Teacher Care
Why is it important for teachers to invest in their students? Why is it important for the students to know/feel that their teacher truly cares about them and their progress?
Investing yourself in your students creates a positive atmosphere. A student is far more likely to respond to a teacher who cares, and is therefore more likely to learn and engage. Teachers who are motivated, and provide strong self-assurance can make it easier for the student to challenge themselves academically.
What does Finland have a history with?
Finland has a history of producing the highest global test scores in the Western world, as well as a trophy case full of other recent No. 1 global rankings, including most literate nation.
How did the Education Reform start? Who started it and why did it not originally work?
The education reform movement started with George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind law in 2001. This law died because every strategy it imposed on the nation’s schools had failed.
What foundation did she create, did she partner with anyone, and why?
Born This Way Foundation along with the National Council for Mental Wellbeing have been created to help teens with mental health. The innovative new peer-to-peer program empowers young people to support each other in times of need or crisis
What are some strategies to increase student acheievment in school?
- Using data to drive instruction
- Employing highly qualified teachers
- Improving school leadership.
What defines a teacher as "Great"?
Great teachers care about their students. They want them to succeed and are committed to helping them achieve their goals. A great teacher does not make it a secret that they care.
When do children start their academic training in Finland and what do they do up until then?
Children don't receive formal academic training until the age of seven. Until then, many are in day care and learn through play, songs, games and conversation.
How do the reformers and disruptors differ?
Reformers: called for more funding, better trained teachers, desegregation, smaller class sizes.
Disruptors: banked on a strategy of testing, competition, and punishment, which turned out to be ineffective and harmful.
Where can her program be found?
Her program is starting to make it's way in schools with it being already in 8 and is expected to grow to 20 soon.
What is positive student engagement?
Students are engaged when they “devote substantial time and effort to a task, when they care about the quality of their work, and when they commit themselves because the work seems to have significance beyond its personal instrumental value”.
What is the most powerful factor in transforming students?
The most powerful factor is a caring teacher who a kid feels particularly connected to.” It's the teachers who make such an impact that students seek out many years later.
How does Finland School and American Schools differ in a few ways?
Finland:Most children walk or bike to school, even the youngest. School hours are short and homework is generally light. Their schools have a mandatory 15 minute recess.
America: Most children ride the bus or ride in a car and almost always have homework. Many schools are also starting to get rid of recess.
What was the "Texas Miracle" test?
Test every child every year in grades 3-8, he said, reward the schools where scores went up, punish those where scores did not, and great things happen: scores rise, graduation rates increase, and the gaps between racial groups get smaller.
What is tMHFA? What does it teach?
tMHFA is an in-person training for high school students in grades 10 to 12 to learn about mental illnesses. Students learn a 5-step action plan to help their friends who may be facing a mental health problem or crisis, such as suicide, and highlights the important step of involving a responsible and trusted adult.
What can teachers do to foster positive student engagement?
- Cultivate a culture of achievement
- Offer support and encouragement
- Concentrate on Active Learning and current curriculum
What are some ways to motivate students?
- encourage them
- reward them
- get them involved
How are teachers viewed in Finland?
In Finland, teachers are the most trusted and admired professionals next to doctors, in part because they are required to have a master's degree in education with specialisation in research and classroom practice.
What have the states and districts done in response to the federal mandates?
They spent billions of dollars on testing, crowding out untested subjects like history and science and reducing time for recess and play. They also spent billions more to adopt the Common Core standards, along with new online testing, software and hardware.
When do mental health issues start in children/adolescents? What are some effects?
Half of all mental illnesses begin by age 14 and three-quarters by the mid-20s. Consequences if left un helped include increased risk of dropping out of school, homelessness, or suicide.
How can schools help foster positive student engagement?
- Increase parental involvement
- Offer extracurricular activities
- Focus on school safety
- Meet with parents during conferences and school functions.
- Send notes home about student performance.
- Ask about how things are outside the classroom.
- Commemorate their birthdays in a small, special way.
How are the climates and overall atmosphere in Finland Classrooms.
- Children are assessed every day, through direct observation, check-ins and quizzes by the highest-quality "personalised learning device" ever created
- Children are allowed to have fun, giggle and daydream from time to time.
- the typical classroom is warm, safe, respectful and highly supportive. There are no scripted lessons and no quasi-martial requirements to walk in straight lines or sit up straight
How have American education tests recently been? What were the results?
- Test scores on “the Nation’s Report Card" have been stagnant for the past decade. The scores of the lowest-ranked students declined.
- On PISA, the scores of American students were unchanged over the past decade.
What is the National Council for Mental Wellbeing? What do they do/ how they help Lady Gaga's foundation?
The National Council for Mental Wellbeing is the unifying voice of America’s health care organizations that deliver mental health and addictions treatment and services. Partnered with Born This Way Foundation which was founded in 2012 to support the wellness of young people and empower them to create a kinder and braver world.
What/who determines how successful the strategies are in fostering positive student engagement?
- The school
- The staff
- The parents
- The consistency of the strategies