I thought you'd be principal...

Just a few moments ago I came back from making a stop in an old neighborhood. I went to support a local businessman and the neighborhood that I once called my second home.

OK! Enough with the fancy shmancy, I went to a corner store down 'round de way to get me one of Baha's dope Kaiser roll turkey samich jawns! Ya dig? lol

As we briefly conversed and and inquired about the welfare of our respective families, I remarked on the closing a one of the private schools in the neighborhood. His comment to me was, "I thought you'd be the principal over there."

Truthfully, the prospect of such a venture was at one point a thought of mine. I thought to rub shoulders and politic my way into such a position but decided against it.

But, on this final day of 2014, I will note this. One day I do plan on becoming a building principal, one who has withstood the test of time as an ardent advocate for students and teachers in public schools. One who has been tried and proven true to the ideals of what it means to be a real classroom teacher in a real public school and not just for the few trifling years it takes to become a principal. One who is an instructional leader indeed. One who is not a jelly-back, spineless, and anemic when it comes to pushing, fighting, and relentlessly pursuing what is necessary to promote a culture of teaching and learning, to manage an effective operation, and to bring out the best in each and every faculty and staff member. One who will encourage teachers and school personnel to advocate, publish, teach in post-secondary institutions, build and maintain strong community bonds, write for grants, etc. etc. etc.

Oh, leave Philadelphia you say? I live in a dream world?

Maybe.

But hypothetically, if and when I do decide to lead a building in Philadelphia, if whomever I work for is not for children, teachers, parents, community, and the improvement of our public schools, I may just make their life a living nightmare! Mark. my. words. Hypothetically speaking of course.

Fresh Prince of Bel-Air episode...

For those who watched the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air when it was running, I'm sure you remember season one and the episode where Carlton and Will drove Uncle Phil's law partner's fancy shmancy car to the retreat area and were stopped by a cop along the way.

Episodes like this and others that I've been watching while relaxing remind me that we never had a funeral for racism, this because, it never died!

Even then, those episodes shot in the early 90s, reflect the issues of that day and of this day.

In that episode Carlton believed that the police were "just doing their jobs" and that the system "works". Will took exception to this, and rightfully so. He continued to show Carl that he would see a lot more of that system and that money and connections won't be able to save him from it.

Boy are we still seeing that today!!

What I choose to not worry about is how others perceive me! I choose not to live my life like that! I choose to continue to educate myself and walk the streets with the belief that I can and will do anything I set my mind to do. If and when I and others encounter racism, I'll act accordingly. Marching, rallying, emailing, calling, tweeting, blogging, talking, public speaking, and VOTING, I will do what I can, when I can!

What I won't be, is bound by the provincial, elitist, and racist thoughts of others! I'm not going to live my life thinking about what I think I can or cannot do because of the color of the skin that covers this black male soul! That's bondage and I'll have no parts!

York, PA poised to turn charter huh?

And the big story is...

So, just a couple of hours from Philly in York, PA, the York City School District's schools are poised to become PA's first all charter district, having just been taken over by the state...or wait, what are they calling it? "Receivership"??? Aside from the fact that the term sounds ominously like a term from Lois Lowry's The Giver, Pennsylvania hasn't been doing well with the whole, "we can run a district better" thing.

They've been "receivership"ping Philadelphia's public schools since 2001. It is important to note that under their omniscient (sike), all watchful (pshh), recievership eye, we've plunged further and further into debt, all the while experiencing a net-GROWTH in the size of our district by the acceptance of many charter schools!

Some nuts swear by charter schools and are headstrong in their belief that the management of real public schools by these quasi-public, pseudo-accountable entities and the dissolution of teachers' unions are the answers to what ails many students in public schools! Not so!

If teachers' unions are the roadblocks to education, then by default, our wealthier suburban counterparts and their students would be enduring similar struggles since they, too, have teachers' unions. But, I'm sure, *they* have access to functional libraries, a nurse, counselor, the arts, gym, and a myriad of extra curricular activities and tutoring services at their disposal! As they should, but so should we, but I digress...

If the choice advocates really believed in the idea of "choice" as they suppose, they'd be pushing for such free-market enterprise in areas beyond Philadelphia's city borders, and I don't mean in Chester, but rather Chichester. Not in Camden, but in Council Rock!

My point? Pick one! Any one! There are many!

It's easy to pick on teachers and an unrealistic measure of student achievement like a single (or even a few) test scores! That is easy to package, ship, sell, and unload on an unsuspecting and easily swayed general public.

The problems are much more complex than that! Issues of the limitation of resources and opportunities, issues of true poverty, issues of substance abuse, issues of 8-year old heads of households, issues of homelessness, domestic violence, sexual abuse and in some cases (unpopular though it may be to discuss) the poor choices of parents and guardians.

Converting a school or an entire system does NOTHING to ameliorate those problems! Converting a school or an entire system to a charter oversimplifies complex problems all the while vilifying most of the hardworking, dedicated, well-equipped, certified public school teachers who have dedicated their lives to the service of educating generations of students and their families!

If we should fix anything, it should be the narrow-minded, elitist, pompous, high-minded, racist way of thinking on the part of many in positions who not only make laws, but those who buy...ooops, I mean, "influence" laws!

Unthinkable tragedy on Christmas 2009

Everything was normal on Christmas Eve of 2009. After a rather difficult year, it was coming to a close and I was ever so grateful to God for that! But the Lord had one more test for me, one that I had NEVER ever experienced before and would not soon forget.

Christmas Eve night, I took something to my big sister and big brother's house and greeted my nieces and nephews who I love dearly. After exchanging funny pleasantries with my oldest nephew, who was always my ride or die and never ever had the sense God gave a billy goat, I went home for the night.

Christmas morning and afternoon was spent with family. A day of laughter, gift exchanges, love, fellowship, and fun ended rather uneventfully, until...

On my way home, driving on the eastbound Schuylkill Expressway, just past 30th Street, approaching South Street and University City, I received a phone call that would forever change the course of my life as I had known it to be up until that point. A close friend of mine was on the other end, crying, asking me if I had heard.

I hadn't.

As she told me and as I tried, in between sobs, to convince myself and her that she wasn't telling me the truth. She was. My nephew had been shot and killed, my oldest, my ride or die, my day one!

I raced over to the house to find crime scene tape ominously draped over banisters and the front door.

Done.

Crying. Sobbing. Yelling. Pounding on my '02 Accord.

Done.

Our family would go through a very rough time from that point forward. Our faith in God brought us through that time! The females of the family were the strongest. My nieces and their mother embodied strength. My nephews and I didn't take it as well. What we all had was each other and the Lord!

Five years later, I thought that I would be OK, that I could man up and handle it. The more I sat today and thought about the times that my nephew and I had, I was not OK and I was a man down and out for the count. I knew that if anybody had my back, it was Jordan. He'd always ask, "Unk, you cool?" "Yea Jordan, I'm cool. Calm down." "Oh ard then, because see I'll come up to Kelly and rock them ni---z" "Jordan, calm down. I'm cool. Ain't nobody giving me no problems."

Much as happened and changed these past five years. The kids have grown up. A devil, jealous of my relationship with my family, slithered in and did a number.

I love my family. God knows I do. And as a buddy of mine said on facebook as I reflected on that day five years ago...

