It has come to my attention that I haven't updated this blog for some time. I apologize for this but have been working on another blog. Here it is, http://htsthinks.wordpress.com/
Thanks for paying attention to what I have been ranting about on this site...now I will rant over there.
Thank you very much for taking some time out to read about what we are trying to do. Whatever you do from here, just make sure you do something. Take Care
-David
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Education and Communication - Why this?
First off...Education is THE most important aspect of our lives. Without it, nothing gets done. What are some of the problems that we see with Education?
Now what are we going to do about this? Education is something that gets a bad rap but the truth is that people like myself who left school or dropped out are responsible for those actions ourselves. We can make up all the excuses that we want about bad teachers and subjects that we'll never need in real life (Algebra, any one?) but the bottom line is that I was scared about something...personally, I think the feeling of failure was much stronger than the idea that I could learn. It robbed me but only because I gave it my wallet.
What went on was something that could have been fixed if it had been called into question at an early enough time. My parents are great parents. Like all families we have had our disagreements but I wouldn't trade them for anyone on earth. They raised my brother, sister, and I as well as they could. They were involved in our lives at school, they provided us plenty of opportunity growing up and there was lots of love in the household. What I learned to do was to do things at a minimum so that they would leave me be. If there was anything that I wish they would have done differently, it would have been to not let me get away with things as much. They loved me so much, they would ease on me when I didn't do what I was supposed to.
Here's the thing, it all falls on me. I realized this but only within the last 5 years - coincidentally, the amount of years that my daughter has been on Earth. My parents expected great things from me and I will fulfill them, it's just gonna take me a little longer than they had hoped for. In turn, great things are expected of our children. Lillie is growing up with that and Alexa is beginning to realize that and is starting to fulfill some of that promise. For her, life has been tough and I wish to hell it hadn't been so tough...but she's going to do great things because she has lived through this and is seeing how things can be if we expect great things from her. As parents, we need to expect great things from our kids.
So what does this mean? This means that we are going to do what we can to change the culture of education. Education itself can be amazing...maybe not always fun but even things we love aren't always fun. How do we get children to understand that education isn't just about school? How do we get children to understand that there are expectations of them and of those expectations, Education is the first and foremost of them? Why do children fail when in reality, failure isn't bad...it's a learning tool. Failure isn't actually as scary as we have been taught to believe...it's accepting failure that is the scary part. People who expect and accept failure are not acceptable. I don't mean that we go out and eliminate these people but what we have to do is create a culture where this mentality is unacceptable, where failure is truly looked at as a tool to succeed. It's given lip service but when in early classrooms, failure is slowly reinforced with shame and embarrassment. Kids can be jerks and some love nothing more than feeling better about themselves by putting others down (Bullying) - This is one of those things that exhibits people's willingness to accept failure: They decide that failure is acceptable because they slap other people down as soon as they can.
How do we encourage success? Parents. Parents. Parents and Parents. Parents have to become more involved, ESPECIALLY at the early stages of education. They need to be on top of their kids so that their kids learn early on that they are expected to be great and early on how failure is OK as long as they don't get frustrated and that they keep moving forward after they experience that failure. Posters and slogans don't mean much when it isn't truly encouraged. We need to teach kids HOW to learn and HOW to act responsibly towards each other. Kids need to really learn accountability and what it means to be person of greatness. What does it mean to be a person of greatness? Honestly, I don't know. I do know that we need to look at people we think are great. We need to show children that we expect them to be great. We need to truly understand that children will be great if we expect them to be great.
This means that Teachers need to be great. Teachers need to be more than competent. This may not mean that they graduate top of their class or that they have 50 years of teaching experience. Hell, I'm not sure if people need a degree. Of course I don't know how well that works, but we want people who can teach the hell out of some kids. One of our proposals is - 3 people at the head of a class...a Certified Teacher, and 2 T.A.'s or 2 people of differing opinions that would be able to show children a total of 3 different POV's. This involves a highly interactive relationship between the 3 teaching figures and automatically improves what the children are learning because the children will learn 3 POV's and all the information that goes with those 3 POV's. This would be ideal for older students but it may work with younger students in the sense that broken up groups can be shown things by each teacher (reading to small groups, math concepts, things of that nature). The bottom line is Teachers need to be trained thoroughly in how to teach - right down to how to get children to pull out a piece of paper and pencil and be ready for class.
The reality of the situation is this: Our world is becoming more and more isolated and the loudest voices belong to those people who are ready to just shit on everyone else. The idea of being out for yourself dismisses 6.5 billion other people who could possibly help. On top of that, this selfishness turns people into tools to be used by those that want to take advantage of people. We need to teach them to not be tools...they need to learn how to think for themselves. We need to give children tools so that they don't become tools.
- Education is totally relevant to location. This doesn't just mean a geographic location, physical street address, but also the people that are there - the administration, teachers and students. This may seem silly or obvious but what it means is that people are dependant on what is going on around them and though they may technically have the ability to change what goes on at their local schools, the reality is that change seems near impossible.
- Education is only as useful as the people who teach it - once again something obvious. Students only learn what teachers are willing to teach. The attitude of teachers is in direct relationship with their personal lives: emotional status, financial order, and experience play key roles in what their students will learn from them.
- Parents don't place a priority on education. Parents see education as a babysitter...this automatically demeans the position of teacher and puts them behind the 8 ball. On top of that, the majority of teachers realize that and may teach according to what's expected of them.
