Tag: students

Part of the Whole

Posted on August 16, 2012 by

As I wake up I hear the rhythmic tick of the sprinkler outside my window.  The coffee drips in time to the clock, and although the house is quiet, my brain jumps wide awake.

It’s not official yet – summer really still has four more days before I should be mourning the end of long nights spent wrapped around a novel, mornings lingering over another coffee with cream, and being alone.

But I’m part of something.  I contribute to a system, a group, a team of people who cares beyond measure about children.  We get up early, we plan, we laugh, we smile, and we create a whole unit designed to pull each other up and out of ourselves.

The sprinkler subsides outside my window.  The coffee dwindles to the last drop, and my house begins to stir. My body must jump awake, engage, and prepare to take part.

They’re counting on me.

Who’s counting on you?

primark

Jennifer Wolfe

Jennifer Wolfe, a writer-teacher-mom, is dedicated to finding the extraordinary in the ordinary moments of life by thinking deeply, loving fiercely, and teaching audaciously. Jennifer is a Google Certified Educator, Hyperdoc fanatic, and a voracious reader. Read her stories on her blog, mamawolfe, and grab free copies of her teaching and parenting resources.

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Simplify My Life

Posted on August 14, 2012 by

It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside.
~Maud Hart Lovelace, Betsy-Tacy and Tib, 1941

As summer winds to a close I’m getting that fluttering feeling again-anyone involved with education knows what I’m talking about. Students, teachers, parents – we all feel it.

 If you’re a student, it’s that butterflies-kind of feeling that sets your body trembling at the thought of one last day at the pool, one more night hanging out under the streetlight on your block, and the last time you can sleep in as late as you want without worrying about all your homework, studying, or chores that need to be done.

 If you’re a teacher like me, well, it’s something similar, but a bit different. It’s that panicky-kind of feeling at the thought of the to-do list still undone, the novels not quite finished, the essays you want to write instead of grade, and the last time you can wake up early and do exactly what you want to do without worrying about all your students, your grading, or chores that need to be done.

If you’re a parent, it could be a mixed bag.  It’s that sorrowful feeling of days gone by, kids who’ve grown up before your eyes.  It’s wishing you had one more night to just cuddle instead of going to bed early, and the day doesn’t operate on a schedule.

Or I suppose you could be excited to have your kids out of the house and let someone else deal with them – no more arguing over TV time, restocking the fridge every other day, or groaning when your teen doesn’t wake up until the day is half over.

Summer is supposed to simplify my life. I want June again.  The smell of roses, the sun powdered gold. Rolling dizzily down the grassy slopes, never worried about what was at the end. The possibilities.

You remember what it was like, right?  It WAS simple then.

 Did it thrill you to go ‘back-to-school’ shopping, buying new Keds and a backpack ready to organize your way to straight As?

 Do you remember choosing your new binder, notebooks, and a pencil box, if you were lucky?

 Did you agonize over the Pee-Chee folder versus the one with the puppies, or the Scooby-Doo lunchbox over a paper sack?

I wish it were this simple for me now.

The teacher in me doesn’t know how to operate on any other type of calendar-if September came and I wasn’t in a classroom I think my world would spin off its axis.

The parent in me doesn’t want to lose the priceless minutes I have just being a mom-not a worker, or a helper, or the one responsible for anyone else’s kids.  Just mine.

Summer is supposed to simplify my life.

Instead, I feel torn in half.

Jennifer Wolfe

Jennifer Wolfe, a writer-teacher-mom, is dedicated to finding the extraordinary in the ordinary moments of life by thinking deeply, loving fiercely, and teaching audaciously. Jennifer is a Google Certified Educator, Hyperdoc fanatic, and a voracious reader. Read her stories on her blog, mamawolfe, and grab free copies of her teaching and parenting resources.

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Questions Answered and Stinky Fruit

Posted on August 2, 2012 by

After yesterday’s ehausting adventures, we were happy to
have a late start.  Indonesian children
attend school on Saturday, so we were able to meet with Cendekia’s leadership
students for an informal question and answer session.  It was neat to see them out of their uniforms;
we were particularly taken with a girl in a beautiful pink veil who was eager
to get to know us.
Our discussion proved extremely informative.  The eight girls and nine boys provided
answers to many of our lingering questions:
·         *Grade A National Exams are a big deal.  They determine placement into universities,
and 96% of these students will attend college in Indonesia and 4% abroad.
·        * They are proud of their achievements in the
Science Olympiads, and will send a student to Italy for September’s competitiion.
·         *Their slogan is ‘Unity in Diversity’
·        *They enjoy their weekend events-that’s when they
have elective classes, competitions, and even a type of ‘prom’, although no
dating is allowed.
·         *They put on their own verion of ‘Gakic’, or
Olympics, with competitions in basketball, chess, softball, soccer, table
tennis, badminton and sprints.
·         *They feel the biggest problems in Indonesia are
traffic, pollution, money for education, and corruption in government.
·         *The girls feel that the boys get special
treatment; for example, they are allowed to stay outside two hours later than
the girls.
·         *All students want to go to college, and all said
their parents attended college.
·         *They don’t like the US involvement in
Afghanistan, feeling that the war is an attack against Muslim brotherhood.
·        * They don’t feel like they have much choice.
·         *At school, they’d like to change the food, their
limited access to technolgy, and the ban on cell phones.
  
