SOSMTM BLOG

Gina's Journal: Teacher, Single Mom, Superwoman!: This Job is Killing Me - Literally

2011-12-28T14:09:00.000-08:00

Gina's Journal: Teacher, Single Mom, Superwoman!: This Job is Killing Me - Literally: Tonight, we had nachos for dinner. However, as I was left unsatisfied post-second helping, I ducked into the fridge to get last night's leftover pasta and shrimp (yes, I'm a ritzy poor, single, mother).

Noticing this, my daughter asked, "Mommy, are you getting the shrimpies and pasta because you only
had a granola bar for lunch?"

"Yup," I replied, with a mouthful, of course.

"That won't fill you up. That's not fair. They should give you time to eat."Ah hem, let me reiterate - AGAIN - that the seven year old gets it. More so than the adults.....

Realistic fiction or just plain realistic?

2011-11-12T17:25:00.001-08:00

As the student walked in and glanced toward the front of the room, he rolled his eyes in disgust. "Ugh!" was all he could mutter to himself as he read the words scrawled across the whiteboard with a red marker:

"Another forty-five minutes of my life wasted," he thought as he settled into his seat. Unbeknownst to the student, his teacher was thinking the same exact thing as he mustered up the strength to begin the class with a smile and a "Good morning!" instead of a frown and a sigh of frustration.

"Okay class; I don't have much time to explain what we're doing today, but I'm sure you could tell by reading the board that we are going to take another practice test today. I need to make sure you get forty-five minutes to take the practice test so that you can get a feeling for what it will be like when you take the actual test in a few months..."

He continued talking even as he thought about the senselessness of the situation--here he was playing babysitter to a bunch of silent students instead of using his talents to engage them in some meaningful discussions as he had done so many times before. It was hard to believe this is what it had come to after all these years. He started to think about the days before standardized tests became the be-all and end-all, the days when his students walked into class excited and walked out of class even more excited, the days--

"Mr. Finn?" Suddenly he was snapped out of his blissful remembrance by the voice of his brightest student, Abigail. "Mr. Finn? Can I sharpen my number two pencil before we begin?"

"Yes, yes, of course Abby. Go right ahead. Does anybody else need to sharpen a pencil?" As a couple of students stood up and strolled toward the pencil sharpener, Mr. Finn couldn't help but feel a bit depressed about the exchange he just had with Abigail. Here was the brightest student in the class asking if she could sharpen her pencil--her "number two" pencil no less--instead of asking one of the types of questions she typically asked that made him stop and think for a minute before answering. She always had such a unique way of looking at things, and sometimes Mr. Finn felt he had learned as much from her as she had from him. All of that was lost in this exchange, however, as the two blindly followed protocol for what was becoming more routine every day.

Practice tests once a week since the second week in October had trained both students and teacher well; number two pencils sat on top of every student's desk to be used during the test, silent reading books sat below to be read if a student finished early. Mr. Finn laughed to himself as he considered the irony of this; it was just two years earlier that the board had put an end to any type of silent sustained reading because "research doesn't support that it has any educational value." Now, on the other hand, every student and every teacher knew that silent reading had become one more part of the whole test preparation routine. Apparently, educational value wasn't quite as important as it used to be.

As the the last of the students returned to their seats, Mr. Finn gave a few final reminders about things like using process of elimination, not paying attention to patterns, and, of course, erasing old answers completely when making a change. Then it was time for the required utterance of "you may begin," and, like magic, a chorus of pages being turned could be heard as the forty-five minutes of pointless bubbling began...

Illinois Teachers: Understanding SB512 & Who to Contact

2011-11-08T18:07:00.000-08:00

For Illinois teachers who don't understand the new pension system that took its first step toward becoming law today, this article does a good job of explaining the three choices you will have if it goes into effect: Illinois House committee OKs major pension overhaul

Those who voted yes on the bill were:

Kevin McCarthy
Springfield Office:
271-S Stratton Office Building
Springfield, IL 62706
(217) 782-3316
(217) 789-6250 FAX

District Office:
8951 W. 151st. St.
Orland Park, IL 60462
(708) 226-1999
(708) 226-9068 FAX

E-mail: kevmac37@sbcglobal.net

Elaine Nekritz
Springfield Office:
256-W Stratton Office Building
Springfield, IL 62706
(217) 558-1004
(217) 558-4554 FAX

District Office:
24 S. Des Plaines River Road
Suite 400
Des Plaines, IL 60016
(847) 257-0450
(847) 257-0452 FAX
Cook
County
Email: enekritz@repnekritz.org

Thomas Morrison
Springfield Office:
206-N Stratton Office Building
Springfield, IL 62706
(217) 782-8026
(217) 558-7016 FAX

District Office:
117 East Palatine Road
Suite 106
Palatine, IL 60067
(224) 210-6959
Cook
County
Email: Repmorrison54@gmail.com

Darlene Senger

Springfield Office:

205A-N Stratton Office Building

Springfield, IL 62706

(217) 782-6507

(217) 782-1275 FAX

District Office:

125 Water Street

Naperville, IL 60540

(630) 219-3090

(630) 219-3091 FAX

DuPage County

Email: sengerstaterep@gmail.com

Dave Winters

Springfield Office:
215-N Stratton Office Building
Springfield, IL 62706
(217) 782-0455
(217) 782-1139 FAX

District Office:
3444 N. Main
Suite 80
Rockford, IL 61103
(815) 282-0083
(815) 282-0085 FAX
Winnebago County

No Email Listed--but you can contact him through this site: http://www.davewinters.com/contact.html

Contact your other legislators through the IEA website by clicking the picture below.

Measuring Students' Success Starts With Trusting Their Teachers

2011-11-06T13:56:00.000-08:00

This morning I posted the above picture on my Facebook page (the original posting of the picture and its accompanying article can be found here). It created somewhat of a buzz because it resonated with quite a few people. Most of the commenters basically stated that they somehow identified with the comic. However, one of the comments contained a very legitimate question: how do we measure whether students are being successful and learning?

When I started to think about that question--one I've heard many times before--I suddenly began to think about something else (my mind works that way sometimes!).

I thought about how learning was measured while I was in school? What about when my parents and grandparents were in school? I'm guessing that it worked pretty much the same way for most people back then. Teachers gave their students tests and quizzes and asked them questions to make sure they were understanding and retaining the information being taught. When they weren't, those teachers did what they could to help their students understand. At least that's pretty much the way it worked while I was in school.
I may be wrong, but I am going to assume that most people feel their teachers provided them with a good education. Furthermore, all of the governors, senators, congress members, cabinet members, business men and women, and other various leaders of reform groups must have had a pretty darn good education as well, or they wouldn't have made it to where they are now.
However, it is now this same group of people who suddenly feel the need to test, evaluate, and reform in order to "fix" education. I can't help but assume they think the majority of teachers just can't be trusted to do their jobs anymore. It's as if all the good teachers left the profession and were replaced by a bunch of selfish individuals who are just in it for the "summers off."

I find it extremely hard to believe this theory. In fact, I'd be willing to bet the great majority of teachers are doing everything they can to help their students. However, an over-reliance on standardized tests has created an atmosphere where they are forced to teach to the test.

If it isn't one of the questions asked on the test, it isn't worth teaching. If students can't write their responses in the exact format the test requires them to write them in, they won't pass the test (I bet e. e. cummings would have had great difficulty with that!). If students think out-of-the-box instead of within the bubbled answer choices, they definitely aren't going to meet the "standards" the tests measure.

Teaching students that there is only one correct answer and only one acceptable way to perform a task goes against the nature of every good teacher out there. Yet, in order to measure students' "success," this is exactly what needs to be done. This is why most teachers will tell you that they disagree with standardized tests--not because they are afraid of the results of the test, but because they are afraid of the results of teaching to the test.

So to go back to the original question of how we measure students' success, I must admit I don't have the perfect answer. I do know, however, that it all begins with America putting its trust back into teachers by letting them teach as they always have (with dedication, professionalism, and passion)instead of how they now must (with fear, stress, and a test-prep handbook by their sides).

After that, I'm pretty much open to discussing any other ideas someone might have that will help students become even more successful and how we can accurately measure that success.

SB512

2011-11-05T09:36:00.000-07:00

These are just some of the people behind SB512, otherwise known as the pension killer bill. If you have yet to contact your represetatives to let them know what you think, click here for an easy way to do so.

Test Scores, Test Scores, Almighty Test Scores: Part 2

2011-10-19T19:43:00.000-07:00

A while back I wrote a blog proposing that teachers finally give in and use nothing but test scores to evaluate teachers. Since that time I've been doing some thinking, and I decided why stop there? Standardized tests should be used to evaluate everybody on everything. I mean if they work so well for figuring out how good or bad a teacher is, they should work just as well for determining how well people are performing other tasks, right?

We can start with our elected officials, and we'll keep it simple at first. Let's give every one of their constituents a test with a choice of three bubbles to fill in:

(A) He/she is performing above standards and deserves to keep his/her job.

(B) He/she needs improvement. Please apply some type of policy with a catchy acronym to fix him/her.

