Every teacher has his/her own opinion with regard to the district’s curriculum. I was recently speaking with a teacher at the school in which I am currently observing and I was surprised when she mentioned that very few teachers want to get involved with developing new curriculum. She mentioned that a number of her colleagues complain about certain aspects of the existing curriculum, but they choose not to volunteer their knowledge or expertise when the time comes to revise the curriculum.  Are you familiar with this approach to curriculum structure on the part of professionals?  Is this something that you see and hear in your school?  If so, why do you think this is?  What can districts do to encourage more teachers to get involved in developing a new curriculum? 

Rosalie is concerned about teacher burnout.

 Social and emotional learning is being discussed in many schools.  As a result, many schools are incorporating social and emotional learning goals into their respective curriculums.  However, it would appear that many of the social and emotional learning goals focus on students.  My concern is that with teacher shortages that have resulted in additional responsibilities on faculty, and with budget restraints that have been felt by many school districts, many teachers are now experiencing new levels of stress.  I found an article (link found below) that lists 20 different concerns of teachers in the year 2022.  Do you agree with any of the concerns listed in the article?   If not, why not.  Additionally, what are your thoughts about teacher shortages and teacher concerns in 2022?  Do you feel teachers are getting the social and emotional support that they need? 

https://www.weareteachers.com/teacher-shortage-statistics

William asks us to ponder an important question

 Recently, there has been much discussion about academic learning loss on the part of our students because of the lack of teacher-directed instruction during COVID.   There are a number of people who suggest that student scores on standardized tests are dropping and that the lower scores are due to the fact that students spent fewer hours in the classroom during the COVID years.   There are many suggestions as to how we can bring student scores "back to where they should be"and those suggestions center on lengthening the school day and the school year.   

William has come upon a Newark Star Ledger editorial that addresses this very problem.   The author of the editorial suggests that the NJSDOE provide financial support to districts that want to extend the school day as well as the school year in order to make up for time lost during COVID.   

Please read the short article and respond.   (The link can be found below). Do you agree with the author's premise?    Do you believe that the author's recommended solution will be easy to implement?  Should we address the issue of time lost during COVID?   Why or why not.    

https://www.nj.com/opinion/2022/11/learning-loss-may-have-a-simple-solution-more-time-in-class-editorial.html

   

Veronica poses a virtual learning question

 Technology in the classroom. In recent years, the use of technology has increased dramatically in the classroom. After Covid and virtual learning, many school districts have provided  students with their own laptops or tablets to use for school. What are your opinions about technology use in the classroom? Should there be more of a focus on incorporating technology, or should we limit time spent online? How do you monitor what your students are doing while online?

Do you agree? How does this take place? Dr. Ries

 Teachers facilitate the reflective process by providing students with questions and prompts that encourage them to probe and question their assumptions, examine and challenge their biases, and deepen their understanding of the societal issues.   By asking these questions throughout the learning process, students can monitor their journey toward becoming civically minded participants in a democratic society.   

Dr. Ries and a controversial curriculum issue

 In your experience, are schools hostile environments for LGBTQ students? Can you give examples? Do you think that our textbooks should include the experiences of those who identify as part of the LGBTQ community? Should state departments of education (or in the case of private schools...........regional curriculum committees) forbid schools from creating a curriculum that portrays homosexuality as a “positive alternative lifestyle?’ Should departments of education (or in the case of private schools......boards of trustees............forbid teachers and students from discussing the topic of homosexuality?  How is your present curriculum addressing this issue? In your opinion, is more needed?

Rosalie is interested in discussing school choice

 Coming from a private school perspective and familiar with schooling in Europe,  where school choice is a way of life, I'm looking to understand the issues around "school choice" as it exists here in the United States. I feel comfortable in this class asking this question that would otherwise go unanswered for me.

During our last class, Dr. Ries reacted in surprise to the idea of paying even $5,000 for K-12 private schooling.    She felt that it was expensive.  I couldn't agree more!!! This leads to the question of "school choice" in general as it exists here in the United States. When a student moves out of a school district, the money goes with the child.  

This scenario is how I feel and would like to understand the issue of choice:

Social security is collected from our paychecks.  That money is used for our retirement.  

Imagine once you retire you can move into free housing which is funded by those monthly social security checks.  If you decide to not live in the free housing, you can't have your social security checks each month and have to pay out of pocket for your own housing.   

As someone who pays a lot of taxes (close to $30k per year)  it would have been nice to be able to use the money allocated to my children at the public school (while they were school age) to offset the costs of private school tuition.  Now that they are in college, I don't mind supporting the public schools in my town.  However, I felt while they were in school, I had no choice.  I had to support the free public school even though my child did not attend.  While we technically left the district, the money did not move with my children to their private school but stayed within the district.   

I love to learn and understand things from different perspectives, so I'm hoping we can have a discussion on school choice.  

Rosalie is going to clarify her question that is highlighted in green when we get to class this week.    Then we can have a discussion and, if you wish, you may comment before NEXT week.    ER