Part+6


 * Dewy John. "My Pedagogic Creed"**

Deanna: This article explained John Dewey’s “pedagogic creed” or what he believed about education. The author, also known as the “Father of Progressive Education”, gave his beliefs about what education is, what the school is, the subject-matter of education, the nature of method and the school and social progress. While some of the ideas are still seen and believed by many today, I do feel that educators today have eliminated or revised some of this thoughts and beliefs in practices today. I strongly agree that we should stress how to use the knowledge we are teaching the students instead of just teaching them the knowledge and letting that be “enough.” When teaching students, they will learn much better if they feel that the knowledge is useful and will be useful in the future. Thus, it is imperative that we teach them why the material is important and relative in their lives. One other point that I strongly agreed with is that “the school is primarily a social institution.” Education is a social process and by getting the students to be social with one another benefits their learning of the material. When they share their previous and current experiences with their peers and make connections to real world activities, they also learn better and it makes the material more relevant and helps it “stick” with them more.

Dustin: This article consisted of John Dewey presenting his educational creed in five different bulleted sections. The five different sections were that he gave his personal beliefs on were: what education is, what the school is, the subject-matter of education, the nature of method, and the school and social progress. Dewey's bulleted thoughts touched on many different points in each of these sections. The section that I enjoyed (and understood) the most was the first one, largely due to the summary after the bulleted points. I found myself particularly agreeing with the first sentence of that summary, "In sum, I believe that the individual who is to be educated is a social individual, and that society is an organic union of individuals." I really like the idea of educated individuals being called social individuals, as education is so important to a person's social life.

Alex:

I have heard of John Dewey. I know that his work in philosophy and education are highly influential. This essay, consisting of his beliefs on the subject of education, contains some very powerful points. I will highlight the ones the struck me most. At the end of Article I "What Education Is" Dewey talks about education without the social factor. To quote him directly he says, "If we eliminate the social factor from the child we are left only with an abstraction" and goes on to say, "If we eliminate the individual factor from society, we are left only with an inert and lifeless mass". In other words, education is both a social and individual process. I think this can tie in with the notion of supporting both interpersonal and intrapersonal learners. Certainly, when students work together they are exposed to more ideas, perhaps ideas they would never think of on their own; their thoughts are challenged, they learn by discussing and questioning. This is somewhat worthless, however, if students are not given time to reflect, remember and retrieve what they have learned. Retrieval is key, which is why the individual aspect is so import. Another point I found intriguing was in Article III "The Subject-Matter of Education", when Dewey says, "education must be concieved as a continuing reconstruction of experience; that the process and goal of education are one and the same thing". In other words, the foundation from which all knowledge is built is prior experience. Everything we learn is judged and compared initially to what we already know. In this way it is the reconstruction of our experience and the adding to and adjusting our mind's schema. Thus, the process of education--this adding, adjusting and adapting of our experiential knowledge--is just as important as the goal of education itself. Finally, in Article II "What School Is", Dewey says, "education, therefore, is a process of living and not a preparation for living". Indeed, education prepares a student with the knowledge needed to function in the "grown-up world". Dewey argues, however, that because the school is a social institution and a community itself, this actual practice for life is not "practice" but life itself. I think this is important. Treat school as real-life, because it is. It's a society. I think with this realization students will learn and participate more.

Lauren:

Reading Dewey’s long list of educational ideas has only left me confused. I find myself disagreeing with many things he has written and confused when I consider how to achieve the things he has outlined. For instance, Dewey writes “the true center of correlation on the schools subjects is not science, nor literature, nor history, nor geography, but the child’s own social activities.” Yes. However, in order to be an educated, social person, students need to know information about science and social studies in order to function highly in society. Dewey says to cut things which are not directly related to their social lives, so how are current events in India directly related to their social life? Well, they aren’t. But I want students to look outside of their community (which I have the impression Dewey disagrees with) and expose them to many ideas to inspire them. I don’t know if I have completely misinterpreted this article, but I feel opposed to most things that I read.


