Chalkboard Insurgent

A New Generation of Babies?

2007-11-09T07:24:00.000-08:00

I obviously "misunderestimated" the amount of energy and time that would go into this new AP Govt course. It sucks every moment from me at this point. I'm treading water as I try to figure out how to teach this course along with balancing the two other courses I'm teaching. But I'm learning a LOT. It is such a tumultuous time to be teaching government, so that alone gives each lesson an element of spontaneity.

My biggest challenge this year isn't actually the curriculum of the AP course, but the kids themselves. They are so incredibly needy. I haven't met a group of seniors like this in my teaching career. They are the advanced students, but they appear to have gotten into the advanced track by following ALL the rules and doing exactly what they're told so that they get the most points possible. They are so uncomfortable with thinking outside the box, they can barely stand it. Oh, they're great with critical thinking about political/government topics, but when it comes to basic academic skills, they are so rigid, I don't know how they're going to adjust to college. They are complaining that I'm teaching them to write a thesis statement different from their AP English teacher. Of course I'm not, I just say it differently and apply it differently because the context of this course is different. But they are unable to bend their minds around the idea that they can adjust the same basic skill in different ways.

Last week it came to a head in my larger class -- we actually ended up having what amounted to a half-hour intervention. They were so freaked out about the upcoming research paper due for me, they were almost paralyzed. I looked at them and said, "you want to sit here and tell me that you think your professors in college are going to all teach you the same way and require the same things of you?" They just sort of looked at me blank faced like they'd never thought about it. "If you can't adjust to different requirements and different styles of teaching and management, you might as well not apply for a university." (I'd had enough of the whining by that point). They want me to tell them minute details of things I've already told them. My assignment has been a step-by-step research paper where I've taken them through each step and they STILL insist they don't understand what I want because they're sooooooo confused because I tell them one thing and their English teachers tell them another thing.

I know this isn't true (I collaborate with the English teachers)-- and I'm just amazed that they are so unable to be flexible in their thinking and so scared of not understanding. For some reason, they haven't learned how to trust themselves and think creatively. Is this because I'm seeing the first of the new generation of coddled kids where they were given only positive reinforcement and had things, including academics, handed to them? I can't think this is totally true - how could they have gone through at least 6 years of advanced tracking without learning how to think for themselves?

I'm obviously frustrated. I'm probably not going to be their favorite teacher, but on the other hand, I may be the only one who is realistically preparing them for college. I expect a lot of them, and I'm not leaving them to dangle, I'm helping them all along the way, but they are also going to have to learn how to think for themselves.

I wonder what they will be like in the workplace?

I Lost my Homework!

2007-10-09T10:23:00.001-07:00

Does it count to say that I forgot to blog amidst my cramming every day for all my classes? Probably not.

Teaching 3 preps is a much bigger challenge than I anticipated. Especially when one is an AP course that has no curriculum. I am used to being well planned and knowing the Big Picture for what I'm teaching. With this AP course, it's day by day and it makes me feel insecure. But so far, I think I'm hiding it from my students.

I'm also Speech Team Coach (yep, got pulled into that one 3 weeks ago) - so my weekend was a Saturday of 12 hours of speech tournament. Yay!

I'm also advisor to the Peer Mediation team, which I am taking on an overnight retreat in two days.

So this weekend I promise. I will take an hour or more and catch up with my blogging friends and renew my blogging fingers.

Promise. To Myself.

Time Warp

2007-09-20T07:36:00.001-07:00

The park area is segregated. But the black kids ask if they can sit where they want to. They are told they may. They do. The next day, nooses appear hanging from the tree under which they'd sat. Tensions escalate. A white man beats a young black man. Young black men try to confront the perpetrators of the hate crime. A shotgun is pulled on them. A fight breaks out after more taunting from the white boys. Six black boys are arrested and charged with attempted murder. No white boys are arrested. An all white jury takes the advice of a white supremacist d.a. and convict the first boy, a 16-year old, for attempted murder. The weapon? A shoe.

1930? 1955? 1965?

Nope.

2007.

Jena, Louisiana.

Today.

Today in Jena, that boy will be sentenced and could face up to 80 years in prison for a fight on school grounds that was prompted by a series of hate crimes committed against the young black population of that town. What is going on? How is this possible in 2007?

Oh, it's possible. In fact, the amount of racism, segregation and ongoing white supremacy institutionalized in local governments throughout the South in this country would probably boggle the minds of most Americans. Especially most white Americans.

Yesterday and today there are rallies taking place in Jena to show support for justice. Equality. Fair treatment under the law. Not too much to ask for. But the rallies are all being led by leaders of the African American community and attended by African Americans. Here is the problem. Why aren't white Americans down there showing as much strength of purpose? Will institutionalized racism in this country EVER be demolished as long as we sit back and assume that the call to action should only be answered by those who continue to be oppressed? It can't work this way. There has to be a new call for white people in this country to join in for the final push towards the elimination of bigotry and racism in every level of our justice system.

