Back in stride

Slumps. We all hit them. Football kickers, baseball pitchers, salesmen, presidents, and teachers too. I've been in an 18 month slump. So much so that I haven't felt like blogging for the past 6 months. Writing down my thoughts was bothersome. I stopped looking at myself as an effective teacher, and began to see myself as average.

Looking back, it's easy to see how this happened. The epic brawl on my way our of my previous employer started it all. That year I was cruising, feeling more effective then ever. Then, the trauma of that event left me cautious, quiet, and nervous. My first year at my current job was the toughest year I've faced. New school, new students, new curriculum, and high expectations combined with still licking my wounds left me rather ineffective (even though we still got high growth). I felt nowhere near where I was before.

This year started with a bang, or a thump, with broken bones and a handicap making regular life and mundane tasks more difficult. Teacher on the IR was difficult, along with being mentally and physically exhausting. It is hard to grow when you're exhausted from stagnation.

Over winter break I made it my goal to do nothing. Wasting days of my life playing Madden Football and cheering for the Broncos. Much like in Office Space when Peter wakes up the day after being hypnotized. He came back a different man.

I came back refreshed. Reflected on what the students needed and how I can best support them and move them to the next level. I realized how bogged down I was in content, and was unable to teach real skills, like citing evidence, thesis, critical thinking and questioning, debate, and analytical reading. During some random professional developments I had an epiphany and began to work on creating new curriculum and ways to help students be reflective and grow rapidly in necessary skills. The results have been dramatic.

Since break, my students have gone from writing vague generalities to citing specific facts, using and citing quotes to support an opinion, discussion using academic language, interpreting analogy in political cartoons and designing their own, and challenging each others opinions.

I have already been observed twice through our district evaluation system. The first one was by my principal, who is insanely hard, and my average score was about a 5/7, which is fabulous. District teachers average around 3-4/7. My co-teacher was observed and earned about a 2. The scale is not meeting (0-2), approaching (2-3), meeting (4-6), and distinguished (7). You are assessed in 12 different areas and nobody gets distinguished. It's that hard. In my old district I was always in the top of the evaluation, but that left me nowhere to grow. On this system, my principal was able to share with me very concrete ways I could continue to improve, and those suggestions were small tweaks to my existing instruction. My evaluation at the beginning of the year put me 3-4, a 5 is huge growth.

On Thursday I was observed again by the district peer evaluator. I earned two 7s, and the remainder were 6s. My evaluator told me those were the highest scores they ever recorded, and wanted to record my instruction to help model and norm good teaching.

I think I'm back!

Pause

I'll always remember being woken up on a Friday morning in July. My wife called, saying she wanted to be the one to let me know before everyone else started calling. We didn't know yet if any of my former students were involved, but the news was reporting dozens of wounded, and unknown dead. Some psychopath went into a movie theater with a ballistic vest and helmet, and sprayed bullets into a defenseless crowd. I spent the next few hours contacting people and checking to see if anyone was hurt. Thankfully for my students, the bullets missed them, or,  they were off work that night and were not there. Somehow, you can buy military gear designed for Falluja, to hunt dear I assume. The peace vigil with my students the following day was as close as I'll ever come to religion.

The tragedy in Connecticut left me speechless. I was teaching 4th period, the last before finals week. My students were working on their silhouette projects, researching on their phones. I had read initial reports of a shooting over lunch, but I was shocked when I began to hear of the carnage. Some psychopath walked into an elementary school spraying bullets into defenseless classrooms. It was a powerful moment for me as I thought about how just the previous day we had a lock down drill for these kinds of situations. All I could think was "For fuck's sake... elementary kids..." As I looked around the room, I couldn't help but pause and think about my school and my students.

What a strange country we live in where we have to live in a state of continual preparation for gun wielding maniacs coming into our schools and gunning down children and teachers. It's something you think about from time to time. After running into an altercation or disciplinary situation with a student, you think about it. I've thought about my odds, what I'd do in a situation, how to escape, how to protect the kids. Our school is so wide open to the community, any wingnut can come in at any time. Thinking about such things however, is a waste of mental energy.

I fear that nothing will change from this tragedy. Whether it be access to mental health care or gun control. The opposite is also terrifying, that our schools will have airport like security. Something needs to change. Any country that breeds killers who massacre helpless victims in schools, theaters, college campuses, and foreign cities is ill, and needs to face fundamental change. Otherwise, we'll live in a world of worrying about whether we're going to die in an airplane, school, city street, or skyscraper.

Strangely enough, Jon Stewart tackled this topic on Monday.  You can watch it here.

Teaching on the I.R.

All the school's a stage, said not William Shakespeare. When on stage, teachers are expected to produce the show of their career. Not only from themselves and administration, but especially from the students. When working with the kind of at risk population at my school, it doesn't take long to become a student's rock and stable adult. You are not allowed emotion. You must always be consistent, happy, supportive role models.

The appearance of stability has become far more difficult this year. On a staff retreat the weekend before reporting back I managed to take nasty fall which resulted in a broken knee cap, arm, wrist, and 10 stitches. It was embarrassing to say the least, especially when it was my boss who drove me to the ER.

So far I have struggled to keep my emotions in check. The frustration of doing the smallest daily rituals builds and explodes, at targets like copy machines.

Hobbling, pegging, or rolling around school with a crutch and an arm sling gets a lot of questions. I started lying to people the first day because I was already fed up with the questions. My standard go to was that I got into a fight with a bear. I move on immediately to avoid follow up interrogation. This worked so well that when school started, that's what other teachers told their students. Most believed it.

Unfortunately, teaching with two limbs is exceedingly challenging. The energy needed to do anything is higher, making exhaustion and grumpiness all the more common. Taking attendance by walking over to the clipboard, holding the clipboard in a broken arm, then writing and submitting on the computer should not be hard. So far, despite what is going on inside, I think my game face has been on.

