A Few Simple Things: Language

     Another issue in our public schools, that should not be an issue at all, is language.  Language; like dress code, attendance, cell phones, and other issues, is only an issue because we as a school system allow it to be an issue.  Students use almost any language on an everyday basis in school with the only consequence being the passing “watch your mouth.”  No discipline, no real consequences, just a reminder that maybe they were speaking a little loudly.
     As with many other simple matters, we as a public school system attempt to justify the foul language used by our students.  Those of us who attempt to address the issue receive replies such as:  “well that is how they are talked to at home,” “that is just the way they talk now,” “they are spoken to worse than that at home,” and so on.  I have so many issues with all of this.  I understand that many of our students have a less than ideal home life.  I understand than for many of our students, language is the least of their worries at home.  I am not trying to be heartless or unsympathetic.  What I am alluding to is that as educators we, as an educational system, have a responsibility to teach beyond our curriculum.  Helping students to understand right from wrong, or that there is a time and place for certain behaviors, has to be a fundamental element of a teacher’s responsibility.
     The justification by administration, school board, and some teachers that “they are spoken to worse than that at home,” is the reason we have to address the issue, not ignore it.  The fact that our students hear and speak these things at home is the reason we as educators have to express the fact their language is not acceptable in school, or public in general for that matter.  If what they hear and learn at home is sufficient then public schools in general no longer have any value.     I have a lunch duty once a week which last a little less than 30 minutes.  I have spent this school year counting the number of times I hear the “F” word in that short amount of time.  The numbers from doing this are actually very frustrating and sad for me.  The highest number I have reached is 72.  The lowest number I have reached is 37.  So, in one area of a public high school, in less than 30 minutes, students use the “F” word more than once a minute.  I have reported this along with student’s names all year.  The result; not a single consequence, punishment, or even discussion has taken place.     Instead of addressing the issue we fall back on our insufficient justifications as reasons to do nothing.  By doing nothing we contribute to the fallacy that their language will be acceptable in public, as well as in their future place of work.  Letting several small things go is leading to major problems which take away from the value of our student’s education.

A Few Simple Things: Dress Code

     Dress code is one of the many things we, as a school system, allow to become a problem for the simple reason that we do nothing about it.  It is not a problem everywhere, but it is in some school systems.  I have taught in three different high schools in three different states.  The high school I attended was in another state. So I have experience of some kind in four high schools in four states.  The difference of the impact of dress code is amazing to me.  So are the reasons that determine the impact dress code can have on the educational day.
     Where I went to high school dress code was not a problem.  We were made aware of the expectations.  We knew what was acceptable and what was not.  We also knew that if we crossed that line it would not be overlooked by the staff and administration.  If you wore something (male or female) that did not meet the policy expectations you were given a few minutes to correct the problem if that was possible.  If the issue was not, or could not be corrected the student was sent home, no questions asked.      My first teaching experience was very similar.  The dress code expectations were very clear and consistently enforced.  By doing both the county prevented dress from becoming an issue which took time and focus away from instructional time.  There were no questions, no excuses.  You either met the expectations or you were not allowed to be there.     My second high school as a teacher was a little less effective when dealing with the dress code.  The enforcement of the policy was consistent.  However, the expectations of what was, and was not acceptable were not as clear.  The uncertainty on the part of the students led to more violations as students felt more free to test the boundaries.  The uncertainty also led teachers to spend more time determining what should be addressed and what should not.  The simple uncertainty allowed the dress code to encroach on instructional time.     In my current school system:  “Wear what you want and see if anything happens.”  At least that might as well be the printed policy for dress code.  Believe it or not we have currently instituted a new dress code which consist of students not being allowed to show their stomachs.  No joke, that is it.  What makes this even worse than it sounds is that our policy is only strongly enforced the first week of school and the first week of spring.  For the rest of the school year it is random at best, and dependent on who the student is at worst.  A student can wear an outfit two or three times but it will only be addressed as a dress code policy issue once.  Worse, two students can wear the same outfit on the same day, but it will only be addressed as a dress code issue with one of the students.
     The uncertainty along with the on-gain, off-again enforcement makes dress code a factor of each and every class period of every school day.  It is not that dress code should not matter. Dress code should matter as students need to understand what is acceptable and unacceptable in certain situations concerning dress. Students need to understand they cannot necessarily wear whatever they want to a job interview, or to work.  The simple fact is dress code is allowed to become a problem in my current school system (and many others) because those in charge do not want to take the time to enforce the an appropriate dress code.  In today’s society our current dress code (or lack there of) is a security concern.  I will address dress code as a security problem in a near future post.

