Tending the Eclectic Kinder-Garden

Couldn’t resist.

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2008 has been busy, educational, enlightening, germ-filled, history-making… all around a memorable year.  While IM’ing with Alice yesterday afternoon, I shared that while I’m not an advocate for adding more hours to the day, I am feeling a bit frustrated that I’m missing out on doing all of the things I’d like to be enjoying.  Prioritize, organize, sort, toss, de-clutter, sacrifice…they all work in emergency situations, and I’ve found them helpful during times in my life when I’ve felt overwhelmed, without direction, treading water.  Shake it up, clean it out, start fresh- all those things many people resolve to do at least once a year.  But spending time with my family, teaching kindergartners, crafting, reading, blogging, exploring, keeping up on letter writing/correspondence and enjoying “down time” are all important to me.  While I don’t ever put aside family or my job,  I absolutely feel loss when I push one or more of the other pleasures to the side for a weekend, a month, or a semester.  I’m not falling behind, I’m just not getting to do what I want to do.  It’s my selfishness coming out- or many things simply do matter to me.

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Thoughts floating around in my mind for the next year:

~ Listening to political pundits and spin doctors diagnose, mis-diagnose, blow smoke, and generally keep the American public on some terrifying rollercoaster ride once our new President takes office is not something to which I’m looking forward.  As an individual, he didn’t get us into this mess folks, he’s been hired to help get us out of it.  And it won’t be easy, and it won’t be fun, and it won’t be quick, so:

(find other colors of this poster at sfgirlbybay’s ETSY shop)

~ NCLB continues to have me worried, especially when state/formal assessments for pre-schoolers and beginning kindergartners are being considered, adopted, and inflicted upon young children.  It’s not that we as teachers don’t assess- we do, constantly.  I’ve shared what I’m noticing and what I check for when I meet my students for the first time, and I assess students daily using academic and social/behavioral rubrics throughout the school year.  I assess in order to know what each child’s strengths, needs, and prior schema are in order to adjust my teaching style so that I can provide an effective and enjoyable kindergarten experience for each of my Stars.  I do NOT rate them on a scale from 1-10, with the goal of having each and every student a perfectly matched 10 by the end of the year.  One child’s handwriting may still appear wobbly while another’s is almost freakishly calligraphic.  Several students may be comprehending literacy materials several grades above their level, while many classmates will still be building their sounding out and sight word recognition skills in preparation for their future light bulb moment in the first grade.

NCLB doesn’t help the varied needs of our diverse student populations- it looks to punish diversity itself. We are not clones, biologically, emotionally, physically, socio-economically or mentally, yet we are all capable of accomplishing in our lives.  Forcing students to learn how to pass a single test (because if they do, then gee, that means we’ve solved society’s ills, made everyone equal, and can finally compete in the world market, right?) robs them of the time they need to learn what may be their most important life skill of all: how to find the information they need.  Go ahead and teach the basics.  Add a bunch extra too, and encourage students to ask questions and to go out and experience the world.  Keep them interested- and teach them how to find the answers to what they want and need to know.  Guide them as they continue to think, learn and explore for themselves, no matter how much it frightens marketing gurus, religious zealots, and other predators.*

* (Yes, I group them together.  If it bothers you, never fear:  I’m just a kindergarten teacher.)

~ Dear Husband is likely to deploy for the second time in three years.  We’ve bought December 2009’s Christmas cards, and have already signed them and tucked them away.  Pre-deployment preparations start early…really early.  We’ll begin stockpiling flat rate mailing boxes soon too.  Hooah!

~ Is anyone willing to share not-so-obvious yet completely-necessary tips with this beginning gardener?  Remember, I’m in Oz, have a yard that enjoys a lot of sun during the summer, and like many families enduring our nation’s financial fiasco, want to grow our own veggies to see us through.  We also have roaming deer in these parts- my guess is they too, will try to enjoy our (hopeful) bounty.  Ideas?

~ The movie wasn’t as good as the book, which has me a bit worried that seeing any future film installment made of the Twilight series will also be disappointing (come on make up specialists, the vampires are supposed to look ethereally beautiful, not cakey and plastered), but I read all four this year (Dear Daughter is finishing the third and hopes to finish the fourth before the end of January), and enjoyed them enough to hop on the marketing bandwagon to purchase a Twilight pendant.  No, no, no, not from Hot Topic or some other teeny-bopper mall shop… I found mine on eBay, and followed the seller’s link over to her ETSY shop: OliviaMoon.

