Get Schooled

By holdingAJCaccountable

June 1, 2007 6:10 PM | Link to this

First and foremost: restoring the teacher’s right to enforce REAL consequences for academic and behavioral failure. Almost EVERYTHING wrong in education today can be traced back to that.

If we aren’t willing to address that we might as well not even have the discussion.

But because we aren’t willing to address that, we will continually have the discussion…not ACTION of course (that would take backbone) but rather, discussion as educrats wail “oh…pity the children” as they sell their futures up the river.

If the African culture who the “do-gooders” so often quote were to see what we’ve done in the name of their proverb, they’d change it to “It takes a SPINELESS village to f-ck up a child’s future” a proverb we have proven true all too well

By Jeff

June 1, 2007 6:23 PM | Link to this

The day we started being soft on kids and worrying more about their self esteem than their learning, we did FAR more damage than any single fad out there.

By jim d

June 4, 2007 8:05 AM | Link to this

Jeff,

I thought about your post all weekend and would like to share these thoughts.

It might be argued that since everything sort of started changing about the same time that Curriculum may have played heavily into the decline of public education. The shift from a mixed reading system to a whole language oriented system. Ditching traditional math and moving to what might be called inventive math. Constructive science, self esteem. The emphasis becoming entirely on educational fads rather than on traditional educational quality have all had an adverse affect.

And leave us forget the “Mexican plot.” Seriously, if you will lQQk at the huge influx of immigrants and the newer methods being attempted to educate them I think you may discover a correlation to the perceived decline in public education.

I also believe that much of the decline we see can be attributed to public education’s voluntary partnerships with industry. But then that is a whole nuther blog topic with many ramifications of its own.

I know this thought may not be PC but I honestly think a large impact on public education occurred when we were forced to include all kids, regardless of their abilities, in the same classroom. Inclusion sucks for the regular kids.

Then there’s the civil rights movement that took place, which resulted in bussing and school integration which benefited neither community.

Personally, I find it difficult to point to any one factor as having had the largest negative impact on public education. It is my opinion that until we are prepared to face the reality that basic education as it was provided in the past really worked and go back to some of those proven methods, we will continue to see a decline, and yes, perhaps even the demise of public education in this country.

By James

June 4, 2007 8:11 AM | Link to this

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/03/magazine/03kindergarten-t.html?ref=education

By Marta

June 4, 2007 8:17 AM | Link to this

“Reform” Math and the accompanying “spiral” curriculum has done enormous damage. Children are “exposed” to concepts rather than actively taught computation, and no attempt is made to connect concepts. A child can easily earn straight A’s and never understand the relationships between division and fractions, fractions and decimals, decimals and percents. Just as many of us studied art appreciation but will never produce a work of art, children who study reform math will never become competent in mathematics.

By high school teacher

June 4, 2007 8:34 AM | Link to this

Well said, jimd. We messed up when we put all kids in the same box and expected the same results.

As far as math is concerned, I think we messed up when we let kids use calculators for simple equations. I wasn’t allowed to use a calculator until geometry. Ask a 9th grade kid today what 7 x 9 is, and he will have to think about it for a long time.

As for reading, whole language is also a mistake. Thankfully, my son is learning phonics and sight words at school. He knows how to sound out the words he doesn’t know. I have freshmen who can’t do that.

By catlady

June 4, 2007 9:13 AM | Link to this

I agree with all our posts on this subject. The most abysmally negative me to fall under the heading of “teacher as idiot”. Teachers cannot be trusted to discipline their students, teachers cannot be trusted to choose methods of instruction for their students, teachers must do all things for all students, teachers have nothing valuable to say, teachers are idiots who can only be saved by more rules, cures, etc. imposed from above. Whatever happened to “empowering teachers” and “local decision-making” and “teaching (to mastery) the fundamentals”?

Stupid stuff: this cure and that cure (Reading First, scripted reading and math, Learning Focused Schools), accountability (for teachers only), being afraid of parents and their lawsuits, “Snapshots”.

Whatever happened to Doing the Right Thing? For everyone?

By catlady

June 4, 2007 9:18 AM | Link to this

Oops! Don’t forget “researched-based”! It does not matter if the research is sponsored by biased, self-serving entities that set the research up in artificial ways (ie, not real-world). Thanks to Reading First, and other “cures”, any program promoted by Bush’s friends, even if it consists of dog doo with the words “research-based” stamped on it, is trumpeted (and bought) by our idiotic school systems. And let’s test the kids to death, using the testing material by those same Friends of Bush.

By jim d

June 4, 2007 9:40 AM | Link to this

Does anyone have any doubt after last night where Hillary would lead education?

She says she will see to it that the government takes over the education of the four-year-olds, the better to prepare them for…well…whatever she has in mind. She hasn’t caught on yet that the trouble with the education system does not lie with the lack of educating the four-year-olds, but with educating the middle and high-schoolers

By catlady

June 4, 2007 10:11 AM | Link to this

One of the problems with providing public education for 4 year olds is the old “cram ‘em in there” model, currently in vogue all over the country, that is predicated on the idea that we can treat kids as widgets. There are certainly 4 year olds, in dirty desperate situations, who would thrive in a good program. How much better, however, to deal with the sources of those desperate situations, and let kids be kids a little longer, rather than jamming them into the system at ever-earlier ages. I can envision a time (1984, anyone?) where the “education system” is waiting beside the delivery table, ready to receive the child so that the parents will have little further responsibility for providing and parenting.

When we don’t expect or demand any better, we aren’t going to GET any better.

By high school teacher

June 4, 2007 10:17 AM | Link to this

I guess that Hillary doesn’t know about the Pre-K programs in the South?

By catlady

June 4, 2007 10:48 AM | Link to this

Need to come back: teaching to mastery, penmanship, copying off the board (remember that?), standing in the corner, special classes for special needs, home visits by teachers, mandatory conferences, examinations that mean something, putting the onus on parents about attendance, enforcement of school rules, lunches longer than 20 minutes, better lunches, no breakfasts provided at school, free play, no selling junk food, corporal punishment, teachers as authorities on education, ceasing providing things that parents need to provide for their children (nurses, counselors). Just my opinion.

