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December 2005
Best of Get Schooled: Earning a Desk
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This post about a charter school’s practice of having students sit on the floor for the first few weeks of school and earn their desk and chair brought out some interesting responses.
Some praised the idea for breaking kids out of their entitlement mentality. Others shared this respondent’s view: “If they need to ‘earn’ anything, it should be good grades and not something as basic as a desk.”
Best of Get Schooled: Teacher Walks Out
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This post about a teacher who couldn’t take anymore drew a strong response, mostly sympathetic, though some thought the teacher should have stuck it out.
Best of Get Schooled: A Very Bad Day
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This post about a Clayton County teacher who got beaten up by students drew lots of responses as well as this gem:
“These poor children. This teacher had the nerve to tell them to move along?! This teacher should be fired! Who does he think he is? I smell a big lawsuit coming. He’ll be sued for bashing his face into this poor innocent student’s fist. School isn’t the place for this kind of behavior. And the police. Such brutality. Kids can’t be kids any more these days. So sad.”
And more than one respondent wanted to know: Since when are 16- and 17-year-old students considered freshmen?
Best of Get Schooled: Cops Called on Second Grader
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This blog post about a teacher who called a police officer to put some fear into a misbehaving child drew strong reaction. Most sided with the teacher.
What do you think?
Breaking up the SAT
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
So counselors are urging the College Board to allow students to take portions of the SAT separately, meaning a students who is satisfied with her math and writing scores but wants to retake verbal could take - and pay for - only the verbal portion.
In a letter to the College Board, counselors and other educators who work with high school students noted that for decades the subject tests have been offered separately. Why not the core sections, math, writing and verbal? Even students who get a perfect score on one portion of the test have to retake that portion if they want another crack another portion.
Their proposal would make the SAT more fair for students who cannot afford to retake the $41.50 test over and over.
Also, students would be less likely to make mistakes because of because of fatigue and hunger. The entire test lasts more than three hours.
Students, parents, teachers … should kids be allowed to take portions of the SAT separately?
Teacher Pay
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Okay, this has come up on several blog posts, so let’s talk about it. Are Georgia teachers overpaid? appropriately paid? underpaid?
In the “they’re overpaid” camp, we have those who think teachers get lots of time off and get home before the dinnner hour. And their pay isn’t that low to boot.
In the “we’re underpaid” camp, teachers say the “summers off” thing is a myth, and they note that they are expected to work miracles in the classroom, especially when parents are not involved. Shouldn’t a miracle worker get a decent salary? And with the rising cost of healthcare, teachers are losing ground, not gaining. How is that fair?
The Georgia Association of Educators will seek a 6 percent raise or a 5 percent raise plus help with rising healthcare costs. According to the NEA, Georgia’s teachers make $46,526 on average, tops in the Southeast and 18th in the nation. Georgia still lags the national average of $47,808.
So, people, do Georgia teachers deserve a raise? If so, how much?
Cheers and Tears
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Cheers for 50 Strong, a program at Martin Luther King Jr. High in DeKalb County. Here’s Kristina Torres’ story. Started by the school’s new principal - an athlete turned health teacher turned school leader (sound familiar?) - the program helps kids who are doing poorly in the classroom by spending time with them after school, helping them with homework and fostering a community. Can something good really be this simple?
Tears for Rachel McKee, the Fulton County bus driver killed in the line of duty. Here’s Mary MacDonald’s story. Driving a school bus seems a thankless job, but McKee enjoyed it so much she held the job for 17 years.
Okay… for the next couple of weeks I want to resurrect some of the best Get Schooled discussions. Any nominees?
My Predictions
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
So the ajc’s queen ‘o blogs wants me to post five predictions on my beat for next year. Here goes…
Heated public policy debate over illegal immigrants, focusing on their impact on schools.
Credibility problems for Georgia’s curriculum test - the CRCT. Rosy results seem out of sync with other tests, including NAEP and the SAT.
Declining relevance of NCLB. More flexibility for subgroups such as special education students. More schools making adequate progress but still posting relatively low test scores. More schools missing testing goals year after year and not changing one bit. More reasons for parents to disregard this federal law.
Superintendent Kathy Cox cruises to re-election, the evolution fiasco a distant memory. (Any challengers out there?)
Get Schooled readers stop jumping on each other for every typo and misspelled word, declaring it proof that Georgia is without question LAST IN EDUCATION. (Hey, a girl can dream!)
Get Schooled readers what are your predictions for education in 2006?
School Nurses
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I visited Get on the Bus, a blog by Scott Elliott of the Dayton Daily News, for inspiration today. He wishes there were a live, trained professional inside the dark office labeled “school nurse” at his daughter’s school. Well, a dad can dream.
