My fourth block was really bad yesterday so I took my frustration out on them by making them write me a paragraph about what they're going to do to take responsibility for their education for the rest of the year. Best student response (wait for it...):
"What I'm going to do the rest of the year to take responsibility for my education is to learn about what's happening outside of the U.S. and also try to learn more about the Bible. I'm going to go to church while learning in God's wisdom [and] watching educational shows like the History Channel. "I will go fishing which will help on math and strategy."
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
How to Support Teachers
In my mind, it is completely accurate that supportive leadership is considered to be "absolutely essential" to supporting teachers. It is near impossible to be a successful teacher if you do not have leadership that works with teachers, engages with students, and helps troubleshoot problems. Thoughts?
Monday, May 16, 2011
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
"Abolish Jim Crow!"
I've been browsing through a book of Eleanor Roosevelt's political writings and I came across one entitled "Abolish Jim Crow!" published in "New Threshold" in August 1943. As I read through the letter, I was shocked to see that, now, 68 years after Roosevelt originally wrote this piece, her opinions still apply. I was first intrigued by this quote:
"Sometimes when I look at the Lincoln statute and read things which he said, I think that we fought a bitter war which brought suffering to many people and yet achieved no answer to the question -- are the colored people free in fact or only in word?"
Of course, I interpreted this in the context of education to mean that African Americans are still under privileged even in today's society, which so many consider to be "post-racial." Schools with majority minority populations continue to be vastly under-resourced and often fail to provide their students with the quality education they deserve. This, in turn, limits our students' freedom to pursue their opportunities of choice. Mrs. Roosevelt continues,
"An equal opportunity for education may raise economic standards as a whole -- may make it possible for colored people to get equal pay, because they will have training equal to that of white people. There will be more self respect; the dignity and pride of race will be enhanced and the bitterness of inferiority removed."
I hate the fact that this is still true. My students are not receiving the opportunities they deserve in terms of their education, and this will make it tremendously difficult for them to compete for the jobs that can change their socioeconomic status and life circumstances. So long as this vicious cycle of lack of education and a steady job continues, I fear that this minority will continue to be almost systematically excluded from society and viewed as inferior.
"Sometimes when I look at the Lincoln statute and read things which he said, I think that we fought a bitter war which brought suffering to many people and yet achieved no answer to the question -- are the colored people free in fact or only in word?"
Of course, I interpreted this in the context of education to mean that African Americans are still under privileged even in today's society, which so many consider to be "post-racial." Schools with majority minority populations continue to be vastly under-resourced and often fail to provide their students with the quality education they deserve. This, in turn, limits our students' freedom to pursue their opportunities of choice. Mrs. Roosevelt continues,
"An equal opportunity for education may raise economic standards as a whole -- may make it possible for colored people to get equal pay, because they will have training equal to that of white people. There will be more self respect; the dignity and pride of race will be enhanced and the bitterness of inferiority removed."
I hate the fact that this is still true. My students are not receiving the opportunities they deserve in terms of their education, and this will make it tremendously difficult for them to compete for the jobs that can change their socioeconomic status and life circumstances. So long as this vicious cycle of lack of education and a steady job continues, I fear that this minority will continue to be almost systematically excluded from society and viewed as inferior.
Monday, May 9, 2011
What's The Cost Of Dropping Out Of High School?
What's The Cost Of Dropping Out Of High School? | The New Republic
Matthew Yglesias states:
"This kind of thing makes me wonder how much of a difference could be made by pure information. How many 14 and 15 year-olds are aware of this correlation? How might their behavior—and that of their parents—change if they were better informed? My dad dropped out of high school and he’s turned out fine, but I think that still wasn’t a decision with a positive expected value. People suffer from optimism bias that can be further exacerbated by bad information. After all, it’s not totally obvious what job-relevant skills one learns in 12th grade."
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