What No One Will Tell You When You Come to Work at the DOE, Part 3.2: Discipline

Hello again! Gosh, we’ve finally had some nice weather this week, haven’t we? I’ll be honest with y’all: The reason that this post is coming later in the day on Wednesday is because I spent most of yesterday chilling at the beach and catching up on my Netflix queue. This is summer vacation! They will pry it from your cold dead hands! But I have an obligation to all you nice people, especially my newbie friends, and I’m here, more or less on time, to follow up on last week’s entry on Keeping Your Little Darlings in Line. Thanks, by the way, for the nice comments on last week’s entry—management is something I struggled with a lot as a teacher, and though I’ve come a long way, there are always refinements and improvements to be made.

So. Discipline. Ouch. The word itself hurts, doesn’t it? As a newbie teacher, you may be imagining screaming, dragging kids out in the hall, etc. There was a rumor, and I never knew if it was true, at my own high school that a teacher smacked a kid’s head into a locker. Be advised that we are not talking about anything like that and, indeed, if we were, you and I and everyone would be in really big trouble, as well we should be. There is something the DOE/BOE/collection of out-of-touch bureaucrats at 65 Court and Tweed (ooh, I like that one) call “corporal punishment,” and while some of it is a little silly, the rules against most of it are designed to protect your newbie ass from vengeful parents. I’ll explain.

Okay, so, yeah, discipline. I hate talking about this. But let’s be honest: No matter how well-intentioned, positive, and efficient is your classroom management schema, one of your little darlings is going to do something stupid. Or, to put it in more classroom-friendly language, they are going to “make a poor choice about their behavior.” Most of it is pretty predictable: They will talk, or play basketball with a piece of scrap paper, or sneak out their iPod/phone in class, or spend twenty minutes meeting with their buddy from the other class in the bathroom, or swipe their table mate’s pencil case because they think it is funny. There is nothing new under the sun, of course, although I guarantee you that at least one or two truly surprising things in the area of Discipline will come up every year. But, even after just a few years teaching, I’m not surprised by much anymore. It will happen for you, too.

So these seemingly “little” things in the last paragraph? They have to be dealt with. Ignoring is the first level of “dealing with.” “But, Miss Eyre,” you might ask, “isn’t ignoring something NOT dealing with it?” In most cases, yes. But when a kid is trying to get your attention in a negative way that doesn’t really harm anyone else, I have found that ignoring is the best way to go. Complaining, muttering, rolling the eyes, etc. can generally be ignored—if it happens only once in a while. Every kid has a lousy day and they deserve the gift of being allowed to be invisible from time to time. You can tell whether or not ignoring works with a particular child if their tiny little temper tantrum dissipates quickly and recurs never or infrequently. If this is the case, congratulations—you have learned to ignore effectively. This type of ignoring does not say, “I don’t care if you break the rules of my classroom and hurt your classmates,” but it says, “I cannot waste my time with your petty complaints when your classmates need my help and attention so that they can do their work.” Of course, if a kid does this every day, they’re establishing a negative and dangerous pattern that needs to be dealt with in a different way.

The next level of “dealing with” is nonverbal redirection. Nonverbal redirection is great for a few reasons: the other kids can’t see you react to behavior that is mostly designed to annoy you anyway; the offender saves some face with his/her peers precisely for that reason; and the offender sees that he/she cannot ruffle you easily. Nonverbal redirection is a discreet, silent way to remind a kid that he/she is off task or not following rules: a pat on the shoulder, a hand on the desk, a stare (you MUST develop a good “teacher look”—my own is one of appalled dismay, followed quickly by disappointment), a quick “no” shake of the head, or simply moving closer to a kid. Most of the silliness can be dealt with through nonverbal redirection. Especially in the first few weeks, kids are seeing how much they can put over on you and how easily you are freaked out. Swift but measured nonverbal redirection answers those questions: Nothing, and not easily at all. The message that is ultimately sent should be this: “I saw what you did, and I didn’t like it. I’m giving you this one chance to stop doing it and I won’t embarrass you in front of your friends.”

Believe it or not, by being quick on your feet with ignoring and nonverbal redirection and having a good management plan, you have already helped to prevent a great deal of silliness and wasted time in your classroom. Most of the wrong that kids do in school is silliness. They are bored, or feeling a bit punchy or cranky, or they want to test you. That’s all there is to it. Keeping them busy, keeping your classroom well-run, and showing them that you miss nothing and tolerate no nonsense shuts down most of your low-grade mischief. Most kids genuinely want to get along with their teachers and with each other, and such systems really will enable that to happen. You will not be seen as “mean” or “unlikeable” for doing these things—as I said last week, kids will like and trust you more if your classroom is safe, predictable, and well-run.

