Monday, October 23, 2006
Survey
I have decided to drive about 700 miles to my parents' house in Acworth, Georgia, for Christmas. I'm taking the dog with me. Be honest -- on a scale of 1-10, 1 being completely reasonable and even a good idea, and 10 being ridiculous and bordering on insanity, where does this idea fall?
Fall has fallen
It's getting progressively cooler here every week, and it suddenly occured to me today that fall has come and will soon be replaced by winter. It's cooled off much faster this year than it did last year. I remember riding my bike well into the later months last year. The ground is a bit soft from all the rain we've had. The leaves are turning a bit. It's comfortable out with a jacket on -- not coat weather yet. And for reasons that are unclear to me, I've started singing Christmas carols. I'm not usually one to jump ahead of the holidays. I'm perfectly happy to wait until after Thanksgiving to start Christmas preparations -- cookies, decorations, carols. I have to assume it's the weather playing games with me. Maybe I'm just looking forward to seeing my family. Whatever the reason, it's a beautiful fall!
Tan Man
Wes went to our friends' wedding down in Florida a few weeks ago. It was a beach wedding, and the guys all wore these handmade shirts from Cuba (the bride's parents are from Cuba). Wes had a really nice five days down there, got very tan, and had a good reunion with his college friends. I was sorry to miss the festivities, but it looks like the wedding was beautiful and everyone had a ball. We miss our college friends. I really like my colleagues, which fills the daily void of having close friends around, but we just haven't found anyone who we're as close with here. We miss you, old friends, and best wishes to the happy couple! 
Angelcake Arrives
My mom mailed me one of my childhood baby dolls to use at school tomorrow for a "spirit day." This week we're dressing up every day (you remember doing this in school, right?). Today we were supposed to dress up as what we always dreamed of being -- a kind of unpursued or unfulfilled dream. I dress up as a ballerina. I had quite the costume. Unfortunately, the batteries in our camera were dead, so I'll have to wait and post pictures that were taken at school. Tomorrow, we're dressing up like our moms or a mom, so I'm doing the "new mom" look. Angelcake's going to go with me as my new baby in a type of rigged-out sling. The kids seemed royally amused that I'm so into it. This is the kind of thing I would never have dreamed of doing in high school, but as a teacher, I don't really care if I look stupid, which just makes it that much more fun. Will share my outfits as the week progresses!
Friday, October 6, 2006
ISBE can bite me
I got my unofficial score for the APT I took several weeks ago: 290/300. I needed a 240, so I passed with flying colors. I finished the test -- 100 multiple choice quesitons and two essays -- in an hour and forty-five minutes. Needless to say, I was the first one done. Happily, I can now get my license without any further ado.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Wedding bells ahead
Wes and I are getting ready for two weddings in the next month. He's flying to Florida in early October for the wedding of two college friends we're quite close to. Another teacher at the school is getting married the day before theirs, and some of the other teachers will be attending, so it was going to be impossible for me to go, too. But honestly, he might have more fun (he insists that's not the case) just being with the guys. Sometimes, when it's your closest friend getting married, it's easier to be there alone -- until the reception. Later in the month we're attending -- together -- an affair at the Four Seasons just a block from our apartment. It's a high society wedding between a couple we've gotten to know through Wes's job. He's a fellow resident (to anyone in the medical field that will read like an oxymoron), and she's in non-profit work. We've spent some time with them and really enjoy their company. The wedding is sure to be a blast -- especially because we don't have to be in it, and we only have to travel a block, literally, to get there and get home.
The funny thing to me is that we're doing for all these other weddings things we didn't even do for our own. Wes and I never really had a honeymoon, yet he's travelling to the Keys and staying in a gorgeous beachfront hotel for four nights. Our wedding was outdoors and very casual, but the second event is black tie. Wes actually rented a tux today, and I dropped by the makeup counter at Macy's to ask about some more dramatic makeup to go with my black silk dress and "hooker heels" (as my friend coined the shoes I wore in her wedding).
We're absolutely looking forward to both events, but I made this observation today as I was walking home. It's almost easier. I can have fun and let loose a little more when the expectations aren't so high. So what does this really say -- weddings are more fun when they're not all the same!
The funny thing to me is that we're doing for all these other weddings things we didn't even do for our own. Wes and I never really had a honeymoon, yet he's travelling to the Keys and staying in a gorgeous beachfront hotel for four nights. Our wedding was outdoors and very casual, but the second event is black tie. Wes actually rented a tux today, and I dropped by the makeup counter at Macy's to ask about some more dramatic makeup to go with my black silk dress and "hooker heels" (as my friend coined the shoes I wore in her wedding).
We're absolutely looking forward to both events, but I made this observation today as I was walking home. It's almost easier. I can have fun and let loose a little more when the expectations aren't so high. So what does this really say -- weddings are more fun when they're not all the same!
Turncoat
I admit it. I am a Chicago local. And I shopped at Macy's. Just draw and quarter me now.For those of you who don't live in Chicago and read the Chicago Tribune editorial page -- Marshall Fields, the beloved department store -- has been owned for years by Macy's, but the name had stayed Marshall Fields. That all changed about two weeks. The plaques on the store in the Loop -- the historic one with the Tiffany ceiling -- are still up bearing the Marshall Fields name, but all signage, bags, etc. say Macy's. When the name change was announced last fall, people were up in arms about it. Many vowed to never shop there again. Of course, the only thing that was changing was the name. The products, employees, and everything stayed exactly the same. People just didn't want to become "like New York" with the big Macy's stores. It was tradition. I admit, even as someone who has little patience for tradition for the sake of tradition, that it was sad to see the change happen. It's always been fun to take people to this uniquely Chicago place -- to see the ceiling or eat at the Walnut Room.
But today I shopped there. I needed socks; so sue me. Based on the number Macy's bags I'm seeing around, I have to think I'm not the only one.
Fairwell, faithful friend
We got a new vaccum a week or so ago, a green bagless Eureka. It was time for the other one to go. It kept overheating and the cord was stripping a little and all sorts of other things. I tend to buy cheap vacuums, something under $60 bucks or so and always bagless. We've lived with hardwood floors for the last three years, which means I vacuum a lot (though perhaps not by Neiheisel standards) and collect full puppies-worth of dog hair that need to be removed. I'm happy with the new one -- even if Lucy isn't.
Sisters, Sisters...there were never such devoted sisters
I got a package from sister in mail unexpectedly the other day. It was so exciting! I love mail, and I love packages even better, and I love pacakages I don't know are coming and that didn't cost me any money even better, so this was pretty exciting. She sent me lots of fun beginning-of-the-school-year items: Over the Hedge-movie inspired bubble bath (for when my students send me "Over the hedge!" -- we do enjoy a good pun in my house), bendy pencils, purple pens (for grading, in lieu of red), a dog toy for Lucy (though unfortunately she seems to be afraid of the high-pitched squeak), monkey 
pencils for Wes, Reeces Pieces (because she "loves us to pieces"), and -- my personal favorite -- the softest, pinkest socks ever. They're incredible. I love them.This box was especially exciting for me because it's always the type of relationship I hoped I'd have. I'm the kind of person who loves to send cards and notes and flowers and packages -- unexpectedly. And I'd always hoped I'd eventually have a relationship in which that was reciprocated, because I love receiving those things too. And I do -- with my baby sister -- who should be looking out for her own box in the next few weeks (oh no, I ruined it! -- Wait, wait, it's not a doctor's kit.)
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Maybe she only likes white meat?
This is Lucy and a piece of chicken meat that she wouldn't eat. She reminded me of my sister with her vegeteables when she was little, chewing and chewing but never could quite get them down.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Just call me a bleeding-heart liberal
I spent today getting ready for another week of school, which included watching a vido I'm using in class tomorrow called In Whose Honor? It's about the use of Native-American nicknames and mascots in sports. The film focuses on the University of Illinois and its Chief Illiniwek, but looks also at several professional teams, including the Washington Redskins, along with other college teams.
Have you ever thought about this issue before? I did, briefly. I remember going in to a baseball game in Tampa Bay. They were playing the Cleveland Indians. My father is a huge Cleveland fan. There was one demonstrator out front, if I remember correctly. I don't think he said anything; he was just holding a sign and/or handing out information. I may or may not have discussed it with my parents, but I guess I always felt it just wasn't that big a deal. I think political correctness has gone a bit far in some cases, and I suppose I thought this was another example. This was also, mind you, during my junior year of college, and my politics have shifted (I'd like to think matured) quite a bit since then.