By OldSchool

June 4, 2007 11:03 AM | Link to this

I’ll add Industrial Arts classes to the list of things that need to come back. The current Technology Ed classes are okay as long as they are funded to keep them current with constantly changing technology. Frankly, the only good I’ve seen in them is preparation for TSA competitions. Industrial Arts, on the other hand, gave students an introduction to woodworking, metals, small engines, photography, printing, drafting, etc. Best of all, each incorporated math, problem solving, critical thinking, teamwork, and responsibility. IA provided skills that were useful to future homeowners and consumers; gave students a taste of the T&I classes like construction, metals, automotives, cabinetmaking, and the like; gave special needs students an amazing opportunity to learn and develop their skills; and made that all important link between academics and the real world.

I don’t have the source handy but the written portion of the SAT reveals that students tend to print their responses and make very short sentences that lack depth and breadth of thought. We need penmanship and cursive writing back in the schools. There is some elegant connection between handwriting and composition that is lacking in today’s computer-generated drivel.

By agnes

June 4, 2007 12:22 PM | Link to this

Catlady and all Have any of you been in close contact with good private schools recently. Many of the things that Catlady mentions : teaching to mastery, penmanship, copying off the board (remember that?)… special classes for special needs, … mandatory conferences, examinations that mean something, putting the onus on parents about attendance, enforcement of school rules, lunches longer than 20 minutes, better lunches, no breakfasts provided at school, free play, no selling junk food,… teachers as authorities on education, are to be found there, plus Art, Music and PE are always included. If you check out the curriculum and what is to be taught in each class, [I just did Language ARts/English and Math…] the areas addressed are almost identical to those “back in the day”.

By anonymous

June 4, 2007 12:22 PM | Link to this

The feel good self esteem movement is deadly. I was concerned about the way math is being taught at my elementary school, so I looked up the school’s consolidated school improvement plan to try to determine if the problem was school wide or isolated to a single grade. These are some of the ways my “award winning” DeKalb county elementary school plans to improve math performance:

“Create an environment that recognizes and increases awareness of student and community diversity, respects worth of each individual, and addresses racial and cultural harmony. (Diversity awareness activities are important because, if children feel safe and accepted, they will achieve more in Math.)”

“Increase student awareness of a wide range of career opportunities related to Math, regardless of race or gender. (Career education activities help to inspire children for their future, thus act as motivators for achievement.)”

“Provide incentives and recognition to inspire good citizenship and achievements in Math. (Awards and other forms of student recognition help to improve self-esteem and motivate achievement.)”

“Students will participate in school wide character education program. (Character education activities help to motivate students to strive for excellence in Math and achieve.)”

Anyone who believes that character education rather than good instruction and a solid curriculum will improve math performance has no business running a school.

By gary furman

June 4, 2007 12:42 PM | Link to this

Every comment I have read today has been dead on. Noone has yet mentioned the end of study hall in Georgia years ago. Study hall gave students a break from the grind of paying attention in class for 5 other periods. It offered then a chance to do their homework in a quiet, safe environment, and they could go see a qualified faculty member for help who was on planning. Now, students are forced to sit in uncomfortable desks for four 1.5 hour blocks or 6 one hour periods. The school year is far too long, also. We did just fine in 1973 with a Labor Day to early June schedule. The letter writer that mentioned that the private schools still keep a lot of structure that public schools had 30 years ago is dead on. Unless we deand accountability from parents and students, the public schools will continue to decline. Last, whatever happened to assemblies? In high school we had assemblies to see the concert band, the choir, the school plays, the talent show, for student government speeches, and other things. Regular assemblies gave kids cultural experiences and exposure to peer accomplishments. They also taught kids how to behave in large group occasions.

By OldSchool

June 4, 2007 12:42 PM | Link to this

Today’s kids have self-esteem out the wazoo! What they need is self-discipline, self-motivation, manners, kindness, an altruistic spirit, humanity…

…not to mention penmanship, reading/comprehension ability, and the ability to do basic math in their heads.

By catlady

June 4, 2007 1:21 PM | Link to this

Thanks, Agnes. I am sure you are correct about most private schools. Many of the things I mentioned were in public schools, also, until at least the early 70’s (maybe later; I was in Alabama at the time) : )

The problem is that, for public schools, there is no stick, and precious little carrot, available to be called upon as far as parent involvement. I recall going to student homes with my mom, a sixth grade teacher, twice a year in 1965. A lot of valuable information was exchanged at those meetings, and my mom came away with more understanding of her students. When I first started teaching in Georgia (1973) I met with my students’ parents twice a year, mandatory. Mostly this was at school, but I was invited to homes and to the DQ for tea. Parents also took turns bringing snack for each of the students in my class, and rarely did anyone “forget”. Each student had a turn 9 times or less during the year, and your child was “covered” for snack all year. It was a collegial, we-are-in-this-together atmosphere. This continued for 15 years at least.

We know that public education is in trouble, and that today in many schools, we have the antithesis of what I have described above.

I will say it again: We get what we expect and demand.

These parents who won’t answer the phone from the school, who refuse to come to discuss their children, who don’t provide their children with glasses (that the Lion’s Club will pay for), who bring their children tardy every day, should be given the “incentive” to get off their butts. Those who make excuses for their child should be required to spend a week at school, to get a better perspective. For some folks, it takes some stick. Private schools wield that stick, in the form of kicking a kid out, but in public school we cannot “punish” the child for actions of the parent (tardiness, not being prepared for class, owing lunch money, etc.) Yet if we did impose penalties on the child, we WOULD get the parent to the school, hollering and swearing. Also, in private schools parents and students have the perception that they are fortunate to get to pay money and attend. Public school students and parents have merely a sense of entitlement.

