Stop Humiliating Teachers
YES. YES. YES. I could go on and on about how much I love this article, but it would be way more than you want to read.
…the [standardized] tests measure demographics (the class and wealth level of the students) more than teachers’ abilities.
What if we assumed that the brown child on the playground, the green-haired teenager in the ice cream shop, the tired-looking couple in the diner were all brilliant, extraordinary human beings?
Motherhood is no threat to creativity, author Zadie Smith says
Something I needed to hear while being in the trenches of toddlerhood
“The idea that motherhood is inherently somehow a threat to creativity is just absurd.”
There’s No Such Thing as Other People’s Children
So often you don’t see exactly how money you are donating is being used, so I think this kind of transparency is awesome.
Compassion is not pity. Pity is your pain in my heart. It just sits there. It heals nothing. But Compassion. Compassion is your pain in my heart and back out through my hands.
How Going on Vacation Might be Better than Going on a Mission
A different way to look at the idea of vacation.
I’ve come to believe my money is better spent in the hotels, restaurants, shops, gas stations, parks, monuments and attractions that provide legitimate jobs and dignified work to the very same locals I would otherwise be “blessing” on a short term mission trip.
Having It All Kinda Sucks
Maybe a bit of an extreme example, but another article I found myself exclaiming YES to.
Doing all of it at the same time was never the idea. By that definition, single working moms have been “having it all” for ages and yet society does not hold the single working mom up as the goal for women everywhere. No, no, that’s just what happens when you’re poor and have no choice. Except actually, that’s what happens to all but the very very rich when you encourage women to work and have children but don’t change any other part of the world they live in.
I LOVED that first article you posted. As a (private school) teacher who’s married to a (charter school) teacher, I think about this a lot. Even the way standardized tests are administered penalizes lower-income students – a lot are done on computers now, and many students aren’t that familiar with computers, especially if they don’t have them at home. So teachers either have to take even more time out to teach them basic computer skills, or accept that scores will be lower because students are confused. It’s so frustrating that teachers are blamed for everything that’s wrong in our society just because they’re the last-ditch attempt to turn around kids who are struggling.
Yep! From personal family experience I know teachers have a unique perspective on the struggles students have, and their thoughts and opinions on education are all too often overlooked.
I’ll leave it at that…you don’t want to get me started on this subject ;)