First, I apologize for not posting. Life has been hectic as of late. I am getting ready to move accross the country and this is a MAJOR, BIG, ADULT step in life I'm not sure I am prepared for. Regardless, after reading today's news I found an article that made me so angry I had to post!
Educators take heat over Obama school speech
As a Social Studies teacher, I believe there is no evil when it comes to involving current events and politics in the classroom. I understand the concern over indoctrination and why conservatives have their panties in a bunch. I really do. I strive my hardest to keep my political opinions unknown to my students. I had the pleasure of student teaching during President Obama's inauguration, and boy did I go through my lesson plan with a fine tooth comb to make sure my personal political opinion was no where to be found. That being said many of my students figured out my political alignment and I had many a good conversation with them. My student teaching county was quite conservative. It was a learning experience for me.
So my first reaction to a speech directed to students? Awesome. I think its great that the President wants to address future voters (and non-voters, as the case will be with the younger voter turnout) directly and talk about education. I honestly believe this will not be a speech pushing ideas and policy. Will the President defend himself over recent arguments? Probably. Will this brainwash all of our students into little Socialists? No. I had a lot of students who were angry they had to watch the Inaugurational Speech, but they did what they had to do for my lesson objectives. Many of them learned new things, and reaffirmed their dislike or like of President Obama. Listening to a speech will NOT change someone's current opinion.
So I think some of our right-leaners need to calm down. Besides, the school administration has the choice to show the speech or not. And if you think not allowing a speech in the classroom will stop students from seeing it, you are obviously not internet-savvy. If a student wants to see it they will.
And why shouldn't they? Students should be up to date on current politics, and should be familiar with everything our current President is doing, regardless of personal approval. As I tried to stress to my students last semester -- Everything that happens these next four years will have a huge impact on the next election, and the election after that. So when it is their turn to vote or not vote, everything will depend on what happened now and the rest of the administration. So they better start paying attention.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Just a side question
Does this make anyone else a little upset?
Tony Danza to teach
And that's all for today. No more posts. Three in one day far exceeds my promise and will make me look bad in the future when I drop down to one.
Tony Danza to teach
And that's all for today. No more posts. Three in one day far exceeds my promise and will make me look bad in the future when I drop down to one.
Incentive to stay in the field and teaching experience
Arizona wants to keep teachers in the state
And in order to do this they are creating a program for unemployed teachers in professional development. Overall the program seems like a wonderful idea, and it is nice to see a state concerned about keeping teachers IN the field despite the economy. I applaud such attempts.
My only concern is how this helps brand new teachers. Teachers who just entered the field are at a disadvantage -- we do not have experience in our favor. True, new teachers can be paid less, but one year experience is enough to make the difference in landing an interview. I recently applied to a long-term sub job near my house only to find that they wanted experienced teachers. Awfully hard for us newbies to break into the field with feelings like that.
I've also seen a trend of defining experience that bothers me. Many of the schools I applied to specifically wrote that student teaching does not count as teaching experience, but substitute teaching will count. Personally I believe both count, but why is substitute teaching considered experience over student teaching? I have yet to sub (hoping to start soon), but based on my early educational experience subs do not do a whole lot. I imagine the good ones develop awesome classroom managment skills, but the majority of subs do not teach in place of the teacher. Sure, long-term subs are usually certified or at the very least considered qualified to teach, but many of my high school friends subbed with no actual education experience. How does that compare to the grueling semester us education students spend attempting to run a classroom? Student teaching is one of the hardest, yet most eye-opening things I have ever done. Nothing else compared in my preparation to become a teacher. So why does it not count?
Mind you, most schools ask for your student teaching experience, especially if you are a brand new teacher. I'm just baffled by what could be considered better or on equal level.
So back to the point. Professional development is great for keeping teachers in the field, but many teachers want experience before they continue professional development. A good district will continue development as you teach, but if I wanted to spend all my time on professional development I would have applied to grad school right off the bat. I refused to apply because I wanted practical experience before I made a decision on what to focus on for my professional development. Am I second-guessing that decision now? No, not at all. I stand by my view. I cannot possibly know what areas I need to improve upon or what areas I want to research and study until I get into a classroom and teach.
