Limbo Rock

Anyone who has ever taught knows that teaching is not a job everyone can do.  My former school had several teaching fellows who knew their subject material inside out but could not handle a classroom.  My cousin, a PhD in physics and the smartest person I know died in a high school classroom.

Unfortunately this practice of hiring teachers who know nothing about education is exactly the method being used to hire school administrators right here in NYC, okay, not in all schools.  Newbies with a minimum amount of time in the classroom are suddenly in charge to say nothing of the Principal Academy which took no educators and made them the supreme leader of many institutions.

No one would ever go to a doctor who just had a degree in anatomy or use an architect with experience with Legos yet these same people have no problem using teachers with zero education experience or credits.

Limbo lower now--how low can you go?

The Principal and The Prom

Jean was looking forward to the prom.  Her mom was too and that is why they both went ballistic when she was told she could not attend.  Jean had failed economics and the school had a policy stating no senior who failed could attend.

Jean's mom immediately made an appointment with the Principal.  He explained the rules that mom wanted no part of.  She said prom was much more important that graduation.  Besides, Jean had gotten a 60 in the class which meant she will pass in June and graduate anyway.

The Principal stood firm.  Jean's mom went over his head and complained to the school board.  She found a loop hole.  No where in the rules and regulations of the school was there a policy about having to pass to attend the prom.  The school board stood with Jean and she was allowed to attend.  The night before the prom guidance counselors called every barred senior and offered them free admission to the prom.

I worry about the message this sent to Jean.  She failed to do the things she could have done (extra credit to pass) and still got to go.  I worry about the 60 grade which is meant as a warning, but a weak one.  Anyone who goes to that high school knows everyone will pass in the end.  Graduation rates are far more important than real education.

A part of me is happy Jean won.  The 60 grade is ridiculous.  If I gave a grade of 60 and then failed someone at the end, I had to justify the mark to my AP and stand up to endlessly being berated for not knowing my students.  If I failed too many, it was my fault again, so I (and everyone else) stretched grades to pass everyone.  The Principal and the school ended up looking foolish.  Maybe this will end  some of these stupid policies.

Just Pass Me So I Can Get On With My Life

Mitchell has been failing the class all semester.  He did a some homework, paid little attention and was quite nasty at times.  He doesn't want to be in school and plans on leaving to join the armed forces.  But, he wants to leave with a passing grade so when he returns to college he will never need a math class again. 

Out of the goodness of my heart, I told him if he manages to get a C+ on the final, I will pass him.  He doesn't think this is possible (neither do I, but I didn't tell him) and sent an e-mail asking what else he can do to pass.  I am ignoring this request. Hopefully he will get the message.

He probably graduated high school because teachers granted him extra favors.  What a generation we have created!  By the time anyone wakes up and sees what has been done, it will be to late to save the thousands, just  like Mitchell.

When Graduation Meant Something Great Things Happened

From an article about Bill Cosby in Today's Newsday:

5. He's sometimes credited as Dr. William H. Cosby Jr., Ed.D., referring to the doctorate in education he received in 1976 from the University of Massachusetts. But his father's brother, classical-music teacher Samuel Russell Cosby, preceded him in doctoral distinction. "He has his doctorate from Columbia University," Cosby told Newsday in 1995.

10. He flunked 10th grade twice at an advanced school, and returned to a regular school where he flunked again and then dropped out. He completed work for his diploma while serving in the U.S. Navy.

And, for all you people out there that think failure is not an option, think again. Imagine what would happened if Cosby had just been pushed along? He would have gotten that meaningless high school diploma and gone on to do nothing with his life. Instead, he joined the navy, finished the credits needed to graduate high school, then went on to college, received a doctorate and became the great man he is today. He probably is very grateful that credit recovery, boot camp and seat time were not options for graduation in his day.

Teachers, just because the child is not performing now doesn't mean he will never perform. There is always hope.

Yep, Everyone Should Be Going To College

Did you know that 7/8 - 5/6 = 2/2 = 0? I found this answer on more than one test paper from my college class.

I'm not saying these people shouldn't go to college. They might be late bloomers, but come on, an answer like this in a college class? Can these people possibly learn all the math they should have learned between third and ninth grade in one semester, 4 short months? I highly doubt it is possible. Some might make it, if they have a background and good study skills but those without the background will not have a chance.

My heart breaks to see some of them suffer so much. A young man with a 54 wants to me a computer engineer. A woman with a 37 plans on becoming a registered nurse.

For some, it might be a lack of effort, but not for all. While you might not need to know how to add signed numbers to become a nurse, the ability to learn to add them has a lot to do with the ability to learn things necessary for that life saving profession.

I wish I had an answer, but I don't. I see people pouring their money down the toilet trying to learn subjects that cannot learn. I see them wasting their lives pursuing the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I will not be the one to discourage them with words. Their grades do enough damage.

If it were up to me, I would make sure everyone was proficient in the three r's before they even attempted college, but, that is me. Obama thinks everyone should go to college. Too bad he has no idea as to how little it takes to get a high school diploma.

Data Analysis

I spent a period with the Inquiry Team leader looking at the report card grades of my ninth graders. The only conclusion we arrived at so far is that the majority of my class is in the bottom third of the school and that most of these kids are taking general science instead of living environment. We discussed why some of these kids are able to pass English but not other major subjects and the answer we arrived at (unscientifically) was not pretty so I won't go into it here.

The main thing I noticed was that some of the kids I thought should have been in the bottom third weren't included in that category and kids I thought were way above it were included. The team leader thought this might be because some of the lower level kids work very hard, which is something I agree with. On the other side, I believe that some of the kids included just don't care enough to work hard at all. They have the brains and don't use them. I think this idea was something he hadn't thought about before.

