The Death of Mr. Sense ....

Obituary for Mr. Sense:
(Stolen from an Email from my Sister-in-Law)

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Mr. Common Sense. Mr. Sense had been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.

He will be remembered as having cultivated such valued lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm and that life isn't always fair. Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting strategies (adults, not kids, are in charge).

His health began to rapidly deteriorate when well intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Mr. Sense declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer aspirin to a student; but, could not inform the parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion,

Finally, Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense finally gave up the ghost after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot, she spilled a bit in her lap, and was awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust, his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason.

He is survived by two stepbrothers; My Rights and Ima Whiner. Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

Sigh ....

TAKS Poem ....

TAKS DAY WOES

BY BILL MAY


Today is the day we've all known was near;

It came at last--now we face it with fear.

We fed them breakfast and gave them a drink--

In hopes that full tummies would help them think!



We locked up the doors and put signs out to hush;

We stressed the importance and begged not to rush.

"Do your best!" "Take your time!" "You're gonna do fine!"

Their nerves are all settled--but what about mine?



I'm nervous and worried and my stomach's in knots

Praying they'll think and fill in the right dots.

Today is the day of the dreaded TAKS test,

And everyone hopes that we've all done the best

To teach them skills and the knowledge they'll need

In order to do well and really succeed.



O heck, let's be honest--in truth we just pray

That the results of this test won't dock our pay!

Those brats better work hard and do it correctly

Or else they'll have to deal with me directly!



"Slow down, you dummy!" "Check your work, you a__!"

Why did I have to have you in my class?

Oh my goodness, TAKS day is horrific

A beer after school would sure be terrific!



In bars today all across our great state

Will be teachers drinking away all the hate

For a test that makes us wild and frenzied creatures

Remind me again---Why we all became teachers?



For summer off - vacations - and to get off at four

At least that's what we've all heard before!

We all made the decision to become teachers back then

To educate the future and change lives, my friend. . .



So paste on a grin - I know it's a bummer -

But hey - only 22 school days 'til summer!!!

Yesterday's Post ....

Okay .... I know yesterday's post sounded pretty anti-non-native-English Speakers. I just get so angry seeing people who may or may not be here legally getting all these extra aids and help while our basic American citizen student gets nothing. All these students count for or against my scores on the Math TAKS test. I should be glad that my Limited English Proficient (LEP) students are getting whatever help they can ....

And that brings me to today's post. The 3 students who were in my test room today were 3 of MY students ... two are Vietnamese and one Hispanic. I want very much for them to succeed!! All 3 of these young adults are good people.

Hyuen (Lily) only missed one day of my class and that was to be sworn in as a United States Citizen. She is one of my top students ... very diligent and competitive. Very intelligent, too. And she loves to smile and laugh. She is a joy to be around.

Chi (Kevin) isn't as strong a student as Hyuen and hasn't mastered the language as well .... but he is also intelligent and witty and loves to laugh. He gets along well with the students around him .... all kinds of different students. He seems wise.

Jonathan is taking Geometry for a second time after failing with a different teacher. I have been very impressed with his work ethic this time. He is doing his work on time and doing everything I ask of him w/o a complaint. He is pretty weak with the English language but he seems to be doing the Math very well. His grades have been solid and I am pleased with him.

On an individual basis I like these students very much. And I want them to do well ... and become citizens ... and be productive! I think they can! I just don't understand why it took 3 teachers to watch these 3 students take a test for over 3 hours!!

We all know illegal aliens whom we like. We all think that maybe this one or that one might deserve special treatment. I understand those feelings. But I think we need to find a way to make them become legal and documented and taxpayers and insurance holders. Make them follow the rules that all Americans are supposed to follow.

Grrrrrrrrr .......

I just spent 90 minutes going over the 10th grade Math Test and highlighting words that my Vietnamese and Mexican students might have trouble understanding .... they will be translated tonight by someone who knows Vietnamese and Spanish so that these students can use the translations on the test tomorrow.

Here is the kicker .... there were 7 (seven) full time teachers sitting around this table picking apart the Math test so that 6 (six) Limited English Proficient students can take this test tomorrow. Then ... tomorrow, there will be 3 students to a test room and 3 teachers in each room to help them with translations.

