Where have all the teachers gone?
Children are asking.
Where have all the teachers gone?
Parents want to know.
Where have all the teachers gone?
Lost to classrooms every one.
When will they ever return?
When will they ever return?
Category Archives: #2015YearoftheStudent
Why are URBAN TEACHERS being TRAINED to be ROBOTS?
I am re blogging this piece from my friend and fellow activist Jennifer Berkshire – EduShyster. This is just about the most horrifying expose on what I can only call “Professional Undevelopment” that I have ever read.
When I first read this, I was sure it was a piece of very clever satire. Unfortunately, I was wrong. This is how we make the “achievement gap” a national program – we make sure our high performing districts have freedom and choice, while we make sure our urban low performing districts treat their students like trained seals in a zoo.
Please read and share EduShyster’s story far and wide.
“I am not Tom Brady”
Why are urban teachers being trained to be robots?
By Amy Berard
*Give him a warning,* said the voice through the earpiece I was wearing. I did 
as instructed, speaking in the emotionless monotone I’d been coached to use. But the student, a sixth grader with some impulsivity issues and whose trust I’d spent months working to gain, was excited and spoke out of turn again. *Tell him he has a detention,* my earpiece commanded. At which point the boy stood up and pointed to the back of the room, where the three classroom *coaches* huddled around a walkie talkie. *Miss: don’t listen to them! You be you. Talk to me! I’m a person! Be a person, Miss. Be you!*
Meet C3PO
Last year, my school contracted with the Center for Transformational Training or CT3 to train teachers using an approach called No Nonsense Nurturing. It 
was supposed to make us more effective instructors by providing *immediate, non-distracting feedback to teachers using wireless technology.* In other words, earpieces and walkie talkies. I wore a bug in my ear. I didn’t have a mouthpiece. Meanwhile an official No Nonsense Nurturer, along with the school’s first year assistant principal and first year behavior intervention coach, controlled me remotely from the corner of the room where they shared a walkie talkie. I referred to the CT3 training as C-3PO after the Star Wars robot, but C-3PO actually had more personality than we were allowed. The robot also spoke his mind.
No Nonsense Nurturing™
If you’re not familiar with No Nonsense Nurturing or NNN, let’s just say that there is more nonsense than nurturing. The approach starts from the view that 
urban students, like my Lawrence, MA middle schoolers, benefit from a robotic style of teaching that treats, and disciplines, all students the same. This translated into the specific instruction that forbade us from speaking to our students in full sentences. Instead, we were to communicate with them using precise directions. As my students entered the room, I was supposed to say: *In seats, zero talking, page 6 questions 1-4.* But I don’t even talk to my dog like that. Constant narration of what the students are doing is also key to the NNN teaching style. *Noel is is finishing question 3. Marjorie is sitting silently. Alfredo is on page 6.*
Robot moves
My efforts to make the narration seem less robotic—*I see Victor is on page 6. I see Natalie is on question 3*—triggered flashbacks to Miss Jean and Romper Room. All that was missing was the magic mirror. But even this was too much for the NNN squad in the corner. *Drop the ‘I see’* came through my earpiece. All this narration was incredibly distracting for the students, by the way, to the point where they started narrating me. *Mrs. Berard is passing out the exit tickets.* *Mrs. Berard is helping Christian.* *Mrs. Berard is reviewing the answer to question 4*
*Tell them you are like Tom Brady*
The students were also perplexed by my new earpiece accessory. *Um, Miss, what’s that in your ear?* they asked. I looked over to the three adults in the far 
back corner of the room for my scripted answer. *Tell them you are like Tom Brady. Tom Brady wears an earpiece to be coached remotely and so do you,* was the response. I never would have said that, and mumbled instead *But I’m not Tom Brady. No I’m Tom Brady.* The students, who could hear me, but not what I was hearing through my earpiece, were more confused than ever. At which point I explained to the students that I was being trained by the people in the corner who were telling me what to say via their walkie talkie. I’m all for transparency and simple answers to simple questions.