"...but seeing that family's strength since that day has been absolutely amazing..."

Christmas in Ghana and Togo

Back in 2002 I was a member of a U.S. delegation of speakers/teachers/preachers to a Christian conference and camp meeting in the COUNTRY of Ghana on the CONTINENT of Africa. I taught a class numbering in the thousands on the camp grounds of this West African Christian conference. I remember having to teach slowly, speaking in phrases so that my two translators could translate my lesson into the various dialects and languages that the native Ghanians spoke.

I also remember the fact that I spent my first Christmas away from home. I spent that Christmas overseas and it was quite different for me.

Here are some pics from back then (coincidently enough on #tbt)

#ClassOnGeek

I believe that teaching and learning should be as experiential as possible. To that end, I try to make learning a pleasant and unforgettable experience!! From video chatting with experts to handling bugs, learning should be an unforgettable, positive experience!

Last Friday, we took a trip to a bug museum, Philly's Insectarium. Needless to say this was quite an experience.  Some of the brave kids and I ate mealworms, handled reptiles and an assortment of critters including a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach! (We also purchased one to be our class pet!)

Tuesday was our class "Read In". This is an event that I've put on with the kids for a 7th year. The focus is on extended reading for pleasure, while also enjoying some goodies! In the last week I've adopted the phrase and hashtag, our class is on geek (a spinoff from a newer slang term for "nice"---"fleek"). So my #ClassOnGeek and we're proud to be! Intelligent, witty, scholars, thinkers, movers and shakers!

"Pedagogilese"

So, I think I'm making up a word in pedagogilese, (ped-a-gog-a-lese) (sad, I know) to mean terms of or related to pedagogy (pedagogy meaning the practice of teaching and its theoretical framework).

Blah, blah, blah

I'm making up the word in order to emphasize how much I despise being told to frame lesson objectives on board space using pedagogilese. Acronyms and "teacher-words" mean nothing to the student. And it is my belief that ANYTHING that I put on a chalkboard, whiteboard, overhead, etc. is for the benefit of the student!

Using pedagogilese on a chalkboard in no way benefits students!

As a high school student, quite familiar with teaching, and as a pre-service teacher, I didn't even believe in putting objectives on the board, period. I saw no point. I've come around to doing it, even though I still don't consider it one of the ten necessary commandments of teaching and learning.

But *if* I'm going to put an objective on the board, it will be in the first person and it will kid-friendly language, student-lese, if you please!

What's paper mache?

Some of my 3rd graders wanted to present their 3D insects and other critters to the class, so I let them. One girl described her butterfly and said that she used paper mache.

The same kid who asked when they would have art, asked what paper mache was? His question reignited my disdain for those who chose not to fully fund our schools so that ALL of our schools could have BOTH a full time art teacher and music teacher!

I vented with the kids for a minute or so about how I wish that they had a real art class and not just Mr. Flemming trying to infuse art into our academic program. I told them of where the art suite used to be in the building and all of the space they would/could have to do a whole lot of art projects!

John B. Kelly does have an art teacher. Once a week. On Tuesdays. Well over 600, probably near 700 students in the building. I wonder if the schools in Lower Merion or Upper Dublin have a similar arrangement?

Why am I even typing this? Why is it that a quality art program is a luxury or something that we'd have to try and fit into the budget? This is ludicrous! smh

First thougts??

Mr. Backwards Hat with a gang sign?

OR

Young man who holds a Bachelors and Masters in Education, three teaching certificates including Secondary English and Reading Specialist, studies and speaks French with a certain degree of proficiency (since 7th grade), traveled to Nigeria, Ghana, Togo, Switzerland, France, England, and Canada, loves teaching and will often get into character in a judge's robe, assume a rapper's mode, or even use street code to get his point across to his students?

Which one did you assume at first glance?

P.S. There are great educational raps out there, add a little spice to playing them by dancing, waving your hands, or throwing on a cap---backwards. Let them know you're a human, with rhythm....or not lol

We don't get books for homework...

As I sit and await the arrival of parents for report card conferences, I'm taking a look at the similarities and differences my students found between a one-room schoolhouse they read about and our school.

One difference a child listed, "They get books/We don't get books for homework."

Hashtag Activism

My little post-script to what I just wrote re: my not being able to breathe...

I tried to read some #CrimingWhileWhite tweets and saw that #ICantBreathe was also making the hashtag activism circuit as well and I'm all for it. I have nothing against this show of solidarity, unity, and sounding of the proverbial clarion call. I couldn't get as involved as I normally would have, because I was too "done" with everything. I'm all for the outcry, I have my share of outcrying (and, to be honest, real tear drop moments...)

But what next?
Now what?

We've marched, shed light, shared stories, exposed bias, passed certain laws, reviewed policies, now what?

Wait?
Hope?
Wish?
Die?

No, I REALLY can't breathe!!

It was sickening to learn that a grand jury, yet again, decided not to indict a white police officer on charges in the death of an unarmed black man, one, Eric Garner. Despite what was seen in the video and the medical examiner's report, no indictment....again!

Last night, as I learned of the inaction taken by the grand jury, my thoughts raced all over the place as I decided not to entrench myself in what normally would have been a twitter tirade complete with hashtag activism and the retweeting the words that were in my head but couldn't come out the way I wanted!

I just couldn't and still can't seem to....breathe!

Even this post could go on and on and on and on and on and ON!!! But I really need to sit back and catch. my. breath!

"MY mom said..."

"Mr. Flemming, my mom said, 'Oh Mr. Flemming teaching 3rd grade now? Wish (Bob) was still at Kelly. He'd (Bob) be in Mr. Flemming's class.'"

This was part of the conversation that I had earlier today as I ran into a couple of my former students as they referred to a conversation they had with their mother about their little brother and yours truly.

Apparently a certain one, Bob, is giving teachers at a new school a bit of a run for their money and I saw it in the 10 minutes we all stood and talked. It is very encouraging to me that upon finding out that I was a 3rd grade teacher now,  mom dukes wished that a certain one, Bob, had the opportunity to have a certain no nonsense son of a...teacher...for a teacher.

Thanks for the vote of confidence and I really do hope our paths cross again, over the very vocal objections of one, Bob.

Sincerely,
Bob's nemesis if I ever have him as a student {que the evil laugh} lol

I jest, lol, although I enjoy the challenge of working with students who may be a little more challenging than others. My saying is, "they'll be alright." I believe it and I teach and interact with them bearing in mind that end goal. Oh, they WILL be OK!!!

Lowered standards for PA Reading Specialists? I object!

So the state of Pennsylvania has lowered the standard to become a certified reading specialist. Whereas before, (up until now), one would have to enroll in a graduate level program of study and take and pass the appropriate Praxis, now all one needs to do is take the Praxis and ((((BAM))) you're not a certified Reading SPECIALIST!!!

Here are my initial comments to this notice:
Forgive any spelling/grammatical errors, I was fuming!

