Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/274063
YO U R O P I N I O N S A N D L E T T E R S A R E W E LC OM E ! There is a 250-word limit, and all letters will be edited. If you send photos or other materials, identifications and permissions are required. Letters must include your name along with your address, daytime telephone number or email address. Email editor@cta.org. Like at school The article "Love at school" (February) brought back memories. Jerry and I met in 2003 teaching in Fremont at Brier Elementary. We, like many of the other couples, kept it quiet. When we were about to get engaged, Jerry told our principal. We were married in 2004 and are best friends. We've been working at the same school for the last seven years. A lot of people ask us how we manage to work together. The answer is simple: We like each other! KIM DARLING LOISEL Fremont Unified District Teachers Association Teaching tip: Collect magazines I enjoyed the Works4Me teaching tips in the last magazine. Here's a tip I'd like to share. April is National Poetry Month, and I have two activities I like to do with my speech and language students. I have a collection of nature photographs from magazines and calendars. I use these as inspiration for my students to write haiku poems about the images. I also like to use magazines as a means to create a "found" poetry collage. Students cut out words or phrases that they find in magazines. Most often they will be from advertisements or titles of articles because they are of a large enough size. They organize them to form a poem and then paste or tape them on a piece of paper. My rule is that students must cluster words in a single line, rather than cut out individual words to form new phrases. The collage activity can be extended to in- clude images cut from the source magazine. So start collecting magazines now. Your doctor's office might be a good source. HELEN OGDEN Alisal Teachers Association, Salinas Editor's Note: Another source may be your CTA magazine! A voice in Common Core implementation I've seen several stories about Common Core in the Educator. I went to the Presidents Conference, and four of my members attended Summer Institute with me, and two of them attended the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) strand. CTA informed members about the Educational Employment Relations Act requirements for consultation regarding curriculum decisions. As a result, the vice president and I contacted the Magnolia School District and requested a consultation committee in which the union would work with the district regarding CCSS implementation. The district agreed, and the administrator of student learning (curriculum) created a CCSS implementation committee. Our chapter appointed four people to the committee: a kindergarten teacher, who at- tended the CCSS training at the Good Teaching Conference; the vice president, who attended the CCSS strand; a resource specialist, who attended the CCSS strand; and a teacher on special assignment, who is a technology sup- port instructor. The committee helps the student learn- ing administrator decide on CCSS training, purchase of CCSS curriculum materials, and technology implementation. The district has purchased Chromebooks and has implemented training for the teachers in use of them. The biggest success of the union has been influ- encing the district to use some of the district's CCSS training days as grade-level lesson-plan- ning days, with no other agenda set by the district (the idea of the vice president). We are still in the early stages of this, but members feel strongly that they have a voice in the implementation of CCSS, and we owe it all to CTA! PAMELA GREENHALGH, President Magnolia Educators Association Social worker resources Thank you for the article "A day in the life of a school social worker" (December/January). A s a fo r m e r p re s i d e n t o f a CTA / N E A l o c a l a n d l i fe t i m e m e m b e r o f CTA , I a m g ra t i f i e d t h a t CTA re c o g n i ze s t h e o t h e r p ro fe s s i o n a l s w h o a re c e r t i f i c a te d a n d e m p l oye d by o u r p u b l i c s c h o o l s . There was a question on where California stands in relation to other states. The answer is elusive because California does not have a specific office within the CDE that is respon- sible for certificated support personnel, or as the new term that is being used calls them, specialized instructional support personnel (SISP). For information on the various student support professions and organizations, look at the websites of the National Alliance of Specialized Instructional Support Personnel (www.nasisp.org) and the School Social Work Association of America (www.sswaa.org). DANIEL M CCARTHY California Association of School Social Workers letters that students must cluster words in that students must cluster words in a single line, rather than cut out individual a single line, rather than cut out individual words to form new phrases. words to form new phrases. Lingering looks in the library… long goodbyes in the hallway… rumors in the cafeteria… WE'R E NOT DESC R I B I NG TE E N AGE RS or a romance novel. Nope, we're describing educators struck by Cupid's arrow, who found love with a colleague when least expected. It