Think about it this way. If a judge had found the same findings he found about Brittany Spears (drug use, staying out at all hours, endangering her children), but she had been a single black woman in L.A., would she still have custody of those kids?

We're not there yet. But we need to get there fast. Get on board. Every white teacher in this country should be telling the story of the Jena Six today to their students and taking a stand for justice. It's something your students will remember. And it's something that would make a difference.

Teachers with Guns

2007-09-17T11:24:00.000-07:00

Bad Idea. We're not exactly a low-stress occupation. Here in Oregon we're having a HUGE discussion about this right now. A teacher in Medford, a southern town down near the California border, wants the right to carry a concealed weapon with her as she teaches school. Oregon does have a concealed weapon right, but the school district opposes it. So the teacher is taking the school district to court. Her argument is that she has a scary ex-husband who violates restraining orders and of whom she is terribly afraid. Even for her life. So she wants to have her gun while she teaches sixth grade.

Well, in yesterday's paper, this teacher (still anonymous) wrote her own commentary to tell her side of the story. The Oregonian notes that all her legal expenses are being paid in full by the NRA.

I'm the Medford school teacher you've heard about. The one who will ask an Oregon judge on Tuesday to affirm my right to carry a Glock pistol to my school so I can protect myself from a man who's hit me and threatened to kill me: my ex-husband.
...
Children entering a classroom as students are just as important as the teacher's own. But, far beyond any wealth of knowledge that they might receive from an instructor, the greatest gift is assurance that their school is a safe place in which to learn. At the same time, this case allows them to see the importance of knowing our rights and helps them see that if left undefended, such rights may be lost forever.

It is woefully irresponsible to deny the possible risk of violence in public schools. It is shameful to attempt to victimize those who would seek to defend children in our schools, ridiculously inciting fear over teachers' mental competency or proficiency in handling a firearm. More importantly, it is abhorrent that any district would be so hypocritical to insist students receive instruction on the importance of individual rights only to trample the rights of their teachers whenever it sees to do so.

I encourage you to demand that the Medford School District obey state law and abandon its current policy that bans me from carrying a tool I need to protect myself, my students and my co-workers.

So her argument is that if we're going to teach kids about personal rights we should then demonstrate those rights by allowing loaded Glocks into the classroom?

Right.

As you may suppose, I have a HUGE problem with this. This woman sounds like she's operating on a basis of tremendous fear of and anger towards this ex-husband, which to me is the worst possible combination of emotions when carrying a weapon. So what is she going to do if the guy walks into her classroom? Draw on him in front of the kids? And where is she going to conceal this weapon? In her purse? Where will her purse be? On her body? What if she wears a holster under a jacket and it gets hot, then does she teach with a loaded weapon showing on her hip? What happens when that big kid gets pushy and lunges for the gun? What happens when.... You get my drift.

I feel sad that this woman feels so hunted by her ex, but I cannot think of one good outcome of allowing concealed weapons in a classroom. In fact, isn't the classroom one of the safest places she could be? I am concerned also that she believes she is teaching young children the value of personal rights by introducing the potential for horrible violence in their lives - even the worst symbol of violence. Is she daft? I don't buy any of her arguments, and this crap about how the VA Tech shooter would have been stopped if all those kids and professors had been packing is what it is: crap.

The right to own a gun is firmly entrenched in our society. But does that mean that we must encourage the use of guns? I don't know if I could teach in a school where I knew teachers had concealed weapons on them. I couldn't bear to be a part of the consequences of one wrong moment.

Teachers with Guns? No thank you.

Demographics

2007-09-11T11:19:00.000-07:00

Here's a telling item about the community I teach in. At the beginning of every year, I have my students fill out a questionnaire so I can get to know them a little better, be a better teacher to them. I ask a variety of things, including what they do in their spare time, what they are good at, what tv/radio/book/graphic novel/video games/movies they like, etc. I ask what city they were born in and what language they speak at home. This is the first year I have 2 students from Micronesia who speak Chuukese at home. I also have a student recently from Sierra Leone, here to escape the fate of child soldier or worse. He speaks three African languages and his grandfather is chief of his village. That is only a touch of the variety of students I have - some here recently others born and raised. Russian, Ukranian, Bosnian (2 who escaped the genocide as toddlers), Croatian, Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, Laotian, Vietnamese, Guatemalan, Equadorian, Honduran, Ethiopian, Eritrean, Rwandan...the list goes on.

But all live in or near this neighborhood.

and so, when I also ask "how do you picture yourself 10 years from now?" -- it's not surprising anymore for me to see several questionnaires come back with the same answer: "hopefully, not dead."

Commitment

2007-09-06T08:28:00.000-07:00

First day went great - though I was so exhausted off my feet I actually fell asleep on the couch for a few minutes during Olbermann!

It was great fun seeing former and new students. This is an especially poignant year because it marks my first graduating class - I've been here 4 years, and started with these kids when they were freshman. I had hundreds of them as sophomores, and now they are seniors, some of them in my government classes. It's so great to see how far they've come.

