This is one of the latest buzz words in my district. So how do you suppose they decide if I’m culturally proficient? Well, they hire a bunch of consultants, of course!

During the first few weeks of school we were required to do a survey. The survey was linked to our email accounts and we had to have a specific individual password to take it. We were assured that our responses would be kept confidential, blah, blah, blah…

This was one of the strangest surveys I have ever taken. Here are the five choices for our responses.

Disagree

Disagree somewhat more than agree

Disagree somewhat and agree somewhat

Agree somewhat more than disagree

Agree

WTF? Just the choices alone make you think that they’re trying to trick you. At the end of the survey they were asking specific questions about race and how you handled situations that turned out well and also turned out poorly. It was the strangest survey I’ve ever done. Plus, while I took the thing, it made me angry that they were even asking a bunch of questions.

I really wonder how someone would determine if I’m culturally proficient. I’ve been teaching in an urban district for 13 years. Our population is roughly 30% Asian, 30% African-American, 26% Caucasian, 13% Hispanic and 2% Native American. Our students speak over 103 different languages and dialects.

I am a minority in my classroom. For 13 years, I have learned about my students and their cultures in a variety of ways. I’ve been to their homes for graduation parties. I’ve been invited to their quincineras. I was invited to the Karen New Year celebration last year. I often have conversations with my students about their cultures.  I even travel to places around the world where they are from.  But yet, time and time again, their lack of test score performance is being blamed on my lack of cultural competence (and a whole host of other things outside my control).

During the course of the school year everyone in my district is supposed to be trained to be culturally proficient.  I am quite curious how this is going to work.  The few that have been through the training haven’t been impressed.  And as with many things in a large district, somebody thought this was the magic bullet to help close the achievement gap and bought this program without any thought to implementation.

I have no idea when I’m slated to be trained to be culturally proficient.  In the meantime, I guess I’ll just keep plugging away, teaching mathematics under the assumption that I’m a racist…   Hmm…  I guess the title of my blog is pretty appropriate.

I made a confession to my students this week. I’m hooked on the Twilight stuff. I had never read any of the books or seen any of the movies. I was wondering what all the fuss was about, so I put Twilight on my Netflix queue. Over Thanksgiving weekend, I popped it in the DVD player. I was expecting to just be rolling my eyes at the whole thing. Vampires? C’mon. Let’s get real.

So I watched the movie.

I completely understand why teenagers are hooked. It’s got the good vs evil with the lines sort of blurred. There’s a typically forbidden romance. The characters are high school students and have to sit through boring classes just like they do. The characters are ones that they can relate to (minus the vampire qualities).

Once I understood the draw, I went further. I saw New Moon. Then I got the first book. I read almost the whole thing on Sunday. Monday, I started book two. I finished that one Thursday night. They are complete fluff reading. Escapism. Entertainment. For a long time I’ve been on a non-fiction kick. So I haven’t read any fluff in ages. Honestly, it’s nice to just escape into a book and not think about other stuff.

When I made my confession I had a variety of reactions. Mostly disbelief. How could their teacher be reading something they read? And like it. We joked around quite a bit throughout the week. I had one girl ask me if I’m “Team Jacob” or “Team Edward.” I confessed… Edward.

I’m almost kind of embarrassed to admit that I’m enjoying reading the fluff. But in telling my students, I became more human to them. Ms. B likes to read the same books I do. We have something in common. How could that be?

I have one boy who is asking if he can borrow the first book. It’s close to 500 pages. I’d bet that Herman has never read a book that long. We all know the statistics about how people who read for pleasure have higher test scores, etc. I’ll be loaning the book to Herman. I’m just amazed that he wants to read it. Did you hear that? He wants to read. I guess I’m promoting literacy to top it off!

On Wednesday this week we had an early release day and had some professional development. As usual, it was a round robin sort of thing where we go in groups to three different presentations. The topics for the day were all about literacy, vocabulary and facilitating classroom discussions. This is all good and well. I believe that we all need to pitch in and work on getting our students to read and have all of those literacy skills. But with everyone working on literacy, I couldn’t help it when a thought popped into my head.

