Teaching Strategies
Book Review
What did you guys think of this book?
It may be the first textbook that I have read through. Still need to finish up the last chapter in this one and the last 2 in my book review, but hey that's close. I had high hopes with reading this Teaching Strategies book. I thought it was going to teach me everything that I needed to know about teaching!! However, after reading it I found that there is a lot to cover!
I think it tried to cover a lot of ground. Since this is one of my first official teaching classes, it did not include enough information in a lot of areas. I was left with not knowing exactly what they are talking about. I did highlight in this book as I read as well as the UbD book so I will be able to go back and skim the important parts.
The book offered a good framework for introducing the field of teaching. I would say if offered a good base of knowledge. I left with a lot more questions and feeling like, "man, I have a lot to learn!" But that is what they say happens the more you know.
I was a little frustrated with the way that the book taught through a lens. It definitely had it's perspective on the methods that the author thought was best and the modern methods of today. It was biased in a lot of areas rather than plead the case of all methods. I would have rather had the facts and the methods just stated without any biased.
What do you think?
Philip Russell
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Don't Put This on Your Resume
While searching for a topic this week, I ran into an article about African Americans having a hard time getting jobs. They were going to delete the African-American associations they were involved with and eliminate the middle name of Jabbar to J. in order to prevent stereotypes. I was going to use that as my topic of debate until I ran into this one!
The school is called Med Grow Cannabis College. For those of you that do not know, much like I did until 15 minutes ago, Cannabis is part of the scientific name for marijuana. Cannabis sativa. The school is a 6 week course for $485 is like an "agricultural extension class covering the growing cycle, nutrients and light requirements." The article states that the school teaches the students how to grow and cure marijuana. Ensuring quality and potency is also a priority.
Medical Marijuana is supposed to be used for medical purposes only. The person with the perscription and their caregiver are allowed to have up to 12 plants. Each patient can have up to 5 caregivers. The idea behind the school is to prepare for the market demand of marijuana for people that get prescribed and do not want to wait the months for marijuana to grow.
This sounds like a scary situation! Marijuana is usually classified as a "gateway" drug that people usually blame for introducing them into the harder drugs. The law seems to be easy to get around and sounds like a good excuse for someone who is caught with the stuff.
Marijuana is going to prove dangerous than some would like to believe. Look at the impact that cigarettes have had on people. Story has it that people would smoke before athletic events in order to open up the the lungs. By leaving the door open a crack, no pun intended, we are opening up ourselves for trouble.
In summary, don't put this college on your resume and don't mess with a "gateway" drug.
What do you think?
Philip
The school is called Med Grow Cannabis College. For those of you that do not know, much like I did until 15 minutes ago, Cannabis is part of the scientific name for marijuana. Cannabis sativa. The school is a 6 week course for $485 is like an "agricultural extension class covering the growing cycle, nutrients and light requirements." The article states that the school teaches the students how to grow and cure marijuana. Ensuring quality and potency is also a priority.
Medical Marijuana is supposed to be used for medical purposes only. The person with the perscription and their caregiver are allowed to have up to 12 plants. Each patient can have up to 5 caregivers. The idea behind the school is to prepare for the market demand of marijuana for people that get prescribed and do not want to wait the months for marijuana to grow.
This sounds like a scary situation! Marijuana is usually classified as a "gateway" drug that people usually blame for introducing them into the harder drugs. The law seems to be easy to get around and sounds like a good excuse for someone who is caught with the stuff.
Marijuana is going to prove dangerous than some would like to believe. Look at the impact that cigarettes have had on people. Story has it that people would smoke before athletic events in order to open up the the lungs. By leaving the door open a crack, no pun intended, we are opening up ourselves for trouble.
In summary, don't put this college on your resume and don't mess with a "gateway" drug.
What do you think?
Philip
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
are the TAG students getting left behind?
While sitting in on parent-teacher conferences, I was hit with the pondering question, are the Talented and Gifted students being cheated out of an education? Have we lowered our expectations in America so much that we are trying to aim at the bottom half? Where is the middle? Who is the average? Should the apathetic students be included in the mix for hitting the middle of the classes?
TAG students may be getting behind the ball. Are they being ignored? In this article, a few examples of TAG programs being cut with budget cuts or no TAG programs at all. The article discusses where the situation that TAG students are in. It varies widely between active programs, cut programs, and I would venture to say not really a TAG program.
Can you imagine a special education program being cut? People would be appalled! Why are we not paying much attention to the TAG students. I think America has done a great job of providing an education for special education students. I think that is one thing that America has figured out. They do not want to leave students behind. However, are we leaving TAG students behind? In the article No Genius Left Behind, a Reno academy for the gifted is discussed. The school accepts only 100 kids and takes them above and beyond where they would get education anywhere else.
I posted my questions in the introduction. Where are we aiming at. I found after teaching high school math that I spent way to much time dealing with the apathetic bottom 5 than I did with the top five that wanted to go further. Maybe we should separate the classes by intelligence and work ethic. Most schools have 3 or more classes so why not separate the top, middle, and bottom.
This may not be the answer, but we do need to look at this to avoid wasting our TAG students. By letting them fall to the wayside, we are not only hurting them, but we are also hurting the future of America. We need to capitalize on these assets and make sure that these kids too get to reach their fullest potential.
What do you think?
Philip Russell
TAG students may be getting behind the ball. Are they being ignored? In this article, a few examples of TAG programs being cut with budget cuts or no TAG programs at all. The article discusses where the situation that TAG students are in. It varies widely between active programs, cut programs, and I would venture to say not really a TAG program.
Can you imagine a special education program being cut? People would be appalled! Why are we not paying much attention to the TAG students. I think America has done a great job of providing an education for special education students. I think that is one thing that America has figured out. They do not want to leave students behind. However, are we leaving TAG students behind? In the article No Genius Left Behind, a Reno academy for the gifted is discussed. The school accepts only 100 kids and takes them above and beyond where they would get education anywhere else.
I posted my questions in the introduction. Where are we aiming at. I found after teaching high school math that I spent way to much time dealing with the apathetic bottom 5 than I did with the top five that wanted to go further. Maybe we should separate the classes by intelligence and work ethic. Most schools have 3 or more classes so why not separate the top, middle, and bottom.
This may not be the answer, but we do need to look at this to avoid wasting our TAG students. By letting them fall to the wayside, we are not only hurting them, but we are also hurting the future of America. We need to capitalize on these assets and make sure that these kids too get to reach their fullest potential.
