merri937 College and Career Ready, Lesson Plan Ideas

It’s College Tour Season Part 1

First let me start this off by saying that in addition to teaching a creative writing course, I also teach a college readiness class called AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination). Last week proved to be pretty productive for my AVID class. We knocked out 2 out of the 3 college tours we had set for this quarter. We’ve been talking about college all year, and I’ve been preparing them for one component of the college admissions process by having them work on electronic portfolios using Google sites. They’ve added their autobiographic sketches, resumes, pictures, and outline for their 5 year plan to their portfolios.

One assignment I added when we got closer to touring the colleges was the college profile. They had to choose 3 colleges they wanted to attend and give me information on admission requirements, costs, scholarships/financial aid, available housing, student organizations on campus, and course requirements for their chosen major. This had a tremendous impact on how they viewed the college tours. One, they knew what to look for and to ask the tour guide, and two, they asked more detailed questions. Last year, when I took my students to Georgetown and Howard, they asked questions like, “What dining selections are available?” This year they asked, “What are the meal plan options and how much does each one cost?”

So the first campus we toured was Georgetown’s campus. We went down to Georgetown and walked through the neighborhood, ate lunch at the restaurants on M and relaxed by the riverfront before we went to campus. This way, students considering this university had a chance to see the neighborhood they probably would be frequenting and the campus.

Walking through the neighborhood.
Playing Frisbee by the riverfront
 By the riverfront..I wanted to take them on a riverboat cruise to see the monuments, but our grant money was way too specific for that 😦 
 touring the campus 
touring the campus
merri937 Chicago Public Schools, DC Public Schools, School Reform Commission, World Class Education

The National Initiative to Dismantle Free and Public Education


There is an absolute beauty that can’t be denied in seeing so many, teachers, parents and students. . .  community organizers and even some people just getting off from work, ALL  fighting for educational justice. Citizens of various cities throughout the United States are irrupting in mass protests and demonstrations to demand that its city legislature protect and defend its investments for its children. After all, at the very least isn’t this what tax dollars should ensure?? President Obama’s Administration has initiated a budget for An Economy Built to Last and a World-Class Education for Our Children. This budget plan is clearly to protect and even develop needed enhancements in education and curriculum. 

What is heart breaking is the ability of Philadelphia’s SRC (School Reform Commission) to close 23 of its schools, the audacity of the District of Columbia Public Schools to compromise and only close another 15 schools and Chicago Public Schools will close a whopping 54 schools to handle its budget crisis! All of these districts have tried to save the city’s budget by enacting school closures before. This act has neither assisted the cities’ budget crisis nor done anything to enhance the academic growth of its students. As a matter of fact these actions have done more to widen the academic achievement gap  than it has done to close it. There are countless other cities and districts throughout the nation that seemingly ignore this collective cry, demanding to keep public schools open. I was always told that whenever confused about an institutions motives, follow the money. Just how broke is this country??? The Dow Jones ,S&P 500, and the Wall Street Journal all reported the highest increase in investments and market values since 2007. A simple question will always be asked: Since the bail outs provided by TARP ( Troubled Asset Relief Program) work so well for banks and the industrial market, why isn’t the same investment made by our tax dollars towards our schools? Follow my next post as we follow the money! 



Chicago Sun Times