Wendy Kopp on Colbert Report!

UPDATED (2/7):

Wendy Kopp (founder of Teach For America) was a guest on The Colbert Report Monday night. For those of you who are not in my generation (Mom!), the show is hosted by comedian Stephen Colbert and is one of the highest ranked shows among 18-25 year olds. On the show, Colbert takes on serious guests about serious issues, but does so in a very tongue-in-cheek fashion. It's extremely hilarious, and very smart at the same time.

Wendy did a good job of communicating the mission and purpose of TFA. Even though her appearance was extremely short and the issue of educational equity was not discussed in detail, her mere appearance on the show will do wonders for increasing credibility and name recognition of TFA among our generation, namely college students.

Case in point: My roommate, Danny, was at the gym last night and joined a pick-up basketball game. When he introduced himself to one of the players, the guy asked him what he did. When Danny mentioned TFA, the guy said, "Hey, did you know the founder of TFA was on Colbert last night?"

You can watch the 10 min video of her appearance below.

Here's the link.

Teaching is Like Jumping Out of a Plane

It's been a while since I last updated, mainly because the pace of things has really stepped up a notch now that we are in TAKS (Texas state-standardized test) season.

Here are several things that have happened since I last blogged.

1) I jumped out of a perfectly good plane. That's right - after always saying that I wanted to go skydiving, I finally did it. I went with Anna, Peter, and Genievieve - all TFA teachers in the Houston corps. We had a blast and I can't wait to go again soon. It's an experience I think everyone should have at least once.

I purchased the DVD of my jump, and if I can ever figure out a way to upload it, I'll share it with you. Until then, here are some pictures of me in the air. I showed this to my kids in Science class and they all went crazy when they saw my cheeks! As you can see, our jump was right at sunset, so the view was simply unbelievable!

2) UGA Recruitment Trip. Last Wednesday-Friday, I was in Athens helping to recruit for TFA. Well, that's what was supposed to happen. While I had a good day of recruitment on Wednesday (Career Fair, a couple of faculty meetings, and a CNN documentary screening/info session), Thursday was a complete waste due to UGA's being closed due to ice on the roads.

The good news was that I was able to spend the day catching up with friends - though not as many as I had hoped to. Sorry if I missed you this round! Being in Athens was a great way to refresh and renew my focus on why I'm doing all this.

3) I lost my single best and worst students. While I was gone, Taylor and Mehran were both withdrawn by their parents. They are both moving to other schools. I'm not sure how to feel about this.

Mehran was definitely my single best student and it really saddens me that he won't be able to contribute to my class anymore. He always asked those really smart questions that put me on the spot - that's the best thing that can happen to a teacher.

While Taylor was my most labor-intensive student, and nearly drove me insane prior to the break, I am even more upset at his withdrawal. While he still had a long way to go, Taylor was making solid improvements in my classroom. He has made 90% or above on the last three exams - miraculous, considering his grades last semester! I fear that he won't receive the attention at his new school that he was getting in my classroom. I called his mother over the weekend and told her that I'm still willing to help him in any way that I can. Here's hoping he remembers the lessons he learned in my classroom about his ability to achieve personal success.

Falling through the Cracks

The purported mission of No Child Left Behind is to ensure that every child in America has the chance to a quality education, a chance at college, and a chance at future success. No Child Left Behind is supposed to level the playing field for students across the country, regardless of race or socio-economics. No Child Left Behind... except for Catera.

Catera is one of my students who challenges me on a daily basis; not because she talks back when I give directions (Cene, Sierra, Jennifer) and not because she is one of those students who refuses to sit down during class (Anthony, Taylor).

Rather, the dilemma I face with Catera is more academic. No matter what modifications I make to the material I present, or how much time I spend with Catera one-on-one, she simply does not understand the vast majority of the material I present. Since the beginning of the year, I have witnessed her struggle to accomplish simple tasks that her peers sail through. This past Friday I found out the underlying problem.

