It’s a kind of glamorous position from the viewpoint of those of us who just see it all on TV – fancy balls and photo shoots (I don’t think he can shake hands with anyone without an obligatory pause for the camera), interviews and news briefs, meeting all the most important people in the entire world and getting a private jet to go anywhere in the world.

The unfortunate thing about being President is that the people of the Nation in which you lead have this little thing called hope and trust and we like to place it in the person in charge. Students hope and trust in their teacher to make learning fun and interesting and keep them safe and relatively sane during the process. Kids hope that parents will make them happy and trust that they will keep them safe.

We place our hope and trust in police officers and emergency personnel to keep us safe and respond quickly in the event of a crisis.

And we place our hope and trust in our President – we want him to make life better, to keep us safe, to provide support and make things happen that need to happen. We also want him to create an environment in which we can all have jobs. (Yes, I too want world peace…)

The president has hundreds of people working for him – people to write his speeches (you didn’t think he thought any of that up himself, did you?), people to pick out his clothes (makes you wonder if he has help getting dressed…), people to tell him where to go and when to be there, people to tell him how every area of his realm is functioning. Like the job market.

So when I hear that the President told a lady whose husband doesn’t have a job that “It is interesting to me … I’d be interested in finding out exactly what’s happening right there because the word that we’re getting is that somebody in that type of high-tech field, that kind of engineer, should be able to find something right away.” it kind of makes me wonder if our hope and trust is a bit misplaced… By the way he also wants the woman to send him her husband’s resume. Come on, where in the job description of presidency is the phrase “collect resume’s from unemployed persons and find them jobs”?

But of course, what he’s being told is that there’s no reason for people in an engineering field to be out of work – so all you unemployed engineers, you’re in luck! Oh, and if you were considering your college major, I’d consider the source – will you go for engineering because the President said you should be able to find a job fast? Or will you go with something else because the President said you should be able to find an engineering job fast?

Something to think about…oh and if you don’t have a job? Send your resume to the President! (who knows, if he spends all his time finding people jobs, maybe the economy would improve…)

Related posts:

1. President Obama Wins 2009 Nobel Peace Prize
2. The Obama Effect
3. President Obama’s Take on Education

In comes the Obama administration, and in the zeal to demonstrate just how terrible the Bush administration was, we now have a new educational reform hitting the schools: Race to the Top.

The idea behind Race to the Top is that American education should be the best in the world – thus we begin the race to the top of the world in educational standards. (Kind of reminds me of kids playing King of the Hill) Along with this lofty ideal of being the best, we have sweeping changes including standardized core objectives for all states to adopt (if they want to, of course), new testing, new evaluations for teachers and much more.

There are a lot of questions that I have, and my biggest concern is that the entire education system doesn’t trip on the race to the top. If teachers evaluations are to be linked to student test scores, how do you differentiate between schools in affluent areas where the parents are involved and the students simply WILL achieve more? If teachers in that area are up against teachers in low income areas with absentee parents or parents who simply don’t care, then I know where I would want to teach.

If instead, teachers are evaluated based on individual growth of students over a single year in school, that would be better, the problem still remains those things which are out of the teacher’s control, like attendance. Missing school has a statistical impact on student scores according to the National Center for Educational Statistics, but is not something that teachers can have any control over, so how can we penalize teachers for that?

I suppose only time will tell, but it seems to me like more of the same, or if it is arguably different, then different for the wrong reasons… Because I know we all want to improve the educational system in America just so that we can be better than the Japanese and Swedish, right? I know everything I strive to do better at is for the purpose of being better than the person next to me…

Related posts:

1. The Obama Effect
2. Maryland is $50 Million Richer…
3. 2011 Proposed Budget for Teachers

In Providence, Rhode Island, Central Falls district has made the striking decision to fire every teacher on staff at Central Falls High School. In all, 93 were fired, including teachers, principal, guidance counselors, reading specialists, 3 vice principals, school psychologist, and physical education teachers.

This was one option available to the school officials who were required to take drastic measures to turn around what was labeled as a chronically low-preforming school. The preferred method of extreme reform failed as the union and school officials were unable to come to an agreement. The school officials were asking teachers to take on additional tasks for no or little pay. Now, instead, all the teachers will be fired.

The school is allowed to hire back no more than 50% of those teachers fired, so all is not lost for every employee let go. Teachers from across the state, parents and students all gathered in support of the fired teachers, but Secretary Duncan said, “when schools continue to struggle we have a collective obligation to take action.”

