New Athenian Academy

Part II of What High Schools Don’t Tell You breaks down subjects into categories.  Each category is then given a chapter to secrets.  Being a social studies teacher, I focused on the Humanities chapter.  The chapter included language, linguistics, literature, history, jurisprudence (law), philosophy, archeology, religion, and ethics.  I found three interesting secrets hidden among secrets #242-269.

Secret #250: Many top liberal arts colleges have classics departments, but students are rare.

Really?  That statement really surprises me.  Maybe because the field is so small.  But I feel like there are many interested students, but the colleges are very selective.

Secret #265: Open a book by a European author to stand out.

Thank goodness!  I did this.  I may not have a read many European authors, but I have at least read some.  I am a firm believer of being well read.  Students who are entering the humanities need to be well rounded.  Although I must say that Charles Dickens is definitely not my favorite.  But that’s okay, there’s a whole continent of authors to choose from.

Secret #266: Harvard option — list every book read in the last year.

I love this idea.  Students interested in the humanities need to be well read (wait didn’t I just say that?).  To make a record shows a college that you mean business.  You are committed to the rigors of college reading.  And you are an interesting person.  A list of books read can be a real insight into a student’s personality.  (It also works in dating.)  I think I’m actually going to start this now.  I’ll put it on my personal blog.  Feel free to comment and heckle my choices if you feel it’s necessary.

Secret #86: Create a team atmosphere with the faculty.

Secret #88: Be esepcially respectful of the teacher and administration time and labor.

THANK YOU!!!!!  I love these secrets!

I see education as a team effort with students, teachers, administrators, and parents as the players.  We should all work together to encourage, correct, guide, and generally love the students.  Unfortunately, many parents have a strange perspective when it comes to teachers.  We are not here to attend to parents’ and students’ every request and demand.  Most teachers are trying to look out for the student’s best interests, but many times that’s not how it’s viewed.  The choices we have to make are sometimes hard to swallow.  We need to work together to make those hard choices easy to accept.

With respect to the other secret, teachers are not superhuman.  We do have responsibilities other than teaching.  We often have our own families.  Sometimes we even have spouses.  On rare occasions, we even have outside commitments (you know like church, volunteering, helping other family members).  And once in a blue moon, we do like to have a little time to relax.  But you wouldn’t know it by the way some parents and students (and even some administrators) treat us.  Our time is valuable, just like every one else.  I don’t mind being asked to help a student or support my school.  I do mind having my time wasted or monopolized by one family.

Education is a journey with many travelers.  The only way to be successful is to work together.

Secret #59: Consider enrolling in college courses

This is another “secret” that I see both sides.  Really I think it comes down to individual students.

For some students, early college classes are a great idea–a way to get through some of the required classes and/or advance subjects.  I took a college psych class my senior of high school that counted as college credit.  It was great. I was beyond high school psych and needed something to fill out my schedule.  I loved the challenge.  A real college class, but with the support of my high school teachers if I needed it.  I learned a lot in that class.

On the other hand, college classes can be quite a shock to many high school students.  Most are not courses that cater to high school students, but real college classes.  Unless students are prepped on the procedures, atmosphere, and subject matter, college courses may not be the best idea.  I am just wary of advocating early college courses for all students.  If the student’s high school offers extra classes, AP courses, advanced courses, internships, etc, I would say take advantage of those first.

One point of caution: I have seen many high school students try to get ahead with their college classes by taking online college classes.  Unless the student is a self-starter, these are a very bad idea.  I have seen many a student fall flat on their face by not truly committing to these classes.

Secret #55: Public high schools are no longer the great grounds of academic and artistic experimentation.

On one level I agree with this statement.  With all the recent budget cuts, schools have been cutting their “extras” such as music and art.  Public schools have been pressured to standardize and regulate instead of experiment.  The federal government has pushed uniformity in schools.  All this does stifle creativity.  I lament the standardization of the schools to the detriment of finding the best system for each group of kids.  This is a serious problem.  One that needs to be addressed on national, state, and local levels.

However, I am sick of everyone placing a failing grade on all public schools.  There are systems and individual schools out there that embrace creativity and experimentation.  I have been a few schools that value change and new ideas.  I have seen teachers embrace the “new” even if it endangers their job in that system.  I have seen it.  If I’ve seen a few in my limited travels, I am sure there are many out there.

Instead of staying away from public schools, I think parents should take a look at what is offered in their area.  You might have a great public school right next door or the best choice might be a private school.  On a larger scale, we all need to put pressure on law makers to not take away the good from the public schools–retain the programs, hire the interesting teachers, embrace the new.  A combination effort is the only thing that will save our public school systems.  Don’t write them off as a parent, but definitely do your research.

