Government Spending

I am a firm believer in recycling.  And, that is why I was so happy when I opened an envelop from the city this morning with lots and lots of stuff for my recycle can.  There was a cover letter, a piece of cardboard  and two awesome stickers to place on my recycle cans so I can easily see which can is for paper and which is for metal and plastic.  Anything that can be torn goes in the paper can but I am not so sure what to do with the left over part of the stickers since they don't tear easily.

In addition to this recycling material, the city really supported the US post office with this mailing.

Maybe the city is short on money for schools and libraries, but I'm glad it is filling the pockets of the government friend who owns the company responsible for printing and distributing this stuff.

Hoodies







Darryl was in my class a zillion years ago, way before I began my career at Packemin.  He was a special education student, one of the first to be main streamed (this was something new in the '80s.)

I remember his smile and how easy he was to cajole him into working.  Academics wasn't his strenght, but his charm made up for his academic deficiencies.   The thing I remember most about Darryl was the dirty green hoodie he wore day in and day out.  The hood was always pulled over his head.  My husband met Darryl at the San Gennaro street fair.  The hood took nothing away from the warm greeting and the handshake.  Darryl was a pussy cat who would never harm a fly.

Over the years, in the college ans well as high school, I have seen many students in hoodies.  My son loves hoodies.  Pat Robertson says criminals wear hoodies.  Well, good teens wear hoodies too. How do people  like this get an audience?

Van Buren Rally To Stop Co Located School

Slimeball Walcott, under the direction of the Evil Bloomberg is trying to get a charter school to co-locate at Martin Van Buren HS.  Van Buren has been a failing school for a long time, but a new principal and a promise from the DOE has been slowly turning the school around.  Yet, in spite of this, around June 16, Mark Weprin's office got wind of this new development which will help kill the school so he, and a few other local politicians got together to try to stop this.

Today,one of the hottest days of the summer a news conference was held in front of the school.  I always intend to show up at these rallies, but something always comes up (or I just get lazy) and never make them.  But, this was in the neighborhood, so I grabbed my camera and headed over. The politicians, community leaders and others spoke passionately.  NY1 covered the event as well as several local papers.

One thing that upset me was the misconception I heard from several of the neighborhood people.  They talked (rightly so) of the troubles Van Buren has had these last few years.  Many of the students are out of control and the trouble sometimes spills on to the street.  These people feel a charter school will solve these problems.  They don't understand that the difficult kids will still be in the building.  They also blamed the UFT for protecting "bad" teachers and for keeping the system from getting rid of them.  They saw no harm co locating schools did to the schools already in the building, denied any services were taken from kids not part of the charter school.

I was happy to hear Tony Avella blame the former principal for many of the schools problems and to even say the DOE may have kept her in place to destroy the school.  I was thrilled to here community activists talk about the problems and expenses of having multiple principals in the same building.

 (Notice the clock on the wall.  The vice borough president commented that it just started working.  He then said bringing in the co location would set time back.  It was a very profound sentence to end with.)

 Tony Avella

 Washington Sanchez--UFT

Celebrating 89 Years

 

My Dad

Class Participation

...She was uncomfortable with what the professors called "participation," and did not see why it should be part of the final grade; it merely made students talk and talk, class time wasted on obvious words, hollow words, sometimes meaningless words.  It had to be Americans were taught, from elementary school, to say something in class, no matter what.
 

The above paragraph comes from Americanah, by Chimanda Ngozi Adichi.  This was written as an observation by Ifemelu begins her university education in the United States.  I thought it particularly relevant to today's standards which judge a teacher unsatisfactory when not every student in class has spoken during the lesson.

BTW--it is a wonderful book, gives a good understanding of what immigrants must go through in their adopted countries and why they do so.  It is heart wrenching to read about college graduates cleaning toilets, breathing poisonous air, being cheated and putting up with it all in hopes of a better life in the future.

Attention UFT Retirees

The fall 2013 Si Beagle catalog is out.  If you haven't gotten your paper yet, don't worry.  Go to the site, pick the courses and trips you are interested in and print the coupon.

