MIDDLE SCHOOL DIARY INDEX
1998-99
During the 1998-99 school year, MiddleWeb published two weekly diaries penned
by middle grades teachers. Our pair of (brave) diarists agreed to chronicle
their own efforts and the efforts of their respective schools to help more
kids succeed.
Deborah Bambino, an eighth grade science
teacher/leader in Philadelphia; and Susan Smethurst,
a middle grades resource teacher in Toronto, both work in inner-city schools
with diverse populations. Bambino's school is heavily involved in several
reform initiatives, including the Johns Hopkins' Talent Development Model,
and Bambino leads a "critical friends group" that regularly discusses
teaching issues. Smethurst's school struggles with very limited resources
and a teaching staff that is just beginning to explore the possibilities
of change, but she sees some hope in efforts to build more local empowerment
among parents, teachers and the community.
Our decision to include an "international" teacher on our Ameri-centric
website came after reading several of Susan Smethurst's descriptions of
the issues facing her students and her school. Remove the "u"
from "neighbourhood" and you'd be hard-pressed to identify her
Toronto workplace as anything other than a US inner-city public school.
Deb and Susan were both born and educated in the US and are veteran teachers.
We hope you'll enjoy these 1998-99 weekly reports from Deb and Susan's classrooms.
Their opening entries provided some background about their schools and their
goals for the year. Their final entries looked back at their successes and
disappointments.
[NOTE: Deb used the real name of her school. Susan decided to use a pseudonym.]
Deb - Art Class Revelations - 8/26/99
"My mistakes, my limited experience,
gave me a window on how my students must feel when I matter of factly give
directions and expect them to succeed."
Deb - Summer Professional Development - 8/3/99
"I'm thinking now that our lessons
-- our individual pieces of work -- function in much the same way a piece
of writing or artwork does. Each time you experience the performance...a
kind of alchemy takes place and the results are never exactly the same."
* * * * *
Deb - Summer School - July 1999
"TAPS brings together
all the pieces of school reform for me. It's the embodiment of a reflective
teaching and learning community. It's a relaxed environment where the stakes
are high, but the anxiety is low. Taking risks is the order of the day."
* * * * *
Deb - #38 - 6/21/99
In her final entry for this school
year, Deb Bambino compares her dreams and hopes to her accomplishments,
and begins revving up for the year to come -- when she takes on a new teaching
assignment under a new principal.
* * * * *
Deb - #37 - 6/14/99
"I went back to vist an eighth
grade teacher once and she acted rather detached. I felt hurt-- as though
I'd been foolish in thinking she had cared. But now I know she had just
moved on and was unsure of herself with the 'new' me. That experience taught
me to never pull back."
* * * * *
Deb - 6/7/99
Deb Bambino has the weekend off. Watch for her final entries right here.
Susan - #36 - 6/7/99
Susan Smethurst offers us her final words, as she reflects on her most recent
year of teaching in her Toronto inner-city middle school. "The
sun is out, the grass is green, and I don't give up easily. Whether or not
'the system' can be saved, I can still make a difference for *my* students
in *my* class and to co-workers and community as well." Don't miss
this excellent wrap-up entry!
* * * * *
Deb - #36 - 5/31/99
"The inventions and presentations
acted as a real window into the minds and abilities of a great number of
our students. Kids who usually opt out decided to buy in and participate.
Despite a limited time frame and little classroom support, almost everyone
got involved."
Susan - 5/31/99
Susan has the holiday weekend off. Watch for her wrap-up entry next week
when she reflects on her experiences this school year.
* * * * *
Deb - #35 - 5/24/99
"Building the cars was the single
most powerful recruitment activity this year. Giving girls the opportunity
to work with real tools in an all-female context was an eye opener. Not
only did girls build their own cars, they helped each other at every turn."
Susan - #35 - 5/24/99
"Not all teachers need, or want,
to stay in the same neighborhood school for 30 years -- but we ought to
make staying for 5 or 10 a much more attractive proposition, one where the
teacher 'wins' by growing personally and professionally, and where the school
and community 'win' by benefiting from the special skills and strengths
these teachers have to offer."
* * * * *
Deb - #34 - 5/17/99
"I'm anxious about having some
sort of closure to the school year that represents something more than a
posting of grades and an awareness of all the loose ends which didn't get
pulled together yet. I feel a need to openly construct a bridge from this
year to the next...."
