Monday, December 16, 2002

An Apple for Teacher Ain't Enough

An Apple for Teacher Ain't Enough by Charles Haddad is an excellent read, if you haven't seen it yet. The Business Week Online columnist writes:

A pencil never taught anyone how to write...A PC never had a big idea...To hear the computer industry's modern-day Barnums, PCs will make school so much fun, students will rush to class in their eagerness to learn. Not only that, PCs will empower teachers to regain control over unruly and overcrowded classrooms.

 

Please. Anyone with school-age children knows such talk is nonsense.

If you're a little bit down about what we all do in the classroom, be sure to give Charles's latest a good read. It will make you feel better, maybe even proud to be a teacher!

The Boston Globe's Laura Pappano has a good related column in As Internet use rises, families without access lag behind. While Charles emphasizes the obvious need for good teachers, Laura talks about how poorer families' children may be placed at an additional disadvantage when compared with their more affluent peers because of lack of internet access at home.

No Child Left Behind Designed to Dismantle Public Schools?

Norman Draper has a perceptive column in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Minnesota schools headed for fall with new testing plan, that relates "intentionally or not, "No Child Left Behind" could lead to a decline in public schools." Folks in Minnesota have looked ahead and realize that many of their "good" schools could easily fall under the No Child Left Behind definition of a "failing" school in the years to come.

Edison Principal Resigns

Sara Rimer tells a sad story of Dr. Janice I. Solkov's experiences trying to turn around Edison-managed Morton McMichael Elementary School in Philadelphia. In Philadelphia School's Woes Defeat Veteran Principal, Rimer tells of the factors that have caused Dr. Solkov to give up and resign effective December 1.

An Appeal to Reason?

Sue Senator has a son who is autistic. She writes a well-reasoned commentary about today's feeding frenzy about testing and gateway examinations in My disabled son deserves a diploma in the Boston Globe. As a special educator, I liked this column.

What Happened to Some Cookies for the Teacher?

Katherine Rosman has written a very interesting column about Christmas gifts for teachers in Mother Lode of Gifts for Teachers. I think most teachers try to discourage this practice, yet it remains and as Ms. Rosman reports, gets totally out of hand in some schools. She describes social pressures in some affluent schools that may induce parents to spend hundreds of dollars for such gifts.

Over my 30+ years in education, I've seen some unusual Christmas gifts. We had one family in Indianapolis who delighted in sending a bottle of good champagne to the teacher each Christmas! A teacher across the hall from me regularly receives single gifts worth over a hundred dollars! She also has a parent whose child was in her class years ago who still sends her serious money to spend on her classroom.

Gift giving can be a truly beautiful experience. I suspect every teacher has a card or knickknack of no real commercial value that they treasure because of the giver. The problem in all of this, getting back to the column linked above, is that families often can't afford such things, especially at this time of year. Ms. Rosman does a very good job describing a practice that can cause real heartache for some kids and families.

Rooting Out Bad Teachers

Class Struggle columnist Jay Mathews started down a slippery slope last October with a column, Rooting Out Teachers' Bad Reputations, that invited readers to send in stories about inadequate teachers. At one point last week, I noticed that the column linked above had been suppressed on the Washington Post site, with just the masthead left. It's back today, and Jay has published some of his experiences since posting the column in Complaints About Teachers May Yield Few Results.

In most cases I wouldn't waste the bandwidth posting such columns, but Jay Mathews has, in his own words, "spent 20 years writing hundreds of stories and two books about good teachers." He is an education writer who seems to have his head screwed on straight from both a parent and teacher perspective. Jay has begun a difficult campaign to try to evaluate whether horror stories about bad teachers are true or just bad PR. Jay shares many reader emails and letters in his most recent column and again offers, "So tell me your stories, particularly if they deal with teachers in the Washington area, and I will do my best to find out if they are really bad, or instead unfairly demonized, and what should be done about it."

One point that Jay, and seemingly no one else, has made, is that of teacher preparation in the school continuing beyond the collegiate certification process. Most states have provisions requiring continuing education or even a higher degree for teachers over a period of time. (Indiana used to require a masters degree within five years after issuance of the first teaching license. We now require 6 semester hours of graduate work or its equivalent every five years...except for those of us grandfathered in with life licenses from the old certification program.)

What seems to get missed is the school's responsibility to nurture beginning teachers. Mentor programs have become popular across the country in recent years, but I've rarely seen a building principal truly act as an educational leader by regularly getting into a beginning teacher's classroom and helping them teach and helping them become a fuller educator. Most administrators will readily give lip service to such an idea before quickly retreating behind a shield of excuses ranging from time constraints to union rules to...

