Contentment

The past few days I have really been thinking about how blessed I am and how content I am with everything I have been given in this world. As I zip from place to place in my reliable car, come home to my little, comfortable one-bedroom apartment, and slide my debit card to purchase all the food and physical sustenance I could ever need, I have been realizing how peaceful I feel with what God has given me. I watch the insane Christmas spending frenzy around me and see people consumed with the latest name-brand this or newest technology that or constantly upgrading to a bigger house or more expensive car or you-fill-in-the-blank in order to somehow measure up to some expectations that originated from who knows where... who are all these people trying to please, trying to prove something to, and WHY?? It's a question I have to grapple with myself often...as we all do in this land of abundance. However, like I said, I've noticed myself feeling quite at peace from that struggle in recent weeks. I can't think of any THING that I'm needing or craving. I can't think of any THING that I lack. There's no THING on my mind that I'm dwelling on or feeling driven to try to overextend myself and acquire. And that's such a wonderful, peaceful feeling!

I think there are two definitions of contentment. One is something to strive for and one is to fight against. On one hand, contentment can be synonymous with "comfortable" and not in a good way. We can get content with where we're at in life and cease to strive for better...better relationships with people and with God, better exemplification of love in our lives, better use of our time and resources, etc. We can get lazy, in other words...stuck in mediocrity. We can get content---and lukewarm. In that sense, I never want to be content. I always want to be learning and growing and becoming more what I'm supposed to be and living this gift of life to the fullest.

On the other hand, there is a contentment that can be equated with peace from striving for the things of this world. There is the contentment that comes with being satisfied with what God has given and being able to truly say that it is "more than enough." It is being able to say that "my cup runneth over." There is such peace and such calm in that kind of contentment and it is something that I wish more of us could find...and keep. I'm so thankful for my family that has never placed much importance on material things or "keeping up with the Jones'" (whoever they are!) and the freedom they've given my life by not placing value on worldly possessions or "things" to define our worth.

So in this Christmas season, I'm enjoying just resting in my blessings and being able to honestly say that I have all I could need or want....thanks to my family and our wonderful God!

Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. --1 Timothy 6:6

Quote

"When you feel like giving up, remember what kept you holding on so long in the first place."

Powerful Reads

Surprisingly, I've managed to get a lot of reading done lately! It's been awhile since I've actually made it through several books...it seems I always start something and then end up starting something else and have about 10 half-read books sitting around. The past few weeks I finished up some of those "half-done" books and then read some others cover to cover as well.

The first was Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change Harlem and America. I had started this awhile back and didn't really get into it, but this time when I picked it back up, I was consumed by it. This book did a good job of providing a lot of the background research that has shaped America's views on poverty and education for the past several decades and then telling the story of Geoff Canada and the Harlem Children's Zone within that context. The Harlem Children's Zone is a project to completely transform the community of Harlem by first transforming the lives of children through a closely connected network of services and opportunities that begin at birth and continue all the way to college. The HCZ seeks to fill any gap that is the result of poverty to ensure that children in Harlem have the same opportunities to compete with their middle class peers, despite background or income level. Canada started out over 20 years ago by operating several after school programs, dropout prevention programs, etc. but the results were hit and miss. A particular program might address one need in a child's life, but there were so many other obstacles that could potentially still derail that child. Therefore although there were many good programs doing great things, the impact wasn't noticeable in the overall scheme of changing poverty in Harlem. As a result, Canada has tried to put together an organization that is much more concentrated and continuous in its focus and that attempts to weave such a tight safety net that no children can slip through. This was such an interesting book. First of all, Canada is an inspiring figure. His determination, his logic, his focus, and his "realness" really make him a one-of-a-kind leader. The whole concept is intriguing, although skeptics wonder how you could make this kind of effort scalable because of the enormous cost. However, I learned so much about the history of how America has viewed and treated poverty and what research has said about poverty that gave me many "aha!" moments for better understanding our situation in America today. And I have to admit, I think Canada's "conveyor belt" method is going to prove most effective in the long run as opposed to the hit and miss efforts we usually see.



In the meantime, I was also reading the Waiting for Superman companion book that is comprised of several articles by people in the education reform world. There were a number of different viewpoints but some valid solutions were discussed. Some of it was more of the same, but there was several articles where I was introduced to some things I hadn't thought about before. I think this would be a good book for people just trying to learn more about this education crisis and about the different issues involved without getting too complex.



Then in just a matter of a few days, I read Work Hard. Be Nice. which is about the two guys who started the KIPP charter schools. It chronicles their entire journey, from the early days as Teach for America teachers in Houston to their first attempts at facilitating KIPP within existing public schools to the development of the KIPP Foundation that trains school leaders to open KIPP schools all across the country. While I didn't always agree 100% with some of Feinberg and Levin's methods, I had to admire their tenacity and dedication to the kids as well as their willingness to learn, grow, and adapt. They just wanted to be better teachers and achieve better results with kids and they were willing to learn and be mentored and to innovate in order for that to happen. These guys were tireless and they were fighters. They absolutely would not give up even when the traditional public school institutional red tape got in the way. Even when they were not getting the results they wanted. Even when they were making enemies left and right. But they ended up being instrumental in showing America that poor kids not only CAN learn, they WILL learn if the expectations are put in place and if teachers do whatever it takes to ensure that it happens. These guys never claimed they had the answers but they didn't wait for the answers to come to them....they went out and found them. The author did a good job of not just sanctifying these two guys...he definitely included some portrayals that weren't always flattering, yet you still end up being inspired by their pure determination to make a difference. They never intended to start a nationwide chain of schools. They just wanted to figure out how to best teach the kids in front of them. I think that's what has to happen for real education reform. We can't always legislate from the top what needs to happen. We need to put the kind of people in classrooms who look at the faces in front of them and do whatever it takes for them to learn.



Finally, I read Lighting Their Fires by Rafe Esquith. Rafe is an exceptional teacher in Los Angeles. He's written a couple of other books as well. This particular book was more about the character he tries to instill in his students. It could actually be read by parents as well as teachers. The whole book is written against the backdrop of him taking some of his students to an LA Dodgers game and how that experience exemplifies many of the values he tries to engrain in his kids. Things like being on time, managing time, the ability to focus and concentrate, developing a personal code of behavior, valuing reading over television, doing whatever you do with excellence, learning unselfishness, exhibiting humility, and learning to appreciate delayed gratification...all values that are pretty scarce in younger generations. I kept thinking of all you parents out there who might enjoy this book....I recommend it! It was a quick read. I read almost the whole thing during the 4 1/2 hours that I was proctoring a practice SAT test for the Upward Bound class on Saturday.



It feels good for the stack beside my bed to be whittled down a bit...but it won't be long I'm sure before it's piled up even with the mattress again!

Concrete Steps

I recently joined Twitter with the intention of mainly following different people and organizations related to education and education reform so I can continue to stay informed of the discussion and debate that is heating up in our nation regarding this critical topic. It has been interesting and I have definitely come across some informative and thought-provoking blog posts and articles, but at the same time I sometimes get overwhelmed with all the TALK. All the debate. All the analysis and contradicting viewpoints. In the meantime, our schools are staying EXACTLY the same. "Waiting for Superman" was meant to start a conversation but it was also meant to spur some real action. However, even the most compelled among us seem to be at somewhat of a loss as to where to start. The system is so vast, so complicated, so complex...it involves so many millions of people...how can we change such a monster??

I was talking to my dad the other day about the screening and panel at CDM last week and he just bluntly asked, "Well, what do you think would fix the schools? What do you think is the answer?" I have been mulling over that question for quite some time now and trying to come up with some concrete things that I think could make a difference. Not the abstract things like, "Parents need to be more involved" because we can't really do anything about that. But what are some practical, concrete action steps we can take immediately to begin transforming this system??

Here are some key factors that I, in all my expertise (sarcasm, folks, sarcasm), feel that we could begin working on as a district and as a state:

1) Rigorous and demanding teacher preparation programs

Whether a university based or alternative certification program, we need to begin raising our standards for what kind of people can have the privilege of teaching in our classrooms. I was thinking of a medical school analogy. First of all, there are steep requirements for even being accepted into medical school. Then, out of those candidates that are accepted, many are weeded out after the first year of med school. Right now, you only have to have a 2.5 gpa in your undergraduate studies to be accepted into a teacher prep program. There are really no other qualifications, other than not having a criminal background. What if we raised our standards for who can be accepted initially into a teacher prep program, and then raised the standards for what it takes to complete a teacher prep program? What if we weeded out the worst teachers before they even made it to a classroom, just like we weed out people who aren't cut out to be doctors before they ever make it into a hospital?

