Ashton Mallory ENGL 493

Common Core, although important, are not adopted in my home state of Alaska (where I plan to return to teach). See, Alaska, in certain districts, spends WAY more than any other district in the country. In some districts in Alaska, it can be as much as $45,000 per student. In our big district, Anchorage (45,000 kids), the BSA is about $18,000 ( http://www.edweek.org/ew/section/multimedia/map-how-per-pupil-spending-compares-across-us.html ). But Common Core isn't always accessible or realistic YET for our schools. Often, in our rural schools, the needs of the family or village come before the importance of schooling, and attendance is a conflict. Students also tend to get shuffled often between teachers or have schools that close down due to lack of funding. Internet access is also a continual problem. So the process to implement Common Core in rural districts has been a challenge and is not fully implemented. During the chapter by Beach, Thein, and Webb, there is a section that dis...

I've had a few bad discussion experiences in college. Many of them were bad for two reasons. 1) the professor or teacher monopolized the discussion, making the students uncomfortable and not willing to speak, or 2) some or all students did not have respect for each other and could not discuss things without it turning into an ad hominem argument. When I was reading the case study in section 20 about the "Discussion from Hell", in Gary Lofthouse's class, I was reminded of those awful discussions. I think that discussions, whether small or whole class discussions, are really great for learning ONLY if the students participating are willing and mature enough. Some classes are not built for intense discussions like that, and instead prefer to write out their thoughts. But my job as a teacher is to determine whether classes are ready for discussions and to make sure that there are boundaries for students and that discussions are productive not harmful. I think an importan...