Quality Not Quantity

According to MSNBC’s article More school? Obama could trim summer break, the President wants schools to have longer classes, longer days, and have students on weekends.

I have said this before and I’ll say it again, though many might disagree with me. It is about Quality, not Quantity! It seems like so many non-educators think if we stuff kids in classes for more time, they will suddenly become smarter. Unless we improve the quality of learning that our students are receiving, I don’t care how long they actually sit in a desk, they are not going to learn more. Our schools become warehouses, teachers become high priced babysitters, taxpayers become resentful because they still do not see better results for their money. Is this the kind of educational future we want for our students?

This made me think of a youth league baseball team. Many young boys sign up with dreams of being great ball players and the league doesn’t turn anyone away. Many of the players have different levels of skills and they may all play on one team. Hopefully by the end of the season, many of them have learned new skills or improved on old ones. But do we honestly think if we add more innings, play more games, and extend the season that they become pro baseball players? If the players have certain abilities, I’m not sure that having them play more and longer will actually help them. I see it causing them to burn out, hate the game, resent the coach, and wanting to quit.

What about the other things in life that our children need to become well rounded citizens. What about the families who are involved in their church or other community organizations? Do we think that spending more time warehoused in a school is more important than their family or their church? Do we want our government to determine this? This situation scares me. It seems like the government wants more and more control and is allowing parents to have less and less control. The Revolutionary War happened because citizens felt the government had too much control and now it seems like we are moving backwards instead of forward.

I look back at the education system from the one room school house to today’s system. I know we have made changes and great strides. But I also see over the years that there has been more government involvement, more red tape, and more hoops for teachers to have to jump through. Teachers in the classroom barely have time to teach any more for all the paperwork that has to be done. And every time the powers that be say they will “reduce paperwork,” it seems like 5 more pages of required paperwork are added in order to document what has been eliminated. If it wasn’t so sad, it would be funny!

Instead of increasing the hours and days that students are in a classroom, maybe the President needs to look at how we can increase the actual quality of the time that the students are already in the classroom. I have talked to lots of teachers that have great ideas and are truly motivated but then are stifled by the overwhelming responsibilities they face every day. Maybe the President should teach a day in a school that follows the exact schedule that a teacher does (along with the 25 min. lunch period that the students and teachers get), and have to follow all the rules, regulations, standards that the teacher actually has to do, plus complete all the paperwork required for that day also. Maybe he might have a different perspective. I foresee adding more time in the classroom, whether more hours or more days, will only increase the paperwork that the government will require to validate this change.

I also haven’t heard of how the government plans to fund this new adventure (and believe me, I do see this as an adventure). Will they increase the educator’s salary for this extra time or do they expect educators to do it for free? If they do plan to increase the salary, will they raise taxes some more? How will homeowners who are struggling to pay the taxes they are already burdened with find money to pay for additional taxes? During these economic times when people can’t get health care, feed their families, and are losing their homes, is this the time act foolishly?
I honestly don’t see how this can be successful. If you do, please share with me your thoughts so I can see it differently. I’m not sure I will change my mind, but I am open to listening.

Original image: 'veritum dies aperit' http://www.flickr.com/photos/73584213@N00/322654818 by: John Harvey

Remembering the Stories

In Connecting in Education from 21st C Literacy Ave Home, vanhookc states,

“Knowledge has changed, but the desire to learn is the same...yesterday, today, and tomorrow. We are still making connections.”

I recently read an article in Blue Ridge Country about Wiley Oakley, also known as the Roamin’ Man of the Mountains. Wiley would guide visitors in the mountains and discovered a knack for storytelling. He passed on a lot of stories this way to his own children and even strangers. Eventually Wiley began to write his stories down and the wrote a column for a newspaper. Soon these stories were gathered together and published in a book. His children even compiled his stories and published books. This is a way for these stories to go on forever.

How many wonderful stories are out there that we need to be gathering for future generations? I know I still love to listen to my father tell stories about his childhood growing up in China. He loves to tell stories about his time in the army along with adventures he had as a young man. I have videotaped him telling these stories but there were so many stories that I didn’t record. How much longer will I have my dad to tell me these stories. His great grand daughter is 5 years old and who will tell her these stories?

