This article in the Washington Post is an interesting one. I’ve long argued that training teachers shouldn’t be about sitting and listening to a lecture but instead about getting off your duff and actually learning by doing. It’s encouraging to see that now the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education is behind this idea.
But, this is a double-edged sword, isn’t it? Who’s going to want to work their butt off through college to enter a profession that is under-paid and under-valued? If we train teachers better, we’re also going to have to pay them more and treat them better. Otherwise, your efforts will all be in vain, because the best and the brightest will leave to get paid 6 figures in investment banking while the mediocre and worst stay in the classroom and widen the achievement gap because they have no other options.
It’s a…
So, it turns out that what all those old folks say is true (no matter how much you hate them while they say it): time heals all wounds. I’ve been out of the classroom for nearly 6 months. While I had to quit to save my own sanity, it has been difficult for me to…
read more »Given that I’m no longer teaching anymore, but I have quite a few things I’d like to be blogging about, I’ve started a personal blog. I don’t really feel like people who come to this website looking for insights into Teach for America want to read about my exploits when exercising or walking my dachshund.…
read more »The 2010 CST results have finally come in. I must admit, I was a little hesitant to find them out, given that I’ve left the classroom and knowing the results would not help me in any way. But, a dinner party with old coworkers changed that. There were whisperings of my results, but I refused…
read more »Tonight, while reading in bed, I looked over at Scott. Me: Do you perceive me as a happy person? Scott: Yes, most of the time, why? Me: Just thinking about how I come across to others. Scott: Do you perceive yourself as happy? Me: Most of the time. Except when I’m not, and then I’m…
read more »It has been quite the crazy summer. I managed to survive the end of my last year of teaching without losing my sanity (but only barely.) Then I spent the first few weeks of summer preparing for my wedding, which went off beautifully. I am now no longer Ms. Bennett; I am Mrs. Williams! How…
read more »My life keeps getting in the way of my Happiness Project. Despite my best efforts to completely separate work life and home life, two weeks ago I was faced with deadlines and I was forced to bring work home for the first three nights of the week. This, combined with Saturday school that weekend, made…
read more »Since Sunday, I have been working on my first two resolutions: get more sleep, and maintain household cleanliness. So far, heading to bed by 10 has been working out pretty well for me. At 9:30 each night, I’ve gone into the bathroom to start getting ready for bed. Then, I get in bed and read…
read more »The next step in my Happiness Project is to create resolutions. What am I actually going to do to make myself happier? After all, it is the pursuit of happiness. I think happiness is something you find or create, not something that just happens to you. All this time I’ve been sitting around, wallowing in…
read more »In the interest of jumping right into my own Happiness Project, I joined The Happiness Project Toolbox, where I can organize my thoughts about my project and see what other folks are doing for theirs. I suppose it’s a bit of double work to be using those tools and blogging about my project, but oh…
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