Lola is on the mend! After the trip to the vet, and a couple of days of strong pills, she's active, though not yet jumping through the usual hoops. We had a couple of bad nights when she stayed in her kennel resting her leg. If she wasn't a lot better by Thursday (tomorrow) we were facing the x-rays and the possibility of a disc problem. But it seems now, that she is back on track of being her usual feisty self. So many of you e-mailed or called. Thank you, all you dog people. You know. I was especially touched that so many of my former students were concerned.
I have been thinking about this blog and what direction it needs to take. This has been an experiment for me, a foray into the tech world. I am aware that many of you read it. I am still so new to this and I basically believe that there is some hutzpah in putting one's ideas out there for anyone in the entire world to see. I believe myself to be a humble and modest (even shy) person. I know by now that people are not really looking at each other (certainly, not at me!). So this foray into the public domain can be just what I want it to be..
So, tighten up your seat belts. From now on I am going full-throttle on educational issues that interest me. (O.K., sometimes I will digress and wax euphoric about vegetable gardens and cows and birds, kids I love, and grandchildren)
This evening I am ecstatic about the outcome of the elections. I always regard the glass as half full. I am thinking that Charlie Crist could maybe be a good education governor (though I did not vote for him!).
Yesterday I went to the elementary school here in central Florida where I volunteer in a classroom one day a week. I had not been there for two weeks while I was away on vacation. But the kids were confident I'd be back. I came into the class, lugging two bags of stuff to do. Many small hands hugged me, many shining black eyes met mine. They asked if I had BOOKS? They asked if I had FOOD? Yes, and yes. Do you have clay? No, not this time, but soon. How long will you stay?
Their wonderful teacher, CareyAnne, is glad to see me. I have a present of chocolates from France for her. She loves chocolate and France, having been there when she was in the Army. First thing, after the t.v. announcements, the kids pledge allegiance to the flag, and then they sing along with "This Land is Your Land" and do a little dance to it that CareyAnne has taught them. I am charmed. Then the kids gather in front of CareyAnne for the daily scripted lesson (Breakthrough to Reading, courtesy of a major education publisher). This day I see that CareyAnne has something else on her agenda- NOT SCRIPTED. She's a good and compliant member of the school team, but in some ways she has other ideas.
Today, she has he kids making caterpillar projects of how something written could be. She has made round cut-outs of various sizes and the kids can take these, paste them together, write on them the parts of a story they might write: start, the characters, what happens, next thing, next thing, the end. They can make them personal with feelers and other additions. As every one of the sixteen kids finishes his/her caterpillar, she takes them to the laminating machine so the kids can have these for the whole year. The slower to finish kids are helped by the others. The kids are excited to have their very own artwork/writing come out of the laminating machine. CareyAnne acknowledges each child as they place their caterpillar on the laminator.
And then, someone "IN AUTHORITY" comes up and tells CareyAnne that this laminating place is Not For Students! So, the kids have to retreat behind the door. They crowd up to peer into the door crack. They vie for a place to see in the crack what's happening to the process. Lorenzo is clearly the gatekeeper. The other kids shuffle around him, wanting to see their very own caterpillar come out of the chute.
CareyAnne despises the scripted 'Breakthrough to Reading' program this school must use. She truly is invested in kids learning to read. She, herself, learned to read with Dick and Jane (as did I), so she has found some of these readers to be key in her mission to have every child in her care be literate. When I come into the class, many of the kids are eager to tell me about their progress with Dick and Jane. They want me to hunker down and let them read to me. In a way I think this is such a hoot: these Hispanic kids so excited to be reading in a series written probably before 1940, all the illustrations of blonde kids, the mom in an apron, the dad in a tie and carrying a briefcase. None of the kids mentions the 'Breakthrough to Reading' materials.
This week, as every week, I bring food. My vegetable garden is overflowing now with salad greens. We made a salad in class with many kinds of greens,cucumbers, garlic, oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. We thought of the salad as a story, like the caterpillar. The setting was the salad bowl, the characters were the various kinds of lettuce and vegetables. The events were the things we did to make the salad, and the end was eating it.
There is one little guy, Justin, who has a tremendous hunger for fresh food. He'll try anything! He sparks the entire class to eat these amazing fresh foods I bring on a weekly basis. I have taught the kids to at least try anything new and be polite if they hate it. Amazing how kids take their cue from others who are enjoying the new tastes. If Justin loves avocado, maybe it won't be totally poisonous.
Lorenzo, a child of devasting poverty, eats his salad, and then quietly asks me if he can have the remains of a jar of sunflower seeds with which we have garnished our greens. He has his backpack opened in readiness. I have heard tht Lorenzo only eats what he can at school. There is nothing for him to eat at home. What can I say? Take it, Lorenzo. He squirrels it away with the homework that will never see the light of day.
This school could be really good, but as it is, it's below mediocre. I heard in the teachers' lunchroom this week a comment I wonder about. Someone said she wondered about what was heard on the grapevine about the next year's hires for this school. I wonder why this important news should operate as rumor or grapevine? Hey, guys, be a team.
A great school should not rely on rumor or grapevine. It should attract a cohesive and energetic team of teachers who are valued in the school and stay on, be colleagues, create a learning environment. This is the job of a good principal.
I am beginning to realize that even in the climate of FCAT, there are a lot of different models in our public schools and they all depend on the principals of the schools. Public schools are not all the same!
All our children are incredibly precious. All of them will be successful, we hope. Some of them will be really successful, and some will be stellar. The thing is, you don't know this now. As a teacher, you have to go on the assumption that your student will be capable of anything.
Charlie Crist, you, as a moderate, can have a really profound influence on education in Florida. I, for one, will be bugging you. Our children are fantastic.
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