Halloween Costumes

In a school that has a very strict dress code:  solid color shirts, solid color pants, tie, belt, brown or black shoes, Halloween Dress Up (not down) Day is truly a treat.  As a teacher, I love seeing the creative side of my students when it comes to their costumes.  I especially love it when they dress up as someone in the media or one of their favorite shows.  It is a great day to take pictures.  I hope that for some of the students, that 20-30 years from now, they can look back on their high school time and perhaps say, "remember when we dressed up as food?  you were pizza, I was a taco, and some one else was French fries?"  Sound pretty corny, but also funny and memorable. 

Today some of my favorite costumes were:   Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, Marty McFly and Doc, Colonial Guy, a Knight, Zack Galifinakis' character from The Hangover, a Pink Power Rangers (remember, this is an all-boys school), a squirrel, Woody from Toy Story, and even a team member of the Average's Joes from Dodgeball.  I even applaud the students who wrote "Go Ceilings!" on white shirts to be, what else?...Ceiling Fans. 

And while on days like these it is sometimes difficult to keep students' attentions, it is moments like these that we should take a small break from the seriousness of academic life, our extracurricular activities, and all the other things we have to do to laugh, smile, and eat some candy.  And if anyone has any extra Skittles or Twix, I will trade my Whoppers, Reeces PB Cups, Baby Ruths, Almond Joys, and Butterfingers for them!

Oh, and let's also take a break to watch Adam Sandler's take on not having to spend too much money on Halloween costumes: 

https://screen.yahoo.com/adam-sandlers-halloween-costume-ideas-000000294.html

Feeling Very Inspired by Jeffrey Marx Today!

This week, we were fortunate to have Pulitzer Prize winning author Jeffrey Marx who wrote the New York Times Bestseller Season of Life:  A Football Star, a Boy, and a Journey to Manhood speak at our school.  His book is very motivational and explores the concept of masculinity in a reflective way.  The book is about a football coach, Joe Ehrmann, who used to play for the Baltimore Colts but is now a minister and coach for a high school team in Baltimore.  His program is called Building Men for Others and its mission to teach boys to live with love, empathy, responsibility, and integrity.  Coach Ehrmann and this book by Jeffrey Marx remind all of us that it is our relationships with others that define us, not what we have or what we make.  In addition to our relationships, having a cause bigger than ourselves is an integral part of what defines us. 

Our school has an Academic Integrity Code and this book as chosen to mirror some of the tenets in the oath for our students.  It was an excellent choice.  The messages in this book are important for any boy, teenager, college student, athlete, coach, teacher, parents, etc.  If the ideas and beliefs of Coach Ehrmann can keep reaching larger audiences, I think the idea of masculinity can swing in a different direction and produce a genuinely happier generation of men. 

I highly recommend this book as it will make you focus on your own relationships with others and how you would want to be remembered by others and perhaps starting putting the many things in your life into a better perspective.    

Thank you Mr. Marx for coming and for inspiring all of us. 

I hope Mr. Marx’s talk resonated with our students in a way that makes them think differently about how they want to be defined and what impact they want to make on others and the community they are a part of.  They are already a great group of boys, but I know that they can be exceptional men.
 

PSATs, NMSQTs, SATs, ACTs, and XYZS???: Absolutely Not Testing College Readiness

This week, we administered the PSAT/ NMSQT to the Sophomore and Junior classes and watching my Sophomores with their #2 pencils bubbling in their answer and calculating all those math problems, I had some flashbacks of my own taking of the SATs.  I started sweating just watching them take the test!  Why are we still giving this test?  Does it really measure a student’s readiness for college? 

The four sections of this test are reading, language and writing, and 2 math sections (one with a calculator and one without).  So, hope you are good in those subject areas….then you will get into that college you want to go to!  But what about Science?  What about Geography?  Wouldn’t a section asking students to identify places on a map, political parties, weather systems, the parts of a cell also let colleges know if a student is ready for college?  Why just math and English?  And yes, for the record, as an English teacher I can attest to really struggling with some of those Math problems and then only having to take ONE math class, Statistics, in college anyway!!!!  And now I have a calculator to get me out of those pesky Math jams!

When I took the SATs, those vocabulary analogies were the worst.  And so, having the best vocabulary put you in the path of achieving a high SAT score.  I remember teachers, myself included now, describing complicated vocabulary words with, “now there is a great SAT word!”  How did that become a thing?  UGH and double UGH!  How about, “now there is a great word to enhance your conversations and writing with?” 