Some schools have licensed practical nurses who work part-time or full-time. Other schools share a nurse with several other schools. A few schools are lucky enough to have a nurse whose salary is paid through the health department or other agency.
I spent the day with such a nurse at a Clayton County elementary school several years ago. We had a steady stream of customers, including a child with some type of contagious skin condition. Several children just didn’t feel well. They got to rest and get away from the classroom for a few minutes and have an adult who cares about them pay attention to them. The nurse did not dispense Tylenol or anything like that. If the child had a fever, she tried to track down a parent to pick the child up.
Should every school have a nurse? If so, who should pay, the school system or another agency?
Evolution…Again
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Will the controversy over stickers in Cobb County textbooks telling students evolution is only a theory ever end? Three federal appeals court judges said Thursday that a lower judge erred in his ruling, which ordered the removal of the stickers. Here’s Bill Rankin’s story.
Any theories on how this issue could be resolved?
Parent-Assigned Homework
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
So how many parents out there are supplementing their child’s schoolwork? A writer on another thread said he/she gave his/her child extra worksheets to compensate for an easy ride in the classroom. Businesses like Kumon and SCORE! have kids enrolled all year long, even during winter break.
Parents, do you supplement? If so, why? Are kids today deprived of any unstructured play time? Or do kids need more brain exercise than they get at school?
White Teacher, Black Students
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A white teacher posting on an earlier topic said she has a hard time getting black parents and students to trust her. I’ve heard this many times from teachers who feel similarly.
A Get Schooled reader responded:
“As an African American parent, I would like to offer you a suggestion. Take one day, maybe the last day of school and let the children talk about themselves.
Use the time to (1.)Find out what they like to do at home (2.) where they go for fun (3.)Favorite tv program, music artist, etc - then ask them why (4.)Let them ask about your life outside of school (5.)Tell them how much you Love them and why you want them to get the best education.
The reason I have suggested all of that is because the kids see you as a white person. They do not believe that you can truly care about their education. I also want you to understand as much about each of them as possible. It will give you more insight into their individual souls and not as a group. The more you try to get to know each of them on a personal level, the more influence you will have over their lives.
You will not get participation from all of them, but I know you can reach a few of them. I would start with the children who cause the biggest problems in class. Be enthhusiastic and look completely interested in what they are saying. You will not like everything that you hear, but it will give you a look into their lives. Ask lots of questions and take a few notes, for future reference when dealing with that specific child.”
Thoughts?
Phone Call from the Military
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
What do you think about Mary MacDonald’s story on military recruiters calling students as young as 15 and encouraging them to enlist?
Recruiters have access to the kids’ names and phone numbers courtesy of the wide-ranging No Child Left Behind Act. Parents have a right to have their child’s info withheld, but that fact is not exactly broadcasted during football games.
Should military recruiters have such easy access to teenagers? Should they talk to the student’s parents first? Should schools be required to specifically ask parents if they approve of the distribution of their child’s phone number?
(FYI: I’m out of town this week, so please, please, please keep the conversation civil and appropriate as young readers sometimes drop by… and BTW, if you’re looking for a movie to rent, try “Born Into Brothels.” Keep the Kleenex handy and don’t expect to get a good night’s sleep after watching it. A documentary filmmaker teaches photography to children in Calcutta’s red light district, but what they need more than a camera is an education.)
Transforming Teacher Expectations
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A Gwinnett County teacher e-mailed me recently with a lament about a newspaper column urging teachers to go out and transform lives a la Jaime Escalante, the Bolivian-born math teacher who taught AP calculus to Latinos despite skepticism from administrators. As I’ve mentioned here before, Escalante’s story was made into the movie, “Stand and Deliver.”
The Gwinnett teacher said such expectations set an unreasonable bar. “It asks too much. I think my work as a teacher is of considerable importance and that it is worth all the time, sweat, and mental energy I devote to it, but if I set out each day to be a life transformer I’ll burn myself out in two weeks.”
Teachers teach, he said. “Make a difference? Yes, Transform lives? That’s for God.”
Role model. Substitute parent. Friend. Counselor. Are teachers expected to do too much for their students?
Georgia Loves AR
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Accelerated Reader: Is there a more popular commercial learning program in Georgia than AR? I see it in almost every elementary school I visit. Some middle schools have it too. Heavily market in Georgia by a company called Renaissance Learning, AR allows students to accumulate points based on books they’ve read. They must pass a computer quiz to make sure they read the book carefully.
What kids get in exchange for racking up points varies school to school. I once visited a school in Gwinnett where it was Christmas in the media center. Kids could buy tents, ski boots and other big-ticket items if they had read enough books. At another Gwinnett school, kids who had the most points in their class got to wear a hat on Friday.