 * Rogers, Carl. "Personal Thoughts on Teaching and Learning"**

Becca: In this essay, Rogers draws on the significant conclusions that he made during his experience as a teacher and a learner. Several of the suggestions that Rogers makes in his essay are provocative and challenge the norm. He suggests that, in his experience teaching students damages their learning. When students actually learn something and teaching is successful, they question their own experiences and find them insignificant. Therefore, Rogers suggests that the way of learning needs to change. He outlines what he thinks learning should look like... 1) Society gets rid of teaching and people can just get together if they wish to learn. 2) Schools get rid of exams because they don't measure real learning 3) Society gets rid of degrees because they fail to generate life long learners 4) Institutions need to do away with grades 5) Education needs to eliminate conclusions because the learner fails to challenge when conclusions are in place. Wow! I don't even know where to begin with these ideas. To follow this philosophy of learning means to re-create society and the way things run. Imagine eliminating schools and universities. Would people work or just sit around and learn? What would be the new qualifier for jobs? How would people live, and how would society run? In reality, to follow this philosophy of leaning would be unrealistic in today's society. Although Roger's ideas remain very provocative, I believe that pieces of his conclusions deserve serious thought. For example, the use of examinations/standardized tests. What do they actually measure? Are we actually measuring learning or simply just testing test taking skills? These tests hold great weight in our society and we need to consider why that is. Also, Rogers suggests that people should just get together is they wish to learn, and teaching needs to stop. I think that there is some value in this idea. It is our job as teachers to get students excited about learning, and me, as a constructivist advocate believe that there needs to be less direct teaching and more cooperative learning. Although, this doesn't mean that no teaching should occur, because students need someone to facilitate discussions and help generate deeper thought. Instead this means that schools need to consider the individual being taught and make that person an active part of his/her education. Overall, Rogers' article is very extreme but when looked at carefully he offers several ideas that can be applicable in current society.

Deanna: This article tries to emphasize that students already possess the knowledge we are teaching them and that it is our job to help them realize that they do already know this and draw it out of them. We need to get students to drop their defenses so they might understand they way their experiences affect and influence other people and to realize how other people’s experiences relate to them and their own lives. We also need to help students recognize their own misunderstanding, misconceptions and things which confuse them. When students realize that they do not understand something or that something puzzles them, they are more likely and inclined to clarify or ask for help clarifying the meaning. Also, that we should use experiences that the students have had in order to make a stronger meaning and stronger connection with the material. When students see the relevance and the connections, they are more likely to “buy into” the importance of learning what we are teaching them.

Dustin: This short article by Carl Rogers contained some massive ideas. It consisted of Rogers reflecting on some of his thoughts about teaching, and what he thinks those thoughts might mean. He thoughts and reflections can be seen as very radical, but really they all make sense. It is also worth noting that Rogers questioned his own thoughts repeatedly throughout this article. In essence though he discusses how anything learned from extrinsic motivation (as most learning from teaching happens) is essentially worthless to the individual. Instead he suggests that learning should change over to communities of learners who are all intrinsically motivated. These ideas would do away with teaching as we know it, and would lend itself to an environment where people are constantly learning throughout their lives. I really like the idea of creating an environment where students and people get together because they want to learn. As a teacher, I know that I enjoy teaching more when my students are genuinely interested in what they are learning.

