The ATR Goes On An Interview

Dilbert 2/3/2009

Fairy Tales Can Come True

There are Principals that actually like teachers and support them.

Like A Bull In A China Shop

In spite of my bitching and moaning about them, I really like my geometry kids. And, in spite of what Mr. AP wants, I decided to keep most of them with me for the rest of the year. I don't know if they will pass or not, but I am not ready to give up on any of them. I also checked their report cards and surprisingly, math seems to be the only subject they are having trouble with. I know it is not just me because I checked transcripts as well and saw repeated failures and low grades in math for years.

Today was the first day and I decided to come at them like a bull in a China shop. I filled out their Delaney cards in advance and put them in assigned seats the second they walked in the door. Some complained about where they were sitting. I held my ground. They did what I demanded. It shocked the hell out of me. I had to get Jimmy out of my class. The guidance counselor promised to remove him but I found him on my new roster today. I went down to see this person and refused to move until a new class was found for him and a new program was printed up. One problem was eliminated.

Many of the kids from other classes were moved out of geometry into a pre-trigonometry class. My kids asked me about it and I explained that it was for those students who could not pass geometry. The pre-trig class is just an algebra enrichment class. They would take trigonometry in September. Mr. AP seems to think this pre-trigonometry class will get them to pass. I don't share his hopes. Trigonometry and advanced algebra are much harder than geometry, at least I think so. I told my kids that I believed they could succeed and pass and that they would be in the same trig classes in September, only they would have one more regents under their belt. They seemed to believe me. I taught. They worked. It was fairly quiet. At times, you could hear a pin drop.

I hate coming on so strong. It is not me. But, if it works, I'll keep up this villainous behavior. I know, if I get them to succeed this year, if I can restore their faith in themselves, I am doing more than teaching them math. I know that I am laying the groundwork for their future success.


I've written hopeful posts about them before, but this time its going to last. Now, let's pray that the geometry regents is not nearly as wierd as the Math B test was.

Where's Waldo?

Everybody was supposed to wear their school shirt today for our annual staff photograph.

I refuse!

No one is using my face to place “Where’s Waldo? Sorry!!!

Unbelievable Conversation

I couldn't believe we actually had this conversation in front of the entire department.

Mr. AP: If I order geometry sketch pad who will use it?

Ms. POd: I'll use it

Mr. AP: You are retiring. What do you need it for?

Ms. POd: Do you know something I don't know? I don't think I've handed my papers in yet and I don't plan on doing it. I'm going to be here next year.

Mr. AP: Why are you so upset? You always take things the wrong way.

I wish I could meet this guy outside of school and beat the living crap out of him. I know I could do it with one hand tied behind my back. He's not worth going to jail over so I don't plan on actually doing this. I do plan on finding our EEO person tomorrow and filing an age discrimination complaint. (More on our departmental meetings tomorrow. You'll know where to find it when it is up. I promise it will be good.)

The Chosen

Here

It Doesn't Cost Much To Make Me Happy

I am the epitome of a cheap date. Just walk me through any junk yard and I will be happy spending hours just taking pictures. These were taken at Blackman's Plumbing Supply.

My husband and son are at a Super Bowl party. Instead of getting next week's test ready or cleaning up my clutter, I am sitting her editing these pipe pictures.

To Bad These Teachers Don't Run The Union

Dinner tonight was with a good friend at Ann and Tony's on Arthur Ave. The food was yummy, the service was great and the gossip was unbelievable.

DeeDee teaches at a prestigious high school, name and borough being withheld to protect the innocent. DeeDee's chairperson gives new meaning to the word bitch. The Principal is just as bad. The person is harassing old teachers and new teachers alike. Careers are being ruined every day of the week. Once this school was the school everyone dreamt about teaching in, now it is the school that everyone is warned against. JayJay was called down to the principal's office last week and sternly reprimanded for not typing her midterm exam. JayJay left in tears and is retiring in June. She can't take it anymore. MeeMee offered to pay someone to type his exam but the chairperson would not allow it. This individual insisted MeeMee do the typing himself.

The chairperson sends out e-mails weekend evenings and expects answers and results early Monday, even if the person responsible for the results is on a late session. She expects school e-mail accounts to be checked many times over the weekend. No excuses are tolerated. When the chairperson is in the office, the door is opened wide to hear all the conversations going on in the next room.