After watching the video, I have to say I agree with those that oppose the use. It's not that I would have been bothered before if those mascots disappeared, but I wasn't bothered by it either. Now I am. Why does this stand? The Univ. of Illinois administrators, trustees, alumni, and students keep insisting that the use of the Chief at their school is done in an honorable way. They love the chief. He's authentic. And in the case of some, these "outsiders" (foreigners, as one man called them) have no right to overpower the will of the many supporters -- all of whom, he noted, are Illinois taxpayers (oooh, now you've won me over).
The reality is, few people would be offended who aren't affected. And thanks to the actions of some explorers a few hundred years ago and the policies of not a few American presidents, there just aren't that many Native Americans left to complain. It seems the least we could do is leave these remaining people with a shred of dignity at their request. This seems like a situation where the will of a few should overpower the desire of the many. It's not the first time it's happened. The truth is, we live in a nation that espouses equality and non-discrimination, and the use of these mascots is discriminating against Native Americans who have to live with these images. The University of Illinois is a public institution (I wouldn't really care if it were private, but it seems important that it's public). How can it get away with this?
It seems odd to me that in a country in which Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice is banned in many school for being anti-semitic, we still have the Braves. Note that the book wasn't banned for all those years that anti-Semitism was the norm. Post-Holocaust, we are a more sensitive people where the Jewish culture is concerned, and so the concern begins. As an English teacher, I don't agree with such a ban. It's a great piece of literature, and I feel that if the book is contextualized appropriately -- if the question of racism is raised and questioned -- then the book can be used without offending anyone. These mascots haven't been contextualized appropriately. In the case of Chief Illiniwek, the mascot is portrayed by a Caucasian undergraduate student. The dress, which is authentic, is from the Sioux tribe, though, not the Illini. The dance is completely fabricated. The scalping, scowling Chief put on the lawns of the frats during Homecoming is decidedly offensive. Perhaps it's a bit trite, but I do have a hard time believing that someone wouldn't take issue with the University of Pennsylvania Ragheads or the San Diego State Hicks, Spicks, or any other racial slur. To Native Americans, the term "Redskin" is on par with a word used to describe Blacks for many years, one so offensive I dare not even type it here. If a group chose to use the White Women as their mascot, and made fun of it in doing so, I'd be bothered. Why pick on me, I'd say. And that's what these protestors are saying.
The thing that clinches it for me, though, which is not addressed, is how inconsequential a college mascot is. My loyalty -- my affection -- for Davidson is with the school, not the Wildcat. We could have been the pussy cats for all I care. It's just so unimportant. I don't care how die-hard a fan you are -- surely this can't matter all that much. It's like some of these alum are religious fanatics, but instead of celebrating Jesus or Allah, it's their school mascot. Change is sometimes necessary. Any number of other schools have understood this issue and dealt with it. Why the hold-outs.
The University of Illinois claims that it will lose substantial alumni funding if the Chief goes. Maybe that's a reality that they need to live with. Davidson was originally a Presbyterian college, but over the years the relationship has become looser. Just last year, Davidson finally got the right group of people on the board of trustees to change the rule that said only practicing members of a Protestant Church could sit on the board. This at a school that had students from various religions. The school lost its single largest donor -- John Belk, of the Belk stores, who paid for the biggest dorm, the gym, the art center, and who funds an annual full scholarship -- because of this decision. But it was the right decision.
What the many poorly spoken representatives of the University weren't willing to say -- were in fact fumbling not to say -- is that they just don't care.
Have you ever thought about this issue before? I did, briefly. I remember going in to a baseball game in Tampa Bay. They were playing the Cleveland Indians. My father is a huge Cleveland fan. There was one demonstrator out front, if I remember correctly. I don't think he said anything; he was just holding a sign and/or handing out information. I may or may not have discussed it with my parents, but I guess I always felt it just wasn't that big a deal. I think political correctness has gone a bit far in some cases, and I suppose I thought this was another example. This was also, mind you, during my junior year of college, and my politics have shifted (I'd like to think matured) quite a bit since then.
After watching the video, I have to say I agree with those that oppose the use. It's not that I would have been bothered before if those mascots disappeared, but I wasn't bothered by it either. Now I am. Why does this stand? The Univ. of Illinois administrators, trustees, alumni, and students keep insisting that the use of the Chief at their school is done in an honorable way. They love the chief. He's authentic. And in the case of some, these "outsiders" (foreigners, as one man called them) have no right to overpower the will of the many supporters -- all of whom, he noted, are Illinois taxpayers (oooh, now you've won me over).
The reality is, few people would be offended who aren't affected. And thanks to the actions of some explorers a few hundred years ago and the policies of not a few American presidents, there just aren't that many Native Americans left to complain. It seems the least we could do is leave these remaining people with a shred of dignity at their request. This seems like a situation where the will of a few should overpower the desire of the many. It's not the first time it's happened. The truth is, we live in a nation that espouses equality and non-discrimination, and the use of these mascots is discriminating against Native Americans who have to live with these images. The University of Illinois is a public institution (I wouldn't really care if it were private, but it seems important that it's public). How can it get away with this?
It seems odd to me that in a country in which Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice is banned in many school for being anti-semitic, we still have the Braves. Note that the book wasn't banned for all those years that anti-Semitism was the norm. Post-Holocaust, we are a more sensitive people where the Jewish culture is concerned, and so the concern begins. As an English teacher, I don't agree with such a ban. It's a great piece of literature, and I feel that if the book is contextualized appropriately -- if the question of racism is raised and questioned -- then the book can be used without offending anyone. These mascots haven't been contextualized appropriately. In the case of Chief Illiniwek, the mascot is portrayed by a Caucasian undergraduate student. The dress, which is authentic, is from the Sioux tribe, though, not the Illini. The dance is completely fabricated. The scalping, scowling Chief put on the lawns of the frats during Homecoming is decidedly offensive. Perhaps it's a bit trite, but I do have a hard time believing that someone wouldn't take issue with the University of Pennsylvania Ragheads or the San Diego State Hicks, Spicks, or any other racial slur. To Native Americans, the term "Redskin" is on par with a word used to describe Blacks for many years, one so offensive I dare not even type it here. If a group chose to use the White Women as their mascot, and made fun of it in doing so, I'd be bothered. Why pick on me, I'd say. And that's what these protestors are saying.
The thing that clinches it for me, though, which is not addressed, is how inconsequential a college mascot is. My loyalty -- my affection -- for Davidson is with the school, not the Wildcat. We could have been the pussy cats for all I care. It's just so unimportant. I don't care how die-hard a fan you are -- surely this can't matter all that much. It's like some of these alum are religious fanatics, but instead of celebrating Jesus or Allah, it's their school mascot. Change is sometimes necessary. Any number of other schools have understood this issue and dealt with it. Why the hold-outs.
The University of Illinois claims that it will lose substantial alumni funding if the Chief goes. Maybe that's a reality that they need to live with. Davidson was originally a Presbyterian college, but over the years the relationship has become looser. Just last year, Davidson finally got the right group of people on the board of trustees to change the rule that said only practicing members of a Protestant Church could sit on the board. This at a school that had students from various religions. The school lost its single largest donor -- John Belk, of the Belk stores, who paid for the biggest dorm, the gym, the art center, and who funds an annual full scholarship -- because of this decision. But it was the right decision.
What the many poorly spoken representatives of the University weren't willing to say -- were in fact fumbling not to say -- is that they just don't care.
Friday, September 1, 2006
What's happening?
Want to see what I'm doing in my classroom? Check out my website: www.mrsselfssite.com.
Grrrrr!
I'm sitting here watching 20/2o with an update on their "Stupid in America." These show so frustrate me! I'm trying to resist going on a tirade again, but I just can't help it. It ticks me off. Why are kids in this country performing so poorly in school? Hmmm. Let's see.
They're talking about Kansas City schools. They got a ton of money, and what did they do with it? They put in state-of-the-art gyms and an Olympic size swimming pool. And oh yeah, some computers. What haven't they mentioned yet? Paying teachers more.
Oh, and wait. Here we go -- they're showing an alternative school that cuts money everywhere else and does what? Pays teachers more! And the kids perform!
I'm tired of saying this. Pay teachers more and then expect more of them. Wes is right -- I've got to either live with it or get out of the profession and become another naysayer.
They're talking about Kansas City schools. They got a ton of money, and what did they do with it? They put in state-of-the-art gyms and an Olympic size swimming pool. And oh yeah, some computers. What haven't they mentioned yet? Paying teachers more.
Oh, and wait. Here we go -- they're showing an alternative school that cuts money everywhere else and does what? Pays teachers more! And the kids perform!
I'm tired of saying this. Pay teachers more and then expect more of them. Wes is right -- I've got to either live with it or get out of the profession and become another naysayer.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Hi-ho silver -- away!
