In This Issue:
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BUDGET DEAL CONFIRMS RECORD K-12 SPENDING |
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Study: LA UNIFIED FAILED TO FUNNEL STATE DOLLARS TO THE HIGH-NEED STUDENTS THEY WERE MEANT FOR + smf’s 2¢ |
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MIDDLE SCHOOL YEARS SO TAXING, SO CRITICAL TO FUTURE SUCCESS + CRAZY LOVE Teaching in the Middle |
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HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest (but
not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other Sources |
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EVENTS: Coming up next week... |
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What can YOU do? |
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Featured Links:
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Dan Walters: SCHOOL RESERVES LAW ENTANGLED IN CALIFORNIA
POLITICS -- Sir Walter Scott’s famous aphorism, “Oh, what a tangled web we
weave when first we practice to deceive,” is particularly applicable to one
bill now pending in the state Senate. Assembly Bill 531 would not formally
repeal an odd and indefensible decree by Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature,
but would render it functionally moot by making the law even more obtuse and
complex – tangled, if you will. | http://bit.ly/1QKvabv
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June 17th.
Bunker Hill Day. The 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill was actually fought one-hill-over on Breed’s Hill …and the British won.
And Wednesday was the 43rd anniversary of The Greatest Day Ever in
Rent-A-Cop History when a security guard at the Watergate Office Complex
in ’72 noticed a door taped open and started events that ultimately
brought down of the President of the United States.
It’s too late for dinner Wednesday night, but a table of us LAUSDcentric
types linger past closing at a neighborhood restaurant, eating and
sharing a glass of wine/water/iced tea and discussing+dissecting our
common interest.
One after another our cell phones beep+vibrate: Something’s happening out there in the twitterverse.
There’s a shooting. In Charleston. In a church. The unfiltered details
filter in. In a Black church. The shooter is a white man.
The conversation shifts to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in
‘63. Medgar Evers. Columbine and Newtown and thousand other shootings:
The nations’ unfinished business. An earlier strand of conversation
about Donald Trump misusing a Neil Young song in his campaign kickoff
returns Neil and Kent State to the conversation: “What if you knew her
and found her dead on the ground, how can you run when you know?”
The details and the heartbreak and déjà vu comes in
140-characters-or-less-as the mainstream media makes breathless
newsbytes out of cellphone video and paragraphs of terse sentences and
none of it makes any sense at all. Mother Emanuel Church. Emanuel:
Hebrew for “God is with us”. We learn of the pastor and the the track
coach and the librarian and the sad pathetic shooter. Of an aborted
slave revolt planned at that church for June 17, 1822 - 193 years
before. There are offers of forgiveness and demands for the death
penalty. There are murmurings of gun control and discussions about race
and terrorism and the stars+bars-in-front-of-the-statehouse and mental
illness. Photo ops abound.
There are nine dead. The librarian, Cynthia Hurd, was someone you+I all
knew. Helpful. Generous. Selfless. Beloved. A mother. A ferocious
volunteer. Four days from retirement. They’ll name a library after her
and she will be a granite marker in a cemetery and a memory in many
lives. We knew her and she’s dead on that holy ground in that sanctuary.
How can we run when we know?
BUT WHY BOTHER? A BBC story says we are in the beginning of the Next Great Extinction: http://bbc.in/1fo8oVY.
We make plans and movies (“Armageddon”) about how we are now prepared
to solve the problem of the Last Great Extinction: Hurtling asteroids.
The cause for this one, the sixth in a series. was identified by Walt
Kelley back in ’53: “There is no need to sally forth, for it remains
true that those things which make us human are, curiously enough, always
close at hand. Resolve then, that on this very ground, with small flags
waving and tinny blast on tiny trumpets, we shall meet the enemy, and
not only may he be ours, he may be us.”
The Pope has written an encyclical. Singer-songwriters from the ’60 can
always be relied upon to put it all in perspective+pentameter:
“Monopoly is so much fun,
I’d hate to spoil the game.
And I’m sure it wouldn’t interest anybody
Outside of a small circle of friends.”
THE STATE LEGISLATURE AND THE BOARD OF ED debated their respective
budgets on Monday and Tuesday – the board invested far more time in
theirs than did the lege.
● The board heard from 75 public speakers and two parent committees and
asked no questions of any of them. Thankyouverymuch …next! (The LAUSD
budget is scheduled for a vote next Tuesday, the drop-deadline is June
30.)
● The lege passed their budget with less than two hours of debate (they
don’t get paid if they don’t make the June 15th deadline) and sent the
whole affair to The Big Three (The governor/the assembly speaker and the
senate president-pro-tempore) …and they came up with a compromise (the
“real budget’) in less than a day behind closed doors!
Headlines crowed “Good News Budget Deal Has Everyone Happy”. ‘Everyone’ being relative.
