The Jose Vilson: The Blog

The Proverbial Godfather to My Students

2009-11-05T19:53:18-08:00

Yankee Stadium Gang

This morning, I had a strange choice to make. Ever since the Yankees made the playoffs, I made a quasi-promise to myself that, should the New York Yankees win the championship, I’d take my students to the parade. While not educationally sound, I’ve been building that bridge from Inwood to South Bronx for my students since their 6th grade year. For their big class trip in 6th grade, I took them to the old Yankee Stadium a few months removed from when the owners closers its doors. For their 7th grade year, I took them to the new Yankee Stadium as well. Thus, it would have been fitting for me to bring them to their first Yankee parade.

My real reason for bringing them to the stadiums has less to do with my fervor for the Yankees; Citi Field would have done fine (Shea? Not so much.) It’s knowing that I continue to give them an experience that they may not otherwise get as children, exposing them to things within their area that otherwise people deny them. For instance, as my then 6th grade students and I rode the D train to 161st and River Ave., my students admitted to me that they’d never been to Yankee Stadium. They may never have known what the big deal was about unless I personally took them, at a cost that was well within their price range (free).

What’s more, I knew they’d at least get the feeling that, for at least a moment, the whole world was theirs. So this morning, almost completely out of my mind since I’d slept about 4 hours, I had to make a critical decision: do the kids go or do they not? Then I realized at a ticker tape parade of this magnitude, they’d feel more cramped and antsy than open and free. Plus, the risks associated with thousands of eccentric New Yorkers cheering on 25 baseball guys make me a little nervous.

Best believe that, before the year is done, I’ll have something that’ll complete their career at my middle school. Even if they don’t remember me, they’ll at least remember the time when, for a second, they walked in the steps of world championships …

Mr. V, who loves the vibe of NYC right about now …

Why I Livetweeted the World Series [Or The Greatest Yankees Livetweeter Alive]

2009-11-05T18:43:16-08:00

Me at the Old Yankee Stadium

Imagine having to sit through an entire baseball game with announcers whose unseemly hate for your favorite team is too obvious after every inning, after every close play, or after some “managerial” mistake. Imagine hearing the announcer just say the most random and irrelevant things at a ration that’s far too frequent for anyone to fully accept. Imagine one had a venue by which they could simultaneously criticize these announcers who dominate the game and have their own venue in playing the role of announcer for others.

Well, that role last year fell on the lap of one Jose Vilson, and the venue was Twitter. Because Twitter lends itself to this practice in such an open forum, I created a space where Yankee fans could vent their frustrations at the lack of quality we’ve enjoyed all season from Michael Kay and Ken Singleton in a voice as objective as a World Series Yankees fan can possible be.

Naturally, with every poke at the opposing players and every score update, a collective of tweeters did not take too kindly to me using that venue to livetweet (even when they would livetweet their shows continuously, or discuss their ridiculous hashtags for days on end). One even tried to reproach me on the basis of SEO and good Twitter techniques, scolding me on the use of MY OWN VENUE which people CHOSE to follow even when I’d warn those who weren’t interested about the process.

That’s when I started to learn more about how humans worked. People only want to hear commentary from those who, while lousy and gets tuned out, still get paid 6-7 figures to do so while those who can do a better job (by many accounts) for free. People only want to hear themselves talking about irrelevant and sometimes heinous things, and not others. It’s strange. Then, I get more positive feedback from people in class or work who can’t watch the game, or those who wanted to rebel against the sounds emanating from the terrible announcers’ mouths. Those people, and everyone who stuck with me through the 3 weeks or so (most people really), are the ones I wanted to reach.

That’s why I liveblogged the game to begin with: it was fun, it was fresh, and it was a public service. Plus, it’s my Twitter. Forget your rules. So says the greatest Yankees livetweeter alive.

Jose, who never received any royalties from the New York Yankees or Major League Baseball.

