Denver Teachers Get New Contract

I need to find out more about ProComp, the merit-pay plan. But a mere $150 or so a month after taxes for teaching in quote-unquote ‘high poverty schools’ (warning, code words!) is pretty sad.

‘Denver teachers voted 3-1 to approve a three-year contract with the Denver Public Schools Tuesday. “It was the best deal we could get for our members,” said Kim Ursetta, president of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association of the contract. … The vote was 77.5 percent to accept the agreement and 22.5 percent to reject it. A total of 1,877 votes were cast. The DPS board has already approved the contract, which is the first multiple-year deal in 20 years. It goes into effect immediately and runs through Aug. 31, 2011. Under its provisions, all teachers will get a cost of living increase of 3 percent, and in each of the next two years, salary will increase by an amount equal to the Consumer Price Index plus .25 percent.
‘… If DPS is able to merge its retirement system with the state, another increase of .4 percent above the index will be added. The new agreement calls for teachers getting more time for training and planning with five “late start” days in 2008-2009. If DPS completes its retirement merger before June 30, 2009, teachers will get an extra school day in 2010-2011. The contract also provides for some changes to ProComp, Denver’s groundbreaking pay-for-performance plan. Starting in 2008-2009, bonuses such as teaching in high poverty schools will be increased to $2,345 each year.’
—Rocky Mountain News

An immediate three percent at my current salary here in California is about $100 a month … before taxes. In other words, a tank of gas. Whoop-de-doop.

Of course, even that would actually be great. We’ve been working without a contract since June and go to fact-finding in October. It’s going to be a rough fall. So even a couple hundred extra sounds good to us in PUSD. ★

• 311 Words written by Steve @ 20:04 | 09-Sep-08 in & • Share a Thought

New Bulletin Board for Social Studies

My new digs at the elementary school are really nice and I’m very happy with the room (and everything else). The staff is wonderful, the administration/office is great, and the atmosphere is a breath of fresh air.

I’ve spent a week working on the room. I was delayed getting started a day, when a broken pipe flooded our three fifth grade classrooms. Mine was furthest away from the water, and it was cleaned and dried over night, but my partner teacher had to have entirely new flooring and won’t be able to get started on her classroom until Friday, giving her basically one day to get her room ready for the first day of school. A nightmare for her.

Me? I’m ready to go! Let’s get it going! You guys like my new social studies bulletin board? I worked very hard on it!

SocialStudiesBulletinBoard

More photos later.

We were shown the ins and outs of the new math adoption this morning and went over our students’ achievement data this afternoon. More staff development and putting final touches on the room tomorrow and we’re ready for prime time. Gonna be a fabulous new year! ★

• 193 Words written by Steve @ 22:21 | 27-Aug-08 in & • Share a Thought

The Big Read

The Big Read is ‘an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. The NEA presents The Big Read in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest.’

The Big Read ‘answers a big need. Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America, a 2004 report by the National Endowment for the Arts, found that not only is literary reading in America declining rapidly among all groups, but that the rate of decline has accelerated, especially among the young. The concerned citizen in search of good news about American literary culture would study the pages of this report in vain.’

The Big Read ‘reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they’ve printed.’ I guess I’m above average, according to their list.

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you LOVE.

1. Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
2. The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien
3. Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
4. Harry Potter series – JK Rowling (4 of them)
5. To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
6. The Bible (some of it)
7. Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
8. Nineteen Eighty Four – George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
11. Little Women – Louisa M Alcott
12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare (90% done)
15. Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks
18. Catcher in the Rye – JD Salinger
19. The Time Traveller’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch – George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House – Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
25. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
26. Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh
27. Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28. Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
29. Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
30. The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame
31. Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
32. David Copperfield – Charles Dickens
33. Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis
34. Emma – Jane Austen
35. Persuasion – Jane Austen
36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – CS Lewis
37. The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
38. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – Louis De Bernieres
39. Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
40. Winnie the Pooh – AA Milne
41. Animal Farm – George Orwell
42. The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. A Prayer for Owen Meaney – John Irving
45. The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins
46. Anne of Green Gables – LM Montgomery
47. Far From The Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy
48. The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
49. Lord of the Flies – William Golding
50. Atonement – Ian McEwan
51. Life of Pi – Yann Martel
52. Dune – Frank Herbert
53. Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons
54. Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen
55. A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth
56. The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57. A Tale Of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
58. Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon
60. Love In The Time Of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61. Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck
62. Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
63. The Secret History – Donna Tartt
64. The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
65. Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas
66. On The Road – Jack Kerouac
67. Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy
68. Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding
69. Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie
70. Moby Dick – Herman Melville
71. Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens
72. Dracula – Bram Stoker
73. The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett
74. Notes From A Small Island – Bill Bryson
75. Ulysses – James Joyce
76. The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath
77. Swallows and Amazons – Arthur Ransome
78. Germinal – Emile Zola
79. Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray
80. Possession – AS Byatt
81. A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
82. Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
83. The Color Purple – Alice Walker
84. The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro
85. Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert
86. A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry
87. Charlotte’s Web – EB White
88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven – Mitch Albom
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90. The Faraway Tree Collection – Enid Blyton
91. Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
92. The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93. The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks
94. Watership Down – Richard Adams
95. A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole
96. A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute
97. The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas
98. Hamlet – William Shakespeare
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl
100. Les Miserables – Victor Hugo

Great stuff, even with many obvious omissions. Pass it on! ★

• 700 Words written by Steve @ 21:57 | 27-Aug-08 in & • Share a Thought

So Noted

‘The public schools have always been the friends of the people, and no other system has ever accomplished the good that they have. The different legislatures in the several states have long since decided this, in establishing public schools, that the rich and the poor, side by side, might attend, and receive the self-same instruction, which is for the betterment of each generation. In a republican form of government, general education is considered of paramount importance, hence the public schools. Cite me in a community, a town, or a city that has an excellent public school system, and I will point to one that is alive to its needs and requirements. A man who is unfriendly to public schools is an enemy to his country.’ [Emphasis added]
—Las Cruces Public Schools Catalogue, 1900-01

• 134 Words written by Steve @ 12:38 | 07-Apr-08 in & • Share a Thought

50 Things Learned in 50 Years

I stumbled across Eric Zorn’s «50 things learned in 50 years» via «MetaFilter» and I may try to transmit some of the more important lessons to my students soon. My favorites:

‘2. Promptness shows respect.
3. You can’t avoid offending people from time to time. When you don’t mean it, apologize. When you do mean it, accept the consequences.
6. The most valuable thing to have is a good reputation, and it’s neither hard nor expensive to acquire one: Be fair. Be honest. Be trustworthy. Be generous. Respect others.
7. Prejudice and bigotry is hard-wired into us. You can’t overcome it until you acknowledge it.
10. Empathy is the greatest virtue. From it, all virtues flow. Without it, all virtues are an act.
11. The Golden Rule is the greatest moral truth. If you don’t believe in it, at least try to fake it.
13. You can’t win arguing with police officers or referees, but every so often you can fight City Hall.
14. It’s not “political correctness” that dictates that we try not to insult others’ beliefs and identities. It’s common decency.
19. It’s never a shame when you admit you don’t know something, and often a shame when you assume that you do.
21. Fear of failure is a ticket to mediocrity. If you’re not failing from time to time, you’re not pushing yourself. And if you’re not pushing yourself, you’re coasting.
22. Anyone who judges you by the kind of car you drive or shoes you wear isn’t someone worth impressing.
23. Grudges are poison. The only antidote is to let them go.
24. If you’re in a conversation and you’re not asking questions, then it’s not a conversation, it’s a monologue.
26. Great parents can have rotten kids and rotten parents can have great kids. But even though biology plays a huge role in destiny, that’s no excuse to give up or stop trying.
31. Physical attraction is nice, but shared values and a shared sense of humor are the real keys to lasting love.
33. The 10-minute jump start is the best way to get going on a big task you’ve been avoiding. Set a timer and begin, promising yourself that you’ll quit after 10 minutes and do something else. The momentum will carry you forward.
36. Goals that you keep to yourself are just castles on the beach. If you’re determined to achieve something, tell people about it and ask them to help you stick with it.
44. When you mess up, ’fess up. It’s the fastest way, if there is one, to forgiveness.
46. Be truthful or be quiet. Lies are hard to keep track of.
47. Your education isn’t complete until you’ve learned to take a hint.
49. Whatever your passion, pursue it as though your days were numbered. Because they are.’
—Chicago Tribune

Excellent stuff. ★

• 481 Words written by Steve @ 17:46 | 09-Jan-08 in & • Share a Thought

Closing the Achievement Gap

The Boston Globe «weighs in» on closing the achievement gap between socioeconomic haves and have-nots. Their conclusion:

‘“Teach everything” should be a motto: academics, time management, study skills, and the value of a positive attitude. Instead of laboring for hours over opaque material, students should be trained to ask for help early and often. … Achievement isn’t about genes or race. It’s just making a choice to work hard. Good schools give students a personal map and the tools to do that work.’
—Boston Globe

Would that it were so pat and easy.

