Year In Review At The Watch

Well really since I didn't start this blog until July if you want to get technical, I should call this post "Half-Year In Review". Nonetheless it has been pretty eventful so far. I am sure I won't be able to sum it up in just one post after all I do tend to go on and on and since I am getting more and more gray hairs, my memory fails me sometimes.

My big issue starting off was my failing attempt to save the elementary school libraries from the cold, impersonal budget ax. Since I was unable to convince those that hold the purse strings about just how vital the libraries were, I felt obligated to do my part to at least keep one open. This landed me a volunteer position at Ford School. There was no pay but many rewards.

Then there was the "mold" problem at one of the classrooms at Ford. I had a couple posts calling attention to the problem and made a few calls, Whether or not I initiated any pressure, the room got fixed enough that the Health Dept. okayed the return of the kids to class. I doubt I played much part in the pressure, I mean nobody reads these blogs.

At about the same time I started hearing about trouble with fights they were having at Marshall. I wrote about it and male teachers were posted at corners leading up to the school to establish some order. I am sure it was just a coincidence but the timing was nice.

Still recovering from a Labor Day fall, I underwent cataract surgery on Sept. 28th. I think there was a big improvement in my writing from that. I mean the typos and misspelled words went way down. Seeing more clearly helped me find my voice.

Then came the rats. They were very good to me. More and more people started nibbling at my blog. Lots of other people came out in support of the Ingalls "Farm" and science once gain ruled over silliness and The Food Project's lease was renewed,

The space shuttle wasn't the only program proposed to be grounded. The classroom at Ford School with a DLL hookup with NASA was threatened with closure. Mayor Kennedy saved the day or at least delayed the move until all of the options can be explored.

A very experienced special education teacher was let go for who really knows what reason at the end of his probationary period. I, of course, don't have any inside information. I am just a parent after all. I wrote a couple posts to highlight what I considered an educational injustice. Nothing came of it. I told you nobody reads these blogs.


Despite my visual improvements, I still have a hard time following all this money flowing through this system. I go to all the meetings but all of these numbers from all these places just confuses me. Maybe that is the way it is supposed to be. Oh well, I'm a "big picture" guy.

We've been promised a detailed accounting of where all this grant money that we received after the budget was finalized. I look forward to it. As a matter of fact, it's my New Year's resolution to carefully examine it and expose any inconsistencies. Maybe then someone will read my blog.

Dr. Latham Hears Voices

At the last LSC meeting, I learned still another interesting fact about student involvement. Dr. Latham announced at the Dec. 9th meeting that on the morning of every regularly scheduled LSC session, she has a meeting with student representatives from the high schools.

She mentioned that she was going to run the "uniform idea" by the students at the next meeting to get a sense of their opinion about the proposal. I can guess what their response is going to be. When you reach that age you don't want anyone to tell you what to do about anything. On this matter, Dr. Latham would be playing to the wrong crowd.

On closer inspection, the most important fact is that there actually is a meeting. This actually makes the students feel like they have a voice in how the school system is run and it gives Dr. Latham a chance to have a sounding board for how her policies will be received.

I don't know if Dr. Latham originated this idea or not. It is a good idea and she at least deserves credit for continuing them.

Standards For Standard Uniforms

There is no doubt that school uniforms is a volatile subject and convincing arguments can be made on both sides of the discussion. Some  research gives a school uniform policy credit for lessening behavioral problems, particularly in elementary school settings. A loud outcry can be heard from the"freedom of expression" camp.

It has been a few days since the LSC meeting and I do have a hard time reading my notes(you think I type bad, you ought to check out my penmanship). As best as I can recollect, attorney Mihos laid out the following criteria for a successful and legal :uniform policy:

                          1). must be VOLUNTARY
                          2). need some kind of subsidy to defray costs
                          3). ability to OPT-OUT
                          4). need parental involvement/support

I've stated my position. Let the debate begin! better make that, continue.

By the way, Lawrence does it.

Dress For Sucess

You probably guessed right, this posting is about uniforms. Now that all the recent chatter has died down about uniforms has died down I'll make some comments that hopefully won't be snowed over by an avalanche of emotion. Besides I had my own snow I was shoveling when all the rhetoric was flying.

