ABC's World News and the Spelling Bee report

Just a moment ago, ABC's World News reported on a change in the national spelling bee that involves vocabulary and meanings as opposed to just simply spelling the words.

First, let it be known that the students in my inner-city public school in Philadelphia have been doing VOCABULARY Bees for a while now. We never just spell the words, but we define them, give examples, and apply them where necessary!

Secondly, the example that ABC gave was a multiple choice question that asked kids to identify an example of onomatopoeia, with choices A-D, D being "buzz". George Stephanopolous commented that if you didn't "get that, you should hit the books."

Let it be known, that the 6th grade students at John B. Kelly Elementary School would have gotten that question correct. We are an inner city public school in Philadelphia.

I reiterate this because we always seem to get a bad rap as public schools and any chance I get to allow my students to shine in a positive light, I'll take advantage of it!

#JBKelly

BEG and BARGAIN for the BASICS??? Smh

Sitting at our General Membership meeting of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers yesterday, our president, Mr. Jerry Jordan outlined the School District of Philadelphia's contract proposal and the PFT's proposal.

I sat there and really had to 'smh' at what it was that we really have to sit and negoiate about.

Manageable class sizes
A nurse in every school every day
The professional freedom for teachers to use prep time as they professionally see fit
A certified art, music, and physical education teacher in every school

These items arwe among many other items on the list!
It is a crying shame that we have to beg and bargain for the basics!

Let the Expulsions Begin...

I know of a school where a new student started today. They went to a prestigious charter downtown near 440.

The teacher contacted me and informed me of the following...

A math teacher put work in front of this child. The child replied, "oh no, we only did 12th grade work at my charter school." The teacher replied, "Oh, well this 6th grade work should be no problem then." The child then began to cry and say "I don't know what this is."

Note: We take the PSSAs in a few weeks.

The 105 Experience

Hello, my name is Flem and it's been quite sometime since my last post.

Today, I was able to uphold a classroom tradition and even expand it a bit. At the end of February and particularly at the end of my and my students' analysis of Mildred Taylor's, "The Gold Cadillac" we have a soul food party. In years past, some were grand while others were nominal.

This year, I mandated the reading of Taylor's "Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry." This year, we dubbed it a "Soul Food Fest." This year all three of my classes participated at one time at "The Blue Wall" aka the area in our lunchroom where the random blue wall stands. This year we've had the most food and help than we've ever had!!

This year I advertised it on my facebook fan page. Finally, this year, we were not finished our analysis of the historical fiction novel.

It was fun to be able to, as I say, "read about it, then eat about it!"

Life is not all about testing, but that is a post for another day and time!!

Shout out to the students and families of the 6th grade experience, the 105 experience of John B. Kelly Elementary School!!

Keep 6th Grade at John B. Kelly!!

Bubble Students

Recently I was instructed to "not pour [my] time and resources into these (low achieving) kids. They're not going to move. Focus on the movable kids, the ones in the bubble."

Dear World,
Every student with whom I come in contact and who I have the privilege of teaching is in my "bubble." Every student will move forward if I push hard enough! Period! So shame on you school district personnel, principals, teachers, and others who want to just focus on the "bubble" kids! Every child deserves a chance to learn and deserves a high quality educational experience!

I am not a charter school teacher, nor do I embrace the overall charter school philosophy that I will pick and choose with whom I'll work! Students are expelled all the time from charter schools for infractions that real public schools must face and deal with (a challenge I actually welcome).

Personally, I hate it when my students get suspended, in-house or out-of-school. My philosophy? I can't teach you if you're not here! The rapport that I intentionally establish with each and every child is absolutely fundamental to academic success!

So, sorry to bust your "bubble" school district big wigs, curriculum developers, and whoever else doesn't actually teach, but if you are looking for a "yes" man and a "fluffy" type dude-teacher, I "ain't" the one!

Focus on the "bubble" kids only? You got me "chopp'd" psh!

Sincerely,
Flem

5th Annual Read-In

Five years ago, I started a tradition with my 6th graders. I called it a "Read In". The last day before Christmas break, this annual reading event is held.

When I first rolled out the idea, a kid replied that year, "That's decent!" Ever since then, I knew I was on to something.  The premise is that we spend extended times reading whatever we like to read, while nibbling on cookies and sipping hot chocolate supplied by me.

This year, I continued the tradition. Other teachers have come to look forward to this ELA tradition in room 105. This year we were privileged to have our Councilwoman, Mrs. Cindy Bass come and read to one of the classes! This year I also had a caterer, make homemade cookies. She baked over 300 cookies; over 300 big and soft M&M, chocolate, and oatmeal cookies!

Today was such a huge success! Those Common Core folks would probably have my head for being such a nontraditional teacher. But I have a few words for them if they dare to set foot in my classroom and tell me it's all about the nonfiction and that reading is not a personal act! Psshhh!!!

By the way, the kid that replied "That's decent!" was a young lady with an IEP for reading. She scored achieved "proficient" that year in reading on the state assessments! I'm just saying....

The 8-Week Plan

So I have a question. What kind of an "educator" from out of town walks through a school for the first time and deems it necessary for the said school to develop an 8-week plan/instructional focus on graphic organizers?

What???!!!???

Who does that? It's laughable!
Go somewhere and teach something!