Renegade Teacher

March's Rant

2010-03-23T23:45:00.004-04:00

You know what really ticks me off? The word "should" when over-applied to students. For instance, "Josh should be able to sit still and focus for an hour." In a perfect world, Josh should. But what if Josh can't? What if his brain is wired differently and sitting still for an hour makes his mind shut down? We could say he should be able to do this and make it his fault. Or we could accept the fact that he can't and take steps to help him. Perhaps two minutes of active movement at the beginning of class and maybe even at the middle would help him focus the other 56 minutes. Perhaps letting him doodle or fiddle with silly putty would help him learn. Chewing gum (as much as I hate it) helps some students. Perhaps teachers should look at an unsuccessful student and see what is needed to help him succeed.

Another example I hear regularly is that students should do what they are supposed to without expecting praise. Well, yes, they should. But they don't. Most of these kids are running so in the red with negative teacher/parent/peer comments that they need a huge amount of praise to have any hopes of getting in the black, praise-wise. What harm does it do to tell a kid you love how still he's sitting? Watch everyone around him try for that same comment. Telling a kid you appreciate how neatly she is writing will improve the chances of her continuing to write neatly. We all love to be noticed and praised, and intense kids need much more praise than other kids do. Praise is cheap, quick, and efficient.

One of my third grade tutoring students is having a horrendous time in school right now. EOG madness is reaching its peak and teachers are going into high gear. He's getting into lots of trouble. I asked him one day, if HE were designing a school, how would it be different? After we got past candy for lunch and Pepsi in the water fountains, he had some great ideas. He just needed to move around more, he said. And he'd like to have work that he could understand. He very seldom gets praised or called upon, because he is a trouble-maker. He's a smart kid with supportive parents and he should be a success. Perhaps we should look at why he isn't succeeding and make some changes. Perhaps our schools should be more open to students who learn differently. If we did, I think we'd find we needed to spend less time on discipline and remediation and we'd see some kids bloom and learn. I'd like to see that day come soon.

Teaching kids to read, one by one

2010-03-21T22:43:00.005-04:00

One of the things I am proud of is the Augustine Project. I'm proud that I started it and I'm proud that I was chair of the hiring committee that hired Debbie McCarthy. Without her, the AP wouldn't be in three states and several cities; it wouldn't have trained hundreds of tutors or helped hundreds of kids. And I'm proud of the tutors who give up two weeks of their time to take our grueling training so they cam give at least sixty hours of time to a low-income child with reading problems.

With the help of the Diocese of NC's Bishop Michael Curry, the AP applied for and received a $100,000 Jessie Ball DuPont grant to be split over five years between the three diocesan AP projects, in Chapel Hill/Durham, Charlotte, and Winston-Salem. This video features Bishop Curry and Debbie talking about the grant and the project's inception and growth.

Early grant givers were hesitant to give us money because the AP only helped one child at a time. But one child at a time adds up. Tutor Dan Toth has worked with over 25 children alone. The Talmud says "To change one life is to change the world," and these tutors have changed a lot of worlds. This grant, given during a time of funding uncertainty for many nonprofits, means more tutors can be trained and more children can be helped.

Our replication policy can be found on the project website. If you are interested in knowing more about starting an Augustine Project in your town, Church of the Holy Family, Chapel Hill, NC, is hosting a replication workshop on Friday, March 26, 2010, from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm. Lunch will be provided and directors from other programs will be present. Come hear more about it. It may be your turn to change a few worlds!

Celebrate!Calm

2010-03-21T22:21:00.002-04:00

You may have gathered it from reading this blog already, but if you haven't, daughter #2 is what educator Kirk Martin calls an "intense child." Eight months in NC's wonderful Wright School helped, but day-to-day maintenance is critical and exhausting. With a child like this, there is no margin for error.

Schools, any schools, have even less patience for intense kids. They present as defiant, oppositional and rude. It's hard to see how terrified they really are. Schools are incredibly user-unfriendly to these kids and new models for interacting are needed, both at home and school.

I attended one of Kirk Martin's Celebrate!Calm workshops last week, and was astounded to hear him describing my child and the interactions we have in our home. The school cafeteria we met in was half-full, and all the other parents were nodding along with me. Martin describes his organization:

Based in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., Celebrate!Calm is a world-renowned educational organization that provides science-based training for educators, parents and children. While the research-based interventions help all children learn more effectively, the organization specializes in working with children affected by Aspergers, Autism, Sensory Integration, Opposition Defiant Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, OCD, ADD, ADHD and other learning or emotional difficulties.

The two hours were packed with information, which I found trustworthy because it was so similar to Wright School's methodology. Martin sells his CD series for what he admits is an exorbitant amount of money, partially because he wants it to hurt enough that people will listen to and use them. I knew I couldn't afford it, but then he announced a special individual price for people in financial need. I approached him at the break and we agreed on a very reasonable amount that I promised him still hurt considerably.

His sessions are free to participants and there is no real pressure to buy the CD's, which are worth every penny I spent on them. There is a set for teachers, for dads, for married couples and some for everyone. Check out his website and see if he's coming to your area. If you parent or teach an intense child, put it on your calendar. You won't regret it.

Why educating children isn't like making cars

2010-03-20T20:07:00.003-04:00

Great video about why using a factory model for educating children isn't either efficient or practical. The CHCCS system might want to be reminded of this as they make the decision that all students should be educated to go to college.

Time for a new kind of school

2010-03-15T23:06:00.005-04:00

I thought I had found the perfect school for D#2 and one that actually tempted me back into teaching in a school setting. I had found my dream job. Except . . . . it wasn't. Nor was it a good place for her. Not a bad school, just not the right school. So, that behind us, we're off to the next wonderful school.

Where, you might ask? I'm asking too. For a child like my daughter, and for many other children, there is no wonderful school. Many kids can go on to be successful if they can just make it through the ordeal we call education. What is needed is a different kind of school. Will someone please start one?

Uh, me? Are you talking to me? Can I actually start a school? My friend Meredith put it this way: "You thought you had found your dream job. Perhaps you were dreaming too small."

