Teaching for Social Justice

After reading the assigned article I was still unsure of what social justice really was so I looked it up. The article I found was about the Social Justice Training Institute for students. The institution has been set in place in order to include all who participate and to improve their communication skills. The institute educates and encourages students on how to make positive changes on their campuses. They also need to find a mentor which has to be a faculty member at their college to help them on their personal and social goals. This article made the information directed more towards me, a student, rather than a current teacher. The article we read in class was very interesting. It discussed topics that I have yet to read about. The pointers on how to become a good social justice educator were very insightful and shed light on objectives that all teachers should at least look into. I think that trying to at least implement a social justice approach to teaching is a great idea for all teachers and students. Everyone should get involved to make the best experience for everyone.

Teaching For Social Justice, http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/15_02/Just152.shtml

Social Justice Training Institute - The Student Experience - Home, http://www.sjti.org/home_student.html

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Special Education and Inclusion

I believe that the Inclusion of special education in normal schools is beneficial to all students, not just the disabled ones. It teaches the special students how to interact with society and they get to make friends who can help them out. With inclusion, the normal students get to learn that though some people are disabled, they are still capable of being a friend. It also teaches acceptance to the other students. It makes them aware of what these students go through on a day to day basis in order to be successful. It is absolutely inspiring how hard these students try their hardest at everything they do. At my school, it was common to see special education students in normal classes and participating in after school activities. No one made fun of them, everyone seemed to respect and welcome them into whichever activities they decided to join. I know, surprising at a high school level. Not to be stereotypical, but the "jocks" were the most accepting of the special education students. These students would be team managers and sometimes be and active part of the team, despite the fact that they were not as skilled. It was really nice to experience that while in high school because it made me a more understanding and welcoming person. There is no reason not to include special education individuals simply because they need some additional help. It is actually the silliest thing i have heard of. We had a mute quadriplegic in my high school who managed with assistance to go to normal classes and successfully complete high school.

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Indreased Salaries for Educators

Teachers today have been neglected financially. Here they are, educating our future generations, and they cannot even pay their bills. Teachers need at least a bachelors in education to become an educator. They then accept low wages that do not compare to jobs with similar requirements. Unfortunately, this is the cause of good teachers switching careers. This is why the NEA (National Education Association) is pushing for a nation wide starting salary for all pre-K-12 teachers of $40,000/year. This would allow the education system to keep the teachers that they typically would have lost due to minimal salaries. In college settings, it has become virtually impossible for teachers without tenure to survive at just one institution. They tend to teach at multiple schools just to pay the bills. This is why the NEA is pushing for higher salaries in higher education settings as well. I support this notion because the average starting salary in pre-K-12 is $35,000 a year which is only$5,000 more than I make a year. My job has no requirements other than being old enough to manage, which is dependant on the person. I do not have any dependants and only have to fend for myself. I barely scrape by month to month on my salary. Now add in one or two kids in a single parent home, how is the parent supposed to support the children and herself in a healthy manner? Educators also should receive higher ranging salaries in order to keep the passionate teachers. Educators have the second most important job, which is educating our future generations. Why wouldn't we want our children to have to best teachers and have the best opportunities?

NEA: Professional Pay - Teacher Salaries, Living Wage http://www.nea.org/pay/index.html

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4 Day School Weeks...Good or Bad

The article that I came across is entitled, Four-Day School Weeks. This article goes over how school districts that adopt a four day school week can save a lot of money. On school district saved $400,000 in one year switching to a four day school week. This is based eliminating or at least majorly cutting back programs on the three days that the students have off. This would cut back on costs for janitors, food preparation and transportation. The studies show that the students do not learn any less because the school day is extended. This gives students an extra day to relax and do projects and teachers more time to make lesson plans and meet with parents. This is all good and well but what about the after school programs? Would they be cut? This includes sports, theater, teams and clubs. Would they even allow the students to continue to participate? Or would the students have to find programs outside of school? What would this do to parents who work? They would have to dish out more money to take care of their younger children. Sure, this lowers the costs for the school district, but it could drastically increase the costs for many families! These families are already paying the taxes to pay for school, so now the school wants to save more money, but make the parents pay more. That just isn't reality for most families. In today's world, both parents usually need to work, and in a single parent home, that single parent HAS to work. I'm all for fewer days of school, but not at the cost of parents dishing out even more unnecessary money. The article also referred to the fact that snow days would account for more and teachers would have to utilize the longer periods. Students already have some classes that last 84minutes long, how much longer should they have to stay in a classroom? It is very difficult to focus for that long. Though the savings for the school district would go towards the students, the benefits do not outweigh the benefits at this point. McREL: Newsroom: What high-quality education research says about four-day school weeks http://www.mcrel.org/Newsroom/hottopicFourDayWeek.asp 2273141943_daf1f66a32.jpg http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:zSH-6sxCkPdufM:http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2088/2273141943_daf1f66a32.jpg