Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Monday, September 26, 2005
How Much Time to Spend Discussing Current Events in Articles
People frequently ask me how much time I devote to WSJ articles in my classes. Others ask how I can find any extra time to add a WSJ component. Here is what I do. Hopefully this will inspire you to find some time too.
Our undergraduate classes meet twice a week for one hour and 15 minutes each. I have about 30-45 students in those classes. My graduate classes usually meet once a week for almost three hours and those classes tend to be somewhat smaller than the undergraduate classes. As I discussed in a previous posting, I begin each class with discussions on WSJ articles. How much time to allocate to the discussions? How many articles are covered each session? It depends. You just have to see how it is progressing and make a judgment call. Generally, I allow for about eight to 15 minutes in the undergraduate classes. Sometimes we cover two or three articles briefly, especially if students bring up other articles related to the one being presented. Other times we might cover only one article in depth. Much of it depends on what happens to be in the paper the last few days, and also whether I have a lot of course material to cover that particular day.
At the graduate level, I use the Journal as a daily case book, so we usually spend much more time discussing current events as they relate to the course material. Obviously graduate students are expected to be able to understand most of the assigned reading materials. Generally, class is for discussion and analysis of the current course topic, more than coverage of the reading. In my business law and ethics course, we spend up to 30-45 minute discussing the legal and ethical aspects of the stories in the articles. If the articles that particular week are on point and the discussion sufficiently compelling, we might spend half the class on the discussion. Again, it is a judgment call. Take every day as it develops.
As a another example, when I teach an MBA elective entitled "Fraud Issues In Business" we spend about half the class analyzing the fraud schemes from the week (How was the scheme perpetrated? How could it been prevented? How could it have been detected earlier? What were the internal control breaches? etc.) With the events of recent years, the Journal offers plenty white collar crime stories to qualify it as a daily fraud casebook (unfortunately).
You might be wondering how I can make this kind of time for this exercise. Before I started using the Journal, I wondered that same thing! Before I incorporated the Journal in my classes, it seemed I needed every minute to cover course material. But using the Journal in this fashion has actually made me a better teacher and my classroom environment is greatly improved. The students are more accustomed to being interactive. They participate and prepare more; I lecture less!
So adapt my ideas into your personal style and philosophy to make using the Journal work for you and your students. Make it your own!
Our undergraduate classes meet twice a week for one hour and 15 minutes each. I have about 30-45 students in those classes. My graduate classes usually meet once a week for almost three hours and those classes tend to be somewhat smaller than the undergraduate classes. As I discussed in a previous posting, I begin each class with discussions on WSJ articles. How much time to allocate to the discussions? How many articles are covered each session? It depends. You just have to see how it is progressing and make a judgment call. Generally, I allow for about eight to 15 minutes in the undergraduate classes. Sometimes we cover two or three articles briefly, especially if students bring up other articles related to the one being presented. Other times we might cover only one article in depth. Much of it depends on what happens to be in the paper the last few days, and also whether I have a lot of course material to cover that particular day.
At the graduate level, I use the Journal as a daily case book, so we usually spend much more time discussing current events as they relate to the course material. Obviously graduate students are expected to be able to understand most of the assigned reading materials. Generally, class is for discussion and analysis of the current course topic, more than coverage of the reading. In my business law and ethics course, we spend up to 30-45 minute discussing the legal and ethical aspects of the stories in the articles. If the articles that particular week are on point and the discussion sufficiently compelling, we might spend half the class on the discussion. Again, it is a judgment call. Take every day as it develops.
As a another example, when I teach an MBA elective entitled "Fraud Issues In Business" we spend about half the class analyzing the fraud schemes from the week (How was the scheme perpetrated? How could it been prevented? How could it have been detected earlier? What were the internal control breaches? etc.) With the events of recent years, the Journal offers plenty white collar crime stories to qualify it as a daily fraud casebook (unfortunately).
You might be wondering how I can make this kind of time for this exercise. Before I started using the Journal, I wondered that same thing! Before I incorporated the Journal in my classes, it seemed I needed every minute to cover course material. But using the Journal in this fashion has actually made me a better teacher and my classroom environment is greatly improved. The students are more accustomed to being interactive. They participate and prepare more; I lecture less!
So adapt my ideas into your personal style and philosophy to make using the Journal work for you and your students. Make it your own!
How Much Time to Spend Discussing Current Events in Articles
People frequently ask me how much time I devote to WSJ articles in my classes. Others ask how I can find any extra time to add a WSJ component. Here is what I do. Hopefully this will inspire you to find some time too.
Our undergraduate classes meet twice a week for one hour and 15 minutes each. I have about 30-45 students in those classes. My graduate classes usually meet once a week for almost three hours and those classes tend to be somewhat smaller than the undergraduate classes. As I discussed in a previous posting, I begin each class with discussions on WSJ articles. How much time to allocate to the discussions? How many articles are covered each session? It depends. You just have to see how it is progressing and make a judgment call. Generally, I allow for about eight to 15 minutes in the undergraduate classes. Sometimes we cover two or three articles briefly, especially if students bring up other articles related to the one being presented. Other times we might cover only one article in depth. Much of it depends on what happens to be in the paper the last few days, and also whether I have a lot of course material to cover that particular day.
At the graduate level, I use the Journal as a daily case book, so we usually spend much more time discussing current events as they relate to the course material. Obviously graduate students are expected to be able to understand most of the assigned reading materials. Generally, class is for discussion and analysis of the current course topic, more than coverage of the reading. In my business law and ethics course, we spend up to 30-45 minute discussing the legal and ethical aspects of the stories in the articles. If the articles that particular week are on point and the discussion sufficiently compelling, we might spend half the class on the discussion. Again, it is a judgment call. Take every day as it develops.
As a another example, when I teach an MBA elective entitled "Fraud Issues In Business" we spend about half the class analyzing the fraud schemes from the week (How was the scheme perpetrated? How could it been prevented? How could it have been detected earlier? What were the internal control breaches? etc.) With the events of recent years, the Journal offers plenty white collar crime stories to qualify it as a daily fraud casebook (unfortunately).
You might be wondering how I can make this kind of time for this exercise. Before I started using the Journal, I wondered that same thing! Before I incorporated the Journal in my classes, it seemed I needed every minute to cover course material. But using the Journal in this fashion has actually made me a better teacher and my classroom environment is greatly improved. The students are more accustomed to being interactive. They participate and prepare more; I lecture less!
So adapt my ideas into your personal style and philosophy to make using the Journal work for you and your students. Make it your own!
Our undergraduate classes meet twice a week for one hour and 15 minutes each. I have about 30-45 students in those classes. My graduate classes usually meet once a week for almost three hours and those classes tend to be somewhat smaller than the undergraduate classes. As I discussed in a previous posting, I begin each class with discussions on WSJ articles. How much time to allocate to the discussions? How many articles are covered each session? It depends. You just have to see how it is progressing and make a judgment call. Generally, I allow for about eight to 15 minutes in the undergraduate classes. Sometimes we cover two or three articles briefly, especially if students bring up other articles related to the one being presented. Other times we might cover only one article in depth. Much of it depends on what happens to be in the paper the last few days, and also whether I have a lot of course material to cover that particular day.
