regarding the last post. It's called TWITter for a reason... call me a cynic, but that is just too ridiculous; I can't stand it. So, yeah, deleted my account. I don't care how much of a luddite it makes me.
Anyway... time for posting articles. Quite a few good ones this week: this one for the hopeful, this one for regurgitation of testing "results," and this one, which is my favorite, and calls out former DC schools chancellor Michelle Rhee. Yaaaaaaaaaay.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Le siiiigh...
I have caved. Again. To the Twits.
I tried Twitter once before, very briefly, but deleted my account because it seemed pointless. It still does, mostly, but I joined this time for one reason, and one reason alone: this. Maybe it will be useful. We shall see.
In other technology news, I had to submit my "technology portfolio" to the school ITC to make sure that I know what I'm doing. Except it was rather ridiculous (which he admitted). Out of date, precursory knowledge. But at least it wasn't an inordinate amount of work.
I tried Twitter once before, very briefly, but deleted my account because it seemed pointless. It still does, mostly, but I joined this time for one reason, and one reason alone: this. Maybe it will be useful. We shall see.
In other technology news, I had to submit my "technology portfolio" to the school ITC to make sure that I know what I'm doing. Except it was rather ridiculous (which he admitted). Out of date, precursory knowledge. But at least it wasn't an inordinate amount of work.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Grades do not equal achievement.
When will students, parents, administrators, and politicians realize this?
At the staff meeting this week, the principal informed us that there was a small percentage of students with D's and E's compared to students who had earned C's and above. His comment in response was, "This tells me that you all are doing incredible work" when it comes to helping our students achieve. Ummmm, ok... really? Just because a kid gets a C doesn't mean that he understands the material. Even a kid who gets an A hasn't necessarily mastered the material. I have students who have D's who are putting in more of an effort than kids with B's and C's; they may just not be as naturally bright. Personally, I would rather have a class of dummies who work hard than a class of smart asses who do no work. Apathy really, really bothers me.
Also, kudos to the principal for giving us accolades, I suppose, but how about giving some of that credit to the kids? After all, teachers always talk about how we don't "give" grades, but rather, how students "earn" them themselves.
Anyway, the end of the quarter was yesterday, which means we're halfway done!
At the staff meeting this week, the principal informed us that there was a small percentage of students with D's and E's compared to students who had earned C's and above. His comment in response was, "This tells me that you all are doing incredible work" when it comes to helping our students achieve. Ummmm, ok... really? Just because a kid gets a C doesn't mean that he understands the material. Even a kid who gets an A hasn't necessarily mastered the material. I have students who have D's who are putting in more of an effort than kids with B's and C's; they may just not be as naturally bright. Personally, I would rather have a class of dummies who work hard than a class of smart asses who do no work. Apathy really, really bothers me.
Also, kudos to the principal for giving us accolades, I suppose, but how about giving some of that credit to the kids? After all, teachers always talk about how we don't "give" grades, but rather, how students "earn" them themselves.
Anyway, the end of the quarter was yesterday, which means we're halfway done!
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Yes!
Midterms are in the works right now. Assessment after assessment, with a dash of curiosity and creativity thrown in (hopefully), is constantly happening. But how much is getting through? How much can the students take? Heck, how much can I take?
On a related note, I really enjoyed this article. The subject was briefly touched upon in grad school, and is never, ever discussed among the staff. Withhold praise? What!? But I think it makes a lot of sense. Especially since students need to get used to never being praised in the working world. Let's face it: even the most successful students will miss the praise they were awarded (sometimes undeserved) a hundred times over in high school. But real life ain't that.
Man... sometimes I think I'm way too cynical (realistic?) to be a teacher.
On a related note, I really enjoyed this article. The subject was briefly touched upon in grad school, and is never, ever discussed among the staff. Withhold praise? What!? But I think it makes a lot of sense. Especially since students need to get used to never being praised in the working world. Let's face it: even the most successful students will miss the praise they were awarded (sometimes undeserved) a hundred times over in high school. But real life ain't that.
Man... sometimes I think I'm way too cynical (realistic?) to be a teacher.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Of course he does...
(Regarding the headline that discusses our illustrious Virginia governor and his "education" policies.) Read more here.
Although to be fair, some of his ideas are good. Like repealing the rather meaningless King's Dominion Law, which states that schools cannot begin for the fall until Labor Day. I also agree with him on decreasing the amount of choices of high school diplomas offered, though I would bet good money we have different reasons for wanting to do so. Three other initiatives he is proposing (Literacy, Tuition Tax Credits, and Youth Development) sound great in theory, but I wonder how he plans to initiate them. These are ambitious (and costly) plans. Call me a cynic (please!), but I have my doubts about these programs...
However, what I detest most is his contemptuous idea about eliminating teacher tenure. To quote the latter article, by Emma Brown, McDonnell "shrugged off the suggestion that tenure is necessary to protect academic freedom, saying that it ends up protecting bad teachers." We have heard this argument time and time again from multiple people on both sides of the aisle. This argument will never go away.
But I think Strauss puts it well when she states that there are evaluation systems in place that are effective, in which "bad teachers are removed even though teachers have tenure....teacher tenure... cannot protect an awful teacher, unless administrators fail to take the steps necessary to remove said teacher from the classroom."
While this problem will not be resolved any time soon, I think it is important to pay attention to this last point, which people too often ignore: That one should blame administrators who are not adequately evaluating their employees, rather than blaming the system itself. It is people who are accountable, then, and not organizations (*ahem* corporations *ahem*).
Although to be fair, some of his ideas are good. Like repealing the rather meaningless King's Dominion Law, which states that schools cannot begin for the fall until Labor Day. I also agree with him on decreasing the amount of choices of high school diplomas offered, though I would bet good money we have different reasons for wanting to do so. Three other initiatives he is proposing (Literacy, Tuition Tax Credits, and Youth Development) sound great in theory, but I wonder how he plans to initiate them. These are ambitious (and costly) plans. Call me a cynic (please!), but I have my doubts about these programs...
However, what I detest most is his contemptuous idea about eliminating teacher tenure. To quote the latter article, by Emma Brown, McDonnell "shrugged off the suggestion that tenure is necessary to protect academic freedom, saying that it ends up protecting bad teachers." We have heard this argument time and time again from multiple people on both sides of the aisle. This argument will never go away.
But I think Strauss puts it well when she states that there are evaluation systems in place that are effective, in which "bad teachers are removed even though teachers have tenure....teacher tenure... cannot protect an awful teacher, unless administrators fail to take the steps necessary to remove said teacher from the classroom."
While this problem will not be resolved any time soon, I think it is important to pay attention to this last point, which people too often ignore: That one should blame administrators who are not adequately evaluating their employees, rather than blaming the system itself. It is people who are accountable, then, and not organizations (*ahem* corporations *ahem*).
Monday, January 2, 2012
Back to the Grindstone...
I go back to school tomorrow after a nice long break. I guess writers and policy makers have taken some time off, too, because there is not a whole lot to report on that front. Except for this. Le siiiiiiiiiiigh.
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