Okay, so what if those things don’t work? Well, there are three kinds of “not working.” The first is your chronically truculent, disrespectful, disruptive child. Those children are out there, sadly. We can debate until the cows come home why such children are the way they are: learning differences, poor home life, poor nutrition, unchallenged brilliance, whatever. We’re not here to debate why, only to acknowledge that they exist. Some of those kids can be turned around if you can be both very firm in your expectations for their behavior and also challenge them intellectually, but let’s be honest: If they are chronically truculent et al. with you, they have probably been that way for years and are like that for most every other teacher. For such children, you need to be both more creative and more severe. Talk to his/her other teachers and find out if any of them have gotten through to this child. If so, ask them what they have done and see if you can adapt that approach in your classroom. For some kids, adaptations like working alone, or having a certain classroom job, or having an agreement about “cooling off” can help. I taught a young man with out-of-control ADHD who needed to take a walk about twice every period. Well, you can argue and be annoyed and try to make that young man sit down, but nothing good will come of it. Let him or her take the walk, as long as the walk is within the parameters the two of you agree on. And speaking of ADHD, find out if your chronic disrupter has an IEP and/or a behavior management plan. Don’t reinvent the wheel—it will not only give you unnecessary work, but it could get you in trouble if you do not abide by the IEP. And be patient with yourself with these kids: They came to you that way and you are not going fix them all by yourself. But you do have to teach them. Keep trying to reach out to them, but do not allow them to disrespect you or their classmates. That kid may come around. But he or she may not.

The second kind of “not working” is your child who started off the school year seeming to be a very peaceable and reasonable child only to go precipitously off the deep end at some point later on. This will probably alarm you, as well it should. If a kid who seemed perfectly agreeable in September becomes a raging, disrespectful, disruptive kid in January, it’s very likely that something happened in between to make him or her act out in these scary new ways, and it probably wasn’t anything good. Particularly if you are teaching in a difficult neighborhood, very scary things happen to the kids we teach. I’ve known way too many kids with dead parents. Parents and guardians and siblings get sick, go to jail, walk out, etc. Your guidance counselor should be informed immediately if you have a kid with a dramatic, rapid shift in behavior. Your guidance counselor will keep you and your administrator informed and work with you on how to manage this kid’s behavior.

For both of those kinds of “not working,” you need to know your school’s Ladder of Discipline. Your school probably has a building-wide one, but if not, yours should look something like this, as I mentioned in Part 2:

1.) Warning
2.) Student-teacher conference
3.) Phone call/letter/e-mail home
4.) Student-teacher-parent conference
5.) Referral to principal/dean

A “warning” is verbal: “Steven, stop throwing those paper balls right now.” (No saying please. No asking questions. A short, imperative sentence.)
A “student-teacher conference” happens privately, usually after class: “Steven, you know that throwing things is not allowed in this classroom. You know that if you need to throw a paper away, you are allowed to get up and throw it away without even asking me. If you do not stop throwing paper balls, I will need to talk to your parents about your problem with paper balls.”

Then, if Steven keeps throwing paper balls, you call Steven’s parent or guardian and speak to him or her about the problem. (If you cannot contact a parent or guardian after several attempts, and this does happen, skip straight to #5.) If Steven keeps throwing paper balls, call/e-mail/whatever back and request that Steven’s parent or guardian come in for a meeting with you and Steven. I have found this step to be pretty effective, such that, during the last school year, I only had to actually go to step #5 once. In this meeting, you and the parent should present a united front. The parent/guardian should be following up with further discussion/consequences at home. This won’t always happen, but believe me that it is generally worth a try. Some teachers will be a little crafty and make the effort to go straight to the parent/guardian that will be more effective—Gary Rubinstein says that he has seen hardened thugs quiver in the face of a harsh word from Grandma. So, if that’s the case, go for Grandma.

Step #5 is the trickiest. Your administrators are busy people who do not want to be bothered with tales of Steven throwing paper balls. This is why, if Steven keeps throwing paper balls, you must be able to prove that you have exhausted other options. Document, document, document. Document the phone calls, the e-mails, the dates and times of your contacts with Steven’s parents/guardians. I like to inform my admin if I have a parent coming in for a meeting, so that if I do have to go to #5, the admin already has a sense of what I’ve already done. Your admin may or may not do much, but, if yours is like my former principal, a phone call from her will be so unpleasant that Steven’s parent/guardian would rather cut off his or her own arm than ever have to deal with her again. Steven will probably stop throwing paper balls at that point. But, just in case Steven doesn’t, your admin has bigger guns like classroom removal and suspension at his/her fingertips.

