Georgia Educators

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Comment by Julie Henderson Rucker on June 7, 2009 at 8:12pm

Michael, is Whitman supposed to be less divisive?

Comment by Julie Henderson Rucker on June 7, 2009 at 8:12pm

Thanks for the clarification on discussion threads, Ryan--I read that AFTER I went to page 3 and read backwards through the comments. I haven't looked yet to see if Michael started a discussion (he's so good at that!). I do have some comments related to Roy but will reserve them for the DISCUSSION FORUM. A side note--we had our summer GCTE Board meeting this weekend, and Dawn Kirby used three words to describe teaching which inspired me! Do my actions in and out of the classroom reflect this? "Teaching is political, radical, and subversive when it's called for" (Kirby). Love it! BTW, we need to get her on this Ning.

Comment by Michael Moore on June 5, 2009 at 9:14am

Thanks, Ryan, will do...it is part of a bigger picture with national ramifications.

Comment by Ryan Goble on June 5, 2009 at 8:39am

An idea - and this is something I've been telling folks in all the jumpin' groups. If you're talking about a specific issue it seems to be better to start a fresh Discussion Forum (above) for big posts/new topics/ ideas. This Ning only launched Jan 20, so I'm learning how best to manage the space along with everyone else.

For example - below we have a wonderful threads, nay DISCUSSION if you will, about governor Roy Barnes and K-12 education. Unfortunately, The Comment Wall (here) doesn't really sort by topic or thread. These thoughts will just get buried under other comments over time. On the flipside, Discussion Forum postings allow for a clear archive on your topic. If these comments were instead posted as a discussion titled "The Future of GA education under Governor Roy Barnes" other folks that join later can easily see/find it in the forum and continue to make comments on the discussion.

So if any one wants ideas or want to share or get ideas on a specific topic you're probably best served by creating a Forum (above) around a topic or idea that is easily searchable when people come and join the group at a later date. Comments seem to be better for "Dude, I love the peaches in Georgia" type thoughts.

Also (and I just got clear on this this week) - If you're interested in a thread, but didn't start it you can CHOOSE to follow them. In this photo here...

See the the little option in the lower right hand corner? If you click on that you can follow threads you didn't start - you get an e-mail update every time someone adds to the discussion. If you start a discussion you always get updates, if you comment on a discussion you only get update notifications is you click the follow discussion thingie.

It is PEACHY to have everyone here and exciting to see all the wonderful resources and ideas people are brining to make curriculum pop!

Stay Groovy,

RRG:)

Comment by Michael Moore on June 5, 2009 at 8:08am

It's a byproduct in protecting ideas. Yes, poor teachers are protected to some extent...but no one ever asks teachers to help get rid of bad teachers. We have more poor administrators around here than we have poor teachers.

Comment by Sandy Greene on June 5, 2009 at 7:33am

I'm not so sure. It is still very difficult to get rid of a teacher through due process. The laws on the books require quite a bit of work. I've also found that the problem isn't always with the "poor" teacher but with "poor" administrators who do not keep up with current research and follow an advertised path that claims achievement. There are plenty of teachers I work with who are more comfortable with what they know. One I've worked with for 3 years and finally agreed to have literature circles in her classroom - as long as I ran them. This past year she tried on her own and they were still pretty worksheet oriented. Funny though, she told me at the end of this year that she thought she would just have her honors class do independent study all year. Looks like I'm back in her class again to monitor that. By the way, the administrator thinks she is the best thing since grits.

Comment by Michael Moore on June 5, 2009 at 7:12am

Actually Barnes has a very good chance. Everyone's disappointed with republican leadership. At this juncture the republican candidates are not inspiring to anyone. Tenure does not exist in business because business does not market free ideas. Eliminating tenure might help you get rid of poor teachers but who is to say who is a poor teacher. It would allow any principal to fire a teacher who did not agree with him that kids should be ability grouped, tracked, taught synthetic phonics all day and retained if they can't pass a test. And that is exactly what would happen.

Comment by Sandy Greene on June 4, 2009 at 7:58pm

Hate is such a strong word, but what kind of chance does Barnes really have. I didn't have a problem with the tenure issue - I was in the business world for a number of years and whoever heard of tenure there - at least in the psychiatric field - but I still have issue with the high stakes testing. I would like to see class sizes go back down - supposedly we have up to 30 in the middle school now with an extension to 32 if we have to. According to Kathy Cox this is supposed to last for one year. We'll see.

Comment by julianna on June 4, 2009 at 2:26pm

Ah, Whitman--Whitman I can live with.

Comment by Michael Moore on June 4, 2009 at 2:22pm

Well Georgia Educators
Maybe you noticed that former governor Roy Barnes tossed his hat into the ring. He actually was a good governor for k-12 school. Especially when compared to Perdue who hates schools. It was teachers who bounced Barnes out for two reasons. One, he wanted to eliminate tenure for teachers in order to get rid of bad teachers, and two his strong emphasis on high stakes testing. In this way he looks like a conservative. However, on the other hand, he reduced class sizes greatly and poured money into education. I'll bet most teachers wish they had their vote back eight years ago.

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