Madeline Levine the author of the book “The Price of Privilege” came to my school and sis a talk for the faculty. She a great number of things and all of them made sense. It was the first meeting at my school that I really enjoyed. Below are some of the points that I remember from her talk.
A.P. classes are not a great idea because the put far to much attention on “Passing a test” rather then learning content. Kids are great performers and will do what they need to in order to pass a test. In the end they don’t really learn.
Let your kid fail. Unless you kid feels the sting of a failure they will not know how to deal with it. Parents are swooping in to save the day and make sure that all goes well with school. (Kids in my school call home for the parents to bring something they forgot like homework, projects, sports bags or anything ells they should have remembered) Learn to fail or fail to learn.
A kid’s world should look very different than an adult’s world. We are asking kids to live and function as adults but they are not adults physically or mentally.
Don’t project your image of what your kid should be… Get to know your kid instead. Parents are molding and prepping kids into an image of success they have planned out for them.

The great thing about her talk was that she essentially called the administrators and parents of the district a bunch of misguided idiots. The community I work in has been going down this path of over privilege for generations. It was nice to see a voice of reason be heard.

6th grade should not be in the middle school.

When I went through school the elementary school was k through 6th grade. The middle school was 7th and 8th. The high school was 9 through 12. The school I teach in now has the 6th grade in the middle school. I can’t shake my image of the 6th grade class as being elementary school kids. My school also has an advisory program to help support and coddle the kids along throughout the school year. I have the privilege of being a 6th grade advisor and I hate every minute of it. I am a technology teacher and I feel my role as an advisory teacher is a huge waste of my talent.

I have found the maturity level of my 6th grade students to be far below what is needed to perform and be productive in the middle school environment. They can’t handle the reasonability of getting to class on time, using a locker or even brining the proper materials to class. These kids are just not capable of functioning well in the middle school.

Is 5th and 6th grade a gray area? When does the elementary school stop and the middle school start. If I was going to use New York state education department as a guide than elementary school does in-fact go until 6th grade. Elementary teacher certification covers grades k through 6. What do you think? Should 6th grade stay in the elementary school?

Boring/pointless meetings

ON Wednesday of every week we have a one hour meeting. Some weeks its an hour and a half. My district is taking on what they are calling a global perspective, knowing and engaging students and information technology. I have interpreted this as the kids should be more worldly... the teachers are out of touch with technology... and teachers don't know the kids well enough. I am forced to sit through grand ideas of how the student body should be more involved on a global scale. In the end I am sitting through painfully boring meetings that do not have anything to do with my class. The thing that really pains me is that the district does not provide a clear idea of what they expect us to produce. Its like the super dumb leading the teachers. Seeing a superintendent ad-lib and just wing it is painful. Does anyone have any tricks for staying awake during very boring meetings? The one thing they don't tell you in college is that you will be forced to sit through this garbage.

Students warned to prove Texas residence or leave

I live and work in New York State. In order to attend public school a student must reside within the boundaries of the school district. If a student wants to attend a different public school the must pay tuition for that school. In my district the tuition for students grades k through 8 must pay 15 thousand dollars. For students grades 9 through 12 the price is around 22 thousand per school year. These rules are in place to protect the residents or school district from being taken advantage of. For lack of a better way to say it no district want a bunch of free loaders. I don't feel that this is the best way of doing things but this the way things work. Unfortunately the quality of a kids education is linked to how rich the town is they live in.

I came across an article about a border town school district with a problem. Every day van loads of kids would cross the U.S. Mexico border and drop them off at a U.S. public school. http://www.newstimes.com/national/ci_13387165

In resent days the school district in question has been putting a stop to this...

Untenured ... What to do?

I have found myself in a bit of a situation. I am starting my second year in my district as an untenured teacher. I will be up for tenure next year and even if I get tenure it will not be in effect until the following school year. My union is gearing up to make a showing at the next few board meetings due to budget issues. I don’t know if I should go.
Ever since I was in my under grad I remember people telling me to lay low until I get tenure. Or don’t piss anyone off until you get tenure. I feel like these opinions cause people to fear for their job. Not to sound cocky or anything but I really don’t fear for my job because I am confident that I am doing the best job possible.
Should untenured teachers lay low, play nice and not get involved in union happenings until tenure roles around?

I found some fun rantings on this blog
http://untenured.blogspot.com/