This blog post could get me fired

Whenever I feel overwhelmed by my troubles as a teacher, I take comfort in knowing that I can write about it. I feel my blood pressure drop swiftly as I step back and try to behold the larger picture. Knowing that there are people at the other end- you- reading it, parts the clouds even further. 

So I was aghast when I received an email from our Florida Education Association president, Andy Ford, stating that our freedom of speech was no longer guaranteed. He was giving us advice about how to handle questions from parents wanting to opt out of state testing. In his email to teachers he stated, "Gagging teachers is one of the many direct and intended consequences of Senate Bill 736, the very first bill signed by Gov. Rick Scott. Teachers can no longer speak out in the best interest of students or for themselves. Teacher evaluations are affected and job security can be threatened if teachers do not implement current policies... even those widely recognized as educationally unsound. The most effective and highly effective annual contract teachers can be released for any reason or for no reason at all."

This floored me. I read SB 736 a couple times for an educational policy class and never remembered anything about teacher speech in this bill. Just to be sure, I reread it this morning over my banana chocolate chip pancakes and coffee. I know, super exciting Saturday for this teacher. 

I was correct in my memory. There is no mention of teacher speech in the bill. What our president was trying to say is that we are now incredibly more vulnerable when speaking up for students. This is because of the changes in employment policies and the elimination of tenure in SB 736. It is my understanding that while there are protections from being fired in the middle of the year, districts can let us go without any reason at the end of the year. This may have been the case for local Hillsborough County educator Michael Weston See Diane Ravitch's blog post "Should Teachers Have Freedom of Speech? Hillsborough County Florida Says No"  For younger teachers like me, hired after July 1, 2011, we can only receive an annual contract. From SB 736:

1012.335 Contracts with instructional personnel hired on or after July 1, 2011.—

(1) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term: (a)
(a) ―Annual contract means an employment contract for a
period of no longer than 1 school year which the district school board may choose to award or not award without cause.

My dear USF School Law professor taught me that I am protected if speaking "as a citizen as a matter of public concern". SB 736 says yes, but only for that year. At the end of the year, you may be dismissed without any reason. 

Please vote in our elections this November. Democracy is not a spectator sport. We need a governor who is willing to listen to educators. According to Florida Senate Bill 736, teachers do not have protection to speak up for students.

Let me teach

If I were a doctor taking care of patients and doing a solid job, wouldn't it be strange if another doctor came in and showed me how to do something I already knew how to do? If I were a car repair person, having success fixing those vehicles, how weird would it be if another mechanic dropped in to demonstrate a repair I was already doing? Yesterday, I had an employee from the district come to my class to model a lesson for me. She told me I could "just sit back" and "take notes". I was not asked if this was something I wanted. No one told me that I needed it. Apparently this is what happens if you are at a school with very low test stores. They send you well-meaning distractions.

Now don't get me wrong, I absolutely love observing teachers. I've gladly given countless planning periods to watch others' lessons. I just ask that I have some say in when, how, and why. If you're coming uninvited into our classroom, I ask that you wow me. Otherwise, we have work to do. Ain't nobody got time for that.

This resource teacher took 45 minutes from my class to model a phenomenally boring lesson about summarizing. A super important skill, practically indistinguishable from our recent lessons on paraphrasing, but the content was unrelated to our current focus. However, my students were troopers, and most of them made me proud. One sweet girl shyly pointed out that our district resource teacher was plagiarizing, as she was not putting things in her own words. I almost hugged her.

To come in and model a lesson about summarizing is to say that I am not teaching summarizing, that I don't know how to teach it, or that I'm not doing it well enough. I don't take it personally as an individual teacher, I'm just taking it personally as a member of a profession that feels disrespected. My students and I lost our momentum from our research about national parks and conversations about Martin Luther King, Jr. Instead, we had to put on the breaks for a district charade of helping our children. Our weekly staff newsletter states something to the effect of "district walkthroughs may occur at any time." I have had 4 guests from the district just this week. If those well-intentioned folks would instead come in and work with my students, read with them, write with them, mentor them, then perhaps we could actually make a difference for these incredible kids.

I must admit while I was watching this model lesson, I thought I might pull out our teacher evaluation rubric just for fun! Ya know, so I could see how to be a better teacher. Let's just look at a few highlights:

• 1a Demonstrating knowledge of content and pedagogy- Accomplished. The teacher knew how to model finding key words and main ideas in an article. While she did not put the writing in her own words, she was able to point out misconceptions about text coding to students.

• 1b Demonstrating knowledge of students- Progressing. Our poor guest teacher had two boys who absolutely shut down the moment she began. She made no effort to get to know my students. I suppose the district believes knowing that our school has very low test scores is all the knowledge they need. One of these boys had recently switched classes and is having some teacher trust issues. Another boy in ESE shut down most likely because he is a very low reader and could not keep up with our teacher's notes.