At the graduate level, I use the Journal as a daily case book, so we usually spend much more time discussing current events as they relate to the course material. Obviously graduate students are expected to be able to understand most of the assigned reading materials. Generally, class is for discussion and analysis of the current course topic, more than coverage of the reading. In my business law and ethics course, we spend up to 30-45 minute discussing the legal and ethical aspects of the stories in the articles. If the articles that particular week are on point and the discussion sufficiently compelling, we might spend half the class on the discussion. Again, it is a judgment call. Take every day as it develops.
As a another example, when I teach an MBA elective entitled "Fraud Issues In Business" we spend about half the class analyzing the fraud schemes from the week (How was the scheme perpetrated? How could it been prevented? How could it have been detected earlier? What were the internal control breaches? etc.) With the events of recent years, the Journal offers plenty white collar crime stories to qualify it as a daily fraud casebook (unfortunately).
You might be wondering how I can make this kind of time for this exercise. Before I started using the Journal, I wondered that same thing! Before I incorporated the Journal in my classes, it seemed I needed every minute to cover course material. But using the Journal in this fashion has actually made me a better teacher and my classroom environment is greatly improved. The students are more accustomed to being interactive. They participate and prepare more; I lecture less!
So adapt my ideas into your personal style and philosophy to make using the Journal work for you and your students. Make it your own!
How Much Time to Spend Discussing Current Events in Articles
People frequently ask me how much time I devote to WSJ articles in my classes. Others ask how I can find any extra time to add a WSJ component. Here is what I do. Hopefully this will inspire you to find some time too.
Our undergraduate classes meet twice a week for one hour and 15 minutes each. I have about 30-45 students in those classes. My graduate classes usually meet once a week for almost three hours and those classes tend to be somewhat smaller than the undergraduate classes. As I discussed in a previous posting, I begin each class with discussions on WSJ articles. How much time to allocate to the discussions? How many articles are covered each session? It depends. You just have to see how it is progressing and make a judgment call. Generally, I allow for about eight to 15 minutes in the undergraduate classes. Sometimes we cover two or three articles briefly, especially if students bring up other articles related to the one being presented. Other times we might cover only one article in depth. Much of it depends on what happens to be in the paper the last few days, and also whether I have a lot of course material to cover that particular day.
At the graduate level, I use the Journal as a daily case book, so we usually spend much more time discussing current events as they relate to the course material. Obviously graduate students are expected to be able to understand most of the assigned reading materials. Generally, class is for discussion and analysis of the current course topic, more than coverage of the reading. In my business law and ethics course, we spend up to 30-45 minute discussing the legal and ethical aspects of the stories in the articles. If the articles that particular week are on point and the discussion sufficiently compelling, we might spend half the class on the discussion. Again, it is a judgment call. Take every day as it develops.
As a another example, when I teach an MBA elective entitled "Fraud Issues In Business" we spend about half the class analyzing the fraud schemes from the week (How was the scheme perpetrated? How could it been prevented? How could it have been detected earlier? What were the internal control breaches? etc.) With the events of recent years, the Journal offers plenty white collar crime stories to qualify it as a daily fraud casebook (unfortunately).
You might be wondering how I can make this kind of time for this exercise. Before I started using the Journal, I wondered that same thing! Before I incorporated the Journal in my classes, it seemed I needed every minute to cover course material. But using the Journal in this fashion has actually made me a better teacher and my classroom environment is greatly improved. The students are more accustomed to being interactive. They participate and prepare more; I lecture less!
So adapt my ideas into your personal style and philosophy to make using the Journal work for you and your students. Make it your own!
Our undergraduate classes meet twice a week for one hour and 15 minutes each. I have about 30-45 students in those classes. My graduate classes usually meet once a week for almost three hours and those classes tend to be somewhat smaller than the undergraduate classes. As I discussed in a previous posting, I begin each class with discussions on WSJ articles. How much time to allocate to the discussions? How many articles are covered each session? It depends. You just have to see how it is progressing and make a judgment call. Generally, I allow for about eight to 15 minutes in the undergraduate classes. Sometimes we cover two or three articles briefly, especially if students bring up other articles related to the one being presented. Other times we might cover only one article in depth. Much of it depends on what happens to be in the paper the last few days, and also whether I have a lot of course material to cover that particular day.
At the graduate level, I use the Journal as a daily case book, so we usually spend much more time discussing current events as they relate to the course material. Obviously graduate students are expected to be able to understand most of the assigned reading materials. Generally, class is for discussion and analysis of the current course topic, more than coverage of the reading. In my business law and ethics course, we spend up to 30-45 minute discussing the legal and ethical aspects of the stories in the articles. If the articles that particular week are on point and the discussion sufficiently compelling, we might spend half the class on the discussion. Again, it is a judgment call. Take every day as it develops.
As a another example, when I teach an MBA elective entitled "Fraud Issues In Business" we spend about half the class analyzing the fraud schemes from the week (How was the scheme perpetrated? How could it been prevented? How could it have been detected earlier? What were the internal control breaches? etc.) With the events of recent years, the Journal offers plenty white collar crime stories to qualify it as a daily fraud casebook (unfortunately).
You might be wondering how I can make this kind of time for this exercise. Before I started using the Journal, I wondered that same thing! Before I incorporated the Journal in my classes, it seemed I needed every minute to cover course material. But using the Journal in this fashion has actually made me a better teacher and my classroom environment is greatly improved. The students are more accustomed to being interactive. They participate and prepare more; I lecture less!
So adapt my ideas into your personal style and philosophy to make using the Journal work for you and your students. Make it your own!
Friday, September 23, 2005
Quiero hablar contigo
I was a little down this morning after reading about the test scores for 8th graders and thinking about how difficult this year is going to be. But the kids in the program always seem to pick me when I get discouraged. Today, a girl from Russia asked my co-worker how to say "I want to talk to you" in Spanish. She ran back over to her table and repeated it to another girl (a recent immigrant from South America). They met in their ESL class, and even though both spoke very little English, they were inseparable. Working with kids from neighborhoods with diverse immigrant populations makes me so hopeful sometimes.
Sort of like a snow day ..
From 11alive.com:
Governor Sonny Perdue has announced that he has requested that all the state's school systems take an "early snow day" and close on Monday and Tuesday of next week in a fuel saving measure as a result of Hurricane Rita."Any supply squeeze is temporary, and is nothing we can't handle," Perdue said.Perdue also has signed an executive order that eliminates non-essential travel by state employees.Perdue's office is also encouraging telecommuting and alternative scheduling by non-essential state offices in order to save on fuel costs.If all of Georgia's schools close, the governor estimated about 250,000 gallons of diesel fuel would be saved each day by keeping buses off the road.The governor also said an undetermined amount of regular gasoline also would be saved by allowing teachers, other school staff members and some parents to stay home those days. Electricity also would be conserved by keeping the schools closed.The Archdiocese of Atlanta has announced that all of their schools will be closed Monday and Tuesday in accordance with the governor's request.
NY State math scores in
The big news in all the New York papers today is that the scores from the 2005 Statewide Math tests have been released. (Here's the NY Times write up, and an editorial from the NY Daily News.)
