History of IDEA
Jeannie Oakes, Founder and Former Director
Youth Voice in School Finance
NEW REPORT: Los Angeles' road to A-G for all
Without Dollars and Sense Powerpoint
Past Educational Opportunity Reports
Controlling a classroom isn't as easy as ABC
- 12-15-2009
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By Seema Mehta/Los Angeles Times
Students filed into Chris Cox's dim classroom at Daniel Webster Middle School in Los Angeles' Sawtelle neighborhood, took their seats and immediately began working on a language arts warmup exercise. While Cox took roll, the eighth-graders silently worked. When they went over the answers, students raised their hands and waited to be called on. Down the corridor, seventh-graders streamed into Brent Walmsley's classroom and took over. Some sat on table tops; others wandered around the room, pausing to grab foamy handfuls of hand sanitizer that sloshed on the floor. As Walmsley took attendance, one boy brushed his hair, three girls sucked on lollipops while one sang Pink Dollaz's "Lap Dance," and a boy in the last row unleashed a barrage of spitballs. The day's warm-up was quickly forgotten. Same school, same day, similar students, similar teachers -- yet profoundly different behavior. (more...)
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