Teacher's Pay Based on Performance and Effective Teachers

I believe it depends on how the students are performing. I do not believe that should be the sole purpose for the amount of pay a teacher gets. Students vary a lot on how they learn and how well they learn. Some students do not test very well and that is not the teacher's fault necessarily and therefore the teacher's pay can not be based on this. If a whole classroom full of students are performing badly then the teacher probably needs to be evaluated to see what is going on. However it is the teacher job to equip each student with the correct tools to succeed but it is not solely on the teacher whether the student uses those tools. Their can be many different reasons why a child does not succeed and the teacher may not have anything to do with it. I think an effective teacher is one who cares about the students as individuals and their well being not just the grades they achieve in the classroom. The teacher who shows compassion and empathy will most likely have students who see this and respond well to the teacher and their lessons.

Teacher Unions and Tenure

I think that teachers unions and tenure has their positives and negatives. Teachers unions can help a lot with protecting teachers against adults who are too quick to stain teachers reputations and bring charges against them when nothing has happened. They give teachers security so that they are not teaching in fear of losing their jobs. Some teachers may do things wrong that should be held accountable. However it protects teaching staff as a whole and not just individuals so that teachers are not charged with things they didn't do. Also they negotiate teacher's pay so they get payed an appropriate amount. I believe that tenure has more negatives because it is not terribly hard for a teacher to obtain tenure and some tenure teachers can be not so good teachers. However it is hard to fire them because they have tenure. I think there needs to still be evaluation of tenure teachers to make sure they are still trying to do their job to the best of their abilities. I think tenure and teacher unions are a good idea but there needs to be some sort of reform so there are only effective caring teachers out there and not ones that do not care as much because they know they have obtained tenure or have a teachers union behind them.

Balancing Extra Curricular Activities with School

I think sometimes it is really hard to balance extra curricular activities and school. In high school it seemed like I always had extra curriculars whether it be conditioning, basketball, soccer or a club and I was up very late a lot because I would get home from practice late and still have to do homework. I think for children it is all of the adults in their lives job to make sure there is a proper balance and they are not getting overloaded with things and stressed out. I believe as a teacher it is important to realize that children have other activities to do so as not to pile them with tons of homework. However I think it is fair to make sure that school is known to be the priority and the homework needs to be doe. I think it is also the coach or person in charge of the activities job to realize that school comes first for students and they need to be understanding when they have a lot of school work to do. My coaches have always made it known that school comes first and we have always had to maintain good grades or we were not allowed to play. Here at WSC coach checks our grades every semester and if there is a class we have to take during practice because there is no other time she is understanding about it. I think this is the way it should be because we are actually there for school and that is what is going to help us  in the long run so it has to be priority. Some kids want to do everything and their parents need to make sure there is a healthy balance and they are not doing too many things at once.

Developmentally Appropriate Age for Instruments

Students need to start playing instruments early because when they are young their brains soak up information and it is very easy for them to learn. I think the rhythm sticks, finger cymbals, and kazoo can be introduced to children at a very young age because they are the appropriate size for their little hands to grasp. Also they do not take the use of fine motor skills to play these instruments since children do not have these skills yet at younger ages like three to five years old. The recorder requires the use of fine motor skills because the child must be able to place their fingers on the correct holes on top of the recorder and the recorder is bigger around so the children need to have a little bit bigger hands to be able to hold the instrument and play the notes. Therefore a recorder should be introduced at an older age such as third and fourth grade. The xylophone requires the same type of fine motor skills and hand eye coordination so it must be introduced at an older age also.

Carl Orff's Philosophy

Carl Orff's philosophy involved process over product. Therefore he believed in providing opportunities for children to succeed and practice and learn. I think this applies to students because the process is really what helps them learn and in the end the product will be great if the process is correct. The students will benefit so much from the process if the concepts are taught in different ways to reach each child's way of learning. Orff believed in the body being the most important instrument. I think this fits in well with children today because they often get bored and distracted if they are not participating in some way. If they are allowed to do movement and participate they will pay attention better. Also Orff believed singing, instruments, movement, and improvisation which is basically the national standards. I think it helps students a lot to be given a chance to improvise because then they will be very flexible and able to improvise in life.

Sequence in Learning and Rote

It is important for teachers to use sequence in learning and rote to help students practice repeatedly. Sequence and rote helps students remember things because they get to do the same concept over again. Also it is easier for students to grasp concepts because they only have to learn a little part at a time. Then when it is all put together into a large part they will have practiced it over and over again so they will feel confident in knowing the whole thing. Sequence can help students learn too because then there is a specific order to doing things and they will remember this. Besides students must know how to sequence things because lists and order is all over the place.

Steps for Teaching by Rote
1. modeling/provide an example
2. use non-verbal gestures
3. chunk it-lump into smaller examples
4. do it as a whole

Philosophy of Education and National Standards

As my philosophy of education I believe in giving the students an environment where they feel comfortable expressing themselves and learning in the way they can. I want to try to teach in different ways in order to cater to the children's different learning styles. The students should be able to explore and be creative and should learn a lot in the process. I think that my philosophy goes in alignment with the national standards because if the students have an environment where they can be confident and learn a lot they will be able to learn everything in the national standards. I believe as a teacher just like we learn in class I need to do everything possible to set my students up for success. It will be easier for the students to learn the standards if I as their teacher give them the tools to do so. I will help them be interested in the standards by teaching it in various ways and they will all be able to grasp the concepts. I think these standards must go hand in hand with a philosophy of education in order to be able to educate students properly and achieve the correct goals.