During our class on Monday I heard so much passion in each of your voices! Those of you who had never seen Corridor of Shame were shocked and angry. Those who had seen it are still facing unresolved questions. All of us wondering "just who is throwing the babies in the river?" I think it was insightful of us to question ourselves... "Are we throwing babies in the river?" The eyes of the children are still haunting me.
Please let me know what you have been thinking about since our last study group meeting.
Don't forget about your homework...On Reading, Learning to Read, and Effective Reading Instruction and Help for Struggling Readers.
Have a WONDERFUL SPRING BREAK!
12 comments:
I had not seen all of the Corridor of Shame, and it just shook me to the core. I cannot believe the outcome (at present) on that.
The reading this week was excellent. I loved the insightful and concise definitions and comments in "On Reading, Learning to Read, and Effective Reading Instruction." I will use these comments in the future in professional work and as rationales for practices. This will definitely be a keeper for me, because it expressed so perfectly many ideas and concepts we know but have not delineated so perfectly. I particularly liked that they included in their "policies" section that reading should be "free of stereotypes" for both students and teachers!
In chapter 11, I appreciated the listing of sources on page 235 to which we can refer later ( summer) and continue our study more in depth. I intend to purchase Reading Don't Fix No Chevys. The strategies on page 236 were also helpful, and I loved the comment that "supportive is not the same thing as easy."
Corridor of Shame, a film that I own but have never seen, was absolutely horrifying, but at the same time I found something very uplifting about the students in the film. Granted, they were on a documentary and may have been playing a part, but I was overall very impressed by the ways that the students who were facing such exteme adversity continued to show up every day and do what needed to get done. When they were talking about the temperature in the classrooms, I began to think of how often I hear complaints in my own classroom about it being too hot or too cold. Not that I am trying to speak ill of my students but this film really made me remember that so much of who we are is based upon how we were raised. Our environment greatly affects us, but it can also be the catalyst for how we approach the world.
Corridor of Shame:
Yikes! I felt like I had been transported back in time to the early sixties. The school buildings reminded me of parts of my grammar school. Lack of tax revenue in those counties is the problem. I know in my small town of Winnsboro most of the jobs are government, and only a small part of the population pay taxes which leaves little for school improvement. Is truly shameful.
"Help for Strugging Readers"
It has been a real challenge this year to help the struggling readers in my class. I have 2 who entered with a 1st grade reading level. Very sad and amazing that 8 yrs. of school were basically non-existent as far as reading goes. What were these students doing in the classroom for 8 yrs.? What were the teachers doing? Were they just being ignored? Also, because they are special ed. students, they had IEP's in place which addressed their needs and provided extra help. Just think about all the sp. ed. money, and still no gains in reading. Yikes!
The strategies on p. 236 are helpful and essential for helping those who have language processing problems or are poor readers. For me, the most important strategy is "Build Supportive Relationships." The 1st thing I do to build this relationship is to "demystify" their problems for them. They have to understand themselves, and know what to work on in order to progress. Because my students are LD, they have average or above average IQ's, and don't understand why they experience problems,and others seemingly don't. Once they understand their unique strenghts and weaknesses, they feel a sense of relief, and become more empowered to work on their problems.
Corridor of shame: The conditions that exist in these schools are terrible. They need to be repaired. The students and teachers should not have to learn and work under these conditions. What a great case for equal funding for school districts across the state! David Rowland, the camera in the halls guy, said as bad as we may think the kids cut-up in the halls, compared to other schools he has visited, our kids are very good. Likewise, as bad as we may think our conditions are, after seeing this, we can see how lucky we are to be here at BC.
I went to Barnes and Noble to work on the reading and blogs for this class. I remembered what Alex Flynn said about how she listened to teenagers to be able to keep up with the way students talk to one another to keep her books realistic. Sometimes too what she overheard may make it into one of her books on one form or another. As I sat trying to concentrate on what I had to do, different conversations drifted my way: “How come both of my ex-wives….” Looked to see if he was married again but couldn’t tell. Another – “I guess she’s going to be dropping out soon…” Could be story starters.
Corridor of Shame:
I had heard of this before--but not the details. Pretty amazing and oh so very ...well, shameful, for this time--this decade, year.
I thought a lot about Jonothan Kozol who has written a lot of educational commentaries. (Much of his stuff of late has been about testing...and testing all the true learning out of education) But, for some reason, I think he had written or responded to the C of S publicity.
Why is it so difficult to get even standard conditions---working and learning?
Separate but equal?!?
Everytime I see Corridor of Shame I am reminded of how fortunate we are and how angry it makes me that others face such inadequate and shameful conditions for education. My sister was a guidance counselor at this school and has worked in other schools in the same and surrounding districts. To hear her talk first hand about these experiences makes me rather depressed. It seems as though no one is listening and even in the spotlight of national news and 60 minutes, it continues to exist.
I, too, found much to ponderin Help for Struggling Readers. I am particularly interested in the advice to, "build partnerships with families to read and write regularly at home." I enjoyed hearing Lynn talk about the elementary reading incentive that involved the surprise home visits. I would love to find some creative ways to build more of a partnership with the home and reading at the high school level.
