One of the perils of all the new technology today is we have put valuable tools in the hands of today's youth who have little or no understanding of the possible consequences of their misuse. We have all heard the stories of various social networking tools being misused, with students discussing underage drinking activities, cyber-bullying, and discussing illegal or immoral acts they have committed. At Ethics Day in Bismarck, one of the speakers used a quote that really hit the issue on the head. He said, "Once on the Internet, forever on the Internet". Students don't realize the consequence of being so bold and open on the Internet, telling things that anyone and everyone may ultimately have access to.
One issue that concerns me is the use of sexting. This term refers to taking nude pictures of themselves or friends, some even performing sexual acts, and texting these pictures to friends. The students that participate in this activity don't understand that these pictures will in all likelihood be forwarded to other friends, and before long they may be seen by most other students in the school and beyond. Why would you want other people to see these photos, especially when they may fall into the wrong hands. There is also the concern of minors being the subject of the photos. When this happens, you in essence have child pornography. Not only are the students who took the pictures breaking the law, but anyone who possesses or passes on the pictures guilty of possessing or distributing child pornography, which is a federal crime. Students found guilty of this crime will also have to spend the rest of their lives as registered sex offenders. Students need to stop and think about the consequences of misusing these technological tools.
This brings me to the second issue I would like to discuss. There is a difficult balance between personal privacy and the need for administrators to keep the teaching staff informed of issues within the school. If there is a known instance of sexting or other crimes within a school, should the staff be advised of these circumstances? We don't need to know the names of the students involved, but wouldn't it be better if we knew about these issues before we here students talking about them? It never fails that the students will find out. How can we use this as a teachable moment if we don't know before a student says something about it? What are your thoughts?
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Charter School vs Public School Performance
Kevin Hart recently wrote an article for NEA Today entitled, "Report: Charter Schools Making Achievements Worse?" This report creates a question whether charter schools are being held accountable for their performance the same way public schools are.
I have very little understanding of charter schools, since they are not prevalent in North Dakota. It is my understanding the public schools in areas where charter schools exist feel threatened by charter schools. The fear is that charter schools will attract the high achieving students as well as the best teachers away from the public schools. We all know that a good education depends on quality teachers and administrators, proper resources, students who want to learn, and supportive parents. If the best students and teachers are leaving public schools to go to charter schools, it is easy to understand the concerns of public schools, especially in low-income and high minority schools.
According to Mr. Hart, charter schools were founded on the premise of freedom with accountability. It is understandable for parents to want the best possible education for their children. However, Diane Ravitch, a New York University professor and former Assistant Secretary of Education analyzed the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress mathematics data which was compiled by the U. S. Department of Education. She concluded that public school students are not only outperforming charter school students, but the gap is increasing.
Public school fourth graders outperformed their charter school counterparts by six points in Math in 2003; that gap today is eight points. For eighth graders, public school students continue to outperform charter school students by seven points. What concerns Ms. Ravitch is that charter schools have been promoted as an opportunity for educational change. However, accountability for performance seems to be lacking. If charter schools are going to be a choice when compared to public schools, they also need to have similar accountability. Without that accountability, it will be difficult for parents to make an informed decision on the best educational choice for their children.
I have very little understanding of charter schools, since they are not prevalent in North Dakota. It is my understanding the public schools in areas where charter schools exist feel threatened by charter schools. The fear is that charter schools will attract the high achieving students as well as the best teachers away from the public schools. We all know that a good education depends on quality teachers and administrators, proper resources, students who want to learn, and supportive parents. If the best students and teachers are leaving public schools to go to charter schools, it is easy to understand the concerns of public schools, especially in low-income and high minority schools.
According to Mr. Hart, charter schools were founded on the premise of freedom with accountability. It is understandable for parents to want the best possible education for their children. However, Diane Ravitch, a New York University professor and former Assistant Secretary of Education analyzed the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress mathematics data which was compiled by the U. S. Department of Education. She concluded that public school students are not only outperforming charter school students, but the gap is increasing.
Public school fourth graders outperformed their charter school counterparts by six points in Math in 2003; that gap today is eight points. For eighth graders, public school students continue to outperform charter school students by seven points. What concerns Ms. Ravitch is that charter schools have been promoted as an opportunity for educational change. However, accountability for performance seems to be lacking. If charter schools are going to be a choice when compared to public schools, they also need to have similar accountability. Without that accountability, it will be difficult for parents to make an informed decision on the best educational choice for their children.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Student Behavior on Field Trips
An issue that seems to come up every year at our school is taking students out of class for field trips. It gets to be very frustrating for a teacher to constantly have students taken out of class for various activities. Besides the problem of makeup work, teaching all students consistently the new concepts they must learn is difficult when there are a lot of days when you have students missing from each class for some activity. The other side is that activities have a positive value for the students. This is also true for carefully planned field trips.
For many years, students understood that missing school for any activity, including field trips, was a privilege and they were expected to be on their best behavior. It was also understood that misbehavior not only jeopardized each student's ability to participate, but also jeopardized the field trip/activity in the future. As a general rule, this understanding kept student behavior in check.
However, we are seeing many more instances of students bringing alcohol, drugs, tobacco on these trips along with inappropriate behavior. Too many students see this as an opportunity to get out of class and don't care about the educational value of the experience. As a former coach who also has taken students on various other activities including overnight trips, the adult supervising these activities can only do so much to oversee behavior. You have to have a certain amount of trust in the students you take. It would be great if you were never more than 20 feet away from every and all student under your charge. Obviously, this is impossible. So, you have to trust that your students will act the way they are supposed to and be dilligent in your supervision.
My question is this: If you have a group or activity that is consistently displaying inappropriate behavior, at what point do you say the educational experience is not valuable enough to continue risking the misbehavior? It would be nice to only take the well-behaved students, but that is also not possible. I have seen or heard stories about the so-called "good kids" getting into mischief or doing inappropriate behaviors. I know that there has to come a time when a teacher decides that it just isn't worth it to deal with the problems. What do the rest of you think?
For many years, students understood that missing school for any activity, including field trips, was a privilege and they were expected to be on their best behavior. It was also understood that misbehavior not only jeopardized each student's ability to participate, but also jeopardized the field trip/activity in the future. As a general rule, this understanding kept student behavior in check.