The front…

…and back:

Photography, books, jewelry, exploring, typography, crafting, teaching, ranting, family, friends, blogging, kindergarten fun… so many things to carry over into 2009!  Goodbye 2008, hello NEW YEAR!

Tags: January, military life, NCLB, reflection

We’ve stalled a bit indoors as I won’t be able to set up the toddler’s playroom or my craft area until my kindergarten materials, books, and decor are delivered to my new classroom later this week.  Dear Husband checked the trees in our yard today instead, looking for branches that needed to be trimmed while the kids and I checked on the seeds that we planted for “filler-type” greenery and flowers for the remaining summer months.

The nasturtiums and pumpkins have sprouted, though I’m not sure if we’ll actually get any pumpkins grown in time for Halloween with such a late planting.  The kids were inspired by the pumpkin photos at Chance Family Happenings:

Dear Husband trimmed back some branches that were obscuring traffic/street signs:

…and he discovered a few branches that the electric company will have to come out to cut and remove (see where the power line is?):

Later this afternoon I’ll re-pot some of my indoor plants into larger containers, anticipating what new greenery I can find to put into the newly emptied pots!

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Thanks for being green, Kermit:

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~SmittenKitchen shares a recipe for Sauteed Radishes (yes, radishes!), Sugar Snap Peas and Dill

~Paper-and-String is working on Christmas in July (check out her trees, reindeer, and puddings)

~Doug has “heavier” reading on his summer book list than I do, but I’m intrigued after reading his thoughts on Naomi Klein’s Shock Doctrine.  NCLB is an issue that has ties that stretch much further than our classrooms, school district offices, states, even country.

~Dear Daughter enjoyed her birthday, but wanted a plain ol’ vanilla cake (with purple streaks swirled in) with strawberry icing.  Guess I’ll have to wait for another celebration to try The Pioneer-Woman-Cooks’ Yogurt and Orange Marmalade Cake.

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Happy Monday!

Tags: family, friends, links, photos, recipes

Hello again! I’ve managed to get the computer unpacked, the desk and chair situated, and thanks to Time Warner Cable, have internet access once again. Just don’t look around the rest of the house. Really. You’ll get to see photos of the mess sometime this weekend, I promise, but for today, check out some scenery from the trip:

Here we are, moments before we hopped into the trucks (Dear Husband drove mine, with the kids, hauling the big trailer, while I drove his white Chevy, pulling the Harley, with the cat in her carrier on the seat next to me):

Driving out of Texas, in the morning before triple digit heat set in for the day (ooh, look at all of that lovely…BROWN…):

The first of two blown tires on the trailer (yes, I’ve gained a few more gray hairs thanks to driving behind my family, watching helplessly as tires smoke, shred, then pop):

A tire repair shop that for some strange reason, we had trouble finding at first:

A storm rolling in (the weather service put out a hazardous weather warning over the radio as we were driving, telling all to “take cover”):

Driving past some wind power on Day Two:

An ominous looking sky later in the day:

Stopping for lunch (no, not at Walmart, we just parked in their lot) before the big push “home:”

Me checking on Anni the cat:

She loved the air conditioning:

Look!  A patch of green:

…and another!

Honey, I don’t think we’re in Texas (or Oklahoma) anymore!

Where our adventure picks up:

**Spoiler alert: This is the photo I took BEFORE we were able to get inside.  Other than the patchy grass, we weren’t at all concerned…until…

…to be continued…

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Here are some quick links for you (I read through 1300+ blog posts on NetNewsWire yesterday!):

~PhotoJoJo has a Photo Chain idea that I’d like to try!  Anyone up for it?

~Cream Puffs in Venice just might lure me away from my usual stress relief food (peanut M-n-M’s) with this strawberry tart…

~I’m back to teaching in a few weeks, so with the hopes that parents who are still in the dark about NCLB and recent “school reforms” can better understand what is *really* going on, here’s Schools Matter, advocating for students and their teachers.

Sweeties, when we were in school, were we just taught the ITBS (or whatever version YOU took one time each spring) year ’round?  NO.  After watching Dear Daughter’s eighth grade curriculum material consistently being replaced by “test preparation” for the ENTIRE YEAR in Texas, I was appalled.  Remind me to show you the DOG TAGS (military style) necklace her school gave out as “rah rah’s” for the TAKS.  This military spouse, parent, and teacher hasn’t been amused for some time.

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I’m off to unpack some more boxes, but hope that all of you are enjoying a happy and sunny (yet not-too-hot) summer!

