Because it's too easy to blog about the chaos and crazy at school these days..
Story #1:
I was at the BofA ATM on 23rd and Mission just finishing up some transactions when I hear, "Ms. Chew?" I turned around and there was one of my old students, a senior from my first year teaching. (One of the bus-driver boys.) In the almost two years since he graduated and I last saw him, he graduated from UTI in Sacramento (definitely one of the most unfortunate acronyms a school can have) and is now working as a mechanic at the SF Honda dealership. Ok this is not the most exciting story, but it made me smile after a mess of the last few weeks I've been having. And it's the perfect precursor for..
Story #2:
After singing for service at church on Sunday, I was chatting with some friends and I hear, "Ms. Chew!" I turned around and there was one of my old students. (I have to admit that it took me about half of our conversation to remember his name.. and I feel kind of ashamed that in my head I went to Juan and Jose first. But c'mon, statistically it was a valid guess! He doesn't know I didn't remember his name, I figured it out before he caught me.) He'd been invited to church by a friend and was just as surprised as I was to see me/him there. (Don't know how to make that sentence work. Dang.)
A little background on this particular student--he first took my class as a junior. He failed and repeated it as a senior. He still failed the second time, not because he's not intelligent or a hard worker, but because he had so much going against him outside of school. I don't know everything about his situation, but I'm pretty sure he was basically raising his younger siblings and his parents were for all intents and purposes out of the picture. He was in an unhealthy relationship with another student (who also failed my class), was prone to skipping school (mostly what contributed to his failing), and try as he might, had some really bad days. But for all the hardship he had to deal with in his personal life, he was still a sweet, polite kid. He always appreciated what his teachers were doing for him and treated us all with great respect.
During his last year at the school, some of our staff got him to apply to an all boys boarding school up in Sonoma. He was so excited about this school. He would read me excerpts from the brochures they sent him. It was like nothing he'd ever experienced.. nestled in idyllic Sonoma County, far far away from the broken life he'd known growing up in the Mission. He applied, got accepted, and earned scholarship help to pay his way. That was the last I heard from him.
Fast forward to Sunday after service. He told me he's finishing up his super-senior year at his school in Sonoma. He's doing great. Finally graduating (better late than never!), getting a 4.0 gpa, and even getting involved in Young Life up there. Trying to get his little brother, who still lives in SF, to get plugged in to Young Life here. He wants to become a teacher, to spread God's love to teenagers and maybe teach them some academic stuff along the way (sound familiar? IKR?!?).
It was just so.. incredible? Awesome? Inspiring? Fantastic? Stupendous? (Having trouble with my words today) to see and hear about how well he's doing now. A part of me could be disappointed because what this new school is doing for him I couldn't do, but that's not at all how I feel. I'm ecstatic that he's been able to turn his life around and is in a much better place now. It's not very often that we, teachers of at-risk youth, get to hear stories with happy endings like this one. I'm gonna put this one in my pocket and save it for a rainy day
Monday, April 19, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
A Punch Up at A Wedding
Student: "Ms. Chew, when are you gonna get married?"Ms. Chew: "Well I kind of think you need two people for that sort of thing."Student: "Can I be your best man?"Ms. Chew: "Kind of missing a key part of the equation."Student: "So you're still looking? Or waiting?"Ms. Chew: "You could say that."
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
If There's a Rocket Tie Me to It
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/09/MNSC1CCPHU.DTL
http://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr10/yr10rel27.asp
Shit? Fan? Oh, I see you've met.
The four east-side SFUSD high schools (mine included) have all been deemed "persistently lowest achieving" schools by the state, putting them in danger of reconstitution (aka hostile takeover by the state). Let's not sugar coat this.. the east side schools are also the poorest and most under-enrolled schools in the district. Where for art thou, equity??
Begin rant now.
We are the poorest schools. We have little money to fund our sisyphean efforts to improve our schools. Our staff works hard to pull our schools out of the gutters, most of the time paying for our supplies and professional development classes out of our own pockets because we have no money from the state to help. Yet, every year more staff get laid-off or moved around because we have under-enrolled student bodies. For each year I've been at my school, we've lost one English teacher and one math teacher due to consolidations. Now I know money doesn't solve everything, but that's also something that rolls of the tongues of rich people. No, money isn't the solution. But money could sure help. And we're seeing less and less of it every year. For instance.. the last two years at my school the science classes were allocated $500 for supplies. Yes, $500 to buy everything from perishable bacteria samples to pencils and paper. It's not a lot. And this year we got $350.
