Hooray! This particular selection--maybe the fifth chapter I've read today? Wow.--was neither boring nor difficult to get through. I am so pleased reading Beers and Probst, two esteemed educators I saw in Nashville this past November, because they make the reading relevant to the real world educator. (Rief, as well, though I'm not familiar with her work before now.)
I was horrified by the principal from Florida and saddened by the students from Texas, because I think they are the true victims of the NCLB legislation. I found the authors' footnote about NCLB bein a necessary evil and brilliant breakdown of why it shouldn't be struck from our national consciousness; this type of nationwide accountability has to come with some checks and balances, though. We cannot realistically expect all students from all backgrounds to achieve all the time without leveling the playing field in the community and in the workforce. Brilliant. How can we make this kind of thinking conscious to the entire country?
In my school, we work hard to stay on the cutting edge of theory and practice and technology, but I teach in a very high socioeconomic area and know that this reality is not the reality for most of my teacher friends. It's hard for me to accept praise and pats on the back teaching in a school such as mine; inside I'm saying, "Yeah, but praise me when I'm teaching somewhere hard." Hmph. My own issue, I suppose.
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ahh yes, but every school has its own issues... You have to deal with obsessive parents, whereas we often can't find any parents. So I think that you just have a different set of issues that you have had to deal with. So kudos, I salute you for a great job on your first year!
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