16) – Updated

February 6, 2016June 4, 2023 ~ Blue Cereal

Sometimes lyrics just speak to you…

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I can’t stand it I know you planned it – I’m gonna set it straight, this watergate

I can’t stand rocking when I’m in here, because your crystal ball ain’t so crystal clear

You’re scheming on a thing that’s a mirage – I’m trying to tell you now it’s sabotage…

Excuse me – I need a tissue, and not just for this rather touching moment. The 2016 legislative season started this week as well. It’s not the ONLY reason to cry these days, but it’s certainly one of the biggest.

Keep tabs on the issues and inform yourself this election year with #OKElections16, brought to you by Blue Cereal – because I care enough to ruin your day.

Nevertheless, there are SO MANY GOOD THINGS you simply shouldn’t miss in…

Essential Edubloggery This Week

On The Turning Away – Rick Cobb of OKEducationTruths figures that as long as our state legis don’t believe we need no education, he might as well explore the issues they’re creating using Pink Floyd lyrics (hence my inspiration for the title above). #oklaed

Alice’s Adventures in Public Ed – Jennifer Williams as JennWillTeach explores a day in the life of the average student through the eyes of a famous literary character. I’ll let you guess which one. This one is a bit dark – but it hurts so brilliantly. #oklaed

2-Minute Zen: Just One Thing – Dan Tricarico as The Zen Teacher has a gift for lowering your blood pressure and decluttering your world in simple ways that seem so obvious once pointed out, but you’d completely miss otherwise. He could probably do this with song lyrics or literary references, but why complicate things, right?

And this week, we all learned how to count to five…

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 – Anthony Purcell on Random Teacher Thoughts started something he maybe didn’t quite mean to when he issued an edu-blogger challenge built around a simple series of five questions. His timing couldn’t have been better – to be honest, I think we all really needed it this week. #oklaed

Here (in no particular order) are some of the responses so far. I’M POSITIVE I’VE MISSED A FEW GOOD ONES – please email me or call me out on the Twitters as you discover them and I’ll add them here. There’s not one of these that doesn’t make me feel better about teaching in this sorry state.

5 4 3 2 1 – Meghan Loyd, For The Love

5, 4, 3, 2, 1… And We’re Off! – Scott Haselwoood, Teaching From Here

Challenge Answered… – Lisa Witcher, One Good Thing

5-4-3-2-1 or 1-2-3-4-5, or whatever… – Cory Williams, An Early Model Millenial

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Challenge – Rick Cobb, OKEducationTruths

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Challenge – Kimberly Blodgett, KimBlodgett

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 – Kelly Husted, OklaEdFam

1… 2… 3… 4… 5… called out – T.M. Lunday, middleschoolstationconductor

5, 4, 3, 2, 1 – A Bloggers Challenge – Erin Barnes, Educating Me

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 – Jason James, Thoughts on Oklahoma Education

Anthony’s Challenge – Eric Johnson, ‘YourKids’ Teacher

Purcell’s Challenge – 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 – Zuzuz Petals, Keep The Wheat

1, 2, 3, 4, 5! – Jen Doty, Teaching CI Mandarin

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Blogger Challenge – Lady Mellot, Choosing the Road Not Taken

5, 4, 3, 2, 1 #OklaEd Blog Challenge – Jennifer Lea, The Tempered Teacher

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (Guest Blogger: Matt Cone) – Matt Cone, who doesn’t have a blog, but if he did, I’d SO TOTALLY marry it every day.

Five Questions – Peter Anderson, Mr. Anderson Reads & Writes

1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 – Marvel’s Agents of Ed

5 Questions – Katlyn Bennett, Reader, Teacher… Writer?

Challenging Thoughts & Culture – Andrew Kauffman, Curiosity, Exploration, Wonder

5, 4, 3, 2, One-derful! – Kas Nelson, A Principal’s Place

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Blogging Challenge – The Evolving Educator

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 – Response to Purcell’s Edu-Blogger Challenge – The Unbearable Blueness of Cereal, Blue Cereal Education

I can’t give you reasons to keep going this week, darlings – but these folks have. I can only thank you, and love you, and tell you that we must.

Illegitimum non carborundum; Domine salvum fac.

The Blaine Game (Updated)

February 6, 2016June 4, 2023 ~ Blue Cereal

Way back in 1875, President Ulysses S. Grant called for a Constitutional amendment that would mandate free public schools and prohibit the use of public money for “sectarian” purposes.

The idea of free public schools wasn’t new, but neither was it universal. And it wasn’t unheard of for various state governments to support education provided through religious institutions. It was working, and seemed practical at one time, so why not?

