In Praise Of Good Teachers

In light of all my posts containing the negative aspect of Americas' vast education system, I felt it was necessary to add some balance and highlight some of the qualities within the system; good teachers.

Clara Barton by: Umbricht

Think of your school years and I'm sure the teachers who made an impact on you are the ones that pop in your mind first. I'd love to hear stories of those teachers that made a difference in your life or in your children's lives. You know I'm gonna tell you a few of mine.

Mrs. Kurtz, The Curt

Elementary teachers deserve " Blown Out Nerve But Still Kickin" awards. Dealing with 18 or more students with wiggles and pent-up energy for 6-8 hours a day and trying to pass important foundational knowledge that will be retained is a skill I marvel at. Mrs. Kurtz was my third and fourth grade English teacher. I laugh at her humor now but as a kid we just didn't get it at first. She was going to help us learn proper usage, grammar and manners come hell or high water. She wouldn't let anything slip by her, not even when we were asking to use the bathroom. Every day without fail a kid would raise their hand and ask, "Can I go to the bathroom?" and without fail she would respond, "I don't know, can you?" The kid would look bewildered and she would then tell them the correct way to ask, "MAY I go to the restroom?"   After about a semester of correcting, the kids finally understood that proper usage of words makes the sentence change. I learned from Mrs. Kurtz, words and how you use them make a difference.
She also made her class fun by bringing in Ads from the local newspaper that had grammatical or spelling mistakes. If we could point them out we got extra credit. It was also a good lesson that even professionals and adults make mistakes.

Mr. Waco Einstein's Red Haired Twin

Mr. Waco was my third and fourth grade Math and Science teacher. He literally was the spitting image of Einstein but with flaming red hair instead of white. Since he was pegged "Einstein" by the kids, he told us the famous equation his likeness miraculously figured out; E=MC2. Not that we really understood the Special Theory of Relativity, but we felt awesome being exposed to it by someone that looked just like him. He made Science and Math fun and I remember him taking extra effort with me in Math. He was real; one time a kid pushed his buttons a little to far and he put the kid in his place; eyes were big and round that day but we still respected him and knew his class was a class for learning, not goofing around.

The Polyester Pant Suit Pedagogue

I went to Dennison For Junior High where Dr. Carlton, an ex- Navy Captain was the principal. The kids feared his military background and thought the campus would be run in tight-ship fashion, salutes and all. Dr. Carlton was a wonderful man who ran his school with efficiency and tight control but the kids learned they need not fear him; he conveyed friendliness but with a take action, no- mess around attitude.  He certainly did something right because I remember most of my teachers from these years as wonderful ones. The one that made the most impression on me and I thank to this day for his teaching abilities is Mr. Mummert.

Mr. Mummert was a relic from the seventies; large lapelled shirts, thick suit jackets that matched bell-bottom pants and a tie so huge it should have been a clowns made him an easy target for distraction. Kids being able to pinpoint oddities like a K-9 dog sniffed out Mr. Mummert's fashion choice as a topic of relentless goading. I was guilty of recording his daily ensemble as a fashion report so those who were not in his class could see the outfit of choice and giggle at lunchtime.

Despite the shallowness of junior high minds, Mr. Mummert stuck to his guns and whipped his class into shape. He first taught us how to take proper notes from a lecture, pulling out important points for study through the A,B,C and 1,2,3 style. As the year progressed his passion for Social Studies and History started to outshine his hideous outfits. I started to put my portraiture aside and really listen as he made geographical places come alive when he taught the History behind the location on the map. He even got us so involved in wanting to learn he taught us a game called Diplomacy that takes weeks to play and involved strategy and an ongoing thought process from day to day. I remember wanting to impress him with my required end of year project, so I had my Dad help me display a wondrous re-enactment of The Battle of Midway, with small wooden Japanese and American Bombers strung with fishing wire in battle flight over the Carriers in the Pacific Ocean with a written report to explain the battle. He was very impressed and told me he was giving me a 'B+'. I asked why not an 'A'? He told me it was in every way an 'A' project but the fact I had my Dad help me when I was capable of doing it entirely on my own made the credit not totally mine. Mr. Mummert had my respect and I was happy to accept a B+ from him.
I think he may have learned a bit from the students too, at the end of the year he was sporting a nice pull over cardigan with kacky pants every now and then.

