The Wide World
I am sitting home, looking at schedules, and reading on-line. What exactly? Well, since Hanna’s got me in, Hanna’s where we start:
- The National Hurricane Center (in my blog roll) updates the progress of Hanna, and Ike, and the remnants of Josephine every few hours. I like the Forecast Discussions (they seem strange, but you get used to them) and the Wind Speed projections (tables with numbers, my sort of stuff), but the animated graphics archives (I like the 5-day projections) are really cool.
- Breaking the rules. An upstate NY math teacher - f(t) - uses a cell phone in class? Nope. She makes her kids use theirs. Pretty cool, though I don’t think I have the guts to try it myself.
- Got stuff out of the garden before Hanna soaked it? Pissed Off Teacher did. Just a pretty picture.
- What’s the chance that Palin will be president? Well, if McCain loses, zero (this time). But if McCain wins… over at God Plays Dice Isabel Michael reports on the calculated odds.
- My local newspaper has a blog. Ok, it’ll get better.
- Gotham Schools has a story on something else that has gone wrong with the opening of the New York City school year: overloaded registration centers.
- And they also cover something near and dear: math and olives. It would be easy to be all “isn’t this wonderful” but Kelly is right to ask some hard questions about math education in Morocco.
High School Scheduling System Stalled
As schools scramble to balance class sizes and give schedules to new students, the New York City Department of Education’s computer scheduling system sputtered and stalled due to secret modifications.
Counselors, Schedulers, left to admit new students, fix schedules, balance classes in the dark
HSST, the high school scheduling software used by NY City high schools, stopped producing reports Wednesday AM. Class lists, room use reports, old report cards, no, no, no. Only student schedules and transcripts continued to be available (on “the client”) until later that same day, when that system failed as well.
DoE secret teacher tracking project to blame
The explanation, unusually heavy load, is itself a load (of?) More likely: the DoE modified HSST to push linking teachers to test scores, and the modifications screwed everything up.
Status updates (below fold) tell story
When school opened Tuesday, guidance counselors and programmers braced themselves for the normal onslaught of issues: new students arriving without schedules, classes that the computer packed with far too many children, students scheduled to repeat a class but who made it up in summer school, or students scheduled to move ahead, but who did not pass their courses, teachers who retired and needed to be replaced, new classes that needed to be created because demand exceeded June’s expectations, or that needed to be canceled because of low demand, or because a teacher was needed elsewhere.
Counselors and programmers also expected problems with the scheduling system. Every year since it was introduced, HSST has had September problems, and stalls or halts at least once. We understand, it is by design, the Department of Education steadfastly refuses to acquire sufficient servers for peak-load. It is ‘brown-out as a way of life.’
But this year? Boom! Three days without reports. Even reports on the ‘clients’ failed. And it wasn’t the normal accident.
The Department of Education is hellbent on linking teachers and test scores. But they can’t do it from their central offices. They need school-based personnel to do it for them. And they have been trying. And trying harder.
So they went to the high school scheduling people in the offices and Brooklyn, and made them modify HSST. They wanted annoying windows to effectively harass schedulers into linking every teacher to an e-mail account (and thereby to an employee id #) allowing the suits downtown to run reports on student test-scores by teacher.