Secret #68: Never assume that the menu of clubs is limited to what already exists.

Now this is a secret that I can get behind.  Extracurriculars are very important.  Every student should choose at least one or two things to do through the school.

That was my mom’s rule when I started high school.  She wanted me to join the marching band, but that was just not me.  Instead I joined the drama department.  I built sets, organized props, helped with costuming all four years and every summer.  I loved it!  I was also a part of Key Club (through Kiwanis) and VIP Club; both of which were service clubs.  I was always busy.  Plus I worked at the local grocery store and went out to have fun with my friends.  I had enough extracurriculars to round out my college applications.  I didn’t over extend myself nor did I do nothing.  I had a healthy level of commitments.

Students should show their interests through the extracurriculars.  And if they don’t find something in the club catalog, ask if you can start one.  Usually all a club needs is a written proposal (something short, but with the relevant information) and a sponsor.  Pick an interest, ask students if they would be interested, and then find a teacher willing.  The student then gets a club they can really latch onto.  As an added bonus, starting a club shows initiative.  Colleges love self starters.

I like this secret.  It’s simple but to the point.

Secret #19: Use summers.

Secret #39-44: Take summer courses.

Secret #48: Summer Vacations should reinforce your child’s summer learning.

Wissner-Gross has a whole section about what to do with summers.  I must say I was slightly taken aback.  However after a little more thought, I can see what she’s getting at.  It may just take some rearranging of my thought process to get there.  So here goes…

I agree –

Summers can be a great opportunity to further a child’s education.  I thoroughly enjoyed going to summer camps and special events.  I loved that every time my family and I went on vacation, we visited museums or historical sites.  I read constantly, even developing a reading list for my yourself during the high school years.  I spent a lot of time at the library learning about new and some beloved topics.  I used my summers to further my education without me ever really thinking about it.  Even if a family cannot afford to send a child to summer camp, there are plenty of free opportunities out there to engage the student throughout the break.  Summer is a great time to explore new areas of study or interest.  I agree Wissner-Gross that summers need to be taken advantage of… but…

I disagree –

Summers do not need to be completely structured.  There is something to be said for the serendipitous nature of discovery.  I don’t think I would have gotten hooked onto many topics without the “discovery” of them in the stacks at the library.  Wissner-Gross takes five secrets to explain why taking summer enrichment classes and keeping a weekly schedule is important.  I am a bit more flexible when it comes to schedules.  I don’t want to stifle creativity or relaxation by having a constant schedule.  Planning out every week, even every day, is a bit much.  I worry that we may push students to far.  What about their childhood?  What about their unstructured play with friends?  What about going on vacation and laying on the beach?  Those are all things that I don’t want to lose in planning out an entire summer focused on furthering education goals.

I am wary of following her secrets to the tee, but will definitely keep that in mind.

I am starting another series.  This time I picked up What High Schools Don’t Tell You (And Other Parents Don’t Want You to Know) by Elizabeth Wissner.  Basically Wissner lays out 309 “secrets” she has compiled from her work as an educational strategist.  Wissner asserts that by following her plan, any child can have success in high school and then college.  Many of the “secrets” brought up interesting ideas/problems.

And so I start my new series with Secret #1: Interacting with kids by developing a solid strategy for success will almost guarantee college admissions.

Wow!  It’s such a new idea!  I can’t believe no one’s has every mentioned this before… Oh wait!  Everyone has, but I think it’s a good reminder.  Parents need to be involved in their child’s life.  They need to be there to help suggest, guide, correct.

I have seen first hand what can happen to kids when their parents help them and when they don’t.  I had many students who were self-starters.  They did everything asked of them.  They were responsible with their time and work.  But that’s not the majority of the students out there.  Most need a little prodding.  Many have never really thought about what they want to be when they grow up.  Sure, if you ask them, they’ll say something like “doctor” or “astronaut,” but most have not really thought about all the steps they need to take to get there.

That’s where parents can help.  Just the simple act of looking over class schedules and discussing which class to choose and why can make a huge impact.  I remember getting ready to enter high school.  The guidance counselors cam to my 8th grade English class to present the class offerings and suggest which ones to sign up for.  I knew I was expected to go to college.  I even knew what I wanted to be: a teacher.  So I listened to the counselors suggestions and then took the paper home with me.  When I got home, I showed it to my mom.  We sat down after dinner and went through all the offerings.  We decided what the best schedule was to get all my required classes, but also some interesting electives.  And there it was… a completed schedule for my freshman year.  But that’s not all, we also looked at the offerings for all four years.  We mapped out a tentative 4-year plan.  I choose what I wanted to focus on in high school while still in middle school.  We had a plan and we mostly stuck to it.  When February of my senior year rolled around, I was accepted to the two colleges I applied to.  I knew my plan, I followed through with my plan, and I got into college.