The Big Three Budget rejected the Legislature's higher revenue estimates
and stripped nearly a quarter of a billion dollars for legislative
priorities from the spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1
…and within a day or two the wonderfulness came into clearer
perspective: Republicans lamented the lack of funding for Californians
with developmental disabilities or who are elderly, blind and disabled.
Sen. Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles, was disgusted by the elimination of
extra funding for CalWORKS -- the state's welfare-to-work program for
low-income mothers and their children –and refused to cast a vote on the
budget.
Brown claims he’s being fiscally conservative because he doesn't want to
see the state restore funding now only to cut it the next time revenue
drops.
"We continue to say, 'Next year, next year’.” Mitchell said. “But I'm
not sure when next year will come." Senator Mitchell and the Chicago
Cubs fan base.
I AM GOING TO TRY TO AVOID WADING DEEPER INTO THE CONTROVERSY over the “teacher jailing” of Rafe Esquith:
● NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED TEACHER TO TEACHER JAIL AFTER ALLEGATIONS OF MISCONDUCT: Reading ‘Huck Finn’ + smf+other’s 2¢
● RAFE ESQUITH, CALLED 'THE WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS TEACHER' BY THE WASHINGTON POST, IN LAUSD TEACHER JAIL (7 stories) http://bit.ly/1Bsvp46
● LAUSD SUPERINTENDENT SAYS INVESTIGATION OF POPULAR TEACHER WILL NOT BE RUSHED - LA Times http://lat.ms/1Buzm8h
● THE OUTRAGEOUS TREATMENT OF ONE OF THE NATION’S MOST OUTSTANDING TEACHERS - The Washington Post http://wapo.st/1FtHIYQ
The District has allowed itself to look additionally ridiculous. I’m
pretty sure this has little/nothing to do with the reading of Huck Finn
to middle scholars – or a not well thought-out joke about having
students perform naked. I should know better than to read between the
lines – but this looks like a case about a student field trip to attend
the Oregon Shakespeare Festival which had not been authorized or
sponsored by the district “…via the proper channels for field trip
authorization.” A la Iris Stevenson | http://bit.ly/1K3hToY.
The parents in Rafe’s school+classroom are entitled to have their
students kept safe. They are entitled to have their kids benefit from
Rafe’s skill+calling as an educator. They are entitled to straight
answers to difficult questions.
Beaudry bureaucrats are entitled to their administrival paperwork and adherence to Bulletin 5525-2 …if that is the issue.
Rafe is entitled to equal protection, due process and a fair hearing. To
be confronted by his accuser and to a speedy resolution. To return to
last week’s history lesson: In English law, the right to a speedy trial
was developed by the Assize of Clarendon in 1166 (a judge would be
summoned if one was not immediately available) and Magna Carta in 1215
("To no one will we sell, to no one will we refuse or delay, right or
justice") …and the Sixth Amendment.
All of us: You and I and the general public and the administration and
students and parents and Rafe Esquith are entitled to the facts.
If Rafe’s accuser is The District, then the investigation needs to be
done by someone else. Otherwise this becomes a Star Chamber trial. Or a
Guantanamo proceeding. Or something from the Spanish Inquisition.
ENTER Cardinal Ximinez, with Cardinal Biggles and Cardinal Fang: “NOBODY
expects the Spanish Inquisition! Amongst our weaponry are such diverse
elements as: fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, an almost fanatical
devotion to the Pope, and nice red uniforms.” – Python, Monty (1970)
Happy First Day of Summer/Happy Father’s Day!
FYI: It isn’t our generation that saves the world like in “Armageddon”; it’s the next one. It’s always been that way.
¡Onward/Adelante! - smf
BUDGET DEAL CONFIRMS RECORD K-12 SPENDING
By John Fensterwald and Susan Frey, EdSource | http://bit.ly/1Frm73n
Jun 16, 2015 :: Gov. Jerry Brown got the bottom line he wanted faster than expected.
Brown and legislative leaders announced a budget deal Tuesday, one day
after state lawmakers approved spending $2 billion beyond what the
governor said he’d accept. The final agreement will not alter the record
education spending that Brown proposed through Proposition 98, the
voter-approved formula that determines revenue for some preschool
programs, K-12 schools and community colleges.
Lawmakers did obtain some concessions within the $115.4 billion spending
plan Brown presented last month: 7,000 additional full-day preschool
slots and 6,800 more childcare vouchers that parents can use to pay
daycare providers; and 10,000 additional students at the California
State University and 5,000 more students at the University of
California, if UC meets conditions that Brown is requiring. Senate
President pro Tem Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, called this extra money
for the “book ends” of students’ education critical to providing
children “a fair shot” at success.
After years of cuts in education funding following the recession, the
$68.4 billion for Prop. 98 in the coming year is a remarkable
turnaround. The 12.3 percent increase is $7.5 billion more than the
$60.9 billion last year.
