Is your classroom a joyless place?

A 2nd year Bronx elementary school teacher is trying hard, but is concerned by what he sees, including test mania and a general cya attitude. The full post is here.

A few excerpts:

…learning becomes synonymous with direct instruction and rote bookwork. As much as I’ve worked to avoid that fate … the tone of my classroom has suffered from the pressures of the tests.

Another factor… behavioral issues. … So often the planning of seemingly simple activities must account for a dozen possible scenarios. Teachers, myself included, get to thinking that fun equals problems, so why risk that?…

What worries me the most though is that kids get turned off the whole idea of school at such a young age….most of our country’s poorest kids spend their days immersed in tedious and rigid environments that middle and upper class parents would never allow their kids to experience….

I’m behind on (lots of things including) updating my blogroll. If Is Our Children Learning (Ruben’s blog) is not there yet, it will be there shortly.