Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Summer School



Thanks to the efforts of some extraordinary people within our district, our summer school program has a totally different look this year.  Lindsey Schubert, Associate Principal at OMS, and Toddy Antony, Principal at Irving Pertsch, have taken on this gigantic task of making summer school cool.

Yes, I said cool.

In years past, the notion of summer school elicited thoughts of failure, punishment, and extended torture.  Kids who were coming to summer school were directed to go there, not invited.  They were told that they had to attend or suffer the consequences of remediation during the school year, uncompleted credits, or being "held back."





Summer school was not cool.


No one wanted to attend school in the summer.

"That's my time off."

"That's when I get my break!"

"I'm too stressed out after the regular school year!  I'm 10 and I can't handle it!!!!!"

There was a terribly negative connotation with summer school.  We needed to change it.

We needed to adopt a new attitude and direction with summer school.

First, everyone could come.

No longer was summer school reserved for students who may be struggling.  Everyone was invited to benefit from this program.  Whether students were reading at grade level, below grade level, or above grade level, we had something for them.

Second, academics in the morning = fun in the afternoon.

We created dozens of new enrichment classes that included everything from basket weaving (class filled in one day!) to robotics.  Drama class to rocketry.  Technology integration into your life to basketball.  You name it, we had it!

Students could attend for however long they wished.  They could come for the academics and leave before the afternoon sessions.  They could just come for the enrichment.  They could also stay all day.

I can hear the questions now:

"Why?"

"Why re-do summer school?"

"Research shows that summer school has little to no effect on student learning and achievement!"

Maybe.

But what message are we sending by allowing students to take three months off of learning?  What passive statement are we making about "life long learning" when we allow kids to not be engaged during the summer months?

I know what you're thinking.  Your thinking, "Lots of parents sign their children up for programming during the summer that keeps kids sharp, allows them to be involved, and keeps them busy."

Yes they do.  But not all families have an inexspeive, readily accessible programs that will help their child stay on track.

That's our job.  It's our job to provide these types of programs and it's our job to ensure that all students are learning.  Summer school can be a tool that helps us teach kids that learning occurs....always.  Even in summer.

Hopefully their also learning that school is cool.....at least in the summer!

Mr. K

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Too Hot!

I started my  career in a school that had no air conditioning!

That's no joke!  I have very vivid memories of kids in my class looking like they were melting on very warm September and May days.  They may have been hallucinations caused by the heat but it sure made me appreciate a cheap, poorly made window air conditioning unit that I found on the streets of Milwaukee.

It was a small, brown contraption that looked like it weighed about 100 lbs.  What could be the harm in trying it out?  Worst case scenario, it wouldn't work and I would throw it in the school's dumpster.  Or so I thought.

Upon picking it up I realized that it did not weigh 100 lbs.  It felt like it weighed 1000 lbs!  Add sweltering heat on top of that and I was looking at a real dilemma here.

In order to get it to my classroom I had to throw it in the back of my 1991 Ford Festiva.  That may have been the smallest car ever made at that point.  The minute I set that climate control device in the trunk, the whole car sunk to the point where the wheel wells were rubbing on the tires.  I thought I heard my poor car moan at one point.

After sweating off 5 lbs. lugging that thing around I was finally ready to plug it in and give it a try.  Success!!  It worked.  Sure, it was loud......really loud.  I had to yell to be heard over it.  But if that was the cost of comfort, we would be a class where yelling was the norm.  The kids adapted quickly.  Pretty soon the kids would only speak one another if they were yelling in each other's ears.  A rudementary sign langauage was developed that consisted mostly of kids giving the "thumbs up" sign when they agreed with something and throwing their hands up when they didn't understand.

After a short period of time our room became the place that every student, faculty member, and parent wanted to be.  Everyone would stop by and say hi or just sit in and "listen" to what was going on.  This made me accutely aware of what I was doing in my class, what we were covering, and how my students were doing.  It was awesome.

The collegial collaboration of our building improved, conversations were occuring surrounding student achievement, and we were getting better at the business of educating kids.

All because of an air conditioner I found on the streets of Milwaukee.

As the year went on, the temps cooled off and the AC unit was no longer necessary.

With the air conditioner leaving so did the crowds of people that would stop by our room and discuss learning.

The lesson I learned from all of this is "be the air conditioner."  Find a way to make your class, your school, or wherever you are the place where student achievement is center stage.  Be the place where collegial conversations are the norm.  Find out whatever your "air conditioner" is and get the word out.

You may do more than just cool off your students.

Mr. K