School Spirit

Friday is school spirit day! By unanimous decision, all teachers are supposed to wear their school shirt on Fridays to show school spirit. Funny, I don't remember being part of this vote. My school spirit takes the form of showing up to work every day and doing the best I can for the students. I refuse to be a party to this "camp activity". Principal Suit can now have one more thing to not like me for!

US Math Scores Lagging

What a surprise, US math scores are lagging again. According to an article in today's NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/14/education/14math.html?em&ex=1163653200&en=ec4f0429e022f0b9&ei=5087). It seems the NCTM has decided that fuzzy math is just not doing it anymore. It is not enough to have kids draw pictures and explore their feelings. They need drill and rote practice. It is interesting that this article came out a few days after Principal Suit made us sit in the auditorium reading an article on alternative methods to teaching. One of the things this article said is if kids don't get geometry, walk them around the building so they can find rectangles. I hope now that Principal Suit and the Board of Regents has seen this article we can get back to the basics of teaching math.

STUPID

I have a girl in might night class at the commununity college that is very learning disabled. SHE IS NOT STUPID!!!! This girl, is in class every time it meets. She does all her homework, underlines pertinent material and is running an A in the class. I feel good watching her succeed and knowing that the A she is running is doing more for her self esteem than it is for her GPA.

This girl knows she has reached her academic ceiling and although she would like to get an Associates Degree, she realizes she cannot do it. The work is too hard. SHE IS NOT STUPID. It takes a bright person to see their limitations and work within them. Along with my class, she was taking a history class and a Spanish class. Unfortunately, she was not doing well in either and was forced to drop them. But, SHE IS NOT STUPID!!!! She paid for the courses, bought the books and continues to attend class. She does all the work and sits for the exams. She is determined to learn as much as possible.

Now, we just need to make the Board of Regents as smart as this girl. Make them see academic ceilings. Force them to help our students succeed on a level that is good for them.

Professionalism???

Definition of profession:
An occupation that requires training and specialized study

Definiton of professional:
1 a : of, relating to, or characteristic of a profession b : engaged in one of the learned professions c (1) : characterized by or conforming to the technical or ethical standards of a profession (2) : exhibiting a courteous, conscientious, and generally businesslike manner in the workplace

I got to thinking about my C-6 "Professional" period and decided to look up the word. I then began to think about what I am required to do during my "professional" period and I realized that calling what I and my colleagues do during a professional period is an oxymoron.

To begin with, some of my colleagues have hall patrol. Now I don't know what colleges they went to, but I am sure that none of them took a course dealing with this while they were in college. On the same note, a few sit by the front door and issue late passes to students. Highly unprofessional activities.

Now, my professional period is slightly more professional. I tutor in the library. I really don't mind tutoring. It's something that I have been doing since I started teaching 30 years ago. (a professional activity). What is unprofessional is the notion that I must be assigned to do it. It doesn't matter if my students are free periods 6 or 7--I must be there period 5. Another unprofessional aspect of tutoring is the poor spot we are forced to tutor in. I would be better off tutoring on the subway (not rush hour, of course) than in our library. The library is noisy, overcrowded and kids use it as a hangout. The librarian is glued to her chair in the front of the room and never looks up from the magazine she is reading. Still more unprofessional is that I need to be told what to do with my professional time. I have no time during the day to call a parent, confer with a student or to talk to colleagues about common preps. Professional activities that need to get done.

The next contract should change the term "professional period" to "let's degrade our teachers some more period". That way, at least we would know what we are in for when the contract passes.

Gun Control

Six Hours and Forty Minutes

Friends who aren't teachers are always telling me what a great job I have. I only work 6 hours and 40 minutes a day. I'd like to know how many of these friends got up at 8:00 AM Sunday morning to grade papers, enter the grades in the computer, and then sit for the rest of the day, until 9:00 in the evening, making up exams and writing lessons. Maybe I am only required to be in a school 6 hours and 40 minutes, but I am working the equivalent of 7 days a week.

Top and Bottom

Everyone should teach the top students and the bottom students, if not every term, at least every few years. When we don't do this we get jaded and forget what the other half is like. I know this because I taught special education for a few years and then followed this with quite a few years of only teaching bottom level courses. The math supervisor at that time didn't like me and this was my "punishment". I fooled him, though. I like the bottom kids. Those are the ones that make me feel like I accomplished something when they succeed. There is nothing like that feeling I get when a kid who has almost given up on ever being able to master a concept gets it, and then graduates high school. Anyways, let me get back to the point of this post. I am now deemed a good teacher by the administration and have been teaching advanced placement calculus for over 10 years. The kids in these classes are wonderful. They are bright, and motivated. They do homework, ask questions and argue over every point on an exam. I love teaching them as much as I love teaching the kids that struggle. I find that teachers that only teach these top kids forget that the ones on the bottom exist. They express an intolerance toward people that cannot perform what we deem to be ordinary activities (like making change when the computer register is not working.) The ones who teach only the kids at the bottom start to think everyone is like that and start to lose faith in the future of our country. When they see a kid that actually can do any work, they think he is a genius, when he is probably just an average student. The best way to appreciate and help students is to actually teach all of them--the good students and the bad ones.

New Business

In scholarly pursuit of bad breathSparrow and cricket, but not Cricket and Sparrow »Math scores are improving
An eminent mathematics professor writes:
I have just discovered a market that exists for a new business. A student had his “private tutor” regrade the final exam and is “demanding” the new grade.
If I start a business to meet this need, here’s how its first advertisement will read:
“Not doing well in math? Our staff has year of teaching experience. Just bring in your final and old exams and we will re-grade them for you and find you all the points you need to raise your grade. We have yet to see the F that couldn’t be changed to a C.”
Posted Friday, November 10th, 2006 at 12:01 am under Letters from readers, Arts and science.

Thanks to MW for sending me this article

The Past

I think I just figured out the problem with education today. Years and years ago, when I was a new teacher, the government realized that many kids were severely lacking in math and reading skills. Because of this, a Title I program was created. I don't really know what was done for the reading part, but I do know about the math. I would have been out of a job, except for this program. My classes consisted of 12 students. I worked with a paraprofessional. Each child had a folder in the classroom and the work they did in that class was geared toward that individual child's needs. Along with the Title I class, the students took a regular math class, usually a fundamentals class. We not only worked on the basic skills, but we worked on anything else the kids needed help with. Years ago, I had my own room. I had many different kinds of activities for them to work on. Imagine, I actually got to help my students and saw many of them succeed. I remember one girl, a high school senior, who had somehow fallen through the cracks in the system and could not count past 100. The thought of this kid in Math A today is frightening.

I am not naive enough to think that the Title I remedial program was the answer to all the problems that plague education today, but it was a start. At least kids were not cutting or acting out becauae the work was too hard. Some of the kids I teach today are no brighter than the kids I taught then. We are still graduating kids that do not have basic academic skills. It doesn't matter how many regents their record shows they have passed. I wish these kids could get the same kind of help that was given out 30 years ago.

I'm Complaining Again....

I feel like a broken record. I spoke to the parent of a child in my M&C class today. The girl comes to tutoring at least 3 days a week. She does her homework and her classwork and is still failing, and failing miserably. My heart is breaking for this kid. The mother wants her to go for more tutoring. I honestly don't think more tutoring will help, although I did tell her where she could get help and even recommended a calculus kid that would be willing to help her. The poor kid is overwhelmed. She can't take anymore tutoring and I don't blame her. She already gives up her lunch to get extra help. She is on the track team and goes to practice almost every afternoon. Years ago, I used to think that kids should give up things like track to concentrate on academics. I don't think that anymore. These kids need something to do that they can excel in. Anyways, this kid started to cry when I told her about the extra tutoring. She said "I just can't do anymore." I believe her. I feel helpless. I don't know what to do for her. I want to tell her parents to have her tested, that she might have some learning disabilities, but I don't want to incur the parent's wrath, for saying this. I sent a note to guidance. I hope the counselor follows up on it. When are the powers that be recognize that not everyone can learn everything? I hate being the deliver of this kind of abuse on innocent children every day.