Oh did I mention that other than being the poorest, most under-enrolled schools in the district, the east-side schools are also those that serve the low-income, largely immigrant/non-native speaking English crowds? Historically disadvantaged, underrepresented.. call it what you will, but I smell a rat. People wonder what it is I have against schools like Lowell. There's nothing wrong with high achieving students in a well-funded, easily over-staffed school. But it's a vicious cycle.. schools in SFUSD get their funding based on the number of students enrolled in the school. With high enrollment, there is more money available to hire staff, buy supplies, support new programs, and operate at a competitive level. With low enrollment, there is less money available which leads to larger class sizes, higher (involuntary) teacher turnover, lower test scores.. Families don't want to send their kids to low-performing schools, so they send them to the high-performing schools (like Lowell) and they continue to flourish while the underenrolled schools shrink to extinction.. chicken, egg, who knows which was first.
All I'm trying to say is it's not our fault that we are consistently low performing schools. Anyone who sets foot into one of these schools will see innovative teaching styles and energetic, dedicated staff trying to make do with the little resources available. We would appreciate help from the state, sure. But "help" does not look like.. replacing the principal, replacing the staff, shutting down and reopening schools under a charter model, etc. "Help", I think, should look like.. come, visit our school. See what we're doing well. Reward what is working. Suggest alternatives to what is not working. Work with us. We obviously don't intend on staying at the bottom of the class (pun intended?) but coming in and cleaning house is not the way to fix things. Not when children are involved. Can you imagine being at a school that hires almost an entirely new staff? What would happen to the relationships you have built with your teachers, some of which might be the only adults in your life that you consider safe to talk to?
And don't get me wrong, our school is improving. Maybe not fast enough by the state's standards. And maybe not on (culturally biased) standardized test scores. But we're doing what we can. So throw us a frikkin' bone, already.
End rant.
http://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr10/yr10rel27.asp
Shit? Fan? Oh, I see you've met.
The four east-side SFUSD high schools (mine included) have all been deemed "persistently lowest achieving" schools by the state, putting them in danger of reconstitution (aka hostile takeover by the state). Let's not sugar coat this.. the east side schools are also the poorest and most under-enrolled schools in the district. Where for art thou, equity??
Begin rant now.
We are the poorest schools. We have little money to fund our sisyphean efforts to improve our schools. Our staff works hard to pull our schools out of the gutters, most of the time paying for our supplies and professional development classes out of our own pockets because we have no money from the state to help. Yet, every year more staff get laid-off or moved around because we have under-enrolled student bodies. For each year I've been at my school, we've lost one English teacher and one math teacher due to consolidations. Now I know money doesn't solve everything, but that's also something that rolls of the tongues of rich people. No, money isn't the solution. But money could sure help. And we're seeing less and less of it every year. For instance.. the last two years at my school the science classes were allocated $500 for supplies. Yes, $500 to buy everything from perishable bacteria samples to pencils and paper. It's not a lot. And this year we got $350.
Oh did I mention that other than being the poorest, most under-enrolled schools in the district, the east-side schools are also those that serve the low-income, largely immigrant/non-native speaking English crowds? Historically disadvantaged, underrepresented.. call it what you will, but I smell a rat. People wonder what it is I have against schools like Lowell. There's nothing wrong with high achieving students in a well-funded, easily over-staffed school. But it's a vicious cycle.. schools in SFUSD get their funding based on the number of students enrolled in the school. With high enrollment, there is more money available to hire staff, buy supplies, support new programs, and operate at a competitive level. With low enrollment, there is less money available which leads to larger class sizes, higher (involuntary) teacher turnover, lower test scores.. Families don't want to send their kids to low-performing schools, so they send them to the high-performing schools (like Lowell) and they continue to flourish while the underenrolled schools shrink to extinction.. chicken, egg, who knows which was first.
All I'm trying to say is it's not our fault that we are consistently low performing schools. Anyone who sets foot into one of these schools will see innovative teaching styles and energetic, dedicated staff trying to make do with the little resources available. We would appreciate help from the state, sure. But "help" does not look like.. replacing the principal, replacing the staff, shutting down and reopening schools under a charter model, etc. "Help", I think, should look like.. come, visit our school. See what we're doing well. Reward what is working. Suggest alternatives to what is not working. Work with us. We obviously don't intend on staying at the bottom of the class (pun intended?) but coming in and cleaning house is not the way to fix things. Not when children are involved. Can you imagine being at a school that hires almost an entirely new staff? What would happen to the relationships you have built with your teachers, some of which might be the only adults in your life that you consider safe to talk to?
And don't get me wrong, our school is improving. Maybe not fast enough by the state's standards. And maybe not on (culturally biased) standardized test scores. But we're doing what we can. So throw us a frikkin' bone, already.
End rant.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
A Mess to Be Made
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/23/MNT11C5FO7.DTL
It's getting ugly. So far it's looking like we need to cut the equivalent of 3 FTEs (full time employees). We won't know if we're holding on to our Dream School funding at least for another few weeks, which means we don't know if we're looking at moving to a 6 period day or not. March 15th is the deadline for the district to send out layoff notices.