wasn't always love at first sight. However, discovering shared values around teaching and learning brought some co-workers together at school, while others found the love of their life at a union meeting, making the phrase "together is better" more than an organizing motto. So this month, in honor of Valentine's Day, we bring you stories of CTA members who became families… and are living happily ever after. B Y S H E R R Y P O S N I C K - G O O D W I N at Will you be mine? school Love FEATURE WH E N TH E N EW SPA N ISH TE AC H E R walked into a faculty meeting 14 years ago, social studies teacher John Peter- sen was instantly smitten. Jessica didn't even notice he was in the room. "I was really nervous, fresh out of col- lege, and didn't even see him," she says. John, Association of Rowland Edu- cators president, escorted the newest teacher — and chapter member — to her portable classroom so she wouldn't get lost. "I didn't think about him for two more seconds," Jessica says. "I had a class to get ready." But he couldn't stop thinking about her. When his chapter readied for a pos- sible strike, he saw her number on the phone tree and thought about calling. He chickened out. Faculty got together for pizza after a Friday night football game, and he struck up a conversation. She didn't remember him, but thought he was funny and laughed at his jokes. "Oh my gosh, he was cute," says Jessica. They kept their romance secret, figuring "there's enough drama in high STEVE A N D E LDA H A D B E E N DATI NG for a while and felt it was time to let the principal know so it would finally be out in the open. "I said, 'Dr. Grant, I want to let you in on something. Elda and I are dating,'" Steve remembers. The principal stared at him with a deadpan expression. "No kidding," she said, rolling her eyes. They had tried to keep it on the down low, but everyone — including students and parents — had picked up on the sup- posed secret that wasn't. It started when Steve saw Elda stroll into the library of Stude- baker Elementary School in 2004. "I said to myself, 'Wow, who's that?'" recalls the fifth-grade teacher and Little Lake Education Association president. "I was absolutely captivated." "I thought he was arrogant," says Elda. "He was very confident with a kind of cocky attitude. I liked the way he looked, but I remember thinking, 'He walked in here like he owns the school.'" Months later he talked her into joining the school's bowling team. She went to his 40th birthday party at the ESPN Zone, and when everyone else went home, they took a stroll along Downtown Disney. "She was quite the Disney fan," recalls Steve. "Behind that tough guy façade, he was a really a teddy bear," she says. They got married in 2006. Her engagement ring is shaped like Mickey Mouse with diamonds for ears. Nobody was more excited about the nuptials than their students. The couple now has 5-year-old twins who attend Studebaker. "Our secret for happiness is brutal honesty and open lines of communication," says Steve. "We talk about everything whether it's pleasant or not, because keeping secrets is bad medicine." " We g o h o m e, ta l k a b o u t o u r d ay a n d k n ow w h a t t h e p e r- s o n i s fe e l i n g i n s ta n t l y, " s ay s E l d a . " Wo r k i n g to g e t h e r g i ve s u s t h a t c o m m o n a l i t y. A n d b e i n g a t t rac te d to e ac h o t h e r d o e s n' t h u r t e i t h e r. " M E ET TON I A N D JOH N B RYA NT, Thermalito Teachers Associa- tion, whose soap opera courtship had a happy ending. But for a while it was touch and go. Their classrooms were next to each other at Nelson Avenue Middle School in 1994. They were assigned to work together as team teachers. Toni came from an elementary school background before teaching middle school, and took an artistic, creative and sometimes unorthodox approach. John had previously taught at the high school and believed in a more structured environment, which Toni found somewhat "rigid" and inflexible. During a joint PE square dancing activity, Toni decided to incorporate a lesson about prejudice and made blue-eyed students go to the back of the line and made brown-eyed children her temporary focus. John didn't approve, so he took his students and marched out of the gym in mid-lesson. He tried to talk later; she locked him out of her classroom. Things got even worse when he abstained from voting to fund her pet project on the school site council, "blindsiding" her. Finally the feuding teachers were sent to the principal's office to hammer out their differences. "We were fighting about our kids, just like people do in a marriage," says Toni. "We had to learn how to be a united front, which clearly we were not, and compromise on differing teaching styles, disci- pline and expectations. It was hard." They learned how to work together as a team and married in 1998. They have three daughters and still work together. "It's not perfect. We still have our ups and downs," says John. "I wouldn't trade it for the world." school," says John, who planned an elaborate proposal in the wine country. Before he could pop the question, she turned to him and said, "So let's get married." On their wedding day the priest had an emergency and canceled. They went to the rectory and woke up another priest