Who's to blame?

Sixty-eight percent of adults believe parents deserve the most blame for students failing in school. That's according to a recent poll done by the Associated Press and Stanford University. Parents. Not teachers, not principals, not the schools themselves, but parents.

At a time where most teachers feel scrutinized and unappreciated, it is refreshing to know that an overwhelming majority realize where the blame actually lies--in the home. And education, undoubtedly, begins in the home.

I spelled "Alaska" for the first time when I was three. I was curious. I wanted to learn. My parents encouraged me. They read to me. They showed me, in actions and in words, that learning was something to be valued and to be held near and dear to the heart. As I grew older, I was expected to do well and be respectful. My word was never taken over the word of an adult. What the teacher said was as good as gold. Teachers were to be respected and listened to and supported. Whenever my parents did have a disagreement with a teacher, it was handled behind closed doors and I wasn't a witness to any sort of disharmony.

Nowadays, many parents don't seem to see any wrong in their children. The teacher is always in the wrong. Recently, a student's cell phone rang in class--something that is forbidden and we constantly fight over in school. Turns out, it was the student's mother. The teacher called him to the front of the room and explained that he couldn't answer his cell phone, but he was more than welcome to use the classroom phone to call his mother back. When the student called her and told her that he couldn't use his phone during the school day, things got so heated that she was clearly heard across the room. Nobody could tell her when she could and could not call the phone that she paid for! Who did we think we were?

Well, let me tell you. We are the people trying to teach your child good manners. We are the people who are trying to show your child how to follow rules and guidelines so they are guaranteed success as an adult. We are the people trying to teach children how to work well with others.

And apparently we are doing these things in direct opposition to the example you are setting at home.

This is not always the case. Lots of parents still support teachers and the rules set up for student safety. But those parents aren't always the ones that get the most attention. The parents that demean us and argue with us and are convinced we are out to get them and their children are the ones that get all of our attention. Those contradictory few are the ones that seem to set the tone.

I'm glad that sixty-eight percent at least realize that we do all that we can with what we are given. We need some support from home to seal the deal.

When exactly is less more?

A South Carolina Republican is introducing a bill to reduce graduation credit requirements. Right now, students are required to earn 24 Carnegie units and pass a state standardized test. Thanks to NCLB, the test isn't going anywhere, but in their ongoing quest to cut from public education, Republicans may lower credits from 24 to 20.

Representative Dan Cooper believes that by lowering requirements, we could save money and raise the graduation rate! Yay! But what about educating children? What about improving our economy by improving our workforce?

I think that by lowering graduation requirements, we are once again lowering our standards. It is bad enough that schools are forced to use remediation techniques such as credit recovery because we are under the gun to graduate 100% of our student population in four years or less. This will just be one more jab to the heart for actual learning in schools.

Why is it not working?

Have you ever had one of those years (yes, years, not days) where nothing you try seems to work?

For heaven's sake, I am a trained literacy coach. I know how to teach. I've taught all levels. I've taught all kinds. I've taught kids who are now serving 25 years for serious crimes. And we got along fine! But I am very close to throwing in the towel because of one of my classes.

I've heard about "that" year. I've heard teachers refer to years in their careers that were horrid. I never thought I would have one...until I realized I was in the middle of one. And now what do I do?

So I've tried projects, busy work, tons of quizzes, group work, individual work, lecture, whole group instruction, and one on one instruction. Today I tried writer's conferences. I know what it takes to make them better readers and writers, but if you can't get through a paragraph without stopping to call down five students for noise, then you can't really get your point across. My conferences were totally ineffective today. I know that because I couldn't focus on one paper to give it justice without having to turn my attention to someone else.

I've tried strategy lessons. I've tried packets of activities that allows them to find their own answers. I've done just about everything that I can possibly think of. So now I'm contacting parents and about to get the administration involved. For some of these kids, it might be the first time they've ever been written up. I'm sure it won't be the last. But for my own sanity, I need some help.

I feel totally ineffective today. Even though my freshmen were little angels all day long, I've ended my day on a sour note. I sometimes understand why people drink themselves into oblivion...I'd give anything to forget.

I'm sending them the bill from my colorist...

Today was a hectic day. We are giving out textbooks and that always makes things crazier. Of course the freshmen can't believe how thick the books are and how are they to ever carry it around? Half of them claim that they'll never take it out of their locker.

I was hoping that with this being the second week of school and with there being no more homeroom, things would settle down some. I think I hoped in vain. If nothing else, they were more hyper than usual. Some of that was probably my fault. Looking back, I made some first year teacher mistakes today.

Second period was particularly annoying. I am trying to train them in protocols to help with peer editing. I didn't have their groups ready. Did I say earlier that we only got through half of the activities in first period because of textbooks? I apparently wasn't ready. They formed their own groups and it will be the last time that it happens. During third period, I formed the groups and things went a lot smoother. See? First year teaching mistake.

I'm also back to planning day to day. This doesn't make my days easier. Planning from the end of the unit sounds good, but it is hard! I don't even know where we'll be on Friday, much less where we'll be in a month! I need time, but there is still only 24 hours in the day. For the 14 hours that I am NOT in school, I'm pretty exhausted. Is it Labor Day yet?