It Takes a Village
Lesson Plans: Learning to Teach in a Complicated World is a New York Times blog that brings together a group of teachers to chronicle their experiences during the first weeks of the school, offering first hand accounts of today’s classroom challenges from diverse perspectives.
Matthew Kay, a third year English and Drama teacher at the Science Leadership Academy, a progressive magnet school in Center City Philadelphia, wrote a post today about the teaching of students beyond the school walls.
A new village is needed to educate this generation. Educators must build it by forming alliances with our friends in the outside world. We must put our fists down, acknowledging that loving our students and teaching them subject matter isn’t always enough to bring success. We need help. My fervent prayer is that, when approached, prospective mentors always remember the time that someone else showed them what they could be.
This call resonates deeply with the goal of Dave Eggers wish and Once Upon a School. Each of us can be a part of the fabric of a student’s life, if we take the time and make the effort. Go to OUAS to pledge to engage in your local public school and become a part of this “new village”.
