tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post3146117441319592594..comments2024-03-28T19:47:39.985-04:00Comments on CURMUDGUCATION: TNTP: Why Does Professional Development Suck?Peter Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16511193640285760299noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-56669190424492795122018-09-29T17:36:36.581-04:002018-09-29T17:36:36.581-04:00For TNTP to put out a statement analyzing professi...For TNTP to put out a statement analyzing professional development is a ploy to disguise the fact that they implement very poor teacher development. Look into these organizations and what they are upholding. He who barks is the first to see. Caitlinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07037409290003269990noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-34303189737051475522017-12-24T19:16:41.192-05:002017-12-24T19:16:41.192-05:00Flip is an idiot. His program is a scam. Taxpayers...Flip is an idiot. His program is a scam. Taxpayers are being screwed.Been there, done that.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17649004610051225622noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-75993893377599824212016-05-16T16:03:08.371-04:002016-05-16T16:03:08.371-04:00I just found your analysis of the 'papery thin...I just found your analysis of the 'papery thing'called the Mirage. I missed it in August. Your reading of the Mirage is perfect. I came upon it because somebody was tweeting out the number $8B for professional development and I asked where she got that number. When I got to the Blurry report I reacted much the same way you did. I did notice that this report is written by people who have about a years worth of classroom experience between the two of them, and neither of them appear to have any education credits. I will be the first to point out that teacher training programs need to be significantly improved, but I think actual experience (more than a year or two, at least) in a classroom should be a prerequisite for designing the new professional preparation programs. <br /><br />As you pointed out, Peter, not identifying the particular districts from which they derived their data was a huge problem. They seem to think that all classrooms all over the country are the same with students who are all pretty much the same, too. They also fail to differentiate between any of the various teaching roles that are part of K12 district. There a some similarities in teaching elementary reading and AP English, but ...<br />Thanks for a good post on the papery thingy by the TNTPDan McGuirehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17165245665212961209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-47754706988077579672015-08-08T15:44:02.418-04:002015-08-08T15:44:02.418-04:00"It’s a hopeful and alluring vision, but our ..."It’s a hopeful and alluring vision, but our findings force us to conclude that it is a mirage. Like a mirage, it is not a hallucination but a refraction of reality". Wow. What were they smoking?<br /><br />Another delightful, insightful analysis. My favorite analogy: TNTP "trying to jump their unicorns over an existential chasm while trying not to look directly into the abyss."<br /><br />It was interesting that the teachers in the three districts thought that informal collaboration was more useful to them than any other kind of PD. The "improvers" felt that their own independent efforts were second most helpful; "non-improvers" didn't seem quite as confident about their own efforts. They also all felt that PD was not specific enough for their own needs, and complained that there was no follow-up.<br /><br />Even though the authors admit that teaching is very complex, and teacher development is highly individualized and they don't know what to do to improve it, they seem to think that what is most needed is having everyone on the same page about the "urgency" of getting those scores up.<br /><br />Besides the three unnamed school districts, they also studied an unnamed mid-sized charter school. Although they still couldn't say why some teachers "improved" and some didn't, their "findings" were that charter teachers improved more than district teachers. It isn't real clear how many of the teachers had been there very long, and if most of their teachers are TFA people with only five weeks of teacher preparation, no wonder they had lots of room for improvement and 81% of teachers "agreed that they have weakness in their instruction." <br /><br />I never got very much out of workshops, even when they were specific to my subject or on good, solid, cognitive science. I had to read the research myself in order to understand why and how it worked before I could apply it. Rebecca deCocahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13168718846105012814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-73979424039048211222015-08-07T22:52:54.403-04:002015-08-07T22:52:54.403-04:00My district is embracing the "Ed Camp" p...My district is embracing the "Ed Camp" practice. To oversimplify: teachers lead collaborative conversations with other teachers about subjects that they CHOOSE -- all FREE. SOOOO much better than the "alleged, self-appointed expert is hired to tell teachers what to do -- and in the telling, reveal that they themselves have no idea whatsoever how to do the teacher's job and would not last two months....or two weeks."Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13115992679153894545noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-30241359603447455822015-08-06T18:08:55.681-04:002015-08-06T18:08:55.681-04:00From what I've read, Flipp Flippen is a motiva...From what I've read, Flipp Flippen is a motivational speaker/businessman, no educational background. His schtick that motivated students learn better is nothing new. A district paid tons of money for his program and dumped it two years later.<br /><br />To me, Lemov's book sounds like it might make a good handbook for new teachers, but there's nothing much in it veteran teachers don't already know and use. Rebecca deCocahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13168718846105012814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-26609236967912382002015-08-06T16:05:39.806-04:002015-08-06T16:05:39.806-04:00Would be very interested to hear comments on the, ...Would be very interested to hear comments on the, "Capturing Kids Hearts", Flipp Flippen group. Also interested in comments regarding Doug Lemov, (Teach Like a Champion).Public Sch. Special Ed. Tch 33 yearshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01179675184758684287noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-19503706347507908392015-08-06T14:36:05.643-04:002015-08-06T14:36:05.643-04:00Great post, as usual. This will reverberate with ...Great post, as usual. This will reverberate with every veteran teacher who has spent literally months of their life sitting through crappy PD that they know in the first minute will not help them be a better teacher in any way. I particularly liked two things you wrote:<br /><br />(1) "we've driven right past the unicorn farm to a special lab where scientists are trying to make kumquats produce better pork chops by developing techniques for making the number nine smell more like lilacs." I just like this because of the word picture. I love how you often take a concept that could be described adequately in edujargon and make it really hit home with analogous humor, and this is one of your best yet.<br /><br />(2) "Surely TNTP understands what most teachers who have ever sat through a PD session understand-- much if not most of this stuff is not being put out by people who think they can make teaching better, but by people who think they can make a living selling their particular program." As soon as I saw the report, I thought the same exact thing. I am a very efficient and effective teacher and I have worked really hard to develop some systems that work well for me. Many times over the years I have considered taking my show on the road and pitching PD. Never once was my motivation to make teachers everywhere better at their jobs. Every time, I was envisioning how much each book would sell for and how much I could charge for speaking engagements. In the end, it was never the lack of potential value of my "product" to teachers that caused me to not go commercial, it was the unlikeliness of making a good enough profit.Dave Eckstromhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13521336850803352134noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-32901785961167810102015-08-06T14:32:18.958-04:002015-08-06T14:32:18.958-04:00A lot of our PD days last year took us out of the ...A lot of our PD days last year took us out of the classroom all day long, which of course, really improves student learning. :(Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15993384945520818397noreply@blogger.com