Principal Suit Does It Again

We lost instructional time yesterday due to the rain. The sidewalks in front of the trailer were flooded so all trailer classes sat in the auditorium. Today, Principal Suit had a fire drill period 9. Now we've lost two days in a row. Too bad this guy never uses his head. I know that legally the school must have a certain number of fire drills a term, but why during a period where kids already lost class time. He definitely could have made the drill either earlier or later in the day.

Rainy Days

And Noah said to Principal Suit "Do as I did and build an ark and on this ark put your trailer teachers and their students for it shall rain so hard that the walkways will be flooded." But did Principal Suit listen???? No, Principal Suit was too busy having teachers read articles on more effective ways of teaching. He wanted math teachers to take their classes on little trips around the building, to show them rectangles, squares, perpendicular and parallel lines. He was sure this would be the cure for all the math problems in the school. Today, the rains came. Noah was correct, the roads to the trailer flooded. The teachers and the students were forced to sit in the auditorium. The noise level and confusion from the disruption of the normal day prevented the teacher from pointing out the geometric shapes surrounding them. The students, happy to be free of the classroom only wanted to sit and chat with their friends. The day was lost.

Moral of the story: Principal Suit must learn to concentrate on issues important to education.

The Purpose of AP's

"The AP is the toilet seat between the teachers and the principal."

Retired AP Science

Election Day Staff Development

7:45 - 8:30 We had breakfast consisting of "Lender-style" bagels, cream cheese, or butter and coffee.

8:45 - 10:30 We sat with out departments and learned how to write a lesson. It's amazing, I've been teaching over 30 years and now I know that I have been asking anticipatory questions and my lessons have congruency. I couldn't respond to my AP's question when he asked us to define congruency because I've never heard the term used in regards to lesson planning. I'm just too old, I guess.

10:45 - 11:45 We sat in the auditorium and listened to Principal Suit praising himself about how great our school did in the ratings. He is sharing his $20,000 bonus with us by giving us all tee shirts. And we only had to wait on a 20 minute line to pick them up. I hope he hasn't noticed that mine is still in the box it came in.

11:45 -12:00 We had a union meeting. Instead of discussing issues pertinent to us in school, our chapter chairman told us who to vote for. He also told us what a great contract we are getting (he is Unity all the way) and we couldn't possibly hope for anything better. I'm sure he wasn't happy when someone grabbed the mike and told everyone exactly how little this new contract was going to give us.

12:00 - 1:00 The best part of the day -- LUNCH with two of my good friends. We tried to go to a bagel store away from school, to be alone. Unfortunately, lots of others had the same idea. Oh well, at least we got there first and had a good table.

1:00 - 1:45 Anger Management Session. This consisted of the AP in charge of security standing in front of the room telling us what a great job he is doing. No one is controlling my anger and boy am I angry by now!

2:00 - 2:30 Back to our departments. Once again being treated by our AP as if we do not know how to teach.

Newbies and Staff Development

The teachers with thirty minutes experience are gearing up for their big day of staff development. I was told I was mean for calling them that. I can't help it. It's true. Imagine someone knowing something for thirty minutes trying to train someone who has been doing the stuff for thirty years. Of course these young ones claim they would rather listen to the more experienced teacher, and I am sure many of them would. But,we aren't the ones taking all those administrative courses. We aren't the ones trying to get in good with the administration. We are just the ones teaching our classes on a daily basis, watching the slow decline of the educational system in NY.

I used to be asked to do things for staff development. The problem the administration had with me was that I wanted to be paid for my time preparing for the staff development. I really didn't think this was too much to ask. At one time, they paid some outside consultant a fortune to come in and teach us about discipline. (This consultant had not been in a classroom for over ten years.) My requests were always met with "Sorry, we have no funds available." So I answered, "Sorry, I think I will pass." I feel bad about not passing along some of my knowledge to the newbies but not bad enough to do anything about it. I guess I will just bring a bunch of papers to mark, a magazine to read and hope the day passes quickly.

Wasted Time

I just spent thirty minutes straightening out my papers and bookbag. THAT'S THIRTY MINUTES of time I could have used for something else if only I had a place to work during the day. I am so tired of having to leave a room the second a bell rings that everything I am carrying gets thrown in any bag I have so it won't get lost. I'm tired of carrying everything I own with me all day. I have a coat (now that the weather is getting bad), an umbrella (on rainy days), three bags and often miscellaneous books in my hands. Principal Suit passes me in the hall and wants to know why I am carrying so much? He probably thinks I am ready to sneak out for the day (if only I could!). I've already explained (as I have many times in the past) that it is cold and wet going to the trailer and that there is no where to leave things. If I leave something in the trailer inevitably I will need it in the building, and vice versa. It's been said before. The teaching day is not the 6 hours and 40 minutes that we are required to be in the building. It includes all the work we do at home also. I'm just so tired of the stupid work. The wasted time I just spent organizing my stuff (because there is no place to do this in school). Now I can spend a few hours doing some real work.

MEN

We have an insta-hot on our kitchen sink. It's a wonderful little device that is hooked up to the faucet and provides boiling water in an instant. I love it. Anyways, I went to make a cup of tea this afternoon and found it dispensing cold water only. Upon checking, I found the circuit needed to be reset. No big deal. When I mentioned this to my husband, he said "Oh yeah, I thought it might not be working. The water came out cold when I used it last night." Now, why didn't he check????? MEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Labels

I know this is politically incorrect to say, but there are kids out there that are just plain stupid as far as some schoolwork goes. They work hard. They go for tutoring. They just don't get it. I have many kids like this in my M&C class. These are the kids that are breaking my heart. No matter how much they do, their test grades are still in the 20 - 30 range. One of my little girls gives up her lunch daily to go over work with me in the library. She can somehow manage to factor and divide complicated fractions, but she forgets how to factor when the factoring is alone. She can't remember the simplest facts, even if we have gone over them five minutes before the exam. I wouldn't label this child as one who needs special education because I really don't think test modifications would do the trick for her. It doesn't matter how slow we go, or how long I give her to finish a test. She is clueless. That doesn't mean that she can't receive an education, or go on to a career where she will make a ton of money. She just can't do math (and I've heard she has severe problems in English also.) One of my students is a resource room kid. He gets extended time on exams. I found a calculus student willing to work with him, almost on a daily basis. He's still failing. He too could use an alternate course of study.

I would label a learning disabled child as a child who has the capacity to learn, one who might need some modifications, but one that is intelligent enough to master the material. I don't think that is what is being done now. Kids that don't achieve are being tested and labeled. They are put in special education classes. The big drawback is that these kids are expected to master the same material as anyone else. The only difference is that the classes they are in are smaller. The work can't go any slower because they are expected to pass the same regent exams in the same amount of semesters as anyone else. Instead of using the label learning disabled, we need to figure out a way of helping these kids. Helping them is not forcing them to take courses that they cannot master.

I Love The Internet

I LOVE THE INTERNET!!!!!!! I won two front row tickets to see Elton John on Thursday night--grand prize from an online contest sponsored by Newsday. Now, how to relate this to teaching????? I am teaching combinations and permutations in my college class. The students are having a hard time knowing when to use each. This prize has done it. There was only one grand prize winner, so order mattered in picking the thirty one winners from all the entries. There were thirty other winners who just won regular seats. The order they won in didn't matter at all. They just have to be happy they are getting to see the show. Me, I am getting dinner in addition to the show!!!! I usually hate going anywhere on a work night. Getting up at 5:30 every day takes a toll on me. But, I guess this time I will have to make the ultimate sacrifice.

The Power of the USPS

I accidentally found a great way to get my M&C kids to start studying and caring about grades. I mail home every test paper that is under 55. I started doing this before parent teacher conferences and the results were great. I couldn't believe how many parents walked into the room holding the test with the note expressing my concern for their child and my desire to meet with them. I just gave another test on Tuesday and the results were vastly improved. Even kids who passed the first made sure they studied extra hard. They told me they did not want a test paper mailed home!

