- If President Obama called me...OMG! The first five things I would recommend:
- Take away the private donations to public schools as it tends to put schools in affluent areas at an unfair advantage.
- Keep Tenure but make it easier to get rid of atrocious teachers
- Require all schools to evaluate all teachers with peer reviews and student evaluations. This could also lead to "bonus" checks for teachers who consistently score well.
- Allow public schools to have more freedom! Give schools creative control so that they can adjust to the type of students in their community and minimize the amount of required standardized testing
- Provide a slight increase in teacher salaries. Just enough to motivate young people to get into the profession but not so much of an increase that people want to teach just for a fat paycheck.
- What has been most meaningful about Ravitch for me was this new outlook on the education system. It gave me the chance to freely question the institution that I work in. As a student of color who attended both a city public school and a affluent private school I am all too aware of the severe inequalities in education. I have always been passionate about educational equality but have always felt like any type of fix was so elusive. The problems, the politics, the money involved in our education system has put our students and future generation at risk. I too have been caught up in the next big fix for the American education system and after reading I felt more informed but I still feel as though there is no hope for the future. All the problems in our culture and the way we "value" education are too large to really address.
- I have always thought of being educator as such a powerful position. Given the current state of American education I realize that at this point I can only really control what happens in my classroom. I can do my best to work on being a better teacher everyday and make sure my students know that I am not only there to assign homework and teach them about literature but I am also there to help them develop life skills that will help them long after they have left my classroom. I have attempted to move beyond my classroom and integrate multi-cultural events, diverse literature, etc. but I have been met with some resistance. I've been told, "that is a great idea" but never receive the help or guidance to fully implement it. I was able to jump start my Sociology class after initially being denied by speaking directly with my principal about my goals and the significance of that class on the Cal Campus. Although I often feel powerless beyond my classroom I will continue to find ways to bring students together and challenge myself and students.
- English Associations:
- http://www.le.ac.uk/engassoc/: This is one of the first associations created in the UK. Their goal is to further knowledge, understanding, and enjoyment of the English language. It also hopes to foster good teaching practices.
- http://www.nycea.org/New_York_College_English_Association/Welcome.html:This New York association caught my eye because of some of their conferences (i.e. Literature and Film, Literature and Evolution, and Ethnicity and Literature)
- Over the next three years:
- I would like to see/attend the following: a. Conference on innovative technology and classroom application b. a museum that displays digital artwork c. observe a focus group with teenagers about their beliefs about the pros/cons of technology. d. The History of Computers Museum. e. I would like to interview a teacher who is anti technology in the classroom
- I would like to read the following: a. "White Privilege: Essential Readings About the Other Side of Racism" b. "Kindred" c. "Women Hollering Creek" d. "Hunger Games" e. Fifty Shades of Grey <-- JUST KIDDING!! "Hope on a Tightrope"
- Still want to investigate the following: a. The Journal of Teaching English with Technology: http://www.tewtjournal.org/ b. English Journal: http://www.ncte.org/journals/ej/
- Conferences I would like to attend: a. Brave New Teachers Conference b. Youth Speaks Poetry Slam (http://youthspeaks.org/performances/)
- I would still like to see the following: a. Will Smith b. Museum for African Art in New York c. Sundance Film Festival d. People of Color Conference e. Student Diversity Leadership Conference
FINISHED....
Thanks Molly...
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ReplyDeleteEghosa I found your recommendation inspiring because they all relate to important topics in education that require an overhaul. I sometimes wonder if our president has more important topics to be concerned with because he has not in my opinion really researched the pros and cons of education reform. President Obama seems to be viewing education from one lens, “Charter”. This does not seem to be the norm of our president or maybe education reform will really be addressed in his next term. As far as feeling “powerless outside your classroom” no worries because your right you can control what goes on inside your classrooms and always remember our students are the future!
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ReplyDeleteHi Eghosa,
ReplyDeleteI also included the Hunger Games in my list! I think that dystopian novels (with interesting messages about society) are fascinating to students, especially when they are current bestsellers. Of course, one has to be careful in choosing these novels to avoid the frivolous ones (like 50 Shades of Gray, as you said)! I want to read the HG trilogy because I want to design a high school unit on dystopian literature, incorporating the Hunger Games, Never Let Me Go, and Brave New World. Why do you want to read it? Just for personal interest? Or for any teaching incentive? Either way, I urge you to consider teaching it. Someone in my cohort termed this type of book "pop fiction," and I don't think there's anything wrong with including it in a curriculum as long as it's appropriate and of sound quality (I think we can be good enough judges of that).
You express a sense of despondence when you talk about the current state of things as described by Ravitch. I can certainly relate, but after the confusion, I just felt inspired. I hope you do too. Even though I am just one teacher, and you are just one teacher, we can still impact hundreds of students and even catalyze social change by combining forces with colleagues to fight for the best interests of students. After seeing "Waiting for Superman" and realizing the additional ramifications of poor education, collaboration and activism are more important than ever, especially if we are to address the road from high school "drop-out factories" to prisons.
On a lighter note, I love the little clip at the end of your post! :)