Conversations with the creators of the best in science fiction and fantasy. If you love SF literature, are an author or aspire to become one, you'll enjoy this podcast.
Middle-school teachers bringing you tips and techniques fresh from the real-world classroom environment. Discussions on education, ideas for parents and teachers
Show Notes:
Lorrie and Sheila discuss highly qualified status for teachers and chat with Nancy Springer.
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Kevin C. Mason
highly qualified
Sheila is wrong
Feds vs. States
K-6 vs. 7th & 8th grades
AEPA tests
Credit hours
Letter
Interview with Nancy Springer - Dreams and Visions
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Poisonous things carry their own cure
Shakespeare, toad, toad stone & modern day
45 books
writing mystery
Enola Holmes series
Book stores in the 50s
Conform, go crazy or become an artist
Writing schedule
I am Mordred
Flipped
Re: Highly qualified.
Even if the letter home explicitly described the difference between qualified and “highly qualified,” we all know most parents would interpret it as you said. If you’re not a teacher, who has time to research what that means and if the teacher in question is good enough without that distinction? As a former teacher’s aide, I have my own issues with the Arizona school system, but I agree the Federal standards should be good enough. And don’t get me started on the whole AIMS teach-to-the-test issue. If this state spent more money on education, they wouldn’t have to come up with their own contrived standards to make an Arizona diploma look good.
Love your podcast, ladies.
Debbie,
You are so right - people read what they want to read out of things. Teachers are born not created in a lab (classroom). Good teachers are good because they love their subject and more importantly love the students. One more class will not and I repeat will not make or break a teacher!
One thing that I’m curious about is how do these extra classes and hoops you must jump through to obtain “highly qualified” status affect your work in the classroom while you’re in the process? Does the requried training require you to miss days in the classroom with your kids and how does that impact their learning? Subtitutes are fine…but with one exception I’ve never had a sub in my education that was even half way up to speed. The exception stands out only because our normal teacher got severely SEVERELY ill and we spent most if not all the year with the sub (at which point when the original teacher came back…SHE felt like the sub.)
Usually the classes are taken either at night, on the weekends or on-line. Due to the fact, these are college level classes they are not one or two day classes but are semester long classes. Usually a district will not allow you to be gone from the classroom on an on-going basis. Right now in AZ, we are having to take 15 hours of SEI (Structure English Immersion)training by August and another 45 hours by 2010. This is a two day class either taken on the weekend or there have been a few classes offered during the week. The district then has to decide whether to allow for the time off or not. If it is during the day then a sub comes in and babysits.
I agree with you about a sub not really knowing what is going on. I subbed for four months before I was awarded a contract and it is hard walking into someone elses area. Think of it like this you are traveling and each day you go to a new area and stay with different friends for a total of two weeks. Each house is different - they each have kids (discipline is different in each house), the kitchen is set up different (you do not know where anything is) and the evening entertainment is different. It is hard to know how students handle different things and where things are in the classroom. The money that a sub makes is crazy - I know in our district it was just bumped up to $75.00 per day.
I have to set up easy lesson plans when I am going to have a sub because I never know if I am going to have one who can handle teaching or not. Even if I am set to have a good sub (a retired teacher) more often than not that gets changed before they make it into my classroom. I think it is because I have trained my kids to behave with the sub - teach me!
The whole Highly Qualified Teacher bit sounds like more credentialism over actual qualification nonsense.
Here’s a link to Michigan’s definition,
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/definitionofhighlyqualifiedteachers_63281_7.pdf
Without going over the AZ policy, line by line, I have to say it appears simpler and less demanding than yours.
As to the Feds vs the States — unless there is a clear intent by Congress to completly occupy the field, to the exclusion of all other regulation, pretty much explictly demonstrated in the legislation itself, then the states are free to increase the standards.
I looked over the Michigan definition and I think that is where Arizona is headed. I think the frustration of the teachers (myself included) is the constant change of what is required to be a teacher. It seems every couple of months there is a new mandate. We continuously have to seek more education (which makes sense) but the cost of acquiring the this education is on the teachers many of whom are already having difficulty making ends meet. When I was in the business world, the business would take care of the cost of education (they even paid for many co-workers degrees).
I think you are right about the terminolgy being more about credentialism rather than qualifications.
Hi With Class: Sorry but I have an off topic question. :}
On an episode of Slice Of SciFi Michael and Evo mentioned that there was going to be an episode of Dragon Page or With Class that features a woman science fiction writer who writes books for teen girls. Sorry, I forgot her name. :{ Can you tell me when that episode will air? An episode number would be even better? I told my wife about it and she wants to listen.
Thanks!
John T>
Not a problem. I am not sure who the boys were talking about. I was on a Cover to Cover recently and mentioned that we would get Nancy Springer on (this is the current show). I asked Evo and he does not remember I will ask Micheal tomorrow and see if he recalls. We will have John Vornholt (he’s a man) on the next show. After that I am not sure who we will be chatting with. The boys have to keep Lor and I updated if they mention us.
Oh MY!
It is reasons like this that we now homeschool our kids. Oklahoma has lowered standards to the point that kids are not learning here. And it is really bad when the students are really smarter than the teachers. Our teachers don’t get paid enough to stay, and are often drawn to Texas for better pay etc. So in the long run, I hear what you teachers are going through and from my point of view it just doesn’t right. Is the status of the education getting worse… if so what can be done.
I grew up in Oklahoma! Oklahoma and Arizona seem to swap the 49th and 50th position quite often. Oklahoma’s legislature seems to not have education as a top priority, we battle with this as well. I feel like the entire education system needs an over-haul. We seem to put a bandaide on the wound rather than try to figure out what is making the wound bleed. I have some ideas of how to fix some of the problems but they are not the most popular ideas. One would be to get legislature out of the picture and create a task force solely for educational purposes. Many of the people setting policies have not set foot in a classroom since they were in high school. Many do not have any background in education except their own.
Oh, not that was a rant! I am sorry but I am really passionate about education and children and I see the children not getting what they need out of their own education.
OK. I have a couple of comments to add to the conversation. First, Subs…I think that the reason students misbehave for these saints is because they know this person is NOT someone they have to see everyday. The kids don’t have to establish a relationship with them, and the Sub has zero control over whether or not the student passes onto the next grade level. Therefore, in the eyes of the student’s the Sub is unimportant. The poor person who takes on the job, is left wondering, “What was I thinking?” (the pay definitely doesn’t make the abuse worth it!).
Next, I just received a copy of next years contract. I can’t even begin to tell you how disappointed I was! On top of the several classes I have to take to be “highly qualified” (and no, the yearly pay increase doesn’t even begin to cover the cost of that!), but the changes in special education means that our jobs…both mine and the general education teacher’s, is going to be a bazillion times more challenging next year. Where in the world is my incentive? I can honestly say that the ONLY reason I am going back next year, is my group of 7th going into 8th grade students. Let’s just hope that feeling outlasts the absolute crap we’re all going to go through next year (hmmm, do I sound bitter?)!