New evaluation system

This new system is so confusing that apparently no one understands it. I certainly don't, and neither do my administrators. It is turning into a time-consuming fiasco. We are flying at 30000 feet in an airplane that is still being assembled, without an operating manual. How long before we crash?

Waiting for Downton

I confess:
I LOVE watching Downton Abbey. Even in reruns. Especially since reruns of Downton tend to be of much higher quality than most of the first-run junk the networks put out. And, each time I watch, I notice something that I missed the last time.
So, I was naturally tickled when I walked into the public library ( to enjoy their open-air seating at tree level and the wifi) and found a little surprise on the NEW BOOKS shelf. It's called While We Were Watching Downton Abbey and it's a novel by Wendy Wax. I confess, I'm not familiar with her other books, but this one got me in chapter 1 while I waited for my computer to boot up. (Yes, I'm old enough to remember, and use, such archaic computer jargon.) I've added it to my Goodreads list of books I want to read. Goodreads is a cool site, by the way.

Meanwhile, with respect to Beckett, I'm Waiting for Downton so I can get a fix. In January. hence the Thursday night reruns...

A New Declaration of Right

The Right to Public Libraries
During the summer, I missed this one, even as I was visiting the public libraries in my area, enjoying the change of scenery to use their workspace and enjoy the a/c and wifi. Also read the occasional book (I have a stack waiting for me to get to them) or magazine.

Ever feel like this in meeting with no redeeming purpose?

Next-Generation Science Assessments

Uh-oh. Here's a piece from EdWeek that rips apart the notion that the 'new' tests will be any different/better/more valid/more reliable/more useful than the 'old' tests.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/10/02/06science.h33.html?tkn=TOUFxOBuVQz1P02WiCw1CcPQNp21Rc%2FWUquz&cmp=ENL-CM-NEWS2

Here's a winner:
...performing proficiently in 8th grade science on the National Assessment of Educational Progress has been highly correlated with the amount of out-of-school science enrichment students receive, which, she says suggests that schools already have little time to dedicate to complex science tasks, and less time to prepare for similarly complex test items.

So, even the much vaunted NAEP doesn't really tell us what the reformers say it tells us. It doesn't tell us how well kids are learning at school, and it damn sure doesn't tell us anything about the quality of classroom instruction.
I submit that this correlation has less to do with available instructional time and more with the financial resources of the family to enrich the child's environment. In other words, it's the poverty, AGAIN, stupid.

The achievement gap is (still) really an income gap

Funny how schools in wealthier neighborhoods have higher SAT scores and bigger gains than others.
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-schooled/2013/oct/06/ajc-special-report-sat-scores-rise-family-wealth-n/

How about those "best practices"?

I maintain that "best practice" consists of whatever will get the point across to a particular group of kids. That may change from class period to class period, depending on the kids' needs, never mind year to year.

Here's what Larry Cuban has to say on the subject:
http://larrycuban.wordpress.com/2013/10/05/the-sham-and-shame-of-best-practices/
Where does phrase “best practices” originate? Its origin seems to be in the business sector with management consultants. It has become a buzzword across governmental, educational, and medical organizations. In becoming popular, the phrase has drifted away linguistically from its original meaning of effective practices in accomplishing goals to mean faddish or trendy activities.

Pay attention to what he says about medical research and one-size-fits-all procedures.

He goes on to say:  ...I am not the first educator, nor the last, to make the point that school reform is a value-driven (not research-driven) business where policymakers depend far more on faith than facts and far more on uniformity than context.
In comparing “best practices” in medicine and education, I now see more clearly how (and why) state and federal policymakers, grasping for anything that looks like success, spread faddish and unexamined reforms. This is both a sham and a shame.

Bet you always thought you can't have your cake and eat it, too.

