Homework? What's That?

Another teacher in my building told me that he asked his students how many of them did homework.  .  .  .  Blank stares are his answer.  He's puzzled because as an educated person he remembers having to do homework.  He asks again and the kids look at each other and shrug.  He thinks they are kidding but one student says "I'm not playing Mister, I don't do homework."

When asked "Why not?" the response was "It's boring."

SO.  Um, homework is practice and we learn and get better by practicing.  Is there a whole generation that thinks that they are SO special and SO gifted that the learning is just going to LEAP into their brains while they sit by passively and drool?

A local school district is just horrified that more than a thousand more students are failing a class this year since last year.  Texas passed a law that states that districts cannot require teachers to give a minimum grade (a 50 instead of 0)  and because students are NOT doing homework then they are failing.  So Irving wants to take away failing grades for homework.

WHEN do the kids have to become accountable?  Are we supposed to spoon feed them into old age and ALLOW them to perform in a sub-standard way? We're supposed to protect their precious little psyches and tell them it doesn't really matter...that they don't have to do the mean old homework.

I know that many of our children have obstacles to overcome.  But MANY MORE are enabled to be lazy.  I will help a child that wants help with my last dime.  I do NOT CHOOSE to enable students to be lazy.  

What do YOU think?

Caffeination

I met one of my former students at Starbucks today.  We manage to hook up there every few months. It's nice.  I appreciate hearing his point of view on the world.  I'm very, very proud of his accomplishments and was SO thrilled when he presented me with a bound copy of his Master's Thesis last year.  I was even prouder when he landed his dream job.  How many people can say that?  I was totally proud when his thesis and he got quoted in USA Today recently. 

The weather was stunningly gorgeous today.  It seriously does not get better in Texas.  We usually sit at the same table.  He was there waiting for me.  We play catch up and visit and talk about the folks we both know and love and I start to tell him about my week and I said "Waiting for Superman" and this strange fellow from the next table gets up and joins us and begins to say some really peculiar things.  He actually kind of dominates the conversation and does have some interesting things to say but I think he's harder to follow than I am when there are shiny objects about. 

He talks about "things." He talks about education because of the book I have on the table. He talks about some esoterica that is beyond my comprehension.  I think he's been in rehab lately.  I have to appreciate my ability to attract random strangers.  At least he didn't ask for money. 

Maybe next time we'll meet at Lakewood instead of Casa Linda.

That is NOT Cute

I'm still Waiting for Superman.  I am SO glad that today is FRIDAY.  I love it when I interact with something (art/Radio/TV/Film/happening) that makes me keep thinking.  When I got to school today I had students waiting to hear what I thought of the movie last night.  I was happy to talk to them about it.  I didn't want to give too much away  because I want the kids to go see it.  I told them I cried.  

One girl said that she'd heard it would make you cry.  Another student asked if it made me mad.  I replied that it didn't really make me more mad than I already was.  I know what the issues are in Urban American education.  What the movie showed me is that my local issues are pretty much the same all over the US. 

This is my AP class.  We often talk about issues we face living in America. The students are curious.  They've heard me discuss Idiocracy and one boy said that he just thought it was funny until he started thinking about it and he said he got scared after that because he realized that it truly was satire involving a real issue in society today.  I asked them all to please reproduce.  But not yet, not until they are out of college...(They liked how I qualified that). 

Sometimes, when I go to the store I see infants in arms.  I always look at the babies. I love babies.  I know that I'll be their teacher some day.  I see some babies who are bright-eyed and curious.  Sometimes even when they are tiny...they are checking out the world and they are AMAZED.  I see other babies who have a dull glazed look on their faces.  They almost seem as if they are drugged.  These babies are NOT responsive, they seem like lumps of pudding.  I know what a tired baby looks like. I'm not talking tired.  Even a tired curious baby is still checking things out.

I told my class about the baby watching and several of them said that they understood exactly what I was talking about.  They turned and described their experiences to their friends (I think they call this Socializing Intelligence).  I told them to look around the next time they go to Walmart or the grocery store and get back to me.

I asked the kids to tell me what they thought about Idiocracy. D.R. said that his mother worked at a Food Stamp Office and that she got written up because she said "That is NOT Cute," when a customer was happy because her TEN year old daughter was pregnant.  The customer complained about the remark.

