What is a grade for...or worth?

I was a teacher for forty-five years--a bit longer if you add my few years as charter boat skipper where I taught cruising and seamanship and piloting. And probably the hardest part of teaching was grading students. It didn't make any difference if it were kindergarten children or graduate students in advance classes. How do you judge the worth of an individual?

For those who haven't taught, many would say, just figure out the percentage of the work submitted and if they got over seventy percent--they got a "C". If they got over eighty percent they got a "B". And over ninety percent is an "A". Nothing simpler. And I wish it was that simple.

For those of you who have read much of these blogs about teachers and teaching, you will recall the little girl in my grade school class who when given a "C" grade did "C" work, but when given a higher grade like an "A" did "A" work. She responded to what I thought she could do. Strange little girl but I really liked her.

I also had a colleague at the university level who did what was first suggested in this blog. All her assignments had so many points and a student in her class was given points for the assignment. Get over seventy percent of the points and you got a "C"....by now you know the drill. So you would think that by the end of the quarter it would be a snap to add all the points and do a quick calculation and award a grade. But my colleague, Mary, who had an office next to mine would be fuming and fussing at grade time. She was adding up the points and then being very subjective--I could hear her say, "Damn, I know she did better then that." or "He doesn't deserve an "A"--where did I go wrong here."

I would talk to Mary and she was genuinely concerned and upset about some of the grades that she was awarding. And she was taking in account all those things she did in class that was not given points for the class like discussions.....being on time.....making sure all assignments were turned in on time....etc. Although Mary had designed her grading to be objective, i.e., doing it by points, in the end she wanted to be subjective, i.e., her feelings and opinions to take charge.

Grading in schools is the biggest quicksand problem we have. What does an "A" stand for? And all the other grades? What is average? What if I had a class of all "A" students, then what is average? What if the school district says I have to give so many "C" grades and I have all those "A" students. Big problem.

And how do I tell my parents when they come to a parent/teacher conference that their child is an average child? No parent wants to hear that! No parent has average children--they are all special and bright and loving and creative......

One way some think to solve this problem is to make the courses (at least at the university level) harder. Make them really tough so that only a few students can get all the work done correctly. I once had a colleague in another department (no, not mathematics or education or English) who routinely flunked (an "F") up to half of his class. They would just have to take the class again. Except a lot of those students really did understand the subject, they just didn't know how to answer his question which he had to make more obtuse as the years when on. My colleague thought he was very bright because so few understood what he was teaching. Sad.

On the other hand I had a colleague in my department who routinely passed out the grade forms and told the students in his class to put in their own grade--whatever they thought they deserved. Of course his classes were mostly all "A"s. I was the department chair at the time and he drove me crazy. He really believed that each student should be responsible to their own self and he believed this would. force them to look inwardly. I still think to this day there were a number of students who took his class to get an "easy 'A'." Graduate level, too.

And in some cases he may have a point. I have taught graduate classes in Instructional Technology for K-12 teachers who want to become an Instructional Technology specialist. These people are coming at night once a week to attend class. They have paid good money for this class. They work hard. The class goes from 7 to 10 and they spend the entire time working on computers, programs, presentations..... Why shouldn't they all (just 10 in the class) get an "A"?

So how do you grade students? Right now, Seattle Public Schools have put aside a proposal to make a "D" the average grade to combat grade inflation. Parents complained and it was dropped for now. But the question remains, how do you grade students? I do know that if you give a child enough "D"s and "F"s, they will shortly decide they do not like learning in school. And they will say "They are dumb." You have destroyed their will to learn. I don't think that path is right either. On the other hand what subjects that you studied did you liked? Those subjects in which you excelled or got a good grade--right? What a complex issue grading is....

In an effort to look at how we grade students, I went to Boings in Kent, WA, where they have a training facility. I thought maybe I could learn how they do it. One of my ex students was in charge and gave me a tour of the facilities. They don't grade people with "A, B, C, D, and F"s mode like the public schools. It is either you do it correctly or you get fired. Simple as that. There is no gradation. Yes or No. Correct or not correct. Not much help to me and my problem of grading.