The sixth-grade counselor requested a meeting with my two partner teachers and myself last Friday to discuss some updated modifications for our special education students. One of the students whom we discussed was Catera. The counselor presented us with her IQ test results which were completed before Winter Break.

Turns out that Catera is only four percentage points away from being labeled mentally retarded. She is about thirty percentage points below average intelligence for her age. When I saw these numbers, I felt sick to my stomach. This is why she is having so much trouble with the material and why, despite my best efforts, little headway has been made in bringing her up to where she needs to be at this point.

What the counselor told me next made me irate. Due to NCLB regulations, the school is only allowed to use federal and state dollars to remediate for certain students. Students who possess a gap between their IQ and their performance level, exhibit a learning disability and therefore qualify for one-on-one and small-group intervention programs offered by the school.

However, because Catera is actually performing to the best of her ability, albeit drastically lower than her peer group, she does not exhibit a learning disability (just severely low intelligence) and therefore does not qualify to receive ANY special instruction. No one-on-one tutoring. No pullout resource programs. No special modifications to the material presented in class. Nothing. Just a seat in a general education classroom where she is expected to fend for herself; all 11 years of her.

Tell me, George W. Bush, how does that not leave Catera behind. The school counselor said the best we'd be able to hope for her is that she gets put on a vocational track in middle school, drops out of high school and is able to secure a good job by age 15. WHAT?!

You won't hear about Catera in the president's State of the Union speech Tuesday night, but she is exactly the student who should be at the center of our national debate on education. There is something rotten in the state of education and it begins with No Child Left Behind.

Roommate Reflections

One of my roommates, Kyle, wrote this article recently for a high school magazine that is distributed to schools across the country. It's targeted towards high achieving juniors and seniors who are looking towards college.

I really like what he writes.

RESPECT YOUR TEACHERS

By Kyle Palmer

As a teen-ager, the last thing you might want to do is feel sorry for your teachers. But, take it from this young man recently removed from his high school years: those teachers deserve your respect.

A year out of college, I joined a program called Teach For America (TFA). It’s a national nonprofit organization that sends high-achieving college graduates into low-income school districts across the country to teach for two years. TFA has more than 4,000 current members working in 26 regions throughout the United States.

I am an eighth-grade English teacher in Houston, Texas, a city with one of the largest public school districts in the country. With no previous teaching experience, I am typical of many TFA corps members. And, with a high college GPA, I am also typical. TFA says the average corps member held a 3.5 GPA in college. I came into this experience having worked hard my whole life—in academics, in sports, in hobbies, in everything. Nothing has compared with the work being asked of me now.

I get up at about 6 every morning. I’m at school an hour before the first bell rings, making copies and preparing materials. I teach five classes and lead extra-hours tutoring sessions during the day. I don’t usually leave school until about 6 p.m. Then, I go home and plan lessons for the next day, grade papers and call parents.

These efforts are not Herculean. They are, once again, typical. All the TFA corps members I’ve encountered in my six months in Houston appear to be just as committed and driven (if not more so) than I am. It’s a true inspiration to work so closely with these people and see the results of their efforts. In a short half-year, I have come to appreciate the work of teachers and the truly wide-ranging influences they have on the students in their classrooms.

It is a new feeling for me to have this ever-present sense of responsibility driving me. Every morning I get up and I think about what I need to do this day to make the lives of my students just a little bit better. As a first-year teacher, of course, I am making mistakes and learning (sometimes painfully) on the job. But I hope that each day I’m in that classroom I’m making the lives of more than 110 eighth-graders in Houston a little better.

It’s a truly unbelievable feeling to know that everyday you have that kind of effect—that what you do on a daily basis impacts the lives of dozens of impressionable minds. So, that’s why I say respect your teachers. Your futures, after all, are partly in their hands.

Red & Black Column

My op-ed about the achievement gap ran in today's Red & Black (UGA campus paper). I wrote it over Thanksgiving, so it's a bit dated, but still effectively summarizes my philosophy for Teach For America.

