Out of the bus and back to reality

The trip to San Francisco was wonderful.  We had a great charter bus driver who manuevered through traffic like he was riding a bike instead of manhandling a huge bus.  The weather was pristine with the temperature in the high 60s.  All of the students behaved very well, getting back to the bus after each stop with time to spare.  The bus driver was very complimentary of the kids and we explained that these were our top students.  All of my students, though, get high praise from bus drivers because they are well mannered.  It takes training.

My husband went along as a chaperone and our daughter (who is 6 months pregnant) joined us for lunch so it was a family affair for me.

Mr. Zody with our grandchild-to-be, oh, and our daughter

On Friday we went back to school and reality hit.  One of the students had missed the bus and complained to the principal.  Fortunately, Mr. Principal knows us very well and explained to tardy student that he saw all the cars and no bus which meant that we probably left on time.

My senior marketing students have been working on business plans for months now, and I have devoted the last three weeks of class time exclusively to this project so they can have the plans in good shape for presentation.  The Fresno State University sponsor came on Friday to hear preliminary presentations.  They were terrible.  I can only imagine what this woman thinks of my teaching, or lack thereof.

One senior, who went to SF the day before, was absent, and I needed her to work on a project for our next big event–the Valentine’s Party.  When our secretary got ahold of her she said she couldn’t come to school because she had gone on the fieldtrip the day before.  What?

My multimedia students have their own passes, which they made, to use when they leave class to gather information and pictures for web pages and videos.  They CANNOT leave class without the pass.  One of the 5th period boys returns without his partners but with a phone number I am to call because the partners were picked up by campus security.  When I explain to the VP in charge of on campus suspension that these multimedia boys have passes, he says, NO, one did but the two prisoners did not.  I was livid.  ”Keep ‘em in jail.”  He said that since I had called, he was releasing them to me.  Their passes were AT HOME.  Now, I ask you, dear Reader, what do I do with such bad behavior?  And, here I am again looking like some delinquent teacher who doesn’t know how to run her classes.

Hey, Mr. Bus Driver, can you come back and get me?  San Francisco was so much nicer than reality.

 

A billboard just off Union Square

Leavin’ on a charter bus

I’m up at 4 a.m. this morning, dear Reader, because I am leaving at 6 a.m. with a bus load of students, heading for my favorite destination, San Francisco.  Every January we take all the kids in the two academies who had a 3.0 or better g.p.a. at the semester to that wonderful city so that they can see what a big shopping center looks like.  We go downtown to the Westfield Mall and over to Union Square.  Last year I hiked a group up to China Town.  I’ll be back in town by 6 p.m. and will report on our day.  By the way, for all of you east of theRockies, the weather in SF today will be 60 degrees.

A new committee assignment

Our school is up for reaccreditation next year.  This happens every six years, and I’ve lived through a number of them.  You form some committees, you look at what you have been doing, what you should be doing, and you write a report.  Then you wait for the visiting committee to come take a looksie and say, “yes, you are a  wonderful school and you get 6 more years to do what you have been doing;” or” listen, you’re pretty crappy in what you do, the kids aren’t learning, the school is falling apart so we’ll give you a year to straighten up and fly right or we’ll pull your accreditation.”

Since our school has always gotten a six year accreditation, I figured that’s what everyone got and no problemo.  Ooops, didn’t happen last year for our cross-town rival.  They got one year with sanctions.  If they don’t fix everything, no accreditation which means their diplomas mean zip, nada, zilch.  Kids will still graduate but the paper they get isn’t worth anything.  Soooo, there is terror in the district.

Mr. Principal called me yesterday and asked if I would co-chair the leadership committee, but before I could say anything, he rattled off who was on the committee.  Smart man.  He knows I don’t suffer fools gladly and I’m very picky about with whom I will work.  I said yes.  This should make for some interesting stories.

Winter Formal

 

Pretending to be a Bond girl.

Although we’ve had a few rainy days, last night was fairly warm and dry for the winter formal. This is about the 15th of these dances I’ve attended, and the weather is always iffy. I’ve been out in cold, wind, rain, and like last night, pleasant weather. I was able to pull out a dress I bought a few years ago to wear to the winter formal. Unlike my students, I don’t go out and buy a new outfit every year. The other day one of the yearbook girls asked if I was going to the winter formal.

 

“Yes.”

“Have you bought your dress yet?”

“No, I’ll just pull something out of my closet.”

GASP

So, I did.  But I did wear my newer Coach 5 inch stilettos.  I love them because they make me tall, and they are comfortable for standing around.  I hate them because they are miserable for walking, especially on concrete.  I think I need lessons on walking correctly with stilettos.    The ball of my foot ends up  hurting like the dickens.

This year’s dance was very very lightly attended.  I’m not too sure if it’s the economy because our students sure have money for cell phones and cars or if it’s just the lack of interest in all things to do with school.  We have a core group of kids, mostly International Baccalaureate and student government, who participate in everything.  I see them at the drama productions, the dances, and other after hours activities.  Sure enough, there they were at the dance last night.  About 150 out of 2700 students.  

 

Hanging out with the Class of 2012 sponsor and her hubbie.

 

It was a nice of group of kids, and even though it took them awhile to start dancing, they all seemed to be having a good time hanging out with their friends in their dress-up attire.  The theme for the night was “Diamonds are Forever,” with a takeoff from the James Bond movie.

Results

Do the academies get results?   A resounding YES.  As a matter of fact, the California Partnership Academies do so well with student success, that the state legislators always vote to continue the funding for the program.  We are held accountable to graduate 90 percent of the students with 95 percent attendance.  We have done that for 19 years.  The rest of the high school does not come close to those figures.