Upcoming Staff Development Day

All the teachers with 30 minutes of experience are gearing up for the upcoming election day staff development. I can't wait to see what these young ones have come up with us to do. I wonder when they will let us know what our hours are for that day. It's less than a week away and we still have no clue.

Guess Who's Not Coming to Lunch?

Principal Suit is hosting a big buffet luncheon for the raters tomorrow. He's invited some teachers to join him for this wonderful meal. Of course, he didn't invite anyone who actually has something to say--only the ones who agree with him. I'm sure that was a good move, most of us would worry about ecoli poisoning from sharing his food. He did stop one teacher I know in the hallway and ask her if she was coming. She knew nothing about the meal as she had not been invited. He then quickly rescinded the invitation saying "Let me think about it. I'm not sure if I should invite you or not." This was even a new low for him.

You Have Nothing to Fear

I don't understand what teachers are so afraid of. Big deal, the raters are coming. How does this really impact on me, a lowly classroom teacher? If by some miracle they see something they really like, my chairman and principal will get the credit and possibly a performance bonus. I might get a thumbs up in the weekly newsletter, although my principal does seem to forget to recognize anything I do correctly. Now let's suppose that they hate what they see in my classroom. My principal and chairman are also responsible. So they may get written up, and may lose their bonuses, but hey, that's not my problem. I vow that every day I come to work to do the best job I can for my students. I don't think the clothes I wear or the decorations I put on the walls affects their ability to learn.

Today, as I walked down the hall I heard tenured, experienced teachers worried about what the raters will find. Teachers are worried about putting on a show for them, trying to impress them. Teachers are afraid that classes will not be well behaved and they might look bad. Teachers are trembling with fear.

I say this kind of fear has to end. WE ARE GOOD TEACHERS. WE ARE DOING OUR BEST WITH WHAT WE ARE GIVEN. I didn't give birth to boy who cannot sit still. I've done all I can to keep him in his seat, but nothing works. I didn't buy the girl the cell phone that she insists on taking out all period, no matter how many times I ask her to put it away. We have got to stop being afraid and learn to stand up for ourselves. THERE IS NOTHING THEY CAN DO TO US!!! I've already taught the worst classes in the building. I've had late session and early session. I've taught 3 preps. I've taught in trailers and half rooms. I've been threatened with file letters (athough none have ever been written). It is this kind of fear that allows people like Klein an Bloomberg to walk all over us. It is this kind of fear that gets our unions to accept such awful contracts. WE MUST STOP BEING AFRAID. THERE IS NOTHING OUT THERE TO FEAR!

Rating the Raters

Questions for the Raters:

1. How many years have you taught High School Mathematics?
2. What subjects in mathematics did you teach?
3. What school did you teach in? Where exactly is that school?
4. What was the perfomance level of your students?
5. How was the performance level of your classes determined?
6. How large were your classes?
7. Did your school provide extra help and provide a suitable spot for students to receive this help?
8. Were copy machines and decent text books always available?
9. Did you like being in the classroom?


Some more important questions:
10. How will these findings help my period 1 students get to school on time?
11. How will you get level 1 and level 2 students to read and do math?
12. How will all this money being spent on ratings make the school system and the education of our children any better?


After all, I think we should know something about the people that are going to rate us. In fact, maybe they should be rated!

Dress For Success

Next Wednesday is Dress for Success Day. This is the shirt I will be wearing.

More Suit Wisdom's

All teachers are expected to teach from bell to bell. The bells are not working so synchronize your watch with the school clock.

Make sure you go into the halls a few minutes early. We want to keep kids moving, halls clear.

Before you begin teaching, make sure you pass around a garbage can and get the kids to pick up all paper on the floor.

Again, teach from bell to bell.

If the kids in your period one class are getting to school late, figure out a way to fix the problem.

Principal Suit Contributes

"My major contribution to this school has been placement of large garbage cans in the halls."

Principal Suit
Faculty Conference
October 27, 2006

Some Parents Need Help

I have a severely learning disabled boy in one of my Math C classes. He gets extended time on exams and is allowed to finish his exams in resource room. Even with this extra aid, his highest grade has been a 20. His resource room teacher wants to help him, but he will not allow her too. I arranged for one of my advanced placement calculus kids to sit with him, tutor him and even look over his shoulder while he takes an exam. So far, there has been no improvement, although the boy that tutors him thinks he might be able to get the stuff in the end. I would also like to add that my class has 34 kids in it, some of them, slightly on the difficult side. Anyways, I'm not complaining about the kid. He is a good kid, tries, and I am hopeful that by the time the regents comes around he will able to learn enough to get a 55. The problem is his parents, or more precisely, his father. They came to see me this evening. They were obviously upset about his lack of progress in math. I explained the help he has been given and then told them I was at a loss as to how to help him. At this point, the father said "That is not the answer I want to hear" and got up to leave. I told him to go see my chairman, maybe he could offer advice. The father just kept walking never looking back. I like this kid. I would really like to see him succeed. I've gotten kids like him to succeed in the past. I've never had a parent treat me like this. I'm a big girl, though. I don't like being treated like this, but I can take it. I just hope he is not being verbally abusive to his son at the moment because of the boys deficits in mathematics.

Note from AP to Department

"Every teacher is expected to conduct bell-to-bell lessons, even though the bell is not working."

Death of a Program

Last semester I had some Math A students that were really struggling. They needed help, more help than I could possibly give them. I came up with an incredible idea. I paired one of my advanced placement calculus students with one math A students. The AP student became the private tutor of the math A student. The kids worked together all year, exchanging e-mail addresses and phone numbers and even ended up getting together to work on weekends. This went far beyond my expectations. It was a great program. The weak kids all ended up not only passing, but mastering the subject. The AP kids learned that everyone is not as smart as they are and felt rewarded every time one of their kids passed an exam. As far as I could see, it was a win-win situation for all. This semester I wanted to expand the program to include students that are not in my class, open up the tutoring to anyone who wanted to partake. Alas, the administration feels it is more important for me to sit in the overcrowded, noisy library every day and tutor one or two kids (if that many). This way, they can say that there is a teacher available every period in the library. I had to stop my peer tutoring program because of time limitations. I felt an obligation to my tutors. I wrote them glowing letters of recommendation for colleges and scholarships. I stayed late and gave up lunch time when they needed help, paying them back for the hours they gave up. I asked the administration for a flexible C-6 assignment, so I could keep the program alive. I WAS TOLD NO!!!!!!!! And so, the program is dying.

Overcrowding

Our tech guy needed an office. A chunk of the clock room was walled off so he can have a space to work. A new social worker joined the staff. She too, was given an office. One of the special education teachers with a comp time job was displaced from her desk, so a new office space was carved out of an existing room for her. When I asked why a space cannot be created for tutoring, I was told to "Deal with it. This school is just too crowded. No space is available. The noisy library will just have to do." I have come to realize that teachers don't count for anything in this system, but I really wanted to believe that the kids do count. Our principal says he wants more kids to pass, but he will only provide lip service to tutoring. If he took the tutoring program seriously, he would set up a proper place for us to work.

The Suits Are Coming......

Principal Suit: Attention, attention! Next week we are going to be visited by the Suits from Planet X. They are going to see our classes in action and rate us. I will let you know exactly what they are looking for so you can plan accordingly.

Suitless One: But, Principal Suit, we are good teachers. We already plan what is best for our students.

Principal Suit: Lowly Stupid Suitless One! I don't care if what you are doing is helping your students. I don't care if you are finally getting them to come to class and to pass. I care about you making me look good so I can get another $20,000 performance bonus. DO AS I SAY!!!!!! And make sure you are dressed appropriately. I don't want the Suits from Plant X to see any teachers wearing shorts, jeans, tee-shirts or sweat pants.