What a racket!  What a business!  From the College Board in making and administering these tests to all the tutoring places and individuals out there – well, there is a nice chunk of money to be made.  But for those of us that did go to and make it through college, wouldn’t we all agree that the SATs was not an accurate indicator of if we were college ready.  Here is my list for things to consider regarding college readiness:

·       Time management skills

·       Effort

·       The ability to revise and edit writing, to use feedback as a way to create a better product

·       Maturity and manners

·       Seeking help when a topic is confusing

·       Knowing your strengths and weaknesses   

·       Thinking outside the box

·       Problem solving

·       Following directions

·       How to Read a Map

Those are just several criteria that come to mind.  But, then alas will we having tutoring places pop up to teach these skills, too?  If we need so many books, tutors, review courses to take this test, isn’t is just a test to test our ability to use all the means possible to get the highest score putting lower income families at a noticeable disadvantage? 

 

I am aware that the SATs are only a part of the Admissions Process, but think about how many students do not even apply to some schools because they know they do not meet the SAT requirements.  It just doesn’t seem right. 

I am happy to hear that some universities such as George Washington, Temple, Marist, and Old Dominion ae dropping SATs as an admissions requirement.  I am hoping more do that same.

 

To Whom It May Concern: Writing College Recommendation Letters

Other than the Disney movie Up, Toy Story 3 is the saddest Disney movie.  I sobbed when Andy went to college and left all his toys behind.  It didn’t help that my son’s name is Andy.  As parents, we want our kids to go to college, we do.  But, it is just one of those places in life where a chapter definitely ends so a new one can begin.  Parents want this college thing to happen, but so do teachers. 

For the past week, I have been writing Letters of Recommendation (or LORs) for many of the Juniors who I taught last year.  I have actually written 20 so far, and expect to write at least 10 more.  And while it has added to my workload greatly this week, I am happy to do it.  This is it.  This is what these kids have been preparing for and getting ready for the past 4, even 12, years of their lives.  This is what their parents have been doing everything they possibly could do to see come to fruition.
 

Now, I do think that no one is really reading the letters that I write.  But, what if someone is?  What is my glowing letter of recommendation does play a role in getting my student into his dream school?  So, I do put some thought into what I write for each student, hoping it does help.   

As I write these letters though, I do hope my students let me know when they do get into these colleges.  I also hope they thank me for writing these letters.  I hope they thank their guidance counselors.  I hope they thank all their other teachers who have gotten them to this point in their lives.  I hope they thank their parents.

And I hope they have a fabulous time in college! 

 

 

The Things That Make an English Teacher Cry (Happy Tears) , Part 1

This week, I read 43 essays from my Juniors on what they believe the attributes of a hero are (no, that is not what made me cry...)   Most of the essays were insightful and well organized.   Most had the typical terms associated with heroes and heroic actions:  brave, courageous, a leader, humble, selfless, determination, love, etc.  They were very interesting to read.

When I got to one of my students who I taught as a Sophomore, I was prepared to see the typical writing I saw from him last year and I got ready to provide as much feedback as I could to strengthen his writing.  This student was not one of my stronger students when it came to writing.  And, in fact, towards the end of the year, he was having a hard time prioritizing all the things in his life, and got himself into a big hole in English class because of missed work.  I did not think he was getting out of this hole, but I promised to help him if he wanted to start climbing out.  He was determined and put in quite of bit of effort, but we were still not going to be sure if he was out of the hole until the final exam.  This story has a happy ending:  he passed and I have probably never been prouder of any of my student’s motivation in achieving this (nope, not what made me cry yet, either).

So, when I got to his essay this week, I was expecting a satisfactory essay at best.  However, I knew he was working hard on this essay even getting help from other teachers.  His essay was beautiful.  It was organized, focused, and full of thought, understanding, and well-developed paragraphs.   And I wanted to cry.  (Yes, now, cue crying).   

At first I wanted to cry because I egotistically thought, “wow, look at what I great teacher I am!  I single handedly improved his writing from C to A range!  I am super-teacher!”  Then, I wanted to cry because, I came down from my pedestal and thought, “Wow!  He really wants to write a good essay!  He really put a lot of effort into this.  He really is working on his writing skills!” 

And truly, there are many things that are probably factoring into the end result of a great essay.  And that makes me cry even more:  when the student has learned from the teacher and the teacher has learned from the student…well, it’s quite a beautiful thing.