The good news is that 4th grade math scores have gone up. The bad news is that it isn't news at all. These scores could have been released months ago, but the state has sat on them for god knows what political reasons.
The media have interpreted this as incompetence on the part of the state, as in this opinion piece from last Friday's NY Sun. I don't usually agree with Andrew Wolf, but I fully agree with this column, especially this:
The good news is that 4th grade math scores have gone up. The bad news is that it isn't news at all. These scores could have been released months ago, but the state has sat on them for god knows what political reasons.
The media have interpreted this as incompetence on the part of the state, as in this opinion piece from last Friday's NY Sun. I don't usually agree with Andrew Wolf, but I fully agree with this column, especially this:
We may have come to the moment when the stakeholders in our public schools
- parents, educators, and taxpayers - should demand new leadership in the state
agency. Commissioner Richard Mills - while saying that he supports testing -
has, through his bumbling administration of the testing program, undermined the
imperative of objective assessment. It is time for him to move on. We need a
state education chief and a department that are not paralyzed by bureaucratic
inertia.
Is competition among SES providers good for kids and parents?
This week my middle school held its SES (Supplemental Education Services) provider fair, which serves to inform parents of the free tutoring services and introduce them to the providers. The CBO and after school program that I work for provides SES (mostly just to the kids in after school), and there are also about 7 or 8 other companies this year, most of them for-profits. The for-profits had their slick sales representatives and glossy packets on display, and they really went after the parents hard.
The School of Bloggers think that having companies compete to give free services to poor and disadvantaged kids is probably a good thing. I see health insurance companies all over poor neighborhoods in New York City giving out insurance, and it seems like more people will take advantage of free services when they are actively recruited (and spoken to in their language, something that is noticeably lacking in many public institutions in this city). True to form, most of the companies brought Spanish translators to the fair while the school is usually unable to find one for parent meetings, although they did have one at the fair.
But although parents might feel like their kids are getting better services as a result of the competition (I really have no idea whether this is true, but there are a lot of stories about terrible SES providers - I remember a story about kids in a Platform Learning program just watching movies all the time), most of the parents I talked to at the fair seemed confused and totally overwhelmed. There were so many providers that the administrators rushed through the description of what SES was and didn't give the translator much time at all, so most of the parents had no idea what they were signing up for.
If this is the case, does it really make a difference how many providers there are in the school? Even if parents understood what was going on, how can they possibly choose the best provider for their kid when they are being bombarded for all sides by sales representatives? Maybe having agressive providers can be a good thing if they are able to reach more parents at home (there were a very small number of parents at the fair), but I'm worried that the cutthroat competition at the school will turn a lot of parents off and push them to avoid the whole thing.
The School of Bloggers think that having companies compete to give free services to poor and disadvantaged kids is probably a good thing. I see health insurance companies all over poor neighborhoods in New York City giving out insurance, and it seems like more people will take advantage of free services when they are actively recruited (and spoken to in their language, something that is noticeably lacking in many public institutions in this city). True to form, most of the companies brought Spanish translators to the fair while the school is usually unable to find one for parent meetings, although they did have one at the fair.
But although parents might feel like their kids are getting better services as a result of the competition (I really have no idea whether this is true, but there are a lot of stories about terrible SES providers - I remember a story about kids in a Platform Learning program just watching movies all the time), most of the parents I talked to at the fair seemed confused and totally overwhelmed. There were so many providers that the administrators rushed through the description of what SES was and didn't give the translator much time at all, so most of the parents had no idea what they were signing up for.
If this is the case, does it really make a difference how many providers there are in the school? Even if parents understood what was going on, how can they possibly choose the best provider for their kid when they are being bombarded for all sides by sales representatives? Maybe having agressive providers can be a good thing if they are able to reach more parents at home (there were a very small number of parents at the fair), but I'm worried that the cutthroat competition at the school will turn a lot of parents off and push them to avoid the whole thing.
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Student Protests in the Bronx
Interesting article in the NY Times today about the student response to increased security measures at a high school in the Bronx. 1500 students walked out of the high school and got their meeting with DOE officials. Their demands (they want the metal detectors to be removed and they want to be able to leave school for lunch) weren't met, but the school administration seems to be listening. It's great that these kids are responding in such a constructive way to security measures that treat kids like criminals. I'm definitely bringing this up with the middle schoolers in my after school program, especially since there is talk of requiring ID cards for all students in the school this year.
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Monday, September 19, 2005
Bad bloggers
The School of Bloggers apologize for their poor blogging behavior! They spent the weekend far, far away from noisy Brooklyn on Lake Chatuge in North Carolina.
Nor do I have time to say anything profound right now, even though there is SO MUCH TO BLOG ABOUT. So I will let the Public Education Network's "Quote of the Week" say it for me.
"Democratic values are a necessary, even if not sufficient, condition for defending the existence of a system of public education. Only from a democratic perspective can one claim that the schools have an impact on and responsibility to the whole society and that as a result they are a democratic decision making. From Jefferson to Dewey to Mann, and especially during the heyday of progressive education, such ideas were at the center of educational politics. In their absence, there is no longer any convincing rationale to keep the school public and social in terms oftheir governance, finance, and pedagogy.
The battleground over their future is thus yielded to those who argue that the market can and should make such determinations. This ultimately supports a system of privatized schools in an educational free market, linked to a curricular agenda defined by the needs of a capitalist economy and the national-security state associated with it. In short, we cannot defend public education, mobilize a constituency behind it, or achieve the visions of democratic educators without a clear and convincing democratic ideological framework that provides a rationale for maintaining a socially owned, controlled,and financed school system. If the market prevails as a model for organizing U.S. education, the possibilities for strengthening a democratic society and developing a democratic citizenry are ended."
-Michael Engel (author/professor/school board member), "The Struggle forControl of Public Education: Market Ideology vs. Democratic Values
Nor do I have time to say anything profound right now, even though there is SO MUCH TO BLOG ABOUT. So I will let the Public Education Network's "Quote of the Week" say it for me.
"Democratic values are a necessary, even if not sufficient, condition for defending the existence of a system of public education. Only from a democratic perspective can one claim that the schools have an impact on and responsibility to the whole society and that as a result they are a democratic decision making. From Jefferson to Dewey to Mann, and especially during the heyday of progressive education, such ideas were at the center of educational politics. In their absence, there is no longer any convincing rationale to keep the school public and social in terms oftheir governance, finance, and pedagogy.
The battleground over their future is thus yielded to those who argue that the market can and should make such determinations. This ultimately supports a system of privatized schools in an educational free market, linked to a curricular agenda defined by the needs of a capitalist economy and the national-security state associated with it. In short, we cannot defend public education, mobilize a constituency behind it, or achieve the visions of democratic educators without a clear and convincing democratic ideological framework that provides a rationale for maintaining a socially owned, controlled,and financed school system. If the market prevails as a model for organizing U.S. education, the possibilities for strengthening a democratic society and developing a democratic citizenry are ended."
-Michael Engel (author/professor/school board member), "The Struggle forControl of Public Education: Market Ideology vs. Democratic Values
A Great Surprise!