As a recently certified reading specialist, who went through a very rigorous program of study, with hours upon hours of reading, studying, collaborating, field work, portfolio compilation, etc., I am vehement in my objection regarding Pennsylvania's lowering of the standard to become a certified reading specialist in this state!! This move seems to coincide with the ebb and flow of organizations like Teach for America and others who believe that anyone with a pulse is good enough for the the classroom. As an English/Language Arts teacher for years prior to enrolling in a graduate program for reading education/reading specialist, I took a great deal of pride in the fact that I registered to gain even more knowledge and would learn additional skills, strategies, and best practices under the tutorship of well-versed professors and senior reading specialists. No test can replace hours of study, collaboration, reading, field-work, mentorship, and the like.

Table 3

Today we watched Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, this after having already read the book. The goal, compare and contrast the book with the film--analyzing the plot and other narrative elements. But that's not what I want to write about.

It's the eating of the meatballs that's more interesting and particularly the students who sit at table 3. So, after distributing plates, forks, cups, and bread, the kids really felt as if they were in a restaurant and said as much. But table 3, (play on words intended), took the cake.

First, I admired how they all decided to hold hands and say grace before eating. No I didn't stop them! Why?

Second, I admired how one girl, after they all were served Hawaiin Punch, led them all in a toast....with their styrofoam cups! Love it!

Then, to hear a kid say, "No, this is how you're supposed to drink it" and holds the cup with one hand and sticks pinky finger out....that all made my day!!

40 New Charter apps??? Really!!??!!

So, it's my lunch break and I happened upon my twitter account. One of the first stories I see is the fact that the School Reform Commission (SRC) will be reviewing 40 new charter school applications! Under the newly passed cigarette tax, which I was apprehensive about to begin with and even more so when provisions were added, allows this criminal act!

Philadelphia faces financial shortfalls every year! If 40 new charter schools open in Philadelphia, we have all but seen the end of true public education in Philadelphia as we know it. If the SRC rejects the applicants, the charter operators can appeal directly to the state.

#Corrupt and #Bankrupt

smh

3rd Grade Perspective on Race

During our Social Studies period, the kids and I were having a discussion on the the colonies and the founding of Jamestown. Because the history that is taught tends to be lopsided, I infused in that same conversation how the Europeans of the day treated the Native Americans and how many African men, women, and children were forced over to the colonies.

I also mentioned that those of us who are African American in the class (all), were descendants of slaves and that slaves were considered property.

Somewhere during the conversation a kid said,

"That's why we can't come to school and act up because that's just what the white people want us to do. We come here to learn."

This is from an 8 year old black boy. His opinion is real to him and necessitates a conversation and he felt comfortable enough to express that thought to his black male teacher and classmates.

What I didn't do was shoot down his opinion. At 8, he already has some thoughts about how he sees the world. I did address the fact that the racist ones probably would expect that behavior from him and that not all white people are racist.

"Are we ever going to get art?"

Yesterday during our bathroom break one of my 3rd graders, "Mr. Flemming, are we ever going to get art?"

Me, "I doubt it. That's why I try to do as much art in the classroom with you as possible."

Note: At John B. Kelly Elementary School (a real public school), we have an art teacher once a week, Tuesdays. That's up from none during some years and one day more than what many other schools currently have.

-_-

(Pssst! Pssst! Hey! Shhhh, I thought you should know that today there was a rally for more charters in Philly http://www.philly.com/philly/education/Charter-school-advocates-rally-for-expansion.html, I'm guessing now we'll go back to 0 days a week for the art teacher)

Colorado Pen Pals!!!

Another African American male 3rd grade teacher, out of Colorado, reached out to me in order to forge an old fashion 3rd grade pen pal program between our two classes. He expressed just how much he anticipated the partnership between the two classes and even between us as colleagues, both being black men in a field dominated by women first and ostensibly white.

On Friday we received our first set of handwritten letters. After a weekend and two additional days off, we finally read the letters today. Yesterday I hyped the class up and read the names of those who received letters (everyone). Yesterday, we also identified Pennsylvania on a map and traveled westward with our fingers to Colorado.

Today, we identified Pennsylvania using Google Earth and let the Earth spin as we traveled westward to Colorado! After reading the letter sent to me by their teacher, they got the opportunity to read the letters of their new friends.

"Excited" does not accurately capture the energy in the air as they read their letters and were naturally drawn to each other and to their teacher with what they learned about their pen pal and with "Mr. Flemming, how do you pronounce this (name)?"

Tonight, they, with their parents, are drafting return letters!

THIS is real writing! It serves a real purpose! Every now and then there is nothing wrong with old school methods of teaching. Since being forced to move from a classroom with 21st century teaching technology, I've been forced to go old school with the teaching of some lessons. Having pen pals took me right back to some of those other old school teaching methods and mindsets, especially in a world of texting, emailing, "DM"ing, and "messaging".

To get Biblical, Jeremiah 6:16 does say in part, "...Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein,..." For purposes of this post, I won't finish the post, but it has something to do with the recipients of such a command refusing to do so!

Speaking of Community - More "Bottom Dollar" info

This is a post script to a blog post I just published
Wait, Bottom Dollar is Closing?

Speaking of "community", since typing those last few sentences, I've learned that both Bottom Dollar Foods and Aldi are both the "children" of owners OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES. Bottom Dollar Foods one of the subsidiaries of a group out of Belgium. Aldi, out of Germany. Why didn't I see that one? {palm to head}

As a post script, Save-A-Lot is THE one, out of the three low cost food purchasing options, that is based in the United States. Just did some digging. Follow the links:
1.  http://save-a-lot.com/about-save-a-lot
2.  http://supervalu.com/about.html

Wait, Bottom Dollar is Closing?

Not a typical blog post for me, but a store closing that is new to the Philadelphia market and helps low income wage earners, my brain goes into over drive!

Any one of the nine Bottom Dollar Food grocery stores (in Philadelphia proper) has been a third low cost, food market option for residents here in the city in addition to Save-A-Lot (the most senior of the crew) and Aldi.

I just learned that all of their stores in Pennsylvania were sold to Aldi (yes the ones whose workers sit down to ring up your groceries and whose registers are compact, both differences from traditional markets that seem to add to the time it takes to check out said groceries).

The latest Bottom Dollar Food store to open in Philadelphia was just a year ago, in Germantown.

Random thoughts:
The lack of details has me concerned. Will Aldi reopen each store as an Aldi? Will Aldi rehire those who will be laid off and at the same or comparable rate?

Many of my customer service experiences with Aldi were unfavorable; long times, unfriendly cashiers, managers who say things like, "well what do you want me to do?", etc.

The closing of a low cost food purchasing option, which tends to be the preference of low and moderate income earners reeks of profit margins and preferences over true service to the community. But, then too, they are a business and they aren't obliged to remain dedicated to a cause of providing a low cost food option to anyone. They are in it to make money. Silly me!

In related news, read up on where these companies are from!
Speaking of Community, More "Bottom Dollar" info

Governor-Elect Tom Wolf

Needless to say that we won a MAJOR victory in electing Tom Wolf to succeed incumbent Governor Tom Corbett! Thinking in terms of students, teachers, and public education, here's my take on what this all means:

1.  We can begin to hold Wolf to his campaign promises as they relate to funding our schools and taxing the natural gas industry to help with that (not teachers...we are not a source of recurring revenue for schools, we're the teachers in them).

