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January 2008 - Posts

do you really want community?

Posted Thursday, January 31, 2008 4:01 AM by jtspencer
Our district is spending millions of dollars on PLC. It might sound like a drug (which might be nice, because we could turn it into a quick profit and actually spend more on things like books and technology) but it actually means Professional Learning Read More...
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tips on using the internet for research

Posted Sunday, January 27, 2008 3:27 PM by jtspencer
The internet is a virtual anarchy of information. There is no sense of peer review, which means anyone can publish anything. Critics, seeing that students often plagiarize or accept any information as valid, simply dismiss the internet as a bad idea for Read More...
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why I like movie nights

Posted Saturday, January 26, 2008 5:22 AM by jtspencer
A small crowd of ten students gather in my classroom for our monthly movie night. The name is a bit of a misnomer. The movie actually runs from 4:45-5:15, but "Monthly Movie Late-Afternoon/Early Evening" sounds convoluted. I guess most lies are borne Read More...
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gender-based education

Posted Thursday, January 24, 2008 3:40 AM by jtspencer
Gender-based education, once relegated to parochial schools and stodgy prep academies, is now becoming a popular trend in education. Parents swear by the need to separate adolescents to help ease concentration. (Some would argue in favor of sending all Read More...
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feeling like the Wizard of Oz

Posted Saturday, January 19, 2008 6:33 PM by jtspencer
In the last year and a half, administration has been offering me new opportunities to develop programs that change how our school operates. At first this seems exciting. I worked with some students and teachers to create the IMPACT program. Then, this Read More...
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an art project

Posted Friday, January 18, 2008 7:29 AM from John Spencer's Blog
Disclaimer: Sorry if this blog keeps filling up with classroom stories. We're sitting at lunch, discussing what we just read in the book Night. A kid named Joseph mentions, "We should create a memorial for the Holocaust. I heard this story about a school Read More...
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changing professional development

Posted Friday, January 18, 2008 5:04 AM by jtspencer
For me, the term "professional development" conjures up images of sitting in a stale library, watching PowerPoint slides as I perfect the art of cartoon-making. I hate spending an hour and a half every week listening to things that feel irrelevant to Read More...
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should I be concerned?

Posted Tuesday, January 15, 2008 8:23 AM from John Spencer's Blog
The following link is an article one of my student's wrote: http://socialvoice.blogspot.com/2008/01/american-idol-primaries.html When I read this, I hear so much of my own voice. It's written by a student who often hangs out in my classroom at lunch or Read More...
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don't tell me how to teach

Posted Thursday, January 10, 2008 5:28 AM by jtspencer
"Teachers are usually just lazy. They get tons of vacation and don't even have to put in a full work day," remarks my brother's friend. He's an arrogant fire-fighter; the type of lazy jock who never had to do work in school because he had a hell of an Read More...
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why I eat lunch in my room

Posted Tuesday, January 08, 2008 8:05 AM from John Spencer's Blog
I'm reading this book Another Planet, about a reporter who visits a suburban high school and offers her insights about the students and staff. I expected something cheezy, "inspirational" and full of misguided stereotyping. Instead, I am enjoying the Read More...
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Are we dumbing down education?

Posted Friday, January 04, 2008 5:03 AM by jtspencer
"Kids these days just aren't being challenged enough," a veteran teacher laments to me. "It used to be that they had hard work. You could expect them to rise to high expectations. Now I have to water down everything." Are we really dumbing down our education? Read More...
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