Blog 4: Say What?! Chapters 5&6, Vocabulary Vitalizer, Brendan Ayers

School-business partnership:  Partnerships offer business leaders and their employees an opportunity to contribute to their community as well as an inside look at today’s schools, which in turn increases their knowledge, understanding and advocacy for public education. Schools and students benefit from additional human and financial resources. 


Effervescent:  1. (Chemistry) (of a liquid) giving off bubbles of gas; bubbling

            2. high-spirited; vivacious

Manipulation:  Exerting shrewd or devious influence especially for one's own advantage

Validated:  Declared or made legally valid; "a validated claim"

Marquee:  a large tent used for entertainment, exhibition, etc.

References:

http://www.danielsfund.org/sevenstrategies/Strategies/

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/effervescent

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/manipulation

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/marquee

wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

Week 3:  Be All that You Can Be!  Chapters 5&6, Literary Luminator, Brendan Ayers

It's apparent to us that, to meet NCLB requirements, low-performing students are frequently taught by the rote memorization method with only one objective in mind-passing the state standardized tests (pg. 71).  It's unfortunate but seems to resonate in my mind.  Either we are "failing" our students or "failing" what someone, somewhere, tells us our students should be able to do, on account of it is "important" for them.  But what actually determines what is considered "important"?  It seems to me a controversial topic, and one that should be revisited often. 

Be proactive in your efforts, and let your imagination flow.  Gone are the days when you can stand in your school's main entry area and expect that opportunity will knock on your door.  You must court opportunity.  As trite as it may sound, it does "take a village," but you may need to put the village together yourself (pg. 77).  This quote is honest, and that's why I like it.  "It's not easy, so DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!"  We are teachers, and we need to use all the available resources to do our jobs well.  The word that resonates in my head here is "proactive".  

While you can always provide staff development for a teacher who may not have all the educational skills, you can't develop empathy, devotion, and commitment in your teachers (pg. 84).  This passage shows who principals should be looking for in faculty, and also who we the teachers need to be.  We have to be willing to go the extra mile every day, be able to think through our students, and give the profession the devotion and dedication it constantly demands.  

Brendan Ayers