So then I went north a short distance to Microsoft. I talked to one of their teachers (who had never been in the college of education) who told me that they set up learning and invite Microsoft employees to the class... And by mid-term most of the students in the class understand the material and have dropped out. They are very smart and self disciplined.

Of all the tasks a teacher has to do, I find that grading students to be the hardest part. I don't like it and never did. I've been a "hard grader" and an "easy grader." Doesn't make much difference--I still do not like it. Maybe that is why I enjoyed teaching sailing so much--I didn't have to give grades.

So here is your assignment for next week. How would you grade this blog and what criteria did you use? Ten page maximum on standard paper. Double spaced and 12 font. Date and sign. Worth a gazillion points.

So a teacher once graded you higher then you thought you deserved? Better go thank her--she liked you. And she wanted you to succeed.

The Demise of the Library--Kindle anyone?

With that title I can hear the arguments, the shaking of fists, the unhappiness of those who love books......as much as I love books. I have a bookshelf with a broken shelf because I put too many books on it. So why is this damn fool making such a pronouncement?

It all started with my first understanding of Dyslexia. Some suggest that about five percent have dyslexia, a learning disability that affects primarily reading and spelling and math. Looking at numbers and letters. And it has nothing to do with intelligence. It does appear to be gene related meaning it could run in a family line. I have dyslexia. Didn't know I had it until I went to a workshop on it when I was first teaching and took the test. Further testing appears to support the fact that I do have dyslexia.

So it probably would not be a surprise that some of my research at the university was on how students cope with dyslexia. Since it is primarily a perception problem, I surveyed college students and asked how they read. Some read better with less light, some read better using a gray or blue transparency over the page of the book. Some literally had someone else read the book to them. Coping skills for the college student with dyslexia.

One day my wife and I bought home a Apple Macintosh plus computer--the little one with a gray screen. I notice right away that I could read better with it then I could with books and paper. So I tried it on several of my students. All could read more successful on the screen. One girl did her math and the numbers didn't move about. She was elated. She could read rows of numbers correctly on the Mac Plus. I was on to something.

So, hold that thought. Okay? Now for my second point. There are those who will say that they like holding a book. It feels good. I agree somewhat. There are even those who say that "you will have to pry the book out of these cold hands...." Some say "I like reading in bed." And among my friends there are several who say they like to curl up with the cat on their lap and read a good book. I have read many books in my lifetime. But holding them is not my cup of tea. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is eight hundred and seventy pages. Oh come now, Blackwell, you're picking certain books to stack the statistics. You right, you right. It is the biggest of the series. I had to read it at the dining room table. I got tired holding it. Have you read the young adult book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Sellznick (Caldecott Award book). Five hundred and thirty three pages. Great kids book. Let me stack the deck one more time. One of my favorite books (although I have been know to fall asleep reading it) is Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals. Seven hundred fifty five pages NOT counting about a hundred pages of notes. These are heavy books, not intellectually, but physically. Read one of these in bed and my arms would quit in five minutes.

So years ago I wanted a screen placed over my bed where I could read digitized books. And I envisioned a camera watching my eyes and when they closed for sleep, it would mark where I had left off and turn the screen off. I thought my idea was cool. A librarian friend of mine thought I was crazy. It is also not surprising that I like paperbacks. Cheaper and lighter.

But in the last year or so, something has come on the market that has taken my fancy.....and imagination. The Kindle. It is 8 inches by 5 and a half inches and less then a half inch thick. it weighs about ten ounces. Good lord, Doris Goodwin's notes alone weight more then that. And this device hold 1500 books. No, I'm not kidding. Fifteen Hundred! It is from Amazon.

I can't wait until I get my hands on a Kindle. Except, that Apple is probably coming out with their version called for the moment, a Tablet. And I'm a Mac user.

But my point is that it is easier to hold one of these reading devices (in bed or elsewhere) then to hold the real object, the book. I watch kids going to school in the morning and their backpacks are full. Homework? Probably. Books? Youbetcher. And do you know how much it cost a school district to buy books? Lots and lots. I haven't check on school budgets lately but I'll bet it is one of the bigger items after teacher salaries, school buses, and building maintenance.

