Totally 3rd Grade Blog

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This video makes a good case for fostering “learning communities” as a means of harnessing the talents and “connectedness” of modern kids. 

As Steven Heppell points out, it’s time for the “death of education and the dawn of learning.”

What kind of community experience are you fostering in your classroom?  Are you creating an environment that capitalizes on the natural abundance that the kids in your classroom are ready to share? 

I’m pleased to be able to post this Paul Harvey audio clip, which was recorded off-the-air over ten years ago.  Like all of his work, it is incredibly insightful, heartfelt and makes me cry every time I hear it.

Take a few minutes to listen and see if you feel, as I do, that the eloquent classroom teacher who Paul gave voice to well over a decade ago has yet to be heard.  It’s time for the powers-that-be to listen up.

Paul Harvey tells it like it is.

Their hefty salaries are driving up taxes, and they only work nine or ten months a year! It’s time we put things in perspective and pay them for what they do…baby-sit!

I would give them $3.00 dollars an hour and only the hours they worked, not any of that silly planning time.

That would be $19.50 a day (7:45 AM to 4:00 PM with 45 min. off for lunch).

Each parent should pay $19.50 a day for these teachers to baby-sit their children.

Now, how many do they teach in a day…maybe 30?

So that’s 19.5 X 30 = $585.00 a day. But remember they only work 180 days a year!

I’m not going to pay them for any vacations.

Let’s see…that’s $585 x 180 = $105,300 per year.

(Hold on! My calculator must need batteries!)

What about those special teachers or the ones with master’s degrees? Well, we could pay them minimum wage just to be fair, round it off to $7.00 an hour.

That would be $7 times 6-1/2 hours times 30 children times 180 days =$245,700.00 per year.

Wait a minute, there is something wrong here!

There sure is, duh!

I received these additional instructions recently in an e-mail.  Like all of the communication that comes down the pike from our central government, this extra set of policies promises to make testing go more smoothly than ever and to ensure the best possible scores.

1.  Should a severe weather situation occur during testing, please remain calm. To display any kind of anxiety would be a testing irregularity and must be reported.

2.  Please do not look out the window to watch for approaching tornadoes. You must monitor the students at all times. To do otherwise would be a testing irregularity and must be reported.

3.  Should students notice an approaching tornado and begin to cry, please make every effort to protect their testing materials from the flow of tears and sinus drainage.
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