Families, Schools, and Communities

I know the meaning of families, schools and communities. I’ve seen it in action, as all three of these concepts came together for a common good, a common goal, which raised everyone’s spirits and helped a family in need.

 On Saturday November 21^st, at 7pm, my Mom called me from Ledyard Connecticut to tell me that my sixteen year old nephew Matt was in the hospital. Matt is my sister Roberta’s youngest child. He has a 19 year old sister named Melissa. Matt was playing in a JV football game and came out of a huddle and collapsed. 

 He was rushed to the hospital and the doctors went into his brain and discovered a massive aneurism. I spoke to my sister on Sunday afternoon and she told me she had the feeling it was Matt’s time and she needed me and our other sister Patricia, who also lives in New Jersey, to come right away.

 I met my sister in Buena, and we jumped into her car and drove up to Connecticut to Hartford Children’s Medical Center. Matthew had been placed on life support. He had no brain activity. On Tuesday, my sister and her husband made the hardest decision parents ever have to make, to let their son go. They donated his organs to five different people of all ages, male and female, and he saved the lives of these individuals.

 Throughout the ordeal in the hospital, Matt’s friends and teammates from school came by constantly. The principal of the school came, as did all his coach’s and neighbors, to say their goodbyes.

 The church held a prayer vigil, the school held a candlelight service, and people wore ribbons with his initials.

 When we drove my sister, her husband, and my niece Melissa back home, there were dozens of messages on the phone, dozens of cards and flowers at the door, and the kitchen was filled with food.

 Throughout Tuesday night, all day yesterday and last night, there was a constant stream of visitors coming to the house, to talk about Matthew. People came from miles away; school officials, friends, fellow students, and everyone had a story to tell about Matthew.

 This morning the JV team that Matt played on is having their last game of the year at 10:00 at the local field. The opposing team has asked to wear Matt’s number on their helmets. His number, 23, has been painted on all four corners of the football field, and his team is bringing his jersey, and helmet, onto the field, where it will stay for the entire game.

 At the end of the game, my sister, her husband, and Melissa will be presented with his helmet and jersey. The school has started a scholarship program for Matthew, and businesses in town have donated tents for the wake and the funeral, as the church only holds 300 people.

 A facebook page called Pray for Matt Buriak, at last count, had over 1400 members, from a school that has about 1000 students.

 My sister and her husband and their daughter have been overwhelmed and strengthened from the outpouring of support.

 I know the meaning of families, schools and community.

Coming to the end!

So last Friday night at 5:15, (a God awful time for a meeting) I had to be at Stockton for my student teacher supervisor meeting. This spring, I’m doing my student teaching at the Mitnick School in Lower Township. I was very fortunate to get hired as a full time one on one aide, in March of 2008, in that district, after I had completed my first 40 hours of observation. I finished out the school year there, taking care of a 5 year old boy who had just been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome.

In the summer of last year, the boy went to summer school, and I was retained for six weeks, 4 hours a day, to be with him. In the fall, I was re-hired as his full time aide, and began working at the Mitnick School, which houses first and second graders. The child was finally put on the right medicine, and has since moved on to another school.

This fall, the school hired me as a full time shared aide. I work between two classrooms, and my employment will end at the end of the year, and I will begin my student teaching in January.

So after I met my supervisor she gave us a little preview of what student teaching will be like. She will observe on a regular basis and write 4 observations over the course of the 15 week program. My cooperating teacher will be responsible for writing 7 observations. I will start out on the fringes of the classroom, and gradually begin teaching lessons here and there, and eventually, probably halfway or three quarters through the 15 weeks, I will teach the entire day.

As she was explaining this, I realized how lucky I have been in finding employment in a district, while I was going through this program. I realized in just the last two weeks, I’ve had my own classroom, without an aide, for a full school day, three times. The two teachers I work with both have young children, and young children, especially this time of year, get sick quite a bit.

The principal at the school is comfortable enough with my abilities now, to allow me to take over when the teachers are out. Granted I didn’t write the lesson plans, but I did have to execute them. In fact, in thinking back over my employment in this district, I realized that about halfway through my short career in the district, probably February or March of this year, I started to get the feeling that I wanted to have my own room, I wanted to plan the day for the children, and began to think about what they needed to grow and blossom as students.

I’m not writing this to brag, I’m writing to encourage all of you youngsters, (I can say that because I’m 50 and old, and damn proud of it!) and tell you that, if you take this student teaching assignment seriously, that’s exactly what will happen to you. And I believe that when the 15 weeks are up, you will be frothing at the mouth to get your own classroom, your own young skulls full of mush to whip into shape, and I believe you’ll be fully prepared.

This is really a great program that Stockton has put together, to train us a teachers. I was fortunate to be able to work in a school the whole time, but even if I didn’t have that experience, I think I’d still be ready to tackle student teaching, and make the most of it.

