"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