Meet Marshall

Today was a day unlike any other day at school.  Sure I knew it was coming, a special day with an assembly to meet a dog.  Well of course I was excited...I LOVE dogs.  I then find out this dog was a rescue dog...Hey I have a rescue pup as well!  Then I hear the story...thats when the tears start pouring out.  Well, Marshall is not just a dog, and he is not JUST a rescue dog.  He is a special dog with a special mission and an exceptional story to share.

Meet Marshall, the Miracle Dog...an amazing yellow lab mix who was rescued from horrid conditions in Marshall Missouri by the Humane Society of Missouri and Animal Planet.  Upon his rescue, subsequent deaths, and recoveries (yes I said deaths with an "s") he lost a leg, some of his soft fur on his face, but gained a brand new happy puppy dog life.  As a certified therapy dog, and as the proud pup of author Cyndi Willenbrock, Marshall spreads anti-cruelty, anti-bullying, and basic character education messages to schools, children, and dog lovers wherever he goes.  

Working in a school which is a National School of Character, this hits near and dear to my heart.  I hear stories about bullied kids in other schools around the country, and my heart breaks for them.  Where is their Marshall?  Where is their special three legged friend to tell them it will be okay?  So many students in our country deal with being different for many reasons, and the daily struggle to cope can be over bearing.  Marshall's story is here to help educate those who might think about picking on others who appear different as well as comfort those who have been in Marshall's shoes....err, um, paws?  

So to all my teacher friends and dog lovers around the world, please look deeper into this story and see how Marshall can help you and how you can be apart of The Marshall Movement.  Don't forget: Marshall is a reminder to not give up five minutes before the Miracle.

Haters Gonna Hate

Well, it appears that this lil ol blog of mine must show up on some Google searches somewhere in the world!  I am quite confident no one was searching for this blog, merely they happened to search far enough within Google search result listings until they saw my kicky little title and thought they just couldn't move on for the evening without reading further.  I know what you are thinking, "Someone ELSE also reads this teacher's random and greatly insignificant thoughts on the state of education?"  Well trust me, I was equally surprised myself!  As much as I was hoping for the great praises of a complete stranger (or a well known acquaintance who is too shy to post under any name other than anonymous), it turns out they were not completely pleased with the work of art you see before you!

Our nameless friend chose to read A World without Autism and Civil Rights Education.  Very little can be said about their thoughts on Civil Rights Education.  They think homosexuality is wrong, it is a sin, and I am a monster for thinking otherwise.  Such a hotly debated topic right now and I do not feel like wasting more energy on it if I do not have too.  However, their response to my thoughts of Autism have to be shared!

U should not be allowed to teach..their has been cases of recovery..that is a lie saying autistic people do not have the capacity to love..just shows how little u understand autism..U can recover autism thru chelation, detoxing,and diet and intensive aba programs but we all know how shitty the programs are here in the states..teachers lack work ethics ..there wouldn't be so many autistic people if they would remove mercury from the vaccines..there is your cure a no brainer. If a child fails a program its not the childs fault its the program and teachers fault..wish they would supervise special education teachers better they Need cameras in the classrooms because some do not have a voice and get abused and neglected in these programs. 

First things first, if you EVER choose to comment on a blog with an author by the name of The Teacher, PLEASE proof read your typing, your spelling, your grammar, and for heaven sakes spell out ALL of your words!  Without differing opinions I could still rip this anonymous friend apart simply for missing all English classes after third grade and feeling to make the word need a proper noun!  I am, however, a bigger person than some, so I shall choose not to pick on petty things such as the letter U rather than the word you.  So lets move on shall we?

A cure for Autism, well I'll be damned!  Seven years of special education training, a Master's degree and an additional certificate in Autism Studies and not one professor at my university let me in on the secret that we can cure Autism.  So many dollars spent on my education and they kept me in the dark...I find this hard to believe!  Just incase I had been lied to all these years, I went to make sure I was up to date on all research at hand.  Yup, still no "cure."  Can people receive treatments and early interventions in order to become more socially appropriate and more successful in school and workplaces, absolutely!  As far as I know, this was never disputed.  I surely never mentioned it.  These treatments in which I speak though are limited.  Current best practices with in the school system are based on ABA, Applied Behavior Analysis.  Sadly, detoxing your child and restricting the diet apart of ABA and really have little to no effect on the matter.  In fact, to date, controlled scientific studies have not proven this true.  So, even if people claim to see improvement in their child due to a diet that is gluten and casein free, it is not a cure, and not scientifically proven.  Well, what about chelation therapy?  The act of removing heavy metals from your body has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with Autism.  This is often believed as people feel mercury used in the preservative thimerosal, which is used in vaccines for childhood shots have caused Autism.  The Center for Disease Control has kindly reminded me that Mercury has not been used in childhood vaccines since 2001...however the surge in Autism has taken place since then, leading me to believe that everyone who jumped on the anti-vaccine band wagon has been taken for a ride.  12 years of Mercury free vaccines and Autism is still around AND no one has been cured.  Would you look at that.

