What I wasn't taught in school about the Pilgrims

Until I read this blog article which includes exerpts right out of William Bradford's journal, I had no idea the Pilgrims plight depended more on their system of organization than anything else. It's a short article and I am interested to hear what everyone has to say about it.

It really is amazing what is left out of our history, social studies and economics studies based on the political leanings of the teachers that taught me.

I thought Jeff might find this article fascinating especially. Enjoy!

Jealousy Amongst Colleagues because of Reported Test Scores (Jeff, Topic Twenty-One)

Jason Felch
Singled-out LA Unified Teacher Shares Skills With Colleagues (http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-broadous-teachers-20110403,0,4961288.story?page=1)
LA Times
March 18th, 2011

Summary: More or less a carefully constructed propaganda piece by the LA Times meant to provide proof of the value of the value-added analysis (which they created). The highlights: This guy is a good teacher (probably true), the other teachers were jealous and hated him for "winning" at the test taking teaching (probably true), and, see because of these stupid unions and what they have done to our budget, this teacher is going to be fired.

Key Points: 1) A defense of the value-added analysis, 2) The test creates issues between colleagues, 3) The budgets are messed up, 4) Good teachers collaborate.

Intended Audience: Those who hate on the value-added analysis

Relevance: This is a very interesting take on the divide between unions, teachers, and testing, and what problems said divide creates in the working environment.

Notes From an Accidental Teacher

Article Author name(s): Carol Ann Tomlinson
Title of article: Notes From an Accidental Teacher
Title of journal: Educational Leadership
Date of publication: December 2010/ January 2011
Volume of the journal: 68
Issue number of the journal: 4
Article Page numbers: pp. 22-26

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/dec10/vol68/num04/Notes-from-an-Accidental-Teacher.aspx

Summary: Forty year veteran teacher never had an itch to teach until she stumbled on a rural teaching job by chance. Over the years, this “accidental teacher” considers five beliefs to be useful in the positive structure of an educational system. Find a place that fits you: Find an environment that nurtures fearless practice and discovery. Work in schools that mirror your own development and value your goals and creativity. The place you teach at will have large influence over the type of teacher you become. Understand teaching as a calling: callings challenge us to be more than we think we can be and to draw on capacities we didn't quite know we had. Effective educators connect content and kids; they dignify whom and what they teach by making the act of learning dynamic and compelling. Know that you don’t know: The best teachers I have known are humbled by how much more they need to learn and seek professional development opportunities. Associate yourself with quality: Develop friendships with colleagues who set high standards and value those who constantly remind you of what excellence in the classroom looks like. Develop a keen sense of what quality looks like and expect quality from students and finally, Generate your own energy: All teachers feel they work hard, what makes the difference in the work ethic of high-quality teachers is that their work is regenerative; they draw energy from what they do. Finding this energetic balance of finding task is in itself what Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi (1990) calls “flow”. Passions outside of the classroom will help to fuel a teacher’s sense of balance, and will re-energize the teacher.

Relevance: I loved these main points because they are insightful and not often voiced among the educational community. As new teachers it’s helpful for us to examine the most commonly passed advice, but it’s also useful to utilize the advice that may be “outside of the box” but especially effective.

The real qualities of teacher excellence

Joanne Yatvin
"The real qualities of teacher excellence"Washington Post
March 17, 2011

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/the_real_qualities_of_teacher_excellence/2011/03/16/ABqodRh_blog.html?wprss=rss_education

Topic: Teacher Excellence

What makes a good teacher?

Key Points: This is a nice list of the qualities of successful teachers. Although test scores are not on the list, there has to be a place for them in some form. The fact is, without passing entrance exams, basic skills tests or doing well on college placement exams, none of us would have made it past High School…that is, as far as formal education goes. To not actually focus on preparing students to handle tests or acknowledge that this specific skill has some importance is a smidge naïve in my view.

Relevance: Discovering the qualities and techniques of successful teachers is key to success.

Ironic Extremes: Lauding and Bashing Teachers

Valerie Strauss
"Ironic Extremes: Lauding and bashing teachers"Washington Post
March 17, 2011

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/ironic_extremes_lauding_and_bashing_teachers/2011/03/17/ABlCnql_blog.html?wprss=rss_education
Topic: Teacher Motivation

More on the issue of judging and measuring what makes a quality teacher.

Key Points: This article does make a good point. As a pilot, I never had someone who was not a pilot, judge my performance. I never had someone who was not a pilot determine what my syllabus would be during flight training. Everyone is good at being a 20/20 hindsight armchair quarterback, but no one wants an armchair quarterback actually making the play calls. On the other hand, if your aircraft does not adhere to the flight plan or the football team consistently loses, well, don’t expect to be sticking with that career for too long.

I don’t mind being held to a set professional standard but, that standard must be set by someone who understands and has experience in the educational profession. And if the outsiders do not trust the professionals, well, then find someone you do…and then trust them.

