The Frustrated Teacher

Donations Welcome (Sticky Post. New Stuff Below)

2010-09-30T13:47:00.000-07:00

Now would be a great time to make your annual donation to The Frustrated Teacher, considering I spent all I had on the bar mitzvah.

You can do it via the TFT/PayPal icon just below the page title (Look--Right above this post!!).

It's Too Hot

2010-09-02T13:08:00.000-07:00

The heat is killing me. Accuweather says it's 92, but it only feels like it's 98. I am going to go stand in front of the open refrigerator now.

Wednesday Cartoon Fun: Entranxit Edition

2010-09-01T17:32:00.000-07:00

KIPP Should Change Its Name To CIPP

2010-09-01T13:51:00.000-07:00

KIPP stands for Knowledge Is Power Program. I think it should be CIPP, Compliance Is Power Program.

I mostly work with young students not yet in high school. All my classroom experience is k-3 with some subbing in high and middle school thrown in before I was credentialed. I now work with all ages in a private practice.

My experience in a Title 1 district taught me much. I learned how poverty can stifle a child's ability to learn.

I watched many of my students interact with their parents and the negative interactions I have seen show me KIPP style indoctrination is a no-good and rather blunt instrument.

For you teachers, this will come as nothing new or even interesting.

Many students are parented in a way that I can only call "be seen but not heard." It is a typical family dynamic I see constantly. Young kids are told to shut up by their parents. They are manhandled and insulted. They are often being raised by an exhausted grandparent. They are sometimes homeless, almost always car-less, and in need of dental care. They are not fed well at home and need to come to school to eat. They live in Section 8 housing in a crappy part of town. Homework is hard because there isn't a place to do it, or time to do it, or anyone to help do it. Many parents/caregivers expect the school and teacher to educate their child--entirely. Why?

Let me stereotype:

Because these families, mostly impoverished, don't raise their kids the way I raise mine or you raise yours. We hug our children, listen to them, enrich them, read to them, feed them, show them they are important to us, and love them and show them they are wanted. We have books in our houses and we talk with (as opposed to to or at) our children. It's what privilege and good role models allows us. It's also, probably, how we were raised. Our curiosity was encouraged and engaged. Our parents were role models. School was an adjunct to an education, not the be-all and end-all.

For those students who don't get that kind of parenting, schools are the only place left to provide it. And that's how my classroom operated. I was a fantastic dad/teacher in the classroom. It was my job to teach BIG ideas, along with the standards, of course. But standards were almost beside the point. Standards are easy to learn when you are exposed to big ideas and connections. That's why school for me and my son, and most of you and your children, was not a struggle. We were ready.

My classroom was a community and everyone in that community was respected for who they were and what they could do. I encouraged my kids to seek each other out for help--classrooms are filled with talent and all one needs to do is learn about each other to find out. My job is to help each student find out what they are good at and use that as a means to an education--academic as well as social. I must validate each child's skills and abilities. Everyone needs validation. It is a form of respect. It also builds confidence, something poverty tends to quash.

My classroom was fun because learning is fun. Our brains, kid's brains especially, are wired for learning. It's what brains do--brains are pattern-seeking devices. When I provide/expose/clarify patterns for my students, they flourish and their brains hum along. This can't be done without spontaneity. KIPP is the opposite of spontaneous.

KIPP chooses compliance over connections. KIPP chooses behavior over knowledge.

My most ignorant, unworldly students needed parenting and exposure to things not presented in the home. School is where they got attention, concern, validation, and love. I gave them time to explore and become interested and curious. I answered every single question anyone had. I stopped reading out loud when the story brought up something worth talking about. Then I taught them all I could about what interested them. It's called authentic learning, and it is what parents do when they watch their child focus on something, like a flower or a bug, without interrupting or analyzing, but rather going along and facilitating.

Everyday I had students who wanted to come to school because they knew I was there to help them, not scold them, not to get them to comply "because I said so" but because we are happier when we cooperate. My classroom was a place where kids learned how to be people first, not robots.

People learn by seeking out patterns. Poverty precludes unobstructed curiosity. KIPP reinforces the obstructions.

Good teachers don't drill and kill (well, sometimes it's actually okay). Good teachers don't stifle, they amplify and validate, redirect and focus, excite and explain.

KIPP schools intimidate, single out, and make rigid all the things that should not be rigid. Respect and concern work better than fear and intimidation.

