Can we throw out the bath water without throwing out the baby? 

    Since the first week I've been subbing full-time in a fifth grade class. Honestly, it wasn't my first choice. Nor was it my second choice. I tried to obtain two other long-term subbing positions and at the last minute they both were changed. 

    The only one that was left open was fifth grade. It took me two days to decide to apply for the position. I've subbed fifth grade.

    Horribly. With disaster. With tears. 

    Mine, by the way. Not theirs. They were unfazed. 

    Perhaps the universe decided I needed to learn something. Or it hates me. Or it's laughing at my expense. 

    I took this fifth grade position and like Bean reminded me. "Mom, you get paid even if you come home crying." For the first two weeks it was my mantra. 

    And then I started to figure out the 10-11 year old lingo. Their hormones. Their obsessions. It's an intense age and the wrong look from a student can send someone into the depths of despair. For the first few weeks their vocabulary was like listening to a string of Tik Tok videos all day long. In fact, some of the students were even writing in this annoying lingo. I was about ready to crash out. Did they even know English any more? We were heading straight for Ohio. Their writing scores were cooked. 

    Luckily, living with Baby Blueberry, who is 12 now, keeps me hip and cool by keeping me updated on the new Tik Tok trends and internet references. I quickly learned if I used words like, 'Ohio,' Sigma, Gucci,' I could get the students to stop using them because I made them uncool. 

    Whoops. My bad. 

    Now I wish I could say my students were very demure, very mindful -  but they aren't. They're a rowdy and busy group who has experienced sub after sub over the last four years. Do you know what kinds of bad habits you develop as a student when you don't have a consistent teacher? 

    I have students who don't know their 3's on the multiplication chart. Do you know how difficult it is to learn two and three digit multiplication when you don't know your basics?

    But get going. We have a schedule. Lesson 6.1 is on Monday and don't get behind. Students don't know- that's too bad. Keep going. Keep pushing. 

    Do we move to middle school? We're dumb, Ms. H. We're cooked. I got an F. I'm flipping burgers at Wendy's. 

    I'm working at McDonald's, says another student. 

    Is the focus starting to happen? Can I clarify things for you? These students will finish fifth grade feeling dumb and incapable.

    But at least we did Lesson 6.2 on Tuesday, right? 

    Should the education system change?

    Absolutely, yes. 

    Today, I had an admin come into my room to have my students write apology letters for a trip they took and I thought they did pretty good. Perfect, hell no. But good. 

    But here they were writing apology letters. I think the idea was so their behavior was even better next time. 

    But I had a student ask if he needed to write an apology letter because... he wasn't there. 

    He wasn't there. 

    And the answer was...yes. He needed to write an apology letter too. 

    I can imagine how I would write it. "Dear so-so, I'm sorry for my behavior on the trip I didn't take." 

    Can we change the education system without throwing out the baby? 

    We have to. 

    Our kids. 

    Our grandkids are depending on us. 

    But we need to start with an empty tub and figure out what should go in. Because my students aren't even ready for Lesson 6.3, and we're supposed to be on Lesson 6.5 by the end of the week. 

    Maybe we can memorize our 3's by then. 

    

    

Land of Confusion Or Why Don't We Put More Value on Education

 Before Bean was born I already had a bookshelf of newly bought, brightly illustrated children's books lined up and ready to go. While I was pregnant with Bean, hero hottie would read out loud books about screenwriting and screen plays. Perhaps that's why she wants to be a director. :)
   When she was born, we read to her constantly, sometimes only getting through a couple of pages before she would crawl off in search of trouble. But as she grew, she started to realize what these books meant and suddenly she couldn't hear enough stories.
     We continued her education by taking our bright and curious toddler to museums. We encouraged her to touch and feel everything she was allowed to and even as a small child she knew a ton of facts about dinosaurs and fossils.
     We spent hours outside, exploring nature. Leaves, flowers, sticks, rocks, and feathers were our learning tools. As we played, I explained science to her. How do trees grow? Why is the sun important? Why do birds need feathers?
   When Abu was born she joined us on trips to the museums and from her stroller she would try to touch everything Bean was. It didn't matter that she was only eight months old, she was curious and we encouraged it.
    Then Bean went to school. She continued her learning.
    During the summer I forced Bean and Abu to study an hour or two a day. I know, what a horrible Mom I am. It's summer and I'm making them do school work. But every fall, instead of falling behind like most kids had, they had leaped ahead. And it wasn't so bad. We could work on subjects they hadn't fully mastered in an one on one environment, overcoming difficulties. I could introduce subjects to them that I knew they would need extra time with the summer before; such as cursive writing for Abu. That summer it was frustrating for her but when she had to start writing it in third grade she was so confident about it.
   Sure of herself.