Mind you, in all the regular testing rooms there will be 27 students and one (1) teacher.
Talk about a HUGE waste of resources for students who might not even be here legally!!

Grrrrrrr ....

Oh .... and .... we have a whole lot more than just 6 students in our school who don't know English very well ... I am cluless why these 6 get all the special help ....

This is the first time in my teaching career that I have been allowed to look at the TAKS test as it is being given .... my regular 10th graders are taking it today. I am not allowed to discuss it with anyone until the state says I can ... in about a month, I believe. Until today .... if I even glanced for too long at the test booklet on a student's desk during test admistration, I ran the risk of losing my teaching certificate .... and that is no joke ... and no idle threat.

But today .... because we have 6 (SIX) students who are Limited English Proficient (LEP) .... I got to touch the problems and highlight them and read them and study them .... and then I got to just walk out of the room!! Amazing.

Mind you .... when we administer the test to our regular students we are not allowed to help them in any way, shape, or form .... if they don't understand a word ... too bad. If they don't understand what the problem is looking for ... too bad. We are required to say ...."I'm sorry, I cannot help you with that. Please just do the best that you can."

Tomorrow here is what I am allowed to do for our LEP kids ....

• Reading Assistance: At the request of a student, the Test Administrator may read aloud the words, phrases, or sentences in the test question or answer choices that the student is having difficulty reading. (Cannot read aloud numbers: just point and say THIS MANY).
• Dictionaries: Students may use bilingual dictionaries to find the translation of words they do not understand, but dictionaries cannot contain explanations, definitions, pictures and examples ....
• Translation: At the request of the student, the test admin. may translate words, phrases, and sentences that the student does not understand; however, you cannot define or explain mathematical terms, concepts, or skills.
• Bilingual Glossaries: Students may use written bilingual glossaries to find the translation of words that they do not understand. The test admin. may preview the secure test and make a bilingual glossary of words and mathematical terms that the students may not understand in English. NO definitions, explanations, examples, or pictures that will aid the students in understanding the mathematical terms or concepts!!
• English Glossaries: Test Admin. may preview the test and prepare a glossary of simpler English words or pictures that represent words that a particular LEP student is not likely to know yet in English.
• Simpler Language: A student may ask the Test Admin. to say in a simpler language what a question is asking. NO defining or explaining math terminology or concepts.
• Pictures and Gestures: Administrators may use pictures or gestures to illustrate the meaning of any nonmathematical words that the student may not understand.

DOES ANYONE SEE ANYTHING WRONG WITH ALL OF THIS????

Sad But True ....

Education is Wasted on our Youth ....

As I have walked through the halls of my high school the past few weeks I have seen posters all over the place advertising TAKS tutorials for the Social Studies classes. They list topics that will be discussed on certain days before or after school. Topics like "World War II" or "The Civil War" or "The 1960's" or "The 1970's" or "The Depression". And I catch myself wishing I could sit in on those tutorials because I never really paid much attention in my history classes in High School .... and there is so much that I just don't know! Plus .... I wonder what they have to say about the '70's .... I was IN High School in the '70's!

It's funny how so many adults wished they had paid more attention and learned more things when they were in school. I know I do. And I made straight A's in High School and College ... okay, maybe a "B" here or there ... but it was a high "B"!! I took the 4 years of Science and the 4 years of Math and the 4 years of English .... and a couple years of Social Studies. And I was taught a lot of great stuff which I promptly forgot upon passing the tests. Many adults, in hindsight, wish they had taken better advantage of the education offered to them in their youth.

American High Schools offer a tremendous amount of knowledge to our students, basically free for the taking. They are offered basic level courses, or Honors level courses. They are offered academics and arts and sports. Most of their teachers hold college degrees in their subjects and are extremely knowledgeable and talented and willing to share. And many of our students take full advantage of everything offered to them during their 4 years with us.

