29 May 2008
In Print!
My letter to the editor was published in today's Baltimore Sun! To read it online, click on the link (the underlined words). It's my first step in getting teachers' voices heard by a broader audience....
27 May 2008
Coming Soon...in Black and White!
There was an article in The Baltimore Sun's commentary section last week titled "Teaching to the test: Good teachers do it" which, as you might have guessed, caught my eye. My husband braced himself for my reaction as I read through the piece, and was surprised when I didn't blow up or start spouting expletives. I handed him the front page section so he could read it for himself and went on to the comics.
Turned out he was the one who was not fully satisfied with Walt Gardner's defense of teaching to the test. The discussion that followed reminded me that although Gardner (a former teacher himself) had made some valid points, he had also made some statements that got my teacher hackles up. I made a mental note to dedicate some of my morning's writing time to drafting a letter to the editor.
The draft incubated over the long holiday weekend, and I looked at it with fresh eyes this morning. At 337 words, it was a bit longer than the usual letter to the editor, but after a few revision passes, it was holding steady at 301 words and there was nothing more I could cut without compromising my message.
I copied it into an email and sent it on its way. No more than five minutes later, the phone rang and the voice on the machine was saying he would like to use my letter. I grabbed the phone and verified that it was indeed my letter and that I had sent it in, and the person on the other end told me it would appear later this week! How's that for instant results?! Would that every acceptance (or even rejection) came so quickly....
I hung up the phone and did some celebratory jumping around the kitchen before calling my husband to tell him the news. "They're going to publish my letter to the editor in the Sun!" While there are some who would say it's just an editorial, I have long been a believer in taking baby steps to make your dreams come true.
It may not be the novel, but it's a step in the right direction!
To read Gardner's piece, click on the link (underlined words). And of course, there will be a link to the printed version of my letter as soon as it appears in print! (I'll figure out how to do it by then.)
Turned out he was the one who was not fully satisfied with Walt Gardner's defense of teaching to the test. The discussion that followed reminded me that although Gardner (a former teacher himself) had made some valid points, he had also made some statements that got my teacher hackles up. I made a mental note to dedicate some of my morning's writing time to drafting a letter to the editor.
The draft incubated over the long holiday weekend, and I looked at it with fresh eyes this morning. At 337 words, it was a bit longer than the usual letter to the editor, but after a few revision passes, it was holding steady at 301 words and there was nothing more I could cut without compromising my message.
I copied it into an email and sent it on its way. No more than five minutes later, the phone rang and the voice on the machine was saying he would like to use my letter. I grabbed the phone and verified that it was indeed my letter and that I had sent it in, and the person on the other end told me it would appear later this week! How's that for instant results?! Would that every acceptance (or even rejection) came so quickly....
I hung up the phone and did some celebratory jumping around the kitchen before calling my husband to tell him the news. "They're going to publish my letter to the editor in the Sun!" While there are some who would say it's just an editorial, I have long been a believer in taking baby steps to make your dreams come true.
It may not be the novel, but it's a step in the right direction!
To read Gardner's piece, click on the link (underlined words). And of course, there will be a link to the printed version of my letter as soon as it appears in print! (I'll figure out how to do it by then.)
19 May 2008
The Truth about Real Life
"Real life is not college. Real life is not high school. Here is a secret no one has told you: Real life is junior high."
-Tom Brokaw, in a graduation address at Emory University
I came across this gem as I was reading the latest issue (June 2008) of the Funny Times, a paper dedicated to "humor, politics, and fun." And it's so true. Think about it.
You don't have to go far before encountering a real life example of Brokaw's maxim. Case in point, AOL's sports news yesterday(and it's not the first time they've broached the subject) featured a photo gallery of "The Hottest Olympians" -- with over 80 photographs. Good thing we're paying attention to what really matters in sports, eh? Okay, I admit that I had a teenage crush on Greg Louganis (the diver) and Mitch Gaylord (parallel bars) when they appeared on the Olympic scene, but since when have athletes' looks trumped their skills and abilities when it comes to newsworthy media coverage?
