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A concerned member of the human race

Saturday, January 31, 2015

Testing as the Biggest Distraction Ever




On that snow day that fell from heaven last Tuesday, I had the pleasure of alternating shoveling, reading Yong Zhao's Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Dragon (Why China has the Best and Worst Education System in the World) with more shoveling, compounded with fort building, forays into the middle of snowball fights and fortifying cups of hot chocolate.

I wasn't too surprised by many of the arguments made by Yong Zhao.  I only marveled at the fact that our elected officials continue to bend over backwards in praise of test-based "success stories" like that of Shanghai.  

Witness a recent BBC story discussing the lack of academic freedom in China.  In the past months, a law professor, Zhang Xuehong, an economist, Xia Yeliang, and a scholar of Uighur descent, Ilham Tohti, were dismissed from their posts, the last being jailed for life.

If the BBC has it right, these professors simply criticized the government, asked for freedom of speech or encouraged "better dialogue" between the government and the Uighur minority.  China's education minister is advising universities to dispense with textbooks promulgating "Western values."  Perhaps, they fear another Tiananmen Square.  Perhaps, they are creating one.  

It is illegal in China to criticize the Communist Party, the government or socialism.  The President demands more strict "ideological supervision."  And, very high-stakes tests seem to be on the forefront of distracting people from tackling the real crises confronting their societies.  

China, it seems, uses its education as a tool to distract people.  Its test-obsessed culture props up the government.  Yong argues in his book that China's emphasis on testing has both historically and currently reinforced authoritarianism, sapped creativity and created a compliant workforce, concerned with prescribed answers and personal rankings.

In addition to encouraging an obsessive interest in test prep at the cost of more free thought, the system has promoted rampant cheating.  Yong refers to the 2013 riot by students in Hubei province solely because they were forbidden to cheat.  Metal detectors were put in place.  Outside "invigilators" replaced teacher proctors.  Students lost their eraser-like electronic transmitters.  Phones were taken from students' underwear.  Angry mobs smashed things.  Students chanted, "We want fairness.  There is no fairness if you do not let us cheat."

The security of SAT exams has also been breached in Asia.  In May of 2013, the entire exam was canceled in South Korea due to alleged cheating.  There also appeared to be foul play with the October 11, 2014 exam in China and South Korea.  Students scores were withheld.  On October 8, 2014, the College Board received an anonymous tip, including a copy of the previously unreleased December 2013 exam, scheduled to be given, either in part or in whole, at Asian sites on October 11, 2014.  SAT scandals, of course, also strike much closer to home.  The SAT can bring out the worst--in some who get the best scores.

So, let the likes of Andreas Schleicher of OECD and our very own Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, praise high PISA scores.  Let the NY Governor argue student test scores should count for 50% of a teacher's worth.  I view things very differently.  I view the current obsession with testing as an affront to democracy and diversity and, in some cases, integrity.  It harms students.  It harms teachers.  And, ultimately, it harms society.

High test scores that come at such a price are worth very little--no matter the name or location of the country.  When young people are forced to study with blinders to the larger issues and problems around them, we do a disservice to our future.  Testing becomes the biggest distraction ever. 

Friday, January 30, 2015

A Tale of Two Teachers

I rode the train the other day.  Due to the weather, it was running a little late.  I ran into an old acquaintance, a lawyer with two older kids from my school district.  She shared with me A Tale of Two Teachers.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."  It was the age of teaching.  It was the age of test prepping.  It was the epoch of integrity.  It was the epoch of gaming the system....  "We had everything before us, we had nothing before us."  We were all going direct to merit pay.  We were all going direct the other way...

There once were two teachers in the same school.  Both supposedly "taught" Earth Science.  Whereas one teacher actually taught the subject matter, the other teacher relied upon giving the students questions from old Regents exams--every single, blessed day of the year.  The children learned Earth Science solely through the lens of NYS Regents exams.  How could their perception of the Earth not be seriously warped?  How could they not be looking at the world through the compound eyes of a gigantic bug?