In a weird way though, my gimpyness has become an asset for classroom management. Each period starts the day by rising to their feet when I come in, I say "Good morning/afternoon scholars, please grab a seat finish your 'Do Now'" all with a smile and in a non-domineering manner. It is a positive start to the period, and gets the students immediately on task. Last year there were always one or two students who didn't pay attention, or had to be chided for sitting until they stood. This year, none. They know that if the guy with the broken knee is standing and wishing them a good day, they better be standing in return. Discipline problems are also now nonexistent.

The year thus far seems successful for two reasons. One, students are intuitive and know that when someone is hard up, now is not the time to slack off or be disruptive. The other reason is that I'm not new anymore.  The kids know me, or know another student who will vouch for me. On Thursday one of my difficult students from last year gave me a public compliment. I looped with my students from last year who have been excited to see me. I am one of only two sophomore teachers they know, causing me to quickly become more students' rock. Already I have formed great bonds with students I didn't have had last year.

Because of this, I don't need to be a Daniel Day Lewis, only a Keanu Reeves. This year feels more like a give and take. I make their day, they make mine. Both sides are happy to be here and are willing to show it. Happy students, happy teachers, happy growth scores. It's going to be a good year. Just keep smiling.

The Numbers

The state results are out. Here is how our school did:
9th Grade Reading: grew from 33% to 40% proficient and advanced
9th Grade Writing: stayed the same 19%. Maybe that's because there were two new teachers? Also, with the new test, almost all schools declined. Not us!
10th Grade Reading:  grew from 31% to 48% proficient and advanced
10th Grade Writing: grew from 9% to 29% proficient and advanced

The charter school trying to share our building shrank in every indicator but one: 8th grade writing. Hopefully this tells district to keep them out.

The charter school that is trying to take us over also has some interesting numbers. Their students start at 6th grade 53/61 proficient in reading/writing. No wonder their scores are higher overall. However, we have better growth.

Our growth scores:
53% growth in reading, 30% are catching up and 85% are staying proficient.
63% growth in writing (huge!), 20% are catching up, and 61% are staying proficient.

It's working. We are turning around a failed school. Fuck you, charter. 

Education Nation: serfdom never felt so fancy

This year NBC's Education Nation made its rounds around the nation, with the stated goal of creating an "open conversation" about results-oriented teaching reforms. I was invited to attend one of the "Teacher Town Halls" which I at first thought to be quite the honor. Little did I know what I had in store.

The event was hosted at a swanky downtown location, where Italian sparkling water bottles, and waiters carried around hors d'oeuvres with white gloves were served. I was appropriately dressed in my tie and slacks, but noticed I was not adequately technologically tethered to an iphone. Jazz music played imperceptibly in the background, just as Miles, Louis, and Bird would have wanted. After mingling and more inspection I noticed, oh my god, these people are my age! What the hell is going on? Half of the people I was introduced to asked me
"Oh, you're at ________ school! Are you TFA (Teach For America)too?"
"(nervous laugh)No, no, I went to school"
End of conversation. Whoops!



As a percentage young, urban, well dressed teachers are more likely to be involved in charters, Teach For America, or be reform minded, than their middle aged and older companions. There is definitely a generational gap between teachers, and I was worried that this crowd had been vetted carefully chosen with an agenda in mind. I was asked to go with my principal. Does that mean I'm one of them, a TFA at heart, an anti-union, data-driven bot? For the time, I preferred to live in the fantasy that I was there on my laurels, and was chosen for my quiet quality and confidence.

We were then led to the lecture hall town hall area where we were arranged in nice rows. I sat next to one of my TFA co-workers with whom I often clash on education policy, but on a personal level have a fine relationship. He was next to his obnoxiously GQ TFA co-worker that oozed dislike for me. I don't quite understand why.

Looking around the room, I noticed the sponsors:
American Airlines 
BlackBerry
Marvell
Members Project American Express (what teacher has AmEx?)
Microsoft
Raytheon (they build bombs!)
Scholastic
University of Phoenix (Really?)
W.K. Kellog Foundation

Huh? What do most of these have to do with education. Then I noticed:
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation 

I wrote a post about a year ago on the Gates and Broad foundations, and their love of corporate modeled test taking as reform for schools. The Gates foundation alone has sunk billions into educational research to define what makes a good teacher. They are meddlers who have never taught a day in their life, but have the money to take a front seat in the discussion.

Unfortunately, millionaires and billionaires have been able to take advantage of the public school system through the tax code. The New Markets Tax Credit allows:

businesses and real estate projects located in low-income communities. The NMTC Program attracts investment capital to low-income communities by permitting individual and corporate investors to receive a tax credit against their Federal income tax return in exchange for making equity investments in specialized financial institutions called Community Development Entities (CDEs). The credit totals 39 percent of the original investment amount and is claimed over a period of seven years. Cite

Low income communities? Read: Poor, minority-majority, working class struggling schools where you can invest in a charter to spur competition and innovation! Competition works for the banking industry, of course it can do the same for education! In 2011, $573 million was invested in education facilities. Read about it here and here. Public schools have to go through a public bond process to get funding to purchase new science classrooms, whereas a tax evading philanthropist and bequeath it to a charter. Many of those philanthropists believe in fair competition, but the competition is never fair when one side gets to pick their team.

So, this event is sponsored by what Dianna Ravitch calls the "Billionaire Boys Club" I was still hoping for the best. As the talks started, it became very clear that those that were up on stage were carefully chosen, and unrepresentative of those who have a stake in education.

The first group of speakers who were interviewed on stage had a first (or second?) year charter school TFA teacher from our neighborhood competition, who spoke very idiotically about nothing. Every answer he gave was off topic and had no depth. My co-worker that sat next to me said he went through the program with the TFA on stage, and that the speaker was utterly unremarkable in every way. I later crossed path with the TFA again at a community town hall where the debate was about, and is still brewing, putting the newly confirmed HS charter in our building. The TFA had yelled and first pumped from the back of the room, yelling "we don't have time," responding to our school's concerns that more time was needed to study ours, and other possible locations for their charter. What a great, experienced role model to help drive education policy discussion...