Then the teacher prep programs themselves need to be more rigorous, hands-on, and meaningful. Although many districts and school have a "mentoring" program for new teachers, it is usually a joke. But if we could develop a meaningful master-teacher/apprentice teacher component as part of teacher preparation, I think we could ensure that even first-year teachers are better equipped to lead and guide students in a demanding curriculum.

If we made becoming a teacher a more challenging process and it became a more elite career, then we could pay teachers more and thus recruit more quality people...and create a whole new cycle.

So what are the concrete steps?? Our State Board of Education and Texas Education Agency need to revamp the laws, standards, and policies that guide the requirements for teacher preparation programs, at both the university level and in alternative certification programs. Right now, alt-cert programs are for-profit organizations...they're more concerned with getting as many candidates enrolled as possible...that's how they stay in business. The quality of the program is secondary. Even as a product and beneficiary of alternative certification, I think it is truly damaging our educational system.

2) Continue investing in early-education programs, especially in low-income areas

The research is abundant: if a child has limited learning experiences, limited literacy experiences, limited exposure to books and high-level conversational vocabulary...they will start school already behind. It is critical that kids arrive on the first day of kindergarten with certain pre-reading skills and a literacy foundation. There has been so much research done on the difference between children in poverty and children from more affluent areas as far as the number of hours being read to, the number of books in the home, the number of words they've heard and the type of words heard, etc. and the impact this has on their future learning. I could go into all of the research on this subject, but bottom line, it is ESSENTIAL. The research of the effectiveness of programs like Head Start is mixed, but this biggest problem is that any progress that was made in Head Start is erased when the students arrive at a sub-par public school in their same low-income neighborhood. If we have quality teachers and quality curriculum and quality resources in place when the kids transition from Head Start to public school, then I believe we would really start to see the impact of having that early education piece in place. It doesn't always have to be Head Start. That is just one program of many that could potentially impact early education. I like the idea at the Harlem Children's Zone of "Baby College". This is a nine week course for expecting parents or parents of small children that trains them on ways to work with their children to build them up and prepare them educationally. The program also addresses other areas such as nutrition, discipline, etc. that have an impact on a child's early years. Most parents love their children and want the best for their children, but many don't come from backgrounds where buying books or going to the library or museums was a priority. They want their children to be successful, but they don't always have the tools or resources to know WHAT to do with their kids, because it wasn't a part of their own upbringing, perhaps. Even for middle and upper class parents, we've got to continue to educate them on the importance of cultivating creative learning experiences and not always relying on television or video games to entertain the kids. If children arrive for their 12 years of public education with a strong foundation for learning, then I believe we could be more effective in those 12 years.

So the concrete steps? Continue to invest in programs that promote early education. Expand programs that provide early education to low-income families and expand programs that work with parents on things they can do at home to help their children. Support programs that provide books and reading materials to neighborhoods and homes where these resources are scarce.

These are just two steps, but now this blog post is getting out of control again, so maybe there will be a part two in a couple of days! Stay tuned as I solve America's education crisis one blog post at a time! :-P

TEACHED

TEACHED 8-min Extended Trailer May 2010 from Loudspeaker Films on Vimeo.

So I'm not sure when this is coming out...seems to have some of the same themes as "Waiting for Superman"...but looks like they include a wider variety of voices, which I look forward to hearing.

So glad education is becoming a topic people want to talk about!!

Upward Bound

Wow! What a weekend! I feel I have been running a million miles an hour for about a week straight and this weekend was particularly eventful. Most of the weekend involved state fair, birthday, and eating activities with the Fletcher/Eckstein/Joyner/Skidmore clan, which was GREAT, but one of the highlights was my first day with the Upward Bound program at Mountain View College on Saturday morning.

I may have mentioned previously that I will be working a few hours a month with Upward Bound, which is a federally funded grant program that targets low-income high school students who are potential first-generation college students and provides them with an array of resources and support to assist them in getting to college and completing college. There are Upward Bound programs across the country and, from what I see, they are quite successful in motivating and assisting students and families with achieving the goal of college. The particular program I work with targets students from five high schools in Dallas and Grand Prairie, including Kimball, where Dezeray goes. So I was able to get Dezeray and her mom the information and she applied and got in, which I am SO excited about. Upward Bound provides tutors and staff at each high school location to provide support throughout the week for the students in the program. They also host "Saturday Academies" twice a month in which students will receive SAT/ACT test prep instruction as well as a Written Word class and other informative workshops and seminars. The students also take lots of college trips and visits and other enrichment trips outside of the city. For example, they are going to New Orleans over the Thanksgiving break. I am just such a fan of programs like this that provide opportunities for students to see glimpses of the world outside of their Dallas, Texas neighborhoods and allows them to get some richer context for setting goals and dreams for their future.

My job will be to teach the Written Word class at the Saturday Academies. The goal is just to focus on writing skills and getting students more comfortable with expressing themselves through writing. I was a little nervous about the position at first because I have never taught high school students...all my experience has been with elementary and middle school children. To be honest, I've always secretly been a little intimidated by high school students. However, on Saturday, I was blown away by the maturity and focus of the 100-150 students who attended the Academy. I quickly decided I've been in middle school too long. I had no idea that kids eventually grow up a little and actually get some sense! (J/K). Our assignment on Saturday was to write letters to Congressmen because the federal funding for the Upward Bound program is in danger of being cut when the budget is voted on in November. I was really impressed at the writing ability of the students and the thoughtfulness of their letters. Also, I could tell from the letters how much this program has meant to them and what a loss it would be if the program had to close its doors.

When we look at what is going on in many of our public high schools, we tend to focus on the negative. We look at dropout rates and teen pregnancy rates and low test scores. We look at the gang activity and students who seem to be making all the wrong choices. We get so focused on those problems that all the potential in those schools gets overshadowed and overlooked. But what I loved on Saturday is that I looked out across a room and all I saw was potential. Hope. Determination. Good kids who want something better for themselves. I saw dozens of Dezerays and I was so happy that she is connecting with other kids who have the expectations and goals for themselves that she does. These are kids who believe education is a way out and they value these opportunities. I am so looking forward to knowing them better over the next few months and being a small part of the team that is working to make sure that they graduate with options and opportunities, despite the school, neighborhood, or income level they come from.

It has really been refreshing the past few weeks to get involved with programs like Upward Bound and to get more involved with the programs at Roseland with Central Dallas as well. Each day I meet kids that renew my hope and renew my commitment to doing whatever I can to make sure they get all the tools and resources they need to pursue whatever it is they want to pursue in life. It is so encouraging to be surrounded by adults and staff members who share that commitment. I don't always feel that same shared zeal here at my school, so I am really thriving off the encouragement and inspiration I get from my colleagues and co-workers in these other programs and organizations.

However, I am really alarmed that the Upward Bound program could be losing its funding in November. I just think investment in education is a terrible area to cut. Please read the following information about the funding for this program:

What is the Immediate Funding Crisis?

· The College Cost Reduction and Access Act (CCRAA) provided four years of funding to
support nearly 200 Upward Bound projects. These is a separate pot of money from the other funds that support all other TRIO projects. Once the CCRAA money is gone, Congress will need to find additional money to support the programs formerly funded by CCRAA.

· According to a recent letter from the Department of Education, the funding for the
CCRAA projects will expire on in the middle of the 2011-2012 academic year on
December 30, 2011. (See attached.) Important Note: Due to different funding cycles,
some of these projects have an end date of May 2012. To the best of our knowledge,
these projects will have funding through that time; however, they will still be subject to a severe squeeze in the number of projects that will be funded in the FY 2012 competition.

What is the Solution?

· We need Congress to put an additional $34 million in the FY 2011 appropriations
legislation to fund the CCRAA projects through the remainder of the 2011-2012 program
year. Otherwise, these projects will expire before the next grant competition, which will be in FY 2012 (and fund projects that will be in academic year 2012-2013).

· We only have one talking point: Unless you put $34 million into Upward Bound in FY
2011, we will lose 200 programs serving 12,000 students!