Good luck to everyone who’s heading into student teaching in the spring, and for those of you just beginning the program, let me tell you. You’ll be in the classroom doing your stuff before you know it!

(Although I should qualify that statement with the fact that I’m 50 and time seems to go faster for me!)

On-line speech and student rights in the digital age

Things used to be a lot simpler for schools. I realize I’m going to sound awfully old and farty but hey, I’m 50. That’s what happens to you when you age. When I went to school, parents generally stood behind the schools. I knew if I was in trouble at school I was going to be in trouble at home. My parents never questioned my teacher or my school officials. I was a pain in the ass as a student, and I still have my report cards to prove it. When I went to school the message was loud and clear that you were there to keep your mouth shut, and do your work.  I didn’t have a lot of outputs to express myself, except through music and writing. But Facebook? No way.

Not so today. Forget the cell phones and students texting each other 24/7. The newest problem that schools have to wrestle with is My Space, Facebook, and a host of other on-line websites that allow students to publish, for the entire world to see, any thought that comes into their heads. So the question for schools is do they have a right to police on-line websites for thoughts and statements that potentially could be disruptive to the educational process.

In the article that I reviewed as part of the court case of Tinker V. Des Moines, there are mentions of various cases winding their way through the courts on this very issue. In North Texas this month, two middle school students were suspended for threatening to kill their teacher on Facebook. In October of this year, the ACLU filed a federal suit against an Indiana school district after two high school students were punished for posting sexually suggestive photos on their My Space pages during their summer vacation. There are other examples in the article.

Just to restate the issue that I’m grappling with here, how far should schools go? In the case of the Indiana school district, is it plausible for the school district to argue that the sexually suggestive photos the students placed on their My Space page, over the summer vacation, are interfering with the education process in the fall? They could make that case if students talked about it in class, if students printed out the photos and circulated them around school, etc. But the students could just as easily argue they were not in school when they posted the photos, and had no intention of disrupting the educational process.

I could probably write all day about this issue, because there is no right answer and every case is different but my initial feeling about this comes from my role as a parent. If parents are going to allow children to have these pages, and Facebook and My Space both have rules saying you have to be at least 13 to post pages, then parents should be proactive in watching what their kids say.

I would not buy my son a power saw and not teach him how to use it. These pages have the same power as any other tool. Use it the right way and it can do wonderful things. Use it in an irresponsible way and you’re going to hurt yourself or someone else.

I think a lot of the problems that happen in school go right back to lax parenting. I realize Meredith will probably call me a hard ass again, but I really believe that. Kids learn what they see, hear, and witness in practice. Teach your children right from wrong, make them take responsibility for their own actions, and they’ll have the sense not to threaten to kill their teacher on a website that pretty much anyone can view.

I know this is a bit much but I can’t figure out how to make it smaller!

Rockin' out in Haddonfield NJ on the 4th of July!

Make connections with every child in your class!

 In every classroom in every school in America there are children that are overlooked, ignored, or left to fend for themselves. These are not the children you would think. They are not the kids that fall through the cracks. They are intelligent children who do their work, don’t make trouble, are a little on the shy side, and seem to just kind of blend in. Those children need every bit as much attention as the children with special needs, the children working behind the other children, and the children who constantly shine. As teachers, if we truly want to make a difference in our student’s lives, we must include these children in our quest to find each child’s passion and make a connection with them. Let me give you an example.

 In one of the two first grade classrooms I currently work as an aide in, there is a little girl named Sara (this is not her real name). She has all of the characteristics I described above of the children who blend in. For the first three weeks of school, I never noticed her, or knew her name. There are several children with learning disabilities that I am charged with helping in both of these classrooms, and they take up most of my time. I am, however, a classroom aide, not a one on one or two on one aide, so I do need to be available to all the children.

 I believe by the fourth week of school, I began to notice Sara. She barely spoke during the day, but her written work was always excellent. She was never a discipline problem, and I didn’t notice her talk to the other kids much. I began to address her by name and make myself available to her, but I never got anything more than “no thank you”, or a nod of her head no. Sara seemed fine on her own, so I thought “well maybe she just doesn’t need my help and she’s doing fine”.

 One day I took the kids out on the playground, and began to kick a soccer ball around with a few of them. I wound up dribbling the ball around the field, while the kids chased me and tried to get it away from me. All of a sudden I noticed Sara running next to me, so I passed her the ball. She took the pass and began to dribble the ball herself. The kids started to follow her, and she passed it back to me. Around and around we went, passing the ball back and forth until someone finally stole it from us. We stopped to catch her breath and I asked her if she was on a soccer team. She said no, she just practiced in her back yard every day. I told her how impressed I was with her and she just smiled. And I thought that was that.