But the most incredible part of my first day yesterday was at 7:30 when I walked through the doors into my building, and walking out at that moment was "Joe" - a student I have known for several years. He is a senior this year, and he is one of my Peer Mediators and he volunteers to help with our supply closet where we handout supplies to kids who need them - including food, clothing and school supplies. He is one of the most committed students I've known - shows up every day, participates willingly and animatedly in discussion and work, and maintains mature, responsible relationships with teachers and friends. I was not surprised to see Joe was the first kid I saw on the first day, so early in the morning. Joe is a great kid and an amazing student. And...

Joe is homeless.

He has no parental presence in his life and he lives from friends' couch to park bench to sleeping where he can sometimes. He has deftly avoided being put "into the system" in various ways, and he has no adult familial support in any way. But he comes to school every day and in June he will graduate from high school. His teachers and counselors help in private and sometimes anonymous ways. But in the end, he's done it all on his own.

NCLB, the government, and even social services are happy to leave Joe behind, but Joe won't leave himself behind.

That's why I teach high school.

Where have all the Heroes Gone?

2007-09-04T09:01:00.000-07:00

This question is asked every decade - it was probably asked back when the cave-mamas were pissed off with the bad example the cavemen were setting for the children by going out at all hours and getting impaled on mammoth horns and such. But it is an especially poignant question for a high school teacher of civics and US government. Tomorrow I will face 120 soon-to-be-voting seniors who will be in my class to learn about how this country works. I know I've already written about this over the summer, but as it becomes more and more real, I find I'm still at a loss as to how to approach this year's lessons. Our government is broken. Our military is broken. Our social services are broken. Our economy is fast breaking. My greatest task this year won't be teaching how the government is supposed to work, but imbuing my students with a DESIRE to PARTICIPATE. I will have to have more hope than I ever have to overcome the cynicism that today's students come already full of.

And I do have hope. I believe in that little 4,000 word Constitution more than any other document - it is simple and to the point. It limits government's power and reminds government of the rights of people. Its strength is in its simplicity. But it is being abused over and over again.

So as I sat through each day's news last week, my frustration built and built.

- the resignation of an attorney general that has completely corrupted the justice department and led the way into turning us into an internationally despised country that tortures and imprisons without rights. Will his resignation now shield him from the prosecution he deserves?

- The highest ever monthly casualty rates in Iraq since we have been here. But the President continues to say we are "winning" - what the hell does that mean anymore?

- ANOTHER elected official caught in a predatory crime. Not to mention the hypocrisy of the republican party over the Sen. Craig issue - but just the fact that so many of these guys are soooo awful in their hypocrisy. And the dems aren't immune - what's been done about Rep. Jefferson's $90,000 cash in his freezer?

On Saturday, as the news wrapped up my frustration hit its boiling point and I uttered with a minor screechy groan, "they're all such LOSERS!!!!"

And my little 5 year old looked up from his shark drawings and said, "Who are the winners, Mommy?"

And I looked at him. And I looked down at the floor. And I said "I don't know."

I don't know. But I better come up with something quick - because I want my students to be winners, and I need something to hold up to them as a model.

But I don't know.

Potluck Time!!!

2007-08-29T07:45:00.000-07:00

I've been blogging since 2003, and towards the end of my last blog I was focusing on teacher-y stuff because I'd gone through grad school and begun teaching full time. But since I've switched over now to a new emphasis on my blog, I need to get to know my community better. And what better way to get to know folks than by going to a potluck! So I'm sending this recipe over to Ms. Whatsit, who is hosting her 3rd potluck, and I'm looking forward to sampling all the other treats that show up!

Now for this potluck, because summer is over and the fall is rushing towards us, I'm going to share one of my favorite dinner recipes that includes some autumn taste to it.

Mustard Chicken Roasted over Squash

Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded & chopped (I like to add in different colors too)
1 medium butternut or danish squash cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
Fresh ground pepper
1 (4-lb) chicken - split in half (or a whole fryer in pieces)
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon applesauce

1. Preheat oven to 350 deg.
2. Spray a large skillet and set it over medium heat (you can use olive oil for a richer taste). Add onion and bell pepper; stirring frequently until slightly softened (about 3 minutes).
3. Stir in thyme, salt, pepper then mound the mixture in the center of a 9x13 baking pan
4. Place the chicken (like a tent) over the veggies
5. Stir together the mustard and applesauce in a small bowl until smooth; brush over the chicken.
6. Bake the chicken until golden brown (thermometer would read about 180 deg) - about 1 hour.

Now, sometimes I like to add in a couple of red or new potatoes if I'm feeding more people or people who aren't as into squash. You can also use a kabocha squash. The nice thing about this recipe is that it is super yummy but only scores 5 points on the WW scale (if you're concerned about that sort of thing).

Prep is super easy - you just have to make sure you pop it in the oven soon enough to give it an hour or so to bake.

Enjoy!!