Education is serious business. It is our kids jobs. Their wages are just paid at a later date. The amount of those wages is dependant on how well they do their job. We associate the worth of their job with the kind of clothes they wear. Lawyers wear suits, doctors wear lab coats, and UPS drivers wear brown.

It is only natural that our kids distinct attire for school. If we want our kids to take education seriously then we must take it seriously. Uniforms would help build a cohesiveness and establish the fact that we are all in this together. Football teams all wear the same jersey.

The concerns about self-expression and individuality are not truly legitimate. Our creativity would be better served if it was channeled into academic pursuits. Individuality should be measured by our achievements.

True Inclusion

Some times we do something by doing nothing special. By just being friendly, we act more human. A more healthy environment is created whereby everybody benefits. Anyone who is different is scary, not just for our kids, but adults to show their uneasiness. If we concentrate instead on how much more we are alike then we can more easily move forward instead wasting time on the negativity of our differences.

True Inclusion

Dance The Day Away!

There is a slow movement afoot (pardon the pun but it is what I like to do) to incorporate dance into :meat and potatos' academics.

Students in a second grade class in Fort Garrison, IN used interpretative dance to illustrate the photosynthesis process. Putting on such a production stimulates the mind to develop both creativity and critical thinking, An added benefit that dance offers is it is a way to sneak a little physical activity into the curriculum.

Here is a wonderful article about ways different school systems are incorporating this most physical form of art into the classroom:

tp://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/11/17/12dance_ep.h30.html?tkn=SVUFbR0K%2FiTQiw985P0DxNKS%2FjHq7rq%2F5dRN&cmp=clp-edweek    (you will have to cut and paste to your browser)

This I what I call Crea-ducation! Hey, I coined a new word, I think. Anyway I've never heard it before so until somebody tells me different, it is MY word!

If Ever I Saw Your Face

I am jealous. Maybe I'm spending too much time in the library.  I'm home today so I got to spend a little more time on the computer. Mary Ellen responded to my blog posting about blogs and kid alerting me to one posted by Lynn Woods School at http:// lynnwoodsschool.blogspot.com.

They have pictures. I mean it doesn't appear to be written by the kids but it is a great way to keep everyone informed about the going's on and a great way to build the kids self esteem. Did I mention it is FREE.

You Have The Right To Remain Unsilent

Wow! I just found out some good stuff. There is a website loaded with information for kids with special needs. With all the laws and regulations it's hard to know all of your rights and just what you are entitled to.

The Special Needs Advocacy Network, www.spanmass.org, provides info on all the pertinent laws and rights applicable to students in this population. No matter what your political perspective, a little education can be liberating.

Make A New Plan, Stan (OK, It's Not Mine But It Rhymes)

According to a recent article I read, as many as 50% of teachers leave the field within five years. Teachers in urban areas often survive for as little as eighteen months. Unbelievable!

http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/44695/

What a waste of money, much of it federal, on educating prospective teachers. We NEED teachers but we NEED a better plan. Sec. of Education, Arnie Duncan has a new plan that is setup akin to the way medical doctors learn their skills.

Honestly I don't know the particulars of this plan so I can't say I wholeheartedly support it. However what I can say is that I like the idea of elevating the amount of seriousness we place on this position. Education can provide the answer to all our problems and it is about time we give it it's due.

Blogs Are For Kids, (But I Like Them Too)

Blogging is not just for educationally frustrated old men any more. There are programs out there where kids write about their everyday educational experiences with thier classroom assignments. This helps complete the learning circuit in a child's mind. It is one thing to learn a bunch of facts and it is another to put them to use. It is the completion of a process.

The fact that everyone in the world can potentially read something you wrote can be and energize lesson plans. This is "HOW" the Internet could and should work for us. For moexhilarating re information, read this article:

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/westmoreland/s_709348.html

Someone Answer The Call

One of my readers tested the police tip line with a question. Guess this means they want us to police our own problems unless it is an immediate crisis. I wonder who said that before. We need to step up to the plate and develop our own school text line.


Question:
Hi - some are wondering if this tip line can be (or is being used) to be proactive with school and bully issues. Are you promoting this tip line at the schools?

