East Texas – organizing wrap up
Today was my last day of organizing work in East Texas. Tomorrow I fly home.
Over the last two weeks four of us have helped the local AFT organizer prepare for, distribute materials at, and help recruit at about 10 events.
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There were NTOs – New Teacher Orientations. And there were Convocations, though they don’t call them that anymore, not officially, since that name comes close on that church/state thing. Opening of School Ceremonies or something like that, that’s what they write down. But people say “Convocation.” And with the prayers at the start of most of them, “Convocation” does a better job at hinting how close they come to that church/state line.
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Not all Texas teachers belong to unions or “teacher organizations.” Both the AFT and the NEA have members here, and organize, though the NEA seems less of a presence in this part of East Texas. Talks aimed at state-level merger a few years ago were not successful. Another time, maybe. But in the meantime they sure could use a non-compete agreement, so that they didn’t try to sign up members in each other’s districts. Again, in East Texas, not much of a problem.
There are two other organizations that organize teachers, and both make a point of saying they are not unions. The ATPE (Association of Texas Professional Educators) organizes everyone in a school – including administrators. And the TCTA (don’t know what it stands for) also is not a union. The AFT is in active competition with these organizations in some places. I saw ATPE at several of the events I helped out at.
I wonder what the AFT here thinks will happen or should happen long-term to these non-union competitors.
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For those of you map-curious, I stayed in Lufkin, and visited Lufkin, Central, Nacogdoches, Wodin, Huntington, and San Augustine. Others in my group made Kilgore, Longview, Joaquin, Tyler, Hudson, Marshall.
And on a down day in East Texas, half of us went to Humble, north of Houston, and I got sent to Sealey, to the west. My organizer noticed that one of the track records on the wall there was set by E. Dickerson over 30 years ago. So we looked at the photos of their football championship teams, and sure enough, we saw a teenaged Eric Dickerson.
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Some afternoons we prepared materials, organized material, phone-banked… Most of the indoor stuff was staffing tables, talking to interested teachers. One day we visited a bunch of schools, updating bulletin boards and leaving info for teachers.
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Our last day, today, we went to Convocation in Lufkin. We had been to a new teacher event there, along with all the other teacher organizations. Today there was no permission for a table, so we stood outside, saying good morning (“Howyaduin” in east Texan) and handing out fans (certainly they had AC in their Civic Center, but no telling if it will get warm with all those bodies, plus it’s a nice gesture). So it’s nice, easy, no hard sell, teachers are chatting, it’s all friendly. Lufkin is a district where the majority of teachers are AFT. And then an administrator came out and told us we couldn’t be there. Clearly some sort of misunderstanding. It wasn’t our intent to be rabble-rousers. But it sort of felt like a good way to end the stay. No harm done, but I can say I got thrown out of an event (wasn’t actually inside), which makes the informal highlights reel.
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This is two years in a row that I’ve done summer organizing for the AFT’s “Back to School” program. Last year for me was New Orleans. It’s volunteer. You tell them when you are available. They pick up air fare, meals, hotels, and they assign you to work in a place that needs you.
You learn some things about organizing. You learn about conditions that teachers face in other places. You meet teachers (paras, secretaries, nurses, staffers, etc) both from your host location, and volunteers from across the country. And you provide help, labor, and some good energy and spirit to a place that could use it.
Do you have two weeks next summer that are not committed to vacation? Think it over.
I’ve been in contact with several UFT leaders (5?) while I’ve been here, saying good things about the experience, about the program. I don’t think we’ve been promoting it. But one leader, fairly high-placed, says next year the UFT will get behind AFT Back-to-School. I hope we do.
A 7th teaching period?
Not NYC. In Texas. Most high school teachers I’ve met here teach seven each day.
How effective could that possibly be? Can you imagine how little time is available for planning? And how exhausted teachers must be when they actually sit down to plan?
And I just mentioned places that seem to be more successful with teaching, they seem to have fewer teaching hours, more planning time.
Just say no (thank you)?
From what I have been reading, Race to the Top money is tied to systems that create
- effective teaching, defined as
- teaching that leads to measurable student growth,
- growth which is based on measures of student achievement,
- which means test scores.
So, I assume that we are trying hard to change this whole way of looking at teaching? And not just trying to convince the administration that all states qualify?
