From: Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/education/la-fg-nujood20-2008sep20,0,7766653.story?track=rss
By Delphine Minoui and Borzou Daragahi
SANA, YEMEN -- Still groggy, the schoolgirl brushed her hair, struggled to pull on her socks and snuggled into her school uniform: a green gown and a white head scarf.
By the time she gathered up her books and strapped on her backpack she was smiling and enthusiastic, her nervousness eclipsed by anticipation of the first day of class.
Like children across the world, 10-year-old Nujood Ali went back to school this month after a lengthy break. But Nujood hadn't been lazing about or playing hide-and-seek with her friends during the summer.
Instead, after she was pulled out of the second grade by her father earlier this year, she was married off to a man three times her age, who beat her and sexually abused her.
For many girls in this traditional society, where tribal custom and conservative interpretations of Islam dominate, that would have been the end of the story. But Nujood was outraged. She gathered up her courage and on the advice of an aunt went to court in April. She got the help of a lawyer and filed for divorce.
A judge quickly granted it.
And on Tuesday morning, the divorcee, possibly the world's youngest, once again became a schoolgirl.
"I'm very happy to be going back to school," she said, waiting in her ramshackle home for her younger sister Haifa to get ready. "I'm going to study Arabic, the Koran, mathematics and drawing. I will do that with my classmates and I will definitely make friends there.
"Nujood's unusual story of rebellion made her an international celebrity. Since The Times wrote of her in June, CNN, Elle magazine and other international media have come to this mountaintop capital to chronicle her tale.
Hordes of nonprofit organizations offered to help her get back to school, some even willing to foot the bill to send her abroad or to a fancy private academy, though they ignored Haifa, Nujood's little sister and best friend.
In the end, Nujood opted for a small, government-run public school relatively close to her home. She would begin where she left off, starting the second grade again.
Even then, it wasn't easy. One teacher said she worried that Nujood might disturb other students by talking about her sexual experiences.
The night before she went to school, Nujood said she dreamed of notebooks, drawings and new friends.
"When I left school, I learned how to count from one to 100," she said. "Now, I am going to learn how to count until a million."
Nujood said she wanted to study hard, to be able to attend university and become a lawyer like Shada Nasser, the well-known Yemeni human rights advocate who helped her get her divorce.
The girl's experience, and her ambition, have even served as an inspiration to her parents, uneducated rural people who moved to the capital's outskirts a few years ago and say they married her off to protect her from the dangers of the city.
"We were never asked if we wanted to go to school when we were children," said her father, Ali Mohammed Ahdal, who has two wives and 16 children.
"If we had a choice, we would have loved to study like Nujood."
On Tuesday morning, Nujood and Haifa climbed into a yellow taxi paid for by an Italian aid group and drove through the capital's smog-choked streets, passing vendors of the mildly narcotic khat leaves and the occasional shepherd.
Outside the schoolhouse, Nasser stood waiting, eager to share a day she had anticipated. "I can't believe we finally made it," said the attorney, who agreed to drop the rest of her caseload to take up Nujood's cause after the girl showed up alone in a Sana courthouse in April.
Nujood and Nasser were welcomed by Njala Matri, the principal of the school in Rawdha, a lower-middle-class neighborhood along the road to the city's international airport.
"You are welcome here. You can feel at home," she said, smiling at Nujood.
Only about half of Yemeni girls attend primary school. Last year, one of the school's 1,200 girls, a 13-year-old, dropped out to marry, though the legal age of consent is 15. "Now, she's a mother," Matri said in dismay.
Women's rights activists say child marriage is part of a vicious circle. Girls drop out of school and bear too many children, contributing to Yemen's high female illiteracy and exploding birth rate.
But on Tuesday, Nujood stepped through the school's gates into a vast courtyard, disappearing into a swarm of noisy classmates. Some paid her no mind, while others approached the girl who had become a local and international media star.
"I am so excited," she said, playing nervously with her hands.
A bell sounded and the students quieted down, forming lines for roll call before shuffling into classrooms of about 50 students each.
Nujood took a seat in the third row, neither at the front nor the back of the classroom.
The teacher, dressed in an all-covering black abaya, hushed the students and began the day's lesson by asking them to recite the national anthem as well as passages from the Koran.
Small hands shot into the air.
"Who can recite the Surat al-Hamd?" the teacher asked, referring to the first chapter of the Koran.
She saw Nujood's hand, and called her name.
"Nujood?" she said.
Nujood stood up and began, ending with: "Show us the straight path. The path of those whom You have favored. Not the path of those who earn Your anger nor of those who go astray."
"May God bless you," said the teacher.
"Let's give her a round of applause."
The others clapped as Nujood sat down, a little girl once again.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
The Case for PEDs
From: Teacher Magazine
http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/section/first-person/2008/09/17/tm_mcdaniel_web.h19.html?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=mrss
By Jennifer McDaniel
For the first time this year, my entire 9th grade class is on-task. Raina and Evan have stopped their awkward dance of first love, which for them involves one incessantly trying to stab the other with a pencil. Brittany has traded her lip-gloss for a pen and is intently filling out my graphic organizer. The group of boys in the back have stopped fidgeting. No gossip is being exchanged by the breathless girls who’ve claimed the large corner table. Everyone is, miraculously, working on the same thing at the same time. The room is almost silent.
Almost, because as I peer over each of my students’ shoulders to check their work, I can oh-so-faintly hear whatever they’ve cued up on their iPods. Sometimes the tinny beats are clear enough that I can guess the song; others are so quiet as to be indistinguishable. A few of the kids bop their heads. But none has to be reprimanded to quit goofing off and get their work done. When I tell them to wrap it up, about two minutes before the imminent bell, several look like they’ve been roused from a deep reverie.
My school does not allow the wearing of headphones in order to listen to a portable music player. I have to admit I wasn’t aware of this policy until that day, when I tried to allow my students to listen to my radio—while they worked—as a Friday afternoon treat. I’d never tested this cheap piece of equipment out, and unfortunately, my second floor corner classroom got hideous reception. I shrugged and apologized for getting their hopes up.
“Can we listen to these?” Nearly every kid in the room held up one of those shiny, sleek rectangles.
“I don’t know.” Even as a first-year teacher, I should have known better than to waver. They smelled weakness. Begging, groveling, and promises of stellar work ensued. I relented, with a few stipulations: Only one ear bud allowed, during independent work only, as a privilege that could easily be revoked if I decided a student wasn’t working diligently enough. I thought it would be a one-time incidence of rule tweaking, but it worked so effectively that it became a Friday ritual that we all looked forward to. I appreciated the tranquil environment and productivity of my students during a time that could easily be lost to early weekend syndrome; my students simply enjoyed listening to their music. But still, I knew I was opening myself up to a potential problem. A veteran teacher confirmed my suspicions when I asked for her consult.
“It’s a distraction, and you can’t control what they’re listening to. PEDs are not allowed.” She spoke with an urgency usually reserved for much more threatening acronyms, like WMD or SARS. She sighed at my apparently blank expression. “A personal electronic device?”
And that was apparently that. I stopped letting my students listen to their i-Pods, grudgingly, because I think the arguments against what I’d been doing are pretty flimsy. I grant that some people need absolute quiet to work their best, those that discover the library as a haven for study in college. But there seem to be just as many of us who can’t “enjoy the silence,” as the old Depeche Mode song would have us believe. Plenty of productive people work best with background noise, and as adults who can decide what’s best for us, we create such noise in a variety of ways: the radio during our morning commutes, the evening news as we cook dinner, the cozy chatter that envelopes us as we work or read at our favorite coffee shop. And how can anything be a bigger distraction than the 27 other warm bodies each of my students must avoid engaging with all day, every day, in order to stay on task? I can guarantee that iPods don’t talk back, no matter how much you harangue them.
The argument that allowing kids to listen to their iPods means relinquishing control of the content they’re taking in is admittedly a thornier one. Just as I cannot hear and censor my students’ thoughts, I cannot respond to an errant expletive or drug reference if I can’t hear it. But, since no one else can hear it, either, I feel this becomes a sort of tree-falling-in-the-forest argument. Again, I’m sure there’s some pretty explicit stuff rattling around in my students’ heads when they’re in my classroom, but as long as they’re not shouting it out for all to hear, they’re well within their rights. And despite all the hand-wringing about whatever musical styles the next generation adopts to shock us geriatrics, most kids listen to pretty innocuous, if obnoxious, stuff: top 40 pop, rock, and rap, mostly. And what’s the more pressing issue, anyway? Should I give up what has proved to be that most effective and elusive of rewards for good performance, one that my students actually care about earning, to safeguard against the chance of them hearing the same kind of language they already utter in the halls, the parking lot, and the restrooms?
The death of iPod Fridays saddens me. I’ve had to return to the old management standbys: cajoling and threatening. I’ve tried other rewards (granola bar, anyone?), but none hold the same allure that just thirty minutes of the freedom to listen to the music of one’s choice did. And ironically, without this music, Fridays haven’t been as quiet since.
http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/section/first-person/2008/09/17/tm_mcdaniel_web.h19.html?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=mrss
By Jennifer McDaniel
For the first time this year, my entire 9th grade class is on-task. Raina and Evan have stopped their awkward dance of first love, which for them involves one incessantly trying to stab the other with a pencil. Brittany has traded her lip-gloss for a pen and is intently filling out my graphic organizer. The group of boys in the back have stopped fidgeting. No gossip is being exchanged by the breathless girls who’ve claimed the large corner table. Everyone is, miraculously, working on the same thing at the same time. The room is almost silent.
Almost, because as I peer over each of my students’ shoulders to check their work, I can oh-so-faintly hear whatever they’ve cued up on their iPods. Sometimes the tinny beats are clear enough that I can guess the song; others are so quiet as to be indistinguishable. A few of the kids bop their heads. But none has to be reprimanded to quit goofing off and get their work done. When I tell them to wrap it up, about two minutes before the imminent bell, several look like they’ve been roused from a deep reverie.
My school does not allow the wearing of headphones in order to listen to a portable music player. I have to admit I wasn’t aware of this policy until that day, when I tried to allow my students to listen to my radio—while they worked—as a Friday afternoon treat. I’d never tested this cheap piece of equipment out, and unfortunately, my second floor corner classroom got hideous reception. I shrugged and apologized for getting their hopes up.
“Can we listen to these?” Nearly every kid in the room held up one of those shiny, sleek rectangles.
“I don’t know.” Even as a first-year teacher, I should have known better than to waver. They smelled weakness. Begging, groveling, and promises of stellar work ensued. I relented, with a few stipulations: Only one ear bud allowed, during independent work only, as a privilege that could easily be revoked if I decided a student wasn’t working diligently enough. I thought it would be a one-time incidence of rule tweaking, but it worked so effectively that it became a Friday ritual that we all looked forward to. I appreciated the tranquil environment and productivity of my students during a time that could easily be lost to early weekend syndrome; my students simply enjoyed listening to their music. But still, I knew I was opening myself up to a potential problem. A veteran teacher confirmed my suspicions when I asked for her consult.
“It’s a distraction, and you can’t control what they’re listening to. PEDs are not allowed.” She spoke with an urgency usually reserved for much more threatening acronyms, like WMD or SARS. She sighed at my apparently blank expression. “A personal electronic device?”
And that was apparently that. I stopped letting my students listen to their i-Pods, grudgingly, because I think the arguments against what I’d been doing are pretty flimsy. I grant that some people need absolute quiet to work their best, those that discover the library as a haven for study in college. But there seem to be just as many of us who can’t “enjoy the silence,” as the old Depeche Mode song would have us believe. Plenty of productive people work best with background noise, and as adults who can decide what’s best for us, we create such noise in a variety of ways: the radio during our morning commutes, the evening news as we cook dinner, the cozy chatter that envelopes us as we work or read at our favorite coffee shop. And how can anything be a bigger distraction than the 27 other warm bodies each of my students must avoid engaging with all day, every day, in order to stay on task? I can guarantee that iPods don’t talk back, no matter how much you harangue them.
The argument that allowing kids to listen to their iPods means relinquishing control of the content they’re taking in is admittedly a thornier one. Just as I cannot hear and censor my students’ thoughts, I cannot respond to an errant expletive or drug reference if I can’t hear it. But, since no one else can hear it, either, I feel this becomes a sort of tree-falling-in-the-forest argument. Again, I’m sure there’s some pretty explicit stuff rattling around in my students’ heads when they’re in my classroom, but as long as they’re not shouting it out for all to hear, they’re well within their rights. And despite all the hand-wringing about whatever musical styles the next generation adopts to shock us geriatrics, most kids listen to pretty innocuous, if obnoxious, stuff: top 40 pop, rock, and rap, mostly. And what’s the more pressing issue, anyway? Should I give up what has proved to be that most effective and elusive of rewards for good performance, one that my students actually care about earning, to safeguard against the chance of them hearing the same kind of language they already utter in the halls, the parking lot, and the restrooms?
The death of iPod Fridays saddens me. I’ve had to return to the old management standbys: cajoling and threatening. I’ve tried other rewards (granola bar, anyone?), but none hold the same allure that just thirty minutes of the freedom to listen to the music of one’s choice did. And ironically, without this music, Fridays haven’t been as quiet since.
Teaching Secrets: What Kids Wish Teachers Knew
From: Teacher Magazine
http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/articles/2008/09/17/02tln_wasserman.h20.html
By Laurie Wasserman
I was in our building a few weeks before school began, setting my room up for the new year. My friend and colleague was doing the same in her room, accompanied by her daughter Talia, now a high school sophomore, who enjoys helping Mom get ready for her new students.
Talia looked on as we freshened up our classrooms and began to reflect on her own middle school memories. We soon sat down for a spontaneous chat, and I asked her to talk from a student’s perspective about what middle school had been like for her. With those years still fresh in her memory, Talia offfered some candid insights from the other side of the teacher’s desk.
Talia adored her 8th grade U.S. history teacher, who engaged each of his classes in creating a classroom constitution during the first weeks of school. They wrote laws that needed to be followed and created ways to amend them as needed. Talia talked of his dedication to making learning fun and interesting by creating hands-on learning opportunities. Then she shared some other stories—about the foreign language teacher who put so much effort into her lessons, demonstrating a deep dedication to her subject, and the memorable science teacher who set up intriguing labs and projects that made Talia eager to come to school each day.
She also related sad stories about other teachers who often showed up late for class, or made cutting remarks about students’ intelligence and abilities. She poignantly recalled how such comments hurt her fellow classmates and lingered long after the teacher’s thoughtless outbursts.
As we continued our chat, I asked Talia to tell me what she wished teachers would know about their students. Here are some of her pointers:
http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/articles/2008/09/17/02tln_wasserman.h20.html
By Laurie Wasserman
I was in our building a few weeks before school began, setting my room up for the new year. My friend and colleague was doing the same in her room, accompanied by her daughter Talia, now a high school sophomore, who enjoys helping Mom get ready for her new students.
Talia looked on as we freshened up our classrooms and began to reflect on her own middle school memories. We soon sat down for a spontaneous chat, and I asked her to talk from a student’s perspective about what middle school had been like for her. With those years still fresh in her memory, Talia offfered some candid insights from the other side of the teacher’s desk.
Talia adored her 8th grade U.S. history teacher, who engaged each of his classes in creating a classroom constitution during the first weeks of school. They wrote laws that needed to be followed and created ways to amend them as needed. Talia talked of his dedication to making learning fun and interesting by creating hands-on learning opportunities. Then she shared some other stories—about the foreign language teacher who put so much effort into her lessons, demonstrating a deep dedication to her subject, and the memorable science teacher who set up intriguing labs and projects that made Talia eager to come to school each day.
She also related sad stories about other teachers who often showed up late for class, or made cutting remarks about students’ intelligence and abilities. She poignantly recalled how such comments hurt her fellow classmates and lingered long after the teacher’s thoughtless outbursts.
As we continued our chat, I asked Talia to tell me what she wished teachers would know about their students. Here are some of her pointers:
- “Tell your stories about when you were our age.” Talia explained that when teachers share their own middle school stories—including some of their blunders or embarrassing moments—it makes them more human. Her mother, my colleague, told us she did this in her own classroom because she realized how much it meant to her students to hear about her own mistakes as a kid.
- “Teachers underestimate what kids can do, and what they know.” Often, Talia explained, teachers assume kids can’t tell if a teacher is unprepared for class. But of course they can. Students also appreciate good teaching, exciting lessons, test review games, and activities. Years later, the kids remember which teachers lacked respect for themselves or their students. They remember the sarcastic comments, as well as the kind and caring ones.