Tags: family, links, Show and Share, TAKS

For those of you who can’t “hear” my tone because you’ve never met me, let me assure you this is not one of my sarcastic, fired-up rants. It’s been seven exhausting, depressing, ridiculous and in some cases, surreal years thanks to NCLB (No Child Left Behind). Seven years is apparently the exact amount of time needed to pass before our nation’s policy makers, journalists, and titillating-gossip-only-news-junkies figure out that those teachers who have been complaining about and rallying against many of the horrible changes NCLB has wrought… are in fact, right. Teachers suspected what has now been confirmed: NCLB’s policies were intentionally put into place to create nationwide failure among public schools in order to make school privatization more appealing to the public.

Jim Horn at Schools Matter shares:

… it just took Time Magazine seven years to ask someone on the inside if what we have been saying for seven years is true, but later is better than never, you might say. Susan Neuman, former Asst. Sec. of ED under Rod Paige, now admits that insiders at ED saw “NCLB was a Trojan horse for the choice agenda.”

“Neuman gives no clue as to how she will make amends for staying silent during the past 7 years of educational genocide, as millions of children, parents, and educators have been brutalized by the policies she promulgated and promoted.”

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From the Time Magazine article (with bold emphasis mine):

There was always something slightly insane about No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the ambitious education law often described as the Bush Administration’s signature domestic achievement. For one thing, in the view of many educators, the law’s 2014 goal — which calls for all public school students in grades 4 through 8 to be achieving on grade level in reading and math — is something no educational system anywhere on earth has ever accomplished. Even more unrealistic: every kid (except for 3% with serious handicaps or other issues) is supposed to be achieving on grade level every year, climbing in lockstep up an ever more challenging ladder. This flies in the face of all sorts of research showing that children start off in different places academically and grow at different rates.

Now a former official in Bush’s Education department (Neuman) is giving at least some support to that notion.

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Horn also links to TeacherKen who wraps up his blog post:

“No Child Left Behind has been very destructive to many of America’s public schools. And to have someone as connected as was Susan Neuman acknowledge that for some supposedly dedicated to the well-being of our schools and students it was instead serving as a vehicle to attempt destroy the public schools (and thus a chance at a meaningfully improved economic future for many of our young people) strictly on ideological grounds is something about which everyone should be aware.”

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Some self-reflections about my job and responsibilities as a teacher as well as my responsibilities as a parent and the educational experiences I want my own children to have are posted here, here, here, and here.

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No wonder I need a hug!

Tags: appalled, links, NCLB

No, no clear path to follow in this train of thought today…random, random, random!

* My morning routine is seriously going to have to change once we get back to Oz this summer: up with toddler (today at three!), having coffee, reading blogs/news/emails, making breakfast, starting a load of laundry (and folding the load left in the dryer overnight), unloading the dishwasher, making beds, straightening up bathrooms, opening the blinds to let the sunshine in, vacuuming, getting dressed… then going down the to-do list of errands to run or complete. I’m thinking those things aren’t going to happen once I’m back to teaching! My solution? My family’s least favorite words: “delegate” and “distribute responsibilites.” That’s going to be a rude awakening…

* I haven’t finished reading A New Earth yet. I’m having to complete it in stages due to my mommy routine with the toddler, our preparations for moving, and the time required to really think about Tolle’s assertions. I’ve skimmed through it once, and am now going chapter by chapter, downloading the Oprah podcasts after each one to help me rethink the material. Some of it can be a bit difficult, but it’s challenging in a positive way, and feels, at least to me, relevant. I’ve recognized bits, pieces, even huge chunks of myself in the book in regard to Ego: my material possessions, my job, my role in the friendships I choose, and the goals I’ve had for my physical health. Tolle describes the imbalance of the world’s resources as a result of the “egoic entities” (corporations, governments) whose only goal is to acquire more, have more, take more… And he offers an exercise on familiarizing yourself with your “inner body,” (page 52) by focusing on the “feeling of aliveness” in your hands, or just your feet, “going there with your attention to noticing it.”

It’s a good read. A good think.

* I love encountering new-to-me-terms or phrases. In the latest blog from Cakespy “Donut Speak,” the author(s) try to determine which term or spelling is correct: doughnut or donut. There are arguments for and against either, but what caught my eye was the following quote: “Kenneth G. Wilson, in The Columbia Guide to Standard American English, says: ‘Doughnut is the conventional spelling, ‘donut’ a variant used in advertising or signs and as eye dialect.’” Yes, the emphasis is mine. Eye dialect. As a teacher, I flood my classroom with environmental print year after year. Students add to it, and often greet me in the morning with “Teacher, teacher, guess what I saw? That big yellow thing at McDonald’s is really the letter M!” and the like. “Quik-Mart” instead of Quick Mart. “Sammies” instead of sandwiches. “Drive Thru” instead of Drive Through.