Alex:

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The author of this article, Carl Rogers, makes some controversial points. Many of them I disagree with. Many of them, however, I tend to agree with very much. First, a recap of some of his points. the first, second and third points I disagree with. The last two, however, I believe have a seed of truth. I think the most significant things one can learn are done through self-discovery, self-appropriation and personal desire. No teacher and force a student to want to learn. Students learn when they want to and don't when they don't want to. I believe this to be true not matter how good your strategies are. All a teacher can do is provide powerful opportunities to learn and provide support and inspiration. The rest is really up to students. Secondly, I think that experience is certainly the number one teacher. I have been told a million things throughout my life. The things I understand most are the things i've experienced. They are important because they happened to me. I agree that experience is the greatest teacher. Experience can be accounted for in the classroom by allowing students to have a variety of experiences, providing outside opportunities to learn, and most importantly, turning real-life into a place where students see learning opportunities.
 * one cannot teach another how to teach
 * anything that can be taught is inconsequential
 * the only important learnings are those that influence behavior
 * the only significant learnings are self-discovered
 * truth/knowledge are gained through experience

Lauren

I like a lot of what Rogers writes in this article, and can see why this has become a classic in education. Reflecting on the most important things I have learned, I realize I learned them through trial and error. I learned them through my own experiences. However, there are countless things and realizations I have made in the classroom under the supervision of a teacher. I can recall several important A-HA moments in my life in the classroom (at every level), and these are moments that changed my views on the world and life significantly. Rogers writes, “I have come to feel that the only learning which significantly influences behavior is self-discovered, self-appropriated learning.” I agree with this, but realize the tough part is figuring out how to lead students to this self-discovery. It’s not possible to learn everything necessary without guidance. Thinking about important moments in my life and lessons I learned, I would not have been able to make sense of the situation without the guidance of my parents. I feel teachers have the same role.


 * Boyer, Ernest L. "The Educated Person"**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Deanna: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In this article, the author describes what he thinks should be taught and focused on in formal education. He states that we need to have less focus on seat time and the Carnegie units and focus more on things that really matter and that connect students to the world. He listed eight commonalities that we all share and that “binds us to one another”: the life cycle, language, the arts, time and space, groups and institutions, work, the natural world and search for meaning. He describes each of these in quite a bit of detail and why it is important to teach our students these things as opposed to what we are teaching now. Of the eight listed, the ones that made the most sense to me were the life cycle and search for meaning. The life cycle is of huge importance because, as the author points out, children often times grow up not understanding how to make healthy choices. Therefore, by teaching them at a young age how to make smart choices and what those “smart choices” are (or are not in some cases) can help them become better adults and really help them get further in life. The search for meaning section was quite relevant for me because it talked about community service projects and how much of an impact they have. When I was a senior in high school, I got the opportunity to work at a pre-school as one of my classes. This was the most meaningful experience I had had in my twelve years of schooling. I got to see kids grow and develop and realized that I was impacting those kids just being there and with everything I chose to do with them and with everything I said. It also put things I had learned from child development into perspective because I got to see it actually occurring. I do believe that every student needs to have this experience (not necessarily a pre-school, but any community service project) because it is not only educational, it is eye-opening.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Alex:

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I loved this article. Something that captures the true essence of what education is: the connectedness of all things. Boyer discusses the 8 components of the educated mind: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1. understanding the human community as being connect by their common life cycle--birth, life and death. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2. understanding that language is the unique human ability to articulate complexly, communicate intimately and commune as a species in a powerful way. Language is more than words written and spoke, it is numbers, codes, sign systems, aesthetics, music, dance, sculpture, theater etc. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3. understanding that the arts are the human expression. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">4. understanding who we are in time and space and the importance of a vertical culture. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">5. we all belong to groups and institutions, we are social beings. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">6. understanding the art of work and craft. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">7. understanding the power and importance of the natural world. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">and finally the most important thing in my book 8. the search for meaning. We are all trying to figure out what this big thing we're in really is.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This essay touches on the fundamentals of life--the human condition. Education, then, is an understanding of the human condition, the ability to make connections between all things in the world, community with the human race, all that the human race offers (language, arts, groups and work), connection to the natural world and finally, the pursuit of meaning. We must make meaning from the world we live in. We are here to ponder the big questions--why??

Two of my main beliefs that this essay eloquently discusses are that everything we see is connected in someway. Our lives will be infinitely richer if we obtain the skills to make those connections. Finally, life is about making meaning. Without meaning we are all floating around. Meaning gives up purpose and purpose gives us joy.

