"I Got Schooled :The Unlilely Story of How a Moonlighting Movie Maker Learned Five Keys to Closing America's Education Gap" by M. Night Shyamalan is a book on one persons view of how we could change the educational system to better affect the children we are supposed to be teaching.  Some of the Keys are ones that almost anyone would imagine but the amount of research that went into the writing of this book is amazing.  While I agreed with much of what he said I am also aware of the many challenges to effecting these changes.  

The Five Keys are Teachers (no surprise there!) Principals (again no surprise) Data, Small Schools and More time in school.

Teachers - This could be a difficult one as I have worked in education and I can see problems for change here.  The author also recognizes this but it is imperative that teachers always need to be working at becoming better and finding ways to engage their students.  I understand the anxiety that teachers have about evaluation but the author suggests some different ways to evaluate such as video evaluations, student learning growth and student surveys.  The student surveys might sound threatening but in those surveys the questions have nothing to do with whether or not you like the teacher but questions such as "The teacher in this class encourages me to do my best" or "Our class stays busy and does not waste time" or " My teacher takes the time to summarize what we learn each day."

All of us in other public jobs get evaluated every year and while there is some anxiety it is just part of the job and if one is working hard, has good relationships with their colleagues, the administration and the public and is always looking for new and innovative ways to improve it should go well.  No, I don't live in a fairyland but base my opinions on experience.

Principals and other administrators - The Principal is critical to improving the schools and it is important to hire principals who are not just managers but ones who are out and about the school, in classrooms and who set a positive tone for the school.  The author talks about the importance of creating the principal through proper training.  Leadership may not come naturally but must be learned.  It is also important the the bosses (Superintendents) have the same training so they can be supportive of their principals.  In doing the research the author and his team found that principals spend less time on the most important thing that affects student learning and that is instruction.  Principals in top performing schools spend approximately 80% of their time on instruction.  They model best practices, observe, and spend time in the classrooms.  When this becomes an established procedure it is no longer threatening.
Small Schools - The data shows that small schools with 400-600 students are able to achieve a definite impact on student learning and achievement.  It is easier for a principal to supervise a school with fewer students.  Some people who implement small schools do it over a period of time using one grade at a time and training teachers and changing the culture of the school.  This may be one of the hardest to implement as it would take remodeling or constructing new schools.  Some of the most successful schools in advancing student achievement have begun in the last 20 years.
More Time in School -  The author advocates for longer school days and longer school years.  We no longer need to be an an agricultural calendar as most students are not working in the fields any more.  These longer days and years help those in less affluent families more as those in more affluent families often are offered outside activities that help them to retain and even grow in knowledge.
I have to agree with most of these ideas but I do see problems in trying to implement them over a wide area partly due to cost and then partly due to the existing culture in many schools.  I have worked in education and have seen first hand the rebellion that arises when change is being implemented.  I have also seen principals who put their own goals ahead of those that may be best for the students and I have seen good and bad teachers but most of them are basically good and have the student's best interest at heart but need to be challenged and shown how to change to create a thirst for knowledge and energy in the classroom.
I have also seen parents who want easy grades for the children and have not put the value on good and challenging education.  I have seen an emphasis on athletics that overshadows the academic.  In my opinion this has has come about over the last 20-25 years.  It did not use to be this way.
Regardless of my opinions this is a book that can challenge educators and parents to rethink how they view the educational process ands work to achieve higher student achievement.