Make a difference, teach for America

MATTHEW WILSON

Issue date: 1/10/07 Section: Opinions

Three years ago, I went home from UGA for Thanksgiving. Channel surfing late one night, I stumbled across a CNN documentary about Teach For America.

I watched the story of three recent college graduates who committed to teach for two years in some of the country's poorest urban and rural schools, and I was hooked.

Upon graduating in May this year, I decided to put law school on hold and became a Teach For America corps member. In September, I began as a sixth grade science and social studies teacher in Houston.

As I returned to Athens and UGA recently, I could not help but think back to that documentary that piqued my interest in the program that has now changed my life.

When I first heard of Teach For America, I had no idea what the "achievement gap" in America's education system was.

Before I began teaching, I read about it and talked with people about it, but I saw how it truly plays out on my first day of school in Houston.

The achievement gap meant that most of my students came to me in sixth grade on a fourth-grade reading level.

Some read on a second-grade level.

Their science and social studies scores were even worse than their reading levels.

In social studies, I was completely bewildered to find my students could not distinguish between a continent and a country.

Many thought Houston to be the capital of Texas and one student told me she was from a different country - she was from Ohio.

These simple geography concepts are ones they should have learned in second grade.

The achievement gap does not mean that my students are incapable of learning.

In fact, they have proven to me time and time again that when given the opportunity, they are able to perform just as well as any other students in America.

That is what I strive to do each day - to give them the chance to excel, and they often do.

The job is not easy. While my leadership experience at UGA has prepared me well for this real-world experience, I work harder than I have ever worked before, but I am invigorated by the progress I witness in my classroom daily.

Knowing that my students and I can overcome the multitude of familial, financial and circumstantial obstacles they face on a daily basis and rise above expectations, fuels me to continue to provide them the opportunity of educational equity that all children in America deserve.

My story is only one of many thousands that demonstrate the potential all students have, if given the opportunity.

Teach For America is a national movement that takes this shared dream and strives to make it commonplace in our country's most lacking classrooms.

As seniors begin to mail resum�s to potential employers and juniors begin to contemplate life beyond the Arch, I urge you to consider incorporating some form of national service into your future.

Many of you might be torn between the higher-paying corporate jobs and the less lucrative service-oriented jobs, but teaching is a paid job that gives you incredible skills you take wherever you go. Moreover, it is a responsibility we have.

If the end to our country's achievement gap is ever to be realized, it will be because our generation makes the decision that it is our top priority and that we refuse to stand idly by as countless children across America are denied the chance for educational excellence that we have enjoyed so freely.

- Matthew Wilson is a 2006 B.S.A. graduate living in Houston, Texas

Back in the Saddle Again

After four days back in action, I'm still going strong. I came back with a refreshed sense of energy and possibility. Before leaving, I wasn't really sure how my kids were going to achieve our goals, but now I am more determined than ever to meet them.

I don't really know where all the energy is coming from, but I'm glad it's here. Prior to the break, I was definitely running on empty. Now, it's as if the sense of a second chance due to the new year is giving me the confidence and motivation to really put it all on the line this last half of the year.

Already, I've lost two students and gained three more, one of whom is only a few years out of Nigeria.

My partner teachers and I really laid down the law the other day with our students. We just had an honest discussion about what "success" was. We reviewed all of our expectations and told them how we were really going to be firm this last half of the year. Our job is to prepare them for middle school next year, and in order to do that, the babying will have to stop.

Of all the things I am not confident in, my discipline is probably numero uno. Since our lay-down-the-law session though, I've really gained a lot of ground in the authority and disciplinarian area. I've just adopted the mindset that I'm not going to put up with the little annoying behaviors anymore that certain students choose to engage in because they know they can steal my attention, and thus the attention of all of their classmates. I've started just sending kids out of my room and into another classroom, and they hate this. It works very well actually and allows me to actually get some teaching done with the rest of my students.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not giving up on those students who I'm kicking out. But, I truly believe that you have to gain control of the situation before any learning can occur. When they think that they can wrestle the control away from you, of course a sixth grader is going to prefer that to learning about the rock cycle.

