Confusion

ARIS says the kid has an IEP. The ISS supervisor says he doesn't have one.

Who do I believe?

If I take away his extended time, will I be in violation of the law?

Damn you ARIS, the more I know,the more confused I get.

More Truthful Than ARIS

Mervin's mother verified his what he told me about his middle school performance.

Tutored But Still Confused

I got some ARIS tutoring today and learned how to find middle school transcripts. You'd think that if they wanted us to use this system, someone would teach all the little ins and outs.

The first thing I did was look up Mervin's record. I was surprised to see passing grades next to almost all his subjects after what he told me yesterday. So, the first thing I did today was confront him. He looked at me like I was hallucinating and told me he didn't pass anything last year. Another kid jumped in and said he didn't pass anything either, although his record shows passing grades. After some discussion the kids conceded that they might have passed the final marking period, but had failed all of the previous ones.

Now I am really confused. Are the kids lying because it is cool to fail? Are they wrong and think they failed when the didn't? Did someone change the grades along the way? (Of course not, that would be so illegal.) All this data stuff is just too complicated and not worth the effort. I only looked because I wanted the kids to know I cared and knew stuff about them. I feel I know less now than before I looked.

Social Promotion Is Alive and Well In NYC

Mervin sits in class day after day and whines about not liking math and he refuses to do any work. Conversations with his mom have been futile I asked him today why he hates me, what is it about me that makes him not want to do any work. After much thought he said "Middle school. You weren't my teacher in middle school." When I asked him to explain he just said that I should check his record and I would find that he did not pass a single subject last year.

I have been trying to be a twenty first century teacher and use my data and I have been checking records on ARIS (even though I found out Principals get a bonus if a certain percentage of teachers sign on to this system and I hate helping them get money this way) but ARIS has no eighth grade records to check. Eighty billion dollars and the damn computer cannot hold a child's entire school record, amazing!

Bloomberg claims to have stopped social promotion. If that is the case, why is this kid dancing in high school now?

Data Doo Doo

I still don't have the hang of all this data stuff.

My ME 41 class seems pretty bright. I checked ARIS and most scored 3's on eighth grade assessments. Why they are in a four term class is beyond me. Mr. AP wanted us to give assessment tests. Unfortunately, when he mailed it out, I only got 10 out of the 20 questions so that was all I gave them to do. But, all except two kids got 7 or more correct so they obviously have not only seen the material before, they understand it pretty well. (I didn't need ARIS or the assessment test to tell me that.) I'm giving them their first test on Tuesday and Mr. AP wants to wait to see how they do before he makes any changes.

Guidance counselors have the same access to ARIS I have. Most of these kids took some sort of placement test before starting Packemin. Yet, they are obviously severely misprogrammed. And, what are we going to do, play with the data until it comes out the way we want it to? Will the school really reprogram 25 kids to make sure they are in the right class? And how about the special ed kids in this group? Many of them also scored well.

All this data stuff belongs here.

Honeymoon

The algebra classes are not what I expected. ARIS gave me a whole bunch of data that just seems wrong about most of them. The kids are great and they seem to have more than a clue as to what is going on.

They were ready to begin on the first day of classes. No one said "I don't have a notebook" or "I need a pen." And, when I started working, they worked without complaint. They were not afraid to participate. Nobody observing would have been able to distinguish the special education kids from the regular ed kids. The only way I noticed was from the code on their attendance sheets. I even got homework from almost all of them and the grumbling about weekend homework was barely there.

I'm still not sure how I like this team teaching bit. So far, I've only had a substitute in the room. The extra hands, eyes and ears are nice but there is a price to pay for it. (More on this in another post.) Not that the price is high, but if you remember from previous posts, I am cheap, and it is more than I want to spend.

Well, I won't let myself get too comfortable. It is only the first week and we are still on our honeymoon but I think I will enjoy it for as long as I can. Who knows, maybe this relationship will last for the year? Stranger things have happened.

An Apology

I found a use for ARIS!

I was able to export my class list to excel and get my class spreadsheet in seconds.

I guess it is worth $80 billion afterall.

Pushing Buttons

I love pushing buttons and clicking things and ARIS has given me a whole new set of buttons to click on.

I clicked the button to find the eight grade NYS assessments. After conferring with a colleague, I even think I understand them.

In my class of 35 students (over sized at the moment), I have three 2s and two 1s. In my class of 33, I have one 4, four 2s and one 1. The T class, which is combined with one of the other two will add four more students split with 2s and 3s. I also realized that the T class will be very over sized as these kids are just an addition to the already existing classes. I wonder whether this is a problem that will be rectified or a new way the Bloomberg/Klein regime found to legally create over sized classes.

I thought 3s were okay until I talked to an colleague from an intermediate school and she convinced me otherwise. I've heard the 2s and 1s know almost nothing.

What I would like to know is why an $80 billion computer like ARIS can't come up with a program that will put like abilities together. The poor kid with the 4 will be sitting in a class with kids who can't add. What kind of education will he get? With 34+ kids, there is no way to differentiate enough to help the child with the 1.

