Strike Out For Reform

A teacher strike is different than most other types of union job actions. Teachers are fundamentally different than most other unionized groups. The teacher strike in Chicago was as much for the benefit of the children as it was for the teachers themselves, maybe more so. And while the breakdown in communication and relations that causes a strike is never a good thing, the fact that teachers have come together to advocate for students and schools is critical to the health of our educational system.

No one goes into teaching for the money. While there may be a misguided few who think that children will worship them, prestige isn’t a perk of the job either. And don’t get me wrong, I love my summer break, but the hours and work the rest of the year more than balance out the time; most teachers are ten-month employees anyway. People don’t become teachers for summer vacation.

Given the state of education and the mistrust of teachers right now, there must be something really wrong with a person who wants to get in the middle of this mess – or that person is really dedicated. Why are we beating up the few who are willing to spend so much time, education, and effort to work with children? Why have they become the national scapegoat? And if we continue down this path, will others be foolish enough to become educators?

In the City of Chicago, class sizes vary between large and way too many. Most schools are not air-conditioned. Teachers are fighting poverty, violence, and a host of social ills. How can kids learn in those conditions?  

And then we are going to evaluate teachers and students based on standardized tests. We started using these types of high stake tests way back in the 1980s after the publication of A Nation at Risk. We have spent more than thirty years testing children and beating up teachers about the scores. And look at the wonderful changes such a policy has brought!

If you were ill and your doctor gave you medicine that didn’t help, would you take more of it? If your doctor kept increasing your dose and you felt even worse, what would you conclude? Of course! The medicine is aggravating the problem and we need a different approach. Why can’t policymakers think that way?

Do we build an entire reform system around the few teachers who are below par? What do we do if mass testing is not the answer? Our politicians have failed us. Charter schools and corporate education have created as many problems as they have solved. That is why teacher unions may be our best chance at real educational reform. That is why the Chicago teacher strike was so important.

As a teacher in the only non-union high school district in Illinois, I am not likely to strike. I work at one of the highest achieving and most affluent schools in the country. So I can sit back and let the politicians do what they want and it won’t affect my children or my school. Right?

Wrong. The way we treat teachers is wrong. The way we are using testing is wrong. The way we are approaching educational reform is more than flawed, it has become as much a problem as any of the social ills plaguing Chicago schools.

I salute the unions and hope that this strike will help turn our educational ship on a better heading. If not, education in the United States will continue to develop into a two-tiered system: one for those who can afford better and one for those lost in the tests. And who is going to want to teach or learn in the second system? 

Connecting to Communities

This past weekend, I attended the World Science Fiction Convention in Chicago. I have attended science fiction and Star Trek conventions for more than thirty years and the World Con was an affirmation of how important the science fiction community is to me.

There were thousands of science fiction fans and professionals in attendance. I was struck and amazed, as I had been when I attended my first conventions, by the diversity, openness, and warmth of the con-goers. Every time I go to one of these gatherings, I think to myself, I have found my people.

Science fiction fans aren’t my only community. I love Rosh Hashanah, the first of the High Holidays, because it brings my entire congregation together. We celebrate a service and then kibitz and catch up afterward. It feels like a family reunion. Because of this, the evening of Rosh Hashanah is my favorite holiday. It is a joyous gathering of my congregational community.

These are just two examples of my communities – there are many more. My communities are not merely lists or hobbies. They are multigenerational. They are grounded in real relationships and passions. They are not clubs or cliques but inclusive groups with strong bonds and purposes. And I make a conscious effort to actively support and build them.

How can we help our children connect and create communities?  It is critical that we do so. Kids need to see adults building and supporting communities. Teenagers are naturally self-absorbed. Sometimes, they see themselves as isolated and alone. Other times, they see their groups as threatened rather than enhanced by “rival” groups. While sports teams and organized school activities can create communities for kids, it is just as important that they discover and build them as well. Online connections are shadows of these relationships that work best when they act as stepping-stones toward authentic relationships in the real world.

Human beings are interdependent. As much as we want to be soloists, we are naturally members of an ensemble. We depend on others to create the music and magic with us. Sometimes, we take center stage with the melody but as often we provide harmony in the background. Sometimes, we may forget that the ensemble is behind us, backing us up. Sometimes we need to be reminded. What is really important is the collective act of making the music.

The recent Republican National Convention took its theme in opposition of a statement made by President Obama. The president said, “You didn’t build it,” and the Republicans answered, “We built it.” I am confused because both are correct. No one person stands alone. No Olympic athlete could win without a coach, sponsor, parent or team. Our communities create the conditions for achievement. “You” did not build it. “We” built it - together.