Susan - #34 - 5/17/99
" Because I have been in other
schools, I could see that what some of our teachers rated 'B' work was nothing
like what was required for the same grade elsewhere. But it seems a picture
is worth a thousand words! When you see it, the light dawns."
* * * * *
Deb - #33 - 5/10/99
"I'm trying to process all of this
as a teacher, as a parent and as a citizen. Perhaps more importantly, I'm
trying to wear those three hats at the same time. The teacher and citizen
says, 'schools need to stay open and the business of education must go on
as normal.' The parent, the one getting ready to leave for a college graduation
this afternoon, feels pangs of doubt and fear."
Susan - #33 - 5/10/99
"If I had my 'magic wand' I would
pick a more norm-based test for 'the system,' and use these more complex,
standards-based tests locally, with feedback given to teachers and schools,
as well as to students and parents, and professional development and district-level
initiatives coming from the results and identified needs."
* * * * *
Deb - #32 - 5/3/99
"Our passive listening to the kids'
complaints had taught them well. Our inaction in the face of their repeated
complaints said to them, 'If we think your issue is unimportant there's
no use complaining.' We showed them their lack of power and continued to
tell them to get involved, to buy-in, to own their educational experience."
Susan - #32 - 5/3/99
"I found her words deeply disturbing,
for lots of reasons -- but I kept coming back to the question: 'What must
we do to make schools SAFE places for our kids?' Not only safe from armed
attack, psychotic killers or bomb threats, but safe places to learn, to
develop interests and relationships, to explore issues of personal values
and identity in an atmosphere where it's 'OK' to be oneself?"
* * * * *
Deb - #31 - 4/26/99
"Students identified all the different
ways that people separate themselves -- by 'gear,' by whether you had a
boyfriend/girlfriend, where you lived, how you talked, walked etc. They
really opened up about their feelings. I didn't need to say much at all."
Susan - #31 - 4/26/99
"How can teachers intervene in
this negative spiral before a lonely, angry child becomes a socially isolated,
hostile teenager who becomes an armed and dangerous individual with "payback"
plans on his mind?"
* * * * *
Deb - #30 - 4/19/99
"I asked my students the question
which had been bothering me, 'If you're working so hard and I'm using all
these cool teaching tools, why aren't you all getting A's?' At first they
just looked at me, but then they began to talk."
Susan - #30 - 4/19/99
"We sometimes think we are the
only school wrestling with our particular problems, and that people in other
places have everything working smoothly. A conference is a good reality
check in that department...."
* * * * *
Deb - #29 - 4/12/99
"The Annenberg Institute held its
'Making Teaching Public' Colloquium in Phila. this past week. Over 600 educators
and advocates came together to share student work, hold text-based discussions,
hear visiting authors and renew our committment to our students and their
achievement."
Susan - #29 - 4/12/99
"There was a small space for 'Suggestions
to improve the school.' I wrote a page and a half (!), and stapled it together.
On my way through the office I caught the principal's eye and waved my submission
aloft. 'You'll be sorry you asked,' I teased, as she smiled ruefully."
* * * * *
Deb - #28 - 3/29/99
"I'm pleased that we're ending
social promotion and I'm excited about the possibilities of exit projects,
but I'm worried too. What about all those teachers who haven't ever taught
thematically?"
Susan - #28 - 3/30/99
"Many of our parents, too, simply
don't understand why we don't take a stick and whack the kid! 'He be bad
-- you beat him!' some say, in all seriousness. These culture clashes are
not easy to overcome."
* * * * *
Deb - #27 - 3/22/99
"Maybe we need on-going team-building
activities....Feeling out of touch seems to lead to misunderstandings. Add
the fact that we rarely have time to laugh and celebrate with each other
and it amounts to a potentially serious problem."
Susan - #27 - 3/22/99
"An outpouring of expressed concerns
from parents, teachers and other groups does seem to have had an impact
on provisions for low-achieving students."
* * * * *
Deb - #26 - 3/15/99
"Dr. Bouie drove home the point
that we cannot combat the bias and racism in our school systems until we
are ready to own those pieces of the problem that we have perpetuated, sometimes
with the best of intentions."