I've been checking every day this week and of course, the only time I didn't check was the day it came out.  Since I was in the area, I mailed mine from the main post office on 33rd and 8th.  Hopefully I will get all I asked for.

As an added bonus, I saw the Post Office Museum inside, small but interesting.  NYC is full of such wonderful free things to see and do.  Pictures here, on Facebook.

Value Of Fiction



When I was in high school I thought English teachers scoured library shelves to find the worst possible books to assign.  The only thing I remember enjoying back then was Cantebury Tales.  And, it wasn't that my teachers weren't engaging and talented, because they were great.  But, memorizing passages from Shakespeare or reading Ethan Frome was just not for me.

As a teacher, I remember being thrilled to see my students walking around with books I had recently read and enjoyed.  I was so happy to see them reading contemporary literature and I enjoyed discussing these books with them and getting their recommendations for books I had not yet read.  I loved seeing them read, on their own, books by authors of required reading.  I loved seeing reading being back in vogue by many students, not just honor students.  I even enjoyed seeing them read classics and, after a glowing recommendation, went out and got copies of The Great Gatsby and To Kill A Mockingbird, two books around for years that I never read.

Fiction brings made up stories to life.  I have always loved historical fiction and now, with my I-pad or Nook, I fact check and explore things I have read.  I google places I have never been.  Reading fiction has widened my world in a way reading non fiction (books I usually don't read) never could.

I was saddened to see fiction, except for a small splattering of books, will no longer be part of the ELA curriculum.  Removing them deprives students of a meaningful learning experience.  This common core curriculum was thought of by people with no common sense.

End Of Career

Judy began her teaching career at the ripe old age of 51.  She worked in private industry for 25 years and a change in management meant it was either unemployment or a new career.  She always loved children so she went back to school, took some education courses and began teaching second grade.  For 10 years she loved her job and the kids loved her.  But something snapped in year 11.  She realized she no longer liked the kids and they didn't like her.  She didn't know if it was the kids, the new demands being put on her by the administration, or just the drain of doing the same thing day in or day out, so she handed in her papers and is now happily retired.

I'm happy for Judy.  She is now able to sleep at night without the worry of Danielson Framework and without worry about all the computer stuff she is not familiar with or with how she would be able to input data without a computer in her room (strange that all the young teachers had computers.)  She doesn't have to worry about her reports that lack the current buzz words the newbies use all the time.

I am even more happy for the students who would have been in Judy's class.  They won't have an experienced teacher, but hopefully they will have one who loves them and wants them to do well.  She knew she was not doing them any good, and was perhaps doing harm, something she did not want to do.

Liking students might be the most important part of teaching.  Too bad there is no way to evaluate what goes on in the heart.

(Picture is Ferris wheel at carnival in Padavan Field--no relation to the post.  I just liked how it came out.)

Retirees Not The Problem

My friend, NYC Ed, thinks retirees should not be allowed to vote in UFT elections.  He's right.  Most retirees have no idea what is going on in schools today and they really have no idea as to how much has changed since they left the system.  But, the problem with the union is not retirees, it is lack of interest and involvement of the rank and file.

I remember a heated UFT election for chapter chair several years ago.  I had strong leanings toward one candidate but felt everyone should vote, and vote knowingly, even if they shared my choice or not.  The union leader is the one who fights for our rights and that person should be the one chosen by the majority.  I remember walking into my department office and asking the room full of young teachers if they voted.  What I heard was:  "Voted?"  "What are we voting for?"  "Does it really matter who gets elected?"  "Nothing changes anyway."  I remember feeling disgusted with the lot and felt they deserved whoever they got.

Several teachers were asked to represent their departments on the UFT's executive board.  Many refused.  There wasn't enough in it for them to make it worth their time.  Others were afraid of retribution by administration if they said something out of line.  They hoped to spend their careers as invisible members of the staff.  Some, on the board, made lots of noise at meetings but never stood up outside of them, always waiting for someone else to do it for them.

Blaming retirees for the state of the UFT is like blaming teachers for all the ills of education today.  Yes, we should not vote but if the people affected stood up, we would be outnumbered.  Just look at how many of us don't vote at all.  And, if the UFT really pushed the plight of teachers today, more retirees would vote with those still on the front line.

