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Can’t Wait for 2011-12 School Year!

Thursday, March 24th, 2011

We are incredibly excited that the girls have been accepted into their first choice schools for middle school and high school!

The middle school is a charter school. I am aware of the pros and cons of charters, but here’s the thing: when we went to the info session, it felt like home to both of us. Their educational philosophy makes sense to us, they have middle and high schools and they even have an advisory program that will be available to her for her first year of college. My daughter is as thrilled as I am.

My older daughter will be going to my alma mater, a public arts high school as a Visual Arts major. While it’s no surprise it felt like home to me, my daughter also felt it when we went on the tour. These are students that care about the same things she cares about, these are teachers that understand the “creative” brain, and she will get to spend three hours a day learning about and creating art. I know from experience that she will make life-long friends, and that in the end, no matter what career she ends up having, she will understand the basic tools to get her through anything.

What makes me most excited about the coming school year is how excited my girls are.  I don’t think I’ve seen them this excited about school since they were kindergartners.  The novelty wore off, and they know that it’s not always exciting to learn, you’re not always going to be the teacher’s pet, and that, as much as we hate to say it, school can sometimes be tedious and/or boring.

The benefit of those experiences, however, makes it all the more likely that they will be able to get through any of the challenges that come up because overall, they will still enjoy school more every day and have so much to look forward to every day. The things they don’t love will just be small prices to pay for the opportunities these schools will afford them. Simply having a more positive attitude always makes problems seem so much smaller.

It’s a long road ahead to be sure, but their enthusiasm makes me feel like we’ve already won half the battle.

April McCaffery is a single mother to two daughters, in 5th and 8th grade.

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Posted in April McCaffery, Back to School, Charter Schools, Parent Perspectives, Schools | 2 Comments »

Building Student Confidence: Part 5

Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010

This is the fifth installment in the confidence building series. Click on the links for Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.

There’s an old saying that goes something like this: “Imagine what you could do if you know you wouldn’t fail?”

Most of us have notions that there are challenges/tasks/activities that we incapable of doing successfully. This mental barrier is often wrong. Board breaking (see part 3), the ropes course (see part 4), and various other activities are designed to show people that the barriers to success are often psychological.

For schools/classes that do not have access or the means to do board breaking and/or ropes courses, there are most certainly other ways to help students build confidence. Every success is a step toward confidence. I think that in many classrooms, there are few opportunities for the types of challenges students need to build complete confidence.

In a data-driven/test-scores oriented culture, success on standardized tests is the most common instrument used to measure success-outcomes. Test scores (a topic of national debate right now) are, in my opinion, not necessarily a good indicator of measuring what has been learned, and they most certianly aren’t useful for real world confidence building. Whereas it is true that seeing ones’ test results can be a nice confidence boost, they make up only one of many areas in which students need confidence.

Working within the framework of state curriculum standards, there are many opportunities for students to build confidence for the “bigger picture.” Another favorite quote of mine is this: “if you are afraid of something, it is exactly what you should do.” Going with this, I try to incorporate into my classes activities that students tend to fear. Interviewing experts, oral reports, working with others to accomplish a task.

For my school’s student body elections, I have candidates give speeches to a full auditorium (600 people). My leadership students take turns doing morning Public Address (PA) announcements (to 1300 people). At assemblies, my elected class officers lead the flag salute and introduce speakers. My leadership class gives incoming fifth graders tours of the school.

I try to give students as many opportunities as possible to work in environments that are often uncomfortable for them. As humans, we generally  like stay within our “comfort zones.” We want to do things that are easy for us, or come naturally. The idea is to expand ones’ comfort zone to include things we used to classify as things we feared (i.e. public speaking, interacting with strangers, etc.).

The larger our comfort zone, the more interesting and exciting our lives will be. Giving students opportunities to expand their comfort zones while learning curriculum is possible. It might take some planning, and it might take some time to properly do so, but the reward is well worth the price.

Read Part 6: parental tools here and Part 7: volunteering here

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Mr. Franklin is a teacher for the Los Angeles Unified School District. He is an eleven year veteran and has won District and County Teacher of the Year awards. He was also a recipient of the prestigious Bank of America Community Hero award. Before teaching, he spent five years at Learning Forum, which runs summer camps designed to increase student academic potential. It is a world-wide program.