I'm gaining ground though, which leaves me feeling a lot better. Let's hope this continues.

A Great Break, A Renewed Outlook

Well, the break came and now it is past.

I had a great time at home though. I had the chance to catch up with many friends and spend lots of time at the house, which was great. It was just nice not to have to be up at the crack of dawn, ready to face my kids. I thoroughly enjoyed the break and the time it afforded me to really reflect on what it is I'm doing and the reasons why.

Over the break, several things really stood out...

1) Twin Sister

I was very happy that I was able to spend time with Adrienne, even if it was only a few days. This picture is in our front yard on Christmas Day.

2) Richard B. Russell

He was one the longest serving US Senators ever, but was first Speaker of the Georgia House and then Georgia Governor prior to his service in DC, and his biography was my reading material over the break. Such a brilliant, passionate man, and a wonderful story!

3) Chick-fil-A Bowl... DAWGS WIN!

And I was there! One of my friends won tickets and so generously gave them to me. So, Laura Waters and I trekked to the Dome of ATL and had such a fun night cheering on the bulldogs! We never thought after the first quarter that we'd be going home winners, but that's the bowl season for you!

H to the izzo...

The New York Times ran an article yesterday that discussed a Chicago premier of an upcoming PBS documentary, "Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes." The documentary airs on PBS in February and discusses the violence, sexism, and homophobia that is rampant in much of rap and hip-hop music.

It really excites me that someone is finally bringing these questions to the forefront of our societal consciousness; and not just anyone - a member of the African-American community of which hip-hop is of course so popular.

I can't help but notice on a daily basis the impact these lyrics have on the way my students dress, talk, and more importantly, the way they treat each other. I must hear a reference to a rap or hip-hop lyric at least 5 times a day in my classroom. There are probably more that I am unaware of.

As a listener of hip-hop/rap myself, I understand how catchy the music and rhythm can be. As an educated adult, I am able to understand that the lyrics often discuss a make believe society in which violence and degradation of women come easily and serve to solve all of man's problems.

However, I am not so sure that my highly impressionable 11- and 12-year old students are able to distinguish between what is real and what is not - what is legal and what is not.

The makers of the documentary are touring the country leading up to its debut on PBS, showing the film in several major cities. There are several showings in Atlanta in January and one in Athens as well. If you are in a city the campaign is coming to, I'd encourage you to go check this out. Hopefully, this is just the start of a national debate on the responsibility all musicians (not just rappers) have for their lyrics.

The campaign website can be found here.

The link to the article can be found below.

Fan Asks Hard Questions About Rap Music
By ERIK ECKHOLM
Published: December 24, 2006
A new documentary questions the violence, degradation of women and homophobia in much of rap music.

Inspiration in the Strangest Form

Today, I was bolstered by two separate events.

First, I had each of my students grade their DCA benchmark exams while we await the official scores to come back. These initial numbers could be a little off here and there, but stay pretty true to the actual score, traditionally speaking (and by traditionally, I mean the one time I've administered a DCA previously).

On the first Science benchmark exam, my students had an overall mean of 57%, with only 12 students receiving a passing grade. Abysmal; utterly and unabashedly.

On this past Science benchmark exam, our scores went up! Our overall mean was a 64%, now with 23 students passing! Though this falls still short of our goal of 80%, my students are showing gains and we are slowly closing the gap between where we are and where we want to be.

I can't wait to share the news with my students. I know that they will be so very excited to see their class thermometers move upwards toward 80%. The first class that gets there gets a pizza party and I can just taste that pepperoni!

The second thing that happened today was extremely alarming and extremely heartening, all at the same time.

I've written about Jeremy before. He is the kid who is on his third set of teachers this year at Miller, having been moved twice for making terroristic threats to both "blacks" and "all the sixth-grade teachers."