I know what you're thinking--isn't this what voting is for? Well you'd be wrong. You see people choose whether or not to vote, and, unfortunately, many choose the latter. This test, on the other hand, would be mandatory for every citizen to take, just like every student needs to take the same standardized test. The elected officials wouldn't be following the law if they didn't test every constituent.

I'm thinking that the results of this test would give us a much better picture of how well our elected officials are doing, and it would make it much easier to fire the bad ones. No more hiding behind all that voting nonsense. And being guaranteed a job for four years? What kind of baloney is that? If they aren't doing their job correctly, why should all of their constituents suffer for all those years?

I say give the tests, fire the bad politicians, and hire some new ones because we all know anybody can just walk into a capitol building and start making laws. I mean that's what they do, right? I'm not exactly sure because I've never worked a single day at any type of job having to do with politics, but so what? That's what the tests are for. The tests will decide if they are doing their jobs and whether or not they get to keep doing their jobs. And remember, we will call them standardized tests, because this will ensure that there won't be any type of bias involved.

It will take a while to work out all the kinks with testing our elected officials; I mean no test--not even a standardized test--is perfect! Sure, a few good politicians might lose their jobs along the way while we tweak the tests, but it will all be worth it once all these tests fix our broken government. And then we can start testing other people. Not just based on their professions either; we can even use standardized tests to see how good of a parent somebody is.

Yeah, yeah--we all know all you parents out there love your kids and work extra hours taking care of them without even being paid to do so. Yadda, yadda, yadda; heard it all before. Let's let the standardized test be the proof of that. If you are really doing your job as a parent, then you have nothing to fear. Your children won't be taken away from you. We just want to weed out the bad parents. There are plenty of people out there who can do the job the right way, and it's about time we get them into the parenting system.

Of course we'll have to get rid of the public court system that protects their "parental rights." We all know that's the main problem behind keeping rotten parents in the household. To do that we can hire somebody who was a rotten parent herself (you know, the kind that would use duct tape to keep her kids' mouths closed or something like that) to start a group called Kids First. The group's main mission will be to advocate for children by busting up the court system. It's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it.

Within no time standardized tests will be telling us how good every type of person is at what he or she does. From little league coaches to major league ball players. Painters of houses and painters of abstract art. Regular people like you and I. Actors, actresses, musicians, talk show hosts, reality television stars, Pat Sajak, Vanna White...no human will be left behind!

Civil Disobedience 162 Years Later

2011-10-08T13:12:00.000-07:00

Yet this government never of itself furthered any enterprise, but by the alacrity with which it got out of its way. It does not keep the country free. It does not settle the West. It does not educate. The character inherent in the American people has done all that has been accomplished; and it would have done somewhat more, if the government had not sometimes got in its way.

~Henry David Thoreau

These words by written by Thoreau over 160 years ago in his essay, "Civil Disobedience." Amazingly, while his wording may be somewhat different than modern written word, much of what he wrote could have been written today. With such events as the Occupy Wall Street movement and the many protests that have occurred in state Capitols recently, Thoreau succinctly gives a great analysis of why it has taken so long for society to rise up against what's been happening and why the government should be listening.

Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once? Men, generally, under such a government as this, think that they ought to wait until they have persuaded the majority to alter them. They think that, if they should resist, the remedy would be worse than the evil. But it is the fault of the government itself that the remedy is worse than the evil. It makes it worse. Why is it not more apt to anticipate and provide for reform? Why does it not cherish its wise minority? Why does it cry and resist before it is hurt? Why does it not encourage its citizens to put out its faults, and do better than it would have them?

He goes on to point out the problem that so many see with "civil disobedience:" It seems as if there is a fine line between relying on our government and fearing it.

When I converse with the freest of my neighbors, I perceive that, whatever they may say about the magnitude and seriousness of the question, and their regard for the public tranquility, the long and the short of the matter is, that they cannot spare the protection of the existing government, and they dread the consequences to their property and families of disobedience to it. For my own part, I should not like to think that I ever rely on the protection of the State. But, if I deny the authority of the State when it presents its tax bill, it will soon take and waste all my property, and so harass me and my children without end. This is hard. This makes it impossible for a man to live honestly, and at the same time comfortably, in outward respects.

In the next section of Thoreau's essay he basically states that if the government hasn't done it's job properly, it is not the job of America's citizens to fix it or to pay for its mistakes. This part especially intrigued me because this is exactly what the government of Illinois is asking its teachers to do.

When I meet a government which says to me, "Your money our your life," why should I be in haste to give it my money? It may be in a great strait, and not know what to do: I cannot help that. It must help itself; do as I do. It is not worth the while to snivel about it. I am not responsible for the successful working of the machinery of society. I am not the son of the engineer. I perceive that, when an acorn and a chestnut fall side by side, the one does not remain inert to make way for the other, but both obey their own laws, and spring and grow and flourish as best they can, till one, perchance, overshadows and destroys the other. If a plant cannot live according to nature, it dies; and so a man.

Finally, Mr. Thoreau finishes up by asking if America's form of government is really the best we can do. He envisions a government that treats all citizens equally.

Is a democracy, such as we know it, the last improvement possible in government? Is it not possible to take a step further towards recognizing and organizing the rights of man? There will never be a really free and enlightened State until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its own power and authority are derived, and treats him accordingly. I please myself with imagining a State at last which can afford to be just to all men, and to treat the individual with respect as a neighbor; which even would not think it inconsistent with its own repose if a few were to live aloof from it, not meddling with it, nor embraced by it, who fulfilled all the duties of neighbors and fellow men. A State which bore this kind of fruit, and suffered it to drop off as fast as it ripened, would prepare the way for a still more perfect and glorious State, which I have also imagined, but not yet anywhere seen.

The sad part is, Thoreau never saw the government he envisioned, and now, over 160 years later, neither have I. But as more and more people stand up and demand the America that so many of us have dreamt of becomes a reality, I believe we shall one day witness that which Henry David Thoreau envisioned for us.

Was Thoreau starting trouble or right on target?

And Then Came the Tests...

2011-09-04T15:56:00.000-07:00

I went into this school year with an upbeat attitude and some new ideas. And then came the tests.
I planned out my entire first week of teaching so we could jump right into things. And then came the tests.
I started to use a new class room management system on which the district had me attend a workshop. And then came the tests.
My students came into school smiling and happy to officially be junior high students. And then came the tests.
My students were excited about my class and the things we would do. And then came the tests.
My students were doing a great job with the new class room management system. And then came the tests
.

Sounds a bit repetitive, I know. But that's the point. My first full week of "teaching" was consumed by the administration of district assessments.

First came the writing assessment. My students had the fantastic opportunity to sit silently for fifty-seven minutes and write an expository essay. I bet they couldn't wait to run home to tell their parents' how much they enjoyed my class that day. Or how much they learned.

I can picture it perfectly. "Mom, Dad; guess what?! Today, in Mr. Janotta's class, I got to remain perfectly quiet and wasn't able to have any interaction whatsoever with my teacher or my classmates! And I learned that writing an essay is a great way for people to determine how smart I am!"

I'll bet they were just as excited the next day when I passed out a packet of seat work so I could administer fluency tests to each and every one of them. As I announced that they would have to be completely quiet yet again and had to work at their desks the entire fifty-seven minutes (other than the three minutes they would spend reading to me), I saw a look of disappointment wash over their faces. However, I knew this was only because I also told them that I hoped to get every assessment completed that day and that things would return to normal tomorrow.

I'm sure they secretly wished every day could be filled with the monotony of silent desk work and absolutely no teaching or learning taking place. Don't feel too bad for them though--I had to take half of the next day's class to try to finish the fluency assessments! Of course even this wasn't enough time, so some students were even lucky enough to get pulled from other class rooms to come and complete it.

Now that I've gotten the sarcasm out of my system, let me tell you about the rest of the time that will be taken away from my students over the course of the year. They will devote another entire class period at the end of the year to another writing assessment. They will be tested two more times this year for fluency. They will lose a class period this month due to a computerized language usage assessment. Toward the end of the year, they will take that same assessment during my class. When it comes time to take the state assessment, my students will lose at least four days of class. If you've been keeping track, that adds up to about twelve and a half days of my class that they will miss due to tests.

Since students attend school a little more than 180 days (and we'll use 180 days as the total amount of days because they will undoubtedly miss class a few times throughout the year due to assemblies or field trips) and only attend my class four out of every five of those days due to our school's rotating schedule, that means they attend my class about 144 days during the school year. This also means that they will miss nearly nine percent of my classes due to testing. Let me repeat that. Students are losing nearly nine percent of instruction due to tests. This does not include any tests I choose to give to my students, only the ones required by the school district.

According to the Illinois General Assembly website,

"Chronic or habitual truant" shall be defined as a child who is subject to compulsory school attendance and who is absent without valid cause from such attendance for 5% or more of the previous 180 regular attendance days.

So I guess the question to ask would be, is constant assessment "valid cause" to miss class? Depending upon one's answer to that question, one might say that every single one of my students is guilty of chronic truancy.