  I take educating my children very seriously. Knowledge is key to life. And knowing how to learn is even more important than just having a head full of facts. I don't want my children to ever stop learning.
  Bean is highly intelligent and parenting a smart child can be a test in patience. :) But a week ago I was still quite surprised to receive a letter from her school district offering her a chance to take this smarty pants test from some big wig college. She's fifth grade. Wow.
   Hero hottie and I discussed it and even asked for advice from his Uncle who is involved in academics. He recommended that she take the test, since it might offer her opportunities for scholarships and summer camps later on.
   This sounded like a great plan to us. So I emailed the contact person in the gifted department to arrange for the test. The email went unanswered.
   I called the high school where her office is located. The deadline for registering was closing in. The school district had only given us a week to decide and register for the test.
   Two days before the deadline we still had not heard from the contact person. I tried calling again, this time the phone number to the local high school wasn't even answered. (As a parent I love the thought of sending my child to a high school where I can't even get a hold of anyone. -Sarcasm.)
   I had hero hottie call. The secretary took a message.
   Finally...The contact person calls us back.  She was a teacher in charge of the gifted department at the local high schools. We started talking about the benefits of the test, why Bean was selected to take part in it, what would happen after the test and how the test is internationally known. She chatted about how the gifted department of the district arranged for the students to take the test.
    After fifteen minutes of chatting about the test and I was quite ready to register her, the contact person pauses.
   "Bean's in fifth grade right?" She asks.
    "Yes."
    "Oh, well. That's going to be a problem. There isn't actually a test being conducted in our town this year. She'll have to wait until next year."
    "I'm confused. You sent me a letter?" I was shaking my head and trying to rub away the deep frown in my brow.
    "Well, I sent out the letter before I realized there wasn't going to be a test this year. Last year it was at the local college and I just assumed it would be again. So I sent out the letters before I knew for sure. But don't worry...she gets to take it next year. I'll make sure."
    "So there's no test?"
    "Right. I got all the information off their website about dates and times but I didn't realize until the last few days that there wasn't going to be a test in our town."
    "Okay...Well, tell me about the gifted program, like when Bean gets into middle school. I know elementary school doesn't have anything."
     "Oh, we don't really have a gifted program, even for the high school students. It's horrible." She really did care that there wasn't really a program for the kids that were ahead of their grade level. "Budget cuts, you know. That and the school board just cares that they score advance on the test. They're not going to spend time on kids that don't need any more help to boost up test scores. They need to worry about the kids who aren't scoring well on the tests. The government requirement you know."
     "So your job is?" I was fairly confused at this point.
      "Just to work with the parents to connect them with other outside resources. Online classes, camps, etc. It's on our website."
     "I'll check it out."

     Later I checked out the website for the gifted program through our school district. Half the links didn't even work for the camps and online classes. I had to Google the info and find the correct website links. I hate broken links; I'm really disappointed in broken links on a website for a gifted program.
     I like living in a small town; most of the time. Not so much this week. And then to top off insult to injury; the contact person finally emailed me back, thanking me for taking the interest in my child and then she said,

-I encourage you to continue being your child's "teacher".-

   "Teacher" Quote - Unquote

        How was all my time and effort to educate my child (children)  turned into a diminutive form of the word teacher? 

    I value great teachers, don't misunderstand me.  Just see my blog entry about Mrs. Tracy. On top of that; my children have had some awesome teachers at their school.
    But a teacher isn't just someone that holds a degree in education. The Webster guy defines it as "one that teaches"

    Doesn't that apply to almost everyone? And then especially as a parent, isn't one of our first jobs is to teach our children?
     "Teach our children well?"

      As parents we teach our children to talk, to walk, to brush their teeth, to eat, to enjoy reading, to write their names, to remember their manners, to love...
      I am more than my child's "teacher." I am one of  my child's TEACHERS. Capital Letters.

     I am a partner with my child's grade school teacher and apparently since our school district lacks any sort of programs for smarty pants kids, I'm going to be a huge factor in making sure Bean and Abu reach their academic potential.
     So, since I will play a huge part in how far my children's education goes; I wish a teacher; especially a teacher that kept telling me the value they placed on education; wouldn't lessen my value as one of my children's teachers.
    I wish our society would just put more value on education. We focus on test scores and labeling children, until only children that score well on test are considered 'gifted.' Other children are struggling, or they have learning disabilities or they aren't smart.
    Do we value education? Or do we value test scores? There is a difference. And somehow I think when we value the wrong thing, all our children lose something special. Important. Vital.

     In the meantime, I have to find a way to teach my girls to shoot for the moon when we live in Smalltown, USA. ..When we live in a country that has confused education with the outcome of tests. When we forget that all our children are failing in their full potential even when the test scores are high.
     Perhaps by the time Bean and Abu have children; things will have changed and learning will be a wondrous adventure by all the child's teachers and more value will be placed on all children reaching their potential and less time on test scores.