Proposition 98 funding for K-12 schools and community colleges has
recovered dramatically since the low of $47 billion in 2011-12 to what
would be a high of $68.4 billion next year. The black bar represents
revised estimates of Prop. 98 revenue for three years in Gov. Brown's
May budget proposal, which the Legislature agreed to.
Proposition 98 funding for K-12 schools and community colleges has
recovered dramatically since the low of $47 billion in 2011-12 to what
would be a high of $68.4 billion next year. The black bar represents
revised estimates of Prop. 98 revenue for three years in Gov. Brown’s
May budget proposal, which the Legislature agreed to.
One-time and ongoing appropriations for K-12 schools and community
colleges will total $14 billion next year. This includes revised revenue
estimates for the current year, after school districts’ budgets were
already set. A third of the money will go to pay off debts to schools
built up during the recession.
Highlights of spending next year for education include:
●$6.1 billion added to the $47 billion appropriated last year – a 13.2
percent increase – for schools to spend through the Local Control
Funding Formula, the new finance system providing general funding.
That’s an average of $1,088 more per student for an average district, in
which 63 percent of English learners and low-income children receive
extra money under the formula.
●$500 million in one-time spending for teacher development. That’s part
of the final agreement Brown made with de León and Assembly Speaker Toni
Atkins, D-San Diego. It will reduce the $3.5 billion that Brown had
proposed in repayments to districts for past mandated expenses.
Districts will receive the money on a per-teacher and per-administrator
basis. They can use the funding over three years to provide training in
the Common Core and other new academic standards, to support new
teachers and principals or struggling teachers identified through Peer
Assistance and Review programs, and to train mentor principals and
teachers.
●More than $1 billion over three years for new career and technical
education initiatives, including $400 million next year for a new
proposal, the Career Technical Education Incentive Grant Program. It
will promote regional partnerships to meet emerging workforce needs.
●$60 million in new funding to expand interventions for special-needs
children ages birth to 2, an additional 2,500 part-day preschool slots
and an expansion of schoolwide behavioral supports – all recommended by
the Statewide Special Education Task Force, which issued its report in
March.
●A $10 million increase in Foster Youth Services, which now receives $15
million from the state. The increase plus a change in the law will
allow foster youth who live with relatives to receive counseling and
tutoring.
●$4 billion in debt repayment. This includes $3 billion for unpaid state
mandates and $1 billion in the final repayment for deferrals – late
payments that required schools to borrow money.
●$7.9 billion for community colleges, up about $700 million from a year
ago. The Legislative Analyst’s Office calculated that funding per
full-time equivalent student would be $6,764 in the coming year, $724
per student above – 12 percent– the pre-recession level.
Responding to a strong push from business and community groups, early
education advocates and legislators, Brown agreed to allocate $265
million for early education that included an increase in reimbursement
rates by 5 percent to preschool and childcare providers, and by 4.5
percent to providers paid by vouchers.
“If you look at it from what the kids need, we have a long ways to go,”
said Ted Lempert, president of Children Now, an advocacy group based in
Oakland that got 350 organizations to sign a letter to the governor on
behalf of early education. “But if you look at it from what we were
expecting, it’s strong. The Legislature threw together a really strong
package, and the bulk of the package is in there and that’s great.”
The 7,000 new slots — plus the 2,500 part-day preschool slots for
children with exceptional needs — are a step toward a goal of 31,500
slots needed to provide preschool for every 4-year-old from a low-income
family.
The number of childcare vouchers needed is not clear, said Giannina
Perez, director of early learning and development policy for Children
Now. In June 2011, the state disbanded its waiting list for low-income
families who needed help with childcare costs, Perez said. At the time,
that list had 200,000 eligible families, she said.
Of the $265 million total, $100 million will now be part of the Prop. 98
guarantee, something the early education advocates had wanted because
of the recent huge influx of funds into Prop. 98 compared with the rest
of the state budget. Education groups, such as the California Teachers
Association and the California School Boards Association, had opposed
adding more preschool funding into the guarantee for K-12 schools and
community colleges.
Brown did not allocate an additional $25 million for the state’s $550
million fund for after-school programs as legislators had proposed. The
program has not seen an increase since it was first implemented in 2006.
The fat budget years for education are expected to level off with the
expiration of temporary taxes under Proposition 30. Surging revenues
have enabled the state to pay back most of the more than $10 billion in
Prop. 98 allocations owed to districts in past years, called the
maintenance factor. But districts are still owed $700 million, and that
amount is expected to grow post-Prop. 30.
Because the Local Control Funding Formula steers additional money to
districts based on their enrollments of “high-needs” children –
low-income students, English learners and foster youth – some have
caught up to or surpassed pre-recession spending levels, adjusted for
inflation, but others still have not.
