Blogboard

A charter high school in Wilmington, Del., will be the first to train its students to become part of Homeland Security. The Delaware Academy for Public Safety and Security will train as many as 600 of Wilmington’s inner-city youth in areas such as prison guarding, professional demolition, and special weapons. Cadets, as they will be called, will learn Arabic, Chinese, or Russian as part of the curriculum.

But a concerned ParentDish blogger who says the move is “reminiscent of the Hitler-Jugend,” is not convinced.

Maybe this will turn out to be the best thing since sliced bread … [but]…It just seems a little too familiar.

Posted by Danielle Woods at 5:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A must read over on edweek.org: Eduwonkette examines controversy surrounding social justice teaching in education schools, and elicits reponses in defense from Bill Ayers—yes, that Bill Ayers—and in opposition from Sol Stern of the Manhattan Institute. Some samples:

Eduwonkette:

In short, it’s not clear that “social justice teaching” is a coherent and distinctive pedagogy that’s taught at schools of education across the country . It’s also worth noting that teachers are relatively conservative. If education schools have been engaged in an active project to disseminate social justice teaching, they largely have been unsuccessful.

Ayers:

Practically all schools want their students to study hard, stay away from drugs, do their homework, and so on. In fact none of these features distinguishes schools in the old Soviet Union or fascist Germany from schools in a democracy. But in a democracy one would expect something more—a commitment to free inquiry, questioning, and participation; a push for access and equity; a curriculum that encouraged free thought and independent judgment; a standard of full recognition of the humanity of each individual. In other words, social justice.

Stern:

So it seems to me that the question isn’t precisely how widespread social justice teaching is right now (although more studies would be welcome) but rather what public school leaders – state education commissioners, teachers union leaders and district superintendents – might do to make sure that intrusion of left wing or right wing political ideology into the classroom doesn’t spread any further. We need a professional code of ethics for teachers, a Hippocratic Oath if you will, that makes clear that our public school classrooms are not laboratories for social and political change, with the kids serving as guinea pigs.

But read the whole thing.

Posted by Anthony Rebora, teachermagazine.org at 9:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ms. Frizzle was also interested in attending the upcoming education bloggers summit in D.C., but points out that its timing virtually excludes the very folks who are, as they put it, "in the trenches."

Most of the people I know who blog about education also happen to be teachers… and this summit is on a Wednesday-Thursday. It makes me a little sad & irritated that a summit intended to be about education reform would occur at a time that is virtually impossible for any actual working educators to attend. We have an obligation to our kids to be present pretty much every weekday between now and the end of June. That doesn’t mean we don’t have opinions or experience relevant to education policy - on the contrary, what is policy without the voices of practitioners?

Good question. Unfortunately, this sort of oversight—or is it neglect?—is not uncommon.

Posted by Anthony Rebora, teachermagazine.org at 5:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mister Teacher questions (to put it mildly) his school's decision to send home report cards the day before students take state tests:

I'm sure that there was absolutely no chance of any risk whatsoever regarding student confidence being lowered due to a less than desired grade. Hey, maybe tomorrow morning right before they put pencil to the test, we can tell them all they were adopted!!

Posted by Anthony Rebora, teachermagazine.org at 2:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

TMAO finds it absurd that, for an upcoming ed blogging conference in Washington, he's been slotted to be on the panel for a session titled "Blogging From the Trenches":

[It's] one of those ed phrases that just drives me nuts. My job is difficult, and on days like yesterday, appallingly frustrating, but no one's chucking mustard gas at me and I've never been asked to charge a fortified position, so maybe we could dial down the rhetoric a wee bit, hmm?

No need to make teaching more dramatic than it already is, I guess ...

Posted by Anthony Rebora, teachermagazine.org at 1:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Teachers Leaders Network has launched a new blog by Ariel Sacks, a young NYC English teacher who's already gained a voice as an educator-writer to watch. In an early post on the blog, she writes with honesty about the conflicts she has over her grading system:

Recipe formulas for calculating grades tend to turn out numbers that represent a mishmash of student effort (as perceived by teacher), task completion (which may not require effort for all students), knowledge acquired, and skill development (both evidenced in student work). Lately I’m struggling with the creeping notion that the net result of this mishmash is a totally inadequate measure of student learning. In an effort to grade almost every aspect of a student’s involvement in my class, in the end I’ve graded nothing in particular!

Posted by Anthony Rebora, teachermagazine.org at 11:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Planning on doing a Master's thesis in education? Apparently, it's advisable (or unavoidable) to use the word "quintile" a lot.

Posted by Anthony Rebora, teachermagazine.org at 4:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The social disadvantages and day-to-day tribulations faced by low-income students are all too real, says Mr. ab. All the more reason, he contends, that educators need to avoid letting them get in the way:

The necessity of learning to read or add does not decline with the difficulties of life. By now, millions of children, of all colors and countries, have acquired their basic skills despite the grandest obstacles. I don’t know what common strengths they have shared ... but I deeply suspect that one asset was not a teacher so “understanding” as to permit them to fail. As a self-purported “No Excuses” teacher, I am still cognizant of [the out-of-school issues students face] as they weigh in [their] minds. The difference is that while I might accommodate them in my approach they do not modify my expectations. To a degree it is heartless. It must be. My students cannot afford another year of failure. I care about their trials and traumas, but I choose to focus on helping them succeed anyway. ...