The editorial cites a New York Times article written by Paul Tough, in which Tough writes:

‘The evidence is now overwhelming that if you take an average low-income child and put him into an average American public school, he will almost certainly come out poorly educated.’
—New York Times

Who is Paul Tough?

‘Paul Tough is a print and broadcast journalist, originally from Toronto, now residing in New York City. He is a features editor at the New York Times Magazine, the author of a forthcoming book on poverty, race and education, and the son of Invitation to ETI founder and chief scientist Dr. Allen Tough. He recently produced a radio story on the Invitation to ETI, the history of human attempts to contact extraterrestrials, and the ways in which the search for extraterrestrial intelligence has affected his relationship with his father. The story aired in 2005 on “This American Life.”’
—IETI.Org

And what is ETI?

‘The mission of the Invitation to ETI is to establish communication with any form of extraterrestrial intelligence able to monitor our World Wide Web.’
—IETI.Org

Hmmmmm. What was that about ‘poorly educated’? ★

• 287 Words written by Steve @ 01:16 | 24-Nov-07 in & • Comment

Fresh Start

I accepted a job today in a district a couple of cities away. It came out of the blue, all of a sudden. Starting 21-Aug, I’ll be a sixth grade math and science teacher at a junior high school. It’s an interesting, unique, and potentially very beneficial opportunity, and I’m grateful to have a chance at it.

The principal called this morning as I was getting ready for yet another doctor’s appointment and asked if I were still available. We arranged an interview for 13:00. The interview last about 30 minutes or so and then he went and called a couple of my references, which were very positive (he said). He offered the job to me on the spot. We then went over and he let me pick out a classroom. I then found myself driving to the district office and going over all the necessary paperwork with a very nice HR lady.

The district is much friendlier and less closed off than my last one. I am cautiously optimistic about it. The assignment itself won’t be easy; but for various reasons I won’t go into, I think it will be much easier than my sixth grade long-term sub stint this spring, which was a real blow to my self-image and self-confidence.

So, the horse is back in the gate, and I’m about to get back in the saddle. Wish me luck. ★

• 230 Words written by Steve @ 20:46 | 07-Aug-07 in & • Comment

A Single Question

In a post titled, «Time for Regime Change in Education», Dan Brown says there is a single question to be asked:

‘A single question cuts to the heart of America’s education dilemma:
’1. spend all of their class time on only reading and math test preparation?
’2. study a balanced diet of subjects including reading, writing, math, science, social studies and civics, music, the arts, health, and physical education?’
—The Huffington Post

He further writes, ‘Unfortunately where we stand now, No Child Left Behind and its attendant logic of fixating on standardized test scores have sucked the marrow and quality time out of school days.‘

I’d have to agree … to a point. As a teacher, NCLB and the mentality surrounding it threaten to suck the life and joy and quality out of teaching as well. ★

• 135 Words written by Steve @ 12:39 | 26-Jul-07 in & • Comment

We're Creating Test-Takers, Not Students

Janet Ewell, a high school teacher in Orange County, wrote a wonderful opinion piece called «Test-Takers, Not Students» in the L.A. Times on May 26. I almost missed it. It certainly deserves wider exposure:

Test madness and centralized curriculum control squeeze creativity out of the classroom
‘It is popular to blame the federal No Child Left Behind Act for California’s educational woes, but our misery is largely homegrown and predates the 2001 law. A friend who teaches at a prestigious suburban school recently told me that she was on leave and didn’t think she was going back. “I can’t stand giving kindergartners timed standards tests and watching tears trickle down their cheeks,” she said. “It’s just not right.”
‘I know how she feels. This fall, we were at first forbidden to teach novels — any novels — in the college preparatory English classes at our high school. We must teach from the textbook because “the Holt textbook is aligned to the California content standards,” the principal said. No “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” No “To Kill a Mockingbird.” The good news is the administration at my award-winning urban district relented and is allowing us to teach one novel, now that we are done with 18 hours of California Standards Tests.
‘The bad news is the district tells us we can do so only if we use the novel to “reinforce content standards” and not “teach it cover to cover,” and the novel must “not supplant Holt’s minimum course of study.” The district allows me seven hours to teach To Kill a Mockingbird to my students, a third of whom are English learners and two-thirds of whom qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.’
LA Times

Best indictment I’ve read lately. ★

• 287 Words written by Steve @ 15:44 | 06-Jul-07 in & • Comment

Letters to Love

I love «this letter» in the Rocky Mountain News Letters to the Editor section:

‘Teachers not well-paid
‘Where does Betsy Hart get her information? In her column of Dec. 11, “This year, I’ll be celebrating a low- key Christmas,” she stated, “I really like my kids’ teachers, but they are well-compensated and I’m just not going to add to the 25 gift cards they’ll have trouble using anyway.”
‘I can assure Hart that teachers are not well-compensated and will most likely use those “25 gift cards” to purchase classroom supplies not furnished by the school district. As a retired educator of 34 years, I speak from experience.
‘Get your facts straight, Ms. Hart.
‘Fran Dismukes
‘Aurora’
—Denver Rocky Mountain News

Let’s see, with my master’s degree on Aurora Public Schools’ licensed salary schedule, I would make $38,182. Frankly, I don’t think one could live very comfortably alone in the Denver metro area on that.

Ms. Dismukes is absolutely right. Way to go, Ms. Dismukes! ★

• 161 Words written by Steve @ 23:51 | 31-Dec-06 in & • Comment

History of Religion in 90 Seconds

«Excellent visual for the classroom!»

«Excellent visual for the classroom!»

★

• 14 Words written by Steve @ 01:37 | 31-Dec-06 in & • Comment

Overheard, Holiday Edition

Overheard in a third grade classroom two weeks before Christmas:

‘Mr. Pollock, is Santa Claus real?’

Uh, go home and ask your parents, kid ★

• 24 Words written by Steve @ 01:59 | 27-Dec-06 in & • Comment

Number 236

«Happy» «Beethoven’s Birthday!»

HappyBirthdayBeethovenCartoon ★

• 7 Words written by Steve @ 19:14 | 16-Dec-06 in & • Comment

NTSA Mess Deepens

While it’s true that there is plenty of controversy that can crop up in teaching language arts and social studies, I’m really glad I don’t teach science at times like «this»:

‘The scandal at the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) just keeps getting worse. Since the Washington Post published an op-ed I wrote asking if NSTA’s puzzling decision to reject 50,000 free DVDs of Al Gore’s global warming documentary An Inconvenient Truth might – just might – have had anything to do with more than six million dollars the organization has accepted from ExxonMobil, Shell Oil, ConocoPhillips and the American Petroleum Institute, the muck keeps piling up. ExxonMobil, of course, remains the standout among a large group of fossil fuel companies that have done everything in their considerable power to delay, deflect, and derail any serious effort to cut global warming emissions. Funding scientific disinformation has long been one of their favorite tactics.
‘New evidence flatly contradicts statements NSTA has made in defense of its suspect partnerships, and efforts appear to be underway to wipe out online evidence showing that what the oil industry got in exchange was the group’s imprimatur on classroom videos, teaching guides, and other “educational” materials that play down threats like global warming and play up the glories of continued oil dependence. We also learned that NSTA is willing to sell direct access to America’s schoolteachers to any Tom, Dick or Exxon that shows up with a checkbook. And here’s the icing on the cake: NSTA Executive Director Dr. Gerry Wheeler—a top figure in the world of science education, remember—confessed to at least one reporter this week that he hadn’t actually bothered to see the acclaimed film before he turned it down.’
—Huffington Post

What a mess. ★

• 290 Words written by Steve @ 02:14 | 11-Dec-06 in & • Comment

They Write Letters

Are your children or the students in your classroom writing to Santa this year? Be sure it’s addressed correctly to:

Santa Claus
North Polo H0H 0H0
Canada

And be sure and include your return address so he can write you back. (He does, you know, and in your native language, inlcuding Esperanto.)

Or you could just go online; «Canada Post» has a handy page that lets you get Kris Kringle’s immediate attention.

Happy Holidays! ★

• 77 Words written by Steve @ 14:01 | 06-Dec-06 in & • Comment

TIAKTYVM

A whisper overheard in a classroom before Thanksgiving:

‘He’s a wrinkled old man!’
 