However, we are seeing many more instances of students bringing alcohol, drugs, tobacco on these trips along with inappropriate behavior. Too many students see this as an opportunity to get out of class and don't care about the educational value of the experience. As a former coach who also has taken students on various other activities including overnight trips, the adult supervising these activities can only do so much to oversee behavior. You have to have a certain amount of trust in the students you take. It would be great if you were never more than 20 feet away from every and all student under your charge. Obviously, this is impossible. So, you have to trust that your students will act the way they are supposed to and be dilligent in your supervision.
My question is this: If you have a group or activity that is consistently displaying inappropriate behavior, at what point do you say the educational experience is not valuable enough to continue risking the misbehavior? It would be nice to only take the well-behaved students, but that is also not possible. I have seen or heard stories about the so-called "good kids" getting into mischief or doing inappropriate behaviors. I know that there has to come a time when a teacher decides that it just isn't worth it to deal with the problems. What do the rest of you think?
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Test Scores as a Measure for Merit Pay
As I was talking over lunch with some fellow teachers the other day, an upper level science teacher made the comment that our educational system does little to reward teachers for doing a good job. As a core teacher, he has lobbied for science and math teachers to get paid more than other teachers because of NCLB. His point is that since they are directly tested for NCLB, they have more accountability and more value in the school system. His solution is for merit pay. When asked how he would do it, he said that making AYP shows that they are doing their job.
I am not personally against merit pay in theory, but am against it in the fact that it should definitely not be test based. No good teacher should be afraid of merit pay. However, until a system can be formed and maintained that rewards all teachers for doing a good job that can be applied equitably for all teachers, with the opportunity to earn merit pay every year that they qualify, I don't see merit pay as a solution.
The example I used is that most people who see test scores affecting their pay will begin to teach to the test rather than teach the material. I know very few teachers who will admit to teaching to the test, but I know it is going on. I know there are accounting teachers teaching to the test for various competitions. Those students can do very well when given a multiple choice test, but when having to apply the concepts they can't do it.
NEA Today recently had an article that discusses a study that shows low-income schools with primarily minority populations are teaching to the test and teaching test-taking strategies in place of teaching content. "Study: Test Prep Grows, Curriculum Shrinks in Low-Income Schools" discusses the perils of teaching to the test, providing students with ways to meet AYP but leaving them with skills that are useless in their future lives. AYP was supposed to help low-achieving students, yet the pressure to attain test scores is actually hurting the very students it was supposed to help.
This study also supports my argument that test scores should not be a basis for determining teacher pay. It is unfortunate that we have teachers that believe their role is more important than other teachers within our own school. I made the point to my co-worker that several of the areas he felt provided a lesser role that each teacher has an equally important role in every student's education. Teachers teaching the low-achieving student is every bit as important as the one's teaching the high-achieving students. Physical education teachers are every bit as important if we are going to stem the tide of obesity in our society. Career and Technical Education teachers are important in preparing students for their careers. We need to understand that all faculty members have an important role and it is more important for us to work together instead of becoming divided because we want monetary rewards for doing a good job.
I am not personally against merit pay in theory, but am against it in the fact that it should definitely not be test based. No good teacher should be afraid of merit pay. However, until a system can be formed and maintained that rewards all teachers for doing a good job that can be applied equitably for all teachers, with the opportunity to earn merit pay every year that they qualify, I don't see merit pay as a solution.
The example I used is that most people who see test scores affecting their pay will begin to teach to the test rather than teach the material. I know very few teachers who will admit to teaching to the test, but I know it is going on. I know there are accounting teachers teaching to the test for various competitions. Those students can do very well when given a multiple choice test, but when having to apply the concepts they can't do it.
NEA Today recently had an article that discusses a study that shows low-income schools with primarily minority populations are teaching to the test and teaching test-taking strategies in place of teaching content. "Study: Test Prep Grows, Curriculum Shrinks in Low-Income Schools" discusses the perils of teaching to the test, providing students with ways to meet AYP but leaving them with skills that are useless in their future lives. AYP was supposed to help low-achieving students, yet the pressure to attain test scores is actually hurting the very students it was supposed to help.
This study also supports my argument that test scores should not be a basis for determining teacher pay. It is unfortunate that we have teachers that believe their role is more important than other teachers within our own school. I made the point to my co-worker that several of the areas he felt provided a lesser role that each teacher has an equally important role in every student's education. Teachers teaching the low-achieving student is every bit as important as the one's teaching the high-achieving students. Physical education teachers are every bit as important if we are going to stem the tide of obesity in our society. Career and Technical Education teachers are important in preparing students for their careers. We need to understand that all faculty members have an important role and it is more important for us to work together instead of becoming divided because we want monetary rewards for doing a good job.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Dealing with Teen Suicide
I know the topic of student suicide has been discussed in this forum before, but I would like to add my insight. Several years ago, Mandan High School went through a rash of suicides. It was about eight consecutive years that we had two a year (one per semester), just like clockwork. During this time, we held our breaths wondering who would be next and when the news was coming, because we knew it was coming. The streak finally ended, and we have only had a handful since. During and after this time, we have tried everything we can to get the message out that this is the wrong choice, talk to someone if you are thinking about it, awareness of the signs, etc. As a matter of fact, we reached a point where many students became immune to the message as overkill.
During this time, I became convinced that the best way to prevent suicide is to get the students involved. I have a very good rapport with my students, but the fact is that I am guessing that less than 10% of my students would come to me to discuss anything sensitive. I really believe that the hardest part of preventing suicide is that very few students feel comfortable going to a teacher, counselor, or administrator to discuss personal feelings or situations. When Bev Cobain spoke at our school, I attended with our juniors and seniors. When she asked how many know someone who is considering suicide, I was amazed that somewhere around 25 hands went up. I never would have thought there were that many at our school.
What prompted me to use this as my weekly blog topic is a story that was in the Bismarck Tribune on Tuesday. In Palo Alto, California, after the fourth teen suicide in less than six months, some of the students decided to take steps to stop the trend. They printed T-shirts that say "Talk to Me", signifying support from their peers. They have formed pacts not to commit suicide. They are leaving messages around the school to cheer up students, or call attention to the positive parts of life. They have created a peer-run support group. One student created a Web site to call attention to acts of kindness or positive actions by their students. These efforts are ongoing, but it will be a long, hard battle. For those of you out there that are also struggling with suicide at your schools I would encourage you to find creative ways to get the students involved in prevention. Working together with students will make the teacher more accessible and approachable, but having other students involved will increase the chance that students considering suicide will talk to someone - a peer in the least.
