Next South Bronx School Internet Radio Cast

The guest for Tuesday night, January 4, 2011 will be Blake Unger Dvorchik.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/bronx-teacher/2011/01/05/the-mind-of-a-bronx-teacher

Blake teaches at Bronx Mathematics Preparatory School. Blake is a 3rd year teacher in the south-east Bronx, and the Data Specialist for our school. Blake is one of the members of the VIVA project and recently went to Washington to present our recommendations to Secretary Duncan ( http://vivausa.vivateachers.org/Uploads/media/101217_VIVA%20National%20Task%20Force%20Report-Final.pdf ).

He is also part of the NYC based group Educators for Excellence where they're working on recommendations for teacher evaluation.

Blake also wrote this memorable blog post, http://www.ed.gov/blog/2010/12/training-the-next-generation-of-data-specialists/ for the US Department of Education

As always, the call in # 917 932 8721

Whitney Tilson Blows It Again

Would there be a sound if a tree falls in the forest and Whitney Tilson is under that tree? In fact would anyone care? Every time I read Whitney's emails I can;t help but think of Tommy and "See Me, Feel Me." This caustic desperation for attention that Whitney is so desperately seeking, so desperately lacking.

In fact I hate to say it, in one of today's email from Whitney, I agree with him about something he wrote. Yes, a clock is always correct twice a day, and Ruben Brosbe can use the bathroom my himself.

In The New York Times of December 26, 2010, Sharon Otterman writes that it is far from an exact science of rating teachers using value added assessment. Whitney, in his email goes on to say, "That value-added systems are far from perfect and must be improved, and also need to be used with care when evaluating teachers." Hey, way to go Whitney. All right. I had a smile on my face. Perhaps he found religion. Or perhaps after years of searching interstate rest area rest rooms he came (pardon the pun) across that perfect companion and was in a joyous mood.

Unfortunately reality knocked came a knockin'. I read on, "But we mustn’t let perfection be the enemy of the good," Whitney blabbered. Perfection is the enemy of good? God is perfect, so can we therefore claim that God is the enemy of all that is good? But Whitney blustered more, "Even if the system can only correctly identify the very worst teachers, that’s REALLY (Whitney's emphasis) valuable given the damage such teachers do to children."

Smell that? I smell a contradiction. Whitney says, and I agree, that the value added system is far from perfect. But on the other hand, he is claiming that using this imperfect system it can correctly identify not bad, but the worst teachers.

Now, it is entirely possible that Whitney read only what he wanted to read. Perhaps he missed this from the Times, "The rankings are based on an algorithm that few other than statisticians can understand," so Whitney what enables you to understand these algorithms? Do you have some power we don't know of?

What about the teachers at PS 321 in Park Slope? "In three other classrooms at this highly ranked school, fourth-grade teachers were ranked among the worst in the city at teaching math, even though their students’ average score on the state math exam was close to four, the highest score." So are these the worst teachers? You yourself just said that imperfection in VAA is OK as long has it identified the worst teachers. Well these three teachers were identified as the worst. Do you think they should be terminated.

I'm not going to go into why VAA is wrong. I have done it enough in this blog to do so. The only other analogy I can think of right now is my opposition to capital punishment. I have many reasons, but one of them is as long as there can be one iota of a chance that the wrong person will be put to death, that is one person too many. Our justice system no matter how highly we think of it is imperfect. The same with VAA. It is imperfect, and as long as there can be one iota of a chance that a teacher will be wrongly judged or terminated, that is one teacher too many.

Apathy And Ignorance At The DOE

Many years ago I traveled to Albany to hand in paper work at the state ed. department. This was back in the day when the offices were in the same building as the New York State Museum. With such important paper work I felt that it was better to hand it off to a person and it also expedited the time it got filed. I still do it if I have to, and besides I look for any excuse to go to Albany.

So this one time, in fact my first time there, a gentleman came out to greet me. He was a grumpy, cranky man. In all probability he was sitting behind a desk for too many years with too big a case load and no appreciation. As I handed him my paperwork he noticed something amiss. He explained what I needed to do and I promptly rectified it. As I re-handed him back my paperwork he proclaimed, "Teachers are the stupidest people out there." Being that I wanted him on my side and to do what I needed of him I agreed with him.

