Call of the Wild!

Oh, I do love the wonderful freedom of summer, Spot! No alarm clock, no schedule to think about, I have no plans for the days...just doing my own thing.

The other day I wandered into Target to pick up a few things for my home. I came across a guy wearing a Derek Jeter tee shirt named Jimmy. Jimmy was walking and whining, and walking and whining. And for some reason, he seemed to be everywhere in the store that I was. Jeesh. The whining soon became crying, and then I heard his mama say, "That's enough, Jimmy. Your daddy would be so ashamed of you." Well, that had only one effect...escalated the behavior. You see, Spot? Mom was already feeding into it. Jimmy didn't care about his dad's shame. His dad was nowhere in sight. He just wanted to get his mother's attention. Now he had her. He was bawling, walking along following her, on occasion hitting her too, and moaning at the top of his lungs. Apparently, he wanted some ball that he'd found as they moved around in the store.

Next, I hear her say, "Look, Jimmy...forget the ball, how 'bout some Woody sheets for the bed?"

Way to go, Mom. Bargaining. Bargaining is the worst strategy of all. Because now? He has an opportunity to make a decision...so, of course, he's holding the power. I moved out of the sheets and towels and tried to get on with my shopping. Over in the seasonal aisle, I can hear Jimmy screaming at his mother, "Don't you dare put another thing in that cart! If I can't have my ball, you can't have anything either!" I'm starting to scream now too...but of course, only inside my head. Mom's response, "I have the money, so I can have whatever I want. I'm the mommy you know."

Jeesh. The MOMMY. I wanted to ask Jimmy what he thought Derek Jeter might think about his behavior. But most of all, I wanted to tell the MOMMY to just have the guts to take a stand. She had no stratagies for dealing with Jimmy and really no clue about parenting at all.

Seeing kids who would be otherwise under control in the classroom out living in the wild is a scary thing sometimes, Spot. I remember having a wild child or two of my own. But taming that wild child will make him a whole lot happier. What happened to the simple approach, "The answer is NO." Followed by a systematic ignoring of behavior that is not only inappropriate, but harmful to Jimmy's future well-being. Jimmy's a walking bag of misery and a future work in progress for that poor teacher who will be responsible for him in the fall.

Boy did I love walking away though, Spot, getting back to my shopping and remembering the best thing about my job. Yup...summer! If I could fill my cart with summer, I'd never need anything else at all! (Hope you're having fun too, Spot! You're such a good little dog!)

Where are you, Spot?

Hey, there, buddy! 183 days, countless moments immersed in conversation, lessons, one-on-one and small group conferencing, and sweet little moments of drama and crisis...and then--you're gone! And I may never see you again. Breaks my heart!

How do you get to be so close to a group of students...and then suddenly let them go?! It's a hard thing to reconcile, that's for sure. But it's the major benny of the job, from my point of view. Summers off? Well, that is a huge benefit. But...it's the deep bond that I've had with my kids that keeps the passion alive in me.

I hate saying good-bye. Last week, we all stood quietly waiting while the last announcement blurred over the loudspeaker. Then we noticed him...Jeeves, at the back of the room with the hiccups, green cap pulled down over his eyes to hide his tears. One kid called out his name, and then we all started crying! This was the very first time this happened to me. Kids get emotional every year, laughing and crying is a part of it all. But usually we burst out that door together, ready to leap toward summer and what that means to us all.

This year was so different. I was twirled around and passed from one kid to the next, feeling like a worn-out sock by the time they were done with me. And now? My kids, their faces and the memories still float around in my brain. Like a familiar song, I just can't shake them out of my head. I'm actually glad about that, though. I'm savoring before I let go. Looking over old pictures, journaling a little too.

Many people comment on how good we teachers have it. Summers off, killer benefits...and the huge salaries. Well, I couldn't agree with them more. I need the next seven weeks to restore my emotional gas tank, to savor the benefits of those old bonds and make room for the new ones that will surely follow...and the salaries? Well, I'm livin' large for 183 days! I have lots of promises for return visits from last year's students, and that will someday that might really pay off. So, yup...best job in the world, and overpaid all the way! Rock on, summer of 2010! Oh, how I've missed you.

The PrinciPAL

Oh Spot! I know I've been away for far too long. I've been teaching! All right...well, sort of. Mostly, I've been trying to keep my eye on the blossoming boy-girl relationships that I'd like to pretend really don't exist at all. Can curricula and romance actually exist together in one brain?

Today's topic, Spot, is who's the boss? I know, in my classroom...I AM, mister, and don't you even think about challenging that! But I'm also responsible to my own boss, Spot. And believe me, I've had more than a few.