My students surprised me in the nicest way. The first time we tried the WSJ discussion, they hit a home run! The student I chose at random selected an article from the Science Journal entitled “Man-Made Mistakes Increase Devastation Of 'Natural' Disasters” (September 2, 2005, B1, Click here for WSJ.com link.) (Note: please see an earlier post for a full explanation of my assignment.)
The article was an interesting discussion of how the impact of natural disasters is greatly impacted by human actions and development. One example is the attempted control of the Mississippi and increased development have destroyed wetlands. The loss of wetlands results in increased the size of storm surges, resulting in increased damages.
The reason this student selected this article is because he is a science major also earning a business minor. He discussed how decisions that were made to increase commerce and development have actually caused greater damages from the hurricane. He shared some ripple effects to the economy, business, and financial statements from the devastation. He did such a nice job, especially given that this was the first time. Many of the students jumped in with amazing observations and additional ripple effects. Quite impressive!
None of my former sophomore classes had taken to the WSJ discussion so well this early in the semester. So after I complimented them lavishly, I just had to ask – Why are you so comfortable with the Journal? How were you able to think of so many interesting aspects of the issue? How did you come up with links to other classes (supply-demand-price from economics, for example)? Their answer – the use of the Journal in previous classes.
Wow! My job just got a little easier! Our students take this introduction to financial accounting course early in their business school curriculum, but many have introduction to business and economics before taking this class. In years past, I was one of the very few professors to require or even use the Journal in my classes. I would have to ‘break the ice’ so to speak. Now that most of our professors require the Journal, our students come to expect it as part of business school. It is no longer an unknown or a burden to them. So when they start my class now, they hit the ground running.
When a faculty uses the Journal throughout the curriculum in many of the classes, it raises the critical thinking skills and business knowledge of all students at each level. Whether you are the ‘lone wolf’ as I was for years, or part of a mass integration (my situation now), you can add to the professionalism and career potential of your students. I got to see that so clearly this past week. And that is precisely my goal as a professor!
The article was an interesting discussion of how the impact of natural disasters is greatly impacted by human actions and development. One example is the attempted control of the Mississippi and increased development have destroyed wetlands. The loss of wetlands results in increased the size of storm surges, resulting in increased damages.
The reason this student selected this article is because he is a science major also earning a business minor. He discussed how decisions that were made to increase commerce and development have actually caused greater damages from the hurricane. He shared some ripple effects to the economy, business, and financial statements from the devastation. He did such a nice job, especially given that this was the first time. Many of the students jumped in with amazing observations and additional ripple effects. Quite impressive!
None of my former sophomore classes had taken to the WSJ discussion so well this early in the semester. So after I complimented them lavishly, I just had to ask – Why are you so comfortable with the Journal? How were you able to think of so many interesting aspects of the issue? How did you come up with links to other classes (supply-demand-price from economics, for example)? Their answer – the use of the Journal in previous classes.
Wow! My job just got a little easier! Our students take this introduction to financial accounting course early in their business school curriculum, but many have introduction to business and economics before taking this class. In years past, I was one of the very few professors to require or even use the Journal in my classes. I would have to ‘break the ice’ so to speak. Now that most of our professors require the Journal, our students come to expect it as part of business school. It is no longer an unknown or a burden to them. So when they start my class now, they hit the ground running.
When a faculty uses the Journal throughout the curriculum in many of the classes, it raises the critical thinking skills and business knowledge of all students at each level. Whether you are the ‘lone wolf’ as I was for years, or part of a mass integration (my situation now), you can add to the professionalism and career potential of your students. I got to see that so clearly this past week. And that is precisely my goal as a professor!
A Great Surprise!
My students surprised me in the nicest way. The first time we tried the WSJ discussion, they hit a home run! The student I chose at random selected an article from the Science Journal entitled “Man-Made Mistakes Increase Devastation Of 'Natural' Disasters” (September 2, 2005, B1, Click here for WSJ.com link.) (Note: please see an earlier post for a full explanation of my assignment.)
The article was an interesting discussion of how the impact of natural disasters is greatly impacted by human actions and development. One example is the attempted control of the Mississippi and increased development have destroyed wetlands. The loss of wetlands results in increased the size of storm surges, resulting in increased damages.
The reason this student selected this article is because he is a science major also earning a business minor. He discussed how decisions that were made to increase commerce and development have actually caused greater damages from the hurricane. He shared some ripple effects to the economy, business, and financial statements from the devastation. He did such a nice job, especially given that this was the first time. Many of the students jumped in with amazing observations and additional ripple effects. Quite impressive!
None of my former sophomore classes had taken to the WSJ discussion so well this early in the semester. So after I complimented them lavishly, I just had to ask – Why are you so comfortable with the Journal? How were you able to think of so many interesting aspects of the issue? How did you come up with links to other classes (supply-demand-price from economics, for example)? Their answer – the use of the Journal in previous classes.
Wow! My job just got a little easier! Our students take this introduction to financial accounting course early in their business school curriculum, but many have introduction to business and economics before taking this class. In years past, I was one of the very few professors to require or even use the Journal in my classes. I would have to ‘break the ice’ so to speak. Now that most of our professors require the Journal, our students come to expect it as part of business school. It is no longer an unknown or a burden to them. So when they start my class now, they hit the ground running.
When a faculty uses the Journal throughout the curriculum in many of the classes, it raises the critical thinking skills and business knowledge of all students at each level. Whether you are the ‘lone wolf’ as I was for years, or part of a mass integration (my situation now), you can add to the professionalism and career potential of your students. I got to see that so clearly this past week. And that is precisely my goal as a professor!
The article was an interesting discussion of how the impact of natural disasters is greatly impacted by human actions and development. One example is the attempted control of the Mississippi and increased development have destroyed wetlands. The loss of wetlands results in increased the size of storm surges, resulting in increased damages.
The reason this student selected this article is because he is a science major also earning a business minor. He discussed how decisions that were made to increase commerce and development have actually caused greater damages from the hurricane. He shared some ripple effects to the economy, business, and financial statements from the devastation. He did such a nice job, especially given that this was the first time. Many of the students jumped in with amazing observations and additional ripple effects. Quite impressive!
None of my former sophomore classes had taken to the WSJ discussion so well this early in the semester. So after I complimented them lavishly, I just had to ask – Why are you so comfortable with the Journal? How were you able to think of so many interesting aspects of the issue? How did you come up with links to other classes (supply-demand-price from economics, for example)? Their answer – the use of the Journal in previous classes.
Wow! My job just got a little easier! Our students take this introduction to financial accounting course early in their business school curriculum, but many have introduction to business and economics before taking this class. In years past, I was one of the very few professors to require or even use the Journal in my classes. I would have to ‘break the ice’ so to speak. Now that most of our professors require the Journal, our students come to expect it as part of business school. It is no longer an unknown or a burden to them. So when they start my class now, they hit the ground running.
When a faculty uses the Journal throughout the curriculum in many of the classes, it raises the critical thinking skills and business knowledge of all students at each level. Whether you are the ‘lone wolf’ as I was for years, or part of a mass integration (my situation now), you can add to the professionalism and career potential of your students. I got to see that so clearly this past week. And that is precisely my goal as a professor!
A Great Surprise!
