February 2011
20 posts
4 tags
“Ms. Basye, how do you spell—never mind, I know, I know. This is just the...”
– Moment Monday, brought to you by Kishawn.
Today, Kishawn, Brittnae, and I had a good old time editing Kishawn’s paper for spelling. He has gotten markedly better, but by now, we all know that the kid has spelling issues, and we can all laugh and help him out. The whole point of the...
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“…and so why I was nervous about you letting her in to use scissors was...”
– So are you nervous about all kids using scissors? Or just my kids? Because my kids are the last kids in that hell-hole who are going to try to stab someone with those safety scissors we have around.
January 2011
33 posts
3 tags
“If you lived in a crime-ridden neighborhood where your home was broken into a...”
– Ohio woman jailed for sending kids to school just wanted a choice - CNN.com
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“Education for our poor and working people should be a matter of national...”
– Dr. Cornel West (via savagemike)
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"Did Gov. Jerry Brown stray into hyperbolic... →
No.
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WTF Republicans?: Opinion on Cuts/Spending →
politicasian:
As Obama prepares to make his State of the Union address, Republicans in the House are looking to make him look as bad as possible by passing measures to block spending. Obama wants to invest in (read: put money into) our future.
Obama’s thoughts in this regard hearten me; that is exactly how I…
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“To borrow an analogy, cutting the deficit by cutting investments in areas like...”
– Barack Obama (via toddstatus)
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“It smells like my shin guards!”
– Kishawn, in reference to the Feelings Bottle
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Thankful Thursday: Finish each day and be done...
Today, I am thankful that Ms. Mason made us read Emerson in Senior English. For some reason it stuck with me, and his words come to my head:
You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can.
Because I am really only thankful that tomorrow is Friday and that next month is February. I get to go to Kansas to see MWS, Washington D.C. to...
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Toilet Tuesday: Kids is needy today
and utterly exhausting.
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“In a day with 7 periods, my students spend less than half of them with full time...”
– My TFA Education: What else?
Another way to put it. And put it well.
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Moment Monday: Me? If you say so.
“Elected” by default, like the slow kid—literally, the last to say “not it”—I became one of my school’s union building representatives before Winter Break.
I guess, why not, because I have much more time on my hands and much, much less to lose than most people at my school. I have to read contracts and document things and “organize” some...
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Thankful Thursday: Cliche, yes. But...
This Thursday, I am thankful for each of my students.
But not necessarily because they make me happy or have given me a lot but simply because they…exist. It is not a reciprocal feeling. It has been a rough few weeks for quite a few of them. But that has made me stop and reflect on each of them. I am not thankful today because they gave me something or because they deserve it. I am just...
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Wednesday
Wednesday wear is not working, because my girl situation has changed. While I think of a clever W word to structure my Wednesday blog around, I am just going to talk about the typical (if I’m on the inside) but funny and traumatic (if I stop to think about how up-and-down if in reality) Wednesday I had:
Kid drops my coffee carafe, and it breaks . No coffee for me.
Kids constantly...
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Toilet Tuesday: The Twilight Zone
It’s sixth period, and where are all the adults? Are they in the classrooms, filling in for our M.I.A. teachers? Are they cleaning up after their fifth period? Are they eating McDonald’s in their office?
I don’t know, but boys, put him down. Get your hands off of her. Why are you crying? Did you steal his ten bucks? Give it back. Get to class. Get out of the bathroom....
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On MLK Day, Some Thoughts on Segregated Schools,... →
captainsway:
American schools are more segregated by race and class today than they were on the day Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed, 43 years ago. The average white child in America attends a school that is 77 percent white, and where just 32 percent of the student body lives in poverty. The average black child attends a school that is 59 percent poor but only 29 percent white. The...
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“His hope is to prove that if money is spent in a concentrated way to give poor...”
– Lauded Harlem Schools Have Their Own Problems
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In a New Training Program, Students Teach Teachers... →
Eyka is our NUA mentor! Neat. I love NUA, and I wish San Francisco recognized what a good organization it is and put up the cash for it. I also wish that my school wasn’t sinking so Titanically, at a rate that no one, not even NUA, could save.
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America's schools still failing black male... →
I like that—
“Where are our Kings?”
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Fun Friday: finally, what I was made to teach!
This month, ELA unit about Stolen Childhoods. Yesterday, article about teens working in fields. Today, lesson about Cesar Chavez, the UFW, huelgas, and why marches are important, then video about the Children’s March that was happening at the same time in Alabama.
All just in time for school-wide neighborhood Martin Luther King Jr. Day march, to the tune of protest songs (hopefully) and...
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Thankful Thursday: rockets red glare give proof...
As of today, my middle school, since the beginning of the year, out of a faculty of about 10 teachers has
had 2 teachers quit,
1 teacher indefinitely out on medical leave,
3 first-year teachers at once,
1 “asked to resign,”
0 science teachers,
1 veteran private school teacher in her first year of urban education,
0.50 ELA teachers for 2 weeks,
0 P.E. teachers,
1 principal...
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Toilet Tuesday: Is there nowhere sacred?
I was standing outside the staff restroom the other day. It was taking a few minutes for it to open up, but that’s not uncommon, because only one person at a time can go in. When it took a few more minutes, I was getting annoyed and a little nervous for what I would find.
The janitor noticed me. She said, “There are two people in there. A man and a woman. For twenty minutes...
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“Hey guys, why don’t we practice the integer shuffle while we wait for the...”
– Moment Monday, brought to you by Marshan
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Jesus Is a Liberal Democrat - The Colbert Report -... →
No matter what you think, he makes his point well.
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Wednesday Wear: Winter Wear
Please accept my apologies for such a lame comeback from Winter Break, but it has been rather ho-hum so far, and I have little publishable-on-the-internet material to report (oh, but I have soooo much of the juicy stuff)—an occurrence that only makes me pony up to the edge of my seat and dread the size of the ball that will drop. Oh well. For now though…
just leggings under jeans,...
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“Who is our P.E. teacher?? No, WHO IS OUR SCIENCE TEACHER?!? Who is our...”
– are all questions that students and teachers should not be asking at any point during the school year. But this is where I work.
Welcome back, Happy New Year!
Prayers appreciated.