I have been very frustrated with one of my students lately. Actually, I have been frustrated with him for the entire semester. He came into my class apathetic and very sleepy. No matter what I said, no matter the support or encouragement I offered, he seemed to not care. When I talk with him, it’s as if I’m talking to a very uninterested brick wall. I’ve talked with administrators, written him up, attempted to call home (no answers), and spoken with his guidance counselor. Nothing seems to jar him at all. Right before spring break, however, I saw a slight change in him. He was consistently participating in silent reading, rather than simply falling asleep. He would not participate in classroom discussion, but I did see he was listening. I felt in some way something had changed. I didn’t know what exactly, but something was different.
After spring break, though, that small peak of interest disappeared entirely once more. He continues to sleep through class. No matter what I say, he doesn’t seem to care! He treats me as if I am an annoying fly that he doesn’t have to listen to (or even make eye contact with for that matter). At this point (and I know, as a teacher, I should not admit this), but if he doesn’t care, then why should I!? We are thirty days and counting from the end of the year and there has been no substantial change in his behavior. I worry this is a pattern he’s perfected. I’ve heard comments from other students that it’s just the way he and his family act…they sleep. I feel frustrated…I’m attempting to not let him fall through the cracks…but what if they are content to do so? Isn’t it, at some point, their decision to make?
Or am I just particularly crabby today? :)
On Reading, Learning To Read, and Effective Reading Instruction
Did anyone notice that the bibliography was just about as long as the article itself? I mean, there were four pages of just lists of research that all came up with the same ideas. In other words, no matter how you research it, students need to read a lot, read a variety of genres, read more of what they really like so that the interest stays and again, they need to read a lot.
The Corridor of Shame made me feel a wide range of emotions. I was sad, angry, blessed, and then sad again. There is no reason for schools in South Carolina to be in those conditions. I know we fund our schools based on tax bases etc., but this lottery money, tobacco tax money, and even tourist money can be divided differently. BC is an old school, that for a long time needed updates. But we never had to be in a building that the fire marshall deemed unsafe to occupy. No child or teacher should have to endure that type atmosphere. What can we do as taxpayers, parents ans teachers?
I saw Corridor of Shame first in college and on other occasions since then. What I find unbelievable is that schools exist in these conditions in an industrialized country in the 21st century. Equally unbelievable is that no solution has been worked out to resolve the issues in these communities and districts. But, echoing the comments of my fellow bloggers, the same principle applies to us as teachers: how can we, in all honesty, leave students’ instructional needs lacking and unresolved? It’s a hard pill to swallow, but there is no excuse at any level of education, community, or government.
I recently met a young woman who is an elementary teacher in England. She told me about a situation in which a student had not completed his work properly (a tracing exercise) yet rushed off to go to the next activity (free play). The teacher stopped the boy and told him he must redo correctly his work before playing, yet her assistant told her to let the boy go--that the assignment did not matter and he was going to rush through it anyway to play. This young woman was livid; she said, “And what does that teach him? That it doesn’t matter how well he does something—that he can decide what is important and what it not.” I recalled this when reading the Effective Reading Instruction Overview by the NCTE: respect teachers as professionals and value their knowledge […]. I shared with her an experience I had in which I felt my professionalism and experience as a classroom teacher was overshadowed in light of other “professional” opinions. We spoke about our educational backgrounds, student teaching…all the training we undertake to enter the profession and yet, proportionally, we are undervalued in comparison to our expertise. We concluded that the issues are similar in education around the globe, which begs the question: what is the fate of teachers as a profession? Just as the Corridor of Shame documents, when will governments and perhaps society in general understand the value of solid education with appropriate and plentiful resources and well-qualified, caring professionals?
I saw a similar story on another news show, depicting the deplorable conditions of Dillon County. The Corridor of Shame was enlightening, makes you appreciate where you are, but closely examine yourself to see if you are allowing your own classroom to become a Corridor of Shame.
Also, going hand in hand with the concept is the book about falling through the cracks. It is very easy to focus on the students that "want" to learn and disregard those that appear to not want to learn. However, it is essential to examine WHY they do not want to learn...do they understand, has an education been made relevant to them, what is going on at home, etc. Mr. Newman challenged us all this year to not count the students that failed but to count the successes. Last semester was one that on the surface, I questioned, however, I was able to help many students get over the hump, get their credit, and hopefully learn along the way (including that teachers do care).
Falling through the cracks is something we all need to be aware of. Because I teach such diversity it is a concern that sometimes I forget the good student and overlook the praise that they need to hear also.
Corridor of Shame get me everyhtime I see if it is powerful.
I feel very fortunate and guilty at the same time.
In the year 2007 this state can let this injustice just keep on growing.
Lack of funding? Lack of caring?
Lack of education?
This is not the best SC can do -
Palmetto Finest what a joke but who is laughing??? The children in SC public schools certainly aren't!!!!
Bless those teachers that are standing in those classrooms day in day out trying to make a difference. I hope and pray that
change is coming hopefully new superintendent.. It is all of our problem. We could lose our tax base and become a Corridor of Shame also.
In reference to struggling readers, I agree that it is factor that is present in all classrooms. In my language classes, I see it in the difficulties that students have in reading a second language. They struggle with the second language because of the same struggles that they face in the native language. So, comprehension of materials can be tiresome because it is a two-step process. They must learn it for the first time, and then apply it to the content being studied. However, there is benefit because students gain an appreciation for their native language as they see similarities and differences in second language learning.
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