So here's the dream under its working name:

Just Right Academy is a private elementary and middle school geared to children who need structure, consistency and positive reinforcement, remediation and a multi-sensory way of learning, more movement, and reduced stress. Students receive direct small group and/or individual instruction in reading, math and language arts, along with integrated social studies, science, art, music, and drama. In some areas a student may need intense remediation, while in others he or she may need to be challenged. Social skills are directly taught and constantly reinforced. Learning to serve is an important value and there are daily opportunities for this along with monthly service Fridays. Movement breaks and physical activities are built into the schedule. A high school curriculum may be added later if the need is there.

Unnecessary stressors such as homework, high-stakes testing, and inappropriately difficult and/or busy work are not part of the program. But because life is not stress-free, techniques and strategies are taught to help students deal with the inevitable stressors and frustrating situations in their lives.

JRA’s core philosophy is that of Nicholas Hobbes’ Twelve Re-ED principles:

l. Life is to be lived now, not in the past, and lived in the future only as a present challenge. All children come with a history, but it is essential that it doesn’t haunt them in their present school setting. Every day, every hour, is an opportunity to start fresh.

2. Trust between child and adult is essential. In order for learning to happen, adults must be seen as reliable and trustworthy allies with predictable and consistent behaviors. A culture of trust and consistency must exist among the adults before the children ever begin at the school, and a commonality of philosophy is critical.

3. Competence makes a difference, and children and adolescents should be helped to be good at something, and especially at schoolwork. Some children require direct teaching and multisensory learning in order to become competent at reading and math. Other opportunities for competence are regularly offered.

4. Time is an ally, working on the side of growth in a period of development when life has a tremendous forward thrust. The brain is maturing in children and many just need a safe place to develop skills and competencies that might develop with time on their own.

5. Self-control can be taught and children and adolescents helped to manage their behavior without the development of psychodynamic insight. We are not psychotherapists nor are we a day treatment program, but all humans have behaviors that must be unlearned and replaced with more productive behavior, no matter the reason they occur.

6. Intelligence can be taught. Intelligence is a dynamic, evolving, and malleable capacity for making good choices in living. Problem-solving, both with academics and relationships, can and should be taught. Practice in making good choices is constant.

7. Feelings should be nurtured, shared spontaneously, controlled when necessary, expressed when too long repressed, and explored with trusted others. An atmosphere of honesty allows children to share through writing, drama, art and conversation. Constant coaching helps children learn to control the actions their feelings may cause.

8. The group is very important to young people, and it can become a major source of instruction in growing up. A healthy group can be a source of support and reinforcement to a struggling child. Older children can assist younger ones, thus gaining self-confidence in the process. Peers who cooperate rather than compete can be a source of strength and learning.

9. Ceremony and ritual give order, stability, and confidence to troubled children and adolescents, whose lives are often in considerable disarray. All people find comfort in predictability and ritual. Though out time, cultures have created rituals to help them through times of disequilibrium and transition, and so we do as well.

10. The body is the armature of the self, the physical self around which the psychological self is constructed. Children need to move, both in play, work and physical challenge, and all these are built into JRA’s program. It may be recess, gardening, sports coaching, working, or hiking, but movement is central to our program.

11. Communities are important for children and youth, but the uses and benefits of community must be experienced to be learned. Communities come with responsibilities as well as benefits, and so each child contributes each day by doing chores. Monthly service Fridays expand the community. Students help plan celebrations and support each other in many ways.

12. A child should know some joy in each day and look forward to some joyous event for the morrow. Every child should experience some joy in school every day, whether it’s a game at recess, mastering a difficult concept, reading with a dog, or celebrating one of our many holidays such as Squirrel Appreciation Day, King Tut Day, Jackie Robinson’s birthday, Cherry Pie Day, or World Penguin Day.

Is this something I can do myself? I'm not crazy. Wonderful people have come forward and there are more of you out there, people who may hold a small or large piece of this school and not even know it. We are in the process of forming a nonprofit and putting together a board of directors. While we will have to charge tuition, we want to have lots of scholarships so that all children who need this kind of setting can come. This is not a day treatment program for troubled kids; we want all kinds of children who need structure, consistency, movement, positivity, and strong academics.

Here are some needs:

1. a building; we are looking at one this week, but are open to all suggestions in Durham, Orange or northern Chatham.

2. financial donations, especially after we get nonprofit status.

3. donations of children's books, educational materials in good condition. We are especially interested in Saxon math materials and any math manipulatives.

4. Play tables

5. Someone to create a website

6. Someone to create a brochure

7. People who would be interested in serving on a committee: bylaws, curriculum, renovating and building (bookshelves, etc), fundraising, admissions, outreach, calendar

8. Prayers

9. Computer wizards and computers

10. People who can set up matching giving plans at their companies

11. Legos, K'nex, Lincoln Logs, any building toys, Playmobile sets, especially historical ones

12. Educational puzzles, especially wooden ones

13. Hot Dots materials

14. Wilson Reading systems materials, especially magnet boards and card packs

15. Office supplies such as staplers, paper cutters, scissors, markers, etc.

16. Corporate partners

17. students

We'd like to open in the fall 2010. What we want is a school for kids who could be superstars with the proper support and coaching. I know they are out there and I know most schools can't meet their needs. I have taught some in the past, I tutor some now, and I'm related to several. These kids can change the world if we can give them the leg up they need. Let me know if you want to help or you have a student who is a superstar in the making.

Inspiration

2010-02-16T22:36:00.005-05:00

Today at Jordan Lake School of the Arts, D. J. Svoboda talked to our students. D. J., age 27, is an adult artist living with autism. As a child he was picked on and bullied by classmates, so he created a happier place to be called Imagiville. Imagiville is filled with wondrous creatures, colorful and friendly, always encouraging and never mean. The weather is always great and the fruit is always sweet. D. J. began drawing the inhabitants of Imagiville, practicing until he could draw them just as he imagined them. Imagifriends are intricate and totally engaging. As D. J. says, "They come in many sizes, colors, and designs. None of them are ever mean or cruel. They each have their own special job and purpose in Imagiville. Every Imagifriend knows that as long as they have a kind heart, it does not matter what they look like."

