untold Holocaust story

over the next week, PBS stations across the country will air "Rescue in the Phillippines", the story of a WWII rescue of some 1200 jews from the Phillipines. As the Japanese troops advanced, the Jews directly in harm's way. Some of them were desscended from Spanish families who fled the Spanish Inquistion, others had evacuated Europe or Shanghai.
http://rescueinthephilippines.com/

Marry my son, please!

So a Princeton grad and mom (and 'pioneer' of 1973) has written an open letter advising Princeton women to marry Princeton men, and to hurry up about it. After all, you only have 3 years before you are down to a limited pool because you will be older than 3/4 of them. Great advice, pioneering mom.
Wonder how her son feels?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2301415/Susan-A-Patton-wrote-Princeton-student-newspaper-urging-female-students-snag-man.html

poisoned by students

I thought the rudeness and lies were bad to deal with, now we have to worry that students might spike our drinks. Isopropyl alcohol is not meant for consumption- not only will you be buzzed, there's risk of permanent organ damage. This is no joke!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/middle-school-teacher-says-she-was-unaware-hand-sanitizer-was-being-put-in-her-tea/2013/03/29/4b9033f6-987d-11e2-b5b4-b63027b499de_story.html

this may really be how it started...

something to think about while watching Andy Murry getting creamed in Miami

Fantastic (NOT) idea

http://blogs.ajc.com/get-schooled-blog/2013/03/27/new-race-to-the-top-teacher-evaluations-with-strong-reliance-on-test-scores-begin-in-2014-2015/?cp=3#comment-273225

Our esteemed and infallible legislators/policymakers/school detsroyers have finally enshrined VAM in state law. There is every reason to believe the Gov will sign this piece of toilet paper. He certainly has not said anything suggesting he wouldn't. 'At least' 50% of this score is now mandated to come from test scores.
Not one of these nitwits has spent time in a classroom to see students go to more effort avoiding their work than it would take to just do it. None of them has had the joy of hearing a student announce his/her intention to 'get' you in trouble, even if it requires a conspiracy of lies that rivals Watergate. Non of them has been grabbed by a student and dragged up and down the hallway in front of students and teachers. None of them has ever witnessed a student DELIBERATELY blow the test, for personal reasons (avoid higher demands, get parental attention, get out of the gifted classes, compete with peers for lowest possible results, etc.)
 Keep in mind the tests in question have yet to be written as we are in the middle of switching to Common Core standards, and the CCSS-based tests (from the PARCC Consortium) do not yet exist. Also keep in mind that NO ONE has yet shown that these tests measure ANYTHING other than the ability to distinguish the four letters A,B,C, and D. Further, keep in mind that the children and grandchildren of the aforementioned wonks attend non-public schools and will never be subjected to this bullshit of a system.
It's time to get the hell out of this place, if it's the last thing we ever do.

VRM evaluation system...

Love the idea. Let's expand it to include our legislators and business leaders...
http://protectportelos.org/new-nyc-firefighter-evaluations/

No thanks for the 'miracle', Florida

Umm, if this is what 'success' looks like, I'll pass.

http://m.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/opinion/editorial-florida-needs-no-advice-from-jeb-bush-on/nWYCy/

What happens when the 'war' is won?

Personally, I like the "Pottery Barn rule". Absolutely, you break it, you bought it.
Absolutely, there are a lot of factors that have not been considered in this data-driven, value-added, BS model we are being handed. Not just homeless kids and SWD, but also families that just move, sometimes 3 or 4 times in a year. And 'accountability' of the charters, private schools and other non-public entities that receive our students courtesy of 'vouchers', 'scholarships', or whatever sweet term is concocted. The comparison with mental health 'reform' is especially apt.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-epstein/the-education-reformers-e_b_840831.html

Thinking about how we measure learning...