What Happens Next?
· Members of Congress are actively campaigning around their home states and districts.Over the next several weeks they will be meeting with constituents to try and earn their votes in the upcoming midterm elections. Once they return on November 15, they will pass one or more of the following pieces of legislation. Our objective is to get funding into one of these pieces of appropriations legislation:

o Continuing Resolution (CR) This is a short-term, stop-gap measure to keep
the government running after the end of the fiscal year (September 30). The
current CR runs through December 3, 2010. Congress will have to pass another
CR or an omnibus (see below) before that date.
o Omnibus Appropriations Bill (omnibus or sometimes called minibus) This is a longer-term bill that combines several appropriations bills into one larger
bill. Because the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill, which funds TRIO,
is often controversial (due to issues relating to healthcare), this will likely be
linked with other, less controversial spending bills. An omnibus bill usually lasts
for a longer period of time, possibly even until the end of the fiscal year
(September 30).

· Due to the ever-changing nature of the political game, we won't know which vehicle
Congress will use to set spending for the rest of FY 2011. They very well might pass
something that lasts only until the beginning of next year. Regardless of whichever
route they choose, our message stays the same: Support putting $34 million into
Upward Bound in FY 2011 or we will lose 200 programs serving 12,000 students
next year!

What Should We Do?
· There are several ways that you can reach out to your legislators to get their support:
o Attend townhall meetings and public forums
§ Be sure to bring large groups wearing TRIO hats, pins, sweatshirts, etc.
§ Come ready to ask about this issue and ask for their leadership in taking
care of this situation.
o Request face-to-face meetings at local offices
o Ask your institutional leaders to write letters requesting funds
· Make it clear to legislators that these programs serving students in their community WILL go away after December 2011 unless they take action.

Points to make:
o The longevity of the program in your community (Is it an older, well-established
program that people have come to rely on? Is it a brand new program serving
pent-up demand for services?)
o The impact of the program in your community (e.g., provide success rates for
your students applying, getting into and graduating from college.)
· Be sure to involve your institutional and community leaders, parents, students, and
alumni! We need all hands on deck if we are to be successful!

I would ask anyone reading this (which may be no one) to take a moment to advocate for the continuance of this program, whether by contacting your U.S. legislators by letter, phone call, or email. I wish all of you that do read this blog had the opportunity to get to know some of these amazing kids that I get to interact with each and every day. If you could know them and see the potential they have first hand, you would know every dollar invested in them and their future is worth it! Let's work together to invest our tax money in stuff that has some positive return...like educated, productive leaders and citizens! Let me know if you have questions or suggestions!

What I Didn't Get to Say!

Last night, Central Dallas Ministries hosted a screening of the "Waiting for Superman" documentary that I referred to in earlier posts. After the film, there was a "town hall forum" discussion and I had the opportunity to be one of the panelists. I was a little nervous about this because first of all, I am much more comfortable blogging my thoughts than speaking them in front of large groups of people (especially a large group of professionals, business leaders, other seasoned educators...not kids!!), and second of all, do I even know what I am talking about?? At the same time, this is a topic that I am always eager to discuss so I was happy to be a part. Other panelists included a former school board trustee, an elementary principal, a non-profit education leader, a parent, the president of Dallas AFT (teacher's union), the founder of a successful charter school network, and myself. Unfortunately, time ran out after only a few questions to the panel and I felt that the surface was hardly scratched.

I think the point of the panel and discussion forums such as these is to really start a conversation about...what are we going to DO?? Not just keep talking about what's wrong and what needs to change, but HOW are we going to change it? What are the practical steps we need to take as people sincerely concerned about equitable, quality public education in America? However, the discussion never seems to quite get to those practical steps. To be honest, I found myself quite irritated during the discussion by the AFT president. The first question we were asked was just about our general reaction to the film. She, quite predictably, started channeling Randi Weingarten and the same spiel that the unions have been arguing since the film came out....that she is saddened that there wasn't one successful traditional public school or public school teacher featured in the film, that she is upset about the beating that public schools are taking from this movie, that there are so many great teachers working their hearts out everywhere, that there are some great schools in DISD, blah, blah, blah. OKAY!! We get that!! We know there are good teachers and good schools out there. WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT THEM!!! But if everyone is doing such a good job, then why is America ranked 25th in math and 21st in science out of 30 developed countries? Why do we only have a national average of proficiency in reading and math that is less than 30%?? That's a wake-up call, people! We can sit around and get defensive and talk about how good hearted and hard working teachers are and how much they sacrifice all day, but no one has the power to change those statistics more than teachers, so they HAVE to be the target of this conversation! So the union representatives can keep defending their teachers if they want to, but that's not going to change those frightening numbers that you see above. Yes, there are GREAT teachers!! No one is bashing them or discrediting the work they do!! But for every good teacher, there are six or seven mediocre ones and maybe two or three truly bad ones. (I'm just going off what I see in the schools I've been in.) For every great teacher who brings success to 30 students, there are 80 more slipping through the cracks in the rooms down the hall. So that's part of what this conversation is about. To me, if you are truly a great teacher, you know this. You have to acknowledge this. You have to be outraged that your colleagues are not giving the same effort you are and that all your hard work one year might be flushed down the toilet with a lazy, half-hearted, complacent, incompetent, whatever the case may be (fill in the blank here) teacher the next year.

At the same time that teachers are worked to death and underpaid, we are spoiled. We are spoiled because we are in pretty much the only career in the world where we really don't have to achieve any results at all to keep our jobs. We are rarely observed, rarely evaluated, and rarely disciplined. We are rarely fired. There are rarely any real consequences or real accountability for not doing a good job. Sometimes I hear things like "you're going to get written up for that." I've been in education almost six years and am still mystified by that. Okay, written up? What does that mean? And what happens? Well, apparently nothing. There are no consequences!!! Maybe that's why discipline is such a problem in our schools. How can we deliver an appropriate system of expectations, accountability, and consequences for students when there are none for ourselves?

We are spoiled because we think we actually earn three months off in the summer. We think we are not obligated to work past 3:30pm and get outraged if we are asked to do so. (Lots of teachers DO put in lots of their own time past the contracted hours, even bad ones do, but what career doesn't have to work long hours to get results?? Yet teachers have the loudest voices about how hard and how long we have to work). I wonder how many teachers could go into the corporate world or the business world and survive. We are walking around out here like we're the victims, like we're the only ones putting in long hours out here in America. Like we're the only ones not getting appreciated and paid well. Yes, teaching is TOUGH!! It is exhausting, mentally and physically and financially draining. We do have to deal with unimaginable challenges and we do have the pressures of unimaginable responsibilities on our shoulders. But that is the nature of what we do. That is what teaching is. If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen!! This victim mentality is getting us nowhere.

I want to write more about the actual movie itself, but I have a day off from school today and about a zillion things to do...so this post will be continued....

Great Motherly Advice

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those who are perishing. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice."

-Proverbs 31: 8-9--

(From King Lemuel's mother)

What Makes an Effective Teacher?

All of the sudden, talk of education reform is everywhere. From the "Waiting for Superman" film to articles in the September 20 issue of Time Magazine to NBC's Education Nation summit in NYC this week, suddenly the media is buzzing about education. I've been following the conversations in mainstream media and watched all of the programming on MSNBC this weekend, from "Meet the Press" on Sunday to the Teacher Town Hall Sunday afternoon to the "Waiting for Superman" panel last night to President Obama's speech on education this morning on the Today show. Frustratingly, it seems many of these panels and discussion forums keep inviting the same people (Geoffery Canada, Michelle Rhee, Randi Weingarten, Davis Guggenheim) to talk about education and I'm starting to see the media focusing in and perhaps steering the national conversation to focus on two or three themes, the main one which is that much of the problem with the education system lies with ineffective teachers, the tenure system, and unions blocking district's attempts to reform their systems for evaluating teachers and removing them if necessary.

First of all, I have been in education for five years and I had never heard of teacher tenure. I had to do a little research to find out that in the state of Texas, we don't really have tenure and union contracts as teachers in other states do. From my understanding, the Texas Education Code allows for districts to offer three kinds of contracts: continuing (the closest thing to tenure that Texas has), term, and probationary. Only a few districts offer the continuing contract; most offer only term and probationary contracts, with term contracts usually being 1 or 2 years. However, I still commonly see teachers that I would consider to be poor teachers have their contracts renewed term after term and I'm not sure if membership in a union plays a role in that or not. I personally am not in a union so I am limited in my knowledge on what kind of protection union membership provides, but I just haven't observed the unions playing as big of a role here in Dallas or Texas in general as the film and the national conversation seems to imply. BUT with that said, I am wondering then what is holding adminstrators here in Dallas back from being more forward in evaluating and removing ineffective teachers from classrooms...because they do exist and I see them all the time.

