karlmill’s Neighborhood

No, it doesn’t have to. No matter how constrained a teacher is, I’ve determined that school does not have to be a creativity killer. To apply some ancient, wise words (2 Corinthians 4:8-9): “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; … struck down, but not destroyed.” In other words, NCLB and the obsessive, accountability-driven administrative directives it begets cannot single-handedly kill creativity in the classroom. Sure, state tests “stigmatize failure,” as Ken Robinson states. Teachers, though, do not have to stigmatize failure.

Take a measure as simple as rewarding students for non-academic feats, for instance. Awarding Student of the Month to the most spirit-lifting comedian in the classroom validates him as much as a good grade. Teacher-initiated rewards address and negate Robinson’s contention that school only the intellectual successes at school are the winners. He contends that “the whole purpose of public education …is to produce university professors. … We shouldn’t hold them up as the highest form of achievement…they live in their heads.” Nay! The purpose of school is to make something productive out of young peoples minds and hours. Sure, there are ugly class wars circling around how those minds and hours are spent. But ideally, school is for producing more productive (emotionally, spiritually, vocationally --- not merely intellectually) members of society. School is where students have training wheels for how to function as adults. It’s a mini-society. I think Robinson would be a huge fan to Rousseau’s anti-social, child-centered vision of education. Unfortunately, as pastoral and sweet as this vision is, it falls short of what humans were created for: to serve and better each other.

No, schools do not “squander” the innate creativity in children wholesale, as Robinson overconfidently asserts. Schools are the environment in which time is set aside for creativity to be required. Without the structure of school, creativity wilts. Robinson is right to point out the paradoxical nature of creativity, such as that we do not mature into creativity, but rather we outgrow it, but he misses this important paradox about it: creativity needs structure just like fire needs oxygen. Without the push and the constraint to fuel creativity, or the probing questions of the teacher, or the small encouraging remarks along the way to the final creative product, a child’s creativity will be stifled. Also, in a school functioning properly, in which reading aloud and extolling reading should be a daily activity, the imagination will find no lack.

As to Robinson’s allusion to Picasso’s quote that we grow out of creativity, neither do I fully agree with this. Older children (teens) can use colors, tweak words, arrange sounds, plan projects and papers and speak more eloquently and purposefully than their younger counterparts. Who has the authority to say that creativity with more direction and eruditeness is somehow weaker than the innocent creativity that streams from a little mind? Classifying creativity in an hierarchy (eerily akin to what NCLB test standards do—classify schools and student achievement) and judging creativity as “the production of something both original and useful” (paraphrase) is rather utilitarian itself. Robinson defines creativity to uptightly, I’m afraid. 

Go forth and fill your libraries with media.

Seriously, thanks to everyone for being so amazing and patient. You are the reason I love Vox.

~daisy

Lines are an Algebra I topic; they do not appear in the Algebra II framework.  Still, any Algebra II course should cover them, as a springboard to more complex sorts of functions.

The Tunica River Park affords a host of opportunities for people who are seeking to understand the historical importance of the Mississippi River's usage from its beginnings with the Native Americans and conquistadors up through it's present-day significance as a major channel for transporting goods and individuals through the American midwest. In an ideal world my students would be able to visit the park and take advantage of the plethora of exhibits and time periods featured at the museum. However, structuring this time to maximize my students' learning must be undertaken carefully so that my students get the full effect of the academic experience of the Tunica River Park and do not simply view the excursion as pointless field trip.

Some of the before school activities that I could have my students complete are:
            1) Completing a KWL chart to document students' knowledge prior to visiting the Tunic River Park
            2) Researching the history of the Mississippi River and how it has been used in the past by disparate groups
            3) Visiting a local river (i.e. the Yazoo River) and having students read about its historic regional significance

Some of the activities I could have my students complete while they are at the Tunic River Park are:
             1) Creating a timeline to document the settling of the area around the Mississippi River
             2) Describing the work of major figures who settles or worked along the Mississippi River
             3) Formulating a schedule for other groups of students to complete a walking tour of the park on their own visit

Some of the activities I could have my students complete after their visit to the Tunica River Park include:
             1) Finishing their KWL chart by filling in five things they learned from their visit to the Tunica River Park
             2) Developing a community service project to spread the word throughout the Delta about the river's import
             3) Writing a persuasive letter to a member of Congress urging them to allot money for sharing the river's history

BEFORE THE TRIP: Students will overview the history of attempted control of the Mississippi River inlet and valley by various world powers. The students will be asked to recognize why the River was so important geographically and economically to various powers. They will use their text book to fill out a worksheet on these and other historically important aspects of the Mississippi River.