What does it mean to say that a student (or group of students) has gained a year of learning, half a year of learning, whatever?
When we use a standardized test as the basis for such statements, what kind of raw scores are we talking about? Even the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Acheivement (3 ed), used with my students with disabilities and individually administered, sometimes makes me wonder.
So, what if we were talking about a generic test 40 questions long? How do you use that to gauge the amount of learning that has occurred?
TFA says you can claim a year of growth based on answering 3 more questions correctly compared to a control group... http://garyrubinstein.teachforus.org/2013/03/09/is-a-half-year-of-learning-equivalent-to-one-question-on-a-multiple-choice-test/

So, we aren't the only stupid ones

The push to privatize public education continues in England as well, to the detriment of the schools and their students:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/mar/04/education-capitalist-command-economy

Glowing soldiers at Shiloh

Yep, during the Civil War.
After the battle of Shiloh, weather prevented medics from reaching the wounded soldiers. They lay in the mud during an overnight rain, getting filthy and hypothermic. When it was finally possible to go out and offer treatment, reports came back that some of the men's open wounds were glowing. Those who had the myssterious glow seemed to have better prospects for recovery than those who did not, and it became known as "Angel's Glow".
A while back, someone figured out a possible scientific explanation for the Angel's Glow: http://mentalfloss.com/article/30380/why-some-civil-war-soldiers-glowed-dark#ixzz2M1f5U4PV

Fascinating.

consistency- hobgoblin of little minds?

At my school, it's a running joke that if a decision is made by administration, it will get changed in no time. You can count on it. We might be told to tighten up on enforcing the dress code on Monday, then we'll be told Wednesday to ease up and concentrate on 'the important things'. The following week, when the kids are starting to look like MTV video stars, suddenly it's important to jump on that dress code again. You can get whiplash trying to keep up with the shifts in policy. And that's just one example. We've been given contradictory instructions about the school discipline plan, RTI procedures, and most anything else you can imagine. My favorite is when we get nailed for not doing something correctly, after following the only instructions we were provided, because the new expectation was never communicated to us. We have to constantly ask questions to clarify exactly what someone wants us to do, because it changes frequently and without notice.

ravitch remembers

So do I. It was all about what I was willing, and able to do. It never occured to me that the teacher was responsible for my test results.

http://dianeravitch.net/2012/07/27/do-you-remember/

the changing ways we communicate

The Social Century: 100 Years of Talking, Watching, Reading and Writing in America - The Atlantic

I wonder, what is the societal effect of these changes in the last 50 years?

sound and fury

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/01/science/discord-sound-noise-and-our-elusive-quest-for-quiet.html?pagewanted=1&src=recg&_r=0

There are times we just crave quiet, though we don't always realize that's what is happening.
And so, sometimes, I just want to lock my door and eat lunch, by myself, in relaive peace and quiet. Or at least accompanied by sounds of my choosing, instead of someone else's.

editorial on high stakes testing.

http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20130213/OPINION01/302130015/Editorial-High-stakes-tests-killing-our-schools?gcheck=1&nclick_check=1

This writer said last month "deprivation of financial resources coupled with a regimented, dispassionate approach to measuring outcomes will by design sort out winners and losers". Ironically, it was exactly that kind of sorting system that we educators have been trying to get away from for many years. Race To the Top has revived it, on steroids. After all, how many can actually win the "race"?

Here's how I want to go out when te time comes

with a bang, not a whimper: http://www.upworthy.com/see-the-teacher-s-resignation-video-that-280-000-people-have-already-watched?g=3&c=ufb1

Define 'effective'

that''s the easy part.
Now, measure it.
"While the MET project has brought unprecedented vigor to teacher evaluation research, its results do not settle disagreements about what makes an effective teacher and offer little guidance about how to design real-world teacher evaluation systems."

Basically, they figured out that 'teacher effectiveness' is very difficult to measure in any meaningful way. I could have told them that, for a lot less money.

Diane Ravitch posted this today on her blog.

Finally, a rationale for student phones

When you get caught at school with liquor on your person, you have to be able to call your lawyer before speaking with the resource officer... Frankly, I'm surprised he got such prompt advice. When I need legal advice from my professional association, it takes several calls over a couple of days.

http://blogs.ajc.com/get-schooled-blog/2013/03/15/heres-why-students-need-cellphones-in-school-to-call-their-lawyers/

http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2013-03-15/oconee-student-calls-lawyer-when-found-gin-school

Which way to lean?

