Online+Class+Jan+28+2012

= = =**Online Discussion of //A Reason to Teach// by James Beane**=

(As always, use a different font and/color and your name to distinguish your post from others. Please make sure your choice is readable!!!)
Please respond to all 7 questions and make sure to use the Metacognitive Reflection Tool to guide your responses and discussion.

1. In your own words, but based on Beane's ideas, how do you define democratic teaching? Provide an example of this (either from something you experienced, or something you'd LIKE to see in a classroom? Democratic teaching is a way of collaborating with your students as to what to teach, how to teach, and some topics to teach. I practice this method frequently with my students. In my English course…I pretty much laid out what there is still to cover for the last 20 weeks of school. They got the choice to plan out weekly units up until exam time in June. ~ Juli

//Democratic teaching is when the teacher and the students work together on making decisions on what and how things are done. Ex. activities, curriculum and ways that groups might be evaluated. I would like to see and talk to my class about some goals that they would like to set to help them do better behavior wise in my class. ~Tiaa// I see democratic teaching as giving the students the freedom to seek out knowledge that is of greatest value to them. At the beginning of the year I ask students to tell me what types of activities they feel they learn best from. I use this to plan my teaching activities on the first civilizations. We periodically check in to fine tune the balance. Second semester we discuss what topics we want to explore and we do much more free form research. Cheryl Democratic teaching is giving your students choice in what they learn or how they go about learning something. It helps establish a sense of urgency and ownership of one’s learning if they have a voice in deciding what’s going to be taught. A democratic classroom has a balanced sense of community as well. Students will feel comfortable communicating their thoughts and needs to the teacher. At the beginning of the year, my students establish our classroom rules. They each individually come up with their top 5 rules for the classroom. We then come together and share….eventually narrowing it down by votes for our top 5 classroom rules. I write them on a poster and then we all sign the poster as our agreement to follow these rules in our classroom. ~Christen

I agree with you Christen, that democratic teaching gives students a chance to take ownsership in of their learning. I have observed that when students take ownership, that they take more pride and patience with their work because it represents them. ~Caryn


 * I see democratic teaching as allowing the students to have free rein of the direction the course of study flows. **

** I really believe that all children should be able to give their input on how somethings should go in the class because if they have to just sit and be quite all day they will not be involved. It took me several years to understand this but it helps to let the children get a chance to tell you what they would like to do. Note: i am not saying let them run the class. ~Tiaa **
 * I was the teacher for first grade class and I opened the science kit on pulleys, levees and inclines. The students rushed to investigate the inventory. They decided on what they wanted to work with and formed groups and immediately began working. They created various settings and objects, extensive conversations were apart of the development. They made Lego lands, hills, curves and tracks. They asked for magazines to make people. Denise **

In my opinion, democratic teaching means when teachers facilitate the learning that takes place in the classroom. The students are encourage to work collaboratively to create a “curriculum” that is guided by their interests and questions. Teachers lead students through research on their guiding questions by allowing learning to happen through centers that encompass information that will answer their guiding questions.~Caryn

I feel democratic teaching is the act allowing students/teacher(s) to make a cohesive decision as to what is going to happen in the classroom. An example of democratic teaching is when our cohort made decisions together about the class and our work. It allowed us to decide what would make the team work effectively, which is a part of democratic teaching. Geri did not have to allow us to decide what we desired as a group. - Tajuanna

===** Democratic Teaching is releasing the old school role of "authoritarian" or "dictatorship" teaching. I can remember teachers who were very strict and had a classroom culture consistent to the "what I say goes" type of class. There were also teachers who acted as facilitators in the classroom, and allowed the class to make decisions based on constructed options. Students don't know exactly what they should be learning or what classroom objectives should be, however when the teacher acts as a facilitator in a classroom that has democratic teaching the students are given more options and therefore take on a greater sense of ownership in their education. In my classroom I sometimes give my students options as to what assessment they would like to have. For example, we are finishing up the Narrative of Frederick Douglass and as the culminating assessment, I had my students write a comparison/contrast essay comparing themselves to Frederick Douglass. Some students got right to the assignment, while others are dragging their feet. Majority of the class enjoyed reading the narrative, so I know its not the book, I'm sure that the interest level in writing the paper is just not there for some. What I take from this is that for our next book, as a culminating assessment I will give a variety of options that will give all the students an opportunity to decide how they'd like to demonstrate their understanding of the book. Some examples of the varieties may include, writing a paper, take a paper and pencil assessment, creating a tri-fold presentation on a historical black college, creating a detailed time line of Booker T. Washington's life and career accomplishments, and many more. Tamika **===

