New Athenian Academy

Does anyone remember the days when we drank milk from paper cartons and on the back there were pictures of missing children?   I do and I want to add another category to the milk carton: missing teachers.

During this school year, two teachers have been “let go” without so much as a word of warning or explanation.   Now being at a private school, maybe we deal with things differently than tax payer funded, teacher union connected public schools.  But I ask, does this process serve anyone, or just shove the issues under the rug?

Let’s start with the first techer:

I have no knowledge of the official reasons for the person not being a teacher at my school anymore, however I have pieced together the following information.  One day after school, there was an altercation with this teacher’s child (who is also a student at the school) and the teacher in front of other parents, students, and teachers.  Supposedly the teacher was asked not to return.  The next day not a word was spoken to the students or teachers about what happened or the plan to cope and move forward.  Wild rumors about drug use and pornography circled through the student body.  At some point in the day, teachers received an email telling us to not comment about the situation or let students discuss the situation in class.  Pretty hard standards when a) we know nothing and b) teens love to gossip.  This incident occurred over three months ago and we still do not have any answers. 

On the second incident (today):

The teacher in question was here yesterday and not here today.  End of story so far.  Now we have been having some financial struggles and many are upset about the handling.  However, I have not heard of any teacher talking of quitting.  What makes this difficult is that the teacher in question was my co-sponsor.  Students have been bringing up the situation all day and I cannot question, speculate, discuss, or tell them anything as again we have been told not to.  Besides none of the teachers know anything at this point. A few students have alluded that they know the reason, but have not shared anything with me. 

All of the secrecy is detrimental and that’s bad enough, but what about the former teachers’ classes.  In the first instance, the school rehired a teacher who taught accounting and business last year and was furloughed during an economic crisis.  The new teacher has reinstituted a computer curriculum and improved on the output of those students.  Congratulations for the making the situation better.  In the new incidence, a substitute will be covering classes for the rest of the week and then….  no one knows.  The school certainly does not have money to hire a full time teacher, but the former teacher had a full load of classes each day.  What will become of the students?   I have a special place in my heart for these students (many are my sponsor kids) and cannot forsee how they will catch up with the curriculum.  What makes this even sadder is those students probably won’t realize how far behind they are in the subject until they get to college in two years. 

So how do we proceed?

Let me offer a few suggestions. 

1. Hire better teachers in the first place.  Both former teachers were well documented among colleagues and students that they did not teach or even challenge students.  I am not the best teacher in the world, but I try to make the most of the time in class and try to challenge my students to reach the next level on every project, test, assignment, etc.

2. If problems arise, take care of them quickly before they become wide reaching problems.  If there is an issue, unless it is something against the law (drug use, sex with students, etc.), try to deal with it through intervention, suspension even.  In both cases, I think there was a final straw and then firing, when the issues could have been handled in a civil manner earlier in time.

3. If a teacher must be let go, have a story prepared.  I don’t mean to say air all the dirty laundry and share every bit of information.  Do have a statement for the students, parents, and especially teachers.  We all came to school today expecting a normal day, and then the email came through with no explanation, but a gag order.

4. Have back up plans for classes.  This one applies to the administration but also to teachers.  Administration should have a contingency plan in the event of an absence, quitting, or firing of a teacher.  Do we have readily available substitutes, or resumes from teachers would have previously applied for jobs?  The staff vacancy should be filled as soon as possible to salvage the classes.  For teachers, a note on advance planning.  I have a lesson plan book in which I write the basic schedule for upcoming chapters and any large projects.  Now I do not write out detailed plans, but could tell anyone who asks where I want to be chapter and project wise for any given week.  In case I become ill or must leave school for any reason, the lesson plan book stays on my desk for easy reach.  I also have all my resources for various subjects organized by class and chapter.  Anyone could walk into my class, pick up the Ch. 10 folder, pull out a copy of my lecture notes, grab an assignment master, and create a lesson play for the day.  I highly doubt either of the teachers in question had any type of organization method such as mine, but if they did, it could help.

Of course these suggestions are from a lowly teacher with no formal training in organization or administration, but don’t they sound nice?   I hope this situation can be resolved soon, but fear that it will get even more confusing in the next few days.  Rumors will swirl, emotions will run high, and no learning will be done in the former teacher’s classes.  During this time, I will keep the teacher on the back of the milk carton and hope someone has information to help lead to him and the truth of the disappearance.