- “We love to see our work hung up on the board.” Talia shared how much it meant to come into a classroom and see her diligent efforts and those of her classmates prominently displayed. It meant the teacher was proud of you and willing to take the time to show off your hard work.
- “Read aloud to us. You’re never too old to be read aloud to.” Simply put, it strengthens the bond between teacher and students. It’s a gift from the teacher that students recognize.
- “Get us out from behind our desks.” Kids this age need to move around, and they love it when you’ve taken the time to plan opportunities for movement into your lessons. “We need to get physical,” Talia is saying. “It keeps us learning.”
- “You have to want to be around people, otherwise you make us miserable.” The kids know whether you’re a “people person” and enjoy the company of kids. And sadly, they know if you aren’t. Talia told us stories of some of her “hands off, impersonal teachers,” as well as the warm, friendly teachers that made a difference. They will always be remembered.
Most States Have Technology Standards for Teachers
From: EPE Research Center
http://www.edweek.org/rc/articles/2008/09/17/sow0917.h27.html
By Alexis Reed
http://www.edweek.org/rc/articles/2008/09/17/sow0917.h27.html
By Alexis Reed
In the 21st century, innovation in the classroom aims both to boost achievement on standardized examinations and to prepare students for life after graduation. That is a life in which technology plays an increasingly vital role. The Enhancing Education through Technology Act, part of the omnibus federal No Child Left Behind Act, seeks to raise student academic achievement by encouraging educators to integrate technology into the curriculum. Proponents have argued that teachers who are themselves competent users of instructional technology can deliver more innovative lessons in the classroom, increase the capacity of their students to use technology, and ultimately facilitate student learning. In Technology Counts 2008, the EPE Research Center found that 44 states have established standards for teachers that include technology. In most of those states, such standards are aligned with the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers, developed by the International Society for Technology in Education.
For more state-by-state data on technology policies and other topics, search the EPE Research Center's Education Counts database.
Technology Standards for Teachers (2007-08)
Monday, September 15, 2008
McCain, Obama Spar on Education
From: Education Week
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/09/17/04prez_ep.h28.html?tmp=1593041305
By David J. Hoff
Vol. 28, Issue 04, Pages 1,20-22
In TV Ads on School Issues, Campaigns Reach Back Years to Question the Opposition
The campaigns of Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama engaged in a sharp and testy exchange on education last week, making the topic the center of debate for the first time since the long race for the presidency began.
Neither candidate changed course on the policies he is promising to pursue. But Sen. Obama sought to distinguish himself from Sen. McCain in two public appearances, trying to portray himself as a bipartisan problem-solver for schools. Each campaign also released a hard-hitting TV ad attacking the other candidate’s record on education.
The attention to education in the first week of campaigning after the back-to-back Democratic and Republican conventions was heartening to some observers. But it’s unlikely that a substantive debate will emerge from the week’s activities, one political scientist said, because the campaigns appear to be focusing on the opposing candidate’s character and personality.
“As for [education] being a centerpiece, I don’t think that’s going to happen with just two months to go” before the election, said Paul Manna, an assistant professor of government at the College of William and Mary, who studies politics related to education. “It’s hard to see how it’s going to gain traction.”
Still, some tweaks to each candidate’s policy proposals have emerged in the wake of the conventions.
In what the Obama campaign called “a major policy speech” on Sept. 9 in Riverside, Ohio, Sen. Obama essentially summarized the proposals from his Democratic primary campaign, but added a notable new plank: He would double federal aid for charter schools, to $400 million a year.
“I will lead a new era of accountability in education,” Sen. Obama said in the speech. “But I don’t just want to hold our teachers accountable. I want you to hold our government accountable. I want you to hold me accountable.”
The next day, the Illinois Democrat visited Granby High School in Norfolk, Va., where he met with 9th graders and answered their questions on such topics as choosing a college and his experience as a community organizer in Chicago.
The Obama campaign also released a television commercial asserting that Sen. McCain “doesn’t understand” what it will take to improve schools. The McCain campaign responded quickly—by the end of the same day—with an ad of its own, which charged that Sen. Obama’s only legislative accomplishment on education was a Illinois bill mandating sex education for kindergartners. Many independent evaluators questioned the accuracy of the ad, which quoted from Education Week and other newspapers.
One Democratic activist said the timing of Sen. Obama’s speech and the depth of its content suggest that education issues may get a serious debate in the 2008 election. For much of the primary and general-election campaigns, economics and foreign policy have been the central focus of the candidates.
“It says something that [Mr. Obama is] talking about education fewer than 60 days before the election,” said Robert Gordon, a senior fellow with the Center for American Progress Action Fund, a Washington think tank with ties to the Obama campaign and other Democrats.
“McCain sounds pretty good on education, but when you scratch even a little bit beneath the surface, there’s no there, there,” said Mr. Gordon, who has provided advice to Sen. Obama’s campaign.
An adviser to Sen. McCain took issue with that appraisal, saying that the Arizona Republican’s school choice proposals are a serious attempt change the existing education bureaucracy and would result in better schools.
“Senator McCain ... is interested in empowering families and speaking directly to the educational needs of Americans, as opposed to the system,” said Eugene W. Hickok, a former deputy secretary of education under President Bush who is advising the McCain campaign. “Whereas Obama, beyond his mantra of more money, more money, is really just supporting these traditional approaches to the system.”
Shift to Other Topics
In their speeches accepting the nominations of their respective parties, Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain pointed to their education policy proposals.
In his Aug. 29 speech in Denver, Sen. Obama promised to “meet our moral obligation to provide a world-class education.” He outlined an agenda to recruit new teachers and hold all educators accountable for meeting higher standards. ("Top-Notch Education 'A Moral Obligation,' Obama Tells Throng," Sept. 3, 2008.)
One week later, Sen. McCain called for increasing parents’ ability to choose schools for their children, especially those who attend schools with low student achievement. ("McCain Promises to 'Shake Up' Schools," Sept. 10, 2008.)
Sen. McCain reiterated the education themes from his convention speech early last week in an appearance on the cbs News show “Face the Nation.”
“Everyone has equal access to a school. But what’s the point of access to a failed school or a failing school?” Sen. McCain said. “We’ve got to give them more choice, more opportunity—all Americans.”
The substance of the candidates’ speeches played almost no role in last week’s dueling advertisements.
Such attack ads are common in presidential politics, but it’s rare that they hinge on the candidates’ education positions.
The dueling ads helped raise the profile of education in the campaign, but only temporarily. Soon after Sen. Obama’s speech and the debut of the ads, campaign coverage in the news media focused on allegations of personal slights.
The candidates did, however, address the subject of community service. On Sept. 11, the anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks, Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama appeared separately at a televised forum and discussed how such service efforts could help schools.
Adding Charter Schools
The events of the week didn’t significantly change the substance of the candidates’ positions on education.
Speaking at Stebbins High School in suburban Dayton, Sen. Obama tried to position himself as the candidate with the ability to bridge the partisan debates on education issues.
“For decades, they’ve been stuck in the same tired debates over education that have crippled our progress and left schools and parents to fend for themselves,” he said of policymakers in Washington. “It’s been Democrat versus Republican, vouchers versus the status quo, more money versus more reform. There’s partisanship and there’s bickering, but there’s no understanding that both sides have good ideas that we’ll need to implement if we hope to make the changes our children need.”
In arguing how he would move the debate forward, Sen. Obama listed the pieces of his education platform that have been in place since voters started casting ballots in the primaries. In addition to recruiting and training new teachers, Sen. Obama would experiment with new ways of paying them. He also would seek to spend $10 billion a year to expand access to prekindergarten programs, and he would create $4,000 tax credits for college tuition.
The Democratic nominee said he would aim to change the federal No Child Left Behind Act to improve the quality of tests and the way the law holds schools accountable for student performance. The senator also said he would fully fund the law, which is something that Democrats in Congress have long said President Bush has failed to do. In the current fiscal year, the nclb law’s programs are receiving $24.7 billion—or $14.7 billion less than the law authorizes for spending on them.
In Ohio, Sen. Obama added one new piece to his plan with his promise to double the funding for the federal program that supports the development and expansion of charter schools, which are publicly funded but operate independently. The program now receives $200 million a year.
Although a fresh addition to Mr. Obama’s agenda, the proposal wasn’t surprising, Mr. Gordon said. Sen. Obama has been a supporter of charter schools in his hometown of Chicago and has mentioned his support for them in speeches throughout the campaign.
Embracing Choice
The proposed new level of support for charters also appeared to be an attempt to counter the emphasis Sen. McCain put on school choice in his Sept. 4 acceptance speech.
But it was an incomplete response, said one policy analyst who supports programs that allow parents to choose among public and private schools.
“Charter schools are not full choice,” said Lance T. Izumi, the senior director of education studies at the Pacific Research Institute, a Sacramento, Calif., think tank. “There are still things that block charter schools from forming.”
Sen. McCain’s extended remarks on school choice, which constituted one of the most detailed policy discussions in his acceptance speech, deviated slightly from the campaign proposals he had outlined in earlier speeches and policy papers.
In those statements, the Republican nominee’s only mention of school choice was his support for expanding the 4-year-old federal pilot project offering vouchers for District of Columbia students to use at private schools.
“I think he does want school choice for everybody in this country, but where he can implement school choice broadly is primarily in the District of Columbia,” Mr. Hickok said.
Even though Sen. McCain’s convention speech implied he would offer broader choices than his policy positions suggest, Mr. Izumi said the issue deserved the amount of time Sen. McCain gave it because it was an example of his promise to scale back the government’s role in people’s lives. “It fit into his whole campaign theme of trying to bypass the government elites and to reach out to the common person,” Mr. Izumi said.
To deliver on the promise of school choice, Mr. Izumi added, Sen. McCain will need to produce a detailed explanation of the policies he would pursue. “He needs to assure people that he’ll have a practical plan at some point,” he said.
Although the profile of education in the 2008 campaign rose last week—even if only briefly—neither candidate has addressed the most significant issues facing federal education policy, said Chester E. Finn Jr., the president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a Washington-based think tank that supports standards and accountability.
NCLB Focus Sought
The next president must negotiate ways to solve the current problems with the nclb law, which requires states to assess students in reading and mathematics in grades 3-8 and once in high school, and requires states to intervene in schools that aren’t on track to reach the goal that all students be proficient in those subjects by the end of the 2013-14 school year.
“Everybody would like to talk about the wonderful way they could make education better,” said Mr. Finn, a former assistant secretary of education under President Reagan.
But, he said, neither candidate’s education plans address how to improve the rigor of states’ standards, how to improve interventions in schools that aren’t meeting the law’s goals, how to ensure that all classrooms have highly qualified teachers, and several other issues that have been difficult to implement under the bipartisan, 6½-year-old law, which was one of President Bush’s biggest domestic-policy initiatives.
With the law overdue for reauthorization, the next president needs to have a concrete plan to solve those problems, Mr. Finn said.
“It would be irresponsible not to,” he said. “These, after all, are the programs through which the lion’s share of federal money for education flows.”
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/09/17/04prez_ep.h28.html?tmp=1593041305
By David J. Hoff
Vol. 28, Issue 04, Pages 1,20-22
In TV Ads on School Issues, Campaigns Reach Back Years to Question the Opposition
The campaigns of Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama engaged in a sharp and testy exchange on education last week, making the topic the center of debate for the first time since the long race for the presidency began.
Neither candidate changed course on the policies he is promising to pursue. But Sen. Obama sought to distinguish himself from Sen. McCain in two public appearances, trying to portray himself as a bipartisan problem-solver for schools. Each campaign also released a hard-hitting TV ad attacking the other candidate’s record on education.
The attention to education in the first week of campaigning after the back-to-back Democratic and Republican conventions was heartening to some observers. But it’s unlikely that a substantive debate will emerge from the week’s activities, one political scientist said, because the campaigns appear to be focusing on the opposing candidate’s character and personality.
“As for [education] being a centerpiece, I don’t think that’s going to happen with just two months to go” before the election, said Paul Manna, an assistant professor of government at the College of William and Mary, who studies politics related to education. “It’s hard to see how it’s going to gain traction.”
Still, some tweaks to each candidate’s policy proposals have emerged in the wake of the conventions.
In what the Obama campaign called “a major policy speech” on Sept. 9 in Riverside, Ohio, Sen. Obama essentially summarized the proposals from his Democratic primary campaign, but added a notable new plank: He would double federal aid for charter schools, to $400 million a year.
“I will lead a new era of accountability in education,” Sen. Obama said in the speech. “But I don’t just want to hold our teachers accountable. I want you to hold our government accountable. I want you to hold me accountable.”
The next day, the Illinois Democrat visited Granby High School in Norfolk, Va., where he met with 9th graders and answered their questions on such topics as choosing a college and his experience as a community organizer in Chicago.
The Obama campaign also released a television commercial asserting that Sen. McCain “doesn’t understand” what it will take to improve schools. The McCain campaign responded quickly—by the end of the same day—with an ad of its own, which charged that Sen. Obama’s only legislative accomplishment on education was a Illinois bill mandating sex education for kindergartners. Many independent evaluators questioned the accuracy of the ad, which quoted from Education Week and other newspapers.
One Democratic activist said the timing of Sen. Obama’s speech and the depth of its content suggest that education issues may get a serious debate in the 2008 election. For much of the primary and general-election campaigns, economics and foreign policy have been the central focus of the candidates.
“It says something that [Mr. Obama is] talking about education fewer than 60 days before the election,” said Robert Gordon, a senior fellow with the Center for American Progress Action Fund, a Washington think tank with ties to the Obama campaign and other Democrats.
“McCain sounds pretty good on education, but when you scratch even a little bit beneath the surface, there’s no there, there,” said Mr. Gordon, who has provided advice to Sen. Obama’s campaign.
An adviser to Sen. McCain took issue with that appraisal, saying that the Arizona Republican’s school choice proposals are a serious attempt change the existing education bureaucracy and would result in better schools.
“Senator McCain ... is interested in empowering families and speaking directly to the educational needs of Americans, as opposed to the system,” said Eugene W. Hickok, a former deputy secretary of education under President Bush who is advising the McCain campaign. “Whereas Obama, beyond his mantra of more money, more money, is really just supporting these traditional approaches to the system.”
Shift to Other Topics
In their speeches accepting the nominations of their respective parties, Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain pointed to their education policy proposals.
In his Aug. 29 speech in Denver, Sen. Obama promised to “meet our moral obligation to provide a world-class education.” He outlined an agenda to recruit new teachers and hold all educators accountable for meeting higher standards. ("Top-Notch Education 'A Moral Obligation,' Obama Tells Throng," Sept. 3, 2008.)
One week later, Sen. McCain called for increasing parents’ ability to choose schools for their children, especially those who attend schools with low student achievement. ("McCain Promises to 'Shake Up' Schools," Sept. 10, 2008.)
Sen. McCain reiterated the education themes from his convention speech early last week in an appearance on the cbs News show “Face the Nation.”
“Everyone has equal access to a school. But what’s the point of access to a failed school or a failing school?” Sen. McCain said. “We’ve got to give them more choice, more opportunity—all Americans.”
The substance of the candidates’ speeches played almost no role in last week’s dueling advertisements.
Such attack ads are common in presidential politics, but it’s rare that they hinge on the candidates’ education positions.
The dueling ads helped raise the profile of education in the campaign, but only temporarily. Soon after Sen. Obama’s speech and the debut of the ads, campaign coverage in the news media focused on allegations of personal slights.
The candidates did, however, address the subject of community service. On Sept. 11, the anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks, Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama appeared separately at a televised forum and discussed how such service efforts could help schools.
Adding Charter Schools
The events of the week didn’t significantly change the substance of the candidates’ positions on education.
Speaking at Stebbins High School in suburban Dayton, Sen. Obama tried to position himself as the candidate with the ability to bridge the partisan debates on education issues.
“For decades, they’ve been stuck in the same tired debates over education that have crippled our progress and left schools and parents to fend for themselves,” he said of policymakers in Washington. “It’s been Democrat versus Republican, vouchers versus the status quo, more money versus more reform. There’s partisanship and there’s bickering, but there’s no understanding that both sides have good ideas that we’ll need to implement if we hope to make the changes our children need.”
In arguing how he would move the debate forward, Sen. Obama listed the pieces of his education platform that have been in place since voters started casting ballots in the primaries. In addition to recruiting and training new teachers, Sen. Obama would experiment with new ways of paying them. He also would seek to spend $10 billion a year to expand access to prekindergarten programs, and he would create $4,000 tax credits for college tuition.
