Student is correct, and stupid. Now back to the test…..

So Kyron Birdine was taking one of those idiotic standardized tests that we all love so much.  Of ample intelligence and work ethic, Birdine decided that the test wasn’t worth his time and defaced his test booklet with the phrase “YOLO” (You Only Live Once) and took a picture of said transgression.  Then he Tweeted it.

The answer didn’t get him suspended.  The picture of the test did.  It nailed Birdine a four day suspension.  Excessive?

Yes and no.  Obviously the picture was not taken because he was trying to Instagram the answers around the world for people to see.  Not unless the prompt is something like “Write down a four letter word that would best explain how stupid people describe Carpe Diem.”  Yet the rules are pretty clear that you don’t take and publish photos of a fairly important test.  Especially when the high stakes aspect of the test put the schools ass in jeopardy.  Now the school will get increased scrutiny, have to write gobs of paperwork, and risk worse sanctions because a student was bored. 

Which also makes this a classroom management issue.  How in the hell does a student manage to click off a picture on his iPad?  If this was my class during STAR tests and I saw an iPad come out a pack of Velociraptors would drop from the ceiling and eat the iPad while the Grim Reaper came through the door and threaten the very existence of the student.  This is another example of “we are part of the problem” and while the student needs to pull his head out of his ass, so does the teacher.

But don’t worry because testing will now be on computers and that is so much more secure.  I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

U.S. News and World Report rankings show, well, some stuff.

The U.S. News and World Report rankings are out and the information is as irrelevant as ever, although that hardly stops the media from grabbing the magazine and rubbing all over their bodies to produce some kind of Axe Effect. 

But on this blog we take any information that we can get and start to make educated deductions.  So I decided to take the information from my high school (Ukiah High) and the biggest local charter school (Redwood Academy) and do a little comparison examination.  This isn’t a knock on the local charter at all.  But I think some information and analysis should be scrutinized if we are looking to change course in education.

Lets start with a basic overview of Redwood Academy.

Impressive!  Ukiah gets some recognition from a survey that primarily looks at Advanced Placement participation and test scores, and it looks like Redwood is getting the job done! 

Now Ukiah High.

Back to the drawing board.  Like most schools in the U.S., especially public non-charters, we don’t seem to be getting the job done. 

Ok, then let’s look at who we-the-teachers are serving.  After all, it’s about them, all of them, in the end. 

Ukiah High

Sounds about right.  Half the school is a minority population, although that  is no excuse for not getting kids better prepared.  Over 50% of that population is Economically Disadvantaged; again not an excuse for not doing better.  But hey, want to hear a frightening statistic?  We have four counselors trying to meet the need of all those kids.  Because, you know, money doesn’t really matter in education or something.

Ok, enough of that.  Redwood Academy? 

That’s not quite as much as Ukiah High.  And the 9th grade rise could mean a couple of things; either a rise in overall enrollment or a sharp decline after they start high school.  I looked at enrollment in middle school grades and they are all around 30.  At least Redwood is serving a significant diversity of population; what with two kids designated Special Education and two kids designated Migrant Ed.  Wow.

But the real proof is in the pudding, so on to Advanced Placement information!  Ukiah High.

Two things stand out here.  First, not enough students are taking the tests.  Even though we have more tests being taken this year than every before, not enough students are taking them.  There are plenty of reasons for that with money on the top of the list.  Hell, over half my Seniors are taking the AP Test and some that I KNOW would get high scores won’t take it because it doesn’t impact their college credits.  That’s fine by me.  But a large and healthy public institution should have twice that amount taking the tests.  The second thing that stands out is that the students that are motivated to take AP tests do very well.

Redwood Academy?

Huh.

So it looks like a higher percentage of students at the school take AP tests, and by higher percentage it means that the number of students taking AP tests in the Junior class is going to be less than the number of students taking the test in my AP U.S. History class.  And they don’t do as well on the exams.  Well, there goes the theory of class sizes. 

So what can we take out of this whole report? 

Well, I don’t have loathing for Redwood Academy if that’s what you think.  But this fawning all over the U.S. News high school report card really needs to stop because all it does to hump an inequity that exists in education; charters teach who they want and public schools don’t have that choice.  It’s simple to point to schools that have different rules and exempt significant portions of the population, and then call them “wonderful” and give them “silver medals”, and so on and so forth.

I’ll say this again; either let public schools follow the same rules as charters (thus creating a permanent under-class in society and creating a caste system), or make charters serve under the same public mandate (this creating a smaller public school).  Otherwise we are just avoiding the problem of educating the entire population of kids. 

Hello? This is Prom speaking. I want your money.

This weekend is Prom at Ukiah High School and being the ever present Economics teacher, I get to be the buzz kill. 

Spending on the annual high school ritual of the prom continues to outpace inflation and grew for the second straight year, hitting an average of $1,139 per family in 2013.