My students surprised me in the nicest way. The first time we tried the WSJ discussion, they hit a home run! The student I chose at random selected an article from the Science Journal entitled “Man-Made Mistakes Increase Devastation Of 'Natural' Disasters” (September 2, 2005, B1, Click here for WSJ.com link.) (Note: please see an earlier post for a full explanation of my assignment.)
The article was an interesting discussion of how the impact of natural disasters is greatly impacted by human actions and development. One example is the attempted control of the Mississippi and increased development have destroyed wetlands. The loss of wetlands results in increased the size of storm surges, resulting in increased damages.
The reason this student selected this article is because he is a science major also earning a business minor. He discussed how decisions that were made to increase commerce and development have actually caused greater damages from the hurricane. He shared some ripple effects to the economy, business, and financial statements from the devastation. He did such a nice job, especially given that this was the first time. Many of the students jumped in with amazing observations and additional ripple effects. Quite impressive!
None of my former sophomore classes had taken to the WSJ discussion so well this early in the semester. So after I complimented them lavishly, I just had to ask – Why are you so comfortable with the Journal? How were you able to think of so many interesting aspects of the issue? How did you come up with links to other classes (supply-demand-price from economics, for example)? Their answer – the use of the Journal in previous classes.
Wow! My job just got a little easier! Our students take this introduction to financial accounting course early in their business school curriculum, but many have introduction to business and economics before taking this class. In years past, I was one of the very few professors to require or even use the Journal in my classes. I would have to ‘break the ice’ so to speak. Now that most of our professors require the Journal, our students come to expect it as part of business school. It is no longer an unknown or a burden to them. So when they start my class now, they hit the ground running.
When a faculty uses the Journal throughout the curriculum in many of the classes, it raises the critical thinking skills and business knowledge of all students at each level. Whether you are the ‘lone wolf’ as I was for years, or part of a mass integration (my situation now), you can add to the professionalism and career potential of your students. I got to see that so clearly this past week. And that is precisely my goal as a professor!
The article was an interesting discussion of how the impact of natural disasters is greatly impacted by human actions and development. One example is the attempted control of the Mississippi and increased development have destroyed wetlands. The loss of wetlands results in increased the size of storm surges, resulting in increased damages.
The reason this student selected this article is because he is a science major also earning a business minor. He discussed how decisions that were made to increase commerce and development have actually caused greater damages from the hurricane. He shared some ripple effects to the economy, business, and financial statements from the devastation. He did such a nice job, especially given that this was the first time. Many of the students jumped in with amazing observations and additional ripple effects. Quite impressive!
None of my former sophomore classes had taken to the WSJ discussion so well this early in the semester. So after I complimented them lavishly, I just had to ask – Why are you so comfortable with the Journal? How were you able to think of so many interesting aspects of the issue? How did you come up with links to other classes (supply-demand-price from economics, for example)? Their answer – the use of the Journal in previous classes.
Wow! My job just got a little easier! Our students take this introduction to financial accounting course early in their business school curriculum, but many have introduction to business and economics before taking this class. In years past, I was one of the very few professors to require or even use the Journal in my classes. I would have to ‘break the ice’ so to speak. Now that most of our professors require the Journal, our students come to expect it as part of business school. It is no longer an unknown or a burden to them. So when they start my class now, they hit the ground running.
When a faculty uses the Journal throughout the curriculum in many of the classes, it raises the critical thinking skills and business knowledge of all students at each level. Whether you are the ‘lone wolf’ as I was for years, or part of a mass integration (my situation now), you can add to the professionalism and career potential of your students. I got to see that so clearly this past week. And that is precisely my goal as a professor!
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Moskowitz Moskowitz Moskowitz
The results are in from yesterday's Democratic primary. Weiner conceded to Ferrer to prevent a run-off election. Other people we liked, including Mike Peters who ran for Brooklyn district attorney, didn't do as well. School of Bloggers' buddy and City Councilmember David Yassky was not running for anything, but City Councilmember (and charter school aunt) Letitia James did run for reelection and won in a landslide.
The only other remarkable occurrence was the failure of Eva Moskowitz (city councilmember and head of the Education Committee) to take the Manhattan Borough President seat. Read all about it over at Eduwonk.
The only other remarkable occurrence was the failure of Eva Moskowitz (city councilmember and head of the Education Committee) to take the Manhattan Borough President seat. Read all about it over at Eduwonk.
Monday, September 12, 2005
The Facilitator
I would be remiss if I didn't mention this story, for those of you who haven't heard about it yet.
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools' headline on this story is "NYC to become national leader on facilities."
What's up with the timing here? It was announced four days before the Democrats' mayoral primary, and a scant two months before the election. Are charter schools really that popular in the city that Bloomy feels they'll give him a boost?
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools' headline on this story is "NYC to become national leader on facilities."
What's up with the timing here? It was announced four days before the Democrats' mayoral primary, and a scant two months before the election. Are charter schools really that popular in the city that Bloomy feels they'll give him a boost?
Thoughts
No no, I am not becoming an establishment-hating radical after one week of courses. My "Inquiries"-related ennui is not making me regret my decision to enroll in a teacher certification program rather than going the emergency certification route.
I just question the value of certain curricular requirements toward achieving that goal.
BTW, it's not just my program; all New York State teaching candidates must take "college coursework" in "foundations in education."
And BTW again, maybe my rebellious spirit is the result of the undemocratic way in which the state tells me I must learn how to be a teacher. Paulo Freire meets the Gadfly!
I just question the value of certain curricular requirements toward achieving that goal.
BTW, it's not just my program; all New York State teaching candidates must take "college coursework" in "foundations in education."
And BTW again, maybe my rebellious spirit is the result of the undemocratic way in which the state tells me I must learn how to be a teacher. Paulo Freire meets the Gadfly!
If it is Rough in the Beginning
As I have said before, the Journal exercises do not always go well in all of my classes at the beginning of the semester. Some of my students or classes struggle to read and present an article well. Take heart, this is only temporary. Most of them will not only catch on, but begin to enjoy it. It gets so good in most classes that I hate to see the semester end!Of course, my graduate classes are usually pretty good from the start and keep getting better. The undergraduates usually need more time and practice. Many in my classes are first-generation college students. Some are 'non-traditional' students who have enrolled in college later in life. As a result, most do not read any newspapers (unless you count the sports page!). It takes a while for them to become interested and comfortable. That's ok - in fact, I am excited that they will progress even further that semester!I believe that any student who tries will feel comfortable reading and discussing Journal articles by mid-semester. The key is that you model for them how to read, analyze, and discuss an article. Do more of the talking earlier in the semester, but gradually step back as the semester progresses. Show them how to go beyond just the main points in the article; show them how to connect different articles and topics. I have found that this is more important for undergraduates; my MBA students catch on very quickly.
In the undergraduate classes, after we are into it for a few weeks and I have modeled how to extend the discussion, I tell them that during their preparation, to try to think what I would ask or say as they present an article. As they have seen more articles and are gaining confidence, I appoint one student to present an article and another to 'play Linda.' In other words, the second student should ask questions and comment on the presentation of the first. Less than half way into the semester, most students have grown in thinking, analysis, and application. They begin to volunteer comments on articles they have read. The discussion is driven much more by my students and I say much less. I become the facilitator of the discussion, usually only calling for the articles and adding some history or other dimension as needed. Isn't that where we want them to be? They cannot take me to higher-level classes or to work with them!