Yesterday, I went with the senior academy (all junior and senior girls) to White Pines Ranch in Oregon, IL. It was a kind of one-day retreat for the students to bond and spend time with each other and their teachers in a non-academic environment. One of the things we got to do was ride horses. I'm not a complete horse novice. Wes's parents had two horses at their house in Virginia. Wes even helped build the barn. He was a pretty decent rider, though his sister Horse Gal was the pro in the family, having broken and trained the younger of the two horses, Tater. The older of the horses, Sammi, died about two years ago and was buried on the property. Tater is being boarded at a farm near Virginia Tech, where Horse Gal is attending school. I did a little riding on Sammi (usually riding double with Wes), but never on Tater, who was the more cantakerous of the two. So I felt more experienced than my students but hardly a pro when I mounted Ranger, a black-and-gray speckled horse yesterday. I was warned that, much like the dearly-departed Sammi, Ranger liked to stop while trail riding to have a snack on any tasty grass nearby. In fact, one of the horses at the ranch had been cordoned off from the group because he had horse founder, meaning he ate so much grass that he made himself sick. The ride was very slow-moving, so all the girls felt safe, but it was nice nonetheless. It's fun being up on a horse. And I only had to stop him from snacking once.
Bless you!
Why do people say "bless you" when you sneeze? I mean, I know the whole thing about your spirit leaving in the sneeze and so people say "bless you" so the bad spirits can't enter. But really, why do we say it? It seems reasonable to excuse yourself when you burp or fart or something like that. Those are bodily functions that can be stifled or contained, and it's fairly rude when you allow these to happen in company. But sneezing is involuntary. In my case, I almost always sneeze twice in a row, and it seems overboard to "bless me" every single time I sneeze. Is it really polite, or is it just a force of habit for which there's no good explanation?
Returned from the dead
It's been more than two weeks since I posted last. This new job has taken all of my time and energy and focus. But now that things are settling into a pattern, I'll be back. It's hard not to write about work. The school, the faculty and staff, the philosophies of education, the girls -- they're all so rich for narration. But this is also not the forum to share -- these people deserve their privacy. So I'll just share snippets of my experience without delving too much into theirs. I don't think it's out of place to say, though, that I'm liking the new job.
Monday, August 7, 2006
Told ya
I got several books at the conference today, including Many Children Left Behind, to which our keynote speaker contributed. I just thought I'd share this as a follow-up on an earlier post.
"Looking at schools in Ohio that have been named as the 2003-04 'Blue Ribbon' high schools under the NCLB standards, we find that when compared to the average high school in Ohio, the State NCLB Blue Ribbon Schools:
"Looking at schools in Ohio that have been named as the 2003-04 'Blue Ribbon' high schools under the NCLB standards, we find that when compared to the average high school in Ohio, the State NCLB Blue Ribbon Schools:
- Spend 17 percent more per student than state average per-pupil spending.
- Are not diverse (with fewer than 2 percent minority students compared to a state average of 21.3 percent)
- Have virtually no poor students (2 percent compared with the state's 29 percent)
- Have few special education students (7.7 percent compared to 13.3 percent)
-Pay teachers in excess of $10,000 more than state average
- Have a low student mobility rate (2.4 percent)
What could be clearer than that NCLB standards will most likely be met by well-funded dsitricts with few children of color or special needs? Was this the intent of the law?"I'm it!
Sarabeth tagged me on this book meme.
One book that changed your life: Savage Inequalities, by Jonathan Kozol. I think this is possibly one of his best works. It's a really nice blend of narrative, interview, and statistics. It impacted me because it made me want to become involved in education, but it also showed me what good nonfiction looks like.
Honorable mention: Among Schoolchildren, by Tracy Kidder. Also hit the teacher nerve and gave me a model for the kind of nonfiction writing I'd like to be able to do.
Both books introduced me to authors I've read over and over again.
One book that you have read more than once: The Mitford Series, by Jan Karon. It's not fancy writing, but it's a wonderful series about endearing characters, everyday struggles, and finding something to live for. It's happy endings more often than in real life, but I need that from a book I'm going to read over and over again.
One book you would want on a desert island: Tough one. I would probably say Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand, because it's so LONG that you could read it over and over again and still not remember the whole thing!
One book that made you laugh: I'm a Stranger Here Myself, by Bill Bryson. His observations about life in the United States are just so true! You can't help but laugh -- at the people being described, this quirky country, and yourself.
Honorable mention: Devil in the Details: Scenes from an Obsessive Girlhood, by Jennifer Traig (FUNNY!). A Jewish girl who fights obsessive-compulsive behavior and drives her family crazy (and the reader to hysterics) in the process.
Also recommended: Anything by Bill Bryson; selections by Augusten Burroughs and David Sedaris.
One book that made you cry: The Wedding, by Nicholas Sparks. The Notebook was great and all, but this book is just fantastic. I won't say too much about it in case you haven't read it, but oh my gosh. This is not your average romance novel, but it's one of the most romantic novels ever written.
Honorable mention: Expecting Adam, by Martha Beck. 1960's memoir about a woman who finds herself pregnant unexpectedly with her second child. She learns that her new baby will have Down's syndrome and narrates the struggle of her decision to have and keep the baby.
One book you wish had been written: Like Sarabeth, I wish someone had written a book like the ones I want to write -- ones that resonate with or reflect my life in a way existing literature doesn't. It won't be "art," but it will be engaging (hopefully). And perhaps a book that just keeps going -- or hey, maybe that's life.
One book you wish had never been written: I'm staring at my shelves, but nothing's coming to me. Presumably I no longer own a book I really dislike.
One book you are currently reading: I'm actually not working on one right now since I started the new job today, but I finished two this weekend: Riding the Bus with my Sister, by Rachel Simon, and The Memory Keeper's Daughter, by Kim Edwards. The former is a nonfiction piece about a women who rides the bus with her sister, who has mild mental retardation. The former is a piece of fiction about a doctor who delivers his own twins one snowy night and gives away his daughter because she has Down's syndrome. He tells his wife that the baby died, though, and the book follows the lives of the family, plagued by this event, and the woman who raises the little girl. Kind of depressing, but good nonetheless. Guess there was kind of a theme here. I also read most of the essays from Writers on Writing looking for good stuff for my students. Some nice stuff in there.
(New) One book you consider to be a work of art: One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It's not the easiest book to start, but it's more than worth it in the end. And the last page makes you want to go back to the beginning and start over. Wow.
Honorable mention: Hiroshima, by John Hersey. Fantastic. Utterly fantastic. Good nonfiction writers are just so great.
Now tag five people:
(but I only know three who frequent my blog often enough to make it worthwhile, so...)
Laura at Ramblings
My mom
PennPal
One book that changed your life: Savage Inequalities, by Jonathan Kozol. I think this is possibly one of his best works. It's a really nice blend of narrative, interview, and statistics. It impacted me because it made me want to become involved in education, but it also showed me what good nonfiction looks like.
Honorable mention: Among Schoolchildren, by Tracy Kidder. Also hit the teacher nerve and gave me a model for the kind of nonfiction writing I'd like to be able to do.
Both books introduced me to authors I've read over and over again.
One book that you have read more than once: The Mitford Series, by Jan Karon. It's not fancy writing, but it's a wonderful series about endearing characters, everyday struggles, and finding something to live for. It's happy endings more often than in real life, but I need that from a book I'm going to read over and over again.
One book you would want on a desert island: Tough one. I would probably say Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand, because it's so LONG that you could read it over and over again and still not remember the whole thing!
One book that made you laugh: I'm a Stranger Here Myself, by Bill Bryson. His observations about life in the United States are just so true! You can't help but laugh -- at the people being described, this quirky country, and yourself.
Honorable mention: Devil in the Details: Scenes from an Obsessive Girlhood, by Jennifer Traig (FUNNY!). A Jewish girl who fights obsessive-compulsive behavior and drives her family crazy (and the reader to hysterics) in the process.
Also recommended: Anything by Bill Bryson; selections by Augusten Burroughs and David Sedaris.
One book that made you cry: The Wedding, by Nicholas Sparks. The Notebook was great and all, but this book is just fantastic. I won't say too much about it in case you haven't read it, but oh my gosh. This is not your average romance novel, but it's one of the most romantic novels ever written.
Honorable mention: Expecting Adam, by Martha Beck. 1960's memoir about a woman who finds herself pregnant unexpectedly with her second child. She learns that her new baby will have Down's syndrome and narrates the struggle of her decision to have and keep the baby.
One book you wish had been written: Like Sarabeth, I wish someone had written a book like the ones I want to write -- ones that resonate with or reflect my life in a way existing literature doesn't. It won't be "art," but it will be engaging (hopefully). And perhaps a book that just keeps going -- or hey, maybe that's life.
One book you wish had never been written: I'm staring at my shelves, but nothing's coming to me. Presumably I no longer own a book I really dislike.