While "rooting out bad teachers" may be necessary as Jay implies, I believe it is far more important and the moral responsibility of school administrators to help nurture teachers into becoming the best that they can be. Over my career I've been fortunate to have had unofficial and official evaluators and mentors who have really tried to improve my teaching. When I first began teaching elementary, a wise reading specialist took me under her wing, knowing my 6-credit-hour license conversion from secondary social studies to elementary education was going to be woefully inadequate to prepare me for teaching kids to read. Admittedly, I'd had an incredible college preparation experience at Milligan College, where the education staff believed secondary teachers needed a good deal of elementary experience and vice versa during their college preparation. Freida, the reading specialist, passed away years ago, never having risked above the level of assistant principal, but she knew a thing or two about "finishing" young teachers.

After my first seven years of teaching, I transferred to another building in the corporation to teach a "third grade developmental" class. (We called it "3-D.") A summer of retraining was required where I learned the intricacies of the Orton Gillingham method via Project Read and other valuable skills. I was teaching in a school system and at a school that realized teachers, even ones with experience, might need some non-threatening "finishing."

Unbeknownst to me, another teacher from my previous building had also transferred to the new school, only she was moving from a second grade assignment to become assistant principal at my new school. She was an acquaintance, possibly even a friend at that time. During the first weeks of school, she was assigned to be my evaluator. Instead of a normal observation and evaluation, she elected to clear her schedule for a week and teach with me in the developmental program. She did so twice during the year. We taught side-by-side, but I had an eye out at all times as I got to watch "best practices" in action from a pro. The first and second grade developmental teachers also served as mentors that first year. At other times the learning disabilities teacher assigned to our school came in to help teach. The school's reading specialist was a frequent visitor and participant in my classroom , also.

Granted, I was teaching in a special program where everyone involved had a special stake in seeing the program be successful. I was grouped with three other regular education teachers who took increased numbers so that I could focus on the kids who had made it to third grade still unable to read. I took about 14-20 kids (20% of the third grade population) while they had almost 30 each in their classrooms. It was a special program for a special situation that worked because everyone pulled their weight, but even more so, because those in places of authority stopped administrating and started teaching.

(Thanks Phyllis, Marilyn, JoAnn, Barb, Judy, Paul, Becky, and Loretta.)

While I later certified in several areas of special education at Indiana State University (Does ISU really stand for "I screwed up?"), I learned and earned my "educational spurs" back in that special program where administrators were educational leaders and still teachers--teachers of other teachers. Maybe an amendment to No Child Left Behind should consider helping principals guide "new" teachers into becoming accomplished educators.

Enhanced Teacher Training

Des Moines Register staff writer Kathy A. Bolten tells of increased teacher training in Iowa in Many of today's graduates have more teacher training. Also, James Salzer seems to have a somehow related column in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Failure rate on teacher tests rises, that relates "Georgia college officials say they're producing better-prepared teachers, but a higher percentage of prospective educators is failing state certification tests."

Tom McKenna and Family

I got a nice email last night from Tom McKenna. Tom was the webmaster of the teachers' favorite G3 All-in-one Stop Shop. While the "site" is gone, the Internet Archive Wayback Machine has all the weeks preserved (see link above). Tom sent along a URL to a page of pictures of his family.

Devotion for December 15-21, 2002

Zach Wood's weekly devotional for this week is Instructions For Proper Usage Of Daily Living. Zach also maintains an archive of previous devotionals. Please note that Zach has moved to his own domain, ZWdevotions.com, and links in the Educators' News archive to the previous devotions site may soon become broken.

If you have suggestions, news ideas, etc., please .

Tuesday, December 17, 2002

Education, Indiana Style

One of my college professors used to laugh about Indiana and call it "God's country." This was at Milligan College in East Tennessee, and the professor was being sarcastic. The Indianapolis Star ran a special section about education in Indiana last Sunday, A Promise Broken. The intro goes like this:

After two decades of reform plans, Indiana still struggles to keep its most important promise to its children -- a good education. This is the first part of a Star investigation of Indiana's public schools that will continue throughout the 2002-03 school year.

As a Hoosier, I don't like much of what I read, but some of it is pretty accurate. Here's a sampling:

• Indiana isn't paying for schools it wants
• Special Education: State taxes making up for federal shortfall
• Tradition vs. technology: Students rely on computers while lacking basic skills

Do be aware that the Star has been less than a friend of public education in Indiana over the years. But then, since everyone else is kicking the public schools while they're down, why not the Star.

Sadly, if you lifted the references to the name of the state, this section probably could apply to many (most?) states.

Thursday, December 19, 2002

Great Trivia Question

Who wrote the words to Dr. Hook's "The Cover of the Rollin' Stone?" This really does have a connection to education. See the end of today's posting for the answer.

Four-Day School Week

School's Out . . . for Fridays, by T. R. Reid is a pleasant description of what a four-day school week at Granby Elementary in Colorado's Grand County has done for fifth-grader Makenna Morck and others.

NEA President Speaks Out About No Child Left Behind

USA Today carried an editorial by NEA President Reg Weaver, New law poses problems. It begins:

Three cheers for the new law's promise to ''leave no child behind'' and its guarantee of a ''highly qualified'' teacher in every class. We at the National Education Association have been working toward these goals for decades. The real question is how will the Bush administration make good on these extraordinary promises.

