Wear Red

Curious what the CTU strike is all about? It seems there are so many questions and the messaging has been messy. Here's my take: It is about

A Quality Day in the Classroom (not creating a babysitting service so kids can be 'kept busy')
Reasonable Classroom Size (not the up to 55-students-per-class that has been threatened)
Necessary Social Services  (not the 'just sit here and breathe' response when a nurse is not present)
Investment in Schools (not 'step over the puddle in the bathroom, honey' facilities)
Fair Contracts for teachers (not 'suck it up' re-negotations that fail the sniff test)

How do these issues play out in real life? In my child's school, which practices an 'inclusion' model of instruction, the class size is more likely to be over 30 - even in primary grades.  Because everyone is included in an inclusion model class, that room will have several English-speaking students who are, at least, average learners. It'll also include several children with varying degrees of special needs - hearing impairment, speech impediment, learning delay or more severe concerns. That classroom will also include a few children who don't speak a lick of English and a few others who are still learning the language. And, not often understood but true, the classroom will include special needs children who are at another point on the spectrum - they need accelerated instruction and greater challenge. Over 80% of the children in that classroom - or at least 24 of 30 - meet the criteria for a free or reduced lunch. (In an ironic twist, when those same children apply for high school the system forces them to the bottom of the priority list because, according to census numbers, we live in a high income area.)

That's why we need a quality day - especially if it's a longer one - and we need a reasonable pupil-to-teacher ratio. 

In my child's school, the classroom can be extremely hot (over 90 degrees) or extremely cold (closer to 60 degrees) and the presence of either extreme is not necessarily tied to the current climate outside. The fancy new heating and cooling system they put in place as part of a rehab still doesn't work so today while it was 80+ degrees outside I was wearing pants and a full coat in the office and I was still cold. We've had tons of work done to our school and I'm grateful for it, but if we're still the mess we are, what's going on in poorer neighborhoods?

That's why we need investment in school facilities. Basic stuff.  Stuff we have in our cars, for crissakes.

In order to meet the needs of all children, teaching often occurs in smaller groups, with several children working independently while the teacher works with one group, and a resource teacher works others, if there's one assigned. Almost on a daily basis, you can walk through the halls of that school and see groups of children sitting on the floor in the hallway trying to read or work on group projects because there's no adequate space for them to do so in the classroom and no adult available to supervise or guide the learning. What did you do when you were left in the hallway with a group of your buddies at age 9? Learn?

That's another reason we need reasonable classroom sizes and pupil-to-teacher ratios and investment in school facilities.

A nurse is present only a few days a week and with the increase in allergies and other health concerns in the general student population we've had to make absurd adjustments to day-to-day 'normal' activities to accommodate the lack of a health professional on staff. 850+ children in the building on a given day. Think about that. Today, with less than 100 people in the building the nurse was called upon three times and one of those injuries required an ER visit. A child entitled to X number of minutes per day for his/her learning support needs gets exactly those minutes. So if they need a few more but the schedule doesn't allow, the teacher is forced to move on rather than stay with the child and get them to the next level. It's cruel and awful and the teachers are sickened to have to do it.

That's why we need appropriate levels of social services in the building at all times.

In addition to traditional curriculum requirements, teachers are required to meet testing requirements with their instruction. These tests currently serve to measure not only students but schools. The children who don't speak English? They take those tests. The children who are delayed in learning for one reason or another? They take those tests. The teacher whose student rarely shows up for class, or spends half his time in detention? He takes that test too. Children in our school whose parents take them to their home countries for weeks on end and must actually re-register when they come back because they've been gone so long? Yup. Test. Why do you think those scores look like that?

Again, if you want children to succeed - if that's really your goal - you need to have reasonable pupil-to-teacher ratios and invest in support services that work and can be measured by the teacher not a chart.

Send your child to a school building with mud instead of grass on its playing field, jammed doorways that didn't always work, an intercom system that frequently beeped without warning, inadequate heating and cooling so that your child might be sweating or shivering depending on his/her location in the building throughout the day, leaking plumbing in bathrooms, classwork being conducted on the floor in hallways, gym in the classroom because the gym is being used as storage, no textbooks because central office didn't get them to us on time, and a teacher who had to tend to 32 other children in the classroom during the day. OK? Still feel like you are in the third largest school district in the country? Still feel like you live in the richest nation on Earth?
That's why we need honest, meaningful and intentional investment in school facilities which reflects our high prioritization of education.

Now how about if I asked you to work in that environment and then promised you a raise and then renegged on the raise and then asked you to work more hours and offered to evaluate your performance based on how well those kids did in your classroom - would you be cool with that?

And that's why teachers deserve a fair contract. They deserve it. They earn it and are entitled to it and we owe it to them. Fair. That's all.

A friend of mine is considering leaving the city because he's afraid the end result here is that there will be a huge tax increase to pay for the resources the city needs to effect these changes. My answer? No. It's time to pay attention to how the budget is written so that our real priorities are reflected and dollars are spent where we want them spent. It's time to stay and fight our asses off to make things better for ourselves and our children and everyone else's. It's time to insist policymakers stop playing politics with our children's futures - and our own - as more and more ill-prepared children become ill-prepared adults and take our futures into their hands. The future of the country is at stake. It is really that important. And it's just that simple. Our teachers deserve our full and undivided attention, our loyalty and our support.

Because, really? Forget all that stuff I just said. You just need to ask yourself one question in order to sort this whole thing out: who among us has become anything without a teacher? Not one.

Wear red.

It's Me

It seeps in,
from beneath the oven
and around the corner.
It slides next to me,
slipping its belly on the freshly wiped counters.
Completely granite.

Screeches and squeals,
louder and more vibrant.
Stronger...
Sharper...
They pierce my body.
It sticks in the room,
pointy needles, arrows,
all directed at me.