If we want young people to do well in school they need a family that has the luxury of being able to provide stability. America just hasn't figured out what to do about it yet.

Well, here's a start:

1. Universal health care
2. Free high quality early childhood education

Tuesday Bonus Cartoon Fun: Contrast Edition

2010-08-31T18:39:00.000-07:00

Do You Know This Kid XXIII: Updated

2010-08-31T15:19:00.000-07:00

This little Jewish dude was born in 1952 near the east coast of America. He is a famous actor who has been in a few blockbusters. He usually plays the brainy parts.

Update: Well, two of you guessed correctly (there were no other guesses). That smiling baby is indeed Jeff Goldblum. Congratulations to Anthony Cody and Althea. Credit must go to Mr. Cody though, he got it withing minutes of its posting.

Tuesday Cartoon Fun: Crocodile Tears Edition

2010-08-31T14:03:00.000-07:00

Quote Of The Day: Waterworld Edition

2010-08-31T10:22:00.000-07:00

Christopher Hitchens on Glenn Beck's rally:

The numbers were impressive enough on their own, but the overall effect was large, vague, moist, and undirected: the Waterworld of white self-pity.

Monday Cartoon Fun: Glenn Beck's Scheme Exposed Edition

2010-08-30T19:28:00.000-07:00

The Best Card/Gift From The Bar Mitzvah

2010-08-30T15:54:00.000-07:00

My kid likes knives. On our Oregon trip this summer I got him one of those crazy knives that you pop open with just your thumb. It's for whittling, or killing bears. He loved it and made his arm sore on the day he got it popping it open repeatedly. The picture below is the very same knife. It's a Smith and Wesson S.W.A.T. knife. What 13 year old boy wouldn't want one!

Many years ago my best friend, who had the coolest knife collection any little kid ever had, got a brand new Swiss Army knife. He brought it over to show me--we lived across the street from each other. While it was open I grabbed it out of his hand and nearly sliced his thumb off. It was repaired. It's a favorite story he likes to tell. I think he tried to take it out of my hand--blade first. We'll never know (he is probably right).

Now, about 35 years later, my friend, who still lacks feeling in the tip of his thumb, went on a European vacation and while in Switzerland purchased the same Swiss Army knife for my son that I used to slice his thumb. He is a very funny guy and this is the card my son received with the knife:

The Glenn Beck Thing

2010-08-30T14:39:00.001-07:00

Sunday Cartoon Fun: Be Careful What You Wish For Edition

2010-08-29T18:01:00.000-07:00

h/t @TeacherSabrina via David Cohen

The Bar Mitzvah

2010-08-29T15:27:00.000-07:00

Well, the Frustrated Son is no longer able to place all responsibility for his foibles onto me; he is responsible for his own foibles now. What a relief!

He was incredibly poised up there on the bima. Cool as a cucumber.

At bar mitzvahs it is customary for a senior member of the congregation to take the bima and present a gift from the congregation to the bar mitzvah. The dude whose responsibility it was mentioned to those present that as he sat down next to my son, prior to his presentation, he told my son who he was and why he was there. He then told us that my son's response was, "Wicked! Cool tie." Now if that ain't confidence, I don't know what is.

There are many opportunities for family members to get confused because many of them are in the actual service, but most of them never got a chance to practice. It's like a play, and the rabbi is the director, quietly and subtly moving people to the right spot, signaling when someone needs to go back to their seat, and so-on. Well, my son took on most of that. He was very, very impressive, and I am so proud of him.

It was a very nice service (if you're into that kind of thing) full of singing, clapping, little kids being cute, and proud parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends filled with pride.

The Frustrated Son's mom, who is a chef and restaurateur, made most of the food, which was frickin' delicious. She made the lox creamed cheese for crying out loud! At the restaurant this morning, where we all met before a couple trips to the airport to deliver those flying home, my best friend, who came up for the celebration, noticed that on the "specials" board there were a couple items that included "smoked salmon cream cheese." She made more than we needed.

I will resume a more regular blogging schedule later today, or in the morning, after I am finished beaming.

Light Posting For The Next Week

2010-08-28T14:10:00.000-07:00

The bar mitzvah is getting close, and there has been much to do. 
I spread wood chips (5 trips worth-100's of gallons, in 3 big buckets. I think gas alone may have cost more than buying wood chips and having them delivered!) all over the dirt so our festivities would be less dusty.

