Does farming impact education?

Normally, when we think of farm workers we think of immigrants alone. The article affects many family owned farms as well that we forget about. The article, In Our Own Backyard states, "Kids who work at such young ages are likely to fall behind in school, and often drop out. Only 55% of child farmworkers ever finish high school." First of all, they are not listing all of the factors. The majority of farmworkers they are considering are immigrants who have other factors leading to the dropout besides work. This article is not separating immigrant work from American children work. This makes me furious!! I come from a very rural town where the norm is for children to work on the farm, I know I did. Farm work teaches self control and an appreciation for what we have. I would much rather have children learning responsibility and the worth of a dollar than be lazy, spoiled, and stuck in front of a t.v. or a computer all day. Call me cruel, ha!

Most farmers in this country are not uneducated! My father came from a poor, poor family of eight brothers and sisters, all who worked on the farm. Oh, did I mention, all graduated from MTSU with Bachelor's degrees, four of whom have higher degrees. I worked before and after school everyday of my life. I will be finishing my Ed.S. this year at twenty seven years old despite farmwork and a lack of money. Farming teaches work ethic and a desire to earn what you have. No, farming does not make a lot of money, but it is an honest, dependable, and "once" respected job. The number one thing I was taught by farming is that you don't whine about what you don't have or what you think you should have. Look around and appreciate all you do have!

As for health risk, children on farms do face them, I admit. However, suburban and city children have their own health risks. The obesity epidemic is on the rise in this country and if you simply look around you can see it is due to sitting in houses and not getting out, eating too much. It doesn't take reports to know this. Also, on a farm you know what your child is out doing, is this the same for others?

We are becoming to overprotected as a society. We are weakening ourselves with t.v., technology, and airconditioning. These are great, but they are luxuries. We are so spoiled!

As for immigrants working, this should fall under immigrant laws. Immigrants being hired to work in a field is different from families working in fields. My father refuses to hire immigrants for this reason. He does not agree with the way people exploit them and pay them so little.

Leave the American farmer alone, this country is hurting them enough! Watch who you judge! That dirty farmer you see walk in the store may have more education than you and may not have waited so long to get it!

Here is a great website on dropout statistics.
http://www.aypf.org/projects/briefs/DropoutPreventionRecovery.htm

Social Control in the Schools

In my school, tests are a big means of social control without teachers realizing it. Students future classroom performance is often decided by their test performance. Also, students who are in special education carry with them a stigma of how they will perform. The curriculum also follows as a means of social control. The curriculum follows the middle ground of students capabilities leaving behind the low and high students. Differientiated instruction is a great way to work on this issue, but many teachers are unsure of it stating that they don't have the time or really don't know how to make it work. Students are taught to seek the middle ground. This tells the low students they are not good enough and tells the high students they should "dumb down" unfortunately.

My school system is a small school system filled with students who fall into the category of have and have nots. Sadly, the school focuses more attention to the higher ranking students which sadly leaves others out. For example, one of my special education students made the honors society and teachers actually complained saying he was not worthy of the award because his work was not the same as the others! The audasity! This student worked far beyond his potential to reach these grades even if they were modified. I personally worked with him myself after school for hours, days at a time, to figure out science, social studies, and other subjects. He really felt so proud and this may be one of his biggest accomplishments in his life!!!!! It really tears me up that someone would dare say that sweet child was not worthy of the award because he didn't fit the mold. This carries greatly into points mentioned in the articles about how minorities are left, and diversity forgotten. While this child is white, he is also mentally retarded with many social issues. He needs a teacher to stand up for him. MANY STUDENTS JUST LIKE HIM NEED TEACHERS TO STAND FOR THEM!

My bottom line is that we should include all factors when including mulitculturalism in schools. This goes along with what Waxler is saying in his article. Teachers should teach to help all students, not simply point out the ones who do it wrong. The same goes with multiculturalism. We need to blend things, study the facts, and allow for personal opinions.

A great site for differentiated instruction. Hope this helps!
http://www.internet4classrooms.com/di.htm

Diversity, hummm?

A couple of times a year my special education director bounces in my room with the same question, "How many minorities are on your caseload?" Everytime I would sit and think why he wanted to know and why it even mattered. My thoughts were simply that if a student needed special education, who cares? Then I realized that the state watches this very closely. Apparently, an unusually large amount of minorities are being mislabeled as special education due to poor testing scores, poor reading scores, or poor social skills. According to the NEA, National Education Association, "black students are labeled mentally retarded three times as often as whites." They listed the same reasons I had been hearing as reasons why. If a school has a high number of learning disabled minorities for example, the state will question why that is so. This sometimes becomes a concern for our school because our school is composed of mostly minorities. I had never realized how big an issue this really was and this became my first experience with diversity in a classroom.

Taylor points out what I consider to be an important point. He says that an "inclusive" history is impossible and I agree. What I do not understand is why history books do not just state the facts and leave out the opinions. If George Washington was a president and a slave owner, just state that and let people develop their own opinion about the matter. To say he was good or bad is irrelevant, it is an opinion. Students need to learn how to develop their own ideas. Taylor states, "History has a point of view, it cannot be all things to all people." We can't please everybody!!

