Tomorrow begins the annual and tedious experience of trying to schedule over 150 English language learners (ESOL students) into a regular school day. It is similar to forcing a square peg into a round hole...practically impossible in every way. Our latest count last Friday revealed 93 students requiring 72 minutes a day and the rest of the students requiring the odd 36 minutes a day. There are 4 ESOL teachers. You do the math! These are students on the official list. It is highly likely that there are a number of ESOL students who have not yet been located in our school. We affectionately refer to these students as "strays" or "missing in action". This annual scheduling event always leaves someone upset or stressed and eventually some group of well deserving children are left out of the loop with limited or no services at all due to time and personnel issues.
This will be my 13th year of teaching and I have yet to be in compliance with state and national mandates. This happens through no fault of my own or other ESOL teachers and also through no fault of our building administrators. It is the reality caused by an impossible clogging of mandated academic subjects, special subjects such as art, music and gym and the hours available in the school day and number of persons the district can afford to hire. My brother noticed a bumper sticker the other day which stated, "Welcome to the United States; now learn the language". On the one hand, I understand the importance of that message. Most of the teachers I work with would agree that for one to be successful in this country, one needs to learn English. On the other hand, the tone of that bumper sticker could be interpreted as condemning and unwelcoming. There is a growing resentment against immigrants in this country but I would like to extend a hand of welcome to my students with a strong encouraging nod toward hard work and discipline. The system makes it difficult indeed. The fact that I have never been able to service all my students fully is a source of frustration to me and to others. I would like to change that bumper sticker. "Welcome to the United States; now learn the language and for heaven's sake don't let levels and layers of bureaucracy slow you down"!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Old Baloney
I received newspaper clippings from a friend this past week. It was not reassuring to read the following from the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (dated July 31, 2009). "DISTRICT SCRAPS PLAN FOR SCHOOLS IN FACTORY...Officials point to concerns over safety and contamination". That factory is located at 690 Saint Paul were I spent the last school year. I don't like the possibility of being exposed to toxic substances. I like it even less for my students. 690 Saint Paul was going to be used for two schools again this year. That will not happen. "...community pressure to scrap the plan mounted after the Democrat and Chronicle first reported in May that the owner of the factory, Genesee Valley Real Estate Co., had applied to the state brownfield program for tax credits to clean up the site, used for decades by Bausch & Lomb Inc". This address has a history of problems. Why didn't the owner of the site prepare the place properly before placing 1,200 plus students and staff at risk? Why didn't the district wait for more information about possible concerns before leasing the property for 15 years for nearly 1 million dollars annually?
The district scrapped the 2009-2010 plans. "The development is an about-face for the district, which as recently as May had sent a letter to parents and staff of the two schools stressing that toxic substances found at the site, including the probable human carcinogen trichloroethene, or TCE, 'do not present a health concern to students or staff ' ". Wouldn't it make sense that an old Bausch & Lomb factory more than 90 years old might contain contaminants?
How could an owner be so irresponsible? "State Department of Environmental Conservation officials have said that the contaminated soil was left so Genesee Valley could submit a cleanup plan. But environmental officials have said the company did not contact the agency until late last summer, as preparations to build a playground near the contaminated soil were under way". Many students played on that playground last year. I took students to that playground last year.
The other two schools slated to be housed in that factory for this year (schools Dr. Walter Cooper Academy and School 14) will be located elsewhere. However, 690 Saint Paul will now house the district employee reassignment center, computer centers and other district offices. I wonder whether any officials from Central Office would be willing to work at 690 Saint Paul? I also wonder whether the owner...whoever he or she may be at the Genesee Valley Real Estate Co. would be willing to house offices at 690 Saint Paul?
The district scrapped the 2009-2010 plans. "The development is an about-face for the district, which as recently as May had sent a letter to parents and staff of the two schools stressing that toxic substances found at the site, including the probable human carcinogen trichloroethene, or TCE, 'do not present a health concern to students or staff ' ". Wouldn't it make sense that an old Bausch & Lomb factory more than 90 years old might contain contaminants?
How could an owner be so irresponsible? "State Department of Environmental Conservation officials have said that the contaminated soil was left so Genesee Valley could submit a cleanup plan. But environmental officials have said the company did not contact the agency until late last summer, as preparations to build a playground near the contaminated soil were under way". Many students played on that playground last year. I took students to that playground last year.