2.  The problems we face in Philadelphia and many other urban centers will not be fixed overnight. The solutions are as complex as the problems and will take a lot of hard work to begin to put places like Philadelphia back on the right foot. With the election of Wolf, we can make some progress in this area. He's not like his predecessor in that he is not bent on the destruction of everything in the Southeast part of the state.

3.  The SRC will not likely disappear in a year or maybe even two or three, even though we're working on it. In the interim, we at least have a governor who will likely appoint people who really are concerned and will at least make the attempt to work with parents, students, teachers and the greater Philadelphia community at large.

4. No one is perfect and there will be mistakes made. No matter who is in office, we all must be vigilant, watchful, involved, careful, and focused! We've seen the pseudo-democrat before. Wait, what's the term we use on twitter and the blogsphere? Neoliberal? I trust that we don't have that in Tom Wolf and that he really will be for the people of Pennsylvania as he seems he will be!

I'm sure there's more that I could say and that in the coming days and weeks there will be "post-script" type blog posts! Stay tuned...

Dear Me

Dear Me,
You are the teacher in your classroom! A lot of people who can't name one child in your room have a lot to say about it, but remember, YOU are the teacher in that classroom! You know your kids' struggles in the classroom and at home! You know who likes to draw, teach, write, compute, and compete! You know who prefers to read aloud and who does well reading silently. You know who buys pretzels every week and who always needs an extra dime for one! You know how far they've come and you can envision where they're headed! You know this because YOU are the teacher in the room!

You don't make millions or billions, but you are the world to your kids, your presence is priceless! You can't offer them everything, but those munchkins from Dunkin meant everything to them! That candy at the end of the day, made a kid's day! That hug was the only hug they got all week and made them feel special! That high five? Boy did that kid light up! How do I know? Because I, Stephen R. Flemming, am the teacher in this room and can't no devil in hell tell me how to be the best teacher I can be in THIS room!

Sincerely,
Me

Wrong or nah?

The directions were to identify the place of each underlined digit, whether ones, tens, or hundreds--review. We learned during our course work so far what the numbers actually mean, that each digit has a value.

Example - 582, 500 + 80 + 2 and all of that.

So, while everyone else understood the instructions and completed the review as instructed, I came across this paper and smiled. Her classmates chose to use the labels "ones", "tens", and "hundreds" and they are correct, but she understood the instructions differently and tapped into those higher order brain parts and decided to demonstrate the actual place value and not place title. Love it!!!

A Good One!!!!!

Put this under the category of "Kids Say the Darndest Things"

Recently I reviewed some basic insect facts with my 3rd graders. We learned the content and I just wanted to review, so we did. Afterward, I gave a pop quiz.

Question: When an insect goes through 4 stages of metamorphosis, what kind of metamorphosis do we call this?

Answer on one kid's paper: a good one

LOL!!!

My Lesson in Diversity!! Back when I...

Growing up in West and Southwest Philly in the 80s, I was not too familiar at all with many other cultures outside of "white", "black", and "Chinese". (Chinese being in quotes because in my young mind everyone who was from the continent of Asia "had" to be Chinese, no one presented any other Asian possibilities to this young kid.)

My first real experience interacting with a kid from another culture came when I was in 5th grade at Andrew Hamilton Elementary School in West Philly. To me, he was Chinese. (Sadly, to this day I'm not sure where exactly my classmate was from.)

Going through middle school at Masterman opened up an entire WORLD to me, literally. There, the kids were descendants from many cultures and creeds. I even learned that not all white people were the same. They came from different cultures too. Some were Irish, others Polish, some were Jewish, others from Russia and from every surface area of the Earth!

I even learned that there were other blacks! I grew up with friends from Jamaica, so I knew about Jamaicans, but I didn't have experiences with kids from countries in Africa, Haiti, and other places! 

Bodine High School for International Affairs, further opened my eyes, offering me a choice of about 5 languages to learn as I matriculated through those years. There were also opportunities to travel to a different country every spring break! (I wish I would have gone on those trips!)

I yearned to learn more about other people's cultures, beliefs, traditions, language, etc. I read, asked questions, listened attentively, sat with a diverse group at lunch (middle school), and even schooled a few on what life was like in the "hood" (middle school) and that yes, there were (are) many intelligent kids who walk the 52nd Street strip or who frequent "The Bottom" and who eat entire meals from the corner store or Chinese store!

My point? I wanted to learn more about other people and their ways of life and didn't mind speaking of my own. This whole Ebola nonsense (the virus itself not being nonsense, but the panic, the fear, the coverage, the subtle "be wary of black"), has brought people's ignorance to light.

No, Africa is not a country, it's a continent!

Africa consists of more than 50 countries, that span thousands of miles of rich real estate collectively!

There are thousands of languages spoken in those more than 50 countries, with many people being AT LEAST trilingual!

Encouraging children to remain home for 21 days who are from Rwanda or recently traveled from there? Ignorance!  Canceling an appointment for a woman who traveled from Uganda? Ignorance!

Both of those countries are thousands of miles from the concentrated media coverage and from the epicenter of the outbreak, as it's being called.

Just as I was willing to learn about other people's cultures, ways of life and background, it wouldn't hurt for some of these adults who wear their ignorance on their sleeve to learn a thing or two!

As teachers, we have a golden opportunity to defy the fear-provoked ignorant tendencies of policy makers, school districts, and even the lawmakers who propose bans on travel from some West African nations. We take advantage of the chance by framing classroom conversations and lessons accordingly. Despite our inordinately busy schedules and overwhelming amount of material we must cover, we relent and take advantage of several teachable moments throughout the teaching and learning experience. Let this be one!

Such moments could include discussions about diversity, an intense look at African geography, a study of the many political boundaries that separate nations on the continent, individual projects on particular nations or regions, delving into the art and music of particular countries or regions, and a potpourri of other possibilities that lend themselves to true teaching and learning experiences!

How about we take advantage of the "Africa Is Not A Country" challenge and find a way to counter the ignorance and shape this generation to be better than the one that is!

Barbershop PhDs might call the events in Ferguson, MO and now this whole Ebola thing a conspiracy of some sort, since everything in the barbershop is a conspiracy. #JustSayin

Cultural diversity is not to be tolerated, but respected or even appreciated and embraced!

3rd grade debate -- Topic: Luck!

Reflecting on yesterdays literacy block...

We read an interesting Chinese folk tale on a kid's lucky walk home from school. After the traditional questioning, conversing, etc. I decided to hold an impromptu debate on the idea of "luck". I thought this would be interesting since I came from middle grades ELA classes, where "deep"debates and discussions (of the NON-Common Core variety, since I could care less what governors want) were the order of many days!

First I asked them whether "luck" was real. They were to discuss their positions with whomever they wished in the classroom. I allowed the discussions to go for about 5 minutes as I sat on my perch (or book case), listening to each conversation, reading lips, honing in, zoning out others, and the such.

Once the conversations ended I asked the class to first put their thumbs up if they believed luck was real.  Many of them held that position. I then asked for a show of thumbs from those who didn't believe luck was real. Two bold students!

The reasons for believing in luck were based on their individual experiences. I don't know why I didn't see it coming, but I guess that should be expected from 3rd graders. None of their reasons was general enough to explain this abstract (and debatable) concept of "luck". That's perfectly fine and I wasn't disappointed. It's 3rd grade! (Can you hear me you Common Core folks, IT'S 3RD GRADE! SHEESH!) I did value each of their responses and indicated so as they shared!