The union's side in all of this is that they feel that instead of demonizing and scapegoating teachers there needs to be more support and more tools for teachers. According to them, there needs to be more support in developing and growing good teachers through professional development and training. While I agree that there needs to be better preparation BEFORE entering the classroom, I personally think that there is a ton of wonderful resources and professional development opportunities available for teachers already in the classroom. In Texas, education service centers such as Region 10 in our area provide all kinds of free trainings, workshops, and seminars that are really, really good! Most large districts provide all kinds of professional development, technology training, instructional coaches, etc. etc. etc. Then there is an endless array of online learning opportunities and resources, lots of which is free to educators. Technology has opened the door to just an amazing selection of free resources to really enhance instruction in the classroom. What I see is not enough teachers taking these opportunities seriously and not enough teachers being open-minded enough to embrace new ideas and approaches to instruction. Yes, I have been to plenty of pointless trainings, but I have also been to really some great ones. And usually, good or bad, there is always something to take away. It's all in the attitude of the teacher. Teachers who constantly self-reflect, constantly want to improve, constantly want to adapt and innovate to achieve even greater results, are eager to take part in any kind of learning opportunity. Mediocre teachers who are comfortable with mediocrity see professional development as a waste of time and just something else to do and these are the ones you see on their cell phones throughout the entire workshop. I'm not really going to say that we need to pour more resources into better teacher professional development until we start taking full advantage of what is already out there. I truly believe that teachers in this district have the learning resources and development opportunities available to improve their instructional practices if they really wanted to. So I'm not fully buying what Randi Weingarten is arguing on that point.

However, I do agree that there needs to be better feedback and better evaluation tools for teachers. When I was in the classroom, it was RARE that an administrator came in to observe (maybe only once or twice out of 180 school days) and one of those times was for the annual evaluation report. The feedback I received as a first and second year teacher was almost non-existent. Even as a librarian, I receive almost no feedback from anyone on what kind of job I'm doing. I think teachers would better know which professional development opportunities to pursue if they had more feedback on what they needed to work on....constructive feedback on a regular basis. That is why I'm glad that part of this debate is focusing on teacher evaluation tools....but I'm still not sure how I feel about teacher evaluation being linked directly to student standardized test scores. Perhaps that should be a small part, but certainly not the weightiest part of a teacher's effectiveness rating. I feel that would place even more undue focus on the test and even lead to more unethical practices on the part of teachers who are feeling pressured to achieve a certain test score percentage in order to receive a paycheck or even keep a job. Therefore, while I'm a strong proponent of re-vamping how teachers are evaluated, I'm not necessarily a proponent of the merit-based pay system. I just think there is too much focus on these stupid tests anyway and that student achievement needs to be measured in other ways beyond a test score, just like teacher effectiveness needs to be meausured beyone test scores. High-stakes testing coupled with bad teachers are two of the most fatal ingredients in our failing system, in my opinion.

So how do you know if a teacher is effective beyond test scores? That's what the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is trying to find out through a huge research study being conducted right now called Measures of Effective Teaching Project (MET). Our district is actually participating in this project and I am the school project coordinator for this campus. Last year I was pretty frustrated with all the extra work that came with participating in this study. There are ten teachers in this school that I had to video four times, plus administrer extra surveys, tests, etc etc etc. There is more to it that I won't go into. I wasn't particularly happy about my new assignment. But now as I've begun to listen more closely to what is being discussed on the national scene, I'm actually glad to be a part of this research, which is taking place in five major school districts across the country and collecting over 70,000 hours of classroom teaching on video. The goal of the study is to identify effective teaching practices that can be used to develop evaluation tools and even to help re-shape teacher preparation programs. I hope they can come up with standards and tools that measure all aspects of a good teacher beyond just once-a-year test scores.

The tricky thing is that so much of what makes a good teacher cannot be measured. Like I said in my previous post, so much of it is passion. So much of it is what your attitude and philosophy towards the kids is. So much of it is the relationships and rapport that you develop with the kids. So much of it is a person's creativity in overcoming the obstacles and challenges that their kids bring to to the table. So much of it is just pure content knowledge and academic expertise. So much of it is the teacher's desire to just personally and professionally grow and improve. So much of it is a gift of being able to talk to and relate to kids in relevant ways. So much of it is selflessness. How do you measure those things? How do you put a value on those characteristics?

The most important thing that is coming out of this discussion is a focus on "other people's children." When evaluating a teacher or a school, we all need to ask, "Is this what I would want for my child?" We have got to start wanting for all children the things that we would want for our own children. It may still be fuzzy how to define an effective teacher, but we all know one when we see one before we ever see his or her test scores. We all know when we see a teacher that we would trust our own child with. We've got to work toward making sure our own children would be okay going to any school in Dallas or in Texas or in America. We've got to work towards figuring out how to get those kinds of people, not just those kinds of test scores, in every single classroom.

More to come....just taking a break for now!!

The Civil Rights Issue of Our Time

A few weeks ago I heard of an upcoming documentary that is being released today called "Waiting for Superman" that examines the crisis of public education in America today. In fact, Central Dallas Ministries is going to host a screening of this movie on Oct.7 and I am eagerly waiting to see it. However, before it's even been released, this documentary is already stirring up a lot of conversation and heated debate, especially after it was discussed on the Oprah show on Monday. Many educators are outraged because they feel that both the documentary and the Oprah show make teachers and teacher unions the scapegoats for a broken educational system. The documentary also apparently highlights the success of several charter schools as it tells the story of five desperate families trying to get their kids into these select schools through the random draw of a lottery. Some have taken offense to the idea that charter schools are the answer as opposed to failing public schools. Apparently this episode really fired a lot of teachers up and I have become fascinated this week in reading and examining all sides of this very complex issue. I find myself reacting very strongly as well. This has long been a critical issue in my mind. I heard someone say that inequitable education in America is the civil rights issue of our time and I completely support that statement. Therefore, this conversation is one that I will be following closely in the days and weeks to come.

However, while most teachers are outraged at the questions being raised by this documentary...questions that seem to focus on whether teachers are doing their job or not...I personally couldn't agree more. I have long said that I truly believe one of the most critical issues with our struggling educational system are the quality of teachers and administrators leading the schools. In fact, I've blogged about this very topic before. I am not offended when the implication is made that maybe the problem lies largely with ineffective teachers. Yes, there are lots of wonderful public school teachers out there and no one is trying to take away from the important and sacrificial contributions they make every day. But I think it is important to acknowledge that there are thousands of teachers who are in the wrong profession. There are thousands of teachers who are academically incompetent, who don't believe all kids can learn, who set low expectations for kids, who are unprofessional in their ethical decisions, and who are unwilling to commit the time it takes to reach kids who are coming from extremely difficult circumstances. I can't tell you how many times a day I hear teachers complaining about the lack of parental support and involvement, about administrative decisions, about lack of resources, lack of time, about how bad the kids are, etc. etc. etc. But I never hear teachers acknowledge that there may be some deficiencies in their own abilities, approaches, and attitudes as teachers.

Yes, it is a problem that often our kids don't come to us with the level of parental support and involvement that we would like to see. As a teacher, I was as frustrated as the next teacher when I couldn't get the parental support I so desperately needed. Yes, it is a serious problem that the kids come to us and haven't been raised to show the kind of respect for adults that we were raised with. Yes, it is a serious problem that kids come to us from homes and parents that have very little value for education at times. All of that is extremely discouraging and frustrating as we try to do our jobs every day. But to me, the bottom line is that we have a job to do. No one ever said this job would be even remotely easy. But the kids in front of us every day had no control over where they came from, who their parents are, and how involved their parents choose to be. But they deserve an education just as much as Joe in the suburbs whose parents enrolled him in private school at age 3 and read to him every night an hour before bed. They deserve that education whether they realize they need or want it or not. They deserve to be able to choose their fate when they reach adulthood. Our apathetic and failing schools are choosing the fate of too many for them.