As the night wore on, I accepted that I was wallpaper, and prop in larger production, in which I had no voice. The list of speakers:
•    Maria Bartiromo: Anchor of CNBC's "Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo" and Anchor and Managing Editor of "Wall Street Journal Report with Maria Bartiromo"
•    Michael Bloomberg: Mayor, City of New York
•    Cory Booker: Mayor, City of Newark, New Jersey
•    Phil Bredesen: Governor, State of Tennessee
•    Steven Brill: co-founder of Journalism Online, CourtTV and American Lawyer magazine and author of "The Rubber Room" In The New Yorker
•    Tom Brokaw: NBC News Special Correspondent
•    Geoffrey Canada: CEO & President of Harlem Children's Zone Project
•    David Coleman: Founder & CEO, Student Achievement Partners; Contributing Author of the Common Core Standards
•    Ann Curry: News Anchor, "Today" and Anchor, "Dateline NBC"
•    Arne Duncan: US Secretary of Education
•    Byron Garrett: CEO of the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA)
•    Allan Golston, President, US Program, The Gates Foundation
•    Jennifer M. Granholm: Governor, State of Michigan
•    David Gregory: Moderator, "Meet the Press"
•    Reed Hastings: Founder & CEO of Netflix
•    Lester Holt: Anchor, "NBC Nightly News," Weekend Edition and Co-Host, "Today"  Weekend Edition
•    Walter Isaacson: President & CEO of the Aspen Institute
•    Joel Klein: Chancellor of New York City Schools
•    Wendy Kopp: CEO and Founder of Teach for America
•    John Legend: Musician; Founder of the Show Me Campaign
•    Jack Markell: Governor, State of Delaware
•    Gregory McGinity: Managing Director of Policy, The Broad Education Foundation
•    Andrea Mitchell: NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent and Host, "Andrea Mitchell Reports"
•    Janet Murguia: President & CEO of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR)
•    Michael Nutter: Mayor, City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
•    Bill Pepicello, Ph.D.: President of University of Phoenix
•    Sally Ride: First Female Astronaut; Vice-chair of Change the Equation
•    Michelle Rhee: Chancellor, District of Columbia Public School System of Washington,D.C.
•    Edward Rust: Chairman & CEO of State Farm Insurance Companies
•    Gwen Samuel, CT delegate to Mom Congress
•    Barry Schuler: Former CEO of AOL
•    Sterling Speirn: CEO, Kellogg Foundation
•    Margaret Spellings: Former US Secretary of Education
•    Antonio Villaraigosa: Mayor, City of Los Angeles, California
•    Randi Weingarten: President of American Federation of Teachers (AFT-CLO)
•    Brian Williams: Anchor and Managing Editor "NBC Nightly News"

What do you notice? I see politicians, corporate executives, philanthropist, media, and education policy organizations. Those people are there to advance whatever agenda they have. What don't you see? Teachers. Not even state or national Teacher of the Year. Two parent groups, but no local groups. One of the two large, but smaller of the two, teacher unions.  Where were the people who have a stake in this? Where were the teachers? In the audience, listening participating.

The questions posed to the audience were carefully written to elicit certain reposes. Questions were written based on "their (Gates) facts that we're going to be referring to often to help along our conversation." This immediately placed any of the teachers responding into starting at a defense, and having to disprove the "facts" before giving any of their own "facts." Other ways in which we participated were lame and simple, eliciting jeers, groans, and giggles from the audience. We were given clickers to vote on one multiple choice question. For example "Is technology improving your discussion?" Hmm, guess how we voted? After the vote, the moderator would turn the discussion over to the panel on stage. I participated with my thumb!

The times that real teachers were brought on stage, it was usually half TFA teachers (.2% of all teachers). The questions posed were simplistic, not in depth, and gave no greater understanding of topics impacting teachers. It was news to NBC that teachers wanted more collaboration time.

All of this ridiculousness begs the question, who was this event for? Education Nation states its mission is

 NBC News' initiative to engage the country in a solutions-focused conversation about the state of education in America.

Obviously, it was not for teachers. Such low level guided discussion is below our pay grade. The "leaders" on stage talked with each other, and with the cameras, which were broadcasting to a tiny audience. It was a giant rah rah parade for those looking to change education, in ways I believe are for the worse. I walked out of the event feeling that Education Nation is a dangerous propaganda disseminator, and I was used.

Harvest my demesne serf! Once you're done you may attend to your furlong.

Afterwards, my principal decided to take me out for some late night tacos and beer. That made me feel better.

 

Buddy, your bucket has got a hole in it

The news today of the Affordable Care Act being affirmed by the Supreme Court found me sitting in front of my computer for an inappropriate amount of time digesting the news. Being that it is the end of the month and I still had a few of the 10 free page views allowed from the New York Times, I decided to geek out on their blog roll.

One of the continuous sections was Voices, a lame attempt to get the common person's "word on the street." In it I found a rather irritating reaction from Frank Trecroci, the principal of a private school in Kenosha and Racine, Wisconsin. On their website, it states that:

In August of 2000 the school was awarded a 1.2 million dollar grant from the state of Wisconsin to create a “model early childhood center of excellence” for children and families within the community. 

In August 2009 The Renaissance School established a relationship with Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) in Zion, IL.  Childcare is provided on an as needed basis to the children of families attending the treatment center. 

The Renaissance school also has themselves embroiled in a school voucher debate in Kenosha and Racine. According to the Racine paper The Journal Times, Frank wants to expand the voucher program to lure more students out of public schools, and into his private program.

