Tag: Teaching

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Current Events Education Local Government Poetry

An Absence of Knowledge

A free-write on book banning

Nobel Prize in Literature

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

Presidential Medal of Freedom

These are only three of the many awards Toni Morrison has won. Yet schools are pulling her books (amongst others).

Why?

Because with every action comes an equal and opposite reaction. Because the path to change is through the next generation. And, at heart, change is uncomfortable. It’s a discomfort that comes with a loss of power.

Let me be clear. These are not valid reasons. Learning should make you feel uncomfortable. You should wallow in your discomfort. You should watch the walls that you’ve built around yourself crumble down.

Why?

So you can rebuild yourself with better materials. Knowledge is not congruent with stagnation. Knowledge is the house that is always under construction.

Because, you see, learning is the action of remaking our knowledge base with stronger materials. Learning is active, you must constantly be building your house with better, and stronger, and newer materials.

And I’m not talking about “information I found on youtube” or “on some website that upheld my already firmly held, and stagnated, belief.” No. Those are bad building materials. They’re the rotted wood that causes your roof to leak. That’s lazy building.

Ok…so what?

Toni Morrison should be required reading. Toni Morrison is the type of author who writes something so gloriously beautiful that you can’t believe you’ve lived without that book, and those words, and that story for half your life.

So why would we want to stop children from experiencing that?

Fear. Adults are afraid of new knowledge. They are comfortable in their house, even if there’s not enough sunlight or the furniture needs to be replaced

There is the problem.

Children are constantly learning. They are building forts and toppling them down to build new ones in trees or on mountains. Adults…well many adults stop learning the minute they are out of school. They have old methods and old information stuck in their head, and they want to reinforce that old knowledge and protect it from new ideals.

So, adults remove choice from children.

Because that’s what this is. The removal of books is the removal of choice. The absence of information is still a method of control. When you don’t give information, it doesn’t mean it ceases to exist. It means you’re hiding it.

Not telling the full story is still a lie.

The removal of books is a method of control – don’t let anyone fool you into thinking it’s “for the children.”

It’s not. It’s to control the children.

Categories
Current Events Education Poetry

Expectations Exceeding Reality

A free-write reflection on an abnormal school year masquerading as normal.

The metallic screech is the first thing I hear at 7:45 AM.

It’s a dreaded sound; a whistling — then a crunch followed by silence.

The copier has jammed.

“I shouldn’t have to worry about this,” I think to myself. “Except there’s just no damn time.”

Clearing a jam proves to take longer than the actual copy. I clear it, and leave the copier humming merrily.

The hum is merely a siren song for the next unfortunate soul.

It’s not just the jams. It’s having only one, 45 minute, prep period. It’s the constant meetings to review and analyze data. It’s arbitrary tasks set by administrators who haven’t taught in years, and have never taught during (or after) a pandemic.

It’s grading 160 projects.

And, you see, you can’t not grade them, because the kids worked hard on them. They want the validation from you, they want to see that you looked at the project they spent three days on. They put that GIF in for you. They put that reference in for you.

It doesn’t matter if the joke is dumb, or the GIF doesn’t make sense. They still did it for you because they love you. And they want you to be proud of them.

And you can’t NOT assign the project, because it’s literally your job to ensure kids learn.

Except. How do we keep on giving, especially in a year where the school keeps on taking?

When I’m given 8 hours to complete a task that – and I measured it – MUST take me 8.5 hours.

When the copiers are all broken. When the internet doesn’t work. When I’m required to do 100 small administrative tasks that add up and suck the time out of my day — not to mention teach.

And therin lies the problem.

Schools want to pretend that the pandemic is over without acknowledging the trauma the pandemic created.

700,000 dead and climbing. 700,000 dead and climbing. 700,000 dead and climbing.

Students are suffering. Teachers are suffering. Admin is also suffering.

But only one of those categories has the power to enact change.

Because, you see, it’s structural. The structure of teaching must change and administrations must be brave enough to create it. Holding on to what used to be does not help us in the now. In fact, it’s blindly turning away from the lessons of history.

History that we all lived through, and are still living through.

If administration isn’t brave, then teachers must be brave enough to fight for change. The time is now. Your voice is powerful, especially when joined by others.

We’ve changed. So must schools.

