In this lesson we were given material to review over school success. We had to decide whether or not we agree with giving all students of age a National curriculum. We had to list and describe the challenges for school success and then research a topic pertaining to school success.
EDUC 2110 – Lesson 2 – Elementary School Research
Evaluation
According to research cited in the paper, what was the most important variable mentioned for school success?
The strategies that stuck out to me the most was the student-teacher relationships and how effective the teachers are. I believe that school success starts with the teachers’ effectiveness and the relationships that are built between different students and their teachers. These two things is what makes to a great success in any school.
Describe why you think this might be the case?
I say this because after reading the strategies that were in the Elementary School Research, I found that most, if not all, of the strategies began with teacher-student relationships and the students’ relationships with their peers. I found one strategy to be the most interesting. One teacher was assigned a variety of students (grades K-5). This was to get students from each grade comfortable with other students from their school and the teacher they were assigned to. Doing this, students would always have that one teacher they could go to for anything and those peers in their group to go to, also, to talk to about their achievements, fails, or anything in general. I just thought that strategy was an overall great idea.
Describe how some schools celebrate their academic success?
Different schools celebrate their academic success in many different ways. Some of the ways that are mentioned in the Elementary School Research start off with Flexible Fridays. Flexible Fridays kind of reminds me of “Fun Fridays” in the elementary school where I did my last field work at. Monday through Thursdays would be working days, and on Fridays, it was all fun (just in Kindergarten though). It was just a way of praising the kids for all their hard work for the beginning of the week. Another way is Academic Awards Days where all the students who have great academics receive awards for doing their very best in school. Behavior Awards Days is much like Academics Awards Days, except students are getting awarded for their good behavior. Website News is a way teachers can brag on their students and everyone who logs onto the website sees. Student of the Month is similar to Behavior Awards Days, except Student of the Month is chosen by teachers and he/she only chooses one student from each grade, except at some schools teachers choose one person from their classes. Field Trips are a great way to celebrate academic success. Doing this makes students want to behave to “skip” school and spend a day with their class doing nothing but fun. There are many more other ways that schools have celebrated academic success, but the ones I mentioned stood out to me the most.
Should there be a National curriculum for all students? Why or why not?
Yes, I do believe there should be a National curriculum for all students. I think that it’s best that each grade learns the same curriculum. There needs to be set standards for each grade and what they should be learning so the students can know ahead a time. Not only is it easier for the students to keep up with throughout the year of what they’ll be learning, but also the teachers. Without a curriculum for students, everything would unorganized.
List and describe some challenges for school success.
Some of the challenges for school success that are mentioned in the Elementary School Research start out with families’ instability. There are more than just a few families that are completely unstable, that are making continuous changes and cannot help it. Budget constraints can also be put into the category of a families’ unstableness. Loss of staff positions is another challenge for success in schools. There is a decrease in Instructional Coaches and Paraprofessionals, while there’s an increase in the Special Education and English Language Learner Population. Another challenge is the High Student-Teacher Ratios. There’s not enough teachers in the school system to even out with the number of students found in the classrooms.
What was the purpose for this research study (Elementary School Research)? Describe.
I think the purpose of this research study was to show present and future elementary school teachers and staff the importance of school success and how we can help our students to/want to achieve. By reading the bit I did, I found all the information helpful and important. It’s extremely important for us as future educators to know how to help our students.
Summary
I thought this lesson was very important for all of us to learn about. Researchers did this research to show present/future educators what we can do to help with school success. They shared strategies that were used in elementary schools to help with the student-teacher relationships, some ways on how to celebrate a student’s achievement throughout the school year, and also, some challenges for school success. Overall, I this lesson was very helpful and I learned some strategies that I could possibly use in the future.
Research Question
What are strategies that teachers can use to help with school success?
References: http://www.teachhub.com/18-inclusion-strategies-student-success
Research Analysis
I chose this research question because I think it’s important to know how the teachers could help with school success. In this article, it lists 18 strategies that teachers could do to help with success. First of all, teachers need to know about the subject themselves before they can teach it. Teachers need to be very knowledgeable on the subject they are going to teach their students. They also need to keep in mind that when they teach a lesson, it needs to be understandable. List things step by step and break everything down if it helps. Keep enough time open during the lesson for students to ask questions that are needed for their understanding. Sometimes concrete examples are the best examples to show students and it could also help with success.
Some things teachers can do themselves, is always say something positive before a negative. Concentrating on individual students instead of a group would help too. Provide opportunities for giving feedback to help build your student’s self-esteem. Another thing that tends to help students learn better, is relating the lesson to their everyday lives, somehow. Increase your students’ self-awareness of levels and progress, meaning tell them how great they are doing on their school work. This will make them want to get the same recognition many times afterwards. And most importantly, smile when you’re communicating with your students, your student’s parents, or the rest of the staff.
Research Summary
I thought my research gave some really good tips on how teachers can help with school success. I believe school success starts off with the teachers and after reading and learning what I did from this lesson, I believe it even more. You can’t have success in the schools without the teachers. Teachers need to know how to make a student successful, and this article gave really great strategies that could help present teachers, and of course future teachers.