FINDING COMMUNITY

Last night I stayed up way past my bedtime to watch the movie You've Got Mail.  How many of us remember the day of AOL and awaited the message "You've Got Mail"?  I know I did.  Every time I watch that movie I take away something that makes me think.
If you have never seen it you should watch it.  It is not only a nice and unique love story but there are some very good issues in it.  Meg Ryan as Kathleen Kelly owns a lovely bookstore in New York City and Tom Hanks as Joe Fox of FOX Books are adversaries.  Fox Books puts Kelly's bookstore Shop Around the Corner out of business by moving into the same neighborhood and building a huge discount book store.  Does this remind you of Borders (now gone), Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Books A Million?  How many small independent bookstores have been put out of business by these retail giants?
This also applies to other Big Box stores like Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart and others.  How many small businesses have gone by the wayside because of these giants?
What is the point of all this you might ask.  Just look at this movie and see the personal touch and the knowledge of books that is given in The Shop Around the Corner.  Then go to FOX Books and see how the people working there have very little knowledge of the books and authors they are selling.  Just think what we have lost.  We have lost the sense of community that can be built when we develop relationships with the people in shops.
Last winter I needed window washing fluid for my car.  I went to the local Aubuchon dealer and yes, I know it is also a national chain but is owned or franchised by locals in small stores.  After I bought the fluid the young man at the counter said let me fill your fluid in the car.  Now that would never happen at Lowe's or Home Depot or Walmart.  Small stores bring a caring and a desire for good customer service that these big stores do not have.  They only care about the bottom line.
When I grew up in Acton, MA we used to shop in Maynard and there was a variety of small stores and I especially remember a small clothing store.  I think it was called Beryl's.  She know her customers so well that when my mother went in she would say, "Ruth, I think I have just the thing for you."  Can you see that happening in many places today? No, we have to go through racks and racks of stuff that has no appeal and no one who cares a damn about what you might want or need.
Today here in my little corner of Maine there is a new small shop in Gorham called Carter's Green Market.  They carry lots of local products and when I go in that store I feel welcomed and they know who I am and we share cooking ideas and other small snippets of information and I feel at home there. It is unusual to find that anywhere today.  I sure hope the local folks appreciate what they have and support them.
A few years ago there was a book written called Bowling Alone and it is about how disconnected we as a society have become.  It talked about places where you can find community and it sure was not in the Walmart's of the world but in small places like libraries and other places where people gather to find community.
Our culture has so separated people that one can feel very alone even when surrounded by lots of people.  So when you get an opportunity to shop visit the small local places like Nonesuch Books in South Portland, Terra Cotta Pasta in South Portland, Molly's Cupcakes in North Windham or Carter's Green Market in Gorham and you will find a welcoming smile and helpful folks to assist you and appreciate your business.

HOW CAN WE LET THIS HAPPEN?

I am so distraught about the new cuts to the food stamp program.  How can anyone live with themselves knowing that millions of children go to bed at night hungry?  How can we live with ourselves knowing that not only children but adults and seniors go to bed hungry?  How can we live with ourselves knowing that millions of seniors are being taken off Meals on Wheels?
Here is a little story about Meals on Wheels.  I was so upset that seniors were losing one meal a week that I called the local chapter to see what ordinary citizens could do to help out.  The woman I spoke to told me, in a very cold way, that due to regulations they could not accept food from us.  I even offered to have my kitchen inspected.  I told her that here in my neighborhood we could supply all the desserts they needed and she told me that they were cutting back to one cookie a day!  Now to us that cookie may not be important but to a senior living alone that cookie may be the highlight of their day.  She also said I would need to get in touch with someone who had more authority.  I was disgusted.  We are told by some in government that individuals and churches need to take up the slack but when one tries to do so we are not allowed due to "regulations".  Does anyone realize how important those meals are to the seniors?  It is not only the food that is important but the connection with another human being who delivers their food and stops to have a word or two with that person.
How can we make our elected representatives understand just how these cuts affect the people they are supposed to represent?  How can we get the public to rise up and complain about these cuts?  We sit in our comfortable homes, well dressed, well fed with all of our  smart phones and wide screen TV's and other luxuries and do nothing!  Aren't we supposed to be our brother's keeper?  Aren't we supposed to feed and clothe those less fortunate than ourselves?  Doesn't our government have a responsibility to see that its citizens are fed, clothed and healthy?
We have 1% of our society that have so much money and then a huge proportion of people who have little or nothing.  Here in Portland we have seniors in homeless shelters and the shelters are full to overflowing.  Something needs to be done.  How are we to accomplish this?
Now the House of Representatives is talking about a long vacation as there isn't much to do.  What are they thinking?  There is a lot to do and we are paying them good money.  I say take their pay away and give it to the programs that have need and then end the sequester cuts that are hurting so many.  No one is talking about the sequester.  Does anyone really care?  How can any representative or senator go home and look those people in the eye and see the eyes of those who are hungry and discouraged and not want to act to help them?  I do not have the answers but I do know that unless the people rise up and demand change it will not happen.
So won't you join me in hounding our legislatures to fix these critical problems?  Or will you choose to sit at home and ignore the existence of the plight of the poor, the unemployed, the disabled and the children?  That is the choice that faces us.

