Truth In A Sitcom

Last year, my husband was watching 'Till Death" where the lead actor, Brad Garrett, played a high school history teacher who, to put it mildly, was not on his Principal's Christmas list.  In one episode, the teachers were going to be evaluated on the basis of their student's grades.  Kids were shuffled around the the deck was stacked against this teacher.  His only hope, was one boy, a brilliant kid who would only perform if his teachers paid him.  The Brad Garrett character refused and the story line with the promise of a lost job was played out.  I don't remember how it ended, although I do know he kept his job. 

This was a comedy show, not intended to mimic real life but that is exactly what it did.  Last year a student told me he knew I needed him to do well if I wanted to keep my job.  (Not true at the time, but true now.)  And, I know classes are stacked.  I've gotten more than my share of the neediest kids in the building.

With 40% of a teacher's evaluation dependent upon test scores, scores gotten by kids who can't or won't do any better and 60% by principal evaluation, principals who can be vindictive and have no idea as to what makes good teaching, the profession is doomed.  I'm glad I was able to get out when I did.  Lots of other good teachers are going to be leaving too.  This new evaluation system will do nothing but hurt the students it is designed to help.

War



Here

Definition

Urban Dictionary: ass kisser
A person who sucks up to people in a position of authority in order to get some kind of reward or perks.

Thanks to H for sharing.

Administration Bonuses



Based on last year's scholarship report, some assistant principals  and principals got big bonuses.  No wonder they rode everyone so hard to make sure the little kiddies got through. 

And slaves teachers, what did you get for your hard work?  Well, I am sure you got the undying gratitude of those whose pockets you helped fill.  You'll also keep feeling the whip to ensure their wallets don't empty.

Kudos to Mr. AP for taking his department out to celebrate and footing the bill.  He knows who got him the extra bucks and is sharing in a caring way.  I hope he remembers the teachers who left, whose hard work got him the extra bucks.

Three Sided Story



Mr. AP always went on and on about Ms. JKIP and how wonderful her statistics were.  Ten years after her retirement, he is still praising her up the kazoo.  But, as we all know, there are three sides to every story, the one he tells, the one I will tell and the one in the middle, which I will also try to tell.

Mr. AP's side:  Ms. JKIP was G-d's gift to the teaching profession.  Her statistics were always tops.  No one did better than her when it came to getting kids to pass the regents.  Because of this, she always got the best classes to teach.

My take:  When programs were distributed, a howl sounded throughout the building expressing the agony of the students who found her name on their program card.  A huge line of these students formed outside the guidance office as counselors were bombarded with requests for program changes.  Their phones rang off the hook too, as parent after parent called, requesting program changes.  Only the strong managed to survive Ms. JKIP.  Her screaming, even over the slightest deviation in homework, brought many to tears.  A man who had Ms. JKIP in the '70's still shutters at the sound of her name and remembers vividly the hoops his parents jumped through to get him out of her class when he saw her name on his schedule for a second year.  Ms. JKIP also managed to have students who were failing or even slightly disruptive removed from her classes.  Since these kids ended up elsewhere, it is a no brainer to understand why her stats were always the best.  (Other teachers, just as good or even better, picked up these kids and got many to pass.)  While Ms. JKIP did succeed with many, you have to wonder about the kids she lost along the ways, the ones that could not take her czarist style.  I often think my own daughter would not have pursued a career in math if she had a teacher like this.  Her love of mathematics would have been crushed early on.  Ms. JKIP was late at least three days a week to her period one class, but that was okay as she was the teacher.  But, if a student walked in late, all hell broke loose. 

The Third Side:  Ms. JKIP was an excellent teacher.  She spent hours preparing lessons and agonized over every question she put on her exams to make sure they tested exactly what was taught.  She knew how to explain topics and to get across her points.  She ruled her classes with an iron hand and had absolutely no discipline problems.  From a technical point of view, she was a master teacher.