Republican Congressman James G. Blaine was happy to comply and proposed such an amendment. It came close to passage, but fell just short and never became law.

Over time, however, various Supreme Court rulings essentially codified the same principle. It’s a tricky balance sometimes (should states help Catholic schools buy Algebra textbooks?), but generally the separation between church and state is assumed in most circumstances – including school funding.

Most states – including Oklahoma – were less ambivalent, and have language similar to Blaine’s original proposal in their state constitutions, often informally referenced as ‘the Blaine Amendment’. For example, Article 2, Section 5 of Oklahoma’s constitution says this:

No public money or property shall ever be appropriated, applied, donated, or used, directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or support of any sect, church, denomination, or system of religion, or for the use, benefit, or support of any priest, preacher, minister, or other religious teacher or dignitary, or sectarian institution as such.

That language, along with Supreme Court’s interpretation of the First Amendment over the years, is why we can’t have a 10 Commandments monument on capitol grounds. It’s also why ESAs/vouchers are unconstitutional– even those currently hidden behind the shield of ‘special needs’.

The courts haven’t agreed with me on that one yet, but that doesn’t mean I’m wrong.

Religious diversity in the United States has expanded considerably since 1875, making the distinction between faith and politics even more appropriate. Disputes which used to involve whether or not copper buttons on your coat would cost you your eternal soul now seem quaint compared to disagreements over which god is the “real” one, or what caliber Jesus would use to eliminate children of other faiths.

It can get personal.

For people of relatively orthodox faith in Oklahoma, this increasing diversity looks and feels very much like their fundamental beliefs and lifestyles are under some sort of attack. What used to be assumed is now suddenly controversial, and traditions which used to bind communities together are now accused of being dangerous and wrong-headed.

Take a moment and appreciate how disturbing this is to someone not quite so detached and smugly intellectual as those on the opposite extreme. These aren’t bad people, for the most part – they’re just a little freaked out and worried about the world in which their kids are growing up.

Unfortunately, politics and pragmatism rarely allow for such reflection. Decisions must be made and funds allocated. “Blaine Amendment” or not, there are currently two pathways by which Oklahoma parents can procure state support to send their child to a private school – even a “sectarian” one.

The first is the “Oklahoma Equal Opportunity Education Scholarship.” This was authored by Senator Dan Newberry (R) and signed into law by Governor Fallin in 2011.

The OEOES gives individuals and businesses a 50% tax credit for contributions made to nonprofit organizations that provide scholarships to students whose parents want them in private schools. Students must live in a district labeled ‘Yucky Doo-Doo Heads’ or worse by the state’s A-F School Shaming System (even if they’ve never actually attended public school in that district) OR live in a household “in which the total annual income during the preceding tax year does not exceed an amount equal to three hundred percent (300%) of the income standard used to qualify for a free or reduced school lunch… “

Threefold the reduced lunch threshold isn’t hardcore poverty by any stretch. This means the parents of little Theodore, who’s always gone to Word of Faith of Hope of Grace anyway, can receive financial aid from wealthy donors who will then be significantly reimbursed by taxpayer dollars.

It’s just indirect enough to pass constitutional muster, and we could quibble over whether or not tax breaks are the same as public support. Right now, however, this is the law.

The second is the Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarship for Students with Disabilities, which seems to be better-known and more widely-utilized. This bill, passed in 2010, allows students who can secure the label “special needs” to take their portion of state funding and attend a private school of their parents’ choice.

Any student with an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) who’s gone to public school in Oklahoma for at least a year OR whose parent is an active-duty member of the armed forces (often moving regularly) is eligible. Once approved, the voucher option continues through high school.

Despite pro-voucher visuals featuring a touching variety of multi-cultural children in wheelchairs and competing in the Special Olympics, it takes much less to qualify for an IEP. Any teacher can tell you the vast majority of mandated modifications are things like “allowed to use a calculator” or “sits near teacher and requires periodic redirection.”

I’m not trivializing the role of educational modification, but we should be honest about the range of students covered by this language.

If little Brittany’s parents can convince that 3rd Grade team that she simply MUST be given extra time on her spelling practice, or if Chauncy’s parents secure the tiniest diagnosis from their family doctor regarding his adorable 2nd Grade lisp (the kind assertively featured any time a child under the age of 20 appears in a TV commercial), they then qualify for these ‘special needs’ vouchers all the way up until their admittance letters from Stanford (Daddy’s alma mater!)

The use of this particular ‘scholarship’ in religious schools has been validated by the courts. Several districts challenged this legislation when it first passed, and were demonized for “suing parents of handicapped kids.” The courts determined the schools lacked standing, so other approaches were tried. So far, they’ve failed.

