Robert Samuels
"From homeless child to star student"
Washington Post
April 1, 2011
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/from_homeless_child_to_star_student/2011/04/01/AF7IiFKC_story.html?wprss=rss_educationTopic: Educational Success
In a depressing sea of whining and complaining from all sides, it was a nice breath of fresh air to read a story of success and achievement.
Key Points: “Life is analogous to a wrestling match,’’ reflected Michael, a three-sport athlete, trombonist, student government president and straight-A student at Springbrook High School in Silver Spring. “Everything you do is based on preparation. What the outcome will be is based on hard work. . . . A lot of your success is determined by heart.’’
Success is not something the government can mandate or guarantee artificially. You don’t need a government program in order to work hard and succeed. My worry is that we have too many entitlement programs which actually encourage people to just “stay on the dole” and never reach beyond what they think is possible. I like this story; it’s an example of what makes our country great.
.
Relevance: Successful educational programs have to acknowledge the responsibility of students to seek a quality education and work hard rather than expect their education to just happen automatically. Students play a key role, if not the most important role in education. Attitude.
Showing posts with label inner city schools. Show all posts
Showing posts with label inner city schools. Show all posts
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Saving a school with golf
"Golf Helps Kids Instill Drive to Succeed," by Erin Allday
June 24 2009 in the SF Chronicle
http://articles.sfgate.com/2009-06-24/bay-area/17208204_1_golf-facility-first-tee-new-golf
I really love this story. The World Golf Association (in partnership with the PGA, LPGA and other groups) created First Tee in 1997 to use the game of golf to positively impact the lives of school children. In particular, disadvantaged youth who would otherwise have no access to this sport are being given the opportunity to play golf and learn life lessons while doing so. The mission of First Tee is as follows:
To impact the lives of young people by providing learning facilities and educational programs that promote character-development and life-enhancing values through the game of golf. Our goal is to provide the golf learning facilities and the experience that will enable kids from every walk of life to partake of a game that teaches values for life and which can be played for a lifetime.
This story is about the program at Visitacion Valley Middle School in San Francisco (located in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the city). The Program is building a driving range, chipping and putting greens at the school-- a first in the country. Four years ago students were introduced to the program at a local golf course and now the golf course is coming to them. The school has said that participation has been overwhelming, not just from this school but from other schools in neighboring areas who have participated as well.
The chairman of the SF First Tee chapter said,""We're using golf as a vehicle, so we can instill in them core values. It's one thing to play golf, but it's quite another to be a constructive human being." I think this kind of community involvement in the schools is awesome. I want to do a follow up story on this because my sense is the impact on this school is going to be really positive. This story is relevant to all of us as educators and community members, who are trying to help kids succeed in life. The cost to the state of California = $0. The $300,000 price tag is being picked up entirely through private donations.
June 24 2009 in the SF Chronicle
http://articles.sfgate.com/2009-06-24/bay-area/17208204_1_golf-facility-first-tee-new-golf
I really love this story. The World Golf Association (in partnership with the PGA, LPGA and other groups) created First Tee in 1997 to use the game of golf to positively impact the lives of school children. In particular, disadvantaged youth who would otherwise have no access to this sport are being given the opportunity to play golf and learn life lessons while doing so. The mission of First Tee is as follows:
To impact the lives of young people by providing learning facilities and educational programs that promote character-development and life-enhancing values through the game of golf. Our goal is to provide the golf learning facilities and the experience that will enable kids from every walk of life to partake of a game that teaches values for life and which can be played for a lifetime.
This story is about the program at Visitacion Valley Middle School in San Francisco (located in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the city). The Program is building a driving range, chipping and putting greens at the school-- a first in the country. Four years ago students were introduced to the program at a local golf course and now the golf course is coming to them. The school has said that participation has been overwhelming, not just from this school but from other schools in neighboring areas who have participated as well.
