A Present Wrapped in Poop

Respect. Teachers deserve it. Most folks think so. But it seems to be lip service a lot of the time, even by our employers.

As teachers, we are often told by the public what an important job we do - that we are valued and loved. But the reality is that for the amount of education we have, and the hours we spend - when you look at professions with equal demands on their time and education levels, teaching is not valued at all.

But that is not the point here. That is all well documented in many other places. My point is the disrespect we receive from within our own profession. From those in the district office. From those who make wonderful speeches at meetings and professional development trainings. From those who say one thing, but whose actions communicate something else entirely.

There are so many examples....... where should I begin? How about claiming to value questions and pushing back, but being reprimanded when doing so? To be told it's not about test scores, to teach and value the whole child, while in the meantime your principal is ripped a new one when those scores are not high enough. To be asked to be an honored member of a "special committee," only to find out it is nothing but a thankless job requiring many grueling hours of your time. Grunt work so someone at the district office doesn't have to do it.

Then of course there are those "presents wrapped in poop." Gifts that seem amazing, but disrespect you in so many ways. For example, being allowed to attend a conference - all expenses paid. Sounds amazing, right? Excepts for the parts where you don't arrive until 1:00 in the morning and have to be up at the crack of dawn, have to share a bed with a total stranger because the district didn't bother to get rooms with two beds, and schedule your flight home so that you do not even have a little bit of time to enjoy the location where you are staying. And let's not forget flying in and out of the most inconvenient airport possible. Now, this isn't true for everyone who attends. District and other select folks received earlier flights in and later flights out at more local airports, rooms where each person had their own bed, and time to enjoy themselves a bit in the location.

My teacher friends who have worked in other professions are always shocked by how crappy we are treated. They always tell me how this wouldn't stand in other professions. But we teachers just suck it up. We are just grateful for what we get I suppose. Grateful for those presents wrapped in poop.

The Case for the Teacher's Desk

I love the whole "Flexible Seating" movement. Seriously. It is the best thing for kids. Get rid of traditional seating. Get rid of traditional kids' desks. Grab your bean bags, grab your fun chairs, grab your yoga balls, grab your pillows, grab your wheeled tables that can go up, down, sideways, and every which way. Have at it.

But get your hands off my desk.

Who spends the most time in OUR classroom? Me. I say OUR because it is OUR classroom. Yes, we are all there for our students. But I am there the most. I am there before school, after school, during recess, during lunch, and on weekends sometimes. I come in early during summer, and I am there long after I need to be once school is out for summer.

I deserve one spot to call my own. One spot that is adult size, adult height, with a comfortable adult chair, and an adult desk. I need a space to plan and work. I need a space to reflect, decompress, laugh, and cry. I need a space to store my pens, pencils, thank you cards, and feminine hygiene products. (Yeah, I said it.) I need a place to keep my slippers and comfy socks for those days when my feet are killing me. I need a place to store the candy stash when I NEED A PIECE OF FREAKIN' CANDY. I need a place to keep my color printer that I bought with my own money so I can print the amazing products my students create. I need a place to store my stash of crackers and granola bars for when a student comes to school hungry. I need a place to store my worry rock that I rub when I am stressed.

I spend more time in our classroom than anyone else. Don't I deserve one spot that belongs to me?

Leadership 101

I have worked for many principals. I also have an administrative credential, and have been in many teacher leadership positions. There are a few things I know for sure about being a principal and a leader:

1. I would never want to be a principal.  I know it is a tough job. But if you make the choice, then own it and do it right.
2. You must never forget what it is like to be a teacher and a student.
3. Talk, talk, talk to people before you make decisions. Always.
4. You must see yourself as an equal; you are no better than anyone else. Everyone is a part of the puzzle. Everyone does an important job. You, as a leader, must recognize that and lift everyone up.
5. Yes, there are tough parts of the job. But that is why the principal makes more money.
6. People will want to work for with you if you create an atmosphere of harmony and caring. No one wants to work for someone who lays down mandates and rules with an iron first, reminding others, "I am the boss," whether it be by actions, words, or both.
7. Be a good listener.
8. Be a good listener.
9. Be a good listener.
10. Don't ever hide the fact that you don't know all the answers. Everyone knows you don't. You gain much more respect when you admit that fact.
11. Admit when you make mistakes.
12. Lead with love.

This list, for the most part, works just as well for teachers. And I know I will think of more. But we all need to remember this when we step into a leadership role: How do I want to be led?

Not Next Year, NOW!

As teachers, it's easy to get overwhelmed. It's easy to blow it off and say "next year." It's easy when it's other people's kids. But your perspective changes when you are a parent. I am not saying you have to be a parent to be a good teacher, but your perspective changes. What you do matters RIGHT NOW for the kids in your class. Your students are depending on you RIGHT NOW. So, don't put off trying that new strategy. Or that new technology. Or that new project. Or getting rid of the sacred cows that don't work. Because that kid in your class could be mine. And one day, that kid in my class could be yours.

It's 2016 for Crying Out Loud!

I keep hearing the song from Frozen in my head...... "Let it go..... Let it go!" Please, for your students, LET IT GO! Let go of homework. Why? Well, because research shows it doesn't help, and can often hurt kids. Stop keeping students in at recess. Why? Well, because research shows it doesn't help, and can often hurt kids. Give kids brain breaks (REAL ONES). Why? Because research shows it really helps, and if you don't, you are just making life harder on yourself. (And hurting kids.) Seriously.