Okay, so I know declaring my students chronically truant due to taking district and state assessments is a pretty far stretch, but can somebody please declare the public school system guilty of chronic over-assessment? Not only do the tests given in my school take valuable instructional time away from my students, they also cause the school library to be completely closed for two entire months of the school year. That tends to interfere with our "required reading" program a bit. During these two months, there is also not a single laptop available for student use. So much for integrating technology into the curriculum during those eight weeks.

And it doesn't end there. Much of the teachers' planning time in my school is spent grading, inputting, analyzing, or performing some other task tied to the assessments. Working on innovative lesson plans, discussing other student needs, collaborating with colleagues, or--heaven forbid--grading papers is all put on the back burner; there is no question where priorities lie in my district.

On a personal level, the testing that took place in my class room last week caused the routine I was establishing with my students to be completely interrupted. Class room management is extremely important when it comes to creating the optimal learning environment, and the workshop I went to over the summer gave me some great strategies to use that were really helping me to create a class room management system I felt was going to be extremely successful. One part of the system involved teaching and re-teaching the procedures and expectations for everything we do throughout class from entering the room to journaling and transitioning between activities. Due to the time crunch involved with administering the assessments, this didn't happen for most of last week, the first full week for students. Now I feel as if I will be starting from scratch when classes resume Tuesday.

But I don't blame my administrators, school board, or superintendent for any of this. They are merely doing what just about every other public school in America is doing. In fact, I'm sure assessments take even more time out of the school year in other districts across the country. I also understand the need for assessments and believe, if used correctly, they could add to the educational process instead of detract from it.

However, when during the first full week of school more time is spent assessing the students than is spent teaching them, something is seriously wrong with America's public education system.

Apathy? Not When It Comes To Teachers

2011-07-28T15:02:00.000-07:00

thy

Apathy according to Merriam-Webster:

Main Entry: ap·a·thy
Pronunciation: \ˈa-pə-thē\
Function: noun
Etymology: Greek apatheia, from apathēs without feeling, from a- + pathos emotion — more at pathos
Date: 1594

1 : lack of feeling or emotion : impassiveness 2 : lack of interest or concern : indifference

Apathy according to Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition:

Main Entry: apathy
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: uncaring attitude, lack of interest

Synonyms: aloofness, coldness, coolness, detachment, disinterest, dispassion, disregard,
dullness, emotionlessness, halfheartedness, heedlessness, indifference,
insensibility, insensitivity, insouciance, lassitude, lethargy, listlessness,
passiveness, passivity, stoicism, unconcern, unresponsiveness

Antonyms: care, concern, feeling, interest, passion, sensitivity, sympathy, warmth

Apathy. It's definition, "lack of feeling" seems to defy human nature. Some of it's synonyms imply someone--or something--that is dead, while others imply creatures that have been beaten down to a feeling of such extreme weariness that they may as well be dead. What it does not describe, is teachers.

Teachers keep going. No matter what. We rise earlier than necessary, go to bed later than we should, work harder than is reflected by our paychecks, go softer on our opponents than most would because we recognize their ignorance. We give much more than we take, and take home much more than we are capable of handling, yet, somehow, we manage to handle it anyway.

We just keep going. Going to work knowing that we will make nearly one thousand decisions ranging from "Should I let him go to the bathroom again, or is he just trying to get out of class as usual?" to "Should I bite my tongue as this parent reads me the riot act, or should I let her have it right back?" And somehow, some way, we almost always seem to make the right decision. It is as if we have been given a sixth sense that most are not fortunate enough to possess: we simply know what is good for children.

We know when there is something bothering the boy sitting in the third row merely because he's gripping his pencil a little tighter than usual. We always enforce the rules of our classroom equally, but we know when and how they have to be bent just a bit in order to do what is right for our students. We realize when a lesson is going terribly wrong and are able to use our magical teaching powers to turn it into the best lesson we've ever taught right there in the middle of it. Teachers just do these things. We don't think about how or why we do what we do; we just do. Again, and again, and again. Teachers just keep going. Going when they are sick, going when they are tired, going when they are cranky, depressed, angry, or frustrated. And they almost never skip a beat. Why? Because teachers were born this way. And nobody can take that from us. Not the naysayers, not the politicians, not the people who write the editorials that say we make too much and that our job is easy. Nobody.

So as we continue our march toward a greater respect for teachers, a better education system for our students, and a better future for America, we must keep in mind who we are. We are teachers. We care. We show concern. We have passion. We most definitely show sensitivity and warmth. All of these qualities are synonymous with teachers, and antonyms of apathy. Let's show America how far we will just keep going so that one day we can look back and smile about just how far we went.

Here's the Opinion You asked for Senator Grothman

2011-07-26T11:23:00.000-07:00

So Wisconsin's Republic Senator, Glenn Grothman, recently published a letter explaining that the collective bargaining repeal is the best thing that ever happened to Wisconsin schools. He then asked people to send their opinions to him. The following is my email followed by the text of his letter. I encourage many more of you to share your opinion with Senator Grothman.

Dear Senator Grothman,

As one of the many union "slobs" you have referred to, I felt compelled to respond to your letter titled "Collective Bargaining Repeal; best thing that ever happened to Wisconsin schools." Once again, you have managed to sicken me.

Your contempt for state workers--and especially teachers--is obviously the product of years and years of working with the political and/or economical elite which has caused you to form the opinion that you are better than the common man. As I alluded to in my opening, you have made many comments that support your opinion. However, since you are a person who holds some type of political power, for now, I thought it might be worth my while to address your remarks. Do I think it will change the way you think? Of course not. Us common folk aren't quite as gullible as you take us for. However, in the words of America's greatest Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, "the best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend." Therefore, although you paint yourself to be an enemy of people such as me, I thought I might take a few moments to offer you some friendly advice.

First. Mr. Grothman, please do not try to trick the public into thinking that your efforts to end collective bargaining had anything to do with helping Wisconsin's schools or saving money. Wisconsin residents are smarter than that and aren't as easy to roll over with lies and ramrod policies. As a matter of fact, the very people you are "helping" are taking the steps right now to end the reign of terror that you, some of your colleagues, and your governor have resided over for the past few months. There may be a sucker born every minute, but there are also plenty of good people out there to set those suckers straight with facts. Not only the residents of Wisconsin, but citizens all over America are fed up with the type of propaganda you are feeding them, It's time to start sharing the facts instead of making them up.

You state that "Under current law, virtually all conditions of employment have to be spelled out in a collectively bargained agreement. Consequently, it is very difficult to remove underperforming school teachers." Have you paid any attention to what recently happened in Illinois? Unions, politicians, and so-called student-advocate groups worked together not to abolish collective bargaining, but to streamline the process that you speak of. In fact, SB7, the final product of this collaboration, has been hailed across the country as the way things can and should be done, involving ALL parties at the table to truly decide what is best for children, not just a select few who force legislation through with dirty politics.

I will not even begin to address the details of the rest of your letter as I am sure you will receive thousands of well-thought out emails that do a fantastic job of pointing out how inaccurate the majority of your statements are. However, in the future, you might try to avoid blaming the inadequacies of schools on those "meddling" unions. First, it shines the brightest of lights on your union-busting agenda which detracts from anything you might say that has any bit of validity. Worse than that, however, it proves that you are not much more than a cartoon character; you know, like the grumpy old man at the end of Scooby-Doo cartoons that claims he would have gotten away with it all "if it wasn't for those meddling kids." I'm afraid unions are here to stay, and not one of their meddling members or any other of the meddling, respectable citizen plans on letting you get away with what you are doing to the people of the great state of Wisconsin. So, let me offer you one more piece of advice: it may be time to hang up your hat and retreat to your little part of the world where there are no slobs, no meddlers, no Americans who still have faith in democracy. And while you're at it, perhaps you can invite some of your political friends to come with you. Doing that would truly show you actually do care about the welfare of your constituents.

Your Friend,

Christopher D. Janotta
sosmtm2010@gmail.com
(708) 949-6060

0726grothman

Wordle: Obama's Inauguration Speech

2011-07-22T20:19:00.000-07:00

This is a Wordle of President Obama's inauguration speech. In a Wordle, words that are repeated the most are the largest while words used the least are the smallest.

I find it interesting that "common," "people," "new," "America" and "nation" are some of the largest words. This would lead me to conclude that, at the time he took office, Obama felt that the common people of America would help create a new nation. In a way, I guess he was correct, because there certainly seems to be some type of new nation being built squarely on the backs of common Americans.

I also noticed that "schools," "knowledge," "child," and "children" were all quite small. Was this an omen of what was to come regarding America's public education system? Because it certainly doesn't seem that any of these are being considered when school reform is discussed.

I'm sure there are many more observations that can be made based upon this Wordle. What are your thoughts?

2011-07-21T09:24:00.000-07:00

I found a site called Studies Weekly Blog that not only has lesson plans in several different areas but is also building a collection of free teacher-created resources that will soon be available in their Resource Exchange section. If you have something you'd like to contribute, you can send it to them via a PDF file at postme@studiesweekly.com.

Best of all (in my opinion!) is that they are also having a contest to give away a free MacBook Pro. All you need to do is leave a comment at www.studiesweekly.com. I'd love to have an Apple computer--I feel like such a hypocrite working in public education and using a Bill Gates created product!

Hello Edelman.