After a rest at the hotel, and a yummy lunch out, we began the
journey to our host’s house for ‘break-fast’. 
The 20 mile trip took an exhausting two hours, battling road constuction
and traffic. 

We enjoyed what Yuna called ‘common
food’-several types of mango, Durian fruit, dates, green beans, potato coconut
chili chowder, rice and fried tofu and tempeh. 
I’m surprised at actually how little they eat after fasting all day; we
keep expecting them to gorge themselves.

After a tour of her home, we visited the
‘Golden Mosque’ just a few miles away from her house.  Built seven years ago, Yuna described it
as ‘just appearing one day’, which seems
unlikely due to the grandness of the buildings.  

We toured the women’s section as they were praying,a nd saw the turrets
made of gold.  Adjacent to the mosque sat
a large meeting house and a mansion the likes of which I hadn’t seen in Indonsia.  Yuna ‘used our name’ to talk to the security
guards and found out it was built by a Middle Eastern woman as a gift to the
country, but she lives abroad.
We expected a shorter ride home, but again
spent two hours traveling back to the hotel. 
Although interesting to see Indonesian night life – I’ve never seen a
more crowded McDonalds-we were eager to get home and pack for the next day’s
departure.
The importance of relgion in Indonesia’s culture
and education system continues to fascinate me. 
It’s sharp contrast to our laws separating church and state make it
difficult for me to comprehend.  I often
find myself wondering what it would be like if students weren’t blatantly
separated and identified by religion, and if it causes discord amongst the
population.  At our hotel it seems like
the locals are either Christian of Buddhist-we see very few veiled women
walking around the mall or working in the hotel itself.  There is such a serene beauty in the calls to
prayer, and the unison with which they gather together in the mosques.  I wonder if that unity excludes diversity, or
as the students say, they are able to overcome it.  I think there are more veils in Indonesia
than just those worn by Muslim women, actually.

Jennifer Wolfe

Jennifer Wolfe, a writer-teacher-mom, is dedicated to finding the extraordinary in the ordinary moments of life by thinking deeply, loving fiercely, and teaching audaciously. Jennifer is a Google Certified Educator, Hyperdoc fanatic, and a voracious reader. Read her stories on her blog, mamawolfe, and grab free copies of her teaching and parenting resources.

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Education News: June 2012

Posted on July 7, 2012 by

Last month I found an overwhelming amount of education issues to write about – many centering on the theme of change.  As budgets are passed, classrooms are shut down for the summer and teachers take a much deserved rest, people are talking about changes to come in the upcoming year.

I wonder how seriously people are thinking about education, instead of just reacting to what is put before them.  If we really think about how these changes are going to effect our children, maybe we can move forward and make progress.

From test scores to class sizes, athletic privledges to charter schools, bullying and the achievement gap, teacher rankings and critical thinking, I’m interested to hear what you think.  For the full text of each article, please click on the links below:

Large Class Sizes Mean 60 seconds or Less Per Student

Hey, Mitt, let me tell you something: Class size matters! In my 8th and 9th grade English, AVID and yearbook classes in Davis, Calif., I’ve taught sections with 38 kids, and it makes a huge difference. This year, the district requires a minimum of 37 students, and it will go higher.
Don’t believe me? Here’s what I’ve learned:

Special “Bill of Rights” For Athletes


For student athletes at USC, UCLA, UC Berkeley and Stanford, Senate Bill 1525 may change their futures. The bill, scheduled for the Assembly on June 27, is nicknamed the “studentbill of rights” because it seeks to allow athletes to keep scholarships even if injured, to provide life skills, health insurance and financial workshops. It would also allow student athletes to transfer schools, keeping their scholarships with them. At this time, other schools would only be affected if their media revenue exceeds $10 million.

Charter Schools Discriminate Against Students With Disabilities

Public schools face a myriad of challenges today: decreased funding, larger class sizes, test preparation, and under-prepared students. Beginning in the early 2000s, public schoolsalso began to face a stripping of their student clientele, as parents and special interest groups got into the education business by creating charter schools.
With state exemptions, a charter school holds more financial and curricular freedom than traditional public schools. According to Huff Post Education, students are selected for admission to best fit the charter’s philosophy, and it turns out that the charters are leaving one group out: students with disabilities.

Practical Parenting Tips for the SAT

Parenting can often seem like a series of tests, some more critical than others. For college-bound teens and their parents, however, the SATs are some of the most challenging. If you’re a first time parent of a teenager, navigating the college admissions process can be a series of frustration. By following a few tips, you can help your child have a successful SAT experience.

