Decorah School Board Members

Tonight I attended the lecture by two members of the Decorah school board. We talked a lot about the budget and how it works. I found it interesting how in Iowa, your spending is divided up into different sections. Those sections can't be mixed, even if there is left over money in some.

We also talked about how big, rich schools like West Des Moines, and small schools like Calmar, all get the same funding per student. I think that is a good thing. That way, even if your poor, your child is getting the same education and opportunities that a wealthy family's child is getting. We talked about implementing a foreign language into schools. I think that is a very good idea. Sometimes it's easier for little kids to soak up knowledge, and by starting to teach them a language at an early age could greatly benefit them. I was in Postville for my J-term 115 class, and that was an interesting experience. Everyday multiple lessons were taught in Spanish. I felt that not only was it a good thing because the students were becoming fluent at two languages, but it also helped bond the kids together. The native speakers would help the non-natives, and their roles would switch when the teacher switched back to a lesson in English. Although I understand it's hard to find funding to introduce foreign language programs into school districts, I think it is something all districts should look into.

Guest Administrator Lecture

I enjoyed the lecture by the two professionals from the Decorah school district on October 14th. I found there views of the NCLB act very interesting. I have been so used to hearing all the quirks about NCLB (on the news, from my peers, etc.), that I had become biased about it in a negative way. After listening to them talk, I realized that NCLB actually does some really good things. I think by having it in the schools it challenges teachers to find ways to teach in new and creative ways. I think it will some day keep ME on my toes; adapting and changing my ways of teaching to help make my students better. As I teacher I will like to see the progress my students are making or not making, so I know when my teaching strategies are and are not working.

High Stakes Community School-NCLB

Going into the lecture Monday night, I wasn't sure what to expect. I figured we'd do a lot of listening and then could voice our own opinions. I was surprised that different groups got up and talked as a whole. It turned out to be more formal then I had thought, but this made it very interesting to listen to.

I really enjoyed hearing everyone's opinions of NCLB. I realized how many things are wrong with that plan. It seems almost impossible to get all kids to a certain standard. Some students just arn't gifted in certain subjects and can't push themselves any further. I think something needs to be done to revise that plan. The over all idea of it is great, it just was lots of flaws. Hopefully with the change in presidency, some new ideas will generate and the NCLB act can become a positive thing in students education.

Library Lecture

I thought the lecture about using the library's website was very informative. I had no idea there was so much information on it. I think the new design of the website makes it much easier to find information quickly. What I found the most helpful was the link that sited books for you. That would have came in very handy last year during Paideia.
I feel that lecture was worth while to all Luther students. I would have not understood how to use that website had someone not walked me through it. It was a lot of information very quickly though, so I still have some questions but at least I am on the right track now.

Lecture/Chalk & Wire

I thought the lecture was very informative. There were I lot of things I never knew I needed to know, and without this lecture I would have fallen beyond. Now I feel I somewhat have an idea of what is going on.

I have mixed feelings about the chalk and wire thing. I already feel poor after I just signed up for our PPST test, and now thinking about all the other expenses I'm going to have before I start making the big bucks as a teacher...I'd almost rather make one by hand as a hard copy and have it right in front of me. I like the organization of the online one, but sometimes those can be confusing as well.

Paideia Lecture: Go Green

Just when it was starting to soak in that Paideia was over for me and I'd never have to have anything to do with it again (well until my Junior year), I attended the 'Going Green' lecture. Profesor Claude Mertzenich gave an interesting lecutre about replacing processes that have negative impacts on the envionments with clean and economically competitive chemical reaction and analysis methodoloten. Although I don't understand all those big words and pretty much just copied that sentence from my notes, what I did take from this lecture were ways to conserve the envionment. I think people sometimes dont grasp how important it is for us to keep our earth clean. We only think about the here and now and not what polluting may mean for not only us, but our children as well.
I think it is important for us to teach our future students to help keep our earth 'green.' From the start of their schooling we should enforce not littering, not keeping our water running while were brushing our teeth, and other things like these. As teachers we should model for our students ways to keep the earth healthy.

Lions for Lambs

I really enjoyed watching Lions for Lambs. At first I was confused with all the different plots going on, but then I realized they all tied together. My favorite was the professor who was trying to get his apathetic student to start trying again. I think it's very important to have an open relationship with your students so you feel comfortable talking with them, and they feel comfortable talking to you. If the student would have communicated his feelings earlier to his teacher, he may not have stopped going to classes.
I was really sad that the two military men had to die at the end. I wanted them to somehow pull through so they were able to tell their story to others. I'm confused at what it was trying to teach us. Those two guys were so passionate about what they believed and then joining the army, I wanted them to succeed.