• 1c Setting instructional outcomes- Progressing. my students did not understand what they were supposed to do and I had to go over the instructions once she left. 

• 3d Using assessment in instruction- Requires action. When it was time for students to do the work, she got up and left. She gave me a sticky note with the outline of her modeling, which could be done by a robot. In fact, is this what this is all about? Am I being replaced by a computer? I asked her if she wanted a copy of the students performance task but she did not. 

• 3c Student engagement- Progressing. The thing I fight not to do every day, our literacy specialist from the district did- have a lesson where I talk and students just copy down my ideas. There was no thinking required.

Please don't misunderstand me. I have my bad days. I have my lessons that fall short. But I don't insist on modeling them to other teachers.

I don't mean this to be a griping session about teachers' egos. It's just that this mania to increase test scores has these unintended consequences of distractions and disconnect, of meaningless work in the name of test-prep. Later that day, when I actually got to execute the lessons I had planned, it was a different world. My students engaged in deep questions about Martin Luther King Jr.'s life and his role models. One group of 9 year olds were even dancing upon questions of justice and race. This was much more nourishing as a teacher to witness than students mimicking a teacher's notes. Compliance is not learning. Let me teach.

Teachers Gone Wild in Orlando!

When you think of young professionals escaping for the weekend in Orlando, you might think of a bunch of twenty somethings hitting up the bars and dancing the night away. Oh yeah, we got wild at the hotel bar. Comparing notes on our districts' science fair policies, disclosing our secrets for classroom management, and sharing strategies for survival on a teacher salary. My cohorts nursed various adult beverages while I indulged in a Häagen-Dazs ice cream cone from the nearby deli.

I recently got back from the first ever Young Educator conference in Orlando. Thirty of us from the I-4 corridor were brought together by the Florida Educator Association to have conversations about our unique questions and concerns as young teachers. I'm not too sure how distinct our concerns are from our veteran teachers but I do know it was fantastic to meet with other teachers my age. We were all in similar life stages having been just married, engaged, or having their first kid. Frankly, I wasn't really sure that I should even be there representing the 2,500 young educators in my county. I know I wasn't alone in that feeling but then they showed us this fantastic TED video about everyday leadership. Oftentimes, we think leadership is supposed to be something grand and reserved for the extraordinary people of this world: Ghandi, MLK, Mandela. This talk asks us to shift our understanding of leadership to something that we all possess without even knowing it.

TED Talk Everyday Leadership

 

I never thought too much about what being in the union meant until that weekend. I joined our union my second year of teaching because my "School Momma" recommended it. She emphasized that the union would have my back in case something bad happened. I've always thought of the union as merely some sort of insurance protection. I'm sort of ashamed to admit that now. Do CPA's or lawyers view their associations in the same way? I don't think so. I won't any longer. This shift happened for me when I heard everyone referring to the union as our association. Ah, it was like a light breaking through the clouds. Yes, that is what I want. Somehow, the shift from "union" to "association" lifted the politically-charged veil to legitimizing this professional organization. 

So what did we accomplish at this conference? I'm honestly not sure. I think that's okay. It's about what we're going to accomplish. We brainstormed ways to support our brand new teachers. It wasn't so long ago that we were there. We thought about ways to involve our communities. We lamented the inequities among our schools and yearned for similar notions of social justice. I'm so thankful that I had the opportunity to meet with so many wonderful teachers across our state. I know that we are stronger together.

STEM vs. STEAM

What kind of teacher has a saltwater tank and an electric keyboard in their room? What kind of teacher does math during language arts? A teacher who believes in STEAM, not STEM. Unless you're Amish, you are undoubtedly familiar with the latest buzzword in education: STEM. It stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. In fact, I teach at a STEM magnet school where we do a lot of cool, science-y things. For instance, just last week a NASA astronaut came and spoke to all of our sixth graders about his missions to the Russian space station. My fiancé, a marine biologist, did an amazing shark dissection they're still talking about. Heck, I even made solar powered cars with my kids!

Gov. Rick Scott is pushing hard for STEM education. He has even proposed reduced tuition for STEM majors. He believes STEM is where most of the job growth in Florida will be. But is this really the case? A recent article in the Miami-Dade cited a report from Change the Equation which stated "When healthcare was not counted, the report found Florida was one of six states with more unemployed STEM workers than available STEM jobs. Of those six states, Florida had the biggest oversupply of STEM workers." Indeed, my own brilliant fiancé is underemployed after graduating with his masters in molecular biology. Should we really be pushing STEM so hard?

