Jason Kopanke’s blog

Blog 41: Comparison of two consecutive first years of school, examination of the change

nobody@vox.com(Jason Kopanke) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:04:16 -0700

Blog 41: Comparison of two consecutive first years of school, examination of the reason for the improvement
The first week of school this year has been worlds better than that of last year. Last year I started on the wrong foot. I was ill prepared for what I was about to encounter. Growing up in the university bound advanced track of a nice suburb in Canada, my expectations were a little off. I assumed that the common courtesy that we gave our teachers would follow down here too. I was wrong. Last year I closed my door for the first period and was shocked that the students were not all doing what was written on the board. After a short talk they began working, but they all talked and would not stay focus. I was clueless on how to address the situation, unsure what power I had, timid to use the power I had and not sure what to do. The students realized this and, to put it kindly, they walked all over me. The first day of school I had the teacher next door give my students a harangue about how they should respect me. The second day I had the senior biology teacher come in to my room to ream out several of these students. This helped in the situation but it also lost credibility among the students. This they wielded into a semester of chaos. All this happened because I dropped the ball and did not hit the ground running.

This year was a different story. I was well equipped. I came into class ready to go. My confidence level was high and I believe that the students could perceive this. I have not had any difficulties yet with any of the classes. It is almost one month into the school year and still classes have all been going smoothly. I still teach in an inner-city school so I have had some students who did not want to conform, but holistically, not many, and virtually none compared to last year. Also, this year I am far better at dealing with these issues as they arise and they no longer faze me.

I have spent some time analyzing the reason for this change in my student's behavior from this year compared to last year. This year I had a better understanding of what I could expect of my students and what is beyond my student's abilities. I established my expectations early and have been consistent in enforcing these expectations. Finally, I have learned how to run a quiet class identified the steps required in lesson planning and understand what can be expected. These small changes have helped me to enhance my class efficiency.

This next semester I intend to be more on the ball. Last year I played a lotof catch up. Trying to finish grading, maintaining discipline, writing lesson plans. I never felt I had a grasp of anything and I was always behind the eight ball. This year I have been far more aggressive in getting all the loose ends tied up. It helps that I have a better understanding of what is important and what can wait. One goal that I have already implemented is to have the students do some labs and do a little more hands on work. Last year I did not have my students do any experiments. This bothered me but I was doing the best I could to keep things going. Now I will take it to the next level.

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BLOG 39: Teacher Skills

nobody@vox.com(Jason Kopanke) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:11:29 -0700

June 2, 2009

The three teacher skills I want to practice and improve upon this summer at the MTC Summer School… and one strength I have and will employ

The three things I want to improve on for this summer school session are to improve questioning techniques, increase the diversity of teaching strategies and to avoid teaching for a test. The first goal should be easily attained. I just need to use appropriate wait times. Waite times from when I ask a question, to when I pick out a student and the time when I ask a student until I try another student. This should be easily accomplished. The second goal should also be easily accomplished. The size and structure of the summer school should easily allow for greater class activates. Summer school will also not have an administration that strongly encourages me to teach for the state tests therefore, my final goal should be simple to accomplish. I will be able to teach biology and should have some fun with this. As for my greatest strength, I believe that my greatest strength lies in my consistency. Students knew when they arrived into my class what to expect. I believe that by employing a similar style of consistency it should be possible to maintain my greatest strength with the addition of these new techniques.

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Blog 37. Swine Flu

nobody@vox.com(Jason Kopanke) — Sat, 02 May 2009 13:27:03 -0700

Swine Flu
The truth is the swine flu is here. Originating from Mexico, the swine flu is spreading across the country from tourists escaping the wet northern spring. Returning home, these unsuspecting vectors are spreading the disease across the world. Currently there are cases of the flu in Canada, USA and Europe as well as New Zealand. As of yet no one knows how much damage this disease will cause. What is known is that this disease originated in pigs and it may contain strains of the avian flue. It’s spreading and it’s here.

So what does this have to do with education? The direct answer is nothing. However, indirectly there are several ways that the swine flu could have severe effects on schools. First of all, states with state tested classes could be troubled. Should this flu hit one part of a state during testing time some schools might have to be closed. This would compromise the integrity of the test. Unaffected areas would have already finished the test when affected areas would still be writing. This could result in some cheating.