D. J. wasn't content to just doodle away for his own entertainment. He had a larger purpose and a dream. He wanted to market his creations and to spread the word that it's okay to be different and that we all have things to do. And so he set out to do just that. He now sells reproductions of his creatures, along with a story book, a coloring book, mouse pads, tote bags, mugs and cards. He has an Iphone app and contracts with PBS's Arthur, Sesame Street, and Southwest Airlines.

As the kids listened today, I could tell they were absolutely enthralled. I don't blame them; I was as well. Many of the kids at JLSA have had the hope educated out of them, and here was a young man who had been through similar ordeals and had turned his pain into an asset. I don't think we've seen the last of this guy. I'm glad I can say I knew him before he hit the big time!

anxiety, depression and school?

2010-02-03T19:41:00.003-05:00

My cousin Rosemoon Mecho just posted this great article about the correlation between anxiety and depression in children and adolescents and traditional schooling. I thought it made many good points and certainly holds true with my two very different children as well as most of my students. Take a look.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/print/37511

February's rant

2010-02-01T12:03:00.002-05:00

Hey, I know it's early in the month, but I'm iced in and doing a lot of reading. You know what really annoys me? People, especially editors, who rely on spellcheck and don't check to make sure they have the correct word, whether it's a homophone or just a close match. This one is audience participation. Send me your examples of bad editing. I'll start us off with an example from February 1, 2010, a wral.com article on John Edwards: But he eventually became disillusioned when it was obvious the affair wasn't ending and that Edwards was less than discrete about it. We all know that John Edwards wasn't particularly discreet about his illicit affair; unfortunately that doesn't make him individually distinct. Now let me spell-check this and make sure I've spelled everything correctly!

January's Rant

2010-01-28T22:57:00.002-05:00

I rebelled against homework at an early age. As an undiagnosed ADD dyslexic, all it did was made me feel stupid. So I just said no. The classes weren't that hard and I'd do the reading. But I wasn't about to do any math or French. No one wanted me a second time, so I surfed along from grade to grade with low but passing grades. My senior year, Col. Walker, who taught us economics and Problems of American Democracy (an anti-communism course with a text written by J. Edgar Hoover), called my bluff the day before my not-yet-begun research paper was due. I pulled my first all-nighter and turned in a poorly written paper that allowed me to graduate.

I hated homework then, but that pales to how much I hate it as a parent. (A disclaimer here: as a teacher, I assigned homework. I believed in it. I was wrong.) I promise you, homework was not invented by the parent of a special needs child. Every day the school would send me home an exhausted, grouchy fifth grader and expect her to do geometry (she can't multiply), write essays (she first needs to learn to write a single good sentence) or some other equally undoable assignment. Family time was nonexistent. The week a close friend was dying, I wrote the school and told them that homework would not be a priority, that during that week we would be concentrating on our friend and our family. I got a return email explaining that homework was an expectation and not doing it would result in D#2's not being able to fully participate in class. Bad parent!

Homework is one of those ideas that sounds good in theory: practicing skills, involving the parents in the child's education, and learning time management. It might surprise you to learn that there is very little correlation between homework and those things. Instead, homework strains families, frustrates kids and is generally not meaningful enough to be done at school. Internationally, the countries that show the highest academic scores—Japan, the Czech Republic, and Denmark—assign very little homework. The countries at the bottom of the list generally assign much more.

During the time that a child should be playing outside, exploring interests, developing passions, and learning how to interact socially, many kids are spending up to three hours a night on homework—and that's in elementary school. Parents often feel obliged to be heavily involved. Indeed, in affluent school systems, the demand for homework is very often parent-driven. But this means that children from single-parent, non English speaking, or low income families may not have that parental involvement. When homework is necessary to participate in class, these kids find themselves at a disadvantage, thus widening the ever-growing gap between privileged learners and those who aren't for whatever reason.

More and more educators are starting to see the harm that excessive and unnecessary homework can do. In a thoughtful article called "Rethinking Homework", a principal talks about three important facts about homework: the negative effects of homework are well-known, the positive effects of homework are largely mythical, and more homework is being piled on students despite its lack of value. He goes on to make recommendations as to how homework can be improved.

One of the articles he quotes, "Homework Hell", talks about homework from a parent's point of view. She rails against the craft-type homework that requires late night runs to Wal-Mart. I join her in feeling admiration for the child who demonstrates higher level thinking skills in doing as little as possible on a particularly silly project: Assigned to construct a relief map of one of the 50 states out of plaster of Paris, the boy chose Nebraska. He made a flat rectangle. As his aunt said, "You've got to love a kid who puts into the assignment exactly the effort it's worth."

Homework almost sent my child and me over the edge. I feel very fortunate to have been able to pull her from her homework-loving school and put her in a school where lots of learning takes place, but no homework is assigned. Her anxiety has plummeted. Interestingly, she occasionally can be found after school doing research and writing stories and reports. She brought home a book she is interested in reading. The pressure is off; let the learning begin.

We have a name for adults who work all day and then continue at home as well: workaholics. We know that is not healthy. I hope someday we will realize that is equally true for children and let them spend their afternoons and evenings learning in experiential and active ways. Until then, perhaps more of us should just say no.

An old favorite

2010-01-26T23:29:00.003-05:00

Many of my students eventually can break down and read longer words like astonishment or transatlantic. After all, they are phonetically regular and distinctive in appearance. What trips them up are those small words like of, could, from, who. I like to help kids practice those words by using Dr. Seuss books. My favorite is Green Eggs and Ham.

After Dr. Seuss wrote The Cat in the Hat, which contained 225 words, his publisher Bennett Cerf bet him $50 that he could not write a book with just fifty different words. The author rose to the occasion, not just writing a book that fit the criteria, but managing to write one that has been beloved by children for fifty years. Of the fifty words, forty-nine are single syllables, the only exception being anywhere. Forty-six of the fifty are Germanic words, ones that don't always follow phonetic patterns but are critical to reading. Dr. Seuss switches the order to keep kids (and parents) on their toes: Could you, would you? while the next line may read, would you, could you? Students must pay attention to those little words in this book. And because the words are used over and over again, the student gets plenty of practice with those difficult words. This is also a great example of a book that could be used for phonological awareness, especially for rhyming.