The Democratic nominee said he would aim to change the federal No Child Left Behind Act to improve the quality of tests and the way the law holds schools accountable for student performance. The senator also said he would fully fund the law, which is something that Democrats in Congress have long said President Bush has failed to do. In the current fiscal year, the nclb law’s programs are receiving $24.7 billion—or $14.7 billion less than the law authorizes for spending on them.
In Ohio, Sen. Obama added one new piece to his plan with his promise to double the funding for the federal program that supports the development and expansion of charter schools, which are publicly funded but operate independently. The program now receives $200 million a year.
Although a fresh addition to Mr. Obama’s agenda, the proposal wasn’t surprising, Mr. Gordon said. Sen. Obama has been a supporter of charter schools in his hometown of Chicago and has mentioned his support for them in speeches throughout the campaign.
Embracing Choice
The proposed new level of support for charters also appeared to be an attempt to counter the emphasis Sen. McCain put on school choice in his Sept. 4 acceptance speech.
But it was an incomplete response, said one policy analyst who supports programs that allow parents to choose among public and private schools.
“Charter schools are not full choice,” said Lance T. Izumi, the senior director of education studies at the Pacific Research Institute, a Sacramento, Calif., think tank. “There are still things that block charter schools from forming.”
Sen. McCain’s extended remarks on school choice, which constituted one of the most detailed policy discussions in his acceptance speech, deviated slightly from the campaign proposals he had outlined in earlier speeches and policy papers.
In those statements, the Republican nominee’s only mention of school choice was his support for expanding the 4-year-old federal pilot project offering vouchers for District of Columbia students to use at private schools.
“I think he does want school choice for everybody in this country, but where he can implement school choice broadly is primarily in the District of Columbia,” Mr. Hickok said.
Even though Sen. McCain’s convention speech implied he would offer broader choices than his policy positions suggest, Mr. Izumi said the issue deserved the amount of time Sen. McCain gave it because it was an example of his promise to scale back the government’s role in people’s lives. “It fit into his whole campaign theme of trying to bypass the government elites and to reach out to the common person,” Mr. Izumi said.
To deliver on the promise of school choice, Mr. Izumi added, Sen. McCain will need to produce a detailed explanation of the policies he would pursue. “He needs to assure people that he’ll have a practical plan at some point,” he said.
Although the profile of education in the 2008 campaign rose last week—even if only briefly—neither candidate has addressed the most significant issues facing federal education policy, said Chester E. Finn Jr., the president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a Washington-based think tank that supports standards and accountability.
NCLB Focus Sought
The next president must negotiate ways to solve the current problems with the nclb law, which requires states to assess students in reading and mathematics in grades 3-8 and once in high school, and requires states to intervene in schools that aren’t on track to reach the goal that all students be proficient in those subjects by the end of the 2013-14 school year.
“Everybody would like to talk about the wonderful way they could make education better,” said Mr. Finn, a former assistant secretary of education under President Reagan.
But, he said, neither candidate’s education plans address how to improve the rigor of states’ standards, how to improve interventions in schools that aren’t meeting the law’s goals, how to ensure that all classrooms have highly qualified teachers, and several other issues that have been difficult to implement under the bipartisan, 6½-year-old law, which was one of President Bush’s biggest domestic-policy initiatives.
With the law overdue for reauthorization, the next president needs to have a concrete plan to solve those problems, Mr. Finn said.
“It would be irresponsible not to,” he said. “These, after all, are the programs through which the lion’s share of federal money for education flows.”
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Teaching Abroad
From: Top School Jobs (.org)
http://resources.topschooljobs.org/tsj/articles/2008/09/11/international_cc.html
By Liana Heitin
Whether for experience or adventure—or both—many teachers seek short-term positions in foreign countries. This can be a practical option at times when the teaching job market in the U.S. is tight, particularly for educators in need of some resume building.
International Schools Services (ISS) is a nonprofit organization that helps develop and manage more than 300 schools worldwide. Teachers and other qualified candidates looking for opportunities overseas can establish a professional file with ISS and attend interviews with school administrators at International Recruitment Centers (IRCs). All applicants are subject to a screening process and notified when a position for which they are qualified becomes available. Laura Light, director of educational staffing and publications, recently answered a few questions for us about teacher placement through ISS.
What percentage of qualified applicants are offered international positions?
Approximately 60 percent of our candidates are offered international positions after they become a candidate with us. This number is steadily rising, though, as more schools are looking for more teachers! Schools that are already established are growing, which means the school heads are actively hiring more teachers, and new schools are starting all the time. There are exciting things happening in schools all around the world—and the time is ripe to consider teaching abroad!
How long does the placement process take?
The placement project is generally about a six- to eight-month process. We recommend teachers contact us in September or October. The creation of a dossier does take some time (as we need transcripts, letters of recommendation, etc.) before moving ahead. Once we have all the paperwork, we do encourage people to attend our conferences held each January and February. These conferences are hiring conferences where the heads of schools come in from all around the world looking for teachers to fill open positions they will have in the following school year. Last January and February, we had well over 160 schools looking for teachers and administrators -and there were many opportunities for people wanting to teach abroad! The heads of schools do like to meet teachers or administrators wanting to work in their schools, so we do encourage attendance at one of those conferences.
Are teachers with particular qualifications more likely to find positions?
Schools overseas do really like to see teachers who have at least two years of experience, but even that is changing. ISS is now accepting candidates who are recent graduates from colleges or universities. These schools want qualified teachers, who are up to date on current teaching practices, and are excited about teaching.
How do you match teachers and schools?
We do not really "match" teachers and schools. We are a facilitator who bring people together. We vet the teachers and schools to make sure we are working with quality candidates, but the interviewing and contract process are all done between the teacher and the school.
I understand that most teachers are on a two-year contract—is it possible for teachers to stay longer?
Yes, most contracts are for a two year period—but staying on is not a problem at all! Schools do like to have teachers commit to more time. I have taught overseas for many years—some of my contracts ended when I wanted, after two years, but I stayed as long as seven years in a place I loved! This is something each teacher or administrator needs to talk about with the school they are interviewing with. But, I know that schools will say they do encourage teachers to consider more years.
Do teachers receive training before heading to their host country?
Each school handles the transition differently—but I do not think any of them offer any training. Schools will work with new teachers coming to their schools and give them a huge amount of information. Teachers currently working at these schools often contact the new teachers to help guide them through the process.
How do international standards and curriculums compare to those in the U.S.?
The standards at each of these schools is generally very high! The curriculums do vary, considering the school you are going to be working in, but almost all of these schools are college preparatory. These children often return to the United States to enter a college, so these schools worldwide know they have keep the standards very high. It is a hugely satisfying place to work, in one of these schools, as there is always a lot of administrative support, great parental support, and a great team to work with inside the school walls.
Are teachers generally satisfied with their international teaching experiences?
Honestly, a huge percentage of teachers absolutely love working abroad. There is a general comment about how "it gets in your blood" and how teachers stay in the overseas circuit. Yes, some people do find that it is not for them—but most people really find it a great scenario to be in. The schools are incredibly supportive and well run, the travel experiences are fantastic, and the people you meet are top-notch. It really is fun to work in a place where you feel valued, where you have some outstanding colleagues, and where you feel like you are really making a difference.
http://resources.topschooljobs.org/tsj/articles/2008/09/11/international_cc.html
By Liana Heitin
Whether for experience or adventure—or both—many teachers seek short-term positions in foreign countries. This can be a practical option at times when the teaching job market in the U.S. is tight, particularly for educators in need of some resume building.
International Schools Services (ISS) is a nonprofit organization that helps develop and manage more than 300 schools worldwide. Teachers and other qualified candidates looking for opportunities overseas can establish a professional file with ISS and attend interviews with school administrators at International Recruitment Centers (IRCs). All applicants are subject to a screening process and notified when a position for which they are qualified becomes available. Laura Light, director of educational staffing and publications, recently answered a few questions for us about teacher placement through ISS.
What percentage of qualified applicants are offered international positions?
Approximately 60 percent of our candidates are offered international positions after they become a candidate with us. This number is steadily rising, though, as more schools are looking for more teachers! Schools that are already established are growing, which means the school heads are actively hiring more teachers, and new schools are starting all the time. There are exciting things happening in schools all around the world—and the time is ripe to consider teaching abroad!
How long does the placement process take?
The placement project is generally about a six- to eight-month process. We recommend teachers contact us in September or October. The creation of a dossier does take some time (as we need transcripts, letters of recommendation, etc.) before moving ahead. Once we have all the paperwork, we do encourage people to attend our conferences held each January and February. These conferences are hiring conferences where the heads of schools come in from all around the world looking for teachers to fill open positions they will have in the following school year. Last January and February, we had well over 160 schools looking for teachers and administrators -and there were many opportunities for people wanting to teach abroad! The heads of schools do like to meet teachers or administrators wanting to work in their schools, so we do encourage attendance at one of those conferences.
Are teachers with particular qualifications more likely to find positions?
Schools overseas do really like to see teachers who have at least two years of experience, but even that is changing. ISS is now accepting candidates who are recent graduates from colleges or universities. These schools want qualified teachers, who are up to date on current teaching practices, and are excited about teaching.
How do you match teachers and schools?
We do not really "match" teachers and schools. We are a facilitator who bring people together. We vet the teachers and schools to make sure we are working with quality candidates, but the interviewing and contract process are all done between the teacher and the school.
I understand that most teachers are on a two-year contract—is it possible for teachers to stay longer?
Yes, most contracts are for a two year period—but staying on is not a problem at all! Schools do like to have teachers commit to more time. I have taught overseas for many years—some of my contracts ended when I wanted, after two years, but I stayed as long as seven years in a place I loved! This is something each teacher or administrator needs to talk about with the school they are interviewing with. But, I know that schools will say they do encourage teachers to consider more years.
Do teachers receive training before heading to their host country?
Each school handles the transition differently—but I do not think any of them offer any training. Schools will work with new teachers coming to their schools and give them a huge amount of information. Teachers currently working at these schools often contact the new teachers to help guide them through the process.
How do international standards and curriculums compare to those in the U.S.?
The standards at each of these schools is generally very high! The curriculums do vary, considering the school you are going to be working in, but almost all of these schools are college preparatory. These children often return to the United States to enter a college, so these schools worldwide know they have keep the standards very high. It is a hugely satisfying place to work, in one of these schools, as there is always a lot of administrative support, great parental support, and a great team to work with inside the school walls.
Are teachers generally satisfied with their international teaching experiences?
Honestly, a huge percentage of teachers absolutely love working abroad. There is a general comment about how "it gets in your blood" and how teachers stay in the overseas circuit. Yes, some people do find that it is not for them—but most people really find it a great scenario to be in. The schools are incredibly supportive and well run, the travel experiences are fantastic, and the people you meet are top-notch. It really is fun to work in a place where you feel valued, where you have some outstanding colleagues, and where you feel like you are really making a difference.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Dress to Impress
From: NEA
http://www.nea.org/tomorrowsteachers/2008/classroomcon.html
You’ve gotta look the part to be at the head of the class.
We’ve all heard the phrase “dress for success,” but what does it really mean? And why should you care about it? For an aspiring educator, knowing curriculum and classroom management aren’t the only things that make you a teacher. You also need to dress the part.
“Your attire says so much about you,” says Diana Pemberton-Sikes, an author and personal image consultant. “Too fashionable says you’re superficial. Too sloppy says you’re not into details. A well-groomed, appropriately dressed person will always enjoy more success than their poorly dressed counterparts.”
Dressing professionally also boosts your self-esteem and self-confidence, not to mention your employer’s confidence in your abilities.
“When you dress well…you make a better impression on your clients or students, and you may be looked upon as a better employee by your supervisor,” says Brian Earle, who teaches business etiquette at Cornell University.
But in many schools, dressing professionally isn’t just a smart choice. It’s a requirement under the employee dress codes that districts like New Hanover County School District in North Carolina have adopted.
“By creating a focus on professionalism and modeling high standards of personal conduct, we establish and maintain a more effective and positive learning environment for our students,” says John A. Welmers Jr., the district’s assistant superintendent for human resources. “In essence, we wanted to differentiate the professional staff from the look and actions of the students.”
How can you keep your look professional and avoid a serious fashion faux pas? Here are a few guidelines:
Understand your school dress code, if you have one “The new hire should ask about the dress code for both the students and the faculty. This will give an indication of the culture and leadership of the institution,” Earle advises. “If there is any question about the definition of the dress code, ask for examples of what is considered appropriate.”
Don’t dress like your students. “The biggest problem new teachers seem to have, especially at the high school and college levels, is separating themselves from their students,” says Earle. “If you dress exactly like the students it compromises your authority regardless of how well you teach.”
Pemberton-Sikes agrees. “As a teacher, you want to be seen as relatable, but also as the leader of the class,” she says. “To accomplish this, you need a shirt with a collar and/or a third layer, like a vest, a cardigan, or a jacket.” Avoid tight-fitting, revealing, or trendy clothing, Pemberton-Sikes adds, but make sure your grooming is current and consistent. “You want your students to pay attention to you and show courtesy, not make fun of your attire or 1980s hairdo.”
Select clothes that suit your teaching duties “Dress needs to reflect the activities of the teacher,” says Earle. “I don’t think an elementary school teacher wants her supervisor to stop in while she is sitting on the floor and leading an activity in a short skirt. Likewise, a male gym teacher would probably not want to play soccer in suit pants and wingtips.”
Slacks are a good choice for teachers who spend time on the floor with students, suggests Pemberton-Sikes. Meanwhile, a science teacher, or other educator who works with chemicals, may want to a wear lab coat, she adds. Comfortable, supportive shoes also are a must.
Don’t bust your budget with expensive clothes. Updating a wardrobe of jeans and T-shirts to suits and ties can be expensive. But find out what your school requires before you invest in pricey threads. Districts like New Hanover County School District, for instance, let teachers wear khakis with polo-type shirts and blouses and other economical options.
Remember, “dress for success” really works. “Raw talent will get you only so far,” says Pemberton-Sikes. “Cultivated talent polished with appropriate attire and nice manners will take you anywhere in the world you want to go.…Package yourself appropriately and ‘the sky’s the limit,’ as they say.”
—Maren MacIntyre
http://www.nea.org/tomorrowsteachers/2008/classroomcon.html
You’ve gotta look the part to be at the head of the class.
We’ve all heard the phrase “dress for success,” but what does it really mean? And why should you care about it? For an aspiring educator, knowing curriculum and classroom management aren’t the only things that make you a teacher. You also need to dress the part.
“Your attire says so much about you,” says Diana Pemberton-Sikes, an author and personal image consultant. “Too fashionable says you’re superficial. Too sloppy says you’re not into details. A well-groomed, appropriately dressed person will always enjoy more success than their poorly dressed counterparts.”
Dressing professionally also boosts your self-esteem and self-confidence, not to mention your employer’s confidence in your abilities.
“When you dress well…you make a better impression on your clients or students, and you may be looked upon as a better employee by your supervisor,” says Brian Earle, who teaches business etiquette at Cornell University.
But in many schools, dressing professionally isn’t just a smart choice. It’s a requirement under the employee dress codes that districts like New Hanover County School District in North Carolina have adopted.
“By creating a focus on professionalism and modeling high standards of personal conduct, we establish and maintain a more effective and positive learning environment for our students,” says John A. Welmers Jr., the district’s assistant superintendent for human resources. “In essence, we wanted to differentiate the professional staff from the look and actions of the students.”
How can you keep your look professional and avoid a serious fashion faux pas? Here are a few guidelines:
Understand your school dress code, if you have one “The new hire should ask about the dress code for both the students and the faculty. This will give an indication of the culture and leadership of the institution,” Earle advises. “If there is any question about the definition of the dress code, ask for examples of what is considered appropriate.”
Don’t dress like your students. “The biggest problem new teachers seem to have, especially at the high school and college levels, is separating themselves from their students,” says Earle. “If you dress exactly like the students it compromises your authority regardless of how well you teach.”
Pemberton-Sikes agrees. “As a teacher, you want to be seen as relatable, but also as the leader of the class,” she says. “To accomplish this, you need a shirt with a collar and/or a third layer, like a vest, a cardigan, or a jacket.” Avoid tight-fitting, revealing, or trendy clothing, Pemberton-Sikes adds, but make sure your grooming is current and consistent. “You want your students to pay attention to you and show courtesy, not make fun of your attire or 1980s hairdo.”