 The next day, when I walked into Sara’s classroom, she came right up to me and asked if we could play soccer again that day. And all through the day she was like a different child with me. She opened up, asked for my help, showed me her art work and her writing, and basically started to become a part of the classroom, by raising her hand and participating.

 I learned, from my experience with Sara, that all kids are waiting for us, as teachers, to welcome them into the class, to make a personal connection with them. I discovered, by accident, Sara’s passion, and through that, discovered Sara.

 

You will not be a good teacher without passion!

So Hall is looking for bold statements. Here is mine: You will not be a successful teacher if you don’t discover your own passions, and those of your students. Think about your childhood and what excited you. Was it a teacher? Maybe one or two, but I bet more often than not, when you think of childhood you remember your friends, your prom, the sports you played, or your hobbies. Why do kids get into collecting Pokémon cards, comic books, or small skateboards, or anything else they bury themselves in? I think it’s because these things ignite their passions.

So you’ll come into a classroom already taking a back seat to the latest boy or girlfriend, or the new car somebody is fixing up, or the new guitar that somebody is learning how to play. How do you get beyond that? I would suggest you need to use your passions. Share with your kids. Let them know what it is that excites you.

I worked for three and a half months in a kindergarten class in early 2008, when I first entered the Stockton Student Education Program. During that time, I kept a guitar in the classroom, and would play for the kids on occasion, to augment a lesson, or emphasize rhyming skills, or just for sheer entertainment. In June, I played a song that included every child’s name and a verse about them.

In the fall I moved to first grade, but not all the kids followed me. One child, who was young for kindergarten, repeated the grade and I didn’t see him for the 2008-2009 school years. I’m still in first grade this year, and the child has finally arrived at the school I work at. The first thing he asked me was if I had my guitar, and could I sing him the song with his name in it!

I obviously made an impression on the child, and hopefully, the things that I taught him stayed with him as well. This is only my example, but my point is I used my passion for music in the classroom to reach the children. Are you secure enough in yourself to share your passion’s with your children? And are you willing to discover theirs?

As a teacher who values each one of your children, I would think it would be important to have them share their passions with you. What excites them? The more you know about your children, the more chances you have to reach them. Finding a connection with each child is not always easy, but knowing what excites them is one way to start.

Teachers are charged with a lot of responsibilities these days. You are a mother, father, truant officer, doctor, nurse, shrink, and a whole lot more, during the six plus hours you take care of your students. But the thing you need to be, above all others, is interested in them. Finding their passions will give you more of a chance to reach each one.

The Shore Thing Band Rocks!

This is a video of my group, The Shore Thing Band. We do have a website at

www.shorethingband.net

At one point both of my sons were in the band. Paul 19 played guitar and my 16 year son Joey played the drums. Paul has since gone on to form his own band but Joey still plays with us, at least until he heads to college next year!

Gregg C

 

Intelligent Design

You may think I’m being silly but I’m not. I really don’t understand why the debate about creationism, or intelligent design as it is now called, and evolution, is such a big deal. I don’t understand why people are so passionate about this.

First of all, I am not a religious person. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to church. I believe the altar boy fiasco was it for me. I sent my children to CCD classes, and went fairly regular with them, but organized religion really doesn’t do it for me. I do believe in God, but I don’t think it’s somebody, a man or woman, sitting in some throne somewhere. I believe God is more of a force. And that’s why I don’t see why creationism can’t co-exist with evolution.

Maybe God, this force or whatever, created everything, and maybe he created the conditions that led to evolution. Why not? It makes sense to me.

But people get crazy about this, and pound their chests and call people names, etc.

Reading about our court case, I understand both sides of the issue. I can see how the justices believed that Louisiana’s government was trying to support or promote creationism. But I see the other side also, when Scalia and Rehnquist dissented, and said, the legislators were aware of this constitutional issue, that their actions could violate the first amendment establishment clause, and they took pains to make sure people would see that their actions were secular in nature, and were only designed to provide some educational balance.

I think the main problem in this issue, is people are not comfortable mixing science with religion. People see science as fact, and religion as faith. I don’t see why they can’t co-exist. Scientists can’t see everything they discover, but they believe it is there, based on other evidence that they can see. Isn’t that faith?

So creationism was struck down in Edwards V Aguillard and has evolved into intelligent design, and in 2005 the Kansas Board of Education became the first state board of education to endorse teaching students the concept of intelligent design. I think this is closer to what I believe. If I believe in evolution does it mean I don’t believe in God? Why can’t I believe that God created evolution? And what’s wrong with learning more about evolution in school? What came before the simple, single life form that scientists say formed all life on earth? Where did the earth come from? Where did the sun come from?