I’m happy enough for the parents making good use of this to get a better education for their kids. I really am.

Of greater significance, however, is the logistical reality of special needs children in MOST private schools. One of the many freedoms granted non-public institutions of learning is that they don’t have to follow IEPs or accommodations or anything else required of public schools. Ironically, an IEP may be required to GET that funding, but as soon as you’re admitted, it ceases to exist.

While there are a handful of schools committed to better educating certain types of high-needs children – some of whom do amazing work – the vast majority are rather selective about who they do and don’t accept. Whatever their good intentions, most private schools simply lack the resources to make sure little Gertrude gets specialized attention. If she can’t step up and fit in without disrupting the flow, she’s out.

Chances are she’ll never be in to begin with.

Few parents of a child with substantial needs are likely to have the resources to independently fund that full-time aide to follow them from class to class, or the tutoring they’ll need to master basic math. Public schools can’t afford to do it either, but we do – because it’s the law.

Public school educators arguing against vouchers (or ESAs) aren’t doing so out of some twisted venom towards religious instruction (well, some of them might be – but not the rational majority). We’re kicking and screaming because the powers-that-be are manipulating your collective sympathy and desire to do right by kids in order to redirect public funds into the pockets of their chosen favorites – many of whom are perfectly capable of funding their children’s education on their own.

We’re fussing because those who inherited the nicest treehouse keep trying to pull up the ladder so no one else can play, despite the welcome mat hanging from the highest branches and their wailing laments over the ‘choices’ of those still on the ground.

I’m not done with this issue.

RELATED POST: Jonah’s Education

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 – Response to Purcell’s Edu-Blogger Challenge

February 3, 2016June 4, 2023 ~ Blue Cereal ~ 1 Comment

You might think that these open ‘Edu-Blogger Challenges’ could be received as a task, or a distraction. I find most of them quite the opposite.

The freedom that comes in being asked questions or assigned a topic and a word limit may be paradoxical, but it’s freedom nonetheless.

This particular challenge was issued by Anthony Purcell on Random Teacher Thoughts. Having finally met him – sort of – I can’t help but want to jump in and try to shine. His blog may be a sporadic arena, but he’s, like… all legit and stuff in person.

Kinda makes me wish I’d shaved or worn a tie or something, you know?

You can find the original challenge – along with Purcell’s own responses – here.

What has been your ONE biggest struggle during this school year?

I never want to be that teacher who throws up my arms in exasperation at how helpless and hopeless and victimized “this” group is compared to “how they were” X number of years ago.

That being said, I find myself throwing up my proverbial arms in exasperation at how helpless and hopeless and victimized each group is compared to the last. I love them dearly, but we’ve long ago given up focusing on teaching history, or even history skills. Most of my energy is spent trying to drag them into the possibility that they have brains, and that by using them they can find solutions to the most mundane issues of their day – and maybe even figure out possible responses to my assignments as well.

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Share TWO accomplishments that you are proud of from this school year.

First, I’ve given up on professional boundaries.

OK, that’s a bit of an overstatement. I’m old and tired and tenured enough, though, that I’ve stopped worrying about whether or not I SHOULD be letting kids talk to me about this or that, or whether it’s DEFENSIBLE IN AN OFFICE SOMEWHERE that I said X, suggested Y, or called Z a B.

This is a group with few filters and many burdens. I want them to learn history, but to do that I first need them to survive the sloughs of despair we call 9th grade. So I let them talk, and I talk back, and then we try to get back to that Andrew Jackson speech. It’s actually LESS stressful to just let it happen.

Second, I’m proud of the Classroom Resources section on Blue Cereal. It’s not particularly fleshed out yet, but it feels like the riskiest thing I’ve done so far with this site. And while I don’t obsess over analytics, one of the Document Activities I’ve posted shows consistent visits over months and months. I hope that means it’s making itself useful out there somewhere.

What are THREE things that you wish to accomplish before the end of the school year?

1. Still trying to figure out how things like student choice, moving away from the faux authority of letter grades, semi-flipped lessons, etc., work in limited practice for my kids and my class. I’d like to keep pushing.

2. The #OKElections16 stuff won’t be complete by the end of the school year, and it’s not directly classroom-focused, but that’s largely what makes it a challenge. My druthers over the years is to gripe a bit, then tune out state politics and such and just worry about the stuff I can control. I’m realizing now that this wasn’t “optimism” or “focus” so much as cowardice – or at least laziness. If we truly love our kids in the ways we’re so quick to meme, then we need to get out of our comfort zones and get involved in the yuckies.

