kitchen table math, the sequel: anonymous on Chicago schools

Thursday, March 25, 2010

anonymous on Chicago schools

What most middle class parents in Chicago are seeking when they have their children apply for the magnet and selective schools is classmates that are not two grade levels or more behind. If the teachers are also good, all the better. But many would choose humdrum teachers, in a grade-level or better classroom, over high octane teachers trying to teach to a large number of children with serious remediation needs in the same room as children already on grade level.
Funny how parents just aren't getting with the program on differentiated instruction.

Or anything else, for that matter.


children should struggle
mixing fast and slow learners
constructivism solves classroom discipline problems
ed schools and you
palisadesk on recent graduates of ed schools

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Case in point: in high school we had a truly boring teacher for second year French. It was all I could do to stay awake. But, she was teaching second year French to a whole bunch of students who had actually completed first year French, and wanted to go on to third year French. So we learned.

Joanne Jacobs said...

Ninth grade Back to School Night. My ex and I walked into our daughter's geometry class. "Is this the top level?" he asked me. I told him to look at the parents. As more and more Asian parents walked in, he relaxed. "OK!" he said.

SteveH said...

Full inclusion. Kids will learn when they are ready. Trust the spiral. They want schools to be pumps, not filters. Hands-on fun group learning has to be used because it will ruin kids to set high standards. Learning has to be natural. Apparently, we have a lot of kids in sports who have great skills, but really hate what they are doing. Maybe they are only applying rote skills like robots. As I've said before, the best students have helicopter parents.

For a piano competition my son will be in shortly, 80 percent are Asian. They aren't there because of DNA. I see how hard they work. That's not DNA. That has to do with parents. Some like to see some sort of fancy brain-based correlation between math and music. I don't see that. The correlation between the two is hard, methodical practice.

Catherine Johnson said...

"Is this the top level?" he asked me. I told him to look at the parents. As more and more Asian parents walked in, he relaxed.

oh that's funny ---

we apparently have a group of Russian parents in town now

I hear they're supplementing mightily

Anonymous said...

I see how hard they work.

And I think these students work hard because they have parents who believe them to be capable of achieving, and expect it of them, rather than believing their children need to be consoled, bribed, and distracted from their lack of achievement.