What kind of message does this send to students? I wondered. That their teachers are so incompetent that they need an ear piece and 3 people sharing a walkie talkie in the corner to tell them what to say?
What kind of message does this send to students? I wondered. That their teachers are so incompetent that they need an ear piece and 3 people sharing a walkie talkie in the corner to tell them what to say?
Joyless joy
I struggled to adopt the emotionless monotone that NNN required. I was told that my tone was wrong. My voice was too high, and that I came across as too happy—I smile a lot; I celebrate a lot, including every two weeks when the flowers on my cactus bloom, again. When I asked the NNN trainer to elaborate on what she meant by my tone being off, a critique she delivered just hours after meeting me for the first time, her response included a full blown, and exaggerated, impersonation of me delivered in front of my behavior intervention coach and assistant principal. When her performance was done, the NNN trainer winked at me. *But don’t lose your joy,* she said.
Mountain pose
I was told to stand in mountain pose and not to favor one leg over another. I 
was told not to cross my legs. My body language must be in no way casual (or human). And I needed to stop conveying so much excitement at the students’ accomplishments. After one session of C3PO training, I was told that I was too happy that a student had legible writing. I shouldn’t praise basic things that should be expected. Another time I was chastised for pointing out to a child: *Woah, this is great. This is your best work so far this year!*
*Don’t turn*
I felt awful after that critique, like I had let my students down with my excessive enthusiasm. I went back and apologized to them. The student whose handwriting I’d praised said it had made him happy to be complimented. *I didn’t take what you said in a bad way.* *Just be yourself,* another student told me. *Don’t be who that want you to be. Don’t become like the rest.* You see, the students were old enough to see what the school and the trainers wanted the teachers to be and what their teachers were becoming.
They begged me not to turn.
Amy Berard grew up in Lawrence, a half a mile away from the Guilmette Middle School where she taught ELA last year. She was let go at the end of the school year after administrators determined that she was not the *right fit* for Lawrence.
Here is the link once again to the EduShyster blog post.
Poetic Justice’s Concerns About Corruption in CT
I am reblogging Jonathan Pelto’s latest post about how the will of the people has been circumvented here in CT. Please read and share this story.
CT deserves a Commissioner of Education who is also an educator. All states deserve that. What has happened in CT shouldn’t happen in a democracy. This is a scam. These “reformers” should not be allowed to move from state to state causing disruption, distraction, and destruction. This has to stop. At the very least, they should have a background in education.
This is the least we the people should demand for our children and grandchildren.
Malloy, Executive Power and the Politics of Appeasement
by Jonathan Pelto
In preparation for the Connecticut General Assembly’s 2015 constitutionally required veto session, Democratic legislative leaders announced yesterday that no votes would be taken on whether to sustain or override the nine bills vetoed by Democratic Governor Dannel Malloy during this year’s legislative session.
The most noteworthy of the bills that the Democrats are unwilling to bring up for a vote is PA 15-176, which was House Bill 6977, AN ACT ESTABLISHING QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION.
The legislation requires that any person serving as Connecticut’s Commissioner of Education have an appropriate education degree and teaching experience.
The legislation arose in response to Governor Malloy’s decision to name Stefan Pryor, a charter school founder and corporate education reform industry advocate, to be his first commissioner of education, despite the fact that Pryor had no educational experience.
Stefan Pryor’s performance as Malloy’s Education Commissioner led both Democrats and Republicans to call for legislation requiring future leaders of the state department of education to have the requisite education experience.
The General Assembly’s Education Committee held a public hearing on House Bill #6977 and went on to pass the legislation by a vote of 32 – 0.
At no time did Malloy or his administration testify against the bill or publicly announce any opposition to the concept.
The bill went to pass the Connecticut State Senate by a vote of 36 – 0 and the Connecticut House of Representatives by a vote of 138-5.
