Responsibility is tough... Kinda

Two bills passed out of committee this week dealing with education. One is telling us what to do and another is taking resources away from our students. Both show the goals and true nature of their authors and supporters.

First, HB 2949 failed on a committee vote of 8-7. This would establish Education Savings Accounts ESAs, vouchers. However the legislature rules (this is the case is most legislatures by the way) give the speaker of the house and the speaker pro temp of the house a vote in all committees. They used their votes in this committee to sway the vote to 9-8 in favor of passage. The Tulsa World story reported that Rep. Jason Nelson was unable to show how much this program would cost. I guess that's that fiscal responsibility and belt tightening budgeting we keep hearing so much about. Read about the bill and vote here, and a solid analysis here.

The convoluted nature of their process should, at the very least, arouse suspicion. Why can't they just tell us what they want to do? Why so sneaky? There is no evidence anywhere showing where vouchers, by any other name, help any significant number of students and families. I'll refer to the wise words below to sum this argument up.

Next HB 2797 would require schools to incorporate anti-abortion education into their curriculum. Not going to debate the topic itself too much but, the idea of mandating the teaching opposing something that is legal is complicated. It happens a lot (anti-smoking, anti-drinking, anti-gambling). And I get the emotions attached to this topic, which leads me to one possible solution… Teach your kids your views and train them how you think they should be trained on this issue. But don't withhold information from them.

And afford everyone else the same courtesy.

Also, just as a thought, everyone okay with doing the same type of anti-gun ownership curriculum? I mean owning guns leads to murder and the taking of life and anything we can do to minimize the taking of life should be explored.

Speaking of leading to things, the bills intended goal is to create an abortion free society. Okay. I don't think there are a lot of people that would disagree with that being a positive world. Because aside from the traumatic circumstance (regardless of situation) being eliminated, that would mean we've reached gender equality, found cures or preventative cares for dozens of birth defects and pregnancy complications (many of which could prove fatal to one or both parties), we've ended most all sexual assault, and ended all unwanted pregnancies. All of these are reasons for abortions occurring. Most of those provide perfectly moral and legal situations for numerous decision to be made and people should have choices in those situations.

That last one is a big one because is causes the least moral clarity. One would assume eliminating that avenue for these situations to happen would be a great goal. And we are in luck because we know how to do that. To the benefit/detriment of millions of students, each state, and in many cases, each district, decides what sex/reproductive education curriculum to use. See here for a great and hilarious NQSFW analysis of our country's position on Sex Ed.

So we know comprehensive sex Ed works. I would assume it is in this bill., but alas I assumed. There is no discussion about sex Ed at all in this bill. Rep Emily Virgin said it best…

The story also noted Rep. Coody knew the money wasn't there for it to be implemented this year but “it will get the position of the house on the record” whatever that means… again fiscal responsibility at its finest.

We have to work together to fix this state. I get that. But it's a lot easier to work with someone if they can be taken seriously. And if these are the ideas, and it means enough to their party’s leadership to vote in committee (which is perfectly legal, but not that common) I don't know how seriously they can be taken…

It's important to note, neither of these bills are done. We've still got plenty of opportunity to defeat them and we have to. Please thank those that supported us, and start working on all the reps. We are being heard and it is making a difference.

This is about as quiet as I can be...

Soo I guess people do read these blogs…

If you ideas about education, have opinions about other ideas, and live in Oklahoma you should probably just keep to yourself and shut your mouth while the “grownups” make the big tough decisions. I’ve never been one to keep quiet, and I’ll be damned if I am going sit by and just allow the dismantling of public education. Clearly a conversation must take place. So let's have one...