Select clothes that suit your teaching duties “Dress needs to reflect the activities of the teacher,” says Earle. “I don’t think an elementary school teacher wants her supervisor to stop in while she is sitting on the floor and leading an activity in a short skirt. Likewise, a male gym teacher would probably not want to play soccer in suit pants and wingtips.”
Slacks are a good choice for teachers who spend time on the floor with students, suggests Pemberton-Sikes. Meanwhile, a science teacher, or other educator who works with chemicals, may want to a wear lab coat, she adds. Comfortable, supportive shoes also are a must.
Don’t bust your budget with expensive clothes. Updating a wardrobe of jeans and T-shirts to suits and ties can be expensive. But find out what your school requires before you invest in pricey threads. Districts like New Hanover County School District, for instance, let teachers wear khakis with polo-type shirts and blouses and other economical options.
Remember, “dress for success” really works. “Raw talent will get you only so far,” says Pemberton-Sikes. “Cultivated talent polished with appropriate attire and nice manners will take you anywhere in the world you want to go.…Package yourself appropriately and ‘the sky’s the limit,’ as they say.”
—Maren MacIntyre
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Teaching Secrets: Bridging the Gender Gap
From: Teacher Magazine
http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/articles/2008/09/03/01tln_jones.h20.html?tmp=911195479
By Laura Reasoner Jones
The long-term substitute teacher ushered the 22 rowdy 3rd graders into the computer lab. Barely taller than some of them, she raised her voice over the clamor saying, “Remember, I said sit boy-girl-boy-girl.”
I started a slow burn. I’ve been working on gender equity and equal technology access for over 14 years. I’ve published and presented on improving girls’ attitudes toward math, science, and technology, and I’ve founded after-school GEMS clubs to engage their interest with robotics, rocket launches, bridge-building, strategy games, and chromatography.
I’ve also been a new-teacher mentor, so I know not to publicly comment or criticize a novice’s decisions. But I had to ask.
“Tell me why you gave that direction,” I said quietly after the class started to settle down. She looked puzzled. “To sit boy-girl-boy-girl,” I added.
“Oh,” she laughed. “The girls make the boys behave.”
I wanted to say, “You know something? Girls are not response-cost behavior management variables!” I wanted to say, “I did not send my daughters to school to control boys!” And I wanted to say, “Well, it doesn’t look like they’re doing a very good job!”
But I didn’t. I held my tongue and listened to the rising noise level. And then I said, “Why don’t we talk later?”
Making Your Classroom More Equitable
No matter what the pundits say, girls and boys get different educations in the same classroom. And separate is not equal. But there are strategies you can use to make your classroom a more equitable place, so that everyone wins, both boys and girls.
Take a look at how you sort or divide children. Do you group or line up by gender? Would you ever divide by ethnicity or native language or intelligence level or race or by who owns an iPod? Of course not! Then, you shouldn't group by gender either.
Try some innovative approaches to division instead:
Observe or listen to your interactions with all students. If you don’t feel you can do this objectively, set up a tape recorder or video camera to capture what you can. Then review it carefully by yourself or with a partner. What do you see or hear?
Do you call on the first, loudest person to respond to a question? Chances are very good that person is a boy, and he has done this often because he has been rewarded by your attention. The most important thing a student can receive in a classroom is the teacher’s attention, and he has learned how to get yours.
Did any of the quiet boys or any of the girls even bother to raise their hands? If this is the middle of the year, they may have learned that it doesn’t do any good to try. They may have learned that once the shouters and hand-wavers have answered, you will get around to calling on other children, but until then, there is really no point.
If you are secretly cringing as you read this, don’t worry. We have all fallen victim to these attention traps. But here are some ways to get all students’ participation, and encourage those quiet boys and hesitant girls.
Wait Time for Students
You are probably nodding your head at this. You learned about wait time in your training, and you are sure you use it. But go back and listen to your tape or watch your video. Do you really use it? Do you really wait 4-5 seconds until you call on someone? Do you look around to get eye contact with almost everyone before you make a choice? This gives you time to think about whom to select, and more importantly, gives all students time to formulate answers and volunteer. Research shows that this technique is particularly valuable for girls and students who are learning English, more than half the students in all of our classrooms.
Wait Time for You
This is probably a new one. I know I didn’t think about this in college. But after a student has responded, wait 4-5 seconds to reply. This gives you time to process the student’s answer and think about how to respond most effectively. This also shows students that you value their responses. It models the kind of behavior you want them to emulate. Waiting to reply helps both you and students.
Move Kids Around
After observing your own teaching, ask youself, which kids got your attention on your recording? Was it the ones who sit in the front rows, the ones who sit in the middle of the room? I know that when I watch videos of myself teaching or presenting, I see that I tend to look to the right side of the room—probably because I am right-handed. When I am sitting on the floor with children, it is excruciatingly obvious. I have had to make a concerted effort to turn my body to face and talk to the people on my left side.
Do you stay in one place? If you do, you may notice that you tend to talk to kids who are closer to you. Remember, the most important thing you can give your students is your time and attention, even if it is negative attention. The child who misbehaves has gotten your attention, and the quiet students lose out. Simple as that. So shuffle yourself or your students to compensate for your natural tendencies.
Listen to Your Responses
Many teachers have been observed giving different kinds of feedback to boys and girls. Boys tend to receive correction, help, and criticism. Most follow-up questions and suggestions for improvement are directed at boys. But girls tend to receive comments on the appearance of their work, rather than the academic content. We want all children to dig deeper into academic understanding, and we can foster this by providing constructive thoughtful feedback to all children.
Pay attention to the kinds of informal interactions you have with students. Do you ask the boys about the weekend soccer game and tell the girls how pretty they look? Do you acknowledge the hard work that all students do, thereby helping them understand that effort produces improvement, or do you just grade the work?
Research shows that many girls seem to grow up feeling that they get good grades or perform well due to luck, not skill or effort. By feeling this way, they also feel that any failure is internal and due to their lack of intelligence or ability. They personalize it. Boys seem to feel that failure is due to illness, poor instruction—external factors. These two different approaches lead to girls downplaying success and boys taking credit.
Cringing again? Me, too. In all my life, I don’t think I have ever taken credit for an achievement by saying, even to myself, “I earned that. I worked hard for that and I deserve it.” All children need to see that hard work and perseverance pay off.
Now, Back to the Substitute Teacher. . .
I can only control so much. I went up to her room later that day and just leaned against the door, saying, “It looks like you have a tough class.”
“Yes, I do,” she sighed.
“How can I help?” I asked.
After a little discussion, we came up with a plan. I visited her students a half hour before their next trip to the lab. We talked about school-wide behavior expectations, and I reviewed the rules for the computer lab, and also acknowledged their excitement about the upcoming science project we had planned. We chose computer partners, focusing on pairing students who were very comfortable with students who might need a little extra help. I emphasized that everyone can learn to use computers—it’s just a matter of time and practice. And then together we went down to what was the first of many successful visits to my lab.
As the school year begins, give some thought to the girls and the boys in your class. Look carefully to see that they are truly getting the same education and opportunity from you. Give them the attention they need and deserve. All children will benefit, and you’ll be a better teacher for it.
http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/articles/2008/09/03/01tln_jones.h20.html?tmp=911195479
By Laura Reasoner Jones
The long-term substitute teacher ushered the 22 rowdy 3rd graders into the computer lab. Barely taller than some of them, she raised her voice over the clamor saying, “Remember, I said sit boy-girl-boy-girl.”
I started a slow burn. I’ve been working on gender equity and equal technology access for over 14 years. I’ve published and presented on improving girls’ attitudes toward math, science, and technology, and I’ve founded after-school GEMS clubs to engage their interest with robotics, rocket launches, bridge-building, strategy games, and chromatography.
I’ve also been a new-teacher mentor, so I know not to publicly comment or criticize a novice’s decisions. But I had to ask.
“Tell me why you gave that direction,” I said quietly after the class started to settle down. She looked puzzled. “To sit boy-girl-boy-girl,” I added.
“Oh,” she laughed. “The girls make the boys behave.”
I wanted to say, “You know something? Girls are not response-cost behavior management variables!” I wanted to say, “I did not send my daughters to school to control boys!” And I wanted to say, “Well, it doesn’t look like they’re doing a very good job!”
But I didn’t. I held my tongue and listened to the rising noise level. And then I said, “Why don’t we talk later?”
Making Your Classroom More Equitable
No matter what the pundits say, girls and boys get different educations in the same classroom. And separate is not equal. But there are strategies you can use to make your classroom a more equitable place, so that everyone wins, both boys and girls.
Take a look at how you sort or divide children. Do you group or line up by gender? Would you ever divide by ethnicity or native language or intelligence level or race or by who owns an iPod? Of course not! Then, you shouldn't group by gender either.
Try some innovative approaches to division instead:
- If you are studying the calendar, line up or group by birth month.
- If you are working on dictionary skills, line up alphabetically, first by last name, and then by first name.
- If you are working on planets, group by astrological sign.
- Group by color of shirts, or type of shoe.
Observe or listen to your interactions with all students. If you don’t feel you can do this objectively, set up a tape recorder or video camera to capture what you can. Then review it carefully by yourself or with a partner. What do you see or hear?
Do you call on the first, loudest person to respond to a question? Chances are very good that person is a boy, and he has done this often because he has been rewarded by your attention. The most important thing a student can receive in a classroom is the teacher’s attention, and he has learned how to get yours.
Did any of the quiet boys or any of the girls even bother to raise their hands? If this is the middle of the year, they may have learned that it doesn’t do any good to try. They may have learned that once the shouters and hand-wavers have answered, you will get around to calling on other children, but until then, there is really no point.
If you are secretly cringing as you read this, don’t worry. We have all fallen victim to these attention traps. But here are some ways to get all students’ participation, and encourage those quiet boys and hesitant girls.
Wait Time for Students
You are probably nodding your head at this. You learned about wait time in your training, and you are sure you use it. But go back and listen to your tape or watch your video. Do you really use it? Do you really wait 4-5 seconds until you call on someone? Do you look around to get eye contact with almost everyone before you make a choice? This gives you time to think about whom to select, and more importantly, gives all students time to formulate answers and volunteer. Research shows that this technique is particularly valuable for girls and students who are learning English, more than half the students in all of our classrooms.
Wait Time for You
This is probably a new one. I know I didn’t think about this in college. But after a student has responded, wait 4-5 seconds to reply. This gives you time to process the student’s answer and think about how to respond most effectively. This also shows students that you value their responses. It models the kind of behavior you want them to emulate. Waiting to reply helps both you and students.
Move Kids Around
After observing your own teaching, ask youself, which kids got your attention on your recording? Was it the ones who sit in the front rows, the ones who sit in the middle of the room? I know that when I watch videos of myself teaching or presenting, I see that I tend to look to the right side of the room—probably because I am right-handed. When I am sitting on the floor with children, it is excruciatingly obvious. I have had to make a concerted effort to turn my body to face and talk to the people on my left side.
Do you stay in one place? If you do, you may notice that you tend to talk to kids who are closer to you. Remember, the most important thing you can give your students is your time and attention, even if it is negative attention. The child who misbehaves has gotten your attention, and the quiet students lose out. Simple as that. So shuffle yourself or your students to compensate for your natural tendencies.
Listen to Your Responses
Many teachers have been observed giving different kinds of feedback to boys and girls. Boys tend to receive correction, help, and criticism. Most follow-up questions and suggestions for improvement are directed at boys. But girls tend to receive comments on the appearance of their work, rather than the academic content. We want all children to dig deeper into academic understanding, and we can foster this by providing constructive thoughtful feedback to all children.
Pay attention to the kinds of informal interactions you have with students. Do you ask the boys about the weekend soccer game and tell the girls how pretty they look? Do you acknowledge the hard work that all students do, thereby helping them understand that effort produces improvement, or do you just grade the work?
Research shows that many girls seem to grow up feeling that they get good grades or perform well due to luck, not skill or effort. By feeling this way, they also feel that any failure is internal and due to their lack of intelligence or ability. They personalize it. Boys seem to feel that failure is due to illness, poor instruction—external factors. These two different approaches lead to girls downplaying success and boys taking credit.
Cringing again? Me, too. In all my life, I don’t think I have ever taken credit for an achievement by saying, even to myself, “I earned that. I worked hard for that and I deserve it.” All children need to see that hard work and perseverance pay off.
Now, Back to the Substitute Teacher. . .
I can only control so much. I went up to her room later that day and just leaned against the door, saying, “It looks like you have a tough class.”
“Yes, I do,” she sighed.
“How can I help?” I asked.
After a little discussion, we came up with a plan. I visited her students a half hour before their next trip to the lab. We talked about school-wide behavior expectations, and I reviewed the rules for the computer lab, and also acknowledged their excitement about the upcoming science project we had planned. We chose computer partners, focusing on pairing students who were very comfortable with students who might need a little extra help. I emphasized that everyone can learn to use computers—it’s just a matter of time and practice. And then together we went down to what was the first of many successful visits to my lab.
As the school year begins, give some thought to the girls and the boys in your class. Look carefully to see that they are truly getting the same education and opportunity from you. Give them the attention they need and deserve. All children will benefit, and you’ll be a better teacher for it.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Republicans May Waver Over NCLB
From: Education Week
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/08/29/02gop.h28.html
By Alyson Klein
Vol. 28, Issue 02, Page 1
McCain Position on Federal School Law Is 'Pleasantly Ambiguous,' Analyst Says
At the Republican National Convention in St. Paul this week, President Bush was expected to anoint Sen. John McCain as his successor and the new leader of the party.
But it remains far from clear whether Sen. McCain—and other top Republicans—will continue to embrace the federal mandates on school accountability at the center of the No Child Left Behind Act, Mr. Bush’s signature domestic-policy initiative, or whether the GOP will return to its role as a champion of limited government and local control of schools.
“The biggest challenge within the Republican Party is really how much of a role should Washington continue to play,” said Eugene W. Hickok, who served as deputy secretary in the U.S. Department of Education earlier in President Bush’s tenure.
Sen. McCain outlined his education priorities in a speech to the NAACP in July, but as of last week he had not put forth a proposal explaining how he would revamp the No Child Left Behind law. Late last week, he tapped as his running mate Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, who brings to the ticket at least some experience with education issues.
Mr. Hickok, who is informally advising the McCain campaign, said he suspects that the Arizona Republican and his policy aides haven’t discussed the specifics of the NCLB law on the campaign trail in part because of its unpopularity, both within the party and with much of the public.
“It’s a somewhat politically difficult thing to talk about,” Mr. Hickok said. He said Sen. McCain does not want to walk away from the law completely but cannot embrace it wholeheartedly because it has become “a damaged brand.”
“It’s an awkward dance one has to go through,” Mr. Hickok said.
The law had been scheduled for reauthorization in 2007, but isn’t likely to be renewed until after a new president takes office.
The No Child Left Behind Act, which was passed in late 2001 with broad, bipartisan support, holds schools responsible for making progress toward academic proficiency for all students, as measured by state tests.
Hoekstra Bill
Republican leaders were important champions of the NCLB law in Congress. Among its architects was Rep. John A. Boehner of Ohio, now the House minority leader, who was the chairman of the House education committee when the measure was crafted.
But the GOP most typically has viewed education strictly as a state and local matter. And while some Republicans favor the strong federal presence in education that NCLB exemplifies, others in the party reject such a role as violating federalism principles.
Last March, the local-control contingent of the Republican caucus in Congress reasserted itself.
Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., a member of the House Education and Labor Committee, introduced a bill that would permit states to craft their own accountability systems. Sixty-six House Republicans, including several members of the House education panel, are co-sponsors of the bill.
Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., introduced a similar bill in the Senate, which has seven co-sponsors.
Sen. McCain, who voted for the NCLB law seven years ago but hasn’t been closely identified with education issues during his quarter-century-long congressional career, hasn’t become a co-sponsor of Sen. DeMint’s legislation.
On the campaign trail, Sen. McCain has essentially said that he wants to “strengthen the good parts” of the law, a stance that is “pleasantly ambiguous,” said Frederick M. Hess, the director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, a free-market-oriented think tank.
‘Leeway’ Preserved
By indicating that he generally supports the NCLB law but not getting into specifics, he’s “reassuring the various components of the party that he’s sympathetic to their agenda without planting any flags,” Mr. Hess said.
“If he were to win, he’d have a lot of leeway in terms of what direction he wanted to move in,” Mr. Hess added.
