Considering the classroom

"It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it." -Aung San Suu Kyi


When I met with Kristy (our classroom instructor), we talked a bit about power. Howard Dean had recently endorsed the message of a terrorist group that I know for a fact is undeserving of any support. I really didn't know what to make of it and consider it to be another corruption of a major political figure. Even now we have political figures like John Boehner, President Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, and Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf defining those in the Occupy movement as "frustrated." With so many decision makers in our society making carefully calculated statements and support of certain causes, it makes me wonder who are allies against the oppressors and who would simply join them for the right price. 

This concerns me as well because educators have a great deal of power in the classroom. While I want to have a democratic and intellectual classrooms, this ideal is hard to achieve. I worry that I will succumb to attaining too much power or abuse it in the classroom. Will I be too worried about my career to have serious political discussion in the classroom that parents or administration may not approve of? This also includes challenging the banking system model that has long been a part of our educational system.

hooks brings up the issue of power in the classroom when stating in Teaching to Transgress, "Fear of losing control in the classroom often leads individual professors to fall into a conventional teaching pattern wherein power is used destructively." This closely relates to the statements of Aung San Suu Kyi who also says those in power can fall prey to fear and thereby become corrupt. Anyone with some amount of power should be extremely wary of this dynamic.

When I first started my classes at MCTC I knew that the old system did not appeal to me. When discussing which philosophy of education I liked the most, it was Existentialist and Social Reconstructionist. This is because I see information that we receive in schools as something that should be questioned and challenged. I also feel that students have their own interests and should have more say as to what they are learning. There also needs to be more of an academic feel to classrooms - to also include a more social aspect. 

There are have been few classrooms I have been in like Kristy's where students get to know each other pretty well. They have been the ones where teachers strive to learn students names - and also expect us to learn each others'.  Too many have made me feel like an anonymous student who simply morphs into the collective class and never was able to show much of who I am. This can be comforting because you then only worry about your own work being shown to the instructor - rather than also to your fellow peers who you've made friends with. Also, what if students don't want to open up to a classroom of others and would prefer to be less social or  not be interested enough in the material to want to think about it more critically. 

These are things I have thought about not just while in class, but also while working on our group project. I have been pondering the political and historical workshop that I am working on. It is by no means perfect or even good in its current draft form. Still, I have thought about where the students' voice can be and how it could influence the direction of the workshop and the conversation. It means I must have a strong knowledge of the subject matter and be flexible enough to take a different avenue if student interest and passion is taking me there. 

Still, if there does not seem to be direction, I can redirect things towards what I want to bring up and can still very well do so. Does that mean that I am still working under the banking style system of inserting my perspective and what I consider to be important? I couldn't argue that I am not, because I have pre-determined subject matter. Students could have a different perspective on it than what I have - for instance they may disagree with the notion of feminist "waves" or disagree that the ERA is a worthwhile Constitutional amendment. I cannot assume that my students will ever be less knowledgeable about a subject than I am. 

As an educator, I also expect that many of my students will be far brighter and more intellectual than myself. They will outdo anything I could have done at their age or even now, depending upon which form of intelligence we are considering. How do I transmit information to students and receive information from them regarding their understanding and implementation of it in different ways? This is something I haven't completely figured out yet and is lacking in my workshop. There are some social discussions and I will try to visually show them - but it is still essentially a lecture with discussions. However, if this were the start of a praxis group to take on oppression against gender-based problems in our society, it wouldn't be an awful place to start either. 

So, this is where I am currently this week: considering the  classroom and what it means to be an educator at this time and in this part of the world. I imagine that it will be something I will ponder for quite a while. 

x = [ -b ± √(b² ± 4ac) ] / 2a

Very little time was spent on researching my praxis group project this week. I will be honest that my focus was on my own education - specifically being able to apply for classes next semester. My accuplacer test for math had expired and I needed to re-take it. Honestly, this is something preferred to be avoided except graduating this spring is pretty important to me. Math for Teachers is a required course for my A.S. so it cannot be ignored.

When I first took the test, it was on the spur of the moment at 8 AM. I woke up and decided this would be the day of the test. As soon as my son was picked up on his morning bus I biked to MCTC without having breakfast. I didn't even study for any portion of the test. I pretty much set myself up for disappointment.

I passed all portions of the test at college level except for math, although it was pretty close. So, if I was to retake it I decided that finding a math book and studying up would be worthwhile. I never got a hold of a book that was sufficient. Nor did I find a website that was sufficient.

Only a few weeks ago when I was chatting with my classmate Madalynn did I hear about a good web resource: Khan Academy. It has mathematics broken down into specific lessons to include hints and YouTube videos. So, I have spent a great deal of my time since furiously going through each lesson. I feel like a procrastinator on this issue, which I am because I could have focused more on it this summer.

This last Thursday, I decided would be the day to re-take it.With no lines at the placement testing, I felt comfortable in deciding the moment to take the it. I had some coffee and lunch after my classes. I spent an hour reviewing such terms as the Pythagorean theorem, trigonometry, and geometry. I was tempted to wait another day and spend the remainder of the day on Khan. However, I resisted this and pressed on.

While taking the test, I found it more difficult than I had thought. During a question I found perplexing I wrote down all the different equations that might be helpful on future problems but were not currently useful. For this and other problems I substituted numbers for different variables to see if they best fit the multiple choice answers. Many problems I had remembered from the first test and had prepared for never appeared, like factoring problems.

Still, I passed the test and nearly covered the college course Math 1165. I was told that my test data would be in the system by 8AM the next day. Yet, at 8PM I registered for Math for Teachers. These will be my final classes at MCTC - at least for my Education degree.

To me math does come easier than most. It can be quite frustrating at times. On Khan, when you type in an incorrect answer, your status bar drops down to nearly nothing. You must then answer several more questions in order to master the lesson. I made the mistake of going too quickly at times and did not properly see what was being asked and made user errors when I could have mastered lessons much more quickly. So, taking your time is pretty critical and checking your work.

Whether or not Education Majors need to re-take their placement tests or not, I still think reviewing your math knowledge would be useful before taking Math for Teachers. Once you reach a challenging lesson, all that mathematical frustration returns. If you persist at the lesson and reach that "Aha!" moment where the lesson makes sense and clicks - it feels well worth it. Further, it gets you in the mode of the student. Anyone can naturally feel frustrated by mathematics and re-acquainting ourselves with that can help us see the other side of knowledge better.

I've also been informing my peers about how great Khan Academy is. It may or may not be funded by the Genghis Khan Foundation, but it's a fantastic resource!