The Daily Grind

Five Innovative Education Reforms

2009-11-29T13:46:00.000-08:00

Franchise Tag--In the NFL, a team can place a Franchise Tag on a player. This option allows a team to hold the rights to a player who might have otherwise left via free agency. If the team places a franchise tag on a player, he is guaranteed to make either 120% of his current salary or the average of the top 5 salaries, depending on which is greater.

Imagine a school district with a highly talented teacher who wants to leave, or a good teacher in a highly needed field--say math or science--who is also seeking a new school. The district could then "Franchise" the teacher for the following year. This would allow the district a full year to seek out a new, highly qualified teacher as a replacement.

Teacher of the Year--in MLB, the league's MVP is determined by the Major League Baseball Writers Association of America. This means that every voter is swayed by their own bias. Everyone knows this. Everyone hates this. Everyone accepts this.

We need to have one universal way to vote for Teacher of the Year--the class and school officers along with their cabinets. Biased? Yes. Would we all know this? Yes. Would we all hate this? Yes. Could we accept this? Yes. Imagine the lunchroom debates, the mocking of certain votes. We could have the school newspaper interview voters and demand explanation. It's a win-win.

Sponsorships--In Seattle, it used to be the Kingdome. Now, it's Safeco Field. In New York, it used to be Shea Stadium. Now it's Citi Field. In NCAA football, we used to watch the Cotton Bowl. Now we watch the AT&T Cottonbowl. My dad used to watch the Triple Crown in horseracing. Now we all watch the Visa Triple Crown.

Educators regularly decry the lack of funding for supplies, facilities, and salaries. Imagine if we stopped naming schools for their towns or after some famous person. Instead of having attended Ellington High School, I could have attended Big Y High School. Students have to take the CAPT here in Connecticut. Now, they could take the Traveler's CAPT. Hell, my classroom could use some computers for students to produce work on so maybe my room could secure a sponsorship from Starbucks. To make sure we can afford books, we could have Pfizer AP Chemistry or Barnes and Noble AP Literature. The possibilities are endless.

Wine Bars--When I lived outside of Seattle, there was a delightful wine bar--Purple Cafe. With its mellow metropolitan mood, such establishments delight and calm patrons. The welcoming atmosphere is perfect for a date or a buisness meeting.

Staff meetings suck. But imagine staff meetings taking place at a wine bar. Instead of meeting all together (80 plus staff), administrators could meet once a month with departments. We could sit and discuss business with the entrancing smoothness of jazz dancing in our ears and the robust spices of a gently fruity Red Zinfandel. Yep, I'm enjoying staff meetings a whole lot more.

Reality TV--Think about the way in which reality television has influenced society. The Real World helped us to the see what was really going on in the lives of hyper-sexed early twenties adults. Tempatation Island helped us to understand what was going in the lives of hyper-sexed, married, mid-twenty-somethings. Survivor taught us how to manipulate and strategize in the our own worlds. The Biggest Loser helped us feel better about our extra twenty pounds. In the end, it's been a benefit to society.

Now, the world could be introduced to what really goes on in the lives of teachers. They'd see us when we talk about the students and each other. Our insecurities would be exploited. America is ready to see the behind-the-scenes world of public education. Imagine awkwardly watching some young teacher bawling his eyes out after some kid told him to fuck himself. You can hear the snorting, the blubbering, and see the snot dripping, the face contorting. What would be better than watching two strong headed teachers tearing each other apart over whether we should allow students to listen to iPods between classes or take independent studies. Come on, you know you'd watch.

Whaddya Wanna Bet?

2009-11-28T06:49:00.000-08:00

Time for the autumn installment of my ripped off idea, Whaddya Wanna Bet...

