Almost every day I'm faced with a moral dilemma. Or an ethical dilemma. I dunno. I once had to learn the difference between morals and ethics for some high school or college class, but I've pretty much used the two interchangeably after correctly defining them on the test.
Every day after my kids leave, I look at what's left over on the floor. Before getting knocked up, I would pick up the pencils (as they are a valuable commodity in a classroom), even if that meant crawling halfway under a desk to get it. (Now, not so much.)
The dilemma comes when I find something on the floor that I know a student NEEDS, like an assignment that's due tomorrow or a signed field trip form they forgot to turn in. My options are, of course:
A.) to pick whatever it is up and put it on their desk
or
B.) to leave it on the floor to be swept up with the other refuse.
Option A is easier for everyone involved. Their assignment will be handed in on time the next day (and I don't have to deal with grading late homework when they finally redo said assignment or inform their parents that there is a missing assigment to begin with) or I don't have to dig out another field trip form. I can just pick the damn thing up, put it on their desk, and be done with it.
Option B actually teaches them a lesson. You will have a missing assignment because you were too lazy to put your assignment where it belongs. You will not have a field trip form if you don't manage to hand it in when I ask for it every effing morning.
So occassionally I just stare at whatever the found object is until I reach my decision about what to do about it. And every time my decision's the same.
I
pick
it
up.
Every time.
Perhaps I am why we have generations of lazy people who can't manage to do anything how and when it's supposed to be done, like submit their taxes on time, causing the post office to stay open late every April 15. Because I am like the post office, bending over backwards to make sure shit gets done, just because it's easier for everyone involved. Stupid me. Stupid post office.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
Dropouts
I was listening to NPR this morning when I heard that a study was conducted regarding high school drop out rate in Chicago Public Schools (CPS). They followed 9th graders thru to their 12th grade year for x number of years to see how many students dropped out, why they dropped out, and to pinpoint exactly who is most likely to be a dropout.
I was SHOCKED to hear how many students dropped out of Chicago Public High Schools between 9th and 12th grades. Are you sitting down? 44%
Yes, 44% of all high school students do not finish high school in CPS. That's a lot of fucking kids! Approximately 30,000!!!!
They were able to pinpoint 3 distinct groups of dropouts:
1. Students who started freshman year at age 15 or over.
2. Students who fail a core subject (reading, math, social studies, or science) in their first year of high school.
3. African-American students (49%!!!!!!!!)
This study is going to prompt some action on CPS's part, as it should. I'm sure it'll also cost us a bazillion dollars. Supposedly, they will hold countless meetings, offer mentoring to students in the 3 at-risk groups, now that we know exactly who they are, and create "freshman on-track labs" in 6 high schools that have the highest dropout rates that will investigate the problem further and come up with strategies to address it. Oh, and this study will also create, for the first time ever, a freshman orientation for incoming freshman.
Are you kidding me? These kids have never had a freshman orientation???? 8th graders in CPS go to school at a K-8 school. Yes, they share a school with 5-year olds, and you're telling me there's never been any kind of help with transitioning them from their elementary school of, let's say, 700 kids to a high school that has perhaps 3,500? Hell, I'd drop out, too! Not because I didn't want to finish, but because I probably wouldn't be able to find any of my classes!
Who's running the show here? [Insert monkey commerical here].
I was SHOCKED to hear how many students dropped out of Chicago Public High Schools between 9th and 12th grades. Are you sitting down? 44%
Yes, 44% of all high school students do not finish high school in CPS. That's a lot of fucking kids! Approximately 30,000!!!!
They were able to pinpoint 3 distinct groups of dropouts:
1. Students who started freshman year at age 15 or over.
2. Students who fail a core subject (reading, math, social studies, or science) in their first year of high school.
3. African-American students (49%!!!!!!!!)
This study is going to prompt some action on CPS's part, as it should. I'm sure it'll also cost us a bazillion dollars. Supposedly, they will hold countless meetings, offer mentoring to students in the 3 at-risk groups, now that we know exactly who they are, and create "freshman on-track labs" in 6 high schools that have the highest dropout rates that will investigate the problem further and come up with strategies to address it. Oh, and this study will also create, for the first time ever, a freshman orientation for incoming freshman.
Are you kidding me? These kids have never had a freshman orientation???? 8th graders in CPS go to school at a K-8 school. Yes, they share a school with 5-year olds, and you're telling me there's never been any kind of help with transitioning them from their elementary school of, let's say, 700 kids to a high school that has perhaps 3,500? Hell, I'd drop out, too! Not because I didn't want to finish, but because I probably wouldn't be able to find any of my classes!
Who's running the show here? [Insert monkey commerical here].