  

Let us not forget that even though we can cure Autism, our profound reader also knows that while a cure is available, a child with Autism still needs programming.  As far as the claims of the "states" knowing nothing about appropriate programming, I will with hold the information about the year I learned to speak Turkish in order to provide a young child from across the seas therapy as his parents preferred treatment in the "states" to ANYTHING provided in Europe.  Won't even go into that topic.  And as a teacher I do agree, every time a student fails at programming it is ALWAYS the teachers fault.  I would never presume that perhaps the programming that is obviously being carried over at home for the other 17 hours in the child's day as well as 48 hours on the weekend would ever be implemented wrong.  It is strictly the 30 hours spent in my classroom that has failed the child....dammit, why do they even let me keep my certification?!

Wow, even I surprise myself with how witty and sarcastic I can be!  Such a well thought out blog and I bet anonymous never comes back to read how wrong he is!

Summertime, and the Living is Easy...

One of my biggest pet peeves as a teacher is the assumption that our job is easy as we get 3 months off in the summer.  I do not know how the wool was pulled over my eyes, but I have been out of school for five weeks and three days and get the joy of returning to school tomorrow morning.  What happened to my other seven weeks of freedom???  Sadly, the three months off is a grave misconception that I often have to explain.  Yes, I worked summer school so my "summer" did not start until July.  The real kicker, I had to have a part time job in the summer to make up for the lack of funds, as I normally tutor during the school year, and need to supplement that lost income in the summer months.  Also, The part time job allowed for me to enjoy my vacation a bit more, albeit short, as my regular income is used strictly for bills with very little left for play time.  What irks me the most is that while I work two jobs year round, the people who complain about my time off usually make double my salary and get between two and six weeks paid vacation every year!

So needless to say, I do not get three months off.  Do I enjoy the short time off I do get?  Absolutely!  I had a blast this summer, as it has been my FIRST summer working for a school that is not year round.  My apartment has never been cleaner and more organized, I was able to really focus on my workout routines, and yes I lounged by a pool a few times.  I even took the most amazing vacation with my boyfriend to Montana.  The whole trip was so wonderful, that I must devote an entire other blog post to it at a later date.  As for now I am laying in bed, hoping my body will be ready to rock and roll as my iPhone will start its obnoxious chiming at 5:30am tomorrow morning.  As rough as it will be getting back into the swing of things, I can't wait to get this new year under way!  Summer, you have been great, I will miss you dearly, but for now I must pack you away until we meet again next July!

Politics of Education

This week I submitted my MAP-A binders to my principal.  The MAP is the standardized test in the state of Missouri and the the MAP-A is the alternative version for the small percentage of special education students who can not take traditional tests.  I had three tenth graders participate.  For each I had to write four specific activities that showed acquisition of four grade level learning requirements in math.  Each activity had to be tested six times over the period of two months.  It's a bit of work and really the creating and writing of activities that my students can actually do was the tricky part.  Alas I did it and turned in my volumes of work to my principal.
Wait...Did you see what I did there?  I was the one really being tested...I was tested on how well I can creatively write an activity that I can assure my student can do.  That is correct, my tenth grader who can't tie her own shoes is advanced in the grade level learning requirements for math in the state of Missouri.  How can this be?  Why is this common practice?  Well, it's a simple answer... our government has made it so and I prefer to stay employed.
Of course, it would be this week that fellow teacher and running buddy Wendie would post two amazing articles that provoke deep thought into the matter I just discussed.  The first article is from the Washington Post and was written by a teacher out west who truly understands the dilemma.  Data, it is all about the data.  She robs children of their innocence for the sake of data.  She knows it is not right, but after all, it is her data she can produce that keeps her employed year to year.  The second article is from Education Week.  This is a great blog that helps make the connection between product driven environments and schools.  For example, a business is not going to continually spend money to market a product that no one wants.  It is a waste of time and energy and this is proven by the lack of dollars being brought in to the pockets of the businessmen.  Now think about that product as children and the money as test scores.  Should a teacher stop investing in children that are not going to bring the test scores that are so desired?
All of this is just some food for thought.  Clearly, I hope readers understand the perspective I hold on the issues.  As I am tired, my head hurts and thinking about things such as this that bring me down so much, I will save my further ranting for another day.

