that there are varying consquences depending upon their behavior. The consequences range from poor grades to being banned from participation in sports. We also have in-school suspension, suspension, and Saturday detention. A few disruptive students have even been sent to my culinary arts department to scrub pots and empty trash cans. :)

3. What are the primary factors that impede the learning of adolescents in your classes?

1) Laziness ... a lot of students coming into culinary arts think that all we do is cook. Some of them have a problem with cleaning up after themselves and are under the mistaken impression that the custodians will clean up for them.

2) Attendance. I have one student who had 22 absences during the first semester. She simply couldn't be bothered to get out of bed and come to school and the consequences was that she barely squeaked by with a D-.

Since 2nd semester was harder than 1st semester, she began failing after just 12 absences. At one point her GPA was only a 32. Her father took notice and finally lay the law. The girl HAD to come to school. Her GPA is now a 61 and climbing ...

3) Allowing experience at home to influence one's experience at school ... Culinary arts is intended to prepare students to work in the food service industry. As a chef I really don't care what students do in their kitchens at home - but we have a set way of doing things in a commercial kitchen because we're governed by time, expense, and the need to observe the county health code with regards to sanitation and safe food handling.

I have seen students use metal spatulas with non-stick pans. I've seen them fail to observe mise en place i.e. having all necessary tools and ingredients together before they even start the process of cooking.

I have seen kids ignore recipes because they "know" how to make a given dish. I have had to explain that most restaurants use standardized recipes so that the production of a given menu item will be the same from one cook to the next and/or from one chain restaurant to the next.

4) Allowing personal tastes to intefere with learning ... We sometimes make dishes that students don't care for and ergo most of them won't taste what they made. The problem with this is that if they don't taste what they made, how can they adjust seasoning?

Anyone who wants to work in the food service industry will at some point have to work with dishes that he/she may not like ... but that doesn't absolve a line cook or chef from tasting the product.

5) Raging hormones ... A few students allow the other gender to distract them. They flirt. They act silly. They forget why they're in the class and stop production to have a conversation. A gentle reminder is usually all that's needed to bring them back on track ...

6) Not taking notes ... just because I'm a culinary arts teacher doesn't mean that all we do is cook. State curriculum requires me to teach sanitation, culinary math, nutrition, food borne illnesses, food safety, food additves, how to find a job etc.

During our 1st semseter exam, some students were annoyed with me because I didn't give them a study guide to study for the exam. I told them at the beginning of the year to take notes. I told them not to throw their graded assignments away? Did anyone listen? Not really.

The students are fortunate that we spent two days in intensive review. All of the students subequently passed the semester exam.

4. How do you cope with the vast differences in learning styles amongst students in your classes?

I use peer tutoring or 1:1 coaching. I am allowed to send special education students to the resource teacher for assistance on days when we're engaged with academic instruction.

Students who have IEPs sometimes have modified assignments.

5. What is your opinion of the extracurricular? Does it foster or hinder adolescent achievement?

Students must have passing grades in all subject areas to be eligible to participate in extracurricular activities. Students who cannot keep up their grades may not participate in these activities. It doesn't matter whether the student is the star quarterback on the football team or whether the student is simply someone who'd like to attend a Saturday dance at school. If you don't have passing grades, you may not participate.

6. What is your opinion of standardized tests? Tracking?

I don't like standardized tests because too many teachers now teach to the test instead of teaching to the subject. This is the main reason I ended my 17 year teaching career as an elementary teacher.

7. What is your opinion of adolescent part-time work?

Work teaches students about responsibility, working as part of a team, and work ethic. Most of my advanced culinary arts students have part time jobs in the food service industry.

The students who have jobs in the food service industry are generally better than the students who don't. Their jobs reinforce many of the lessons I have taught about sanitation, safe food handling, and workplace safety. Those students who work in the fast food industry have also learned to work "with a sense of urgency" which is sometimes lacking in other students.

8. Has parent involvement in the schools changed over time? Since I live in a conservative family oriented community, I'd have to say no. Parents are very much involved with their children ... and woe on any student whose grades in school preculde him/her from participating in sports.

9. Do you find that parents generally work with, or against you, when problems arise?

Most parents have worked with me. Only one has not been supportive ... and as the old adage goes, "the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree." I can see the behavior of the father mirrored in the disruptive behavior of the son.

I am fortunate to have a very supportive school administration that does not tolerate inapprorpiate behavior from students OR parents.

10. What do you see as the biggest challenges in terms of educating adolescents in the future?

I worry about student grades in core academic subject areas. Even though students in a culinary arts program are not following the traditional path towards college, this does not excuse them from their participation in core academic subjects.

They still have to take a certain number of science, math, history, and English classes in order to graduate.

Some of my students (especially those in special ed) are struggling. In a few instances, culinary arts is the only subject they're passing.

I recently lost one of my advanced culinary students who had to drop out of culinary arts to retake an English class that she had failed. We're now halfway through the 2nd semester ... and she's still failing English.

11. What are your views regarding the use of technology (e.g., computers; Internet) when educating adolescents?

Technolocy is useful as long as students are adequately supervised. Our district has filters that prohibit certain subjects or sites from being accessed.

My class uses computer technology to research food history and look for new recipes to use in our student operated restaurant.

I sometimes think that district censoring goes a bit too far. Although our computers have sound cards and video cards, we've been unable to access some culinary arts on-line demos because the filters prohibit us from doing so.

I think it'd be neat if my students could watch a pastry chef demonstrating how to pour a ganache over an opera cake or to watch someone care an ice sculpture ... but district filters won't let us do this ...

Ah well ... better safe than sorry ...