Educational issues are close to my heart. I've been an educator for awhile in so many roles. Now, though, I see a profession under attack. I'm not sure whether the reformers hearts are in the right place. They may be. They wish to reinvent a broken system. If it's not all the way broken, it sure is broken for the least and the lost and the greatest: those students in rural districts and urban districts; those students who are gifted and those students who are "special education"; those students seduced and transfixed by an omnipresent technological society; those students who have just given up on the system and do the absolute minimum to get by.
First and foremost, this blog is for those families that don't know what to do. While I hope to engage with the education intellectuals and decision makers, I always strive to write in a readable fashion, no matter if I occasionally drop in the "cheese and chalk" of the occasional homespun phrase or one of that plethora of arduous vocabulary some parents hope their SAT students and GRE students imbibe. I hope to see the rare curious student of any age who wants to try to know a bit more as well.
Second, this blog is for those on the ground. Those on the ground are the school leaders with integrity, the teachers that work their hardest until the students they love get it, and those support personnel and good old fashioned working class invisible folks who clean up the classroom or manage the office or patrol the halls and want to know what's going on in those classrooms. And sometimes those on the ground are just the innocent bystanders watching the show who vote and care about the issues I discuss.
Third, this blog is for the decision makers. We, the believers in education, want to be heard. We do not want to be dictated to. If your reforms support our values, we will be your greatest cheerleaders and your vanguard of support. But if you oppose our values, expect powerful and determined resistance with mind, body, heart and spirit.
Lastly, I'm a selfish dude. This blog is my woodshed. Here's where I am going to hash out some ideas that I hope will lead to students who succeed, colleagues who care, and a position of responsibility to articulate my viewpoints and beliefs. I hope and pray that this woodshed leads somebody who is one of those decision makers to support my efforts. I hope and pray that this woodshed makes me the best educator and man I can be to rally support to the causes that I care about.
Thank you for stopping by dear reader. I hope that we all grow and laugh along the way.
Edit 4/25: 11:30AM: Don't be fooled by the new picture. That's not me! But take a guess on twitter, comments, or email and I'll reveal who it actually is.
This is J The Blogfather, and my sig links to the twitter account I've just created to highlight some of the issues related to my posts and occasionally digress.
ReplyDeleteComments are strongly encouraged around here. That's why I've enabled anonymous comments.
Comments create community and dialog, so key to educational reform, that will help determine my interests. One of the posts that I'm working on for this week is a direct request from a likely future follower of the blog.
Lastly, I'll respond to as many comments as my time allows. I feel that one of the best things about having an independent blog is that I can be responsive to questions, concerns, and ideas that people leave around here.
Someday we'll all be free, brother...(you not foolin anybody with that profile pic!)
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to your insights, man.
@Jasonesters
ReplyDeleteNot surprised you're the first one to get it. Hope we'll see you around because you're ahead of me at the moment on a lot of these issues as someone who is closer to the ground.