Stop blaming the victim. Start looking in the mirror. If things aren't working well in class, take a good hard look at what YOU can do. There's nothing wrong with the kids. There's nothing wrong with their parents. It's you. It's ALL you, because YOU are driving the bus.

Let it go. Let go of all the tired practices that don't work anymore. (Did they ever?) Embrace change. If you don't, you will be left behind. Heck, there are many teachers that already are. And who are they hurting? Kids. My kids. Your kids. Our kids.

Let it go.

Technology is NOT a Reward!

Change is hard.  I get it.  Trouble is, technology is here, and it's here to stay.  Why is it that some educators have such difficulty accepting it in their classrooms?

Let's think about how we ourselves use technology.  We use it to communicate, collaborate, and create. We use it to share, make people laugh, think, and stay connected.  But for some reason, this isn't the case in the classrooms of some educators.  Technology is viewed as an "add-on," a reward that must be earned for doing well.  Not only does this make no sense, it's flat-out wrong.  It is unfair to students, and deprives them of the tools and skills they need to grow and thrive in today's world.

Some teachers just dumbfound me.  For example, I know one teacher who makes his students use flashcards to learn sight words.  When I discussed with him the fact that there are several amazing apps that not only help students learn sight words, but track progress and allow teachers to tailor lessons, the teacher said, "I know.  And my students will be allowed to use those apps once they learn their sight words."  I know..... you are thinking what I am thinking.  They won't need the apps anymore.  Sigh.

Other teachers say things such as, "I don't know how I am going to fit in the technology."  As if technology is some isolated curriculum teachers must cram into their day.  Technology is a tool, and a powerful one.  When used correctly, students can produce incredible work.  Their levels of creativity and collaboration can thrive in new and exciting ways.  In addition, technology can be used in ways that make the teacher's life so much easier if the teacher is willing to do things a little differently.  It just requires making some changes and learning some new things.  Yes, you have to put in some time up front.  But the time you save in the long run is immeasurable.

So how do we help move these folks forward?  When I go to technology conferences, I always hear presenters say, "Focus on the people who are ready to move forward and forget about the negative ones.  You won't have an impact on them."  While I see the thinking here, that's not fair to the students, is it?  We have to find ways to push these folks forward.  It's not about us as adults.  It is about the students.  We need to do right by them.  We need to get uncomfortable, and if that means making others uncomfortable as well, so be it.  It's about best practices for kids.  Not what makes teachers feel good.  I think it is possible to work together in supportive and positive ways in order to move teachers forward and do what's best for kids.  Don't you?

Changing the Narrative……Teachers ARE Public Schools

Apparently, teachers aren’t supposed to take it personally when someone says public schools are broken and failing.

And when we call someone out on that nonsense publicly... someone who has a big microphone... well, something’s going to hit the fan.

Let me back up.  I was listening to a talk show host who, as much as I would LOVE to name names, I won’t.  Because this host has called me enough names and I don’t need any more hateful name-calling.  The host’s guest was someone who has started some charter schools that have made several amazing claims.  Unfortunately, as with all charter schools that make these miraculous claims, the claims turn out to be “not so amazing.”  (I am not going to name the chain of charter schools here, but here is a great site with links to many of these charters who make such claims – “Miracle Schools.”

As I listened to the broadcast, I asked a question on Twitter.  The second I posted it, the guest addressed it - weird coincidence.  The response from the host was swift and snarky, tweeting that I should go back and listen again.  Ummm..... OK.  Thanks for the assumption I wasn't listening.  I continued to listen to the entire broadcast and really wondered about this “Miracle School.”

When I got home I started researching on the internet, and found just what I had suspected.  No miracle here.  I tweeted my findings out to the host, and as I did, I noticed that during the broadcast the host had tweeted "public schools are broken," and later tweeted "public schools have failed."

So, I decided to ask the question: “Where is your data to back up the claim public schools have failed?”  The response was basically, “I never said that.”  I love Twitter.  As I retweeted the host's tweets, I started tweeting research showing that public schools are in fact NOT failing; the problem is actually poverty.

Then it started.  I was called a troll, sensitive, wrong, scary, part of the problem, irrational, and ignorant.  (To be fair, I said the host looked ignorant by claiming failure without data.  I suppose I can’t be too mad about being called ignorant.)  I was told I had misdirected anger, and the host wondered how well I convey information to my students.  I was accused of coming into the middle of a conversation, popping off half-cocked, and was then accused of not even listening to the show.  That was followed by the accusation that I didn’t do my homework and my comprehension is sketchy; this was stated because the host claimed no one was blaming teachers.  Finally, I was accused of not being part of solutions, just there to defend myself.

During all of this I was tweeting data, articles, and research findings, none of which the host read.  The host claimed to have data, although none of this data was shared.  Then after repeatedly insulting me, the host blocked me on Twitter, ending any hope of the research being read.

Once again, as happens so often in education, we have someone who has never taught a day claiming to know all there is to know about public education.  A “hero” is brought in who has started some charter schools with yes, great results, but when you dig deeper, you find a lot of dirt.  A lot.  But who cares, right?  The end justifies the means?  The hell it does.

