The Melting Pot

Our schools and our communities are considered a "Melting Pot" and we must understand what these means to help us teach our children how to get along within cultures.

“The melting pot is a metaphor for a heterogeneous society becoming more homogeneous the different elements "melting together" into a harmonious whole with a common culture. It is particularly used to describe the Cultural assimilation of immigrants to the USA.”

The melting was used to describe a society that was diverse, becoming a more similar society. Based on this description I believe that we are a Melting pot. We are a society that has adapted to a new way of life and a new culture but have been able to keep our own identity and keep the characteristics that make us unique in our own cultures. Many of us have married people from a different culture and have been able to integrate both cultures and teach our children the difference. At the same time our children recognize each culture as different but as part of them. With this as they go to school and interact they adapt to “The American Way” and integrate this new culture to what they already have. We have become a melting pot because many of us have embraced our own culture and completely adapt to a new culture in every way.

I was born in Boston, but my family is from Puerto Rico. I speak English and Spanish as do my children. I make foods that are part of my culture and we celebrate certain holidays that are part of our culture. At the same time my children love burgers and pizza. We celebrate the 4^th of July with pride because above all we are Americans and are very proud of whom we are in this American society.

I believe people like to use the Phrase “a salad bowl”, because in a salad there are many ingredients, but each ingredient stands out on its own. You can tell and see each ingredient but at the same time we believe it would not be a salad if it only had lettuce; it will be just lettuce. Meaning that once you add a second ingredient it becomes something else, but the lettuce has not stopped being lettuce.

We don’t have to be just one thing; we can be a mixture of many wonderful things that have melted into one great person. Teaching our children the importance of every culture and how to respect each other for what we are, can make a difference in the classrooms, home and in our society.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/melting%20pot

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/melting+pot

Language and Communication

Language is the human use of spoken or written words as a communication system. As our

children grow they learn to use language to communicate with others their wants and needs. As

parents we have certain expectations of how much our children should know at different stages.

Learning language is a natural process. Our children are born with the ability to learn language

and it begins there, at birth.

As babies children learn to use certain ways to communicate; for example if a babe is hungry he

will cry to let his mother know that something is wrong. THe parent reaction to the baby lets

hem know that when I cry my parent will come to my aide. As they continue their growth, they

will learn sounds and words to help them communicate. They can use "mama", "daddy" or even

more complicated words like "water, milk, peepee".

Once a child learns words they begging to use those words in phrases. "Want more" , "give me"

and my favorite "I't mine" Children will make mistakes but at this stage they are trying to make

sense of what they learn and learning how to use it. As they grow out of this stage they move to

complete sentences. Children learn a great deal of language in a short period of time, but even

those children that seem to have great language skills will benefit from the language activities

from a preschool.

Children typically learn about five new words a day. We must also understand that oral language

is followed by written language. We encourage story reading to help children understand that

writing is also part of communicating.

So remember to read to your child as often as possible and encourage language communication,

using positive enforcement.

Let's Begin Reading Right: A Developmental Approach to Emergent Literacy, by M.V. Fields,

L.A. Groth, K.L. Spangler, 2008 edition,

Education and Public Policy: High Quality Teaching

Education and Public Policy: High Quality Teaching: I've worked for the Head Start Program for over ten years, and it is why I believe that everything starts from the preschool years...

High Quality Teaching

I've worked for the Head Start Program for over ten years, and it is why I believe that everything starts from the preschool years. The children that  attend a high-quality preschool, are more successful in kindergarten and beyond, compared to those that did not attended preschool or attended a school that was not of a great education quality. 

The policies for the preschool programs are not the same for all. Head Start is a Federal Funded program, therefore the rules and regulations are not the same as the private daycares or preschools. I feel that since many researches have shown that this a very critical time for the children, the regulations for all programs should be the same. This will create an equal opportunity for all children. We can also create a preschool program for all elementary schools. If this is not a choice all Counties should support the Head Start programs in their communities.

At this point in our society more than 75% of children over the age of three are receiving care from other than a parent and out of those more than 50% are in a program. We should measure all programs education quality. As we measure, we can structure the preschools around our Country. 

