Life in Education

Substitute teaching at Ann Arbor Open (the system for which my dad has been a teacher for 35+ years) has been a rejuvenating experience this year. There is a certain amount of excitement on the kids' parts about being at school, and that sentiment seems to be shared by the teachers. There is an overwhelming sense of respect between teacher and student that goes beyond the "expectation" that children are to adhere to every request of the teacher without a second thought. Students are invited to question teachers, choose their own interests, and have a say in the curriculum. It just seems like the most logical way to inspire kids to learn: let them figure it out themselves! Teachers aren't viewed as the omniscient source of all knowledge (nor, in my opinion, should they be,) but rather, simply as classroom facilitators. Especially in the upper grades, there's a trust that ranges from work to behavior that most students, having grown up in the open system, are ...

Apart from my livejournal, which I all but abandoned years ago (save for one post about a month ago,) I wanted a forum for my thoughts. Being a teacher who has yet to find a "real" job, I wanted a place for my musings on education, inspiration, frustrations, and thoughts about the subject of education. Though I'm sure my thoughts will stray, I want to keep on the topic of education as much as possible as a place to refer to both for myself as I evolve into the educator I strive to be, but also for anyone who may want to know what I'm "all about" when it comes to education. Tonight's Daily Show, albeit a satiric source of news, actually got me thinking about education. Especially when they cited this guy . To save those of you whose attention spans are as short as mine, the LT. Gov. of South Carolina essentially (and literally) compared kids on free and reduced lunch to stray animals. Going on, he says that such programs encourage poor people to bree...