And I would have never done it without the guidance and support of my parents.  I think we need to remind parents of their duties.  It’s not just up to the student.  Parent effort goes a long way for the future success of a student.  I just wish every parent realized this…

Education is the transmission of civilization. — Will Durant

What is citizenship?  What does it mean to be an American?  What should we teach to students about being an American?  How do we approach these very complicated topics?

Being a high school social studies teacher, these questions come up a lot.  I constantly wonder what I should or should not be teaching with respect to our country.

What I Want to Teach

We live in a great country.  America offers so many opportunities for its citizens.  While the country has not always made the right choices (e.g. treatment of native americans in the 1870s), we have the opportunity to make our country’s future better.  We are allowed to participate, voice our opinion, run for office.  We should take advantage of those activities.  In fact, we need to take advantage lest those freedoms are taken away from us due to apathy.  We need to pay attention to current events.  We need to recognize our similarities to others, but respect our differences.  We need to constantly be connecting to one another and furthering the conversations about what we want in the future.  Whoever the president is, we need to respect that person as the leader of the country.  We need to try and connect with those that do not share our political opinions.  We need to gain a basic knowledge of government structures and the history of our country.  We need to be proud to be American, but not arrogant in our attitude.

What I Feel Pressured to Teach/or Not Teach

America is the best country in the world, hands down.  Any who disagree with that statement are imbeciles and terrorists.  If you are not (insert political affiliation depending on school or setting), you need to see the error of your ways.  To do that, I will tell you that you are wrong in everything you believe in. Anyone who is not like me is not a “true American.” Our system runs itself, we don’t need to be an active cog in the machine.  We have a pure democracy.  America will always be “Number 1″ and that’s the way it should be.

…

I love teaching citizenship, but only if I get to teach citizenship.  I want to challenge my students to think about what it means to be an American, what part we play in the system, what responsibilities come along with our freedoms.  I want my students to view the government as an entity in which we, the citizens, can mold and shape our country to be the best it can be.  That doesn’t mean being hte best at everything, but the best we can be.

Have you read citizenship textbooks lately?  You don’t have to, I’ll tell you what they’re like.  They’re boring and misleading.  They focus on the structure of our government without any real discussions.  They are so objective, they’re worthless.  Government and citizenship are not objective, they are subjective and that’s kind of the point.  The evolution of nationality and identity needs to continue.  You wouldn’t know it by the static way textbooks describe America.

Maybe that’s what I should do next — write my own citizenship textbook wth egnaging questions, activites, and discussions.  Now if only i can find the time…

At my last school we had a serious problem with attendance… not that every school doesn’t, but ours was annoying.

When hired, I was told by many friends and colleagues that private schools have much better attendance because parents are much more involved.  I hate to say this, but my experience has shown this to be completely untrue.  Private schools have the same attendance problems as public schools and I dare say the same parent problems.

The entire time at the school, the attendance policy bugged the crap out of me.  Why couldn’t we get it right?  There are so many components to this problem, but I thought today I would take a stab at at least discussing some of the components.  I’m using the local public school system as a reference, but have also done random reference searches for various systems across the country.

*Disclaimer: I am working under the assumption that the compulsory attendance laws will still be in effect.  My bf and I had a huge discussion about the merits of those laws.  He would like to see high school attendance and classes treated more like college–the grade consisting of a couple of papers, a midterm, and a final.  I am not sure whether I want to go that far.  The arguments for and against changing that system are separate issues.  For the purposes of this post, I am going to completely ignore that side of the discussion.

Let’s break the discussion down into a few parts:

General Absences

Most schools have a written policy about the attendance, including how many days, excused versus unexcused, consequences, procedures for absences, make-up work policies, and tardies.  My school had one of these.  I’m not sure anyone followed anything written, but it was there, in the parent-student handbook, the faculty handbook, the webpage, all over the office.  One of the biggest issues with attendance policies is enforcement.  In a broad sense, I don’t care what your rules are as long as you follow and enforce them.  I don’t see why anyone would take the time to develop a policy and then let it sit there.

Excused/Unexcused Absences

What are excused absences versus unexcused absences?  How are they treated differently?  In a general sense, sickness, field trips, college visits (2 a year for juniors and seniors), family deaths, weather related, etc count as excused.  Being absent because you don’t feel like coming to school would be unexcused.  Excused absences that exceed a magic number must have a petition on file to still be considered excused. For example, students with chronic illnesses need a doctor’s note to still be considered excused.  For unexcused, there is a magic number that when exceeded should lead to consequences.  Our local’s number is 9.  Once reached, students are referred to the YMCA’s Status Offender Court Alternative Program.  The program is not unique to the area, but most systems work with the city government or organizations like the YMCA to offer alternative schooling options or at least consequences to excessive absences.  Again, if we take the time to write out a policy, then please enforce it.

