#evaluatethat

The latest wave of school reform is focused on linking student test scores to teacher evaluations. There are a bajillion good reasons not to do that, and a couple lousy ones in favor, but this isn't exactly about that.

This is about the backlash to it, wherein some teachers have taken to writing little Facebook stories about the ways in which they've helped students that can't be measured by a test. I have a couple of those, and this is a decent place to share them. I actually don't feel comfortable sharing them on Facebook for reasons I'm not sure I can articulate.

Anyway, Gemma* was a freshmen in my English class when, a few months into the class, it occurred to me that she wasn't really doing that well. She tried, and she turned everything in, which counts for a lot. If you have a rowdy class, you turn your attention to those little fires to put out first before you turn your attention to a girl who's quiet, respectful, and working. But it became hard to ignore: her writing was awful. Her spelling was bad. I looked at her test scores, I looked at her grades, I looked at everything I could look at, and then I called the counselor. Although Gemma's first language was Spanish, she had been enrolled in schools here since kindergarten. She had been designated as an English language learner, and been in ELL classes for a full ten years. Most students test out of it much sooner than that. The counselor, the student, her aunt, and a special ed professional and I had a meeting wherein we decided it would be best to test her for special ed services. Ultimately, she qualified, and was able to receive the help she needed for the rest of her high school career. She graduated two years ago. #evaluatethat

Three weeks ago, I woke up to a message on Facebook from a former student. I write personal letters to all my graduating seniors. Alyssa was writing to tell me that she had kept my letter over the years. It was one of the only things she had kept from high school, but she likes to get it out and re-read it periodically, because it encourages her and reminds her that "it's okay to be me." #evaluatethat

Last week, Carey was having a bad day. He said something about how he had already ruined his life, and he thought it would be better if he weren't alive. I didn't take it as a suicide threat, because it wasn't delivered that way. Nevertheless, I pulled him out of class later that day to talk to him. We sat and chatted about a lot of things, and he admitted that he normally didn't feel that way, it was just a rough morning. He had big plans, and wanted to follow through with them. Near the end of our conversation, I reminded him that he could come talk to me whenever he needed. I asked, "you know I'm on your side, right?" He said he knew. #evaluatethat

Last May, Jessica came in after school. "Ms. Mockula, you know that letter you wrote me for the scholarship?" "Sure," I answered, half-turning to my computer thinking that she needed another copy. "Well... I got it!" It was a huge scholarship, and it was going to help pay a pretty good chunk of her tuition at a private school. #evaluatethat

Although each of these is a real, specific event, they're also representative of countless others. I was reminded of Gemma because I had a similar meeting today: we discovered that a kid I thought needed services already had been identified as special ed in a previous district. We just didn't have his cumulative file because he had moved schools so many times. Alyssa's story is one I've heard from many, many of my alumni. It sounds like a lot of them keep their letters. And the students I counsel, and the students I write letters of recommendation for... I couldn't begin to keep track of how many over the years.

And yet none of that is "value-added." None of that shows up on test scores. None of that "counts."

I'm not trying to be self-aggrandizing. I don't think I go above and beyond the call of duty. I think most of my colleagues do the same kinds of stuff, some of them a great deal more. Which is why test scores and percentages and value-added measures et cetera mean so little to me: because that's all bullshit. It's not the work of teaching. I do good work every day, and only some of it involves my subject area. A lot more of it involves those kids knowing they have someone in their corner. And you just can't evaluate that.



*All student names changed.

Mishmash

I am trying something new in my garden this year. I'm having a go at polyculture, growing a bunch of different kinds of things all mixed up. I made a mixture of bush beans, chard, parsnips, carrots, beets, green onions, radishes, and lettuces, and sprinkled them liberally on one of my raised beds. They're supposed to grow at different rates and heights and whatnot and provide each other with some shade and protection, plus I can harvest the first things that come up so the next ones have some sunlight. The book I was reading said you have to be semi-good at recognizing stuff, but I think I am.

Of course, this morning, the stupid squirrels had dug a bunch of holes in my new garden to get to the seeds. So today I built a hoop house. I've been planning to try it for a while anyway, but it seemed like the time had come. I used these instructions. I had read up on greenhouses, hothouses, cucumber frames, and more. Most are a way to extend the growing season by providing a temperature boost, but since it's March and next weekend is forecast to be 80, I'm not very concerned about that right now. The hoop house seemed simple enough to build and had the added advantage that I could swap out coverings: plastic sheeting to keep the temperature up, and mesh to keep the birds out.

It wasn't too hard or expensive to put together, although I did badly miscalculate one thing. The bed I'm using is the one I think of as my "lettuce bed." It's very shallow and short -- I used salvaged wood from my mom's yard. Which means that it was REALLY hard to screw in the dowels, because there were only a few inches of space between the ground and the screw. I had to hunt up a stubby screwdriver and then some slot/flat screws, because my only stubby screwdriver is a flathead. Nevertheless, I got the project done and I'm hoping it deters the squirrels, although I know those little buggers are relentless.


As for my pregnancy stuff, I'm feeling pretty great. My morning sickness seems to be basically gone (but for some weird, frequent burping) and my appetite normal. Of course, I'm gaining weight now and starting to look decidedly pregnant, although that somewhat depends on what I'm wearing. I remember with Z that when I could no longer sleep on my stomach, I was super-bummed. I am a stomach sleeper! But it seems to have happened, and it's no big deal. I'm more accustomed to sleeping on my side, I guess.

I just finished a book called The Luminaries, by Eleanor Catton, and I popped onto Goodreads to see what others thought of it. A lot of the reviews were lukewarm, many for two reasons: they had high expectations because it won the Man Booker prize, or they didn't understand the horoscope/star chart stuff. Well, I quite liked it. It was like an old fashioned mystery. I probably have low standards, because I basically like everything, but the award didn't unduly raise my expectations. And as for the astrology stuff, I didn't get it either. But I have zero interest in that stuff anyway, so I didn't even bother looking at it. Honestly, I don't know either my husband's or my daughter's astrological sign, and I have checked my horoscope about ten times in my life, usually on my birthday just for kicks. So when I saw the pages with the star symbols, I thought "might as well be Kabbalah or Greek" and skipped it entirely, never attempting to make any sense of it. So I wasn't hung up on that at all. The beginning of the book was a little slow (mainly because there were about 20 main characters, and I had a hard time keeping track of who was who), but by the end, it was terribly gripping.


And finally, I thought I'd mention that I've been playing with a band. They're kind of serious -- like, a two-hour practice every week. And they play music that's WAY faster and more complicated than I'm used to. I'm working hard to pick it all up and learn the new songs, and it's very challenging. Sometimes it's frustrating, too. Like this week, we tried "Sweet Child of Mine" for the first time, and I had worked to learn it over the last week. I didn't have it perfect, but thought I'd blend in okay. But when we started playing it sounded WRONG WRONG WRONG. I stopped a few measures in, and was like, "I'm sure it's me, but something sucks. What key are you guys in?" "Oh... shoot. I forgot to tell you we play this a half-step down to make it easier to sing." Well, for a really pro musician, that would be no problem, but for me, I've practiced it one way, so I need to really re-think how to do it. Hopefully by next week I can have it down. So even though it's challenging and frustrating and a lot of work, it's also really rewarding. I'm learning a lot and improving my playing, and I'm grateful for that.

Take care all! Mockula out...