Suitless One: Principal Suit, with all due respect, how do I personally gain if our school is given a good rating?

Principal Suit: Do a good job and I might give you a thumbs up in the weekly bulletin. Now, begone and speak no more!

C-6

Today I went to the library for my C-6 tutoring assignment, as usual. As usual, the library had more kids in it than is probably allowed by the fire department. The unusual was that there were no chairs. The school was having a blood drive and all the extra chairs were down at the drive. When I complained about no where to sit, one of the librarians told me there was plenty of floor space. Funny, but I've never seen him sitting on the floor to work. When I complained to the APO's secretary, she told me "Improvise, this school is too crowded. Tell the kids to sit on the floor so you can have a chair." This, from a woman, who actually has her own desk and chair. I would never tell a kid, or anyone else for that matter to sit on the floor. I told her I would improvise in the teacher's cafeteria and left. I wrote a long letter to the APO about the horrendous library conditions. I'm looking forward to hearing her lame brain excuse tomorrow.

Dr. Suit and the Cafeteria Lady

Dr. Suit: My little dog is raising money to send poor cats to a cat camp for the summer. I want to leave the collection can on your counter.

Cafeteria Lady: I'm sorry. I don't think you are allowed to do that. You will have to get permission from my supervisor.

Dr. Suit: Just ask her.

Cafeteria Lady: She is mean. You ask her. You are the one that wants to put it there.

Dr. Suit: You, a lowly cafeteria lady are making me ask? How dare you! And you forgot to bow when I walked in.

Cafteria Lady: Ask her yourself. I will not be bullied by a Suit!

(Dr. Suit asks the supervisor and is told that he can only leave the can on a windowsill. He is unhappy as no one is seeing it and the poor little dog is not raising enough money to send the poor little cat to camp. He defies all and places the can back on the counter)

Dr. Suit: No one is putting money in the can. Cafeteria Lady, I told you to tell your customers to leave their change in the can.

(Cafeteria lady picks up the can and slams it down on the nearby windowsill. Dr. Suit is so angry that the steam coming out of his ears is pressing his suit while he wears it.)

Dr. Suit: What did you do? How dare you do that to my can? I AM DR. SUIT! YOU MUST OBEY ME!!!!

Cafeteria Lady: You are wrong. My boss said it stays on the window and that is where it stays. She wears a suit too. And her SUIT is more powerful than your SUIT.

The New Business of Education

Now that business men are running our school system, teacher training will be reduced to this level more and more. The main difference will be that teachers do not even have a cubicle to sit in. I carry everything I need at work with me, all day long. I even have to carry my jacket and umbrella (on rainy days) because my classes are out in the trailer. The message in the next to last square is the message we are sending to our students when we force them to learn in bathrooms and hallways.

Mr. Suit and the Staff Meeting

Mr. Suit holding a seminar on how to get teachers opinions on how to make the school a better place.

Joy In Learning Math?

A new study finds that there is no need for students to find math relevant to succeed in it. I having been teaching math for over 30 years and couldn't agree more highly with the finding that there is no need for math to be relevant to a student's life . There is no need to create such complex word problems, using ethnic names, that the purpose of the problem is lost in translation. Kids have to understand that everything they learn in school is learning for knowledge sake. Most of the things we learn in school have no relevance in our lives. I never enjoyed reading Shakespeare, found nothing important in what he wrote, but my education would have sorely been lacking had I not been exposed to his writings. Besides, how would anyone know what courses of study they should persue if they are not exposed to everything out there?

The new trend in education is to let the kids sit in a "horse shoe". This way, they can supposedly speak to each other easier, communicate better, be happier. I am willing to bet this is not being done in many of the countries whose math grades surpass ours.

While there is no need to relate math to students lives, there should be joy in learning mathematics. Teachers need to present material in an interesting fashion. They need to make the material as fascinating as possible, to make the students want to learn it and to make them believe they can succeed. Too many of our students today suffer from math phobias and fail because they believe they cannot pass. The joy of learning should be the feelings of success when a difficult topic, such as factoring is finally mastered. I have actually seen math phobic kids light up with joy when they finally understand what they have been taught.

Getting Over

A friend was recently working out at a nearby gym. It just so happens that one of the trainers is a former student of hers.

Trainer: Yo, Ms. Good, you are really looking good these days.

Teacher: Thanks. What are you up to since you graduated?

Trainer: I'm working here and going to Yo Yo College Part time. Ms. Good, I would never have graduated HS without your help and now my bro needs your help too.

Teacher: What do you mean? Would you like me to look over his senior thesis? Does he need help doing the research?

Trainer: No, Miss. I want you to hook him up with a paper. If you do that I can make sure you have muscles like these (points to his arms) and look as fine as that hot young mama on the treadmill.

Teacher: When you were in my class, you struggled, but you did the work. (At least I hope you did it by yourself. It was not done very well.)

Trainer: Come on Miss, you do for us and we do for you. You know we can help each other out. Cut my bro some slack!

Will It Ever Get Here?

Here is a teacher waiting for the same performance bonus the administrators in our school got.

A Conversation with a Student

Student: Miss, Miss, are you going to pass me?

Teacher: You have a 34 average. Your highest grade was a 38.

Student: But don't you count homework and effort?

Teacher: You are missing 10 homeworks, handed in 5 homeworks that were incomplete and got 40's on both take home quizzes.

Student: But Miss, math is hard. I get nervous on tests. I think you should pass me because I come to class every day.

Teacher: Sorry.

Student: My parents will beat me and send me to AXEAEAB to live with my relatives there. I will have to work in a coal mine and will hardly get enough to eat.

Teacher: At least you won't have to worry about passing math there. Have a good trip.

A Fine Mess

My school is giving PSAT"s tomorrow. It is the first time they will be given on school time and proctored by teachers. My assignment starts at 8 but I am not due in until 8:45. Even though I pointed this out to the administration it has not been changed. Even teachers starting at 8:00 are due to come in the exact time the kids are supposed to be in their seats in their assigned rooms. A fine mess the school will be in. I feel an illness coming on. I feel so bad about having to taking a sick day tomorrow and missing all the excitement.

Good bye Tension, Hello Pension

Now that we are all doing an assigned professional period, I would like to know when we are expected to:
1. call parents
2. send letters to parents
3. speak to guidance about troubled kids
4. write college recommendation letters
5. fill out progress reports for our special education students
6. bring exams to resource room for our special education students
7. comfort or help a child who we find crying in the halls
8. provide tutoring to a child whose lunch or internship does not coincide with the period assigned for tutoring.
9. etc., etc., etc

Our days are so programmed now, there is no time to provide the human touch to education. I've just about had it and am almost ready to pack it in. "Goodbye tension, hello pension" seems more inviting every day.

Why Principals and Teachers Should Not Carry Weapons

Principal Who Shot Kittens Could Face Felony Charges

INDUS, Minn. (Oct. 15) - A school principal has resigned and could face felony firearm charges after he shot and killed two orphaned kittens on school property last month.

Wade Pilloud, who resigned as principal of the K-12 Indus school, 40 miles west of International Falls, said he shot the kittens to spare them from starving to death after their mother was killed in an animal trap.

Pilloud said the shooting, which occurred on school grounds, endangered no one.

"I have bred cats, and I currently own two myself,'' he wrote Friday in an e-mail to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "I am not a cat hater. I did not want the animals to suffer.''

The incident happened Sept. 21, and several students still on the grounds for after-school activities heard the shots.

"There were parents who felt, apparently some rather strongly, that there were concerns about the safety of their children,'' said Joseph Flynn, an attorney for the South Koochiching/Rainy River School District. "The district's position is that safety was not compromised.''

Great News for City Schools

Great news for every school. They are getting approximately $20,000 each for faculty furniture, copier machines and service contracts. Unfortunately, in my school, the only place to put furniture is in the halls. Every other space is taken up for classroom space. The copy machine in my department's office hasn't worked for over a month. Maybe now it can finally be fixed.