A Few Simple Things: Cell Phones

     Cell Phones.  Why do we allow these in school?  We spend so much time as a school system trying to justify students having their cell phones.  This even includes justifying the students having their phones out in class.  “Technology at their fingertips.”  “Instant research capabilities.”  “Allows students to keep up with important school reminders.”  A high estimation of how much of cell phone use by students in class go towards these high ideals would be around 10%.  On the other hand the teacher will spend 25% of class time addressing the inappropriate cell phone use by the students.
     Instead of educational purposes, the students use their cell phones to:  text, video fights, take pictures, take pictures of quizzes and tests to share, listen to music, and playing games.  Imagine asking a student a question in class and having them respond:  “Just a second, I have to send this text.”  Yes, that actually happens.  Can you imagine you go out to eat with your family and as you wait to be seated the high school age hostess sits at his/her station finishing his/her text before acknowledging that you are waiting for her to seat you.  Why would they ever think this was acceptable behavior?  Because we allow it to take place everyday in class. 
     We have computers in our schools.  Some schools even have 1 to 1 iPads or laptops for their students.  Most schools have the use of Smart Boards available.  We have these old things referred to as textbooks.  All of these provide more of an educational connection, a learning spark, than that of a cell phone.  

A Few Simple Things: Attendance

Attendance, cell phones, dress code, language, and punctuality.  These are all things, simple things, one would like to believe could be easily managed by a public school system.  Yet, each of these simple things are now handled in such a way (in my school system anyway) as to be a detriment to the everyday learning environment.  These are basic needs a student must command to hold a job after high school.  Yet, we as an educational system do not enforce any of these basic needs so as to demonstrate their importance to our students.  Is it really a surprise to find we struggle in larger educational areas as well?  We will get to those larger areas in later posts. 
     Attendance.  Seems simple enough on its own.  If a students is absent from school they do not learn the necessary information.  If someone is repeatedly absent from work they no longer have a job.  I would think it a reasonably good idea to enforce a county public school system’s attendance policy for both learning and real-life purposes.  Enforcing the attendance policy would teach the student the importance of being at school on an everyday basis.  Enforcement of the attendance policy also holds students accountable to be where they are supposed to be when they are supposed to be there, just as will be required when they have a job.
     Instead, the county in which I currently teach, we wait until the student misses their 16th day before we even get involved.  Even then our involvement is not to hold the student accountable to our policy, but to help the students find a way to get around our own system.  We use waivers – which simply means we try to excuse as many of the absences as possible so the student in turn has more days they can miss.  When the student subsequently misses the new days we have provided them with we finally really crack down on them.  Not really, but it sounded better than the truth which is that we have them sign a contract saying they will not miss anymore days that are not absolutely necessary and excused.  
     So, how exactly have we helped these students?  We have taught them not to worry about rules or policy.  We have taught them that it is ok to not be dependable or accountable.  We have taught them that when they get a job they can really just ignore when they are scheduled to work, and should show up only when they truly feel like working.  I do not personally know of a job where you can miss over 20 scheduled days in a seven month time period and remain employed.  So, in the end we taught these students how to fail at sustaining themselves after leaving high school.
     In some ways we worry so much about what our students are and are not learning in the classroom, but we do nothing to promote the same students showing up and paying attention during class.  There are issues in the classrooms as well, and I am sure several blogs will be spent on those issues in the near future, but part of the education we provided our students has to include basic life skills necessary to be successful in school and after school.  If we do not hold our students accountable they will never understand the reprecussions of their decisions.

Introduction

Stress relief.  Stress relief is my primary goal in beginning this journey.  I have every reason to be happy and carefree.  I have a wonderful wife and wonderful children.  I have a nice place to call home on a nice little piece of land.  And yet, even with all of this, I struggle with depression and anxiety in my ongoing challenge to be a better husband and father.

     My stress, depression, and anxiety come from one source:  public education.  My father taught for 30 years.  My sister has 20 years of teaching and counting.  I am currently beginning up year number 15 for myself.  All I ever wanted to do was to teach in a public high school.  However, after over a decade and a half of seeing for myself what public education has become, the only thing I want to do now is anything other than teach in a public school at any level.  What I really want is any job other than public school teacher, which will still permit me to keep my children away from public education.

     I will use this blog to detail the reasons I have come to the dark place I am currently in with public education.  My hope is that by putting all of this out in the open I will become better at coping with my frustrations, depression, and anxiety.  I hope any feedback I receive will allow me to see other viewpoints.  Also, I hope by detailing what is (and more importantly what is not) taking place in public education will allow other to make better choices for their children.

Introduce Yourself (Example Post)

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

  • Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
  • Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

  • Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
  • What topics do you think you’ll write about?
  • Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
  • If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.