Comments on: for black arthur blythe

This poem is paying homage to the life and music of Arthur Blythe. He was a jazz saxophonist. The author talks about the way Blythe’s music sounded. It was a compilation of the types of jazz from Ragtime to Cool jazz. He was able to take these jazz styles and make them into something new, something that was his own. The author says that his music almost seemed to be improve. It may have seemed this way because the way he changed the melody of the music to fit better suit him. In his music he was free because his music was authentically him.

Comments on: we cannot but chuse to hear

The oil spill in BP seems to be getting worse by the second. The solutions are limited but the devastation is limitless. Not only is this disaster devastating at the moment but the long terms affect are devastating as well. As we all see on television the animals are covered in a brown, thick, mud like substance. We all see this same strange substance washing up on the shores of beaches and layered on the seafloor.
We as a human race have to release that we must protect nature but instead we have been doing the exact opposite. It is high time that we learn that we have a duty to protect nature and the earth. We have failed at this because of greed. The greed that consumes us is profit. We do any and everything to make a profit but look at where it has gotten us. We are in a recession and have the worst environmental disaster in history.

Reflection 4 EME 2040

How do you learn? Do you learn by listening intently to what is said by the teacher or do you learn better when you see how something is done? How do you understand? Do you understand better when you listen to the teacher intently or when you are involved in the lesson? Being involved in the lesson is the corner stone of Inquiry-based learning. The purpose of this kind of learning is to get the students to understand and there has been research to support that students understand better when there are involved in the activity. We all know that students learn in different ways and as educators we must recognize the different ways students learn and accommodate them but I believe this is an effective way to learn. The traditional way that students are taught is as follows: we listen to the teacher speak and listen and write down notes. We may not understand something but we just do it or memorize it the way that the teacher has told us. For many students this is an extremely effective way to learn but I believe that this method is not so effective in getting students to understand the material. Inquiry-based learning encourages asking questions and hands on activities.
The article suggest that we are natural inquires. He gives examples of babies interacting with their environment to better understand. It is true that babies do this to better understand their environment so the author suggests that this is the natural way that we learn but traditional does not have us learn this way. Inquiry-based learning teaches us in this fashion. In this method of learning we do not try to seek an answer to the problem but try to find a solution to the problem. There may also be many different ways that we can do this.
In my experience this has been an extremely effective way for me to learn. I have always been the kind of student to ask many questions. It has never been enough for me to listen to information but I also had to understand why it was this way. When I was involved in an activity I understood it even more. I can understand night and day when I understand that the Earth tilts away from the Sun during the night. I believe the basis of learning is understanding and if we understand then we learn.

Reflection 3 EME 2040

In this class we are learning about different lesson plans. In this reflection I will give my opinion on the Constructivist Lesson Plan. This type of lesson plan consists of six parts and its goal is to invoke planning and contemplation in regards to the way that students learn. This is extremely important because in order to teach we must understand the way students learn. We all know that students learn in many different ways and this type of lesson plan address the different ways students learn. This type of lesson plan is effective because it accommodates every student and promotes a learning environment. The six parts of this lesson plan are Situation, Groupings, Bridge, Questions, Exhibit, and Reflections. All of these steps are equally important and different of one another but are codependent of one another. Each part works as a team to bring the most out of the student and help the student learn. In this type of lesson plan a situation must be created in which you create questions that may be asked from the students and what is expected from the students. The students are also broken up into groups and the material also. The educator is the one who decides how this is happened and in how many groups. You must also devise a way to test the prior knowledge of the students and incorporate that into the lesson. I believe the grouping portion promotes peer learning. It is known that students learn well when they are taught with other students. Also, peer interaction is extremely important in the growth of the student.. You will also ask the students questions in order to better enhance their understanding of the lesson and to enhance the other elements of the lesson plan. The students must also explain how they felt about the lesson and explain what they got out of the lesson. This enables the students to use critical thinking skills which we all know are extremely important. Critical thinking skills are imperative to solve real world problems throughout life. You also want the students to explain what they will most remember about the lesson and how they can apply to real life. This aids the students in understanding the material and enables the students to get the most out of the lesson.