Obviously private schools have a built in advantage of choice and parent engagement. Of course they will receive better scores than public schools which serve every child. But, at the voucher meeting where teacher layoffs were to be discussed, Frank had the balls to say "And we would love the opportunity to hire any Racine Unified teachers that have been laid off." 

The coup de grâce, Frank doesn't provide his staff with health care, he makes them purchase their own. He poaches students from the public system, depriving them of money. When cuts must be made, he "welcomes" laid off teachers into his private program, for less money, and no health care. How does this help the families and children of those teachers?

When asked for his reaction by the NYT to Obama's victory at the Supreme Court, he said "I'm horrified." Frank described how many of his students families were going bankrupt due to medical bills. He was "horrified" that his students had no coverage, but provides none for his staff. Frank went on to describe how this will cause an extra $10,000 in health expenses to be spent on every teacher, causing cutbacks and perhaps layoffs.

First, who pays $10,000 for health insurance? Now that you are asked to be responsible like EVERY schools district and support their staff with health benefits, your first reaction is to be "horrified." I'm horrified at your leach like behavior.

Frank's comments exemplify everything that is wrong with the privatization of education. Private/charter schools will get young teachers to come in for low pay, no benefits, low budget, and take engaged students, get results, and then point at the public school and ask "what's their problem?" I believe that if private/charter schools want to be able to exist, they must mirror the services for students and staff of their public counterparts. They cannot "counsel out" troubled, ELL, and SPED students, or expel them to the public schools. They also cannot deprive their underpaid and overworked staff of a moderate standard of living.

Until we hold people like Frank to the same level as public servants, the privatization train will continue to roll through every district until we have thoroughly re segregated our society.

Hope for my undocumented students

The news from the Obama administration today is very hopeful. As one of my undocumented students said, "it is an awesome start." Today, Obama has done something right for education. He has offered work visas to good students, age 16-30, who have been law abiding citizens of this country, and who are more American in culture than Latin. I think ICE will be overwhelmed with the number of young talented Latin students who apply for the work visa amnesty.

I have written about my undocumented student before, and my opinion now is no different. These students are our country's future, and they must be embraced and brought out of the shadows. Many of them are more deserving than American born students. The last step that needs to occur is providing undocumented students the rights to in-state tuition for college, so they have the same opportunities as their peers. Currently 12 states, including California and Texas allow undocumented students to attain in-state rates. Wisconsin has revoked their law (what the hell is going on WI?). Most recently, Colorado, a state with a growing Latino population, and an important battleground state in the upcoming election, has followed Texas and California by granting students an adjusted in-state rate.

These students have earned and deserve the right to be law abiding citizens like everyone else. Obama talks of bending the arc of history, of changing the course of history and doing something new. Finally, he is living up to, in at least one way, his rhetoric. 

Living in the neighborhood

I used to be of the opinion that living in the same neighborhood as my students was a dangerous and overwhelmingly negative thing. Talking to people at my old school who lived in the neighborhood of the school, they would tell me it causes some lifestyle changes, and threats. For example, my current principal lives in the neighborhood, and some students have vandalized their home.

In my mind I was never too concerned about students vandalizing my home. The students have never actively disliked me. Students either greatly enjoyed me as a teacher, or were indifferent. The role of a teacher does not lend itself to creating enemies. Annoying a kid sometimes, sure, but never hostility.

For my first few years of teaching I was also enjoying living downtown. Being able to walk down the street to any store of my choosing, sit on the patio of a bar and enjoy a pint or three, or revel with friends late into the evening on the front porch. Privacy was important in those moments, and living in the neighborhood of my school would not project the same image to students that I worked hard to create in the classroom. 

Get off my lawn you damn rapscallions!

This was heavy on my mind when I purchased a dwelling, within the boundaries of the school. Ever since, I have been seeing my students all over the place. And, them seeing me. Every one of those encounters has been positive, or humorous. Whether it be at the grocery, the big-box store, the park, or on the street, the students are really happy to see one of their role models living in their community. A common question is "Mister, you live around here?" "Yes, over there on the other side of_______" (vague pointing).

An added bonus is that it allows me to harass them to finish their homework, ask them a question, follow up on a concern, crack a joke or bond with them, or talk to mom/dad/grandma. In their mind, it also legitimizes my place at their school as a member of their community, and for some, almost a neighbor. It was great to use this with students when they start to misbehave.

"Deon, do I have to pick you up in the morning to make sure you get here on time?"
"No, Mister..."

The classic "I know where you live," but used appropriately and humorously is enjoyed by my students, and their peers. There are two boys in my first period that used to give each other the look of terror, of "Oh no, Mister is going to come to our house, we better get to work" while other students would laugh at them.

Now, I've realized living in the boundaries of my school isn't bad at all. In fact, I greatly enjoy seeing my students, and being seen outside of the school environment. It helps me be a more effective teacher because students want to see you as part of their neighborhood, not as someone coming from outside their world. It really only causes one change in lifestyle.

Keep the beers down low, gentlemen

Test Scores: Beating Expectations

Standardized tests, and all-district exams usually struggle in two important ways, validity and reliability. Meaning, is the test a valid way to assess and measure our students, compared to what they have been (or need to have) been learning. And, Is the test a reliable measure of what the students did learn. For example, if we taught the students how to take multiple choice tests, deduct unlikely answers from probable, and teach exactly the content covered on the exam, yes they would be valid and reliable. However, when the students need intensive shock therapy on writing and reading, no the exams are not valid, nor reliable.

The district exams seem to be unable to make up their minds. Those exams contain a mixture of both multiple choice (memorizing), and short essay. The lines given for the short essays are spaced for a third grader, and are only 5-6 lines long. Not what I would call a short essay. The problem arises when you intently teach students how to write a short essay (10-12 lines) using and citing evidence, and working them away from a culture of lowered expectations and trivial skill usage, to an exam on which they will be judged that expects little of them. The students try to revert back to old and comfortable habits. Students who could write you a proficient short essay in class are suddenly writing 4th grade sentences again.