How do we as teachers change the narrative with these folks with big mics?  I’ll admit Twitter is probably not the best place to have such a dialogue, but for this particular host, it’s the ONLY place to engage.  (I’ll just let you come to your own conclusions on that one.)  It is so easy for people to spout off “Public schools are broken” and “Public schools are failing.”  Society blindly accepts it as truth, and everyone shakes their collective heads in sorrow.  When those of us with actual data and research show what is really going on, we are silenced.  Humiliated.  Dismissed.

I suppose that’s where we start.  We cannot allow ourselves to be silenced.  We have to stand up and be heard.  We must tweet, blog, post on social media, and write.  We cannot afford to close our classroom doors and simply teach.  (Hell, we haven’t been allowed to do that for years anyway.)  We cannot naïvely state, “I don’t get involved in the politics of education.”  Education IS politics.  Most important, we cannot live in fear anymore.

When you blame public education, you are blaming teachers.  When you make sweeping statements about the failures of public education, you are making sweeping statements about teachers.  And when you refuse to listen to a teacher who is giving you data and research, you are embracing continued ignorance.  Teachers ARE public education.  We need to change the narrative.  No one else is going to do it for us.

A Note About the References:

I am not going to post the references I tweeted that were specific to the charter school chain that was the topic of the talk show.  But the site “Miracle Schools” has a great deal of this information about many of these schools.  The rest of the references were ones I tweeted about public education, achievement, international comparisons, and poverty.  All of them are below.

References

Fiske, Edward B., and Helen F. Ladd. "Addressing the Impact of Poverty on Student Achievement - EducationNC." EducationNC. Education North Carolina, 10 Feb. 2015. Web. <https://www.ednc.org/2015/02/11/addressing-impact-poverty-student-achievement/>.

McNeff, Mike. "Beyond the Classroom: Poverty Impacts Achievement." ThePierceCountyTribune.com. Pierce County Tribune, ND, 12 Sept. 2014. Web. <http://www.thepiercecountytribune.com/page/content.detail/id/509981/Beyond-the-classroom--Poverty-impacts-achievement.html?nav=5005>.

Miracleschools -. N.p., n.d. Web. .

Phillips, Mark. "8 Myths That Undermine Educational Effectiveness." Edutopia. N.p., 10 June 2014. Web. <http://www.edutopia.org/blog/myths-that-undermine-educational-effectiveness-mark-phillips>.

Rabinovitz, Jonathan. "Poor Ranking on International Test Misleading about U.S. Student Performance, Stanford Researcher Finds." Stanford News. Stanford University, 15 Jan. 2013. Web. <http://news.stanford.edu/news/2013/january/test-scores-ranking-011513.html>.

Riddile, Mel. "PISA: It’s Still ‘Poverty Not Stupid’ |." Web log post. The Principal Difference. National Association of Secondary School Principals, 12 Feb. 2014. Web. <http://nasspblogs.org/principaldifference/2014/02/pisa-its-still-poverty-not-stupid/>.

Walker, Tim. "Shameful Milestone: Majority of Public School Students Live in Poverty - NEA

              Today." NEA Today. National Education Association, 16 Jan. 2015. Web. 

              <http://neatoday.org/2015/01/16/shameful-milestone-majority-public-school-students-
              now- live-poverty/>.

The Demonization of Curriculum... This Time It's STEM

Anyone read Fareed Zakaria's article warning of the demon known as STEM?  If not, you can read it here.  Normally I enjoy Zakaria's take on things.  But as usual, someone outside of education, who feels he is an expert because he went to school, thinks he can weigh in.  Sigh.  It's a freakin' epidemic.

Stick with me if you think I am missing the point of the article.  It may seem that way.  But just hang in there, OK?

So, a few glaring issues here.  First off, no one, and I mean NO ONE in education thinks STEM is all that any student needs, and that liberal arts and the humanities should be abandoned.  You would be hard-pressed to find one educator that believes that nonsense.  Rick Scott?  He doesn't exactly reflect America, and he certainly doesn't reflect educators in America.  The only other evidence given is one mistake made by President Obama, and two other crazy Republican governors. Hardly evidence that the sky is falling.

The emphasis in recent years on STEM partially comes from a lack of emphasis on these areas in the past.  Specifically, many teachers teach science without the hands-on component, and many do not teach engineering at all.  Many teachers deliver math instruction with an emphasis on "drill and kill."  And regarding technology, well, see, there's this thing called The Digital Divide that we must narrow.  In addition, we must ensure technology is used as a tool for creation rather than consumption in ALL subject areas, including the humanities and liberal arts.  I realize this is a rather simplistic synopsis, and obviously there are other economic and global factors.  But being an elementary teacher, I chose to stick to some basic classroom aspects of STEM.  I will say this though, there is no doubt we have been lacking in preparing our students for careers in STEM-based fields.  For example, Broadcom, the nation's largest producer of chips for wireless communications, must hire a large number of engineers from outside the U.S. because the company cannot find enough qualified candidates at home.  Paula Golden, executive director of Broadcom Foundation, which promotes science education, states, "At Broadcom, it's painfully apparent that the talent we need to inspire and innovate is coming from elsewhere.  It's not a cost-effective way of doing business," she said.  "But it's difficult to find other alternatives."  I am sure Broadcom isn't the only company in this predicament.  Again, STEM is working to fulfill a clear need.