There is no reason to tiptoe around some topics in this conversation. The tone taken by the legislators regarding education issues, especially towards those that dissent from their rigid world view, is largely due to the fact my profession is mostly women. This tone would never be taken, nor has ever been taken against corrections officers, oil executives, bankers, law enforcement or any other constituency to which the Legislature is answerable. I feel fairly confident in my accusation given the litany of legislation leaving Lincoln (blvd) laid-out against ladies, the party in power laughably lifts-up as legitimate governance. Two or three backasswards misogynistic pro-fetus ideas a session can be overlooked. But, a couple of ideas is not the case here.

It shouldn’t matter the gender makeup of our profession. Regardless of the gender diversity of our profession, we are just that, a profession, of professionals. Professionals that know what we are doing, and how to do it. We read books, and learn from one another, participate in PD, and take time away from our lives, for our profession. We do that to make us better. It’s where we get our notoriety. That stuff we derive from the classroom, which we in turn use to promote our partisan political ideology… Except that’s not what we do. We tell the truth and teach kids to be responsible, intelligent, wise, and thinking citizens. If those things are a threat to you and your plans, then just come out and say it.

I also see a strain of jealousy in the comments that have been used to describe those voices from #oklaed. There are 149 people that meet 75 days a year in OKC. They call themselves our legislature. We call them that too, because it's their title. While they make more than many teachers, and work WAY less (75 DAYS of work TOTAL). In most cases they can’t seem to find their ass with both hands without taking money from education and giving it to oil companies. And they just can’t seem to figure out where and how hey lost their way. They did what God Reagan told them to do, cut, cut, cut… But try as they might, they can’t seem to make the facts fit their narrative. It turns out when you don’t have any money, you can’t pay for things… And they are pissed that they might get called on it…

So there they are, sitting at 23rd and Lincoln seeing us measly, weak, ineffective, lazy, union-thug, liberal, slug (yeah Gov. Keating, we remember that one…) teachers actually making an impact on the discourse and making their fragile lives difficult. I KNOW it's much, much easier for them to do what they want when we just sit by and don’t pay attention, but we aren’t doing that.

Could it be they are envious of our influence? That our students, their parents, and our communities do not see us as the evil they try to call us? The political leaders of Oklahoma are running out of devils to blame their sins on, and they are getting cranky. Could it be that we actually know what we are talking about? And its not all just a partisan political ideology? The only reason a politician would be upset at someone using “politics” effectively (which is EXACTLY what #oklaed does) is because they are getting their asses handed to them in the debate. If you like, we would love to teach you how we get that notoriety. It's not hard, read, learn, study, become wise, and help guide people to their own knowledge. That’s all teaching is… And it's not that you haven’t tried, it just helps to use facts. Real ones. And numbers too. Good ones. Not just “the math you do to make yourself feel better as a republican (thank you Megyn Kelly).

I am unwilling to be “legislative-splained” our situation by men and women who have no understanding of history, governance, or the culture they serve. I will not accept “we can’t do anything” from men and women who have done EVERYTHING to ensure nothing could be done to undo their dishonest, impractical, and pathetic “business-minded” decisions and actions. You wrote the rules, you have to rewrite them. And it's your fault the laws are so hard to pass. What was it your mother said about making your bed?

Let’s discuss the topic of decorum. It seems to be the virgin ears of these poor fragile men and women can’t handle when teachers call them on their BS. I can only wonder what type of student these men and women were. At the OK Policy state Budget Summit in reference to a question about expanding medicaid funding and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Sen. Clark Jolley, mentioned “anything with Obama’s name on it, is DOA in Oklahoma”. 

(I have the tweets to prove it too)

Two things about that statement, the ACA, is the acronym and there isn’t a B, an H or an O in that acronym. The term Obamacare has been used since before the ACA’s inception to disparage and discredit its merit. Who was it using it with such distaste? So, when it comes to things being DOA, shouldn’t those responsible for that death share some blame? Secondly, at a time when “all options have to be on the table” and “everything has to be considered”, why isn’t changing this conversation and climate so it can happen a part of he conversation? I’m not so starry eyed to think all will be acceptable but, if Sen. Mazzei can talk about not making tax cuts, surely some of these legislators can have the tough conversation with their constituents, and more importantly, their donors. 