Now what are we going to do about this? Education is something that gets a bad rap but the truth is that people like myself who left school or dropped out are responsible for those actions ourselves. We can make up all the excuses that we want about bad teachers and subjects that we'll never need in real life (Algebra, any one?) but the bottom line is that I was scared about something...personally, I think the feeling of failure was much stronger than the idea that I could learn. It robbed me but only because I gave it my wallet.
What went on was something that could have been fixed if it had been called into question at an early enough time. My parents are great parents. Like all families we have had our disagreements but I wouldn't trade them for anyone on earth. They raised my brother, sister, and I as well as they could. They were involved in our lives at school, they provided us plenty of opportunity growing up and there was lots of love in the household. What I learned to do was to do things at a minimum so that they would leave me be. If there was anything that I wish they would have done differently, it would have been to not let me get away with things as much. They loved me so much, they would ease on me when I didn't do what I was supposed to.
Here's the thing, it all falls on me. I realized this but only within the last 5 years - coincidentally, the amount of years that my daughter has been on Earth. My parents expected great things from me and I will fulfill them, it's just gonna take me a little longer than they had hoped for. In turn, great things are expected of our children. Lillie is growing up with that and Alexa is beginning to realize that and is starting to fulfill some of that promise. For her, life has been tough and I wish to hell it hadn't been so tough...but she's going to do great things because she has lived through this and is seeing how things can be if we expect great things from her. As parents, we need to expect great things from our kids.
So what does this mean? This means that we are going to do what we can to change the culture of education. Education itself can be amazing...maybe not always fun but even things we love aren't always fun. How do we get children to understand that education isn't just about school? How do we get children to understand that there are expectations of them and of those expectations, Education is the first and foremost of them? Why do children fail when in reality, failure isn't bad...it's a learning tool. Failure isn't actually as scary as we have been taught to believe...it's accepting failure that is the scary part. People who expect and accept failure are not acceptable. I don't mean that we go out and eliminate these people but what we have to do is create a culture where this mentality is unacceptable, where failure is truly looked at as a tool to succeed. It's given lip service but when in early classrooms, failure is slowly reinforced with shame and embarrassment. Kids can be jerks and some love nothing more than feeling better about themselves by putting others down (Bullying) - This is one of those things that exhibits people's willingness to accept failure: They decide that failure is acceptable because they slap other people down as soon as they can.
How do we encourage success? Parents. Parents. Parents and Parents. Parents have to become more involved, ESPECIALLY at the early stages of education. They need to be on top of their kids so that their kids learn early on that they are expected to be great and early on how failure is OK as long as they don't get frustrated and that they keep moving forward after they experience that failure. Posters and slogans don't mean much when it isn't truly encouraged. We need to teach kids HOW to learn and HOW to act responsibly towards each other. Kids need to really learn accountability and what it means to be person of greatness. What does it mean to be a person of greatness? Honestly, I don't know. I do know that we need to look at people we think are great. We need to show children that we expect them to be great. We need to truly understand that children will be great if we expect them to be great.
This means that Teachers need to be great. Teachers need to be more than competent. This may not mean that they graduate top of their class or that they have 50 years of teaching experience. Hell, I'm not sure if people need a degree. Of course I don't know how well that works, but we want people who can teach the hell out of some kids. One of our proposals is - 3 people at the head of a class...a Certified Teacher, and 2 T.A.'s or 2 people of differing opinions that would be able to show children a total of 3 different POV's. This involves a highly interactive relationship between the 3 teaching figures and automatically improves what the children are learning because the children will learn 3 POV's and all the information that goes with those 3 POV's. This would be ideal for older students but it may work with younger students in the sense that broken up groups can be shown things by each teacher (reading to small groups, math concepts, things of that nature). The bottom line is Teachers need to be trained thoroughly in how to teach - right down to how to get children to pull out a piece of paper and pencil and be ready for class.
The reality of the situation is this: Our world is becoming more and more isolated and the loudest voices belong to those people who are ready to just shit on everyone else. The idea of being out for yourself dismisses 6.5 billion other people who could possibly help. On top of that, this selfishness turns people into tools to be used by those that want to take advantage of people. We need to teach them to not be tools...they need to learn how to think for themselves. We need to give children tools so that they don't become tools.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Initial plan for our program
The Students
The Afterschool program - This is a 4 hour after school day. Keep this in mind: This is NOT set in stone...one of the things that we are trying to teach is that these subjects are NOT independent of each other...often, these subjects will be taught simultaneously. It just helps people to see what we are trying to get across.
Now, the key here is Triads. The students would be matched up in Triads so that they learned to help each other. On top of that, the ideal situation would be 3 teaching positions at once...1 teacher and 2 aides. The 1st hour of class would be kind of an open session. All 3 teachers interacting with the students to:
This also allows the class size to increase. Because of how we are going to set this up, the idea of student to teacher ratio is something that would actually benefit from a bigger class. Part of what we are teaching is how to lead. Large groups of kids sounds daunting but we are teaching these kids how to be leaders; If they cannot work amongst themselves then we will have failed.
The Parents
In order for their children to be enrolled in this afterschool program, Parents will be required to attend classes 2 nights a week. These classes will initially contain:
Part of the classes for parents will be things like cooking for the home and teaching how to make meals as a family, group outings to museums and points of interest. The idea is that these parents become friends to one another and a community spawns from this. On top of that, things like Financial Planning, Organizational skills, and anything that parents would be willing to teach one another that would help everyone else would be put on the table. On top of that, the leadership aspect of their children's learning would be taught to the parents.