As for me, I am taking courses and enjoying my days.  Here are some pics of Friday's High Line walk with a bunch of fellow retirees (and one who is just enjoying her summer.)  Notice the smile on every one's face.  More pictures here, on Facebook.

Danielson Framework For Teaching

Being retired, I had zero interest in learning anything about the Danielson Framework.  To me, it is just another BS system probably put together by and edu-idiot who has absolutely no idea what goes on in a classroom.  But, when it took up a full page in last month's UFT paper, I gave it a look.

From what I can see, this framework is no different than anything good teachers have been doing for years.  Only now, it has a fancy name and someone has gotten a lot of notoriety and money.

For this post, I will focus on Domain 1.

Domain 1: Planning and Preparation

1a Demonstrating Knowledge of Content and Pedagogy

1b Demonstrating Knowledge of Students

1c Setting Instructional Outcomes

1d Demonstrating Knowledge of Resources

1e Desingning Coherent Instruction

1f  Designing Student Assessments

If teachers are expected to excel at all of the above, their supervisors should be masters at this stuff as well.  After all, they are in place to make sure students are getting the best education possible.  Supervisors with little to know experience and expertise in the area they are in charge of cannot do any of the above.

Loser--You Had 3 Failures In Your Class

The department supervisor loved Ms. K.  She was young and pretty and jumped when he said jump.  She revered him and thought of him as a father.  When Ms. K went to the supervisor and asked for advice on how to handle some failing students, he said, "Don't worry.  I will take them out of your class and give them to Mrs. R.  And, to keep classes balanced, I will take some of Mrs. R's best students to replace them.  Ms. K was so grateful, she kissed his feet and promised him extra ass wiping whenever his bowel movements were irregular.

Mrs. R never kissed his feet or wiped his behind, but she was a good teacher.  When regents were graded, Mrs. R had 30 out of 34 students pass.  Many of those passing had never passed this class in the past so she was very proud of herself.  Her supervisor was not pleased.  "Mrs. R, why is it that every other teacher only has 1 or 0 failures.  You are the worst teacher in the department.  I wish you would retire."

Mrs. R learned that arguing with him was futile.  She just turned her back and walked away with her head held high.  The supervisor was an idiot.  Everyone in the school held the same opinion. 

Silly Sign

It would have been so much easier to write open Daily 11 AM

More City Island pictures here, on Facebook.

Hope everyone had a good and safe 4th of July

Unprepared Graduates

 



Of all the former students I spoke to, only one will not need to take remedial math in college.  So much for college readiness.  A meeting at a local college with math APs fell on deaf ears as the college tried to stress how unprepared incoming freshmen were to succeed.

My former AP boasts about regents statistics.  He gloats over the teachers that have close to 100% passing rates.  He should be looking at remedial math statistics.  But he won't.  No one wants to admit to being a failure.

The Real Story Behind Administration Jobs

Go to a fly by night college.
Never buy a book.
Never hand in original papers.
No nothing about what you are in charge of.

But,
You've got the job.
Now go tell others what awful teachers they are.
Make education policy.

Latest Department Memo

I just had to share the latest department memo.  I can't believe this person will continue determining who is an effective teacher and who is not one.  Too bad no one evaluates him.

BTW--my husband and I believe I am the teacher he is referring to. No one was ever allowed to question anything.  And, for the record, I only complained about being given the royal screw with a program once.  Thanks to a little work behind his back, I was able to fix part of it.  Guess that still hurts.

Dear all:
Attached, please find the department program for the Fall term. I advice you not to open it if you will complain in any ways or fashion. You are on vacation and so am I. Well, actually, I am still in the office. So, do not check your email if you believe you will find bad news.

I do not mean to be nasty, but a few years ago, a math teacher accused me of behaviors unbecoming of an assistant principal because I harassed her by emailing her in the summer. What happened was that she had the lowest passing percentage on the Regents exam of all the people who taught the course. If you believe you might operate or react the same way as that teacher, I sincerely suggest that you do not open this email or my emails to the department during the months of July and August. I will be sending you the Regents and course grade analysis during the summer.

