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18 ? haha advanced placement lol lol –sure picked a realistic example of a  NYC classroom didn’t he–wayyyy out on a limb.  Hmmm -but he says class size doesn’t matter, spec ed in gen ed doesn’t matter, esl.ell, doesn’t matter, poverty,homeless, single parent,etc etc etc—–hmmm—what a coward  . Maybe next time he could try a real challenge, say one of the turnaround schools?   

“In all, Polakow-Suransky spent fewer than four minutes addressing the whole class. The rest of the time, he and Matthusen circulated among the groups, pushing them to refine their arguments, and watched students debate each other. That’s exactly as it should be, he said, even if it means that teachers sometimes don’t step in when students struggle or show confusion, as some students did about the purpose of affirmative action.”

And that’s part of the problem in NYC: this insistence that teachers should not teach (combined with the insistence on group work).

Group work has its place. Letting students figure things out also has its place. But it is not the ultimate pedagogical model. It is not the be-all and end-all of education.

As a student (in high school, college, and graduate school), I relished lessons where the teacher actually stood before us and talked. I relished it not because I was lazy or passive, or because I needed help understanding the material, but because the teacher’s insights and questions were interesting and took me further into the subject. And often a teacher could correct a misconception that I or another student might otherwise have carreid around for years.

I want to agree with Turnaround Teacher.

Mr.Polakow-Suransky, if you want to get really get an appreciation for being a teacher; I recommend you take a walk in MY shoes for one day.

I go to bed around 10:30pm every night and wake up at 05:00am. I make coffee, get dressed and take the subway for around 45 minutes to get to my job at a Turnaround High School uptown. Once I get to school, I prep my class for around 40 minutes and then students start strolling in. Conversations, organizing, the copier is broken, oh– and by the way, you just lost your prep because you have to cover a colleague’s class.

Fast forward to the ACTUAL class, Mr.Polakow-Suransky, that you should be teaching. That awesome debate lesson plan you set up about affirmative action? Hahah, not happening. Why? Oh, you have a room of ELLs and SPEDs at completely different levels and also, one of your students got into a fist fight this morning so you have to calm them down.

That 4 minute lesson? Ha, ha, ha. You’ll re-teach it 40 times because every single student will say you went too fast and honestly, you need them to A. Pass the Regents, B. Complete the Common Core Unit and C. Be engaged with material in a way that makes them want to learn.

This clown “taught” an AP class for 4 minutes at Bronx Academy of Letters? Did he even take attendance — I bet he didn’t and at a regular DOE school, that’s a write-up homeboy.

He chooses to teach a class of 18, and yet he has said class size is not a determinative factor.  Put him in front of a class of 34 or more and see how he does!  Such hypocrisy.

Let’s see.  He picked an Advanced Placement class with only 18 senior students and taught for all of 4 minutes.  What a joke!

If he wanted to impress me he should have picked a 34 student freshman class and taught a complete lesson.   No wonder there is such a disconnect between the DOE and its teachers.

wow I’m jealous -only 32       how about 37 in 7th grade

Or, more to the point, should have known.

 Ms. Haimson, you also forgot to add the fact that the Deputy Chancellor had the regular teacher of the class in the room, the principal, and probably one or two other adults, even if the “other adults” were not in the room, that is at least three adults. In a class of 18…yup, that is real teaching. One day, many moons ago, Mayor Napoleon & Rupert Murdoch’s lackey, Joel Klein, was in a school, when the u-shaped set of desks was the latest in pedagogy, teaching (an AP class, what else?) and the desks were lined up in rows…he rambled on for over an hour, keeping those kids out of whatever class they had next, and he was so boring according to the kids in the class and so un-engaging, the principal had to non verbally beg the son of the teacher of the class, who was a student at the time, to ask a question, ANY question.

Suransky, wish you were there as a guest teacher in my self contained class last semester  when in the first five minutes of class a student said he wanted to “kill himself” because his friends call him stupid and then literally a minute later another student in response to me saying that “real friends wouldn’t say such things” says “But I feel the same way and it’s not my friends who call me stupid, it’s my parents.” 

It has been very interesting to read all your comments and realize how tasteless this was for Teacher Appreciation Day/Week

Also, were the students supposed to drop at his feet and thank him for coming? Whether they are apart of some publicity stunt or not, these 18 children are the reality of the need for affirmative action in “undeserved communities”. They still need to pay for Manhattan College, Delaware State, Genesseo. SUNY Potsdam, the University of Rochester, Colby College and the list goes on.

If you want to reward hard-working kids, you alleviate some of the burden of affording college from them and their families instead of setting up some ” show and tell how eloquently I can debate in front of some guy that doesn’t actually care”. 

Also, he didn’t actually teach anything…the AP exam is a week away….did he think he was Captain Save NYC Schools in (an insanely pretentious) 50 minutes?