Real life is junior high (or middle school for the younger generation). Take the ever-increasing popularity of social websites like MySpace and Facebook. I haven't actually taken the step of joining such a site yet, so my understanding may be somewhat limited. But I've heard stories about people who become obsessed with how many "friends" they have on their list and how many people have "friend-ed" them lately. (Yes, I believe it's officially become a verb now.) It's a bit too close to the popularity contests that beset my junior high days. I found it easier to revel in being a brainy orchestra nerd...
Real life is junior high, and if you don't believe it, check out a website like Rate My Teacher.com or juicy campus (the college campus gossip site recently featured on a Dateline report). At the former, students gripe about (or rarely praise) their teachers publicly; at the latter, students make the private lives of their peers public (including a girl's rape and the outing of homosexuals). It's middle school behavior, and I know that, most recently, from several years of teaching eighth grade. I had long ago erased the viciousness of middle schoolers from my mind, so I was shocked by the degree of nastiness with which my students treated their fellow classmates.
Real life is junior high, and if you're still not convinced, just look at the coverage of the current presidential election. In yesterday morning's headlines, Obama took on members of the Tennessee Republican party, who went after Obama's wife for a comment that, taken out of context, they consider "unpatriotic." Celebrity endorsements take on the weight of gospel truths, as people wait with baited breath to find out who their favorite star will support. (Are there really people out there who will vote for Obama just because Oprah's on his side or for McCain because Bush is on his?). Candidates make SNL appearances chock full of self-deprecating humor, which as we all know, makes him or her seem more human, more relatable (who really uses this word in real life?), and thus -- sadly -- more electable. (How else do you think W. got to the oval office?) It's all a bit too similar, in my opinion, to the student government elections in junior high and high school where the most popular kids --rather than the most qualified -- were the ones elected, nine times out of ten.
The irony of Brokaw's comment is, of course, that most people surveyed wouldn't want to relive their junior high or middle school years if you paid them. The adolescent insecurities, the changing allegiances of friends, the awkwardness of puberty, the struggle for popularity...who would willingly go there again? And yet, somehow, that seems to be the kind of life we've created for ourselves in the "real world."
15 May 2008
Thoughts on Closing the Gap...
Disclaimer: what follows is an as yet unpolished rant
Perhaps the reason we haven't found the answer to the problem, and perhaps it makes me a bleeding heart liberal or even a socialist to even suggest this, is that we are relying too heavily on our public school system to make up for inequalities that are rooted deep within our society.
Sure, education is supposed to be the great leveller in a democracy where, in theory, you can move up the socioeconomic ladder if you just work hard....and having taught in the classroom for 12 years, I am a big believer in the power of a good education.
However, any teacher who has worked with students who live in poverty will tell you that the solution to the achievement gap lies beyond the scope of a school's powers. Remember that saying, "It takes a village..."? (Note: it doesn't say "It takes a school...") So where is the rest of the village???
The villagers who can afford it have fled for the hills, put their children in private schools that cost (at least in the DC area) upwards of $15,000 a year (and that was ten years ago when I was teaching at a private school in Potomac, MD). The leaders of the village, led by the articulate George W. himself, are pointing fingers, blaming inadequate teachers for setting standards that are too low and thus failing our children, particularly those of the African-American or Latino variety. Their solution was to make a law (NCLB) saying that every student would be able to read by grade level by the year 2014 just because they said so; and if it doesn't happen, heads will roll (but not theirs, of course).
There is much research to suggest that the achievement gap begins even before children reach the hallowed halls of our public institutions of learning. Children who grow up in literate-rich environments start with an advantage over their peers from literate-poor environments. The gap exists before teachers even get into the picture. And yet, somehow, teachers are held responsible for making miracles happen -- like closing that gap by teaching literate-poor children to read proficiently in classes of thirty or more -- in the 6 hours a day (or fewer in middle and high school) that they work with them.
So what to do? If we are serious about closing the achievement gap, we may first have to tackle some of the social inequalities that have been woven into the American fabric over the last several centuries. Or we can just keep pointing fingers at our hard-working teachers, who struggle to contribute enough to make up for the rest of the village.
"'No one, on a large scale, has figured out how to solve the achievement gap,' Pensis said. 'Everybody's looking for that answer.'"-Foch "Tut" Pensis, Superintendent
Coachella Valley Unified School District
from "School Districts to Face NCLB Sanctions"
Teacher Magazine, The Associated Press
Perhaps the reason we haven't found the answer to the problem, and perhaps it makes me a bleeding heart liberal or even a socialist to even suggest this, is that we are relying too heavily on our public school system to make up for inequalities that are rooted deep within our society.