So that’s the Ladder of Discipline, which leads me to the third kind of “not working”: The crazy, dangerous, acute onsets of bad behavior. This is everything from a fistfight to arson to theft. Obviously, you are not going to try nonverbal redirection with kids who are throwing punches or setting fires. Some people will say that stuff like this does not happen in a well-managed classroom, but I beg to differ. Adolescent boys in particular have raging hormones, physical strength, and lousy judgment. The toughest, strictest teacher isn’t going to be able to prevent that ugly combination from getting the better of a boy from time to time. If you or other students are in physical danger, you must notify someone immediately. Call security, your dean if your school has one, your administrator, and your guidance counselor in that order. You will generally be able to get at least one of them. Generally, that kind of thing is then out of your hands, but follow up ASAP because you will usually have to give a statement or answer some questions. Don’t be afraid to do this. Kids do stupid things sometimes. An isolated crazy incident will not forever change your colleagues’ opinion of you. They know that these things do happen in school. And, generally, don’t try to break up a fight. You could get hurt yourself or hurt a kid, even unintentionally, if you do.

One more word about discipline: This thing called “corporal punishment.” Corporal punishment is not just hitting or otherwise physically disciplining a child (and of course that is not allowed, as you should know). Corporal punishment is also calling kids names, ridiculing/humiliating them, making them sit in the corner or out in the hall, or otherwise singling them out for punishment in a way that could constitute harassment or humiliation. Now, many of us sat in a corner (including yours truly!) once upon a time and suffered no lasting emotional damage, but don’t try to use that argument in your 3020-a hearing. Don’t do it. Especially as an untenured newbie, scrupulously avoid that which is defined as corporal punishment in the Chancellor’s Regulations. If nothing else, your admin will make that available to you. You can also read all of the Chancellor’s Regulations here.

Well, I’m exhausted now. Back to my Netflix queue and thinking about Assessment for next week. As always, leave your thoughts and suggestions in the comments and enjoy the lovely weather.

Love,
Miss Eyre

Why Are These People Even Here?

The Working Families Party has decided to endorse Bill Thompson for Mayor. It was disconcerting to see it was even considering Mayor Bloomberg. The party was conceived as an alternative to the Liberal Party, which Ed Koch characterized as "slime." The Liberal Party famously endorsed Jacob Javits the year Al D'Amato knocked him off the Republican line, and enabled 18 years of Senator Al (who Koch staunchly supported).

Here in Nassau, County Executive Tom Suozzi managed to win despite the Working Families Party having endorsed and run his primary opponent. Suozzi managed to break a decades-old political machine, and it was unconscionable that Working Families didn't help him. I haven't voted on their line since. Though it didn't happen in this case, who needs another spoiler to help the Republicans?

That's why it's interesting that WFP offers its endorsement before the Democrats select their candidate, allowing for precisely such things to happen. If they really don't want to be the slimy Liberal Party, why do they do that? And why should Democrats support them if they do?

Another interesting development is that the United Federation of Teachers declined to make an endorsement, despite Thompson's vocal support for initiatives of UFT interests. For those of us who've been speculating that part-time UFT President Randi Weingarten had already made a contract deal with the mayor, this (along with the reprehensible op-eds Ms. Weingarten wrote supporting mayoral control) was just further fuel to the fire. All I can say is this contract had better be a real humdinger if we're not going to work against the man who's done everything in his power to undermine and privatize public education in Fun City (and odds are it isn't, considering it never is).

There's still a primary, and Tony Avella will face Thompson. Avella actually opposes the cancerous charters that Bloomberg favors, rather than simply adopting Ms. Weingarten's positions, such as they are. Whatever the outcome, what is the advantage of the WFP committing to place a name on their ballot when it's possible that name might not represent the nominee?

In other words, who needs the Working Families Party?

Discussion Is Un-American

These days, it seems everyone loves Mayor Bloomberg's mayoral control. Governor Paterson can't wait to see it renewed. Why this is no one can say. After all, the mayor a new Board of Education, stocked it with his employees, and even made one of them President. They met for nine minutes, endorsed mayoral control, and closed up shop. They even got Scott Stringer to appoint a rubber stamp, after having selected lone dissident Patrick Sullivan for the ultimately impotent PEP.

What is the big rush to pass mayoral control? Is it that the default system will ultimately place checks or balances on this mayor's power over the school system? Will community boards be that much of a handicap for the all-privatization, all-the-time agenda of Mayor Micheal Bloomberg?

