Fascinating article in the NYTimes today...

[hlee]

I just read this article and thought it would interest many of you:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/magazine/07Teachers-t.html?ref=magazine

 

Coincidentally, I went to high school with the man who is mentioned in the lead paragraph--Doug Lemov--we were on the newspaper staff together. I just got in touch with him after 20+ years via Facebook; he has written a book which will be out next month which is called Teach Like a Champion. According to Doug, although the part of his book which deals with urban schools and classroom management will not apply, the academic aspects he writes about would definitely apply to homeschoolers and has "changed the way I approach parenting." I'm very curious to see what the book says, and I just thought some of you might similarly be interested.

[Corraleno]

Great article!!! Thanks so much for linking it ~ I've already pre-ordered the book from Amazon. I suspect I'll be ordering additional copies, too, to give to the teachers I know.

http://www.amazon.com/Teach-Like-Champion-Techniques-Students/dp/0470550473/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267681291&sr=8-1

 

Jackie

[nmoira]

Thanks for posting. :)

[ondreeuh]

Very fascinating! I have forwarded it to all the teachers in my family. My husband is beginning a master's in teaching program this summer and I sent it to him as well. Thanks!

[MIch elle]

NICE! There's HOPE for public education! :D

[kalanamak]

I enjoyed the videos, as well. I was reassured to see so many little minds working on a problem while fidgeting the whole time!

 

It made me remember how great it was to get a good teacher at that age.

[daffodil]

Interesting article. Thanks for posting!

[johnandtinagilbert]

I'm looking forward to reading this book. Thanks so much for the link.

[angela in ohio]

Yet a 2006 report written by Arthur Levine, the former president of Teachers College, the esteemed institution at Columbia University, assessed the state of teacher education this way: “Today, the teacher-education curriculum is a confusing patchwork. Academic instruction and clinical instruction are disconnected. Graduates are insufficiently prepared for the classroom.†By emphasizing broad theories of learning rather than the particular work of the teacher, methods classes and the rest of the future teacher’s coursework often become what the historian Diane Ravitch called “the contentless curriculum.â€

 

Dh has been in schools of education for over a decade now. Only at the graduate level did he finally get a few classes that talked about how to actually teach, and they were in the context of evaluating teachers as an adminisrator.

 

I am ordering the 48 Traits book. I recognized quite a few things dh (a "natural born teacher") has taught me from the items they list (especially narrating the positive and creating joy.)

 

I think it's quite telling that much of the innovation in teacher training and method described in the article is coming from the free market (charter schools.)

 

In other words, she could use help explaining content — the kind of thinking Ball is trying to teach education students with Math Knowledge for Teaching. Lemov and other Uncommon Schools administrators are unfamiliar with M.K.T., but some are recognizing that content can’t be completely divorced from mechanics. This fall, Uncommon Schools administrators began building new taxonomy-like tools around specific content areas. Among the subjects under analysis are elementary- and middle-school reading, upper-grade math and all levels of science.

 

The second half of the article described what I think is the biggest problem in education: teachers just don't know the subject matter they are expected to teach.

 

Education is one of the few professional fields where there is no weeding-out process. If you want a teaching degree, you get one. The classes are not difficult. Those hiring you have no idea whether you can teach or not from interviewing you. Once you are on the job, it is nearly impossible to fire you. Those who do not have the skills to teach are still doing it.

[HappyGrace]

SUPER interesting-I read every word and watched all the videos and preordered the book! I am always looking for tried and true ways to improve my teaching. Thank you for sharing!

[i.love.lucy]

Thanks for posting this! It was a great article and I really enjoyed the videos of great teachers in action.

[MBM]

What a fascinating article. I'm looking forward to reading Lemov's book and possibly buying some copies for my son's school. Thanks for passing it along.

:)

[Oak Knoll Mom]

Great article. Looking forward to the book.

[Wildiris]

Thanks for sharing this article.

 

I am only on page two, but I had to stop.

 

"When Doug Lemov conducted his own search for those magical ingredients (What makes for a good teacher), he noticed something about most successful teachers that he hadn’t expected to find: what looked like natural-born genius was often deliberate technique in disguise. “Stand still when you’re giving directions,†a teacher at a Boston school told him. In other words, don’t do two things at once. Lemov tried it, and suddenly, he had to ask students to take out their homework only once."

 

When so many of us multitask, wearing the hat of home school parent, mom and household manager, this simple trick may get the day to run smoothly. Now, back to reading.