Juggling Life

Point of View

Because I now belong to the California Teacher’s Association I get the magazine California Educator, which I always read cover to cover. Right now there are a lot of articles about the election, the outcry over the mess our educational system is in and the union-bashing that is prevalent. Nobody is happy about the movie, Waiting for Superman—which I have not yet seen.

A current article ponders why teachers’ unions are so vilified.

The following is my opinion—I would like to write a letter to the magazine, but I really do try to be careful about how much I mouth off when I don’t even have a job yet. I don’t like stifling my voice, but I also want to be realistic and prudent.

I’m not saying I agree that unions are all, or even most, of the problem with our educational system today. But I also don’t think they are blameless.

Why I think teachers' unions are taking such a beating:

• Almost every parent, every child, every person has had experience with a bad teacher. Very few people have seen a bad teacher relieved of his/her duties—and certainly not in a timely manner.
• The unions shoot down every outside attempt to evaluate teachers (test scores, value-added assessments, peer evaluations, etc.), but I have not heard them say, “we agree that teachers need to be evaluated and here is how we think it should be done.”

What do you think?

Sigh

I have been working at a middle school that is not quite inner-city, but close. The kids themselves say they live in the ghetto, but as ghettos go it is actually not horrible. I spent a little time as a child in a similar neighborhood as my mother was clawing her way up the ladder, leaving poverty for the middle-class. I know I am lucky that my mother made the leap—and I also know that she did having being smart and white going for her and that didn’t hurt her cause.

As I attempt to teach the finer points of summary writing I am struck by the thought that for all but a select few (and oh, how those few give one hope) we are too late.  We should have started 10 years ago.

If children are not going to learn at home (because their parents are too busy working, or not educated themselves, or whichever of the myriad reasons there are that kids don’t learn the basics) we, society, need to figure out a way to make sure these kids don’t start Kindergarten years behind their middle-class peers and then just fall further and further behind.

Lately all the Tea Party tax cut talk, education cutbacks, and a laundry list of other political and societal issues has made me weary.

It just seems so obvious to me—it is incumbent upon the haves to help the have-nots. Especially when those have-nots are children.

On the Road to Righting a Wrong!

It was Danger Boy who told me about Proposition 8 being overturned. “Hey Mom, did you hear . . .?”

We are all so excited.

And may I just say? When a 17-year old heterosexual clean-cut, varsity athlete type with aspirations to be a firefighter is celebrating a victory for gay rights, then there may be hope for this country after all!

                       Danger Boy and friends: Junior Olympics 2010

 

Other Prop. 8 posts can be found here, here and here.

Sometimes Somebody Else Says it Best

“This bill is like being given a rusty old Ford--on the one hand, it is wheezy and slow, on the other hand, it is a CAR and helpful and a step in the right direction...”

Gary Rith made this comment on Melanie’s Healthcare Reform post over at The Women’s Colony. 

All I could think when I read it was “Yes! That’s exactly how I feel.”

My choice would have been a single-payer plan. It is my opinion that for both humanitarian and economic reasons this would have been the best thing for the country. I think that if employers didn’t have to consider providing health-care benefits when hiring there would be more flexibility for employers and employees alike.

I’m not saying this type of system would cost less, I just don’t think it would cost more—since our country spends a larger portion of GDP on healthcare than other nations.

We didn’t get what I wanted and yet I’m not throwing bricks through anybody’s windows or spitting on them.

I’ve decided to be like Gary and focus on what we did get—a rusty old Ford that just might be able to drive us in the right direction.

Budget Cuts: What they Look Like in the Classroom

I often wonder if people really understand what “doing more with less” looks like in real life. The following is an example of what it looks like in my classroom.

I teach struggling readers. High school freshmen who are about two years below grade level in their reading and writing skills (and, honestly, “at grade level” would not set your hair one fire).

One of the greatest techniques for increasing reading comprehension and study skills is annotating a text. That’s why highlighters are such a big deal and many of us own college textbooks that are marked up, written in and flagged all over.

When I do short stories or expository texts with my students I copy the stories from a variety of books and magazines. My copy allowance is so limited that I can only make one set—4 different periods share that set.