During this time, I became convinced that the best way to prevent suicide is to get the students involved. I have a very good rapport with my students, but the fact is that I am guessing that less than 10% of my students would come to me to discuss anything sensitive. I really believe that the hardest part of preventing suicide is that very few students feel comfortable going to a teacher, counselor, or administrator to discuss personal feelings or situations. When Bev Cobain spoke at our school, I attended with our juniors and seniors. When she asked how many know someone who is considering suicide, I was amazed that somewhere around 25 hands went up. I never would have thought there were that many at our school.
What prompted me to use this as my weekly blog topic is a story that was in the Bismarck Tribune on Tuesday. In Palo Alto, California, after the fourth teen suicide in less than six months, some of the students decided to take steps to stop the trend. They printed T-shirts that say "Talk to Me", signifying support from their peers. They have formed pacts not to commit suicide. They are leaving messages around the school to cheer up students, or call attention to the positive parts of life. They have created a peer-run support group. One student created a Web site to call attention to acts of kindness or positive actions by their students. These efforts are ongoing, but it will be a long, hard battle. For those of you out there that are also struggling with suicide at your schools I would encourage you to find creative ways to get the students involved in prevention. Working together with students will make the teacher more accessible and approachable, but having other students involved will increase the chance that students considering suicide will talk to someone - a peer in the least.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Great Public Schools Begin With Great Teachers
Recently, National Education Association (NEA) President Dennis Van Roeckel testified before the Aspen Institute Commission on No Child Left Behind. President Van Roeckel discussed the NEA's stance on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and how to improve it. He listed the need to treat teachers as the professional they are, the need for better teacher education programs, a partnership between schools and parents, and adequate financial support for education as the ways education can be improved nationally.
I believe anyone who truly wants educational reform would agree with this platform, and NEA is anxious to partner with the federal government to come up with programs that will meet these goals. The concern I have is how the government plans to achieve these goals.
One of the methods currently being promoted by the Obama administration is a program entitled "Race to the Top". This program requires states to compete for a record near $5 billion in stimulus money. The concerns I have start with states having to compete for this money. My understanding is the first round of the money available has less than 10 states even eligible for the money. That sounds a lot like the rich getting richer mentality, which brings to question if the money is truly designed to go to the schools most in need. By the way, North Dakota is not one of those states eligible for the first round of money.
The part that scares me the most is a provision that encourages teacher pay tied to student performance. If a teacher only teaches lower level classes, such as Essential Math, can they expect to have their students score as high on standardized tests as a teacher of advanced math classes, such as Pre-Calculus? I think not. Besides, where are the evaluation of student performance for elective classes? Should they receive less pay because they teach job skills instead of a core subject?
A major part of collective bargaining is that teachers should be treated in an equitable fashion. Teacher pay tied to student performance, in my opinion, will lead to pitting teacher against teacher. Instead, all teachers in a school district need to work together to provide the best education for all their students. I am not against the concept of merit pay in theory. I am against the concept because I don't believe a program can be designed that properly rewards all teachers who do a good job. Until a program can be designed that accomplishes a fair, equitable method of rewarding ALL good teachers, any form of merit pay will be detrimental to education.
I believe anyone who truly wants educational reform would agree with this platform, and NEA is anxious to partner with the federal government to come up with programs that will meet these goals. The concern I have is how the government plans to achieve these goals.
One of the methods currently being promoted by the Obama administration is a program entitled "Race to the Top". This program requires states to compete for a record near $5 billion in stimulus money. The concerns I have start with states having to compete for this money. My understanding is the first round of the money available has less than 10 states even eligible for the money. That sounds a lot like the rich getting richer mentality, which brings to question if the money is truly designed to go to the schools most in need. By the way, North Dakota is not one of those states eligible for the first round of money.
The part that scares me the most is a provision that encourages teacher pay tied to student performance. If a teacher only teaches lower level classes, such as Essential Math, can they expect to have their students score as high on standardized tests as a teacher of advanced math classes, such as Pre-Calculus? I think not. Besides, where are the evaluation of student performance for elective classes? Should they receive less pay because they teach job skills instead of a core subject?
A major part of collective bargaining is that teachers should be treated in an equitable fashion. Teacher pay tied to student performance, in my opinion, will lead to pitting teacher against teacher. Instead, all teachers in a school district need to work together to provide the best education for all their students. I am not against the concept of merit pay in theory. I am against the concept because I don't believe a program can be designed that properly rewards all teachers who do a good job. Until a program can be designed that accomplishes a fair, equitable method of rewarding ALL good teachers, any form of merit pay will be detrimental to education.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
All About the Team
As I was reading the sports page in the Bismarck Tribune yesterday, Steve Thomas wrote a column entitled All About the Team. I don't always agree with Steve Thomas with what he writes or his style of writing, but I applaud his efforts to report sports fairly and accurately. I know that it seems unusual to discuss a sports story as having an impact on education, but he made some very good points that reflect the very same issues we see in education with today's society.
Steve starts out discussing the success of Bismarck High football as a result of selflessness and putting the team ahead of personal glory. He then cited the following quote, which really got me thinking: "That conversation came just a few days after the subject of self-centeredness sprang up in the Bible study I attend. It's long been my feeling that a person can't live a meaningful life until he realizes there is something bigger than what he wants." He then discusses how this was especially true during the Great Depression and the World Wars. What individuals wanted often was secondary to raising your family or defending your country. That is still true today with the military.
Steve mentions that this is true in sports today. I don't agree that it is true in all locker rooms, but I agree that it is true in the locker rooms of most teams that win championships. He also makes reference to a book entitled I Am Third. This is the autobiography of Gayle Sayers, written in 1970, and was the inspiration for the movie, Brian's Song which is about the tremendous relationship between Gayle and Brian Piccolo who died at a young age (27) from cancer. The story chronicles their friendship and the incredible courage of Brian, but the reference Steve makes is to Gayle Sayer's philosophy, "The Lord is first, my friends are second, and I am third."
The point Steve is making, and I believe that we have lost this mentality on most of our youth and their parents, is the importance of putting the team or the task ahead of our own personal wants and needs. Steve finishes by saying "Our chances as a nation will be a lot better when the 'what's in it for me' attitude is supplanted by a big picture outlook." That says a lot about the challenges we encounter in the classroom for all phases of classroom management.