Well, Here We Go

2007-08-28T08:15:00.000-07:00

I know many teachers probably are already counting down till Thanksgiving break, but I officially start inservice today. In five minutes I leave for the big district-wide stadium pep talk and then faculty meeting and then a series of other meetings and meetings and meetings.... sometime later this afternoon when it's reached 90 degrees I'll be able to start setting up my classroom.

This Can't Be Good

2007-08-24T08:26:00.000-07:00

Oh Great....

Astronomers have stumbled upon a tremendous hole in the universe. That's got them scratching their heads about what's just not there. The cosmic blank spot has no stray stars, no galaxies, no sucking black holes, not even mysterious dark matter. It is 1 billion light years across of nothing. That's an expanse of nearly 6 billion trillion miles of emptiness, a University of Minnesota team announced Thursday.

A hole in the universe? Can this be a good thing? Then again, maybe THAT'S where my curriculum notebook went...I can't for the life of me figure out where I stashed it in June...

6 billion trillion miles of emptiness. Kinda puts that blank in the lesson plans into perspective, though, doesn't it?

Tanned, Rested and Ready - and Anxiety Ridden!!

2007-08-24T07:38:00.001-07:00

Well, not actually that tanned. I try to make an effort not to get too much sun on my skin. These days, who knows how many UV rays are coming through the atmosphere. Anyway, just back from a week at the Oregon Coast - lovely, relaxing, sunny and fun. It's become a tradition for us now - my parents host a big rented beach house and family and friends come - some flitting through on the weekend, some staying the whole week. This week was later in the summer than usual, and I found myself starting to get a little tense towards the last few days because I'm now feeling the pinch of getting ready to GO.

But despite a nice holiday and time still left, I'm starting to feel that ol' school-is-starting-anxiety. You know the kind - where you start breaking out even though you're 36 years old (just in time for your ID Badge picture), when your dreams become increasingly anxiety ridden (leading up to the inevitable arriving-at-the-first-day-of-school-with-no-pants-on dream), and everything in life begins to become peripheral when compared to GETTING-READY-FOR-SCHOOL- AAAARRGGGGHHH!!!

So my latest dream is this: I arrive to teach in my new classroom (I've already had several about not being able to find the new classroom or it not being completed yet) - only to discover my schedule's been changed! I'm only teaching ONE Social Studies course - and it's the new AP US government course - BUT, I have to teach it as HALF of a class period with ....wait for it.... DRAMA! Yes, I have to teach drama and AP US Govt at the same time. Then my other classes are all Drama. I gasp, horrified - not because I have anything against Drama, but because I know nothing about it except what that young teacher down the hall always enhances her life with everytime anyone asks her how she is - so I rush to the VP and I say, "VP, this is all wrong! Only yesterday my schedule was normal with government, global studies, etc! I can't teach Drama!" His response: "Darn, I hate it when this happens." I am agog. Who is teaching the courses I was SUPPOSED to teach? "Well," he says, "there just weren't as many students as we thought, and so instead of putting them in social studies, we're changing that to drama." What? What kind of sense does this make? Then he looks more closely at my new schedule and his eyebrows go up. "Look, this last class isn't drama!" I look with him at Period 8. No, that one is teaching girls how to become secretaries. I kid you not. And it is in Room 742 - 742??? Our rooms only go up to 320!! Thankfully I wake up (panting) to the knowledge that I still have all my regular social studies courses listed on my schedule.

Now, I'm not saying that this dream could have anything to do with the fact that I have no idea how I'm going to teach a year of AP US Government, or that Little Guy was in a summerfun drama camp, or that I was a legal secretary/paralegal for 15 years before becoming a teacher. It probably isn't any of those things combined to play on my worries about the new year starting. (It was hardly bizarre as the dream I had two weeks ago about being forced to teach Calculus and, not knowing diddly about Math, started the class by grilling up crabcakes on the Coleman in front of the blackboard.)

And don't get me wrong - I can't WAIT for it to start! I LOVE teaching, I never would have thought to find a career where every morning I wake up excited about the day. I am really looking forward to this year. It's just that age old thing about wanting to be a GOOD teacher that always gets me. Well, I can only forge ahead. Dreams be damned.

Maybe I'll work some more drama into my lesson plans this year...

Legendary!

2007-08-15T10:54:00.000-07:00

Tense Teacher made my day and has me grinning continuously! Check out her stories on becoming a legend...and join the legions wishing she had been your English teacher!

...I should be doing some more planning and prep but I would rather daydream about what to pack for my end of summer beach trip that starts tomorrow. Am I so wrong?

Turning US Government on its Ear

2007-08-14T17:46:00.000-07:00

I have been wrestling with a major question the last months as I've prepared for this coming year. I teach US Government to seniors (both a regular semester-long course to seniors and a year-long AP course to seniors (this one is new this year)). Of course I have curriculum planning concerns and all the usual stuff. But this year, I feel confronted with something new.

The major question I have been struggling with is a philosophical question about the nature of the US Government course in general (whether regular or advanced)...and this is it:

Do I teach US Government as a history course now?

It's not hyperbole. Hear me out.

