The headline says it all...
Here's the story
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Monday, November 27, 2006
Pullout is not PC
Man, today was tough. Even the janitor told me she thought today was rough - and she doesn't have to teach! It was mostly due to the fact that nobody wanted to be back in school, including the teacher.
I tried to teach a lesson on goal setting today, making note of the 3 weeks we have left in the semester and 3 weeks we have until the next big science benchmark exam. I thought it would be a perfect segue into "hard-work" mode for the next 3 weeks, but I was fooled.
I had to send Migueal out of my class again today. This is probably the 7th school day in a row that he's been removed from my classroom for his outbursts. I was warned at the beginning of the year about his bipolar disorder, but never had any problems out of him until about a month ago. That's when he realized how popular he becomes when he shouts disrespectful things at Mr. Wilson during class.
Today I asked to borrow his mapping packet to use as an example in front of the class. In a boisterous response, he shouted, "No! Get your own, man!" I looked down at him from my post in front of his desk with the most serious face I could muster. He looked right back and was just daring me to respond. Of course the rest of the class was in a complete uproar at this point, and so I decided enough was enough. I kicked him out of the room and called the AP's office to come pick him up. I hate having him removed from my classroom; I can't help but feel like I'm quitting on him. But, should I really forsake 28 other students for him?
I also got another new student today. My two partner teachers and I are Jeremy's third set of teachers so far this year at Miller - and we've only had 13 weeks of school! After a bit of detective work during our planning periods, we discovered that Jeremy was initially moved due to his making terristic threats to all the black students in his class (Jeremy is a white student). Turns out that he was moved a second time for the same reason, only this time he threatened to kill all the 6th-grade teachers at school that he didn't like. Needless to say, I hope that I'm not on his list, but it wouldn't be the first time I was on someone's hit list, now would it?
I can't help but feel overwhelmed in a system that sends children like Migueal and Jeremy to my classroom with the deep psycological problems they suffer from, expecing that I will be able to get them where they need to be academically. The problem is not that I can't bring them up to a sixth-grade level, it's that I can't give them the individualized resources they need and give all my other students what they need at the same time.
It's not fair to treat Migueal and Jeremy like every other student - they aren't like other students! They have psycological disorders that require medicine, therapy, one-on-one attention, and instruction in a resource-room type environment. However, due to No Child Left Behind and a new state law, all pullout programs have officially ended at Miller Intermediate. No students are pulled out of general education classrooms for small-setting instruction anymore. Texas has decided it is more politically correct to have "inclusion" classrooms.
Too bad "inclusion" really means Migueal and Jeremy will be excluded from learning because they are being denied the resources they so desperately need to excel. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?!
I tried to teach a lesson on goal setting today, making note of the 3 weeks we have left in the semester and 3 weeks we have until the next big science benchmark exam. I thought it would be a perfect segue into "hard-work" mode for the next 3 weeks, but I was fooled.
I had to send Migueal out of my class again today. This is probably the 7th school day in a row that he's been removed from my classroom for his outbursts. I was warned at the beginning of the year about his bipolar disorder, but never had any problems out of him until about a month ago. That's when he realized how popular he becomes when he shouts disrespectful things at Mr. Wilson during class.
Today I asked to borrow his mapping packet to use as an example in front of the class. In a boisterous response, he shouted, "No! Get your own, man!" I looked down at him from my post in front of his desk with the most serious face I could muster. He looked right back and was just daring me to respond. Of course the rest of the class was in a complete uproar at this point, and so I decided enough was enough. I kicked him out of the room and called the AP's office to come pick him up. I hate having him removed from my classroom; I can't help but feel like I'm quitting on him. But, should I really forsake 28 other students for him?
I also got another new student today. My two partner teachers and I are Jeremy's third set of teachers so far this year at Miller - and we've only had 13 weeks of school! After a bit of detective work during our planning periods, we discovered that Jeremy was initially moved due to his making terristic threats to all the black students in his class (Jeremy is a white student). Turns out that he was moved a second time for the same reason, only this time he threatened to kill all the 6th-grade teachers at school that he didn't like. Needless to say, I hope that I'm not on his list, but it wouldn't be the first time I was on someone's hit list, now would it?
I can't help but feel overwhelmed in a system that sends children like Migueal and Jeremy to my classroom with the deep psycological problems they suffer from, expecing that I will be able to get them where they need to be academically. The problem is not that I can't bring them up to a sixth-grade level, it's that I can't give them the individualized resources they need and give all my other students what they need at the same time.
