What Gets Lost ...

If it were up to the teacher and her student, maybe education would have a fighting chance. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Involve the state, the government, and its legislation, which of course, do not have a pedagogical background regarding education, and you have a quagmire that gives competition to the most insidious quicksand. Let's take a few examples, shall we? Don't worry, take my hand - I will lead you deftly through the soft, sinking parts ...
So, we really need to discuss the No Child Left Behind initiative, because even though the road by which it came to light was paved with good intentions, we know where that road can sometimes lead. Part of the way that No Child Left Behind (herein referred to as "NCLB"), tries to improve the quality of education is by stating that all teachers must be highly qualified. "Highly qualified," as reiterated and defined by ed.gov, is a teacher that is fully certified, has attained her bachelor's degree, and has a sufficient knowledge in the particular subject area in which she teaches. These requirements are a fantastic start. Really. Especially on paper. However, to play the devil's advocate, who looks awfully school marmish, with a ruler in hand, and an apple on the desk, let's just bandy about the idea that being highly qualified goes beyond what the definition hints at, when discussing what makes a quality education. You may have heard it before, but if the teacher is uncomfortable with managing and disciplining the class, the highly qualified teacher, and her education, go out the classroom window. Oh, yes, I said it - the "D" word. The word that is the most significant, but simultaneously, the most obscured because it's constantly decorated as the elephant that's sitting in the living room, while everyone takes her afternoon tea, not with scones, but with blinders. Blinders, you ask? Yes! Blinders! Over her eyes, Sillies!
And, ostensibly, I do seem to be poking fun, but like any good satire, the satire is meant to stir a social awakening. If a teacher is not comfortable disciplining, is afraid to discipline, or is more concerned with not having the battles that go with asserting authority, then what good is the highly qualified person who isn't highly comfortable establishing herself as not only the facilitator of knowledge, but the facilitator of structure and boundaries, the two things that go hand in hand with education in the public sector? What needs to happen to not only facilitate teachers becoming more skilled in their craft, but to also facilitate the legislation in helping the teachers more effectively is to have an actual, highly-qualified, "doesn't mind getting her hands muddied with discipline, and other issues that affect the education of students daily" talking to the "higher-ups" in legislation. Come-what-may, having teachers being directly involved in the legislation of education, would, hold on to your hats, folks, improve the legislation of education! How about those apples ("those" being correct, as "them" is an object pronoun, and not a demonstrative adjective)?
And even though the teachers are the first, last, and major defense when speaking of education, the school districts do try their hardest to meet the educational goals put into place with legislation like NCLB, and any variants that are born from it. For example, in order to get English language learners meeting the demands of legislation, it is required that schools implement a program in which students labeled as English language learners (ELL), are put into an intensive English block of four hours. Oh, and, by the way, those hours are run consecutively. You will not find any lover of English whose ardor runs more passionately than mine, but honestly, four hours is a long time for anything. Especially, given that four hours of anything can squelch a love, passion, or quite realistically, any spark of interest in a given subject. We want kids to be English language lovers, and not English language detesters. And to top this all off, there was a meeting in which school districts were able to come up with their own version of the legislation's requirements. Out of a multitude of districts that presented their plans (anywhere from ten to eighteen), only one plan was accepted. And the reason was that the board changed some of the rules, midstream, without telling it, and all of the remaining districts' hard work and effort was for naught. So, to come full circle, what does get lost?
Our students. Our children. Our teachers who get frustrated, constantly. Our education of the students. And until legislation enables requirements that teachers have direct input in, it would be better if it were left to the teacher and her students.

A New Me Helping the New You

I stand on the precipice of a new self, and the view is just dandy. Welcome, everyone! What is the welcome for, you ask? Why, it is the welcoming of a creation of a blog without the title of "public school teacher" attached to its author! On May 28 of 2008, my nine year identity of a high school English teacher ended, so that I may pull up stakes, and plant new ones in the fruit-bearing grounds of education. However, instead of sowing the seeds as a teacher in a public system, I'm now sowing the seeds in the private sector, as a new owner to my one year old business, Excellence in Academics Tutoring, LLC. Watch for the name, as you will see it on a marquis in the near future.

And it is amazing to see how quickly the transformation from teacher to entreprenuer has taken place. After the initial "work so hard that you don't even realize school is over until two days past" coma had subsided, I got down to business - quite literally. I called my website company that's designing my new webpage, and sent them my new logo (I don't think I've ever loved the possessive pronoun "my" until becoming a business owner), and finished writing the text that will be going on the pages of my site (did I mention that I love "my")? I also, on the wise advice of my superior business coach, joined a networking organization, from which I've already gained a new client, whose kids with whom are wonderful to work! In addition to that, there are blogs to write, articles to transfer, and the creation of material for my tutees to be done. And, as I expected, instead of it being fatiguing, it has been nothing short of exhilarating!

In a previous post, I brought up the idea of a person trying to juggle her passion with her life's work, and in a point that's been long culminating, I've created a business that absolutely meshes the two! There is nothing more intoxicating for me than knowledge, and now, I've opened up a business that's centered around it. I've made it my business to have knowledge about English and reading, and now, in the greatest joy, I get to share and teach that knowledge to kids in the privacy of their home, or the nearest library. It is absolutely cutting out the middle-man, and brings back the discussion and absorbtion of knowledge to a personalized level. The relationship between tutor and tutee cuts out the classroom dynamic, which is always entertaining, but not always the most effective when the process of learning is happening.

So, as the newer version of the older me develops as a business owner, the newer older version of you as student will develop into a student who excels in academics - thus the new entity, Excellence in Academics Tutoring, LLC.