In this month's Atlantic, you can find a clever set of graphics. In the special report on schools, there is a list of several groups working on education "reform." The description of each organization (such as Students First and Democrats for Education Reform) has a scale to tell the reader where the group falls between "status quo" and "radical." The page does not explain what these terms mean.
Can you be a teacher and accept the status quo? If you want a child to grow up in a place where his or her natural curiosity is encouraged at every turn, are you supporting the status quo? Is it supporting the status quo to come early and stay late to make sure a student can graduate?
To be a teacher is to encourage change. It would be really nice if the popular media realized that. That realization might also spark a real debate about what is and isn't working in our public schools.
These sorts of simplistic understandings of what actually goes on in schools and what we should do about educating fifty million kids in the US reminds me of one of my favorite quotes, which is often attributed to Aboriginal activist Lilla Watson, "If you've come here to help me, you're wasting your time. But if
you've
come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work
together."
Friday, October 19, 2012
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Teacher Care Packages
I get this uplifting e-mail that highlights one good thing going on in the world every day. A few weeks ago, I read about a woman who had organized sending teacher care packages and cards to a school in Florida.
Teaching is fun, y'all, and I know it's exactly what I was made to do, but it's really hard, too. It's hard to see students who are hungry or don't know how to talk to their friends without using abusive language or are stressed out because they are taking seven Advanced Placement classes. It's hard to get teenagers to care about anything (especially when that thing is how to use relative pronouns and commas in a non-restrictive clause, believe me). Hearing about these care packages made me feel like maybe our profession is a little more respected that we sometimes think. Send one to a teacher you love today!
Teaching is fun, y'all, and I know it's exactly what I was made to do, but it's really hard, too. It's hard to see students who are hungry or don't know how to talk to their friends without using abusive language or are stressed out because they are taking seven Advanced Placement classes. It's hard to get teenagers to care about anything (especially when that thing is how to use relative pronouns and commas in a non-restrictive clause, believe me). Hearing about these care packages made me feel like maybe our profession is a little more respected that we sometimes think. Send one to a teacher you love today!
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Persuade Me
In the tenth grade, we've just started our persuasive essay projects, and I am so excited! I did something similar last year, but, as with so many things, I think having the time to reflect and modify instead of just create, this project is a little, well, better (aside -- I spent a lot of time thinking about the commas I just used there, but I'm pretty sure I got those right).
We started out by reading this New York Times op-ed written by a twelfth grader. In it, he implores politicians and policy makers to get over their obsession with multiple-choice testing. We used the article to have a class discussion about the author's purpose, the thesis statement, and the need for counterexamples. In the course of our discussion on counterexamples, we thought about why policies such as No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top became popular. Students challenged each other to think of other ways to make sure that schools focus their attention on all students. All I had to do was sit back and listen.
Then, we moved into the project proper. Students will write a two-page paper attempting to convince an administrator to change a school rule or policy. Technology use, the tardy policy, and time between classes have been the favorites so far. After workshopping our pieces, I'm going to give my supervising administrator a sample of student papers. She's going to read them and come talk to our class about what policies can be changed and why other ones may have to stay in place.
Before students peer conferenced yesterday, we read the Sunday Dialogue around the original piece in order to look for examples of what makes a compelling argument. We talked about how to ask the sort of questions to guide our friends to making those arguments (How can you add more substance to your emotional appeal? Have you thought about ___________ reason for the rule? How can you address that reason?). I'm so looking forward to getting the second drafts tomorrow!
We started out by reading this New York Times op-ed written by a twelfth grader. In it, he implores politicians and policy makers to get over their obsession with multiple-choice testing. We used the article to have a class discussion about the author's purpose, the thesis statement, and the need for counterexamples. In the course of our discussion on counterexamples, we thought about why policies such as No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top became popular. Students challenged each other to think of other ways to make sure that schools focus their attention on all students. All I had to do was sit back and listen.
Then, we moved into the project proper. Students will write a two-page paper attempting to convince an administrator to change a school rule or policy. Technology use, the tardy policy, and time between classes have been the favorites so far. After workshopping our pieces, I'm going to give my supervising administrator a sample of student papers. She's going to read them and come talk to our class about what policies can be changed and why other ones may have to stay in place.
Before students peer conferenced yesterday, we read the Sunday Dialogue around the original piece in order to look for examples of what makes a compelling argument. We talked about how to ask the sort of questions to guide our friends to making those arguments (How can you add more substance to your emotional appeal? Have you thought about ___________ reason for the rule? How can you address that reason?). I'm so looking forward to getting the second drafts tomorrow!