In the meantime, please join us to show support of public schools this Thursday.. deets:
It's getting ugly. So far it's looking like we need to cut the equivalent of 3 FTEs (full time employees). We won't know if we're holding on to our Dream School funding at least for another few weeks, which means we don't know if we're looking at moving to a 6 period day or not. March 15th is the deadline for the district to send out layoff notices.
In the meantime, please join us to show support of public schools this Thursday.. deets:
Join us on March 4 to save our schools!
Statewide Day of Action to Defend Public Education
San Francisco schools are facing $113 million in budget cuts over the next two years. All schools will see layoffs and class size increases. It's time to say enough is enough!
Thursday, March 4, 2010:
3pm - Parents, educators and students from southeast area schools meet at 24th and Mission
3:15 - March together to 16th and Mission
3:45 - March from 16th St. to the State Building at Van Ness and McAllister (505 Van Ness)
4:30pm - Rally with UESF at the State Building, march to Civic Center
5pm - Mass rally in the Civic Center with pre-K through college level students, parents, educators, families from all over the city
Our message to Sacramento: Fully fund public education - reform the state budget process and Prop 13! Cut prison spending, not schools!
Our message to SFUSD Superintendent Carlos Garcia and the Board of Education: Stand with educators and families! No Cuts! No Layoffs! Emergency Funding Now! Defend the Classroom!
Friday, February 26, 2010
Baby Got Back
My coworker brought his newborn to school, dropped by my room while kids were making up work during lunch.
Kid #1: "Ms. Chew.. when you gonna have one?"Ms. Chew: "Whatever!!"Kid #1: "Why you say whatever?"Ms. Chew: "I know it's not how everyone does it, but I'm planning to get married before I have a baby."Kid #2: "Go Ms. Chew!!"Ms. Chew: O_o "I just figure it's easier that way."
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Ballin' on a Budget
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/22/MNCG1BLM6G.DTL
It is bad-news-bears for the state of California as far as money is concerned. Well, that's not news.. it's been that way for a while. Somehow one of the richest states has one of the largest debts. Blame it on the Governator--but chances are it was this way long before he ever got here. (He just hasn't done the best job getting us out of it.) While I won't proclaim to know a lot about government spending or tax reformation or progressive taxes or anything.. what I do know is what it all does to the bottom line of our schools.
In short, we're looking at making $113 million in cuts over the next two years. Where will these cuts be made? To anything and everything. It's going to get real ugly. The obvious place for cuts is teacher layoffs. Then there are things like.. cutting positions at the district office, unpaid furlough days, cutting funding to special programs, cutting summer school, freezing teacher salaries, and taking the caps off class sizes.
You might think, well all that stuff's not so bad as long as you get to keep your job, Ms. Chew. Not really. All these things effect the classroom and effect the students. Take class size caps. It won't make much of a difference for my classes, I've had as many as 41 students in one class before. But where it will make a difference is in elementary school. Where they learn how to read and do basic math. Think about it.. if a student doesn't properly learn how to read or add and subtract in elementary school, who's going to make up for that? Especially if they grow up to go to middle schools and high schools that are overcrowded as well.. we're preparing our kids for a lifetime of remedial education.
Let me not belittle how horrible teacher layoffs really are. Or, more precisely, how horrible the process for teacher layoffs in the face of budget cuts are. It's one thing to get the axe because you're a horrible teacher. It's another to get fired because you simply don't have the seniority to save your ass in times of budget crises. Teachers who are on the brink of retirement and could care less about their students' education cost the district the most but will always, always keep their jobs over less experienced, but more bright-eyed and bushy-tailed newbie teachers. (This is not to say all teachers who've been in the schools for long don't care about their students. Or that all new teachers are a gift from God. I'm generalizing.) That's just disheartening. To know that how good a teacher you are has no bearing on whether or not you keep your job.
My coworkers keep telling me that I should be ok for this round, I'm a math/science teacher and they always need those somewhere. Needless to say, none of this is sitting well with me. I get a sick feeling in my stomach when I think about the next year. Bleghhh.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Murder, She Wrote
http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/Two-juveniles-charged-in-deadly-pizza-melee-80748947.html
Yep. This story is about one of our sophomores. Arrested at school for double homicide. Seriously? Kind of threw me and my coworkers for a loop.. I mean, we know our kids are bad, but killing people bad? I didn't know the kid personally, can't even put a face to the name, but apparently the cops had been investigating his connection with the murders for some six weeks before they made their arrest. And in that time he had been showing up to school regularly. Crazy.
Yep. This story is about one of our sophomores. Arrested at school for double homicide. Seriously? Kind of threw me and my coworkers for a loop.. I mean, we know our kids are bad, but killing people bad? I didn't know the kid personally, can't even put a face to the name, but apparently the cops had been investigating his connection with the murders for some six weeks before they made their arrest. And in that time he had been showing up to school regularly. Crazy.
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