Steve starts out discussing the success of Bismarck High football as a result of selflessness and putting the team ahead of personal glory. He then cited the following quote, which really got me thinking: "That conversation came just a few days after the subject of self-centeredness sprang up in the Bible study I attend. It's long been my feeling that a person can't live a meaningful life until he realizes there is something bigger than what he wants." He then discusses how this was especially true during the Great Depression and the World Wars. What individuals wanted often was secondary to raising your family or defending your country. That is still true today with the military.
Steve mentions that this is true in sports today. I don't agree that it is true in all locker rooms, but I agree that it is true in the locker rooms of most teams that win championships. He also makes reference to a book entitled I Am Third. This is the autobiography of Gayle Sayers, written in 1970, and was the inspiration for the movie, Brian's Song which is about the tremendous relationship between Gayle and Brian Piccolo who died at a young age (27) from cancer. The story chronicles their friendship and the incredible courage of Brian, but the reference Steve makes is to Gayle Sayer's philosophy, "The Lord is first, my friends are second, and I am third."
The point Steve is making, and I believe that we have lost this mentality on most of our youth and their parents, is the importance of putting the team or the task ahead of our own personal wants and needs. Steve finishes by saying "Our chances as a nation will be a lot better when the 'what's in it for me' attitude is supplanted by a big picture outlook." That says a lot about the challenges we encounter in the classroom for all phases of classroom management.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Banned Books
An article was written for NEA Today on October 2nd entitled "It's Banned Books Week!" The story discusses various banned books and the struggle by educators to fight censorship nationwide. I was amazed to see such classics as Of Mice and Men, Catcher in the Rye, and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn being banned from school libraries. Also included in the list is the Harry Potter series. The article states that over 500 books were challenged for classroom reading or attempts to remove them from libraries in 2008. It is estimated that 70-80% of attempts to ban books are never reported, so the total is likely much higher than that. Reading the article brought back memories of reading Fahrenheit 451 while I was in high school. Can we really have that many people in America that believe censorship is right?
I agree that care should be taken by educators that we expose our students to educationally appropriate materials. However, part of the decision must be the educational value of books, not just whether the contents of the book might offend some people. A parent should have the right to monitor the books their children are reading if they find them objectionable. However, they should not have the right to make that same decision for all the other children in their school. If a parent objects to an assigned reading, give that student an alternative assignment rather than punishing all the other students.
Another point the story makes is about human nature. The best way to increase anybody's interest in reading a book is by telling them they can't. We have seen many instances of sales for a book or movie increasing dramatically by somebody making a public objection to the contents. This is especially true for students-they often want to do something even more after they have been told they can't. Hopefully people will soon see how damaging censorship can be.
I agree that care should be taken by educators that we expose our students to educationally appropriate materials. However, part of the decision must be the educational value of books, not just whether the contents of the book might offend some people. A parent should have the right to monitor the books their children are reading if they find them objectionable. However, they should not have the right to make that same decision for all the other children in their school. If a parent objects to an assigned reading, give that student an alternative assignment rather than punishing all the other students.
Another point the story makes is about human nature. The best way to increase anybody's interest in reading a book is by telling them they can't. We have seen many instances of sales for a book or movie increasing dramatically by somebody making a public objection to the contents. This is especially true for students-they often want to do something even more after they have been told they can't. Hopefully people will soon see how damaging censorship can be.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Time Considerations of Lesson Planning
In chapter four of "Teaching Strategies: A Guide to Effective Instruction", the authors list six questions that need to be answered to begin planning lessons. I strongly agree with the questions listed, but would like to talk about one-time considerations.
One of the first lessons I learned once I started teaching is that I like to plan how much time each lesson is going to take for each class. I found that by the time I taught a lesson for the third time, I pretty well knew how long a lesson should take to be completed. So, the the last twenty years, I have spent part of my summers creating calendars for each class. These calendars define what lesson or chapter we will be working on each day, when to expect quizzes and tests, and when projects will be due. I give my students a calendar on the first day of each semester so they know what my expectations are.
I understand that we as teachers need to be flexible. I tell the students when I give them the calendars that they are not set in stone, that we will adjust as necessary, especially for unforeseen circumstances that will arise. I do not tell them I will adjust for slower students. I have found that they will try to manipulate your time if they think it is necessary. However, I do leave myself flexible for reteaching or taking extra time if students are not learning the projected outcomes.
What has become difficult for me the last five or six years is the increased disruptions to the learning cycle. We are almost to the end of the first quarter, and some classes haven't really been able to reach the rhythm that allows us to learn in an efficient manner. We barely get started and along comes homecoming. The state-mandated junior testing is about ten days away, and that will be the third time already this year that class schedules have been disrupted by standardized testing. We have also had classes disrupted for class meetings and a lyceum. To help achieve AYP, there are additional demands on our class time. This is in addition to all the normal disruptions such as sickness, various activities, and such. The last few years I have often found myself a full week or more behind where I was just a few years ago. Sometimes this has been a result of adding an additional lesson or having to slow down for a group of students, but as a general rule it is the result of all the other demands on my class time. Why are our students struggling? I believe part of it is all the extra disruptions and demands being placed on the educational system. How do the rest of you feel?
One of the first lessons I learned once I started teaching is that I like to plan how much time each lesson is going to take for each class. I found that by the time I taught a lesson for the third time, I pretty well knew how long a lesson should take to be completed. So, the the last twenty years, I have spent part of my summers creating calendars for each class. These calendars define what lesson or chapter we will be working on each day, when to expect quizzes and tests, and when projects will be due. I give my students a calendar on the first day of each semester so they know what my expectations are.
I understand that we as teachers need to be flexible. I tell the students when I give them the calendars that they are not set in stone, that we will adjust as necessary, especially for unforeseen circumstances that will arise. I do not tell them I will adjust for slower students. I have found that they will try to manipulate your time if they think it is necessary. However, I do leave myself flexible for reteaching or taking extra time if students are not learning the projected outcomes.