Here are the status updates, in their own words:
9/3 3PM Reports are not running at this time. The web group is continuing to work with software company to determine why this has happened and correct any issues. Reports are working on the client machines. Where possible, try to use custom reports to get the data that you need. Most of the functions on HSST are currently working and can be used.9/4 - 7 AM Reports ARE running. Please close the retrieve my reports screen (move to another screen) once you have displayed your report. This will reduce some of the demand on the servers.9/4 - 9 AM The Web Administrators are reporting similar issues as we saw yesterday with Crystal reports. They are working with the company to determine what is causing the issue and to resolve it.9/4 - 9:15 AM Crystal Performance Issues We are seeing similar issues as we did yesterday. We are opening a case with business objects. For some reason we are seeing over 15,000 sessions daily. Last year around this time we saw about 5,000.9/4 - 6 PM HSST Reports available. The changes have been put in place for the Crystal reports, however, there were some additional changes made which I would like to make you aware of. *More information will be sent out tomorrow*. We were asked to make some changes in the way we create the teacher reference list. These changes were also moved into production. I had hoped to have the opportunity to explain them in advance and prepare documentation, but the procedure we used to correct the Crystal issues required that these changes be moved into production as well. When you first log into HSST, you will be presented with a screen listing any teacher that you have not matched on the teacher reference screen. In the upper right corner is a link to close that screen. Once closed, the first web page will have a link in the upper left that allows you to open it again. PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT TO UPDATE THE TEACHER REFERENCE SCREEN. More information will be provided shortly. At this time, the reports on HSST should be available for you to use.9/5 - 7 AM Client reports. We are looking into the error messages that are being given when you try to run reports on the client.9/5 - 2:30 PM WEEKEND SUPPORT - if you are planning on working this weekend, we are HIGHLY suggesting that you contact one of the ASLs in the ISC to insure that the system is up and functioning.9/5 - 3 PM WEEKEND SUPPORT - if you are planning on working this weekend, we are HIGHLY suggesting that you contact one of the ASLs in the ISC BEFORE YOU GO TO YOUR SCHOOL OR THEIR OFFICE, to insure that the system is up and functioning.9/5 - 4PM status – The web administrators have made a change to the Crystal server and the reports are once again running. While we remain hopeful that this will resolve the issues seen, I would still recommend contacting the ASLs tomorrow or Sunday morning if you are planning on working on the system.
*not a surprise - the information they promised for Friday was not sent out*
I didn’t know what to do this summer.
I got caught doing lots of work for my school. So I thought about applying to the AFT’s Union Summer program. I figured that I wouldn’t have to plan anything, the work is work I wanted to do, and wherever I was, there would be some relaxing time as well. The other options involved more planning… so I applied. And was accepted. My surprise was ending up in New Orleans, but that was a good surprise.
While there the ten of us (from NY, PA, IL, and CA) did three kinds of work.
- We went door to door with United Teachers of New Orleans (UTNO) organizers, talking to (and in some cases signing up) charter school teachers.
- We helped publicize, prepare for, set up, work at, and clean up a big back to school fair (there was food, entertainment, immunizations, an insectarium, school supplies including book bags, and books, all free).
- And we helped clean up, paint, and set up rooms in several New Orleans schools.
We also tooled around New Orleans, taking in some sights, visiting the 9th ward, enjoying good food and entertainment.
Photos below the fold —>
A classroom we helped clean and were helping set up (left), and Larry Carter, UTNO president, at the balloon table at UTNO’s back to school event, August 9.
Lower 9th Ward.
L: A city block, overgrown. R: House, unoccupied, but owner intends to return. The white X, eery, was marked immediately post-Storm as National Guard surveyed for dead people and animals.
L. flood-damaged house, yet to be demolished. R. New house, built higher. (Is the old house part of the foundation?)
Live Oaks Plantation.
As a teacher I am used to going on field trips to museums and sites that have professional staff, National Parks guides, high quality docents, trained interpreters. This plantation had none of that, which was a major disappointment. From a property map on the wall we learned that the plantations were narrow rectangles, with a small amount of Mississippi River frontage each. For shipping, I’d guess.
Grand Isle.
The Last day we ventured down Bayou Lafourche to Grand Isle. On the island, almost everything was built on one story or story-and-a-half stilts. The crab on the beach was dead. And the beach stank, and was thick with aggressive mosquitoes. At sunset there was a weird mix of lights from boats and oil platforms.
At the time (mid 17th century) Saugus was the largest industrial complex in North America, processing ore and turning the wrought iron into thin bars (looked like a square cross section of about a half inch) for sale for making nails and other thin objects.
Even though it shut after just 20 years, the slag heap guaranteed it would not be lost. Local buffs got it restored in the 40s and 50s, then designated a National Park in the 70s. The restoration is beautiful, but needs constant upkeep since they redid it 1650s style - not with modern technology.
Here’s one of the mills, the place where iron left the blast furnace, and a massive drive shaft:
Click any image for more photos of Saugus. I didn’t take enough to follow the iron from bog to rods, but there are enough to get a bit of a feel for the place. The scale is large, but small enough so you can follow the processes. Well worth a visit.
Including Eximius College Preparatory High School on the Do Not Apply list set off a mini-war in the comments section. I closed off comments (you may continue here) after an ex-teacher left these particularly thoughtful words:
I am a former Eximius teacher also. I loved the students at Eximius and I did my best, day in and day out, to help them reach their potential. I truly believe they deserve much better, not just from Eximius, but from the whole system which has failed them miserably. They deserve good teachers, but the only way they’ll get them is if there’s a healthy working environment that attracts and sustains good teaching. All members of the school community deserve to be heard and respected! Teachers are people too, and it is only fair for potential employees to know what they’re getting into before it’s too late to change their mind. Throwing people in who have no clue what they’re in for is a recipe for disaster for the kids and is certain to breed resentment for all.
