"Let the Circle Be Unbroken" really mirrors today...

As I stated in a previous blog post, the content of Mildred Taylor's, Let the Circle Be Unbroken is very relevant today. In chapter eleven, a group of black young people were gathered on their school grounds. One of the racist white landowners' sons approaches a young black male, who was helping the organization efforts. He questioned him about his involvement.  Dube, who stutters and was very nervous, was too nervous to talk. He only nodded or shook his head. Here's more of what happened:

"You telling me the truth, boy?"
Dube nodded.
Stuart stared at Dube; Dube stared at the ground. "You hear from him or any other of them union men, I wanna know 'bout it. You hear me boy?"
Dube nodded, not looking up.
"That go the same for all of y'all. There ain't gonna be non union down in here, so y"ll tell that to your folks. No union!"

PA Governor's Mansion...a UNION connection??

Say it ain't so...

PA Governor's Mansion
Read the short "passage" on the governor's residence and who designed it.
http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=514&objID=1163949&parentname=ObjMgr&parentid=227&mode=2

A little about the architect George Ewing
http://www.philadelphiabuildings.org/pab/app/ar_display.cfm/25851

Wait?!? What clubs and organizations did he belong to?

• Pennsylvania Society of Architects
• American Institute of Architects (AIA)
• Philadelphia Chapter, AIA
• Swarthmore Zoning Board

Here's some info about the AIA -->
http://www.aia.org/practicing/groups/international/uia/aiap073960
http://www.aiapa.org/about-us/local-chapters.html

Union connection? Seems like it to me!
Since our governor seems to be anti-union, I proposed we help him pack up and ship out!

Yes, Let's Talk Salaries....

So, the School Reform Commission (SRC), the state of PA, and the School District of Philadelphia all want to see salary cuts of up to 13%. ---> http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/school_files/District-wants-13-salary-cuts-other-big-changes.html

Philly Teachers' Salaries
Let's see how long it takes you to find out what we make. Exactly! Not long at all! Go to most charter school websites and you won't see teacher salaries.
http://webgui.phila.k12.pa.us/offices/e/ee/

PA Legislative Salaries
I was curious to see what our lawmakers here in PA make on average. Here are two sites that I found that give that info:
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/11/pennsylvania_lawmakers_get_aut.html
As of 2012 -->  http://www.empirecenter.org/html/legislative_salaries.cfm

Note: Base salary approximately $83,800 per year
Then, there are those who work for the legislators, here's info on what they make
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/images/video/2011_pdfs/041011-spend.pdf

What did the Governor say recently?
Here's the text:

Appearing at an event today in Philadelphia, Gov. Tom Corbett defended the state's role in the funding battle. "Forty-five million dollars in federal funding funneled through the state are contingent on reforms, including teacher concessions," Corbett said.
"We are working very closely with the local community, with the School Reform Commission. We've provided some resources, but we also need to see that there is movement from those same people that are rallying," said the governor.

Here's the source and the entire article:
http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/item/57946



Notes:
1.  It takes more than 10 years, and advanced degree AND additional 30 credits to make what a freshman legislator makes
2. It's nice that the governor won't take the increases he's due under the law. But, I think I'd sit nice and comfy in Southwest Philly at $174,914 a year, not too shabby.
3. So, I was curious to see what the governor's salary would be at a 13% cut (approx $152,000). I was also curious to see what 13% of his salary was (approx $22,738). Note: $22,738 is approximately what a little less than 36% of the Philadelphia population makes. So let's just say, about 33% of Philly's population makes nearly $22,738 a year according to --->  http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk

Note: I don't claim to be a resident statistician....but I can read and analyze!!!

Mildred Taylor's, "Let the Circle Be Unbroken"

For the xth time I'm reading the sequel to Mildred Taylor's, Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry. The book, Let the Circle Be Unbroken, picks up where the first book leaves off. With each rereading of books that I love, I get something different out them every time. With each rereading, I read with a different set of experiences based on which I form different opinions and draw different conclusions from previous readings of the books.

This is how reading and English classes should be; discussions of themes in literature based on the myriad experiences and background knowledge that students bring to the classroom. In this education reform era, teaching, much to our chagrin, has become everything but!!!

In any event, I didn't mean to go off on that tangent. My primary point was that this book deals with themes that we are very much experiencing today: race relations, unionism, the coming of age of a 14 year old black boy, unemployment, the role of strong women holding down households, etc.