Think this is too high?  Incorporate the car, the dinner, the dress, the tux rental, the limo, the tips, the shoes, the nails, the hair, the make-up, the pre-game booze, the post-Prom party at a friends that will probably involve more expensive booze, and the final 3:30 in the morning meal at Denny’s.  Actually that number might be a little low. 

The last thing I tell my kids before they leave class on Friday before Prom is to be careful, and to consider the real cost of Prom.  Those that understand (which is most) all-of-the-sudden stop, and some will actually utter a very audible “shit.”  This economists in the room will realize that the actual cost of Prom would not be the $1,139.  Nope.  The actual cost is what you COULD be doing with $1,139.  And better yet, those same students start spouting off that the opportunity cost (what they WOULD be doing with the $1,139) is incredible.  Vacations, tuition money, rent for a month or two.  Of course, those that didn’t spend an enormous amount of money don’t have the “buyer’s remorse” because they didn’t have a high cost.  Go figure.

Yep, another message that we are sending to kids; that a fairly useless dance deserves weeks of attention and money because that’s really important.  We continue to shower our children with totally confusing messages; enabling them to death, not holding them accountable for their actions, while still managing to blame everyone else for the insanely high youth unemployment rates, the problems of academic progress, and the proliferation of teenage angst that turns into violence.  When are we going to figure it out.   

Holocaust denial

So someone is e-mailing teacher people, multiple times a day, and telling them that they should not discuss the Holocaust because it furthers the Zionist agenda.  This ranks up there in the “beyond stupid” category.  Now don’t get me wrong, this person should have the right to be a complete fucking moron.  Denial of the Holocaust is not illegal.  Then again, neither is ridicule of the complete fucking moron. 

Let’s be fair though and remind one-and-all that the Holocaust denial expert is in excellent company.  Welcome to the club!  Starring:

-Leader of the Fatah Movement, Mahmoud Abbas!

-The terrorist group, Hamas!

-Influence leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood!

-Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad!

Yeah, you find yourself in great company with these clowns. 

Stop sending people letters.  I’m about the strongest supporter of free speech that you’ll find but sending multiple letters to teachers telling them everything is a Zionist conspiracy tests my patience when it comes to reading the idiot opinion. 

And by the way, your kind is one of the reasons I will continue to present evidence and let students find the truth. 

I don’t do surveys, or poor classroom management

Note to all those that people that read this blog, including students, board members, administrators, other teachers, fellow educators, ladies and gentlemen;

I don’t do anonymous surveys.  Ever.

Every year we are asked all these questions for a “state-of-the-school” packet that is then given to all teachers.  I never fill it out.  The anonymous nature of it makes it sort of a joke.  Much of packet is a bitch session.  And while the intentions are just, the results don’t do anything but create a system of venting.  That’s not productive.  Therefore if I want to say something to someone in power I actually say something and attach my name to it.  Today we met with the Superintendent and discussed what qualities we wanted in regards to a principal, and some of the problems faced at the school.  I told the Super my thoughts as she stood a few feet from me and in the company of my peers.  Some in the crowd might not have agreed with me.  My Super might not have agreed with me.  But the only way things get out in the open and presented with solution is if there are people actually conversing about the issues. 

An example would be a survey that went out over this last week that was supposed to be a state-of-the-school/what-we-want-in-a-principal sort of thing from our Faculty Association.  I did not fill it out, and actually got into a little bit of a tussle about it with some teachers because I told them I wouldn’t fill it out.  Here was one of the questions on the survey:

What do you see as the major problems that need to be addressed on campus?

Fair enough.  A normal question that usually degenerates into a trollfest but it’s going to need to be asked in a survey somehow.  Let’s see an answer.

“The electronic addiction is affecting learning. We do not have to allow cell phones, ipads, ipods, iphones, etc. at school. What happened to picking up a magazine or book when we are bored?  Are all the teachers aware that some of us teachers allow students to charge their cell phones in class without thinking that maybe this kid is using their phone too much. Are we aware that kids are posting on Facebook during classroom hours and any school board member can verify this.”  (underline mine)

See, now this is where I would stand up in the meeting and say

“Hi.  I’m one of those teachers that allows kids to charge their cell phones in class.  By the way, my kids aren’t on cell phones in class unless we use them in class.  They charge them in class because they use them outside of class.  My kids also use iPads and laptops.  And they still read books if they are ever bored in my class, which is pretty much never because unless it is Silent Reading, we are doing something with my face time with students.  Oh, and students don’t post on Facebook in my class unless I’m not there.  Then they post a picture of themselves holding a bill they just wrote for Mock Congress just to prove that while I’m at a conference they are working on bills.  Now, what do we need to do to help you  with classroom management.”