Teachers say it's not fair that they can't just teach anymore. They say it's not fair that they're expected to play parent, teacher, social worker, counselor, law enforcement all at once. Teachers say it's not fair that so much is asked of them that they have to work 11-12 hour work days and still pay for supplies out of their own pockets. Teachers say it's not fair that they are blamed when a student fails. And they're right...it's not fair. But it's reality. This is the nature of the business we are in right now. We cannot change how parents are raising their children or the influences that kids come to us with. There is nothing we can change but what we do in our classrooms for those 8 hours a day that the students are with us. But too many teachers refuse to see past all the other frustrations to see what they can do to work around those tough obstacles. They throw up their hands and look the other way when they see difficult students slip through the cracks....I know, because I've done it. And no one....NO ONE...ever held me accountable for it. Not a parent, not an administrator...no one.

Teaching is too easy of a career to get into to be such an important work. People can decide on a whim they want to teach and two months later be in a classroom. Teaching is not a valued and respected enough profession. Therefore, we get way too many people in classrooms who really don't know much about the subject they're teaching, have no background in any kind of pedagogical theory and practice, and are really just counting the days until their summer break....the reason they decided to go into teaching in the first place. I am just appalled at what I see from my colleagues daily. I am appalled at the lack of expectations not just for the students, but for ourselves. I am sorry. America deserves to be outraged at teachers, because in all harsh honesty, there ARE a lot of sorry ones.

Teachers defend themselves, citing the long hours they work and all that is asked of them. And granted, it is A LOT. Teachers are asked to be almost superhuman at times. But again, you know this going in. You have to have an innate belief in the importance of quality education for all, you have to have an innate love for and belief in the capacity of all children to learn, and you have to have a passion for what you teach. If you don't have those things, you can work 23 hours a day and not be effective. If you have those innate values driving you, you will have the stamina and the selflessness that is MANDATORY for this profession! Teaching is not for the selfish, bottom line.

We can stand around and point fingers at parents and school boards and superintendents and rappers and everyone else all day, or we can point that finger back at ourselves and say....I have a job to do. This child needs to learn and what am I going to do to make sure that happens? True, there are some kids that even the best teachers can't reach. But another good teacher down the hall might connect in a different way and be able to motivate them. If a school is filled with quality teachers, more than likely almost all the kids at some point are going to be reached by someone. More importantly, all too often there are kids with gold mines of potential, that do have the support of parents at home, that are overlooked while teachers are so busy complaining about all the "bad kids" they have to deal with. There are LOTS of parents out there who do care tremendously about their kids and their kids' education...but just don't quite know what to do. Don't get so caught up in frustration at some parents' lack of support that you overlook the ones who do care.

I wasn't a great teacher. I wasn't the type of teacher I speak of above. But what bothers me is that no one ever called me out for not being better. No one expected me to be better. I was good enough...at least I was allowed to believe that. But really, I wasn't. And although I can admit that, there are too many teachers who can't.

The reason I feel that this is the civil rights issue of our time is because schools are more segregated than they were before 1954, according to lots of national statistics. Schools are starkly segregated along lines of race and socioeconomic status and the achievement gap is astounding. Lack of teacher quality is most noticeable in the schools in the poorest areas. Lack of technology and resources is most prevalent in the areas that need them the most. Things are tolerated in urban schools in low-income areas that would never be accepted in wealthier, more well-supported schools. And who suffers are the children who had no control over where they were born and what school is down the street from their house. Being born poor equals a poor education and that should not be true in a country with the ideals that America touts around the world. If parents don't advocate for their children, children still deserve to be advocated for. If parents don't choose to make education a priority, children still deserve to get one. And for the low-income parents who do want to make education a priority, they deserve to have a good school available to them.

There is so much more to say, and believe me, I will have more to say. This is such an amazingly intricate and complex problem. The answers are so difficult to find. The blame does not lie all in one place. But somehow, we have got to start peeling these layers away and finding solutions. I hope that "Waiting for Superman" can stir up the conversations that will make those solutions possible. I look forward to the reactions and commentary to come.

PaPa

My twin brother Brandon and I have a very unusual background. When we were born, we had all four sets of our great-grandparents and all four of our grandparents still living. Most of them lived within 25 miles of us, so we had the opportunity to get to know all of them and remember all of them (except our Great-Grandma Embry who died when we were 2 so we don't remember her). We even had two great-great grandma's alive when we were born! We had the opportunity to make a lot of wonderful memories with all of these great-grandparents and grandparents. I know I still remember going to see Grandpa Embry in Muleshoe and getting lemon drop candy at his house and going to Grandma and Grandpa Ike's house and drinking Dr. Peppers and playing with all their souvenirs in the back room. I remember spending the night at Memaw and G-Daddy's house and Memaw teaching me to play the keyboard and the organ. I remember going to DeLeon to visit Grandmother and Granddaddy McKillip and getting hugs from her that squeezed the air out of you. One by one, our great-grandparents passed on and most of them were gone by the time I turned 20...which is still a really long time to have had your great-grands! I still miss each of them.

But even more special to my heart are the memories we have of the many, many, many days and nights we spent at our grandparents' homes...MaMa and PaPa and Nana and Papaw. The older I get the more I appreciate the blessing of having such wonderful, loving, and supportive grandparents play such a big part in my life. The countless hours spent with them make up a large part of the fabric of my childhood. Of course, having them so close and playing such an enormous role in my life has made it even harder to lose one of them.

Last weekend, our PaPa passed away at 88 years old. Although we've known for many years that this day was inevitable, it did not make me any more prepared or any more ready for it to come. Everyone who knows PaPa knows that he has suffered for the majority of his life from a rare disease that made him crippled and he has been in more pain and discomfort than we ever really knew or understood. We all knew that it was harder and harder for him to function and that the quality of his life was rapidly deteriorating. We knew that it was getting harder and harder for Eldon and MaMa to take care of him and we knew that the nursing home would totally destroy his spirit. So while our heads and our hearts know that it is wonderful for him to have finally passed into peace and pain-free rest after so many years of struggle, it is still hard been hard to accept that life as I know it will never be quite the same again.

I was so glad that most of the family was able to be together Labor Day weekend, only 5 days before PaPa passed away. All week I have been thinking of the last conversation I had with him as he sat in his chair and of seeing him at church last Sunday night. Then when I traveled back to Farwell only a few days later and walked into the house and saw his empty chair, a million memories of the past 30 years began to flood my mind. They've been running through my mind ever since. I think about playing tea party when I was about four with him in their living room or sitting his lap while he read book after book to us. I think about shelling peas or snapping beans every summer in the garage. I think about him sitting in the pickup while I hoed Eldon's cotton and keeping me company on my breaks. I think about washing dishes with him after every meal while he told me stories about washing dishes in the Army. I think about him coming into the bedroom when we were spending the night and telling us stories about Sambo and reciting some of his many funny rhymes and sayings. I think about eating cake and homemade ice cream with him on every birthday or about rubbing his "gourd" (as he called it) with his hair that was "fine as frog's hair." I think about helping MaMa put his socks on and him joking about his ugly toes. I think about seeing him at church every Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night and about helping him get his crutches in the car or playing on his crutches while he was sitting down somewhere. I remember going to lots of parades with him and MaMa and how he never met a stranger. I remember him telling the same stories over and over but still laughing because he got so tickled every time like it was the first time he told it. I think about him shuffling around the yard moving the water hose or scratching up weeds. I remember sitting around the kitchen table drinking soda pop with him in the afternoon. I think about him dozing off in his chair with his mouth wide open and snoring loudly with his Bible in his lap. (One time we even dropped some little pieces of paper towel in his mouth just to see what he would do...that was mean of us, huh!) I think about watching Jeopardy with him in the early evenings or the weather before bed. Once I left home, I remember getting lots of letters written in his beautiful pensmanship telling me all about the crops and dr's appointments and other news...always signed "See you in the funny papers" or "crippled Annie." PaPa was always making jokes and laughing about old stories. He would say things like "See you down the road if it ain't uphill" or "My name's Embry, I guess you know yours" or "I'm fair to middlin'" or "its hotter than a two dollar pistol on Saturday night." He always told all his granddaughters, "You're just the bestest ole grandgirl a PaPa could ever have!" or "I like Rachie better than Rachie likes PaPa!".