A World Without Autism

Can you even imagine a World without Autism? It sounds amazing! Sure, I would be out of a job, but the millions of people who would be free from this struggle would make it all worth while! Well I guess this is my lucky day...Jenny McCarthy has yet again fixed our Autism epidemic. In case you are not completely familiar with the history of this situation, let me inform you: Jenny McCarthy was a Playboy model, had a son with Autism, claimed to cure his Autism, created a bandwagon of dingbats who assumed they could do the same, Ms. McCarthy's son never had Autism, and then she published a book about it! I understand this rant is a bit late for a book published a few years ago...but lord help me I just discovered it!

Now, Amazon claims that millions have been sold. I am not sure if people are turning to this book for true advice or in hopes of seeing JM naked. Lets hope it's the latter, as that speaks higher of America! Anywho, I hope JM gets lost in a cave never to be heard from again as she keeps spouting off false hope for parents, care takers, and loved ones across the globe as Autism is here to stay. Do I like it? Other than the paycheck, no. It breaks my heart knowing my students need something and they lack the ability to communicate that want/need. It saddens me knowing they do not fully understand relationships and those who are there to help them. I would love for people to not have babies, children, and siblings that can't love them back the way they were meant to be loved. Does that mean I can cure Autism? NO! Much like you can not add numbers to an IQ or subtract extra chromosomes, you can not cure Autism. Please be aware of this and never listen to JM, regardless of how little clothes she has on her body!

The State of Education

The state of Missouri is currently trying to pass a new bill regarding education and teaching in our fine red state of Missouri. I could do my best to sum this bill up in wording that makes me sound incredibly educated yet understandable to the masses. Yet, I feel it would be easiest and most accurate if I copied and pasted the information this bill contains. I will give all credit to the Missouri National Education Association, for the finely written excerpt below:

The House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee approved an HCS version for HB 1740 (Scott Dieckhaus) on Feb. 22 in a contentious executive session.

The bill is on a fast track for consideration and is expected to be taken up for floor debate on Feb. 28. Stay tuned for an upcoming action alert to all state representatives concerning HCS/HB 1740 on Feb. 24.

The HCS:

1) repeals teacher tenure for all new hires and eliminates use of seniority in reduction in force,

2) repeals the minimum teacher salary for teachers with Master's degrees and ten or more years of teaching,

3) contains a tax-credit style voucher for students of unaccredited districts to attend private schools,

4) adds charter school expansion and accountability similar to HCS/HB 1228 (Tishaura Jones),

5) creates statewide virtual district school and virtual charter school open enrollment,

6) includes provisions allowing accredited districts to establish class-size capacity standards with regard to student transfers from unaccredited districts,

7) contains the provisions of HCS/HB 1174 (Mike Lair) to allow the State Board of Education to hold a hearing and act to revise the governance of a school district when it becomes unaccredited, rather than automatically lapsing the district after two years, and

8) contains the provisions of HCS/HB 1043 (Mike Thomson) regarding distribution of school formula funds when the formula is underfunded.

Alrighty, back to me...This bill has a lot going on and I do not feel the need to dig through it all as I am not the most educated on some of these topics. I did; however, put in bold some finer points I feel should be made clearer for those who may not be aware.

1. Wanting to repeal teacher tenure. Tenure is basically grandfathering in a teacher and making it so they can not be dismissed without just cause. Let it be known that any teacher who is abusive in anyway to children deserves to lose their jobs and 99.9% of the time will lose their job, so don't feel this would ever keep a truly bad teacher in place. People who support the repeal of tenure often feel that it promotes complacency amongst teachers in work ethic and growth. First being that teachers will not work to their full potential if they have no fear of losing their job, thus keeping lack luster teachers in the schools. This is a legitimate concern for the general public. As a current teacher in a public school, I would like to offer the insight that there are not many ways a teacher can slack off. We are held accountable for what each student learns and we are held accountable to see that our students make Adequate Yearly Progress (a term that came about from No Child Left Behind, which is another discussion for another day). Not making adequate progress is just cause for letting a teacher go. Secondly, a teacher becoming complacent might refer to not keeping up with trends in education. One thing I can say, which goes for a large majority of teachers, is that we love learning. We would not make a life long career out of education if we did not adore soaking up new knowledge as it became available. That aside, we are still required to upkeep our learning within the field. We have certain training opportunities that are required of teachers that vary from district to district. The state also requires a certain number of professional development hours by each teacher each year. So the fact of the matter is that teachers will continue to work hard as their job will always depend on it.

What good can come from tenure? First of all it was started by universities as a way to ensure that academic staff was not filled with young researchers but instead filled with seasoned minds with more background and understanding of academia. How can this be a bad thing? It makes sense to me. This trend has dropped off in US colleges and universities but is still held as common practice in many countries in Europe and Asia (both continents who routinely out score American schools for the record.) Think about it in regards to our public school systems in Missouri. Would we want only first year teachers educating our youth? I am in my sixth year of teaching and I am still learning ways to perfect my classroom management and handling student behaviors. By having tenured teachers we would have teachers who understand how to run an efficient classroom.