My father, the one in charge of breakfast in our house, occasionally cooked us green eggs and ham. I was never sure whether it was on purpose or due to the copper pan he used. But there are recipes available if you want to cook it for your children. One can also find many extension activities on the web.

Time spent with Dr. Seuss is never wasted time, but it's especially well-spent with struggling readers.

Not for the easily offended . . .

2010-01-25T20:12:00.004-05:00

I never know what will motivate a particular student in the beginning. D., one of my kids with autism, informed me from the beginning that he didn't do games. He just wanted to get the tutoring over with and he stoically endured whatever I asked him to do, as long as it wasn't games. He seemed totally uninterested in learning to read. That changed when we got to consonant digraphs.

As my students should be able to tell you, a consonant digraph is two letters that make one sound. We had finished with sh and were working on -ck, always a dangerous one with seventh grade boys. I placed the letter tiles to make the word ship on the magnet board. He read it in his usual monotone voice. Suddenly he froze, staring at the word. I waited, curious as to what had finally captured his attention. His hand reached out and replaced the p with a t. Then he looked up at me questioningly. "Yes," I said, "that says exactly what you think it does. But we don't use words like that in tutoring." I put the magnets back in their places, trying hard to keep a straight face.

A few minutes later, I noticed the -ck tile was missing. I didn't say anything. But when the f tile went missing as well, I put on my stern voice. "D., you need to put those back. I said we didn't use words like that." His face was so crestfallen that I couldn't stand it. "But if we did," I continued, "what vowel would you use?" "U! u! u!" he shouted. "I've always wanted to know how to spell those words!"

He never again tried out dirty words on me. But he had a whole new interest in learning to read. Within three years this nonreader was reading on a twelfth grade level. Sometimes it's all in the motivation.

See Spot Read

2010-01-14T22:24:00.002-05:00

This week I got to observe a really cool program called See Spot Read. Therapy dogs and their owners show up at schools that request them and let children read to the dogs. It's easy to see that for a struggling reader, reading to a dog would be less threatening and much more fun. Two dogs came to our school and one child read Jake the lab Green Eggs and Ham, while Shadow the golden retriever was treated to a guitar "concert" by a nonreader. The service is free and all dog owners are volunteers.

I love innovative programs that make reading fun for children. And I salute these volunteers who give up their times to train their dogs and let them make children smile.

The Twelve Days of Christmas

2009-12-20T23:11:00.009-05:00

On the first day of Christmas my tutor gave to me a language formed all willy-nilly.

On the second of Christmas my tutor gave to me two sounds of c, and a language formed all willy-nilly.

On the third day of Christmas my tutor gave to me three sounds of -ed, etc.

On the fourth day of Christmas my tutor gave to me the f,s,l, and z rule, etc.

On the fifth day of Christmas my tutor gave to me five—short—vowel—sounds etc.

On the sixth day of Christmas my tutor gave to me six syllable types, etc.

On the seventh day of Christmas my tutor gave to me seven r blends, etc.

On the eighth day of Christmas my tutor gave to me eight ways to spell long a, etc.

On the ninth day of Christmas my tutor gave to me a reminder to drop the e in ninth, etc.

On the tenth day of Christmas my tutor gave to me ten dictation toys with digraphs, etc,

On the eleventh day of Christmas my tutor gave to me the Norman Invasion's affect on English in the 11th century, etc.

On the twelfth day of Christmas my tutor gave to me twelve Wilson books, etc, and a language not quite so willy-nilly.

Losing a student

2009-12-14T00:52:00.004-05:00

I found out Wednesday that one of my students is moving after Christmas and will not return to his school. And so next Friday, I'll say goodbye to my little guy who works for Legos. My goal is always to get the student to the point where he or she no longer needs me, and when this happens, it's cause for celebration. But this child struggles so and he has only mastered a few consonants and two short vowels. He's leaving a private school for a public school, which means a private tutor won't be allowed in to help. He will easily qualify for an IEP, but that process is so long and time-consuming, and there is no guarantee that there will be any continuity of instruction. It seems every time a child goes to a new school, they want to try all the things that didn't work in the old school. I feel sad that he is leaving, but I understand.

It's a little harder when I don't understand. Last year I had a young girl who was a total nonreader when we began. She soaked up the information I gave her with great enthusiasm and learned quickly. In a few short months she progressed at least two years. The parents seemed pleased, but then stopped the tutoring cordially but abruptly with no explanation.

Then there are the times that I am the one who ends the tutoring relationship. Occasionally it's because I am not the right tutor for the child; perhaps he needs organizational guidance and homework help rather than reading. Perhaps she needs more in-depth composition work than I do. I always explain that it's MY lack of knowledge and try to leave the parents with one or two good names that might be more appropriate. Parents pay a lot of money and I want them to get their money's worth.

There have been a few times in the past years that I ended tutoring for other reasons. Once I got caught up in an ugly custody dispute and the writing the student did for me was subpoenaed. I have stopped at least twice because the parents regularly forgot tutoring and didn't show. Once I had a parent tell me they couldn't pay me because, if they did, there might not be enough for their skiing vacation to Vail. The child that haunts me though is one from many years ago. At first glance his mom was so interested and involved. But then I realized she called every teacher every night, and I spent unpaid hours on the phone with her. If the child expressed an interest in something, the mother would sign both of them up for lessons, buy books, rent movies. This middle school child was denied the chance to have any interests of his own and I watched him withdraw more and more, from me, his friends, and his teachers. It wasn't abuse under the law so I couldn't report it. But it was abuse nonetheless, and I could no longer be a part of it.

