Visiting Success

 



I paid Packemin a visit last week.  It was the day of the senior barbecue and I was curious to see how the tenth graders I taught there my last term before retirement faired.  And, although I had mixed feelings about the adults I would encounter, I had no such feelings towards the students and to say the trip was rewarding, would be an understatemnt.

I was greeted with hugs and embraces so hard that, 4 days later, I can still feel.  Their words, still bring smiles to my face.  So many thanked me for coming and for being on them early on, as they wondered if they would be graduating now without my help.  (They probably would have made it anyway.)  Several told me they couldn't pass math without me and it broke my heart to hear that many of these kids didn't make it through geometry and trigonometry.  I know, with the right push, they all would have succeeded.  And, while they are graduating, most will be in remedial classes in college, in spite of the pre-trig classes they took in high school.

Mr. AP claimed I had nothing to do with the school's stats and his bonus.  That doesn't matter.  These kids know I played a big part in their education and quite frankly, their opinions matter a whole lot more than the actions of some administrator who judges the quality of a teacher by how high they jump when he issues a command.

Being retired, I can post pictures.  Students all gave permission to be photographed.

Packemin Visit



I paid a visit to Packemin this morning to pick up my unused sick day check. We get so much mail for other people, I dread thinking about how much of mine gets lost so I did not want to trust this good sized check to the postman. (I rarely took days off.)

On my way out of the bulding I met Aaron, a sweetheart and a scholar. It felt good signing his yearbook and talking to him about his future plans. It was great hearing about his sister, Liaa, also a former student, who is doing nicely in college.  Liaa didn't do well in high school math, but she worked hard and learned quite a bit.  Her term in remedial math was easy as it was the second time around.

I also ran into Debbie, one of the kids that tortured me two years ago.  She has really grown up nicely.  She even apologized for the way she behaved in class.  She hugged me and told me that I did a lot for her in school and I really helped build her self esteem.  She even got a 73 on the geometry regents.  Unfortunately she is programmed for a pre trig class next term and won't get to go for her third year math regents.  It is sad when statistics mean more than a child's education.  The worst thing to happen would be Debbie failed the regents.  She would learn much more in a trig class than in the class she is going to be in.

On my way home I stopped at a nearby hardware store.  The present owner is also a former student (37 years young.)  We laughed together about what a dingbat he was in high school and how far he has come.  It is a good thing he graduated years ago because today he probably would not have been allowed to complete the advanced regents sequence.

I'm glad Packemin is a nearby school.  I get to keep running into these awesome former students and see how great they've grown.  The post office might have delivered my check but it could not have delivered the unforgettable experience I had picking it up.

(I even enjoyed seeing the adults I ran into.)

Success Does Not Equal Handouts

I've been doing quite a bit of thinking about schools, standards and pushing kids along when they don't deserve to be moved along. I've especially been thinking about the anonymous commenter who writes about Einstein's poor performance in school as well as Mayor Money Bags own problems in high school. This led me to think about some of the other people I know who did not do well in school either and then went on to be successful in life.

No one gave any of these people anything for nothing. They sometimes failed and paid the consequences of their failure. But, they all have innate intelligence and smarts that they were able to use to become the remarkable people that they are. They did not need handouts and people advocating for them to get passing grades they did not deserve. They took they lot they earned and went forward.

Would Einstein have been so great if someone had handed him that paper he did not deserve? Would he have been inspired to keep on working? The answer to this is probably yes, but who knows. The bottom line is that no one could keep him down because that was not where he belonged. He used his gifts and it did not matter what some high school teacher had to say about him. The same is true about Mayor Money Bags and Johnny Walker (not his real name, but a young man who did not want to go to college, became a school custodian and worked himself up to a very lucrative position in life.)

You don't need to be an educational scientist to know kids need advocates, not handouts. We should only be giving them diplomas that mean they learned something and that mean they are prepared to go on in life. I'm betting Einstein would agree.