Charter operators have figured out how. They can be private corporations and yet be funded with your tax dollars, siphoning funds from the REAL public schools. That's why your neighborhood school has no money to buy new library books, replace computers, or even keep toilet paper in the bathrooms.
http://dianeravitch.net/2013/10/09/charter-schools-insist-we-are-private-not-public/

Juan Velazquez Heilig is awesome

He produces these fantastic arguments, kills the straw man with evidence, and even draws cartoons! He never misses a chance to shoot down Arne Duncan and his bullshit.

http://cloakinginequity.com/2013/10/05/breaking-news-whose-opinion-matters/

http://cloakinginequity.com/2013/10/04/the-broad-foundation-and-broadies-kings-of-distruptive-and-unreasonable-trickle-down-reform/

The Koch brothers are at it again?

Now I often find Huffington Post to be a little out there, and off base on many things. However, I'm inclined to believe this one, in light of similar investigative pieces in the past couple of years. They have put their money to work in union-busting, dismantling public education, and controlling national and local politics. This would be just one more notch on the bedpost.

Banned books

The school board of Randolph County, NC were presented with a parent's complaint about one of the books on the high school reading list. Students were to choose 2 of the 3 titles to read and then complete an assignment. One of the 3 books was The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison.
Just in time for Banned Books Week, the board heard from the parent, from the school-level committee that recommended keeping the book, and from the district-level committee that recommended keeping the book. Board members allegedly had read the book. And they voted to not only take if off the reading list, but off the shelves entirely.
Based on their comments, it sounds to me as if they were uncomfortable with the topics and issues the book raises. Ellison wrote it in the 1950s, and the book won the 1953 National Book Award for Fiction. It discusses and illustrates very serious issues of race and class. The kind of thing that makes some people itchy these days. And, it's historical, which some folks will say means we don't need to be concerned with such things, because they are in the past.
Fortunately for all concerned, the school board saw the error of their decision and it has been reversed, probably after a truckload of phone messages and emails from more literate types.
Now, I am not insensitive to parental concerns about the things we read and see in school. Catcher in the Rye still mystifies me; I had to read it in high school. It's especially mystifying to me after recent revelations about the author. But, really, can't we talk this over before you make a demand that will affect other people's children? You don't want your child reading it, fine. She didn't actually have to read it. She could have read the other book on the list. But I don't see where you get the right to make this choice for other families. Plus, this kind of thing tends to make national headlines and embarrass your community. Remember the Harry Potter flap?

New cut scores for state exams

http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local-education/state-crct-scores-mixed-bag/nYTmc/

So, the feds insist that the tests must get harder, just in time to find out if we meet the NCLB challenge of 100% proficiency? Sounds like the game is rigged to ensure kids will lose.

And the new scores weren't announced until after school started. Here is an excerpt from another school district's newsletter, dated 8/2. Whoops, spoke too soon. The file is corrupted.

Here is the section from my superintendent's newsletter. There was no time to read the newsletter when it hit the inbox (TKES tasks came first), so the next morning I almost lost my breakfast:


Remember, I teach non-readers, so this is an absolute nightmare for me. For those not familiar, the old cut score was 800. It has apparently not been publicly announced yet. Hopefully that will happen sooner than the day before testing starts.

By the way, if you look for it on the GA DOE website, you'll have a dandy time hunting for this news. I can't find it, and I'm usually pretty good at that stuff. This is all I could find, and it is NOT what we received this week. For the record, I have no idea how they take 60 or 70 questions and turn that into scores of 650-920.

Watch out for the frat boys...

You'd think that someone admitted to the Georgia Institute of Technology would demonstrate better sense, wouldn't you? Email never goes away, and this idiot's name will forever be attached to the word 'rapebait'.
 http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-schooled/2013/oct/08/couldnt-someone-have-given-tech-frat-member-some-b/
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/georgia-tech-fraternity-under-investigation-for-ra/nbH2q/

Some of it is basic social advice for geeks, the rest is plain creepy and disgusting. On local news, it's being treated as something shocking to discover that horny males use alcohol to make it easier to get some action. Really, ladies, if he brings you  more than 1 beer, you need to get clear, fast. Who hadn't realized that?

For the text of the email, see here: http://totalfratmove.com/%CE%A6kt-member-from-georgia-tech-sends-rapiest-email-ever/
Notice he says NO RAPING and ends with "in luring rapebait". He  really should make up his mind.