Looking at coding and programming in particular, which has received a great deal of attention recently with the "Hour of Code," Software Developer and Coding Instructor Brent Kollmansberger makes some excellent points regarding K-12 education.  "Code.org is the main organization that has been successfully promoting teaching coding in the school system.  They have never suggested deemphasizing the humanities - nor have I heard others doing so.  If anything, coding, animation, image editing, and film making are all technical fields that are also forms of artistic expression."  Kollmansberger goes on to remind us, "Besides, a bachelor's degree in the humanities does not preclude a master's or a doctorate in a more technical field should one be desired."  No one in this field is arguing for deemphasizing the humanities or the liberal arts.  If anything, STEM fields and the humanities and liberal arts need each other in a large number of careers.

I almost stopped reading Zakaria's article when I got to the part about international standardized test comparisons.  It is a commonly known and widely researched fact that when you remove poverty from the equation, American students fare as well or better than other countries in international comparisons.  The fact that this is left out makes me question Zakaria's intentions.  He certainly knows about the poverty issue.  He wrote an article about it back in 2012.  Was this information intentionally left out?  Or have those final dots not been connected?  I doubt that.  Again, it's not a matter of what our students can do, it's a question of improving instruction, and ensuring all students receive the best instruction.  We can always improve, and we had some holes that STEM is working to fill.

When one looks at the actual numbers, well, get ready to breathe a sigh of relief.  The sky isn't falling.  According to the Association of American Colleges and Universities, the humanities are doing just fine.  A few key findings:

• While there were fluctuations in the percentages of students completing humanities majors between the 1940s and 1970s, it seems safe to say those numbers are pre-STEM.  We can't blame STEM on those drops.
• Current data indicate the percentage of humanities degrees increased through the 1980s and 90s, with a slight decline in the 2000s, then rising again, with a slight drop again during the Great Recession.  Overall the numbers have been steady.
• And even though humanities have decreased as a percentage of all degrees, there has been an increase in the percentage of Americans with humanities degrees.

What is especially interesting in the AACU report relates to the last point.  It is this finding by Nate Silver: "Nate Silver has noted that the same pattern applies not only to the humanities, but also to many social science and STEM fields.  Between 1971 and 2011, the percentage of degrees in mathematics, engineering, and history all declined as shares of all college degrees even as the percentage of college-age students earning these degrees increased - a phenomenon Silver attributes to rising enrollments in occupational fields such as health and criminal justice that had not previously offered or required college degrees."  It seems the landscape is very complex indeed.

Zakaria writes, "No matter how strong your math and science skills are, you still need to know how to learn, think and even write."  Of course you do.  All I could think of when I read this was, "Did you even talk to any teachers before you wrote this article?"  I mean, seriously.  Who is arguing otherwise?  Besides crazy governors?  Certainly not teachers.

And that's my issue.  Why do people like Fareed Zakaria listen to the likes of Rick Scott, Patrick McCrory, and Rick Perry?  Why is anyone listening to these people when it comes to educational policy?  I'll tell you why.  Because teachers do not have a seat at the table.  And just like everyone else, Zakaria didn't talk to one teacher when he wrote this article.  Not one.  He's just as bad as they are.  He is part of the problem.  He is listening to these people, and giving them power.  By highlighting and responding to their commentary in his article, Zakaria gives their message credence, as if what they have to say about education is even worth listening to at all.  I know that wasn't the intent, but such a response certainly gives that impression.  What if we all just stopped listening to people like Scott, McCrory, and Perry, and started listening to TEACHERS?  Newsflash: If Zakaria had spoken to teachers, he would have found out the future of the liberal arts and humanities is safe and sound.  If you look at the numbers and facts, you can see its present certainly is.  Teachers may get stepped on a lot, but we would never let STEM take over to the detriment of the humanities and liberal arts.  Does Zakaria really think we would stand for that?  Thanks for the vote of confidence.

It's all getting so tiresome, isn't it?

(Note: After I wrote this, I realized the article probably contains the highlights of Zakaria's latest book, and I wondered.  Did he talk to any teachers during the writing of his book?  If he did, that's great.  Too bad they didn't make the cut for the article.  They clearly didn't influence it; there seems to be an agenda there.  If he didn't speak to any teachers, shame on him.)

Works Cited

"Humanities by the Numbers." Association of American Colleges & Universities. N.p., 07 Aug. 2013. Web. 02 May 2015.
Leal, Fermin. "Science, Tech Preparation Lagging in U.S. Schools." The Orange County Register. N.p., 20 Aug. 2012. Web. 04 May 2015.

Silver, Nate. "As More Attend College, Majors Become More Career-Focused." FiveThirtyEight. N.p., 25 June 2013. Web. 02 May 2015. 

Zakaria, Fareed. "Why America's Obsession with STEM Education Is Dangerous." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 26 Apr. 2015. Web. 02 May 2015. 

Zakaria, Fareed. "Zakaria: Mitt, You Need to Worry about the Very Poor." Global Public Square RSS. N.p., 12 Feb. 2012. Web. 02 May 2015.

That Which Does Not Kill Us, Makes Us Drink

Well, today didn't make me drink.  Just cry.  Kids can be so mean.  We all know this.  And today several of my students made some very poor choices.  Choices that hurt others deeply...... emotionally.  And as I had to sit and explain those choices to the mother of one of the hurt children, I cried.  She cried.  I just kept thinking, "What if this had happened to my daughter?'  And I cried.