Teachers and Administration
Teachers and Administration will be one and the same. No administration will be just administrators and no teachers will just teach. They are to be interchangeable...The resources are such that everyone is on equal footing. All programs and curriculum will be worked out among the teachers that are teaching in the same classroom. Teachers and Administrators don't have to agree with the core values of the program, but those values must resonate with them. The noble cause is something that they must be in alignment with. Authenticity and transparency are of utmost importance.
We are trying to do more than teach students how to be better students or parents how to be better parents or teachers to teach a better way. We are creating a movement...we want the future to be a place where people are more concerned about those around them than they are for themselves. The world is in the state that it is in right now because people are too self-centered to worry about those around them. We want to teach people to lead so that they can teach others to lead. People will be better towards one another when they realize that they are responsible for and accountable to others.
Some notes: Triads are key everywhere. 3 students per small group, 3 teachers per class (both students and parents), the initial triad of student - parents - teacher. We will not fail each other if we have to hold each other up.
The Afterschool program - This is a 4 hour after school day. Keep this in mind: This is NOT set in stone...one of the things that we are trying to teach is that these subjects are NOT independent of each other...often, these subjects will be taught simultaneously. It just helps people to see what we are trying to get across.
- 30 minutes - Problem solving, conflict resolution, and thinking skills.
- 30 minutes - Creative thinking...What does this entail?
- 45 minutes - Reading skills
- 45 minutes - Math skills
- 45 minutes - Creative learning (Sciences, Music, Art, World Religions, Engineering, etc..)
- 45 minutes - Research skills, Musicianship, Leadership, Etc...
Now, the key here is Triads. The students would be matched up in Triads so that they learned to help each other. On top of that, the ideal situation would be 3 teaching positions at once...1 teacher and 2 aides. The 1st hour of class would be kind of an open session. All 3 teachers interacting with the students to:
- Decompress from the actual school day
- Teach the students how to interact with one another
- Allow 3 POV on any one situation that can be presented to them
This also allows the class size to increase. Because of how we are going to set this up, the idea of student to teacher ratio is something that would actually benefit from a bigger class. Part of what we are teaching is how to lead. Large groups of kids sounds daunting but we are teaching these kids how to be leaders; If they cannot work amongst themselves then we will have failed.
The Parents
In order for their children to be enrolled in this afterschool program, Parents will be required to attend classes 2 nights a week. These classes will initially contain:
- 16 week parent program course - 1 of the nights per week: The premise of this class is that parents simply need to be more involved in their children's lives. This class is actually taught as part of a program usually for at risk teens. However, there are things in this program that will help every parent who is willing to listen. These things will lay the groundwork for everything else we will do.
- Lessons in the classes their children will be learning the following week. This will allow the parents to see what their children will be studying coming up. They will know what projects their children are going to be working on as well as brush up on these skills so that they do not become lost when the time comes to help their children. This helps with a couple of things:
- Parents are empowered to assist their children whenever they have questions about their homework.
- Parents cannot help but stay involved with their children's activity because they have to know what is going on so that they can stay a part of the class.
Part of the classes for parents will be things like cooking for the home and teaching how to make meals as a family, group outings to museums and points of interest. The idea is that these parents become friends to one another and a community spawns from this. On top of that, things like Financial Planning, Organizational skills, and anything that parents would be willing to teach one another that would help everyone else would be put on the table. On top of that, the leadership aspect of their children's learning would be taught to the parents.
Teachers and Administration
Teachers and Administration will be one and the same. No administration will be just administrators and no teachers will just teach. They are to be interchangeable...The resources are such that everyone is on equal footing. All programs and curriculum will be worked out among the teachers that are teaching in the same classroom. Teachers and Administrators don't have to agree with the core values of the program, but those values must resonate with them. The noble cause is something that they must be in alignment with. Authenticity and transparency are of utmost importance.
We are trying to do more than teach students how to be better students or parents how to be better parents or teachers to teach a better way. We are creating a movement...we want the future to be a place where people are more concerned about those around them than they are for themselves. The world is in the state that it is in right now because people are too self-centered to worry about those around them. We want to teach people to lead so that they can teach others to lead. People will be better towards one another when they realize that they are responsible for and accountable to others.
Some notes: Triads are key everywhere. 3 students per small group, 3 teachers per class (both students and parents), the initial triad of student - parents - teacher. We will not fail each other if we have to hold each other up.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Core Values and a Noble Cause
We are working on our Noble Cause and core values. This page is important because this will have all of the information regarding this. On top of this, the strategy at the bottom is a work-in-progress as well.
Educational Institutions, the culture change is based on personality...Tribal Leadership teaches how to change things.
Teachers are not teamwork people. Close the door and things are done their way.
Parents expect teachers to babysit. The conventional wisdom indirectly confirms this way of thinking.
Children do what is expected of them. If Parents and Teachers expect greatness, Children will be great.
What are your Core Values?
Honesty
Integrity
OUTCOME
Propose After School Program - July 1, 2010
ASSETS
- Teachers that we know - How do they want to teach?
- Parents that we know - How do they parent?
- Students that we know - What is an effective way to learn?
- Social Workers that we know - How do they see the interaction among the others?
- Friends of ours - From the outside in, Where are there problems?
