The promise for all of America

The urban school system is not viewed upon very positively. When I think of urban schools, I think of movies such as The Principal or Dangerous Minds, where the teachers need to start beating the crap out of their students in order to get them to pay attention. And of course, the schools are stereotypically run down shanty houses. I'm not the type of person who wants to teach gang bangers how to do addition, so the thought of me teaching in an urban school district would scare me. "The Promise of Urban Schools" is an article by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform, and it's purpose is to enlighten teachers on what the urban school systems are about, and how to teach prouctively in such conditions.
This article's tips for teachers can also be applied to teaching anywhere, since they are methods that can be used on any student. Thinking about the different guidelines that the article gives (the AEIOU acronym...so witty) is a good guide to thinking about the different aspects of teaching. It states that in order for a student to properly learn something, they need to "own" the material they are learning. In order for a student to own knowledge, they need to have it associated with something that they are actively interested in. Points like this are what make this article worth reading, and worth looking back over as somebody progresses through their teaching career.