Ben Guest’s Blog

GRE

nobody@vox.com(Ben Guest) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 16:28:50 -0700

Had a meeting today with various people from the School of Education to discus the creation of an Master of Arts in Teaching degree. I was included in the meeting because the coursework will parallel the coursework for MTC. There was discussion of whether to include the GRE as part of the application process for this new program (I think the GRE should be included as an admission requirement). Anyway, this got me thinking about MTC as, if the School of Ed requires the GRE for this new MAT program, MTC will probably have to require it for full acceptance into MTC. For any MTCers out there, would having to take the GRE have dissuaded you from applying?

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Links of the Week

nobody@vox.com(Ben Guest) — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 10:32:41 -0700

Here is a nice piece about a drive through the Delta, written by one of our first-year teachers, Anna Morrison:

The towns, with their quaint names and 50s style slogans, also feel stuck in the past. Hollandale, population 3,000, proclaims itself: "A small town with a BIG welcome!" Continuing my drive through the Delta, I happen upon similarly faded signs for Sledge, Bourbon and Alligator, Mississippi--all which don't quite qualify as "one stoplight towns" because there aren't 500 residents, let alone a stoplight. Hand-painted advertisements implore drivers to turn off; "We buy, sell crack, pecans" says one, clearly unaware of its amusing punctuation error.

The first line from an in-depth, well-written, film analysis piece:

Essentially perfect, Die Hard is much more than an exciting and visually stunning film.

Weaning teenagers off gossip...

Jackson City Council debates an ordnance banning the wearing of baggy and sagging pants.

Is homophobia associated with closeted homosexual arousal? Science says yes.

A day in the life (such as it is) of a Guantanamo detainee:

The end of a day is signaled at 10 p.m. by the arrival of the bedsheet.

But a Guantanamo detainee's day doesn't end with the usual prison ritual of "lights out."

Lights are kept on in the cells 24/7 for what military jailers said were security reasons.

Some prisoners grow their hair long and drape it across their eyes to aid sleeping, as Australian David Hicks, transferred home last year, told his lawyer in explaining his nearly waist-length tresses.

Writer discovers his sister, in a porn magazine:

The last time I bought a porn magazine was in the fall of 1996. My girlfriend, Amy, had gone down to New York to meet some friends from college. As soon as she was safely out of the parking lot of our apartment building, I got in my car and drove to an adult bookstore in Enfield, CT, a town and a state far enough away from where I lived that I could be sure I wouldn't run into anyone I knew. When I got home, I went straight into our bedroom and lay down on our bed. Then I looked at all the pictures from cover to cover before choosing one woman to focus on.

I was paging through the phone-sex ads when I saw a picture of my sister.

The last two articles were discovered on the website Brijit, which employs a team of readers to go through numerous magazines and newspapers and link to (as well as do a short write-up of) the best pieces.

You can see expanded links on my delicious page.

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MTC Week in Review

nobody@vox.com(Ben Guest) — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 11:21:09 -0700

Selection Committee met and reviewed the final round of applicants.

Started the planning process for summer school and summer training.

Worked on the grant proposal for MCVS.

Met with another documentary filmmaker about making a film of our 2008 MTC Summer School.

Sent out notices to applicants informing them of their status.

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Third Grant Update

nobody@vox.com(Ben Guest) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 17:18:01 -0700

The first stage is complete. Now we have to submit a budget proposal and executive summary. These will be submitted by Wednesday and we should have word within a week. The people at the Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Service in Jackson (who are helping us through the grant application process) seem quite optimistic. We'll see...

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Grant Update

nobody@vox.com(Ben Guest) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:52:39 -0700

Things are progressing on the grant front (but could, of course, still fall through). We are applying for a grant that would provide, among other things, a $5,000 tuition credit for our in-coming (sorry current MTCers) first-years to either a) repay student loans or b) use for future coursework (of course, all participants receive a full scholarship as part of MTC). If enough (say 10 or so) people wanted to use their credit for a specialist degree (mid-point between a masters and a doctorate) we could potentially add an optional third year to MTC. With a potential third year of MTC and the Principal Corps, which will start in summer of 2009, we are in a good position to retain more MTCers in Mississippi. This grant would also allow us to hire another full-time staff member for MTC. Should know more tomorrow...

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Grant

nobody@vox.com(Ben Guest) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:30:41 -0700

Looks like there is a chance MTC will get a $100,000 grant. I've been working with some people in Jackson on this and should have word by Friday...

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Results

nobody@vox.com(Ben Guest) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 13:49:26 -0700

Here are the results of the meeting Germain, Ann, and I had this morning to go over the upcoming summer training:

Suggestions:

1. Set aside time in the spring to:

a) get feedback, suggestions, thoughts from the current first-years.

b) give the first-years time to do initial planning for the summer. Check.

2. Assign first-years Delta Autumn in June (preferably during the first week of orientation). They should have an assignment tied to the reading, perhaps a blog post. Reading it in the fall is too late. Check.