That I won't feel quite right for at least a week after all the Thanksgiving food I ate?
That I am still quite angry at the community grocery stores whose "Corporate" policies are blocking our ability to expand on last year's sublimely successful food drive?
That it is going to take a monumental effort to make up for the loss of all those days at those locations?
That I think we can do it now that our bus company is donating a bus for a "Fill-the-Bus" event?
That for as much as I want to see tenure disappear, and for as much as I want to see merit pay, I still get nervous about any plan to tie those determinations to closely to test scores?
That ultimately keeping anyone based singularly on their years of service might be the absolute the dumbest idea?
That reading about "Smitty" in Acceptance: A Legendary Guidance Counselor Helps Seven Kids Find the Right Colleges, has made me want to quit the classroom to become a guidance counselor?
That the right book, at the right time, can lift our spirits?
That smaller learning communities can have excellent benefits, while overcrowded, chaotic schools have detrimental effects?
That when my grandmother asked what I wanted toddlerTate and babyCalvin to be like as students, the first words that came to mind were: kind, compassionate, and polite?
That I then recalled the parents who helicopter over their student so I added self-advocates?
That lately, I don't see the purpose of grades, especially when one feels the pressure to inflate those grades?
That I hope all of you have a happy and safe holiday season?

How would you answer?

2009-11-23T17:42:00.000-08:00

A recent survey question from the State of Connecticut addresses one of the criteria they would like to be a part of the new evaluation process for new teachers.

"Promoting engagement in and shared responsibility for the learning process and providing shared responsibility for the learning process and providing opportunities for students to initiate their own questions and inquiries."

We were asked to rate how important to the overall effect of teachers is this criteria. The breakdown then had us answer based on its importance for teachers in years 1-3 and over 3. Then we were asked how important the criteria is in promoting student learning.

I voted for minimally important. I guess its my recent infatuation with Core Knowledge and the idea that there are certain pieces of knowledge student should just know.

Self-Advocacy

2009-11-20T17:16:00.000-08:00

Why can't students advocate for their own needs? One student feels I don't like him, so dad comes in to confront me. Even though his son isn't following my clear instructions, he felt his son deserved a higher grade. Another young lady misses quite a few days of school, takes initiative to get some missed work, but doesn't complete it in the time frame I asked for. She doesn't earn a very good score on a quiz, so dad wants comes in to tell me I should fix the problem.
I am a reasonable teacher. If a student feels like he or she has a reason to complain, he or she should take ownership and come talk to me first. If the problem remains unsolved (meaning my answer is unreasonable), then mom or dad should get involved.
I'm already teaching toddlerTate how to self-advocate. Shouldn't a 14 year old have those skills?

UPDATE: I'm not the only one! See Joanne Jacobs.

You do the math.

2009-11-16T17:00:00.001-08:00

Just an observation. On my most recent vocabulary quiz (words listed below), an interesting data point emerged. My high school draws from two locations. One location is largely White, the other largely Hispanic.
I decided to check the statistics--you know, data-driven-decision-making. The students from location A (largely White), scored 20 percentage points higher.
The appropriate question is, why? Why do the students from school A score higher than the students from school B? Is it their whiteness? Truthfully, some of my non-white students have expressed their belief that white students are smarter. How does a teacher combat such beliefs? These are 13, 14, and 15 year olds. I've attempted to spark intrinsic motivation, but that hasn't helped. I've attempted to ignite a period competition (the majority of my school A students are in one class period), but that hasn't had much effect. This week, instead of posting scores based on period, I'm posting based on middle school location.
I'm at a loss for motivational techniques. My competitive nature would have been sparked long ago had my teacher pointed out that I was being outperformed by someone else. Even if I couldn't beat them, I would try.
Oh, I expect that some of you will question why I would teach vocabulary, especially out of context from a novel. I'll allow a student to answer that:

"I wish you had been my English teacher every year. I took the SAT's and did terribly--especially in the vocab section. I recognized like half of the words on your list as words that were on the SAT."--A senior in my advisory class.

Let him struggle...

