• According to research cited in the paper, what was the most important variable mentioned for school success?  -For a school to succeed, it must have teachers who are willing to give it their all to help the students. “a positive and professional student-teacher-school relationship, social and emotional skills training, civic education, and positive support for learning.” One of my favorite quotes by Theodore Roosevelt is “They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” This is very true. A teacher has to show that they care about the students and material, because if they don’t, the students wont either.
   

• Describe why you think this might be the case? –In most cases, students start out with a blank slate when it comes to a new year or teacher; it is then, when the teacher first opens their mouth, when the student unconsciously decides how that year or class will go. This can also go many ways. A few examples would be: If a teacher is relaxed, but still finds a way to get everything completed, the students will respect them and enjoy their class more. Or, if a teacher is very strict and expects too much of the students, many will break under the pressure and give up.
   

• Describe how some schools celebrate their academic success? – many schools find that holding an awards ceremony to recognize student achievement at the end of the year can be very beneficial. Awards should be thoughtfully considered and based on each students’ personal growth, character, and achievements. The awards should not be presented as rewards and prizes! This may send the wrong message. Students then will except a prize for every accomplishment, and that is not practical. And now the students have the idea that doing the work is not worth the time without a reward.

​

• Should there be a National curriculum for all students? Why or why not?    –no, I do not think that a national curriculum would be beneficial to the United States at all. There are many interesting things in the world, and with the way technology is today, a student or adult is able to learn those things with the click of a button. With that being said, I do not think that a student in Georgia should have to learn everything a student in California learns or vice-versa. The point of our educational system is to ready the students for college, which will get them ready for the work force. So much time is spent on useless information that will not help a student in the long run.

•  

• List and describe some challenges for school success. - One of the first barriers can be student engagement. Students often complain that school is boring. Mainly, they feel that teachers do not do enough to involve them in their lessons; frequently delivering their teachings in boring fashions which can be described as monotone. Due to the delivery of the lessons, it is hard for the students to pay attention and stay interested. Keeping students engaged is also hard because it is not made clear to them the connection between what they are learning in high school and what they will do as a career in real life. Because students cannot make this connection, they often think most of the work is pointless and “busy work.” Second, parent involvement and basic needs can be restrictions on student success. Lack of parental ability to help with school work is one of the reasons that students depended so much on teachers to go the extra mile to help them with their school work and keep them engaged. Family instability or hardships impacted many students lives; these are things like: stable housing, transportation, financial stability, etc. When worrying about “which parent am I staying with this weekend?”, “how I am going to get to school tomorrow?”, or “What am I going to eat today?”, it can be hard to focus on any school work.

​

• What was the purpose for this research study (Elementary School Research)? Describe. – The purpose of this particular study was the compare the various school improvement strategies, and several were found. The research mainly focused on student learning and how many factors can produce difference outcomes both positive and negative. Also this research concluded that students, teachers, curriculum, and school climate and culture, all depend on each other. For students to be successful, all of these pieces of the puzzle must fit together.

 

• Summary –This lesson really got me thinking about how we as future teachers will have so much impact on our students lives, how just the smallest things we might do may change a student’s outlook on school or learning. There are many people who do not appreciate the education majors or teachers for that matter, and that is really disappointing. Without teachers, no other profession would exist.