Comments for The First Teacher Framework

Comment on Summer School is a Waste of Time and Money by Wesley Walsman

Wesley Walsman — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 18:49:32 +0000

I love this post! Thanks for keeping things really! Love the picture!

Comment on Maybe Nursing is Not for You… by Halona Y. Black

Halona Y. Black — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 15:50:02 +0000

Thank you for your comment, Valarie. The pressure to “hurry up and graduate” is just not coming from the student. Learning institutions, including community colleges, pressure students to graduate in the shortest amount of time possible. I can understand their logic; many students at my community college have been here off and on since the 1980′s trying to complete what’s supposed to be a 2-year program. The challenge is to ensure that students stay continually engaged in academic support services so that they know when and where to experiment, but still be able to graduate in a timely manner.

Comment on Maybe Nursing is Not for You… by Valarie Ashley

Valarie Ashley — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 13:14:41 +0000

Hooray for this post. I love to tell people that my father who is now 80 years old went to college, had to drop out due to finances, joined the Air Force and stayed for 16 years, worked for the FAA, received a degree in accounting and later a degree in law. After stints at the EPA and Department of Treasury he retired and began work teaching first as a long term sub in math and accounting classes in the Prince William County schools until he found his calling as the in school suspension monitor. He loved it and it was quite accidental. Based on the warm greetings he used to get from young people at Potomac Mills Mall I think he must have really been able to connect. My own path has hardly been linear and if you don’t have exposure to something how can you know if you love it, demonstrate a talent for it, etc? It is so important for people to get out of boxes and also not let money alone define career choices.

Comment on Summer School is a Waste of Time and Money by Halona Y. Black

Halona Y. Black — Mon, 16 May 2011 22:55:30 +0000

Yeah, those last minute folks… Do they know they are supposed to get advised after taking the test? Or maybe they were so tired, or maybe even upset about their scores that they figured they can be advised another day?

Comment on Summer School is a Waste of Time and Money by educationceo

educationceo — Mon, 16 May 2011 00:57:19 +0000

Wait…you get to wear flip-flops AND you get to eat? What more do you want woman?? LOL Just kidding! Yes registration is a pain…I suggested that we have a separate room for students who didn’t bother to get advising right after testing, as opposed to us trying to advise and register at the same time..that idea was shot down. So we end up advising 50+ students because they let months pass after the day the tested instead of walking into the next building for advisement. *Sigh*

Comment on Summer School is a Waste of Time and Money by Halona Y. Black

Halona Y. Black — Sun, 15 May 2011 18:27:13 +0000

LaToniya, I am so glad you get what I’m saying! It’s not as if summer school was set up like a boot camp with additional supports. It’s the same old teaching, with the same minimal support offered during the regular 15-week semester! How can this possibly lead to success for those who are severely deficient in basic skills? There has got to be a better model out there. If you know of any, please let me know (seriously…).

Comment on Summer School is a Waste of Time and Money by LaToniya A Jones

LaToniya A Jones — Sun, 15 May 2011 13:34:00 +0000

Helena! You are hilarious… but this is a true fact. We are not behind… a few more weeks won’t hurt. Cramming 15 weeks of content in 6 weeks for a first time college student is a set up for disaster. I’ve seen it and had to console a few students in my capacity as well. Chat with your advisory team… or retention/persistence rates will suffer But, you know that already:)

Comment on Are Community Colleges Preparing Students for Change? by Halona Y. Black

Halona Y. Black — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 02:12:35 +0000

Hi Monise! You hit on my next blog post — nursing is not for everybody! It’s like the only thing our students want to do is be a nurse because they were told they could make money at it.

Comment on Are Community Colleges Preparing Students for Change? by Monise

Monise — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 17:18:02 +0000

I get that question too. In fact, I had a student come in about 2 weeks ago. She initially wanted to study Early Childhood Education but then changed her mind. She wanted to study Nursing instead. I asked her how she went from ECE to Bursing. Her response: I want to make sure I can get a job and earn money. I told her that was the wrong reasoning. She needed to pursue studies in an area of interest. Basically, I told her she needed to do what she felt would make her happy. Yes, money pays the bills but it does not always guarantee happiness.

In a nutshell: We are not preparing students for change. That is not exclusive to communit colleges. All of us in Education can and should do better at this.

Comment on Rethinking ESL & Writing Courses in Community Colleges by amd

amd — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 01:33:27 +0000

Another book you may be interested in would be one by Dana Ferris called Teaching College Writing to Diverse Student Populations.