Contrasting the recent political conventions was the awards ceremony at the World Science Fiction Convention. Each person present could participate by voting for the many awards. In order to do so, we read and watched, viewed and enjoyed hundreds of beautiful stories, magazines, books, and other works of art. The ceremony needed no put-downs of other groups. There was no posturing or persuasion. It was our community celebrating what it had created, collectively and individually.  

We must find “our peoples.” We must help our children to find theirs even when they join communities with which we, their parents and teachers, are unfamiliar.

There are myriad of “online communities” and they can be good starts. However, gathering, building, and nourishing the real thing are the keys to human survival – and happiness! 

Take This To College!

I had a magnificent undergraduate college experience and I wish nothing less for my former students, friends and children. But it doesn’t happen automatically. As my elder child and so many of my former students and friends go off to college, I want one more chance to play teacher and provide my college friends with good tools that will make their university experience more productive, safe, and fun.

Health: I know that sleep isn’t the top priority for college kids, but it is the best medicine. Here is an article from the Chicago Tribune on how to keep healthy in college.

Remember that health includes mental as well as physical health. Having someone to talk to is great medicine! Of course, staying fit is part of that. It is all too easy to just eat, sleep, party, and study at college. Get involved in an intramural sport, go to the workout center, or do something that makes you sweat a little. You don’t want those extra pounds!

Finding Answers: There are two blogs that I recommend to all college students: Lifehacker.com and Hackcollege.com. Reading these two sites will save you time, money, and aggravation. Here is a sampling of some recent posting that might interest you:

From Hack College:

Living with a roommate

Money dos and don’ts

Advice on studying abroad

Tips for incoming freshmen

From Lifehacker:

Free software for students

What multitasking does to your brain

How much sleep do you really need?

Better writing through outlining

If you don’t use RSS feeds to follow websites like these, now is a good time to start. Go to Google and sign up for Reader (it is under the “more” tab at the top of the page) and then hit the little “RSS” button and select “Add to Google.” Here is a great video explaining how reader works and how to use it.

Digital Security:  I would like to urge my college friends to be digitally safe. Recently, a Wired magazine staff member had his digital life completely stolen: his Facebook and Goggle accounts were hacked and his iPhone and computer were wiped!  Here is an article on how to avoid his fate. You must turn on two-factor authentication in Facebook and Google. Look at the article I just mentioned if you don’t know what I am talking about – Lifehacker has a good one on this issue, too!

Back up your data! There are easy and automatic ways to back up your computer. Do you want to risk losing all your music, pictures, or work?. There are simple and inexpensive (even free) ways to ensure that, even if you lose your computer, you don’t lose what’s on it. Finally, install some form of antivirus program. Again, there are plenty of free options!  

Relationships: It is all about the people! Get to know your classmates. Look around the dorm: whom do you want in your life in five or ten years. Actively make sure that happens. Introduce yourself to your professors and teachers. Be much more than the kid in the third row! Who will you ask for a recommendation for grad school, a job, or a grant? Do you have go-to staff members? Cultivate those people. Send them a little gift at holiday time. Make sure they know you well enough to greet you by name on the quad! Stay in touch after the class has ended.

Parents: Sometimes, dealing with your parents at home can be challenging. We will have to learn to adjust to your new college life, too. Here is an article you can pass on to your parents that puts things in perspective for them – and it even (nicely) tells them to back off  and let you run the show.

Of course there are many more things I could include, but like the boxes and suitcases that go to college, I don’t want to over pack. Good luck, good skill, and make great choices! I will miss you and I am thinking of you. 

Denying the Drop Off

It happened for the first time a few days ago when I was dropping my daughter off at the train station. As she stepped out of the car to go downtown for her internship, my eyes welled up. All of a sudden, I was fighting back tears.

People have been asking me how will I deal with my daughter’s departure for college. I have been answering honestly: I am in denial. I haven’t been thinking about it. She isn’t leaving now, so I don’t have to face it.

But I do.

This may be the most dramatic transition in our family life to date. Bringing home babies was certainly a big deal. The start of school and the cessation of diapers were landmarks. From my present perspective, they all pale to launching.

After I left for college, I only lived at home for a few weeks once in a while. My parents’ house ceased to be my primary residence, although it was still “home.” I remember my mother’s face when I casually said to her that, “this is probably the last time I’ll spend this much time at home.”

It is my face right now. Intellectually, I understand that my child will only be home during short bursts. We have done that. She has gone away to camp and spent summers overseas and at educational programs. We have more technological tools to communicate than ever before. We’ll talk. We’ll video chat (maybe). We’ll sent text messages and emails. But she still won’t be home. And I am only now starting to fathom the reality of that.