More severely, yet within the distant realm of possibilities, should a contagious virulent strain of swine flue hit, it have catastrophic consequences. It could kill the entire population of students, or perhaps kill a significant number of them. Like the plagues in the fifteen and sixteen hundreds this plague could wipe out a lot of people. This would hurt schools because of teacher shortages and student shortages. Since a majority of teachers are older and consequently would have poorer immune systems, the teachers death toll would be higher than that of the students. This would further create a teacher shortage and cause class sizes to increase. Increased class sizes would result in more difficulties in classroom management and student learning. Not to mention the psychology effects of having so many parents die due to the disease.

Although this flu is less than ideal, I highly doubt the severe scenario listed above will happen in the near future. What I do see in the realm of possibilities is that this flu would cause a lot of students to become sick. With a high proportion of these students becoming sick it would create havoc for teachers trying to teach students who are coming sporadically. Many teachers would also be likely to come down with the disease as well. This would cause issues for administrators because they would be scrambling to find substitute teachers.

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Blog 36: To strip search or not to strip search, that is the question...

nobody@vox.com(Jason Kopanke) — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 12:08:57 -0700

April 25, 2009

This article is talking about the legal ramification of strip-searching a student for contraband. The article details a case where an honor student was suspected for dealing drugs and she was thoroughly searched for these suspected drugs. None were found. However, the severity of the search led the suspect to feel extremely violated and vexed. The feeling of shame and vexation has led the family to get a lawyer and sue the school board.

So now, here are the million-dollar questions. What liberties does the school system have at its disposal to search for illegal substances? Would the principal of Columbine have been within their legal ramifications if a severe search could have prevented the incident many years ago? What about if a search could prevent several students from getting hooked on drugs and dropping out of school? Does a student’s enrolment in an honors class mean that the students is not guilty of crime, or just smart enough not to get caught? What about evidence? Is someone telling a teacher that a particular student is a drug dealer sufficient evidence? If not, would several students making such a claim be sufficient? At what point would enough students be sufficient? What about the severity of the drug? Would a strip search be ok if you found prescription drugs, marijuana, cocaine, a gun? These all represent questions make it very difficult for administrators to do their job.

Where to draw the line is what administrators deal with this all the time. Often the information that administrators have to go on is sketchy. If examined under a microscope it may not stand up in court as justifiable evidence for a severe search. Yet most administrators know their students. They often times know if a student is telling the truth or not. But no one living today is infallible, even the best administration make mistakes. So what are the options?

On one hand we can support the principals. They have a difficult job and cut them slack. On the other hand we could say that their actions were overstepping their boundaries. It is much like the debate going on in the political realm. The Obama administration is vehemently against the use of torture. The Bush administration allowed this practice. By allowing it you prevent tragedies but you violate human dignity. So what extent of tragedies is worth violating human dignity? This is what it breaks down to. Strip-searching students at school would be a violation to many of these students. However, at some point the reward of prevented harm from the found contraband would be worth the risk. What is that point?

Now finally, how does this relate to curriculum and instruction? Personally I fail to see how it relates to the curriculum unless you need to set a day off in your yearly planning to strip search the students. However, I see several ways that is can indirectly relate to the instruction of a class. First should intensive searches be allowed and become commonplace in school, then teachers safety should increase. With this there should be a decrease of teacher stress and in increase of teacher performance. Another, indirect positive result of allowing the invasive searchers would be to either remove some of the students who bring contraband or curb their behavior. Usually these students cause trouble in class and make it difficult to teach students who want to learn.

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Blog 35: The Second Years!

nobody@vox.com(Jason Kopanke) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 18:52:25 -0700

I always find this kind of letter difficult to write. What can I say about the second years that has not already been said? This program tends to attract positive, outgoing people with a desire to help and possessing the naivety that they believe they can actually change the system. I love this kind of person. Although some get jaded, all succeed in changing a few lives. To survive the madness that is the Mississippi School system you have to be a little bit crazy and have a good idea on how to survive. You are all been extremely helpful and supportive and I can not say enough about that. A good bunch of people and I firmly believe that you all will succeed at whatever endeavor you undertake next. I enjoyed getting to know those of you I did and would have like to get to know the rest of you more. Cheers to Y’all!