This has been another edition of Things I Already Knew Thank You Very Much (TIAKTYVM). ★

• 29 Words written by Steve @ 04:40 | 29-Nov-06 in & • Comment

Go Ahead and Burn It

«More of the same» in Wisconsin:

‘Some Fond du Lac parents have asked school officials to remove former U.S. poet laureate Maya Angelou’s autobiography from the high school curriculum.
‘Students at Fond du Lac High School read “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” in sophomore advanced English classes.
‘But some parents have objected to passages that describe Angelou’s rape and subsequent unwanted pregnancy. About 80 people attended a meeting at the school this week to discuss the book and the request to remove it.
‘School Superintendent Gregory Maass said the initial complaint came from one family.
‘“We had a mother and father and student who questioned the book,” he said. “The high school provided the student with an alternative book.”
‘The parents were not satisfied and asked for the book to be removed from the curriculum, Maass said.’
—WFRV.com

Which century do we live in, again? ★

• 150 Words written by Steve @ 17:44 | 26-Nov-06 in & • Comment

Turkey Day Conundrum

To sanitize Thanksgiving in the classroom, or not to sanitize Thanksgiving in the classroom … «that is the question»:

‘… an Associated Press story focusing on how teachers like Morgan (who teaches at Cleveland Elementary School in San Francisco) are “trying to portray is a different point of view” about Thanksgiving — i.e., a far less fun one.
‘Some think that’s akin to being the grinch who stole Christmas, or a rehash of Indigenous Peoples Day.
‘“He is teaching his students to hate their country,” said Janice Shaw Crouse, a former college dean and high school teacher who is now a spokeswoman for Concerned Women for America. “That is a very distorted view of history, a distorted view of Thanksgiving.”
‘Even if it’s not entirely distorted, is it a good idea?
…
‘According to James Loewen, author of ‘Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your High School History Textbook Got Wrong,’ said that during the first Thanksgiving, got along relatively well, even though the settlers were suspected of robbing Native American graves to steal food buried with the dead.
‘“Relations were strained, but yet the holiday worked. Folks got along.”
‘Not long after that, as we know, things definitely went downhill.’
—SFGate.com

Ah. The Great American Culture War. Always fun when it spills into the classroom. ★

• 216 Words written by Steve @ 17:04 | 23-Nov-06 in & • Comment

High School Analogies

A reminder of why I love the web so much: «the 25 Funniest Analogies» collected by English teachers:

Some of my favorites:

‘3. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it. …
’5. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.
’6. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever. …
’14. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.
’15. They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan’s teeth. …
’17. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant, and she was the East River. …
’19. Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.
’20. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.’
—Writing English Blog

Priceless. ★

• 216 Words written by Steve @ 05:41 | 23-Nov-06 in & • Comment

Fantasy Congress

This is an AWESOME site for us social studies geeks: «Fantasy Congress».

It’s just like those fantasy/rotisserie baseball leagues, but with congressmen and senators and legislation instead of short stops, home runs and ERA’s.

Would love to try this with a class of students! ★

• 47 Words written by Steve @ 18:51 | 24-Oct-06 in & • Comment

Seen in a Memo

I’m still trying to figure this one out:

From an elementary school’s list of Red Ribbon Week activities:

‘Thursday: Discuss grade-appropriate healthy choices. (Lollipops can be given out this day.)’

Ummmmmm … ★

• 31 Words written by Steve @ 18:42 | 24-Oct-06 in & • Comment

On Grades

Via «MetaFilter», comes «this rather interesting take on grades» from a syllabus of Professor John P. Staeck of the College of DuPage Czech American Archaelogical Field School. The professor includes the obligatory disclaimer that this is his opinion and his alone, of course:

‘I hate grades. Letters do not make us who we are and do not, usually, reflect what we know or are capable of. Nonetheless, our society has adopted the use of grades as a measure of success and capability in academic environments. I work in this society and I am obliged to follow the rules set forth by my employer and the larger education industry in general. Consequently, I assign grades.’

I personally like his final paragraph:

‘I realize this makes me a villain in the eyes of some. After all, I am not willing to “cut someone a break” for attending most of the classes or “needing to get an “A” in my class.” I do not believe my courses are particularly difficult to pass, nor is it difficult to achieve high grades in these courses. Consequently I see no good reason to pass someone solely on effort, good intentions, or even desperation to keep a scholarship or some sort of academic membership. Think of it this way, if you were having open heart surgery would you want your surgeon to be the person who mastered that course of study or the one who really tried, didn’t get it, but was passed anyway?’

I may adapt this to my middle school syllabus in the future. ★

• 263 Words written by Steve @ 21:39 | 28-Sep-06 in & • Comment

Night Before

Big interview tomorrow for a nice juicy new job. Very excited about the opportunity, hope I do well in the interview, and that they choose me. I need to get back in the real game and have a classroom of my own.

Fingers crossed! ★

• 44 Words written by Steve @ 06:19 | 27-Sep-06 in & • Comment

Quotable

‘Brilliance comes in all colors, strengths in many forms. When we learn to honor the differences and appreciate the mix, we’re on our way.’
—Kelly Ann Rothaus

• 28 Words written by Steve @ 15:39 | 25-Sep-06 in & • Comment

Academic Cheating in Universities

It appears to be a one-post blog, and that’s too bad, because the Concerned Professor had an interesting and thought-provoking beginning that deserves to be continued. In his one and only post, the Professor «wrote about academic cheating», and I’m not sure if the post itself or the comments it generated are the most interesting and revealing:

‘If collaboration and the open-source methodology are truly the future of the web, how can professors and universities deal with this? While the media and popular culture have spent countless hours extolling the virtues (and there are many) of these sorts of communities, I can’t help but wonder: How can we, the teachers and professors of the “interent generation” weed out the cheaters and liars from the honest students? How can we compete with the expectation for guiltless and effortless cheating the internet has instilled on our country’s children? I, for one, am running out of ideas.’
—The Concerned Professor

Commenters proceeded to let the professor have it up one side and down another, which is quite revealing:

‘Lastly, why do you care? Perhaps you’re one of the few professors that do, but you’re a dying breed. The only reason us student go to college is to get a piece of paper, and honestly the most helpful things we learn apply to social engineering anyways.’
—PixelBender.Junk
‘It sounds like you are a lazy professor, resistant to change, and prone to whining. Many approaches are available to deal with cheating. They are actions that raise the level of expected performance and personalize the learning experience. They include things like: writing or problem solving exercises in class—with high impact on final grade, pop quizes, feedback and grades on class participation / discussion, individual or small group projects with the requirement to turn in research notes along with the final discussion paper, projects that end with a verbal presentation and discussion—not just a paper, etc. Quit whining, change, and get to work.’
—Virchull

Wow. What an interesting society we’ve become. ★

• 336 Words written by Steve @ 23:20 | 17-Sep-06 in & • Comment

Middle School Musing

I’m in the middle of two days of subbing for a sixth grade class in a different middle school. My first experience with sixth grade confirms what I’ve long suspected: something happens to middle schoolers increasingly as they progress through the three-year period that turns them from sweet and reasonable and cooperative to smart-assed and ridiculous and sullen.

Sixth grade subbing is a joy, eighth grade involves not a small amount of pain.

So what happens? The usual suspects … puberty, top-dog/upper classman cockiness, height/weight gains that put them on par with adults, discovery of wider dating and social and networking worlds, realization that they’re not as special and individually treated as they were in elementary school, but increasingly are one of a herd of 180 moving through a teacher’s day, hence a loss of individuality and identity, and bullying/roughness that comes along increasingly at that age.

That’s my guess. We pretty much know why this happens. But the more important question is what to do about it … how to mitigate it.

Interesting stuff to ponder at midnight. ★

• 179 Words written by Steve @ 05:41 | 15-Sep-06 in & • Comment

A Return to Subbing

My words about things working out and being manageable were spoken too soon.

The weather cooled off, but my joints heated up and things got all higgledy-piggledy. I wrote the following paragraphs in an e-mail to Michigan friends, who will have to forgive me for re-posting parts of it here on the Te[a]ch blog and on our Brentwood blog (airbeagle.net). But I’m rather limited on my ability to type …

So, about that first week of teaching … yeah.

First three days of school were good. Besides one little incident, things went well. My students did great on a reading assessment I gave them on Wednesday. I thought everything was going to be fine, just had to adjust to the school, city and grade level. Would take some time, all that.

But.

Increasingly through Wednesday (2-Aug-06), I had been having more and more arthritis pain, all over. By Wednesday morning, I was waking up bawling my eyes out and barely moving. After consultation with my principal that morning, we talked about ways to ease up and not kill myself keeping up with 179 kids and he told me to take Thursday and Friday off so I could find a doctor/rheumatologist and get things under control.

It has totally trashed my emotional health at the same time and I was simply losing it. Thought I was gonna lose my mind. Not in front of the kids, but it was only a matter of time. So, I went to local urgent care, got some percoset and xanax and a referral to a rheumatologist. On Friday, I saw the rheumatologist in Walnut Creek and she was great, much better than the one I was using in Ann Arbor, and she ordered tests and x-rays and gave me vicodin and increased anti-depressants. She suspects that I have spondylosis, which is basically spinal osteoarthritis, which involves deteriorating discs and vertebrae in my back, which are causing nerve problems in the rest of me. My sister and mother have the same thing. Mom’s is especially bad. So, the x-rays will be read and next week we’ll figure out where to go from there.

