"Find Another Profession" : Really? Is That the Only Answer?

As president of our chapter, I often get questions about the contract. I do my best to answer but mostly I refer them to someone at HSTA or Paul, who has been our negotiations representative for as long as I've been president, but this one really got to me.

Question: Is it a violation of our contract for a principal to suggest that teachers seek other employment options? Thanks!

My answer: That's terrible! If she thinks a teacher is not up to par, she needs to go through the process of evaluating with the tool we have now, the Pep-T; a teacher would have due process rights in case he/she feels the unsatisfactory eval is unfair. It is hard to say whether it is a violation of the contract but if you have an active APC, it would be a good topic and you would speak to teacher morale. As we go forward with the new contract, we can speak to the cause of such a statement. I am thinking it has something to do with overwhelming demands put on teachers and the principal trying to pressure teachers into accepting this as a condition of the job. As much as possible, teachers should try to ask for time to do these tasks that are mandated by principal but not given time to do them. There is a lot we do beyond our work day, but we do it if we find value in it, like for me, keeping up with my grading. But if it is demanded beyond my work day and I hate it and I disagree with it as valuable, I would not do it unless time was allotted for it, somehow. Unless teachers stand up for their rights, the principals will keep demanding more and then try to do mind games to get you to do them.

One of the ideas we came away with at the Town Halls was that we are the experts, we are the ones who should be informing education policies, as opposed to outside entities who think they know how to fix everything. I can just imagine what happened at her school to make the principal say such a thing. I have talked to teachers from her school who report increasing demands - meetings, data collection, etc. Someone must have said something about the workload and this must have been the principal's response.

So, if this is the scenario at your school as well, you need to speak up. That is the only way things will change. This can be addressed in negotiations. We negotiate pay, benefits, and working conditions. We want to improve all aspects of our profession, but we need to articulate the working conditions that we envision by which we can provide our students with a truly quality well-rounded education, that is not only about test scores. Maybe you're sick of hearing about Finland and Singapore, but one of the aspects of their working conditions is that they are paid fairly for their non-instructional time! Yes, we had some of that before furloughs. But, those days always had restrictions. Imagine that we got our non-instructional days back and with those days we could pursue activities of our choice that were in line with goals that we chose, that we valued. Imagine the best professional development or the best planning sessions you have ever had. Imagine if they were rejuvenating rather than depleting.

Okay, those of you who know me, know that I am the eternal optimist. And maybe I am more like Don Quixote chasing windmills. But the only way things ever got better or even invented, was having an idea, and manifesting that idea. So, if someone asks you what do you think would improve education, make sure you take the opportunity to tell them.

Here are the questions that were asked at the Town Halls. Share your mana'o, please. Answer the questions that resonate with you or all.

1. What should be the 5 biggest priorities of focus for improving our schools? Be as broad or specific as you like, but please try to be concise and clear.

2. Measuring ‘student learning growth’ has been central to the current discussions on school reform. How should we measure and define student learning growth? What are the best assessments or mix of assessments?

3. It has been suggested that teachers do not want to be evaluated at all. We know this is false, but we need to positively engage this issue. So, how should teachers be evaluated? How can teacher evaluations be used to improve classroom practice?

4. We hear many teachers argue that student learning and school quality are deeply intertwined with issues affecting the greater community – poverty, language access, etc. So how can we better engage the community in education? What issues in the community need to addressed in order to support students and schools?

Help spread the word. Please share.

From self-tagging kiosks at Hawaiian Airlines to my classroom - Connections

Not only are there self-service computers at the airlines where you get your own boarding pass, but now there is one set aside for self-tagging. Good thing there are actual humans who warn you that you're on your own if you use these kiosks. I went to the semi-self service ones immediately. The agent there was in good humor, joking around about how we made a good choice coming over and then joked that in a couple of years he's not going to have a job. My brother and I were reflecting on the loss of human contact as automation and computerization increases. And there's something troubling about that especially in Hawaii, the Aloha state. (It would be worse if we were talking about Aloha Airlines.)

