Today was the last day of eighth grade for my granddaughter. She attends a local parochial school and has spent the last ten years (pre-K-8th) conforming to the rules and regulations of the school. While she has, on a rare occasion, had a "mark" or gotten her name on the board, she has been an exemplary student.
She does well academically, is very active in extra-curricular activities, participates in student government, works the fund-raisers, and volunteers to bring cookies when no one else can. Her mother, my daughter, has been the room mother for this group of children for the long haul. A working mother, she has never failed to do the "super-mom" thing even if it meant staying up past midnight because the Halloween cookies needed to be iced.
Our family has supported the school (even though we are of a different faith) by attending mass for all "special" occasions, attending festivals, supporting fund raisers, and generally doing all the things that supportive grandparents and aunts do when they want to be a significant part of a child's educational experience.
Today, however, on the last day of 8th grade (the day ended at noon), this model student decided to be a little rebellious. She and her pals decided they would violate school dress code. So they arranged to wear their 8th-grade T-shirts, wigs, sunglasses, and silly shoes. They also brought water balloons to school in coolers for the outside party that was scheduled for mid-morning.
The principal, whom I like and respect, was not amused. The 8th graders were met at the door and informed that they would have to call their parents and arrange to have "proper" clothes brought to school. My granddaughter used her "free dress day" card that she had been saving up, so, technically, there was nothing that could be done. From the looks of the damp and dripping children romping on the grounds when I picked up my charge at noon, not many of the other 8th graders changed into uniforms either.
I was told (by her) that she had been admonished for being disrespectful by wearing non-uniform clothes, and the principal sent out the word that the "ring leader" would be identified and dealt with. She said that when she met the principal in the hall, she (the principal) made a "mean face" at her.
The threat of punishment, however, did not dampen the enthusiasm of the 8th graders. They had a great last day, leaving childhood behind with a little bit of civil disobedience.
I have not spoken to my daughter to determine her own feelings about the rebellion. Since she is a school administrator herself, she may have strong feelings about children pushing the boundaries of school policy. I respect that point of view; however, I actually applaud my granddaughter for taking a little license and ending her girlhood with healthy, harmless rebellion.
Had I been the principal, I would have lined the class up, took their picture, and posted it on my Facebook as "8th graders' last day of school." I would have worn goofy shoes and thrown a water balloon or two, and I do not believe that embracing harmless rebellion would have undermined my authority or reflected that the children were disrespectful.
School uniforms have a place. They do homogenize a group of children, reducing our society's fixation with clothes as a status symbol. And these boys and girls have followed those rules for 9 years (no uniforms are required in Pre-K). They respect the policies and abide by the rules.
I also remember the utter exuberance of the last day of school. There is no other experience that compares with that sense of utter and absolute freedom. And by having only a half day and that spent in recreational activities, the school joined the spirit of celebration. Bending rules about uniforms could easily have been justified.
Tomorrow, when my girl wakes up, she will be a 9th grader, going to high school in the fall. Soon after that, she will go to college somewhere, and then she will be all grown up.
Life moves quickly -- too quickly when we measure it by the speed at which our children grow up and away. Laughing and chasing each other with water balloons, wearing silly wigs and hats, sunglasses, and goofy shoes, the 8th graders were enjoying the few days of childhood left to them.
It made me happy to drive up to utter chaos. It made me laugh to see these fledglings chase each other, hug each other, and laugh without care. It made me nostalgic for what was ending. And it also made me proud that I have a granddaughter who knows the rules and abides by them and who, at the same time, can have fun with her girl and guy friends.
We should all be so lucky to have a "free dress" day, complete with water balloons, every once in a while. It hasn't been so long ago (last summer actually) that my assistant and I filled balloons with water and threw them from my second-floor office at some of my student employees down below. It was a hot day, and the students were earning their summer pay as camp counselors. The water balloons were unexpected, but the targeted students knew the affection that was lobbed along with the balloons. And it was fun.
Better infamous than anonymous.
