Less is more

The older I get, the more successful people I meet.  Every stinking one of them is a self made man or woman.  I have yet to meet anyone of wealth and success that simply inherited their fortune.  I know they exist, I just haven't encountered any.  Every successful person I know is a self made man or woman.

I tutored a girl whose parents were a mess (drugs, alcohol) and was being raised by her grandfather.  He lives in 7000 square feet RIGHT on the water in Dana Point, CA.  He's an entertainment lawyer who grew up the son of a janitor.  He put himself through school and law school and became the man that he is.  I have friends that are doctors, business men, teachers, firefighters and a bunch of other professions and as I get to know them better, I am overcome with the belief that parents should give their kids almost nothing. 

My great take-away from knowing these men and women who became successful is that they became successful because they overcame adversity.  I think they may NOT have achieved what they have achieved if someone had given them help.  It's risky, but parents should not give their kids anything.

I know that I live in an affluent community in Southern California but the way parents are handing their kids everything is a disaster.  I have students who have had new cellphones every few months.  They break them, lose them, want the latest technology or whatever.  Whatever they want they seem to have. I have students whose first car is a new BMW.  Are you kidding me?  What does the kid have to look forward to?  They treat "their" belongings poorly because they never worked to get them.

My first car was a 1969 VW Bug.  This was way before it was cool to have a 1969 VW Bug.  This was 1979 and I had worked pretty hard to save the money to buy it.  Can't remember the price but I bet I worked for 18 months saving money.  I had a newspaper route in a giant apartment complex and I delivered the morning paper every day.  I also worked 20 hrs a week after school at McDonald's.

I had crappy cars all my life.   As I think back my  78 Chevy Impala, 82 Honda Civic, 84 F150 Truck,  were all used when I got them.  I remember buying my first brand new car.   I was 42.  Now I have a great car.  2008 Honda S2000.  EVERY DAY when i get into "the rocket", I smile a bit.  I'm proud of where I've come given where I've been.

When we give, we take something away from people.  We take away a pretty important life lesson.  

Change? Nah.

I keep reading how teachers are incorporating new technology into their classrooms to help engage their students.  I-Pads , I-Phones, I-Whatever....

I fundamentally disagree with this approach.

Kids like cartoons.  Should we only show them cartoons the rest of their lives?   Some people would say yes if that is how the person would pay attention best.  But we limit the person by being so one dimensional.

Exactly the opposite is true.  People need to learn how to learn in any environment.  By playing to the child's current environment, we don't help...we hurt.  We need to be saying "this is how you are going to be delivered material, find a way to be successful".  Why?  Life is why.  The job you ultimately get may not give you the information you need to be successful in "a way that engages you".  (that was supposed to drip with sarcasm)

Here's how I use technology to help students learn in the way that they best learn.   I use a colored piece of chalk. 

Coffee Mug

One of my students gave me a coffee mug as a Hanukkah gift.  It's one of those message/motivational/funny/picture of a puppy mugs that I hate.  This one says, "Be the change you want to see in the world".... Ghandi.   Whatever.

Then I hear Michael Jackson singing about the same thing.  "If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and change."

I'm getting soft but all of a sudden I can't stop thinking about this concept.  It's me that needs to change.  I need to be the change I want to see.  I need to make this world a better place.

I have to stop bitching about things and do something about them

Dear UCLA

Dear UCLA,

Once again you blew it.  Nah, not on the football field or basketball court.  You blew it when you denied admission to one of the finest young students I've ever had the pleasure to teach.

You see, she's really smart, extremely hard-working, kind, sweet, and a young woman of good character.  I get why you wouldn't want her at your school.

As a freshman in high school, she was already two years ahead of her classmates mathematically.  All she did in high school was handle Accelerated Algebra 2 with Trigonometry, Honors Pre-Calculus, AP Calculus AB, and AP Calculus BC.  It's getting clearer and clearer to me why she couldn't possibly be a Bruin. 

Outside the mathematics classroom, she took 7 other AP classes.  Too few?  Sorry, she was trying to balance her 4 year varsity tennis schedule with her hours of volunteer work in the community. 

I get it.  You are already on record stating you don't want California kids in their own state university.  You want out-of-state kids so you can get the more than double out-of-state tuition.  You want international kids so that you can charge them more too.  Why would you possibly want a young woman who has grown up dreaming of wearing the blue and gold?   Why would you possibly want a young woman who is classy, well-spoken, mature, funny and composed when you could bring in a kid from Egypt or Saudi Arabia or some other country.

4.5 GPA, ridiculously high SAT scores, hours of volunteerism and community service, and a person of great character.  DENIED!!!

Strike one.  

Judge Judy II

I have a confession to make.  I record, and watch Judge Judy.  

I like her no-nonsense approach.  I like her direct and loud style.  I like that she isn’t politically correct and doesn’t care about “feelings” as she doles out her brand of justice.  But what I like most; what keeps me coming back, is her disgust with people who sit at home and receiving welfare in one form or another.  I’m sure it’s just the network hand picking people that will make an entertaining show, but it seems that almost EVERYONE who shows up is getting food stamps and welfare and early social security from the government.  Er… I mean from me.  

I believe in charity and I believe in helping those less fortunate than I have been.  But I’d like to do it on my own terms.  I don’t want to support the guy who has been receiving $1400.00 a month for 4 years because of a “back injury” he suffered at work.   I’d be ok with it if he wasn’t spending 2 weekends a month on his boat or Jet Ski.  I rather buy the books that my less advantaged high school grads need for college.  