Perhaps. It's much simpler to have a Chancellor who does as he's told or is fired, backed up by a panel who does as it's told or is fired. And, of course, we have a new chief accountability officer, one who promises to follow in the footsteps of the last one--the very same footsteps that literally run from concerned parents, and blatantly distort their priorities on surveys his own department commissioned and executed. Perhaps the mayor feels that his gang gives the appearance that things are discussed, rather than decided unilaterally.

With the tabloid press cheering him on, this mayor continues to do what he wants, when he wants, however he wants. That's the hallmark of a spoiled child, not a leader.

PR skills, the only thing this administration truly excels at, have thus far enabled them to pull the wool over New Yorkers. One can only hope they open their eyes before the richest man in New York purchases himself and his billionaire buddies another term.

David Carroll and Goliath

Singer Dave Carroll watched from a window as a United Airlines employee tossed his Taylor guitar around like a ragdoll, breaking it. United, though acknowledging it happened, gave him a song and dance for nine months before telling him they were going to do nothing about it. Dave told United if they didn't pay he'd put out a series of three music videos about United and their service.

The first song came out a few days ago, and it's posted below. Consumerist follows up, saying that after seeing the video United has finally offered to pay for the damaged guitar. Now, though, Dave's almost ready with the second video, and has asked United to send the money to charity.

Check out the video. Maybe you'll become a fan.

Fool Me Once

Sometime during the never-ending presidential campaign, I saw Barack Obama say to the NEA, "I'm not gonna do it to ya, I'm gonna do it with ya," or words to that effect. Now, I read that his appointee has declared that NY State has to change its tenure law or we will not receive funds for education.

This comes on the heels of Arne Duncan's ultimatum our state must lift the cap on charters or face losing money--and I've no doubt New York already pays plenty more than we get back.

So when Obama said he was going to involve teachers in his decision-making process, what he meant was that he was going to steamroll the Gates-Broad-Walmart-Bloomberg agenda and exclude them utterly. That's the sort of thing politicians refer to as "clarification."

I voted for Obama and expected better. Given the alternative, I can't say I regret it. And Obama has promised reforms I support--better Supreme Court appointments, better health care, and easier union organization. Any of those things will still make him a better choice than McCain.

But still--we won this election. Barack Obama not only got more votes than his opponent, but went on to occupy the office. You'd think he'd have a little regard for those of us he made promises to. You'd think someone peddling hope would lead us away from our cynical ways.

Thus far, you'd be entirely mistaken.

The PS 123 Uniform

Eva Moscowitz has stolen just a little more of PS 123, I'm informed by email. There will be an emergency demonstration there, 301 W. 140th St. at 8:30 AM tomorrow.

PS 123 went from an F to a B rating, and as a reward, Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein have taken away several more of their classrooms. This is what happens to good schools in Mayor Bloomberg's New York--no space for you. They call that "accountability," I believe.

If there's space, it goes to charters. If not, charters take it anyway. For neighborhood schools they have trailers. They won't do for Moskowitz school students.

In fact, not even regular classrooms are not good enough for charter schools. That's why Moskowitz needs to renovate them, and if some thoughtless teacher left stuff in it, or prepared it for September, that's the way the chalkboard crumbles.

Imagine you are a public school student, and your classroom was built a hundred years ago. You sit in your ancient wooden chair and learn to like it. Moskowitz school kids get brand new ones. Her rooms are renovated. Last time your classroom was renovated, Theodore Roosevelt was storming San Juan Hill, which looked much as your classroom does now.

Your bathrooms, built in the year of the flood, are made of ancient buff-colored brick. Maybe Theodore Roosevelt used them. Who knows? Moskowitz school kids get shiny purple tile. Moskowitz kids get smaller class sizes and better facilities even as your school is dismantled piece by piece to make room for them.

Do you get the message, public school kid? Do you see that some people are worth more than others in Mayor Bloomberg's New York? Remember that lesson, because that's precisely what this mayor wants you to remember. Brown v. Board of Ed.? Ancient history. Mayor Bloomberg is a reformer, and that stuff is all in the past.

Moskowitz school kids get nice new uniforms. You, you don't even get that button in the picture (even though you're treated as such). You're not alone, though. They treat my kids exactly the same way.

Mac or PC?

I need a small laptop to carry around next year. I'm trying to decide between a small Macbook and a smaller netbook, with a much smaller price-tag. I've decided that if Mayor Bloomberg isn't going to bring technology to the trailers, I'll do it myself.

I went to the Apple store yesterday and was highly unconvinced. Mostly what I do with computers is write, and in a classroom I'd like the option of looking up multiple dictionary definitions or finding help answering the tough questions those darn smart kids ask now and then. Many of us language teachers with limited drawing ability could also use access to pictures, and we can't always anticipate in advance which ones we'll need.