Up until this school year, the government/civics course I teach has relied on one specific text: the Constitution. Our school has a text book, but I never crack it open. I use other sources of reading for articles, and base the bulk of the course on an exploration of the Constitution itself - sandwiched between an introductory unit on how the Constitution got there in the first place and concluding units on voting/elections and citizenship.

But this administration has so violated the Constitution that the operation of the three branches of our government no longer looks like anything the Framers of the Constitution wrote down. Nor are the Bill of Rights intact any longer. With the last six years ushering in the "unitary executive" - with George W. Bush signing more than twice the number of signing statements to every piece of legislation than have ever been signed by all preceding presidents total; the complete domination of the Supreme Court by justices who actually BELIEVE in the unitary executive theory, and a republican Congress for the first 6 years that was a rubber stamp to the executive branch, and a recent Democratic Congress that seems to be completely unconcerned with that part of their oath about "protecting and defending the Constitution" - and these are only a few things - the current US Government is no longer an example of what the Constitution says.

And let's not forget those pesky civil liberties - the most basic being the rescinding of habeas corpus. But alas, no more rights to privacy, no freedom of speech ("free speech zones", anyone?), and let us not speak of all the trial rights that have been removed. With corporations having more personhood rights than persons, and with the common good being a notable asterisk in the history book of governmental priority, there seems to be no end to the violation of the rule of law our country was founded on.

Do we even need to mention that the entire executive branch colluded to lie to the American people in order to invade a sovereign nation and then proceed to completely destroy all vestiges of foreign policy and international relations built up over centuries, while killing hundreds of thousands of people in Iraq and dooming our own military to destruction and thousands of our soldiers to death and permanent, lifelong debilitating injury (both physical and mental)? No, I didn't think I needed to mention that...

The amount of power in the hands of the executive branch is something that has never been seen in our history. And if Congress doesn't take action to correct the balance of powers and protect the Constitution and the rights it demands the government protect for the people, then the next president, whether Republican or Democrat, will enter office with the most power any US President has ever had. And do you think any of them (no matter how noble they seem) will give that up once it's in their hands?

So I am in a quandary. Do I teach government class as a history class ("Students, this is how our government USED to work!"). Or do I start right off with the grim realities, building from a platform of the Constitutionally-mandated act of impeachment (not removal from office, but rather a hearing of accountability), which so far this Congress refuses to consider? I am not a preacher in my classroom, but when it comes to this subject, the facts speak for themselves, and it is getting harder and harder to encourage a generation of high school graduates to become citizens eager to participate in democracy.

And why would they be interested in participating in that democracy... when even their government teacher has a hard time discerning where that democracy has gone?

Heading back to the chalkboard...

2007-08-14T16:48:00.000-07:00

Wow! Check out the discussion over at Dennis' blog after his post about how he wants to deal with cheating this year. The comments and discussion are truly brilliant and very thought provoking.

It started me thinking about my own cheating policy... and the fact that I don't actually test that much. I have only recently started adding more tests and quizzes into my curriculum. But that's a theoretical discussion for another time...

And another teacher hits the boards (wait..that's what actors do...wait, that applies to us too, right?). Anyway, Tense Teacher started back this week, and in fine form. I love reading all the back to school posts, it's like having my own personal cheerleading section as I get ready to go back!

Perspective

2007-08-09T17:10:00.000-07:00

I found out yesterday that I will become a union rep this year. It's something I've wanted to do for a while now, and a place opened up (we have several per school in our district - so I'm one of 4 for my building). We just came out of an incredibly painful, tense and very stressful contract negotiation where it became clear that the district was participating in a statewide effort to break the union. We finally got pretty much everything we needed (trust me, we weren't asking much) - but it went on a year into the new contract period. So now, only 2 years later, we're already facing a start to new negotiations. Knowing how unions continue to get the shaft from this government and this country, it's not promising. But I'm glad to have the chance to be an advocate for my fellow teachers. Hopefully my degree and experience in conflict resolution will help...or not!

I was thinking about what teachers are facing this year - especially teachers like Strausser who is starting the year without a classroom, or me and my social studies division who are being moved into a new building -- that isn't complete yet, so we don't know if we'll have rooms to teach in when the year starts either. ...Then I popped over to Daily Kos and saw this:

Right now, there are two men with a tough job. They're at the back of a drill truck, pushing a growing length of steel to reach a group of miners trapped 1500' below ground and four miles from the mine entrance.

How is it in 2007 in the United States of America there are men trapped 1500 feet below ground in a coal mine? Is it just me or should this sort of thing have only happened 200 years ago? It puts much in perspective as I start the school year. I get to rise every morning and see the variety of faces that make up our future and actually get a chance to influence them with knowledge and hope.

I can not complain. Ever.

My prayers to the people in this country who really have tough jobs...

And the Circle is Unbroken...

2007-08-06T12:05:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it, but some teachers are already back in the trenches! Wasn't it just the last day of school?