What do you think?
Philip Russell
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Abstinence Education
The article in Fox News discussed a need for changing the way we teach sex education because of the rise in cases of STD's. The article went on to say that we the Bush's way of teaching sex education with abstinence simply is not enough. According to the article, Obama has shown interest in moving away from this type of education.
First of all, when was abstinence education even taught. It was not the only way of preventing pregnancy or STD's when I was at school, and it does not seem like the world has gotten any more conserative. So pushing this abstinence only thing on Bush is pushing it.
I am sure if Bush had his way it would be an abstinence only education in the schools and I agree. Bush had convictions and he stuck to them. He stopped abortion and terrorists with his presidency and he won't recieve due credit until years after his death much like every other president. But, that is for a different blog.
After reading the article with all the stats on STD's the author seemingly makes a good point. It's like giving one seat belt for a load of people in a car. However, how is teaching someone how to wear a condom, make sure that their partners have not have "too" many partners, and finally get tested on a regular basis. Are we for real? This is going to help? We need to wake up and listen to what we are suggesting to our students. How about in order to stop so much gun violence and to improve gun safety we let elementary students use them at school, but we will make sure that these guns come equipped with safeties and that the students know how to use them! That would be crazy.
Crazy as giving a kid a condom and saying make sure you test yourself, don't have sex to often, and don't have sex with other people if they have had sex often. Abstinence is 100% safe 100% of the time, but very hard for students and this is why.
"Sex Sells!" It is a common theme across the world. How can we teach this slogan and abstinence at the same time? It doesn't work. We need to monitor what is on our TV shows, advertisements, and movies. If adults want to see these, let them watch it on their own time. The honor system does not work, we need tighter restrictions on what is available to the public eye 100% of the time. I feel that movie makers should be held responsible for murders, not pastors for hate crimes!
Marriage and sex is a mystical thing and we should not take this away from it because we want what we want now. This article is trying to teach students the art of masturbation in order to take the mystic away from sex. Why? How about we take the dangling steak away from the dog and focus it's efforts on bird hunting or chasing cats. We need to teach students what is going to help them now and in the future. Abstinence will. No STD's, a higher percentage of marital satisfaction and longer marriages. I don't have the research to back it up, but you will find this to be a common norm.
The other thing that I did not like about this article is that 14-17 is not an age for youth to find their sexuality or sexual preference. Hormones are raging. We tell them all the time growing up to not respond in anger. Count to 10! Take a breather! Handle all situations calmly! Now we tell them; find your sexual presence when your hormones are all unbalanced. We know better than this. We need to practice what we preach.
In summary, abstinence is 100% all the time. We need to be honest with our students. Sex is a great thing, but needs to be with one person. (Yes, male with female and female with male) We need to protect their minds and make sure that they are not being tempted and mislead.
Does anyone have a link to state standards or national standards on sex ed?
What do you think?
Philip
First of all, when was abstinence education even taught. It was not the only way of preventing pregnancy or STD's when I was at school, and it does not seem like the world has gotten any more conserative. So pushing this abstinence only thing on Bush is pushing it.
I am sure if Bush had his way it would be an abstinence only education in the schools and I agree. Bush had convictions and he stuck to them. He stopped abortion and terrorists with his presidency and he won't recieve due credit until years after his death much like every other president. But, that is for a different blog.
After reading the article with all the stats on STD's the author seemingly makes a good point. It's like giving one seat belt for a load of people in a car. However, how is teaching someone how to wear a condom, make sure that their partners have not have "too" many partners, and finally get tested on a regular basis. Are we for real? This is going to help? We need to wake up and listen to what we are suggesting to our students. How about in order to stop so much gun violence and to improve gun safety we let elementary students use them at school, but we will make sure that these guns come equipped with safeties and that the students know how to use them! That would be crazy.
Crazy as giving a kid a condom and saying make sure you test yourself, don't have sex to often, and don't have sex with other people if they have had sex often. Abstinence is 100% safe 100% of the time, but very hard for students and this is why.
"Sex Sells!" It is a common theme across the world. How can we teach this slogan and abstinence at the same time? It doesn't work. We need to monitor what is on our TV shows, advertisements, and movies. If adults want to see these, let them watch it on their own time. The honor system does not work, we need tighter restrictions on what is available to the public eye 100% of the time. I feel that movie makers should be held responsible for murders, not pastors for hate crimes!
Marriage and sex is a mystical thing and we should not take this away from it because we want what we want now. This article is trying to teach students the art of masturbation in order to take the mystic away from sex. Why? How about we take the dangling steak away from the dog and focus it's efforts on bird hunting or chasing cats. We need to teach students what is going to help them now and in the future. Abstinence will. No STD's, a higher percentage of marital satisfaction and longer marriages. I don't have the research to back it up, but you will find this to be a common norm.
The other thing that I did not like about this article is that 14-17 is not an age for youth to find their sexuality or sexual preference. Hormones are raging. We tell them all the time growing up to not respond in anger. Count to 10! Take a breather! Handle all situations calmly! Now we tell them; find your sexual presence when your hormones are all unbalanced. We know better than this. We need to practice what we preach.
In summary, abstinence is 100% all the time. We need to be honest with our students. Sex is a great thing, but needs to be with one person. (Yes, male with female and female with male) We need to protect their minds and make sure that they are not being tempted and mislead.
Does anyone have a link to state standards or national standards on sex ed?
What do you think?
Philip
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
President vs. Ex-Terrorist
If Obama is met with controversy, wouldn’t you think that a convicted terrorist involved in 19 bombings and 10 bank robberies. The University of Massachusetts must not have. The professors decided to invite Raymond Luc Levasseur to speak at their school Nov. 5. Due to heavy controversy, the event was cancelled.
Not even criticism from the Gov. Deval Patrick could persuade the professors from pushing beyond the first cancellation to a reschedule of the speech. The professors claimed that due to academic freedom, they are entitled to allowing this man to speak. Academic freedom is basically the idea that professors can give their opinions on subjects and that students can be introduced to many ideas. Check it out. The administration did not step in and take action in order to preserve academic freedom.
Now, it was definitely a surprise to find out that people would protest Obama in a school, but it does not surprise me very much that a convicted felon would gain some flak. The arguments are that he has done his time and paid his price so he should be able to speak. They want to bring him in to talk at “Amherst Libraries’ fifth annual Colloquium on Social Change. Along with writers Todd Gitlin and Raymond Mungo, Levasseur was to represent the social unrest of the late 1960s.”