December's rant

2009-12-10T21:49:00.005-05:00

You know what really annoys me? People who can't keep their its straight. I'm not talking about kids writing a first draft or people scribbling a quick note. I'm talking about people with editors or public relations staff, people who should know better. And that includes teachers, by the way. Take this ad that's been flashing across my computer screen for the last several days: Dell's New Adamo PC - www.AdamoByDell.com - In a Class of It's Own. Fast, Thin & Light w/Intel Technology. If they don't do details, do I really want one of their computers? I'll stick with my Mac, thank you.

Years ago I taught a community college class made up of people who had worked all day in a factory before they drove over mountain roads to take my basic grammar class as part of earning their GED. One older woman heaved a great sigh one evening and said, "I ain't NEVER going to get my hits straight!" But she did, though I'm not sure she ever understood what I meant about ain't.

Surely if this uneducated mountain woman can get her "hits" straight, Dell can as well. Possessive pronouns don't have apostrophes. It's is a contraction for it is. It's not that hard.

. . . and MY philosophy you ask?

2009-12-08T22:28:00.003-05:00

I was on my second day of working on the preceding article about school philosophies. I had hogged the computer and the phone rang regularly with people returning my phone calls. My elder child finally asked me to articulate my teaching philosophy since I was badgering everyone else about theirs. Luckily I was ready.

I believe that every child is precious and deserves to learn in the best possible way for him or her. The details include respect, finding joy, reducing anxiety, and feeding the right wolf (see November's post for the wolf story).

What's our philosophy?

2009-12-07T17:37:00.013-05:00

I'm on a training subcommittee for SNAC, the Special Needs Advisory Council, for Chapel Hill/Carrboro City Schools. We spent almost two hours talking about the myriad trainings, both state or federally mandated as well as ones that dealt with methodology, and how one goes about evaluating whether they are effective or not. We were floundering. And though the other committee members did not share my certainty on the matter, I felt strongly that it's impossible to evaluate programs if one does not know what the philosophy of the school system is.

I've heard the quote that Christianity (my tradition) can be distilled into one sentence: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. All the rest is details. The details are often what gets us into trouble, what with fighting over gay marriage, ordaining women, or birth control. But I think all Christian faiths would agree with Jesus when he said this is the first law and commandment. So I wandered around the rest of the day asking questions about school philosophies, both public and private, looking for the statement that summed us up when the details are stripped away.

Because I work in so many different schools and see how they are different, this is something that is front and center to me. Two private schools, Carolina Friends School and Jordan Lake School of the Arts, have such a clearly defined philosophy that they can be summed up in a sentence or two each: For CFS, it's Quaker Values—truth, respect, peace, simplicity, nature, service. JLSA's is more informal—We believe quirky kids have much to offer the world and we create an environment where they can be accepted and successful. Both schools have longer mission statements, but this core philosophy can be found in every decision that is made, down to the kind of copy paper used, how teachers are addressed, how decisions are made, and who cleans the school. A culture is created in which all participants buy in and actively seek to further. This helps with discipline problems, teacher retention and definitely with evaluation. I will write more about these two schools in later posts.

What I found with the Lincoln Center staff I talked to is that although they may have a personal philosophy—and most of them did—they had trouble articulating what the district's philosophy was. "Well, we DO have a mission statement," was a common reaction, but most couldn't remember what it was when put on the spot. The words diversity, partnering, high expectations, and doing what's right for kids were things that were mentioned. I talked to staff at Glenwood Elementary, my daughter's school, and found a very enthusiastic philosophy, but when I asked if it were the district's or the school's, we agreed that it was probably the school's. It was when I talked to school board members that I realized that we did have a governing philosophy, and some of them could articulate it well. There is a page on the CHCCS website called "Keeping our Eye on the Ball: the Focus of CHCCS", which is is intended to clarify mission, goals, and priorities, particularly for instructional staff members. Board members use this when making budget and policy decisions and several spoke with great passion about specific parts of the philosophy that meant a lot to them.

When I spoke to parents I was somewhat surprised and disturbed. The philosophy that many have spent time working on is not trickling down to a lot of the parents. A link on a website is no substitute for the culture that is created when all participants understand and buy into a governing philosophy. The way people are greeted by a receptionist, having phone calls returned, how complaints are handled, how a child who wets his pants is treated, how easy it is to find out how one gets a struggling child tested—all these things work together to create a culture. At Glenwood, Mr. Battle, the chief custodian, is one of the main reasons that school has such a strong and caring culture. His obvious love for the children and strong work ethic make him both a role model and a hero to the kids. Glenwood's Gator Show Choir teaches the whole school about excellence. The annual three day Sound to Sea field trip to the beach builds community as well as academic skills outside the classroom. I have seen this culture maintained by three different principals, so it's more than just leadership. But not all schools have such a strong built-in culture and Glenwood's is by no means perfect.

When I talked to parents in an admittedly unscientific poll, the overwhelming perception of the district's philosophy was "Education for all, excellence for none." This included EC parents, parents of the gifted and parents of typically developing children. There were pockets of satisfaction with specific teachers or programs, but a lot of frustration about having their children's needs met. Many of my friends who can afford it have pulled their children out to homeschool, utilize charter schools, or go to private schools. And I must admit that I have often felt that all that was cared about was EOG scores and that good enough was good enough. When IDEA was first implemented and schools no longer used the discrepancy model to label a child, my 2E older daughter, who had a 60 point discrepancy on some of her subtests, lost her IEP just as she was entering middle school. When I talked to someone at Lincoln Center about this, I was told, "We no longer have to worry about potential. All we need is a C." In middle school she was faced with classes that were either too hard or too easy, accusations of laziness in the area of her disability, an abusive teacher, and an unresponsive administration. In December of her 6th grade year, at her request I pulled her to homeschool her. I don't know if my daughter will be a candidate for Harvard or not. That's her choice. But I would like her to have the option if she does choose. And I certainly would like more than mediocrity.