I wrote the "program," laid it out, checked it 4000 times and had it run off so those attending the bar mitzvah and regular Saturday services will know who is who when they go up to the bima.

I also put in the program a remembrance of my father and brother (a common practice), both of whom are dead, but would have been proud of the son. Writing it brought tears to my eyes, even though I thought I was sort of over that kind of reaction. Nope. I suppose things like this will always bring up the sadness and loss. Cancer took my dad about 10 years ago, and sadness caused my brother to take his own life in 2007. But we live on, tasked with remembering those who are gone.

So, one house is finished--the house where the party will be.

Now all I need to do is clean up my place (the bachelor pad--it's just the son and me) to make it presentable in case folks end up here for a bit over the weekend. How do you clean a toilet?

I had to buy the Frustrated Son a suit. It was too fucking expensive, especially given he will wear it once. I could have bought a cheaper suit, but he would have looked cheap. Priorities.

I will resume a more regular blogging schedule in a week. For now there are archives, and the occasional post.

Friday Cartoon Fun: Insane Edition

2010-08-27T11:05:00.001-07:00

"Selecting On The Dependent Variable"

2010-08-26T14:32:00.000-07:00

Many are skeptical of the current push to improve our education system by means of test-based “accountability” - hiring, firing, and paying teachers and administrators, as well as closing and retaining schools, based largely on test scores. They say it won’t work. I share their skepticism, because I think it will.

There is a simple logic to this approach: when you control the supply of teachers, leaders, and schools based on their ability to increase test scores, then this attribute will become increasingly common among these individuals and institutions. It is called “selecting on the dependent variable,” and it is, given the talent of the people overseeing this process and the money behind it, a decent bet to work in the long run.

Now, we all know the arguments about the limitations of test scores. We all know they’re largely true. Some people take them too far, others are too casual in their disregard. The question is not whether test scores provide a comprehensive measure of learning or subject mastery (of course they don’t). The better question is the extent to which teachers (and schools) who increase test scores a great deal are imparting and/or reinforcing the skills and traits that students will need after their K-12 education, relative to teachers who produce smaller gains. And this question remains largely unanswered...

All of it at Shankerblog.

Thursday Cartoon Fun: Dead Kings And Horses Edition

2010-08-26T12:58:00.000-07:00

Rachel, You Missed An Opportunity

2010-08-25T20:15:00.000-07:00

Rachel Maddow, who I really like, took on Governer Christie's lameness with New Jersey's RTTT application in which they included wrong numbers that ended up costing them $400 million, and a loss of RTTT money.

Yeah, it was a lame, costly mistake.

But ask yourself, Rachel, why the hell should states be competing for crucial education funds? And, is it really that fucking funny, when you think about it?

Rachel, you could have begun to talk about the education wars that are going on all around you, and affect every citizen of this country, especially the most impoverished members, many of whom live in New Jersey.

You could have chosen to comment on the fact that our Education Secretary has never taught. Not one day.

You could have remarked that it seems odd that billionaires are funding charter schools and CMOs that have shown they are no better than traditional public schools, and are often corrupt and run by non-educators.

You could have mentioned that to get RTTT funds states had to change their laws to allow for more charters, which have been shown to be useless as a way to scale up some magical education reform.

You could have talked about poverty and how it kills hope, health, and happiness (remember your happiness scale?).

But no. You chose to make fun of the Governor. You missed the story.

You missed an opportunity.

Wednesday Cartoon Fun: Matt Davies Edition

2010-08-25T12:34:00.000-07:00

Dear Comcast

2010-08-24T18:45:00.000-07:00

Comcast uses nasty marketing and sales techniques. I called today to try to get my bill lowered and was surprised to learn about my DVR-cable-box. This letter was sent right after my conversation with the rep:

Dear Comcast,

I called today to see if Comcast could match or beat AT&T's offer made to me a week ago.

In the course of my conversation with the Comcast representitive it was made apparent that the DVR I currently rent from Comcast is an Hd-DVR that costs $5/month more than I thought.

I do not have an Hd television. Never have. Indeed, when Comcast came to begin my service in 2004 they hooked the cable up to my old non-Hd televisions (2 of them, still hooked up). When I went in a year later to upgrade to DVR, there were no choices of Hd or non-Hd DVRs, and it was to cost $9.95/month.

