View source for DownThePath

====message to class of 09====
It was a great honor to be your teacher this year. This is my ideal job. I wouldn't trade my students at PATH for any in the world. You challenge me every day with your wit, your skepticism and your honesty. 
=====students whom I failed=====
All of you were capable of doing the work of Humanities 4. It is a tribute to you and to your teachers and parents that you could. There is a huge difference, however, between 'could have' and actually pulling it off. You were cheated if you did not write the papers and did not pass the final. You were cheated of the reward. You need to feel the reward so that in the future you will be willing take the risk of working hard again. 

Your failure to complete the work of the course is my failure. I apologize for failing you. It is the responsibility of the adults in the building to provide you, as superintendent Carol Johnson directed, with "high expectations, high relevance, and appropriate support". If somehow you got the message that you didn't really have to understand and study and write about your relationship to history and the world, that doubt would give you an out. It is not in the nature of a healthy 17 year old mind to do anything unnecessary. You would be crazy to. Unless the adults in the building can be crystal clear about our expectations you are cast adrift. If there is a history of saying one thing and doing another, where some kids get away with not passing and others don't, where the very definition of passing seems subjective and random, that is a problem in the institution. You deserve better. 


====mailto:honcho@cityfeed.com====
Your store is so cool. I often go in and buy stuff. Today I went in and was considering a hip creamsicle like product. I looked on the freezer door there were some prices there. A long list but not the thing I wanted to buy. I checked inside to see if the product was marked(the frozen bar next to it was marked); picked it up felt its weight, the touch of the silver cellophane. I asked the employee stocking the adjacent freezer. He didn't know the price. Told me to go up and wait on line til I got to the cashier to scan it. I told him that was too much work. I left the store.

Oh I get it, if you have to ask you shouldn't be shopping there. How un-hip of me. My dog could write a better price list on his mac. I'm better off not eating sweets; it felt like it had freezer burn anyway.
 

====on training the non-compliant teacher====
12/3/8;
To stay out of trouble as a teacher:
#don't challenge the point of a PD exercise**
#agree with administrators on what is important, even if you think it is nonsense
#give the kids good grades*
#avoid communicating with admin or asking for admin assistance in taking an interest in and monitoring of student's academic progress and motivation***
#remember that every problem has an ed stategy that will solve it, and that all educational issues can be boiled down to the failure of teachers to use enough "stategies", yeah, chunk this
#know that the job of admin is to hunt down evidence of teachers slacking: ie, not enough strategies and graphic_orgs or activating_prior_knowledge  
#the other job of admin is to defend the students from the teacher.*
:<nowiki>*</nowiki>In a recent meeting with parent, teacher, headmaster and assistant headmaster, a veritable all star cast of potential support for the student. In that meeting the student was asked show her notebook and the exercises we had done in preparation for an upcoming paper. She had completed about 30% of the work and made the commitment to the group to finish the remainder before tomorrow's class. I asked to see her work the next day and it was not done. Just one more adult checking in with this young lady might be enough to motivate her to the next level. But that's not, apparently, what that meeting was about.

:<nowiki>**</nowiki>recently I commented that the PD we were doing was not addressing the problem we were originally talking about. That got interpreted as I was a teacher not in favor of using strategies.

:<nowiki>***</nowiki> I emailed the students with a cc to headmaster and guidance, giving explicit rationale for the deadline and detailed instructions on what to do. Admin wrote a general email about student privacy and I was made aware they took exception to my phrasing to my students. I won't do this again.
 
:the above brought the attention of the admin on to me. Here is how my visit from admin went   

Today I wasted perfectly good prep time to try to give Ms. Onifade a window into what's going on in my classes. As our conversation went on I could feel the imposition of her one dimensional views on education. I knew I could have defused it by reducing the problem to one of "chunking". She would have been happy and felt I was on the right path. But it was this very reduction to strategy that I was intent on avoiding. I couldn't tell her what she wanted to hear. 

At the end of our meeting she told me that she now had objective notes on my views to help her understand what was going on in my classes. I asked her to summarize. She said that I felt that students were coming from eleventh grade without the skills and strategies to succeed as seniors and that I expected them to already know the strategies since I didn't teach them. Whoa.

Nothing could be further from the truth or less objectively stated. I told her that is her view, not mine and she shouldn't state it as mine. I further stated to her that I felt her administrative agenda blinded her to our actual conversation. 


Here's what I actually said:;
on what are my 3 most important themes:
#reading with precision
#finding your voice and to realize writing is hard
#to get a sense of the world and where they might fit in
on the biggest challenge:
#making a case strong enough that they care to engage, motivation is the key to success.

Strategies have almost nothing to do with motivation. What Ms. Onifade fails to see is that while talking about the hood, strategies and graphic organizers will create a compliant student, those tactics can actually nullify and numb the intrinsic motivation of the words. Substituting generalized AVID-like motivation for intrinsic motivation will not work. Eventually education is just a hollowed out shell. Our students are too smart to buy in.
 
====the pd paradigm (dilbert for the education sector)====
#teacher raises a concern in a meeting
#(next meeting) admin co-ops a teacher's concern and makes it as though it is theirs
#admin frames the question in a way that has little relevance to the original concern. The framework becomes the standard. 
#teachers are asked to what extent their practice conforms to the "standard" and are required to defend their practice relative to the "standards".
#teachers are asked what they could do to better meet the "standards"
It is very possible, even likely, that nothing useful will come of this exercise

What have I learned today?

teachers strategy
publicly
*stay positive, talk about the good stuff
privately
*blame the kids
*blame the admin
*blame yourself
*blame the milleu

admin strategy
*in teachers responses, look for admitted failures to comply with the "standards"
*manage that teacher by noting and revisiting their "failures" in subsequent meetings

teacher survival
*always have on hand a perceived failure that you already have fixed
*in subsequent meetings tell how you have addressed (what have now become) admin's concerns

Today we talked about homework, because I made the ill considered comment at the last meeting that students weren't studying for tests. I guess homework was the closest box that this fit in. Out rolled a sheet listing all the types of homework, all the purposes, and all the strategies to increase turn-in rate. The drill was to in turn, delineate the types you assign and state how it was working in your classes (with percentages). Next we would be shown how we could increase the turn in rate if we followed strategies, taught strategies, worshiped strategies. 

