A Quick Read & Great Article!

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/01/opinion/01eggers.html?_r=3&hp

I so enjoyed this brief article.  It clearly spells out the foundation of our problem in society:  we have high expectations for educators, but offer no collective support.  Teachers alone cannot raise children.  We should not have to inform college students that once they get a job they need to prepare to be berated, disrespected by the public, and misused by the powers that "lead". 

It is time to stand together as a country, holding expectations of norms and expectations for home and school learning.  Do not stereotype all teachers as bad just because nation scores are low.  You need to look at all the pieces of the puzzle; English Language Learners taking English standardized tests, (lack of) family values and home support, inconsistent student attendance, home and community violence and gang activity, verbal, physical, and sexual abuse, etc.  These are demands school face throughout the country, but the grunt of these are daily occurrences in many inner-city environments.  As always, if you doubt the strenuous work teachers do, spend a day (a week if you can make it!) in an inner-city school.

If you have 2 minutes, please take the time to read this articulate article.

You've Got To Read This

http://teacherleaders.typepad.com/shoulders_of_giants/2011/05/amen-to-high-cost-of-low-teacher-salary-oped.html
Folks, I cannot put my praises of this article into a short blog.  You simply MUST read what Ariel Sacks (NY) has to write.  It will take only minutes, but will be chock-full of insight.  I hope you can enjoy it as much as I did.

As she suggest, I will read the full article she is referring to, and I hope you too...if you're a research geek like me:)

Tardy

So, I have been tardy in posting recently.  But I have a good excuse, and my dog did not eat my homework (although I've been victim of this once in my adult life!).  The truth is, I have spend the last 12 months working toward my National Board Certification and my final assessment is just weeks away.  Through this process I have become a more thoughtful and insightful teacher.  I cannot say I learned anything "new", which I heartily expected after experiencing 2 masters degrees.  More importantly, I took what I learned in my schooling, professional development, and experience, then analyzed my current teaching.

So, forgive me when I take it personally when teachers are the dumping ground for lack of education in our country.  I, and many of my National Board Candidate peers, take our profession seriously.  We carry a massive weight knowing we hold the future in our hands, and as inner-city teachers, we frequently find ourselves being parents of values also.  This month alone 2 of my students' parents attempted to dump their financial and emotional woes on me about being a parent.

I am working with hard-working and dedicated teachers.  Some of our students have dedicated parents working against all odds.  But the sad reality is, we often work with parents who have left us with the role to parent their children in values of consistency, hard work, empathy, and self-respect. 

Today I learned my district is toying with the idea of increasing the school day.  Of course, more time in the day means more instruction (yah!).  Yet, many of these students are at our school 2+ hours after dismissal as it is.  What can the school offer in those hours that is not being offered in the home?

Teacher Appreciation Week

I read an analogy that put things in perspective about the blame game.  It is (unfortunately) our culture to find a scapegoat rather than recognize many parts of the system can break, making the puzzle hard to fit together.  So here's the analogy summary (read full statement at this link):

When a war goes wrong it's not the soldiers that we blame.

Teachers are on the front lines, and inner-city teachers in particular witness the plight their students are going through.  They see violence, hear raging parents knock down their children, are belittled by administration, etc.  As this quote reminds us, teachers are trained to do what they do, but they can only do so much when they have a leader who authorizes every move in a manic way.

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week.  Teachers are fighting an uphill battle and will benefit from appreciation for what they are doing that's making things go right.  Thank a teacher today.


"WHEN we don’t get the results we want in our military endeavors, we don’t blame the soldiers. We don’t say, “It’s these lazy soldiers and their bloated benefits plans! That’s why we haven’t done better in Afghanistan!” No, if the results aren’t there, we blame the planners. We blame the generals, the secretary of defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff. No one contemplates blaming the men and women fighting every day in the trenches for little pay and scant recognition.
And yet in education we do just that. When we don’t like the way our students score on international standardized tests, we blame the teachers. When we don’t like the way particular schools perform, we blame the teachers and restrict their resources."  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/01/opinion/01eggers.html

Raising Teacher Status & Class Size

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/03/27/how-to-raise-the-status-of-teachers/restructure-teacher-compensation

I was most interested in the viewer comments on this article.  They were obviously educated and had experience in the classroom.  The author suggests slowly raising class size in order to offer higher teacher pay, making it a more attractive profession.  What this author missed is that teachers do not become teachers because of the pay, it is much deeper than that! 