So should I get that $300 netbook, or spring for a grand and get that cool-looking Macbook Pro? After all, I've been around long enough to be a pro. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure that netbook does everything I need, and is actually lighter than the mac by maybe a pound-and-a-half.

Of course I'm looking for advice, but before you venture any, I ask that you look at this 52-second video. Please be patient with it. The narration begins in French, but don't let that frighten you. Wait half a minute, and you'll see exactly what Macs do that PCs don't.

What No One Will Tell You When You Come to Work at the DOE, Part 3.1: Classroom Management

Welcome back! So if you still think you want this job, you definitely must read this week’s installment on Management and next week’s on Discipline. (I decided they merit two separate posts. Assessment is coming in two weeks.) Oh never have two such important words sounded so boring. But do not skip this post. Your life will most definitely be hell for a full ten months unless you take it seriously. Also, do not think that this stuff does not apply to you if you are teaching the big kids. It ESPECIALLY applies to you if you are teaching the big kids!

I touched on some of these things in last week’s installment, but let’s talk about them in more detail. Half of keeping your little darlings in line is what we call “classroom management.” Classroom management truly makes a world of difference in how your classroom runs and, believe it or not, in how well your students learn. Research has shown that students not only learn better in well-managed classrooms, but they prefer a well-managed classroom to one that is always on the verge of chaos. Since children are fairly well-versed in creating and sustaining chaos, this may surprise you, but it’s true.

So what goes into classroom management? Almost everything you and your students can possibly do in a classroom. I would boil it down to one single word: routine. Have routines for everything. Teach them explicitly and repeatedly in the first couple of weeks of school. Mentally prioritize them and remind and reteach each one as need be. Your students will not only get the hang of it—they will appreciate the fact that there are no surprises, no “gotchas” in your classroom. Circumstances and personality will dictate somewhat what routines you need, but here are ones that you will most certainly need regardless of your age group, classroom, building, etc.:

· Entering and exiting the room
· Where and when to stash coats, lunch boxes, etc.
· What materials to have ready for class
· What to do when getting seated at the beginning of class
· How and when students can leave seats
· Bathroom
· Fire/intruder/lockdown drill
· Asking questions
· Collecting homework and other documents
· Moving and changing seats
· Snack/lunch (for the little ones, generally)
· Assemblies
· Visitors
· Phone calls
· Tests
· Lateness/absence
· Cutting (this one is mostly for the big kids, but believe me when I say that I once caught first graders cutting)
· Projects

Depending on your subject, you may need to teach other routines. If you (God help you) are doing the Teachers’ College nonsense, you will need to explicitly teach how Reading and Writing Workshops are supposed to work. With any luck, you will have been given a book or a binder on this by your administration, but, after all, this is the DOE. (Or is it the BOE again now? Who knows.) If not, Google it and/or pester colleagues. If you have a science lab, you’ll need to teach lab procedures. You’ll figure it out.

It’s worth noting that you may not need to decide what all of those routines are yourself. By all means, if there are department-wide, grade-wide, or building-wide routines on any of those things, follow them to the letter. First of all, if they’re already established and running, kids are more likely to simply assume that things are the same in your classroom and do them without being told. Also, frankly, you have a lot of decisions to make and it will save you some time to follow someone else’s routine. See? You’re already learning how safe and comfortable established routines can make people feel!

I know what you’re thinking. “What?” you’re asking. “How am I supposed to make this interactive and fun and reaching out to all the multiple intelligences? HOW???” Relax. You’re not. It’s okay if the actual teaching of this stuff is somewhat straightforward and lacking in the bells and whistles. Please trust me when I say that your students will appreciate straightforward, easy stuff for a few days. They’ve got a long time to worry about the hard stuff. And if they see that you are very serious about your routines being followed to the letter—and you have to lead by example on this—they will be more likely to follow them. Struggling students in particular like to feel successful early on. If they see that they can please you by walking into the room quietly, taking out a notebook, and starting a Do Now (for example), well, they’re very likely to try the next thing you suggest. And the one after that, and the one after that.

Which brings me to the next thing you have to keep in mind about management: Positive feedback. Frequent, sincere, positive feedback. Do I believe in rewarding students just for doing what they’re “supposed to do”? Well, in principle, not really, but I have to admit that it works wonders. And we’re not talking Xboxes or cars here—we’re just talking about a little compliment, a smile, a nice phone call home. I don’t believe in withholding praise—praise is good, as long as it’s deserved. But remember that it can be embarrassing for older kids, especially boys, to be praised very publicly. Try to be discreet in your praise until you know the kids well—a smile, a thumbs-up, a nod. And even high school kids like getting stickers. If the whole class follows a routine, thank the whole class: “I really appreciate how nicely you all came into the room and started your work so quickly and quietly. That’s going to help us get a lot done today.”