Mr. Hickok and Jeanne Allen, the president of the Center for Education Reform, a nonpartisan organization that advocates expanded school choice, said they believe Sen. McCain does not fit neatly into either contingent of the party on education issues.
The senator “has his own camp,” Ms. Allen said. He appears to support a “continued connection between federal funds and accountability,” but seems likely to give more latitude to states and school districts than the Bush administration has, she said.
Sen. McCain “has a lighter touch in terms of Washington carrot and stick” than Bush administration officials do, Ms. Allen said.
Sen. McCain’s education agenda focuses on bolstering alternative-certification programs for teachers, giving principals more control over school budgets, and encouraging districts to explore alternative-pay programs for teachers.
His running mate brings more executive experience with education programs.
Gov. Palin, elected in 2006, helped champion an overhaul of the state’s school finance system, which supporters said channeled more money to rural districts outside Anchorage and helped stabilize school districts’ budgets. The measure, approved by the Alaska legislature this year, also hiked spending for students with special needs.
Ms. Palin has also become known for juggling her duties as Alaska’s chief executive with those of a parent. In April, she gave birth to a son, Trig Paxson Van Palin, who was diagnosed with Down syndrome. She and her husband, Todd, have four other children.
“My mom and dad both worked at the local elementary school,” Gov. Palin said last Friday. “I got involved in the pta and then was elected to the city council. My agenda was to stop wasteful spending and cut property taxes.”
She also served as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska.
The Republican convention comes just a few weeks after a poll by Phi Delta Kappa International and the Gallup Organization found that Americans believe that the Democrats are more likely than the Republicans to improve schools. ("Survey Gives Obama Edge on Education," Aug. 27, 2008.)
During the 2000 and 2004 elections, the same polls showed President Bush running roughly evenly with his Democratic opponents on school issues.
“No Child Left Behind gave [President Bush] an edge for a bit, but that is no longer working to the Republican advantage,” said Paul E. Peterson, the director of the program on education policy and governance at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. “I think the Republican Party has to come up with some new approaches if they’re going to become the dominant party on education policy again.”
No Need to Defend
President Bush’s departure will almost certainly open the door for some Republicans who voted for the No Child Left Behind Act to return to their roots and push for leaving school policy authority firmly in state and local hands.
“You will see more Republicans come out against some of the core tenets of NCLB,” said Michael J. Petrilli, a vice president at the Washington-based Thomas B. Fordham Institute, who was an Education Department official during Mr. Bush’s first term. “The Republicans, in particular on [Capitol] Hill, will no longer feel beholden to defend the Bush administration.”
The No Child Left Behind law and education issues generally appear likely to take a back seat at the Republican convention this week. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, one of the key architects of the law as a domestic-policy adviser in the Bush White House in 2001, had not been scheduled to address the convention as of late last week.
By contrast, at the party’s 2000 convention in Philadelphia, Ms. Spellings, a campaign aide to then-Texas Gov. Bush, spoke to each state’s delegation about the candidate’s plans for improving schools.
“I suspect the entire convention will go by without anyone mentioning NCLB,” Mr. Petrilli said. “If you do hear the words ‘No Child Left Behind,’ they will come from the mouth of President Bush.”
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/08/29/02gop.h28.html
By Alyson Klein
Vol. 28, Issue 02, Page 1
McCain Position on Federal School Law Is 'Pleasantly Ambiguous,' Analyst Says
At the Republican National Convention in St. Paul this week, President Bush was expected to anoint Sen. John McCain as his successor and the new leader of the party.
But it remains far from clear whether Sen. McCain—and other top Republicans—will continue to embrace the federal mandates on school accountability at the center of the No Child Left Behind Act, Mr. Bush’s signature domestic-policy initiative, or whether the GOP will return to its role as a champion of limited government and local control of schools.
“The biggest challenge within the Republican Party is really how much of a role should Washington continue to play,” said Eugene W. Hickok, who served as deputy secretary in the U.S. Department of Education earlier in President Bush’s tenure.
Sen. McCain outlined his education priorities in a speech to the NAACP in July, but as of last week he had not put forth a proposal explaining how he would revamp the No Child Left Behind law. Late last week, he tapped as his running mate Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, who brings to the ticket at least some experience with education issues.
Mr. Hickok, who is informally advising the McCain campaign, said he suspects that the Arizona Republican and his policy aides haven’t discussed the specifics of the NCLB law on the campaign trail in part because of its unpopularity, both within the party and with much of the public.
“It’s a somewhat politically difficult thing to talk about,” Mr. Hickok said. He said Sen. McCain does not want to walk away from the law completely but cannot embrace it wholeheartedly because it has become “a damaged brand.”
“It’s an awkward dance one has to go through,” Mr. Hickok said.
The law had been scheduled for reauthorization in 2007, but isn’t likely to be renewed until after a new president takes office.
The No Child Left Behind Act, which was passed in late 2001 with broad, bipartisan support, holds schools responsible for making progress toward academic proficiency for all students, as measured by state tests.
Hoekstra Bill
Republican leaders were important champions of the NCLB law in Congress. Among its architects was Rep. John A. Boehner of Ohio, now the House minority leader, who was the chairman of the House education committee when the measure was crafted.
But the GOP most typically has viewed education strictly as a state and local matter. And while some Republicans favor the strong federal presence in education that NCLB exemplifies, others in the party reject such a role as violating federalism principles.
Last March, the local-control contingent of the Republican caucus in Congress reasserted itself.
Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., a member of the House Education and Labor Committee, introduced a bill that would permit states to craft their own accountability systems. Sixty-six House Republicans, including several members of the House education panel, are co-sponsors of the bill.
Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., introduced a similar bill in the Senate, which has seven co-sponsors.
Sen. McCain, who voted for the NCLB law seven years ago but hasn’t been closely identified with education issues during his quarter-century-long congressional career, hasn’t become a co-sponsor of Sen. DeMint’s legislation.
On the campaign trail, Sen. McCain has essentially said that he wants to “strengthen the good parts” of the law, a stance that is “pleasantly ambiguous,” said Frederick M. Hess, the director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, a free-market-oriented think tank.
‘Leeway’ Preserved
By indicating that he generally supports the NCLB law but not getting into specifics, he’s “reassuring the various components of the party that he’s sympathetic to their agenda without planting any flags,” Mr. Hess said.
“If he were to win, he’d have a lot of leeway in terms of what direction he wanted to move in,” Mr. Hess added.
Mr. Hickok and Jeanne Allen, the president of the Center for Education Reform, a nonpartisan organization that advocates expanded school choice, said they believe Sen. McCain does not fit neatly into either contingent of the party on education issues.
The senator “has his own camp,” Ms. Allen said. He appears to support a “continued connection between federal funds and accountability,” but seems likely to give more latitude to states and school districts than the Bush administration has, she said.
Sen. McCain “has a lighter touch in terms of Washington carrot and stick” than Bush administration officials do, Ms. Allen said.
Sen. McCain’s education agenda focuses on bolstering alternative-certification programs for teachers, giving principals more control over school budgets, and encouraging districts to explore alternative-pay programs for teachers.
His running mate brings more executive experience with education programs.
Gov. Palin, elected in 2006, helped champion an overhaul of the state’s school finance system, which supporters said channeled more money to rural districts outside Anchorage and helped stabilize school districts’ budgets. The measure, approved by the Alaska legislature this year, also hiked spending for students with special needs.
Ms. Palin has also become known for juggling her duties as Alaska’s chief executive with those of a parent. In April, she gave birth to a son, Trig Paxson Van Palin, who was diagnosed with Down syndrome. She and her husband, Todd, have four other children.
“My mom and dad both worked at the local elementary school,” Gov. Palin said last Friday. “I got involved in the pta and then was elected to the city council. My agenda was to stop wasteful spending and cut property taxes.”
She also served as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska.
The Republican convention comes just a few weeks after a poll by Phi Delta Kappa International and the Gallup Organization found that Americans believe that the Democrats are more likely than the Republicans to improve schools. ("Survey Gives Obama Edge on Education," Aug. 27, 2008.)
During the 2000 and 2004 elections, the same polls showed President Bush running roughly evenly with his Democratic opponents on school issues.
“No Child Left Behind gave [President Bush] an edge for a bit, but that is no longer working to the Republican advantage,” said Paul E. Peterson, the director of the program on education policy and governance at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. “I think the Republican Party has to come up with some new approaches if they’re going to become the dominant party on education policy again.”
No Need to Defend
President Bush’s departure will almost certainly open the door for some Republicans who voted for the No Child Left Behind Act to return to their roots and push for leaving school policy authority firmly in state and local hands.
“You will see more Republicans come out against some of the core tenets of NCLB,” said Michael J. Petrilli, a vice president at the Washington-based Thomas B. Fordham Institute, who was an Education Department official during Mr. Bush’s first term. “The Republicans, in particular on [Capitol] Hill, will no longer feel beholden to defend the Bush administration.”
The No Child Left Behind law and education issues generally appear likely to take a back seat at the Republican convention this week. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, one of the key architects of the law as a domestic-policy adviser in the Bush White House in 2001, had not been scheduled to address the convention as of late last week.
By contrast, at the party’s 2000 convention in Philadelphia, Ms. Spellings, a campaign aide to then-Texas Gov. Bush, spoke to each state’s delegation about the candidate’s plans for improving schools.
“I suspect the entire convention will go by without anyone mentioning NCLB,” Mr. Petrilli said. “If you do hear the words ‘No Child Left Behind,’ they will come from the mouth of President Bush.”
Thursday, August 28, 2008
The Mistrusted Male Teacher
From: ABC News
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Story?id=5670187&page=1
By LAUREN COX
Of all the historical gender disparities in the American classroom, one has quietly stagnated for the last 20 years. Men still account for 16 percent of all elementary school teachers, according to a 2003 National Schools and Staffing Survey.
Advocates like the National Education Association have called for efforts to support young men interested in teaching, but sometimes it's the parents who carry on mistrust and sexual stereotypes.
On the popular Colorado parent blog hosted by the Denver Post, Milehighmamas, contributor Annie Payne recently wrote:
"…I was okay with our teacher assignment until I realized that not only is my son's new teacher a man, (wait for it Mitch McDad, don't get your boxers in a bunch just yet), he is also young and single! What's a young single dude doing teaching fourth grade anyway?!""
A similar discussion erupted on a Detroit's parent blog called Momslikeme earlier this month. A slew of self-conscious but clearly prejudiced posts responded to the question: "Do you think it is appropriate or inappropriate for young men to be teaching the little ones?"
Opinions ranged from "personally I think it's a little weird," to men are too rough and "if I had a male teacher in my K-3rd grades I would have freaked," to support for male teachers as strong mentors for fatherless children.
But Bryan G. Nelson, a teacher with 30 years of experience, has heard these inaccurate assumptions, and worse.
"Most people really want men teaching their children, but it does happen occasionally," said Nelson, who is the founding director of MenTeach, a support and recruitment organization for male teachers.
"I had a parent who was complaining and concerned about me working with her daughter," Nelson said. "The kid really liked me a lot, and because the child was liking me so much the mother got worried and suspicious."
A Career Path With High Stakes
Nelson said the mother's suspicion of a perverted relationship was quickly resolved within the school's staff and the mother eventually opened up about being strained and flustered by a divorce.
But Nelson, who took a graduate fellowship at Harvard to study men in secondary school teaching, found that overzealous suspicions of sexual abuse are one of the top three reasons why the teaching profession doesn't draw more men. From his research, the other two reasons are perceptions about men's nurturing abilities and low social status combined with low pay.
Male and Female Stereotypes
"People don't think of men as caretaking or nurturing, which many of the young grades require," Nelson said. "And if you're a single man and you're going out to date somebody, when they ask you 'what do you do?' it just doesn't have the same cache as saying I'm an engineer or a scientist."
Anecdotes of such stereotypes and biases pepper the positive personal stories sent into the MenTeach organization. Across the country men get weird looks, to assumptions that the teachers can't handle potty issues, to reactions form fellow teachers.
"I was about to graduate and was applying to schools hoping to find a teaching job. The teacher asked what grade I would like to teach and I was surprised that she kind of laughed when I told her I wanted to teach in the primary grades," wrote Mark D. Hedger, now a principal in Holden, Mo.
"Even though I had volunteered in her classroom, she acted as though it would be very strange for me to actually be a teacher at this level," he said.
Nelson said his research and experience as a male teacher led him to start working as a consultant to school districts that are trying to restructure the curriculums for male teachers. He believes the identity of children's teachers should reflect the child's larger community, including a 50-50 ratio of men to women.
But for all the enthusiasm over recruiting male teachers, media representatives from the National Education Association and the National Parent Teachers Association say there aren't notable studies or research about the real influence of a teacher's identity and gender.
The Real Importance of Gender
"I really think it has a lot to do with the personality of the teacher," said Dr. Caryl Oris, a consulting psychiatrist for the Sewanhaka Central High School District on Long Island, N.Y. "What matters more than anything is that it's a good teacher and the teacher loves to teach."
"Could you say it would be great if they had this caring male teacher? Yes, but it could be other adults in their lives," Oris said. "Children have many adults in their lives."
Oris said what worries her more than whether there are enough male teachers in elementary schools are parents who actually express their unease with male teachers.
Student and Teacher Relationship
"Children have their own anxieties about going to school. They shouldn't have the burden of the parents' anxieties as well," Oris said. "If the parent is concerned, I think that it is something the parent is reacting to from their own life or their own experiences and projecting that onto the child."
That's precisely what Payne, the author of the milehighmamas blog post, admits to doing.
"A couple of the commenters were put off about my opinion of young male teachers," Payne said. "I won't apologize for it. That was my experience, although I admit it was narrow, from working in the Los Angeles County Unified School District."
However Payne did exactly what Oris would recommend: She met with the teacher.
"I was a little nervous about what to expect with this teacher," Payne said. "But I knew immediately that he did mean business."
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Story?id=5670187&page=1
By LAUREN COX
Of all the historical gender disparities in the American classroom, one has quietly stagnated for the last 20 years. Men still account for 16 percent of all elementary school teachers, according to a 2003 National Schools and Staffing Survey.
Advocates like the National Education Association have called for efforts to support young men interested in teaching, but sometimes it's the parents who carry on mistrust and sexual stereotypes.
On the popular Colorado parent blog hosted by the Denver Post, Milehighmamas, contributor Annie Payne recently wrote:
"…I was okay with our teacher assignment until I realized that not only is my son's new teacher a man, (wait for it Mitch McDad, don't get your boxers in a bunch just yet), he is also young and single! What's a young single dude doing teaching fourth grade anyway?!""
A similar discussion erupted on a Detroit's parent blog called Momslikeme earlier this month. A slew of self-conscious but clearly prejudiced posts responded to the question: "Do you think it is appropriate or inappropriate for young men to be teaching the little ones?"
Opinions ranged from "personally I think it's a little weird," to men are too rough and "if I had a male teacher in my K-3rd grades I would have freaked," to support for male teachers as strong mentors for fatherless children.
But Bryan G. Nelson, a teacher with 30 years of experience, has heard these inaccurate assumptions, and worse.
"Most people really want men teaching their children, but it does happen occasionally," said Nelson, who is the founding director of MenTeach, a support and recruitment organization for male teachers.
"I had a parent who was complaining and concerned about me working with her daughter," Nelson said. "The kid really liked me a lot, and because the child was liking me so much the mother got worried and suspicious."
A Career Path With High Stakes
Nelson said the mother's suspicion of a perverted relationship was quickly resolved within the school's staff and the mother eventually opened up about being strained and flustered by a divorce.
But Nelson, who took a graduate fellowship at Harvard to study men in secondary school teaching, found that overzealous suspicions of sexual abuse are one of the top three reasons why the teaching profession doesn't draw more men. From his research, the other two reasons are perceptions about men's nurturing abilities and low social status combined with low pay.
Male and Female Stereotypes
"People don't think of men as caretaking or nurturing, which many of the young grades require," Nelson said. "And if you're a single man and you're going out to date somebody, when they ask you 'what do you do?' it just doesn't have the same cache as saying I'm an engineer or a scientist."
Anecdotes of such stereotypes and biases pepper the positive personal stories sent into the MenTeach organization. Across the country men get weird looks, to assumptions that the teachers can't handle potty issues, to reactions form fellow teachers.
"I was about to graduate and was applying to schools hoping to find a teaching job. The teacher asked what grade I would like to teach and I was surprised that she kind of laughed when I told her I wanted to teach in the primary grades," wrote Mark D. Hedger, now a principal in Holden, Mo.