Dustin: Like Alex, I also loved this article. The different human commonalities that author Ernest L. Boyer believes we should design our curriculum around make a lot of sense to me. I won't bother re-listing these as Alex already has, but the authors idea of moving into curriculum that really matters to people within their lives can be seen as a way to really engage students and help foster the kind of learners we all hope to see in schools. The human commonalities approach to curriculum that Boyer takes also works because the various disciplines already being taught can be applied to the human commonalities. In a way, the different commonalities are like interdisciplinary units and themes in that they teach something important to students using many different methods and curriculum. For instance, the commonality of the natural world can be taught using literary terms and works related to nature, the science of nature, the history of how people have interacted with nature and how nature has shaped societies, and the math of how some things in nature happen. While changing the curriculum completely is an unlikely task, putting interdisciplinary units into a school based on these human commonalities is definitely possible.


 * Baines, Lawrence and Foster, Hal. "A School for the Common Good"**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Deanna: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">“Common schools once stood for equal opportunity, community, and pluralism, yet American education has become selective, specialized, and caste conscious.” Although saddening, this quote is extremely true and I have, indeed, noticed how education has become secluded and very much based on economic status. Those who can afford to send their children to charter schools and private schools often do, especially when the school district they live in is below average and struggling. Also, those who can handle it will often times evoke their right of school of choice if they do not like their schooling system. However, those who cannot afford private school and who cannot manage having their children attend a school district in which they do not live are stuck with the below average schools. These schools are below average because all the students who are “above average” and made the school good, have chosen to leave and attend a different school. Furthermore, when bills come up to improve these below average schools and to help increase their funds, those who live there and send their kids to other districts are not going to want to pay more taxes to help a school in which their child does not attend. This vicious cycle needs to stop and schooling needs to be “good” everywhere and give every child a chance to succeed and better themselves so they have a bright future.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Alex:

I didn't like the article nearly as well as the last one. It focuses on charter schools, school of choice legislation, home schooling, the future of tax revenue in an aging America, delocalization of schools, disconnect from community, the large percentage of students enrolled outside of public schools and many other ailments that threaten the institution of public education. The quote that Deanna mentions, however, I feel may be the most pressing issue in this article. The idealistic view of the common school, a common ground for students congregate where SES, race etc. were not an issue. All students are equal with equal opportunity. Come on now. We knew this wouldn't last terribly long if it was ever that way in the first place. Indeed, "common schools once stood for equal opportunity, c<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">ommunity, and pluralism, yet American education has become selective, specialized, and caste conscious.” Education, like all social institutions is subject to classicism and caste system-esque divisions. I don't know the way around this. We all want for our own children to have the best opportunities. Who can blame a parent for choosing a better school, for sending their student to a private or charter school if they have the means. The public school system does have a whole set of issues. My concern lies with those students whose parents don't have the choice. The students who don't have the opportunities. The students in all of Jonathan Kozol's books. Aren't they equally important? Our early ideals would say so. How do we get back there?

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Dustin: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This article was kind of a downer in that it showed how and why public schools are losing funds and students. The article points out the growing percentage of students who don't attend neighborhood public schools, and how that choice can negatively impact local schools. With students attending charter and other private schools, parents are more and more hesitant to give money via taxes to public education. In addition to this, the author points out how revenue from taxes is dwindling due to various laws. The end result is that schools are receiving the percentage of funds that they used to, which is an obvious problem with the need to continue to appropriately pay professionals and to incorporate technology into the classrooms.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lauren

Baines and Foster write about the initial premise of the common school, and how this idea has fallen through the cracks…and that crack only seems to get wider. The idea that students from any background can come together for a mutual community education goal excites me. I hate seeing class divisions in our schools, not just for our students, but for our teachers. Teachers treat poor students as if they are less intelligent than rich students, and this injustice is getting worse (in my eyes). Technically I’m still confused as to what a charter school is and how it is different from a public school, but my general understanding is that they benefit the educational system. JFK got it right when he said, “our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education.” Why does no one else see this? Our country spends more per student each year than any other country in the world…yet we are far down on performance lists world-wide. How are we spending this money? Why is education not more of an emphasis in our government? I am frustrated, as are the authors, and I would love to see more of a financial mix in our schools. Each student is entitled to a great education, no matter their SES.