Tardies

What about tardies?  This is really where my former school failed.  Students would constantly trickle into throughout 1st period.  Sure, they stopped by the office to get an admittance slip, but that’s all that happened–no consequences, no discussions, nothing at all.  And the students would expect me to not be upset and disrupt my teaching to make sure they got the missed assignments and such.  Um… no.  It’s not my problem or any teacher’s problem that you couldn’t get out of bed in the morning.  Many of the policies I read stated that “___ tardies = an unexcused absence” but no discussion on consequences on each tardy.  I did find one school system from North Carolina that states students must make up every hour of class they missed after school to get credit.  Otherwise, I assume they forfeited any credit and grades given during the missed time.  Interesting approach.  Very time consuming for the school to set up, but at least it makes students responsible for their missed time.

Make-up Work

Whether students are tardy, absent unexcused, or absent excused, there is the issue of make up work.  I completely agree with mostly every school system when they state that it’s the student’s responsibility to obtain make up work, but what really happens?  I will tell you what happens, students come back and nothing.  They don’t ask, they don’t check the trays (where I put all the missed assignments every day), they don’t check the website (that I update daily with assignments and activities).  Nothing happens until the next time they receive a progress report and freak out about the “0″s listed.  I tell all my students at the beginning of the year that it’s their responsibility to contact me about make up work.  But they don’t and then the parents, students, and admin seem to think that it’s the teacher’s fault.  I say no!  We all need to be very thorough with placing the responsibility back into the student.  If not, we are just catering to their irresponsibility.

Credit for Classes

With any time out of class, the subject of credit must come to mind.  How often do students need to be present to gain credit for their classes?  Of course, we’re specifically talking about high school courses, but it’s still a big issue.  My local system seems to be silent on the topic.  I couldn’t find any specific statement relating to credit and time.  A New York  system states that students must attend at least 85% of any class to receive credit.  Some other systems gave similar statements with specific percentages and even how many specific days.

Conclusion

I don’t really have a conclusion other than we need to reevaluate our attendance policies.  And then once a policy is made, please stick to it and follow through, consequences and all.

Can you use fiction to teach a curriculum unit about a factual subject?  Can it be done without compromising the academic content?  Can it be done artfully without becoming “fun time”?  How do you do this, really?

My twin boys are in 2nd grade.  Last year we started to read chapter books before bed.  And when I say “we” I mean I read them a chapter from a chapter book before bed.  We began with the Percy Jackson series.  My boys have had little contact with Greek mythology, but they really got into the books.  One of the boys constantly asks who each character is (What god are they? What are they god of?) before the text reveals that information.  He seems fascinated by the monsters and the places referred to.  He has a real interest in Greek mythology.  So I decided to get a few mythology books for him to read on his own.  He’s really enjoying it.

After sharing my boys’ enjoyment of the series with some friends, I started to hear about schools and classes using the books to introduce Greek mythology to students.  It got me wondering about how a teacher can do this.

*Disclaimer: I am a high school social studies teacher.  I routinely refer to fiction works to draw comparisons to the historical events we are studying, but always point out the “fiction” parts.  I don’t use fiction as the primarily vehicle for teaching students about factual events.

Pros

Often times fictionalized accounts are much more exciting.  They can add elements to suspense or the characters.  They are relatable.  My boys are relating to Percy Jackson and therefore beginning to understand his struggles being a half-blood, stuck between two worlds.  And in the process they are also picking up culture and Greek mythology.

Fiction accounts allow teachers to integrate their literature units and history units.  In high school, I took a combined American literature/U.S. history class.  Reading the books during the time period setting made much more sense.  I “got” The Great Gatsby as I never would by reading the book by itself.  I picked up on the allusions, the symbolism, the historical references.  This same idea can be applied all the way down to PK.

Cons

One big con for this — Knowledge.  For the idea to work, the teacher needs to have a good understanding of which parts in the fiction are true to history and which parts are pure fiction.  This takes a large knowledge base, but it’s not insurmountable.  It just takes a little preparation.  High school teachers take content classes.  Elementary teachers often take “How to teach elementary ____” classes.  These may or may not actually include a lot of content.  Perhaps a restructuring of education classes would offer teachers a better understanding of the subject matter.  Then they could employ fiction to engage students in the academic topic.

I’m loving this idea.  We should explore this more.