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letting students make decisions


15 September 07 05:58 AM | jtspencer | 1 Comments   
Twenty students claim their favorite seats within minutes of the lunch bell ringing. The skeptic in me initially assumes that it is a first week rush, a desire to get out of the one-hundred and ten degree heat. The students will find out that our Student Read More...

why I don't do rewards


19 August 07 07:05 AM | jtspencer | 4 Comments   
Birthdays are important to me. Unlike other American holidays, they do not require reciprocity. There is no give-and-take, no social contract; nothing that says, "our gifts better be equal, because if they don't, I'll either feel gyped or guilty." Unlike Read More...

School is ____________


08 August 07 06:06 AM | jtspencer | 3 Comments   
On the first day of school, students completed a metaphor of school. School is a _______ and I am a _________. Many students chose prison, because, like prison, the school tells them what to wear, when to speak, when to pee, what to eat, what to study Read More...

Why I Love Teaching


27 July 07 01:48 PM | jtspencer | 6 Comments   
I met with a group of young teachers. They remind me of people who are newly married, in the way they exude a certain idealism and passion. I love being around new teachers, because that energy is contagious. I know that the daily grind of paper work, Read More...

Why I Won't Shut Up and Teach


19 July 07 04:12 PM | jtspencer | 5 Comments   
After reading a recent blog, suggesting that teachers should self-censor and stay politically inactive, I feel compelled to write this blog. Telling teachers to shut up and focus on their classrooms is like telling Martin Luther King Jr to shut up and Read More...

recovering what we lost in standardized education


15 July 07 12:15 PM | jtspencer | 0 Comments   
After taking so many theory classes this summer, I am left with a mental overload. I enjoy the dialogue and debates, yet I can't help but feel that none of the "isms" really worked for me. Constructivism was great, but often unrealistic. Behaviorism seemed Read More...

Barry Bonds, the American Dream and Education


19 May 07 11:24 PM | jtspencer | 1 Comments   
Like many Americans, I am not looking foward to Bonds breaking Hank Aaron's home run record. There is something else beyond the steroid use that bothers people about Barry Bonds. After all, Americans could overlook the steroid use in Mark McGuire as he Read More...

faithfulness rather than effectiveness


16 May 07 04:40 AM | jtspencer | 1 Comments   
The current buzzwords in the educational community are "effectiveness" and "data-driven," as if students are robots that can be programmed to crack codes. We quanitfy them and categorize them until they are androids who fill in bubbles on mindless tests. Read More...

my mixed feelings about the ghetto


22 April 07 07:39 AM | jtspencer | 2 Comments   
Over the last few weeks, we began drawing a mural that will span an entire building. Students stay after school, recieving no money, no extra credit; just the satisfaction of excercising their creativity. It's hard, at times, for me to step back and let Read More...

growing up with The Simpsons


30 March 07 02:14 PM | jtspencer | 1 Comments   
Growing up, the show was controversial. Parents hated it. Groups boycotted it. Kids reveled in it, because it was real. Unlike the plastic, pollyana Cosby show or the TGIF line-up, The Simpsons spoke to a generation of youth who loved the satire on childhood. Read More...

in response to a venti Starbucks cup


27 March 07 07:04 PM | jtspencer | 1 Comments   
On a cynical day, I pick up my Starbucks cup and carefully maneuver the inside cup so I can read the "the way I see it" on the back. It's a well-written piece by a Teacher of the Year who teaches kindergarten. I can't recall it verbatim, but it has to Read More...

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