As a member of the math department, I’m on an island with 11 other people. Occasionally we get visitors on our island from the science department. Sometimes we even get a Social Studies teacher that needs to borrow some calculators for game that involves a few calculations. Most people avoid our island. This is probably due to some sort of math phobia that they’ve acquired over the years. We navigate off the island and delve into other topics and teach new vocabulary and critical reading when problem solving. But we’re pretty much on our own when it comes to math.

In the days of high stakes tests we all need to pitch in and create a productive learning environment for our students. It’s easy to see that the chances of improving our reading and writing scores are pretty good. Everyone in the building is paying attention to literacy. Math? Hmm… Like I said… We’re on an island with few visitors.

As a math teacher, I always try to clear. I communicate my expectations to my students. I use multiple representations for math concepts. I repeat myself over and over. When teaching, one needs to be extremely direct and very clear. But in some situations, being vague works to your advantage.

The one area of my job that is rather ambiguous is my work day. My day is expected to begin 15 minutes prior to my first class and can end 15 minutes after the students leave. What is the reality? I arrive 40 minutes prior to my students, which is before 7am, and I leave anywhere between 3 and 5pm. On Sundays I can spend a little time or a lot of time prepping for the week. It often depends on what classes I’m teaching as to how much time I work on Sunday. The point I’m trying to make, is that even though I’m not required to be in the building and working a full 8 hours per day, I definitely put in the time.

Of the over 3000 teachers in my district, we all put in this kind of time. We do it because we are professionals and we care about kids. In other districts, teachers are required to be in their buildings for 8 hours.  My required “in the building” time is not 8 hours.  It is understood that even though I’m not required to be in that location, I will put in the time to get the job done well.

Why aren’t we required to be in the building for exactly 8 hours?  Years ago, teachers fought for this “undefined” day.  We are professionals.  We get it done.  The benefits of this kind of set-up are much more than the powers that be realize.

Don’t we all know that we set high expectations and low and behold, they get met?  When we are treated like professionals instead of clock punching hourly employees, the expectation is that you will put in whatever time is necessary.  And guess what?  It happens.

By this point in my life, I’ve figured out where and when the most I’m productive.  For me, I’m productive after school and I tend to get more done when I’m there.  But if it’s 90 degrees and humid in my room, I’m not going to stay in that building, being miserable just to work there.  On the same note, if it’s the dead of winter and they’ve turned the heat down and I’m freezing while sitting at my desk and entering grades, I’m heading home and doing it there.  If I’m at home and I’ve been ruminating over some teaching idea, I can work it out there.  I don’t have to go into work to do my job.  And as every teacher knows, your job and responsibilities are always in the back of your mind.  The only time I am completely free of that is summer vacation.

But even when you are on your own time you’re finding ways to learn and improve yourself.  Many teachers spend time in the summer (or on weekends and evenings) taking classes.  After school we’re going to professional development on our own time to become better at our jobs.  So any argument that we’re not putting in the time, is not going to hold water.

I would hate to see the benevolent attitude of our teachers change because we went to a specified work day.  And I think it would.  We are very giving of our time, but it’s on our terms and it needs to stay that way.  The one thing that we do have control over is where and when we are doing all of the extra hours that it takes to prepare and doing the work of educating our kids.  In this case, ambiguity is a wonderful thing.

Today was a mini college fair at my school.    You know… every single student at my school is college bound, so we need to bring the colleges to them.  During 1st hour and home room was the time for the seniors to go to the fair.  Yes, those same seniors that by now, should already have their applications done or have a pretty good idea of what they are doing after high school.

I started second hour and noticed a familiar odor.  I don’t personally have experience with this substance, but have had enough encounters for it to be recognizable.  I tried to isolate the source of the smell, but before I could really narrow it down, the principal comes over the P.A. system to invite all of those college bound juniors to the fair.  So the juniors up and left, and so did the stench.

The remaining handful of students learned the new material with me and are now ahead of the others.  With about ten minutes left of class, the juniors returned.  Along with their return, was the return of the stench.  But this time, it was much more intense.  With the commotion of everyone coming and going, the smell didn’t completely permeate the room for a few minutes.  I tried to get something taught, all the while I’m wandering throughout the room, taking deep breaths through my nose.  (I’m sure you can picture me subtly doing this…)  Alas, we run out of time and the bell rings.