 * Damon, William. "Good? Bad? or None of the Above?"**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Deanna: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">With this article, we are back to the topic of character education. However, here it is not a question of whether or not it should be taught. The author states that whether we like it or not, teachers teach character education to students and that we need to be aware of that and, furthermore, we need to make a conscious effort to do so. I agree with what the author is saying in this article because everyone, no matter what role they play, be it a teacher, coach, friend or parent, has an impact on character education of the people around you. I believe that you cannot learn this stuff from books, you can only truly learn it once you experience it and experience the effects of your choices and of others’ choices on you. Personal experiences are a much more profound way to learn something than from reading it in books and from just being told to be a good person. Relationships are important to all people and impact lives on a daily basis so making that connection with character choices and relationships is crucial. Therefore, I think that teachers need to realize that, whether they want to or not, they are shaping their students lives and that they should make a completely conscious effort to teach and model good character traits and to explain why bad ones are harmful and damaging to personal relationships.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Becca: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The focus of this article is teaching character education in schools. While this article touches on many components of character education and how why it is important that schools teach it, I specifically like the example given about the boy that stole from a classmate. The teacher caught the student steeling and sent a letter home to the parents. That was the extent of punishment at school. The teacher feared that the student would become unpopularity if the issue was addressed. As I read though this story, I thought to myself, And what good is that doing the student? It's basic psychology, if the student does not experience a consequence for his action, then he won't learn that it is wrong. By forgetting about the action and not approaching it, the teacher is doing a disfavor to the child. This led me to my next question, in order to address this behavior and enforce character development, how would I address the issue? I don't think that punishment would be the best way to approach this so I would probably use logical consequences and make sure the consequence matched up with the deed. Overall, teachers need to create a safe environment for students to learn, but failing to enforce consequences for behavior is not the answer. Students look up to us and it is our job to teach them character and right from wrong.


 * Strike, Kenneth A. "The Ethics of Teaching"**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Becca: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This essay discusses the concept of ethics in the classroom and how to be as ethical as possible when teaching. The article suggests that there are 2 major ideas to consider when making ethical decisions, <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1) The principle of benefit of maximization- we should should choose the path that will benefit the majority of people <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2) the principle of equal respect for persons- we need to respect students equally and see them as worthy and moral individuals <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The key to ethical decision making is including both of these principles in the decision making process. If only one is considered than a decision might not be ethical. For example, the article gives the example of a teacher spending all of his/her time with the "smart" group and ignoring everyone else. While by doing this the teacher is increasing test scores which fits in with the benefit of maximization, he or she does not consider the principle of equal respects for person. I think that the number one argument in this essay is that both of these principles must work together. The fact remains that one idea doesn't hold presentence over the other. Instead, an ethical decision takes into consideration both principles.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Deanna: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As mentioned in this article, there are many ethical decisions that we, as teachers, must make. Furthermore, what we may see as logical and “ethical”, others may not and we need to be ready to justify our actions. The author states two principles one should consider when making and justifying decisions that could be deemed “unethical.” First, the principle of benefit maximization is doing something so that everyone (or at least the majority) will benefit from the action. The author states that it is similar to utilitarianism, “which holds that our most general moral obligation is to act in a manner that produces the greatest happiness for the greatest number.” Obviously we want everyone to succeed and benefit from our choices and decisions as teachers and the best way to do that is to make choices that benefit the most people. The second principle, the principle of equal respect for persons, is doing something that treats everyone fairly and equally. This principle requires us to treat everyone as having equal worth and respecting that. These two principles intertwine but sometimes one can be used to prove unethical treatment/decisions while the other one proves, at the same time, that an ethical choice was made. Therefore, perhaps the best thing to do is make your decisions based on your beliefs, your school’s beliefs and the beliefs of your co-teachers so that everyone is on the same track with what they are doing.