Our success with the California High School Exit Exam is also  phenomenal.  Our sophomores pass the test, first time with 90+ percent.  Last year, we didn’t do as well.  The pass rate was only 87 percent, compared to the school’s 63 percent.  Our pass rate is better than the district’s.

What we think is funny is that even our students who do not graduate with the Academy (we have some requirements) still go out and get better jobs than the average high school grad does.  They have polish, poise, and customer service skills.   Which is often a big surprise to us teachers!  They can perform when they have to.

Recruiting, part 2

Thank you, dear Reader, for taking an interest in my recruiting efforts.  I appreciate your questions, and I will update now and again.  

It rained yesterday, but I didn’t bring my raincoat, so got wet running between freshmen classrooms.  I did wear my Coach tennis shoes (to appeal to the younger crowd) so at least my feet stayed dry.  Also had a problem with some of the classes in that they had to take an OARS assessment test so there wasn’t time for my presentation in those single hour classes.  The two hour block classes were easier because the teachers gave the test the first hour, leaving time for me to do my song and dance the second half.  One teacher flat out refused to let me come in.  He is new to our campus and has a rather difficult personality so I didn’t push it.  I figure that working with freshmen and giving all these standardized tests has driven the man insane.

I took a box full of props along to get the kids’ attention.  I had a small plastic box that, when switched on, shakes and has a voice yelling, “excuse me, excuse me, can you let me out of here.”   That really got the kids looking to see what was happening.  My current students who go along pass out the paperwork that tells about what we do in the two academies and a half sheet for the students to sign up to get more information.  We try to stay no more than 10 minutes in any classroom unless there are lots of questions.

I used some products to show them what marketing is.  One is a fancy box I was mailed as a promotion for cat food.  You would never know it was for cat food by looking at it as it’s all gold and silver and has the word BLISS on it.  Not one student guessed cat food.  I then explained that is marketing.  Same with my box and other toys.  It gets your attention.  The heads nodded, the light bulbs went on.

The Marketing Academy and the Global Academy of Business are two smaller learning communities, also called school-within-a-school, in our large 2800 student population inner city school.  The students come in as sophomores and stay for three years having the same set of teachers with the same students for those years.  They bond and become a family.  We are very small with each academy having 120 students.  We can’t take every student who applies but we do take new students in the junior year because we lose some along the way.  We will finalize the application process by the end of February when the freshmen register for their classes.  I’ll give more updates at things happen.

Recruiting for next year

I will spend today in freshmen English classes trying to convince 9th graders to sign up for one of the business department’s academies.  It’s high performance for the day because I have to be enthusiastic, entertaining, and keep the discipline.  It’s a fine line.  

Yesterday I put all the props together that will grab these little critters’ attention and want them to know more about what we do.  I take some of the older Academy students along to tell the freshmen what a great time they have had in the Academies.  We only spend about 10 minutes in each class, just enough time to pique interest and get them signed up to attend another, longer meeting where we fully explain what we do. 

I’ve been doing this for 19 years so I pretty much know what will and will not work.  It’s all high energy though, so I’m going to eat a hearty breakfast, put on my most comfortable, but stylish, clothes, and go get ‘em.

Here’s a laugh

I have swimmer’s ear.  Now, those who know anything at all about me know that I do not get anywhere near water, except a shower, and I guess that’s where I got this.  The doctor tells me that the fungus is there, it gets wet, and POOF, blows up in the ear.  That’s what my ear feels like– POOF–all cottony and hard to hear, and hard to get my bearings of where sounds are.  

I had a sub today so I could go to the doctor, but I went back to school so I could get yearbook proofs done, attend a department chair’s meeting, and do other sundry things.  I checked in on my afternoon classes and they claimed to miss me.  I just couldn’t hear what they were saying very well, so I assume that was what they were saying.  I have to be all well and able to hear by Friday when we recruit in the freshmen classes for next year’s academy classes.  Just hope I don’t get tennis elbow!

I see it differently from the students

Since today is a holiday, I didn’t record grades yesterday, on Sunday, like I normally do, but rather today.  My yearbook class has a weekly sheet to turn in that tells me what they have done all week.  It’s always interesting to see what they put down because I have been watching them all week and know what I’ve seen them do.  Their version does not always correspond to mine.  Today was one of those interesting versions.  

The yearbook class is behind with the pages submitted to the printer, and every day I remind the students that they have another deadline coming next week, and if they don’t get their pages turned in, it will affect their grade.  They tell me how hard they are working, but I see them chatting, working on other classwork, updating their FAFSAs, checking websites.   So, when they submit their weekly checksheet, I have to laugh at what they put down and what I’ve seen.  If their testimony was all correct, our yearbook would be ahead of schedule.

Do you love your space?

I just read a piece on a site I picked up from another blog (I just go around collecting things all the time) about loving a space in your home.

 Ms. White’s questions are:  

• Do you have a room of your own? 
• A room you can’t wait to come home to?
• A room that nurtures your soul and inspires you to dream?

I definitely have to say yes to these.  I love to come home.  I love to be at home (as I am today).  I love to sit in my family room and meditate, my living room and read on the couch, the computer room and play on the internet when I’m not doing grades.  I love the dining room table where I can spread out the paper and read the news or wrap a gift or do a project.  I think my big shower stall is one of the best around and when I have to travel I’m always so grateful to get back home to its shower head and water pressure.

 

Family room

 

A corner of the living room

 

 

 

Teaching is extremely difficult work, and teaching in an inner city high school takes its toll everyday.  I need a soft place to land at the end of each day, and I’m grateful for my home providing that space.  All of us need such a place.