On Your Minds FYI, here are some of the main responses to the question from a couple of weeks ago about what folks want to talk about next:
*10 new magnet schools/10 next to be closed (who and where are they?)
*Arts and music in CPS
*Crowding on the SW side (persistent and ridiculous)
*Unused beautiful preK center at 43rd and king
*Misdeeds at Oprah’s school
*Shortage of SE teachers
*Need for more mentoring
*Pension trustees going on trips to the South of France
*Things that are working (Earhart and the other attends Poe Classical.)
*Why Earlhart just misses having its SPED kids scores count
*Admissions at Hawthorne – too many white kids getting in?
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Tue Nov 13, 2007 at 1:11 PM
Need for more Mentoring; Defining Terms
Many people use the terms tutoring and mentoring interchangably, yet without creating a more precise definition we think we're getting one thing and really not getting everything we want. For instance, the paid tutoring of NCLB is a needed resource, but are we getting professional tutors, with years of experience, or are we getting extra hours from people who have little tutoring experience?
And when we get extra tutoring in the afterschool hours, with one tutor working with groups of 3 or more kids, are we really getting mentoring? Are we building adult/student relationships that expand the aspirations of a student, and/or motivate him to make better decisions.
And if we only provide these supports from 3-5pm, are we filling the rest of the non-school hours with postive learning supports for kids who live in neighborhoods of high poverty, with few adults modeling college and advanced degrees as an expectation for kids in the family or commuity?
Here's a pdf that I hope stimulates soe thinking on this subject: http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/Partner/CC/Presentations/defining_terms/Defining%20terms.pdf
It shows various types of tutoring, mentoring and learning supports, ranging from an excellent teacher, to an excellent parent. Kids need all of these in their lives, for many years. NCLB and fee-based tutoring are unlikely to provide the long term extra support needed by kids and families.
Is this something that educators think of? If your kids don't have this type of support system, is it your role to try to help build it? Could kids in service learning programs become leaders in building a community wide network of tutoring, mentoring and extended learning opportunities?
I host a conference every six months to give people in the tutoring/mentoring and related fields an opportunity to meet, network and learn from each other, with a goal that some will begin to work collaboratively in an effort to make more and better tutoring/mentoring opportunities available in areas with high poverty, and struggling schools. The web site is http://www.tutormentorconference.org
If you can attend, please do. Scholarships are available for any who request them. If you can't attend, I encourage you to join me and others at http://classroom20.ning.com/profile/tutormentor/
And when we get extra tutoring in the afterschool hours, with one tutor working with groups of 3 or more kids, are we really getting mentoring? Are we building adult/student relationships that expand the aspirations of a student, and/or motivate him to make better decisions.
And if we only provide these supports from 3-5pm, are we filling the rest of the non-school hours with postive learning supports for kids who live in neighborhoods of high poverty, with few adults modeling college and advanced degrees as an expectation for kids in the family or commuity?
Here's a pdf that I hope stimulates soe thinking on this subject: http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/Partner/CC/Presentations/defining_terms/Defining%20terms.pdf
It shows various types of tutoring, mentoring and learning supports, ranging from an excellent teacher, to an excellent parent. Kids need all of these in their lives, for many years. NCLB and fee-based tutoring are unlikely to provide the long term extra support needed by kids and families.
Is this something that educators think of? If your kids don't have this type of support system, is it your role to try to help build it? Could kids in service learning programs become leaders in building a community wide network of tutoring, mentoring and extended learning opportunities?
I host a conference every six months to give people in the tutoring/mentoring and related fields an opportunity to meet, network and learn from each other, with a goal that some will begin to work collaboratively in an effort to make more and better tutoring/mentoring opportunities available in areas with high poverty, and struggling schools. The web site is http://www.tutormentorconference.org
If you can attend, please do. Scholarships are available for any who request them. If you can't attend, I encourage you to join me and others at http://classroom20.ning.com/profile/tutormentor/
Sun Nov 18, 2007 at 1:06 AM
On Your Minds
Previously, I respected you and the work that you do for children with disabilities, but now I feel a bit insulted. Thanks, Wendy for "having my back." Rod, if you noticed, I posted first thing in the morning. I have two children who attend elementary school, one at Earhart and one at a selective enrollment school. Yesterday was report card pick up. After going to two schools and talking with each and every teacher who graded both my children (I spent nearly an hour or more at each school), I took them to McDonald's for great report cards (as they requested). I can home and assisted my youngest on completing a homework assignment, reviewing 50 dolch words and the 20 minutes of reading. The oldest had many assignments to complete and we had to go over the science project. I cooked dinner, washed, ironed, made sure the children were bathed and made lunches! (My husband was working.) Then, I went to bed, exhausted. I work full time (9am-5:30pm) and I don't read the blog or post at work, it's against company policy. Here is what I know: all children at Earhart have iep's and I wasn't aware that we had so many children with disabilities as most are in the lre. Earhart has two small with few students in those classrooms. The children with disabilities are required to complete everything that regular ed students complete (i.e. Science fair, young authors, history fair, etc.) I'd say Earhart does well by these students. I don't think that I would recommend the lottery because the class sizes are large ( and even the regular ed students are being affected by it) and there are no seats available for any child in 1st through 8th because of the class sizes. The only chance may be a Kindergarten slot but if enough neighborhood students enroll then Earhart doesn't pull from the lottery. There is only one classroom per grade because Earhart is a small school.
PS-I was having trouble posting a response due to spam blockers.
PS-I was having trouble posting a response due to spam blockers.
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