Other people feel that since he murdered a police officer and was involved with these bombings he has lost his privileges. They also fear that he will use his speech to recruit members to his once formed United Freedom Front that he was involved in before going to jail.
At what point do you lose or gain privileges to speak to our youth? Presidency? Early parole and honoring you parole for 3 months? Come on people, we need to build up some consistency and cohesion. If people are worried about Obama pushing his agenda, then I would say we need to be extremely concerned about a newly released felon pushing his agenda!
I do appreciate what academic freedom has allowed professors to do, but pushing past the non support of administration and past the total disagreement of a governor is a bit foolish. Academic freedom should only have so much freedom. If the administration is strongly against it, they should have the power to shut it down.
If the professors do go through with the speech, they need to strictly monitor what Mr. Levasseur has to say.
What do you think?
Philip
Not even criticism from the Gov. Deval Patrick could persuade the professors from pushing beyond the first cancellation to a reschedule of the speech. The professors claimed that due to academic freedom, they are entitled to allowing this man to speak. Academic freedom is basically the idea that professors can give their opinions on subjects and that students can be introduced to many ideas. Check it out. The administration did not step in and take action in order to preserve academic freedom.
Now, it was definitely a surprise to find out that people would protest Obama in a school, but it does not surprise me very much that a convicted felon would gain some flak. The arguments are that he has done his time and paid his price so he should be able to speak. They want to bring him in to talk at “Amherst Libraries’ fifth annual Colloquium on Social Change. Along with writers Todd Gitlin and Raymond Mungo, Levasseur was to represent the social unrest of the late 1960s.”
Other people feel that since he murdered a police officer and was involved with these bombings he has lost his privileges. They also fear that he will use his speech to recruit members to his once formed United Freedom Front that he was involved in before going to jail.
At what point do you lose or gain privileges to speak to our youth? Presidency? Early parole and honoring you parole for 3 months? Come on people, we need to build up some consistency and cohesion. If people are worried about Obama pushing his agenda, then I would say we need to be extremely concerned about a newly released felon pushing his agenda!
I do appreciate what academic freedom has allowed professors to do, but pushing past the non support of administration and past the total disagreement of a governor is a bit foolish. Academic freedom should only have so much freedom. If the administration is strongly against it, they should have the power to shut it down.
If the professors do go through with the speech, they need to strictly monitor what Mr. Levasseur has to say.
What do you think?
Philip
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Kindle vs. Hard Copy
Kindle vs. Hard Copy
The Kindle is an electronic book. Not just any book; it can hold up to 200 titles, access newspapers and magazines, and email. Sound amazing!? The Kindle is an electronic book put out by Amazon. It works much like an IPod downloading music.
By connecting to the network EVDO, a free wireless network, the owner of a Kindle can purchase reading material, access email, and preview books. The battery lasts up to 2 days and can be charged in 2 hours. Unlike a laptop, the screen is not hard to see in the sun light, in fact, it reads much like a text book.
Why is this important, because this may be the wave of the new library? In Ashburnham, Mass. at Cushing Academy, they have got rid of 10,000 books in their library and are planning on getting rid of the other 10,000 books. They decided to go this route because of the lack of use of both the library and the books. They tracked that less than 30 books were being checked out on some days, which is 0.15% of their books. Their answer, get rid of the books and bring in the Kindle.
The heat that was received over this switch was an expensive espresso machine (12K), cost of the Kindle, technology becoming obsolete, and the sentimental value of the books. The 12 thousand dollar machine was a huge debate, but it did bring in new customers and they will be able to sell their drinks. The cost of the Kindle at $259 was justified that the books are at most $9.99 from Amazon and as cheap as $5 compared to $30 for a hard copy book. The other fear is that the technology will become obsolete in 10 years where as hard copy books have not changed much in 100 years. Finally, people just hang onto books. They get sentimental and think that it is against the rules to throw things out.
I think that this move is bold and on the cutting edge. I just heard about the Kindle 3 weeks ago. I know; I had to come out from under my rock. We also landed on the Moon! They are a neat little technology. Why hinder technology if it is cost effective, efficient, gets the job done and kids love it.
I do support their idea of keeping some of the texts around in order to use the hard copy versions. I think that the Kindles will increase student usage of the library and will be easier to use for research with the 360,000 titles that Amazon has to offer. Without innovation and stepping out into the unknown, the Portobello mushroom would have never been discovered. Yes, some people have gotten sick, but progress was made. I think that we need to step out as educators and try out new technology.
What do you think?
Philip
The Kindle is an electronic book. Not just any book; it can hold up to 200 titles, access newspapers and magazines, and email. Sound amazing!? The Kindle is an electronic book put out by Amazon. It works much like an IPod downloading music.
By connecting to the network EVDO, a free wireless network, the owner of a Kindle can purchase reading material, access email, and preview books. The battery lasts up to 2 days and can be charged in 2 hours. Unlike a laptop, the screen is not hard to see in the sun light, in fact, it reads much like a text book.
Why is this important, because this may be the wave of the new library? In Ashburnham, Mass. at Cushing Academy, they have got rid of 10,000 books in their library and are planning on getting rid of the other 10,000 books. They decided to go this route because of the lack of use of both the library and the books. They tracked that less than 30 books were being checked out on some days, which is 0.15% of their books. Their answer, get rid of the books and bring in the Kindle.
The heat that was received over this switch was an expensive espresso machine (12K), cost of the Kindle, technology becoming obsolete, and the sentimental value of the books. The 12 thousand dollar machine was a huge debate, but it did bring in new customers and they will be able to sell their drinks. The cost of the Kindle at $259 was justified that the books are at most $9.99 from Amazon and as cheap as $5 compared to $30 for a hard copy book. The other fear is that the technology will become obsolete in 10 years where as hard copy books have not changed much in 100 years. Finally, people just hang onto books. They get sentimental and think that it is against the rules to throw things out.
I think that this move is bold and on the cutting edge. I just heard about the Kindle 3 weeks ago. I know; I had to come out from under my rock. We also landed on the Moon! They are a neat little technology. Why hinder technology if it is cost effective, efficient, gets the job done and kids love it.
I do support their idea of keeping some of the texts around in order to use the hard copy versions. I think that the Kindles will increase student usage of the library and will be easier to use for research with the 360,000 titles that Amazon has to offer. Without innovation and stepping out into the unknown, the Portobello mushroom would have never been discovered. Yes, some people have gotten sick, but progress was made. I think that we need to step out as educators and try out new technology.