"Even though I had volunteered in her classroom, she acted as though it would be very strange for me to actually be a teacher at this level," he said.
Nelson said his research and experience as a male teacher led him to start working as a consultant to school districts that are trying to restructure the curriculums for male teachers. He believes the identity of children's teachers should reflect the child's larger community, including a 50-50 ratio of men to women.
But for all the enthusiasm over recruiting male teachers, media representatives from the National Education Association and the National Parent Teachers Association say there aren't notable studies or research about the real influence of a teacher's identity and gender.
The Real Importance of Gender
"I really think it has a lot to do with the personality of the teacher," said Dr. Caryl Oris, a consulting psychiatrist for the Sewanhaka Central High School District on Long Island, N.Y. "What matters more than anything is that it's a good teacher and the teacher loves to teach."
"Could you say it would be great if they had this caring male teacher? Yes, but it could be other adults in their lives," Oris said. "Children have many adults in their lives."
Oris said what worries her more than whether there are enough male teachers in elementary schools are parents who actually express their unease with male teachers.
Student and Teacher Relationship
"Children have their own anxieties about going to school. They shouldn't have the burden of the parents' anxieties as well," Oris said. "If the parent is concerned, I think that it is something the parent is reacting to from their own life or their own experiences and projecting that onto the child."
That's precisely what Payne, the author of the milehighmamas blog post, admits to doing.
"A couple of the commenters were put off about my opinion of young male teachers," Payne said. "I won't apologize for it. That was my experience, although I admit it was narrow, from working in the Los Angeles County Unified School District."
However Payne did exactly what Oris would recommend: She met with the teacher.
"I was a little nervous about what to expect with this teacher," Payne said. "But I knew immediately that he did mean business."
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Teaching Secrets: The Parent Meet and Greet
From: NEA
http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/articles/2008/08/27/44tln_ratzel.h19.html
By Marsha Ratzel
Back-to-school night sends chills up the spine of many teachers. Somehow standing in front of parents and explaining yourself can reduce even the most seasoned veteran to rubble.
The big key to a successful parent meet-and-greet experience is preparation. Think about the questions that most parents are going to want answered and make a list. If you’re a rookie, you can ask other teachers for ideas about what typically comes up. Armed with your list, you’ll be able to think about your responses. And if you’re not sure how to respond to parent questions, ask a colleague to help you prepare.
You can bet that parents will ask you questions that would be better handled in a one-on-one phone call or meeting. Know these questions are coming and prepare a diplomatic way of suggesting a more appropriate time to discuss them. When the timing is right, you’ll be ready.
Most back-to-school events have a limited period when you’re facing a group of parents and all eyes are on you. Often it’s ten minutes or less. You have to convince yourself for those ten minutes that you are the expert, even if you feel like you don’t know a thing. Many teachers also find it helpful to prepare a short handout that covers administrative details. It may relieve future confusion or questions because parents can refer to it.
Remember that this is what most parents want to know: (1) You’re going to treat their child fairly; and (2) You are committed to teaching both the curriculum and other skills well, including how to stay organized, study for a test, take notes, make a mistake and recover from it, and become a lifelong learner. Parents want reassurance that you’ll listen to them as a valued partner in their child’s school year. You don’t want to give them the impression that you’ll do anything they want, but you do want them to know you are available to hear their concerns.
This time with parents early in the school year is a teacher’s opportunity to shine and it is hard for many teachers to step up and do this. But for this one evening, you really have to show ‘em what you’ve got!
What is most important to remember:
• Let parents know you’re thrilled to be there and excited to meet everyone, even if you aren’t. Actually, most teachers are happy to meet and greet, but their nervousness may overshadow their excitement, leaving them with that frightened-deer look.
• You’re the expert. You know more about your curriculum, the way your classroom works, and how you interact with students than any other person in the room. Even if you’re a brand new first-year teacher, you’re still the authority when it comes to your teaching plans.
• Parents want reassurance. Be sure to tell them how they can help their child with the type of homework and projects you plan to assign.
• Be very specific about where and how parents can find out about homework and grades. If you maintain a Web site, print out stickers with the Web address on it. I’ve known teachers who put the stickers on refrigerator magnets for handy reference. If you let parents know what to expect from you, especially in terms of how you communicate homework and grades, the year will go smoothly.
• This is your opportunity to sell parents on your classroom. Don’t paint a false reality. Provide an honest view.
• Don’t focus on the operational aspects of class. Rules, grading policies, syllabi, and classroom expectations can be covered in a handout which parents can read and refer to long after the evening is over. I can’t stress it enough: Reassuring parents is what matters most.
• Lay out in plain view sets of the textbooks, reference materials, and special equipment that students will use.
• Clearly explain how parents can reach you. If you prefer e-mail, be sure to provide them with your e-mail address. If you prefer to be contacted by phone, let parents know when they can reach you. Give them a sense of your turnaround time for an e-mail or a phone call.
• Switch your viewpoint. Instead of feeling like you’re under the microscope, realize that this is your chance to research your parents and get an impression of them. Don’t be reactive. Ask them questions about their kids. Probe and learn.
• Have a notepad handy so you can jot down what you promise to do. This might be coordinating something for parents through the office, scheduling a conference, or sending home extra copies of something. In the hub-bub of the evening, without notes you may forget what you promise. This would make a terrible first impression.
• This is a great time to recruit parent volunteers for field trips and special days where an extra pair of adult hands is needed. One teacher I know recruits parents to help her change the displays of student work in her room and the hallway. Another teacher asks parents to share their professional or vocational expertise for science labs or to talk about their interests. Some even serve as consultants for classroom projects.
• Most of all, smile, relax, and enjoy the evening.
Learning the ropes of back-to-school events is tough work. The good news is that once you have, you’ll have a powerful tool at your disposal for any event where parents are gathered. By offering guidance and setting clear expectations for parents at the start of the year, you can help their children achieve success in the classroom.
http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/articles/2008/08/27/44tln_ratzel.h19.html
By Marsha Ratzel
Back-to-school night sends chills up the spine of many teachers. Somehow standing in front of parents and explaining yourself can reduce even the most seasoned veteran to rubble.
The big key to a successful parent meet-and-greet experience is preparation. Think about the questions that most parents are going to want answered and make a list. If you’re a rookie, you can ask other teachers for ideas about what typically comes up. Armed with your list, you’ll be able to think about your responses. And if you’re not sure how to respond to parent questions, ask a colleague to help you prepare.
You can bet that parents will ask you questions that would be better handled in a one-on-one phone call or meeting. Know these questions are coming and prepare a diplomatic way of suggesting a more appropriate time to discuss them. When the timing is right, you’ll be ready.
Most back-to-school events have a limited period when you’re facing a group of parents and all eyes are on you. Often it’s ten minutes or less. You have to convince yourself for those ten minutes that you are the expert, even if you feel like you don’t know a thing. Many teachers also find it helpful to prepare a short handout that covers administrative details. It may relieve future confusion or questions because parents can refer to it.
Remember that this is what most parents want to know: (1) You’re going to treat their child fairly; and (2) You are committed to teaching both the curriculum and other skills well, including how to stay organized, study for a test, take notes, make a mistake and recover from it, and become a lifelong learner. Parents want reassurance that you’ll listen to them as a valued partner in their child’s school year. You don’t want to give them the impression that you’ll do anything they want, but you do want them to know you are available to hear their concerns.
This time with parents early in the school year is a teacher’s opportunity to shine and it is hard for many teachers to step up and do this. But for this one evening, you really have to show ‘em what you’ve got!
What is most important to remember:
• Let parents know you’re thrilled to be there and excited to meet everyone, even if you aren’t. Actually, most teachers are happy to meet and greet, but their nervousness may overshadow their excitement, leaving them with that frightened-deer look.
• You’re the expert. You know more about your curriculum, the way your classroom works, and how you interact with students than any other person in the room. Even if you’re a brand new first-year teacher, you’re still the authority when it comes to your teaching plans.
• Parents want reassurance. Be sure to tell them how they can help their child with the type of homework and projects you plan to assign.
• Be very specific about where and how parents can find out about homework and grades. If you maintain a Web site, print out stickers with the Web address on it. I’ve known teachers who put the stickers on refrigerator magnets for handy reference. If you let parents know what to expect from you, especially in terms of how you communicate homework and grades, the year will go smoothly.
• This is your opportunity to sell parents on your classroom. Don’t paint a false reality. Provide an honest view.
• Don’t focus on the operational aspects of class. Rules, grading policies, syllabi, and classroom expectations can be covered in a handout which parents can read and refer to long after the evening is over. I can’t stress it enough: Reassuring parents is what matters most.
• Lay out in plain view sets of the textbooks, reference materials, and special equipment that students will use.
• Clearly explain how parents can reach you. If you prefer e-mail, be sure to provide them with your e-mail address. If you prefer to be contacted by phone, let parents know when they can reach you. Give them a sense of your turnaround time for an e-mail or a phone call.
• Switch your viewpoint. Instead of feeling like you’re under the microscope, realize that this is your chance to research your parents and get an impression of them. Don’t be reactive. Ask them questions about their kids. Probe and learn.
• Have a notepad handy so you can jot down what you promise to do. This might be coordinating something for parents through the office, scheduling a conference, or sending home extra copies of something. In the hub-bub of the evening, without notes you may forget what you promise. This would make a terrible first impression.
• This is a great time to recruit parent volunteers for field trips and special days where an extra pair of adult hands is needed. One teacher I know recruits parents to help her change the displays of student work in her room and the hallway. Another teacher asks parents to share their professional or vocational expertise for science labs or to talk about their interests. Some even serve as consultants for classroom projects.
• Most of all, smile, relax, and enjoy the evening.
Learning the ropes of back-to-school events is tough work. The good news is that once you have, you’ll have a powerful tool at your disposal for any event where parents are gathered. By offering guidance and setting clear expectations for parents at the start of the year, you can help their children achieve success in the classroom.
Ask The Experts: Should I give students my cell phone number?
From: NEA
http://www.nea.org/neatoday/go/askexperts.html
We asked experienced, National Board Certified Teachers and found they don't agree. So you'll have to decide for yourself! But we hope their comments help you think about it.
YES
I've started texting a number of my students this year with reminders, classroom-related questions, even grades, and it's really useful. I get a lot more response and it's helped build channels of communication with a few students I might not have connected with as easily otherwise.
I am the teacher they hear from on their phones, and we know how all-important those phones have become.
When I text, obviously students end up with my number and they do text back, but I haven't had any problems. Students seem respectful of my time and rarely initiate the text conversations themselves. It's fairly easy to identify who is calling or texting, and I'm sure teens are aware of this fact. Besides, kids need the opportunity to develop good cell phone etiquette—when to text, how to respond appropriately, not to use phones for pranks, how to be polite, etc.
Cell phone use and texting have become a basic communication tool of our time. It's time to embrace this technology and set standards for its use.
Jen Morrison, High school English teacher, Prosperity, South Carolina
NO
Our professional email addresses are published in the students' agenda books and posted in the grade book accessible by students and parents online. I wouldn't give out my cell phone number, though, for several reasons:
First, because I need a life, too (after the 12–14 hours I spend in school every day, I would like to hold onto my weekends). Even doctors are not available around the clock. Why should teachers' privacy be invaded? There are no emergencies in education that cannot wait 24 or 48 hours.
Second, because it would be much more time-consuming.
Third, I find there is a better tone in written communication, especially between teacher and parents: exchanging emails allows time to cool down and present a documented response instead of an emotional one.
Maria Boichin, Middle school French immersion teacher, Gaithersburg, Maryland
NO
I will not give out my personal cell phone number to my employer and several of my relatives, much less my students.
I would only share a cell phone number with students if I had a business cell phone dedicated for contacts related to school business.
Renee Moore , Instructor of English, Mississippi Delta Community College Moorhead, Mississippi, and former high school English teacher
YES
I give my students my cell phone number. I also give parents my cell phone number.
I do screen my calls and I establish time limits (I don't take calls after 9 p.m. because I go to bed early—I am a teacher after all!)
If I really want parents to be part of my teaching team, then I need to be as available to them as I am to my colleagues.
And my students need to feel that they can call me when they have questions about their homework and projects.
Using my cell phone also means I have a record of my contacts with parents and students.
I have been giving out my home phone (which is now my cell phone) for 13 years. So far, my experience has been all positive.
Michelle Wise Capen, Elementary school curriculum coach and lead teacher - Lenoir, North Carolina
YES
I don't give my personal phone number out to my elementary school students, but I do give my phone number out to parents with whom I am in ongoing contact regarding after-school events, homework help, etc.
Of course, with the common use of caller ID, other families and students get my phone number when I call them. In my experience, it has only been positive for a parent or students to call and ask for clarity on the homework or about a school activity.
It also allows us to build trust between the home and school environments within the first several months of school.
Once students know that you and their parents have each other's phone numbers, discipline problems are very minor!
I even have several students from my first few years of teaching who call once in a blue moon to fill me in on how they are doing in school.
Overall it has been a positive experience for me and has worked out well, especially for increasing parent involvement.
Brenda Martinez, Elementary school teacher Milwaukee, Wisconsin
RARELY
When I took my class on a field trip last year, I made them all punch my cell number into their phones just in case someone got separated from the group.
Since then, two of those students have called me.
One call was to let me know a student was going to miss the PSAT (a class requirement) and one was to ask a question about registering for the SAT.
The second question should have been asked in class, but I was not overly annoyed.
I absolutely do not accept text messages from students. Recently, someone in our district was asked to resign because the person was texting with students during the school day.
To me (an old person), that type of "anytime" communication implies a more intimate, less professional relationship than is proper with students. There is a time and place for everything, and the time and place for teacher-student communication is not when I'm out with my family.
However, I do give parents my home number if we are having a difficult time connecting during school hours.
Kim McClung, High school English teacher - Kent, Washington
http://www.nea.org/neatoday/go/askexperts.html
We asked experienced, National Board Certified Teachers and found they don't agree. So you'll have to decide for yourself! But we hope their comments help you think about it.
YES
I've started texting a number of my students this year with reminders, classroom-related questions, even grades, and it's really useful. I get a lot more response and it's helped build channels of communication with a few students I might not have connected with as easily otherwise.
I am the teacher they hear from on their phones, and we know how all-important those phones have become.
When I text, obviously students end up with my number and they do text back, but I haven't had any problems. Students seem respectful of my time and rarely initiate the text conversations themselves. It's fairly easy to identify who is calling or texting, and I'm sure teens are aware of this fact. Besides, kids need the opportunity to develop good cell phone etiquette—when to text, how to respond appropriately, not to use phones for pranks, how to be polite, etc.
Cell phone use and texting have become a basic communication tool of our time. It's time to embrace this technology and set standards for its use.
Jen Morrison, High school English teacher, Prosperity, South Carolina
NO
Our professional email addresses are published in the students' agenda books and posted in the grade book accessible by students and parents online. I wouldn't give out my cell phone number, though, for several reasons:
First, because I need a life, too (after the 12–14 hours I spend in school every day, I would like to hold onto my weekends). Even doctors are not available around the clock. Why should teachers' privacy be invaded? There are no emergencies in education that cannot wait 24 or 48 hours.
Second, because it would be much more time-consuming.
Third, I find there is a better tone in written communication, especially between teacher and parents: exchanging emails allows time to cool down and present a documented response instead of an emotional one.
Maria Boichin, Middle school French immersion teacher, Gaithersburg, Maryland
NO
I will not give out my personal cell phone number to my employer and several of my relatives, much less my students.
I would only share a cell phone number with students if I had a business cell phone dedicated for contacts related to school business.
Renee Moore , Instructor of English, Mississippi Delta Community College Moorhead, Mississippi, and former high school English teacher
YES
I give my students my cell phone number. I also give parents my cell phone number.
I do screen my calls and I establish time limits (I don't take calls after 9 p.m. because I go to bed early—I am a teacher after all!)
If I really want parents to be part of my teaching team, then I need to be as available to them as I am to my colleagues.
And my students need to feel that they can call me when they have questions about their homework and projects.
Using my cell phone also means I have a record of my contacts with parents and students.
I have been giving out my home phone (which is now my cell phone) for 13 years. So far, my experience has been all positive.
Michelle Wise Capen, Elementary school curriculum coach and lead teacher - Lenoir, North Carolina
YES
I don't give my personal phone number out to my elementary school students, but I do give my phone number out to parents with whom I am in ongoing contact regarding after-school events, homework help, etc.
