Tag Archives: Our students

And the beat goes on.

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Our school is trying to build up it’s marching band program. Actually, our terrific band directors Jill Ryan and Deb Lippa are trying to do that with the support of their department leader, Robin Smith. These are an energetic trio and I wouldn’t trade them for any other music teachers in the country.

I’m struggling a bit with one aspect of the transition. Our band directors began last school year. Previously our long standing band director was very laid back with our students, as many didn’t attend lessons and his expectations were just different from mine. We had a lot of complaints from the community, students and parents about our poor performances.

Jill started with very high expectations for students and most important, for herself. She has the drive and the  desire to take our music students to another level. That’s exactly what we were looking for and what I thought our students really wanted. But now we’re experiencing some growing pains where students don’t all want a more rigorous program and several key members have dropped. This has been bothering me, sort of that, “geez, nothing we do makes these people happy feeling.” 

But then there we were at a parade today on the Seneca Nation territory, which is partially in our school district. This is a parade our school hasn’t marched in before and one that we should be in–Jill easily agreed to give it a go. Four days into school and she’s got about 30 students showing up on a Saturday morning, in the pouring rain, to march in a parade. Our students looked terrific, they played the best they knew how with only four days in, and some even stepped into positions they’d never assumed before. And there was our band director, right next to them, smiling and directing and just making us look great.

Made me realize again we’ve got to keep moving forward, keep raising our expectations, keep showing our kids that we believe in them and think they are so much more than some have been shown before. Yep, I was proud to be there with Jill and our students today. We may not have been the best marching band around, but we were the best we could be at that moment, on this beautiful day. And for those who aren’t coming along with us, I say “SOOO LONG”.

Student apathy? Not today.

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This is the second August that we’ve offered the Regents exams to our students, free of charge. For those outside of New York State, these are the state exams that our students must pass to graduate. Also, the scores achieved and Regents courses/exams taken indicate the diploma type for graduation. The exams include Comprehensive English, Math B, Living Environment, Chemistry, Global Studies and Geography, and others. 

Our teachers come in for five days of review prior to the exam and work with students for a couple of hours each day. It’s a completely voluntary testing opportunity, just our way to give students another chance at the Regents exams.

We’re a small grade 9-12 high school, about 500 students, and we had 161 students “register” to take one or more Regents exams. And on the past two beautiful days in August, we had 120 students show up to re-take a Regents exam. Our guidance director and teachers had a lot to do with it, as our guidance director, Beth, called just about every student to encourage participation. And teachers did their best to encourage students to come to the review and to prepare for the exam.

The best part for me is knowing that 120 students cared enough to show up, when it wasn’t required, to try to improve a test score. And that’s what about 35% of our students came for specifically. They’d already passed and just wanted a better score. That’s pretty cool, if you ask me.

And the other great thing about it? The students who passed on this August administration can now have schedule changes made for September 5, moving forward in their course work toward graduation and saving valuable time that otherwise must be devoted to repeated courses or to academic intervention. This should keep students moving toward the goal of a diploma as it’s much easier to convince students to stay in school when they’re on track and making progress.

So for every teacher and administrator who grumbles during the school year that “these kids won’t do anything and they just don’t care”, please think of the 120 students who showed up in G-town on August 16-17, just to improve and move forward.  I’m glad our School BOE and Superintendent recognized the value in showing our students that we care enough to offer the opportunity. When we don’t care enough to offer opportunities, students don’t have the chance to show us what they’re made of, which looks like pretty strong stuff.  

What do you expect of yourself?

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I swear to you when my fourteen-year-old son hears me mentioning blogging, he covers his head with a pillow, his hands, anything he can get. Not that he’s adverse to the idea, he’s just sick of hearing about it.

This makes me think about fourteen year old children in general and the fact that I have 130 of them entering my building in another month. I wonder how often my son, and others just like him, will want to cover his head rather than hear something again and again in class. I wonder how much richer his learning experience would be if he had only those teachers who are passionate about learning and about students. And more important, teachers who fuel his passions and interests—those are the teachers our kids need.

I have mentioned before and continue to maintain that it is the teacher’s responsibility to make the class engaging in a meaningful way and more important, to make it relevant. I wonder why this is so difficult for some teachers to do. How is it that someone can stand in front of a room of disconnected learners, who are clearly and visibly disconnected, and keep doing the same things? If a teacher is dedicated enough to go to college and to achieve a Master’s degree in their chosen content, then they must be dedicated to teaching. Right? Or are some just dedicated to the content, to the idea of being a teacher, to the summers off and the ability to return home by 2:30 in the afternoon?