Here is another point. Checking out a book from a library includes driving to the facility, finding parking, finding change to feed the meter, then going in and finding the book. It is not my finest hour by any means. I want the Kindle, look up the book on the New York Times reading list and hit the button. I get it in sixty seconds for about ten dollars. If and when the Apple device shows up on the market I suspect the price of a book may go down a bit.

I once had a conversation with the noted author Mitchell Smith. He said he would prefer getting a penny or two every time someone read his book rather then being paid for it in a lump sum by the publisher. A more steady flow of income and less taxes to pay. I think he would applaud the Kindle and device like it.

However, I do envision a time when all you need to do is decide on what book you need or want. Perhaps even sections of books. Stanford University's the Digital Michelangelo Project is digitizing most books which are not copyrighted. Eventually they will have digitized most of the great books of the world for anyone to use. Just download it.

What really prompted me to follow down this primrose path is a book written several years ago by Bill Gates. Yes, the Gates of Microsoft fame. Quite frankly it was one of the best books that I read. But I didn't read the book! Inside the book was a CD and when you placed it in computer (Window's version) you got the book and then some. First the book was well written. Gates is very perceptive and he saw the future better then most of us. But he also had resources to back up his thinking of which when you read the CD version of his book, those resources were highlighted and if you clicked your mouse on them, they would take you into information that was not available in the hard bound version of the book. It was one of the most enjoyable, intellectual and wondrous moments in my reading career. And remember, I'm a dyslexic. It was easier to read on screen then to read the pages of his book.

I could go into costs of book production, book storage (read libraries), book damage, book life (how long does a book last for a library) and book availability (Is it on the shelf?). I've taught Library Science (part time at the School of Librarianship at the University of Washington) and at my own university. But I really think the golden age of libraries is starting to crumble. It may take two to three hundred years and then again it may happen sooner. I do not know but I think the digital age of books has arrived. I see children of all ages reading books from their book reader and enjoying it more. That's what we want don't we? I want a Kindle.

Do you read a lot? Do you like books? Be sure to thank a teacher for helping you learn to read. And for providing you with books, thank a librarian.

The Librarian who thought outside the box....

A while back I had a graduate student in an advance Instructional Technology course, the objectives which were to examine how we use resources in the schools. Anna (not her real name) was an American who worked and lived across the border in British Columbia (Canada). She had been a fourth grade teacher and wanted to be the new librarian. She knew that the present librarian was about to retire.

Anna was one who challenged my thinking at every level--indeed she challenged her own thinking as well. She was more then a delight to have in class. College instructors can be invigorated by the type of students one has in class. And Anna certainly took the opportunity to invigorate the class. "What makes a good library? How many electrical outlets is optimum in a class? Why can't the library have a door to the playground? Why can't the school have a greenhouse so that children can check out plants?" Anna found the textbook that I had chosen boring so she checked out several other textbooks on school resources but she didn't care for those as well. At least she gave me credit for picking probably the best of the bunch.....but that wasn't saying much in her mind. I remember taking her and the rest of the class on a field trip to Bellevue Community College to look at resources. I think for the first time she understood where I was headed and agreed with me. Bellevue Community College was at the time probably one of the best in the country with Chester, their phone in tape source, an advanced television studio(s), a very modern library system, and classrooms that were optimized for the teacher and the subject. Their lecture series was televised and on the cable shortly after the presentation. Anna was in her element.

Shortly afterwards, Anna got the position of librarian at her school. Because the elementary school was just over the border I had the opportunity and good fortune to visit it on several occasions. I think the school was built in the eighties to service the local community which was blooming with new houses and communities. It was a time of growth in the lower BC delta area and new schools were going in fast.

When I first went up to see Anna in her new position she was in the library helping kids. She gave me a quick tour of the school with kids asking her questions most of the time. Anna was unhappy with the size of the library and the fact that it had no storage space and no working area. But never mind, she said to me, I take care of it. The principal had already said that expanding the library was not in the future. There was a kid crunch and they needed all the space for students.

About a month, if I remember correctly, I stopped by to see how things were progressing. Progressing they were as Anna had taken all the furniture out of the library including the check out desk, all the tables and all the chairs. No furniture at all. And she had book piles where new shelving was going to be placed.

