https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd My experience at Venture Academy en-us 2016-12-11 22:43:46 UTC 2024-05-31 00:09:29 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Apple.png ringx128 https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143023912 I volunteered at Venture Academy.]]> 2016-12-11 22:55:56 UTC https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143023912 ringx128 https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143024054 2016-12-11 22:58:28 UTC https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143024054 ringx128 https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143024454 2016-12-11 23:06:57 UTC https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143024454 ringx128 https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143025011 "Venture Academy is a public charter school serving students grades 6-8 in Minneapolis. Our teachers and students are changing the way education happens in the 21st century."
-Venture Academy website]]> 2016-12-11 23:19:46 UTC https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143025011 ringx128 https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143025727 My official title was a middle school tutor. What I actually did was sit in class with two different students. One was a sixth grade girl who I will call Rosa and one was an eighth grade boy who I will call Jose. During the time I was with the sixth grade girl, she was in Humanities class, and during the time I was with the eighth grade boy, he was in PLT, then Math.]]> 2016-12-11 23:39:06 UTC https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143025727 ringx128 https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143025756 2016-12-11 23:39:58 UTC https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143025756 ringx128 https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143030885 Overall, I do not think I accomplished or learned as much as I was expecting to. The time frame I was there was not very well-suited to me being able to really work with the kids I worked with. When I walked into the sixth grade classroom I worked in, they were silent reading and then the teacher read a book to them. I did not even really have time to talk to Rosa.  To make it harder, she did not want to work with me.
I really enjoyed working with Jose. I was told that he is generally a shy kid, and he was able to talk to me easily. However, the time I spent with him could have been better spent, because I was with him for part of the time during PLT, which I will talk about in more detail later.]]> 2016-12-12 01:23:39 UTC https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143030885 ringx128 https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143031907 As I mentioned in the "How it went" section, my assignment to Rosa was not very good for me because I learned very little about the teaching profession or even interacting with the kids.  Rosa did not want to talk to me or work with me, so it was very challenging and awkward to try to work with her when she always acted embarrassed to work with me.  Also, the time I spent with her was not a good time to even start to work with her.
I actually mentioned these problems toward the middle of the semester, but nothing was done to fix those issues, so I ended up doing very little in that classroom because I had no other place to be during that time.]]> 2016-12-12 01:48:12 UTC https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143031907 ringx128 https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143034684 Going into this experience, my expectation were to practice building meaningful relationships with school-aged children and to learn whatever I could learn from working at a school so different from the school in which I grew up.]]> 2016-12-12 02:42:12 UTC https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143034684 ringx128 https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143034979 This graph shows the demographics of the junior high I attended.  90% of the students were white and all of my teachers were white.
Source: http://rc.education.state.mn.us/#mySchool/orgId--12899030000__p--1]]> 2016-12-12 02:49:43 UTC https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143034979 ringx128 https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143035087 Venture Academy presented a welcomed divergence from my own experience with its diverse student population.
Source: http://rc.education.state.mn.us/#mySchool/orgId--74218010000__p--1]]> 2016-12-12 02:51:52 UTC https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143035087 ringx128 https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143036273 Because of this service-learning experience, I now have familiarity with working with students that do not identify the same as I do. In fact, many aspects of Venture Academy are very different to what I am used to. I will get into more detail about those things later on.]]> 2016-12-12 03:17:33 UTC https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143036273 ringx128 https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143036283 I will now be able to easier make connections with students that do not identify the same as myself. I feel more confident in that aspect.]]> 2016-12-12 03:17:55 UTC https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143036283 ringx128 https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143037412 PLP (Personalized Learning Plan) is an acronym that Venture Academy uses for the learning model they employ.  It is an online program that has lessons in different subjects on many different topics.  The program tells the students where they should be at that point in the year and where they are now.  PLP is mastery-based, which means that the students need to pass a short test to master a topic, after which they can move onto the next topic.
