There's No Such Thing As A Bad Child--An Educator's Point of View

Teacher: *sigh* he sooooooooooo bad!

Me: He seems to be making some bad choices, but I don't believe there is a such thing as a "bad" child.

*silence*

Teacher: Yeah okay. Tell me if you feel like that after your first month of teaching.

This is a conversation I've had more than once since starting my first year of full time teaching. It's often followed by a pat on the back and some comment about how sweet first year teachers are. Yes, this is my first year of teaching but it isnt my first year in education. I have tutuored DC youth at every grade level, worked as a manager for 14-19 year olds for 2 summers, and ran the afterschool program at an all boys pre-school to 3rd grade school. Through all of that my belief has stayed the same--there is no such thing as a bad child.

Children need structure and consistency. When either is lacking or non-exsistant it is impossible for them to learn how to make good decisions. I teach 20 bubbly, inquistive, affectionate, loving, inspring 4 year olds every day. Do they sometimes challenge me? Yes. Is it my responsibilty to provide for them a structured, consistent, and safe environment for them to learn? Absolutely. If I don't provide this will their be mayhem. Undoubtedly.

William Glasser's Choice Theory says that humans have five basic needs though the degree varies to how much we need each area. The five needs are:

1. to survive
   
2. to belong
   
3. to have power
   
4. to have freedom
   
5. to have fun
   

These same needs are necessary in my classroom to keep everyone on task. Any off task behavior can be related to one of these needs not being met. For example, I have a particular student with a very strict father and directs everything in my student's life. This student lacks the need to have power and to have freedom. For a 4 year old this is possible. My kids appreciate being able to choose whether or not they will have an apple or a pear for snack. They also love being able to pick which center they get to play in for the morning. With this particular student I have seen him so happy to be able to pick which type of juice to have with snack and I have seen him so defeated when his dad forced him to color his self-portrait on brown construction paper and not white paper with a brown crayon.

Glasser goes on to say, Students are capable of understanding what is generally regarded as acceptable school behavior and can choose to behave in acceptable ways. However, in order to make good choices, students must see the results of these choices as desirable. If bad behavior gets them what they want then they will make bad choices. This is where the teacher can be influential in helping students become aware that they choose their own actions. The teacher forces them to acknowledge their behavior and to make value judgments about it. The teacher refuses to accept excuses for bad behavior. Instead the teacher always directs the student's attention to alternative, more acceptable, behaviour. The essence of discipline then, lies in helping students make good choices.

I am super happy that I dont generally have any behavior issues in my classroom, but it is definitely a problem in my school. It's such an issue that we have had several staff meetings on school-wide discipline plan, behavior logs, and conduct cards. The teachers that seems to be struggling are ones that make excuses or brush students' choices off with things like, "Well, so and so comes from a tough family so what do you expect." The following quote is truly a summary of how I feel. Keep on telling me what I am, and that's what I'll become. -Sue Atkins Labeling a child, whether it be negative or positive, can be damaging.

-Ace of Rambles

Stopping To Take A Breath

Happy Labor Day!!! Today seems like the first day I have had even just a moment to write anything since my last posts. So, what's been going on?

School has started. Tomorrow will be the start of the 3rd week. I have 20 curious, awesome, loving, playful Pre-Kindergarten students. Everyday they make me happy to wake up and influence their first learning moments. There have been moments in the day when I wanted to pull my hair out, but then comes over to me and says, "I like you." and I realize it is so worth it. Coming from a family of educators I have always had a love and admiration for teachers, but now being in their shoes my respect has grown enormously. I am fortunate enough to work with a pretty great group of educators. My mentor is AMAZING! She's been teaching for 10 years and was the Pre-K teacher last year, but decided to loop with her students to teach Kindergarten. She's a 5'2 ball of fire that is hilarious. I am truly looking forward to learning a lot from her....and my kids.

The boyfriend and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary on the 28th. It was nice. I was feeling a little down about it at first because last year we went to San Juan, Puerto Rico to celebrate. This year we weren't able to do anything as lavish, but we enjoyed a great dinner and went to see Takers (mmmmmm Idris Elba). It was really nice just to hang out and relax for a little while. We haven't been able to do much of that this summer.
I am sooooooooooooo looking forward to this influx in income! Not just because I will be making seriously twice as much I was making this time last year, but because now I am in position to really start to pay off my school loans, medical bills, and other debt I have acquired. Being debt free is VERY important to me. I want to be able to do what I want and desire with my hard earned paychecks without this cloud of bill collectors hovering over me. Beside this little beauty is calling my name...
Until next time,
-Ace of Rambles

Why Early Childhood Education?