What has become difficult for me the last five or six years is the increased disruptions to the learning cycle. We are almost to the end of the first quarter, and some classes haven't really been able to reach the rhythm that allows us to learn in an efficient manner. We barely get started and along comes homecoming. The state-mandated junior testing is about ten days away, and that will be the third time already this year that class schedules have been disrupted by standardized testing. We have also had classes disrupted for class meetings and a lyceum. To help achieve AYP, there are additional demands on our class time. This is in addition to all the normal disruptions such as sickness, various activities, and such. The last few years I have often found myself a full week or more behind where I was just a few years ago. Sometimes this has been a result of adding an additional lesson or having to slow down for a group of students, but as a general rule it is the result of all the other demands on my class time. Why are our students struggling? I believe part of it is all the extra disruptions and demands being placed on the educational system. How do the rest of you feel?
Thursday, October 8, 2009
As the President-elect of our local teacher's union, I had a meeting with our superintendent and school board president yesterday. During our discussion, a situation was discussed that alarms me tremendously. As our busses pick up and drop off students, the flashing red lights are turned on. By law, all traffic is supposed to stop for the safety of the students. We have a part of town where cars are not even slowing down, much less stopping. As this is reported to the local police department, our police have not been willing to cite the violators. They say it is an inconvenience for a busy section of town. This is very disturbingto me, as the law is there to protect the safety of the school children in our town.
As we discussed this, it was brought up that there are other parts of the state that have had the same conflict with local law enforcement. They claim that the students are not at risk, so therefore it is too difficult to enforce. As teachers and parents, I feel it is very important for people to be aware of this issue, and if the law enforcement in your area is not enforcing the law the people of the town need to pressure them to change their ways.
As we discussed this, it was brought up that there are other parts of the state that have had the same conflict with local law enforcement. They claim that the students are not at risk, so therefore it is too difficult to enforce. As teachers and parents, I feel it is very important for people to be aware of this issue, and if the law enforcement in your area is not enforcing the law the people of the town need to pressure them to change their ways.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
More school: Obama would curtail summer vacation
A news story came out this week that bothers me. It was in the local newspaper earlier this week, and I had a student send me a link to the story on Yahoo News. President Obama apparently thinks that our students' scores are lower than students in other countries because we are not in school long enough. I have mixed feelings about these claims.
I had a conversation this week with our principal. One of the topics we discussed was the maturity level of our students today. There are a lot of things different with teenagers today than there was twenty or thirty years ago. We discussed several reasons for this, such as the increased number of single-parent households and the increase in two wage-earner households. Part of the discussion raised the question, "Are we pushing our youth so hard that they aren't allowed to have a childhood?" Of course, there aren't any studies that look at that as a possible consequence of increased teaching in preschool and all day kindergarten. I know I have read several studies that question if all day kindergarten provides an advantage to students over the traditional half-day kindergarten. Most studies agree that there is a temporary advantage, but question whether that advantage continues throughout elementary school.
I can see the value of having additional instructional time, but also recognize that students will struggle with the additional burdens of more work. I also know that as a teacher, it is difficult to keep up with the prep work and grading papers with the current schedules. Many of us use evenings, weekends, and summers to better prepare for our classes. Adding additional classroom time will lower the time we have to attend conferences, update our lessons, and keep up with updated technology. If teachers cannot better prepare themselves, how can they improve their lessons and bring in new material?
I also question the cost of adding more classroom time. As I negotiated our current negotiated agreement this summer, we added salary to the 2010-11 schedule for the additional day mandated by the legislature this past year. For the Mandan Public Schools, the cost of an additional day for teacher salary was over $160,000. President Obama stops short of saying how much time should be added, but schools in Massachusetts are adding 300 hours to some schools as part of a pilot program. That equates to somewhere between 40 and 50 additional days. That equates to between $6 and $8 million each year just in teacher salary. Where is that money going to come from?
Finally, the tone of the article led one to believe that this idea is as much about providing a safe environment for children in inner schools and to help parents not have as much child care as it is about sound educational ideas. I believe that educational reform should be about better learning practices, not helping the working class with daycare costs. I would be interested in hearing how others feel about this.
I had a conversation this week with our principal. One of the topics we discussed was the maturity level of our students today. There are a lot of things different with teenagers today than there was twenty or thirty years ago. We discussed several reasons for this, such as the increased number of single-parent households and the increase in two wage-earner households. Part of the discussion raised the question, "Are we pushing our youth so hard that they aren't allowed to have a childhood?" Of course, there aren't any studies that look at that as a possible consequence of increased teaching in preschool and all day kindergarten. I know I have read several studies that question if all day kindergarten provides an advantage to students over the traditional half-day kindergarten. Most studies agree that there is a temporary advantage, but question whether that advantage continues throughout elementary school.
I can see the value of having additional instructional time, but also recognize that students will struggle with the additional burdens of more work. I also know that as a teacher, it is difficult to keep up with the prep work and grading papers with the current schedules. Many of us use evenings, weekends, and summers to better prepare for our classes. Adding additional classroom time will lower the time we have to attend conferences, update our lessons, and keep up with updated technology. If teachers cannot better prepare themselves, how can they improve their lessons and bring in new material?
I also question the cost of adding more classroom time. As I negotiated our current negotiated agreement this summer, we added salary to the 2010-11 schedule for the additional day mandated by the legislature this past year. For the Mandan Public Schools, the cost of an additional day for teacher salary was over $160,000. President Obama stops short of saying how much time should be added, but schools in Massachusetts are adding 300 hours to some schools as part of a pilot program. That equates to somewhere between 40 and 50 additional days. That equates to between $6 and $8 million each year just in teacher salary. Where is that money going to come from?
Finally, the tone of the article led one to believe that this idea is as much about providing a safe environment for children in inner schools and to help parents not have as much child care as it is about sound educational ideas. I believe that educational reform should be about better learning practices, not helping the working class with daycare costs. I would be interested in hearing how others feel about this.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
High School Graduation Requirements
Career and Technical Education (CTE), in my opinion, has a dual purpose. The first purpose is to provide career exploration. We all know that children grow up with desires for a certain career such as fire fighter, law enforcement, professional athlete, and such. We also know that those aspirations change regularly. Many students in middle school through about tenth grade are unsure of their career aspirations. Even those that think they know often change their minds several times by the time they finish college or trade school. CTE give them the opportunity to learn skills necessary for almost every career choice. Many students who try various CTE courses are better able to match their interests with their abilities through career exploration.
The second purpose of CTE is to provide specific skills to better prepare them for entering the world of work, whether it is right out of high school, a technical or trade school, or a four-year college and beyond. I believe that most CTE programs do an exemplary job of providing skills to students to help them succeed.