Susan - #26 - 3/15/99
"Every time you pass that class,
the teacher is regaling them with another funny story about infant hijinks.
At first, they laughed and loved it. Now they see that other classes are
doing other things, and learning stuff they will need to know -- and they
aren't happy."
* * * * *
Deb - #25 - 3/8/99
"When I tried to pose the question
about whether the change in weather or our declining energy levels at this
time of year had precipitated the shift in student behavior, it was not
taken kindly by a few of my peers."
Susan - #25 - 3/8/99
"We can tell that our principals
and vice principals have been told to keep the schools open at any price
and NOT to call "downtown" for help. A bizarre incident one morning
clearly illustrated this."
* * * * *
Deb - #24 - 3/1/99
"A colleague from our school was
supposed to visit me for three days of sharing and observation of technology
integration. This was my 11th or 12th round of visits, but it was my first
unsuccessful pairing. . . ."
Susan - #24 - 3/1/99
"The ads show two little girls
skipping down a sunny sidewalk while a voice-over explains that with the
new, standardized curriculum a child can move from one place to another
and not be discomfited by changing schools, since it will be "the same."
Isn't fantasy wonderful?"
* * * * *
Deb - #23 - 2/22/99
Listening to my peers as they raised
questions about whether the students had written down their thoughts and
discussed them in their groups -- before I hit them with my questions --
was a little unsettling. . .Even allowing for my nervousness about being
filmed, it was clear that I'd goofed.
Susan - #23 - 2/22/99
There does seem to be a mindset that
putting students in categories solves some kind of problem -- even if you
never DO anything about the needs you identified!
* * * * *
Deb - #22 - 2/15/99
"The counselor asked kids to write
something about the open-ended questions in order to receive 'credit' and
because they wanted to please us so much, they did. At that point, I popped
two Advil and asked them if they wanted to help me stuff envelopes."
Susan - #22 - 2/15/99
"We also need more incentives for
students to work hard and succeed. Since this is a low-income neighborhood
(no Title I funds in Toronto -- poor kids don't get lunch, or any special
services) there are few field trips or enriching activities."
* * * * *
Deb - #21 - 2/8/99
"Sustained, political pressure
from public school parents and their allies is the only hope our kids have,
but before we stand together, we have to listen and talk together. "
Susan - #21 - 2/8/99
"Parents and others, including
friends who marked the tests, told me of numerous very bright, competent
young mathematicians who become frustrated and disgusted with being asked
to 'explain' everything."
* * * * *
Deb - #20 - 2/1/99
"How do you test fairly, when large
numbers of children come from homes where English is rarely spoken? How
do you teach responsibly when there are layers of misuderstanding you can't
even imagine?"
Susan - #20 - 2/1/99
"When does the right of the average
student to attend school without abuse, harassment, physical violence or
extortion take precedence over the right of an (admittedly troubled) youngster
to an education at his neighborhood school?"
* * * * *
Deb - #19 - 1/25/99
"Here are these people who barely
know you, who don't know your work, colleagues or kids, and yet they can
cut to the chase and move your thinking to another level. They don't fix
your work and they don't try to fix you, they just help you look at your
own process and product."
Susan - #19 - 1/25/99
"The vice-principal said, apropos
of student evaluation, that we must begin to get students more involved
in evaluation of their own work, comparing it to the standards, and identifying
steps to improve . . . and maybe we should introduce student-led conferences.
Well! I nearly dropped all my order forms!! Was I really hearing this??
Hallelujah!"
* * * * *
Deb - #18 - 1/18/99
"I'd like to see us looking at
student work with parents. I'm not talking about report cards or test scores,
but really looking at assignments and peeling them back to find the reasons
for doing them and for the work we're getting from students. . . These discussions
hardly ever happen, at least not in urban, public schools."
Susan - #18 - 1/18/99
"Our parent members are all very
supportive of the school, but have limited time to involve themselves in
school management. I hope we can brainstorm ways to merge the campaign to
save the school with an imaginative plan to improve the program and learning
opportunities for all our students."
* * * * *
Deb - #17 - 1/11/99
"Another student said, 'You should
start the year by modeling a complete science fair project which we could
all judge with the rubric so that we'd have a clear picture of what you
wanted.' Up to now, I've been focusing in on a piece at a time, like 'problem'
one week and 'research' the next."