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Reason #4,612
Yet another reason why I love kids:
As I may or may not have mentioned before (remember I'm pregnant, I can't remember anything and I'm too tired to go back into the archives and look), my students have to write a letter to me every week about what they're reading. These are called "Reading Responses." Well, in honor of Black History Month, my students had to read biographies about, uh, famous black people. I changed the reading response assignment so that the letters they wrote were not to be addressed to me, but rather to the person about whom the biography they chose was written. They could ask the person questions, give them advice, tell them what they thought of them...you get the idea.
This is what what of my kids wrote in his letter to Duke Ellington:
As I may or may not have mentioned before (remember I'm pregnant, I can't remember anything and I'm too tired to go back into the archives and look), my students have to write a letter to me every week about what they're reading. These are called "Reading Responses." Well, in honor of Black History Month, my students had to read biographies about, uh, famous black people. I changed the reading response assignment so that the letters they wrote were not to be addressed to me, but rather to the person about whom the biography they chose was written. They could ask the person questions, give them advice, tell them what they thought of them...you get the idea.
This is what what of my kids wrote in his letter to Duke Ellington:
Dear Mr. Ellington,
I've just read 3 chapters of Duke Ellington (yourself) by Richard Terrill. I wanted to ask you....[insert several pertinent questions here].
I'm also interested in the piano (like yourself) and am wondering if you can send me a miniature piano (if you're still alive at 109 years old). I'm going to look up if you're still alive on Google. I wish I could meet you in person. Too bad you're 109.
Sincerely, your reader,
R
I guess since he had only read the first 3 chapters at that point, he hadn't gotten to the part where Duke Ellington died in 1974.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Did I Really Just See That?
Okay, this has nothing to do with anything, but I MUST share this. Tonight at the gym, I walked into the locker room to hang up my coat. I saw a woman (who I've seen before) walking from the coat area into the sauna. Now, you can pretty much wear whatever you want in the sauna. The only rule is no nudity. Most people wear a towel or a bathing suit, but hell, I'm sure you could go in there fully clothed if you so wished.
Well, today I saw something I've never seen before. This woman, who is weird to begin with, (she's an older Asian woman with a bowl-cut hairdo who participates in step classes but stands aaaallll the way in the back and never goes along with the class, she just steps up and down for an hour) walks from the coat room to the sauna wearing a red neglige AND black knee-high boots. The sight stopped me dead in my tracks and my mouth stood agape. I walked into the coat room with my mouth still hanging open and my head turned in the direction of the sauna door thru which she had just disappeared and I heard my workout-friend's voice say, "I'm so glad someone else just saw that otherwise I wouldn't have believed it!"
What the hell? Uh, lady, you're in public!
And why was she coming from the coat room wearing that and not a dressing room. Was that what she was wearing under her coat?
I guess it's people like that who make things interesting, isn't it?
Well, today I saw something I've never seen before. This woman, who is weird to begin with, (she's an older Asian woman with a bowl-cut hairdo who participates in step classes but stands aaaallll the way in the back and never goes along with the class, she just steps up and down for an hour) walks from the coat room to the sauna wearing a red neglige AND black knee-high boots. The sight stopped me dead in my tracks and my mouth stood agape. I walked into the coat room with my mouth still hanging open and my head turned in the direction of the sauna door thru which she had just disappeared and I heard my workout-friend's voice say, "I'm so glad someone else just saw that otherwise I wouldn't have believed it!"
What the hell? Uh, lady, you're in public!
And why was she coming from the coat room wearing that and not a dressing room. Was that what she was wearing under her coat?
I guess it's people like that who make things interesting, isn't it?
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Dissertations in Fourth Grade?
The Illinois Standards Achievement Test starts on March 4th. Can someone PLEASE explain to me how it is fair that a student gets tested on if they've achieved the standards for an ENTIRE school year in MARCH? The beginning of March to boot! They used to be in April, which I also thought was early, but it's better than March!
I'm sorry, but I can't cram 10 months of material into 6 months. I. just. can't.
Especially when the standards we have to teach to are so vague. I've always hated their unspecific nature. For example:
Language Arts:
Standard 2B2b: Identify and explain themes that have been explored in literature from different societies and eras.
Science:
13B2b: Describe the effects on society of technological innovations (e.g. antibiotics, steam engine, digital computers, etc.)
Social Studies: (thank god we don't get tested in this!)
16.C.2d Describe the economic consequences of the first agricultural revolution, 4000 BCE-1000 BCE.
I mean, don't these sound like topics one does dissertations on rather than 4th grade learning standards??? It is so ridiculous. And how can I possibly teach the enormous scope of what one standard/benchmark covers? And there are SO many for each grade. Am I alone here in thinking this is absurd?
I'm sorry, but I can't cram 10 months of material into 6 months. I. just. can't.
Especially when the standards we have to teach to are so vague. I've always hated their unspecific nature. For example:
Language Arts:
Standard 2B2b: Identify and explain themes that have been explored in literature from different societies and eras.
