Okay, I'm Gloating

Today was the first official day of retirement.  Sorry to rub it in, but, when I woke up and saw 7:50 on the clock, I smiled from ear to ear.  I knew the staff at Packemin was already at work, possibly lined up for small bagels and coffee   When I rolled out of bed, I had a leisurely cup of coffee, read the paper and spoke to a few friends, finalizing our plans for the day.

Instead of the coffee line, I opted for a great breakfast at SaraBeth's on 92nd and Madison. 

 My Green Scrambled Eggs and Cream Cheese

 Friend #1's Garden Omelet

Friend # 2 Granola and Yogurt 



Instead of a hard cafeteria bench, we had soft cushions to wait on and a bathroom with toilet paper that actually rolled.

After a sumptuous meal, we headed over to the Jewish Museum.  Instead of looking at data, we looked at this Matisse

and other modern masters from the Cone sisters.

If I had any doubts about retirement being the right thing to do, those doubts were squashed today.  I just got off the phone with one of my former colleagues who told me of the endless data discussions, of Mr. APs continued bashing, how only stats matter and how if the kids don't pass it is because the teacher did not teach transposing. Programs are being e-mailed tonight giving everyone lots  no time to prepare



Robert Hall

Robert Hall was a discount clothing store which flourished from 1938 - 1966. In fact, this store was a pioneer of the low overhead, large facility operation. Cheaply made goods, together with extensive advertising on television and radio led to the success of this operation. Their ads were catchy. Just thinking about how Bloomberg and Klein are touting increased graduation rates brought one of them to mind.

When the prices go down down down
And the values go up up up
Robert Hall this season
Will show you the reason
High quality! Economy

I just changed a few words and dedicate it to them:

When graduation rates go up up up
And learning goes down down down
Joel Klein will show you
The reason he gives you
Low quality! Economy

Yes, Klein and Bloomberg have economized on the education of the students of New York by:
1. Pushing credit recovery classes in place of real classes to make students repeat what they have not learned.
2. Boot camps and seat time to do the same as #1
3. Tests with passing grades so low no actual knowledge is required to pass them (actually, this comes from the state, not them--Merryl Tisch, you might want to look into this.)
4. Non-stop test prep so no real learning can take place.
5. Closing instead of fixing troubled schools causing other schools to be overcrowded.
6. Valuable resources and space given to charter schools.
7. The largest class size in the state
8. Continued harassment (rubber rooms and ATR treatments) of senior teachers.
9. Trailer classrooms in desperate need of repair.
10. Austerity budgets.
11. Aris
12. Tweed staff


Robert Hall closed its doors in 1966. Will Bloomberg and Klein be closing the doors on our children in the future? Will their education continue to be a huge warehouse of cheaply made goods and catchy phrases such as Keep It Going NYC Public Schools and this report from Gotham Schools?

Crisp Spring Day

Nothing better than a walk in the crisp spring air with my husband and some friends. Of course my camera is always in hand, snapping pictures and driving everyone around me crazy.

The path from Fort Totten to Northern Blvd and back is approximately 5 miles, much needed exercises after all the Passover goodies I have been eating

Consideration At Its Best

I opened the door to pick up the newspaper. I couldn't see where one step ended and the next began. I didn't think I would even find the paper but the Newsday delivery woman is smart. She put the paper in a brown bag. I made my way down the steps, wondering if the buses would be running. No NYC school closings had been announced as of 5:45 AM.

It is 6:10 AM. NYC just announced that schools will be closed. Nice of them to give us lots of notice.

My school has its first class at 7:15 and I was just about to walk out the door. I live close. Imagine the people that live far and already on their way.

Talk abut inconsiderate. Is it really so much worse now than it was three hours ago? Couldn't the announcement have been made then?

Fireworks

The union lackeys were back.

I tried to keep quiet. I really did, but those guys know how to push my buttons. Well, maybe they don't know they are doing it, but every time they open their mouths I lose control.

These guys come into our cafeteria and sit around with teachers, pretending to be our friends. They are always telling us how much the union is doing for us. Today was no different.

When union lackey number one mentioned ways the city could save money, aside from taking money away from the classroom, I asked him why the union wasn't doing similar things with our money. I wanted to know why the union was running commercials on prime time television showing an art teacher interacting with two students in a room with facilities no NYC public school student will ever experience. His reply? Hope you are sitting down! The union has to run these kind of ads to counteract vouchers and charter schools. The union has to make NYC schools look as good or better than any of these schools or we are in trouble. He told me I had no idea what was going on behind the scenes.