My children and I have a bedtime rituals. I am the last one to get into bed most nights. As my daughter and I said goodnight a few days ago, she asked if she could program a repeating text message. After I danced around the mechanics, I asked her what she wanted to accomplish. She wanted to text me the final part of our evening routine. She wanted to make sure that certain things didn’t change when she went to college.

Yet change is the constant here. My daughter swings between pushing her parents away and wanting to cling closely. When we attended a reception for Chicago area students going to her university, she made it clear that she did not want us shadowing her. In the car ride downtown, she clearly asked for space. Yet, when we got there and I moved across the room, I turned around to see her brush up to her mother and take her hand. It was lovely.

And that may be the metaphor for our transition into this new stage of family life. We will be close and far. We will hold hands across the country. We will adapt our routines.

The family theorist Virginia Satir used the metaphor of the mobile that hangs above an infant’s crib to describe family dynamics. Each member of the family is one of the objects hanging from the mobile. If any of them move or change, it affects the whole system. The family is interdependent in so many ways. My daughter’s departure creates a whole new mobile and a whole new set of relationships.

That is also true for her younger brother at home starting high school. He will be an only child at home for much of his high school career. What does that mean? I have no idea.

Shortly, my wife and I will board a plane and bring our daughter to college. I have no doubt that, after we have schlepped all the baggage up the stairs and waited in long lines, and dusted, cleaned, and unpacked, she will look at us, smile, and let us know it is time for us to leave. And it will be. I’m just not ready. 

Readers Win!

“Reading is everything. Reading makes me fell like I’ve accomplished something, learned something, become a better person. Reading makes me smarter. Reading gives me something to talk about later on. Reading is the unbelievably healthy way my attention deficit disorder medicates itself. Reading is escape, and the opposite of escape; it’s a way to make contact with reality after a day of making things up, and it’s a way of making contact with someone else’s imagination after a day that’s all too real. Reading is grist. Reading is bliss.”  - Nora Ephron

People who love to read have a huge advantage. Fostering a love of reading in children may be one of the greatest gifts parents and teachers can give.

Readers learn important thinking skills. They must be decoders and analyzers. Readers have to make sense of information and discover patterns in it. They must remember details and put them together. Readers learn to look at the big picture and the tiny mosaic tiles that make it up.

Readers must sustain attention. There is an epidemic of attention disorders. While there may be many causes, the fast visual pace of games, movies, television, and websites does not encourage children to focus. Reading does. A child must concentrate for a prolonged period of time to read. Even small children can learn to sit and listen to an adult reading. That is why it is critical that parents read to their children even before these children recognize letters or words. They learn to maintain focus.

Readers live in language. While some backward places are still teaching vocabulary through drills and lists, the current research tells us that, if we want kids to develop their vocabularies, they must read. It is not enough to memorize a word and its definition; there must be some context for that meaning. Meaning disembodied dies.

Years ago, I took over a class that was designed to strengthen students’ vocabularies. The prior teacher had given students dictionaries and had them look up lists of words and memorize them. We refocused the course on reading. The first year I taught the reading based curriculum, kids would identify words from the prior year. “Mr. Hirsch, this word was on the last year’s list!” When I asked them what it meant, they could never remember.

Like music, reading is about decoding and translating. Readers learn to love that process. Although students can get hooked into reading with an interesting topic, many readers will read anything because they like the process of reading! It is better to read something interesting, true, but intense readers will read because the act itself is fulfilling.

Students who look critically at their reading will learn to question, evaluate, and imagine. They realize that there are different ways to see the world and they must find strategies to weigh differing points of view. Readers become critical thinkers!

A study even found that one of the best predictor of student success in school was not parents’ income, level of education, or school quality but the number of books in their homes. My parents’ library was a message and a goal for me. I wanted to be able to read the books my folks were reading. It gives me great pleasure when my children want to read the books on my shelves.

Reading is the primary skill. Reading is the basic foundation of learning and thinking. It cannot be overemphasized. Strong, focused, and critical readers are the real gifted students! 

Put Down the Phone!

Not long ago, I was in an Imax movie and there were several teenage girls sitting next to me. The screen was BIG and the sound was LOUD. It was a very engaging experience. Yet, these girls were texting through it!

I came home to find that my son had a few friends over. They were seated at the kitchen table playing games on their phones. They were in their own worlds. The boys without smart phones were left out and eventually went home.

At my daughter’s college orientation, there were many parents who, despite having traveled to learn about their child’s college, were on their phones throughout important presentations.

Then there are those who cannot put down their phones even when it endangers their own or others’ physical safety. There are far too many drivers with their eyes on their phones instead of the road!  