Have confidence that they will be doing it themselves well before the end of the semester! And if they start well, you have the opportunity to help them grow to an even higher level.
In the undergraduate classes, after we are into it for a few weeks and I have modeled how to extend the discussion, I tell them that during their preparation, to try to think what I would ask or say as they present an article. As they have seen more articles and are gaining confidence, I appoint one student to present an article and another to 'play Linda.' In other words, the second student should ask questions and comment on the presentation of the first. Less than half way into the semester, most students have grown in thinking, analysis, and application. They begin to volunteer comments on articles they have read. The discussion is driven much more by my students and I say much less. I become the facilitator of the discussion, usually only calling for the articles and adding some history or other dimension as needed. Isn't that where we want them to be? They cannot take me to higher-level classes or to work with them!
Have confidence that they will be doing it themselves well before the end of the semester! And if they start well, you have the opportunity to help them grow to an even higher level.
If it is Rough in the Beginning
As I have said before, the Journal exercises do not always go well in all of my classes at the beginning of the semester. Some of my students or classes struggle to read and present an article well. Take heart, this is only temporary. Most of them will not only catch on, but begin to enjoy it. It gets so good in most classes that I hate to see the semester end!Of course, my graduate classes are usually pretty good from the start and keep getting better. The undergraduates usually need more time and practice. Many in my classes are first-generation college students. Some are 'non-traditional' students who have enrolled in college later in life. As a result, most do not read any newspapers (unless you count the sports page!). It takes a while for them to become interested and comfortable. That's ok - in fact, I am excited that they will progress even further that semester!I believe that any student who tries will feel comfortable reading and discussing Journal articles by mid-semester. The key is that you model for them how to read, analyze, and discuss an article. Do more of the talking earlier in the semester, but gradually step back as the semester progresses. Show them how to go beyond just the main points in the article; show them how to connect different articles and topics. I have found that this is more important for undergraduates; my MBA students catch on very quickly.
In the undergraduate classes, after we are into it for a few weeks and I have modeled how to extend the discussion, I tell them that during their preparation, to try to think what I would ask or say as they present an article. As they have seen more articles and are gaining confidence, I appoint one student to present an article and another to 'play Linda.' In other words, the second student should ask questions and comment on the presentation of the first. Less than half way into the semester, most students have grown in thinking, analysis, and application. They begin to volunteer comments on articles they have read. The discussion is driven much more by my students and I say much less. I become the facilitator of the discussion, usually only calling for the articles and adding some history or other dimension as needed. Isn't that where we want them to be? They cannot take me to higher-level classes or to work with them!
Have confidence that they will be doing it themselves well before the end of the semester! And if they start well, you have the opportunity to help them grow to an even higher level.
In the undergraduate classes, after we are into it for a few weeks and I have modeled how to extend the discussion, I tell them that during their preparation, to try to think what I would ask or say as they present an article. As they have seen more articles and are gaining confidence, I appoint one student to present an article and another to 'play Linda.' In other words, the second student should ask questions and comment on the presentation of the first. Less than half way into the semester, most students have grown in thinking, analysis, and application. They begin to volunteer comments on articles they have read. The discussion is driven much more by my students and I say much less. I become the facilitator of the discussion, usually only calling for the articles and adding some history or other dimension as needed. Isn't that where we want them to be? They cannot take me to higher-level classes or to work with them!
Have confidence that they will be doing it themselves well before the end of the semester! And if they start well, you have the opportunity to help them grow to an even higher level.
If it is Rough in the Beginning
As I have said before, the Journal exercises do not always go well in all of my classes at the beginning of the semester. Some of my students or classes struggle to read and present an article well. Take heart, this is only temporary. Most of them will not only catch on, but begin to enjoy it. It gets so good in most classes that I hate to see the semester end!Of course, my graduate classes are usually pretty good from the start and keep getting better. The undergraduates usually need more time and practice. Many in my classes are first-generation college students. Some are 'non-traditional' students who have enrolled in college later in life. As a result, most do not read any newspapers (unless you count the sports page!). It takes a while for them to become interested and comfortable. That's ok - in fact, I am excited that they will progress even further that semester!I believe that any student who tries will feel comfortable reading and discussing Journal articles by mid-semester. The key is that you model for them how to read, analyze, and discuss an article. Do more of the talking earlier in the semester, but gradually step back as the semester progresses. Show them how to go beyond just the main points in the article; show them how to connect different articles and topics. I have found that this is more important for undergraduates; my MBA students catch on very quickly.
In the undergraduate classes, after we are into it for a few weeks and I have modeled how to extend the discussion, I tell them that during their preparation, to try to think what I would ask or say as they present an article. As they have seen more articles and are gaining confidence, I appoint one student to present an article and another to 'play Linda.' In other words, the second student should ask questions and comment on the presentation of the first. Less than half way into the semester, most students have grown in thinking, analysis, and application. They begin to volunteer comments on articles they have read. The discussion is driven much more by my students and I say much less. I become the facilitator of the discussion, usually only calling for the articles and adding some history or other dimension as needed. Isn't that where we want them to be? They cannot take me to higher-level classes or to work with them!
Have confidence that they will be doing it themselves well before the end of the semester! And if they start well, you have the opportunity to help them grow to an even higher level.
In the undergraduate classes, after we are into it for a few weeks and I have modeled how to extend the discussion, I tell them that during their preparation, to try to think what I would ask or say as they present an article. As they have seen more articles and are gaining confidence, I appoint one student to present an article and another to 'play Linda.' In other words, the second student should ask questions and comment on the presentation of the first. Less than half way into the semester, most students have grown in thinking, analysis, and application. They begin to volunteer comments on articles they have read. The discussion is driven much more by my students and I say much less. I become the facilitator of the discussion, usually only calling for the articles and adding some history or other dimension as needed. Isn't that where we want them to be? They cannot take me to higher-level classes or to work with them!
Have confidence that they will be doing it themselves well before the end of the semester! And if they start well, you have the opportunity to help them grow to an even higher level.
Friday, September 9, 2005
First day of Petrie dish
Lots on the first day of school in today's papers, especially on the first day of the UFT charter school.
Sad, very sad
Re: this, this columnist argues, among other things, that education schools (including, presumably, the school at which he teaches and I learn) don't do enough to give teachers a strong background in their content. He says:
I am definitely feeling that after my 2 classes last night. Actually, the "methods" class seemed like the more useful one. It's "Inquiries into Teaching and Learning" that is making me want to poke my eyeballs out.
Our schools of education are also at fault, saddling future teachers with
"methods" courses at the expense of disciplinary content.
I am definitely feeling that after my 2 classes last night. Actually, the "methods" class seemed like the more useful one. It's "Inquiries into Teaching and Learning" that is making me want to poke my eyeballs out.
Thursday, September 8, 2005
How NYSED
The state came out with its annual report on charter schools this week, based on the 2003-04 school year. (Can the state do anything on time?) Report here, Albany Times-Union here.
The gist: Charter schools in N.Y. state are doing better in general, but are draining money from the traditional public schools.
One more tidbit for follow-up: According to the report, less than 2 percent of charter school students in N.Y. are English language learners. That seems REALLY low, doesn't it?
