Teachers Suggest How to Improve Education

This survey, commissioned by  Scholastic Inc and the Gates Foundation, asked teachers a number of questions about the current state of American education and how it can be improved.  The survey showed that, in terms of retaining good teachers, supportive leadership (68%), time to collaborate (54%) and high-quality curriculum (49%) all out-rank higher pay (45%).

The teachers' suggestions to directly improve student performance include: "clear, common standards; multiple measures of student performance; and greater innovation, including differentiated instruction and more use of digital resources."  I certainly agree with all of these things.  But I've got one to add.  

Picking the Perfect Preschool

Choosing the right preschool for your child can be a daunting task.  This may be your child's first experience with care outside your home, and will certainly be their first school experience.  It is important to get off on the right foot.  Yet there are so many programs to choose from, and even within a school, each teacher has their own energy and classroom philosophy.  What can a parent look for to guide them towards the right school?

There are obvious issues such as safety and cleanliness, student-to-teacher ratios, travel distance and cost.  But I think that parents also need to seriously consider the way their children are taught, and perhaps take the road that is currently less traveled: a preschool curriculum that focuses on play.

Education Optimism

As a substitute teacher, I have a peek inside a variety of schools and teaching methods, as well as age groups of children.  Sometimes the teacher remains in the room for a while after I arrive, and at such times, I try to glean as much information as possible by watching them: how they deal with the children, which students are trustworthy, which ones whine or instigate trouble, what the discipline system is like, what the feel of the classroom is.

Even a five minute observation tells me a lot about a teacher and their classroom.  Often, I critique internally whether I agree with the teacher's methods, tone and general manner with the class.  But sometimes, on a rare, pleasant occasion, I find myself becoming a student of the teacher's method, an avid observer of the details, in awe of the smooth way a classroom can be run by a good teacher.  I was in such a classroom yesterday.

Every Parent and Teacher Must Teach Tolerance

Today is Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday.  Happy Birthday to a great man, a powerful speaker, an inspiring leader. 

This is, naturally, a great time of year to talk about race relations, prejudice and tolerance; it is a time to take stock of our progress as people and families, as well as nations.  While there have been many steps forward, there is still a long way to go. 

And that brings me to something a bit controversial that I believe needs to be said: Racism is not a one way street.

Kids and the Internet: Please Respond

I was paging through some magazines yesterday and I came across two separate references to negative affects of the internet on children.  The first asserted that too many "gadgets" in the classroom have led to kids not having any manners; the second, from a teacher, claimed that because of internet and TV, children don't get enough practice in resolving their own conflicts and end up tattling to the teacher.

Now hold on just a minute.  I'll be the first to stand up and say that the prospect of raising children in a time of such rapid technological change is terrifying.  We don't yet know all the effects that growing up with internet and TV may have; we can be fairly certain that increased obesity is one of them.  But that's not my point here.  You can't just hop on the technology-blaming bandwagon to explain away childish behaviors.