What is going on here?  Why are we so obsessed with our phones? Why does using our technology supersede all other concerns? We make a statement with our phone use. We tell the people around us what is REALLY important to us.

Here are some my guidelines for smart smart phone use:

1. No use of the phone while driving. Not at stoplights. Not hands free. Not voice command. While I am driving, I drive. If my phone rings and I need to use it, I pull over.

2. I don’t do phone “work” in public amidst social gatherings. If I must send an email or text, I excuse myself and go to a private spot and do my business.

3. I do not use my phone as a toy when I could interact with the people around me. Waiting rooms, airports, and other solitary places are good spots to play games, read newsfeeds, or check websites. If it would be rude to read, it is not okay to use the phone.

4. I think it is acceptable to use my phone as a point of conversation. For example, I may show people photos on my phone or use its resources to find a restaurant, look up the answer to a question raised in conversation, or demonstrate something. In this way, the people around me are sharing my phone.

5. When I am having a phone conversation, I speak more quietly and go to an area away from people having face-to-face conversations.

6. I do not pull out my phone during public performances, presentations, or events. If there is an unavoidable reason to use my phone during a concert, speaker, or movie, I leave the room. And my phone is completely silent from the moment I enter a performance space!

7. The people present may not be ignored. If my phone rings and interrupts a conversation, I treat the people around me with the same respect I would give callers I am about to put on hold – and I do not leave them hanging for long. This is similar to the situation where, when I am talking to someone, my child comes up to me and asks for my attention. It is socially acceptable and appropriate to say to those with whom I am talking, “Excuse me for one minute, my kid needs me. I’ll be right back.”  The key here is that it must be this kind of situation. Which leads me to:

8. I am highly selective about which calls I will take. My default ring tone is silent. Only people I want to hear from are assigned a ringtone. My family and my close friends have individual ringtones. So I know who is calling without looking at my phone and many callers are simply directed to voice mail when I am otherwise engaged.

The big rule is people first, phones fourth.

Whose Backbone Is It Anyway?

Children must learn to make their own decisions. It is perhaps the most critical skill that parents teach. And it must be taught. As any parent will tell you, if given a choice, many children will not take their medicine, wear their seatbelts, or treat their siblings with respect. Making good choices is a learned behavior. 

We are fooled into believing that, as our children get older, they are have mastered this skill. Sometimes we allow children to make poor decisions because we don’t want the hassle that comes with questioning their autonomy. Parents must choose their battles and there are many times that kids’ bad choices are trivial. We must allow kids to experience the consequences of their choices, good and bad. 

Then there are the choices that we cloak in teaching independence that are in fact self-serving cop-outs. Recently a parent proudly bragged that he had given his child the choice of whether or not to continue with Sunday religious school. The child did not want to go any more. Since giving kids a choice and letting them live with their choices was an important value for this parent, he permitted his child to end religious education.

I wondered if he would allow his child the same freedom to drop out of high school? Or not go to the doctor for an illness? Or attend his grandparents’ anniversary party? Or even quit a sports team?

Who is served by this decision? The child will not have to get up early on Sunday – and neither will the parent. The battles over Sunday school will end – and the child will have won. Kids should win some battles, but what which ones – and why?

When parents choose capitulation on important matters, children learn a different lesson. They see that convenience or expedience triumphs over substance. They realize that whining, crying, and other childish tactics are effective. They are empowered and take that power to the next battle. They may take it into their own parenting as well.

Parents must be clear about which issues are worth the fight. Their behavior models adult decision-making. When parents cave on important issues, parents lose their credibility and authority. They risk losing their children’s respect. They become less dependable and more manipulatable.

And there are too many parents who cannot stand up to their children. Clueless wonders and spineless disasters are parenting stereotypes. Whether it is from a desire to be a child’s friend, lack of time, misunderstanding, or misguided principles, every neighborhood has its share of parents who are ruled by their kids.

Raise your hand if you wish your parent had been more forceful about sticking with that musical instrument? As a child, it was difficult and time consuming. Children often avoid challenge. As parents, we must teach them to engage challenge. One of the most important battles I won with my daughter was to keep her playing violin. It taught her how to succeed at a difficult task!

Collaborating with children is a great way to slowly hand over control. Not bargaining or negotiating but talking out the issues and letting kids see adult thinking in action. Kids know when quick and easy has triumphed. Kids understand what it means when their folks can’t or won’t make the tough calls. They call them wimps – and they are!

Adults need to take the long view because children are not capable of it. To surrender these important choices to our children is to fail in our role as a parent. Even if, as children, we didn’t make the right choices, we have an obligation to make sure our children do – especially when these are not the choices they would make themselves! And even more so when these decisions are difficult for us.

Our children are worth it. We owe it to them to have backbone.