How to "Fix" Today's Schools

The newest buzz topic in the media revolves around public education in this country. Between Oprah, The View, a weekly special this week on NBC Nightly News...you can't turn on your TV without hearing how terrible the public schools are along with a call to action to take a stand and demand better.

I have been trying to stay off my soap box about this, but I can't any longer. I have been a public school teacher for the past eight years, and I attended public schools from 2nd grade to high school, as well as attending a public university for both my undergrad and two graduate degrees. My mom, two grandparents, great aunt and uncle as well as Jon's mom, aunt, and both grandfathers were also teachers or principals. I feel like I am pretty knowledgeable about the subject and have, in fact, grown up listening about the topic of public education.

Are there "bad" schools? I think there are schools with bad teachers (in the best and worst neighborhoods), but this doesn't make the entire school bad. (And I'd like to point out each profession has "bad" examples-lawyers, doctors, entrepreneurs, etc). There are schools that struggle to meet NCLB requirements each year, but I also don't think the performance on this one test makes a school bad. It's not as simple as that. The media would have you believe that by tying test scores to teacher's evaluations, the entire system would improve. This is a fallacy.

The fact remains that students come into the classroom each day with different advantages and disadvantages. I taught for six years in an "excelling" school district based on NCLB scores. The students in my classroom had parents that were actively involved, private tutors were hired if necessary, they were exposed to the latest technology at home, and were given lots of opportunities to explore their world through traveling and extra curricular activities. In contrast, students in my current school, and the district my Mom taught in for 35 years, come to school and eat breakfast because their parents don't have the money to provide one at home. The usually come home at the end of the day to an empty house because their parents are working multiple jobs, or some might be in jail and are out of the picture. These students often times don't receive motivation from home to do their homework, no one is there to help them study, and the idea of going to college is totally out of the question because no one in their family has ever achieved this goal.

Are the vast majority of teachers in these two schools working their tails off to provide meaningful opportunities and lessons for their students? ABSOLUTELY. But are the teachers working with the same type of student? ABSOLUTELY NOT. It is not the children's fault that they are growing up in different environments, and it is not the teacher's fault that these students are coming to school with entirely different sets of readiness and/or preparedness. The blame for how these students perform on test scores can not rely entirely on the teacher each year.

So you may be thinking...then how do (some) charter schools in low income areas do it? How do they have 100% acceptance rates into college and high test scores? In my opinion the difference is parental involvement and student selectivity.

Parents in charter schools elect to have their child attend that school, thus they are already showing they are actively involved and motivated to do something about their child's education. Parents involvement is a huge factor in student success, but as a country we want to overlook this fact. It's easier to blame the teachers than say to parents, "If you want your child to succeed, you also have to play a part in the process."

Many times charter schools are able to select which students they accept into their school, and if a student isn't "cutting it," these students can just as easily be removed. A public school has the responsibility to educate EVERYONE. As long as you live in the school's boundaries, you WILL NOT be turned away. Charter schools do not live by this same code.

Are there things we can do better in American public education? Absolutely! Are struggling schools all the fault of teachers and/or teacher's unions? NO!

I wish the media would present a more balanced view of the school situation in America. There is rarely only one reason a problem is occurring, and until some respected individuals stand up and say, "Look, it can't just be that public school teachers stink. There's got to be more to this story" the myth about the terrible public schools in American will continue to be broadcast.

In the meantime, I'll continue to educate. I'll work my behind off providing meaningful, engaging lessons to students, and I'll continue to inform adults about the misconceptions that are out there regarding America's public schools and the teachers inside of them.

Spa Week

This week is Spa Week on the West Coast which means great deals for you and me on places that normally cost a ton of money. You can check out the deals here, but I decided to go to the Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa. I've always wanted to check out this place and found the perfect opportunity with this deal. Plus, I needed the stress relief because things have been crazy around here.

Upon entering the spa you are taken to the relaxation room as well as the dressing room to put on your robe. Then, in the relaxation room you can enjoy treats, hot tea, and coffee. Because my technician was extremely prompt even though I was early I didn't really get to enjoy the relaxation room at the beginning of my treatment (but went back at the end!), but I was happy that I was seen right away.

Once inside the room was decorated with candles and soft music. A massage table was in the center covered by some very think foil. I was going to have a "Stress Melter" which consisted of an exfoliation, warm oil wrap, and neck massage. When I got into the room I had to derobe and put on disposable G-string underwear (no room for modesty here!) You are always discretely covered, just like with a massage, but it was a little different.

For the exfoliation she put on rough gloves, so it wasn't the most relaxing part of the experience. Then she began putting the oil over all of my body and proceeded to take the foil and blanket and wrap it over me. Soon the oil started getting warm which felt great. As the oil was heating up around me it became a cocoon of warmth. Then she proceeded to massage my neck and upper back. I felt very relaxed afterwards, so the treatment was a success!

Some Big News

Jon and I have decided to adopt from South Korea!