What do you think?
Philip
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Cutting Extra Curriculars
There are no "Friday Night Lights" at Grove City, OH. All extra curricular activities have been cut including sports, cheerleading, band, drama, and student council. Since the city voted No on the levy, the district had to further nip the expenses from the 18 million already being cut. The board decided to cut extra curricular and bussing after they already cutting 12% of staff. Check out the debates of the levy.
This we already know can affect the town, the article discusses families, athletes, coaches, and teachers choosing or being forced to leave. Along with this, Grove City will have a hard time attracting new arrivals of families. The discussion could go in this direction as well as the debate of weather I think the levy should pass or the heated debacles that are taking place throughout the town. However, the direction I would like to go with this blog is the impact that the cutting of extra curricular activities will have on the students.
Students need these extra curricular activities. Aside from learning hard work and teamwork, football offers many things. Players can learn how to work with another person through adversity and other than ideal conditions. Along with this they can learn how to put the group's interest above their own. They can learn how to handle themselves when faced with adversity, failure, success, and being outmatched. Another thing they can learn is accountability; now their actions do not only affect themselves.
If students can learn this and much more from football alone, what else are these students missing out on? I understand that sports can get too much attention at times and that athletes miss a lot of school, but there are undeniable learning that comes from these activities. School is not just about math and reading. Much like college, school has a lot to do with experiences, exposure, and memories. We need to work hard that these privileges are available to our students.
We must also remember that extra curricular activities can be the candy. Sometimes these are the motivators that get that at-risk student to school. Have you been involved in drama, student counsel, or band as a teacher or coach? What things can they learn here that they can not anywhere else?
If the financial crisis does not turn around, this debate will be a hot topic that needs to be looked into. Extra curriculars has too much bang for it's buck to just be cut!
What do you think?
This we already know can affect the town, the article discusses families, athletes, coaches, and teachers choosing or being forced to leave. Along with this, Grove City will have a hard time attracting new arrivals of families. The discussion could go in this direction as well as the debate of weather I think the levy should pass or the heated debacles that are taking place throughout the town. However, the direction I would like to go with this blog is the impact that the cutting of extra curricular activities will have on the students.
Students need these extra curricular activities. Aside from learning hard work and teamwork, football offers many things. Players can learn how to work with another person through adversity and other than ideal conditions. Along with this they can learn how to put the group's interest above their own. They can learn how to handle themselves when faced with adversity, failure, success, and being outmatched. Another thing they can learn is accountability; now their actions do not only affect themselves.
If students can learn this and much more from football alone, what else are these students missing out on? I understand that sports can get too much attention at times and that athletes miss a lot of school, but there are undeniable learning that comes from these activities. School is not just about math and reading. Much like college, school has a lot to do with experiences, exposure, and memories. We need to work hard that these privileges are available to our students.
We must also remember that extra curricular activities can be the candy. Sometimes these are the motivators that get that at-risk student to school. Have you been involved in drama, student counsel, or band as a teacher or coach? What things can they learn here that they can not anywhere else?
If the financial crisis does not turn around, this debate will be a hot topic that needs to be looked into. Extra curriculars has too much bang for it's buck to just be cut!
What do you think?
Thursday, October 22, 2009
UbD Discussion
Blog #9 UbD Discussion
UbD (Understanding by Design) is flipping things around. Why start a project without the ending in mind? This is the basis for Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins book. You have to understand what you want your students to know before you can start teaching them. Many times teachers teach and piece together an assessment as an afterthought. This book tries to looking at lesson prep backwards by introducing Backwards Design.
I chose this book for my book review because I am in the Technology Education department and they want the teachers using this design. I have been using this design for 2 classes but we were only required to read the first chapter or so. When I saw the book on the list, I thought I should really learn how I am supposed to be planning. For a quick overview visit this PowerPoint presentation or Grant Wiggin’s website.
The purpose of this blog is to gather pros and cons from discussion boards, book reviews, and reader responses. Sometimes I pick up a book and am immediately intrigued by the information and without looking at both sides, I consider the book the only way to do things. By looking at discussion boards, book reviews, and getting feedback from you who read this, I will get both sides of the story and here the pros and cons which will help me filter the good information from the bad.
I first checked Amazon’s site to get the book reviews. On this site there were 12 reviews, with all of them being positive. The review that stuck out to me was by Christopher Davis. He wrote, “One of my pet peeves is books on applied topics that talk about theory but cannot bridge the theory to application. This handbook does a great job of assisting educators from going from the ideas of backward instructional design to implementing these ideas in actually developing educational plans.” The only improvements listed were that some of the references in the back were not useful and a computer program would make things a lot easier.
Google had all positive except one person reported a fallacy on page 139. The reviewer stated that there is misinformation about Turkey militants. Since he is from Turkey, he claims that the information is totally inaccurate. Goodreads.com has lots of positive reviews with only length and repetition causing concerns.
I was surprised at the lack of negative feedback for this book. Often times if you search reviews for any book there are people that did not like it. From what I have gathered from the book, it does make a lot of sense. I do find it hard to come up with assessments before you know what you are going to teach. I like the importance that it has place on assessment, but I have found that you need to bounce back and forth from instruction to assessment and back again.
Please give me your feedback on this book. Use your experience or just research some reviews.
Philip
UbD (Understanding by Design) is flipping things around. Why start a project without the ending in mind? This is the basis for Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins book. You have to understand what you want your students to know before you can start teaching them. Many times teachers teach and piece together an assessment as an afterthought. This book tries to looking at lesson prep backwards by introducing Backwards Design.
I chose this book for my book review because I am in the Technology Education department and they want the teachers using this design. I have been using this design for 2 classes but we were only required to read the first chapter or so. When I saw the book on the list, I thought I should really learn how I am supposed to be planning. For a quick overview visit this PowerPoint presentation or Grant Wiggin’s website.
The purpose of this blog is to gather pros and cons from discussion boards, book reviews, and reader responses. Sometimes I pick up a book and am immediately intrigued by the information and without looking at both sides, I consider the book the only way to do things. By looking at discussion boards, book reviews, and getting feedback from you who read this, I will get both sides of the story and here the pros and cons which will help me filter the good information from the bad.
I first checked Amazon’s site to get the book reviews. On this site there were 12 reviews, with all of them being positive. The review that stuck out to me was by Christopher Davis. He wrote, “One of my pet peeves is books on applied topics that talk about theory but cannot bridge the theory to application. This handbook does a great job of assisting educators from going from the ideas of backward instructional design to implementing these ideas in actually developing educational plans.” The only improvements listed were that some of the references in the back were not useful and a computer program would make things a lot easier.
