This is going back and forth in the Whitney (Gosh! Why did his parents give him a girls name? Recess must have been hell for him) Tilson Loves Doug Lemov post. Dougie's anonymous defender, or as I believe the legend in his own mind, Doug Lemov as been virulently defending Dougie. The last comment, deserves its own post.
I think all three of you (SBS blogger, Primadonna, and Ed) are missing the point.
No, you are.
My mother taught public school for three decades,
Wow. Impressive. My mother was a LPN for a cardiologist. I guess when I criticize doctors I can bring this tidbit up. I also believe I am no qualified to do EKG's Where was mummsy a teacher? What did mummsy teach?
I've spent a couple years as a public school teacher myself.
Wow. Impressive. Again, see the questions above about mummsy.
I'm familiar with administrative bureaucracy and the insanity of school politics.
No, you are not.
I've also gone to bat against school boards more concerned with the bottom line than the actual quality of education.
You do what I did in regards to my school in doing the right thing, then we can speak. I once caused a near international incident between the USSR and the US in 1985. Seriously. True story. Did you go that far with the school board? Or was it just holding your breath until your face turned red?
I define quality as more than reading scores.
Define it. Explain it to Whitney.
You're preaching to the choir when you lament the plight of the urban teacher, truly a thankless job.
No, it is not a thankless job. Or do you have that stereotype of what it is like to teach in an urban setting? Yeah we bitch and kvetch and all that but we love it.
While their (specifically Uncommon Schools) ability to provide their students with a better education than other students from identical backgrounds is undeniable
BOLLOCKS!!! Give me or any other teacher a class with 12-15 students and you will see the same exact results. Give me or any other teacher parents that take their child's education seriously you will see the same exact results. Give me or any other teacher or school the revenue flow, the donations, the corporate involvement you will see the same exact results.
part of the reason why Charters are so successful is that they can reject the truly dangerous and deranged.
Someone admits it. Now go tell that to Bloomberg, Klein, and Moskowitz.
I understand how you can look at Doug Lemov as someone locked in an ivory tower
He is. Why not come spend time, oops, I meant have Dougie spend time in the projects. Live in the projects. Or you, sorry again, or Dougie can come teach a 6th grade class in the 'hood which the kids are packing, and wearing colors and bling and see how far his shite gets him.
Lemov's taxonomy wasn't created in a vacuum, and you'd be challenged to find anyone outside this blog who claims that it sprung whole from his head.
I never said it sprung from his head, at the very worse he stole intellectual property and his profiting from it. At the very least, he is acting and obtaining credit for what are not original ideas.
He collected the best techniques he saw from master teachers, and put them in a format that's easy for beginning teachers to replicate.
Did he attribute these ideas? Are others sharing in the profits? Give me some $$ I saw some stuff I did as a summer camp counselor in 1983.
The point is not that "his ideas are better than your ideas"
Yes you do. You got fawned over in the Times, you have never gotten your hands dirty.
the point is that struggling teachers will do better when armed with his techniques.
Where's the money for mentors that the DOE keeps promising? You learn from experience. My very first day of teaching I sent 35 kids to the closet to get their coats at once. You do, you react, you learn.
However, the point is that a first year teacher would teach better with, rather than without, the techniques in Lemov's taxonomy.
Dougie's ideas are not original. Stop calling them LEMOV'S TAXONOMY!!
I know you want to lash out at Doug and Green's article because it reminds you of your frustration with insulated elitist reformers
Yep! And because they all know jack.
Yet, for this particular situation, this is not the case.
Yes it is the case.
I can walk into any class in my school that is out of control, and I have, and stand in the doorway and not utter one single solitary word and the entire class will settle down immediately. And guess what? No one, or no book taught be that.
What makes it worse is a turd like Whitney Tilson fawns all over Dougie to the point of having some unrequited man love school girl type crush over him.
Now if you will excuse me I want to watch South Park. Butters loses his virginity tonight.
9 comments:
Teacher in the Bronx: Me likey.