- Research
- Internet - Are there programs like this being run elsewhere?
- Libraries - Are there programs like this being run?
- Schools - How do we show them that this program will increase their scores thus increasing their funding?
- KIPP school profiles - What are they doing that is effective?
- Microsoft Institute Overview - What are the tools that they are providing to teachers?
- L.A. County Sheriffs VIDA program - What about them taught the kids to work together?
- Parent Program - How does this teach parents to be more involved with their children's lives?
- Stanford D.School K12 program - What about this program is so effective? What are their measurable results?
- Uncommon Schools - What is being done at these schools? The teachers are very good and see things a little differently.
- Alfredo Reyes - My Father and teacher at a Juvenile Offenders site - Studying for Doctorate: His dissertation is on the effects sentence reduction has on the learning abilities of juvenile offenders. Why was this practice stopped?
- Michael and Lena Bailey - Social workers that work with troubled children everyday. Helped to shape the beginning ideas of what the school may consist of. How does this school differ from others? Why should I send my child here?
- Erica Tumbaga - Social worker. Questions how will this differ from other public programs? People need to be invested on all ends. Stated that the Teachers and staff of the program can only give as much as the parents and students are willing to give...no more, no less. On top of that well-traveled.
- Erica Tumbaga - Social worker. Questions how will this differ from other public programs? People need to be invested on all ends. Stated that the Teachers and staff of the program can only give as much as the parents and students are willing to give...no more, no less. On top of that well-traveled.
- Jayson Reyes - My brother and B.S. detector - told me that this was bigger than anything that I have ever done before and that I CANNOT give up on this. "You can't mess around on this one. Honestly, How many hours a week do you (me, David) work with Lillie (my daughter) on her homework?" My answer was roughly 3 - 4 hours directly. He works with her at least 8 hours per week because he watches her on the days that she is off from preschool. On top of that, all of us use moments throughout the day to make sure that she is learning things. Made me question myself...Important mirror.
- Omar Tobin - Social worker - Questions on how parents will be asked to attend. What are the requirements of single parent households versus both parents in the home?
- Albert Lozano - Artist at a well known Animation studio - Research on Finnish School United States
- Collette Lozano - Mother of Albert and grandmother of 3 who are age of our desired students. She has raised 2 children who are successful and now is helping to raise 3 grandchildren. Questions how parents can better help their students when the lessons that they are being taught consist of information that they don't know. For example, a lot of parents do not understand Algebra, How can they help their children? How do we help them overcome this obstacle?
- Antoinette Bibal - HR director at long term healthcare facility - Ideal for administration. Passionate about her work and extremely grounded in her core values. In addition to my wife's questions, How do we work together as a culture? How do we make this work at an organizational level?
- David Reyes - Co-conspirator. How do we make this real?
- John Tosello - Attorney and Parent Program teacher - The hardest part of parent participation is how to get them to show up consistently. How are you going to do this? How are you going to fund this? How is this program going to work exactly? Why should parents want to participate in this?
Social Networks
Books and Documentaries:
- Tribal Leadership - How to lead. How do we teach an entire generation how to lead each other?
- Outliers - How success works. Can we tip learning in our favor?
- The Element - How do we creatively teach? The current model is not effective for future growth.
- ComebackAmerica
- Teach Like A Champion - How will this book allow our teachers and parents to influence the study habits of our students?
- TEDtalks - Various talks on how to improve our work. Amazing source of information.
-Children of friends. Can we test some of these theories in various settings? Michael and Lena Bailey proposed that we get some of our children together of like ages and emotional levels and do the following: Rent a space, perhaps a room at a library. For a series of time, perhaps 10 weeks, teach the children and parents in the following way:
-One 4 hour session in the Library room
-One 4 hour session at a home of one of the participating families
-One 4 hour session outdoors - at a park or at the zoo or somewhere that everyone can be outdoors and together
-Friends that we haven't met yet. There are a ton of acquaintances that we have that we are in the process of interviewing. People who have questions that will allow us to grow and expand and "see blind spots" that we are unable to see.
-We used the California Standard Test score results for the Charter Oak school system for the school year ending June 2009. What we noticed was at the 3rd grade testing level the percentage of below basic and far below basic test scored increased from the 2nd grade total of 10% to 19%. Math scores showed a total percentage of 12% up 3 percentage points from the 2nd grade test. We are using the California Standard Test scores as a benchmark.
-Foundations - Can we submit proposal for partnership?
- Verizon foundation education grants - http://bit.ly/aTRbFp
- Guitar Center Music foundation grants - http://bit.ly/bWG9b5
- Community grants available through the Allstate foundation - http://bit.ly/c176c1
- Grants for Youth promoting Collaboration - http://bit.ly/aaPq9c
- Grants for Computer software - http://bit.ly/cWdtsj
- Comcast Foundation Grants - http://bit.ly/9c55lB
- CDE Funding - http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/fo/af/index.aspx
- Existing Grants - http://www.publiceducation.org/newsblast_grants.asp
- 3M communtiy giving grants - http://bit.ly/bE4wmS
- Charles Stewart Mott foundation - http://www.mott.org/
- NEA Foundation - http://www.neafoundation.org/
- Points of Light foundation - http://www.pointsoflight.org/
- The Wallace Foundation - http://bit.ly/92oa9x
- W.K. Kellogg Foundation - http://www.wkkf.org/
- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (High School) - http://bit.ly/9aoDLg
- No Child Left Behind act has created a vacuum where teachers don't feel secure and parents don't feel that enough is being done. The students are the ones that are suffering. Where does the no child left behind program fail?