We have the CEO of Facebook telling us to lean in. The former CFO of Goldman Sachs says watch out. We have Pew Research telling us that others think we should lean back.

How about we each do what works (or is necessary) in our own lives? and what if everyone else just quit telling us how wrong they think we are?

Bullying, or not

Here are a couple of letters to the NY Times about bullying.
The original piece, "Defining Bullying Down", got my attention becuase it reflects my observations over the years. More and more, simple social behavior and disputes are categorized as bullying, making it something for the adults to address, instead of something for the kids to learn from. And, if we call every unpleasant encoutner 'bullying', then we diminish the real, awful experiences of true victims in favor of coddling kids who haven't learned social skills.

Common-Core Tests to Take Up to 10 Hours

Common-Core Tests to Take Up to 10 Hours

Umm, excuse me, but the CRCT already takes about 10 hours, before extended time for SWD... I might be glad (shudder) if that were reduced to 8 or so.

Now I just HAVE to read it!

Persepolis is being pulled from some, or maybe all, CPS classrooms. Story here. You can also google it and find plenty more.
That's all I need to hear. This is a book I MUST read, as soon as I locate a copy. If it's banned in Chicago, I've got to have it!

I'm still trying to manage my vortex

http://larrycuban.wordpress.com/2013/03/02/teaching-math-the-driftwood-and-the-vortex-michele-kerr/

I've done this before, but this time it's not working. Don't know what to do with this one.

"most" kids drop out?

Recently it was revealed that my kids have this perception that "most" teens drop out of school. We were discussing someone who had entered college early, and I asked what most kids that age would be doing. Amost without exception, the class yelled out "drop out of school". There was no acknowledgement that, at least, someone that age should be in high school. It was eye-opening, in the sense of a window on their world. Even more upsetting was the girl who assumes that "most" teens are pregnant at that age. We'll be looking at dropout rates for different demographic groups and regions of the county to talk about why this is the case.
http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/tables/2008353_03.asp
http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/tables/2010313_08.asp
http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/tables/ESSIN_Task5_f2.asp

teacher voice

Read this yesterday. Here are my thoughts.

I am not a DeKalb County teacher. With 20 years in education, I am in my fifth year in a different metro area school district, where we are suffering from whiplash due to the shifting winds and changing plans and mandates. It seems that every year there is a new intitiative or program rolled out with much fanfare, and then incompletely implemented, only to be half-forgotten by spring testing. We have dutifully tackled Lerning Focused Schools, Understanding by Design, backwards design, differentiated instruction, inclusion, Working on the work, Results Now, schoolwide discipline, Marzano's research on Instruction that Works in Classrooms that Work ('high yield' strategies, which he himself says are no cure all), and on and on and on. Each time, we're put through a crash course or 'boot camp' on the new plan for making miracles, then quickly realize we are underprepared and under-resourced to truly implement the plan. Worse, the administrators who will evaluate us may not even understand what we are trying to accomplish, so we worry about a bad rating caused by misunderstanding.

We have to beg for common, basic supplies- pencils, pens, paper, board markers, but there are interactive whiteboards all over the place. One day, we may even have the time to learn how to use them to full advantage. I waited 4 months for basic stationery items. That's not a typo; it really took 4 months. It gets frustrating having to buy my own supplies and materials to work with, especially with a consultant coming through several times a year, at what is surely an astronomical cost, while we go without basics. I am paid less today than I was when I strted at this school. Between furloughs (pay cut), reductions in local supplement (pay cut), reduction in contributions to my retirement (future pay cut), increase insurance costs (ouch), and inflation, there's not much left for treats. Please don't expect me to provide school supplies as well.

Meanwhile, my students are less prepared and more needy every year. For too many, learning takes a backseat to dreams of fame and fortune on the athletic field or the stage. Sadly, their parents encourage this magical thinking instead of being realistic and insisting on education as a priority. They arrive without basic supplies, without even their schoolbooks. Paper disappears like candy. I've given out around 200 pencils to a small group of students with disabilities, and my closet is empty. They come to me with tremendous gaps in their skills, things they just never learned. The expectation laid at my feet? Fill the gaps while teaching grade-level curriculum to students who can't read or write fluently, or do basic arithmetic, or both.