It would also help if these ladies and gentlemen would take their jobs seriously...

I keep trying to bring this to a close but any sort of conclusion I begin just continues into another grinch about how the men and women that run our state couldn’t care less about your kids. So I’ll just finish with this. As a collective group, They. Don’t. Care. There is no logical way to come to any other conclusion. They keep saying “we have to make tough choices” well, the thing is, it’s their job to make those tough choices,nerve made all the ones we can. If they are too weak and fragile to live with decisions that help people that cannot help them, then in the immortal words of Ms. Delores Landingham, “Well, God Jed… I don’t even know if I want to know ya.” And if you don’t get that reference go watch The West Wing TV series NOW, or at least watch this scene.Watch the whole thing, watch the whole series (you’ll thank me later), but the line is 2:20-2:35.

Those millennials are are at it again...

There have been some articles floating around like this, this, and this. I don’t like giving them any more web space than they already have but, this isn't a lot of web space so it's okay. I’ll also just leave this here too. It provides a bit more background about one of the authors.

Articles that take the tone similar to the ones above are part of the reason I never tell my students to “act like adults” or "grownups". Mostly because I have witnessed (and been an example of) how “adults” and "grownups" act.

I don’t know where to start with any of these articles… It’s one thing to not like the younuns’ for their clothes and their phones and their music and all but this devolves into a derangement of some sorts. Never mind the confusion the “adults” seem to have with socialism and democratic-socialism. This might help, as well as this. There is a mania in the writing that is remarkably unbecoming of someone attempting to “right” “wrongs”. I remember hearing something about catching flies with honey but surely that doesn't apply here...

As a political science graduate and social studies teacher I’m supposed to know the difference between these and I work my tail of making sure my students understand the difference. It hurts when “smart people” cannot figure it out, or blatantly lie about it.

Let’s be clear, the Millennial generation does not embrace socialism. If we are screaming collectively for anything, it's fairness. For those to which the article is targeted (of which I am probably one) it is much more appropriate to say it is an embrace of principles that would potentially give us the opportunities previous generations had.

I’ll let the memes speak for themselves but, it’s clear we need to begin any discussion related to this with a bit more maturity. We also need to have an understanding of what we are talking about. And all sides need to seek first to understand… especially as teachers.

5-4-3-2-1 or, 1-2-3-4-5, or whatever...

I fell off the blog wagon a week or so ago… It’s not that I didn’t have anything to say, there has just been a lot of other stuff going on. I’ll be posting about the #edcamp918 later, but this one was tweeted at me and I feel like I have to respond. I was never a chain letter person or chain email person so it’s not one of those things, it's more of a “someone told me to so I have to”... So, here it goes…

1-2-3-4-5

What has been your ONE big struggle during this school year?

• Keeping up with grading. I’m a very lazy guy and being busy isn’t good for that. I have lessened  the assignment load on my students and I also do not grade everything… But still, I don’t like grading, I’ll get to some of it after this post tho.

Share TWO accomplishments that you are proud of from this school year?

• Google Classrooms:  I Love this application! I am slowly using more pieces and working with my students about digital citizenship and college and career skills. It is keeping the students accountable and me on top of things.
• Blogging and Twitter citizenship: I’ve always had stuff to say, but never really thought anyone would listen. I don’t think I have achieved any status or level of respect but I have taught for a while and I have ideas. Being active on these mediums have made me work and think. It has helped me grow and brought a lot of new ideas and learning into my classroom.

What are THREE things you wish to accomplish before the end of the school year?

