March Madness!

..no madder than usual, really. We're all mad here.

However, I got roped into playing in the staff basketball game versus another middle school tomorrow evening. Should be interesting. Our coach is quite competitive, so he uses the better players, so I probably won't be playing for more than five minutes. Yay?

Anyway, Ravitch has done it again, this time with this article. Really, people, is it that difficult to figure this stuff out? Listen to the teachers! They know what they're doing!

Wishing for Spring

I didn't post last week for a couple reasons. First, I was out sick Monday and Tuesday, and the days I was actually here, I was doing something the entire time! It was amazing! But also, nothing really of import happened, so there was no point in posting.

Today I am subbing for the drama teacher, and she had just finished a project with her eighth graders, so she wanted them to read scenes to prepare two-person performances. I tell you, getting sixteen fourteen-year-olds to focus on a four page script is ridiculously difficult. Sometimes I feel like I'm teaching kindergarten.

And I'm back with more ed reform news (surprise, surprise). Although what is surprising is that it's not by Strauss. This article talks about class size and puts an interesting spin on the issue and makes us think more about budget, academic achievement, and the societal microcosm that is education.

More Articles!

So for some reason, educational news exploded all of a sudden. Why is everyone (Dems & GOP) doing everything wrong? Here's the latest initiative. And here's Strauss' response to it (and others). Everyone should read her, and listen! She's onto something!!

Catchin' Up

The play's final performance was Saturday. It wiped me out. Then I was sick yesterday. Blech. So this is an amalgamation of various articles that have come out recently that have resonated with me. No real thesis to this entry. Oh well.

Actually, I can narrow it down to two. This first one discusses NCLB and why it sucks. But the reporter states this more eloquently. Obama visited the school I interned at last spring, which is one of the most successful schools in the DC area (specifically regarding its progressive technology pursuits), and yet was labeled as failing. Riiiight.

This next one calls attention to the zero-tolerance drug policy in Fairfax County Public Schools. There have been several previous articles about this, mainly discussing how the outcomes of the zero tolerance policy have led to student suicides. Although the subject of this article did not kill herself, her adolescence was essentially ruined for something that was not even a big deal. I wonder if these things will cause Fairfax to adjust its policies. My guess, though, is that they won't.

Crunchy.

It's crunch time this week with the play opening tomorrow, so haven't had much time to get my thoughts together enough to write them down. But, of course, I still read the Post, and must post that. This article (found by guess who) discusses the problems with "data-driven" instruction. If only more people (i.e. so-called government officials) viewed education this way.

Only One This Week

...apparently not much has happened. Or maybe too much.

Yes, it's the latter. It's, as they say, crunch time now, for the school play I'm helping with opens a week from today. Holy cow.

The students seem completely clueless when it comes to the schedule. It is true that theater is its own beast, with its own weird scheduling known only to those who understand how theater works, but these kids just don't get basic dates.

Auditions were way back in November, and we gave them schedules then, and told their parents to sign a form that says they agree with the schedule. But we find out TWO DAYS AGO that some cast members have an orchestra competition (a required grade for that class) next Friday, which was supposed to be opening night. Seriously, kids? And more so, parents of kids? How did you not look at your calendar to avoid this massive schedule-fuck?

Also, can't end the week without referring to education news. This article talks about teacher unions v. improving schools. Why are they mutually exclusive? Someone's gotta figure this mess out.

Interdiscipinary Projects

I've been meaning to write this post for a while but never got around to it for one reason or the other...

While I was subbing for the aide, I noticed that the eighth grade English teachers in particular liked to do interdisciplinary projects (that is, projects that incorporate other subjects along with English). One example of this is that the students had to write an essay with the topic "If I were a climate, this is the climate I would be because..." which I thought was clever for a variety of reasons. First (and most obvious), it helped them get a more definitive understanding of their geography terms. Secondly, it's an atypical essay which required more creative thinking than most. I really enjoyed helping students write theirs.

Another example which also involves Social Studies would be their Living History Project. Students had to find a person at least 50 years older than them to interview. This not only involved history, but also journalism (and therefore, research). I left before the students presented these, but I heard they were great.

The last example deals with science. They had to pick an element from the periodic table and personify it either by dressing up like the superhero (or villain) version of the element, or portraying it on a poster. This was a good project too, though I'm still not sure how it incorporated English, which, you would think, would be necessary for an English class. However, that doesn't discredit the project's merit.

