The demise of our pet...

Yesterday, I blogged about the death of our class pet, Flemming Jr., a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach. What I didn't mention was that I made a dire prediction that our pet would meet his end at John B. Kelly because of what I, and many other colleagues, believe to be poor air quality in our school.

We have no hard evidence of our suspicions, other than the fact that many of us have ended up with ailments we have NEVER had in our lives including pneumonia and bronchitis, sniffling, coughing, and sneezing beginning only moments after entering the building with many of us.

Many plants don't survive despite proximity to windows and light.

Back to our pet...

Conversing with a colleague out the John B. Kelly air, I said, "Watch our roach! If it dies here then we know something is up!" I also repeated the common tale that cockroaches can survive nuclear catastrophes and that if our hissing cockroach couldn't survive the air at school, we're in trouble!

Is it a fact or conjecture that cockroaches can last nuclear disasters?
Hmmm, I did some reading...
This from --> Discovery!

R.I.P. class pet :-(

I came to work today to discover that our class pet, a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach had died over the weekend. His food was still there and as was a bit cricket juice, but despite his meal still there, Flemming Jr. went on to that great Insectarium in the sky! Check out some of our instagram pics!

In true Flemming-fashion, we made a big to-do about it all! Toward the end of our snow emergency half day, we gathered Flemming Jr to us. We all stood in a circle and took a second to grieve (literally a second). I pulled the largest potted plant we had in the classroom. The students from table 4 dug a hole and buried him. It was Table 4's turn to care for him. Other tables had chances to feed him, clean out old food, etc. This was our final act.

When we return, we'll be making morbid "R.I.P." signs for him, this just after we decorated our fake wall with name tags for him! Last week.

 

R.I.P Flemming Jr.

Say it ain't so!!!!

As I reflect on this day gone by, what I enjoyed most occurred during our Social Studies lesson. It was a review of the time of the early explorers to what we're studying now, the Revolutionary War.

As we happened upon our review of the Boston Massacre, my Resident Presidential Historian asked if "they" were ever caught (British Soldiers). Love the question!!!!! I took the time to explain that they had and that there was a trial and they got off.

I intentionally prepared myself to glance his way when I named the lawyer who represented the British soldiers in court, John Adams!! The reaction I got from him was PRICELESS!!!!!! I giggled like a little kid! He stood up, smacked his forehead and fell back into his chair, undoubtedly in despair that a future president of the United States could possibly represent British soldiers who attacked American colonists AND be acquitted!!!!

It is important to note that my Resident Presidential Historian attends a Philadelphia public school in Germantown.

It is also important to note that my class, in this public school, can enthusiastically detail many of the main events from the time of the explorers (including the imperialistic slant of their explorations) to the Revolutionary War. #JustSayin

3rd Grade Historian

I'm learning them! My third graders. I'm learning them. Having taught for a little while, I can pick up certain things about kids right away and other things require much more observation and conversation. I learned early on that I have a kid who loves history and the presidents in particular! I call him our Resident Presidential Historian!

After the children spend some time reading silently (works of their choice), I give them time to converse about what they chose to read. This is a daily occurrence. The kid I'm referencing is almost always discussing some presidential "thing" with his classmates. I normally sit on my perch somewhere, out of the kids' way and listen in on conversations from a distance.

Today, however, I called him over and just wanted to chat with my future PhD in History 3rd grader. I asked him how many presidents names he knew. He said he didn't know and just started spewing off names. John Kennedy (his favorite), Calvin Coolidge, William Taft, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Lyndon B.  Johnson,  etc. Impressive!!!!

Intentional teaching

From the sound of it, this could be a long post, a paper, or a book. Nope.

Short sweet and simple.
Be intentional!

I believe in being intentional in everything that I do in the classroom. There is a reason for the reading, the talking, the moving, the singing, the rapping, the "being a rapper" for a few minutes, the art, the poetry, the arrangement of the room, everything! Everything has a "why"!

