Friday, April 12, 2013

What started this whole journey...

As I mentioned in my first post, the inspiration for this blog came from a class I'm wrapping up at Eastern Michigan University entitled Writing, Public Policy, and Public Writing which is designed to help find ways to give teachers a voice in a time when policy makers are using teachers as scapegoats for all that is wrong with education.

The theme of my project for this class is teacher retention because I feel like this is education's dirty little secret that no one talks about. For many reasons that I could write in a whole dissertation, teachers are leaving the classroom at an alarming rate - and we're especially seeing it now with the spate of public resignation letters flooding the internet.

With so many teachers leaving though, who is choosing to stay, and why?

I gathered up my Twitter PLN and asked them a very simple (and yet complex) question: With all the negativity surrounding our profession today, what makes you stay? This was the result. I hope it will help to begin a healthy, positive dialogue about how we can celebrate and recognize teachers as the professionals and heroes that they are.

8 comments:

  1. Terrific job. I watched it twice. I was so sad this past week when a teacher gave up an opportunity to have her class take part in an author visit because of the pressure to prepare for upcoming state testing. She is one of the most passionate teachers I know. I remember the importantance author visits, plays, and special events played in allowing me to gain a deeper understanding of life, in other words, true learning. Teach On!

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  2. Congratulations, Beth! This is powerful! Please put it up on Youtube - and let me know the responses you get.
    --Steve Zemelman

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  3. Absolutely beautiful and phenomenal. Thank you for making this!

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  4. Your message is poignant and inspiring. I will definitely share your post with my personal learning network. Thank you for doing your part to convey a positive message and make a difference. I aspire to do the same.

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  5. Beth-
    Just in case you haven't noticed, NCTE featured your video on their Facebook page. And that happened because a helpful friend there spotted it when I featured it yesterday on www.teachersspeakup.com . Great work, Beth!
    --Steve Z

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  6. Thanks for making this! My husband shared this with me and it's such a powerful video. I'm sharing as widely as I can.

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  7. From one EMU grad to another, Thank you!

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