The teachers in this school are strong. They have bonded together to fight this person. They spent an entire day testifying at DOE headquarters only to have their testimony ignored and leaked back to the chairperson. Now the teachers that testified are being targeted as well. The teachers are not backing down. They are grieving the fact that their grievance has been ignored. Contractually, it should have been acted on in 72 hours.

And, with all this going on, where is our union? If you answered, out to lunch, you might be correct. If you answered, in the Bahamas, you might also be correct. If you answered running for the senate, you have a shot of being correct. If you answered helping out, you are WRONG!!!

The newbies in this school are fortunate to be working with a group of veteran teachers who believe in them and believe in the future of education. They are fortunate to work with people who are not afraid to stand up and be counted. Teachers like these are few and far between. I work with a bunch of wimps that refused to say a disparaging word about the loud music or obnoxious brain teasers. They went along with anything the administration wanted because they were afraid not to. Even years ago, before this terrible contract, an English chairman was so feared she reduced experienced tenured teachers to tears. If I did not see it myself, I would not have believed it.

Hats off to these outstanding veteran teachers.

Stop Mayoral Control

Please Queens teachers and parents
Try to be there. Stop Mayoral Control. email your friends.

Public Hearing: Governance of the New York City School District
Feb. 5
Place: Queens Borough Hall, Meeting Room 213,
120-55 Queens Boulevard, Kew Gardens, New York
Time: 5:30 - 8:30 P.M.
Contact: Monica L. Pringle (718) 322-2537 Media Contact: Selvena Brooks (212) 298-5616

See site for other boroughs
http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?sh=hear

from School Gal

NY Times Article

Schoolgal wrote this on a comment but it needs a post of its own. This is dedicated to Mr/Ms Directness and all the other people who think like they do.

I will reprint the NYTimes article here. Note, not once did Randi protest Klein's use of the word "undesirable" or call this new measure unfair and discriminatory. It took her 3 years to wake up only because some ATRs took this to court.

Klein Halts Plan to Make Schools Take Unassigned Teachers
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
Published: September 2, 2006

On the eve of the new academic year, Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein abruptly scrapped plans to impose a hiring freeze that would have forced principals to fill any last vacancies with unassigned teachers already in the system.

Mr. Klein said yesterday that it was more important for principals to choose their own staff than it was for the city to place potentially undesirable veteran teachers who must stay on the payroll even if no school offers them a position.

The decision to lift the freeze, just hours before it was to begin, was aimed at bolstering Mr. Klein’s position in a labor dispute over 44 unassigned assistant principals. To circumvent provisions in their contract that would force the assistant principals on principals who do not want them, Mr. Klein said he would created unneeded jobs for them, wasting as much as $5.2 million.

His stance on teachers once again allowed Mr. Klein to portray himself as a champion of autonomy and authority for principals.

City education officials said they believed most of the unassigned teachers would find jobs in the system. But Mr. Klein’s move raised at least a possibility that the city could be forced to pay the salaries of as many as 1,500 unassigned teachers, at a cost of nearly $100 million.

Officials said that 1,001 veteran teachers had yet to find positions and that about 500 newly hired teachers were also awaiting assignments.

Mr. Klein said unassigned teachers would be used as substitutes. “We will assign them to permanent substitute basis,” he said. “That may have some cost implications, but it’s costlier, I believe, to force individuals on a school.”

The number of teaching vacancies fluctuates, but has ranged from about 400 to 800 recently, ahead of the opening of school on Tuesday, said Elizabeth Arons, the system’s chief executive for human resources. Last year, the system carried 200 to 250 teachers without regular assignments on its payroll.

The city and the principals’ union — which represents both principals and assistant principals — are locked in a bitter contract dispute, and Mr. Klein has said that the seniority provisions are a major impediment. The provisions allow veteran assistant principals without assignments to bump junior colleagues who are not permanently appointed, potentially upending efforts by principals to build cohesive teams.

The union, the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, said management failures by the chancellor’s office, rather than the contract, were the reason the 44 assistant principals did not have jobs.

Last year, the teachers’ union agreed to relinquish similar bumping rights in exchange for a transfer system that allows teachers to apply for openings citywide. Mr. Klein said yesterday that those changes were among the most important of his tenure because principals for the first time “have the authority to hire people who are aligned with their vision, their mission.”