We need teachers who are dedicated to the students, each and every one of them. Teachers who realize they aren’t teaching Math, Science, English, Social Studies, or the encore subjects. They’re teaching children. All 130 students entering our ninth grade are different, with interests, passions, hopes and dreams. They also come to us from very different parents, backgrounds, and histories. I want teachers who care about every student who walks through the door, who understand it’s their responsibility to connect with each student, to give them their absolute best each and every day. You know what? Our kids zero in on those teachers who don’t care or don’t know what they’re doing faster than we do. And our kids don’t want to do anything for those teachers. So listen at your faculty meetings this year because those teachers complaining the most about students not doing anything often lack the ability to connect with all students and they therefore lack the ability to motivate. Kids won’t do anything for a teacher they hate and they generally hate a teacher more than anyone else who disrespects them or belittles them. Pay attention to the teachers who keep quiet during those discussions, because they’ve most likely figured out ways to engage and connect with students. In seventeen years in education, one thing I know for sure is that children will do anything in the classroom for a teacher who they know cares about them and expects the best of them.

I don’t want to hear about how hard the job is or how difficult it is to get everything done. Every job is hard in different ways. If this one is too hard, go find something else to do. Our kids deserve the very best, the most passionate teachers, and adults who care. I believe with all my heart that there is no job more important or more rewarding. How hard is it to love our kids and give them 100% each and every day? I plan to do just that on September 1 and throughout the school year and I can’t wait to see my teachers return, ready to do the same.

How do we measure a man?

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I’ve tried to start this post at least ten times and stopped.  As a high school principal, I am immersed in data and Regents results, drop out prevention, our literacy issues, staff development plans, hiring, and problem solving one hundred other day to day questions. I spend much time thinking about our teachers, our students, our school climate, and our achievement. I try to learn new things and to plan for our future. And then I have a conversation, or two, that stop me in my tracks.

I have a student who came to see me right before Regents week because he expects to go to jail for a few months, and he was struggling with a decision. Seems he thought he had the choice between two months of jail time with 3 years of probation or four months of jail time with no probation. He had already convinced the judge to prolong his sentencing date until after his exams were over. He figured the four months were better because he’d never manage to stay out of trouble for three years, but he didn’t want to miss so much school. His decision was a tough one because he really wants to graduate. Well, that’s easy, because I really want him to graduate too. So I’m trying to work out the details with the county jail and keep him moving through his curriculum. Here’s a kid who really wants to graduate, who understands the importance of it, who can’t get out of his own way to make it happen.  Sometimes it feels as if the issues, the obstacles, the stuff keeping them from graduating are so much bigger than I am. 

This makes me strip away all that we do, each and every day, all that the State expects, all of the testing and the data and the reporting and the planning. It makes me remember that it’s all about a boy. And a girl. Times 474. If we don’t get to know each and every one of those students, to care about them, to let them know that they matter in G-Town, to form those relationships, then the rest doesn’t really matter. Not to me anyway. I now have a boy, who’s in county jail, who called me at least four times since that initial meeting to let me know how his case was progressing. A boy who came to see me on Tuesday, in lousy shape, to tell me he was going to jail on Friday. A boy who has my word that I’ll do whatever it takes to get him to a diploma when he gets home. A boy with whom I’ve now formed a relationship. A boy who desperately needs that diploma as he’s minutes away from becoming a man.

How will our teachers measure him when he returns? Will they see only the jokes to be told, the gossip, and the angst of getting him on track with the rest of his class? Will our teachers see an inconvenience, a derelict, a convict, a problem?

Or will they see the whole person, the boy inside? Will they help him to succeed? Will they care even more because they know he’s not cared about enough outside of our school? Will they do even more because that’s what he needs? Will they even think he deserves it?

I’ll see a boy, who needs our help to become a man. I’ll see all of him. His four months away will not define him. He’s the reason we do this job, not the test results.

Huck Finn

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I’m wondering about the use of Huck Finn as a novel for tenth grade students. Our English teacher is committed to the use of the novel, spends approximately ten weeks teaching it, and has limited success. Approximately 32% of the students fail the class during this marking period, many refusing to participate for the duration of the unit. They HATE it. Honestly, he works hard and tries multiple methods to reach all students, feels it’s absolutely a necessary classic for this class. As the principal, I struggle with supporting the teacher’s right to make decisions about content and novels and rigor and the failure rate.

 Is this an appropriate novel? Are there other classics that are better suited to our more reluctant learners? Are the difficulties with literacy in our student population compounded on a novel such as Huck Finn? How do I respond to my teacher’s total commitment to this novel if it’s not the best choice? Do I just support him and continue to force the novel for all students? This tenth grade course literally becomes a stumbling block to graduation for a number of students. I clearly support the high expectations for our students, but am not sure Huck Finn is worth the fight.

Cell phones, etc. in schools

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Thinking about the students in our schools, their MP3 players, cell phones, and PSP’s that teachers are forever confiscating and turning into my office for “discipline”, I’m imagining there must be a better solution. Couple this question with the idea that my personal opinion on the subject is that students will always use the gadgets that they love and what’s wrong with that anyway? How do we reconcile the students’ desire to text and connect to friends 24/7 with the teachers’ need to engage the student? Maybe that’s the answer. If the students are engaged and interested in the learning, they won’t be more interested in the next text message. Is good teaching alone the answer? I think it certainly helps but why can’t we figure out a way to engage students using the technology that they are so comfortable with in a meaningful way that furthers our educational goals?

How do we embrace that which we cannot nor should not eliminate? How do we use it to our educational advantage in engaging students with our content?