The Power of Revisions, Part II

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Rebecca Sipos

by Mark Schumacker, Beavercreek Schools teacher

As most teachers do, I always look at what I am doing and analyze the success of my work. I want to make sure I am doing the best I can and if I am not, I want to figure out what can I do to improve my product. The work ethic, drive, passion, effort, and academic achievement of my students are the means to my analysis. The revision policy, as well as our goal system, has allowed many of my students to achieve success more aligned with their actual ability (and beyond in some cases). This has been a true joy to personally witness.

An area I have struggled with since my first year teaching, is motivating the kids that seem to not care. Every year I have a group of kids who refuse to work for me, accept failure, and seem rather apathetic towards turning this vicious cycle around. And every year I bust my tail trying to motivate these kids. I contact their parents, I offer help, I give second and third chances, but by the second semester I am ready to give up. Have you been here before? Can you relate? We don’t want to give up, but we feel as if we have given so much and received little effort in return. It is frustrating. We begin to worry about the other 110 kids in the classroom who ARE willing to work. Have we now neglected them?

I have tried everything! Have you ever said that? Did yo Continue reading →

Save our Schools March in Washington

Posted on July 31, 2011 by Rebecca Sipos

Yesterday more than 5,000 teachers and supporters gathered on the Ellipse for the Save Our Schools rally and march to the White House. I decided to attend along with my son, his wife and her parents, who came down from New York City to show support. Quite frankly, I thought there’d be an even bigger crowd, but I’m sure the nearly 100-degree heat deterred many. Nevertheless, it was an enthusiastic group, and we heard some excellent speeches.

I was struck by Linda Darling Hammond’s statistics–we have 5% of the world’s population, but 25% of its prison inmates. She compared how little we spend per pupil for education t Continue reading →

Creating “a culture of integrity” in Atlanta Public Schools

Posted on July 8, 2011 by Rebecca Sipos

It’s comforting to see something good come out of something bad. There’s not much more scorn that can be heaped upon the Atlanta Public Schools after the cheating debacle that surfaced this week in the news, shedding light on a scandal involving educators, administrators, standardized test scores, shocking lapses in morals, and examples set for our nations’ students that will take years of effort to undo. But yesterday’s revelations are a huge step in the right direction.

According to Interim Superintendent Erroll B. Davis Jr., Atlanta Public Schools will work toward achieving “a culture of integrity” as well as a “more open and transparent culture” among its schools, administrators, and teachers. Too little, too late? Certainly not. It’s a monumental step in the right direction, and CEP would like to offer information and resources Continue reading →