Wait, I forgot. There was one small table in the corner covered with a cloth. Underneath it was the opaque projector and a hard bulletin board. The kids would find a picture they wanted to copy from a book, crawl under the table, put the book in the opaque projector and tape a piece of paper to the bulletin board and copy away. Colored felt pens were kept in a box under the table as well. Anna said this worked well...she didn't have to turn the lights off and the kids could keep working on their projects. There always seemed to be two or three kids working on tracing something out of a book.

But I also asked about how she checked out all those books without a card catalog and a check out desk. Not a problem, she had the children write the name of the book and their name on a clip board by the door. She would help the first graders but it was not hard to see that the little ones could soon print their names. I asked if she knew where most of the books were? And typical Anna response..... "Most of the books are in the classrooms and the children are reading them. When they are done most of the time, one of their friends wants the book too and it is just handed over. Most trained librarians would be aghast at this system but it worked for Anna. I also asked Anna if the kids were really reading the books or were they just keeping them in their desks. "Good question. I'll work on that."

The next time I visited the school I didn't see Anna at first--I don't know where she was. But the library was busy with kids. Some were putting books back on the shelves and others were checking them out. As usual the opaque was busy with a waiting line to use it. I found Anna down one of the two halls putting stars on some charts. Anna had decided that if a child read a book and verbally reported it to Anna, she would give that child a star. After so many stars after the child's name, that child could give a book to the library.

What! GIVE a book to the library? Anna explained that first she knew most of the books in the library--she had cataloged them and at the time skimmed them. If a student could tell her enough about the book she would give them a star. When that student had accumulated enough stars (I forget what the number was) a bookplate was pasted in the front of the book with that student's name...This book was earned for the school library by ...and the students name. Already she had a number of books with "earned bookplates."

But here is the kicker. It turns out that the district office had sent out a memo (a paper before e-mail) with the policy that all library books would have a sticker of some sort in the front of the book indicating it belong to which school and the school district. Anna was just making use of that policy and using it for the kids.

About a year after Anna took over I went back to the school and children were showing me what books they were reading. A number of them pointed out that their big sister or brother had earned the book for the library. Cool, eh?

Another interesting tale. Apparently Anna found out that this school had a significant less number of books then other schools in the region. She went to the district meeting and requested more books which the district agreed to. They agreed to bring the school up to date with the number of books. However Anna had a plan. She ordered all the expensive books like atlases, coffee table books, and picture books. The district reported to me that it was one of the most expensive book purchases they had ever made. But that school could now say they had the right number of books available for the kids.

There was one book on motorcycles that was a favorite with the boys. It was never check in for almost a year. One boy would get done with it and then someone else would take it and go down to the library to check it out. One day when talking to Anna some young boy wanted to know where the motorcycle book was? "Go down to Mrs. Blyth's class--Tommy has it." Anna knew pretty much where all her books were most of the time.

Oh yes, Anna's office. When the school was built a workroom and small office was built for the librarian. As usual, Anna declared it too small for an office and not needed anyway--she was always out with the children getting books to read. So she made it into a storage space for the teachers. She went down to a local men's clothing store and bought two dozen boxes in which new suits were sent home. About three feet by two in size, Anna labeled them with subject areas that the teachers wanted and used every year. Barn yard animals, Spain, Canadian railroads, lumbering....what ever the teachers studied in their classroom year after year, Anna collected the material and stored in these boxes. They held pictures, maps, books and booklets, overhead transparencies, even lesson plans. When the time came the teacher would asked Anna for the box on........ Over the years, Anna kept adding material and keeping them up to date. The teachers loved her. I know I would had I been teaching there. Here is an interesting point--the books that were in these boxes were not part of the collection so that when they were made available in the classroom, children had not seen them as yet. New material in a way.

By the way, for some reason, student reading scores jumped after Anna was hired as librarian and continued to rise. It was too small a library but Anna had her ways. After being at this school for about six years, Anna was hired by a district in the eastern part of the province as an Assistant Superintendent in charge of Instructional Technology. The last I heard of Anna was that her school district had bought out a local print shop and was printing material for the teachers.

Anna, thanks for teaching me in my class. You were a delight and you certainly pushed the envelope on how to teach kids. Thanks my dear.....

No to longer school days and to longer school years....