At my prior district, they at least formatted their district interim assessments in a way that was somewhat challenging. Those focused on skills of interpreting documents, and using them in a short-lengthy essay in addition to your background knowledge. Much like a DBQ. I was in the habit of crushing those with 100% of my students, or near to it, proficient and advanced. At the new district, the results I achieved are below.

My goal for this year was to beat expectations. Those expectations were to be slightly worse than the district average. That was our tradition as a school, and our students are more often unsat or exams. For example, my students started the year on their pre test (BOY) at 57% unsat (fail), and only 4% proficient. District was at 50% unsat, and 7% proficient.

Although I have great disdain for the test, I do take great pride in knowing my students crushed the district on the final exam. Most importantly, my students' growth was far beyond expectations. District average had a 56% growth in terms of moving students out of the unsat category. I had an 82.5% growth rate, in terms of moving students out of the unsat category. I started with more unsatisfactory students, and had drastically higher growth, and ended the year with more proficient students as a percentage of the student body. On top of that, I was the top scoring teacher, beating out my co-worker.

What can we take away form these results, in terms of how we can positively influence our students? I have always focused on skills: reading, writing, analysis, synthesis, interpretation, graphing, and academic language. Using those skills to teach the content gives the students what they need, the ability to be critical thinkers, and read/write proficiently in social studies content. When you get bogged down in teaching content removed from skill, in order to teach to the test, you put on blinders and forget importance. If skills are taught, the test tends to take care of itself. Knowing that it is these results that drive the judgement of my admin, I will continue to teach those skills, and continue to crush the district. We are a turnaround school, and hopefully continued growth from my coworkers and I will help our school survive the many threats now coming at us. More details on that in the future.

ASVAB

You're in a room with 75 freshman, sitting in rows in a lecture hall. It is the afternoon, after the students have had a fresh sugar injection from lunch. There is an above average clowner:serious student ratio. Upon arriving, the students are told they didn't "have to" come today. But, don't tell them you have to try to keep them there because then it counts for the school as a legal contact day. Tell the students we didn't know what to do with them while the Juniors took the ACT, and this was the counselor's uncreative answer this will help them be college and career ready.

Your job, give the students the military ASVAB test, which has no connection to their studies, is riddled with multiple choice questions the students don't know, and broken up into 8 grueling sections, with no break. Try not to show agreement with their complaints at being given a military test. Do not let the students take a bathroom break, get water, use their phones or iPods. The test mimics the stresses of military life. They don't give these in middle class suburban schools, those students get real college prep. Try not to cringe or speak out when the test administrators from the military give directions like an autistic 8 year old, but scream like a drill sergeant in a student's face when they start to act out, you're just an observer.

Work the room, use those relationships, build new ones to keep it all from exploding. Only two hours left. Hey, where's those other teachers that were supposed to be here too? Lesson planning.

But hey, it was worth it. Seven students in the freshman class passed, not.

Teaching on 4/20

There are a few days a year that teachers dread "teaching" on. Among the most hated are Halloween, Valentines Day, Cinco de Mayo, St. Patrick's Day, and 4/20. Each day provides the opportunity for students to misbehave or ask inappropriate questions with an illegitimate but mistakenly accepted excuse.

Shockingly, many parents and people in the schools accept what happens as normal and to be expected. Especially in an inner city school with no systems set up for discipline or consequence kids get away with what would have gotten me expelled when I was in high school, which was not long ago.

On Halloween students showing up dressed as pimps and prostitutes, gang bangers (real), and various masked villains in obvious flagrant breach of dress code. You should not have students coming in their gang colors pretending it is a costume. Cinco de Mayo and St. Patrick's Day brings horrid attendance, and drunk students escorted back to your class by security after vomiting in their last class, and given a sobering meal in the office. Valentines Day can be sweet, but with no consequence, takes over your class.

I am not a fascist enforcer of policy, but I do know that consistent enforcement of basic expectations is necessary to maintain an academic culture in a high school. Also, when teachers are expected to enforce those basic expectations, and are held accountable to the achievement scores, it is criminal to undermine their authority by relaxing rules and allowing an "anything-goes" atmosphere because it would be too difficult to enforce rules on holidays. Support staff exist to support teachers, not teachers to support policies of support staff.

For 4-20, attendance was probably near 65% in the morning, and 50% in the afternoon. I started each class by sarcastically thanking students for understanding how clocks work, that 4:20 is a time that occurs after the school day. My stoned students would giggle wildly, thus giving me the opportunity to speak with them independently later during class, reminding them of expectations. I did mess with a few.

The students that ditched and went to the park were rounded up with bullhorn wielding AmeriCorps volunteers and brought back to class. The leader gleefully told me how great it was they were bringing kids back. I responded with a simple "Oh, so now I have classes full of stoners?" Enforcing rules is tough. Why do it? Teaching is tough, fuck it, movie day.

I know the justice system is not the answer to what occurred yesterday, but there must be standards. If a kid ditches or is stoned, detentions, Saturday schools, no prom, parent meetings, behavior contracts could all be used. It is unfair for me to be held accountable for my results, but cannot control the culture, reading level, or sobriety of my school.

Students in each class asked me what I thought about 4/20. I replied by telling them that it could be a legitimate day of protest over drug policy, but that too many people use it as an excuse to act like an idiot. The 50% of students who were still in class nodded their heads in agreement.

Why did this take 6 months?

Finally! They're ready. My freshmen are ready for 9th grade.

All year I have been working with the students on their writing. I am a firm believer in the power of writing, and the doors it can open for students regardless of what they eventually want to do. In the past, I have had tremendous success all by myself bringing student's scores up, and helping ELL students gain access to writing. Last year my students showed the most growth out of any other teacher.

My work with the students thus far has been very straightforward, but has been agonizingly slow. The students were apt to forget all progress one week after they had learned it.