One book you are currently reading: I'm actually not working on one right now since I started the new job today, but I finished two this weekend: Riding the Bus with my Sister, by Rachel Simon, and The Memory Keeper's Daughter, by Kim Edwards. The former is a nonfiction piece about a women who rides the bus with her sister, who has mild mental retardation. The former is a piece of fiction about a doctor who delivers his own twins one snowy night and gives away his daughter because she has Down's syndrome. He tells his wife that the baby died, though, and the book follows the lives of the family, plagued by this event, and the woman who raises the little girl. Kind of depressing, but good nonetheless. Guess there was kind of a theme here. I also read most of the essays from Writers on Writing looking for good stuff for my students. Some nice stuff in there.
(New) One book you consider to be a work of art: One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It's not the easiest book to start, but it's more than worth it in the end. And the last page makes you want to go back to the beginning and start over. Wow.
Honorable mention: Hiroshima, by John Hersey. Fantastic. Utterly fantastic. Good nonfiction writers are just so great.
Now tag five people:
(but I only know three who frequent my blog often enough to make it worthwhile, so...)
Laura at Ramblings
My mom
PennPal
Wednesday, August 2, 2006
How not to write a standardized test for teachers
Last summer, I engaged in a lively letter exchange with the Illinois State Board of Education in pursuit of an Illinois teaching license. At first, the officials in Springfield insisted that I needed an array of additional courses, in addition to student teaching (this, mind you, is after I'd been teaching full-time for three years and held a full license from Virginia). After some negotiating (i.e. a vaguely threatening letter from me, citing some long acronym that stood for an agreement between the states that prohibited them from doing what they were trying to do), we agreed that I would take just the APT -- the Assessment of Professional Skills Test -- for the 6-12 grade level. I signed up to take it last fall, then didn't even go after my teaching jobs ended in misery. I was convinced, at that point, that I would never teach in Illinois.
The charter school I'm starting at Monday isn't limited to hiring Illinois certified teachers, but it does make them look better in the eyes of the city school board. Consequently, I'm preparing to take the APT in early September so that I can be fully certified by the state. I printed out some questions today just to see what they're like. There were 30 practice items, and I 9 wrong. Mind you, I'm considered to be a pretty good teacher, and I'm a generally intelligent person. But these questions are ridiculous. They range from insulting to completely situational to entirely subjective regardless of the situation. Let me give you some examples.
#6. Students in an eighth grade social studies class have been asked to do a writing assignment in which the students are to pretend they are newspaper reporters reporting on some local current event of interest to them. One student, James, has just returned from a trip and asks if he may write about that instead. Which of the following would be the best way for the teacher to respond to James' request?
A. Point out that the next time they have free writing in class James can write about his trip.
B. Give James the option of pretending to be a reporter sending a dispatch about his trip.
C. Propose that James write about a local event from the perspective of a journalist visiting from another state or country.
D. Require that James do the assignment as given, but encourage him to write about his trip as well.
Do you have your answer ready? A didn't seem like it had any relevance to the assignment, so it was out. I eliminated B because it didn't seem to serve the objectives of the assignment. This is a social studies class, so the emphasis would likely be on the local events, not the role of the newspaper reporter or the writing itself. C actually was appealing, because it would have allowed him to use a recently gained perspective (as an outsider) in the assignment. I chose D because, frankly, it's what I would have done -- encourage him to follow-up on what was interesting to him, but, as an eighth grader, require him to meet the minimum expectations for the assignment.
The correct answer was B -- I can't even begin to explain why. It allows him to write about his trip, which is what he's excited about -- but that doesn't have anything to do with local current events or with social studies. For me, this question falls into the "completely situational" category. Anyone?
#26. A teacher discovers that the printer for a classroom computer is not responding to print commands even though the printer is turned on. Which of the following steps should the teacher take first?
A. Run a diagnostic program to ensure that the computer is operating properly.
B. Reinstall the software that runs the printer.
C. Check the cable between the printer and computer to make sure it is securely connected.
D. Call the school's computer technician for help.
Hopefully you all got this one correct -- C. This falls under "insulting." I must admit that for a minute I thought D might be the right answer. A lot of teachers I know would do more harm than good by trying to fix it themselves.
#17. A teacher has a culturally diverse student population and is hoping to involve the students' parents and guardians in a unit about the various cultures represented in the community. Which of the following is the most effective way to involve the parents and guardians in this part of their children's education, while promoting student learning?
A. Call parents and guardians directly and ask them if they are interested in doing hands-on cultural presentations related to the unit.
B. Provide all interested parents and guardians with a copy of the lessons to be taught during the unit and ask them to suggest material to augment a particular lesson.
C. Send home a letter describing the unit and invite interested parents and guardians to a meeting to discuss how they would like to participate.
D. Call parents and guardians with diverse cultural backgrounds and suggest they participate in the unit by doing recommended activities that go with specific lessons.
The correct answer here is C. Rereading it, I can draw some conclusions as to why it's that and not A, but the experienced teacher in me knows that letters usually don't get home to parents and that offering a suggestion for a specific contribution is likely to get more takers than asking the parent to come up with something on their own. This falls under "subjective." I think A or C could be equally effective, and D might get the most takers. What is the primary goal?
I have included below two other questions that I missed. I'll post the correct answers under "Comments" if you'd like to try your luck -- which I'll clearly need come September 9!
#11. A new second grade teacher is considering what to include on the list of classroom rules prior to the start of a new school year. Which of the following is critical to consider in composing this list of classroom rules?
A. Anticipating the range of behaviors to be expected from the particular group of students in the coming year.
B. Establishing a system for rewarding adherence to the established rules and managing exceptional situations that may arise.
C. Making sure that classroom rules do not conflict with the administration's school-wide rules and regulations.
D. Ensuring that students are part of the rule-making process so they share the responsibility for maintaining an orderly classroom.
#20. A fourth grade teacher witnesses an incident in which several students engaged in verbal bullying (e.g., name-calling) toward another student. The students who were involved in the incident do not have a history of such behavior. In general, which of the following should be the teacher's first step in responding to such an incident?
A. Reduce the likelihood of future incidents by helping the student who was the object of the bullying learn age-appropriate social skills.
B. Report the incident to administrators and parents so that an appropriate intervention can be designed.
C. Make clear to the bullying students that their behavior is unacceptable, and that in the future it will result in disciplinary action.
D. Provide a model of accepting and inclusive behavior that all students may follow.
The charter school I'm starting at Monday isn't limited to hiring Illinois certified teachers, but it does make them look better in the eyes of the city school board. Consequently, I'm preparing to take the APT in early September so that I can be fully certified by the state. I printed out some questions today just to see what they're like. There were 30 practice items, and I 9 wrong. Mind you, I'm considered to be a pretty good teacher, and I'm a generally intelligent person. But these questions are ridiculous. They range from insulting to completely situational to entirely subjective regardless of the situation. Let me give you some examples.
#6. Students in an eighth grade social studies class have been asked to do a writing assignment in which the students are to pretend they are newspaper reporters reporting on some local current event of interest to them. One student, James, has just returned from a trip and asks if he may write about that instead. Which of the following would be the best way for the teacher to respond to James' request?
A. Point out that the next time they have free writing in class James can write about his trip.
B. Give James the option of pretending to be a reporter sending a dispatch about his trip.
C. Propose that James write about a local event from the perspective of a journalist visiting from another state or country.
D. Require that James do the assignment as given, but encourage him to write about his trip as well.
Do you have your answer ready? A didn't seem like it had any relevance to the assignment, so it was out. I eliminated B because it didn't seem to serve the objectives of the assignment. This is a social studies class, so the emphasis would likely be on the local events, not the role of the newspaper reporter or the writing itself. C actually was appealing, because it would have allowed him to use a recently gained perspective (as an outsider) in the assignment. I chose D because, frankly, it's what I would have done -- encourage him to follow-up on what was interesting to him, but, as an eighth grader, require him to meet the minimum expectations for the assignment.
The correct answer was B -- I can't even begin to explain why. It allows him to write about his trip, which is what he's excited about -- but that doesn't have anything to do with local current events or with social studies. For me, this question falls into the "completely situational" category. Anyone?
#26. A teacher discovers that the printer for a classroom computer is not responding to print commands even though the printer is turned on. Which of the following steps should the teacher take first?
A. Run a diagnostic program to ensure that the computer is operating properly.
B. Reinstall the software that runs the printer.
C. Check the cable between the printer and computer to make sure it is securely connected.
D. Call the school's computer technician for help.
Hopefully you all got this one correct -- C. This falls under "insulting." I must admit that for a minute I thought D might be the right answer. A lot of teachers I know would do more harm than good by trying to fix it themselves.