2011-07-11T16:56:00.000-07:00

After the whole debacle with Stand for Children and Jonah Edelman, I can't help but picture many different people right now opening their doors and, seeing Jonah on the other side, uttering, a la Jerry Seinfeld, "Hello Edelman."

What Some People Just Don't Understand About Education

2011-07-09T13:04:00.000-07:00

When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life~John Lennon

THIS is what people don't understand about public education. It's not about test scores. It's not about giving the prescribed answer. It's not about being wrong or right. It is about learning. Learning that there are many paths to happiness, and education can open the doors to whichever one of those paths the students choose to take.

Had I been Lennon's teacher, I would have given him an A+. Shortly after, I'm quite sure I would have been labeled as an ineffective teacher.

Et tu, Brute?

2011-06-23T12:52:00.000-07:00

Before I get to the substance of this blog, let me say that I hold nothing against the Catholic religion or any other religion for that matter. In fact, I grew up Catholic, had all five of my children baptized in a Catholic church, and still believe in most of the teachings of the Catholic religion. However, I had a falling out with the Catholic Church several years ago when I decided they were more concerned with my money than they were with my salvation. Again, this is a personal decision I made, and I respect the personal decisions of every other person, especially when it comes his or her choice of religion. So as you read this blog, please understand that I am addressing one person's statements and actions, not the statements or actions of the entire Catholic religion.

A couple of weeks ago, I received a news letter from Cardinal Joseph Bernardin Catholic School called the Bernardin Beacon. Since I am interested in just about anything having to do with education, I decided I'd take a look. After reading the opening, Dear Family and Friends of Cardinal Joseph Bernardin School (neither term, by the way, applies to me), the very first couple of paragraphs of the article titled "From the desk of the principal..." immediately started to make me a bit upset.

The message that is sent by Catholic School education throughout the country is clear:

is how it began. Now at this point, I expected the article to state something along the lines of providing both traditional and religious education, or teaching the message of Jesus throughout their curriculum, or maybe even providing structure and teaching children morals while they are receiving their education. Any of these would have made sense, and I personally know a few people who have sent their children to Catholic schools for just this reason. Heck, if I could afford the tuition, I might have sent a couple of my children to a Catholic school for one or two of these reasons. However, what I read next was a complete shock!

Catholic Schools are able to educate our children more effectively and successfully than most public schools--and for less cost! This "fact" comes from a FOX News broadcast shown last February as part as part of a series that examined educational alternatives.

I was dumbfounded. As I mentioned in my introduction to this blog, I had a falling out with the Catholic Church a few years ago, but I never thought that they would jump on the bandwagon that is currently going around bashing public education. And by supporting this with a "fact" from Fox News (by the way, those are the author's quotation marks around the word fact, not mine), the person writing the article both angered me and lost all credibility at the same time.

Why would the Catholic Church, which promotes "acts of charity and justice" resort to this type of tactic which seems to do neither? Why not explain all of the benefits of a Catholic education and use that to provide justification for enrolling children in their school? I provided a few examples of the benefits already, and I don't even work for the Catholic Church! Why use a "fact" (which I can only assume the author knew wasn't a legitimate fact or she wouldn't have used the quotation marks around the word) from a news source that has time and again been proven to muster up whatever "facts" support their version of the story? Why bring another down to support yourself? This seems to go against everything I was ever taught about the Catholic religion.

Catholic schools have always been able to provide "more quality" for less cost.

Again, the quotation marks are the author's, not mine. I'm not sure if they were used this time because she was quoting the news source that she used or because, again, she realizes this just isn't the case. It might clear things up a bit if she referenced her source a bit more specifically than "a FOX News broadcast shown last February," but I don't want to nit-pick. What I do want to do is question the authenticity of this statement.

I won't even go into the "more quality" part because I think it depends on what quality means to the parent who makes the choice of sending his or her child to a Catholic school, a public school, or a private school. Is it test scores and curriculum, or is it the character-building aspects of education. For some, it might be the sports program or other other extra-curricular programs offered at the school that add quality to an education. No, quality is, in my opinion too tough to actually measure, so I'm not going to argue about whether or not that part of this statement is true or not. Cost, however, is much easier to measure.

At the public school I send my children to, I pay a little over one hundred dollars per year for my children to attend. I even take issue with that because I feel public schools should be completely free, but that is an entirely different issue. So for about five or six hundred dollars a year, I am able to send my children to a school that I feel provides a quality education. Let's check the tuition for Cardinal Joseph Bernardin Catholic School...

Taken from this link

So, as a non-parishioner, I would need to pay a total of $24,340 each year. I don't know if there are scholarships, grants, or other programs available to offset some of these costs, but unless they can offset about $23,900, I definitely would not be receiving "more quality" for less cost by enrolling my children in this particular Catholic school.

So what to do after reading all of this? My first instinct was to just let it go because it wasn't worth getting upset about, so I threw it into my ever-growing pile of papers on my kitchen counter until I finally sat down one day to sort through them all. When I once again saw the newsletter, I didn't get angry, I decided to go straight to the source to share my feelings with the author of the article. I mean, she runs a school, and is, I would assume, Catholic, meaning she follows the teachings of Jesus. So I figured even though I was upset with what she wrote, the conversation would go well.

When she picked up the phone, she answered with a pleasant tone to her voice. I told her that I had received the article and was upset that she had chosen to point out how much better Catholic schools are than public schools. I asked her why not just rely on facts about possible benefits of Catholic schools to support her case. Her tone immediately turned angry as she demanded to know who I was. I explained that I was a public school teacher who disagreed with what she wrote. This was not enough for her, however.

"What is your name SIR?!" she demanded. I proceeded to tell her my full name and spell it out for her. Now seeming satisfied that she knew my name, she proceeded to tell me that she was only using "research" in her newsletter, apparently referring to the Fox News broadcast.

"Do you mean Fox News?" I asked. She didn't answer that question and instead asked me what parish I belonged to so she could take my name off of their mailing list. When I told her I had no idea because I was no longer a practicing Catholic, she replied with a condescending "Oh!" and told me there was no way she could remove me from the list without this information.

The conversation then quickly ended with her suggesting that the next time I receive their newsletter, I "should place it into the circular file." With that, she hung up on me.

There are a couple morals to this story. First, always remember that the age old adage "don't judge a book by its cover" is an important rule to follow. While the author of the article used some vague facts about public schools to support herself in her article and was extremely rude to me on the phone, I don't believe this reflects the attitude and opinions of the rest of her staff or the church's parishioners. In fact, the lady who answered the phone and transferred me to whom I wanted to speak was extremely nice and even shared a laugh with me because I missed pronounced her name. I also know a family that attends church at this parish, and they are some of the greatest people I know.

Second, one should always be aware that he or she alone sometimes represents the face of an entire organization, company, or other group, and, because not everybody does follow the rule of not judging a book by its cover, he or she needs to be careful about how he or she interacts with the public. If I were a different type of person, after reading the article written by this particular woman and then suffering through her rude exchange on the phone, I would think that not only she thought and acted this way, but that the entire leadership of the Catholic Church thought and acted this way. Several years ago, my father was once treated poorly at his favorite store by one of the employees. Ever since then, my father has refused to shop in that store. Stubborn? Yes, but I'm willing to bet there are plenty of people just like my father out there.

The irony of all this is that I have never discouraged parents when they have decided to take their child out of the public school I teach at to enroll them in a Catholic school, and I have always understood and agreed with their reasons for doing so. And when push comes to shove, it is every American's right to decide where his or her children go to school, and not even Jesus can change that.

The New Three R's

2011-06-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic. The basis of a solid education. I mean who can argue the fact that if you can't read, you can't write, and you can't do at least basic math, your career prospects are pretty limited. Even all of the standardized tests that I have ever seen test exclusively on all three of these and are the basis for how well a school is performing. Oh sure, you'll see some science and social studies tests thrown in there for good measure, and maybe one of the stories on the reading tests mentions music or physical activity somewhere. You might even see a picture or two on the tests, you know, to cover the visual arts. But when all is said and done, it all comes back to the three R's.

So if you're one of those artistic geniuses who will eventually sell your work for thousands of dollars but aren't quite up to grade level by the time that standardized test comes around, then you should be ashamed that you are one of the reasons your school's overall performance might not meet state or national standards. What's that? You can make sounds come out of an instrument that would make the most talented musicians stop dead in their tracks and listen? Well can you solve a multi-step algebraic equation perfectly every time? Didn't think so--you'd better put that instrument down and forget about it because your test scores say you're not adequate. Hey you! Yeah you with the natural athletic talent that would make Michael Jordan jealous. I know you've been coming in for extra help from your teacher in the morning and working as hard as you can in your spare time with a writing tutor, but you still haven't mastered the formula that the state wants to see on the writing portion of its test, so put the ball down and work harder. Here, maybe this book Passing the Writing Portion of the Test for Dummies will help. If not, there are a million other companies out there willing to sell you a book that teaches you how to pass the test.