Ms. JKIP had her good side as well as her bad.  Did her good compensate for her bad?  Are the comparisons fair?  Would the kids who passed with her have passed with other teachers as well?  If all teachers were like Ms. JKIP, what would happen to those who just can't follow the rules to the letter?

From Memo-022

In case you have not heard, Ms. SDRD was able to get 93.75% of the students in her MR33 to pass the MXRT Regents this past January.  That broke the old record set by Ms. JKIP (91.5% passing off-track).  Congratulations to her and her students.

A teacher of a class similar to these --no accusation, just commenting on something observed.

Who's Monitoring The Teachers



Korean and Chinese teachers stood in the room while the students took the regents exam.  The exam was not given in either of these languages and the AP didn't want the kids to do poorly because of language. 

One of the exams was given in the native language but the AP decided the translation was misleading, so once again he had a teacher standing in the room explaining what was being asked.

Everyone in the department knew that these teachers did a lot more than translate.  They reworded the questions so their students would understand what was being asked.  Many native American speakers didn't understand the words either and could also have benefited from the translation (even English needs to be translated into words these kids can understand) but no one was permitted to answer their questions.  I remember the teacher asking for a good explanation of the word ishkabible (real word would give away the subject) for the students in her room, since there is no word for that in her language.  It is a word they had been taught, if the curriculum was followed.  Just as many native English speakers had trouble with that word too.

When the regents results were tabulated, the students in the rooms with the translators had either 100% or close to 100% passing, with most grades over 80.  Their results were significantly better than those who did not have this benefit.  No one could have monitored the translators without being fluent in the language they were speaking.  When the teacher went over to privately talk to the student, answers could have been given and no one would have been the wiser.

And now the state is raising standards and everyone is aiming for that 80 on a regents exam.  Teachers will be judged on their students exams.  No wonder the teachers of these non English speakers come out on top.

City Day

Last weekend was a city day.  The Lower East Side is a neighborhood I have neglected, but a little blurb in Time Out NY got me to visit a gallery on Freeman Alley, an actual Alley off Rivington St, near the Bowery. It only took three phone calls to find it as it is not on any map I could find.

Freeman Alley reminded me of some of the ones I saw in East Germany.  The walls are graffiti covered.  It holds two galleries and a really great "revolutionary war" restaurant.

There were two highlights to the day.  One was seeing this old synagogue on Rivington St.

And the other was the Jon Kessler exhibit in Salon 94 Gallery on Bowery and Stanton.  Live-like cutouts of people were everywhere and of course everything had some blue in it.  Live cameras rotated the room projecting interchanging videos on many different screens.

Walking around after, (I think this was on Prince St) was this building with painted windows and a few real ones in between.

So many good, fun things to do in NYC and you don't have to spend more than subway fare to do them.

More pictures here.

From A Former Packemin Student (Not One Of Mine)

Blame The City



Two ATRs--both good teachers who became ATRs through no fault of their own.

Both went on hundreds of interviews and even got jobs.  Unfortunately for the students, these jobs only lasted one year before they were excessed and then replaced with either no one or another ATR, often an ATR out of license,

This went on for years. the teachers went from school to school filling vacancies, not starting until well into the semester.  Both got rave reviews from their supervisors before they were placed back in the ATR pool.

One still believed in the system and wanted a real teaching job.  She took one in a school that will be closed down.  While other teachers in the department had 25 -29 in a class, her classes had 34 each.  Ten minute teachers roamed the halls, entered her classroom and told her what she was doing wrong.  She was threatened by the students.  There was no discipline.  She couldn't believe she ended up in this place and vowed, when she re-enters the ATR pool to never take a job like this again.

The second one got smarter, earlier.  She finally realized that she can collect her full paycheck without the work and aggravation.  She has resigned herself to being a very highly paid hall monitor and concentrates on meeting interesting people as she roams from school to school every two weeks.  She has vowed not to take a job unless it is permanent and not in a school threatened with closure.  She misses teaching but she wants to remain safe and to keep the paycheck coming.