Mr Shorts Gets A Letter from Principal Suit

Principal Suit must not be too busy these days. He just sent Mr. Shorts a letter addressing his school attire. It seems that the only thing Principal Suit is really concerned with is appearances. The fact that Mr. Shorts is one of the best teachers in the school never enters into the picture. It doesn't matter that the kids in Mr. Shorts' classes are actually learning or that they enjoy the class. It matters that Mr. Shorts will not conform to the image that Principal Suit has in mind of the way a teacher should dress. One of the new television shows this season has their own Principal Suit. Alec Baldwin plays this clueless guy who comes on board to fix a show that doesn't need fixing. He proceeds to do this by firing the producer (who dresses similarly to Mr. Shorts) and making the head writer don a fancy suit to go to a meeting. Of course, both the writer and the producer end up doing the right thing and save the show at the end, proving that Suits don't always know what they are doing.

Now, contractually, unlike the Alec Baldwin character, Principal Suit has no right to tell teachers how to dress. As long as the clothing is not showing off any unmentionable body parts, it can be worn. Principal Suit knows this. Instead, he attacks other things about Mr. Shorts. His latest letter rebuked him for drinking coffee in one of the offices while speaking to the secretary. Principal Suit claims that Mr. Shorts is disrupting work but everyone knows this is hogwash.

I say, Principal Suit, our school has real problems. We are extremely overcrowded. We have teachers sitting in the halls to tutor. We have classes with standing room only. We have copier machines that haven't worked in months. Don't you have better things to do with your time than to pick on poor Mr. Shorts?

Shocking Math Scores

What a shock? The results of a new set of New York State math exams show about two-thirds of students performing at grade level, with striking disparaties between rich and poor school district. Shocking that the number of students on grade level of in wealthy areas was more than twice the number as in impoverished urban area. The courts have ordered at least $4.7 billion more a year for city schools to help close the gap, but good old Richard Mills insists that money is not enough. Of course, why would the city schools need money? For tutoring? For smaller classes? Mills wants schools to review their programs. I think he is the one that created some of the new standards that teachers are being forced to teach to. He wants better teacher training. I vote for more staff development days being lead by the 20 something teachers, just out of college.

Aside from the issues of money, Mills fails to realize that there are major differences in students living in poor areas as opposed to living in wealthier ones. An affluent parent will easily pluck down $100+ an hour to provide their child with a tutor. There are kids in some parts of Long Island that have tutors in every subject, just as a precaution, in case they need help. No amount of state aid will ever be able to bridge this difference. And, although politically incorrect, I have to talk about differences between people in poor areas vs. affluent ones. Aren't poor neighborhoods often filled with recent immigrants? Can their childern't progress be compared to that of the doctor or lawyer's child? Although I hate to generalize, it true that people move away from the poor areas as their incomes increase. People left behind are struggling. Even if they are just as bright, parents are often working multiple jobs at long hours and are just not around to provide needed help.

If Klein is really serious about NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND he must provide smaller classes for city students. No one can expect him to do anything about socio-economic conditions, but he can at least make it feasible for children to get a good education and to get help in areas where they have deficits.

How the Grinch Stole Health Care

I need a certain medical test. Nothing life threatening. At least, not at the moment. My doctor wants me to take the test because she needs a baseline to go by so she can watch and see if there are any changes in the future. Unfortunately for me, and thousands like me, it is no longer a doctor's decision as to whether a patient needs a test. It is up to the insurance company. The insurance companies are now farming out all requests for tests to a company called CareCore whose only function at the moment is to reject the claim. Or rather, not reject it outright, but to demand more and more information in the hopes that the party involved will either give up and forgo the test or just pay for it without going through insurance. I guess the insurance companies think patients are going through these tests for fun, subjecting themselves to doses of radiation and the indignities of medicine just for the hell of it. I wonder who actually works for CareCore? Do they really have enough medical knowledge to make these decisions? It's sad that our lives are now being controlled by the insurance company.

Jeb and George Strike Again

According to an article in Today's Newsday, both Jeb and George agree that the No Child Left Behind Act is not working the way it is written. Do not dispair! They have united to come up with a system that will work to improve our schools--CHANGE THE WAY THE SCHOOL'S ARE RATED!!!!!! Instead of fuzzy ratings like "needs improvement" the schools will now get letter grades ranging from A to F. This is a much better idea than reducing class size or changing curriculums to make work more relevant or even providing worthwhile remediation. The best thing about this plan is that millions of dollars will probably be given to some firm to come up with a rating system instead of wasting the money on our children's education. Let's give a big hand it to the Bush administration on their successful way of handling another problem.

NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND

Last week Bush signed a bill extending No Child Left Behind legislation. Even he admits that the law is not as successful as he would like it to be. For one thing, parents are not getting their children's grades in a timely fashion. Often by the time they get these grades, it is too late to change schools. Also, with good schools operating at 250% capacity, there is just no room to take these underachieving students. Even if they do make it into one of these schools, they cannot be properly serviced because of the overcrowding. With class sizes of 34 (many more than that since over sized classes are still prevelant) there is no way for even the best teacher to reach out to help these kids. Bush mentions tutoring, but only 19% of the students that are entitled to the tutoring are actually receiving it. Even if it were to be readily available, after a full day of school, how many kids will actually be able to absorb anymore?

One of the solutions Bush mentions is more testing. Aren't our kids tested enough? We spend so much time testing and preparing for testing that little teaching is being done. Even in a high school, regents preparation in a weak class takes the place of mastering a subject. I am ashamed to admit that I have taught kids how to pass an exam without actually knowing any mathematics. Besides, if its only improved test results that anyone wants, I am sure someone will find a way to either redesign the exam to make it easier to pass or to just change the scoring so a lower grade is needed to pass.

If we really don't want to leave any children behind we have to change the way we are teaching them. Elementary school teachers have to be allowed to go back to teaching the basics of arithmetic and reading. Some things just have to be learned by memory and rote practice. There is no way around this. High school students have to be taught courses more relevant to their interests. Forcing everyone to take college preparation courses and then head on to college is not the answer. The world needs hair dresses, car mechanics, and floor sweepers. We need to teach our students that everyone plays a valuable part of society and there is no shame in any kind of work. What's wrong with teaching kids to pass a civil service exam so they can work for the post office or the sanitation department. We will always need people to work in these fields. If someone has trouble reading, they cannot be expected to become a psychologist, nor can the kid who needs remedial math become an engineer.

I believe that no child should be left behind, but the way we are going about it now is all wrong and we are leaving more children behind now than ever before.

NYC Failing Special Education Students

Albany is now saying that NYC is failing its special education students. Some schools have a graduation below 35% and above a 20% drop out rate for students with disabilities .

"Low performance in special education is not something that should be expected or accepted," Mills said. "Students with disabilities can perform at high levels." For example, in wealthier districts categorized as "low needs," 72 percent of students with disabilities graduated with a Regents or school diploma, while just 4.5 percent dropped out.

I don't think Mills has a clue as to the actual abilities of some of our special education students. I have a good friend who is an exceptional teacher. One of her classes is regents math. Some of the students in this class have reading and math levels equal to second and third graders. No matter what she does, they cannot master complex topics like factoring and quadratic equations. How can they be expected to graph a parabola when they can barely read the word? Now, lets suppose by some miracle the regents is made easy enough for these kids to pass (it does seem to get that way term after term). Now Mills can claim success! But what will these kids be qualified to do with the regents diploma?

Yes, some students with disabilities do get regents diplomas. We have to be realistic when we say this and look at the kind of disabilites that they have. I had two Advanced Placement Calculus students in this category. One was hearing impaired and the other had a writing disability. Both scored 4 (out of possible 5) on the AP exam. One graduated from Binghamton as a computer science major and is currently finishing an MBA in Boston while the other is a freshman at NYU. Should these disabilities be lumped together with learning disabilities and emotional handicaps? I THINK NOT! Yet, I am willing to bet that is exactly what Mills is doing when he sites these statistics.