I want to run you through my day today:

•   8-9am — gave a final to one student that took 20 minutes, then watched Shrek
• 9:05-10:10 – supervised study hall, then watched Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
• 10:15-11:45 — watched Elf (one of 4 movies the middle and high schoolers could choose to watch)
• 11:50-12:20 – ate lunch
• 12:25-12:55 — made gingerbread houses
• 1-2:30 — watched The Santa Clause III (one of 4 movies they could choose)
• 2:35-3:00 — Christmas Chapel in the gym

Looking over this schedule, can anyone tell me what’s missing?   Wait, say it all together — EDUCATION !!!!!!!

The state of Indiana mandates 180 days for school to be in session.  It does not necessarily mandate what we do during those days.  So we get days like today, lots of fluff and no real education.  I find myself wondering why I am actually at school on days like this.  I am a glorified babysitter.  That is not why I got into teaching. 

Overall I think the problem is our mindset.  Many (students, teachers, administrators, parents) feel like the days before breaks (Spring, Christmas, Easter) are days for parties, movies, silly games.  Why??? In my mind, these are still school days where we can learn, teach, explore.   I have many students who are not even at school today.  Their parents decided to call them in as absent so the students could go on vacation early or something of the like.  Why?  I am a parent and would never let my kids get off a day of school to go to their grandma’s or Florida.  School and their education should be the #1 priority.  Unfortunately, not many people feel that way. 

If it was up to me, students would be assessed on their attendance to school, but also what they did during the day.  Now I know this might ruffle a few feathers, especially those teachers who don’t really teach.  Teachers should be held accountable for the hours they spend with students.  Are they actually doing something worthwhile or frittering away the time?  I would hope that parents would want their children to be spending their time at school in pursuit of a good education.  Maybe I am sadly mistaken.  

For now, I guess I have to put up with the 6 hours of movies (at least I get to watch Elf, one of my favorite Christmas movies) and hope that when I have my own school (right after I become a multi-millionaire) we can address these issues.

The other day my high schoolers started to jokingly refer to me as their mom… which brought up an interesting dilemma.  What is my role as the teacher?  Am I part mom, part educator?  Or, do I just focus on the academic education of my students?

In a way, this dilemma is less of a problem at the elementary level.  I expect the 1st grade teacher to act in some ways like a mom or dad: give students a hug when they are having a bad day, taking care of their knee scrapes on the playground, making sure they have on their gloves, hats, and coats before recess.

But what about for those of us who teach the higher grades?  Am I their MOM? Do I want to be?  Do I have to be?  If I think about the ages of my students and my age, it actually makes more sense for them to be my friends and/or boyfriends than my children. (A thought brought to my attention multiple times by the other writer of this blog.  Thanks Josh for the creepy dreams!)

Everyday I find myself attempting to redefine my role.  I want to be the strict teacher, looking out for their academic well-being, leading them on the path to knowledge.  Then I do something like let them borrow a dollar for lunch… or remind them that they have a meeting with so and so at lunch.  It gets even more complicated when I think about the juniors.  I am their class sponsor and every time they do something good, I want to give them a hug and a gold sticker, and every time they do something bad I catch myself saying “I am so disappointed in them, we will have a talk today.”  Those are the kinds of things I do for my real children. So why do I do them for these 17 and 18 year old students.  It’s almost like I have 40 children: 38 from 8am-3pm Monday through Friday and 2 that I have 3pm-8am Monday through Friday and weekends.

So what’s the solution:  I don’t know.  That’s right a teacher doesn’t know the answer.  I want to be a mentor, someone that my students can gain knowledge from, but also be there when they fall down and scrape their knee.  It’s a constant redefinition game.  Maybe this will get easier once I start to age out of their generation.  Or maybe that’s when I will want to be more like their mom, yet fight against the idea.

All I know is that there must be a combination of both roles for this whole process to work.  Teachers cannot be completely disconnected from their students, but at the same time, cannot be too much of a parent.  They have to take responsibility for their own lives at some point.

So for now, I will let my students borrow a dollar for lunch, praise them when I hear they did something good, give them candy on their birthdays, and scold them when they do bad (even if it’s not in my class).  I will be their second mom, their mentor, and their friend.  I will try to be everything they need.  And I will try not to have any creepy dreams about students being the only guests at my wedding (true story, had a dream like that a couple of weeks ago, talk about creepy, not even my mom was there).

Remember, remember the fifth of November
The gunpowder treason and plot,
I know of no reason
Why the gunpowder treason
should ever be forgot.