She also insisted that I take the next week off of work. Since I had 11 days of sick leave, it wasn’t a problem, but it was hugely embarrassing and frustrating and I felt failure and anger and all that. Just when I needed to be on the game the most, my body failed me. But the principal was great; they had a sub that the kids love who knew what to do, I had lesson plans ready to go, and I’m stayed home, kept immobilized and let the swelling go down. Doc also pumped me full of steroids. I’m a walking pharmacy. In other words, out of the first two weeks of school, I was there only three days. Not exactly a sterling start to the year.

Over the next two weeks, the following happened: We found an unrolled condom on the sidewalk in front of my class right after school yesterday. Some drug dealing, MySpace nonsense, and anorexia (in separate incidents) had to be dealt with. I turned over a page of homework from one of my Metallica-loving students to the principal because the student had drawn swastikas and SS symbols on it; he claims that he draws such symbols because he “hates authority.” (The irony of drawing Nazi symbols in order to defy authority is just too rich to be believed; the kid needs a history lesson. Oh, yeah, that’s my job). A female student tried to get me to pronounce a word from the internet underground which means “to dominate sexually.” She was shocked when I knew what it was and what it meant and told her to never say it again. I didn’t have computer access to my gradebook until three weeks into the term, so I had to race to enter grades from three weeks of homework and quizzes for 180 kids into EasyGradeBookPro. And that’s just the stuff I can mention publically.

Okay, so yeah, that’s some bad/negative stuff, but it’s only a part of the picture. There IS lots of good stuff, every day: These kids can write, and if we didn’t spend so much time on behavior management (or if we worked with just 90 of them instead of 180), could be absolutely incredible. Most of them are bored by rigid curriculum and need to be freed from worksheets and unchallenging, 19th-century education methods. The staff and administration is wonderful and unbelievably supportive. I love the other staff members and teachers. The parents I have met so far are terrific. The principal reports that the kids love me. It hasn’t been cloudy a day since we got here from Michigan. The hot tub is fabulous (at least it was until we got the $615 utility bill for the first month and had to turn it off). And the beagle LOVES his own backyard and takes a walk to the park every morning. Vicodin is an awesome painkiller and I thank god everyday for its invention.

However, due to my recent osteoarthritis drama as noted above, which I was told had indeed spread to the spine, I left regular teaching at Edna Hill at the end of August and began subbing again. There’s just no way I can physically keep up with the demands of teaching 180 middle schoolers. So, I’m subbing temporarily and then the district will slot me into a K-2 position or a tech teacher-of-teachers position by the end of September. The district has been wonderful and gracious about it all and say they don’t want me to lose me entirely. I’m sad/disappointed about it not working out at Edna Hill, but I’ll be happier and the kids better served if I go down to K-2 and only have 22 kids to take care of. I know there are better days ahead. It just sucks when your body fails you just when you need it most. Good news is that the doc signed me up for a handicapped parking tag so now grampa gets to park up front everywhere he goes.

And so it goes. ★

• 1029 Words written by Steve @ 05:28 | 15-Sep-06 in & • Comment

Night Jitters

Finally, here comes the moment that I’ve planned and worked for for over two-and-a-half years. Tomorrow is back to school day and 179 energetic adolescents in the 7th and 8th grades will be pounding down my door for instruction.

Not exaclty what I had envisioned my job search producing, but I’m very, very happy with the situation, and the age group situtation will resolve itself quickly.

I have the usual pre-back-to-school anxieties going; same old thing I’ve dealt with for 42 years. I’ve had much, much worse in past years, so this one is looking like it’s manageable.

In fact, I’m ready to get going. It’s going to be quite a day. ★

• 110 Words written by Steve @ 04:38 | 31-Jul-06 in & • Comment

New Job, New Year

In the space of two weeks, I completed a master’s degree in educational studies with K-8 certification and accepted a position teaching 7th and 8th grade language arts at a California middle school.

Whew.

What I thought would be a fairly low-key summer has turned into a break-neck-paced couple of months.

The school begins early; 24-Jul is new teacher orientation and 31-Jul will see the kids hitting the classroom. The compensation for the early start is three, two-week vacations, in October, December, and March. So I’m not complaining, in other words.

Still, it leaves me a bit breathless. In the space of just five weeks, I have to adjust from living in Michigan and being a graduate student to living in California and being a professional middle school teacher. I’m sure I can handle it, but it’s a tall order.

First order of business: figuring out exactly what I want to do in the first days. There are plenty of options, and I know what I want to accomplish, but there are many questions to be answered first: How many kids? How big is the classroom? Do I have money to spend on supplies? Will there really be enough time in the week before the students arrive to get truly prepared?

Lots of questions, very little time to figure out answers. Such is life. I will have some time on the cross-country trip to figure out some of them. We leave Ann Arbor on 11-Jul and don’t get to Brentwood until 17-Jul, which gives me about 7 days to do some thinking and writing.

It’s going to be an exciting summer. ★

• 270 Words written by Steve @ 00:05 | 03-Jul-06 in & • Comment

How NOT to Use Blogging Technology

«Here» is how teachers should NOT use blog technology:

‘Typing rambling screeds in an anonymous blog he called “Fast Times at Regnef High,” a Fenger High School teacher unleashed his frustration over the chaos he saw around him. He labeled his Chicago students “criminals,” saying they stole from teachers, dealt drugs in the hallways, had sex in the stairwells, flaunted their pregnant bellies and tossed books out windows. He dismissed their parents as unemployed “project” dwellers who subsist on food stamps, refuse to support their “baby mommas” and bad-mouth teachers because their no-show teens are flunking. He took swipes at his colleagues, too — “union-minimum” teachers, literacy specialists who “decorate their office door with pro-black propaganda,” and security officers whose “loyalty is to the hood, not the school.” In his blog, the teacher did not identify himself or his students, the exact name of his school or even the city where he taught. But like all bloggers, he wanted an audience, so he wrote in his blog that he had leaked news of his site to a few coworkers. Soon enough, the 30-year-old teacher’s name was the talk of the school.
‘This week, after returning from Spring Break, the students read how they were depicted and flamed the blog with profane threats and righteous indignation toward the teacher. By Thursday, the reaction grew so vitriolic that the blogger took down his site from Blogger.com. Also that day, a Fenger High teacher e-mailed his principal that he wasn’t coming to school because he “feared for his safety.” The teacher was the same one widely believed to have authored the blog because he told two colleagues that it was his, Fenger Principal William Johnson said.’
—Chicago Tribune/AP

Sometimes … I wonder how some people become teachers in the first place. And why. ★

• 302 Words written by Steve @ 01:16 | 24-Apr-06 in & • Comment

Teaching to the Test Made Lucrative

I’ve spent a long holiday break just resting and then starting back for the downhill half of grad school. It’s intense, but manageable. We’re collapsing four months of coursework into one month to clear the decks for lead teaching in March and April. It’ll be worth it when it’s done, but it’s a bit tedious right now.

Looking at education news that’s been happening since I’ve been on break: «Houston has decided to pay teachers by how well they teach to tests»:

‘Over the objections of the teachers’ union, the Board of Education here on Thursday unanimously approved the nation’s largest merit pay program, which calls for rewarding teachers based on how well their students perform on standardized tests. The $14.5 million program, which immediately replaces a model with lower incentives, would distribute up to $3,000 annually per teacher and up to $25,000 for senior administrators. …
‘The pay incentives are to be based on three components, or “strands.” One will reward teachers based on how much their school’s test scores have improved compared with the scores of 40 other schools with similar demographics around the state. Another will compare student progress on the Stanford 10 Achievement test and its Spanish-language equivalent to that of students in similar classrooms in the Houston district. The third measure will be student progress on the statewide Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test, as compared with that in similar Houston classrooms. …
‘Rigorous statewide testing to gauge student achievement has been an article of faith in Texas for years. But in 1999 the Texas Education Agency began investigating Houston and other districts because of suspicious results on the statewide test. Last year, the Houston school board said it had found evidence of cheating at four schools and testing irregularities at seven more. A half-dozen teachers were fired, and several principals were demoted or reprimanded.’
—New York Times

Lovely. ★

• 309 Words written by Steve @ 00:13 | 16-Jan-06 in & • Comment

Classic Classroom Vignettes, Episode VIN1

And now another episode of Classic Classroom Vignettes:

[Male student reading a story he had written about his brother during Writing Workshop] ‘And then he gave me a big ol’ wedgie!’
Female student: ‘Mr. Pollock, what’s a wedgie?’

This has been another episode of Classic Classroom Vignettes. ★

• 47 Words written by Steve @ 01:20 | 30-Nov-05 in & • Comment

Playground Vignettes 2

From the I’m-Not-Creative-Enough-To-Make-This-Stuff-Up Department:

Kid 1: ‘Santa Claus ain’t real, it’s just your parents!’
Kid 2: ‘Santa Claus is too real, ‘cause my parents can’t afford all that stuff!’