First, their ability to organize a coherent thought and write it in a non-fiction paragraph using grade and content vocabulary started at about a 6th grade level. The English Department and I worked with the same organizer forcing students to write topic sentences, concrete details, and commentary. After the eighth one, the students only take one period to create an organizer. Still too long, but better than the two hours it took before.  I also have to be blatant with vocabulary, using "Use the following words: smart growth, infill, and spatial inequality"

Next came the sentence stems. Showing students what grade level writing looked like required basic starters, such as:
"For example_______________________"
"This is important because_________________"
"This shows_________ is _____________________"
"The evidence shows______________________"
"As compared to_________________, ____________ is ___________"

And finally, full quote outlines that show students how to introduce, use, and explain a quote from a primary source.

The last and most agonizing step was the annotated reading. The students just wanted to absentmindedly read, absorbing nothing. The annotation forced them to slow down, react to their reading, and then use a graphic organizer for the content, before the writing organizer.

On top of a bunch of other literacy supports and ELL strategies, using reading, writing, verbal, and getting the students to speak using grade level language the students are now ready. Do this for six months, and eventually the students learn how to go through the writing process without the structure and organizers. 

Most teachers would call this far too structured. According to some, students are not demonstrating what they know and can do when given that much support. I would say the opposite, that only with those supports are the students able to show their ability. Yes, it needs to come from them, but if the students can't do that by 9th grade, major intervention is necessary.

Most other Social Studies teachers would never do this because the amount of time devoted to content suffers. I don't care. I've realized some things about teaching hard to serve students. They don't care about content any more than normal students, and they are used to failure. When they can see and feel success at something, it motivates them. At that point the content takes care of itself. Plus, I would love it if my students left as historians, but what is most important is helping to open those doors where they have the ability to choose their destiny, instead of being limited by their abilities. Yes, I do half the work for them to start with, but by the end they are independent and near/at grade level.

I never wanted to teach middle school level English. It is maddening. Half of the battle of motivation and celebrating the small steps we take for granted. The students love it though, and are finally starting to come around. No longer am I just another teacher who keeps failing them. Hopefully the trend continues and the culture in the classroom and school continues to improve. Yeah, I'm barely in the rejuvenation stage, but it feels a lot better than disillusionment.

What's wrong with our schools part III

I havn't written about education for a long time. I've shot off the random bitch, or posted a link, but in terms of education policy, ideas, and battles, I havn't had the heart. After some introspection, I find myself very disillusioned, and the new job overly taxing. I knew what I was getting into, but perhaps I vastly over estimated my zeal, patience, and ability. Drunk on success from last year, I find myself wallowing in the hangover at my new surroundings. It seems as though I'm still attempting to process what the hell just happened and why my job now feels so different.

This oddly accurate and cheesy graph must have been created by some veteran teachers. It does feel like I've started my first year all over again

Between my years as a classroom aide, a quasi-teacher, and at my prior school that went from dysfunctional to moderately operational, and now into a black hole I feel I have seen, experienced, and can pontificate on what makes school's functional, and what makes them dysfunctional. I've been pondering many of the root causes of failing schools and have come up with a list of basics, which if in place, can get a school into mediocrity. I will expound on these in greater detail in the future, but here is the short and sweet.

1. Teacher morale

The number one affect on a teacher's ability to perform their job with zeal and passion, is morale. As with all careers, happy employees equal productive employees. The number one effector of teacher morale is whether a teacher feels successful, and supported by administration, instead of on an island, persecuted or under siege. There is a reason most people leave the profession within 5 years (Teach For America included). We are professionals, respect our judgement.

2. Behavioral consequences

When a student is chronically tardy, habitually disruptive, disrespectful, breaks teacher's noses, or any other behavior within the student's ability to control, there is a clear due process based, non-confrontational consequence. When there is no structure, students exploit, and the teachers end up being put in the role of mentor, and enforcer, two that do not go together. Often, the enforcement is nonexistent and empty due to no support or system.

3. Academic consequences

If a student cannot complete grade level work, do not pressure teachers to pass on students to the next grade level. When teachers are partially evaluated on their fail rate, it sends the wrong message. Some teachers fail students because they expect grade level work, not last minute assignments. Standards based grading does precisely this. When students are graded on their ability to fulfill vague "standards" of education, they no longer have to be productive, except on a test. Other gimmicks like "No Ds" cause grade inflation and contribute to the growing problem of college remediation courses.

4. Community support

Do neighborhood kids go to neighborhood schools? School "choice" is leading to wage based segregation. Schools for poor kids, and those for the lucky. When communities quit disparaging their public education, and instead play a role in it, rising tides float all boats.

5. Administrative support

Career administrators, with strong classroom backgrounds who want to move from teacher to administrator in the same school should be courted, compensated, and rewarded. Recruit the best and brightest. When a district sets up a system of yes men/women, who expect an advancement every two or three years up the ladder, their is no commitment, investment, or relationship with staff, community, or school. Or better yet, eliminate most administrative positions and let the teachers run the show!

6. Parental support and accountability

We are not your babysitter. Give your contact info to the school. Feed them! Ask about their day, even if you work the night shift and just got home. Ask about their homework. Come in and meet their teachers. We often see them more than you, and a completely different side of them that you should be aware of. Oh yeah, when they don't have passing grades, send them to summer school.

7. K-8 preparation

It's hard to point the blame at other teachers, but when whole classes of students arrive that are below grade level, I wonder what the previous teacher did. Don't inflate grades. Make a student pass basic skills tests to move on to the next grade, otherwise districts should provide mandatory summer schools to prevent students from falling behind. That costs more money, but if a student still reads at a 4th grade level by grade 9, something has gone terribly wrong.

8. High expectations

It never ceases to amaze me how low the expectations of rigor, effort, and skill the students are held to. Every year the students seem lower and lower. Systems should be put in place to correctly place teachers in their position of strength on a vertical alignment, so that freshman to senior teachers can communicate clearly, and share lessons and ideas, so that students are ready for each grade.

