tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7132951117640035190.post492815298260106305..comments2024-02-06T16:00:09.709-05:00Comments on Under Assault: teaching in NYC: We can't let Bloomberg define successUAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18260404972111353175noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7132951117640035190.post-66831713535061579632007-10-28T09:38:00.000-04:002007-10-28T09:38:00.000-04:00"Success" is one of the most perverse and twisted ..."Success" is one of the most perverse and twisted concepts I have encountered in daily life. The word can have authentic meaning, but it has been corrupted into its opposite. "Success" now means gloss without substance: the superficial PowerPoint presentation with the graphs going up and up; the business suit; the cheery data, showing leaps and bounds where there are none; the lacquer, the icing, the lies.<BR/><BR/>To me success means many of the things you said: bringing calm to a room, having those moments when a kid "gets it," sometimes just making it through the day. Success to me means staying truthful in some way, resisting the doublespeak and rotten jargon. <BR/><BR/>It is refreshing to read this blog post. Thank you.Diana Senechalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11111547675530451414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7132951117640035190.post-65830003037086303162007-10-23T20:23:00.000-04:002007-10-23T20:23:00.000-04:00Sorry, this one is edited. Well said. The REAL edu...Sorry, this one is edited. <BR/><BR/>Well said. The REAL education system is not one in which children and teachers are judged solely by test scores. It is one where they are judged by small successes. Do we want all students to pass the Regents (or any other state mandated exam)? of course we do. But in reality we want to see that each students has simple become more- is not better- than he/she was before. That is the REAL success. Bloomberg can't understand this because those kinds of successes are not easy to measure. They don't look good on paper. When your only motivation in life is to "get the benjamins" it becomes increasingly difficult to see the truth. Politics and capitalism don't belong in education.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7132951117640035190.post-77467724985027961762007-10-23T20:22:00.000-04:002007-10-23T20:22:00.000-04:00Well said. The REAL education system is not one in...Well said. The REAL education system is not one in which children and teachers are not judged solely by test scores. They are judged by small successes. Do we want all students to pass the Regents (or any other state mandated exam)? of course we do. But in reality we want to see that each students has simple become more- is not better- than he/she was before. That is the REAL success. Bloomberg can't understand this because those kinds of successes are not easy to measure. They don't look good on paper. When your only motivation in life is to "get the benjamins" it becomes increasingly difficult to see the truth. Politics and capitalism don't belong in education.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7132951117640035190.post-23615287015933745272007-10-22T21:12:00.000-04:002007-10-22T21:12:00.000-04:00Scary.You have to spread the word to people in rub...Scary.<BR/><BR/>You have to spread the word to people in rubber rooms or under trumped up charges about TAG, because those guys really have it together. They should at least check out their website at http://www.teacheradvocacygrpnyc.blogspot.com/ but they could email them also for info: TAGNYC@hotmail.comUnder Assaulthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18222267229529062957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7132951117640035190.post-22960492565009728222007-10-22T20:41:00.000-04:002007-10-22T20:41:00.000-04:00a dog is a dog is a dog, etc, etc...ask any New Yo...a dog is a dog is a dog, etc, etc...<BR/><BR/>ask any New Yorker who has gotten a parking ticket over $100 for NOTHING and they will tell you what they think of Mr. Bloomberg. More high-rise multi-million dollar condos are rising up all over the city while "normal" working folk - like us teachers - are left with few choices in housing stock. and god help you if you have the temerity to "bell the cat" in our school "system" - I know of two spanking fresh cases at my "campus" where teachers are being railroaded FOR DOING NOTHING WRONG. one in fact was assaulted by students in the eye with a pen thrown at him and now he has been banned from the building with unknown charges against him. and this is a TEACHING FELLOW. is this the corporate way? if so again I say god help us all (or whoever you pray to)catt55https://www.blogger.com/profile/16288948632081507818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7132951117640035190.post-5309284643637950522007-10-21T20:27:00.000-04:002007-10-21T20:27:00.000-04:00" . . . although most of us would prefer to wait u..." . . . although most of us would prefer to wait until he matures and patiently try to instruct him."<BR/><BR/>Nice one!<BR/><BR/>But do I have time to be patient? I want this fixed before my granchildren are born, not when it'll be too late for them, and all the others of course.Under Assaulthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18222267229529062957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7132951117640035190.post-50671760941651101972007-10-21T20:07:00.000-04:002007-10-21T20:07:00.000-04:00Dear Woodlass,It seems that to Bloomberg success m...Dear Woodlass,<BR/><BR/>It seems that to Bloomberg success means he-who-takes-control-of-the situation and he-who-gets-the-best media-coverage.<BR/><BR/>I agree with you that educators must realize that they have take control of the discussions.<BR/><BR/>Businesses and the people who run them are in general completely unqualified to determine what success means in the education of children.<BR/><BR/>We educators must somehow find the clear and convincing collective voice that says "while easy to collect data on and easy to understand, test scores do not measure the real, significant educational successes." K-12 education is not academic post graduate work. It must be primarily nuturing and not strongly goal oriented until the upper grades at least.<BR/><BR/>In fact focusing on test scores prevents the more meaningful successes from occurring in many many ways.<BR/><BR/>Bloomberg completely misses the mark about education of children.<BR/><BR/>By his criteria we must give him a Failing Grade, although most of us would prefer to wait until he matures and patiently try to instruct him.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com