I’m over at Blogger
Apparently, Kids Never Change
I’ve gotten four 504 Plans during the last two school days because we started a new semester. Here are the dates that they were written:
24 January 2006 – 384 days ago
04 October 2004 – 861 days ago
25 September 2003 – 1236 days ago
08 January 2003 – 1496 days ago
Why should I have to provide accommodations for kids who haven’t been evaluated in over four years? Doesn’t anyone think that some things may have changed since then?
When Can We Make Families Accountable for Poor Decisions?
I’ve posted a letter from this kid’s parents before. Luckily this is not one of my students…I’d hate to have to deal with this. But it was forwarded to me by another math teacher in our department who wrote “The fifth paragraph is the funniest/saddest.”, and that is very true. From a real quick search, he’s missed 43 days so far this year, and parts of other ones for doctor’s visits and such. We’re about a hundred days into the year.
Also, the last paragraph scares me – I’m sure that there was some “deal” where Johnny could get some form of credit from his science teacher when he probably didn’t deserve one.
I’m not sure why we don’t have the guts to tell the parent to either “forget it” with regard to the fifth paragraph, or “why not forget the entire year and try again in 2007-2008?”
Hi all. Ms. [social worker] told me she is sending you an e-mail informing you of Johnny’s recent diagnosis of ADHD from ***** ******. As most of you know, he has had a horrid year with numerous medical issues (meningitis, mono, 2 concussions, migraines/ER visits, sinusitis, asthma); in addition though, high school has not been as successful for him as his elementary/middle school was, and we felt it was time to explore what else might be going on.
His former school was small (his class from K-8 was the same 39 kids), and he was ‘known’…his strengths/his weaknesses. The teachers supported him with help in organizing, tracking work, not falling behind, using oral/visual learning when possible, accepting late work, taking tests over if he didn’t do as well as they thought he could, etc.,..an example: they told me in 5th grade: try recording Johnny’s texts on tape, and let him listen to it as he reads it. We were often told he wasn’t attentive, he couldn’t stay on task, he was chatty, etc., but no one suggested he be tested for anything, and it didn’t occur to us either. Their goal was that, in the end, Johnny learned what he needed to learn, and it was not presented to us as a ‘problem’. The modifications they made were informal, and we didn’t realize how important all of these modifications were to Johnny’s success.
We feel Johnny needs similar modifications to be successful in his current setting. With all of his absences this year, it often feels like he is ‘teaching himself’ all of his subjects, or learning from us/kind of independent study for a kid who really doesn’t do well with that style of learning anyway. Having better attendance/feeling better will help, but he still suffers from headaches/is still struggling with how to manage all of his work/all the above types of issues. It is helpful to have a ‘name’ for some of these concerns.
We are requesting that [the school] do an assessment to help us determine if Johnny needs an IEP. Until that process is complete, Ms. [social worker] commented that some informal modifications can be put in place for Johnny – thank you all very much. We feel he is trying (he is not perfect/has some ‘typical’ teenager moments/behaviors), but is overwhelmed.
While it may seem like bad timing, he will be missing 3 days of school: 2/14, 2/15, and 2/20; we are taking a (much needed) family vacation. Any assistance you can give to Johnny in addressing missed work/planning ahead/etc., is so appreciated. If you have suggestions for us, based on what you have experienced to be helpful, please feel free to share your thoughts with us.
We would like to be kept informed of assignments due; a ‘weekly update’ from you to us via e-mail or phone would be very helpful.
Ms. [science teacher]: Could we discuss Johnny’s 1st quarter grade with you, based on a discussion we had in December with Ms. [psychologist]? Thank you, everyone,
[dad], [mom], and Johnny
How to Get a Class to Work Without Any Effort on Your Part (but not recommended)
I got a phone call from my wife during school today – she told me that my older daughter is sick at daycare. I tell her that I’ll take care of it, and hang up. Unfortunately, I left my wallet at home, and the daycare is unlisted in the phonebook, so I call my wife back, but only get her voicemail. Thank goodness for email, I had the phone number from my wife in five minutes and I called the provider. They told me that she isn’t feeling well, just a bit tired, but is complaining about a backache. She doesn’t have a temperature, though. When I get the flu, my back is the first thing to hurt, so I was thinking that this might be a long weekend for my daughter.