- Commemorating Guy Fawkes

I have two simple questions to pose today. How many students in high school know who Guy Fawkes was? How many only know because of a graphic novel turned movie, V for Vendetta?

Now, I love the graphic novel and movie. I wasn’t taught about Guy Fawkes in school either. In fact, I believe I was introduced to the gunpowder treason of 1605 through the graphic novel; however, I wonder why?

This strikes me as a rather important moment in history for both Great Britain and the United States. It’s one of the first violent reactions of oppressed religion in Britain. Certainly events and sentiment such as this led Jean Jacques Rousseau and, therefore, John Locke to many of their conclusions about social contracts. This, in turn, led to much of the philosophy that founded the United States. It might have taken a few generations to reach critical mass, but Guy Fawkes and others like him arguably started the revolutions of the 18th century. Doesn’t that seem pretty important for our children to understand?

Of course, 90% of the students graduating from high school today can’t explain the basic tenants of social contract theory. Ultimately, this is a problem with the way we segregate academia from the pragmatism of real-world operations. More on that tomorrow. For now, let’s all just remember, remember…

At my school, I am often treated as the curriculum head for social studies.  That has led to some interesting question I would never have to answer at a large public high school.  The biggest question has to do with Scope and Sequence.

Background on the situation: My school is PK-12 with two social studies teachers.  As the first one hired, and the one teaching more periods, I am often considered the head of the department.  (Yeah for my resume, not so yeah for my actual job).  Therefore, any curriculum questions or special events go to me first.

Throughout the year I receive information on Scope and Sequence.  For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of dealing with Scope and Sequence, Scope refers to all the topics being covered and depth of topics and Sequence to the timeline of coverage of topics.  Now every school has its own Scope and Sequence, often based off of textbooks and state standards.  Most do not question it, but we should be questioning it.  As the department head I have had the freedom to create my own Scope and Sequence for the classes I actively teach and have coordinated the process with some of the other teachers who touch on my subject.  But this process raises some interesting questions:

What should we be teaching? Some of my students have jokingly referred to me as “the killer of dreams” in that I often have to correct the lies, misrepresentations, and omissions they have learned in previous classes.

My favorite is Thanksgiving.  What should we be teaching our students about Thanksgiving?  I am sure that since it is November, my children will be coming home one of these days with a pretty happy story about how the Indians and Pilgrims sat down and had a meal together at the first Thanksgiving and gave thanks for the blessings that had received.

Now I have no problem with the message their teacher is trying to impart about giving thanks and appreciating your blessings and the people around you.  I do have a problem with the story being presented.  How is that an accurate picture of history????   The high schoolers get so disappointed when I dispel their fairy tale image of the native Americans and the Pilgrims.  They didn’t have a meal together, let alone a happy meal.  While it’s true that the native tribe did help the Pilgrims through that first tough year by providing some food and showing them planting techniques, they did not have a good relationship with many skirmishes throughout and a general disdain of the natives by the Pilgrims.  Later the Pilgrims had no problem pushing the natives off their land and in some cases killing them.

But is this what we should teach my 6-year-olds?

No, I don’t think we should get into the graphic details of the “messier” aspects of history at that young of an age, but we shouldn’t lie to them either.  I find it amazing that we openly lie to children about certain topics.  I find it even more amazing that we do this in my school where we have a commandment on the wall about not lying.  Isn’t that a major contradiction???   I think we need to examine the topics we are covering.

When should we be teaching it? Continuing with the Thanksgiving theme, at what point do we clue students into the messy aspects of the events.  I would say in this instance that upper elementary students could handle the topic and start to think about the complex relationship between the American settlers and the native tribes.  I should not be correcting the lies for the first time as juniors in high school.  I have found that students in general can handle many of the messy aspects of history just fine in my classes.  They are presented the real facts of the event and then contemplate the implications of the events and importance to that time period in history.  In many instances we even debate the opposing viewpoints of the the topic.

By never cluing students into the “truth,” we are robbing them of the real history of the world.  They can handle it, just not as 1st graders.

How should we be teaching it?  Specifically the depth. I simply cannot teach all of U.S. History in one year.  It cannot be done.  So what do I leave out?  How in-depth do I go for any specific topic?  I find myself constantly picking and choosing the areas, usually based off of my own personal interests.  For example, I gloss over some of the political fights during the robber baron era of industrialization to spend some more time on the Progressive Reforms.  Can you guess which era I specialize in?  Every teacher, no matter what subject they teach, has to pick the depth for each topic.  It’s a no win situation.