 Geez…if they have used the Danielson Drive By model and the AP wants to get him, he would have gotten an expedited I.  Teaching 4 minutes and pacing around?  Dude, I pace around most, if not all the time!  Is this what we get from the DoE?  I would give him a SuperHero welcome is he took on a 30+ student class in one of the Phaseout buildings and him walking in as a sub and not accompanied/shielded by the instructor of the class in itself. Spare us the Circus please!

I find one of the saddest things to be Gotham Schools treatment of Shaels nonsense as a PR piece –I expect better

Methinks the value of this debate is debatable.

1) Re “That’s exactly as it should be, he said, even if it means that teachers sometimes don’t step in when students struggle or show confusion…”  Way to UN-define setting the bar.  Since when did deciphering what the heck the teacher had in mind become a goal?   

2) Re “emotional content,” what is this, a Bruce Lee movie?  (Google it.)  Indeed, if only these kids felt more fervor pro or con, their arguments would have been more effective or persuasive. 

How many kids in that class are going to have an “emotional content” memory of a honcho who told them confusion was a goal, not a glitch?

Next up:  The Emperor’s New Clothes.  Please debate the pros and cons of various zipper lengths.  I’ll preach for four minutes on the benefits of my boss being well dressed, and then circulate to foster a sense of empathy while trying to maintain a furrowed brow.

How about a fourth essay: affirmative action for graduates of NYC public schools under a decade of Chancellor Bloomberg (sic)?  Avid readers may recall the coverage of remedial classes being needed at CUNY, etc.

Or… another debate:  teacher appreciation vs. mayoral control.  Discuss.  Maybe come up with a slogan or graphic Kenneth Cole can use on a billboard.

I am taken aback by what Shael said when he states that “even when a lesson is imperfect, it can be a success if “emotional content” creates a lasting learning experience”. 

Doesn’t he realize that high percentage of administrators, with no experience in teaching and no understanding of the science behind pedagogy, will EXPECT teachers to present a PERFECT lesson and will EXPECT teachers to have ALL the students (30-34) to have reached a full understanding of the lesson within 45 minutes.  I made a computation error on the board but the students and I were engaged in the “emotional content” of the lesson and the principal u-rated my lesson because of the one error, which was immediately corrected the next day. 

So Shael, you are incorrect in assuming that “emotional content” will overrule an imperfect lesson because today’s Leadership Academy Administrators want PERFECTION and no teacher is allowed to err.

Yes, it would have been nice if he taught a class of 32 middle school students, but teaching any class is a step in the right direction for administrators at Tweed.

It is hard for anyone on this board to pass judgement on the quality of the lesson without seeing the product (in this case speeches) that students produced at the end of the period. There are many ways people learn and the fact that he addressed the whole class for four minutes does not automatically mean that students didn’t learn. For the naysayers, have you ever learned something without a lecture?

I am wondering what Shael’s goal was in the lesson (what did he want students to be able to do at the end of the period) and whether or not he felt he achieved that goal. Is there evidence of students achieving that goal?

I hope Shael’s visit will encourage other deputy chancellors to go back to the classroom (hopefully a variety of different types of classrooms) for a day as well. I think it should be a requirement for Tweed employees.

Man is honest. He took an advanced placement class, and made them better. I am sure that students received a lot from his knowledge. In the same way that my students who are suffering from severe mental illness and in a special class receive a lot from my devotion and concern. I would rather not be critical, but I wish that he and the rest of the people at central take heed and understand that the city is diverse, and the teachers serving this city are committed to providing all the children with a quality education. Some of us choose to work with students who nobody in society seem to think matter. But they matter to us, and we will provide them with our care and devotion, wen if Brown University is not on the horizon.
A.J.

Recap:  Our deputy chancellor with 10 years experience as a teacher, Assistant Principal and Principal; prior to going to Tweed; went into an AP class after teacher has prepared the students for the high stakes AP exam.  He then says that ‘this is the way teachers should teach’.  Why?  Because of the seating arrangements he used for an additional lesson for capable students?  At the same time, the DOE announces the new names for 24 schools – which have a disproportionate number of high need students who will never take an AP course.  The UFT and CSA are suing the DOE because this is a sham aimed at reducing the rights of educators.  Hence, the huge amount of negative responses to Shael’s visit. I wish I could give my name but I’m afraid as are all the people who rendered negative comments in the dictatorship called the DOE.  Shael is one lucky thirty nine year old man in terms of his position and salary.  Does he contribute?  Has he properly served in NYC to have the knowledge for his position….only under this mayor who chose Cathie Black against public wishes.  The sad truth is, many teachers and administrators in the field do not think the deputy chancellor knows much and he is the education person at Tweed.  THERE IS NO LEADERSHIP IN THE NYC SCHOOL SYSTEM.