Last week I went to a great panel discussion at MOSI about this very question. Community leaders gathered to debate whether STEM is enough. After all, what importance is a scientific discovery if no one can effectively communicate the information? For example, evolution has been accepted by 95% of scientists, but only 54% the general population. Maybe scientists need to pair up with film directors, photographers, and writers to really reach the public. Shouldn't we really be adding art and design to make it STEAM? At this discussion, it was gratifying to hear computer nerds and web gurus heralding the philosophy and art degree. These STEM employers argue they want to hire creators, innovators, communicators and problem solvers. They would rather hire someone with a philosophy degree who can think critically than someone with a calculus degree who can only do calculus. Indeed, the NASA astronaut who visited my school had to learn Russian to communicate on the space station. For that shark dissection? Students sketched and photographed their findings, creating a beautiful presentation poster for all the school to see. The solar powered cars? We had to learn how to communicate effectively to design and problem solve as a team. This is so essential to life. How do we take all of our gifts and use them for the betterment of all? How do we live well together?

The persistent question in the room seemed to be "What can we do to make sure our students are getting the education they need?" We want them to be prepared for jobs in this ever-changing world. How do we prepare them for jobs that do not even exist today? All in the room seemed to agree that we need more integration across all subjects. We need to take down the silos that say language arts department is here and math department is there. I loved the example of a science teacher and arts teacher that attended the discussion. They created a unit about pottery for their students which integrate art and science. Students studied the science of how clay is formed and fired, as well as the art of shaping and designing the clay. The science teacher pointed out that they are fortunate to have the time to plan and flexible scheduling to make it happen. I wish we had more time to collaborate on such projects, but it is challenging when the demand is on teachers and students to perform on standardized tests. As one of the panelists pointed out, we need less multiple choice tests and more tests with multiple answers.

This post has become even more apropos today as I scored a new job with a performing arts magnet school that I have been eyeing for a couple of years. Hopefully, I can use my full potential there. Please don't neglect the arts in our desire for world domination. The sciences are not some magical elixir, and the arts may actually be the key.

2009 Pew Research Study

Miami Dade "More Stem Degrees May not Equal more Jobs"

The grass is always greener

This summer I took an awesome trip to South Korea and Japan. I think it's true that one of the best parts of a trip is coming home. I felt a deeper understanding of what it is to be American. Let the patriotic music swell. This week, I came back to my classroom with a renewed sense of purpose and an appreciation for the importance of public schooling. These hallowed halls are where we lovingly brainwash our youth with our stories, our hopes, and values.

Many Americans look to countries like South Korea and Japan, throw up their hands in despair, and wail, "How are they doing so well? What are we doing wroooong?" Funny thing is, Asians are looking right back at us. We admire their discipline and high scores. They yearn for our creativity and innovation.

The Two Faces of Hagwons

I think one of the most poignant examples of our differences is South Korea's hagwons. Hagwons are for-profit academies, or cram schools, that students attend after their full day of public school. Think after school tutoring programs on steroids. In 2010, 74% of South Koreans participated in some sort of extra schooling, lengthening their school day from 8am to 10pm. There is immense societal pressure to perform well on college placement exams. In actuality, these exams turn out to be more like life-placement exams. Many point to this stress for the reason why South Korea and Japan boast the highest teen suicide rate. Things have gotten so out of hand that there is now a law that hagwons must shut down by 10pm. In fact, there are Seoul officers that raid non-compliant hagwons based on tips from neighborhood informants. See this article in TIME for more info Teacher, leave those kids alone 

A couple years ago, my good friend and college roommate got a job in South Korea teaching English. This summer, I stayed with her and had the privilege of seeing a hagwon for myself. The six elementary students I observed in my friend's classroom were having a grand ol' time learning and laughing in their English class. Would it be better if they had dinner with their families? More time to play soccer? Sure, but the fact is that the pressure to do well is very real, and hagwons offer that edge that students need to succeed in their country. But are they really learning the information? Or are they simply cramming facts to be forgotten after testing? The number of hours that Koreans are spending on education is not the reason why they outperform Americans.

Why are they outperforming us?

Let's encourage our friends and family to think twice before they disparage our country's education system for a lack of achievement on international standardized tests. The fact of the matter is, Americans have never done well on these tests since we first began participating in 1964. That year, we came in 11th place, out of 12 nations in math, yet went on to have the largest economy in the world. We continue to place in the lower quartile, but this does not reflect our achievement as a nation. When you compare our highest achieving students to similar students in other countries we compare very well. The reason we continue to place so low is that we have the highest child poverty rate of any advanced nation in the world. America comes in at a 25% child poverty rate.  Twenty-five percent! What brings our scores down is that we have to average in such large numbers of students who live in poverty, compared to Korea's 8%. If you are interested in finding out more, Diane Ravitch always says it better than anyone My View: Rhee is wrong and misinformed

If we really want to raise our scores, we must tackle child poverty. Not a popular political move. It's easier to blame the teachers.

*Fun Facts
1. It is perfectly acceptable to take naps at school. Last year, my friend was told by the school secretary she'd have to come back in a couple of hours as the assistant principal was sleeping.  
 2. Corporal punishment is still alive and well and I was surprised to learn my friend uses this. She doesn't abuse her students, but she does assign squats as punishment. They'll probably thank her later for their amazing quads.