AT THE TUNICA RIVER PARK MUSEUM: The students will view the various museum exhibits listing at least two specific positive forces of the Mississippi River (i.e. Commerce and Trade, fishing, hydroelectric power), two negative forces of the Mississippi River (Flooding death/damage and sunken vessels/lost goods due to debris) and two mixed aspects of the Mississippi River (Deep rich fertile soil deposits/caused by often damaging floods. Access to trade routes/often targeted territory during conflict). This list will be used in after trip activity and assessment.

ATER THE TRIP: Students will take their newly acquired knowledge of the Mississippi River to create a detailed comparison venn diagram of the positive, negative and mixed forces and influences of the Mighty Mississippi River. The students will be required to explain why their listed items fit under a specific category detailing how these forces have affected Mississippi's history, economy and culture. Students will be required to cite specific examples from the trip including exhibits, videos, artifacts, historical figures, music, etc.

ASSESSMENT:  Students will be assessed by their creation of River Park Work Portfolio based upon the following ruberic:

_______/10 pts. Pre-Assessment Worksheet on the history of sought control and other major historically significant people and events tied to the Mississippi River using the text and other in-class sources.

_______/30 pts.Field trip Assignment.  Students will be required to identify two aspects for each category of influnces/forces of the Mississippi River: Positive, Negative and Mixed with an explanation as to why that force should be categorized thus.  6 aspects required.  5pts for each aspect totaling 30 pts.

_______/60 pts. After trip culminating project.  Students will be required to create a detailed comparison/contrast venn diagram using the information they obtained from the River Park Museum and pre-assessment worksheet.  They will be required to correctly categorize and support their diagram citing specific museum exhibits, videos, artifacts, music, etc and the text.  Each sphere of their Venn diagram will require two examples and be worth a total of 20pts 3x20=60pts  (2 examples, 5 pts per examlple, 5 pts for supporting evidence=20pts per sphere)

My day at Tunica Park has been divided into three segments. PRE ASSESSMENT  We are studying the fight that African Americans experienced at the turn of the 20th century.  We have seen the fight for advancement that began with the Emancipation Proclamation up until the entrance of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois.  We have read and analyzed several issues of the Negro plight.  We should now take at a more localized look at the effects that the natural landscape(Mississippi River) had on African Americans in Mississippi.

ASSESSMENT    While at the park, the student will assume the job of private investigator. He/she must examine all exhibits carefully, taking note of the cause/effect of all issues surrounding the river. The student has the liberty of focusing on a specific aspect if he/she chooses.  They may include but are not limited to social, political,economical,etc.  The student must compile as much data as possible in order to complete the assessment successfully upon return to the classroom. 

     Once we have returned from Tunica Park, the student must take his/her compiled data and recreate a day in the life of a Mississippi resident living by the river.  The time period will coincide with the same era in which Washington and DuBois are changingthe national landscape.  The rubric that will be used to determine the validity of this assignment will be based upon ideas, content accuracy, grammar and spelling, and expressive freedom.  Each category will be graded upon a scale of 1-4 , with one being the lowest and  four being the highest.  Good luck!!!!

     The name of the reading that I chose was Social Studies for Secondary Schools: Teaching to Learn, Learning to Teach.  It was very fascinating from the standpoint that it made me realize that the first thing a great teacher in training must do is understand the mission of the respective teacher.  Alan Singer, the author of this piece, opens the book with many questions that I believe should be answered before the any lesson has been taught.  They include why teach social studies, what is the importance of social studies, what ate historical facts, how does a historian approach histoey, and several others that follow suit.  That opening really hooked me for the read because it made me realize the broad range that social studies falls under.  With such a huge umbrella, it can be quite easy to lose sight of the actual mission of the course that one is teaching.

     Singer goes into great detail about differentiating the lesson that one is teaching so that all students have an opportunity to learn.  I had heard this  before so this was no suprise.  The next thing that got my attention was how to teach your opinion while teaching the facts.  This was what I have been waiting to hear from a social studies teacher to admit that history is not objective.  The only thing that you owe your students are showing them that there are sides to history and dr. foster don't read this

When teaching in the districts that MTC places us in, tangible success is often hard to come by. Failure seems to be what is constantly in our face as we think of all the things that our students are doing besides learning, all the places that our students will likely end up besides college, and all the classroom management issues we face that make us want to roll over and call out sick. Every. Single. Day. Still, it's in the little things that teachers anywhere but especially in "critical needs" districts must focus on to maintain drive and focus and continue doing what too many others have deemed highly improbable or flatly impossible for centuries: educating poor Blacks.

In many of these districts MTC teachers teach in standardized tests are seen as foreboding signs of eminent doom and embarrassment. In these places, teaching "to the test" is often resorted to as the means through which educational salvation is reached. Teaching to the test is one thing but when you're in a school environment where, from day one, what's communicated to teachers is that teaching to the test is the ONLY thing, well then you're at KIPP. On some level this is understandable as testing determines so much at charter schools like KIPP from our enrollment to our ability to woo private funders to the very renewal of our charter with the state of Arkansas. However, I cannot help but shake my philosophical belief that I have more important life skills to teach my students than finding equivalent fractions and answering multiple choice items using process of elimination.