2009-11-16T15:41:00.000-08:00

In Animal Farm, the characters have meaning beyond the text. Orwell meant for Napoleon to represent Stalin and Snowball to represent Trotsky. He also meant for Squealer to represent the propaganda machine of the state controlled media.
I explaine all of this to my students before we began the novel, though I didn't spend a great deal of time with the history. I would prefer them to see some of the many viable connections between the novel and modern US governing. At any rate, one of my brighter students is having trouble with the seeing the propaganda for what it is.
Today, when asked his reaction to Napoleon restarting the Windmill project and taking credit for the idea as his own while rewriting Snowball's history as that of a traitor, the young man felt was convinced that it was Napoleon's idea all along, that Snowball had, in fact, been run off the farm for trying to steal Napoleon's idea.
My impulse was to correct him, to tell him he was wrong. Instead, I asked a few questions, pointed to a few passages, but to no avail. His peers even tried to help him out, and yet, he was able to persuade at least one other fence rider to join his position. It was a fascinating class session.
I gave him the following advice, "Continue reading. Remember that Napoleon's committee bettered the plans according to Napoleon. So, pay attention to what happens with the Windmill." We'll wait an see.

7 Commandments

2009-11-13T15:57:00.000-08:00

My freshmen are in the early chapters of Animal Farm, and at the moment all seems well. Today's activity would have made my district very proud, except that I forgot to put my objectives on the board.
After checking their active reading, I informed my students that a rebellion has occurred, and the teachers have been run out. They are now in charge. Their first order of business is to create 7 Commandments which will define how students think and behave at this new school. They had 20-30 minutes (one class needed more time) to create one single list and write it on the board.
The results were both amusing and depressing. My class clowns often took the leadership reins early only to eventually lose power to the more level-headed. In all cases, the primary leaders were boys; and in most cases, the girls ended up providing the final word. Many of my most intelligent students who consistently demonstrate excellence in the academic field contented themselves in the background, barely uttering a sentence or two. Some students yelled at one another, other hurled invectives at ideas they found useless.
Each list had its own unique feel. One class focused on student behavior (the honors class). Another class seemed interested in the type of food they would now be able to eat. Most classes included the allowance of electronic devices, though some were more reasonable than others. In the end, only one class decided that rule number one would be "Bring back the teachers," apparently concerned that without us, chaos would rule.
At the end of the assignment, I provided my observations. Students were amused that I found in them character traits of Mollie or Squealer. Some were shocked when I informed them that they used fear to bring their peers along.
Ultimately, I enjoyed the assignment, and I hope they did as well.

Makes me want to quit

2009-11-11T15:28:00.000-08:00

Let's go ahead and tread on some thin ice tonight. Via Joanne Jacobs' blog, I've discovered what might make me quit teaching--discipline quotas. More precisely, in Tucson, "Schools that suspend or expel Hispanic and black students at higher rates than white students will now get a visit from a distric 'Equity Team' and will be expected to remedy those disparities by reducing their minority discipline rates."
At the risk of progressives calling me racist, I'd like to ask a few questions:

1. Do Hispanic and black students violate the rules at a higher rate than white students? Meaning, if 10.5 percent (as reported) of all Hispanic students get suspended, does that 10.5 percent break the rules egregiously enough to get suspended?
2. Do the white students violate the same rules and receive the same punishments?
3. Is the disparity a result of more rule breaking by the Hispanic and black students in comparison to the white students?

If 10.5 percent of the Hispanic students break the rules egregiously enough to merit suspension, then they should be suspended. If a white student commits the same violation, he or she should be suspended as well.
If the white students receiving the same punishments for equal violations, then a the disparity is only in numerical value, not in special treatment.
If the Hispanic and black students are violating the rules at a higher rate, then the obvious deduction is that their discipline rates will be higher.

When political correctness blocks our ability to discipline a student, we castrate our ability to control the learning environment. If we put teachers in a position where they must second guess their decision to issue corrective punishment, we will lose our authority as teachers. Why should a student take me seriously in the classroom when my instructions are to write a 5 paragraph essay when in the hallway I won't hold them accountable to the no iPod rule.
And before the progressives get all worked up, let me address a very real problem in schools like Tucson. There are some teachers, security personnel, and administrators who target minority students. Their preconceived ideas and latent prejudices cause them to look the other way when a "good white student in DECA" walks by without their pass. They know the student or have seen the student actively participating in positive behaviors, so they smile and walk on by. But when that same teacher sees a regular hall-walker, who happens to be Hispanic, the teacher will stop and ask for the student's passport book.
What I would really like to see is a commitment by our schools from the earliest years to teach all students how to behave in school. I would like to see our schools look past the socio-economics or race of a student and hold them to all to the same exact standard. And when any student deviates from that standard, he or she is disciplined appropriately. Because for as much as I have seen minority students targeted, I have also seen minority students get away with far more than a non-minority student out of fear of being labeled by an administrator or the student.