taking a catnap. "He agreed to help us. A funeral pro- cession waited outside with the coffin just so he could perform our wedding," laughs John. Today they have two children. They still laugh at each other's jokes and go to Friday night football games. "I knew she was a keeper when she said she couldn't decide what movie to watch — Animal House, Caddy Shack or The Blues Brothers," says John. "We're polar opposites," says Jessica. "Sometimes we can't agree on anything. But he's the love of my life." John and Jessica Petersen Toni and John Bryant Steve and Elda Strobele P H O T O B Y P A R K A V E N U E P H O T O G R A P H Y at at at P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y S C O T T B U S C H M A N www.cta.org 10 11 F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 4 F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 4 Learning P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y S C O T T B U S C H M A N B Y S H E R R Y P O S N I C K - G O O D W I N A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A SOCIAL WORKER "It's Early. What's going on?" As the school bell rings to start a new day, Bridget Early gets a call on her walkie-talkie, the first of many. It's often the way her day begins. T H E E V E R E T T M I D D L E S C H O O L social worker's role is helping to "defuse" tension throughout the campus — and support students living in poverty and challenging circumstances. She helps teachers focus on academics by running interference when a crisis occurs. There's no such thing as a typical day, but typical events include medi- ation, mentoring, meeting with parents, suicide assessment, contacting Children's Protective Services, educating students about bullying and homophobia, and facilitating "community circles" for better communica- tion. She supports teachers exhausted from working with a challenging population of children, many of whom are new to the country. Students write something nice about the person next to them and pass it around during a "community circle" in the homeroom of eighth-grade teacher Alex Algones. Words like cool, awesome, nice, amazing and sweet elicit smiles. Students say "circle time" reduces bul- lying. "I'm so happy right now," beams Demaya Connors, enjoying the nice things said about her. A boy strolls into the Wellness Center, anger emanating from his bulky frame. The student, who is emotionally dis- turbed, tells Early that he needs a break from his class. After a time- out and a few kind words, he's ready to return. "Miss Early helps me calm down by motivating me to learn. She's great at her job." Early gets a call that a boy has caused a disruption. In the hallway he explains that he found a dead bug, picked it up and put it on a girl's desk. His teacher made him call his father. "I didn't do it on purpose. Well, maybe kind of on purpose," he says, looking remorseful. "I know I was trying to be funny, but it affected my teacher, and I disappointed her." He promises not to do it again. Early rounds up at-risk students who call themselves the "Sixth Grade Mob," asking if they'll attend a meeting she has planned with the help of probation officers to deter them from gangs. One boy with an orange Mohawk says he doesn't want to go. "Just trust me," says Early. "Give it a try." His reluctance soon turns to enthusiasm; he brings other students to Early, saying they will also benefit from the meeting. A boy comes to the Wellness Center, upset about "harassment." He declines her offer of mediation, but seems calmer after a talk. He has suffered abuse by his father and is struggling with his mother, who won't accept that he's gay, says Early. She sched- ules him for a counseling session with a marriage and family therapist (MFT) interning at the school. Early spends a lot of time educating students about homophobia, and sponsors the Gay-Straight Alliance and the school's gay pride week. Students come out to her, but are afraid to be open at this age. The "Sixth Grade Mob" members meet with "Red," an ex-gang member, for a "scared straight" type of conversation. Most of them are "gang wannabes," says Early, who hopes this talk might put them on a better path. Red describes being shot and stabbed numerous times and his "friends" abandoning him during recuperation and incarceration. "They were running in the streets and not there for me. A lot of people glorify the gang thing and think it's cool, but it's really not. Small things lead to big things." hand is processed for re-entry to the school. Sullen and angry, he explains he intended to slam the door and call the teacher a name, but not hurt her. Early asks how the incident affected his classmates. He admits that they were scared and unable to learn. The teacher is brought in, and the boy apologizes. Early asks him about warning signs before he erupts into rage. He says he balls up his fists and feels like calling people names when he gets mad. He promises that the next time he feels angry he will visit Early Many of the school's new arrivals are rejoining a parent who came here years ago to make a better life, and reunification in a foreign country can be traumatic, she notes. "My job is helping kids who are not having their basic needs met," says Early, United Educators of San Francisco. "They are