Because A Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Waste...

When you get a chance please read this article from The Washington Post, because this man has the job I want, the job that I'm working towards at this very moment.

Yes, yes, y'all, that's right. I'm going back to school so that I can get my MA in English Education, as well as my New York State certification. Given my work experience, I wanted to focus on writing and rhetoric. And while you can concentrate on a specific sub-area, it's my understanding that you can only do so after years of teaching standard English (writing and lit). The course I'm taking right now is fascinating and it's opening my eyes to the challenges that teachers, especially those teaching in urban schools, face.

That's also where I want to focus my efforts, in inner-city and urban schools. Have you read and/or heard some of these No Child Left Behind stories? How there are some schools that actually underreport (or sometimes completely fail to report) the test scores of their minority students because the actual results might show that the schools and teachers aren't making any progress towards meeting NCLB mandates, and there's a (legitimate) fear that they will be held accountable. And because of NCLB, teachers may feel pressured to test prep all year long instead of actually TEACHING -- helping their kids make lasting connections to the concepts they learn, connections that will stick around long after testing day.

The whitewash, it seems, is nothing new. This week I read a biographical account of a now 30-year old man who was once a student in NYC public schools, and you know what -- he couldn't read a lick! His teachers passed him each and every year -- he even attended one of the most competitive high schools in the city -- and by the end of it all he could read is "and" and "but"! His grades were no indication -- As and Bs. He didn't graduate (dropped out in 11th grade) and he's learning to read now, trying to make his business big out of his apartment in one of the LES projects. But I could feel his frustration in his story...It begs the question -- how many other kids got passed along for show, in the end had very little to show for it?

As well-intentioned as NCLB was, it puts the focus and emphasis on testing and pays less attention to the quality of the teaching. It's not to say that tests aren't important, but shouldn't we be concerned when kids feel like the purpose of reading is to answer the questions at the end of the story? Don't we want them to read between the lines and come to conclusions that will stir their own curiosities, their own questions, and those questions in turn will lend themselves to those at the end of the story?

If life is one big test, education is a key part in preparing in prepping our kids for what life holds, the challenges it will bring. It's key to unlocking the potential of young minds, in passing down the keys to the kingdom. I'm saddened to think about all those minds going to waste, to only being considered as a number to meet a mandate. Quantity versus quality, indeed.

Jumping On The Bandwagon

Yes, I'm showing up late to the party. Again.

This blogging revolution is what, like, two or three years old, right? There were even some people out there that were hip to it eons ago -- I've seen some of those sites. But now everyone can get in on the game, which is pretty sweet considering that the idea of HTML scripting makes me want to put my head through the wall. I got a (respectable) C in that class in college, but that website project was a killer.

So why me and why now? A couple of reasons. First, opinions are like assholes and everybody's got one -- myself included. There are millions of moments in a given day where I would love to call up my boyfriend or one of my friends and talk their ears off about my frustrations at work, about the latest boneheaded move by this bonehead politician. About how I'm still undecided about making the investment in the Xbox 360 ( I will blog about that in the future) or waiting until PS3. Or how I love Justin Timberlake to death but "Sexy Back" just ain't doin' it for me.

Nope, nothin' doing.

Point is, I can't just call everyone up like that anymore. And even if I could, would they care? I've got a boatload of friends who think I'm super silly for still being into cartoons and video games at my age. Out there in the blogger-verse, however, there may be someone else who is feeling me about the Xbox dilemma.

Secondly, blogging is great practice for me as a writer. My job is very industry-centric and sadly my interests DO NOT lie there. Our lives and experiences are so varied that it's quite frustrating to find yourself pigeonholed into a box with walls that someone else defined.

So...Um...Yeah.

I'm unsure as to whether I've fully answered the "why me, why now" question. But I'm starting to get hungry, and that box of Cookie Crisp is calling my name...