Jill S. Levy, the president of the supervisors’ union, said she was willing to negotiate changes but has accused Mr. Klein of blaming the contract for his own failures. The union said 37 of the 44 vacancies were caused by the administration’s closing or downsizing schools.

Schoolgal

Let's Get One Thing Straight

There are hundreds of ATRs out there that do not have regular teaching jobs through no fault of their own.

They taught at schools that were closed down.

They taught programs that were discontinued.

They are over 30 years old.

They are not young and beautiful.

They don't belong to the right ethnic group.

They have been teaching for more than 5 years.

They have been union members speaking out for people like you and your children.

The UFT sold them out when they gave up the right of seniority transfers and the Principal's got the right to hire only those that fit the mold.

I'm not an ATR. I don't like change and by staying in the same school for more than 20 years I have unknowingly protected myself. My school is a good school so it is not likely to be closed down or reorganized. I teach math so there is no way that my position can be done away with. I am safe.

But, suppose I was not the teacher described above. Would it matter that I have been teaching for over 30 years? Would it matter that I am well liked by parents and students? Would it matter that I always get good results and that I spend countless hours of my own time helping my students? Would this have meant anything?

No Principal would ever higher me. Once I leave this job, I know the door will be slammed behind me. Exit only. Unlike years before, retired teachers who changed their minds were welcomed back. Once I leave I know no one will let me come back. (That is why I am holding on now--until I am sure I am really ready to go.)

Check out this article in the Chief to read about this ATR art teacher who has done for more for her students than all you doubters out there will ever know.

Our wonderful union is running workshops on how to interview and how to write a resume. These people are not incompetents. They know how to do this. Our union is making videos to show them off. Since when have teachers become pets to show off in a store window?

All you newbies out there, think ahead. If you are fortunate, you will one day be a senior teacher like the ones out there now. You too might be an ATR. Maybe you should start taking an active role in the union now.

Let's stop blaming the ATRs for the position they are in. Let's stop blaming everyone and put these teachers back in the classroom where they belong and where they want to be. Let's help the city solve its budget crisis by letting the people already on the city payroll do the job they were hired to do.

I know that this blog is an open forum for people to comment and to express their thoughts but some of those words make me sick.

A Student's Perspective Of Math B Regents

A former student e-mailed me asking for his regents grade. He is a very bright boy, did exceptionally well in my class and was extremely worried. I sent him his mark and told him to write to Albany and tell them what an unfair exam it was. I even sent him a copy of the letter I sent. Here is his response. The thing that struck me the most in his letter was that he felt all the studying he did was a waste of time. Since this regents was so different,doing the old ones did not help.

Wow, that's a real good letter, i really hope they take it into consideration. I was looking at all the question you mentioned, and i looked them up in the Math B January 2009 Regents and key online, and everything you said was true about them. Also about raising the raw passing score was the first thing i went to look for and i couldn't believe they raised it to 49, that's when i started worrying about myself passing. I hope they do take in consideration for these questions and give everyone the benefit of the doubt and give the full credit for those questions. Yea, also i was telling Daniel that i felt doing the old regents was kind of a waste of time since it didn't really help much on the actual regents. So this letter is also exactly how the students felt, hopefully all the complaints they are getting will persuade hem to fix something. It didn't surprise me that you would appeal, your one of the few dedicated teachers n the school, glad i had you as a teacher last year.

My Favorite Post Of The Year

Break A Leg ATR's

Programs

Here.

UFT Dues

From every paycheck our union takes $47.27.

What are we getting for this?

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

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

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

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

Good Morning Sunshine....

I got an automated response to the letter I sent Albany about the Math B regents. I just called but no one picks up. I guess these guys don't work afternoons on a Friday. Here is the response. Use the phone number. PLEASE CALL!!! It might not do any good, but we have to let them know how we feel.

Good Morning Ms. POd:

Thank you for contacting the Office of State Assessment. Please contact our office by calling 518-474-5902 and ask to speak with a representative about your concerns with the Math B examination. I hope this information is helpful to you. Thank you for your feedback. This is a crucial part of the test development process.