We researched a lot of different programs and narrowed it down between domestic and South Korea. I know these probably seem like night and day choices, so why did we pick South Korea?

One of the major concerns we had about adopting state side was not knowing a great deal about the baby. Although we would be able to adopt the baby almost immediately after birth (a definite plus in many ways), if the baby was exposed to alcohol or drugs it might not show until several months of age. (Agencies do not test birth mothers for drug or alcohol abuse during the pregnancy). One of the big movements in domestic adoption is "open adoptions," and Jon and I weren't very comfortable about continuing to meet the birth mother throughout our child's formative years, especially if the baby's first family is in the NW and we plan to move back to AZ in a few years. In some ways we also felt like adopting a child in America felt, at times, a little like buying a baby. It's amazing that some agencies and companies can guarantee a child to you faster if you pay more money upfront. It just doesn't seem right!

We looked at several international programs before deciding on South Korea. We liked South Korea because of all we looked at (Russia, Ukraine, China, Mongolia, etc) the babies were raised in foster families instead of orphanages. The institutional delays common in babies who don't receive lots of one-on-one care aren't present because the children in South Korea have lots of personal attention from their foster family.

South Korea's medical system is also on par with that of the US and Canada, so babies are given extensive medical care throughout their time in South Korea. We also will receive medical reports on the baby when we receive our referral, probably when the baby is between 5-6 months of age. Although I'm sad that I will miss out on these important first few months, I am thankful that our child will be well taken care of during this time. (Although if you ask me about this after we receive our referral I might not be so matter of fact about this).

Many international adoption programs have strict guidelines of who can adopt from their family. They look at how long you have been married, if you have any divorces, your height/weight ratio, if you have any other children, etc. The waits for some programs are also very extensive: China is between 4-5 years (!) right now.

Since we have decided to adopt I have been readings lots of books on South Korea and on international adoption in general. If you'd like, you can check out our blog about our adoption. We have lots more information there, and we plan on keeping it updated fairly often over the course of this journey. (If you end up posting a comment, please try to keep it anonymous since it's a public blog.)

Seattle Challenge

Last weekend Jon and I participated in the Seattle Challenge, an Amazing Race like competition through the streets of Seattle. We are huge fans of the show and our family is always telling us, "You guys should go on the Amazing Race," so we did a "training run." We were racing as team "Sparky's Super Squad," thus the ASU ensemble in the pics.

We had to show up at Jillian's at South Lake Union, and the place was packed! We would receive all 12 clues at the same time, but we only had to complete 11 of them. Our plan was to study the clues, decide where we were supposed to go, and then map out the best route. We had a few "phone a friends" ready because the competition allowed the use of smart phones and home Internet connection is much faster than Jon's iPhone. We were only allowed to use our own two feet or public transportation the entire time.

At 1:00PM sharp they gave out the clues, and just getting a clue paper was mayhem. We immediately high tailed it to the closest bus stop and quickly figured out we needed to get to the Space Needle for one of our clues. Instead of stopping and determining what order we should go in, as we originally *said* we would, we just started going since the bus wasn't coming for over 10 minutes. The clue about the Space Needle was pretty easy, but we had to photograph our team and someone else jumping in the air with the Space Needle in the background. It is harder than you'd think having everyone's feet off the ground at the SAME TIME in a time delayed shutter shot. We must have jumped 30 different times, and even then we weren't sure if it would count.

The biggest time waster ended up being the answer to this clue:

"This park shares a name with a failed presidential candidate and was actually a stop on The Amazing Race when the show came to the region, so we had to include it. Plus it offers some pretty spectacular views-take a photo with your team inside/on the central sculpture-and capture as much of the skyline as possible. "

The answer to this is Kerry Park, located at the top of Queen Anne hill. The reason why the views from this park are so great is because Queen Anne is STEEP, and it took a lot out of us to climb this thing. Plus, it was very out of the way. By eliminating this clue and answering all of the other ones we would have shaved at least 30 minutes off our final time.

What other wacky things did we have to do: do the Charlie's Angels pose with a Seattle cop, find a street musician and take a photo, find a building that was constructed before 1869, find someone in a Mariner's jersey (not tee shirt) and have your team mime pitching while the fan's swinging in the photo.

The hardest clues to decipher were probably these:

1. These craft perform "Chesley S." like maneuvers everyday-with no headlines. Fine one and take a picture of it.

2. What do you get when you add a dramatic former View personality and an NBA Team? Take a photo at the original and make a human pyramid out front including one other Challenge team.

3. The inventor of the mobile sculpted this massive red bird 25 years

before it found its permanent home in Seattle. Take a photo under it.

Jon and I finished the race in about 2.5 hours, but the winners were done in a blistering 82 minutes! We ended up in 52nd place out of 140 teams, but we had lots of fun doing it. I was sore for about 4 days afterwards because in total we probably ran/walked at least 4 miles. So are we signing up for The Amazing Race anytime soon? We'll keep you posted, but don't hold your breath! :)