And I'm Back
I've been away from blogging for a while because my summer has been incredibly hectic. I've traveled China, cruised to Alaska, and moved all of my belongings to New York City. I have a lot of things I want to write about but still don't really have time to get anything significant down in a post as professional development starts tomorrow. However, Pete Tucker of WPFW in DC (89.3) did interview me before I left and aired the interview this evening. I thought I'd post it here to see what people thought. I definitely left out some important things I probably should have remembered, but I thought we covered a lot of the basics of what's wrong in DC (much more on that to come. I wrote quite a letter to Jay Matthews after he wrote he'd never talked to a teacher who had a problem with CHEC. I'll post that in a few days.)
Anyway, check out the full interview here and let me know what you think. Good to be back.
Anyway, check out the full interview here and let me know what you think. Good to be back.
Welcome back. Looking forward to your insights on your new position in NYC!
ReplyDeleteYour interview was great!!! I shared it on Twitter.
ReplyDeleteLove your interview. Second year, still no mentor or coaches in my high school or support from DCPS. Can't wait to get finished with grad school so I can move out of DCPS and to another school district too. Missed your blog and your posts. Good luck in your new school. I wish we could get your interview played and posted elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back! I've missed you and can't wait to hear about your New York experiences.
ReplyDeleteThe interview was very well done!
great, insightful, rational, and well spoken interview! you are a great spokesman for some of the hidden realities going on within DCPS and your former school in particular. so many outsiders have opinions about what is going on and best for education, but so few are actually in the trenches and dealing with the challenges within a school and dysfunctional system.
ReplyDeletemore people need to hear this interview and your story.
i wish you the best of luck!
Welcome back. I longed for intelligent and insightful essays and posts I've found on your site. For Mathhew's to proclaim he's never met a teacher who had a problem at CHEC is just as stupefying as he is stupid. Perhaps, the data-driven ed guru should get the numbers and crunch the data. Maybe-just maybe he might realize there is a problem.
ReplyDeleteSo Jay Mathews never heard about teachers who had problems at CHEC. Within DCPS, the school and its leader are known to be probelmatic. First of all, no one styas at CHEC for long. Heck, at my school there's a dedicated and excellent teaher who's been there for over 30 years. I knew of one lady at her school for 40. This is not uncommon. Except at CHEC. Teachers can't wait to get out.
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm glad you made it safely back and look forward to reading about some of your experiences in China and, now, NYC.
ReplyDeleteMeantime, I enjoyed your interview very much--you summed things up very well and it seems Pete Tucker knows a bit about the situation here--I appreciated his question on the private money involved in a contract for public service since I've heard or read no one else mention that aspect of things which is HUGE to me from the standpoint of true Home Rule in DC, not to mention the inroad it would be on any government. I am also very happy to learn your view on Mayoral control.
Best wishes as you settle in.
Thanks for acting as a very succinct, eloquent voice for DCPS teachers. People such as Jay Matthews must be schooled on what's actually happening inside these schools. I teach at at DCPS school that's never made AYP. This year we're overrun with newbies, i.e. Teach for America kids, D.C. teaching fellows with a total of six weeks of teaching under their belts and a couple suburban teachers who decided to join "the revolution". They all came thinking they would be able to make a huge difference. Now --- in the middle of the second week of school --- several of them have expressed doubts that they will make it through the year. I've heard them mention many of the things you talk about in your interview. It would be funny if the most vulnerable kids in this society weren't at risk. If this were a reality TV show, people would think it was totally staged. But it's the reality we live with every day.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened to the letter to Jay you posted (formerly at http://www.anurbanteacherseducation.com/2010/08/whats-wrong-with-chec.html)?
ReplyDeleteThanks.
chunga: I edited and reposted it.
ReplyDelete