Movies, videos, and games cannot capture the experiences that can be had in the reading of good quality books!!

National Constitution Center visit

For a second day, I made my way to a museum, childless! When we take students on trips, the primary focus, especially today, is on their safety. If we as teachers are fortunate enough, we can get a chance to enjoy the class trips and learn a thing or two as well.

Today's visit took me to the National Constitution Center, where I was able to spend a couple of hours in a relatively quiet museum, listening and learning about the U.S. Constitution.

During two of the three years that I taught 6th grade Social Studies, each class session began with our quoting the preamble to the constitution. We've also taken two different groups of 6th graders to the
Constitution Center.

In preparing to teach 5th grade Social Studies, I wanted to learn a little more about our history as a nation. The museum totally dedicated to the U.S. Constitution is a great place to start!

http://constitutioncenter.org/

Insectarium visit

A visit to Philadelphia's Insectarium will enahnce any elementary life science unit!! I've known about it for years. When running summer camps for the YMCA years ago, I've sent groups there for field trips. But today is the first day, I actually took the time to visit.

I enjoyed the experience. A fine compilation of living and dead species of insects, I observed quite a bit.

To make the experience a meaningful one for my students and not just a quick run-through of "OMG it's ALIVE and moving," I would prepare a list of questions for them to answer as they tour the relatively small museum on Frankford Avenue.
There's  a gift shop and, ironically enough, an exterminating company on the same premises. How about that for an "LOL"!

Enjoy!

http://www.myinsectarium.com/index.php

Silly Me! The arts were CUT!!

As I was excitedly posting tweets and posts about the high school kid, Sean, who is talented beyond his years playing his violin, a colleague reminded me of something. Instrumental music was cut in Philadelphia!!!!

The School Reform Commission recently took a chain saw to the school district budget, cutting personnel and programs to balance the budget. This included instrumental music teachers, thus cutting the instrumental music programs that exist(ed) in many of our schools!

More than 3800 teachers, counselors, secretaries, librarians, et al were laid off. This, in addition to the nearly 130 assistant principals that were also let go!

Unless Pennsylvania and this nation are serious about funding its public schools, we'll see an entire generation of robots, capable of filling in bubbles and choosing "c" (click the link).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY2mRM4i6tY&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Suburban Station Violinists---Sean is his name!! That's right!

Young, black, male, and plays classical!!

Anyone who frequents SEPTA's Suburban Station in downtown Philadelphia would undoubtedly happen upon a young man who plays his violin with such skill and finesse, that you could easily miss your train listening to him go!!

There are many performers stationed throughout SEPTA's underground market place and main regional rail train station which spans several city blocks, but this kid takes the cake!
I briefly engaged him in a short conversation once in between performances. He goes to the High School for Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA) in South Philly. Note: CAPA is a PUBLIC high school!!!!

Though he goes to CAPA, he doesn't necessarily attribute his love of classical music and violin playing to CAPA. The environment, however, nurtures and promotes arts love with majors such as: Creative Writing, Instrumental Music, Visual Arts, Theater, Dance, and Vocal Music.

When I asked him what his gaols were, where he sees himself in the future, he responded that he definitely saw himself with a career in classical music.
Every single opportunity I get, including the one I had this past weekend, I drop a few dollars in the violin case that he has out.

There are times when he is accompanied by other youth who are also skillful with their instruments. But he is the constant.

What I really like is that this is an alternative image that hundreds, if not thousands, are getting of a young black male. His presence at Suburban Station is strategic! White collars pass through the station in droves and hear him play!! His pants don't sag, he doesn't wear a snap back and he is well spoken. The inverse of the aforementioned have their place somewhere, but the image that he portrays, gives many a reason to pause and reassess the first thing that comes to mind when "young black male" is mentioned!

I forget his name, unfortunately, but I'm sure a google or youtube search would assist with that. If I see it, it'll strike a "chord" and I'll post a follow-up!

The Nike Shirt Mix up!

So, Nike put out a shirt that placed an outline of the state of South Carolina, labeled as North Carolina with a pic of the symbol for the NFL's Carolina Panthers on it.

Some "radical" and "ideological" teachers could make the case that we should be teaching more than just reading and math. Perhaps, umm, I don't know, uhhh, maybe SOCIAL STUDIES!!!!!!!!

Here's the story
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/16/nike-carolina-shirt_n_3606417.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003

World Famous........teacher?