Answer:
The tip line can be used to assist with any issue. However, if there are issues in schools, it would probably be best to immediately bring the problem to the attention of a school administrator, or to contact the police directly

From My Bully Pulpit

A reader of LSW informed me that Lynn Police already has a tip line for text and I assume pics at tip411 or 847411 Tips can also be left on the police website.. This is great news. 

However, we should expand this program and promote it big in the schools targeted specifically at "bullying". I would guess that the current "tip" line is geared toward "run of the mill" crimes and does not highlight any particular crime. Their job is to insure our overall safety.

The school has been given the mandate to protect our students from bullying and other school related crimes. I would guess the police dept. would be all to happy to cooperate but somebody needs to make the overture.

How Do You Say Bully In Text Speak?

Brockton has a tip line that is text enabled to give students a greater since of anonymity. Officials figure if they get information sooner they are  able to take more proactive action and maybe even prevent some bullying even before it develops.

he text line can yield even greater dividends because people can report other bad behavior monitored on Facebook, You-tube, and other social media. Incidents of vandalism can be more easily reported as well.

Learning about this program begs the question, :Why aren't we doing something like this?". We live in a new world and technology can be our friend. This makes sense to me because it could get many more people involved in the solution instead of spending lots of money identifying the problem. A problem that we already knew about.

Teachers Needed For Arnie's Army

Everybody says our classes are to have top notch education system. Everybody but the Secretary of Education, Arnie Duncan, that is. He was recently speaking to the American Enterprise Institute about the realities of modern education in light of falling revenues and the need to change our perspectives.

A big drain on most school budgets is transportation cost. He hopes that administrators will rethink bus routes and closing down under enrolled schools instead of cutting direct services to students. He points out that while everybody is claiming to be so concerned with class size,US classes are actually smaller than many other countries, countries who's students are outscoring ours. The average class size in the US is 25 while in Japan and South Korea the average class size is in the mid-thirties.

Duncan feels it would be better to have an excellent teacher teaching a larger class than an "average" teacher in a class of 22. He thinks we ought to look at larger salaries say $80,000 to $120,000 for top-notch teachers. This approach would reward excellence and would make the most of dwindling resources.

Wow, what an "American" concept.

That's The Spirit, Rick!

LSC member Rick Starbard, his wife who works at Sisson Elementary School and daughter Jessica donated and hosted an ice cream party for the class that donated the most toys to Toy's for Tot's.

The school collected over 450 toys that were loaded up on a firetruck and transported to the Marines where they will be distributed through their Toys for Tots campaign. Rick's wife did all the accounting for the contest displaying everyone's progress on a big chart. Rick's daughter Jessica, on her break from college, ran from room to room serving up the sundaes ordered from Treadwells.

The winning class brought in over 50 toys and one class only had 13 students but they brought over 30 toys so they were awarded sundaes as well. What was Rick doing all of these festivities? Aside from eating, you mean. He got to read the journals of these wonderful students who learned a valuable lesson about our responsibility to help those less fortunate than us.

Sadly no one from the Item, TV, or radio station was there to capture this outpouring of generosity. But you heard it here.

"Education Through Inspiration"

Since I am also Secretary for the Highlands  Coalition, Inc., I had the opportunity to sit in on a meeting where I had the pleasure of being introduced to Kimberly K. Smith who is the Executive Director of "Students 4 Students". Her company hopes to turn artistic expression into a better appreciation of one's self and their community.

Students for Students will furnish not only the instructors but the materials as well. What a positive development for the kids in Lynn. The program will start out in the Highlands and build on that success to branch out in other schools and neighborhoods.

You can go to their website to learn more info about this organization. I know I am excited to learn more.

www.students4studentsusa.org                       

Unarmed For Battle?

What's up with all the violence in school now? There is plenty of rhetoric about bullying but what is actually happening? We have established a policy, there are procedures to follow and lots of documentation to follow to show us what we already know. It's a power play and somebody is going to be on the losing end. I think the current terminology for that person is "target".

Unfortunately we place our teachers and other school personnel in the middle with a big bulls eye on their back. Unfortunately that's there job. But we can and must do something about it. There are physical and verbal techniques for deescalating every situation. Everyone that has student contact needs to be trained in these techniques, not just a few coordinators and the like if we hope to establish security and stability throughout our school system. And the system has to back them up with training in both preventative measures and passive restraint.