I will leave you with some key memories of the second years. These are but a succinct snap shot of the many great memories I have of this unique crew.
A.   Sam William’s zeal for MVC
B.   Singing along to Ace of Base with Scotty Jimenez after watching a hockey game
C.   Shooting skeet at Austin Walker’s farm
D.   Observing an energetic Pet Nelson commanding attention teaching during the summer
E.   Getting introduced to the southern mega church by Eleanor Mathis
F.   Getting some homemade Goldwasser soup when I was sick during the summer
G.   Watching Ole Miss Football Games with the majority of the second years

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Blog 34: What the students say about Mr. K.

nobody@vox.com(Jason Kopanke) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:12:48 -0700

Student 1 Grade 12 Female in my Biology 1 Class (Student has failed each term)
From my perspective, Mr. Kopanke is a good teacher. He makes us write too much, but I enjoy coming in here. He sometimes talks weird by deepening his voice. He always eats some kind of fruit, and he stays drinking water. He also eats these humongous carrots as well. He is a very healthy man I believe. Once he even ate a whole apple, core, seeds and all. It must be a Canadian thing. Over all he is a good teacher even when he makes the students write a billion lines. I enjoy coming in his class looking forward to the Biology world of Mr. Kopanke.

Student 2 Grade 10 Female in my Biology 1 Class (Student has failed one of three terms)
It is actually a joy to be in Mr. Kopanke’s class. His teaching style is more of the strict but its for the better. He has us work from bell to bell to prepare us for the big test that we will have. Mr. Kopanke is very determined to help his students work up to their potential. In the class the student are usually quite and doing their work being that we don’t really have time to play or talk because of the amount of work that we have. Sometimes they might try to act up but after while they get in line because of the consequences. I really appreciate this class and Mr. Kopanke!

Student 3 Grade 12 Male in my Biology 1 Class (Student has failed each term)
I think it is a nice class, but it can get rough at times, like when we have a lot of homework. Now don’t get me wrong he’s one of the best teachers at the school, but it’s just so much we have to do. Then at the same time its stressful to me because, one minute I would be passing the class and before you know it I’m failing. Now, as far as, the class as a whole, we have fun with Mr. K like when we have group activities and everyone is working.

Student 4. Grade 12 Male in my Biology 1 Class (Student has failed each term)
Mr. K’s teaching style is very unique. He makes teaching fun and interesting. Im a senior and its very important to me to have a great teacher. Mr. K helps us when we need it. Some of the other students likes Mr. K as well. The classroom is very quite and professional. Mr K’s teaching style is very professioal and neat!

Student 5 Grade 10 Male in my Biology 1 Class ( Student has failed one out of three terms)
It is very comfortable being in MR.KOPANKE’S class. Every since I been taking his Biology class, my peers and I have been learning a whole lot. MR. KOPANKE’S class is what we all (students) need to pass the state, district, and every other test that we face this school year. He make’s the student do writing assignments when they are be disrupted, which make them receive even more knowledge when their doing punish work.

Student 6 Grade 12 Male in my Biology 1 Class (Student has failed each term)
While being in Biology it is comfortable. He is a out standing teacher who is well enough to teach biology class because he is helping us to reach our goal in biology class. I have learn a lot about his class getting us ready for the state test. He know that we can do it and he believe in us. He also is a professional teacher to one to another.

Student 7 Grade 12 Female in my Biology 1 Class (Student has failed two out of three terms)
I like being in Mr. Kopanke’s class he break things down to make you understand it clearly. But he sometimes make you sleepy by talking a lot. He also knows a lot about biology.

Student 8 Grade 10 Male in my Biology 1 Class (Student has passed every term)
I think that Mr. Kopanke is a good teacher but he is sometimes hard to understand. Being from another country so I guess that’s the way they teach. He keeps his class under control and if we get out of hand we have to write definitions. He have a class just for science. He also have pictures of ducks.

Student 9 Grade 10 Female in my Biology 1 Class (Student has passed every term)
In Mr. Keponke’s class it is always so live and the students are almost always prepared but he has a few like me that are thrilled on A days when they have his class. Each day in biology he his always so thrilled about teaching, he never has a bad day and seems as though he is never tried. I can say that I appreciate his thrill for teaching. The students that want to learn he is liked by them and they just don’t get their work done but understand what is taught to them unlike other classes that just make the students do work.

