Great column about Bill Gates

[proud2BlibKansan]

From a teacher in NYC: http://gothamschools.org/2010/07/14/garrulous-mr-gates/

It’s been a busy week for Bill Gates. While the NEA featured brilliant Diane Ravitch as its most prominent guest, AFT President Randi Weingarten and company chose Gates, who’s done many remarkable things.

I’m not an education expert like Gates, so I’ll comment only on a TED talk he gave last year that’s available online. My experience is limited to teaching 25 years in New York City. Still, several of Gates’ comments did not sit well with me.

Gates: "How does that compare to a normal school? Well, in a normal school teachers aren’t told how good they are. The data isn’t gathered. In the teacher’s contract, it will limit the number of times the principal can come into the classroom — sometimes to once per year. And they need advanced notice to do that."

My principal can and does visit my classroom whenever he golly goshdarn feels like it. He offers no advanced notice, and walks around the building visiting my colleagues in exactly the same fashion. Gates’s version of what happens in a “normal school” sounds more like a crass stereotype than any contract I’ve ever heard of.

Gates: "So imagine running a factory where you’ve got these workers, some of them just making crap and the management is told, “Hey, you can only come down here once a year, but you need to let us know, because we might actually fool you, and try and do a good job in that one brief moment.”

I’m having trouble imagining a teacher who lights up only once every year. If you can’t teach, you don’t give a sterling lesson on command. If you hate kids, you don’t instantly learn to love them when the principal walks in.

[Donnachaidh]

1. umm, didn't Gates DROP out of college? How and when did he become an EXPERT on education?

I find it hilarious that a college drop out is suddenly called on to correct the *problems* in the education system. The irony is mind-boggling....

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. He's rich

That's all it takes in the USA.

[msongs]

2. crap? like windows 98 lol (btw I had vista svc pack 2 and it was flawless) nt

[LWolf]

4. Schools aren't factories, and Gates is spouting ignorance or lies.

In all my years, large and small districts, and 2 different states, there has never been anything in my classroom that limited how many visits or how much time admins could spend in the room. And they've spent plenty. They've always been welcome.

As a matter of fact, this year, my admin, in a "normal" school, visited frequently and hung out for 2 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes. At least once a week, often more than that.

He never took notes. When he handed me my evaluation at the end of the year, I was actually astounded by the things he'd noticed. He wrote in great detail about what was going on in my room on a daily basis, and he did it accurately.

I'm NEA, and did not travel to NO for our convention. If I'd been AFT, I probably could have made it to Seattle; that's a lot closer. I don't know if I would have walked out. I'd rather stay put, hold up a sign, and turn my back when the cue for applause came on. It's too bad I wasn't paying enough attention; if I'd realized how close you were going to be, I might have driven up just to get together outside of convention hours.

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. I didn't realize you were that close

Seattle is a beautiful city. We could have had a great time. Our last day there we rented a sailboat and went all over Puget Sound. Then we took a ferry to an island and had lunch plus a few drinks. It was absolutely beautiful. We have water here but nothing like Puget Sound and islands overlooking gorgeous bays.

As for admins in the classroom, it isn't in my contract either and I am in a longtime AFT district with a great contract. Gates is just spouting bullshit. He also isn't a very good public speaker. In the morning before Gates spoke, Trumka spoke. He had the delegates on their feet and was just incredible. I really should have blogged about his speech instead of Gates. It was awesome and the highlight of the convention.

[LWolf]

6. I'm not THAT close; about 3 hours SE of Portland.

But Washington isn't far from Portland. ;)

I spent 3 days in Portland last week.

Another time, perhaps.

It's not too late to blog about Trumka; it might be good to follow the bitter with something more palatable.

[Reader Rabbit]

7. The best principal I ever had...

...made it to every classroom nearly every single day. We teachers loved him for it. I was young then, so I didn't fully appreciate how wonderful he was, or how effective it made him with both teachers and students.

[Catshrink]

8. One of ours used to pop in occasionally

he'd wander in and sit in an empty seat. If he was bored he wouldn't stay long but sometimes he got really interested and asked questions just like a big kid. Of course all the students loved him and so did we. He wasn't the best at paperwork but made up for it in team building.

Our current principal is somewhat the opposite. He's not that gregarious but he is very good in his own way. His door is always open, he's fair, and he backs us up with parents. He gets things done and dots his i's, etc. whereas sometimes things fell between the cracks before. We all respect him and feel grateful for a principal who is good in his job. We are aware of the many jerks out there.

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. Best one I ever had used to pop in and teach

I loved it. She was great. The kids got to know her better. It was really a brilliant strategy.