Public school is for the common children, but “common” in its old sense is what we have gotten. Only by making school attendance a priviledge and holding EVERONE accountable will things improve. We are so full of excuses as to why that cannot happen, I doubt it ever will. And we won’t turn it around until parents, taxpayers, and communities demand that it happen, and are willing to empower DFACS and judges to impose discipline (teaching) upon the parents of our “common” students.

By James

June 4, 2007 2:01 PM | Link to this

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/03/magazine/03kindergarten-t.html?ref=education

meant to post a comment next to this earlier: Do you all think the age children go to kindergarten affect performance in the long run?

By SET

June 4, 2007 5:23 PM | Link to this

Catlady: I read your post. All I can say is that the teachers need to comply with the child abuse reporting laws and do the phone and written reports to the police and CPS when they see kids with rotten teeth, No Glasses (and unable to see), untreated injuries or disease, and any other sign of neglect, abandonment or abuse.

Ditto for sexually active, promiscuous or sexualized 12 year olds. Our Juvenile Dependency courts know how to get parents’ attention - and they can put them in jail also. If the kid is in this kind of trouble get them into the CPS/Court system. You won’t have to deal with the parents by yourself. Ironically the first thing that happens is that Mommie and Sperm Donor are court ordered into a “Parenting Class”. If they ignore the court ordered attendence for court proceedings or the classes or other things ordered, they can be jailed without a jury trial for contempt of court.

In our state the duty to report is personal to the teacher and cannot be countermanded by the principal or the school administration. Interfering with reporting or threatening to retaliate in any way against the reporter is a crime.

By DB

June 4, 2007 5:38 PM | Link to this

I tend to agree with those who hold the “self-esteem” movement to blame for many of the ills. Teachers can’t fail a child because it will hurt their “self-esteem” — well, duh, wasn’t that the POINT? To make failing so shameful that no one wanted to experience it?! I believe that you can’t give self-esteem to anyone. They have to experience it and internalize it. And since most kids have a very advanced s**t-o-meter, they can detect true praise from the “self-esteem” praise in a nanosecond.

That, and teaching to the lowest common denominator robs kids of any sense of achievement.

And get those illegal immigrants out of the classrooms. Good lord, if you feel srongly that they should be educated, go to Mexico and open a school. With YOUR money, not mine.

By Tony

June 4, 2007 6:40 PM | Link to this

The self-esteem movement has been one of the most harmful fads to overtake education. Even worse, this movement has overtaken much of our society. Earning praise through hard work and determination is not enough for most adherents to the religion of self-esteem. Criticism is seen anathema and children are unable to learn critical issues because only positive remarks are acceptable.

However, I draw the line at saying we need to return to teaching methods of the “good old days”. There is too much to learn and precious little time to waste time copying from the board. Penmanship may produce elegant writing, in appearance, but it does not teach a child how to construct sentences, paragraphs or essays. Skill and drill mathematics does not teach children the relationships Marta spoke of. I’m not sure what she means when she mentions “reform” mathematics. But children must have opportunities to think through problems and get feedback from others in order to learn the big concepts and relationships in mathematics.

Where does this all begin? At home. The expectations for the importance of learning are brought with a child to the school. These attitudes make all the difference in the world for how the child responds to the expectations of the teacher. The hard work related to getting a good education has been eroded through the self-esteem movement and the result is that parents have lower expectations for children.

By Lee

June 4, 2007 8:18 PM | Link to this

In my opinion, the public school systems in America began their death spiral at Brown vs Board. Why? Because Brown began the federalization of public education which has culminated in the mess we have today. In addition, you can’t have a discussion about the demise of public education without including a discussion of the changing demographics from 1950 to today.

The local school systems have almost no say in how schools are run today. Sure, we have local school boards, but what do they do. Basically rubberstamp the directives the superintendent has presented, which originated at the state or federal level. If you happen to have a board who takes their job seriously, they are quickly silenced with a loss accredidation, or some other strong armed tactic by the powers that be.

Changing curriculums and adopting fad teaching methods is akin to mopping with dirty water - it looks like you’re doing something, but in reality, all you are doing is spreading crap.

By catlady

June 4, 2007 9:46 PM | Link to this

SET, unfortunately in my school system I am to report abuse/neglect to the principal and guidance counselor. Then, I am allowed no other followup. I have had my face laughed in when I say we should report to DFACS about children needing glasses, dr. visits, or crackdowns on tardies. They say DFACS is not interested in stuff like that and will not pursue these things. IMHO, they are symptoms of other abuse/neglect issues. I am not allowed to report it to DFACS myself, but I am under mandatory reporting as in CA. I have never heard anything back from DFACS about referrals I have done, EVER, even with sexual and physical abuse (33 years). I do keep a written copy of my report on my computer and a paper copy so if there is a question, I can substantiate that I did my part. However, it does not help the child, which is the important thing. I am told DFACS has more important things to do, but if so, WHAT IS IT?

By WFC

June 5, 2007 7:55 AM | Link to this

I propose a new “fad”: studying for mastery. The notion that a student must actually study to have any chance of truly understanding a subject has been in serious decline since I began teaching in 1975. It was under attack even then.

There are two intrinsic problems with educational fads:

By Where is Bridget?

June 5, 2007 7:56 AM | Link to this

So just exactly how much time off does Bridget get?

By jim d

June 5, 2007 8:03 AM | Link to this

Here’s a real surprise (not)

Early Reading First falls short.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/EDUCATION/06/04/early.reading.program.ap/index.html?eref=rss_education

By Jeff

June 5, 2007 8:40 AM | Link to this

Tony,

I gotta call BS on this:

“But children must have opportunities to think through problems and get feedback from others in order to learn the big concepts and relationships in mathematics.”