Another parent on the train noted that her child received an average of 100 from that test-prep-crazed teacher.   Her child was very happy in that class.  My old acquaintance, with two very high-achieving kids, academically, musically and "swimmingly," was not happy at all.  I shared her horror.    

It's truly sad that some teachers have been driven to this extreme.  It's also pathetic.  Of course, you might disagree, especially if you "earned" that 100.  So, sing that teacher's praise, if you please, and let Sydney Carton roll over in his literary grave:  "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better" TEST "I go to than I have ever known"!  But remember, neither college nor life is a Regents.  So, from atop the academic scaffolding, so concludes the tragedy of A Tale of Two Teachers.

Thursday, January 29, 2015

On Renewing Old Acquaintances in an Annualized World


Several years back, teachers switched students mid-year.  It was a little intimidating.  I'd say goodbye to 175 or so faces, all known quantities, in order to confront 175 new faces, mostly unknown entities.  It always worked out fine, but, in the back of my mind, there was ever-present chance that it might not.  Lions and tigers and bears!  Oh, no!

There is comfort in knowing I will face the same students in February, following Regents week, when I return to teach.  I know them and they know me.  I also honestly like them, but I won't go so far as to say they like me--because, after all, it is my job to hit them with homework, essays, tests, projects and all sorts of good stuff from the repertoire of teachers!  

At this age, it is more probable that teachers are viewed as obstacles, not pathways, to teenage success.  Many students, at any age, do not share the same values as ed. "reformers" and their formulas. They live in a world where success is measured by self-gratification and socialization.  And, this is one of the great problems with VAM.  Its emphasis on tests and its overall values do not mesh with those of many students; teachers are then blamed for the discrepancy.  

I will say, at the very least, however, my students tolerate me and understand that I am trying to do my job.  A few current students probably like me, but they would be hard-pressed to admit it, especially not in a public forum.  Let's just say we both pretty much know what to expect in the classroom. But who's to know what they might say on a student survey?  It would probably depend more on their current mood or their most recent grade from me!   

When I was a student, I kept the same teachers throughout the academic year.  I liked it that way.  It also saved all the inconvenience of rushing to get a whole new set of school supplies.  Of course, much depends upon whether or not you like your teacher...or your teacher likes you.  

For some students and/or their teachers, annualized courses could be a nightmare.  In most cases, however, students (not teachers) who feel that way can usually find a parent to convince a guidance counselor to work the small miracle of transferring that student to a new teacher.  Note:  Teachers do not try the same.  You do not have the same pull--and neither do your parents!

Each year, I'm pretty certain that I have some of the best students ever, and I am more than happy to hold on to them.  And, I'd be perfectly happy with the annualized system, but for one major drawback.  I am bothered by the fact that annualized courses were most likely implemented in the City to track teachers.   The "reform" crowd wants to pin students' test scores on a single teacher's back.  In this way, teachers become more easy targets or fall guys.  The "reformers" are less concerned with potential benefits to students.  They are primarily interested in putting their junk science into practice--at the expense of teachers' jobs.

Still, and all the same, I'll be happy to see the same, hopefully happy and healthy, faces in February.  If our ship is going down, I couldn't think of a much finer crew.  Let us tidy our ship and hoist our sails together while the weather is still fair.   

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

A Quick Guide to Manipulating Your APPR Scores (in a Legal Way)



Leave it to an act of God to make the "best-laid plans o' mice an' men" and ed. "reformers" gang agley once again.  Given the snowstorm, teachers will be trusted to grade papers in-house.  Of course, it will bear further scrutiny.  If the passing rates go down, it proves, prima facie, teachers are ineffective.  If the passing rates go up, it proves, prima facie, teachers have cheated.  Pick your own poison, ed.-"reform" style.

