Actor Tony Danza: The Unexpected Chalkboard Champion

It seems to me that in every teacher's career, there comes a desperate moment in which we just want to be understood. We fervently wish that the public, the parents, and the media comprehended just how dedicated we are to our students, and just how hard we work on their behalf, and just how tough the job is. Tony Danza goes a long way to build this understanding in his 2012 book I'd Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had: My Year as a Rookie Teacher at Northeast High.

 

Having already earned his degree in history and  his teaching credential, Danza accepted a position as a first-year teacher in an inner-city school in Philadelphia, partly because he had always wanted to teach and decided now would be a good time in his career to explore that option, and partly because the experiment could be turned into a reality show that, Danza hoped, could accomplish some genuine good by turning an empathetic spotlight on our nation's over-worked, over-criticized, and under-paid teachers.

 

Throughout the book, Danza provides an insider's perspective on many of the topics that dominate political discussion in the media and professional conversation in the teachers' lounge, including such topics as funding cuts, high-stakes testing, high absenteeism,  student apathy, and lack of parental involvement. It's amazing how he hit the nail on the head with every chapter.

 

I loved this book, and how Danza eloquently voiced the frustrations of practically every teacher in America. Most importantly, I loved how much his genuine affection and respect for his students, and his strong commitment to do right by them, shines through the frustrations. It's an inspirational book I recommend you read before going back to the classroom in the Fall. You can find it on amazon at I'd Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had.

Chalkboard Champion Maria Montessori: She Worked with Special Needs Children

Almost everyone in the field of education has heard of Maria Montessori (1870-1952), the Italian educator and physician who was especially interested in working with children with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Throughout her long career, she was an advocate for disabled children and for women's rights. Her innovative methods of child-centered instruction, which include freedom of choice, self-motivation, and student autonomy, have proven surprisingly effective for many students of all ability levels. Today, her progressive instructional methods are reproduced in over 22,000 schools in 110 countries around the world in institutions are known as Montessori schools. Maria Montessori is truly an international chalkboard champion.

Mary Catherine Swanson: The Chalkboard Champion who Originated AVID

Many educators around the country are very familiar with AVID, a program designed to show minority and other under-represented students how they can succeed in a college environment. The acronym, which stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination, truly measures up to its hype. 

 

The program was originated in 1980 by chalkboard champion Mary Catherine Swanson, who was an English teacher at Clairemont High School in San Diego, Southern California. At the time, her school, which had a predominately white student population, was preparing a slate of remedial courses to serve an influx of minority students in response to court-ordered integration. But Swanson insisted that with appropriate academic tools and support, minority and other under-represented students could thrive in a rigorous academic atmosphere, and she set about establishing a program that would prove her point. The AVID program she developed offers strategies for note-taking and test-taking, peer mentoring, tutoring, and cultural field trips. Her efforts have positively affected the lives of over 400,000 students since the program's inauguration.

Since 1980, statistics have shown the overwhelming success of the program. Those statistics show that of those students enrolled in AVID, 95% go on to enroll in a four-year college, and 85% of them graduate. The program is so highly successful that it has been instituted in 4,500 high schools in 45 states and 16 countries around the world.

 

Mary Catherine Swanson, who refused to dummy-down a rigorous academic program and insisted her students were capable, is truly a chalkboard champion.

Colonel Francis Wayland Parker: The Chalkboard Champion Who was a Civil War Hero

 

One of the most famous pioneers of the progressive movement in education was Francis Wayland Parker. This innovative educator promoted a philosophy that education should not emphasize standardization, rote memorization, and isolated drill. Rather, he advocated a curriculum that addressed the development of the whole student, including the child's intellectual,  physical, and moral growth. He created a model program that was strong on language development and geared towards teaching students to think and make decisions independently. Today we would recognize his strategies as teaching critical thinking skills and creative problem-solving.

Francis Parker was born on October 9, 1837, in Bedford New Hampshire. At the tender age of 16 he became the village teacher, and when, seven years later, the Civil War broke out, this young educator enlisted as a private in the 4th New Hampshire Volunteer Army. It wasn't long before he was promoted to lieutenant, then to lieutenant colonel, and then to commander. In May, 1865, Colonel Parker was captured by Confederate forces and held as a prisoner of war in North Carolina. When the war was over, this Civil War veteran resumed his teaching career, first as a teacher, then as a principal, and eventually as the coordinator of a teacher-training institution.

 

Colonel Parker is an American hero in so many ways, and is undoubtedly a chalkboard champion in the truest sense of the word. You can read more about this remarkable historical figure in my upcoming book, tentatively entitled Chalkboard Heroes.