Ed seems reasonable, and while we disagree on the issue of who goes to Charter Schools (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204488304574429203296812582.html) and that's fine, it's an open debate. Regardless, he was relatively respectful and seemed genuinely interested in improving education.
Primadonna, you seem preoccupied with the "reinventing the wheel" argument, when the entire issue is about how to best make the wheel accessible to others.
And as for SBSB, you're a lost cause. You're suffering from delusions of grandeur if you honestly believe Doug has the time or interest in commenting on your site, perhaps only forgivable when considering that I, with only tangential exposure to The Taxonomy, have wasted too much time on you.
You come across as disgusting, close-minded, and frankly - jealous.
I'm sure that you'll either congratulate yourself on getting a rise out of someone or comfort yourself that you're truly fighting the good fight. Either way, if you continue with your blind pigheadedness you're going to miss out on an opportunity to truly improve the skills of young educators. I hope you live well with that.
Please tell me you're not asking me to read a biased Wall St Journal article - that is RUPERT MURDOCH, right? citing the Hoxby report. Did you know she not only has a dog in the race but an entire idorod. Search my blog for more on Hoxby. Diane Ravitch has savaged her stuff.
As for South Bronx, call him what you want, but jealous? Certainly more disgusted than disgusting.
Anonymous: What you don't seem to get is that no new teacher should need Lemov's "ideas" as if he actually came up with them. The best way to learn is to make mistakes and learn from them. Those new teacher following his ideas will do that anyway. Reading about what should be done and then actually doing it in front of the kids is a different story. The best help a teacher can have is from other senior teachers who would be mentors. And it is the job of the schools administrators to guide and offer help when needed to our rookies. But since we now live in an age where administrators have little to no experience in the classroom and school buildings are being rid of our valuable veterans, people like Lemov feel it necessary to teachers learn how to teach on their own which is impossible.
Primadonna
I don't agree on this point. Kids shouldn't be experimented on. We as new teachers should have been given more help. The Green article was correct in that ed schools don't prepare people to control a class. I've been maintaining that since I started teaching. New teachers need help and Doug's book can't hurt, but I was always hungry for tips and there seemed to be loads of teacher books around for years. But I still maintain the best source lies in your own school where experienced teachers - and I mean even 2nd and 3rd year teachers have a lot to offer. Instead of dumb staff development on how to use data they should spend every available minute doing things like role playing - which I think was in the article. Funny that so many of us have been screaming about these things for 30 years. Green knows full well as the superb ed reporter she has been in NYC about the stupid pet tricks they do at PD.
Ed: Don't get me wrong. I don't think kids should be experimented on either. All I'm saying is a first year teacher WILL make mistakes. I know I did and I learned from them. I also learned by oberving teachers on my grade and by a couple of more seasoned teachers that(voluntarily) took me under their wing.
A first year teacher is going to be soooo overwhelmed with the job, Lemov's book will likely be tossed out the classroom window.
You have absolutely no respect and you sound like an immature child. It's like you are jealous that you didn't write the book yourself. You have anger issues and if my kid were in your class, I'd be pulling her out immediately. Why anyone in the education field would disrespect someone who has dedicated his life to improving education (there is proof, try doing some research)is just a sorry excuse for an "educator". The crap you are spewing is just that, crap. I'd love to see your performance data and compare it to a Doug Lemov run school.
Love,
A Doug Lemov Fan
Oh quite the contrary Dougie. Oh I am addressing you as Dougie because IP addresses never lie.
I really don't care whether or not you have written a book. A book that lacks originality, or anything new.
But where is the proof that you really taught? There is none.
By the way, who says I am in position to have performance data? Where's yours Dougie? Give any teacher your small class sizes and handpicked students and you will see their performance date surpasses your skewed numbers.
By the way Dougie why not put your money where your mouth is and come teach in the South Bronx? Better yet, come live in the South Bronx as well.
Sorry you disrespectful, hostile little man, not Doug, but thanks for the laugh. He wouldn't bother giving someone like you the time of day I'm sure. He's too busy running schools and training teachers. Have you tried prozac? You sound like you need something for your craziness.
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