I don't think becoming a mother eight years ago has made me a better teacher.  But it has changed the way I look at my students.  I always think, "What if this happened to my child?"  And becoming a mother has REALLY changed the way I look at parents.  Today, as I called a parent of a child who said something very hurtful and derogatory to another student, I became absolutely enraged.  The mother replied, "What provoked him?"  As if such language would ever be justified!  Of course, this explains a lot, doesn't it?  And not that it matters, but the child was not provoked in any way whatsoever.  He was just being cruel.  There will be no consequences for this child.  In this parent's eyes, I am the enemy.  I am "out to get" her child.  But if he had been the victim today, I would have been crying there with her.  But he is never the victim.  (Well, if you ask her you will probably get a different opinion.)

Days like today suck the life out of you.  Your heart aches for the children that are hurt.  But your heart also aches for the children that are allowed to continue to behave in ways that harm others.  As teachers, we can only do so much during the six and a half hours, 180 days per year they are with us.  It's a losing battle much of the time.  I'm not saying it isn't worth trying - of course you always try.  Every once in a while you do make a dent.  But you can only take so much before you need to cry.  Or drink.  Or both.  ;-)

Seriously??!!!?

For the last two months I have been working on one blog post.  I had this hook about how I had always wanted to be an archaeologist..... you know, digging up great finds.  And how I still get to realize this dream - I still get to dig.  But all it is, well, is dirt.

The whole post was about Lexiles, SRI (Scholastic Reading Inventory), CCSS, and the questionable connections and flimsy research between them.  I worked very hard on this post.  It had tons of charts, research citations..... it was pretty good if I do say so myself.  I had saved it and was waiting to post it.  I kept thinking it wasn't quite ready..... I needed to add a little bit more to make it just right.

About two weeks ago I logged in to add the finishing touches and finally post the blog entry.  When I logged in and took a look, over 75% of the post was GONE.  Vanished into cyberspace.  At first I didn't believe it.  I thought I needed to click somewhere, or maybe the scroll feature was malfunctioning.  But no, it was just GONE.

W.T.F.

I have been away from blogging for quite some time, and even when I was blogging, it wasn't all that often.  This kind of crap doesn't make it any easier.

Ugh.

I will try to get re-motivated.....

Musings from "The Flats"

My district is unofficially divided into "The Hills" and "The Flats."  As one might imagine, The Hills are where the more affluent homes are found, and The Flats are where the areas of poverty lie.  I have worked in the same school in The Flats for 26 years.  I love it and would never work anywhere else.

You would think after 26 years I would be used to it, but I am still not used to colleagues, my fellow teachers, talking trash about The Flat schools.  For some reason, many of these teachers actually think they are better than those of us who teach in The Flats.  Obviously, that is laughable.

Yet I am still blown away by what people say.  I suppose this comes with the territory.... something we in The Flats must accept.  But I must also remember, many of those same people wouldn't last a week in The Flats.  It's a tough gig at times.  So many teachers have left my school because they haven't felt successful.  They literally "run for the hills."  And of course they are more successful.  Who wouldn't be?

A quick look at the research shows turnover is high in schools like mine all over the country.  Many teachers do not stay in high poverty schools very long.  Maybe it's because they don't have what it takes?  I know I didn't have it when I first started.  And it is something I am always working to improve.

After all this time, I haven't learned to speak up when the digs happen.  I am still shocked by it.  I am still left speechless by the rude comments - the comments that insinuate or flat-out state that my wonderful school isn't as good.  The hell it isn't.  My school is awesome.  And so are the teachers.

Why Test Scores Don't Mean Jack...... Cristina's Story

State test scores became available to us this week.  I always get mixed feelings - my kids work SO HARD on the CSTs (California Standards Test) every year, and I always think, "They are going to do well.  They worked so hard and really tried.  They knew the information.  This is the year."  Every year I get my hopes up.  Then my hopes come crashing down when I see the results.  It is a mixed bag - the scores range from amazing to holy-crap-how-did-that-happen?  But this year what stands out for me is one story - the story of Cristina.

Cristina is an English learner who was in my class for two years.  She came to my class at the beginning of her third grade year.  The following year I had a third and fourth grade combination class, and she was one of the many students I looped.  What a gift!

I conduct IRIs (Individualized Reading Inventory) with every one of my students three times throughout the year.  I have done this for as long as I can remember, but it became especially important when NCLB and high stakes testing really kicked into gear.  (More on that later.)  Two years ago, Cristina, along with a few other students, could not pass the pre-primer IRI.  Further assessment revealed she had major gaps in her reading skills in all areas, but especially decoding/phonics.  After parent-teacher conferences, it was clear why.  Cristina had missed a great deal of school her first few years.  I had my work cut out for me.

By the end of her third grade year, Cristina passed the pre-primer, primer, and first grade IRIs.  She also improved in all of the other assessments that I use to assess reading skills.  I was so proud of her!  When she returned for fourth grade, she was the only one of my "loopers" who showed increased reading scores over the summer.  She told me, "My mom worked really hard with me."  It showed.  (Even more impressive?  Her mother is a beginning English learner herself.)  Cristina was still at the first grade level, but had increases in her accuracy, comprehension, and fluency.  Yet the second grade IRI was just out of her grasp.  Still lots of work to do.