Intentional, though I may be, I tend to be accident prone! Accidents do happen in the room and they are phenomenal instances of equally important intentional teaching and learning experiences!

We call these accidents..............wait for it............wait for it.............wait.........hold up..............ready?..........teachable moments!!

{que the "ahhhhhhh" and the text lingo 'lol'}

lol

#ReclaimMLKPHL

Today I chose to rally and march with a few thousand other Philadelphians and Pennsylvanians on this Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday. This march for many social justice agenda items brought together many groups, faiths, creeds, cultures...people!

The pictures and tweets under the hashtag #ReclaimMLKPHL tell many of the countless stories and experiences.

While there are quite a few causes that I support, two of the main reasons that I walked, #BlackLivesMatter and public education, particularly in Philadelphia.

While I'm too young to have experienced the marches and fights of the 1960s, I'm old enough to appreciate the victories as a result! Unfortunately, I'm also old enough to see, experience, and fight against regression! To that end, here's to the marches and fights of the 21st century!!

"What do we want?"
"Justice!!"
"When do we want it?"
"NOW!!"
"IF. WE. DON'T. GET. IT."
"SHUT. IT. DOWN!!!!"

Photo Credit (below): Philadelphia Student Union

Black Male Teachers...Why? and What?

Why am I ardent in my belief that our public schools need more black male teachers?
Why shouldn't I be?

One, the worldview of a black male is vastly different from that of a female, even our African American sisters and from those of males of other races. It's not superior, it's different. And since it's all but guaranteed that any child in the United States will have a white female teacher most of the time, having a black male teacher will add depth and variety to worldview from which students are taught.

Just recently, I retweeted this:

"I've had all white teachers and they taught me well, but there wasn't that connectivity." #educolor #OurLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/DQfjqlfnpP
— Melinda D. Anderson (@mdawriter) January 17, 2015

The context of this quote? The need for more black male teachers. As this young man alludes to, there isn't necessarily a deficiency in the quality of instruction he received, but he wishes he had the "connectivity" that comes with having a black male teacher at some point. We can connect with our young black men in ways that others cannot. That is just as important as the content!

I could go on and on on this topic and include arguments for why schools with populations that are majority white and wealthy should also have a diversified faculty that includes black males. I could, again, mention U.S. Department of Education statistics. And so on and so forth!

But what? What am I doing to help?
One, I'm continuing to teach!
Two, I sat one night and thought of who I could speak with and would be most likely to heed the clarion call to go back to school and consider teaching. My brother! BINGO!!! I shot him a detailed text of my thoughts about him going back for his M.Ed and aim for a Social Studies cert since he was a Poli-Sci major and enjoys politics, history, and engaging in conversations about both.

His word to me? "Confirmation" We were born and raised in a Christian household and were taught to reverence the attributes that make God, God. So, "confirmation" implies just that. That the Lord was already working on my brother with this idea and that his big brother just came by and confirmed the word.

Who next?
Hmmm, let me think...

My "Arts" Beliefs...

My belief in the arts being a component of children's learning experiences is not anything new.
As I was looking through old facebook pictures, I came across one when I was the Youth Program Director at the YMCA in West Philly! (Yup, I was born and raised in West Philly---and Southwest---52nd Street corridor)

I was responsible for nearly all youth programming at the branch and was always looking to improve upon the quality of our programs. I loved my team of youth program staff and volunteers and the majority of them loved "Mr. Steve" right back!

You'll notice the book I circled in the picture. With our leadership and with a great core of young arts teachers (high school students who I hired from CAPA in South Philly) we put together a PHENOMENAL dance program and a budding drama program!! At one point we had more than 100 girls enrolled in any one or more of our dance classes in two studios at the Y!

We had big productions throughout the year that would coincide with hat/glove drives and would also bring news crews. One year, we chose to take our end of the year performance at one of theaters at the Annenberg Center on Penn's campus!!!