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Posted in Learning Activites, Steve Franklin, Teacher Perspectives | 5 Comments »

The Importance of the Right Classroom Layout

Friday, August 13th, 2010

It is almost the start of a new school year and for the eighth time in seven years I will be setting up a new classroom. I wish I were one of those lucky teachers who use the same room every year and only need to tweak it from time to time. Imagining what my classroom should look like is not easy for me. Here are some of the things I have to think about when trying to put my room together:

I start by thinking about my students and how they learn. I will be teaching four different groups of students. Three of the groups I have already had, so I know how they like to work. One class is self-contained special education where they all like to work as individuals. The second is also special education, but this one half the kids like to work as individuals, and the other half want to be in bigger groups. The room needs to accommodate both. The third class is general education with 30-student class of generally high achieving 7th graders, half boys and half girls. The girls work in three or four groups. Most of the boys like to work independently, but there are three pairs of boys who like to work only in those pairs.

Then there is the fourth class. This class is considered a VERY difficult to teach. There are six or eight motivated students, but there are also several VERY disruptive students among the 30 in the class. I don’t know their learning styles or how they like to work. I just know that after trying several different arrangements, all their teachers arranged the desks in a giant U-shape when teaching them.

Of course, in laying out the desks, I need to make sure to position the laptop and desktop computers so that their screens are shielded from the sun, so they are near the few electric outlets, and also in a way that I can readily monitor what the students are doing.

This used to be a science room so there is an immovable eight-foot-long marble-topped demo-table, complete with a sink that serves as teacher desk and obstacle to desk layout.  There is an interactive white board in the room and I need a table stacked with a stable pile of books on which to put the projector. My nemesis will be the cables that will need to run around and across the floor to connect everything that needs power or communication.

But there are still more things to consider! Student work will need display places, as will the various fire escape paths and other required signage. I’ll also need to find prominent places for the class rules and procedures. Oh. Procedures. I’ll have to figure out how to collect homework (not that I give much) and forms, where to put textbooks (not that I use them much) and the class library. I also have to make the classroom work for me. I like to move around a lot when I teach. I like to be able to whisper a word of praise, encouragement or reprimand in each student’s ear should I want to. And I also want it to look warm, inspiring, interesting and inviting, not to mention organized and easy to clean.

Sounds easy, doesn’t it?

On August 30th I can get into the room and start trying to put it together. I’ll try to post pictures of what it looks like then, how it changes before the start of school on Sept. 8th, and how it continues to change throughout the year. I’m interested in hearing your ideas, criticisms, compliments and concerns. I need all the help I can get.

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Posted in Back to School, Deven Black, Teacher Perspectives | 11 Comments »

Communicating With Teachers: An Underutilized Parent Tool

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

Whenever I meet with parents at the prescribed conference times, I tell them to drop in and visit any time, without notice or appointment. I see it as part of my job as a pubic servant to be accessible to parents at their convenience. Naturally, if I’m in the middle of class, we’ll wait until a break. Meeting with teachers (frequently) gives you several advantages in fine tuning your child’s education.

1. It shows your child that you and the teacher will be talking regularly.
2. It shows the teacher that you wish to be a partner in the education process of your child.
3. It shows the teacher that you are “watching” to make sure your child gets a good education
4. It will help you better understand the class and what is expected of your child.

Teacher evaluation is a thorny issue in education reform circles. What makes a good teacher? This is very difficult to quantify, for a variety of reasons. Naturally, you want your child to have the very best teacher. Also naturally, just like at any other job, if a teacher knows that they are being “watched”,  they are more likely stay on their toes. Most teachers will still perform well even if they aren’t being scrutinized by parents, but knowing the parents are paying attention only improves the situation. This tool of meeting with the teachers usually will helps to improve the parent-teacher relationship, as well.

Some parents don’t have the time to come to school, so phone calls are a reasonable replacement. It is our duty as teachers to be available to you. If you are not receiving a response, then I would recommend calling the office and have the school’s counselors get in touch with the teacher.