Teachers do not need to cheat though to raise their APPR scores.  There are far more obvious and morally acceptable ways to manipulate one's rating.  Here's how:

Shop around for the "right" students.  Since value-added measures rely heavily upon statistical quackery, learn the loopholes.  If you are a socially-minded individual, you probably want to rethink that.  Working with the most impoverished kids or those with the biggest language needs or learning disabilities, spells your own doom.  Their test scores have always been low.  The only news is that now you are to blame!  

Let the brain drain begin.  Can you afford to be a martyr to your good intentions?  Seek a higher-paying job.  It's always been there.  You've just been humoring yourself that you could do some good with kids who might benefit the most.  I repeat, seek that higher-paying job or you will become Cuomo's sacrificial lamb!  Social responsibility without a paycheck isn't worth much!  Shop around for your students.  Shop carefully.  There are no returns on students, only teachers.

Just as self-preservation shamefully dictates you turn your back on the kids who struggle on exams, statistical formulas dictate you probably don't want to work with the best kids either.  Improvement gets harder to make, the higher up the grade scale you go.  Witness Shari Lederman of Great Neck, a veteran teacher with above-average kids who now finds herself in court defending her integrity against a formula.

Keep the faith.  There is yet another part to your APPR which you can comfortably manipulate.  Seek out an administrator or a school, known for observations most likely to go your way.   Let's simplify matters and make more information publicly available through a "ratemyadministrator.com" site.  Make the perfect match.  Some administrators may be more critical.  Some may be like, "whatever."  Some may be open to servile flattery, bribes, favors or something far worse.  We would like to think not, but, hey, who are we kidding?  Imagine if for the price of a single cup of coffee a day, you could save the life of  child you could ensure your professional survival and sanity, wouldn't it be worth it?

So, remember, cheating doesn't pay, especially if you have a conscience.  But, shopping around for your students and shopping around for your administrators certainly might!  In this world, it could mean your economic survival, comfort in life or your sanity!  

On the Mysterious Powers of My Clipboard




I have a clipboard.  It's been one of my best investments in life.  It's held up for twenty-four years.  It's witnessed me teach kids, some older than myself at the time, in Michigan as well as five thousand kids in NY City.  I have the sense they don't make clipboards like that anymore.

In addition to its sentimental value, it has great practical value.  It holds lesson plans, my calendar of lessons, lists of future assignments, all kinds of stuff I'm in the middle of, a few hidden treasures and almost anything I need.

The other day we were considering dates to collect our uniform project.  Our A.P. wondered which days we had to give our uniform midterms.  Can you guess who had that information?  It was my handy-dandy clipboard.  Chalk another one up to old clipboard!  (Oh, wait, I forgot we don't have chalk anymore!)

Between the bags I tote and that extra-special clipboard, I've got the equivalent of Mary Poppins' carpetbag.  Almost anything for which a student or teacher can ask is only an arm's length away.  And, yes, it doesn't hurt to have a spoonful of sugar, too!

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Choosing the "Right Type" of People to Evaluate Teachers

Something's gone terribly wrong in the system, so says Governor Cuomo.  He can't fathom how poor scores on a test meant to slaughter students, with cut scores set just so, can coexist alongside a largely effective teaching force.  It's "Baloney!"  

Surely, at least 62% of teachers must be rated ineffective to mesh with meager student passing rates of about 38%.  Otherwise the Governor's worldview is shattered.  If he can't trust school administrators to get the job done, he must hire outside assasins observers.     

But where will we find a new privileged class of people, slaphappy to fire people for pay, bounty hunters for the innocent?  A few came to mind.  Let me propose some possibilities across time and literature.  Here are their resumes in brief.

1. How about Judge Roy Bean?



Wait, better rethink that idea.  Although it might be fun to condemn teachers from the comfort of your favorite saloon, Bean would, doubtless, be a political liability on many counts.  To begin with, people might inquire why he's sporting a "rope burn" about his neck.  Most damning of all, although known as a "hanging judge," in reality, Judge Bean only sentenced two men to hang--and one, apparently, escaped.  This definitely would disappoint the Governor!  