Aren't you afraid of the whining? snotty noses? accidents? the clingy-ness? Wow, you must have A LOT of patience!

These are some of the things I hear when I talk to people about my passion for Early Childhood Education (ECE). No, I'm not afraid of any of these things. I kinda have a lot of patience, but I don't think it's a deal breaker for being an ECE teacher.

I LOVE ECE because I think it is such a gift to be able to witness a child's first learning experience. To see a child come in to class on the first day and barely know their alphabet, but by Christmas have the ability to write their name and 3 letter words gives me indescribable joy. Research shows the it's in ECE classrooms that we first begin to see the achievement gap begin to widen, but I believe that giving a child a strong foundation sets them up for academic success.

I LOVE ECE because I can be as silly and as goofy as I want to be and it's okay. I get to sing, dance, color, read books, and so much more! It doesn't matter that I can't draw because my students tell me they love the pictures I draw. I could be having a horrible day, but a hug or a thank you from a Kindergartner has a way of completely changing my whole mood.
I am so excited that I have recently been hired as a Pre-K teacher in an AWESOME school! I know there will be tears, frustration, anger, and doubt during my first year of teaching. But I also know there will be triumphs, achievements, laughter, and smiles!

I look forward to writing about everything that happens in my first year.

-Ace of Rambles

Great Support....DCTF Update

Hey Everyone!

So training for DCTF has been going great. I am very lucky to have Fellow Advisor and Resource Specialist with a lot of experience, great attitudes, and willingness to help new teachers. I love most of the people in my cohort and my Early Childhood Education group is getting closer and closer. I'm glad that we are paired with Fellows that will be teaching Elementary Education, as well as English Language Learners. I've been able to really soak up a lot of great tips and ideas to implement in my class in the Fall.

We start Practice Teaching tomorrow, and I really hope my Cooperating Teaching is just as awesome as the other people I've been able to meet. Well, I'm off to do some reading to prepare for tomorrow.

-Ace of Rambles

Successful Young Black Men

I have read 2 stories this week that have truly made me proud. Working at an all boys school I see first-hand what tools are needed to ensure the success of young Black men in America. Shout out to those parents, family, teachers, and friends that make it happen. Happy reading!

Every Urban Prep senior is college-bound

100 percent of first senior class at all male, all African-American Englewood academy is accepted to universities

By Duaa Eldeib, Tribune reporter

8:43 PM CST, March 5, 2010

Four years ago, Bryant Alexander watched his mother weep.

She stared down at a muddle of D's and F's on his eighth-grade report card and threatened to kick him out. He had barely passed elementary school, and high school wasn't even on his radar.

"Something just clicked," Alexander, now 18, said. "I knew I had to do something."

On Friday, Alexander proudly swapped his high school's red uniform tie for a striped red and gold one — the ritual at Englewood's Urban Prep Academy for Young Men that signifies a student has been accepted into college.

As the Roseland resident and 12 others tied their knots, Chicago's only public all-male, all-African-American high school fulfilled its mission: 100 percent of its first senior class had been accepted to four-year colleges.

Mayor Richard Daley and city schools chief Ron Huberman surprised students at the all-school assembly Friday morning with congratulations, and school leaders announced that as a reward, prom would be free.

The achievement might not merit a visit from top brass if it happened at one of the city's elite, selective enrollment high schools. But Urban Prep, a charter school that enrolls all comers in one of Chicago's most beleaguered neighborhoods, faced much more difficult odds.

Only 4 percent of this year's senior class read at grade level as freshmen, said Tim King, the school's founder and CEO.

"There were those who told me that you can't defy the data," King said. "Black boys are killed. Black boys drop out of high school. Black boys go to jail. Black boys don't go to college. Black boys don't graduate from college.

"They were wrong," he said.

Every day, before attending advanced placement biology classes and lectures on changing the world, students must first pass through the neighborhood, then metal detectors.

