This "American Life"...Is This Working?
this is a link! =)
Memorable quotes
"Deny them learning time...ridiculous." -from "Is This Working?"
"They are learning they are bad." -from "Is This Working?"
"Fulling convinced the teacher was the enemy." -Tunette Powell
"I went into kindergarten know I was bad. I went into first grade knowing I was terrible." -Tunette Powell
"I saw kids laugh and have fun in school."
The assistant principal at Lyons (41:45) "The feeling is more of a loving parent teasing a grown child about what an awful teenager he was."
Relationship again. This is so Stacy York!
As I was listening to this, I thought, what if the schools (the people who work in them) took time to get to know all the families of their kids?
What if they could Relationship...relationship is everything.
The point of school…and a note on relationships…
What are we preparing kids for? Such a fantastic question!! I ask it all the time. Nelson got into a very unfortunate altercation with a plainclothes policeman which made several teachers question what they're doing. I understand that! We ask ourselves constantly.
There can’t be an easy answer. It’s a fundamental issue. What is the point
of school? What are we preparing kids for?
Can it be to pass on experience of generations? That’s the point made by
Gregory in The Seven Laws of Teaching.
Now if it is, indeed to pass on the experience of generations before, then education
will vary to some extent as it fulfills that. I have not reached a completely
satisfactory conclusion. This would be a That part is unresolved, but this audio further resolves my belief in the need for knowing your kids, knowing your families and building good relationships with them. These kids are being turned around and given opportunity because of solid relationships they’re developing with teachers who truly care and obviously love their jobs. How cool is that?!
Points to remember...
·
Build relationships
·
Think about long-term consequences
·
Why is Kyle Thompson Under House Arrest?
I think the title is slightly misleading, house arrest means you can't leave the house. I think he was banded from activities...but that's a side note =).
That said, this raises an interesting question, does the punishment fit the crime? A little scuffle with a teacher, a scuffle that was allegedly more play than anything, shouldn't result in being banned from school and activities. It is hard to yet deal with this story as I'm not sure what he was in trouble for. The video seemed to insinuate it was for the play, but doesn't directly state so. It would seem atrociously unfair to ban a kid from school for a play tug-of-war.
Takeaways…
·
Be
vigilantly fair
·
Guard
against misunderstanding
·
Be
aware that kids don’t take their actions as seriously as we do at times.
Prison Education…
Several
interesting points here…
The proposed correlation between No Child Left Behind and expelling students is an intriguing thought…sad though.
This topic comes up at our
school lunch table. It’s a small school, and high school down to elementary
teachers generally eat together. There are a couple of arguments. One is that
students needing a severe punishment shouldn’t go home since that’s probably what they want anyway (and also brought up in the radio program). Our
principal actually has the students eat alone in the front office with him.
That actually works rather well.
Back
to the correlation…it would be a
huge temptation for schools to do just that… ‘weed out’ the ones causing averages
to plummet. It’s not right, but it’d be a huge temptation especially if the
students were consistently resisting all attempts of help. Once again, not
right, but a huge temptation.
The
next point is painfully clear. Students whose education has been disrupted by prison easily fall behind because they can’t catch up
let alone keep their mind on their work. This is speculation on my part, but I
imagine prison is traumatic and traumatic experiences tend to disrupt thoughts
we’ve learned. That is tough! These kids have a lot going against them. Most of
them have done a lot against others, too, I must remember, before I get
single-sided vision here.
Obviously
prison wasn’t meant to be a comfortable experience, but it shouldn’t be
destructive to good things. Education is good. I’d like to further explore what
has been effective within the prison system. Going back to resilience and the
video Stacy York showed…students with a positive adult in their lives are able
to bounce back. Could that be a solution? Mentors? Long-term ones?
“This
all-too-common way of looking at the issue prevents stakeholders from
approaching the education of young people in juvenile facilities with the financial, organizational, and personal
investment necessary to make it a meaningful experience” (Knefel 2015)
(bold added). Getting people to make a personal investment…to keep kids from
getting lost in the system…is a the key in my estimation. Money obviously holds
power. But I dare to say the biggest deal is the personal investment.
“What is desperately needed is a more positive approach that meets the basic needs of youth,
especially those living in high-risk
neighborhoods, for nurturing and supportive
adults…” comes from an article issued from the U.S. Department of Justice
from 1997.
The Scotland
Miracle
This story underscores the beauty of redirecting thinking
from dark, destructive mindsets to healthier, happier and more constructive ones.
The fact that the police are part of groups which help offenders and a personal
level supports what we’ve been learning. I go back again to Stacy York.
Relationship. These offenders, predominately male, are building relationships
with ‘the enemy’ or those they used to perceive as such. Awesome!
That said, this quotes leaves me wondering about the philosophy
here. The offenders are quoted speaking about how they felt but there were no
quotes showing they were as aware of how their actions affected those
policemen. It didn’t sound very humble to me…of course, I really have no idea
what else was said by this man…it just sounds kind of unfair in a small way to
me.
Great resources...like an online newspaper...full of accounts, news, photos, etc pertaining to the juvenile justice system...go figure =)
Excellent source to constantly access...
Sources
Glasgow smiles: How the city halved
its murders by 'caring people into change' (n.d.). Retrieved July 1, 2015, from
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/apr/06/glasgow-murder-rate-knife-gang-crime-police
Grossman, J., & Garry, E. (1997,
April 1). Mentoring-A Proven Delinquent Prevention Strategy. Juvenile
Justice Bulletin.
Juvenile Justice Information Exchange - Juvenile Justice News for People Who Care About Children and the Law. (2015, June 29). Retrieved July 1, 2015, from http://jjie.org/
Knefel, M. (n.d.). States Are
Required to Educate Students Behind Bars. Here's What Really Happens. Retrieved
July 1, 2015, from http://www.thenation.com/article/205129/states-are-required-educate-students-behind-bars-heres-what-really-happens#
Scholl, D. (2013, September 24). Why
Is Kyle Thompson Under House-Arrest? Retrieved June 30, 2015, from https://www.aclu.org/blog/why-kyle-thompson-under-house-arrest?redirect=blog/racial-justice/why-kyle-thompson-under-house-arrest
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