#17. A teacher has a culturally diverse student population and is hoping to involve the students' parents and guardians in a unit about the various cultures represented in the community. Which of the following is the most effective way to involve the parents and guardians in this part of their children's education, while promoting student learning?
A. Call parents and guardians directly and ask them if they are interested in doing hands-on cultural presentations related to the unit.
B. Provide all interested parents and guardians with a copy of the lessons to be taught during the unit and ask them to suggest material to augment a particular lesson.
C. Send home a letter describing the unit and invite interested parents and guardians to a meeting to discuss how they would like to participate.
D. Call parents and guardians with diverse cultural backgrounds and suggest they participate in the unit by doing recommended activities that go with specific lessons.
The correct answer here is C. Rereading it, I can draw some conclusions as to why it's that and not A, but the experienced teacher in me knows that letters usually don't get home to parents and that offering a suggestion for a specific contribution is likely to get more takers than asking the parent to come up with something on their own. This falls under "subjective." I think A or C could be equally effective, and D might get the most takers. What is the primary goal?
I have included below two other questions that I missed. I'll post the correct answers under "Comments" if you'd like to try your luck -- which I'll clearly need come September 9!
#11. A new second grade teacher is considering what to include on the list of classroom rules prior to the start of a new school year. Which of the following is critical to consider in composing this list of classroom rules?
A. Anticipating the range of behaviors to be expected from the particular group of students in the coming year.
B. Establishing a system for rewarding adherence to the established rules and managing exceptional situations that may arise.
C. Making sure that classroom rules do not conflict with the administration's school-wide rules and regulations.
D. Ensuring that students are part of the rule-making process so they share the responsibility for maintaining an orderly classroom.
#20. A fourth grade teacher witnesses an incident in which several students engaged in verbal bullying (e.g., name-calling) toward another student. The students who were involved in the incident do not have a history of such behavior. In general, which of the following should be the teacher's first step in responding to such an incident?
A. Reduce the likelihood of future incidents by helping the student who was the object of the bullying learn age-appropriate social skills.
B. Report the incident to administrators and parents so that an appropriate intervention can be designed.
C. Make clear to the bullying students that their behavior is unacceptable, and that in the future it will result in disciplinary action.
D. Provide a model of accepting and inclusive behavior that all students may follow.
Tuesday, August 1, 2006
Tell it like it is, Dr. Liz
I’m not saying anything new, but I’m saying it anyway.
I just finished watching “Oprah Special Reports: Schools in Crisis.” I actually turned the TV on specifically to watch this episode, and I kept yelling at Oprah and her guests during the show. The “special report” merely underscored a well-known reality, especially for someone who has worked and taken an interest in education for many years. I applaud the show’s desire to put a spotlight on this issue and make it real and important to Oprah’s very middle- and upper-class viewers who may not face this reality in their local schools. I also support wholeheartedly the good works being done by any number of individuals in pursuit of real reform – in this case, Kevin Johnson (former Phoenix Suns players who retired and personally rehabilitated several Sacramento area schools), the founders of KIPP, and Bill and Melinda Gates. However, these shows all too often make it seem like what’s done in these schools can magically be replicated in all public schools. I’m not saying public schools can’t be reformed, and I’m definitely not saying there’s not a “crisis” in schools, but we need to be honest and open about what makes these schools work and what they are and are not doing. Let’s start by looking at what makes a good school effective:
Parental involvement: All of these schools – Johnson’s Sacred Hope Academy, the KIPP Schools, and several US schools funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – require parents be involved. Any school that requires the student to fill out an application and get a parent signature on the form has instituted some selectivity. Are these the best and brightest students with the most stable home environments? No. But I taught plenty of kids in Greene who would have had a hard time getting their parents to fill out a simple form like that required by these schools. Once students do fill out the application, they’re then entered in a lottery, and before they can be enrolled in the school, the parents have to make a commitment to be involved in their students’ education by attending family days at the school and all parent/teacher conferences. Again, this is more than a lot of parents are willing to do. If kids have parents like these at home, they’re already steps ahead of many of their peers. Perhaps it is the failure of the public school system that we don’t require this of parents, but as with so many other “standards” in the public school system, how do you require people to adhere to these standards without consequences? And what consequences (aside from the obvious detriment to the student and society) can exist in this situation that don’t involve taking the child away from the parent (extreme, and clearly unproductive) or removing the child from the school (not an option in a country that’s dedicated to education all students). The founders of KIPP were on the show and talked about, essentially, giving parenting advice to some of these parents. One of the founders even took a television out of a student’s home because she wasn’t getting her homework done. All well and good for a fifty-something male who likely has his own kids. Something completely different for a (when I started teaching) twenty-three-year-old female who most parents think is a student and who has no parenting experience. Kevin Johnson’s Academy, like the one where I’m about to start teaching, is a college-preparatory school. Parents must be committed to the idea of their children going to college after high school graduation. As he put it, “I don’t have time to deal with parents who have to be convinced of the importance of their child receiving a college education.” I agree. But public school teachers don’t have that choice. They have to teach everyone they get. Parental involvement isn’t required for a child to be successful in school; in truth, none of the things listed here will make or break a child’s chances – there are examples throughout history of people who didn’t have one or the other but who was nonetheless successful – but it goes a long way in creating unity between the home and the school and helping teachers and parents reinforce the lessons learned from the other.
Intelligent, committed, well-paid teachers, who have been adequately prepared for the classroom: I’ve met a lot of bad teachers, both as a student and as a fellow teacher. So get rid of them. They shouldn’t have their jobs. But we don’t really have a choice with the way things work and the way teachers’ unions operate. You CANNOT have a good school without good teacher. You can have a successful student who succeeds despite a noticeable absence of good teachers (I think Wes is an example of that), but you absolutely cannot have a good school without good teachers. You can have bad administrators, poor funding, a lack of resources, overcrowding, and more, but you cannot have a good school without good teachers. Period. Consequently, we need to take a harder look at what makes good teachers. They are several things. They are, generally, well educated. They’ve attended well-respected universities and liberal arts colleges. A lot of them did not attend undergrad with the intention of becoming a school teacher, but they have something in their personality, in their innate makeup, that lends them to teaching. They are, by and large, very committed. They work long hours at school and at home – not because it’s required, but because they choose to in order to help their students succeed – and they make themselves available to colleagues and students. At KIPP, the school day lasts from 7am until 5pm, there’s half-days on Saturday, and there’s compulsory summer school. And the teachers give out their cell numbers to the students. That’s asking a lot of a teacher, but it works. And it works even better because of the parental involvement, the administrators and teachers working together, and the emphasis on making learning enjoyable. But, though there are clearly people out there willing to do so (and God bless them for it), it is unbelievably unfair to ask people to work those kinds of hours without compensating them appropriately. When businessmen and doctors and lawyers work those kinds of hours, they bill for them. To ask a teacher to work those hours and then to pay them less than $50,000 a year (many states start teachers around $27,000) – especially in the big cities where most KIPP schools are housed – is to disrespect and undervalue the work being done. And if you want to attract the best teachers, you’ve got to be willing to pay them (and if you tell me that teachers shouldn’t be doing it for the money, I will stop talking to you; of course they shouldn’t, but nobody’s ever made that claim about doctors, now have they?). And if you’re going to pay teachers more, you’ve got to expect more of them. You’ve got to fix these RIDICULOUS teacher education programs that are WORTHLESS. It’s a cycle – expect more of the teachers, compensate them for their time, energy, dedication, and knowledge, and believe it or not, you’ll get significantly better teachers and you’ll keep them. There’s a reason we have arguably the best doctors in the world. They have to go to school for many years to do their job, there’s a lot expected of them, but in return they’re respected and well-paid.
MONEY, MONEY, MONEY. Oprah noted towards the end of the show – oh, just as an aside – that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has spent $1 million on their schools. That’s a lot of money. It’s money that’s either not spent or misspent in public schools. Money won’t magically fix things. There are obviously schools that are great that could use a lot more money than they have. But it doesn’t hurt. And more importantly it does three things – it provides resources that can make learning more interesting (a variety of books to read, technology, space, field trips); it allows for the hiring of more teachers, which means smaller classes (on the show, they showed a school in LA with 45 in a class; my college classes weren’t that big); and it shows kids that people think they’re worth spending money on. Research has shown that the kids need to have educational experiences in order for new information to “stick.” For students who aren’t getting these educational experiences at home, money gives it to them at school – the trip to the museum or the play or the symphony, the advanced computer system, the well-stocked library. Research also shows that students benefit from smaller classes (especially when it’s with a good teacher). And experience shows that people behave in accordance with their surroundings. If you put a random twelve-year-old in fancy clothes and take her to a fancy restaurant, she’ll change her behavior to match the surroundings. She won’t necessarily act like an adult, but it’s unlikely that she’ll like she would at the dinner table at home or especially like she would in the school cafeteria. When kids attend school in a place that looks like a prison, with graffiti on the walls, roofs leaking, and desks breaking apart, their behavior and attitude mirror that. They read this decay as, “I’m not worth anything.” Money addresses this.