You’re DEAD wrong there. You learn the big concepts and relationships in mathematics by your OWN analysis or not at all. TRUST me on this, I have enough experience teaching and tutoring math and programming to know. EVERY SINGLE TIME - from when I was a student all the way up to now - I have seen a child with a lot of “group work” in math, I have seen that said child knows next to NOTHING. (As in kids in Advanced Geometry barely knowing what an exponent is, much less the various rules about exponential mathematics, such as a^2 * a^2 == a^(2+2) == a^4) The best mathematical students I have ever encountered all had ONE thing in common: they encountered a problem, analyzed it THEMSELVES, and with MINIMAL input from ANYONE else managed to arrive at the answer. Note that it didn’t matter to these kids if they were given a straight numeric problem or a word problem. The ones that worked in groups, well, if you had a test that was solid word problems, you were virtually garaunteed a class average in the TEENS.

Again: We need to be HARDER on the students. We’ve had a few decades now of going soft on them, and you see where it is getting us: deeper and deeper in the proverbial hole/ sh!t (take your pick!)

By Janine

June 5, 2007 9:08 AM | Link to this

Yay Jeff! (hope I understand what you are saying!]

In math, as in most other things in children’s learning , from saying “thank you”, not running into the street, to multiplication facts, to saying ” I am here” not “I is here”…* The behavior comes first, the understanding of why follows.

By catlady

June 5, 2007 9:20 AM | Link to this

I was in college taking “Mickey Mouse Math”—math for education majors—before I understood the whys. I just learned the rules and followed them, and took a lot of math in high school, but I never worried about why the rules worked.

By catlady

June 5, 2007 9:31 AM | Link to this

jim d, regular Reading First is a horror story, IMHO. We have data from 3 years of RF that show it is succeeding: ie, children can call words faster. However, our CRCT scores are going down rapidly, as we encourage children to say words fast but don’t bother with what they mean. My fastest readers (what RF would call the best readers, most fluent readers who have made the most progress) have added 50-60 wpm to their reading rate but cannot tell you squat about what the passage said. Yet we declare victory and then go home. Meanwhile, the kids (and teachers!) at our school HATE the hour and a half to two hours and forty minutes they spend in reading each day. This is a fad (that someone is getting rich off of) that is ruining reading in the truest sense of the word. Calling words fast is not fluency. Calling words fast without understanding is not READING! But we are supposed to accept that it is.

By Jeff

June 5, 2007 9:32 AM | Link to this

Janine:

That is exactly what I was saying.

Another example, from programming:

When a student brought me a broken program, I had to first teach the student how to FIX the program before I could teach him WHY it was broken. Without the solution, the process RARELY makes sense.

Even in programming RIGHT NOW, I typically have to rough the code in, then start testing it in the actual environment to nail down the exact right solution .(something I am doing as I type this!)

The same is true of learning in general: learn the rules and the HOW first. WHY will come when you master HOW and begin to analyze it. HOWEVER, if someone gives you the WHY before -or after - you have mastered the HOW, you will never truly understand EITHER.

By jim d

June 5, 2007 9:42 AM | Link to this

Tony,

And I call larger BS on, “Penmanship may produce elegant writing, in appearance, but it does not teach a child how to construct sentences, paragraphs or essays.”

Being able to communicate through written text is second only to verbal skills in communicating thoughts and ideas. Being able to do that requires the ability to write so that others can read what you’ve written.

I don’t care how much one writes—if it can’t be read it’s worthless. The penmanship issue is one I’ve argued with teachers since kindergarten (12 yrs.).

The standard answer? He’ll never have to write—he will have people to do that for him.

Now ain’t that a large load of donkey dung?

By Janine

June 5, 2007 10:29 AM | Link to this

catlady,Jeff….After all these years, I am still coming across things that make me say , “Ohmygosh, so that’s how that works!!! or “I can’t believe it took 30 years for me to really understand that”.

By OldSchool

June 5, 2007 10:30 AM | Link to this

As a child in Birmingham public schools, I was taught penmanship and even graded on it. Now, as a veteran teacher, I find that writing in cursive gives me time to think and refine those thoughts. (Yes, I’m typing this and backspacing in every sentence.) I’m no scientist but I really think there is some connection between the hand and the brain when a person is writing longhand. Just as I see a difference in the drafting and math skills of students who played with blocks as children as opposed to those who were raised by televison and video games, the journals of students who write in long hand are far more thoughtful than those kept on the computer. But that is just my observation.

I’ve also noted over the past 33 years that behavior in my lab is better when classical or new age music is played in the background than when there is no music…but that’s an earlier blog.

By Janine

June 5, 2007 11:19 AM | Link to this

• To express oneself clearly in writing* is a hugely important skill. THat would include legibility as well as clarity of thought. I think it’s often ignored today.

By jim d

June 5, 2007 12:04 PM | Link to this

Old School,

I’m afraid you’re aging yourself. :-)

By 30YearsIn

June 5, 2007 12:57 PM | Link to this

Funny thing, the connection between composed by hand versus composed on a keyboard… When I went back to grad school for Specialist degree (found only in education degrees I think), 20 years had passed since my Masters program. I had to learn to make the transition from writing papers out by hand to composing them on my computer. In fact, my first few papers were written long hand and then typed. I learned to compose as I typed and found the convenience more than warranted the change in style. It didn’t take long for it to become second nature to write in that fashion. In fact, I sometimes go back to some of those research papers and marvel at the writing I produced. But since I teach cursive writing to my third graders, I do value nice handwriting and do my best to get students to write neatly. If they don’t see the value in it, it is difficult to change their bad habits. Parents don’t particularly appreciate their kids doing assignments a second time due to poor handwriting.

By OldSchool

June 5, 2007 1:05 PM | Link to this

Now jimdear, when you consider the alternative, being my age (a young 56) isn’t so very bad at all! And after 33 years of teaching high schoolers, I’ve earned my gray! (Actually looks pretty good on me, I must say.)

And while I learned penmanship, my efforts were thwarted by my drafting. My handwriting “style” is now uppercase Gothic lettering but since I also do calligraphy, some of that early penmanship peeks through.