It made me think about the trend in education towards more computerization. We already have statewide online standardized testing. To prepare for that, all schools had to beef up their inventory of computers as well as their Internet accessibility. In my class, on a normal day, I have half of my class on laptops doing Moby Math, IXL, or Education City, while I teach math investigations to the other half, and then we rotate. I try to look at the results of their computer learning daily to,track,their progress or intervene if necessary. I like it because I can touch base with more kids more often. It's a good balance for me. It allows me to have more contact with kids, not less. But I hear that the next trend in education is more computer-based learning and less teacher-contact learning. In fact, there are several charter schools set up with that premise. It seems to be profitable because you have fewer humans to pay. Maybe the students will do well on the online standardized testing, but I worry, for the same reasons I worry about more automation in the business world - loss of the human factor.

Why does that matter? On Friday, I had some unplanned time at the end of the day. The scheduled bike education lesson went shorter than planned, so I had about twenty minutes to fill. Earlier, the Honolulu Theatre for Youth Artists in the Schools program for which our ELL get pulled out to participate, had started. I asked my ELL students what they had learned in drama class and they taught us one of the games they learned. The students walk around the room following certain guidelines about personal space, focus, and self-control. The teacher gives a signal to stop, and then a number, and the students get into that number of students in a group. Then the teacher gives a shape for the students to make. One notable round, the number was 2. I have 25 in my class. One of the rules is that if there is someone who doesn't have a partner, one group takes him or her in. So there was one group if three, which happened to be a triad that included 3 challenging boys. The shape I called out was "rectangle." It's easy for a duo to do a rectangle, but I thought there might be a problem with my one trio. But they came up with an ingenious solution, led by my one most hard-to-focus student who got the others to implement his idea. I was impressed with their solution to the problem. In the normal classroom setting, none of these boys are the star students, the ones who will volunteer the answers. But in this situation, they got a chance to experience being the stars.

A student who gets his or her education via a computer without much contact with a human, professional educator committed to encouraging and nurturing students' potential, will not have those types of experiences. So, yes. Welcome technology as a means to enhance education, but be wary of the potential for abuse, for overuse of the technology, for loss of the human factor.


Sent from my iPad

A Governor, a Girl, and a Couple Dozen Teachers

Tonight the Hawaii Democratic Party hosted a rally for the Kona area with the Governor and Mazie as headliners. We decided to take advantage of the opportunity to show our signs and red shirts to the governor, political leaders, and members of the community attending the rally. We had about 25 members, their children, and supporters there -Teachers Taking a Stand - as one of the signs said.

We started our sign-waving at about 4:30. The red shirts do make quite a statement. We had good responses from the public as they came to pick up their kids at school and as they were coming to the rally. Some of the folks going to the rally stopped to speak to us and also shared their disappointment in the governor.

An unassuming sedan came up honking and we are always happy to hear the supportive sounds of cars honking but elated when we saw it was Mazie. She then walked down the sidewalk to talk to us, which was such a good move on her part. There were a few photos taken with her so I hope I can post those soon. When she spoke later in the rally, we all stood and cheered for her. In fact, it was pretty much a standing ovation. By contrast, about a tenth of the audience stood for the Governor. There was quite an obvious difference in the reception towards Mazie and the Governor. That's a statement !