The buzzwords in education right now are accountability, high standards, raising expectations. All good things to strive for. But there’s got to be some give and take in this. You have to create the conditions for success before can expect success. You don’t put (since I keep using the doctor comparison) a brand new intern from the worst med school in the country in a trauma unit in a makeshift hospital in the middle of a war zone and then berate him for having a high mortality rate. That’s essentially what’s happening in a lot of underfunded schools that are staffed by new teachers coming out of poor teacher education programs and teaching in low-socioeconomic areas.
The simple fact is this – until the country as a whole decides that education is important, little will change. As schools like Johnson’s Academy, the KIPP schools, and even the charter school where I’m teaching flourish, some minor changes will take place. These schools are great, but the big thing they’re not doing is educating everyone – they have a right of refusal. The public school system as a whole will continue to fail until – and in this I agree with Oprah and her guests – there’s a unified front to see things change. Maybe if more people in this country had been better educated, they’d realize this.
I just finished watching “Oprah Special Reports: Schools in Crisis.” I actually turned the TV on specifically to watch this episode, and I kept yelling at Oprah and her guests during the show. The “special report” merely underscored a well-known reality, especially for someone who has worked and taken an interest in education for many years. I applaud the show’s desire to put a spotlight on this issue and make it real and important to Oprah’s very middle- and upper-class viewers who may not face this reality in their local schools. I also support wholeheartedly the good works being done by any number of individuals in pursuit of real reform – in this case, Kevin Johnson (former Phoenix Suns players who retired and personally rehabilitated several Sacramento area schools), the founders of KIPP, and Bill and Melinda Gates. However, these shows all too often make it seem like what’s done in these schools can magically be replicated in all public schools. I’m not saying public schools can’t be reformed, and I’m definitely not saying there’s not a “crisis” in schools, but we need to be honest and open about what makes these schools work and what they are and are not doing. Let’s start by looking at what makes a good school effective:
Parental involvement: All of these schools – Johnson’s Sacred Hope Academy, the KIPP Schools, and several US schools funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – require parents be involved. Any school that requires the student to fill out an application and get a parent signature on the form has instituted some selectivity. Are these the best and brightest students with the most stable home environments? No. But I taught plenty of kids in Greene who would have had a hard time getting their parents to fill out a simple form like that required by these schools. Once students do fill out the application, they’re then entered in a lottery, and before they can be enrolled in the school, the parents have to make a commitment to be involved in their students’ education by attending family days at the school and all parent/teacher conferences. Again, this is more than a lot of parents are willing to do. If kids have parents like these at home, they’re already steps ahead of many of their peers. Perhaps it is the failure of the public school system that we don’t require this of parents, but as with so many other “standards” in the public school system, how do you require people to adhere to these standards without consequences? And what consequences (aside from the obvious detriment to the student and society) can exist in this situation that don’t involve taking the child away from the parent (extreme, and clearly unproductive) or removing the child from the school (not an option in a country that’s dedicated to education all students). The founders of KIPP were on the show and talked about, essentially, giving parenting advice to some of these parents. One of the founders even took a television out of a student’s home because she wasn’t getting her homework done. All well and good for a fifty-something male who likely has his own kids. Something completely different for a (when I started teaching) twenty-three-year-old female who most parents think is a student and who has no parenting experience. Kevin Johnson’s Academy, like the one where I’m about to start teaching, is a college-preparatory school. Parents must be committed to the idea of their children going to college after high school graduation. As he put it, “I don’t have time to deal with parents who have to be convinced of the importance of their child receiving a college education.” I agree. But public school teachers don’t have that choice. They have to teach everyone they get. Parental involvement isn’t required for a child to be successful in school; in truth, none of the things listed here will make or break a child’s chances – there are examples throughout history of people who didn’t have one or the other but who was nonetheless successful – but it goes a long way in creating unity between the home and the school and helping teachers and parents reinforce the lessons learned from the other.
Intelligent, committed, well-paid teachers, who have been adequately prepared for the classroom: I’ve met a lot of bad teachers, both as a student and as a fellow teacher. So get rid of them. They shouldn’t have their jobs. But we don’t really have a choice with the way things work and the way teachers’ unions operate. You CANNOT have a good school without good teacher. You can have a successful student who succeeds despite a noticeable absence of good teachers (I think Wes is an example of that), but you absolutely cannot have a good school without good teachers. You can have bad administrators, poor funding, a lack of resources, overcrowding, and more, but you cannot have a good school without good teachers. Period. Consequently, we need to take a harder look at what makes good teachers. They are several things. They are, generally, well educated. They’ve attended well-respected universities and liberal arts colleges. A lot of them did not attend undergrad with the intention of becoming a school teacher, but they have something in their personality, in their innate makeup, that lends them to teaching. They are, by and large, very committed. They work long hours at school and at home – not because it’s required, but because they choose to in order to help their students succeed – and they make themselves available to colleagues and students. At KIPP, the school day lasts from 7am until 5pm, there’s half-days on Saturday, and there’s compulsory summer school. And the teachers give out their cell numbers to the students. That’s asking a lot of a teacher, but it works. And it works even better because of the parental involvement, the administrators and teachers working together, and the emphasis on making learning enjoyable. But, though there are clearly people out there willing to do so (and God bless them for it), it is unbelievably unfair to ask people to work those kinds of hours without compensating them appropriately. When businessmen and doctors and lawyers work those kinds of hours, they bill for them. To ask a teacher to work those hours and then to pay them less than $50,000 a year (many states start teachers around $27,000) – especially in the big cities where most KIPP schools are housed – is to disrespect and undervalue the work being done. And if you want to attract the best teachers, you’ve got to be willing to pay them (and if you tell me that teachers shouldn’t be doing it for the money, I will stop talking to you; of course they shouldn’t, but nobody’s ever made that claim about doctors, now have they?). And if you’re going to pay teachers more, you’ve got to expect more of them. You’ve got to fix these RIDICULOUS teacher education programs that are WORTHLESS. It’s a cycle – expect more of the teachers, compensate them for their time, energy, dedication, and knowledge, and believe it or not, you’ll get significantly better teachers and you’ll keep them. There’s a reason we have arguably the best doctors in the world. They have to go to school for many years to do their job, there’s a lot expected of them, but in return they’re respected and well-paid.
MONEY, MONEY, MONEY. Oprah noted towards the end of the show – oh, just as an aside – that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has spent $1 million on their schools. That’s a lot of money. It’s money that’s either not spent or misspent in public schools. Money won’t magically fix things. There are obviously schools that are great that could use a lot more money than they have. But it doesn’t hurt. And more importantly it does three things – it provides resources that can make learning more interesting (a variety of books to read, technology, space, field trips); it allows for the hiring of more teachers, which means smaller classes (on the show, they showed a school in LA with 45 in a class; my college classes weren’t that big); and it shows kids that people think they’re worth spending money on. Research has shown that the kids need to have educational experiences in order for new information to “stick.” For students who aren’t getting these educational experiences at home, money gives it to them at school – the trip to the museum or the play or the symphony, the advanced computer system, the well-stocked library. Research also shows that students benefit from smaller classes (especially when it’s with a good teacher). And experience shows that people behave in accordance with their surroundings. If you put a random twelve-year-old in fancy clothes and take her to a fancy restaurant, she’ll change her behavior to match the surroundings. She won’t necessarily act like an adult, but it’s unlikely that she’ll like she would at the dinner table at home or especially like she would in the school cafeteria. When kids attend school in a place that looks like a prison, with graffiti on the walls, roofs leaking, and desks breaking apart, their behavior and attitude mirror that. They read this decay as, “I’m not worth anything.” Money addresses this.
The buzzwords in education right now are accountability, high standards, raising expectations. All good things to strive for. But there’s got to be some give and take in this. You have to create the conditions for success before can expect success. You don’t put (since I keep using the doctor comparison) a brand new intern from the worst med school in the country in a trauma unit in a makeshift hospital in the middle of a war zone and then berate him for having a high mortality rate. That’s essentially what’s happening in a lot of underfunded schools that are staffed by new teachers coming out of poor teacher education programs and teaching in low-socioeconomic areas.
The simple fact is this – until the country as a whole decides that education is important, little will change. As schools like Johnson’s Academy, the KIPP schools, and even the charter school where I’m teaching flourish, some minor changes will take place. These schools are great, but the big thing they’re not doing is educating everyone – they have a right of refusal. The public school system as a whole will continue to fail until – and in this I agree with Oprah and her guests – there’s a unified front to see things change. Maybe if more people in this country had been better educated, they’d realize this.
