Essence Extractor:
“Effective networking & strong school-business relationships can benefit education of low SES students.”
Chapters 5&6 in our book (Poverty is NOT a Learning Disability) discusses the importance of building strong school-business relationships and networking. These two ideas are especially important in schools with low SES students/families because they create relationships that will benefit the school, which in return will benefit the students' educational experience. As teachers and/or principals, we should never limit ourselves to the walls around us because there are people willing to help, we just need to put the effort in and find them.
Idea Illustrator:
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| "The more proactive you are in reaching out to outside sources of talent and support, the more successful your school will be" (p. 84). As I mentioned before, don't limit yourself or your students to the walls around you.There are people more than willing to help, whether it's new resources for your students, support for parents to help their child & so forth. The possibilities are endless- we just need to find those possibilities. |
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| "No school can be better than its teachers" (p. 83). "…too many teachers assigned to schools in low-income areas are not specifically trained to teach low SES children" (p. 83). These quotes made me think about effective and authentic educational instruction in schools, and the percentage of students who aren't receiving this. The second quote specifically made me question how many students are being "mislabeled" or "misidentified" because teachers are not "trained" to teach low SES children. Quite frankly, it's a scary thought. Networking ties into this because educational departments can be networked to help "expand our school curriculum to provide teachers with skills, attitudes, and pedagogy required to teach low SES students successfully" (p. 83). |
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| Local Businesses "…we've learned that one byproduct of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act is the negative message delivered to the business sector that public education, as a system, is failing" (p. 71). In order for businesses to get an ACCURATE picture of what's really happening in our schools, and see that good learning is taking place- we must work with local businesses as partners. "In doing so, students will be strong/active communicators, high-level critical thinkers, and effective problem solvers" (p. 72). |
Stephanie,
ReplyDeleteYour summary of chapters 5&6 was very well spoken. I think you said it best with "we should never limit ourselves to walls around us". I know the chapter focused on Networking outside of school but I feel that your statement is also true of teachers feeling comfortable enough to ask other teachers for help in their classroom. Your second response and picture is also a topic that is not talked about enough. There are many teachers teaching across the country that don't have enough training with SES students, students with special needs and inclusion. NCLB placed this strong need to raise students test scores without much opportunity to get adequate training.
That first response for Stephanie is from Melissa
ReplyDeleteStephanie,
ReplyDeleteI really liked these chapters, talking about thinking outside the box to help our schools. Good choice in pictures, particularly the partnership of the first two. Also, misidentification is something I've become fascinated with, particularly through this book we are reading. I never realized what a questionable process the screening was, it's very interesting to see that when we may think we are correct in assessing a particular student, we may be off. I suppose it's also pretty scary...
Brendan