Jonathan Kozol should be required reading by anyone considering education as a career. If he doesn’t stir any kind of emotion in you, I really think that you should consider another career. The inequality and injustice that he describes is staggering.
I wish I had an “update” of his work in New York. I would also like to know what the effect of his writing is. Has it truly made the difference and if not…so what?
I have read Amazing Grace and am just starting Savage Inequalities.
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Punishing by rewards
So I am actively goign to try and not use rewards as intrinsic "bribary" and see if there is a difference. In my head and in my heart, what Alfie Kohn has said is true.
It was interesting b/c a few weeks ago, Dr. Castelli reiterated what he said.
"When we have to resort to rewards (bribary) in order to get students to do what they should be doing...something is very wrong."
He also said something really interesting..."people that use rewards are people that like power b/c they know they are getting people to do something by using (exploiting?) them at their weakest points. Wow. I look back at the people at McKeel who preach rewards adn I think there is some truth in it. The kids have even said that rewards didn't work last year.
So I guess my early new years resolution is to stop using them. I think I'm going to use all of my gift cards that I purchased as a "I think you deserve this for no reason at all!" kind of thing.
It was interesting b/c a few weeks ago, Dr. Castelli reiterated what he said.
"When we have to resort to rewards (bribary) in order to get students to do what they should be doing...something is very wrong."
He also said something really interesting..."people that use rewards are people that like power b/c they know they are getting people to do something by using (exploiting?) them at their weakest points. Wow. I look back at the people at McKeel who preach rewards adn I think there is some truth in it. The kids have even said that rewards didn't work last year.
So I guess my early new years resolution is to stop using them. I think I'm going to use all of my gift cards that I purchased as a "I think you deserve this for no reason at all!" kind of thing.
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
My masters in education has trully shown me how scary the state of education really is. It seems that the schools we teach in are controlled by the non realistic FCAT expectations. (standardized testing in any form) and our students are being taught by teachers that are controlled by the FCAT and can't see beyond it.
Tonight, it was confirmed once again that some of our ELEMENTARY schools are no better than prisons. We are forcing students, little ones, to sit still, not talk, read. As Amanda said, we are punishing them with reading. Teachers, thanks to the Bush's are making students hate reading. We force them to do it all the time, we force them to take silly tests on it, we force them to read boring passages. It is no wonder that by the time they reach me as seniors, they don't want to read at all.
Tonight's class also confirmed that some of the teachers teaching our children are absolute yayhoos and the only thing that they are capable of teaching our children is how to take the FCAT test. This particular teacher/student in my class can not see the "gray." Everything has to be black and white...there is no in between. And she bitched out another student b/c this person COULD see the gray in students. I don't get it.
I never thought my Masters would force me to become such an alternative education activist. We must change the way we percieve education or our students are going to have less of an educational future than what they are going to currently have.
1st grade students should not be made to eat lunch in silence and then read for the remainder of their lunch time. That is insane.
I don't know if I will ever start my own school, but things will be done VERY differently than they are done now in the majority of the schools in polk count/fl/the USA.
Tonight, it was confirmed once again that some of our ELEMENTARY schools are no better than prisons. We are forcing students, little ones, to sit still, not talk, read. As Amanda said, we are punishing them with reading. Teachers, thanks to the Bush's are making students hate reading. We force them to do it all the time, we force them to take silly tests on it, we force them to read boring passages. It is no wonder that by the time they reach me as seniors, they don't want to read at all.
Tonight's class also confirmed that some of the teachers teaching our children are absolute yayhoos and the only thing that they are capable of teaching our children is how to take the FCAT test. This particular teacher/student in my class can not see the "gray." Everything has to be black and white...there is no in between. And she bitched out another student b/c this person COULD see the gray in students. I don't get it.
I never thought my Masters would force me to become such an alternative education activist. We must change the way we percieve education or our students are going to have less of an educational future than what they are going to currently have.
1st grade students should not be made to eat lunch in silence and then read for the remainder of their lunch time. That is insane.
I don't know if I will ever start my own school, but things will be done VERY differently than they are done now in the majority of the schools in polk count/fl/the USA.
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