King Bloomberg and My Unrepentant Contradictions

2009-11-03T19:41:57-08:00

Michael Bloomberg

I’m living in a weird spot right now. I’m a die-hard Yankees fan who has a hard time supporting the construction of a stadium that, from within and without, stratified the rich and the poor and is supported by the one man who embraces that stratification like the millions of dollars he’s gained indirectly through the veins of this metropolis. I work for a school system that I can’t possibly supporting working from inside and outside it and simultaneously pay taxes to that very school system. I ride on a mass transit system that continually dupes its customers into thinking we’re getting more service for more money when we’re constantly seeing “construction” times with no workers and reroutes at random times with no specific beginnings or ends. I live in a city where people practically give an arm, a leg, and their first born children to live all the while spending just about that to remain in a city where a mayor spends $100 million dollars just to be re-elected. I breathe the air that blows in from a memorable disaster 8 years removed, thinking about another repressive regime led by another Yankee fan who supports a former president who made Yankee Stadium tell men and women not to bring any bags whatsoever for security reasons all the while not leaving us any more secure at all … unless you sit in the front row of the stadium, unless you don’t have to ride the subway (at least not for real), unless you don’t have to take your kid to public school, unless the buildings built and / or razed benefit you, unless you just gave more money to one of the few millionaires who’s actually gained money in a ridiculous recession. Not even those of you who voted for the glossy covers, the mailbox and voicemail stuffing, the pocket-lining, the condo-picking, the pretty commercials, the inaccurate slogans, and the belief in this faux safety won’t be protected.

And that’s OK. Because Bloomberg won his third term, against the peoples’ will. The “people” still voted for him. And today, I can continue calling him King …

Jose, who’s obviously confused …

PS – John C. Liu is the truth …

Retinas Flash in the Dark

2009-11-02T20:35:32-08:00

Eye

Last week, I had a bad experience with the only class I have to teach this year. It wasn’t a major deal, but on the day before Halloween, after lunch where they’re hopped up on lunch food and inordinate amounts of sweets, with no uniforms on, and the dean in an important meeting, the general security and relative calm of the day eludes us. I planned a whole project complete with rubrics, instructions, and the whole 9. I modeled it for them and I even did a single one that was a little simpler, hoping they’d have gotten it. It took hours for me to get together, and lots of revisions afterwards.

And from all accounts, I may have failed. Hard.

I tried not to take it too personally, but my sense of urgency is much higher than most of my students can fathom. For me, a school year is really brief compared to the supposed curriculum we’re asked to cover. While I’ve been slowing down a lot to try and make sure my students master some of these critical pieces, I’m still struggling with the idea of whether I need to accept this strange phase of change on behalf of my students on some days or simply become more stringent on what I expect. The reactions to the pressure were anywhere from perplexed to irritated, and I’m still learning kids who I’ve had since 6th grade.

Yet, a part of me keeps going. Even when we’re walking in the dark, our retinas flash because we’re still seeking enlightenment. It’ll be fine so long as I keep seeking the light.

Mr. Vilson, who’s honest about writing everyday from here ’til the 30th …

The Parts to the Whole

2009-11-01T21:00:06-08:00

Jose Vilson

I knew the first quarter of the academic school year would try my every fiber. Presently, I’m juggling between math teacher / coach for my school, president for my alumni organization, blogger for this site, writer for a few other projects, and all the personal duties I’ve undertaken, some of which have grown and developed and others which have taken a bit of a hit. The excitement of the prospects and accomplishments I’ve attained in this quarter coupled with the disappointment and pain of the dissolution of some of these relationships has made it easy to become dissonant to the feelings and emotions of everything and everyone. While some may not understand my aloofness even after my gradual openness, my friends and supporters have been there along the way monitoring my progress.