It's not fair to treat Migueal and Jeremy like every other student - they aren't like other students! They have psycological disorders that require medicine, therapy, one-on-one attention, and instruction in a resource-room type environment. However, due to No Child Left Behind and a new state law, all pullout programs have officially ended at Miller Intermediate. No students are pulled out of general education classrooms for small-setting instruction anymore. Texas has decided it is more politically correct to have "inclusion" classrooms.
Too bad "inclusion" really means Migueal and Jeremy will be excluded from learning because they are being denied the resources they so desperately need to excel. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?!
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is America
I made it to Atlanta and then to Athens, where I've enjoyed spending the last three days catching up with friends and doing what I can to help recruit for Teach For America.While staying with my friend Casey, I came across a book he was reading. Written by former Clinton budget official Matthew Miller, The Two Percent Solution posits a radical shift in national priorities. Miller argues that many of the current national crises we experience can be solved by dedicating two percent of our national income (gross domestic product) to putting our money where our mouths are.
I am particularly galvanized by his incredible platform for education.
Miller correctly identifies teacher quality as the defacto hindrence to student performance. He points out that this problem does not intend to demean the outstanding teachers who have dedicated their lives to the profession and produce excellence, but rather narrows his focus to those teachers who, based on their qualifications, are basically being hired to babysit.
Moreover, Miller argues that despite urban schools that are too often targeted as the reason for our substandard state averages, "when we are failing 10 million poor children, the problem is national."
Miller argues for $30 billion to create a system of enhanced teacher pay based on experience, student performance and content knowledge. Teachers in poor schools would have their salaries rasied 50%; conditional upon teacher unions agreeing to raise the salaries of the top half of performers another 50%, as well as streamlining the dismissal process for incompetent teachers to a four- to six-month period.
In real numbers, this would mean that a teacher in Houston would start at $62,000 and the best would earn somewhere in the neighborhood of $130,000. For content-rich college graduates, teaching will actually become a profession they can ligetimately consider as a career, without taking a vow of poverty.
In Miller's words... "With the amount they would be able to put aside in savings at these salaries, the aim would be to make America's best teachers of poor children millionaires over their careers. We need nothing less if we're to change the way this essential career is viewed by our brightest college graduates."
This is it folks - this is the start of an answer to our national education dilemma. In a nation that has the foremost system of higher education in the world, it is a sin that we should have a k-12 system that ranks last in the world.
This proposal would double our national spending on education from 7% to 14% of our annual budget, but would place the much-needed (and hereto much-lacking) priority on reform. Rather than making the stakes higher for teachers in place now, this proposal correctly targets the underlying problem of attracting the brightest scholars into a profession for reasons other than altruism.
**Many thanks to Casey Mull for letting me crash at his place for three nights and having books laying around his house that I find intelectually stimulating!
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Two Days Left...
I desperately need a break. Today was the roughest yet and the outlook does not portend well for tomorrow or Friday.
We started homeroom this morning with another power failure. The last time it happened, my students remained relatively calm - not the case today. I had them write letters to me about what they were doing for Thanksgiving. One of my students addressed her's to "Mr. Williams."
By the time we got into Block 1, I had to abandon my lesson which required us to use the computer lab. Since we were so off schedule, I had already lost my time slot for the computer lab, so I somehow managed to turn checking last night's homework into a 15-min activity. That's what I call stretching!
Block 2 was bouncing off the walls today. They were so incredibly loud. For some reason, they really got investing in working with the computers. But, as soon as we returned to the classroom is was all downhill. At one point, my partner teacher had to come over from one room over and yell at them because we were disturbing all three classrooms that surround mine. Ridiculous. This is the third time that's happened for me in that particular block of students. While I welcome my partner teacher's help in getting them under control, it's just really humiliating to me that she feels it necessary to come over.
I have to find a way to get them under control. I fight the urge to constantly be stern, but the minute I show them a human side it's like they don't know how to act. They respond by either behaving completely barbaric or by laughing so loud that it becomes a disturbance.
Then, I had Taylor in Block 3. Within the first 15 mins of class, Taylor had already received two discipline marks for not following directions and for chewing gum. One I gave him the second mark, he got so angry that he literally got up and walked out of my room. He went into the hallway and sat down outside my door. I decided to give him room to cool off and chose to ignore his behavior - at least, I made him think that. As I was keeping my distance but with an ever-watchful eye, Taylor proceeded to get closer and closer to the doorway, desperately trying to bait me into a confrontation. When he realized that it wouldn't work, it proceeded to start crying. He got louder and louder and finally until he was finally lying in my doorway, sprawled out, crying like a crazy person.
