No matter where I go across the media spectrum I constantly hear that the problems in public education are all due to the teachers. So many people remember how horrible school was for them, their teachers forcing them to do all the typical school stuff and how hateful it felt being forced to do what they didn't want to do in the first place. And as a consequence teacher bashing finds resonance.
Indeed, teachers, the spear-points of elected government school policy, get hammered for the constant punctures to each child's intellect, self-esteem and soul. Yet, how sad it is that the teachers get it in the neck when they are, especially at this time, quite powerless to do anything about the policy for which they are so crucified.
Our elected officials who make policy have been jumping on-board the high stakes testing train for decades, for instance. However, it has been since the Good George W. Bush elevated these evaluation tools into a national standard have the electeds been in full testing mode demanding our teachers make excellent test takers out of our children, more than ever reducing the initiative of teachers within their classrooms to just about zero. But, teacher as order taker has been long in the making, pre-dating No Child Left Behind by quite some time.
My natural teaching environment is within the university as in no other level of formal learning can one engage in the learned conversation which is a life-giving force to me. But, for lots of different reasons I've been able to only stay short periods within that ethereal realm. During one spell between appointments I had the idea of teaching high school here in New York City. And so I was appointed in September of 1992 to teach Social Studies in Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn.
I was assigned four classes of ninth graders, along with one class of super-seniors. The super-seniors, those who for one reason or another remained in school at 19 or 20 years of age, slept during the class on the Principles of Government. While I loved the fact that no one disrupted the class at any time, I must admit I, who lived for studious conversation, got quite frustrated. But the greater problems were the ninth graders who were two to three grade levels below on every measure you could care to talk about.
Now, the fourteen year olds presenting the highest challenges were placed in a program called "Discovery". Discovery was an attempt to combine Communication Arts with each of the other subjects. So, my responsibility for two of the classes of ninth graders was in this program. As it turned out Discovery didn't even looked good on paper as the folks who put it together really hadn't a clue how to integrate subjects. Still, we teachers were responsible for making it work. More, and this is the point here, we were told by the supervisor of the program that we had only one semester to turn our kids around from abject academic failures to blooming academic successes, and if we didn't the Principal would terminate the program! There was not a peep from any of the program teachers for they were powerless to alter the program in ways which might have made sense, and each teacher knew they were powerless to alter the academic trajectory of their students in such a time frame, especially when these youngsters would remain within a schooling structure which created the problems in the first place. We were powerless to do anything except say, "Yes, ma'am." and soldier on.
As we all knew would happen, our program children remained failing their classes and the Program ended shortly thereafter.
At some point, it is hoped, our good citizens will get beyond their fixation on teacher bashing and take a real good look at the policies and the policymakers who are the folks ordering teachers to do their bidding for the sake of the easy sound-bite that test scores are up and therefore they should remain in office!
To see a funny, but tragic and realistic, animation demonstrating the teacher as order taker click on http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/school-turnaroundsreform/ha-funny-scary-education-conversation.html?wprss=answer-sheet
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
My Family is Killing Me!
I said to my wife, mother and son that the first blog post when I started my blog would be this: My family is killing me! With the exception of two and a half years between ages of 19 and 22, I have always been quite overweight. I must admit I did shave off about thirty pounds once the young lady who was to be my wife said she would be my wife and we began planning the wedding. However, as I got older that weight and far more settled around my face and torso until I was truly obese.
Starting in 1984 I went on a self-imposed weight reduction program which while lasting years resulted in the loss of about 70 pounds of which I gained back only 15. Still, to be really in good health, and to live longer, I need to get rid of those 15 pounds and another thirty to thirty-five.
Now, I am at an age where body fat just doesn't easily come off. And what's worse, my wife, son and mother conspire against that happening! My mother, keeping to the code of all mothers, continues saying that I should eat more although my appetite has shrung-it takes far less calories to keep up my weight than at any time before. Additionally, she will hand me a ten dollar bill and ask for me to buy candy or cookies which we all eat right as it is coming through the door. And then there is my wife who just cannot live without her sweets on the weekend. Now, because in my family there is no such thing as a small portion, ice cream is pilled high in the kinds of bowls we have for morning cereal! Candy bars, you know the very large ones, go in one perhaps two sittings. My son who loves to cook, also loves to serve pasta and pizza which he does quite frequently. Oh, and he keeps after us to always have some form of snack chips in the house.
And then there's me wanting to reduce my size so I can live as long as my mother and beyond: 94 years of age she is now. But I just do not have that kind of will power to resist the candy, the ice cream, the pasta, the cookies, the chips and all the other high carb-high fat food my family places in front of itself, nor do I have that kind of fortitute to have just one piece of candy, a small hand ful of chips or a four ounce serving of pasta: no, I was raised in a family who thought both love and long life came with giant size portions.
But, I must confess, I too conspire against myself, for if it isn't my mother, my wife or my son, it is I who will take a few dollars, motor to the supermarket and get some goody or other. In fact, I've been known to buy a can of prepared frosting, chocolate, of course, and finish it in one sitting. Recently, though, I have not been so reckless; still as long as there is money in my pocket, and a supermarket full mostly of high carb-high fat food, I will be tempted beyond endurance. Indeed, my family is killing me and I am part of that family.
Starting in 1984 I went on a self-imposed weight reduction program which while lasting years resulted in the loss of about 70 pounds of which I gained back only 15. Still, to be really in good health, and to live longer, I need to get rid of those 15 pounds and another thirty to thirty-five.
Now, I am at an age where body fat just doesn't easily come off. And what's worse, my wife, son and mother conspire against that happening! My mother, keeping to the code of all mothers, continues saying that I should eat more although my appetite has shrung-it takes far less calories to keep up my weight than at any time before. Additionally, she will hand me a ten dollar bill and ask for me to buy candy or cookies which we all eat right as it is coming through the door. And then there is my wife who just cannot live without her sweets on the weekend. Now, because in my family there is no such thing as a small portion, ice cream is pilled high in the kinds of bowls we have for morning cereal! Candy bars, you know the very large ones, go in one perhaps two sittings. My son who loves to cook, also loves to serve pasta and pizza which he does quite frequently. Oh, and he keeps after us to always have some form of snack chips in the house.
And then there's me wanting to reduce my size so I can live as long as my mother and beyond: 94 years of age she is now. But I just do not have that kind of will power to resist the candy, the ice cream, the pasta, the cookies, the chips and all the other high carb-high fat food my family places in front of itself, nor do I have that kind of fortitute to have just one piece of candy, a small hand ful of chips or a four ounce serving of pasta: no, I was raised in a family who thought both love and long life came with giant size portions.
But, I must confess, I too conspire against myself, for if it isn't my mother, my wife or my son, it is I who will take a few dollars, motor to the supermarket and get some goody or other. In fact, I've been known to buy a can of prepared frosting, chocolate, of course, and finish it in one sitting. Recently, though, I have not been so reckless; still as long as there is money in my pocket, and a supermarket full mostly of high carb-high fat food, I will be tempted beyond endurance. Indeed, my family is killing me and I am part of that family.
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