With all that said, I came to a revelation last night after a good conversation with someone about managing my multiple identities. Here’s something to think about: Mr. Vilson is only a part of Jose as a whole. Yes, Mr. Vilson keeps Jose fed, gives Jose multiple opportunities to express his opinions, and every so often, travel to different parts of the country. Nonetheless, it’s only a part of the whole Jose. They directly affect one another, and so when one hurts, the other must listen. When the other succeeds, the other must sustain. It’s a weird balance there that only comes when you’re in the business of doing multiple business, when everything you’re doing is intertwined, timed, and managed and dispersed precisely and in the midst of all the confusion, you still manage to figure out the rhythm of the juggle.

As long as I remember Jose is the whole to the Mr. Vilson part, I can keep at this …

Jose, who appeared in World Series Game 1 on Fox during A-Rod’s last at-bat in the 9th … Weird, but makes sense …

The MVP Matters Less When The Team Goes To The World Series

2009-10-27T20:12:18-07:00

Alex Rodriguez Screaming With Mariano Rivera, Celebrates ALCS Win

Quick: name the last 5 (MLB) World Series MVPs (Cole Hamels, Mike Lowell, David Eckstein, Jermaine Dye, Manny Ramirez). Those of you searching on Wikipedia right now hopefully kept reading. Otherwise, you’re probably at a loss. Now, name the last five teams quickly, and that’s probably an easier task (Phillies, Red Sox, Cardinals, White Sox, Red Sox). This is one of the many reasons why I love baseball: the idea that the more people are involved in a game, the more we get to concentrate on the team as a symbiotic entity, joining as one for a common purpose (aside from extracting as much cash as possible from religiously devoted fans of the game like you and me).

Growing up, I liked basketball, because David Stern’s marketing ploy concentrated heavily on the flashy individual or the larger-than-life characters, and society reflects this interest. Whenever we consider “great” series to watch in the NBA, they’re never the team that flows in indiscernible unison like the Spurs of late or the Pistons of 2004. The focus has primarily been on the Lakers with Shaq and / or Kobe, the Heat with Dwayne Wade, the Cavs with LeBron, or Boston with their big 3 superstars. While the models have all proved sustainable for the NBA marketing-wise, the championship teams always found a way to quietly pull their star player back from doing too much and distributing the wealth of stats.

In baseball, making the team feel like a team feels like a much easier task to do. Almost everyone’s on the field for the whole game, and the designated hitter along with the rest of the field position players get 4-5 at-bats a piece. While certain players excel highly at their specific task, baseball demands that those who do well and those that don’t have to put in their share of the work so the whole team can do better. No one can do their at-bat over, nor can anyone come up again in a different spot in the lineup. Therefore, everyone’s gotta do their part to win that game. The teams who strive for the championship can have an abundance of excellent singular players, but the cohesion is so much more important.

I say this because, in my line of duty, there’s a dearth of understanding about how every person’s role in the “assembly line” eventually helps the entire team out. Today, I spoke to a fellow teacher about some of the students in our classes, and how we as teachers are quick to dismiss them as lazy. While I agreed to a certain degree, I also think much of the discipline has to come very early on. We can’t just hope that they’ll “catch on” later on. Every step from classroom 1 to 14 matters in that child’s life, and thus, every teacher that child has should find a means of doing their job as well as possible.

If the 1st and 2nd players up to bat get on base, it’s imperative for the people in the 3rd and 4th spots to do their best to knock those runners in to score. Come to think of it, during any period, a team has at least 3 chances to drive in those runners no matter where the lineup starts from. We as teachers reasonably have around the same chances to ensure that our children all get equitable education. While we may not get paid the same amount of money these professionals do, it’s easily the same mentality and approach we should adopt to our teaching. This isn’t strictly about just the academic skills, but also ingraining study habits and classroom conversation. While too many urban teachers believe the parents are to blame for everything, they’ve yet to look in the mirror and maybe call foul on their own mentalities.

Thinking about my own experiences as a student, almost every teacher I had from pre-k to middle school felt different as teachers. Some were fun; others were strict. Some could come in and create a wonderful learning experience and others only went by the book. Yet, the good teachers far outweighed the faulty teachers, and when one didn’t give me certain material to know, the next year, I picked it right up with a better teacher. Fortunately for me, I never had even 2 consecutive bad teachers in any subject I learned. That may not be the case for too many of our students, and maybe that should make anyone involved in the system of schools think about bridging those gaps and ensuring all runners can come home.