Two great teachers being kept from the students, permanently disillusioned by a system that failed them and the children they love.  A big loss to everyone. Like the felled tree, the teachers have been deemed useless.

Real Progress

Rebuilding the twin towers.

Taken from Prince St and Broadway

Bragging A Bit, But My Ego Needs It

Hey professor, this is Vanessa from last term's math class, I was just
wondering if you were teaching pre-calculus at all this term because I registered for a class at the same time and day that I thought you would be teaching, and my teacher is a nice guy, but I really wanted to take your class if you have one, between you and me, you are a much better teacher. Thanks

Gem

Home health care workers.

Bless the women (and men) who spend hours caring for the sick, disbled and elderly.

Bless their patience and their talent.

The woman who takes care of my dad is a saint.  She knows how to make him happy while doing everything in her power to take good care of him.  Even with the fractured shoulder he looks better now than he has in a long time.  He even seems happy.

I don't know this woman's education background.  I am guessing she is not a Harvard graduate because you don't usually find Ivy Leaguers doing this kind of work.  But, she is just as smart and talented as any of them.  My dad is lucky she pursued this career and lucky to have found her.  People who do the work she does need to be respected and paid well.  They provide a much needed service.  (She is also making a lot of money to send to her family, much better than many college grads.)

This, I Will Miss



A trip to the libary reminded me that this is Black History month. 

Not working, I will miss one of my favorite activities of the year--the assembly celebrating this month.  I'll especially miss the Step team.  I hope my favorite female, Taylor, is performing this year. 

I am sure it will be as remarkable as ever and envy those who will get to enjoy it this year.

My Son Didn't Grow Up To Be A Serial Killer

When my children were little, I tried to be one of those parents that did everything right.  (Son and daughter can now comment and tell me what a crappy parent I was and still am.) I  It was especially important to keep them away from toy guns as I didn't want them exposed to any sort of violence.

I soon learned this was impossible to do.  As I waited for my two-year old's pre-school teacher to arrive, I watched little boys remove their bananas from their lunch and pick up pieces of string and pretend to shoot one another.  At that point, I decided he might as well have the real thing like his best friend on the block had.  (This boy came from a wonderful intact family with no history of violence or criminal behavior.)  The toy pistol had no detrimental effect on his development or on the development of the boy on the corner (or any of his older siblings who I assume also grew up playing with guns.) I proudly say that all these young people lead exemplary lives.  They have never robbed or killed anyone.

I just heard about parents in Queens who are upset about their 5-year old daughter having a homework sheet containing the words GUN and ROB.  They feel it is inappropriate to teach little children such violent words and they are afraid these words will teach their daughter that these behaviors are acceptable.  I have to wonder what is wrong with parents like this?  If their child will be corrupted by these three letter words, I wonder what they are teaching this little girl at home?  And, to have a teacher apologize for using them?  How ridiculous!  These are words kids here every day.  The teacher didn't tell the children to take the gun and rob the convenience store.  She told them to practice writing. 

So now, because of these two parents who chose to make a big deal about nothing, this teacher will have all her work monitored by her supervisor.  These parents are lucky that a couple of words are the only thing to get them upset.

Don't Mess With Me

Thanks Vicki

Adopting Orphans



As I look back on my career, I say thank goodness merit pay was never in place while I was in the classroom.  I think about all the kids I would never have helped and wonder where some of them would be now without that extra care.

I've always felt like an outsider in every phase of my life and because of this, I've always looked to associate myself with people like myself.  Whenever I saw a kid in need, a kid who seemed lost and unable to fit with anyone else, I befriended that kid and did my darnedest to get that kid through.  The students I chose were never in my classes.  (This doesn't mean I didn't help my own students as well.) Not only did I work with these kids on their math skills, I helped them with guidance issues and even got to know parents.  I know I made a difference when I see where many of them are today.