During my lunch, I go to the secretary who can’t find a substitute for me, especially this late in the day. (The secretary did give me a list of teachers who had periods off in the afternoon so that I could go ask them to cover my class, but I certainly didn’t have the time to do it). I really hate missing days of school, didn’t miss any days in five years before I had kids, but I thought that this was just going to be one of those days. So I went to get my daughter and planned on bringing her back to school temporarily to begin my walk around the school searching for people to cover my classes for the rest of the day so I can get my daughter home. She was laying down on the couch at daycare when I got there and said that her back didn’t hurt, but her tummy did a little. I asked her if she would rather go home (which means I would have to face the wrath of my secretary on Monday for leaving her in charge of finding someone to be me for three hours) or to my school. She said that she wanted to go to school…she could play PBSKids on the computer for awhile, at least. She likes drawing on the boards, too.
So I get to school. My fourth period comes in and “oooos” and “ahhhhs” because one of my kids is with me. I get the kids started on their work (thankfully we are doing a review section), set up PBSKids, and then go to ask if the secretary had any luck finding a substitute. “No”. So back to the classroom I go. I begin walking around the classroom when the two girls who sit adjacent to my desk say, “Um, Mr. IB?” I look over to see my daughter has puked all over herself, my desk, herself, the keyboard, herself, my chair, and the floor.
Well, now my room smells, my daughter is a mess, but, armed with this new information, the secretary puts some effort into getting someone to cover my class! I take my daughter to the school nurse (across the hall – how nice!) and have her lay down. I get teachers to cover my classes and I am out the door.
Now this whole episode in class didn’t take much time – my daughter was just there a few minutes when she got sick. It did take a lot of time to clean up the mess, talk to the secretary, and such. But my kids (students) were awesome. They worked very well, despite the fact that I really could not spend any time with them. As a comparison, my first hour class (same course) required a great deal of effort for me to get them started and a little to get them to continue working. My fourth hour, realizing my predicament, were fantastic. I’ll have to do something nice for them on Monday.
Kids do rise to the occasion if emergencies happen infrequently. I remember having a headache so bad once, that I told my kids to work on their homework while I just sat down and literally massaged my temples and tried not to cry out in pain. They practically whispered to each other in their groups the entire period.
Weather
According to the National Weather Service, it is currently negative zero degrees in Minneapolis.
We Go ‘Round and ‘Round
Teachers often complain about how the “great ideas in education” seem cyclical. It seems the legislatures do as well here in the North Star State.
1985: Legislation prohibiting schools from starting before Labor Day is passed.
1997: Lawmakers decided to allow schools to start on the Wednesday, Thursday or Friday before Labor Day in 1998 and 1999 because Labor Day fell so late.
1998: Schools were allowed to start before Labor Day, but not before Sept. 1.
2005: Schools prohibited from starting before Labor Day.
Schools must start after Labor Day because businesses complained that they lose summer employees in the camps up in the northern part of the state.
Lots of people say that we can have year-round schools now because kids don’t have to work the fields in the summer anymore. But lawmakers are making sure that employers can have the kids to work the fry vats in the summer now.
Naturally, private and charter schools are exempt from this law. Some lawmakers will continue to push vouchers here because those public schools just aren’t open enough.
End of Quarter 2 – Senior Credit Factory
My senior credit factory classes are doing very poorly. Here are their final grades:
| B+ | 87% | F | 56% | F | 29% |
| B- | 81% | F | 56% | F | 27% |
| C+ | 79% | F | 51% | F | 22% |
| C | 76% | F | 50% | F | 21% |
| C- | 70% | F | 50% | F | 21% |
| D+ | 67% | F | 48% | F | 20% |
| D- | 62% | F | 37% | F | 19% |
| D- | 61% | F | 34% | F | 19% |
| D- | 60% | F | 32% | F | 15% |
| F | 14% | ||||
| F | 8% | ||||
| F | 8% | ||||
| F | 8% | ||||
| F | 6% |
I had the kids take seven quizzes during the quarter, and they turned in 33 homework assignments. If they miss a quiz due to absences, they can take it upon their return. I just make them take it before or after school (in most cases). Two kids came in the last day of the quarter to take some. Here are the grades of those students who took every quiz over the length of the quarter.
| B+ | 87% | F | 56% | |
| B- | 81% | F | 50% | |
| C+ | 79% | |||
| C | 76% | |||
| C- | 70% | |||
| D+ | 67% | |||
| D- | 62% |
For the two “F” grades, the one with the 56% has not turned in ten assignments, and the 50% has not turned in 17 assignments. Most of the others were undone.