Yes. Valerie Strauss writes of teacher, Rafe Esquith in the Washington Post recently as "the world's most famous teacher." You can read the interview for yourself and the title of his most recently published book.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/07/16/the-worlds-most-famous-teacher-blasts-school-reform/

The quote that I loved the most came after Strauss asked Esquith about the new common core standards:

"In my classroom, you still put a period at the end of a sentence....I don't need a new set of standards to make that clear to me."

And let the teachers' church say.......AMEN!

Forget "Snap" and "Crackle", 105 just POP(s)!!!!!!!!

Words cannot adequately capture the times that I've had with my students in room 105 at John B. Kelly Elementary School over the years! Each day was an adventure where some of the routines were the same but the experiences that would accompany those routines were unscripted, unexpected, and ultimately unforgettable!

As a teacher of English/Language Arts (my primary assignment for the last six years), it is easy to get into the same old, mundane, trite rituals and routines of the literacy block. But when I started referring to it as the "L-Block", when random foods were brought in to accompany the reading, when "Flem Flem" (my in-class rapper stage name...lol) busted out of no where or when I got my "Reverend" on while teaching, 105 transformed into more than just a room number!

105 became the room where EVERYTHING "popped." "105 get it poppin" became the chant! oNe Oh FIvE became synonymous with literary experiences to be remembered for a life-time; where "to become better readers we......READ.....we don't.....SWIM" (ALL CAPS indicate the class' choral response to my prompts) It became a place where kids wanted to come; where they wanted to learn; where announcements, meaningless assemblies, and the house phone all got in the way!

But make no mistake either. 105 was also a place to get tough love from a teacher who cared. Students were often sent to 105 for a little "Flem time". Where young boys needed to hear that we're not here for foolishness and games and that it "bet not" happen again that they need to be sent to 105. It became a place where young ladies needed to hear that they can go places in life and that acting a fool wasn't how to get there.

Ahhh yes! 105!

The thing is, there are "105"s all across the district, city, state, and country. Places where students are welcome to come, to be wrong and learn safely, to get the attention they crave, to hear what others didn't want to tell them yet need to be told, a place where the teacher will fight with all his strength and power and stop the sun, if he could, to give what his kids need to get, an education from someone who is knowledgeable and who cares!

As we sleep a little longer, clean out "that" closet, finally get to those stacks of papers, spend more time with our spouses and kids, all the while looking up resources for next year, and fighting for school funding that doesn't involve teachers' salaries being the solution, rest up! On September 9, 2013, there will be 30 (or more) smiling boys and girls or 5 classes of 30 (or more) sleepy teenagers that are coming. How will we ensure that our classrooms are places where they are welcomed? How will they know we care about them? How will we ensure that our classes "pop" with rich and meaningful teaching and learning experiences?

"Steve, what can I do?"

This morning as I was driving my baby sister to work, we passed by a nice, brand new Discovery Charter School building. As we passed that new building, I readily pointed out the school directly across the street, Leidy Elementary School. This school should sound familiar. It has closed for good as of June 30th!

Not 60 seconds later as we turned onto Girard Ave, I eagerly pointed out the recently erected Global Leadership Academy Charter School. A quick look to the left, Blankenburg Elementary School, a real public school that does not admit students via lottery along with huge media coverage.

After this brief rant, she turned to me and asked me, "Steve, what can I do?"

I answered, with no shortage of all the possibilities!

What to do with "all this money"???

Of course that is a rhetorical question, since I'm a teacher and comparitively speaking, we don't have "all this money"!

The School District of Philadelphia and the state of Pennsylvania want to cut teacher salaries by up to 13% to save money.

In a recent interview with the Huffington Post, Arne Duncan stated that the students didn't create this problem. Hey, Mr. Duncan, neither did the teachers!

If they want to cut 13% of our salary, then everything else needs to be reduced by that same percentage: class size, work load, case load, charter schools, rent, mortgage, phone bill, tuition, electric, gas, water, car note, insurance, classroom supply costs out of pocket, food/clothes prices, SEPTA fares (oh wait, they just went up), contributions to poitical campaigns (ha!), salaries in City Hall, Harrisburg, and DC, the defense budget, shall I continue?

In the Huffington Post...

I am grateful to the person who recommended me to a reporter for the Huffington Post. I was recently interviewed via phone and asked to comment on the budget crisis that exacerbates the issues of an already cash-strapped school district.

Here's the link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/03/arne-duncan-philadelphia-school-layoffs_n_3537952.html?utm_hp_ref=politics