Trying to plan

2009-11-08T16:06:00.000-08:00

I'm laying out the scheduled readings and lessons for my Animal Farm unit but find it difficult to plan. The November doldrums have swept in and clouded my mind. Part of the problem is that I don't really want to think too hard. For instance, I teach four freshmen English classes in a rotating schedule. Additionally, some weeks we have block scheduling and other weeks we have half-day PD scheduling. This week looks like this:

Monday: Meet with periods 2,3,4,5
Tuesday: Meet with periods 2,3,4,5
Wednesday: No School
Thursday: Meet with periods 3,4,5
Friday: Meet with periods 2,3,4,5

Three of the freshmen classes will meet four times; one will meet three times. The following week has two half-days for conferences--I haven't seen the schedule yet for those days, so I'm not sure which classes will meet. Then, we have the Thanksgiving week: two days of classes and a half-day that always feels like we shouldn't bother coming in.

This should be much easier, but the intermittent crying from baby Cal and the newly arrived sassiness of toddler Tate have scrambled whatever brains I had.

Adults Ruin Everything

2009-11-05T13:41:00.000-08:00

Though his suspension was recently overturned, T.J. Peeler's story shows once again how near-sighted we adults can be dealing with youngsters.
The sports fields offer our men and women opportunity to succeed and fail. They ought to be allowed to enjoy that success with a modicum of celebratory actions. What is wrong with a student athlete pointing to the sky or chest-bumping a teammate? Nothing. Unless you are a stodgy, heartless adult.

I Pity the Fool

2009-10-28T16:37:00.000-07:00

Is there something to the Dr. Ben Chavis method? His critics claim he ran off all the bad students--which they claim are the Black, Latino, and American Indian students. But, what about the individual stories? Do those students lie? Does Chavis lie?
This morning I had a conversation with a regular attender of the In-School-Suspension room. He was in the process of writing a persuasive essay opposing the extention of the school day or school year. He wasn't sure how to organize the essay. But the discussion branched off into what causes schools to fail. Under the impression that our students fail because they are minorities, this student was curious about my feelings.
We discussed the many contributors to student failure. I mentioned that poverty affects student achievement, but so does poor teaching. I admitted that inconsistencies in holding students accountable for rule breaking is as detrimental to the system as students disrupting the school day. The student found it fascinating that I would admit to him that when a teacher stops holding a student accountable to the rule (say, no iPods in the hall), we have quit caring about their success. What we are implying with our blind eye is that the student is not important enough to correct. Chavis writes, "Training a pony is not much different from disciplining students. The key is wearing students out and teaching them to realize there is no use in being defiant (185).
Yep, some of you will become outraged at the comparison. I can hear the progressive angst now: "People are not animals. They have feelings and self-esteem. We, as teachers, cannot harm their precious little souls." It makes me laugh. If our students come to us acting like fools, we ought to treat them like the fools they are, not indulge their foolishness.

Positivity

2009-10-25T18:26:00.001-07:00

It's easy to get distracted by all that is wrong in a work environment. The same is true within education. The reality is that I often get caught up focusing on what is wrong with my building and fail to miss those moments of beauty. Tonight I was reminded by one of the sweetest people I know, K-Rodge (from my Seattle days), that a positive outlook can be the differene between success and failure.
So, tomorrow when I get to school, nothing but positivity.

A Miscellany

2009-10-24T09:01:00.001-07:00

My friend and former colleague, John Foley, has a humorous post about refereeing celebrities.

While scoring essays at Starbucks this morning, I overheard three 60 something women discuss the merits of various donut types while telling stories of their donut buying adventures. This part of their conversation lasted over thirty minutes.