Sunday, July 30, 2006
More
I know, I know -- another picture of the dog. Maybe she should have her own blog... (Of course, she's not the only dog that does this.)
A sticky situation
Wes and I were watching a movie last night (Unforgiven; didn't love it) after he'd taken Lucy out, and she seemed to be chewing on something while lying in her bed. This is pretty usual for her; she seems to try to ingest just about everything she encounters on the ground. I took some kind of gross green and black mess out of her mouth and threw it out. Five minutes later she was at it again. So the lights came on and we took a closer look. Sure enough, she'd stepped in gum, which became wadded all over one of her back paws. Several applications of JIF peanut butter helped clean it all off, and naturally Lucy helped herself to some of the cleaning agent also. There was a moment there, with Wes holding her on in the bathroom and me tending to her, that just seemed to portend some later date when the dog will replaced by a child, and we'll be cleaning gum out of her hair.
So I married my father
This will probably only make sense to my parents and siblings, but -- last night, Wes and I were talking about something and he said, "I'm gonna right a letter." Save me!
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Amazing
My sister is amazing. My mom is an amazing cake decorator and always made sure we had the COOLEST birthday cakes when we were growing up (could that be a hint for the contest?). Now my sister is at it. She can, so it is said, outdecorate even my mom. Check out her most recent cake.
Recognize anything?
When Wes's aunt and uncle were here with their grandkids, I showed them some pictures and funny video clips on the computer. One of their moms said something to effect that she didn't realize how much of her life she was missing by not photographing it. And it's true -- we do photograph ridiculous things, but sometimes it's because it's a digital camera, so why not, and sometimes it's because I want to put it on the blog. Consequently, I'm hosting my first official Name That Photo Contest. Most, though not all, of these photos have been featured on the blog, so a little research will serve you well. You must provide the person/place/thing in the picture, plus a little detail about why the photo was taken. The person who can correctly identify the greatest number of photos by Aug. 1 will win public fame and honor by way of the site. For sake of consistency, we will number the photos 1-9, working left to right, top to bottom (for example, the stars would be #2). You must submit all your answers at once. Husbands of the site facilitator are not eligible. Good luck!
Cleaning the canines
Lucy has a little plaque on her canine teeth (HAH!), so Wes and I decided to start brushing them. I don't know if it's really necessary, but she's always had really clean teeth before, and I don't want (and don't want her) to end up paying for something we could have prevented. I got doggie toothpaste from the local dog store (as I understand it's not safe to use human toothpaste) and a cheap, soft-bristled toothbrush from Walgreens. Wes and I waited to do it until we were both home, knowing how important it would be to document this moment. All in all, she took it okay. She shook and quivered before we even touched her -- her normal reaction to anything that makes her nervous (like BATHS). But she didn't pull back or try to chew on Wes to make him stop. We got a lot of the plaque off on one of her top canines, but there's still quite a bit on the other side. We're going to start doing it every week or so to try to clean it up. And best of all, her breath is fresh!
Lucy's chair
When I adopted Lucy some 3 1/2 years ago, my rule was "no dogs on the furniture." My friend and then roommate, PennPal, had her own interpretation of that rule, which said the dog could sit on her lap while she sat on the furniture or lie on her belly while she slept in her bed. Strangely, Lucy didn't quite follow this line of reasoning and came to believe that she could be on the furniture -- especially when we couldn't see her (or were sound asleep in bed). Over the years, she learned that she wasn't supposed to be on the furniture -- but her interpretation was that she only couldn't be on it if we were there or if we could see her or if, well, she got caught. After Wes and I got married, we taught her to stay out of the bedroom (took a few nights of her crying outside the door; guess I should have use the No Cry Sleep Solution :), but it took a baby gate to keep her off the couch. Since moving to Chicago, we continued to keep her out of the bedroom (save for one stretch during which Wes and I both caved). But we did give in on one piece of furniture. See, when they were living in Virginia, Wes's parents had a chair that Lucy loved to get up in, and evidently it was a chair favored for years by various pets at that home: Cookie, Addie, and any number of cats. We figured "when in Rome" and let her in it as long as no human wanted to sit there. The chair was close the size, shape, and even color of a chair we inherited from my old principal for our new apartment. Our chair was sitting in a teacher's workroom. I loved the color, how low it was (hey, I'm short), and it's non-plushness (we have a 600 sq. ft. apartment!). We tried to keep Lucy out of it for a while, but she liked it because she could see out the windows when she climbed up in it. Finally, we consented, but since she is a dog, we try to keep a pad of some kind in it to keep the chair from taking on her smell and remove it when we're having guests.
As you can see, Lucy has made herself comfortable in this chair. When the windows are open, she'll put her paws on the armrest and stretch towards the nearest window to sniff and inhale the scents from the various restaurants. She likes to sleep in it at night, alternating between that and her bed. I sometimes have to remind her not to lick the chair fabric (what's with that anyway?), but otherwise she's fairly well behaved. She even sits with her paws crossed, just like a lady.
Friday, July 28, 2006
Off Track Betting
So I have an MRI of my liver scheduled for Sunday (the hepatologist didn't say there's anything likely wrong; s/he just said it's hard to tell from a CT scan of the kidney and that it might be worth looking into. My own GIM doctor actually gave me the choice of a triphasic liver scan or an MRI; Wes thought it was wierd that she left the choice up to me). Anybody want to give an over under the bill for that?
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Cha-ching!
Received in the mail yesterday:
"Dear Elizabeth Self:
Thank you for choosing Northwestern Memorial Hospital for your health care services. This statement provides the current status of your account and detailed information concerning your outpatient services rendered on 07-11-2006. The reverse side of this form provides a detail of charges and information payment activity.
We have billed your insurance carries, BLUE CROSS, for these services. If this information is incorrect or incomplete, please call us immediately. Your primary insurance carrier is contracted with Northwestern Memorial Hospital to pay benefits on your behalf. Their payment will be based on the contracted rates, which may be different from your total charges of $6,584.00. If you have any questions about your insurance benefits, please contact your carrier directly.
This statement represents only the hospital bill. Your physician, surgeon(s), pathologist, radiologist, anesthesiologists and other specialists bill separately for their services. You should contact them directly with any questions related to their billing.
Sincerely,
Patient Financial Services"
How did it break down?
Pharmacy $433.00
Radiology $3,472.00
Laboratory $512.00
Emergency Room $1,885.00
Therapy Svs -- Observation $282.00
From that above list, I anticipate receiving bills from the physician and the radiologist (the latter of whom read my CT the next day).
Total Benefits Approved by BlueCross Blue Shielf of Illinois based on "negotiated discounts with this provider": $3,410.57
Amount Wes and I pay, aside from our monthly insurance premium: $0.00
Having health insurance in this country: Priceless
"Dear Elizabeth Self:
Thank you for choosing Northwestern Memorial Hospital for your health care services. This statement provides the current status of your account and detailed information concerning your outpatient services rendered on 07-11-2006. The reverse side of this form provides a detail of charges and information payment activity.
We have billed your insurance carries, BLUE CROSS, for these services. If this information is incorrect or incomplete, please call us immediately. Your primary insurance carrier is contracted with Northwestern Memorial Hospital to pay benefits on your behalf. Their payment will be based on the contracted rates, which may be different from your total charges of $6,584.00. If you have any questions about your insurance benefits, please contact your carrier directly.
This statement represents only the hospital bill. Your physician, surgeon(s), pathologist, radiologist, anesthesiologists and other specialists bill separately for their services. You should contact them directly with any questions related to their billing.
Sincerely,
Patient Financial Services"
How did it break down?
Pharmacy $433.00
Radiology $3,472.00
Laboratory $512.00
Emergency Room $1,885.00
Therapy Svs -- Observation $282.00
From that above list, I anticipate receiving bills from the physician and the radiologist (the latter of whom read my CT the next day).
Total Benefits Approved by BlueCross Blue Shielf of Illinois based on "negotiated discounts with this provider": $3,410.57
Amount Wes and I pay, aside from our monthly insurance premium: $0.00
Having health insurance in this country: Priceless
It's a small world after all
Wes and I were having breakfast Monday morning at The Original Pancake House just a few blocks from here in honor of our wedding anniversary (it's become a tradition, granted only by virtue of doing it again this year). We were sitting in the outdoor patio, which has about 5-7 tables in it, looking over the menu and chatting about his Sunday shift at the Evanston ED. Out of the blue, a guy walked over to our table and said hi, and I suddenly realized it was the 12th grade Humanities teacher at the school were I'm starting in the fall -- and the person with whom I was to meet a few hours later! Mind you, I'd met this guy once, and this was our first meeting at the school. It was so random. He lives miles south of this place and just happened to be meeting a friend from out of town who was visiting another friend in Wrigleyville, and TOPH was a good in-between point. Granted, we both live in Chicago, but this is not a small town. And again, we've probably never intersected like this before -- just on the day we were supposed to meet.