Categories
Current Events Education Local Government

Pronouns Matter

There’s been a lot of discussion in political circles about whether teachers ought to use a student’s preferred pronouns. There have also been a number of news articles about teachers refusing to use preferred pronouns, along with proposed legislation that could make it illegal for teachers to use any other identification other than the name and gender on school records.

For my part, I’ve never met an educator who outright refuses to use requested pronouns. I live in a red state and teach with conservative educators. However, I do know students who’ve encountered prejudice from their teachers when coming out, and many will only tell a few teachers while asking that the other teachers are kept in the dark.

Ok…so what?

I could focus on the dialogue surrounding teaching and the restriction of what we can and can’t teach and what we can and can’t call students. I’m not going to. I’m simply going to offer my opinion on the subject and hope that you’ll agree and/or be swayed.

School is a time that kids explore and define themselves. Home is sometimes unwelcoming to different sexual and gender identities and I believe school shouldn’t feel that way. My job is to be kind and make the students feel welcome. It costs me literally nothing to call someone by a preferred name (mark rather than Michelle) or pronoun (they rather than her).

This trend, to not call students by their preferred name or pronouns, is simply implying that students and children are undeserving of respect. Except- of course they are. They are humans with hopes and dreams, exploring their identity. They spend most of their waking hours in school, and it should be a place where they are respected.

I know many parents and conservative school board members would disagree. However, it will cost you nothing to respect a child. They may drop the pronoun later, or they may carry it with them their whole life. If it’s the later – then they’ll remember that you provided them a safe place by simply calling them “they” rather than “her”. That’s what matters.

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Current Events Education Local Government

School board De-Cline

Although this is a post that is specific to my personal state, I suspect that characters like the one I’m going to talk about today are present in every school board in every state. If you don’t already know, school boards are elected officials, with quite a bit of power to dictate what students learn – and don’t learn – in school.

And, in the wake of the pandemic, school boards have a lot of eyeballs on them. Over the past five weeks my state school board alone has heard arguments over masks, voted on anti-CRT legislation, and recently the most contentious school board members posted anti-LGBTQ propaganda.

That’s right, I’m talking about Natalie Cline. I’ll tell you this, I had to really be thoughtful in making this post, as well as consider whether it’s worth it. Natalie Cline has a track record of personally targeting educators. When she chooses to target someone, she has a mass of far-right followers who threaten, harass, and scare the individual she’s targeted.

Well, she’s been censured by the state, but I’m not sure it solves the problem. She was elected in the 2020 election, which means she’s been in her post for less than a year. During that time she’s caused controversy after controversy, and seemed to lob insults at every community who is not her own, insular, far-right, religious community.

OK…So What?

Although Biden won the presidential election, locally elected posts have been filled with Natalie Clines: far right conservative politicians that scrambled their way into local politics. While the Democrats were focused on the Presidency, the conservatives were winning locally. This is a problem because local politics matter and local politicians are much more likely to make an impact on your day to day life.

Cline, for example, is part of a board who decides what your child does and doesn’t learn in school. If Cline had her way (and she didn’t) I wouldn’t be able to say the word “systemic” in my classroom. In fact, because of Cline, a fellow teacher straight up asked me if I taught CRT. Why? Because I was the history teacher. No other reason.

Politicians like Cline do nothing more than put stress on an already burdened system. Their cult of personality requires that they use incendiary language to inflame their cult of followers, causing local politics to spend time on ridiculous amendments and demands.

It’s like that one kid in class who always shouts out because they think they know the answer, but they never do. Except this time, it’s an adult who’s in an elected position with absolute power to bring the class to a screeching halt over nothing.

Our own local politician, Natalie Cline, is currently under censure. However, she’s elected and with us for the next three years. So far, Cline hasn’t succeeded in pushing through much of her agenda – but when the arguments over CRT wane that’s when she’ll strike, affecting the education system in Utah for years to come.

This is why I’m constantly screaming about local politics on my blog. It impacts you, your children, and the citizens your children grow up to be. Education matters. The Conservatives know it, and they’re targeting education laws because of it. We can’t let censorship into our schools. History, real history, deserves to be taught. If not, we will continue to perpetuate the very things we’re fighting against.