I have had students with children who had mothers under the age of 30.  I've met GREAT-Grandmothers that were under 40.

My experience tells me that those folks do NOT care about public education.  They care about a system that provides a free babysitter with two free meals on week days.  

That is NOT Cute. 

Waiting For Superman

We just got back from a screening of Waiting For Superman at the Magnolia.  I've heard a lot of the hype and I've heard criticisms and as it addresses public education--a topic near and dear to my pea-picking heart I wanted to see it. 

I had heard of Harlem Children's Zone and truly applaud the dedication  of Mr. Canada and the results that they are getting, but it's SUCH a tiny number of kids.  It IS an exemplary program and I wonder WHY we can't have such exemplary programs all over the place.

I saw one factor in common with all of the children presented. They ALL had parents (or grandparents) who were deeply committed to their child/grandchild getting a quality education. They were families that value education and CARE enough to get up and fight for their child.  These folks registered for lotteries at the BEST public school and the results are angst filled.

My parents cared that I was educated.  College was expected, it was NOT an option, it was a requirement.  I'm still working on my own brood, and two have degrees and two have parts of degrees. 

That makes such a big difference.  Having parents or people that care if you can read past a third grade level is a monumental thing. 

The discussion about teacher unions was interesting.  It seems as if the unions were obstructing potential growth and excellence in Washington, D.C. in order to protect the mediocre.  As unions offer very little in Texas other than legal protection it isn't locally relevant.  If the unions TRULY protect such blatantly awful teachers as indicated in the film then SHAME ON THEM.  I think about people that I've known who sat downtown and collected a full wage while out on administrative leave and it makes me sick.  If they were put on leave without pay, they might go make new friends and get a new job unrelated to education.  

In the end, some families were happy, some were not.  I do not however believe that they were defeated.  Folks who value education that much will find a way to get their kids to school.  

I do really want to pass the hat for little Miss Daisy in LA.  I see the hunger in that child's eyes.  I see the brilliance.   

What WAS She Thinking?

Little Miss prissed by today.  Down the hall I heard a teacher comment that her skirt was too short.  I looked.  It was.  I swear, some of these children don't have the sense God gave a chicken.  "My skirt ain't too short."  It was nowhere near the requisite "fingertip" length, it was about "wrist length." 

Ameliorate is not apparently in the vocabulary of a number of these students.  What part of "arguing with a teacher" is a good idea?  Why will a student LIE when all evidence is to the contrary? 

Little Miss continues to argue. I can see that the teacher is exasperated....I walk up and offer "Miss, it is not necessary to be disrespectful."  She denies that also.  I informed her that her mouth was NOT her friend.  I'm not sure if she had a clue what that meant but she said "Okay."  Because I have the time, I walk her over to the discipline office and a couple of boys hoot at her on the way and one asks her what is up.   She doesn't claim to know and the boy said "Your skirt is too short." I nod and she says "You don't need to be telling them my business."  I look at her and said, "Did I SAY anything?" and she starts mouthing off again.  I repeat that her mouth was NOT her friend.  She shut up again.

She at least had more sense than the other yahoo in the hall today.  The boy stood outside my classroom and SCREAMED at someone down the hall.  Kind of hard to teach with that noise whipping everyone's head around.  I stepped out and asked him to move along.  He continued hollering.  I asked him to hold it down.  He persisted. I told him he needed to go away and he told me that I was interrupting his conversation.  I asked for his ID and he took off.  I should have done that first.  It would have kept my blood pressure lower.

People are Strange and When You're A Stranger

Faces look ugly when you're alone
I had several conversations today.  Things are just kind of odd. 

Okay, here's how it is.  I teach in America.  I work with young adults.  I work with people that say "this is mine's."  I work with people that do not comprehend Standard English.  I thought that education in America was taught in Standard English.  I think that's the problem. We have too many kids that do not understand Standard English.  They speak Spanglish and they speak BEV (Black English Vernacular).  They have not yet learned Standard English.

We do not assume that Spanglish or BEV is inferior in any way.  We assume that they are different.  However, all of our testing and all of our assessments are based in Standard English. 

I asked my classes today....How do you ask someone about their current location?  I got responses that said "Where you at?" and "Where are you?"  I asked....How would you say that someone is a good friend? I got "he's my homie."  and "he's my good friend" and "vato" and "homeboy."  I also got "my nig" but I just really hate that.