About rewards: This is a touchy and personal subject for teachers, as heaven knows we already pour out enough of our money right back into our kids. One thing I can tell you about rewards is that the best rewards are often free. I have a system whereby the whole class earns “points” over the course of a week or a month that can be used to “buy” a reward for the whole class, like a free period, a party, or a homework-free weekend, all of which cost you exactly nothing. Of course, they can also lose points by screwing up. (If you like this idea, a more detailed explanation can be found here.)

Another way I do rewards is by giving out little raffle tickets for acts that go “above and beyond”: a struggling student aces a quiz, a student spends a lunch period tutoring or helping me in the classroom, etc. Then, every so often, the tickets go into a pool and the winners, say two or three in a class, get to pick out a prize. I get my prizes from the dollar store. Things like pens, sticky notes, little bottles of hand sanitizer, etc. make for nice prizes. I do not do candy or any edibles. That helps me save money while still making all students feel special and recognized.

If you have suggestions for other routines or other ways to get students on board with following them, please do post them in the comments. This week’s post was pretty much all sweetness and light, but we’ll be looking at the dark side of Keeping Your Little Darlings in Line with Part 3.2 next week: Discipline.

See you next time!

Love,
Miss Eyre

Seperate and Unequal

Even as Tweed empowers the likes of Eva Moskowitz to subvert neighborhood schools with her charter schools, the ones that need to renovate classrooms before they're suitable for the charter kids, our union, the UFT has partnered with California's Green Dot Schools. Like many charters, Green Dot offers smaller classes. This is an advantage unavailable to neighborhood schools. On a fair playing field, wouldn't public schools get them too?

Also, I'll bet you dimes to dollars Green Dot/Moskowitz kids won't be studying in trailers, like my students. Moskowitz is correct, in fact, that kids need and deserve clean and inviting facilities. There is certainly a message sent by dumping kids into trailers, closets, hallways and bathrooms, and anyone who thinks kids don't get it simply doesn't know kids.

And, of course, while creating a second class of student, there's also a second class of teacher. Moscowitz' teachers have no union. Green Dot teachers pay dues, but have no tenure and no seniority rights. In fact, the benefits of Green Dot teachers being unionized elude me utterly.

So these charter chains certainly succeed in putting the needs of kids before adults. They also let kids know what sort jobs and rights they can expect to enjoy as adults. It's a grim and insidious little system, and you'd think Brown v. Board of Ed. had put an end to it years ago.

Of course, anyone who thought that sorely underestimated the determination and resources of Mayor-for-life Michael Bloomberg.

Mr. Bloomberg Prioritizes

When it comes to education, there are three things that Mayor Mike emphasizes: privatization, privatization, and privatization. So don't be surprised when charter mogul Eva Moskowitz comes measuring the drapes in your school. In fact, she's more likely to just come in and start renovating classrooms, as the crap the mayor gives public school kids is simply not good enough for charter school kids.

Teachers at PS 123 blocked Moskowitz' attempt to commandeer more of their building, but times are tough for those who'd oppose the mayor's policies of doing whatever he wants, however he wants, whenever he wants. In fact, PS 123 was not enough for Moscowitz, and now one of her schools seems to be keeping a public school from expanding.

It's remarkable that such things go on while so many city schools are overcrowded. Here's the message Tweed is sending--if you're overcrowded, too bad, get over it. If you aren't, charter schools need space. It's important to privatize as much as the system as possible, so that folks like Moskowitz can pull in over 350K for running non-union shops. The disintegration of actual public schools, and the spectre of more of the same--these things have no meaning for Mayor Mike "accountability" Bloomberg.

If you want to rally against Mike and Eva's attacks on education, info is right here.

Thanks to David Bellel for the pic.

And Now for Something Completely Different

Here's a video and transcript of Tony Avella, a candidate running for mayor of New York City who appears not to be insane. Personally, I think not being insane is a desirable quality in a mayor (I realize many op-ed writers disagree). Here's an excerpt:

I am absolutely not a fan of charter schools and I never have been. The whole reason they came about is because the regular public schools were failing…Why did we come up with another system, why not fix the schools that are failing?

I see value in innovative schools that focus on things ordinary ones may lack. It's hard, though, to justify a two-tier system in which charters get reasonable class sizes, the best of equipment, and decent facilities while my kids are dumped in a trailer.

It's amazing that people buy the nonsense spouted by tabloid op-ed boards, who either don't know or don't care what happens to the overwhelming majority of city kids.

Happy Independence Day

I wish you and your families a great 4th.