The Public Needs To Know

I didn't mean to do it, but I was responsible for busting a young man's bubble. I told him the raw score to pass the Integrated Algebra regents was 30 (out of a possible 87) and that a grade of 81 equated to getting only 65% of the exam correct. His grandmother, an educated woman looked at me in disbelief. Thankfully this young man will be attending a private boarding school in Connecticut where he will be able to get a real education, an education very different than the one our education mayor has foisted upon us.

After my encounter with this family, I stopped at the community college where I teach (I had to reverse a grade) and met up with the chairperson. We had a long discussion about grades and how the high schools today are not preparing students to succeed in college. Mr. Education Mayor has improved his graduation rates and at the same time destroyed the success rates of the college.For one business to thrive another must meet the bulldozer. This is what is happening to the community colleges. Their devastation is a by product of the mayor's programs.

It is really hard to fight city hall and win. The high schools must develop curriculum that will teach the algebra basics to students who have passed the regents. They need to emphasize the skills Integrated Algebra just skims over and the regents does not test. We can't get the state to change the graduation requirements so we must be like MacGyver and work with what we have to achieve the results needed to help these kids succeed. The education mayor only cares about testing and results. Knowledge is not something that concerns him. There are courses now that supposedly do this, but I wonder how rigorous the curriculum is and how closely it parallels what is taught in the colleges. I wonder if these classes are just dumping grounds for the kids who cannot pass regents math. I worry that no one cares about these kids beyond getting them to graduate so the statistics will be good.

Another Success Story

Some kids are just not ready to succeed when they are in high school. No matter what we do, how much help and reinforcement we provide, nothing helps.

But, many of these kids succeed. It just takes them a little bit longer.

Jan was a student of mine in a double period math A class in 2001. This class was probably the worst class I have ever taught. Nothing I did helped. They drove me to a sabbatical the following year.

"Worst class" needs clarification. These kids were not dangerous and were definitely not criminal. They were just immature ninth and tenth grade kids who did not want to be in school. As long as you didn't ask them to do any work, they were fine.

This class met for a double period. On test days, I would review the first period and then let them use the practice sheets on the exam. The kids who actually did the work succeeded. Most of them would scramble to copy the review sheets during the break but this never helped anyone.

Jan was one of my students that year. She was a sweet little girl, worked hard (or as hard as anyone could in that dysfunctional environment) and succeeded, but barely. I lost track of Jan after that year.

Yesterday I was in the emergency room with my husband. After filling out all his paper work I walked over to his bed and heard "Mrs. POd". I turned around to be greeted with "I was in your class." I couldn't place her until she told me her name and then the whole story came back.

Jan is now going into her fourth year at a good four year college. She is planning on becoming a chemistry teacher. She is also working full time in the ER as a nursing technician. I watched her all day. She's good at her job and she's a hard worker. And, she is another reason we should not judge people only by their high school performance.

John

John graduated from Packemin HS in 1995. When I first met him, I thought he was kind of slow, but a really nice kid. I never called his home because he appeared to be working to capacity so why stress his mom and dad. He did manage to pass and I was able to put him in a double period class where he could get extra help.

I ended up being the teacher of this double period class and got to know John and his two buddies completely. I found that these three ninth grade boys were not slow, but were not interested in school either. They lived and breathed baseball. They dreamt of opening up a surf shop together in South Beach. I encouraged their dreams and also stressed their education so they would have something to fall back on, just in case. I even took my son to cheer them on as they played on the junior varsity team in a nearby park.

By coincidence, John ended up in my class the following year. He still was not much of a worker and I picked on him and pushed him to work and that he did. He passed Sequential Math I, II and III. He graduated and went on to a community college. After 4 years, he decided to become a history teacher and came back to Packemin to do his observations. He begged his advisor to be allowed to sit in my math class, rather than a history class and the advisor agreed. He said, he wanted to be just like me when he started teaching. (Pity his poor students.) Once again, I was calling on John, along with the rest of my class.