Somebody else better start pushing some buttons and start getting these kids in the right classes. I've got the data at my fingertips but I have no clue as to how to use it to help these kids.

Data Stress

The more I look at data, the less I like it. I just noticed an ME 41 T class on my program and this has me quite nervous. If my calculus class is still a 7/8 split, it gives me six classes, which can't possibly be correct. If calculus is a single period, I have to revamp the way I teach. The school tried this once before and the grades plummeted. These kids, while good, are not natural math students and need the extra period.

The T means team teaching, something I only did once and dread doing again. Years ago, I team taught with one of my closest friends and it was a nightmare. He was going through some personal issues and I ended up doing all the work. Team teaching now means having a special education teacher with me. I'm nervous about two adults in one room. I tend to do a lot of talking and can't see how this person will help. And, if I end up with a teacher who does not know the math, I will freak. My job is to teach the kids, not the teacher.

In an e-mail, Mr. AP just confirmed my fears--it is a team teaching class with a special ed teacher. Calculus is still the 7/8 split.

Why, did I have to look? Damn you ARIS!

Priceless

Schools are improving due to standardized test data and teachers that can't improve their stats are not doing their jobs. I'm in trouble this year.

I just looked at my two algebra classes.

Class 1 has a register at present of 30 students. Last year 15 were absent more than 20 times, and 8 more than 25 times. Class 2 has a register of 33,with 20 absent more than 15 times, 8 absent more than 25 5 times and 6 absent more than 30 times. One kid was out 45 times and another was out 64 times. (I am willing to bet all I own that the registers of both classes will be up to max before the end of the first week, if they are not up there already.)

Their Acuity Predictives are low. Their attendance is awful. Yet, I will be held accountable for what they produce in my class?

It seems to me these kids have big problems, bigger than anything I am equipped to handle. According to Accountable Talk, if Jack Welch, former CEO of GE and man on top at the Leadership Academy, has his way, you will find me on the unemployment line in June.

$80 billion on a computer to provide the data to show the problems......$0 on how to solve the problems. Priceless.

Trying To Use My Data

They want me to use data, so I am using data. No one is going to accuse this old teacher of being computer illiterate.

At first, I had no idea what all the numbers meant. (I am still confuse about most of them.) Then, I found out that the column I looked at was their Acuity Predictive.

Now, I am not an educational scientist, just a lowly teacher, but it seems to me that kids who scored 58% or higher should not be mixed in with kids who scored 20% or lower.

I've been sending e-mails, doing my usual, busting chops, trying to get answers and get my classes straightened out. Teaching this group does not really appeal to me, but if I am going to teach them, I am going to do it right and I am going to do my darnedest to get them to pass. That means, the group better be as close to homogeneous as possible.

Boredom Sucks

I broke down and looked at ARIS. I wish I didn't.

I found out I am teaching the first term of of Integrated Algebra, the four term sequence. (Teaching AP as well gives me the top and the bottom of the school, a very varied program.) I looked at records and that is why I am depressed.

The majority of my class took the algebra regents in June and the scores ranged from 13% to 79%, with most of the grades in the 20's. I don't know why the 79% is in this group, but I will find out and try to get this poor child out as soon as school starts. Grades this low can mean only one thing--these kids know almost nothing about math.

I also clicked on some icon that gave me the standards from 2007 (I think.) There were red squares and green squares and I am really confused as to what they mean. It looks like three greens meant the kid scored a 3, but if they did, the regents grades never should have been so low. And some kids have rainbow squares so I really am clueless in this area.

Even if I figure out the codes, I still have to figure out a way to get this material across to them. ARIS is giving me no help in this area. Billions of dollars and still no way to help.

I'm going back to playing with the photos I took today. That activity is a lot less painful.

(pictured above is the Capitol Building)

Departmental Conference

Economic crisis? What are you going to do about it? (Not really our topic of discussion, but it might have been.)

Try looking at ARIS.

They Suck Out Our Hearts and Souls

The following is a comment Justice left after reading one of my posts. The school system has sucked my heart out also. I get through by concentrating on the kids I am working with, by the kids who come by to share their successes and by hugs I (I know, I should not be taking them) they give me in the halls as they pass me by.

How can I be "human" when I am being treated inhumanly?How can I show compassion when I am treated with contempt?It seems to me that by introducing this "corporate model" of and increasingly privatized public school system "humanity" is not a factor.

You should've have seen with the reverence and fetish ardour Klein and Liebman spoke about the ARIS system that will tell you everything" about your charges in front of you, at this past week PEP meeting at Tweed. They even produced a young corporate type newbie Math teacher who lovingly talked about how ARIS is helping his students. The newbie "talks" to ARIS on his laptop from home. I am sure he does not talk to his colleagues but he talks to the 81 million computer system! Remember HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey?"I have seen the future and it does not work." Zardoz (1973)