Blog Assignment #14

For our blog post this week we were required to read Teaching our Children can be a Profession. This article contained some very good ideas on how the school systems can be changed for the better. It also provided some ideas that I was unsure about. I couldn't decide whether they would be useful, or destructive to school systems. Here are a few examples.

Picking from the Best

This is a topic that suggests a new and improved approach on recruiting teachers in schools. There has been a study that says most graduates chosen to become teachers are not advanced in certain areas of teaching reading, or math procedures. Mr. Klein suggests that instead of just randomly picking new teachers from a graduating class, they need to pick the students who graduated at the top of their class.

I agree with this. I think that schools who want to make a difference in the way their students learn need to go the extra mile, and choose the top graduates. Working hard in college to become the best possible teacher always pays off in the long run. Because the students are so advanced in todays society, only teachers who are serious about their jobs should be hired into the school system.

Seniority Distraction

Seniority distraction, is a point that was made about how teachers are all treated the same, and are given the same rules no matter what the consequences are. For example, when there comes a time for a teacher to be layed off, the teacher who was most recently hired takes the plunge, even though that teacher may be the most well educated for the job. This also means that all teachers are paid the same in a school system. It doesn't matter if one teacher out shines the other, they still get paid the same.

I agree and disagree with this topic. I agree that all teachers should be paid the same. There will always be critics who want to put certain teachers down who don't deserve it. There is also no completely fair judge on how much more or less a teacher should be paid. However, when it is time to lay off a teacher, I don't believe the teacher layed off should be the most recent hired. The teacher who was most recently hired is often times the teacher who can bring the latest teaching methods and technology to the classroom. It is unfair for that teacher to be the first one chosen to leave the school system.

Radical Change

Mr. Shanker made an overview of all his ambitious ideas for a new and improved school system. He included new standards that teachers have to follow, and promoting teachers based on exams they take. He states that our schools won't get anywhere is teachers continue to work using their old ways.

I agree that schools today need to alter their teaching methods to improve. However, I don't believe that teachers should be advanced on how they answer an exam questionnaire. I think if their had to be something that would qualify teachers on advanced pay, it would be their in class teaching skills. If a teacher is able to teacher his or her students in the most affective ways then they should be able to qualify for an advance.