It’s really too bad that this blog is literally the only place some staff members and parents feel free to tell their truths
The tone is set at the top. It’s almost like Ms. Smith keeps waiting for the teachers to do it, but the only one who can really set a positive tone is Ms. Smith herself, and for whatever reason, she has not been able to do so.
But I’m fairly certain that the way Ms. Smith treats her staff is a direct reflection on the way the DOE treats her.
But to be fair, I don’t think Ms. Smith wants her school to fail or has ulterior motives. In fact, I think she cares a lot. I just don’t think she knows how to turn it around. She is drowning and has been for a while. She clearly has little support herself. The AP and the former AP’s are/were between a rock and hard place. (And contrary to other posters, I think Ms. Breitling does what she feels is right for her students, however unpopular).
I definitely learned a lot … unfortunately … mostly survival skills in the harsh world of DOE politics, and little about the actual craft of teaching.
(more beneath the fold - > )
I firmly believe that for anything to change, the problems must be named truthfully, and open dialogue must ensue. It’s really too bad that this blog is literally the only place some staff members and parents feel free to tell their truths. As one poster suggested, it can be cathartic to finally speak freely about a negative experience. However, I wish we all could have been heard when we actually could have changed things.
I wanted to add that I think the big issues at Eximius are systemic issues also. It is a complicated thing to try to figure out what went so wrong. But I’m fairly certain that the way Ms. Smith treats her staff is a direct reflection on the way the DOE treats her. She cares about bulletin boards because that’s what the DOE cares about when they walk in and take a cursory glance. You ask, how can these schools throw a first-year teacher into the worst schools, watch them flounder, and then blame them? But the same can be said of the principals. How can the DOE, in all good conscience, continue to throw inexperienced leaders into the worst schools and turn a blind eye while they continue to drown? It should not be the case that “good” principals are the ones who are willing to buck the system to do what’s best for kids, while the “status quo” principals are the ones who tow the party line, often to their school’s detriment.
Obviously there is a breakdown in the current system if the school leaders are not being held accountable for what actually goes on in their building. There should be checks and balances on power and there should be transparency in the information used to judge the schools, principals, and teachers. Under Klein and his corporate cronies, and especially in these “empowerment schools,” the balance of power has been tipped way too far and the information seems even more opaque (and therefore susceptible to manipulation) than ever. It should not be the case that incompetence, greed, or corruption, is allowed to run amok, in any school or at any level. The natural ‘check’ on power - the UFT - has not really helped either, I’m afraid to say. They have really dropped the ball when it comes to some of these small schools. This is no accident. I truly believe the small schools have become a union-busting tool and sadly it’s working.
But let me be clear: understanding the dysfunction within the DOE is not an excuse for the abuse that happened in Eximius and in some of the other schools on the list. I am only saying that fixing the larger problem is not as easy as removing one principal. Shame on the DOE for allowing and continuing to allow these situations to occur in the first place.
Anyhow, I have a heavy heart about my experience there, wishing I could have been more successful, but I’m not ashamed to say that I’m very glad to have moved on with my life. Eximius really did suck me dry emotionally. I definitely learned a lot from the experience, but unfortunately it was mostly survival skills in the harsh world of DOE politics, and little about the actual craft of teaching. I certainly hope, for the sake of the great kids whom I had the privilege of knowing at Eximius, that Ms. Smith and her new staff will be able to turn things around by fostering a trusting and open atmosphere — in other words, a healthy working environment — where good teachers want to be — so that the kids can actually get the education they deserve.
Go read the background. Read the poem. Visit the author’s site. (It’s Jose Vilson. Math teacher. New Yorker. And other things - let him tell it) He says it’s a tribute to Allen Ginsberg, and that it was a whole lot of work. But read it.
