One of the things I detest about being so busy is that my brain doesn’t work how I want it to work which leaves my writing a puddle of gunk. Quite embarrassing for a former English teacher.
School starts tomorrow and yesterday was a day full of meetings with all the teachers and I have about 65 new teachers names and faces to learn. Add that to the 373 Freshmen who are coming to me to be their Freshman Dean. The best possible thing about that is that the middle school I’ve just come from is the feeder school for this high school so I already know 3/4 of the incoming students in my class. When they are Sophomores, I become the Sophomore Dean and so on and so forth. I will do this and follow them until they are graduated and I love having that connection to the kids.
There is a certain amount of power that comes with this position because I schedule classes and put students in appropriate courses, but I also get to look at their past performance to see how they do on standardized tests. This only becomes a problem when I look at the courses they have been previously taking and the courses they have been placed into (which, of course, I can change if I deem it necessary) and realize such a discrepancy.
As I have come to learn the sheer number of students we do this to it has become clear that it is the marginalized group (surprised? no, me either) once again. The poor, the Black, the Hispanic and yet I am not in any way bashing my district. These are human teachers and they make human mistakes and most of them are extremely good instructors. I feel so lucky to be in a high school right now where everyone wants to do what is best for children because my philosophy holds to that.
That hasn’t stopped me from making a list.
You know what happens when an impassioned woman makes a list? Things get shaken up.
My list is those students who have skated by without high expectations set for them from educators. They are the ones who have been getting C’s and D’s in honors classes but who test well on norm-referenced tests. Basically, I am going to sit down with each of these kids and have a Come To Jesus meeting with them one-on-one to tell that that I expect better from them and that we will find a way to support their learning needs to get them where they want to be in life after high school.
And if they hate me and that Come To Jesus meeting? Too bad. They have another three years with me after this anyway.
August 22, 2007 @ 5:42 am | Filed under Education | Permalink |
Assertagirl Said,
August 22, 2007 @ 5:55 am
It sounds like they are lucky to have you.
Jennifer James Said,
August 22, 2007 @ 5:59 am
A lot of these students are probably getting low grades because they don’t believe they have hope for education after high school. They probably figure why bother? You’re just what these kids need — someone who gives a damn.
VENTL8R Said,
August 22, 2007 @ 6:03 am
My advice to the women’s clubs of America is to raise more hell and fewer dahlias. ~James McNeill Whistler
dawn Said,
August 22, 2007 @ 6:27 am
How we need more administrators like you. I wish that administrators could actually spend more time getting to know their students and what they are capable of. I know I am being ideal and you are lucky that your freshman class is small. The last high school I taught at had about 450 freshman. Our administrators were bogged down with discipline–which speaks directly to your post yesterday about respect–if there were more teachers treating their kids like human beings than there wouldn’t be as many class disruptions, etc.
You are going to do great. You also know that on the surface those kids will pretend to hate that meeting, but they will leave your office smiling and proud on the inside that someone cared enough to notice that they really weren’t reaching their potential.
I want to be like you when I grow up!!
dana Said,
August 22, 2007 @ 7:32 am
School starts already? Wow. It seems so early, but I guess it really isn’t. I think it’s great that you get to move with your students and mentor them all their high school years!
Shigeta Said,
August 22, 2007 @ 7:54 am
Watch out! Mocha is in the house.
Can you please, please move yourself to Plainfield Consolidated School District 202? Come on…your commute won’t be that bad.
lara Said,
August 22, 2007 @ 8:11 am
they can hate you all they want, but the hatred will be replaced with serious gratitude when they realize why you’re kicking their asses - metaphorically, anyway. your job is to help them succeed, and that’s exactly what you’re doing.
Andrew Said,
August 22, 2007 @ 10:57 am
I’m a new reader! Found you by way of the Caffinated Librarian. It is good to know that there are really educators out there who sincerely care for the students. My girlfriend is a teacher, and she remarks a lot about teachers who are simply in it for the pay and benefits (I didn’t realize teaching was so lucrative!). Thanks for writing!
Oh, The Joys Said,
August 22, 2007 @ 10:59 am
I love that you have high expectations for them. We all should.
Grace Said,
August 22, 2007 @ 12:55 pm
you’re going to make these kids responsible for themselves? kick them in the right direction? Woohoo! I think that’s what a lot of kids this age need. They need to realize that Freshman year gets them on the pathway to college. Even if they “hate” meeting with you now? They are going to LOVE you by the time they graduate.
Daisy Said,
August 22, 2007 @ 2:26 pm
I wish someone would have that talk with my son. Teachers will let him slack not because of race, but because he’s blind. Come on, folks.