2.  How about Senator Joseph McCarthy?

Leaving censure aside, he had a pretty good run for two years.  He had great fun harassing many "Fifth-Amendment communists."  Along the way, he also created a climate of fear which only further helped enforce an unhealthy conformity throughout the country.  "Have you no sense of decency, Sir?"  Does it even matter, if you can get the job done for the Governor?  



3.  Does a court of the Inquisition sound welcoming?

The courts of the Inquistion, like McCarthy, may have wrongly persecuted a few persons here and there (Galileo, for one, but at least he survived on a technicality called "recant").  When God or the Governor is on your side, mistakes can be forgiven and apologies accepted--centuries later.



4.  What about Victor Hugo's Javert?

Nope, won't do!  You may think he's too busy chasing down Jean Valjean, but the real problem lies elsewhere.  He has a conscience.  When he observes that his singular and obsessive nature has led him to persecute the most Christian of men, his worldview is demolished.  He can no longer perform his legal duties and act according to authority.  He cannot reconcile his insight into the nature of Jean Valjean with his singular duty to arrest; he experiences an internal crisis of gross proportions.  Instead of carrying out his duties, he chooses to commit suicide.  He, too, is a political liability waiting to happen.



5.  There's always Campbell Brown?


Now, I'm pretty sure we won't find her suffering any internal crises.  When the lewd acts of a few teachers justify in your mind the stripping of tenure from all teachers, it only goes to show that you don't think too deeply about moral issues.   Let's just call her Madame Javert, minus the internal crisis.  


   



Can't you just picture those merciless fingers figuratively wrapped around the throats of teachers everywhere?  A dynamic duo, no less!

6.  Perhaps Jenny Sedlis might be up for the job if Ms. Brown is too busy  with tenure suits.  

Ms. Sedlis seems to have skyrocketed to ed.-"reform" fame on the shoulders of Eva Moskowitz.  I'm  not sure if she has any credtentials in education.  I do know she attended Scripps College though and ran Ms. Moskowitz's NYC Council district office before going on to StudentsFirstNY.  These last two resume bits probably qualify her, in and of itself, for the title of ed. "reformatrix."  Although she may seem a little young and inexperienced to some veterans, she is the "go-to-gal" for teacher-bashing media quotes.  In my mind, if she doesn't have better credentials, it would be better if Sedlis Saidless.  Yet, for the very same reasons mentioned here, she could only be an asset to the Governor on his seemingly single-minded path of destroying the teaching profession.



7.  Have you heard of Arnaud Amalric?

Parlez-vous francais?  "Tuez-les tous, Dieu reconnaitra les siens."  It may sound prettier in French, but the bottom line is the same:  "Kill them all.  God will know his own!"  Just change "kill" to "fire," keep on a small percentage, preferably those who will work without tenure and quit before pensionable, and you're golden. 



8.  Khans "khan" do it on a grander scale!

If you're not timid of soul, throw the facade of justice to the wind and call in a Genghis Khan or a Tamerlane.  When you wish to slaughter the careers of so many educators, history teaches me the Mongols may be your men.  Think on a grand scale.  They put Arnaud Almaric to shame.  




9.  Would Lewis Carroll's the Queen of Hearts do?

Along the same train of thought, if you are an equal opportunity employer, perhaps, you would opt for a female of proven political stature.  She can just as easily  decree, "Off with their heads!"  What's not for the Governor to love?  Maybe someday, not today, she'll get her comparable pay!

              

10.  But how about the Governor, himself?

If you want a job done right, you might as well do it yourself!  He doesn't constitutionally control NY State education.  Yet,  he exercises great power.  He pulls many strings; one might as well be a figurative noose.  Why shouldn't our Governor be both the judge, jury and executioner?  Let's just call it expedited justice and be done with it!  Problem solved!

Stopping By the Old Schoolyard On a Snowy Morning!