The bottom line in all of this is that data alone is not an answer.

We had our monthly departmental meeting today and once again the bashing and blaming continued. If our passing percentages aren't at least up to the department's average, we are to blame, especially if we are a twenty year veteran teacher. (The young ones are allowed to have lower stats.) Out of the forty minutes, 30 minutes were spent on the incompetence of some members of our department. (Since there are only a handful of us veterans left, we all know which teachers were being referred to.) Education doesn't matter, statistics are all that counts. He as much as said that, if all we do is teach to the regents, that is okay with him, as long as our results are good. Once again I am falling into the failing category by at least 7%. He said he didn't want to see our names come across the Principal's desk and that he is concerned for us.

Once again, I am ready and willing to have my name lead the list. I know I am doing my best to educate my students. My standards are low enough without making them even lower to meet his numbers. I know many of my colleagues will just start passing even more kids because that was the message we were given. I just walked out on my ninth period class. Pictured above is a worksheet belonging to one of the boys in the class. The photo was taken 30 minutes into the period. I can't get him (and at least 6 others) to do a thing. Passing these kids along would be an outrageous lie that I am not willing to tell.

The Young Have All The Answers

Joe reads and does math at barely a fourth grade level. Today, I looked at his program, particularly at the teachers he has this term. I noticed that the two teachers who did not pass him were senior teachers while the other teachers, the teeny bopper ones, all gave him passing grades.

Are the senior teachers too hard? Are kids being passed through because they are quiet and well behaved? Do the teeny boppers have standards too low? Is it really possible that a newbie, right out of college, knows how to work with an auditory learner in a class of 34 problem students? If the later is true, it is time for me and those of my generation to step down. If education is really being dumbed down so that a fourth grader has enough knowledge to graduate high school, education really needs reform because its not No Child Left Behind, its Every Child Left Behind.

Push Button Generation

On Monday, the Casio man came to town. He spent a period enthralling us with the wonders of the Casio 9570GA Plus calculator. These things are amazing. They do everything except wipe your rear end. Passing math should be a snap. All you have to do is push a few buttons and abracadabra, the answer appears on the screen.

Well, it is not as easy as all that. We were shown how to solve an equation and all six math teachers in the room ended up with six different answers, none of which were correct.

Now, I am proud to say that I am not against the use of a calculator in the math class. By eliminating some of the tedium of arithmetic, more complex, thinking problems can be tackled. There are problems that cannot be solved by hand and the calculator is a necessary tool. (We came across many such problems in calculus.) The calculator should be used to enhance learning, not replace it.

I have a feeling that this calculator will not be difficult to use once I am used to it. I remember my frustrations when I began on the TI-83 but once I learned to use the menu, I became a pro. I am certain I can do the same on this. What I am not so certain of is that my students will be able to become a pro. There are just too many buttons to press and too many steps to go through before the answer can be found. I know that the kids will eventually get this, but by then we have wasted valuable class time teaching them button pushing skills and their math skills will still be lacking.

I might be old fashioned but I have a problem having kids using a matrix on the calculator to solve systems of equations when they have no idea as to what a matrix is or does. They are pushing buttons with no understanding. I taught the same thing in a college class but it was only after we had done several by hand and understood how they worked and what they could be used for did we use the calculator and the computer. And, finding zeros using Newton's method is absurd. The kids should at least have a little understanding of what is going on before they hit the buttons. True, my calculus classes are better students, but I never go over the root button without first explaining iterations to them.

Many of students are graduating high school and attending the local community college. They place out of remedial math by scoring a 75 or better on the Math A or Integrated Math regents. Lots of them can do this. I'm guilty of teaching a whole class of students how to pass the exam without really knowing anything. I'm guilty of sending these button pushers on to failure in college. I'm guilty of doing what my supervisors wanted me to do without thinking about what was best for my students. (I really tried to teach them the math. Some actually learned a good part of it. They all passed the regents and most got over a 75. Most of them did not learn any more than how to pass an exam.)

My department is complaining about the Casio, complaining because they have to learn to use a new calculator. It's sad. They waste so much energy on nonsense. Instead they should be arguing about how the calculator should be used and what the kids should be taught to do on it.

One more comment on this topic, but you will have to read it here.

The Push Button Generation

Mallard Fillmore 5/19/09

To be continued...

The Messages They Are Getting

These cartoons are so real, they hurt.
Non Sequitur 5/15/09

Only The Answer Matters

Look what we have taught them--answers are all that count.

Non Sequitur 5/14/09

The Comics Are Relevant This Week--Goal Setting

Non Sequitur 5/13/09

Accountability Continued

Non Sequitur 5/12/09

Something is Missing

What the F*** is wrong with the people in my night class?

Wednesday night was a major exam. Monday, I handed out a sheet with almost identical problems. I stopped the class 45 minutes early to give them time to work on the problems and get extra help. All, except for two left.

One girl showed up tonight after missing the last three classes and leaving early on the one she attended. She spent the first 45 minutes trying to teach herself the material and then requested extra credit or a chance to take the exam tomorrow. She couldn't understand why I said no.

Another girl left her calculator home.

One boy tried to go to the lab an hour before the exam but found it crowded with no one available to help him.

Another guy told me he is too tired to study.

Only two came in with the review sheet completed.

The list goes on and on.

These people have no business in school. Not everyone is meant for college. Now, I'm not saying they aren't bright enough because they very well might be intelligent. They lack a work commitments and study skills.

Open enrollment (started int he 70's) was one of the worst things that ever happened to education. Now, NCLB is compounding the problem. A nation of incompetents is being created.