- Parenting is the key. Parents need to be held accountable for what their children are doing.
Parents are required to meet twice a week and learn:
- Parenting skills
- Financial Skills
- The lessons that their children are learning
- They will be responsible for teaching a skill to another parent in the class. Something that will help the others in their everyday lives. At the end of the year, we are expecting the parents to have a stake in the other parents and children in the class.
- The use of field trips allows children to learn outside of the classroom.
- The first half hour of class if set aside for Problem solving, conflict resolution and thinking skills
- Parents are taught about effective discipline and how to set boundaries.
- Lena - What is parenting to you? (Gap baseline) Where are they in their parenting lives?
- Bailey - What do they think separates our school from a regular school?
- Incorporating Community service. The children will be doing community services as well during their time in the program.
- The children and parents and teachers and organization members will recognize their responsibilities towards others
- There are more assets to be listed that have not yet occurred...more people to meet and more actions to come from meeting those people.
Social Networks
- Googlewave site
- Blog site - http://homelesstalents.blogspot.com/
- Google Apps - to try and build some sort of communication between all participants
Books and Documentaries:
- Tribal Leadership - How to lead. How do we teach an entire generation how to lead each other?
- Outliers - How success works. Can we tip learning in our favor?
- The Element - How do we creatively teach? The current model is not effective for future growth.
- Comeback
- Teach Like A Champion - How will this book allow our teachers and parents to influence the study habits of our students?
- TEDtalks - Various talks on how to improve our work. Amazing source of information.
-Children of friends. Can we test some of these theories in various settings? Michael and Lena Bailey proposed that we get some of our children together of like ages and emotional levels and do the following: Rent a space, perhaps a room at a library. For a series of time, perhaps 10 weeks, teach the children and parents in the following way:
-One 4 hour session in the Library room
-One 4 hour session at a home of one of the participating families
-One 4 hour session outdoors - at a park or at the zoo or somewhere that everyone can be outdoors and together
-Friends that we haven't met yet. There are a ton of acquaintances that we have that we are in the process of interviewing. People who have questions that will allow us to grow and expand and "see blind spots" that we are unable to see.
-We used the California Standard Test score results for the Charter Oak school system for the school year ending June 2009. What we noticed was at the 3rd grade testing level the percentage of below basic and far below basic test scored increased from the 2nd grade total of 10% to 19%. Math scores showed a total percentage of 12% up 3 percentage points from the 2nd grade test. We are using the California Standard Test scores as a benchmark.
-Foundations - Can we submit proposal for partnership?
- Verizon foundation education grants - http://bit.ly/aTRbFp
- Guitar Center Music foundation grants - http://bit.ly/bWG9b5
- Community grants available through the Allstate foundation - http://bit.ly/c176c1
- Grants for Youth promoting Collaboration - http://bit.ly/aaPq9c
- Grants for Computer software - http://bit.ly/cWdtsj
- Comcast Foundation Grants - http://bit.ly/9c55lB
- CDE Funding - http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/fo/af/index.aspx
- Existing Grants - http://www.publiceducation.org/newsblast_grants.asp
- 3M communtiy giving grants - http://bit.ly/bE4wmS
- Charles Stewart Mott foundation - http://www.mott.org/
- NEA Foundation - http://www.neafoundation.org/
- Points of Light foundation - http://www.pointsoflight.org/
- The Wallace Foundation - http://bit.ly/92oa9x
- W.K. Kellogg Foundation - http://www.wkkf.org/
- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (High School) - http://bit.ly/9aoDLg
- No Child Left Behind act has created a vacuum where teachers don't feel secure and parents don't feel that enough is being done. The students are the ones that are suffering. Where does the no child left behind program fail?
- Parenting is the key. Parents need to be held accountable for what their children are doing.
Parents are required to meet twice a week and learn:
- Parenting skills
- Financial Skills
- The lessons that their children are learning
- They will be responsible for teaching a skill to another parent in the class. Something that will help the others in their everyday lives. At the end of the year, we are expecting the parents to have a stake in the other parents and children in the class.
- The use of field trips allows children to learn outside of the classroom.
- The first half hour of class if set aside for Problem solving, conflict resolution and thinking skills
- Parents are taught about effective discipline and how to set boundaries.
- Bailey - What do they think separates our school from a regular school?
- Incorporating Community service. The children will be doing community services as well during their time in the program.
- The children and parents and teachers and organization members will recognize their responsibilities towards others
- There are more assets to be listed that have not yet occurred...more people to meet and more actions to come from meeting those people.
BEHAVIORS
- We need to constantly ask Questions of different people.
- We need to attend conferences and absorb as much information about education and creativity as we can
- We need to find qualified leaders to help us lead this program
- We need to meet with important people whenever and wherever we can
- We need to constantly research new techniques and make sure that our people are qualified to be part of this program
- We need to work in Triads. From the teachers to the parents to the students, Triads are key and all meetings must consist of at least 3 people. Transparency and Authenticity are not just important but vital
- We will listen to EVERYTHING that everyone involved has to say and we will answer all questions asked of us. Part of this movement is that everyone is taught that everyone else's input is as important as their own
- Our Noble Cause is to teach people how to lead and become accountable for their own actions by having them recognize their responsibilities towards others
- Our resonant values will direct us in everything that we do
Saturday, February 6, 2010
After school program
After discussion on Friday, 02-05-2010, we were pointed in the direction of an After school program. Using the idea of improving the students scores, specifically those that are performing below basic, we would begin the program as follows:
- Possible after school program consisting of 4 hours after each school day.