But if we fail to convince them of either,
if they won’t qualify New York State,
and they won’t back off the test score sickness:
Could we say no? Can we just take a pass on this money?
How big a chunk of our budget is it?
Maybe turning it down is the best thing we can do.
Summer school – over
Now that summer school is over for all of you in New York, it’s time to decide that it’s really over.
Unless you need the money desperately…
Please, consider making this your last year.
You have such a short time left to enjoy, relax, recuperate. Next year, wouldn’t ten weeks be better?
The time to recharge matters. We have an exhausting job. And summer school can be even more exhausting. Don’t deal with the extra stress, the extra supervisors, the unaccountable credit recovery, the insult of having to measure “seat time.” The time is yours; use it to make yourself feel better.
It’ll be better for your students in the fall, too.
Me, this is my last summer programming. I can’t wait to have the full summer for myself. Of course, I’ll probably use some of it doing union work. But… My choice. There’s time enough to help new teachers, volunteer, take a few weeks with family, and make a major jaunt around the globe.
And take a look over at Pissed Off Teacher. She’s already on a multi-trip-summer regimen, first was there, and second there, and the next is here. My hero. I want to be just like her.
Summer school – just say no.
Back on the horse
or, rather, Back into the Fire.
Amazing teacher, then non-teacher, then charter teacher, then ex-charter teacher, then substitute teacher, Julie, is back at it.
New year, and she’s back teaching. Go read what she has to say about what she learned and what she looks forward to…
While you are there, sample some of the older (engaging) writing, and definitely look at her amazing photos…
Teachers in which country teach the most?
In the United States the number of actual teaching hours (not planning, not meeting, not improving) is almost double the number of hours in Finland, more than double Japan, and the greatest in the world.
Look at the data, read the analysis, over at 3σ -> left.
Break in the weather
It’s been hot in East Texas. The forecast for the rest of the week:
- Tuesday 92
- Wednesday 91
- Thursday 93
- Friday 96
- Saturday 96
- Sunday 95
- Monday 94
- Tuesday 94
- Wednesday 95
Now, I’ve been reminded, there’s hotter places in Texas. But low 90s are a break? Actually, I feel fortunate that Claudette’s remains won’t reach here, that Bill is elsewhere, and that there are no other tropical blips on the weather map…
Today I stopped at a little museum by the Camino Real. Looked at some maps, took some brochures, heard a little Texas history, and probably added the first “Bronx” to the guestbook.
(Earlier I helped sign up some teachers at a convocation. Normal leave at 6, work 7 – 1 sort of day)
a Friendly Fail
At a truck stop outside Cleveland, Texas, I bring up a snack and a 20 oz bottle of Ozarkana water. Cashier tells me the water is two for a dollar.
That’s ok, just want one. How much is it?
$1.09
I ask her to charge me for two.
I should have gone back to the case and taken a picture, but I wasn’t going to the car to dig out a camera. That’s the first time in my life I regretted not having a camera-phone.
Not as good as what they find at 360, but still a fail.
Review of Dirt
Well, not really. Sort of a partial review. Preliminary. Brief comment.
Dirt is a book. The full title is Dirt: the erosion of civilization, by David Montgomery (the environmental David Montgomery, not the labor historian)
In less than 250 pages he does a pretty good idea of explaining what soil is, the history of what people thought about it, and the history of how people used (and mostly destroyed) it.
“It’s like the earth’s skin” he keeps saying. And as a non-scientist, the analogy is appealing.
When he deals with the past, the pattern he lays out is simple: a civilization uses up its soil, and moves on to other soil to use up; or a civilization uses up its soil, and the civilization declines.
Problem: we don’t have much new soil to move on to, all the best stuff is in the temperate zone (the soil in the tropics is not as good and gets depleted much more quickly), and we don’t really want to decline.
He makes the case for farming in different ways, smaller farms, less monoculture, drastic reduction in pesticide and fertilizer, more labor intensive farming, mulching/manure, contoured plowing, etc. etc. It is both radical, and reasonable.
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Units! Units are the worst part of the book.
He’s only got four things to measure, but he makes it so hard to follow. We have depth of soil. That one he handles ok. He uses inches, and he uses feet. Reasonable.