By the end of her fourth grade year, Cristina passed the third grade IRI with flying colors.  Her scores on all other assessments had increased as well.  She had made phenomenal growth over the past two years - she moved up five levels!  Again, I was so proud of her.  In addition, over the course of the two years Cristina went from a Beginning level EL to an Intermediate, bypassing the Early Intermediate level completely.

That brings us to the CSTs.  Cristina's third grade ELA score earned her a "Below Basic" rating.  Not surprising.  In fourth grade, she scored one point higher than the previous year, but due to increased cut-offs, she is now labeled "Far Below Basic."  Heart-breaking.

If Cristina is to be judged solely by these numbers, one might think a host of things.  Maybe she has a learning disability?  Maybe she doesn't try?  Maybe she doesn't have support at home?  Of course, all of these assumptions are false.  This kid works her tail off and gives her best every single day, and so does her mother.  How else could she have made such amazing growth?

Is it fair that I be judged by these numbers?  Of course not.  This is the problem with high stakes testing - it tells you NOTHING about what students know, or what teachers have done.  It tells you nothing about how far students have come.  These numbers tell you nothing about my instruction as a teacher.  These numbers tell nothing about all of the small group instruction and interventions this child received.  The numbers do not tell how hard this kid has worked, or how hard I have worked.  This child made AMAZING growth.  But you would never know that from the test scores.  Test scores do not tell you each child's story.

If standardized testing is going to be a part of what we look at when assessing student and teacher performance, fine.  (Well, not really.)  But it sure as hell shouldn't be the only thing.  And it definitely does not deserve much weight.  Authentic measures, such as IRIs, are what is needed.  Measures that show growth.  Measures that paint a more accurate picture.  Measures that actually work to inform instruction.  Measures that mean something.  It is time for this madness to stop.  The Cristinas in our classrooms deserve better.  And so do we.

Vigor vs. Rigor

Over the weekend I joined the "Badass Teachers Association" on Facebook.  This page was started Friday night.  It is now Thursday, and the group has over 7,700 members.  It is clear from what I have seen thus far that teachers are fed up and, at least this group is, ready to take back their profession.

Someone in the group posted about the frustration with buzzwords such as "rigor."  Later on in the thread, another member wrote about how she tells folks she prefers "vigor."  As I thought about that, a few posts down, someone posted a link to the definition of rigor.  So I clicked on it.  Here is how rigor is defined according to Merriam-Webster:

rig•or  noun  
1 a (1): harsh inflexibility in opinion, temper, or judgement: severity  (2): the quality of being unyielding or inflexible: strictness  (3): severity of life: austerity
   b: an act or instance of strictness, severity, or cruelty
2: a tremor caused by a chill
3: a condition that makes life difficult, challenging, or uncomfortable; especially : extremity of cold
4: strict precision : exactness
5 a obsolete: rigidity, stiffness
   b: rigidness or torpor of organs or tissue that prevents response to stimuli
   c: rigor mortis

Wow.  Really?  Goodness!  I don't know about you, but this sure as heck is NOT how I would like anyone to describe my classroom!  So of course, this led me to look up vigor:

vig•or  noun
1: active bodily or mental strength or force
2: active healthy well-balanced growth especially of plants
3: intensity of action or effect: force
4: effective legal status

Now that's more like it!  My next move was to Google rigor vs. vigor.  Apparently many others in education have thought of this one before. Blogger Joe Bower asks us to consider the synonyms for both words.  For rigor, we have inflexibility, stringency, cruelty, and pain.  For vigor, we have drive, strength, force, flourish, and vitality.  Clearly we want our classrooms to reflect a vigorous curriculum rather than a rigorous one.  Don't we?

Joanne Yatvin wrote on this subject, and it was published in Valerie Strauss' The Answer Sheet in The Washington Post.  Joanne Yatvin is one of my heroes.  She was a member of the National Reading Panel in 1998 - the only teacher.  Dissatisfied with the rushed process and narrow definitions of literacy, she wrote a minority report expressing her concerns.  (Her story is told in the book Silent No More: Voices of Courage in American Schools.)  I cannot help but wonder if her story mirrors the acceptance of the word "rigor" to describe a goal we would like to achieve for our students.  Did this start somewhere in a small room with a group of policy makers trying to decide on the next silver bullet in education?  Or maybe a typo was made somewhere along the line?  Maybe the original word was vigor, and the policy makers were too embarrassed to admit the error?

In reading further, I found an article from 2008 by Tony Wagner in ASCD's Educational Leadership.  "Rigor Redefined" summarizes Wagner's seven survival skills - what people require in the new world of work.  These skills are:

1. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
2. Collaboration and Leadership
3. Agility and Adaptability
4. Initiative and Entrepreneurialism
5. Effective Oral and Written Communication
6. Accessing and Analyzing Information
7. Curiosity and Imagination

Of course these are not the skills emphasized in schools today.  Test prep is where it's at.  And this is where the change needs to occur.  A rigorous education, according to Wager, encompasses the skills listed above.  But it seems somewhere along the way, "rigor" has come to simply mean harder and more difficult, in larger quantities.