Also while scoring essays, I finally read a completely readable and articulate piece from one of my seniors. Even though there are five more to read, I had to stop because of the grading high the essay put me on--I didn't want to kill the buzz.

I've been wondering about reality lately. Mainly, I am trying to understand the reality that some teachers live in. One point in particular--writing instruction. Yesterday, a 9th grade student stood in front of me in shock. I had just finished pointing out that in two paragraphs of writing, he had yet to write a complete sentence. He either had a series of run ons or a series of phrases. The shock on his face was not contrived, and I imagine his response to be honest: "But my writing workshop teacher last year always told me how good my pieces were."

Maybe we should stop teaching students to free write in place of correct writing. Certainly writing to process thoughts has value, but too many of my 9th graders are great at writing what they feel, even if it doesn't relate to the topic or make a bit of grammatical sense.

By Jove!

2009-10-18T18:14:00.000-07:00

I'm attempting a rather brief mini-unit on mythology. My lack of experience in this area could lead to a debacle or boredom. But, a classic education requires some introduction to the oft alluded to.

Mini-lesson One: Guided Notes about why we study myths.

Mini-lesson Two: "How the World Began" from Myths and their Meaning.

Mini-lesson Three: Baseball and Mythology (to coordinate with our interdisciplinary unit on baseball).

Mini-lesson Four: Gods and advertising/marketing/company slogans (to be taught by student teacher).

The individual assignment, shown in the picture, asks the students to create a Facebook profile for a god or goddess. Students will have to find a picture, create a status update, identify two poems that reference their choice, and write a three sentence summary of their choice's importance. We've been working hard to solidify summarizing skills, so this will be yet another data point for that skill.

Intimidation

2009-10-16T17:43:00.000-07:00

My parents used to tell me that one day my mouth will get me in trouble. I never listened. Call it thick-headedness or stupidity (probably the latter), but I just can't stop telling people what I think. If only I were smarter, I could be a politician!
Recently, the topic of intimidation has struck my fancy. Education Next profiles Michelle Rhee in their 2010 winter edition, and I'm sure there are people who feel intimidated by her approach. Me? I have a huge crush on her--but that's neither here nor there.
Unions are often claiming that administrators intimidate staff, but I've never been one to get bullied. I can't imagine every administrator I've had has always sung my praises; this blog is not anonymous, and I am not a close my door, do my job type of teacher. I have opinions.
What's interesting is that, while unions claim administrators bully, my experience is that many within the rank and file of the union feel more bullied by the union than anyone else. Heck, in most places, teachers are forced to pay agency fees to the union, even if the contract sucks. Give me free agency any day.
Teachers intimidate, too. I won't lie, I'm guilty. I try to intimidate my students with tough rules and killer grading. Once, a student told me, "Mr. Mac, you try to intimidate us, but you really aren't that tough." It killed me, and I loved it. There's nothing better than hearing someone firmly state their opinion with great confidence.
Students try to intimidate as well. I'm going to tell my mother, they threaten. Once, a student threatened me with that line (she'd arrived late and loudly protested the day's agenda when she arrived). "Go ahead. Take out your phone right now and call her," I said. I wasn't kidding, and the girl called home. Mom showed up by the end of the day; the two of us had a wonderful conversation about her daughter's behavior.
I think today's pop-culture calls it swagger, but whatever you call it, you might need to go get it.

The Likable Shithead

2009-10-15T17:21:00.000-07:00

Sometimes in life you run across an individual who you like, except that they are a shithead. Every once in a while, that individual is a student. You find yourself asking why am I bothering trying to help this kid? They screw up royally; and when you call them on it, a twinkle develops in their eye, and their cheek involuntarily raises the corner of their mouth. They know better. And they know you'll fall for it every time.
When did this kid gain control like this? Why is this kid controlling everything? You are confused. You want to not like the student, but, uh, that wry smile gets you. You like their spunk, their stubborness. You go to your colleagues, and all you can say is, That kid is a shithead, but a likable one.