Critics of AR - Yes, they are out there; one posted on the blog recently - say it sends a message to kids that the purpose of reading is to get cool stuff or get to do something fun. They say reading should be its own reward. Others complaint that it does little to help readers struggling with fundamentals and that kids and parents get too competitive, creating unnecessary drama in the classroom.
Proponents - they are legion - say its a program that benefits strong readers as well as weak ones. Kids who love to read can work toward goals. Kids who don’t like reading have a little more incentive to do it in their free time. Kids who can’t read well can gain fluency through practice.
AR: Love it? Hate it?
What Stuff Does
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
So in Baltimore, a noun is no longer a person, place or thing. According to this AP story, a noun is now defined as “stuff.” A verb is “what stuff does.”
The story goes onto say that a new curriculum for middle schools uses magazines such as Teen People and CosmoGIRL to engage students and get them to enjoy reading and writing.
Okay, I know this is a huge issue in middle school: trying to engage students so they will meet the teacher halfway in the learning process. But this curriculum, reportedly known as Studio Course, appears to go a bit over the top.
Teachers and parents, how do you get middle and high school kids enthusiastic about schoolwork? How far should schools go in using pop culture in the classroom?
So This is Christmas
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I caught the end of a news report on the radio this morning saying teachers at a north Georgia school are contemplating suing over the administration’s crackdown on Christmas. I know this is an issue in a lot of schools, though perhaps not to this extreme where teachers reportedly aren’t allowed to wish their students “Merry Christmas.”
How much Christmas is appropriate in the classroom? A tree? Ornaments? Carols playing softly in the background? Or should schools be a Christmas-free zone?
On another note: For inspirational teacher movie junkies like myself, there’s one on tonight that looks pretty good. “Knights of the South Bronx” is about a teacher who leads his students to a championship in a chess tournament. Ted Danson stars along with the kid who plays “Walt” on Lost. 8 p.m. on A & E
Cross-Blogination Alert: If this topic doesn’t fly your kite, Gwinnett columnist Rick Badie is talking about school uniforms on his blog.
Punishment: Play Video Games at Home
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Out-of-school suspension is a curious thing. A kid acts up, does one Really Bad Thing or a series of pretty bad things, and is sent home for up to 10 days. (More than that and the student is entitled to a due process hearing under Georgia law.)
Is this really punishment? DeKalb County Superintendent Crawford Lewis says no: “When we suspend a child, we’re playing right into his hands,” he once told a group of reporters.
I thought about this Sunday when I read my colleague Heather Vogell’s fascinating story about New Orleans evacuee Shane Spencer. He says he was suspended from Mays High School for three days because he arrived late to math class. Atlanta officials say there was another reason, but they wouldn’t specify. Still, Shane spent three days at home, even though he was already behind in his classes from the Katrina chaos.
For teachers and students subjected to constant interruption from class cut-ups, out-of-school suspension must be appealing.
But is out-of-school suspension a worthwhile punishment? When should it be used? Should students be allowed to make up the work they miss? Should teachers be required to provide them with lecture notes etc.?
Another curious tidbit from Heather’s story: A diorama as a high school literature project?
‘We Have Seen the Enemy, and It Is Us.’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Once again, I’m pulling a comment up here for further discussion. This one comes from MMM in reference to the teacher’s post about lack of administrative support when it comes to discipline. MMM says it’s parents who need to back their child’s teachers.
“Speaking as a parent. We have seen the enemy and it is us. Not teachers, not administrators, but the parents who will attack the messenger—whether it is the teacher or administrator rather than listening to and backing the adults.”
True or False? And can this back and forth blaming between teachers and parents be resolved? If it were resolved, would it help fix the unruly behavior that is driving teachers from the field and keeping well-mannered students from learning?
The Case of the Spineless Principal
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I love it when the Get Schooled readers do my work for me.
Regular contributor Robert shared this experience:
“I just had a meeting with our new principal. The student behavior has degraded so very much this year, I thought that I would try to express my frustrations to see if anything could be done.
First, when I shared that the student behavior has gotten worse, he was immediately on the defensive. He said that he didn’t like it when teachers said that to him (evidently many teachers have told him that) and he wanted specific examples. So, I proceeded to give specific examples of this. I named specific students and specific days and specific incidences.
Then, he proceeded to say that it wasn’t fair for me to pick out certain incidences and infer those on the entire school!
THIS is the kind of leadership that our schools are getting. Spineless idiots that do nothing except brown nose their bosses. No one wants to admit a problem much less take any corrective measures. If there is a problem that becomes too obvious to ignore, it is always the teachers fault.
And we wonder why there is a teacher shortage in Georgia?????”
So what do y’all think?
Cross-Blogination: Comments are now closed, but if you haven’t already, take a look at Rick Badie’s column about the “acting white” stigma black students sometimes face.
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