Don’t let the Clines of the world make you fear speaking out. Stand up for what you believe is right. Stand up for educators, stand up for children. Do it in your home, your office, your schools, your gym. Be vocal. This is no longer “feel good” politics. Disagreement is natural and correct. In fact, it’s only wrong when viewed from a lens of partisan politicians who believe any criticism is an attack on their character.

Local boards could vote to bring these suckers back, because kids should “learn what it’s like to get burned.”
Categories
Current Events Haiku

Haiku Review

Shit show in Texas

Opinion is different from

Solid evidence

Speaking on that point

Transphobic remarks shouldn’t

Get large Netflix deals.

Anyway stay safe

Go find a vaccination

And wear your masks friends.

Categories
Current Events Education

“Learning Loss” is a Lie.

A catch phrase that’s being bantered around a lot in teaching circles is “learning loss.” This refers to the perceived “loss” of learning over the 6-12 months that kids were completing school online.

Before anyone comes at me, I want to be clear. I think online school absolutely can be effective, but being effective at online school comes with a huge amount of privilege. To be effective, a student had to have: access to stable internet, access to a computer, access to a private work space, a structured schedule, support at home – both to maintain the schedule and to help with work. IF a student had all this, then online school worked. IF a student didn’t (and most didn’t) then online school was difficult. They did miss important concepts AND social opportunities.

However, online school kept the students, and their communities safe. It was (and should still be) the absolute right thing to do. Fuck your standardized 7th grade math concepts – keeping students home was right, whether they learned or not.

Except, now they’re back in school.

I have no scientific data to back this up, but I believe that as years pass, I will be proved right on the anecdotal data I’m about to present.

Our current expectations on students are stressing kids out.

I’m not talking about a little stressed out. I mean full fledged panic attacks. I’ve already had a number of children who have had attacks at school, and a few more whose parents have contacted me regarding anxiety. Stress is caused by a number of factors – but that buzz word of “learning loss” is absolutely a factor, and a large one.

Schools are trying to “catch kids” up to where they should be with no understanding of where they are. There’s an expectation that students who haven’t been in school since 5th grade can and should do 7th grade math. There’s no restructuring of concepts, and no discussion of how to help rather than hinder our students.

Pile on top of that the fact that teachers are even more overworked this year than they were during the pandemic. Administration has placed the onus on the teachers to “close the learning gap” in these students, rather than acknowledge that we need to meet them where they are.

Ok…So What?

We are expecting too much out of our students and our teachers. Not only are we not meeting the actual needs of our students, we are not acknowledging their experience. Students, like the nation, have experienced grief and trauma from the pandemic. Moreover, students are on the front line of a pandemic everyone has forgotten about. No one has given them the tools to manage the staggering trauma from the past eighteen months. Of course they are having panic attacks.

So, how do we help?

The first, and best, thing we can do for them is to meet them where they are. Instead of “set the bar and they will rise to it”, we need to acknowledge that the kids don’t have the tools or strength to get there. We need to give them grace.

Second, we need to teach them to set healthy boundaries. We do this by example. Are you a teacher? Are you being expected to work outside of contract hours? Don’t. Don’t do it. Set a boundary, and stick to it. Teach students to set boundaries as well. You do this through structure, consistency, and example.

There are other strategies, but the bottom line is that our students are not robots. They are panicked, they are scared, they have anxiety, and they don’t know how to manifest or handle those feelings. As teachers, admin, and as a nation we need to stop assuming that kids aren’t affected by what’s going on the world. That probably will mean changing the expectations in your classroom or in your home.

And you know what? That’s ok. The world is different than it was 18 months ago. It’s changed, and we have too.

Admin explaining why we they think we need to “catch kids up” rather than meet them where they are.

Categories
Haiku Haiku Review

Haiku Review ( burn out edition)

Kids are stressing out

Teachers have no time to prep

Unsustainable

When will we realize

That collective grief is real?

Unsustainable

We aren’t the same as

Eighteen months ago. This is

Unsustainable

Categories
Current Events History

Social Media is awful. What now?

It’s no surprise to find out that Facebook is complete trash. We’ve known that Facebook is complicit in lots of things, including election meddling. Now, we know that Facebook and Instagram are doing damage to teens 13+ and under 13. And, honestly, we all knew this anyway, because social media can really mess with us mentally.