Oh, and they desperately need social skills, never having mastered the fine points of listening to the person speaking to you before telling them off. They have learned survival socialization, meaning they draw a line and dare others to cross it so that then they feel obligated to prove that 'no one can diss me and get away with it'. The proof may be verbal, or physical. It comes daily, even hourly. In my classroom, as much time is spent on social skills as on our subject area. Fortunately, many of my kids' parents have no illusions about their young one's charms, but that doesn't substantially reduce the disruptions. There are others who look at us like we're nuts to expect a quiet and cooperation once in a while, as if incessant talking should be acceptable even it if keeps someone else from functioning. (“My child needs...” Yes, but what about all the OTHER children in the room?)

Please understand: I LOVE teaching. Really love it. In between their outbursts, I like the kids, too, even though they try hard to make themselves as unlikable as possible. The problem is that there is precious little teaching taking place many days. At this time of year, it's a balancing act to make sure students have at least seen everything that may be on the CRCT, while also trying to review from early in the year so that it's not forgotten. The test looms large on the horizon, like a sea monster in the distancee, and it's getting closer and closer by the day. I have no illusions about the validity of the test for my students, but at the end of the day, their success and mine come down to that number, and how close they come to the magic number of 800. Is this really the joy of learning that we are supposed to be sharing? Whatever happened to following an investigation where it leads? Whatever happened to students pursuing their interests? Whatever happened to reading a book and enjoying the journey, instead of taking a quiz on it? And then, after we the adults have made THE TEST into the end-all-be-all of this enterprise, we have the nerve to be upset with students' perception that there's nothing of importance going on at school after the end of April. Parents know this; your kids come home and tell you they aren't doing anything meaningful for the entire month of May. The truth is that is when we try to squeeze in the fun, interesting, student-directed learning opportunities that have been postponed for so long; it's just that the kids are no longer interested.

tackiling causes of incarceration

http://www.npr.org/2013/03/02/173303515/dealing-with-root-causes-to-tackle-incarceration-rates

How about declining budgets and availablility of school services to ensure these young people all develop the ability to read and write before leaving school? Could that possibly be a factor? Hmmm...

Believe or not believe, that is the question...

You came in with a complaint based on what your child told you. (nothing in the account rang familiar, and I don't know what you are referring to. As if I'd had a blackout in class that day.)  Almost in the next sentence, you tell me about how your child got hold of some important school forms and filled in all kinds of crazy lies, so it had to be redone.
Which part of the above should we take seriously? It's worrisome, and confusing.

Conference days

In this district, a couple of times a year, students are dismissed early and we use the afternoon (or evening) for parent conferences. For my students, we are already mandated to meet every year to review progress and update IEPs. Consequently, conference day is usually a pretty boring one for me. Parents of my kids just don't usually bother to come in, even when specifically asked to meet, so I wander around without much to do.

On our last conference day, I had just 4 parents coming in. It wasn't bad, just a headache making sure everything went ok. Starting with the parent who returned the form requesting a conference with me, signed, but minus her child's name. I made the extra effort to figure out who this was, which involved going to the office and looking up permanent records (the name she signed is not the name we have in the computer system, thereby requiring a visit to the records). She also did not make a preference as to time, and the form only reached me on the day before conferences. So, I picked a time for her and sent home an appointment slip. The afternoon of the conferences, guess who showed up 20 minutes late, having forgotten to arrange to leave work early?

For the same conference day, another parent texted the homeroom teacher after hours Wednesday (conferences were Friday), wanting a conference. It was set up, and I decided I would join them, as case manager for his child. I also sent home the invitation for the child's IEP meeting, as I had promised on the phone a few days before. When the day came, guess who didn't show up and didn't bother to let anyone know? By the way, he also emailed the other day to say he won't be attending the IEP meeting either. Nice to know my time listening to his complaints over the phone was wasted.