3. Have an assignment (blog post/paper/something else) tied to The First Days of School. First Days is a great resource, but too many first-years never pick it up. Check.

4. Expand the crisis-management role-plays (these were cited most often as being the most helpful component of the summer training) to include more situations. Tie this workshop to a course (EDSE 501) rather than as an outside workshop. Look at doing some workshops with the entire group so people get a feel for standing in front on 30 "students." Check. There will also be a blog reflection assignment tied to this.

5. Incorporate the wiki completely. All lesson plans, worksheets, tests, etc. should be posted in an organized manner and agreed upon format. See the biology wiki lesson plans that Nelson, Wilcox et al. did last summer for a good example. Check. Pete will review the format and general organization of the LP wiki with the first-years during orientation (how's that for recognition?).

6. During summer school, allow the first-years to visit and observe other classrooms. Check, with some general parameters. There are also some logistical concerns about how to work this...

7. Continue, and perhaps expand, the veteran subject-area workshops (utilize the TEAM for this). In addition to tips and tricks, also have them review the subject-area frameworks, how to LP using these, etc. Check.

8. Session on how to manage the paper flow (ask Savage to do this in June). Check.

9. Have summer school include both 50 min and block periods (we did this last year in July). Check.

10. Push the start time of EDSE 500 back by 30 minutes. Check. Bus leaves Holly Springs at 1:00. Ann's class will start at 3:00.

We also had a long discussion about how to increase the rigor of the summer school and how to measure this/hold teachers accountable. It was decided that we need to talk to the first (soon to be second) years and ask for their input on this.

Finally, the summer school day will be shorter this year. The basic schedule (not final) is as follows:

8:00 to 9:40-1^st Period

9:45 to 10:35-2^nd Period

10:40 to 11:50-3^rd Period

(11:10 to 11:30-Middle School Lunch [HS students in class])

(11:30 to 11:50-High School Lunch [MS students in class])

11:55 to 12:45-Clubs/Tutoring/ACT Prep/Detention

12:45-Dismissal for Students

1:00-Bus leaves for Oxford

3:00 to 5:00-EDSE 500

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Suggestions

nobody@vox.com(Ben Guest) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 12:26:01 -0700

I will be meeting with Ann and Germain tomorrow to go over the summer training (as mentioned previously) and, specifically, to offer suggestions based on the feedback from the first-years. Here is my list:

Suggestions:

1. Set aside time in the spring to:

a) get feedback, suggestions, thoughts from the current first-years.

b) give the first-years time to do initial planning for the summer (next MC/HS planning meeting is April 1^st. We will finalize subjects and classes at this point.)

3. Have an assignment (blog post/paper/something else) tied to The First Days of School. First Days is a great resource, but too many first-years never pick it up.

6. During summer school, allow the first-years to visit and observe other classrooms.

8. Session on how to manage the paper flow (ask Savage to do this in June).

9. Have summer school include both 50 min and block periods (we did this last year in July).

10. Push the start time of EDSE 500 back by 30 minutes.

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Teacher Shortage

nobody@vox.com(Ben Guest) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 07:56:40 -0700

The Clarion-Ledger has an article in today's paper about the teacher shortage in Mississippi. Here is a quote:

"In 2006, Mississippi graduated 1,387 education majors. Of those, 937 worked in the state's public schools the following year.

But with about 5,500 teachers eligible to retire, those 937 can't even begin to address the state's need.

Moreover, McNair says the state estimates that 50 percent of new teachers will leave the profession within five years. Another 3,000 teachers have between 20 and 24 years of experience, meaning they, too, will soon be eligible to retire.

The problem gets worse in rural parts of the state and in harder-to-fill subject areas such as math, science, foreign languages and special education.

Of the 2006 education majors, there were 54 in special education, 42 in math, 20 in biology, eight in chemistry, two in physics and about 14 foreign language education majors. Although the state offers loan forgiveness and other incentives, it's still coming up short. Last year, fewer than 1,000 people became teachers through alternate routes."

For the past several months the CL has allowed online comments, which I find as interesting as the articles. Here's a gem from the above article:

"After having taught for 30 years in Jackson Public and Hinds County Schools the problems I see are number 1 - the family life of children is not much because parents are both working and the kids fend for themselves, and their is not much family relationships. The parents are not showing responsbility for their child's education. The teachers are responsible for teaching home values and everything that child learns plus the academics. Children need love from the teacher as well as the parent. Teachers are afraid of being sued by parents. I applaud all teachers for what they do each day in the classroom."

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Links of the Week

nobody@vox.com(Ben Guest) — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 13:35:03 -0700

How can the achievement gap be closed?

Dave Eggers TED Prize wish.

Are we headed for another Great Depression?

What is the true high school graduation rate?

The modern day slave trade.

Greatest Daily Show clip ever.

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