Chris, any idea?
The gist: Charter schools in N.Y. state are doing better in general, but are draining money from the traditional public schools.
One more tidbit for follow-up: According to the report, less than 2 percent of charter school students in N.Y. are English language learners. That seems REALLY low, doesn't it?
Chris, any idea?
Wednesday, September 7, 2005
Like Arnie's plan but with much more tact
Here's a roundup of the stories I would have pontificated about today had I had time:
- Rep. Rangel and Teachers College pres Arthur Levine have proposed pay incentives to attract teachers to hard-to-staff schools. Story here, Eduwonk here.
- Two new studies of charter schools by the big boys in the evaluating world, one on Chicago and one on North Carolina. Results: Charter schools are effective in some grades, under some conditions, some of the time. My conclusion: Stop trying to prove that charter schools are or are not more effective than non-charter public schools. Start trying to figure out what the good schools do that makes them effective.
- The Education Department has paid people to write anti-public school op/eds. Well, that is a slight exaggeration; but what is certainly clear is that the Bush administration has put a lot of money into propping up minority-focused organizations (like Hispanic CREO, referenced in this article) that are really just front organizations for their conservative friends.
Tuesday, September 6, 2005
UFT Charter School Opens on Thursday
Daily News write up here. More on this later this week once the School of Bloggers get internet access at home.
Monday, September 5, 2005
The Second Week of Class
This is where the rubber meets the road, so to speak. I begin to use the WSJ in class this second week. Now for a more detailed description of my main classroom use of the WSJ.
I begin each class by asking a student (selected at random) what article they have selected from the WSJ. They must select articles from editions published since the last class session, but that day's issue is not an option because many students would not have had time to read it. The student announces the article title, date, and page while the rest of the class turns to that article in their copies. The student then gives a brief overview of the article, tells the reason for selecting that article, the relationship to course material or topics, connections with previous articles we have discussed, etc. Then I and/or fellow students ask questions, offer comments, or mention related articles. If other students have prepared the same article, they can chime in as well.
The grading is easy. That is very important to me as an assistant professor with many other demands! I keep a class list in my textbook for just this assignment. As the students discuss an article or immediately after, I note write down the date and a check mark if they presented at an appropriate level, or the date and a 'no' if they were unprepared. If they are absent (unexcused) that day, no points. At the end of the semester I assign the points for this exercise based on the percentage of times they were called and prepared times the total points allocated to this exercise. (If they were prepared every time I called them, they are assigned all the possible points. If they were prepared half the times I called them, they are awarded half the possible points.) I am more lenient in the beginning of the semester and ratchet up the required level of discussion, analysis, and application as they become more accustomed to the discussions.
I have to tell you that it does not always go well in all of my classes initially. Some of my students or classes struggle to read and present an article well. I will talk more about this as the semester progresses.
I begin each class by asking a student (selected at random) what article they have selected from the WSJ. They must select articles from editions published since the last class session, but that day's issue is not an option because many students would not have had time to read it. The student announces the article title, date, and page while the rest of the class turns to that article in their copies. The student then gives a brief overview of the article, tells the reason for selecting that article, the relationship to course material or topics, connections with previous articles we have discussed, etc. Then I and/or fellow students ask questions, offer comments, or mention related articles. If other students have prepared the same article, they can chime in as well.
The grading is easy. That is very important to me as an assistant professor with many other demands! I keep a class list in my textbook for just this assignment. As the students discuss an article or immediately after, I note write down the date and a check mark if they presented at an appropriate level, or the date and a 'no' if they were unprepared. If they are absent (unexcused) that day, no points. At the end of the semester I assign the points for this exercise based on the percentage of times they were called and prepared times the total points allocated to this exercise. (If they were prepared every time I called them, they are assigned all the possible points. If they were prepared half the times I called them, they are awarded half the possible points.) I am more lenient in the beginning of the semester and ratchet up the required level of discussion, analysis, and application as they become more accustomed to the discussions.
I have to tell you that it does not always go well in all of my classes initially. Some of my students or classes struggle to read and present an article well. I will talk more about this as the semester progresses.
The Second Week of Class
This is where the rubber meets the road, so to speak. I begin to use the WSJ in class this second week. Now for a more detailed description of my main classroom use of the WSJ.
I begin each class by asking a student (selected at random) what article they have selected from the WSJ. They must select articles from editions published since the last class session, but that day's issue is not an option because many students would not have had time to read it. The student announces the article title, date, and page while the rest of the class turns to that article in their copies. The student then gives a brief overview of the article, tells the reason for selecting that article, the relationship to course material or topics, connections with previous articles we have discussed, etc. Then I and/or fellow students ask questions, offer comments, or mention related articles. If other students have prepared the same article, they can chime in as well.
The grading is easy. That is very important to me as an assistant professor with many other demands! I keep a class list in my textbook for just this assignment. As the students discuss an article or immediately after, I note write down the date and a check mark if they presented at an appropriate level, or the date and a 'no' if they were unprepared. If they are absent (unexcused) that day, no points. At the end of the semester I assign the points for this exercise based on the percentage of times they were called and prepared times the total points allocated to this exercise. (If they were prepared every time I called them, they are assigned all the possible points. If they were prepared half the times I called them, they are awarded half the possible points.) I am more lenient in the beginning of the semester and ratchet up the required level of discussion, analysis, and application as they become more accustomed to the discussions.
I have to tell you that it does not always go well in all of my classes initially. Some of my students or classes struggle to read and present an article well. I will talk more about this as the semester progresses.
I begin each class by asking a student (selected at random) what article they have selected from the WSJ. They must select articles from editions published since the last class session, but that day's issue is not an option because many students would not have had time to read it. The student announces the article title, date, and page while the rest of the class turns to that article in their copies. The student then gives a brief overview of the article, tells the reason for selecting that article, the relationship to course material or topics, connections with previous articles we have discussed, etc. Then I and/or fellow students ask questions, offer comments, or mention related articles. If other students have prepared the same article, they can chime in as well.
The grading is easy. That is very important to me as an assistant professor with many other demands! I keep a class list in my textbook for just this assignment. As the students discuss an article or immediately after, I note write down the date and a check mark if they presented at an appropriate level, or the date and a 'no' if they were unprepared. If they are absent (unexcused) that day, no points. At the end of the semester I assign the points for this exercise based on the percentage of times they were called and prepared times the total points allocated to this exercise. (If they were prepared every time I called them, they are assigned all the possible points. If they were prepared half the times I called them, they are awarded half the possible points.) I am more lenient in the beginning of the semester and ratchet up the required level of discussion, analysis, and application as they become more accustomed to the discussions.
I have to tell you that it does not always go well in all of my classes initially. Some of my students or classes struggle to read and present an article well. I will talk more about this as the semester progresses.
The Second Week of Class
This is where the rubber meets the road, so to speak. I begin to use the WSJ in class this second week. Now for a more detailed description of my main classroom use of the WSJ.
I begin each class by asking a student (selected at random) what article they have selected from the WSJ. They must select articles from editions published since the last class session, but that day's issue is not an option because many students would not have had time to read it. The student announces the article title, date, and page while the rest of the class turns to that article in their copies. The student then gives a brief overview of the article, tells the reason for selecting that article, the relationship to course material or topics, connections with previous articles we have discussed, etc. Then I and/or fellow students ask questions, offer comments, or mention related articles. If other students have prepared the same article, they can chime in as well.