I don’t want to support the 22 year old woman with 3 kids from 2 different husbands, neither of whom pay child support.  I’d rather support the 22 year old kid living on ramen and making good decisions trying to work her way through college. 

I don’t want to support the 45 year old guy who gets a check for caring for his pretty healthy 70 year old mother.  Isn’t that what family does?   We now pay people to care for their parents when they get old?  I mean I now pay for it?  I’d rather donate to the church as they fundraise to send kids to Nigeria to provide aid to kids in need.  

I don’t want to support perfectly healthy America as they game the system.  I’m all for taxes that pay for education, police, fire, national defense, etc.   Buy my disgust is growing over the increasing number of people who just walk to the mailbox to get paid.   

Prop 30

Talk about feeling pulled in two directions.

The state of California has no money.  Tax revenues have been down for years now and because of that, the budget for schools has been decreased substantially.  One report claimed that the average district is operating on 70% of the money they operated with 5 years ago.

The cuts have been dramatic.  First, and in my opinion most important, class sizes have increased by huge numbers.  While 35 students used to be a big class in my Accelerated Algebra 2 class, this year I have a class with 47.  47!!!!!!   This is not acceptable.  I understand that the data indicates that for a measurable affect with respect to class size, class sizes should drop to about 18 students.  But everyone with a brain would of course agree that less individual attention is available with more students in class.   47 is absurd in a high school math class. 

Teachers have been let go, support personnel have been let go, maintenance guys, janitors, cafeteria workers, secretaries, psychologists have been let go.  Facilities need repair, grounds are overgrown, and morale is at an all time low.  Public education could use a couple more dollars. 

Prop 30 promises those dollars for schools.  My union is begging us all to get out there and support this proposition with our vote for a tax increase as well as canvassing neighborhoods and manning phone banks to encourage our neighbors to vote for the tax increase as well.

Sounds logical.

Except that I don't think a tax increase is the answer.  We don't have an income problem here in California, we have a spending problem.  I could write papers on the wasteful programs and billions of dollars thrown around.  One example is the program that pays people for taking care of their parents when their parents need to be taken care of.  We pay people to look after family?  Are you kidding me?  Oh I understand the theory.  If the parents are poor, paying a child is cheaper than having the government take care of them in a government facility.  What a bunch of crap this is.  And, in addition to the absurdity of the program, the amount of fraud is estimated in the hundred's of millions.  Think the schools could use some of that money?

We are the most taxed state in America.  We don't need more taxes.  We need to cut wasteful spending.

That said, I just got my first paycheck.  DRAMATICALLY less this year.   My problem is that I've grown accustomed to the finer things in life... like eating, paying rent, paying my car insurance... you know, the ritzy stuff.... 

If the prop doesn't pass, I'll make about 15% less this year. 

Do what benefits me today or walk the walk I've been talking.   Haven't decided yet.

The Big Fix

I've been reading too much this summer.  I'm about to blow.

I usually spend my summers reading trash fiction.  Stuff like Grisham, Ludlum, Petersen.   I like courtroom dramas, murder mysteries, and espionage.  I read trash during the summer because I try to restrict my reading during the school year to educational research.  I try to read ed. journals and stay on top of new trends and techniques.  (An aside here.... There is nothing new under the sun.  EVERY new fad I seen before with a different name)  But during the summer, I like to let my mind travel to the beaches of Fiji or the streets of Florence as I fantasize about a life different from my own.

This summer, I'm spending too much time at my computer reading about education.  More specifically, what is wrong with education and how to "fix it."  (Note to self:  Start penning the great American novel:  Schools aren't broken, America is broken.)  All I can think about as I read about the latest fad/trend/technique/modification/adaptation.... is for me, only 2 things really matter. 

What we teach and how we teach it.

The curriculum has to be correct.  It must be age appropriate, challenging, manageable, and scaffold in a logical manner.  We as a community must agree on what we are teaching and teachers need to hold students accountable for that material.   For this, I applaud the Standards movement.  But, I'm not the biggest fan of all the testing and the narrowing of the curriculum.   We must find a balance.  While I believe in Standards, the truth of the matter is that teachers have egos.  We want our students to test well and we are spending too much time prepping kids on test concepts at the cost of a broader curriculum.

Then, the curriculum needs to be taught, and taught well.  The most recent "educational fix" is the Reverse Classroom.  Instead of teachers teaching during the class period and students doing homework at home, (a radical concept I know), Reverse Classroom has students learning the material on their own at home and doing homework in class.  Really?  I understand the theory.  Students are taught to learn on their own and read the text.  Then in class, they get clarification on that which they don't understand.  Actually, it isn't bad....if I only had about 10 kids in class.  BUT WITH A CLASSROOM OF 40, It isn't practical to think I could get to every student, and I GUARANTEE, I'd be saying the same thing 38 times.  Teachers should teach.

Teachers must stand and deliver every minute of every class period. And to all of you teachers who take themselves too seriously, remember that personality, enthusiasm, passion and energy are as, if not more, important than content knowledge.   Know your stuff but try to make it bearable to sit in your classroom.  We are trying to teach, not lecture.  Lecture, but make sure that you are teaching. 

JS