While I'm starting to fret over what little time I have left - I discover it is a luxurious 3 weeks compared to Clix, over at Uncomfortable Adventures, who is already teaching! I admire that she is going after student feedback right up front. A lot of teachers aren't courageous enough to do this, and yet I think it's one of the most valuable way to improve teaching and to build community with the students - as long as you stay in charge!

Mysterious Teaching is also back to school with some great thoughts on that ol' doody -er, duty - schedule (I wonder what duty I'll get this year?).

And Musings has some thoughts on getting organized. Everyone has file systems and other ways to get themselves "formatted." I like his idea about the birthdays. With 200+students through the year, I'm not sure if I'm up to it, but it would be nice to find some way to celebrate each kid's special day.

Now that I'm already starting to have the return-to-school-anxiety dreams, I figure I should start with the necessary lists.

List #1: How to Prepare for Going Back to School

1. Start waking up earlier than 8 o'clock
2. Start dressing in "outside" clothes once I DO get up early
3. Start eating a healthy breakfast for energy (not toasted waffles)
4. Collect various reference and other books from nooks and crannies around the house so I can actually start using them to plan the class
5. Actually WATCH the films I was supposed to preview for this coming year
6. Find out what the first day of school is....

Priorities

2007-08-02T13:07:00.001-07:00

Even as the country watches the tragedy in Minneapolis/St. Paul unfold, we receive more and more evidence that the government is no longer in the business of fulfilling its social contract with the citizens. That social contract is the oldest model in democracy: the people exchange some of their natural rights for the government's care of the common good. This is the foundation of our Constitution - the balance between individual rights (many specifically protected in the Bill of Rights) and the common good. Our government, dominated by conservative anti-common good politicians has been folding into itself since before Reagan.

High-paid media salesmen have been able to sell a bill of goods to everyday Americans that they are being overtaxed and the government is not there to assist the society, so it should be done away with. The problem with this is that by ceding more power to the government, citizens not only have given up more rights, but have also lost out on the care of the common good. Why, when a bill, like today's child health care bill being passed in the Senate (which, of course Bush will veto - because poor children don't contribute to his party's political campaigns!), is up for passage, do people constantly question "where will the money come from?" But when it comes to the billions and billions being signed off for Iraq, no one asks that?

Meteor Blades over at Daily Kos is on target (of course) with the discussion about the organized effort across this country by Norquist's group and others to eliminate taxes that go for the infrastructure of this country. It's like public education. Why is it so evil to insist that the public participate in the education of our children through tax support? What has all this "Freedom-from-taxes-let-the-FREE-MARKET-decide!" gotten this country? The worst healthcare system in the industrialized world, the worst and most rotting, out of date infrastructure in the industrialized world, a faltering electric grid, the still unprepared security and safety across the board, and an education that not only fails our children, but leaves them behind because even if they make it through, they can't afford the most expensive college system in the industrialized world.

Now, we find out that the federal government continues, in the face of the fact it should consider the rights of its citizens, has decided once again in the favor of billion-dollar corporations. Today, Katrina victims lost their bid to get their insurance companies to cover the destruction of their homes. Many of the companies used the flimsy excuse that it was "water damage" that caused the destruction and not storm or wind damage. Thus, they have now been able to avoid fullfilling their role in the insurance contract. The people now lose everything, and the corporations keep their money and get richer. Meanwhile it's church youth groups and Habitat for Humanity that are trying to clean up and rebuild New Orleans TWO YEARS AFTER THE FACT, while the government turns its attention from helping the poor in the Gulf Coast and other parts of this country to trying to keep them from voting.

When will Americans decide to renew that social contract, force the government to provide for its citizens, stop empire-building and rebuild this republic based on the common good? If we don't do this soon, there won't be a society left to maintain a democracy.

The Back To School Lists Begin

2007-08-01T12:15:00.000-07:00

Ha! This brightened my day: Teacher To Do List

That's a Great Idea! ... but can you please write in complete sentences?

2007-08-01T10:58:00.000-07:00

Check out Dr. Homeslice's Carnival today!

Two different posts caught my attention today because I am in the midst of planning for an entirely new course for this coming year. The first was at D-Ed Reckoning about the lack of basic math skills being taught along with computer applications. The other was from Joanne Jacobs about basic research paper writing skills. Both of these posts address a challenge I face in planning this year. Our school is trying to refocus efforts on basic literacy skills (gee, what a concept), and so a lot of our inservice and faculty meetings last year were to try and gear us up for this. But on my own, I started incorporating a lot of basic literacy skills into my classes last year after discovering the year before that my seniors didn't even know how to write a basic thesis statement, much less a good essay. So now I scaffold a LOT of writing into my sophomore and senior classes.

From my unscientific survey of veteran teachers, it seems that a lot of teachers have gotten away from writing assignments because of two main things: 1) having to prep students for required testing and 2) overcrowded classes make for massive amounts of grading. I don't, thankfully, have the first problem because our state has continued to procrastinate on pushing a Social Studies standardized state test. But I do have the 2nd issue - most of my classes are 30-35 students, sometimes more. It was actually very hard to commit myself to the extra writing assignments knowing there would be that much more extra time having to grade (because we all know teachers have SO much time on their hands because they have such EASY working hours!). But once I did it, I found that it was a good way to keep myself disciplined as well.