Sure, education is supposed to be the great leveller in a democracy where, in theory, you can move up the socioeconomic ladder if you just work hard....and having taught in the classroom for 12 years, I am a big believer in the power of a good education.
However, any teacher who has worked with students who live in poverty will tell you that the solution to the achievement gap lies beyond the scope of a school's powers. Remember that saying, "It takes a village..."? (Note: it doesn't say "It takes a school...") So where is the rest of the village???
The villagers who can afford it have fled for the hills, put their children in private schools that cost (at least in the DC area) upwards of $15,000 a year (and that was ten years ago when I was teaching at a private school in Potomac, MD). The leaders of the village, led by the articulate George W. himself, are pointing fingers, blaming inadequate teachers for setting standards that are too low and thus failing our children, particularly those of the African-American or Latino variety. Their solution was to make a law (NCLB) saying that every student would be able to read by grade level by the year 2014 just because they said so; and if it doesn't happen, heads will roll (but not theirs, of course).
There is much research to suggest that the achievement gap begins even before children reach the hallowed halls of our public institutions of learning. Children who grow up in literate-rich environments start with an advantage over their peers from literate-poor environments. The gap exists before teachers even get into the picture. And yet, somehow, teachers are held responsible for making miracles happen -- like closing that gap by teaching literate-poor children to read proficiently in classes of thirty or more -- in the 6 hours a day (or fewer in middle and high school) that they work with them.
So what to do? If we are serious about closing the achievement gap, we may first have to tackle some of the social inequalities that have been woven into the American fabric over the last several centuries. Or we can just keep pointing fingers at our hard-working teachers, who struggle to contribute enough to make up for the rest of the village.
11 May 2008
Mom Sweet Mom
They say that men become more and more like their fathers and women more and more like their mothers as they grow older. I know some people who resist this truth with every fiber of their being, but I'd have to say there are far worse things that could happen to me.
If the saying is true, here are a few of the things I can expect in the coming years:
1) I will develop a love of the color red. My mother has always had a penchant for all things red, as evidenced by the many items of that color in her wardrobe (including shoes, coats, and handbags) as well as the shiny VW Passat she drives. Signs of this tendency are already arising in my own life -- my new laptop, for one, which is a vibrant shade of garnet red, as opposed to the usual black, white, or titanium hues of most laptops.
2) I will become an uber-volunteer and supporter of the arts. My mother remains an active docent at both the Wexner Center and the Columbus Museum of Art, and has also been a volunteer for the symphony and opera at various times over the past several decades. It does not require a great stretch of the imagination to see where this one fits into my life either. An amateur violinist and avid music fan, I play with community groups and support the local symphony orchestra (even if only by being a subscriber at the moment), and I learned great appreciation for the visual arts at my mother's side as we visited the museums and galleries of every city and town we ever went to on a family vacation.
3) I will become ever more strong-headed in my opinions and desires (some may choose to call it stubborn, others outspoken, and still others flat out bossy; I prefer to call it discriminating and independent). Mom knows what she thinks and does not hesitate to share those thoughts with those who are closest to her. She is not one to sugarcoat the truth, which can occasionally result in some hurt feelings, but she generally means well and just wants the best for all involved. I've had an independent streak since my childhood -- my brother and sister love to tell stories about how I would boss them around, parroting my mother's instructions, and my aunt loves to tell stories about how I would insist that I could do everything myself, even at an early age. Guess that's never gonna change...
4) I will be able to make a mean streusel pie, potato salad, and rouladin, not to mention meatballs of both the Italian and Swedish varieties. My mother kept us well fed with home cooked meals; nights out were special occasions in our house and ordering takeout was virtually unheard of. After years of practice, I have mastered the streusel and the meatballs, but I am still working on getting the flavoring of the potato salad just right, and have not yet dared to try rouladin on my own. Oh, and I'll also be able to make delicious gravies to accompany any meal -- with no lumps!