Susan - #17 - 1/11/99
"We tend to forget, because the
students are scarcely ones to remind us, how much many have overcome to
get where they are, and that these are survivors par excellence, with untapped
possibilities that would make your head spin."
* * * * *
Deb - #16 - 12/21/98
"I had an assignment all ready
for students who failed to meet the science fair requirements and the parents
were very willing to sign off and support my efforts to get their children
to take responsibility for the missing work."
Susan - #16 - 12/21/98
"People are 'winging it' because
they don't know what to do. Much confusion exists over what the new standards
mean, how they are to be interpreted, and how we should evaluate student
work in relation to them. . . .Maybe the answer (for now) is, 'Think small'."
* * * * *
Deb - #15 - 12/14/98
"We made a commitment to focus
on the logs and other aspects of technical writing this time around. We
fell very short of our goal. Most projects still don't have log books and
few show real evidence of the student's ongoing thinking and working on
their problem."
Susan - #15 - 12/14/98
"I don't know what that science
teacher may have meant when she said, 'We have to weed kids out,' but that
sentiment does seem to express a real effect of 'high standards' without
meaningful implementation and commitment to student achievement expressed
in action, staff, and resources to get the job done."
* * * * *
Deb - #14 - 12/7/98
"Discovering the ways to get our
students to perform is at the heart of the dilemma I raised last week, and
the "10 Critical Qualities of Student Work" raised by Schlechty
has given me a new lens through which to consider this task. I'm planning
to write a student evaluation form for the science fair process this weekend
and these 'qualities' should prove useful in that effort."
Susan - #14 - 12/7/98
"Aha. The Viral Theory of Learning!
If we expose the students to knowledge, the germ will gradually spread (without
further effort, of course)... Seems like the same theory some of the students
are working under! There is a conundrum here, though."
* * * * *
Deb - #13 - 11/30/98
"The kind of skills transfer that
reflects real learning just isn't happening. . . .They show little evidence
of the teaching that I know is going on in other areas, which leads me to
the "learning" question. If we're all teaching and they're not
learning, defined as using the skills and information, are we teaching?"
Susan - #13 - 11/30/98
"When Jaime was in sixth grade
last year, I worked with a group from his class, and we identified him as
needing more support. A super kid, very responsible and conscientious, he
has some real learning problems, but his progress has been heartening. However,
last spring's report card interview is one that will haunt me for a long
time."
* * * * *
Deb - #12 - 11/23/98
"In the past, I was shocked to
learn that most schools work with only a select group for science fair.
I was proud that we gave "all" our students the opportunity and
support they needed to succeed. But I am having some serious doubts about
the value of this whole process. . . . I end my teaching week each Friday
with our "Ask the Girls" group and today was one of those times
when I know exactly why I'm teaching and even feel kind of privileged to
be doing it.
Susan - #12 - 11/23/98
"We are not going to provide a
secondary education for below-average students. We've gotta be world-class!
Competitive! Muscling our way into the global marketplace! No money and
resources to 'waste' on those who will not advance our 'competitive edge.'
"
* * * * *
Deb - #11 - 11/16/98
"Is [science fair] a requirement
that teaches problem-solving skills and authentic science or is it a show,
a series of deadlines, a schedule that dictates instruction? I'm not shirking
my responsibility here, I'm really wondering about it."
Susan - #11 - 11/16/98
"We don't think the perpetrators
were students from our school. While we have some loudmouths and some trouble
makers, there are really only one or two kids in the whole school who are
potentially malicious towards staff and other students."
* * * * *
Deb - #10 - 11/9/98
"Everything seemed harder this
week, and I know it's because of anxiety about our principal's impending
departure. It's like a whole other layer of stress has been added and it's
just filtering down on our work."
Susan - #10 - 11/9/98
"Reviewing the report card comments
this week, I reflected that some of my students really are progressing well:
developing good work habits, pride in their efforts, and new skills. Bearing
in mind that these are all struggling readers and writers, small steps forward
are cause for celebration!"
* * * * *
Deb - #9 - 11/2/98
"I don't mean to sound like a sales
pitch, but I think these units are a cut above what I've been using in my
classes so far. If the 'oohs' and 'ahhs' of the teachers are any indication,
I think the kids are in for a real treat."