Eileen Becker

Office of State Assessment, Communications

Give The Kids A Fighting Chance

The results for the math B exam are in. (Big discussion about the exam over at JD2718. They are not good. Only about 50% of the kids passed. The exam was not only hard, but did not even fairly represent what was taught. There was a logarithmic regression on the exam. The kids never did these. And, to top it off the calculator only does natural logarithmic regressions which use a different base and natural logarithms are not even taught until pre-calculus. The course has so much material in it, I can't understand why a topic like this has to be asked.

There was also a question on the mean and standard deviation. This is a question that can be answered by pushing a few buttons on a calculator. Doing this requires no understanding of the topic being taught. In spite of this, the powers that be decided pushing buttons was worth 4 points.

Missing from the non multiple choice questions of this exam were trigonometric equations, trigonometric graphs and probability. These are topics taught and emphasized in the third part of the course, the part most recently in the minds of our students.

It was interesting watching the kids reaction when they left this exam. Many were confident that they did well. After all, the only other math regents they ever took was Math A, where if you breathe on your own, you pass, they expected this exam to be the same. The cut off for passing on this exam was much higher than on the math B exam and while their raw scores were much higher than the score they received in math B, the conversion was much worse. (49 was passing--out of 86 points) The poor little girl with the Ms POd on her shoulder only got a 39.

Some administrators think that the teacher should be able to predict accurately how a student will do on these exams. Very few of my predictions would have come true. Kids I gave charity passing grades to last year came through with grades in the 70's and 80's. (I had to plead with Mr. AP to let me pass one of these kids.) Others who did very well, bombed this exam badly.

Merry was one of my students last year. I got to know her when she was a tenth grader, struggling through Math A. She came to tutoring every day and did well on the regents exam. Math B has been a struggle, but until this term, she always succeeded. She has spent countless hours studying and going for tutoring. She spent all day Saturday in school getting extra help.

When I told her she scored a 50 on the exam, I started to cry. Then she started to cry and we cried together. She knows her stuff but panics easily and then the knowledge she has flies out of her head. Just a few more straight forward questions would have given Merry her passing grade.

My students will be taking the geometry regents in June. I worry about how they will do. Not for me, I am a hardening my heart against criticism from Mr. AP. I worry for them. These kids have low self esteem, especially when it comes to math. I would hate to see it go any lower.

Anyone Wishing to Protest The Math B Regents Exam

Steven Katz

Office of State Assessment

89 Washington Ave

Room 775

EBA

Albany, NY 11234

or email him at:

EMSCASSESSINFO@mail.nysed.gov

( I did both! Sorry Mr. AP-I know you don't like it when I do these things.)

I'm going to do it now. We've got to stop these numbnuts in Albany from creating exams like this one and hurting our kids.

Sybil

The cast of characters continues here.

The Dinger Calls

The phone rings at 10:15 PM. We worry. We're old and our phone never rings that late unless something is wrong. I look at the caller ID and see my friend Dinger's name. I answer the phone and say "What's wrong with your graphing calculator?" Dinger laughs. He can't figure out how to get the y1 to show up so he can graph a linear regression. He spent 30 minutes working on it and then remembered his old friend POd and decided to stress no more.

Dinger and I have a long graphing calculator history. For a brilliant math guy, he is totally brain dead when it comes to any kind of technology. He has kept a whole group of us entertained for years with his graphing calculator (and computer) woes. A few years ago he called up because he couldn't get rid of his "dots". They were all over his screen and he thought his calculator had the measles. When my husband told him I was out of town, he got visibly upset. He called my cell phone so I could help him with his dots. Dinger carries his graphing calculator with him, whenever we are together. He even had it at his daughter's wedding. He always has some problem with it and counts on me to help him out. Dinger taught AP calculus the year I was on sabbatical and called me from his classroom when he could not figure something out.

To know Dinger is to love Dinger and everyone that has ever come in contact with him feels the same way about him. Many years ago, when all the math teachers in Queens met in the same place for staff development, I had a brilliant idea. I had everyone add a note to the evaluation form proclaiming Dinger, from XXXX High School, the calculator guru. These forms made it to the superintendent's office and then back to Dinger's AP, who knew the true man. Everyone had a good laugh at Dinger's expense (including Dinger--he has a great sense of humor.)