When I make an appointment with a professional service provider and then don't show up, they charge me for the time. We need to start doing the same. When we set up an appointment with you, that means someone else can't have that opportunity and gets upset. Then you don't show up, and we could have met with someone else.

A little courtesy and consideration for others is all that's needed.

Watch out for those marauding trees...

every tree deemed tall enough to fall across interstates and other limited-access highways.
Well, that would include most every 20-30 foot tree near the  road, wouldn't it?
http://www.walb.com/story/21541026/ga-highway-trees-on-chopping-block

I stand with the teachers of Stongsville, OH

They are fighting for survival in a district that is determined to break the union.
I live in a state where there is no collective bargaining, no unions, and strikes are illegal.
http://dianeravitch.net/2013/03/08/why-the-teachers-in-strongville-ohio-are-striking/

Don't know how

I'm in the doghouse again. She who shall not be named blasted me two days in a row, both times while I was on the phone with parents. No clue why, either. This came out of nowhere. There's nothing to do but stay out of her way. After the second encounter, I just went outside (on a cold day) and walked abit till I didn't feel so much like quitting and going home to cry. Made for along day, though, since it happened before 11 in the morning, and there were 4 classes still to be taught before dismissal.
My working conditions are your child's learning conditions. If there is an administrator making teachers miserable (not just unhappy, but absolutely miserable), don't you think that affects the students? Don't you think this person is treating them the same way?

Why Camden?

Written last night after the Rock Center broadcast:

Just watched the Rock Center story about Camden, NJ. Most viewers probably found it eye-opening. Shocking. Tragic. Shameful. Horrifying. They might be moved to do something.

I, on the other hand, found the piece irritating. It made me angry, but not for the reasons some might expect. I'm pissed because 30 years ago, I was a teenager living in a neighborhood very much like the places Brian Williams rode through with the Chief of Police. No reporters ever came around to see what it was like. Our parish priest never would have answered any questions. The local police commander was never seen, so I can't imagine him driving on a tour of the area. Bottom line: nobody gave a shit about us. We weren't worth the effort.

There was a man on my block raising fighting dogs. Yes, pit bulls. We had a cop living on our block. A younger boy we played with through his brother off the roof one day and was arrested. He was home a day or two later. Nobody wrote about it. It wasn't important.

We couldn't even get police to respond if there was no weapon in evidence. I was out of school by the time of the Simpson case. Late one night there was a loud argument on the street in front of the house. I looked out the window and say a couple having it out in the middle of the street. In half a minute he was not just hitting, but punching her in the face. An emergency dispatcher actually asked me what I expected the police to do about it. I finally got pissed and told her that they could choose between stopping the beating and waiting till he killed her. Nobody cared.

We came home one Sunday from a trip to find out there had been a drive-by shooting at the corner. When the cops were around, everyone was deaf, dumb, and blind. A few days later I heard kids talking about what had happened and who was involved. I called and tracked down the detective on that investigation to tell him what was being said. There were no news reports; it was just another shooting.

There was a drug dealer operating out of the building on the corner. It was across the street from a city bus stop. It was one block north from our parish church. The father of one of my classmates ran a taxi service, and his drivers came by regularly. The drug dealer provided drive-up service; the taxis would pull up in front, and someone would run outside to deliver the goods. During the summer, I sat on the front steps and counted how many of those cars, with the company name on them, pulled up in 10 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour. We lost track of how many times the place was “raided”. They would be released and back in business in 4 hours flat. Local police knew about it. My mother made sure of that, and even gave them license plate numbers. They still couldn't or wouldn't do anything about it. It didn't make the news. It wasn't newsworthy.

Eventually, after several years of this, a federal raid finally cleaned out the place one night. They had to go in shooting, killed several people as they went, and discovered the escape tunnels that came out somewere on the next street. No reporter came around to do interviews. We weren't interesting.

Starting when I was in high school, gunshots would wake me in the middle of the night. After a while you get to know from the sound whether it's a handgun, whether it's automatic or revolver, and the echo lets you figure out how many streets away it is. To this day, I automatically start counting when I hear shots. I can still tell a handgun from a shotgun by the sound.