Rules

2009-10-12T13:19:00.000-07:00

I continue to struggle with theory and practice. In theory, I agree with such rules as: no cell-phones, no iPods, no hats, etc. But in practice, I'm not as dedicated as needed. Many charter schools have these hard-line policies, and I am inclined to believe in those rules.
Yet, while standing at my door during passing time, student after student walks by with a cell-phone out our an iPod attached to their ear. Most students will put the devices away when I ask, but many will just keep walking. That's where practice and theory intersect in a head on collision. Do I follow the student? Our administration has made these rules the forefront of our year. So, what should I do?

Annoying the Bleeding Heart Educator

2009-10-10T06:41:00.000-07:00

Dr. Ben Chavis, successful principal and now author of Crazy Like a Fox, used the American Indian Model of Education (AIM-Ed.) to revive American Indian Public Charter School. My guess is that his story bothers the elitists of our profession who believe in touchy-feely education. I'd also wager he's pissed off the unions and a host of other education related sectors. It will come as no surprise to some of you that I am enjoying his story.
The AIM-Ed. model has four components:
1. Family Culture--He doesn't mean the student's family or the student's culture. Chavis explains, "We are not going to burden the family members of students who are barely making ends meet or tell them they are responsible for the school's success or failure..."(65). The AIM-Ed. model seeks to create a culture of family within the school community. Teachers caring passionately about their students' needs and success. Chavis wants to teach his students how to act appropriately and how to succeed in school and life.

2. Accountability and Structure--Chavis writes, "When you look at areas in which minorities succeed--sports, military, and church--you realize what they have in common. They are all highly structured and have serious consequences for stepping out of line. Public schools in the inner city, for all their talk of being culturally sensitive and aware, don't put practices in place that work for the demographic they serve. Instead of using discipline and consistent role modeling, they impose an impersonal system on students, which causes chaos"(55).

3. High Expectations--AIM-Ed. philosphy believes students can succeed in spite of all the economic barriers. "We believe in our students," Chavis explains. "We do not play the victim card at our schools. I don't want to hear that crap from the students, families, teachers, or any staff...because I know that low expectations yield low success rates and cheat students" (85).

4. Free Market Capitalism--Here, Chavis has the luxury of having made a good deal of money prior to taking over American Indian Public Charter. He pays students for perfect attendance. We don't have that ability. But, the principle of capitalism stands out. Make students compete.

Now, if you argue with 1-3, we could never work together. Urban schools are not finding success because we have failed to believe the same about our students as suburban schools believe about their students. You can argue funding and all the other trite rationales, but in the end, we do not have strong structures, accountability, or expectations. And we certainly don't have a family culture or community. The size of urban schools prevents this in most cases.

Why can't my sports literature students be this creative?

2009-10-09T16:02:00.000-07:00

From ESPN writer Bill Simmon's Mailbag column:

Q: I'm a senior in high school and was assigned a project in lit class to create my own university, which other students would then "apply" to. Both me and my partner for the project are fans of yours, and, remembering a podcast in which you discussed your dream of having a college named after you, decided on Bill Simmons University. We went back to the podcast and created it exactly to your specifications. We even put in your admissions requirement: female applicants just send pictures. We got a D on the assignment and a lecture from the teacher about sexism and taking the class seriously. Thanks, Bill Simmons.-- Brett, Portland, Ore.

SG: I don't even need to write it. And by the way, rarely if ever, has a reader e-mail made me this proud. The only way it would have been better is if you snapped at the teacher, "Shouldn't we have gotten a double-D?" Come to my Portland signing (Nov. 20), bring the paper and I will autograph the paper and give you a free book. Take that, uptight teacher who doesn't have a sense of humor.

I nearly woke up baby Calvin laughing at this.

Mr. McNamar 2.0

2009-10-06T12:03:00.000-07:00

Three and a half years ago, I introduced Mr. McNamar 1.0--Tate. Today, I introduce to you all, Calvin Boyd McNamar. He arrived two weeks ahead of schedule and is as calm and peaceful as his older sister was as a baby. And while Tate flashed her big eyes early and often, Cal has been reticent and content to sleep.

Where to begin?

