To solve students' math problems, eucators go to school - Boosting teacher skills seen as key

Boston Globe ^ | August 18, 2003 | Sharon Kahn Luttrell

[Cincinatus' Wife]

I never said you were ignorant Amelia. And I understand your dedication. But the way things currently are in the classroom, it won't help those children whose parents feel there is no alternative, who don't understand or are indifferent to the poor quality of public education. The kinder path would be to walk away from a system that is so rotted. The sooner good teachers and support staff do, the sooner it will change or die.

This huge money pit is sucking up state budgets, receiving federal funds for more and more programs and returning damaged goods. It's a house of cards, little different from Enron and it's slowly being found out for the fraud that it is. To pretend it's a functioning system, is being part of the problem. How is that good for anyone, especially students?

The Left is very adept at putting everyone on the defensive at the expense of children and our country. The taxpayers, our children and good educators shouldn't be sitting targets for unions nor should they pretend there is nothing to do but remain. That makes them fodder for political and union survival and I'd like to believe we can do better than that.

[Amelia]

I never said you were ignorant Amelia.

You've implied that all public school teachers are. But the ;-) showed I was also teasing with you.

And I understand your dedication. But the way things currently are in the classroom, it won't help those children whose parents feel there is no alternative, who don't understand or are indifferent to the poor quality of public education. The kinder path would be to walk away from a system that is so rotted. The sooner good teachers and support staff do, the sooner it will change or die.

You seem to have missed my point that in large part, the schools reflect the communities in which they are located, and I don't have time this morning to spend a lot of time on it - but it's true.

You seem to have had a really bad experience with the public schools in your area, though?

[Cincinatus' Wife]

You've implied that all public school teachers are. But the ;-) showed I was also teasing with you.

Too many are.

You seem to have missed my point that in large part, the schools reflect the communities in which they are located, and I don't have time this morning to spend a lot of time on it - but it's true.

I understand communities with a lower tax base (poor), and with larger immigrant numbers (non-English speaking) are the example the Left caters too. But in Houston, for example, there is a Robin Hood method of tax distribution where wealthier school districts are required to give millions of their property taxes to school districts that tax at a lower rate. The effect being none have enough money to run the schools in the manner they've become accustomed to. The wealthier districts keep raising their rate and the locals are beginning scream. The bilingual education hasn't worked, unless employing more union workers can be classified as a successful education program.

You seem to have had a really bad experience with the public schools in your area, though?

I've probably had the average experience with public schools.

[glory]

Did you ever consider that it is your method for teaching boys that is poor and not that boys are poor students? Or that you prefer to teach girls because they learn like you?
Your attitude really enforces the need to segregate boys and girls by sex. I certainly would not want a woman who thinks boys are not as good students as girls to be teaching my son and passing on that negative view to him.

PS I know you were answering the other poster, but I chose to reply to yours because you are a teacher and he is not. Your attitude affects thousands of children through your lifetime, the other poster's does not.

[FLAUSA]

"But if we assume your premise is correct, and math education is inferior because most teachers are female, how do boys still manage to learn?"

Some learn in spite of their teachers and some don't learn. That's the point. Some don't learn.

[FLAUSA]

"I am a girl (woman). I am very good in math. Most of my classmates in college who were female were even better in math. Most of the students I have taught in math who have been good were girls. This is an old stereotype that is false. Girls are generally better students than boys because they will make the effort."

Sounds like a new stereotype to me. " Girls are generally better students than boys because they will make the effort." Your statements show a definite bias against boys. I can only wonder how that translated into your classroom instruction and grading.

[Amelia]

Some learn in spite of their teachers and some don't learn. That's the point. Some don't learn.

One year, during the first week of school, I gave my students an assignment every day for a week. One or two were to be done in class, the rest were homework. I graded each assignment on percent completion, not on whether or not the answers were correct - if there were 5 questions, and the student attempted to answer all 5, he or she received "100" for that assignment.

At the end of the week, about 20% of the students were failing, because either they hadn't bothered to do the work, or they hadn't turned it in. Some had an average of zero.

At that particular school, we were not allowed to punish students for not working, as long as they weren't disrupting other students - i.e., if Judy came in each day, put her head on her desk, and did nothing but sleep, there was nothing I could do about it other than ask Judy to sit up and do her work, and/or phone her parents.

I also found out that some parents weren't worried about it, as long as their child wasn't on the street or home alone.

[Republic If You Can Keep It]

Your statements show a definite bias against boys

This is documented in detail in "The War Against Boys"......an outstanding read.

[Republic If You Can Keep It]

Amelia, I respect your experience & appreciate the thoughtfulness of your posts. While I agree with much of what you say, I cannot agree with your bottom line. The public schools cannot be saved. They're past that point.

I believe the NEA is the mortal enemy of America's children. Until its back is broken (i.e., via vouchers) there can be no hope for our kids.

FReegards.