A few days ago I read that the Federal government, more specifically the Department of Education was proposing that schools have a longer school day and that summer vacations be eliminated. Since reading the article I have tried to get some information about this strategy from the DOE (Department of Education). I haven't been successful. But it is interesting how irrational I become just thinking about this course of action being suggested for our schools.

Let's review. Ever since President Bush proposed the "No Child Left Behind" school program, our public schools have, in my opinion, been going down a slippery slope. Fast! But don't rely on my opinion--read the book, "Tested." It was written by Linda Perlstein, a respected journalist who before researching and writing this book covered education for The Washington Post. She is an excellent journalist and an even better researcher. This book pretty much tells what happens in a school trying its best to score well on the tests for "No Child Left Behind" programs. That program proposed by Bush was a disaster. Many states opted out.

So what is happening today. If my sources are correct, the present administration (Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan) wants the schools to have longer school days and to eliminate summer vacation. I even read that the need for summer vacation was not justified as children were not needed to harvest crops anymore. Good lord, I wonder who thought of that old chestnut.

So what is happening. We are apparently not doing well teaching our children when compared to other nations (mostly European countries like Norway, France, England but also Japan and New Zealand), the industrial type countries. The reports suggest that we are (the U.S.) pretty much down at the bottom of the pile. But hold on here. Let's examine this just a bit. Most European countries end their secondary schooling at the tenth grade (for us the sophomore year). Those that pass certain tests go on to college while many go on to work in the trades. We're comparing our high school graduates to college kids and the cream of the crop so to speak. Of course we don't look that good. Let me pick the upper decile of students in some of our best high schools and let's then redo the comparison. I think we would look a lot better.

But I'm also concerned as to what we're measuring. Rules? Rote information? Passages from literature? My point is that I have had undergraduate students from Indonesian, Japan and China. And some Canadian India teachers. I had two students from a Balkan country and for the life of me I can't remember which one. All...., no, ALL these students were wonderful people, very bright and intelligent but pretty much devoid of problem solving skills. American students by and large are better at problem solving. We're not good on memorization stuff. Perhaps we need to work on that but I like having our students be able to solve problems and think outside the box.

You've read it here before--I really like the statement, "we need to teach our children to walk down paths that we have never traveled on ourselves."

So I think the first thing we need to do is decide what we want our children to learn. How much history? Teach ALL the wars from the War of Independence to the Gulf Wars? Do we teach how the white man pretty much took all the land from the Native Americans? How much mathematics should we teach (yes, I know we've been down this road before)? Here is a hot topic--how much sex education should we be teaching? Do we teach penmanship and/or keyboarding (typing for your older readers)? Should we teach politics in the schools? The road to a successful curriculum is paved with speed bumps, pot holes, and washouts. It is a tough row. Once we decide what we want our schools to teach then we can start teaching. Only then can we begin to test to see how we're doing. And given our multi-cultural background of this country, we cannot test our school children and compare them to each other. I am so tired of hearing that the country schools tested better then the city schools or that the inner city schools showed an improvement compared with the suburban schools. No, no, no, and no. There are too many variables in this type of comparison.

First, set the curriculum, test the kids, then teach the curriculum, the re-test the kids and subtract the scores of the first test from the second test. That is how much you have taught these specific children.

If we are not teaching the students in our schools well, how is having a longer school day and a longer school year going to improve their education? For the life of me I don't understand. There are several of you who say I simplify things too much. Perhaps I do but in this case I'd like someone to show me where I am wrong. I have not seen any research that supports this notion of more teaching of material to our students.

If you had a teacher(s) that made learning fun and you were happy in how you learned, but sure to say a silent thank you to that teacher. I say a silent "thank you" to one of my professors most every day.

Technology to the Rescue

One of the problems facing school administrators is preparing for the regular flu season along with the N1A1 swine flue. Questions that administrators ponder are when do we close the schools and for how long? What happens if a number of teachers get the flue? How many substitute teachers will we need. If we close some schools how do we make up those days (state law requires public education for so many days a year--be there snow, earthquakes, flu, etc.) Most school districts have some sort of plan ready to go and perhaps in your district you may have already received a letter stating if and when such a plan will go into effect.

