Blog 15-Fundraising

The number of hours and days in school has been a hot topic this semester. Most schools are trying to add hours or days to their school year but many find this difficult due to funds. This is no different for public schools in Chicago. According to an article from The New York Times, Chicago schools have the lowest number of school hours in the country. Obama’s administration is urging a change and the $4 billion dollars of education money is enough motivation to make changes but Chicago’s Public Schools currently have no money to do so. It would cost their 417,000 students $208 million to attend school longer than the current 5 hours and 8 minutes (from what I understand some schools only attend 4 days a week as well). I was shocked to read that these students only attend school for about 5 hours. From my knowledge most ND students are in school about 7 hours and charter schools in Chicago also attend school for about 7 hours.
I’m sure you as educators can all agree that Chicago Public Schools need to find some kind of solution so their students can receive more education. In negotiations teachers were willing to extend the school day as long as they were paid and of course that is where the high amount of funds is needed. I don’t have the answer but Chicago parents are trying to help out. Parents at one school are trying to pull together to raise $100,000 by fundraising to put towards the cause of longer school days. That would be about $385 per students which is a lot to ask for saying many of these students are coming from low income homes. I really commend these parents although it is a drastic amount of money and I’m not sure it is parent’s responsibility to find these dollars. What do you think?
I know when we fundraise parents usually complain and say they would rather just write a check rather than do another kind of fundraiser. Currently, we fundraise once a year and it buys new playground equipment but this year some of us teachers would like to have the money buy guided reading books for primary grades and other elementary grades if there are extra funds. We all do guided reading but are using a website that allows you to print black and white books. The site costs money and currently our PTO funds that but overall the books get boring and I think it would make a big difference if we have a nice guided reading library. I was so excited about this idea but now find myself a little torn because I think the schools should be taking a little more responsibility with these money issues. I don’t know if I think it is fair that our PTO is paying for our current books. These books are a part of our curriculum so why isn’t the school footing the bill? What are your thoughts on this as a teacher or parent? Our district has great parent involvement so our parents would probably never make a big deal about this but is this right?

Blog 14-Get ready for the "K-SAT"

I have taught kindergarten before and currently teach first grade so I have participated in kindergarten screening and I do find it an important tool for the school and future teachers. I recently found an article in the New York Times about the screening tests that are used for kindergarteners who want to get into a private school. On the east coasts kindergarten students are being assessed as part of an application process to the school. What is becoming a problem is that some parents are paying for special tutoring sessions to prep their youngster for the admissions test. Private schools are saying they frown upon tutoring for these students because they want the assessment to show the child’s true abilities not the tutoring sessions that teaches to the test.
I find all of this very interesting! First off, I agree that the screening or assessments used are only beneficial if is the true child’s abilities showing. I also cannot believe that parents are paying up to $1,000 for this special tutoring or books for home use that cost up to $90. These are four year olds so the information they need to know if information all parents should know and be able to teach. In my opinion a little parent involvement goes a long ways. I strongly believe that if parents play with their child frequently and “teach” them (play games, read books, talk about the world around them, etc) their child be a successful preschooler and do well in kindergarten. I also think these tutoring sessions are way too stressful for such a young child. The tutoring sessions work on aspects of the test and prepare a child to sit for an hour. An hour! I find that shocking. I have students who are six and seven and can’t sit for an hour, I don’t know if I believe that a three or four year old should be forced to sit that long. These are some of my own personal professional opinions on the matter and I would be interested in what others think. Would you pay for special tutoring?

Blog 11-Bullies...what now?

I’m sure we can all think of a student who was/is bullied in school or on the school bus. It’s a sad situation and it seems to be getting worse. I have read a few articles about recent bullying and I’m starting to think it’s becoming more noticeable in younger grades and we aren’t doing enough about it.
I have seen two personal examples of recent bullying of a sixth grade and ninth grade boy. In both situations the bullying has been ongoing. In one situation spitting was the main form of bulling and it ended in punches and stolen money. The sixth grade situation was the typical vocal blows but it involved large amounts of swearing. It just amazes me that kids are swearing at such a young age and are using it bully situations. In an article from the New York Times a girl was raped by a group of men. It was done at the end of a dance in the school courtyard. The school has now increases security. Another article I read was from a local Mississippi newspaper. It discusses the rise of female bullies. Girls take bulling to a new level. They get very personal and emotional. This has become so popular that they have even made a movie called, Mean Girls.
So now that we know there is a huge problem what do we do as educators? Well I wish I had that easy answer but I don’t know if anyone does. I do have a suggestion for myself and any other educator. I think we need to start early, really early! I have seen kindergarten and first grade students (mainly girls) start “popular” groups or leave the same students out. As a teacher I know that some students don’t mesh well together and to be honest I try to avoid confrontation and I do not push students to work with students they don’t care for. I’m starting to think that I need to stop that and teach student’s tolerance and acceptance of different people. I want my students to learn that we don’t have to be best friends with everyone but we need to show mutual respect for everyone I think the younger we can start teaching this the better off we will be. As a teacher I also hope to promote an open door policy where student can always come to me if someone is bothering them. This is something I need to take seriously. I also want to be a fly on the wall as much as possible so I can know my students and try to prevent harmful bully situations.
I do not work with any type of older students and my bully problems can usually be handled easily but is there anything new happening out there to decrease bully situations? I was crushed when I heard of the two situations. I never would have guessed that students could be that mean. I feel that something has to be done or else we are going to have some scary situations to deal with.