3. And… there’s one young lady, who obviously I won’t name. I want to understand why she keeps coming by and waiting, and why she mostly doesn’t talk. I want her to discover learning and find my room safe enough that she’ll speak – to me, to a peer, to anyone. My teacher-senses ache for whatever’s going on in her and I can taste the dark and empty, but I can’t DO anything about it. It’s not mine to reach.

Gosh, that got heavy quickly. Sorry about that.

Give FOUR reasons why you remain in education in today’s rough culture.

Mindy Dennison issued a challenge along those lines last summer. My response was essentially that it needs to be done, and I don’t know what else to do. The need is there, so we try. If someone better prepared, better qualified, would come do this – and better – I’d let them.

There were quite a few really good responses, most with a bit more positivity.

I haven’t really given you four, but I’ve given you one from me and a link to others. I’ll be particularly presumptuous and link to two poems that say it better than I can, and call that four.

To the friend that once said, “You need to be realistic.” (Kris Giere, Involuntary Verbosity)

These Feet Will Drag (Jose Vilson, JLV)

Which FIVE people do you hope will take the challenge of answering these questions?

I’ve already passed the challenge along to a number of twittering blogger-types, although I always forget a few of the bestest. Instead, I’m going to challenge 5 people who aren’t regular bloggers – but any of whom could be. If they don’t wish to start or reboot their blogs in order to answer, but are kind enough to do so, they have open invitations to Guest Blog here. I would actually be quite honored.

Sarah Pradhan – Who doesn’t yet fully appreciate how rare and powerful her words, ideas, and heart for kids truly are – especially in combination.

Lisa Witcher – Who responded to my very first blog with something better, thus both helping that initial effort and keeping me in check in a way only she and very few others can.

Kathy Dodd – Who dreams so big and strives so beautifully that she can rarely appreciate how much she’s done for the cause, because she wants so much more for those who can’t dream and strive nearly so well.

Alyssa Michelle – Who makes me believe it’s possible. All of it. With style.

Matt Cone – Who has enough manliness to be the only guy on the list without it seeming unbalanced, and combines world-weary honesty with a hopeful glow I can never quite classify.

Blue Serials (1/31/16)

January 30, 2016June 4, 2023 ~ Blue Cereal

The 2016 Oklahoma Legislative Session starts Monday!

Much like the Kardashians or any student group presentation, we can expect flaming dysfunction and awkwardly creative destruction – the sort from which you can’t quite look away, no matter how horrifying. Oh, good times.

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I’ve done my best to lay some groundwork for the casual #oklaed viewer here – but there’s so much more to teaching than being hated and abused by elected authority. There are good parts, too.

Like THESE bits you simply SHOULD NOT MISS from the past week. My god, they make me love my job…

Why It’s Important To Play The Recorder Badly – Ashley Shaw on Life in Converse, prodded by Bon Stewart (thank you Bon!), talks about that moment every parent fears – your child comes home from school with… a recorder. But then Shaw starts slinging truth and beauty everywhere, without warning. I’ve read this eleventeen times and had all the feelz, including several which don’t even exist. Follow Shaw on the Twittering at @ashleygshaw and see what else she does to us without warning.

What Do You Mean, Excessive Paperwork? / These Feet Will Drag (A Poem) – A double-shot of Jose Vilson – The JLV. The first is about the nonsense, the latter… about why we put up with the nonsense. And it’s a poem, no less. Follow @TheJLV on the Twittering. Be warned, though – he’ll rattle your comfort zone. Come on – it will be good for you.

Taking Back Your Name – The Pros and Cons of Political Correctness – Steven Singer, GadflyOnTheWallBlog, has some thoughts on the negative connotation we’ve given “political correctness.” He’s opinionated, but thoughtful – and might bruise your preconceptions while stretching your thinking. I don’t always agree with Singer, but that doesn’t make him wrong. Follow @StevenSinger3 on the Twittering – but don’t call him Stevey Weevey.

The Challenger and The Dream – Scott Haselwood, Teaching From Here – Dreams can be exciting, or scary, or both at the same time. Haselwood is probably not the first person to challenge you to confess your dream, but he’s one of the few willing to go first. Scott is all about the risk and getting real – I kinda envy that. Get naked (metaphorically) with @TeachFromHere on the Twittering, and take a few reality risks. #oklaed

Are We Teaching Students How To Swim, Or Handing Them Rocks As They Sink? – Mrs. Waters (who I assume HAS a first name?) on Mrs. Waters’ English, explains why she’s backed off of firm due dates and harsh classroom penalties. As someone who goes back and forth on this sort of thing and doesn’t like any of my own answers, I’m thankful when someone legit wrestles with similar concerns, then shares her thinking so effectively. Share with and be persuaded by @watersenglish on the Twittering. #oklaed

I leave you with this, from Button Poetry.