These school closures are a big problem to parents....particularly those that are the sole bread winner in the family. How do you get your children to day care, even where shall I leave my child? Do I take sick leave to care for my kids? PITA decision time for parents. I also note that Michigan's Department of Social Welfare has warned one mother about her voluntarily watching some of her neighbor's kids before school until they get on the bus. Apparently they think she is acting as a day care center and needs to get a license. The problems we get into for our kids, eh?

I note that one private school has a plan that if child gets the flu to have them stay at home but to continue to interact with the class via the internet. The school has developed a interactive web site that allows the children to continue along with the instruction in the class. I don't know much about it and will attempt to find out and let you know. Maybe they are using one of my favorite software internet programs called Blackboard which I used at my university before I retired. A great program.

I like this technological answer to a problem but unfortunately it would not work in some of the public schools as it mandates that the child has a computer at home. Not all kids do. But there is another problem that this technology doesn't address--at least for me when I get the flu I really don't want to sit in front of a computer screen. Kids who are sick are not in a learning mode. They just need to be put to bed and let sleep help restore their health.

But by and large I see web sites as a means to improve parent/teacher communications whether the child is sick or healthy. It does mean someone is going to have to keep the web site up to date. I find going to a web site that is totally out of date and behind times almost insulting to say the least. There is one business that I check regularly and I think they must up date their site once a year.

Okay, so here is my plan. I'm on a roll. Each school should have one format for telling parents (and students) what is happening in each class, what assignments are due, what subjects are being presented, what dates are available for parent/teacher conferences, and so on. The format needs to be the same so that parents get use to looking for information in the same spot as their child(s) proceeds through the school. Then each school should have one person (volunteer, administrative intern, or paid position) who is continually up grading each class site. I like the administrative intern idea as it would give that principal to be much insight as to what is happening in that school. Plus it would also give him/her some needed technology skills. Hey, the principal could also have his/her own web site (in the same format perhaps) to tell about new things happening in the school.

The downside to all this is that not all children have computers at home. There are a number of excellent studies where kids got to check out a computer to take home for a period of time--not just overnight. Most of the findings were positive--very little breakage or problems. One of the results was that the kids taught their parents how to use the computer and find things. Cool! Sort of like early research on Sesame Street television where the researchers noted that the children did learn to read BUT so did the parent. A twofer. Mom's were watching along with their child and were learning to read.

I applaud those districts that are getting ready for the flu season even if it does not materialize. And I also like the private school east of Seattle that already has a web site system in place for sick children. I want to know more. Long live technology.

A negative closure, however. I read lately that the Education Secretary is about to propose longer school days and a longer school year. You can count on me to comment about this in the near future--like tomorrow. Don't the feds read the research? Damn!

So if your school has a web site to tell you what is happening in your child's school--if you can be sure to thank a teacher for all they do. You'll make that teacher smile a bit more.

The first day of class...

Here it is fall and school has started. What does a teacher do on the first day of class? For the moment let us leave out Kindergarten as that is a special deal--most kindergarten teachers have to deal with parents leaving off their kids--lots of tears, both from the kids and the mothers. As I said, it is a different scene.

The high school (secondary school in Canada) is cool. The entering class be it ninth grade (Freshmen) or tenth grade (Sophomore) probably would be scheduled to an assembly where they are given a pep talk plus rules on how to behave, what offices to go to if having a problem, hours for lunch and going home in the afternoon, maybe bus information as well. And of course they would be given their "home room" assignment. Do you remember your home room? I don't but I know I had one--I think it was the band room. Meanwhile, upper grade high school students were probably going about their classes getting textbooks and finding out what the goals for the class would be for that semester. Seniors are the cool ones; they know all the ins and outs of school behavior. They even know where their locker is.

But the elementary teacher probably has his/her hands full. Perhaps in the gym or maybe out under the covered play area, the kids gather as they get off the bus. Intermediate grade children (fourth, fifth and maybe sixth) might even see their name on a list and head for that room--mostly to see who else is in the class. But the first and second grades are probably being put in a group for each primary teacher.

