Twelve Days - A Milwaukee Christmas

Today @ Marcus Center - 1 PM

Dec. 24, 2007

midnight

The latest First Stage production tells the little known story of how a Milwaukee native discovered a Christmas tradition. In Twelve DaysA Milwaukee Christmas, which plays today at the Marcus Center at 1 p.m., Downer College teacher Emily Brown discovers the then-little-known Christmas song “The 12 Days of Christmas” while in Britain and brings it back to Milwaukee.

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This state cannot sustain the level of spending it...

This state cannot sustain the level of spending it has enjoyed. Tough decisions were needed and Governor Scott Walker is doing what we elected him to do. Thank you Governor Walker and the courageous GOP legislators that will balance the budget.
Recall the 14 losers that did what liberal Democrats always do...cut and run. This time to Illinois.

Anonymous more than 13 years ago

I've tutored many people both young and old, so I ...

I've tutored many people both young and old, so I see the failure of education. This failure was back in the 70's, this failure is still happening in the 2010's. One of my most difficult challenges back in the day was the son of a preacher, I helped him finish High School, then his family moved away. He never did get through college, he is now a hot-headed, gun-toting, ex-prison guard, independent carpenter.
In my opinion, the fault lies more with the teacher than with the student. Sure, you have an attitude problem with many students, where they have been pre-programmed by life experiences that education is not going to do them any good. But, when people do want the learn, it is the teacher or teaching methods that are holding them back.
We often think the the very brightest of any subject should be placed at the front of that classroom, but that is not enough. They often get drawn off into better paying, non-teaching jobs. Good teachers, on the other hand, need to be very well versed in the varying personality types of the students, need to know many teaching techniques to reach these diverse students.
And in case anyone wants to point out race as being this diversity among students, you are wrong. I've seen huge diversity of learning styles even within the same pure white traditional family!
Some student attitude problems...

I'll work down at the plant for big union wages like my daddy did, why should I learn in school?
The richest people I know are not the ones who are book-smart, the book-smart people I know are not rich. Why should I try to be book-smart?
School is a waste of my time, doesn't teach me what I need to know on the street, jobs don't hire my kind anyway.
I'm so busy working my social A-game (who gets to date who, who respects who), that I don't have time to learn what the teacher wants.
Minority elitism of those with the knowledge, they don't want too many who are educated and allowed to practice. Like keeping it to just a few lawyers who pass the bar, just a few doctors who are in the AMA, it limits supply, keeps their pay high, keeps the elite club in control.

The teachers need to know how to cut through these student's anti-education attitudes. And they need to know how to adapt to the students differing styles. Not easy when poverty values are a big factor. Worst case I heard of was the frustrated math teacher who yelled "Don't understand, just memorize". She apparently was failing to provide the right kind of repetitive examples on the blackboard, failed to show the relevancy to real issues in people's lives, failed to show how the problem can be approached in a number of ways, and they all get to the right answer.
I have even dropped out of college classes where the professor was failing to teach the class. Example was when I only got 65% on the 6-week exam, but it was classified as an AB. Told me that nobody was learning, so I dropped, took the same course next semester under a different prof.
Too many students complain, "I want that vocational certificate to get that job, why does that certificate need algebra or geometry, I'll never use that stuff." To them, education is just a conspiracy tool to slow down the flow of people into the workforce, not enough jobs to go around anyway.
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Will Scott Walker policies help or hurt? On the one hand, being able to fire the loyal dues paying failures who protected by seniority or tenure will help clear the way for the "rain-makers", sure. But the true goal was to reduce the pay to taxpayer affordable, service worker levels. To many Wisconsin taxpayer parents (see my list of "Attitude" problems above), teaching past 6th grade is a waste, and it is political indoctrination of liberal values, forcing their children to be among the wrong class of students, etc. Teachers are just "age 12 daycare" for when the adolescent hormones are ruling their children's lives, so that both parents can work their suburb lifestyle supporting jobs.
These taxpayers will get what they want, the reduction of their taxes, the end of "redistribution of their wealth to the undeserving", but it will not teach their own children, will definitley not teach other people's children, the ones that their own business needs as future customers and clients.
Walker is doing nothing to reward the good teachers, doing nothing to bring in larger numbers of teachers, doing nothing to improve the school environment, doing nothing to provide future good-paying jobs for today's students, doing nothing to implement performance based teacher compensation.
I've heard that out in the rich sub-divisions (not even suburb cities anymore), they have many college educated spouses, eligible for teaching, but staying at home, not one wants to enter that classroom. Probably won't until they can get that paycheck and benefits equaling what the working spouse is making.

Anonymous more than 13 years ago

Beautiful place... great shows! Love the lights!...

Beautiful place... great shows! Love the lights!

Leah more than 15 years ago

I think you're talking about the Domes....

I think you're talking about the Domes.

Anonymous more than 15 years ago