This is my first year participating in #Blackoween. This is a reading challenge that occurs in the month of October created by Bree, @locd_booktician_.
I am hoping to read at least 6 of these books. I have read 2 books so far.
Saturday, October 8, 2022
Blackoween!!!
Monday, June 17, 2019
Review: The First Part Last
The First Part Last by Angela JohnsonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a heartbreaking tale of a teen single father and the choices he has to make to keep his child.
View all my reviews
Wednesday, June 21, 2017
UnWritten Soul: Changing the mindset
UnWritten Soul: Changing the mindset: As I sit here on the second to last day of summer school, after a particularly difficult year as an educator, I contemplate my future. Over...
Changing the mindset
As I sit here on the second to last day of summer school, after a particularly difficult year as an educator, I contemplate my future. Over the past year, more than any other, I ponder if it is worth it. I teach in predominately white, semi-rural district that has nowhere near the amount of socioeconomic or social-emotional problems that inner city or bigger districts have but the mindset of students seem to be the same all over as I converse with educators. As I sit here, my daily @TeachingTolerance.org newsletter comes in my email. Within this is an open letter to teachers from a former teacher. The letter was meant to help inspire us to keep moving on. However, it seemed to make me more discouraged.
Within this article, she speaks about going to a conference at Harvard where she spoke to educators from around the world. One of the people she spoke to said the following.
These two sentences at the end of this article sank my heart into my stomach. Until that very moment. I never saw what I did as a liability. But in America, that is exactly what teachers are. We are not valued as educated professionals that have studied and worked on their craft. We are just a line item on a budget report. What do we as educators do with this knowledge?
Within this article, she speaks about going to a conference at Harvard where she spoke to educators from around the world. One of the people she spoke to said the following.
In Singapore, a country with few natural resources, the education system is built on the understanding that the nation’s most valuable resources are its people. A leader in Singaporean education told us that, in his country “education is investment, not expenditure,” and that “teachers plan the future.”
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| GIF from Photobucket.com |
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Hope for the future
Today, I was having a conversation with my Junior English class on what it means to be an American and I was totally amazed at the point of view they shared. For the past few years, I have been of the opinion that this generation simply wanted everything handed to them. I have felt as if they did not want to work for anything and the world owned it to them to provide what was needed. They have just always seemed very lazy to me. But today, my students renewed my faith in old time American values: Hard Work. I feel hopeful for my future as an American if their counterparts felt this was as well. I can only hope.
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
School Vouchers: Are we just giving up on the public educational system?
Recently, as I was reading this article about the growth of school voucher programs called "School year ends: Nevada leads nation as more states embrace school choice", I was struck by the idea that we are just giving up on our public educational system. This article talks about how new Education Savings Accounts (ESAs), allow parents to seek more promising educational opportunities. What exactly does that mean "promising"? Why are we so prone to the shiny new things? I am all for what is best for students and everyone having a choice of where their child learns, I am not sure tax payer money should be used for this. It seems that all people do is rag on the public educational system and never provide any solutions to the so called problems. The fact is that public education teachers are the most underpaid and over worked in the educational system and public schools are held to different standards that private schools. Although private schools may align or try to integrate the state standards, it is not a requirement. Private schools are not subject to all the standardized testing that public schools are that tends to lead to teaching to the test. This restriction also limit the teaching structure and curriculum in public schools. Sure it is great to "edutain" like the Ron Clark Academy, but due to state restraints that is not always possible. Why do you think Ron Clark doesn't teach in the public schools any longer? Now, I don't know this for certain but I would put money on that the restrictions of the public school systems were too restrictive for what he wanted to do as and educator.
When did we become such a disposable society? No wonder our kids can't sustain any relationship or express empathy for other. Everything is so easily tossed aside. If everyone is so sure about the quality of these private institutions, why are we not implementing these in the public schools? Instead, we are setting up a system to toss away the public educational system. Or are we just looking for a way to take education out of the hands of state and federal governments? It seems that all the things that make these private schools so impactful are all the things that we are removing from public education. Something as simple as home economics has gone from just simply learning how to feed yourself to the culinary arts. When do we just teach, hey this if a fun meal to make home before we bog students down with the correct refrigeration temperature for commercial settings. Maybe it's time to take a step back and examine what we as a country want our children to know and value upon leaving secondary school instead of focusing on how to measure and rate teachers.
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