Texas Against Teaching Critical Thinking

The Texas Republican Party has released their 2012 platform, and it illustrates why so many of the state’s students are leaving high school uneducated. Their main target seems to be the state’s education system, which, if the document is put into effect, will authorize teachers to utilize corporal punishment, will deny undocumented immigrants to enter school, and will deny children mandatory pre-school and kindergarten. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the really amazing part is their assertion that schools no longer teach higher-level critical thinking skills.

School Bus Monitor Bullying

I spend a good part of my life defending teenagers. Daily, I see the supreme good that they embody, despite their negative portrayal in movies, music and media. I sympathize with the angst of puberty, middle school, and the pressure of growing up. But after watching the YouTube video of bus monitor Karen Klein being harassed and bullied, I am disgusted.

Educational Philosophies and the Achievement Gap

 Teachers in the United States know about competing philosophies in education. We call it the “swing of the pendulum” as one strategy, philosophy or system after another enters our school districts and purports to be the best way to reach kids and raise test scores. According to The Huffington Post, competing philosophies are not working to bridge the achievement gap for our country’s poorest students.

New York Teacher Rankings to be Publicized?

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants all fourth through eighth-grade parents to know about their child’s teacher — not just their name, educational background and classroom rules, but their test score ranks, too.

illustration via Pinterest

Jennifer Wolfe

Jennifer Wolfe, a writer-teacher-mom, is dedicated to finding the extraordinary in the ordinary moments of life by thinking deeply, loving fiercely, and teaching audaciously. Jennifer is a Google Certified Educator, Hyperdoc fanatic, and a voracious reader. Read her stories on her blog, mamawolfe, and grab free copies of her teaching and parenting resources.

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The Bullies, Bullied and Bystanders: Which One Is Mine?

Posted on May 7, 2012 by

via Photobucket
55 middle school students and I crowded into our local movie theater this week, not sure what we would experience.  Our group was a combination of kids from several classes at school, mixed ages, races, and genders, but the common thread that pulled us together was our experiences with bullying.

I don’t think there’s a person alive who hasn’t felt bullied.  Sadly, it seems to be part of the human experience.  And it’s not just kids that bully-I’ve experienced adults bullying kids as well as other adults.  Working in schools as long as I have might have made my bully radar more heightened than most, but I still remember the childhood feeling of wanting to melt into the earth rather than be the last one chosen for a team, or the criticism for how I dressed or how quietly I spoke. I remember my high school classmate who died at the hands of a bully.

In fact, bullying has reached such epidemic levels that some independent filmmakers followed kids with video cameras for a year, inside and outside of school, to document exactly what is happening with bullying in America.  The resulting film,“Bully”,  is heartbreaking, terrifying, and leaves the audience wondering what to do next.

via Photobucket

It didn’t take long for the mood in the theater to change from excitement to shock.  Watching regular, American kids experience verbal, physical and emotional abuse on the big screen made my popcorn unappealing, and had me reaching for a tissue.  I felt my body convulse with sobs as I watched Ty’s parents bury their 11-year-old son, a boy who reminds me so much of my own.  As his mother, nearly comatose, rocked in his bedroom, wondering what she could have done to prevent his suicide, it was more than I could take.  I wanted to scream at the screen, lash out at the pathetic creatures who taunted this little boy day after day until he felt, at 11 years old, his life wasn’t worth living.  What person has the right to inflict this type of torture on another human being?

During our debrief after the film, my students kept coming back to the parents.  How could they not have known what was happening?  And what kind of parents would raise children to think that this type of behavior was acceptable?  I wonder myself, if the parents of bullies even have an idea of what their kids are doing to other children.  Do they think that they’ve raised their son or daughter to be intolerant of differences, to be an aggressor, to be a bully?  And do they feel responsible for their child’s actions, even the slightest, when they find out that the baby they raised has turned into someone who takes joy in bringing others pain?

And I wonder about the parents of those who are bullied.  Do they know what their child endures every day as they ride the bus to school, walk the halls, or eat in the lunchroom?  Is their child ashamed to share their experience as a victim?  I wonder what I would do if my son or daughter came home and told me that they never wanted to go back to school, that they had no friends, and they didn’t want to face another day.

Days later, these thoughts continue to clog my brain.  I tuck my 12-year-old son into bed at night, and wonder why and how he’s escaped this torture.  I watch my 15-year-old daughter, weary with studying, and wonder how she has escaped the cyber bullying.  And then I wonder, do I really know what’s going on with them?  Do they see this happening at school?  Are they bullied? A bully? A bystander?

I tell myself all is well, I’m doing my job, and they are safe. 

I wonder if Ty’s parents thought that, too.

Jennifer Wolfe

Jennifer Wolfe, a writer-teacher-mom, is dedicated to finding the extraordinary in the ordinary moments of life by thinking deeply, loving fiercely, and teaching audaciously. Jennifer is a Google Certified Educator, Hyperdoc fanatic, and a voracious reader. Read her stories on her blog, mamawolfe, and grab free copies of her teaching and parenting resources.

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