 * McDaniel, Thomas R. "The Teacher's Ten Commandments: School Law in the Classroom"**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Becca: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In this article, Thomas identifies the 10 commandments of teacher, or the 10 commandments of school. These commandments consist of.. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1) Thou Shalt Not Worship in the Classroom <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2) Thou Shalt Not Abuse Academic freedom <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3) Thou Shalt not Engage in Private Activities that Impair Teaching Effectiveness <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">4) Thou Shalt Not Deny Students Due Process <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">5) Thou Shalt Not Punish Behavior Through Academic Penalties <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">6) Thou Shalt Not Misuse Corporal Punishment <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">7) Thou Shalt Not Neglect Students' Safty <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">8) Thou Shalt Not Slander or Libel Your Students <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">9) Thou Shalt Not Use Photocopy in Violation of Copyright Law <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">10) Thou Shalt not be Ignorant to the Law <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This essay goes into depth about these 10 commandments and identifying specific mandates under them. Overall I found this essay very useful and informational. Although some commandments seemed like common sense like Thou Shalt Not Worship In The Classroom and Thou Shalt Not Misuse Corporal Punishment, others were not as stable. For example, the commandment Thou Shalt Not Engage in Private Activities that Impair Teaching Effectiveness remains somewhat unclear. I know that this is a controversial topic for teachers, administration and the community. The article states that teachers MUST NOT engage in activities that might effect teaching. This includes illegal activities, personal involvement with students, and talking poorly of students or co-workers. I completely agree with this commandment and the points that it makes. As teachers we chose a public career and we must maintain a sense of dignity in school as well as the community. The point where this commandment gets hazy though is with technology and facebook. I know a few cases where teachers were let go for having evidence of drinking on their facebook. This can be as simple as drinking a few beers at the bar and having a picture of it online. I understand it is the teacher's responsibility to be aware of their facebook and keep it clean, but my question is, how clear are technology laws made to teachers. And, is having a picture of a teacher drinking a beer on facebook any different than running into a teacher at a restaurant drinking a beer? In college we are told again and again, to make sure our facebooks are viewable, but what about the teachers in the schools that don't get news of this importance. The reality remains that teachers must maintain professionalism, but laws need to consider technology and where it falls in professionalism. In addition to technology and professionalism is my issue with the commandment on copyright law. From what I've observed, teachers constantly make illegal copies, show copyrighted movies and so on. They use these materials to enhance their classroom, but use them illegally. The school does not oppose it and action is not taken to punish it. So even though the commandment is in place, it is still violated. On the other hand, if a teacher violates a commandment like abusing students academic freedom then there are serious consequences. Overall, what I gathered from reading this was, even though these commandments are grouped together, some hold more significance and relevance than others in the academic world. While they might be all very important, some are violated without consequence.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Deanna: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This article explained ten “commandments” that teachers should follow and be aware of in terms of school law. While some of the commandments seemed to be pretty much common sense, others explained things and enlightened me about things I was not aware of. I agree especially with commandment five: Thou shalt not punish behavior through academic penalties. I have seen many teachers use grades as a means to control (or attempt to control) student behavior and most of the time it is simply not effective and just makes the student behave worse than before. When students are penalized academically because of a behavior issue, it shuts them off to academics and they simply start not caring. I have also seen teachers use schoolwork as a punishment which is also not effective. Running laps in gym class for being late, having to do extra math problems for disrupting class and things of that nature are defeating our purpose. We want to get kids excited about what we are teaching them but instead we are using it as a punishment which then creates a negative image and label about it in their heads. Overall, I thought this article was beneficial in explaining some of the things that teachers must know and be careful of regarding laws in schools.