The Teachers' Scrounge

News and comments from the world of public education. A middle school math teacher shared what he learned today.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Community complains... not enough tv in classrooms


Okay, my headline's misleading, but MSNBC reports that, "Several organizations in Clarksville are upset that many school children did not get a chance to watch President Barack Obama's inauguration ceremony." They have a group scheduled to meet with the school director to discuss this horror.

Um... No one has been robbed of a "chance to watch President Barack Obama's inauguration ceremony." You can view it right here in its totality. Schools have plenty of curriculum to cover. While I understand the argument that this was an unusually historic moment, it makes no sense to expect schools to stop everything to view the inauguration. In the Central timezone, the moment coincided with several students' lunch. What to do about that? There are plenty of scheduling and technology concerns here.

I think it's fine (maybe even great) that many students got to watch the inauguration during the school day, but I also think it's fine that many students had other work to do. Why not tape record the event and show it in social studies classes all day on Wednesday? Why do these Clarksville community groups demand live coverage? Provided by the school? (Although this may explain the large number of absences I had in class on Inauguration Day.)

The second principal I ever worked for told me, "I'm still waiting for the day that I parent calls me to talk about curriculum -- instead of dress code, dances, pep squad, cell phones..."

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