People always think of PaPa as friendly, upbeat, and full of good humor. Lots of people in the church and community were so impressed because they never heard him complain or say a negative word despite the things he went through. I also think of PaPa as being very gentle and patient and kind-hearted. I don't think I ever heard him raise his voice or get upset or even slightly angry about anything. He was always so glad to see people and especially his grandkids. He just made us feel like we really hung the moon.

I know that its selfish to want these kinds of memories to go on forever, but the human side of me does. For my entire life, every time I went home to Farwell or went to MaMa and PaPa's house, everything was EXACTLY the same. There was so much comfort in that familiarity to me. I always dreaded the day when I would go back and it wasn't the same any more. And now it's not. It will never be the same. Already I just miss PaPa so much. I miss that I will never see him asleep in his chair again or hear him laugh and joke or tell another war story ever again. I miss that I will never get another letter or hear him tell me how "purdy" I am today. There is just so much I am going to miss and it has been harder than I ever thought it would be.

But more than anything I am just so thankful we had him all these years and I am so thankful for all these memories and more. I am thankful for everything I learned from him and for everything he meant to our family. I'm just thankful that PaPa was PaPa and that I got to be his granddaughter. I'm the luckiest grandgirl in the world and I KNOW that I like PaPa better'n he likes me!!

Progress!!!

So...last week was the first week kids came into the library to check out books. And for the first time ever during "opening week" of the library, I did not check out ONE SINGLE Junie B. Jones book!!!! And only a handful of "Goosebumps" books!!! Yessss!!!!! Slowly but surely the kids are starting to realize there are other books out there in the world!! I feel like this is marked progress during my tenure as librarian here!!

A little background on why this is such a great feat here...when I first became the librarian, the majority of the kids would always make a beeline to the shelf containing Junie B. Jones or R.L. Stine books. Now these books are really more of a 2nd or 3rd grade level, really not advanced enough for middle school. Apparently, the kids had been introduced to these in elementary school and their loyalty ran deep. I used to get so frustrated that I could not convince an 8th grade girl that there might be something she could relate to and enjoy a little more than Junie B. for her book report. But as I have slowly brought more relevant books into the collection and forced them into the kids hands, I see the interest in other genres increasing, much to my relief!

Here's to another Junie B free week at Pearl C.!! Let's leave her in 2nd grade where she belongs!

Full Schedule Ahead!

So school is back in full swing and my days have been pretty quiet thus far. Today is the first day classes have started coming into the library and I am so happy to see kids again! For the first week of school I barely saw any students. Now that they know the library is up and running, hopefully I will start having more kids come in. This year is definitely different because I just don't know the students as well as I have in the past. When I became the librarian, I knew most of the kids because I had taught many of them in sixth grade language arts. This is my third year as a librarian and the last class I actually taught has moved on to high school. I'm really missing those relationships I had with my former students. It's just harder to really get to know kids and build a bond with them when you only see them every two weeks for a whirlwind session in the library. So I am going to have to get creative this year on how I can get to know the kids better because the relationship factor is something that really drives and motivates me in my work.

This is also the first semester in three years that I have not been in grad school! Of course those who know me won't be surprised to hear that I have already figured out how to fill that extra time. First, I was contemplating taking an Americorp position with Central Dallas Ministries to work with Janet's programs over at Roseland. Janet and I both were excited about the possibility of me working more closely with the library/community bookstore program and developing that more, along with Katrina, the young lady who has been running the library since last year. I thought this would be neat to not only get the chance to get more involved with the education mission at CDM again, but to also receive the Americorp education award to put toward finishing my other master's in Reading (I have 18 hours in this and want to finish the other 18 sometime in the somewhat near future). I was gung-ho until I realized that Americorp requires a 20-25 hour week commitment, which would mean my work day would be 4-8 each day there at Roseland, after working 8:00-3:45 at my regular school. That would be Monday-Friday, every week, until June. At first I thought I could handle it, but then I started really thinking about how many little things come up after school that I sometimes have to take care of or go to, such as trainings and teacher meetings, etc. which I would have to figure out how to work around. I just wasn't sure I could hack the 12-13 hour workday, five days a week for nine months. So I reluctantly decided not to do the official position, but instead will volunteer with the program at least 4 days a week from 4-6 instead of 4-8. That way I can still be a part of the really neat stuff going on with the programs and families at Roseland and still have a little flexibility to take care of other things in the evenings. I'm really excited about this and anticipate many posts to come about the cool things we will be doing over there!!

At the same time I was pursuing this Americorp possibility, I heard of another opportunity with a program called Upward Bound at Mountainview College here in Dallas. Upward Bound is a program that works with high school students from low-income areas and homes who are potential first-generation college students. The program supports them throughout high school and helps them navigate the road to college. I applied to be a part-time adjunct faculty member for this program. Basically I would work other every Saturday from 10-1 doing ACT and SAT prep and tutoring with students. So I interviewed for that and wasn't sure how I felt about it or how they felt about me, but was surprised to get a call today offering me the position. I think that I will accept this because it pays well (over $20 per hour) and is only about a 6 hour commitment per month. Not to mention I will get the opportunity to assist students who are the first ones in their families to pursue college...something I'm really excited about!

So a busy, but productive year, seems to be unfolding before me. I'm really looking forward to these new endeavors. Since I don't have the time-consuming burden of grad school weighing me down, and since I've gotten the whole librarian thing down to a science (:-)) I'm looking forward to getting involved in some meaningful contributions to the community around me over the next few months. Can't wait to get started and can't wait to meet the new kids and students who will soon start to become big parts of my life. Stay tuned..... :-)

Please Vote for the ASA Garden Project!!

One of the really cool things that my former co-worker, Janet, and the After School Academy has been able to do over the past year since they moved to the Roseland neighbohood is have a community garden! The after school program was able to partner with an organization called the Gleaning Network. The kids have been able to work in their own garden and learn about growing vegetables and more. They each take turns working in the garden and watering it, etc. It is a really neat experience for these city kids! :-)

Some of you may have seen the commercials on television about the Pepsi Refresh grant program. Janet has placed the ASA Garden up for voting for one of these grants. If they receive enough votes, they will get a grant that will allow them to expand the community garden. It's really easy to vote and you can vote once a day!

Here is what Janet sent me in an email:

"Help us out with our Pepsi Refresh grant for the ASA Learning Garden at Roseland. You can read more about our garden here:
http://janetmorrison.blogspot.com/2010/08/asa-learning-garden-needs-pepsi-refresh.html

Vote daily for our Pepsi Refresh grant at http://pep.si/cMwxEy or Text 101161 to Pepsi (73774) . You can vote once a day...we NEED you to vote once a day! I've set a reminder on my phone so I can text each morning. I've heard it's easier to text your vote in anyway.

Please pass on to all of your friends!"


Vote until August 31st!!

Goodbye Again

I absolutely cannot believe another summer at Circle of Support is over. We just returned from our annual last day trip to Six Flags and I'm sitting on the couch stunned that already it's ended, almost before it even started it seems. So many times I've wanted to blog about the wonderful time I was having with my sixth grade girls this year but in the midst of the days whizzing by, I never sat down to do so. Today was definitely a day I wasn't ready for...I have throughly enjoyed my time with this group of girls this year and would have willingly spent eight more weeks, or months, with them!!

I had many of the girls last year when they were in 5th grade so already had a relationship with many of them. A couple of the girls I've known even since Central Dallas Ministries' University of Values days five or six summers ago. I really enjoy seeing these girls grow up from year to year, but this was just such a wonderful summer. Every single one of my thirty girls was sweet, smart, funny, respectful, and willing to learn and try anything! I couldn't have asked for a better group to work with.

This summer I based our reading activities around the civil rights movement, specifically, school integration and the Little Rock Nine. We read a historical novel by Sharon Draper called Fire from the Rock and the girls really got into it. I just thought this was a really powerful story for several reasons. First of all, I think it is so important that we learn and discuss and emphasize this part of our country's history because all too often we want to sweep these events under the rug. (At least white people do). But the civil rights era was such an important time in history, a time filled with amazing stories of courage and of sacrifice for what was right and just. I love reading about and learning about this era and its events and heroes with kids because many times it was young people leading the way for change. I love for kids to read about other children not so long ago who weren't all that different than themsleves who had the courage and the willingness to do amazing things to make the world a better place. One of the things that I hope the girls took away from this summer is that you are never too young to stand up for what is right and to make an impact on the world. I loved reading this book along with the other articles, activities, and documentaries we dabbled in and seeing the maturity with which the girls handled this sensitive, but important, topic.