Now, could this be because too many people associate academic rigor with the actual meaning of the word rigor?  I mean, that makes sense, doesn't it?  Why do education theorists and policy makers choose terminology that does not accurately describe what we want to achieve in education?  WHY?  I still think it was supposed to be vigor.  Someone somewhere should be fired for this one.  Because, unfortunately, something that started out as a good thing for students and teachers has been disfigured and warped and convoluted to the point where the term "rigor" only brings about eye-rolling and heavy sighs from educators.  And that is a shame.  The intent was good.

Which brings me back to the Badass Teachers Association.  As this group continues to grow by the second, so does its power.  Maybe we will be able to come together as a cohesive unit and exercise some of that power.  Maybe even change "rigor" to "vigor."  You know, so we say-what-we-mean and mean-what-we-say.  So we are at least in agreement with the dictionary for crying out loud!

Hey, They're Not MY Kids.......

As we start the Back to School frenzy, I am seeing more and more posts on Facebook and in blogs about the frustrations this time of year brings - from parents and teachers alike.  But two topics were especially, well, let's say..... agitating.

Let's start with school supplies.  Yes, I work in public education, which is free for your child.  But here's the thing - I don't know if you've heard, but there is a MAJOR budget crisis.  And by major, I mean your kids are losing days off of their education.  They are losing learning opportunities.  And yeah, guess what?  Your kid's school cannot afford all of the supplies like it used to.  And if you live in California there is more doom and gloom to come.  If the governor's bill doesn't pass, public education will be raped and pillaged like never before.  Knowing how ridiculous and short-sighted voters can be, I am getting ready for the worst.  So yeah, we teachers are asking for donations.  DONATIONS.  You are not required to send in anything.  So quit complaining already.  I am sick of it.  (PS - If it doesn't get donated, guess who buys it?  THE TEACHER!!!!!)

Moving on to teachers requesting volunteers.....  This one is odd for me.  I will be starting my 24th year at a Title I school this week.  I have rarely had volunteers to help me with anything.  It's not their fault - they are usually working at least one full time job if not more and do not have the time.  I totally get that.  When I do get volunteers, they usually start off strong, but have to quit for one reason or another.  So I have stopped asking.  But guess what?  That means I do not have time to do a lot of the wonderful engaging and enriching activities that should occur in school.  You know why?  Because I HAVE A FAMILY TOO.  I have a life.  I spent the first ten-plus years of my career not having a life - it was all about other people's kids.  And even now, I still spend WAY too much of my own time on other people's kids.  Now don't get me wrong.  I love my job, and I love teaching.  But most people have NO CLUE how much time and energy it takes to run a classroom effectively.  All of the planning and prep happens before and after school, when your children are gone.  We cannot plan or prepare while your kids are in class.  We are busy teaching them.  So again, if a teacher asks for your help, you are not required to do so.  But don't get pissed off when your child's education isn't all you hoped it would be.  Your child's teacher has her own family to take care of.  Her students are NOT her children.  They are yours.

The Bag of Good Intentions

I don't know about y'all, but I brought home a ton of work to do over the summer.  The bag of good intentions.  Although this summer, it's more like BAGS!  Ugh.  There it sits - I can see it all from here - piled up in the corner of the office.  Haunting me.

At the beginning of the summer I thought, "I am going to get everything done right away so I don't have it hanging over my head."  Ha!  I haven't touched it.

I wrote a while back about NOT bringing anything home, and the guilt I felt.  But this is worse - knowing you have all of this work to do and not wanting to touch it.  But if you don't, you will regret it.  It will slap you in the face come late August.  'Cuz one way or another it all needs to get done.

But I so value the time over the summer.  It is essential - teaching is such a high-stress job.  You must have the time to decompress or you will explode.  Implode?  I dunno.  Some type of explosion will occur.  As always, it's a question of balance.  Finding the right balance so you can manage your life and have time for everything.  Impossible.  At least it usually seems that way.

So, do you have a bag of good intentions sitting untouched in your house this summer?  And if you have touched it, I don't want to hear about it.  I feel bad enough as it is.  ;->

Testing..... Week Two......

Week two was pretty uneventful, other than the fact that my classroom was a disgusting cesspool of germs.  The seven dwarfs were alive and well in my classroom: Sneezy, Hacky, Coughy, Phlegmy, Snotty, Drippy, and Wheezy.  Good times.  I had a sore throat the whole damned weekend.  Those parents did their duty - send those kiddos to school come hell or high water!

Once again, I was discouraged by the tests - both the types of questions and the number of questions.  So many trick questions.  So much developmentally inappropriate content.  Such a colossal waste of time.  Do these tests tell me what my kids have learned?  HELL NO.  Poor kids.  Six days of this crap.  They were SO DONE.

Scores will come out in the summer, and when we return in the fall we will have the dreaded meeting where we go over how we did.  I have gotten used to the annual humiliation.  And I deal with it much better.  Last year I started keeping track of a variety of assessment results - both standardized and assessments that are actually meaningful.  My kids show growth on all of them, except for one.  District benchmarks and CSTs.  Well, they show improvement from Benchmark 1 to Benchmark 2.  This is supposed to be an indicator of how the kids will do on the CSTs.  It never is.  *sigh*  But I take heart in knowing that my kids have made growth.  I take heart in my kids who started the year at the pre-primer level and are now reading at the beginning second grade level.  What an accomplishment!  But those kids will still score Below Basic on the CSTs.  Yeah.  Those tests don't mean jack......