Maybe the issue shouldn’t be as narrow as evolution versus creationism. Maybe there would be no debate if the issue was broader, if there was a real discussion about the universe, before there was an earth. If there was a big bang, what came before the big bang? How did the stuff that caused the big band come into being? Is there even a beginning to our universe, our galaxy, our existence?

I think, as humans, we should respect each other more, and educate our children to approach problems and controversies, from many different angles. Just saying, “I’m right, and you’re wrong” is quite juvenile.

But usually politics rules the day, especially when people who make these decisions, like the Kansas State Education Board, have to run for office. In February of 2007, about 16 months after the previous board voted to include intelligent design as part of what students were learning in science classes, the new Kansas State Education Board members voted to remove intelligent design from the science curriculum.

Somehow that doesn’t seem very intelligent to me. Children are smarter than we give them credit for. Let’s let them find out as much information as they can about all kinds of topics, and let’s let them make up their own minds. I trust them.

Gregg Clayton Sunday 9:23 pm

It could have happened!

Becoming a flexible teacher

So it’s 9:20 on a rainy, dreary Friday morning here at the Mitnick School in southern Cape May County. I’ve been employed as a full-time aide in this district since March of 2008, just after finishing my initial 40 hour classroom observation, which every student enrolled in the STEP (student teacher education program) program here at Stockton needs to complete. I was fortunate enough to be hired as a one on one aide for a child who had just been diagnosed with Asperger’s disease, a form of autism. His IEP called for a one on one aide and I got along well with the child, who was prone to outbursts of physical violence.

 That child has since moved on, and I’m now employed as a shared aide between two first grade classrooms. As I came in from bus duty this morning, carrying a pink backpack that a student had left on the bus, I was asked by the Principal if I minded doing gym for the day. The regular gym teacher was out and the sub that had been recruited for the day was handicapped, being slightly deaf and crippled. She had trouble walking. The Principal thought being in gym would be difficult for her.

 I readily agreed, wrote out my schedule for the sub, and walked her down to introduce her to the two teachers whom I regularly work with. This is a prep period now for the gym teacher, and after setting up the basketball hoops for my first class at 9:55 I thought this would be a great time to do my first blog.

 I put all this background in to lead up to my topic, one of the areas I’m exploring for my TED Talk: Teachers need to be flexible, able to think on their feet, and quickly adapt to any situation. While being an aide is challenging, and very rewarding, especially in a one on one situation, there’s no comparison to being the only adult in the room, the only one in charge, and the only one the children are listening to.

 I’ve never taught gym so far in this district, but I’ve attended gym classes regularly with the children I work with. I’m looking forward to the day, and gearing up for the discipline problems that will come my way.

 After all I’m a substitute gym teacher, and if there’s one place that children really let go, its gym.

 This is part one of my blog, which I won’t post until I add part two, a recap of my day.

 Gregg Clayton 9:35 am Friday October 16, 2009

 It’s 3:05 pm and the last bus has just departed. I had six general education classes and two special education self contained classes blended in. 140 children in all. I made improvements in the class as the day went on. First period I started with the intention of having all 20 children having basketballs, which didn’t work out because I could only find 19 basketballs and one soccer ball. This was poor planning on my part. The rest of the instruction, dribbling, shooting, went fine.

 In period 2 I broke the children into 4 groups of 5 and used one ball for each group. A child from each group came up and practiced dribbling, etc. Then I had the 4 groups practice a free throw, a lay-up, and a shot in front of the basket. By the end of the day I had it down to a science.

 I only had two major discipline problems. When demonstrating a free throw, and missing, a child yelled out, “you stink at free throws.” Everyone heard him and I felt I couldn’t ignore it. I spoke to him and asked if he spoke to his classmates that way, and asked why he felt it appropriate to address me that way. I had him sit out one rotation, and then invited him to join the group again.

 Another child complained a child spit on his neck. The spitter, my gut told me, lied when I asked him if he did it. Acting on my gut, I called him on it and instructed him to sit out a rotation. I then quickly asked if he thought he should apologize and he said yes. I asked him why if he didn’t do it and he just stared at me. Then I said, “You did spit on his neck didn’t you?” He nodded yes. So inside I breathed a sigh of relief because he was lying and my gut was correct. I didn’t want to be wrong.

 Maybe these are not big deals to experienced teachers, but I’m still learning. I thought I did well with the kids. One of the teachers, while collecting her kids, walked back and said, “I just want to let you know they thought this was their best gym class ever!”

 That was nice thing to hear. I hope I can keep up this attitude of correcting, learning, and always being ready to be adaptable to any situation, when I have my own classroom. I need to keep my passion, my enthusiasm, and flexibility.

Gregg Clayton 3:15 pm Friday October 16^th, 2009

Hello world!

I’m 50, and it’s late and I’m really tired, but I’m learning new things here at Stockton!

Yea me!