- Parents required to attend 2 nights a week from 6 - 8pm. At this point they are learning parenting classes at the very beginning. Then we will figure out what else to teach. Based heavily on what the kids are learning at that time.
- Kids are broken into specific triads in which we take 3 diverse background's and put them together.
- Parents broken down in the same manner. Parents triads are different from their children's triads.
- The whole goal is that the children learn to pick each other up by learning how to teach each other.
At the conclusion of each section, we would evaluate and tweak. The majority of the children's curriculum is based on the schoolwork that they are doing at that time. Here are some of the actual program highlights:
- Program takes place over an entire school year.
- We take 3 kids, 1 who is stronger in school, 1 who is weaker, and 1 who is a balance of both and we team them up for the duration of the school year.
- The initial class would consist of 2nd and 3rd graders. In reading comprehension, the 3rd graders, who might have poor reading skills, improve their reading skills by teaching the 2nd graders who are learning how to read. They are teaching the 2nd graders how to read with 2nd grade level readers so the work is not too hard for them.
- In the meantime, the parents are working together building a community. The parents are required to commit to 2 nights a week participation. These 2 nights consist of 2 hours each night teaching things that encourage the parents on how to raise their kids - parenting, finance, the same subjects their kids are learning so that they can help their children in the subjects their children are learning about. for example, kids are learning a certain type of math in a week. The week prior, the parents are given a lesson in this math so that the next week they can help.
There are 2 advantages to this:
- The parents can help and build a better relationship
- The parents can teach the kids a little of it the week prior to them actually learning it.
There's more to work out but the key is that this is a program where the parents and teachers have to be 100% committed to this. The parents will fall in line after. Kids will do exactly what is expected of them.
This document is a study of after school programs:
http://www.ppv.org/ppv/publications/assets/190_publication.pdf
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Erica's advice 02-03-10
Erica gave the following:
Need to start honing...people may not have actual answers because of the scope of the situation. Are we going to concentrate on this group or that group? How will this "program out"?
Need to look at making sure we get out what we put in and make sure that everyone knows all that is going on. Erica gave the example of how she has learned to let her clients know first off that she will never put in more than they do. This is an example of how tired people can become. This is when the realization hit that we want to work with people that want to work as hard as we do.
Need to talk to the members of the parent group as well as other friends that have children and ask what they want for their children. On top of that we want to ask those that are single parents or on limited means what is most important to them when it comes to their children's education as well as their own.
Need to promote the idea of transparency and teamwork. The whole idea of this is that we all work together as equals. No manager with underlings but teams of leaders with the ability to make decisions based on values that are agreed upon as the most important.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
1st meeting, January 29, 2010 - Bailey and Lena's
Met with Bailey and Lena on Friday, January 29, 2010. This is what got started:
Took Notes on School years and times...most of this section taken from Malcolm Gladwell's "Outliers" so some research needs to be corroborated:
Average Schoolyear (by days)
United States - 180 Days
South Korea - 220 Days
Japan - 243 Days
How does this translate into the kids learning abilities. The argument is that the kids in the foreign countries get more schooling and thus have more of a chance to learn. Does year round schooling automatically mean better schooling? If that's the case, how many hours a day can a school day be? The KIPP(sic) in the Bronx is the example that Gladwell used in his book.
One point of this school is to teach kids how to teach others. How to teach kids to protect those who need protection and help those who need help. To give them the ability to do this while at the same time teach them that they have the ability to do it themselves.
A second point is to teach the parents of our kids how to be parents. How to live and function as a family. In discussions with Bailey and Lena, we went over how parents just don't know how to deal with their own children.
A third point is teach each other, kids with kids in their own classes as well as others, and the parents of these kids, teaching each other. All involved will have the chance to learn.
Lena made the point of making sure that the parents who needed help with education could get it. Similar to the idea of teaching the parents the classwork that their kids are learning so that they would be able to help them with their homework. In addition, we have the following rules that need to be followed:
- Parents are required to attend classes 2 nights a week with their children. These classes would involve things such as parenting classes, financial classes. and general classes that would revolve around keeping their home lives safe and secure.
- Parents would also be accountable to one another. The parents would be taught in a manner that would encourage them to become a parenting group...similar to what Bailey said his elementary school PTA was all about.
We would need to promote Authenticity, Honesty, and Transparency. People need to know where we come from, why we do this, and need to be shown EVERYTHING we do and why we plan out the curriculum the way that we do. Along with those-Quality, Communication, Respect, Honesty, and Teamwork.
What is our Noble Cause? We need one...we need to make sure that we put together something that we can strive for but that is near impossible to achieve. something like "Teaching the future how to teach each other through Honesty, Respect, and Communication.
*Transitional system (Lena) -Child Welfare - how to achieve the necessary skills to live a productive life...Utilizes the surrounding community in this regard.
Parenting is the issue....Parents can be the problem.
This is why they learn the same time as the kids...They can be the best staff. They can have online studies with the kids in the same learning areas as well as be available to teach and discipline the kids.