Mrs. Cheese, Economics and American History



Mrs. Cheese let her kids ask questions and discussed both sides of a topic. She also allowed for debate as we read items from the textbook.

She told me at the end of the year, "Chandra, you should really look into Political Science when you go to college." Of course I didn't take that route but I look back on her as a teacher that knew her students. I look back now and think I really should have taken her advice, I have always been passionate about what is going on in our country. She saw something in me before I even did.

Mr. Coons English

Mr. Coons helped me choose college courses I could take during the high school day at the local Community College. He even let me leave his English class early so I could make it to the college class on time. 

I remember one assignment for his class was to choose a topic from any literary source and write your thoughts about it and back it up with facts. I chose the Bible. I wanted to write about the prophetic handwriting on the wall in Daniel 5. He wasn't a believer but he was gracious and read my assignment thoroughly and marked on the paper how it made him think about the truth of the Bible. I find it funny he also found a mistake of mine regarding the term 'mene, mene, tekel upharsin." I wrote something incorrect about it and he took the time to research it himself and showed me where I made the error. Instead of throwing this by the wayside because it was "Christian biased" in a public school curriculum, he let me do what I felt was important.

I also found out he had a hand in helping me receive a scholarship to the community college. It was a surprise to me as my name was called off at graduation for scholarship awards. He took the extra effort that he did not have to do.

Literature in College

I am racking my brain trying to remember this professors name, but I can remember her long, narrow face and pixy style haircut and her PASSION for her subject. She made the Iliad and the Odyssey come off the page at you as she explained the meaning and background and what a 'hero' meant in Greek culture. She was so inspiring in her understanding of the text that it made the actual reading enjoyable. It wasn't just some old book written by some old dude, she gave the piece context and the meaning came out loud and clear.


I have taken for granted many of the great teachers in the course of my life, I write this post in honor of them. They keep the institution of learning alive and something you want to retain and not just get through for credit and a piece of paper. I must mention that my parents and in-laws have been wonderful teachers too. The generation before you has much experience that we should glean and learn from. I am blessed that I have tutelage under some amazing people, it only makes me think in pure joy that God puts them in my life for enrichment and pleasure!

The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. ~William Arthur Ward

An Education In Education Part 7

I thought I'd spend a little time on a few statistics and state a few findings from Oregon's School District's experience with OBE.

The State of Oregon tried OBE under the School-To-Work Opportunities Act signed into Law in 1994 and Oregon's Education Act for the 21st Century or also known as the Katz Bill in 1991. This implementation was widely regarded as a preliminary set-up for the future of the entire Nation.

Cottage Grove High school's tried the program which changed the traditional Carnegie Unit model for achieving a diploma with CIM Certificate of Mastery. Here are some results of this change.

• 20% drop out rate
• SAT scores severely droppped
• Students who voiced dislike for the program were moved to 'alternative learning sites' until their attitude changed toward the program. If they failed the outcomes they could not receive the CIM. (Remediation until they confromed)
• Career paths were dictated  and aligned for students
• Colleges outside of Oregon will not accept the CIM for entrance

I found another district in Oregon vehemently fighting against OBE, this time it was an Elementary school named Grayslake. William Spady was brought in as their consultant and parents formed a website called Watch District 46 to help fight a program they considered: too controversial, failure rate was too high, had unmeasurable objectives and does not allow parental input.

I highly suggest reading these two excerpts from their website:
Key Reasons Against using William Spady or His strategic Design Process In Our District
Consultant Gets Tough Advice

TRACKING
I would like to spend a little more time on the tracking aspect of this model. I know my writings are being compiled as I write them and placed in a file. I find the thought hard to digest.Why is the fine details of a persons life needed? The federal government gleans this information through grants given to the State. Why is the government dictating workforce requirements to the State? Why do they need my child's social security number? What makes me sick is I willingly give them this information every school year.

The NCEE (The National Center on Education and Economy) is developing a "labor market system" that is "fully computerized". WHY?

Again, why is the Department of Labor involved in any way with education?

Socialism and Labor go hand in hand...just look at this video of the NEA's (National Education Association -Labor Union) admission that their goal isn't "about the children" but about "power".