Which brings me to 2010. I was having a conversation with a teacher last week inquiring if this teacher still reads my blog. The teacher told me that she no longer reads it because it has gone all "political." I guess the drama of when I was reporting about the goings on in my school was the only thing palatable to her, but to each their own.

I started to explain of the seismic shift going on, that she does need to keep up with the political stuff. If not here on my blog, but other blogs, the newspapers, or forms of media. "What is happening out there can happen to you," I told her. The answer I received from her was, "What do you mean?"

What do I mean? I explained that someone with bug up their ying yang can come in to our school one day and close it down, put in a charter school, do whatever. I explained to her that in an instant she, through no fault of her own can become an ATR (Absent Teacher Reserve). "Oh no way, it won't happen. I'm too good of a teacher." I explained that means jack diddly. I pointed out to her that she has almost fifteen years in the system and is approaching forty years of age. That her salary is reaching the upper echelons of the scale and that those three factors alone will hinder her, if God forbid, she was to be put into ATR status.

"Well, anyway, I know a lot of people. I can go out and get a position with them, at their schools," she explained to me. At that point I gave up trying to explain the realities of what is out there. Yes, it sure does help to know someone. But if the someone you know doesn't have a position, or the money to create a position what good does it do to know that person?

And this goes to what I discussed with Karen Lewis on my radio show back on November 23. It all begins at the school level. Yes, we can kvetch and whine all we want about the UFT, but why should the UFT fight when there are teachers who won't fight back and just lay down like lambs?

Apathy and ignorance of what is going on with education today will ultimately be our undoing. I understand that a teacher has a zillion things going on at once and it is difficult to add more things to worry about. But without knowledge, without caring, without being proactive we are just allowing the deformers, the billionaires, the hedge fund managers, and yes, the UFT to walk all over us, to take us for granted and be able to claim they don't hear us.

Any teacher out there can be the "next one" to be screwed. Apathy and ignorance are what is fueling the beasts. It is time to start starving the beast. It is time to look out and around and stop having our eyes wide shut.

Ruben Brosbe Idiot Savant Of PS 310 The Bronx

When last we left Ruben Brosbe in October, he had knifed 80,000 NYC teachers in the back in his own little sycophantic method. Ruben, somehow, someway through either his Ivy League connections, daddy's assistance, or a combination, wrote a guest column in The New York Post endorsing the release of teacher's value added assessment scores of the standardized tests. Not only did he do that, but one had to deal with his kvetching and whining about his own, and the crack team has since learned of more, many shortcomings as a teacher.

Not only is Ruben a kvetcher, but somewhat of a clueless savant. Yes, the crack team here is amazed that he is able to pull it together and actually hold a high pressured job due to his cluelessness at life around him.

Ruben also has a blog in which he goes through life and teaching wondering why and how things happen, never taking a stand, and just his shocked that there is a life beyond the ivory wall that he grew up behind, and still lives behind.

One our favorite posts from Ruben's blog cracked up the crack team (pardon the pun) here at SBSB last month. Entitled, "What's an Assistant Teacher?", Ruben theorized on what is an assistant teacher;

Assistant Teacher? You mean, like someone to help the teacher provide extra support and attention to the students in their classroom? But why would any effective teacher who has mastered differentiation need someone else to help them with their students? It's almost like this school thinks more individual attention is something valuable for their students. Weird.

The crack team here at SBSB was able to get it hands on an unpublished blog post from Ruben. It goes;

My hand, I see I can move my fingers in unison, or as individual fingers. I also can move two fingers and they can touch each other. If I place my ring and pinkie together and my middle and index finger together I make the Vulcan salute. This is neat. I now go to my toy chest and take out my communicator, tricorder, and phaser an pretend I am Mr Spock.

But we are not here to bash Ruben. Only to expose him for the hypocrite, two faced, wants to have his cake and eat it too person that he is.

In today's Gotham Schools, (the crack team is still wondering how he got that gig, but we have our theories.) Ruben lamented what has become of education with all its high stake testing. Ruben writes, "In many ways, and to varying degrees depending on a school’s approach to test prep, kids are deprived of meaningful, rich, effective instruction in the weeks or months leading up to the state exams." Very good Ruben, your savant side took over. Yes we are depriving them of instruction. Ruben then is able to figure out that, "First, when Kaplan or Pearson test-prep materials take the place of a well-planned read-aloud or time for guided reading, the kids don’t learn as well. Second, the pressure and dullness of test prep certainly takes most of the fun out of learning for the kids. So ultimately students are learning less, and they’re enjoying learning less. This is not a formula for long-term success." Bravo Ruben, bravo.