Eye dialect. I like it.

*Mama Luxe at An Army Wife’s Life shared a link to Military Wives’ Best Tips for Dealing with a Spouse’s Deployment which I thought I’d pass along as well. I’ve lived in military communities for the past five years, but am aware that there are large civilian communities that might only vaguely understand the enormity of what “those Army wives” (or members of other military branches) go through each time a spouse is deployed. Yes, there are “Army husbands” too!

It’s not easy, and yes, it may be that our own family will experience at least one more deployment in the next two years. If I start getting weepy a year-and-a-half from now, you can’t say I didn’t warn you.

* I’m anxiously awaiting my teaching contract in the mail. Not knowing which school I’ll be at or which grade I’ll be teaching has pushed me to either extreme of the pendulum swing that mostly encompasses my job: contemplating which scrapbook papers I want to use for my lesson plan book cover, and reading blog articles such as “The Surge Against First Graders,” reposted at Schools Matter. Parents might find the lesson plan book cute, but they should also follow the links in “The Surge” article. Really.

* Are there any colleges or universities that require Ethics in Education as a class? Seriously, I’d like to know.

I’m off to crochet!

Tags: books, links

Oh, how I wish I was referring to chocolate, cookies, anything other than teaching. I’ve been a bit torn lately in fact, because I’ve found I’ve been spending more and more time reflecting upon home, family, creativity, emotions, and craft explorations than I have on teaching as our year-long stay in the Bordertown stretches on. Totally natural, I’m sure, but I’m going to have to dive head-first back into the Land of Public Education when I return to teaching kindergarten (hopefully this fall), and that means I’ll be back to inservices, professional development days, collegial groups, and trying to pep-talk myself into demonstrating a rah-rah mood about the new learning community to which I will belong. School number four, back in Oz. Which hopefully will be pro-student, and pro-teaching, not pro-Kill-and-Drill-for-the-State-Assessments.

Baby steps, baby steps. So I’ve gone back to listening to podcasts related to education, visiting the blogs of some of my favorite teachers (their moods don’t help, most are bummed out, burnt out, sick and tired), exploring web sites and blogs featuring actual kindergarten classrooms, and trying to leave meaningful comments at the posts that speak to my inner-teacher. Staying on top of my game requires that I continue my own education, formally and/or informally. This year, podcasts, online essays, e-books, and visits to Barnes and Noble to follow up on recommended reading suggestions have been the affordable way to go,and have kept me from having to choose a subject of study for a Master’s program.

With NCLB and the attacks on students, teachers, and public education as a whole, I cringe at the thought of one day growing up to be a principal… of being a curriculum coordinator whose job it is merely to buy the the sole program and products approved by the government-approved corporations that have no scientific basis for their claims to fame and success…or the education professor at a university rehashing this whole nightmare for future generations of teachers. Nope, sorry, I’d rather do crafts. Make wreaths. Figure out how to read stories to blog visitors via podcasts. Learn more about digital photography. Lose myself in an antique store or flea market. Or wow, just TEACH.

I’d like to introduce my students to new forms of expression, to new authors, new voices. Encourage them to sing, to question, to discover, and to help others. To take chances, to forgive, to problem-solve. To laugh at knock-knock jokes, to encourage their friends, to persevere when an answer doesn’t come easily. To try something new, to enjoy something not-so-new. To paint, to plant, to pretend. To read, to write, to communicate with a diverse group of people, to know they have value. It’s wonderful when students realize that LMNOP is really “L-M-N-O-P,” five letters, not one. It’s even more rewarding when my students help one another celebrate an accomplishment like learning how to tie one’s shoes, writing both first and last names, or reading a story. Sharing wonderful stories with parents about those moments they miss as a result of allowing me to spend so much time with their children is something I’m happy to do. Offering longer conferences, sending silly emails, keeping parents in the loop, inviting them to spend time with us.

Time spent actually teaching and guiding is a gift, not a chore to tolerate or endure. But the careful activism that seems to be required right now, advocating for my students, advocating for their future, advocating for their parents, advocating for my own children, advocating for my colleagues, and frankly, advocating for my job is a heavy burden. They’re worth it, we’re worth it, I’m worth it, but it is difficult. Unpleasant. And it takes away from what I feel I should be doing: opening finger paints, helping cut yarn, vacuuming sand out of the carpet from our sand table…whatever it takes to give my students an environment rich in kinesthetic, emotion-imprinting discoveries and inspirations.