Time. He uses years. Tens of years. Hundreds of years. Thousands of years. And generations. He should dump those generations. Unnecessarily confusing. But I’m being picky.
Areas. Acres. Hectares. Square miles. Size of ________ (fill in the country). This drove me nuts. Pick a small measure (acre or ha.) and stick with it. For larger areas, pick one familiar area, and compare all others against it. I like France. “An area one tenth the area of France” “an area half as large as France” “a bit larger than France” – If France is the wrong unit, pick another. But pick one, and stay with it. Otherwise the reader just gets confused. Most people do not offhand have the ability to compare lots of areas.
How fast does soil erode? Montgomery uses inches per century. Or years per inch. Or inches per year. Or inches per thousand years. The concept itself, that soil disappears, is foreign. Shifting units on top of this is confusing for no reason. I should have converted each figure to inches per century. Instead I just got frustrated as I read.
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Soil erosion is important. Soil is a resource that is disappearing like oil. We should know more.
Montgomery makes this information accessible. He emphasizes the importance, at a level technical enough for the science-interested layman. Aside from the units (just convert to inches per century) it is a relatively easy read.
It is worth knowing more about this topic, and Dirt is a good intro.
East Texas – Week 1
For the past week I have been an American Federation of Teachers volunteer. In, of all places, East Texas. Deep East Texas, they tell me.
A small group of us have been working with two local organizers and members in some local schools, helping build up the AFT in this part of the state.
School opens soon in Texas, and teachers are gathering for mandatory meetings, events, PD… And we have been attending “Convocations” (officially called something else) and “New Teacher Orientations”… I have personally voluntarily participated in a few PD activities… As we recruit members.
There are some things very different here. Schools in Texas are not closed shops. Many teachers do not belong to a union. And there are two unions, and two additional “professional associations” – all competing to some extent for members. Some are stronger in some regions than others. And I have to believe that the NEA and AFT will sooner or later cooperate. But the division exists today, and is not immediately going to be overcome. The professional organizations may be tougher, especially as one organizes principals and teachers together.
One of the big issues for teachers in Texas is liability insurance. All the organizations provide it, and they must. Teachers can be sued here as individuals, and as rare as this may be, having legal services and liability insurance are very important.
Texas has been hot this summer, and while East Texas has not been close to the worst, 95 degrees each day with amazing humidity – not comfortable. Indoors a/c blasts at all hours, often making the insides of buildings downright chilly. But it also makes the first step into the outside a shock, as the blast of hot air takes the breath right out of you.
Food highlights have been good TexMex, good barbecue, and far too few vegetables, even for my taste.
Break this weekend, down in Houston. But back to east Texas and schools next week… Only need to stand outside once…
Over 200 comments
… on the Bronx Science Special Complaint post.
Why? That post got linked in a bunch of places where teachers and students from BHSS read; I got weird referrals from Facebook every day. And some people got used to returning to that one post to look for more comments. As of today, it has been viewed over 8000 times, which is a lot for this blog.
I’ve stepped in on two occasions to intervene (as administrator, rather than just participate) in the argument/discussion occurring in the comments:
- when one bronx science administration supporter attacked a math teacher in unacceptable terms.
- when one bronx science supporter attempted to create a counter-blog (ridiculous, as administration already has adequate means to express itself), and attempted to link it from here. Not going to be allowed.
But the recent course of discussion demands more intervention.
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One of the administrator supporters has been attempting to violate the (unwritten but understood) rules of this blog: he thinks he knows my name, and has been trying to post it in comments here.
- it probably doesn’t take more than 20 minutes of googling to figure out who I am. I have students who got it in 5.
- I don’t use my full name on this site. I don’t allow others to.
- yet he’s tried to post his guess 5 or 10 times this week.
“Get the Facts Straight” is banned from this blog. I don’t know how effectively I can enforce the ban, but I will try.
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Cato/Veritas has been using multiple names to post under. This behavior is not acceptable. He has been warned.
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I am not particularly interested in the junior member of the Bx Sci math department who did not sign the special complaint, or why he left/returned. He doesn’t want it discussed + I don’t care = that topic is closed.
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It was a brave thing for 20 of the 22 members of the department to sign the Special Complaint. While I am disappointed that the senior member did not sign, his motives, his character, are off limits. Period.
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It is time to remember
- the Special Complaint is moving forward. The rest of the testimony is just weeks away.
