Interesting points in this video.
Pharrell is a success by any measure and he points out that he wasn’t interested in academics in school. He was inspired by band class, music, etc. He excelled at his interests…why don’t we encourage that more often than blanket achievement in all academic areas ?
Just a thought.
I met you in another life
time. I must have. I know your soul
like I know my favorite rhyme.
Deep ain’t it ? I daydream dreams of
you and I dreaming about me
and you. Technicolor dreams, re-
painted. Love is like that sometimes.
If in God lies trust
And cash is the genesis
Then what of the seeds?
I wrote this poem/haiku years ago. I think I was about 21 or 22 years old. During that time I was consumed with wealth acquisition, money, etc.
I put material things and money before my mental, spiritual, and emotional health.
I first began writing regularly during that time period as I reflected on my actions, how those actions impacted the people around me…and my future.
I plan on posting more of my old and new poems on the site…sometimes with little anecdotes about what was on my mind when the poem was written…sometimes not. Either way, enjoy.
In addition to the “student teaching” I was required to take modified and accelerated pre-service professional development courses with my Atlanta PLUS colleague. The name of my facilitator escapes me right now but that may be a good thing.
I remember my facilitator telling us that she held a Juris Doctorate and a Master’s Degree and that she was currently working as a school librarian in one of the APS high schools. I was immediately impressed with her academic background but something about her didn’t seem quite right.
As the summer courses continued my initial reservations about her proved to be justified. She told us story after story about her personal experiences with some of the students at her high school. This, in and of itself, was not problematic. I personally feel that teachers learn best from the real world experiences of other teachers more so than from theory. However…her stories never really connected to anything that would help us to become better classroom teachers. She told stories about a particular special needs student who would walk through her media center every day at the same time. The young man had to circle the media center three times before leaving. The end.
Many of her stories were like that…interesting…but ultimately pointless. Also, she was often late to our sessions or absent for personal reasons. Again, this alarmed me because summer school was only 4 weeks long and our summer program only lasted 7 or 8 weeks. Any absences during such a short program had a significant impact on our learning as new teachers.
Each member of our cohort was responsible for producing a summer portfolio detailing what we had learned and how we planned to approach our first year as classroom teachers. The portfolio was lengthy, highly detailed, and a major requirement for successful completion of the program. As our facilitator, it was her responsibility to guide us through this process. Due to her excessive absences, irrelevant stories, and poor time management, the Incredibles were at a major disadvantage compared to the other groups in the summer cohort. While other groups had been working on their portfolios diligently throughout the summer, we had to pull our portfolios together in several caffeine fueled days. We were all stressed out, slightly upset, and most definitely tired.
In the end, we all produced solid documents. Our facilitator was ultimately removed from her role during the summer session and all but 1 of the members of the Incredibles successfully completed the summer institute.
That experience taught me that professionalism in k-12 education can, unfortunately, be very hard to come by. My facilitator’s behavior would not have been tolerated in a corporate setting, yet she was able to fly under the radar for weeks while we, those newest to the profession, were privy to a terrible first impression of the school system at which we wanted to work. The experience also taught me the value of a good pre-service education program and teacher mentors. Poorly planned and/or executed pre-service programs can adversely affect the lives of tens of thousands of students…possibly more. Luckily, Atlanta PLUS had two other facilitators who stepped up during that difficult time and took the reigns and provided a model of behavior and professionalism to which we could all aspire.
My last few posts have been a bit negative and for that I apologize. Occasionally my frustrations with the current system of primary and secondary education in America boil over and the blogosphere is scorched. Those feelings aside, the summer has renewed my spirit and filled me with vitality, hope, and unrelenting optimism about what WE may accomplish in our current epoch of school choice.
Many years ago I was against school choice because I foolishly felt that charter schools and school waivers unfairly withdrew local funds from the coffers of local boards of education to be allocated, without oversight, for the creation of schools that were not beholden to the same standards as existing K12 public schools. I was wrong.
Do not get me wrong. I am not advocating the “Arne Duncan school of public school closing” in favor of an all-charter all-the-time agenda. Rather, in the wake of recent economic shifts that have either forced local districts to close schools, remove arts programs from schools, or dismantle gifted/magnet programs in favor of a one size fits all solution to education, I am advocating school choice and local control as possible solutions to our collective problem.
I say all of this to say, my next few posts will explore charters that work, charters that don’t work, and ways in which teachers can collaborate to create a model for local control that benefits students and the community, and that honors, respect, and compensates teachers. I plan to do so with the use of case studies, qualitative and quantitative research and first hand accounts of what it takes to make schools work.
Essentially a win-win situation. Stay tuned.
Lately I’ve been incredibly bored with school as I, and most of you, know it.
I’m tired of classrooms with 4 walls and a white(chalk)board that is the center of learning. I’m tired of school districts that simultaneously champion and restrict full technology integration in the learning process.
I’m tired of curriculum based on some prescribed set of skills that students should master by some arbitrarily assigned grade level and/or age created by the gods from up on high.
