I've had a week to process this, and it still stinks. Picture this - the last day of school, 8 AM in the hallway by the office, trying to get stuff set for the 7th graders for their day, eighth grade parents coming in for promotion, and the principal says, "we have to talk." Did I have the high school job yet? Well, no, I had to reapply, and I said I would let you know by June 15, and you said that would be fine. "Well, I'm DIT'ing you anyway."
Say what? This is how you tell me you want me transferred? I understand wanting to get rid of me, and since I did the moral, ethical thing by letting you know I was looking, you use it against me. Okay, I can live with that.
But what a shit-ass way to do it. No class, no cojones.
'Nough said.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Goodbye Museum...
So I had to return the panels to the school district for "inventory." I emailed the principal almost 2 weeks ago about taking the museum to the district office, as he had indicated. No answer ("I have over 200 emails every day - I can't read them all."), so today I went in to strip the panels. Pretty bitter-sweet. The kids did such a great job, and we had no publicity - the media can't be bothered with covering something worthwhile and good at their favorite failing school. We stripped the panels in about half an hour. I am so glad I have a photographic record of the kids' work for the year, but realistically I know that most of them would have just stripped their panels and thrown the stuff away - without any regrets. So I will have the regrets for them and know they did an awesome job.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
A Nation Still At Risk....
I am going through emails I didn't have time to read during the hectic days at the end of the school year (more on that in another post), when I came upon this quote from an article in the New York Times:
NYTimes
April 25, 2008
Op-Ed Contributor
"
A Nation at a Loss
By EDWARD B. FISKE
"To put it bluntly, American students may not know as much as their counterparts around the Pacific Rim, but our society allows them to make better use of what they do know. The question now is whether this historic advantage will suffice at a time when knowledge of math, science and technology is becoming increasingly critical. Maybe we need both the enabling environment and more rigor in these areas."
"Most troubling now are the numbers on educational attainment. One reason that the American economy was so dominant throughout the 20th century is that we provided more education to more citizens than other industrialized countries. “A Nation at Risk” noted with pride that American schools “now graduate 75 percent of our young people from high school.”
"That figure has now dropped to less than 70 percent, and the United States, which used to lead the world in sending high school graduates on to higher education, has declined to fifth in the proportion of young adults who participate in higher education and is 16th out of 27 industrialized countries in the proportion who complete college, according to the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education."
This should be on the agenda of every superintendent, governor, and presidential candidate. How do we get this across, that it is our problem-solving and thinking, our creativity, that makes us so strong as a nation? I think part of what I will look to do this summer is start my own educational coup, with questions that need answers, and hopefully people reading this will want to contribute.
NYTimes
April 25, 2008
Op-Ed Contributor
"
A Nation at a Loss
By EDWARD B. FISKE
"To put it bluntly, American students may not know as much as their counterparts around the Pacific Rim, but our society allows them to make better use of what they do know. The question now is whether this historic advantage will suffice at a time when knowledge of math, science and technology is becoming increasingly critical. Maybe we need both the enabling environment and more rigor in these areas."
"Most troubling now are the numbers on educational attainment. One reason that the American economy was so dominant throughout the 20th century is that we provided more education to more citizens than other industrialized countries. “A Nation at Risk” noted with pride that American schools “now graduate 75 percent of our young people from high school.”
"That figure has now dropped to less than 70 percent, and the United States, which used to lead the world in sending high school graduates on to higher education, has declined to fifth in the proportion of young adults who participate in higher education and is 16th out of 27 industrialized countries in the proportion who complete college, according to the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education."
This should be on the agenda of every superintendent, governor, and presidential candidate. How do we get this across, that it is our problem-solving and thinking, our creativity, that makes us so strong as a nation? I think part of what I will look to do this summer is start my own educational coup, with questions that need answers, and hopefully people reading this will want to contribute.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
More Museum....
This is the panel that caused quite a stir, and that was before he put up his homemade barbed wire and camera!
THe landfills girls just did an amazing job!