It’s Howl… it starts like this…
I
I saw the best minds of my generations destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked
wanting to end virtual rants with bangs, but settle for poofs
crippled by concern for their children’s well being, shot through with fear, play outside doubtful
who know there are only two sides, and whoever is not on one side is on the other
who are feeling the echo of the clock in the rhythm of their veins
who believe that the only way to fight is to force people to think
who want to know your morning routine
who are tired of watching the best and the brightest leave the teaching field
and the whole thing’s below the fold…
Howl (originally by Allen Ginsberg, covered by Jose Vilson with a little help from some friends linked below, 2008 ©)
I
I saw the best minds of my generations destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked
wanting to end virtual rants with bangs, but settle for poofs
crippled by concern for their children’s well being, shot through with fear, play outside doubtful
who know there are only two sides, and whoever is not on one side is on the other
who are feeling the echo of the clock in the rhythm of their veins
who believe that the only way to fight is to force people to think
who want to know your morning routine
who are tired of watching the best and the brightest leave the teaching field
who remember When I Was Your Age, and just as generations past, is convinced life was better then
who want to know why people still settle for “for some reason …”
who feel very powerful armed with a red pen
who occasionally need to be reminded they must learn how to crawl before they can walk
who are still waiting for a ticket to ride
who will won’t be spending the upcoming holiday in the City of Lights
who think little hiccups are the key to future success
who thinks kids’ journey through education is rough enough without having to dodge political crossfire on the way
who always wondered what others were doing when they were with the kids
who are saddened by the destruction of a digital generation
whose head aches from the absurdity of all this
who are very happy to be off, if just for a few days, and who’s also very happy to be headed to a party with some colleagues
who are content with life and a cocktail and believes that there is nothing wrong with me after all
who believes that sometimes a well-placed wave says and does more than a downpour
who despair the suffering of the immigrant will never cease and by extension crushes our souls, it’s a death by a thousand cuts
who have learned to love unconditionally
with the absolute heart of the poem of life butchered out of their own bodies good to eat a thousand years.
II
What conglomerate of steel and marble bashed upon their skulls and ate up their brains and imagination?
Moloch! Nastiness! Savagery! Corruption! Foreclosure and rising poverty! Feudalism and another world order! Globalization and corporatization of water!
Moloch! Moloch! Moloch the barbarian! Moloch the money-maker! Moloch in your mobile device! Moloch the bigger brother!
Moloch the prison industrial complex! Moloch the scissor of the tape to World War 3! Moloch the one for whom we must call 911! Moloch the destroyer of buildings that come in pairs!
Moloch whose ruthlessness files its nails in the grandest citadels! Moloch the disease mongerer! Moloch the provider of smoke and mirrors!
Moloch the half-man / half-death knell! Moloch whose voice deceives like a fox! Moloch whose disciples deliver images of a heavenly-painted turncoat! Moloch whose colors resemble the sky, the blood, and the mass in our eyes we refuse to use!
Moloch who turns away the most sacrificed! Moloch who drinks the blood of fossils and spares us none! Moloch whose hairy palm extends to the poor with straw hats and smacks them with the other! Moloch who breaths fire into the crops of a thousand Abrahams!
Moloch whose hair is made of gristle and construction’s dust! Moloch whose heart is made of ire and brimstone! Moloch whose stomach is lined with the skin of the bodies of a million sons and daughters! Moloch whose feet strike the streets like matches in the summer!
Moloch in whom we trust! Moloch in whom we fund and believe! Moloch in my reflection! Regret in Moloch! Disaster and addiction in Moloch! Holy shit and fuck in Moloch!
Moloch who bumped into me on the street today! Moloch who prayed to us in our holy establishments! Moloch keeps me in close company! I sing songs with Moloch! His spirit alive and well in the 3000 mile distance from sea to shining sea!
Moloch! Moloch! Searching high beams! Glass encasements for people! Infectious misogyny! Armaggedons merging! Cowardly leaders! Well-aged teenagers! Missing allies! Unholy jihads! Less-than-halfway houses! Inbred officials!
They enslaved and degraded billions to uplift Moloch! Condos, speakeasies, iPods, on high! A world capital emulating Atlantis submerging the world around us!
Lessons! Assessments! Homilies! Inebriations! Promises! Gone down the Potomac and Mississippi!
Speeches! Ruminations! Blog posts! Commentaries! Religions! The whole boatload of sensitive bullshit!
Eureka! from ocean to ocean! Confluences! Breakdowns! Decades of dedications and candles lit! True intelligent designs! New pride! This generation! wrapped on the wrist by Time!
Real celebration just down the block! We are all witness! The hands waved! The cacophony! The flinging and tossing! They jumped from their pedestals! To peace! Kissing! Dressed in their best Sunday outfits! Down to the river! Into the street!