Science:
13B2b: Describe the effects on society of technological innovations (e.g. antibiotics, steam engine, digital computers, etc.)
Social Studies: (thank god we don't get tested in this!)
16.C.2d Describe the economic consequences of the first agricultural revolution, 4000 BCE-1000 BCE.
I mean, don't these sound like topics one does dissertations on rather than 4th grade learning standards??? It is so ridiculous. And how can I possibly teach the enormous scope of what one standard/benchmark covers? And there are SO many for each grade. Am I alone here in thinking this is absurd?
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Bogus
I had the sweetest conversation today. I love 9-year olds. They don't yet know how cruel and terrible people can be and they're so righteous:
Student: "Ms. M, how come people are so bogus?"
Me: "What do you mean?"
Student: "Well, I'm reading this book about big cats of the world, and it says that humans have killed at least half of the tiger population."
Me: "What did they kill them for?"
Student: "Stupid stuff, like for their fur or for like a sport."
Me: "What do you think about that?"
Student: "I told you! It's bogus!"
Me: "Why do you think people do that?"
Student: "Because they're bogus."
Me (trying to lead him to a discussion instead of just repeating the word "bogus"): "Do you think that people are selfish and don't see the big picture of how they're affecting the world?"
Student: "Yeah, they don't realize that if they keep on doing that, there won't be any animals left...and that's bogus!"
Okay, at least I got him to say something, even though it was followed by the word "bogus."
Student: "Ms. M, how come people are so bogus?"
Me: "What do you mean?"
Student: "Well, I'm reading this book about big cats of the world, and it says that humans have killed at least half of the tiger population."
Me: "What did they kill them for?"
Student: "Stupid stuff, like for their fur or for like a sport."
Me: "What do you think about that?"
Student: "I told you! It's bogus!"
Me: "Why do you think people do that?"
Student: "Because they're bogus."
Me (trying to lead him to a discussion instead of just repeating the word "bogus"): "Do you think that people are selfish and don't see the big picture of how they're affecting the world?"
Student: "Yeah, they don't realize that if they keep on doing that, there won't be any animals left...and that's bogus!"
Okay, at least I got him to say something, even though it was followed by the word "bogus."
Monday, February 11, 2008
No Brainer
Sometimes I think my job could be done by a computer. No, not the teaching part, silly, but all the mundane paperwork that goes with it. I'm not talking about grading papers...it's the other stuff. Here's an example:
At the end of every quarter, we have to compile four lists:
1) students who received all As and Bs on their report card
2) students who have perfect attendance
3) students who have no behavior checks on their report card
4) students who fit all 3 aforementioned categories.
Now tell me, if our report cards are (FINALLY) done on a computer, why can't I (or better yet someone else) just enter the criteria in and print out a list? I mean, it's 2008, right? We don't have flying cars, can't we have THIS? It doesn't seem THAT hard.
Today we had an inservice day (so no kids at school). We had to work on our School Improvement Plan, which sounds productive, but actually is a bunch of bullshit. We split up into 3 teams. My team was responsible for looking over the test data from the past three years and identifying areas of strength and weakness. Ummmm, our data was PRINTED OUT from some sort of database storing all this information. Could a simple program not be created to identify areas of weakness and areas of strength? This just seems like a no-brainer to me!
Ahhh, I think I got it! I forgot who's running the show. People with no brains. Got it.
This commercial is often what I feel like (now, I'm not talking about all the teachers I work with. It's moreso the Central Office who, as I said above, "runs the show"). It's one of my favorites:
http://www.funnyhub.com/videos/pages/working-with-monkeys-1.html
At the end of every quarter, we have to compile four lists:
1) students who received all As and Bs on their report card
2) students who have perfect attendance
3) students who have no behavior checks on their report card
4) students who fit all 3 aforementioned categories.
Now tell me, if our report cards are (FINALLY) done on a computer, why can't I (or better yet someone else) just enter the criteria in and print out a list? I mean, it's 2008, right? We don't have flying cars, can't we have THIS? It doesn't seem THAT hard.
Today we had an inservice day (so no kids at school). We had to work on our School Improvement Plan, which sounds productive, but actually is a bunch of bullshit. We split up into 3 teams. My team was responsible for looking over the test data from the past three years and identifying areas of strength and weakness. Ummmm, our data was PRINTED OUT from some sort of database storing all this information. Could a simple program not be created to identify areas of weakness and areas of strength? This just seems like a no-brainer to me!
Ahhh, I think I got it! I forgot who's running the show. People with no brains. Got it.
This commercial is often what I feel like (now, I'm not talking about all the teachers I work with. It's moreso the Central Office who, as I said above, "runs the show"). It's one of my favorites:
http://www.funnyhub.com/videos/pages/working-with-monkeys-1.html
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