One Walking Moment

Today is my son Andrew's 1st birthday.  Here is the video "One Walking Moment", my "mash-up" between Drew learning to walk and the epilogue to every year's March Madness tournament. Please to enjoy!

 

Happy Cinco de Maestro!

Since today is Cinco de Mayo, I'm expecting all the kids to give me margaritas and enchiladas tomorrow at school.
Teacher Appreciation Week DOES start tomorrow, so it seems only fitting.

Yeah, right.

That's right -- No habla Espanol

I've recently heard something very disturbing from several sources at more than one school here in Dallas.  It involves an alleged change being made to the way the dual language program is run.

For anyone not familiar, the dual language program is the other side of the coin from the general education program.  And much like the word "Bilingual" in the district has come to mean "Spanish-speaking" (even if that's the ONLY language the kid can speak), the dual language program is for Spanish speakers only.

The way the program is designed to work, a student receives half of his instruction in English and half in Spanish.  For certain subjects -- math and English language arts -- the teacher is not supposed to give instruction in Spanish at all. Not even to assist lower language-savvy kids.

I was a dual language teacher for several years before being moved up a grade and back to the general education side this year.  I of course taught the English side, which included math.  I went to multiple trainings where I was instructed quite clearly and strictly NOT to speak any Spanish during instruction.  Bathroom breaks, recess, greetings in the morning, etc could be in Spanish on certain days, but during instructional times, English only.

Not a problem for someone like me, who doesn't speak much Spanish beyond numbers, colors, expletives.  In fact, you might say someone like me is ideally suited to teach that part of the dual language program, while a bilingual teacher would be ideally suited to teach the Spanish portion.

Not so much, the department in charge has apparently decided.  From what I'm hearing, they now want a bilingual-certified teacher for BOTH parts of the dual language program.I'm not sure of the reasoning, but it seems to me that dual language math teachers will now be REQUIRED to hold a certification that they will be BANNED from using.  Hey, you have to be able to speak Spanish to teach this class, but you're not allowed to speak Spanish while teaching this class.

Why don't we require all nuns to have breast implants while we're at it?

This proposed (already decided?) change will not only remove several people I know from positions they love, it will also naturally decrease the positions available to them.

If you ask me, I think it's a whole load of caca.

If Then statements

Hey folks,
Here at the beginning of March, I'm stepping up to the plate with a few ideas for getting LMG in front of more people.
So I am willing to put my money where my mouth is. If Learn Me Good gets onto the Amazon Top 100 list, I will donate $1,000 to the Ronald McDonald House.
Let's make this happen!

Didn't do your homework?

I've been trying for years to figure out why kids don't do their homework, and I've heard various and sundry reasons.  Here are only a few.

Book Review - Capture the Flag

Last year some time (much further away than I'd like to admit), I received an email about a book called Capture the Flag, by Kate Messner, asking if I'd like a copy for review.  I said sure, as it sounded like a fun children's book, and I had a few kids in mind that I would ask to read it and give me their feedback.

Finally I am getting around to posting my review of it.

First off, I will admit that I have not read it myself in its entirety yet.  I have read a few chapters to my class while we waited for testing to begin one week, and the kids seemed interested by the beginning.

The story involves three kids who meet each other after an old, treasured, newly-restored American flag is stolen from the Smithsonian.  This flag was the inspiration for "The Star-Spangled Banner," and the three kids discover that they each have family members who belong to a secret society dedicated to protecting the flag.

I had a couple of my students read the book and write up a 1-page review, and here are a few of their comments:

"You had meaning in every word."

"When those kids were on the belt, I felt like it was me who was being brave to go and catch the person who stole the flag."

"It has comedy, and I am a huge fan of comedy."

"I think kids will like this book because it is a mystery and to me it is suspenseful."

But, as Levar Burton always used to say on Reading Rainbow, "Don't take OUR word for it... Read it yourself!"