The past two weeks, the district psychologist has been observing and meeting with Jeremy, trying to pinpoint a reason for his eccentric behavior and comments. Whatever he said to the psychologist is confidential and as such is unable to be shared with his teachers. What I do know is that today our counseling staff went into an emergency-mode in dealing with Jeremy. They had the psychologist call his mother and discuss her assessment - apparently Jeremy is "suicidal without ideation," which I take to mean he wants to kill himself but doesn't know how he will do it.

Jeremy is searched (practically strip-searched) each morning by a member of the administration to ensure he has no weapons and all three of his teachers watch him like a hawk to ensure he is not threatening other students. However, now I anticipate he'll be watched even more closely. As to what that means for instruction in my classroom, I yet to know.

The other thing the counselor shared with us, I found strange. She said that Jeremy stated he "wanted to kill himself but liked Mr. Wilson." The counselor said that if he were to make verbal any suicidal threats they would probably be verbalized to me.

Huh? I barely speak to this kid other than to give him instructions for class and now he's going to confide in me suicidal threats?!

Somewhere hidden deep beneath the seriousness of the situation is a compliment. Something that I have done has meant so much to Jeremy that he told the counselor that he hated everything around him but me.

Hearing this, I couldn't help but think of Taylor and how, even though he is the worst behaved student I have and I ride his case more than any other, he tells his mother that I am the only teacher he likes. To be honest, I think Taylor and Jeremy both serve to illustrate how much positive male influence is missing in the lives of my students.

If I do nothing else while I am at Miller, I hope my presence serves to show students like Taylor and Jeremy that they are loved by people who have never known them and that it is possible for them to become strong, positive male figures.

Weekend Update

Last week ended with a big up and a big down.

Report card grades were due Friday, which meant that I spent all Thursday afternoon and early evening making sure all the grades were plugged in online and were averaged correctly. I decided to just stay at school late to take care of it all since the Theater Arts department was having its Winter performance Thursday night and many of my students were in the show.

It was a good thing I decided to stay for the show Thursday night because if I would have just left after calculating grades I might have quit the next day (okay, not really).

Turns out, even after I had made it impossibly easy for students to turn in their missing work so as not to receive zeros, many still did not turn the work in, and consequently received many zeros. I had a significant number of students fail Science and twice as many fail Social Studies. I was mortified when I looked at the numbers. Was it really possible that I allowed the situation to get this far out of hand?

It would be easy to blame my students, labeling them as lazy and incompetent, but that wouldn't be fair. The truth is, the responsibility remains with me. It's my job to get them motivated about their work and about succeeding in my classes. The numbers I saw last week only served to show me that my students are no more motivated to complete work than they were before I came to Miller; that it is really I who should receive a failing grade right now.

I was really upset with myself, but decided to go to the play anyway. I'm glad I did because it turns out I had 9 students in the play (out of the 13 in the cast) and they were hilarious! One of the plays was about an elf rebellion and the other had something to do with the Christmas spirit, though I still can't quite figure it out. Regardless, it really made my students feel special to see that I had stayed and really gave me perspective seeing them in a different light.

I was so proud of all my students on stage - they did such an amazing job. One of my students in particular, Anthony, who has ADHD and very rarely sits down in class did an amazing job as the lead male in the elf rebellion play. He really stole the show and I could tell he was proud of himself - a feeling I know he doesn't have very often.

After the play, I made sure to wait outside the "cast party" in the Theater Arts room so that I could talk to each of my students. Each of them was so happy and surprised to see me and I could tell that I really helped to make their night special.

As I walked back to my classroom to gather my things and leave, one of my students yelled at me from the other end of the building where the play had taken place. "MR. WILSON! Thanks for coming. See you tomorrow!"

She does not know this, but at that moment Damiya re-inspired me to commit my entire being to achieving significant gains in my classroom.

No Field Trips

Apparently field trips are out. I missed the memo.

I talked with my principal this past week about putting together a field trip to Rice University or the University of Houston for my students. Her response was rather perplexing.

I told her that I had heard the district was kind of funny about field trips and was wondering what the policy was. Her response was, "Well, I don't have a problem with any field trips, as long as they are grade-level wide."