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Things I Had Time To Do Today
Things I Had Time to Do Today
Teach my classes
Staff the school store
Eat lunch (!)
Call some parents
Read eight student journals
Go to book club
Things I Didn't Have Time to Do Today
Walk my dog as long as I should
Follow up with all the parents and students who had scheduled tutoring sessions but didn't show up
Finish reviewing exit slips (but I have till Thursday till I have these students again)
Actually finish reading the book for book club
Not a super woman, but not a lazy bones, either. Just a normal, rewarding, and hectic day!
Teach my classes
Staff the school store
Eat lunch (!)
Call some parents
Read eight student journals
Go to book club
Things I Didn't Have Time to Do Today
Walk my dog as long as I should
Follow up with all the parents and students who had scheduled tutoring sessions but didn't show up
Finish reviewing exit slips (but I have till Thursday till I have these students again)
Actually finish reading the book for book club
Not a super woman, but not a lazy bones, either. Just a normal, rewarding, and hectic day!
Building a Better Beowulf Unit
Hi friends! I'm trying to get a class set of the wonderful Seamus Heaney translation of Beowulf before we start our class unit in November. If you could give just $22.50 and use the code INSPIRE, you're donation will be matched, AND our project will be finished! Would you please consider helping us out? Thanks!
Monday, October 8, 2012
Where I'm From
The very brilliant Linda Christensen has created a poetry-writing activity called "Where I'm From." Using George Ella Lyon's poem of a similar theme, she has students create lists of items in their home, yard, and neighborhood. She has students write down sayings they hear around their houses, food they eat with their families, and places they keep childhood memories. Doing this activity last year inspired this poem.
To get to know my new students this year, I took the activity a step further. After we made our lists and wrote our poems, I had students write their poem out on a sheet of paper with their name on the back. We then hung our poems up in the classroom. I read the poems aloud. Then, students wrote each others' names on post-it notes and put their post-its to the poem they thought corresponded to the correct classmate. Students then looked to see how well people had guessed before turning in their poems. We debriefed by talking about what we learned about each other and our community from the activity.
Students had the option to turn their poem in without hanging it up, but most chose to participate. Everyone else was really good about not judging those who chose not to participate. We're going to start blogging next quarter, and I think we might start out by doing another draft of those poems. I'm not exactly sure how to make that work for students who don't want to share their work. We did essays our name as our first workshop, so that's an option, too. What do y'all think? Any ideas on how to balance students' needs for privacy with instilling confidence in who they are?
To get to know my new students this year, I took the activity a step further. After we made our lists and wrote our poems, I had students write their poem out on a sheet of paper with their name on the back. We then hung our poems up in the classroom. I read the poems aloud. Then, students wrote each others' names on post-it notes and put their post-its to the poem they thought corresponded to the correct classmate. Students then looked to see how well people had guessed before turning in their poems. We debriefed by talking about what we learned about each other and our community from the activity.
Students had the option to turn their poem in without hanging it up, but most chose to participate. Everyone else was really good about not judging those who chose not to participate. We're going to start blogging next quarter, and I think we might start out by doing another draft of those poems. I'm not exactly sure how to make that work for students who don't want to share their work. We did essays our name as our first workshop, so that's an option, too. What do y'all think? Any ideas on how to balance students' needs for privacy with instilling confidence in who they are?
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Back in the Saddle
Getting used to my new division has taken a lot of work, but I think things are calming down enough that I can commit to blogging again. Those of you who have been here before will notice a name change. I've been searching for something that wouldn't get confused with a mommy blog and embody the edu-nature of the blog. I was inspired by this post on Education Week.
So many of the problems I see with including teachers in conversations about changing education have to do with the fact that many people involved in the conversation think they know what happens in the classroom. Almost everyone has had some sort of brush with the American education system. And almost everyone has had a bad teacher along the way.
What we don't have enough of are regular teachers, well, showing our work. So, that's what I want to work on here -- sharing things that work and don't in the classroom as well as thoughts on education policy from a teacher's perspective. I hope you will all stick around!
So many of the problems I see with including teachers in conversations about changing education have to do with the fact that many people involved in the conversation think they know what happens in the classroom. Almost everyone has had some sort of brush with the American education system. And almost everyone has had a bad teacher along the way.
What we don't have enough of are regular teachers, well, showing our work. So, that's what I want to work on here -- sharing things that work and don't in the classroom as well as thoughts on education policy from a teacher's perspective. I hope you will all stick around!
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