Back to the sign-waving: One of our teachers decided that she would walk across the crosswalk with her sign if she saw any SUV-type vehicles with tinted windows. She correctly identified these cars, the first one was driving Lt. governor Schatz. The second one was the governor's car. I didn't see this, but was told that this car did not slow down as she crossed the crosswalk, unlike every other car driving in this school zone. After barely letting her pass, the driver sped into the lower parking lot. Teachers who saw this said that some students waiting there told them to slow down. The cross-walking teacher went into the cafeteria and confronted him face-to-face, scolding him for almost running her over and then about the contract. Other teachers took turns talking to him. One of the teachers who had a chance to talk to him told me that as she was talking to him, a Big Island Senator and his ally, muttered that he wasn't going to listen to us anyway. She was visibly annoyed with us. Finally, they got him to break away from the red shirts, and Skyla Graig-Murray, a student at West Hawaii Explorations Academy and daughter of one of our teachers, Erin Graig, boldly asked to speak to him. She wasn't wearing a red shirt and he recognized she was young. She told him "I have fantastic teachers. And I love them all. I want them to feel like they can continue to teach." He responded, "I do too, but I've spoken to you here more than I have the (representatives)".

Kealakehe Elementary teacher Erin Graig and her daughter, WHEA student Skyla Graig-Murray, who the Governor admitted made an impression on him. 

We know we made an impact. Neil's speech had undertones I believe were directed at us, about having disagreements, but the need to respect each other despite our disagreements, and being "pono." In fact, he mentioned Skyla and said that he was impressed by her, but also is impressed by a teenager fighting for her life in England who was shot in the face for expressing her desire for an education. Referring to Skyla, he said: "This young lady felt that she could speak freely and openly and that she would be respected for it." He spoke about the value of freedom "that I'm experiencing right at this very moment, being able to speak with you, and to have the opportunity to be listened to by those who have serious issues not only with my administration or ... about Act 55 ... or what we might do or things that cause you to have concerns. The fact that we can do this is very precious to me and that I don't take for granted. I think about that young woman who I think speaks for entirely what this is about..."

I recall a debate I was having with someone about high-stakes testing and I was winning so my opponent brings up that we should be doing something for the starving children in Africa instead of putting so much time and energy into such a lame issue such as testing. That the governor compares Skyla's comments to the horrible story of the Pakistani girl shot for saying girls deserved to be educated shows that we touched him. He had to frame our presence. He chose to frame it juxtaposed to the Pakistani heroine, fighting for her life, not able to enjoy the freedom that we have. In a way, it was an attempt to minimize our presence. But on the other hand, it acknowledged our presence.

"Iron Sharpens Iron" - Amy Nestman, Hawaii Island Teacher of the Year

One of the problems with teaching is that we are relatively isolated in our classrooms. We don't really know what other teachers are doing if they are not on your grade level or department, especially in a very large school like ours, Kealakehe Elementary. We may know who is warm and friendly, but we don't really know who the outstanding teachers are. So, when Amy Nestman, a teacher at my school, became the Big Island nominee for Hawaii State Teacher of the Year, I was reminded of the isolation of our profession, because I did not know of her "outstandingness." After learning more about her for this blog, I am certain her recognition is well-deserved. 



I wanted her to be the subject of my first teacher profile because that is the reason I started the blog, to publicize teacher greatness. The other problem with our profession is our humility, we don't like to toot our own horn. But because she agreed that improving the public image of teachers is important, she couldn't say no. In fact, she didn't immediately agree to complete the application for Teacher of the Year when first nominated by our principal. But she had to break through the inclination to be humble, and embrace the opportunity.

 

The focus in Amy's classroom is on team-building. The students work in teams to support each other to achieve goals, academically and socially. Teams earn points for effective communication, collaboration in getting their resources ready quickly and when everyone turns in their homework. The emphasis on character-building is exemplified by a wall chart on which the students can post when they have demonstrated the general learner outcomes. Students are recognized throughout the day when they demonstrate an outcome and they are celebrated by putting their initials by the GLO on the board, they also get a sticker for their sticker book. At the end of the day they record the GLOs they demonstrated in their Home School Notebook so their parents can share in their child’s success at school.  She puts a lot of emphasis on student accountability, which is a tall order for second graders, but they rise up and meet that challenge, knowing they are believed in, supported, and expected to be successful.



