Education

I often think back to my early years in the classroom 35 years ago. I can easily recall the trepidations I felt: my lack of ability to practically solve problems, getting into power struggles over inappropriate behavior displays, and, mostly, my lack of self-confidence that I would ever become an effective educator. It was when I was able to have experienced teachers model for me that I picked up on their methods of dealing with classroom challenges. It took a while - probably three years - before I gained the skills to be an effective educator by implementing the little nuances that master teachers innately provide to the learners they serve. It took that long because I was only able to gain the expertise in small increments. If I could have had all this in place before I was totally in charge of my own classroom, I would have saved myself those 2-3 years of agonizing over my career choice. It also seems that I did a disservice to the students who were subjected to my trial and error methods.

Jefferson County tells us how to teach, not just what to teach, but how to teach. The federal government needs to hand the job of educating children back down to the states. That’s where it belongs because there are so many differences between each state. It’s okay to have general guidelines, but the states know what their needs are. Why does the federal government come up with a one-size-fits-all for the U.S.? It is okay to hold everyone accountable but keep it at the state level.

At West we are teaching to the test. Our school cut 10 teachers and we are told that if we don’t do better we will close. So teachers are teaching the test. Read More >

I nanny for a family that has three children. They have a 10 year old boy with Downs syndrome. In school he needs the support of an aide. In Douglas County, a pretty wealthy district where I’m from, there is not enough money to have aides for each student with special needs. Their son shares an aide with another student. One day when his aide was with the other student, he went into the bathroom and took off all his clothes and came out in front of the class and did the naked chicken dance. Although it sounds funny, it actually is not. He is in fifth grade and because of this incident he is now perceived as even more different. If he had his own aide, this would not have happened. I guess my idea is to have enough funding for special education so that even people with disabilities can be included in a typical classroom.