But we just had a lot of fun together too! I enjoyed all four of my youth workers, including Dezeray, who did an awesome job. I am going to really miss my days with this group of young ladies and hope to stay in touch with each of them. I always have that intention, but with the girls being from places all across the metroplex, and the busy-ness of school and schedules, it can be hard to follow through on. But I am thankful for this summer and these sixth grade girls because they kind of renewed a spark in me that was starting to grow a little dim. They reminded me how amazing working with kids can be and how important and impactful it can be. They renewed a love in my heart that had started to grow cold and I am thankful for that. While I'm tired from the hectic-ness of the camp, I feel invigorated at the same time, with a renewed sense of clarity and purpose.

So Monday I will be starting work at another short program at Pearl C. for incoming sixth graders called the Early Start Academy. It is Monday-Thursday from 8:30-1:30 for the next two weeks. It is intended to give the incoming sixth graders a chance to sort of ease into middle school, get to know some of the teachers, etc while getting a head start on learning for the year. I will be teaching science for this program, which should be interesting since I've never taught that a day in my life. At the same time, I'm looking forward to the chance to get to know some of the sixth graders and bond with them a little before school starts, since it's a lot harder for me to do that in the library. This camp will run Aug 2-12, then we report back for the school year on August 16!! So definitely no breaks for this educator this summer, but it has definitely been worthwhile so far, although the good-byes are never fun. Once I connect with a group of kids, I just want to watch them grow up every day for the next 10 years!! Just look at these adorable faces and you will see what I mean! :-)

A Very Special Girl!!

Well, the first week of camp flew by, but it was great. I have such a great group of girls this summer...they have so much personality but are cooperative and sweet at the same time. I feel like I've been running non-stop all week though because I want so much to really do a good job and make sure that I am planning quality activities that are engaging, educational, and fun for the girls. But when you are on a limited budget with limited supplies and resources, that can be a lot of hard work! But fortunately, I had the help of one of the best assistants ever this week...Dezeray!!

Dezeray has truly amazed me this week. I think some of you have heard me talk about her in the past. She was my student my first year at Pearl C. Anderson when she was in sixth grade. She was in my book club all three years while at Pearl C. which is where we grew close. Last summer, she came with our Central Dallas group on Wilderness Trek, which she absolutely loved and considered to be a life-changing experience. She just finished her freshman year and is now 15, and has decided to spend the summer volunteering at Circle of Support with me.

I just can't say enough about Dezeray. She has been through quite a bit in her few years, but she has such a good head on her shoulders and remains focused on her goals and being an example for her friends and her siblings. She loves to learn and try new things and she has such a sweet spirit. While many kids her age have absolutely no desire to do anything unless they are going to get "paid", Dezeray jumped at the chance to volunteer with me at the camp. The first day I picked her up, but the rest of the week she insisted on catching the bus and train to get there, although it is about an hour and a half ride from her house to the camp. She said that she has to learn how to be independent and get around on her own because someday she will have a job and she can't always depend on other people to get her where she needs to be. Although she never had used the DART system that extensively, she figured it out and was early every day this week to camp. Dezeray is the assistant for sixth grade and has the job of helping the girls transition from class to class, to lunch, to afternoon activities, etc. and also helping the teachers in each class. She had to corral 30 rambunctious girls all week, which is very tiring, but she worked hard and did it with a smile. She was willing to help me with anything I asked, and believe me, I worked her. In fact, I think she worked harder than many of the paid youthworkers at camp (the camp hires several high school students every year to serve as assistants) and never complained. But more than that, Dezeray is making such an effort to get to know each of her girls and develop a relationship with them. Several times I caught her spending time with some of the more quiet and withdrawn girls, trying to make them feel comfortable and welcome. All week she would come up to me with her observations about different girls and why they might be acting in certain ways and how she planned to work with them on various behaviors. Her maturity and concern and desire to mentor these younger girls was so impressive to me. I am so glad that she is going to be helping me all summer and I am thankful for the opportunity to spend more time with her. She just has so much potential and is just so special to me. I am so proud of her for the way she respects herself and her family, for her willingness to work hard, for her willingness to be different than everyone around her, for her focus on her future, and for her sweet and loving personality. I am confident you will be hearing much more about Miss Dezeray and her accomplishments in the future! :-)

Great Kids!!

I've been a bit emotional over the past week or so as I've watched this year's eighth graders move on from Pearl C. Anderson to high school. This year's group was just extra special to me. First of all, they were the last group I actually taught. I had many of them as sixth graders for language arts the last year before I become librarian, so I had a special bond with them because of that. Secondly, there were several in the group that I knew even before Pearl C. Anderson, some I've known since they were in third grade at H.S. Thompson. All year long I dreaded when the eighth grade reading classes came to the library because, like most eighth grade classes, they were at a stage of being extremely difficult....playing too much and being too grown at the same time. There were definitely students in this group that made life hard for everyone at this school. But there were also LOTS of really good kids...really smart kids...kids with a lot of potential in this group who I am going to miss so much.

I'm going to miss Curtis. Curtis is one of the ones I've known since third grade when he was in our ASA and I also taught him in sixth grade. Curtis has always been an outstanding kid...polite, smart, creative, funny. And Curtis is a big reader so I saw him almost every other day in the library this year. I guess it paid off because he got a perfect score on his TAKS Reading test! And he got accepted to DISD's Middle College High School at El Centro, where he will be taking college courses for dual credit and graduate high school with enough credits for an associate's degree! I am so proud of him and know he is going to be very successful in life.





I'm going to miss Lea. Lea is the former sixth grade student that I blogged about earlier who has become an avid reader. In fact, we already have plans to visit the public library together this summer. I will miss Lea coming in almost every day to chat with me about books and about life. Lea has a really good head on her shoulders and isn't caught up in all of the distractions that get other young girls off track. She is so mature and that is rare. I'm going to miss her expertise on books for sure, though, but hopefully she'll still keep me updated on what's good!



I'm going to miss Carmen, Antoyrie, and Zhamarya. I had these girls in sixth grade...all are VERY smart and sweet. They also were in my girls' book club the past couple of years. Carmen is brilliant and has been accepted at Townview, one of the top high schools in the country. Antoyrie is going to spend her summer volunteering at the Science Place. These girls have always been good students, respectful and responsible and eager to learn and participate in positive things. These are girls I definitely have to keep in touch with...in fact, Antoyrie is going to come exercise/work out with me next week! :-)



I'm going to miss Chantecy. She is another former student who came in almost every day to vent to me about something, but that provided lots of opportunity for "mentoring" and chats about some important things. Chantecy isn't quite as focused as some of the other girls I've mentioned, though I do believe she has potential...but may need a little closer guidance to keep from getting caught up in the wrong stuff.





These are just a few in this class that have a soft place in my heart...there are many more. I just get so attached to kids, even the ones that were getting on my last nerve every time I saw them this year! At their eight-grade walkacross ceremony last Friday, it just really hit me how much love I have for this group and how sad I am to see them go. It's really hard to keep in touch with students when they move on and so I know that in many cases, I won't see these kids again. I won't ever know what becomes of many of them. At the same time, I felt guilty because I also realized how much I had taken for granted the time I had with them. I had three years with most of these kids. Did I do my best for them? Did I give them everything I had to offer? Did I make the best impact I could on them? Unfortunately, I can't always say that I did, and now I wish for a little more time with them. But they're gone...off to high school. And all I can do is try to keep in touch with the ones I can and pray for the ones I can't. And try harder to give all I've got to next year's kids so I won't have any regrets when I see them go.

Summer Already!!!

Wow! It seems like I was just blogging about last year's summer camp and here we are at the beginning of another! Every year I really look forward to the close of the madness of public school for a refreshing break at Circle of Support summer camp where I have worked for the past four summers. This year, interestingly enough, the camp will be held at H.S. Thompson Learning Center, which is the elementary school down the street from Turner Courts where all my ASA kids used to go. I spent a lot of time visiting kids and volunteering there when I worked at CDM, so it's a familiar place. But what is so strange is driving down the street to where Turner Courts used to be and there is NOTHING. It is completely gone. That always leaves me with a strange feeling because on one hand, I have a lot of great memories of people and kids and the after school program and playing basketball and meeting people like Wyshina and Khris' family that have been a big part of my life. But on the other hand, I know that Turner Courts had a myriad of issues and problems and that a revitalization was needed. However, it doesn't look like much is happening in that area right now. But I digress. I was talking about summer camp.