Have a great summer! I am sorry I had to run out and did not have a chance to say goodbye to everyone individually. But we are a great department because we have great teachers who know how to get students to do the work.
Thank you for your understanding. I believe I am the only AP in our building who has completed the teacher program for next year. I just have to work on rooms.

Sincerely,

The Best AP in the city

PS. I do want to know if I give you only four classes, six classes, etc. Those errors I will fix. I will not engage in a conversation about the classes your did not get or someone else got, number of preps., or the session you are on (remember, most people have two preps or one. There is only one person with two and half preps). If you want a different session, then your classes will change. I refuse to make someone else program worse because another person complained.
 

(Radish picture from Union Square farmer's market.  The radishes represent NYC high school graduates and the education they got under the Bloomberg administration)

Scared Little Chihuahua



Little Chihuahua is sitting at home crying her eyes out.  Her boss and her protector, the Bull Dog has gotten a promotion and will be moving to a new kennel.  He put up with her incompetence.  Heaven only knows why.  She is afraid her new boss will not be so tolerant.  She is afraid she might actually have to work.  And, she is most afraid her lack of knowledge, her inability to get along with others and her stupidity will no longer be tolerated.  She is afraid her hatred of the young pups she is in charge of will come through.

The dogs in the kennel are hopeful that she will not survive.  They want a leader that can do more than yelp and stare blankly at them.  They want a leader with a brain and a heart.

Letter To The Editor

Don’t blame UFT
Bellerose Manor: I am sick of the United Federation of Teachers being blamed for protecting bad teachers. It is the job of the union to protect its members. It is the job of the supervisor to properly document improper behavior and seek discipline. The Daily News and other media should go after the ones who are in charge. Linda Silverman


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/june-27-gay-marriage-teacher-discipline-bird-slaughter-article-1.1383515#ixzz2XRvOsMNT

Letter To The Department



Dear Teachers,

I want to thank you all for your hard work.  Many of you are getting close to 100% passing on regents exams and this is good.  Yes, we all know I remove failing and difficult students from the classes of teachers I like, but that is besides the point.  And, I know some kids are hard core failures that no one has ever been able to reach, but if I put them in your class I expect you to be able to teach them.  I don't care what you have to do to succeed, but succeed you must.  And  you teachers on maximum salary better start earning it and get your statistics up.  If you don't, I will be happy to use the Danielson Framework to get rid of you.  (Some of you might have already heard that an AP told her department how easy it will be to get rid of you with the new evaluation system.)

Some of you think you are good teachers.  You are not.  You are garbage and in this school to make me look good and to help me keep getting those big bonuses.

Have a nice summer.   Come back well rested and ready to feel my wrath if you don't live up to my standards.


The Best AP in the City

Would Have Won





I should have bet.  I knew 5 would be the magic number. 
 

I'm The Boss So My Lateness and Unpreparedness Does Not Count

 



It is the last day of classes.  All teachers are told to report to their departments at 12:00 sharp for a department meeting.  It is hot, everyone wants to go home, but they all do what they must and show up on time.  At 12:10, the AP is still not around.  At 12:12 he shows up but runs into his office to run off the attendance sheet he needs for the meeting.  Ten minutes later he walks into the room.  The meeting begins 22 minutes late.  Truthfully, no one inside cares.  They won't understand his incoherent ramblings and are just counting the seconds until they can leave.

The AP is allowed to be late and unprepared.  Heaven help any teacher who does the same.  I'll never forget the verbal abuse that fell on someone who dared to arrive at a meeting late.

Standing outside the room, waiting for the meeting to start, several teachers complained about the fire being missing from the meetings.  Everyone is afraid.  No one will offer an opinion different from the APs.  They don't want to risk their jobs.  They don't want to be on te AP's hit list.

Oh What A Feeling

Showing up in the office of the person who hates you to be greeted warmly by everyone around and watching that person turn red and walk away without even aknowledging your presence.