You might be asking yourself, “why is this teacher suggesting something that causes (potentially) more work?” The answer is simple. You are entitled to the interaction, and it will benefit your child. Any teacher who is in the profession for the right reasons will respond. If you feel a teacher is not interested in communication, then I believe you have the right to ask that your child be put in a class where this does happen.

At our school, the counseling office initiates “daily progress checks” for students on the decline. Every day, each of these children’s teachers must write comments about behavior, assignments, etc. I receive dozens of them per day. This service doesn’t have to be limited to declining kids; I think all parents would benefit from daily progress reports. Simply ask the counseling office to sign your child up. If your school doesn’t have a similar program, perhaps you could suggest it or make your own. It is yet another way for you (and the teacher) to send a message to your child that he/she too is being watched and constantly evaluated, and that stakeholders are taking an interest in what is going on in class. I have seen this device produce remarkable turnarounds in students whose performance isn’t where it ought be.

In summary, I suggest you visit your kids classes. Become aware of what is happening in class, what is expected of your child, and what the teacher is like. Communicate with the teacher, in whatever way you are able, as frequently as possible. Show the teacher and your child that you have a deep interest in his/her educational outcome.

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Steve Franklin teaches middle school social studies and leadership for the Los Angeles Unified School District. He is a twelve year veteran, who has won District and County Teacher of the Year awards, as well as the coveted Bank of America Local Heroes award.

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Posted in Steve Franklin | 11 Comments »

Back to School Computer Deals

Saturday, August 7th, 2010

It is Back to school! If you are in the market for a new computer, then look no farther. We have compiled a list of awesome deals on great systems available. If you have found better deals, please leave them in the comments section and we will add them to the post.

A comprehensive back to school back to school guide for your convenience.

Enjoy!

  1. Walmart ‘Back to College’ bundle starting at $468 features an HP G62-219WM notebook with Intel Pentium duel-core processor, flash drive, and Windows 7. It comes with a carrying case.
  2. OfficeDepot.com is offering the Toshiba AMD Dual Core 1.5 GHz, 13” Laptop for $500 plus free shipping through DealNews.com  It features an LED backlight and a 1.5GHz dual-core processor. The deal ends August 7.
  3. Another deal available through OfficeDepot.com is the Toshiba Satellite AMD Athlon 2.2GHz  16” laptop for $350 plus free shipping. It features a 15.6 LCD wide screen and Windows 7.
  4. For its members, Sam’s Club is selling a great starter laptop: the Dell White Slimed Inspiron Mini. It features 1.6 GHz and Windows XP. Extra features include a streaming media player and Nickelodeon games package. The total price is $227
  5. HP has back to school specials starting as low as $380 and free shipping for a Compaq Presario CQ62z laptop. Their HP’s, starting at $500 come with free memory or hard drive upgrade and $75 worth of music downloads.
  6. Best Buy is offering a deal on the Dell Inspiron laptop. It has the Intel Pentium Processor, a 15.6” display, 2GB memory, and 250 GB of hard drive. The price is $450.
  7. BrandsMartUSA.com currently has the Acer Aspire notebook on sale for $400. This computer has Windows 7 Home Premium, 2GB of memory, 160GB hard drive, and a 15.6” screen.
  8. TigerDirect.com is usually known for good deals and right now they have the HP ProBook 4510s for $399-$100 off of the list price. It comes with a 15.6” screen. Windows 7, Intel Celeron Dual-Core Processor, 1.8 GHz, 2GB DDR, and 160 GB HDD. Computer ships same day.
  9. TigerDirect’s liquidation department has a refurbished Samsung NP for the low price of $240. It includes 1.6 GHz, 1GB DDR2, 160GB, and a 10.1” screen.
  10. One more deal that, “won’t last”  from  TigerDirect is the Dell Latitude D600 Notebook with an Intel Pentium M 1.4GHz processor, 512MB DDR, 40GB HDD, and a 14.1” screen. The price is $280 plus free shipping. This is an off-lease product, which means it was leased to a customer then returned before the end of the lease period.

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Image Credit: http://www.caslt.org/images/general/clipart/notebook-computer.jpg

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Posted in Back to School, Guest, Technology | 5 Comments »

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