A colleague and I have spent the last two days at the NUA's "Believe to Achieve" conference. This morning Jonathon Kozol energized an audience of "school people." For those not involved with public education, Kozol is known for looking at the problems with inner-city schools. Each evening I have come home exhausted yet enthusiastic. In many ways I feel validated. I am doing many good things in my classroom and with my students. On the other hand, I see many things I would like to change.
One thing I would like to change is my honors class. This is nothing new. Ever since I've taught language arts in my district, I've been concerned with the way students are chosen for honors classes. After being at the conference, I feel even more strongly about changing the honors class. Tonight I looked at the demographics of this class. Of the 25 students - 18 white/7 students of color - 17 girls/8 boys. I also made a list of students I would like to add to the class. Actually, I would like to make two honors classes although I want to add one on my terms not the way they are typically formed. My list includes 24 students - 6 white/18 students of color - 14 girls/10 boys. The white/kids of color ratio is disturbing since we have 60+ percent students of color.
The next question is whether or not I can change this many students schedule. At least it is at the end of the first quarter. It will be interesting to see how my team feels about my idea. First, I'm going to share my idea with administration.
One thing I would like to change is my honors class. This is nothing new. Ever since I've taught language arts in my district, I've been concerned with the way students are chosen for honors classes. After being at the conference, I feel even more strongly about changing the honors class. Tonight I looked at the demographics of this class. Of the 25 students - 18 white/7 students of color - 17 girls/8 boys. I also made a list of students I would like to add to the class. Actually, I would like to make two honors classes although I want to add one on my terms not the way they are typically formed. My list includes 24 students - 6 white/18 students of color - 14 girls/10 boys. The white/kids of color ratio is disturbing since we have 60+ percent students of color.
The next question is whether or not I can change this many students schedule. At least it is at the end of the first quarter. It will be interesting to see how my team feels about my idea. First, I'm going to share my idea with administration.
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