So many things to do...

There are so many things to do before ending the school year that it doesn't really feel like the end of the year. Remember that feeling on the last day of school when it felt like all the weight of assignments lifted off your shoulders? Teachers feel that too. I definitely did last year, but this year I have so many things to do before starting summer vacation that so far, I haven't felt that relief.
Brooke and I went away with our staffs on retreat to recap and plan for the coming year. Today I've been working from the computer at home. We have been really lucky and were given $5,000 from our school district to spend at Barnes & Noble on books to help our students in next year. I've been put in charge of spending the money. It's kind of fun, but I hope everyone is happy with my picks. Besides that, I'm trying to edit student writing and illustrations into a book that I will send away to get published.
I'll probably feel that the end of the year is here when I'm at the airport checking in for our trip to South America next week.

Oakland kids blog on blogger, too.

I've been teaching this class for the last two weeks where kids are blogging their own stories on blogger. The stories are relate to Oakland, the East Bay, their perceptions of other neighborhoods around the Bay Area, and and how people perceive them.

The idea to teach this class came after an encounter I had with a fellow teacher, who had been teaching in a suburban school in Utah for about as long as I've been alive. She lived in Oakland about twenty years ago, and her views of kids from the Bay Area were really stuck in the past -- based on her old ideas about how kids "should" behave, as well as her understanding of race relations, youth culture, and the educational system. She actually said to me that kids from Oakland are dangerous, and asked how I could keep sane trying to teach in such a dirty, scary place. She asked how I managed -- as a white, female teacher in a "non-white community" (her words), and how I could teach kids who "invented their own language so that white people wouldn't understand what they were saying". I guess I shouldn't have been shocked, but it really hurt me to hear her say that. She is still a teacher. She is educated, and has travelled.... but, instead of educating herself and trying to understand where my kids were coming from, she was perpetuating sterotypes with her students... teaching them to be mistrustful of students like mine.

I didn't know what to say to her. At first, I just nodded and smiled and didn't say anything.... but when she really started coming down on Oakland and my kids, I just looked at her and said "I don't think that point of view fits Oakland anymore. My kids are wonderful, and it really hurts me when people say things like that. They're beautiful, thoughtful, bright kids who need more people to beleive in them and listen to them. I strongly urge you to learn more about it, because things have changed since you lived there".

Okay, so I acknowledge that Oakland is in the top ten "most dangerous cities" in the USA... but it's not without beauty. And I think that my kids forget this, too. That's why this class exists -- so that they can see the beauty of where they live, and so that people from other areas around the Bay (and others who read their blog) can meet them and see how great they are.... and learn not to fear these wonderful students -- who face challenges we can't even imagine, and face obstacles that they can only get over if we keep having faith in them.

So, we've been breaking the kids up into groups of four, and taking them to places like Walnut Creek (95% white, or something), Chinatown and Fruitvale (Latino neighborhood). We'll also be going to The Castro (rainbow-flag district), and Peir 39 in downtown San Francisco. They interview people about their neighborhoods, to find out about safety, health and accessibility, economics, food, aesthetics and diversity. And then they blog about what they learn, what they find out, and how their own perceptions of their own communities change along the way. Hopefully, we also change a few other people's minds as well.

A priest, a rabbi and two teachers get on a plane...

No, really... that's what happened on our way home from New York. I figured, there's no way our plane is going to crash with this much good karma getting on board!

New York was very interesting: we got to watch teachers who were really good at what they did, and not so good at what they did. This is helpful to see, because it allows us to think about what makes a successful lesson, and what would have been better for the students' learning.

On a totally different note, Michael and I spotted comedian Eddie Izzard roaming around Grand Central Station(!). I was seriously going to say something to him, like: "don't poke badgers with spoons" (a reference to one of his jokes)... but I lost nerve as he brushed past my elbow. He had his iPod in and looked like he was enjoying just being a tourist... But now I can say I rubbed elbows with Eddie Izzard! Cool....