I am still trying to understand the actual role and priorities of the teacher’s unions too. I hear loud and clear what they say but... I am posting this political satire video here to show some of the frustration that I have already witnessed from parents, teachers and tax payers. The video would be funny if it was not eerily similar to a conversation I overheard recently while eating lunch in an undisclosed teacher’s lounge.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kxc6kzH-uI
Relevance: This article highlights the challenge of this profession and I can see why some folks question sticking with it or even entering into it.

Midwest union battles highlight debate over improving schools

Washington Post
March 3, 2011
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/02/AR2011030203014.html?wprss=rss_education
Topic: Improving education
The article is about the battle going on in Wisconsin which is basically between Unions/Democrats and Republicans leaving teachers seemingly in the crossfire. The article describes the positions of both sides in that situation.

Key Points: Measuring a teacher’s effectiveness based only on test scores is problematic. Although I agree some form of standardized testing is appropriate to assess student progress, using this information to compare teachers doesn’t tell the whole story.
On the other hand, it would be nice to put the power to hire and fire teachers squarely in the hands of the school principals. Ineffective teachers should not be allowed to hide behind a union or tenure rules.
The argument which funnels more money to private schools via vouchers or some form of allowing students to choose their school seems valid too. If you don’t like the product of your local school, you should be allowed to take your business elsewhere. In the long run, it seems competition would lead to efficient administration and premiums paid for effective teachers.


Posted By Doug K

Slam Poetry on What Teachers Make (Jeff, Topic Seven)

Taylor Mali, What Teachers Make (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxsOVK4syxU)
Social media viral video
October 24, 2006

Summary: A controversial bit of slam poetry denigrating those who judge teachers as a professional class. His basic argument is that teachers are much more than they are given credit for.

Intended Audience: Those who enjoy slam poetry, teachers, those who judge teachers

Key Points: 1) Teachers are awesome, 2) Those who disagree are, well, not awesome

Relevance: Regardless of the merits of the theoretical framework Mali is working within, it is clear that knows how to engage people. Something is to be said about an educator who knows how to engage, challenge, and care about his students. Judging from his bit, he would be a tough teacher (he taught in New York City for an extended period of time), but I would rather have a teacher who cares and is passionate than one who is not. This is not a particularly "deep" topic in any regard, but it is a useful example of a number of admirable qualities (and perhaps undesirable techniques)--certainly useful to think about and enjoy.

Training Better Teachers (Jeff, Article Two)

Camille Esch
"Training better Teachers"
Los Angeles Times
November 16th, 2010

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-esch-teacher-training-20101116,0,4320785.story

Summary:

This op-ed piece points the finger at teacher preparation programs for the country's education issues. The author claims that most teacher preparation programs are "long on theory and short on practical training in such essentials as classroom management and how to actually teach specific subjects." She proposes that the successes and failures of the graduates of teacher prep programs should be monitored, thereby providing data on the institutions from which they graduated. She does not, however, provide a practical method for doing so. One method she proposes is measuring whether or not they obtain jobs and for how long they maintain them--two things that are affected more by politics and budget concerns than they are by teacher preparation. The second method she proposes for measuring teacher preparation is polling of an institution's graduates. However, I too find fault in this method as it is entirely subjective. But this opens up the proverbial can of worms: how exactly can we objectively measure teacher preparation?

Intended audience: General Public

Key Points: 1) America's problem with education is that we have bad teachers; 2) We have bad teachers because we have bad teacher preparation programs; 3) The way to fix this is to subjectively measure the preparation of new teachers, use this as a means to determine a program's effectiveness, "and if, year after year, the data show dismal results for particular teacher preparation programs, then it's fair for the state to shut them down, as U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has said should be done."

Relevance: Of the articles I have read there appears to be a developing theme: teachers are the bad guys, it's their fault that kids won't learn, etc. It feels as though the actual structure of our education system, the paradigm within which we force our kids, is beyond reproach. It will be interesting to deconstruct this point of view together as the course moves forward.

Testing and Teacher Evaluation (Jeff, Article One)

Sue Horton
"There's teaching, and there's learning"
L.A. Times
August 19th, 2010

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-horton-schools-20100819,0,1170621.story

Summary:

Topic: A defense of standardized testing and teacher evaluation based on test scores.

The article begins with an anecdotal reflection on the writer's educational experiences--particularly regarding the question of "what is a good teacher?" Ironically, she brings up a slew of things that have nothing to do with learning standardized curriculum. The article further goes on to defend the use of the "value-added" analysis performed by the Los Angeles Unified School District (the teacher ranking system we discussed in Learning Communities). A link to the study can be found here: http://projects.latimes.com/value-added/.

Intended audience: The article sounds as though it is addressed to teachers and others who disagree with the public release of the study.

Key Points: -Testing is necessary to prepare students to succeed.
-Evaluating teachers through their student's test scores is fair and justified.

Relevance: This should prove to be a relevant counterpoint to the debate over standardized testing and curriculum and how they relate to teacher evaluation.