The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,300 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 22 trips to carry that many people.
My daughter was given a Hallmark book that comes with a dog that makes different sounds at different parts of the book in response to preprogrammed phrases. It got me thinking about how cool it would be to have a piece of technology that was preprogrammed with a story and proper pronunciation. When students read the book if they mispronounce the word they could be automatically corrected with the proper way of saying the word.
Although a teacher would still be involved with helping students improve their reading fluency, having a piece of technology like this would help struggling readers because it allows them to do more reading out loud and not have to wait for other kids ahead of them in the row.
To make the system even more automated, the system could send a report to the teacher with the problem words or phrases so the teacher could work more quickly one on one with struggling readers.
This doesn’t replace a teacher, it would just give us another tool.z
At Safeway- Me wearing a UO Coat…
Random Woman: Did you go to the UO?
Me: Yes I did.
RW: I went to (insert community college name). Although a bachelor’s degree doesn’t get you very far anymore either.
Me: It is a lot harder to find a job.
RW: Did you know you even need a Master’s to teach now?
Me: I have heard that.
RW: Although some of those people are pretty stupid, didn’t do them any good.
Me: Have a nice night.
Sadly, not the first time that a random person has insulted teacher/teaching in the checkout line. The other time was when a checker said that the schools were spending too much money on new schools…
Where again? In the city 35 miles West where the schools were A) unsafe and B) overcrowded?
Looking at this, and then state test specifications, and thinking about all the things that teachers need to do, and all the things that I want to do, and all the things that should already be in place in our schools can sometimes feel like the following:
It’s a good feeling because it means I’m still in the game and I want to win. Our students deserve the best and we should always be looking to improve.
Recently the OEIB sent an email asking me for feedback. Here were my thoughts.
My Response:
Q: The OEIB has had many discussions about incentives in education. One of the questions that has been asked is “What kinds of efforts help to incentivize teachers to be innovative and creative?” Will you please take a moment to answer this question?
A: This question operates on a false premise that teachers are not already working hard to be innovative and creative. Perhaps a better questions would be, “What kinds of efforts woud help to incentivize the legislature into taking action to fully fund education? Or, failing at that, funding education at the level it was 5 years ago?”
Q: What (if any) barriers are in the way of you being able to be innovative in your teaching?
A: Three things, and all stem for not fully funding education.
First, large class sizes make it harder to do innovative work. Innovative work requires the teacher to be much more hands on and it’s hard to do when there are many students who need help.
Second, a lack of technology. There are so many things that can be done to help individualize education and make it more relevant, but these steps require regular, and reliable computer access. I am so tired of treating the computer lab like it’s a special trip. Nowhere in business do we treat using a computer like it’s special. It’s the way we do business, unless you’re in a school. It’s hard to plan for big things, or routine things if you don’t know if the lab is going to be available on the days you need it, or when the one lab available to 250 students is block scheduled for Oregon OAKS testing.
Third, a lack of classroom assistants to help students get caught up. This applies to students in special education who could use more attention in the classroom and those students who fall behind for any number of reasons. It damages the progress of the whole class if we stop to get every student caught up. This is especially frustrating when a few sessions with a classroom assistant would help that student get caught up with the class.
As an aside: Simply reallocating money will not fix this problem. Resources are so scarce that hoping that shifting money into different funds for different programs will not fix the problem. Taking the approach that funding, “is what it is” would be like an ER doctor focusing on the breathing of a patient and ignoring the failing heart because there wasn’t enough equipment. The OEIB needs to place pushing the legislature to actually fully invest in education as its number one priority. Then and only then should the OEIB talk about investments.
*Written on a plane, forgive me for any hokiness.*
Sometimes the flight attendants forget to close the curtain between first class and the horde in the back of the plane. That gives me, a member of the horde, the opportunity to see what it’s like near the front. Am I jealous of the personal massages and I’ve sculptures? No. I am jealous however, that my economy class ticket didn’t buy me the chance to spend a few minutes with the complimentary basket of kittens.
Ok, to the point. Are we providing first class service to our students, our are they economy class? Do all of our kids feel special and welcome? Do they feel like we are going the extra mile to show that we care?
If not, are there other teachers who are providing first class service while your students peek through the open curtain?
I have been trying to provide first class service this year, but I know there will be moments when I’m tired or something isn’t working when I will find it really hard to do so. That said, I’m going to remember this flight and work really hard to ensure that the students are always in the front of the plane.
-Paul
Wanted to write a quick post and remind you to get out there and buy school supplies while they’re on sale! Be sure to stock up now so you can use the cheap stuff as long as you can. Here are a few school supply tips that will help your child have a better year. These are written with middle school students in mind, but can be applied to high schoolers as well.
First- When it comes to the binder, if at all possible, get one with a zipper. I know the binders that you can put pictures in are cool, but trust me… you will have less headaches as a parent because fewer assignments will fall out, and those pencils that are tossed in at the end of class have a better chance of making it the 150 feet to the next class.
