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