I’m tired of educators who go along to get along because thats how business has been done for years.
Schools should reflect the new MAN in America. Schools should be democratic, challenging, collaborative, and forward thinking. Students should be participants, rather than recipients, in the learning process. Instructors should be guides rather than all knowing, all powerful masters of content.
The industrial revolution is over so why are we still preparing students for that type of world ? Why are we so afraid to share power, relinquish control, and learn with the students ?
If this sounds like I’m frustrated or even angry its because I am. I feel like if we ( educators ) don’t start speaking up or stepping outside of our comfort zones we’re all complicit in allowing our children to fall behind.
Basically, it all needs to be torn down, and we need to start fresh.
In my short career as an educator I’ve spent over half of my years as a member of different school leadership teams, steering committees, and design teams. The teams are always full of ideas, idealism, and solution centered conversation. The component that is always missing is the authority to execute those ideas for the students we serve.
Public school systems simply have too many layers of bureaucracy. There are too many layers of red tape to cut through before even the simplest change to a school level issue can take place….and this…more than any other reason…is why charter schools will lead the charge in changing the face of public education in America.
Charter schools eliminate the exorbitant overhead costs associated with district level central offices. Charter schools allow teachers and building level leaders to make the changes necessary to benefit their students…in real time.
If large districts don’t start to empower schools, principals, and teachers then they will go the way of the old Bell Telephone system….to be broken up into smaller charter systems or independent school districts that have the power to act in real time.
Kudos to schools like Ivy Preparatory Academy where local control gets things done in a timely manner. I only hope that the larger districts can see the benefits of such a system and can get on board with the program….or get left behind as they suffer a brain drain as the most promising students leave big systems in favor of schools where local control is championed.
The grade distribution on my final exam.
No bueno.
I had a conversation with a friend and colleague this morning about her daughter’s experience in pre-school. Her daughter is an intelligent child but often gets in trouble at school for, quite frankly, things that 3 years olds do. Her problem got me thinking about my boys in my classes….and just about every other student in the history of public school.
Kids get bored in school. Adults get bored in school…and so do teachers. However, the difference between those of us who get bored and get into trouble and those who don’t is knowing how to manage that boredom.
It’s been my experience that girls, middle class, and upper middle class kids tend to be taught to manage their boredom by their parents. These are the kids who always seem to have a book, magazine, sodoku, or some other time filler to keep their minds occupied whenever downtime occurs in the classroom. Downtime can take many forms as well. Downtime can be the time between when a child raises his or her hand and the time it takes the teacher to circle around to the child; it can be the time between when work is completed and when the teacher is ready to check the work…or it can be when a visitor comes to the class and the students are left to occupy themselves until the teacher is able to redirect his or her attention toward the students.
The “good” kids are always able to remain quiet, on task, or simply do not become an annoyance to the classroom teacher…because they know how to manage their boredom. The “bad” kids are up out of their seats, sleeping, talking, playing, hitting, etc. They’re basically doing all of the things kids like to do when they have nothing else to occupy their mind.
I talked with my boys about that today…because some of them have behavioral challenges when there is down time during class. I advised them to bring magazines, books, etc. I also shared with them the fact that I get bored all the time in my graduate classes. They asked if I ever played with my Rubik’s cube ( a favorite pastime of mine ) during class and I had to explain to them that certain “time occupying behaviors” ( sleeping, playing with a Rubik’s cube, beating on desks, bouncing a ball, etc) can be taken as disrespect by classroom instructors.
Some of the boys seemed to get my meaning…but most of them still need to be trained to occupy themselves in a manner that isn’t distracting, disruptive, or that can be perceived as disrespectful by future classroom teachers.
So, teachers new and old, if you ever encounter a child who has some behavioral problems…ask yourself…is the child bored ? Does the child know how to self manage that boredom ? How can you help the child learn to monitor themselves so that you don’t have to ?
P.S.
If kids are bored DURING instruction, the teacher should do something to address that if possible…however…students are always going to get bored…and if that happens…they should have options to manage their boredom. It works…give it a try.
I’ve become much more conservative as I’ve gotten older. I’m only 29 years old. I don’t have any children, I’m not what anyone would consider wealthy, and I have never lived a life of privilege.. However, as a Black Man educating black students I can’t help but be upset when talking heads, politic pundits, and edu-wonks always blame the “system” for the achievement gap between Black students and their white and/or Asian counterparts.
Granted, the American education system has a long, sordid, and very public history of systematically disenfranchising Black students. Even though this is true, we must all still accept the very real truth that students, all students….regardless of race, gender, or socio-economic status, have some culpability when it comes to their relative achievement in school.
The apologists of the world make the assumption that all Black students that under perform have been oppressed or done some sort of disservice in school. These assumptions create a political environment in academia that drives policy makers and building leaders to make excuses or find reasons for why Black/Brown students under perform.
Hold teachers accountable…hold administrators accountable….but, most importantly, parents and students must be held accountable if we’re ever going to make any real progress toward closing the achievement gap between Black/Brown students and their White/Asian counterparts.
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