- brand new teachers, desperate for jobs, need to be properly warned about the Do Not Apply schools, including the Bronx HS of Science. This year, with the bad economy and hiring freeze, they may have no alternative, or they may be seduced by the name and reputation, but at least if you land a job here, go in with your eyes open, be careful, protect yourself, and look here for information about the transfer period next spring.
Puzzle: Sitting Close
People trade problems at math conferences for math teachers. This one, which I picked up last week, I liked a lot. See what you think.
Ten people are seated on a stage, in a row of ten seats. They get up, run around, and sit back down… and all end up in the seat they started in, or just one away from the seat they started in. How many ways could this happen?
Put questions in the comments, below.
For answers, click here.
Solutions: Sitting close
People trade problems at math conferences for math teachers. This one, which I picked up last week, I liked a lot. See what you think.
Ten people are seated on a stage, in a row of ten seats. They get up, run around, and sit back down… and all end up in the seat they started in, or just one away from the seat they started in. How many ways could this happen?
Put answers in the comments, below.
To ask questions or for clarification, click here.
UFT Contract Priorities Survey
The UFT Contract Priority Surveys (did I get the name wrong?) are due tomorrow, I think.
If you haven’t filled yours out, take it out, fill it in, drop it in the mail tomorrow. Maybe they’ll give a little grace.
I mailed mine, but I am trying to remember – were there any questions about regaining either control or oversight of the transfer process?
I have a bad feeling that there was not.
Where am I? (contest)
Texas.
But where was I when I took the photo currently sitting in the banner at the top of this blog?
Edwize takes shot at Moskowitz, WSJ. More, please!
Teachers unions often get clobbered in the press, and by anti-union politicians.
Because they don’t like us. They don’t like teachers having contracts. They don’t like pay scales that they have to follow. They don’t like employees with rights. Lot’s of them don’t like public schools.
But they lie. They pretend that they are just concerned with the kids.
On Edwize, Leo Casey (UFT VP for HS) rips into them. He rips into Moskowitz for complaining about having to pay union wage to paraprofessionals ($21k in NYC, with our cost of living? below the poverty line). He hits the WSJ for misreporting about a KIPP school in Baltimore. Did teachers demand extra pay? Nope, they negotiated for it, and KIPP broke its word.
Go read the whole thing on Edwize. And encourage them to keep hitting back.
East Texas, Day 1
Vacation? Sort of. I am volunteering for the AFT’s “Back to school” program. Last year I went to New Orleans. This year? East Texas.
Arrived in Houston Saturday. Checked in.
Sunday the volunteers (for East Texas and Houston) met with Texas AFT and Texas AFT/PEG (Professional Educators Group) staff. Then our small group divided in two and drove north. A couple took a long, long drive, but us, 3 volunteers and a staffer, stopped at the Texas AFT office in Lufkin.
It was sweltering in Houston. Same in East Texas. They say it’s the humidity. Hmm. The 95 degrees has something to do with it, too.
We woke up Monday, our Day 1, bright and early to arrive at a Convocation by 7. Our first day would be easy, running a raffle, and trying to sign up new members.
This needs some background. Here not everyone belongs to the union, and in fact there are some competing professional organizations. In some parts of the state there is conflict with the NEA affiliate, but, fortunately, that’s not something we will likely see in East Texas. So here we are making the case that 1) it is worth belonging to a teacher’s organization, and 2) that organization should be the AFT.
People were friendly, and the site had good air-conditioning, and the AFT already had substantial inroads – all of which led to unstressful work. We held down the fort as the staffer drove to another event. He returned in time for the raffle and the final push to sign up new members.
In the evening, me and one of the other volunteers went to what seemed like one of Lufkin’s nicer restaurants for dinner. There, sitting in the corner, in suspenders, and holding forth to his dinner companion and a neighboring table (quite loudly) was Charlie Wilson, (Of Charlie Wilson’s War), one of Lufkin’s more prominent residents.
I may delay posting more about Texas until there is something new, exciting, or different. Otherwise, figure it’s pretty much more of the same.
Bronx Science – another one bites the dust
A reader reports – another several-years-experienced math teacher from Bronx Science has departed. This makes 12 of the 20 who signed the special complaint just over one year ago.