expected to sit in class and focus on school work and testing, when maybe the night before there was crazy domestic violence and shootings outside their window. Maybe they're with a parent who is a stranger. It's hard for them to come here and set all that aside." Every school in San Francisco has at least one part-time social worker, and Early is one of two at her school. Statewide, 430 school-based professionals carry the title of school social worker (SSW) for the 5 million plus students ages 5-17. The California Associ- ation of School Social Workers recommended ratio of students to school social workers is 250 to 1. She appreciates that her district values what she does. "I love my job and would never trade it for anything," says Early, who sprints down the hallway to avoid being late. READ MORE ON PAGE 44. "EARLY" INTERVENTION Learning Best Practice 8:10 A.M. 8:40 A.M. 8:50 A.M. 9:30 A.M. 10:00 A.M. 10:30 A.M. 11:00 A.M. www.cta.org 42 43 D E C E M B E R 2 013 | JA N UA RY 2 0 1 4 D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 3 | JA N UA RY 2 0 1 4 that they find in that they find in magazines. Most magazines. Most often they will be often they will be from advertisements from advertisements or titles of articles or titles of articles because they are of because they are of a large enough size. a large enough size. They organize them They organize them to form a poem and to form a poem and Learning Teaching tips E X P E R I E N C E M AT T E R S , especially in the classroom. If you haven't discovered the clever, useful tips from NEA colleagues on Works4Me, here's a quick sample. Do you have teaching tips to suggest? Send them to editor@cta.org . WORKS4ME A LEFT-HANDED SOLUTION I am left-handed, so I'd end each day with an enormous black and blue smudge down my hand from writing on the overhead projector. I no longer have this problem since I started leaving a lightweight work glove next to my projec- tor. Whenever I start notes with my students, I put on the glove. It looked pretty silly the first day or two, but we just laughed about my appearance, and now even my students will put on the glove when they write at the overhead. —ANDREW MITCHELL, ninth-grade math teacher 5-MINUTE DIAGRAMS Our curriculum includes drawing diagrams — parts of a leaf, rock cycle, layers of the sun, etc. As a quick review we do an activity I call "Five by Five." The students work in groups of five. When I ring a bell, the first student begins to draw and label the diagram. After one minute I ring the bell again, and the first student passes the paper to the next student. Students offer encouragement and helpful hints, but only designated students may work on the diagram during their minute. The process continues for five min- utes. The table with the best diagram gets a small prize. This is an effective review. It is quick, nonthreatening and fun. For the teacher, it doesn't require any preparation or grading! The technique works for almost any grade or subject matter. —ANONYMOUS, Works4Me Reader BEDROOM MAPS In order to reinforce map skills, my students write a detailed description of their bedrooms, including shapes, sizes, colors and directional relationships between objects in their rooms. After a few lessons on maps, keys and sym- bols, the students create an aerial view map of their room. I display each bedroom map on a large bulletin board. In the center of the bulletin board I place a zip-lock bag containing the children's descriptions. During free time, the children can take out a description and try to match it to a map on the board. If the work was done accurately, the challenge shouldn't be too difficult. —STELLA BLOCK, third-grade teacher CALMING DISRUPTIVE STUDENTS I often write notes to whichever child is nearest to me, asking him/her to give directions to the class. I found that some of my loudest, most disruptive kids were the ones who had the most control over the other students. It wasn't the end of the disruptive behaviors by any means, but it did give me a lot of insight into the kids. I was able to ask them for help later in different situations, and they were happy to use their influence with other kids. I did use other strategies throughout the course of the semester, but this was a strong one. Often, I would announce that I was going to give special help — then I'd speak very quietly. Try turning off half of your lights or turn- ing them all off and opening the blinds. This gives me a bit of a headache, but my kids seem to be calmer. —BARB B., Works4Me reader www.nea.org/Works4me BATHROOM DUCKIES I got tired of my students taking the bathroom passes to the bathroom and accidentally dropping them in the toilet or the sink, so I borrowed this idea from a fellow teacher. Our school doesn't require that the kids have a hall pass. When a child needs to leave, the boys put a little blue plastic duck and the girls a green one on their desk. (The color of the ducks matches the beginning letter of boy/girl.) There is only one of each duck, so there won't be a party in the restroom. I can see at a glance if someone is gone and if it's a boy or a girl. —JENNIFER LITCHENBERG, second-grade teacher 42 F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 4 Educator 03 Mar 2014 v2.0 int.indd 3 3/6/14 10:51 AM