I really feel fortunate every year to have this opportunity. I am more and more concerned all the time about the lack of options for kids during the summer in this area. Even though I did not grow up participating in sports teams or traveling to summer camps or enrolling in enrichment activities, the community I lived in was very different than the one these kids live in. My mom was home with us. It was safe and sheltered. We visited the library every week and I read voraciously, which was my way of learning about the world outside of Farwell, Texas. My family also took a trip each summer where I got to see lots of different places and environments. But the kids that I work with every day live in a much different world. It is not always safe and sheltered. Parents aren't always home. They have limited knowledge and exposure to anything other than the immediate culture around them. And while there are many positive things in communities like South Dallas, there are also a lot of negative things that easily entice young people into lifestyles that ultimately trap them right where they are at. That's why I have come to believe so strongly in just giving kids experiences as part of their education. I hate that there are so few options for parents in South Dallas as far as quality programming for their kids. There are a couple of city recreation centers and a Boys and Girls Club, and even though what they provide for the kids has value, I feel these kids need so much more. They need camps like the ones at CDM and the one I work for at Circle of Support. Programs that provide academics and enrichment, programs that allow kids to try new things and meet new people and just get glimpses of other lifestyles and cultures. Last year my 5th and 6th grade girls got to learn lacrosse, got to go kayaking, got to learn how to make sushi, got to learn about the history of blues music at the House of Blues....and so much more. All of these experiences add to their schema and enrich their understanding and help give them a foundation for dreaming dreams and setting goals for their life that extend beyond the limited opportunities around them. I just love being a part of that so much and wish that we could include more kids!!

Every spring I have the intention of doing a lot of preparation in advance so I can make my class super-powerful...and every year I find myself a week before camps starts with just a big collection of stuff I've gathered that I might want to use and then faced with task of figuring out how to work it all together. So now that today is the last day of school and camp starts on Monday, I will be spending the weekend feverishly putting together my plans, making copies, and getting ready for my favorite 8 weeks of the year! Hopefully I will have some interesting posts throughout the summer about all the things we are learning and experiencing at camp!

Making a Real Difference!

Lately I have been contemplating my life's calling (again). Although I am blessed to have a job that is fairly stress-free, there always is something in me that is a little restless. Like I'm not QUITE where I should be...like there is something else that I could be doing that would be a better fit for both what I believe in and what I'm good at. I've been trying for over 10 years now to figure out what that is and I'm still searching! After over 4 years in education, I have come to the conclusion that although I am extremely passionate about all kids having access to quality education and educational opportunities, I may not be as passionate about being the one to actually GIVE them that education through teaching or the library. However, figuring out a career that would still allow me to play a part in filling some of the educational gaps in communities like this one without necessarily being married to a classroom eludes me.

But there are people that have figured out how to do that in some pretty significant ways...and I really am intrigued by the work they are doing. In fact, I have been spending quite a bit of time thinking about two programs in particular and if it would ever be a possibility for me to be involved in doing something similar.

The first program I heard about several years ago when I was still working with CDM in Turner Courts. An educator from the community had created a program called "The Turner Twelve". Because residents from Turner Courts and the surrounding community had such a low high school graduation rate (only 65%) and with only an estimated 10% ever attending college, Mr. Carter decided to develop a program that would focus on mentoring a select group of kids starting in 6th grade all the way through 12th grade. Twelve 6th grade students from the Turner Courts community were identified and they along with their parents signed a commitment to participating in the program over the next six years, with high school graduation and college being the ultimate goal. All would be first-generation college students.

Mr. Carter began meeting with students on a weekly basis for tutoring, mentoring, college trips, service projects and more. Their attendance and grades at school were closely monitored. Students were encouraged to participate in positive extracurricular activities. They spent time each summer traveling to various colleges and expanding their experiences beyond their South Dallas neighborhood. They met various professionals from the community to serve as role-models and mentors. Mr. Carter has now graduated his first group of 12 and is now focused on his second cycle of students. The second group is on track to graduate in 2011. I'm not sure how many of the original Turner Twelve went on to college, are still in college, or possibly have graduated from college this year (I believe his first class graduated in 2006)...I would really like to know how well the program's objectives were achieved. Regardless, I have always really liked this model and this concept. I've always preferred quality over quantity. I believe by keeping the number of participants small, Mr. Carter was able to build meaningful relationships and provide the depth of support necessary to guide these kids and their families through a myriad of complex obstacles and distractions on their journey to college.
The Turner Courts housing development was torn down last year and all the families moved to various sites around the city, but I'm sure that Mr. Carter has kept in contact with all of the students and continues to work with them toward their goals.

A second program that really inspired me began with a book called The Promise by Oral Lee Brown. Mrs. Brown grew up poor in the Mississippi delta area and later moved to California to try to build a better life. She attended college and later got into real-estate. She was middle-aged and making a modest income of around $45,000 a year when one day her life changed. She was driving through a very distressed part of Oakland on her way to work one morning when she stopped at a corner store to get a snack. A little girl ran up and asked her for some money. Mrs. Brown assumed she wanted candy or soda, but was surprised when the little girl grabbed a loaf of bread, meat, and cheese. Mrs. Brown only had $5, and the total came to $5.86 but the store owner didn't say anything. The little girl ran quickly away before Mrs.Brown could ask the questions that were haunting her. Why wasn't this little girl in school? Where was her parent? Why was she buying food all alone? The thought of this little girl stayed with Mrs. Brown for days. She asked the store owner if he had seen her, but he hadn't. It was bothering her so much that she finally decided to visit the closest elementary school to see if she could find the little girl. (The school was located in an area with abysmal graduation rates and a host of other issues.) She ended up visiting a 1st grade classroom (the age she thought the girl would be) and although she didn't find the girl, she did stay to talk to the 23 students in the room at the teacher's invitation. Before she left that day, she found herself promising those 23 students that if they stayed in school, she would pay for them all to go to college.

Mrs. Brown wasn't one for making empty promises. She pledged to set aside $10,000 a year of her own income in a trust fund for the students. From that point on, she began building relationships with those 23 students. Over the next 12 years of their life, she kept in touch with them, mentored them, and tutored them. At times, she lost touch with 1 or 2 for a period of time, but always ended up re-connecting with them. She worked other jobs and made all kinds of sacrifices to be able to meet her financial commitment to the students. As other people began to hear about her astounding promise, they began to support her financially, adding to the trust fund she had established. All of the original 23 students ended up graduating from high school, and 19 went on to college, which was indeed paid for by Mrs. Brown. (The ones who didn't attend right away did end up going later I believe...have to re-read on that part). Now there is an Oral Brown Foundation that follows this same pattern of mentoring students and eventually paying for their college.

This was one of the most inspiring stories I ever read! Mrs. Brown was just an ordinary woman. She wasn't rich and she wasn't a professional educator. But she was convicted to make a difference and she was unfailingly committed to the students she made a promise to. She became involved in their lives in a meaningful way and she stayed. She helped the students identify goals and dreams they didn't even know they had and then helped make a way for those goals to become reality.

In both the Turner Twelve and the Oral Lee Brown Foundation, the focus is on relationships and mentoring. The focus is making a commitment to a small number of kids and working with them for not weeks, not months, but years of their lives. I think both programs have shown how powerful and effective that can be. A difference can be made, cycles can be broken...one kid at a time.

So, as I've said, I've been thinking a LOT the past few weeks about ideas like these...about South Dallas...about the kids I see every day...about myself and what I believe and what my strengths are...about what is missing in this neighborhood...about the kind of difference I want to help make in the world...and I haven't quite put it all together yet. There are so many great kids with so much potential at this school! How can I be a part of making sure they don't get lost...that they don't slip through the cracks...that they are given every opportunity to take a different path? How can I be a part of making sure they have the education, resources, experiences, and knowledge they need to succeed? How can I build relationships that extend beyond these school walls and remain a resource for these kids even when they leave Pearl C.? How can I be a part of developing dreams and goals for their life that go beyond what they see around them? These thoughts go around and around in my head and I'm not quite sure where to go with them. But regardless, people like Mr. Carter and Mrs. Brown and students in programs like the Turner Twelve and Oral Lee Brown Foundation have really impacted me and have provided a great deal of inspiration. That's what I call making a real difference! How about you?