That they cannot mark up the text makes it harder for me to teach and harder for them to learn. In the end I’m sure it costs the school district and the community more money in that the kids don’t make the progress they otherwise might.

Little things count.

Also, may I point out that this is one reason the “achievement gap” exists. The teachers at my kids highly-rated, suburban school just tell the kids to ask their parents for $10 to go toward his/her copy fund and we gladly contribute. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s just not an option in a less-affluent area.

Reflections from Back-to-School Night

It's that time of the year again. Once again, I was flying solo and hitting half of Danger Boy's classes and half of Social Butterfly's classes. There was a lot to be excited about--enthusiastic teachers, challenging curriculums, the relief of occasionally being in an air-conditioned space (The bliss! Did I mention the high was 103 today?)

Then there was the experience that inspired me to compose and send this email. It wasn't the note I would have liked to end on.

 

Ms. Vice-Principal in charge of Special Ed,

I want to share a concern I have with you. My son, Danger Boy, has an IEP. He has Tourette's Syndrome and stuttering is his main vocal tic, so he receives speech services. His IEP details his neurological condition. The IEP lists accommodations.

Because our goal for DB is that he do as much and as well as he can without accommodations, he generally doesn't use most of his accommodations--such as a waiver from timed testing.

DB is at an age where he wants and needs to manage his own affairs, which I support. Therefore, I don't get involved in his schoolwork and classes unless I see a problem with his grades.

I attended Open House tonight, splitting my time between visiting DB's classes and his sister's. I had a moment after one (very enjoyable and impressive) presentation to introduce myself to his teacher and mention (since the teacher stressed that participation in discussions was a major portion of the grade) that DB has an IEP. The teacher had "glanced" at the list and realized he had one, but was not aware of what it said. The teacher was pleased to be apprised of the fact that stuttering was a major problem for DB and could, on certain days, preclude his participation in oral discussion.

I am deliberately not naming the teacher because I encounter this situation each year and from most teachers. It is more of a general attitude toward IEPs than it is the attitude of a single teacher.

I don't have to tell you that the IEP is a legal document and compliance with it is required by law.

If teachers do not read the IEPs how can they even have the possibility of fulfilling their legal, educational responsibility to my son (and others)?

I understand that teachers are overwhelmed and overworked (I am a student teacher myself this semester), but that does not change the legal obligation to be aware of my son's condition and of the need to discuss with him how to handle days when he is disfluent.

What I would like from you is a general reminder, and perhaps a deadline, for teachers to familiarize themselves with the IEPs of the students in their classes.

In DB's case a quick reading and a quick conference of a couple of minutes would ensure that his needs are met. I appreciate hearing your thoughts on this matter.

Sincerely,

Jenn Juggling

The Opinionator

One of the problems with having a group of readers that is like-minded in many ways is that I'm probably not going to change any minds on this issue because you already agree with me.

Then again, from what the vocal opposition has to say, I'm not sure the non-like-minded would listen. Why let facts interrupt a good rant.

As you know, I work for a pharmacy, and have for (gulp) 26 years. The story I'm about to tell is NOT apocryphal, though I may have changed some facts because even though I don't use my real name here or say where I work I would hate to violate HIPAA or get Dooced (though, fingers crossed, I won't need to go back to this job after my leave for student teaching).

I had a customer last night who had just been released from the hospital. She had gone in with a terrible headache, there was concern of a stroke, she was pumped full of blood thinners and sent home with a prescription for more blood thinners. Sounds pretty life and death, does it not?

One of her prescribed medications is injectable. Her prescription plan does not cover injectable drugs. How can I be so sure? Several phone calls and doing my level best (which is pretty damn good) to figure out a way to help her get the drug she NEEDS convinced me. Injectables are simply not part of her prescription coverage. The upshot? Since she didn't have the $1,000 dollars for the drug and her emergency room copay is $35, I advised her to go back to the hospital for her next scheduled dose of the drug. Inefficient system what?

This woman is solidly middle-class and she and her husband are both employed. She's always made sure she has health insurance. She is, in short, the picture of responsibility regarding health insurance. She was completely blind-sided by this. Have you ever checked to see if your prescription plan covers injectable drugs? Probably not. Like most consumers you probably assume that your insurance covers what your doctor says you need.