Now I'm adding to the challenge with the new AP US Govt class I'm designing. Our school has decided to move more towards college prep and is adding many new AP courses this coming year, and I'm the one in charge of the US Govt class for seniors. So the teacher who teaches the AP US History course for juniors and I decided to collaborate on teaching basic research paper skills to our students. Over the summer we have planned out a 6-wk seminar to be taught along with content in our classes starting the 2nd week of school. We are going to teach one basic skill each class day (we teach in blocks, so we see our students for 85-minute periods every other day - don't get me started on how that screws with core courses!).

Our lessons will be: How to write a thesis, Finding Sources, Works Cited, Quoting-Paraphrasing-Summarizing, the Notecard strategy of research, Outlining, Structure, and along with those the basics of grammar, spelling, etc. I have no idea if it will work, but we're combining these steps with the first research paper assignment, so that the students are actively researching and writing as they learn. We are also going to incorporate different note-taking strategies and require they use their notes as part of their source material for their first paper.

We are also going to focus on vocabulary. This is something that will be across the board in all our classes, not just our AP courses. We're taking a page from Heidi Hayes Jacobs and going to work with a vocab list each unit that includes 3 types of vocab words:

"high-frequency words" - these are words that students should know and be able to understand and use both in academia and life (ie, analyze, cite, develop, elaborate, significance, identify, marginalize, etc).

"specialized words" - these are words specific to our unit content (ie, democracy, federalism, republic, separation of powers, etc.)

"embellishments" - colorful and meaningful adjectives that are valuable for students language and writing (ie, fluid, turbulent, strategic, charismatic, incisive, intriguing, etc.)

Part of their note-taking will include working with the vocab words in various ways. These skills alone could be an entire year long class! The challenge will be integrating them into an advanced course on US government (along with other classes). But I think it will be worth it. I sound like an old fogey when I complain that I couldn't get out of 7th grade without writing a comprehensive essay and had to write research papers throughout my high school year. I don't know why these requirements don't exist now (though my gut wants to blame the creeping decay brought on by standardized testing), but my goal is to do my part to counteract it. I guess we'll see how it works.

Any suggestions are welcome!

Babies Going to War (or Not)

2007-07-28T10:04:00.000-07:00

If you don't regularly watch Bill Moyers' Journal on Friday Nights, I highly recommend you get in the habit (Comcast On Demand saves them up if you want to watch without having to tape it while you're out on a Friday night). Two weeks ago was the scorcher about impeachment. And last night was also incredible.

But the thing that really got me was the very brief segment at the end about young people in this country. With one month to go before I face my 16-18 year olds (the prey of this occupation's designers), it was a frightening reminder of my lack of success in keeping several of my boys from becoming the fodder for the empire-makers. Moyers final segment started off with a profile of 18-year old LeRon Wilson who was recently killed in Iraq. Yes, 18 years old.

LeRon Wilson grew up on the Caribbean island of Trinidad where his father is a military officer. With his mother he came to Queens when he was 11 and dreamed of serving in the U.S. Army. After graduating from high school he enlisted.

Less than a month ago, July 6, Private First Class LeRon Wilson, and another member of his platoon were killed when their military vehicle hit a roadside bomb south of Baghdad.

This already has me doubled over thinking of the 3 boys in my senior class last year who enlisted and joined the Marines (2 of them were coerced by their recruiter to leave BEFORE graduating). My school is a prime target for recruiters because we have the highest percentage of poverty of our entire area. It is difficult for me not to consider the recruitment tactics as brainwashing based on the things my boys told me before they left this last spring. I am not anti-military; my father and husband are veterans, my brother is active duty (and thank god has survived 3 deployments since 9/11). But I am anti-occupation and I know, even if my 18 year old students don't, that they will be sent to the front lines of this heinous hellhole we are continuing to perpetuate. Will they survive until their 19th birthdays? I can barely stand to think of it.

But Moyers was not done. He then switched to some video he'd found of a Young Republicans Convention that interviewed several of these up-and-coming conservatives and not one of them, despite their gung-ho support of the occupation, were willing to enlist. One example:

JUSTIN YORK, UNIV. OF CENTRAL FLORIDA '10: We are all supportive of the war; we all believe that it is very important to win the war and to fight Al Queda in Iraq so we are not fighting them here in the United States.

BLUMENTHAL: Why are you not fighting them over there?

JUSTIN YORK, UNIV. OF CENTRAL FLORIDA '10: Well I'm an undergraduate right now and I had a scholarship...I just didn't have any real urge...I just didn't have any strong urge...

I weep for our democracy when the boys with means who want to be leaders in the Republican party eat up and spout back out the propaganda of an illegal and immoral occupation while the poor boys get seduced by the same propaganda - and both groups lose their way. The only difference is the poor boys are more likely to die before they become men.