Second- Pencils. Ok, I am kind of a pencil snob, but let me tell you, the cheapest pencils are not the best way to go. I understand wanting to save money, but you will end up purchasing more pencils overall because the cheapest ones are the cheapest because they don’t last as long. For awhile I thought that some of my students were just pressing too hard, but one day I was scribing for a student and their pencil died in no time. Invest the extra money in the next level up. (Dixon Ticonderogas are my personal favorite, but they are much more spendy and middle schoolers tend to lose pencils).
Third- Spring for the pencil case. There are so many little things that a student needs to hold onto and this will make that much easier.
Fourth- Glitter pens. Just don’t. 
I have old eyes and as much as I make it clear for students to not use them, I inevitably get assignments written in pink and green glitter. Save your kids the rewrite time and have them leave the glitter pens at home.
Fifth- Get folders with pockets for each class your child will have. One side can be a the “to do box” and the other side can be the “to turn in box.” A big folder for returned work should be purchased as well. Have your child put all of their returned/corrected work in that folder to bring home to you so you know how they are doing.
Sixth- I want to wipe down my desks every Friday, but I can’t afford to buy all of the Lysol (or off brand) wipes. If your school asks for those to be included, please try to make that happen. Think of hoe much easier everyone’s lives will be if we can cut down on colds. Not only is it tough to get caught up, I always feel so bad when I see a sick student.
Just some quick thoughts I’ve had since I’ve started to see more and more back to school ads. Happy hunting!
Hi,
If this is your first visit to my site, feel free to click around. Here’s a link to my Author’s Choice page. It has my favorite entries so far.
I haven’t been writing that much on here lately because I have been spending time with family. I am starting to get things ready for the new year, so there will probably be a few posts about what I’m planning and probably a few observations about teaching as I spend more and more time thinking about the upcoming school year.
Feel free to leave comments and we can have a discussion about things I’ve written about. I’m not an official spokesperson for my employer and all of my views are my views alone.
Regards,
Paul
Hi, I’m Paul Nolan and I’m a teacher. I love education. There are so many great things about being a teacher. The students are great (although sometimes there are challenges) but the challenge of discerning the most relevant and effective ways to teach content and skills; adjusting that for each learner; and having to stay on your toes are why I do what I do!
I am always thinking about education, both within my classroom and larger policy issues. I also am always looking for ways to make things better in the profession. Policy, plans, methods, research… all of this is interesting to me. I started this blog in 2007 because I wanted a place to share my ideas and thoughts. Nothing here are things I wouldn’t say in public anyway, so in 2011 I have decided to go public and not blog anonymously anymore.
To celebrate this blog going public, I’m giving a great book away! A copy of Diane Ravitch’s The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education will be given away to one lucky person.
The Rules:
You gain entries in the following way:
I am the father to a wonderful one year old. She is funny, smart, beautiful, a little crazy, and the love of my life. The day before yesterday she was in our backyard for the first time and I turned to her and let her know that she was the reason why we had grass back there. When we bought the house it was all weeds and leaves in the front and back, so I worked for a few months getting the yard ready for sod while also working with my mom and wife on a terracing project. It took forever, but when everything was done, we had transformed the exterior of the house.
What I didn’t tell the tow head in the backyard was that she is the reason I’ve done everything in my life. I remember being in middle school and wanting a stable source of income, in a job that I liked so I could support a family. Of course, being the President of the United States is different than being a 6th grade teacher 
but that drive pushed me through school. I also wanted to find someone who I could build a family with. I met her at college as I worked toward my degree. So everything I am has been in preparation for my little one. I truly hope that I measure up to the goal I’ve been working towards for years.
So what does this have to do with a blog about education? A few months ago I had a teacher in my building tell me that a girl in one of my classes told her during a lesson that, “Mr. ____ is like my second father.” Now I hadn’t pulled some above and beyond, Freedom Writers, Ron Clark Story, Insert-teacher-in-Hollywood-movie-where-they-save-the-kid-from-a-bad-environment, move. I had just taught her and treated her like every other student. The kid has probably forgotten she said it, but for me it’s one of those things that I will never forget.
On Father’s Day we take time to recognize those men in our lives who raised us, or had some sort of influence on our lives. We also give ourselves an attaboy if we’re doing a decent job at being a dad. Although this applies to everyone I’m also putting special emphasis on teachers here because we spend hundreds of hours a year teaching children who are not our own. Male teachers, and especially the rare breed at the 6th grade level and below, you may not receive a card but you too may be seen as “like” someone’s second dad.
You have the opportunity to be a good role model and helper for all of your students. It’s a literally awesome (from the Oxford American Dictionary which has my favorite definition of the word: extremely impressive or daunting; inspiring great admiration, apprehension, or fear) responsibility and privilege. So remember that.
Happy Father’s Day to the Biological, Non-Biological, and “kinda like” dads who influence us everyday.
