tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post8091259241111499076..comments2024-03-26T11:07:03.496-04:00Comments on Ed Notes Online: Teach for America 20th Anniversary Alumni Summit: Conclusions, Questions, and other Ruminationsed notes onlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15018047869059226777noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-45416731886482344632014-01-25T10:17:51.516-05:002014-01-25T10:17:51.516-05:00I agreeI agreeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-63374213260367755922011-03-13T13:02:43.156-04:002011-03-13T13:02:43.156-04:00R.J.
I was in a similar position when I joined TFA...R.J.<br />I was in a similar position when I joined TFA. I did not have my license, but had many reservations about joining the program for precisely the reasons you describe. Looking back on it, I wouldn't say I regret it. I was able to get my license, get my masters and begin my teaching career quickly. I was also exposed to a great deal of ideas that I found frustrating, but it did offer me insight into the organization. You'll have to make your own decision about whether or not to join. But, if you have your license, you could probably find a job in a high-needs school on your own.<br /><br />Good luck, <br />M.A.B.M.A.B.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-53438479499386366042011-03-12T17:09:58.663-05:002011-03-12T17:09:58.663-05:00R.J.
My personal opinion is that if TFA gets you i...R.J.<br />My personal opinion is that if TFA gets you into teaching go for it as long as you are aware of the pitfalls. M.A.B. was clearly had a lot more prep to teach than the 6 week training program and took that route as the quickest way to get a teaching license. <br />Email me and I will put you in direct touch with M.A.B. so you can get deeper into this than through the comments. normsco@gmail.comed notes onlinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15018047869059226777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-54184631417693204962011-03-12T13:27:18.744-05:002011-03-12T13:27:18.744-05:00Hi M.A.B.,
I will have my license soon, but had a...Hi M.A.B.,<br /><br />I will have my license soon, but had applied to TfA thinking it would be the best way to get to the neediest schools (and, because it might be the only way, as many of them are on hiring freezes otherwise). But the more I have been learning, the more that I do not want to be part of TfA's flawed "vision". You are the first TfA teacher I have heard explain things so clearly and critically.<br /><br />Should I get out now? Is it worth working with an org I know I will have these problems with? It sounds like change from the inside out (the only thing that has kept me on board except for uncertainty) is impossible.<br /><br />R.J.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-5918697931989737042011-03-06T17:39:12.961-05:002011-03-06T17:39:12.961-05:00Thanks for your insight. I, too, attended the sum...Thanks for your insight. I, too, attended the summit and felt exactly the same way. I suspect that there are more of us who feel this way that TFA would like us to believe.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-21392542937851974262011-03-04T14:50:17.925-05:002011-03-04T14:50:17.925-05:00Thank you for all of this positive feedback I'...Thank you for all of this positive feedback I'm encouraged to hear from a few like-minded TFA folk. I'm getting the sense that they are more and more of us out there that do not agree with TFA's current approach and philosophy. Perhaps there will be a way for us to apply pressure to this organization to change?<br /><br />Cheers,<br />M.A.B.M.A.B.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-8368084748610568112011-03-04T00:43:18.813-05:002011-03-04T00:43:18.813-05:00This was amazing! So glad to have your perspective...This was amazing! So glad to have your perspective on the summit. Thanks for being so on-point!Mr. Konghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01770964078023599163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-36266859191563453442011-03-03T12:02:24.134-05:002011-03-03T12:02:24.134-05:00I love your post and am going to tweet it and link...I love your post and am going to tweet it and link to it. I have told a lot friends that one of the worst parts of the Summit was feeling lonely in a sea of 11,000 people... it can make you feel crazy. <br /><br />On the corporate and charter sponsors... it reminds me of a conference I went to last June for the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) that was sponsored by BP. I am sure to NACE, they didn't feel like who sponsored them reflected any value except that they were happy to partner with an organization that hires so many college students in good paying jobs. But many attendees could think of nothing else except pelicans with oil on their beaks.<br /><br />I'm running a small business now so I appreciate that many organizations have to go where the money is to keep their programs afloat and none of the corporations that sponsored the Summit were "evil." That being said, I am troubled that TFA doesn't seem self-aware at how accepting this money changes them and their more recently recruited corps members.Tracynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-31772139886982500102011-03-02T23:24:29.768-05:002011-03-02T23:24:29.768-05:00I heart M.A.B :)I heart M.A.B :)J. Cavanaghnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-46573172409030160112011-03-02T21:50:25.604-05:002011-03-02T21:50:25.604-05:00love this part:
"But I wasn’t inspired. What ...love this part:<br />"But I wasn’t inspired. What was it that so many people there found inspirational? Was it sitting in a room with 11,000 seemingly like-minded individuals? Was it the floorshow provided by men in Asian outfits stir-frying noodles on raised platforms during the receptions?"<br /><br />I am becoming such a fan of this blog.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-37379439872378323162011-03-02T20:09:34.068-05:002011-03-02T20:09:34.068-05:00A very cogent piece of analysis - hitting so many ...A very cogent piece of analysis - hitting so many important points, It gives me great hope that there are young teachers out there doing such fine analysis. Keep up the great work.<br /><br />IraIra Goldfinenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-45853263342222277732011-03-02T19:57:01.931-05:002011-03-02T19:57:01.931-05:00That was freakin' awesome! I'm passing th...That was freakin' awesome! I'm passing this on...Alex Torreshttp://www.change.org/petitions/demand-that-mayor-bloomberg-resignnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-32320521556150974632011-03-02T18:31:39.689-05:002011-03-02T18:31:39.689-05:00Weingarten is Judas...and should be treate accordi...Weingarten is Judas...and should be treate accordingly...what a roach...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-78082326318109944982011-03-02T17:40:24.182-05:002011-03-02T17:40:24.182-05:00I was at the Summit and I am sorry I did not see y...I was at the Summit and I am sorry I did not see you there with your pamphlets. I agree with you on every level. You would not have felt lonely if we had met. I also met another former alumni while I was eating dinner who feels the way we do also. Keep on keeping on.You are not aloneAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-15879837480370769972011-03-02T11:45:02.048-05:002011-03-02T11:45:02.048-05:00A very well-written and insightful post.
Given th...A very well-written and insightful post.<br /><br />Given the prominence that TFA is given in all the discourse about education, the importance of your personal experience and perspective cannot be overstated.<br /><br />Hopefully, your insights will lead other TFAers to qustion the rhetoric, ideology and practices of the organization, which can appear cult-like at times, and which for the most part is having a very dustructive effect on public education, despite the idealism that its members enter teaching with.Michael Fiorillonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33431390.post-39437495017404786792011-03-02T11:21:41.860-05:002011-03-02T11:21:41.860-05:00Great article. Just to answer one of your questio...Great article. Just to answer one of your questions. The donations by big business will keep coming as long as there is money to be made and unions to crush.Spoooonnoreply@blogger.com