View From the Bronx: An Urban Teacher's Perspective
Ilana Garon (@IlanaGaron) is an English teacher at a public high school in the Bronx, N.Y., and holds masters degrees in both English education and fine arts. In the past 10 years, she has taught every level of high school English, including ESL and AP, SAT Prep, and even math in emergency situations. She is the author of “Why Do Only White People Get Abducted by Aliens?” Teaching Lessons from the Bronx. This blog is no longer being updated.
Education
Opinion
From the Mouths of the Babes: 'Our Teachers Deserve More Respect'
I had not thought to ask what my students believed a teacher's role actually was, or whether they questioned the validity of the negative attitudes they heard articulated about the teaching profession. It turns out they're pretty thoughtful on the subject.
Education
Opinion
Parental Involvement: A Double-Edged Sword
Parents who convey the importance of learning and education to their kids, both by espousing high expectations for college attendance, and by promoting an atmosphere of literacy and studying at home, will likely foster the best outcomes--ideally, these parents toe a happy median line between "helicopter" and "uninvolved."
Education
Opinion
The Deal With Data: No Silver Bullet
Data obtained through diagnostic exercises can be used to inform decisions about content or level of material; they are less good for categorical judgments about instructional techniques, assessment of students' mastery of material, or evaluations of teachers.
Education
Opinion
A Letter to 12th Graders Receiving Notification From Colleges
Dear Seniors,
I want to take this opportunity to tell you that senioritis is NOT a real disease, nor is it in the DSM-IV (or whichever DSM we're on, now), and thus you should stop trying to use it as an excuse for not turning in your papers. Seriously? Get back to work!
I want to take this opportunity to tell you that senioritis is NOT a real disease, nor is it in the DSM-IV (or whichever DSM we're on, now), and thus you should stop trying to use it as an excuse for not turning in your papers. Seriously? Get back to work!
Education
Opinion
Throwing Down a Gauntlet on the SAT Overhaul
By what cosmic law does the SAT have to remain the gatekeeper of college admissions? Wouldn't the simplest thing to do, rather than go to all these efforts to mitigate the SAT's irrelevance to coursework and pernicious impact on poor college applicants, be to eliminate the SAT altogether?
Education
Opinion
What We Talk About When We Talk About Assessment
As you might imagine, I have some antipathy towards the MOSL, though perhaps not for the reasons one might immediately think. Herein, I talk about the problems with the MOSL (and with similar types of assessments), what information we can and cannot gain from their administration, and how assessments could be used effectively in a different context.
Education
Opinion
No Mystique, No Respect: On Valuing Teachers and Teaching
Demeaning teachers, suggesting that "those who can't do, teach," or asserting that classroom teaching is a waste of an Ivy League degree--all of these statements foster a diminished valuation of education as a whole, and ensure that smart, talented college grads will look to use their skills elsewhere.
Education
Opinion
Blended Learning: Not to Blame for Bad Writing--Nor Should We Shame Students
Credit recovery students' writing skills are often poor; it's naïve to suggest that by forcing them into traditional classroom setting, as opposed to a blended learning program, one could ameliorate overnight the consequences of years of truancy, family instability, undeveloped English skills, or infrequent outside reading.
Education
Opinion
Re-Educating the Prodigal Son: David Brooks on Community-Building, Applied to Schools
Divesting from public schools in high-needs areas, urban and rural--either in the form of slashing budgets, offering private school vouchers, or pouring public funds into privately-funded charter schools with limited quotas of special needs or ELL students--is just another way of barring that Prodigal "younger brother" from coming to the table and joining the family.
Education
Opinion
Teaching Under a Microscope: More Fun With the Quality Review
For a long time I assumed that the experience of teaching 34 kids every single period of the day would make me get over the stage-fright that has plagued me since childhood. However, I've realized that teaching is entirely different than any other type of performance.
Education
Opinion
Quality Review Makes Me Feel 'Some Type of Way'
It's so hard to demonstrate every one of plethora of objectives that evaluators look for. As with all these types of evaluations, our best and worst moments go unaccounted for if they don't happen when someone is watching.
Education
Opinion
For Richer or Poorer: Does Poverty Explain American School Performance?
Amanda Ripley contends that poverty is not the cause of American schools' poor performance against peer nations. I want to raise some points for consideration--if not outright rebuttals.
Education
Opinion
When a Snow Day Might Have Been a Better Option
This week, I want to rant about snow. Well, not about the meteorological aspects, so much as the city's response to it. Starting at 8am yesterday and into the overnight hours, New York City got about 11 inches of snow. However, the snow stopped coming down at some critical time in the wee hours of the morning, which meant that school the following day--today--was not cancelled despite there being almost a foot of powder on the ground.
Education
Opinion
'16 and Pregnant' Provides Effective Sex-Ed
If there in indeed a causal relationship between the airing of the show "16 and Pregnant" and the precipitous drop in teen pregnancy, this is something worth investigating in order to replicate the results.