The frustration for most CTE instructors, however, comes from the traditional ideal that every student needs to go to college. Statistics show that is not true for all careers in today's world. However, CTE is constantly fighting for adequate funding. In addition, there is constant pressure that any college-bound student has to take all the high level math and science classes. Recently, legislation has increased the graduation requirements for additional math and science classes. Students are being told that they need to take Chemistry, Physics, and Calculus to be successful in college. The fact is that many degree programs and career choices have absolutely no need for these skills. Students are being discouraged from taking CTE classes because they are "college-bound". Often the good students are unable to do career exploration because they cannot find time in their class schedules to take CTE classes. We need to help the students find what career they can most enjoy and be successful at, and then have them take classes that will prepare them for their chosen career.
It was my understanding that one of the driving forces behind highly qualified teachers was to get the most qualified teachers teaching the subjects they are experts in. The Business Education Department for many years taught Business Math. Students earned math credit for graduation by taking this class. This class was designed to provide basic math skills for students who struggled with Algebra and Geometry. They were taught to compute interest, calculate loan repayment, balance checkbooks, and the like. In other words, life skills in math. Most of the students were not college-bound. We had to quit offering the class for math credit because we were not highly qualified in math. When the Math Department took the class over, it quickly became another Pre-Algebra class. The needs of our low-achieving students were forgotten. Now, we are required to teach certain defined personal finance skills. The skills defined by the legislature were among the skills taught in our Business Math. Who is better qualified to teach personal finance than a business teacher? So who is going to teach personal finance? The Social Studies Department. Once again, CTE gets slighted because we are not a core area.
The second purpose of CTE is to provide specific skills to better prepare them for entering the world of work, whether it is right out of high school, a technical or trade school, or a four-year college and beyond. I believe that most CTE programs do an exemplary job of providing skills to students to help them succeed.
The frustration for most CTE instructors, however, comes from the traditional ideal that every student needs to go to college. Statistics show that is not true for all careers in today's world. However, CTE is constantly fighting for adequate funding. In addition, there is constant pressure that any college-bound student has to take all the high level math and science classes. Recently, legislation has increased the graduation requirements for additional math and science classes. Students are being told that they need to take Chemistry, Physics, and Calculus to be successful in college. The fact is that many degree programs and career choices have absolutely no need for these skills. Students are being discouraged from taking CTE classes because they are "college-bound". Often the good students are unable to do career exploration because they cannot find time in their class schedules to take CTE classes. We need to help the students find what career they can most enjoy and be successful at, and then have them take classes that will prepare them for their chosen career.
It was my understanding that one of the driving forces behind highly qualified teachers was to get the most qualified teachers teaching the subjects they are experts in. The Business Education Department for many years taught Business Math. Students earned math credit for graduation by taking this class. This class was designed to provide basic math skills for students who struggled with Algebra and Geometry. They were taught to compute interest, calculate loan repayment, balance checkbooks, and the like. In other words, life skills in math. Most of the students were not college-bound. We had to quit offering the class for math credit because we were not highly qualified in math. When the Math Department took the class over, it quickly became another Pre-Algebra class. The needs of our low-achieving students were forgotten. Now, we are required to teach certain defined personal finance skills. The skills defined by the legislature were among the skills taught in our Business Math. Who is better qualified to teach personal finance than a business teacher? So who is going to teach personal finance? The Social Studies Department. Once again, CTE gets slighted because we are not a core area.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
High School Hazing
Homecoming week has hit Mandan High School this week, and the age-old problem of hazing Freshman is in full swing. For some reason, the upper classmen choose this week to step up their efforts at putting Freshman in their place.
Hazing has long been seen as a right of passage. The Seniors use this time to assert their dominance and control of the school. In past years, Juniors also believe it is their right to participate in this ritual. Watching for, and trying to stop hazing, puts a tremendous burden on administration and the teaching staff which often take away the joy of the Homecoming festivities. It also ruins Homecoming Week for those students who get paddled or other abusive treatment.
Years ago, hazing was tolerated as long as it didn't get out of control. When I was a high school Freshman at Havre (Montana) High School, there was an unwritten rule that Seniors chose a Freshman. As a member of the Freshman football team, we were each chosen by a Senior member of the varsity football team. Our hazing consisted of polishing the helmets and cleats of our Senior before each game. Also, every Freshman and Senior was excused from school for one afternoon to paint the H on a local hillside. When a Freshman was hazed by a Senior, it was understood that no one else was supposed to touch that Freshman. When the rules for the painting ritual got out of hand, the administration called in the Senior leadership and told them if they didn't get things under control, hazing would be outlawed. The Seniors got things back in control, and patrolled themselves.
Times have changed, however. Many of the upper classmen let things get out of control, and the other members of the class don't work to get things back under control. I remember an instance after the Homecoming game that appalled me when I found out about it. Some Seniors drove by a group of Freshman and pelted them so hard with eggs that it actually knocked them down. There have also been reports of students being physically injured by over zealous paddling. Society has also become much less tolerant to any form of physical or emotional abuse.
Earlier this week, an announcement was made by the principal that any form of hazing would not be tolerated and would be dealt with severely. I had a Senior in class say, "What's the big deal?" I responded by telling him that the big deal is that it is against the law. He responded by saying it wasn't. I told him that paddling is assault and battery. His response was, "I got paddled when I was a Freshman, so I should be able to paddle Freshmen now that I am a Senior." I replied again that it is a big deal because it is against the law. He wasn't convinced.
Homecoming Week is now coming to an end, and I know that we have to be more aware and observant tomorrow until the ordeal is over. After Homecoming is over, the instances of hazing usually slow down and reports become much less. Unfortunately, until we get over this climate that hazing is just a rite of passage, hazing will continue. We need to find a way to help our youth understand that treating anyone with less respect because they are younger, more immature, or don't have the same physical characteristics as others is unacceptable. Until everyone understands that it is wrong to abuse another in any way, hazing will continue to be a tradition.
Hazing has long been seen as a right of passage. The Seniors use this time to assert their dominance and control of the school. In past years, Juniors also believe it is their right to participate in this ritual. Watching for, and trying to stop hazing, puts a tremendous burden on administration and the teaching staff which often take away the joy of the Homecoming festivities. It also ruins Homecoming Week for those students who get paddled or other abusive treatment.
