Volunteering

Childrens Home Society offers a multitude of services to families in need in Central Florida.  I will be participating in a mentoring program assisting children with one or more parent who is incarcerated.  The program looks to be immensely valuable to families dealing with the mixed emotions that go along with raising children who are trying to understand a situation that is difficult and painful.  The mentoring program begins with a training program involving information, conversations and situational discussions.  Having now passed through that phase of my volunteering experience, I will be interviewed, finger printed and then matched with a child. I am looking forward to the next step.

Revolution or Evolution?

    Discussion this week at school has focused on how brisk our attempts to reform education should be.  On a local scale, change is slow - those of us who support reform are often stuck in the mire of moving so slowly that it feels like there is no change at all. How do we "do reform?"  Articles suggest systemic change, getting all of the stakeholders on board, developing a sense of urgency, etc.  But little deals with how we commit to change as teachers.  Teachers who are entrenched in a system that rewards mediocrity are often the slowest and most resistant to change.  How do you move toward effective education and serving our youth, especially those most battered by the status quo.  I have been reprimanded for being too revolutionary - for wanting change too quickly, for not giving people "space" to evolve.  I think that I am revolutionary.  To me, if you know based on research, data, experience, etc. that certain methodologies do not work, then why continue to use them??? Evolutionary change sounds fair, good and reasonable, but think about the students who are not being served as we wait for teachers to get on board. To me, it's time to revolutionize teaching, otherwise, we will never get to reform.

They just don't get it...

   Never has it been more apparent to me as to the mess we are in, than to listen to the conversation surrounding the movie "Waiting for Superman."  I have not seen the movie yet, but have heard numerous broadcasts interviews, etc. and am aware of the premise of the film. Now, I tend to be quite liberal politically, but even I can see that we are like ostriches with our heads in the sand if we are unable to recognize many of the underlying truths of this movie. 
    Listening in on a conversation today of teachers (many who I respect as very smart people) and hearing the blind disregard they give to the idea that our urban students are not being served appropriately and fairly is shocking to me.  Blame is everywhere, except where it truly lies - in a society that continuously disregards the suffering of our students who are immersed in poverty and discrimination.  How can we as educators, lay the entire blame for poor schools and academic failures at the door of only the students themselves and their families?  Not until we recognize that we need to change our thinking of "how we do education" will we improve the system.  Certainly, charter schools and destroying public education as we know it is not the answer, nor is it realistic.  But, we must recognize the problems for what they are - that our society is continuing to support a system that rewards the rich and privileged, but ignores those in need. 
     One of the first steps in my opinion, is getting rid of protections for teachers who are not teaching for the right reasons (which the union protects voraciously) and allow our urban schools to attract teachers who want to be there, but at the same time will be paid competitively.  This would, hopefully, encourage more minority teachers into teaching and bring some of our best experienced teachers where they are needed the most.  Just putting the teachers in place is not enough, however.   We must support using specific methodology that will inspire and engage our students and create safe places for them to gain meaningful academic opportunities.
The status quo is unacceptable.  Defending is it inexcusable - let's change the conversation to one that supports what is best for our students, not just our teachers.

Management and Social Skills

   In my readings this week, the focus was on behavior management and social skills instruction in the urban classroom.  According to not only these articles, but teacher conversations, these are the most frustrating to many. It is apparent that the problem lies not just in our students, but in ourselves.  We, as teachers, spend little time treating the cause and most of our energy on the symptoms.  Students want (and are in many cases) used to structure - quite the opposite of what many teachers believe.  I often hear comments from other teachers, like "well, that student has no guidance at home, has no rules, etc."  That may actually be the opposite of what is really going on at home.  Some students are used to very direct and strict rules and they experience the opposite of that in their classrooms.  Often the intentions of good teachers are to give students freedom (hence, make them like us) and yet, what students are used to is knowing what is expected of them and having very specific instruction.
    Now, don't get me wrong - the constructivist approach to teaching is not at odds with this.  In order to be engaged and motivated, our students do need to have input  and take responsibility for their own learning.  However, when it comes to the structure of the classroom, students need to know the limits and boundaries.  This cannot be left up to them - they crave these in order to feel secure.  Once secure, then students can direct their energy to their learning and not to wondering what the expected behavior is and how to negotiate the procedures of the classroom.