I never would have gotten a penny of merit pay for my efforts.  I never even thought about getting anything for them either, except for the satisfaction of seeing a young person move on with his/her life.  I was never an administration favorite (or even a liked person) as I have a tendency to say what I think, even if it is not politically correct.  It took 30 years for a principal to be outsmarted so the kids could give me this award which had nothing to do with money.

My friend, NYC Ed as well as countless other teachers have done the same over the years.  I worked with ATRs who were never noticed (unless of course something was amiss) who did more for some of these kids than anyone ever did.  Another ATR I know agreed to teach a Saturday lab when none of the regular teachers wanted to work.  That ATR was rewarded with an excess letter at the end of the semester.

Merit pay is the worst idea anyone could ever come up with. Not only will it not make people work any better, it will make them do less.  I know, the orphans I helped along the way would not have gotten that help if I watched others being rewarded for my efforts. 

I don't have an answer to fixing education.  Smaller classes would help.  More relevant curriculum's would be effective too.  And, not expecting everyone to be able to attend Harvard would be a step in the right direction.  The only thing I do know is that merit pay is something that will never work.

Go To Hell



Here's  a great way to attract quality teachers--Tier 6 Pension Plan.

Let's charge them more and give them less.  Let's face it, the politicians don't care about kids or any state workers for that matter.  All this stuff about teacher evaluations and a quality teacher in every classroom is just a load of malarkey as far as any of them are concerned.  This pension plan will keep quality people from ever entering the profession.

The GO TO HELL message comes straight from Governor I hate Unions Cuomo.

Empty Seat That Will Be Impossible To Fill

The last real AP at Packemin HS recently retired.  His departure is a great loss to the school. 

This AP was a real teacher.  He knew his material backwards and forwards and could always be counted on to know the correct answer and the correct way to teach.  He truly was a master teacher. The kids adored him and did well in his class.  He knew how to teach new teachers their craft.  The vacant spot he leaves will be impossible to fill.

This real AP did not get is certification in a weekend class.  He taught for more than 5 minutes before taking the reigns of his department.  Unlike at least one of the other ones, he passed his teaching exam the first time. 

The students at Packemin will be the real ones to suffer.

This administrator worked hard and has earned his well deserved retirement.  I wish him a long, happy, healthy stress free work free life.

Putin Said It All

"You pour diarrhea over me day and night."

Vladimir Putin

in a conversation with the editor or Ekho Moskvy

a liberal Moscow station.

I read this quote in the January 30, 2012 edition of Newsweek Magazine (I got a year subscription free from some site--don't ask me which one).  I had to post it.  I so hope a certain individual from Packemin feels I am doing this to him/her.



You Belong Behind Bars



Hey you guys in high school.  Stop patting yourself on the back for your math statistics.  You are doing a shitty job of educating the kids.  They are coming in to college, into classes where calculator use is prohibited and they are dying.  They don't know multiplication tables.  They can't divide.   Fractions and decimals are a new language to them.  You've done nothing but put a calculator in their hands and teach them to push a few buttons.  You took ninth graders who knew something and turned them into total dummies by the time they graduated.  You should be ashamed of yourself.

CUNY is now requiring kids to come in with three years of high school math and with a minimum score of an 80 on at least one of these exams.  If they don't have this, they must take a remedial class, a class to teach them everything you didn't teach in the four years you had them.  (Those who got the grade and skipped remedial are in real trouble.)  And, they have to use their brains, no calculators are permitted.  For all of you who pushed them to use the fraction button instead of forcing them to learn, for telling them not to worry about signs, the calculator would do that for them and for all other basic functions, you committed a criminal act.  And, to the AP who pushed the calculator when it came to solving equations, shame on you.  And shame on you too for the way you trained new teachers in your departments.  You threatened them with U ratings if they did not use a calculator every day and you pushed guess and check with multiple choice.  Colleges, as a rule, do not give multiple choice exams.