The counseling office takes kids that aren’t passing geometry and puts them in my class because they assume that it is an “easy credit”.
Counselors: You did not look at my quarter 1 grades. If you had, you would notice that most of these kids fail. I expect these students to come to my class, think in my class, work in my class, and work a little bit outside of class. The reason they failed geometry isn’t because they are stupid, it is because they are lazy. When you put them in my class, they still are lazy, and they still won’t pass. Don’t think that I’ll give a “D-” to a kid who shows up half the time just so that you can graduate more kids in June. It isn’t going to happen.
The "Telephone Game" at School
Some boy passed out in the boys bathroom after drinking alcohol during the school day. (What great ambiance our bathrooms provide). If he was with friends, they took off to get out of trouble, but another kid walks in, sees the drunk on the floor and alerts the assistant principal, who calls the nurse. The social worker is notified as well, and must have gotten there quickly.
The nurse can’t get the kid to wake up by trying to rouse the boy, so the social worker calls 911. But the nurse decides to give the kid a sternum rub, which is pretty common to do in these cases. The kid does wake up, the ambulance arrives, and the kid ends up in the emergency room. The kid is fine, and back in school, no doubt a changed man.
Here’s the great part: the social worker calls the social worker in another school to tell her what had happened who told someone else, who told someone else, who told someone else. Later on, the nurse at the other school calls our nurse to tell her, “I heard that you gave a kid a scrotum rub!”
Field Trip Issues
The Minnesota Zoo has programs where high school kids come with their class, and a guide will give them a tour in a non-English language, so lots of Spanish/German/French classes go. One of our Spanish teachers is taking her classes this year.
She tells her kids that if they cannot go, then they will have to do a presentation in class on some topic to make up “the points”. I’m not exactly sure how many of these points the kids going on the field trip are going to get, or how much more work a presentation is than going to the zoo, but that is another topic.
Lots of her kids decide that they aren’t going to go because they don’t want to miss their other classes. It turns out that this really is lots of kids. So the Spanish teacher rescinds her idea of the presentation because it would take too long for the presentation. She tells the kids that if they can’t go, they’ll just have to lose the points.
I’m not sure what will come of it. Hopefully a parent will call and get things straightened out. Some kids don’t want to miss all their other classes, whether lectures, debates, quizzes, or exams, so that they don’t fall behind – in other words, they feel that they could get more out of a day at school than out of a day at the zoo. Good for them – most kids would be thankful for a day at the zoo just to get out of school. And now these kids will be punished for making the right choice.
Jokes that Bomb for 36 out of 37 Students.
I always have assigned seats for my classes. I change them every two chapters or so. Here’s what I’ve done so far:
Last name (alphabetically)
First name
Student ID number
Homework completion rate
The one I’m on now is helpful because kids that don’t get much homework done are put together. When I assign their homework, some of which should be done in class, I can go over to their group to get them started immediately. I find that if I get to them early, they’ll put the calculator games away and begin. These certainly aren’t grouped by ability – there are some smart boys* in these groups.
One group has a white/middle Eastern girl, a black boy, a Jewish boy, and a Somali boy. This is a group where every problem is always done on every homework assignment. When they were first put into these groups, the girl who is part white, part Middle Eastern jokingly said that I put all of societies rejects into one group.
A week or so later, I videotaped the class. I only was going to videotape one group’s work, and since they sit in the front with a little room off to the side, they were perfect for camera placement. So I said, “I’m going to videotape the United Colors of Benetton group. Apparently nobody gets the joke, except for one girl, who burst out with a laugh. She admitted later that she was embarrassed that she laughed, but I thanked her for getting the joke. She’s about the quietest student in the classroom, so it was quite surprising coming from her.
She’s my favorite student now.
*Yes, I didn’t put “smart girls”. That isn’t because girls aren’t smart, but because I never have any girls in the groups of kids that don’t do their homework.