9. Teacher's contracts are honored

I am yet to work at a school where teacher contracts are honored, and the principal actively seeks counsel from teachers. When districts break our contract it tells us we don't matter, and that decision making will be top down, not with those who actually teach.

10. Monetary support

It took all semester to get the textbooks for my AP class. Enough said.

11. District interventions

This incorporates all that have been said above. Community and administrative support, accountability, summer schools, money, contracts, and ensuring students are prepared when entering a new level of K-12 education. If a student enters college and needs remediation, the school has not done an adequate job.

Although not perfect, this list does allow a school to move from dysfunctional to mediocrity. I plan to address each point in their own post. For the time being, it will allow my "disillusionment" stage to take more focus, and perhaps, some "rejuvenation."

AP and cultural bias

Around this time last year I wrote an entry detailing my dilemma about teaching half-truths, and having to give up the real value in history for basic content. Now, in a new school, and teaching AP(advanced placement) courses to students who are in no way prepared, I find myself hitting a similar wall. My new dilemma reminds me of my old district's attempt to get us to teach about jingoistic militarism from the Medal of Honor curriculum, which I also wrote about.

This time, I found myself in an AP Saturday institute, learning the ins and outs of the curriculum to be taught. It became very clear to me that the expectation was a watered down, worthless and uninspiring curriculum. It was rote memorization, learning test taking skills for the one AP test, and reactionary bias. I found myself sitting amongst a bunch of other well intentioned white teachers, discussing the validity of Andrew Jackson and his love of "democracy".

In reality, what all students need, and especially mine, is a history curriculum that promotes activism, assertiveness, and social awareness. I know for a fact, that the curriculum last year, which was heavy in social history and activism, gave my students the confidence to protest my principal, stand up to power, and catapult them into a life of social activism. That is what all social studies teachers strive for. With AP, the opposite seems to happen. The chart above should be alarming. The problem with AP is that it is supported, created, and perpetuated by those who go through the program. The curriculum, though unintentional, become self-serving.

For example, the suggested curriculum being pandered by the College Board requires US History to be covered from "Pre-Columbian Societies" for one week, to Jacksonian Democracy and "The Early Republic" for two weeks, and all the way to "The United States in the Post-Cold War World" for two weeks. Realistically, you cannot cover the depth of US History in such sweeping breadth. The curriculum is sanitized by its immense scope.

The curriculum is further sanitized by those who create and perpetuate the test questions and course syllabus'. An attached model syllabus from AP includes:

Jacksonian America (2 weeks)

In order to understand the development of evolution of democratic institutions in
the United States, the student will be able to:
A. Characterize the rise to political prominence of Andrew Jackson
B. Evaluate Jackson's domestic and foreign policies
C. Analyze the issues involved in the elections of 1836 and 1840
D. Explain the causes and results of reform movements in the United States during the early to mid-nineteenth century

While on the other hand:

Manifest Destiny and Sectionalism (1 week) (emphasis mine)
To recognize the importance of westward expansion and the looming issue of slavery in the United States, the student will be able to
A. Identify the causes and results of American settlers' moving west
B. Discuss the causes and results of the Mexican-American War
C. Analyze the issues involving slavery and potential disunion during the late 1840s and through the decade of the 1850s

As in life, all decisions come with an opportunity cost. When you choose one action, another possible scenario is never realized. To teach about Jackson, but neglect the trail of tears. To spend double the amount of time on the facade of emerging democracy (read: now includes white dudes without property) than on the most undemocratic institutions in our history, imperialism and slavery, where one in ten Americans was owned by another American is not only negligent, but is downright white-washing (pun intended). Is the data to the left at all surprising?

Students in AP not only have to deal with a fast paced, uninspiring curriculum, but at the end of the year the cultural bias of the curriculum is transferred into the test. The test has 80 multiple choice questions. For example:

Alexander Hamilton's economic program was designed primarily to
A. prepare the United States for war in the event Britain failed to vacate its posts in the Northwest
B. provide a platform for the fledgling Federalist Party's 1792 campaign
C. establish the financial stability and credit of the new government
D. ensure northern dominance over the southern states in order to abolish slavery
E. win broad political support for his own candidacy for the presidency in 1792.

I made bold all of the words and phrases that my students would not understand. Not only is the curriculum rather irrelevant in the lives of everyday Americans then, as now, but the nature of the question favors the business and economic minded well read students with high vocabulary. Guess where they go to school? The test is designed for students with privilege to get a discounted college education, while the opportunity cost for poorer students is high.

Last year, my students were unable to think independently or critically. By the end of the year they were the highest scorers on district tests and politically active. This year, I have this to start with this.

The AP test does this student no favors. Although unintentional, the AP test is culturally biased and does nothing to help out students who have not had the privilege of a stable home, middle class income, and other opportunities people like myself have been fortunate to have. To change this, we need to stop pandering poor curriculum choices for our students.

I am under pressure to make sure that the student who's work you see above gets a passing score in the AP test. It won't happen. When you read at a 6th grade reading level, write at a 5th grade level, and when the entire test is set up for a 12th+ level with culturally irrelevant information, how on earth can I lie to that student and say that they can do it. I'm a decent teacher, but I'm no messiah.

It is possible, reading standard histories, to forget half the population of the country. The explorers were men, the landholders and merchants men, the political leaders men, the military figures men. The very invisibility of women, the overlooking of women, is a sign of their submerged status.

If history is to be creative, to anticipate a possible future without denying the past, it should, I believe, emphasize new possibilities by disclosing those hidden episodes of the past when, even if in brief flashes, people showed their ability to resist, to join together, occasionally to win. I am supposing, or perhaps only hoping, that our future may be found in the past's fugitive movements of compassion rather than in its solid centuries of warfare.
-Howard Zinn

That is what inspired my students last year. It inspires all students. Why destroy that? I am struggling again this year. How can I inspire and teach such a culturally repressive history?

