Perspective in Schools

Here's a quick observation from my current position which is district wide: 

Some elementary staff exaggerate the seriousness of certain behaviors.  Their perspective is working with students from 5 to 10 years old and I've noticed they think that misbehavior is more serious than what it is.  They love children and when they don't act in a lovable manner, they jump to an extreme view of what that behavior means.  I find myself saying "really?" and thinking "relax!".

On  the other end of the spectrum, high school teachers tend to forget that students that are 14-18 still need nurturing and compassion.  They can be quick to assume that a student is being manipulative or intentionally disrespectful which justifies their terse and condescending tone.

So I guess that makes those who teach students in the middle grades just right!   Haha! well my mother might chuckle at that conclusion, but it is an interesting mix of teaching styles: this can lead to a nice balance or in the hands of a weak leader, staff dissention.  Many think that those who teach middle school kids are just crazy, but it's transition time from the nurturers to the time to get serious about your life bunch which can be an exciting time when handled with care.

My Three C's

I've got three words for tonight: CREATIVITY, COMPASSION and CONSTRUCTIVE.

I've had these words on my mind for a few days now.  I spend a lot of time in meetings about at risk children.  These can easily drop into the pointless chatter of what's wrong with this behavior or that behavior or what's wrong with their parents. 

I'm on a Campaign for the 3 C's.  Can we create a new strategy? 
Keep our compassion for children on the front burner and
be constructive.

We educators must resist the mind-numbing conversations that permeate the teacher's lounge -
we invigorate ourselves when we access our creativity and if that creativity is on behalf of children, then all the better.  Make constructive choices that build something and if we're building on our compassion for children, then all the better.

We can do better than giving into negativity, punishments and manipulating the young minds of today -
have a 3 C day!

Gay Teachers

Kilian Melloy writer for Boston's Online Edge:
Republican Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina in an Oct. 1 address at the Greater Freedom Rally, which took place at First Baptist North Spartanburg, a church in the South Carolina city of Spartanburg.



DeMint told rally participants that he would work to bring more conservatives into government in order to "take our country back"--and deny gays the right to be in certain professions, such as teaching school. The senator also said that unmarried, sexually active women should be barred from the teaching profession, but he did not place any such restrictions on unmarried heterosexual men. DeMint’s comments were reported in an Oct. 2 article at GoUpstate.com
 
Oy - I'll go back to my last post when I urged administrators to cut poor teachers lose.  I can't imagine singling out a person's sexual preference as the reason for termination.  With all the issues we need to resolve why would anyone give this homophobic view any traction? 
 
I know dozens of good and great teachers who are gay.  Their sexual preference doesn't make them a better teacher and it certainly isn't grounds for being run out of the profession.  Please - let's focus on whether they can teacher or not! 

Fire Poor Educators - An Act of Kindness

The obvious winners when we rid our schools of ineffective and/or unmotivated educators are children.  At whatever age you are now, think about spending 200 days in a square box sitting at a small desk doing endless worksheets, listening to rules, watching hours of your life slip away.  Students unlucky enough to get weak teachers not only learn less, they spend more time home "feeling sick" raising the absence rate and sitting outside the Principal's office raising time off task while sitting in detention rooms.  An elementary child spends five to seven hours a day with one teacher; a middle school or high school teacher perhaps only an hour, but they may have a hundred to two hundred students per day.

When administrators do their job and weed out the poor teachers they improve all involved three fold:

1) Replace poor teachers with great, or even good ones and the whole environment improves.  When an administrator shifts the quality of one position an entire department can function at a higher level.  Teachers must participate in department meetings, faculty meetings and curriculum team meetings, so please let it be with colleagues who give a damn.  Does the teacher contribute to the dialogue or merely vent about how lazy students are these days?

2) It really goes without saying that spending a year with a great, or even a good teacher, will be a positive experience for students as opposed to hundreds of hours with a poor or unmotivated teacher.  A long, slow year can turn a child off from their intellectual growth forever while a great teacher may motivate a child for life. 

3) Last and often overlooked is the benefit to the teacher being removed.  When an administrator recognizes the wrong person in the wrong profession, he/she actually does the employee a favor.  (Note: of course this is after attempts to improve a teacher's performance, if in fact they want to improve.)  Once a poor teacher is let go, they are free to find a career that fits their talents; one that allows for them to be excited, motivated and ultimately happy.

