tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post507524934113462885..comments2024-03-26T04:19:38.862-07:00Comments on kitchen table math, the sequel: Can we clone her?Catherine Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03347093496361370174noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-80105367906939227452009-09-06T11:20:55.141-07:002009-09-06T11:20:55.141-07:00It would be lovely to have 100,000 teachers like t...It would be lovely to have 100,000 teachers like this, but I think that there is too much focus on the "superteachers". We need to focus on a strong curriculum and direct instruction; then teach the average and weak teachers how to follow the script. I recently read a post from an experienced teacher that said that she had observed that the new and/or weak teachers were more effective with that approach. Especially (but by no means exclusively) at the weakest schools, they have lots of weak teachers and there just isn't a pool of strong teachers to replace them. Therefore, give them a scripted curricum (Core Knowledge type) and teach them how to use Direct Instruction. The results almost have to be better than the current system is producing. BTW, first get the discipline issues under control; there is a lack of saints who are willing/able to cope with unsafe/undisciplined settings.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-86398958578848681862009-09-06T07:59:58.791-07:002009-09-06T07:59:58.791-07:00"Thank goodness Barry has thus far resisted!&..."Thank goodness Barry has thus far resisted!"<br /><br />I am older than most students in my classes, but I can see that for younger students it is difficult to resist. The peer pressure to please the teacher is there, and being the "nay sayer" in class puts you at risk. You become the pain in the ass, the one everyone wishes would shut up. There were times when I wanted me to shut up. I allowed myself only one blurb per class in which I challenged something the teacher had said. Interestingly there were others in my class who felt as I did, but even so, the peer pressure to conform and not make waves was still there. There were good experienced teachers who despite their experience were buying into some of the problem based learning crap. The difficulty is that discovery learning has its values when done right, but the line between good and bad is frequently blurred in ed school. <br /><br />I think the technical term for this type of brainwashing is called "milieu control".Barry Garelickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01281266848110087415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-43450406543190785022009-09-06T07:31:26.182-07:002009-09-06T07:31:26.182-07:00Thank goodness Barry has thus far resisted!Thank goodness Barry has thus far resisted!VickyShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01379636377049707525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-66520248306763028032009-09-06T07:25:33.282-07:002009-09-06T07:25:33.282-07:00What struck me is how unusual it is to see an educ...What struck me is how unusual it is to see an educator taking this no nonsense stance, in such a public way. What if all educators who agreed with her felt safe about speaking up? Would there be enough voices to make a difference, since we parents are often brushed aside as not knowing what we are talking about (grrr). <br /><br />She notes that "[w]e are having a hard time recovering from [the culture of low expectations] because the students who grew up with that are now teaching the next generation of teachers." I think that may be an understatement; have we even started to recover? The incestuous nature of the teacher training and certification system is a main reason why I have very little hope for the public education system. I have known several young women going through ed school and they, sadly, are the clones.VickyShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01379636377049707525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-63179545684782998242009-09-05T23:34:45.937-07:002009-09-05T23:34:45.937-07:00She sounds great!
Yes, many, many clones are need...She sounds great!<br /><br />Yes, many, many clones are needed.ElizabethBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06128884454595561057noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-1808595712768988702009-09-05T11:12:50.235-07:002009-09-05T11:12:50.235-07:00I would like to see bio, chem and physics merged t...I would like to see bio, chem and physics merged to some degree. Their arbitrary separation caused me quite some grief in HS.<br /><br />They could have discussed the idea of "electron density" in HS chem (we're not babies, you know!), but no....le radical galoisienhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14684821442296479803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-24976598774117132782009-09-05T08:27:39.830-07:002009-09-05T08:27:39.830-07:00Wow, I love her strategy of teaching to the top of...Wow, I love her strategy of teaching to the top of the class. Fabulous! The norm these days is to teach to the just-below-average students, on the theory that those are the ones whose test scores have the best shot of improvement (AYP). The bright kids, whose 99th percentile scores can't possible improve, get ignored.FedUpMomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00951858601020687242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-42396135489961723062009-09-05T05:12:21.380-07:002009-09-05T05:12:21.380-07:00I don't know if cloning her is feasible. But ...I don't know if cloning her is feasible. But I sure as hell want to work for her.<br /><br />I got out of public school teaching because I wasn't teaching. I was running a daycare. And everyone knew it.Eowynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00216099428141744797noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-85113974309114572952009-09-05T05:09:31.759-07:002009-09-05T05:09:31.759-07:00If you are poor, live in an urban area, or are a &...If you are poor, live in an urban area, or are a "person of color", someone wants to own you - for your own good. I can't imagine a European-American talking about "my people", but that's just what I heard an African-American congressman say on national television once. Many want to do this with education. They want to own you. Education should provide a path out of poverty, but some want to use it to solve poverty. The former is about individual educational opportunity and the latter is about ownership and politics. Kids are being used. Unfortunately, the politics of poverty do not value individual inequalities in ability and drive. A rising tide may float all boats, but it will never allow any kids to fly. My parents weren't just happy that I stayed in school or was prepared for a community college, but that's how many see education. The academic gap doesn't come from the lowest level students. It comes from the top level students, but schools don't (want to) know how the top students got there.SteveHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03956560674752399562noreply@blogger.com