Years ago, hazing was tolerated as long as it didn't get out of control. When I was a high school Freshman at Havre (Montana) High School, there was an unwritten rule that Seniors chose a Freshman. As a member of the Freshman football team, we were each chosen by a Senior member of the varsity football team. Our hazing consisted of polishing the helmets and cleats of our Senior before each game. Also, every Freshman and Senior was excused from school for one afternoon to paint the H on a local hillside. When a Freshman was hazed by a Senior, it was understood that no one else was supposed to touch that Freshman. When the rules for the painting ritual got out of hand, the administration called in the Senior leadership and told them if they didn't get things under control, hazing would be outlawed. The Seniors got things back in control, and patrolled themselves.
Times have changed, however. Many of the upper classmen let things get out of control, and the other members of the class don't work to get things back under control. I remember an instance after the Homecoming game that appalled me when I found out about it. Some Seniors drove by a group of Freshman and pelted them so hard with eggs that it actually knocked them down. There have also been reports of students being physically injured by over zealous paddling. Society has also become much less tolerant to any form of physical or emotional abuse.
Earlier this week, an announcement was made by the principal that any form of hazing would not be tolerated and would be dealt with severely. I had a Senior in class say, "What's the big deal?" I responded by telling him that the big deal is that it is against the law. He responded by saying it wasn't. I told him that paddling is assault and battery. His response was, "I got paddled when I was a Freshman, so I should be able to paddle Freshmen now that I am a Senior." I replied again that it is a big deal because it is against the law. He wasn't convinced.
Homecoming Week is now coming to an end, and I know that we have to be more aware and observant tomorrow until the ordeal is over. After Homecoming is over, the instances of hazing usually slow down and reports become much less. Unfortunately, until we get over this climate that hazing is just a rite of passage, hazing will continue. We need to find a way to help our youth understand that treating anyone with less respect because they are younger, more immature, or don't have the same physical characteristics as others is unacceptable. Until everyone understands that it is wrong to abuse another in any way, hazing will continue to be a tradition.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
A discussion of the Perspectives on Instructional Decision Making
As I read the section of chapter two devoted to the perspectives on instructional decision making, some memories from my undergrad training twenty-five years ago started to stir. I remember being totally confused by how these theories would help me in the day-to-day lessons I would be doing when I entered the classroom. I tried to keep these in mind as I struggled to prepare daily lessons in those early years.
Now, as a seasoned veteran, I see that I use a combination of these perspectives. One of the things experience has taught me is that most educational theory doesn't stand alone, but works hand in hand with other theories. Which perspective is used to make decisions about how to present a lesson, how long to take on a lesson, how to assess, etc. is going to depend alot on the subject you are teaching. It also depends on the students you have in class and the teacher themselves. I have found that often what works for one teacher may not work for another teacher, and may not work for all students.
For many of the classes I teach, direct instruction is the best approach. As I teach accounting, advanced features of Microsoft Office 2007 applications, and beginning Web Design, I find that the majority of my students enter these classes with little or no pre-existing knowledge of the subject. Therefore, it is my job to lead my students into an understanding of the concepts and procedures these subjects require. My instruction begins with an explanation of the new concepts to be learned. I follow with guided instruction where I am showing the students how to do the procedures as they are doing them along with me. When the guided instruction is complete, students are then given a project or two to apply what they have just learned. Assessment is done on the projects they do on their own, with the decision of when to continue depending on how well the students were able to do the projects on their own. With a subject like Accounting, everything builds on previous lessons in a systematic fashion, so often we move on even though there may not be mastery of a lesson. As things build, the vast majority of students will get enough practice that the mastery may develop over time rather than with each individual lesson.
When I teach advanced applications from MS Office, I often use an independent study approach to learning. There are very good tutorial textbooks available, so I let the students learn the various parts of each software at their own pace, with me setting deadlines for each lesson being complete. This way, the students who learn more quickly are not held back by the students who progress more slowly. Often I will provide addional projects for the students doing the best to keep them challenged so they don't become bored.
When I started teaching in the fall of 1989, I felt it was fairly easy to recognize which of Piaget's developmental stages students fell into. The maturity level of students was easily recognizable by the differences between Freshman, Sophomore, Juniors, and Seniors. Often we decided whether students were ready for certain classes based on year in school. Not all students within a grade level shared the same maturity level, but there seemed to be a fairly small gap within the grade level. The last few years, however, the maturity gaps seem to be much larger, and it is often hard to distinguish what grade level a person is at based on their maturity level. So, in recent years, I agree with the book that fewer students are reaching the formal stages during their high school career than we saw in the 1990's.
Now, as a seasoned veteran, I see that I use a combination of these perspectives. One of the things experience has taught me is that most educational theory doesn't stand alone, but works hand in hand with other theories. Which perspective is used to make decisions about how to present a lesson, how long to take on a lesson, how to assess, etc. is going to depend alot on the subject you are teaching. It also depends on the students you have in class and the teacher themselves. I have found that often what works for one teacher may not work for another teacher, and may not work for all students.
For many of the classes I teach, direct instruction is the best approach. As I teach accounting, advanced features of Microsoft Office 2007 applications, and beginning Web Design, I find that the majority of my students enter these classes with little or no pre-existing knowledge of the subject. Therefore, it is my job to lead my students into an understanding of the concepts and procedures these subjects require. My instruction begins with an explanation of the new concepts to be learned. I follow with guided instruction where I am showing the students how to do the procedures as they are doing them along with me. When the guided instruction is complete, students are then given a project or two to apply what they have just learned. Assessment is done on the projects they do on their own, with the decision of when to continue depending on how well the students were able to do the projects on their own. With a subject like Accounting, everything builds on previous lessons in a systematic fashion, so often we move on even though there may not be mastery of a lesson. As things build, the vast majority of students will get enough practice that the mastery may develop over time rather than with each individual lesson.
When I teach advanced applications from MS Office, I often use an independent study approach to learning. There are very good tutorial textbooks available, so I let the students learn the various parts of each software at their own pace, with me setting deadlines for each lesson being complete. This way, the students who learn more quickly are not held back by the students who progress more slowly. Often I will provide addional projects for the students doing the best to keep them challenged so they don't become bored.
