An Unlikely Gambler

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  Posted By: gtracy @ 09/29/2009 11:45:07 PM

  I may be out of the loop on how an inexperienced college grad teaching American children during a very vital time in their lives is a smart idea, but don???t teachers go to college for four or more years to learn how to reach and teach the children. What types of teaching courses would these non-teacher college grads have taken during their term and would it suffice to a four-year degree? Also, I keep hearing from teachers in the DC area that the money given to the district to fix schools and buy supplies is lacking, can anyone explain where all this money is going?

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  Posted By: TKnott @ 04/22/2009 9:13:45 PM

  As a dedicated teacher, I agree that outstanding teachers should be commended and poor teachers removed. Yet, I must say that Rhee's approach to "cleaning house" is ridiculous. She is conducting a witch hunt. It is as though she believes that poor teachers are the only obstacle that students face in the path to success. What about family? money? social issues? learning disabilities? test pressure? increased standards? I worked in a lower socioeconomic school and gave the same amound of time, energy, passion and effort into my workday as I do at the upper middleclass/affluent school I work at now. Yet, before the test scores were lower. I didn't change my best teaching practices. My students did improve but did not always pass the glorified standardized tests. I recommend that Rhee add some more issues onto her agenda. Perhaps she can implement Family First programs, parent community classes, technology seminars, or parenting classes. It's time for her to see the WHOLE picture and stop this totalitarian raid against teachers.

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  Posted By: Efav @ 03/15/2009 11:54:45 PM

  "An inexperienced college grad can be thrown in a classroom of low-achieving students and can achieve the highest test scores in the school and district at the end of the year. This is all dependent on work ethic and focus."
  
  Hello West11 - you sound much too good to be true. Are you really Chancellor Rhee trying to sell her program?
  
  Tell me, what other miracles can inexperienced college grads perform?