Google had all positive except one person reported a fallacy on page 139. The reviewer stated that there is misinformation about Turkey militants. Since he is from Turkey, he claims that the information is totally inaccurate. Goodreads.com has lots of positive reviews with only length and repetition causing concerns.
I was surprised at the lack of negative feedback for this book. Often times if you search reviews for any book there are people that did not like it. From what I have gathered from the book, it does make a lot of sense. I do find it hard to come up with assessments before you know what you are going to teach. I like the importance that it has place on assessment, but I have found that you need to bounce back and forth from instruction to assessment and back again.
Please give me your feedback on this book. Use your experience or just research some reviews.
Philip
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Something Positive
One of the great currently in my life uses the phrase, "you get a lot more out of people by giving them honey instead of vinegar." I have just realized that this is my 8th blog, and I am not sure how much honey I have been putting on the educational system. I have been voicing opinions on subjects, but they have not had a lot of positive overtones. So, this week will be a step in a different direction.
Rural school in New Mexico goes from poor academic performance to great in 3 years. George Bickert the principal built his success off of building relationships with kids. Lovin' on them with hugs, high fives, and early morning basketball games. He believed in his staff also. The other thing he did was threw out boring assessment names like "curriculum based measures" and replaced them with Math Monster and Cougar Readers.
D.C. schools are also trying this. They understand that if you look at any company or situation you can choose to point out the bad or the good. They are choosing to campain and promote the good.
I am here looking for current, positive news and striking out. So anyone commenting on this blog, please insert some positive news on the education systems in place.
One positive thing that I have seen in schools is students ability to pick up sarcasm! Our students are amazing at picking up social sarcasm. Sarcasm in a fun, joking sense. Try it sometime. Many times I use sarcasm instead of getting mad and frustrated at a student. Instead of blowing up and telling a student to stop playing with his pile of pencil lead that he has been collecting all month, I will say, "Jim Bob, if I see those out on your desk again, I will sell them on EBAY and use the money to advertise and promote to your mother a campain to ground you for the rest of your life." The student smiles, gets the point, no one is frustrated and we move on. I have found that students rise to our expectation. If they are low they will meet it, if high, they will also.
Give me some posiitve highlights for the last 2 weeks.
Rural school in New Mexico goes from poor academic performance to great in 3 years. George Bickert the principal built his success off of building relationships with kids. Lovin' on them with hugs, high fives, and early morning basketball games. He believed in his staff also. The other thing he did was threw out boring assessment names like "curriculum based measures" and replaced them with Math Monster and Cougar Readers.
D.C. schools are also trying this. They understand that if you look at any company or situation you can choose to point out the bad or the good. They are choosing to campain and promote the good.
I am here looking for current, positive news and striking out. So anyone commenting on this blog, please insert some positive news on the education systems in place.
One positive thing that I have seen in schools is students ability to pick up sarcasm! Our students are amazing at picking up social sarcasm. Sarcasm in a fun, joking sense. Try it sometime. Many times I use sarcasm instead of getting mad and frustrated at a student. Instead of blowing up and telling a student to stop playing with his pile of pencil lead that he has been collecting all month, I will say, "Jim Bob, if I see those out on your desk again, I will sell them on EBAY and use the money to advertise and promote to your mother a campain to ground you for the rest of your life." The student smiles, gets the point, no one is frustrated and we move on. I have found that students rise to our expectation. If they are low they will meet it, if high, they will also.
Give me some posiitve highlights for the last 2 weeks.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Blog #7 Writing vs Typing
Blog #7 Writing vs Typing
I have recently been subbing in a 6th grade class and have been astonished at much they have to write. They have to write everything down from math problems, social studies answers, reading class discussion questions, and on top of this, they have a writing portion. My questions are this, are we making our students write too much? Should we be teaching and encouraging typing along with writing?
I know cursive is important. Students should be able to write in print and cursive, but are we making them write too much, and what is the purpose for all this writing? Are we assigning writing assignments in order to improve their handwriting skills? My impression is that writing class is in place in order for them to learn how to put together thoughts into proper grammatical form. Is there any way to decrease the writing time and increase learning and comprehension?
I think we can eliminate some of the wasted time due to hand writing time. We should introduce typing classes. Writing classes are very important! They need to learn how to spell and put thoughts on paper. They need to learn correct punctuation as well, but can’t we “kill two birds with one stone?” Can’t they do all this while typing?
I have a student that types instead of writes during writing time. Alphasmart is the name of the keyboard he uses. It’s not a laptop, but a keyboard with a screen. He plugs in a USB cord and prints off his paper. With wireless printers, every student would not have to hook up their keyboard. They could do all this wirelessly.
Writing class would be a natural time to implement typing skills. Kids get plenty of time to write throughout the school day so this would not sacrifice their handwriting skill development. This presentation gives some positive benefits that keyboarding has to offer such as improving manual dexterity, spelling, and reading.
On the other hand, I did hear a mother tell her student, “You do not need to write in cursive, you never will again for the rest of your life. All you need to do is write your name!” On the extreme end, some people feel like cursive is outdated and needs to be thrown out. I disagree; it is important but let’s prepares students for the real world. They will need to type when they get to junior high, high school, and an occupation. Writing and typing should get equal importance in 5th and 6th grade in my opinion.
Is this even a debate in the education realm? It was hard to find much information. I think this is an important debate that will gain more heated debate attention in the future.
What do you think?
Philip
I have recently been subbing in a 6th grade class and have been astonished at much they have to write. They have to write everything down from math problems, social studies answers, reading class discussion questions, and on top of this, they have a writing portion. My questions are this, are we making our students write too much? Should we be teaching and encouraging typing along with writing?
I know cursive is important. Students should be able to write in print and cursive, but are we making them write too much, and what is the purpose for all this writing? Are we assigning writing assignments in order to improve their handwriting skills? My impression is that writing class is in place in order for them to learn how to put together thoughts into proper grammatical form. Is there any way to decrease the writing time and increase learning and comprehension?
I think we can eliminate some of the wasted time due to hand writing time. We should introduce typing classes. Writing classes are very important! They need to learn how to spell and put thoughts on paper. They need to learn correct punctuation as well, but can’t we “kill two birds with one stone?” Can’t they do all this while typing?
