RE_5539

Kristen-
I loved your paragraph about politicians creating laws for educators to follow. This happens all the time. Look at your school board, especially your school board (Wilkes Co., right?) most of the time school boards are made up of people who have never ever taught in a classroom or do not have any formal training in education.
My answer to your question about what to tell children who think they have no need for education is there may come a day when it is too expensive for them to farm and they need to have something to fall back on when farming doesn’t work out. This goes for anyone who thinks they don’t need education, you don’t want to be caught without a back up plan in life.

Kristen,

No Child Left Behind gets me really fired up. I was cheering you on as I read your paragraph about politicians creating these laws without really understanding the dynamics of teaching and the special challenges that go with each child in the classroom. When I was explaining No Child Left Behind to a friend (who is't a teacher), I told her that it's the same thing as me (someone who is not in the healthcare industry) going into a hospital and telling a doctor how to avoid the death of any patients. It would be the same as me telling these doctors "You just can't let anyone die. This year you need to decrease the number of deaths by this percentage. Next year that percentage will drop further and so on and so on until there are no more deaths. I won't tell you HOW to do it. I'll simply tell you that it's something YOU are doing wrong. It's not the special situation of each patient. It's not their background and homelife that may have caused the illness. YOU simply aren't doing ENOUGH." No Child Left Behind makes me furious. I understand the effort behind it. We all want to see every child be successful in the classroom. But how can TEACHERS be responsible for what PARENTS are and aren't doing? Maybe we should create a program for parents and call it No Parent Left Behind.

kristen,

love your comments about no child left behind...if anything no child left behind is leaving behind children! and it is the children like jake that are being pushed out of school to work on farms and in the small family businesses. no child left behind does not meet children where they are...it doesnt allow teachers the time to have conversations with children to get to know them and understand them...their race, gender and social status. just push them through as fast as you can and if you dont then it is the school's fault. if there is one thing that fires up teachers it is those four letters NCLB!

donna byrd-wyatt

Kristen,

I agree with you when you talk about NCLB. What does this even mean? We are leaving more children behind then ever in our educational system. It makes think about the Montessori system where there are no real grade levels and learning is based more on interest. I wonder how Jake would have done in that type of learning environment.

To address your question about your students that plan to work on farms. I agree that they do not need to learn Shakespeare, but they do need an alternative skill or profession. I grew up on a farm. It was a wonderful life, but family farms are shrinking and it takes so many skills to run a successful farm today. Most farmers can not make it unless they have a lot of land.

I do believe other countries do a better job at offering alternative educational paths. Our vocational programs do not compare. Most of students who graduate from high school are not prepared to go into the working world. It would be wonderful if we could provide better vocational programs, so students who do not want to go to college could graduate from high school with a real employable skill. It seems the community colleges are being utilized for this, but what about areas where there are no community colleges close by?

Laura Wollpert

Yes, the Jakes in the world do deserve better.
I think a lot about how futile it is for teachers to try to convince students how they will use certain skills in the future. How do teachers know what students will be doing? And do students even have an idea? Part of this is about motivation because the future seems so far away. I suppose I'm trying to think about how to education *for the moment* without worrying so much about the future, which is so unknown anyway. I believe that this is part of Hicks's message to us: to educate for the here and now.
Alecia

Kristen,
I feel your frustrations on the NCLB legislation. I understand the ideas behind the program and fully support equal opportunities and high expectations for all students. The problem... Where are the resources necessary to support this program? I wonder if Mr. Bush has thought much about that. After all, most ideas look great on paper. Ok, enough about politics!
I don't worry about telling students they may or may not use this again in life. I certainly don't read Shakespeare for pleasure these days, but I do have at least an appreciation for his work. I suppose that's what my English teacher would have wanted. Some students have skills, talents, and intelligences in areas that we may never really tap into while at school. I just aim to build a well-rounded student.

Hi Kristen,
I will add my name to those who are totally frustrated by the "letter of the law" (NCLB). Perhaps the sentiment behind the "law" was sincere but the application is certainly leaving more and more students behind every year. My students (school of poverty) struggled to make progress, and many did (!) but they still couldn't quite make the "correct" score on the standardized test. What does this say about the system? I believe we're sadly off track. If we can begin to dialogue with students and their families (which takes time.....something teachers are usually "short of"), we may be able to turn the tide of discouragement and failure. I really believe that students will only be successful when they (and their families) are allowed opportunity for input! I feel like a "broken record" (I have written this frequently during this class)but I think one of the answers is for educators/administrators/school board members to stop mandating and LISTEN to their clientele.
Betsy Baldwin

I think you made some good points about NCLB and the continued struggle to make the grade as they continue to raise and already idealistic bar. At some point every school in the US will be a school under watch or worse simply because it is an unrealistic goal in our world. However, I do feel that some fine teaching has come about as result of this legislation as teachers do their best to motivate their kids and give them those tools they need. NCLB was a good idea but not very plausible I'm afraid. How I wish they would measure progress made and see the things we are doing instead of the negative side. And don't we become just as frustrated as our students do?
In response to your mention of farm kids and others who will go on to work as mechanics and ditch diggers. Doesn't society need them too in order to continue to live as we do now? Maybe we just need to teach them what we can and appreciate them for what they are.

Kristen,

I agree with you that the Jakes in this world deserve better. They deserve to receive an education that meets their individual learning needs. Like you said, every child is different and not all children learn the same way. In addition to what you said, not all children learn a concept at the same rate since some children need more time to learn than others. So it is ridiculous for education policy makers to expect all children to fit in the same mold and achieve the same objectives at the exact time, especially when they continue to raise the minimum proficiency standards.

Vickie Howell

Kristen,
I enjoyed reading your post and can also relate to what you said. I too teach special education and sometimes the goals we have to set for them do not seem fair. I think we work so hard to teach children the curriculum and help them meet their goals that we truly forget about the kids in the equation. We do not get to focus on their strengths and work with them where they are.

I'm sure everyone has made a comment about NCLB and I agree with all the statements as well. NCLB is a great concept, but impossible because none of us were created the same and we all have different degrees of ability. No one intentionally tries to leave children behind and if so then they do not need to be in the profession. Until politicians and school leaders get input from educators who are working in the field it will allows be an unattainable goal.

For your students who feel they do not need to further their education I would tell them that they always need something to fall back on just in case what their plans do not work out. You always have to do what is best for you, but be willing to look at all the options.

Written by Heather Holland
Kristen,
Never give up! Yes, children have many high expectations placed on them that they will never reach. Many of them will meet failure often, but it is our job to celebrate their small successes, be their cheerleader, and create a desire for knowledge and to learn. My best friend teaches in a farm town in Ohio. Her students have such low expectations of themselves. They just think, “Ah... who cares about college? I’m going to work my parent’s farm (or other family trade).” This is okay to work the family business, but why not dream? She tries constantly to re-affirm their desires to continue in family work, but also tries to stretch them to go further than their parents did or learn more than they were able to learn. She can speak from “both sides of the fence” because her husband runs their family’s business but also received his bachelor’s degree. He did both. Why not?

Written by
Heather Holland