I mentioned that none of the purposes or types or strategies said anything about studying material in preparation for a test or a quiz. (sure it did say you could reward doers by open book tests) This was another mistake on my part. Within 5 minutes the admin made a comment that implied my problem was not using the strategies. This flow of PD is so typical it is funny and sad.

Is this just he way it is, the only way it can be? Why do I want to gag when fellow teachers are telling each other how good things are going for them. 

====on straw vote for discovery====
A straw vote isn't quite like a vote nor is it a poll. It's a vote where people get to see what your vote is. There is a lot of history on leaders/minions or bosses/workers that argues for secret ballots. I would suggest declining to "vote", instead doing what you can to engage on these issues with your colleagues.

To me, the question is: How do the alternatives empower the teachers to create a better school? It seems either could, depending on the implementation. We could either develop a participatory democracy or a representative democracy. 

A participatory democracy would be a bottom up process, teachers, individually and in content and grade level teams, developing consensus on how to improve the outcomes for our students. Here teachers are in control, developing ideas, creating innovative hypotheses, trying them out, collecting data from the students and adapting our practice. The administrators would be partners in supporting the work of the teachers.

A representative democracy would be a beefed up ILT in which the top-down approach is expanded to include our representatives (teachers). Last year's process seemed to be going in that direction, with ILT bosses telling teachers how they should do things like sustained silent reading in our school. Communication is between individual teachers and ILT, like this proposed '"reply" (not "reply to all") as to your "unofficial" thought on this.'

PATH is a small community and as such is better suited for a participatory democracy and a consensus driven process. In thinking about change we should start here and avoid dividing into camps and a "winning" in which a significant portion of the voters are deemed not to be on the ruling team. We already have plenty of administrators and I question the need for more top down power. With even our content teams administered we have scarce options for developing in teachers the capacity for more responsibility in how we work with our students and each other. Our process for change should start with interactions between teachers.

Tim

Timothy S. McKenna
Parkway Academy of Technology and Health, a Boston Public High School
1205 VFW Parkway
Boston, MA 02132
tim@sitebuilt.net
http://sitebuilt.net
http://pathboston.com/hum
(857)498-2574 (mobile)
(617)524-0938 (home)

====to [[Sonia Chang Diaz]]====
=====beyond class size and funding=====
"I’ve been a public school teacher, and I will never forget the struggles—and victories—I saw my students, parents, and fellow teachers go through every day. I know first-hand the importance of providing our schools with the support they need to give every child the chance for success. Our public schools are ground zero for our country’s promise of equal opportunity, and they are the driving engine of Massachusetts’ economy.

As your State Senator, I will work ceaselessly to ensure that our schools have the resources and tools they need to complete this job: quality teachers, small class sizes, well-rounded curricula, excellent school leadership, and active community and parental involvement. I will also work to give parents the support they need to be active participants in their children’s education."

As a policy maker I will carefully monitor the deployment of those resources. 

Quality teachers are the backbone of the education system. We can all remember the teachers who made a difference in our lives. Not only are teachers uniquely situated to know the strengths and challenges facing each student, they have the ability to engage and empower students in their own learning. Accountability must originate in the classroom. Teachers should be given the tools and resources to work together in developing assessments and innovations aligned with our standards. 

High expectations for our students are attainable when students are engaged and interested. Teachers should keep abreast of the cutting edge of their disciplines as active researchers and by maintaining close ties with the university community. Boston is uniquely situated in this regard. 

Our students deserve a rich and engaging educational environment that includes music, theater, sports, languages and technology. 

The job of leadership in our schools is to support the education that goes on in the classroom. Education policy must arise from the lessons learned through innovation in our classrooms everyday undertaken by committed teachers and students. 

Each student should have opportunities for internships and enrichment outside of school through strong and active relationships between our schools and the business and institutional community. Parents should have choices and a clear understanding of how to best support the work of their children.

As your State Senator I will work to keep public education public. Privatization has no place in public education in a democracy. Schools and teachers should not have to depend on corporate fundraising to educate a child.  Teachers have the right to organize and deserve compensation that allows them to participate in society as homeowners, able to send their children to college, maintain the health of the family and retire in dignity.


To meet standards and be prepared for higher education requires a public commitment. 

Urban schools face challenges that must be overcome. 70% of college attending, non-exam, Boston Public School graduates will require one or more remedial classes before earning college credits. Success in high school should be gauged by the number of students who embark on sophomore year of college. 

====senior sign-out====
The conduct of the administration toward my senior classes and to me raises grave concerns. The events culminating in the the June 5 fiasco were inappropriate, irresponsible and preventable. I ask that there be some formal review of administration procedures and a plan for corrective action. 

Obviously the most egregious event was the racial outbreak by the School Site Council member and parent, Ms Mahdee.  I think we can be proud of our work in creating a positive racial and cultural climate at our school. While there is some balkanization among our student cultures evident in the cafeteria and common areas, our classrooms have been a place where students and teachers speak and act with respect for our strengths and differences. To have that climate violated by a parent and person in a leadership role in our school community is unacceptable. Racism is a poison that  cannot be allowed to exist in our schools. I ask that Ms. Mahdee resign her position on the SSC and formally apologize, in writing, to me and to every student who was in the classroom. 