In any event, our big state test in Arkansas is called the ACTAAP or the Benchmark Exam. KIPP Delta in Helena has some of the highest test scores in the state at the middle school and high school levels. Last year, 94% of our 7th graders at KIPP Delta scored proficient or advanced on the mathematics Benchmark Exam compared to 66% of 7th graders statewide and only 33% of students in Helena-West Helena's regular public school system. What makes this even more remarkable to many is that our school is 99% Black, 99% free/reduced lunch, and in the heart of dilapidated downtown Helena close by local housing projects, gang territory, drugs, and prostitution. Last year's 7th grade math teacher who got these results was so successful that she has been given the green light to found her own school which will be opening in Blytheville, Arkansas in the fall of 2010 as a new KIPP middle school. She's only a year older than me. The venerable 7th grade math slot was thus available when I applied to KIPP this past spring and who teaches this course with the districtwide spotlight on it now?: me. The Black, hood guy from Harvard with two years of (social studies) teaching experience who's a few credits away from a master's degree in education.

Anyway, to my success story. In preparation for the end-of-the-year Benchmark Exam we take practice Benchmark Exams every month. We chart the progress of our students and use the practice Benchmark Exams to target particular students and skills for remediation and re-teaching. Results are scrutinized for hours on end at the individual, school, and district levels. It is highly nerve-wrecking to see where your students are at month-by-month and to know that the results will be known almost immediately by your peers and superiors and reflect your quality as a teacher. Lovely. In any event, the first practice Benchmark Exam we took was in late September. We took a second one two weeks ago in late October and although the success or failure of my students on the September exam could largely be attributed to what my students came into 7th grade knowing, my school director was clear in communicating that the October exam's results would be all my own.

Much to my surprise and the surprise of many a colleague, I'm sure, not only did my students' scores increase from the first to the second practice Benchmark Exam but these were the only scores that increased in any grade level, in any subject area at the entire school. Fifth, sixth, and eighth grade math scores went down. Fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grade literacy scores went down. Fifth, sixth, seventh, and eight grade reading scores went down. Fifth and seventh grade science scores went down (we don't do sixth and eighth grade science testing). ONLY 7TH GRADE MATH SCORES WENT UP!!! I was elated when I saw the numbers displayed on the dry erase board at our faculty meeting the night we stayed at school until 10 p.m. grading exams and inputting results on our district network for more scrutiny. When looking at the individual students and their performances from the first to the second practice Benchmark Exam, I also noticed that most of the students whose scores increased were taught by me and not by the more experienced and better respected 8th grade math teacher who takes 15 of my 7th graders into his algebra class each day.

That's wassup. Right? 

Reflect on a success you have had so far this school year.  How has this success changed you as a teacher/person? 

This is probably the toughest time to find a jewel in the rubble. For the past few weeks I have been exhausted, demoralized and impatient. It seems as though all my hard work is reaping havoc and chaos, rather than success. Therefore, I am really going to have to stretch to think positively about my classroom at this point. 

My success story for this year is that my fifth period class is finally under control! I used to dread this class at the beginning of the year. First, third and fourth period were all preparation for what was to come in fifth, and consequently my sixth and seventh periods were my recovery. I tried to mix things up this week by doing some El Día de los Muertos (Day of the dead) activities. I took a risk and decided to read some Mexican short scary stories with my class on Thursday, affording them the fair opportunity to not doze off and not pay attention. Surprisingly, my fifth period responded well to this activity. We turned off the lights and used the overhead projector as my spooky flashlight. I read them scary stories as they acted out what was going on. We then compared these stories with scary stories in our culture. 

Yes, this activity was elementary, but I often find that I have to do silly and childish things to capture my students' attention. We have now officially made Thursday throw-back Thursday, when we review elementary grammatical structures in English (nouns, pronouns, subject-verb agreement) because they need it. My scary story time was a fun way to review the elements of a short story as well as introduce them to a new aspect of Mexican culture. I'm glad that I now can enjoy my fifth period, rather than dreading it. 

this has been a really wonderful week.  i just got back the results of our first nine weeks district exams.  i teach u.s. history so that is state tested.  i am pleased to say that my students had the best scores in the school and we had a great increase from last year.  this is with two first year history teachers leading the way.  needless to say, i was really proud of my students.

after i reviewed the scores, i noticed that most of my students missed the same problems which tells me what i have to work on for the state test.  i told my students that although we made advancement, we had not made progress yet so we needed to continue to press forward.  they then told me that there was no difference between progress and advancement which opened up a great teaching moment.  i can already see my kids learning how to think and i guarantee that we will have even higher scores this time.