In real world? Teachers are often the kings and queens of their own domain. Sure we team, and talk, compare notes and data, etc. But...the bottom line is, I really am large and in charge, especially once the door is closed.

Last year, my dream principal retired. I was very sad about that. We danced into the wee hours at her party, spinning and twirling and everyone singing along. This year? Another dream principal friend of mine is retiring. Parents love her. She's a tough, full-spirited boss, who keeps her thumb on the pulse all the time. Some, love that. Others, especially those who felt the heat, did not appreciate that. I never really felt the heat. We did have a few 'testy' meetings behind closed doors in her office, though. (Yes, I did get called in for...well, a difference of opinion, now and then.)

I knew what she was up to. In our hearts, it was always about the kids. We battled over the true definition of the word 'instruction' and what really helps kids to learn. If she felt she was right (always!), she'd never let me off the hook at all. She was like that big hefty wrestler holding down the little guy on the mat. Sometimes, we'd actually agree to disagree.

I know I was a bit of a pain, Spot. As you know, I've always had more than a few opinons when it comes to teaching and kids. She always heard me out, though. And that, for sure, meant a lot.

I left my old principal and that sweet little school long ago. I found myself with a new bunch of older, more able student writers, and that is really what drew me away. But now? Time and distance has given me a greater vantage point. I realize how important that thumb on the pulse really was. Kids need to learn. We need to know that the goals we set are reasonable and well-managed. And I have to say, I learned that all with her.

So now that she's not my boss, she'll always be a well-respected friend. Teaching, like life, is a very human business. We spend our tenure working hard, thinking and breathing around kids, we can even agree to disagree, but in the end, it's the memories, the kids, and the valiant fight...to make little puppies like you into true citizens of this wonderful world...it's our legacy. And the legacy unites us all.

Go Blue!

High Standards! Try that one on for size, Spot. You look beautiful with that big smile and that gorgeous blue ribbon dangling down the front of you. You're one brilliant doggie, Spot. I'm so proud of you!

Instead of blue ribbons, though, our schools have been bogged down in UNFUNDED MANDATES from the previous administration's No Child Left Behind debacle. (Download it, and tuck it under your pillow, you'll be asleep in ten seconds for sure!)

On top of that, we have the IDEA program, designed to maintain students in an environment that will best serve their special needs while promoting their learning without creating a label to do it. Careful testing and retesting, datakeeping and monitoring are required here in order to make this program work. In Connecticut, we call it SRBI or "serbie"...Scientific Research-based Intervention.

As an example, Spot? Today...I was off revamping a systematic schoolwide approach to handling student behavior. This in itself would be something our teachers could do on their own, given some good orderly direction and an initiative from our own in-district leadership. Instead, we're forced to employ the services of SERC, the State Education Resource Center, paying an enormous sum for 6 days this year, and then 6 more for the next two years, of inservicing in the area of behavior. Behavior! Substitute teachers=about $4,000, the cost of the inservicing...well, that is unknown to me. But. Every town in the state of CT must go through this process. And, every town in the state must pay for it themselves.

In light of all this, the previous Republican administration that touts the trouble of big-government has actually stuck their very big hand in our pot, and is now raking in the dough, squeezing it right out of our small home-grown school districts. When we go to the voting booth these days? Our citizenry is at each other's throats over the little nitty gritty pieces of class-sizes, gym teachers (Forget childhood obesity, Mrs. Obama...we know you're right, but that makes too much sense!), pencils, paper, paper clips, etc. The townspeople are looking at the schools as the big ugly elephant stuck in the middle of their towns.

But in reality? Our schools really would just love to work toward the positive...that little blue ribbon! Get rid of your programs, and let us get back to the business of working toward a standard that all children can and will achieve. Give us mucho bucks and incentives for winning that big blue sucker! And you know what? We'll rise to the occasion without all these ridiculously expensive initiatives that no one in their right mind would fund even IF they could. Just give the dog a bone, right Spot?! You knew it all along!

Spot: Tell everyone you know! Join us at NHS, 7 PM and wear blue! We're going for the blue in our hometown of Newtown. And...with or without the money, we'll just have to show them all!

What say ye, parents, friends and countrymen/women?

The Future of our Democracy: Education!

Are you really spying on me, Spot? You have got to have more going on in your life than that. Really! It's vacation week.

I have been thinking about you too, though. And...I've been thinking a lot about the troubles in this world too. You see, I'm here in a place where people grumble a lot. And...they like to blame a lot on top of all that grumbling. I've heard it, sitting around the pool down here in this little vacation resort of mine.