At that point, I lost it. I told him the campaign was the equivalent of the mayor's NYC Keep It Going campaign and I resented my $47 a paycheck being used to foster the cities falsehoods. I asked him why the money couldn't be spent on ads showing how hard teachers work, but in a realistic setting. I told him to focus on the teachers sitting in hallways because there is no classroom space available. I told him to focus on the teacher who gives his own time and stays after school to help students. I told him to focus on trailer rooms with leaky roofs and holes in walls and the teacher that goes on in there despite these conditions. He had no answer.

I then asked him why the ads were doing nothing to promote finding jobs for ATRs. His answer? Sit down if you got up after reading the last paragraph. The public knows that the ATRs are out of the classroom because no one wants them. Many have gone on over 30 interviews and have found no jobs so they must be awful. Union ads touting these people would not gain public sympathy. I suggested the union run ads dispelling these myths. Talk about the wonderful ATRs in my building, talk about the ATR whose story was in the Chief a few months ago, or better yet, let them be in the commercial. Why not say on television the real reason these people won't be hired. Tell the public the city does not want to pay their salaries. Again, there was no answer.

Union lackey brought up something about rubber room teachers. I told him that the union was the reason lawyers like Ed Wolf from Teachers In Trouble

I also asked the lackeys why Norm Scott was not allowed to speak or video tape at any of these meetings. This comment got me the look of death.

I soon realized that continuing this discussion was pointless and got up to leave. I was afraid that if I stayed any longer I would have to be forcefully removed from the premises. I saw myself seriously hurting these guys. As I left one of the quiet lackeys followed me out. He told me to become more active in the union if I feel so strong about these issues. Right now, I am working two jobs and don't have time. I told him not to worry. As soon as I retire, I am going to join Norm Scott and his group and I am going to fight for a just contract for all teachers. Once again union lackey was quieted.

UFT Dues

From every paycheck our union takes $47.27.

What are we getting for this?

The union is running ads on prime time television showing an art teacher in a well equipped room working with two students. Is this reality? I think not. How does this commercial improve my working conditions? Doesn't a lie like this feed into Bloomberg and Klein's Keep It Going NYC Public Schools campaign? Doesn't this support them instead of us?

The union is running worthless and insulting workshops for ATRs. These bright, intelligent and experienced people being told they cannot find a job because of what they are doing, not because of how the union sold them out. My dues is being used for this nonsense too.

I know we need a union but, we need a union that works for us, not against us. The UFT of today is not that union.

Thanks to Mrs. Tsouris, the inspiration for this post.

Different Day, Same Issues

Ednotes posed a question from a math teacher. Another teacher, Saddleshoe, Although I commented there, I had to vent here as well. If we don't do something soon there will be no hope for future generations.

(Pictures from an earlier post)

No matter what I do, half the kids in my geometry class are clueless. I'm not talking about the kids that do nothing, I'm talking about the kids that try.

I decided to take the suggestion of an administrator and talk to the kids about their problems. One of the kids I work with a lot just showed me his PSAT scores. He only scored 34% in the critical reading category. If the child can't read and pick out details, he can't put clues together to solve a geometry proof. Figuring out whether he has consecutive angles or opposite angles in a parallelogram is beyond his scope of understanding. They know that the distance formula is used to show line segments are congruent, they repeat this over and over. They know that a triangle is isosceles if two sides are equal. On exams, they use the slope formula to do proofs involving these concepts. Another kid showed me his math score which was 29%. How can this kid be expected to learn geometry either?

The administrator suggested I talk to other teachers and see if they are having the same problems. I asked Mr. P how his class was doing. He said "Fine". I asked, "Approximately what percent of your class is passing?" He answered, "I have no idea. I don't look at those things." I did hear him and another teacher agonizing as they marked the first part of the midterms about the same mistakes my students make.

One boy told me it would have been better if he had paid attention in the beginning of the term. While that would have made a tremendous difference, it still would not have compensated for his inability to solve word problems. I am at a loss as to how to reteach him all the things he might have learned if he had paid attention.

The DOE is running a big campaign, Keep It Moving NYC Schools, touting the success of our schools under the reign of Klein and Bloomberg. Why aren't there any real reporters out there showing what is really going on in math education today?

Keep It Going NYC Public Schools

David Bellel added a special touch to the Keep It Going NYC Public Schools campaign.


With his permission, I post them here.
(click on each for a better image)