Your representative said that because I did not specifically ask for a non-Hd-DVR when I went into your service center in 2005 to upgrade from cable box to DVR cable box, I got what "the majority of customers want" which, according to the representitive, was an Hd-DVR. I was not asked what kind of DVR I might want. I was not informed there were two different kinds of DVR (I still am not clear, actually). I was told upgrading to DVR would be $9.95, not the $15.95 it is now (I didn't know the price went up because I went paperless and it gets paid automatically).

After accidentally (unknowingly?, un-informedly?) upgrading to an "Hd-DVR" in 2005, when all I wanted was DVR, I understandably asked the representative on the phone today if there was a non-Hd peice of equipment that was cheaper that should have been offered to me, as I have no need for Hd and I shouldn't be charged for unnecessary equipment given to me by Comcast due to an omission on Comcast's part. She said they are all Hd and all $15.95 now. Then she said, after I asked many questions based on previous statements made by her, there was a crappy one that was cheaper and not Hd, but nobody wants that one. And on and on she went, trying to save herself from the misdirection, misdirection which is undoubtedly made at the behest of management. Not offering the cheaper alternative is one way to make money!

What the majority of people want doesn't matter to me, your customer. Let me instead ask how could I possibly know there was a non-Hd-DVR if I was never told in the first place?

Your representitive told me on the phone that if I had wanted to know what kind of DVR I had I could look at my bill. I had no reason to think there were different types of DVRs, so her suggestion was ill-posed, to say the least. But, I looked. The September 2009 bill (earlier too? they are not available for download) shows an item listed as only "DVR". This month's bill has "Hd-DVR". I think the fact that in 2009, and most likely all the way back to 2005 when I upgraded, the item was listed as only DVR when there existed different types, allowing for all the fudging your representative engaged in on the phone today.

So, for five years I have had a piece of equipment that is more than I can use, and I have been charged roughly $5/month during that time for the privilege.

How is a customer to know there are different pieces of equipment at different prices unless Comcast shares that information? Clearly customers can't ask for what they do not know exists, but you are suggesting I should have asked. I sure never asked for an Hd-DVR!

I was sold (rented) an Hd-DVR because Comcast neglected to offer me the cheaper, less robust one. Your position, that your representative reluctantly had to agree with, is Comcast expects that a customer should know to ask for things that are not known by the customer to exist in this, or any other universe, and if they don't ask, they will be sold the more expensive version, even if they don't need it.

That sucks.

I think you owe me, and probably many others, a refund.

Thank you for lowering my bill though! Competition in business really works!

Tuesday Cartoon Fun: Doomsday Edition

2010-08-24T14:20:00.000-07:00

Saturday Cartoon Fun: Obama's Memoirs (Oops!) Edition

2010-08-21T19:20:00.000-07:00

Friday Bonus Cartoon Fun: But, Can We Draw Muhammad? Edition

2010-08-20T15:27:00.000-07:00

Friday Cartoon Fun: In Through The Out Door Edition

2010-08-20T15:25:00.001-07:00

Capitalist Industrial Commodity Disease

2010-08-19T12:53:00.000-07:00

Joe Bageant on American acquiescence:

...One new favorite ["condition" "requiring" a psychoactive drug] is ODD, oppositional defiant disorder, in which children act like -- surprise, surprise -- the young assholes that children can sometimes be. Teenage rebellion becomes a psychological disorder. Diagnostic manual symptoms include "often argues with adults," an unheard of behavior of teenagers calling for antipsychotics such as Risperidone. Side effects of Risperidone include a mild speed like buzz, a super erection lasting hours, lactation and suicidal tendencies. Phew!

Big Pharma makes billions more in the name of alleviating the people's suffering. Obviously many millions are indeed suffering, but if that is the case, then American society is suffering. Never will it be asked publicly just what psychic anguish our society is suffering from. Because the answer is capitalist industrial commodity disease, and the psychic pathology of Americaness. That would mean consulting Mr. Marx, who predicted much of it, or Arthur Barsky, who brought the definition up to date.

For Americans, self-examination is not just rare, it is nonexistent, which one source of our pathology. Missing from our national character is love of the common good, and our collective civic responsibility toward one another. But if we acknowledged collective responsibilities to the individual members of our society, then we would have to deal with the issue of class in this country. Better to medicate the entire nation. To do that, you need big government....[emphasis mine]