Kids today are no less intellectually endowed than they were years ago.  But you people setting education policies are.  You've fucked with their minds so much, you have ruined them.  You all got your good statistics.  You bragged and patted yourselves on the back for a job well done, but, you've done the crappiest job imaginable.  And now, the kids are paying.

(Forgive the rant. I get so upset when I see the educational neglect my college students have received all these years.  If a parent did this to a child, there would be major jail time.)

Two Left Feet



I can't do two things at once.  My brain won't allow me to use my left hand with my right foot and I can't remember when I should move forward or when I should move back and it is not the teacher's fault.  She is great.  She moves around the room, her eyes fixed on the mirror where she can model in front of the people that need the modeling the most.  Many of my students can't think and write at the same time.  I've had many students who are verbally excellent but fall apart as soon as their work must go on a piece of paper. Sure they say they multi task the things they are interested in, we all do, but I now understand their test taking problems a little better.

Active Participation Is Not For Everyone



Mr. Principal walked into Ms. Worrier's class.  He  noticed a class that was participating and actively involved in the lesson.  He also noticed Shyboy, a young man who did not speak once during the 15 minute drive by observation.  Mr. Principal asked the boy's name and then looked up his record on his I-pad.  He saw that Shyboy was a poor student.

Later in the day, Ms. Worrier got a letter requiring her to attend a meeting with Mr. Principal.  She couldn't think of anything she had done wrong, but her nature got the best of her.  As her stomach churned, she made her way to his office.

Once inside, Mr. Principal did commend Ms. Worrier on some of the things he saw.  She, however, looked in his eyes and saw the big but about to arrive.  Sure enough, without hesitation, it all came out.  Mr. Principal began reprimanding Ms. Worrier because Shyboy was not called on during the period.  She tried to explain Shyboy's fear of talking, his thick accent and his fear of getting the wrong answer.  She explained Shyboy had been a cutter and she didn't want to do anything to scare him off.  Mr. Principal didn't care.  He told her everyone should be forced to participate.

I was reminded of this incident during today's Zumba class.  I have two left feet and am as graceful as an elephant in a china shop.  I always stand in the back and try to stay behind a fat woman so I cannot even be seen in the mirror.  After 20 minutes, the teacher had everyone in the back move to the front.  I thought I would die.  I stayed several minutes and then slowly made my way back.  The teacher noticed and said nothing.  She came back a few times to offer help and encouragement, but she let me be.  I finished the class and plan on going to many more.  If she had made an issue about my position, I probably would have left and never returned. 

Ms. Worrier knew her student.  She knew the best way to reach him was to let him be.  She didn't scare him off by forcing him to do something he didn't want to do.  He worked hard in class and his refusal to speak had nothing to do with his learning.  Shyboy went on to pass the class and pass the regents.

Active participation is not for everyone.  Too bad administrators don't know that.  It is a shame Ms. Worrier was put on the spot, forced to unsuccessfully defend herself when she did what was best for the child.

The Widow

The woman with the terminally ill husband used her ten self treated sick days to care for him.  Although he was the one dying, she was physically ill as well.  The stress and strain of caring for him took a major toll on her health.  Now, he is gone.  Her sick days are gone as well.  After her week of bereavement she doesn't know if she will be able to face the classroom again right away.  She wonders what her future will be like without the man she loved.  She wonders if her job will hold up if she needs more time off to heal.

Memo_021 Or The Brilliance Of An Administrator (Sarcasm Intended)



This memo was disappointing--not too much fun stuff, but one line stuck out so I will share it here:

Spending two weeks to review old topics before teaching the new topics is probably not a great idea because you will have less time to teach the lessons.  Review also only works for students who forgot not those who did not learn

The man is brilliant. He knows review doesn't work with kids who know nothing to start with.  An AP, the master teacher of the department should have an answer. But, his students don't have this problem.  They all learn.  And, when they don't, they magically get transferred to another class.