In case you're still sitting at home, don't miss the 10 most ironic ads over at Consumerist. I particularly like the one about how most doctors prefer Camel cigarettes.

Are we smarter now? It's tough to say. Many New Yorkers seem to believe Mike Bloomberg is a great education mayor. And the tabloids, of course, keep printing op-eds that say it's true. Who knows how many blatant falsehoods we swallow on a day-to-day basis?

I remember when we got the President's week recess, the New York Times had a piece explaining that this would be inconvenient for parents, and that the evil UFT refused to have teachers come in and teach kids that week. What the New York Times reporter didn't know was that the Board of Education was not even proposing that kids come in--they wanted teachers only to report for PD.

When Michael Moore spoke up early against the Iraq war, he was roundly vilified in the mainstream media. Shortly thereafter we discovered the war was based on information colored and cherry-picked by the Bush administration. The war has been an unmitigated disaster, and has now lasted longer than WWII.

Happy birthday to the United States of America. For a gift, I'd like a media that isn't asleep. I'd also like a health care system that covers everyone, and a President who knows what works in education and proceeds accordingly, rather than catering to the whims of self-serving billionaires.

What would you like America to have on its birthday?

Pay Now (or Pay Later)

Better think carefully before ignoring that student loan. New York state means business. Robert Bowman passed the bar on his fourth attempt, and the state has determined that, by failing to make substantial payments, Mr. Bowman is unfit to be a lawyer.

Do you think that's true? I haven't received any letters lately from lawyers demanding payment, but I sincerely wonder whether they'd show me any more understanding than the state showed Mr. Bowman.

Good Enough for You

Here's a picture that brings back a lot of memories. The ubiquitous trailers that education-mayor Mike Bloomberg and his cronies have deposited all over the city have this certain something.

And wherever these eyesores are dumped, people talk about them. They say things like, "Why the hell can't my kid be in a classroom instead of one of those things?"

But according to this story, it'll be a while before that happens. After all, times are tough, the economy is down, there's no money, and we've never done things that way. Of course, when times were great, when the real estate market was booming, when everyone was making money and not even the indispensable Mayor Bloomberg knew the crash was coming (Odd, ain't it?), we still couldn't get rid of them.

I'm struck by a remark in this story:

“From an exterior point of view they may not look nice, but from the interior, they’re great,” Ryan said.

I don't know precisely who this Ryan character has for an interior decorator, but our trailers look like Kansas after the twister carried Dorothy away. And what's going to happen to these trailers?

...Chancellor Joel Klein, who originally said he hoped to eliminate all TCUs by 2012, has put the issue on the back burner. Tsavaris-Basini said that in a recent meeting, deputy schools Chancellor Kathleen Grimm said elimination of TCUs is no longer a priority.

I'd originally read that it was Mayor Bloomberg who made that promise, later "clarifying" his remarks by explaining that he wasn't going to do it after all. I can tell you that if parents were to tour these miserable facilities, they'd certainly question the Chancellor's priorities. Of course, since the Chancellor serves at the Mayor's pleasure, you gotta suspect priority number one is doing whatever the hell the Mayor wants.

And giving kids a decent, clean place to study, clearly, is not a priority at all.

Update: If you want to see the interior up close and personal, don't miss these photos, courtesy of the inimitable Pissed Off Teacher.

What No One Will Tell You When You Come to Work at the DOE, Part 2: Planning Your First Lessons

So if you enjoyed last week’s installment on Setting Up Your Classroom (or if it filled you with fear, trembling, and/or annoyance), you’ll love this week’s on Planning Your First Lessons! Since you may be teaching a different age group or subject from myself, I’m going to keep this post pretty general.

Blogger Mr. Accountable Talk (if you’re not reading his blog, you should be) reminded me that any advice to new teachers about those first heady days with the kids should be tempered with a strong dose of You Are Not Their Friend. This is so, so true. Particularly if you are teaching in a touchy-feely new school, there will be a lot of talk tossed around about “relationships” with the kids, and this may make you think you are supposed to develop a relationship with them first. I do not agree. Planning your first lessons with a sense of purpose, order, and firmness, though, will enable you to set up relationships with the kiddies that have healthy boundaries of respect around the compassion and, dare I say it, affection you will and probably should develop for your charges.

So when you plan your first lessons, make like Gary Rubinstein in The Reluctant Disciplinarian (a book you should read if you haven’t) and Keep It Simple. Your ed-school/NYCTF/TfA/cereal box training will have taught you all kinds of wonderful things about constructivism and Bloom’s taxonomy and multiple intelligences and blah blah blah. These are fine and, indeed, crucial things to know, especially when you are hoping to impress your boss. But for the first couple of weeks, Keep It Simple. You are learning yourself, after all. Do NOT plan intricate group projects, for example, during this time period. You may think you are promoting teamwork and higher-order thinking and whatnot. You will probably only inspire disaster.

