tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post5802118120012037417..comments2024-03-18T23:39:24.591-07:00Comments on Teacher Tom: This Is What We Are Up AgainstTeacher Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14606781724784785338noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-15190292714193636412013-07-17T14:59:47.694-07:002013-07-17T14:59:47.694-07:00@anonymous . . . Thanks for tipping me to the vani...@anonymous . . . Thanks for tipping me to the vanishing videos. I believe the first one was okay, right? I've now provided a new link to the second one. The third one, and it's pretty awesome, is apparently not viewable everywhere outside the US. I found in on Comedy Central's website. It is an episode of The Daily Show, Aug. 12, 2009, called MBA Ethics Oath. I've tried updating it in the post with a more recent link. Hopefully it will work for you; it does for me. If not, here's a direct link: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-august-12-2009/mba-ethics-oathTeacher Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14606781724784785338noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-57447585836512492712013-07-17T10:31:55.209-07:002013-07-17T10:31:55.209-07:00A couple of the videos are not working and I would...A couple of the videos are not working and I would like to watch them. Can you provide links to where you found them?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-24317067579981136012011-08-09T00:33:39.753-07:002011-08-09T00:33:39.753-07:00Thanks for taking this opportunity to discuss this...Thanks for taking this opportunity to discuss this, I feel fervently about this and I like learning about this subject.<a href="http://thecorporategurus.in/courses.html" rel="nofollow">mba colleges in punjab</a>amiyawilliamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02243674727175881008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-50139943803613216352011-08-07T18:48:03.388-07:002011-08-07T18:48:03.388-07:00This is one of the reasons I homeschool. I have s...This is one of the reasons I homeschool. I have so many teacher friends and parents of public schoolers that are constantly sharing stories that would curl your hair. They're always telling me how lucky we are. <br /><br />When my daughter, 10, discovered you have to have permission to use the bathroom she was outraged. Her response? "But that's a basic human rite!" What are we learning when we have to learn how to properly ask permission to do what comes naturally to our bodies?<br /><br />One teacher friend, whom we adore due to her gentle child supportive and empowering approach, is one of those public educators. She has lost her job every year and yet, others don't. The teacher that's been there forever and actually throws her WIG at the children!!! was one who stayed. Another school, the teacher that kept a bottle of whiskey in her filing cabinet and would take snorts through the day in her "coffee". These so called teachers stayed...but those who looked forward to kids, educated theirselves, saw the children as people not scores were let go.<br /><br />Teachers are the ones that educate the children. What kind of world do we live in when we pay surgeons to do boob jobs better than the teachers that inspire our kids? <br /><br />I think there should be testing and a pay based on performance for teachers. Pay teachers that love what they're doing, who bring joy to the children, put the test into the kids hands and that of the parents and let them score the teachers. Look at the portfolios. See what the kids know...not what they can spit out and forget. Get rid of the teachers that scare children and send the standardized testing with them.<br /><br />My niece is going into 6th grade and she didn't know how to use the library. You can't even say it's due to the digital world because she didn't know what/how to look up/research on google either. Even my 3 year old knows that when she wants to listen to music about cats and dogs but songs that have only one or the other she says cats and/or dogs. (She has older siblings and a mother that went to school for journalism so..we may be odd. ;) ) But, teach children how to find what they're interested in...spark the fire of learning and teach them how to add fuel. Odds are...with a good spark and some kindling they'll have a long slow burn with all the lovely logs they find as they now have the initiative to find their own firewood.<br /><br />And,Bill needs to stick with what he know; computers. <br /><br />HoneyHoneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05943559434282639231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-32626930275768749802011-08-04T08:52:44.847-07:002011-08-04T08:52:44.847-07:00My child is in preschool and I don't have any ...My child is in preschool and I don't have any experience at all with public school (past my own, 20 years ago), but it is looming. I am wondering if there are any legitimate studies that show a correlation between test scores while in school and personal satisfaction later in life. For example, if you were 90 percentile in fourth grade what bearing does that have on your self-evaluated contentment with your own ability to function in society, provide for yourself, and participate in your community when you are 40?<br /><br />Just curious, because it seems that testing is to evaluate the teachers or further-education-readiness at 18, but not life preparedness for the long term. ??April McCauleynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-60127954937631589152011-08-03T22:44:07.838-07:002011-08-03T22:44:07.838-07:00I'm a Canaian elementary school teacher, and w...I'm a Canaian elementary school teacher, and we're knee-deep in the standardized testing battle up here too.<br /><br />Right now, the biggest educational buzzword in Ontario is "differentiated instruction" (aka what teachers already do). So the irony is that while we're supposed to be teaching them like the individuals they are, the government is testing them like they're all the same.<br /><br />I'm a firm believer that neither education nor healthcare should be run like corporations. What do we value more, people or profits?<br /><br />KristiAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-57479284395264875462011-08-03T16:46:39.535-07:002011-08-03T16:46:39.535-07:00Same BS going down in New Zealand as well... trage...Same BS going down in New Zealand as well... tragedy that we let politicians near our kids!<br /><br />Great post!!<br /><br />Geoff.