(According to Yogi, he was smarter than the average bear, an overestimate of his intelligence.)

Appreciation



I covered a class in the college today and taught for the entire time.  The class was attentive and worked the entire time.   At the end, they thanked me for being there. The administration thanked me for coming in.

The people in charge of NYC schools can learn a lot from these community college kids.

It's not about the money.  A million dollars couldn't get me back in a high school.  Appreciation and respect is what does it for me.

Cut Throat Games



My mom loved playing games, especially with her children.  She helped me learned to recognize my numbers and then to count using decks of cards.  She taught me to add playing Casino.  She helped me improve my spelling, vocabulary and even arithmetic through Scrabble.  It was always fun playing with her.  Winning wasn't the ultimate goal, learning was. 

A friend just introduced me to Words With Friends, an Internet game, similar to Scrabble but different enough to avoid copyright infringement.  Remembering the days with my mom, I thought it would be fun, but it's not nearly as enjoyable as I anticipated.  My friend (I should say friends because I have several games going) play cut throat.  No one, including me, leaves an opening for anyone else.  I find myself passing turns rather than leave a possible opening. 

I guess competition is not for me.  I want to go back to playing games, learning some new words and just having fun.  I never knew that ae was a word and frankly, I don't care.  It is one I will never use.

ISS Personnel With The Same IQ As the Basic II Kids They Educate



A child with a 75 IQ does not belong in a college class, no way, no how.

Some idiot guidance counselor or ISS administrator decided that Ginny should go to college.  She probably had lots of assistance (in the past, this would have been called cheating) on state regents exams as there is no other way for her to have passed them.  The person in charge, with an IQ that is probably lower than Ginny's and without any morals only cared about the school's stats.  After all, who could it hurt if Ginny sat in college?  Didn't these imbeciles realize the damage they were doing to this poor girl?  Didn't they even think about the money her family was throwing in the trash?

We did exponents in my remedial class tonight.  Ginny couldn't even get the hang of 8^3 meaning 8 x 8 x 8, let alone get a correct answer.  I asked her if she had an IEP.  She didn't even know what one was but eventually she found a yellow paper that she was told to give her teachers for test accommodations.

I hate all this emphasis on statistics and worse than that, I hate the low lifes in charge who put their school's AYP before the children they are supposed to care about.

Over 50--Get Out



It's the same shit no matter where you teach in NYC.  If you are over 50, they are out to get you.

Dinner tonight got me talking to a friend who teaches in a grades k - 5 school.  She has been there for 18 years and was always well liked.  Well, her once excellent school is not even a good school any more and administration is worried about the C the school got on its last report card.  The AP knows he better start shaking up the place or he could very well become an ATR. It looks like the shake up is starting with her.

Friend is teaching a grade 2 class.  She has already recommended five of her students for ISS classes.  Recently, a boy from another country (English speaking) was placed in her class.  He cannot sit still.  He scribbles on every test instead of trying to do it (he doesn't even know his alphabet).  He fights with the other children.  Last week, he pushed another student into the closet and closed the door on him.  He pushed a girl to the floor and pounded her with his fists.  He has assaulted my friend.  She has written him up many times.  Nothing has been done for the child.  The cluster teachers have also written this boy up and still no help or guidance has come his way.

Friend was told she is to meet with her AP tomorrow afternoon.  The AP has written friend up three times so far this year.  Infractions include not having written differentiated lessons for this boy and for not keeping him engaged during the class.  Yes, Friend is being disciplined, not the student.  Friend says the school has no room for him in the ISS classes and will keep making excuses to keep him in  regular classes.

So far the write ups have not been file letters and every one of her observations have been satisfactory, and although she isn't worried, I am.  She is thinking the AP just wants to offer advice and help.  I hope she is right.