• Have students create podcasts as a part of a lesson: I love using technology. As my students get more involved and comfortable with applying these platforms to their learning, I want to give them skills they will want and need. The more interactive the better and that is what I am looking for here.
• Work with other teachers: I love to learn and teach. I love finding new ideas I haven’t thought of. I love finding validation in my thoughts and opinions. I also like to learn when I;m wrong. I love sharing good ideas when I have them and they work. Our jobs are too big, and we have too wide an audience to think we can do it ourselves. I want to seek out other opportunities to grow and help the profession.
• Continue work on my masters degree and start looking at doctoral programs: I love learning. Last Fall my brother told be about a new master’s program at Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Native American Leadership. I’m a Cherokee citizen and have always appreciated that part of my heritage and how it intertwines with our state and country’s history. Given a chance to study it with focus and guidance was something I did not want to pass up. I began that spring and anticipate graduating this December. I have thoroughly enjoyed every class. It isn’t an Education course of study but I have become a better teacher because of it. It has rekindled that fire of learning and curiosity and I am now starting to look into doctoral programs. I will stay in education and want to do something effective while still being able to be a teacher and be an advocate for students.

Give FOUR reasons why you remain in education in today’s rough culture.

• The Kids: I love the kids. I saw how much my mother loved her job and I wanted to do something like that. I have always enjoyed helping with kids whether it was through church stuff or little league. I really enjoy it and love the enthusiasm and curiosity they bring with them.
• I’m good at it: I'm not someone who pretends I excel at things, or am an expert on anything. I like learning and I think that is part of what makes me good at this. I find out things with my kids sometimes. When we are where we can as a class I like to apply un-directed learning and let the kids try to teach me things. It’s really fascinating and fun.
• I’ve never cared much about money: It's not to say I don’t want it or need it. I'm not going to turn away a pay raise, but I'm not going to just destroy myself to "get rich". I just think there are other ways and forms of value that we should appreciate. I like spending time with people and building relationships. I keep in contact with former students and love hearing their stories and how they are making a difference. Knowledge and relationships aren’t things that will go away when banks misbehave, or a severe conflict occurs. I like to keep perspective and teaching really does that to you.
• I love it: I know, it's a cop out easy end of the list answer but I really do. I get to the building early. I have a white board with standards and objectives posted all over my wall in my apartment. I have atlases and maps as wall hangings. There are about a dozen articles and books strewn across my apartment floor right now related to teaching, geography, or my master’s program. I look forward to what I get to read next and what my students get to discover next.

Which FIVE people do you hope will take the challenge of answering these questions.

@Valariefarrow

@Ccherran

@FatCatArtist

@Jendoty7

@DossettFor34 (He was a teacher this year, perhaps he could reword four to account for his change in positions.)

Social Media, the Internet, and Schools...

My Personal and Organizational leadership class (Grad student in Native American Leadership at SEOSU) tasked me with discussing an issue or situation where “a decision” had to be made and what leadership it took to bring about this change. It got me thinking about the tremendous impact social media and the internet has had on how we do school. I’ve lamented before, my generation began school with Big Chief tablets and ended with laptops and wireless devices. Students today have wireless devices and are internet fluent before they enter school. Our digital native student population does things alot differently because of this.

There is definite and valid concern for such a radical alteration to how we do school but if we are going to remain relevant we have to be recognized in the culture as relevant. We cannot expect what we have always done to work for these situations.

I came to the realization I didn't want to stop learning, and it has been an interesting journey that has helped me personally and professionally, in a number of ways.

I like looking for the positives, and one of the things I have found is social media in general, and twitter in particular has made me a better writer. Let me explain, brevity is the currency of twitter. You have to care about each letter, not just each word. It is the epitome of Edgar Allen Poe’s rules for a short story. Everything has to count.

If you haven’t noticed I have the immeasurable gift of saying (or typing) words. I’m from the school of thought that if you only used 4 words when you could’ve used 10, you just weren’t trying hard enough. Having a good focus when I am writing is critical. Otherwise there are worlds of rabbit holes I can go down (just ask anyone who has to listens to my stories…). Keeping focused on a singular message or few main points allows me for more specific investigation and analysis. I’ve often found myself prior to sitting down to write, perusing a number of people I follow on twitter to get into the mental minimalist mindset I have to have in order to focus.