The other two schools slated to be housed in that factory for this year (schools Dr. Walter Cooper Academy and School 14) will be located elsewhere. However, 690 Saint Paul will now house the district employee reassignment center, computer centers and other district offices. I wonder whether any officials from Central Office would be willing to work at 690 Saint Paul? I also wonder whether the owner...whoever he or she may be at the Genesee Valley Real Estate Co. would be willing to house offices at 690 Saint Paul?
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
690 Saint Paul
I wait with anticipation to see our new school facility tomorrow. We spent the last school year in educational limbo...teaching and learning in an abandoned eight story Bausch and Lomb factory. Half of the factory building was refurbished a few years earlier to make room for a charter school which opened and then closed again. The building sat empty with crumbling cement, shattered windows, abandoned furniture and boxes of leftover school files and supplies. Our elementary school building needed to be repaired. We needed to relocate for one year. The city made a deal with a landlord. The Bausch and Lomb factory was reopened and we entered 690 Saint Paul in September '08.
From day one we experienced difficulties. There were dripping ceilings, soaked and stained tiles, a backed up sewer system on the first floor which flooded out the entire kindergarten, a mouse infestation, the occasional bat in the stairwell and an entirely unsafe and unreliable elevator which broke down a number of times. The landlord was not sympathetic. We spent most of the year wondering whether or not we were working on top of a toxic dump, located conveniently under the playground at the front of the school. One day, people stole into the school and got onto the roof. They threw stones or bricks over the edge onto Saint Paul, thankfully missing people and cars and instead, hitting windows at the Department of Social Services. All in all, 690 Saint Paul was a serious challenge to morale and the learning process. We soldiered through. Deo Volente, this new school year in a new building will be a wonderful change for all.
From day one we experienced difficulties. There were dripping ceilings, soaked and stained tiles, a backed up sewer system on the first floor which flooded out the entire kindergarten, a mouse infestation, the occasional bat in the stairwell and an entirely unsafe and unreliable elevator which broke down a number of times. The landlord was not sympathetic. We spent most of the year wondering whether or not we were working on top of a toxic dump, located conveniently under the playground at the front of the school. One day, people stole into the school and got onto the roof. They threw stones or bricks over the edge onto Saint Paul, thankfully missing people and cars and instead, hitting windows at the Department of Social Services. All in all, 690 Saint Paul was a serious challenge to morale and the learning process. We soldiered through. Deo Volente, this new school year in a new building will be a wonderful change for all.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Noise Teflon
One exhausting aspect of teaching is non-stop noise. I am vulnerable to noise. I wince at the squeaky PA system. I cringe at yelling. I flinch at the chairs scraping on the floor and the slamming books. I try to remove myself from the noise when I need to and have lived long enough to recognize when it is time for me to get quiet!
What is the effect of this "overnoise" on our students and their ability to succeed academically? Does it deaden their ability to recognize that they need quiet personal time to rejuvenate? I think they are desensitized to noise. I think it affects their ability to communicate. Students often experience difficulty speaking coherently and carefully with attention to detail, meaning and annunciation. They yell a lot...or at least mine do. They use slang, cliches and movie/television talk continually. Throw a second language into the mix and grammar cacophony reigns! Don't get me wrong...there is a time and place for casual language. Language play and word possibilities fascinate me and there is a time and place for everything. I wonder, however how much language development is curtailed by sound clutter? My students transfer the casual language to their writing. This is one reason they have difficulty on standardized tests and essays. The social and cultural noise all around them seem to limit vocabulary development.
I want my students to be quiet within themselves so that they can think! This quiet experience may be one answer to improved test scores and students who enjoy school and learning. Let my students think!
What is the effect of this "overnoise" on our students and their ability to succeed academically? Does it deaden their ability to recognize that they need quiet personal time to rejuvenate? I think they are desensitized to noise. I think it affects their ability to communicate. Students often experience difficulty speaking coherently and carefully with attention to detail, meaning and annunciation. They yell a lot...or at least mine do. They use slang, cliches and movie/television talk continually. Throw a second language into the mix and grammar cacophony reigns! Don't get me wrong...there is a time and place for casual language. Language play and word possibilities fascinate me and there is a time and place for everything. I wonder, however how much language development is curtailed by sound clutter? My students transfer the casual language to their writing. This is one reason they have difficulty on standardized tests and essays. The social and cultural noise all around them seem to limit vocabulary development.
