Grindlebone
11/22/10
KIPP Should Change Its Name To CIPP: Updated
This is a re-post from September
KIPP stands for Knowledge Is Power Program. I think it should be CIPP, Compliance Is Power Program.
I mostly work with young students not yet in high school. All my classroom experience is k-3 with some subbing in high and middle school thrown in before I was credentialed. I now work with all ages in a private practice.
My experience in a Title 1 district taught me much. I learned how poverty can stifle a child's ability to learn.
I watched many of my students interact with their parents and the negative interactions I have seen show me KIPP style indoctrination is a no-good and rather blunt instrument.
For you teachers, this will come as nothing new or even interesting.
Many students are parented in a way that I can only call "be seen but not heard." It is a typical family dynamic I see constantly. Young kids are told to shut up by their parents. They are manhandled and insulted. They are often being raised by an exhausted grandparent. They are sometimes homeless, almost always car-less, and in need of dental care. They are not fed well at home and need to come to school to eat. They live in Section 8 housing in a crappy part of town. Homework is hard because there isn't a place to do it, or time to do it, or anyone to help do it. Many parents/caregivers expect the school and teacher to educate their child--entirely. Why?
Let me stereotype:
Because these families, mostly impoverished, don't raise their kids the way I raise mine or you raise yours. We hug our children, listen to them, enrich them, read to them, feed them, show them they are important to us, and love them and show them they are wanted. We have books in our houses and we talk with (as opposed to to or at) our children. It's what privilege and good role models allows us. It's also, probably, how we were raised. Our curiosity was encouraged and engaged. Our parents were role models. School was an adjunct to an education, not the be-all and end-all.
For those students who don't get that kind of parenting, schools are the only place left to provide it. And that's how my classroom operated. I was a fantastic dad/teacher in the classroom. It was my job to teach BIG ideas, along with the standards, of course. But standards were almost beside the point. Standards are easy to learn when you are exposed to big ideas and connections. That's why school for me and my son, and most of you and your children, was not a struggle. We were ready.
My classroom was a community and everyone in that community was respected for who they were and what they could do. I encouraged my kids to seek each other out for help--classrooms are filled with talent and all one needs to do is learn about each other to find out. My job is to help each student find out what they are good at and use that as a means to an education--academic as well as social. I must validate each child's skills and abilities. Everyone needs validation. It is a form of respect. It also builds confidence, something poverty tends to quash.
My classroom was fun because learning is fun. Our brains, kid's brains especially, are wired for learning. It's what brains do--brains are pattern-seeking devices. When I provide/expose/clarify patterns for my students, they flourish and their brains hum along. This can't be done without spontaneity. KIPP is the opposite of spontaneous.
KIPP chooses compliance over connections. KIPP chooses behavior over knowledge.
My most ignorant, unworldly students needed parenting and exposure to things not presented in the home. School is where they got attention, concern, validation, and love. I gave them time to explore and become interested and curious. I answered every single question anyone had. I stopped reading out loud when the story brought up something worth talking about. Then I taught them all I could about what interested them. It's called authentic learning, and it is what parents do when they watch their child focus on something, like a flower or a bug, without interrupting or analyzing, but rather going along and facilitating.
Everyday I had students who wanted to come to school because they knew I was there to help them, not scold them, not to get them to comply "because I said so" but because we are happier when we cooperate. My classroom was a place where kids learned how to be people first, not robots.
People learn by seeking out patterns. Poverty precludes unobstructed curiosity. KIPP reinforces the obstructions.
Good teachers don't drill and kill (well, sometimes it's actually okay). Good teachers don't stifle, they amplify and validate, redirect and focus, excite and explain.
KIPP schools intimidate, single out, and make rigid all the things that should not be rigid. Respect and concern work better than fear and intimidation.
If we want young people to do well in school they need a family that has the luxury of being able to provide stability. America just hasn't figured out what to do about it yet.
Well, here's a start:
1. Universal health care
2. Free high quality early childhood education
Update: I need to add how the name KIPP came to be. Harriet Ball, who heard god and left teaching to teach teachers, had a chant she used (chants are for poor, black kids) that went like this:
The KIPP founders heard the chant at a conference and liked it. I don't.
I mostly work with young students not yet in high school. All my classroom experience is k-3 with some subbing in high and middle school thrown in before I was credentialed. I now work with all ages in a private practice.
My experience in a Title 1 district taught me much. I learned how poverty can stifle a child's ability to learn.
I watched many of my students interact with their parents and the negative interactions I have seen show me KIPP style indoctrination is a no-good and rather blunt instrument.
For you teachers, this will come as nothing new or even interesting.
Many students are parented in a way that I can only call "be seen but not heard." It is a typical family dynamic I see constantly. Young kids are told to shut up by their parents. They are manhandled and insulted. They are often being raised by an exhausted grandparent. They are sometimes homeless, almost always car-less, and in need of dental care. They are not fed well at home and need to come to school to eat. They live in Section 8 housing in a crappy part of town. Homework is hard because there isn't a place to do it, or time to do it, or anyone to help do it. Many parents/caregivers expect the school and teacher to educate their child--entirely. Why?
