9486 in the collection  

Ed Dispatch: A Former TFA Teacher

Ohanian Comment: Maybe I shouldn't admit this but I laughed out loud when I heard this Teach for America discipline strategy: "OK, I'm going to count down from 5 and if you aren't quiet by them, I'm going to have to take away points."

Laugh out loud disaster.

What a horrible thing to tell a suburban kid put into a Bronx middle school: Count down from five.

Finding himself to be in classrooms without books, John Bilby spent $700 his first month and then $300 each month after that--on photocopying. He didn't have books; it sounds like he relied on a curriculum of handouts.

But that's small potatoes compared to this:

TFA advises its teachers to present an "emotionless persona in the classroom."

A veteran educator observed Bilby and told him "This is absolute garbage. You need to fix this." He advised Bilby, "Have a personality in the classroom. Get excited about things. Get upset about things. Get worked up about things. . . . the opposite of what TFA had told me."

I happen to believe the teacher herself is the most important thing she brings to a classroom. You can only teach who you are.

by John Bilby

My name is John Bilby and I was a TFA teacher in the New York region from September 2009 until March 2010. I left the organization because I felt that it does not adequately prepare its people to serve the poorest children in public schools. . . .

— John Bilby with comment by Susan Ohanian
You Tube
2011-02-07
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-LW31oQ-bc

---

INDEX OF OUTRAGES

Pages: 380   
[1] 2 3 4 5 6  Next >>    Last >>