Study: LA UNIFIED FAILED TO FUNNEL STATE DOLLARS TO
THE HIGH-NEED STUDENTS THEY WERE MEANT FOR + smf’s 2¢
▲Previous reporting in 4LAKids/6.14 : LCFF Report:
LAUSD’S SHORT-CHANGED DISADVANTAGED SCHOOLS+STUDENTS/LAUSD FALLS SHORT
OF GOALS + smf’s 2¢ | http://bit.ly/1LbqmoG
▼L.A. UNIFIED FUNDING FOR HIGH-NEED STUDENTS OFF TARGET, STUDY SAYS
By Teresa Watanabe | LA Times | http://lat.ms/1FiSO2Q
6.15.2015 :: In the first full year of a significant state funding
boost, Los Angeles Unified administrators failed to consistently funnel
the dollars to the high-need students they were meant for, a new study
found.
The report by UC Berkeley found that L.A. Unified officials spent more
than half of the $820 million received for the 2014-15 school year on
special education, library aides and assistant principals – although the
money was specifically meant for students who are low-income, learning
English and in foster care, under the state’s new school funding system.
In addition, the report found that school administrators lack a
“coherent strategy” for linking their funding choices to specific
improvements for those particular students, said Bruce Fuller, a UC
Berkeley education professor and the study’s lead author.
The report, conducted on behalf of United Way of Greater Los Angeles and
funded by the California Endowment, is scheduled to be released Monday
as the L.A. Board of Education prepares to debate on the 2015-16 budget
this week.
“They’ve funded a smattering of new positions and they’re sprinkling new
dollars on the schools, but there’s been no conversation with
principals about how the various threads of new funding can be woven
together into a school-wide reform strategy to lift low-achieving kids,”
Fuller said.
Edgar Zazueta, L.A. Unified’s chief lobbyist and point person on the new
funding system (●●smf: ?!), said the district’s efforts were “still
very much a work in progress” and started at a time that state rules on
using the dollars had not yet been finalized. But he defended the
spending choices as an appropriate use of the money.
Among other things, he said, the money has paid for new instructional
aides for students learning English, counselors for foster youth and
coordinators to shift school discipline practices from punitive to more
therapeutic approaches, known as restorative justice.
Zazueta said that about 86% of L.A. Unified students are low-income,
learning English or in foster care, so state rules allow the use of
funds targeted for them for district-wide programs, such as the
restoration of library aides and assistant principals at most elementary
schools.
Officials made those spending choices in a deliberate effort to offset
some of the massive cuts at the district’s hardest-hit campuses – cuts
that totaled about $2.7 billion between 2009 and 2013, the report noted.
“We would argue we did have a strategic vision: Let’s restore funding to
schools hit hardest by the economic recession,” Zazueta said.
He added that the district stood by its decision to spend $400 million
of the funds on special-education students, 80% of whom fall into the
state’s targeted categories.
Maria Brenes, executive director of InnerCity Struggle, an East L.A.
advocacy organization, praised district investments for foster youth,
students learning English and more effective discipline practices. But
she and Fuller said they were disappointed that L.A. Unified officials
had not fully followed the school board’s 2014 directive to allocate
dollars to schools with the highest needs based on the number of
targeted students and other factors, such as suspensions, dropout rates
and neighborhood violence.
The district appears to have fully applied that needs test only to high schools, Brenes and Fuller said.
All sides agreed that a key priority was to train principals and staff
on how to effectively use the state dollars to boost achievement for
their neediest students. The report found “confusion and dismay” among
many principals, who said they received little if any district guidance
on how to achieve those goals.
Fuller said, however, that district officials had been exceedingly
cooperative and open in supplying data and engaging in conversations
about the process. “There is abundant goodwill,” he said.
For his part, Zazueta said district officials would “take very much to
heart” the feedback as they move forward to finalize the 2015-16 budget,
which includes $1.1 billion in targeted funding for needy students.
●●smf’s 2¢: In reading the Times story above and the Daily News one
following I note that Pedro Salcido and Edgar Zazueta are the named
frontmen in LAUSD’s Local Control Funding Formula/Local Control
Accountability Plan efforts.
Nothing personal; they are hard working and good at what they do, but
both are from the LAUSD Office of Government Relations; they are
lobbyists.
That makes Wonderlandian sense if the 24th floor of Beaudry is the
definition of “local” …rather than the LCFF Parent Advisory Committee
and the individual school site councils – which 4LAKids believes was the
legislative+gubernatorial intent (…and the specific intent of LAUSD
Bulletin 6332.0 [http://bit.ly/1MWzbDY]
which established the Parent Advisory Committee [PAC] as the
District-wide committee to advise on the LCFF Local Control and
Accountability Plan [LCAP]) …and what seems to be happening elsewhere in
California.
The underlying complaint of the study seems to be that the United Way of
Greater Los Angeles and CLASS (of which Inner City Struggle is a
component) were not engaged – I’m pretty sure that was not what the lege
and gov had in mind!
