Teach Effectively!

A blogger identifying himself as N*** K*** and reporting about his experiences as a Teach for America (TFA) teacher in Camden (NJ, US) has an entry about another teacher who is having a difficult time with students who have behavior problems. I am never sure how much of what I read in others’ blogs to believe, and a recent entry in Mr. K***’s blog raises that uncertainty for me.

Here is poor Ms. E***. Passed out.
I mean passed the fuck out.

Elementary teachers got it tough. Wait let me rephrase that: C*** E*** has it tough. She has 18 kids, 6 of whom are BELLIGERENT and uncontrollable BD (behavior disorder). The 1st grade teachers gave her the trimmings–the fat, if you will–from the 1st grade class. The fuckups and put them all in one room with a novice teacher.

The entry is accompanied by a picture of a person face down on the floor. Actual? Posed? I do not know. I do know that I have substantial reservations about

1. Putting unprepared people into teaching positions, especially those requiring work with students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, Learning Disabilities, and other special education needs
2. Assigning students with EBD, LD, or other special needs to first-year teachers regardless of their preparation.

TFA is founded on a wonderful altruistism, but the failure to prepare people to teach is problematic. It may be that the brief preparation provided by TFA is more valuable than some teacher education programs, as Mr. K*** noted in a separate article from the Daily Texan (see following quote), but I would still bet on the benefits of teacher preparation programs (even though I would like to change them, too).

K*** went into Teach For America with no formal teacher training, but he said that Teach For America’s summer institute made him as prepared as he could be for his first year. “My roommate was certified as a teacher before he came to Teach For America,” K*** said. “Now he says that Teach For America taught him more in five weeks at the institute than he learned in all his time in school.”

Other entries in Mr. K***’s blog illustrate the problems he faces; to be sure, he is probably working in difficult situation and has some difficult students, but more (high-quality) training probably would help him.

Link to Mr. K***’s blog entry [no longer active--Admin]. Link to the story in the Daily Texan.