The two who were bold enough to go against the grain, *did* offer more "concrete" support for their argument. "Somebody was probably running and dropped the dollar" "Mr. Flemming, the dog was already sleep. That wasn't luck."

The discussion continued with more follow up questions and to gauge how they would respond if someone attempted to counter their arguments! It was very interesting and different being on the primary grades side of such debates and discussions!

Good Question!!!

Yesterday during our math class, I was reviewing place value with my kids. Our "Do Now"s are quick reviews of concepts previously taught. While working, one of the kids asked, "Mr. Flemming, is there anything on the other side of the ones?" Coming from a 3rd grader, this question made me light up with excitement. True inquiry! I walked through that door and quickly drew a diagram in his math notebook that included a decimal point and labels on numerals as tenths, hundredths, and thousandths. I further explained that he'll begin to work with those numbers in the future!

Robert Meehan, whose educational, teacher, and student quotes of inspiration, often calm me down when I need calming after a twitter war of words, tweets out a quote about student questions! The quote in essence speaks of the measure of teaching and learning not being found in the questions that a teacher can spew out, the answers to which a student may regurgitate, but in the types of questions the KIDS ask!

When that 3rd grader asked me whether or not there was "anything" on the other side of the ones, my inner teacher leaped with excitement at the brain action that was going on!

Why I don't believe the SRC, part 2

Recently, I blogged about why I don't believe the SRC in the case of resources making their way into classrooms as a result of them cancelling the contract between them and the PFT.

Well, I was wrong. Or was I? This past week money was forwarded to Philly schools to the tune of $15 million. They say it was from the savings to health care thanks to the teachers (or nah?).

Not one dime has been taken from us. Soooo, where did the money come from and so quickly?

I've tweeted the district and Dr. Hite a number of times. I'll resort to email when I get home from the barbershop!

Hmmm, something rotten on the state of Denmark!

I smell big money that stipulated that the union contract needed cancellation and teachers need to come out of pocket...again, for something!

WHEN we win in court, here's how I see it playing out:

1. Money taken back out of school budgets
2. Teachers and PAT overall will be blamed in commercials and commentaries
3. Fodder for reformy folks

But we CANNOT be deterred!! We already sacrifice.  We know it. Parents know it. The community knows it. Five and Dime, Target, Dollar Tree, they ALL know it! Even reformies know it, but don't want to tell the truth and the whole truth!

The courts need to rule in our favor, AGAIN!!

From hip hop to waltzing

Today I had my students clean out their desks. As thy cleaned, I played some Disney tunes among other types of music. As High School Musical 2's "Summertime" was playing, they were just a hip hopping, as only 3rd graders can do. I just sat and watched them enjoy a Friday afternoon after a week of hard work Mr. Flemming-style. After this I played, Aladdin's, "A Whole New World". From hip-hopping, it was intriguing to see the girls grabbing hands and attempt waltzing. They were moving and swinging and from where I sat, it looked OK to me!

THIS is why we need music in schools along with other expressive arts forms!! The arts make for quality learning and positive overall educational experiences!!! Music and art in schools everyday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As a classroom teacher, I do my level best to infuse these and other artistic forms into the reading, math, and content area teaching and learning experiences!!

Why I Don't Believe the SRC! Part 1

No doubt, I'll have more to say. But right now my kids are at lunch so I have but a quick sec!
They say that by canceling the contract between the School Reform Commission and the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers that more money and resources will go back to the kids, back into the classroom.

Here are just two quick reasons I don't trust them! One, when more than 30 schools closed and more than 5000 employees were laid off, we thought we'd be getting more resources poured back into our classrooms then! We haven't seen it!! Even worse, those charged with cleaning out closed buildings reported to some of their teacher-colleagues that tons of books, paper, supplies, etc were being tossed! They called teachers up. Teachers reportedly went up and through dumpsters to salvage what we could! So, no I don't trust them!

Here's another reason why I don't think we'll see the resources:
Uhh, this isn't what we *get* from them, that's for sure!!

Charter Schools: $766.7 million Debt Service: $280.4 million

Source: http://webgui.phila.k12.pa.us/uploads/dP/rA/dPrAVit1k8Xa4CJXcyxemQ/FY2014-15-Consolidated-Budget.pdf

Things may have changed since April. But certain you can understand my hesitation to believe them!

Check out one of my 3rd grader's book reviews. I gave him a book to read and wanted his opinion on it. He read it in a day. Gave him a little guidance on writing a review for me. This is what he did.

Army nephew surprised me at work, sort of...

So, my nephews decided to surprise "Unk" at work yesterday. The one on the far right? Just got back from Hawaii, served in the United States Army! The surprise was actually on them!! We had no school and I was out of town. Yet and still, this picture and their thinking about their old head uncle means a lot. Family means a lot!!

School Choice Week huh?

Well,
Many politicians and ed-reformy people chose to change the original vision of charter schools and made them market-type businesses competing for "seats" (Their words not mine. I don't like to think of feeling, breathing, intelligent children as seats, but humans. I digress).

With the establishment of these charters, strained budgets of school districts become "strain"ger now that these quasi-public schools need to be funded. Such moves have forced the layoffs of thousands of teaches and the closings of dozens of real public schools. This, in short, has widened the resource gap and has all but doomed the real public school to failure.

Despite these deliberate efforts, many parents chose to keep their children in the public schools that they themselves once attended and received a high quality educational experience. Truth be told, many of these same politicians, and other ed-reformy folks also attended one of the many thousands of public schools in the nation. There were no charters.

Apparently it's school choice week or whatever (lower case intentional). Code for: Go to the charters! In addition to the fact that many charter schools have a budget for advertising, another issue that I have is that there is no positive media support and air time for the public schools that have been the corner stones and academic foundations in our communities for many generations.

You say it's school choice week? Acknowledge the choice that many parents are making to keep their children in the public schools, they themselves attended!!!

Barbershop PhDs

Anyone who has ever frequented a barbershop knows that there are very interesting conversations that can be had there! Sports, religion, politics, women, the news, and myriad other topics! Guy code says, what is said in the barbershop, stays in the barbershop! (Or did I just make that up? lol)

Anyone who has ever frequented the shops knows also that EVERYTHING is a conspiracy!!

Many brothers are passionate about their beliefs, whether fact or conjecture! Sometimes the foolish thoughts and topics on which we opine are annoying and at other times, hilarious!

But barbershop conversations, debates, and arguments definitely have their place in the overall movement of black men into civic, family, academic, and other forms of constructive engagement! Since I'm black and I frequent black shops, I speak from that perspective! In the shops are voters and tax payers! In the shops are fathers and sons, mentors and mentees, youth sports coaches, teachers (YES SIR!!), Pastors, clerics, politicians, and very attentive young boys and teens who are listening!

While I jokingly attach PhD to barbershop to poke fun at some of our sermons that are based on unfounded facts and upon which some of us will swear, I don't mean to belittle the opinions of our barbershop comrades. (Although some of us do speak with such authority (feigned)---as if we, ourselves, advised the President and foreign leaders or conducted the scientific research that proves the government conspired)

When public schools in Philly are brought up, I ALWAYS insert myself into the conversation! Some are on my side, others are not! When we're on opposite sides of the aisle, it can be.....ahem.....interesting! I do not stand down! Because I teach in the same community where I get trimmed up for the weekend, I have a whole slew of students and parents who can vouch for this young, black, male teacher who speaks from the core of his soul!!