As the culprit exits the room, she leaves such a potent scent that we have to open the windows.  This is not the time of the year when opening the windows has any advantage other than some fresh air.  I have a pretty good idea of who it was, but I’m not completely sure.  I have no idea if her assistant principal followed up on my suspicion later in the day.  But it is pretty clear that she was definitely taking advantage of the college fair!

Why does it seem that there is a push for a “One Size Fits All” approach to education these days?  I don’t know what it’s like in other areas.  But lately it seems like we are being told that one approach is the selected method of teaching and we will follow it.  Well, it’s not quite that bad at my school…  yet.

In my district they spent a pretty large chunk of stimulus change on a program that is supposed to help teach reading and ultimately help get those ever important scores up.  Since I don’t teach elementary school, I don’t have any experience with this curriculum.  My elementary colleagues have told me that they are now supposed to use these materials that are even scripted as to each thing the teacher says.

I’m not going to go into depth about what they want us to do at the secondary level.  But the main point is that they seem to want us to be in lock step with each other, give the same assessments and teach lessons in the same way as our colleagues across the district.

What happened to the art of teaching?  If all you needed was some canned curriculum and were told what to say, anyone could do it.  Maybe that’s their objective.  But it’s so far off the mark.

Every child is unique with different needs.  The abilities, strengths and weaknesses of our students are as varied as the patterns of snowflakes.  When designing a lesson, we try to take into account the various learning styles, attention spans, and ability levels of our students.  As individuals.  Not every individual needs the same thing and teachers are taught how to differentiate for the variety of needs in their classroom.

I’m sure the idea of a canned curriculum makes them (the higher-ups) think that they’re in control and they’re addressing the needs of students.  But who are we kidding?  If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard a teacher say, “I wish they would just let me teach,” I seriously would have some cash.  It’s a sad and frustrating time.  I wish they could figure out that to really have some gains, you have to let go of the rigid control and let us do our jobs they way we know how.

It really doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that in reality, one size can never fit all.

I haven’t had a fight in my room in years. My streak ended on Thursday.

I have a class that is fairly small, has nice kids, is relaxed and fun. We joke around a lot and end our day on a nice note. I would never expect a fight in this class. I guess I have to expect the unexpected.

I was helping another student make sure she knew how to graph a parabola. When I looked up, two boys were locked in a fight. It wasn’t a wild swinging punching kind of thing. As far as fights go, it wasn’t a bad one.

My first reaction is to call the emergency number to the office. Problem #1, they’re blocking the phone. Problem #2, one boy is at least 250 pounds and the other is a lanky 6 footer. What do I do?

“Help!”

A couple of my math colleagues had heard the scuffle from the office and had already called for back up. At my plea for help, a couple of the boys in the class came over and helped me pull them apart. We got them separated and by then the assistant principals had made it to my room. The boys escorted to the office and consequently suspended.

This whole incident took place in a span of only about two or three minutes. But now I had 35 minutes left of class where I had to calm down my class and myself and try to teach them something. So we all took a few deep breaths and learned how to find the axis of symmetry and vertex of a parabola in standard form.

Breaking up fights is not something that I signed up for when I decided to become a teacher. It’s just one of many elements of the job that most people never even think of when they decide to be a teacher. Or worse, when someone thinks that they know what it’s like to be a teacher. But like every other teacher I know, we accept it as just another responsibility we have, move on and try to get some knowledge into their heads. This is just one aspect of why this is such a stressful job. When is the last time you broke up a fight at work?

PS.  I forgot to tell the funny part…  One problem with the baggy pants is that they fall down in a fight.  It makes it hard to do much when your pants around your ankles!

Am I responsible for optional training that I haven’t had?

Every year, my district seems to start some new initiative and wants us to volunteer to get trained in some new magical education reform effort.  Usually the training involves a week or so of your time during the summer.  As many of my readers know, I spend a lot of my summer time traveling.  So in most cases, when this training is offered, I’m out of the country or visiting friends somewhere out-of-town.

Besides that fact that I’m not around for the training, there is also the factor of deciding whether the training is worth my time.  Every year or two there seems to be some new and improved initiative that will work its magic with our kids.  I don’t know how many different initiatives I have seen come and go.  I don’t think any of them have really had full implementation.  So if any of them actually work, we don’t really know because we’re onto the next best thing before we’re done with the last one.

