I really enjoyed these videos and thankfully not because I have ever had an administrator like these examples! Sorry if you do...
Even still, the message resonates with me because this is exactly the kind of "reformist" attitude that is thrown around by some who somehow float their way to the top...
You Tube Playlist
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Tap Tap... Tap Tap... Tap
The room was silent except for the tap, tap, tapping of computer keys this afternoon. What is it about computers that helps kids find their zone?
There is a different feeling of focus in the room than when students are working in their writer's notebooks or drafting on loose leaf. Are papers and notebooks just too old fashioned? Are computers that enthralling?
Either way, it was terribly joyful to be immersed in the silent tap, tap, tapping focus in class today.
There is a different feeling of focus in the room than when students are working in their writer's notebooks or drafting on loose leaf. Are papers and notebooks just too old fashioned? Are computers that enthralling?
Either way, it was terribly joyful to be immersed in the silent tap, tap, tapping focus in class today.
Monday, October 4, 2010
High School Fairs
The borough-wide high school fair at Brooklyn Tech this past weekend featured an enormous arc of lime green, soda orange, and neon pink balloons at the entrance. More balloons sat in clusters right outside. A few balloons made their cheery way into the lobby. If you are not involved with the incredible process of applying to high schools in New York City, you might have thought this was some kind of celebration.
In New York, students need to apply to public high schools, which on its own is not a terrible thing. This application process makes it possible for students living in neighborhoods with unsuccessful zoned schools to choose other, better schools outside of their areas.
Yet, at the same time, the high school application process in this city is extremely competitive, requiring students to attend open houses, give interviews, and take entrance exams. Again, on its own, these are not bad things. However, when you realize that students whose parents know the system, have access to test-prep courses, take them to every open house imaginable, and advocate vociferously for their children have a huge upper hand, the process can seem overwhelmingly unfair.
Sure, I think my students can work harder in 7th grade and make a much more significant effort to attend these fairs and these open houses. But then, when I think about myself at 13 or 14 and imagine, unsuccessfully, what it would have been like not to have had parents who pushed me every day, who had very clear expectations, who read to me when I was small, I doubt I would have been so motivated either. Or, at the very least, I would have been intimidated to go to this fair all by myself.
Perhaps this is not popular to say during this time of "teacher accountability", but parents, you need to step up. Teachers can't take every child to a high school fair. Teachers can't make your children read at home. Teachers can't keep a dictionary near students' bed-side tables. Go to the open houses. Take your kids on interviews. Attend these insane, overly-crowded, germ-infested fairs. At least they have brightly colored balloons.
In New York, students need to apply to public high schools, which on its own is not a terrible thing. This application process makes it possible for students living in neighborhoods with unsuccessful zoned schools to choose other, better schools outside of their areas.
Yet, at the same time, the high school application process in this city is extremely competitive, requiring students to attend open houses, give interviews, and take entrance exams. Again, on its own, these are not bad things. However, when you realize that students whose parents know the system, have access to test-prep courses, take them to every open house imaginable, and advocate vociferously for their children have a huge upper hand, the process can seem overwhelmingly unfair.
Sure, I think my students can work harder in 7th grade and make a much more significant effort to attend these fairs and these open houses. But then, when I think about myself at 13 or 14 and imagine, unsuccessfully, what it would have been like not to have had parents who pushed me every day, who had very clear expectations, who read to me when I was small, I doubt I would have been so motivated either. Or, at the very least, I would have been intimidated to go to this fair all by myself.
Perhaps this is not popular to say during this time of "teacher accountability", but parents, you need to step up. Teachers can't take every child to a high school fair. Teachers can't make your children read at home. Teachers can't keep a dictionary near students' bed-side tables. Go to the open houses. Take your kids on interviews. Attend these insane, overly-crowded, germ-infested fairs. At least they have brightly colored balloons.
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