"Poverty, gangs, drugs, crime, low graduation rates, teen pregnancy — you name it, Englewood has it," said Kenneth Hutchinson, the school's director of college counseling, who was born and raised in Englewood.

He met the students the summer before they began their freshman year during a field trip to Northwestern University, the first time many of them had ever stepped foot on a college campus. At the time, Hutchinson was Northwestern's assistant director of undergraduate admissions. Inspired by what he'd seen, he started working for Urban Prep two months later.

"I'm them," he said Friday as he fought back tears. "Being accepted to college is the first step to changing their lives and their communities."

Hutchinson plays a major role in the school, where college is omnipresent. Students are assigned college counselors from day one. To prepare students for the next level, the school offers a longer than typical day — about 170,000 minutes longer, over four years, than other city schools — and more than double the usual number of English credits, King said

Even the school's voice-mail system has a student declaring "I am college-bound" before asking callers to dial an extension.

The rigorous academic environment and strict uniform policy of black blazers, red ties and khakis isn't for everyone. The first senior class began with 150 students. Of those who left, many moved out of the area and some moved into neighborhoods that were too dangerous to cross to get to the school, King said. Fewer than 10 were expelled or dropped out, he said.

At last count, the 107 seniors gained acceptance to a total of 72 different colleges, including Northwestern University, Morehouse College, Howard University, Rutgers University and University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. Alexander was accepted to DePaul University.

While college acceptance is an enormous hurdle to jump, school leaders said they know their job isn't done; they want to make sure the students actually attend.

To that aim, King said, staff made sure that every student has completed the dreaded Free Application for Federal Student Aid, lest the red tape deter them.

Later in the year, the school plans to hold a college signing day where every student is to sign a promise to go to college, he said. Staff will stay in touch through the summer and hopefully in the first years of school.

"We don't want to send them off and say, ‘Call us when you're ready to make a donation to your alma mater,' " King said. "If we fulfill our mission, that means they not only are accepted to college, but graduate from it."

For now, students are enjoying the glow of reaching their immediate goal.

Normally, it takes 18-year-old Jerry Hinds two buses and 45 minutes to get home from school. On the day the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana was to post his admission decision online at 5 p.m., he asked a friend to drive him to his home in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood.

He went into his bedroom, told his well-wishing mother this was something he had to do alone, closed the door and logged in.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" he remembers screaming. His mother burst in and began crying.

That night he made more than 30 phone calls, at times shouting "I got in" on his cell phone and home phone at the same time.

"We're breaking barriers," he said. "And that feels great."

_______________________________________________________

Morehouse Whiz Kid is Causing a Stir: 13-Year-Old Dominates College

By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jan 13th 2010

At thirteen years of age, Stephen Stafford is causing quite a stir at Morehouse College. Stafford has a triple major in pre-med, math and computer science. Though he loves playing video games and playing his drum set, he is no typical teenager.

"I've never taught a student as young as Stephen, and it's been amazing," said computer science professor Sonya Dennis. "He's motivating other students to do better and makes them want to step up their game."

Stafford began his college career at the age of 11, after being home-schooled by his mother. Stafford's mother said that when Stafford began to teach her instead of being taught by her, she knew he needed to be in a college environment.

Now THAT'S what I'm talking about. Stephen Stafford, in my opinion, represents exactly what black men are about: Intelligence, ambition and high academic achievement. This is not to disrespect men in other walks of life, but the truth is that you will never see Stephen Stafford's accomplishments promoted like a rap music video.

We must, as a community, applaud and uphold this young man. We must cheer for him as if he averages 40 points a game. We should converse about his achievements as if he had released a platinum hip-hop album. He should get the same respect as every linebacker, point guard or hip-hop artist in America.

Corporate America will not blow Stephen's trumpet, but I will. I also want all the other Stephen Staffords to make themselves seen. There are hundreds of thousands of Stephen Staffords out there who've been convinced by a culture of thuggery that they should do their best to hide their greatness. Rather than acing math class, they've been taught to measure grams and kilos or to memorize football playbooks that are 100 pages thick. Our young men can analyze the triangle offense in basketball and break down a nickel defense, but then become mentally deficient when it comes to doing algebra, science and social studies. The time for mediocrity is over, since education is the key to making your dreams come true. Sports only creates more nightmares for most of the young men who sacrifice their education in order to be athletes (even those who become professionals). This doesn't mean that athletes don't deserve our respect; instead, it means that we've got to learn to separate the hype from reality.