I want my students to be quiet within themselves so that they can think! This quiet experience may be one answer to improved test scores and students who enjoy school and learning. Let my students think!
Monday, August 24, 2009
Jello Anxiety
Why is it that every school meeting I attend leaves me with the feeling that I am swimming in jello? Each new school year, we gather for the first staff meeting and I realize anew that I have heard it all before. We receive old information recycled into new shapes and flavors. What is being presented as a new reading plan is really a plan that was used 20 years ago...repackaged and renamed. Districts reinvent the wheel for math education, as well. Math is math and has been for thousands of years. I don't care if one uses manipulatives or pencil and paper...math basics need to be understood before a student can advance. If a student cannot multiply, it does not matter what the color of the manipulatives are.
What irritates me is that new ideas are presented many times because a publishing company has made a deal with a district. There are many dollars at stake. There are lots of ideas to repackage and sell. A little honesty goes a long way with teachers. It would be astonishing to hear a superintendent state that a certain company wishes to sell a lot of books this year and that the district has agreed to make that happen. I have never heard that. I have also never been a huge fan of jello. Swimming in it is even less desirable.
What irritates me is that new ideas are presented many times because a publishing company has made a deal with a district. There are many dollars at stake. There are lots of ideas to repackage and sell. A little honesty goes a long way with teachers. It would be astonishing to hear a superintendent state that a certain company wishes to sell a lot of books this year and that the district has agreed to make that happen. I have never heard that. I have also never been a huge fan of jello. Swimming in it is even less desirable.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Quiet Sundays
So many wonderful things happen when one is allowed to be quiet. A quiet Sunday leads one to reflection and then perhaps an afternoon of reading. A quiet atmosphere strengthens self awareness and understanding. Quiet meals help one eat more slowly and carefully, while perhaps making healthier choices. A quiet living room provides the location for meaningful discussion and interaction with friends and family.
Quietness is radically counter-cultural. Students need space to practice being quiet. It is an art to be alone and silent. For a student to recognize the perfect spot where he or she belongs in the world requires silence. Instead, our students' days are filled with endless technological noise: computers, blaring televisions, radios and video games. They experience daily the jarring sounds of our school buildings: bells, an intrusive public announcement system, noisy classrooms and shouting teachers, abusive and ill mannered classmates, and painfully loud and aesthetically ugly cafeterias. There is little time left in their day to practice the art of silence...to really listen. Silence is golden and sacred and listening requires time and as many quiet Sundays as possible.
Quietness is radically counter-cultural. Students need space to practice being quiet. It is an art to be alone and silent. For a student to recognize the perfect spot where he or she belongs in the world requires silence. Instead, our students' days are filled with endless technological noise: computers, blaring televisions, radios and video games. They experience daily the jarring sounds of our school buildings: bells, an intrusive public announcement system, noisy classrooms and shouting teachers, abusive and ill mannered classmates, and painfully loud and aesthetically ugly cafeterias. There is little time left in their day to practice the art of silence...to really listen. Silence is golden and sacred and listening requires time and as many quiet Sundays as possible.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Green is my color
I am thinking about the color green and the fast approaching school year. I like green. Much of my home decorating is done in shades of green. Green is a color which symbolizes harmony and freshness. Green suggests stability, endurance and healing. It is said that green is the most restful color for the human eye and that it can even improve vision. Green represents safety and free passage along a road. So what is this green connection to school?
Well, I want my students to learn in an harmonious and peaceful environment. I want stability and healing to be part of their everyday lives. I want them to be rested, safe and free. Most of all, I want them to obtain a personal vision of how important their lives are...how valuable they are as individuals, how responsible they need to learn to be and how the world needs their positive and educated input. The future of our nation depends on it. Their future depends on it. Education cannot happen without this vision...no system, no district, no amount of money, no certification process and certainly no governmental policy can make this happen unless children grasp it for themselves. Simply put...this year I wish to "go green" at every level. Deo Volente...may it be a good year.
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