I have a student that types instead of writes during writing time. Alphasmart is the name of the keyboard he uses. It’s not a laptop, but a keyboard with a screen. He plugs in a USB cord and prints off his paper. With wireless printers, every student would not have to hook up their keyboard. They could do all this wirelessly.
Writing class would be a natural time to implement typing skills. Kids get plenty of time to write throughout the school day so this would not sacrifice their handwriting skill development. This presentation gives some positive benefits that keyboarding has to offer such as improving manual dexterity, spelling, and reading.
On the other hand, I did hear a mother tell her student, “You do not need to write in cursive, you never will again for the rest of your life. All you need to do is write your name!” On the extreme end, some people feel like cursive is outdated and needs to be thrown out. I disagree; it is important but let’s prepares students for the real world. They will need to type when they get to junior high, high school, and an occupation. Writing and typing should get equal importance in 5th and 6th grade in my opinion.
Is this even a debate in the education realm? It was hard to find much information. I think this is an important debate that will gain more heated debate attention in the future.
What do you think?
Philip
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
#6 My Solution
I was searching on edweek and found an article about teacher student load. The article discusses that reducing class size will improve student success. The article also discusses decentralization. Check it out here if decentralization is new to you. This seems like it would make the education system a lot more efficient, localized, and focused.
After working in the school system for the first time last year, I discovered that I did not function well when class sizes got much over 15. I do not know if it is because of my low multi-tasking skills or what, but when class sizes reached anything over 20, it definitely affected my performance. There was so much to manage that by the end of the school day, I found myself aimlessly wondering around not getting a whole lot accomplished. My brain was fried and there just seemed to be so much to handle.
My biggest class was right after lunch with 31 students teaching Algebra 1. More than 20 of these students were male, after lunch, after energy drinks, and the class was Algebra 1. So, I do realize that there are more factors playing into a rowdy class then just class size, but class size had a lot to do with my ineffectiveness for the majority of the semester. Having 31 students is too many. When I found this article, I was reminded of my conversation that I had with my wife and my ideas to reform the education world.
After my seasoned 1 year in the classroom and 1 year as a substitute teacher, my recommendation for fixing the system is has 2 parts. Lower class size and extend the school year. The first part is generally accepted and I will be sure to explain the latter. By lowering class size, students will behave better. Teachers will have a better handle on inspiring and making personal conversations with students. More contact and individual attention have always shown to boost student performance. Lower class sizes will also reduce teachers spending countless hours grading papers. This time is not affective and does not give us the “bang for our buck.” Less time grading papers will leave more time for student interaction, feedback, and lesson prep.
My other idea is to extend the school year by 20 days. Now hold on! Check this out. I would not extend student seat time with this, it would be 1 month of added teacher days and this is why. There is no time scheduled in for lesson development, assessment, professional development, and collaboration. When in a teacher’s workday are you supposed to get this all done? By adding 1 month to the teacher’s schedule, there would be time for this. Lessons could actually change a little from year to year, and just maybe, a new one could be developed to replace the decade old ones. Teachers could collaborate on what works and work to coordinate department units. Professional development could take place outside of class time which would reduce money spent on substitute pay.
By adding 1 more month, teachers salaries would could support them for the entire year and they would not have to worry about getting a summer job. The added days would not add stress; it would actually spread the workload of the year out. These 2 easy adjustments would have the biggest impact on improving student achievement. Yes, more teachers would need to be hired and salaries would need to increase. Savings on substitute teachers would help, and the sky rocketing of student achievement would also help make up the difference.
What do you think?
Philip
After working in the school system for the first time last year, I discovered that I did not function well when class sizes got much over 15. I do not know if it is because of my low multi-tasking skills or what, but when class sizes reached anything over 20, it definitely affected my performance. There was so much to manage that by the end of the school day, I found myself aimlessly wondering around not getting a whole lot accomplished. My brain was fried and there just seemed to be so much to handle.
My biggest class was right after lunch with 31 students teaching Algebra 1. More than 20 of these students were male, after lunch, after energy drinks, and the class was Algebra 1. So, I do realize that there are more factors playing into a rowdy class then just class size, but class size had a lot to do with my ineffectiveness for the majority of the semester. Having 31 students is too many. When I found this article, I was reminded of my conversation that I had with my wife and my ideas to reform the education world.
After my seasoned 1 year in the classroom and 1 year as a substitute teacher, my recommendation for fixing the system is has 2 parts. Lower class size and extend the school year. The first part is generally accepted and I will be sure to explain the latter. By lowering class size, students will behave better. Teachers will have a better handle on inspiring and making personal conversations with students. More contact and individual attention have always shown to boost student performance. Lower class sizes will also reduce teachers spending countless hours grading papers. This time is not affective and does not give us the “bang for our buck.” Less time grading papers will leave more time for student interaction, feedback, and lesson prep.
My other idea is to extend the school year by 20 days. Now hold on! Check this out. I would not extend student seat time with this, it would be 1 month of added teacher days and this is why. There is no time scheduled in for lesson development, assessment, professional development, and collaboration. When in a teacher’s workday are you supposed to get this all done? By adding 1 month to the teacher’s schedule, there would be time for this. Lessons could actually change a little from year to year, and just maybe, a new one could be developed to replace the decade old ones. Teachers could collaborate on what works and work to coordinate department units. Professional development could take place outside of class time which would reduce money spent on substitute pay.
By adding 1 more month, teachers salaries would could support them for the entire year and they would not have to worry about getting a summer job. The added days would not add stress; it would actually spread the workload of the year out. These 2 easy adjustments would have the biggest impact on improving student achievement. Yes, more teachers would need to be hired and salaries would need to increase. Savings on substitute teachers would help, and the sky rocketing of student achievement would also help make up the difference.
What do you think?
Philip
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Maybe schools are getting TOO much $$$$$
With all the debate about the education system in the world, a lot of talk is about how much money to give them. In fact, a lot of the talk is about how much MORE money to give the schools. What if they are getting too much money already? In this article, Ben Chavis claims that schools do not need more money. Ben Chavis was the principal at American Indian Public Charter School in Oakland, CA.
He claims that the stats do not back up the money. In the article, he claims that some Oakland, CA schools have a $602 million budget for there school year and more than 90% of their students fail. Mr. Chavez turned his school around with less than $8,000 per student. (This seems really high by itself) By using the motto, "If you act like a winner, you'll be treated like a winner. If you act like a fool, you'll be treated like a fool." According to Mr. Chavez, the school excelled in everything including physical fitness.