When comparing philosophies it is not entirely fair to compare private schools to public schools. In this case we are talking about a whole system with the further complication of federal and state "regs", EOG's, and ever-changing mandates from the legislature. Their job is much harder. But I have seen Wright School, a state-funded mental health institution and school, deal with the same regs (and more) in a positive and life-enhancing way—because they have created a culture around the 12 principles of reeducation (I wrote about Wright School in November, "Education at its best"). I, perhaps naively, believe that with the right leadership and involvement at all levels, we can develop a supportive culture that lives up to the CHCCS philosophy that sits largely unknown. We are more than the regs; we are collective guardians of one of the most precious commodities in the world, our children, and it is our job to know what we believe, create our culture and to pass it on to them.

I didn't get my pithy philosophy statement until today. When I asked my daughter's EC teacher what she perceived the district's philosophy to be, she immediately answered, "You mean, all children will learn?" That's it, and the rest is details.

Too little, too late

2009-12-05T14:50:00.004-05:00

My second year of teaching was at a small NC mountain high school as a Title I reading teacher, working with 9th and 10th graders who were not served by the special education program. One day the senior English teacher came to me and said that she was curious about a student who was a discipline problem in her class. M. was almost always absent on test days and if there was classroom reading or board work to be done, he usually ended up being sent to the principal for acting out. I was not legally able to serve seniors (sure hope the statute of limitations is up here!), but I told her I'd take a look.

The next day during my planning period, a burly football player came to my room, furious. "I don't know what that stupid teacher is talking about, I don't have no reading problem," he shouted. "Well, let's just make her happy by taking a look and sending you back," I replied. He was not appeased but he did sit down. I pulled out a graded reading assessment and asked him to read the fifth grade level paragraph. He tried, but he couldn't. I dropped down to third grade, then second, and finally first. He stumbled over the very simple sentences in the first grade paragraph and finally stopped. We sat in silence for a moment and then he began to cry, first just tears streaming down his face and then heartrending sobs. "I've never been able to read," he finally choked out. Anything I could say seemed inadequate, but finally I told him that he must be very smart to have fooled so many people for so long. When I asked him if he wanted help, he nodded.

That began his daily trips to my room as I tried desperately to make up for twelve years of lost time. I had to tell him that I was breaking a rule by serving him and that if he ever saw a strange adult in the room, he needed to just keep walking. If my district supervisor was there, he'd walk in, quickly assess the situation, and tell me he had come to get my car keys and take my car to the shop class to change my oil. I've never had a smoother running car than I did that year.

Eventually the principal noticed how much time M. was spending in my room and called me to the office. I admitted that I was working with the boy and he proceeded to ream me out, pointing out the legal ramifications if I were caught. Then I told him why. He leaned back in his chair and looked at the ceiling for a moment, then looked back at me and said, "Well, I guess we'll BOTH just have to go to prison if we get caught." I loved that man!

I had neither the knowledge nor the time to really teach him how to read. I made sure he had survival vocabulary and could spell his girlfriend's name, which, unfortunately, was Debbie, a dyslexic's nightmare. He graduated and went on to get a manual labor job. I've often wondered what happened to him. Early intervention is so important; by the time a kid is in the twelfth grade, it's just too late.

Give a child the gift of reading for Christmas

2009-12-04T08:21:00.005-05:00

Do you have someone on your gift list who already has everything they need? How about a gift in their name to help a low-income, non reading child learn to read? The Augustine Project is based in Chapel Hill, NC, but has replications in Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Fayetteville, Hickory, Greenville, SC, and Controe, TX. Volunteers give up two weeks of time to receive 70 hours of top quality training in teaching children to read. They then work with a low-income child for a minimum of 60 lessons. Schools in these areas eagerly seek AP tutors out and invite them to tutor during the school day at school. While our tutors are not Wilson trained, they are conversant with Wilson materials and use those with their students.

The Augustine Project in Chapel Hill, sponsored by The Church of the Holy Family, has just celebrated its 15th anniversary. Check out the website and see what good work is being done. This program and its replications depends on grants and donations to keep the good work going. So check it out. And perhaps you can use this wonderful project as an opportunity to cross several names off your holiday list.

Language Scavenger Hunt

2009-12-02T22:17:00.005-05:00

Every now and then you just have to mix it up, especially with a bright student. One way to do this is to review using a language scavenger hunt. I wrote this one for F., who has reached Wilson Book 8, but still needs a lot of review. She has an especially hard time with soft c and g, as well as r-controlled syllables, so I included plenty of those. You could do this for a child on just about any level. After reading the story, F. searched for the items listed below.

I learned several things with this exercise. First, while this will be perfect for my other sixth grader when she gets to this point, it was too long and too hard for F. Second, Tracey and I need to keep reviewing (I share this child with another tutor); she easily found the r-controlled exception and trigraphs, but she couldn't find a word with blends or remember the fslz rule. And third, if a teacher hands her back a paper and tells her to proofread it, she will not be able to do that; it was very difficult for her to scan for words. Because she is on the honor roll, she did not qualify for either an IEP or a 504. Somehow we have to figure out how to get that accommodation as she advances. But I still think it was a great exercise and one I plan to use with other students in other books. One of the advantages of a one-on-one tutor is that one size doesn't have to fit all.

So, give it a try. Are you as smart as a dyslexic 6th grader? Are we collectively as smart as F.? Choose a question and answer it in the comment section. Good luck!

Once upon a time, there were three little pigs, with varying degrees of intelligence and work ethic. They slept until twelve and ate large quantities of groceries. They were not a bit unhappy with their situation. Their mother, who was, finally tired of supporting them and sent them out into the world to make their living.

They set off in different directions. Gerry, never one to exert himself, talked a farmer into giving him some corn stalks to make a simple shack. Then he set off to pick jonquils and snack on apples. Homer, also disliking excess perspiration, spent a bit more time on his home project and gathered sticks in the forest. After awhile he lost interest and went off to play jazz on his flute with a hedgehog and his fiddle. Cyrus, the compulsive one of Mrs. Pig’s offspring, read Consumer Reports and scanned the Internet until he could confidently select the best quality brick. He handpicked the Victorian gingerbread trim and planted phlox in the turned and composted garden. Then he went inside to make fudge and send evite invitations to the other piglets for a grand meal.