Amy said that what motivated her to become a teacher was being inspired by teachers growing up in Kona, what she calls, "the ohana factor." She dreamt of becoming a teacher since she was in second grade, it was a spark within her that she couldn’t ignore. Her family, teachers in her children’s lives, teachers she worked with in different arenas as a volunteer, reading tutor and ELL Coordinator encouraged her to never give up on her dream; she was always told by all she met to pursue her goals and never lose sight of what she yearned to achieve. She not only honored the teachers in her children’s lives in Kona, she also remembers the teachers she has had and how they took her under their wings and inspired her to  discover her personal best in all she pursued. 

Today she’s living her dream of teaching and is committed to return those blessings she received in her community, by giving back to the children here. Her philosophy is to extend the ohana factor into her classroom climate. What keeps her going and keeps her inspired are her fellow teachers and their "unfailing dedication to their students, their support for each other, and their passion."

 Bringing positive attention to Kealakehe Elementary School and the amazing teachers she works with is one of the most rewarding aspects of this accomplishment for her. She is her grade level representative on the Instructional Leadership Team, which promotes school improvement through teacher leadership, and meshes well with her own passion for fellow teachers.



“Teaching is not just a job; it is an honorable mission and journey to positively impact our future generations and empower them with hope, conviction, and confidence through education. One of the most powerful influences and motivators for us as teachers is the influence of our fellow teachers. It reminds me of a bible verse which voices that “Iron sharpens iron” (Prov. 27-17.) To me that speaks so much about the amazing things that happen when teachers come together, support, and strengthen each other to make these missions for our students become reality. “ - Amy Nestman

Letter to the Editor about Furloughs

Note: I intended to write to the editor about how the governor's spokesperson "twisted the truth" about furloughs only occurring on non-instructional days. It seemed wrong , but I researched it and found that yes, she was right. But her statement makes it sound like that's acceptable. I wanted to clear that up. Hope it gets published.

Editor,
Thank you for covering our Unity Day rally held in Kailua town on Monday, October 8. It was impressive and satisfying that so many of our teachers, families, and supporters came and joined us to help get our message out - that we are still on furlough and because we don't have a contract the employer can change the rules of the game when it suits them. This has to change.

Ms. Lucas-Zenk asked me a great question about what the public can do to help. I did answer that writing letters and voting for candidates who support public education were ways. However, I did add that it was important to question everything and find out the full story. For example, the job of the governor's spokesperson is to make him look good, and if it means making us look bad, then she will do it. When she said that the difference between furloughs and Directed Leave Without Pay (DLWOP) is that "there is no reduction in the number of days that students are being taught in the classroom" she makes it seem as if the teacher furloughs are acceptable.

School year 2009-2010 was notorious as the year of the 17 furlough Fridays. The following year, 2010-2011, we agreed to give up 6 out of our teacher days, leaving us with 4 teacher days, 6 furlough days. It looks as if the number of student days since the year of furlough Fridays has stayed at 179-180 days. In 2011 and continuing this school year, an "offer" was imposed on us. Furloughs became DLWOPS (Directed Leave Without Pay) and we went to 7.5 furlough days, leaving us with 2.5 teacher days. There are a couple of things to note. First of all, without us agreeing to it legally, more cuts were imposed, more furlough days were imposed. This in itself is an injustice.

More importantly, anyone who lives with a teacher knows that we spend a lot of time working even when we are not in contact with our students. Yes, we have 2.5 paid teacher days, but we spend that time multiplied twenty times (at least) planning, grading, reporting, and doing numerous other tasks required of us. Our schools are being renovated this year and we are spending countless hours packing and unpacking. This is why furlough days are particularly insulting. We are already working a lot more than we are paid for. A teacher's work is more than the time with the students. If that were the case, my students would never have graded work, would never have well-planned lessons, would never have thoughtful learning experiences, book orders, or field trips. I would rarely be able to call parents, or I would only call during class time. And special education teachers, oh my gosh, all their meetings! All of these things and more, have to be done after school or before. We do it because we love it, because it is required of us professionally and because we want to do a good job. We ask to be recognized and appreciated. We ask for a fair contract with reasonable pay, benefits, and working conditions as a sign of that respect and recognition. We can not keep doing more and more and get less and less for it. Something's gotta give or we will be squeezed dry.