"Better Infamous than Anonymous" is a phrase coined by my long-time friend, Janelle James. This attitude has followed me throughout my teaching career.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Once Upon a Time -- The Series
When the television series "Once Upon a Time," began on ABC earlier this year, I resisted watching it. One of my students heartily recommended it, but I have always been a bit of a purist about fairy tales. I like the early collections where the tales were not sanitized by the Disney notion that everything has a "happily ever after ending." Not that I don't like happily-ever-after endings; in fact, I do. But like fairy and folktale scholar Jack Zipes, I wish that Disney was less consumer-oriented, less determined to make the blue birds in Snow White so damned cute and the mice in Cinderella such expert dressmakers. I do not reject the idea of a fairy godmother, shape shifters, evil personified by an old witchy-y crone. I see those people every day (metaphorically).
I don't know exactly WHY I watched "Once Upon a Time" the first time, but once I did, I have found myself intrigued by the notion that we are actually living out scripts or lives that have been created for us. This is not a new concept for me, and oddly enough, this notion does not conflict with my belief that God has a plan for my life and that if I am to live according to His plan, I have to be open to his direction -- this has been a bit of a problem most of my life because I tend to plunge headlong into things without listening for God's direction. Sometimes that works out for me; other times, not so much.
"Once Upon a Time" is a bit cheesy, but it does have at its root a similar theme. We are all destined to fill our 24 hours with something. What we fill it with is up to us. Are we truly free agents, able to make decisions and choices that lead to our best lives and best selves, or are we destined to walk a particular path that may be fraught with pain and suffering and loss? How will making our own choices affect our life's walk?
I like the connections between the "old" stories and the new lives that the fairytale characters find themselves living after a kind of storybook apocalypse. It affirms my belief that history is intimately connected to the present and the future.
I don't recommend this series unless you are familiar with and love the traditional fairytales; otherwise, it will seem silly, adolescent, and shallow. If, however, you share the terror of Hansel and Gretel when you hear their story of abandonment; if you share the hope of Cinderella that someday her prince will come; if you believe that Jack can beat the giant and recover his family's treasures; if you understand why the Little Mermaid is willing to give up her immortality for love, then you'll 'get' the series.
I don't know exactly WHY I watched "Once Upon a Time" the first time, but once I did, I have found myself intrigued by the notion that we are actually living out scripts or lives that have been created for us. This is not a new concept for me, and oddly enough, this notion does not conflict with my belief that God has a plan for my life and that if I am to live according to His plan, I have to be open to his direction -- this has been a bit of a problem most of my life because I tend to plunge headlong into things without listening for God's direction. Sometimes that works out for me; other times, not so much.
"Once Upon a Time" is a bit cheesy, but it does have at its root a similar theme. We are all destined to fill our 24 hours with something. What we fill it with is up to us. Are we truly free agents, able to make decisions and choices that lead to our best lives and best selves, or are we destined to walk a particular path that may be fraught with pain and suffering and loss? How will making our own choices affect our life's walk?
I like the connections between the "old" stories and the new lives that the fairytale characters find themselves living after a kind of storybook apocalypse. It affirms my belief that history is intimately connected to the present and the future.
I don't recommend this series unless you are familiar with and love the traditional fairytales; otherwise, it will seem silly, adolescent, and shallow. If, however, you share the terror of Hansel and Gretel when you hear their story of abandonment; if you share the hope of Cinderella that someday her prince will come; if you believe that Jack can beat the giant and recover his family's treasures; if you understand why the Little Mermaid is willing to give up her immortality for love, then you'll 'get' the series.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Better Infamous than Anonymous -- Teachers as Activists
Inspired and motivated by a small group of dedicated teachers from Barbe High School in Lake Charles, LA, teachers and citizens from across the state gathered at the state capitol in Baton Rouge this week (during their spring break) to speak out against legislation ostensibly designed to "reform" education. To simplify some of the legislative doublespeak, the pertinent issues related to the following:
So, yes, ladies and gentlemen, your children's teachers are protesting. Those who CAN retire soon will do so sooner rather than later because there is no compelling reason for them to stay. No intrinsic reward of a job well done or the love of children will make the new assessment system bearable. Attrition of new teachers will quickly decimate the ranks. Good teachers too young to retire will soon be looking for other occupations. So, who will teach? Whomever the state can find. . . after all, individuals can work at charter and private schools, who do not have to abide by the same credentialing requirements that public schols do. The generations of teachers who spent summers and their own time and money to become "highly qualified" as mandated by the state will have no particular added value -- and it costs more to hire experienced, highly qualified professionals.