To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.

What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places -- and there are so many -- where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.

And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.

-Howard Zinn

That is what I need to teach, but I don't know if I can keep my job and do my job at the same time.

Parting shot

My former colleagues this week leaked an email to me that went around my old school. Our state assessment results came back. In a celebration email, the Assistant Principal made a conscious decision to leave my name in the results.

I was the top performing teacher. My ELL classes and honors classes combined to place my students in the 75th percentile, meaning they outperformed 75% of the state's students on non-fiction writing and reading. The closest other teachers were 67% and 63%.

I still give no respect to the state test, but I would've loved to have been a fly on the wall when my former principal opened that email.

Hitting the reset button

With summer break quickly dwindling away I found myself in a new and wonderful position: entertaining multiple job offers. As it turned out, a few districts had buyers remorse with their candidates. As the seemingly perennial second place, I got the nod.

I had three choices. The first is an exurban school that was predominantly white and wealthy where I would teach Economics, Sociology, and a US History. One semester contract, with assurance of it becoming full year.

The second was a suburban middle class school that had wide diversity with an IB program in the most respected district in the state. What I would teach is TBD. One year contract, with likelihood of it becoming continuing once older teachers retire.

The third is a homogeneously Latino poor urban school with a one million dollar turnaround grant from the government, which has an all new administration. I would teach AP US History, Honors Geography, and Geography. Full year, continuing contract.

I chose the urban school. Out of the three options, it is there where I can make the most difference with a very high-needs population. Also, being on the ground level of a school-wide rebuild can be immensely rewarding. One of my references will be my Assistant Principal and evaluator. Good hook-up. Also, my schedule was tailor-made for me, and I got a third floor room overlooking downtown.

The feeling is phenomenal. I'm desired instead of shunned. My new school is exactly where I want to be. I welcome the challenge and look forward to the success I know is coming. A totally new district with a lot of room for advancement. Now I can quit writing about my mental states and get back to writing about education.


Last weekend a group of friends and I went on a canoe trip through some canyons in Utah. The water was cool and fast, with the consistency of chocolate milk. When I jumped into the water and floated along the canoes the trauma of the non-renewal, board process, and administrative leave from my last school melted away. The feelings of betrayal, helplessness, and anger are gone. I feel ready. My mind is reset. I wouldn't be anywhere else. Well, almost.

We took this shot from our cliff palace campsite. "Find a happy place"

Summer has begun

With all the drama going on with finding a job, I am finding myself decompressing, finally.

While I was out of town, my car was flooded by a massive rainstorm. In the back seat floor of my car was all my documents from the kids. I had my stack of anonymous student surveys, student letters to me, stacks of student essays, performance reviews, and copies of the student petitions.


Although reeking of mildew, and unable to be used again in interviews, I have been drying them on my floor for the past week. Drying, reading, and preserving each one has been a reminder. An orange mouse of sorts.

Those reminders have been continually cropping up over the past weeks as I withdrew from the job hunt. The students asked me to lead them on more Outdoor Club hikes. Unaffiliated with school of course. I happily obliged with parental consent and participation. You can never be too careful in situations such as that. I have another outing with the kiddos in a few weeks.

Tomorrow, I am heading to my former school to join the Environmental Club students in a barbecue, next to the garden I helped them get. I abandoned the club after last year due to my percieved apathy of the students, and the mounting responsibilities of being a Department Chair. My co-sponsor more than came through with the club, and got the garden put in the ground. I decided to create a gift for her.


It says, "Never loose focus of whom you advocate for," and is all native plants. I created it from a toolbox I found in my basement. The person I made it for has recently run afoul of administration, as is their nature. The quote is meant to inspire her to remember she works for the kids, not the directive commandments from the Oz that is administration. She knows that well, and I'm hoping that garden proves motivational. I am going to give this to her tomorrow morning at the barbecue.

I also created it for myself. I want one too, but I promised myself that I would give it away. I have continued my drawn out epiphany that I wouldn't change anything that happened to me, kind of. What happened reaffirmed my career/life choice. Now that stability is on the horizon, I can stop letting the anxiety take over, and really double down on what I've accomplished. After three years, a $10,000 federal grant for a community garden, an active outdoor club, politically active youth in school and out, and beating the system, albeit for a week only, I feel accomplished and proud. Teachers can be the most powerful force in a kid's life and can influence far beyond their classroom. Or, they can fill a space. The former is not me. My need to teach is driven by more than intrinsic value, it is activism. It was the students and community that gave that feeling to me. It is a feeling I will never forget.

Victory.

Found a job. Boy, was I being dramatic.

Notice: the removed head

Orange mice

My cat has this very bizarre fascination with orange mice. Unlike other toy mice, the orange ones never disappear, and linger for months, until finally beheaded. I find them on the futon, under the covers, in the laundry, and in my shoes. Peter likes to hide them in places for me to find them, so I can then throw them and be reminded of his cuteness. For as long as I live, I will probably always associate orange mice with him.

My life now has the constant reminder of what I once was. Orange mice like facebook messages, places, people, and everything I have surrounded myself with, remind me of teaching. It is impossible to escape, or remove from my mind.

The job hunt thus far has been an anxiety ridden roller coaster ride. At the end is financial and personal doom. I am 0-7 on the interview front, persistently second place. Everyone is keeping my resume in case another position opens. That matters little, because you are either first or last. This blog has become another orange mouse. It is now something I will purge from my life until life improves. Teaching was never a job, it was a calling. And right now I cannot stand being marooned. See you in a week, or a year, who knows.

You know you're doing something right when...

You find your students registering people to vote at PrideFest.
You find others there who say they are praying for you to find a job.

Found another student in head to toe purple body paint and a feather headdress looking at the bongs for sale. Totally hysterical.