en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/977130 Comments by thankateacher11 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/elections/local/GRPS-board-seats-filled#IDComment72595690 IMHO this election was about listening the what the public wants. I hope the message is clear...we want board members who will think for themselves and not be a rubber stamp for the Administration or the Union. Huge changes should have parent and community input and not be annpunced without a group of people sitting behind the superintendant that do not even have students in the school district. The good news here is that these unpopular changes have gotten parent and students interested in education and involved in the process. Wed, 5 May 2010 02:48:45 +0000 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/elections/local/GRPS-board-seats-filled#IDComment72595690 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/education/Move-to-delay-GRPS-tech-purchase-fails#IDComment72517775 There you go assuming and name calling. At meeting last week a parent spoke up about a phone call she got from Dr. Taylor when she signed up to speak discouraging her from comng. Now at this weeks meetings an attorney spoke out, students spoke out , and parents spoke out. I am not sure what a Helder Farm is or refers to. I will again state the it is troubling that this is being done. I am not "you people". I am not setting stuff up. I am expressing my opinion that I think a compromise is in order. No one person is right all the time. Sr. Taylor may indeed think this is the very best plan. The fact that the public does not support it means that a compromise is in order, I do not understand the need to call people names. Lets agree to disagree. Tue, 4 May 2010 21:19:48 +0000 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/education/Move-to-delay-GRPS-tech-purchase-fails#IDComment72517775 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/education/Move-to-delay-GRPS-tech-purchase-fails#IDComment72494027 Achievement is up? I heard Dr. Taylor said he was sugar coating the gains. Which is true? Tue, 4 May 2010 19:37:12 +0000 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/education/Move-to-delay-GRPS-tech-purchase-fails#IDComment72494027 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/education/Move-to-delay-GRPS-tech-purchase-fails#IDComment72493214 Paix-now you are being rude. He/She just asked where you work, You could have said-its not important, Instead of firing back yet another insult. Good people can disagree without name calling. I understand you feel Dr. Taylor is a wonderful leader and you like his innovations. I can respect that. Please respect the fact that some of us do not like them, have attended meetings and have had personal experiences that were not so positive. I respect your right to have an opinion. Please respect mine to have one that differs, without being told to drink Koolaid, act like a shill, ect. Tue, 4 May 2010 19:33:37 +0000 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/education/Move-to-delay-GRPS-tech-purchase-fails#IDComment72493214 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/education/Move-to-delay-GRPS-tech-purchase-fails#IDComment72490085 I have to say that this entire situation is sad and confusing. Most troubling is the Superintendants remarks last nights where he said he was "Sugar coating" the gains. I would like to suggest the word compromise. Lets start with one part. Perhaps the choice of a blended class or a traditional class especially since they approved the computer purchase. Keep the electives in the regular school to cut down on all the insane travel, and save the districts from lawsuits iif the kids are hurt during the travel period. Administrators should not be yelling at students for voicing their opinions. People who sign up to speak at the board meetings should not be called by administrators and lawyers-that is intimidation. If they do not listen Grand Rapids will be having its own Tea Party to get rid of these touchy feelly, passs the kids just to make it look good ideas. Time for compromise. Tue, 4 May 2010 19:19:36 +0000 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/education/Move-to-delay-GRPS-tech-purchase-fails#IDComment72490085 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/education/GRPS-explains-blended-class-model#IDComment71596461 I am most concerned about the HUB After 2 "Blended Classes" and 2 regular she has to get on a bus and go to band. Then go to another school for Volley ball. 5th hour will just be wasted in travel time-plus having to tote the instrument all over the place, Thats lots of teenagers traveling during the day. Looks like I will have to get her a cell phone just to make sure she gets to all those placeds safely. Right Now I drop her pff and pick her up from the same school. I would also like to see the entire written plan The website has changed the outline, then Monday the memo to the board changed how things would be done.. I can see a role to technology in education but I think parents and students should be able to oick between blended and traditional and take all the classes traditional if they wish. I would also like band and art back at each individual High school so my daughter can attend school in one building. Sat, 1 May 2010 03:08:04 +0000 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/education/GRPS-explains-blended-class-model#IDComment71596461 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/education/GRPS-board-meeting-at-Ottawa-Hills-High#IDComment71013000 When I heard they were talking about 018 students in a classroom plugged in and only seeing a teacher once a week or so I thought someone was telling a bad joke. 100 kids hooked into computers is not a class, it like something out of one of those robot moves. You can’t just plug kids in and dump the facts into their brain by attaching them to a machine.. Kids need not only the facts, but the reason and history behind them . They need classroom sizes where they don’t just memorize the old ideas but create things, imagine things, and come up with new and better ways of doing things. I know money is tight- but the dollars we have need to pay for teachers-not administrator. Looking at that long list of administrators making over 100,000 they should be the first ones to draw the unemployment. The district can function without all those folks above the principals and teacher. Schools need teachers, principals, l discipline, libraries, pencils and yes computers. Anyone not directly working students we can’t afford.” Wed, 28 Apr 2010 02:10:38 +0000 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/education/GRPS-board-meeting-at-Ottawa-Hills-High#IDComment71013000 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/education/GRPS-board-meeting-at-Ottawa-Hills-High#IDComment71012689 I am helping write this for my 84 year aunt. Here are her thoughts be be civil. “I graduated from South High School. I have lived through World War II, Korea, Vietnam, The Civil Rights Movement, Desert storm, 911 and Iraq. After the Lord and my family teachers were the most positive influences in my life. As one of 7 kids and growing up dirt poor, school was a safe place, with caring teachers (mostly tough), and relationships that have lasted a lifetime. I remember the first color tv and the first computers. Change is not a bad thing. I used computers in the job I just retired from and those machines are great tools to help get work done. I use my computer at home to check on my accounts, get email, and even watch some old movies. There is a big difference between using a computer to get work done and being plugged into one to watch “teaching movi’”s and push buttons to answer questions. Wed, 28 Apr 2010 02:09:32 +0000 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/education/GRPS-board-meeting-at-Ottawa-Hills-High#IDComment71012689 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/education/GRPS-board-meeting-at-Ottawa-Hills-High#IDComment70764151 This meeting was NOT about Dr. Taylor. It was NOt about the union. It was about parents expressing the opinion that they would like to see the entire plan in writing, they want theE2020 reserach made available. All the students and parents who spoke were against the plan. Many stated that the felt the board had not followed their own policies. Dr. Taylor responded that if the board did not wish to balance the budget this way that they needed to give him more direction. Tue, 27 Apr 2010 03:08:32 +0000 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/education/GRPS-board-meeting-at-Ottawa-Hills-High#IDComment70764151