Of course, with the common use of caller ID, other families and students get my phone number when I call them. In my experience, it has only been positive for a parent or students to call and ask for clarity on the homework or about a school activity.
It also allows us to build trust between the home and school environments within the first several months of school.
Once students know that you and their parents have each other's phone numbers, discipline problems are very minor!
I even have several students from my first few years of teaching who call once in a blue moon to fill me in on how they are doing in school.
Overall it has been a positive experience for me and has worked out well, especially for increasing parent involvement.
Brenda Martinez, Elementary school teacher Milwaukee, Wisconsin
RARELY
When I took my class on a field trip last year, I made them all punch my cell number into their phones just in case someone got separated from the group.
Since then, two of those students have called me.
One call was to let me know a student was going to miss the PSAT (a class requirement) and one was to ask a question about registering for the SAT.
The second question should have been asked in class, but I was not overly annoyed.
I absolutely do not accept text messages from students. Recently, someone in our district was asked to resign because the person was texting with students during the school day.
To me (an old person), that type of "anytime" communication implies a more intimate, less professional relationship than is proper with students. There is a time and place for everything, and the time and place for teacher-student communication is not when I'm out with my family.
However, I do give parents my home number if we are having a difficult time connecting during school hours.
Kim McClung, High school English teacher - Kent, Washington
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Students must take responsibility
From: Go San Angelo
http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2008/aug/26/students-must-take-responsibility/
By Bruce McLaren
For many, a new school year has begun with all the gilded enthusiasm that teachers, administrators, students, clerical and custodial people can muster. This list also needs to include parents, grandparents and anyone else who touch the lives of those involved in the process of learning.
Once again, fall is a time filled with anticipation, new clothes, backpacks, laptops, friends, interscholastic sports and responsibilities. But wait one minute. Let me share with you a recent finding from the nationally recognized Association For Supervision and Curriculum Development:
"Some 7,000 high school students drop out of school every day, at a cost to society of $209,000 per student over their lifetimes." In Texas, there seems to be a growing concern that many of our high school graduates are not ready to complete their freshman year in college. A solution being offered is to send them to a community college so they can be brought up to academic speed. Why? Read on.
Students, some of you may not agree with what I am going to say. However, if you do choose to read on, understand that my comments are directed to those who see you off to school each day as well. What I am writing about is "educational responsibility," and, to be as tactfully blunt as possible, it is written to see if I am the only one who is upset with the ongoing diatribe from groups that choose to bash public school systems and are of the opinion that educators are the ones to blame for failure rates, poor test scores and homework not being turned in on time or at all.
I often wonder if we have been sold a bill of goods about our children's education. It appears that many educational reformers, study groups, as well as government agencies are directing their energies in a mollifying way, almost pacifying those students unwilling to accept individual responsibility for any part of their education. Some of these pundits call for "kinder and gentler" changes in school systems, expected academic requirements and outcomes, and appear to be advocating the easing of responsibilities from the tired, backpack-burdened, cell-phone toting backs of this particular group.
What's wrong with this picture? If you will indulge me a moment, I would like to offer some suggestions that might turn these conditions around:
1. Quit blaming teachers for children not turning in required homework. Homework is the student's responsibility.
2. Quit blaming teachers for students who choose to skip school because they thought it was dull, boring and they would rather hang out with their friends. Attending school is a student's responsibility.
3. Learn to understand and accept that homework is more important than school night social life.
4. Do not put the blame for suspensions, loss of a cell phones, necessity of wearing name tags or extra assignments on the back of teachers. Schools have rules. Teachers and administrators are expected to enforce those rules. They were not made in haste or with an alleged ethnic bias. If a student has chosen to take a path not acceptable in the school society, they need to live with the consequences.
5. Teachers, you and school administrators are asked to do many more things in the name of accountability, testing and educating your charges than I ever faced when I was in public education. Perhaps instead of "No Child Left Behind," we need to understand that "No Teacher Needs the Blame for Bad Choices Made By Some Students." You should not have to put up with parental blame for a child not getting all A's, not passing into the next grade or failing a class because they chose not to turn in the required work.
Understand that I am not speaking to the majority of school students. My comments are directed to those who fail to accept their responsibilities as students and hide behind others who find it easier to blame teachers than correct the problem where it resides.
For those who choose not to do homework, prefer to skip school, and through someone else, blame teachers for being the cause of it all, consider this: It's time to wake-up and smell reality. Perhaps a more pointed suggestion is one that comes from Kelly Flynn, author of "Kids, Classrooms, and Capitol Hill":
"Get your butts to school, sit down, be quiet, do your work, quit whining, and make your parents proud!" Responsibility is part of your life. It is like a meal that includes vegetables and other things that are good for you. Try it. You'll like it.
http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2008/aug/26/students-must-take-responsibility/
By Bruce McLaren
For many, a new school year has begun with all the gilded enthusiasm that teachers, administrators, students, clerical and custodial people can muster. This list also needs to include parents, grandparents and anyone else who touch the lives of those involved in the process of learning.
Once again, fall is a time filled with anticipation, new clothes, backpacks, laptops, friends, interscholastic sports and responsibilities. But wait one minute. Let me share with you a recent finding from the nationally recognized Association For Supervision and Curriculum Development:
"Some 7,000 high school students drop out of school every day, at a cost to society of $209,000 per student over their lifetimes." In Texas, there seems to be a growing concern that many of our high school graduates are not ready to complete their freshman year in college. A solution being offered is to send them to a community college so they can be brought up to academic speed. Why? Read on.
Students, some of you may not agree with what I am going to say. However, if you do choose to read on, understand that my comments are directed to those who see you off to school each day as well. What I am writing about is "educational responsibility," and, to be as tactfully blunt as possible, it is written to see if I am the only one who is upset with the ongoing diatribe from groups that choose to bash public school systems and are of the opinion that educators are the ones to blame for failure rates, poor test scores and homework not being turned in on time or at all.
I often wonder if we have been sold a bill of goods about our children's education. It appears that many educational reformers, study groups, as well as government agencies are directing their energies in a mollifying way, almost pacifying those students unwilling to accept individual responsibility for any part of their education. Some of these pundits call for "kinder and gentler" changes in school systems, expected academic requirements and outcomes, and appear to be advocating the easing of responsibilities from the tired, backpack-burdened, cell-phone toting backs of this particular group.
What's wrong with this picture? If you will indulge me a moment, I would like to offer some suggestions that might turn these conditions around:
1. Quit blaming teachers for children not turning in required homework. Homework is the student's responsibility.
2. Quit blaming teachers for students who choose to skip school because they thought it was dull, boring and they would rather hang out with their friends. Attending school is a student's responsibility.
3. Learn to understand and accept that homework is more important than school night social life.
4. Do not put the blame for suspensions, loss of a cell phones, necessity of wearing name tags or extra assignments on the back of teachers. Schools have rules. Teachers and administrators are expected to enforce those rules. They were not made in haste or with an alleged ethnic bias. If a student has chosen to take a path not acceptable in the school society, they need to live with the consequences.
5. Teachers, you and school administrators are asked to do many more things in the name of accountability, testing and educating your charges than I ever faced when I was in public education. Perhaps instead of "No Child Left Behind," we need to understand that "No Teacher Needs the Blame for Bad Choices Made By Some Students." You should not have to put up with parental blame for a child not getting all A's, not passing into the next grade or failing a class because they chose not to turn in the required work.
Understand that I am not speaking to the majority of school students. My comments are directed to those who fail to accept their responsibilities as students and hide behind others who find it easier to blame teachers than correct the problem where it resides.
For those who choose not to do homework, prefer to skip school, and through someone else, blame teachers for being the cause of it all, consider this: It's time to wake-up and smell reality. Perhaps a more pointed suggestion is one that comes from Kelly Flynn, author of "Kids, Classrooms, and Capitol Hill":
"Get your butts to school, sit down, be quiet, do your work, quit whining, and make your parents proud!" Responsibility is part of your life. It is like a meal that includes vegetables and other things that are good for you. Try it. You'll like it.
10 Approaches to Better Discipline
From: NEA
http://www.nea.org/classmanagement/disck021113.html
Helping Students Manage Their Own Behavior
All discipline problems are not alike. Effective teachers match different approaches to different problems. Here are some approaches from Inspiring Discipline by Merrill Harmin (NEA Professional Library 1995) that may prove useful to you.
The Simple Authority Statement With a simple authority statement, teachers can exercise authority with minimum distress and emotion. By employing this strategy, you also show students how a person can use authority respectfully and reasonably. The Strategy calls for the teacher to voice disapproval authoritatively, promptly, and as unemotionally as possible.
Redirect Student Energy By redirecting student energy, a teacher can end misbehavior without creating negative feelings. Instead of focusing on the misbehavior, this strategy calls on the teacher to turn student attention to something else, preferably something worth attending to. This is a useful approach when direct confrontation is either unnecessary or imprudent.
The Calm Reminder A calm reminder can help students understand what they are supposed to do, in a way that does not communicate negative emotions.
The Next-Time Message A next-time message can correct students' behavior without making them feel discouraged. The strategy calls for the teacher to tell students what to do next time, without focusing on what was done this time.
The Check-Yourself Message A check-yourself message can remind students to manage themselves responsibly. The strategy involves the teacher telling students to check what they have done, implying that when they do so, they will see what corrections are necessary. This strategy can be used whenever students become careless.
The Silent Response A silent response strategy gives students room to solve their own problems. This strategy also provides a way of avoiding hasty, inappropriate responses. A teacher using this strategy reacts to an act of misbehavior by making a mental note only and considering later what, if any, action is appropriate.
Clock Focus A clock focus strategy can settle student restlessness and increase student powers of concentration. The strategy calls for the teacher to announce "clock focus," a cue to students to stand and watch the second hand of a clock make full circles, as many rotations as they choose, and then to sit and resume their individual work. The strategy can be used whenever students need to be settled down, particularly young students working at individual tasks.
The Visitor's Chair By using the visitor's chair strategy, a teacher can position a student close-by without communicating disapproval. The teacher using this strategy asks a student to sit in a "visitor's chair" close to where the teacher is sitting or standing. Students know they can return to their own seats whenever they feel ready for responsible self-management.
Honest "I" Statements "I" statements can help teachers communicate honestly without generating defensiveness or guilt. Honest "I" statements also help teachers model a valuable interpersonal skill. The strategy calls for the teacher to talk honestly about personal needs and feelings, making "I" statements, avoiding comments about what "you" did or "you" said. This approach is especially useful when upsetting feelings emerge.
The Undone-Work Response An undone-work response is a useful approach for reacting when students fail to do required work. A teacher using this strategy avoids a blaming response and instead aims to create a growth-producing response. This approach can be used whenever a student has not completed work on time.
Source: Merrill Harmin. 1995. Inspiring Discipline. Washington, D.C. NEA Professional Library.
http://www.nea.org/classmanagement/disck021113.html
Helping Students Manage Their Own Behavior
All discipline problems are not alike. Effective teachers match different approaches to different problems. Here are some approaches from Inspiring Discipline by Merrill Harmin (NEA Professional Library 1995) that may prove useful to you.
The Simple Authority Statement With a simple authority statement, teachers can exercise authority with minimum distress and emotion. By employing this strategy, you also show students how a person can use authority respectfully and reasonably. The Strategy calls for the teacher to voice disapproval authoritatively, promptly, and as unemotionally as possible.
Redirect Student Energy By redirecting student energy, a teacher can end misbehavior without creating negative feelings. Instead of focusing on the misbehavior, this strategy calls on the teacher to turn student attention to something else, preferably something worth attending to. This is a useful approach when direct confrontation is either unnecessary or imprudent.
The Calm Reminder A calm reminder can help students understand what they are supposed to do, in a way that does not communicate negative emotions.
The Next-Time Message A next-time message can correct students' behavior without making them feel discouraged. The strategy calls for the teacher to tell students what to do next time, without focusing on what was done this time.
The Check-Yourself Message A check-yourself message can remind students to manage themselves responsibly. The strategy involves the teacher telling students to check what they have done, implying that when they do so, they will see what corrections are necessary. This strategy can be used whenever students become careless.
The Silent Response A silent response strategy gives students room to solve their own problems. This strategy also provides a way of avoiding hasty, inappropriate responses. A teacher using this strategy reacts to an act of misbehavior by making a mental note only and considering later what, if any, action is appropriate.
Clock Focus A clock focus strategy can settle student restlessness and increase student powers of concentration. The strategy calls for the teacher to announce "clock focus," a cue to students to stand and watch the second hand of a clock make full circles, as many rotations as they choose, and then to sit and resume their individual work. The strategy can be used whenever students need to be settled down, particularly young students working at individual tasks.
The Visitor's Chair By using the visitor's chair strategy, a teacher can position a student close-by without communicating disapproval. The teacher using this strategy asks a student to sit in a "visitor's chair" close to where the teacher is sitting or standing. Students know they can return to their own seats whenever they feel ready for responsible self-management.
Honest "I" Statements "I" statements can help teachers communicate honestly without generating defensiveness or guilt. Honest "I" statements also help teachers model a valuable interpersonal skill. The strategy calls for the teacher to talk honestly about personal needs and feelings, making "I" statements, avoiding comments about what "you" did or "you" said. This approach is especially useful when upsetting feelings emerge.
The Undone-Work Response An undone-work response is a useful approach for reacting when students fail to do required work. A teacher using this strategy avoids a blaming response and instead aims to create a growth-producing response. This approach can be used whenever a student has not completed work on time.
Source: Merrill Harmin. 1995. Inspiring Discipline. Washington, D.C. NEA Professional Library.
Helping Students Find the 'Write' Way to Behave
From: NEA
http://www.nea.org/classmanagement/ifc080527.html
by Ellen Delisio, Education World
Having students write about their misbehavior, why it occurred, and what they are going to do to correct it is valuable for students and teachers. Students get a chance to have their say, and teachers can review the write-ups with students and keep the documents in students' files.
Looking for ways to help students reflect on disruptive behavior and learn to correct it? Let them write about their actions on contracts, questionnaires, and in journals, and then review the documents with them.
Contracts or questionnaires should be part of an overall classroom management strategy. Teachers should issue class rules at the beginning of the school year and ensure they are clear and consistent. Students should understand which infractions warrant discipline and the consequences for disruptive behaviors. Teachers also should make clear when students will receive forms: when the disruptive behavior occurs or right after class.
Slipping forms or instructions to students to write up the incident during class can decrease embarrassment for students and minimize class disruptions.
Reflecting and Writing
A student who writes himself or herself up can identify the behavior and its cause, explain why the behavior is a problem, and propose a way to correct the situation. That allows the student to express his or her viewpoint about the incident.
The teacher then can review the form with the student and decide whether a parent or guardian should sign it.
If having parents sign the form does not lead to improved behavior, the next time a student completes a form, consider having the student read it over the phone to a parent, in the presence of another adult.
Having students write themselves up doesn't mean teachers should give up, though. Writing short, on-the-spot notes -- pointing out positive and negative behavior -- also can be a good classroom management tool. While carrying around a pad of adhesive notes, jot down "good job," "excellent question," or "remember to raise your hand" and stick the notes on students' desks. Students get instant feedback and a reminder that the teacher is on top of things.
Not everyone favors writing as part of a punishment, though. Some schools do not want students to develop a negative attitude about writing, so they do not assign writing for misbehavior.
"I feel it is important to make the kids understand what they did wrong but not by punishing them with a skill in which we want them to excel," Dana Arhar, a teacher at Immokalee Middle School in Immokalee, Florida, told Education World.
One teacher from the Middle Level list serv came up with another kind of note. She sings (badly) to the recalcitrant youngster, mostly oldies. Tunes by the Monkees usually got the quickest response. After serenading some students with off-key verses, now she has only to threaten to sing, she wrote.
No Notes for You?
Other suggestions for managing your classroom:
http://www.nea.org/classmanagement/ifc080527.html
by Ellen Delisio, Education World
Having students write about their misbehavior, why it occurred, and what they are going to do to correct it is valuable for students and teachers. Students get a chance to have their say, and teachers can review the write-ups with students and keep the documents in students' files.
Looking for ways to help students reflect on disruptive behavior and learn to correct it? Let them write about their actions on contracts, questionnaires, and in journals, and then review the documents with them.
Contracts or questionnaires should be part of an overall classroom management strategy. Teachers should issue class rules at the beginning of the school year and ensure they are clear and consistent. Students should understand which infractions warrant discipline and the consequences for disruptive behaviors. Teachers also should make clear when students will receive forms: when the disruptive behavior occurs or right after class.