Fast forward two more years, John is now graduating college and about to become a teacher. Again, coincidentally, his mom is a para at Packemin. I am so happy that I send John a check for $25 to celebrate his graduation. John frames it instead of cashing it.

It is now 2008, 13 years since John graduated from high school and 17 years since I first met him. John got married this weekend. His two friends from high school were there. Only in New York would a kid from the Philippines have best friends from Columbia and Pakistan. My husband and I were invited to the wedding banquet. I felt honored to have been invited after all the years that passed. John even had a picture of the two of us in his slide show. I had tears in my eyes as I saw this wonderful young man enter the room with his beautiful bride.

Some people would have written the three of them off years ago. All three are big successes. John teaches history and although he never made it to the major league, he coaches his school's varsity baseball team. One of the boys is a computer geek and earns big $$$$$ doing IT stuff and the other is in charge of all the stores of a major retailer in the New York area. I'm glad I never gave up on them.

This was my first Chinese Banquet dinner. Although there was nothing that I could eat (not kosher), it was an event to remember. At 5:30 a buffet table opened. At 6:30 the guests took their seats and platter after platter was brought out. I think there were ten courses. The last one before dessert was lobsters. My husband said it was the best food he has ever eaten. All I know is that I have never seen so much food in one place before.

Words

I always used to say to kids "You are smart, you can do this if you just try a little harder." I don't say this as often as I used to because I realize some kids are trying as hard as they can and they can't do what I am trying to get them to do. I wonder how it must feel to hear these words over and over again and know inside that you are doing your best, but your best isn't good enough. I still try to make my students feel smart. I will not let them know that I realize some of them will never succeed. I don't want to be the one to give up on them and I don't want them to give up on themselves. I just don't tell them any more that if they work harder, they will get it. I don't know what to say to some of these kids. I wish I did. It is not like I have never been faced with obstacles I could not overcome. I never learned to swim or ride a bike and don't think I will ever be able to. There is a part of my brain that will not allow it. I could not master physics, no matter how hard I tried and I will never be any good at applying makeup to my face. I don't want to hear the words "try harder." I've tried as hard as I can and have never been successful at certain things. I don't want to hear "You are a good athlete." I think I am a decent teacher, but no matter how much I try, no matter how many different approaches I use, how many hours I spend tutoring, I will never get some of these kids to succeed. I know "I can't" and hearing that "I could if I tried" only makes me feel worse. I would like to be able to teach kids the subjects they can do well in. I believe kids are good in different things and can succeed but that not everyone can do everything . I want to teach them the subjects that will help them believe in themselves. I want to teach them the subjects they need. I'm tired of teaching kids who don't understand that 1/2 and 2/4 are equivalent fractions how to reduce algebraic fractions.

Riches

I'm not rich, but money has never been an issue in my life. I'm lucky, material things never mattered that much and thankfully, I've always been able to get what I needed and wanted.

I grew up in a working class family. We had an apartment in a city project in the Bronx. My dad worked two jobs so my mom could stay home and supervise their children. When the kids got old enough to be on their own a little, my mom started working part time.

We didn't have lots, but we had enough. My mom was an expert at finding bargains. She haunted the sales tables at Alexander's (on Fordham Rd and on Third Ave) and we always had new clothes that looked nice. We had toys. We went out on weekends. My parents knew all the tricks to entertain their kids without breaking the bank. We went to all the museums (free in those days). We went to the zoo and botanical gardens (also free). For real treats, we rode the Staten Island ferry ( only a nickel each way). We took vacations (not big ones). We went out to dinner. We were never deprived of anything.