We were on the phone quite a while. It only took 20 seconds for the phone to ring after I had hung it up. It was Dinger again. He checked the time on our conversation and it was 32 minutes and 32 seconds. He had to call back to tell me how mathematical our call was.

I don't get to see Dinger and the rest of our gang as much as I would like. But when I do see him, or even speak to him, I remember that he is one of the people responsible for my love of teaching. He was always smiling and happy. He loved the kids and he loved teaching. He was never too busy to stay late or come in early to help a kid. He was always ready to pick up a basketball and shoot hoops in the school gym. Dinger is only a few years older than I am and was only teaching a few years before I started teaching, but I learned so much from him. All future generations of teachers need a Dinger of their own.

Belle Finally Has Her Celebration

Belle's friends were never really happy that her party was cancelled. She was a great teacher and still is a great friend. Tonight, a whole bunch of us took her out to dinner. She thought she was going with one person and was happy to see the whole gang when she walked in.

It wasn't fancy. No one got dressed up. No one made speeches. We already gave her the gift. It was just a nice dinner with friends. Our great friend got honored.

I know you don't read this blog (thank goodness there is still one person out there that knows me that doesn't read this!) but this is what is in my heart for you:

Belle, I am so honored to have worked with you. I valued you as a colleague and will always value you as a friend. Enjoy your retirement. You earned it.

Advice Needed

A seventeen year old girl had her NYS health insurance cancelled because she used it too much.

She is sick and needs some medical attention but can't get it for lack of insurance.

No one in the school seems to know where she can turn for help. We've checked with guidance, the health office, the social worker and the parent coordinator (who at least has a few ideas).

This girl is being abused by the system.

I'm looking for any real advice I can get to pass on to her.

Ms Nose In The Air

Here

Snowy Regents Day

My park

My bus shelter

I saw the snow, got scared and took the bus. I love my metro card. I always have one with extra money on it in my wallet.
Why risk my car and my safety on roads like these when I live and work in places easily accessible by public transportation.

This poor guy looked miserable. He is here from California for four months and he is not enjoying the weather at all.

Me, I adjusted my I-pod, took out my camera and enjoyed my trip.

View from the bus window


All we had at to do in school today was mark a few regents exams. It was an easy day. Too easy a day to stay home.

I still want this guy's job!
Teacher footprints in the snow

Little Ms POd On My Shoulder

When Ginny saw me after the Math B regents, she ran over and gave me a big hug. Since Ginny is not a particularly good math student, I was wondering why?

"Ms. POd", she said. "I was failing math but Mr. P said he would pass me if I passed the regents. He didn't think I could possibly pass. I know I passed. He only taught me 1/3 of the work. I learned the other 2/3 from you last year. While doing the exam I felt like I had a Ms. POd sitting on my shoulder yelling out things like CPCTC. I'm bringing you a big bouquet of flowers when I get my grade."

I don't know if Ginny passed or not. It is nice to know that she felt confident about the things she learned in my class. I do know, that the papers I marked from the kids I taught last year, the proofs were right. I'm going to look for Ginny's paper as soon as we finish marking tomorrow. She made my day!

Like A Bat Out Of Hell

There is nothing like creating a warm, comforting environment for kids taking a regents exam, especially when these children have unsuccessfully taken the exam before.

YOU CAN REMOVE THE GIRL FROM THE BRONX BUT THE BRONX CAN NEVER BE REMOVED FROM THE GIRL. The Bronx in me demanded this story be told. Sorry, it is only being told here.

EGS

Not the scrambled kind of eggs, the electronic grading kind.

Grades are due tomorrow and it took me twenty minutes to find an available computer to work on in school today.

The four computers in the library just don't cut the mustard for a school this size.

Thank you resource room teachers for allowing me to use yours.

(I did finish my grades before I wrote this post!)

See You Guys In A Week...

The hawk was back so I took out my camera in hopes of getting another picture. I guess it was good that it was not around. The kids always go nuts when they watch this guy devouring a squirrel.

While the camera was out, I asked if I could take a picture of T. If he only put the same effort into math that he puts into coordinating his clothing he would not be stressing over whether he is passing this class or not.
These two had to get into the action and get a picture taken. I managed to use photoshop to crop out the faces. Too bad I can't show them. The boys eyes twinkle. The boy is really trying to pass this class (too bad he started trying so late in the term) and the girl is a pain in the you know where. The kids were working on a practice sheet for our "Last Chance Harvey" exam. (One last test to try to pass the semester--they seem to relate to movies better than they relate to math.) And, surprisingly enough, it worked!