As the headmaster of our school you have made a strong and very public stance that the school and its teachers must cater to the chronically absent students, to students who submit plagiarized work, to students whose work lacks integrity, to the students who demand a “packet”, to the students who complain instead of learning responsibility and honesty, to students with intrusive and demanding parents.  It is very unsettling that the first time you were in my classroom this year (and one of the few times you have even ventured to the third floor of the school) that you publicly humiliated a teacher and threatened, in front of my students to take over grading for my senior Humanities classes, saying if I was not able immediately grade the above mentioned groups then the administration would do it for me. You showed me a fax from some of these students to the superintendents office and ordered that I stop teaching immediately.

It is no wonder that after the public humiliation of a teacher, the disgruntled parent in attendance would be enabled to attack a teacher just minutes later. I fear the long term effects on the school community of the combined disruptions. What are we teaching our students here?  Since when it is the administrations role to undermine its teachers in such a public way? 


===[[Reading by the numbers]]: [http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2008/06/16/reading_by_the_numbers/ Reading by the numbers] globe 6/16===
whose data?

Boston Public Schools has also embarked on data-driven instruction. We also use products from a non-profit, non-governmental org. (NGO). Much planning time was spent on training us to read the color-coded printouts. We can all talk the new talk now. The NGO has plans to have the system replace the current ELA curriculum. They tell us its free yet they are intercepting  state and federal funds that might otherwise go to the district. 

New technology allows teachers and students to check understanding. Inexpensive 6-button devices can send data for analysis in real-time. What is needed are easier to use open-source quiz authoring tools for teachers like those being developed for Moodle and Wikiversity. Instead of buying more products we have the opportunity to motivate our students with our passion for our material while tuning in to each student, looking carefully at the data they produce for us every day.

I look very warily at solutions requiring consultants, coaches and technology out of our control. I do not believe they will close the achievement gap for students at urban public schools or at any school. Teachers and students need empowerment and access not direction and scripts from an NGO.

===BTU news Virchick 5/08===
The subject of your piece is collaborating with peers. That is worthy topic yet the article does little to explore it. You talk  of students, teachers and their union and administrators having equal voices? They are not my peers. Other teachers are my only peers. Administrator's job is to support the teachers and the learning of the students. We need bosses who do that well. I agree that the loss of the city-wide parents council is unfortunate but they are not my peers. Coaches are valuable but unless they are still in the classroom teaching kids they are not peers either. Education funding isn't about reflection on practice and collaborating with peers. You move from random point to random point, fundamental rights, the rights of the union, bad press, the hotel tax... 

Common planning time is the heart of collaborating with peers. I am sure you aware of the new admin play on common planning time. No longer teacher led, administrators have stepped in with an agenda crafted by outsiders. Now that needs some discussion. Unless teachers can focus and reach consensus on what common planning time should look like it will never be any good. Your article does little to sharpen that focus.

===on early dismissal===
April 3, 2008

Dear Dr. Hilton,

I think it is a very bad idea to suspend any seniors over the National Honors Society early dismissal. We need those students to be in school and working every day. I would rather see the administration suspended or at be required to do a reflection paper. I would respectfully suggest the following topics for reflection:

#Imagine yourself as a teacher. Consider the dynamics of the week, often with new material presented early in the week with an attempt to have some kind of closure, a take-away message if you will by the end of the week. Consider the importance of continuity; you wouldn't want to, for instance, start a topic and then lose the kids for 2-3 days then have to try to spend extra time to refresh or redo the work of days past. Had you known, you might never have started. How disruptive would it be to  knock on a teacher's door 5 minutes before a class to tell them there is no class. In the long run is it possible that such actions might wear away a teacher's motivation. Are motivated teachers necessary for a successful school? Is there such a thing as educational momentum?
#What is the education theory that suggest sending the good kids home as some kind of reward is conducive to educational success? Consider the psychological impact on the young student. "I have succeeded in the eyes of the adults", they might think. "They are sending me home, I have pleased them, I am done." Whatever we as adults put emphasis on will be internalized as the goal of the student. Consider the young 10th grader, awed by the pep rally, the good food, the celebration. "You can go home each day as soon as you finish the test", we tell them. They are smart kids, they get it. This is the pinnacle of my high school career. "If I pass this I am done. I can now demand high grades, apply to the National Honor society or else show up every once in a while, just enough to graduate", they think. Too bad they only earned the eighth grade education education that the MCAS tests. 
#Say you have a policy that rewards the compliant kids who do whatever you tell them. But what if what they have done does not make them capable readers, writers or problem solvers? What if 1/2 or more of your National Honor Society kids are liable to end up in remedial classes in college? Should you still send them the message that they are done, go home? Perhaps they will think that they should somehow be exempt from having to struggle to understand what they read, or exempt from having to express that understanding in writing. Consider the demands of research based, data driven administration. Even if you do consider it unnecessary to consult or inform your teachers. Might you want to look at snapgrades for the students who you are telling go home before you make that decision? 
#What about the poor souls at the end of their high school careers who have not made it into the National Honors limelight, won't get the scholarship money, the ones with the thin envelopes. Are we trying to build their character by mandating that they fill the seats and cheer for their mates? Might they be better off in class? They'll be OK. They are up for a party. Now they can feel as though they are done too. Is punishing them now the right move? 

==on tech decisions==
Dear ILT,

I am curious about how decisions on technology expenditures are made. Is, for instance, that video system we saw yesterday provided to us for free? If not, how much did it cost upfront? What are the recurring fees? I am concerned about the allocation of PATH resources.

More importantly, I have been aware of very little debate that includes teachers on what is the best educational use of technology. 
I get the sense that the current bias is toward teachers as consumers of technology, users of the latest, "research-based" glitzy  scripts. Perhaps that is what the majority of teachers want. I'd like at least some discussion. 

Meanwhile we can't store student videos. We have little or no ability to create our own educational material. Not only is it teachers, however. Students too are mostly merely consumers. Their ability to explore self expression through technology is almost non-existent. We yell at the kids in the auditorium for not being able to see or hear their fellow students perform.