There was a time, pre-Core, when kids learned script in elementary school (and it had its benefits).  We also took the time to appreciate poetry.  In appreciation of Robert Frost and the forecast, here is a sample of my penmanship and poetic interests from elementary school:




And, if you have mountains to shovel before you sleep, exercise caution, take an aspirin or call for help!

Monday, January 26, 2015

A Geography Teacher And All-Time Great


There was once a geography teacher who became a great inspiration.  I believe she was the oldest member of her track club and on the verge of retiring when she received an invitation to come to NYC in 1978 and run as a "rabbit," a pace setter for the early miles of elite runners.  She had previously shown her talents in the 1972 and 1976 Olympics and achieved world records at 3000 meters, but the best was yet to come...at far greater distances.

She found the will to keep going through a distance she had never run before, even in training, 26.2 miles.  She not only went on to win the marathon, but also in record time.  And nobody knew her name.  It was "some blond girl."  According to the NY Times, in great pain at the finish line, she threw her shoes at her husband and trainer, Jack Waitz.  She exclaimed, "I'll never do this stupid thing again!"  She went on to win nine NYC marathons.  Good luck to anyone who hopes to beat that record, male or female!

When she returned to Oslo following her initial run, her students had little understanding of the distance she had covered.  They were used to working in kilometers.  She told them it was 42K.  They still could not envision it.  Being a geography teacher, she equated the distance between Oslo and a town twenty-six miles away.  Can you imagine the jaws dropping then...especially when she told them her pace?

Soon after, Grete gave up teaching to focus on the marathon.  The running career that had just seemed to be ending was only just beginning.  In probably her most famous marathon, in 1992, she accompanied Fred Lebow, NYRRC president, for the 26.2 miles despite his battle with brain cancer.  It spoke to Grete's greatness.  From her initial success, Grete went on to work with charities, including her own (AKTIV) and NYC youth running programs.  I'd venture to say running did a lot more for those kids than Common-Core test prep!

Grete was entirely gracious.  She sent autographs to my three daughters and, each time, included long and lovely letters to me.  She marveled that a busy Mom had the energy to keep running.  She congratulated me for finishing her half-marathon three months after giving birth to my second daughter.  She'd give me advice about running, describe her rides in the women's NYC lead car, her chemo treatments and her continuing exercise regimen.  I miss Grete.  The world misses Grete, her gentle soul and hard-as-nails spirit.



In one instance, perhaps with the geography teacher still inside her, Grete sent me an Oslo card in place of a Christmas card. Grete was not only, perhaps, the greatest runner of all time, she was also a teacher.   And that means a lot to me.  Despite the fact that "reformers" would denigrate an entire profession, Grete speaks to the best in all of us.



Sunday, January 25, 2015

The Irrefutable "Logic" That is Ed. "Reform"




Since the State of the State, I've been thinking a great deal about the irrefutable "logic" that is ed. "reform."  Let's run with this "logic" and see where it leads us.  

1.  50% of teacher's worth=students' test scores (Governor Cuomo, State of the State 2015).  Since students fail miserably, fire the teachers!

2.  Teacher Colleges should be rated by the passing rates on high-stakes tests of students taught by their graduates (Secretary of State Arne Duncan).  Since students fail miserably, rate the teacher colleges as abject failures!

Here is where I will take their "logic" and run with it.  Watch me go:

3.  Since the New York State Board of Regents authorizes such colleges and universities, the worth of the Board of Regents must be judged by the success of teacher colleges which train students to work with children in the state--who are currently failing miserably the Common-Core tests sanctioned by the State Education Department.  Disband the current Board!

4.  You may be tempted to blame Governor Cuomo, but this is where you are ruled wrong on a technicality.  Since state legislatures maintain the power over the Board of Regents per their state constitution, legislators in Albany are responsible for the failure of the Board to create teacher colleges that train teachers to adequately prep students for killer tests.  Close down the NY State legislature!

5.  Given our democratic system, "The People" have freely chosen their state legislators, thus,  "The People" must be to blame for the inability of the state legislature to create a Board that can authorize teacher colleges worthy of graduating students who can prep their own students to near perfection.  We must fire "The People."