Cassandra Said,
August 22, 2007 @ 2:42 pm
Hi Mocha,
I’ve found you via the Caffienated Librarian and it sounds to me like you are exactly the type of administrator schools need. I work(ed) in Education too, higher ed and I see the same things happening. Do you think that other factors in these students lives that are related to race, economics, etc. keep them and their parents from pushing for and asking for more guidance and demanding the education they deserve rather then just squeaking by? I have seen in my own experience that it is often the majority (if you want to call it that) population of students that question their education and seek out help and guidance and the students in the margins as you call them just sort of float along because they have no point of reference for how else to do it. That is why staff and administrators need to help them proactively rather then sitting back to let them develop! I am a huge proponent of prescriptive advising and guidance when it’s necessary and I think todays educators lack that ability because they have been taught not to interfere in that way.
Anyway, love your blog, hope I didn’t offend, keep up the good work!
RWA Said,
August 22, 2007 @ 4:16 pm
Make your list - and shake things up!!!!
I wish they had moved our “deans” up with us each year like that. I think that would have been much better.
Mrs RW Said,
August 22, 2007 @ 4:50 pm
Maybe if I’d had a dean like you I wouldn’t have had to wait until I was 36 to go to college. I was an ‘A’ student but no one ever encouraged me to go to college, even though I was in honors classes. At that age I didn’t know enough to seek out the resources I needed.
Kick their butts. Maybe they’ll hate/fear you enough to prove themselves to you, and in the end, themselves.
Mommela Said,
August 22, 2007 @ 5:41 pm
They may be annoyed and think they hate you, but they’ll also be the ones making the Public Service Announcements specifically thanking you for giving them a high bar for which to reach, and the support to get up that high. If only there were more like you.
Grace Said,
August 22, 2007 @ 5:43 pm
I can’t wait until you post that you have now become Principal. You are what so many schools need. You are such a joy to read and I am glad I found you by looking for a different type of “Mocha”. Your humility is to be admired, especially in a world of arrogance where people think only of themselves. Best wishes for you in your job
Mocha Said,
August 22, 2007 @ 6:29 pm
That is one of the best quotes, VENTL8R. I love it. I want it tattooed on my bum.
Shigeta, I actually know that district and worked on a state board commission from someone from there. My district would be upset, but make me an offer.
Lucrative teaching benefits? Sure. They are all intrinsic, so good. But it’s not the money or the (pardon, but there is the taste of throw-up in my mouth as I say this) summers off. Lucrative. Ludicrous.
Daisy, that reminds me of a woman I admire very much. Helen Keller. Heard of her? Yeah, she would be PISSED to know anyone is expecting less from your son. Go kick them in the teeth for me.
Cassandra, I think so many factors are in place to keep those students from moving ahead that it’s not even funny. We, in high schools, are designed to leave students behind. (This is a Rick Stiggins quote, not mine. I just heard him speak earlier this month.) He claims that by the very nature of ranking students and doing Top 10%, etc… stuff intentionally leaves them behind. You certainly didn’t offend - I appreciate the opportunity to talk about it.
So, Grace? You didn’t stop looking after searching for Mocha and came up with all that porn? How refreshing.
Janice Said,
August 22, 2007 @ 6:31 pm
As the mom of two young men who are now in college, I look back and wonder…”where the hell was someone like Mocha when they were in high school?”
My oldest son went into HS a year ahead in math and science. By the next year he hit “the wall” and was bored and failing all most everything. No one cared. No one challenged him. No one took any interest. I rode his ass to get him through HS and eventually he graduated with honors. College has been just as tough, with many false starts at the beginning. He is just now finishing his BS and his is 24 1/2 yo!
Youngest son was the opposite…nothing came easily for this bright child. You can still barely read his chicken scrawl. He was ignored as well, tested poorly. Never took his SAT’s. No encouragement from anyone in HS except one shop teacher. He’s now in his junior year in the honor’s program at a college in Boston. His major? Art history.
We need more people like you Kelly. Not just in school districts that have a mix of races but in districts like mine with lower blue collar, predominately white. Our Hispanic population is growing mostly through migrant workers and many black families actually will pay to enroll their children here instead of in the schools at the larger cities. Drugs and crime have become a large problem and the rate of kids going on to college is lower.
So I don’t look at a woman like you and see your color, I see your motivation and determination to reach these kids and to make a difference in their lives.
Veronique Said,
August 22, 2007 @ 8:49 pm
Oh, I do wish you’d been there when I was in school. I had this crazy idea that if I understood something the first time ’round, that I didn’t need to study. Glad I’ve finally learned my lesson!
Babytreese Said,
August 23, 2007 @ 12:05 pm
Hey Mocha Momma! Long time no visit
Loved this entry…my son will start school this coming Monday. He is quite the artist so you can imagine my dismay when his counselor emailed me with the news that he would not have drawing classes this year ;-( She did manage to get him into a ceramics class though. I hope he will like that. My son is a “special” child so it is a blessing that he is such a talented artist. He can look at anything and just draw it!
Anyhoo…you have a good weekend!!