• 27 Words written by Steve @ 10:34 | 28-Nov-05 in & • Comment

Playground Vignettes 1

Muslim Kid: Mr. Pollock, what does this graffiti mean?

Graffiti underneath slide says the Bible equals ignorance.

Jewish Kid: Mr. Pollock, what’s the Bible?

• 24 Words written by Steve @ 10:33 | 28-Nov-05 in & • Comment

Froggy Voice

I have what has been described as ‘Lower El Laryngitis,’ an affliction which seems to hit teachers in the lower grades their first year or two out. In came on inexplicably, with barely a sore throat and no fever or other complaints and has left me without a voice for a week now.

I was supposed to teach a Writing Workshop session Monday morning, but that will have to be cancelled, because my speech is completely unreliable at this point. The long five-day Thanksgiving holiday was a blessing; I caught the dreaded Lower El Laryngitis at the right time. But if it doesn’t go away soon, it’s going to really screw up my last three weeks of the term when I need my voice the most.

Otherwise, grad school is … going. It has its moments of high stress/high anxiety and its moments of ‘this isn’t such a big deal.’ There has been high drama, a few celebrations, some hilarity, some hijinks, some ‘awwww’ moments, a couple of scares … in other words, pretty much what I expected.

I was reading back over my postings from last spring and noticed these two:

‘Posted @ 21:06 | 21-Apr-05
‘I finally returned my ELMAC preferences form to the School of Ed today. The week’s delay reflects my … internal ambivalence, shall we say, about the program and whether going upwards of $60,000 in debt is worth it.
‘I’m not sure these doubts will ever go away, at least not before June ‘06. But lord knows I’ve been wrong about these things before.’

and

‘Posted @ 21:04 | 13-Apr-05
‘Received the kick-off communique for ELMAC 8 today: an e-mail from Dr. Reischl with all the little details and things that have to be done by June 28, which is orientation day.
‘I’m still a bit unsure about whether I should do the program or not and why I’m doing it and all that. But I have no really compelling reason not to move forward, so here we go.’

Such ambivalence! And now, as we’re a mere three weeks away from the halfway point, it’s almost time to pause and reflect (there’s that grad school word yet again!) and try to decide if I’m still ambivalent … if the $60,000 in debt is still worth it … if my doubts have gone away … why I’m doing it … and have any compelling reasons to NOT be doing this reared their ugly heads?

My answers at this point:

1. Still ambivalent for very complex reasons having to do with just how well prepared in practical teaching the program is making me (as opposed to theoretical teaching).

2. Is debt ever really worth it? Still very, very scary and very, very expensive to be so ambivalent about (see #1).

3. Doubts? See the previous 2 answers.

4. Why? I know why. And I am committed to public education and to making life better for kids. No qualms there.

5. What else would I be doing if not this? Subbing? Being utterly miserable in a cubicle farm somewhere? Lord no.

More reflection at the halfway point will be forthcoming as I get two-and-a-half weeks off for Christmas. In the meantime, there’s the monstrous literacy unit plan, the ridiculous final math methods requirements and exam and all the Michigan Matters munchkins to mentor, as well as three weeks of read alouds, writing workshops, math enrichment and guided reading groups with the second graders to get through.

I will say this: We have the brightest, most wonderful second graders anywhere. I am truly blessed with my cooperating teacher and the 23 students in our class. And that makes this Thanksgiving meaningful this year. ★

• 595 Words written by Steve @ 00:41 | 28-Nov-05 in & • Comment

Computer C.O.R.E. Equips Students for Life

In other Digital Divide news, comes success stories about «Computer C.O.R.E.»:

‘When Abdul Agermoune came to America in 1999, he had never used a computer. He had never sent an e-mail or even seen a mouse. None of his friends or relatives in Morocco had ever owned a computer — and although he had been accepted to George Mason University to study Economics, he was ill equipped to handle the technological challenge of being a modern student. “Computer C.O.R.E. opened the door,” he said. “I now have the skills that are needed to enter the job force.” Now, Agermoune has a job at Wright Pattman Congressional Federal Credit Union — a job he got on the condition that he complete the Computer C.O.R.E. program. In April, he became a financial analyst. He credits much of his success to the nonprofit organization that taught him how to use a computer. “I told myself that I was going to start coming every day because I didn’t want to disappoint the manager who hired me,” Agermoune said. “I even learned how to type.”’
—The Connection

‘Ill-equipped to handle the technological challenge of being a modern student.’ Key phrase. Schools must equip students in technological ways or students will fail. It’s that simple. ★

• 218 Words written by Steve @ 01:19 | 20-Nov-05 in & • Comment

Equipping Teachers to Fulfill Federal Tech Mandates

A little known portion of NCLB states that all students in the eighth grade must be technologically proficient by June 2006, some 6+ months from now.

In Oshkosh, WI, «teachers are finding enthusiasm for blogging», as well as general technology in the classroom:

‘The technology lessons are part of an effort to make sure all Oshkosh teachers are technologically proficient and able to help their students meet one of the lesser-known provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind education reform law. The NCLB law, which increased testing in reading and math for students in third- through eighth-grade, also includes a provision requiring all eighth-graders to be technology literate by June 2006. But as Oshkosh Technology Director Scott Colantonio works to help the district meet the new standards, it’s not the students he’s worried about. “They are so quick to do all this stuff. What I get concerned about is bringing the staff up to speed,’ Colantonio said.’
—The Northwestern

And that’s the interesting twist; ed tech represents a flip-flop in traditional roles since most students are very tech-savvy and most teachers are not. Teachers have to get tech proficient and districts have to make tech investments. And it’s the law. ★

• 202 Words written by Steve @ 01:19 | 20-Nov-05 in & • Comment

The $100 Laptop

In Digital Divide news, the Wall Street Journal reports that the «$100 laptop is closer to reality»:

‘A novel plan to develop a $100 laptop computer for distribution to millions of schoolchildren in developing countries has caught the interest of governments and the attention of computer-industry heavyweights. First announced in January by Nicholas Negroponte, the founding chairman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab, the initiative appears to be gaining steam. Mr. Negroponte is scheduled to demonstrate a working prototype of the device with United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan on Wednesday at a U.N. technology conference in Tunisia. Mr. Negroponte and other backers say they have held discussions with at least two dozen countries about purchasing the laptops and that Brazil and Thailand have expressed the most interest so far. In addition, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney recently proposed spending $54 million to buy one of the laptops for every student in middle school and high school in his state. Although no contracts with governments have been signed, Negroponte says current plans call for producing five to ten million units beginning in late 2006 or early 2007, with tens of millions more a year later. Five companies — Google Inc., Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Red Hat Inc., News Corp. and Brightstar Corp. — have each provided $2 million to fund a nonprofit organization called One Laptop Per Child that was set up to oversee the project. Mr. Negroponte says five companies are bidding to make the laptop, although he declined to name them.’
—<em>Wall Street Journal</em>

This will bear watching, as it would be a godsend to schools. ★

• 270 Words written by Steve @ 01:18 | 20-Nov-05 in & • Comment

Open Blogs Supplant Locked Diaries

Schools better get used to it: Teens have moved «from locked diaries to open blogs»:

‘According to the Pew survey, 57 percent of all teenagers between 12 and 17 who are active online — about 12 million — create digital content, from building Web pages to sharing original artwork, photos and stories to remixing content found elsewhere on the Web. Some 20 percent publish their own Web logs.’
—New York Times

The implications are huge. And if schools don’t get ahead of the curve, the chaos will be huge as well. ★

• 86 Words written by Steve @ 01:18 | 20-Nov-05 in & • Comment

Podcasting Comes to Elementary Schools

Technology is moving so fast that public education, always hard-pressed to keep up, is getting further behind. The relatively recent advent of podcasting is a perfect example; most schools and teachers don’t even recognize the value of websites, let alone blogging, let alone podcasting.