2. Do you think this is a good way to teach? Why or why not? Yes! Giving students a voice will make them more interested in a not too hot topic. It gives them a chance to create their own lesson. ~Juli I've found that students will go into far more detail when given the freedom to choose a topic and the focus and give them guidance on how to reach their goal. When students are "spoon fed" content, they become so passive as to seem comatose. Quiet, polite students are easier to manage, but active engaged students learn more. Cheryl //I do think that this is a good way to teach because I feel like it involves the kids more and that is what the kids need. I feel that children nowadays do not get a chance to get involved and this way might help them. ~Tiaa//

**//I agree with Juli that when you give a person voice it opens them up to being more interested in what is being said or taught. I know at times i feel like i can't talk in certain situations i lose interest but when someone ask me my opinion i feel like they care how i feel and i get more interested in what is going on. ~ Tiaa//**

I agree with you Tiaa. I can remember sitting and listening to the teacher lecture to the class. I was so bored, so I would find other things to do like doodle on paper, write a list of things to do when I get out of school, draw pictures and many other things. If I could have had a say in what I was learning or asked to contribute my opinion, I would have been more interested in what I had to learn.~ Caryn

I do think that it is a good way of teaching. It’s all in moderation. I don’t think that giving the kids complete control and say in what you do and learn is okay…that would be silly. However, giving the kids a voice in their learning and the sense of what they say matters will help them feel that importance of learning something and give them the motivation that sometimes goes away when a teacher just delivers what he/she feels is important and in the way that he/she feels it should be delivered.~Christen


 * Yes, democratic teaching is a great way to teach it provides great interest for the students and they cover more area of study than the curriculum would allot for in the set subject time framed and limited plans. Many life skills come into play and initiate resourceful research. Denise **

I feel that this is an excellent way to teach science and social studies. Students have many questions about the world around them and science and social studies are curricula areas that really lend themselves to experiment through hands- on experiences and to create a democratic classroom which I have learned in the past as the “Project Approach”. Reading and Writing have foundations that have to be taught but can be easily integrated into a democratic classroom. I do not feel that math lends itself very well to the democratic classroom because there are foundations that have to be taught and it is very subjective. Your answer is either right or wrong.~Caryn

===** I think its a great way to teach! When given reasonable boundaries students are more engaged and take their learning personal. When students are expected to be stifled in a box, they are not taught to explore all their talents which is a crucial characteristic to have in today's society. We want to teach our children to be citizen's who can use their talents and specialties to solve the world's issues, so we may as well begin teaching them to explore their options sooner rather than later. Tamika **===

=== **It all depends on the students and if they are capable to handle making decisions. For example, what if you have a class of students who are irresponsible and you along with the students made the democratic to have a test on Friday. The test is 25% of their grade. Some of the students did not study for the test and this was part of the agreement. Tajuanna** ===

3. What are the benefits of graduate school the democratic way? Have you/"we" experienced any of this yet in our cohort in the TLA program? The benefits of coordinating a graduate program in the democratic way, is simply “flexibility”. We all have lives outside of this program, so to have it where we can come together and plan along with the instructor is a great help to us. Just the last time we met, we had a discussion of “How we learn”, we set some guidelines as to the timeliness of posts, spoke about technology issues, and also readjusted our time that we meet. Everyone’s opinion was taken into consideration. ~Juli First, Juli is right. Flexibility in how we experience school is important to people with multiple demands on them (and grad. student/ teacher/ parents have some of the heaviest loads of any group I know!) Being able to tailor our program to our individual needs, as well as being able to share the experience we have, makes all of the topics covered intimately connected to our professional lives. The action research is democratic learning in action! __Our__ topics, __our__ focus, with __guidance__ from the instructor. Cheryl

**The benefits of graduate school the democratic way is being able to let the students be more involved with the program. We are able to have the option to do work online and in class which helps us meet our needs. In the TLA program we are able to do this because the students in our cohort are able to get involved with the learning process of the class and we are able to make adjustments when and where needed. ~ Tiaa**