  

 

 

Cory Schlesinger: The "Sledge" that Became a Chalkboard Champion

Cory Schlesinger teaches computer-aided design, drafting, and vocational education classes at Allen Park High School in Allen Park, Michigan. But every one of the 120 students in his classes is well aware that Cory is a retired NFL fullback who played twelve seasons with the Detroit Lions. His nickname then was the "Sledge," a player who blocked his opponents and brought them down like a sledge hammer. In fact, Cory was famous for destroying his face masks---sometimes as many as twenty in a season--- in the game's violent contact.

Despite this reputation, this mild-mannered hammer has a great heart, caring for his two young daughters, patiently instructing his students, conducting a school-wide strength and conditioning program for both boys and girls, and donating his time to charitable events organized by the Lions. "Cory's such a generous, kind and wonderful person," described Janet Wasko, principal of Allen Park High, in an article by columnist Mike O'Hara published on the Detroit Lions website January 11, 2013. "He doesn't stand on ceremony, but everyone knows who he is. He cares about the whole student body. It's not just about football," she said.

Cory Schlesinger: the sledge hammer that became a true chalkboard champion.

Italian Immigrant Leonard Covello Was a True Chalkboard Champion

Leonard Covello was just nine years old in 1896 when he immigrated to New York City with his family from the little village of Avigliano in southern Italy. But he grew up to become one of America's greatest educators, developing and instituting progressive community-centered educational programs. These programs are characterized by close links between the school, the home, and the community, and are still a model for today's educational institutions.

 

As an immigrant student himself, Leonard understood the unique needs of this particular group of students, and, as an Italian immigrant, he recognized the specific conflicts between the home and the family experienced by most Italian immigrant children. Drawing from his personal experience, Leonard was able to develop innovative school programs that allowed Italian immigrant students to succeed in American public schools in ways they had never realized before. His observations and solutions are still applicable to certain groups of students we find in today's classrooms.

 

You can read about the life story of this remarkable educator in Teacher with a Heart: Reflections on Leonard Covello and Community by Vito Perrone. This volume is available from amazon at the following link: Teacher with a Heart. In addition to analysis by Perrone, the book contains lengthy excerpts from Leonard Covello's autobiography, now out of print. You can also find a chapter about this innovative teacher and principal in my book, Chalkboard Champions: Twelve Remarkable Teachers Who Educated America's Disenfranchised Students, available from amazon  at the following link: Chalkboard Champions.

How is a Summer Vacation Tour Guide Like a Teacher?

 

With summer vacation finally here, or almost here, for most educators, many of us begin to think about how to spend our much-longed for and richly-deserved free time. For many of us, summer offers a great opportunity for travel. I'm no different, and I just returned from a wonderful two-week sojourn in Italy. My tour included visits to such iconic cities as Rome, Pisa, Ravenna, Venice, Verona, and Milan. While there, it was my good fortune to meet a number of very knowledgeable local tour guides. It occurred to me that many of the traits that make a top-notch tour guide are the same traits that make an exceptional teacher.

First, and probably most importantly, the tour guide must be likable. It's imperative to be warm and friendly, because it's just human nature to respond more positively to someone you like. Both the tour guide and the teacher are more successful if they set a relaxed tone right away and let it be known they are approachable, they are glad to see you, they are excited to share a part of their day with you. I think sometimes we educators forget how important this quality is to success in the classroom. Tourists will generally attempt to find something of value in the tour guide's speech whether the speaker is likable or not, but students won't always make the effort to bridge that gap.

 

Secondly, it's imperative that the tour guide be well-versed in their subject matter. Like the classroom teacher, the tour guide must do their homework! Know your stuff! Furthermore, it's important to be able to communicate the information in language that's easy to comprehend, which means delivering the material clearly and distinctly, at a suitable volume, using appropriate vocabulary levels, and creating a logical sequence and progression of ideas. If your group can't hear you or can't get past your heavy Italian accent, or they don't believe what you're saying to them, before long they will meander away to take photos of what appeals to their eye, often having no idea what it is they're taking pictures of.

Thirdly, it's crucial for both the tour guide and the teacher to be flexible. Things happen! When the Vatican closes the Sistine Chapel without any notice, when laborers stage an unexpected shut-down of the metro services, or when you arrive at the funicular only to find it out of order, the tour guide can find their lesson plan for the day derailed. When that happens, the tour guide must extemporaneously construct a workable Plan B. After all, promises have been made that must be kept. Sometimes, like when you're surprised by a political protest at the piazza which blocks your path to your tour bus, you just have to wait it out. You may be half an hour behind schedule, but eventually you'll be back on track. Excellent teachers and first-rate tour guides are especially adept at reorganizing on the spot.

 

I have to say, on this vacation I had the good fortune to have really terrific tour guides everywhere in Italy that we went. I hope that your summer vacation, wherever you travel, is as fabulous as our sojourn to Italy was. Ciao!