The great teachers couldn’t do it by themselves. They only have a year or two with me at most, much like baseball players may only get that at-bat to make an impact on a player in scoring position. It has to be a line of reliable teachers to keep the line moving. When thought leaders don’t take that holistic approach to child transformation, they end up losing on the back end. Homerun hitters (or in education’s terms, the really effective teacher who made max growth for a student during a year) are cute, but homeruns are truly unreliable. Ask the ‘97 Mariners, who scored the most homeruns in the history of the game, but have yet to win a championship in franchise history. Ask the ‘04 Yankees who were a collage of some of the greatest individuals players you could find, but lost in ugly fashion to a Red Sox team that also had its share of stars, but became this cohesive unit of indestructibility … like the Yankee teams from ‘96 – ‘00 they used to hate. That solidarity is rare, but wonderful for any child to have.

Thus, the Yankees had to reform into a model that included the inexperienced but enthusiastic and the veteran and ever-hungry. That’s why they’re back in a big way. Plus, their pitchers make it easier to bridge between innings. Hmm.

To wit, the teams in this World Series have adopted their team mentalities even as they’re filled with perennial All-Stars. Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, and Andy Pettitte have each won 4 championships together on teams that embraced the team concept, but, as living legends, never won a championship after 2001 because the organization focused too much on individual power. Alex Rodriguez has phenomenal stats and MVPs and already ranks as one of the greatest to ever play the game, but has never played in a World Series. Brad Lidge has become a great pitcher all over again after becoming the scapegoat for the Houston Astros a few years back. Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, and Chase Utley seemed like good teammates, but only when each of those players take a backseat to their team as a whole did they win it all.

Like Cole Hamels taking the World Series MVP last year amongst those three. Or even CC Sabathia getting the ALCS MVP after pitching 2 great games in spite of great offensive games from Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter. When you ask those two if they’re happy for CC, they’ll probably say the same thing every other great MVP in baseball has said:

“CC played great, but I don’t care who gets the MVP. We’re just all happy to get to where we are. We all have one goal in mind.”

Are we as teachers just hoping for playoff contention or are we World Champion caliber?

Jose, who’ll be at Game 1 of the World Series tomorrow …

p.s. – This guest post by Jon Becker regarding SABERmetrics illustrates the baseball / education analogy further …

Writing Is Like Exfoliating From The Inside

2009-10-26T16:33:07-07:00

Frida Kahlo, Roots

A few months ago, I had the opportunity of meeting Kilian Betlach, writer, former teacher, and present administrator. As most of you have seen on my sidebar, I feature his book This Feels Like a Riot Looks. John Norton and Barnett Berry helped bring us and 10 other teachers together this summer as part of a larger Teacher Leaders Network project, and they’re men who believe people like me and Kilian will be the new wave of teacher book writers. While I’ve never actually written a book, I’ve had visions of doing so for years now, and everyday forms another chapter that inspires me in that direction. Kilian advised me indirectly to proceed with caution:

“I think writing [blog] posts ruined my book voice.”

Say what?

“Well, I got in the habit of writing these posts that were a few paragraphs long, and now I don’t think I even have the stamina to go much further than that.”

Whoa. These thoughts and more have lingered in my mind as I write up draft after draft. Lately, I’ve had to take a day of rest on Thursdays, leaving only 3 posts a week for my 350+ readers. It’s cool since at least people realize I’m working harder at everything than ever before (while my waistline slowly expands and contracts). Still, I’m stuck in a conundrum. Do I write more often just so I can pick up the pace on the actual writing, or write less on the blog to concentrate on other writing forms? Do I try longer form in hopes that I’ll have the stamina to crank out more thorough essays or get shorter so the actual “book” gets the best material possible?