It goes like this. "Hi, what is your name?" "MarySue? That is a nice name. Do you know your last name too?" "Smith." Good, you go over to that nice teacher next to that wall--that will be your teacher this year. Her name is Mrs. Gray. Have a nice year." "And what is your name dear?" And so it goes until the grades are sorted out. In some cases the children know from a letter that has been sent home who their teacher is and what room number they have. It takes a couple of hours but soon everyone is in their correct classroom with the correct teacher.

There are exceptions. I remember twin girls who kept exchanging classes at recess and at lunch. No one could tell them apart. They didn't like to be separated so they shared as much as they could. And no, I don't know why some school policies say that twins should be separated. I should look up the research on that subject some day.

Another exception to calmness on the first day of class was when an Italian family moved into the school district. I think there were six kids, one for each grade. But it was the first grader who drove everyone nuts. He couldn't speak English so he yelled and I do mean yelled bloody murder until someone would go get an other child who could speak a little English and and would come to the first grade to see what the matter was. He finally was sent to the principal's office and when he yelled there as well, the secretary who had several of her own children, knelt down in from of the child and gave him a stern talking to in English. Maybe it was the mother in her that he recognized but he immediately settled down. But it was a rough go for several hours until she talked to him.

So now we're in the new classroom with thirty one? Twenty nine?" Hopefully under twenty five children all looking big eyed at the teacher. A few of the children may have already said something like, "my brother had you last year." But I suspect the teacher has already said that they would be able to talk a little later on--"we need to get our coats and lunches stowed away first." And I suspect for the most part many teachers would have the children sit on a rug while she would go over the list in her hand of the children she would have this year. Charles Brown? Does your family call you Charles or Charlie or Chuck? Then on to the next child. It takes time and for sure someone will need to go to the bathroom. Stress seems to make bladders smaller for some reason. Do you ask the child to wait until you show them all where the rest rooms are and which one is for boys and which one is for girls? Flip a coin. Once the teacher knows who the children are and that the correct kids are in the class, then the desks and chairs can be assigned.

To a non-teacher, the question probably is why not alphabetical? For most teachers you want to put some of your smaller children in the front while some of the taller children may be in the back rows. If the teacher has some children who don't speak English as a first language you may also want to put them closer to the front. Also, desk height is important as the children will be learning to write and draw this year with more precision then in kindergarten. Chairs size is also important. This chore also takes time. And thank heavens for those children who sense that the teacher needs some assistance. There is always four or five who know how to help. Must be in their genes although I have observed that the country school children are more helpful then the city kids. In some cases the teacher has to write a quick note and have one of these children take it to the office. "I need three more desks and chairs! Mrs. Smith, Rm 12."

So we have the desks and chairs taken care of. It's probably time for the bathroom tours. I remember telling the girls that I would give them privacy but if I heard giggling or yelling or shouting, I would come in the girls room. Much twittering from the girls. Did they want to test me? Always a question of should they.

Recess time is a good time to explore the play area outside. How far to go on the playground, what slides to use and in some cases what classrooms to stay away from (upper grades who may be still studying). Also this is a time to introduce the playground supervisor (teacher assistant or volunteer mom or dad) if the school has such a position.

Lunch time is another major informational time for first graders. In some schools the children go to a lunch room--in others the lunch comes to the classroom. Either way it is a new behavior for the children to learn about.

Maybe by the afternoon, textbooks, writing materials, rulers, whatever the school supplies are passed out and if the teacher is on the ball, a sticky as to whose desk is whose. Later after the kids have gone for the day, I would make a large name tag to put on the front of each desk with the child's name. Big enough for me to read it from the front of the room. It would take me a week or longer to learn everyone's name and even then I sometimes would have to ask once again.

By the end of the day I would read a small story to the class. It was almost time for the busses and the children had been on great behavior all day, excited, in some cases so excited that they would actually wiggle like a puppy. What teachers want is to keep that excitement for the rest of the year.

Oh dear, as I once did, I forgot to say that early on in the morning a teacher has to do the lunch count. Some kids will say they want lunch although they brought their lunch from home. Others have no idea what they are to do--they didn't have a lunch to bring and they didn't have any money to bring. What to do? And now in some schools that are children who are helped with their lunch costs. I even forgot the breakfast bunch who get a subsidized breakfast in the morning. Regardless of your political philosophy, from a teachers point of view, children who have food in their stomach learn better and more. And they don't fall asleep. I had one child who would fall asleep at her desk. I don't know why--I remember calling the mom by phone and she told me Beth got plenty of sleep at night. I was a young teacher so I didn't say anything about seeing the doctor. Perhaps I should have. I don't know and I've worried all these years what I should have done.