So the gifts abound when an administrator takes on the admittedly difficult task of letting a teacher go.  The problem I have with this "hard" task is that we (educators) are all too often willing to subject hundreds of students to a poor teacher, but feel uncomfortable about letting one go.   Remember while you're thinking how you can't fire Janet because she goes to your church or Allen 'cause he's in your fantasy football league, a poor teacher is thinking things like:
>  "I just teach so I can have my summer's off".
> "I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, so I decided to teach"
> "I can't stand that kid"
. . . and one of my personal favorites:
> "He's never going to graduate, I'm wasting my time."

I'm not anti teacher, anti education or anti teacher unions.   I am very pro teacher: I love motivated, competent teachers willing to learn for life and with the heart to care for every student regardless of their background.  I am pro public education.  I want every student to have access to a great education that can lift a life profoundly sometimes in unpredictable ways.  I am pro union - they give teachers a voice in a society that values the biggest and best funded voices.  I am anti unions saving burned out or incompetent teachers.

Above all else, I am pro child.  I aspire to see our children have access to enthusiastic, well prepared educators.  In a perfect world, people who don't really care about children and won't do the work necessary to inspire would choose a different profession.  Since a few will slip through and settle lifelessly into a classroom near you, I hope you have an administrator with courage - one who will not turn away essentially breeding complacency and negativity in a school.

When educators demand excellence of each other; when parents of even our poorest children expect experts in the field of education, when the educational leaders of our schools hire, nurture and keep the best of the best, then all children will have a chance to blossom in the garden without weeds - then we'll have an educational system we can be proud of.

PS - Superintendents, get rid of poor administrators; they poison the pool at an alarming rate! 

A Message on Anti-Gay Behavior

Below is a message from Ellen DeGeneres regarding bullying specifically the bullying of gay students.  I have met with many gay, lesbian and a few transgender students at our high school over the years.  What a long, rocky road that is through middle school and high school.  Many have dropped out and most hide who they are and how they feel.  There are a few who have come out in high school, but that's pretty rare especially in this small town. 

It's maddening to hear adults pile on, make snide remarks and model homophobic behavior.  I'm in favor of gay bashing being grounds for getting fired, but it would be hard to enforce.  The times I have brought this topic up in a meeting it has been dismissed and uncomfortable and sadly I'm usually in meetings with counselors present! 

Here are the remarks from Ellen two days ago:

I am devastated by the death of 18-year-old Tyler Clementi. If you don't know, Tyler was a bright student at Rutgers University whose life was senselessly cut short. He was outed as being gay on the internet and he killed himself.


Something must be done. This month alone, there has been a shocking number of news stories about teens who have been teased and bullied and then committed suicide; like 13-year-old Seth Walsh in Tehachapi, California. Asher Brown, 13, of Cypress, Texas and 15-year-old Billy Lucas in Greensberg, Indiana. This needs to be a wake-up call to everyone: teenage bullying and teasing is an epidemic in this country, and the death rate is climbing.


One life lost in this senseless way is tragic. Four lives lost is a crisis. And these are just the stories we hear about. How many other teens have we lost? How many others are suffering in silence? Being a teenager and figuring out who you are is hard enough without someone attacking you.


My heart is breaking for their families, their friends and for a society that continues to let this happen. These kids needed us. We have an obligation to change this. There are messages everywhere that validate this kind of bullying and taunting and we have to make it stop. We can't let intolerance and ignorance take another kid's life.


I want anyone out there who feels different and alone to know that I know how you feel. There is help out there. You can find support in your community. If you need someone to talk to or if you want to get involved, here are some organizations doing great work:


The Trevor Project at 866 4U TREVOR. It's a 24-hour, national help line for gay and questioning teens. You can learn more about The Trevor Project at their website: thetrevorproject.org.


Angels and Doves is a nationwide anti-bullying non profit organization.
Their website is AngelsandDoves.com

The National Center for Bullying Prevention is helping to promote awareness and teach effective ways to respond to bullying. You can learn more about them at their website: Pacer.org/bullying


The Matthew Shepard Foundation runs Matthew's Place, an online community and resource center for LGBTQ youth. The website is matthewsplace.com


GLSEN is also a great organization that is working to eradicate bullying and bias in schools. Their website is: glsen.org


STOMP Out Bullying is focused on reducing bullying and cyberbullying. Find out more on their website: stompoutbullying.org


Things will get easier, people's minds will change, and you should be alive to see it.
Ellen DeGeneres

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B-hVWQnjjM
To all who read this, please join me in confronting adults who condone and perpetuate antigay, anti-children behavior. Let's honor and respect children for who they are and what they may grow to be; meet them where they are and encourage them to be on the outside who they know they are on the inside.

Maybe someday peace in all our hearts ~