Yes, teachers need to be compensated appropriately for their significant effort (I cannot begin to put into words the amount of energy that goes into a dedicated teacher's day), but having a higher class size to do so defeats the purpose.  No teacher in their right mind believes teaching is more appealing with a higher pay along with higher class size.  Our job challenge is to reach each student each day, and that becomes more of a challenge the higher the # of students.  As a parent, one may feel their child is being neglected in the process, which is true. 

Joanne Yatvin (The misleading data and debate on class size, Washington Post, March 2011) articulates the concerns of larger class size eloquently and I hope you take the time to read her brief and to the point article.  Other than the obvious concerns of trying to reach each student each day, there are concerns of physical space and classroom management.  The larger the class, the more these become an issue. 

America lags behind education in other countries.  When we invest in education, we invest in the future.  It is time we stop letting the government buy into "infomercials" offering a quick fix.  It is time to listen to the professionals, the ones on the front lines; the teachers. 

So the conundrum stays, how do we make teaching a more attractive profession without raising pay?  Let's start with raising respect for the profession.  If you are reading this, thank a teacher.

Movie Madness?

Today's article has some wonderful points on what makes a master teacher.  But it is the author's discussion on watching movies in class that inspired today's post.  The author is right, movies are an easy lesson to make.  Master teachers will not find a way to make the lesson match the movie, but make the movie support the lesson.  Students need a preactivity which explains expectations of information to be sought, as well as sets a purpose for the movie.  The expectations ensure students are paying attention to the (educational) movie and will be able to engage in discussion afterward.  This can be done at any age, not just older students.  Finally, a post activity will review information from the movie.  It should engage students in discussion about the unit and, most importantly, challenge their thinking. 

Movies are effective for author studies, and can be watched in short clips.  Many picture books have been made into movies and can be checked out at a public library.  I never have students watch a movie before reading the book.  This takes away from their imagination and creativity while reading.  Comparing a text to it's movie version can spark debate about varied reader interpretations.  When possible, show the original version.  Most likely, students have already seen the updated version .  Showing the older version means they can discuss differences amongts the text and the 2 movie variations .

In summary, as with food, movies can be used in the classroom in moderation.  They should be a nutritional resource that enhances the curriculum, but does not become the curriculum.  If the shoe (movie) doesn't fit (the curriculum), don't wear it. 

Teacher Work Ethic

Every profession deals with them; employees who do the bare minimum to get by.  Stereotypes have never been productive or effective, and this stands true with the teaching profession.  Of course, and unfortunately, some teachers do not possess the fire to lite their passion for a job requiring such.  But the truth of the matter is they are the few, and the hard working, dedicated teachers are being blamed for the failure of a few.

Many in this country assume teaching is an 8-3pm job.  Yet the truth is, teachers take home huge workloads, spend countless hours planning weekly lessons, attend graduate courses in the evening, hold 2nd jobs, and during weekends carry a burden of concern about troubled students.  Inner city teachers are constantly concerned about students' well-being; are they fed properly, if at all, the extent of verbal and/or physical abuse, are they allowed out of the house for fresh air (many aren't because of neighborhood shootings and violence)? 

To respond to the country's misconception that teaching is 8-3pm, some teachers in

Manheim Township, Warwick and Hempfield school districts took their "homework" public.  The group of teachers spent hours in a mall, publicly grading papers, planning lessons, etc.  I admit, I thought it was silly when I first read the story.  Why do teachers feel the need to advertise their hard work when other professions don't?  Well, receiving positive feedback is motivating and constant negative feedback and blame for others' weaknesses can be devastating on one's work ethic.  Plenty of common sense individuals understand how hard teachers work both on and off "duty".  But our culture is on a perpetual down spiral of demoralizing the teaching profession.  The result is devastating, with less interest by potential young teachers, larger class sizes, etc.  The teachers holding this demonstration were proving a point, that there exists more dedicated teachers than those lacking in effort.  That if scapegoats are going to be made, praises must also balance.  I am just disappointed that teachers are at a point where they have to spell it out to the public that teaching lasts much longer than the hours students are present.  I guess our teaching is never done...

 

To read the full article visit:  http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/370135