I may not be a true Barberhop PhD, but I'm a teacher! And doggone it, a good one!

Cigarette Tax

So, Philadelphia received its long awaited cigarette tax! Whew!! Now we're just a ship a mile below the surface and not two miles! Whew!! What a relief!

I hope no one is sitting comfortably in 400, City Hall, or Harrisburg. The spring season will bring the same desperate begging, bargaining, and fighting for adequate, steady, and sustainable school funding that we've been fighting for!

During the normal discourse of what I call "Barbershop PhD" discourse, a guy sitting in the chair next to me asked me point blank, "Where's the money school teacher?? Tell me!" My response can be summed up like this, the problems are complex and so, too, will be the solutions, especially since Philadelphia is home to the two largest school systems in the state, with our charters being the 2nd largest! If they stay and if we will forever share the same pot of money and if money must forever be taken from the district's bottom line to go them, this crisis will not go away anytime soon! Period!

The Importance of Black Male Teachers

I am grateful for Dr. Mike Robinson (@DrMikeRobinson on twitter) and Forest of the Rain Productions: An Education Affairs Organization (@anaturalbridge on twitter) for giving me the chance to record a 3-minute mini-talk on an educational topic of my choosing. I chose to speak very briefly on the importance of black male teachers in our schools.
There is so much to say and so much that can be done nationwide and I did my best to summarize some of my ideas in three minutes! This was my first time doing something like this and again, I'm grateful for that opportunity.

Just as a side note: I'm the only black male teacher at my school and one of only two male teachers, period. Our current principal is a black male and there are other strong black men who work in various capacities in our building. So our approximately 700 students do see some positive male role models.

So, yes I am a proponent of higher numbers of male teachers at the elementary level, no matter the race. But speaking for my race, I'd like to see more black men teaching at the elementary level across the country and in different geographical settings. Here are some of my thoughts...(click the link)

Educational View from @kellygrade6 3rd grade teacher Importance of Black Male Teachers in Schools http://t.co/lIUZGsvFZR
— Dr. Mike Robinson (@DrMikeRobinson) September 11, 2014

Our waiter-teacher

Today I took a former supervisor of mine, who was like a mother to me where I used to work, out to lunch. As a retired teacher turned director of early childhood education for a large nonprofit organization, we most certainly started talking education and schools.

Two of my rants included "I'm going to speak up for my kids no matter what" Rant and the "I probably would've have been fired a long time ago if it was up to _____" Rant. While talking, our waiter, a younger black male, overheard me talking.

"I know that's right! Are you a teacher?"

From there, he began talking of the work he does in the community and all that he does with youth sports and how he wants to be a positive influence to young kids. Boss Lady and I informed him that he already is a positive influence. We also began to speak of how more black males are needed in our school systems. We also asked whether he was going to go back to school.

From our conversation, we could tell that he was passionate about his work and his insatiable desire to do more! Before we left, I made sure he had my contact information. We must support each other in this work...ministry!

At this juncture I should insert some statistics or some inspirational proverb about the importance of effective black male teachers in our schools, especially in elementary schools. I should probably insert the fact that only 2% of the nation's public school teachers are black men. I should probably also include how much of an impact an effective black male teacher can have on an entire school and not just his classroom. Maybe I should mention that some of our colleagues start to get a little uncomfortable when black teachers start talking like this because "we shouldn't see color" or "a skilled teacher can be effective no matter what color he or she is."

.......

Encouraged by a former student and parent

When teachers are demonized as the source of the problem for all of society's woes, it's tweets and facebook messages like this that really are encouraging!!

@kellygrade6 one of the teachers that never gave up on me my dreams or any other kids in the african american philadelphia community
— S&V@G£K!D215 (@djking_tyler) August 25, 2014

No prob thanks for empowering me and jaquan and the whole 104 now education is all we know @kellygrade6
— S&V@G£K!D215 (@djking_tyler) August 25, 2014

From a parent on the page I set up for former students and parents:
I love u as a teacher!! I admire the love u have for our children I wish there were more like u educating them u care so much keep doing what ur doing God Bless U!!

I replied to both student and parent! THIS is what keeps me going! The accolades of principals doesn't impress me. I don't need my back patted on by district officials. I'll be polite and say thank you. But when former students and parents, and even current students and parents can tell you mean well by their children??? Then my teaching is not in vain!

Mayweather can't read? Says who?

Last week, while in the barbershop (where else?), one of the barbers played an audio clip of rapper 50 Cent's challenge to Floyd Mayweather to read a page from a Harry Potter book. He then switched up and changed it to a Cat In the Hat book. Jimmy Kimmel's name was mentioned somewhere up in there too. The barber then played a radio station's segment on that challenge and a clip of Mayweather reading something for them some time ago. You can Google search and find the clips for yourself.

What I chose to do was type out the text of what he read, then do a cursory analysis of my observations, forcing myself to assume that the audio clip is authentic and hasn't been doctored for the benefit of the listeners of this radio show out of New York.

Here's a pic of that cursory running record:

Everything is about perception and perspective.
Here's mine:

1. Context: He's preparing for the recording of a commercial to be played before thousands, if not more, listeners - You wouldn't be nervous?

2. He rereads in an attempt to get it "right" (a strategy)

3.  He self-corrects (another strategy)

4.  He checks for comprehension (as particularly indicated by his constant rereading of the word "show" after the article "the", which, in this case, would normally would be read as a noun and not a verb considering that most words following the definite article "the" are direct objects/nouns)

5. He omits the "I" in "I Heart Radio" for reasons that can be explained. His brain is likely processing "I" to mean himself (and why shouldn't it). In this case, however, the "I" is *not* talking about him, Floyd, but is rather used as a part of the proper noun for some entity followed by the word "heart".
I heart?? Yes, another irregularity.

"Heart" used here defies the use of the word as a noun and makes it a verb, which is commonly used in youthful colloquial conversation (i.e. I heart you). That said, it's not uncommon for his, or any, brain to initially omit "I" because of the perception that it's an error and "doesn't belong" next to the noun-turned-verb "heart".

No doubt there is much more that can be said, particularly about his fluency, whether or not the script he was given was on a teleprompter or not, whether the script he was given was written using punctuation, whether he needs glasses to read (not normally used for boxing, but I digress) or whether the writers used title case for "I Heart Radio", etc.

The logistics of reading aside, what is most troubling is the exploitation of a perceived inability to read by a radio personality and that radio segment going viral on social media. While one star's calling out of another star on social media is not uncommon, it's reprehensible that a radio station decided to dig into its archives and air what they called an "unedited" (though I believe it was doctored for this particular segment) drop of Mayweather's reading of this script.

Assuming that the tape isn't doctored and assuming that Mayweather does have some reading difficulties and assuming that it wasn't just his nerves getting the best of him as he was preparing for this radio commercial (those are a lot of assumptions and there are more), illiteracy isn't a joking matter. Laughing at another's inability to read is what kids do before a responsible adult corrects the behavior. Furthermore, as if black men in America don't have enough problems, one of the last things we need is for "brothers" to be calling out other "brothers" and mocking the other's perceived illiteracy (although this script is hardly the basis for a diagnosis) and going to great extents to do so!