I have done a fair amount of exploration in using packaged video and pre-made widgets (used for math). I don't think they really works. Even if you as student get to change a few controls, the thrill lasts about 15 minutes. Watching a video of someone doing an experiment is a poor substitute for a lack of lab facilities. I find the best criteria is to find out to what extent, and with what ease, teachers and students can be the ''creators'' of the materials. I don't think teachers should be told to fear, and be protected from, the evil un-vetted internet. It is part our job to make the decisions on what to do, or use, each day with our students.

Tim

(posted on pathboston.com/forum)

==do what they say, tell them what they want to hear==

Dear fellow ILT members,

As players in a larger game Boston Public Schools listens to high powered consultants, then frames the debate in the language of the experts. The process continues down the hierarchy through to the students. Last year's 12th grade ELA midterm used, as one of the passages, a Garcia Marquez short story "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings". The test writers misunderstood the piece as a simplistic morality tale and created questions reflecting their misunderstanding. To do well, students how to give them the answers they wanted. Educational consultants may be writing the script for reform without understanding the piece. Should we be writing the answers they want to hear? Or do we already have to?

My realpolitik friends advise caution. They view the change to small schools as a way for the system to further purge itself of teachers who have developed considered opinions on education, teachers without proficiency at telling the administration what they want to hear, teachers who have been around awhile and are making a good living. Phase 1 was the small school initiative. Phase 2 is the pilots.

We will be a better school if we agree on what it means to provide a quality education at PATH. But I fear the powers-that-be want agreement to mean agreeing with them. Draft 2 gives them what they want. 

The recent Fast-R attempts to define agreement for students. In this case they call it a "Rental Agreement" for a car. A euphemism really, (the main idea is)you either sign the agreement or you don't get the car. I fear the pilot process. Even if we do what they want, we still won't get the car.

==on the continuing lack of support from A.P. Yvonne Watson==
2/9/8

Dear Ms. Watson,

I was appalled at your manner toward me in the meeting in your office on February 7. While I was working to elicit the parent's help in having the student re-commit to her work in Humanities, you repeatedly wanted to bring the conversation to "whether the student did or did not put the said paper on my desk." Thankfully, with the parent's support, we got the student to return to class and take her quiz. After the student left, you again called me on the carpet, in front of only the parent this time, on the same question.

I felt assaulted and demeaned by you. Your response to me reduces to meaningless rhetoric all of the work we have been both involved in around creating a positive academic environment at PATH. Your misplaced knee-jerk support for parents and students is neither good for the student nor is it good for the school. I have prepared a short write up on how administrators at PATH can support students in Humanities 4. Please read it here: http://pathboston.com/hum/index.php?title=Overview_of_class_policies_for_admin (you can return to   it by going to the class site at http://pathboston.com/hum and clicking on "graded products" in the left menu, then looking in the general class policies section.)

We have looked at the issue of college outcomes for our graduates in the academic culture PD strand. Though it didn't make your bullet list it is high on mine. 70% of our graduates who actually enroll in college end up in remedial courses, only 18% of those ever graduate! Take a look at what that young lady wanted to throw on my desk and get credit for before you question my judgment and policy. I have included it here for your consideration. Do we call this acceptable senior level writing? How do you think this student will do when she takes the placement test during freshman orientation? BTW, I have only been through the first 3 citations with the student. None of them had anything to do with what she was talking about (this shows she's just trying to scam by without re-reading the articles).    

*''"The capitalism was the main people who were in control and build factories, had workers, and gave them wages. (cite >Economy</cite para 3) Marxism wasn’t the same as capitalism. Matter of fact, it was the opposite of Marxism. Marxism were going for workers owning factories. (cite >Marxism</cite para 1) Marxism would effect capitalism with profits due to the factories knowing the workers would make their own wages. (cite >Marxism</cite para 1) The effects that lead up to the capitalism and money brought us to nationalism. Economy had countries and people wanting wealth and other things. (cite >Economy</cite para 1) Nationalism was causing countries to think that they were better than other countries. Colonialism is when everyone started to divided and start their own products. They didn’t want to depend on other countries and make that country look better than them. The last thing is imperialism. Imperialism was the exchange that was happening between other countries. (cite >Hobson on Imperialism</cite para 4) Like when the factory workers were being paid low wages buy the higher people in charge (Capitalism). But the workers would want to make a lot more money because the knew it was unfair wages (cite >Factory Conditions</cite para 4), so they knew they wanted to get rid of the main people that are in charge or have the most control and own the factories and get the money that they deserve. (cite >Hobson on Imperialism</cite para 11) With knowing all what was going on with Capitalism, Marxism, Nationalism, Colonialism, and Imperialism. They all blend and showed some relationship between one another."''

I believe that Britney can take the placement test in freshman orientation and be accepted into college level courses. She will need to work hard until June. I am willing to help her even beyond my role in the classroom. The administration needs to trust and talk to its teachers if the school is going to have any meaningful role in getting a student like Britney to the place where she can succeed in college. She and her family are depending on getting that job done.

==on accepting Heather Leary's paper==
Dear Dr. Hilton,

Respectfully, I cannot accept Heather's paper; She will receive her current grade of C-. 

Just a little background. Today I decided to break my long standing practice of not staying after school on Friday. There were a number of students who had work ready to submit who I hadn't yet met with. During homeroom and in class I announced I would stay after and meet with any students who had work ready to submit. At 2:55 I met with the last of those students. There were 4 students in the room working on their computers. I asked if anyone was ready to meet. No one was. I closed up shop, never having any intention of waiting for students to finish. Heather says something like: "Oh no you don't, you wait right here until I'm done or I'll have my mother on your ass". 

I'm not sure how she thought that was going to cause me to change my mind, actually even if she was nice I would have declined, this wasn't a make-up session, the term ended at 1:40. She went on, out the door saying something like "my mother will be in here, she'll meet with the principal and get your ass fired".  

There were three of four other seniors in the room. By Tuesday lunch time, every senior at PATH will have heard of this incident.