Sadly, though, the majority of our students deliberately choose to take the low road ... the path of least resistance ... the easy way out. In some of my Math lessons I offer my students the choice between a long, involved, detailed way to do a problem, or the short easy way ... they always choose the short easy way. Wouldn't you? So .... why are we surprised when we offer students a chance to take Algebra II or Math Models (a fairly easy consumer math course) ... many of them choose Math Models.

Students don't see any use for Algebra II in their lives. They don't see any use for MOST of the stuff they learn in high school. In fact, most of them think going to school is just a big waste of time. They sleep through their classes and do the bare minimum required of them to pass. They can't wait to get out of school and really start their lives!! Yep .... life will be MUCH better when they don't have to go to school all the time. School is a waste of time that they could be using for work ... for earning money .... and then for spending that money they earn. Just a few years later they end up regretting not getting every bit of education they could while it was being offered to them for free.

How can we get our nation's youth to respect and cherish the vast educational opportunities being offered to them in our high schools? I know .... FORCE them all to take Algebra II (like Texas is doing now) .... FORCE them to take 4 years of Science and 4 years of Math (like Texas wants to do). That will make them want to learn!! That will make them happy to be in school!

I have a better idea ... an idea that might even kill two birds with one stone .... not that I am advocating killing birds or throwing stones ...

MY IDEA .... Instead of sending students to ninth grade .... put them to work. Give them minimum wage jobs doing menial or manual labor. Make them work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week .... and pay them for their time. Report them for truancy if they are absent and dock their wages. Promote them if they deserve it and fire them if they deserve that. But if they get fired they MUST find another job ASAP. (Consequences to be determined if they don't.)

Where will all these jobs come from, you might ask? Well .... here is the other bird .... take all of the undocumented workers from all of their menial and manual and minimum wage jobs and send them back to their homeland. NOW!! Any AMERICAN ninth grader should be able to do the same job a non-english speaking, often uneducated, undocumented worker can do. Make those ninth graders work, and pay them for it. If the undocumented workers want their jobs back, make them get real documents!!

At the end of one full year of this labor (no holidays or summers off), the ninth graders will be given a choice .... keep working for the rest of their lives, fighting for promotions, risking being fired and replaced by some other ninth grader, aging but not going any further in education ..... OR .... go back to school and value the chance to get enough education to take you above the menial, manual, minimum wage jobs of our society.

And ... while we are at it .... if a ninth grader shows a special talent in some service area .... working on cars, doing hair, working with computers, construction, electrician, plumbing, etc .... then educate them in that trade. Our true tradesmen are all getting older .... many retiring soon ... and we have no young tradesmen to replace them because we are pushing the academic/College route so much. College is NOT the only answer. There are many worthy and wonderful trades out there and we need people who want to do them and are trained to do them .... yet our society makes them feel somehow less worthy.

In Austin this week ....

An Assistant Superintendent from LISD was in Austin this week. He sent out an email to teachers today which read :


Good morning. It is really great to be back in Lewisville after spending the last two days in Austin.

That is the "good news" for the day. The really "bad news" is that the Legislature is still meeting. Having been in education now for 34 years, I have seen a lot of legislative sessions, and I have spent a lot of time talking with legislators over that time period. I can honestly say that I have never seen a legislative session that was as mean spirited as this one is. Key Austin leaders have an agenda that they appear intent on passing regardless of the negative consequences. Never have I seen the anger and animosity toward public schools as is reflected this session. At least four major thrusts are lowering local property taxes (without adding additional revenues), implementing a state-wide property tax which will erode local connection and support of public schools, the implementation of vouchers (kindly referred to not as vouchers, but rather "parental choice"), and most importantly for the state leadership, it would get them out of the Court House by sanctioning the currently unconstitutional system of funding education.

At this point, the major education organizations are holding together to try to push for adequate funding, equity, and local control. Unfortunately, the major players down there seem to care little about what we have to say on behalf of public schools and the children of this state. There is an effort afoot to dangle increased equity in front of one of the major groups to gain their support for a statewide property tax. Hopefully, that group will realize the need of not selling out without a commitment for increased capacity for all districts.

