How To Make Great Teachers and 08 Canidate's Positions on Education

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Permalink Reply by Brett on February 24, 2008 at 8:55pm

I think that you have to want to teach, to be really good at it. I have had teachers who are great at math, or literature for example but just not the best teachers themselves. If there are trainings offered, but they cost a lot of time and money with no rewards to the teacher directly with their lives, you wont get many people wanting to do it except those truly passionate about their student's success. If (like in the article) teachers can get raises and benefits for performance and extra training/education more would want to do it even if they still had to pay for it. The bonus of not paying for it might make or break the deal for teachers too.

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Permalink Reply by Brett on February 24, 2008 at 9:11pm

I had that experience at my old local area school, I just couldn't stand some of the administration/teachers at the school and it was one of the main reason's I left. I needed to be at a place with great teachers. Avalon has provided that and is one reason my family appreciates the school so much! Recently at conferences we were asked to fill out surveys about the school and our advisor. It was basically so we could evaluate what we needed to work on at the school and every year it has helped with any problems we have from my experience anyway.
If you have one bad teacher who not only is disliked, but his/her students perform badly is there really a question of what the problem is? At my old school they still strugle with this! No one gets it that the teacher is the problem here, something with the school not the students. It always made me mad that nothing was done and the teacher/administration was in denial that something needed to be done (change) at their level.

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Permalink Reply by Holly on February 24, 2008 at 9:21pm

I was lucky to have such supportive parents and teachers in the position I was in. Together we figured out a situation that made us all happy, got me out of that teacher's classroom, and kept me at my school. I, too, filled out one of those evaluations, and had nothing but high marks. My advisor has been amazing, as have all of my teachers. They're the kind of people that, when you're having a crummy day, remind you through their actions that tomorrow's going to be brighter. Unforntanetly, many kids don't have this kind of support from their caretaker, but maybe we can help so that they get some of it from their teachers.

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Permalink Reply by Brett on February 24, 2008 at 9:22pm

"Yet, there are many union members who believe that alternative compensation programs are a distraction, and that the traditional ways to reimburse teachers--by seniority, steps (experience), and lanes (college credits/degrees)--are ample. Furthermore, there is a national trend to evaluate teachers on how their students perform on tests."
I want to hear from those teachers because I think the other systems will work better and are going to be a good option for us because so far they are working in the places leading on education right now and the old system is leaving us behind. All the factors around our education are changing, how we educate should too.

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Permalink Reply by Holly on February 24, 2008 at 9:28pm

Getting into the other part of this discussion that hasn't been touched on yet, I think that almost all four of the 2008 presidential candidates are realizing that teachers need to stop preparing their students to fill in bubbles on standardized tests. They may have some merit in the short term, but in the long term.... I just don't know.

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Permalink Reply by Brett on February 24, 2008 at 10:04pm

I agree, except for Mcain (I think thats how it is spelled), has not really put much thought or attention toward education (but more than previous canidates in last election) and has just mostly gone along for a ride about the topic and not made it one of his most important issues.

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Permalink Reply by Kate Towle on February 25, 2008 at 8:05am

Brett,
I am wondering if you would be willing to share what your old school is.

I am a believer in 360-degree feedback, which means that each staff person and teacher would be evaluated not just by fellow teachers, but by a sampling of students and parents as well.

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Permalink Reply by Brett on February 25, 2008 at 5:35pm

I went to Marcy Open School in Minneapolis. I agree with the 360-degree feedback thing so far, if it means we have all the perspectives included in evaluation, and I like that.

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Permalink Reply by Holly on February 25, 2008 at 7:44pm

Connections... connections. That's interesting because when doing these surveys to show how students feel about their school, it is always helpful to get a collection of similar feelings. Some may think of these (referring to feed back and surveys) as ways of judging schools and marking them down. But if we don't pinpoint places where schools can improve, our students are just going to be the same, and won't get anywhere for the better.

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Permalink Reply by Kate Towle on February 25, 2008 at 8:55pm

Holly,
You're so right. The best schools are one that don't even blink an eye when it comes to surveys. They want to stay one step ahead of how their students are doing, and have learned to take feedback as an opportunity. And, they're full of people who see conflicts as opportunities to make a better plan on behalf of our children!

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