WHAT? The entire sixth grade has to go? "Yes, Mr. Wilson." Well, in that case, I asked, could the entire sixth grade go on a college field trip?

"Funny you should ask that Mr. Wilson. I would normally not have a problem with that, but since our fundraiser was lackluster this year, I have to say no. Why don't you start planning it for next year and see if you can get everyone on board."

Are you kidding me? Next year?! My kids will be in middle school next year and won't be able to go on the field trip next year.

"Well," I persisted, "what if it's like a reward trip for my class. They set an academic goal and if we meet it, they can go on the trip as their reward."

Her response is one which I still don't understand. She said that "we" shy away from reward trips because it's not fair to those students who don't get to go. In her words, "We have to give all students the same chance to go."

Funny. I thought all my students would have an equal opportunity to go. If they make the choice to work hard and reach the goal, then they get rewarded; that's the whole point of a reward. If you're just going to give everyone the reward trip though, it ceases to be a reward. So, then, why even work hard to reach the goal? Why even work?

Why even go to school anymore?

I bet if I planned a field trip to the Texas Education Agency (the group that writes the TAKS standardized test) she wouldn't have a problem with it.

This policy sucks!

Run in with the Law

Friday was a relatively good day, especially considering it had been an abnormally long week and the day was going by without incident. But then I talked with my AP in the teacher's lounge.

She was telling us why it was that there had been two police cars at our school the entire morning. Turns out, this kid decided to put his hand through a window of a school bus on the way to school that morning. When we asked her who it was, she said "Darious."

My heart sank as I realized it was my Darious, a student who had been in SAC (in-school suspension) the past few days. A student with whom I had experienced significant challenges since the beginning of the school year, but together with his parents, was actually making progress with.

Now Darious was facing a $500 citation from the Alief PD, along with a bill for the bus window. To top it off, my AP informed me that the reason he was in SAC the day before was because he had gotten in a fight with another student (which I had no idea about) and had been issued a $500 citation for assault in that case.

I have no doubt that Darious will be moved to ALC (alternative school) come Monday, though my AP didn't say one way or another. Darious's mother works for the Houston Independent School District, so will most likely want him pulled into an alternative learning environment.

It's just so confusing to me, because I have yet to experience Darious's unbridled rage in my classroom. But, due to his bewildering behavior outside my class, all the progress that I've made with him will now come to an end.

Unfortunately, this is the reality in my classroom; students come and go like clockwork. I have come to realize how true the saying is that your time with your students is limited. This inspires me to work extra hard today to make sure every minute of class this week is spent teaching my students the skills they need to carry them far in life.

The truth is, I never know from one day to the next who my students will be.

Just Tired

Today, I was a really bad teacher. I was just so tired. Last night, I literally passed out on my bed after getting home from my graduate course. When I awoke, it was 2:20am, I was still dressed and all the lights were on.

I was still really tired this morning and had a hard time putting together an exciting lesson for the day, so was forced to settle for mediocrity in the crunch for time. I knew it was a bad lesson when my best student (out of all three classes) asked me during class, "Mr. Wilson, what is it that you are trying to teach us?"

I soldiered through today, but then had to also get through a meeting after school. We actually ended this meeting early today, so that put me in a better mood.

Then, I helped my roommate Danny pick up his new digital piano from the music store. It is a Hannakuh present from his parents and is quite an addition to our house. Danny is quite the talented musician and plays perhaps the greatest rendition of A Whole New World this side of the Mississippi!

I know that Winter Break is only a week and four days away now, but it seems like forever. I'm actually not wanting it to get here any quicker, due to the fact that my students have their next Science benchmark exam the Monday before we leave. I'm really wanting to see some big improvements from our last overall average of 55%, but I'm not sure if it will be realized. I don't want the days to pass by until the break, I just want to stop feeling so tired all the time.

Now I'm going to go enjoy the yuletide melodies echoing from the living room!

Front Page News

The headline says it all...

Here's the story

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?!

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!

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...

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...

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

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."