6.  Now, we are at a pretty impasse.  Who do you blame for the inability of "The People" to choose legislators to create a Board of Regents to authorize only colleges which train qualified graduates to prep students past the obstacle that is their Common-Core tests?  If you blame "The People's" teachers again, you go around in an endless and hopeless circle.  So, let us just blame "The People."  

Whither next?  If you believe in evolution, you can ultimately blame natural selection for "The People."  You might want to blame the mysteries of the universe.  If you believe in the Bible or Quran, just go ahead and blame God, or 50% of his infinite worth!  Like floods, famines and plagues, God created teachers!  It is up to the Governor to destroy them somehow.  Even if he has no constitutional power to do so, "logic demands" no less.  If he is religiously minded, he must fire God first!  On this Sunday morning, let Governor Andy armed with his irrefutable "logic," go to it!

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Teaching Through a World of Constant Threats


In this day and age, I get a number of alerts pop up in the bottom right-hand corner of my computer.  I no longer let them worry me much.  They are a fact of twenty-first century life.  Threats are everywhere, not just on my computer.  There are threats of terrorist actions against "infidels" as well as threats of "reformist" actions against teachers!  Every day, one reads the news with trepidation.

I appreciate that Norton keeps me updated on its activity.  It certainly seems to justify the yearly fee.  They block this and they block that.  They quarantine some other potentially deadly thing.  It is my computer's equivalent of  anti-terrorism specialists.  They foil a plot here.  They foil a plot there.  I am reminded that, occasionally, the plans of educational "reformers" get foiled, too.

Being a teacher really adds to the thrill of living in a world of constant and immediate threats.  There are so many plots hatched to strip me of my dignity.  Which one will be next?  The Governor wants outside observers to pester us because the people who know us best can't find enough faults.  Can you beat this logic?  The State wants to make my students' test scores count for, perhaps, half of my worth.  Can you beat that logic?  Some would strip me of tenure.  If I lose due-process rights, I will become a better teacher.  Who could possibly argue with that logic?

Despite this new and thrilling world of ed. "reform," I stay grounded.  I will reassure myself by my own pop ups.  Let me share a couple:  




But, here's one the one I'd really like to see on an ongoing basis.  If only ed. threats could be removed so systematically:



  

Friday, January 23, 2015

Will You Be Gettin' Some of the Governor's Good Merit Pay?



In his State of the State Address, the Governor held out the promise of dividing and conquering teachers through merit pay.  He went so far as to exhibit specimens of a super race known as "Master Teachers."  But does he actually believe "merit" can legitimately be measured across the State?  I guess if he believes that half the worth of teachers can be measured by their students' test scores (and in the case of an art, music or physical ed. teacher, scores in alternate subject areas), I guess he could believe anything.   

So, which teachers will have "merit" when you "incentivize" education?  Who will receive merit pay?  Will you be gettin' yourself some of that good stuff?

Here are some basic questions you can ask yourself to determine the answer in advance:

1.  Do you teach to a test?  Do you gladly sacrifice much of the richness and complexity of your discipline in the name of "blah"?  Do you deal in gross generalities or Common-Core concoctions?  Instead of developing thinking skills, do you devote more time to narrowly focus on how to ace a given test?  Do you put test prep above kids' emotional and psychological well being?   Success Academy proved with its scores on Citywide high-school entrance exams that teaching to one test (one that demands the issuance of standard-issue deodorizing powders to clean up barf) doesn't even transfer over to other tests.  Do you not let that bother you a bit?

2.  Do you tote the company line, lockstep style?  Are you a pollannish mouthpiece for the latest education gobbledygook and pander to a principal or AP?  Do you play the game instead of honestly ponder its harmful effects upon children?  Do you get pulled out to meet "factory inspectors" when they need someone to manufacture the right answers?  If so, given the right supervisor, you may be repaid generously via Danielson's perfectly objective domains.    