I also think it is unfair to compare our large, overcrowded NYC schools to the wealthier suburbs. I have another friend who has an LD son. He is lucky to live in an affluent Long Island suburb. His teacher has much smaller classes and is able to keep in close contact with his mom. He has computers available to use, both in school and at home. Tutoring is easily accessible in his school. There is an online site, "School Island", where kids work on problems at home and submit work to teacher via internet. His family's affluence affords him the luxury of private tutors in math and English. Mill's should get real. Our schools cannot compete with this.

The article ended with a note saying that failure to increase graduation rates to 52% can lead to loss of federal money and more state control. What I would like to know is how less money and more control is going to make these kids do better?

Are We All Really Created the Same?

All people are not created with equal abilities. We are all good in different things. We all can't be doctors or lawyers or car mechanics. The only thing we can hope for is that we find something that we can be good at, enjoy doing that thing and find a way to make a living doing it. Everyone has different abilites and we all peak at different level, depending upon what that activity is. Unfortunately, this view is not shared by the people writing school curriculums now. Somewhere along the way someone decided that everyone should go to college. Kids, regardless of their abilities are being pushed into courses that they have no interest in and have no ability to understand. Because of this, they often act out and cause disturbances in class. Cutting class is the norm. They would rather fail because they don't want to pass than fail because they cannnot master the material.

While I am not happy about these kids, I am more concerned with the ones that come to class every day. They don't disrupt. They do all homework and participate in discussions. They still cannot pass because the work is way above their comprehension. I have been working on polynomial in my M&C class since the beginning of the school year. We've been factoring for over two weeks. I gave an exam today. I only looked at a few papers so far and while many were quite good, some of the answers I saw were quite disturbing. In fact, the answers were so off beat that I wonder if I am really teaching anything at all. Maybe I am speaking Russian and some of the kids are learning in Chinese?

I wish the powers that be would wake up and go back to the old diplomas, like when I went to school--Academic, Commercial and Gerneral. Kids took classes relevant to their interests and no matter what the statistics say (they can be made to say anything) I think most kids did better. My own mother got a general diploma years ago. She could never get a degree with today's standards, or, if she did get one, she would have a meaningless one. She would have had no training to go on and get a job to support herself and her family.

A friend of mine, an administrator in a different school told me that it was racist to track kids as to many minorities end up in the lower end of things. I find that hard to believe. I teach in a middle class Queens high school. The five lowest achievers in my class are Jewish, Irish, Chinese, Italian and Pakistani. I don't see how putting these kids in track classes is racist.

If we really care about children and really believe that no child should be left behind, we must change the curriculum. Teach kids things that are meaningful in their lives. If any of them decide that at a later time, they want to go to college, they can always make up the work they missed and attend.

Does the Suit Make the Teacher or Does the Teacher Make the Suit?

A few years ago my department had two teaching fellows. Both of them wore suits and ties every day. They looked good. They looked successful. They could have been cover boys for GQ. But, there were two major problems with them. Number 1, they could not teach and number 2, they could not control the kids in their classes. Their classrooms were regular three ring circuses. Luckily, even Principal Suit realized that the suit alone does not make the teacher and these two teaching fellows are no longer teaching. Interestingly though, we had a young man in our department who was an excellent teacher. His only problem was he didn't like to wear ties, let alone suits. It didn't matter that he could teach and control his classroom. It didn't matter that the kids liked him. Principal Suit scared him into wearing suitlike clothing every day. Unfortunately, this teacher has been excessed. I hope he is teaching somewhere in an environment where he will not be judged by the clothing he wears.

A Few Good Suits

I am sorry if I have given the impression that I hate all Suits. I really don't. In fact, there are a couple of good Suits in my school. One of them is an excellent teacher who really cares about the kids and the future of education. He wears a suit because he feels it gives him an aura of respect from the students. That is fine with me. He should be wearing the suit because he wants to. He is one of the best and would be respected, no matter what he wears, but if the suit makes him happy, I am all for it. Another good Suit just became the AP of a department. He is a real guy. He works with the teachers, treats them as equal partners. The kids love him. Again, he wears the suit but he doesn't need it either. Just being himself is more than enough to insure his job is well done. One of our paras also likes suits. He wears them on Wednesdays because dressing up helps him get through the week. The difference between these Suits and Dr. Suit and Principal Suit is that these guys are not Stuffed Suits. They just go about their day to day business of education without any airs or pretenses. Suits or no suits they are okay in my book and I am proud to call them colleagues.

MY C-6 ASSIGNMENT (OR HOW I WASTE MY TIME)

I sat in the library today, as my C-6 position demands, ready, willing and able to tutor. No one showed up. Instead I marked some test papers. Some of my students really needed my help, but their lunch period is 7, not 5. I used to help them whenever they needed help. I didn't mind if I worked all three of my non teaching periods some days because there were other days that I didn't tutor at all. Now that I am being forced to be in the library period 5, my tutoring is restricted to that period and that period only. I know that my being in the library looks good on paper for the principal. He has tutoring available every period of the day. Too bad he never really bothered to see when it would be most beneficial to the students.

Dr. Suit and the Student-Teacher-Parent Meeting

Dr. Suit: Welcome to our school, Mr. and Mrs. Suitfree. Thank you for coming. I know you are here to discuss your son's special needs. I would like to introduce you to Mrs. Suitless, little Billy's teacher, and Mr. Educational Evaluator Suit.

Mr. Suitfree: We are here today to reevaluate Billy's needs. I would like Billy to have a reader and a writer available for him. He understands everything but has trouble reading the words and taking notes.

Mrs. Suitless: I agree with Mr. Suitfree. Billy's classwork is wonderful, however, he falls apart on tests. I think a reader and a writer would make a world of difference.

Dr Suit: NO! NO! NO! I know you have been his teacher for 3 years, Mrs. Suitless and I know you, Mr. and Mrs. Suitfree have been his parents for many more years than that, but I wear a suit and know best. I spent 20 minutes with Billy and he doesn't need any special testing accomodations. What do you think Mr. Education Evaluator Suit?

Mr. Education Evaluator Suit: (Meekly lifting his head up from his knees). Oh, I agree with you, OLD GREAT AND WISE SUIT. Whatever you say should be the law.

Mrs. Suitless: Well Dr. Suit, I have spent much more time with little Billy than you have and I know him much better than you ever will. He needs the accomodations. I will not sit here and rubber stamp your recommendations. (Mrs. Suitless walks out of the room, slamming the door as she leaves.)

Footnote: After much arguing, Dr. Suit was forced to give in to the wishes of Billy's parents. He did not speak to Mrs. Suitless for 5 years and never asked her to attend a meeting again.

And The Program Changes Keep Coming

I got a new kid in my M&C class today. He was moved from M&A and is taking M&B simultaneously in afternoon school (although this hasn't started yet.) The poor kid has obviously had many problems with math along the way. He is now confronted with solving quadratic equations when he has never even factored an expression or heard of the term factor. When I told him he had to go to tutoring to catch up, I was told he goes 1 - 9 with no lunch and this doesn't count afternoon school. He has no time. Unfortunately, I don't see a way out of this for the poor kid and feel he is doomed to fail yet again.

Teacher Trainer Suit

Teacher Trainer Suit is holding court in the Teacher's Cafeteria. Teacher Trainer is sitting with her little laptop computer, looking all smug and sophisticated and dispensing advice to all who will listen. Teacher Trainer Suit was a teacher of a certain subject where the classes were very small before she retired. Although I am sure she was a master teacher, she was not a master teacher of every subject and her expertise in teaching does not transverse every field. Does this stop Teacher Trainer Suit? I think not. One day Suitless Teacher was sharing something she had written with an English Suitless teacher. Teacher Trainer Suit listened intently and then said "Wow, a suitless teacher that knows how to write. You can be an inspiration to all new teachers, both the teachers with and without suits." Suitless teacher, answered "not only can I write, but I can tie my own shoes and chew my own food." Teacher Trainer Suit realized that she had spoken too quickly and had insulted the Suitless one. It was too late. The damage had been done. Suit and Suitless will never get along.