Finally I will sum up my rant on tenure with, there is very little draw to the teaching profession in the material realm. We obviously have a pay check that very few would like to see in their bank account, the least we could get is some decent perks and benefits that attract people to the profession.

2. Repealing minimum pay. I will not go into great depths here. All I will say is, SERIOUSLY? Our minimum pay for a Masters Degree teacher is still laughable compared to other professions. When they start to CAP the salaries of doctors, lawyers and businessmen then maybe I would consider a minimum pay for a teacher.

6. Accredited districts capping class size. Basically as we stand now, if a child attends an unaccredited school district they have the opportunity to attend an accredited school district. Now making sure schools are able to stay accredited is again a discussion for a much longer post. For the purpose of this, lets just assume it was unavoidable. If schools can cap class size on accredited classrooms then I promise that will leave students in an unaccredited district with no where to go. Why would we not want to offer all our students an education at an accredited school? Now I understand that a teacher can not feasibly educate a class of 45. I am not promoting that at all. I just think that there has to be a better way that what is proposed. I don't have a solution and I am not sure what options are available. What makes this even more upsetting is that many unaccredited schools are often in low income areas and it makes me wonder if they are capping class size or if they are eliminating the unworthy. Either way, education has gone through many struggles to make it unlimited for students of all abilities and races and I would hate to think that anything would change that. Its a battle we already won, I would prefer to not revisit it again.

Civil Rights Education

It is quite obvious that in the state of Missouri we are not as liberal as other states around the country. We carry the color red proudly, and unless you live in St. Louis or Kansas City, you stick to your guns on this matter! (And I LITERALLY mean you stick to your GUNS!)

Lucky for me, I am one of those hippie-liberal types and I push the envelope with my thoughts in a rather conservative state. I was raised to accept all people, regardless of race, religion OR sexual orientation! I clearly remember one family vacation, when I was quite young and being introduced to Uncle Billy and Aunt Paul. I was like, sure, got it...and I think I ran out to roller blade by the beach. It didn't phase me and I was in a family where this was not unusual. Later in life I had a brother openly express his homosexuality to the family...I think our reaction was, "Great, pass the green beans." Yup, no big deal...why should it be.

Sadly, this is not the case for many. Children are actually being raised in families who teach them that this is wrong and this really bothers me. How can something so natural be wrong? To make matters worse, these ideals are then being reinforced in the school systems! A date to a dance automatically means a date of the opposite sex, sex education naturally only covers a man with a woman. We are creating human beings that will carry on this notion that homosexuality is not normal. We can never overcome this cycle unless we teach it differently. I know people will fight this idea. Hell, white people fought desegregation at first, but we overcame and now children of all races can attend school together and are accepted. Granted, they are accepted if and only if they have two parents of differing sexes.

I know this is a hotly debated topic right now and it falls near and dear to my heart. Many people will disagree with me and thats fine. I am hot headed and I love to upset the masses! I would love to leave you on a positive note. There are schools outside of our blood red state of Missouri that take this issue to heart. The District of Columbia has a school who is working hard to teach acceptance and respect starting with day one! This article shows the start of what I hope is an amazing movement that spreads across the country. Read it and be amazed. Major gratitude goes to a school with such heart!

The Newest Digs

Its been just over a semester since I have had my own classroom again. Here are a few quick pics just so you can see where I hang out everyday!

Yes, I am room 108...please do not stalk me!

Look at that visual schedule! If you teach students with Autism...you know this is how we roll!

I did say students with Autism correct? Yup, this is just one of my students getting in some sensory time on a therapy ball with a recycling bin on his head. I am not sure what sensory input he gets from the bin on his head...it was not recommended by his OT, it was self applied!

Look at all those cool job boxes I inherited with the classroom!

Did I mention I work with kids with Autism yet? Do you see the organization in these buckets? We don't just sort, we line up in perfect little rows!

New Directions

I feel like I do not post on this blog as often as I would like. I am wondering if it is because I do not feel I have enough good teaching stories at the moment, or I simply lack time. I am hoping that by expanding this blog to something more than just my daily life as a teacher I will be able to utilize it more. Do not get me wrong...a good portion will be dedicated to teaching, no doubt about it. I just feel this would also be a good venue for me to share much more. After all, teachers also have hobbies outside of the classroom. Some of mine include drinking wine, cooking, working out and spending ridiculous amounts of time on time wasting websites such as Pinterest! I am thinking that when I stumble across something I love that I will post it on here. Hopefully this new direction will help me become a more avid blogger for my fives and tens of fans!

Thats all for now, I will see you all again soon. Hopefully with some yummy recipe ideas you can't live without!