MIDDLE SCHOOL YEARS SO TAXING, SO CRITICAL TO FUTURE
SUCCESS + CRAZY LOVE Teaching in the Middle
MIDDLE SCHOOL, TIME OF HORMONAL TURMOIL AND SWITCHING CLASSES
JUNIOR HIGH IS WHEN MOST FUTURE DROPOUTS FALL OFF THE TRACK
By Nan Austin in The Modesto Bee | http://bit.ly/1fmArFm
6.16.2015 :: The tween time, that
pull-parents-close-just-to-push-them-away age, confounds us all. But
research shows those tumultuous years are the pivot point for young
lives. The slide toward dropping out in high school most often begins
right here, in the middle school years.
Those who work every day with the most at-risk junior high students, however, have hope.
“In those three or four years, the world and everything in it changes.
Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse, but having a
front-row seat is a special treat for those of us who don’t mind the
human drama,” writes middle school teacher Beth Morrow on
www.middleweb.com in an article titled “Crazy Love: Six Reasons Why I
Teach in the Middle.” (follows)
Morrow talks about the lurching progress toward maturity, often tactless
honesty and the hopefulness of watching them struggle past obstacles
despite it all.
“The egocentric middle school mind is hardwired for the biological fear
that they are the only person in the history of the universe to fall
down at lunch – wear non-matching socks – fail a test – have a cowlick
on picture day,” she notes.
Parents should know that middle school isn’t so easy: Girl, 13, aspiring doctor, at Creekside Middle School career day
Students polled at career fairs in Patterson’s Creekside Middle School
and Blaker-Kinser Junior High in Ceres overwhelmingly said parents did
not understand how hard they worked and did not give them time to
recover after a stressful school day.
“We actually do get a lot of work,” said one Ceres eighth-grader. “When we get a break, we need that break,” he said.
“I have to do chores right when I walk through the door. Let me rest!” said an eighth-grade girl at Blaker-Kinser.
“They don’t notice the good grades. They just see the bad,” said her classmate.
Her comments were echoed by mentors hired through a United Way program
finishing its second year at three high-needs middle schools.
Parents should know that some people change in middle school. There is
pointless drama: Girl, 13, aspiring psychologist, at Creekside Middle
School career day
“Celebrating all successes is really important. They work really hard,
and if nobody notices, they just say, ‘Why bother,’” said Alicia
Sequeira, graduation coach at Hanshaw Middle School in south Modesto.
“Sometimes it’s just study habits, school habits. If that’s not doing
their homework, not showing up on time, that’s going to go with them to
high school. If we get them early, we can change those habits, get them
going,” said Luis Tinajero, graduation coach at Creekside Middle School
in Patterson.
“(Problems in) discipline, attendance, grades – they’re all symptoms of
something else going on,” said Sandra Chavarna, graduation coach at
Prescott Junior High in north Modesto.
“It’s hard to be faced with your failures day in and day out. ‘Hey –
you’re failing!’ ‘You’re failing.’ ‘You’re failing!’ I think it helps to
have a graduation coach who says, ‘You’re failing today. But maybe you
won’t fail tomorrow.’”
Parents should know that middle school is the time that will effect your
kids, good or bad, for the rest of their life: Girl, 13, aspiring
police officer, at Creekside Middle School career day
The three coaches have worked since October 2013 in a prevention program
run by the nonprofit Center for Human Services and funded by the United
Way, Stanislaus County. President Francine DiCiano said her research
showed middle school was where a small program could have the greatest
impact. Each year, the team picks 40 incoming seventh-graders to mentor
at each school, based on recommendations from their sixth-grade year.
While not every kid turned around completely, Tinajero said, “they all
progressed.” That means better attendance, fewer discipline problems and
higher grades.
Grades are a sore point, however, because bringing up an average takes
consistency. The semester average has to top 60 percent to erase an F,
the first thing parents see.
“I’ve had kids with grades in the 20 percents bring their work up and
start getting 60s and 70s. That’s huge progress. But if we’re just
looking at that letter, it’s still an F,” he said.
Family issues add to the load for many of their kids. Homelessness,
responsibility for getting younger siblings up and off to school,
squeezing in homework while juggling other duties – all can take a toll
on grades and attendance. The mentors check in with families, check in
with the kids about once a week, confer with teachers and get calls from
the vice principal when one of their caseloads has a setback.
I know some kids who are like, ‘How much can I do till you give up on
me?’ They test you: Luis cq Tinajero, graduation coach at Creekside
Middle School in Patterson
That community feel took time to build. Chavarna describes her first
efforts to contact parents as “feeling like a stalker.” When a call from
the school always means something’s wrong, she said, “here some
stranger says they’re going to help your child. When negative calls are
the expectation, it takes a while to get used to this person who is
always saying nice things about them. It takes a while to adjust to the
idea.”