Student 10 Grade 9 Female in my Science Skills and Reasoning Class (Student has failed two out of three terms)
I think that Mr.k is the best teacher in the world, I also love the way he teaches his class room too.Mr.k is the best teacher that I have ever gotten to know,and his teaching skills are the best even though I don’t always understand he makes it were I will not leave until I learn something Mr.k is a very fine man and I know that he takes his work very serisly ,Mr.K is a wounderful teacher and I wouldn’t have any teacher then Mr.K teaching me biology he is the best.

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Blog 33: Authentic Assessments

nobody@vox.com(Jason Kopanke) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 07:00:09 -0700

Authentic assessment, alternative assessments, application based learning- these are three different names for the same things. The concept behind these learning strategies is instead of giving the traditional facts based test a project can be more beneficial. Proponents of this method of learning believe that the student buy in will be greater. Therefore students will put forth greater effort on the assigned tasks and learn the core subject as well as the intangible life skills often missed in the traditional test style education.

In theory I fully agree with this concept. In an ideal world I would be a full backer of this style of learning. However, I think it can only work well in a school full of keeners. I believe that alternative assignment is an excellent tool to use after the students have mastered the basics of acceptable behavior, reading, writing and arithmetic. Once the student has a baseline understanding, you can excite their interest and let them run with it. Studies have shown that the new emphasis on standardized tests has increased teacher's enthusiasm and effort levels (Kornhaber, 2004). This would not necessarily happen if classes fully adopted the alternative assessment method.

What assessments look like in my class now…

I believe that traditional bookwork based study is the best method for under performing students. Students, who do not have suitable, or base line intelligence. I believe my students can learn more through mastering the ability of sitting and working than through an independent project. Because of this I keep my class traditional. I have a brief lecture period then I have the students do independent projects for the majority of the class. Near the end of the class I often review the key concept of the day. The intangibles that my students are learning are how to work independently and diligently. If they master these two life skills I believe I have helped them a lot. Tests that I give are the traditional style of test, usually multiple choice.

What would I like my assessments to look like in the future…

The future depends largely upon where I end up. If I continue to teach in a troubled school I will not change the method of teaching that I use. However, should I end up teaching in a higher level school I believe I will insert several alternative assessments into my lessons. I love the idea and I really like how these assessments allow the students to “connect the dots” between concepts. However, I really do not believe that this style of learning is the most effective for an low level school.

Challenges of implementing an alternative assessment into my classroom
I believe that alternative assessments would be an administrator’s nightmare. Lets say that in a good school the traditional method produces students who grasp on average around 80% of the material. Now if an alternative method assignment could bring that average up to 95% or drop it down below 50%. This form of instruction is easy to mess up, but if designed properly, with high performing students, will results in very successful learning results. The key to success of failure of this project would be in the design of the experiment.

Kornhaber, M. 2004. Appropriate and Inappropriate Forms of Testing, Assessment, and Accountability. Educational Policy, 18:1 pg 45-70

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Blog 31: A Portrait of Mississippi

nobody@vox.com(Jason Kopanke) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 03:32:32 -0700

A Portrait of Mississippi
This paper peaked my interest on a lot of levels. It reviewed the Human Development Index relative to the various states in the country. This index gives a relative standard of living by taking into account life expectancy, education and income. The scores are out of ten with the higher scores being better. The discrepancies among a nation, its state and ethnic groups within a state were appalling. I knew that there were differences but did not realize to what extent.

Discrepancies:
This was shocking, absolutely shocking. Mississippi scored last in life expectancy, first in uneducated adults over 25, worst state for Human Development Index and among the highest for infant mortality. What is worse is that when the statistics are looked at within ethnic groups, African American children in some areas had a similar caliber of life as those in a third world country. This to me was appalling. In one of the wealthiest nations in the world how is this possible?

What causes these vast differences, a student at my inner city Jackson school, or a rural delta school. Why would they choose to perpetuate this cycle? Everyone in America has the same rights by law, yet why do so few take advantage? My family came from Europe after the Second World War with nothing. They were peasant farmers in the old country, had little education and could hardly speak the language. Despite this, they worked hard at low paying jobs and were able to retire reasonably well off. Why would people in America, who have all the advantages, not make full use of them?