Slipping forms or instructions to students to write up the incident during class can decrease embarrassment for students and minimize class disruptions.
Reflecting and Writing
A student who writes himself or herself up can identify the behavior and its cause, explain why the behavior is a problem, and propose a way to correct the situation. That allows the student to express his or her viewpoint about the incident.
The teacher then can review the form with the student and decide whether a parent or guardian should sign it.
If having parents sign the form does not lead to improved behavior, the next time a student completes a form, consider having the student read it over the phone to a parent, in the presence of another adult.
Having students write themselves up doesn't mean teachers should give up, though. Writing short, on-the-spot notes -- pointing out positive and negative behavior -- also can be a good classroom management tool. While carrying around a pad of adhesive notes, jot down "good job," "excellent question," or "remember to raise your hand" and stick the notes on students' desks. Students get instant feedback and a reminder that the teacher is on top of things.
Not everyone favors writing as part of a punishment, though. Some schools do not want students to develop a negative attitude about writing, so they do not assign writing for misbehavior.
"I feel it is important to make the kids understand what they did wrong but not by punishing them with a skill in which we want them to excel," Dana Arhar, a teacher at Immokalee Middle School in Immokalee, Florida, told Education World.
One teacher from the Middle Level list serv came up with another kind of note. She sings (badly) to the recalcitrant youngster, mostly oldies. Tunes by the Monkees usually got the quickest response. After serenading some students with off-key verses, now she has only to threaten to sing, she wrote.
No Notes for You?
Other suggestions for managing your classroom:
- When leaving the classroom as a group, tell the students you will be watching the behavior of two children, but don't say who they are. If the two you are watching behave, reward the entire class after returning to the room.
- If a student interrupts another pupil and calls out an answer, tell him or her that the behavior "robs" the other student of a learning opportunity.
- Remember the keys to successful management strategies: fairness and consistency.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
We're Teaching Books That Don't Stack Up
From: The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/22/AR2008082202398.html?hpid=opinionsbox1
By Nancy Schnog
Browsing in Barnes & Noble one recent afternoon, I found myself drawn to the "Summer Reading" table, where neatly stacked piles of books by Charles Dickens and John Steinbeck and Zora Neale Hurston sat waiting for the teenagers who were supposed to read them by the first day of school. Gazing at the gleaming covers, I had to wonder how many students were in fact turning the pages with any real desire to get to the next one.
It's the time of year when I'm reminded of my twisted fate as a high-school English teacher. According to the National Endowment for the Arts, more teens and young adults are dropping literary reading than any other age group in America. "The percentage of 17-year olds," it reports, "who read nothing at all for pleasure has doubled" in the past 20 years. I teach juniors and seniors -- yes, 17-year-olds.
If ever there were a teaching conundrum, today's high-school English teachers are smack in the middle of it. It's our job to take digital natives -- teens saturated with images in video games and on YouTube -- and get them to strike up a relationship with pictureless chains of black print and focus on the decidedly internal rewards of classical literature. More and more, this mission feels like blind idealism.
But as school starts up again, it's time to acknowledge that the lure of visual media isn't the only thing pushing our kids away from the page and toward the screen. We've shied away from discussing a most unfortunate culprit in the saga of diminishing teen reading: the high-school English classroom. As much as I hate to admit it, all too often it's English teachers like me -- as able and well-intentioned as we may be -- who close down teen interest in reading.
"Butchering." That's what one of my former students, a young man who loves creative writing but rarely gets to do any at school, called English class. He was referring to the endless picking apart of linguistic details that loses teens in a haze of "So what?" The reading quizzes that turn, say, "Hamlet" into a Q&A on facts, symbols and themes. The thesis-driven essay assignments that require students to write about a novel they can't muster any passion for ("The Scarlet Letter" is high on teens' list of most dreaded). I'll never forget what one parent, bemoaning his daughter's aversion to great books after she took AP English Literature, wrote to me: "What I've seen teachers do is take living, breathing works of art and transform them into dessicated lab specimens fit for dissection."
As someone who teaches in private schools, I find this especially painful to acknowledge. I haven't been constrained in my teaching methods by Standards of Learning or No Child Left Behind testing. But even where teachers are free to design their own "best practices," I've been amazed at the chasm between their sense of purpose in their curricular choices and teens' sense that what they choose for them is irrelevant. Ironically, kids' turn-off to books can originate in teachers' hopes of turning them on.
How do I know? Because kids tell me. Every June, when I asked my students at a previous school to write about a favorite book of the year, they mostly gushed over two: J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye" and F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby." For years, "Catcher" served as a successful icebreaker for my juniors, exciting debate while eliding the gender divide. Whether they admired Holden Caulfield's quirkiness or disparaged him as a jerk, both my male and female students were eager to argue about him.
So imagine my dismay when "Catcher" was demoted to the eighth or ninth grade. Apparently it wasn't sophisticated enough for 11th-graders, its language too facile, the plot insufficiently complex. That many 17-year-olds identify powerfully with Salinger's 17-year-old protagonist was a fact cast by the wayside.
But here's what a former student wrote in an essay about this book that knocked her socks off: "To my twelve-year-old self, the book didn't seem to move anywhere. I didn't understand why Holden couldn't just try a little harder at school. By tenth grade, I had been drunk for the first time. I knew rebellion against my parents, the difficulties of teenage romance, the fakeness of social interaction. As a reader in the eleventh grade, I grew close to Holden; he was a friend who understood me." In adults' determination to create sophisticated teen readers, we sever them from potential fictional soulmates.
It's hard to forget my son's summer-reading assignment the year before he entered ninth grade: Julia Alvarez's "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents." Try as he did, he never got beyond the first of 15 vignettes about four culturally displaced sisters who search for identity through therapists and mental illness, men and sex, drugs and alcohol. I could hardly blame him. We ask 14-year-old boys to read novels about the travails of anguished women and want them to develop a love of reading?
Far too often, teachers' canonical choices split from teenagers' tastes, intellectual needs and maturity levels. "Why do we assume that every 15-year-old who passes through sophomore English is an English major in the making?" asks a teacher friend. "It's simply not the case. And the kids go elsewhere, just as fast as they can -- anywhere but another book."
I watched this play out last year when the junior reading list at my school, consisting mainly of major American authors, was fortified with readings in Shakespeare, Ibsen and the British Romantic poets. When I handed my students two weeks of readings by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge after a month-long study of American transcendentalists, it became clear that they had overdosed on verse packed with nature description and emotional reflection. "When will we read something with a plot?" asked one agitated boy, obviously yearning for afternoon lacrosse to begin.
One of my recent juniors was particularly eloquent on the subject. After having sat in my classroom for a year forcefully projecting his boredom, he started an e-mail dialogue with me over the summer. "The reason for studying fiction escapes me," he wrote. "Why waste time thinking about fabricated situations when there are plenty of real situations that need solutions? Cloning, ozone depletion, and alternate fuels are a few of the countless problems that need to be addressed by the next generation, my generation."
Okay, you may think, this is a kid geared to excel in history and science, not literature. But read his closing words: "Granted fiction has a place in this world, but it is not in the classroom. It is beside the night lamp next to your bed, the car ride to the beach, the soft glow of a fireplace. Fiction is about spending beautiful days indoors because you can't wait to get to the next page. Because I like science fiction, my Shakespeare, my Fitzgerald, my Dickinson are Haldeman, Asimov, Herbert. They dare me to think and question my beliefs."
So there you have it: A smart teen and motivated reader goes to high-school English class and discovers that the classics have nothing to offer him. "The reason I did not participate in class," he admitted, "was that I found the reading a chore."
Parents of high-school students are probably familiar with the product of this classroom: the alienated writer who turns up sulking at the dinner table. When students have to produce an essay on a book they care nothing for, it becomes a nightmare for both the student (think "all-nighter") and the teacher, who'll spend precious weekend hours reading papers devoid of content. The upshot of this empty drill: teens increasingly resistant to great books.
If I were a student today, surfing the gazillions of Web libraries or model-essay banks for insight into an assigned school classic, I'm sure I'd be asking myself, "What on Earth could there be left to say?" Last year, when I thought that I was stepping out of the mainstream by requiring my students to write a review of "Dead Poets Society," I was shocked to find, with just one click, that the 1989 Robin Williams movie had already been analyzed by hundreds of online literary pundits. Asking our students for yet another written commentary has a certain absurd ring to it, no?
The lesson couldn't be clearer. Until we do a better job of introducing contemporary culture into our reading lists, matching books to readers and getting our students to buy in to the whole process, literature teachers will continue to fuel the reading crisis.
I'm not suggesting that every 11th-grade English teacher adopt "Catcher," drop Shakespeare or ride the multicultural bandwagon. But if we really want to recruit teen readers, we're going to have to be strenuous advocates for fresh and innovative reading incentives. If that means an end to business as usual -- abolishing dry-bones literature tests, cutting back on fact-based quizzes, adding works of science fiction or popular nonfiction to the reading list -- so be it. We can continue to alienate teen readers, or we can hear them, acknowledge their tastes, engage directly with their resistance to serious reading and move gradually, with sensitivity to what's age-appropriate, toward the realm of great literature.
So if your kids haven't yet started their summer reading, or are having trouble getting through it, perhaps now you know why. It may be what they've learned at school.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/22/AR2008082202398.html?hpid=opinionsbox1
By Nancy Schnog
Browsing in Barnes & Noble one recent afternoon, I found myself drawn to the "Summer Reading" table, where neatly stacked piles of books by Charles Dickens and John Steinbeck and Zora Neale Hurston sat waiting for the teenagers who were supposed to read them by the first day of school. Gazing at the gleaming covers, I had to wonder how many students were in fact turning the pages with any real desire to get to the next one.
It's the time of year when I'm reminded of my twisted fate as a high-school English teacher. According to the National Endowment for the Arts, more teens and young adults are dropping literary reading than any other age group in America. "The percentage of 17-year olds," it reports, "who read nothing at all for pleasure has doubled" in the past 20 years. I teach juniors and seniors -- yes, 17-year-olds.
If ever there were a teaching conundrum, today's high-school English teachers are smack in the middle of it. It's our job to take digital natives -- teens saturated with images in video games and on YouTube -- and get them to strike up a relationship with pictureless chains of black print and focus on the decidedly internal rewards of classical literature. More and more, this mission feels like blind idealism.
But as school starts up again, it's time to acknowledge that the lure of visual media isn't the only thing pushing our kids away from the page and toward the screen. We've shied away from discussing a most unfortunate culprit in the saga of diminishing teen reading: the high-school English classroom. As much as I hate to admit it, all too often it's English teachers like me -- as able and well-intentioned as we may be -- who close down teen interest in reading.
"Butchering." That's what one of my former students, a young man who loves creative writing but rarely gets to do any at school, called English class. He was referring to the endless picking apart of linguistic details that loses teens in a haze of "So what?" The reading quizzes that turn, say, "Hamlet" into a Q&A on facts, symbols and themes. The thesis-driven essay assignments that require students to write about a novel they can't muster any passion for ("The Scarlet Letter" is high on teens' list of most dreaded). I'll never forget what one parent, bemoaning his daughter's aversion to great books after she took AP English Literature, wrote to me: "What I've seen teachers do is take living, breathing works of art and transform them into dessicated lab specimens fit for dissection."
As someone who teaches in private schools, I find this especially painful to acknowledge. I haven't been constrained in my teaching methods by Standards of Learning or No Child Left Behind testing. But even where teachers are free to design their own "best practices," I've been amazed at the chasm between their sense of purpose in their curricular choices and teens' sense that what they choose for them is irrelevant. Ironically, kids' turn-off to books can originate in teachers' hopes of turning them on.
How do I know? Because kids tell me. Every June, when I asked my students at a previous school to write about a favorite book of the year, they mostly gushed over two: J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye" and F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby." For years, "Catcher" served as a successful icebreaker for my juniors, exciting debate while eliding the gender divide. Whether they admired Holden Caulfield's quirkiness or disparaged him as a jerk, both my male and female students were eager to argue about him.
So imagine my dismay when "Catcher" was demoted to the eighth or ninth grade. Apparently it wasn't sophisticated enough for 11th-graders, its language too facile, the plot insufficiently complex. That many 17-year-olds identify powerfully with Salinger's 17-year-old protagonist was a fact cast by the wayside.
But here's what a former student wrote in an essay about this book that knocked her socks off: "To my twelve-year-old self, the book didn't seem to move anywhere. I didn't understand why Holden couldn't just try a little harder at school. By tenth grade, I had been drunk for the first time. I knew rebellion against my parents, the difficulties of teenage romance, the fakeness of social interaction. As a reader in the eleventh grade, I grew close to Holden; he was a friend who understood me." In adults' determination to create sophisticated teen readers, we sever them from potential fictional soulmates.
It's hard to forget my son's summer-reading assignment the year before he entered ninth grade: Julia Alvarez's "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents." Try as he did, he never got beyond the first of 15 vignettes about four culturally displaced sisters who search for identity through therapists and mental illness, men and sex, drugs and alcohol. I could hardly blame him. We ask 14-year-old boys to read novels about the travails of anguished women and want them to develop a love of reading?
Far too often, teachers' canonical choices split from teenagers' tastes, intellectual needs and maturity levels. "Why do we assume that every 15-year-old who passes through sophomore English is an English major in the making?" asks a teacher friend. "It's simply not the case. And the kids go elsewhere, just as fast as they can -- anywhere but another book."
I watched this play out last year when the junior reading list at my school, consisting mainly of major American authors, was fortified with readings in Shakespeare, Ibsen and the British Romantic poets. When I handed my students two weeks of readings by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge after a month-long study of American transcendentalists, it became clear that they had overdosed on verse packed with nature description and emotional reflection. "When will we read something with a plot?" asked one agitated boy, obviously yearning for afternoon lacrosse to begin.
One of my recent juniors was particularly eloquent on the subject. After having sat in my classroom for a year forcefully projecting his boredom, he started an e-mail dialogue with me over the summer. "The reason for studying fiction escapes me," he wrote. "Why waste time thinking about fabricated situations when there are plenty of real situations that need solutions? Cloning, ozone depletion, and alternate fuels are a few of the countless problems that need to be addressed by the next generation, my generation."
Okay, you may think, this is a kid geared to excel in history and science, not literature. But read his closing words: "Granted fiction has a place in this world, but it is not in the classroom. It is beside the night lamp next to your bed, the car ride to the beach, the soft glow of a fireplace. Fiction is about spending beautiful days indoors because you can't wait to get to the next page. Because I like science fiction, my Shakespeare, my Fitzgerald, my Dickinson are Haldeman, Asimov, Herbert. They dare me to think and question my beliefs."
So there you have it: A smart teen and motivated reader goes to high-school English class and discovers that the classics have nothing to offer him. "The reason I did not participate in class," he admitted, "was that I found the reading a chore."
Parents of high-school students are probably familiar with the product of this classroom: the alienated writer who turns up sulking at the dinner table. When students have to produce an essay on a book they care nothing for, it becomes a nightmare for both the student (think "all-nighter") and the teacher, who'll spend precious weekend hours reading papers devoid of content. The upshot of this empty drill: teens increasingly resistant to great books.
If I were a student today, surfing the gazillions of Web libraries or model-essay banks for insight into an assigned school classic, I'm sure I'd be asking myself, "What on Earth could there be left to say?" Last year, when I thought that I was stepping out of the mainstream by requiring my students to write a review of "Dead Poets Society," I was shocked to find, with just one click, that the 1989 Robin Williams movie had already been analyzed by hundreds of online literary pundits. Asking our students for yet another written commentary has a certain absurd ring to it, no?
The lesson couldn't be clearer. Until we do a better job of introducing contemporary culture into our reading lists, matching books to readers and getting our students to buy in to the whole process, literature teachers will continue to fuel the reading crisis.
I'm not suggesting that every 11th-grade English teacher adopt "Catcher," drop Shakespeare or ride the multicultural bandwagon. But if we really want to recruit teen readers, we're going to have to be strenuous advocates for fresh and innovative reading incentives. If that means an end to business as usual -- abolishing dry-bones literature tests, cutting back on fact-based quizzes, adding works of science fiction or popular nonfiction to the reading list -- so be it. We can continue to alienate teen readers, or we can hear them, acknowledge their tastes, engage directly with their resistance to serious reading and move gradually, with sensitivity to what's age-appropriate, toward the realm of great literature.
So if your kids haven't yet started their summer reading, or are having trouble getting through it, perhaps now you know why. It may be what they've learned at school.
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