I haven't even mentioned the financial hardships many of our members are experiencing. We recognize we are not the only ones suffering from the recession. We share that pain and maybe add that beginning pay is relatively small for the cost of the education it takes to become a teacher. Many of our young teachers will be paying off student loans for years to come.

What can you do to help? Please understand us, listen to us, support us, please spread the word. Use your clout as a member of the community, especially if you are voter, to help us solve this thing. Your shakas, your honks, your friendly shout-outs and smiles were priceless. Thank you!


Sent from my iPad

Out Standing and Waving and Supporting Educators!

Today, I was totally blown away by how many teachers came out to wave and hold signs for our Unity Day rally. We think there were close to 120. Tomorrow there will be an article in our paper and I hope it reflects us well. The reporter, Carolyn, asked me a great question and I am not great on my feet, but I hope I answered it articulately enough. The question was: Why do you think you got such a great response? I don’t know what I told her, but here’s what I wish I had told her. I think we are having a shared experience. That shared experience is that we have shared the pain of pay cuts, furloughs, health insurance increases, no contract, and a divisive year as we have tried to obtain a contract.  We share the pain of teacher-bashing which is occurring nationwide. We share the pain of unfairness, like putting the furloughs on Columbus Day and next to breaks so that the public doesn’t realize it’s a furlough day. Even the morning news erroneously reported it as a teacher workday. We share the burden of more work, but no recognition for the increased workload. We share the pain of a lack of respect shown by the powers that be, especially the governor, who has it in his power to honor the contract that was ratified in May. 

But we must look forward. We must believe that things will get better for us, and indeed the economy has improved so there is every reason to believe that we will get a better contract. We share the belief that we deserve it. We share a love for children, for public education, for our profession. The people who came today, I believe, were motivated by some or all of these shared pains and shared hopes. Their signs said many things: Care about Educators like they Care for Your Child;  Today is a Furlough Day; Standing Strong for Public Education; Respect Teachers. 

My favorite: A DLWOP (Directed Leave Without Pay) - But I didn’t do anything wrong .

I think we also share a desire to let the public know what we are experiencing, and I do believe that those who came share the belief that letting our story be told will lead to a positive resolution. We believe that silence and sitting back and complaining will be our demise. We believe that by standing up for ourselves, by making such a strong statement, we will be a force to be reckoned with. What an honor to be among people who have these hopes, these beliefs, who answered the call to action! How inspiring! How contagious! May the hope-filled action continue until we can say, we did it! We stood up for a good cause and we won! If you were there, please comment. Why were you there? Am I off base? Home run? Out of the park? Foul? Let me know. 

Data Collection and Volcanoes

In the Edweek article, Changing the Public Image of Teaching, which was one of the reasons I started this blog, it says:

Become your own publicist…  stop being modest. “This is a tough one. It's in our nature to focus on the students and not ourselves. We create fun and engaging lessons so students have powerful learning experiences, not so we can have attention. However, if we want to educate the public about the amazing things happening in our school, we can't be shy. Call the local paper or news station the next time you have an exciting project or lesson that you'd like to share.” (Megan)
David said he wishes more teachers would push past that reluctance to share: “Keep the focus on school and students. Overcoming that reluctance is a positive contribution you can make to your own development—and our profession. It's an opportunity to model for students how we push ourselves to take some risks and stretch beyond our comfort zones.”

I was going to start with an interview with Amy Nestman, a colleague of mine from Kealakehe Elementary School, who is our District representative for Hawaii Teacher of the Year. She agreed to be interviewed, so that is coming. But I have a few moments this morning to write, so I decided to share my own reflections of my teaching. As I wrote about in the first entry, I was inspired by a Ted Talk by Chris Conley. Though he was speaking on a broad scale about meaningfulness and happiness, I applied it to my world in the classroom. I asked, just what is it that is important to me as an educator entrusted with helping to assist youngsters in fulfilling their own purpose in life? Do I do enough of those important things?