In the end, only one Democratic legislator voted against the bill.
With its passage, HB6977 become Connecticut Public Act 15-176.
But despite the overwhelming level of support displayed for the bill by the Connecticut General Assembly, Governor Malloy vetoed the legislation.
And now, in a disturbing and rather pathetic effort to appease Governor Malloy, the Democratic leadership in the Senate and House has announced that, after speaking with the Democratic members of the two chambers, there will be no vote to override or sustain Governor Malloy’s veto.
Instead, the bill will simply die.
To read about the bill go to: Malloy vetoes bill requiring that education commissioner have education experience, for news coverage about the decision not to even vote on Malloy’s veto see: CT Dems shameful display of cowardice on Malloy’s Education Veto (updated) and news coverage at General Assembly Won’t Override Malloy’s Vetoes (CT Newsjunkie), Democrats will not attempt to override Malloy vetoes (CT Mirror), No Veto Overrides Planned By Legislature (Hartford Courant)
The Democratic legislators’ lame and unsettling decision to not even allow a vote on whether to override Malloy’s veto of AN ACT ESTABLISHING QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION (PA 15-176) came as a shock to Connecticut’s two teacher unions (the CEA and AFT-CT) who claimed ownership of the bill and used its passage as some strange indicator that their endorsement of Malloy’s re-election effort was acceptable because he was now being taken to the “wood shed” for his historic abuse of teachers and the teaching profession.
But the underlying issue isn’t about Malloy vs. the teacher unions or about whether Dannel Malloy’s temper and thin skin led him to veto a bill, out of the blue, despite its nearly unanimous support.
The issue really isn’t even about whether state government should or should not require that the commissioner of education have appropriate teaching experience.
The fundamental issue at stake is the result of the decision by the Democrats in the Connecticut General Assembly to prevent a vote on whether to override Malloy’s veto.
The decision by the legislative branch to walk away from its duty to check and balance the executive branch reflects the growing politics of appeasement that has enveloped our political system and it is a situation that should be of concern to everyone across the political spectrum.
The foundation of the United States’ system of government is the inclusion of the system of checks and balances to guard against unwarranted authority. It is an inherent part of both the United States Constitution and the Constitution of the State of Connecticut.
As James Madison wrote in Federalist Paper No. 47,
The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, selfappointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.”
(The Federalist No. 47: The Particular Structure of the New Government and the Distribution of Power Among Its Different Parts January 30, 1788)
In a 2006 Washington Monthly article on the danger of executive power, Bruce Fein wrote about Madison’s concept explaining,
The most conservative principle of the Founding Fathers was distrust of unchecked power. Centuries of experience substantiated that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Men are not angels. Ambition must be made to counteract ambition to avert abuses or tyranny. The Constitution embraced a separation of powers to keep the legislative, executive, and judicial branches in equilibrium. As Edward Gibbon wrote in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: ‘The principles of a free constitution are irrevocably lost, when the legislative power is nominated by the executive.’”
“The principles of a free constitution are irrevocably lost, when the legislative power is nominated by the executive.”
Governor Malloy is wrong to have vetoed the bill requiring that the person responsible for running the state department of education have educational experience.
But the Democrats in the Connecticut General Assembly have done a far greater disservice by refusing to even vote on Malloy’s veto. Their unwarranted decision to appease Malloy means that they have handed their constitutionally mandated legislative authority to the executive branch of government.
And that is something every Connecticut citizens should be very concerned about.
Here is the original article from the Wait What blog.
The Walking Man is Still Walking – an Update and a Plea for Support!
I am Reblogging this from Jesse Turner’s blog!
The Walking Man is Still Walking – and could use some more support for the last days of his walk
SOS Go Fund Me shout out, I see a day coming where millions are marching..
A few pictures from some walk stops on my way to DC.