LSCI training specific for schools. Bailey says that this is essential. Notes about IEP (Individual Education Plan)
Parents need to be taught that Teachers are not substitute parents and teachers need to teach the parents that the parents are the best teachers.
FIELD TRIPS & BAILEY'S PTA - MENTORING
Field trips consist of activities in the home. Teaching parenting moments. How to organize a home. I wrote How to organize your heart accidentally but that works too.
Daily processes (KIPP school 1st period)
1/2 hour - Problem solving, Conflict resolution, and Thinking Skills....Bailey's chess story
Lena's community...350 max...I was thinking at 150 max
Bailey's parenting class
- Parents start parenting too late. Effective discipline is not addressed until it is too late...Lena brought up her mom's saying about parenting effectively between 1 and 5 and you won't have to parent after that.
- Teaching Parents to establish boundaries...kids can't be cursing out their parents without consequences.
- TEASPOT - Take Everything Away for a Short Period Of Time
- Structure is Consistency is Safety
"What are you good at?"
"What's your strength?"
Hypothetical 1st day of class (Orientation)
Lena - Dry Erase Board. "What is parenting to you?" (Where are they?) Gap Baseline assessment
Bailey - Need to make sure the parents believe in the school and what they think separates our school from any other school
David - Have them figure something out as a family. Possibly have them bring ingredients for a dish that they can make together. When they come in they actually see how the class runs. Amongst the hustle and bustle of the cooking or whatever activity it is, the parents see how the shool will work and without realizing it are involved in an orientation.
Monday, January 25, 2010
New Thinks
For the past couple of years thoughts and actions have occurred that have had me reconsidering how to do things. If you are reading this and know me, you most likely will have had some understanding in where things were and where they are now.
I'm using this to keep a record of where things are going. At its core, My world is changed and its time I changed it. These are a series of ideas that I have stolen and begun following and this blog is the record of that change.
btw, The Homeless Talent Show stuff won't be found here any longer. Wasn't much anyway but it was fun when it was.
The following information is on our googlewave post. We are using this as an attempt to work on our unnamed project. I say we because this is not something that I can do alone and so far there seems to be initial support coming in from the people that I have questioned. so here goes...
We share our ideas so that we can make something happen.
I don’t know where to start so I will start here. I need to feel like something is being done. That book that I spoke to you about has me thinking a ton about what and where I want to go as far as the future. I don’t want a job or even a career. I want to be a craftsman. Not to the extent of using my hands or drawing or anything like that…I want to be able to help. Not just one thing but different things. And not just counseling for emotion or well-being, but teaching people how to teach other people. We have been implementing things here at work that seem to slowly be catching on...and people seem to be slowly grasping those ideas. The problem is that I really enjoy the feeling of watching these people grow and I am not sure that I can fill it just by working here.
Now, I don’t know if I want to just tell people how they should or shouldn’t act and I know that my patience for people who don’t want to try has not been tested yet so I can’t say that this is something that I have thoroughly thought out. A lot of what I am writing to you right now
is swirling around in my brain and I am trying to put it down to make it concrete. I do know that for the better part of Lillie’s life I have been struggling with the idea that I don’t think the education system in California is efficient nor do I believe that the education system in the United States as a whole is all that desirable. I like the idea of concentrating on the arts as much as concentrating on the sciences and weighing them evenly. I don’t know if home schooling is the right answer but I do like the idea that it presents. Somehow I would like her to be able to learn in a way that I was never allowed. I try to show her how much EVERYTHING matters and fill her with an understanding that was never a focus for me or a lot of others – that it is important that others learn from you, so that everyone that you touch in turn will teach someone else.
This is pretty random and widespread but I realize that things really shouldn’t be compartmentalized when it comes to people. Every day I run into something that has nothing to do with my department yet in order for this place to run efficiently, I need to care and put forth as much effort as possible. I’m asking you these things because you are a perfect example of what people need to strive for…people who put their asses on the lines for other people because they are socially responsible and realize that helping others is the only way that we as a people can really move past things. I want to educate people; children, teenagers, adults…I want to teach them about math and English and architecture and candy making and baking and basketball and Graphic design…I want children to work together until they reach 11 or 12 years old and at that point encourage them in whatever interests them…no grade systems or GPA’s. Not a system without rules but a system that pushes kids with an understanding that they can work together and create…Charter schools are a good representation but I would like to go a step further…whatever that step is.
From then, teach them how to save money and how ours is a society that bends its citizens over financially and how to avoid that. How to create opportunity and not wait for something or someone to bail you out. How to be self-sustaining…something that we don’t learn until we’re already out of school. I look at a lot of the things that are going on with health care and wall street and our views as a country on the outside world and all I see is a bunch of talking from a 2 sided argument that I want no part of. We should not be concerned as to how we can get over on someone else or how someone else’s viewpoints don’t agree with our own. We should be doing what is right…we should be compassionate towards one another and learn to pick them up and teach them to teach that to others. Hell, I’m tired of wanting this. It’s time to start doing something else about it besides wanting it.
What if we, and I mean we in the sense of anyone who is on board with this, what if we started a school where the core values were the values that we all agreed on? Not just what a state or an agency demands but one where we and the parents of our children decided that those values fall right in line with what theirs are. Not just values on paper but real CORE Values…Honesty, Teamwork, Hard work, Love, Compassion, Social Justice, Integrity. A school that kids of every background could get to…finance would not be an object. All that would need to be had was the ideals to be respected. Active family members of the kids as well as teamwork amongst those parents…parents not just worrying about their kids but being a community with one another. Social programs that would involve the children and parents working together with their classmates as well as the parents of their classmates. Not a commune either but a community based around our kids. On top of that, the idea that these parents will become
leaders in their communities long before their kids become leaders in theirs.