I agree fully with Juli, Tiaa, and Cheryl. Flexibility is very important in a graduate program. Especially as teachers we all have so many different commitments outside of our graduate school. I really appreciate the different backgrounds and experiences our group brings to the tables. I feel that my school setting is sooo very different than most in the class that it is very interesting to be able to draw from everyone else’s experiences and learn from them. I agree that all of our imput was weighed and accepted when we came up with our class constitution. I feel it is also nice to have the freedom to choose an action research topic that is our choice. I have chosen something that I am very passionate about and am excited to learn more about. I feel our kids get the same way when we give them that opportunity. ~Christen


 * I personally love the option to direct your learning and instruction. You have the option to study, research area of interest to you and are able to make relationships with the instruction and learning. The opportunity to share current strategies, related to the students of the 21th century. The cohort offers a variety of learners, sharing many experiences supporting learning for a length of time. **


 * Yes, we __are__ involved in this type of experience. Our last class offered us many decisions as how to direct our cohort, educational learning environment; by setting guidelines, deadlines to encourage all to gain the most for our sessions and regulations to respect all the learners. We are to being resources for one another. Denise **

The benefits of having democratic cohort is that it can used to make sure that all of our cohort members needs are being met and it helps us to meet the masters programs requirement as well. Being part a democratic cohort will create in us master teachers and as a result our students will benefit and receive a better education. We have experienced a democratic cohort through several face-to-face experiences: our list of cohort expectations, our list of educational issues, 2-minute check-ins, and being made to feel like partners with our facilitator rather than the relationship of professor and students which can be intimidating.~Caryn

===** At the graduate level, we are cultivating our expertise and becoming masters in our areas. We must be allowed to learn and grow in ways by which we are most comfortable with the guidance of our instructor who has knowledge and vision for where we are all headed. I believe that we are very democratic in the way our cohort is run. We definitely work and contribute according to where our individual talents lie. Tamika **===

=== **On the graduate level the democratic system can be very useful. This allows the students and instructor the chance to decide how the class will be run. As well as, the schedule for honework or any other things each party has agreed too. Our cohort has definitely used the democratic system in your class. Especially, during the second class. We decided as a team how the class would flow and the homework schedule. - Tajuanna** ===

4. What are the drawbacks and challenges of graduate school the democratic way? Have you/"we" experienced any of this yet in our cohort in the TLA program? How do you propose we deal with these challenges? Not everyone will agree. Some students may not want an active collaboration. Some may feel as if they enrolled in a course, then that course should be TAUGHT to them, rather than them having an input. I think in a co-horted model, everyone should have their voice heard, for any challenges that should arise from the democratic model, maybe the class should go back to the traditional model of teaching? ~Juli Intellectually, it is easy for me to be spoon-fed info and regurgitate it, but I don't learn as much as when I am involved in what I am learning. The most strenuous classes require the active participation of the student. As a former high school and college student, my favorite classes allowed me to do research in an area that interested me. I took independent study courses in high and college! Cheryl **I would say that the drawback and challenges of graduate school the democratic way would be that the students might not be so close together, meaning in a cohort. The students might want to be identified as a student not a group and that is how they might want the class to be taught as an individual not a group. I think that we have not experienced this yet in our cohort. I think if we face any challenges then as a group we discuss them and make the changes according to the group. ~ Tiaa**

It can be frustrating when something has to be discussed as a group that doesn’t apply to you (housekeeping things). Or when you find that your differences (the people within a graduate class) divide you rather than bring you together. I have to admit I was really worried when I first came and realized how my experiences were so very different than most of you guys. However, it didn’t take long (probably an hour) for me to realize just how much I can learn and take from all of you and bring it back to my school/classroom. However, in education, I feel most of our classes are structured in this democratic model. I relate with Cheryl that I learn best when I am involved in my own learning process. Involved in the discussions and “map” of where my learning is going. It’s nice to know that we have some say in what we do and how we go about doing it.~Christen


 * The drawbacks are liberties being ignored or violated, affecting the progress of the cohort. Another Challenge is communicating enough to understand one another in a respectful manner, maintaining professionalism and positive tones. Members being willing to take on leading roles to move the group forward. Also initiating further study of research and sharing freely. **