5) I will have friends in just about every corner of the world, or at least in a great variety of places where my husband/family and I will be able to go and visit in our travels. Mom and Dad have stayed with friends and relatives all over Germany, as well as Grenada, Mallorca, and Montreal, just to name a few. Not sure how this one will happen with me, as I've lost touch with the friends I made during my junior year abroad in England, though I do have good friends all over the U.S. Perhaps I'll make future contacts through my writing...
6) I will take great pride in the traditions of my upbringing...including real candles on the Christmas tree (much to my husband's dismay). I am only now beginning to appreciate the way my mother's German culture seeped into many aspects of our upbringing even though we grew up in suburban Ohio, the "heart of it all" as they claim. A slice of average American life. And yet, we grew up with an appreciation of other cultures that sticks with us today. My husband also comes from German roots, so perhaps we will be able to pass on similar values and traditions to our own children.
I only hope that I will inherit half of my mother's passion and zest for life. In her seventies (sorry, mom, if you didn't want that published), she is still going strong, touring at the museum, travelling widely, visiting her grandchildren often, and squeezing as much joy as she can out of her day-to-day experiences.
Yes, mom, if I become more and more like you as I grow up, I think I'll turn out just fine!
If the saying is true, here are a few of the things I can expect in the coming years:
1) I will develop a love of the color red. My mother has always had a penchant for all things red, as evidenced by the many items of that color in her wardrobe (including shoes, coats, and handbags) as well as the shiny VW Passat she drives. Signs of this tendency are already arising in my own life -- my new laptop, for one, which is a vibrant shade of garnet red, as opposed to the usual black, white, or titanium hues of most laptops.
2) I will become an uber-volunteer and supporter of the arts. My mother remains an active docent at both the Wexner Center and the Columbus Museum of Art, and has also been a volunteer for the symphony and opera at various times over the past several decades. It does not require a great stretch of the imagination to see where this one fits into my life either. An amateur violinist and avid music fan, I play with community groups and support the local symphony orchestra (even if only by being a subscriber at the moment), and I learned great appreciation for the visual arts at my mother's side as we visited the museums and galleries of every city and town we ever went to on a family vacation.
3) I will become ever more strong-headed in my opinions and desires (some may choose to call it stubborn, others outspoken, and still others flat out bossy; I prefer to call it discriminating and independent). Mom knows what she thinks and does not hesitate to share those thoughts with those who are closest to her. She is not one to sugarcoat the truth, which can occasionally result in some hurt feelings, but she generally means well and just wants the best for all involved. I've had an independent streak since my childhood -- my brother and sister love to tell stories about how I would boss them around, parroting my mother's instructions, and my aunt loves to tell stories about how I would insist that I could do everything myself, even at an early age. Guess that's never gonna change...
4) I will be able to make a mean streusel pie, potato salad, and rouladin, not to mention meatballs of both the Italian and Swedish varieties. My mother kept us well fed with home cooked meals; nights out were special occasions in our house and ordering takeout was virtually unheard of. After years of practice, I have mastered the streusel and the meatballs, but I am still working on getting the flavoring of the potato salad just right, and have not yet dared to try rouladin on my own. Oh, and I'll also be able to make delicious gravies to accompany any meal -- with no lumps!
5) I will have friends in just about every corner of the world, or at least in a great variety of places where my husband/family and I will be able to go and visit in our travels. Mom and Dad have stayed with friends and relatives all over Germany, as well as Grenada, Mallorca, and Montreal, just to name a few. Not sure how this one will happen with me, as I've lost touch with the friends I made during my junior year abroad in England, though I do have good friends all over the U.S. Perhaps I'll make future contacts through my writing...
6) I will take great pride in the traditions of my upbringing...including real candles on the Christmas tree (much to my husband's dismay). I am only now beginning to appreciate the way my mother's German culture seeped into many aspects of our upbringing even though we grew up in suburban Ohio, the "heart of it all" as they claim. A slice of average American life. And yet, we grew up with an appreciation of other cultures that sticks with us today. My husband also comes from German roots, so perhaps we will be able to pass on similar values and traditions to our own children.
I only hope that I will inherit half of my mother's passion and zest for life. In her seventies (sorry, mom, if you didn't want that published), she is still going strong, touring at the museum, travelling widely, visiting her grandchildren often, and squeezing as much joy as she can out of her day-to-day experiences.
Yes, mom, if I become more and more like you as I grow up, I think I'll turn out just fine!
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