Here’s what I’ve been reading- some of them are lengthy, in-depth… all provide important information and viewpoints of which more parents should be aware…of which more new teachers should read up on if they ever hope to be “real” teachers and not just script readers and assessment administrators:
Drop Out Explosion: Wonder How Come:

“…teachers and principals are blamed and held “accountable,” which reinvigorates all over again the inhumane and immoral practices that the Bush kind of tough-love exacts from educators turned into brutal bureaucrats. In order to keep their schools from being shut down or taken over by charter outfits or EMOs, the just-following-orders educators make sure the losers are shoved out, encouraged out, and pushed out in order to avoid their negative effect on school test performance.”

A Nation at Risk: Burn in He** (outlines the scare tactic that has been used to great success to destroy public education):

“From an irrational faith in the ability of standardized tests to inspire greater learning, and from an unwillingness to finance more expensive tests that would sample critical thinking as well as basic skills, we’ve again narrowed the curriculum to “minimum competency,” precisely the 1970s standard that A Nation at Risk denounced. From a belief that an alleged decline in student achievement must be attributable to a decline in teacher quality, at best, or to malfeasance (‘low expectations’) of teachers, at worst, many districts have attempted to overcome this teacher incompetence by implementing scripted, or nearly so, curricula. We’ve attempted to focus teachers’ attention by a testing regime so rigid that it threatens to destroy teachers’ intrinsic motivation and their ability to address the full range of student difficulties that can only be diagnosed by creative teachers, student-by-student.

Again, this does not suggest that teachers are as well trained as they should be, as well-motivated as we would like them to be, or as student-oriented as they must be. But it is hard to defend the proposition that teachers, especially those of minority and disadvantaged children, have been sitting around making excuses for poor performance when these children have gained a full standard deviation in test score improvement in a single generation.”

Mike in Texas posted “Get Those Test Scores Up or I’ll Kill You” at his blog, Education in Texas (and oh yes, I left a comment):

“Of course, it had to have happened in Texas, where the drive to destroy public education began via high-stakes testing. A principal has threatened ‘I will kill you all and kill myself.’ if TAKS science scores don’t improve.”

(What galls me is that parents decided to pooh-pooh the teachers, when those same parents would have been the first to worry about and report the incident if it had happened in their own workplaces, or if their child had come home and told them that another student had made a similar threat. )

Endure. Teach in spite of the ever-increasing-list of obstacles. The students need me. Their parents need me.

I’m going to need a LOT of coffee.

Tags: kindergarten, links, NCLB

… why husbands and children don’t close what they’ve opened. Closet doors, dresser drawers, kitchen cabinets…

… why as I get older, inconveniences come in threes: fungal nail infection, bronchitis, allergies… boom (gross), boom (cough/hack), boom (sneeze).

… which Master’s Degree Program I should look into once we are finally relocated. Curriculum and Instruction (will I get to implement something non-scripted?), School Administration (not only no but heck no), Early Childhood Education, Child Psychology, or Advanced Glitter-and-Glue Applications?

… if there’s anything better than a duckie blankie on a chilly morning during cartoon time? (Special thanks to Rissa!)

… which wreath to make next (Easter? Patriotic? Floral?)…

… how many parents of students in the Bordertown really read the school district’s “report card” info, considering it’s a document of 400+ pages. I certainly found Daughter’s school info, and knew enough to shudder at what it did and *did not* report. I haven’t heard any other parents asking things like “how, when the school’s scores have dropped two to twenty percent in writing, math and science from 2005-2006, does this school earn a rating of ‘academically acceptable’?”

…where all of these bunnies and eggs will go…

Tags: Bordertown, Easter, family, home decor

I’ve been home since Monday evening. I have re-cleaned areas of the house that the family *thought* they had cleaned before my return (our techniques for dusting, mopping, vacuuming, laundering and disinfecting don’t exactly match), and I finished reading The Other Boleyn Girl last night. I baked some cookies that are perfectly accompanying my coffee this morning, and I’ve just made it through all of the blogs I missed reading while I was away. Wowzer, was NetNewsWire *full*! I’ve emailed friends and family, sent photos of my trip, and fast-forwarded through most of my recorded t.v. shows on DISH. Catching up, catching up.