I admire the courage of the other radio personalities who at least said something in opposition to their colleague's choosing to air the segment.

At a time when the funding of public schools is low, particularly in urban areas where there are large numbers of blacks, Latinos, and other minority groups, this could be any. of. our. kids!!!

That said, *if* Floyd Mayweather is having reading difficulties, I challenge him to hit me up. I'll be more than happy to provide some remedial instruction! And I don't need his money. That's not the point! If there is a problem, he needs help. If he doesn't have any reading challenges and this is all pure 'bafoonery', well...people have sued for less!

A set of statistics can be found here--> http://www.ets.org/s/sponsored_events/pdf/16818_BlackMale_trifold3_WEB.pdf
I cannot speak to the accuracy of the stats, but they are starting/continuing points for discussions and debate.

My letter to a state rep

Dear Rep Roebuck,
The school funding crisis is beyond out of control and tragic. Students died last year. A school police officer suffered a heart attack in school after breaking up a fight. He died. Another faculty member was jumped and hospitalized. Yet they propose to cut additional services and are constantly asking for teachers to give up money to save the district despite the fact that we didn't contribute to its financial ruin.

PLEASE keep fighting for us!

Also, PA's version of Value Added Measures, VAM, or PVAAS, that needs to be thrown out! They want to make teachers more accountable, but are totally stripping us of what we need to be as effective as we possibly can. It's not right, it's not fair and there needs to be an immediate cessation of such an ill-conceived, illogical, unfair, and insidious law.

I'm an elementary school teacher at John B. Kelly Elementary School. I'm committed to teaching,  to learning, and to the realistic, not idealistic, notion that our kids can have the best educational experiences that our schools have the potential energy to provide but a lack of a kinetic, consistent,  and equitable distribution of funds and resources to do what we all love!

There's so much more that I can say and I would love to have the opportunity to sit and meet with you and discuss the issues and real solutions!

Yours truly,
Stephen R. Flemming

I'm finally included...or am I?

"Earlier today, we heard the beginning of the preamble to the Constitution of the United States, "We, the people." It is a very eloquent beginning. But when the document was completed on the seventeenth of September 1787, I was not included in that "We, the people." I felt somehow for many years that George Washington and Alexander Hamilton just left me out by mistake. But through the process of amendment, interpretation, and court decision, I have finally been included in "We, the people.""

These are the words of, then, Representative Barbara Jordan out of Texas, who, I should point out, was the first black male or female to represent Texas in Congress.

How poignant and appropriate her words are today, especially given the unrest resulting from the recent slaughter of unarmed blacks by police (against Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and Ezell Ford) and by gun-toting vigilantes (against Trayvon Martin and Renisha McBride).

It seems like our inclusion is being tested by events like these, proposed voting laws, and often separate and unequal public school funding and resource quantities.

"We, the people" huh?
Yup.

Children's innocence

"Daddy I want to ride the bike."
"OK baby, maybe when we get home."
"His bike," as she points to a teenage boy riding his bike across the street."

{Insert a smile and a slight chuckle here}

This kind of stuff just makes you temporarily forget all of the insanity and foolishness all around us, if only for a moment.

They Have Names, They Have Faces, They Had Families

Michael Brown

Eric Garner

Renisha McBride

Johnathan Ferrell

Trayvon Martin

Suburban Station Music...again

Waiting for the train at Suburban Station, listening to young students from one of OUR public schools skillfully play the violin and cello! I asked them where they attend school. SHOUT OUT TO Creative and Performing Arts High School (CAPA)!!!!!

I've blogged and tweeted about this before,  but it's good to see young black talent showcasing their talents on an informal, yet prestigious platform. SEPTA's Suburban Station is a hubbub of middle and upper class, well-to-do foot traffic. It's the center point of SEPTA's regional rail trains' center city stations.

For those unfamiliar with our regional rail system, this system of trains transports passengers to and from Center City Philadelphia to and from Delaware,  New Jersey and to and from Philadelphia's wealthy neighboring counties.

Keep up the good work!

Inappropriate People

That fact that I have to read tweets, books, blogs, articles, editorials; attending rallies, marches, and protests for a few years now in opposition to education reform and school closings and in support of school funding in a nutshell, really grinds my gears!! I shouldn't *have* to do this!

As a teacher, I live it! Oops, I meant to say I LOVE it, but the "i" is next to the "o" and I'm getting used to a new Samsung Galaxy with no key pad. But "live" is just as appropriate.

I digress.

As a teacher I LOVE what I do! This was what I always wanted to do. It's what I started doing well before my adolescent years as a kid with my younger siblings. Even as a child in a crib, my parents tell the story of a little boy teaching his younger brother the ABCs.

So when I read and listen to the ludicrous arguments of individuals like Michelle Rhee,  Bill Gates, Governors Christie and Corbett, Dr. Steve Perry, and too many others, I become incensed! Locally, we have our fair share of debaters!

These are inappropriate people with money, political influence, and the love of national media! Except Corbett, but I digress again.

Flem, 'whatchu mean' by inappropriate people? I mean those who may on the surface have the best of intentions, but go about it all wrong. I say on the surface because, deep down they very well may not have well meaning intentions. I'm tending to believe the latter, but my mom is a huge proponent of giving people the benTifit of da doubt {in my Madea voice}.

I mean the organizations and political agendas they founded or represent.

They're inappropriate because their actions screw up children's lives and the communities from which they come. They shutter schools and refuse to appropriate the necessary funds for quality educational experiences, especially in highly impoverished areas.

They're inappropriate because their actions result in relegation real teaching to test prepping.

They're inappropriate because they set their mouths against the very people for whom anyone who can read, write, calculate, and even come up with the worst of educational policies, should be thankful.

We are teachers. We are countless other education and social service professionals. We are skilled professionals in the art and science of teaching and learning and all the myriad other tentacles that are natural extensions.

Back off!!!!

The Problems with Non-Seniority-Based Layoffs

PennCan tweeted out an OpEd piece arguing for non-seniority based teacher layoffs, if and when layoffs are necessary in a school district. ~~> http://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2014/08/want_to_retain_our_best_teache.html

I understand their position. I really do. I'm not so much of a hot-head for public schools, public school students, public school teachers, public school funding, etc. that I cannot at least listen to the arguments of those with whom I disagree. So yes, I understand their point, but I disagree.

As they point out, teacher-layoffs are unfortunate no matter what, but using seniority is by far the most objective way to do it, if it must be done.

The problem with performance-based layoffs in this culture of ed-reform is that they're based on unfounded assumptions. Here are 7 assumptions that performance-based layoffs are based on:
1.  All principals are fair and objective
2.  All principals know what good teaching and learning looks like
3.  Principals don't set teachers up to fail
4.  Principals have extended themselves as true instructional leaders to assist teachers who may be struggling (assuming they themselves are teachers indeed and know how to help struggling teachers)
5.  New teachers are all effective teachers
6.  Teachers with length of years are ineffective
7.  Principals won't ever force teachers out with whom they've had a falling out (speaks to that fair and objective assumption)

I think I should pause here to point out that not all principals are power-tripping, only-2-years-in-the-classroom-then-turned-academic-coach-and-now-principal, out-to-get-and-punish-the-teachers antagonists. There are some great principals out there!!

