tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3330039258193454269.post633977259972217956..comments2023-06-15T08:31:35.030-07:00Comments on Double Consciousness: State Moves to Close East Oakland Community High SchoolJack Stephenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05349703689965815558noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3330039258193454269.post-27929140899440994742008-02-25T21:34:00.000-08:002008-02-25T21:34:00.000-08:00Until the entire system is fixed, not being able t...Until the entire system is fixed, not being able to pass state tests or take classes that fulfill college application requirements will lead to high school students who can't pass the graduation test or go onto decent colleges. Is that what's intended in the short run?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3330039258193454269.post-51347319630095227212007-12-28T16:40:00.000-08:002007-12-28T16:40:00.000-08:00I'm so with you. Elementary school teacher here b...I'm so with you. Elementary school teacher here but in the same area and wow... <BR/><BR/>http://tigerthegecko.blogspot.com/2007/03/more-school-closings.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3330039258193454269.post-20218282840317373692007-06-26T05:12:00.000-07:002007-06-26T05:12:00.000-07:00Teaching our own children is part of self-determin...Teaching our own children is part of self-determination. Here in Brazil, my step-daughters' teachers are often on strike, the textbooks are old, and the teachers tell the students NOT to submit computer-typed reports because of the risk of copying from the Internet. They're teaching the children to be dumb and discouraging them from learning skills that would be useful to them in the present and the future.<BR/><BR/>So, I bought my daughters computers and broadband access and I tell them about what Mark Twain said: "Don't let school be prevent you from getting an education." When school is closed because of strikes or lack of cleaning staff, I encourage my step-daughters to think of something they are curious about and do a search on the Internet to learn more about it.<BR/><BR/>I remind them that some Black people became well-educated even when it was illegal to teach Blacks to read (e.g. Frederick Douglass), and this should remind us that it is WE who educate ourselves, not whites who educate us.<BR/><BR/>With computers and broadband access becoming nearly as omnipresent as color televisions in Black homes, we each have a mega library available to us to engage our curiosity, research our questions, and teach our kids about the world.<BR/><BR/>My daughters both have blogs and are teaching themselves to use Microsoft Front Page to edit HTML and make their blogs prettier. This interest in making their teen blogs prettier is what motivates them to learn a computer language that is being used everywhere, not just in teen blogs. <BR/><BR/>They are also learning to use PhotoShop and I'm teaching them CorelDraw, the computer program used in creating graphics for business.<BR/><BR/>I've also taught them to use online English translators, and my daughter got the highest grade in her class in English.<BR/><BR/>I can't afford to put them in an expensive private school, but I can use the computer and broadband access as a classroom, and my access to Internet educational resources is just as good as that of someone with ten times as much money to spend.<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://francislholland.blogspot.com" REL="nofollow">Francis L. Holland Blog</A>Francis Hollandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11862777385923656061noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3330039258193454269.post-67764679346082675232007-06-24T23:33:00.000-07:002007-06-24T23:33:00.000-07:00Uhhh ... sputter.1. I've actually taught students ...Uhhh ... sputter.<BR/><BR/>1. I've actually taught students that graduated from that school. They were perfectly smart, or at least, smart enough to pass college classes and all.<BR/><BR/>2. Knowing something is one thing, and knowing how to take a standardized test and do well on it is a different thing. Yes, they can overlap, but they are still different. This is not new news.<BR/><BR/>3. Textbooks are helpful for the first time you teach something, or when you get assigned to teach something that is not in your main area of expertise. They show you how someone put it together, what they did, etc., and input and ideas are always helpful. They are also useful if you have students who cut class a lot, or who are behind for some other reason and are getting tutoring. You can then tell them, "well, it's in the book, read and reread."<BR/><BR/>But when you really know what you are doing, and when your students are showing up pretty regularly, you can dump the textbooks and just use original source material. It is more interesting and fun, and it is why they hire actual teachers instead of just using robots or something.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com