An Effort In Futility

I should be packing and preparing for a trip right now, but I feel I need to get this off my chest.  Last night I made my first appearance on the SFUSD Board of Education meeting.  Turns out, to my delight, that they taped it!  So, please take a visit to see the two minutes (my and Katey's part) in front of the board, two minutes out of a 4 hour and 30 minute meeting, where we had the opportunity to plead for the state of our school and our student's future.  I start talking around 2 hours and 45 minutes, but if you go before that, you'll see a bunch of other teachers, parents, and students from the Bay View who are also pleading the same case that Katey and I were there to make.

http://sanfrancisco.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=47&clip_id=11838

The agenda covered a lot of GREAT things that are happening in SFUSD, truly.  But what greatly disappointed me was the enormously disproportioned ratio of time that was spent hearing about the wonderful things that were happening, and how very, very little we were allotted to plead the case of the injustices that are taking place in the exact same district.  I mean, who wouldn't want to hear the great things over the bad?  It's a lot easier, because we can all pat ourselves on our backs and feel that we're making a difference.  But the bad - that's going to take work to address and figure out how to overcome.  Ugh, not something we like to hear.

But, when you consider the fact that two of the agenda items that were discussed prior to getting my chance to talk were 1) discussing the results of investigations that have been taking place in the district regarding students who are attending GREAT schools in the district who have falsified their addresses in order to go there and 2) discussing the renewal of a fantastic continuation school in the county jail... it causes me to question.  These are two items that were the district to focus more efforts heeding the cases of the terrible things that are happening in the district, wouldn't it make the need to discuss items 1 and 2 noted above effectively...moot?

I really do need to start packing, but I think now, more than ever, I feel that regardless of how much I want to improve the situation for my students, it feels like an effort in futility - since I'm working against a system that evidently cares more about covering their own hides and ensuring their own futures rather than looking out for the futures over those whom they preside.  I'm being rushed off the stage, given a one minute timer to plead the case for my failing school and the desperately needy students it attempts to provide for, while the students from highly desired SOTA are given 15 minutes to share their successful mural project and the amazing accompanied video that documents their brilliant success.  Maybe next time I just need to document everything...

Amazing Leadership = Amazing Results

Ten years ago, the graduation rate at Cincinnati's Taft Information Technology High School was 18 percent. It was considered one of the worst schools in Ohio; parents didn't want to send their children there.

Since then, thanks to dedicated principal Anthony Smith, the same staff of hard-working teachers and a unique partnership with the local phone company, the school has undergone a complete 180, ABC News reports.

Today, the school has taken its "failure is not an option" motto to heart. Ninety-five percent of the students graduate. And not a single one of the free phones and laptops given to students who kept a 3.3 grade point average (by Cincinnati Bell, the city's local phone company) has been taken back because the student fell behind.

Via The Huffington Post

Imagine...

Imagine a school with no structure, discipline, responsibility, chain of command, or leadership. Imagine a school where the students ruthlessly rule and act with impunity because they know nor fear no consequence.

Imagine a school where you a student screams "F@*# you!" while playing a game because they feel it was their turn again, even though they had already played 3x's as much as any other student in the class. Imagine a school where you call the parent of said student, and the parent gives you the same response. Imagine where they learned it from. Imagine that you call every parent of the children you teach for parent teacher conferences, and not a single one of them shows up. Imagine that all of them said they were going to.

Imagine a school where you say "Good morning!" to a student as they enter the classroom, and they explode in your face and complain about how you're always talking to them about something. Imagine a school where you ask the same question every day "Where is your pencil?" and the student responds "Gaaaawd, why you always wanting me to show you my pencil? You be doin' too much!" Imagine a school where any type of advertisement, motivational poster, or student work hung up on the wall at the beginning of the period becomes hallway trash by the start of the next.