Each of these were creative and enhanced the students' ability to make connections and their critical thinking skills. I'm a big believer in holistic learning, anyway, and the above are good examples of that.

I'm not going to end the week without reverence to you know who (did you think I would?). This first article is really a letter about why the Wisconsin boycotts are important (from a Wisconsin resident.) This one, actually written by Strauss, once again exploits the evils of a certain ex-Chancellor and makes me ponder yet again how the hell she became so popular. Cannot wait to read "The Bee Eater."

Who's in charge here?

So the woman in charge of the sub assignments (including mine) sent me an email WEEKS ago about the fact that I'm covering an English teacher first period today due to a meeting she has to attend. But apparently another teacher is running late so she asks me to sit with her TA class until she arrives (this teacher doesn't have a first period so it's not a conflict). I'm getting my stuff together right before TA when the other school based sub sticks his head in the door. I'm confused. So is he, because he was told to go where I already was. Ummmmm... k. But he leaves when he sees I'm there.

But then I'm called away from that classroom and back to the office. So the other SBS shows up again. When I get to the office, the woman in charge (supposedly) tells me to cover a math teacher for first period. I tell her about the email she sent, and she's confused, which makes me confused, because I think I have the date wrong. So I go to the math teacher's room, and she says, "What are you doing here? You're supposed to cover Ms. L's class!" Ummmmm... k. I go back to where I was originally supposed to be to teach Englishy things. Yeesh.

Then. I go back to the office after first period and she tells me to cover for an aid starting fifth period. But I have nothing to do until then, so I get on a library computer. She comes looking for me in the library at the end of third period and tells me I'm supposed to be covering for said aid. I tell her, "You told me not until fifth period." She looks confused, but then realizes I'm right. So then she asks me to cover for the drama teacher fourth period. So I go down there.

As the students are wandering into the class, she calls and tells me a different sub is going to take my place so I can sub for the aid like I was supposed to do. Ummmmmm... k. I do, and the last three periods of the day go off without a hitch. But still.

Holy crap, woman. Get your head on straight.

However, a bright point in the day came during the ESL History class (which I have helped with before so really know the kids). The teacher had them play a game of tug-o-war with slightly different rules to mimic the conditions of the Continental Army v. the British Army during the American Revolution. The kids loved it, and really understood the parallels. It was awesome.

Short n Sweet (like me)!

Today I asked facilities to open a classroom. I used the word "janitor." The woman in charge of making sure doors open scolded me and said, "We call them custodians." Whoops. My bad. Didn't realize "janitor" was such an epithet. I guess I should have in this PC world, but geez. Calling them "custodians" doesn't erase the fact that they clean toilets for a living. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Also, my love affair of Valerie Strauss continues (also of Diane Ravitch, who is of fault in this article). It discusses what's going on in Wisconsin and why. Hooray!

To Yell or Not To Yell... That's Not Really the Question

It's obvious that different teachers have different methods of discipline, and even different views on what warrants a particular punishment. But what's not so obvious is why teachers hold these different views.

Case in point: My write-up of the student on Friday. The principal has asked him and me to sit down and "talk it out." Which I feel is a waste of time. So does the lead classroom teacher who was also involved. But the principal loves to micromanage and give certain students a chance. Which I already did with this boy. But whatever, clearly I'm not the one in charge.

Here's another example: Since it was so nice today, the kids could go outside to play after they finished their lunch. The other school-based sub and I were outside supervising. I feel that this is the one time in the day when kids can be kids, and as long as they're not putting themselves or anyone else in danger, they can basically do whatever they want. However, the other SBS is a friggin' stickler. The seventh graders were sitting on the concrete wall that separates the playground from the parking lot, and I berated students who were grabbing at these students' shoes or horse-playing while sitting on the wall. SBS was watching something else. I turn my back for two seconds and a boy is standing up on the wall. Not only does SBS yell at him incredibly loudly, but he made the student go back inside. If I had seen him first, however, I would have asked him (not scolded) to not stand up, because he could get hurt. I also wouldn't punish him and make him go back inside. I wouldn't want to imply anything besides a safety concern. But the way this guy did it, it sounded like the kid was doing something completely unforgivable. Whereas in reality, kids don't always acknowledge danger. This teacher has a reputation for being a strict ass, but even so. I found that utterly ridiculous.

Sometimes specific regulations are bad, but in this case, the same standards need to apply to all teachers. It confuses kids otherwise.