While my last couple posts are union related, I am still teaching. If my free time was not spent on trying to get a fair settlement (or graduate school for that matter), I might be writing about this extremely cool new project I am doing with my world history students. Basically they are creating a branching simulation (think choose your own adventure) about a family in the Holocaust. They have to come up with realistic decision points, describe the pros and cons, address the consequences of each decision, and fill it in with a narrative that reflects their research on the Holocaust. Now that in itself is pretty neat, but the REALLY cool part is that they are all (about 30 different groups), putting their branching simulations into a Wiki. Using a Wiki allows them easily create web pages (ever try to teach Dreamweaver and academic content), edit each others work, and easily link the pages together. I'd love to write more, but its 4:39 am and I need a little more sleep before my 4 year wakes me up to get ready for work in an hour or so. Look for yourself if you are interested. The students projects (still incomplete, can be access through the Period 1 and Period 2 links at the bottom. Don't worry about the login, you have full access without it - you just can't edit.

As the teacher-district struggles continue in my district, we are dreading the next few months. From our perspective, it appears that the district does not want to settle. They held a strike preparation meeting a few weekends ago with all of the site administrators and have expressed that there are two types of teachers within the district. There are the union people, who represent only a small percentage of the teachers. And there are the rest who will not support the union. While the s word has been mentioned, there are a number of steps that come first. The earliest any action could take place is October or November. No one wants to s, we just want to be treated fairly and want the respect we deserve as professionals.

My colleague and friend wrote a great article in the San Diego Union Tribune. She has captured the conflict as the teachers see it.

It is unfortunate that a small group of students can ruin an event, privilege, etc. In part, that is what happened on Thursday. Of the 500 students in attendance, most were riveted to the 85 year-old-woman on the stage for the bulk of the time. Most didn't eat or pass notes or play with their cell phones or sleep. Most were embarrassed by the disrespectful actions of those students who were doing those things.

After I expressed my dissatisfaction with their behavior (in very strong terms), I turned my class discussions on Friday to the content of the presentation. Most of my students were moved, all expressed appreciation for the opportunity to here her speak, and many spoke elegantly of the parts of her story that impacted them the most. Several came up to me after class to thank me and apologize for their peers.

Teenagers get a bad rap. Some absolutely deserved it, most don't. Sorry EdWonk, but my students are my students. I can call them names and point out their deficiencies, but if some else does, I feel the need to defend them. Apparently, my parental instincts are being honed for when my kids are teenagers.

Additionally, I need to take some responsibility for the mess. In retrospect, I think that filling the 500-seat theater was a mistake. I think allowing almost all of the sophomore class attend was a mistake. There are some organizational changes that I will implement next year that will cut down on the volume of students and add an element of accountability. Not sure what that will look like, but I have some time. I have always believed that the students, who most need to be there, wouldn't go on their own accord. I will just have to find a way to I ensure that those still students attend.

Yesterday a Holocaust survivor spoke to about 500 10th and 11th graders at my school in our theater. In the seven years that I have organized this event, the audience has never been so disrespectful. Students had their cell phones out, talked, slept, ate lunch, wrote notes, and I'm sure committed numerous other acts of disrespect. The survivor actually addressed a couple individuals that she noticed - imagine being called out by an 85-year-old woman in front of 500 people. Luckily the lights and her own absorption into her story distracted her from the dozens of other students. Apparently, my frustration was obvious, as numerous students said they knew I was upset by the end of the two-hour event.

Then, to top it off, I received an e-mail a couple hours after I had driven the woman home outlining the mess the students had left in our theater (which is actually a very nice facility). Soda bottles, candy wrappers, and even gum were found on the chairs and floor.

Needless to say, I was/am upset. I expressed my dissatisfaction with my classes, who showed genuine shock and embarrassment. A couple other teachers and myself agreed we have to examine how we do this in the future. 500 students are probably too many. Making it during the school day encourages students to go just to get out of a couple classes.

What is usually a very positive experience for the students and me has been tainted this year. Bummer.

Sometimes the greatest lessons are incredibly basic. Today was the first day back from spring break and I was starting Civil Rights in United States history. I never know what to expect on the day after a long break - sometimes I get indifference, other times I get an inability to be quiet or sit still. So, I wanted to head off their behavior at the pass and get them involved from the get go. On Sunday, I staring at my Civil Rights Overview PowerPoint, and then it came to me. Within five minutes I had an idea that would get them involved, let them talk about their favorite thing (themselves), and hopefully spark some interest in the upcoming unit.

I begin by talking about race being one of the biggest issues this country will continue to face in their lifetimes. This is especially relevant at my school, which is about 85% white and has a history white power issues. We have banned symbol after symbol because racist groups keep using them to identify themselves. About six years ago, a young African American marine was paralyzed by a group of white kids who shouted racial slurs as they stomped on his body. Three or four of those boys graduated from my high school. This led to a short discussion of the community, stereotypes, and tolerance.

Then, I asked each student to describe two instances that they or someone they know experienced an act of discrimination or prejudice. After about 15 minutes of quiet, I broke them into groups to discuss their examples. At the end, each group shared out and we had a class discussion on the commonalities and variety of stories.

In both classes, it went beautifully. There was no inappropriate comments, they sat patiently and listened to each other, both in the small group and whole class discussions. The stories they shared were generally good, but the conversations they had were even better.

Tomorrow the PowerPoint.

Two weeks of mostly obligation free time (as opposed to winter break when there is Christmas, News Years, etc.), here's the list.

1. Spend quality time with my family
   
2. Grade world history tests
   
3. Plan U.S. History Civil Rights Unit
   
4. Actually develop lessons for Civil Rights Unit
   
5. Read a couple one books
   
6. Install sprinkler system for new veggie garden
   
7. Plant new garden
   
8. Make solid progress on massive project for masters class
   
9. Make solid progress on Holocaust Wiki project for masters special study and world history classes
   
10. Blog several just this one times
    
11. Bring the kids to Disneyland
    
12. Change my blog template to match my homepage
    
13. Attend U2 concert
    
14. Organize storage area
    
15. Sell all the stuff I've kept for all these years for some reason or another on eBay (Atari 2600, Super Nintendo, old camera equipment, 20 year old baseball cards, etc.).
    
16. Catch up on readings for grad class
    

Well with two days left I can say that my list is far from complete. However, there was one snag. Not really a snag, but just something that that needed to done. My youngest (22 months) needed his tonsils out. So instead of going to Disneyland or doing a lot of work around the house or working in my classroom, my wife and I comforted him any way we could. He had a rougher time then the doctor expected. We also tried to keep the four year old's life as normal as possible. Most of the things that I did finish this break, I did in the last couple of days. All that other stuff could wait, my boys needed some attention. This last couple of weeks reminds me of John Lennon's quote: "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."


A few hours after the procedure, once we left the hospital, there weren't many smiles for the next week and a half.

The U2 concert was great. There are a few bands that I am a tad bit obsessive about, U2 happens to be one of them. They were my first concert back in 1987 on the Joshua Tree tour. Actung Baby came out at during a defining time in my life. All That You Can't Leave Behind came out right before my first son was born. They have remained my favorite for close to 20 years. Many can't stand Bono's over the top, in your face preachiness, but that is one thing that I seem to love. Their causes always line up with my ideological viewpoints. Anyway, despite a few early tour glitches (I went to the second show on the tour), it was certainly an amazing performance.




Monday we start it up again. I think I have a pretty good handle on what I need to do without over doing it.