Imagine a school where you gently nudge a student to start copying down the notes and they scream at you "Get your a*@ out of my face!" Imagine a school where students thunder continuously down the hallways at all times of the day, especially during class time. Imagine a school where students play around in the school yard for 15 minutes after lunch gets over, because there are no motivating factors to get them out of there. Imagine a school where students run at uncontrolled top speed down crowded hallways, with teachers yelling at them to "walk", and the students continue on as if the adults weren't even there. Imagine a school where a student can assault teachers, sell marijuana laced cookies in school to students, get caught, and remain in class. Imagine a school where these same kids can run into a teacher, knock them down flat on the back, banging their head against the ground, and there are no consequences for the wreckless student.

Imagine that this school has such a hard time retaining ANY teachers that the new teachers are not instructed to actually teach a curriculum, but do whatever it takes to keep these kids in the classroom. Imagine a school where the students who have been identified as disruptive are automatically being referred to in-school-suspension on a daily basis to "do their work" without even having the opportunity to attend a classroom with a certificated instructor.

Imagine that the district this school is in is completely aware of everything that is happening at this school. And imagine that they turn a blind eye to it all.

Welcome to my school.

Khan on TED

Salman Khan talks about how and why he created the remarkable Khan Academy, a carefully structured series of educational videos offering complete curricula in math and, now, other subjects. He shows the power of interactive exercises, and calls for teachers to consider flipping the traditional classroom script -- give students video lectures to watch at home, and do "homework" in the classroom with the teacher available to help.

The evolving field of education

Online education is rapidly making advances.  In support of the quote below from Bill Gates, I present "100+ Online Resources That Are Transforming Education."

PTC Week = Early Out Week

When you work at a school with virtually no parent involvement like mine, having a week of parent teacher conferences is like getting out of school early every day.  It's both a blessing and a curse.

Merit based student achievement

Today, the Idaho House passed a bill to approve merit based pay for teachers.  While I whole-heartedly believe that the education system should become professionalized in this manner, I shudder to think of what a nightmare it is going to be to implement merit pay into the current system.
The article I read says that the legislation will "... award bonuses to teachers who raise student achievement..."  Student achievement means ... mastery of material?  Increased state test scores?  Working the system?  "Student achievement" is a term that gets thrown around in education like an "end hunger" campaign.  Sure, we know there are a lot of people hungry in the world, but it's a pretty ambiguous term as to what the specific call to action is, and it's easy to justify our own inaction by assuming that someone else is dedicated to the cause and making a difference, and just needs our moral support.
So, here's a specific call to action - define student achievement.
Via the HuffingtonPost

Earning 4 Learning status report

I'm sure you've all been anxiously awaiting to hear how Earning 4 Learning (trademark pending) has been going. Well, we just wrapped up day two of the program, and it's been pretty much going as I thought it would:

1.  There have already been 2 reported incidents of theft from teachers.  Teachers who had stacks of bills that were stolen by students.  And we know who the perpetrators are, because they're telling all the other students how they've already "earned" $600 scholar dollars.  Yeah right Carl, dream on.

2.  I would place student buy-in currently somewhere between 60-75%.  Which is pretty good to start with - I think a lot of the students don't see the current value.  So, that's a place for us to focus on and figure out how to get their buy-in.  I have some ideas, and I'm excited to hear from the rest of the staff.

3.  A number of teachers are already giving up on the program because the results aren't showing.  Did I mention that it's day 2?  Since when did the world change in two days?  There's a reason why we told everyone from the start that we're going to stick with the plan NO MATTER WHAT for two weeks.

4.  Students have had their money stolen, and are wanting to be reimbursed for money they lost.  It's a tough lesson to learn, but in the real world - that's how life works.  I get my laptop stolen in real life, nobody is going to buy me a new one.  As Katey said - you wouldn't flaunt your fat wad of cash down on Third Street, why in the world would you even begin to think it's safe to do so at our school?

5.  A number of students have become walking money banks/drains.  This means that the students who don't care about their money pass it along to the students who care a LOT.  So, these students who care a lot have been getting tons of cash, and a number of students who don't care have nothing.  They probably don't mind yet, but they will soon.

There have been a number of unanticipated things I've taken note of:

1.  The number of students bringing pencils has gone way, way up.  However, there seems to have been a inverse trend with uniforms.  The number of students in free dress and hats today was appalling.