PLT (Personalized Learning Time) is the acronym that Venture Academy uses when describing the time they use to let the students work on their PLPs.  Jose was in his PLT class when I would work with him.]]> 2016-12-12 03:46:04 UTC https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143037412 ringx128 https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143037739 2016-12-12 03:54:58 UTC https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143037739 ringx128 https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143037811 I believe PLP gives students a chance to play on their computers instead of learning. While I do not disapprove of using technology in the classroom, I do think Venture Academy could improve the way it executes the PLP platform. My experience with PLP has led me to believe that the students are more motivated to simply pass the test than actually learn the material. Also, when I was in Jose's PLT class, most of the students were not working on anything and the teacher was not encouraging them to continue working.]]> 2016-12-12 03:57:50 UTC https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143037811 ringx128 https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143172563 There are some things that work really well at Venture that I should mention:
1. The teachers and paraprofessionals are very supportive and the students respect them.
2. The school leader, Kerry, does all he can to allow the students to succeed after they leave Venture.
3. Venture's mission to serve the underprivileged children of the Twin Cities area is noble and I think they are already starting to fulfill that.
4. In Ayers' "To Teach: The Journey, In Comics," on page 100, its says "Good schools are geared toward continuous improvement."  I think Venture embodies that idea by willing to do whatever is necessary to improve the children's education. 
5. In my own blog post, I talked about how race, gender, socioeconomic class, etc. affect education today.  One thing I like about Venture Academy is its drive to not let those factors influence their students' educations.]]> 2016-12-12 16:50:11 UTC https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143172563 ringx128 https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143182636 2016-12-12 17:18:45 UTC https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143182636 ringx128 https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143183296 So there are some things I like about Venture Academy and some things I do not like/could work better. So what? I am still glad I have experienced the good and the bad because it can give me some ideas of what to do and what not to do when I am running a classroom.]]> 2016-12-12 17:21:00 UTC https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143183296 ringx128 https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143183324 I will now take the aspects I like and possibly integrate them into my own classroom someday and I will be sure to shy away from the things I have seen in Venture that I was not pleased with.]]> 2016-12-12 17:21:06 UTC https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143183324 ringx128 https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143185933 Donald Trump recently named Betsy DeVos the Secretary of Education. DeVos is a proponent of charter schools and school choice, in general. Only time will tell how that will affect education as a whole, but it is fair to think there will be major changes coming soon.]]> 2016-12-12 17:29:17 UTC https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143185933 ringx128 https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143236491 In the blog post below, I detail how I think education should change to better serve every child in America. I think the best way to do that is to encourage more people that are not white to go into teaching. I believe that could do a lot for children who identify the same as those teachers. We have talked about how role models can be very good for students, so that could be something that will help a lot of kids.]]> 2016-12-12 20:19:00 UTC https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143236491 ringx128 https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143240270 I really enjoyed this TED talk from Brian Lozenski. In it, he discusses how education should change to better include underprivileged students, such as changing the curriculum to include culturally relevant material to excite kids about their education. I think the ideas Brian Lozenski brings up in this talk could be implemented to improve the American education system.]]> 2016-12-12 20:36:29 UTC https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143240270 ringx128 https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143241795 Education as we know it is currently in a state of flux and it will be interesting to see how it changes in the next few years and beyond. My hope is that it improves in the ways I have mentioned throughout this reflection.]]> 2016-12-12 20:43:44 UTC https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143241795 ringx128 https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143241843 Because of the things I have learned in this class, I plan to implement some cutting-edge teaching techniques when I have a classroom of my own in the coming years. I want to be an inclusive teacher and a positive role model for my students and techniques I learned in this class will help me to achieve those things.]]> 2016-12-12 20:43:58 UTC https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143241843 ringx128 https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143242749 In a few short years, I will be attending graduate school in pursuit of an education license. This is scary but very exciting. I am going to be entering a field that is changing all the time, so I will have to be willing to adjust and compromise along the way to become the best teacher I can. Although my time at Venture Academy has not been the greatest experience of my life, I do think the time spent in a school seeing how teachers teach and students act has been helpful, and I have learned a few things about what to do and what not to do. Thank you, Karla, for teaching this class and getting everybody excited for the field of education!]]> 2016-12-12 20:48:56 UTC https://padlet.com/ringx128/7uijvroqo8bd/wish/143242749