Instead this just sits in the ether and gets ignored because someone anonymous put it out there.  And it’s a problem because it shows a lot that is wrong with the classroom; problems with management, a fear of change, a fear of technology, and most of all, the insinuation that real problem in all of this is hardware.  The problems have always been there, only now we can see them on an Instagram account or see someone’s six second snippet on Vine. 

Then again I sit here and some could call it bitching with out productive purpose.  But at least I have a name to it and I own my mistakes while fully wanting and willing to fix them.  At least I can create a conversation and respond in an attempt to collaborate to a solution.  All anonymous surveys do is make fun fodder.

Now where is that power strip…..

A change in leadership with Dracarys dreams (Spoilers)

Our principal is going to Aruba. 

No seriously, he’s leaving Ukiah for Aruba.  Part of me feels happy for that opportunity for him.  Then again part of me hopes that he wakes up one morning with angry hermit crabs hanging on his extremities.  Yes I’m jealous. 

So the hunt is on for a fearless leader of Ukiah High School.  This will be the fourth leader in the 13 years of my employment at the school and I’ve become a bit more involved.  The teachers were recently asked about the qualities they wanted in the new head administrator at Ukiah High.  I responded in an e-mail to my Superintendent with this:

"Dracarys!"  

Yep.  That’s who I want my new boss to be.  Daenerys Targaryen.  A stronger leader with a sense of fairness and morality.  A woman who cares about her people and demands respect from all parties involved.  And then there’s the whole dragon thing.  Sometimes you just need to roast somebody as an example of what not to do.

But in all seriousness it’s obvious that there is some concern about what direction the school is headed, and lots of apprehension about what the future holds.  There is a desire to do better and a thirst for excellence, and there was a core of teachers that said exactly that to the Superintendent today.  Let’s hope for the best. 

But while you hope, here’s the end of the last episode of Game of Thrones to spoil you. 

 

Game of Thrones is fantastic, and if you aren’t watching it you are missing a great work of fiction. 

Your foundation for becoming a teacher

So you want to become a teacher.

Passionate about your subject matter?  Filled with a desire to change the world?  Looking for a feeling that your job is going to give you the ultimate self-satisfaction?  Well, that’s nice.  But it isn’t going to be what’s really important to the profession.

In the end, you have to really care about kids. 

You have to care about them a whole lot.  You have to listen to them and realize that stupid problems that are shallow and lame to us are probably very important to them.  And you need to really listen when the problems they face are unimaginable to comprehend in our own minds.  You need to be the shoulder to cry on.  You need to be there when a student needs to vent, to blast, to totally go off because of the numerous things that make kids out-of-their-mind frustrated.  You need realize that what you are doing is beyond simple academics, beyond tests, beyond the simplicity of coming to school every day.  It’s complicated, and good.  You need to go to the hospitals and see your students broken and be the support.  You need to feel them fight against drug abuse, cancer, homelessness, poverty, and you need to listen and support them through the battles that make academics like ridiculous.   

I don’t know what credential programs do about this part of teaching.  It surely wasn’t part of my instruction.  I highly doubt that it is a strong point of emphasis in Teach For America.  In fact, the exact opposite is one of the focuses.  We learned what happens if students become too close; what happens when students of the opposite sex become too attached, when the job becomes too much of a liability.  But in the end do you really deny the hug to the crying 17 year old that just watched her friend die in a car accident?  Do you honestly tell the student that is pouring out his heart over divorced parents that you need to stop because it is better if they go see a guidance counselor?  Of course not.  You are there to care, and if a student trusts you enough to come and show that kind of powerful emotion you need to embrace that and realize that it’s part of what you do. 

That’s not to say that teachers shouldn’t take precautions; keep doors open with opposite sexes, watch the age, watch the dress, don’t engage in flirtation, notify your admin or police if you suspect any “mandated reporter” information, and remember that you are not the parent.  But you are important.  You are there for the kids.

There is obviously a point to this rant that I can’t get into because that would be bad.  I’ve had two emotional exchanges with students within the last three days.  All of them have me wanting to take parents out back and do my best Jimmy Conway impression.  Something like, “Are you fucking stupid?  Whatsa matter with you?  WHATSA MATTER WITH YOU?”  Alas, that would be bad and my New York accent isn’t that good anyway.  So I remain committed to just being there and listening.

But if you are thinking about the profession, think about your feelings about kids.  I know, at 22 you are hardly going to feel like you want to go back to a high school setting that might have just left.  In reality, you just might.  I really loved History.  But when I first got the teaching bug, at 17 years old no less, my thought process revolved around the idea that I could do this better than the person that was doing it at the time.  I wanted to do it for someone else.  When I started coaching it was partly about the love of basketball but also about the realization that basketball (and competitive athletics) was something that was good for other people.  It’s about people.  It’s about kids. 

In its most important function, teaching is about caring for kids.  Be ready for it.  Embrace it.  Thank God for it.