What’s the solution to Scope and Sequence? Start from scratch.  Reorganize the entire system.  Now they (politicians) attempted to do this with State standards, but those are inconsistant and in some places wrong.  We need to put teachers together and let them decide what, when and how to teach all the subjects.  A sample proposed solution: teach English and Social Studies together weaving literature and writing with history.  Another sample solution: Cover the entire U.S. history timeline throughout elementary school, focusing on a time period each year, but overall generalizing it.  Once into middle school, teachers can slow down and focus more on specific topics, and start exploring the ambiguities within history, the tough issues.  Some schools do this, but the practice is so inconsistent I never know what is going to be taught or not be taught and when.

The system cannot be changed piecemeal.  I, as a single teacher, cannot fix the problem, but I bet wiping the slate and starting over could have the desired effect.  Then maybe my children will learn about the concept of Thanksgiving when its appropriate and learn the truth about the uneasy relationship between colonists and natives when they can handle it.  All without having them dress up and play a fairy tale.

P.S. I do like fairy tales, just not when they are taught as fact.

A major problem in education is poor communication between the various interested parties. What role are parents expected to play? How should financial supporters influence the process? What responsibilities are left to students? Which objectives do teachers give priority? What are the responsibilities of school administrators?

Now here’s the thing… if we ran our companies the way we run our schools, we’d all be in trouble. Despite inefficiencies in the system, American production per capita is one of the few things that is consistently still on top of international lists. Anybody familiar with the private sector understands the value of communication. Setting customer expectations. Understanding role expectations your boss has. Setting up matrix teams to solve “real-world” problems.

School administration: First and foremost, administrators need to set these expectations! I never once in over 20 years of school had an administration explicitly and concisely tell me what was expected of me or them. It doesn’t take more than a half-hour. Just sit down with your teachers, students and parents and quickly review what’s expected. The administration should be responsible for facilitating the communication between all parties; providing teachers with the resources and support necessary to accomplish their respective task (i.e., teach students); providing students and parents with a single point of contact for any contention beyond the scope of a teacher; etc. I think of school administrators as the producers. They provide the means. In the end, administrators have one task – set the stage so education can occur. It’s up to the teachers, students and parents to make it happen.

Teachers: If administrators are the producers, then teachers are the directors. They provide students with guidance, topics, tasks to practice, feedback, etc. Teachers need to be generalists. At least teachers need to have a broad background in any given topic (e.g., math, social science, etc.) and then be able to integrate that into other topics. Good teachers can leverage cross-talk between subjects to great advantage (more on this in future posts). It is not the teacher’s responsibility to make every student pass a test. Rather, the teacher is responsible for given the students the tools necessary to pass a test. The student is responsible for the results. So, teachers have one rather large task – guide students toward an education. It’s up to the parents and students to take the next step.

Parents: If administrators are producers and teachers are directors, then parents are the financial backers. They provide support for the students, but like any wise investor make sure everybody is on track. Parents are responsible for making sure students have the support network necessary for successfully reaching their individual education goals. They need to defer to the professionals (teachers and administrators) for specifics while helping keep their students on track. School administrators should regularly update parents on what is expected and those expectations should evolve over time. For instance, parents of first graders should be much more active in ensuring the students do their homework, receive additional assistance with rote memorization of spelling and math tables, etc. Parents of high school students should push responsibility of the grade back to the students. In other words, if a high school student fails a test, the parents should reemphasize the fact that it’s the student’s responsibility to study and seek assistance when necessary. It might seem a bit harsh, but we shouldn’t separate the “real world” from the “education world.” Doing so is a huge injustice to students. How many times does your boss tell you it’s alright you completely failed to do your job, because you forgot or didn’t understand the task and didn’t bother to ask for help? Better to learn the reality while still young and in an environment relatively forgiving like school. Parents have an ominous task – provide an evolving support network.

Students: Clearly the linchpin of the whole process, students are the actors. Students are ultimately responsible for acquiring the skills and education necessary to succeed in the world. In this case, I’m defining success as an ability to contribute more value to society than they consume. I’m not going to dive into the economic theory that would support this statement, but it does make sense… honest. Simply put, students need to show up and play the game. Education can only benefit the student if she recognizes the value and actively pursues it. Education should never be as simple as passing a test or getting a piece of paper. I have several pieces of paper from top tier universities… collecting dust in a closet. The paper doesn’t matter, it’s the education itself that has intrinsic value. Ultimately, students have the most difficult task – learn why and how to learn.

