Dear A,

a milestone

a student asked me to write letters of recommendation for Harvard, Yale and Stanford!

Dear A,

why I love working for LAUSD

two weekends ago, a freshman student from Gardena was stabbed and killed at a night club in East LA... the community and student population are still recovering from this loss... inter-gang/inter-racial tension are at an all-times high in the hallways... some of my students are very much affected and choose not to come to school on certain days...

anyhow... instead of combating the problem of inner city violence through promoting tolerance, mutual understanding, and a spirit of cooperation between different minority groups at Gardena, the brilliant administrators at LAUSD headquarter decided to take a different approach... The following passage came from a memo that was delivered to my box:

"We will have a campus protection (lockdown) drill this Tuesday, during period two.
During this drill, we will simulate a situation in which three armed men being chased by the police crash through a gate and run onto the campus.  Police enter the campus to search for the suspects."

As an educator, we are trained by the district and credentialing programs to always take the half-full perspective regarding students' potential for academic success.  MALEABLE INTELLIGENCE!  "Set ambitious goals for your students."  "Monitor your students’ achievements with benchmark assessments."  "Motivate your students to set their own goals." 

Yet, why does the district choose such a half-empty perspective in regards to students' behavior?  Why should there be a dichotomy between academic and behavioral expectations?  recently, I observed a well-respected teacher in the science department... students love him and other beginning teachers (like myself) look up to him... after 30 minutes in his class, I was distraught and disappointed at his low expectations for student behavior.... I saw students texting back and forth in front of his face... some students circulate the class sharing pictures... others used profanity without any discretion... very little learning was observed in that class... needless to say, I no longer hold him in high esteem...

Are we as a society, too scared to hold students [children] responsible for their actions?  By setting high and optimistic behavioral expectations for our students are we infringing upon their freedom and the individualistic ideal that is so sacredly valued?  I don't why there IS such a large discrepancy between academic and behavioral expectations in urban schools.

Dear A,

the pyramid

with my students in the science quad at UCLA