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CAT Tracks for October 22, 2013
TEACHING TEACHERS |
In my experience...
...teacher education programs could use a major upgrade.
I received absolutely no "how to" training in my college education classes...
...it was all education philosophy, which failed to "engage".
They were just more classes that I needed to pass in order to get my education degree.
Ho hum...
Upon leaving the friendly confines of the college campus for "student teaching", well, that was a rude awakening.
First the article...
From the New York Times
Talk about being thrown into the deep end of the pool and allowed to sink or swim...
On my first day of student teaching, my supervising teacher handed me a copy of the student text and directed me to a seat in the back of the room to observe.
My second day of student teaching was April 5, 1968...
...the morning after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Since I was living in a trailer, had no TV or radio, long before the creation of the Internet or the invention of cell phones, I didn't even know anything had happened until I arrived at school...
...and was informed by the principal that the teacher had called in sick, that there would be no substitute teacher, and that I was officially the teacher for the day.
The rest is a blur. I have no idea what I did to get through the day.
On my third day, I arrived at school expecting to resume my position in the back of the room, observing.
Oh, but no...
My supervising teacher informed me that since I had observed him for a day, had survived my "baptism" yesterday, that it was his turn to observe.
I took my position at the head of the class, he took a seat in the back of the room. After about 15 minutes, he got up and walked toward the front of the room, me thinking "Wow, I must have really done something bad." When he arrived, he whispered "You're doing fine, you can handle it from now on", and left. And, I did, handle it. I taught the class on my own for the remainder of the term, receiving 16 hours of "A".
Got my diploma in June, 1968...
...took a year off to do Army National Guard basic training in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri (learning when I arrived at the reception station in October that the St. Louis Cardinals had just finished blowing a three-games-to-one lead, losing the 1968 World Series to the Detroit Tigers.)
Hired on with Cairo School District Number One during the summer of 1969 and began my 39-year teaching career in September.
The rest, as they say, it history...
Ooh, ooh, ooh!
In my very first class in Room 106, in the 'basement' (the partially underground first floor) of the old Cairo High School building, was a certain Freshman student whom you might have heard of...
...little Ronnie Woods!
I had the privilege of teaching Ronnie five classes in four years (Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra II, Advanced Math, and United States History.)
It says a lot about the "good old days"...
...the late 1960s and the early 1970s...
...that despite my inadequate teacher training, despite my greenness, despite the recent consolidation of Cairo High and Sumner High, despite the civil rights marches during the day, despite the arson and gunfire at night...
...that Ronnie Woods and so many other students...
...persevered.
Talk about "grit"!
And, guess what...
We played, we laughed, and, by golly, we learned!
POSTSCRIPT:
Since the times have changed, this newbie would probably have drowned if he were (God forbid!) starting all over again. I was fortunate indeed to have begun my teaching career when I did. Thank you, Ronnie et al, for having my back!
Students have changed drastically...
...and not for the better.
It goes to reason, therefore, that colleges of education must change also, which, for all I know, they have. If they haven't, then they must or they are failing those they serve.
However...
I am not sold on "competition" from an extension of the "charter school movement".
For one thing, there is already "competition". How many colleges of education are there in the United States? Hundreds, thousands?
Unlike K-12 students, nobody is "trapped" in a failing college of education.
The article above is just more hype for the profit-seeking snake oil salespersons, capitalizing on the mainstream bashing of the "status quo".
FOOTNOTE:
How do you produce a good teacher?
Bears repeating...
...there is no silver bullet.
Bottom line:
Content knowledge is essential, fundamental!
You can't teach unless you know what the hell you're talking about.
Prospective teachers need to be tested on their subject matter/subject matters BEFORE they are awarded a degree/certificate. Hell, design and administer a national subject matter test, so that there won't be "Mississippi Math" or "New York Math"...or a "SEMO Math" or an "SIU Math" or a "U of I Math".
Colleges of education need to incorporate "how to" skills into their preparation classes...from making lesson plans, designing tests, and, of course, classroom management. Knowing the "philosophy" of education may be nice, but it won't dazzle the student who calls you a M...er F....er when you politely request that s/he put the cell phone away.
As for the "ability" to teach...
To a degree, you've either got it or you don't.
Oh, a good supervisor can tinker and tweak, but the "grit" has to be there.
The current probationary period for teachers in school districts all over the United States is long enough to make a determination as to whether a teacher has or doesn't have what it takes. Administrators need to help the newbie get better during their first 2, 3, 4, or 5 years...
...or direct them to an alternative career.
Today's attack on "tenure" because it is protecting "bad teachers" is wrong.
If a school district has a tenured teacher who is really a bad teacher, then the District has a bad administration. The teacher did not give him/herself tenure. It was granted by the District for years of "acceptable" service.
Contrary to rumor...
I do not believe for one second that our problem of "bad teachers" is because a lot of conniving miscreants "faked it" for 1-5 years, acquired tenure, and then decided to prop their feet up on their desks and read the newspaper until such time that they died.
Hollywood needs to quit with the likes of...
...and make more movies like...