Some people are asking if my walk has a website. I am a one man PR machine with limited resources. I am using Facebook to pushed the walk. I am an activist that has for over a decade been fighting against high-stakes testing and NCLB.
In 2010 I stepped outside my local comfort fighting zone. I decided to push things nationally started walking to DC. Had no idea where it would lead me, but understood that silence and apathy was destroying our public schools. I do remember writing one of those Anthony Cody letters to President Obama, and understanding that no one in DC was listening to teachers. I started this blog right here, and a Facebook group called “Children Are more than test scores.”
I have no budget, no grants, no support staff, but I do have two feet made for walking, a voice made for talking, and a pen made for writing. I am not perfect or some kind of hero. I am a man on a quest for justice for our children, their teachers and public schools.
I believe in the “Power of One…that math concept that explains if you double a number starting with one..in 30 days you have millions. I see this struggle not in terms of 30 days, but a long term Power of One battle for the salvation of our children and our democracy.
So no website people, but a big heart, an open mind, and two strong feet made for walking. My faith in every day Americans to do the right thing inspires me. I see a time of millions marching coming. I see it coming sooner not later.
I read Man Of LaMancha when I was 10 years old, and fell in love with the thought of a knight errand on a quest to do right. I am in love with fighting the good fight.
I believe victory is coming, and even if I fall I know I am the better for it. As sure as night turns to day I see change coming.
Walking to DC,
Jesse
PS, I am 11 days from DC, could use a little help with my Go Fund Me campaign. I have been asking people to give 10 dollars for 10 miles. Every 10 dollars helps cover the cost of my Walking To DC campaign. No pressure, give if you can, and know just reading my blog inspires me to walk.
http://www.gofundme.com/JesseWalkingToDC
If you are wondering what song this walking man was listening to it’s Eric Clapton’s Change The World.
https://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=AirSAQZv63E7A5oZfwtpjsKbvZx4?fr=yfp-t-901-s&toggle=1&fp=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8&p=youtube%20change%20the%20world%20eric%20clapton
The Walking Man Anthem – listen and learn
Jesse The Walking Man Turner has an anthem for his history making walk. When he came to WCSU in June, he met song writer Barry Finch from Ridgefield CT. Barry wrote this wonderful song for Jesse and his walk. Please listen and share far and wide.
Click here to hear the anthem!
I will be posting the words to this song soon – stay tuned.
Defending Gus Morales – Please Stand with a Great Teacher and Leader
Poetic Justice is standing strong in support of MA teacher Gus Morales who has, once again, not had his contract renewed.
I am re-blogging a message in support of Gus from Dr. Mark Naison. Please share far and wide.
Gus Morales Firing Epitomizes Everything Wrong With School Reform
by Dr. Mark Naison
You are leading a high poverty school district in Massachusetts with a majority Latino population. You have a teacher who grew up in the district. He is male, Latino, brilliant, and charismatic. He always dreamed of teaching in the community he grew up in. But he is also a veteran who is proud and outspoken. When he sees something wrong, he says so. Evern though he is a new teacher, his colleagues, who are mostly white, look to him for leadership, especially when he speaks out against excessive testing and the way tests and data walls are used to humiliate students. They elect him, as an untenured teacher, president of the local teachers unions.
So what do you do? Do you focus on what this teacher- Gus Morales- brings to his students, to the families in the district, to the entire community. Or do you decide to get rid of him to crush the opposition to the new testing policies and have a teaching staff that accepts the new “reforms” passively?
You decide to do the latter. You fire him once, and then in the face of national protest, hire him back. And then, after a year, you decide to fire him again.
This shows something we see happening all over the country. For all the comments that Arne Duncan makes about diversifying the nation’s teaching force, there is nothing more threatening to the current generation of school reformers- Duncan included- than people with real roots in the communities they teach in who can connect with the students and parents in those districts. That is why they fire people like Gus Morales and try to bring in Teach for American temps who will be in those classrooms for only a few years and then leave.
