VAM This: Is This a New Definition of an Effective Teacher - Throwing your body over kids during a tornado or in front of a bullet?

One can never say what you would do in situations like these and I cannot say for sure what I would do. I had a few minor incidents over my years of teaching where I hope I did the right thing. I think most teachers generally act in the interests of the safety of the kids in extreme conditions. It is an almost automatic act to put the kids in your charge ahead of yourself. But here is a scary thought: you take your kids on a trip and either due to your not being careful enough or due to one of your kids going off kilter (and maybe if a kid who was capable of going off should not have been on the trip) a kid falls on the tracks and a train is coming. What do you do? I'm really picturing this scene and right now I'm still standing on the edge of the platform reaching down and urging the child to grab my hands. But I haven't jumped on the tracks yet. The clock is ticking. How effective will I be deemed under the new definition of VAM?


Special to Ed Notes from Jim Callaghan 
 
Great to hear from Jim today, chief defender of teacher rights at the NY Teacher before Mulgrew fired him in the summer of 2010. Jim watching the actions of the teachers in Oklahoma expresses some outrage though he is a day behind on the NY Times editorials.

Once again, in Oklahoma, we see teachers putting the lives of their students first.

When will Mulgrew demand that his "close" friend Bermuda Mike apologize for calling teachers "radicals' last week? Maybe he could bring it up during the next plane ride to Bermuda.

When will Mulgrew manage a word of complaint when the N.Y. Times editorial writers- hiding behind the cloak of anonymity- calls on mayoral candidates to "get tough" on teachers?

When will Weingarten and Mulgrew beg forgiveness from the members for their Vichy collaboration with the likes of Tisch, Green Dot, Bill Gates, Klein, Walcott, Duncan, Bloomberg and dozens of others who seek to single out teachers for the ills of our society?

When will Mulgrew, a moral coward, do the right thing and resign his office and let someone who cares about the members take over?

What is your kid's life worth?