I don’t want to say this is a dream because that kind of puts it out of reach. I want this and I think that it will be done. I ask for your counsel because I think that your input is key. Not just important but vital. I have been talking to Christina about bigger things and scope. I think that there are enough contacts in my book to start something. I don’t know what but I am tired of everyone not being good towards one another for whatever reason it is that they have. I am tired of who I was and I am excited at what we can become.
If anyone has anything to add, hit me up. I look forward to everyone's input
I'm using this to keep a record of where things are going. At its core, My world is changed and its time I changed it. These are a series of ideas that I have stolen and begun following and this blog is the record of that change.
btw, The Homeless Talent Show stuff won't be found here any longer. Wasn't much anyway but it was fun when it was.
The following information is on our googlewave post. We are using this as an attempt to work on our unnamed project. I say we because this is not something that I can do alone and so far there seems to be initial support coming in from the people that I have questioned. so here goes...
The email I first sent...I wrote this to Erica. I keep looking at it and my feelings about this get stronger. Add to it and give your insight. Whatever information that might be relevant to any ideas NEEDS to be posted here.
We share our ideas so that we can make something happen.
I don’t know where to start so I will start here. I need to feel like something is being done. That book that I spoke to you about has me thinking a ton about what and where I want to go as far as the future. I don’t want a job or even a career. I want to be a craftsman. Not to the extent of using my hands or drawing or anything like that…I want to be able to help. Not just one thing but different things. And not just counseling for emotion or well-being, but teaching people how to teach other people. We have been implementing things here at work that seem to slowly be catching on...and people seem to be slowly grasping those ideas. The problem is that I really enjoy the feeling of watching these people grow and I am not sure that I can fill it just by working here.
Now, I don’t know if I want to just tell people how they should or shouldn’t act and I know that my patience for people who don’t want to try has not been tested yet so I can’t say that this is something that I have thoroughly thought out. A lot of what I am writing to you right now
is swirling around in my brain and I am trying to put it down to make it concrete. I do know that for the better part of Lillie’s life I have been struggling with the idea that I don’t think the education system in California is efficient nor do I believe that the education system in the United States as a whole is all that desirable. I like the idea of concentrating on the arts as much as concentrating on the sciences and weighing them evenly. I don’t know if home schooling is the right answer but I do like the idea that it presents. Somehow I would like her to be able to learn in a way that I was never allowed. I try to show her how much EVERYTHING matters and fill her with an understanding that was never a focus for me or a lot of others – that it is important that others learn from you, so that everyone that you touch in turn will teach someone else.
This is pretty random and widespread but I realize that things really shouldn’t be compartmentalized when it comes to people. Every day I run into something that has nothing to do with my department yet in order for this place to run efficiently, I need to care and put forth as much effort as possible. I’m asking you these things because you are a perfect example of what people need to strive for…people who put their asses on the lines for other people because they are socially responsible and realize that helping others is the only way that we as a people can really move past things. I want to educate people; children, teenagers, adults…I want to teach them about math and English and architecture and candy making and baking and basketball and Graphic design…I want children to work together until they reach 11 or 12 years old and at that point encourage them in whatever interests them…no grade systems or GPA’s. Not a system without rules but a system that pushes kids with an understanding that they can work together and create…Charter schools are a good representation but I would like to go a step further…whatever that step is.
From then, teach them how to save money and how ours is a society that bends its citizens over financially and how to avoid that. How to create opportunity and not wait for something or someone to bail you out. How to be self-sustaining…something that we don’t learn until we’re already out of school. I look at a lot of the things that are going on with health care and wall street and our views as a country on the outside world and all I see is a bunch of talking from a 2 sided argument that I want no part of. We should not be concerned as to how we can get over on someone else or how someone else’s viewpoints don’t agree with our own. We should be doing what is right…we should be compassionate towards one another and learn to pick them up and teach them to teach that to others. Hell, I’m tired of wanting this. It’s time to start doing something else about it besides wanting it.
What if we, and I mean we in the sense of anyone who is on board with this, what if we started a school where the core values were the values that we all agreed on? Not just what a state or an agency demands but one where we and the parents of our children decided that those values fall right in line with what theirs are. Not just values on paper but real CORE Values…Honesty, Teamwork, Hard work, Love, Compassion, Social Justice, Integrity. A school that kids of every background could get to…finance would not be an object. All that would need to be had was the ideals to be respected. Active family members of the kids as well as teamwork amongst those parents…parents not just worrying about their kids but being a community with one another. Social programs that would involve the children and parents working together with their classmates as well as the parents of their classmates. Not a commune either but a community based around our kids. On top of that, the idea that these parents will become
leaders in their communities long before their kids become leaders in theirs.
I don’t want to say this is a dream because that kind of puts it out of reach. I want this and I think that it will be done. I ask for your counsel because I think that your input is key. Not just important but vital. I have been talking to Christina about bigger things and scope. I think that there are enough contacts in my book to start something. I don’t know what but I am tired of everyone not being good towards one another for whatever reason it is that they have. I am tired of who I was and I am excited at what we can become.
If anyone has anything to add, hit me up. I look forward to everyone's input
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