The chairman of the SF First Tee chapter said,""We're using golf as a vehicle, so we can instill in them core values. It's one thing to play golf, but it's quite another to be a constructive human being." I think this kind of community involvement in the schools is awesome. I want to do a follow up story on this because my sense is the impact on this school is going to be really positive. This story is relevant to all of us as educators and community members, who are trying to help kids succeed in life. The cost to the state of California = $0. The $300,000 price tag is being picked up entirely through private donations.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Why Bill Gates is Wrong on Class Size
Anthony Cody
"Why Bill Gates is Wrong on Class Size"
Article is found in "The Answer Sheet" Column by Valerie Strauss
Washington Post
Posted Online 3-05-11
URL: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/anthony-cody/why-bill-gates-is-wrong-on-cla.html
Anthony Cody was a middle school science teacher for 18 years in inner-city Oakland and now serves as a mentor/coach for new science teachers. Though he appreciates Bill Gates attempting to help the education problems, Mr. Cody sees Gates' logic flawed in some areas - especially when it comes to more impoverished areas. I know we have talked about class size before and about whether the research shows if it makes a difference, but in poorer areas class size does seem to make a huge difference.
Cody's basic points are: 1) Gates wants to put 4 or 5 more students in the classes of the top 25% of teachers and then pay them more. Cody says there is no reliable metric to measure the best teachers and there is no money in the budgets to give them an increase. 2) The good teachers are leaving, so the problem is not getting rid of the ineffective teachers, but keeping the good ones. 3) This to me is a HUGE point. Cody says when he was teaching he had 32 students in each class with 160 papers to grade almost every day. Adding 4 or 5 students per class would only increase an overwhelming caseload. Also about a third of the kids in his classes suffer from post-traumatic syndrome because of severe home living conditions. And adding more kids to the classroom will cause more teachers to leave as shown by over half of his mentored teachers are leaving because of stress and working conditions.
For people like Jeff who want to teach in Portland city schools, the issues he will have to deal with will be more intense already without having to add more stress to his job and the school district not being able to pay him more because of cutbacks. Gates' suggestions are another case of a non-educator having well meaning, but ineffective ideas. The irony of the situation is Gates' kids go to a private school where the class sizes are probably smaller. Cody states most private schools of the wealthy have about half the class size of neighboring public schools. Also, according to Cody, Mr. Gates' math does not work regarding how much money would be saved - possibly only $25,000 per school! Incorrect ideas from non-education people is really starting to frustrate me - in a good way. My suggestion is we as new teachers need to educate the non-teachers, because if we do not do it we will be the ones facing the situations Cody points out and it will not just be us who suffer for it but the kids and society as well.
"Why Bill Gates is Wrong on Class Size"
Article is found in "The Answer Sheet" Column by Valerie Strauss
Washington Post
Posted Online 3-05-11
URL: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/anthony-cody/why-bill-gates-is-wrong-on-cla.html
Anthony Cody was a middle school science teacher for 18 years in inner-city Oakland and now serves as a mentor/coach for new science teachers. Though he appreciates Bill Gates attempting to help the education problems, Mr. Cody sees Gates' logic flawed in some areas - especially when it comes to more impoverished areas. I know we have talked about class size before and about whether the research shows if it makes a difference, but in poorer areas class size does seem to make a huge difference.
Cody's basic points are: 1) Gates wants to put 4 or 5 more students in the classes of the top 25% of teachers and then pay them more. Cody says there is no reliable metric to measure the best teachers and there is no money in the budgets to give them an increase. 2) The good teachers are leaving, so the problem is not getting rid of the ineffective teachers, but keeping the good ones. 3) This to me is a HUGE point. Cody says when he was teaching he had 32 students in each class with 160 papers to grade almost every day. Adding 4 or 5 students per class would only increase an overwhelming caseload. Also about a third of the kids in his classes suffer from post-traumatic syndrome because of severe home living conditions. And adding more kids to the classroom will cause more teachers to leave as shown by over half of his mentored teachers are leaving because of stress and working conditions.
For people like Jeff who want to teach in Portland city schools, the issues he will have to deal with will be more intense already without having to add more stress to his job and the school district not being able to pay him more because of cutbacks. Gates' suggestions are another case of a non-educator having well meaning, but ineffective ideas. The irony of the situation is Gates' kids go to a private school where the class sizes are probably smaller. Cody states most private schools of the wealthy have about half the class size of neighboring public schools. Also, according to Cody, Mr. Gates' math does not work regarding how much money would be saved - possibly only $25,000 per school! Incorrect ideas from non-education people is really starting to frustrate me - in a good way. My suggestion is we as new teachers need to educate the non-teachers, because if we do not do it we will be the ones facing the situations Cody points out and it will not just be us who suffer for it but the kids and society as well.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)