Susan - #9 - 11/2/98
"[T]he feeling is we can't allow
so many schools to close, because they are an integral part of their neighborhoods
and a reason why, even though we have low socioeconomic areas, we have no
slums or ghettos, but vibrant multicultural communities instead. Without
schools in the downtown core we could see the same urban decay that has
blighted so many other North American cities."
* * * * *
Deb - #8 - 10/26/98
"It strikes me that it's ironic
that my training is for a unit on catastrophic events. Some how I don't
think the planners would consider missing a week of school catastrophic,
but I certainly do! I think every teacher could use a clone, maybe then
we could feel like we're getting our work done...."
Susan - #8 - 10/26/98
"[Our] kids lack the skills to do
group work, activities, and the like very successfully: It seems that anything
other than direct paper-and-pencil tasks are perceived by many teachers
as invitations to 'fool around.' So new teachers quickly scale back any
innovative projects they may have planned because 'the kids can't handle
it.' This bothers me, though. They have to learn to handle it, and who else
will teach them?"
* * * * *
Deb - #7 - 10/19/98
"I see special opportunities as
a chance to excite students, both those who already engage and do their
work and those who are reluctant to admit to any curiosity or desire to
learn . . .(but) balancing special projects and their 'chaotic effects'
with the importance of consistency and other people's planning needs has
put a strain on some staff relations."
Susan - #7 - 10/19/98
"Language-across-the-curriculum
sounds like a superb idea -- until you're trying to implement it without
the multilevel materials needed. Borrowing 'baby stuff' from the primary
grades won't help; the kids are much too image-conscious to read and use
material obviously meant for younger kids."
* * * * *
Deb - #6 - 10/12/98
"I'm committed to the city's kids,
having grown up here myself, but I'm more than a little anxious about our
future. . .Charter schools are popping up all over and concerned parents
are buying all their claims. . .If the charters get the kids whose parents
act as advocates, who does that leave in the public schools? The kids with
the greatest needs, the ones with no one to act as advocates will get left
behind."
Susan - #6 - 10/12/98
''The quality of the younger teachers
entering the system is outstanding, but no cause for complacency: the majority
of them are not likely to stay in teaching, statistics show. My young colleague
is a case in point. Graduating from a first-class education program, with
a number of successful practicums under her belt, she felt ready for anything...until
she came to us.''
* * * * *
Deb - #5 - 10/5/98
"If they can impress an IBM vice
president and foreign dignitaries, if they can impress me and other teachers,
why do they bomb on the tests? . . . It's painful to see bright kids shut
out of special high school programs because of test scores that only give
a very limited view of their abilities."
Susan - #5 - 10/5/98
"This year we're having a pizza
dinner as a prelude to the Open House, hoping to entice more parents to
attend, and I have been phoning to invite people personally. Staff are to
explain some of the new curriculum expectations to the parents as well as
our individual classroom procedures and routines, and it's important to
get as many as possible to come. ''
* * * * *
Deb - #4 - 9/28/98
''We hope that they'll be ready to join
us in some action research about technology. While we were away, we talked
about how we all wanted computers and that we're all getting them, but we're
not really clear on the payoff in terms of student achievement. ''
Susan - #4 - 9/28/98
''I wish I knew how other teachers who
have Danny cope with him -- but because I almost never get to SEE them,
let alone talk to them, I have no idea! Here's another area where the lack
of teaming, planning and meeting time is so counterproductive and wasteful.
''
* * * * *
Deb - #3 - 9/21/98
''I'm glad I have my CFG colleagues to
turn to for this kind of honest discussion. We took a full year to build
our trust in each other and I know I'll get some good questions and feedback
from them.''
Susan - #3 - 9/21/98
''When one person queried how they could
'make' teachers do this and that, something crystallized for me: where is
genuine reform going on that involves classroom teachers as partners in
change?''
* * * * *
Deb - #2 - 9/14/98
''It's good to be back. Like my student,
I choose the river with all its twists, turns and new adventures....''
Susan - #2 - 9/14/98
''It still comes down to: we can only
do the best we can with what we have, and when that is next to nothing --
well, we'll see!"
* * * * *
Deb - #1 - 9/7/98:
''We're constantly trying to refine our
practice to increase student achievement.''
Susan - #1 - 9/7/98:
''Imagine if we pooled our talents and
built on each others' strengths!'
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