That person thought his nastiness would keep away the people he hates.  He's wrong.  They were there today and will be there again in the future.  And his attitude just makes them want to show up again and again and again.  He is feeling pretty crappy but they feel great. There will even be a blog post later about something observed concerning the department meeting.

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.

AP Conversation

...Said the AP sitting behind her desk, coming out to yelp and snarl at her employees. 

How VAM Will Work

Quote Of The Day

Regents week blah...we might as well give out answer keys!!!

OSI Came A Callin'

Many years ago, Mutt and Jeff were two special education teachers who, to put it mildly, had a full paying job while on a permanent vacation. Oh, they showed up every day but they didn't teach much.  They told the kids to be good and they would get 90's.  I know this is true, because I heard the story from numerous kids. 

Mutt and Jeff wanted to be loved by every student which is kind of hard to do when the kids can't pass state exams, but they solved this problem by giving out answers during the exams.  This went on for years, people saw but said nothing until Inspector Gadget joined the staff.  Inspector Gadget had problems in the school and knew he would be out of work at the end of June.  He knew that Mutt and Jeff played a major part in his job loss.  As one final act, he called OSI and reported proctoring violations.

When the new school year started in September, OSI sent investigators to the school.  They interviewed teachers and students.  When one student was asked if anyone helped her on the exam, she answered "yes, Ms. POd."  Luckily for me, she quickly clarified her statement with "she helped by being a really good teacher."  Mutt and Jeff got off lucky.  The kids they gave answers to had graduated and were not around for the questioning.

Being investigated is not fun.  I would not wish it on any innocent person.

Better Stock Up On Ambien

 



Message to the proctors who have been giving their students answers during recent regents exams:

Sleep now.  You won't be doing much of that when OSI comes creeping around investigating these miracle grades.  Don't expect any protection from the administrator who forced suggested you do this. This administrator will self protect.  The bonus and the job protection are the APs only concern.

(This is going on in more schools than anyone would ever imagine.  So, if you see your school here, if you live in  Brooklyn or Buffalo, know you are not alone.  And, change the word regents to state exam and it could be anywhere in the country.)

Keeping The Myth Alive

Dear Math Teachers,

Please disregard everything I said all year about how you should only pass students who have learned something and have passed exams and the regents and pass everyone who came to class and sat for the regents.  We all know they didn't have a shot in hell of passing, but that does not matter.  We have to perpetuate the myth that they will graduate and be college ready.  I know many of you know these students are not even ready for high school math, but we have to keep our A rating and keep our school looking good.  The colleges will make them take remedial math, but that is not our problem, it is the problem of the college, something I care nothing about.   Once the kids leave our school, they are not our responsibility anymore.

I want to thank everyone for all the time they spent tutoring students.  But, please do not let this go to your head.  The slightest little thing you do that displeases me will cause my memory to go blank on these good deeds.  I will not hesitate to throw you under the bus.  For those of you who are new, just ask some of the older teachers about how I handled Ms. Pissed Off.  She always did everything and more than I could ever want from a teacher, but, when she disagreed with me, well, you don't want to know what I did and what I tried to do.

You have no idea how grateful I am to be surrounded by people who are afraid of their own shadows and do everything I ask

World Peace--One Couple At A Time

He fell for her smile the minute he walked into the room.  He loved the way she handled the youths she worked with.  All 5 ft of her made him grin from ear to ear.

She took immediate notice of the hot guy in the police uniform.  Every guy she ever dated or looked at was now a distant memory.

They fell in love, she got pregnant and they got married.  Both families rejoiced and came together to celebrate the joyous occasion.

He is a Muslim and she is a Jew.  He broke the glass and she covered her arms in henna and donned a

Happy Father's Day 2013

My dad worked two jobs so my mom could stay at home and make sure his two children were always supervised.  Mondays and Thursdays we never saw him as he didn't arrive home until after 10, way past our bedtime.  I remember lying in bed, trying to stay awake until I heard the door open.  Mostly I remember the trying, not the succeeding.  He worked Saturdays too.  My mom used to dress us up and then take us to Macy's where he worked, selling children's shoes.  I will never forget the light in his eyes as he introduced us around and showed us off.  We loved those trips.  It was a special way to connect to the father we had limited access too.