Tobia's article really makes it apparent how big a factor race still is in society. This country focuses too much on race. If you look back in history enough the majority of us are a mixture of races anyway. My best friend just had a DNA test done that shows genetic makeup (I'll ask her about the company, I want to do this) and discovered that some 80% of her makeup was African American, but looking at her family she is white! Why we have to be so divided I do not know. I will bring up the question many don't ask. Why if we are trying to overcome racism do we still have black colleges or a black Miss America? Why is this o.k., but it is not o.k. to have a Indian or a white Miss America or college?

Hummm? I don't have the answers to diversity. All I know is to respect individuals and their rights and beliefs.

National Education Association. http://www.allamericanpatriots.com/48738292_nea-offers-strategies-tackle-unusual-number-minorities-referred-special-education

Religion in Public Schools

Every morning in my first period class one of my students stands for the pledge, but he does not salute or recite. We have discussed his beliefs, a Jehovah's Witness, and he simply tells me he accepts the way things work and he doesn't think it is unfair. He always says it wouldn't be right to make them not do it. To me, this is a lot of insight coming from a fourteen year old boy that many adults cannot see. This is the truth. We can't make everyone happy or be "fair" to all. Everyone is free to practice their own religion, but many are actually being punished. Everything many believe is being taken away to suit the minority. People believe it is unconstitutional to pray so they take that away and say simply to pray before school. Well, this is a contradiction. Is it o.k. not to pray, but wrong to pray? That is discrimination against religious beliefs too! The blog, Religion in Schools Debate Heats Up, refers to the moment of silence as being ruled unconstitutional. Why? Nothing in it forces a student to pray. Students can do anything during this period, but talk. It is an atheist's belief not to pray, but their beliefs should not punish others the same way they believe beliefs should not offend them! Life is a two way street.

As for science, how can we teach what a theory is if we are going to treat theories as law? Evolution is a theory, not a fact, and needs to be treated as such. To not give students a variety of approaches will hurt student's abilities to reason and choose. Using only one theory is just memorization, no thought. We are creating individuals, not robots, who are free to choose. If we are not teaching other theories, such as religion, to protect the rights of nonbelievers, etc., who is protecting the rights of believers to not have to listen to evolution? To teach only evolution would be to discriminate against the other theories. No matter what someone is hurt, but this seems to be o.k. with society as long as it is the Christian.

This is just my opinion so take it with a grain of salt. Why, in a country found on religion, do we have to pay to send students to religious private schools? Why not pay to send students to non religious private schools? Ha! I know the answer to this, but it is still funny to consider.

Here is a website that has lots of facts on school prayer, etc.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/ps_pray.htm

Calefati, Jessica. "Religion in Schools Debate Heats Up." On Education. January 22, 2009.
https://elearn.mtsu.edu/d2l/orgTools/ouHome/ouHome.asp?ou=1028647&contentURL=/lms/discussions/admin/forum_topics_list.d2l

Innovators and the "Makers"

Innovators of education are people of great ideals who can make things happen. These individuals focus on ways to create or improve education standards and practices. Makers, however, seem to enhance (or harm) education by their actions or works without a complete awareness of what changes may occur as a direct result. Horace Mann said, "If an idiot were to tell you the same story every day for a year, you would end by believing it." I am not saying makers are idiots, they are not by any means, but I do believe they alter education without being aware of it in many cases. The key difference, therefore, is that innovators study and work towards change while makers unknowingly may create change.

I chose to look at Horace Mann as an innovator because he was such a key player to public education. He believed all deserved an education regardless of income or race. His ideals paved the way for future changes that he was not even aware of. As a special education teacher, I do not truly agree with all of his ideas, but he did create the beginnings of a future for special needs children. He created the idea of a free, public education for all which eventually became part of special education law today.

As far as makers go, Henry Ford has made a great impact. The assembly line for a factory has definitely carried over to our public education system. This is a case where the maker was not truly aware of the impact he would have on education. I relate the assembly line to the education process. An assembly line is a system of workers who simply work to create a finished product. Public education has become the same concept. Students are the product, teachers are the workers, and the board of education is the management. Students enter school just as raw materials enter the assembly line. Teachers (just as workers) mold students into a product. Just as in Henry Ford's factory, some products are better than others. Sadly, we keep the good products and send them on to higher callings and simply dispose of those that don't meet quality standards. These are your students who fall through the cracks. Hopefully, we can find a better way to reach all students!! Any ideas?

Additional References:
http://www.answers.com/topic/horace-mann

Hello!

Hello! My name is Susan and I teach special education 7th, 8th, and 9th grades at Fayetteville Junior High in Fayetteville, Tennessee. I also sponsor the varsity and junior varsity cheerleaders which is a very busy job! I am currently finishing up my Ed.S. in Curriculum and Instruction at Middle Tennessee State University. I expect to graduate this fall! I am very excited about the class and look forward to hearing from everyone.