Teachers, too, were skeptical at first. Seeing better behavior from
their most challenging students helped, as did seeing the kids buckle
down and work during after-school time with the coach.
“We all stay after school for help – if not help, just attention,” Tinajero said.
“A lot of times, there’s no quiet, comfortable place at home where they
can work,” Chavarna said – someplace without siblings grabbing their
papers or grown-ups yelling.
At Hanshaw, former students now going to Downey High come back to tutor,
Sequeira said. “Sometimes the kids don’t need the help, they just want
to be there. So I have the Downey kids bring their own homework, model
that behavior.”
Kids know their academic performance labels them, Chavarna said.
“They’re being judged on their grades. We tell them, ‘We see your
grades. We still want you to try.’ Even if they didn’t get it right
away, it will stick with them. There were folks that cared along the
way.”
_____________
COPING SKILLS: Advice gleaned from teacher Patti Grayson after a year in
“the land of the gland” in an article on www.middleweb.com, and tips
for parents of teen girls from The Camping and Education Foundation.
Notice and comment. Praise goes a long way in those years when
self-confidence is so scarce. Tweens crave attention and yet assume
everyone’s watching, translating silence to mean you did not like it.
Be there. Sharing time doing a chore or project gives a chance to
interact without the focus being on them – until they want it to be
about them. But even just everyday positive constants give reassuring
structure.
Add positive activities. Volunteering gives a sense of being needed;
tutoring or babysitting makes them a role model. Both solidify that
shaky self-confidence and sense of having grown, says the foundation.
“Snip the snark,” as Grayson puts it, adding that tween egos are
fragile. “They’ll laugh it off now, and then dwell on it for weeks.
Weigh your words carefully,” she advises.
Give them time. These are the inconsistent, distracted, disorganized
years. Take time to laugh and have fun with them, Grayson says, “Be the
oasis.”
_________________
▼ CRAZY LOVE: 6 REASONS WHY I TEACH IN THE MIDDLE
by Beth Morrow MiddleWeb ·| http://bit.ly/1I3e2bu
02/08/2015 :: If you’re nodding your head at the suitability of my
title, you’re either one of us, or you think we must be… well, crazy.
Middle school students, that group of energetic, misunderstood and
sometimes misguided kids between the ages of roughly eleven and fifteen,
bring a unique perspective (which often changes by the day) to the
classroom that their primary and secondary counterparts do not.
If you read the title and felt a warm glow of validation, you know just
how wonderful middle school students can be. There’s a resiliency, a
curiosity, an awakening that takes place over the middle years that
slowly transforms the naive elementary student into a semi-worldly
adolescent.
In those three or four years, the world and everything in it changes.
Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse, but having a
front-row seat is a special treat for those of us who don’t mind the
human drama.
Consider this my valentine to those volatile adolescents and the
educators who cherish them: my six reasons why middle schoolers are such
a pleasure to teach.
1. THEY REMIND US THAT NO ONE IS PERFECT: that’s perfectly okay. For
every positive characteristic each student possesses, they’re working to
hide multiple struggles. Each day is a literal hard reset in terms of
making choices that will move students forward toward maturity or keep
them in a holding pattern of emotional reaction. What’s wonderful is
when students’ metacognitive growth converts these moments into concrete
opportunities for choice, and they have the chance to begin taking
ownership of their own lives.
2. OH, THE BRUTAL HONESTY: Middle school kids evince a certain flair for
giving an honest opinion, whether or not it’s what the receiver wants
to hear. Generally, the tact filter in students doesn’t develop until
the early high school years. In the meantime, if you’re seeking feedback
on your hairstyle, wardrobe, musical preference or anything that
involves sharing opinions, you can bet that a middle schooler will offer
the unvarnished truth.
3. WE CAN GIVE THEM HOPE FOR THE FUTURE: As a writer and voracious
reader, I believe in the power of story. The power of stories shared
from generation to generation remind us all, in some way, of our
humanity. The egocentric middle school mind is hardwired for the
biological fear that they are the only person in the history of the
universe to fall down at lunch – wear non-matching socks – fail a test –
have a cowlick on picture day.
Since my family is tired of my own awkward adolescent stories, sharing
them with a new, rapt audience each year is my way of giving students
some sense that they aren’t uniquely geeky and that they might survive
the next several years on their way to becoming that elusive man or
woman of mystery: the high schooler.
4. WE CAN GAIN HOPE IN THE PRESENT: As painted by daily news reports,
the world can be a depressing place. Although a cloud of anxiety and
angst is common during the middle school years, watching these young
folks first-hand overcome their personal struggles on their way to
building the foundation for their future dreams brings a refreshing,
uplifting quality to the classroom that, when properly highlighted, can
be positively contagious.
5. WE GET TO WATCH CURIOSITY BLOSSOM: Primary students usually just ‘do’
things without much personal investment. High schoolers often ignore
their own interests to maintain the social status quo. But middle
schoolers, when their interests are tapped, become singularly focused
and intensively determined to find out everything they can on a topic.