I’m not certain what inspiration will find me today, but I’m guessing grocery shopping and re-thinking the seasonal decor in the house will occupy some of my time this morning. Of course I’ll be working up tomorrow’s Show and Share blog, with more photos of some of the goodies I bought while in Oz this past weekend, and will keep my fingers crossed that our internet tech is able to find the source of our internet connection woes sometime today.

I’m looking forward to Shannon’s visit next week as is Dear Daughter. Having moved four times in five years by this summer, time spent with our family and friends who are family helps us to stay connected in between our travels hither and yon. No, still no news on where we’ll be stationed next- I’m keeping my fingers and toes crossed that we will NOT be staying here in the Bordertown. Thank you for your good thoughts!

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Clarification:

For those of you who followed the link in my Knowledge is Power post, and were wondering if I was advocating that all parents pull their children out of school during mandated assessments, the answer would be “no.” I do encourage and am an advocate for parental involvement, LOTS of parental involvement in the lives of their children, but I believe that in our country’s present state of turmoil, not many parents have taken the time (for whatever reason) to really sit back and look at the long-term effects of decisions they’ve allowed others to either make for them or scare/convince them into making themselves in regard to NCLB. When I provide links that I’ve found interesting and thought-provoking, I share them in the hopes that their content will somehow engage others, get them thinking from another angle, or provide another detail or interpretation that will help with the bigger picture for those readers who are spending time to survey the terrain outside of their own backyard.

Remember, I’m not only a teacher (who has the year off, is not presently employed and is therefore not representing any state or any school district) but a parent as well. I don’t believe that my own children will get “do-overs” once NCLB and its testing malpractice(s) are shown to have succeeded in obliterating both the pros AND cons of our public school system. My children will be out of school, and hopefully in college, surrounded by other problem solvers, knowledge-lovers and big thinkers who survived in spite of NCLB, while younger students still in junior high and high school will be doing all they can to just make it through. How many students that reach basic proficiency through today’s drill and kill testing practices are really going to be motivated to attend or adequately prepared for a college’s or university’s rigorous curriculum?

Looking to the future, it’s probable that should my children decide to study Education while in college, they’ll take classes on the history of education, education reform, testing and assessment, etc. I suspect that college professors and other education analysts will tell future teachers that NCLB (and all of its programs, those based on punitive measures AND rewards) was one of the biggest and most successful tools used to control our country. Maybe my crystal ball is a bit cloudy, maybe my vision is a bit off, maybe I’ve had too much coffee… but WHAT IF…

What if the NCLB machine was engineered to make sure enough children failed? No, not every school, or every child. When enough students fail, the school puts canned programs into place that are not only endorsed but mandated by NCLB. When students continue to fail (and some always will, sorry to burst your Pollyanna bubble), for whatever reasons, school environments are taken over and restructured completely, and parents, if they so choose, can move their children to schools that have made AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress). “But what about those schools that have received accolades and rewards and who proudly advertise their school’s report card that PROVES they’ve made adequate yearly progress? Doesn’t that mean that at least those schools are succeeding thanks to NCLB?” Uh, maybe.

Let’s assume those beribboned and shiny gold star schools are accurately reporting their test scores. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the teachers are providing your child with the most comprehensive and well-rounded educational experience possible: it means that students have been taught enough to pass a single test. And guess what, if that gold star school honestly continues to do well while neighboring schools fail, the students from the failing school get to overcrowd Gold Star Elementary, increasing class size, bringing their less-than-proficient scores with them, thus increasing the chance that the school will lose ribbons and gold stars in the future. Yep, in giving schools those fun little awards, the government goes out of its way to make it more difficult for those schools to continue to succeed, though somehow most parents feel placated when told, “don’t worry, your child can go to the good school now,” and don’t think too much past their own reassurance. For those who need an analogy:

Imagine a weight lifter. Strengthening his body, monitoring his diet, trying to make it to the next competition. He pushes himself, hopefully safely, by adding more weight, making his muscles stronger over time. He can bench press two hundred pounds, two hundred twenty five, two hundred fifty, three hundred, three-fifty, four hundred, success after success. Five hundred, six hundred, more. Believe it or not, there will come a time when someone puts enough weight on the lifter that no matter his training/development or his previous successes or trophies, he will not be able to lift it. Ever. Pick up the truck. Pick up the house. Pick up the weight equivalent to a neighborhood block. You can’t. You failed! YOU FAILED. Gee, how did *that* happen? Guess you need us to take over.

Tsk, tsk.