At this same time and place in the woods, there was a wolf who favored a bit of grilled pork and was on a mission to find some, organic and corn-fed if possible. First he went to Gerry’s. Not one to huff and puff when a simple kick would do the trick, he struck down the flimsy shanty. Its vacancy irritated him, so he went on to Homer’s. A match, he hoped, would serve two functions at once, but the aroma of crispy pork chops was absent here as well. Disgruntled, he went to Cyrus’s sturdy abode. He glanced in a window and was filled with excited anticipation when he saw all three porcine siblings at table, eating turnips, parsnips, and cherry cobbler.

But how could he get in? The wolf sat on a handy but uncomfortable stump to ponder the situation. After a short time, an evil grin crept across his ugly face. Off he went to City Hall, where he checked to see if Cyrus had gotten a construction permit. His grin was transformed into a cackle when the clerk told him there was nothing of the kind on record. The wolf scampered hungrily behind the bulldozers who arrived to knock down the illegal dwelling. After the first slam, the walls crumbled and the three pigs came storming out, face to face with the mangy wolf. Then . . .

In the story of “The Three Little Pigs”, find the following items:

1. Find a word to fit each different syllable patterns:

a. closed/ v-c-e

b. closed/ cle

c. open/ cle

d. open/ v-c-e

e. closed/ closed

f. closed/ r controlled

g. r controlled

h. v-c-e

i. r controlled/ v-c-e

j. open/ r controlled

2. Find 4 soft c words.

3. Find 4 soft g words.

4. Find a word for each of the 3 sounds of –ed.

5. Find a word with both a beginning and ending blend.

6. Find 2 of the 3 “oh u little devil” words.

7. Find one compound word.

8. Find 5 words containing different consonant digraphs.

9. Find 2 words each with a different trigraph.

10. Find a word with each of the short vowels.

11. Find a word with each of the long vowels.

12. Find 2 different prefixes meaning not and write the words they are in.

13. Find an r controlled exception.

14. Find 2 words with different spelling of /shun/.

15. Find 4 words that fit the FSLZ rule, one for each letter.

16. Find 4 words that are closed syllable exceptions (kind old words).

17. Find words with 5 different r controlled vowels.

18. Find words with 5 different suffixes.

19. Find a pair of homonyms.

20. Find 5 synonyms for house.

21. Find words containing the welded sounds an, am, ing, ong, all, alk.

22. Find 3 words where a makes the schwa sound in an unstressed syllable.

23. Finish the story.

How many words are there in English?

2009-12-02T08:03:00.004-05:00

English is a complex language, with perhaps a quarter million words in use. This doesn't even count different forms of the word (harps, harped, harping) or different meanings of the same word (harp, a stringed instrument and harp, to nag). If you counted all of those along with words that are now obsolete, the number of English words would run closer to three quarters of a million. Even with the smaller number, English is at the top of the language list for numbers of words.

The primary reason for this is that English is a rich and complex language, pulling from many sources. Unlike the French, English-speakers have eagerly sought out the riches of other languages. A favorite quote of mine explains this colorfully:

“The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don’t just borrow words. On occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.” James Nicholl

While English is a Germanic language, English words come from many sources; 28% comes from the French, another 28% from Latin, 25% from Germanic (Old and Middle English), 4% have unknown ancestry, 3% are derived from proper names, and less than 1% comes from other languages. Although there are fewer of them, the majority of the words we use everyday come from the Germanic.

What this means is that we can have several words meaning the same thing. Instead of one root, we often have four, giving us words with shades and subtleties of meaning. Take words dealing with birth. The word birth itself comes from the Old Norse byrth and refers specifically to the bringing forth of a new individual from the body of its parent. It is perhaps the most common root in English use for birth words.

But then we have the Latin root nascor, to be born, and all the words derived from that. Forms of this word often have nasc, nat, or gna as their root. Pregnancy is an example; pre-, before, and gna, to be born. Your natal day is your birthday, and things that are innate are inborn. Nativity refers to the process or circumstance of being born, and you are a native of the place where you were born. Nature also has the same root, referring to the inborn characteristics of a person. Nascent, as in a nascent industry, means newly come into existence.

A second group of words is centered around the Greek root genos, meaning birth, race or kind. To generate means to bring into existence. A generation is a group of individuals born and living at the same time; the same word can also mean the action of producing offspring. Genesis, the first book of the Torah and Bible which tells the story of creation, means just that: the origin or coming into being of something. Even generous is related; in its genesis, it meant highborn.

A third group revolves around the Germanic root kin. Kindergarten is a class for the teaching of children or kinders. Your kin or kinsmen are your relatives, as are your kindred, which can be both a noun or an adjective. Another Germanic root is the Old English beran, to bear, to bring forth, produce. We get the word born from this root. Interestingly, ball bearings are also related; they bear the friction and is one of several words that retain the notion of moving onward by pressure.

This is one reason why it is so important to teach reading using a systematic and sequential phonetic approach; there are simply too many words to teach each word individually. There are too many different syllables to use a syllabary as Sequoyah did. If a struggling reader hopes to improve, he must be given the tools to sound out unfamiliar words. And although our language is a hodgepodge of other languages, surprisingly over 85% of English can be sounded out using those tools.

The two sides of helicopter moms

2009-12-01T07:37:00.007-05:00

I want to pass on an excellent article about helicopter moms from my friend Alison, mother of three autistic sons. She does a great job of pointing out the positives that are often overlooked when talking about parents with this negative term. While she refers to parents of kids with autism, it is true for any parent of a special needs child. Thanks Alison!

http://autismsocietyofnc.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/warning-helicopter-moms/

The Lion's Paw

2009-11-29T23:02:00.010-05:00

I always wonder why some books resonate so much with a child and others don't. And as I look back into my childhood at the books that shaped me, I wonder what made them so important in MY life. One such book is The Lion's Paw, by Robb White. My fourth grade teacher read this to my class in Englewood, Florida, where I spent my childhood. The book was out of print for many years, and when I searched for it as an adult, even badly worn paperback copies on Amazon and e-bay ran $85. I was surprised and delighted to find a paperback copy in a thrift store for 50 cents after many years of looking. And I was even happier when Jen Mills Barabee, a former student, emailed me to let me know the book was back in print (did I talk about it that much, Jen, that you remembered it twenty years later?). I had my new hardback copy before the week was out. And yes, it was as good as I remembered it, although somewhat dated.