And so it goes. If you are not master of the three R's, then you are unsuccessful. You are part of the problem with America. Your creative mind, your natural instinct for hitting all the right notes, your talent for doing whatever it is you do doesn't count if it isn't on the test. You are just part of a statistic that shows how poorly America's education system is performing. There's no place for you in a place like this. What do you think, that this nation was built with creative minds and some of its fondest memories were created by musicians, actors, painters, and athletes? Quit fooling yourself and get with the program. And while you're at it, make sure you learn our nation's new Three R's: Rate, Reduce, and wReck--because first we'll rate how well you're doing, and if it isn't up to standards, we'll reduce your teaching staff, your funding, or whatever else it takes to get our message across. And if that doesn't work, then it's time to bring in the wrecking ball and move to the fourth, fifth, and sixth R's: rebuild and reform based upon our rules.

In the end, it all just seems rather ridiculous.

Land of Sunshine

2011-06-17T16:34:00.000-07:00

“Pat yourself on the back and give yourself a handshake, Cuz everything is not yet lost...,” lyrics from “Land of Sunshine” by Faith No More

When I was in my late teens, I discovered a band called Faith No More. Within a few short months, not only did I like this band, I became slightly obsessed with them. I would listen to their songs again and again, analyze the lyrics to their songs twenty different ways, search the magazine racks for articles about them, and incessantly rave about the band’s brilliance to everybody I met. Some twenty years later, I still listen to them, still analyze their lyrics, and still--to the frustration of friends and family--discuss their brilliance. So what, you might ask, does this have to do with public education? Well, I was hoping you’d ask just that.

When Faith No More first hit it big in the early nineties, they were everywhere. All of the awards shows, the covers of magazines, touring with the most famous music groups; you couldn’t get away from these guys. As they made their way around, all of the critics discussed their “intelligent music,” their “flair for entertaining,” and their “willingness to go against the grain.” In other words, they gained respect. The best part was that they seemed like five down-to-earth guys who loved doing their jobs and had fun doing it, yet they took it all very seriously. Every maniacal scream that emanated from the singer’s throat seemed as if it had been flawlessly choreographed. The relentless pounding of drum skins, keys of a piano, and strings of a guitar was like some sort of strange carnival music that somehow made perfect sense. I know, I know, “You’re still just incessantly raving about this band that I’ve never heard of; can you just get to the point?” is what some of you are shouting at your computer monitors right now. Just stay with me a little longer, and I promise I’ll get there.

So as I was saying, Faith No More was travelling the country garnering respect, selling out shows, and making music the way they wanted to make it. All of a sudden, though, something happened: people stopped paying attention. By the time the band put out their next album, I was hard-pressed to find any magazine articles about them, had to watch MTV for days until I finally saw their newest video, and instead of touring with the world’s biggest bands, they were touring some of America’s smallest venues. Yet every review from every critic stated that their newest album was the band’s best yet. “So if that’s the case, why aren’t they on any of the award shows this year? Where are all the fans that were at their shows last year? What is going on?!?” I thought to myself angrily. I mean this was the best band in the world we were talking about here and they were losing radio airplay time to bands that all sounded so much like each other that I couldn’t tell them apart. In the meantime, Faith No More had honed their techniques to create a masterpiece that sounded like nothing else out there but did everything good music should: it made me think, it made me move, it made me smile, it inspired me, it helped me up when I was down and settled me down when I was too “up.” Little did I know that years later I would feel exactly the same feelings about an entirely different subject.

As the years passed, Faith No More’s fan base became smaller and smaller while music became more and more structured. If the group wasn’t a boy band or didn’t sound like Nirvana, there wasn’t much chance of it going anywhere. I, of course, continued to follow Faith No More and was impressed by how much more diverse and intelligent their music became--they were not only getting the job done, they were going above and beyond. Even as I became a teacher, I could still be heard in my spare time singing along with their songs and telling people they had to give them a listen (I even managed to convert a few people!). However, life became more busy, teaching became more stressful, and my time for exploring everything Faith No More became more limited.

As my focus turned to furthering my career as a professional educator by taking classes, going to in-services, reading about current teaching techniques, and discussing best practices with other educators, I felt, frankly, quite proud of myself. Here I was living out my dream as a teacher, working with some of the greatest kids on the planet, and feeling like I was an important part of society. Sure I was struggling financially, but I felt valued and respected; those were two things that no amount of money could truly buy.

Fast forward to February 2009. Faith No More, after breaking up years earlier was reuniting! I was so excited I did a little dance in my living room when I read the news. “Everything is once again right in the world,” I thought to myself (Hey, I told you I was a little obsessed). While thinking about all of the great new memories the band would create for me, I also started to see something else happening. Something else that made me do a different kind of dance in my living room, the kind of dance where one throws his or her arms up in the air and shakes his or her head in amazement while angrily shuddering and muttering, “What happened to the respect?!” And this time, I wasn’t talking about Faith No More.

“Teachers are getting a bad rap,” I continued. “Why don’t people realize how hard we try, how much we put into our jobs, and how many outside factors contribute to a child’s education? What more can I possibly do as a teacher?” My frustration was equally shared by the other educators I spoke with. Not only were we seeing the media painting teachers as the bad guys, we were also having to fight against our own school board to be respected as professionals. While embroiled in bitter contract negotiations, our teaching staff was hearing comments like “Why do you deserve any more money?” and “What more are you going to do for us?” Now these comments would be more acceptable if we were teaching in a poorly performing district without the funds to provide us with the money we deserved, but this was not the case. In fact, our students were performing far above the state average, our district was at the highest level of fiscal responsibility that the state gives out (and still would be even after providing it’s teachers with the raise that was being requested), and teachers had been doing more and more every year without receiving not only any extra compensation, but, more importantly, without receiving any words of encouragement or respect.

While the war raged on between the teachers in my district and the school board, I started to become more frustrated as I noticed that the problem was becoming even worse. More so everyday, someone, somewhere would ask the same types of questions our district asked of us. “What makes you so irreplaceable? Why do you deserve a secure job when so many others are struggling? Why are you doing such a poor job educating our students?” The worst part was that none of this was true. Teachers don’t consider themselves irreplaceable experts; that’s why we continuously strive to make ourselves better by taking classes and finding other ways to improve our teaching. Our jobs are also not as “secure” as some people might think. Unions and tenure don’t guarantee anybody anything; if a teacher is not performing his or her duties, he or she can be terminated just like any other employee. And we are trying our absolute hardest to educate every student in every school. However, sometimes teachers trying their hardest simply isn’t enough. Which leads me back to Faith No More.

Faith No More makes the best music they possibly can. I’ve seen them live, seen behind-the-scenes footage of them working in the studio, and listened endlessly to the finished product. They put every ounce of energy into their profession, and, I think, deserve the utmost respect for it. They don’t sell millions of albums, they don’t sell out large theaters, and most people have never even heard of them, yet they continue to plug along putting out one intelligent song after another. Those who truly understand music give them incredibly positive reviews and show them incredible respect. Those who only listen to the mainstream pop music that hits the airwaves don’t care about them, write them off after listening to no more than a snippet of a song, and give them no respect. Anybody who has ever taught can’t help to see the similarities between Faith No More and teachers.

Teachers teach the best they possibly can. I’ve seen them teaching in class. I’ve seen them behind their desks during plan time working on lesson plans, grading papers, making phone calls, and doing countless other activities that help them to educate their students. I’ve seen the finished “products,” former students, come back nearly every day to thank their former teachers. They put every ounce of energy into their profession, and, I think, deserve the utmost respect for it. They don’t make millions of dollars, they don’t work in fancy office buildings, and most people have no idea what they actually do on a day-to-day basis, yet they continue to plug along coming up with one intelligent way after another of reaching even the hardest to reach students. Those who truly understand education regard them as incredibly positive assets to society and show them incredible respect. Those who only listen to the mainstream media don’t care about them, write them off after seeing a movie about Superman or watching a snippet of the Oprah show, and give them no respect. Anybody who has never taught probably cannot help but to have no more faith in the teaching profession.

However, my years of listening to Faith No More’s music and watching them perform have taught me many lessons. First, regardless of what people might say or think, Faith No More has had a positive effect on music. I hear it in the songs of other artists who mimic the things Faith No More were doing with their music years ago. This has taught me that, regardless of what some members of the public might say or think, teachers have had a positive effect on society. I see it in the success stories of those who lead our country using the skills they were taught by their teachers many years ago.

Next, I ‘ve learned that doing things the intelligent way is not necessarily always the most popular way to do things. While Faith No More continued to create intelligent albums full of intelligent songs, they faded into the background as silly “bubble gum pop” music made the tops of the charts. Similarly, while many teachers have some amazingly intelligent ideas regarding how to best teach America’s children, these ideas are often shoved into the background to make way for some of the more popular reforms being promoted across the country. All it takes is a search of the internet to discover how truly unintelligent most of these reforms are.

Last, and most importantly, Faith No More has taught me not to care. I don’t mean not to care about my profession or my students, but not to care about the naysayers. Faith No More has always remained positive and upbeat even while never fully receiving the respect they deserve as artists. Doing what is important to them is all that matters. I can’t put into words how meaningful this is to me. If, as a teacher, I was to solely focus on all of the negativity that has been unfairly cast toward my profession, it would affect me as a teacher. I teach because it is important to me. I teach because it is important to my children, your children, and America’s children. I teach because being a teacher is more rewarding than any other profession in the world. I teach because I know that, through the work of Americans just like you and me, our public education system will get even better, teachers will regain the respect they once had, and our children will become the best and brightest leaders in the world.