I used to ride public transportation in that city, and walk down streets that would make most of my colleagues run for cover. I shopped in tiny little ethnic grocery stores in places that would make your skin crawl. You looked both ways, not for cars, but for criminals out to empty your pocket for you. No news people were interested except for when President Carter came to visit. Those of us living it weren't worth thinking about after he left.

Why is it newsworthy today, but not back then?

My bad

That's something commonly said around here by way of acknowledging your mistake. It's not exactly an apology, just sort of saying 'I blew it'.

My turn
I thought I was supposed to have high expectations for my students, but you refused to even try. My bad.
I think you should be able to hear what's going on in class, not just what I say, but your classmates' responses as well, but it made you angry when I asked you to listen without interrupting. My bad.
I thought you wanted to be able to see the interactive whiteboard, so I changed your seat and then you stormed out. My bad.
I thought I was supposed to help my kids behave properly, but your feelings were hurt when I corrected your behavior. My bad.
I thought I was supposed to keep parents informed, but you were offended when I let you know what's going on. My bad.
I thought the counselor was here to help us, but you think I 'got' you in trouble by bringing in the counselor. My bad.
I thought you wanted advance notice when I set up a parent meeting, so I did that, but you still didn't show up. My bad.
I think my students need to learn basic calculation rather than algebra. At least then they'll be able to manage their finances. My bad.
I thought I was supposed to send the disruptive students to the team leader's classroom, but instead he made a ruckus in the hallway. My bad.
I think my students need to learn to read a newspaper and job aevertisements. My bad.
I thought the students were supposed to follow rules and procedures without outside intervention, but apparently you only take instructions from the school secretary. My bad. Guess we should have her teach class next week.

The dream

My dream, shared by other teachers:
studetns come to school to learn
students have paper and pencils to complete their assignments
students take responsibility for books and don't lose them
students demonstrate common courtesy for others
students cooperate with each other to solve problems
students listen to each other, not just at lunch, but during lessons
students willling to make an effort to achieve goals

Each of these is an individual choice. I'm not even talking about parent involvement, although certainly parents need to lay a proper foundation for the above.
Notice, I didn't say anything about grade-level skills or income levels. Lots of money at home is not necessary to get a good education. Our grandparents can attest to that.

SAT redesign

So, the College Board is going to revamp the SAT. There's considerable information out there to show that the SAT doesn't do what it's supposed to do, doesn't measure what we assume it measures. My question, then, is this: What is the Value-Added Measure for the SAT? How effective a tool is it?

Folllow the money

http://www.pressherald.com/news/virtual-schools-in-maine_2012-09-02.html

If Finland has figured it out, why don't we try their approach?

They outperform us on the almighty International Assessments, yet instead of looking closely at how they do it, we are doing the opposite. This list of 10 facts is eye-opening.

http://www.takepart.com/photos/ten-surprising-facts-finlands-education-system-americans-should-not-ignore#

Pinterest is cool

I can keep and access lots of resources, personal and professional, both at home and at work (it's not blocked yet) for later use. Love it. When there's an interesting article or infographic that might be useful for a lesson later, or good reading when there's more time, I just Pin It. Then i can go back later and do whatever I had in mind.
www.pinterest.com

from the state of Mississippi...

and the state of Georgia. Not so different. Even now, and this is not a remote rural community...

http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/01/21/diary-first-year-teacher-racism-still-alive-and-well-mississippi-delta?cmpid=tp-ad-outbrain-general

Educators Issue VAM Report for Secretary Duncan - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

This is a great idea. We need a VAM report and ranking for all of our public officials. No results, and you are out. Of course, we'll use an "objective" metric to make this decision...

Educators Issue VAM Report for Secretary Duncan - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

and they probably have kids

Let's see, the best you can think of for making money involves multiple violations of state AND federal laws. Really?!? How is this behavior going to be justified? 99 counts. Guess he got carried away...

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/state-regional/three-charged-with-bear-poaching-more-arrests-expe/nWTdT/

When the Minimum Wage Makes Economists Smile

http://blogs.hbr.org/fox/2013/02/the-minimum-wage-and-textbook.html