It appears that there are not 100 votes in the House (needed for passage of a constitutional amendment) to pass the statewide property tax as proposed by the Senate plan. The House plan (HB 2 and HB 3) underwent major renovation in the Senate. The two houses seem so far apart, that there is a good likelihood that they will not be able to agree on any of the major issues in time and are headed for another Special Session. That, I think at this point, is the best that we can hope for as the court case is to be heard this summer in the Texas Supreme Court.
Are you having fun yet? Just be thankful that you have the greatest job in the world - working daily with young people. Thank you for what you do inspite of all of the distractions.

Have a wonderful day,

Mike Killian

I bolded and underlined a couple of sentences above ... those are My edits .... but those sentences very clearly express the feelings I am getting out of Austin ... and help to explain why I feel the need to find another job.

Public Education itself is being threatened by our elected officials. The whole idea of an "independent" school district seems to be lost. That is what the "I" in ISD stands for. And I, for one, think maybe it may be time to take back our schools!

I wonder if LISD really needs any state money. Maybe LISD should privatize it's schools. Keep our property taxes in LISD and use them to educate our students .... instead of "sharing the wealth". Maybe that is what the legislature is hoping school districts will do .... get so fed up with the state that we will take back control .... give up any state monies .... BUT then we would totally control how our children will be educated. No TAKS if we don't want it. We would control the curriculum. We would control the start date and end date. Take Back control of so many of the things which the State has taken over in the past 20 years or so.

I wonder how truly dependent we are on the State ..... and I wonder what it would take for us to become INDEPENDENT again.

Hmmmmmmm ......

Legislator phone #'s.....

A list of the education committee members' names and phone numbers are:

Chairman Kent Grusendorf (R-Arlington): 512-463-0624
Vice Chairman Rene Oliveira (D-Brownsville): 512-463-0640

Rep. Dan Branch (R-Dallas): 512-463-0367
Rep. Diane Delisi (R-Temple): 512-463-0630
Rep. Harold Dutton, Jr. (D-Houston): 512-463-0510
Rep. Rob Eissler (R-The Woodlands): 512-463-0797
Rep. Scott Hochberg (D-Houston): 512-463-0492
Rep. Bill Keffer (R-Dallas): 512-463-0244
Rep. Anna Mowery (R-Fort Worth): 512-463-0608

To find contact info for your state legislators go to http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/fyi/address.htm and enter your address.

Why Me .... Why Now ....??

Many people here at school are very surprised by my decision to quit at the end of this year. And when I tell them why .... they all say ... "But that legislation hasn't passed yet!" or "That is just a rumor. It won't ever happen."

Well I am here to tell you that as long as Kent Grusendorf is in charge of the education committee in the Texas House .... my job, and education in general, will be threatened. And I am tired of being threatened.

And .... heck .... when he does finally go away .... there is always another politician who thinks he or she knows how to fix education waiting to replace him.

Besides .... many of those "threats" do actually become law .... usually attached to some bill that we need .... slid in under the cover of something beneficial. Slid in under the cover of night ....

Here are some of the things being bounced around in legislation ....

• I don't want school to start after Labor Day and run until the middle of June.
• I don't want EOC testing along with TAKS testing. They need to make up their mind. One or the other .... NOT BOTH!! EOC (End of Course) would be better, in my opinion .... however that is a topic for a whole other post in itself.
• Merit Pay based on test results .... see my earlier posts on this topic.
• If a school district becomes "Outstanding" it won't have to follow the state mandates about class size, teacher contracts, duty-free lunches, teacher planning periods, etc. In other words .... they would take away the few privileges that teachers have .... and that is their "reward" to us for creating an "outstanding" school.
• No Child Left Behind .... what a joke.
• Vouchers .... worthy of its own post.

More later .... gotta go home now ....

TAKS Tests Link

If you are wondering what the TAKS tests are .... here is a link so you can see them for yourself ... http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/resources/release/

On this page you will see a link to actual online tests or you can print out copies for yourself along with the answer keys.

Before you judge me and other teachers, please take a few hours and sit down and take the 11th grade Math, Science, Social Studies and ELA(English Language Arts) tests. Both the Math and the Science tests offer a Formula Chart which you will need ... so be sure you print it out.

