Challenges that seemed to be disadvantages in a rural community become advantages by pushing the teachers to find ways to give students opportunities to explore the world and expand their worldview.
rural schools
Posted inCharter Schools
OPINION: What if Betsy DeVos is not wrong about everything? The case for more choices in K-12 education.
The U.S. Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos, and I do not see the world the same way. She is interested in privatizing education to support an agenda where parents can use public monies to attend private (mostly religious, mostly Christian) schools. DeVos and her allies have supported charter schools, which have diverted much-needed resources from public […]
Posted inBook Review
‘Hillbilly Elegy’ and the Blight of Rural Schools
“I was one of those kids with a grim future,” author J.D. Vance begins in his book Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis. “I almost failed out of high school. I nearly gave in to the deep anger and resentment harbored by everyone around me. Today people look at me, […]
Posted inSeries
Rural Schools Journal- Entry 2
Mr. McConnell’s Rural Schools Journal Entry 2 (7/14/2016): A look from inside the school My first “Rural Schools” journal entry described a slice of our country- America and how the last few decades have impacted that quaint little world. It ain’t quite Walton’s Mountain, but it might be the closest thing you’re going to find […]
Posted inFrom the Front Lines
My Journal From Working in a Rural School- Entry One
Mr. McConnell’s Rural Schools Journal Entry 1 (7/7/2016) What it looks like, lives like, what I’ve seen In a rural area, the suppression and exclusion of the hardest working and neediest among us can readily be seen in almost any school that serves struggling populations. It probably looks different and it comes at you different, […]
Posted inFrom the Front Lines, Instruction & Curriculum
A Day In The Life of A Rural Classroom
Teaching in a small town has many perks. I am teaching in the room I learned in as a student. I know many of my families before they step through our classroom door the first day of school. Running errands around town brings smiles, hellos, hugs, and many quick conversations as I run into students […]