ICYMI: Good Edureads from the Week

I really thought I was going to fumble the ball this week. A combination of working the second weekend of our production of The Fantasticks, beginning-of-year in-service days, ninth grade orientation, organizing a 5K race, etc etc etc-- well, I got a bit behind on my own reading. But yesterday and today I stumbled over several must-reads for the week. I know it's a little late in the day (matinee and set strike), but here's some Sunday evening reading for you--

The Blackout

Jose Luis Vilson gives some articulate clarity to the questions raised by supporters of public schools who really think that black folks should stop pestering Presidential candidates and start getting with the right team.

Left Behind

Here's your if-you-only-read-one-thing selection for the week. This fully-researched series of articles looks at exactly how school choice plays out, and how it leaves the most challenged students behind in a half-empty school stripped of the resources they desperately need. The journalists here take a close-up look at North Charleston High in South Carolina, and the story is thorough, from individual student stories to some very handy interactive graphics that help the reader understand exactly what is happening. A well-told, fully-supported story of the worst side-effects of choice.

The Reality Television Paradigm of All Charter Systems 

Sarah Tepper Blaine takes a look at the implications of a system like New Orleans means to our system of public education, and for students on the losing end of a two tier system.

The Myth of the New Orleans Makeover 

Well, lookee here! The New York Times runs yet another criticism of the New Orleans sort-of-a-miracle.

Finally, google Dyett High Hunger Strike

and read whatever you can find that's the most current account of what's going on in the struggle for Dyett High parents to make their voices heard. If nothing else, check this link for the newest updates there. Spread the word.

As a bonus this week, I suggest that you read all five of the suggestions, because taken together, they suggest the outlines of the larger picture that's showing its iceberg head above the education waters.

The L Word

We talk about teaching as an act of pedagogy or inquiry or coaching or guidance. We talk about data and programs and techniques and the words of experts to the point that we can, at times, sound like mechanics talking about how to work on cars. And there are plenty of people who want to talk about teaching as if it's a science, a series of data-driven stimuli designed to elicit a certain response and build certain competencies, as if our students are lab rats.

But we should also talk about teaching as an act of love.

Yes, it's difficult, mostly because "love" is a word that tries to encompass many words, many ideas, many emotions, many impulses.

But the intentional action of meeting our students where they are, seeing them as they are, hearing them as they speak, helping them drive toward what they would become-- that's love. To engage with students as human beings while trying to focus on who they are, what they want, what they need, to shut up and listen, to open eyes and really see, to build a classroom around what they need and not what we want, to teach them and not just cover material by throwing it at them-- if that's not a form of love, what is it?

Yes, it's awkward to say so, both because of the sense that our words could be misconstrued and because, really, it feels a little like bragging. That's why I admire walking man Jesse Turner and his unapologetic act of love. And it's one reason I admire Jose Vilson and what he says in this short video. I've now watched it multiple times and you should, too: