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Teaching

Ms. Sharon Flake and me

The Chicago Public School's teachers are currently on strike, and I support them.  They're not fighting for more pay although they deserve that too.  They're fighting for a fair system that does not judge teachers and students on standardized tests.  Rahm Emanuel is wrong when he stand up against the teachers in his city, and Arne Duncan is wrong when he talks about education.  Our president is also wrong on education because he listens to people like Arne and Rahm, but he still has my vote. 

Today my mentee (dyad partner) came up to me.  She was discouraged because our AVID teacher was asking her students to take Cornell Notes in all of her classes.  Cornell Notes work if one is doing the take notes and test method, but my dyad partner and I don't teach that way.  We don't test, and when we take notes, it's to process information.  It's the purpose of the Cornell Notes, but it's done in a way to help the students process and discuss.  When I tried to explain this to the AVID (first year) teacher, she was snippy and rude.  It's teachers like her that probably fit into the mold of Arne and Rahm, but they don't do the best to help the students be thinkers and processors.  Maybe I'm exaggerating a bit with this teacher's lack of understanding, but 21st Century Skills (catch phrase) and Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS... another catch phrase) don't fit into Cornell Notes. 

Next week my students will start reading The Skin I'm In by Sharon Flake.  We will talk about bullying, insecurity, and education while reading this book.  My students love the book because they can connect to these themes.  This evening (after work hours) spent too much time revising my Notebook file and schedule to make this year's novel experience better than last year's experience.  It's my job as a teacher to reach my students where they are and move them forward.  My students will learn from reading this novel while writing, discussing, and a variety of other activities that require movement and thought.  They will not take a test and fill in the bubbles at the end of the novel to show they knowledge and/or intelligence.  Their learning will be real as they connect to book to their life and their education.  

Perhaps I ramble, but the Chicago thing, education in our country, the amount of work teachers do at home, and this snippy teacher have me incensed.

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