Another thought that today’s intake of cookies and coffee have fired off in my brain is this: If the NCLB machine has indeed been created to guarantee that all schools eventually fail, wouldn’t those beribboned and gold starred schools that continue to blatantly “succeed” no matter how much weight is dumped onto their own weight bars be easily spotted and eventually identified as deserving of investigation? Of, perhaps, misreporting their assessment scores? Of altering test administration? Of cheating? It would certainly be a red flag to me if I made sure everyone would fail (gradually of course, don’t want to tip people off), and one little upstart continued to succeed no matter what. In fact, if I were a real mastermind, I would have made sure that ribbons and gold stars were mandated as rewards BY ME, as my failsafe catch-all. Everyone would be on my radar, easy and clear targets.

Maybe my children will choose to study architecture in college instead. Maybe I should try a more well-balanced breakfast in the morning. Maybe it’s time for that grocery shopping I’m supposed to be doing today.

Tags: education, family, NCLB, rant

Is your child an English Language Learner?

Does your child have an IEP, or 504 plan?

Does your child receive “Special Ed” services?

Does your child have any label, “EI,” “ADHD,” “Speech/Language,” etc.?

Is your child demonstrating reading and math skill acquisition at HIS OR HER OWN PACE (did you know that most teachers with experience consider the third grade the “magic catch-up year?” Go ahead, ask them *why*.), regardless of what the required NCLB assessments demand?

Did you know that when a “school loses funding,” it’s not money the government takes away from a building, or a staff… it’s money the government takes away from YOUR CHILD’S EDUCATION?

Knowledge is power. Try this on for size:

Parents Lead to Testing Boycott

Tags: NCLB

It’s February, but there is something I’m *not* loving at the moment… the all-encompassing FEAR that many/most (if not all) of us have felt for quite some time now. Fear of terrorists, fear of our children “being left behind,” fear of immigrants, fear of gender, fear of race… interesting how we’ve allowed ourselves to be steered in this direction.

Living in the Bordertown gives me visual reminders of fear everyday:

Now these homes aren’t in bad shape, nor are any of these located in what’s considered to be a “bad” neighborhood, but their prison “look” is representative of the rest of the community at large. In my opinion, it doesn’t matter if your gates and bars are painted a complementary color to your home, or if you add swirly curly-q’s to them, or try to make them architecturally interesting by making their line follow the architecture of scalloped walls: you’re still locked in behind those bars, and you’re trying to lock everyone else out. Sure, we outsiders see your fence of fear (oh I know, the manufacturers call it a “security fence”), but you know what? When you’re looking out of your window, so do you. Must be a great view.

Fear.

Somehow, we can deny entry into our country to any music star who might have a drug conviction, but we can’t keep terror cells outside of our own borders. And just when you try to return to Mom, baseball, and apple pie, someone somewhere decides that 9/11 footage should be shown AGAIN. How’s your adrenaline?

Blanket statements about immigration ignore those newbies to our country who came here the “right way,” legally obtaining citizenship. Instead, we’re fed information from a different slant. Many statements (usually racist) made about how all of “our” jobs are being lost, our school/health/welfare systems are overburdened by non-citizens, etc. Riled up yet? Oh wait, is that….adrenaline again?

As a teacher, I resent the fact that many people in this country have bought into fearing me, fearing that I might “leave your child behind.” In twelve years of teaching, somehow I’ve morphed from trusted guide and awesome kindergarten teacher to “She-Who-Must-be-Doubted-and-Feared.” No, my intense interest in finger paint, glue sticks, and songs by Raffi is actually not an indicator of substandard or inappropriate teaching practices. Really. Surprised?

I value my ability to put food on my childrens’ plates, clothes on their backs and someday, Uncle Sam willing, a long-term roof over their heads. I’ve spent a lot of time, a lot of money, and a lot of effort obtaining knowledge from a college I didn’t have to attend in order to learn how to teach well. I complement my educational expertise with ongoing training in child/parental psychology, health and nutrition guidance, nurse/EMT training, multi-cultural awareness, sociology and communications, technological advances, and a slew of other areas of specialty, again, so that I can do my job well. I utilize developmentally appropriate practices and I believe children are very different from adults (and should be allowed to be so).

In my classroom you’ll see children BEING CHILDREN, learning through experience and exploration, expressing themselves, sharing, laughing, singing, and yes full-day-kindergarten-advocates, taking naps. Sorry folks, but no matter what politicians or testing company CEO’s try to tell you, duct taping students’ fannies to their chairs multiple times per week to assess their knowledge gained actually results in kiddos spending less time participating in activities and experiences that enhance and facilitate their learning.