BILL MOYERS: Private First Class LaRon Wilson has been posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. He was the 30th 18-year-old American soldier to be killed in Iraq.

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If you're interested in ways to counter the recruitment of your students (or at least interest them in getting ROTC scholarships instead of going directly to war), students themselves have stepped up the plate:

Campus Activism
National Youth & Student Peace Coalition
Youth Against War & Racism

And Veterans for Peace will gladly come to your classroom to do counterrecruitment

Are We Rome?

2007-07-26T13:45:00.000-07:00

One of my many summer reading goals is Cullen Murphy's Are We Rome? I have heard Murphy interviewed several times the last few months and have been anxious to read his conclusions. I started the book today and it occurred to me that this might be an interesting premise on which to start Govt Class this year. A lot of the students I will have as seniors were my students their sophomore year when I taught them Global Studies. Within that course was an EXTREMELY brief review of Rome. I wonder what kinds of parallels they might draw now - and would they be similar to Murphy's?

The book takes six parallel issues (though Murphy lists many, many more in his intro):

1. The Way Americans see America - specifically, the way the elite inside the Washington Beltway see America; ie, their sense, similar to the Romans, that the world revolves around us.

2. Military Power (of course)- 2 subsets: (a) the cultural division between military society and civilian society and (b) the shortage of manpower.

3. Privatization & Corruption - the difficulty both cultures face in maintaining a distinction between public and private responsibilities.

4. The Way Americans view the outside world - the flip side of our self-centeredness.

5. Borders - what happens when a rich and powerful civilization bumps up against a poor and less developed one?

6. The Complexity Parallel - "the bigger the entity and the more things it touches, the more susceptible it is to forces beyond its control. Maintaining stability requires far more work than fomenting instability."

I am of course (as a teacher of the Constitution) already predisposed to believe the Fall is upon us because no empire can maintain a democracy at home and we've already seen the beginnings of a step-by-step destruction of our Great Experiment (habeas corpus, anyone?). The details will be interesting. Murphy begins chapter one about the capitals with an image that really draws on this Constitution-Loving citizen's heart (especially because I lived many years in our great Capital city). After discussing briefly the ruins of Rome, Murphy writes:

I doubt I'm the only person who has trod, with lofty step, the sculpted gardens of the Capitol and been seized with a vision of how the city below might appear as a ruin. The Washington Monument -- imagine it a millennium hence, a chipped and mottled spire, trussed with rusting braces. The stern pile of the Archives building, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington, the gothic National Catherdral on its distant hilltop, the turreted Smithsonian Castle on the Mall -- they somehow invite you to see them as derelicts, rendered into darkly impish engravings by the hand of some future Piranesi. What calamity could bring the capital to this condition? Earthquake? Pestilence? Pride? The end of air conditioning?

Indeed.

How to Start?

2007-07-25T21:32:00.000-07:00

It was divine surfing that brought me to Dennis Fermoyle's post yesterday about his experience teaching AP US Government. This is the exact course I have spent all summer trying to plan for. It was humbling to read his experience with the scoring rollercoaster, and I'm reminded again that the temptation to fall under the control of the test is very powerful. My planning issues revolve around several major challenges:

1. This is the first year my school is starting an AP program (we are making the slow and sometimes painful transition from primarily vocational to college prep), so there aren't any AP experts in my faculty community.

2. I am the only AP US Government teacher, and so I will be teaching 2 classes of 35 or more students each. Not exactly conducive to individual support time.

3. I am not quite sure what the balance is between teaching them at a college level and remembering that they're also enjoying their last year of high school.

4. My school's demographics are not the average AP demos - most of my kids will struggle just to pay the test fee. I am considering some kind of fundraising?

5. I couldn't even pass the AP US Government test when I took it a month ago. Eek.

Despite these challenges I'm excited for the year to begin. I am lucky to teach courses that I absolutely love. I teach sophomores Global Studies and I teach seniors Government. This year I'll be adding the 3rd prep of AP Government. Two classes of each course.

It is a heady time to be teaching government. Constitutional Crisis, electioneering and empire crumbling can all combine for some explosive political conversation. And one thing that always energizes me: my students see through the bs at lightspeed. I can hardly wait!

Reblogging

2007-07-25T19:56:00.000-07:00

I am starting an entirely new blog, but it is still me. I wanted a new emphasis and not so much pressure on myself to post every day like I used to. My blogging frequency went severely downhill once I started teaching fulltime. And for good reason. But I am now starting my 4th year of teaching and I find I have so much I'd like to share with other blogging teachers and activists again. So my new focus is my role as educator, but of course I'm still a mom and still an activist. So the politics will be here, woven in and out, the thread that holds together the various roles I fill.

I'm slowly adding links again and updating things. Some things are similar to the old blog, but I'm trying for a fresh feel. Of course, I couldn't get away from my favorite color - hot pink, what else?! After getting things up and running and getting back into the habit again, I'll start reaching out to my old blog friends. Hopefully not all have forgotten me!

Test Post

2007-07-25T17:24:00.001-07:00

this is a test of the first post