THE POWER OF CITIZENSHIP

I don't know about any of you but when I was in the 7th grade (that was many years ago!) we had the most wonderful teacher, Ray J. Gray, and he taught Civics.  Mr. Gray was a short round man with chipmunk cheeks and while we all laughed at him at times we all came to love him.  We learned all about how government works and the power of the vote.  He was passionate about this topic.
When our class had its 50th reunion the group that I hung out with all were there and we shared life experiences and then talked about school.  Each and everyone of us talked about Mr. Gray and the impact he had on our lives.  We all acknowledged that we never miss an election and the opportunity to make our voices heard.  This is the impact that a good teacher can have.
I believe that passion for Civics and the power of our voices is missing in our schools.  We took that class for one half of the year and the other half was Geography.  How many kids now know what is east and west of the Mississippi or what the state capitals are and where the states are located?  How many kids understand how important it is to become a lifelong voter and to participate in the government at a local, state or national level.  Does anyone really care anymore?  If they don't care then we are in bigger trouble than I thought.
I could go on and one about what I believe should be taught in schools but that would take a book!!
Speaking of books, the title of this post comes from a new book written by Scott Reich titled The Power of Citizenship.  He takes off from the words by John F. Kennedy.  "Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country."  How can we make those words come to life for today's young people?  We need to try.  While I have not read Reich's book I am ordering it.  I saw him interviewed and he exhibits the same passion that Mr. Gray did for the power of citizenship.
Mr. Gray passed on a few years ago but his memory and passion stayed with at least 20 of us and I suspect many more too and continues on today.  In that small group of people who gathered many are bloggers or journalists or have important jobs but all are active in some way in the political process.
I wish for our students and other young people to be imbued with that same passion as I believe that is the only way we can save our democracy.

THE SHUTDOWN IS OVER??????

Well the government shutdown and debt ceiling crises is over.  At least it is over for another three months when I am sure we will go through the same thing again.  It was totally unnecessary!

Unfortunately the likes of Ted Cruz and his cohorts as well as the spineless Speaker of the House John Boehner relish actions like this.  They care nothing for what the American people want.  They do not mind hurting hungry children, pregnant and nursing mother and babies as well as seniors who rely on Meals On Wheels.  They do not care that their actions could have hurt millions of retirees retirement money.

And the battles are already engaged.  Who does the House of representatives appoint to work on te Farm Bill which includes the food stamp program but the most anti food stamp person, Rep. Steve Southerland (R-FL).  He would throw millions of needy folks off the food stamp program.  So that battle line is already engaged.  Why they will not appoint someone to work on a jobs program that will put people to back work is beyond my ken.  Putting people back to work would solve some of food stamp issue but these people have not even proposed a jobs program even though they say all the time JOBS JOBS JOBS.
The shutdown cost us the taxpayers an estimated 24 billion dollars but the Congress still got paid and for what?  Telling lies and more lies and sitting on their thumbs while keeping the nation in an uproar not knowing what would befall us.
There is a petition calling for the Justice Department to arrest leaders in the House for sedition!  I say go for it and get rid of them before they can do more harm.  In my last post I called them political terrorists and I still believe that and if we think it is over, think again!
It is such a joke to me that Senator Susan Collins is getting high marks for helping end the shutdown when she voted for it TWICE!  She talks out of both sides of her mouth and wants it both ways.
Well, we shall see where all this leads and hopefully reasonable people will prevail.

DEFAULT???????