Let me stereotype:
Because these families, mostly impoverished, don't raise their kids the way I raise mine or you raise yours. We hug our children, listen to them, enrich them, read to them, feed them, show them they are important to us, and love them and show them they are wanted. We have books in our houses and we talk with (as opposed to to or at) our children. It's what privilege and good role models allows us. It's also, probably, how we were raised. Our curiosity was encouraged and engaged. Our parents were role models. School was an adjunct to an education, not the be-all and end-all.
For those students who don't get that kind of parenting, schools are the only place left to provide it. And that's how my classroom operated. I was a fantastic dad/teacher in the classroom. It was my job to teach BIG ideas, along with the standards, of course. But standards were almost beside the point. Standards are easy to learn when you are exposed to big ideas and connections. That's why school for me and my son, and most of you and your children, was not a struggle. We were ready.
My classroom was a community and everyone in that community was respected for who they were and what they could do. I encouraged my kids to seek each other out for help--classrooms are filled with talent and all one needs to do is learn about each other to find out. My job is to help each student find out what they are good at and use that as a means to an education--academic as well as social. I must validate each child's skills and abilities. Everyone needs validation. It is a form of respect. It also builds confidence, something poverty tends to quash.
My classroom was fun because learning is fun. Our brains, kid's brains especially, are wired for learning. It's what brains do--brains are pattern-seeking devices. When I provide/expose/clarify patterns for my students, they flourish and their brains hum along. This can't be done without spontaneity. KIPP is the opposite of spontaneous.
KIPP chooses compliance over connections. KIPP chooses behavior over knowledge.
My most ignorant, unworldly students needed parenting and exposure to things not presented in the home. School is where they got attention, concern, validation, and love. I gave them time to explore and become interested and curious. I answered every single question anyone had. I stopped reading out loud when the story brought up something worth talking about. Then I taught them all I could about what interested them. It's called authentic learning, and it is what parents do when they watch their child focus on something, like a flower or a bug, without interrupting or analyzing, but rather going along and facilitating.
Everyday I had students who wanted to come to school because they knew I was there to help them, not scold them, not to get them to comply "because I said so" but because we are happier when we cooperate. My classroom was a place where kids learned how to be people first, not robots.
People learn by seeking out patterns. Poverty precludes unobstructed curiosity. KIPP reinforces the obstructions.
Good teachers don't drill and kill (well, sometimes it's actually okay). Good teachers don't stifle, they amplify and validate, redirect and focus, excite and explain.
KIPP schools intimidate, single out, and make rigid all the things that should not be rigid. Respect and concern work better than fear and intimidation.
If we want young people to do well in school they need a family that has the luxury of being able to provide stability. America just hasn't figured out what to do about it yet.
Well, here's a start:
1. Universal health care
2. Free high quality early childhood education
Update: I need to add how the name KIPP came to be. Harriet Ball, who heard god and left teaching to teach teachers, had a chant she used (chants are for poor, black kids) that went like this:
You gotta read, baby, read.
You gotta read, baby, read.
The more you read, the more you know,
Cause knowledge is power,
Power is money, and
I want it.
You gotta read, baby, read.
The more you read, the more you know,
Cause knowledge is power,
Power is money, and
I want it.
The KIPP founders heard the chant at a conference and liked it. I don't.
11/21/10
I Am Happy To Be In Private Practice
 |
| "Sai" |
One of the things that I have noticed is how homework seems to provide me with clients. What I mean is that a few of my students' parents hired me because of the homework wars they were experiencing with their kids at home. These parents, who clearly have enough money to hire a person like me, have chosen not to become the enemy to their child, and have hired me to help with homework. I am fine with it, because it pays the bills. Hiring me also reduces stress in the family's home, and that can only be a good thing, too.
Homework is mostly busy-work, often difficult to decipher due to the 30th generation copy being given to the student, and it's usually a complete waste of time because kids race through it so they can get to the Xbox. I am becoming more and more anti-homework. My stance could cost me, of course, but I am not thinking of me, I am thinking of students and their families.
* In an IEP meeting for a high school student last year the district administrator, parents, educational therapist, psychologist, mentor, some other lady, and I were crammed in a little office to discuss the IEP. One of the things we were/are trying to help the student with is autonomy (he has executive function issues, among others--a very bright kid though) and following through with assignments--turning them in, mostly. During the meeting the district administrator discussed the fact that the student has 2 tutors, an ed therapist, and others who are paid by the district (I am paid for by the district) and it is expensive. She said this to the student. Most of us shot looks at each other wondering who was going to punch this idiot in the face for saying such a thing to the student. We refrained, but over coffee later, we all realized we should have punched her. One of the student's moms (he has 2) is a 4th degree black belt--she is a Sai (see photo) expert. She looks like your little Italian grandmother, but she can kill you in 2 seconds with just her thumb. And her partner, who looks like your little Jewish grandmother, is a brown belt. They showed such restraint!