A wise man once said that showing up is 90% of success. We’ve certainly given good reason for that statement in education historically. I suggest it’s time to reevaluate the system and make participation 90% of success. Education is an interactive process, not passive. Just as marketers are slowly realizing that talking at people with advertisements isn’t nearly as successful as holding a conversation with customers; educators need to realize that talking at students isn’t nearly as productive as holding a conversation with all stakeholders – including parents and teachers. This can only occur when everybody involved understands their respective roles.

Next, making sure everybody stays on track and fulfills their roles. As in any organization, this boils down to incentives, empowerment and trust. None are easy to solve, but we’ll tackle them one at a time.

Does anyone else have those days when nothing seems to get done?  Well I have those days often.  Maybe it’s just the nature of teaching children (and yes, I am including seniors in high school in that children category) and maybe there is something more insidious going on.  Take today for example:  I had to remind my students that drinks other than water or food of any kind is not allowed in the classroom or hallways.  (By the way, that’s the school rule, not mine, I don’t really care as long as they pick up their trash)  The reminder led to a 10 minute argument/discussion about the validity of that rule.  All the students forget that I, the lowly teacher, do not make these rules, but alas they still attempted to convince me of the stupidity of the rule.  Then later, I had a student walk into study hall (at that moment the study hall kids were actually quiet and studying, there’s a first time for everything) and proceeded to loudly fart, ensuring that all the students stopped their work and dissolved into giggling.  As to the farting, I have a general rule that students who need to must step outside my room (I have an outdoor room, so outside my room is actually outside).  This was a large problem two years ago and so I implemented the rule.

Now what, you may ask, has this to do with education?  Well, somedays I feel like all common decency and respect has disappeared.  My parents would have been mortified if a teacher told them I repeatedly left food crumbs and wrappers on the class floor and farted loudly and on purpose.  Those kinds of behaviors were not tolerated in my house.  I was raised with a high level of respect to the people around me and the environment I was in.  I certainly act differently if I in the comfort and privacy of my own house versus a public event.  I don’t want to sound like my grandma, but “kids these days don’t have any respect.”  I have had students seriously ask me why it was not appropriate to fart in the class (“But it’s a natural bodily function”)  or why they couldn’t leave their candy bar wrapper on the floor (“Isn’t that why we pay the janitors?”).  I am trying to teach my own children (twin 6 year olds) etiquette and common decency, but see none of it among the students in my classroom.  Have their parents  dropped the ball on respect and decency or has the culture moved beyond the simple “Please,” “Thank you,” and “Sorrys.”

In my mind, I shouldn’t be teaching common decency at the high school level.  I should be teaching students how to think, investigate, question, plan, imagine, wonder, revise… but somedays that gets pushed to the side so I can remind them that…

No “Johnny”  farting in public is not funny or appropriate when I am teaching!

I am currently a high school social studies teacher and love my job…  There’s the disclaimer, now to my real thoughts of the topic of education.  Some days I find myself wondering why any teacher does their job. What is the purpose?  Some days I feel like a prison warden, just keeping the inmates from escaping or hurting others.  Other days I see little glimmers of hope for society.  But why do we do it?  Why do we deem it important, something that every child in America must endure for at least 12 years?  I’ve been comtemplating this lately and cannot find a good answer.  What is the purpose?  I used to think it was to give our children the skills they would need to survive and succeed in the world.  But when I look at what we actually do day to day in education, that cannot be the answer.  We don’t teach children to succeed, we teach them to be mediocre, to get the “right” answer and finish their worksheets on time.  I’m not putting myself on a higher pedestal than most, I’m guilty of this.  There are some days that I would rather just give my students a fill-in worksheet than really “teach.”  The education system as a whole does not operate anything like the “real world.”  We teach students to not ask questions, not think of any innovations, not strive for beyond the established curriculum, not think for themselves.  Don’t get me wrong, I have seen a few bright spots at all the schools I have been in, but overall we are drowning in a sea of standards and worksheets.  What are we trying to get out of education?  What is the ultimate goal? My answer — I don’t know.  Maybe we need to start with that question before talking about education reform and willy nilly passing laws and regulations.  Start with the end result and work backwards.  Now… on to the task of actually answering the question….

Tobe