Duncan on 'Race to the Top' in WAPO today...

[YvonneCa]

...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/23/AR2009072302634.html


Public Schools they are "a changin". I hope he is right and I am wrong.

[LWolf]

1. You know he's not right.

None of those proposals are going to address what we know to be the most pervasive sources of "failure."

[YvonneCa]

2. I know. I was trying to have a ...

...hopeful day (denial). :7

[LWolf]

3. I'm going into work this morning.

I'm moving my room; they announced the move AFTER I went home for the summer, so I'm moving for free. Of course.

Still, my school is a positive place. Great people. We do the best we can to keep it that way. And we will, while the current juggernaut approaches.

I'm tired, though. Really, really tired of being the bulwark against destruction from above.

[PVnRT]

4. Maybe teachers should do what some right-wing doctors are threatening to do

Just simply quit when Arne's "reforms" come down the pipeline.

[LWolf]

8. If I thought there were other jobs out there waiting for me,

I might. But then, that would mean leaving my students behind in a mess, and I just can't do that.

I do know a bunch of teachers who left when NCLB started cutting off our students' supply of enthusiasm and motivation. Some were newer teachers, only a few years in, who went back to school and got another Masters' in something else; others were married to spouses who made enough money to support them.

[YvonneCa]

5. That's because you are a good person. You care about...

...education, your school, your students...whether you get money for your dedication or not. That says a lot about YOU. And I believe it is true of most teachers I know.

We need an 'apple for the teacher smilie! :) Take care of yourself...I have a feeling it will eventually be better under Obama than Bush...eventually.

[LWolf]

9. You are right.

I do care, and so do 99.9% of the colleagues I've worked with, across 2 states, 1,000 miles, and 26 years.

My school shares space with a local Boys & Girls club; during the summer, they use the library, cafeteria, gym, and field. They are traveling back and forth outside my new classroom. One of my 8th graders (last year) who will be going off to high school, a troubled, at-risk girl, saw me in there and rushed in to give me a big, tight, hug. And to say, "I don't know what I will do without you." One of my 6th graders (last year) stopped in, checked out what I was doing, and whipped out her cell phone. She's contacting classmates about the move and getting some together to come in and help put the new room together.

I know teaching is still right for me, no matter how frustrating the crap gets, because I'm always so happy to see my kids when school starts in the fall.

[Reader Rabbit]

6. They moved my room, too!

Maybe it's a conspiracy against DUers? :P

I'll probably go in and recon the situation tomorrow or Monday. It's too hot right now to do much else!

[LWolf]

7. It was sure too hot to do anything else when I got home, lol.

I'm moving from a portable into the building, leaving the portable's air-conditioning behind. It was miserable. I moved for about 4 hours, and had another couple to go. Our custodian, who is the only one with building keys during July, wanted to get to the fair to see how his pigs were doing, so he offered to move the rest of my stuff himself if I would just quit for the day.

An offer I couldn't refuse. ;)

I'm going to spend a couple of days setting the room up next week, but I'm taking in my portable evaporative cooler for that.

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. Hey I am losing my room

Still no plans to give me a room. Kinda sucks but at least I won't have to worry about bulletin boards. LOL