It is very hard to believe that Republicans are ready to let this nation default on its already budgeted items.  It isn't creating new expenditures.  It is paying for what we have already contracted for.  Boehner says he doesn't have the votes to avoid this but he does!!!  All he needs to do is bring a clean bill to the floor.  All he is worried about is his speakership.  He cares nothing for this country or its people.  I would call him and his cohorts political terrorists.
We are reading about the dire consequences of default and people are scared and I guess they should be.   This would be a global crisis that would devastate the global economy.  There is  no way to prepare for a crisis like this.
How can these supposedly intelligent men and women take this country to the brink.  They are so isolated from the world as they sit in their ivory tower in Washington still getting paid, having insurance and a safe secure retirement that they cannot even see what will happen to ordinary people like you and me.
Boehner should be scared too as he could not only lose his speakership but his seat in the House and I hope someone challenges him and brings out his cowardly ways.  He should be easy to beat although his district is probably one that is gerrymandered.
I am afraid that people will be so devastated and scared that there will be tragic consequences.  Someone is going to get hurt over this and someone already has.  An unarmed woman with a baby in her car was shot SIX times.  I think that is unnecessary.  They could have apprehended her instead.
It is a fact that Senator Susan Collins speaks out of both sides of her mouth.  She talks a good game about the dangers of a shutdown but voted with her party to go ahead with it. She needs to be voted out when this term expires.  She cannot be trusted to vote for the good of the people of Maine.
Well, we shall see how this all plays out but I am fearful about the outcome.

FRUSTRATED! ANGRY! DISCOURAGED!

It is so hard for me to believe the direction this government is taking.  How can so many people vote to cut 40 billion dollars from the food stamp program?  So many people depend on it for sustainability.  This is how they feed their kids.  They are not all slackers either.  Many have jobs at Walmart, MacDonald's or other big chains where the wages are not enough even to feed one person especially if they are trying to support a family and keep them in housing.
Eric Cantor who praised this bill and strongly supported it has 85,000 people in his district who are on food stamps.  Yet he voted to cut this program while never trying to get a jobs bill passed so that maybe more of his people could work.  Also some of the republicans who voted for this bill stand to gain thousand of dollars in farm subsidies.
From Buzzfeed.com
"During the food stamp debate, GOP Rep. Stephen Fincher, who received thousands in farm subsidies, responded to a Democratic Congressman during the debate over the cuts by quoting the bible, saying “the one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”Fincher himself has received his own large share of government money. From 1999 to 2012, Stephen & Lynn Fincher Farms received $3,483,824 in agriculture subsidies. Last year he took in $70,574 alone.

Another Republican congresswoman who voted to make cuts to the food stamp program was Rep. Vicky Hartzler of Missouri. Her farm received more than $800,000 in Department of Agriculture subsidies from 1995-2012. In 2001, her farm received $135,482 in subsidies. 

Rep. Kristi Noem of South Dakota, who also voted to make cuts to the program, was a partner in Racota Valley Ranch, her family’s farm and previously had nearly a 17% stake through 2008. The farm received $3.4 million in subsidies from 1995-2012. The Environmental Working Group, which analyzes subsidy data, says the “estimated amount of subsidies attributed to Rep. Noem from 1995-2012 is $503,751.”

Rep. Marlin Stutzman, a Republican Rep. from Indiana also received his fair share of government subsidies. He personally took in nearly $200,000 for the farm he co-owns with his father."

They use words from the Bible to support their actions.  Well, there are plenty of words in the Bible that tell us to take care of the poor and needy.  I am tired of people who profess to be Christians but act in unchristianly ways.  Now the new Pope Francis says we need to take care of the poor and he lives like he believes it.
I believe that many of these people are true hypocrites.  Take from the poor and fill my own pockets as well as those of my biggest donors is their philosophy.  They care nothing for their own constituents because they think those who are poor will not vote.  Well we need to prove them wrong!
A millionaire Georgia Republican even whined that $172,000.00 was not enough money  for working 126 days.when the median income in his state is approximately $49,000.00.  What a nerve and he is also estimated to be worth between 3 and 7 million.
We need to find a way to make some serious changes in who represents the people in this country because neither party is doing a very good job of it.