This isn't the first time something like this has happened, mind you. My sister visited last summer from Tallahassee, FL, -- her first time in the city -- and ran into someone she knew on Michigan Avenue, probably the busiest street in Chicago, especially in the summer on a weekend. This is when I didn't even know anyone in the city, and here she was bumping into an old friend (though perhaps that says more about the sheer number of people she has befriended and less about the point I'm trying to make). While working for a test prep company this past year, I taught two people that live in my relatively small building. One of them was my next door neighbor.
The one that tops the cake, though, is a chance meeting that occured in Venice, Italy, while Wes and I were abroad right after college graduation. We boarded a water taxi headed for Murano or Burano. Wes turned around and saw his chem lab partner from Davidson. You've got to be kidding me here.
I guess Disney had it right.
This isn't the first time something like this has happened, mind you. My sister visited last summer from Tallahassee, FL, -- her first time in the city -- and ran into someone she knew on Michigan Avenue, probably the busiest street in Chicago, especially in the summer on a weekend. This is when I didn't even know anyone in the city, and here she was bumping into an old friend (though perhaps that says more about the sheer number of people she has befriended and less about the point I'm trying to make). While working for a test prep company this past year, I taught two people that live in my relatively small building. One of them was my next door neighbor.
The one that tops the cake, though, is a chance meeting that occured in Venice, Italy, while Wes and I were abroad right after college graduation. We boarded a water taxi headed for Murano or Burano. Wes turned around and saw his chem lab partner from Davidson. You've got to be kidding me here.
I guess Disney had it right.
Monday, July 24, 2006
Mr. and Mrs. Wesley and Elizabeth Self
My brother concluded:"But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
Liz and Wes, by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.
It is my honor to introduce for the first time Mr. and Mrs. Wesley and Elizabeth Self!"
The rings
My brother said:"These are your solemn vows. Liz and Wes, you have chosen today to exchange rings as symbols of your love for each other and your intent to live together in the covenant of marriage. These rings hold special meaning. May they be a reminder to you of that love, of that covenant, and of the vows you have just recited to each other.
Liz, place the ring on Wes's finger and declare its meaning to him."
"I found him whom my soul loveth...I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine."
"Wes, place the ring on Liz's finger and declare its meaning to her."
"Go little ring to that same sweet
That hath my heart in her domain..."
Vows
My mother ended by saying:"Lastly, but certainly not least, are your words for each other, expressions of your love and your reasons for marrying."
And then I spoke to Wes:
"Wes, One of my favorite things in life, as you well know, is a good story, one that I can't put down and that goes on forever. Today is the best day of my life, because I have found a story that will never end, and one that I certainly can't put down. Some describe romance as a fairy tale, but I don't want a fairy tale, Wes; I want something real. You are not the prince charming I imagined; you are so much more. And ours is not a story of love at first sight. Ours is a story of love at fifth and thirty-fifth and ninety-fifth sight. Somebody once said that one of the nice things about marrying the right person is that you keep falling in love all over again at the most unexpected times. I don't really know when I fell in love with you, Wes, but I do know that since then I have fallen in love with you over and over again, and certainly at the most unexpected times. May it always be so. May ours be the never-ending story."
And Wes spoke to me, saying:
"Liz, you bring me so much joy.
You sprinkle each day with a pinch of magic,
bringing a smile to my face and a fullness to my heart.
May I do the same for you.
I vow to be your companion, your admirer, your truelove as long as I shall live.
Liz, I want to dream together;
all our dreams will not be met, this I understand;
but may our dreams beget more dreams and more dreams,
so that our love is never-ending.
I vow to think with you, to feel with you, to be with you as long as I shall live.
Liz, I feel the love that binds us together;
it is what I think about without having to think;
it is what I hope for without having to hope;
it is why I live.
I vow to hold you, to cherish you, to love you as long as I shall live."
My brother followed:
"Liz and Wes, today you have heard and shared with all of us your own words and those of others that describe your understanding of love and your desire for marraige. But as you know, love is much more than a word, and it is something that cannot be accomplished in word alone. I John 3:18 says, 'Let us not love in word or speech; but in deed and in truth.' As you take your vows, remember that this is your promise to each other, and that it is only fulfilled in the doing of it."
Then we spoke to each other again, saying:
"Intreat me not to leave thee,
Or to return from following after thee:
For wither though goest, I will go,
And where thou lodgest, I will lodge.
Thy people shall be my people,
And thy God my God.
Where thou diest, will I die,
And there will I be buried.
The Lord do so to me, and more also,
If ought but death part thee and me."
The little things are the big things
My parents then read a poem:"Wilfred Arlan Peterson writes,
The little things are the big things.
It is never being too old to hold hands.
It is remembering to say 'I love you' at least once a day.
It is never going to sleep angry.
It is never taking the other for granted; the courtship should not end with the honeymoon,
it should continue through all the years.
It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.
It is standing together facing the world.
It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.
It is doing things for each other, not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice, but in the spirit of joy.
It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating in thoughtful ways.
It is not expecting your husband to wear a halo or the wife to have wings of an angel.
It is not looking for perfection in each other.
It is cultivating flexibility, patience, understanding and a sense of humor.
It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.
It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.
It is finding room for the things of the spirit.
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.
It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal, dependence is mutual and the obligation is recipprocal.
It is not only marrying the right partner,
it is being the right partner.
In your marriage, may you remember that the little things are the big things...and that by being the right partner, you will have found the right partner."
The essence of a good marriage
Wes's father was our next reader:"Bertrand Russell writes,
The essence of a good marriage is respect for each other's personality combined with that deep intimacy, physical and mental, and spiritual, which makes a serious love between man and woman the most fructifying of all human experiences. Such love, like everything that is great and precious, demands its own morality, and frequently entails a sacrifice of the less to the great; but sacrifice must be voluntary, for, where it is not, it will destroy the very basis of the love for the sake of which it is made.
In your marriage, may you sacrifice the less to the great for the sake of love."
Sunday, July 23, 2006
An elephant's faithful one hundred percent!
Our friends from college read this. They even showed the pictures!"Dr. Suess writes,
So horton kept sitting there, day after day.
And soon it was Autumn. The leaves blow away.
And then came the Winter...the snow and the sleet!
And icicles hung
From his trunk and his feet.
But Horton kept sitting, and said with a sneeze,
'I'll stay on this egg and I won't let it freeze.
I meant what I said
And I said what I meant...
An elephant's faithful
One hundred percent!'
May you mean what you say, and say what you mean,
Be always faithful, and keep the house clean!"
The marriage of true minds
My friend from Charlottesville came next:"William Shakespeare writes,
Let us not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! It is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rose lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But it bears out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never write, nor no man ever loved.
May your love be an ever-fixed mark.
Loved in spite of ourselves
Wes's college roommate then read:"Victor Hugo writes,
You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving. The great acts of love are done by those who are habitually performing small acts of kindness. We pardon to the extent that we love. Love is knowing that even when you are alone, you will never be lonely again. And the great happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved. Love for ourselves. And even loved in spite of ourselves.
May you find the greatest happiness of life in knowing that you are loved."
Love is
My sister read:"I Corinthians 13:4-8 says,
Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.
May your love bear all things and be then never-ending."
Hug o' war
My best friend followed:"Shel Silverstein writes,
I will not play at tug o' war
I'd rather play at hug o' war
Where everyone hugs
Instead of tugs,
Where everyone giggles
And rolls on the rug,
Where everyone kisses,
And everyone grins,
And everyone cuddles,
And everyone wins.
I would say, may you have no tugs, but being a bit more realistic, may your tugs be followed by plenty of hugs."
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Ectopic foci in the left ventricle
Wes's med school roomate went next:"Dr. Dale Dubin teaches:
When temporarily deprived of oxygen, ectopic foci in the left ventricle lead to premature ventricular depolarization and subsequent contraction, followed by compensatory pause in SA nodal pacing.
While you may forget the physiological explanation of why your heart skips a beat, may you never forget how it feels."
High inducement for the individual to ripen
Wes's brother read next:"Rainer Maria Rilke writes,
To love is good; love being difficult. For one human being to love another; this is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks, the ultimate, the final test and proof; the work for which all other is only preparation...At first, loving does not mean merging, surrendering, and uniting with another...it is a high inducement to the individual to ripen, to becoming something in himself, to become world, to become world for himself for another's sake, it is a great, demanding claim upon him, something that chooses him and calls him to vast things.
May you continue to become something as individuals as you become something for each other."
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