The latest thing is something called Disciplinary Literacy.   It has something to do with posting standards in your classroom so the kids know what it is you’re trying to teach them.  We’re also supposed to have a Guiding Question up on the board or somewhere in the room.  I believe this is supposed to get the kids thinking about what they are trying to learn that particular day.  So when an administrator does a drive-by observation for 7-10 minutes, will they see your standards posted and a guiding question?  If so, they get to check it off their list.  Does this help the kids?

I don’t know if it helps the kids.  I’m asking them directly.  I put up my guiding questions.  We talked about them and I told them to be looking for them in all of their classes.  I also said, “I want to know if you find this to be helpful for your learning?”  The verdict is still out, so I’ll have to get back to you when I have a response.

On Wednesday, we had 30 minute class periods due to the late start from the PLAN and PSAT testing.  I was doing a short assignment on logic and paper games.  When my 4th hour started, one of the kids noticed that I hadn’t updated my guiding question.  So I told him what we were doing and asked, “What do you think the guiding question should be?”  So Bryan went to the board and wrote, “How do games like tic-tac-toe help teach logic?”

The verdict is still out on the Guiding Questions.  But I think I’ve got one kid out of three classes that is finding it helpful.  Or at least is having fun catching me when I forget.

Yesterday, my school gave the PLAN and the PSAT to all 10th and 11th graders.  Because of testing this massive group of students, we had a late start.  When I told another friend of mine about this, she was amazed because in her district, they charge each kid $15 to take the PSAT.

Why is my district paying for this test?  Good question.  I think it goes back to a former superintendent that declared EVERY kid in our district is college bound – or something to that effect.  I’m all for optimism, but where do we get a little dose of reality?

It would have been nice to be given a standard answer to give our students as to why this was important and why they should take it.  I can pull the lines of incredible scholarship opportunities out of my butt as good as the next teacher.  Who are we kidding?  Not every kid is going to be a National Merit Scholar.  Bet hey, we’re trying to find that diamond in the rough…

A few times I had to wake up a couple of kids and say, “Hey, we’re starting section 4.  Give it a try.”  During a break, I had a conversation with one of my current students who happened to be in my room for testing.  She was asking me why she should take this test.  I’m giving her my best lines about possibilities for college.  What does she tell me?  She’s not going to college.  She’s going to be a singer.  She has it in her mind that she’s going to get a record deal by the time she’s 19.

I’m trying not to be that teacher that bursts her bubble and points out that this is a pie in the sky dream.  I start asking her if she’s in the choir, if she’s had any voice lessons, why voice lessons are a good idea for someone who wants to be a singer, etc.  Well, according to her, she doesn’t need any lessons or to be in the choir because she’s already perfect.  Her uncle has some sort of recording studio, yada, yada, yada…  It took everything I had not to roll my eyes or give her that you’ve got to be f***ing kidding me look.  At this point, I realize I should just stop talking, get up and start test #5.

That would be wonderful if her dreams did come true.  But I’ve been around long enough to know what a long shot it is and that it takes one hell of a lot of hard work to achieve that kind of dream.  And let me tell you, hard work is a concept of which she has yet to become familiar.

I recently saw an editorial cartoon that summed up a problem in education that no one wants to touch with a ten foot pole.  The artist is Signe Wilkinson of the Philadelphia Daily News.  Because of copyright stuff, I’m just going to point you in the right direction to find it yourself.  The cartoon I’m referring to was originally published on September 29th, 2009.  It showed a teacher in a classroom with educational drive-by experts asking her “What are you doing wrong?”

Another one that caught my eye a while back is by Hilary Price of “Rhymes with Orange.”  Teacher Jedi Move #6.  It was published on September 19th, 2009.

I get the local paper each day, but in the mornings I mainly read “Rhymes with Orange” and my horoscope.  On Thursdays I read as much of the “EAT” section as I can before I have to run out the door.  Last week, another teacher had seen the editorial cartoon by Signe and told me about it.  When I looked more carefully at the paper in the evening is when I found it.

The thing that is so cool about these cartoons, is that old adage, a picture is worth a thousand words.  In these cases, it’s definitely true.  I feel like I’m the teacher in the cartoons.  And I’d bet that most of my teacher friends feel the same way.

These are talented artists that with the strokes of their pen say what the rest of us want to say.  Thank you for your creativity!