tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post3272761824270052050..comments2024-03-26T11:07:03.496-04:00Comments on Ed Notes Online: Bloomberg and Klein Get Desperateed notes onlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15018047869059226777noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-13318195095149206482007-11-17T14:02:00.000-05:002007-11-17T14:02:00.000-05:00Here's a novel idea ... promise the kids JOBS. St...Here's a novel idea ... promise the kids JOBS. Start a half-day of school + half-day of work release into some sort of modern-day, city-sponsored WPA. Get them into good habits: showing up daily and on time, work = money to spend. At school, teach them stuff they need to know for the job. Freebies do nothing except reinforce the something-for-nothing mentality. If they don't show up for either school or job, jail 'em. The students need a crash course in personal responsibility. Let's give it to them.Dr Bob in the Bronxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09610651099568849881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-81949377870561645072007-11-13T22:10:00.000-05:002007-11-13T22:10:00.000-05:00i agree with woodlass the kids will see right thro...i agree with woodlass the kids will see right through yet another pile o' b.s. - as it is the reason they don't "buy into" education as they see it is because from DAY ONE they are treated like retards who have to be controlled at all costs...and dumbed down as well...they know it, and we know it too...and what do we as teachers do about it? most teachers are too afraid of losing their jobs to stand up, and so the vicious cycle continues...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-81581593395826911862007-11-13T18:13:00.000-05:002007-11-13T18:13:00.000-05:00Where do I begin....Teachers, of course, HAVE been...Where do I begin....<BR/><BR/>Teachers, of course, HAVE been attempting "to bring about change in the culture and behavior of low-performing students" their entire careers. It is Klein who has not understood how this is done in the classroom, and it is Klein who has diddled with school restructuring and the rigid application of various methodologies under the guise of bettering the teaching, not to mention the widespread assault on senior teachers who know what they are doing.<BR/><BR/>How utterly despicable of him to insinuate that "communities" don't think about achievement! Every parent who comes into open school night is VERY concerned their kids achieve. They show a range of emotion, from tears, to frustration, to satisfaction, to joy, all depending on how well their child is doing. Klein is wiping out whole communities with the back of his hand, and he should be called out on this. The kids know that education is something they need and that they should want. Some have trouble getting past the things that hold them back, which range from overstuffed classes (primarily!), to the large number of inexperienced teachers in the classrooms, to a difficult home environment, to personal emotional instabities, to lack of food and medicine, and to many other factors.<BR/><BR/>Why am I not surprised that this plan is overseen by an economist and not an educator. Why am I not suprised the effort was the result of focus groups & market research firms.<BR/><BR/>Medina says that Klein said that research "found that black and Latino students from some of the city’s most hard-pressed neighborhoods had a difficult time understanding that doing well in school can provide tangible long-term benefits." <BR/><BR/>If Klein actually made this extremely RACIST statement, he should be fired on the spot. I know plenty of kids that are not black or Latino that also have difficulty in this pop culture relating school to tangible long-term benefits. WE ARE DEALING WITH INDIVIDUAL CHILDREN HERE, Mr. Klein. NOT POPULATIONS.<BR/><BR/>The report continues: "Dr. Fryer is enthusiastic about one that tries to make poor teenagers aware that academic success can lead to jobs that pay enough to support a middle- or upper-middle-class way of life." What can these people thinking? Giving a kid a cellphone means he gets a cellphone. It does not mean he understands any more than he did before that if he does well in school, he can support a middle- or upper-middle-class way of life. <BR/><BR/>The kids who understand THAT particular paradigm don't need cellphones to entice them to do better. They have what it takes already to do well in life.Under Assaulthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18222267229529062957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-1873030423757237122007-11-13T16:46:00.000-05:002007-11-13T16:46:00.000-05:00Some people come to school with an enormous appeti...<I>Some people come to school with an enormous appetite for learning and others do not — that’s the reality.</I><BR/><BR/>That's an odd comment from someone who hired Alonso, who claimed the only variable in the classroom is the quality of the teacher. This seemed to jibe pretty well with Tweed policy.NYC Educatorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12188066345722781723noreply@blogger.com