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February 2009
Vol 6 No 2
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Teachers.Net Gazette Vol.6 No.2 February 2009

Cover Story by Alfie Kohn
Why Self-Discipline Is Overrated: The (Troubling) Theory and Practice of Control from Within
To inquire into what underlies the idea of self-discipline is to uncover serious misconceptions about motivation and personality, controversial assumptions about human nature, and disturbing implications regarding how things are arranged in a classroom or a society.


Harry & Rosemary Wong: Effective Teaching
To Be an Effective Teacher
Simply Copy and Paste

Columns
»Do You Have a Student Teacher?Hal Portner
»Test-taking Skills Made EasySue Gruber
»Teaching Children Refusal SkillsLeah Davies
»How to Be ConsistentMarvin Marshall
»The Busy Educator's Monthly FiveMarjan Glavac
»Dear Barbara - Advice for SubsBarbara Pressman
»What Side of the Box are YOU On?Kioni Carter
»Global Travel GuruJosette Bonafino

Articles
»Teacher Study Groups: Taking the “Risk” out of “At-Risk”Bill Page
»Can Anyone Learn to Draw?Tim Newlin
»The Heart of Mathematical ThinkingLaura Candler
»Finding Free Art Materials in Your CommunityMarilyn J. Brackney
»The Downside of Good Test ScoresAlan Haskvitz
»February 2009 Writing PromptsJames Wayne
»In The Middle School (poem)James Wayne
»Using Photographs To Inspire Writing IVHank Kellner
»Teacher Performance AssessmentPanamalai R. Guruprasad
»How To Help Victims Of Bullying: Advice For Parents & EducatorsKathy Noll
»Unwilling Student Meets Unwavering Teacher Lauren Romano
»Notes from The JungleJohn Price
»Lead the Class - Teachers as Leaders John Sweeting
»Opposing Views of a Post-Racial SocietyRoland Laird
»Who Really Needs Four Years of Math and Science? Steve A. Davidson

Features
»Apple Seeds: Inspiring QuotesBarb Stutesman
»Today Is... Daily CommemorationRon Victoria
»The Lighter Side of Teaching
»Teacher Blogs Showcase
»Carol Goodrow’s “Healthy-Ever-After” Children’s Books
»Printable Worksheets & Teaching Aids
»Memo to the New Secretary of Education and
John Stossel: American students are NOT stupid
»Lessons, Resources and Theme Activities: February 2009
»All of the Presidents in Under 2 Minutes!, Needle Sized Art, I Am a Teacher!, How It’s Made: Copy paper, and If My Nose Was Runnin’ Money
»Live on Teachers.Net: February 2009
»T-Netters Share Favorite Recipes
»Technology in the Art Classroom
»Newsdesk: Events & Opportunities for Teachers


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Cover Story by Alfie Kohn

Effective Teaching by Harry & Rosemary Wong

Contributors this month: Alfie Kohn, Sue Gruber, Kioni Carter, Marvin Marshall, , Marjan Glavac, , Hal Portner, Leah Davies, Barbara Pressman, Tim Newlin, Bill Page, James Wayne, Hank Kellner, Josette Bonafino, Marilyn J. Brackney, Barb Stutesman, Ron Victoria, Panamalai R. Guruprasad, Alan Haskvitz, Kathy Noll, Lauren Romano, John Price, John Sweeting, Laura Candler, Roland Laird, Steve A. Davidson, and YENDOR.

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IMHO - Educators Speaking Up

Teachers.Net Community
Discussion


Memo to the New Secretary of Education and
John Stossel: American students are NOT stupid


Two educators take on controversial topics:
A memo to the new Secretary of Education on how to re-design American schools and a response to John Stossel: "American students are NOT stupid!"

Teachers.Net Community
Regular Feature in the Gazette
February 1, 2008
Memo to the New Secretary of Education
Posted by L. Swilley on the Teachers.Net Politics Board

Considering particularly our peculiar American disregard or distrust of any education but what might produce the means of making money - we should find it amazing that the current curricula still include History, Literature, Sociology, Art and any of the extra-curricular activities, especially sports, none of which immediately or even remotely prepare the student for any world of work beyond the field of education itself, the domain of the teacher.

When we further consider that these subjects and activities themselves are hardly remembered at all by any student beyond his need of their facts for terminal exams, we wonder how it is possible that such subjects continue to be required. The very teachers, the intellectual models for the students, have forgotten most of what they have learned in any subject other than the one each teaches, this underlining the enormous time- and money-waste on learning what will not be remembered and cannot serve to enhance the competence of the worker.

Yet we continue to require these subjects, filling our classrooms with resistant students and building more stately mansions of schools with the apparent belief that endless elaboration of the "physical plants" will fool the public and make them believe, against all common sense, that material improvements constitute educational advance.

One might note that the American public does not really care what the schools do; the public dares not disturb an institution that provides baby-sitting services - in high schools, zoo-keeping services - while they absent themselves in the felicity of their workday; the more the subjects required, the longer the school-day extended by more after-school activities, the less time the parents need deal with the children at home.

If the new Secretary of Education designate really wants to change the American educational system for the better, he will use his available funds to persuade state and local districts to do things like:

1) make any subject beyond reading, writing, speaking, simply enumerating and the knowledge of rights and duties of the citizen, should be made a high-school *elective*, the student and his parents deciding which subjects are to be taken and from which teachers;

2) abandon any new construction or refurbishing that is purchased at the expense of improvement of teachers (Ask any student: would he not rather be taught in a boxcar by the best teacher he has ever had than by a poorer one in the Taj Mahal?);

3) stop moving students by the meaningless category of *grade* or age; instead, place every student in regular or remedial classes or tutorials, according to his competence in the particular subject (this is desperately needed for the students learning to read, write, speak, and enumerate );

4) require every principal to visit every classroom regularly, evaluating the teacher there, not by judging the teacher's dress or her bulletin board, but by reacting as a student might to the teacher's knowledge and love of subject, her infectious enthusiasm for learning and other serious and important aspects of teacher-competence;

5) make it a requirement rather than a crime for every teacher to remove from his/her class any student who is continuously disruptive, thus stealing from willing students their right to learn;

6) stop the tyranny of meaningless certification of teachers, freeing principals to choose anyone, on probation, who indicates he/she will be competent to teach;

7) encourage (with supplementary funds for their budgets) those principals and their districts who "take the hit" of reduced per-capita funds when they readily expel students for the welfare of the group;

8) financially encourage teachers unions to establish and publish - as other unions establish and publish - a graded estimate of the competence of the teachers they represent. etc.

L. Swilley

Article continued on next page - John Stossel: American students are NOT stupid

If you spot a post on one of the chatboards that you think should appear in a future IMHO, use the "Share" button inside each chatboard post to email it to the Gazette editor with IMHO in the subject line. If it is a Teachers.Net mailring message that impresses you as an exemplary one, forward the email to the same address. You don't have to agree with the opinion stated; submitting simply means that you think it worthy of others' attention.



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