One more chore for the first grade teacher--getting the kids on the right school bus. In some cases older brothers or sisters made sure their sibling is on the right bus. But probably that clip board with all the children's names will have a number near it--the right bus number; bus 12 or 5, whatever. When all the kids are gone all you want to do is go back to your desk and sit down. Maybe a bit of cold coffee from lunch will help. It is a tiring day to be sure. And tomorrow the lessons start. Time to start putting names in the grade book.

Do you remember your first grade? Probably not. So be sure to thank a teacher the next time you meet one--that person might have been a first grade teacher at one time.

The Beginning of the School Year

Hey, I'm back from vacation. Sorry for the drought of words about teachers but I was at a place with limited (for me) web access.

On the flip side this is a cool time in education--the beginning of school for most children and young adults, teachers getting classrooms ready, new schools opening up and a big problem, new bus routes. At the college level freshmen are arriving, somewhat scared but excited, getting their dorm rooms decorated and finding their way around campus and town......all the time twittering Mom back home.

But the big news in this part of the world has been the strike by teachers in a suburban school district. They wanted more then the district was willing to give. Or should I say less then the district was willing to agree to. The strike was not about money but rather class size.

I have a good friend who keeps saying that we need to outlaw teacher unions because they are always asking for more money. Sorry, old friend but this time it was not about money. As I have repeatedly written on this blog, teachers teach because they want to teach--they have to teach--they need to teach. If they wanted more of a salary they would go work in a different profession. I know of two teachers who are retired who have been tutoring young adults for free. But my main point is that the teachers who were striking were asking for smaller class sizes so they COULD DO A BETTER JOB OF TEACHING THEIR STUDENTS. It is difficult to teach first grades how to read when you have a class of thirty-four children. Let's even make this example an easy one by saying we have only one child who is hyperactive and two who don't speak English at home.

So how does a first grade teacher start the year? The first thing is to find out who can read already. I would guess that about six to eight students will have some understanding of how to read. So that makes one group of readers. There may be another group that is ready to read, is excited and will constitute a second reading group. The teacher still has over half the class to test and decide how to start the remainder of the children into reading groups. And for you non-teachers, consider working with a first grade reading group and still have the rest of the class doing something positive--not just wasting time. That is a management task of great skill. A fourth grade teacher can say to the rest of the class, do your homework, your math problems or even read your library book while I work with this reading group. Yup, first grade teachers in the fall are a special breed. I luv ya!

But I got sidetracked--sorry. The teachers on strike wanted smaller classes which they eventually got--twenty-four kids in the primary grades. Some class caps in the intermediate grades but the middle and high schools didn't get the cap on classroom enrollment as they wanted. I heard one high school teacher say she would agree to this because if the primary teachers could do a better job of getting children to read and write, her job would be easier later on. Smart lady.

So the strike is over. I was amused by the court who was going to fine each teacher who didn't go back to work two hundred dollars a day. I suspect that some of the beginning teachers with medical and tax deductions don't make that much.

Just another point for you to ponder. In Bellevue, a city east of Seattle and close to Microsoft's main campus, there are several private schools who advertise that their class limits do not exceed ten students per teacher. Ten students per teacher. Now take a wild guess which students are going to learn more, the ones in the twenty-four students classroom or the ones in the ten limit classroom.

I'm truly glad the strike is over. I know it was hard on the teachers. The decision to break a law probably bothered most of them but it was a matter of being between the rock and the hard place. As far as I could tell, the teachers just wanted to be able to do a better job of teaching.

My mind wanders into puzzlement. Can you imagine any other profession that would strike to do a better job? I'm serious. Would Boeing engineers go on strike to build a better airplane? Or Microsoft workers strike to do better coding. It is absurd at the extreme. Interesting thought.

Drive carefully--the kids are back at school.... Several children wandered in the street yesterday in front of me. So be careful. And be sure to thank the teacher on duty in front of the school when you drop your kids off.