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-67282503929885003412011-08-03T14:42:31.703-07:002011-08-03T14:42:31.703-07:00Right on, Tom! If this small piece could get even ...Right on, Tom! If this small piece could get even a fraction of the air-play the **** debt ceiling disgrace did, maybe someone would care enough to listen. Gates puts all his education funding into high-school programs, and we all know it's too late by then! I did not allow my kids to attend schools on days they were giving standardized tests --- it cost one of them a $1000 scholarship - I consider that black mail.pollyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03254699413434169500noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-2303680122467799652011-08-03T14:09:48.982-07:002011-08-03T14:09:48.982-07:00This is a pretty good reflection on what is happen...This is a pretty good reflection on what is happening here in the UK too. I think it's frightening that so many people across the world can share the shameful attitudes of the employees of Reason TV (we are so lucky to not have that kind of TV in your face over here) and Gates et al. The UK government hides under the cover of claiming it will focus more on the classroom, teaching and learning, but no matter how they dress it up the testing and accountability issues remain at the forefront of everything they propose. Thanks Teacher Tom for sharing this, otherwise many of your fellow teachers in the UK might not have had the chance to see it.FiFiUKnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-86517773257713667542011-08-03T14:00:08.756-07:002011-08-03T14:00:08.756-07:00If I was as well spoken as you, this is exactly wh...If I was as well spoken as you, this is exactly what I would say! I loved this post. I had, before I read your post linked Mr. Damon's video on FB. Brilliant. I love your attitude, Teacher Tom!!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09638036458628891597noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-61233227503043816252011-08-03T13:56:28.233-07:002011-08-03T13:56:28.233-07:00As usual, we're flying the same flag in educat...As usual, we're flying the same flag in educational terms, even if we're in different countries! Well spoken, and thanks so much for sharing the Damon videos in particular. I love your addition to the commentary there- you should send it to him!<br /><br />I wonder how much of the 'greed is good' mentality can be traced back to the US's lack of a public health care system? When you have to have money to afford medical care, you would surely get the feeling that money can buy everything, including life. Over here in Australia most of us have no such illusions; because we all have access to pretty decent emergency care without losing our house, the general public mostly can separate the value of money from the value of essentials such as health and education. <br /><br />Just a thought... mind you, we are fighting a similar battle here against the introduction of standardised testing as a measure of teaching excellence, thanks to a similar mentality in some of our supposed 'leaders' who are simply too far removed from daily reality and leaning so far to the right (in both sides of politics) that they are in danger of falling out of the tree.Aunt Anniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08799746597313773030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-59706048423917476402011-08-03T13:51:43.354-07:002011-08-03T13:51:43.354-07:00Love your post. Everything. My husband is a high s...Love your post. Everything. My husband is a high school teacher and he feels just about the same way about all this and standardized testing. We decided to homeschool our kids because of these very reasons. I find it frightening and very very sad. I only hope it changes one day.Cave Mommahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02446689918377947144noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-42862816332583825972011-08-03T11:59:08.070-07:002011-08-03T11:59:08.070-07:00I thoroughly enjoyed this post. I am a former publ...I thoroughly enjoyed this post. I am a former public high school teacher who quit teaching and took my kids out of public school to get away from the testing mentality. It's horrible to see what is becoming of our public school system.<br /><br />Great post.Kimnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-81522488676790410592011-08-03T11:11:27.303-07:002011-08-03T11:11:27.303-07:00Love this post... Accountability is one thing, but...Love this post... Accountability is one thing, but using standardized testing to obtain that accountability is insane. Even our kindergarteners are tested at an alarming rate. This takes away all freedom from teachers as they cannot sway too far away from what's on the test or their students won't pass and then the teacher is in trouble. I can't imagine there are too many kindergarten teachers excited about forcing a 3 hour literacy block instead of more hands on activities and active learning that is more developmentally appropriate. In Michigan the average passing standardized tests is around ~35%. Is it really that our children are illiterate and can't do math... or is it the test that's broken? There are other factors (parents) as well but that's for a different post I suppose.Carriehttp://www.examiner.com/preschools-1-in-lansing/carrie-chancenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-23941797441952040722011-08-03T10:41:28.806-07:002011-08-03T10:41:28.806-07:00as a homeschooling parent -- and a preschool teach...as a homeschooling parent -- and a preschool teacher here in Canada --i can honestly say that "standardized" testing served no positive purpose for my children.. the thought of it literally made my son ill - headaches, stress, and the like. When i opt-ed out on his behalf -- it was frowned upon -- so we are fortunate to homeschool -- BUT- i have amazing memories of school and the teachers there that helped me become a free thinker-- of course, that was way before they decided that a child's potential was "measurable" -- i share your frustrations and outrage-- just wanted to say thanks for your dedication to the children and to the teachers -- i share your fighting spirit . <br /> light and peace to you -- and all the amazing teachers i have met online and in the world... <br />Namaste Dawn ..Dawnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16914248025313621826noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-50048094235596108542011-08-03T06:40:47.821-07:002011-08-03T06:40:47.821-07:00Love the post. Our education system scares me at t...Love the post. Our education system scares me at this point because of the fact that it does not encourage, or reward, sparking that "love affair" with learning. <br /><br />One thing to add, Bill Gates, while certainly a greedy individual, was a Harvard dropout, and is currently supporting a website called the Khan academy. I believe they are trying out a new process in which the students watch their lessons online at home, and then work on "homework" at school. Just a little sidenote. <br /><br />As I said, great post, made more powerful by your passion for the subject.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com