I love it. It is a great motto to live and teach by. Many times in the education world, we teach students that no matter how badly or inappropriately they behave, we are going to do anything at their beckoning call. There are no consequences for their actions, and we would NEVER call someone a FOOL. Students need to realize the direct connection between actions and consequences. If you are responsible and respectful, you get more privileges and opportunities. If you are a fool, you can not be trusted.
"The American public has been conned into believing that public schools need more money." Chavez is on to something here. We need to understand that money is not the answer to all of our troubles.
One thing that I disagree with is the negative flavor that the article gives to administrators when it comes to money. I do feel that people receiving stimulus money should be held accountable, but private companies have proven to spend the money foolishly and need to be monitored closely. Of course administrators always want more money, but for the most part, it is for the kids. They are not getting personal gain out of more money for their schools. This article may change the focus off of the money issue and change it to more improvising with the money the do have. Maybe by being held accountable, schools will be pressured into spending their money wisely as well.
Philip
He claims that the stats do not back up the money. In the article, he claims that some Oakland, CA schools have a $602 million budget for there school year and more than 90% of their students fail. Mr. Chavez turned his school around with less than $8,000 per student. (This seems really high by itself) By using the motto, "If you act like a winner, you'll be treated like a winner. If you act like a fool, you'll be treated like a fool." According to Mr. Chavez, the school excelled in everything including physical fitness.
I love it. It is a great motto to live and teach by. Many times in the education world, we teach students that no matter how badly or inappropriately they behave, we are going to do anything at their beckoning call. There are no consequences for their actions, and we would NEVER call someone a FOOL. Students need to realize the direct connection between actions and consequences. If you are responsible and respectful, you get more privileges and opportunities. If you are a fool, you can not be trusted.
"The American public has been conned into believing that public schools need more money." Chavez is on to something here. We need to understand that money is not the answer to all of our troubles.
One thing that I disagree with is the negative flavor that the article gives to administrators when it comes to money. I do feel that people receiving stimulus money should be held accountable, but private companies have proven to spend the money foolishly and need to be monitored closely. Of course administrators always want more money, but for the most part, it is for the kids. They are not getting personal gain out of more money for their schools. This article may change the focus off of the money issue and change it to more improvising with the money the do have. Maybe by being held accountable, schools will be pressured into spending their money wisely as well.
Philip
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Obama Controversy
I have been really busy lately and feel dead to the world at times. However, I did listen to and watch President Obama’s speech to the school at Arlington, VA. I was substituting at a school and the main teacher planned on showing it, if it wasn’t for this, I probably would not have known about it or the heated debate. I am glad I got to see it, because afterward, I found out about the huge debates that were going on. I was shocked to find out that many were outraged at the fact that President Obama was speaking to our students in our schools. If you missed it check it out. Here you will find the links to the video and text of the speech.
Many schools in some states did not support it including the Governor Pawlenty of Minnesota. Many parents did not want there students to be in school if the President’s speech was going to be aired. Conservative republicans were supposedly the ones behind this. While this may be true for some, it wasn’t for all conservatives. Reverend John Piper claimed that this is exactly what he has been praying for; for Obama to motivate our country about education. Also, others like Craig Dunham, supported the speech and was surprised at the amount of criticism that took place.
As far as I could tell, the biggest complaints were that President Obama was going to push his socialist ideologies that it was a political stunt, that the term “don’t let your country down” was not appropriate, that he should not have been speaking to elementary students, and finally, the president should not be speaking in schools. However, I cannot find any articles that pinpoint exactly why the controversy started. I thought that if it was the conservative republicans there would be a website with information as to why the speech should be prohibited. If anyone can tell me where to find this, please do.
I tend to side with Mr. Dunham and Mr. Piper. I can see where some fears in the complaints stem from with the previous paragraph, but I still do not find the inappropriateness of the president coming into the schools. I was surprised when they outlawed God in the schools, but am totally floored by the fact the President Obama is next. If the President can not come in, then what are we saying to our kids? Our countries boss can not come in and speak to you!! Motivation in education does need to be revamped and watching a presidential speech is not going to corrupt your kids like Mr. Dunham and Mr. Piper were saying.
I found no real political overtones in this speech and I did think it was motivating. I also think that by winning the Presidency, you do win the right of speaking to 1 school in your 4 year tenure, well maybe 2.
Here is a blog with comments from other readers on both sides of the spectrum and one more article to stimulate your thinking.
What do you think?
Philip
Many schools in some states did not support it including the Governor Pawlenty of Minnesota. Many parents did not want there students to be in school if the President’s speech was going to be aired. Conservative republicans were supposedly the ones behind this. While this may be true for some, it wasn’t for all conservatives. Reverend John Piper claimed that this is exactly what he has been praying for; for Obama to motivate our country about education. Also, others like Craig Dunham, supported the speech and was surprised at the amount of criticism that took place.
As far as I could tell, the biggest complaints were that President Obama was going to push his socialist ideologies that it was a political stunt, that the term “don’t let your country down” was not appropriate, that he should not have been speaking to elementary students, and finally, the president should not be speaking in schools. However, I cannot find any articles that pinpoint exactly why the controversy started. I thought that if it was the conservative republicans there would be a website with information as to why the speech should be prohibited. If anyone can tell me where to find this, please do.
I tend to side with Mr. Dunham and Mr. Piper. I can see where some fears in the complaints stem from with the previous paragraph, but I still do not find the inappropriateness of the president coming into the schools. I was surprised when they outlawed God in the schools, but am totally floored by the fact the President Obama is next. If the President can not come in, then what are we saying to our kids? Our countries boss can not come in and speak to you!! Motivation in education does need to be revamped and watching a presidential speech is not going to corrupt your kids like Mr. Dunham and Mr. Piper were saying.
I found no real political overtones in this speech and I did think it was motivating. I also think that by winning the Presidency, you do win the right of speaking to 1 school in your 4 year tenure, well maybe 2.
Here is a blog with comments from other readers on both sides of the spectrum and one more article to stimulate your thinking.
What do you think?
Philip
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Separation of Church and State
So the article that caught my eye was the one about the principal and the athletic director that are going to be on trial because of saying a prayer at a banquet. So the article peaked my interest because I have heard the comment before that "Separation of Church and State" is not even in the constitution and that the way we use it now was not the original intent. So before we dive into this, I noticed in the article above that they were turned in for improper proselytizing. I do feel that this is a strong word for asking a blessing on the food. But anyway, back on topic. The goal of this blog is to answer my 2 questions. Is the phrase "separation of church and state" in the constitution and was that the orinal intent?
