How Do You Learn in This Kind of Environment

originally posted May 1, 2008 – 6:41 am by Brendan (On a blog that is now closed)


In Chicago, it is getting more dangerous to be a student. This year, 24 students have been murdered since the beginning of the school year. A pace that might exceed last year’s record of 32 murders. (None on school grounds)

The interesting twist is that according to a recent survey from the University of Chicago, many students feel safer in their classrooms than outside of them. They just need to get to school safely and during that time they can concentrate on learning I suppose.

Here we have schools, in the much maligned U.S. education system, combating gang wars in the neighborhoods that require parents and police to escort students to and from school, so that they make sure they get there safely, along with on average 85 percent poverty rates. Yet still, students manage to improve academically, according to the NY Times.

I am proud of the improvements that have been made in the educational system of the United States over the years. I know that we will continue to make improvements. And I hope that in the future when people forward spam emails that claim schools are dumbing down the educational system in this country, they might look around and wonder if perhaps teachers might actually be doing a good job.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Making Myself a Better Teacher Episode 1

My first podcast with a friend Joy Kirr. The audio file  Podcast page Joy is a local teacher whom I was following on Twitter. I don't think I even realized she was local when I first started following her. One day she tweeted out an activity she was hosting at the school she worked at the time. I was like, hey that's right down the road I should go. And so I did, with my wife and kids in tow we went. I just really love making these connections.  We haven't talked much in the last few years but when I decided to start this podcast series and I was trying to think of teachers that I would like to chat with I remembered Joy and thought, "Yes, she is a teacher I would like to learn from." So here we are with my first episode.  As I reviewed to the chat I thought I would mark down some of the parts I thought were good. Around minute 3 we talk about low and high points in education and she really embodies a growth mindset. Keep those keepsakes,
Read more

Writing my lessons with OpenAI

Image
 Good unit plans require backward planning so let's create an assessment. Write a performance task for the mathematical standard Solve linear equations in one variable. Performance Task: Linear Equation Word Problems You have been hired by a furniture company to help them price their products. The company has determined that the price of a table is directly proportional to its length. They have found that a 6 foot long table costs $300. You are given the following information: The cost of a table is directly proportional to its length A 6 foot long table costs $300 Using this information, you need to answer the following questions: Write an equation that represents the relationship between the length of a table (in feet) and its cost (in dollars). A customer wants to purchase a 9 foot long table. How much will it cost? The company wants to sell a 4 foot long table for $200. Is this possible, and if so, what will the cost be? To complete this task, you will need to use your knowledg
Read more

Quality Education: Technology

I used to blog for my old company, but they took the blog down. I am not actually allowed to own the writings I put up on that blog, but as I reference them on occasion in my writing I am putting those articles up in my archives here for reference sake. I'll put the tag GS on those articles noting that they were originally published on the http://schoolfinder.globalscholar.com/blog/ Quality Education: Technology Way back during my teacher education I wrote a master’s thesis on technology. The basic conclusion was that technology was a tool, not a fix for education. Of course that should be obvious, yet even today we have schools, districts, foundations, and such pouring millions into putting technology into schools without enough consideration for who is going to use it. I’m not against technology, obviously, but there has to be a lot of thought and consideration put into the teachers who use that technology. Teachers I know run the gamut from completely technologically illiterate
Read more