Stephen will make more money than nearly all of his athletic friends, because education produces economic empowerment. He will also have more personal freedom and professional fulfillment. He will live the American dream, and I encourage all of you to make your own sons into the next Stephen Stafford.

The recipe for our kids is simple:

1) Spend as much time studying as you spend playing sports or working at fast food restaurant jobs. If a kid can work 8 hours for McDonalds, then he can study 4 hours a day in the library.

2) Don't let anyone convince you that you can't achieve whatever you put your mind to. No one has the right to define you or your child. Because my grades were horrible in high school, I was told that I wasn't smart enough to go to college and (like millions of black boys across America) recommended for special education. Later on, I became the only African American in the world to earn a PhD in Finance during the year 2002. I didn't earn the degree because I was brilliant. I actually earned it because I finally realized that I had the ability and determination to make my dream into a reality.

Just by studying 4 to 5 hours per day (less than the number of hours they would put in to working a minimum wage job), almost any child in America can get a college degree and become a doctor, lawyer or whatever they want. If George Bush can go to Harvard, then every kid in America can graduate from college if they choose to do so. I've taught college for 16 years, and I can tell you that the term "college material" needs to be abolished. Every child is college material if they want to be. That's the truth.


I LOVE stories like these.

-Ace of Rambles

And Now I Wait...

So yesterday I had my interview with DC Teaching Fellows. I arrived at about 8:20 am, and only about 5 people were there. By the start of the morning there were about 80 candidates there, and they broke us up into groups of 7-8 after having a brief meeting from 9:00 to 9:20am. Once in our groups we went into a classroom where the DCTF staff assigned to our group introduced themselves and went over the schedule for the day. The two staff members for my group are current teachers with DCPS, and both came through the Fellows program. So, after introducing ourselves to the group each person did a 5 minute teaching sample (my favorite part!). I did my teaching sample on when to use the letters c and k for the 'k' sound (Shout out to Ms. Rice!), and it went really well. I was able to get through all the parts concisely without feeling rushed. There was only one other lesson in my group that I thought really worked in the 5 minute period. *shrug* Next, was the writing sample. We had 20 minutes to read a prompt and respond to it as if we were teachers. Then, there was a group discussion. This part of the interview kinda sucked because there was this one guy in group that dominated the conversation. He was cutting people off and talking over them. Luckily, we were given about 5 minutes at the end of the discussion to write a response to the topic. After the group discussions all the candidates reconvened for a presentation about what will happen if we're picked. There was also a Q & A session. I had to leave the presentation earlier because I was scheduled for the first one-on-one interview. The DCTF staff person I interviewed with was one of the leaders of my group. She was really nice and made me feel very comfortable. I always find it weird/nerve-racking when people take notes the entire time I'm talking during an interview, but she was very good about responding with non-verbal cues like nodding or saying mmhmm. Overall, I think the day went really well.

And now I wait...and anyone who knows me knows patience is something I am truly working on. I will receive notification of whether or I've been selected by February 7th. If I am selected then I will have intensive training this summer and begin teaching in the fall. I'm very excited about this opportunity, and am praying that God's Will be done. I would really love to have any grade between Head Start (3-4 year olds) and 1st grade. Elementary school is the my popular cohort and very competitive. They ask candidates to be open to teaching Special Education, which I am. Last year there were about 2000 applications and 118 people were picked. The best thing about interviewing at the first even is that the chances of being picked are greater. They will notify candidates if they've been picked before they have the next interview event as oppose to having all the interviews and then picking.

By joining DCTF I hope to fulfill my goal of having the chance to save the world. I truly believe that better schools produce better students. Better students mean better people in the world, which in turn creates a better society. I have been told that I have a superman complex (which I think many women have actually), and that I want to save everyone...and everything. I have always been a fixer, so this is something I'm beginning to accept though it can be very challenging at times. One of my favorite quotes states, “There are those who see this world as it is and ask why. I see this world as it never was and ask why not."--Robert Kennedy.