Maybe this is already happening and I don't know. I am only a parent who volunteers in the library in our community elementary school. If anyone has different information, please tell me and ease my concern.

Crying History

It is painfully true that my bank account is learning what the meaning of volunteer is. However I have been reimbursed in other intangible, priceless ways. The joy of watching his new found treasure discovered tucked away on some dusty library shelf then there is the thrill of mining for gold, information plucked from some old book hid on the reference shelves.

That was the case this morning. After taking a break from checking in some books a class just returned, I was browsing through the pages of an old history book.. It was probably no accident. The time was right.


The book was "History Stories of Lynn", a book re-written  in 1979, fifty years after the first copy was written. There was a hope expressed that it would be re-written again in 2029. The realization that history matters were prevalent throughout the book.

Heck I found out an interesting fact personal to me. My first ever job in the summer after my sophomore year in high school back in WV was moving Hills Dept. store into an old vacant Grants Dept. building. The Grant Dept. store chain used to be a national chain that opened its first store in Lynn. Small world.

The book was financed by the LSC and prominent politicians of the day were given proper credit. Someone else was given credit in the introduction. That was Miss Patricia Bucko who spent hours typing the manuscript for the then Deputy Superintendent of Elementary Education,, Mr. George Laubner.

I would guess that was the same Ms. Bucko that Dr. Latham shed tears over the fact of her retirement. Maybe Dr. Latham's tears would have been better spent crying over what Ms. Bucko demonstrated that she learned long ago. History matters.

History tells us who we were, shows us who we are, and who we hope to become. A strong sense of self helps insulate us from external threats to our person. Threats like the ones from bullies who take advantage of our low self-esteem that comes from the lack of education about how special we are. That is worth a sincere river of tears.

Let's Keep Our Kids Home(home school, that is)!

A hot topic up for discussion at last Thur. LSC meeting was the placement of behavior classes throughout Lynn Public Schools. Addressing the topic was Ms. Muggeo. I didn't get  to take down her exact title as you now I am a slow writer. No worries, I'll just look to the pre-printed agenda to copy it. Wait, it's not there either.

In fact I have been going to all the LSC meetings lately and I've never heard her name mentioned. I worked extensively with Dr. Latham and Jessica McLaughlin last spring to put together an IEP for my son and her name never came up.

Someone told me that she is a long term employee of the Lynn Public School system, I don't know I didn't call payroll or personnel whoever handles that end of the administration. It seems to me she kind of shot to the top real quick-like. By sudden I don't mean years of service, I'm sure she has the credentials to do whatever she does.

I think she must have got a promotion in-house to be where she is at right now. I am sure it didn't have to be a public one, but an introduction would have been nice. It's never too late but you know what they say, "You only get one chance to make a first impression".

Anyway she said there were 38 to 40 behavior classes in Lynn. Why the range? Doesn't she know exactly how many students we provide service to? She did say that placement in the student's neighborhood school was challenging. I bet that's especially true if you don't know exactly how many classrooms you have.

They try not to move the kids out of their district middle school that way they can maintain some sense of stability. They are usually successful in that regard but in the meantime we are incurring the expense of busing the youngest students to some distant location.

Speaking from personal experience, I can testify about the wisdom of placing  special needs student in his neighborhood school. My son spent five years being bused to Shoemaker and was in a COACH class, spending some time in inclusion. He reached a plateau after two and a half years an then backslide. After one year at his neighborhood school at Ford, he now goes to Pickering where he has all day inclusion and made the Honor Roll. Community is therapy with results.

Marshall Madness

What's going on at Marshall? Remember all the fights I reported hearing about during the first couple weeks of school? I heard a solution they found to that problem was to post male teachers outside at the street corners leading up to the school to help keep order. Did we hire teachers or do we need to employ bouncers?

Then there was Monday when a student was apparently allowed to leave the building seeking protection from bullies, apparently  not satisfied with the help provided there. It's ironic that the man that school is named after was a champion of civil rights can't even protect the most basic rights of their students.


I may be wrong. I often am, so I'm counting on you out there to correct me in on the areas of misinformation. You all are my biggest sources.