My mother had stories but I never had time to listen to them as I was growing up. Then marriage and children became my focus instead of my mother’s stories. Now I have time to listen but my mother is gone. Luckily my sister who is ten years older than I am is willing to share some of the stories she remembers my mother telling her.

I think this is something important to have our students understand. I wish someone had told me how important these stories were. We need to talk to students and explain why these stories are important and what we can learn from them. Our heritage is important and knowing the past is important. By preserving these stories, we are keeping a part of the past alive in our hearts. This is a way to connect the past to the present. What a wonderful way for different generations to interact and learn from each other. This connection is so important for all generations to survive.

If students do not have grandparents to tell them these stories, they could go to a nursing home or ask at a Veterans Affairs office or a VFW office. I believe that there are many people out there who would love to share their stories but are just hoping someone will ask. If it would make it easier, invite the speaker to the class.

Yet, explaining the importance and significance of preserving these stories is not enough. We need to teach our students how to do this. We need to show them how to record or videotape stories. Now with digital cameras and digital recorders, it is much easier than when I was growing up. There are also so many different programs to help publish these stories and share them with others.

Students could interview different people and record their stories in some form. Then they could compile all of the stories together and share it with others. Maybe they could have a celebration and invite all the story tellers for refreshments as a way to thank them for their contributions. This would be a great way to share and celebrate the importance of connecting the past to the future.

Storytelling encompasses so many different subjects and meets so many different state standards that it would be a great teaching strategy. I think it would be a great way to engage all levels of students and be a successful way to meet the needs of all students.

Original image: 'Grandpa Younger Telling Tales I - Delafield, Wisconsin' http://www.flickr.com/photos/96552722@N00/18872723 by: Greg Younger

Educarnival v2 - Issue 6

The Educarnival v2 – Issue 6 is up on the midway at Epic Adventures are Often Uncomfortable. Don’t miss out on all the fun! See what is going on in the Edusphere. My article Are My Students Weeds or Flowers is there but there are lots of other great articles to read too! See you there and don’t eat too much cotton candy!

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 9/25/09

Here are some interesting sites that I’ve found this week, thanks to my Personal Learning Network (PLN). As a teacher, I feel we have to keep up to date concerning research in our field and current issues in the education system. I hope some of these inspire you, inform you, and even have you asking questions. Thank you for coming by and visiting!

Clean Up the Classroom – tools for teachers that give classroom activities, lesson plans, games, and poster

Creative Thinking – “class lessons, films, and activities on plagiarism and copyright awareness for the classroom”

Storyline Online – online storytelling where actors read books

Crayola Digi-color – a neat program to use Crayola tools and draw pictures digitally. It is fun for children and adults (I know, because I played with this and loved it!)

MysteryNet’s Kid’s Mysteries – “Mysteries to solve, scary stories, and magic tricks” for kids

Original image: 'The Toolbox is Organized!' http://www.flickr.com/photos/95248808@N00/178177044 by: Dan Thompson

Great Imitators

I saw this great youtube video on Children See. Children Do. from edu.blogs.com and Ewan McIntosh stated,

“Children see. Children do. All teachers are aware of this as a concept, many parents, too. If you're a loud, stressed out, unhappy teacher then you'll generally have loud, stressed out and unhappy students in your class.”



I watched the video and it made me sad for the many children who see things like this and feel it is alright to act this way. But I also liked what Ewan had to say about the influence of teachers.

I remember I had a third grade teacher Miss Simms and she was wonderful. She shared her love of reading and learning new words and I wanted to be just like her. By giving praise and singling out each student’s strengths, she made us all feel special. That year I remember feeling that I could try anything and succeed. It was a wonderful feeling. Because of her, I probably learned more in that year than I did any other year of public school. No one else was ever able to make me feel the way I did in her class. But I knew if I ever became a teacher, I wanted to be one just like her.

Do you notice your students imitating you? Are you a stressed out screamer or are you a calm encourager? Which one do you want to be? Which one do you want your students to be?