But fortunately, there are some tech-minded people in education who are showing how public education and cutting edge technology can come together in positive ways. In Virginia, «Camilla Gagliolo uses podcasts to re-imagine the iPod as a learning tool»:

‘At some schools, the rules are clear: Kids can chill out to downloaded music on portable players, but once they’re inside, iPods and other learning distractions must be stowed in backpacks or lockers and kept there. At Jamestown Elementary School in Arlington, Camilla Gagliolo took another approach. Rather than fighting the fad, she’s capitalizing on it by giving students iPods and re-imagining them as a learning tool. “It just makes so much sense. They are so drawn to this technology. They are so excited by it. They’re comfortable with it,” said Gagliolo, the school’s technology coordinator. Using little more than an iPod and a school computer, Gagliolo and her students have been making podcasts — online radio shows that can be downloaded to an iPod or other portable MP3 player. Avidly discussing their favorite iPod colors and models while they made recordings of their poems and book reports the other day, the fifth-graders bubbled with ideas for future subjects. “We could read parts of books, to show why we like them. We could do interviews. If there’s a field trip, we could make a recording of it and post it,” said Mohamed El Sayed, 10. “Kids anywhere will like to hear about us.” … Teachers say the benefits of making podcasts are clear: The trendy technology and the possibility of a wider audience motivate students. “My students research better, read more, write better and understand the material,” said Beth Sanborn, a fifth-grade teacher at Willowdale Elementary School, near Omaha, where students have been making podcasts since last spring.’
—MSNBC.com

There’s an emphasis on researching and shaping facts into scripts before making the podcasts. And parents seem to love the idea of hearing what their children are doing in school. It could solve the age-old parent-kid conversational problem, ‘How was school today?’ ‘Fine.’ ‘What did you do?’ ‘Stuff.’

Overcoming the inherent bureaucratic inertia and bias is a crucial problem, which the article doesn’t address. Nor does it address the need for ‘rules of the road;’ blogging and podcasting in schools need structure and authentic pedagogy underlying them. They should be seen, like all technology, as useful tools, a means to an end, not the end itself. But this article provides a hopeful sign at least. ★

• 457 Words written by Steve @ 01:18 | 20-Nov-05 in & • Comment

The Ever-Widening Digital Divide

There’s always some interesting reading over at Web-logged, which is a blog about the ‘Read-Write Web in the Classroom.’ «This particular post about the Digital Divide», which is something we worked on at NorthPoint way back in 1999-2000, is particularly sobering, especially about the following facts:

‘• Two-thirds of America’s poor do not have access.
• More than 80 percent of non high school grads are offline.
• Because the middle class has gotten connected, Internet access is generally assumed in this country, meaning the digital divide is more problematic than ever.
• With more an more government services going online, the result is only the priveleged can take part.
• Most bloggers and blog readers are white and well off which squeezes many out of the public discourse.’
—Andy Carvin, via Web-logged

And that’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. We need to address this in K-12 education immediately, and teachers seem way too afraid of the technology to do so right now. ★

• 166 Words written by Steve @ 01:17 | 20-Nov-05 in & • Comment

White Flight in Silicon Valley

We’ve been scratching the surface of the role of race in education during our literacy methods class this fall, mainly by reading «Lisa Delpit’s The Silenced Dialogue» and «Peggy McIntosh’s White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack»", which mostly concern black students. Now comes a new angle on the issue: «White flight in the face of over-achieving Asian students in Silicon Valley»:

‘Over the past 10 years, the proportion of white students at Lynbrook has fallen by nearly half, to 25% of the student body. At Monta Vista, white students make up less than one-third of the population, down from 45% — this in a town that’s half white. Some white Cupertino parents are instead sending their children to private schools or moving them to other, whiter public schools. More commonly, young white families in Silicon Valley say they are avoiding Cupertino altogether. White students are far outnumbered by Asians at Monta Vista High School in Cupertino, Calif. Whites aren’t quitting the schools because the schools are failing academically. Quite the contrary: Many white parents say they’re leaving because the schools are too academically driven and too narrowly invested in subjects such as math and science at the expense of liberal arts and extracurriculars like sports and other personal interests. The two schools, put another way that parents rarely articulate so bluntly, are too Asian. …
‘Some students struggle in Cupertino’s high schools who might not elsewhere. Monta Vista’s Academic Performance Index, which compares the academic performance of California’s schools, reached an all-time high of 924 out of 1,000 this year, making it one of the highest-scoring high schools in Northern California. Grades are so high that a ‘B’ average puts a student in the bottom third of a class. “We have great students, which has a lot of upsides,” says April Scott, Monta Vista’s principal. “The downside is what the kids with a 3.0 GPA think of themselves.” Ms. Scott and her counterpart at Lynbrook know what’s said about their schools being too competitive and dominated by Asians. “It’s easy to buy into those kinds of comments because they’re loaded and powerful,” says Ms. Scott, who adds that they paint an inaccurate picture of Monta Vista. Ms. Scott says many athletic programs are thriving and points to the school’s many extracurricular activities. She also points out that white students represented 20% of the school’s 29 National Merit Semifinalists this year.’
—Wall Street Journal

Interesting reading. ★

• 401 Words written by Steve @ 00:18 | 20-Nov-05 in & • Comment

Separate Magisteriums

Something to keep in mind for Science Methods class in January:

‘Darwin did not use evolution to promote atheism, or to maintain that no concept of God could ever be squared with the structure of nature. Rather, he argued that nature’s factuality, as read within the magisterium of science, cannot resolve, or even specify, the existence or character of God, the ultimate meaning of life, the proper foundations of morality, or any other question within the different magisterium of religion.’
—Stephen Jay Gould

• 83 Words written by Steve @ 01:01 | 23-Oct-05 in & • Comment

Blogging for Second Graders

Tuesday night at ‘Curriculum Night’ at our school, I’m scheduled to discuss with the parents of our class my blogging project. I happened on «this article about blogging in schools», which will help reinforce my presentation:

‘Last spring, when Marisa L. Dudiak’s second-grade class in Frederick County, Md., returned from a field trip to a Native American farm, all the students wanted to do was talk about what they saw. But instead of leading a discussion about the trip, Dudiak had the students sign on to their classroom Web log. There they wrote about learning to use a bow and arrow, sitting inside a tepee and petting a buffalo. The short entries were typical of second-grade writing, with misspelled words and simple sentences. Still, for Dudiak, the exercise proved more fruitful than a group discussion or a handwritten entry in a personal journal. “It allowed them to interact with their peers more quickly than a journal,” she said, “and it evened the playing field.” Dudiak said she found that those who were quiet in class usually came alive online. … For teachers, blogs are attractive because they require little effort to maintain, unlike more elaborate classroom Web sites, which were once heralded as a boon for teaching. Helped by templates found at sites like tblog.com and movabletype.org, teachers can build a blog or start a new topic in an existing blog by simply typing text into a box and clicking a button. Such ease of use is the primary reason that Peter Grunwald, an education consultant, predicts that blogs will eventually become a more successful teaching tool than Web sites.’
—New York Times

Ergo, the main rationale for my discussion with parents Tuesday night. I doubt any will have objections. I’ve been careful to think through security aspects as well as the rationale for why I want the kids to do this. Should be interesting to hear what comes up. ★

• 323 Words written by Steve @ 02:35 | 11-Sep-05 in & • Comment

Sophisticated Second Graders

Since I’m interning with second graders during my year of grad studies, «this article about schools’ sophisticated approach to second grade» from last January caught my eye this weekend:

‘On the chalkboard in Isabelle Berges’ classroom is the day’s schedule, filled with activities for every hour. On the walls are posters with need-to-know subject matter, including a list of math vocabulary — vertices, faces and lines of symmetry — how to write for information or persuasion, and the proper use of metaphors and similes, antonyms and synonyms. This is second grade. … New skills and concepts are being taught, sometimes at near-breakneck speed: Children are asked to write in paragraphs instead of sentences, and teachers lead activities intended as warm-ups for the onslaught of standardized tests that have become the driving force in American public education under the federal No Child Left Behind law.
‘Some educators welcome the changes, saying second-graders had been babied and are capable of doing far more sophisticated work. Today’s high expectations are vital for academic progress, they say. Other educators applaud high expectations but question how many second-graders — most of whom are 7 years old when they start the school year — are developmentally ready for the new tasks. “We’re asking a lot of our kids in second grade today,” said Philip Catania, principal of Mount Rainier Elementary School in Prince George’s County, Md., where Berges teaches. “Having high expectations is good. But without question, sometimes we are asking them to do more” than they might be ready to do.’
—<em>The Washington Post</em>

I’ve been amazed already in the first two weeks at some of things second graders are taught … and many of things that they already know or are capable of knowing. One student, surely the kid most excited about science I’ve ever seen, wanted to know if we’ll be covering thermodynamics in science class and we later talked about the role of plate tectonics in earthquakes. She’s not quite seven years old.

Still, you have to wonder about the pressure. High expectations are great, but what about the effects of the inevitable stress many kids will feel? I had classmates way back in the easy-going 70’s who were so high-strung about getting As that they had nose bleeds before tests and almost had heart attacks before taking the SAT. Then there’s the kids who are already falling behind a bit after first grade; lessons taught at a breakneck pace that he doesn’t understand will just put him further and further behind.