WannaBe Suits

Give anyone a desk and a phone and right away they start acting like Suits. Take, for example, the secretary that would not give me a piece of scotchtape to hang a room change sign on my door, even though the room change was due to an error from her office. Today, a colleague had a run in with some School Aid Suits. Now, before I begin, I would like to say that I don't believe in a caste system and school aids perform jobs whose importance, although different from a teachers is still very important to the school. Well, my colleague needed a place to work for the period. This colleague was carrying two bags full of paper plus quite a few books. When she sat down at what she thought was an empty desk, WannaBe Suit yelled at her that the desk she was using was needed by Intern WannaBe Suits. When the teacher got up to leave and commented that she was just trying to find a spot to work in, WannaBe yelled, in a quite sarcastic tone "Good luck." WannaBe knew damn well that it was impossible to find a workspot in the building. The poor teacher meandered into the cafeteria where she sat down to work. Luckily, Dr. Suit was not there for the period so she didn't have to deal with his comments also.

A Conversation with Dr. Suit

Dr. Suit: Mr. W, you must come to my office period 6 for a conference about little Joey.

Mr. W: I'm sorry Dr. Suit, but with my C-6 assignment that would mean I am going 7 periods without a break. I want to have lunch.

Dr. Suit: Too bad. I will have the principal, Mr. Suit, put a letter in your file if you don't show up. And don't be late. Besides, you are getting paid for being here. That extra $.32 will really make a difference in a teacher's paycheck.

Mr. W: Dr. Suit, I must stop in the bathroom first.

Dr. Suit: I said, DON'T BE LATE. My time is valuable. I will not wait for you! And make sure you bow to me when you enter the room!

More On Dr. Suit

One day Dr. Suit was sitting with some teachers in the cafe when the school phone rang. It rang and rang and not one teacher got up to answer it. Finally, he got up to answer it himself. When he came back to the table, Dr. Suit began to berate every teacher at the table for not moving. What Dr. Suit failed to realize is that contractually teachers are entitled to a duty-free lunch. It is not their problem if someone needs something urgently at that moment. Furthermore, Dr. Suit failed to realize that lunch time is the only time of the day when most teachers get to sit. Teachers do not have Dr. Suit's luxury of sitting behind a desk all day and of having a secretary screen calls. Furthermore, teacher's do not usually get pesonal phone calls on the school phone--that is what cell phones are for. A call on the school phone can only mean something bad, like a coverage. I guess Dr. Suit is used to having people around him whose only function in life is to serve him. I know he is learning the hard way that this is not the case.

Dr. Suit

Disclaimer: Dr. Suit is a fictional character. No real person working for the school system would ever be this insensitive to a lowly classroom teacher.

Dr. Suit comes to the teacher's cafeteria every day. He surrounds himself with a gaggle of women, some of whom hang onto his every word. Dr. Suit loves seeing himself in this position. He sees himself as an individual superior to everyone around him. This semester, Dr. Suit has a Junior Suit following him around. Last week, Dr. and Junior came to the cafeteria and low and behold there was a teacher sitting in his seat! He thought nothing of asking this teacher to move. Even when this teacher explained that the cafeteria was the only place in the crowded building to work, Dr. Suit tried to get the teacher to move, suggesting the library and moving to a different table. This teacher held firm. The table in question was occupied by the teacher first and there was no way the teacher was going to move three stacks of books and papers to accomodate Dr. Suit's lunch request. Now, I am sure Dr. Suit and Junior Suit went back to their office and wrote some diagnosis for teacher, labeling teacher as some sort of psycho, but, who cares. The Suits are really the sick ones. Teacher held the table and got the work done. Now if teacher had the same resources as Dr Suit, an office with a telephone, a desk, and a secretary, teacher would not need to work in a smelly, noisy cafeteria and people in suits could have as much space as they wanted for lunch.

Program Changes

Today is September 28 and I just got a new student put in my M&C class. She had been sitting in an M#1 class until today. Poor kid. This weak math student has now missed three weeks of the semester and is far behind. We are just about finished with factoring and she hasn't even started learning the process. The sad thing is she and I are the only ones that care. I'm sure our principal doesn't. After all, he and the AP's all got performance bonuses last year.

Harmony

Today I watched an African American girl wait for a Chinese girl and a Hispanic boy to walk to class. I watched a Muslim girl tutor a Jewish girl in math. I got an e-mail from two former students,one a WASP and the other Hispanic--they were sitting in the college library doing calculus problems together, trying to remember what they learned in my class last year. A Korean boy tutored an Irish boy. I listened to a girl proudly discuss her gay uncle and his partner. I realized just how great the kids in the school I teach in are. They look at each other and see indiviudals just like them. They don't see race, nationality, religion or sexual preference. Too bad we haven't figured out a way to carry these values into adulthood. These kids could finally bring peace to the world.

Annualization of Classes

My school came up with a brilliant idea last year--annualizing all the students programs. This would make it much easier to program students for the spring term. What the powers that be did not take into account is that many kids pass the first term of Math A, afterall, they have been doing order of operations, signed numbers, and equation solving since elementary school. They run into major problems in the second half of the term, where the work is much more difficult. These students then fail and because of the annualization, must repeat the entire year from the beginning. They have lost an entire year. They are put in a class where they know most of the work because the hard stuff doesn't start until the spring. Often they become discipline problems or cut class. Even if they want to learn, many times they are in classes that the strongest teacher has trouble controlling. These kids are destined to fail. We need to go back to letting the students repeat the one course they fail. I used to think annualization might work in an English or history class where each topic taught is discrete and what you are learning doesn't necessarily depend on what came before. I only complained about annualization because I felt that the kids that knew nothing by January had no chance of succeeding in June. Math topics are not independant of one another. I wonder if a kid would have to repeat whole year in these subjects too? If that is the case, we must scrub this program.

This topic is especially important to me because I am teaching M&C this term. It is the third term of a four term sequence (ending in the Math A regents.) I have three students in my class that I know passed the first term and failed the second. They should go back and retake the class from the beginning, but I don't want to do this to them. I made the decison (with the help of a non math AP) to let them stay. If they pass, they will be given credit for the class they failed. I'm worried because if they fail, they will be another year behind and their graduation will be endangered. I hope I made the correct decision.

Statistics

A school offers 2 classes with 100 students in each and 10 classes with 10 students in each. The average number of students per class is found by following: (100 + 100 + 100)/12 = 25 students per class, not bad. Or, is the average found this way: (100 + 100 + 10)/3 = 70 per class. I wonder which method Mayor Mike would use. As an educator, I know which method is better. As Mark Twain said, "There are lies, damn lies and then there are statistics."

Shoes Before Socks?

Last September I taught an extremely bright ninth grade algebra class. They knew most of the basics, such as order of operations, signed numbers and equation solving so I concentrated on giving them plenty of enrichment, while still teaching the basics to the few kids that needed the review. I remember coming to the lesson on solving literal equations, such as ax + b = c (solve for x). I was shocked when I saw the majority of the class didn't know anything about only combining like terms and tried to add all the variables together. It was only when I took a real close look at the curriculum that I realized the lesson on combining monomials (like terms) came in the following semester. These poor kids were learning the math completely out of sequence. For anyone not knowing much about math a good analogy would be putting on your shoes and then putting on your socks.

If the powers that be are really serious about improving the quality of math eduation in this country then they must revert to the old algebra, geometry and trigonometry that was taught before 1980. Only a good foundation in the basics will insure success!

