E: "Ms. M, before graduation, will you give me a list of good books to read?"
C: Yeah, me too!
E: "Because, you be giving us these books and they don't seem good at first... but then, they be real good!!"
I am so thankful for the Es of my classroom. There are one or two in each class, that want to be there, that let me know they care, that almost match my enthusiasm and dedication. That make my day with little comments like these.
The overwhelming apathy, disrespect, and outright aggression that permeates this place is almost outweighed by these wonderful voices.
A fellow MTCer wrote a post the other day about how he no longer believes in our public school system, and now supports school vouchers. Although I am nowhere near his heights of cynicism, I do agree that our public school system needs serious help. He sums it up very nicely:
The official motto of public schools is "no child left behind." After teaching for seven or so months I have discovered the true motto: "Hopefully no more than 40% left behind."
In the New York Times today:
I'm convinced that our current public assistance programs are deeply flawed. But how else do we fix poverty?
So many people around here use public assistance to buy Ipods and Jordans, rather than classes or books. Although 85% (I believe) of our students eat federally-subsidized lunch, well over half drive or are driven to school - even though gas prices are soaring and we run a full bus service to all parts of the city. Many of my kids have expensive cell phones and jewelry - some of the same students who will drop out or have children at home.
Its not the amount of money that needs fixing -- its the mentality. The kids don't know any better, because that's all they've been raised to know. So if these students don't manage to make it to college, they will probably end up doing the same thing, and passing those same poverty-stricken habits onto their children.
Perhaps federal assistance should be limited to food stamps, rent subsidies, and health care costs. You will have a roof over your head, food on the table, and medical care when necessary. But of course, what about diapers and transportation and school supplies... the list goes on. Maybe "food stamp" type vouchers for each of these things? Well, that wouldn't work - people sell food stamps routinely, more vouchers would just encourage more black market trading and selling. Not to mention friends and family members behind the counter at the local dollar stores, walmarts, kmarts, etc most certainly would turn a blind eye if a voucher for diapers was instead used towards a purse or cell phone.
"The Problem with Gradebook in SAM6I has been resolved. Teachers may enter there grades."
Oh, how how wonderful, and highly educational, are district memos and meetings....
[student name],
First of all, let me tell you that I was very impressed with the effort you put forth in my class in the last three weeks of school. It confirmed what I had known all along – you are a very bright student, capable of doing incredibly well in school if only you would put your mind to it. If you had worked like that in my class every day beginning in August, I imagine you would have ended up with an “ A” for the year.
In response to your letter – I understand you feel bad for not putting effort into the class until the end. But I'm sorry, you will not be able to make-up the work. Much of my grading is based on the day-to-day work we did in class, and completion grades for taking the notes and staying organized. This is the kind of work you are missing-- everything that we put into the binder every day. According to my policy, a 70 is the best you can make on missing work, so even make-up work wouldn't pull your grade much higher. I hope you understand that if I were to help you out, it would discourage other students from doing the work in my class in the future. Why would anyone ever bring a binder to class, or take notes in one, knowing that they might be able to pass without it?
Finally, just remember that 'doing the work' isn't the same as learning. For example, during the 4th quarter, you did an excellent job collecting all the notes you had missed or lost – but in your haste after-the-fact, you didn't have the time to learn the material or think it through. Which is why the 73 you had went down – you failed the final even though you had done most of the 4th quarter work leading up to it. Credit for a class, and a diploma for your high school career, are given because you have mastered the material and you are ready to move on-- not because you just handed in papers.
Don't be discouraged. Every day is another day to get focused and start earning those good grades. I am here for you if you need anything.
-Ms. M
I am not sure if this bill will ever pass, but if it does, it would be hilarious. I can only imagine what some of my students' reactions would be if they started getting turned away from Wendy's and McDonald's.
Although, seeing how much they cheat (and attempt to cheat) at school, its pretty certain that other kids who work at said McDonald's and Wendy's would just serve them anyway...
More signs that people are no longer reading as much as they used to: (From Reuter's)
"A chain of retail stores in Britain has withdrawn the sale of beds named Lolita and designed for six-year-old girls after furious parents pointed out that the name was synonymous with sexually active pre-teens. In "Lolita," a 1955 novel by Vladimir Nabokov, the narrator becomes sexually involved with his 12-year-old stepdaughter -- but Woolworth's staff had not heard of the classic novel or two subsequent films based on it."
I wonder how many of my students know Lolita? Probably not many, but it seems sad that no one at Woolworth's had heard of one of the greatest novels of the 20th century. (Although, considering the irony, the guy who originally picked the name certainly had). I wonder how many of the classically famous novels will start disappearing from curriculum across the country (as schools scramble harder for standardized test proficiency) and from the bookshelves of teenagers (as TVs, internet and video games endlessly eat up more of our available time). How do you get kids into reading? After teaching high school for the last 7 months, I am convinced it has to be started earlier. Something needs to happen in elementary or middle school to get kids to love reading. It makes me want to turn around and go into elementary education.
"What seems to have happened is the staff who run the website had never heard of Lolita, and to be honest no one else here had either," a spokesman told British newspapers."
"We had to look it up on Wikipedia."you know your life has been taken over by teaching when you send the laundry through the wash (and the dryer) and you discover that a red pen also made the same journey.