I’ve seen struggling readers devour thick fantasy trilogies, apathetic
learners become technology experts capable of teaching staff and
students, and disruptive students create social service projects that
fill their need for connection, build their self-confidence, and make a
real difference to someone in the world.
6. WE GET FREE DAILY HUGS: Around the fourth week of school, one of my
students, a petite seventh grader who wears a smile 24/7, walked into my
room during the last period of the day as though she belonged there.
She came to my desk, threw her arms around me and told me to have a good
afternoon before disappearing into the hallway.
This continued almost daily until Winter Break when I happened to
remember to ask her last period teacher about the behavior. “I have that
group for two periods in a row,” she informed me. “I allow each of them
one restroom pass a day whenever they want to take it. She told me a
while ago she didn’t want to use it for the restroom but to come give
you a hug every day.”
What did I do to earn this hug? How did I come to trump a restroom pass?
If you’re fortunate enough to teach middle school, neither the
circumstances nor the answers will surprise you. With this age group,
every day is an adventure and every adventure is guaranteed to reveal
another facet of the wonderfully rough and resilient gems that are
middle school students.
● Beth Morrow is a veteran middle school ESL/LA/reading educator, freelancer and columnist.
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T
FIT: The Rest (but not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other
Sources
Dan Walters: SCHOOL RESERVES LAW ENTANGLED IN CALIFORNIA
POLITICS -- Sir Walter Scott’s famous aphorism, “Oh, what a tangled web we
weave when first we practice to deceive,” is particularly applicable to one
bill now pending in the state Senate. Assembly Bill 531 would not formally
repeal an odd and indefensible decree by Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature,
but would render it functionally moot by making the law even more obtuse and
complex – tangled, if you will. | http://bit.ly/1QKvabv
[There'll always be a] Texas: DEEP FRYERS, ONCE BANNED BY STATE, ARE ALLOWED TO RETURN TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS
By The Associated Press/New York Times | http://nyti.ms/1GdMivU
Sid Miller, the state’s new agriculture commissioner, says government
mandates have failed to make children healthier in Texas, where roughly
two-thirds of residents are considered overweight or obese.
RAISING GRADUATION RATES WITH QUESTIONABLE QUICK FIXES
NPR Ed | http://n.pr/1Kq2bog
June 10, 2015 • The nation's high school graduation rate is at a
record-high 81 percent. Why? Because states are doing good things ... or
using some sleight of hand.
US SUPREME COURT BACKS PROSECUTION'S USE OF CHILD'S STATEMENT IN ABUSE CASE
http://bit.ly/1LaZlUw
This time for real: LEGISLATURE PASSES (ANOTHER) BUDGET
http://bit.ly/1I75LTP
Donald Trump: “People are tired … of spending more money on education than any nation in the world per capita.” | http://bit.ly/1IRPn85
RETIRING FROM AALA, PRESIDENT PEREZ REFLECTS ON 46 YEARS WITH LAUSD
http://bit.ly/1H62d5i
#CATEACHERSSUMMIT: Free 1 day extravaganza July 31st @ 33different
venues! Sponsored by New Teachers Center(Jaime Aquino)+@GatesEd &
(did I mention?) IT'S FREE! …what could possibly go wrong?
MIDDLE SCHOOL YEARS: So Taxing, So Critical + CRAZY LOVE: Teaching in the Middle
http://bit.ly/1Rhn596
GOOD NEWS BUDGET DEAL HAS EVERYONE HAPPY – if ‘everyone’ is limited to the Governor, Speaker & President pro tempore | http://bit.ly/1Nas8aU
GLUED TO THE SCREEN: A third grade class where kids spend 75% of the day on iPads - The Hechinger Report | http://bit.ly/1FrQ1of
THE CHARTER MOMENT: What's Working – + What's Not with Charter Schools by charter advocate Andy Rotherham | USN&WR | http://bit.ly/1BAZApW
AALA Update: LAUSD IS EXPANDING TRANSITIONAL KINDERGARTEN PROGRAM + BUDGET UPDATE + smf’s 2¢ | http://bit.ly/1d6jk9d
EdSource: LAUSD plan saves preschool slots with new TK program?| http://bit.ly/1LjUnGf
...or do they cut seats?: http://bit.ly/1J81Nf8