It is reassuring to me that the humane things I believe are important are also important to educators and society in general. For example, a quick google search for 21st century skills yields results like this: 

Learning and innovation skills increasingly are being recognized as the skills that separate students who are prepared for increasingly complex life and work environments in the 21st century, and those who are not. A focus on creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration is essential to prepare students for the future. 

We have been trained and are constantly reminded to focus on the standards, and this does not always mean we are also remembering to focus on these 21st century skills. It helps to be conscious of it, and count the ways you are. So I recalled my last week in school before break, and was relieved to know that yes, there was a match between what I believe is important, with what society is saying is important and with what I actually managed to do in my classroom.

1. In math, we are doing a unit on data collection. The mid-unit assessments were disappointing, but fixable with continued practice and teaching of how to use a rubric to self- assess to make sure you included everything you are going to be graded on. The lesson after the assessment was for students to conduct their own survey with a partner comparing two distinct groups answering the same question. As I was watching my students doing this, I was amazed and pleased with how engaged they were, and after some corrections and guidance on how to work together, I saw communication as well as collaboration. In our professional learning community, we had had a discussion beforehand on whether or not we should do this activity. The bone of contention was how to stay on schedule with the curriculum mapping. Half of us decided to do the activity and half skipped it, saying they will incorporate the skills in science. I am glad I decided to do it. The survey questions are not scientific, per se. Students are asking questions such as, how many pets, cars, or game consoles do you have? The questions are what the students are interested in, which means they are engaged in doing the work. The engagement leads to organizing themselves to get the work done, which requires communication and collaboration.

2. In science, we are studying the formation of the Hawaiian Islands, i.e. volcanoes. This is a project that I do every year that I teach fourth grade, and it is a project that students remember years later. Is it loaded with power benchmarks so that the students are learning something about science that will forever impact their lives? I wish. There are some science standards addressed, for sure. But what really counts is the collaboration - the working together to make their volcano. I watch how they problem-solve, how they manage the limited resources, how they negotiate the lines between leadership and "bossiness," how they demonstrate teamwork in which no one gets left out. 

So, that's the work I do, the work that I'm proud of. Now to figure out how to quantify it in terms of does it really make a difference in the lives of children. I mean, really? How can you know that for sure? 

What this blog is about

During the October Break, several ideas converged to compel me to create this blog/website.

1) I read an article on Edweek - "Showing Your Work: How to Change the Public Image of Teaching." 
Changing the Public Image of Teaching

 It starts: "Ever tire of the portrayal of teaching as a "part-time job"—or of the stereotype of the heroic teacher who swoops in to save the day? Do ill-informed, broadstroked criticisms of "public school teachers” really get your goat?

You’re not alone. Five teachers (and many insightful commenters) spent a couple of weeks dissecting the teaching profession’s image problem—and identifying some solutions—" 

2) Though DOE has been bragging about how well Hawaii schools have been doing on standardized tests, I still am against putting so much focus on these tests, even if it does come out in our favor.  I think we need to toot our horns about the actual wonderful things that go on in our classrooms, the lessons and activities that we are proud of, that our students are excited about and will remember years later.  

3) I was inspired by a Ted Talk by a hotel entrepreneur, travel writer and expert on festivals, Chris Conley, who writes about how we need to count what counts (as opposed to the Einstein quote "What counts cannot be counted ... " or something like that). 
Measuring What Makes Life Worthwhile

4) Our Unity Day Rally has been shaping up nicely and I look forward to spending time with colleagues I admire and appreciate. I wanted to continue the idea of the rally, which is to connect with the community about who we are and what we are going through. 

5) I told several people I was going to do something creative and I think this counts. 

So here's the idea of this blog, if I can keep it up post-October break. We will share stories of our struggles and our triumphs.