2009-10-04T14:49:00.000-07:00

This weekend was Narrative Essay Scoring Weekend. I hated it. My ninth graders worked on these essays five times in class over the course of four weeks. The project was in conjunction with a short story unit. We focused mainly on showing not telling, and most students did a decent job at that. But after reading their final drafts (which will not be final), I am not sure where to begin writing instruction. Take a look.

From the Honors class: (as written)

I tried to make a sand castle but the soft sand wouldn't stay in position where as I tried using hard sand the castle wouldn't eventually topple to peices. Building sand castles just wasn't my think so I decided to go into the water. The sea water was icy cold against my feet and the rocks I steped on were hard and pointy. I haerd my other brother call and wanted to come with me.
Not to mention, I was right next to the metal bench where you sit down to try on shoes. So here goes the attempt. My right foot goes down. My right arm goes down. But, as my face reached the ground, it smaked directly on the corner of the bench! Instantly the taste of the salty tears was on my lips.

From the College Prep: (as written)

The phone rang unexpectedly the nervousness as he answers "hello". Then all ofa sudden a long pause, his eyes get teary, he had a puzzled look on his face. what's wrong? He replied says" nothing, nothing's wrong don't worry "me, I was young but I still had a feeling he was laying to me. You no that dark weird feeling at the pit of your stomach I had that.
As I walked into my house from a day of eating ice cream and pizza with my friends, I heard my mom sobbing upstairs. I rushed upstairs to her room to find her sitting at the edge of her bed sniffing and trying to catch her breath. She picked up her head and I instantly knew she had been crying for a while because her eyes were blood shot red.

My reactions to:

Honors: These students lack an understanding of punctuation and complete thoughts. Also, they tried too hard to impress which resulted in cluttered paragraphs and stories that never ended.

College Prep: These students are all over the place. Some students could tell the story, but like the second example, need to vary sentence patterns. More than one student didn't even write a narrative (of course they didn't have rough drafts during the workshop days).

I'm not putting grades on these essays. It just wouldn't be right. So they will be rewriting. I'm thinking I might have them focus on just one section of their essay to revise for a final grade. But what writing instruction will have the greatest effect? That I don't know.

Giddy

2009-09-29T17:20:00.000-07:00

I get giddy when my books arrive from Barnes and Noble or Amazon. Today, four books arrived: Sports in Literature, Shakespeare Set Free, Inside Out: Strategies for Teaching Writing, and A Whole Other Ball Game: Women's Literature on Women's Sport
The two sports related books are in response to not having any books for the Sports Literature class I teach. The Shakespeare book will help me teach my 9th graders Romeo and Juliet, and the writing book is simply to stimulate thought for the year.

More time

2009-09-27T17:42:00.001-07:00

So, the Big O wants a longer school year? Let's clarify. President Obama (not Oprah), thinks that a today's society demands a longer school year. Apparently, we need to be more educated if we are to become socialapitalists (can I trademark that term?).
Here's my plan:
Quarter One--10 weeks
Support One--3 weeks
Quarter Two--10 weeks
Support Two--3 weeks
Quarter Three--10 weeks
Support Three--3 weeks
Quarter Four--10 weeks
Support Four--3 weeks
TOTAL: 52 Weeks

Students who don't master the material in a subject during the quarter must remain for 3 additional support weeks. Studens who master the material get three weeks off.
Heck, we could still keep many of the current days off and make this work.

The Czar or Tsar?

2009-09-23T17:29:00.000-07:00

Man, it is getting more difficult every day to defend my vote for President Obama. Another Czar, in this case an education czar, has fallen prey to the attack on previously held beliefs/statements.

Simmer Down...

2009-09-23T16:04:00.000-07:00

I shouldn't jump to conclusions, but I am annoyed. Last year, our first school-wide, massive scale food drive collected 5,500 food items. So, we're getting a head-start on securing locations. Except, one of the two locations we used last year changed their policy to only allow one group at a time. The Salvation Army has already secured it. A second, and new location, same thing.

Without those two locations (there aren't many to choose from), we won't be able to collect the new goal of 10,000 items--and it would be unlikely that we collect 5,500 items.

I'm working on it though.