Alvur

Thanks for the advice. I've seen firsthand that teachers who try to be too authoritarian in a classroom end up losing all respect or ability to manage their classroom.

As for the charter school, I'm not really taking sides one way or another about that though I know they can be politically volatile. I've never been to a charter but I did spend some time in a small private school and the difference in quality between education there and in public high school was night and day. I'm interning there to get a better idea for how a successful charter operates because I think it is valuable to see different strategies for education.

I want to eventually work as an education reformer and so I'm mostly interested in what good teaching and good administrative practices look like - regardless of origin. I think it is silly that public and charter are at war with each other instead of learning from each other.

I'm an aspiring educator working towards my degree in History before applying for a teacher certification program. I'll be interning with a charter school this summer in Harlem and eventually hope to work in a school in a poor or inner-city school where the most help is needed.

What advice do you have about teaching in a low-income community?