 
Think ahead on this issue...Do you want your child pigeon holed into a job that suits the government needs (power and control for their benefit) or one that they will be fulfilled in by using their God given talents cultivated by their choices.

Take these examples of how the system manipulates:

A Mother in Rochester Minnesota told me (Brannon Howse) her daughter wanted to be an accountant yet the school counselor told her that she was not qualified. The counselor gave the student a list of careers for which he felt the girl was qualified and included the suggestion she become a hair dresser.

Let's return to the happenings in Oregon- "The students in Oregon may choose from six career tracks-but not one of these career tracks is college bound."

Thanks to Brannon Howse once again, all credit for research due to him.

ARTICLES TO READ for ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Education Slogan and Dollars by Kerby Anderson
Look for Another Big Spending Boondoggle by Phyllis Schlafly
Perpetuating  Federal Spending on Education by Phyllis Schlafly
American Education Fails because It Isn't Education by Tom DeWeese
Education Policy: Lesson-Learned? by Rebecca Hagelin

An Education in Education- Part 1

Do you ever feel like your life is built upon some big cogwheel factory that keeps a routine for your many responsibilities so they can be made more manageable? It’s kind of a rhetorical question, of course humans are like that; we go out of the way to find the easier way especially when it means the possibility of less stress. It is evident in our culture through the onslaught of advertising. Staples slogan comes to mind with their “That Was Easy” button or the, “Do It Your Way” motto regurgitated by countless companies to gain business. Technology is another example with the myriad of options to get boundless information at the touch of your finger. These are not bad things in a general sense; there are times we need a quick fix and the amazing innovations out there have gone as far as to save lives but I want to focus on one particular aspect of this Rube Goldberg scenario we participate in by either voluntarily or rote pattern. In this great system of society and culture, the norm to follow certain standards can cause individuals as well as generations to become lax or in other terms, to fall asleep at the wheel. We make decisions based on many factors; family influence, personal choice, limited options but how much thought and research do we really put into these daily activities that make our lives function and does it matter?


“Surely it is time to examine into the meaning of words and the nature of things, and to arrive at simple facts, not received upon the dictum of learned authorities, but upon attentive personal observation of what is passing around us.” Francis Wright. Her political and social activism are the opposite of what I believe in yet her words when applied to the subject I am going to try to lay out, make the point that if we don’t pay attention to what is happening around us, we are made into ‘useful idiots’.  

I recently had an experience that has called for searching out words and the nature in which they are used; the first catalyst in putting together facts was parental instinct. I also believe the Holy Spirit was directing, leading and teaching me so I could make the right decision. With all that said, I’ll get to the story and see if I can piece the facts together so any parent or grandparent who truly cares about children and the future of America may have some useful tools through articles, books and videos that I find have a strong correlation to my own experience.

It is not a new thing to hear half hearted phrases of complaint against America’s public school system. It seems the masses know it is, ‘screwed up’ yet the ball of disaster just keeps rolling and getting worse. I found myself entangled in that ball and for the past three years of sending my daughter to an ‘exemplary’ public school system, I just rolled along with the flow and dealt with the idiosyncrasies as they came. No system is perfect and I know my responsibility as a parent is to oversee the education of my child and I thought I could supplement and adjust accordingly.

My ears perked up when a ‘new’ program at my daughter’s school was pitched. I was cautious yet excited that this may be a way off the ball and finally someone was trying something good and new to make sure this generation was going to succeed. The principle stated, “This is not for everybody” when talking to the parents at a screening meeting and “this is a dream come true for me and I wish other teachers would try this” as a confidence booster for putting trust in the 'new' system. It was sold as a cohort style, multi-age, strength based system where it would fit the child’s ever changing needs.  I signed my daughter up and immediately started key word searches under the title of the program hoping to find some information to help me understand what to expect. I didn’t come up with much but what I did find seemed harmless. Parents chatted and wondered about the ‘cutting edge’ system as they were told to not e-mail or phone the teachers involved as they were working hard to prepare for the new school year. I was a little leery of that but shrugged it off as a respectful thing to do. I asked people I knew; teachers, parents, friends, family if they new about this system, had it been tried in their schools? I got a fifty-fifty response on the issue. Some had experienced this sort of thing and felt it was no good, some had no opinion as they did not know about it and others loved it. I got a mixed bag, so I let things progress thinking I did a pretty good job investigating. I was wrong.
 
