Wednesday, December 10, 2003

Anybody see the new Charley Brown Christmas Special last night? Lots of cutesy knee-slappers; none of the true-meaning-of-Christmas message of the original. 9:46:09 PM    comment []

An article in this week's Time magazine asks "Does kindergarten need cops?" Studies apparently show that violent behavior among the little tykes is on the rise, like exponentially. Cussing out teachers, biting, throwing temper tantrums and books at classmates, punching pregnant teachers in the belly, carrying weapons. Where is this behavior coming from? Look, I don't care what side of the social-issues fence you reside on, but reports like this have to make you admit that the moral minority is right about the demise of family values. We all may have different solutions, but we have to agree that their is a problem. 9:35:45 PM    comment []

One of  the latest educational buzzwords/trends/reform movements is "small learning communities". These are basically small "schools" within a school--a high school--which specialize in a particular academic area. Basically, it's llike choosisng a major in high school. After the ninth grade, during which students would have been in the small learning community called "the ninth grade academy", students wouold choose which "academy" they wantto participate in for the rest of their high school career. They have choices such as the finance academy, the fine arts academy, the sports science academy. This choice would dictate their program of study. Also, each academy, or small learning community would occupy a specific part of the school, with the intention that the teachers and students in each academy would develop close relationships and the teachers could plan together. Giving students some real choice sounds good, and I have always favored that. I can see the logistical nightmare of students changing their minds multiple times begfore they graduate. Furthermore. I doubt this will motivate the kids who don't care to care any more. If that's who we are trying to reach, then there's got to be something else. More on this later as I process my thoughts on it. 8:45:05 PM    comment []