Being A Saver Pays Off

If you keep things long enough, they will be back in fashion.

I bought these boots in the mid 1980's. The kids went wild over them. They are the exact style they are wearing today.

Another Departmental Conference

Details here.

UFT Newspaper

I only read the UFT paper to for two things. One is to see if anyone I know has died. The other is to check for special events. Last month, there was an offer for Shrek. The price, $109, was not cheap, but it was better than the box office price and I decided to treat us to a show that was not on TDF. All I can say is that it was worth the money. It was just a fun, lively show. The music and special effects were fantastic.

We got there early. It was so cold we decided to walk around the American Craftsman (52 St and 7th Avenue). I found this great new kitchen clock. I'm a sucker for anything with a face. The weirder the expression the better it is.
I was pretty upset reading this month's union rag--all that talk about how the UFT is doing so much to help the ATRs, teaching them how to write resumes and to go on interviews, as if these intelligent, experienced adults are clueless and then I thought of these tickets and the show I would not have seen without the paper. I just have to remember to turn away from the ugly pages without reading them.

Don't Judge This Book By Its Cover

How do you write a recommendation letter for someone you believe in, someone who has really grown, someone who has a transcript that is far from inspirational. Here is my attempt. I hope it helps.

To Whom It May Concern:

John Smith is a young man whose intellect and virtues go far beyond what the numbers on his transcript represent. To evaluate the true John, a person must know him and know the tremendous strives he has made in the last year.

John is an extremely bright young man. When I first met him, school was a place he came to spend time and he did not take it too seriously. Over the course of the year, he slowly matured and began to realize that an education was very important. Slowly, at first, he began solving difficult problems. He was able to reason out solutions to examples that baffled others. His test grades improved. He now regrets the errors of his ways and is planning on a bright future. John is so concerned about doing well that he spends most of his free time getting extra help in many areas. Now, he is not concerned about passing. He just wants his grades to soar.

John told me that he plans on studying engineering in college. He knows it will be a long, difficult journey. He knows he has to make up some of the areas he slacked off in during his high school years. I know he is ready to do this. His mind is sharp and inquisitive. He is determined. He is more than ready for this challenge. My own son studied computer engineering in college and is now a successful engineer. He too had to grow into school. I see in John the same qualities my son has.

Any school that John attends will benefit from having this bright, funny, kind, caring, virtuous young man as part of their student body. I recommend him highly.

Sincerely yours,


Ms POd
Math teacher

To The Teachers Who Molded Me

A special thank you to some of the teachers I have had. You gave so much more than academics. You helped me become the kind of teacher I wanted to be.

From JHS 113, in the Bronx

To Mr. O'Leary who took a whole bunch of us to Chinese restaurant for lunch in his little Volkswagon bug. He did not say a word when I ordered a lettuce and tomato sandwich.

From Evander Childs HS, also in the Bronx

To Mr. Josephs the English teacher who met with us in a neighborhood church during the teacher's strike in the 60's.

To Mrs. Nierenblatt, the economics teacher who invited us all to her fancy house in New Rochelle to celebrate our successes.

To Mr. Stohler, (I think I might have his name slightly wrong), the academic team's advisor who drove us there.

To Mrs. Palley who took us out to lunch to celebrate the perfect score we got on our regents exams.

To Mr. Sodicow, the ARISTA advisor and English teacher who claimed to hate us all but spent hours after school working on special projects with us.

I hope there will be a day when students will have these good memories of me and what I tried to do for them.

A Good Way To Spend A Saturday Morning

Spending time outside of school tutoring my students is nothing new to me. It is something I have always done since my first days teaching. My colleague friends always did it to and we never thought twice about the number of hours we spent doing it. Our classrooms were always open early in the morning and they were filled with kids looking for extra help. We held review sessions during regents week and the kids piled in also. It never occurred to any of us that this was something we should not be doing. It wasn't even until I started at my present school that I learned teachers could actually get paid for staying extra to do this.