This will take observations of how the current programs available work at this time. This observations can be based on the qualifications of the teaching staff, the child teacher interaction, environment, instruction and curriculum, health, routines and interactions with parents and families. Many other factors are also part of a great program, but this are some of the examples of what we look in a good quality program. 

When all this things are observed in a program, children have a better learning experience and a great development in different areas, like language, social skills, math and many more. 

The programs should be part of the free education program. If it is a critical time for the children, why only the parents that have money can afford a great program, versus the low income families that the children end up in a daycare program where education is not a priority, with minimum wage workers, that have a minimum of three months of training and no prior experience. WE should make great quality preschools available to all.

Lets Get Involve!

Accountability in Education

Accountability has become a blame game. Who do we blame for the lack of good performance by the students. 

We do agree that somebody must be accountable for the lack of performance from the children, but we start pointing fingers without taking responsibility. We have always been concern about our children's performance and we have always wanted great results from our schools. The people want to see changes in our Education System , and the politicians have decided to punish the teacher to show the people that they are working to better the schools, but the truth is that the lack of funding for equipment, for better pay for staff , for building needs are also a great influence and also at fault. The expectations that they have for the schools are great , but the conditions that the schools have to work with many times are very bad. The community must get involve so they can see first hands what the schools need. 

 Besides that we also have the standardized test that measure proficiency. In the Florida department of Education we have the Sunshine State Standards.The standard are statements that describe the knowledge or ability that a student should be able to demonstrate by the end of every grade level from first through twelfth grade in the state of Florida. The standard cover eight ares; English language, Math, Science, Social Studies. PE, World Language. Fine Arts and Health Education. 

The standards are subdivided in benchmarks. The benchmarks outline the specific knowledge and skill that the students are expected to learn. In third grade students start taking the Florida Comprehensive Assessment test (FCAT) in Reading, Writing, Math and Science. This test is to see the child's progress and if the children reached the goals or benchmarks. If the child does not pass the FCAT the child could be retained in the grade until they pass the test. Curriculums are based on the Sunshine State standards and the FCAT. 

Sample Approaches For Using Assessment Data As Part Of A Results-Driven Accountability System//http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/osep/rda/sample-approaches.pdf

  Successful schools and educational accountability: concepts and skills to meet leadership challenges/Kenneth K. Wong, Anna Nicotera; James W. Guthrie, series editor.

Graduation Rates in Our Schools

According to Harvard University there is Graduation Rate crisis. The Minority groups are being left behind and graduating rates are lower now that in prior years. in 2001 only 50% of African American students graduated High School and 53% of Hispanic students graduated. If we compare  to their White counterparts; which 74.9 % of white students graduated high School is considered a great difference. Racial disparities are not the only issue, children with disabilities also have a low graduating rate. 

Compare back where the national graduation rate for the class of 1998 was 71%. For white students the rate was 78%, while it was 56% for African-American students and 54% for Latino students. 

In my state of Florida we have The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT).This is a high-stakes test that public school students must pass to be eligible for graduation from high school.  According to a study done in Duval County Fl; students coming from poorer, less educated, or higher mobility households are less likely to meet graduation requirements than their higher socioeconomic, White, suburban counterparts. African American students and students from the lowest income households are also the most likely to encounter a negative graduation effect "because the passing score on the FCAT rises each year".

Graduation rates are not only lower for the low income; poorer students; The higher socioeconomic students rates are lower than past years. There are a lot more graduating requirements and many times parents feel that children do not learn, and teacher are teaching for the test alone. Many other things are put to side and the students are being trained just to pass the FCAT. 

Orfield, G., Losen, D., Wald, J., & Swanson, C., (2004). Losing Our Future: How Minority Youth are Being Left Behind by the Graduation Rate Crisis, Cambridge, MA: The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University. Contributors: Advocates for Children of New York, The Civil Society Institute.

Plenty of Children Left Behind: High-Stakes Testing and Graduation Rates in Duval County, Florida//Educational Policy November 2007 21: 695-716, first published on April 24, 2007