I am very sensitive to the pressures seniors are feeling and facing. I do everything I can possibly think of to help them through. I know of Heather's quest for the BU scholarship and have encouraged her to get on track. 

I ask that you respect the work I am doing with the seniors and not override this student's grade. No amount of apology by the student, or intervention by the parents on her behalf, will cause me to change my mind on this. 

The particular policies of the class have been carefully thought out and clearly disseminated to the students. On the class website at http://pathboston.com/hum there is a menu on the left with an menu item called [[http://pathboston.com/hum/index.php?title=products products]]. Every student knows to go here to find every assignment for the term as well as what they need to do to make it up or improve their grade for each. On that page there is an link to [[http://pathboston.com/hum/index.php?title=General_notes_on_improving_your_grade General_notes_on_improving_your_grade]] where the rationale for the class policy is elucidated. There are other reasons as well that I would be happy to talk to you about. I will formulate them and put them [[http://pathboston.com/hum/index.php?title=meeting_with_students here]].

I apologize that once again things have spilled out of my class and demanded your attention. I would imagine that we will end up having the parents come in. I am happy to be at that meeting, well not exactly happy, but I accept it as part of my job. If I may be so bold to suggest some talking points
*the term had already ended
*the class policy is clearly stated
*Mr.McKenna stays in the building an extra 2 1/2 hours M-TH, unpaid, solely to help his students succeed
*Mr.McKenna demands respect from his students and has zero tolerance for disrespect in the after school setting. 
*The administration supports its teachers. Overturning a class policy for one student is overturning it for all. Students would then only need to go to the headmaster when they are late, rude and irresponsible.
*The school cannot afford to lose the dedication and extra work of its teachers. If the administration didn't support teachers, they may decide to go home at 1:40 every day.

I apologize for stating my case so strongly. I would not have, were this not extremely important to me.

Respectfully Submitted,
Tim McKenna

Timothy S. McKenna
Parkway Academy of Technology and Health
1205 VFW Parkway
Boston, MA 02132
tim@pathboston.com
http://pathboston.com/hum
(857)498-2574 (mobile)
(617)524-0938 (home)


{{:WREC rep campaign}}

==on summer07 stipend to Jeff Liberty==
Hi Jeff,

I hope you are enjoying your summer. After a very strange AVID experience, I too am taking a little time off. Forgive the lack of particular references here, I am far from my desk. 

I'm fine with working on my Humanities course without any stipend. There are a quite a few areas I want to work on. Since the BAA residency I have used a unit outline similar to yours and I find it very useful. My current units are:
# the  Enlightenment
# *isms(industrialism, colonialism, imperialism, marxism etc.)
# war and Holocaust
# a polarized world (cold war and other warring ideologies, our current world)
# (global)health. 
I am really glad we added the Enlightenment to the course definition since it lays a strong foundation for a a course based on ideas. Combined with a closer look at MA(world) and city(ELA) standards, I ended up squeezing out the health unit. 

I would like to fold in topics that I got to cover 2yrs ago like Plagues(bubonic, flu after WW1), intro to public health, eugenics,  HIV in Africa, bird flu, China's SARS quarantine into the other units. These topics would not be units in themselves but more likely and excerpt from literature(ex: Year of Wonder by Brooks) and/or historic article that helps to paint a fuller picture of the time.

The rest of the tweaking I want to do has to do with a (kind of)audit I did where I looked at what the kids knew (or at least been exposed to) last year compared to the standards for world history. Again filling these holes with a full blown 8-10 day unit would require a Taiwanese academic schedule (though I hear they don't care much about history) so I have to pick my spots and find my hooks a day here and a day there.

It's kind of the same on the ELA front. One of the surprising and encouraging things from last year was the value of excerpts from literature. From Melville to Dickens to Wolfe the kids did well jumping in; they got some appreciation for the words and a broader understanding of the time/place even with 10 pages here, 5 pages there. I could spend a whole summer just identifying excerpts (and it would be great fun). 

I wish I had gone to the Steve's writing workshop at UMASS instead of that AVID thing. I spent a year looking at writing through the lens he offered and it was enormously helpful. This year, after seeing it take 800 words for a student to arrive at a thesis, I have evolved in my ideas on teaching writing. There is enormous power that is as yet untapped in moving our students from their strong personal narratives into academic writing and there are tools that can help.  At the very least I don't want to damage the kids, ignoring their power while enforcing a sterile regimen. 

I'm reading Carol Bly's "Beyond the Writer's Workshop" for her insight into the writing process and her harsh criticism of high school writing teachers, and wading through 
"The Great Wall - China Against the World 1000BC-AD2000" to get at the "idea" of China as I consider maybe Chinese influence in Africa as a way to introduce the emerging empire. It would be fun to excerpt "A Fine Balance" as a hook to linking the caste system and modern globalized India with its Mubia ghettos as seen in the recent National Geographic. I will spend some more time with the PSAT data that I got from guidance to get a handle on how our 96% passing MCAS kids still have an average SAT score of 368, effectively relegating them to third rate, high cost rip-off colleges with their attendant unrealistic debt.

I feel that what I am doing is valuable and that it will help me to do a better job with our students. I understand that it does not involve the product that you have outlined. I propose that we drop the summer stipend and leave the August Institute topics as they are. Perhaps we can continue to communicate throughout the summer. I will get in touch the week of the 23rd.

==injured teacher, student remains in class==
On May 18th 2007 there was a fight between students in the hallway outside of room 366.  While I ushered students from the hallway back into their classrooms I could see Taisha Bethune flailing her arms wildly, attempting to get at another student. Mr. Bartholomay was between the students, trying to keep someone from getting hurt. I later saw that he had been struck by the student, his lip was swollen and bloody. 

An hour later, Taisha Bethune was back in class, hanging out in the hall. I asked other teachers why and was told the dispute had been "mediated" by the headmaster. 