My favorite hobby is collecting vocabulary and doing crossword puzzles in ink while timing myself. The vocab I share with my students because I believe everyone ought to know what an aglet is and that gallimaufry perfectly describes the contents my desk at school.

By SET

June 5, 2007 2:05 PM | Link to this

Catlady:

In CA the mandatory reporting of child abuse or neglect allows the mandated reporter to chose whether to report to the local police or to CPS. Thus teachers are free to ignore CPS (Social Workers) if they please and only report to the Local Police. The report must be made at once by telephone and followed up within a certain number of hours by a written report.

I have not heard of teachers having any problem with the family not being interviewed/contacted after a referral. Police and CPS and work out the power sharing arrangements between them. They have regular montly meetings about caseload and new cases anyway. Somebody responds quickly to the referrals.

I prefer police referrals because they have superior intelligence reports about who’s running the meth labs, criminal histories of the families, etc. CPS does not have access to that info, but they do have years of their own intelligence files on the extended family (Both agencies have data the other doesn’t). CPS tends to call the cops before they do house calls in the ghetto to make sure they don’t walk into a known trouble house. Cops accompany them sometimes.

Narcotics use is the number one reason involved in child abuse/neglect here. Usually Mommy is shacked up with her pimp or pusher. Her kids from other baby daddies are just in the way and are treated accordingly - despite the welfare cash flow they produce.

By jim d

June 5, 2007 2:45 PM | Link to this

Old school,

I don’t know why but I assumed you were teaching at a school that may have required shoes. (and laces)

As for the desk—hey at least you can find yours!

And the puzzles with a pen? Everyone calls me arrogant for doing that! But my how lusory.

By Janine

June 5, 2007 3:09 PM | Link to this

jimd and oldschool I used crossword puzzles for vocabulary exercises quite often…I would always tell the students that *one must be very smart OR very dumb to do a crossword puzzle with a pen. Would you believe most had no clue what I was talking about at first.THen as the year progressed they would say , “Oh, I get it!”

By jim d

June 5, 2007 3:32 PM | Link to this

I’m afraid I’m somewhat benighted.

Whatta mean?

By thomas

June 5, 2007 3:43 PM | Link to this

The reason so many people (including myself) are angry and crusade against “whole language/balanced literacy” is because the whole movement ignored some key traditional methodsof reading instruction. And it wasn’t just the methods of reading instruction, BUT THE ENTIRE DYNAMIC OF THE CLASSROOM.

I don’t care what anyone says— it was MUCH better twenty years ago. We, as students learned more, and teachers were more effective and happier. The reality is that despite all the books, computers, notebooks, allfagled teaching strategies and techniques, math manipulatives, games, puzzles, etc. kids know LESS now than anytime in the last 30 years. You see, this is what happens when you focus everything on placating and catering to kids and parents.

Bring back the hornbooks!!!

By kimadeen

June 5, 2007 3:44 PM | Link to this

Unfortunately, actual academic achievement may be out of vogue…at least at my son’s middle school. At the 8th Grade Moving On ceremony, no academic achievements were mentioned. There were children who qualified for the Duke TIP Summer Studies program, children who made A-B Honor Roll every year, children who made All A Honor Roll every year. None of that was mentioned. Not even Scholar Athlete. However, we do know who was Most Athletic and Best Dressed.

By catlady

June 5, 2007 4:04 PM | Link to this

SET, I think you are right about the presence of drugs and the abuse/neglect nexus. Last year I had 3 children whose parents I was sure were using drugs. For some reason, although we are in a high meth area (rural Georgia), and we have the clergy marching against meth, we cannot seem to get the school social worker, DFACS, and the local judges to take child endangerment via drugs seriously, it seems to me. And unfortunately I have to sign a paper acknowledging that I know who I am allowed to report to, otherwise I would do what I think is right and report directly. I think I could get by with it if I lived in the child’s neighborhood, but by being the teacher even then I might be called on that, too, if I reported directly. The children I am thinking about do not have parents, they have adults who occasionally surface and then disappear (altho they live in the same house.) And by DFACS being able to hide behind privacy law, we can never be sure if the report has been relayed and the issue addressed or not. Hope that part is different in CA also.

Oldschool and 30 years, I am with you on the penmanship. When I went back to grad school it took me a couple of years before I did my composing on the computer. (I also could not figure out at the library why more of my fellow students were not reading and taking notes. Then I found out about using the copy machine!) I do think I do better in longhand, but others do better reading my typing. :) My thesis was hard to write on the computer, but I liked how fast I could correct mistakes. No more supporting the Wite-Out industry! I really think teaching penmanship is not a waste of time, anymore than teaching keyboarding or learning the multiplication tables. Many of my fifth graders still cannot write decently in print or cursive, and cannot recognize the alphabet in cursive! Without instruction, it takes much longer to write. And so many of the things students are asked to do routinely are merely circling the answer or bubbling it in. Another case of shooting ourselves in the foot.

Janine, re: using a pen for crosswords. Haha! My students will say,”Is it okay for me to use a pen?” and I answer, “Only if you don’t make a mistake!”

By OldSchool

June 5, 2007 4:45 PM | Link to this

catlady, do you suppose the states that do well on the SAT still teach cursive writing? I’ve read that they usually don’t encourage all students to take the tests but that aside, could handwriting instruction (cursive, penmanship) make a difference?

The writing section on the SAT must be challenging to score since students don’t have computers/spellcheck/grammarcheck to rely on. I know that their printed (manuscript) paragraphs leave much to be desired in content, idea development and depth. Spelling must be a real challenge although I think spelling improves with penmanship practice. (My own opinion not backed up with research.)

By jim d

June 5, 2007 5:01 PM | Link to this

I don’t know about that Old school,

Spelling doesn’t seem to enter the picture do much unless you are going for an ace of 6.

SCORE OF 5 An essay in this category demonstrates reasonably consistent mastery, although it will have occasional errors or lapses in quality.