Nothing could be further from the truth in many instances. Forget government death panels, it's corporations making life or death decisions based on cost/benefit analysis (their benefit--not yours).

I have been on the frontline of the health insurance issue this past year--having been on COBRA and working in a pharmacy. We need health care reform, we need a public option and we need it now.

Can We Make A Difference? I Like To Think So.

Do you believe in the power of the blogosphere? I do. I've seen a tempest in a teapot end up on the front page of CNN news--Motrin, anyone? Now we have an opportunity to help one of our own, Mary Alice of From the Frontlines, bring attention to a problem that is affecting military families.

If you read Mary Alice you know that her husband is in the Air Force and her son is in the Coast Guard, so her family is doing its bit to serve our country (and if you don't read her you ought to--she's a free-spirited combination of fun, spirituality and common sense that is unbeatable). She's got something to say and I think it would be great if we all helped her spread the word. Especially since her husband was bluntly asked to silence his little lady--can I hear a collective "Hell, No!"

First, read this post, then read this post. If you have time, read this post also and follow the links-they were eye-openers for me.

If you are so moved, link to Mary Alice's blog and if you're a Twitterer (which I am not, but probably should be) tweet away. It would be great to see the mainstream media pick up and run with something from the "Mommy Bloggers" that didn't have anything to do with whether or not it's good to be bad.

Book Review: Obama: The Historic Journey

I love to do book reviews for many reasons. First and foremost, I love books. Me and working the elementary school book fair = big profits for the book fair. Secondly, I am about to be a teacher and I think my husband is planning on that being more income for our family, not my spending all my income on books for my classroom. Which could totally happen. So when I get the opportunity to review books that I will use in my future classroom, I jump at the opportunity.

When I was offered The New York Times Obama: The Historic Journey Young Reader's Edition I jumped really high.

This book? Amazing. Exhibit A: Social Butterfly is not much of a reader (she's a good reader, she's just very busy with other things. See her blog name). I opened the box the book came in, put the book on the counter, turned my back and this is what I found when I went looking for the book:

The book is full of gorgeous, full-color photos that capture the amazing journey of Barack Obama from "A Skinny Kid with a Funny Name" to President of the United States. The text is straightforward and there are lots of boxes full of useful information explaining the electoral process and outlining the differences between the candidates. Their are images that are both iconic and personal along with personal trivia, maps and charts.

I must confess that I was an "Obama Mama" from the start and the side of my refrigerator showcases a "Draft Obama" bumper sticker that I got from donating to his campaign before there was a campaign. Still, whatever your political bent, the election of Barack Obama was historic and this book would make a fantastic addition to any classroom or home library.

The age guidelines say 9-12, but my freshman Honor's English student read it twice and I thoroughly enjoyed it also. If this was a movie review I would definitely give it two thumbs way up. If you are looking for an end-of-the-year gift for a teacher, this book would be a great gift. Take it from an (almost) teacher!

America: Love it And Change It

Certain members of my extended family forward me e-mails that I find really ignorant and offensive. I make liberal use of my delete button. For some reason though, I read this e-mail--the subject line was "I am a Bad American." You may have seen it, or even deleted it, yourself. There's was a lot in it to make me want to gag, but this section particularly annoyed me.

I've never owned a slave, or was a slave, I haven't burned any witches or been persecuted by the Turks and neither have you!

So, shut up already.

I believe if you don't like the way things are here, go back to where you came from and change your own country!

This is AMERICA ...We like it the way it is!

On the heels of reading the ignorant e-mail I watched the story on Good Morning America about NFL player Ryan Moats and the police officer that prevented him from seeing his mother-in-law before she died. Any one that doesn't think the way it went down had something to do with race is delusional.

If the same scenario had played out, but it was my husband behind the wheel, you'd never hear a word because the police officer would have showed some decency and made sure he got to the hospital room in time. That's what being White gets you. It's called White privilege and Black president or no, it exists.

I don't pretend that writing this is going to change anything--I'm fairly sure most people that read me are as educated as I am about the inequities that persist in our society. Still, I needed to say it.

This is AMERICA . . . There's room for improvement.