But…what do we do about it?

It’s very difficult for me, as someone who is connected to so many people on the internet, to say something like “burn it down.” We know Facebook is shit, but places like Twitter or Tik Tok also come with a ton of problems. However, these apps, and the internet, connect us in ways we’ve never been connected before. Never has that been more apparent than the past 18 months as we’ve lived through the isolation of Covid.

Social media as the Triangular Trade

In class, I often bring up the the internet and social media as a sort of modern day Triangular Trade. If you don’t know, the Triangular Trade (you may have learned it as the Columbian Exchange, but fuck that guy) is the global exchange of people, plants, animals, goods, and diseases.

The triangular trade ushered in a new era, opening the world in a way it had never been before. People were suddenly connected to a world across the ocean. They talked about it, read about it, ate new foods, learned new information, and some moved there and became colonizers.

But contact also meant that 90% of indigenous people died. It meant that millions and millions of Africans were enslaved in the Americas. It meant that the people and the land was used, abused, and forever remade to shape a new vision of the world.

So, you know. Not great.

Ok…So What?

In the years after 1492, there were many people who wanted to make gobs of money by doing absolute shitty things. Why? Because it didn’t matter, they’d be rich, so they took advantage of an opportunity.

That’s kind of like Zuckerberg right now. Facebook is shitty – but so are a lot of internet companies and people. The internet is so new, and we are all still learning how to use – and abuse – it. So what can you do about it?

Focus on the kids

Look, we can’t hide the internet from kids, it’s here, and they are way better at internetting than we are. They have finsta’s (fake insta’s), they have Tik Tok, Facebook, and Snapchat (also terrible) and they will and do hide it from you. I know, because I’m a teacher, and they will straight up tell me that they hide social from their parents.

Adults must have hard conversations with kids. These conversations must center around teaching kids how to be good internet citizens – just like we should try to teach them how to be good global citizens. How do you do this? Well, you, as the adult, must be willing to set rules, and follow them. This is super difficult, but there are apps for that. My family has Disney Circle, which allows us to limit access to the internet on their devices and see what they are looking at. This provides them with autonomy, and it provides us with control. This isn’t the only option available though, so do your research and find what’s best for your family.

You should also speak to your kids, or kids in your life, frequently, about the internet. Don’t demand their phone and go through it. Instead, build a tech relationship with them. Discuss the pros and cons of the internet. The pro’s and cons of apps. Teach them how to Twitter, and lead by example.

Because, bottom line, tech is progressing at an unprecedented pace. As an average human, we don’t have the ability to stop shitty people from being awful. However, we can teach our children, and ourselves, how to be responsible on the internet. How to spot bad facts, how to look up valid sources. Essentially, we have to learn how to consume the internet without it consuming us.

Recently surfaced early photo of Christopher Columbus (colorized). Strange resemblance, right?

Categories
Education History Local Government

Systematically tackling the word “systemic.”

If you’ve been a part of the interwebz at all then you know that the way history is taught in k-12 schools is under attack. I’ve already created a few blog posts that discuss the attack on history and here I am again, singing another song. This time it’s a ballad.

School boards and/or state legislatures are attempting to ban certain language in a history classroom. This is an insidious move, because language matters, and the way we speak about the past matters. By attempting to ban specific language, Conservatives imply to their base that “systemic racism” and “equity” either doesn’t exist or are an attempt to make white people feel bad.

Do you teach CRT?

Before school started, a colleague straight up asked if I teach CRT. I asked them to define what they meant by CRT. This person said “well, like, do you teach about systemic racism?” and I said “yes, because racist systems have and do exist in history.” Then, I said “why don’t you define what you mean by the terms “systemic and racism'” They couldn’t define the terms.

This is a problem, because Conservatives are spreading fear about language to a base that doesn’t even understand the language being used.

So let’s break it down.

One word that makes every “banned” list is the word “systemic.” Of course, systemic simply means affecting all parts of a system, whatever that system may be. In a historical sense, it usually means the system of laws that define our nation.

And see, here’s the thing. We do have systemic racism built into the very fabric of our laws. This is true now, as well as historically. Banning the word only bans the history, which perpetuates bias and…wait for it…more systemic racism.