That's when my partner teacher walked by with her class, headed for the restroom. They had no idea how to take Taylor's behavior. The students in her class were befuddled at his childish tantrum. I gave Taylor the ultematim of acting like a sixth grader or going to the office. He chose to act like a sixth grader.
Is this really happening? Is my life really this crazy right now?
The good news in all this is that I had a lot fun last night at the UGA Archway to Excellence event held at the Houston Country Club. It was so great to see the administration and advisors from college. I even met a women who wants to give me a donation of 300 books that she's been trying to find a home for.
Two days left...
We started homeroom this morning with another power failure. The last time it happened, my students remained relatively calm - not the case today. I had them write letters to me about what they were doing for Thanksgiving. One of my students addressed her's to "Mr. Williams."
By the time we got into Block 1, I had to abandon my lesson which required us to use the computer lab. Since we were so off schedule, I had already lost my time slot for the computer lab, so I somehow managed to turn checking last night's homework into a 15-min activity. That's what I call stretching!
Block 2 was bouncing off the walls today. They were so incredibly loud. For some reason, they really got investing in working with the computers. But, as soon as we returned to the classroom is was all downhill. At one point, my partner teacher had to come over from one room over and yell at them because we were disturbing all three classrooms that surround mine. Ridiculous. This is the third time that's happened for me in that particular block of students. While I welcome my partner teacher's help in getting them under control, it's just really humiliating to me that she feels it necessary to come over.
I have to find a way to get them under control. I fight the urge to constantly be stern, but the minute I show them a human side it's like they don't know how to act. They respond by either behaving completely barbaric or by laughing so loud that it becomes a disturbance.
Then, I had Taylor in Block 3. Within the first 15 mins of class, Taylor had already received two discipline marks for not following directions and for chewing gum. One I gave him the second mark, he got so angry that he literally got up and walked out of my room. He went into the hallway and sat down outside my door. I decided to give him room to cool off and chose to ignore his behavior - at least, I made him think that. As I was keeping my distance but with an ever-watchful eye, Taylor proceeded to get closer and closer to the doorway, desperately trying to bait me into a confrontation. When he realized that it wouldn't work, it proceeded to start crying. He got louder and louder and finally until he was finally lying in my doorway, sprawled out, crying like a crazy person.
That's when my partner teacher walked by with her class, headed for the restroom. They had no idea how to take Taylor's behavior. The students in her class were befuddled at his childish tantrum. I gave Taylor the ultematim of acting like a sixth grader or going to the office. He chose to act like a sixth grader.
Is this really happening? Is my life really this crazy right now?
The good news in all this is that I had a lot fun last night at the UGA Archway to Excellence event held at the Houston Country Club. It was so great to see the administration and advisors from college. I even met a women who wants to give me a donation of 300 books that she's been trying to find a home for.
Two days left...
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Election Night, Part 1...
Today I hit the brick wall. I ran slap into it and then it crumbled on top of me.
For some reason, I just kept waking up last night. Six times before 5:30, I awoke and had trouble getting back to sleep. When I finally did get out of bed at 5:20, I felt very tired and my sinuses were already in full rage. All day today, I was fighting to have the energy to do anything.
Blocks 1 and 2 were tough. I fought tooth and nail to keep their attention and get them excited about the lesson that I was actually pretty proud of. But then it was all over in Block 3. No matter what I tried, I never had full control of the class. At some point, my AP walked into the room and I almost just threw my hands up and walked out. She said that she was just "walking through" and did just that as she entered my classroom. I'm positive she could see the chaos that was my classroom, as well as the complete dispair that was my face.
The thing is, it was a good day today. Considering the worst that happened was that I had trouble keeping Block 3 in their seats, it wasn't that bad. Things could have been, and have been before, very worse.
Once I got home, I started getting ready for our election watch party and received a rather disheartening phone call.
It was Renece's mother. She called to apologize for Renece's absence today and for the fact that her Science Fair project will now be late. Her reason: Renece's mother was arrested last night for disturbing the peace and her car was therefore impounded. What am I suppossed to say to that?
Sadly, this is the second parent that has called to apologize to me for being arrested. I had another student whose parent called to explain why she wouldn't have her homework - her father had been arrested the night before. That happened during my first month of teaching - they don't prepare you with what to say to a student that tells you this. How can they?
Thank God for politics; my respite in all this bedlam.
To Be Continued...