The first couple of weeks of school should, first and foremost, be for promoting a sense of discipline and order in your classroom. This does not mean screaming at the kids, threatening them, intimidating them, or the like. It means projecting an aura of slightly blasé calm and control such that the students will think you have done this a million times before. You can best do this by following some very simple tips:

· Dress professionally. I don’t care how hot it is. Kids will definitely respect you more if you spend at least the first month of school looking sharp.

· Don’t raise your voice.

· Ask very few questions.

· If you don’t know what you’re supposed to do at a particular moment, fake it with as much calm as you can. Do not ever let on that you are taking a lucky guess. If you turn out to be wrong, the kids will probably never know.

· Be prepared to answer any question in less than half a second with as few syllables as possible. (See Rubinstein’s book on how to do this. He’s kidding, sort of, but it’s a good thing to keep in the back of your head.)

· Keep the room tidy, and enlist the students’ help in doing so.

· Don’t smile or laugh too much, but don’t act like a robot, either. I never could follow the “Don’t Smile Till Christmas” rule; I’m a pleasant and lighthearted person by nature, and a smile at the right moment can be reassuring and comforting for a kid. Just remember that the more serious and unruffled you can be, the more they will respect you.

· Have a Plan B, Plan C, Plan D, and Plan E. Kids will always finish something too fast and take too long with something else. Always be, or at least seem, prepared to extend an activity or move on to the next thing.

If you are worried about appearing too authoritarian or “mean,” you probably shouldn’t be. You need to not seem too cuddly in the first few weeks at the very least. I know—I’m a terminally nice person with a strong desire to be liked and accepted at all times myself, and the first time I really took the advice above, I was terrified. Guess what? It was the best year of my (admittedly short) career. The kids and I were getting along famously inside of two weeks. They were under control and they knew my limits, but we had a lot of fun too. You can have fun with your kids, enjoy them, and still be a firm leader in your classroom. But be a firm leader first. The relationships will follow when kids feel like they trust you to do your first jobs, which are to keep them safe and teach them stuff.

How does this play out in lesson planning? Do a lot of assessment. Whatever your subject is, you’ll have to do it. It’s not just paperwork to keep your bosses happy; it will tell you stuff about your kids. The easiest writing assessment in the world is to tell kids to write about anything for a fixed period of time. The only rule is that they have to start when you tell them and not stop till you tell them. Seeing what and how they write without any other instruction is valuable indeed. And whatever else ever came out of the Teachers’ College Reading and Writing Project (hi, northbrooklyn!!!), their reading assessments are easy and useful, and your principal will understand them. You can give them interest inventories, assess their learning styles, give them fun getting-to-know-you questionnaires…but notice that this is all quiet, independent seatwork. Nothing fancy yet! No plays or dioramas or book clubs or whatever else yet. Remember, you’re still establishing the tone and your tone is all-business, no-nonsense.

Also, plan to spend time explicitly teaching the things you need to do to keep the classroom running efficiently. Teach your rules. I’m not a fan of making the rules up along with the kids, although some teachers do this very well. Keep your rules simple and short and unambiguous. Spell out your Ladder of Discipline (most schools have a buildingwide ladder), which is something like

1.) Warning
2.) Student-teacher conference
3.) Phone call/letter/e-mail home
4.) Student-teacher-parent conference
5.) Referral to principal/dean

Make clear your specific, personal triggers. There are a few swear words that make me ill, and I cannot abide anything being thrown. You will be surprised how, if you are honest about what truly drives you up a wall, considerate students will be of these things, if you have established yourself as a firm leader.

Teach things like how to get supplies in the classroom, how to enter and exit the room, how to start the class, how to end the class, how you like things passed out and collected, how and when students can leave their seats, etc. You have probably not thought about any of these things. Trust me when I say you have to, even for high school kids. The more clear, explicit, and detailed your expectations are, the more they will know how to follow them. You may think that it would have the opposite effect, that kids will roll their eyes and grumble. Please trust me when I say that kids generally do not like surprises. The more routine, the more disciplined, the more orderly you can make your classroom, the more they will enjoy being there. They will feel comfortable and safe, and at that point, they can focus on their work. Not until then.

So now you have an idea of how to start thinking about how to set up your classroom and how to shape your first couple of weeks of lessons. In my next posts, we’ll delve more deeply into the two major aspects of your first few weeks: Assessment and Discipline. That’s if, of course, you haven’t run screaming yet.

Enjoy the holiday weekend!

Love,
Miss Eyre