Related posts:

1. The Problem with the Public School System
2. Student Assessment
3. Making the Most of In-Service Days

Of worthy note:

• An increase of 4.5 billion dollars of discretionary funds.
• An increase of 1.35 billion dollars towards Race to the Top incentives
• 500 million for the investing in innovation program, a competitive awards program.
• 900 million for the school turnaround grants designed to help administrators turn around the 5,000 lowest preforming schools over 5 years
• 950 million for teacher and leader innovation program, creating incentives for effective teachers
• 405 million for teacher and leader pathways, promoting alternate certification routes
• 1 billion for effective teaching and learning for a complete education, a new program to support college and career readiness.
• 490 million for expanding educational options, which consolidates 5 programs into one, focused on charter schools and public school choice.
• 450 million for Assessing Achievement authority, which will help improve assessments for ESL students and students with disabilities, among other assessment developments.
• 210 million for the Promise Neighborhoods initiative, a competitive award for neighborhood programs working against poverty.
• 410 million to consolidate 6 authorities into one Successful, Safe, and Healthy Student authority. This program will provide communities the ability to focus on improving school climate and safety for students.
• 7.5 billion over 10 year to expand the income-based repayment options in post-secondary student loan programs.

Note among the proposals the amount of funds that are provided as rewards, awards and grants. This is a huge shift towards incentive based pay, a concept that many in administrative positions think is the solution for raising student test scores.

The fact, though, is that restructuring the way teachers are paid will not have a significant impact on the student test scores. Changes need to be made in the resources available to teachers as well – curriculum options, how time is spent during the school day, and similar changes.

What do you think will make a difference? Will these proposed budget changes bring about the needed turn-about in public education?

Related posts:

1. Maryland is $50 Million Richer…
2. How to Become a Teacher
3. We Need Competition!

Find lesson ideas for teaching students about the Nobel Peace Prize.

Related posts:

1. President Obama’s Take on Education
2. Extension Ideas for Lesson on Obama’s Speech
3. The Obama Effect

Extension Activities for Obama’s Speech

Have students write an essay about one specific goal that they have for the school year. They should include details as to why they have this particular goal and exactly how they plan on meeting this goal.

Students can work together as a class to create a list of “class goals” much like teachers allow students to create “class rules“. Have students share lots of ideas for goals and then condense them into 3-4 really important goals. Once these are decided on, write them on a large piece of paper and have all the students sign the paper, promising to try their best to meet these goals.

Students can create a piece of artwork (coloring, painting, tissue paper art, etc.) that shows the outcome of meeting goals for the school year. Knowing what they are shooting for in the end will help to motivate them to work hard towards that goal.

For lesson plan ideas on preparing students for the speech as well as information on how to listen to the speech, visit Lesson Plan for Obama’s Speech to Students.

Read more extension ideas that will help teachers use President Obama’s speech to bring more appropriate student behavior to the classroom.

Related posts:

1. President Obama’s Take on Education
2. How to Write Lesson Plan Objectives
3. Writing Good Lesson Objectives

Traditionally, African Americans perform lower than their Caucasian counterparts on the same test, but after President Obama became president, this achievement gap effectively disappeared. Researchers believe that expectation based on race has a huge impact on the achievement of individuals. This study shows the power of a role model in impacting the expectations and achievement of a group of people.

Time will tell whether the Obama effect will have a long term impact, and more studies are needed to verify the findings, but the implications are vast. In essence, African American students perform better simply by having an African American role model demonstrating the importance of a good education.

Teachers, especially those who teach low achieving students such as special education students and minorities, need to learn how to extend the Obama effect to each of their students. They need to teach their students that they can achieve, and help them believe it through positive role models and effective teaching strategies.

This study demonstrating the Obama effect is only the beginning of the necessary changes in the educational system.

Related posts:

1. President Obama Wins 2009 Nobel Peace Prize
2. President Obama’s Take on Education
3. Extension Ideas for Lesson on Obama’s Speech

The interesting thing about his speech is that he is very focused on having America become the superpower that he knows it can be, and that only through our children’s education can we get there. This leads me to wonder what our expectations for our students are based on?

Do we want to see our children surpass other children around the world, leading them to be the best and brightest? As a special education teacher, my goals are far from this. Instead, I look to give my students the best education possible to enable them to succeed in today’s society. As a tutor, I seek to have students learn to love learning. This for the sake of learning and self-betterment, though, not for world domination.

Read more about President Obama’s speech.

Related posts:

1. Extension Ideas for Lesson on Obama’s Speech
2. President Obama Wins 2009 Nobel Peace Prize
3. The Obama Effect