Taxes? Well, the perception of these people down here, is that they have more taxation without representation. The truth? Have they looked at their tax bills? No. If they did, they'd see that the middle class is looking to make some gains for a change. The upper class...in the 250Ks are having a turn though. Guess that makes for grumbles.

A LOT of grumbling about the idea that not everybody needs to be pulled up by their bootstraps in our society. Hmmmm. Not everybody? Well, where do we draw the line? Good education will pull everyone up. Is that not a basic right of our society? And okay, healthcare. Do these people not know that they HAVE been paying for all the people that don't have insurance all along? These are the things that all the hidden costs are made of. The health insurance business is a very crafty machine.

Oh, Spot...I sit here and watch my Mets with great hope and worry too. But just like my Mets, the United States has a magic about it that always seems to find a way to rise above it all. The answer here is a large dose of EDUCATION to combat all this misinformation. I'll be racing home to you soon, Spot. I have a few more weeks to get you reading...and thinking and forging ahead. Your generation will change it all. But I hope I don't have to wait that long!

Sharpening their Pencils!

Well, everyone, they're off to the races. It's all about who can outsharpen whom! Lots of people making lots of pointed remarks about kids and dollars, and all the ways they can be served if we just reign in that almighty dollar.

Meanwhile, back at the farm...I mean, school room, we have kids to educate. So, once again, they're getting ready to make cuts, and once again, I've allowed myself to get side-tracked. No one ever asks the teachers for their ideas, so why do I even allow myself to get so far off the beam and into that political arena. My town, it seems, has an endless array of boards with pockets hanging out all over the place. I just don't get why one side of the budget can take it all, and the schools can be left hanging. What, I ask you, brings in the best value for the property value in the long run? Well...it's certainly not the roads department. I give up.

Today, kids in the classroom were working on laptops, composing stories and collaborating to put them into power points to present them...just like the African gogo does. On the other side of the wall, kids were belting out Broadway, literally! They've made up songs to go along with their understanding of weather and how it affects our globe. Some of the funniest singing you'd ever want to hear, by the way. Gotta love that 12 year old boy falsetto. They didn't care! They were proud as punch of their new-found talents. So now? We'll have a little American Idol. Why not? Storytelling, songwriting, conceptual understanding...that is what education is all about. And that, my dear Spot...I can deliver--for a song!

Budget Chopping

Today, I'm leaving you right out of the conversation, Spot. I can't deal with little ears, when the big pitchers are throwing around such ill-aimed fast balls. And that is just what they are. FAST BALLS with no aim toward the future. Just the almighty dollar in mind. Efficiency without foresight is a bust. Can't they see that?

Last night, our town's BOE threw around an idea. Well, certainly they have that right, that's what we hope they'll do. Toss around, brainstorm, come up with solutions. The bottom line is always the number of teaching positions. But really? That is the quick route to final disaster.

Protecting the classroom should always be the bottom line. The spotlight should be shined on all non-academic line items right from the start.

Our young students now have the luxury of going from kindergarten to fourth grade without a disruption. Those of us that have taught those years know how critical they are for not only the learning curve, but the social groundwork that will lead to their future.

We live in a town that is 63 square miles, one of the largest in the state of CT. It takes an eternity to move from one side of town to the other. When my kids were little, it often took up to 35 minutes to get to some of their friends' houses. I always thought they chose their friends according to where they lived and how much they could torture me!

But now? I think about these new ideas and I think about the poor moms that have to deal with a split...perhaps having a first, third and fifth grader in three different schools. Has anyone considered the transitional preparations that will have to occur to help kids and families adjust to the new people and places they'll face? And what about the disruption to the flow of instruction that is sure to follow? When little ones are in one school, feel secure in that place...why not leave it and let them learn? If it ain't broke to begin with, do we really need to shatter it all at one time?

Well, I am one tax-paying voice, and haven't found much success in making my ideas known. After all, I'm just a teacher, what would I know? When you talk about your budget at home, I'm sure you don't invite your kids to the table. Imagine that conversation, "Sorry...we have to cut Johnny's extra snacks, and no birthday parties for Sally this weekend." Or better still..."Even though Sally is invited to Greta's birthday party, we're going to redistrict that and send Sally to the same party as Johnny. That way, we can cut that extra present out, and Sally and Johnny will bring just one gift to one friend instead." You'd never want Sally and Johnny to have their say in that.

So...I guess everything is just as it should be. I'll sit home, expect the worst, and anything better than that will just make my day!