That post was something that I posted on my newspaper's website about a
district adopting a new math program. Most of the people who read that
post are not teachers and thus are most likely not familiar with Harry
Wong. I am not a huge fan of one particular person's methods when it
comes to classroom management (or any teaching method), but I do take
bits and pieces of everything I learn and try to make it my own. I do
agree with the comments about professors, but as a music teacher, I
was thankfully able to study with professors who were successful
performing arts teachers at the K-12 level at some point. If I want to
get into a music masters program, I have to have 3-5 years of teaching
under my belt and send in a videotape of my conducting. If I want to
get a doctorate in music education, I have to have a strong record of
accomplishment in K-12 education.

I am just so tired of principals/districts adopting all of these new
programs as their solution to low test scores. I have taught in two
schools with struggling test scores, which are in heavily minority and
socioeconomically disadvantaged areas. Because of that, I have seen my
music program and others at similar schools almost destroyed because of
the adoption of such programs, which are now starting to eat into
elective time. When I go into the teacher's lounge, we don't talk
about how we can get John and Keisha to get this or that concept
better. The conversations are usually issues involving student
behavior. We can do all of the whole language, inquiry math, creative
spelling, AVID, block scheduling, Kagan, charter school, Thinking
Maps, differentiation, single gender, International Baccalaureate,
school rezoning, etc. we want, but if we can't get those kids to
behave, it doesn't matter. Those of us who teach at-risk students know
that discipline is our biggest problem.

There are teachers out there that go into these "rough schools" and
excel. I think more resources should be put into finding out how they
do it instead of starting program after program.

On 6/27/09, tampa teacher wrote:
> On 6/26/09, CFL wrote:
>> As far as financial issues are concerned, all I can say is go to
>> www.daveramsey.com. He is on the radio on weekdays and on the
>> Fox Business Network at 8pm on weekdays.
>>
>> As far as education in general is concerned, I am going to post a
>> response I put in the comments section of my newspaper's article
>> about Seminole County adopting this new math program that is a
>> little controversial.
>>
>> ---->
>>
>> When principals get that dreaded phone call from the
>> superintendent (or the superintendent from the state DOE)
> in
>> June asking what they are going to do to improve test scores,
>> the easy (and unfortunate) answer is always to adopt some new
>> program (like block scheduling, International Baccalaureate,
>> AVID, Kagan, whole- language reading, "fuzzy math", etc.). So,
>> the next school year is spent sending a small group of teachers
>> and/or administrators to these conventions to see what
> program
>> is a good fit for the school. They come to a conclusion, and then
>> the school (or district) adopts the chosen program for the
>> following school year, claiming it to be the answer to most of
>> its problems. Then money and time is spent sending several
>> teachers to training events or bringing the training materials
>> (or people) to the school to train the staff. If things go the
>> way that they have gone in the few schools where I have taught,
>> the test scores really don't change, because the program didn't
>> address the bigger problem.
>>
>> The solution to the problem is to improve teacher effectiveness.
>> Now, I am not apart of the "it's the teachers' fault" crowd,
>> because I am a teacher myself and know that there are factors
>> involved in education that are beyond teachers' control. However,
>> if resources were spent training teachers to deal with the
>> situations they encounter more effectively instead of investing
>> in the latest fad program, I believe you would see our
> schools
>> improve. Obviously, schools with a higher percentage of at-risk
>> students (i.e. Jones, Evans, Oak Ridge and their feeders) have
>> more "beyond our control" issues, so it is important to teach
>> these teachers (myself included) how to deal with the situations
>> we encounter so that we can improve the quality of education.
>
>>
>> Harry Wong, who is a big guy in the education field, sums this
>> issue up a lot better than me. Instead of me trying to explain
>> it, I am just going to post the link to his articles about this
>> here.
>>
>> http://teachers.net/wong/MAY09/ http://teachers.net/wong/APR09/
>>
>
>
> Harry Wong never taugh inner city students. Harry Wong never
> taught with FCAT (teach the test) over his head. Harry Wong never
> taught at-risk students. In short, Harry Wong is like the college
> professors who teach teachers how to teach. If Harry Wong and all
> these consultants are such wonderful teachers, why did they not
> stay in teaching. I suspect that they are in the profession not to
> teach for the love of teaching, but to advance to the highest
> corporate educational level of look at me. Read my book.
>
> There is an old saying I remember when I first started teaching. It
> goes like this. Teachers teach. Professors are teachers who are
> tired of teaching students, and who can not or do not want to teach
> students who do not want to learn.
>
>
>>
>> On 6/25/09, tampa teacher wrote:
>>> On 6/25/09, bob wrote:
>>>> Please, tell me what is on your mind and please no negative
>>>> emotions lol
>>>>
>>>> American culture is cultureless!! If you think about the
>>>> education system the US has... American people are idiots
>>>> that think a credit card/line of credit is free money and
>>>> they'll never have to pay it back!! I mean, seriously. How
>>>> do these people go ahead and buy the house of their dreams
>>>> if they can't even afford rent! This is because since they
>>>> are kids, Americans, if they don't do well, they are
>>>> told "well, it's ok, you did your best, so here is a “A”
>>>> for effort - Good job!!" They are never told "NO". This
>>>> screws up people since the beginning. They always think
>>>> they can do whatever they want, that "at least I tried"!!
>>>> It's the same when buying a house you can't afford! "Well,
>>>> I'm bankrupt, but I did my best, I tried..." This is how
>>>> you transform the American Dream in American Nightmare! By
>>>> not telling people "NO". How about "No, you can't borrow
>>>> 500,000 to buy a house if you only make $30,000/y? Is that
>>>> Rocket Science??
>>>
>>> You are partially correct, but dd not discuss the root cause?
>>> Americans have been taught to judge success by how much money
>>> one makes; they have been taught to buy what you want and
>>> live for now; they see that sport and entainment figures get
>>> more respect than academic stars, and they have been taught
>>> that the consumer is God.
>>>
>>> Schools changed in after industrial age. When the consumer
>>> age arrived around post WWII, schools were changed to meet
>>> the wants of the students. The students and parents learned
>>> that if they +++++ enough, they can get their way.
>>>
>>> In Europe, they have consumer economies, but the schools
>>> still teach the basics by sticking to age old principles of
>>> learning. They do no pay attention to RTI, SIMS, Kagan,
>>> Differention, Cooperative Discipline, and other politically
>>> correct Buzz word programs. They do not have the publishing
>>> companies running the school testing programs.
>>>
>>> In Europe, they realize that not all students are college
>>> material. Some are meant to be elecricians, carpenters,
>>> farmers, mechanics, and other important members of society.
>>>
>>> In Europe, people live life everyday. Although it may be
>>> tough to get by and they may not have all the material things
>>> we have, they appreciate just living and enjoying life
>>> eachday. Americans on the other hand tend to always be
>>> seeking jobs that pay more money so we can climb the economic
>>> and social ladder. Teachers in Europe are respected as highly
>>> as school administrators. Not so here.

Share This Post | Report This Post

Next Post >>

Posts on this thread, including this one