2. I witnessed my first "Cash-for-scholar-dollars" transaction today.  A student gave $5 to another student for 50 scholar dollars.  That made me happy - our money has real value!

3.  We had a student cohort hijack the faculty lounge during class yesterday and attempt to make their own copies on the copy machine of money.  The ring leader should be suspended, but at the same time, I admire their ingenuity.  Just the wrong application of it.

4.  There are teachers hiring students to clean the school.  Seems like a good idea, until you start to overhear students talking about how they're just going to continue to trash the school yard so they can keep getting paid.

5.  The inventory of the school store is not being depleted nearly as quickly as I had anticipated.

6.  The money that I'm handing out isn't going nearly as quickly as I had anticipated.  We figured that if each student earns on average $7 per period, it comes out to be about $50 per student per week.  At that rate, I thought I'd need about $4000 to get through a single week.  As of today, we've gone through two full days of the program, and I think I've only given out about $400.  And I've been handing it out at every possible opportunity I have. I personally think this is a good thing, if we can still invest the students, not hand out as much money as we'd considered, and still have pretty solid results.

Overall, I'm happy with the program so far.  There are a lot of tweaks that need to be made, and more organization from the staff so Katey and I don't feel like we're doing everything (I know we aren't, but I need this system to be in a place where if I don't do something, it will still survive).  I feel the next big challenge is going to be to continue to persuade the staff to stick to the plan, and not give up hope.  A difference can be made, we just need to find the right pressure points with our students.

Coming Soon

There's change in the wind - can you feel it?  I can.

Over the last few weeks, some fairly radical changes have taken place in the upper echelon's of our zone in the district.  I won't go in to details at this time, but I'll do my best to summarize without minimizing the roles of those involved.

If you've been following my blog for some time, you're likely already familiar with the ridiculosity of the events that take place at my school.  Last year, the majority of those documented events took place in my classroom, since that's where I focused the majority of my efforts.  This year has been a huge eye opener for me as I've reigned in the craziness of my classroom, and become aware of the atrocities that are taking place at my school on a larger scale. To some degree this saddens me, because I love reading about the hilarious events that took place in my classroom, because let's face it - 7th graders are pretty ridiculous.  However, this year, I can honestly say that the number of hilarious events that take place in my classroom really don't extend much beyond the occasional funny comment or absurd action.  So, the number of anecdotal stories have receded and  been replaced with (hopefully) more meaningful, larger scale issues that I've encountered.

If all goes well in the next few weeks, hopefully even the ridiculosity of events school wide will start to subside.  And it all started with a letter.

A letter that was sent to the San Francisco board of education that clearly delineated the injustices that have been allowed to propagate at my school for the last few months, and in reality, the last few years.  This letter started a ripple effect that originally had me worried about the unknown, but has since led to the movement of personnel and resources that I have no doubt will ultimately be for the better.

I'm not going to elaborate on the movement of personnel as of right now, because everything I've heard thus far is heresy, and fundamentally unsubstantiated.  However, if what I hear is true, it will be amazing.

However, I would love to elaborate on the movement of resources, because it has led to a transformation in the staff at my school.

A few weeks back our staff had a meeting with some district admins who came to our school to discuss this letter that had been sent to their superiors.  The outcome of this meeting basically was that there are a ton of problems at our school, and they need to be fixed.  It was pointed out that our staff is well aware of the issues, but we never have time to collaborate, address, or discuss potential solutions to the issues.  So we were given the promise of time and resources to collaborate and come up with solutions for the issues.  The next day, I met with Katey and another staff member at the school, and we outlined some of the issues that needed to be discussed as a staff, and came up with an agenda for our scheduled meeting the following day.

The next day, our staff met and we discussed the various issues our school is plagued with, and potential solutions.  We broke the staff up into smaller groups, with each group brainstorming possible solutions to the issues, and then reconvened to have everyone share out the solutions that they had come up with.  After getting a great list of possible solutions, Katey and I spent a few hours outlining a comprehensive solution that incorporated as many of the ideas as possible from our staff as we could.