So the next time I hear a fellow teacher upset because of another news article blaming teachers for all that is wrong with our public education system or because he or she was just made to feel like a failure because some of his or her students’ standardized test scores weren’t quite “up to par,” I think I might sing to them (completely off-key of course), “Pat yourself on the back and give yourself a handshake, cuz everything is not yet lost...”

Who Says Protest Songs Have Disappeared?

2011-06-16T15:08:00.000-07:00

Does anybody else out there feel like the guys in this video who are getting the dirt kicked in their face? My interpretation of this video (which I'm sure wasn't the band's intention) is that the two guys represent middle class and the government is finding about a million different ways to put an end, once and for all, to them.

In this next video, "Digging the Grave," by my favorite band of all time, Faith No More, shows the middle class working their you-know-whats off even while feeling like every time they get somewhere, they are forced right back down--in this case, down off of a bridge!

And finally, we have this video from Megadeth, "Foreclosure of a Dream." The title alone deeply resonates with my perception of what is currently happening in America, but the images and sound bytes throughout the video are even more stirring. Even if you are not a fan of this type of music, please take a few minutes to watch the entire video. I'm pretty sure you will find it worth your while.

A New Plan for Public Education

2011-06-16T08:37:00.000-07:00

So I was thinking the other day, what is the government's plan for public education? They certainly haven't had one so far--at least not one that works. So I thought I would help them out a bit by presenting them a plan that I guarantee they would give me a standing ovation for because it's so brilliant. Terrible for kids, but absolutely brilliant!

First, our esteemed leaders will look to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker for advice about how to best kill the unions. Once they start the process nation-wide, it won't take long to accomplish, not when even the law can't stop you from doing it.

Once this is accomplished, all current teachers will be fired. Oh sure, they'll fight like dogs against it, but some of America's current leaders would have no problem kicking a defenseless puppy. Then, since child labor laws will be rolled back by this point, children from all over America will be hired in their place for about five dollars an hour. Better yet, they can outsource children from other countries to do the work for even less. Why put the money back into American hands when people from other countries will perform the same exact work for less pay? It's hard to argue with that logic!

I know what you're saying right now. "Kids teaching classes? That's absurd! They would have no idea what to do and couldn't control an entire class full of students!" Well you are wrong. All it takes is a couple of modifications to the teaching process and to the classrooms.

The new "teachers" will be handed scripts to read from. Every public school across America would have the same exact scripts for the same exact classes. That takes care of all the complaints about one state having different or better curricula than another. All assignments will be completed via scantrons, even essays and math problems where you need to show your work (believe me, with all the brain power in Washington and across the states, it won't take much thought to figure out how to accomplish this). Those scantrons will be fed through a scanner, graded, and input into a computer by yet another child--although this child might need to be a little older since he or she will need to have the stamina to input grades for every student for every class each day.

Now that not having any idea how to teach has been taken care of, the next step is to ensure a strong classroom management system. This part is easy. You know those gas stations that you go to where the attendant is behind some thick glass and there is a little drawer to pass money back and forth with the customer? Those will be installed in every classroom for the teacher to stand behind in order to keep him or her safe from any unruly students. I mean yeah, destroying the public school system is one thing, but we don't want anybody getting killed while teaching!

And if those kids want to run rampant in the classroom instead of doing their work and paying attention, let them. This is America dammit! And as many of our greatest politicians have said again and again, government has no place interfering with those children; the Constitution says they have certain inalienable rights--actually, I think some of the Republicans got together and wrote the right to disrespect your teacher right into the original Bill of Rights. I believe it's right in there somewhere between the fifth and sixth amendments. Besides, who cares if the kids in these public schools get a good education or not? It's the kids who will be going to the for-profit private schools the government needs to worry about--their parents are the ones with the money.

I truly believe that this plan will be a complete success. Everybody complained about No Child Left Behind, so logic would only dictate that they would be completely satisfied with Every Child (being) Left Behind. On top of that, this new system is environmentally friendly--just think of all the trees that will be saved since students will no longer have the need for notebook paper. That'll shut up all those idiots with their global warming B.S. And this plan creates jobs. Jobs for innocent children from other countries who will be overworked and under-payed, but hey, creating jobs is creating jobs!

Most importantly, this plan will show Americans that all those whiny teachers with their cushy jobs, lavish salaries, and Cadillac pension plans were a burden on American society, not some sort of godsend as they currentlyrun around wanting everybody to believe. Just thinking about the egos of those "professional" educators makes my blood boil!

So there it is. My gift to America's leaders: a no-fail plan for America's education system. I think if we put the right people in charge of putting it into place (a few select governors come to mind), it will take hold in no time. No thank you's necessary, but a few pennies dropped into the cup that will be in my hand while my other hand is holding a sign that says "Former teacher. Enough said." would be greatly appreciated.

One People, One March

2011-06-15T18:49:00.000-07:00

This is just my two cents, but it seems to me there are too many marches going on right now. I'm not talking about local marches at state capitals or other places, nor am I talking about events such as grade-ins or flash-mobs. The marches I am referring to are the ones scheduled to take place in Washington D.C. Between June 2011 and October 2011 alone, I have come across five separate marches to take place in DC:

March on Your Capitol Day in June
The Save Our Schools March and National Call to Action in July
The Standing Up for America March on Labor Day
The Seize DC March in September
The Stop the Machine March in October

Now don't get me wrong, all of these marches seem to have pretty good goals, and I'm sure the organizers have worked like crazy to try to make them successful (I know some of the people behind a couple of these marches, and I know for a fact they have put hundreds of hours of unpaid work into their marches), and, hopefully, every one of them is a huge success and plenty of positive changes come because of the marches. But I doubt it.

One look at this site: http://bit.ly/jLutOH will give you an idea of why I have my doubts. Look at all of the marches listed on this page. Then count the ones you've heard of. Finally, think about what positive changes came about because of those marches. I'll bet you can count them on one hand. Obviously, there are some marches on this list that had a huge impact on society, but most came and went. We cannot afford to have any more marches that come and go.

If you look at the list of marches I listed in this note, each one, at first glance, has a different goal. When looked at more deeply, however, you will see that one common thread runs through all five of these marches: they all want the government to give them fair treatment. That's all. Nothing more, nothing less.

Stop overtaxing the poor while undertaxing the rich. Stop attacking teachers and institutuing policies that are decimating our public education system. Do something about the fact that there is a very small percentage of citizens in America who hold almost all of the wealth (and, therefore, the power). Investing in our citizens instead of in war. In other words, treat every single one of us, treat "We the People," fairly. That's all any of these marches are asking for. They are not asking for more than they deserve, they are not looking for handouts, they are not asking that their cause be prioritized over anybody else's cause.

All every single one of thse marches asks is that that all men, women, children, transgenders, gays, lesbians, and every other type of human be treated equally, that they are allowed by their government to retain certain unalienable Rights, and that every single American citizen gets a fair shot at Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. So I say, let us unite!

Let those whose passion is education join forces with those who are fighting for a fair tax system. Let those who march because they feel discriminated against march side by side with those who feel they are being taken advantage of. Let every American--no matter their race, religion, or sexual preference, descend upon our nation's capital all at once. Let us have a march of the people, by the people, and for the people!

It is my goal to start such a march. It is my goal to hold hands with my brothers and sisters of America as we sing "Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty we are free at last from the tyranny that has been brought upon us!" It is my goal not to see that one million or three million people attend this march, but that ten million or thirty million attend this march.

To organize such a grandiose march would take about a year to accomplish, but, as much as I pray I am completely wrong, I am afraid that there may be even more than thirty million willing to march by this time next year.It is time to put an end to America's collective problems all at once. It is time to bring the American dream back to the millions who are currently living the American nightmare. It is time for us to come together before everything falls apart. As I was once known to say here and there, on with THE march!

The Education March in DC This July--The True Hollywood Story

2011-06-12T01:58:00.000-07:00

Over the last several months, I have had a multitude of people ask me questions about "my march" in Washington D.C., tell me they would see me at "my march" in D.C., and even post blogs or write articles about "my march" in Washington D.C. This is all very nice, but there is one small problem: it isn't my march.

Had you asked me last October about "my march" in D.C. you wouldn't have been able to shut me up as I talked about all of the ideas I had for the march. You would have heard me talk about how this was a march organized, supported by, and collaborated upon by every-day people much like you and I. I would have told you that whether 10 people showed up or a million people showed up, I would be there to greet them all, listen to their ideas, and do my best to inspire them. However, things don't always work out as they should.

For those who have been with me from the beginning, you know that my goal was always to have a national march for public education in Washington D.C. on July 30th. I even took it upon myself to declare July 30th National Support Public Education Day. With the help of one hard-working woman and the support of people from all over America, we were able to pull off small marches in Florida, Milwaukee, and Chicago on July 30, 2010. It wasn't a million people in D.C., but it was an encouraging beginning that immediately made me determine that July 30, 2011 would be the day of the national march I felt we so desperately needed.