The Rainforest information was amazing. I had no idea there were that many plants with cancer-reducing properties - and we are losing them at an alarming rate.
Billy worked long and hard to get the facts, but he also included an opinion essay that was very well-received.
Great writing on this one -and she gave away low-flow shower heads during the reception!
I am waiting to hear if the museum will move to the district office....lots said, but no follow-through as yet....
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
And Now - The Museum...
Here they are - shots of the museum and a few of my students.
Koko worked on learning about AIDS, and in the process she discovered a great survey on line for people to indicate when they've taken an AIDS test. Pretty sophisticated stuff for 13.
This student missed most of the first semester and part of the third marking period, so there was a lot of catching up to do with research - and did a great job on the final product on a history of immigration.
Di worked on endangered animals, primarily fish and birds. His artistic talents showed here and in other panels, as he helped out his peers.
Check out the ebola and black death "stuff plush toys" in the background - from the site Giant Microbes.
Nice look at causes of endangerment around the world.
The student who worked on graffiti had an artist friend create some paintings just for the museum.
With all the different complex issues in global warming, the girls pick ice melt - and had great information about rising seas.
More coming....
Koko worked on learning about AIDS, and in the process she discovered a great survey on line for people to indicate when they've taken an AIDS test. Pretty sophisticated stuff for 13.
This student missed most of the first semester and part of the third marking period, so there was a lot of catching up to do with research - and did a great job on the final product on a history of immigration.
Di worked on endangered animals, primarily fish and birds. His artistic talents showed here and in other panels, as he helped out his peers.
Check out the ebola and black death "stuff plush toys" in the background - from the site Giant Microbes.
Nice look at causes of endangerment around the world.
The student who worked on graffiti had an artist friend create some paintings just for the museum.
With all the different complex issues in global warming, the girls pick ice melt - and had great information about rising seas.
More coming....
Project-Based Learning
The museum opened on May 1 to rave reviews. I was so proud of my kids! They came through and were able to talk about their topics quite well. Now while project-based learning seems to be fairly new, I have been doing this for years - probably since I started teaching. The second year teaching my students sponsored a World Peace Day that they worked on all year, and the third year we sponsored a Model UN, with schools around the islands representing various countries. Both were fabulous events.
Probably the only difference, albeit an important one, is the direct instruction and structure that goes with project-based learning. I had to do a huge amount of work at the beginning of this, in September, in order for the students to have the skills to accomplish their panels. After all the prep, I basically didn't do much else except help with reading, note taking, citations, and the like, until the last month when we did the design and construction of the panels. Peace Day and the UN just happened, without a lot of direction at the beginning except a vision of what we wanted at the end. With the museum all the steps were very deliberate, and yet I don't feel like anything was taken away from the experience with the direction they got. Maybe part is also the difference between high school students and middle school students. Either way, it was a great experience and worth every lost minute of sleep!
Probably the only difference, albeit an important one, is the direct instruction and structure that goes with project-based learning. I had to do a huge amount of work at the beginning of this, in September, in order for the students to have the skills to accomplish their panels. After all the prep, I basically didn't do much else except help with reading, note taking, citations, and the like, until the last month when we did the design and construction of the panels. Peace Day and the UN just happened, without a lot of direction at the beginning except a vision of what we wanted at the end. With the museum all the steps were very deliberate, and yet I don't feel like anything was taken away from the experience with the direction they got. Maybe part is also the difference between high school students and middle school students. Either way, it was a great experience and worth every lost minute of sleep!
Monday, May 5, 2008
My Principal's New Best Friend
So the museum opened last Thursday evening - we worked right up to the ribbon cutting getting everything ready. With the move I have been off line, and I have really missed the writing. Lots of stuff with the kids, applying for new jobs, and so on. But the museum was spectacular. My principal's boss spent an hour talking with the kids - it was pretty obvious that they knew what they were talking about, and everything looked wonderful. I will post pictures as I get them set. I've made the school look really good....
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