To give or not to give

As the end of the year approaches, many students like to purchase a small gift for their teacher. These are almost always elementary students but sometimes high school students. They are almost never Jr. High teachers.

My sister teachers Jr. High in the city and is a good teacher, actively involved in taking her kids to the Lego Robotics competition, which her kids won this year. Her husband teaches grade 5 in Sherwood Park and is also a good teacher, involved with the kids. However at the end of the year, he is showered with gifts and she is lucky to get even one. This is something that makes her sulk every year, even though she knows its coming.

It is not the money. Teachers are well paid for their jobs and do not expect parents to pay for gifts. Like all presents, it is the tokens from the heart that mean the most. The hand written note from the parent saying thanks, with a hand drawn picture. These are the treasures that the teacher will tuck away and bring out on a bad day to brighten their mood.

A small flower or plant they can put in their yard is also a nice gift. A jar of home made jelly or preserves are always appreciated as teachers rarely have time to make their own.

A small token of thanks can make a teacher feel good in a profession in which it is easy to feel unappreciated but stick with the kis (keep it simple) principle. And please don't forget the Jr. High teachers :).

Free post secondary education is worth investment

Investing in education is one of the most sensible things a government can do. It reduces crime, increases employment and encourages creative business ideas. There is strong correlation between years of education for females and reduced pregnancy rates, and in a world where the population growth rampant that is no small benefit.

Ireland, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Sweden and Cuba all offer free post secondary education to their citizens. Why do we want to burden new graduates with huge debts? The cost of college and university in this country is placing education out of the reach of many. Do we want money to determine who gets an education? That keeps the rich in power, possibly limiting someone with less money.

Although education is not a class equalizer, I believe that "equal access" to education is a fundamental value that benefits all society and therefore worth considering the next time we enter the polling station.

In this article liberal leader Michael Ignatieff voices support for the idea.

He believes that post-secondary education should be open to all students who have the grades to get in.

"We know that the key to future success, the key to a life of opportunity, is post-secondary education," he said. "You get the grades, you get to go."

He acknowledged that universal access to post-secondary education would be expensive, but said it is the right way to build the country.

Read more: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/business/Alberta+oilsands+need+cleaned+Ignatieff/3053915/story.html#ixzz0oawLBXtq

To write or not to write

In a recent press teleconference the provincial government was busy patting themselves on the back saying that they were correct and that the written portion of the diploma exams was not necessary for high school science and math courses. They said there were a few media articles at first but that the stats prove they were absolutely correct ... lol no surprise there. Alberta Education has become the master of manipulating statistics to say what they want and everybody knows it!

Every single high school teacher I have spoken to have said that the written portion of the exam was valuable and important. Personally, having taught high school Biology I can tell you that the written portion is very valuable. In fact I think they should have gone the other way and expanded the tests to include a practical experimental exam as well as a written and multiple choice.

Now the government has gone back on its intention to include written response exams in grade 3,6 and 9. One can't help but wonder what their reasoning was to add the written portion in the first place? Were they completely out to lunch then? Or are they completely out to lunch now?

"In a time of fiscal restraint, it is not appropriate to take millions of dollars away from schools to mark a written response which can be ably assessed by teachers in the classroom," MacDonald added.

Read more: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Alberta+drops+plans+written+portion+achievement+tests/3007146/story.html#ixzz0nYlnXNcc

According to that logic, why not eliminate the standardized exams all together and just have teacher scored grades. I could support that. At least it would be more honest and kids would be evaluated on a variety of skills not just multiple choice test taking skills.

The value of standardized exams is highly questionable but if we are going to insist that it must be done lets do it right. I feel sorry for students having 50% of their grade based on one multiple choice test.

What frustrates me is that nobody seems to care! There have been a few teachers in our school division with the courage to speak up at first but where are the rest of the voices. The school board said they wrote a letter at the time.

Where are the letters? Where are the protests? Where are the petitions? Where are the parents complaints? Why are the colleges and universities not demanding accountability? If I were a school board member interested in taking a stand for education, this is one I would embrace because it is what is in the best interest of our students. I would visit schools and talk to teachers and collect names on petitions. I would take a stand. It matters! Eduction matters!

Can we not offer a division standardized written exam?

Is it enough?

I attended the press conference on this event by phone but it has been already been summarized in other articles so there is no need to re-write it all for you again. It doesn't involve any kids from our area, of course, because our kids are honest! :) We are not like those city types.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Sound+students+caught+cheating+math+diploma+exam/2971368/story.html

All that really happened to the students is that they got a zero on the exam and can't rewrite for one year. In the press conference, it was stated that this was a more sever punishment for these students then if they had been caught with a cheat sheet (or the modern electronic equivalent).

The cheaters wrote the test in January and because this form of cheating is so serious they will not be permitted to re-write for one full year until January 2011. It was stated in the press conference that if it was a less serious situation, then they would probably be aloud to re-write in June. That really doesn't seem all that serious of a punishment to me.

If the penalty for taking a cheat sheet into the exam is that you get a zero and you can re-write next term ... it might be worth a try. If I were a student who probably wouldn't pass anyway and the worst thing that will happen is that I have to re-write the test. Hummm.... kinda tempting.

Just a thought.