Helping my students is a big part of who I am. Maybe its my insecurity, my belief that if I was better at my job, they would be doing better in class. I don't know. I just know it is what I do. Years ago, before we had to worry about consequences of getting too close to students, I used to hold review sessions in my basement. I would take my kid's big blackboard, we sat around the basement floor and worked for hours. My own kids grew up watching my students learn. It is too dangerous to do this now so all my tutoring is confined to school. Over the years, I've worked with them on soccer fields, in gyms and in lunchrooms.

This semester I have no regents classes but a few weeks ago it occurred to me that no tutoring was being offered for the Math B regents. Thank you Mayor Bloomberg for cutting our budget so no funds are available for this. I started getting nervous. Although these kids are not mine now, about 60 of them were mine last year for the first two-thirds of the term. They weren't the strongest math students and I wondered how they would do without extra help. So, what is a nut like me to do? I held a regents review session this morning. Most of the kids are on the senior trip this weekend (a stupid weekend for this since it is right before regents exams and every senior must take at least one exam) and I did announce this at the last minute, but I had a decent turn out. The kids showed up at 10:00 AM (some were there much earlier) full of questions and topics to be clarified. I went over everything they asked and taught them some "legal cheating" (ways to beat the system using the graphing calculator). All in all, it was a great morning. It got my adrenaline going and I feel ready to come home and conquer the world.

I don't do per session. If money was offered, I would have left the tutoring to others. The paltry amount I would receive could not compensate my weekend of lost time. Doing what I did today is what works for me. The reward I got from these kids as they left the room is better than any paycheck I will ever receive. I intend to do the same thing for the kids in my geometry classes who take the regents in June.

Many years ago, when I first started in my present school, a veteran teacher said, "In this school, we don't tutor students." I answered, "This teacher does." That teacher is long gone. This teacher will be gone soon. I'm hoping the new crop of teachers will be more like this than that.

Please Send Money

Dear Fellow Constituent:

The George W. Bush Presidential Library is now in the planning stages
and accepting donations.

The Library will include:

1. The Hurricane Katrina Room, which is still under construction.
2. The Alberto Gonzales Room, where you won't be able to remember anything.
3. The Texas Air National Guard Room, where you don't even have to show up.
4. The Walter Reed Hospital Room, where they don't let you in.
5. The Guantanamo Bay Room, where they don't let you out.
6. The Weapons of Mass Destruction Room, which no one has been able to find.
7. The National Debt Room, which is huge and has no ceiling.
8. The Tax Cut Room, with entry only to the wealthy.
9. The Economy Room, which is in the toilet.
10. The Iraq War Room. (After you complete your first visit, they make
you go back for a second, third, fourth, and sometimes fifth visit.)
11. The Dick Cheney Room, in an undisclosed location, complete with shooting gallery.
12. The Environmental Conservation Room, still empty.
13. The Supreme Court Gift Shop, where you can buy an election.
14. The Airport Men's Room, where you can meet some of your favorite
Republican Senators.
15. The Decider Room, complete with dart board, magic 8-ball, Ouija
board, dice, coins, and straws.

Note: The library will feature an electron microscope to help you locate
and view the President's accomplishments.

The library will also include many famous Quotes by George W.Bush:

1. 'The vast majority of our imports come from outside the country.'
2. 'If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure.'
3. 'Republicans understand the importance of bondage between a mother
and child.'
4. 'No senior citizen should ever have to choose between prescription
drugs and medicine.'
5. 'I believe we are on an irreversible trend toward more freedom and
democracy - but that could change.'
6. 'One word sums up probably the responsibility of any Governor, and
that one word is 'to be prepared'.'
7. 'Verbosity leads to unclear, inarticulate things.'
8. 'I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments
in the future.'
9. 'The future will be better tomorrow.'
10. 'We're going to have the best educated American people in the world..'
11. 'One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some
fantastic pictures.' (during an education photo-op)
12. 'Illegitimacy is something we should talk about in terms of not
having it.'
13. 'We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur.'
14. 'It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the
impurities in our air and water that are doing it.'
15. 'I stand by all the misstatements that I've made.'...George W.Bush
to Sam Donaldson

PLEASE GIVE GENEROUSLY!

Sincerely,
Jack Abramoff, Co-Chair
G.W. Bush Library Board of Directors