I asked Scott about what kind of mediation would allow a student back in the class following violence and personal injury in the hallway. He didn't know, no one had deigned to talk to him. 

I am not sure how the new small school initiatives on having administrators being friends to students squares with a situation that, in my twenty years of experience in the BPS as a parent and teacher, has always required the immediate removal of the student(s) from class, followed by suspension/expulsion hearings. I ask that the administration's response to this situation be clearly communicated to the entire staff, lest speculation will continue unabated.

Please excuse my rush for clarification. I ask in light of past events in which a violent student (John Lara) was allowed back in class, was subsequently (one or two days later) involved in further violence which has resulted in the, as yet, unexplained disappearance of a staff member (Mr. Clemente). Teachers need to know what to do and what to expect in these situations. I am sure that none of us want to see another staff member disappear due to lax or inappropriate administrative response to violence in our school. 
    
Tim McKenna
{{:sped licensure}}


==letter to parents of algebra students==
===open house, 2/13/7===

Dear Parents of algebra(physics) students,

I continue to enjoy and embrace the challenge of teaching your children. If anything, after five and a half months, I have even more appreciation of their academic potential. This is true for every student in the class. The class, however, is not performing up to its potential. 

As a teacher I continue to explore any possible ways in which I can do a better job. As a member of the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics, I stay abreast of current research on effective methods and practice in teaching mathematics. I work hard on lesson plans, grade homework (not just check it off) and tests in a timely fashion, and make myself available to students for extra help before school, and, every day, except Friday, after school.

My main reason for writing to you is to ask for your support in improving the academic attitude of the students. We, the teachers and staff at PATH, are working to build and academic culture here at PATH. One important aspect of that culture is in having young students start to gain confidence in, and depend on, their own reasoning ability. Many young students are steadfastly sure that their learning is their teachers' responsibility when in fact, students need to take responsibility for their own learning. One hears all too often students demanding answers. From students perspective, if I ask them to take out their notes and review what we have done instead of just giving them the answer, then somehow I am not doing my job. If I give a hint instead of an answer then I am a bad teacher. If a problem has multiple steps, they demand to be led through each step each time they do a problem. If a problem looks different than the one before, students view it as unfair.

To succeed as ninth graders, to succeed in high school and to have good options for college, students must learn to think for themselves and embrace all the challenges that that entails. Each week I look at what we have done and at the work I have assigned. Then I look at the standard measures by which our children are judged. Passing the MCAS is not my primary concern,  proficiency and advanced are attainable for all of the students. (Advanced gets you a tuition scholarship to state schools). Beyond that I look at the    types of questions on the SAT that they are now capable of tackling. These are questions to assess complex reasoning and problem solving skills. Thinking and reasoning on this level requires more than student currently want to give. I ask that you continue to support them as students. Each night they should spend a solid 1/2 hour on mathematics. When they say they can't do the work have them pull out their notebooks. Ask to see the notes for that day, suggest they try the problems we did in class again. Don't let them give up without completing the work.

Thank you for supporting what we do here at PATH. Please contact me any time you have a concern about your young student.

Tim McKenna <br>
617 524-0938 (home)
857 498-2574 (mobile)<br>
tmckenna@boston.k12.ma.us

==on making humanities 12 easier==
2/9/7

I was rather taken aback on Thursday 2/5 during our discussion of what had just transpired in extended day. You are the boss so I listened and tried to understand what your suggestion on making the math easier had to do with the situation even though I was still shaken by students rushing the door, by students cursing, by the lack of administrative support.

Even more perplexing was the subsequent discussion you initiated on Humanities 12, and your view of the unreasonable difficulty of the midyear take-home. Normally I would embrace any academic discussion with a member of the administrative staff, they happen so seldom. I was not at all in a state of mind to respond to you then. I will try to now.

I gather that you made your judgement based on the 25 students who you said had talked to you about the take-home exam. As I am sure you are well aware, the course is mirrored on the web site I provide for the students http://sitebuilt.net/pat/hum12wiki. You have access to it as well. Perhaps you could ask students to explain their reasoning by pointing out to you some deficiency on my part, some lack of needed scaffolding. You might have asked "When did the class start the review?" http://www.sitebuilt.net/path/hum12wiki/index.php/Plan:%2Aism#Tuesday_1.2F23.2F7_midyear_review2 or "do you have notes and access to the course notes from when the material was orignally covered. Ask to see their notebooks and their folders with printouts of all the source materials?". Ask if they read Things Fall Apart and why not if they didn't what were they doing  for twenty five minutes a day of silent reading class time for four weeks? (no one was allowed computer use or Zane reading, many spent extraordinary effort with the book in front of them not reading.) Perhaps they could look back at the midterm, http://www.sitebuilt.net/path/hum12wiki/index.php/Exam:_%2Aism1 or last term final http://www.sitebuilt.net/path/hum12wiki/index.php/Exam:_Enlightenment2 as these take-home questions were much easier, less detailed, more big idea oriented than the prior coverage. You might have noticed the similarity of the last question http://www.sitebuilt.net/path/hum12wiki/index.php/Exam:midyear_take-home to the essay on colonialism  http://www.sitebuilt.net/path/hum12wiki/index.php/Essay:_colonialism_in_Africa and even guessed, from your knowledge on how many student had yet to do that essay, that the take-home exam question was a good way to get a first draft done of that assingment. You could have done any and all of those things or you could just check in with me every once in a while, have me show you what I am doing, see what you can do to support that. 

As it is I write about student leaders no longer attending class and I don't even get a response.

As it is I have a coach who thinks that a pitiful three page or four page excerpt from Moby Dick and Tale of Two Cities is too challenging to high school seniors even if you spend 6 days on it! I work for an an city ELA department that makes me sick. The evidence is accumulating that I don't really like what you and the Boston education business is doing. If I was a kid, I'd drop out. If we ask any less of these kids we should be prosecuted as criminally negligent.