For the record, I have met a number of Tech students and grads. They are great people and full of smarts. I also was blessed to twice work with some of the folks from the CEISMC program at Tech. They do great things for teachers.

For schools that try to do too much...

Sounds like a self-help book.
I've often noticed that when we have open house, curriculum night, Title I night, PTO, chorus and band concerts, etc, parent attendance is light. Some folks just drop off their kids, and not even on time. This is a middle school, by the way. Funny thing is, when there is a sports event, especially football or basketball, you actually can't get through the driveway.
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-schooled/2013/oct/07/are-schools-doing-too-much-kids-outside-classroom/

My heroes

As a classroom teacher, I am often disappointed and occasionally outraged at the behavior of athletes and the preferential treatment they receive. I was even scolded once by the assistant principal for holding the athletes to the same academic standard and offering them the same opportunity to retake a quiz for a better grade- after school. This scolding occurred in a meeting with both the parent and the student in attendance. Shame on her. Athletic participation is a choice, and a privilege. It comes with rules and responsibility.
In 1999, Coach Ken Carter benched his entire basketball team at Richmond HS in Richmond, CA, for not meeting their academic and behavioral obligations. He was played by Samuel L. Jackson in the movie.
Now, Coach Matt Labrum of Union High School in Roosevelt, UT has held his football players to similar standards. Upon realizing the young men were skipping classes, failing, possibly bullying someone online, and being disrespectful to teachers, he called them together after a game and directed everyone to hand in their jersey and equipment, until they were EARNED back through community service, a leadership class, and study hall to make up work. I hope they get someone good to play him on the big screen, too.

Jack Hassard is great

Here's his new post: http://www.artofteachingscience.org/is-the-purpose-of-education/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+artofteachingscience%2FABWH+%28The+Art+of+Teaching+Science+Blog%29

I LOVE the way he skewers the Governor and State Supe.

Disappointment...

I'm disappointed with my job. Let me count the ways,,,

1. We just got the new health inurance rates. We've been screwed and didn't even get dinner first.
2. The state DOE, in their infinite foolishness, decided to change the CRCT cut score. It's two months in to the school year, for heaven's sake, and I teach nonreaders. 'Nuff said.
3. The principal stood up in front of us in a meeting and told us that 'some of this stuff will have to get done outside of school hours'. This as our time (before school) was wasted on something other than planning wonderful lessons.
4. Our new evaluation system hinges on a digital portfolio platform which comes with no instructions on what goes where. Then we get scolded if it's not perfectly done on deadline, with no instructions. The dragon lady has already chewed my ass.
5. As a teacher of students with special needs, I get bounced around every year and don't ever have the opportunity for real reflection and improvement since I start over each time.
6. As a teacher of students with special needs, I have to fight for books and materials and often forgo the teacher edition because there aren't enough to go around.
7. As an inclusion teacher, there have been no subs for me on three of the four occasions I've been out of my classroom for assigned professional activity.
8. I have followed the new procedure for ordering classroom supplies; after 6 weeks I've yet to receive a single one of those items. It can't be helped, I was told today.
9. After great effort to coordinate with my coteacher and get some lesson planning done, administration showed their appreciation by pulling us out of class on 2 days notice to observe a model lesson. Seriously, with 6 adults observing and recording, do you think it was representative of anything?
10. Even though the two of us bust our chops daily to teach our kids together, the 'coverage' provided on this occasion consisted of ONE person. So, which one of us is not needed?
11. My day at work regularly ends at 6 pm or later, trying to finish tasks that require sustained concentration. It's hard to concentrate when you are interrupted during your planning.
12. The science department ordered materials and equipment months ago. None of it has turned up yet. But, keep those wonderful hands-on lessons coming!
13. Twice in the space of a week, my classroom has been interrupted by an administrator who can't be bothered to find out my schedule when I'm needed for something. Please just let me teach.
14. I'm sure there's more to add, but I'm too exhaustipated to think any longer!

How ya doin' ?

This is me: