Thursday, August 28, 2003

Image? Education Is Now Everything. With a school in Las Vegas, Andre Agassi is spending his celebrity well, turning his fame into capital for change. By Selena Roberts. [New York Times: Education] Well I say good for Andre! I'm a longtime fan and have especially appreciated seeing him mature from what he was as the teen heartthrob tennis star all style over substance, to a genuine human being who recognizes the power he has to make a significant difference in the world, and has committed to it. I have a lot of repect for the man (and not just because of the fact that any man would have to repect the guy who won Brooke Shields :) ).  He is a model for others in his position (of wealth and celebrity) to follow. God bless his work. 8:31:59 PM    comment []

After several years of improvement, the environment on the halls has taken a dip this year. We lost a principal and assistant principal this year, so an administration change is always going to bring out the kids who want to test the new guard and see what they can get away with. More and more students are "walkin' the halls" this first few weeks of school. Of course, as usual, the administration is being more reactionary than preventative. Rather than haveing clear and consistently enforced rules, we tend to let things get out of hand and then employ a rash of "hall sweeps" over the span of a few days. These of course have no effect, as even the day after the hall sweeps, kids are still taking their time to get to class, with about 50% of the student body still in the halls after the tardy bell. I do think each teacher can have an effect on this by enforcing a tardy policy in their own classroom, with tangible consequences for violation. But if it is not consistent throughout the school, it is always an uphill battle. The major problem is that if you give kids and inch , they'll take a mile. As soon as they see there is little or no consequence for tardiness or cutting, there's little chance of getting it back to normal again. 7:54:19 PM    comment []