Meanwhile, my kids are writing, they are biting the bullet and doing the work. Anybody who puts in effort will be passing. They have to meet with me to submit any late work and if they are rude, demanding I tell them the meeting is over. Instead of three 200 word hand-written take-home answers, late students have to do 4, 250 word typed essays. You might as well know, things are only going to get more strict. I got fooled today and saw an essay that I had already seen. I couldn't find it, I'd given it back. Unscrupulous students are refusing to do work claiming I lost it. As of today, no work will be accepted or graded unless a draft and final copy is already posted to the web site. From there I can't be fooled. Besides, students will have a much better record of the progress of their writing.

I see the writing on the wall at PATH. I have broken the unwritten rule that teachers must be able to "handle" the class, not sending students out to the administrators. I have crossed over the fuzzy line in which teachers are judged by you by how well the students like them. I know that I have put myself in a place where you can now consider that I no longer share your "vision" of what it means to be a good educator. Basically I view much of these criteria as arbitrary and self serving. You are the boss fire me if you want, or make some attempt to support me as a teacher, either that or make me permanent so I can get a job somewhere else. I am weary of the game here and exhausted from recent events.

Tim McKenna



==no more extended day==

2/9/7

Dear Dr. Ferrer,

Things were not fundamentally different in extended day now that it is on the 4th floor. Many students were hardly working, students trying to work were distracted, many were just copying from each other, full of attitude, empowered by their recent victory. Somehow they seem to have the idea that I am getting fired, I hope not from members of the administrative team. This is an untenable situation. From the students perspective I would have to agree, no students should have the same teacher for three hours and twenty minutes of a school day. 

Extended day itself is just an extension of student delusion. In their minds they are steadfastly sure that their learning is the teachers' responsibility. If I ask them to take out their notes, somehow I am not doing my job, if I give a hint instead of the answer then I am a bad teacher. Not only do they want me to tell them each step to take, they demand it. If a problem doesn't look like the one before it then I just proves what an unfair and arbitrary teacher I am. I have tried and continue every day to impress on them how smart they are and how much power they will gain by using their minds and developing their skills as problem solvers. I continue to believe it. You asked that I make the class easier. That is not the appropriate response to this situation. Comparing their performance on the city test and my midyear exam, the data supports that my test was a little harder. In the ranking of things, the city test is pretty low level, significantly less challenging than the skill appropriate MCAS subsection that freshman can do. Even the MCAS however, is kind of low level exam(it was harder in 2001). There are few multi-step problems or problems requiring any real synthesis. The SAT is based on little more than Algebra 1 and some Geometry, yet neither of the other two tests seems like a good preparation for that exam to me. We will have to do better if we want these kids to have good post-secondary options. 
 
I would like you to arrange other extended day care for the children. Please do it as soon as possible. What I am offering is as follows:
# I will stay after school every day (in 366) except Friday without any additional pay.
# I will stay till the last late bus as long as I have students who are requesting help.
# Students requesting help must come before 2:00, I will not wait till the homework 3:00-3:45 time.
# I support whatever mechanisms allow for purposeful movement of students between their extended day assignment and 366, including the use of my own cell phone to find out who is heading to me when, and who and when I am sending back.    
As always I will be respectful and encouraging of my students, however under this arrangement the ground rules will fundamentally change. 
# Learning will become the students responsibility. 
#* I will no longer allow students to demand "I just don't get it", before I will see them they will have to email me (one or more) specific questions on a specific topic. I may first refer them to their notes.
# Students who do not want to think on their own will be sent back upstairs.
# I may not even have them work on the problem they want, they will have to deal with it or go back to extended day.
# Groups of students will not be allowed to talk together or collaborate unless I specifically allow them to.
# Student showing the slightest sign of disrespect will be sent back.
# Students with out a full set of handouts, assignments and an up to date notebook will be sent back. I will gladly help students improve their notebooks and their notetaking skills.
# I will print nothing out that they have access to online or that has already been handed out to them.
# I will not discuss grades.
# Students demanding answers will be sent back.
# I will have the the full authority to change and adapt these ground rules as I see fit.

Sincerely,<br>
Tim McKenna
--

==response on allegations of pushing students==

2/5/7

re: on events in extended day on February 1, 2007

On the first of February the extended day algebra class was upset. The day before they took the final, most had not done any studying and they knew they had done poorly. In addition I was implementing changes in extended day. I suspended group work, there was little evidence that it was working to help students learn, and asked students to work on their own. After a mini-lesson and a discussion on a, student suggested, soon to be implemented, "mathpoints" system, I asked students to work individually. 

Johnesha then stated, "I don't give a shit what you say, I ain't doing nothing." and I had her pack up her stuff. I went with her to find an administrator. The students could tell there was no administrative support on the third floor and when I got back, many were up from their seats or talking, a few were working. At that point Thomas Concilio said he was going out there too. . I told him to sit down and do his work. As I turned to speak to another student I felt him trying to push by me and get out the door. I took hold of his shirt and told him to sit down. Most students were seated and a substantial minority were trying to get some work done. Thomas Concilio wanted to rile up the class and started by yelling "you don't know what the fuck you are doing" A short time later William Casiano started cursing and said he was going out to. He picked up his things and came at me where I happened to be standing talking to another student about the work. I held up my right arm open palm, saying you can't push by me, go back to your seat. He complied.

I was without any administrative support and I did not have my phone. I did not want the reponsibility of having students walking out of school. For that reason, and for the normal reason of not permitting students to be up from their seats during class, I was telling students to sit down and do their work. It is not permissable to have students cursing at a teacher. At the end of class I reported each student who cursed at me. Somehow, the lack of support when Johnesha left and the general bad mood of the class devolved into student disrespect of me and of the students who were trying to work. The students involved thought they could get away with it, Johnesha apparently had. It was a poor choice on the part of the followers; disciplinary action was put in motion for those who had cursed at me. Any allegation that I pushed William is patently false, a false claim likely made to divert attention from his suspendable behavior in class. I like William, he shows great potential and makes great strides when he starts to believe in himself. At times he is brilliant, able to solve problems that no one else can. I think he knows that. The algebra class is small and the support is extensive. He can succeed in that class. We need to support his success and have him learn to take responsibility when he loses focus and acts out.

