Reflections from Readers, 21

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1. Alan says:

   December 16, 2012 at 12:05 pm

   I have these thoughts occasionally too. I float from room to room, so the conditions change with each class. I always think about the best way to evacuate the room, if necessary (window, door, which direction, etc.). Does this make me the teacher version of a “doomsday prepper?

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2. vp says:

   December 16, 2012 at 12:14 pm

   And I think this is the crux of the argument that Dr. Ravitch has been making all along and perhaps now people will heed. Education occurs in the context of relationships with children. Period. Without relationships learning does not occur. We have lost sight of relationship as the core of the educational process and it is high time that political leaders across this country once and for take heed of this FACT and adjust their thinking to begin from this juncture and place their notions about data in it’s subservient position.

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   • Alan says:

     December 16, 2012 at 12:16 pm

     Yes, and this is why the business model is so maladroitly applied to schools.

     How many times have you heard the phrase “this is business; it’s nothing personal.”

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3. Robin Lithgow says:

   December 16, 2012 at 12:57 pm

   36 years in education, and I have too often had to confront the death of a student or close family or friend of a student; but hundreds of amazing teachers I have shared my career with have done the same. Hundreds.

   This recent spate of teacher bashing, teacher blaming, teacher threatening has been agonizing to watch. No one who has not spent at least five years in the classroom, long enough to experience the full gamut of challenges and rewards of the profession, has the slightest right to opine or judge the mysterious dynamic of love and responsibility that occurs in every classroom every day.

   Every one of the adults who died on Friday died protecting children. Every adult in this country should honor that by protecting all of our children all the time.

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4. mathcs says:

   December 16, 2012 at 7:16 pm

   We have something called Edline at our school. It’s a way for parents and students and teachers to connect electronically. Parents and students can check their current grades on it, and I can post links to relevant web sites, PDFs of my lessons, and so forth.

   I just finished emailing this to all of my students and their parents:

   In following the horrible tragedy in Connecticut, I am humbled by the courage, composure, and compassion the teachers at the Sandy Hook school had for their children.

   I want you all, parents and students, to know that the safety of your kids is my most important responsibility and priority. I will always do my best to make sure no harm comes to them while they are in my care. But they are not just my students. For a brief time each school day, they are my children too, and I love them all.

   I’m proud to be their teacher, and I’m also proud that my mom was a kindergarten teacher.

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