A typical essay effectively develops a point of view on the issue and demonstrates strong critical thinking, generally using appropriate examples, reasons, and other evidence to support its position is well organized and focused,

demonstrating coherence and progression of ideas exhibits facility in the use of language,

using appropriate vocabulary demonstrates variety in sentence structure is generally free of most errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics

By Janine

June 5, 2007 5:31 PM | Link to this

Oldschool….I have read that the one thing that states that do well on the SAT have in commom is…..TEACHERS’ UNIONS.. Interestint, isn’t it?

By SET

June 5, 2007 6:16 PM | Link to this

Catlady:

Are the GA Teachers able to directly report to the Local Police? Ours are. If the cops don’t deal with a problem you’ve done your duty.

By catlady

June 5, 2007 8:12 PM | Link to this

SET, to my knowledge, I can report anything as a private citizen to the local police and they will investigate. However, the CORRECT protocol is to report to the principal and guidance counselor if it is a child at my school. It has to be a really egregious situation for anything to be acted on by DFACS, like suspected sexual or physical abuse. Neglect does not seem to cut it unless it is awfully obvious, and then DFACS seems to have as its mandate to keep the family together and give them counseling and other support. I think this concept allows our state to brag about how few people need welfare’s help, etc, but it also may explain why every few months we have another child killed by its parents, aunt, grandmother, or (very frequently) mother’s boyfriend, (and the ensuing uproar to “do something!”) Little things, like the child has a perpetual squint from not being able to see, or constantly in the nurse’s office because of ear infections, scabies, lice, untreated throat infections, rotten teeth, get no notice. I had a child last year, 8 years old, who weighed over 300 pounds and kept falling asleep and making terrible noises as he slept, had sores on his skin where it folded together, could hardly walk because his joints were coming apart, said his to-be stepmother was calling him names, etc. I asked for DFACS help on that one. Dad kept saying he was “just a big boy” and that the dr. had said nothing was wrong (but we could never get a reply from the dr) and I never felt like the problem was adequately addressed. However, unless they hit the boy I could not call the police.

So here is what I will continue to do: report concerns to the appropriate school officials, and keep a copy. And continue to bug school officials about any action taken on behalf of the child.

Oldschool, I have never heard of a correlation between penmanship and SAT scores. Sounds like a thesis topic for someone? I have heard that those good in music are good in math, but the kids I have seen (a huge sample: 2 of my 3 children) do NOT support that.

By OldSchool

June 5, 2007 8:35 PM | Link to this

I think the music thing is the Mozart Effect. Students who play Mozart piano concertos supposedly have a greater propensity for math while those who listen to the same music show the effect for about 10 minutes. It’s supposed to positively affect math test scores. I do know that at our high school, more of our honor graduates are also in band. Maybe it’s the rhythms in the music…

As for my own Mozart Effect, background music in my lab has a definite effect on behavior and talking. For example: classical and new age = quiet steady work; rock & roll = loud voices and no work; celtic and Latin instrumentals = lowered voices and pretty steady work; country music = steady work but they tend to sing along! I even get requests sometimes like “Beef: It’s What’s for Dinner” or “The DeBeers Diamond” music.

My musical choices are usually classical, new age, celtic with some Latin for Fridays.

By Janine

June 6, 2007 10:29 AM | Link to this

For a while our middle school had Reading as a core class…We read novels together as well as working on skills. When we were reading or doing a skills exercise, we always music playing. THere are great classical cd’s that the students loved. “Breakfast with Bach”, “Valentines with Vivaldi”, and my own personal favorite..”Classical Music for People WHo Hate Classical Music”. Of course, the POWERS decided that REading was not an important class, even though pre to post reading scores improved significantly. So, it was dropped in favor of another CURE DU JOUR!

By SET

June 6, 2007 10:41 AM | Link to this

Catlady: It appears that GA’s reporting scheme is totally different that ours. CA’s mandated reporter scheme provides criminal penalties and civil liability for not reporting, makes the duty to report individual, criminalizes any threats against reporters or reprisals by their employers. And it is up to the reporters personal preference that cannot be altered except by state law (not school rules) which agency to report to.

You could easily have 2 or 4 police departments to choose from or CPS - you only have to report to one agency. (The child can live in one police jurisdiction, go to school in a second, have an incident occur in a third, and the school district has their own police dept - and CPS is a County agency - this gives a choice of 4 agencies to report to.)

By catlady

June 6, 2007 12:15 PM | Link to this

SET, we had a child at our school who was observed by a teacher darting into traffic on his bike while waiting (unsupervised) for a bus. She stopped her car to question what he was doing and where his mom was. (He said she had gone to the dr, at 7 am. We think she was asleep) He is 10 years old, as has been called BD. The teacher reported the incident to the school for investigation by DFACS (there have been many incidents of neglect with this child, and nothing has been done that we can see), and was given an indifferent attitude since it did not happen on school property. She says next time she calls the police directly. We are all getting to the point that calling the police is the way to go, since we rarely see any evidence that DFACS has intervened, or even been notified. We suspect the school social worker does triage, and decides which reports to forward on. We, like you, have mandated reporting and criminal and civil penalties. I think we should be able to call DFACS directly, rather than chancing something going through intermediaries and getting distorted.

Old School: I had heard about the Mozart effect, but this other was being used as bait to get more kids into music: “if your child takes band they will be better at math”, which (come to think of it) is probably just a corruption of the Mozart hypothesis. I have 3 very gifted musicians in the family, but only one of them is gifted in math. Sorta disappointing after all those hours of listening to them practicing, going to concerts and ballgames, etc. :)

By luvs2teach

June 6, 2007 12:17 PM | Link to this

Wow - so many good answers with which I totally agree! The self-esteem at all costs movement, no more penmanship practice, calculators instead of brains, throwing the “baby” of phonics out with the bathwater in favor of whole language - I would add things such as no longer memorizing anything (poems, state capitals, TIMES TABLES!!!), open classrooms, and pretty much every single one of the “Cure du Jour” promoted by “educationals consultants” (we’re researched-based, and we’re here to help, LOL).