I should also point out that new teachers need time to develop and become the phenomenal teachers they aspire to be. They are energetic, young, and fresh out of the box and most certainly have a place among the faculty of a school. I believe the best schools are schools that have a healthy mix of new and experienced teachers who collaborate well for the good of the student body and overall climate of the building!

In this education reform era edu-philanthropists, many politicians, and other reformies don't believe that one needs to be an educator to be in school and district leadership positions (Broad Academy selects their participants "from within and outside the K-12 education--emphasis mine--http://www.broadcenter.org/academy/about/academy-at-a-glance).

Nor do they necessarily believe that one needs to be an educator to be in the classroom....ahem...Teach for America (http://www.teachforamerica.org/why-teach-for-america/who-we-look-for).  Because of the prominence of non-educators in positions of leadership and because not all principals are fair, objective, and are true instructional leaders who extend themselves to be an asset to all teacher, principals should not be given blanket and Broad powers (pun intended) to hire, fire, and recommend for layoff and why performance should not be the primary factor for teacher layoffs, if and when they must occur.

The reformies would argue that test scores take out the subjectivity from such decisions. Base educational decisions of test scores and other Value Added Measures. Put a number to it! Wait! You mean the test scores that come from kids who may not have wanted to take the test and filled in anything just to be done with it? Or the score of a kid whose parent didn't come home last night?  Maybe they mean the test score of a kid who had to stay up all night in the hospital because his kid brother got shot the night before and was made to come to school and test his pain away? Perhaps the scores of a kid who had to hustle to bring in some extra bread (the slang and literal meanings) for the family because his mother had to work a double last night and that's barely enough? Those scores? I'm paranoid and an alarmist you say? Have you seen the news recently in Philadelphia and Chicago?

Seniority-based layoffs are objective. Such decisions leave no room for cronyism, nepotism, or punish-the-outspoken-kick-against-the-pricks-type of teacher! We shouldn't even be discussing teacher layoffs when class sizes are larger than they ought to be and when we could use every available teacher we can get our hands on. But if they must occur, seniority, for the reasons mentioned (and others), is the way to go!

This past year in science...

I typed out an entire blog post that reflected on this past year as a first time science teacher, but I think the pic captures most of how the year went! It was 'live'!!

This past year in science...

I typed out an entire blog post that reflected on this past year as a first time science teacher, but I think the pic captures most of how the year went! It was 'live'!!

Whats that???

I am a self-admitted Geek for early learning, particularly literacy! I am on the trolley with a annoyingly loud 2 year old and her older sister of about 7 or 8 years of age, and their father. Two is on the lap of Eight. In between some random screams, reaching notes not yet created by the Lord, they begin to engage in a "what's that" dialogue. I'm beaming inwardly because I know that *this* is real learning!!

"What's that?"
"Say grass..."
"Grass. What's that?"
"Car"
"What's that?"
Say skyline..."
"What's that?"
"Uhhhh {looking at one of the University of the Sciences buildings and not yet knowing the proper noun} building."

Talk. THIS is what's it's all about at this (and other) stages of a child's life! Early literacy starts here!! Talking with young children, NOT instagramming or tweeting as you hold your infant (a scene that ticked me off yesterday).

The converastion was laden with vocabulary and the idea that things have names. Eventually that will turn into names having characters associated with them that can be read and carry meaning.

I should go over to Eight and ask her to give Two a standardized test and eliminate some choices then write an expose and remember to begin by 'TAG'ing it a 3...or is it 4?

The dialogue continues...
"What's that?"
"Sidewalk."
"What's that..."

I taught the kid who...

A little edu-nightcap-
Every time I watch the news and hear of some problem or another, I comment, "I taught the kid who will come up with that solution!"

Be it a deadly virus outbreak, some catostrophe to which a solution for avoiding it has yet to be discovered, or the next "big thing" in technology, I taught the kid who'll come up with the solution!

Who? Take your pick!

I met @TheJLV today!

I just arrived home from two events. The second event was a book talk/conversation held at an independent book seller on South Street here in Philly. It was there that I met social justice/public education activist Jose Luis Vilson out of New York.

I consider myself very fortunate to have been in the company of a great, sincere, and unashamedly vocal opponent of much of the school "deform" craze, taking this country by the throat, choking the life out of kids, teachers, schools, and communities and calling it good for us (but many of their kids aren't subject to the same "goodies", hmm).

I'm looking forward to reading his book, This Is Not A Test: A New Narrative on Race, Class, and Education.

What I appreciated most about what I heard tonight was his focus on "the classroom" and on pedagogy. We're activists, yes. But the adult and the "30, 60, 90, 150 students" (as he put it, and is true) we see daily in the confounds of room...ahem...105, or 207...is where is starts! The policies, the politics, the philanthropy or lack thereof, the diminishing funds, and all of the other "stuff" has some (a lot, depending on the teacher) impact on the daily goings-on inside of each and every public school classroom.

I heard him mention shielding our students from the madness; a thought and belief to which I do my level best to adhere!

When the question was asked from a teacher-activist, what should we focus on? Coupled with, "how do we decide what to focus on?" given that there are so many fires in Philly to put out (school closings, mass layoffs, underfunding, lack of nurses/counselors, etc. etc. etc.). His reply? "Bring it back to the classroom." Not making our students these mini-activists, but rather focus on teaching and learning, from there build the conversations and organize.

So many great things said tonight. While I follow him on twitter, read his tweets and have read some blog posts, I look forward to the book and catching up on all of his online work that I haven't read yet.

Out of control!!

I can't right now! This little boy is dead as a result of a "baby daddy" who shot and killed him. He was celebrating his 5th birthday if I'm not mistaken!This same fool shot the mother of his child before turning the gun on himself! WHY for the love of all things sacred are these KIDS being killed left and right in this region!?!?

Not again!

Dear Keiearra, Thomas, and Terrence,
I really am at a lost for words! No words can describe the pain and the anguish your family and this city is experiencing right now! No words can describe the agony of your friends and classmates who won't see you for another "First Day of School". Unfortunately, the teacher won't be calling your names for you to say "here". Instead, in terms of walking, talking, and laughing with your friends in the classroom and school yard, you're "absent" and that makes a whole lot of us sad! Where you exist and forever will exist is in the hearts and memories of those who knew you!

Those guys who stole a car, then lost control, hit you all and ran, they are the jerks and cowards! Instead of working hard to get what they want out of life like y'all did, they decided they'd rather take from people! They took a car, but most importantly, they took you guys away from us and that's not cool at all yo! Real rap! IT'S NOT COOL!!!!! They took!!! They took!!! They took!!!! They took y'all away from your mother, your friends, your family, your neighborhood, your school, your future!!! Those scumbags took from us!!

Don't worry though! We've got some good detectives and prosecutors out there! I hope they take their freedom, if not more than that for taking y'all away from us!

Tonight I prayed. I prayed that all of this nonsense would stop! When I prayed, I cried tonight, thinking about you.

Rest Well Dear Hearts!

~Mr. Steve