I can understand why there are achievement gaps.  I think if one looks at our most underachieving children then one may find that there is a lack of understanding of Standard English. 

Miss,  I wasted so much money buying this Coach Bag.  I say, "you don't like it?  You don't think you got good value for your money?"  They say, "I love the bag."  I have to explain that waste means that you did not get good value.  I have to understand that the same word in Spanish means "spent."  Miss, I spent so much money buying this Coach Bag.  I say WOW, you got good value for your dollar. 

Our children are NOT to blame.  Folks bigger and better than us should realize that we are not all on the same page. 

Homecoming

I gave up giving instruction today.  It was Homecoming and was also an early release day.  I painted lots of faces.

I had someone lie to my face.  I hate that.  If you want me to cover your lazy ass self then you better shoot straight with me and give me a good reason to ignore your "omission of opportunity"  If you get snarky with me then I'm going to OUT YO ass every which way but loose. 

Ahem.

Stuff Rolls Downhill

I'm busting ass this year. I'm very pleased with myself because I just think I'm doing a better job all the way around.  I'm getting good results and I like all my kids and life is good.

Except this "documentation" business.  Everyone is documenting. I feel as if there is a microscope impinging on my anal orifice.  Excellent teachers that I know are being "documented" with "Omissions of Opportunity."  That's a nice way to say they are being written up.

I'm getting mixed messages.  I  have to post "learner expectations," "TEKS" (don't even ask), I have to have a word wall, and I have to have an agenda posted.  My head was spinning.  None of those things make me a better teacher.  What makes me a better teacher is being able to read new things about my content area, having time to post grades quickly (which is an issue when the program isn't working right and the network is wonky). 

I'm aggravated because we apparently omit opportunities when we can't submit attendance in a timely manner and the network times out.  I have computer issues at school and when I go to the right department to fuss about the attendance they seem incapable of understanding what I'm telling them.  I get a "pat" response which tells me 1) The support staff is not listening to what I tell them and 2) They are not bright enough to understand a verbal description. 

I have to "document" that I encounter idiocracy.  To cover my own prodigious backside I have to also document.   The ubiquitous THEY started it.

I'm doing a good job.  I'm doing a better job.  Ask my students.   They are having a blast. They are learning a lot.  Ask them. 

Someone higher up up the food chain is wanting to demonstrate that they are doing their "empty" job so they are creating work for those of us that walk the walk every day.

Lemmings

I could see the dissemination of information as I walked over to the main building.  It started while I was on the sidewalk.  School had been out for three minutes. There was a steady stream of kids heading for the bus lot.  I was surprised at the number headed into main.  I was physically abused by the children that pressed against me and shoved me.  I heard the kids talking around me.  I can hear the buzz.  Apparently there is a fight somewhere and by the time I can get into the main building there are children  running past me screaming "Fight" as they stream past me and shove me out of the way.  I get into the main building and I see children running past me and pushing past me and some of them are  hollering "FIGHT."  I hear the stream of children running and I HOLLER, "They are running off a cliff"  Actually there are at least two children who turn and seem astonished about that and they don't run toward the Niagara stream of children that are running toward the general melee. 

Would it be racist to say that there was one singular ethnicity involved in the streaming running throng toward the fight? 

Where to begin?

I'm terrified.  I watched the movie Idiocracy and it's very silly and ridiculous.  However, I'm a public school teacher at the largest inner city high school in my state.  I see things every day that make me cringe and respect the concept of Idiocracy. 

I choose to combat Idiocracy.  I choose to fight tooth and nail to dispel ignorance. 

Some friends know my plight. Some friends know my fight.  I posted a bellringer. If you don't know, a bellringer is an assignment that is posted on the board when the kids come into the room.  They have to write a short response to a posted question.

This was the question.  "What is your favorite book and why? Who was the best character?"

I am sad to say that I had one student that said "Miss, what if you haven't read a book?"  I'm talking to a high school child who has already reproduced.  I went sarcastic for a moment and said "You admit this publicly?"  She got defensive and said "I don't care."  I did inquire further and learned that she did read Dr. Seuss when she was small.   I had another student in a different class say the same thing and I inquired if she had read books when she was younger and she reported that she had not. 

I am teaching high school students who report that they have NOT ever read a book.  What's up with this?