One of the many reasons that I left Arizona was that I constantly felt like I was living in a police state. Laws were being made that I felt were blatantly racist. Students are sequestered into places based on whether or not they can "speak" English. The politicians, judges, and policymakers in Arizona are out of touch with the population of America today.
I had to get out of that place. It wasn't me. I couldn't be in a place that had so much racism and defacto segregation.
And then I read this in the NY Times. If the Times is covering it....something MUST be changed. It has to get better.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Brilliant.
So brilliant.
I completely agree with this.
What makes me happy is that we do this. Not the exact same indicators, but words that mean the same thing.
I completely agree with this.
What makes me happy is that we do this. Not the exact same indicators, but words that mean the same thing.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Update?
I haven't written about my new job in its entirety.
There are a few reasons for that.
1) We're in the public eye. I don't want to put undue publicity on our organization. We have enough.
2) I work too much.
3) I seem to write a lot when I have things to complain about. I got nothing. So, less angst = less things to write about
But here I sit. And I think about the three people who actually read this blog, and how they probably think I fell off the face of the planet, so I guess I can update.
Thing that has been constantly on my mind is the feedback that I get on a constant basis. My manager is in my class every other day, on her computer, making observations. She emails them to me and they are in my inbox by the time I am done teaching. We have a bi-weekly meeting to discuss the observations, my teaching, goal setting, and checking in.
I fucking love it. Do you know why? Because she had the balls to tell me that I was teaching with bitterness. She told me to fix it, and after working on the 3 action steps she gave me, she has seen marked improvement in my teaching. I took her advice, ran with it, and now all of my students are focused, invested, and we have a 70% average in our class.
And let's be honest. I was bitter. I was teaching like I was still at my old school. BUT I'm not there anymore. People all work for the kids. They have rewards and consequences. My kids get demerits, then if they don't fix it, they have to leave. So I can teach everyone else.
My teaching is better than it has ever been. We all work too much and are giddy and slap-happy, and there is so much shit to do, but I have been told by many people that it is like I am on the positivity patrol. People come to me for advice on things. I'm "the voice of reason." And my observations have few things I need to change anymore.
So life is grand. But I do work a lot.
The only wrench in the whole situation is that, I, obviously, get myself into things that I shouldn't. I have a daily mental discussion with myself to not shit where I eat.
But when I get constant texts and daily visits, I reevaluate. And then I have the same conversation with myself. You don't shit where you eat.
There are a few reasons for that.
1) We're in the public eye. I don't want to put undue publicity on our organization. We have enough.
2) I work too much.
3) I seem to write a lot when I have things to complain about. I got nothing. So, less angst = less things to write about
But here I sit. And I think about the three people who actually read this blog, and how they probably think I fell off the face of the planet, so I guess I can update.
Thing that has been constantly on my mind is the feedback that I get on a constant basis. My manager is in my class every other day, on her computer, making observations. She emails them to me and they are in my inbox by the time I am done teaching. We have a bi-weekly meeting to discuss the observations, my teaching, goal setting, and checking in.
I fucking love it. Do you know why? Because she had the balls to tell me that I was teaching with bitterness. She told me to fix it, and after working on the 3 action steps she gave me, she has seen marked improvement in my teaching. I took her advice, ran with it, and now all of my students are focused, invested, and we have a 70% average in our class.
And let's be honest. I was bitter. I was teaching like I was still at my old school. BUT I'm not there anymore. People all work for the kids. They have rewards and consequences. My kids get demerits, then if they don't fix it, they have to leave. So I can teach everyone else.
My teaching is better than it has ever been. We all work too much and are giddy and slap-happy, and there is so much shit to do, but I have been told by many people that it is like I am on the positivity patrol. People come to me for advice on things. I'm "the voice of reason." And my observations have few things I need to change anymore.
So life is grand. But I do work a lot.
The only wrench in the whole situation is that, I, obviously, get myself into things that I shouldn't. I have a daily mental discussion with myself to not shit where I eat.
But when I get constant texts and daily visits, I reevaluate. And then I have the same conversation with myself. You don't shit where you eat.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Think about this one...
I'm working to transform a school. Our kids don't have OR NEED laptops.
Each teacher has a laptop. We have a projector that works exactly like a smartboard, except it projects onto our whiteboards.
We spent our money on SWEET ASS COPY MACHINES and paper. (And considering how much I struggled at my old school with making copies....it is like Christmas every morning. Oh wait, each group of 10 teachers gets a copy machine? And there is ALSO a teacher workroom? WHAT? My copy machine is 2 steps away from my desk? Yes. Yes please.)
Do you know why? Because studies show that above anything else, good teaching and transformational teachers close the achievement gap. Not laptops.
Oh, and let me point out one thing. My salary, comparative to the district mentioned in the article (one very close to where I used to work) is 10% more than THE HIGHEST PAID TEACHER.
So maybe ya'll should spend less money on classroom response systems and more money keeping great teachers in the classroom? Perhaps.
Each teacher has a laptop. We have a projector that works exactly like a smartboard, except it projects onto our whiteboards.
We spent our money on SWEET ASS COPY MACHINES and paper. (And considering how much I struggled at my old school with making copies....it is like Christmas every morning. Oh wait, each group of 10 teachers gets a copy machine? And there is ALSO a teacher workroom? WHAT? My copy machine is 2 steps away from my desk? Yes. Yes please.)
Do you know why? Because studies show that above anything else, good teaching and transformational teachers close the achievement gap. Not laptops.
Oh, and let me point out one thing. My salary, comparative to the district mentioned in the article (one very close to where I used to work) is 10% more than THE HIGHEST PAID TEACHER.
So maybe ya'll should spend less money on classroom response systems and more money keeping great teachers in the classroom? Perhaps.
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