Leading From The Heart

by Tracy Rosen, teaching & consulting since 1996, blogging about it here since 2007. All views are my own and you should take them with a grain of salt, I do.

Author: Tracy Rosen

  • To middle school or not to middle school?

    “…some middle school experts argue that school reconfiguration is a
    costly distraction from what adolescents really need: smaller classes,
    an engaging curriculum, personalized attention and well-prepared
    teachers.”

    I agree!

    Instead of looking at complicated school reconfigurations, I would take a much more grass-roots approach. No matter where they are, children in middle-school need classes tailored to their needs – as Patrick Montesano stated in the passage I quoted above, from

    Taking Middle Schoolers Out of the Middle

    By ELISSA GOOTMAN Published: January 22, 2007 in the New York Times.

    (you may need an account to view the article. If you don’t have one, sign up already! It’s free!)

    The article talks about k-8 schools, 6-8 schools, 6-12 schools. I think that looking at structure change is talking around the issue. We need to be looking at good, solid teaching and administrative practice that is based in research about how middle school students learn. Just like any other level should have good solid professional practice based in current research that is specific to them.

    No matter where they are, if the teachers who work with them are using methods such as differentiated instruction that looks towards students’ learning styles, interests, abilities and knowledge as a starting point to plan activities that point towards specific goals or competencies, then we’d be onto something!


    (picture from article cited above)

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  • dreams and connections to the spirit


    Image: Forest Whitaker from Red Carpet Treatment on Reuters Blogs

    When I was a kid, the only way that I saw movies was from
    the backseat of my family’s car. At the drive-in. And, it wasn’t my
    reality to think I would be acting in movies, so receiving this honor
    tonight tells me that it’s possible. It is possible for a kid from east
    Texas, raised in South Central L.A. in Carson, who believes in his
    dreams, commits himself to them with his heart, to touch them, and to
    have them happen.

    Because when I first started acting, it was because of my
    desire to connect to everyone. To that thing inside each of us. That
    light that I believe exists in all of us. Because acting for me is
    about believing in that connection and it’s a connection so strong,
    it’s a connection so deep, that we feel it. And through our combined
    belief, we can create a new reality. (found on firstshowing.net)


    I thought that Forest Whitaker’s speech was powerful. In the first paragraph he spoke of the power of dreams and goals to bring us to our best future. And I think that his second paragraph shows how it is possible. For him it is through acting. For me, it is through teaching that I find the connection to the human spirit – Forest’s light that exists in all of us.

    Teaching for me has to do with creating a context for hope and potential, both qualities that drive the human spirit.


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  • Effects of Ritalin…

    Hmmm…do we really want this to happen? There has to be another way!

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  • Parent involvement at school

    After re-reading some of the responses to my posting, Parents protest ‘time out’ cage in classroom, I get a sense that the consensus is for a shift towards more parental involvement at school.

    What does this mean? More parent-led activities? Higher attendance at parent-teacher interviews? A combination of the two?

    Research shows that a connection between school and family is an indicator of student success, in terms of “academic achievement, attendance, attitude and continued education”.
    (from Critical Issue: Creating the School Climate and Structures to Support Parent and Family Involvement)

    The USA’s National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education includes the following as a result of school and family partnerships in education:

    • Students do better in school and in life.
    • Parents become empowered.
    • Teacher morale improves.
    • Schools get better.
    • Communities grow stronger

    According to Eddy Dumoulin, a school principal and MELS (Quebec Ministry of Education) education consultant, a child’s educational team is composed primarily of teacher, principal and parent (symposium on special needs, 2007, Montreal). This makes sense, and it seems that this is the direction in which we need to go, though when I speak with friends who are parents many of them aren’t so sure about what is going on in their child’s classroom. And when I speak with other teachers, some of them have never met one or both of a student’s parents.

    SO. How can we make this shift? And what kind of involvement is needed?

  • Barack Obama and Education


    Image: Photo of Barack Obama from my.barackobama.com
    Teaching Our Kids in a 21st Century Economy. A speech by Senator Barack Obama, in October 2005 at the Center for American Progress (Go here for a text version)

    He talks about Jonathan Kozol‘s new book – Shame of a Nation. It seems to me that Mr. Kozol has been writing of the same themes for many years now. His books, Death at an Early Age and Amazing Grace, were among the factors that brought me to a career in education.

    I am glad that Senator Obama, who, since yesterday, is now a presidential nominee, has advocated for equality and progression in education. I hope he still is. Because I think that he is someone who is going to have great influence in that country to the South of us, where 1 in 4 8th graders never finish high school (statistic taken from speech).

    He talks of transforming American educational culture. A beautiful dream.

    He says, “the single most important factor in determining their achievement today is not the colour of their skin, or who their parents are but…who their teacher is.”

    “If we are going to give our kids a chance, it is time to start giving our teachers a chance”

    Wow.

    He offers ways of doing this. I am going to listen more later because I have to go! I will give my opinion on that later on today.