Some argue that our students do not have advantages and are deprived. Their high school education may not be at the standard of other locations, yet so few of my students actually attempt to maximize what they have been given. Everyday I observe them clown around when they could be learning. The students in Jackson have an opportunity to complete a JPS high school diploma. This diploma may not teach them enough to go to an elite university. However, it should be sufficient for them to attend at least a Junior College or Jackson State University.

A Junior College diploma should allow them to attain a reasonable job. This reasonable job should allow them to move into a better neighborhood with better schools. These better schools should allow their children to receive a better education and then attend a better university. The American Dream is still alive. However, it now may take several generations to accomplish.

I do not blame people for where they are. I do not know where I would be if I had been raised in a similar setting. As an outsider being immersed into this new culture I ponder how and why does this all happen? How can this cycle be changed? What is the factor that perpetuates this cycle? What lessons in history can we apply to this mystery? "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again" (Matthew 7:1-2)

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Blog 30: Two Maps

nobody@vox.com(Jason Kopanke) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 19:35:02 -0700

Snapshot 2009-03-31 21-07-53

Map One: I picked this map because I thought it was interesting. This map showed where the standard of living was the highest in Mississippi. As mentioned previously this standard of living is an index based upon expected income, education attainment and life expectancy. Washington-Bolivar County has the lowest standard of living. This county also has largest discrepancies between African American and white American in wealth (see Map Two) What would map two be like the standard of living was separated by race?

Snapshot 2009-03-25 21-31-12

Map Two: I chose this maps because I believe that this was one of the most startling things I have ever seen. What shocked me the most was the vast difference in wealth in the delta. This area has traditionally been a white dominated area, however, I never realized that there was such a vast economical difference. Whites, on average in Washington-Bolivar Counties were about twice as wealthy as those of African descent.

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Blog 29: Summer School

nobody@vox.com(Jason Kopanke) — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 18:25:41 -0800

February 28, 2009
Summer School Unfulfilled Promise

Reflection:
This article was an interesting read. As the title would suggest it examined how various states run summer school. It was particularly focused on the Chicago summer school program. This program is still widely considered one of the best in the nation (Stone et al, 2005). Under the context of the law, where students are required to stay in school until a certain age, the key question is what to do with the underperforming students. Historically the answer has either social promotion or retention. Both have significant drawbacks. The author of this report suggest that summer school is a good alternative. By providing an opportunity for struggling students to attend summer school many are able to pass on their own merit and not ‘clog’ the middle schools.

MTC Summer School 2009:
I would imagine that MTC summer school will be an academic setting. The students, although they may not want to be there, they paid to come. Therefore, fear of being removed and losing their money should increase their attentiveness. I would hope that the teachers will provide the best education possible for the students and I would hope that all of us as teachers will make it an environment conducive to learn.

Success at MTC Summer School 2009:

The rod I use to measure success at summer school will be the same one I use at school now. This is simply being able to say yes to the following question. “Have I done my reasonable best to accomplish my goal of providing the best education possible for these students.” If I can say yes to this question then whether my students all go on to score perfectly on the state test or they all fail I have done what I can.

I have developed this measure of success because of the intangible of student's learning. In my brief teaching career I set target goals on district tests for my students to attain. They consistently failed miserably to reach what I presumed to be meager learning objectives. At the same time these students were out producing the district results. Ideally I would like to have my entire student attain a complete mastery of the material taught. However, since at this point in my career I feel that this is too high of a goal, I base success on my effort.

To ensure student success I will work hard to ensure that the little things in the class are set up and conducive to learning. First and foremost I will work to ensure that the class is quiet and constantly on task. Secondly I will ensure that my lessons are of the highest caliber possible. Finally, I will attempt to incorporate some labs to help provide some visual representation of theoretical knowledge.

Thoughts on Recommendations For State Policies:
The recommendations for summer school were interesting. I agreed with some of the suggestion. These suggestions imply the use of summer school as a kind of remediation class for students who do not attain sufficient information during the regular school year. This is a valid option but a successful special education option I believe could handle the same task during the school year. I do not agree that summer school is the only option. However, I do agree that there should be some sort of safety net for students who are struggling academically.

Stone S., Engel M., Nagaoka J., Roderick M. 2005. Getting t the second time around: Student classroom experience
in Chicago’s Summer Bridge Program. Teachers College Record 107: 935-957.

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