The grading is easy. That is very important to me as an assistant professor with many other demands! I keep a class list in my textbook for just this assignment. As the students discuss an article or immediately after, I note write down the date and a check mark if they presented at an appropriate level, or the date and a 'no' if they were unprepared. If they are absent (unexcused) that day, no points. At the end of the semester I assign the points for this exercise based on the percentage of times they were called and prepared times the total points allocated to this exercise. (If they were prepared every time I called them, they are assigned all the possible points. If they were prepared half the times I called them, they are awarded half the possible points.) I am more lenient in the beginning of the semester and ratchet up the required level of discussion, analysis, and application as they become more accustomed to the discussions.
I have to tell you that it does not always go well in all of my classes initially. Some of my students or classes struggle to read and present an article well. I will talk more about this as the semester progresses.
I begin each class by asking a student (selected at random) what article they have selected from the WSJ. They must select articles from editions published since the last class session, but that day's issue is not an option because many students would not have had time to read it. The student announces the article title, date, and page while the rest of the class turns to that article in their copies. The student then gives a brief overview of the article, tells the reason for selecting that article, the relationship to course material or topics, connections with previous articles we have discussed, etc. Then I and/or fellow students ask questions, offer comments, or mention related articles. If other students have prepared the same article, they can chime in as well.
The grading is easy. That is very important to me as an assistant professor with many other demands! I keep a class list in my textbook for just this assignment. As the students discuss an article or immediately after, I note write down the date and a check mark if they presented at an appropriate level, or the date and a 'no' if they were unprepared. If they are absent (unexcused) that day, no points. At the end of the semester I assign the points for this exercise based on the percentage of times they were called and prepared times the total points allocated to this exercise. (If they were prepared every time I called them, they are assigned all the possible points. If they were prepared half the times I called them, they are awarded half the possible points.) I am more lenient in the beginning of the semester and ratchet up the required level of discussion, analysis, and application as they become more accustomed to the discussions.
I have to tell you that it does not always go well in all of my classes initially. Some of my students or classes struggle to read and present an article well. I will talk more about this as the semester progresses.
Friday, September 2, 2005
Fighting for Translation in Schools
Here is a good Newsday article about advocacy groups in New York City putting the pressure on the Department of Education to provide translation services to immigrant parents.
Bush and Bilingual Education II
The New York Times editorial page weighs in on the controversy surrounding the Bush administration's decision not to publish a report on bilingual education that is at odds with conservative opinion (previous post here). The editorial calls on Bush to allow the researchers to publish the report privately, which is probably the best option seeing how Bush is unlikely to anger conservatives at a time when he is being criticized from the right on immigration.
I understand that there will always be some opposition to teaching immigrant students in a language other than English for political and cultural reasons, but if bilingual education does indeed offer limited English proficient kids the best possible chance of succeeding academically (which the report supposedly says), shouldn't we be giving it a shot? At the very least we should be debating it and commissioning other studes, which can't happen until the administration allows the report to see the light of day.
I understand that there will always be some opposition to teaching immigrant students in a language other than English for political and cultural reasons, but if bilingual education does indeed offer limited English proficient kids the best possible chance of succeeding academically (which the report supposedly says), shouldn't we be giving it a shot? At the very least we should be debating it and commissioning other studes, which can't happen until the administration allows the report to see the light of day.
"We'll need your help"
Public school advocate Sen. Mary Landrieu from Louisiana calls for support in the Washington Post. (Via National Alliance for Public Charter Schools)
Thursday, September 1, 2005
War of attrition
Two really interesting NCLB-related stories today:
Spellings is wise to give flexibility in the first case, and would be wise to give flexibility in the second. Addressing these two issues is a reasonable thing to do, and doesn't detract from what, to me, is the important part of NCLB: making sure that all subgroups of students are on their way to proficiency, and aren't being ignored.
- Spellings is going to let Chicago run its own Supplemental Educational Services program (SES), even though the district as a whole is not making AYP
- The people of California are annoyed that schools that look good under their own accountability system are not making AYP.
Spellings is wise to give flexibility in the first case, and would be wise to give flexibility in the second. Addressing these two issues is a reasonable thing to do, and doesn't detract from what, to me, is the important part of NCLB: making sure that all subgroups of students are on their way to proficiency, and aren't being ignored.
For-profit EMO loses its groove in NY
No, i'm not talking about emo. I'm talking about an Education Management Organization, in particular Imagine Schools, formerly Chacellor-Beacon Schools, a for-profit company that runs a bunch of charters.
The Syracuse Post-Standard looked into whether the company is losing ground across the country, something that certainly seems to be the case in New York State. The company was charging the Central New York Charter School for Math and Science high fees, but not delivering the kind of management they needed, leading to the school losing its charter.
Yet another argument (as if we needed any more!) against education's profiteers.
The Syracuse Post-Standard looked into whether the company is losing ground across the country, something that certainly seems to be the case in New York State. The company was charging the Central New York Charter School for Math and Science high fees, but not delivering the kind of management they needed, leading to the school losing its charter.
By the time the school was forced to close on June 30, it was supposed to have paid Imagine $475,616 for the 2004-05 academic year, according to the charter school's financial statements. That represents a 40 percent increase above the $338,734 annual fee paid the previous year.
"I didn't ever really understand what we paid them to do," said Kelly Norcross, one of 45 teachers at the school who lost their jobs this summer when the state pulled the school's authorization. "At the end of the year, that's when I started seeing them. As far as everyday school, we never saw them."
Yet another argument (as if we needed any more!) against education's profiteers.
Which side are you on?
The NY Sun is on top of yesterday's NYU rally, with full coverage and a lead editorial. The Sun points out that fewer than 100 actual NYU grad students were in attendance, which apparently means "that most graduates realize who is on their side."
Yes, the Sun editorial is all about "which side are you on," but in this case it's not either workers or management, but "Defenders of academic freedom" or "the left wing of the labor movement."
By making this argument, the Sun is wholeheartedly buying into NYU's argument that they are opposing the union to somehow protect the academic interests of the grad students. This is the argument that all companies make when they oppose unions: saying "we care" while simultaneously endorsing policies that exploit workers.
By the way, classes don't start for another week at NYU, a fact that the Sun neglects when reporting that "fewer than 100 NYU graduate students joined him at the protest out of a bargaining unit of 1,000."
UPDATE: By the way, Miller did show up.
Yes, the Sun editorial is all about "which side are you on," but in this case it's not either workers or management, but "Defenders of academic freedom" or "the left wing of the labor movement."
By making this argument, the Sun is wholeheartedly buying into NYU's argument that they are opposing the union to somehow protect the academic interests of the grad students. This is the argument that all companies make when they oppose unions: saying "we care" while simultaneously endorsing policies that exploit workers.
By the way, classes don't start for another week at NYU, a fact that the Sun neglects when reporting that "fewer than 100 NYU graduate students joined him at the protest out of a bargaining unit of 1,000."
UPDATE: By the way, Miller did show up.
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