Horse Shoe

The powers that be have decided that students will learn much better if the chairs in a room are arranged in a horse shoe rather than traditional rows. I'm a semi- traditionalist. I like my students to be able to see the blackboard. I like to be able to walk around the room and see what they are doing, as they are doing it. I like it when there is a little bit of space between them so that if someone had onions for lunch, their breathe will not offend their surrounding classmates. I don't mind if the kids don't sit in rows. I let them pull up a chair wherever they are comfortable. If that means I have 8 kids sitting across the front so be it. If the aisles are a fire hazard we just won't call the fire department.

I did try a horse shoe arrangement once. I happened to be sharing a room with a new English teacher and since she was new, decided to go along with the principal and use the horse shoe. I didn't want to make it hard for her by rearranging chairs. My class that period was pretty small and well behaved so I figured, what could be bad? I learned the answer to this question very quickly. First, students that usually did not talk in class, became quite talkative. Second, and even more important, the students were way to far from the blackboard and had a hard time seeing what was on the board. While the middle of the room is great for lecturing, and I will be the first to admit that I do enjoy lecturing and putting on a show, it is too hard to keep moving from the middle to the board, which is so important in math.

I'm not against the horse shoe if it works. And it does work in many classes, just not in all. If a teacher is teaching for over 20 years and has been successful, why change? If it's not broken, don't fix it! That is the way I feel about the seating arrangements in my classroom.

JD

JD is one of my former students. I remember him as being a cute kid, friendly, bright and extremely hyperactive. It was hard to keep him focused on what he was supposed to be doing. Most of his teachers did not like him. He disrupted class and had had a nice sized file in the dean's office. Eventually the school decided there was nothing that could be done with him and his mother signed him out.

Not all of JD's teacher's thought he was a bad kid or even disliked him. I know I am one of those and I know a few others that shared my sentiments. The school I teach in is just too big and does not have the proper resourses to reach out and help someone like him. Term after term he was permitted to go on with the same kind of poor behavior. I got to know him through a trade of difficult students. The teacher I got him from emphasized his good qualities and traded him in the hope that he would do better with someone else. (The boy I gave her was later arrested for carrying a weapon in school.) She always had faith in him. I met JD's mother when she came to sign him out of school. She struck me as a good woman and a mother who did everything she could to help her son. She had tears in her eyes because she just didn't know how to help him anymore. The effect his expulsion had on her clearly affected him. Maybe if our school had guidance counselors with smaller case loads someone could have reached him and helped. If our classes weren't so overcrowded maybe more teachers could have seen the good in him and helped him succeed.

Don't get me wrong. I am not defending his actions. He is being held as an accessory to the murder of an innocent little girl. There is no excuse for this and he deserves to be punished to the full extent the law allows. I just think that maybe something could have been done to prevent this tragedy. A little girl died, but two mothers lost their children that day and that is something no woman should ever have to do.

TEACHER MAKES A STATEMENT!

Teacher Won't Shave Until bin Laden Caught

EPHRATA, Wash. (Sept. 12) - After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Gary Weddle began following the news so closely he forgot to shave. After a week he decided not to shave until Osama bin Laden had been caught or killed.

Nor has Weddle, 46, who expected the al-Qaida leader to be caught within a month or so, trimmed his facial hair in the succeeding five years as he went from substitute teacher to science instructor at Ephrata Middle School.

At the start of each school year he gives students a brief explanation of his beard, which stretches more than a foot long and has started turning gray.

"I still get emotional over the families who lost loved ones. I just don't feel there's any closure on this until they get that guy," Weddle told The Wenatchee World for an article published Monday. "I don't have to know anyone personally who lost family in 9/11 to understand the devastation that he's responsible for."

His wife Donita hates the beard, while their three daughters, who attend Eastmont High School in East Wenatchee, don't mind and "mostly their boyfriends think it's cool," Weddle said.

He said he would keep the beard, untrimmed, as long as bin Laden remains at large - "even if I get buried with it."

Teaching Math Today

Today's math curriculum is a disgrace. I just finished tutoring a bright tenth grader who was struggling with basic ninth grade factoring. The poor kid always worked hard and always got good grades. In fact, he got a 94 on the Math A regents. The problem is that he was never really taught any math. He was never taught or required to factor complex expressions and the little that he was taught was never reinforced. This boy has the potential to go on in the math and science fields but our schools are doing him a major injustice by not preparing him properly.

I plead guilty to also teaching this sham of a math curriculum. I encourage my students to use a calculator, rather than forcing them to learn how to perform operations with signed numbers and fractions. I show them how to work backwards from the choices when the questions are multiple choice so they can get the correct answer without actually knowing how to do the problem. I used to be a better teacher. Because the school system now wants everyone treated as an equal, our better students are being cheated. I am watering down my curriculum to get more to pass. I really don't want to do that but I have no choice. The poor kids in some of my classes don't want to take algebra, geometry and trigonometry. Not only don't they want it, but it has no relevance to anything in their lives. I want these kids to graduate. Even to work in Mc Donald's, they will need that piece of paper that declares them high school graduates. It is just too hard to teach to both ends at once. My classes all have 34 students in them. I just don't know how to reach them all without hurting some of them so I opt for a middle of the road approach.

Principal Intimidates The Young

I just heard that the principal of my school called some of the young teachers and asked them to come in a day earlier than everyone else, to work for no pay or compensation to work with him on plans for staff development. These young teachers, fearful of getting on his bad side and perhaps losing their jobs agreed. He should be ashamed of himself for putting young teachers in a position like this. Although no one threatened or forced them to show up, they really felt as if they had no choice but to do as asked. It is scary that the Bloomberg administration is giving these demagogues more power every year.

I Love Teaching

I'm lucky. I love teaching. I REALLY LOVE TEACHING. I know that sounds hard to believe, when all I do is bitch and complain about my school, but I do love teaching. I love to stand in front of a class and watch the faces of my students as they finally get it!!!! I love the way last year's students run up and hug me in the hall and complain because I am not their teacher this year. I love getting hugs from kids that I could not pass. I love it when a kid says "Don't retire, we need you." I am tier 1. I found out that I could actually be bringing home more money retired than I am bringing home now. I don't care. At this point in my life I cannot imagine not being Mrs. XXXXXXXXXX. I can't imagine not sitting on the floor outside the cafeteria or math office working with a bunch of kids. I don't care if the principals of the world want me to retire, I'll go when I am ready. I'm not ready to leave the thing I love!

Mr. Principal Wastes Class Time

Once again, Mr. Principal is on the loudspeaker non stop. He is reminding the students that there is no more night school so they better pass everything. I don't think there is a 9th or 10th grader anywhere who says "I think I will cut class and do no work now so that when I am a senior I can take 9 classes during the day and then go to school two nights a week. And if I am really lucky, I might be able to go to Saturday school as well." I know that the kids in my classes are turned off by his long, demeaning announcements. I've heard many of them say "Why doesn't he just shut up and let you teach?" If he really cared about their education, he would keep his announcements to a minimum. He would do the Pledge without announcing a guest orator. He would do away with his brain teasers

I Hear Music

School has started and so has the loud, overbearing music that our principal insists on playing between periods. While I agree that the music is a nice interlude, I find it instrusive when I am in the middle of working or if I am teaching a double period class. It wouldn't even be so bad if he played some soft, classical music. It would be nice to expose the students to things they don't usually listen too. Phone conversations could be carried on while this music is being played and conversations would not be interupted. I don't know how many times I have had to tell parents to hang on while the music played. I can't count the number of times I couldn't answer a students question after class because I couldn't hear it over the music. I have been rudely disrupted and distracted while I intensely marked papers or wrote lessons and this music came on. I think when I retire, I will walk into his office with a big boom box, preferably while he is on the phone or holding a meeting and see if he still feels the same about music.

September 1, 2006

I'm really happy that we started school before Labor Day this year. We spent this morning in an auditorium that smelled from polyurethane and watched pictures of the principal's trip to Japan. We saw pictures of children with face masks, pictures of children with buckets and mops cleaning their classroom and pictures of children swimming. We also saw lots of pictures of the principal enjoying himelf. I learned so much. I am sure it will make me a much better teacher this year.