Testing..... Week One

This week marks the first week of state testing.  Ugh.  I hate it.  It represents everything that is wrong with education today.  High stakes, teaching to a test, meaningless results, narrowing of the curriculum, etc.....  But test I must, so every year for six days I torture eight-year-olds.  This is why I got into teaching.

Day 1 - Part 1 of the English Language Arts Test:  As I circulate the room, making sure students are on task, I hear a whisper from one of my kiddos, "Eenie meenie miney mo," as his pencil point goes back and forth between two answers.  Hey, at least he had narrowed it down to two!  I couldn't bear to look and see if one of the two was the right answer.  Sigh.

Day 2 -  Part 1 of the Math Test:  Dead silence as we begin the test.  One of my students announces, "I am sick!  I am feeling queasy, which means I just might PUKE!"  Fabulous.  As I shush him while the whole class looks on, he tells me he is fine - he can go on.  I tell him if he feels bad to let me know.  Then the heavy breathing starts.  Like an obscene phone caller, this kid starts breathing so heavy all of the kids around him are totally distracted and staring at him.  Are you kidding me???????  So I move him to another table with less kids and ask him to curb his breathing.  He then realizes he needs the bathroom immediately.  Upon his return, he announces. "Nope!  Nothing came out!"  Great. Thanks for sharing.  After a few more minutes, the child cannot go on anymore.  He tells me the only reason he came to school was to take the stupid test!  So I send him to the office with my student teacher.  On the way up to the office, he explains how he feels in more detail, "I feel like I am gonna burp, and then I have to poop!"  He wasn't at school today.

Day 3:  Part 2 of the English Language Arts Test.  I just about died when I saw today's part of the test.  An obscene amount of stories* with comprehension questions.  Several of these stories were very long, all with a small font.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME???????  Don't you think we can figure out if they can do this crap with maybe just two stories?  Why so many?????  Heavy sigh.  I have to say, the little chickens did great the first two days of testing.  I mean, I have no clue how they did, but they worked their butts off.  Today was different.  The amount of stories broke their collective can-do spirit.  I watched as many of them counted how many pages they had to do, with looks of anguish on their faces.  I had a few fast finishers.... not because they were finished, but because they were DONE.  And about one third of the class managed to skip the exact same story and corresponding questions.  Of course the proctor and I made sure they went back and completed every little morsel of torture.  Hey!  One question can mean the difference between Far Below Basic and Below Basic dammit!

And so week one is done.  The chickadees will have a few days of rest, then it's back to it next week.  Can't wait.

* You may be wondering, how many stories were there?  I wrote the exact number in my first draft.  Then I got paranoid thinking I might get in trouble for divulging the contents of the test and the testing Nazis might come and rip my fingernails out.

iPods - Amazing Power in a Small Package

So, a while back I wrote about the grant I received - about 30K devoted to professional development.  35% of the funds could be used for materials.  Our team used the 35% to purchase an iPod Touch cart with 20 iPods.  We have managed to wrangle up nine more through workshops that come with iPods.  So, we almost have a class set.  (I am working on another grant to hopefully to fix that problem.)

Our teacher team of three has been working to figure out the best ways to utilize these devices in meaningful, relevant, and innovative ways.  It's slow-going when you have a bazillion other things you have to do in teaching.  One of my personal faves combines Google docs and QR codes.  In my Google account, I create a quiz for the students using Google forms.  (And it only took me four months to realize that there is more than one page of templates for these quizzes..... but I digress.)  Once your quiz is done, you click on the link at the bottom of the page and you are taken to the actual site of the quiz.  Cut and paste that link into a QR code generator (I like QR Code Stuff: http://www.qrstuff.com/).  You can download the QR code image once it is generated; I print mine out and put it on the board.  Students use a QR code reader on their iPod Touch (many free apps for these) to read the code.  They are taken to the quiz site.  Once they take the quiz, they click 'Submit' and all of their answers go into your Google form.  You now have a database of all of the answers.  Soooooo much easier to grade, and the kids love it.

Now, I could have died happy right here.  But then I discovered Flubaroo.  Flubaroo is a script in Google docs.  Flubaroo grades the quizzes.  Did you hear me?  It grades the quizzes.  I am telling you, the heavens opened up and the angels were singing when I used this for the first time.  Amazing.

Moving on to another fave.......  A huge student need in our classrooms is reading fluency.  I have students who read with 100% accuracy, but are only reading 60wpm.  It is painful to listen to them read!  The iPods have been wonderful for this.  iTalk allows students to record themselves reading, then they can go back and listen to themselves.  This has been quite the eye-opener for students.  After doing this the first time, one of my kiddos said, "Wow.  I really sound terrible when I read!"  Ha!  He doesn't anymore.  :-)  Students can save these recordings and the recordings can then be saved onto a computer if you'd like.  Next year I think I will do this - give each student a piece of text, record it, save the recordings, then repeat this process with the same piece of text every trimester.  This can be a time-saver as well; if you do not have time to pull students one at a time and listen to the them, have them do it on the iPod!

There are so many amazing apps for the iPod Touch, it is hard to know where to start.  What is really nice is - so many are free!  So if you don't like it, you can dump it.  We have found many apps that are great for math fluency, and the students love them.  Next up for our team is digging into some of the digital storytelling apps.  While the three of us have learned how to use them - being proficient enough to teach the students is another matter.  But we are ready to give it a go!