Utterly Meaningless

Oh dear, oh dear! TWO verb errors in just the one tiny paragraph. Surely that was not meant as a defense of teachers….

Reminds me of when my son’s 4th grade teacher sent home a spelling list she created in connection to their upcoming field trip to a facility near Charlotte where they would see hawks, eagles, and owls.

The teacher had written at the top of the list, “The Rapture Center.”

I sent the list back noting that I thought she meant The Raptor Center (a wonderful place, by the way), but that I thought the idea of a Rapture Center introduced some wonderful possibilities.

Sigh. She didn’t get it.

Soylent Green is people!

The commas! Does no one care about the commas?

(I know I’m prone to the occasional sloppy error, but this is sad, sad, sad.)

hmmm, let’s see. The typical route for a TFA teacher (and that is how I got to be an elementary school teacher in a TX border town) is to enter the district and within two years earn some sort of teacher of the year award. In my district, they changed the teacher of the year qualifications to give the other teachers a chance (you had to teach for more than two years).

TFA’s vision goes well beyond the classroom. Some stay in the class room, but that isn’t necessarily TFA’s central goal. It is only a short term solution to the education crisis. Their long term vision is:

In the long run, we build a force of leaders with the insight and credibility that comes from having taught in a low-income community. They work from education and from every other sector to effect the fundamental changes needed to ensure that all children have an equal chance in life.

And as to districts “wasting” money on these students who, for the most part, could make twice what they make as teachers but have chosen to forgo that opportunity for a time, they get a pretty good return on their money…a lot more than the other methods of filling these positions.

And you should try out their summer institute. I learned more in those six weeks than I did in all my education programs leading to my degree in secondary education. Partially because it wasn’t so theoretical. We didn’t spend a semester talking about Piaget. We talked about theory, practial application, and lead our own classes in the morning where a team of supervisors watched and provided feedback….not to mention the follow-up support once you are placed, monthly meetings, required observations of master teachers, and occasional drop-ins from experienced teachers to give feedback. Principals are happy with their TFA hires and report they are of superior quality to other new teacher hires…even if most of them do only stick around for two years.