Pressure on Kids

In a time where the news is teeming with stories about "failing schools," a column in the Christian Science Monitor decries the inordinate pressure placed on some children to achieve, or overachieve. Marjorie Coeyman's Childhood Achievement test states:

The drive to push even the youngest students to reach their full potential -- academically, athletically, artistically -- sometimes turns into a fearful scramble among parents to get their children on the fast track...some observers worry that it's taking the whole experience of school and childhood in directions no one intended.

Whiplash

It's been tough enough since the beginning of school switching from the 800 MHz G4 Quicksilver tower at school to my venerable 266 MHz G3 at home for web surfing. Last week I finally upgraded to an Apple 450 MHz processor for the G3. It made a significant difference...until it failed Tuesday evening. I'm back to 266 MHz at home and feel as if I'm crawling along. The switch from school, where I've been using the internet with the school's T-1 line for some classwork, to home is now just about to give me whiplash.

An interesting bit of trivia became apparent during our web journeys this week at school. Several of my reading groups have been reading Shel Silverstein poems from Where the Sidewalk Ends and A Light in the Attic for oral reading grades. The kids love the poems and it's a great way to keep them with their reading practice just before Christmas vacation. We were hunting for the Unicorn Song by the Irish Rovers online when I ran across this incredible Shel Silverstein Teacher Resource File.

Now for the great trivia question and answer.

Who wrote the words to Dr. Hook's "The Cover of the Rollin' Stone?"

Of course, you're already there.

Shel Silverstein wrote "On the Cover of the Rolling Stone!"

Friday, December 20, 2002

Education Columns from Low End Mac

I've made no secret of the friendly relationship between Low End Mac and Educators' News. Low End Mac publisher Dan Knight and I worked together on the old MacTimes News Network, and I the View from the Classroom column series actually began as a Low End Mac series. While Dan and I don't see eye-to-eye on every issue (What two non-braindead individuals could agree on everything?), he has consistently provided excellent coverage of computing in education with his own columns and those of others such as Jeff Adkins and Adam Robert Guha.

This week Dan ran his own column, Thinking Different About a Low Cost Mac for Education. I really think Apple needs to just suck it up and give up on their cherished 30% profit margin for education, drop their prices, and sell a whole bunch of Macs to schools. I also know that probably will never happen. Dan's column contains some thoughtful ideas about what a quality, but inexpensive Mac for education should be. Adam Robert Guha also adds his thoughts on the subject in Why Apple Could Successfully Build and Market a Low Cost Mac.

Jeff Adkins' Mac Lab Report for this week is part two of his experiences with a new Xserve. In An Xserve for the Classroom, Part 2, Jeff shares some practical considerations in "setting up OS X Server." Jeff also promises at least one more column in the series about his "experiences when I've learned enough to have more to say." That's part of the fun of the series: We get to learn right along with Jeff!

More on Apple Education from Mark Marcantonio

Mark Marcantonio concludes his readers' comments column, Fix Apple Education: The Readers Respond, with this sage statement:

The main theme of all of these fine educators is frustration. Not at their Macs, but the parent company behind them. Cupertino just doesn't get it, STILL. That means that once again it's up to us, the faithful, to rescue Apple from itself

Mark presents the comments of a number of well-informed Mac-toting teachers. As Mark implies, the troops are restless. Apple needs to come up with a comprehensive, long-term effort if it is to remain as a viable alternative to Windows based boxes.

Holiday Schedule! What schedule?

I'm not sure of what kind of publication schedule I'll follow for the holidays. Right now, I'm just glad to have the first semester out of the way.

By the way, have you ever ordered a whole bunch of computer hardware and software and then really regretted what you bought or specified? Well, I've just completed a year of searching, testing, specification, purchase, and an initial use cycle and...I got it right! Yeah, I'm patting myself on the back, but I'm mostly tickled pink about our cart of 24 iBooks. I've even happier with Don Johnston's Co:Writer 4000, Lexia Learning Systems Early Reading, Phonics Based Reading, and Reading S.O.S., and Ingenuity Works All the Right Type 3!

If you're wondering from the column postings above if Educators' News is sliding back to being a Mac-centric site, do note that all of the software above is cross-platform. I blew away both our superintendent and the "Evil NT techie" of our school system by insisting that all of the programs I specified for purchase under our IDEA grant had to be cross-platform.

Am I giving away the topics of some of my future postings, columns, and/or reviews? Probably so, but I really don't mind. I'm hoping to finish up several reviews (and not just the products above) over the holidays. I'm also working on a conclusion to the A Gaggle of LCIII's series of columns. We have placed six take-home computers with students in the fall semester. While in the past, we've used a variety of ancient Macs for the program, all of these units were Power Mac 7200's with functioning CD-ROM drives, 1 gig or better hard drives, and many went out with a new monitor! On her way out last Wednesday, a parent who was picking up her son's "new" Mac said, "Thank you, Santa." It sorta made my day.

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