I grew up with great values, which I thank my parents for. When I got married, I moved to an inexpensive apartment to save money to buy a house. I put no money into fixing up the apartment, since it was going to be temporary. I drove my car until it didn't drive anymore. I finished my master's degree and my plus thirty within three years of graduation and the start of my teaching career to maximize my salary. No one was giving me any money. I knew I had to work for what I wanted.

My husband and I bought a small house in Queens. It's a nice, old house in a great neighborhood but it is not fancy. We bought a house we could afford to pay for on his salary alone, so when the time came to have children, I could stay home with them if I so chose to (I stayed home for four years.)

We always talked about upgrading to a bigger house in a fancier neighborhood, but never did. I'm glad. My husband had a rough job and believe it or not, he was treated worse than many teachers are treated. At 53 years old, I told him to retire. Enough was enough. I could support us until his pension would kick in at age 55. Our income was more than cut in half with this move but, it was okay. We lived well within our means and have managed to save enough to keep living the same way we had always lived. We even bought him a new car as a retirement gift. We took a bunch of vacations (Italy, Eastern Europe, Jamaica, Alaska) and plan to keep on doing this as long as we are both healthy.

I never needed to buy the best. I never needed to buy the most. My vacations don't have to be at five star resorts. My cars don't have to be brand new. I've worked hard, but I've always lived well within my means. My parents taught me well. I think I have done the same with my children. My daughter bought her own house before she was 26 years old. We offered to help but she didn't need it. My son has more than enough money to buy one too, but he just has to decide where he wants to live.

I know things are different now than they were 30 years ago. Money doesn't go as far. But I don't think that people were as materialistic as they are now. I don't remember such emphasis on designer clothing. And, no cell phones sure meant no money on expensive I-phones. I think my parents were grounded enough to help me avoid these money pit items. I'm happy. I'm not rich in money but all my needs are being more than taken care of.

Success Story 3

Some of the teachers in my school have a very elitist attitude. If Einstein had been in their class and failed to hand in a homework assignment or only got a 75 on a regents exam, they would have written him off as a loser. If Bill Gates did not make it through AP calculus, they would have been sure he was doomed to a life of sweeping floors at Burger King.

High school is not always an indicator of success in later life. One kid I know who really excelled in high school dropped out of college and is now delivering pizza to make his rent money. This is sad and a problem but, not one I think I can do much about. Another, a girl who was not much of a student in high school is now in medical school. Her teachers in high school never thought she would be more than a house wife and a greeter in Walmart. I hope none of these teachers ever need her expertise to help them.

I know that one of the most important things I do is try to build self confidence in my students. I don't judge. If a kid tells me he wants to be an engineer, but is failing math A, I just stress all he needs to accomplish before he can follow his dream. As a high school teacher, it is not my job to discourage and to put ceilings on what my students can accomplish. I realize that some might never be able to reach the stars they are shooting for but some might just need to grow a little taller to reach the top.

Success Story 2

It was not that long ago that kids were not required to take all those hard, academic courses that they had no interest in. Maybe some coasted by, and maybe some took courses beneath their intellectual level, but they got that much needed diploma. If they had been forced to take the more difficult courses there is a good chance they might have dropped out.

I met a former student today who was one of those kids. He was a student of mine in a pre-algebra class. I can honestly say Seth was one of the slowest kids in that class. He talked constantly about becoming an engineer and no amount of talk on my part could make him see that he needed math. To make matters worse for me, he was a friend of my son's and I knew his parents and grandparents. No matter how hard everyone pushed, he could not do the work.

Seth graduated high school and attended community college. He graduated and is now finishing his last year at Stony brook. He is publishing his first paper soon. He plans on going to Cal Tech for graduate school in computer engineering. It has taken him eight years to complete what others do in four but complete he did. If we had pushed him more in high school he might have ended up as a dropout. If we had dummied down the exams, he might not have been ready for the rigors of college. He admitted to me today that he did nothing in high school. He just was not interested.

Some people have to mature into school. Some people will never reach intellectual heights. That is just the way it is.