 * The best ways I feel to deal with these challenges are to present the observations for difficulty to the group to identify resolutions or a manner to move forward. Denise **

One of the drawbacks to the democratic way is that every student of a classroom or member of a cohort has their own beliefs and values and working collaboratively towards one goal is sometimes challenging. Graduate school the democratic way allows members of the cohort to experience how a democratic classroom works and then try to create that atmosphere in our own classrooms.~Caryn

=== **The drawback to the democratic way would be not working together. I experienced that when I went to the University of Phoenix. We had to work in teams I had a team that was difficult to get along with. In the beginning my instructor told me I could not move to another team, because this was apart of the workplace, which was not getting along with people on a team. Well, needless to say this was a bad idea because our team almost got into a fight. Then the instructor moved me off the team along with another girl. We were the only women on our new team. I have not seen any difficulties in the cohort.** ===

**- Tajuanna**
5. How might teachers assess in a democratic classroom? Honestly, a teacher can still assess the same way as originally planned. Students can also have the option of coming up with a class rubric…”Whats acceptable” and “Whats Not”. This way students KNOW whats expected of them. ~Juli

**I think that with the democratic way the teachers and students would have to work together in some way and create an assessments. That way the teachers and the students have their inputs into how the assessment will work. ~ Tiaa**

As the author mentioned, self evaluation for students helps them develop an accurate picture of their own achievement, and what additional effort they need to expend to achieve mastery. Showing examples of what constitutes a masterful product, and discussing specific points of an assignment to clarify consensus also leads students to a greater understanding of self evaluation. Teachers in this system offer feedback, guidance and in some cases allow a student whose work has been evaluated to go back and make alterations to improve the final product. If the ultimate goal is that students know what mastery feels and looks like, even the process of assessment can be ongoing (up until the end of the course/ semester. Kids understand that growth is continuous, but that grades are due when the grades are due, and even teachers have no say in that!) ~Cheryl

Wow! Well said Cheryl! J In a democratic classroom clear expectations are given and the path of which they follow to get to those should be somewhat based on the student’s needs/decisions. That’s why I feel rubrics are so nice because it can give clear expectations. The child can decide what they want to strive for (as we do in our own class). I agree with Cheryl that a displaying and sharing what a “masterful product” would look like is important. I know I produce and learn best when I have an example to go by. Otherwise I stress that I’m not on the right path. In a democratic classroom, the child is able to learn as a process. They are able to go back and make it better not just be evaluated on the first outcome.~Christen


 * Assessment is through observation, which is to see if the students demonstrate knowledge of the specific lessons, strategies and or skills. Denise **

Teachers can assess if students have learned or answered their guided questions by creating presentation boards, writing essays, using technology to create a power point presentation or through an art project or web. There should be a rubric that can be created along with the students that can be used to assess their learning and what their end results should convey. ~Caryn

===** Assessments should be geared towards the classroom objectives. Assessments are actually a part of the democratic teaching. How can students show their talents? Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences Theory lends us multiple ways of assessing a a democratic teaching environment. Tamika **===

6. Related to #4 - What might this look like in your OWN classroom? Provide some examples and why you feel they would be appropriate. In my classroom, if I just taught the “traditional” way, I KNOW I would get a lot of resistance. Teaching special needs students, especially EBD students, its like you have to give them a chance to be an individual. Not everyone learns at the same pace or takes in information the same, so to alter the assignment, I have to let them put their little twist on it. ~Juli I like to give students as much latitude as possible, but I admit that I want to make sure we cover as many times and civilizations as possible, so I require my classes to cover the foundations of civilization, Pre-Columbian Meso and South America, China and South East Asia. For me, the struggle is between doing the worksheets related to the book (which are easy to do for the students and easy to grade for me) and developing assignments and research projects that interest the students and can be evaluated by me without consuming my entire life (I don't want to take projects home to grade EVERY night!) ~ Cheryl

In my class, show the children how to do what we are going and then i allow them to mock me. I do this in my class because I remember going to school and just having to sit in my seat and that was it. I was always told to sit still and not move. I think that this democratic way is a good way because it gives the children the opportunity to get involved in their learning and I feel that they will want to learn more this way. ~ Tiaa