I don’t think we need to go back for rote memorization of everything, but I do think there is a value in learning how to remember - my kids don’t know how to train their brain.

I think a balance of phonics, sight words, and whole language is needed - and kids need to be read TO at a level above what they can read alone. They need to read and have read to them wonderful stories to engage the movie screen in their minds - they don’t need to be reading to a freaking dog clicker! What a way to teach a kid to DESPISE reading for life!

Open classrooms? Ugh - that was stupid.

Kids need to learn the basics of math and then move to calculators to save time when they are working more difficult prolems later on - ever had a cashier absolutely STUMPED at how to count out the right change if the ash register doesn’t tell them? (One of my first jobs was at McDs back in the day when you had to figure the change yourself!)

How about multiple intelligences? Did you know that Howard Gardner NEVER intended his theory to be used as a way fo labeling kids?

By far though, I think one of the worst things is the middle school movement - I think it would have been good for 4th - 6th graders, but I think it babies 7th and 8th graders too much and does not prepare them adequately for high school. I also think that removing sports from middle school (again due to “self-esteem”) was a HUGE mistake.

By catlady

June 6, 2007 12:21 PM | Link to this

SET, one other thing. I have made 9 or 10 reports over the 33 years, and have NEVER had DFACS come talk to me. Never. I do know they investigated one because the child was pulled out of class for a while (he came to school beat up about a bad report card), and another my first year when a child came to school with a hand-print on her face (she, aged 5, had walked in on her mother and boyfriend in bed).

Maybe I am psycho, but I spend hours with these children and I want to know they are SAFE.

By catlady

June 6, 2007 12:38 PM | Link to this

Luvs, great comments! I am puzzled—we are expanding our sports in middle school?! The whole concept of middle school, however… What could possibly be a worse age group of kids to combine than 6-8? Oh, Ok, 7-9 might be worse. Our county used to have 8th grade at the high school (k-7 at the elementary schools) and the incidence of pregnant 8th graders was very high. The older guys were very “successful” with the 8th grade girls.

My mom, a high school teacher, used to moan about the students that came from the middle school (Yeah, yeah, we all do it). Her take was that middle school-prepared kids were very disadvantaged compared to junior high-prepared kids (remember that?) Too much self-esteem issues, and not enough preparation for real high school workload.

On teaching reading: I am strongly phonics-oriented myself (too bad English is not closer to 100% phonetical) because my mother taught me phonetically back in the mid 50s. It was out of vogue then, but luckily I had her. I have always used all kinds of reading methods, however, because I know one thing does not always work best. In my own family, my first 2 were strongly phonetic readers, but my youngest was a sight word/context clue reader. One time my son, who was about 5, was reading something way over his head (directions for Transformers, I think), using his phonics skills. However, due to the vagaries of English, it sounded like gibberish. He was NOT a context reader at that point. I stopped him and asked him if it made any sense, and he said, “No, Mom, you’d think they would do a better job writing than this.” So much for self-confidence! But the point is, we use many different strategies for teaching reading, and different ones work better for different students and at different stages. Something many of our C d’ J fail to take into account, and our administrators don’t know any better.

By SET

June 6, 2007 1:45 PM | Link to this

I guess CA got something right with our child neglect reporting law. Here the mandated reported decides who to give the report to and may boycott one agency in favor of others.

Obviously if the problem is a discrete one the social workers of CPS can be used. If you want doors kicked in and people Tasered and dragged off to jail the teacher can call 911. The system seems to work and the teacher has direct access to whichever agency he/she wants and can do repeat business. Even more fun, you can report to anyone within an agency so that the teacher can report directly to the Sex Unit of the Police for the most violent 24/7 reaction, or the supervisor at CPS if there is a real special handling problem such as the child’s mother dying of Cancer and the kid has no one to feed them or keep the household going.

The system seems to work and I haven’t heard of any teachers being annoyed by their administration because of mandated reports. Sometimes there’s a mismatch between the report and the result needed but the older teachers know exactly who to call to get what they want done.

By luvs2teach

June 6, 2007 2:17 PM | Link to this

Thanks, cat - our county (major metro county that shall remain nameless) does not have sports in middle school - we have community teams affiliated with the schools, but the coaches are usually parents, not teachers. I was taught in one of my MS theory classes that taking competitive sports out of middle school was a key component of the middle school model - they push intramurals instead. Maybe people are realizing that, for some kids, sports and other extra-curricular activities are what bring kids to school in the first place.

I definitely think you need a blend of strategies for kids - what works for one may not work for another - it’s one area of education where I do think adapting to them is important (we just need to wean them off of that by HS!).

I was an early reader; I wanted to learn to read, and reading came easily to me. I remember sitting in 2nd grade bored to tears doing phonics worksheets. What really helped me were the old SRA cards - color-coded by level. They had little stories and comphehension questions. I LOVED those - and I could see my progress as I moved up through each color.

I think kids have the joy of reading clicked out of them! As a middle school teacher, when I taught reading classes, I tried to convey the fun of reading. When I was asked what I was going to do this summer by one of my students, I said that I was going to sit by the pool and read (an absolute pleasure for me), her response was, “How boring.” My response, “How sad.”

By catlady

June 6, 2007 3:39 PM | Link to this

Luvs, I loved those SRA reading cards, too. The problem I have seen now with similar stuff is, the kids openly CHEAT!

My school is one of the clicking schools. I would say at least 80% of our students HATE reading class, even the superior readers. Of the teachers, the percentage hating it is much higher.

I remember what fun it was to hole up in the county library, sitting on a window seat or in a little hidey-hole and read for hours, or just read enough to decide I wanted to take the book home. Of course, I was not/would not have been allowed to “waste” time doing many of the things kids do nowadays. My children, now ages 21-30, thought I was pretty “out there” during their formative years when there was a no TV, no Nintendo, no computer games, and limited video rule at our house, but now they see where I was coming from. They went to the library, played board games, made a playhouse, took family walks, went swimming, went to church camp, served Meals on Wheels, did good deeds for elderly neighbors, and went to or helped with VBS. Having a child who develops a love of reading is a real blessing.