The School District of Philadelphia, City Hall, and Harrisburg must do more increase the arts experiences of the students in Philadelphia, something that is as basic and expected in many of our wealthier suburban school districts. Many of our students have creative minds and abilities and are stifled because of the dearth of arts programs in our schools. Many teachers try to fill the void as best we can, but I will humbly admit my limitations!!

Click the link to find out what I did this past week for a kid who is always drawing in class!

We have GOT to do better!

Looks like my kids and I will be writing letters and sending some emails! It's not enough to just complain. Stay tuned!

P.S. I remember one critique from one of my principals was that I do too much "arts stuff" for Social Studies and not enough reading, lol (I actually did do quite a bit of reading with them--and it was good too, but every time there was a visit it seemed to be during our singing/rapping segments)

The Sweet Life!!

Weekends off!
8-something to 3-something Monday through Friday!
Summer's off!
Every "invented" holiday off!
Sweet!!!

A close friend and I often get into these verbal tiffs about how "sweet" the life of a teacher is! I mean,  really, with all of the afore mentioned perks, this life must be sweet!! Right? (or nah?)

Why, then, aren't more people signing up for this gig?
Hmmm...

Like some of the old folk used to say, "Baby, everything that glitter ain't gold!"

P.S. I love teaching, but let me insert an "OBJECTION YOUR HONOR" to the idea that this is the sweet life! Everybody not 'bout that tEaCHer lyfe ya'mean?

Visual summaries

I did something today with my 3rd that I used to do with my middle-schoolers. We did visual summaries. I introduced it as a summary without words and just pictures. Our reading routine includes them reading a work of their choice, book, article, or magazine. Discussions with classmates about the reading follow.

Today, instead of conversing immediately afterward, they drew a "summary"; ideally, without words. After their visual summary was "written", they were to then converse about what they read using their visual representation. As classmates looked at what seemingly was nonsense, the illustrator would be forced to give details about what they chose to read.

With my middle schoolers, I would often say "draw or write about what you read". Not all the time would we share such summaries. With 3rd graders, I'm passionate about them moving and conversing quite a bit about what we're learning. I stay tucked away on a ledge somewhere as they talk, watching and listening carefully from my perch, a non-intimidating presence.

Since you like to draw in class...

I have a kid who loves to draw and is ALWAYS drawing in class! There are times when I go all traditional and say, "put that stuff away and pay attention!!" Then there are times when I feel very badly for him and many many others who don't have an art program in order to release their "artistic tension." (Like how I worded that? lol)

At Kelly, we have art once a week, in a regular classroom. Note: We have more than 600 students.

Instead of going into a huge political and public school funding dissertation, I'll dedicate this post to letting you know how I'm going to accommodate this student today.

Last week I had the class develop haikus on chart paper. They were to write two or three of them "all over the paper." Here's the task of my budding artist during SSR today...

Task for the person who is ALWAYS drawing in class----design the cover of our class big book of haikus! #art #artsed pic.twitter.com/JeEVljkFCl
— S. R. Flemming (@kellygrade6) January 14, 2015

That "Public/Private" article...

I could sit here analyze the content of Jeremy Nowak's piece, What Do We Mean By Public and Private Today in the Philadelphia Citizen. I could type endlessly about the comparison of our schools where actual children are taught and cared for, to a few of the city's parks....downtown. But I won't.

I could discuss the major contrasts that exist between parks and people, but I won't.

I could discuss what I think a productive public/private partnership would look like. But again...I won't.

I want to do a little word count exercise instead.
The word "public" was mentioned approximately 16x.
The word "schools" was mentioned about 18x.
The word "fund(ed)" was mentioned about 1x (and referred to charter schools when mentioned).
"Children" was mentioned about 2x.
"Students" about 1x.
"Young people" about 1x.
"Teachers" about 1x

Flemming, you're being silly. You're missing the point!! Just stop! You're making yourself look dumb! The "author's purpose" wasn't to discuss students and teachers and the funding of public schools!

The "author's purpose" was...

Bad day

Reflecting on the day gone by...