But one thing perplexes the crack team here at SBSB. If you are kvetching about this, why are you a member of Educators4Excellence? An organization that condones, if not supports, the policies of Bloomberg, Klein, and now Black? Why did you participate in the December 15 soirée sponsored by E4E for Michelle Rhee at a super duper secret location?

It gets worse. On the front page of MichelleRheefirst.org there is a video. In that video, which the crack team noticed at Gotham Schools, who do we see at 3:15? Yes, it's Ruben in a savant moment sharing all his knowledge, his understanding, himself. But Ruben, Michelle Rhee is the one of the, if not the exact, reasons why you are kvetching about testing today. How dare you play both sides of the fence. You just want to be all things to everybody. Why do you make this video? You are supporting poor educational choices made by those who are in it for themselves. Those who want to turn a profit. Those who don't truly care.

But that is what you are Ruben. You are in this for you, and only you. You want to impart your ways on students and families you feel are beneath you. You don't care. You are a phony and a fraud. You think that because you came from a life of luxury that you know what is best. You don't. You don't get it and you never will.

You will complete your third year as a teacher and then apply to some law school. You won't be teaching in five years from now. You boosted your resume, you have that shining light behind your head, and somehow pulled the wool over the eyes of your students.

You keep on exposing yourself. Put a robe on.

Next South Bronx School Internet Radio Cast

This Tuesday night, December 21 at 9 PM history will again be made! The Mind of a Bronx Teacher takes its first foray to the south as we welcome our first administrator as a guest. John Robinson a high school principal from Newton, NC will join us live. John, also know as @21stprincipal on Twitter also blogs at http://the21stcenturyprincipal.blogspot.com/

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/bronx-teacher/2010/12/22/the-mind-of-a-bronx-teacher

As always, the call in # is 917 932 8721

Duct Taping Michelle Rhee

Sorry if I am late for the party. At least here on the blog. I think back in September I posted on Twitter about how Michelle Rhee mimicked and mocked the speech patterns of her African-American students when she was the greatest teacher ever in Baltimore. According to audio made by Rhee at the Columbia Heights Education Campus, and reported by Alexander Russo and the Washington Post, Rhee, "I took little pieces of masking tapes and put them on everybody's lips." At this point in her story the crowd laughs. She goes on to explain that, "their skin is coming off and that they are bleeding," and the crowd still is laughing. This is just demented.

So why after three months or so of this being reported am I finally sharing my two cents? I guess it is seeing the launching of MichelleRheefirst.org. Seeing how Oprah is scheming to replace Gayle with Rhee as her new best friend. Watching someone has intelligent as Steven Colbert inviting having Rhee as his guest. Or just knowing in my heart of hearts that I need to do what is right in my corner of thew world to stop this evil, nasty, mean spirited woman.

But what has gotten me most riled up, gotten my gander up, has bunched up my Froot of the Looms is that a close, close person to me in another state has been reassigned because he dared to joke about taping students mouths. Now don't get me wrong, it was stupid to joke in this way. No doubt about it. But it should not involve a police investigation.

I decided to google past transgressions of teachers taping students mouths and wondered if these teachers were able to skate by as did Michelle Rhee. The names are not meant to "out" these teachers in no shape or form. These names, the accusations are widely available. It is only meant to "out" Michelle Rhee for what she truly is.

In 2008, Pamela Dahnke was terminated for taping a student's mouth shut. She was an eighth-grade health and nutrition teacher at Battle Ground Middle School in West Lafayette, IN. Did she get the same treatment as Michelle Rhee?

In 2009, Laura Gatlin a 1st grade teacher in Cleveland County, Arkansas was accused of taping students mouth and to the chair. Her lawyer's comment is here. Has she been afforded the same accolades and laughter as Michelle Rhee?

In 2006, in Katy, Texas, Jennifer Silva reportedly taped some the mouths of several students. When the superintendent got wind, he notified her he would recommend she was terminated. Why was she recommended for termination yet, Michelle Rhee is seen as the savior of education?

Just earlier this year, a teacher was accused of duct taping a student's mouth in Mishawaka, IN. This student has Asperger's syndrome. The website, care2.com said, "There are certainly many creative things that people do with duct tape. But using it on a child's mouth, and on the mouth of a child on the autism spectrum, is (serious understatement) not one of them." Does this website feel has vehement about what Michelle Rhee did and will care2.com lead the charge to make sure that Michelle Rhee is no longer near students?