One thing about my dad was he made all his time with us meaningful.  Sundays were family outing days.  I can still smell the elephants from those trips to the zoo and taste the ice cream from Carvel.  The Friday night fireworks we watched from the outskirts of Freedomland still light up my thoughts.  And, no matter how tired he was, he always managed to take me to the distant library when I needed to go or to carry those prized hula hoops on the subway during rush hour.

My dad retired from his first job right before my son was born.  They have the same birthday.  He always says that boy (man now) is the greatest gift he ever got, even when he was stuck changing dirty diapers during weekly babysitting duty.

When my mom got sick, dad retired from the job he loved to take care of her. He never worried about his own comfort as he ran from doctor to doctor, held her hand while she cried during the innumerable blood transfusion, cleaned her incontinence and everything else.  He cared and took care, never complaining, until the bitter end.

After mom died, dad lost his will to live.  I worried that I would soon be parentless, something I didn't want to deal with and couldn't deal with, but slowly, after years of tears, he regained his will to live.  He is stubborn, set in his ways and a general pain in the ass now, but I cherish every minute I have with him.  Life without him is impossible to imagine.

Over the past few years he has had several health scares.  He beat cancer.  He survived a bad fall, although it did age him many years.  Last week he fell several times (luckily he did not get hurt).  His aide called and we ended up in the emergency room at Einstein Hospital in the Bronx.  I won't go into it here, but the ER treatment left much to be desired.  After many hours he was transferred to the 9th floor (room 938) where he got the most terrific, unbelievably good treatment ever.  I can't say enough good things about Mrs. Hall, the head nurse, Macrina, his nurse, and especially Venetta, the unit secretary and everyone else on the floor.  Dad was delusional and unstable, but they gently cared for him and helped him come back.  It was heartbreaking to see this once strong, vibrant man suffering and psychotic.  Dad is home now, with Effie, his wonderful companion and care giver and doing better.

Sorry for the rambling.  Father's Day is here and I pray my dad will be around for many, many more. He will be 89 in a few weeks.  I know dad doesn't read this blog, but I still want to say it here.  Happy Father's Day to one of the best.  I love you.

(Pictured above is dad with his health aide Effie and Jessie, the man assigned to watch him in the hospital.)

Tribute to the fine people who cared for him in the hope of it getting back to the people in charge at the hospital)

Have Money--Get A High School Diploma

A friend of mine teaches in a very expensive yeshiva in the Five Towns area.  Parents pay heavy duty tuition.  Many make hefty duty donations.  These kids have private drivers and tutors.  Everything they want they get.

In this Yeshiva, no one fails.  Kids used to be given packets to complete to improve grades.  This was a snap for them.  Mommy and daddy hired tutors to complete the assignments.  Now, instead of these packets, the kids must take make up exams, usually the same exam they failed in the first place. They have plenty of time to get help and to memorize answers.

Dov did not show up when he was supposed to and missed his makeup.  When he finally showed up, he badgered the teacher for permission to do the exam at home.  She refused.  He finally took the exam, scored an 85 and passed the class, knowing nothing.

Next year Dov will be a college freshman, expecting the same things.  Poor Dov is in for a rude awakening.  My friend gave up the job.  She just couldn't take the low standards anymore.

Miracle Worker



It is regents week and the AP has all her obedient little teachers in the rooms giving out answers proctoring.  Since she took the job, this department's statistics have made a remarkable improvement. Kids who only 4 years ago could barely read and do arithmetic are now getting regents diplomas and going on to college.  She is a real miracle worker.

I feel for these kids.  In college no one proctors exams this way.  There is no coaching through exams.  Too bad diplomas can't be recalled like defective cars.  An extra screw won't fix the problem these kids have.  Their education has prepared them for the junk yard.

On the bright side, the AP is doing her part to keep the school's A rating.  I hope everyone involved feels real proud of themselves.  It is funny how things change.  The people committing these atrocities came into teaching because they "liked" children.

Said The AP Who Picked Brains

She didn't know much, still doesn't, but got where she is by taking credit for work of others.

Education Through Bloomberg's Eyes