April 2012
30 posts
4 tags
What, if any, is the role of chaos in the classroom?
5 tags
A monopoly on Truth is dangerous if we are concerned with the well being of humanity. #education #edreform
6 tags
0149: Questions on Equality in #Education
#race #class #SOSchat #occupyedu
I am becoming aware, brutally aware, that my experiences in public education are not common. There are people who see public education as a mildly problematic institution that generally does a good job of providing children with a basic education. There are others who find public education more than satisfactory. Children are treated in a humane manner and even...
6 tags
0148:
Today I saw students with their eyes as bright as they can only be when the souls they house are doing exactly what they’ve been prepared to do. They were perky, focused, and engaged. They were in their element. But, should testing really be their element?
5 tags
0147: The intoxicating power of the Test
#satire #SOSchat #education #Race2Equity #edreform
Today, I’m drunk with power. I am a test administrator, I mean a Test Administrator (proper nouns are better for powerful people). I am the tip of a finger on the hand of an arm of the State that swears on Holy things that it is just. I command students to focus on their tests, not to talk, not to sleep, to fill in bubbles and prove their...
5 tags
0146: Education, Big Words, and a Concerted Effort
#education #SOSchat #edreform
I have, perhaps, sullied our interaction by not offering you a window into my classroom. I’ve offered the impression of looking into other windows and unfairly describing the experiences of others. I do not wish to ever make light of the successful and hopeful experiences of others.
Unfortunately, some points cannot be made, in order to be clarified,...
4 tags
0145: A Part of the #Education Conversation
#learning #SOSchat #communication
If one school is a testing factory, it’s one too many. If one student is trained instead of supported as a learner, it’s one student too many. I’ve not visited many places where shadows of the third world, or even the third world itself, did not loom silently a few blocks or miles away. The educational response to a growing third world, class...
3 tags
Dear readers,
I am grateful for contributions and discussion regarding this blog. Criticism, support, dissent, dialogue, and so forth, are all deeply enlightening and helpful, for me, at least. It helps me to gain perspective, focus my story, and consider some redirection in places. We all have unique experiences and must work to frame them all within their appropriate contexts. Thank you for...
8 tags
0144: #Classroom Management in Contexts of...
#education #SOSchat #k12chat
Classroom management styles vary from teacher to teacher, school to school, and often from socio-economic class to class. Before delving a little more into that, I think we make a grave mistake if we try to segment “classroom management” from “learning” or how the class is run. In a perfect world they all work in concert to create a lovely...
Put Your Pencils Down: Being Bored →
adventuresinlearning:
polygonal-lasso:
One of the persistent behavioral issues that I’m seeing here in the high school is really simple: Our kids don’t know how to be bored.
By this, I don’t mean that I’m excusing boring teachers. Nor do I presume to know why the kids have this problem, as much as I’d like to attribute it to things…
I agree and disagree with you on this. Your assessment of...
teachinglearning asked: In terms of your classroom management post, what is, in your opinion, a positive, or at least not a "dark" scheme of how to manage a classroom in a high poverty school? Can you explain what harsh classroom management practices are in your opinion and why these are not beneficial to learning in the classroom? Also an alternative to the harshness that you know is successful. Trying to...
6 tags
0143: About my practice, radicalism, and strong...
#education #revolution #SOSchat
Alinsky teaches that generalizations are dangerous. One who speaks in generalizations is often distant from the practice of which they speak. I agree. For my own sake I will write in specifics as best I can, and I will forego editing for flow today. Let’s keep the thoughts raw.
I teach and have taught in what would be considered the third world of the...
5 tags
0070: On #Writing, Making Noise, and the Scent of...
#education #literacy #revolution
Originally posted January 2012, but fitting for today
I was told once that we (the Royal We I suppose) write to know what we think. Over time I’ve found this to be true. But, beyond that I’ve found that what I think is inconsistent. Not terribly inconsistent, just inconsistent enough to make me unsure of what exactly is going on within this old...
5 tags
0142: #Teaching for #Revolution
#education #occupyedu #ctchat #occupy
Why teach critical thinking of not for revolution? Revolution is change, transformation, innovation. It’s a concept that is inevitable if people learn to think, learn to learn, learn that they are the creators of culture. Critical thinking embraces the individual power to create, collaborate, question, reinvent, and so forth. When we teach or help...
7 tags
0141: A Critique of Classroom Management
#education #SOSchat
#occupyedu #discipline
I will not attempt bore you with a classical critique of classroom management as if it were some brilliantly constructed concept, nor will I try to awaken you to any revolutionary idea— though I can only rejoice if you awaken even more than you already are. I will, however, discuss the concept and language of “classroom management” as we...
6 tags
0140: #Classroom Management, General Mayhem, and...
#education #SOSchat #k12chat
Last time, we discussed some of the theory behind classroom management. It was discussed with the understanding that it has come to mean various things to multiple people, but is best understood, for our purposes, as a way of fostering a generally organized environment, free of confusion, so learning can take place. In this second installment of...
March 2012
29 posts
7 tags
0139: "Liberty and Justice for Some?" she asked.
#education #TrayvonMartin #SOSchat #RaceintheUS
A 7th grader asked me: “Why do we have to say the Pledge of Allegiance everyday?”
“Why do you ask?” I said.
“I don’t know what it means really. I don’t think anybody does. And, the part I kind of understand doesn’t really seem true for everyone.”
“Which part is that?”
...
4 tags
0138: #Testing and the Pity of a Dehumanizing...
#education #edreform #SOSchat
I am not pro-testing. I view education as a humanist activity. You know, supporting our fellow human being. Mass Testing does nothing to support our fellow human being. Testing is forcefully imposed upon us. It tears us apart, and transforms teaching and learning into terror, stress, and mind-numbing test prep. Mass testing has changed the face of education. It was...
5 tags
0137: The Test, Threats, and a Malaise Sandwich
#education #testing #SOSchat #bullshit
This morning students were herded into the gym to be “motivated” and reminded of the importance of the test and the impending week of extreme test prep. In faculty meetings there has been talk of being positive and trying to encourage students to do there best. Propaganda, but generally non-threatening. When my students made it back to class I...
7 tags
0093: They were "taught" or "helped to learn"?...
#education #revolution #SOSchat
February 2012
Teaching is quickly being reduced to a process of depositing information in the minds of our students for the simple purpose of them regurgitation the info onto a bubble sheet. Good teaching = good test scores. Good test scores = caring teacher. A = B and B = FU. We’re in this terrible cycle of educational propaganda that tugs at the hearts,...