This interaction with a district administrator is not typical, but the sentiment overrides everything. School districts have NO money for kids who need/deserve services. They are literally short-changed and short-changing kids as a result. Parents have to hire a guy like me just to make sure the school takes their request for a meeting seriously, especially if the student has a diagnosis that falls under section 504. School administrators must get trained in how to avoid classifying students as falling under section 504.
This is what needs to get reformed--how we deal with the neediest among us. How we deal with our neediest brothers and sisters will determine or worth as human beings.
11/19/10
Song Of The Day: I Can't Stand The Rain
Angeline Ball
I actually like the rain. But I like Angeline singing about rain more.
The EdReform Shell Game
Doug Noon, who you should have in your reader, points out that what the reformers say contradicts what the reformers say. (You read that right.)
...So, being college-ready is a step to realizing a person’s full potential, except for teachers with master’s degrees, which are worth nothing. Kids should go to college, but teachers should not. Teachers are important, but we should only recognize them for their ability to raise test scores. We will insist on the very best and make sacrifices, as long as those doing the insisting control the conditions of employment, and teachers make the sacrifices. Kids need to go to college so they can get an education which may or may not help them advance their station in life, because results are all that matters – unless you’re an education reformer, in which case you find other people to blame for your own ill-conceived policy recommendations....
11/18/10
Remember Haiti? They're Getting Cholera And Shot Dead
MMMore than a thousand people have died of cholera in Haiti over the last few weeks. Now, a couple more have been shot dead by the UN peacekeeping force, MINUSTAH, during protests that erupted earlier this week. Rumors that the disease, never present in the country before, was brought in by Nepalese UN troops were exacerbated by a CDC announcement that the strain resembles South Asian cholera. The protests the peacekeepers are trying to keep under control are against the peacekeepers themselves....
11/16/10
Charter School Emulates Prison, Thinks It's A Good Thing
Strict rules at Crown Heights charter school put 16% of students in detention every day
...Some behaviors are considered so bad - rolling their eyes, sucking their teeth or complaining after getting a demerit - students get an immediate 45-minute detention for committing them.
On an average day, one in six kids - about 50 - in the 300-student school stays after class, Achievement First officials said.
"We have high expectations, and we're really confident that what we're doing is in the students' best interests," said Principal Wells Blanchard, who instituted the policies when he took over the school this year.
Charter school advocates say the strict rules maintain order for kids.
But a group of parents with children at Achievement First Crown Heights say the rules are overkill. More than 20 of them met last week at the Crown Heights public library to discuss protesting the policies.
The group agreed to speak out at the school's next board meeting Nov. 22.
"I understand that schools need to have rules, but this is like Rikers Island," said Sarah Dickens, who said she will be at the board meeting to protest her fifth-grade son's daily detention for things like dropping a pen and failing to address a teacher as "ma'am."
"They've gone too far," Dickens said.
Education experts say charter schools with tough rules are a growing trend....
11/15/10
11/14/10
Song Of The Day: Tramp The Dirt Down
I saw a newspaper picture from the political campaign
A woman was kissing a child, who was obviously in pain
She spills with compassion, as that young child's
face in her hands she grips
Can you imagine all that greed and avarice
coming down on that child's lips
Well I hope I don't die too soon
I pray the Lord my soul to save
Oh I'll be a good boy, I'm trying so hard to behave
Because there's one thing I know, I'd like to live
long enough to savour
That's when they finally put you in the ground
I'll stand on your grave and tramp the dirt down
When England was the whore of the world
Margaret was her madam
And the future looked as bright and as clear as
the black tarmacadam
Well I hope that she sleeps well at night, isn't
haunted by every tiny detail
'Cos when she held that lovely face in her hands
all she thought of was betrayal
And now the cynical ones say that it all ends the same in the long run
Try telling that to the desperate father who just squeezed the life from his
only son
And how it's only voices in your head and dreams you never dreamt
Try telling him the subtle difference between justice and contempt
Try telling me she isn't angry with this pitiful discontent
When they flaunt it in your face as you line up for punishment
And then expect you to say "Thank you" straighten up, look proud and pleased
Because you've only got the symptoms, you haven't got the whole disease
Just like a schoolboy, whose head's like a tin-can
filled up with dreams then poured down the drain
Try telling that to the boys on both sides, being blown to bits or beaten and
maimed
Who takes all the glory and none of the shame
Well I hope you live long now, I pray the Lord your soul to keep
I think I'll be going before we fold our arms and start to weep
I never thought for a moment that human life could be so cheap
'Cos when they finally put you in the ground
They'll stand there laughing and tramp the dirt down
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