Interesting stuff. We’ll see how this plays out over this year. ★

• 432 Words written by Steve @ 02:30 | 11-Sep-05 in & • Comment

Bible Courses in Public Schools Represent the New Wave

An article this week pointed out the growing issue of «religious groups successfully integrating bible courses in public school curriculum»:

‘When the school board in Odessa, the West Texas oil town, voted unanimously in April to add an elective Bible study course to the 2006 high school curriculum, some parents dropped to their knees in prayerful thanks that God would be returned to the classroom, while others assailed it as an effort to instill religious training in the public schools. Hundreds of miles away, leaders of the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools notched another victory. A religious advocacy group based in Greensboro, N.C., the council has been pressing a 12-year campaign to get school boards across the country to accept its Bible curriculum. The council calls its course a nonsectarian historical and literary survey class within constitutional guidelines requiring the separation of church and state.
‘But a growing chorus of critics says the course, taught by local teachers trained by the council, conceals a religious agenda. The critics say it ignores evolution in favor of creationism and gives credence to dubious assertions that the Constitution is based on the Scriptures, and that “documented research through NASA” backs the biblical account of the sun standing still. In the latest salvo, the Texas Freedom Network, an advocacy group for religious freedom, has called a news conference for Monday to release a study that finds the national council’s course to be “an error-riddled Bible curriculum that attempts to persuade students and teachers to adopt views that are held primarily within conservative Protestant circles.” The dispute has made the curriculum, which the national council says is used by more than 175,000 students in 312 school districts in 37 states, the latest flashpoint in the continuing culture wars over religious influences in the public domain.’
—New York Times

In another social studies methods debate last week, we were asked the question, ‘What would you say if a parent came to you and said he/she didn’t want you teaching his child any moral values of any kind?’ I responded by saying that the most likely scenario was a parent who wanted certain particular moral and religious values taught, not the other way around. We didn’t reach any real conclusions on what to say, and parental communication issues remains the great weakness or black hole of the University of Michigan’s master’s in education with certification program.

But then, maybe it’s a northern thing, and these Michiganders and New Yorkers don’t have to deal with it as often as us southerners. Interesting. ★

• 427 Words written by Steve @ 01:54 | 05-Aug-05 in & • Comment

The Literacy Site

«A very worthy cause»:

‘The Literacy Site was founded to help promote literacy among children from low-income families nationwide. Partnering with First Book, the site makes books available to children around the country, giving many children their very first book. With the generous support of our sponsors, each click provides 1% of a book. Making books a part of a child’s life is the best way to encourage the love of reading. In addition to clicking the red “Give Free Books” button, visitors can help make books available by shopping in The Literacy Site store. With each item purchased, shoppers generate funds for free books for children in need. The store offers a wide array of unique and meaningful items, including apparel, jewelry, home accents and gifts from around the world.’
—The Literacy Site

Right on! ★

• 138 Words written by Steve @ 01:25 | 05-Aug-05 in & • Comment

Exposing Kids to Two Sides or Religious Intrusion?

This week saw an article which dovetailed exactly with a debate we had in grad school; «Bush issued a firm statement of support for the teaching of ‘intelligent design’ theory»:

‘A sharp debate between scientists and religious conservatives escalated Tuesday over comments by … Bush that the theory of intelligent design should be taught with evolution in the nation’s public schools. In an interview at the White House on Monday with a group of Texas newspaper reporters, Mr. Bush appeared to endorse the push by many of his conservative Christian supporters to give intelligent design equal treatment with the theory of evolution. Recalling his days as Texas governor, Mr. Bush said in the interview, according to a transcript, “I felt like both sides ought to be properly taught.” Asked again by a reporter whether he believed that both sides in the debate between evolution and intelligent design should be taught in the schools, Mr. Bush replied that he did, “so people can understand what the debate is about.” Mr. Bush was pressed as to whether he accepted the view that intelligent design was an alternative to evolution, but he did not directly answer. “I think that part of education is to expose people to different schools of thought,” he said, adding that “you’re asking me whether or not people ought to be exposed to different ideas, and the answer is yes.”’
—New York Times

In a debate in our social studies methods class we had last week, there was a range of opinion on the issue. It was a foreshadowing of the debates we will most certainly have in our science methods course this winter and it should prove to be very interesting, as long as some of us can avoid getting our feelings hurt. It’s surprising how contentious an issue it is. ★

• 304 Words written by Steve @ 23:43 | 04-Aug-05 in & • Comment

Ann Arbor Teachers Finally Have a Contract

«Ann Arbor teachers finally have a contract» and Ann Arbor students now have a date with the classroom:

‘It’s official: School in Ann Arbor will begin Aug. 29. After three months of contract negotiations between Ann Arbor Public Schools administrators and the district’s 1,250-member teacher’s union, the framework for a tentative agreement was reached Friday. Details of the teachers’ one-year agreement will be announced following meetings of the union membership and the Board of Education in the coming weeks. But at this point, representatives from both sides said they are happy, as are parents who will finally be able to plan their vacation time once the full calendar is released Tuesday.’
—Ann Arbor News

And so I have a date too: My first day with Burns Park Elementary School second graders is 29-Aug. Very exciting. ★

• 136 Words written by Steve @ 23:18 | 30-Jul-05 in & • Comment

Why We Teachers Get Bad Reps

First Ebonics, now «this»:

‘The word “fail” should be banned from use in British classrooms and replaced with the phrase “deferred success” to avoid demoralizing pupils, a group of teachers has proposed. Members of the Professional Association of Teachers (PAT) argue that telling pupils they have failed can put them off learning for life.’

Yeesh. ★

• 57 Words written by Steve @ 02:36 | 30-Jul-05 in & • Comment

The ‘Sunday Troubles’ and Fall Math Methods

Having a reference librarian in the family is a mighty handy thing. Tonight, Frank brought home an anthology called ‘Going Public With Our Teaching’ which he thought might be fun for me to read. Like I don’t have anything to read, ya know? But that’s what great librarians do, they connect us to great texts. Gotta love ‘em. And even though I’m still plowing through the ‘General Foch on the Marne’ text and the McCarthyist tracts from the 1950s on how Communists have infiltrated government and military he rescued from the Gov Docs dustbin, this latest find looked pretty relevant to life in ELMAC, so I opened it up.

There was a bit of a surprise inside: two of the contributors are Deborah Ball, current interim dean of the School of Ed, and Tim Boerst, our fall Math Methods instructor. Tim’s contribution, ‘The First Day of School: A Reflective Narrative Analysis,’ is the first essay in the book and contains some very relevant thoughts on that all-important first day of school and the ‘Sunday Troubles,’ the pre-Monday morning unease/anticipation/jitters that you get on Sunday nights which I’ve had myself for lo these many years.

It’s basically a string of excerpts from journals he kept in 1997 when he was teaching fifth graders and contains the interesting information that he was born 21-Oct-1968. Now for some of you, so what? But for me, well, I’m not accustomed to having college instructors who are younger than I am. ★

• 247 Words written by Steve @ 22:54 | 26-Jul-05 in & • Comment

Making a Switch

I’m switching [this site] from TextPattern to WordPress, which offers more features, more speed and better ease-of-use. It will take me a bit to put all the pieces back in place, so thanks for bearing with me for the moment. ★

• 40 Words written by Steve @ 00:06 | 26-Jul-05 in & • Comment

Privatization Not Quite So Rosy?

A new study casts «doubt on the cherished right-wing assumption that privatization is best for education»:

’”A New Look at Public and Private Schools: Student Background and Mathematics Achievement” appears in the May issue of Phi Delta Kappan, a highly regarded education journal. Analyzing raw data from the 2000 National Assessment of Educational Progress for 28,000 fourth- and eighth-graders representing more than 1,300 public and private schools, Mrs. Lubienski, whose research focuses on equity issues in math education, was surprised by what she was seeing. When children of similar socioeconomic status were compared, the public school children scored higher.’
—Christian Science Monitor

It’s an interesting, if somewhat inconclusive, read. ★

• 109 Words written by Steve @ 01:36 | 22-May-05 in & • Comment

Stressed Out Kids

It’s a sad day for kids when ‘experts’ have to «instruct parents to chill out»:

‘As the boy played behind the bushes at his Redwood City school, his obviously agitated mother grabbed him, abruptly escorting him to her car. “She asked him what he thought he was doing and proceeded to tell him all in one breath that he would never get into a good university or have a good job if he spent all his time playing and goofing around,” said Jim Dassise, a parent who watched the episode unfold. “He should be more like one of his friends, who spent his time studying and having good grades.” The boy was about 9 years old.
‘Moraga resident Cynthia Brian, an acting and media coach who works with children all over the country, has seen the same sort of pressure—sometimes self-imposed. “At 7 or 8 or 9,” she said, “they’re already talking about, ‘This is going to look good on my resume.’” Harried schedules, international competition and unrealistic expectations aren’t just for adults anymore. The pressure on students to get exceptional grades and build Harvard-quality resumes has gotten so bad that Stanford University has an annual Stressed Out Students conference this week to help intermediate and high school parents, teachers, administrators and—most of all—students. “They’re making themselves sick,” said Denise Pope, a Stanford School of Education lecturer and founder of Stressed Out Students. “And we’re complicit in that.”’
—SF Chronicle