For some reason, I just kept waking up last night. Six times before 5:30, I awoke and had trouble getting back to sleep. When I finally did get out of bed at 5:20, I felt very tired and my sinuses were already in full rage. All day today, I was fighting to have the energy to do anything.
Blocks 1 and 2 were tough. I fought tooth and nail to keep their attention and get them excited about the lesson that I was actually pretty proud of. But then it was all over in Block 3. No matter what I tried, I never had full control of the class. At some point, my AP walked into the room and I almost just threw my hands up and walked out. She said that she was just "walking through" and did just that as she entered my classroom. I'm positive she could see the chaos that was my classroom, as well as the complete dispair that was my face.
The thing is, it was a good day today. Considering the worst that happened was that I had trouble keeping Block 3 in their seats, it wasn't that bad. Things could have been, and have been before, very worse.
Once I got home, I started getting ready for our election watch party and received a rather disheartening phone call.
It was Renece's mother. She called to apologize for Renece's absence today and for the fact that her Science Fair project will now be late. Her reason: Renece's mother was arrested last night for disturbing the peace and her car was therefore impounded. What am I suppossed to say to that?
Sadly, this is the second parent that has called to apologize to me for being arrested. I had another student whose parent called to explain why she wouldn't have her homework - her father had been arrested the night before. That happened during my first month of teaching - they don't prepare you with what to say to a student that tells you this. How can they?
Thank God for politics; my respite in all this bedlam.
To Be Continued...
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Sunday is a Work Day
Last week ended pretty well. I still have to grade the tests from Friday to see how much was learned, though I am pretty optimistic. Meanwhile, I'm trying to get a lot of work done today - trying to lesson plan through Fall Break.
James Baker (former Reagan and Bush-41 Chief of Staff, former Secretary of Treasury, former Secretary of State) sat in front of me at church this morning. It was funny because I had seen him on "The Daily Show" and "da Ali G Show" earlier last week.
I'm getting excited about the election Tuesday. My roommates and I are having some friends over for an election watch party. I'm getting pumped about a Democratic takeover, though I doubt the blue wave will reach Georgia. This blog entry is brought to you by the numbers "6" and "15."
6 - number of seats in the Senate the Democrats need for a majority
15 - number of seats in the House the Democrats need for a majority
James Baker (former Reagan and Bush-41 Chief of Staff, former Secretary of Treasury, former Secretary of State) sat in front of me at church this morning. It was funny because I had seen him on "The Daily Show" and "da Ali G Show" earlier last week.
I'm getting excited about the election Tuesday. My roommates and I are having some friends over for an election watch party. I'm getting pumped about a Democratic takeover, though I doubt the blue wave will reach Georgia. This blog entry is brought to you by the numbers "6" and "15."
6 - number of seats in the Senate the Democrats need for a majority
15 - number of seats in the House the Democrats need for a majority
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
November Already?
Is it really November already? Has it already been 3 months on the front line? I tried to think back today to my first day in front of my Miller 6th graders and I had a hard time remembering back that far. It seems that I live my life in weeks so much so now that I can't remember events that occurred 3 months ago.
I can remember summer school though. Second grade was a cake walk compared to sixth. I had it so easy then and never realized it. It's not so bad now though. I've settled into weekly and daily routines that help me to minimize the work and stress I bring home each night. So, basically I've transitioned into the real world.
Two weeks left until I fly home for Thanksgiving. Can't wait to see everyone again and actually get to take some time to enjoy home - not having to worry about grading papers or lesson planning, though I'm sure a little of both will be going on.
As I was grading the Science tests from last week, it seems my students didn't do as poorly as I had originally thought. They did pretty well with physical and chemical changes, and after spending two days this week re-teaching the material, I feel pretty confident they will nail the test this week.
Now if I can just get through Thursday...
By the way, I lost two students and gained two new students today. New vocabulary word for next week - "revolving door."
I can remember summer school though. Second grade was a cake walk compared to sixth. I had it so easy then and never realized it. It's not so bad now though. I've settled into weekly and daily routines that help me to minimize the work and stress I bring home each night. So, basically I've transitioned into the real world.
Two weeks left until I fly home for Thanksgiving. Can't wait to see everyone again and actually get to take some time to enjoy home - not having to worry about grading papers or lesson planning, though I'm sure a little of both will be going on.
As I was grading the Science tests from last week, it seems my students didn't do as poorly as I had originally thought. They did pretty well with physical and chemical changes, and after spending two days this week re-teaching the material, I feel pretty confident they will nail the test this week.
Now if I can just get through Thursday...
By the way, I lost two students and gained two new students today. New vocabulary word for next week - "revolving door."
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