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Book Buddies: Molly Hammer, Michelle Woo, & Brandi Holmes
Reading Schedule
Foreward, Intro, Publisher's Note, About the Author, & Chapter 1 - week 1 by Feb. 7th
Quotations and Preliminary Thoughts.doc (by Michelle)
Chapter 1 Notes(2).doc (by Michelle)
Chapter 2 - week 2 by Feb. 14th
Chapter 3 - week 3 by Feb. 21st
Brandi.ch3.Molly[1].response.doc
Response to Brandi and Molly (Chapter 3).doc
Chapter 4 - week 4 by Feb. 28th
YEAH, I got it...finally!!! Brandi
Chapter 5 - week 5 by Mar. 6th
(YEAH!!!)
(YEAH!!!)
Molly:
Brandi, I agree with you that passion for teaching is the number one ingredient that quality teachers have, whether they are certified or not. I, too, get tired of bumping heads with teachers who don’t want to change. I personally get bored doing the same things day in and day out so if I’m bored then my students are going to get bored, which leads to problems with classroom management. This is one problem I have with using Direct Instruction as “the reading program”. It is the same thing every single day, with little variation. I had to post directly to this page because I can't seem to upload any of my files anymore.
Afterword - week 6 by Mar. 13th
Afterword.Postscript Molly.doc
Not sure what's wrong. I could post my response to Michelle in Word.doc form but not my response to Molly so here it is followed by my conclusions.
Molly:
This book, it seems, has raised a great deal of controversy in the field of education. Gatto makes very good points throughout the entire book and I would highly recommend educators read this book. I said the same thing below. It can be used to begin honest dialogue regarding what exactly we want our children to learn. “Such an economy has desperate needs: in order to work, it requires a particular kind of “human resource,” specifically one driven to define itself by purchasing things, by owning “stuff,” by evaluating everything from the perspective of comfort, physical security, and status” (p. 99). Is that all we really want the children of the future to learn? Is that really the road we want to continue to travel down? I, for one, want to see a major change. What types of changes do you think you could make? Would you start with our school? “[Gatto] questioned the validity and the relevance of standardized tests, the prison atmosphere of school, and the lack of relevant experience given students” (p. 105). He believes change needs to start at the local level, so I can begin to make changes in my classroom and I can advocate for changes within my school. I can encourage my parents to be advocates for their child’s education. YES! I totally agree. You just answered my above question. Do you think after reading this book you have begun to look differently at education as you did prior to reading this book? Do you think this will affect how you feel about Steven’s education? What can you do about it? Perhaps if more people stand united and speak out against the current state of education then change will happen!
The entire book focuses on why we should change and ways to change the corrupt educational system in which we have in place today in public school systems. I think as Molly stated above, that this needs to begin small like county wide and then move forward to state and finally federal. Maybe if more people home-schooled or chose private school for their children to attend then the city, state, and national education systems would take notice and wonder why parents were not putting their trust into public schools.
“Lest that pass as idle hyperbole, let me confess that every single day of my life as a schoolteacher I chanted a litany to myself while shaving in the morning. In it I pledged to find, that very day, a way, however small, to throw sand in the gears of the system.”
I felt this to be a powerful quote that kind of sums things up and motivates you to make a change—one small one at a time. I think educators at all levels should read this book with an open mind about all of the information it has to offer. I believe that I may suggest this book for our next book study group at the beginning of next year. I think a lot of people are ignorant to these types of thoughts and ideas and maybe just need exposure to these concepts. I know myself that I wouldn’t have picked this book up just for leisure reading. There were ideas in here that never crossed my mind, and I consider myself to be a highly-educated individual. However after this year and all of the insights I have gained through the Ed.S. Program, you can bet that I will be more conscience when picking out literature. I feel like prior to this experience, I was going through teaching with blinders on. Now the blinders have been removed and I’m seeing things anew for the first time. All I can say is…Watch out education, it’s time for some changes! Molly: Brandi, I agree that this would be a great book for us to use as a book study at our school next year! I found it to be very enlightening! I think in order to effect change we need to have continueous conversations not only with peers, but with everyone who values education. When I read the latest bill (SB 506 -- The Shape Act) that passed the senate and is waiting to be voted on by the house in regards to measuring every child's body mass index and posting the results bi-annually, I was totally floored. I sent the e-mail to my husband so he could see the madness we all have to deal with. He thought it was so ridiculous that he immediately sent an e-mail off to our congressman requesting that he fight the bill citing that it would only succeed in labeling our children and schools and create more bias towards children who didn't meet the "fit" standard. He also suggested that perhaps our politicians should have their body mass index measured bi-annually and have it posted for the world to see just to make the point of how ridiculous this bill sounds. My point with this story is that even people who aren't in education can be empowered to have a voice if they are aware of what is really going on with the education of our children! And yes, I constantly worry about Stephen's education or lack of....which is why my husband and I try to supplement every chance we get.
Afterword.doc (Michelle)
Brandi.Afterword.michelle.1.doc
molly's response to michelle.doc
Brandi, don't feel bad...I tried to post a response to Michelle's afterword thoughts and I can't seem to get it to work either. I guess I will keep trying. Molly Thanks! I appreciate your support. I'm going to try later to go ahead and post on the Afterword as well. I just would like to check this item off my "to-do" list. :)B
Brandi:
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