Complicit? Ha! Adults, particularly parents and legislators, are not just complicit, but guilty. ★

• 256 Words written by Steve @ 01:31 | 22-May-05 in & • Comment

Cell Phones in Class, With a Twist

Here’s a no-win situation for school officials: «a student is reprimanded for taking a call during class from his soldier mother in Iraq». As always, there’s more to the story … on both sides:

‘A Columbus, Georgia student will return to class Monday after serving three days’ suspension that began when his mother called him on his cell phone from Iraq, where she is deployed. Kevin Francois was initially suspended for 10 days for what Spencer High School officials said was his use of profanity after a teacher interrupted the conversation. … Muscogee County School District Superintendent John Phillips Jr. said Friday the suspension was not because of the phone call, but the result of Francois’ reaction to the teacher interrupting it. “The suspension was really incidental to the telephone. It was the behavior of the student, using profanity, screaming at the teacher,” Phillips said. “He became very belligerent and very threatening to her” when she asked him to turn over the phone, Phillips said. “He said he was 17 years old and he would do what he wanted to do,” Phillips told CNN-affiliate WTVM. The teacher took him to the principal’s office, where “he became very unruly and out of control,” said Phillips. “It was escalating to a point where they were getting ready to call security.” Francois disputed the school’s version of the story.’
—CNN

This problem will just get bigger as time goes by. ★

• 239 Words written by Steve @ 01:07 | 22-May-05 in & • Comment

One Grad School Book Down, Umpteen Billion to Go

I finished Because of Winn-Dixie in about two hours this afternoon. I took a two-hour nap in the middle of it.

It is an easy-going, charming story, one of those that I like to call ‘gentle reads,’ books (both in kiddie lit and adult lit) that are enjoyable but not saccharine, comforting but not cloying.

It’s a perfect setup for older children to study and pulling lessons in other subjects from it would be a breeze. There’s the ‘10 Things About …’ lists for writing workshops, there are plenty of opportunities for discussions about differences among people and that appearances can be deceiving, and so. The Bottle Tree also presents some opportunities, even in science, although I’d have to think hard about how to do that.

Then, of course, as a reward at the end of the unit, there would be the DVD of the movie to watch, along with some discussion about how it differs from the book and why. The class could make an author connection and go on to read Kate DiCamillo’s other fine book, <em>Tale of Despereaux</em>, which I should also probably read before summer classes begin.

Now it’s off to do get a jumpstart on the real academic reading: Guided Reading: Good First Teaching for All Children. Not as much fun, that’s for sure. But necessary. ★

• 231 Words written by Steve @ 21:37 | 05-May-05 in & • Comment

Thank a Teacher!

Today is «National Teacher Day»:

‘The origins of Teacher Day are murky. Around 1944 Arkansas teacher Mattye Whyte Woodridge began corresponding with political and education leaders about the need for a national day to honor teachers. Woodbridge wrote to Eleanor Roosevelt who in 1953 persuaded the 81st Congress to proclaim a National Teacher Day. NEA along with its Kansas and Indiana state affiliates and the Dodge City (Kan. ) local lobbied Congress to create a national day celebrating teachers. Congress declared March 7, 1980, as National Teacher Day for that year only. NEA and its affiliates continued to observe Teacher Day on the first Tuesday in March until 1985, when the National PTA established Teacher Appreciation Week as the first full week of May. The NEA Representative Assembly then voted to make the Tuesday of that week National Teacher Day.’

• 136 Words written by Steve @ 13:24 | 03-May-05 in & • Comment

Connecting With the Shoah

Today, I’m subbing at a middle school in the northwest part of town; it’s two eighth-grade English classes (two hours each), a short Advisory period and a Newspaper class. The teacher has a worksheet and video on the Holocaust. So it’s all right up my alley. It’s all good (except for the 5:30 a.m. wake-up call).

In the first class, we watched the 35-minute video and filled out the worksheet, then took a break. Afterwards, I wrote a bunch of terms on the board which related to the Holocaust and discussed them, then showed my pictures of Auschwitz on the overhead.

Time passed quickly and everybody was attentive. One or two took things a bit as a joke, smug and secure in what they think is a time and place so completely different and removed from Auschwitz that it might as well be Pluto.

One kid asked why, during Kristallnacht, that the Germans didn’t simply ask the Jews to pay money, instead of beating them up. Another asked why they would want to kill anyone else. The first kid asked if it hurts when your heart stops.

Most, however, ‘get it;’ they understood what the Shoah was, when it happened, why we talk about it and remember it and know that genocide still happens today.

It’s a day well-spent. ★

• 225 Words written by Steve @ 13:16 | 03-May-05 in & • Comment

Looking Up at A Very Large Mountain in My Path

Yesterday, I attended what was supposed to have been my own graduation; the UM School of Education’s commencement exercises at Hill Auditorium.

It was a bit tough to see all the people I started the program with last July participate, while I was just a spectator in the balcony. But I think I’m most jealous that they’re finishing up and I haven’t even started. I hate starting (and adjusting to) new things.

But life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans, and I probably did make the right decision to defer the program for a year.

Physically, I’m hurting worse now than I was last year, but at least now I know what’s wrong and can pursue the right strategies (and pharmaceuticals) to try to live with it.

Afterwards, I went to a get-together in the home of a member of the Detroit program cohort. There was plenty of talk about the trials and tribulations and outrages of grad school and the ELMAC program in particular. For a few minutes, it made me a bit panicky, but, curiosly enough, I’m looking forward to certain things and determined not to let other things get me down.

I know there will be classes and people that I will really not enjoy. But my plan is to stay calm, focused and, above all, ahead of the deadlines. I’ll also have to try hard not to listen to the noise … the murmurings of discontent or exhaustion, even if they’re my own.

The goal is unchanged: In June ‘06, I can put that Master’s degree from UM on my resume and, armed with useful tidbits here and there from the program, I can be more employable than ever before.

Since I’ll check back on this entry a year from now after my own Commencement, I’ll write myself a note: ‘Hey Steve: Do you, my future self, want to slap me? Have you stuck to the plan? Chill out, dude, just six more weeks.’

There. I feel better. ★

• 346 Words written by Steve @ 19:54 | 01-May-05 in & • Comment

The Fraud That is NCLB

Stan Karp, a Portland, OR, area teacher, wrote an essay on «why ‘No Child Left Behind’ is a hoax» almost a year ago, but I’ve just run across it today. It’s well worth quoting again:

‘1. The massive increase in testing that NCLB will impose on schools will hurt their educational performance, not improve it.<br />
‘2. The funding for NCLB does not come anywhere near the levels that would be needed to reach even the narrow and dubious goal of producing 100% passing rates on state tests for all students by 2014.
‘3. The mandate that NCLB imposes on schools to eliminate inequality in test scores among all student groups within 12 years is a mandate that is placed on no other social institution, and reflects the hypocrisy at the heart of the law.
‘4. The sanctions that NCLB imposes on schools that don’t meet its test score targets will hurt poor schools and poor communities most.
‘5. The transfer and choice provisions of NCLB will create chaos and produce greater inequality within the public system without increasing the capacity of receiving schools to deliver better educational services.
‘6. These same transfer and choice provisions will not give low-income parents any more control over school bureaucracies than food stamps give them over the supermarkets.
‘7. The provisions about using scientifically-based instructional practices are neither scientifically valid nor educationally sound and will harmfully impact classrooms in what may be the single most important instructional area, the teaching of reading.
‘8. The supplemental tutorial provisions of NCLB will channel public funds to private companies for ideological and political reasons, not sound educational ones.
‘9. NCLB is part of a larger political and ideological effort to privatize social programs, reduce the public sector, and ultimately replace local control of institutions like schools with marketplace reforms that substitute commercial relations between customers for democratic relations between citizens.
‘10. NCLB moves control over curriculum and instructional issues away from teachers, classrooms, schools and local districts where it should be, and puts it in the hands of state and federal education bureaucracies and politicians. It represents the single biggest assault on local control of schools in the history of federal education policy. …
‘11. NCLB includes provisions that try to push prayer, military recruiters, and homophobia into schools while pushing multiculturalism, teacher innovation, and creative curriculum reform out.’
—Portland Oregonian

Amen to all that. ★

• 391 Words written by Steve @ 22:17 | 24-Apr-05 in & • Comment

School of Ed Fellowship Offer Arrives

More pre-grad school mail came today; the announcement of my School of Ed Fellowship, which is $1,250 for this summer and $1,250 for next summer and $2,500 for the fall and $2,500 for the spring. It’s very good news financially and I’ll send my acceptance back. Every dime will help (especially since I’ll need a new laptop this summer in order to survive the program).

I still need to make appointments with the Residency Classification office, the disability office and LGBT affairs to have some pertinent discussions. I also need to make sure Financial Aid will be forthcoming just like last year.    &#