Lights start flashing.
But there's only darkness.
My eyes,
throbbing.
Pounding starts against the walls of my mind.
A whisper behind the banging,
pleads for help.
Get me out.

I open my eyes.
The noise remains.
The lights still flash.
The thumping continues.

The room is empty.
Silence surrounds.
Blank walls cover me.
There isn't movement for miles.

I'm sitting alone.

And She'll Walk Right Back

Through the brush and under bushes,
and deep beyond the marsh,
lay footprints of a little girl.
Feet grow in size,
past the buildings,
and weaving through bus stops.
Starting out like peas...
And growing up like trees.
Her feet begin at a doorstep,
and travel up into the world.
The land has been injected
with tiny little change.

Slowly, and faster,
the wind moves along.
The feet move more swiftly,
and shuffle to and fro.
Walking.
Running.
Sprinting.
Far, far beyond.

The trees change in color,
and leaves begin to depart.
Mothers say goodbye,
and babies start to age.
Snow decides to fall,
then dry up over again.
Patterns have been formed,
as her feet walk on by.

Watching with everything,
seeing it all fly away.
Everything comes back.

And the feet return to the doorstep.

Rewind.

Totally...

No one even likes freshman.

Hey, what's up, freshie!

You're totally gonna get pennies thrown at you.

Can't wait to start this year...

Stupid Sister.

If I ever become a professional writer, my sister, without a doubt will be my biggest competitor. This girl is a genius when it comes to writing. Which is pretty funny because in every other aspect, she's pretty stupid! Just kidding. She's actually a rock star in everything she pursues. Did I tell you that my sister placed third in her grade of 100 students in science fair? Yeah, I know. She's obnoxiously brilliant at anything. It's like she's magic or something. Imagine growing up with THAT. The smart, beautiful, curly haired, talented, artistic, scientific, creative, goofy, relatable, social, entertaining, willing, experienced, and loved Sarita. It's impossible to ever outdo her.

Stupid sister.

Basically... I'm Yoda.

So last year, I was an unofficial coach for my brother's baseball team. I helped warm the boys up, played catch with them, and taught them the mechanics of batting. But not this year my friend. No. This year, I am an official registered coach for Minor Division boys baseball. Oh yeah. I'm certified. With an automated email to prove it!

So now, Sam may no longer refer to me as his sister, or even call me Lucy. No. He must call me COACH Lucy. Yeah. I went there. I'm basically Yoda, and he's like my young padawon... or however you spell it. I'm totally going to make him run laps around the house at like six in the morning.

Actually, no I'm not. See apparently, even if you decide to coach your little brother, he doesn't really listen to you. So when I woke him up at six to run some laps, he just pushed me out of his room and told me,"Dude. It's six in the morning on a Saturday. Go to sleep you dork." SO... I suggest to all older sisters planning on coaching their little brothers or sisters, only so they can make them do ridiculous things NOT TO DO IT, because I have learned that they really don't care if you have an official email. You're still just the annoying big sister.

BUT IN ANY CASE- I am totally Yoda... except not green...

Right Daddy...?

The things my father makes me do. This could be a very interesting story. Care to take a listen??

I shouldn't really say that my father makes me do these things. The truth is, I volunteer to do these things. Except sometimes, I don't really know what I'm getting myself into...

I'm a mathematical person. Just like my daddy. So construction and measurements and fixing things is kind of what we do best. My brother Sammy was always the assistant in all of my dad's experiments, until he wasn't there one day. Sam was out at a friend's house and my dad needed some help on the Jeep, (a project he'd been working on for years. No worries. He finally fixed it!) and I was the only person in the house who was done with all my work for the day. So I went outside, and chatted with my daddy, handed him tools, grabbed things that only my small hands could reach... We had a pretty nice time.

Since then, we've been doing more and more projects together. I built a 'vine holder' with him this summer. Basically, it's a bunch of planks of wood attached from my garage to my house that hold up the vine we have growing on the wall. This upcoming summer, we will install a lighting system and having hanging pots to form a small garden seating area. Should look beautiful! We've also cleaned out his garage, which is no longer the dungeon of despair. You can actually put a car in there! We've made a counter in the office and a cabinet above it to hold supplies. I've helped build a bench/swing, and we finished fixing the car.

I love my Pappi so much. He's the best. No other way to put it. And so now I will start my homework... Because I'm a good child... Also his favorite child... Right Daddy...?

Math

Thank goodness for calculators.

Math

Thank goodness for calculators.

High School Is a Stressful Thing.

I'm not even a freshman yet. And high school already drives me insane. I'm only applying, and I still feel like I'm going to rip my hair out.

I'm in that whole 'interviews, applications, testing' faze of the process. Let me tell you- it's not as easy as it looks. There are a lot of pieces to put together when applying. At least in Chicago.

Best Friends

There's a lot that you learn from losing your best friend. There's a lot to be said about never seeing them again. And there's a lot to feel about missing an important person in your life.

I'm going into high school next year, and my best friend and I had this master plan that we were going to go to the same high school and be best friends forever. Nothing was going to separate us. Until his family moved out of state.

Now I'm left here without my best friend to talk to, to sit with at lunch, to gossip with, to laugh with. To share pizza with every Friday. Every single Friday. Without fail.

He's doing great. He has friends and is on the basketball team at his new school. He'll be successful wherever he goes. And I know that one day I will have to be a big girl and go to high school without him in my class. I will have to graduate without him, walk home without him, eat pizza without him... But in the end, best friends are best friends. And he will always be mine. I will always be his.

So it doesn't matter. If he's here on Friday or not, he'll always be my dorky BFF. And I'll always be his science fair winning nerd. Forever and always.