I just cleaned the apartment yesterday and it looks great. Now, I have a load in the dishwasher, and am putting off doing my homework for grad-school classes tomorrow. I guess I'd better get going on that. : (

I was going to procrastinate, but I think I'll do that tomorrow.

Teacher retreat

The trip to New York was great. We saw some really interesting classrooms and met some great teachers.

I just returned tonight from a night away on retreat with my school staff. It's nice being around so many people who care so much about our students are really care about their teaching enough to devote personal time to improving what we can offer to them. I was planning our final three weeks of school with another teacher. We'll be taking students out cycling daily as well as doing some rowing and kayaking with them. Should be fun!

Daylight Saving Time begins tonight! Yay!

Greetings from the Apple Store in the Big Apple

Brooke and I are in New York City, here to do some school observations. We had an excellent day out with a friend exploring this great city in all its diversity. We're interested to see that in its schools in the coming days. It's great catching up with old friends too. Not sure I could trade the weather we have in California for it though. OK... maybe I could, but it would take some persuasion.

I'm writing this from the new MacBook Air at the Apple Store on 5th Avenue. I should find a shop attendant to let them know it's missing a right mouse button. Now I know what it feels like when my grandmother gets on the computer.

Alright, off to find some good NYC eats.

Evening venting sessions...and a trip to New York

I think we're feeling at a bit of a low point at the moment after tonight's classes. We were supposed to be talking about Response To Intervention (RTI), but instead the conversation turned more toward what wrong with our school district. Mind you, we're not talking about what's wrong with our students or schools: we're quite happy in that regard. Sometimes evening classes turn into venting sessions. What makes it worse though is to have to go to class today on President's Day -- a holiday otherwise. We miss our jobs in Japan. Perhaps we can find something in Dubai and get another overseas teaching experience. Along with our experiences in public schools, I'm sure we'll have a lot to offer to our future employers. Our students and schools are great, but sometimes the district gets us feeling bummed.

At the end of the week Brooke and I are going to New York to visit partner schools, to do some observations, and to get some new ideas for our classes. I'm excited about that. We'll also have a chance to visit some friends in New York! Looking forward to that too.

Hella aching...

As one of our delightful English teachers likes to say, I'm "hella aching" this week... and it's only Tuesday. I love my students... but why do they have to act like teenagers all the time? Oh, wait! Right. Because they are teenagers. I guess I'll have to forgive them for that. But I don't have to forgive them right away.

Please, Friday: come quickly!

The start of good intentions

I originally started this blog with one short entry in January 2005, planning to post on it every week. It never happened that way... which is a shame, really, because I'm sure that there are many lost little anecdotes that might have been saved had I kept up with my endeavor to keep an e-journal. So, here I am again, three years later: still a teacher, but in a totally different place.

I used to teach English in Japan for a now-bankrupt mega-school, where students did what they were told, the paycheck was great, and classroom supplies appeared as needed. Now, I'm a Special Education teacher in a public school in California... in a bankrupt district, teaching amazing, frustrating, incredible inner-city teenagers, and working hard to help keep my wonderful little school in good repute.

My other half is also a teacher. Yes, I actually think of him as my other half: he's the peanut-butter to my jelly. (Or am I the peanut butter?) We teach the same subject, work in the same community, attend the same graduate classes.. and count down the days until our next vacations. It's very hard work. But we both have the philosphy that all we need in life are travel, purpose, a paycheck, and each other. We value our time more than money... and the best thing about taking such a poorly-paid job is having our summers off. In fact, thinking about the summer is what gets us through the bad days. That, and each other.

Just recently, we were deciding where to go this summer. We had so many great ideas, but I kept thinking back to something my students said. Most of my students or their families come from other countries, and they often look at my travel map to see if I've been to their hometowns. (I have a large world map on the wall with pins marking most of the places I've been to: 31 countries so far.) They always ask why there are no pins at all in South America or Africa. A very good question, I think.

So, after much deliberation, we bought tickets to South America for the summer (or, winter, if you look at it from the southern perspective). Hooray! How exciting!

Only eighty-six days of school to go.