Four Brandons Too Many

I have four kids named Brandon in my first period class. Make that four Brandons and a Branden, which doesn't matter anyway because I end up calling them by their last names: Mr. Whatever. I have six Brandons total this year. Another teacher has six Sara(h)s. It's interesting to see how names cycle. Justin is another popular name among middle school kids. You don't see any Berthas or Esters any more. I don't think those names will ever make a come back.

Four Brandons is just too many for first period. Three of the Brandons are heading for trouble. I've given a gazillion verbal warnings and I've written little notes in their agenda books (which they are supposed to take home and show their parents). I was talking to my mentor teacher yesterday about the Brandons problem and she said I'd already done step one (notes in agenda books); this weekend, I should call the parents for step two. Step three is a free pass to the discipline office to see Mr. Anderson. Mr. Anderson, by the way, has TWO paddles and has already used at least one of them this year. I wonder how he decides which paddle to use? Maybe it's based on the size of the kid. Anyway, tomorrow, I'll call the parents of the three Brandons and deliver the news. "I'm concerned that your child's behavior in my class is preventing him from learning." Then, I'll ask the parent to tell Brandon that if he comes in with the same M.O. on Monday morning, he's going to the discipline office. I'll have the form filled out when the three Brandons come to class. I won't hesitate to use it.

I gave the kids their first selection test this week, and they bombed it. I haven't finished grading papers yet, but I went to school Friday very depressed. I told Missy that I figured I was a terrible teacher; evidently, my students hadn't learned anything in the past two weeks. She assured me that it was normal for level one kids to perform (or not perform) like that the first weeks of school. I might need to slow down, assess learning at every step, even re-write the test. On Tuesday, we spent the entire period in each class reviewing for the test. I quizzed them on questions almost identical to the ones on the test, and we went through vocabulary. I knew my sixth graders would have problems with compound subject/verb agreement because I didn't figure it out until I started teaching it, but we reviewed that extensively. I even gave them the exact written response question and suggested how to prepare their answers when they studied for the test. I gave them graphic organizers, for goodness' sake. Still, they did terribly. Either they didn't study or they just didn't get it.

I'm trying to think about the test results in a glass-half-full kind of way. Instead of thinking of myself as an incompentent, ineffective teacher and my students as hopelessly behind grade level and incapable of learning this material, I figure we can only improve from this point. Maybe, by the end of the year, I'll be a better teacher, and my students will be a bit smarter.

The faculty will be voting next week on whether or not to adopt the STAR program. There are pros and cons on both sides. STAR is a little deal the state legislators cooked up to "reward" the top 25% of teachers in each district. If we decided to adopt STAR, we'll have $1.66 million to give to the best teachers in our schools. Sounds good. After all, the current pay for performance measure only rewards the top 10%. The down side is that English/language arts, math and science teachers will be rated on their standardized (read FCAT) test improvement scores. So, what happens if, like Missy, you are teaching advanced kids and they don't improve? Does that mean she's not one of the best teachers? Another problem is defining this standard for all the other teachers who teach subjects not related to FCAT -- your phys ed staff, your technology teachers, your guidance counselors, etc. In order to have a fair measure for all teachers, people will have to volunteer for a committee that decides how these teachers will be ranked. The STAR program has no definite shelf life, either. Right now, it's just for the 2007-2008 school year. So, we could spend a lot of time setting this thing up and seeing it land in the rubbish heap after one go-round. I heard someone say that the state legislators were trying to have it both ways. They wanted to give teachers a pay raise, but on their own terms (tied to FCAT). The other thing that came up in the staff meeting on Monday is that if we adopt STAR, we will have to do a lot more testing, pre- and post-, at an estimated additional cost of $250,000. Someone at the meeting brought up the fact that our district is in an unusual position here. Since we're number one in the state, we can decline STAR and say it's not worth using more instructional time to do standardized testing so that a few teachers can earn a couple thou extra. On the other hand, someone else asked what the public reaction would be if we declined STAR. Would they understand why our district said, "Thanks, but no thanks," when other districts took the offer AND our $1.66 million was split among those who chose to participate? It's a dilemma, but I think I know how I'm going to vote.

I didn't get into this job for the money. I'm happy at Davidson, and I'm happy with my job. I'm learning new things every day, and that's exciting. What's that worth?

Ed got the final interior inspection on the house this week. After a thumbs-up, a contractor came in to put up the insulation, and another contractor installed gutters. The exterior is done except for priming the front porch posts and landscaping. When I came home yesterday, I snuck out to the house and found that my husband was testing out his latest invention: a contraption that would allow him to hang sheetrock ON THE CEILING by himself. Ed demonstrated how it would work, and by golly I think it will work. The man is a genius. I saw his little sketches for the contraption and I thought of Leonardos' notebook. My grandfather asked him if he had patented the device. Anyway, he should start with the sheetrock today or Monday. The house looks good.

Speaking of my grandfather, for some reason, he's got it into his head that he wants to make some muscadine wine -- or, he wants Ed to make it. This week, we looked up wine recipes on the Internet and Ed's started stocking up on his wine-making supplies. Last night, he revealed that he was going to make it in the tub of our second bathroom. I put up a fuss. What about the smell of rotting grapes in the house? What about the stains in the tub? We want to sell the trailer when we're done with it. Can a plastic bathtub be refinished? I suggested he put a couple of Rubbermaid bins in the tub and work with those. He says he doesn't think grandpa will wait the necessary 28 days before wanting to imbibe. "Just tell him you'll serve no wine before its time!" I quipped. I don't know why grandpa is on this wine-making mission anyway. I suspect that wine made in our bathtub will never taste as good as wine from the winery just down the road in DeFuniak Springs. And they use native Florida grapes, too. Maybe we can buy a couple of bottles and he'll be satisfied with "store bought." He told Ed about making "liquor" from raisins when he was in the Navy. Most days, he's content with a couple of Millers at noon.

That's all for now. I have papers to grade and lesson plans to write. Typical Saturday stuff.