If you’re saying, yes, but what laws?! Well, that’s a long answer, but I’ll give you a run down. I wont even talk about the slave codes or the 3/5 compromise. Let’s talk about citizenship and the rights of citizens.

Dred Scott v Sanford stated that Black people in the United States (free or enslaved) were not citizens. It wasn’t until the Fourteenth Amendment that the Black community received citizenship (Indigenous peoples wouldn’t receive citizenship until 1924).

Ok ok ok, that was so long ago right? Well yes…but…we know that the Reconstruction Amendments didn’t fix racism, instead it was woven into laws in different ways. For example, Black men were segregated during war time until Vietnam. Often, this meant that Black families couldn’t benefit from the service acts that came after WWII.

Don’t get me started on the internment of Japanese Americans, or the “repatriation drives” of Mexican Americans during the depression.

These are just a smattering of real, impactful, lasting laws that were made by this country that directly impacted citizens. These laws weren’t based on birth, rather they were based on heritage and skin color.

So…they are examples of systemic racism!

OK…So What?

One thing that Conservatives don’t want to feel is guilt for the past. Another thing they don’t want is the education of demonstrable truths. You see, if teachers educate students in straight facts about the laws in our nation, then the students might grow up to tear those laws apart, resulting in a loss of privilege for Conservative politicians and their base (white liberals I’m eyeing a lot of you too).

The strategy to teach a Conservative history of the United States is not new. However, this is its current iteration. Just like book banning, the banning of language is an attempt to hamstring teachers from teaching about the darker parts of our American past. Here’s the problem with that attitude…we can’t continue to “progress” if we don’t change.

And there’s the crux of the matter. Change means the loss of power and priviledge. It also means discomfort and reckoning with actions of the past. Redlining was legal until 1968, and it still exists outside of the law through “standard practices.” This is not a long ago past, this is our present. Until we fix the laws that treat citizens unequally, we will never be a United country.

School board elections are as important as national elections

Categories
Education Local Government

“School Choice” Does Not Mean What You Think It Means.

On the outset, funding to send your child to a private school sounds pretty good. I think, as parents, we often want our children to get the “best” – the best schooling, the best experience, the best clothes…etc. So, it’s no surprise that when Arizona offered vouchers for private schools, many families jumped at the chance.

Except…it’s not what you think.

There’s a catch to the new voucher system. In a glaring move of passive aggression the students are only eligible for a voucher IF they are in a school with a mask mandate or quarantine procedures. This allows students to move to a private school that is not regulated the same as public schools, and in a big fuck you to the federal government, the Governor is using Covid Relief Funds to pay for the voucher system. Woof.

Ok…So What?

School choice advocates often use the voucher system as a way of pretending that they care about education. They say “everyone deserves a good education, so let’s give some people some money and send them to private schools!”

That’s a fallacy though, because private schools and vouchers are not equitable at all. It’s a way of defunding the public school system, by taking money reserved for public schools and pulling children out of them. Even now, public schools in wealthy areas receive better funding than those in lower income areas. Why? Schools are funded by property taxes. They are also funded based on the number of booties in seats.

School is not equitable (though it should be) and vouchers aren’t going to fix the problem.

On top of the fact that Arizona is making policy that directly impacts the health of the community, not to mention children, it’s likely that those students who take advantage of this particular voucher will be forced back to their normal public school when the funds run out. So, students are uprooted from their education not once but twice. They may miss important learning blocks that they need to carry with them from grade-to-grade, and for what? So that the Governor of Arizona can point his middle finger at the Federal Government.

So what can you do?

First, anytime there’s a voucher program on the ballot you should vote against it. Vouchers do not create equitable education, and they only assist a small minority of students. Also, the rules that apply to public education don’t apply to private education – so who knows where your money is going.

Second, anytime you can vote to expand funding to public schools – do it. Maybe you don’t have kids, maybe you don’t want kids. That’s fine, but look, whether you like it or not kids grow up and become your neighbors, voters, and people in the community. If you want an educated and well rounded community, invest in public schools.

Third, and here we are again, local voting is important. School boards, Mayors, City Councils, Governors, they all determine your child’s education and thus the fate of your city. Vote like the town depends on it.

Because it quite literally does.

Gaston definitely voted for vouchers. He hates education.