Publicola regularly comments on issues related to the Bronx HS of Science.
Another one bites the dust
Publicola
Another one bites the dust.
Just when you thought things could not get any more bleak in the Bronx Science Math Department, they did. Another good, experienced teacher is leaving – Jeremy Shahom. That makes 12 in a little over 1 year. Of the 20 teachers who signed the Special Complaint, only 8 are left – and for how long? This is the kind of employee turnover typical of a McDonald’s outlet.
It used to be that teachers fought to get into Bronx Science – now they fight to get out. I wonder who the replacements will be for the six who have just left – Alexander, Rosen, Klausner, Mirsky, Robertson, and Shahom. Maybe Jahoda will have to actually teach. Or maybe she, Cooper, and Reidy will reinstitute press gangs, by going to local colleges and kidnapping students as they leave their classes. I will bet that, collectively, the 6 teachers hired as replacements will have less teaching experience than the least experienced teacher being replaced.
I guess Reidy and Jahoda have won. Of course, the students have lost – they will now get the equivalent of a 4th rate math department. It gives new meaning to the phrase “pyrrhic victory”.
Teacher Retention: A four-year wonder writes (in the WaPo)
Sarah Fine lasted four years in DC. Accomplishment, failure, or something in between?
a good teacher is always better after a few years of experience. ..
The Washington Post published her thoughts, her words. Go read them.
We millennials are jostling each other for a place at the whiteboard, but few of us stay long enough to see our students make it through…
Having a base of teachers who teach for more than a token few years is critical to school reform. It helps principals and school leaders develop trusting relationships with teachers. It helps teachers collaborate with one another. Most of all, it helps students. A teacher with experience is not always a good teacher, but a good teacher is always better after a few years of experience. ..
Four-year wonders are better than nothing, but still not enough.
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This post is part of an intermittent series about improving teacher retention in New York City. See also
12 more years?
That’s not a reference to the recently-gone-private blogger who formerly blogged at Have a Gneiss Day (lemme guess, earth science). She called herself 17 more years, then updated (upgraded? downgraded?) to fifteen.
By the way, she was fully anonymous, until some jerk indicated in the comments section that she was outed amongst her colleagues. Now she’s blogging privately.
I don’t know how to avoid that problem. I don’t want to private-blog. I don’t know how to stay anonymous. And I don’t want to be fully public. My non-solution solution is “semi-anonymity” – you want to figure out who I am, you will, it’s not hard. But I don’t use my name here.
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Anyhow, 12 more years is me. I can buyback a big chunk of time, I just learned, from previous public employment, and even as it feels as if I have just begun my career, I am past the halfway point.
Actually, I need to look at some details. It might turn out to be 10 or 11 years, but I am being guilty of naive optimism. I am delighted with 12.
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When I argued against our Tier V agreement, (which returned Labor Day weekend to us, but in return for our future members paying too high a price), I exchanged fairly sharp words with Sandra March. I have disagreed with her, Mona, and Mel on many political issues.
But this is a good moment to point out that the direct service they provide our members has been of high quality. In this case, I benefited directly from Mel’s help. Many members can point to assistance they have received from Sandra or Mel that has expedited slow processes, or has saved the member money, sometimes quite substantial money.
Not every part of our union always provides the service it should. I am not shy about pointing that out. I shouldn’t be shy about pointing to the good stuff as well.
Does less phys ed –> more injuries?
Judy Rabin at Schools Matters reports on the rise, and says yes. More testing, standardized testing, overtesting squeezes out gym, she argues. She challenges the media to look at the link.
Summer 2009: Alternate Travel (2 of 2)
My biggest trip this summer will be to Texas, volunteering for the AFT affiliate down there. It’ll be my second summer doing teacher organizing.
No big European trip this summer.
In its place, a week with math teachers on Lake Cayuga in central New York state. Look, I’m a geek. This is fun.
I am also scheduling. This is the last summer I’ll be doing this work, and, man, is it dragging.
Last summer I volunteered to do teacher organizing, and ended up in New Orleans. Music, great food, some touring around. French Quarter, the casino, looking at Katrina’s and Bush’s destruction/indifference. And we rang doorbells, trying to sign people up for UTNO (United Teachers of New Orleans). And we worked at a community event for parents and students. And we helped out setting up and cleaning up in schools that were still being moved and rearranged and reorganized.