The solution that we devised essentially consisted of creating a school economy that utilized what we termed "Scholar Dollars" which could be used to purchase items from the school store that we will be opening. We pitched the plan to the staff, and given that our plan incorporated so many ideas from the entire staff, they could all sense the elements of their contribution to the program and it was heartily approved.

I have spent many, many hours thinking through this plan, and one of the things that I did along the way was the break it up into individual responsibilities.  Being the dork that I am, I even created an organization chart, discussed the responsibilities with the staff, and had people volunteer for specific tasks and committees.   After each person was assigned to a committee, we all broke up and everyone went their ways to work on accomplishing their task.

Since that time, our school has been a flurry of activity.  It has been amazing to see how much these teachers have been getting on board with our plan, which I probably should mention that we are calling it "Earning 4 Learning", or E4L for short.  Each teacher has their specific responsibility, and they really have been owning up to it.  And everyone has been pitching in to work out the details, and make sure that E4L is going to be a success.  In the 18 months that I've been at my school, this is the first time I have seen teacher a) enthusiastically working together b) excited about a program at our school c) believing that change is possible and d) that together, we can really make a difference.  Literally, here are some of the comments I've heard in the last few days:

• "I think this is the first time that I'm not dreading coming to school on Monday."
• "There's no way this isn't going to work - there's just so much potential!"
• "This is what being a teacher is supposed to be like."
• "This must be what it's like teaching at a normal school."
• "It's been so much fun to be able to express some creative problem solving in a meaningful way."
• "I didn't think there'd be anyway that we were going to actually get (specific teachers) involved, but look what they've done!"
• "I finally feel like what I'm doing is going to make a difference to the students."
• "This is a perfect application of algebra!  And it's so much fun!  If only we could bring this kind of real world experience to our students..."

It's been an incredible experience getting to see our staff really gel together and make this program go forward.  As of right now, it's 100% untested, unproven, and any tangible results are yet-to-be-seen.  There have been many challenges along the way, including a last minute announcement that none of the previously-promised funding would actually be available for us to use.  That was a big scare, but I'm hopeful that we've worked through that one.  However, with the enthusiasm of our staff, the confidence in the plan, and how much buy in we have at almost every level, it's really difficult for me to see any points of failure.  Sure, sure, I know - they will quickly become blatantly obvious to me, but as of right now, I believe that there are big changes coming soon.

Consistency is Key

Before the year began, I carefully mapped out what I wanted every week to look like.  I wanted to create consistent, systematic structures that would not only simplify my life, but create a classroom structure that my students could come to know and rely upon.

One of these things included me looking at the week schedule, determining which day would be our assessment day, review day, short day, when to do instruction, etc.  Of my objectives for my students this year, one of the things that I wanted to accomplish was to get them to become nearly 100% proficient with basic integer operations, and hopefully with fractions as well.  My strategy for doing this was not only teaching them the rules (yet once again) at the beginning of the school year, but I determined that I would assess them on their integer operations daily via the Do Now - the first five minutes of class - where the students come in, immediately receive a hand out, sit down with their pencil in hand, and get to work.

So I structured my schedule from day one, and I've stuck with it every since then:  Monday - addition, Tuesday - subtraction, Wednesday - multiplication, Thursday - division, Friday - mixed operations.  I honestly didn't know if my students would pick up on this, nor did I think I would care, so I didn't really advertise it, but it makes it easy for me to be accountable and ensure that each operation receive adequate attention.

When I made my copies for the week on Monday, I accidently switched Thursday division with Tuesday subtraction.  I was slightly bothered by it, but I figured it really didn't matter and no one would notice.

Sixth period comes around, and my students are working on the Do Now (division, mind you) and DJ calls me over and says "Why are we doing division today?  It isn't Thursday."

I about died.  I was so incredibly proud with 1. DJ for even noticing and 2. myself for having inflicted this expectation on them for my classroom.  So minor, I know, but things like this really let me know that at some level - I am reaching these kids.  I love it.  More than anything, it's things like this that really reinforces the idea that consistency truly is key.  Also, regarding the image at the top - what do you think?  Is it better to be consistent or have rare moments of greatness and truly shine?