III
Reader! I’m with you in New York where you’re finding a ticket for new work
I’m with you in New York where fear for your children scares you more than your own life
I’m with you in New York where the clock has no hands but it has a beat
I’m with you in New York where the morning is brightest with enlightened with new ideas
I’m with you in New York where things were never actually how they used to be
I’m with you in New York where power comes in all forms of writing utensils
I’m with you in New York where our future is highly dependent on our present actions
I’m with you in New York where the pressure is building
I’m with you in New York where people will eventually smile, nod, and strike up interesting conversation with you
I’m with you in New York where victors and heart donors get the best of us each and every time
I’m with you in New York where this young poet waits for the by-and-by to come by, but postponing it in the meantime
I’m with you in New York where the skyline promises you all that is not granted
I’m with you in New York where I woke up one morning, wanted to reach for a skyscraper’s needle and inject myself with all the city’s energy …
Thank you. I need to record this, don’t I?
jose, who waited 11 years to eulogize the man …
J from Mildly Melancholy (a first rate NYC teacher blog) takes pictures. Posts them. Over time she’s gotten really good. And now she wants to enter a contest, and is having trouble deciding which photo to submit.
Help her choose. She’s got it down to eleven. Go, take a look, leave a comment about which you like best.
And, if you have a moment, while you are there, take a look around.
DAVE LIPPMAN AND GEORGE SHRUB:
COMING UP
In addition to new songs about cars, candidates, God, and Jena, Louisiana, Dave brings a collaboration with Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Martin Niemoller that neither of them ever heard about.
Friday July 18
New York, New York
House Concert
368 W. 117th Street at Morningside Ave
7pm TeX Embedding failed!7 students
Take C or B to 116th, walk west
Benefits Iraq Moratorium
So it’s really not too late to make summer plans, but summer has started and there’s only seven weeks left, so planning time is overdue.
There are already obligations. I must schedule my school. I started, but there’s a lot left. At least three 3-day weeks, maybe more (I handle the ‘more’ by extending the length of the weeks… I would try not to extend the number of weeks). Visiting family (a few days here and there. “Here” is a southern New England beach town with wild parrots. “There” is a small inland southern New England town with nice hills for walking). Reaching Fellows (if you read this blog, you probably already knew I was doing this).
What else? There are options.
- Alaska. A former colleague moved there. Says I can come visit, hike, fish. But it’s a long flight and this may be a tough summer for company (as there’s other company on the way…) And the flight cost is high (but that’s true everywhere.)
- Union Summer. The American Federation of Teachers is organizing a “union summer” where members go south and help organize. Sites are in Houoston, south Texas, Albuquerque, New Orleans, St. Louis, but you don’t choose. You just sign up for dates. Looks like 11 or 12 days (Aug 3 - 15 or 11 - 22). if I did it, might be conflicting with AMTNYS. Not really a vacation, but going away, and doing good. The weather, though. And I am already doing good Fellows stuff here. Why do more? Plus, I don’t know if they would take me at this late date. But I tried last year, and couldn’t. Maybe this is my chance?
- AMTNYS. The Association of Mathematics Teachers of NY State has a one week summer thing outside of Syracuse (Onondaga CC, Aug 3 - 7). Tempting. Not too pricey. Vacation? Hmm. Not really. But it would get me back on the math horse (which I fell off of a while back).
- Atlantic Canada. Commenter Sarai suggested visiting Atlantic Canada (she’s a math grad student who lives very very calmly in Nova Scotia). I looked at photos - gorgeous. There are some cool eco-hiking-very comfortable tours… but pricy! And I would need to plan more to do it on my own. Still tempting, for a bit a less than a week… But the money. Don’t know. Could try to figure out how to do it on my own, but I think that might be tricky on short notice.
- Course here. I still need to earn some post-Masters credits to qualify for the last differential. If I’m stuck in the city, why not get 3 or 6 credits in. Good thing, right? More money later. But going this route feels like admitting defeat, quitting on the idea of vacation.
- Extend southern New England. Can spend longer visiting family. Wander off to parts of southern New England I haven’t spent as much time in. Even up to Vermont. Easy. But feels like bailing on real vacation. Could extend the beach and hills?
So, I really should decide in the next few days. No decision means 5 and 6 just creep up on me with maybe 3 thrown in.