Please understand that if you feel overwhelmed by the questions on these tests ... THAT IS EXACTLY HOW THE STUDENTS FEEL WHEN THEY TAKE THEM, TOO. Also, please understand that these tests are testing stuff that the students learned a year or more ago.

Your excuse of having been out of school too long doesn't hold water with me .... how much do you remember about something over a year AFTER you learned it? These are the tests that students MUST pass to graduate from High School.

I would be interested to hear how you feel about these tests. I would also like for you to compare the difficulty level of the Social Studies test to the difficulty level of the Math and Science tests.

Once again .... please understand that EVERY STUDENT must pass these tests to graduate. Would you have been able to graduate from High School if these tests had been in place?

The TAKS tests for all grade levels are available at this site .... check them out.

Also .... a little known fact .... All Texas 3rd graders must pass the reading TAKS to go to 4th grade.

AND .... New this year .... all Texas 5th graders must pass the reading TAKS and the Math TAKS in order to go to Middle School. The reading test has already been given and 1 out of 4 students have failed it .... 25% of Texas 5th graders failed the reading TAKS test. They will have 2 more chances to pass it before 6th grade starts in the Fall. I cannot wait to see how they do on the Math TAKS!!

AND ... in three years, all Texas 8th graders will be required to pass all four TAKS tests in order to get into High School. If the state holds to those standards, it will be at that point that the High School teacher's job will once again be to teach High School courses. For as long as I have been teaching, the High School teacher's job has been to somehow make-up for all the education the students haven't been held accountable for in Middle School and Elementary School. Students did just get "passed along" until they ran into the Brick Wall of High School Math and English. High School teachers have been held accountable for YEARS ... and we have gotten to where we refuse to pass a kid who isn't going to have at least a fighting chance of passing the TAKS.

We have students who take Algebra I two, three, even four times before they pass!

Hopefully, if they have to pass the 8th grade TAKS to get to High School, then they will be better prepared for High School Math .... and that will be a very novel experience for High School Math teachers.

Menopause and the Classroom ...

I typed a nice long post last night .... witty and articulate ... and lost it when I hit POST .... so I am going to save as I go this time ....

Six years ago .... when I was 39 .... I stopped by the Assistant Principals' office in my high school to make some copies and visit with the Admin. Assistant who ran that office. I enjoyed talking to her when I had the chance and on this day she was doing something to fix up the bulletin board there in the office. Her efforts were very creative and professional and I commented to her that she should have been an elementary school teacher. And her response to me was ...

"I am! I was!"

Hmmmmm ..... this response surprised me. I mean .... teachers in Texas don't get paid very well compared to teachers across the nation .... but Admin. Assistants in a school get paid far, far worse than teachers. This woman was clearly an intelligent, capable, healthy, motivated, willing to work person. And she dressed very well! So I asked her why she left the classroom. Her response .... ?

"I was starting to go through menopause and I didn't want to put my students through that."

WOW!

I had never thought about that! In September 1989, I went into labor in my classroom and those few weeks of teaching while pregnant were not fun. My son's fifth grade teacher taught through her whole pregnancy and that was not a good year of school for him. Her emotions were all over the place.

Female hormones and the classroom do not mix well. Especially if the classroom is full of teenagers with their own horomone issues!

And here I am .... 45 years old ... perimenopausal .... and in the classroom. Is it hot in here?? Or is it just me? Maybe one-on-one teaching in the climate controlled comfort of my own home would be a better place for me to be. Better than breaking out in a sweat because of a Hot Flash in front of 30 teenagers while teaching them how to find the surface area of a composite geometrical figure. Good times!!

The post that I lost last night had a nicely written paragraph about Arlo Gutherie's song ALICE'S RESTAURANT .... and the part in the song where he is registering for the draft and goes in to see the shrink and says .... "Shrink! I wanna Kill. I wanna KILL. I want to see blood, gore, veins in my teeth. Eat dead burnt bodies ... kill .... KILL ..... KILL!! And I start jumping up and down yelling Kill .... KILL ... KILL!! And the shrink starts jumping up and down with me yelling Kill...KILL ....KILL!!"

I forget how I tied it all in to this message ... but last night it fit perfectly!!

Is it hot in here??