Competition: Good or bad?

Are we trying to eliminate competition form our school system? And if so, is this a bad or a good thing? From my point of view, our school system has set a standard that it wants to get rid of competition in our schools, especially at the elementary level. I cannot tell you how many times I was told to avoid putting students in situations where there will be a winner and a loser. It’s not just physical education either. I have friends in the classroom at all age groups and they, too, have been told to be careful about putting students in competitive situations. I don’t agree with this idea. I support a learning environment that is supportive, safe, and conducive to learning, but I don’t think competition needs to be eliminated to provide this type of setting. Whether or not we protect our youth from competition, it is something they will have to deal with in the real world every day.

Improving School Counseling Programs

The role of professional school counselors in schools is continuously evolving. Research suggests, “A major role of the school counselor has been that of teacher consultation to help students achieve in school (Gysbers & Henderson, 2000; Myrick, 2003). With the increased emphasis on academic achievement apparent in our nation's schools today, it is clear that collaboration with teachers is essential to provide the best services for students with regard to their academic, career development, and social/ emotional needs (Bemak, 2000).” In order to provide a comprehensive counseling program which impacts all aspects of the school, teacher feedback and collaboration is essential. As a counselor, I would love to know your thoughts on the following (or just one) questions pulled from a study by Clark (2004):
1. What do classroom teachers perceive to be the counseling and guidance needs of their school and how might these needs be addressed by the school counselor(s)?
2. What types of services do teachers perceive that school counselors engage in and what activities would they like them to engage in?
3. What do teachers report as helpful strategies that counselors might use to deliver such services?

immigration, are we ready?

With immigration not slowing down I noticed that states near the Mexican border had more and more spanish speaking employees. It is also known that English hasn't been declared the official language of the U.S. Does this mean that the day will come that we need to know spanish to order food at any restaurant? As a spanish speaker I would be fine, but those with no background would have issues. How could the rise of hispanic speakers cause a problem in education? What about other language speakers?

Today's Learning Environment

Does the physical learning environment affect student learning and/or overall student achievement?

Cost of War \ Cost of Education

It came out 2 weeks ago that the U.S. taxpayer cost of the Iraq War is now 360,322,292,000. 360 billion dollars, What does that mean?

We instead could have funded 6,244,437 new public school teachers across the US.
-10,300 in Denver alone (costofwar.com)

We could have funded 17million 4-year college scholarships across the US.
-28,000 in Denver alone. (costofwar.com)

Soon we will move close to half a trillion dollars spent on the Iraq War, how do you feel as a taxpayer? as a teacher in public education? Supporting the United States men and women serving in the military is important, but are our current policies doing them or us justice?

Thoughts?

Additional Articles :

Study: World falling behind on 2015 education goal (The United States is currently spending about $8 billion a month on the Iraq war.)
http://www.cnn.com/2007/EDUCATION/01/18/education.world.reut/index.html

'$100m gap' in US Iraq spending
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4515397.stm

Where your income tax really goes?
http://www.warresisters.org/piechart.htm

Thoughts On Blogging

Karl introduced Blogging to you. Maybe some of you know how to blog and others don't. How do you feel about using blogging as a means of journaling? Compare it to last semester and journaling every week. Are you comfortable? Any questions?

One more thing to think about...How can you or have you utilized your Mentor? How about your Instructional Coaches? Remember, we are here for a reason!