Nor does he see the wisdom in blaming external factors for schools' problems:

Blaming the families or the children will always be a fruitful approach for those who seek to conceal their own shortcomings, whether it is a lack of competence as an educator or a lack of compassion as a citizen. I have no time nor tolerance for it. We can change nothing about our children’s heritage or color. We can change little about their families’ focus and our society’s racism. We can change everything about our schools. Let’s start there.

Posted by Anthony Rebora, teachermagazine.org at 3:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

More frustration about school adminstrators' lack of respect for teachers, from J. at Mildly Melancholy after she's hit by unannounced scheduling interruptions:

I feel like they're saying to me, "Eff you. We don't care about you or the fact that you're actually doing your job. Do whatever random [&#$!] we throw at you, because actually teaching and setting good examples for the children is at the end of the priority list."

Looks like she's quitting. The lesson for administrators: Try communicating.

Posted by Anthony Rebora, teachermagazine.org at 4:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Hobo Teacher: A morning e-mail informs teachers that—oops—they may have passed by a toxic on-campus construction site on their way into school. Is it any wonder this guy thinks the school administration is trying to make him crack?

(Seriously, does he make this stuff up? Or are some schools really this absurd?)

Posted by Anthony Rebora, teachermagazine.org at 2:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Will Richardson has probably done as much as anyone to help teachers mine the educational potential of the Web, but he's also wary of the seismic shifts in social relations and information consumption that interactive technology appears to be creating. The question for teachers, he says, is "how do we address these issues as a part of the the literacies we teach our kids in the curriculum so they can accurately assess what is real and what is not?"

Posted by Anthony Rebora, teachermagazine.org at 1:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

An article on the seemingly forgotten reciprocal relationship beween the public and public schools prompts Renee Moore to reflect on a time when the phrase "it takes a whole village to raise a child" was more than just a political punchline. During her youth, she writes:

The entire community took the raising and teaching of children as a collective responsibility. I could as much expect Mr. Alexander across the street to quiz me on my times tables as I could my teacher. Mrs. Duncan at the corner store was well within her rights to chastise me for acting "unladylike" in public, and would make sure my mother heard of it before I made it home. I, and thousands of other children in our communities, first learned the art of public speaking not at school, but in church.

It was the neighborhood little league team (before the ascendancy of Hummer-driving "soccer moms" and overly-aggressive fans and Dads) where we learned what it meant to work together, never quit, be gracious in loss, and thankful in victory. The local public librarian knew all of us and our favorite books. In its better days, my hometown Detroit Public Schools made sure every pupil attended at least one concert of the Detroit Symphony and visited at least one of the local museums each school year. The deterioration and fragmenting of neighborhoods, along with the dispersion of families (among many other factors) has resulted in the weakening or loss of these community interactions which so richly supplemented children's formal education.

We usually try not to quote at such length, but that passage seemed just too significant—and in a way too touching—to break up. And there's more where that came from.

Hat tip: John Norton (via e-mail).

Posted by Anthony Rebora, teachermagazine.org at 6:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Following a recent controversy at his school surrounding students posting hateful comments about teachers on Facebook and MySpace, Assistive Principles says that these students may merely be trying to “get in good graces with the ‘popular crowd.’” He emphasizes that any posting on the Internet, whether about the student, or a teacher the student may not like, may not always represent reality. The insight he has for teachers who are surprised by the actions of their students is:

Our students are not who we think they are. They are more concerned with the perceptions of others, because their self esteem depends so much on what others think. They are willing to say and do things that may not be true, that may be hateful, and that may even be offensive to themselves in order to be accepted.

Posted by Autumn Sanders at 12:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Eduwonkette believes the world of education policy will—or should—come to a halt in recognition of the University of Kansas' victory last night in the NCAA National Championship game. (Or is this just her way of saying she's taking the week off?)

Incidentally, if your students are talking about the game today, you might be able to capture their attention with a bit of relevant educational trivia: Did you know that the KU chant of "Rock Chalk Jayhawk" was originally created, in 1886, by the university's science club, to be amended later (per usual) by an English professor? Not to mention that it was reportedly praised by Theodore Roosevelt, who did some other stuff, too. (Hey, that covers several subject areas. ...)

Posted by Anthony Rebora, teachermagazine.org at 11:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

With all the negative news in education, we too often neglect to take of notice of daily classroom triumphs, which of course are a big deal. For example, NYC teacher Mildly Melancholy reports on a string of successful student projects that have her feeling good about her class, albeit cautiously.

Posted by Anthony Rebora, teachermagazine.org at 9:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

There's an interesting conversation going on among some teacher bloggers about the value and impact of new technologies in the classroom.

The science teacher at Huh, That's Interesting—backed by comments from music educator Nancy Flanagan—questions whether some teachers aren't merely "seduced by the flashiness" of instructional technology and worries that overuse of digital tools in the classroom will only increase the disconnection of today's students' from the real, visceral world.

On the other hand, Bill Ferriter, an English teacher who's become a Web 2.0 enthusiast, argues that, on a certain level, such attitudes belie an attachment to "the way things were" and an uncritical resistence "to adapt to the changing interests and needs of our learners."

We imagine this debate reflects an internal dilemma facing many educators today.

Posted by Anthony Rebora, teachermagazine.org at 11:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)