I recently read a 96 page article on school reform given to me by a professor at Illinois State University. The article was written by a gentleman named Franklin Bobbitt at the University of Chicago. Mr. Bobbitt is a strong advocate of school reform. He believes that we should improve public education by increasing standards, testing our results, and holding educators and students accountable.
I realize that these are not earth shattering ideas and that you have heard them expressed many times and in many different formats. The interesting thing about the article is that it was written in 1913 by a man who passed away in the 1950’s. As a student of history this does not surprise me. It is a case of “everything old is new again”.
However, it is time for change. It is time that we move away from dispensing information and instead teach the skills that will allow student to access the vast information that is available at their fingertips. It is time that we consider things like year round calendars, senior projects, as well as true and meaningful apprenticeships for students that wish to move into the workforce instead of going on to higher education. It is time that we realize that a school whose calendar was based on an agrarian economy and whose primary purpose were to train students for hands-on industrial work has past.
I am sometimes easily discouraged by the fact that we have not made more progress in the last four years toward this goal but the other night I sat up making a mental list of the changes that have occurred over that time. It is not an insignificant list.
Mentoring
Lunch Bunch
Online classes
The 8-period day
A real expansion of dual credit offerings
A tremendous increase in the technology available in the building (now how do we take advantage of it)
The return of summer school
Additional staff
as well as others that are in progress but not yet completed.
I think it is sometimes good to think of those things because it reminds me that we are moving in the right direction and it just becomes a matter of what’s next and how fast we will continue.
I spoke on my first day here about the pride that I took in being part of a dedicated staff at Mayo Middle School. I said on that day that I hoped I would eventually grow to feel that way about the staff here at the high school. I want you to know that I have grown to respect this staff and I am proud of the steps that have been taken by you to improve the building for our students. The challenges that we will face and overcome in the coming months and years will not be easy, if anything the easy part is done.
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6 comments:
I too am discouraged by the lack of real change for the better over my career as a teacher that has spanned more than 3 decades. Students are too often not held accountable for their part in their education. And far too many of them are given grades they do not earn. Maybe, like life, several of their courses should be pass/fail and not this I've got to have that A or B without earing it. I feel that I have grown as a teacher here at PHS, but every year I am disappointed at the new students that know less and less about what they should know before taking our classes.
I tend to agree with this rationale. I too have wondered why we give students 3 months during the summer to forget much of what they learned during the previous school year and then reteach them the first few weeks or months of next year. I know a year round school calendar will be tough to sell and would be a difficult change for students and teachers, but will be beneficial to our students.
Yes, I would gladly teach in a year round school, as long as the school facility was efficient to accomodate the hot and cold months. Even as a teacher, as I age it gets harder and harder for me to want to return to school/work after a hiatus as long as 3 months. I think we would work more efficiently, feeling less stress if we have our vacation times at more frequent intervals. It would take time to change our way of doing summer activities such as 4-H, camps and fairs, but it is already changing. I know of one camp that provides year-round activities partly due to a nearby community that implemented a year round school a few years ago. As our schools are upgraded I see year round schools as the future way to go.
To tell you the truth, I care mainly about my students and what will affect them. And I see them getting left behind in the dust. I see a lack of understanding that these kids are not lazy, unmotivated, etc. These kids have been diagnosed as having a disability.
If they were sitting in wheelchairs, no one would "raise the bar" and expect them to run track. If they were blind, no one would "raise the bar" and expect them to drive a car. But because their particular disabilities are not so obvious, they are being expected to do things that are simply beyond their capabilities.
I am tired of being told that I don't push my students hard enough. I push them very hard, but not so hard that they simply give up.
I know I am talking about a small minority of students. But even if their numbers are small, their needs should be considered in any talks about senior projects and the like.
Over the course of my 9 year teaching career, I have found that change is an inevitable part of teaching, as it is, I'm sure, in any career. This year was an eye-opening year for me with all the new technology, and the research that supports its use in classrooms. I, too, was doubtful and wondered how this was going to make my job harder. I was pleasantly surprised at how much easier this new technology has made my job and how much my students have responded to it. I realized that as a 9th year teacher, I needed to be willing to make some necessary changes, or the rest of my career would be miserable. I have MANY more years to go, and changes will be made that I will HAVE to make as well if I want to benefit my students.
I agree, Mr. VanMeter, that we have made many positive changes at PHS over the last few years, but we have many more to make. High Schools That Work challenge us to push our students beyond their comfort zone, no matter what room they are in. It doesn't mean that unattainable expectations are set, but rather attainable ones for all students, no matter what their limits.
HSTW also challenges us to make more applied assignments, and I am guilty of not always doing that. Asking the students to step up and participate in projects rather than assignments takes much time and effort, and it means giving up a certain amount of control, and that is hard to face. However, watching students work on projects and create a finished project is the most satisfying part and is worth all the work that goes into the creation of such projects.
Essentially, we are only limited by our own minds, and if we truly want to make PHS a better place for students, and for us, we need to be willing to embrace change and put our heads together and work toward improving PHS.
I have changed the way that I teach more so than the units and activities. I don't believe that we need to stop teaching students for hands-on type industrial work. Only a small percentage of student will become Dr. and Lawyers. We need to realize that if you drove an automobile to work today how many jobs were used to accomplish
this. Just think about it for a while; who made the car, tires,brakes,gasoline,materials for the seats,car radio,ect.. I could go on forever, but then what happens if the car doesn't start, now we start repairing all these different problems and now we start thinking about who does have the knowledge to fix all this stuff??? Hands -on is very necessary if you don't want to walk.
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