And in January 2008, a well-liked Driscoll School, Brookline, MA, science teacher, Christopher Huggins , is out of a job last week after allegedly duct-taping a 12-year-old girl’s mouth during class. Michelle Rhee is not well liked. Why isn't she removed from the entire scene?

In 2009, a first grade teacher at Spaulding Elementary School, Emily Metcalfe, in Townsend, MA, used duct tape on several students' mouths. The principal was quoted as, "The superintendent went on to say that the teacher may have thought at first this was a joke, but that there was a lack of professional judgment." Didn't Michelle Rhee show poor judgment?

I am in no way condoning, nor condemning what these teachers had done. They have every single right to be proven guilty, not to prove their innocence. That is how the American system works. But, does the punishment fit the crime? Especially in light of Michelle Rhee's acknowledgment of what she has done and the education deformers sweeping it under the rug? Do these teachers not deserve the same benefit of the doubt and second chance that Michelle Rhee has received?

It Is Not Students First, Rather It Should Be Priorites First

Several weeks ago, Michelle Rhee launched her RheeFirst, oops, I mean Studentsfirst website. Like at the end of a long day when I need a good laugh or distraction and listen to Sean Hannity, studentsfirst serves the same purpose.

I came across a propaganda film in which a under thirty somethings (yes, there were a few teachers over forty) espoused how they put students first. Two of the hypnotized that never lies stood out to me. One was Jane, a statistics and economics teacher at some school who said, "So for me it is not about 3 o'clock and the bell rings and it's time to go home. It's about did everyone learn today."

That is really nice. Super. I recall when I was first hired I was asked if I was willing to stay late. I said sure, why not? For a month I stayed late. For the sake of staying late. There were no students to see since they had all left. I was a cluster and did not have a classroom to keep up. It was all appearance and it soon ended.

Then right after Jane there is Steve, a fifth grade teacher. Steve is young, and he has that sexy five day growth type of beard. Steve says, "It's not all about me. It's about all 26 kids, or the year before that, 27. Or the year before that, 28. Whether or not I wasn't feeling well, or wasn't particularly excited about what I needed to teach, it wasn't about me it was about them."

Steve, you make me feel so guilty. When I had strep throat with 104 degree fever I should have come into to work that day. I was so selfish. Even after the fever broke over the weekend and I had an allergic reaction to the Ceftin I still should have come into work. Several years ago my wife made Hamburger Helper for dinner and the next morning I just leaned over the bed and deposited it on the floor, I should have come in to work.

I really hate this students first mantra. Yes, students should come first. But when you are at school. When you are doing school stuff. Please, I want to be spared this liberal, empty catch phrase. It means nothing and when said I do not believe it.

What comes first for me? My son and wife. Plain and simple. I know if given the choice to rescue my wife or my son my wife would insist I rescue my son. I have given up a lot of chances for per session money because I want to be with my son in the afternoon. For many years my wife worked in the city and did not come home until late. Or I coached all his sports teams and that was quite time consuming. Or I just wanted to be with him. My son, my family comes first, yesterday, now and forever.

Second, God. I have a lot of issues with this guy. I wonder if he is there, I wonder if he exists. But God comes in second. The type of person I need to be in his eyes (if he does exist) guides me.

The USA is third. We live in one fucked up country right now, and Obama is a waste as are all politicians, but this is my country and I want to do something to leave it a better place for my son.

The students, my job comes in fourth. Sorry, that is just the way it is. Doesn't mean I don't care about the students, or don't care about my job. It doesn't mean I don't want to try to improve. It just means that I have my priorities straight. I know what I have done for students. I don't have to list them here. I will mention one, **cough cough** Numb Nuts **cough cough**. I know my heart is in the right place everyday I walk into my building. But there is more to staying late, coming in when you are sick, or just too beat to show that you care about your students.

One thing that would have impressed me in that video is if one teacher, just one said that when students are being wronged by higher ups they go and fight for those students to the decision makers. That they will risk their jobs for what should be right and what is right. Unfortunately I doubt either of them have ever done it.

Just stop this students first or children first crap. It is empty and hollow. It like when I ballplayer signs with a team and claims it "isn't about the money." Road apples.