I prepared my daughter for the first day of her third grade year in a new program. I told her things may be a little different but you’ll adjust. The perk of it all was she had her previous grade teacher. I really wasn’t worried as my daughter is highly social and assimilates to new situations with ease. The first week of any school is getting to know the student and beginning to go over old material as a refresher but there were minor clues things were not right. I asked her every day at the end of school what she thought of the new program and what she was learning. I was met with silence and a look in her eye that seemed a little confused. I figured it is a new program, sometimes kids can be overwhelmed and not know what to say, we’ll have to give it time. Yet, that was not like my daughter. She always was ready to answer my questions and tell me at least one thing she learned or liked about every day, it was our habit to chat about school in the car ride home or before bedtime. The end of the first week approached and she seemed more nervous and still wasn’t able to tell me anything except she didn’t like being shuffled around to different rooms because she was just getting into her assignment and felt like she couldn’t finish or focus on the material. Again, it was a new program and time is needed to adjust, so I told her I would chat with the teacher and see if I could help in any way. That seemed to put her at ease and I sent off the e-mail to the teacher. The teacher was nice about handling things and asked that she have a one on one chat with my daughter to smooth things out. I asked her how the chat went and she said it went well and felt a little better. My instinct said to not dismiss this yet. During the day, I checked out the blog the teachers put up for parents to show assignments the class was doing. I was a little unnerved at one technology assignment.The question that pricked my instinct more was regarding what your parent’s rules were about going on the computer at home. I knew this was a cohort but why was this question on an assignment? Then my daughter told me about a section they were discussing that had to do with perspective and paradigm change. My hair stood up on the back of my neck, the subject matter the class was discussing was harmless but when an institution is talking about paradigm change one must pay attention, as this can lead down many paths. I listened with a silence of my own, knowing something just wasn’t right. Little red flags were beginning to cause my intestines to wrench. I still couldn’t pinpoint the why but I was alert. My daughter just didn’t seem her whole self so I asked the teacher to let me observe the classroom as I might be able to help my daughter with the transition if I knew how the structure worked and could reinforce support as needed. I was deterred with these rebuttals; my request was given in too short of notice and it is so early in the semester you might upset students with your presence. I was not pleased to see a parent wasn’t wanted in the classroom and one that is known to not cause undue stress as I was active in this teacher’s classroom the previous year. I was patient and understanding but I wasn’t going to let this go. I decided to go back to researching deeper into things. I punched in ‘behavior in education’ by the prompting of the Holy Spirit, no doubt, on a website I trust and a 20 minute video made my jaw drop, my heart rush and my fingers fly on the keyboard sending an e-mail to withdraw my daughter from the program immediately; and not until I pressed the send button did my nerve racked gut calm down. Now I understood why my daughter was not herself. The video described the program my daughter was in in eerily similar terms, as well as the philosophy behind it; and it had a name and a history rap sheet a mile long, not to mention failure with a capitol F.

After I told my daughter the news, her countenance changed, you could see relaxation flood back into her frame. She then told me a few more tidbits of information. She said, “Mom, I didn’t like the test where they asked if I like studying in a dark or light lit room.” Why wasn't this assignment posted on the blog for parents to see? She also mentioned feeling confused much of the time and my daughter is precocious in nature not just by my estimation but by many that meet her, not one to be confused easily. She said, "I felt I was back in Kindergarten." She never looked back on her last day in that program and was excited to leave.

Now, one could argue that this program just wasn’t meant for her, you read too much into things and you did what is right for you but why tell others to stay away from this system?  Believe me, I was grateful we dodged a bullet and was glad to be back on the ‘normal’ curriculum (which has hints of this system in it too), but I have never felt so compelled to warn people. The further I dig the more I see this system is one of abuse on many levels and variations of it exist not only in public schools but in some private ones as well. If one parent steps up to the responsibility of properly overseeing their child’s education, I am glad to have had my experience and the detailed research of others available to them.

I asked a question in the beginning of this paper, does it matter?

If your principles, values, privacy, family structure and freedom matter to you then please read more about why Outcome Based Education is designed to challenge and change those core beliefs at the destructive cost of the individual.