Originally published in 1946, White's book follows two orphans, Nick and Penny, who escape from an orphanage on the east coast of Florida. They join up with Ben, another orphan running away from his uncle, who wants to sell his beloved sailboat. The story follows them as they cross Florida on their way to Captiva Island, looking for a shell to complete Ben's collection. He is convinced when he finds this final shell, a rare lion's paw, his father will return.

The children battle bounty hunters, the Coast Guard, alligators, and hurricanes. The book is fast-paced, has interesting characters and a dramatic and satisfying ending. As a child, I was fascinated by hearing the names of places familiar to me: Lake Okeechobee, Fort Myers, Captiva and Sanibel Islands. For years I looked fruitlessly for a lion's paw.

But I think my love of the book was due to more than a good story set in familiar places. The three kids are fully aware of the possible consequences of their running away, but, unloved and unwanted, they band together and take responsibility for their own futures. I was inspired by 12-year-old Penny's inner toughness as she rowed in the night, her hands bleeding and her tears mixing with the rain. Ben's faith and trust in his father and his desire to live up to the faith his father had in him also inspired me.

This teacher seemed to like books with resourceful, resilient children who were unwilling to sit and take what life has handed them and who understood that it would be more hard work than fun. My Side of the Mountain was another book of this type this teacher read us. I think this need for resilience and ingenuity is one reason the Harry Potter books have been so popular.

Events in my life have forced me to call upon an inner toughness that I never knew was there until I needed it. I have not rowed for hours in the rain, but I have sat in doctors' offices, in emergency rooms and in school meetings fighting for my child. There are very few of us that lead such charmed lives that we will not need resilience at some point. It is one of the greatest gifts we can give our children and books such as The Lion's Paw are a good place to start.

I have never met anyone outside of Florida who has read or even heard of this book. Do any of you Florida folks remember it? For those of you outside of Florida, were there regional books that you loved? I'd love to hear in the comment section what books inspired you as a child.

Sequoyah, creator of Cherokee's "talking leaves"

2009-11-28T02:52:00.004-05:00

Stories about Sequoyah, also know as George Gist, differ depending upon the source. Estimates of his birth date range from 1760 to 1776. He was born in Tennessee, the son of a Cherokee woman and an English fur trader. He died in 1843 in Texas or Mexico.

Sequoyah was a silversmith who became intrigued by the white man's ability to read and write. He spent twelve years developing a written language for the Cherokee. At first he tried a hieroglyphic system, assigning a symbol to each word. When he realized there were too many words for this to work, he switched to a syllabary, assigning a symbol to 86 different syllables. He endured ridicule, even from his family. One of his wives burned his early work, considering it witchcraft. Finally he had a workable system, which he taught his daughter, who learned it easily. Slowly it began to spread as people realized the potential. It was said that a person could learn to read within two weeks, and the literacy rate among the Cherokee soon surpassed that of the white settlers.

Today, Cherokee is the second most widely used Native American language and the only one that is growing. This is almost certainly due to the fact that this form of written language preserves the spoken language so that it hasn't died out as so many Native American languages have.

Sequoyah's feat is the only known instance of an individual creating a new written system of language. To learn more about the syllabary, check out this page.

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T09:44:00.004-05:00

I have the best job in the world and today it's one of the many things I give thanks for. It allows me flexibility, a sane schedule, a feeling of accomplishment and a purpose. So today, Thanksgiving, I give thanks for my job, my wonderful students and their parents and schools.

I'm grateful for K., my little guy who "works for Legos". His mischievous smile, cut-throat Go Fish skills, and willingness to try and try and try at something that's very hard for him make him a student I always look forward to.

I'm grateful for A., who never fails to make me laugh. He regularly slaughters me in Blink, and he has one of the most original minds I've ever come across. His divergent thinking and imagination keep me intrigued and determined he WILL become a reader who can do whatever he chooses to do.

I'm grateful for J., and his interest in words and the world, a trait that makes him tumble through the sentences we read. He's incredibly intelligent and polite, and occasionally brings his bear to be tutored as well. This kid will do great things some day.

I'm grateful for E., and the joy he greats me with each session. Because of his autism, we sing much of his lesson and I'm so pleased with the progress he is making. I am convinced that any day now, this guy will read like a pro.

I'm grateful for F. and the pleasure of ending my tutoring day with her great attitude and hard work. I share her with another tutor and F. teaches me what Tracey has taught her. She has great taste in books and has introduced me to some good ones. She has made it to Wilson Book 8 and even likes worksheets!

I'm grateful for H., who told me he'd be my first failure and who is learning to read in spite of himself. He loves creatures like Sasquatch and the Loch Ness monster, and will happily play games based on them. He's a great kid and I enjoy him thoroughly.

I'm grateful for G., my newest student, who finished Wilson Book 1 in two lessons. She has a curious mind and a desire to learn how the language works. She writes incredibly original stories and is an enthusiastic reader and learner. She is so much fun.

I'm grateful for I., a young lady who is unfailingly positive and cheerful. I love hearing, "SO, Linda, what are we going to do fun today?" She is aware of how she learns best and isn't shy about letting me in on the secret. She shows such enthusiasm for everything we do, and she is a killer Blink player.

Thanks to my tutoring partner, Tracey Powell, who is one of the most talented tutors I've ever seen and a joy to work with. Thanks to Carolina Friends School, St. Thomas More, and Jordan Lake School of the Arts for letting me tutor during the school day. Thanks to Beth, Cynthia, Leon, Nancy, Henry and all the other great teachers who work with me as partners in getting these kids to reach their potential. And thanks to the parents who have entrusted me with such joyful, precious gifts. Happy Thanksgiving!