Furthermore, I’m also struggling with not just the act of writing itself but also delving too deeply into my personal life and trying to make this book unlike any I’ve ever read before. There’s an element to my writing that I’d like to say differs from practically anyone else in the blogosphere and maybe even in education: my unabashed willingness to lay everything out there about myself when it comes to certain topics. It’s in line with the motto “Go hard or go home,” and while it’s great for an audience that we’ve built together, I wonder how that’ll translate out there in a less familiar world where the contact is a little less intimate and instantaneous but also more grateful when the product is well worth it.

A friend of mine wrote to me the other day, “I don’t think I’ve met a person as warm and yet so personally guarded as you since I stopped talking to myself. There’s always so much more in what you don’t say … Damn, you’re such an Aquarius person. Get out of your own head for a minute …” Hovering over some of the notes I’ve made in my mind regarding this upcoming project, and how difficult it’s been to extract that writer voice, the one that wants to discuss topics like suicide, poverty, depression / oppression, religion, race, the failure of one’s nostalgia, and the promulgation of secrecy in the name of bureaucracy in a personal and effective tone.

The same one I use to write many of the blogs written here.

Just having to read about those very experiences and rehash some of the grimmer and even the rhapsodic moments in my life ushers in a rush of feelings that, although familiar, clench at my gut. Thus, my writing becomes a sort of exfoliation from within, where I shed that inner skin bit by bit. For my readers who’ve been on this journey since 2003-4, those pieces I’ve shed here and other venues made it easier to write this now. It’s a funky process, and that can only grow exponentially in the face of 200+ pages of my rawest and decidedly more personal material, but it’s a process I’m willing to take in this path of personal growth.

The friend continues, “[this] probably explains why you’re such a phenomenal writer and thinker.”

So it’s either I go hard or I go home. I’m already home, so there may not be anywhere else to go …

Jose, who relishes a good challenge, even when it’s risking a lot of himself …

Short Notes: On The Brink Of

2009-10-25T16:52:44-07:00

Muse: The Resistance

A few notes:

I haven’t done this short notes format because I’ve had more to talk about topically. Now, I have a lot less time but more things happening. Perfect for this format.
I’ve noticed that many educators in the digital age have taken on the vision of Frank McCourt, who once said that, when it comes to K-12 education, they never ask teachers, but ask the “leaders.” Not that I think there’s anything wrong with being a thought leader or the president of an educational organization. I’ve met many of those types lately due to this venue that everyone and no one knows about yet. When it comes down to it, it’s important for teachers, rank-and-file or otherwise, document their experiences and publicize their experiences in the name of adding more dimensions to the idea of “teacher.”
Funny. Right after I wrote that “I Almost Quit Twitter” post, I found a purpose in staying: livetweeting the Yankee games. People seem to enjoy me talking junk about everyone in the field and making obscure reference to Derek Jeter’s throng of women and Bobby Abreu’s hair product. Let’s hope this lasts into November. Then I can publish that “I Quit Twitter” post in my queue. (You guys know I love Facebook more anyways.)
Sometimes, I have this theory that the higher the highs, the lower the lows. For instance, this week, as I mentioned on my Facebook and Twitter, I’ve been mentioned in a couple of spots that got me pretty excited. First, there was Tara L. Conley’s presentation on the promulgation of ideas via Twitter, and then Raquel Cepeda’s CNN.com article on the definition of Latino as it pertains to Latino in America the series. In both, the ladies quoted me and I’m certainly grateful. I’ve also started doing a bit of inquiry as it pertains to writing books and articles, and LANSU, my Syracuse University alumni organization, seems to finally be getting its feet firmly set. Yet, all the other personal things have made it hard to celebrate these events. I love the chaos and anarchy, but simultaneously crave a bit of order and regularity. In times like these, when I need the most reassurance and confidence, I also realize I have to find these qualities within and for myself. Otherwise, who will?