Stop. Think. Breathe. You can understand this one, really. If you have to take your kids to soccer, then to the store to get new pants, then over to the dentist’s for an appointment, then over to the bank to deposit a check, how are you putting your family’s photo album together at home? And when? If you keep taking kids away from their teacher, and keep making them spend extra time on math and reading in isolation in order to pass a single test, when are they going to learn how to play an instrument (which by the way, would offer yet another way for a child to have an “a-ha moment” in regard to both math and reading!), have time to explore literary genres, or learn a foreign language and exercise their bodies? After school? Uh, honey, check the newest after-school activity list: here in the Bordertown you won’t find band, babysitting, or computers. You’ll find TAKS TUTORING. When did you decide that it was okay to no longer value your child’s creativity? His or her inner song? Interests? Gifts? Mental, physical, and emotional health? Did you learn best by sitting in a chair, day in and out, in a room filled with silence, or are your most vivid memories of learning filled with sights, sounds, textures, smells, exertion, emotion, and interest?

Someone told us to be scared. And we bought it.

What other messages of fear have you been fed lately? Which ones have you gulped down, hook, line and sinker? And to whom has it been of benefit?

Questions to ponder… I know, they’ll tick some of you off:

What’s the big threat, really, of having a president whose anatomy includes breasts and a vagina? Same goes for a male president whose family tree doesn’t solely include ancestors who were Elmer’s Glue “white.” A president represents his or her entire nation, all colors, sexes, creeds, and beliefs. In order to do so, s/he must have a diverse background, advisers who are paradigm shifters, and the ability to understand that the most honest answers (and best solutions to problems) will come from going straight to each horse’s mouth. Please stop talking to CEO’s and other salespeople about how I should be doing my job. Talk to child advocates, other teachers, parents, and children. Fame does not equal credibility. Donald Trump and Bill Gates may be Googled more than I am, but that doesn’t mean they could do my job better than I do it. Their business models are MODELS FOR BUSINESS, not for teaching and guiding young children in ways that will enable them to lead enriched, expressive, generous and tolerant lives.

Presidents aren’t perfect, they’re human, and will make some mistakes. But isn’t it time to have hope again- hope that our president will stop serving a single agenda, and stop steering us with fear? We’re not just a nation at war. Americans are starving, we are homeless, we are displaced. We have no health care. Our environment is suffering, a lot of people are depressed. And we are allowing ourselves to be herded like sheep with scare tactics.

Eek! A woman! Eek! Someone with brown skin! Eek! Someone who isn’t a teacher has told us to be afraid of education! Eek! A Republican! Eek! A Democrat! Eek, someone whose marital decisions entitle little ol’ me to judge them! Eek, a veteran! Eek, a non-veteran! Eek, someone whose religious practices don’t match my own! Eek, a person who doesn’t photograph well! Eek, change!

Any idea why our nation’s enemies find us so deserving of their attention? Why we are viewed as predictable and easily-targeted drones? Oh, go ahead spin doctors… our nation is the strongest in the world, our American way of life is awe-inspiring, so other countries and cultures fear us and our strength and our divine right to demand compliance from them, er, our desire that they accept our generous gift of democracy, yadda yadda yadda…

Sweethearts, I’m an American woman with a multi-cultural background who teaches students in our public educational system. I’m a mother, and I’m the proud wife of a United States soldier. Members of my father’s family are considered “indigenous” people, meaning they were here on this continent, living on the land that is part of our present nation, long before my mother’s family arrived on the boat. I would be proud if my children chose to serve in the military, and I would proud if they chose to become doctors, mechanics, computer techs, non-fiction writers, woodworkers, or rocket scientists. I appreciate the fact that it is your tax dollars that move and house me and my family with each new military assignment my husband receives, but I also know that it’s my family’s tax dollars moving and supporting us too.

Hope isn’t frivolous. Hope isn’t a fad. And regardless of what you’ve been told, Hope isn’t going to bring our enemies “into our backyards.” We can be a nation of hope, and have a strong, capable, and appropriately equipped military to defend it. We can be a nation of hope, and provide our children with the best education possible (once we stop taking money away from our students to give it to corporations- yes, I said “students,”not “schools”). We can be a nation of hope and require that all immigrants join us legally. We can be a nation of hope and of health and provide for ourselves as much as our political-correctness inspires us to demonstrate care for others.

It’s time hope returned to our nation. I VOTE FOR HOPE.

Candidates, please deliver, regardless of your political party’s affiliation. All of America is your party.

Tags: Bordertown, NCLB, rant