So again, with the help of that same hard-working, passionate woman, we began to organize. And network. And email and post and Tweet about the event. No matter how hard we tried, however, it didn't seem like enough momentum was building, enough people were jumping on board, or enough support from large organizations would ever materialize. Then a funny thing happened.

Another person (who had been following and supporting my efforts) suddenly created his own event for July 30th in Washington D.C. He claimed he had no idea that I was organizing anything and that it was merely a coincidence that the same date was chosen. I was a bit taken aback, but instead of getting upset, I looked at this as the opportunity I had been searching for to finally turn my vision into a reality. He had some colleagues that were supposedly well-connected with some major organizations and who were willing to help out. A coalition was born, and I could barely contain my excitement.

As we started having virtual meetings, some of the basics were becoming to fall into place. We discussed the logistics including where the money would come from to support our effort, what kind of permits we would need, and how to begin soliciting major organizations for their support. I became more excited after every phone call, after every email, after every sign of progress. My excitement, however, didn't last.

My ideas were suddenly being criticized. My way of doing things was deemed "not professional enough." In fact, it was suddenly decided--with no input from me--that a professional organizer must be immediately hired to tell us what to do. I bit my tongue and decided to go with the flow--if I wanted this thing to happen, I would need to be able to compromise.

So as things progressed, we came up with a list of demands for the march. Actually, we didn't come up with a list, we used the list I had created months ago as part of my mission for the SOS Million Teacher March. Of course much "tweaking" had to be done to make everything more "professional" because what I had come up with just wasn't exactly what the march--my march--should be about. Again, I bit my tongue for the good of the cause.

To show everybody involved that my dedication to this project was as strong as ever and that I could work collaboratively with people even if I didn't necessarily agree with them, to help promote our cause, I created the following presentation which was met with whatever the opposite of unbridled enthusiasm would be:

Never being one who need pats on the back, I was just relieved that we had some demands that everybody was happy with. But then, another bomb was dropped: SOS Million Teacher March wasn't an appropriate name for this event. The others were worried that the march would be a complete failure if one million marchers didn't show up in D.C. I tried explaining the symbolic nature of the word million and explaining how we could do things like hold local marches across the country to help add to the numbers but, more importantly, to give people who couldn't make it to D.C. a way to be a part of the event. I explained that people could wear shirts signed with the names of people who supported the march but couldn't make it there. I referenced the shoelace campaign I sponsored the year before as a simple way to get people involved.

They all listened as I passionately defended the name of the march, and then they decided that all the SOS Million Teacher March amounted to was a Facebook page that I didn't own--the fans of the page were in charge. Therefore, I would just change the name of the page to something they felt more comfortable with, and problem solved. Again I bit my tongue, tasting a hint of blood as I did so.

However, I still believed that working with this group of people was the only way to accomplish the goal of getting everyday people to head to Washington D.C. in support of education. So, that night I didn't sleep. Instead I worked on coming up with a new name and a logo for the march. So what if the name had changed; the original intent was still in place. I ended up with this:

Everybody seemed happy with the new name and logo and decided that with a few "tweaks" it would work just fine. With the whole debate over the name being a thing of the past, we could again move forward. But, apparently, moving forward meant moving forward without me.

Instead, somebody I had been continually asking to join forces with me since the very beginning of the SOS Million Teacher March because he managed a Facebook site that had goals similar to mine was suddenly welcomed to the group with great fanfare. Although he had ignored every single one of my requests in the past to collaborate with me, I sent him an email welcoming him to the group as I bit down ever harder on what had now become a numb tongue.

I also emailed a public figure that all the others wished would support the cause asking her if she would be willing to throw her name into the pot. She emailed back (almost immediately, to her credit) that she would indeed be willing to support the march. This addition was met with more fanfare and public claims from others that they were the ones responsible for accomplishing such an "amazing feat." I chalked it up to egos needing to be fed and bit down where my now severed tongue used to be.

"Okay," I thought to myself, "things aren't going exactly as I planned, but so what? This march is going to happen, people are going to get their chance to speak up, and, hopefully, something positive will happen because of it." Just then the phone rang. It was one of the other organizers of the group who had a discussion with some of the other members. They had decided that I would be in charge of handling a local march while they took care of everything else. I had finally had enough. There would be no more biting of the tongue for me. My reply was simply, "No." With that, I wrote a letter to the other members of the group explaining my decision to drop out of the march I had created. And that was that. My dream of having the SOS Million Teacher March take place on July 30, 2011 in our nation's capital would not come true.

While I was upset about the way things ended, I was at total peace with my decision. The march being planned was no longer what I had envisioned. None of the people now left in charge of the march were public school teachers who spent day after day experiencing the ups and downs that occurred in the classroom. Instead they were professors, mentors, and bloggers. Much as we don't feel the politicians shouldn't be making decisions about public education because they aren't there in the trenches with the students on a day-to-day basis, I felt this march needed the input of at least one current public school teacher, if not more. However, when it came down to it, the opinions of public educators didn't matter even when the march was targeted directly at them.

So why tell this story now? Is it because I want to sabotage the D.C. march due to jealousy or spite? I think anybody who knows me, even if just through the internet, will quickly realize that this is not the case. Is it to give you the impression that those organizing the march are evil people who could care less about education? Well if that's the case, working non-stop the last few months completely on a voluntary basis trying to bring people together in support of education is a strange way of showing it.

No, spite, jealousy, or suspicion of ulterior motives has nothing to do with it. The reason I tell you this story is to stress that it is up to you the people to create a positive change. It doesn't matter whose march it is, where it's held, or how it ended up at the point it's at. All that matters is you. You are the ones who will march. You are the ones who will stand up and speak out. You are the difference-makers. You are America. And it is time for those who are in charge of this great nation to listen and take their own action to put together the broken pieces of the United States and put them back together like a puzzle so that America once again looks the way it does on the front of the box.

And I tell this story now so that the endless confusion about the connection between the SOS Million Teacher March and the march that is occurring in D.C. this July can end. Far too many people still think I am the go-to-guy for the D.C. march when I have absolutely nothing to do with it. I want the people who believe in this march to get in touch with the people in charge of it so they get the correct information and so the organizers can help them directly with their needs.

I've written a few posts about my non-involvement with this march, but still the confusion continues. I felt writing this blog would leave no doubt in people's minds about whether or not this is the SOS Million Teacher March. It is not. It is the Save Our Schools March and Call to Action. And, believe it or not, I hope it is more successful than anybody could have ever imagined because that is what the children of America need. The petty events that bother us as adults should never even enter the equation. On with the March!

Time For a Change...

2011-06-11T10:00:00.000-07:00

For the past thirteen months the SOS Million Teacher March has been my healthy obsession. I have maintained a Facebook page devoted to the SOSMTM. I've blogged. I've created, sponsored, and participated in many different campaigns and events. I helped organize marches last July and was originally in charge of a march this July in Washington D.C.

I'm not telling you this because I want you to say, "Wow! Great job! You do so much! Thank you! Et cetera, Et cetera. Et cetera." Instead, I am just illustrating how involved I've been with the SOSMTM on a daily basis because it was/is my passion. I would check Facebook six to seven times a day to see what was happening on the page. I would scour the news for the latest on education and do my best to share it with others. I would Tweet every day. I would promote other pages that had missions similar to mine. I would, basically, live with my computer on my lap or my Ipod in my hand--and I LOVED every minute of it. I still do.

However, after witnessing what happened in Wisconsin, I started to realize there is far more to it than what I have been focusing on. I will fight to the bitter end for what is right for America's students, but I think there are so many other factors tied into the fight for public education than just those I have been focusing on, and I'd like to branch out and touch on some of those. Unfortunately, I don't think the SOS Million Teacher March is the place to do that.

Don't get me wrong; I know that the four thousand or so people on the SOSMTM page are, like me, passionate about education but are also well aware of the many other issues Americans are facing right now. However, I think most of those people head to the page expecting to see information, news, and discussion about public education with a sprinkling of other issues as long as they somehow affect public education. With a name like Save Our Schools Million TEACHER March, why wouldn't they? Because of this, I don't think it is fair to those people or my original vision to suddenly start posting about other issues (and you know as well as I do that there are plenty of other issues out there!).

So what to do? Abandon my passion? Have somebody else take over the page? Neither of these are viable solutions, so I decided to do something completely different: start from scratch with a brand new SOSMTM.

Save Our Society: Multitudes Transforming Millions will become my new passion. I will continue to do everything I did before with regards to public education, but I am rearranging my focus a bit by working on my new passion: getting the common American to begin standing up, speaking out, and advocating for him or herself. Will I still focus on public education? Absolutely! But I'd also like to begin to address other issues as well. I've started by offering my help to a cause that is "demanding an end to corporate welfare, tax loopholes and a rescission of Bush Era tax cuts for the top 2%." Is this issue separate from the issues facing public education? Perhaps at first glance, yes. But I think bringing about such a change could help stop some of the negativity being thrown at public education and educators and bring positive change to teachers' lives and the lives of our students and their families.
This is just one example of what I mean by "rearranging my focus." Over the last several months I have become just as passionate about getting people to help themselves--no matter the issue--as I have about public education.

