From 9/6/02:
On the first night of our Wednesday class the
instructor handed out the course syllabus. Hands shot
up immediately (keep in mind that we're all full-time
teachers in this class). One woman said, "I don't
test very well. Is there some other way I can show
you I know the material?" Another woman said, "You
know, tests don't really tell you anything. Maybe we
could have a roundtable discussion or something to
show you we know the material."
Doctors make the worst patients and teachers make the
worst students.
During part of the general discussion one woman said,
"I put my students in small groups because they learn
much more from each other than they'll ever learn from
me." Then why is she the teacher? My district pays
me a moderate amount of money on the expectation that
I know more math than any 13-yr-old in the room and
that I'LL teach them, and I assume her district has a
similar thought pattern. It was the first night of
class and I wasn't in the mood to make enemies so
early so I bit my tongue; don't worry, as I'll be
making enemies in there soon enough.
These are teachers. We have *so* far to go in
standards-based reform, and so much progressive ed
school malpractice to stamp out.
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