So what do you all think? Do you agree programs such as Arizona's are good incentive for teachers? I'm curious to hear what more experienced teachers have to say. Also, for new teachers and/or jobless teachers, do you believe teachers can focus on professional development without any practical classroom experience?
And in order to do this they are creating a program for unemployed teachers in professional development. Overall the program seems like a wonderful idea, and it is nice to see a state concerned about keeping teachers IN the field despite the economy. I applaud such attempts.
My only concern is how this helps brand new teachers. Teachers who just entered the field are at a disadvantage -- we do not have experience in our favor. True, new teachers can be paid less, but one year experience is enough to make the difference in landing an interview. I recently applied to a long-term sub job near my house only to find that they wanted experienced teachers. Awfully hard for us newbies to break into the field with feelings like that.
I've also seen a trend of defining experience that bothers me. Many of the schools I applied to specifically wrote that student teaching does not count as teaching experience, but substitute teaching will count. Personally I believe both count, but why is substitute teaching considered experience over student teaching? I have yet to sub (hoping to start soon), but based on my early educational experience subs do not do a whole lot. I imagine the good ones develop awesome classroom managment skills, but the majority of subs do not teach in place of the teacher. Sure, long-term subs are usually certified or at the very least considered qualified to teach, but many of my high school friends subbed with no actual education experience. How does that compare to the grueling semester us education students spend attempting to run a classroom? Student teaching is one of the hardest, yet most eye-opening things I have ever done. Nothing else compared in my preparation to become a teacher. So why does it not count?
Mind you, most schools ask for your student teaching experience, especially if you are a brand new teacher. I'm just baffled by what could be considered better or on equal level.
So back to the point. Professional development is great for keeping teachers in the field, but many teachers want experience before they continue professional development. A good district will continue development as you teach, but if I wanted to spend all my time on professional development I would have applied to grad school right off the bat. I refused to apply because I wanted practical experience before I made a decision on what to focus on for my professional development. Am I second-guessing that decision now? No, not at all. I stand by my view. I cannot possibly know what areas I need to improve upon or what areas I want to research and study until I get into a classroom and teach.
So what do you all think? Do you agree programs such as Arizona's are good incentive for teachers? I'm curious to hear what more experienced teachers have to say. Also, for new teachers and/or jobless teachers, do you believe teachers can focus on professional development without any practical classroom experience?
I believe an introduction post is in order
Welcome one and all at my first blogging project. My name is J.M. and I will hopefully keep you entertained and thoughtful with my discussion of education, jobs, and the woes of the economy.
The plan is to post once a day. I promise to keep this up for the first few weeks. As the title of the blog suggestions, I am completely and utterly without work. While I have numerous applications sitting on my desk for retail, sales, and Halloween seasonal work, part of me refuses to fill them out because College-Education-J.M. does not want to apply for jobs that High-School-J.M. could have gotten without trying. Lots of loans and an expensive education four years later can make one quite stuck up it seems.
Even if I begin a part-time job this blog will continue as named, because no one wants to hear about the teacher with a job in sales. Besides, my job or lack thereof is not the point. I want to make sure I do not become so bitter or frustrated over my current situation that I question my decision to pursue an education career. Therefore this will be an academic-leaning output that will allow me to continue my development as a teacher without the classroom and students. I have high hopes.
I will post about work as well, because it is a big deal to me right now. Hope that doesn't get too dull. I promise to get this blog really up and going in the next few days.
The plan is to post once a day. I promise to keep this up for the first few weeks. As the title of the blog suggestions, I am completely and utterly without work. While I have numerous applications sitting on my desk for retail, sales, and Halloween seasonal work, part of me refuses to fill them out because College-Education-J.M. does not want to apply for jobs that High-School-J.M. could have gotten without trying. Lots of loans and an expensive education four years later can make one quite stuck up it seems.
Even if I begin a part-time job this blog will continue as named, because no one wants to hear about the teacher with a job in sales. Besides, my job or lack thereof is not the point. I want to make sure I do not become so bitter or frustrated over my current situation that I question my decision to pursue an education career. Therefore this will be an academic-leaning output that will allow me to continue my development as a teacher without the classroom and students. I have high hopes.
I will post about work as well, because it is a big deal to me right now. Hope that doesn't get too dull. I promise to get this blog really up and going in the next few days.
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