I spent today marching along the brick paths of Towson University, a backpack slung over my shoulder and a college freshmen look of confusion on my face. How I loved it. College campuses have this energy to them that I miss in my everyday life; it's so cool to be part of whole little community all focused on education. I once thought about going into Student Affairs as a career field. I'm (really) happy I chose the route I did, but being on a campus again reminds me of why I worked for the Department of Residence Life at Michigan State for five years (as an RA, Academic and Social Activities Coordinator, Camp Assistant, Assistant Camp Director, and Assistant Hall Director) and why I once thought about doing that sort of thing for a career.
Towson is beautiful, with a lot of brick and greenery, reminding me a lot of my alma mater. The winding red pathways confused me a bit, but in a good way, and I enjoyed the weather and the walking. I wandered for a bit on the way to class, but eventually found it by asking a cute blonde where Hawkins Hall was. I discovered the library by pretending not to follow some classmates going that way. All in all, the experience of being on a campus really rekindled fond memories of being in college. It makes me excited for Bobby, since he's about to start at the University of Maryland.
I'm taking a two-and-a-half week graduate course that is three hours a day and intense, culminating in a 25-30 page paper at the end about an issue of my choice at my school. Today was my first day of class, and I just know I'm going to love it. My professor is a 30-year veteran of Baltimore County Public Schools, and has this warm mom aura about her that belies the serious work I'm sure she'll be assigning. I'm very excited.
Two others in my class are also in my Educational Research class I've been taking for a few weeks already. That one is boring, but I'm trying to make the best of it. Luckily, we're in front of computer screens, so today I got some really great deals on used books on Amazon while the professor talked. This sounds bad, but I was totally listening to everything she was saying - and she was talking about citing something, which is something I understand fully. She's a nice woman, also a motherly type, but she herself admitted that the class is as dry as whistling with crackers in your mouth on a hot summer's day. It's about what I expected. I'm trying to choose a research paper topic that will be relevant to my teaching. I can't decide between vocabulary development, grammar instruction in high school, or something to do with reading comprehension. Hmmm. ERIC is becoming a friend of mine.
And, honestly, I certainly am learning a lot about how to research topics in education. Today, I completed a research evaluation on a study that shown absolutely no correlation between school uniforms and academic achievement, attendance, substance use, or behavior. I wished I would have known about that study this past year, when our school was considering the implementation of school uniforms (something I'm certain will be coming soon, regardless, since it's something that provides a facade...).
Otherwise, not much is new. I'm enjoying the summer immensely. My head is swimming with ideas about the upcoming school year, about how I want to structure my classroom and my schedule, about what I want to emphasize. It's so cool to be able to recharge my batteries every year like this. I've ordered a shitload of academic books from Amazon in the last couple of weeks - Jim Burke and Carol Jago are becoming my friends, along with ERIC - and hope to read a bunch of them this summer, so I can get more ideas of how I want to make my classroom a better place where more learning occurs. If you've got anything you think I should read, tell me about it and I'll put it on my classroom wishlist, which, by the way, feel free to peruse and purchase things for me from if you're feeling like continuing to recharge my batteries. I promise I'll read it and use whatever it is! :)
(Thanks, Carl, for the book of Orwell essays. That was really nice of you!)
Draft Notes: Astros, Renfroe, Appel
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The Astros will hold one of four regional draft workouts on Sunday, MLB.com's Brian McTaggart reports. Sunday's workout will be near Los Angeles. Others will...
1 hour ago
6 comments:
Are you against school uniforms? I think, at least from the standpoint of improving the image of a school or the perception the public has of the school, it is a very good thing. There is a school district a couple of towns away from where I live that is not entirely dissimilar to the BCPS, instituting a dress code next year to essentially neaten the appearance of their students. When a high school does everything in its power to improve the quality of education it is providing and to be taken seriously as an academic institution a student body that is dressed inappropriately seems to detract from the efforts of the administration. Granted what I'm talking about is more of a public relations campaign and might not necessarily improve what is going on inside the school. As you said there is seemingly no correlation between how students are dressed and the level of education the exists, I don't think it is educationally unsound to try to improve the image of a school. Just wondering what you think.
I definitely lean against them. Our school is thinking about implementing them, but the arguments that are made - "Too many students with slutty clothing! Too many guys with long white tees!" - are just violations of the dress code, which is not enforced. There are a lot of issues at my school, and it's frustrating to hear uniforms as any sort of proposed solution at all. Dressing inappropriately is solved by simply strictly enforcing the dress code, not by having everyone look the same.
I also get all these bad feelings about uniforms. For example, when it's done in public schools, it's almost always done to city schools and city kids, whose parents don't have the capital or involvement to fight it. You'd rarely catch it happening in a rich suburb, for example. So then it becomes a class and a race issue, and maybe I'm a little sensitive about that because I'm protective of my kids, but I don't think they should be forced to buy expensive clothes to wear to look like everyone else. I think they should be forced to follow teh dress code, and that penalties should be immediate and swift for any violators (the old principal used to keep a set of big clunky t-shirts to give kids to cover up if they had on something inappropriate, plus they got a referral).
Lastly, I've got to say that I used to think I had a pretty open mind about this. I had to wear a uniform when I was younger. However, I've yet to hear a good argument. I mean, I always hear stuff like the kids are wearing inappropriate things (yeah, so make them follow the dress code), or that it will improve behavior (which research does not suggest). I've never really heard a good argument. Public relations, maybe, if it somehow gets community involved, if it somehow gets alumni involved, if it somehow puts a spotlight on the school in a good way. But that's a big if, and involves much more planning than simple implementation of a mandatory uniform.
But you know what else might help public relations? Keeping the school grounds really clean and well-mowed. Posters on the wall proclaiming what successful alumni are doing now. A new paint job. All these things could accomplish that...
Hmmm... a lot of writing, and I'm still not sure about any of it. Thanks for your comment!
"I'm taking a two-and-a-half week graduate course that is three hours a day and intense, culminating in a 25-30 page paper at the end about an issue of my choice at my school."
That's amazing. I think I would have enjoyed writing papers in college more if the professor allowed a little ingenuity, creativity, and an opportunity to link what we were writing to an issue in our daily life. To have a grad class that does all of the above is even better. I'm glad you're enjoying school!
You captured the feeling of returning to school wonderfully! I just started teacher certification classes at the College of Notre Dame and feel exactly the same way. I'm taking a Tu/Th night class for June and another one in July. The professor is a veteran HS English teacher and chair of the Eng. dept. at her HS, so all of her advice is very practical and useful. Good luck with your classes!
The problem with enforcing a strict dress code is that you are inevitably going to have children that violate it, either because they forget or out of an unwillingness to comply. So in order to effectively enforce the code the administration has two choices, either send the student home to change or suspend them in some form. Neither of those choices are particularly educationally sound because children are losing instruction time which is counterintuitive in an school that is trying to promote higher standards of education. Just a thought. I seems as thought there is really no good solution!
Andrea:
I thought the idea that my former principal had - having a stash of big t-shirts for kids to wear over their violations - worked pretty well. And, to me, the same sort of enforcement would have to be present with a uniform.
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