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Reinvent the future of education.

Pretty Fast

Right after I arrive at school, a student (Q) comes running up to me ...

Q: "Mr. Woahn! Mr. Woahn!  You need to come to our track meet today!"

Me:  I smile.  "Where is it?"

Q: "Kezar Stadium."

Me: Look of concern... "Oh..."  

Q: "It's too far, huh?"

Me: "No, it's not that - it's just that I'm not sure I could make it up to the stadium before your meet was over. How come you want me there?"

Q: "You need to see me run!  I am preeettty fast..."

I'd better get going pretty fast.

Little Warriors

I had two students show up today to class, unable to stop talking about something that had apparently happened on the way to school.  However, the nonchalant attitude they had toward the subject matter made me think it was them just goofing around, and so I tried to squelch their chatter as quickly as possible.

They came in to class, and from the moment they set foot through the door, all they could talk about was a shooting they observed on their way to school.  But then they were laughing about it, joking, and goofing off as if nothing of a serious nature had truly happened.  So what am I to believe?  I mean, I take about 5% of what my kids say as truth - I hate to say it, but it's just not one of their strong points.  I felt that on the remote chance that what they were saying was true, they probably shouldn't be in my classroom at that point.  However, they were being so disruptive with their story as the entire class wanted to hear it, I couldn't get anyone to focus on what I was trying to do, so I wasn't sure where to go next.

I was somewhat relieved when I noticed neither one of them had on their uniforms.  If students don't have on uniforms when they show up to class, they're supposed to go straight to In School Suspension (ISS).  So I sent them to ISS, and figured that someone who wasn't trying to teach a class could determine whether there was truth to their story or not.

Turns out, there was.  There was a lot of talk today, from both the adult and the students, about a shooting that took place no further than 2 blocks from our school.  And in spite of the fact that two people were hospitalized, and possibly dead (they didn't release much details), none of my students seemed particularly fazed by it. 

This caused me to wonder, and worry on a number of accounts.  For one, has this type of event become such a common occurrence in their short lives that it's really not anything out of the ordinary?  People dying, getting shot at, hospitals and critical condition? Is this what normal life is like for them?  For another, those could have been my kids down there, being hauled down to the emergency room with a bullet in their chest. 

Yesterday I attended the funeral of one of my favorite student's mom. She was one of the few parents who was actively involved in her child's education.  It was really hard for me to be there, and I got choked up a few times.  Not that I was super close to the woman, but I looked to my student, sitting alone, looking little there on the front row, knowing that this little guy is now going to have to go the rest of his life without this monumental force for good in his life, the woman who drove him to and from school every day, who called me on a semi-daily basis to discuss her son's habits and progress in my class, with whom I collaborated as I brought her son along on special assignments.  And now she's gone.  What will happen to him now?  This for the parent ... I can only imagine had it been the student.

Another one of my students had her mother show up to school yesterday to pick up her and her little sister up.  However, the mom was so strung out on drugs that she was unable to drive her daughters home, and so she enlisted the support of a minor (13 years old) who "knew" how to drive, and she took them all home, and took the bus back to school.  My student wasn't in school today, but I hear that CPS were called.  I honestly can't even begin to fathom what she is going through right now, but my heart cries out in anguish.

My students are little warriors.  The battle that they wage on a daily basis is more than I feel I've had to take on in my entire life.  But they somehow find the strength to not only press forward, but thrive. At times I take in the gravity of the entire scope of situations that I've encountered during my time here at school, and I start to feel that trying to teach them power number properties seems somewhat trivial.

And I take a step back, and look at the bigger picture of what I'm trying to accomplish.  Sure, in the short run, power number properties won't amount to a lot. But it's the attitude of a scholar - not only am I trying to help them accumulate knowledge, but I'm pushing them to take command of their education. By so doing, I can only pray that it will afford them the tools to elevate their futures to a higher plane that isn't so needlessly afflicted with the pain, grieving and heartache as the world that they currently live in. Education for these guys amounts to so much more than what I have them write down on paper, but it's about teaching them that there's more to life than the street label.  It's how to be civil, to be proper, to be good citizens, to be courteous, to engender empathy for others, to show respect for people, property, and themselves.  It's letting them know that there are people out there who care for them regardless of anything else that's happening in their lives, in whom they can hopefully trust and depend on to see the best in them and push them to new heights.  

I don't know, maybe I'm just blowing smoke to make myself feel like I'm making a difference for these kids... but I do know one thing.  I love my students. 

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.