Comments on: a different sort of mule

This poem addressed some comments that Governor Jan Brewer made about the illegal immigrants migrating to Arizona. She had that for the most part; mainly drug mules are coming into Arizona. The author of this poem feels that this kind of thinking is from the inherent belief that whites feel that they are superior to all races. He feels that it was inappropriate for her to make this assumption but it was not surprising. The author feels that because whites have portrayed a belief of superiority among all races it gives them the privilege to make degrading comments such as the ones made by the Governor. He feels that this kind of thinking does not separate the whites from the drug mules. In fact he believes it connects them. This happens because they are smuggling ideas of those that came before. Ideas of prejudice and injustice witch have proven to be detrimental to society.

Reflection 2 EME 2040

In the first Reflection I talked about how important a lesson plan is. We know that it is guided by our educational philosophy and it helps us organize what we will be teaching our students. The two types of lesson plans that I will be comparing today is the Behavior Lesson Plan and the Constructivist Lesson Plan. These types of lesson plans have their similarities and their differences. The Behaviorist lesson plan was developed by Madeline Hunter through years of research while she was at UCLA. This lesson plan consists of eight steps. I believe the overall goal of this type of lesson is plan is to make sure the students learn effectively. The second type of lesson plan is Constructivist. This consists of six steps and I believe the overall goal of this lesson plan is to invoke thought and learning about student learning and to invoke thought and learning within the students. This lesson plan has been modified many times over the years.
Both of these lesson plans seem to be effective. They both have been scientifically studied and proven to work for teachers and students. I believe that the lesson plan that will be best for the students depends on the type of students you have. If you have students who you want to effectively grasp the material and you want to make sure they are absorbing the information that is given to them, then you want to use the Behaviorist Lesson plan. On the other hand if you want to develop critical thinkers and want your students to learn how to function in groups then the Constructivist lesson plan is the way to go. In my classroom I will try my best to use a combination of both because I believe that they both are equally effective. It is important for students for students to grasp the information and are able to use the newly acquired information but it is also important for the students to think critically and work in groups. We must also remember that both of these lesson plans have outcomes which should be addressed in the beginning of the lesson. In the Behaviorist it is called the Purpose and in the Constructivist it is called the Situation. These are similar in that they both address what the students will learn from the lesson and why the lesson is important.

Reflection 1 EME 2040

A lesson plan is an extremely important tool in the teaching arsenal of an educator. The reason that lesson plans are extremely important is because it guides educators on what needs to be taught and how. Educators may often deviate from lesson plans but this is not a problem as long as learning takes place. Before I was an educator I figured out that a lesson plan is something that is imperative to a teacher. I have been in many classes where the educator was teaching with a lesson plan and teaching off the cuff. There was a great difference in the classrooms. The teacher with a lesson plan was more organized and was better equipped to deal with incoming questions from students. The teacher that did not have a lesson plan had many pauses between teaching and the lesson seemed to be everywhere. As a student this was irritating because it was difficult to retain information and hard to find questions to ask that would make me understand the subject matter better. On the other hand, the teacher with a lesson plan made the information interesting and easy to grasp. The lesson itself answered many questions that I had and the teacher seemed prepared to answer questions from the students.
One definition for a lesson plan is an educator’s outline of what will be taught. A lesson plan is to correspond with the educator’s philosophy of education. What this means is the lesson plan is to be relevant to whatever you feel the most important element of education is. I believe this is extremely important because many times an educator’s philosophy of education consists of more than learning. Many times they consist of life lesson and transcending morals which also teaches students.
Another definition I found said that a lesson plan was nothing more than a document used by a teacher to teach a subject. I believe that lessons plans are much more than this. They are much more than mere pieces of papers that teachers use to teach. It is said that creating a lesson plan is more difficult than the actual lesson itself. With this being said it must take an immense amount of time and thought to create a lesson plan. Lesson plans incorporate the subject, the time needed for the lesson, the objectives, and many more aspects that will help them and the students.