Jose, who’s on the brink of things bigger than himself …

Baptize Thyself in the Waters of Hope (Amen Means I Believe)

2009-10-20T20:00:58-07:00

Baptize a Cat

There’s a theme I have to keep going back to when I write in this blog, and it’s the idea that those who don’t see kids as the future or have any belief in them as people should probably not do a job that deals directly with students to begin with. This is bigger than politics, though every so often, politics injects itself into these disaffected staff members. I’m not simply talking about teachers, even as the front lines happen to have teachers as the first infantry. As a whole, anyone who works with kids and sees them as nothing but scum ought to reflect as to why they don’t believe in themselves.

Let me expound.

If indeed you perceive our students as nothing but scum to spit up and chew out as a whole, then we’re saying, since you’re working with them, that you have no self-worth whatsoever, because why would anyone work with someone or something that’s “beneath” them? For that matter, why would anyone only pretend or mimic the job of a teacher / principal / school staff member when there are people who’d want to do that job from the heart? Just because the students don’t conform to your vision for what the perfect student should be, does that mean they don’t deserve a good education?

Every so often, I start to think about what might it take for these non-believers to truly believe. A little holy water? A true to life baptism? A visit to Mecca? A reality check of biblical proportions? I don’t know. Even those who cloak themselves in “bitterness” may honestly believe in the students, and that’s always a sight to see, like cats who go to church but pretend to sin just to survive.

Baptize thyself in the waters of hope. Believe in the children. Believe in yourself.

Jose, who knows “amen” means “I believe …”

A Case for the Dinosaurs

2009-10-19T19:40:25-07:00

Dinosaurs!

One day, a group of educators, including myself, was having a conversation about veterans of the NYC public school system when one of my colleagues said something to the effect of, “You see what happened to the dinosaurs right? They didn’t adapt, so of course, they became extinct.” We all blurted out a laugh, especially with the mischievous smile he posted right after that comment.

Then I thought to myself, with all the resentment people have towards the veterans of the system, how often do we really look at the practice of the veterans in our building and highlight those who do a great job? When first coming into the building, I gravitated towards the veterans, unlike other NYC Teaching Fellows in the system. I often found myself renouncing the title of NYC Teaching Fellow just so I could get into those classes and observe every lesson possible. I’d go to ELA class, math classes, social studies classes, and science classes, all while lesson planning and taking stuff with me to my grad school classes, just so I could replicate (and in some cases disavow) the practices I saw in those classrooms.

Thus, it’s hard for me to fully accept the notion that the “dinosaurs” of our system don’t actually know what they’re doing in the classroom. As many veterans themselves have posited, “good teaching is good teaching.” This axiom holds true wherever one goes, and it’s something to keep in mind as we move into the future. Can we honestly ostracize those who’ve been in the system for 15+ years simply because some of their colleagues rather sit out their lives in favor of retirement?

Maybe I’m the fortunate one because I feel like most of the veterans in my school actually have their pedagogy in order, and the handful who don’t don’t actually weigh down the rest of the school. These “dinosaurs” hold down the fort when administrative, systemic, or community changes happen, and they fought hard even when no one asked them to. As edu-crats continue the push for changes, far-fetched, self-serving, and ridiculous all at once, it seems, these dinosaurs actually carry on a legacy that’s impeccable.

Now, I’m not saying that I agree completely with every practice from any teacher who’s got 15+ years in the system. A few of them that I do know are obstinate and jaded, but with a system that doesn’t engross itself in real dialogue but just talking points and doesn’t really believe in kids asking questions but making their whole lives about testing, these veterans debunk that and question that purpose.

Maybe it’s something to think about before we call for every “dinosaur’s” extinct. It’s no wonder why they were 20x bigger than we are now.

Mr. V, who can’t even envision being dedicated to one profession that long …

The Jose Vilson: The Blog

The Proverbial Godfather to My Students

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Why I Livetweeted the World Series [Or The Greatest Yankees Livetweeter Alive]

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King Bloomberg and My Unrepentant Contradictions

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The Parts to the Whole

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