Sunday, June 21, 2015

Unfinished business



4LAKids: Sun 21•Jun•'15 Dads Day/Summer Solstice
In This Issue:
 •  BUDGET DEAL CONFIRMS RECORD K-12 SPENDING
 •  Study: LA UNIFIED FAILED TO FUNNEL STATE DOLLARS TO THE HIGH-NEED STUDENTS THEY WERE MEANT FOR + smf’s 2¢
 •  MIDDLE SCHOOL YEARS SO TAXING, SO CRITICAL TO FUTURE SUCCESS + CRAZY LOVE Teaching in the Middle
 •  HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest (but not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other Sources
 •  EVENTS: Coming up next week...
 •  What can YOU do?


Featured Links:
 •  Give the gift of a 4LAKids Subscription to a friend or colleague!
 •  Follow 4 LAKids on Twitter - or get instant updates via text message by texting "Follow 4LAKids" to 40404
 •  4LAKids Anthology: All the Past Issues, solved, resolved and unsolved!
 •  4LAKidsNews: a compendium of recent items of interest - news stories, scurrilous rumors, links, academic papers, rants and amusing anecdotes, etc.


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
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!


►Report: THE LOCAL CONTROL FUNDING FORMULA: Steps Taken by LAUSD in Year Two, 2014-15



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


• LAUSD BOARD OF EDUCATION & COMMITTEES MEETING CALENDAR



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!


Who are your elected federal & state representatives? How do you contact them?




Scott Folsom is a parent leader in LAUSD and was Parent/Volunteer of the Year for 2010-11 for Los Angeles County. • He is Past President of Los Angeles Tenth District PTSA and has represented PTA on the LAUSD Construction Bond Citizen's Oversight Committee for over 12 years. He is a Health Commissioner, Legislation Team member and a member of the Board of Managers of the California State PTA. He serves on numerous school district advisory and policy committees and has served as a PTA officer and governance council member at three LAUSD schools. He is the recipient of the UTLA/AFT "WHO" Gold Award and the ACSA Regional Ferd Kiesel Memorial Distinguished Service Award - honors he hopes to someday deserve. • In this forum his opinions are his own and your opinions and feedback are invited. Quoted and/or cited content copyright © the original author and/or publisher. All other material copyright © 4LAKids.
• FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 4LAKids makes such material available in an effort to advance understanding of education issues vital to parents, teachers, students and community members in a democracy. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
• To SUBSCRIBE e-mail: 4LAKids-subscribe@topica.email-publisher.com - or -TO ADD YOUR OR ANOTHER'S NAME TO THE 4LAKids SUBSCRIPTION LIST E-mail smfolsom@aol.com with "SUBSCRIBE" AS THE SUBJECT. Thank you.