And that is why we- the people who really care about children and schools and teaching- have to fight to get Gus Morales back in the classroom.
He represents exactly what we need in our high poverty schools and indeed all our public schools- teachers for life who live in the communities they teach in and love the children they work with.
Note: The School District is Holyoke, Massachusetts.
Gus represents the Good Teacher – the teacher who will lay down his life for his students – the teacher who will devote his whole life to helping just one student. We need to do everything we can to keep him where he belongs – in the classroom.
To see Gus Morales in action, see this video of his testimony in support of Opting Out before the Education Committee of the Philadelphia City Council on November 19, 2014.
#GusIsUs
Teachers: Who’s on your side? Where can you go for people dedicated to truth-telling for democracy?
Poetic Justice is a member of EduBloggers. Please check out their website. The bloggers represented there are defending public school students.
There are times when a teacher needs to have the facts, simple or complex. For complex information, very often there are multiple facets that need to be examined from different points of view. Who can you turn to when faced with the overwhelming problems that surround you? Who has no personal power base or money to gain from the information? What group of people will offer you unbiased facts and their experienced perspectives for you to consider?
The EduBloggersNetwork, a group of over 200 individual bloggers with solid education backgrounds and unique perspectives from schools across the country, are respected for their varied experiences and focus. They do not march in lock-step nor are they paid by billionaires and their tax-free mega-wealthy foundations which are heavily invested (for profit) in corporate education reform.
During one of the online conversations that questioned each blogger’s reasoning for blogging in support of…
View original post 547 more words
In the Beginning …
In the beginning,
there was a good teacher.
And the good teacher taught
with passion and with eloquence.
The good teacher taught with love
and compassion.
The good teacher touched many lives
forever with light, love, and learning.
Those were
the best of times.
One day the good teacher awoke
to a siege of terror
creeping into her classroom –
the Great Teacher Displacement
had begun while she was asleep.
Her voice was dismissed.
Her power was slowly drained.
And her students stumbled more
fell more
searched more
and started losing the precious seeds
of education.
These are the worst of times.
These are the times that try men souls.
These are the events that spark –
a revelation
a renovation
a reimagination
a reformation
and most importantly ~
a revolution.
Let the revolution break forth.
An Excellent Day
May your day be EXCELLENT – full of the little gifts that make up moments of peace.
To awaken to birdsong and puppy kisses,
to the scent of brewing coffee and browning toast,
to greet the morn with meditation and sweet silence,
this is an excellent day.
To meet each student with a smile and a happy word,
to execute my lesson the way it is planned,
to correct with kindness and to praise with integrity,
this is an excellent day.
To write with freedom and with power,
to create word pictures with my pencil,
to share my writing with my students and friends,
this is an excellent day.
To greet the night time with joy and gladness,
to sleep in peace and restoration,
to have all around me bathed in glorious blessing,
this is an excellent day.
Now – BE HAPPY
Say No to SBAC
I am reblogging this from Ann Cronin’s excellent blog Real Learning CT. Although Ann is talking about the SBAC test, these 10 reasons to say “no” to the testing are applicable to all the common core standardized testing throughout the country.
#DoNoHarm
#2015YearoftheStudent
Connecticut currently mandates the testing of public school students in grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 11 with standardized tests produced by the Smarter Balance Assessment Consortium (SBAC). I am opposed to SBAC testing for English language arts because those tests neither measure authentic achievement nor foster students’ growth as readers, writers, and thinkers. Here are 10 reasons to STOP the harmful SBAC testing.
- SBAC tests are not rigorous.
The tests do not demand complex thinking. The tests are aligned to the Common Core standards, and the content of the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts is inferior content which does not serve to develop students as motivated, engaged readers and effective writers.
- SBAC tests are not field-tested for college and career readiness.
No one knows if a good score indicates that a student will be successful in college or careers or if a poor score indicates…
View original post 1,032 more words
Poetic Justice 