On Facebook I'm a fan of The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity. They posted this article editorial earlier today; it couldn't have better summed up my thoughts on major current events of the past two weeks, so I decided to pass it along.
Frost Illustrated: Racism is a pre-existing condition
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Back in the classroom: teachers whine more than teens
My first volunteer experience for this class was really interesting. I’ve been out of the classroom for this entire school year, having accepted the position with Florida Virtual School in July of 2009. It was nice to get back into the traditional classroom, but mostly it was a refreshing reminder of how much I appreciate my job.
I consider myself to be an exceedingly positive person. From the moment I stepped foot into the building I felt dragged down with negativity. Teachers were yelling – literally yelling at students, intercoms interrupted instructional time several times each class period, between bells the teacher I was spending my afternoon with took her four minutes of “passing time” to vent to me about her frustrations with her students, and I won’t even begin to describe the goings on in the faculty lounge.
I’m doing my CAP project on the absence of alternative high school programs, particularly things like vocational and technical training, so I spoke with the teacher I was working with as well as a few of her colleagues about the idea. They all agreed that the idea of “rigor and relevance” has been pushed heavily since the SSNP initiative took off a few years ago, but the prevailing attitude (again, an attitude of general negativity) was that the feeling won’t likely change until something new comes and replaces this ill-conceived idea with another one.
I’m looking forward to getting back to my virtual classroom and getting on the phone with my students where I know I make a positive difference in their lives.
I consider myself to be an exceedingly positive person. From the moment I stepped foot into the building I felt dragged down with negativity. Teachers were yelling – literally yelling at students, intercoms interrupted instructional time several times each class period, between bells the teacher I was spending my afternoon with took her four minutes of “passing time” to vent to me about her frustrations with her students, and I won’t even begin to describe the goings on in the faculty lounge.
I’m doing my CAP project on the absence of alternative high school programs, particularly things like vocational and technical training, so I spoke with the teacher I was working with as well as a few of her colleagues about the idea. They all agreed that the idea of “rigor and relevance” has been pushed heavily since the SSNP initiative took off a few years ago, but the prevailing attitude (again, an attitude of general negativity) was that the feeling won’t likely change until something new comes and replaces this ill-conceived idea with another one.
I’m looking forward to getting back to my virtual classroom and getting on the phone with my students where I know I make a positive difference in their lives.
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