3.  Will you  dispense with scruples if something as simple as an eraser could help earn you an additional $20,000?  Do you remember the miracle that was Michelle Rhee?  Can you just overlook (or, perhaps, encourage) students to rush to the bathroom with hidden phones when necessary? 

4.  Do you work extra hours at school and volunteer your time and services for free?   Are you willing to sacrifice family obligations or do you have none?  Do you have no qualms about working outside of your union contract if it could eventually earn you $20,000?

5.  Will you turn over the data on kids and find ways to pass more students who cannot pass themselves?  Will you be a mole or sycophant, if asked?  

If you find yourself saying "yes" to many of the questions above, you are pretty much guaranteed your merit pay.  Spend it wisely.  It has been earned the hard way!

Let a new Machiavelli write an advice manual entitled "The Teacher."  A teacher must be both a weasel and a fox these days.  It is better to be prepped than to be taught.

If you want to do your best, given the Governor's vision of a more test-based system, find the best students.  Make the best match because without it, despite your best efforts and your generous intentions, your students will drag you down!  Watch teachers leave the neediest schools in droves.  Pity the students who are a liability to teach.  Pity society.  Teachers will focus more than ever on test prep.  Call us all Stanley Kaplan!  Is this the world the Governor wants?  It is the world he seeks to create.

Will the ends justify the means?  Perhaps it will, if your end is your own personal financial security and not the welfare of your students or of society.   

Thursday, January 22, 2015

On the State of the Union and Getting Students' Priorities Straight





There's been a lot of big "States" lately, the State of the Union and the State of the State.  I asked my students regarding the former:

1.  Did you listen to the President?  Why or why not?
2.  Regardless, which issues would you most want the President to address?  Explain two.

In each class, I could count on one hand the students who heard the State of the Union.  Not entirely surprising, but so sad!  I'm betting not one heard Cuomo speak given it was during their school day.

Some simply forgot about the State of the Union, despite my reminder.  Some were not so much Republican or Independent as totally disinterested.  Some said it was their age.  Others thought it might be a lot of empty talk.  Many pointed to the necessity of studying for a barrage of midterm exams.  Alas, many had foreign-language tests, chemistry or physics the next day.  

I recognize the direct and immediate connection between their test grades and their academic welfare.  Yet, I wondered if education might not have its priorities wrong.  When test-taking takes precedence over listening to the President of your country, and a pretty powerful country at that, or cultivating good citizenship and an appreciation for the importance of current events, education seems misdirected.  I would argue with the high-stakes nature of more and more tests, we are more misdirected than ever.  I would argue that, had there been the ability to listen to Cuomo, students might have recognized the powerful direct and immediate connection between his words and their academic future.  Alas, many were probably taking midterms at that time.  I can vouch for a few who had chemistry.  

In respect to the second question above, many students were concerned about college, jobs and the environment.  The president, of course, addressed all these issues and many more, to varying degrees.  We discussed some of his proposals, including free community college, sick days and childcare.  Will we discuss Cuomo's plans today?  Probably not.  Alas, students have a full-period, cumulative history midterm!  Today is the multiple-choice section...

I was most interested in the subjects that the President barely touched upon or completely neglected.  To let you know the focus of my world, I wasn't so much thinking about Al Qaeda as the Common Core.  Its name was not invoked once.  If we do a close reading, silence is sometimes golden.  Of course, there may be new testing threats under different names, a re-branding of a botched high-stakes system.  If we consider Cuomo's words, and I have yet to hunt down a transcript and read it, word on the street says, "Teachers Beware!"

I am guessing in the future if I want students to listen to the President, I will have to turn it into a mandatory assignment.  If this is the case for high-school students, however, it seems we haven't quite managed to get our priorities straight.  Let me be "transparent," however, because I believe in honesty and it is also humorous!  The irony of it all is that following our limited discussion yesterday, I spent the remainder of the period reviewing with students for their midterm today!  From what I hear, the Governor, in his test-based world, must be loving that!  Alas and Egad!