I have grossly over-simplified the situation in the interests of brevity. Those of us who have written letters to legislators have valiantly tried to appeal to reason, but it appears that many of our elected officials do not respond to reason, unless that reason is applied by the governor: your allegiance to the governor's wishes overrides your commitment to your constituents. I suppose there is some logic somewhere . . . . Could it be that threats from a despot are intimidating?
Teachers are NOT against education reform. In fact, the teachers I know have been sitting on committees, reading hundreds of pages of documents to understand state and federal education mandates, and working indefatigably FOR change. We KNOW there are children who fall through the BIG cracks in the system. We KNOW there are individuals in classrooms who are NOT as well prepared or as motivated as they should be.
Most of us, however, try to compensate for those cracks with the limited resources the state and parishes provide; most of us spend hours and hours working with those children to narrow the gap between their knowledge and the test expectations. NO ONE KNOWS THIS BETTER THAN WE DO.
Teachers have been betrayed by those who are supposed to represent the best interests of our children. Teachers have, sadly, been betrayed by some individuals in our communities who, often uninformed, challenge teachers' integrity and commitment and skill. You have made your opinions very clear in your comments on Facebook and other public forms of discourse.
I am proud of the work that our teachers do every day, and I am doubly proud of their exercising their constitutional rights to protest legislation that is specious at best, catastrophic at worst.
Thank you, fellow teachers, for your courage in the face of community criticism, for your willingness to add onto your already busy days, for your knowledge and skills in educating my children and those of the community. You have my gratitude and respect.
Carry on. Better infamous than anonymous.
- Provide access to private and charter schools for all Louisiana children through a voucher system that will (allegedly) enable every family to choose a school for his/her children, regardless of where his/her residence is zoned;
- Evaluate teacher performance based on "added value," whereby teachers will be solely accountable for a child's performance, and the performance of students will determine a significant portion of a teacher's salary. Student performance will be measured by nationally normed, standardized tests that may or may not be reflective of the state's new core curriculum standards;
- Assign evaluation to administrators who may or may not be familiar with the content areas of the teacher that he/she is assigned to evaluate;
- Attach teacher tenure to student performance and administrator evaluation. Teachers can be stripped of tenure and be required to work for a minimum of SIX years to have tenure reinstated;
- Apply different rules for assessment to charter and private schools.
So, yes, ladies and gentlemen, your children's teachers are protesting. Those who CAN retire soon will do so sooner rather than later because there is no compelling reason for them to stay. No intrinsic reward of a job well done or the love of children will make the new assessment system bearable. Attrition of new teachers will quickly decimate the ranks. Good teachers too young to retire will soon be looking for other occupations. So, who will teach? Whomever the state can find. . . after all, individuals can work at charter and private schools, who do not have to abide by the same credentialing requirements that public schols do. The generations of teachers who spent summers and their own time and money to become "highly qualified" as mandated by the state will have no particular added value -- and it costs more to hire experienced, highly qualified professionals.
I have grossly over-simplified the situation in the interests of brevity. Those of us who have written letters to legislators have valiantly tried to appeal to reason, but it appears that many of our elected officials do not respond to reason, unless that reason is applied by the governor: your allegiance to the governor's wishes overrides your commitment to your constituents. I suppose there is some logic somewhere . . . . Could it be that threats from a despot are intimidating?
Teachers are NOT against education reform. In fact, the teachers I know have been sitting on committees, reading hundreds of pages of documents to understand state and federal education mandates, and working indefatigably FOR change. We KNOW there are children who fall through the BIG cracks in the system. We KNOW there are individuals in classrooms who are NOT as well prepared or as motivated as they should be.
Most of us, however, try to compensate for those cracks with the limited resources the state and parishes provide; most of us spend hours and hours working with those children to narrow the gap between their knowledge and the test expectations. NO ONE KNOWS THIS BETTER THAN WE DO.
Teachers have been betrayed by those who are supposed to represent the best interests of our children. Teachers have, sadly, been betrayed by some individuals in our communities who, often uninformed, challenge teachers' integrity and commitment and skill. You have made your opinions very clear in your comments on Facebook and other public forms of discourse.
I am proud of the work that our teachers do every day, and I am doubly proud of their exercising their constitutional rights to protest legislation that is specious at best, catastrophic at worst.
Thank you, fellow teachers, for your courage in the face of community criticism, for your willingness to add onto your already busy days, for your knowledge and skills in educating my children and those of the community. You have my gratitude and respect.
Carry on. Better infamous than anonymous.
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