==on supporting teachers==
Tim McKenna

2/8/7
Hi Matt,
I thought you'd like to see this. At first I wanted not to make too big a deal, deciding not to tell people. What got me was in September when PATH was taking credit for the math scores increase due, in large part, to  the work of the teachers who were fired (or whatever you technically call it.)

Now I'm on the other side of that arbitrary line where you are evaluated based on administrators gauge of student happiness about a teacher. Combined with requests from Dr, Ferrer to make the work easier for freshman, from Dr. Ferrer and my coach to make humanities easier, and the atrocious crap that came from the ELA department for the seniors, I'm starting to feel that I don't like what I see of this business, what they think is important and what I think is important differ in some fundamental ways. Easier is not where I'm heading, I fear a world where academics  get any easier for these kids.

Hi Tim, see attached response.  B.

Dr. Barbara Ferrer
Headmaster 
Parkway Academy of Technology and Health
1205 VFW Parkway
West Roxbury, MA 02132

---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
From: Tim McKenna <tim@sitebuilt.net>
Date:  Fri, 16 Jun 2006 11:11:13 -0400

Hi Dr. Ferrer,

I'd like to continue some of the conversation that occurred at 4:15 
yesterday...

I thought it very inappropriate to trash the entire math department in 
front of a ninth grade student. As a teacher, I felt it was adverserial 
and disrespectful.  Such a broad brush, anyone could  be painted by it, 
fairly or unfairly. 

I know very little. I arrive in Paul Izzo's class every day at 1:30. 
Often he is there talking  to a student, re-teaching,  extohling  a 
student to do some of the homework. The work on the board is intiguing, 
the printed exercises are interesting; I often use them to start the 
class. If anything, I have grown in my respect for Paul over the semester.

On the other hand, the climate outside of the classroom has continued to 
seem counterproductive, undermining any attempt to establish an academic 
atmosphere at PATH. The non-teaching staff is enormous, you, Ms Wilson, 
Ms Frial, Kent, Rayo, the other computer guy, Mr C., Ms Kahn, the parent 
coordinator, the secretary,  misc. coaches, all friendly and supportive 
to kids who are out of class.

It's a wonder anyone is in class. The  common space in the school is a  
non-stop party. Students will act out, they'll curse at you in class 
anything to get you to kick them out of class. The work is easier, the 
consequences practically non-existent. It's a misguided friendliness, 
the non-teaching adult staff  feel good yet the students are ill-served 
in the long run.

We have a school with strong support for student governence and fashion 
shows yet with no forum  and little voice for the faculty (except for by 
and large low quality PD). Our best students are "rewarded" by not 
having to go to class, the rest can only aspire to that.  Best  has 
little to with academic skills or love of learning.  This school is all 
about power and the students get it.

I suppose there is some short term comfort. We can blame all our 
problems on the old West Roxbury High. Then why did we do so poorly with 
the freshmen?  We have our own seeds of mediocrity, to me it's a very 
open question as to whether this school will succeed. It is clear that 
you have a vision of what you would like the school to be. It is time to 
let the faculty be part of that vision.

Respectfully,

Tim McKenna


Dr. Ferrer's response,

Thanks Tim,  I appreciate your taking the time to send along your thoughts.  I am sorry if I said anything that disrespected the Math teachers.   I don’t recall talking about the teachers, rather the dismal test scores this year (which were already shared with the Math teachers, ILT members and school site council members, including students).  The results from all district wide assessments are also posted and discussed openly at headmaster meetings, and district department head meetings.  It is no secret to anyone that many of our students performed poorly on both the district Math midterm and the fall Math MCAS.  A quick review of the results from the Algebra final indicated that very few students passed. Perhaps I was reacting to the complacency with which these results are received. 

To the 2 other issues you raise: school climate and teacher input. 
Teacher input:  Beginning a year ago March, I tried to establish inclusive decision-making structures; there were committees of teachers that discussed everything from space allocations to classroom assignments, schedules, code of discipline/school rules, governance structure, and professional development.  A significant group of teachers declined to participate from the very beginning on any committees or to attend any meetings besides the required contractual PD.  Teachers were paid stipends beginning in March and through the summer to participate on committees.   The PATH teachers who were participating at these meetings decided that teachers would be represented through an instructional leadership team that would meet at least monthly to discuss and review instructional policies and direct PD, and elected teacher representatives on school site council (a group that also meets monthly).  I suggested that there be a faculty senate; the teachers felt it not necessary.  

Membership on the ILT was open to any faculty member and  I offered to hold ILT meetings during the school day and pay for substitute teachers to cover classes; only 3 teachers signed up and they preferred to meet after school (and this was last June, so there was no history with me).  Prior to every ILT meeting, I post in the bulletin the agenda items and invite faculty to attend; non-ILT teachers have never attended, even when the issues have been contentious and of concern.  School site council meetings are also open and well attended by the elected faculty representatives, minus the union rep who has never attended a meeting (although he agreed to represent PATH faculty when elected).  The topics presented at the monthly PD have been decided by the ILT.  I try to support the recommendations and identify trainers.  There is no consensus on what all teachers like; for every session, I hear back from folks who loved the session and folks who hated it. At the beginning of the year, when I was facilitating the sessions, I actually asked teachers to complete mini-evaluations of each session.  I didn’t get back much and a few teachers told me they were uncomfortable giving feedback about their boss and preferred not to give formal feedback. 

This isn’t a culture I am use to, so if you have suggestions about structures that will encourage participation, I would love to hear your ideas. I think however, it is important you know the history.
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