When I started teaching in the fall of 1989, I felt it was fairly easy to recognize which of Piaget's developmental stages students fell into. The maturity level of students was easily recognizable by the differences between Freshman, Sophomore, Juniors, and Seniors. Often we decided whether students were ready for certain classes based on year in school. Not all students within a grade level shared the same maturity level, but there seemed to be a fairly small gap within the grade level. The last few years, however, the maturity gaps seem to be much larger, and it is often hard to distinguish what grade level a person is at based on their maturity level. So, in recent years, I agree with the book that fewer students are reaching the formal stages during their high school career than we saw in the 1990's.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Is Teaching an Art or a Science
I believe teaching is both an art and a science. A good teacher should be able to exhibit the characteristics of both.
Teaching is a science because a teacher must understand the intricacies of their subject. They must understand the subject well enough that they can explain the same concept in several different ways to reach all students. They must understand the stages of development of adolescents and young adults to help understand their physical, mental, and emotional growth and stages of development. They must also understand the psychology of learning to allow them to better reach their students. They must constantly be studying and learning new techniques and strategies of learning to help them reach all students. Depending on what subject you are teaching, a good teacher must also master the techniques their students must learn to be good in the subject. This includes keeping up with technology as well as new developments in their subject area. This is especially true with Career and Technical teachers. As a business teacher, I have to constantly learning new software applications and learning them well enough not just to teach the students the newest technologies, but also well enough to help students fix problems they may encounter as they learn those same technologies. Computer applications are constantly changing, so people teaching technology are constantly changing with them.
Teaching is also an art. Teachers are constantly having to make decisions about how fast to work through lessons. One of the most difficult decisions a teacher must make is when the students have learned a lesson well enough to move on versus when to reteach a lesson because some students didn't learn it the first time. Teachers must also create their own style. One thing college doesn't prepare new teachers well enough for is classroom management and discipline. I believe this is true because there is no one way that works for everyone. What works as classroom management for one person will not work for someone else. Often the style that works for a teacher is a collection of procedures and philosophies from several different veteran teachers. Once a style is created for an individual, they must continue refining their style as students and society changes. It takes an artist to be able to create your own style and then keep refining it constantly. Good teachers accomplish this, making them true artists.
Teaching is a science because a teacher must understand the intricacies of their subject. They must understand the subject well enough that they can explain the same concept in several different ways to reach all students. They must understand the stages of development of adolescents and young adults to help understand their physical, mental, and emotional growth and stages of development. They must also understand the psychology of learning to allow them to better reach their students. They must constantly be studying and learning new techniques and strategies of learning to help them reach all students. Depending on what subject you are teaching, a good teacher must also master the techniques their students must learn to be good in the subject. This includes keeping up with technology as well as new developments in their subject area. This is especially true with Career and Technical teachers. As a business teacher, I have to constantly learning new software applications and learning them well enough not just to teach the students the newest technologies, but also well enough to help students fix problems they may encounter as they learn those same technologies. Computer applications are constantly changing, so people teaching technology are constantly changing with them.
Teaching is also an art. Teachers are constantly having to make decisions about how fast to work through lessons. One of the most difficult decisions a teacher must make is when the students have learned a lesson well enough to move on versus when to reteach a lesson because some students didn't learn it the first time. Teachers must also create their own style. One thing college doesn't prepare new teachers well enough for is classroom management and discipline. I believe this is true because there is no one way that works for everyone. What works as classroom management for one person will not work for someone else. Often the style that works for a teacher is a collection of procedures and philosophies from several different veteran teachers. Once a style is created for an individual, they must continue refining their style as students and society changes. It takes an artist to be able to create your own style and then keep refining it constantly. Good teachers accomplish this, making them true artists.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Free Tech Toys for Teaching
The NEA Today magazine for August 2009, published by the National Education Association has an article titled, "Classroom Technology That Won't Cost You a Dime!" by Cindy Long. This article discusses technologies that teachers can use in their classroom free of charge. It also includes a description of how they work and the purpose of each. The article can be viewed at www.nea.org/home/34001.htm
One of the greatest things the Internet has provided for teachers is the ability to collaborate on lessons and ideas around the world. Granted, the Internet provides information easier and more up-to-date than textbooks which is a definite benefit. However, the ability to easily share ideas and lessons has revolutionized education. A good teacher should be willing to share what they do well with their colleagues. It just doesn't make sense for every teacher to have to create each lesson, especially if it has already been created by another teacher.
Even though collaboration through the Internet is a valuable tool, it can be hard for many teachers to take advantage of the multitude of lessons available. Looking for new, innovative lessons is a time-consuming endeavor. Depending on a teacher's classload, the time necessary to search for lessons created by others may not be available. Often the pressure to have the day-to-day lessons and giving immediate feedback to students doesn't allow a teacher much time to look for new, more innovative ways to teach the same lesson.
One of the things that has been difficult for me personally is that a large part of the classes I teach are technology related. It seems like everything we do is technology-based. However, the availability of shared lessons for business is very limited. There is an abundance of shared lessons for elementary teachers and teachers of core subjects at the secondary level. Lessons for business teachers are few and far between. I am not sure why that is other than the way business teachers teach the same skills are often drastically different from teacher to teacher, area to area. Something else that contributes to this is that business skills are so broad that each school must decide what they believe are the most important skills to teach within a limited teaching staff.
One of the greatest things the Internet has provided for teachers is the ability to collaborate on lessons and ideas around the world. Granted, the Internet provides information easier and more up-to-date than textbooks which is a definite benefit. However, the ability to easily share ideas and lessons has revolutionized education. A good teacher should be willing to share what they do well with their colleagues. It just doesn't make sense for every teacher to have to create each lesson, especially if it has already been created by another teacher.
Even though collaboration through the Internet is a valuable tool, it can be hard for many teachers to take advantage of the multitude of lessons available. Looking for new, innovative lessons is a time-consuming endeavor. Depending on a teacher's classload, the time necessary to search for lessons created by others may not be available. Often the pressure to have the day-to-day lessons and giving immediate feedback to students doesn't allow a teacher much time to look for new, more innovative ways to teach the same lesson.
One of the things that has been difficult for me personally is that a large part of the classes I teach are technology related. It seems like everything we do is technology-based. However, the availability of shared lessons for business is very limited. There is an abundance of shared lessons for elementary teachers and teachers of core subjects at the secondary level. Lessons for business teachers are few and far between. I am not sure why that is other than the way business teachers teach the same skills are often drastically different from teacher to teacher, area to area. Something else that contributes to this is that business skills are so broad that each school must decide what they believe are the most important skills to teach within a limited teaching staff.
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