In first grade I feel it’s pretty easy to give my kids say in what we do/learn/how we assess. Its also pretty easy to get them excited about something. They love voting. We vote almost every day on something. What book to read, what story to write about, how we should line up for lunch, whether we do odd/even problems. It’s assessment that I feel in first grade is most necessary to be democratic. I agree with Juli in that not every student is the same. I assess my students differently. We use rubrics and so I have students that get formally assessed orally, others paper and pencil, others in the form of a discussion. My kiddo that has OT issues can’t write for the life of her but she can tell me some amazing stories! She also knows her math facts but has difficulty writing them due to these OT issues. She takes her tests untimed or does them verbally with me. I am now teaching Units of Study in writing which really gives the kids a voice and say in what they write. The day of writing to the prompt is gone. They can write about something that is important to them or something that they know a lot about!~Christen


 * In my class a democratic opportunity in a reading session would be - the students selecting the book to read and guide the review of the informational summary **


 * This would give the students the liberty to share freely, take an interest in the reading and sharing of the story. They would guide the learning and research or further studies connected to the story. Denise **

In my own classroom you might see KWL charts on the walls along with guiding question posters that students have come up with. You may see students who are grouped together according to similar questions in smaller groups rotating through centers that allow them to do research and experience the answers to their questions. You will hear noise form children discussing their findings and ways to present their information. I feel that observing students in this manner is appropriate learning because it can meet the needs of below, on level, and above level students. Each student will take away something different because they have different interests.~Caryn

=== Sometimes I lay all my classroom objectives and activities out and give students the option to work throughout the day in their groups and just make sure they assignments are completed at their pace in whatever order they choose. Other times I give students various choices within an assignment, for example choosing the topic on a paper they have to write. I also have other intermittent moments where I assign activities based on what I know they student would prefer, this knowledge coming from having developed closer relationships with my students. My classroom is a fully functional democratic teaching environment. I welcome conversation and dialogue about things that went well and things that didn't. My students have a huge sense of ownership in my classroom because this culture has been a priority since day one. Tamika ===

7. Related to #4 - What might this look like in our TLA Graduate program? Provide some examples and why you feel they would be appropriate. I guess if I was organizing the program, I'd start by having students evaluate what constitutes a great teacher & what the ideal classroom looks like. Then I'd have them evaluate their strengths and weaknesses, and what they see as the strengths and weaknesses of their classrooms (this is where having the grad. school teacher could come visit, to give their opinion, would be helpful.) Then the cohort together and individually with the instructor would craft the competencies each individual needs to become a master teacher (it would be a lot like writing an IEP.) We'd each work on what amounts to our independent study, while meeting to compare notes, help and encourage one another, and work on common topics together. This would meet the specific needs of each student, but would be more work for the instructor and we'd not be so much a cohort as people working on project in proximity to one another... ~Cheryl In a graduate program, the courses may be a little bland. But, by us being adults, I doubt if anyone would speak on it. We’ll just go with the flow. We pay for a degree, certification or whatever, we don’t pay for class collaboration..but it’s a plus when we get it J ~ Juli

**I think in our program we kind of work on the democratic way. I feel like at times we the students get to have our opinion on how things should go as far as the class. I like how we were able to put together the "what we need to succee as learners" paper. i think we all put in great and useful information. ~Tiaa**

I wrote this last night and had a really good answer and now when I came back my stuff is no where to be found! GRRR I can't remember for the life of me what my answer was. I think it would be nice to have some choice. Maybe we can approach each class in the form of a KWL to find out what background and information we already have or bring to the class. Then we can develop a map of where we want to go within that subject. I feel we all have such diverse backgrounds it would be nice to see what we all know on the subject of assessment and other areas so that we can truly learn from eachother too. ~Christen


 * As we share and focus our area of interest for the final project, we would be guided to incorporate more information specific to our topics of interest. **


 * An example, I am interested in the method of governing the charter schools. Therefore I am attentive to the routine, and administration of the various schools. Denise **

The graduate democratic cohort classroom may start off with getting to know one another and move into our specific needs and concerns of our own teaching experiences. Our concerns and questions about education will lead us into Action Research Projects where we will research and find answers to our questions. An example of this happening during our cohort is the list of educational issues that we created and narrowed down to the most prevalent. This activity was appropriate because it has narrowed down our focus and made it easier for us to research. These questions and concerns are leading us through our master’s program.~Caryn