As my students were conversing about what they read during their silent reading time, I had the chance to speak with two of my young ladies. One was not having a good day and said as much. I knew about a couple of her morning struggles and did my best to encourage her. Said that there were kids in other parts of the world who WISHED for an American kid's bad day. I knew that *she* would understand my point and would see things from a different perspective.  She didand felt a bit better.

As we were talking, another girl chimed in and said that she wished she could take one of their bad days (speaking of other children around the world). #Empathetic

Real lessons

As I sit here and reflect on the day gone by, my mind goes back to our Social Studies period. During the holiday break, my students were to research how different people celebrate Christmas,  Kwanzaa, and Hanukkah. They were not to submit anything, but they were to be able to engage in a conversation, contributing whatever they learned.

At some point during the conversation, I emphasized the necessity of being willing to learn about other people's cultures and traditions. I also emphasized that they should learn this while they're young because there are too many ignorant adults who have closed minds!

We learned that we shouldn't laugh at other people because of the way they may look or speak, but that we should respect the differences among us!

Back to the classroom and #WorthIt

Welp, it's official, bed time tonight means the official end to winter break. {sigh}

Had a few fun and funny moments on twitter about our imminent return to the classroom. In all reality, real teachers love teaching and sorta kinda don't mind going back to work. This is our life's service.

What makes it difficult most times are:

the unfortunate and detrimental roles that politics play (underfunding, lack of adequate resources, over emphasis on testing, etc.),

incompetent leadership at the district and building levels (and in the words of my Pastor, "I'm not talkin' 'bout you, less'n it's you")

the back drop of continued strained race relations (overt and otherwise) in this country

ETC

While I jest about going back, there are several moments that make it all worth it! When my 3rd graders intimidate 4th and 5th graders with math facts and older kids don't want to compete with my kiddos! #WorthIt

When I listen almost daily to my little presidential historian rant and rave about Kennedy! #WorthIt

When I see a group of girls gather on the carpet to read to each other, "teacher-style"! #WorthIt

When a kid writes a "thank you" note to me often, now that she knows how to write a friendly letter! #WorthIt

When a kid writes to entomologists, thanking them for video chatting with us and includes that he thinks I was happy and that he'll do anything to see me happy!  #WorthIt

When they can't stand the house phone ringing because it interrupts their learning!  #WorthIt

When they get on each other for not being prepared or for being absent! #WorthIt

When I see the smile on their faces when we had our own little "Boston Tea Party" or "Annual Read In" or when we enjoyed meatballs while reading Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs! #WorthIt

It makes going back to the classroom in my very public school all #WorthIt!! It also makes fighting for them all #WorthIt too, no matter who the heck it is I have to fight! Those faces, their future, their real learning, it's all #WorthIt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Initial thoughts on "Annie" (Don't read this if you didn't see it)

WARNING
Don't read this if you didn't see it and want to. I spoil stuff...

So, it's nearly 12:45am, Friday into Saturday morning and I'm just getting in from seeing the new "Annie" movie.

First thoughts:
1.  Enjoyed it.
2.  Liked the modern elements in it - not just Will's home, but the use of social media to find Annie
3.  Not sure what the term/concept is, but didn't really like how the lip syncing was infused. However it was edited, it sounded "too studio" (whatever the concept/terminology is)
4.  Was glad the conflict of Annie's illiteracy was resolved. I watched carefully for that resolution. I must say, the public school advocacy in me thought that they were going to put a "public school is inferior to charter school" twist to it.

Of course this movie didn't come without its controversies!
Read about it yourself - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/31/target-annie-ads_n_6400642.html

My initial thoughts on that? For this new "Annie" movie, starring a young African American female, I would have liked to see a young African American female model the apparel. Period. No question.

I'm sure I have more thoughts on "Annie", but those are my first thoughts!
Good Night!

A "P.S." thought - I Googled "Annie" to look for some pics. Now I don't know a lot, but I do know there is a way to manipulate which images appear first. Despite the new movie's release, the images from the 1982 Annie still appear first. Just an observation.