I simply love a good provocation – stirring up emotions and reactions, saying as much about us as they do anything about the piece doing the stirring…

“All Lives Matter: 1800s Edition” (Anthony McPherson)

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Be amazing this week, my #11FF. You’re better than you think you are – care harder than you think you can.

Blue Serials (1/24/16)

January 23, 2016June 4, 2023 ~ Blue Cereal

I think the metaphor is obvious.

Most of #oklaed are currently focused on budget cuts, rhetorical shenanigans from our elected leaders, and the upcoming legislative session. Any recent contributions to such discussions are compiled on #OKElections16, along with pithy commentary and analysis from yours truly.

Somehow the rest of the interwebs carries on, however – including…

Stuff you simply SHOULD NOT MISS from this past week in edu-bloggery:

Making Room For Uncertainty In The Required Curriculum – Bill Ferriter of The Tempered Radical writes this brief-but-essential piece in reponse to an Mindshift post you should also consider perusing. “There’s a constant tension between what we SAY we want our students to know and be able to do and what we LIST as priorities in our mandated pacing guides…” Isn’t THAT the truth? Make following @plugusin on the Twitters a stated priority – then follow through.

Addressing Teacher Quality Post-NCLB – P.L. Thomas of The Becoming Radical tackles the myth of ‘teacher effectiveness trumps all’. Teacher quality absolutely matters, he argues, but he can in the same class period be a great teacher for lil’ Bobo and a completely inadequate teacher for Mary Lou Kaputney. And while “we must address teacher experience and qualifications/expertise at high-poverty, majority-minority schools,” Thomas reminds us, “without social reform that alleviates the burdens of poverty on the lives of students and their families, we are unlikely to see the sorts of changes in data that would justify any in-school only reforms.”

Follow @plthomasEdD on the Twitters for more face-slapping reality and the occasional comic book character analysis.

The Agony and the Ecstasy of Removing Grades – Peter Anderson on Mr. Anderson Reads & Writes shares some of his experiences as he moves away from using grades as fish to be dangled in front of dolphin-children so they’ll perform our litle hoop-jumping tricks, and towards… what, exactly?

“And this is when the real work comes in. And the fear. How will I get children to work? How will I manage a classroom? How will I communicate with parents in an age of grade-surveillance and instant communication? Will I give homework? What skills will I focus on? How can I convince children to embark with me on an unknown path bereft of signposts and cardinal directions? Will they trust me? Will I trust myself? What starts out as a quiet act of revolution quickly metastasizes into real existential-occupational dilemmas. These dilemmas force you to make choices with actual consequences. You will find yourself, perhaps for the first time in your professional career, fully in charge of your classroom…”

Follow @MrAndersonELA on the Twitters and let him not give you a letter grade.

Drowning Bunnies to Raise Graduation Rates – Peter Greene of Curmudgucation highlights a modest university in Maryland trying to reduce its ‘dropout’ rates in a somewhat horrifying way. The situation is specific, but the lessons are many – When you put non-educators in charge, you get non-education results. When you judge an institution by magic numbers, its purpose tends to mutate in order to serve those numbers. On the other hand, when you give a few students freedom and a pen, they sometimes write truth to power and change the course of bigger things than themselves. Boo-yah. Follow @palan57 on the Twitters and ensure no animals are harmed in the writing of his posts.

Finally, this piece in the Tulsa World from Blue Cereal favorite Nour Habib…

Area high schoolers among protestors booted from Trump rally – While I certainly try to maintain the same sort of neutrality towards Trump that I do towards, say, genocide, lynching, rape, or the Kardashians, this tale warms my cynical, bitter little heart. We talk a good game about young people getting involved and following their convictions – who knew they’d sometimes take us seriously and do it?

“King-Sellars said he thinks the protest went well and that the group accomplished its goal — having its message seen by both Trump and the cameras before being kicked out. ‘We didn’t get beat up, so that was great,’ he said…”

Indeed.

Follow @nourhb on the Twitters and subscribe to the Tulsa World whether you live in this half of the state or not. Come on – I’ve seen what you’ve got to work with in that other paper. Yech.

OK, Listen To Me –

Don’t let facts get in the way of truth this week. Teach as if there’s hope, push as if there’s strength, and love as if that were enough. Reality is way, way overrated.

I choose to believe.

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