Due to time, I am going to take on the latter on for this blog. Was the original intent of the phrase "separation of church and state" to keep Christianity out of the school? I use Christianity here because this is the only religion that I see getting into trouble. I have not heard a lot of controversy from any other religions in schools so please comment if you know of any! So, I first just searched for the phrase and I found that Thomas Jefferson was the first to use it.
He used it in response to a letter. It sounded legit that the phrase was meant as we see it today. However, he was responding to a letter so I thought it necessary to read the original letter.
First of all, I was amazed at the respect of the writers to their new elected president. I wish we still talked like that today! After reading the original letter, I got a different flavor. I now saw it from a new context. The national government seems to be trying to mess with the states. Which Jefferson puts his foot down on. Next, it sounds like religions are starting to get suppressed. Their liberties are starting to diminish. It is a plea to the president to do something about it. His response? There should be a "separation of church and state," not a separation of state and church! His solution is that government should not suppress religious practices and that men can worship as they see fit.
After reading the original letter, I loved the passion that is still in the air for freedom and they are not giving any of it away; it cost too much the first time! I do think that the original intent of the phrase was on the opposite side. Government needed to stay out of the church. So as far as original intent, it was different.
What do you think?
Philip
Due to time, I am going to take on the latter on for this blog. Was the original intent of the phrase "separation of church and state" to keep Christianity out of the school? I use Christianity here because this is the only religion that I see getting into trouble. I have not heard a lot of controversy from any other religions in schools so please comment if you know of any! So, I first just searched for the phrase and I found that Thomas Jefferson was the first to use it.
He used it in response to a letter. It sounded legit that the phrase was meant as we see it today. However, he was responding to a letter so I thought it necessary to read the original letter.
First of all, I was amazed at the respect of the writers to their new elected president. I wish we still talked like that today! After reading the original letter, I got a different flavor. I now saw it from a new context. The national government seems to be trying to mess with the states. Which Jefferson puts his foot down on. Next, it sounds like religions are starting to get suppressed. Their liberties are starting to diminish. It is a plea to the president to do something about it. His response? There should be a "separation of church and state," not a separation of state and church! His solution is that government should not suppress religious practices and that men can worship as they see fit.
After reading the original letter, I loved the passion that is still in the air for freedom and they are not giving any of it away; it cost too much the first time! I do think that the original intent of the phrase was on the opposite side. Government needed to stay out of the church. So as far as original intent, it was different.
What do you think?
Philip
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Budget Crunch
To start off this blog, I will be discussing the budget crunch. Due to a recent scare of drastic budget cuts at the end of last school year, it has been a hot topic in our school district. Thankfully, the district was frugal in the past with their finances and many were blessed to keep their jobs.
In order to pinpoint the discussion this is my question. Why is the budget crisis and school reform talked about in the same sentence?
(The US Department of Education isn’t giving up hope, either: “We are confident that as states continue to invest stimulus dollars in their schools, the funds will not only go towards saving jobs but to investing in reform,” writes deputy press secretary Sandra Abrevaya in an e-mail.)
This excerpt was taken from http://ednews.org/articles/for-schools-use-of-stimulus-money-falls-short-of-big-hopes-.html
After working in a school setting for my first year, I do see need to reform. Students see education strictly as a right and not a privilege while some students find it hard to find their niche in the education world. It is a bummer that the financial crisis hit right in the middle of a big push for reform. Reform is a daunting task alone, but mixed with financial crisis, it is extremely daunting. Do not misunderstand me, true reform is NOT more money being pumped into the system. It takes a lot more than that, but it is hard to focus on a financial problem and an education problem all at once.
BREAKING NEWS!!! (I am pondering this stuff while writing.)
Maybe this is exactly what we need to reform education. We need a budget crunch in order to avoid band-aiding the problem with a "quick fix billion." We need to start getting frugal with our money and innovate the system. An example of one school trying can be found at http://ednews.org/articles/scrimp-avoid-quick-fixes-watch-academic-achievement-rise.html.
Maybe this is what the Dept. of Education was speaking of.
So, I am opening this question up for discussion. Should we be focusing on the budget crisis and reform at the same time? Or should we stabilize the finances and then reform the system?
My initial thought was to stabilize first and then reform, but, like I said, now may be the time to kill both birds with a big rock. I think the past has shown that big money does not equal big results. America already puts in large amounts of money, but does not see high scores compared to other countries. (I know this is also a hot topic) Maybe the issue is more with our attitude as a nation than with amounts of money.
Let me know your thoughts and we can continue the discussion.
Philip Russell
In order to pinpoint the discussion this is my question. Why is the budget crisis and school reform talked about in the same sentence?
(The US Department of Education isn’t giving up hope, either: “We are confident that as states continue to invest stimulus dollars in their schools, the funds will not only go towards saving jobs but to investing in reform,” writes deputy press secretary Sandra Abrevaya in an e-mail.)
This excerpt was taken from http://ednews.org/articles/for-schools-use-of-stimulus-money-falls-short-of-big-hopes-.html
After working in a school setting for my first year, I do see need to reform. Students see education strictly as a right and not a privilege while some students find it hard to find their niche in the education world. It is a bummer that the financial crisis hit right in the middle of a big push for reform. Reform is a daunting task alone, but mixed with financial crisis, it is extremely daunting. Do not misunderstand me, true reform is NOT more money being pumped into the system. It takes a lot more than that, but it is hard to focus on a financial problem and an education problem all at once.
BREAKING NEWS!!! (I am pondering this stuff while writing.)
Maybe this is exactly what we need to reform education. We need a budget crunch in order to avoid band-aiding the problem with a "quick fix billion." We need to start getting frugal with our money and innovate the system. An example of one school trying can be found at http://ednews.org/articles/scrimp-avoid-quick-fixes-watch-academic-achievement-rise.html.
Maybe this is what the Dept. of Education was speaking of.
So, I am opening this question up for discussion. Should we be focusing on the budget crisis and reform at the same time? Or should we stabilize the finances and then reform the system?
My initial thought was to stabilize first and then reform, but, like I said, now may be the time to kill both birds with a big rock. I think the past has shown that big money does not equal big results. America already puts in large amounts of money, but does not see high scores compared to other countries. (I know this is also a hot topic) Maybe the issue is more with our attitude as a nation than with amounts of money.
Let me know your thoughts and we can continue the discussion.
Philip Russell
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)