CA BUDGET DEAL CONFIRMS RECORD K-12 SPENDING | http://bit.ly/1Frm73n
Forbes: DO iPADS BELONG IN SCHOOLS? | http://onforb.es/1K1NaIW
RAFE ESQUITH, CALLED 'THE WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS TEACHER' BY THE WASHINGTON POST, IN LAUSD TEACHER JAIL (7 stories) | http://bit.ly/1Bsvp46
LAUSD PLANS TO LENGTHEN PRESCHOOL DAY, CUTTING THOUSANDS OF SEATS: School board takes up a budget plan Tuesday | http://bit.ly/1J81Nf8
Dorothea Lasky's ROME | The Iowa Review by Alana Folsom. Marshall HS '08, BA Bates College '12, MFA candidate OSU :: http://iowareview.org/blog/dorothea-laskys-rome …
NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED TEACHER TO TEACHER JAIL AFTER ALLEGATIONS OF MISCONDUCT: Reading ‘Huck Finn’ + smf+other’s 2¢ | http://bit.ly/1N6kIFC
LAST YEAR'S BUDGET DEAL HANDCUFFED SCHOOLS, LIMITING RESERVES TO 6 TO 9 DAYS OF PAYROLL FOR AVERAGE DISTRICTS | http://bit.ly/1R5HMVA
Be still Arne's heart: NCLB MAY GET TO THE SENATE FLOOR AS EARLY AS THE END OF THE WEEK | http://bit.ly/1el6ohb
Don't put a fork in it!: THE DEADLINE IS MET, BUT THE STATE BUDGET ISN'T DONE AND THE DEBATE ISN'T OVER (7 stories) http://bit.ly/1FkUWXU
LAUSD SUMMER SCHOOL ENROLLMENT JUMPS 20% AS GRAD REQUIREMENTS GET TOUGHER
...more summer school seats help too! | http://bit.ly/1cYIlTx
TUESDAY’S LAUSD BOARD MTG|Budget+LCAP 6/16 2:30pm
steaming: http://bit.ly/1GnZwJI
75 Speakers@2:00
Agenda+Materials: http://bit.ly/1QBmSCI
Senate passes #cabudget 26-13 in 1 hr+/Assembly votes 52-28 in 25 min.
Both along party lines. Now to @JerryBrownGov, has 12days 2 sign or
veto.
Associated Press: DISTRACTED GOP LAWMAKER ACCIDENTALLY OKs CALIFORNIA BUDGET
http://bit.ly/1IgTN5C
More LCFF Study: AT-RISK LOS ANGELES KIDS SHORT-CHANGED IN SPENDING http://bit.ly/1BiNiSG
OPT OUT IN OREGON ...NOW WHAT? +smf's 2¢ on Parents' Right to Choose | http://bit.ly/1R23byN
TORLAKSON GREEN-LIGHTS TEACHER PAY RAISES IF THEY FURTHER LCFF GOALS http://bit.ly/1MFD8wi
Update: LAUSD FAILED TO FUNNEL STATE DOLLARS TO THE HIGH-NEED STUDENTS THEY WERE MEANT FOR - 3 stories & smf’s 2¢x2 | http://bit.ly/1IfHTZY
EVENTS: Coming up next week...
TUESDAY, 23 JUNE 2015:
● 9:00 a.m. REGULAR BOARD MEETING (CLOSED SESSION ITEMS)
● 1:00 p.m. REGULAR BOARD MEETING - BUDGET ADOPTION
Agenda, Meeting materials and Link to live stream video: http://bit.ly/1H2IVf9
● CANCELLED - Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment Committee – (3:30 pm)
*Dates and times subject to change.
________________________________________
• SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION BOND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE:
http://www.laschools.org/bond/
Phone: 213-241-5183
____________________________________________________
• LAUSD FACILITIES COMMUNITY OUTREACH CALENDAR:
http://www.laschools.org/happenings/
Phone: 213-241.8700
What can YOU do?
• E-mail, call or write your school board member:
Tamar.Galatzan@lausd.net • 213-241-6386
Monica.Garcia@lausd.net • 213-241-6180
Bennett.Kayser@lausd.net • 213-241-5555
George.McKenna@lausd.net • 213-241-6382
Monica.Ratliff@lausd.net • 213-241-6388
Richard.Vladovic@lausd.net • 213-241-6385
Steve.Zimmer@lausd.net • 213-241-6387
...or your city councilperson, mayor, the governor, member of congress,
senator - or the president. Tell them what you really think! • Find
your state legislator based on your home address. Just go to: http://bit.ly/dqFdq2 • There are 26 mayors and five county supervisors representing jurisdictions within LAUSD, the mayor of LA can be reached at mayor@lacity.org • 213.978.0600
• Call or e-mail Governor Brown: 213-897-0322 e-mail: http://www.govmail.ca.gov/
• Open the dialogue. Write a letter to the editor. Circulate these
thoughts. Talk to the principal and teachers at your local school.
• Speak with your friends, neighbors and coworkers. Stay on top of education issues. Don't take my word for it!
• Get involved at your neighborhood school. Join your PTA. Serve on a School Site Council. Be there for a child.
• If you are eligible to become a citizen, BECOME ONE.
• If you a a citizen, REGISTER TO VOTE.
• If you are registered, VOTE LIKE THE FUTURE DEPENDS ON IT. THEY DO!
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