My experience on twitter has created an even more accepting nature to cultural and linguistic change. For instance, I am a real big fan of this. But I still have an “accent” when it comes to this new language. To this day I still cannot abbreviate in text and email communications. Terms like LOL, BRB, IDK, LMAO, ROFL are weird and awkward to me. And they make my teeth hurt. And because of this there was a period of time I all but embraced my digital death. I remember xanga.com MySpace.com (yeah its still around, I was surprised too) and of course, Facebook. I was mostly done after that. The decision was mostly out of comfort and laziness. I didn’t want to learn anything new.

However, as I waded back into the cultural and social/restorative justice issues, as part of my academic and professional career, it all but demanded I grow with the times. If I wanted to know what issues were happening with social movements across the country I was not going to get any information from my TV or any mainstream media outlet. Egypt is one of several countries that have shown the power of effective social media usage. And we have seen it in social movements within this country. I’ve jumped into Twitter. If you haven’t as a teacher you should, if only for the #oklaed encouragement. I’ve even been know to send back an LOL every now and then (it is still painful, but characters count).

                                

#BlackLivesMatter has changed the focus of discussion and has brought about awareness, reconciliation, and healing opportunities. Our own #oklaed helps connect teachers across the state with ideas, plans, and encouragement. Whether it is rallying for causes or provoking revolution, the ability to connect, communicate, and act via social media makes those movements mobile, efficient, and almost omnipresent. And we are fools if we voluntarily sit out these chances at engagement. It means we have to get out of our comfort zone and try new things. We make the kids do it every day, shouldn’t we do it too? Finding the comfortable discomfort zone is key.

These are chances we have to do good things. We should take as much advantage as possible. And of course if you’re curious you can follow me on Twitter @MrWilliamsRm110.

Where I think we should start...

While I am not long on solutions I do have ideas that could create activity and lead to solutions. My political nature has been hinted at in earlier posts. I do not pretend to be an expert in any way but I have seen what can and cannot work. Unfortunately, the easy stuff (complaining, name-calling, blaming, etc…), aside from sometimes making our egos feel a bit better, ultimately produce few results.

In order to produce effective change we have to do more. Voting isn’t enough anymore. Thomas Jefferson spoke of what he envisioned as the “office of citizen”. Here are some of his quotes on the subject. As teachers and members of our communities we have a responsibility to do this and to teach this. Regardless of the discipline, our goal as teachers should be to facilitate this growth within our students.

Some of this is a complete re-hash and I totally understand that. Teachers have been organizing and fighting for their students and their profession decades before I was born. I do have some deep roots in the culture as you can see from the photos.

       

I have to say I rocked that yellow poncho with my mother and thousands of other teachers, students, parents, principals, and community leaders, as we marched at the state capitol for the passage of HB 1017. The remnants of that political era are all but gone. The problems we intended to fix are still around, and in many cases worse.

For much wiser commentary on the fiscal, administrative, and legislative side of these issues I will ALWAYS defer to those who understand it much better than I. I would be remiss if I didn’t direct any readers of this towards their counsel as well. Between Rob Miller, Rick Cobb and Claudia Swisher, The matters are very well covered and I cannot thank them enough for their work.

As for the ideas, well, I’ve always got some of those. I want to propose something. As teachers, parents, and citizens, the legislators in Oklahoma City are our servants. Their responsibility is to ensure our state government is operating, and the people of Oklahoma are served by their government. This is not an easy order, and I do not want to pretend their job is simple. But there are times it seems like they forget we are a part of their constituency. This is somewhat our fault as we have become complacent and are just “too busy” to pay attention. We have to re-engage and remind those that have forgotten what our profession means to this state and its future.