I know this is a huge risk I am taking because I'm known as "that million teacher march guy," but I've never been scared to take a risk before and surely am not going to start being scared now. I hope most of you will make the transition with me over the next couple of months. By September, the original SOSMTM will be replaced with the new SOSMTM, but it will still be driven by the passion of the same guy. Based on what I know about the members of the SOS Million Teacher March, I'm pretty sure most of you will be willing to at least give me a chance, and that's all I ask for. I promise I will do my best not to leave you disappointed!

The Great Dictator Speech

2011-06-04T19:21:00.000-07:00

This speech given by Charlie Chaplin in the movie The Great Dictator is quite relevant today when it seems there are politicians at every corner ignoring their own states' constitutions and trampling on people's rights. However, Chaplin adds some words of encouragement throughout the speech, saying at one point,

The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress: the hate of men will pass and dictators die and the power they took from the people, will return to the people and so long as men die [now] liberty will never perish. . .

Take a look at the video and see what you think.

Trying To Figure It All Out

2011-06-02T18:09:00.000-07:00

So I've had plenty of time to think lately, and I've decided something. Teachers haven’t changed, only the perception of teachers has changed. Professional educators have gone from well-loved, respected members of society to the subject of anger, scapegoating, and jealousy.

Now I haven’t been around education very long; I have only been part of the profession for fourteen years. Perhaps it was naivety, the sense of being overwhelmed, or something else, but when I first started teaching, I just don’t remember people writing mean, spiteful comments after every article that even mentions teaching. I don’t remember feeling like the whole country thought my colleagues and I were overpaid, underworked, and--quite frankly--obsolete.

But now we are told to shut our mouths and quit complaining about our seven and a half hour work days, our summers and weekends off, our lavish salaries, and our Cadillac pension plans. Our unions, many will say with a straight face and minimal exaggeration, are the most evil conglomerate of individuals ever gathered with an agenda to turn all teachers into untouchable billionaires who leave the students to fend for themselves. It’s time we stop living off the taxpayers’ money and start suffering like everybody else, they shout. The time to get off our high-horse, we are told with a sneer, has come and gone. To sum it up, the overall feeling seems to be: teachers, you’re finally going to get what’s coming to you.

Yet, I see teachers doing today what my teachers did years ago and what I can only assume teachers did well before that: keep on teaching. And by teaching I mean helping students to master their subjects, but I also mean caring. And listening. And giving the hug, the pat on the shoulder, the encouraging words, the stern advice, or whatever else children might need to get them through the day, get them through the year, sometimes even get them through their lives (yes, I have heard stories of students coming back years later telling one of their former teachers it was something they did that impacted them for the rest of their lives).

By teaching I also mean parenting. Not replacing a parent or trying to outdo a student’s actual parents but treating every child as if he or she was your own. Learning their strengths and their weaknesses. Understanding when they need you to give them a little push in the right direction and when to back off and let them figure it out on their own. Realizing they have bad days and good days, just like everybody else. Doing whatever you can to help them be successful thinkers. Not successful test-takers or successful at knowing the one right answer, but successful at finding twelve different solutions to the same problem because that’s part of what it will take to be successful later on in life.

Most importantly (and I know this might not sound very “teacher-like”) teachers don’t care about the rules when it comes to doing what is right for their students. If the rules of their contract tell them their day starts at 9:00 and ends at 3:00, they’ll arrive early and stay late. If their contract tells them they have a duty-free lunch, they’ll eat lunch in their rooms while giving struggling students the help they need. If their contract says they get paid to mentor a new teacher, they mentor six other new teachers at the same time without an extra penny of pay. And if the rules of their contract tell them they can take ten paid days off every year, they strive for perfect attendance because they know a day without their teacher is a day of learning lost for students.

Teachers do this because they do. I know that’s not very profound, but I just don’t know how else to put it. Some describe it as a passion, some say it is a calling. I just think it’s what we do. And we do, and we do, and we do. And then we do some more. This is our greatest strength but also our fatal flaw. Because we do what’s best for our students no matter what, we have begun to be taken advantage of. Forgotten about. We are like an old comfortable chair that’s always there when you walk into your house. You kick off your shoes and plop down into it letting the stress of the day melt away, and, after a while, you stand up, walk away, and forget about it. Yet the very next day, without even thinking about it, you sit right back down in that good old chair and take advantage of it. Teachers have become that good old chair that everybody takes advantage of. I’m sure there are better analogies out there, but, for me, I certainly feel like a worn down, beaten-up, old chair. Some, I’m sure, would even consider me a Lazy Boy what with the cushy hours and all.

So while I started this blog talking about how the perception of teachers has unfairly changed for the worse, I can’t help but to think to myself one thing. While we are being blamed for just about all the ills of society lately, isn’t it the students of long ago who are currently running our country into the ground? Aren’t the boys and girls who walked twenty miles up hill to school and twenty miles up hill on the way back home the ones who are making the decisions regarding our economy, our foreign policies, our wars, our education policies? Because I haven’t seen any of my students in the headlines lately making political decisions that affect millions or mismanaging budgets that hurt the masses. Perhaps we should find some of our current leaders’ old teachers, line them all up in a row, and let the public have at ‘em. The only thing is, if I know anything about teachers, they would all reach out and give that angry mob the hugs they so desperately need (or the stern talking to they deserve).

Teachers: You Were Born This Way

2011-05-28T12:00:00.000-07:00

Teachers, like eggs, are worth much more than a dime a dozen.

Meeting after meeting, day after day, test scores are discussed and analyzed, and teachers are asked how they can increase test scores and why individual students didn't do well on tests. They are told by administration that they don't want to hear the reasons why a student may not have done well (if, for instance, a student missed more than half the days of school) but what they as teachers could have done differently to make sure that student had fared better on his or her test.

As many times as I've wanted to stand up and scream how ridiculous it is that we spend an extraordinarily absurd amount of time discussing test scores and are asked ridiculous questions that are impossible to answer, I restrain myself and diplomatically try to explain my point to no avail. Imagine first or second year teachers who walk into this situation and how saddening it must be for them to see that their dream of educating children has been reduced to a nightmare of test scores and line after line of accusatory questioning.

I can't fight this alone; I cannot expect any other teacher--especially a new teacher--to fight it alone. This is why I've been trying so hard to unite our voices so that there are far too many of us and we are far too loud to be simply shooed away like an insignificant bug (because, frankly, that is how some people make teachers feel sometimes). I've stated time and time again that no matter how grim the circumstances, teachers just keep going. They adapt, they twist, they turn, they bend. One thing they do not do, however, is roll over.

Rolling over isn't in a teacher's blood just as teaching to a test isn't in a teachers heart. Passion, on the other hand, burns deeply within every fiber of a teacher's soul. It is that passion which we must rely upon to get us through this. It is that passion that we must now prove exists because so many have claimed that it doesn't. It is that passion that keeps us going no matter the odds because we are teachers. Not because we took the right classes, earned the right degree, or have the certificates that say so, but because we were born this way. And no man, no test, no acronymized agenda being forced down our throats can change that.

Teachers teach just as the wind blows; never in the same direction, not always at the same speed, but always as a force that can change people's lives.

Usually we change lives by being educators, mentors, confidants, counselors, mediators, and advocates, but we must now add activist to that already long list. This should not be difficult--teachers are used to taking on tasks they were never meant to perform. Not only are they used to this, they are used to doing so without being paid anything extra. Why? Because teachers are the ultimate optimists.

Teachers feel that wealth comes in many forms, not just currency, and that by doing what we do we will be rewarded one way or another. We will be rewarded by the joy we feel when a student learns a new concept because we went the extra mile and taught it an eleventh way because the first ten ways just didn't click. We will be rewarded when somebody asks what we do for a living and showers us with gratitude when we reply, "I teach." We will be rewarded when our sons and daughters look at us and say, "I want to be a teacher too when I grow up, so I can make a difference." Unfortunately, we must also add realist to the long list of things teachers need to be because our optimism is being ripped away.

Instead of feeling joy when a student learns a new concept, we will be told to feel shame because he or she did not learn enough new concepts. Instead of gratitude, we are now showered with "Oh, I'm sorry's" and "Must be nice's" when we inform people of our profession. Instead of feeling pride that our children want to grow up to be teachers, we will feel fear, for what parent would want to send his or her child into the ring against the nearly unbeatable odds that teachers face every day?

But fear not fellow educators because there is still room for optimism along with your newfound realism. By standing up for what we believe is right--what we know is right--and by standing up all at once and all together, we will make a difference. We will be successful in creating a public education system that values education instead of devalues educators. We will use tests to enhance our teaching instead of to halt our teaching. We will find a way for every school and every student everywhere to receive the necessities that no one should have to do without no matter where they live. We will do what we do best: we will educate.

We will educate America about what it means to be a teacher, about why we cling to our profession as if our lives depended upon it, about why we work so hard while being paid so little. Because if not us, then who? If not now, then when? I, for one, can no longer sit back and watch the profession I love so dearly be destroyed so completely. I cannot watch my students' education suffer because somebody else tells me it's the right way to do things. I cannot roll over, and neither can you.

Because you were born this way.