SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT

Cracks appear in the union fort

Seems a Richmond Hill teacher at the York Region school board has thumbed her nose at the union call not to particpate in extra-curricular activities.  Read story and her open letter to the union  here and here. What makes this more remarkable is that she was her school's union shop steward!  

This brave teacher says the union will no longer control her choices or be bullied by intimidation:  “You cannot compel me or any other member to withdraw from voluntary activities. I will attend monthly staff meetings. I will run my choir. I will plan field trips. I will attend meetings outside the instructional day, if I so choose. And I will not allow you or other executive officers to diminish or dismiss me.”  Beattie also writes, "Stewards who do not conform are asked to step down, as I did. I have learned from experience that raising concerns about the actions of our union executive is greeted with hostility and disrespect. You claim that teachers want their “voices heard”, but sadly, the only voices that are welcomed in our organization are the ones that concur with the leadership.""

So take that union bosses.   

Teachers should know that school choice would free them too.

PS to this post:  More cracks are appearing as another teacher joins the fray.

Learning to read is life-changing

Over the weekend I heard one of our board members, and sometime contributor to this blog, talk about the dramatic change in a student they were tutoring.  The young person had some serious behavioural issues and could only read at a very basic level.  Once the reading improved, so did the behavior.   Those of us who had helped children who were struggling and frustrated successfully learn to read had seen this play out before.   It is truly life-changing for both student and teacher! 

Granted the middle-school student had a challenging socio-economic environment, but this opened the discussion to "why don't we teach reading properly in the first place".   This is something SQE has asked for decades.  Some students have enough problems to begin with. Teaching reading using proven-effective methods might be the preventative medicine needed to stave off a whole host of problems that needn't arise in addition to them.  

Today's Globe and Mail contains this op-ed from Kevin Lynch (Vice-chair of BMO Financial Group) that proclaims, "The education system has to focus on more than the basics: There's an emerging imperative to teach higher-order skills as well."   SQE respectfully disagrees with this premise.  We just wish that schools WOULD focus on the basics, at least at the start.  Maybe we wouldn't see so many kids needing remediation. 

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For help with teaching reading, check out our Stairway to Reading remedial program or our other resource for math, Stairway to Math. 

Sunday at the Movies (Recycled Learning, Indian Style)

Cui bono?

There's a thought-provoking letter to the editor in the KW Record this morning. The author is a teacher writing about the considerations behind teachers' individual decisions to offer extra-curricular activities to their students. Here's the crucial excerpt:

"My decision to coach an extra two to four hours a week throughout the year did not come from the question, 'What must I do to provide the best educational experience for the students of the school?' but rather, 'How much more of my family, friends, personal life, time and money am I wiling to sacrifice to provide this activity?'" 

Although some teachers may prefer to position their extra-curricular activities ban as a high-minded and principled stand, it appears that in some cases their decisions may contain an element of self-interest as well.

Une Bonne Chose?

It seems too good to be true, but apparently there's a new not-for-profit organization mandated to provide programming and support for students studying in French Immersion, Grades 1-8. A French- and English-speaking teacher will be available online to help your child with his or her French homework on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. For more information, visit Voilà Learning.

If anyone tries out this service, please let us know how it turned out.

Tales from the trenches (full-day kindergarten issue)

GUEST BLOG BY AN ANONYMOUS PARENT/TEACHER (more details - many more - are available on request)

I am an elementary school teacher with many years of experience. Last January, my husband dropped off our son at the local Catholic school for his first day of full-day kindergarten and then headed home to sleep because he works the night shift. Literally two hours later, my husband received a phone call from the principal to come pick up our son. Apparently our son was not sitting on his designated letter on the carpet during circle time. Really?

My son was sent home approximately seven times and suspended at least five times from that school for hitting and not listening to the teacher - although it was termed "voluntary withdrawn". I guess at the age of 4, a child is too young to be suspended - so the parents and staff have to agree upon "voluntarily withdrawing" a child, although for what it's worth neither parent agreed to it. This was not our decision, trust me. 

Finally, out of frustration, we withdrew our son from the school and placed him back into a paid daycare setting. The next step was doctors, and there were many. They all came to the same conclusion - there is nothing wrong with your son except for a possible language-based learning disability. That is manageable. 

I found my way to an Education Officer at the Ministry of Education. He told me he receives many calls from parents re full-day kindergarten. With his help, I was able to place my son in a wonderful school, with a Child and Youth Worker, and he is thriving. 

The journey has been frustrating, overwhelming, and cumbersome. I am writing about my experiences in the hopes that at least one other parent is saved from going through what I endured. The bottom line is: every child has a right to be in school. If you are told "no", do not accept it. Never give up.

I want to thank Doretta Wilson from the Society for Quality Education for her insights and guidance, Reva from the Toronto Family Network (without Reva, I would never have got as far as I did; thanks for the push or shove), and Brian Lilley from Sun News who took the time out of his busy schedule to respond to my e-mails and re-ignite the flame to keep fighting.

The perilous state of democracy in Ontario

People in groups can convince themselves of anything, and this truth is on display in this open letter from the president of the Ontario College of Teachers, in which she reveals that she believes that democracy is in jeopardy in Ontario and that teachers are bravely fighting on behalf of the rest of us to preserve it. She further opines that the democracy-fighters in Egypt are watching Ontario closely and wondering whether their own struggle is worthwhile.

I mean, give me a break. Who's on first?

I can't do any better than Jerry Agar in this forthright op-ed piece in the Toronto Sun. Enjoy.

In a huff about the Huffington Post

Because SQE was invited to be guest bloggers for the Huffington Post, I have now sent them five or six posts. I have been very disappointed by the treatment I have received. This most recent post, is typical. 

Although my post is in my opinion well-written, interesting, topical, and informative (it's about why or why not the Ontario unions are banning extra-curricular activities), it took the editors almost 48hours to post it - thereby losing some of its topicality. Furthermore, the editors failed to place any reference to my post on their front page - meaning that the only way anyone would ever know it was there would be if he or she searched for it under my name.

The gold standard at the Huffington Post for good guest bloggers is the number of comments their posts attract. So far, my latest post has attracted only two comments (and it's a wonder it got that many!) 

I would be grateful if you would read my latest post and tell me whether it deserves being delayed and buried in this way. If you don't think so, then I am going to have to succumb to conspiracy theories or something.

Saskatchewan is on the March

Keep your eye on Saskatchewan. Always a province to stay out of the limelight, always kind of underestimated, Saskatchewan is starting to come into its own - what with potash and other mineral resources as well as the more traditional wheat and livestock. 

In terms of education rankings, there too Saskatchewan has always tended to be not very noticeable - rarely jockeying for the top places, but usually coming in fourth or fifth. 

Once again, quietly surprising everyone, the Saskatchewan government has announced that it is planning to bring in annual standardized testing for all students in grades 4 through 12. The news hasn't created headlines, though it should, because, quoting the article, "if designed and implemented properly, standardized testing should result in a better education for the students of Saskatchewan". 

And what's good for education is good for the province. Keep your eye on Saskatchewan.

Sunday at the Movies (Chicago Teachers’ Union President)

Watching this is kind of like watching a train wreck happening. There's a sort of awful fascination/repulsion thing going on. You can't look away, but you're hating every minute of it. Bear in mind that this woman led Chicago teachers into a seven-day strike last year.