It begins with simple actions. Everyone in the state of Oklahoma can go here, type in your address and find your State Legislator. You have two, get to know about them, then get to know them. They have emails, postal addresses and phone numbers. Use them. Get to know them personally and professionally. Don’t ambush them in an attempt to create a “gotcha” moment, take the time to make time. Show them how important this is by making an appointment or sending a personal communication. This isn’t easy, but it’s what we are going to have to do.

This can’t just be teachers either. Parents, students, grandparents, neighbors, business leaders (they want smart employees, I would think) can all help out here. We have engaged students and parents. Let’s get them involved. Ask them for their help. This is something they all can do and it is remarkably simple.

If you have a personal relationship with any of your state legislators, please make them aware of how personal and important education is. We are not a lobby that can influence with money but we can with numbers. I know many of us have already done this, but we have to keep at it.  

We have to make an effort with everyone, never underestimate the power of personal stories and relationships.  Session starts in a month or so, take a few minutes to start the process. This is one thing WE ALL can do, so let’s take the opportunity and make some new friends…

As a social studies teacher and political science major I enjoy following politics and the theater that is our discourse. I’ve gone through whatever stages you want to call them. From pre-teen “I don’t care, and I never will” to hard-core activist and campaign organizer. I see the world differently now and the fun is somewhat still there, but it would really be a lot more fun if we knew what we were talking about.

I would never assume I know “what’s going on”, or to have many answers. And regardless of your views, there is an element of emotion and identity in our political views that cannot really be measured equally. Specific issue debates will always be divisive and unpersuasive. The tragedy of our political theater today, is the level of animosity is so high, there is no persuadable Middle. Our political process is an exercise in mobilizing enough informed, angry voters to stand in line on a Tuesday in November.

I don’t have the slightest clue how to fix this, but I do know unless we make an effort to get smarter, it is not going to get better. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor has spent a large amount of her career and her retirement championing the cause of civics education. Unfortunately, we have diluted our discourse to the point, we avoid it or discuss it less and less. She could be onto something.

The less informed we are, the easier we are to control, and that usually isn’t good for us. It can also lead to severe misunderstandings such as this, and this  Often leading to a path riddled with tragic results. The delusion so many can be sold is much easier when there is no understanding. Tierney Sneed’s article here gives us a great example of this lack of understanding in action.

The basic understanding part is nowhere near as "fun" as the controversial part, but it's where we have to start. I was a big fan of The West Wing. It was on as I was in college and was just good tv. (The eerie similarities of its last season and 2008 are for another discussion.) In a discussion with Donna about their opponent Gov. Rob Ritchie and what he expects of a leader. The setup is Gov. Ritchie has some self-help guru as a “consultant” and Josh wants to exploit that. I couldn’t find a video clip but it’s from the Red Mass episode The discussion is on the self-help guys books and how he’s just cribbing from old philsophers and dumbing it down. It culminates is the lines spoken by Josh below:

What does this remind you of? "I believe in hope, not fear." "I'm a leader, not a politician."

"It's time for an American leader." "America's earned a change." "I before 'E' except after 'C'!" It's the fortune-cookie candidacy! These are important thinkers, and understanding them can be very useful and it's not ever going to happen at a four-hour seminar. When the President's got an embassy surrounded in Haiti, or a keyhole photograph of a heavy water reactor, or any of the fifty life-and-death matters that walk across his desk every day, I don't know if he's thinking about Immanuel Kant or not. I doubt it, but if he does, I am comforted at least in my certainty that he is doing his best to reach for all of it and not just the McNuggets. Is it possible we would be willing to require any less of the person sitting in that chair? The low road? I don't think it is.

I don't think that's too bad of a place to start. 

In a piece for The Atlantic Scott Samuelson makes a passionate argument for teaching the liberal arts. As he says, they are called The Humanities for a reason. We have real problems in this country. Problems no one is going to fix on their own, and we need ideas. Those ideas aren’t going to produce themselves. It’s up to us as teachers, and up to us as citizens to engage each other honestly and intellectually. That can’t happen until we get a little more intellectual and our politics to get a lot more honest.  Here’s hoping...