So I decided to volunteer again, but the place? The AFT told me that, given my limited dates, it was New Mexico or Texas, but that they needed folks for Texas. It will be Lufkin or Longwood, in the eastern part of the state. New Teacher Orientation, from what I understand.
Hotter than New Orleans. And fewer pleasant distractions. But I’m looking forward to doing some good work. Doing good for teachers. And being too far away to worry about New York for a few a days.
Quick multiplication puzzle
Heard this before, but heard it again today:
1. Rearrange the digits 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 into a 3-digit number and a 2-digit with the greatest possible product.
2. The solution is slightly counter-intuitive. Explain it so it makes sense.
3. Solve the same puzzle, but with the digits 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9.
Summer 2009: Alternate Travel (1 of 2)
So the big trip with the ferries across the Adriatic and the Aegean, not to be. No coffee houses this summer in Sarajevo. No archaeology in Skopje. No cucumber-tomato salad in Thessaloniki…
Instead…?
This week, a math teacher conference in the Finger Lakes.
The Association of Mathematics Teachers of New York State (AMTNYS) has a Summer Math Institute on Lake Cayuga…
It’s pretty up here. The lake is sort of like a broad Hudson, without buildings… or palisades. Lots of sun, light breezes, greenery, trees.
Tom Chapin delivered the keynote this morning. Strange choice, but compelling as he told and sang his story, about education and math and funding, but mostly just a feel good way to start the day.
And there’s math teachers to talk to. About donuts and Springsteen and state capitals and wineries, but mostly about math. That’s outside of the workshops.
I attended three today. One about blogging (run by someone in my blogroll! but up to them how they mention it).
Another about games to play with little kids. I love that sort of stuff, since it’s so easy to ramp it up and make the games appropriate for older kids. Everyone likes games.
And finally a counting polygons workshop that touched several questions I’ve touched on here, including “How many rectangles are on a chessboard?”
It all sounds geeky. And it is. But I like interacting with colleagues, and I enjoy the math. So there.
Summer 2009: The trip that wasn’t
Summer vacation! Major part of each teacher’s year.
Since I started this blog, I’ve chronicled some of the decision-making process in choosing my destinations, and my trips.
- In 2006 I planned and searched and chose two NEH workshops, and then Salonika, an island and Istanbul.
- In 2007 I planned and stalled and chose: Berlin, a huge train ride, Salonika, my island again, and Sofia, Bulgaria. I was searching for tomato-cucumber salad that really just wasn’t up to par that almost-drought summer.
- In 2008 – the timing was all lousy. I ended up with some day trips, a few days outside of Boston, and volunteering in New Orleans.
And in 2009? Ugh. Last summer programming. I will be a scheduler no longer. But that made it doubly hard to get the work done, to get my mind to it. And I never pulled the trigger on the major trip I was planning. But what a trip! I had it all laid out – connections, flights, things to see. Places just to hang out.
What I would have done (had I just done it)
- Fly from New York to Rome. Connect to Ancona, Italy. Hang out for a day.
- Take an overnight ferry on Jadrolinija to Split, Croatia. Day on the beach.
- Next morning a bus ride to Mostar, BiH (Bosnia). Look at the architecture. Have a bite.
- Bus onward to Sarajevo. Major destination 1. Tour. Coffee shops. Think about picking smoking back up (but won’t). Eat. Be lazy. Make friends. Relax. The winning trip would have been to time the trip for when erstwhile math blogger E was there, but she was in and out in late June, early July, so that wouldn’t have been this year in any case.
- Train through Belgrade. Last time I did that, the connection was blown and I overnighted. Not this time! I would have left generous time for an easy connection to Skopje, Macedonia. One day or so for touring, museums.
- Train onward to Salonika. Thessaloniki. My favorite city in Greece. Who knows? 3, 4, 5 days? Plenty to do, plenty to see, nice people, good museums, dripping with history (it’s an old city, unlike Athens which is a modern city built around a few old ruins), great food.
- And then an island, likely Alonnisos, for a week or a little less. Cross paths with some friends. Maybe a hop to a second island. And back home.
View Fantasy Trip Summer 2009 in a larger map
Fantastic trip. Would have been perfect for 25 days… Maybe next year?
JD2718 