I think I would add to the list of things that don’t work the current (and it has been going on a while) willingness of colleges of ed to let folks into graduate school, especially administration, who do not have a substantial amount of exerience in teaching in multiple settings,multiple grades, or with a variety of students. Back in the day, you could not be accepted into an ed admin program without 5 years, or was it 7, of experience in the classroom. As a result, we have very inexperienced folks as administrators. While that can be good occasionally, I think it is generally a detriment. Too many folks who are not especially effective teachers seem to be kicked upstairs where they can mess it up for even more students, and that is a shame. I also fault the colleges who offer less-than-stellar graduate programs off-site that are of a mickey mouse quality, and folks run through them to get those T5 bonuses. Our system has a VERY high percentage of teachers with master’s or higher but if you look at where they are from, it is these same two or three rinky-dink “colleges” offering very poor-quality programs.

By thomas

June 6, 2007 5:00 PM | Link to this

Catlady, two points: I understand your apprehension with some very regimented reading programs. When Direct Instruction was rolled out at my school, EVERYBODY (teachers and students) hated it. Everyone say that it was so boring and dull.

I believe in direct, explicit instruction for all students, in all areas. But, as with all things, there is a time and a season for everything. I believe that most teachers, when properly trained, can teach phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, and comprehension without a scripted program. Non explicit instruction, particularly in reading, is the cause of many academic problems students are having.

As for the administrators, the quality of the ones we are getting now is marginal at best. You have these people who have NEVER TAUGHT IN A REAL CLASSROOM FOR ANY REAL LENGTH OF TIME. You have former speech pathologists, special education teachers, PE teachers, foreign language, bus drivers, janitors, hobos, bums, kids, parents, your mama, my mama, and everybody else getting into the front office. They take these RIDICULOUS online “educational leadership” courses from diploma mills and get to be APs and principals. It’s all about who they know/like. It’s not about a person’s qualifications/experience. I am sick on non classroom teachers being made APs and principals. They put these stooges in power and they don’t know what to do.

By Tony

June 6, 2007 5:17 PM | Link to this

Jeff - I have taught chemistry and physics, and I have tutored students in mathematics. I doubt that my remarks are dead wrong. Development of the ability to analyze can be developed among students in the very manner I described. Giving feedback! This feedback can come from the teacher or from others, but it is the thoughtful response that assists students in moving up the levels of understanding. To say they can only do that independently would translate that we don’t need instruction.

About mandatory reporting in Georgia, teachers are required to report suspected abuse. Each school system has a protocol to follow. The DFCS system in Georgia is so overloaded that only the most serious cases get proper attention. I hope our state leaders are able to support improvements in the this department in the interest of the children of this state.

By catlady

June 6, 2007 5:25 PM | Link to this

Thomas, I agree. On the reading issue, we have had scripted reading for 5 years and Reading First for 3 years. Our numbers of kids failing CRCT in reading have gone up, and our other percentages have remained pretty stable. My impression for this year is, no significant gains at our school. Of course, we will be prodded to WORK HARDER.

On the admin. subject, I have seen the same thing.We have a number of administrators who have NEVER taught what they are administrating. Little street cred to me. And you are right, a high percentage of former coaches or sp ed personnel in the c.o.. Our principal had a few years in the classroom, then went to the central office for a few years, one year as AP, and now Principal. The administrator’s degrees are from the “high class” institutions (diploma mills).

Have you looked at the CRCT results posted on the AJC? Someone help me out. I don’t see what our state supt. is talking about in terms of improvement.

By Janine

June 6, 2007 5:50 PM | Link to this

Someone this week remarked that we must be the ugly step children of the AJC blogosphere. I’m beginning to think we really are. Nobody there seems to know we are here.

By Dekalb Educator (no longer)

June 6, 2007 6:13 PM | Link to this

Janine—I know I am forever telling people about this blog…especially during the school year. I would get blank stares from other teachers like..”umm..why are you reading something like that?”

The Braves blog had a topic posted today and the last time I looked..261 comments..

By WFC

June 7, 2007 9:19 AM | Link to this

Excepting my six years of teaching in private schools, I’ve known almost no administrator in my 31 years working in schools who had significant experience in academic classrooms (math, science, language arts, history.) I spent four yers as an administrator at Chattahoochee H.S. (after 17 years of teaching history) and was truly dismayed at the lack of knowledge and interest in academics among our administrators. Our principal might as well have been running a Wal-Mart.

By Janine

June 7, 2007 9:28 AM | Link to this

I’m with you WFC. AFter 32 years in Dekalb, I not only never saw one who was even a little bit interested in anything academic except how the school did on whatever standardeized tests were given, But there were only one or two who had real experience in any academic area and/or who could go in and MANAGE and TEACH in a classroom.

By Jeff

June 7, 2007 9:35 AM | Link to this

Y’all, I’m STILL getting requests for interviews…

Told T that I would put off teaching for at least 5 yrs though, and so I shall…

By Lee

June 7, 2007 9:38 AM | Link to this

I put my youngest in private school in middle school. The principal there also taught class for half a day. The kids absolutely adored him. Parents too.

I think administrators miss out when they come out of a classroom and go sit in an office all day. Kids suffer too because they [administrators] get so far away from the classroom, they tend to lose touch with reality. Everything (and everybody) becomes a number on a spreadsheet…

By Jim in marietta

June 7, 2007 11:56 AM | Link to this

Writing to Read - “Free” program from IBM widely adopted by Georgia in the late 80’s early 90’s. Taught children to spell incorrectly while learning to read - NASTY. You get what you pay for Georgia. Keep building those windowless prisons. We gotta keep the masses off the streets.